‘Smoking the _urqu_[14] is not so general a practice as is supposed, at least among the middle ranks. The great, in this, as in other luxuries, indulge themselves more freely. _Zeebool Nissa_ daughter of Alc Geer, and Noor Jehan, invented the present form of the _goorgooree_ snake;[15] and _Khummer Mahomed Shah_, the arched snake now in use; which is said to have been contrived by him for the convenience of smoking as he travelled. _Zeebool Nissa_ appears to have been a lady of great accomplishments, whose hard fate it was to lead a single life, as may be gathered from the following lines of which she was the author. ----- Footnote 14: Commonly pronounced _hookah_. Footnote 15: A smaller kind of _hookah_, with a short stiff snake. ----- ‘Ill-luck befall that arm that never has encircled the neck of a love! O may the eyes be dim that draw not enjoyment from the glance of a beloved. A hundred seasons have passed away, and every favorite rose has been plucked to ornament a turban: ‘But the rose-bud in the garden of my heart has been allowed to decay, and has not been plucked as a nosegay by any one.’[16] ----- Footnote 16: Contrast this simple lamentation with the absurd effusions of Mirza Abu Taalib Khan, at a succeeding page. ----- ‘And yet, when her father proposed a husband to her, she replied: “that learning was only to be found among the lower orders, and with such she could not wed, that princes were in general ignorant, and with such she could not be happy.” ‘In the _zenanahs_, the ladies divert themselves by bringing up pets of different kinds, such as minas, (a kind of starling,) fowls, goats, pigeons, &c. The cat, in particular, has an exclusive privilege, in consequence of the prophet’s having had a favorite puss, which he took much pleasure in feeding: hence, that animal is held sacred, and the murder of it considered as the highest sacrilege. They tell a story, that Mahomed, when ascending into heaven, happened to take a peep, _en passant_, into hell, where, observing an old woman making a sad lamentation, he asked the angel Gabriel why she suffered? The angel referred him for information to the old lady herself, who replied, that she underwent such torments for having caused the death of a cat! When this holy personage returned to the earth, he told the story as a warning to his disciples; but, notwithstanding such holy interference, the cat is considered as an envious animal, wishing the decrease of the family, that the mistress of it may caress her the more; whereas, the dog, (though deemed an unclean animal,) is thought to pray for encrease, that he may have more bones to pick!