of encountering a grinning hyaena, or some such beast; and it was with
some such feeling that I entered these grottoes, not being exactly
acquainted with their nature."

The Khan had now nearly exhausted the circle of places of public
entertainment; but one yet remained to be visited, and that, perhaps,
the most congenial of all to oriental tastes in the style of its
decorations, brilliant lights, and multifarious displays--Vauxhall. "A
large garden! a paradise!"--such is the rapturous description of the
Persian princes--"filled with roses of various hues, with cool waters
running in every direction on the beautiful green, and pictures painted
on every wall. There were burning about two millions of lamps, each of a
different colour; and we saw here such fire-works, as made us forget all
others we had already seen. Here and there were young moon-faces selling
refreshments; and in every walk there were thousands of Frank _moons_
(ladies) led by the hand, while the roses grew pale with admiring their
beautiful cheeks." The Khan, though less ardent and enthusiastic than
the grandsons of Futteh Ali Shah, does ample justice to the splendour of
the illumination; "thousands of lights distributed over the gardens,
suspended on the trees, and arranged in numberless fanciful devices, so
as to form flowers, names, &c.; and when it became dark, one blaze of
bright light was presented, extending over a vast space." He was
fortunate, moreover, in making his visit to the gardens on the evening
of a balloon ascent, "and thus I witnessed the most wonderful sight I
ever saw--a sight which a hundred millions of people in India consider
to be a _Feringhi_ fiction, an incredible fable; for though a Frenchman
made an ascent at Lucknow some years ago, nobody believes it who did not
see it, and many even who were present, believed that their senses had
been beguiled by magic.... A car in the shape of a _howdah_ was swung by
ropes beneath the balloon, in which six individuals seated themselves,
besides the aeronaut; and when it was filled with the gas and ready to
start, the latter tried to prevail on me to take a seat, telling me he
had performed nearly three hundred aerial voyages, and that, if any
accident should happen, he himself would be the first to suffer. I
certainly had a wish to satisfy my curiosity, by ascending to the skies,
but was dissuaded by the friends who accompanied me, who said it was
safer to remain on _terra firma_, and lo