1 . 4 INTRODUCTION.
2 I •
3 { dewei itt ntaaae, tat the herds of cattle that nte peskuied on ik» fin*
4 f the Imnui thrt it prodaoeBr end for the ▼aloiir mdepend^ioe of its
5 mhabitants. It now bekmgs to the British. The Shekhawuttee itself
6 is a sandy plain* scattered with rocky hiUfl* ill watered, and badly
7 cultivated ; yet it contains several large towns, of which the chief arc
8 Seekur, FuttefapooEr* Khetiee, and Goodha: the sandg are <tprinkled
9 with tufts of \on^ pjrass and bushes ot' l^uubool *, Kureelf* and.
10 Pliolre. which last is peculiar to the clesart and its borders \,
11 The Sheklumnittces owe tribute and military service t<> tin Raja of
12 Jypore ; it was by the assistance ot" that government tliat they were
13 enabled, at no vorv romott period, to wrest their present territory
14 from the Kjauukhiiunees, a tribe of converted Hindoos.
15 A few miles beyond the Shekhawuttee border, we entered the ter^
16 ritocies of .the I^a of Bikaneer. Tbh R^a is perhaps the ktart udk
17 pottant of the five princea of Raujpootaima. Humo of Jypoor aod
18 Joodpooff are at the head of considerable states ; the redueed poweic
19 of. the Riga of Ondl^KXHr is kept from insijgnififnoe by his lugh rank
20 and the respect whidi is paid fahn ; but the territories of the Rqas, of
21 Joaachnoor and Hkatteer« are merely the most habitable parts of the
22 desart, and, conse(]uenily, have little to boast in popnlatum ox
23 ■onices. The &iya of Bikaneer's rerenne only amounts to 4^50,000,
24 but, as his troops are paid by assignments of land, he was able to keep
25 up 2000 horse^ 8000 foot, and thirty-five piec^ o£ field artillery, evcaa
26 after the defeat he had suffered previous to my arrival at his capital,
27 Tlie style of his court also was ver\- fur from indicating the poverty of
28 his governmcnL His frontier plat e towards the Shekhawuttee, and con-
29 sequently the first {Murt of his territories which we approached, .was
30 • Mimosa Aral)ic«. f Cnpparls. Tlw tii|H'r tree.
31 It is a plant from foor to five feet high, quite greeoj although it has no leaves. Ita
32 bniiMciNa ran ^kto lender twigg, wMch tenainnte in Inocto of the svie'inatcaial, but
33 fioA(.-r tind fuller of mp. It bears clusters of flowen, Whidi are eaten by tlte naitive% and
34 has its seed in a pod. It is tli*- fnvouriti- f>>od of the camel, wlfnni it in comt^ ^iifriiure
35 indwnnifies for the kuig privation ui water wiiicb be is often obliged to iuSer in tli« desart.
36 It vas firKaeratothewMtaf GanoDJid, andooiilimiedthn^^
37 to '
38 Digitized by GoQgle