76 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
on a frame overhanging the surface of the water. 
Some of the wells in the deserts of Amurkote and 
Jesselmere are from a hundred to six hundred feet 
deep, and the movements of the cattle raising the 
water are regulated by a small kettledrum. 
“ The unhappy followers of the fugitive Emperor 
were so impatient for water, that as soon as the first 
bucket appeared, several of them threw themselves 
upon it before it had quite reached the surface, and 
fell in. The next day they arrived at a brook ; and 
the camels, which had not tasted water for several 
days, were allowed to quench their thirst ; but having 
drunk to excess, several of them died. The king, 
after enduring unheard-of miseries, at length reach- 
ed Amurkote with only a few attendants. The Rajah, 
who had the title of Rana, took compassion on his 
misfortunes, and spared nothing that could alleviate 
his sufferings or tend to console him in his distress.” 
In this strong, but solitary fortress, situated in a 
dreary and inhospitable desert. Prince Akbar was 
born, on the fifth Rujub in the year of the Hegira nine 
hundred and forty-nine, answering to our fourteenth 
of October 1542. “ When this joyful news was made 
known, all the chiefs came and offered their congratu- 
lations. The king then ordered the author of this 
memoir (Jouher) to bring him the articles he had 
given in trust to him ; on which I went and brought 
two hundred shahrukhys (a silver coin of unknown 
value), a silver bracelet, and a pod of musk. The 
two former he ordered me to give back to the owners 
from whom they had been taken, as formerly men- 
tioned. He then called for a china plate, and having 
