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diff --git a/43997-0.txt b/43997-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5a3ece --- /dev/null +++ b/43997-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10607 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43997 *** + + WANDERINGS IN INDIA. + + + + + WANDERINGS IN INDIA: + And other Sketches + OF + LIFE IN HINDOSTAN. + + By JOHN LANG, + AUTHOR OF "EX-WIFE," "WILL HE MARRY HER?" + + LONDON: + ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, & ROUTLEDGE, + FARRINGDON STREET; + + NEW YORK: 56, WALKER STREET. + + 1861. + + [_The Author reserves the right of Translation._] + + + + +PREFACE. + + + The greater part of the Papers which form this Volume + have appeared in "HOUSEHOLD WORDS;" and the Author has to + acknowledge his thanks to Mr. DICKENS for sanctioning a reprint + of them. + + LONDON, _July 15th, 1859_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + THE HIMALAYA CLUB 1 + THE MAHOMMEDAN MOTHER 30 + BLACK AND BLUE 59 + THE RANEE OF JHANSI 84 + TIRHOOT, LUCKNOW, BHITOOR, ETC 97 + THE UPPER PROVINCES 120 + MARCHING 143 + THE MARCH CONTINUED 173 + THE INDIAN SOCIETY 200 + THE UPPER PROVINCES 226 + CHURCHYARDS, ETC 251 + THE HIMALAYAS 286 + RETURNING 315 + MISCELLANEOUS 341 + FORWARD 360 + MILITARY MATTERS; SIMLAH, &c 377 + TANTIA TOPEE 410 + + + + +WANDERINGS IN INDIA. + + +THE HIMALAYA CLUB. + + +It is some eighteen years since this institution was founded, at +Mussoorie, one of the chief sanataria in the Himalaya mountains. Here +all those who can obtain leave, and who can afford the additional +expense, repair to escape the hot weather of the plains. The season +begins about the end of April, and ends about the first week in +October. The club is open to the members of the civil and military +services, to the members of the bar, the clergy, and to such other +private gentlemen as are on the Government House list, which signifies, +"in society." The club-house is neither an expensive nor an elegant +edifice, but it answers the purposes required of it. It has two large +rooms, one on the ground-floor, and the other on the upper story. The +lower room, which is some sixty feet long by twenty-five wide, is the +dining-room, breakfast-room, and reception-room. The upper room is the +reading and the ball-room. The club has also its billiard-room, which +is built on the ledge of a precipice; and its stables, which would +astonish most persons in Europe. No horses except those educated in +India, would crawl into these holes cut out of the earth and rock. + +Facing the side-door is a platform about forty yards long by fifteen +feet wide; and from it, on a clear day, the eye commands one of the +grandest scenes in the known world. In the distance are plainly visible +the eternal snows; at your feet are a number of hills, covered with +trees of luxuriant foliage. Amongst them is the rhododendron, which +grows to an immense height and size, and is, when in bloom, literally +covered with flowers. On every hill, on a level with the club, and +within a mile of it, a house is to be seen, to which access would seem +impossible. These houses are, for the most part, whitened without as +well as within; and nothing can exceed in prettiness their aspect as +they shine in the sun. + +From the back of the club-house, from your bed-room windows (there +are twenty-three sets of apartments) you have a view of Deyrah Dhoon. +It appears about a mile off. It is seven miles distant. The plains +that lie outstretched below the Simplon bear, in point of extent +and beauty, to the Indian scene, nothing like the proportion which +the comparatively pigmy Mont Blanc bears to the Dewalgiri. From an +elevation of about seven thousand feet the eye embraces a plain +containing millions of acres, intersected by broad streams to the +left, and inclosed by a low belt of hills, called the Pass. The Dhoon, +in various parts, is dotted with clumps of jungle, abounding with +tigers, pheasants, and every species of game. In the broad tributaries +to the Ganges and the Jumna, may be caught (with a fly) the mâhseer, +the leviathan salmon. Beyond the Pass of which I have spoken, you see +the plains of Hindoostan. While you are wrapped in a great coat, and +are shivering with the cold, you may see the heat, and the steam it +occasions. With us on the hills, the thermometer is at forty-five; with +those poor fellows over there, it is at ninety-two degrees. We can +scarcely keep ourselves warm, for the wind comes from the snowy range; +they cannot breathe, except beneath a punkah. That steam is, as the +crow flies, not more than forty miles from us. + +We are all idlers at Mussoorie. We are all sick, or supposed to be +so; or we have leave on private affairs. Some of us are up here for a +month between musters. We are in the good graces of our colonel and our +general--the general of our division, a very good old gentleman. + +Let us go into the public room, and have breakfast; for it is half-past +nine o'clock, and the bell has rung. There are not more than half +a dozen at the table. These are the early risers who walk or ride +round the Camel's Back every morning: the Camel's Back being a huge +mountain, encircled about its middle by a good road. The majority of +the club's members are asleep, and will defer breakfast until tiffin +time--half-past two. At that hour the gathering will be great. How +these early risers eat, to be sure! There is the major, who, if you +believe him, has every complaint mentioned in "Graham's Domestic +Medicine," has just devoured two thighs (grilled) of a turkey, and is +now asking Captain Blossom's opinion of the Irish stew, while he is +cutting into a pigeon-pie. + +Let us now while away the morning. Let us call on some of the grass +widows. There are lots of them here, civil and military. Let us go +first to Mrs. Merrydale, the wife of our old friend Charley, of the two +hundredth and tenth regiment. Poor fellow! He could not get leave, and +the doctors said another hot summer in the plains would be the death of +his wife. They are seven hundred pounds in debt to the Agra bank, and +are hard put to it to live and pay the monthly instalments of interest. +Charley is only a lieutenant. What terrible infants are these little +Merrydales! There is Lieutenant Maxwell's pony under the trees, and +if these children had not shouted out, "Mamma! Mamma! here is Captain +Wall, Sahib!" I should have been informed that Mrs. Merrydale was +not at home, or was poorly, which I should have believed implicitly. +(Maxwell, when a young ensign, was once engaged to be married to Julia +Dacey, now Mrs. Merrydale, but her parents would not hear of it, for +some reason or other.) As it is, we must be admitted. We will not +stay long. Mrs. Merrydale is writing to her husband. Grass widows in +the hills are always writing to their husbands, when you drop in upon +them, and your presence is not actually delighted in. How beautiful she +looks! now that the mountain breezes have chased from her cheeks the +pallor which lately clung to them in the plains; and the fresh air has +imparted to her spirits an elasticity, in lieu of that languor by which +she was oppressed a fortnight ago. + +Let us now go to Mrs. Hastings. She is the wife of a civilian, who +has a salary of fifteen hundred rupees (one hundred and fifty pounds) +per mensem, and who is a man of fortune independent of his pay. +Mrs. Hastings has the best house in Mussoorie. She is surrounded by +servants. She has no less than three Arab horses to ride. She is a +great prude, is Mrs. Hastings. She has no patience with married women +who flirt. She thinks that the dogma-- + + When lovely women go astray, + Their stars are more in fault than they-- + +is all nonsense. Mrs. Hastings has been a remarkably fine woman; she +is now five-and-thirty, and still good looking, though disposed to +_embonpoint_. She wearies one with her discourses on the duties of a +wife. That simpering cornet, Stammersleigh, is announced, and we may +bid her good morning. + +The average rent for a furnished house is about five hundred rupees +(fifty pounds) for the six months. Every house has its name. Yonder +are Cocky Hall, Belvidere, Phoenix Lodge, the Cliffs, the Crags, the +Vale, the Eagle's Nest, &c. The value of these properties ranges from +five hundred to fifteen hundred pounds. The furniture is of the very +plainest description, with one or two exceptions, and is manufactured +chiefly at Bareilly, and carried here on men's shoulders the entire +distance--ninety miles. + +Where shall we go now, for it wants an hour to tiffin time? Oh! here +comes a janpan! (a sort of sedan-chair carried by four hill men, +dressed in loose black clothes, turned up with red, yellow, blue, +green, or whatever colour the proprietor likes best). And in the janpan +sits a lady--Mrs. Apsley, a very pretty, good-tempered, and well-bred +little woman. She is the grand-daughter of an English peer, and is +very fond of quoting her aunts and her uncles. "My aunt Lady Mary +Culnerson," "my aunt the Countess of Tweedleford," "my uncle, Lord +Charles Banbury Cross," &c. But that is her only weakness, I believe; +and, perhaps, it is ungenerous to allude to it. Her husband is in the +Dragoons. + +"Well, Mrs. Apsley, whither art thou going? To pay visits?" + +"No. I am going to Mrs. Ludlam's to buy a new bonnet, and not before I +want one, you will say." + +"May I accompany you?" + +"Yes, and assist me in making a choice." + +There is not a cloud to be seen. The air is soft and balmy. The wild +flowers are in full bloom, and the butterfly is on the wing. The +grasshopper is singing his ceaseless song, and the bees are humming a +chorus thereto. + +We are now at Mrs. Ludlam's. The janpan is placed upon the ground, and +I assist Mrs. Apsley to step from it. + +Mrs. Ludlam is the milliner and dressmaker of Upper India, and +imports all her wares direct from London and Paris. Everybody in this +part of the world knows Mrs. Ludlam, and everybody likes her. She +has by industry, honesty of purpose, and economy, amassed a little +fortune; and has brought up a large family in the most respectable and +unpretending style. Some people say that she sometimes can afford to +sell a poor ensign's wife a bonnet, or a silk dress, at a price which +hardly pays. What I have always admired in Mrs. Ludlam is that she +never importunes her customers to buy her goods; nor does she puff +their quality. + +The bonnet is bought; likewise a neck-scarf for Jack. And we are now +returning: Mrs. Apsley to her home, and I to the club. Mrs. Apsley +invites me to dine with them; but that is impossible. It is public +night, and I have two guests. One of them is Jack, who does not belong +to the club, because Mary does not wish it. + +Mrs. Apsley says she wants some pickles, and we must go into Ford's +shop to purchase them. Ford sells everything; and he is a wine, beer, +and spirit merchant. You may get anything at Ford's--guns, pistols, +swords, whips, hats, clothes, tea, sugar, tobacco. What is this +which Ford puts into my hand? A raffle paper! "To be raffled for, a +single-barrelled rifle, by Purdey. The property of a gentleman hard-up +for money, and in great difficulties. Twenty-five chances at one gold +mohur (one pound twelve shillings) each." + +"Yes, put my name down for a chance, Ford." + +"And Captain Apsley's, please," says the lady. + +After promising Mrs. Apsley most faithfully that I will not keep Jack +later than half-past twelve, and taking another look into those sweet +eyes of hers, I gallop away as fast as the pony can carry me. I am +late; there is scarcely a vacant place at the long table. We have +no private tables. The same board shelters the nether limbs of all +of us. We are all intimate friends, and know exactly each other's +circumstances. What a clatter of knives and forks! And what a lively +conversation! It alludes chiefly to the doings of the past night. +Almost every other man has a nickname. To account for many of them +would indeed be a difficult, if not a hopeless task. + +"Dickey Brown! Glass of beer?" + +"I am your man," responds Major George, N. I. Fencibles. + +At the other end of the table you hear the word "Shiney" shouted out, +and responded to by Lieutenant Fenwick of the Horse Artillery. + +"Billy! Sherry?" + +Adolphus Bruce of the Lancers lifts his glass with immense alacrity. + +It is a curious characteristic of Indian society that very little +outward respect is in private shown to seniority. I once heard an +ensign of twenty years of age address a civilian of sixty in the +following terms: "Now then, old moonsiff, pass that claret, please." + +The tiffin over, a gool, or lighted ball of charcoal, is passed round +the table in a silver augdan (fire-holder). Every man present lights +a cigar, and in a few minutes there is a general move. Some retire to +the billiard-room, others cluster round the fireplace; others pace the +platform; and two sets go up-stairs into the reading-room to have a +quiet rubber--from three till five. Those four men seated at the table +near the window have the reputation of being the best players in India. +The four at the other table know very little of the game of whist. Mark +the difference! The one set never speak, except when the cards are +being dealt. The other set are finding fault with one another during +the progress of the hand. The good players are playing high. Gold mohur +points--five gold mohurs on the rub--give and take five to two after +the first game. And sometimes, at game and game, they bet an extra +five. Tellwell and Long, who are playing against Bean and Fickle, have +just lost a bumper--twenty-seven gold mohurs--a matter of forty-three +pounds four shillings. + +In the billiard-room, there is a match going on between four officers +who are famed for their skill, judgment, and execution. Heavy bets are +pending. How cautiously and how well they play! No wonder, when we +consider the number of hours they practise, and that they play every +day of their lives. That tall man, now about to strike, makes a revenue +out of billiards. I shall be greatly mistaken if that man does not +come to grief some day. He preys upon every youngster in every station +he goes to with his regiment. He is a captain in the Native Infantry. +His name is Tom Locke. He has scored forty-seven off the red ball. +His confederate, Bunyan, knows full well that luck has little to do +with his success. He, too, will come to grief before long. Your clever +villains are invariably tripped up sooner or later, and ignominiously +stripped of their commissions and positions in society. + +It is five o'clock. Some thirty horses and as many ponies are saddled +and bridled, and led up and down in the vicinity of the club. Everybody +will be on the mall presently. The mall is a part of the road round +the Camel's Back. It is a level of about half a mile long and twelve +feet broad. A slight fence stands between the riders and a deep +khud (precipice). To gallop along this road is nothing when you are +accustomed to it; but at first it makes one very nervous even to +witness it. Serious and fatal accidents have happened; but, considering +all things, they have been far fewer than might have been expected. + +The mall is crowded. Ladies and gentlemen on horseback, and ladies +in janpans--the janpanees dressed in every variety of livery. Men in +the French grey coats, trimmed with white serge, are carrying Mrs. +Hastings. Men in the brown clothes, trimmed with yellow serge, are +carrying Mrs. Merrydale. Jack Apsley's wife is mounted on her husband's +second charger. "Come along, Captain Wall," she calls out to me, and +goes off at a canter, which soon becomes a hard gallop. I follow her of +course. Jack remains behind, to have a quiet chat with Mrs. Flower, of +his regiment; who thinks--and Jack agrees with her--that hard riding +on the mall is a nuisance, and ought to be put a stop to. But, as we +come back, we meet the hypocrite galloping with a Miss Pinkerton, a new +importation, with whom--much to the amusement of his wife--he affects +to be desperately in love. The mall, by the way, is a great place for +flirtations. + +Most steady-going people, like Mrs. Flower, not only think hard riding +on the mall a nuisance, but make it the theme of letters to the editors +of the papers; and sometimes the editors will take the matter up, and +write leading articles thereon, and pointedly allude to the fact--as +did the late Sir C. J. Napier in a general order--that beggars on +horseback usually ride in the opposite direction to heaven. But these +letters and leaders rarely have the desired effect; for what can a man +do when a pretty woman like Mrs. Apsley says, "Come along; let us have +a gallop." + +Why are there so very many people on the mall this evening? A few +evenings ago it was proposed at the club that a band should play twice +a week. A paper was sent round at once, and every one subscribed a +sum in accordance with his means. Next morning the required number +of musicians was hunted up and engaged. Two cornets, two flutes, two +violins, a clarionet, a fife, and several drums. It is the twenty-ninth +of May--a day always celebrated in "this great military