My royal friend has an unaccountable taste. What can I think of a
king so passionately fond of chasing unprofitable quadrupeds? “Here
runs an antelope! There goes a bear!” Such is our only conversation.
Even at noon, in excessive heat, when not a tree in the forest has
a shadow under it, we must be skipping and prancing about like the
beasts whom we follow. Are we thirsty? we have nothing to drink but
the waters of mountain-torrents, which taste of burned stones and
maukish leaves. Are we hungry? We must greedily devour lean venison,
and that commonly rosted to a stick. Have I a moment’s repose at
night? My slumber is disturbed by the din of horses and elephants,
or by the sons of slave-girls hallooing out, “More venison, more
venison!” Then comes a cry that pierces my ear, “Away, to the forest,
away!”
SACONTALA.
The emperor set out for Cashmere in high spirits. The war he looked
upon as substantially terminated in his favour; the great object
he had now to obtain of a political nature, was the capture of the
rebellious prince; until that was accomplished, he could not be at ease
upon his throne, inasmuch as if the prince were to remain at large, he
would, no doubt, always find the means of exciting the spirit of revolt
in one or more of the remote provinces of the empire.
The country between Lahore and Cashmere may be said to present almost
a level surface, to the very foot of the mountains within which the
latter district is situated. Here and there tracts of forest afford to
the traveller a temporary protection from the heat of the sun, which
shines down upon all that immense plain with a degree of intensity not
experienced in any other part of Hindostan. The rivers are numerous by
which it is intersected; but they flow in such imperceptible currents,
spreading frequently into large lakes when swollen by the melting of
the snows on the mountains, and then leaving behind them marshes, which
speedily become jungles, that the roads most frequented in one year,
are the succeeding year scarcely to be distinguished. The march of an
army over such a plain as that, is necessarily attended with numerous
difficulties. Hemmed in, moreover, along its whole northern border
by an abrupt chain of rocks, rising like a mural boundary almost to
the sky, its atmosphere traversed by no refreshing breezes, and when
disturbed, varied only by winds hotter even than the simoom of the
desert, it scarcely permits to man or beast the power of breathing, or
of moving, without great pain.
The emperor, therefore, leaving his elephants at Lahore, mounted the
fleetest of his Arabian hunters, and attended by Auzeem, and a small
escort of his household guard, confided himself to the care of guides,
resolved to journey chiefly by night, and to pursue the shortest route
which could be found practicable to the nearest range of the mountains.
Once arrived on the rising grounds, they could travel at their ease
by circuitous paths into Cashmere, sporting on the way, or resting
among the cooler regions of the Himalahs, until the whole army should
overtake them. Bochari, as commander of the forces, could not abandon
them to the control of any inferior officer, upon such an occasion. But
he had full authority from the emperor to consult his own and their
convenience in every possible way, resting in the forests, making short
marches during the night, and keeping as nearly as a reasonable degree
of expedition could allow them, to the banks of the rivers, that they
might, under no circumstances, be out of the reach of the vital element.
Jehangire took also with him his dogs and hunting leopards, his falcons
and fowling-pieces, not forgetting his celebrated gun Droostandaz,
that never missed any object at which he aimed it. It was of Damascus
manufacture, the barrel exquisitely formed within and without,
exhibiting, near the extreme end, a small but exceedingly bright
diamond, as a point for directing the sight, and along its sides,
curiously inscribed in gold, a series of hieroglyphic characters, which
were said to bestow upon it the virtues it possessed. The barrel was
set in a stock of ebony, cut from a tree that had grown in the garden
of Eden. It was inlaid with pearls white as the snow, and with emeralds
and rubies of great price. Droostandaz was always kept in a silver
case, lined with purple velvet, except when the emperor wished to use
it. Such was the veneration in which this gun was held, that it was a
rule with Jehangire to discharge it on the first day of every month,
and this discharge was immediately followed by the whole train, from
the highest dignitary to the lowest stipendiary enrolled in the service
of the state, whether cannoneer or matchlock-man, who happened to be at
the time within the reach of its report.
