IV PREFACEthere,
.for the information' which they have afforde
d concerning-the Laws" and the Religion o f the
Hindoo tribes ; kasuweM as for córreót and well di-
gefted details ó f the tranfadtions o f the Mogul government.
But o f the Face o f the-country, o f its
arts, and natural productions, little has yet been
faid. Gentlemfemwho have fefideddong in India
lofe -the idea ó f the firft impreffion which , that very
cürióus country makes upon an entire granger:
the novelty is. foon effaced, and the mind, by a
öpefation, direds itsAieWs to
.more abftrad fpetulation;; reafoning affumes. the
place ó f obfervation, and the traveller is loft in the
philo fopher.
To fupply, in fome flight degree, this hiatus in
the topographical* department o f literature, is the
immediate objedt o f the following pages. It will,
I flatter myfelf, not be difagreeable to my readers
to be informed, that they confift o f a few plain
PRE FAC E .
reprefentations o f what I obferved on the fpot, ex-
prefl^di in f the limply garb o f truth, without the
fmalleft embellifhment from fidion, or from fancy*
They were^chiefly intended for my- own amufe-
ment, and to enable me to explain to my friends a
number o f drawings which I had made during my
refidence in India, fome o f which accompany the
prefent publication. The apology is trite ; but in
this cafe its truth, and the refpedability o f the
name, to which P.rpfer,:muff plead, mynxcufe—it
was owing entirely to the influence and perfuafion
o f my moft juftly efteemed friend, Henry James
P y e ,E fq . Poet Laureat, that thefe- i ohfervations
haye been fuhmitted to a tribunal, which I have
ever-regarded with awful refpect— th e P u b l ic .
j W h il e I acknowledge my heart-felt obligations
to one friend, it is not confident with my prcfent
feelings to omit the kind attentions o f another.
My learned friend, Dr. Gregory, by his perufal