camp," as Lord +Ellenborough described British India. At a given signal, the band +strikes up "God save the Queen." We all flock round the band, which has +taken up a position on a rock beetling over the road. The male portion +of us raise our hats, and remain uncovered while the anthem is played. +We are thousands of miles distant from our fatherland and our Queen, +but our hearts are as true and as loyal as though she were in the midst +of us. + +This is the first time that the Himalaya mountains have listened to the +joyous sound of music. We have danced to music within doors; but never, +until this day, have we heard a band in the open air in the Himalaya +mountains. How wonderful is the effect! From valley to valley echo +carries the sound, until at last it seems as though + + Every mountain now had found a band. + +Long after the strain has ceased with us, we can hear it penetrating +into and reverberating amidst regions which the foot of man has never +yet trodden, and probably will never tread. The sun has gone down, but +his light is still with us. + +Back to the club! Dinner is served. We sit down, seventy-five of us. +The fare is excellent, and the champagne has been iced in the hail +which fell the other night, during a storm. Jack Apsley is on my +right, and I have thrice begged of him to remember that he must not +stay later than half-past twelve; and he has thrice responded that +Mary has given him an extension of leave until daylight. Jack and I +were midshipmen together, some years ago, in a line-of-battle ship +that went by the name of the House of Correction. And there is Wywell +sitting opposite to us--Wywell who was in the frigate which belonged to +our squadron--the squadron that went round the world, and buried the +commodore, poor old Sir James! in Sydney churchyard. Fancy we three +meeting again in the Himalaya mountains! + +The cloth is removed, for the dinner is over. The president of the +club--the gentleman who founded it--rises. He is a very little man of +seventy years of age--fifty-three of which have been spent in India. He +is far from feeble, and is in full possession of all his faculties. His +voice is not loud, but it is very distinct, and pierces the ear. + +They do not sit long after dinner at the club. It is only nine, and the +members are already diminishing. Some are off to the billiard-room, +to smoke, drink brandy-and-water, and look on at the play. The whist +parties are now at work, and seven men are engaged at brag. A few +remain; and, drawing their chairs to the fireplace, form a ring and +chat cosily. + +Halloa! what is this? The club-house is heaving and pitching like a +ship at anchor in a gale of wind. Some of us feel qualmish. It is a +shock of an earthquake; and a very violent shock. It is now midnight. +A thunderstorm is about to sweep over Mussoorie. Only look at that +lurid forked lightning striking yonder hill, and listen to that +thunder! While the storm lasts, the thunder will never for a second +cease roaring; for, long before the sound of one peal has died away, it +will be succeeded by another more awful. And now, look at the Dhoon! +Those millions of acres are illuminated by incessant sheet lightning. +How plainly we discern the trees and the streams in the Dhoon, and +the outline of the pass which divides the Dhoon from the plains. What +a glorious panorama! We can see the black clouds descending rapidly +towards the Dhoon, and it is not until they near that level land that +they discharge the heavy showers with which they are laden. What a +luxury would this storm be to the inhabitants of the plains; but it +does not extend beyond the Dhoon. We shall hear the day after to-morrow +that not a single drop of rain has fallen at Umballah, Meerut, or +Saharunpore. + +The party from the billiard-room has come up to have supper, now that +the storm is over. They are rather noisy; but the card-players take no +heed of them. They are too intent upon their play to be disturbed. Two +or three of the brag party call for oyster-toast to be taken to the +table, and they devour it savagely while the cards are dealt round, +placing their lighted cheroots meanwhile on the edge of the table. + +And now there is singing--comic and sentimental. "Isle of Beauty" is +followed by the "Steam Leg," the "Steam Leg" by the "Queen of the May," +the "Queen of the May" by the facetious version of "George Barnwell," +and so on. Jack Apsley--who has ascertained that dear Mary is quite +safe, and not at all alarmed--is still here, and is now singing "Rule, +Britannia," with an energy and enthusiasm which are at once both +pleasing and ridiculous to behold. He has been a soldier for upwards +of sixteen years; but the sailor still predominates in his nature; +while his similes have invariably reference to matters connected with +ships and the sea. He told me just now, that when he first joined his +regiment, he felt as much out of his element as a live dolphin in a +sentry-box, and he has just described his present colonel as a man +who is as touchy as a boatswain's kitten. Apsley's Christian name is +Francis, but he has always been called Jack, and always will be. + +It is now broad daylight, and high time for a man on sick-leave to +be in bed. How seedy and disreputable we all look, in our evening +dresses and patent-leather boots. And observe this carnation in my +button-hole--the gift of Mrs. Apsley; she gave it to me on the mall. +The glare of the lights, and the atmosphere of smoke in which I have +been sitting part of the night, have robbed it of its freshness, its +bloom, and perfume. I am sorry to say it is an emblem of most of us. + +Go home, Apsley! Go home, reeking of tobacco-smoke and +brandy-and-water--with your eyes like boiled gooseberries, your hair in +frightful disorder--go home! You will probably meet upon the mall your +three beautiful children, with their rosy faces all bloom, and their +breath, when they press their glowing lips to those feverish cheeks +of yours, will smell as incense, and make you ashamed of yourself. Go +home, Jack. I will tiff with you to-day at half-past two. + + * * * * * + +Two young gentlemen were victimized last night at the brag party. The +one, a lieutenant of the N. I. Buffs, lost six thousand rupees; the +other, a lieutenant of the Foot Artillery, four thousand. The day after +to-morrow, the first of the month, will be settling day. How are they +to meet these debts of honour? They have nothing but their pay, and +must borrow from the banks. That is easily managed. The money will +be advanced to them on their own personal security, and that of two +other officers in the service. They must also insure their lives. The +premium and the interest together will make them forfeit fourteen per +cent. per annum on the sum advanced. The loan will be paid off in three +years, by monthly instalments. The paymaster will receive an order from +the bank secretary to deduct for the bank so much per mensem from their +pay. For the next three years they will have to live very mildly indeed. + +There were also two victims (both youngsters) to billiards. One lost +three thousand rupees in bets, another two thousand five hundred by +bad play. They too, will have to fly for assistance to the banks. +Captains Locke and Bunyan won, between them, last night, one thousand +four hundred pounds. There was but little execution done at whist. Not +more than one hundred and fifty pounds changed hands. Those four men +who play regularly together, and who never exceed their usual bets, +have very little difference between them at the end of each month--not +thirty pounds either way. This will not hurt them; for they have all +good appointments, and have private property besides. + +I find, on going to tiffin at Jack Apsley's, that Mrs. Jack has heard +all about the winnings and losings at the club. Some man went home and +told his wife, and she has told everybody whom she has seen. In a short +time the news will travel to head-quarters at Simlah, and out will come +a general order on gambling, which general order will be read aloud at +the Himalaya Club, with comments by the whole company--comments which +will be received with shouts of laughter. Some youngsters will put the +general order into verse, and send it to a newspaper. This done, the +general order will be converted into pipe-lights. This is no doubt very +sad; but I have no time to moralize. My duty is simply to paint the +picture. + +Mrs. Apsley is not angry with her husband for staying up till daylight. +She thinks a little dissipation does him good; and it is but a very +little that Jack indulges in, for he is a good husband and a good +father. Jack has a severe headache, but he won't confess it. He says +he never touched the champagne, and only drank two glasses of brandy +and water. But who ever did touch the champagne, and who ever did drink +any more than two glasses of brandy and water? Jack came home with +his pockets filled with almonds, raisins, prunes, nutcrackers, and +two liqueur glasses; but how they got there he has not the slightest +idea--but I have. Wywell, from a sideboard, was filling his pockets all +the while he was singing "Rule, Britannia." + +"Mrs. Apsley, I have some news for you." + +"What is it, Captain Wall?" + +"The club gives a ball on the 7th of June." + +"You don't say so." + +"And what is more, a fancy ball." + +The tiffin is brought in. Mulligatawny soup and rice, cold lamb and +mint sauce, sherry and beer. The Apsleys are very hospitable people; +but Mary, who rules the household, never exceeds her means for the sake +of making a display. + +The soup and a glass of wine set Jack up; and he becomes quite chirpy. +He proposes that he and I and Wywell shall go to the fancy ball as +middies, and that Mary shall appear as Black-eyed Susan. Then, darting +off at a tangent, he asks me if I remember when we were lying off Mount +Edgecombe, just before sailing for South America? But he requires a +little more stimulant, for the tears are glistening in his soft blue +eyes when he alludes to the death of poor Noel, a middy whom we buried +in the ocean a few days before we got to Rio. In a very maudlin way +he narrates to his wife the many excellent qualities of poor Noel. +She listens with great attention; but, observing that his spontaneous +emotion is the result of the two over-night glasses of brandy--plus +what he cannot remember drinking over-night--she suggests that Jack +shall make some sherry cobbler. What a jewel of a woman art thou, Mrs. +Apsley! Several of the men who returned home, as Jack did, none the +better for their potations, have been driven by their wives' reproaches +to the club, where they are now drinking brandy and soda-water to +excess; while here is your spouse as comfortable as a cricket on a +hearth; and now that he confesses he was slightly screwed, you, with +quiet tact, contradict his assertion. + +For the next week the forthcoming fancy ball to be given by the club +will be the chief topic of conversation amongst the visitors at +Mussoorie. Mrs. Ludlam is in immense demand. She knows the character +that each lady will appear in; but it is useless to attempt to extract +from her the slightest particle of information on that head. This ball +will be worth seven hundred and fifty rupees to Mrs. Ludlam. + +Let us keep away from the club for a few days; for, after several +officers have been victimized at play, their friends are apt to talk +about the matter in an unpleasant manner. This frequently leads to a +quarrel, which I dislike to witness. + +Where shall we go? To the Dhoon. It is very hot there; but never mind. +No great-coat, no fires, an hour hence; but the very lightest of +garments and a punkah. The thermometer is at eighty-five degrees there. +The Dhoon is not a healthy place in the summer. It must have been the +bed of an enormous lake, or small inland sea. Its soil being alluvial, +will produce anything: every kind of fruit, European and tropical. You +may gather a peach and a plantain out of the same garden. Some of the +hedges in this part of the world are singularly beautiful, composed +of white and red cluster roses and sweetbriers. There is an excellent +hotel in the Dhoon, where we are sure to meet people whom we know. + +Sure enough, I find a Party of five at the hotel; all club men, and +intimate friends of mine. They, too, have come down to avoid being +present on the first settling day; for if there should be any duelling, +it is just possible that some of us might be asked to act as second. + +We must dine off sucking-pig in the Dhoon. The residents at Mussoorie +used to form their pig-parties in the Dhoon, just as the residents of +London form their whitebait banquets at Greenwich. I once took a French +gentleman, who was travelling in India, to one of these pig-parties, +and he made a very humorous note of it in his book of travel, which he +showed to me. Unlike most foreigners who travel in English dominions, +he did not pick out and note down all the bad traits in our character; +but gave us credit for all those excellent points which his experience +of mankind in general enabled him to observe. + +The Governor-General's body-guard is quartered just now in the Dhoon, +and there is a Goorkha regiment here. The Dhoon will send some twenty +couples to the fancy ball on the 7th. Every lady in the place has +at this moment a Durzee (man tailor) employed in her back verandah +dress-making. We are admitted to the confidence of Mrs. Plowville, who +is going as Norma. And a very handsome Norma she will make; she being +rather like Madame Grisi--and she knows it. + +We return to the club on the 2nd of June. There has been a serious +dispute, and a duel has been fought; but happily, no blood shed. +The intelligence of the gambling at the club has reached the +Commander-in-Chief at Simlah; and he has ordered that the remainder of +the leave granted to Captains Locke and Bunyan be cancelled, and that +those officers forthwith join their respective regiments. The victims +also have been similarly treated; yet every one of these remanded +officers came up here on medical certificate. + +It is the morning of the 7th of June. The stewards of the ball are +here, there, and everywhere, making arrangements. Several old hands, +who hate and detest balls, and who voted against this ball, are walking +about the public room, protesting that it is the greatest folly they +ever heard of. And in their disgust they blackball two candidates for +admission who are to be balloted for on the 10th instant. They complain +that they can get no tiffin, no dinner, no anything. But the stewards +only laugh at them. + +The supper has been supplied by Monsieur Emille, the French +restaurateur, and a very splendid supper it is. It is laid out in the +dining-room. Emille is a great artist. He is not perhaps equal to +Brazier--that great man whom Louis Philippe gave to his friend, Lord +William Bentinck, when Lord William was going out to govern India--but +Emille, nevertheless, would rank high even amongst the most skilful of +cuisiniers in Europe. + +It is a quarter past nine, and we of the club are ready to receive +our guests. The ladies come in janpans; their husbands following them +on horseback or on foot. It is a beautiful moonlight night. We are +always obliged to wait upon the moon when we give a ball in Mussoorie. +Before ten o'clock the room is crowded. There are present one hundred +and thirty-six gentlemen, and seventy-five ladies. Of the former +nine-tenths are soldiers, the remainder are civilians. Of the latter, +seventy are married; the remaining five are spinsters. + +Here we all are in every variety of costume--Turks, Greeks, Romans, +Bavarian broom-girls, Medoras, Corsairs, Hamlets, Othellos, Tells, +Charles the Seconds, and Quakers. Many have not come in fancy costume, +but in their respective uniforms; and where do you see such a variety +of uniforms as in an Indian ball-room? Where will you meet with so +great a number of distinguished men? There is the old general: that +empty sleeve tells a tale of the battle of Waterloo. Beside him is a +general in the Company's service, one who has recently received the +thanks of his country. He has seen seventy, but there is no man in the +room who could at this very time endure so great an amount of mental +or bodily fatigue. That youngster to the right of the general is to +be made a brevet-major and a C.B. as soon as he gets his company. +He is a hero, though a mere boy. That pale-faced civilian is a man +of great ability, and possesses administrative talents of the very +highest order. Seated on an ottoman, talking to Mrs. Hastings, is the +famous Hawkins, of the Third Dragoons. Laughing in the side doorway +is the renowned William Mumble. He is the _beau ideal_ of a dashing +soldier. Yonder is Major Starcross, whose gallantry in Affghanistan +was the theme of admiration in Europe. And there is Colonel Bolt, of +the Duke's Own. All of these men have been under very hot fire--the +hottest that even Lord Hardinge could remember. All of them are +decorated with medals and ribbons. Where will you see handsomer women +than you frequently meet in a ball-room at Mussoorie or Simlah? Amongst +those now assembled there are three