followed and come up against me many a
time, forcing me sometimes to fly, and
making me the sullen, hated fellow you have
known me."

Such was the story Thoresby told me,
on the night before he died, and left me
heir to all that he possessed. Whether it was
true or whether it was but a sickly fancy of
his mind, as he lay there in the fever, I
never knew. I, alone, followed him to the
grave; and, when the sickness had abated in
Lima, I found myself happily untouched,
got a ship again, and sailed for England.

WANDERINGS IN INDIA.

HAVING seen Agra,* its edifices, ruins,
society, European and native, and having
visited Secundra, Futteypore, Sickri, and
Muttra, I journeyed upwards to Delhi, where
I was received by Mr. Joseph Skinner, the
eldest son of the late Colonel Skinner,
renowned as the founder and commandant of
the famous Skinner's Horse. Mr. Joseph
Skinner's house was, at all times, open to all
travellers. He was, without exception, the
most hospitable man that I ever met in any
part of the world. At his board were
to be met, daily, either at luncheon or at
dinner, civilians and military men of every
rank and grade in the service, as well as native
gentlemen of position in India —Hindoos and
Mahommedans. Even the young princes— sons
of the King of Delhi and descendants of
the Great Moghul—used frequently to honour
Mr. Skinner with their company.  The title
by which they were usually greeted was
Sahiban-i-Alum, signifying " Lords of the
World." But the most remarkable native
that I ever met at Mr. Skinner's hospitable
board was the late Maharajah Hindoo-
Rao, a little, fat, round Mahratta chieftain,
with small twinkling eyes, and a
countenance replete with fun and quiet
humour. He was a pensioner of the Gwalior
State, and drew therefrom twelve thousand
pounds a-year, which was guaranteed to him,
by the British Government. Large as was
this income, Hindoo-Rao contrived, annually,
to spend more than double the amount,
trusting, continually, to fate to relieve him
from his pressing pecuniary difficulties; not
that he ever suffered them to prey upon
his mind; on the contrary, he made them
a subject of jocularity. In addition to being
as hospitable as his friend Mr. Skinner,
Hindoo-Rao was addicted to field-sports on a
large scale, and kept up a very large
establishment for the purpose of gratifying this
propensity. He was considered— and perhaps
justly by those qualified to form an opinion—
the best shot in all India, and, with his rifle,
he had destroyed several hundreds (some say
thousands) of tigers. Hindoo-Rao had
another very expensive hobby. He desired to
possess himself of the Philosopher's Stone, by
which he might transmute metals—a mode
by which he proposed to improve the state of
his finances and eventually pay his debts.  On
all other points, Hindoo-Rao was sufficiently
sensible and shrewd; but on this point he
was childish, if not insane.  Thousands and
thousands of pounds were squandered by him
in this absurd pursuit, for he was constantly
the victim of juggling forgeries, swindlers and
rogues.  His house was on a hill, immediately
overhanging Delhi, and it has recently
been made famous throughout Europe as the
position of one of our batteries.  Night after
night, in that house would furnaces blaze,
while some impostor who pretended to have
the secret was at work with his chemicals.

* See page 87.

I ought to mention that this Mahratta
chief was a near relation of the royal
family of Gwalior, and that he had been
banished and pensioned for having been
engaged in some intrigues against the Gwalior
state.

The Maharajah Hindoo-Rao was a great
gourmand; and those who partook of his
dinners never forgot them. It was not
often that the old chief could be induced
to discuss politics; but on the occasion of the
Forty-first Regiment of Infantry having
mutinied atDelhi-- a mutiny which, by the
way, was hushed up— I heard him very
energetically exclaim: "Ah! if you go on
humouring your native soldiers in this way,
they will never be satisfied until they govern
the country!"

The late Sir Charles James Napier visited
Delhi while I was there. He came, not as
ordinary commander-in-chiefs usually come, with
a large suite and an escort covering a square
mile of encamping ground, but attended only
by two aides-de-camp and a military secretary.
It was on the morning of his excellency's
arrival that the mutiny in the Forty-first
Regiment, to which I have just alluded,
occurred. Sir Charles reviewed the
regiments then quartered at Delhi, including the
Forty-first, and complimented them en masse!
The review over, Hindoo-Rao, who was a
great horseman, rode up to the commander-
in-chief on his spirited charger, and expressed
the happiness it afforded him to see an officer
who had so distinguished himself in the
military annals of his country. Sir Charles
appeared much pleased with the open, frank
manner and independent bearing of the old
Mahratta chieftain, and accepted, on behalf
of himself and his staff, an invitation to dine
with him that evening. A large number
of gentlemen, European and native, assembled
to meet his excellency; and when Sir
Charles returned thanks for the honour that
had been paid to him in drinking his health,
he made allusion to the pleasure that it
afforded him in seeing Christians, Hindoos and
Mussulmen, on such good terms, and living
together in such amity and concord. What
a change since that evening, which to me
seems but as yesterday! Several of our