1830.] 
an Ancient Hindu City . 
343 
destined to continue in that condition, fate has ordained they should nttain ; and 
oblivion is desirous of casting over it its mysterious lot. Decreed to sink from its 
former celebrity, into nothing, will no adventurer place on record what it is? The 
moralizer might be led to sigh for the vanity of human wishes, and the ambitious 
learn a tale sufficiently full of woe and wretchedness to prove the folly of his pur- 
suit. Its almost boundless walls, thirty- six miles in circumference, commanding 
situation, decaying palaces, mouldering mosques of marble, noble tanks, and broad 
endless causeways, overgrown with jungle, and difficult to trace, cross the visitor, 
at every turn ; and force on his attention, what this place most have been, — 
its past greatness, and present desolation. — Uninhabited by one single human 
being from choice, its proud fortifications shelter none, but the untamable 
Bliil ; who, when pursued for acts of murder and lawless robbery, finds perfect 
protection within the numerous recesses of its fast decaying strength. The 
tiger and hyena range undisturbed within the very dwellings of those, formerly 
in contentment and affluence, yet now with their descendants, swept from off the 
earth ; as if a plague had possessed the city, and left not a soul behind. This, 
surely is a spot on which the traveller might pause, and furnish for the curious, 
pages of matter, acceptable even to those not generally forward in encouraging 
labours of the kind. Once, though hut for a few days, and that many years ago, 
I was a dweller within its vast precincts ; and I feel much desire to excite some of 
the many now near it, (Mhow is about 20 miles off,) to supply your columns with 
an account of this remarkable and unfortunate town. — Such an article would not, 
I believe, be without the pale, to which your publication confines its labours ; and I 
trust this endeavour to procure one, will succeed. I am hopeful too, that an en- 
quirer could easily obtain sight of some manuscript notes, the work of Sir John 
Malcolm; which were the property of the Mhow Library, and very likely, still 
belong to' it. Sir John resided for a considerable period in the neighbourhood at 
a village called Checaldra, and was a frequent pilgrim to its shrines. I re- 
member his, charming retreat particularly well. Within sight of a spacious lake, 
artificially constructed and embanked with enormous blocks of granite, did Sir 
John fix his home. Nothing could be more picturesque. The dwelling itself was 
a portion of a tomb. The centre apartment was made to contain a billiard table, 
and the surrounding arcades and verandahs, were ingeniously transformed into 
offices and retiring rooms. The modern alterations contrasted strangely with 
the Mahomedan style of architecture, and were, not altogether pleasing to the eye, 
of course A garden had originally surrounded the whole, of which only time 
had spared the walls, an ornamental building or two, and a few aged orange 
trees. On the flat roof of the house inhabited by Sir John access to winch 
was had bv a narrow staircase from the outside, a small double roomed bunga- 
low had been erected for his sleeping in; and commanding from its elevation, 
more extensive views than could be obtained from the floor beneath. It was a 
more extensi e Bungalow where it stood, as far as coolness went, 
£*? “ ■««“-" slra "° ely out of cl,araclcr wi,h 
weather resort of the present Governor of 
Bombay I must not forget to record that a tigress and two cubs, are said by the 
native S y ’to have been dislodged from this very abode, on the gallant General de- 
natives, t0 hd ' e °® L .“ become its occupant. After serving for a series of nn- 
termmmg from choice to become n F it be of some f av0 rite Be - 
known years to preserve from spoha , tl * ori j U n g ] e seeks its solitude for 
gum, the terror striking monarch of e g Fur onean arrives, and disputes with 
shelter ; when subsequently the • W t0 f ts E pro £ c tion, which in reality was the 
the recent savage possessor that da 1 nf J* geen base purp0 ses and changes, 
right of neither. Such are W e n a od undergo. The lake itself, however, 
things in thiaworidare destined to s d S f the visitor wi n rest, whiles 
is necessarily the chief object on . * t w iU even attach to the remains 
sojourner at Checaldra. A certain ^f mterestw,^ ^ j§ ab8trMtly 
of past magnificence, whether the ac . J* ge§ on this ren llv j 0 vely spot, no 
beautilul or not. But while feasti h p isite , to aid the pleasing impres- 
im aginary feeling of this kind is n ^1 di J nsions of the tank-its abundant, 
sion it is sure of producing. The con fined within their present ample 
overflowing, clear transparent gU . sy » evea t0 shake their power ; 
limits, by bunds of massive workmanship , . b , suggests the probability 
prove the lavish expenditure Mov'd * A an, all Island, 
of royalty itself even having once enjo> aul0 ng the waters, covered with 
almost floating, so light and buoyant does .t rest among 
