of Lahore and well known to have been forcibly seized by him from Shah-Shoojah, king of Cabul, when a fugitive in the Panjab;” as well as another, (the Pigot diamond,) “now belonging to Mohammed Ali of Egypt.”  The Adelaide Gallery of Science is passed over with the remark, that it is, on the whole, inferior to the Polytechnic, which he had previously visited.  But the Diorama, with the views of Damascus, Acre, &c., seems to have afforded him great gratification, as well as to have perplexed him not a little, by the apparent accuracy of its perspective.  “Some objects delineated actually appeared to be several kos (a measure of about two miles) from us, others nearer, and some quite close.  I marvelled how such things could be brought together before me; yet, on stretching out the hand, the canvass on which all this was represented might be touched.”  But all the wonders of the pictorial art, “which the Europeans have brought to unheard of perfection,” fade before the amazement of the khan, on being informed that it was possible for him to have a transcript of his countenance taken, without the use of pencil or brush, by the mere agency of the sun’s rays; and even after having verified the truth of this apparently incredible statement by actual experiment in his own person, he still seems to have entertained considerable misgivings as to the legitimacy of the process—­“How it was effected was indeed incomprehensible!  Here is an art, which, if it be not magic, it is difficult to conceive what else it can be!”

The spring was now advancing; “and one day,” says the Khan, “not being Sunday, I was surprised to observe all the shops shut, and the courts of justice, as well as the merchants’ and public offices, all closed.  On enquiry, I was told this was a great day, being the day on which the Jews crucified the Lord Aysa, (Jesus,) and that a general fast is, on this day, observed in Europe, when the people abstain from flesh, eating only fish, and a particular kind of bread marked with a cross.  This custom is, however, now confined to the ancient sect of Christians called Catholics for the real English never observe fasts of any kind on any occasion whatever; they eat, nevertheless, both the crossed bread and the fish.  This fast is to the Europeans what the Mohurrum[10] is to us; only here no particular signs of sorrow are to be seen on account of the death of Aysa;—­all eat, drink, and enjoy themselves on this day as much as any other; or, from what I saw, I should say they rather indulged themselves a little more than usual.  Another remarkable thing is, that this fast does not always happen at the same date, being regulated by the appearance of the moon; while, in every thing else, the English reckon by the solar year.”