Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/206

suppressed in our dominions, for the magistrates refuse to grant licences .... Sindhia did not expect either of his wives should sacrifice themselves, and it is hoped this will have put the savage custom out of fashion.' Ranjít Singh, Lady Amherst also tells us, is ill, and has sent for an English doctor, but fearing poison he tries all his medicine first on his own retainers. Lady Amherst adds that Lord Amherst, 'who looked like a skeleton when he started, is now in good health.'

There is the account of a curious custom of the Hill folk, that of putting infants as soon as they are born under a cascade, for the water to drop upon their heads, while their bodies are wrapped in flannel. This is thought to be a specific against fevers. 'As soon as the infant is put under a rill of water it falls into a profound sleep. I mean to witness this curious operation at the first opportunity.' At Subáthu Lord Amherst received some Hill chiefs: eighteen came, all very poor, and proud as poor.

'One Rájá, more powerful than the others and more wealthy, resolved to go down to Calcutta to learn English habits, customs, and language. He acquired a little smattering of English and adopted among other manners that of walking out with his wife leaning upon his arm. This made such a sensation in his own State that his subjects all rose up in open rebellion against him. To restore tranquillity he was obliged to renounce his English manners.

'Captain Newton, who accompanied us, told us various stories of the extraordinary bravery of the Gúrkhas, who defeated the English repeatedly before we succeeded in conquering their country. The children are without cover-