who, at any court in Europe, would +be conspicuous for their personal attractions--Mrs. Merrydale, Mrs. +Plowville, and Mrs. Banks. Mrs. Apsley is a pretty little woman; but +the three to whom I have alluded are beautiful. + +The dancing has commenced, and will continue until four o'clock, with +an interval of half-an-hour at supper-time. The second supper--the +ladies being gone--will then commence, and a very noisy party it will +be. Unrestrained by the presence of the fair sex, the majority of +those who remain will drink and smoke in earnest, and the chances are, +there will be several rows. Ensign Jenks, when the brandy and water +inflames him, will ask young Blackstone, of the Civil Service, what he +meant by coming up and talking to his partner during the last set of +quadrilles. Blackstone will say, the lady beckoned to him. Jenks will +say, "It is a lie!" Blackstone will rise to assault Jenks. Two men +will hold Blackstone down on his chair. The general will hear of this, +for Captain Lovelass (who is himself almost inarticulate) has said to +Jenks, "Cossider self unarrest!" Jenks will have to join his regiment +at Meerut, after receiving from the general a very severe reprimand. + +While talking over the past ball, an archery meeting or a pic-nic +is sure to be suggested. It must originate at the club; without the +countenance of the club, which is very jealous of its prerogative, +no amusement can possibly be successful. A lady, the wife of a +civilian, who prided herself on her husband's lofty position, had +once the temerity to try the experiment, and actually sent round a +proposal-paper in her own handwriting, and by one of her own servants. +She failed of course. All the club people wrote the word "seen" +opposite to their names; but withheld the important word "approved." +Even the tradespeople at Mussoorie acknowledge the supremacy of the +Himalaya Club. + + * * * * * + +The season is over. The cold weather has commenced in the plains. It is +the 5th of October, and everybody at Mussoorie is on the move--going +down the hill, as it is called. Every house which was lately full +is now empty, and will remain so till the coming April. The only +exceptions will be the schools for young ladies and for little boys; +the convent, the branch of the North-West Bank, and the Post-Office. +Invalided officers who reside at the sanatarium during the summer will +go down the hill, and winter in Deyrah Dhoon. In another month the +mountains will be covered with snow, and it would be dangerous to walk +out on these narrow roads, few of which are railed in. + +Let us sum up the events of the season. Four young men were +victimized--two at cards and two at billiards. Two duels were fought +on the day after the ball. In one of these duels an officer fell dead. +In another the offending party grievously wounded his antagonist. Four +commissions were sacrificed in consequence of these encounters. There +were two elopements. Mrs. Merrydale went off with Lieutenant Maxwell, +leaving her children under the care of the servants, until her husband +came to take them away. Mrs. Hastings, who used to bore us about the +duties of a wife, carried off that silly boy Stammersleigh. These +elopements led to two actions in H.M. Supreme Court of Calcutta, and +seven of us (four in one case and three in the other) had to leave our +regiments or appointments, and repair to the Supreme Court to give +evidence. Some of us had to travel fourteen hundred miles in the month +of May, the hottest month in India. + +There was another very awkward circumstance connected with that +season at Mussoorie. The reader knows that Captains Locke and Bunyan +were ordered to join their regiments, the unexpired portion of +their leave having been cancelled by order of his Excellency the +Commander-in-Chief. In the hurry of his departure from the hills, Locke +had left in the drawer of a table a letter from Bunyan, containing a +proposal to victimize a certain officer--then in Mussoorie--in the +same manner that they had victimized one Lord George Straw; namely, to +get him to their rooms, and play at brag. Lord George Straw had lost +to these worthies eighteen hundred pounds on one eventful night. The +general opinion was, touching a very extraordinary fact connected with +the play, that Lord George had been cheated. This letter from Bunyan +to Locke was found by the servant of the officer who now occupied +the apartments recently vacated by Locke. The servant handed it to +his master, who, fancying that it was one of his own letters, began +abstractedly to read it. Very soon, however, he discovered his mistake. +But he had read sufficient to warrant his reading the whole, and he did +so. A meeting of gentlemen at the club was called; and, before long, +Locke and Bunyan left the army by sentence of a general court-martial. +I have since heard that Locke lost his ill-gotten gains in Ireland, +and became eventually a marker at a billiard-room; and that Bunyan, who +also came to poverty, was seen driving a cab for hire in Oxford-street. + +It behoves me, however, to inform the reader that, recently, the tone +of Anglo-Indian society during the hot seasons is very much improved. +Six or seven years ago there never was a season that did not end as +unhappily as that which I have attempted to describe; but it is now +four years since I heard of a duel in the Upper Provinces--upwards +of four years since I heard of a victim to gambling, and nearly +three since there was an elopement. It is true that the records of +courts-martial still occasionally exhibit painful cases; but, if we +compare the past with the present, we must admit that the change is +very satisfactory. I do not attribute this altered state of things +to the vigilance of commanding officers, or the determination of the +commanders-in-chief to punish severely those who offend. It is due +chiefly to the improved tone of society in England, from which country +we get our habits and manners. The improvement in the tone of Indian +society has been very gradual. Twenty years ago India was famous for +its infamy. Ten years ago it was very bad. It is now tolerable. In +ten years from this date, if not in less time, Indian society will be +purged entirely of those evils which now prey upon it, and trials for +drunkenness and other improper conduct will happen as rarely as in +England. Year by year this communication between our fatherland and +the upper part of India will become more speedy and less expensive; +and thus will a greater number of officers be enabled to come home on +furlough for a year or two. Nothing does an Indian officer so much +good as a visit to Europe. When a man has once contracted bad habits +in India, he cannot reform in India. To be cured he must be taken away +for a while from the country. There have been instances of officers who +have had strength of mind to alter their course of life without leaving +the East; but those instances are very few. + +The East India Company should do all in its power to encourage young +officers to spend a certain time every seven years in Europe. Instead +of six months' leave to the hills--which six months are spent in utter +idleness, and too frequently in dissipation--give them nine months' +leave to Europe. This would admit of their spending six months in +England, or on the Continent, where they would improve their minds and +mend their morals, as well as their constitutions. + +The East India Company should also bring the Peninsular and Oriental +Company to reasonable terms for the passage of officers to and from +India. A lieutenant who wishes to come home, cannot at present get +a passage from Calcutta to Southampton under one hundred and twenty +pounds. So that he gives up more than four months' pay for being "kept" +thirty-six days on board of a steamer. Three pounds ten shillings per +diem for food and transit! + + + + +THE MAHOMMEDAN MOTHER. + + +Mussoorie and Landour, situated in the lower range of the Himalaya +mountains, form the favourite sanitarium of the upper part of India. +The scenery is more beautiful than that of Simlah; for Mussoorie and +Landour command a view of Dehra Dhoon, which resembles (except that +the Dhoon is grander and more extensive) the plains of Italy as seen +from the ascent of the Simplon. The mall of Mussoorie is crowded every +evening with visitors; some on horseback, some on hill ponies, some +on foot, and some in the janpan (something like a sedan-chair carried +by four hill men). A gayer scene it would be impossible to conceive. +Every one knows his neighbour; and, in passing along the narrow road, +stoppages are frequent. Compliments must be exchanged, and the news or +scandal of the day gossiped about. Every now and then you hear a cry of +"What a shame!" from a terrified lady in a janpan, while a couple of +lovers gallop past on spirited Arabs at full speed. Sometimes a shriek +from a nervous mamma reverberates through the valleys, when she beholds +her children in the way of the heedless pair. + +Accidents sometimes occur. A few years ago, a lady and a gentleman +were riding round a place called the Camel's Back; the road gave way, +and they fell down a precipice several hundred feet. The horses were +killed, but the riders miraculously escaped with only a few severe +bruises. On another occasion, a gentleman of the civil service was +taking his evening walk, when one of his dogs ran between his legs, and +precipitated him. He was killed on the spot. + +On the mall every evening was to be seen a native woman standing by the +side of the road, near a large rock, watching those who passed by. She +was well dressed, and her face was concealed, according to the custom +of persons of her apparent station in life. There she stood, attracting +general attention. She was a woman of slight, but graceful figure, and +rather tall. Many persons were curious to know who she was, and to +see her face; but she took care that in this respect none should be +gratified. Sometimes she would go away early; at other times she would +remain until it was quite dark. Some suspected--and I was amongst the +number--that she was the native wife of some European officer who had +divorced himself, and visited the "Hills," whither the woman, to annoy, +had followed him; and there was no small amount of speculation as to +whose wife she could be. Some of the guesses, if they were seriously +made, were extremely ungenerous, for they included several elderly +officials, who could not by any possibility have been married to this +mysterious lady. I was determined to know who she was; and one night, +when most people were thronged around the band, I approached her, and +inquired if I could be of any service to her. She replied (her face +closely covered), "Yes; by going away." She had a very sweet voice, and +its sorrowful tones inspired me with pity, when she added, "I am a poor +woman; my heart is crushed; do not add to my misery by remaining near +me." I obeyed her, after apologizing for having intruded. Several other +persons had attempted to extract some particulars from the lady, and +had received the same sort of reply as that she had given to me. + +The rains were about to commence, and storms were not unfrequent. The +mall was less frequented; only a few--those who cared little about +hearing "heaven's artillery thunder in the skies," or being pelted by +hailstones as large as marbles--ventured out; but amongst that few was +the native lady, who, punctual as the light of day, visited that huge, +dismal-looking rock, and gazed upon the road. + +I have seen a storm on the heights of Jura--such a storm as Lord Byron +describes. I have seen lightning and heard thunder in Australia; I +have, off Terra del Fuego, the Cape of Good Hope, and the coast of +Java, kept watch in thunderstorms which have drowned in their roaring +the human voice, and made every one deaf and stupified; but these +storms are not to be compared with a thunderstorm at Mussoorie or +Landour. + +In one of these storms of thunder, lightning, wind, and hail, at about +five o'clock in the afternoon, I laid a wager with a friend that the +native lady would be found as usual standing near the rock. Something +secretly assured me that she was there at that moment, looking on +unmoved, except by the passions which had prompted her pilgrimage. How +were we to decide it? "By going to the spot," I suggested. My friend +declined; but declared that, as far as the bet was concerned, he would +be perfectly satisfied with my word, either one way or the other; +namely, whether I had won or lost. + +I set off upon my journey. The rock was at least three-quarters of a +mile distant from my abode. My curiosity was so much aroused--albeit +I felt certain the woman was there--that I walked through the storm +without heeding it. Every now and then I saw the electric fluid descend +into a valley; then heard that strange noise which huge pieces of +rock make when they bound from one precipice to another, tearing up +trees, and carrying large stones and the earth along with them in their +headlong career; but still my mind was intent on the woman, and nothing +else. + +Was she there? + +Yes; there she sat, drenched to the skin; but I could not pity her wet +and cold condition, for I could see that she cared no more about it +than I cared about my own. She drew her garment so closely over her +face, that the outline of her features was plainly discernible. It was +decidedly handsome; but still I longed to see her eyes, to confirm my +impression. I sat beside her. The storm still raged, and presently the +lady said, "The heaven is speaking, Sahib." I answered, "Truly; but the +lightning, the parent of that sound which I now hear, I cannot see." +She understood me, and gave me a glimpse of her eyes. They were not +like the eyes of a native; they were of a bluish hue, almost grey. I +said to her, in Hindoostanee, "You are not a native; what do you do +here in a native dress?" + +"I would I were an European," she answered me. "My feelings, perhaps, +would be less acute, and I should be sitting over a bright fire. Oh, +how loudly the heaven is speaking! Go home, Sahib, you will catch cold!" + +"Why do _you_ not go home?" I asked. "You will see no one to-day. +No--not even your beloved. I am the only being who will venture out in +a storm like this; and I do so only for your sake." + +"My heart is as hard as this rock," she said, flipping her finger +against the granite, "to all except one being--a child. Oh, how the +heaven is speaking, Sahib!" + +"Do you not fear the lightning and the hail?" I asked her. + +"I did once," she replied. "I trembled whenever it came near; but +now, what does it signify? _Bidglee_ (lightning), come to me," she +cried, beckoning to a streak of fluid which entered the ground within a +hundred yards of us. "_Bidglee_, come here, and make a turquoise of my +heart." + +What pretty feet! She had kicked off her shoes, which were saturated +and spoiled. + +"Go home, Sahib" (such was the refrain of her conversation); "you will +catch cold!" + +By degrees I had an opportunity of seeing all her features. She was +most beautiful, but had evidently passed the meridian of her charms. +She could not have been less than twenty-four years of age. On the +forefinger of her left hand she wore a ring of English manufacture, in +which was set a red cornelian, whereon was engraved a crest--a stag's +head. + +I took her hand in mine, and said, "Where did you get this?" pointing +to the ring. + +She smiled and sighed, and then answered, "Jee (sir), it belonged to an +Ameer (a great man)." + +"Where is he?" + +"Never mind." + +"Do you expect to see him soon?" + +"No; never." + +"Is he old?" + +"No; not older than yourself. How the heaven is speaking!" + +"Let me see you to your home." + +"No. I will go alone." + +"When do you intend to go?" + +"When you have left me." + +"You are very unkind thus to repulse my civility." + +"It may be so; but my heart's blood is curdled." + +I bade her farewell; and through the storm, which still raged, I went +home and won my wager. + +I could not rest that night. The beautiful face of the native woman +haunted me. In vain I tried to sleep, and at last I arose from my bed, +and joined a card-party, in the hope that the excitement of gambling +would banish her from my brain. But to no purpose. I knew not what I +was playing, and ere long I left off in disgust. + +Almost every one who visits the Hills keeps a servant called a +_tindal_. His duty is to look after the men who carry your janpan, to +go errands, to keep up the fire, and to accompany you with a lantern +when you go out after dark. These tindals, like the couriers on the +Continent, are a peculiar race; and, generally speaking, are a very +sharp, active, and courageous people. I summoned my tindal, and +interrogated him about the native lady who had caused so much sensation +in Mussoorie. The only information he could afford me was, that she had +come from a village near Hurdwar; that she was rich, possessed of the +most costly jewels, kept a number of servants, moved about in great +state on the plains, and, for all he knew, she might be the wife or +slave of some Rajah. + +Could she, I wondered, be the famous Ranee Chunda, the mother of +Dulleep Singh, and the wife of Runjeet?