DELHI. 
87 
to procure even the bare necessaries of life ; and when 
reduced to the last extremity, Khaja Aias determined 
upon seeking a change of lot in the western provinces 
of India, where the army of the Mogul Emperor was 
an usual resource for all needy Tartars. 
All the worldly goods of Khaja Aias consisted of 
one sorry horse, a well-proved blade, and a very small 
sum of money, which he had gathered from the sale 
of his other poor effects. Placing his wife upon the 
horse, he walked by her side ; for she was at that 
time expecting ere long to present him with their 
first-born, and could ill endure the fatigue of so 
arduous a journey. Their scanty pittance of money 
was very soon exhausted, and they had been reduced 
to subsist for many days upon the slender gleanings 
of charity, when they arrived on the borders of the 
Great Desert, separating Tartary from the dominions 
of the family of Taimour, in India. No house was 
there to shelter them from the smiting power of the 
sun, no hand to relieve their increasing wants. To 
return was certain misery, destitution, and shame ; to 
proceed, apparent destruction. 
They had advanced two or three days’ journey into 
the desert, having kept a long and hitter fast, when, to 
complete their misfortunes, the poor woman became 
so ill that she was unable to proceed. She began 
to reproach her husband for his folly in persuading 
her, at such a time, to leave her native country, 
for exchanging a quiet, though poor life, for the ideal 
E 
