success; and if he wished for general and which we used to set out. A little before cordial aid, it must be procured by adher-sun-rise, people began to assemble at the ence to the present system, and by obtain- mosques to their morning devotions. After ing the consent of the nation. Thus the the hour of prayer, some few appeared Khauns would be sent, as they now are, to sweeping the streets before their doors, and persuade their tribes to contribute to the some great men were to be seen going to general revenue. They would find the their early attendance at Court. They people's ignorance of the national exigen- | were always on horseback, preceded by cies, a bar to their granting any addition from ten to twelve servants ou foot, who to the established supplies; and it surely walked pretty fast, but in perfect order, would not be an unnatural expedient to and silence: nothing was heard, but the prevail on them to depute one or two of the sound of their feet But, when we rewisest of their Mulliks, to ascertain at the turned, the streets were crowded with men court the real state of the public affairs. of all nations and languages, in every vaAn elective assembly would thus be formed, riety of dress and appearance. The shops of which every individual would be closely were all open. Dried fruits, and nuts, connected with his constituents, and would bread, meat, boots, shoes, saddlery, bales be regarded by them as their natural and of cloth, hardware, ready-made cloaths, hereditary head; they would represent a and posteens, books, &c. were either dispeople accustomed to respect their chiefs, played in tiers in frout of the shops, or but as much accustomed to debate on, and hung up on hooks from the roof. Amongst to approve or reject, the measures, which the handsomest shops were the fruiterers, those chiefs proposed. The militia of the (where apples, melons, plums, and even tribes would constitute an army which oranges, though these are rare at Pe would be invincible by a foreign invader, shawer, were mixed in piles with some of while the King would be without any the Indian fruits); and the cook-shops, force that could offer a moment's resist- where every thing was served in earthen ance to a general combination of his sub- dishes, painted and glazed, so as to look jects. like china. In the streets were people

crying greens, curds, &c., and men, carbacks, and announcing their commodity rying water in leathern bags at their

give a draught to a passenger for a trifling piece of money. With these were mixed, people of the town in white turbaus, some in large white or dark blue frocks, and others in sheep-skin cloaks; Persians and Afghauns, in brown woollen tunics, or

Such are the people of the country, of which the greater part are shepherds, and remove from place to place accord-by beating on a brazen cup, in which they ing to the seasons. The inhabitants of the towns are less favourably spoken of, and the courtiers have excited our author's strongest censure. They are accused of avarice and profligacy in various forms. Mr. E. did not, however, penetrate to the metropolis Caubul, but, meeting the King at Peshawer, that city was the furthest stage of his journey. The splendour of the King's appearauce, we need not repeat. The Envoy speaks very favourably of his Majesty's political talents, of his personal manners as a gentleman, and of his general integrity. These, therefore, we pass, to insert a part of Mr. E.'s description of the city and people of Peshawer.

The inhabitants of Peshawer are of Indian origin, but speak Pushtoo as well as Hindkee. There are, however, many other inhabitants of all nations; and the concourse is increased, during the King's visits to Peshawer. We had many opportunities of observing this assemblage in returning from our morning rides; and its effect was heightened by the stillness and solitude of the streets, at the early hour at VOL IV. No. 21. Lit. Pan. N. S. June 1.

owing mantles, and caps of black sheepskin or coloured silk; Khyberees, with the straw sandals, and the wild dress, and air of their mountains; Hindoos, uniting the peculiar features and manners of their own nation, to the long beard, and the dress of the country; and Hazaurehs, not more remarkable for their conical caps of skin, with the wool, appearing like a fringe round the edge, and for their broad faces, and little eyes, than for their want of the beard, which is the ornament of every other face in the city. Among these, might be discovered, a few women, with long white veils, that reached their feet, and some of the King's retinue, in the grotesque caps, and fantastic habits, which mark the class to which each belongs.-Sometimes a troop of armed horsemen passed, and their appearance was announced by the clatter of their horses hoofs on the pavement, and by the jingling of their bridles. Sometimes when the

P

King was going out, the streets were choaked with horse and foot, and dromedaries bearing swivels, and large waving red and green flags; and, at all times, loaded dromedaries, or heavy Bactrian camels, covered with shaggy hair, made their way slowly through the streets; and mules, fastened together in circles of eight or ten, were seen off the road, going round and round to cool them after their labour, while their keepers were indulging at an eating-house, or enjoying a smoke of a hired culleeaun in the street. Amidst all this throng, we generally passed without any notice, except a salaum alaikum from a passenger, accompanied by a bow, with the hands crossed in front, or an application from a beggar, who would call out for relief from the Feringee Khauns, admonish us that life was short, and the benefit of charity immortal, or remind us that what was little to us was a great deal

to him.

It sometimes happened, that we were descried by a boy from a window; and his shout of Ooph Feringee would bring all the women and children in the house to stare at us till we were ont of sight.

