1 160 MEETING OF RUNJEET & THE GOV. GENL. A. D. 1831.
2 Singh having paid his Lordship the compliment of
3 sending- one, similarly composed to that which waited
4 on Lord Amherst. The mission had been received
5 by Lord William Bentinck in April, soon after his
6 arrival at Sliimla: its members were the Dewan Mootee
7 Ram, son of Mohkum Chund, Huree Singh Sirdar,
8 and the secretary, Fuqeer Uzeezooddeen. They
9 had been treated by the Governor General witb much
10 distinction, and a return mission of some of the princi-
11 pal officers of His Lordship's suite had been promised,
12 or rather held out in expectation. The personal meet-
13 ing between the heads of the two states would neces-
14 sarily deprive Runjeet Singh of this compliment; for
15 in the first place, the time would scarcely allow of both,
16 seeing that the intendtjd journey of the Governor General
17 to Ajmeer and Rajpootana required, that, if arranged
18 at all, the interview should take place before the end of
19 October, and in the second, if a formal mission were sent,
20 immediately before the meeting, it would have the ap-
21 pearance in the eyes of the world, of being sent to suppli-
22 cate, or induce the ruler of the Sikhs to come to the
23 interview, whereas the rank and position of the Head of
24 the British Government required, that the honor of a per-
25 sonal conference with him should be sought.
26 With a liberality, not inconsistent with his general
27 character, Runjeet Singh, having made up his mind to
28 the interview, gave up the point of etiquette, and pre-
29 paration was made on both sides, for the meeting to take
30 place on the Sutlej about the 20lh of October, without any
31 previous return mission : the neighbourhood of Roopur
32 was subsequently fixed upon as the most appropriate and
33 convenient spot for the meeting.