Page 152 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

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, ■ 152 EARLY ENGLISH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST

peror. He describes liim about this time as “ of counten­
ance cheerful, and not proud in nature, but by habit and
custom : for at night he is very affable and full of gentle
conversation.” On his part, Jehangir was not less drawn
to the ambassador, whose manly yet courtly bearing and
i
frank independence stood out in pleasant relief in a world
in which dissimulation and abject abasement were every­
where conspicuous. When Roe fell ill, as he did in the
course of the progress, the Emperor showed the most
kindly feeling. He caused frequent inquiries to be made
as to his condition and one day sent him from the imperial
\
store five bottles of wine, and what was more remarkable,
“a fat hog,” procured from Goa, which was dispatched
with a message to the effect that since it had been in the
imperial charge it had been fed on nothing but sugar and
i: butter.
5 At the outset of the progress the Emperor’s ultimate
destination was kept a profound secret. It was thought
at first that Agra was the objective, and the route taken
lent colour to this supposition, but when a certain point K
on the road was reached a more southerly course was w
followed, which indicated that Jehangir was .making] for
Mandu, the old capital of the Mohammedan kingdom of
J Malwa, situated in what is now the Dhar State, one of the
petty principalities of Central India.
Jehangir’s object in proceeding to this isolated and, from
N the standpoint of his Court, inconvenient spot, was to be
in a position to lend support to a campaign which his son,
Prince Khurrum, was conducting against the King of the !
ji
Deccan. This prince had for years previously been strug­
i gling to throw ofE the Mogul overlordship and had success­
fully resisted a force which Jehangir had sent against him

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