tabar Singh, the prime minister, gained a great
influence over the mind of the monarch, who seems to have become nearly
imbecile.

It was perhaps the near relationship of Jung to the Prime Minister that
brought upon him the ill-will of the Prince, who treated him with the
most unmitigated animosity, and used every means in his power
surreptitiously to destroy him. On one occasion he ordered him to cross
a flooded mountain torrent on horseback, and when he had reached the
middle of the current, which was so furiously rapid that his horse could
with difficulty keep his footing, the young Prince suddenly called him
back, hoping that, in the act of turning, the force of the stream would
overpower both horse and rider. This danger Jung escaped, owing to his
great nerve and presence of mind. In relating this anecdote he seemed to
think that his life had been in more imminent peril than on any other
occasion; though the following struck me as being a much more hazardous
exploit. After the affair of the torrent the Prince was no longer at any
pains to conceal his designs upon the life of the young adventurer, and
that life being of no particular value to any one but Jung himself, it
was a matter of perfect indifference to anybody and everybody whether the
Prince amused himself by sacrificing Jung to his own dislikes or not. It
is by no means an uncommon mode of execution in Nepaul to throw the
unfortunate victim down a well: Jung had often thought that it was
entirely the fault of the aforesaid victim if he did not come up again
alive and unhurt. In order to prove the matter satisfactorily, and also
be prepared for any case of future emergency, he practised the art of
jumping down wells, and finally perfected himself therein. When,
therefore, he heard that it was the intention of the Prince to throw him
down a well, he was in no way dismayed, and only made one last request,
in a very desponding tone, which was, that an exception might be made in
his favour as regarded the being cast down, and that he might be
permitted to throw himself down. This was so reasonable a request that
it was at once granted; and, surrounded by a large concourse of
people--the Prince himself being present by way of a morning's
recreation--Jung repaired to the well, where, divesting himself of all
superfluous articles of clothing, and looking very much as if he were
bidding adieu for ever to the happy valley of Nepaul, he crossed his
legs, and,