--the woman who, disguised +as a soldier, had escaped from the fort of Chunar, where she had +been imprisoned for disturbing, by her plots, the imagination of Sir +Frederick Currie, when he was Resident at Lahore? The woman I had seen +and spoken to "answered to the description" of the Ranee in every +respect, excepting the eyes. Dulleep Singh was living at Mussoorie, and +he not unfrequently rode upon the mall. Ranee Chunda had a satirical +tongue, and a peculiarly sweet-toned, but shrill voice, and she had +remarkably beautiful feet, and so had this woman. Ranee Chunda had +courage which was superhuman; so had this woman. Ranee Chunda had a +child--an only child; so had this woman. + +I asked the tindal where the lady lived. He replied, that she occupied +a small house near the bazaar, not very far from my own abode. "She is +in great grief," the tindal yawned, "about something or other." + +"Endeavour to find out the cause of her misfortunes," said I, "and you +shall be rewarded according to your success." + +Next day the tindal reported to me that I was not the only Sahib who +was deeply interested in the native lady's affairs; that many wished +to make her acquaintance, and had sent their tindals to talk to her; +but that she had firmly and laconically dismissed them all, just as she +had dismissed him--"Tell your master that the sufferings of an object +of pity, such as I am, ought not to be aggravated by the insulting +persecution of gay and light-hearted men." + +The day after the storm brought forth the loveliest afternoon that +can be imagined. The sun shone out brightly, the clouds were lifted +from the Dhoon, and the vast panorama resembled what we read of in +some fairy tale. All Mussoorie and Landour turned out. The mall was so +crowded, that it was difficult to thread one's way through the throng. + +Was the lady at the rock? Yes; there she stood, as usual, watching +those who passed. The Maharajah with his suite appeared. I was +convinced that the woman was the Maharajah's mother; but I did not +breathe my suspicions, lest I might cause her to be arrested. When it +became dusk, and the visitors were taking their departure, I again +approached the lady, and made my "salaam," in that respectful phrase +which is always adopted when addressing a native woman of rank. She at +once recognised me as the person who had spoken to her during the storm +on the previous afternoon, for she alluded to its fury, and said she +had taken a wrong road, had lost her way after I had left her, and did +not reach home till nearly midnight. She concluded her little speech +with a hope that I had been more fortunate. + +"You should have allowed me to escort you," said I. "I would have +helped to carry your load of sorrow." + +She looked at me, and suddenly and abruptly said, "Your name is +Longford." + +"You are right," said I. + +"About three or four years ago you stayed for several days with a +friend in a tent near Deobund? You were on your way to these mountains?" + +"I did." + +"You had a little dog with you, and you lost it at Deobund?" + +"I did lose my dog, and made a great noise about it. But how do you +know all this?" + +She smiled and sighed. + +I was bewildered. My belief that she was the Ranee Chunda was almost +confirmed. It was close to the encampment of the Ranee, when she was +on her way to Chunar, that my dog was lost, and my servants and the +officers of police declared that it must have been some of the Ranee's +people who had stolen the favourite. + +"The dog is still alive," said the lady; "and if you will come +to-morrow, at twelve o'clock, to my house, you shall see him; but you +will promise not to take him from me?" + +"Of course I will not take him from you. But let me see him to-night, +and tell me how he came into your possession. I will see you to your +home." + +"No, Sahib; be patient. I will tell you all to-morrow; and, when you +have heard my story, you will perhaps do me a kindness. It is in your +power to assist me. Tell me where you live, and I will send my brother +to you at eleven o'clock. He will conduct you to my house. Salaam, +Sahib." + +I returned her salaam, and left her. + +I did not go to bed till two o'clock the next morning, and when my +tindal aroused me at eleven, and informed me that a young man wished to +see me, I was disposed to believe that my engagement at twelve had been +made in my dreams. + +I ordered the young man to be admitted. He came to my bedside, and +said in a confidential tone of voice: "The lady has sent me to wait +your commands." I got up, made a hasty toilet, drank a cup of very hot +tea, and followed the young man, who led me to the little house near +the theatre, at the top of the Bazaar. I entered the abode, and found +the lady sitting, native fashion, on a carpet on which was strewed +marigold and rose leaves. Her silver kulean (small hookah) was beside +her; and, sure enough, there was my long-lost terrier, Duke, looking as +sleek, fat, lazy, and useless as a native lady's dog could be. After +expressing my thanks to the lady for her condescension in granting +me the interview, I spoke to my former favourite, Duke, but he only +stretched himself, and yawned in reply. + +"And you have still that ring with the blue stone in it," said the +lady, taking my hand, and smiling while she looked at the ring. "I +remember observing this when I saw you asleep, one morning, on a couch +in the tent at Deobund. Had I noticed it when you addressed me during +the storm, I would not have spoken so rudely to you." + +"I do not remember having seen you previous to the other evening," said +I; "and if I had, I should never have forgotten it. Where have we met?" +I repeated. + +"Where I had opportunities of seeing you, but where you could not see +me." + +There was an old serving woman, whom she called mother, attending upon +her, and the young man whom she called brother, a soldier-like looking +youth, was still standing in the room to which he had conducted me. The +lady desired them both to withdraw, and then begged me to bring the +mora (or stool) upon which I was sitting close to her side. I obeyed +her. She placed her finely-formed head in the palms of her hands, and +gave vent to a violent flood of tears. I suffered her to weep without +interruption. Grief appeared to relieve her rather than to increase her +pain. At length she dried her eyes, and said:-- + +"My father was a _Moolvee_ (Mahommedan law officer), attached to the +Sudder Court, in Agra. I am his only daughter. He was absent from home +all day. Why should he not be? He was paid for it; he ate the Company's +salt. Well, when I was about fifteen years of age I was enticed away +from my home by the _Kotwall_ (native police officer). He sent an old +woman, who had silver on her tongue and gold in her hand. She told +me long stories about love; and promised me that if I left my home I +should marry the _Kotwall's_ son, who was young and handsome. I was +but a child and very foolish. The servants who had charge of me were +all bribed heavily. One received three hundred rupees, another two +hundred, a third one hundred. These people encouraged me in the idea +that to marry the _Kotwall's_ son would be the most prudent thing in +the world; and, one day, when my father had gone to the Court at about +ten o'clock, I eloped with the old woman whom the _Kotwall_ had sent to +talk me over. + +"We travelled all day in a _bylee_ (native carriage), guarded by two +sowars. I asked the old woman several times where she was taking me, +but her only reply was, 'Set your heart at rest, child, and eat some +sweetmeats.' The _pawn_ which she gave me must have been drugged, for +shortly after eating it I fell asleep. How long I slept I cannot say, +but when I awoke I found myself in the house of a Sahib. The old woman +was there also. I became alarmed, but my fears were quieted by the old +woman's tongue. She told me I was close to Agra, but the truth was, I +was one hundred koss (two hundred miles) distant. Nautch girls were +sent for, and they danced before me. I had this hookah given to me, +and these bangles. A boy very handsomely dressed waited upon me, and +brought my food. Parrots, minahs, and doves were purchased for me to +play with. Whatever my childish fancy dictated the old woman instantly +procured. + +"I was so constantly amused, I had no time or inclination to think of +my home. My father was a bad-tempered man, and I was only too glad to +be out of hearing of the quarrels in which he constantly engaged with +his servants and dependents. One evening the old woman said to me, +'_Baba_ (child), order a Nautch this evening, and let me, in your name, +invite the Sahib to witness it.' I had never seen an Englishman--an +European--except at a distance. The idea of being in the room with +one inspired me with terror. I had been taught to despise the Kafir, +whom my father said he was compelled to serve. I objected; but the old +woman's eloquence again prevailed. + +"The night came; I was seated on my _fureesh_ (carpet) just as I am +now, and dressed in clothes of the gayest description. I was like a +little queen, and felt as proud as was Noor Jehan. I was then very +handsome. If I had not been, much trouble would have been spared; and +my flesh was firm--not as it is now. At about ten o'clock the Sahib +made his appearance. When he came into the room I was ready to faint +with alarm, and, turning my head away, I clung to the old woman, and +trembled from head to foot. '_Dhuro mut_' (do not fear), said the +Sahib; and then he reproved, but in a gentle voice, the Nautch girls +who were laughing loudly at me. The old woman, too, bade me banish my +fears. After a while, I ventured to steal a look at the Sahib; and +again averted my face, and clung to the old woman. The Sahib, after +remaining a brief while, during which he praised my beauty, retired, +and I was once more happy. 'There,' said the old woman, when he was +gone; 'you see the Sahib is not a wild beast out of the jungles, but as +gentle as one of your own doves.' + +"On the following day I heard the Sahib talking in the next room; +I peeped through the keyhole of the door, and saw him seated at a +table. The _nazir_ (head clerk) was standing beside him, reading. +There was a man in chains surrounded by _burkandâzes_ (guards) at the +other end of the room, and a woman was there giving her evidence. The +Court-house was undergoing some repairs, and the Sahib was carrying on +his magisterial duties in his dining-room. The man in chains began to +speak, and deny his guilt. The Sahib called out, '_Choop!_' (Silence!) +in a voice so loud, that I involuntarily started back and shuddered. +The prisoner again addressed the Sahib, and one of the _burkandâzes_ +dealt him a severe blow on the head, accompanied by the words, '_Suer! +Chor!_' (Pig! Thief!) The case was deferred until the following day, +and the court closed at about four o'clock in the afternoon, when the +Sahib again paid me a visit. + +"I was now afraid to show my fears, lest the Sahib should order me to +be killed; and I therefore put on a cheerful countenance, while my +heart was quivering in my breast. The Sahib spoke to me very kindly, +and I began to dread him less. + +"In this way I spent a fortnight; and, at the end of that time, I +ventured to talk to the Sahib as though I were his equal. It afforded +me great amusement to watch the administration of justice through the +keyhole; and, young as I was, I imbibed a desire to have a share in the +arbitrary power which was daily exercised. + +"One day, when the Sahib came into my room, I began to talk to him +about a case of which he had just disposed. He laughed, and listened to +my views with great patience. I told him that the evidence upon which +the prisoner had been convicted was false from beginning to end. He +promised me that he would reverse the sentence of imprisonment; and, in +the ecstasy of my joy at finding that I really had some power, I was +intoxicated and unconscious of what I was doing. I suffered the Sahib's +lips to touch mine. No sooner had I done so than I felt a degraded +outcast, and I cried more bitterly than I have words to describe. The +Sahib consoled me, and said that his God and his Prophet should be +mine; and that in this world and the next our destinies should be the +same. + +"From that day I was a wife unto him. I ruled his household, and I +shared his pleasures and his sorrows. He was in debt; but, by reducing +his expenses, I soon freed him, for his pay was fifteen hundred rupees +a month. I suffered no one to rob him, and caused the old woman, who +was a great thief and cheat, to be turned away. I loved him with all +my soul. I would rather have begged with him than have shared the +throne of Ackbar Shah. When he was tired, I lulled him to sleep; when +he was ill, I nursed him; when he was angry, I soon restored him to +good-humour; and, when I saw him about to be deceived by subordinates, +I put him on his guard. That he loved me I never had any reason to +doubt. He gave me his confidence, and I never abused his trust." + +"Who was the man?" I inquired; for I was in doubt, although I suspected. + +"Be patient, Sahib," she replied, and then resumed. "At the end of two +years I became a mother." + +Here she gave vent to another flood of tears. + +"The Sahib was pleased. The child seemed to bind us more closely +together. I loved the child; I believe it was because it bore such a +strong likeness to its father. When the Sahib was away from me on duty +in the district, he seemed still by my side, when I looked at the boy, +who was as white as you are." + +"Is the child dead?" I asked. + +"Be patient, Sahib. When you passed through Deobund, and stayed in the +tent with your friend, my child was two years old. I was the mistress +of that encampment at Deobund, and the wine you drank was given out +with this hand." + +"How little do men know of each other!" I exclaimed; "even those who +are the most intimate! I had not the least idea there was a lady in the +camp, I assure you." + +"How angry with you was I," said she, "for keeping the Sahib up so +late. You talked together the whole night long. Therefore I had no +remorse when I took your dog. Well, as you are aware, soon after that +the Sahib was seized with fever, from which he recovered; but he was so +shattered by the attack that he was compelled to visit Europe, where +you know--" She paused. + +A native woman will never, if she can avoid it, speak of the death of +a person whom she has loved. I was aware of this, and bowed my head, +touching my forehead with both hands. The father of her child had died +on his passage to England. + +"Before he left me," she continued, "he gave me all that he possessed; +his house and furniture; his horses, carriage, plate; his shares in +the bank; his watch, his dressing-case, his rings;--everything was +given to me, and I own all to this hour. When I heard the sad news I +was heartbroken. Had it not been for the child I would have starved +myself to death; as it was, I took to opium and smoking _bhung_ +(hemp). While I was in this state, my Sahib's brother--the Captain +Sahib--came, and took away the boy; not by violence. I gave it to him. +What was the child to me then? I did not care. But the old woman whom +you heard me call my mother, who now attends me, gradually weaned +me from the desperation in which I was indulging; and, by degrees, +my senses returned to me. I then began to ask about my child, and a +longing to see him came over me. At first they told me he was dead; +but when they found I was resolved to destroy myself by intemperance, +they told me the truth; that the child was living, and at school in +these hills. I have come hither to be near my child. I see him almost +every day, but it is at a distance. Sometimes he passes close to where +I stand, and I long to spring upon him and to hug him to my breast, +whereon in infancy his head reposed. I pray that I could speak to him, +give him a kiss, and bless him; but he is never alone. He is always +playing with, or talking to, the other little boys at the same school. +It seems hard that he should be so joyous while his own mother is so +wretched. Of what use to me is the property I have, when I cannot touch +or be recognised by my own flesh and blood. You know the master of the +school?" + +"Yes." + +"Could you not ask him to allow my child to visit you? I could then +see him once more, and speak to him. You were a friend of his father, +and the request would not seem strange." + +I felt myself placed in a very awkward position, and would make no +promise; but I told the woman I would consider the matter, and let her +know on the following day, provided she would stay at home, and not +visit that rock upon the road any more. She strove hard to extract from +me a pledge that I would yield to her request; but, difficult as it was +to deny her anything--she was still so beautiful and so interesting--I +would not commit myself, and held to what I had in the first instance +stated. + + * * * * * + +I paid a visit to the school at which my friend's child had been placed +by his uncle, a captain in the East India