g in such an airless box will always
be a mystery to me, for we were gasping for breath in our open
carriage. The second procession consisted of many more elephants and
camels, with the addition of bands of brass and other noisy
instruments. The central figure of this cavalcade seemed to be an old
priest carrying on his head a bulky package wrapped in green cloth,
which, I heard, was an offering to be made in an adjacent temple.

Hyderabad is unlike any other city I have yet seen in India, and,
indeed, is said to resemble no other Eastern town. Nowhere, not even
in the seaports, is there so mixed a population. As Mr. Edwin Arnold
says, 'You see the Arab, short and square, with his silver-bound
matchlock and daggers; the black-faced Sidi; the Robilla, with blue
caftan and blunderbuss; the Pathan; the Afghan, dirty and long-haired;
the Rajput, with his shield of oiled and polished hide; Persians,
Bokhara men, Turks, Mahrattas, Madrasses, Parsees, and others.' The
people are all allowed to carry arms--a privilege of which they fully
avail themselves, evidently regarding daggers, knives, matchlocks, and
a sword or two, as fit finery for festivities and merry-makings of
every kind.

[Illustration: Mosque Entrance]

Notwithstanding their ferocious appearance, the people of Hyderabad
are not more quarrelsome or turbulent than those of other cities, and
recourse is very seldom had to these swords, daggers, or guns. The
inlaying of arms and the sale of so-called ancient weapons to
curiosity-collectors is, naturally, one of the specialities of
Hyderabad. An immense quantity were brought to the Residency this
morning for our inspection, and they made a glittering display in the
marble portico. Among them were swords with watered blades, called
johurdas, and worth several hundreds of pounds; besides innumerable
scimitars of every shape, rapiers, blunderbusses, and exquisitely
ornamented but treacherous-looking daggers and other stabbing
instruments.

It has amused us much during our stay here to watch the elephants
taking their baths. The Nizam owns three hundred of these big beasts,
and all the nobles possess elephants in proportion to their rank and
wealth. The huge creatures are driven down to the river night and
morning, and it was most curious to see the unwieldy animals lay
themselves flat down on their sides in the shallow water, so that
nothing but a small island of body, so to speak, was visible, while an
occasional