Note 71 — CHAPTER 21

I returned from three to five pieces of gold for the rakhis sent by my adopted sisters; from one of whom, the sister of the Rana, I annually received this pledge by one of her handmaids; three of them I have yet in my possession, though I never saw the donor, who is now no more. I had, likewise, some presented through the family priest, from the Bundi queen-mother, with whom I have conversed for hours, though she was invisible to me; and from the ladies of rank of the chieftains’ families, but one of whom I ever beheld, though they often called upon me for the performance of brotherly offices in consequence of such tie. There is a delicacy in this custom, with which the bond uniting the cavaliers of Europe to the service of the fair, in the days of chivalry, will not compare.