Company's service. I saw +some thirty scholars, of all colours, on the play-ground; but I soon +recognised the boy whom I was so curious to see. He was indeed very +like his father, not only in face and figure, but in manner, gait, and +bearing. I called to the little fellow, and he came and took my hand +with a frankness which charmed me. The schoolmaster told me that the +boy was very clever, and that, although only six years old, there were +but few of his playmates whom he did not excel. "His father was an old +friend of mine," I said. "Indeed our acquaintance began when we were +not older than this child. Would you have any objection to allow the +boy to spend a day with me?" + +"I promised his uncle," was the schoolmaster's reply, "that he should +not go out, and that I would watch him closely; but of course he will +be quite safe with you. Any day that you please to send for him he +shall be ready." + +"Does he know anything of his mother?" I inquired. + +"Nothing," said the schoolmaster. "He was very young when he came to +me. I have no idea who, or what, or where the mother is, for his uncle +did not enter into the particulars of his parentage. The mother must +have been very fair, if she were a native, the boy is so very slightly +touched with the tar-brush." + +I went home, and sent for the mother. She came; and I entreated her to +forego her request, for the child's sake. I represented to her that +it might unsettle him, and cause him to be discontented. I assured +her that he was now as happy and as well taken care of as any mother +could desire her offspring to be. On hearing this the poor woman +became frantic. She knelt at my feet and supplicated me to listen to +her entreaty--a sight of her child, a few words with him, and a kiss +from his lips. She said she did not wish him to know that she was his +mother; that if I would have him brought into my house, she would dress +in the garb of a servant woman, or _syce's_ (groom's) wife, and talk +to the boy without his being aware that she was the person who had +brought him into the world. + +"And you will not play me false?" said I, moved by her tears. "You will +not, when you have once got hold of the boy, decline to relinquish +that hold, and defy his friends--as mothers _have_ done--to take him +from you, except by an order of Court? Remember, Dooneea (that was her +name), that I am running a great risk; and am, moreover, deceiving the +schoolmaster, and behaving badly to the boy's uncle, by allowing myself +to be swayed by your tears and my own feelings. Consider what disgrace +you will bring upon me, if you fail to keep your word in this matter." +She bound herself by an oath that she would do all I required, if I +would only give her the longed-for interview. + +"To-morrow, at twelve," said I, "you may come here. At that hour, in +this room, the child shall be with me. Come in the dress of a poor +woman, and bring an infant with you. Let your excuse be that you have +come to complain of the ill-treatment you have received from your +husband, who is in my service. This will give me an opportunity of +bidding you remain until justice be done, and meanwhile you will see +the boy; and when I go out of the room, which will be only for a short +time, you can talk to him. Do you know your part, Dooneea?" + +"Yes, Sahib." + +"To-morrow, at twelve. Salaam, Dooneea!" + +"Salaam, Sahib." She went away with a cheerful countenance. + +There are no such actors in the world as the people of Hindostan. +The boy came to me a little before twelve, and was reading to me, +when Dooneea, with a child in her arms, and dressed in the shabbiest +apparel, rushed into the room, and commenced an harangue. She said she +had been beaten unmercifully by her husband, for no cause whatever; +that he had broken one of her fingers, and had attempted to stab her; +but she had saved her life by flight. All this she accompanied with +gesticulations and tears, according to the custom of complainants in +the East. I feigned to be very angry with the husband, and hastily left +the room, as if to make inquiry and to send for him. + +I ran round to an outer door, and peeped in upon Dooneea and her +boy. She was repeating the same tale to the child, and the child was +imploring her not to cry. It was a strange scene. The tears she was now +shedding were not mock tears. The boy asked her how her husband came to +beat her? She began thus:--"I was sitting near the fire talking to my +eldest boy, and had my arm round his waist--there, just as I put my arm +round your waist--and I said to the boy, 'It is getting very late and +you must go to sleep,' and I pulled him to my breast--like this--and +gave him a kiss on his forehead, then on his eyes--there--just as +gently as that, yes, just like that. Well, the boy began to cry--" + +"Why did he cry? Because you told him to go to bed?" + +"Yes," said Dooneea; "but his father came in, and thought I was teasing +the child. He abused me and then he beat me." + +The woman gazed at her child; and, having a good excuse for weeping in +her alleged wrongs, she did not scruple to avail herself of it. From +behind the screen which concealed me from her sight, and that of the +boy, I, too, shed tears of pity. + +I returned to the room, and said, "Dooneea, since you are afraid of +your life, do not leave this house until I tell you to do so; but give +your infant to the sweeper's wife to take care of. I do not like your +children in my house." + +How thankful she was! She placed her head upon my feet, and cracked her +knuckles over my knees. + +Charles Lamb says that the children of the poor are adults from +infancy. The same may be said of the children of the rich in India. +Dooneea's little boy discussed the conduct of the cruel husband, and +sympathised with the ill-used wife, as though he had been called upon +to adjudicate the affair in a court of justice. He even went so far as +to say, "What a wicked man to beat such a dear looking woman!" and he +gave Dooneea the rupee which I had given to him on the day previous +when I saw him at the school. With what delight did Dooneea tie up that +piece of coin, from the child's hand, in the corner of her garment. +It seemed far more precious to her than all the jewels which his dead +father had presented to her in days gone by. It was a gift from her +own child, who was living, but to her, dead. Dooneea spoke Persian--a +language the boy did not understand. His father had taught Dooneea that +language in order that their servants might not know the tenor of their +discourse. In that language Dooneea now spoke to me, in the boy's +presence. + +"Is he not very like his father?" she said. + +"Very," I replied. + +"Will he be as clever?" + +"He is too young for any one to judge of that." + +"But he will be as generous" (she pointed to the coin), "and he will be +as tall, as good-looking, as passionate, as gentle, and as kind." + +The boy's boots were muddy. Dooneea observed this, and with her own +little hands cleaned them; and smiling, she asked him for a present, in +that tone and manner which the poorest menial in Hindostan adopts when +addressing the most haughty superior. + +The boy blushed, and looked at me. + +"Have you nothing to give her?" said I. + +"Nothing," said he; "I gave her my rupee." + +"Give her that pretty blue ribbon which is round your neck, and I will +give you one like it," said I. + +He took the ribbon from his neck and gave it to Dooneea. + +Dooneea twisted the ribbon in her hair, and began to weep afresh. + +"Do not cry, you silly woman," said I; "I will see that your husband +does not beat you again." + +She understood me, and dried her tears. + +Dooneea again spoke to me in Persian. "Sahib," said she, "they do not +wash the children properly at that school. Order me to do this." + +"Charley, why did you come to me in this state, with your neck +unwashed?" I asked the boy. + +"We only wash in warm water once a week; on Saturdays," he replied. +"This is Thursday." + +"But I cannot allow you to dine with me in this state," said I, in +Hindostanee. "You must be well washed, my boy. Dooneea, give the child +a bath." + +With reluctant steps, the child followed his mother to my bathing-room. +I peeped through the purdah; for I began to fear that I should have +some trouble in parting the mother from her child, and half repented +that I had ever brought them together. While Dooneea was brushing the +child's hair, she said, "_Toomara mama kahan hai?_--Where is your +mother?" + +The boy answered, "I do not know." + +I began to cough, to inform Dooneea that I was within hearing, and that +I objected to that strain of examination. She ceased immediately. + +I had an engagement to ride with a lady on the Mall. My horse was +brought to the door; but I was afraid to leave Dooneea alone with the +boy, notwithstanding her solemn promise that she would not run off +with him. Yet I did not like to hurry that eternal separation on earth +which, for the boy's sake, I was determined their separation should be. + +I walked up and down my verandah for some time, meditating how I +could part them. At last it occurred to me that I would send the boy +away to his school by stratagem, and trust to chance how I might best +explain to Dooneea that he would not return. I ordered a _syce_ (groom) +to saddle a little pony that I possessed, and told Dooneea that I +wished the boy to take a ride with me, and that while we were absent, +she ought to take some food. It stung me to the soul to witness how +innocent she was of my intentions; for she seemed pleased that I should +show her child so much attention as to be seen in public with him. + +As soon as we were out of sight of my house, I took the road for +Landour, delivered the boy over to his schoolmaster, told my groom +to keep the pony out till after dark, cantered to the Mall, kept my +engagement, and returned to my home at about half-past seven o'clock. +There was Dooneea waiting for us in the verandah. + +"Where is the boy?" she inquired, on finding me return alone. + +I gave her no reply; but dismounted and approached her. Taking hold of +her wrists, I said, in the gentlest voice, "Dooneea, I have fulfilled +my promise. You have seen your child, you have spoken to him, you have +kissed him. Enough. He has now gone back to school. You must not see +him again, if you really love him." + +She trembled in my grasp, looked piteously in my face, gasped several +times for breath, as though she longed to speak, and swooned at my +feet. I lifted her, carried her into the house, and laid her upon +my bed; then sent for servants, and for a doctor, who lived near my +bungalow. The doctor came. While he felt her pulse, and placed his +hand over her heart, I briefly explained to him what had taken place. +He still kept his finger on the vein, and gazed on Dooneea's beautiful +face. Blood began to trickle from her nostrils, and from her ears, +staining the bed linen and the squalid garments in which she had +attired herself. In a few minutes the doctor released his hold of her +wrist. "Poor thing!" he ejaculated. "Her troubles are over! She is at +rest!" + + ---- Never more on her + Shall sorrow light, or shame. + +She was dead. + + * * * * * + +The old woman whom Dooneea called "mother," and the soldier-like +looking youth whom she called "brother," decamped with her jewels and +moveables, including my dog, "Duke;" but the house near Hurdwar, +and the bank shares--property to the value of about four thousand +pounds--remain invested in the names of trustees for the benefit of the +boy; who will, I trust, make good use of his little fortune, when he +becomes of age. + + + + +BLACK AND BLUE. + + +Forty years ago there went out to India, in the good ship _Globe_, +Ensign the Honourable Francis Gay, a younger son of the Right +Honourable the Earl of Millflower. The ensign was in his nineteenth +year, and was proceeding to join his regiment, which was stationed at +Chinsurah. + +Lord Millflower, in his heart, hoped that his son would never return: +he was so great a disgrace to his family. There was no vice with which +this youth was unfamiliar. He had been expelled from no fewer than +seven schools. In two instances his offence was theft. His conduct had +so preyed upon the mind of Lady Millflower that she lost her reason. +At seventeen, he committed several forgeries of his eldest brother's, +Lord Larkspeare's name; and he took a similar liberty with the name +of his father's steward. But these offences were hushed up. He was +also guilty of a deed of violence, for which his life would have been +forfeited had the case been tried, instead of compromised; for in +those days such a deed of violence was a capital offence. His family +were in constant fear lest he should be transported as a felon, or +hanged at Newgate. It was, therefore, some satisfaction to them when +the Honourable Francis consented to hold a commission and join his +regiment in India. Lord Millflower's other sons, four in number, were +all steady, well-conducted, and rather dull beings, while Francis +was remarkably gifted, as well as remarkably vicious. He had both +talent and genius, humour and wit; and, much as he had neglected his +education, he was well read and well informed for his time of life. In +personal appearance, also, the reprobate had the advantage over his +brethren. None of them were even good-looking except Francis, who was +really very handsome, well proportioned, and tall. His manners also, +always frank, were, when he pleased, dignified and courteous, and his +bearing peculiarly graceful. What he wanted was feeling, to regulate +his passions. Of feeling, he was in his youth, wholly destitute. + +Lord Millflower had taken the precaution of writing to the colonel +of the regiment his son was about to join, and of at the same time +enclosing a sum of money for the purpose of freeing Francis from any +pecuniary difficulty. Colonel Role himself had the misfortune to have +a very bad boy, and he, therefore, sympathized deeply with the worthy +nobleman, and resolved to do all in his power to reform the Honourable +Francis. + +After a passage of four months, the _Globe_ arrived at Calcutta, +and the Honourable Francis Gay proceeded to Chinsurah and joined. +For several weeks he conducted himself with (for him) wonderful +propriety. It is true, that he drank and played at billiards and +cards, and sometimes an oath would escape his lips, but he indulged +in no excesses. The officers of the regiment, indeed, thought the +ensign a great acquisition, for he was not only a very pleasant but an +entertaining companion. + +But, by degrees, the Honourable Francis fell off; and ere long, so far +from having a friend in the regiment, there was no one who would speak +to him. Even the colonel was compelled to forbid him his house. Many, +very many acts, unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman, +had been looked over by his seniors; but it was resolved that, on the +very next occasion of his transgressing, the Honourable Ensign should +be brought to a court-martial and dismissed the service. This resolve +was communicated to the ensign by the colonel, who had become tired of +lecturing him. + +"The next time you are intoxicated on the parade ground, or the next +time you use bad language in the mess-room, or the next time you +publicly insult a brother officer, provoking him to quarrel with you, +you will forfeit your commission." Being the son of an earl, he was +entitled--many colonels think--to every possible chance of redemption. +Had he been the son of a commoner, he would, most probably, have been +court-martialled and cashiered for the very first offence. + +"Thank you, sir," replied the ensign, with a low bow; "I will be more +cautious in future." + +He kept his word. From this time he did his duty extremely well; and, +to all outward appearance, was a reformed character. The officers +observing this, generously made advances with a view to resuming their +former relations with him. But the Honourable Francis repulsed their +advances. The whole regiment had thought proper to cut him; and he now +thought proper to cut the whole regiment. + +Several months passed, and during that period the ensign applied +himself to Hindostanee and Persian. He encouraged the natives to come +to his bungalow, to talk with him, and by night and by day pursued his +studies. The result was, that he soon conversed with perfect ease and +accuracy. He now began to live like a native--a Mahommedan; and, except +when he had to attend to his regimental duties, he wore the native +costume, and abstained from drink entirely. With truth, he might have +said with Conrad,-- + + The grape's gay juice my bosom never cheers; + I'm more than Moslem when the cup appears. + +His food was rice, milk, vegetables, and fruit; the bed upon which he +slept was hard and mean; such as the natives use. The whole of his +European furniture he sold by auction. + +His desire--the desire of a doubtfully reformed reprobate--to convert +to Christianity a young Mahommedan girl, astonished all those who +became acquainted with this desire. The girl was the daughter of a +water-carrier (Bheestie). She was not like the natives of India, but +more like those