fe must
have been very great; but most of the dead bodies had been thrown over
the walls, to find their way to the bottom of some excavated rock or
tiger's den. The place altogether exhibited nothing but signs of poverty
and distress, and they must have been, after the loss of the town,
literally in a state of starvation. From this eminence the prospect was
extensive and truly beautiful. The city of Borhanpore was plainly
visible; and, although fourteen miles distant, such was the height of
this place, that it seemed almost to hang over it. Men in the several
encampments looked like babes. When the evening closed in, I found the
atmosphere chilly and cold. This soon sent us down to the warmer regions
below, where the glass, at the cool of eve, stood at eighty-five, and
sometimes at ninety. The height of the thermometer at that hour, when
the evening breeze is cool and salubrious, was no doubt occasioned by
the great heat absorbed by the earth during the day. In India, it is
quite common to inhale the sweet and refreshing breeze of eve, when,
under foot, the ground is like a hotbed. The soil here was a kind of
glittering red sand, and in some places rocky; and we were not at all
sorry that we were about to leave it.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XXIV.

The combined army was now on the point of marching from Asseerghur,
after the cession of that fortress.

We bent our way once more towards cantonments, accompanying Sir John
Malcolm to his new station of Mhow, for the purpose of visiting the
celebrated cities of Indore and Ougein. This was some miles out of our
direct route; but no traveller ought to pass such places without viewing
the splendour and magnificence of ancient architecture for which those
two cities are celebrated. A careful survey of such places will well
compensate the traveller for going out of his way; feed his astonished
mind with contemplation for years to come; and impress him with the
conviction, that the system of architecture in Europe, in comparison
with that of the East, is but in its infancy.

The approach towards Mhow is very difficult and fatiguing. One ghaut
which we were necessarily obliged to ascend was frightful even to look
at. The road had been scooped out from the side of the hill, which from
its base was almost perpendicular, and seemed to defy mortal ascent.
When I arrived at the bottom, I saw elephants, camels, and horses, men,
women, and children, that seemed hanging on the