I observed upon these plains little houses here and there, built upon artificially-raised perpendicular mounds of clay, of from six to eight feet high.  There are no steps leading to the tops of these mounds, the only means of access being by ladders, which can be drawn up at night.  From what I could draw from the explanations of my servants, which, however, I only partially understood, they are used by families, who live in retired places, for security against the tigers, which are here very frequently seen.

3rd February.  Baratpoor.  We passed a place which was overgrown, in broad patches, with misshapen stunted bushes—­a rare occurrence in this part of the country, where wood is scarce.  My driver bestowed upon this tangled brushwood the high-sounding name of jungle.  I should rather have compared them with the dwarfed bushes and shrubs of Iceland.  The country beyond this woody district had a very remarkable appearance; the ground was in many places torn and fissured, as if in consequence of an earthquake.

In the caravansary at Baratpoor there were a great number of natives, soldiers, and particularly some very rough-looking men, of whom I felt inclined to be afraid:  I was no longer in the English territories, and alone among all these people.  However, they behaved themselves with the greatest civility, and greeted me in the evening and morning with a right hearty salaam.  I think that a similar set of men in our own country would scarcely have shown me the same respect.

4th February.  On the other side of the town, I saw two fine monuments before the door, round temples with lofty cupolas, and carved stone lattice work in the window openings.  The fields and meadows were richly strewed with Indian fig-trees, a thing which I have scarcely met with anywhere else, except in Syria and Sicily; to the right of the road was a low rocky peak, whose highest point was crowned by a fortress.  The dwelling-houses of the commanders, instead of being sheltered by the walls, rose high above them, and were tastily surrounded by verandahs; on the terrace of the principal building was a handsome pavilion, supported upon pillars.  The outer walls of the fortress extended down into the valley below.  We had proceeded about fourteen miles, when we came upon some monuments which had a very unique appearance.  On a small spot, shaded by beautiful trees, was a round wall, formed of a number of flagstones of seven feet high and four feet wide; in the middle stood three monuments of a circular form, built of large square stones.  The diameter of their tower part was about twelve feet, their height about six.  They had no entrance.

I also saw a new species of bird today.  It was very similar in size and form to the flamingo, with beautiful pinion feathers; its plumage was tinged with a rich whitish grey shade, the head was covered with deep red feathers.  We rested this night at the somewhat large town of Hindon.  The only object which attracted my notice here was a palace with such small windows, that they seemed more fitted for dolls than for men.