DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4649#0107
88 THE KING'S ELEPHANT.
procession by burkhandhars (matchlock men),
who fire singly, at intervals, on the way. Se-
veral bands of music are dispersed in the
cavalcade, performing solemn dirge-like airs,
peculiar to the style of composition in Hindoo-
staun, and well-suited to the occasion,—muffled
drums and shrill trumpets, imitating the reite-
ration of " Hasan, Hosein," when Mortem is
performed. I remember a fine female elephant,
belonging to King Ghauzee ood deen Hyder,
which had been so well instructed, as to keep
time with the soundings from her proboscis
with the occasional Mortems. I cannot say that
she clearly pronounced the names of the two
sons of Ali, yet the regularity of keeping time
with the music and the human voices was of
itself sufficient to excite admiration,—the Na-
tives declare that she pronounces the names
distinctly. Her name is Hoseinie, the feminine
of Hosein.
Amongst the many varieties of Native mu-
sical instruments I have seen in India, the
kettle-drum is the most simple and singular,
which I will take the liberty of describing:—
procession by burkhandhars (matchlock men),
who fire singly, at intervals, on the way. Se-
veral bands of music are dispersed in the
cavalcade, performing solemn dirge-like airs,
peculiar to the style of composition in Hindoo-
staun, and well-suited to the occasion,—muffled
drums and shrill trumpets, imitating the reite-
ration of " Hasan, Hosein," when Mortem is
performed. I remember a fine female elephant,
belonging to King Ghauzee ood deen Hyder,
which had been so well instructed, as to keep
time with the soundings from her proboscis
with the occasional Mortems. I cannot say that
she clearly pronounced the names of the two
sons of Ali, yet the regularity of keeping time
with the music and the human voices was of
itself sufficient to excite admiration,—the Na-
tives declare that she pronounces the names
distinctly. Her name is Hoseinie, the feminine
of Hosein.
Amongst the many varieties of Native mu-
sical instruments I have seen in India, the
kettle-drum is the most simple and singular,
which I will take the liberty of describing:—