Poetic impromptus pass on these occasions unrestricted by the fear of the critic, though the long yawn now and then should have given the hint to my friend the Maharaja that his verses wanted Attic. But he had certainly talent, and he did not conceal his light, which shone the stronger from the darkness that surrounded him: for poverty is not the school of genius, and the trade of the schoolmaster has ever been the least lucrative in a capital where rapine has ruled. Footnote 4.24.34: There are two of these alligators quite familiar to the inhabitants of Udaipur, who come when called “from the vasty deep” for food; and I have often exasperated them by throwing an inflated bladder, which the monsters greedily received, only to dive away in angry disappointment. It was on these that my friend affirmed he had ventured. Footnote 4.24.35: _Chaturanga_, so called from imitating the formation of an army. The ‘four’ (_chatur_) ‘bodied’ (_anga_) array; or elephants, chariots, horse, and foot. His chief antagonist at chess was a blind man of the city. [_Chaupar_ is played with oblong dice on a board with two transverse bars in the form of a cross, like _chausar_ and _pachīsī_.] Footnote 4.24.36: The _tappa_ belongs to the very extremity of India, being indigenous as far as the Indus and the countries watered by its arms; and though the peculiar measure is common in Rajasthan, the prefix of _panjabi_ shows its origin. I have listened at Caen to the viola or hurdy-gurdy, till I could have fancied myself in Mewar. Footnote 4.24.37: Chand remarks of his hero, the Chauhan, that he was “master of the art,” both vocal and instrumental. Whether profane music was ever common may be doubted; but sacred music was a part of early education with the sons of kings. Rama and his brothers were celebrated for the harmonious execution of episodes from the grand epic, the Ramayana. The sacred canticles of Jayadeva were set to music, and apparently by himself, and are yet sung by the Chaubes. The inhabitants of the various monastic establishments chant their addresses to the deity; and I have listened with delight to the modulated cadences of the hermits, singing the praises of Pataliswara from their pinnacled abode of Abu. It would be injustice to touch incidentally on the merits of the minstrel Dholi, who sings the warlike compositions of the sacred Bardai of Rajasthan. Footnote 4.24.38: The _turai_ is the sole instrument of the many of the trumpet kind which is not dissonant. The Kotah prince has the largest band, perhaps, in these countries; instruments of all kinds—stringed, wind, and percussion. But as it is formed by rule, in which the sacred and shrill conch-shell takes precedence, it must be allowed that it is anything but harmonious. Footnote 4.24.39: