, his twelve expeditions into
Hindostan, and the holy wars he waged against the idol-worship of that
country, in one of which he destroyed an image of peculiar sanctity at Diu
or Du in Guzerat, and carried off the gates of Somnauth, (so recently,
once more, become a trophy of triumph and defeat,) the vast treasures
amassed in his campaigns, and the extent and greatness of the Ghaznavide
empire, have always been favourite subjects with Eastern historians. The
instance of his justice recorded in the verses, is given by Gibbon, from
whose history this note is chiefly taken.

Ghazna, from being the emporium of India, and the metropolis of a vast
dominion, had almost shrunk from the eye of the geographer, until, under
the modified appellation of Ghizni, it again emerged into importance in
our Affghan war. A curious crowd of associations is suggested by the fact,
that the town which gave its name to a dynasty that shook the successors
of Mahomet on their thrones, now confers the dignity of Baron on a native
of one of the obscurest villages in Ireland--Lord Keane of Ghizni, _and_
of Cappoquin in the county of Waterford.

[5] Kaff of late years is considered to have been more a creation of
Eastern mythology, than a genuine incontestable mountain. Its position is
supposed to be at the highest point of the great Hindoo-Kosh range. Such
was its astonishing altitude, that, says D'Herbelot, "vous trouvez souvent
dans leurs anciens livres, pour exprimer le lever du soleil, cette facon
de parler, _aussitot que cet astre parut sur la cime du Mont Caf, le monde
fut eclaire de sa lumiere_: de meme pour comprendre toute l'etendue de la
terre et de l'eau, ils disent _Depuis Caf a Caf_--c'est a dire, d'une de
ses extremites a l'autre."

[6] The name of Sind, Attok, or Indus, is applied indifferently to the
mighty stream that forms the western boundary of Hindostan.

[7] The tribes of savage warriors inhabiting the Kipchak, or table-land of
Tartary, have been distinguished by the name of the Golden Hordes. There
is a magnificent lyric on their Battle-charge, by Dr Croly, in the
_Friendship's Offering_ for 1834.

[8] _Essays on Natural History, chiefly Ornithology._ By CHARLES WATERTON,
Esq., author of "Wanderings in South America." Second Series; with a
continuation of the Autobiography of the Author.

[9] "'I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure any intention to
subvert the present Church Establishment within this realm,' &