488 



behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver; 

 that will I give to the man of God to tell us our way." 



Such is exactly the state of things at this day in the eastern 

 districts of Guzerat: in every considerable town, and most of the 

 large villages, resided one or more of these Hindoo soothsayers: 

 who, contrary to justice and good policy, were consulted on all 

 occasions. Saul, though wrong in his opinion of a prophet of the 

 Most High, was perfectly right in his judgment respecting the 

 generality of these seers. An application to a modern oriental 

 diviner, unaccompanied by a present, would be very little attended 

 to. The ascendancy of these people over the vulgar mind is 

 wonderful, and in my jurisdiction was often troublesome. 



The wilds of Bhaderpoor, at the foot of the eastern hills, are 

 romantic and beautiful, finely wooded, and abounding with flow- 

 ing streams at all seasons; in this respect it resembles the scrip- 

 tural Jobbath, a land of rivers of waters; an appellation of a very 

 significant meaning in the torrid zone. 



But, as I have already observed, it is dangerous to visit this 

 delightful scenery without a large party of armed men, on ac- 

 count of the savage animals with which they abound: the num- 

 ber of tigers, leopards, and panthers is immense. During the 

 viceroyship of the Mogul princes in Guzerat, and also at a later 

 period among some of the Mahratta chieftains, it was custo- 

 mary for these great men, and their numerous attendants, to 

 pitch their tents in unfrequented tracts, for the purpose of hunt- 

 ing those ferocious beasts. Their encampments, especially of the 

 Moguls, were extensive and magnificent; there they entertained 

 their friends in a sumptuous manner during the continuance of 



