robe, which merely exposed her small feet, covered with gold-embroidered slippers; there a mother with her child on a camel; children on ponies, fondling a cat or a dog, or watching pigeons and fowls in baskets; fettered game-cocks and fighting rams; men, women, and children in the strangest costumes; Afghan chiefs with their families; merchants and servants of the most diverse nations and professions, flocks of sheep and goats, and waggons drawn slowly by oxen.

The passage of this motley train of one brigade, across both the bridges lasted full four hours! We were never tired of looking at this diminutive emigration of the nations, and remained nearly an hour longer lost in contemplation and reflection. We afterwards assembled at breakfast, in a tent, pitched near one of the bridges, where these varied scenes were again brought before us.

In the evening the Governor General gave a most splendid entertainment in his tent to the valiant defenders of Jellalabad, and, according to the English fashion, there was no lack of fine speeches and toasts. Lady Sale was present at this feast: she has passed nearly the whole of her life in India, and is a soldier's wife in every sense of the word; but she has the appearance of a worthy matron rather than of the bold determined heroine of the day.

his corps on the was, of course, much evening before it

General Pollock defiled with following day; his baggage train more considerable, and it was reached the camp. Of the cannon which the troops captured at the storming of the Bala-Hissar of Cabool, the Indian government has committed to my charge a large nine-pounder cast under Dost Ma

homet, for his Majesty the King of Prussia.* The gun will travel by the Indus to Bombay, whence it will be sent by the first opportunity to Europe.

General Nott crossed the Sutlej with his corps on the 23d of December, the anniversary of the murder of Sir William M'Naughten. He brought with him the famous sandle-wood gates of Somnauth, which were covered with red cloth, embroidered with gold, and drawn by twenty-four oxen. It is said that Mahmood the Ghuznevide took these gates with him to Ghuznee, when he destroyed the temple of Somnauth, in 1025; but this splendid Hindoo temple, to which they are to be restored, retains scarcely a trace of its former magnificence, and its remains have been converted into a mosque. The Maharaja, Shere Singh, had not only sent a body guard to receive the gates on British territory, but had given a present of a sum of money to the escort. When I went to examine the gates more closely the next day, I found a number of

* 66

Camp, Ferozpoor, Dec. 19. 1842. "The Governor General of India requests L. von Orlich will have the goodness to take measures for the conveyance to Berlin of one of the Afghan guns, brought by the British army from the Bala-Hissar of Cabool, and to express to his Majesty the King of Prussia the earnest hope of the government of India that his Majesty will be pleased to accept the gun as an acknowledgment of his Majesty's friendship for the British nation, and of the gratifying mark of that friendship which his Majesty has given in sending Captain Von Orlich to serve with the British army in Afghanistan.1

"Capt. L. Von Orlich, of his Majesty's Guards."

1 This gun was forwarded to Bombay, through the kindness of Major Fraser, but had not reached its destination in October, 1844.

Brahmins, strewing flowers upon them, who assured me there was not the slightest doubt that they were genuine. They are most skilfully carved with stars and arabesques, and bordered with Kufic characters, but unfortunately the gates are so much injured, that scarcely the half of the beautiful work has been preserved.*

* So much interest has been excited by the circumstances relative to these celebrated gates, that the reader will doubtless be gratified by the following extract from the Archæologia, vol. xxx. 1844 :

"Letter from C. J. Richardson, Esq., F. S. A. to Sir Henry Ellis, K. H., F. R. S., Secretary, accompanying a drawing, with details of the sandal-wood gates of Somnauth.

"I have the honour of laying before the Society of Antiquaries a drawing of the celebrated sandal-wood gates of Somnauth: it has been made from some elaborate sketches taken by Lieut.-Col. Luard, in the camp of Loodiana, in January last. Independently of the historical interest which these gates possess, they merit consideration from the beauty of their design and execution, proving the high state of art among the Hindoos at the remote period of their construction: they are probably one thousand years old.