of Africa. She was coal black, and had thick lips and +wavy hair. She was short for her age--fourteen years--but thickset, +with powerful limbs. The girl's father told the servants belonging to +other officers of the regiment, and the curious whim of Gay's became a +topic of conversation. + +Jehan, the bheestie's daughter, was a virtuous girl, and Francis Gay +had never approached her with a view to undermining her virtue. It was +no easy matter to persuade her to change her religion; but, strange to +say, he at length succeeded, and Noor Jehan was baptized as Ellen by a +missionary who journeyed to Chinsurah for the purpose of performing the +ceremony. The sanity or otherwise of the ensign was now very generally +discussed in the regiment, and the prevalent opinion was that he was +a lunatic. But the good colonel was a little angry at the surmise. +"Surely," he said, "you do not accuse a man of being a maniac because +he has converted an infidel." + +The regiment was ordered to march to Cawnpore, whither Ellen and her +father also proceeded. Cawnpore was then the chief station in the +upper provinces of India. Five thousand troops were quartered there. +A regiment of dragoons, a regiment of native cavalry, a regiment of +British infantry, and two of native infantry. Besides horse and foot +there were companies of artillery, and sappers and miners. + +Very shortly after the regiment was settled in Cawnpore, the Honourable +Francis Gay paid a visit to the chaplain, and intimated a desire to be +married. The chaplain of course replied that he should be most happy, +and there and then a day and hour was appointed for the performance +of the rite; but, when the reverend gentleman came to hear who was +to be the Honourable Ensign's bride--the black daughter of a native +water-carrier--he could not help remarking: + +"I am sorry, Mr. Gay, that I cannot with sincerity offer you my +congratulations." + +To which the ensign responded: + +"My good sir, I did not ask them." And retired with a bow. + +The chaplain drove to the house of Colonel Role, and told him of the +interview which had just taken place between himself and Ensign the +Honourable Francis Gay. The colonel called upon the young man, and +entreated him to reflect. "I _have_ reflected, sir," was the ensign's +reply. The colonel then went to the general, and the general sent for +Mr. Gay to attend at his bungalow. Mr. Gay obeyed the summons, and +listened with attention and much calmness to a long and violent speech. +When it was ended, however, Mr. Gay, with extreme courtesy, and in the +quietest of tones, spoke thus: + +"General, you had a right to command my attendance here upon any +military matter, but not upon any civil matter. However, I waive that, +because I believe your intention to be a good one. You, general, have +arrived at the years of discretion--perhaps at something beyond those +years. You have, at all events, arrived at a time of life when the +tumultuous passion of youth can no longer be pleaded in extenuation of +certain follies. Now tell me, general, which of us, think you, sins +the most, and sets the worst example to the men, European and native, +in this station?--I, who wish to marry this good Christian girl; or +you, who have in your house----" Mr. Gay then made mention of two very +discreditable members of the general's establishment. "This is a +question which I shall put to the commander-in-chief, if you abide by +your threat to report me to his excellency." + +That night the general and Colonel Role held a consultation. The +colonel still doubted the ensign's insanity. It had become a fixed idea +in the regiment that Gay was insane. The general caught at this, and a +committee of doctors was appointed to examine the ensign. They reported +that Ensign the Honourable Francis Gay was not only of sound mind, but +one of the most intellectual young men in the station; and that he had +explained to their entire satisfaction certain conversations which he +had frequently held with himself in Chinsurah, at the mess-table. + +The wedding-day had been put off in consequence of these proceedings; +but the parties now met in the church, which was crowded with +officers, including nearly the entire medical staff, who were curious +to witness the spectacle. There stood the tall and handsome English +aristocrat, and beside him his coal-black bride, dressed in garments of +red silk, trimmed with yellow and gold tinsel. The ensign acted as the +interpreter, and explained to Ellen in Hindoostanee the vows she was +required to take. This made the ceremony a very long one. When it was +concluded, the bride got into her palanquin and was carried home. The +bridegroom mounted his pony, and rode by her side. + +Ellen--now the Honourable Mrs. Gay--was a girl of great natural +ability, of an excellent disposition, and was blessed with an excellent +temper. She had, moreover, a very sweet voice. After her marriage she +was never seen by any European in Cawnpore, except her husband. It was +believed that the ensign saved more than two-thirds of his pay, which +Ellen, who had an excellent idea of business, used to lend out in small +sums to people in the bazaar at the rate of fifty per cent. per mensem. +If she lent a rupee (two shillings), she would get back at the end of +the month a rupee and eight annas (three shillings) by way of interest. + +A year passed away, and a son and heir was born to the Honourable +Francis Gay. The child had light blue eyes, exactly like those of his +father; but his complexion was quite as black as his mother's. When +the child was three months old, it was brought to the church, and +publicly christened, Mr. Gay and the pay-sergeant of the company he +belonged to being the godfathers, and Ellen the godmother. The names +given to the infant were Ernest Augustus George Francis Frederick--such +being the names respectively of Lord Millflower's sons. Ernest was the +eldest, Augustus the second, George the third, Francis the fourth, +and Frederick the fifth and youngest. Not long after the birth of his +son, Ensign Gay obtained his promotion to the rank of lieutenant, and +received, of course, an increase of pay. + +Fever became prevalent, and cholera. Several of the captains and senior +lieutenants fell victims; and, in less than three years, Lieutenant Gay +got his company (the regiment was now at Meerut), and retired from the +army by the sale of his captain's commission. It was supposed that he +was worth a great deal of money--a lac of rupees (ten thousand pounds) +at the very least. Whither he went no one knew, and no one cared. One +of the servants, whom he discharged previous to leaving the station of +Meerut, said he believed that his master had gone either to Affghanistan +or to Lahore. + +Let us now return to Europe. A few years after Captain Gay had sold +out of the army, his eldest brother, Lord Larkspeare, was killed while +grouse-shooting, by the accidental discharge of his gun; his second +brother, Augustus, a captain in the army, was lost in a vessel which +was bringing him home from Canada; his third brother, George, died +of small-pox three days after he had taken his father's second title. +Of his son Francis's marriage, Lord Millflower had been informed, and +also of the birth of the black child, the Honourable Ernest Augustus +George Francis Frederick Gay. Colonel Role had deemed it his duty not +to withhold these facts, albeit they were disagreeable to communicate +to the noble earl. Lord Millflower begged of Colonel Role to institute +an inquiry into the fate of his Francis, and the Colonel did so, but +without success. No clue to his whereabout could be discovered, nor +could any one say what had become of him. Under these circumstances +it was taken for granted that he was dead. Another five years passed +away, and the Earl of Millflower departed this life. He was, of course, +succeeded in his titles and estates by his son Frederick. + +Now let us return to Francis. He became a dealer in precious stones, +and travelled over the whole of India, under the name of Mustapha Khan, +visiting the various native courts. Every tour that he made occupied +him three years. Constantly moving about in the sun had tanned his once +fair face; and neither from his appearance--for he was dressed as a +native--nor from his speech, could the natives themselves detect that +he was an European. He gave out that his birthplace was Nepaul, where +the natives are sometimes born with blue eyes. He bought and sold, +and was apparently very happy in his occupation. His wife and son +invariably accompanied him in his travels. He had never written to his +family since his arrival in India, and had not received letters from +any member thereof. India he loved, England he detested, and would not +have taken up his father's title if it had been a dukedom. He never +approached the abode of an European, and never saw a newspaper. He was +not likely, therefore, to hear of the changes that had taken place at +home. In the bazaar at Delhi Captain Gay had a small house, in which +were deposited his effects, a few boxes filled with clothes, books, +&c., his sword, and the uniform he used formerly to wear. These were +under the care of a man-servant, a sweeper. The bulk of his worldly +wealth he invariably carried about his person, as many natives of India +do. + +Ernest Gay was now twelve years of age. He was usually called by his +parents Chandee, a word signifying silver. Chandee was clever and +cunning, and had a wonderful talent for calculating numbers. In less +than a minute, by counting on his fingers, he would tell you the +interest due on such sums as three rupees, five annas, and seven pic, +for twenty-one days, at forty-one three-fourth per cent. English he +had never heard spoken; and as he had never been taught that language, +he did not understand a single word of it. Nor could he read or write +Hindoostanee, although he spoke it in all its purity and elegance. + +There was about to take place a marriage in the family of the Rajah +of Pulbecala. Mustapha Khan (Francis Gay) journeyed from Delhi to the +Rajah's court, to exhibit his jewels. He had diamonds, rubies, and +emeralds of great price, and some of these he hoped to dispose of to +advantage. The Rajah, however, had already provided himself with these +matters, and therefore confined his purchases to a large cat's-eye +ring, for which he paid Mustapha fifty gold mohurs (eighty pounds). +On his way back to Delhi, at a place called Kunda Ka Serai, a band of +robbers attacked the jewel-merchant. They hacked him to pieces with +their swords, but they spared his wife and the boy. The whole of their +treasures were stolen; even the rings from Ellen's ears and fingers, +and the gold bangles which Chandee wore upon his arms. + +When her senses were restored to her, Ellen, with the assistance of +her son, dug a grave in the sand, and buried her butchered husband. +The bearers who carried the palanquins ran away as soon as the robbers +attacked the party, and were no more seen. Most probably they had some +small share of the booty, the value of which the Sirdar estimated +at four lacs of rupees (forty thousand pounds). Whatever had been +Francis Gay's vices when a youth--and they were great enough in all +conscience--he had been a kind and affectionate husband to Ellen, and +she most bitterly deplored his loss; violent was the grief of Chandee, +who was devotedly fond of his father. + +They heaped stones over the grave of the dead man, to mark the spot +where he was laid, and, after their own fashion, offered up prayers for +the repose of his soul. + +The murder having been committed within the dominions of an independent +prince, Ellen knew that her wrongs were not likely to be redressed if +she complained; and that the British Government would not interfere, +unless she made known that her husband was an Englishman. This she felt +would be contrary to the wishes of the dead. Hopeless and helpless, +she and her son made the best of their way to Delhi, where, having +collected a few debts that were due to them, they established a small +shop for the sale of native sweetmeats. They carried on this business +for three or four years, when Chandee grew weary of it, and set up in +the world as a box-waller, or pedler. His box contained pens, ink, +and paper, needles, pins, knives, scissors, soap, eau de Cologne, +tooth-brushes, matches, and so forth. His customers were the European +officers, who gave him the name of Black and Blue, from the colour +of his eyes and skin. A box-waller is always a great cheat--as great +a rascal as was Autolycus himself; Black and Blue, if the truth must +be told, was not an exception to the rule or race. But no one could +grudge him his profits when the cuffs and kicks which were playfully +administered to him by the young lieutenants and ensigns are taken +into consideration. Black and Blue always took the rough usage of his +customers in excellent part; and would generally make some such appeal +as this (he had picked up a little English by this time): "Ah, well! I +know! You rich white gentlemans--I poor black devil. I pray all day all +night that ensign be made leeft'nunt; leeft'nunt, capitaine; capitaine, +capitain-meejor; meejor, kunnull; kunnull, meejor-jinneral; and then +God bless your father and mother, and brother and sister; and then, for +all that pray, I get so much kick and so many bad words. God make us +all--black and white; all equal right up above. You want blacking? Here +you are. Very good blacking--quite genuine; only one rupee a bottle. I +suppose you not got ready money! Very well, I wait till pay-day come. +I very poor man. You my master. Khuda Lord Kuren." The meaning of this +expression, with which most natives wind up a speech to an European, +signifies, May God make you a lord! + +When Black and Blue was no more than five years old, he was playing +one morning in his father's compound (enclosure--the land around the +bungalow), when a pariah dog rushed in and mangled him very severely. +The dog was rabid. Captain Gay called in the doctor of a native cavalry +regiment, who lived in the next bungalow, who cauterized the wounds. +The child was bitten on the arms, legs, and chest, and was under the +doctor's treatment for upwards of five weeks. On several occasions when +he visited his patient, the doctor saw and conversed with Ellen, who +was naturally very anxious touching the child's safety. This doctor was +one of the number who witnessed the marriage of Ensign Gay at Cawnpore, +and was also present when his offspring was christened. + +Shortly after the recovery of the little boy, the doctor had been +appointed a presidency surgeon, and had charge of one of the hospitals +in Calcutta, where he remained for upwards of twenty years. He was then +appointed superintending surgeon of the Meerut division. He had a son +at Delhi, a lieutenant in the foot artillery, and occasionally went +over (the distance is only forty miles from Meerut) to pay him a visit. + +On one of these occasions, Black and Blue, who had been sent for, made +his appearance with his box, sat down on the carpet cross-legged, and +opened out his treasures. There were several young officers in the +bungalow, chums of the lieutenant; and, while the bargaining was going +on, they began to tease Black and Blue. One removed his turban with +the point of a stick; another sprinkled him with his eau de Cologne; +a third touched the tip of his great toe (he had left his shoes, out +of respect, in the verandah) with the lighted end of a cheroot. Black +and Blue howled with pain, whereupon the two roared with laughter. The +doctor, who was reading a paper, begged the young men to desist, and, +somewhat angrily, expostulated with his son for treating a native so +cruelly; for he was touched with poor Black and Blue's appeal--"God +make us all. When fire burns black man, black man feels as much pain as +white man. In hell, you rich gentlemans sing out just as much as poor +box-waller." + +"Black and Blue is used to it, governor," said the lieutenant. + +"Stuff, Robert!" said the doctor; "I address myself to you, and not to +these gentlemen, when I say that I have no patience with such flippant +cruelty." + +"Sahib," said Black and Blue, looking up at the doctor, "you are very +good gentlemans--very kind man, and very handsome. May God make you +a lord; may your throne be perpetual, and may your end be peace; but +do not be angry with these gentlemen. They play tricks with Black +and Blue; but they are no enemies. If enemies, what for send to buy +Black and Blue's property? Sir, you greatly oblige Black and Blue +if you smile once more on these gentlemans. Sir, do you want any +violent (violet) powder, or one small patent corkiscrew (corkscrew)? +All men born equal; God's rain wet black man and white man all the +same. Devil's fire burn, too, both the same." Here he laughed at the +lieutenant. "Take one packet of violent-powder. Every one rupee a +packet. Well, then, take two for one, twelve. That can't hurt anybody. +Less than prime cost, I give you my solemn word. Handsome sir, don't be +angry." + +The doctor, his attention attracted by those light blue eyes, set in +that very black skin, stared