The roads in the country were seldom very full of people, though they were sometimes enlivened by a groupe of horsemen going out to forage, and listening to a Pushtoo or Persian song, which was shouted by one of their companions. It was common in the country to meet a man of the lower order with a hawk on his fist, and a pointer at his heels; and we frequently saw fowlers catching quails among the wheat, after the harvest was far enough advanced. A net was fastened at one corner of the field, two men held each an end of a rope stretched across the opposite corner, and dragged it forward, so as to shake all the wheat, and drive the quails before it into the net, which was dropped as soon as they entered. The numbers caught in this manner are almost incredible.

Nothing could exceed the civility of the country people. We were often invited into gardens, and we were welcomed in every village by almost every man that saw us. They frequently entreated the gentlemen of the embassy to allow them the honour of being their hosts; and, sometimes would lay hold of their bridles, and not permit them to pass till they had promised to breakfast with them on some future day, and even confirmed the proise, by putting their hands between theirs.

We have hinted at the change of seasons in Caubul. Nothing can be more

distressing, than the heat in some provinces, while in others, the cold equals that of Greenland. As the latter is the more remarkable, we shall chiefly attend to it. On entering the plain of Peshawer, February, 24, 1809, says. Mr. E. four ranges of mountains were distinctly seen on the north. The lowest range had no snow: the tops of the second range were covered with it, as was the third range half down. way

The fourth was the principal range of the Indian Caucasus, which is always covered with snow, is conspicuous from Bactria, and the borders of India, and is seen from places far off in Tartary. We first saw these mountains at the distance of one hundred miles; but, they would have been visible long before, if the view had not been shut out by the hills through which we travelled. In appearance, however, they were very near. The ridges and hollows of their sides were clearly discernable; and, this distinctness, joined to the softness and transparency which their distance gave them, produced a singular, and very pleasing effect.

The snowy range is by no means of equal elevation, being in some places, surmounted by peaks of great height and magnitude, which do not taper to a point, but rise at once from their bases, with amazing boldness and grandeur.

The stupendous height of these mountains; the magnificence and variety of their lofty summits; the various nations by whom they are seen, and who seem to be brought together by this common object; and the awful and undisturbed solitude, which reigns amidst their eternal snows;

The

fill the mind with admiration and astonishment, that no language can express. The height of one of these peaks was taken by Lieutenant Macartney, and appeared to be 20,493 feet. If this measurement be correct, the peaks of Hindoo Coosh are higher than those of the Andes. measurement made by Lieutenant Webb, in the eleventh volume of the Asiatic Researches, gives a still greater height to those of Hemalleh. The height of Hindoo Coosh, is undoubtedly very great, since we could perceive no diminution in the snow on any part of the range in the month of June, when the thermometer in the plain of Peshawer was at 118°.

The intervals between the lower ranges of mountains afford a profusion of European fruits and flowers: their sides are covered with forests of pine, oak, and wild olive: the vallies are wa

"the frame, notwithstanding which, the "Oostaud never mistakes the regularity of "the most figured patterns.

tered by clear and beautiful streams, and enjoy a most delicious climate. The province of Cashmire is inferior to none in this respect; and though it was not "The wages of the Oostaud (the em"ployer furnishing materials) are from six visited by any of the party, being then in rebellion, yet they obtained much infor-workmen, from one to four pice (a pice "to eight pice per day; of the common mation concerning it. As the productions of that province are in high esteem among the fashionables of our land, we insert the account given of the manufacture of that costly and elegant article, the shawl.

66

in Cashmeer is about three half-pence). "A merchant, entering largely into the "shawl trade, frequently engages a number "of shops, which he collects in a spot "under his eye; or he supplies the head "workmen with thread which has been previously spun by women and after"wards coloured, and they carry on the "manufacture at their own houses, having "previously received instructions from the "merchant respecting the quality of the goods he may require, their colours, pat"terns, &c.

The following is an extract from the report drawn up by Mr. Strachey, who made many enquiries on this subject, and who had some shawl stuffs made under his own inspection, of wool procured at Umritsir." The manufacturers were pioneers belonging to the embassy, and they worked in a "After the goods are completed, the common tent; yet they appeared to find "merchant carries them to the customno difficulty in their employment. “A "office, where each shawl is stamped, and "shop may be occupied with one shawl," he pays a certain duty, the amount of "provided it be a remarkably fine one," which is settled according to the quality "above a year, while other shops make "and value of the piece. The officer of "six or eight in the course of that period." the government generally fixes the value "Of the best and most worked kinds, not "beyond what the goods are really worth, "so much as a quarter of an inch is com- "The duty is at the rate of one fifth of the "pleted in one day, by three people, which "price. "is the usual number employed at most " of the shops. Shawls containing much "work are made in separate pieces at dif-" there is no market for unwashed shawls, "ferent shops, and it may be observed "and in Umritsir they are better washed "that it very rarely happens that the" and packed than in Cashmeer. "pieces, when completed, correspond in "those sent to the westward, many are worn unwashed.

size.

