These honest men, who were exceedingly pleased at their reception, were nevertheless constrained to wait four months at Delhi before they could obtain their dismissal; during which time they all fell sick, and many of them died, rather, according to Bernier, from the bad quality of their food, and their contempt of cleanliness, than from the effect of the climate. Judging from this specimen, our traveller pronounced the Usbecks the most avaricious and sordid people upon earth; for, though furnished by the emperor with the means of living, they preferred defrauding their stomachs and hazarding their lives, to the idea of parting with their gold, and subsisted in a very wretched and mean style. When dismissed, however, they were treated with great distinction. The emperor and all his emirs presented them with rich dresses and eight thousand rupees each; together with splendid robes, a large quantity of exquisitely flowered brocade, bales of fine muslin, and of silk striped with gold or silver, and a number of carpets and two jewelled khaudjars, or poniards, for their masters. In the hope of learning something respecting their country, Bernier frequently visited them during their stay, but found them so grossly ignorant that they were unable to make any important additions to his knowledge. They invited him to dinner, however, and thus afforded his curiosity a glance at their domestic manners. Among them a stranger, as might be expected, was not overwhelmed with ceremony, and so far they were polite. The viands, which our traveller considered extraordinary, consisted of excellent horse-flesh, a very good ragout, and an abundance of pilau, which his robust hosts found so much to their taste, that during the repast they could not snatch a single moment to waste on conversation. Their guest, with infinite good taste, imitated their example, made a hearty dinner; and then, when the horse-flesh, pilau, and all had been devoured, they found their tongue, and entertained him with panegyrics upon their own skill in archery, and the amazonian prowess and ferocity of their women. In illustration of the latter, they related an anecdote which, as highly characteristic, may be worth repeating. When Aurungzebe formerly led an army against the khan of Samarcand, a party of twenty or thirty Hindoo horsemen attacked a small village, which they plundered, and were engaged in binding a number of the inhabitants whom they intended to dispose of as slaves, when an old woman came up to them and said, “My children, be not so cruel. My daughter, who is not greatly addicted to mercy, will be here presently. Retire, if you are wise. Should she meet with you, you are undone.” The soldiers, however, not only laughed at the old woman and her counsel, but seized and tied her also. They had not proceeded above half a league with their booty, when their aged prisoner, who never ceased turning her eyes towards the