Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 5.8.6

5.8.6

but the greater part are conveyed on the shoulders of six men, in rich Palekys, leaning against a thick cushion of brocade, and chewing their bet-le, for the double purpose of sweetening their breath and reddening their lips. On one side of every paleky is seen a servant bearing the piquedans, or spitoon of porcelain or silver; on the other side, two more servants fan the luxurious lord, and flap away the flies, or brush off the dust with a peacock's-tail fan; three or four footmen march in front to clear the way, and a chosen number of the best formed and best mounted horsemen follow in the rear. The country in the neighbourhood of Dehli is extremely fertile. It produces corn, sugar, anil or indigo, rice, millet, and three or four other kinds of pulse, the food of the common people, in great abundance. Two leagues from the city, on the Agra road, in a place which the Mahometans call Koba Kotub-ed-dine, is a very old edifice, formerly a De'ura, or Temple of idols, containing inscriptions written in characters different from those of any language spoken in the Indies, and so ancient that no one understands them.