DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15172#0159
124
SEIK CONGRATULATIONS.
CHAFt V.
actions, when we have no connection with the
parties concerned.
In the evening of the 15th we reached Changa,
about twenty-five miles from Lahore, and were
received by a deputation from the Maharaja, con-
sisting of two Seik Sirdars, and Noorodeen Fakeer,
of a Mahommedan family enjoying1 trust and in-
fluence at Court. The meeting, as was requested,
took place on elephants, five of which bore the
magnates and ourselves. Each individual delivered
a purse of money in gold and silver, and, by
his Highness' desire, asked for the health of
the King of England, and the period that had
elapsed since we left London; for the Maharaja,
it seemed, believed us to have been deputed from
the royal footstool. I replied as circumstances re-
quired. The principal Seik, by name Sham Sing,
presented a bow. The party also produced a letter
from the Maharaja, mentioning that they had been
instructed to congratulate us on our arrival, and use
every expression which could be pleasing, to the
sense ; and a tissue of flattery ensued, which I con-
fess my inability to describe.
" The seasons," said the Fakeer, " have been
" changed to aid your safe arrival: and when it
" should have rained, the sun shines ; but it is the
" sun of England. You must now consider your-
" selves at home, and in a garden of which you are
" the roses; that such a friendship had now grown
" up between the British and the Seiks, that the
" inhabitants of Iran and Room would hear it
proclaimed in their distant dominions ; that light
SEIK CONGRATULATIONS.
CHAFt V.
actions, when we have no connection with the
parties concerned.
In the evening of the 15th we reached Changa,
about twenty-five miles from Lahore, and were
received by a deputation from the Maharaja, con-
sisting of two Seik Sirdars, and Noorodeen Fakeer,
of a Mahommedan family enjoying1 trust and in-
fluence at Court. The meeting, as was requested,
took place on elephants, five of which bore the
magnates and ourselves. Each individual delivered
a purse of money in gold and silver, and, by
his Highness' desire, asked for the health of
the King of England, and the period that had
elapsed since we left London; for the Maharaja,
it seemed, believed us to have been deputed from
the royal footstool. I replied as circumstances re-
quired. The principal Seik, by name Sham Sing,
presented a bow. The party also produced a letter
from the Maharaja, mentioning that they had been
instructed to congratulate us on our arrival, and use
every expression which could be pleasing, to the
sense ; and a tissue of flattery ensued, which I con-
fess my inability to describe.
" The seasons," said the Fakeer, " have been
" changed to aid your safe arrival: and when it
" should have rained, the sun shines ; but it is the
" sun of England. You must now consider your-
" selves at home, and in a garden of which you are
" the roses; that such a friendship had now grown
" up between the British and the Seiks, that the
" inhabitants of Iran and Room would hear it
proclaimed in their distant dominions ; that light