A few nights’ hard riding, under the direction of guides perfectly
conversant with the country, enabled the imperial party to pass
the more oppressive part of the plain, and to gain the eminences
leading to the mountains, of which they speedily became sensible by
the fresher air which they began to breathe. Here they reposed for
a while, enjoying the breezes that came down, wafted on the surface
of many a merry stream, and which, after the furnace they had just
gone through, they found peculiarly delicious. As they ascended the
mountains they met, from day to day, with game in abundance--antelopes,
deer, quails, grey and black partridges, wild ducks and teal, which
they did not disdain to dress for themselves, when they happened to be
near no hamlet, where persons could be found to perform that office for
them. On these occasions, Auzeem took an active part in the culinary
functions, in which he displayed no common skill. The emperor found a
new pleasure in affording him assistance. The produce of the morning’s
sport, in which Droostandaz maintained its celebrity, was distributed
at noon; a shady ravine was then fixed upon, to which brambles, and
other dried wood, was brought by some of the escort; fires were
lighted; the birds were divested of their feathers; the deer, if any
had been taken, were cut up into fragments; and both were stretched
on spikes of the arbutus, which grows in abundance on those heights.
The spikes being then placed round the fires, were carefully turned
round, until the viands, whose savoury odours filled the atmosphere
with a fragrance peculiarly welcome to the sense of mountain sportsmen,
were fully roasted, when the whole party sat in circles, without any
ceremonies of precedence, and enjoyed the meal they had procured with
their own hands. The sparkling streams falling near them were their
only drink, and although Auzeem, as well as his imperial companion,
were of opinion that the spring would have been improved, if it could
be made to blush a little with a flask of Cabul wine, nevertheless,
they both agreed, that the game of the Himalahs was the most delicious
they had ever tasted.
Having had no occasion to ascend to the upper ranges of the country, in
pursuit of sport, the hunting party roved through a charming climate.
Valleys and gentle declivities, carpeted with thymy herbage, opened
passages for them around the bases of bold mountains, whose summits
were crowned with perpetual snow. They seldom, failed towards night,
to discover huts of shepherds, or clusters of habitations belonging
to villagers, where, though unknown, they were received with the
greatest hospitality. Mats were stretched on the floor, and covered
with sheep-skins, on which they slept; in the morning, the new milk of
cows and goats was presented to them in wooden bowls, with cakes baked
upon the embers of the cedar, and cream-cheese, fresh from the hand of
the fair manufacturer, and spread upon a couch of green reeds, newly
plucked from the neighbouring stream. These simple luxuries, enjoyed
in the pure air of morning, beneath a sky of transparent azure, amid
the music of waterfalls and gentle breezes, and myriads of birds,
imparted new life to Jehangire, and taught him how irreparable were the
privations of those sons of fortune, whom soft cushions, and nocturnal
indulgences, and habits engendered by artificial wants, detained at
such hours beneath the gilded roofs of their palaces.
Nor did he disdain, when, towards evening, no sign of human dwelling
was observable, to assist his companions in cutting down wood and
erecting rude huts, beneath which, if the night were cold, they found
an agreeable shelter. But if the moon silvered the sky and the valley,
and the plane or cedar offered its friendly shade, and the softened
genial breeze just stirred the foliage with that sweet murmur, so
friendly to sleep, he preferred the couch thus prepared for him by
nature, surrounded by his beagles and hunting leopards, who formed
a night-guard, not unworthy even of the Emperor of Hindostan, so
beautiful did those noble animals appear when wrapped in slumbers, from
which the slightest sound of his voice would have aroused them, had he
had occasion for their services.
The enjoyments of the party were sometimes varied by fishing, when
they reached the more copious torrents which tumbled from the rocks
above them. Here they amused themselves by fabricating baskets from
the willows, or reeds, or such other materials as the place afforded.
Placing themselves near the midst of the stream, and holding their
baskets firmly beneath the rush of the waters, they soon received whole
clusters of the red and silver mullet, the carp, the trout, and pike,
and chard, whose efforts to escape, by leaping from the toils in which
they were caught, and by slipping through hands unaccustomed to deal
with such prey, afforded cause for many blithesome bursts of laughter.
But the more awkward fishermen were not without their revenge, when,
the fires being lighted, they beheld the scales lately so polished and
evasive, assume a deep rich brown, and inhaling from the cheerful blaze
the incense of the smoking captives, prepared for the feast which they
were about to enjoy with hearty appetites.
