100 



Horses in India are seldom employed for the pack or draft; a 

 great number are bred in different parts of Guzerat to supply the 

 cavalry of the respective governments; those of Cutch and Coltya- 

 war are in high estimation, but the best horses are brought to India 

 from Arabia, Persia, and Tartary; from the two former the trading 

 vessels sometimes import mules of a large size, which are very 

 serviceable animals, and far more hardy than the fine breed of 

 horses brought from the same country. Many horses of various 

 descriptions are bred in the Deckan and the northern provinces of 

 Hindostan, all of which are sure to find purchasers at the courts of 

 princes, and especially in the Mahratta armies. The horses of 

 Thibet are a peculiar race, generally pied, not exceeding the Eng- 

 lish galloways in size, natural amblers, and much valued as pads. 



Such were the animal and vegetable productions of the coun- 

 try through which we were now travelling. If the government of 

 Mohman Caun, nabob of Cambay, was discouraging and oppres- 

 sive, I am sorry to say there was no amelioration for the peasantry 

 when we left his purgunna and entered the Mahratta dominions. 

 Whether the districts were under the immediate government of 

 delegates from the peshwa at Poonah, or ruled by different branches 

 of the Guicawar sovereigns in Guzerat, the evils of despotism every 

 where prevailed ; the rapacity of venal and corrupt zemindars was 

 felt in every village, and left the wretched inhabitants no choice of 

 masters. Little as the poor ryot of India knows of a comfortable 

 home, that little is most cruelly infringed by rapacious harpies of 

 every description. 



The nearer we approached the capital the more we traced the 

 former splendor and magnificence of the moguls: ruined palaces. 



