" These, however,
are the speculations of only the thinking portion. At the bottom of
the respect shown to such Mahommedan shrines, by the mass of Hindoos,
there is always a strong ground-work of _hope_ or _fear_: the soul or
spirit of the savage old man, who had been so well supported on
earth, must still, they think, have some influence at the Court of
Heaven to secure them good or work them evil, and they invoke or
propitiate him accordingly. They would do the same to the tomb of
Alexander, Jungez Khan, Tymour, or Nadir Shah, without any perplexing
inquiries as to their creed or liturgy.
_February 28_, 1850.--Chinahut, eleven miles west, over a plain
intersected by several small streams, the largest of which is the
Rete, near Sutrick. There is a good deal of kunkur-lime in the ground
over which we have passed today; but the tillage is good where the
land is at all level, and the crops are fine. The plain is cut up
here and there by some ravines, but they are small and shallow, and
render but a small portion of the surface unfit for tillage. The
banks of the small streams are, for the most part, cultivated up to
the water's edge.
We passed the Rete over a nice bridge, built by Rajah Bukhtawar Sing
twenty-five years ago, at a cost of twenty-five thousand rupees, out
of his own purse. He told me that one morning, in the rains, he came
to the bank of this river, on his way to Lucknow from Jeytpoor, a
town which we passed yesterday, and found it so swollen that he was
obliged to purchase some large earthen jars, and form a raft upon
them to take over himself and followers.
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