m that this was their _misfortune_,
they seemed much amused, but were all well-behaved and respectful,
though they must have thought my notion very odd.

The little Gurra flows from the Oude Tarae forest by the town of
Phillibheet, where boats are built, to be taken down to Cawnpoor, on
the Ganges, for sale. About four hundred, great and small, are
supposed to be taken down the Gurra every year, in the season of the
rains. They take down the timber of the Tarae forest, rice, and other
things; and all are sold, with their cargoes, at Cawnpoor, or other
places on the Ganges. The timbers are floated along on both sides of
the boats. Palee is a good place for a cantonment, or seat of public
civil establishments, and Shahabad is no less so. The approach to
both, from the south-east, is equally beautiful, from the rich crops
which cover the ground up to the houses, and the fine groves and
majestic single trees which surround them.

Shahabad is a very ancient and large town, occupied chiefly by Pathan
Mussulmans, who are a very turbulent and fanatical set of fellows.
Subsookh Rae, a Hindoo, and the most respectable merchant in the
district, resided here, and for some time consented to officiate, as
the deputy of poor old Hafiz Abdoollah, for the management of the
town, where his influence was great. He had lent a good deal of money
to the heads of some of the Pathan families of the town, but finding
few of them disposed to repay, he was last year obliged to refuse
further loans. They determined to take advantage of the coming
mohurrum festival to revenge the _affront_ as men commonly do who
live among such a fanatical community. The tazeeas are commonly taken
up, and carried in procession, ten days after the new moon is first
seen, at any place where they are made; but in Oude all go by the day
in which the moon is seen from the capital of Lucknow. As soon as she
is seen at Lucknow, the King issues an order throughout his dominions
for the tazeeas to be taken in procession ten days after. The moon
was this year, in November, first seen on the 30th of the month at
Lucknow; but at Shahabad, where the sky is generally clearer, she had
been seen on the 29th. The men to whom Subsookh Rae had refused
farther loans determined to take advantage of this incident to wreak
their vengeance; and when the deputy promulgated the King's order for
the tazeeas to be taken in procession ten days after the 30th, they
instigated all the Mahommed