A t t a r of
„Roses.
I nventress
will laft the life o f the wearer; nor like the Taliacotian, need
he fear,
That when the date of Nock is out,
The drop of fympathetic fnout.
A f t e r this fubjeil, I ihall perfume my paper with a brief
account o f that luxury o f India, the Attar of rofes. Lieutenant
Colonel Polier gives a full hiftory o f the procefs of extracting
this effential oil, in vol. i. p. 332 o f the AJiatic Refearches. The
rofes grow cultivated near Lucknow, in great fields of eleven
acres. The oil is procured by diftillation; the petals of the
flowers only are ufed; and in that country no more than a
quantity o f about two drachms can be procured from a
hundred weight o f rofe leaves, and even that in a favorable
feafon, and the procefs performed with the utmoft care. The
oil is by accident o f different colors, of a bright yellow, o f a
reddifh hue, and a fine emerald.
I t is t o the mother o f Mebr ul Neffa, Begum, afterwards called
Nourjeban Begum, or Light o f the World, that the fair fex is indebted
for this difcovery*. On this occafion, the emperor of
Hindoojtan rewarded the inventrefs with a firing of valuable
pearls. Nourjeban Begum was the favorite wife of Jebang'ir;
ihe was a fecond Diana, her game the fiercefl o f India. In a
hunting party Ihe killed four tigers, with a matchlock, from
her elephant. Her fpoufe was fo delighted at her fkill, that he
* Life of Jehanglr, p. 24.
made
made her a prefent of a pair o f emerald bracelets, valued at a
lack of rupees, or twelve thoufand five hundred pounds, and
bellowed in charity a thoufand Mohuns, at forty lhillings a
piece*.
B e i n g on the fubjeit o f natural hifiory, I will here refume Quadrupeds.
the zoology o f 'India, beginning with the generous animal the
horfe. The great men of Hindoojlan fnpply their flables from Horses..
Berjia or Arabia at a prodigious price. The peninfulahas its
native horfes; they can boafl of neither fize or beauty, but
they are adequate to the purpofes of the country : Let me fay,
that oxen or buffaloes are the general beafls o f draft, and often
are broke for the faddle.
T h e c o u n t r ie s a b o u t Cabul f e n d g r e a t n u m b e r s o f h o r f e s ,,
o f ‘Tartarian b r e e d s , t o t h e g r e a t a n n u a l fa i r s o f th a t c i t y . T h e y
a r e b o u g h t u p b y t h e m e r c h a n t s , a n d d i fp e r f e d o v e r t h e n o r th .-
e r n p a r t s o f Indiap
Joorkeys and Tagees are horfes about fourteen or fifteen hands
high, are fit either for draft or faddle, and fnppofed to be foreign
horfes naturalized..
T h e Tattoo horfes are of the poney kind, about ten hands-
high, flender and elegant, yet Itrong, and much ufed to carry
men and baggage.. It was one o f this fort I faw at Kew feverat
years ago, not thirty inches high, moil elegantly made; a cu—
riofity fent over as-a prefent to the royal family.
T h e Mabratta horfes, ufed by thofe people to mount theic
formidable cavalry, are very fcrubby but adlive, and by the ce—
* Same p. 42.
lerity.'
Nf