e for
the Kabul market and others in Central Asia. It is a rough, desolate and
uninteresting country, yet grand and beautiful in its way, and one is at
once struck with the difficulties to be encountered by troops
endeavouring to force their way through, commanded as the pass is at
every turn by positions so admirably suited for guerrilla warfare and
delightful possibilities for an enemy with sniping propensities. At Ali
Musjid the camel and carriage tracks come together. Here at this little
mosque was the point beyond which we were not allowed to proceed; so
after a most interesting visit we returned to Peshawar. We were most
fortunate in the weather, as the strong wind which always blows down the
pass is in winter time generally excessively cold. At Peshawar I bade
good-bye to my most agreeable American friends, the General being keen
on visiting Quetta; whither, had it not been so much out of my own
proposed line of travel, I would gladly have accompanied him. So my next
move was back to Delhi, and thence by train via Jeypore to Udaipur, one
of the most delightfully picturesque and interesting of all Indian
native capitals. There is a tiny little hotel at Udaipur, outside the
walls, showing that visiting tourists are few and far between. The
Maharana holds by his old and established customs, and has none of the
modern spirit shown by such princes as Sindia, the Nizam, and certain
other native chiefs. He has, however, gone so far as to furnish his new
palace in a most gorgeous manner, the chairs, tables, mirror frames,
bedsteads seen in the State apartments being composed of crystal glass.
The show attraction of the palace, in the eyes of the attendants, who
were ever at one's beck and call, was a Teddy dog with wagging head,
which miracle of miracles one seemed to be expected to properly marvel
at. The old palace, adjoining the new, is a much finer building, being
mostly of marble, and is purely Oriental in its stairways, doorways,
closets, balconies and delightful roof-gardens, as one's preconceived
notions expect an Eastern potentate's palace to be. The new palace
showed no sign of occupancy, and I imagined the Maharana, then absent,
really favours the older building, and small blame to him! Around in
various places the State elephants are stabled, or rather chained, in
the open air, and looked after by their numerous attendants. In the
grand court in front were several of these animals, and a myriad of
pigeons, pro