TO LADiK. 131 



lows, the only species of tree affording anything like timber, 

 and of which their entire stock of implements of hus- 

 bandry and utensils are formed. Well may they protect 

 and cherish these invaluable trees. They must have some 

 stringent laws for their preservation, and rules for their 

 lopping and felling ; the latter extreme measure, I believe, 

 being rarely resorted to, as the branches being lopped, and 

 the very vitals, as it were, of the trunk pared and scooped 

 out, the frame, just the cuticle, clings to life, and again 

 does good service, recovering from its hacking, and putting 

 forth shoots, and putting on branches, times unreckoned. 



My tent was pitched on a patch of beautiful greensward, 

 adjoining a square stone building of some pretensions in 

 these parts, a sort of stronghold in days past, and uniting 

 that character with that of a store for grain in the pre- 

 sent day, the Maharajah's dues in the various produce be- 

 ing gathered in here from the neighbouring districts. 

 There was but one sepoy here, and a remarkably hand- 

 some pleasing-looking young fellow he was. 



If the aspect of the villages at this season is charming, 

 that of the inhabitants is, and must at all times be, repulsive. 

 Their features are hideous, excepting an occasional good 

 open forehead, a redeeming feature, giving a look of in- 

 telligence to otherwise brutish countenances. Their want 

 of attraction is increased by the state of filth they wallow 

 in. The men are clothed in a sort of loose tunic of dark 

 brown woollen, felt leggings wound round by garters, and 

 felt boots with leathern feet. These are large canoe- 

 shaped things, having no reference to the size or shape of 

 the foot, but are wadded with old shreds and woollen rags 

 to make them fit. A close-fitting skullcap, with an up- 

 turned rim, crowns their greasy heads. Then, the females 

 can they be the fair sex, these hideous specimens of 

 creation human ? They wear, also, a dark woollen tunic 



K 2 



