Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/204

 she had said, and added that the secretary (an old woman) should write to remind her. 'The queen is a rapacious old woman, intriguing for her own son,' says Lady Amherst. On March 27, a farewell Darbár is held for the king's sons, the heir-apparent and nine others.

'It appears that the royal family has been so much delighted with its receptions and presents, that among other marks of approbation the heir-apparent proposed to change clothes with Lord Amherst, an honour which it required some ingenuity to escape. Also sixteen more of the king's sons and nine other of his relations wished for a Darbár all to themselves.'

Lord Amherst respectfully pleaded want of time; for the drum of departure was beating at the door of the Governor-General's tent. Towards the end of March, the heat in the dry plains of Northern India already becomes trying, and all through the brilliant progress, the cool heights of the Himalayas formed the goal to which the thoughts of the sad travellers were tending. The way now led through the less settled tracts on the borders of Ranjít Singh's realm.

One is more and more impressed, as one reads the diary, with the vastness of the tract which has to be traversed, its heat, its sameness. The dust is nearly intolerable, nor do the trays of jewels, the ceremonies and repetitions of ceremonies make it less trying. We read:

'Near a village in the neighbourhood of Rámgarh, we