DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15173#0094
76
OUR VISITORS.
CHAP. Ill,
since its size diminished as the meat disappeared,
it did its part well. Pilaos and stews, sweets and
sours, filled the trays ; but the bonne bouche of the
day was a lamb that had never tasted aught but
milk. A bitter orange had been squeezed over it,
and made it very savoury. Four trays of sweet-
meats followed, with fruit; and the repast con-
cluded with sherbet mixed with snow, the sight of
which delighted us as much as our new friends. A
watch of night was spent before we broke up ; and
after the chief had repeated in a whisper his devo-
tion to our nation and anxiety for our welfare, he
bade us good night. I had almost lost the use of
my legs from the irksome position of constraint in
which I had so long sat. If we had been prepared
to like the manners of this people, there was much
to confirm it on this evening.
On the following day we were introduced to the
remainder of the family. There are two brothers
besides the chief, and a host of sons and relations.
The most remarkable person of the family was a
son of Futtih Khan, the Vizier of Shah Mahmood,
who had been so basely and cruelly murdered.
The lad is about fourteen years of age, and the
solitary descendant of his ill-fated father. The
sons of the Meer Waeez and Mookhtar o-doula,
who had dethroned Shah Shooja, were among the
party, and the day passed most agreeably. The
people were sociable and well-informed, free from
prejudice on points of religion, and many of them
were well versed in Asiatic history. They were
always cheerful, and frequently noisy in their good-
OUR VISITORS.
CHAP. Ill,
since its size diminished as the meat disappeared,
it did its part well. Pilaos and stews, sweets and
sours, filled the trays ; but the bonne bouche of the
day was a lamb that had never tasted aught but
milk. A bitter orange had been squeezed over it,
and made it very savoury. Four trays of sweet-
meats followed, with fruit; and the repast con-
cluded with sherbet mixed with snow, the sight of
which delighted us as much as our new friends. A
watch of night was spent before we broke up ; and
after the chief had repeated in a whisper his devo-
tion to our nation and anxiety for our welfare, he
bade us good night. I had almost lost the use of
my legs from the irksome position of constraint in
which I had so long sat. If we had been prepared
to like the manners of this people, there was much
to confirm it on this evening.
On the following day we were introduced to the
remainder of the family. There are two brothers
besides the chief, and a host of sons and relations.
The most remarkable person of the family was a
son of Futtih Khan, the Vizier of Shah Mahmood,
who had been so basely and cruelly murdered.
The lad is about fourteen years of age, and the
solitary descendant of his ill-fated father. The
sons of the Meer Waeez and Mookhtar o-doula,
who had dethroned Shah Shooja, were among the
party, and the day passed most agreeably. The
people were sociable and well-informed, free from
prejudice on points of religion, and many of them
were well versed in Asiatic history. They were
always cheerful, and frequently noisy in their good-