236 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
In addition to the high moral qualities of the sove- 
reign of whose character I am now taking a summary 
review, his mental qualifications were of an un- 
common order. Besides being deeply skilled in the 
science of legislation, his knowledge of natural history 
was at once accurate and profound ; and he is to this 
day esteemed as holding an eminent rank among the 
poets of his country. He is mentioned by the cele- 
brated Abulfazil, the Burleigh of Akbar’s court, with 
great commendation ; that minister quoting some of 
his Persian verses, and extolling them in terms of 
high approbation. 
Besides a collection of Turki and Persian poems, 
Baber wrote a work on prosody, and some miscella- 
neous productions ; to these he occasionally alludes 
in his Memoirs. He likewise composed a treatise on 
music, in which he is said to have been eminently 
skilled ; and his descriptions of the animal, vegetable, 
and mineral productions of Hindostan, which occur 
in the transactions of his own life written by him- 
self, evince an accurate and extensive knowledge of 
these respective subjects. His greatest work, however, 
is the Memoirs so frequently referred to in the course 
of this narrative. It was composed in the original 
Turki, with such simplicity and eloquence as to be 
considered by his countrymen a production of un- 
rivalled merit. It was translated into Persian, in 
the reign of his grandson Akbar, by Murza Khan 
Khanan ; and from that text we have an admirable 
version into English, begun by the late Dr. Leyden, 
and completed by Mr. Erskine of the Bombay Esta- 
blishment. 
