JOURNEY TO KACHEMIRE
 

351
 

arts and influence of Rauchenara-Begum, who has been
long anxious to inhale a purer air than that of the Sera¬
glio, and to appear in her turn amid a pompous and mag¬
nificent army, as her sister Begum-Saheb had done during
the reign of Chah-Jehan.

The King left this city on the sixth of December, at
three o'clock in the afternoon ; a day and hour which,
according to the astrologers of Dehli, cannot fail to prove
propitious to long journeys.    Having reached Chah-limar,
 

Fig. 12.—Raushan Ara Begum.

his country villa, which is about two leagues distant from
the capital, he remained there six whole days in order to
afford time for the preparations required by an expedition
which was to last eighteen months. We hear to-day that
he has set out with the intention of encamping on the
Lahor road, and that after two days he will pursue his
journey without further delay.

He is  attended  not  only by the thirty-five  thousand