The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-02-10

self but at the end of the interview which
was tolerably long, aud at which the Oneen
was present, the. curtain was lightly r.,se1
| To give passage TO II slender, delicate hand
with fingers covered with diamonds. which
pressed in mine in Asiatic fashion. This
is all we saw that day OF the mysterious
princess. and the Begum Secunder did not
allow the opportunity to pass without again
expressing all the aversion which this Gus.
tom of the pHrtldh, cutting off women so
entirely from the society of her fellow crea-
lures, inspired her with, But very unex-
pected event was soon To put an end to this
position, so displeasing to the Begun, and
permit us tn satisfy our curiosity. Some
weeks after our interview, one of the mobiles
arrived on horseback in great haste at the
Mott Bungalow, to announce to us from the
Queen that the Prince 0umra Doula had
been found dead in his bed that morninV.
The news, the Sirdar added, had difTused
CONSERVATION throughout the palace, for the
Prince was in prime of life, and seemed tn
be of robust constitution. The
first minister soon arrived, and received an
order from the Queen to conduct us himself
to the palace of Oumra the facade of which
extends along one of the sides of the square
of the palace. The
minister left us in this room, after having
sent to announce our arrival TO the Princess:
and, in a few moments after, one of the
doors opened. and l saw a young woma A
enter, dressed III the strange and masculine
costume which makes the Bhopalere women
resemble the young pages who appear at our
iheaters. imagining her to be one of the
Princess's attendants, l advanced indlffer-
emily to meet the young girl; but with a
gesture of dignity she stopped me, saying
II Shah Iaka I
amszement, and bowed profoundly and my
astonishment may be conceive' on finding
myself suddenly in the presence of the Prin-
cess whom l imagined to be still strictly
confined to her harem. Nevertheless, re-
covering somewhat from my surprise, l ad-
dressed my compliments of coincidence to
her, telling her how during the short time
that | had known Prince Oumra Doula L
had learned to esteem and even to like him.
Without attempting to feign the slightest
emotion, the young Princess put stop to
my praises, saying, with slight shrug of
the shoulders, the simple word .KismStn
ct was written.) Then, motioning me to
seat myself near her on one of the sofas, she
said abruptly to me, DO you come from
Parisr and | was compelled, without taking
breath, to give description Of Paris its
monuments and the manner OF its inhabi-
tants. l could not get over my bewider.
ment, and was almost shocked at this utter
want of feeling, when the Begun Secunder
arrived. She could not help smiling on re-
marking my astonishment and, having
seated herself beside me, said to me: 4
mourn for Oumra Doua because lose in
him a faithful friend and counsellor. But
why should my daughter mourn2 Does the
prisoner regret his jailorr Strange words
these from the lips of an Asiatic. They are,
indeed, the condemnation of the worn out
custom of the sequestration of women, which
MussulTen persist in keeping up, in spite
of the constant progress of civilization
among them"
With reference to this description by M.
L. Rousselet, as translated by Col. Buckle,
word or two may be said In the first
place, we do not understand what NJ Rous-
selet means when he says that he pressed
the Begum's hand sin Asiatic fashion,"
When Orientals press hands, they press
them very much as Europeans do. The
''blind of fine straw" we presume to be q
''tatlie" of thin reeds or rushes. "Purdah,"
of course, means curtain" but it does not
''cut olf'' women from the society of their
fellow creatures. 1t only partially cuts them
of from the society of the male sex. Any
English lady can walk behind the thickest
purddh; and many purdah-nasteen woman
prefer their comparative seclusion, just as
nuns do theirs. They say, "We can see,
yet are not seen; and we have none Of the
trouble and vexation you have who mingle
with the rough and noisy world"
There is little wonder that there was
widespread CONSERVATION at the death If
Prince Oumra Doula. The report through
India at the time was that Shah Jehan hated
her husband and poisoned him; but it may
very well be that rumor exaggerated tho
callousness of the Princess TO the death of
her husband into completely in his death.