t all times? Have they
ever had, or can they ever have, confidence in each other, or let
each other alone to enjoy the little they have in peace?' Considering
all the circumstances of time and place, Akbar has always appeared to
me among sovereigns what Shakespeare was among poets; and, feeling as
a citizen of the world, I reverenced the marble slab that covers his
bones more, perhaps, than I should that over any other sovereign with
whose history I am acquainted.[29]

Notes:

1. December, 1835.

2. It is not, perhaps, generally known, though it deserves to be so,
that the bamboo seeds only once, and dies immediately after seeding.
All bamboos from the same seed die at the same time, whenever they
may have been planted. The life of the common large bamboo is about
fifty years. [W. H. S.] The period is said to vary between thirty and
sixty years. Bamboo seed is eaten as rice when obtainable. The
author's theories about electricity are more ingenious than
satisfactory.

3. Better known as the Mauritius.

4. This proposition may be accepted with confidence. Electricity is a
great mystery, which becomes more mysterious the more it is studied.

5. A letter of the author's, dated 13th March, 1809, is extant, in
which he gives a full description of the performance of _Macbeth_ at
the Haymarket by Kemble and Mrs. Siddons on Saturday, 11th March. The
author sailed in the _Devonshire_ on the 24th March.

6. No European had ever before, I believe, noted this, [W. H. S.]
Moin-ud-din (p. 49) says that this phrase, 'Thou art our patron, help
as therefore against the unbelieving nations,' is from the long
chapter 2 ('The Cow') of the Koran, but I have not succeeded in
finding the exact words in Sale's version of that chapter. I suspect
that the words have been misread. Moin-ud-din gives as the words at
the north side of the tomb, _script characters_ 'the unbelieving
nations', whereas Muh. Latif (_Agra_, p. 111) says that the words 'on
the head of the sarcophagus' are _script characters_ 'He is the
everlasting. He is sufficient.' It will be observed that the
characters in the two readings are almost identical.

7. The Empress had been a good deal exasperated against the
Portuguese and Dutch by the treatment her husband received from them
when a fugitive, after an unsuccessful rebellion against his father;
and her hatred to them extended, in some degree, to all Christians,
whom she considered to be included in the term 'K