1 116 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 one-eyed, and his face is scarred with the same
3 malady. His beard is thin and grey, with a few dark
4 hairs in it; according to the Sikh religious custom
5 it reaches a little below his chin, and is untrimmed.
6 His head is square, and large for his stature, which,
7 though naturally short, is now considerably bowed
8 by disease; his forehead is remarkably broad. His
9 shoulders are wide, though his arms and hands are
10 quite shrunk." * The same writer concludes a later
11 description as follows : " When he seats himself in
12 a common English chair, with his feet drawn under
13 him, the position is one particularly unfavourable to
14 him ; but as soon as he mounts his horse and with his
15 black shield at his back puts him on his mettle, his
16 whole form seems animated by the spirit within, and
17 assumes a certain grace of which nobody could believe
18 it susceptible." 2 Mr. Prinsep, who saw a great deal
19 of Ranjit Singh, describes him as unprepossessing in
20 appearance, but adds that when the first ill impres-
21 sion disappeared, no one admitted to the presence of
22 Ranjit Singh could fail to be struck with his
23 extraordinary qualities, his intelligence and acuteness.
24 " His penetrating look, the restlessness of his fiery eye,
25 which seemed to dive into the thoughts of the person
26 he conversed with, and the rapidity of his laconic but
27 searching questions, denoted the activity of his mind
28 and his insatiable curiosity." 3 According to Sir
29 Lepel Griffin, his appearance even in later life was
30 " striking and memorable ; " while, previous to his
31 paralytic seizure in 1834, he was "the beau ideal
32 1 Travels in Kashmir and the Punjab, by Baron Hugel, p. 288.
33 2 Ibid., p. 380. 3 History of the Punjab, vol. ii. pp. 171-2.