While thus roaming among the hills, Auzeem, by the emperor’s desire,
issued strict orders that his real character should on no account be
mentioned by any of his suite; that they should be represented simply
as a party of idlers, in search of sport, and that no appearance of
state observance, or homage, should indicate to strangers the presence
of any person above the ordinary station of cavaliers.
In order to preserve his assumed character, Jehangire exchanged his
jewelled turban, his flowered satin pelisse, his cincture of Persian
gold cloth, his vest of brocade, and his trowsers of white silk, for
the plain attire of a hunter, consisting of a linen vest and trowsers
bound at the waist by a shawl, a light green cloth pelisse, and round
cap, covered with the yellow fur of the flying squirrel, which Auzeem
succeeded in procuring for him at one of the villages they had visited
in the course of their excursions.
One afternoon, as the lengthening shadows of the poplars, and the
golden reflection of the sunbeams upon the mountains, whose snowy peaks
were already putting on their mantles of purple, warned Jehangire and
his companions that it was time to look out for a resting-place for the
night, they were about to establish themselves upon the margin of a
river, which ran under a beetling rock, covered with ivy and clematis
in full flower, when the quick ear of Auzeem detected the sound of a
distant drum. Bending down to the surface of the water, he listened
more attentively, and being assured that he was not mistaken, and that
the drum was occasionally aided by some other instrument, he informed
the emperor of his discovery, at the same time proposing that they
should go on alone to trace the sounds to their source. They had not
gone far up the stream, when they satisfied themselves that they were
approaching some scene of rustic rejoicing, as shouts of mirth came
upon the breeze, mingled with the music of the pipe and tambourine,
to whose music dancers were keeping time. The river, suddenly winding
through a small defile, led them to a green valley, completely circled
by rocks, where they beheld a numerous group of peasants and shepherds,
assembled round the stump of an oak tree, on which the musicians
were elevated. Youths and maidens, clothed in white linen tunics and
trowsers, their heads bound with wreaths of natural flowers, were
engaged dancing in a circle, sometimes holding each other by the hand,
sometimes separating and chasing each other under an arch of fresh
branches, evidently just erected for the purpose. Then gathering round
a pole, which was decorated with gay ribands, intermingled with white
and yellow roses, they sang a hymeneal song, inviting to the scene of
their festivity two lovers whose union, they said, they were assembled
to celebrate. The lovers were hid in a neighbouring cave, but upon the
conclusion of the song they came forth hand in hand, vested in bridal
garments. A venerable ancient, whose hair flowed on his shoulders like
fine filaments of burnished silver, pronounced a blessing upon the
blushing pair, as they knelt before him, and the nuptial ceremony being
then concluded, the song and the dance were resumed round the pole, the
newly married couple joining in the general mirth with the most artless
cordiality.
Jehangire, delighted with this picture of rural enjoyment, felt happy
that he could become one of the party, without any fear of his rank
being detected. The moment the two strangers made their appearance,
they were hailed as friends, and presented with curdled milk, parched
wheat, cakes, oranges, and sweet lemons, with portions of their green
branches still appendant to them. Two of the prettiest shepherdesses in
the assembly then selected them for their partners in the next dance,
in which they joined with infinite glee, endeavouring, as well as their
disciplined limbs could permit them, to imitate the heavy step and the
swaggering jumping gait of their male rivals in the scene.
An interval of breathing-time allowed Auzeem to observe, that in the
place in which this happy meeting was held, no fewer than seven crystal
brooks formed a junction. The streams descended from the declivities
of the hills, and singing on their way through trees, and over verdant
dells, and naked rocks, united in the centre of the valley. Thence
flowing away in one full river, their varied sounds were hushed into
a low murmur of sweet content, as if each had felicitated itself upon
succeeding in the attainment of an object necessary to the perfection
of its happiness. An aged man, to whom he expressed the idea thus
presented to his mind, explained that it was for this reason--the
meeting of the seven streams, and the joy their music inspired--the
valley was usually chosen for the celebration of the nuptials of the
peasantry of the district.
