Page:Oriental Sketches Dramatic Sketches and Tales.pdf/269

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
260

wells by whomsoever dug (and the followers of both creeds are alike enjoined by the precepts of their religion to bequeath these, and similar benefits to posterity) are the indiscriminate resort of the true believers and the disciples of Brahma. In general some Hindoo Priest or Moosaulmaun Fakeer is established in the temples, which are usually built by the side of a Ghaut or Tank, deriving a frugal subsistence from the bounty of travellers and devotees, who leave a portion of grain or a small piece of money for his use. The shade of a grove of trees and the shelter of a Serai, whether planted or erected by Moosaulmaun or Hindoo, must be equally prized and frequented by both.


NOUR JUFFEIR KHAN.

There is scarcely an eminence on the Bundelkhund bank of the Jumna, between Allahabad and Etawah, the limit of my voyage, that does not present the remains of some fortified place. The country is supposed to be one of the strongest in the world, every hill being table land, and from the great height and steepness of all, forming natural fortresses. The excessive loneliness of the river, excepting in the close vicinity of Chilla Tarah Ghaut, and a few other populous places, affords a strong contrast to the gaiety of the passing scene on the Ganges: the number