Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/190

182 scholarlike tastes, and, though a wine-bibber and self-indulgent, had a certain amount of statesmanlike shrewdness. His kingdom, however, by no particular fault of his own, was the rallying-ground of the adventurers and bravos whom the Pax Britannica had thrown out of their regular employment; and the turbulence of some of the landowners, whose lands lay along the British border, had brought a bad name upon the country and subjected the ruler to the suspicion of incompetence. On the whole, however, he was able to satisfy the Governor-General that the charges were unjust. Cultivation was general, and there was no complaint of excessive severity in the assessments. The same could not perhaps be said of all the British provinces. He had, in addition, some very persuasive means of soothing the anxieties of the conscientious but impecunious John Company. In 1825 and 1826 he had advanced from the treasures in his vaults a sum of one million and a half to the Calcutta Government. His death, which occurred in the October following the Governor-General's visit, put an end to the particular cycle of complaints and intrigues that circled round him.

On Jan. 8, 1827, the party arrives at Agra. Lady Amherst describes the beautiful bridges, the ghauts, the groves of fruit trees, the Táj. As usual, Lord Amherst holds a Levee. Sindhia, whose health has been declining for some time, writes to say how anxious he is to come, but is compelled to send Hindu Ráo, his brother-in-law, in his place, and he is duly