In the course of the evening, while all were seated on the turf,
partaking of the simple refreshments that had been provided for
them, two sturdy looking boors arose, and placing themselves before
Jehangire, asked him what birds he should wish to see or to hear
upon the trees around them? The monarch, astonished at the question,
replied, that he would be well-pleased if he could hear the blue
thrush of the Himalahs, whose song he understood to be enchanting,
though it had never yet met his ear. The boors said that the haunt of
those thrushes was at some distance from the valley where they then
were, and, therefore, that it would require a little time to get the
songsters to come to their command, but that they would do the best
they could. Ascending one of the rocks, the two men uttered a united
call, whose shrillness, at first, pierced the sky, but as it was
continued, it softened gradually into a voice of melody, quivering on
the air, answered repeatedly by echoes still more musical, until the
whole atmosphere seemed busy in repeating and modulating the sounds.
Just as they died away, a flight of birds became perceptible at the
verge of the horizon. In a few minutes they were perched upon one of
the neighbouring trees, whence, after a momentary pause, they poured
forth a full tide of notes, the wildest, the most varied, the most
captivating, which even the travelled Auzeem had ever heard from glade
or forest. Their azure backs, their wings tipped with Indian ink, and
their breasts of a deep autumnal yellow, characterised them as beyond
all doubt the identical species of birds which the monarch had desired
to behold. The beauteous creatures, being dismissed from their task of
obedience, winged their way back again to their distant homes with the
joy of exiles, who are permitted, after a long absence, to bend their
steps towards the land of their birth.
The next choice was offered to Auzeem, who said, that as he was not
particular, he would be contented to renew an acquaintance he had once
formed with a colony of rawils[1]--the pleasantest set of feathered
fellows it had been his fortune to have yet encountered. The boors,
looking knowingly at Auzeem, and at each other, returned to the rocks
they had before ascended, and each placing his fore-finger, bent nearly
double, in his mouth, uttered a whistle, which, after a pause, seemed
to have been answered from an immense distance. They then beckoned
with their hands, as if summoning in the direction where they stood,
a little speck of cloud, scarcely visible, near the highest ridges
of the mountains; it came on, however, rapidly, subservient to their
mandate, enlarging as it approached, until separating into fragments,
it resolved itself into a troop of above a hundred birds, who took
possession of a large mulberry-tree that overlooked the valley.
There was something so grotesque in their appearance, the plumage of
the back, wings, and tail being of a dun brown, while their heads,
surmounted by elevated crests, and their throats and breasts looked
as if they had been powdered with flour by some mischievous boy, that
Jehangire could not help laughing at the odd choice Auzeem had made.
[1] Laughing crows.
The emotion of the monarch was taken up immediately by the new visitors
as a sort of personal rudeness. They bandied it about from one to
another, as if asking, “Did you ever hear such a thing?” until one of
the elder rawils, who looked more cunning than the rest, seemed to say,
“The man surely must be tipsy:” when up rose a shout of laughter from
the mulberry-tree, as if not only each bird, but each particular
leaf upon every one of its branches were endowed with the faculty
of turning the “sovereign splendour of the faith” into ridicule.
Jehangire was astonished beyond measure. The old bird, not content with
this retaliation, waited quietly until the noise somewhat subsided,
when with his--“Laugh at us, indeed,--the squirrel!” or sounds which
Jehangire could have sworn to be those words--alluding, he supposed,
to his cap--the peal was renewed again and again until the emperor,
Auzeem, the whole nuptial assembly, and the very boors themselves,
joined in the merry chorus, jumping about, and holding their sides, and
rolling on the earth, as if the joyous visitation were never to have an
end.
This was not all. The leader of the band, determined on an ample
measure of revenge, hopped down deliberately upon the ground before
Jehangire, and looking up in his face, turned rapidly round on one leg,
cocked up his tail, and enriching the earth with spoils, for which the
“Safeguard of the world” was little prepared, again gave the signal
of mirth. It was answered by the whole century of scaramouches, who,
perching on the rocks, had the impudence to revile the Padishah with
all the indignity that could be concentrated in halloos and groans,
intermingled with ebullitions of laughter tuned to every note of the
ascending and descending scale of the gamut.
Auzeem at length cried out, as well as his aching sides allowed him,
that they must all expire, unless the rawils were sent away. His
request was attended to, as soon as the boors could recover their power
of speech, and the valley, once more resuming the soothing songs of its
seven streams, the assembly gradually separated, not, however, before
abundant arrangements were made for the hospitable entertainment of the
two strangers and their companions, as long as they might choose to
remain in that part of the country.