’ 
1509.] 
_bankers, and numerous tradesmen and 
merchants would cease and be void, and 
they would find themselves possessed 
only of the shell of the golden egg, 
Your’ SS &e. F, 
erent a Tee 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
WARRATIVE Of a TOUR through BENGAL, 
BAHAR, dnd OUDE, to AGRA, DELHI, 
and other puaces in the 1nrERIOR of 
HINDUSTAN, undertaken in the YEARS, 
4794, 1795, 1796, and 1797. 
(Continued from p. 444, vol, 26.) 
WING to the delay in the morning, 
and the fatigue of the Dandies, our 
progress this day was not great; at sunset 
we brought to in a kind of cove, which 
ran two or-three hundred yards inland, 
and formed avery convenient and snug 
harbour. It hada comiunication through 
some marshy ground, with a large jeeb, or 
lake, covered with water-fow!l of various. 
descriptions. It is curious to observe the 
precautions they take, to preserve them- 
selves from danger , particularly the geese 
and Braminah dacks : the latter are. very 
beautiful birds of a deep orange colour, 
with white ruffs round their necks, and 
of a size somewhat larger than muscovy- 
ducks. Before they venture to indulge 
themselves in the water, they post a cen- 
try on the most eles rated spot, with as 
much regularity as a guard of soldiers; 
sheep, cattle, and other animals, approach 
his post without exciting alarm; but no 
sooner does their grand enemy, man, 
particularly an European, make his ap- 
pearance, although at a considerable 
distance, than the centry gives a signal, 
which the rest immediately attend to, by 
leaving off their sports, and preparing 
for tight. If the person continues to ad- 
vance towards them, the centry gives 
another signal, and springs up into the 
alr, where he is followed by the rest of 
the flock, so that it is extremely difficuls 
to get within shot of them. They are, 
however, hardly worth much trauble, as 
they are in general rank and ill- flavoured; 
but the wideeons, duck, and teal, are 
excellent, and they abound in every part 
of the country in astonishing numbers, 
‘Lhe natives have an odd way of catching 
them, which, on account of its singula- 
rity, I cannot avoid mentioning. The 
sportsman repairs to the scene of ation 
early in the morning, before day-light, 
\with a bag, an earthen pot, some clods 
of earth and grass, and a few small green 
boughs; he approaches the lake mm the. 
| 
Narrative of a recent Tour in India. 
‘ food ; 
part most remote from his game, and 
proceeds in his operations with the 
greatest silence and circumspection ; the 
bag is fastened round his middle, in such 
a manner that it may hang down before 
him; he then slips g gently into the water 
up to his chin, and covers bis head with 
the earthen pot, the sides of which had 
previously been perforated with several | 
holes, to admit the air, as well as to en- 
able him to see his way; the ouside of | 
the pot is covered with the clods of earth 
and the green boughs, which’ gives it the 
resemblance of/a detached fragment of 
the bank. Thusdisguised, he creeps along 
towards his game, “taking care not to go 
beyond his depth; the unsuspecting 
ducks gambol about, and nibble at the 
grass on the pot, unconscious of the foe 
lurking beneath: he now proceeds to 
business, and catching hold of one of 
them by the leg, with a, sudden, but 
silent jerk, pulls it Dunder water, dislocates 
the neck, and then crams it into his bag: 
the sudden disappearance of the bird, 
excites no alarm in the others, as they 
naturally ‘conclude that it was merely 
diving in sport: he goes on in this man- 
ner, until he fills bis bag, when he re- 
treats with the same caution he advanced, 
and carries his prize to the next station, 
to sell to the Europeans, as birds of every’ 
description are held m the utmost ab- 
horrence by the Hindus, as an artigle of 
and the Mahometans, hke the 
Jews. eat nothing but what has had its’ 
vital blood shed on the ground, ae a 
particular form of prayer repeated at th 
time. 1 did not much hke the appear- 
ange of the sky at sunset, and the Man- 
gee ‘was of opinion, it prognosticated a 
storm. I therefore had the boats well 
secured, and made every’ preparation to 
guard against a north-wester. Gur ep- 
prehensions were well-founded; for aboat 
nine o’clock, one of the most violent 
gales I ever experienced came an; it 
blew with irresistible violence, but the’ 
precautions we had previously "adopted, 
added to the secu: ity of our harbour, 
enabled us to weather it out ina very 
gallant manner; the violence of the gale’ 
did not Jast quite an hour, and it con- 
tinued gradually to abetee until a bout 
half after eleven o’clock, when the air 
became again perfectly serene. A con- 
fused uvoar a short distance to leeward, 
led me ‘to imagine some unfortunate tras 
veller had ‘been wrecked in the squawl 5 
I therefore detached my Harcarrah, and~ 
several Dandies to assist the sufferers, 
; The. ig 