at Black and Blue for several minutes +after he had finished the speech above quoted. He had never before +seen such a peculiar expression as that on the face of the box-waller. +Suddenly he recollected an instance of black skin and light blue eyes; +but in that case the boy was half-European, the child of the Honourable +Francis Gay. + +Black and Blue had occasion to change his position; and, in doing so, +exposed the calves of his legs. On one of them was a scar, quite round, +and about the size of a shilling. + +"Good God!" exclaimed the doctor, who became both surprised and +agitated, and allowed the newspaper to fall from his hand. + +"What is the matter, governor?" asked the lieutenant. + +"Nothing--nothing!" said the doctor, still staring at Black and Blue, +whose countenance was no longer strange to him. "How did you come by +that mark?" he at length asked, pointing to the scar. + +"I don't know, Sahib." + +"But did not your parents ever tell you?" + +"No, Sahib. Parents used to say that it come of itself." + +This was no doubt true. + +"Have you another mark like that on your right arm--just here?" + +The doctor placed his finger on the sleeve of the man's dress. + +"Yes. But bigger mark that one. How you know that, Sahib?" He pulled up +his sleeve and exhibited a scar the size of half-a-crown. + +"And another here--on your hip--and another here, on your ribs?" + +"Yes. All them marks got, sir. How you know that, Sahib?" + +The doctor was quite satisfied that Black and Blue was no other than +his little patient of former years, and consequently the heir to the +Earldom of Millflower. Could it be possible, he thought, that Captain +Gay eventually abandoned his black wife and child! If not, how came +it that the boy (now a man of two or three and twenty) should be a +miserable pedler, living in the Bazaar at Delhi? When Black and Blue +had sold all that the young officers wanted to buy--when no amount of +coaxing and flattering would induce them to take anything more--he +was about to take his departure; but the doctor desired him to stay, +and intimated to his son that he wished to have some conversation in +private with Black and Blue. + +"Where is your father?" the doctor asked. + +"He dead, Sahib." + +"When did he die?" + +"Long time ago--ten or twelve year ago." + +"Where did he die?" + +"Mans--robber mans--kill him with sword." + +"And your mother?" + +Black and Blue told the doctor the whole of their history since the +death of Captain Gay, and his statements were substantially true. Black +and Blue, however, declared most positively that his father was a +native, and no European. + +"Do you think," the doctor inquired, "that your mother would see me, if +I went down to her home?" + +"O yes--why not? Come along, Sahib. I will show where she live. You +call for palanquin and get on. I run alongside." + +The doctor's curiosity was very strong, and he could not resist the +desire to satisfy it at once. He accepted Black and Blue's invitation, +and went to the house occupied by Ellen. Habited as a native, she was +sitting on a coarse mat, smoking, and at the same time mending an old +garment of her son's. + +The doctor recognised Ellen immediately, albeit she was now aged. +But at first she did not recognise him. He was altered very much in +appearance. His hair and whiskers had become very grey, and he no +longer wore a moustache. + +Ellen parried all the questions that were put to her, and affected to +be as much surprised by them as by the doctor's visit. The statement of +her son she supported, that her husband was a native of India. + +"O, but surely," said the doctor, "this was the boy whom I attended at +Meerut, many years ago, when you and your Sahib were living near the +Begum's bridge?" + +The poor woman looked at him for a moment, then repeated his name, and +burst into tears. Her recollections crowded before her too thickly to +admit of her dissembling any further with her visitor; and she admitted +that she was the widow of Captain Gay, of her Majesty's ---- Regiment +of Foot. + +The doctor was under no promise to Ellen to keep his discovery secret; +and feeling at liberty to speak of it, did so publicly as well as in +private. The peerages were looked into, and Black and Blue's pedigree +examined. There were the names of all the late lord's sons, and sure +enough there was Francis's name above that of Frederick's, the present +earl; opposite to the name of Francis were the letters signifying, +"died unmarried." Black and Blue of course became an object of great +curiosity. His right to a title did not induce him to alter his prices +in any way, and hence he was kicked and cuffed, and abused as much as +ever, by the young lieutenants and ensigns, who, by-the-bye, always +addressed him as "my lord," and "your lordship." + +"Pomatum, my lord! Pomatum, did you say? Yes! But let me smell it. +O! your lordship calls this pomatum! I call it hog's lard washed in +sandalwood water. How much? One rupee! O, you villanous peer of the +realm! are you not ashamed of yourself?" + +Another would thus address him: + +"Look here, Lord Black and Blue. Why don't you go home and upset your +uncle? Turn him out of his title and estates--eh? You would be sure to +marry some beautiful girl." + +To this Black and Blue would respond: + +"What do I want with title and beautiful gal! This is my home, and I +got good business, good many friends, and two or three very beautiful +gal." + +"Where, Black and Blue?" + +"Ah! that is my business." + +"Well, what will you sell your title for?" + +"Well, what you offer?" + +"One hundred rupees" (10_l._) + +"Say one hundred and twenty-five." + +"No." + +"Well, take it--there. Give money, and I give receipt. You write it +out; I sign it. Sold one title to Ensign Matheson for a hundred rupees." + +"But there are two titles, you ass; one an earldom, and the other a +viscounty." + +"Well, you take the two; give two hundred rupees for both." + +"No. The one I have already bought is the biggest and of the best +quality; the other is the small one, and of inferior quality." + +"Well, I make reduction in price; take one with the other, and give me +one hundred and seventy-five rupees. That can't hurt anybody that wants +a title." + +Would any of these lads, who had nothing in the world beyond their +pay, have consented to an union between Black and Blue and one of +their sisters, after he had come into what were his rights? No! Would +the poorest and most unprincipled officers--civil and military--in +the whole of India? No! Would any European girl of respectability who +had lived in India, to say nothing of the daughters of gentlemen and +ladies, have wedded the black heir to the title and estates of the Earl +of Millflower? No. Not in India could his sable lordship have found a +virtuous white woman to accept his hand! + +In due course the story of Black and Blue's birth crept into the +columns of one of the Calcutta newspapers, and ere long an attorney +of the Supreme Court paid a visit to the imperial city, and had +an interview with Black and Blue. He proposed to the box-waller +to take him to England, and establish his claim to the estates, +which he truthfully represented as worth more than half a million +sterling--fifty lacs of rupees. He, the attorney, would pay all +expenses of the suit, and in the event of success, which was certain, +would receive only five per cent. or fifty thousand pounds, leaving +Black and Blue a balance of forty-five lacs. + +Black and Blue, who loved and adored money, on hearing such a sum +spoken of, rolled his blue eyes and red tongue, and almost fainted. But +then, to cross the black water!--as the natives call the ocean--that +thought made him shudder and shake his head. + +The attorney represented to him that he should live in great comfort +during the voyage; that the best cabin in the ship should be taken for +him; that he should have servants about him; and drawing forth a number +of prints of English beauties, he exhibited them to the gaze of Black +and Blue. + +Black and Blue said he would consult his European friends. He did so, +and many of those friends dissuaded him from going to England. Not +that they had any doubt as to the issue of his claim, if it should be +disputed; but upon the reasonable ground that he was very happy where +he was. Others advised him to go by all means, and take up his title +and the wealth that pertained to it. His mother entreated him not to +leave her. But in the end the voice of the attorney prevailed, and +Black and Blue declared himself ready to accompany him. + +Ten thousand rupees (one thousand pounds) were given to Ellen for her +support during the temporary absence of her son, who was to return as +soon as he had realized his forty-five lacs (four hundred and fifty +thousand pounds). It was said that a mercantile firm in Calcutta, in +which an illustrious native gentleman was a partner, advanced the means +required for the purpose of establishing the black man's right to the +earldom. + +The attorney possessed himself of the proofs. He had the papers of +the Honourable Francis Gay, amongst which were letters from the late +Lord Millflower to his eldest brother, Lord Larkspeare. He also, in +the presence of credible witnesses, received from the hands of Ellen +the dead man's uniform; secondly, he had the deposition on oath of +the superintending surgeon, and of several other officers who were +cognizant of every particular. Many gave these depositions with +reluctance, but felt bound to speak the truth when interrogated. In a +word, the attorney got his case up remarkably well. + +Black and Blue and the attorney left Calcutta in one of the large +passenger ships, and in the month of April landed at Gravesend, whence +they journeyed to London. Here Black and Blue was prevailed upon to +wear Christian clothes. In his snow-white muslin dress, his pink +turban, and his red slippers covered with gold embroidery, Black and +Blue had looked an aristocratic native, notwithstanding he was so very +black. [Colour is no criterion of high caste or rank in India. The +late Maharajah Rooder Singh, of Darbungah, whose family--to borrow a +phrase from "Burke's Peerage"--is one of stupendous antiquity, had +the complexion of an African; while his younger brother, Basdeo, who +now sits on the throne, is far fairer than his Highness the Maharajah +Dulleep Singh.] But in his black trousers, black waistcoat, black +surtout coat, white neckcloth, black beaver hat, and Wellington boots, +poor Black and Blue looked truly hideous; while his slouching Indian +gait would have led most people to conclude that he was intoxicated. +Poor Black and Blue had never tasted anything stronger than water in +the whole course of his life. + +The attorney had an interview with Frederick Earl of Millflower. He +wrote to the firm in Calcutta to that effect, and he further stated +that the Earl had set him at defiance, and that he was about to +institute a suit in the proper court. + +This was the last that was ever heard in India of Black and Blue, or of +the attorney. Inquiries were instituted, but with no avail. There were +many conjectures; the one most generally entertained was, that poor +Black and Blue and his undoubted claim were disposed of by the attorney +for a sum which satisfied him, and that Black and Blue was secretly led +into indulgences in some foreign country and died of their effects. But +his mother, who is still living, will not believe that he is dead, and +feels convinced that some day or other he will turn up and be restored +to her. + +"What on earth became of that black earl?" is a question very often put +by many who were acquainted with his strange history. + + + + +THE RANEE OF JHANSI. + + +About a month after the order had gone forth for the annexation of the +little province of Jhansi (in 1854), and previous to a wing of the 13th +Native Infantry occupying the country, I received a letter in Persian, +written upon "gold paper," from the Ranee, begging me to pay her a +visit. The letter was brought to me by two natives of rank. One had +been the financial minister of the late Rajah. The other was the head +vakeel (attorney) of the Ranee. + +The revenues of Jhansi were some six lacs (60,000_l._) a year, and +after disbursing the expenses of government, and paying the troops in +the late Rajah's service, the balance was some two lacs and a half +(25,000_l._) profit. The "troops" were not numerous, under 1000 in all, +and they were chiefly horsemen. The arrangement, when the country was +annexed, was simply this: that the Ranee should receive a pension of +6000_l._ a year, to be paid monthly. + +The Ranee's object in asking me to visit her at Jhansi was to consult +me as to the possibility of getting the order for annexation annulled, +or reversed. I should mention that the Ranee had applied to me at the +instance of a gentleman of the Civil Service, who had once been the +Resident, or Governor-General's agent, at a native court in the upper +provinces; a gentleman who, in common with many other officials of +rank in India, regarded the annexation of Jhansi--"a trumpery state +after all"--not only as impolitic, but unjust and without excuse. The +facts were briefly these:--The late Rajah had no issue by his only wife +(the woman who caused our countrymen and countrywomen and children +to be put to death in the fort, and who, according to late advices, +has been killed), and some weeks previous to his death, being "sound +of mind, though infirm in body," he publicly adopted an heir, and +gave notice to the Government of having done so through the proper +channel--namely, the Governor-General's representative then stationed +at Jhansi. In short, all the forms required by the Government to +prevent fraud in such cases, had been complied with. The child was +taken into the Rajah's lap, in the presence of his assembled people, +and in the presence of the Governor-General's representative, and he, +moreover, signed a document, duly attested, reciting his act and deed. +The Rajah was a Brahmin; the adopted boy was a near relative of his. + +The Jhansi Rajah had been particularly faithful to the British +Government, and Lord William Bentinck had presented the brother of the +late Rajah with a British ensign, and a letter giving him the title +of "Rajah," and assuring him that that title, and the independence +attached to it, would be guaranteed by the British Government to him, +the Rajah, and his heirs and _successors_ (by adoption). That that +treaty (for such it purported to be) of Lord William Bentinck was +violated, without the slightest shadow of a pretence, there cannot +be any sort of doubt. In the time of the Peishwah, the late Rajah of +Jhansi was simply a large zemindar (landholder), and had he remained +untitled there can be no question that his last wishes, so far as the +disposition of his property was concerned, would have been attended to. +It was the acceptance of the "Rajahship" which led to the confiscation +of his estates, and the exchange of 6000_l._ a year for 25,000_l._ +a year. Strange as that assertion may seem to the reader, it is +nevertheless true. + +I was at Agra when I received the Ranee's letter, and Agra is two days' +journey. Even as I travelled from Jhansi, I sympathized with the woman. +The boy whom the Rajah had adopted was only six years old, and during +his minority, that is to say, until he had attained his eighteenth +year, the Ranee--so the Rajah willed--was to have been the Regent, +and the boy's guardian; and it is no small matter for a woman--a +native woman of rank, too--to give up such a position and become a +pensioner, even on 6000_l._ a year. Let me detail the particulars of +my journey to the residence of the Ranee of Jhansi. I got into my +palanquin at dusk, and on the following morning, at daylight, arrived +at Gwalior. The Rajah of Jhansi had a small house about a mile and +a half from the cantonment, which was used as a halting-place, and +thither I was taken by the minister and the vakeel who accompanied +me. At ten o'clock, after I had breakfasted and smoked my hookah, it +was proposed that we "go on at once." The day was very warm, but the +Ranee had sent a large and comfortable palanquin carriage; in short, +it was more like a small room than a carriage, fitted up as it was +with every convenience, including even a punkah, which was pulled from +the outside by a servant, who sat upon a foot-board. In the carriage, +beside myself and the minister and vakeel, was a khansamah, or butler, +who, with the apparatus between his knees, kept on cooling water, and +wine, and beer, in order that, whenever I felt thirsty, I might be +supplied at a moment's notice. This enormous carriage was drawn by a +pair of horses of immense strength and swiftness. Each stood about +seventeen hands high. The late Rajah had imported them from France at +a cost of 1500_l._ The road was rather rough in many places, but, on +the average, we got over it at the rate of about nine miles an hour. At +about two o'clock in the day we entered the Jhansi territory, having +changed horses twice, and we had now some nine miles to drive. Hitherto +we had been escorted only by four sowars (horsemen), but now our escort +amounted