"The temple of Somnauth in Guzerat was considered by the Hindoos as the holiest in India, and it was frequented,' says Vigne, quoting Ferishta, 'in the time of the eclipses by from 200,000 to 300,000 people.' The idol was supplied twice daily, with fresh water from the Ganges, though that river was about a thousand miles distant. The temple is described as being a superb edifice, built of hewn stone, its lofty roof supported by fifty-six pillars, curiously carved, and set with precious stones. In the centre of the hall was the great idol Somnauth, a stone figure five yards in height, two of which were sunk in the ground.

"The temple was destroyed by Mahmood of Ghuzni, A.D. 1025. He ordered two pieces of the idol to be broken off, and sent to Ghuzni, that one might be laid at the threshold of the principal mosque, and the other at the gate of his own palace. These identical fragments are mentioned by Mr. Vigne, who visited Ghuzni in 1836, as still to be seen there. Two more fragments VOL. I.

During the night both the bridges were destroyed either by the swelling of the river, or, as was generally suspected, by the unhappy Sikhs who are hovering about. From this day there were 53,000 men in arms, and above 100,000 servants of all descriptions

were reserved to be sent to Mecca and Medina. It is a wellauthenticated fact, that when Mahmood was employed in destroying the idol, a crowd of Brahmins petitioned his attendants, and offered a quantity of gold if the king would desist from further mutilation. His officers endeavoured to persuade him to accept of the money; for they said that breaking one idol would not do away with idolatry altogether, but that such a sum given in charity among true believers would be a meritorious act. The king acknowledged there might be reason in what they said, but replied, if he should consent to such a measure his name would be handed down to posterity as 'Mahmood, the idol-seller,' whereas he was desirous of being known as 'Mahmood, the destroyer of idols' he therefore directed the troops to proceed in their work. The next blow broke open the body of the statue, which was hollow, and discovered a quantity of diamonds, rubies, and pearls, of much greater value than the amount of money offered by the Brahmins.

"After the destruction of the temple, the gates were carried by Mahmood to Ghuzni, where for 800 years they adorned the entrance to his tomb. In October, 1842, they were removed and carried away by Major-General Nott, and crossed the Sutlej with the army on the 23d December; and Lieutenant-Colonel Luard, who writes January 17th, says, 'They are now moving in procession, to be restored to the temple of Somnauth.'

"The gates are eleven feet in height and nine feet in width; the upper portion is still perfect. Surrounding them is the doorcase, torn from the tomb of Mahmood. On this portion is an inscription in the Kufic character, which may be thus translated:

In the name of the merciful and compassionate God, there is mercy from the habitation of God for the most illustrious Ameer and Surdar (whose ancestors were kings), the right hand of the state, the defender of the faith, and the father of Casim Mahmood, son of Subuktugeen may the merciful God be with him, and if God have pardoned, there is mercy for him!""

in the camp: thousands, however, were laid up with the cholera, small-pox, and fevers. Independently of this, Ferozpoor and its environs were incapable of supplying provisions for the countless multitude of elephants, camels, horses, oxen, and mules, so that nearly 200 of these animals perished in a day; and, on the road leading to Lodiana, twenty dead camels might be seen lying in one spot, infecting the air to an immense distance.

In the distinguished society which surrounded me, I had frequent opportunities of coming into contact with many eminent men, among whom I was particularly interested with Generals Pollock, Nott, and Sale. General Nott reminded me, in his personal appearance, of a French marshal of the school of Napoleon. I am indebted to him for many interesting communications respecting the war in Afghanistan. Equally instructive was the acquaintance of several highly accomplished statesmen; for instance, Mr. Maddock of the Supreme Council, and Mr. George Clarke. Both have lived in such important spheres of action, and have rendered such eminent services to their country, that I scarcely know whether most to admire their unassuming manner, or their deep penetration and correct conception of all existing relations.

I have also had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Captain Boileau, who superintends the Magnetic Observatory at Simla. He entirely coincides with you respecting the snow-line on the Himalaya, namely, that it extends lower on the southern declivity than on the northern. I have proposed to him to open a correspondence with you, since no one can have a stronger claim to be informed of the latest discoveries

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