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the darkness extended in a circle round the palace, as far as the 

 sound of his voice could be heard. 



" I shall say little on the tradition of Naik Gopaul, another 

 celebrated musician in the reign of Akber, who was commanded 

 by the emperor to sing the raug dheepuck; which whoever at- 

 tempted to sing should be destroyed by fire — the story is long; Naik 

 Gopaul flew to the river Jumna, and plunged himself up to the 

 neck in water; where, Akber, determined to prove the power of 

 this raug, compelled the unfortunate musician to sing it; when, 

 notwithstanding his situation in the river, flames burst violently 

 from his body and consumed him to ashes. 



" These and other anecdotes of the same nature, are related 

 by many of the Hindoos, and implicitly believed by some. The 

 effect produced by the maig mullaar raug was immediate rain. 

 And it is told, that a singing girl once, by exerting the powers of 

 her voice in this raug, drew down from the clouds timely and re- 

 freshing showers on the parched rice-crops of Bengal, and thereby 

 averted the honors of famine from the paradise of regions. An 

 European, in that country, inquiring after those whose musical 

 performance might produce similar effects, is gravely told " that 

 the art is now almost lost, but that there are still musicians pos- 

 sessed of those wonderful powers in the West of India." If one 

 inquires in the West, they say, ' that if any such performers re- 

 main, they are to be found only in Bengal.' 



" Of the present music, and the sensations it excites, one can 

 speak with greater accuracy. Many of the Hindoo melodies 

 possess the. plaintive simplicity of the Scotch and Irish; and 

 others a wild originality, pleasing beyond description. Counter- 



VOL. III. 2 Q 



