1 'as .to whether I had sent, and if ho would come, whether t«c was
2 on lii.-r way, und wliether ho might rii>r expect to see him. l'lte
3 urgency of these reiterated wjnests was such, that £ strongly
4 solicited my brut her to accede to the maharajah's desire; and
5 In- accordingly set out on his journey from Kronstadt to Lahore.
6 .Arrived at the isthmus of Sue/., lie heard, to his consternation,;
7 of the murder of the maharajah and his wtivseer, and of the othei
8 horrid massacres in the capital, • which I have before described,
9 lie continued his journey, however, and arrived at J’rozepore,
10 on the boundary of the Punjab, in the beginning of February,
11 1814; which, as the reader may recollect, was I lies epoch vilien
12 Ilcera Sing was the powerful wu/cer of the young lVlahara.jah
13 Dolleep Ring,and the time wheuali Europearn were dismissed from
14 the se viee of the Sikhs and sent from the country. I was myself
15 at that time severely ill; and the ngmhior. having heard that no
16 hope of my recovery was entertained, permitted my brother to pass
17 the frontier and visit me pt Lahore; thus verifying the proverb,
18 that “out of evil, good cometh.” On the very day on which my
19 brother arrived at Lahou:, my recovery coimnwced ; but wliether
20 this was doc to the pleasure I derived from his arrival, or anew
21 remedy I liul employed on that day, l am iliable to say; both
22 causes, possibly, assisted in producing that result. My illness had
23 probably been for some time slumbering in (be system, for I had
24 previously been using, as a beverage; a wine made from f 'abui raisins
25 and sugar, which had not been properly fermented ; and this may
26 very likely have laid the foundation of the disease I am about to
27 describe. After having exposed mv sight to the powerful rays of
28 an Indian sun for some hours, the stomach being empty, one of
29 my eyes became very much inflamed. Not having properly
30 attended to this circumstance, and, as was necessary, imme¬
31 diately applied leeches or bleeding, I found myself on the
32 following morning totally blind; an AmnuTo&is being formed,
33 so that I was unable to seek for any (if my medicines. No
34 European physician being at Lahore, I was obliged to have
35 recourse to the native drugs, and consult with native doctors.
36 Leeches, blisters, collyriunis, &c., later employed, seemed of