It was here that Gur, one of the largest towns of India, once stood.  It is said to have been twenty square miles in extent, and to have contained about two millions of inhabitants, and, according to the latest books of travels, the most splendid and considerable ruins are still to be seen there.  Those of the so-called “Golden Mosque” are especially remarkable, being very fine and faced with marble; the gateways are celebrated for their great width of span and the solidity of their side walls.

As there was, fortunately, a depot for coals here, we were allowed a few hours to do as we liked.  The younger passengers seized the opportunity to go out shooting, being attracted by the splendid forests, the finest I had as yet seen in India.  It was certainly reported that they were very much infested with tigers, but this deterred no one.

I also engaged in the chase—­although it was one of a different description.  I penetrated far and wide, through forest and swamp, in order to discover the ruins.  I was successful; but how meagre and wretched they were!  The most important were those of two common city-gates, built of sandstone and ornamented with a few handsome sculptures, but without any arches or cupolas.  One inconsiderable temple, with four corner towers, was in several places covered with very fine cement.  Besides these, there were a few other ruins or single fragments of buildings and pillars scattered around, but all of them together do not cover a space of two square miles.

On the border of the forest, or some hundred paces farther in, were situated a number of huts belonging to the natives, approached by picturesque paths running beneath shady avenues of trees.  In Bealeah, the people were very fanatic, while here the men were very jealous.  At the conclusion of my excursion, one of the gentlemen passengers had joined me, and we directed our steps towards the habitations of the natives.  As soon as the men saw my companion, they called out to their wives, and ordered them to take refuge in the huts.  The women ran in from all directions, but remained very quietly at the doors of their dwellings to see us pass, and quite forgot to conceal their faces while they did so.

In these parts, there are whole woods of cocoa-palms.  This tree is properly a native of India, where it attains a height of eighty feet, and bears fruit in its sixth year.  In other countries, it is scarcely fifty feet high, and does not bear fruit before it is twelve or fifteen years old.  This tree is, perhaps, the most useful one in the known world.  It produces large and nutritious fruit, excellent milk, large leaves that are used for covering in and roofing huts, materials for strong cordage, the clearest oil for burning, mats, woven stuffs, colouring matter, and even a kind of drink called surr, toddy, or palm brandy, and obtained by incisions made in the crown of the tree, to which, during an entire month, the