=Sun Worship at Udaipur.=—At Udaipur the sun has universal precedence; his portal (_Suryapol_) is the chief entrance to the city; his name gives dignity to the chief apartment or hall (_Suryamahall_) of the palace; and from the balcony of the sun (_Suryagokhra_) the descendant of Rama shows himself in the dark monsoon as the sun’s representative. A huge painted sun of gypsum in high relief, with gilded rays, adorns the hall of audience, and in front of it is the throne. As already mentioned, the sacred standard bears his image,[4.21.23] as does that Scythic part of the regalia called the _changi_, a disc of black felt or ostrich feathers, with a plate of gold to represent the sun in its centre, borne upon a pole. The royal parasol is termed _kirania_, in allusion to its shape, like a ray (_kiran_) of the orb. The last day but one of the month of Magha is called Sivaratri (night of Siva), and is held peculiarly sacred by the Rana, who is styled the Regent of Siva. It is a rigid fast, and the night is passed in vigils, and rites to the phallic representative of Siva. =The Spring Hunt.=—The merry month of Phalgun is ushered in with the Aheria, or spring-hunt.[4.21.24] The preceding day the Rana distributes to all his chiefs and servants either a dress of green, or some portion thereof, in which all appear habited on the morrow, whenever the astrologer has fixed the hour for sallying forth to slay the boar to Gauri, the Ceres of the Rajputs: the Aheria is therefore called the Mahurat ka shikar, or the chase fixed astrologically. As their success on this occasion is ominous of future good, no means are neglected to secure it, either by scouts previously discovering the lair, or the desperate efforts of the hunters to slay the boar when roused. With the sovereign and his sons all the chiefs sally forth, each on his best steed, and all animated by the desire to surpass each other in acts of prowess and dexterity. It is very rare that in some one of the passes or recesses of the valley the hog is not found; the spot is then surrounded by the [566] hunters, whose vociferations soon start the _dukkara_,[4.21.25] and frequently a drove of hogs. Then each cavalier impels his steed, and with lance or sword, regardless of rock, ravine, or tree, presses on the bristly foe, whose knowledge of the country is of no avail when thus circumvented, and the ground soon reeks with gore, in which not unfrequently is mixed that of horse or rider. On the last occasion there occurred fewer casualties than usual; though the Chondawat Hamira, whom we nicknamed the ‘Red Riever,’ had his leg broken, and the second son of Sheodan Singh, a near relation of the Rana, had his neighbour’s lance driven through his arm. The young chief of Salumbar was amongst the distinguished of this day’s sport. It would appal even an English fox-hunter to see the Rajputs driving their steeds at full speed, bounding like the antelope over every barrier—the thick