Concmnitaats of .undean crowds ; vermin; as active in their ravages as
die busiest followers .of a camp; hosts of fleas, musquitos, and rats !
v^pse* nocturnal freaks wmi cruelly.destructive .of the, repose,jm ngegfr-
sary-to wearied travellers. For -my own part, after much disturbed
and broken «sleep, nustaking the light of the moon for the dawn of day,
I impatiently arose, and was. unspeakably'disa^bihted.jpljdiscQyer-
ing the true time. It was scarcely one o’dock,\and I was agaigicompelled
to associate with my pestiferous companions,, till, .eager :fo>
enjoy the Fresh air, and anxious to escape their iperseqution, I . left
them on the earliest appearance of morning, not without visible: marks
ef their foxy.
In our first walk, on.Satnrday the 5th of July, we .took .tfiejEcaien
path, which conducted us to the intrenched lines, formed' by the .loyal
army when it invested Wandipore: these were about a mile from the
castle, and the works remained nearly perfect.. They consisted; oft wo
thick mud. walls, intersecting the hill, and forming a wide, street, with
sufficient space to admit a double row of huts, and a vacant intery.al.in
the centre.- A covered.channel, near the surface of.the ground,MSk
ducted water to supply the castle: of this the besiegers took ady^utgge,
and opening it, obtained, enough for their own camp, burning| the
superfluous .quantity down the sides of the hill. By these means, it
was supposed, that they would deprive the besieged of water, which
was indeed nearly the case,, although the castle, commanded the
conflux of the rivers and the streams on either side of it; for the point
was aliaost perpendicular, and on both sides a high and: steep declivity
led down to the water.
The cattle -ufj^aat^parib,,with,,itstgilded’canopy,-is^of-cquaHantfj
-quity. withdhefhrfdge. ;na®d hotffi&rq^said! todmvei been, er<^*d|by .Iiafn’ i
>{afeu.t<i©ne hundred-and^ forty, yeti Sc ign- when* he first1 entered
^^-POS^S^^bhhn^elf of Bootan ^yjndijd thhjiciiTiqucibi ofotfiesc,in-
gjpflf s h ^ s s judgmenttthan;good taste, iiisftfootmg.'W andipoic'for
histprincipaJ.re'sidepgejas ltitsf^ sftLtaiaonnhdtfi-ioi strength
and^eguty, superior to evety ofhus tliandflqred talus|oh6iee>y.Pci hajft
spi^e madd1|c^;^^f^ET^inds,IpMGtt;a-re. drawn
updhtjtlpfipjddls on w&aty quanta <^id^uijge^Mfti«Viid\mjMibss
Ish; but the strength,of \\ arulqjijicis.riwijfos^iuJi'b’^dibtfioie
^i°I^^utjoun'ding heights, whiclucd^r^jjh^^'oh^icads);! ir distant, by
eqsyslopes^ and^epntributc gu.atIy.lo di<dmqcstyiyl*t?h\Ai'evvs.
considered.as Qip^fotimifio^ecra^
the, |^aeb Rajafmakes^itdajpointptoi;Feside jiqre some part’qfVcVtfiy
'year-.. It standscpp£m,the souffier^^tremity^f^hba®Kr©wtteh^'idfi1%
pckyi h ill^ h fc h .^ shaped.like.^ wedgedijUlao^snles ok the» kill,-are*,
washed byythe Matchieu-Patchieu on the,West, whidit rtms lrfi'a v^ilt
smpqth stream, and;ibyA|e;Ta^ntchieu 6nlthet;e^i^fth sra& |l^ with
Wdph nofoe and agitation, over a rocky’bed jnthe'y.Botli joirtfat thefousc
ohthp point, below the castle. This isiaro irregular,dqfty:building iff
gqne,.covering afl the breadth of the fficky as. far&&t'attends. n*The
walls mje^hjgh .apd. solid t^the^e is hutdone .ehtrande in frailty JWo£e(ljj
which, there lies, a, large space of level ground-,' joined 'by am ea'sy, n
slqp.e» on the northrjvtest,! to the^unukkalqadd aftt hundred
yards in ftqnt ofjthq^sfla riaes'a .round,tower, ong^d^gh eminence, „
perforated all round with loopjhojes,,and ’supporting several projecting
S 1