Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/465

Rh Strange indeed, but beneficial in the highest degree, is the sudden change at last effected at Baroda, where the boy lately placed on the throne is now surrounded by European tutors and educational appliances, while the administration of his territory is properly provided for. Faulty, however, must be the system under which a change so urgently and notoriously required could be so long delayed. Ten years ago the Bombay newspapers, M. Rousselet says, saw in the guicwar's proceedings "a manifestation of his madness, and urged the British government to undertake the supervision of the affairs of Goojerat." The official argument hitherto has been, and we fear still is, that no general rules can be laid down, and that each native state must be separately dealt with according to the circumstances that arise, and the character of the ruler. We are satisfied that this argument will not bear examination; we know how the theory has worked at Baroda; we can find no reasonable grounds for believing that it cannot so work elsewhere; and we entertain a strong conviction that there ought to be little difficulty in framing and enforcing general rules quite sufficient to secure the one all-important object—to check native maladministration long before it becomes intolerable.

The remains of Dubhoee, a place of great antiquity, about seventeen miles from Baroda, are described as containing some magnificent monuments, the finest, probably, throughout Goojerat. The ramparts, running entirely round the town for a distance of two miles, are built of enormous blocks of stone, beautifully fitted together, rising some fifty feet above the ground, and are decorated with broad bands of sculpture, representing animated scenes, and with ornaments so complicated, "that neither pen nor pencil can give any idea of them." One of the gates, called the Hira Durwaza, or Gate of Diamonds, an immense edifice, more than one hundred yards in length, and sixty in height, and entirely covered with admirable bas-reliefs, is of extraordinary beauty. It may be said that the illustrations which form so valuable a portion of M. Rousselet's work are due to this visit, for at Dubhoee he bitterly felt his inability to reproduce by photography "these generally unknown masterpieces," and he acquired the art almost immediately afterwards, on his return to Baroda.

Ahmenabad, "the ancient capital of the sultans," was reached early in December, and thence were visited the splendid ruins at Sirkhej, the tombs of the queens, the palace and harem of the emperor Ahmed, the mausoleum of Shah Allum, and "the other interesting remains of Mahomedan greatness." At this time M. Rousselet narrowly escaped being involved in very serious difficulty, owing to his having inadvertently shot several peacocks, birds there considered sacred. On the 19th December the party, now consisting of twenty-three armed men, commenced their march through the Bheel country, and were, on the whole, very well treated by the wild and predatory Bheels. Christmas-day was, however, one of great anxiety; a passing Bheel, held to be wanting in respect, in not returning the salutes addressed to him, was beaten by one of the party, and deprived of his bow and arrows. In a few minutes the place swarmed with armed Bheels, indignant at this treatment of one of their tribe, and a conflict seemed inevitable. A lucky accident, however, enabled M. Rousselet to effect an amicable settlement; the bow and arrows were returned, their seizure was apologized for, and hostilities were averted. The next day the British outstation of Khairwarra was reached, and there the travellers were hospitably entertained by the officer commanding, Major Mackenzie. The forward march was through gorges, ravines, and defiles so wild and rugged that the beasts of burden could barely make their way. At last, however, a charming valley was reached, and here stood a group of Jaïn temples of singular beauty, built throughout of white marble, which had acquired through age a yellowish tint, and looked like carved ivory—magnificent but solitary relics of the efforts to convert and civilize the inhabitants of these regions made by the Jaïn missionaries. The travellers' approach to Oudeypoor, the capital of Meywar, was hailed with joy by all. The men of the escort shouted and danced, while M. Rousselet "stood in ecstasy, gazing at the sublime panorama spread out" at his feet. No description can, he says, convey the marvellous effect of that scene, and of the appearance of the town, which is well-named Oudeypoor, or the City of the Rising Sun.

It resembled one of the fairy cities in the "Arabian Nights." In the foreground, a long line of forts, pagodas, and palaces stood out from a background of gardens, above which appeared the town, a fantastic assemblage of bell-turrets, towers, and kiosks, built up the side of a pyramidical hill, on the summit of which was an immense palace of white marble, which contrasted finely with the dark blue of