Very little of their manners and customs is 'Wesson occasionally burn themselves along with the bodies of their deceased husbands, according temeritable religious principle diffused in the ,which now seems amorally ea, the decline. The inhabitants dwell in tennis and villages, of which the laser are much betterthan most others in they have aunierous strong forts, which they are se customed to take and defend with determined gour.
There are seemed considerable towns in the da• tact, such as Poona, Pirna or Puna, where the Ra, jai resides on account of its proximity to the die mond russet, Chatterpoor, Ditteab, csIlltgoo, Jyght. peer, Alma. Chatterpoor, so miles distant from Pannah, and 698 from Calcutta, is extensive, well built. and the houses chiefly consist of stone. For. away it was in a Smashing condition, a pion of great and active commercial traasactions, and a had of depot for goods carted between the Deems sal Minsapeor, which is also in the province of Alibi. bed, aid one of the principal trading towns of VI &SUM. The goods were afterwards transported by numerous bullocks and camels to the places of tier destination, and sc much commerce was conducted here, that, when Chatterpoor' preserved its grates importance, the duties levied amounted to 1..50,000 yearly. It was founded by one of the rajahs of Ba. delcund, and occasionally his residence. Danko Demob, is a large town surrounded with a nose wall, and ,is provided with gates. It extends a nue said •a half in length, by nearly as much in breadth, and is populous and well built, the homes b* of stone, and covered with tiles. . A spacious with seven cupolas, stands at the north-west mare. why, which was the fanner resiknoeof the Najd"; but a paste has recently been built for than es in salience without the town, dose to which is a cos siderabie lake. The district of Ditteab was mho terry to the Makatea, and the Rajah could raise 2000 horse, and as many infantry, esteemed excel. lent troops. Some years ago, they testified hew much they were to be dreaded in an engagement be. tween the veteran forces under M. de Boyne, a fi nials French General in the Mahratta service, where all the skill and ability of the conanander wad scarcely preserve the latter from destruction. list among the most important places of Bundelamd is Callinger, the chief town of a subdivision of this die. tact, which seems to have once been an independent 'amassment, and new includes ten perrasahs or circles of villages. It has a fortification built on a
laity rock •f great extent, and is deemed impregna ble by the natives. The walls are said to be six or seven miles in circuit ; 170 pieces of clam are mounted on them, and a garrison of 5000 min is neoessary for their defence. Nevertheless, its es turd strength has enabled a smaller number to sustain long sieges ; and the earlier invaders of Bun &hued have been compelled to retire saber unser cared biockades protracted during several yaws. So lately as the year 1810, the British army, having attempted to take it by storm, was repulsed with great slaughter. However, the garrison of this Rare* probably dreading a repetition of the assault, ciii• mated the place during the night. No fairest can be more secure against the irregular approaches of an Indian army. Here the Rajah kept his military stores and treasure, and it was also the residence of the Europeans in his service. It is twenty or thirty miles ftom Pannah, and lies in 24° 58' north lati tude. Jhansi is a considerable town, but smaller than Mesh, commanded by a stone fort on a high hill, in 25°.51' north latitude, and thirty-two miles distant from Chatterpoor. There is a district de pendent on the town, which, from having been seven ty or eighty years in the uninterrupted possession of the Peshwit, or Chief of the Mabrattas, is in a more tranquil state, and better cultivated than most of the neighbouring territories which have undergone fie changes. Hence it is frequented by caravans various commercial towns of India ; and its wealth is augmented by a trade in cloths, and the manufacture of carpets, bows, arrows, and spears, the principal arms of the Bondela tribes. In the year 1790, it afforded a revenue of about L. 50,000 annually. There is an ancient city called Ouncha, but now in decay, whose Rajah was formerly the head of all the tribes of Bundelcund, and• from whom their chiefs received tokens of their investiture. A castle which stands here, or in the neighbourhood, reaembles a gothic building, and is said to have been erected by a Rajah of old, who in one day gave or ders for building fifty-two forts. This may account for the places of strength seen in Bundelcund, for which the particular character of its surface is ex tremely favourable.