would win the approval
of his degraded Sovereign. But his bearing is not the less bold, or his
eye less piercing, as he makes the man quail before him who is that
moment planning his destruction. He anticipates the fate of his fourteen
predecessors; they were all assassinated! His predecessors, however, did
not surround themselves with a guard armed with rifles always loaded.
{121} In all probability the man who takes the life of the prime
minister will do so at the price of his own. So securely guarded is he,
and so careful of his own safety, that I cannot but hope he may live to
frustrate the designs of his enemies, and to carry out that enlightened
policy which, while it morally elevates the people, would develop the
resources of a country possessing many natural advantages, in its
delightful climate, fertile soil, and industrious population. Valleys
unvisited by civilization save as received through the medium of a few
semi-barbarous travellers, may contain treasures which they are now
unknown to possess; mines of copper, lead, and antimony, now clumsily
worked, may be made to yield of their abundance; tracts of uncultivated
lands be brought into rich cultivation, and efficient means of transport
would carry their produce far and wide through the country. Katmandu
itself would be on the high road for the costly trade of Chinese Tartary
and Thibet with the provinces of Upper India.

In fact it is impossible to enumerate the various benefits which would
accrue to the country were a different system of government adopted; and
it is much to be feared that unless the present prime minister lives to
accomplish the task he has undertaken, no one of his successors, for some
time to come at least, will have either the will or the ability requisite
for its successful consummation.

In some of his legislative acts Jung had shown himself to be in advance
of his age before he left Nepaul. No less than twenty-two punishments
for various crimes, principally consisting of different modes of torture,
were abolished. A thief must have been three times convicted of the
crime ere he can suffer the penalty entailed upon the offence, viz., loss
of his hand; and after it is cut off, he has his choice between having it
bound up or allowing himself to bleed to death. I understood the latter
alternative to be the one usually chosen by the culprit. Gambling is
strictly prohibited in Nepaul, except for four or five days during the