"Most shawls are exported unwashed, "and fresh from the loom. In India,

Of

"The wool of which the shawls are "made is imported from Tibet and Tar"tary, in which countries alone the goat "which produces it is said to thrive. That

"The shops consist of a frame work, at "which the persons employed sit on a "bench: their number is from two to four. “On plain shawls, two people alone are "employed, and a long narrow, but heavy" "shuttle is used; those of which the pat"tern is variegated, are worked with "wooden needles, there being a separate" "needle for the thread of each colour; "for the latter, no shuttle is required.— "The operation of their manufacture is of "course slow, proportionate to the quan"tity of work which their patterns may "require.

"The Oostaud, or head workman, su"perintends while his journeymen are em"ployed near him immediately under his "directions. If they have any new pat"tern in hand, or one with which they are "not familiar, he describes to them the "figures, colours, and threads which they “are to use, while he keeps before him the “pattern on which they happen to be em"ployed, drawn upon paper.

"During the operation of making, the “rough side of the shawl is uppermost on

which is brought from Rodauk is reckon"ed the best. Its price in Cashmeer is "from ten to twenty rupees for a turruk (which is supposed to be about twelve "pounds): the whitest sort is the dearest. "It would perhaps be difficult to deter"mine with accuracy the quantity of "shawls manufactured annually; suppos"ing, however, that five of all kinds are

on an average made at each shop or loom "in the course of a year, the number would "be eighty thousand, which is probably "not far from the truth."

Mr. E. mentions a carpet made of these valuable materials, estimated at more than ten thousand pounds.

But, it is time that we attend the Mission in its journey homewards. The return route was not the same as that taken in going, which had led over de sert plains of sand, little varied by

verdure, and less by fertility, yet not wholly destitute of towns and cities. The banks of the river, however, were diligently cultivated. In returning, the Mission pursued a route rendered classical, by having been that (or nearly) of Alexander the Great, when his wild ambition led him to India: but was stopped by the refusal of his troops to follow him.

and from travellers, of various descriptions, who visited India: this he has combined with remarks obtained from the Gentlemen who accompanied him; and the whole forms an orderly, and even systematic work, beyond what could have been expected. A number of engravings, representing the people, and their dresses, are very properly introduced; and the whole is illustrated by appropriate maps.

Whether much intercourse is likely to take place between the British dominions in India, and the kingdom of Caubul, we are not able to say; but we can safely say, that this volume contains by far the most complete account of the countries between Hindostan and Persia that we are acquainted with; and that,

has laid the Company, in whose service he is, with the Nation to which he belongs, under no trivial or ordinary obligations.

Few traces of Alexander's expedition remain: yet Mr. E. presents a view of one building, which the gentlemen of his suite unanimously ascribed to Grecian Architecture; and which, certainly, is neither Persian nor Indian. The crossing of the rivers, the Indus, and those of the Punjaub, known to scholars as the Hydaspes, the Arcesines, the Hydraotes, the Hyphasis, and the Hysudrus, af-in composing it, the honourable Author fords much interest; nor is it diminished by the character and manners of the Seicks, a nation that has rapidly risen to power; through much of whose country the Mission passed in its way from Attock to Delhi. They are a people equally formidable and fanatic, and their priests excited an attack on the strangers, because they were Christians; an instance of inhospitality, nothing like which had occurred among the Afghauns: Indeed, Mr. E. speaks rather favourably of the disposition of this people towards Christians. But, these, with many other particulars, we

must leave untouched.

The Second Usurpation of Buonaparte; or a History of the Revolution in France in 1815, particularly of the Victory of Waterloo, &c. By E. Boyce, 2 vols. 8vo. price 11. 4s. Leigh. London. 1816.

MR. BOYCE is the translator of La

baume's Campaign in Russia, one of the most impressive volumes produced by the press and he claims advantages During its progress, several parties in favour of the present work, from from the Mission endeavoured to pene- that circumstance, and from communitrate to remarkable objects on either side cations with which he has been favoured of it's route, at some distance; one by "those who shared in the honour of party, to the mountains of Soleimaun, the day of Waterloo." We are desirous which they did not reach; another, en- of doing justice to his talents; but, we deavoured to ascertain the ruins of incline to think that his political inforTaxila, but without success. The Ap-mation has not been greatly increased pendix contains, besides a History of the Caubul Government, from the foundation of the Dooraunee monarchy, a narrative of a Mr. Durie, a wanderer of a lower class, and a peculiar kind, who, nevertheless, adds to our knowledge of the middling and lower classes, in Afghaunistau. He penetrated to Caubul, to Guznee, and other places, in the interior of the country. Much information was obtained by Mr. E. after his return, from natives of the country,

by confidential communication from any who were thoroughly acquainted with the internal state of France. His work should have begun earlier than it does, either in the Preface, or by an Introduction: for, the causes of Buonaparte's second usurpation were in activity, before "the King of France, in the spring of 1814, entered his Capital."

The remonstrances of the English minister against the selection of Elba for the residence of Buonaparte, plainly