Frequent allusion is made to his intercourse with Erskine and Sheridan: the latter he is never tired of praising, as "the author of the best modern comedy (School for Scandal), the best farce (The Critic), and the best oration (the famous Begum speech) ever heard in this country."

'And you are certain you can obtain the money?' 'My good friend the Begum of the Cannibal Islands has more than she knows what to do with; and she owes me a good turn, you know.'

The worst feature in the whole of Hastings' misconduct was, perhaps, his treatment of those unfortunate ladies whose money he coveted, the Begums of Oude.

It was a fertile theme for a poet; and how little soever Sheridan cared for the Begums and their wrongsand that he did care little appears from what he afterwards said of Hastings himselfhe could evidently make a telling speech out of the theme, and he did so.

The King was brought to Delhi the same day, and lodged as a prisoner in the house formerly the residence of the notorious Begum Sumroo.

[Footnote 6: Amina Begum.]

The palace of the Princess Begum, half in the Italian and half in the Mongolian style, is tolerably large, and is remarkable for its extremely handsome saloons.

The Princess Begum attracted great attention at the time before Delhi was under the English dominion, by her intelligence, enterprise, and bravery.

I seem'd to want summut to wet me whistle, an' wur gwain to order a quart o' ale, when I heers a whistle an' a grunt vram a steamer, an' out I goos; an', begum!

I fancy she must have inherited it from an Indian ancestress, for her great-great-grandfather rescued a begum on her way to be burnt on her husband's funeral pyre.

They say she went and asked the Begum of Bhopal to join her in a 'mission and crusade'.

Hassanabad Mosque, Built by Nur Jehan Begum (Nourmahal), and destroyed by the Sikhs.

Nourmahal, ("Light of the Palace"), or, more properly, Nur Jehan Begum ("Light of the World"), was the wife of Jehaugir, celebrated in Mooree's Lalla Rookh.

Immediately behind Rauchenara-Begum's retinue appears a principal lady of the court, mounted and attended in much the same manner as the Princess.

"There were the effects of Nur Jahan Begum and Mumtaz Mahal, amounting in value, according to various reports, to two or three crores of rupees.

Sometimes the Great Mogul and his court would amuse themselves by holding a mock fair, in which the prettiest of the nobles' wives and daughters would act as traders, and the Emperors and the Begums would bargain with them in the most approved bazar fashion.

"The Begums betray, if possible, a still greater anxiety to be served cheaply; high words are heard on every side, and the loud and scurrilous quarrels of the buyers and sellers create a complete farce.

But, when at last the bargains are struck, the Begums, as well as the Emperor, pay liberally for their purchases, and often, as if by accident, let slip out of their hands a few gold instead of silver roupies, as a compliment to the fair merchant and her pretty daughter.

It was built by the father of Shah Jahan's first wife, the Kandahâri Begum.

This depraved old man has clearly no feeling for symmetry of form or face; a long career of Begums has utterly vitiated his taste.

"Begums always have plenty of beads.

" "You have distanced the Begums!"

cries Bobby, while his round eyes twinkle mischievously; "I dare say he has got one by now, a nice one, all beads and wampums, that the old Begum has made him.

What a long time it seems since I was jealous of Bobby's Begum!

BEGUM, name given in the E. Indies to a princess, mother, sister, or wife of a native ruler. BEHAIM, MARTIN, a geographer and chartographer, born in Nüremberg; accompanied Diego Cam on a voyage of discovery along W. coast of Africa; constructed and left behind him a famous terrestrial globe; some would make him out to be the discoverer of America (1459-1507).