Burnes, Alexander: Travels into Bokhara: containing the narrative of a voyage on the Indus from the sea to Lahore, ... and an account of a journey from India to Cabool, Tartary and Persia ; performed by order of the supreme government of India, in the years 1831, 32, and 33 (Band 2) (London, 1835)

60

A SEIK PRIEST.

CHAP. II.

Cabool or Candahar; and from their looks and
questions, I found many a secret and doubtful
thrill pass across me. This I found to arise from
the novelty of our situation, for it soon wore off
after we mingled familiarly with the people; and,
in course of time, I gave and returned the usual
salutations with all the indifference of a practised
traveller.

At Rawil Pindee we had a visit from the govern-
ment officers, among whom was a Seik priest, or
Bedee, who had taken the singular vow, never to
repeat three or four words without the name of
" Vishnu," one of the gods of the Hindoo trinity.
His conversation was, therefore, most remarkable ;
for, on all subjects, and in all answers, he so inter-
larded the words " Vishnu, Vishnu," that I could
not suppress a smile. This personage presented us
with a purse of 200 rupees; but it appeared to;
come from Vishnu, and not from the Maharaja Run-
jeet Sing.

About fifteen miles from Rawil Pindee, we passed
the defile of Margulla, and descried with joy the
mountains beyond the Indus. This is a narrow
pass over the low hills, and paved with blocks of
stone for 150 yards. A Persian inscription, let into
the rock, commemorates the fame of the civilised
Emperor who cut the road. The defiles continue
for about a mile ; when a bridge across a rivulet
conducts the traveller to the next caravansary. A
bridge, a caravansary, and a road cut through a hill,
within a distance of two miles, bespeak a different
rule from that of the Punjab in modern times. We