Page:The lives of celebrated travellers (Volume 1).djvu/234

 those illustrious men to be centred in his own person. A Brahmin whom he recommended to the khan out-*did them all; for, upon his first introduction to his master, after having compared him to the greatest kings and conquerors that ever reigned, he concluded by gravely observing, "My lord, whenever you put your foot in the stirrup, and ride abroad accompanied by your cavalry, the earth trembles beneath your feet, the eight elephants which support it not being able to endure so great an exertion!" Upon this, Bernier, who could no longer restrain his disposition to laugh, remarked to the khan, that since this was the case, it was advisable that he should ride as seldom as possible on horseback, in order to prevent those earthquakes, which might, perhaps, occasion much mischief. "You are perfectly right," replied Danekmend, with a smile, "and it is for that very reason that I generally go abroad in a palanquin!"

In the year 1666, while Bernier was still at Delhi, there happened an eclipse of the sun, which was attended by so many curious circumstances that, should he have lived for ages, he declares it never could have been obliterated from his memory. A little before the obscuration commenced, he ascended to the roof of his house, which, standing on the margin of the Jumna, commanded a full view of the stream, and of the surrounding plain. Both sides of the river for nearly a league were covered with Hindoos of both sexes, standing up to the waist in the water, anxiously awaiting for the commencement of the phenomenon, in order to plunge into the river and bathe their bodies at the auspicious moment. The children, both male and female, were as naked as at the moment of their birth—the women wore a single covering of muslin—the men a slight girdle, or cummerbund, about the waist. The rajahs, nobles, and rich merchants, however, who, for the most part, had crossed the