Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/331

 innumerable meteors, descending like vivid streaks of fire. These continued for about half-an-hour, and one passed so near me as to frighten my horse.".

Nov. 22nd.—Two days ago there was an immense flight of locusts; we caught a great number. The natives turned out, and with hideous noises, waving flags and sticks, drove them from settling on their plantations.

The jamadar has just brought in a curious pigeon; it has four legs; the pair in front have four toes like all pigeons' feet, the other pair are placed behind, they are smaller, and each foot has only two toes; all the four legs hang down, after the fashion in which pigeons wear their legs.

What strange people these natives are! A traveller who came here this morning complained to my husband that his coachman and sā'īs had robbed and beaten him. The coachman said, "The traveller was going a short cut to the bazār by a road in your grounds you had ordered to be stopped; we turned him back, therefore we had a quarrel." The traveller, to spite them, hung himself on a tree opposite the stables, and was cut down by the guard. Natives are fond of hanging themselves for spite when they are sure of being cut down! It is better to let them please themselves, if you do they will seldom kill themselves in reality; a good caning in such circumstances would be of great service.

A man has brought a heron's plume for sale; the natives put them into jewelled ornaments on their turbans, called jika, and also on the heads of their horses. These feathers are extremely expensive in Paris; I was asked two hundred francs for a small plume.

The pine-apple shaped figure on the Cashmere shawls is the representation of the jewelled jika worn in front of the turban; the plume rises from it.

Speaking of the guard, who cut down the traveller who hung himself, I must remark, we had a guard of twelve sipahīs and a hawāldār; a sentry in front of the guard-room kept the time by striking the hours on a gong; non mi recordo, how I became possessed of the following scientific description of the Ghurī, which I insert on account of its excellence.