850 Observations upon the past and present [Oct. 



In answer to my inquiries for a Jyoshi, 1 was informed that there 

 was not one in the city fit to speak to a sahib*, nor could 1 meet 

 with a single person who had ever even heard of the jantra of Vikra- 

 maditya. To determine the site of this would-be curious, for it would 

 in some measure fix the position of the ancient city, and from Baber's 

 noticef, the observatory would seem to have been standing in his time. 



Still posted on the hill and looking around the eye falls on a con- 

 fused mass of buildings among which the palace of the Scindias and 

 of the Romasilar can alone be distinguished. To the north trees 

 confine the view, shutting out some of the most populous districts, and 

 rendering it impossible from the coup d'ceil to guess at the number 

 of houses so as to form some estimate of the population of the city. 

 I was furnished for that purpose with a lengthy list of the mahals, 

 which proved equally unsatisfactory, for some of them exist only in 

 name and others have hardly an inhabitant. The Musalman names 

 of a large proportion shewed the bygone influence of that sect. 

 Oujein seems gradually retrograding to its ancient site, most of the 

 southern quarter of the city being deserted, owing apparently to the 

 little elevation of the banks of the river on that side which must 

 occasion them to be frequently overflowed in the rains. To balance this 

 the hillsof the " Juni' ' are slowly becoming covered with Nyapuris 

 without end. 



When Jacquemont was at Oujein, he requested three of the princi- 

 pal authorities who chanced to be sitting with him to write down se- 

 parately what they supposed to be the population of the city. I forget 

 the extravagant figures they guessed, but two of them who had been 

 at Benares, calculated the number of the inhabitants of that city, the 

 one at 50, the other at 20 lacs. Jacquemont then produced your 

 moderate census which of course they assented to and disbelieved. 

 One of the party the chief mulla of the bohras, asked me if it was 

 correct. I told him the story of the raja who challenged its accuracy 



* That I was not misinformed, see Journal As. Soc. 3 : 508. I had been 

 desirous of making inquiries regarding the very curious meteor mentioned 

 in your Journal, 6 : 79. It may interest you to know that it was seen (and 

 as far as I can learn at the same moment) at Nimach and at Mahidpore to 

 the south ; at Rajwass, to the northwest, (I may perhaps err here, for I have 

 lost my note of it ;) and at Mhow and Hussingabad to the north and presented 

 at all these places exactly the same appearance. The beautiful sketches accom- 

 panying were drawn by Lieut. Kewnev who saw the meteor at Hussingabad. 

 (We regret the impossibility of introducing these colored sketches. — Ed.) 



t Erskine's Baber 51, the emperor seems puzzled between Oujein and Dh&r. 

 "Where is there any notice of the old observatory ? 