to about fifty, each horseman carrying an immense spear, and +dressed much in the same way as the Irregular Cavalry in the pay of the +East India Company. And along the road, at intervals of a few hundred +yards, were horsemen drawn up, and as we passed, they joined the +cavalcade; so that by the time we came in sight of the fortress--if +those old weak walls, surmounted by some nine pieces of old ordnance +of inferior calibre, deserved the name--the whole strength of the +Jhansi cavalry was in attendance. The carriage was driven to a place +called "the Rajah's garden," where I alighted, and was conducted by the +financial minister and the vakeel and other servants of state, to a +large tent, which was pitched beneath a clump of gigantic mango trees. +The tent, which was that in which the late Rajah used to receive the +civil and military officers of the British Government, was elegantly +fitted up, and carpeted; and at least a dozen domestic servants were +ready to do my bidding. I must not omit to mention that the companions +of my journey--the minister and the vakeel--were both men of good +ability and pleasing manners. They were, moreover, men of learning, so +that my time upon the road had been beguiled very agreeably. + +The Ranee had consulted one of the many Brahmins who were supported by +her as to the most propitious hour for me to come to the purdah behind +which she sat; and the Brahmins had told her that it must be between +the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon, which was then near +her full; in other words, between half-past five and half-past six +o'clock. + +This important matter having been communicated to me, I expressed +myself perfectly satisfied with the time of the appointment, and +ordered dinner accordingly. This done, the financial minister, after +betraying some embarrassment, intimated that he wished to speak to me +on a rather delicate subject, and that, with my permission, he would +order all the menial servants in attendance on me, including my own +sirdar-bearer (valet), to leave the tent and stand at a distance. I +complied, of course, and presently found myself alone with only the +"officials" (eight or nine in number) of the little native state of +Jhansi. What the finance minister wished to ask me was this--Would +I consent to leave my shoes at the door when I entered the Ranee's +apartment? I inquired if the Governor-General's agent did so. He +replied that the Governor-General's agent had never had an interview +with the Ranee; and that the late Rajah had never received any European +gentleman in the private apartments of the palace, but in a room set +apart for the purpose, or in the tent in which we were conversing. I +was in some difficulty, and scarcely knew what to say, for I had a few +years previously declined to be presented to the King of Delhi, who +insisted on Europeans taking off their shoes when they entered his +presence. The idea was repugnant to my mind, and I said as much to the +minister of the late Rajah of Jhansi; and I asked him whether he would +attend a levée at the palace of the Queen of England, if informed that +he must enter her Majesty's presence with his head uncovered, as did +all her subjects, from the lowest to the highest. To this question he +would not give me a direct answer, but remarked, "You may wear your +hat, Sahib; the Ranee will not mind that. On the contrary, she will +regard it as an additional mark of respect towards her." Now this +was what I did not want. My desire was, that she should consider the +wearing of my hat, supposing I consented to take off my shoes, as a +species of compromise on her part as well as on my part. But I was so +amused with this bargaining, as it were, that I consented; giving them +distinctly to understand, however, that it was to be considered not +as a compliment to her rank and dignity, but to her sex, and her sex +alone. That great point settled, I partook of a very sumptuous repast +that was prepared for me, and awaited patiently the setting of the sun +or the rising of the moon, determined, however, that I would wear my +hat--a black "wide-awake," covered with a white turban. + +The hour came, and the white elephant (an Albino, one of the very few +in all India), bearing on his immense back a silver houdah, trimmed +with red velvet, was brought to the tent. I ascended the steps, which +were also covered with red velvet, and took my place. The mahoot, or +elephant-driver, was attired in the most gorgeous manner. The ministers +of state, mounted on white Arabs, rode on either side of the elephant; +the Jhansi cavalry lining the road to the palace, and thus forming an +avenue. The palace was about half a mile distant from my encampment +ground. + +Ere long we arrived at the gates, at which the attendants on foot +began to knock violently. A wicket was opened, and closed hastily. +Information was then sent to the Ranee; and, after a delay of about +ten minutes, the "hookum" (order) came to open the gates. I entered +on the elephant, and alighted in a court-yard. The evening was very +warm, and I fancied that I should be suffocated by the crowd of natives +(retainers) who flocked around me. Observing my discomfiture, the +minister imperiously commanded them to "stand back!" After another +brief delay, I was asked to ascend a very narrow stone staircase, +and on the landing was met by a native gentleman, who was some +relative to the Ranee. He showed me first into one room and then into +another. These rooms (six or seven), like all rooms of the kind, were +unfurnished, save and except that the floors were carpeted; but from +the ceiling punkahs and chandeliers were suspended, and on the walls +were native pictures of Hindoo gods and goddesses, with here and there +a large mirror. At length I was led to the door of a room, at which the +native gentleman knocked. A female voice from within inquired, "Who is +there?" + +"Sahib," was the reply. After another brief delay, the door was opened +by some unseen hand, and the native gentleman asked me to enter, +informing me, at the same time, that he was about to leave me. A +brief delay now occurred upon my part. It was with great difficulty +that I could bring myself to take off my shoes. At length, however, I +accomplished it, and entered the apartment in "stocking feet." In the +centre of the room, which was richly carpeted, was an arm-chair of +European manufacture, and around it were strewn garlands of flowers +(Jhansi is famous for its beautiful and sweet-smelling flowers). At +the end of the room was a purdah or curtain, and behind it people were +talking. I sat myself down in the arm-chair, and instinctively took +off my hat; but recollecting my resolve, I replaced it, and rather +firmly--pulling it well down, so as completely to conceal my forehead. +It was a foolish resolve, perhaps, on my part, for the hat kept the +breeze of the punkah from cooling my temples. + +I could hear female voices prevailing upon a child to "go to the +Sahib," and could hear the child objecting to do so. Eventually, he +was "launched" into the room; and upon my speaking kindly to the +child, he approached me--but very timidly. His dress and the jewels +on his person, satisfied me that the child was the adopted son of the +late Rajah, and the rejected heir to the little throne of Jhansi. +He was rather a pretty child, but very short for his years, and +broad-shouldered--like most of the Mahratta children that I have seen. + +Whilst I was speaking to the child, a shrill and discordant voice +issued from behind the purdah, and I was informed that the boy was +the Maharajah, who had just been despoiled of his rights by the +Governor-General of India. I fancied that the voice was that of some +very old woman--some slave or enthusiastic retainer, perhaps; but the +child having imagined that he was spoken to, replied, "Maharanee!" and +thus I was told the error of my conclusion. + +And now the Ranee, having invited me to come closer to the purdah, +began to pour forth her grievances; and, whenever she paused, the +women by whom she was surrounded, set up a sort of chorus--a series of +melancholy ejaculations--such as "Woe is me!" "What oppression!" It +reminded me somewhat of a scene in a Greek tragedy--comical as was the +situation. + +I had heard from the vakeel that the Ranee was a very handsome woman, +of about six or seven and twenty years of age, and I was very curious +indeed to get a glimpse of her; and whether it was by accident, or by +design on the Ranee's part, I know not, my curiosity was gratified. +The curtain was drawn aside by the little boy, and I had a good view +of the lady. It was only for a moment, it is true; still I saw her +sufficiently to be able to describe her. She was a woman of about +the middle size--rather stout, but not too stout. Her face must have +been very handsome when she was younger, and even now it had many +charms--though, according to my idea of beauty, it was too round. The +expression also was very good, and very intelligent. The eyes were +particularly fine, and the nose very delicately shaped. She was not +very fair, though she was far from black. She had no ornaments, strange +to say, upon her person, except a pair of gold ear-rings. Her dress +was a plain white muslin, so fine in texture, and drawn about her in +such a way, and so tightly, that the outline of her figure was plainly +discernible--and a remarkably fine figure she had. What spoilt her was +her voice, which was something between a whine and a croak. When the +purdah was drawn aside, she was, or affected to be, very much annoyed; +but presently she laughed, and good-humouredly expressed a hope that +a sight of her had not lessened my sympathy with her sufferings nor +prejudiced her cause. + +"On the contrary," I replied, "if the Governor-General could only be as +fortunate as I have been, and for even so brief a while, I feel quite +sure that he would at once give Jhansi back again to be ruled over by +its beautiful Queen." + +She repaid this compliment, and the next ten minutes were devoted to an +interchange of such matters. I told her that the whole world resounded +with the praises of her beauty and the greatness of her intellect; and +she told me that there was not a corner of the earth in which prayers +for my welfare remained unsaid. + +We then returned to the point--her "case." I informed her that the +Governor-General had no power to restore the country, and recognise +the claim of the adopted son, without a reference to England, and +that the most prudent course for her to adopt would be to petition +the throne, and meanwhile draw the pension of 6000_l._ a year, under +protest that it was not to prejudice the right of the adopted son. At +first she refused to do this, and rather energetically exclaimed: "Mera +Jhansi nahin dengee" (I will not give up my Jhansi). I then pointed out +to her, as delicately as possible, how futile would be any opposition; +and told her, what was the truth, that a wing of a native regiment and +some artillery were within three marches of the palace; and I further +impressed upon her that the slightest opposition to its advance would +destroy her every hope, and, in short, jeopardize her liberty. I did +this because she gave me to understand--and so did her attorney (and my +impression is that they spoke the truth)--that the _people_ of Jhansi +did not wish to be handed over to the East India Company's rule. + +It was past two o'clock that night before I left the palace; and ere +I took my departure, I had talked the lady into my way of thinking, +except that she would not consent to draw any pension from the British +Government. + +On the following day I returned to Gwalior, _en route_ to Agra. The +Ranee presented me with an elephant, a camel, an Arab, a pair of +greyhounds of great swiftness, a quantity of silks and stuffs (the +production of Jhansi), and a pair of Indian shawls. I accepted these +things with great reluctance, but the financial minister entreated me +to take them, insomuch as it would wound the Ranee's feelings if I +refused. The Ranee also presented me with a portrait of herself, taken +by a native, a Hindoo. + +The state of Jhansi was not restored to the rule of the Ranee, and +we know that she afterwards rivalled that fiend Nena Sahib, whose +"grievance" was identical with her own. The Government would not +recognise Nena Sahib as the adopted son and heir of the Peishwah; +the Ranee of Jhansi sought to be recognised as the Regent during the +minority of the late Rajah's adopted son and heir. + + + + +TIRHOOT, LUCKNOW, BHITOOR, ETC. + + +It is some years since I first landed in Calcutta. I was in no way +connected with the Government, and was consequently an "interloper" +or "adventurer." These were the terms applied by certain officials to +European merchants, indigo-planters, shopkeepers, artisans, barristers, +attorneys, and others. + +It was not long before I made up my mind to become a wanderer in the +East. I had no occupation, was my own master, and had a large tract of +country to roam about in. My first step was to acquire a knowledge of +Hindostanee and of Persian. By dint of hard study, at the end of six +months I found myself capable, not only of holding a conversation, but +of arguing a point in either of these languages: and with a light heart +I took my departure from the City of Palaces, and proceeded to Monghyr, +on the Ganges. + +The chief civilian of that district had invited me to spend a month +with him. Every day I accompanied my friend to his court, and thereby +got some insight into the administration of justice in India, both +civil and criminal. Here, too, I first made acquaintance with Thugs. +Several most notorious characters of that tribe were at Monghyr--not +imprisoned, but permitted to move about. They had been pardoned on +condition that they would become informers, and, to a certain extent, +detectives, in the suppression of Thuggee in the British dominions. +It was a curious feeling to be in conversation with men who had each +committed his ninety or a hundred murders--to see the fingers that +had strangled so many victims--to watch the process, for they were +good-natured enough to act it. There was the unsuspecting traveller +with his bundle; the decoy Thug, who engaged him in conversation; the +two men, who, at the given signal, were to seize; the executioner, +standing behind with the handkerchief, ready to strangle the victim. +They even went through the operation of searching the "deceased," +upon whom they found nothing in this case; but they assured me this +frequently happened in reality. The reader is of course aware that it +is a part of the Thug's religion not to rob a live body. The crime of +murder must precede that of theft. The play--the tragedy--over (to +these domesticated demons it was a mere farce), they laughed at the +solemn expression which, I doubt not, was stamped upon my features. + +These Thugs were permitted to have their families at Monghyr; and +one morning when I strolled down to their camp, an old man made five +children, the eldest boy not more than eight years old, go through +the business of strangling and robbing a victim. In one respect these +urchins outdid their progenitors in the acting. They not only went +through the ceremony of searching the dead body, but, that done, they +dragged it by the legs to a well, and, in dumb show, threw it down, and +then uttered a prayer to Heaven. + +"Was that good?" said one of the children, running up to me for +applause and a reward. I scarcely knew what to reply. Before I had time +to give any answer, the child's father said, "No; it was not good. +You used the handkerchief before the signal was given. Go through it +again, and remember, this time, that you must have patience." The boys +began again, much in the same spirit that an actor and actress would +go through the strangling scene in "Othello," to please a fastidious +manager. + +Approaching a very interesting-looking woman, of about two-and-twenty +years of age, I said to her, "What do you think of this?" + +She replied in a proverb: "The mango always falls beneath the shade of +the parent tree." + +"But the crime?" said I. "What think you of that?" + +She looked up with as lovely a pair of eyes as ever saw the light, +smiled, and responded: + +"Heaven will hold us all, Sahib!" + +I was about to reason with her, but her husband, with an expression of +pride, interfered, and informed me that she had taken eighteen lives. + +"Twenty-one!" she exclaimed. + +"Eighteen only!" said he. + +"Twenty-one!" she persisted, and ran them over counting on her fingers +the places and the dates when the murders were committed. Her husband +then admitted that she was in the right, and, turning to me, remarked: + +"She is a very clever woman, Sahib." + +"Were your victims men or women?" I said to her. + +"All women," she answered me. "Some old and some young." + +I was tempted to ask her to show me how it was done; and after +considerable coaxing she complied with my wishes. To my surprise +she was the only actor in the scene, except the victim, with whom +she went through the process of strangling with a piece of cord. +The victim, another Thuggess, was supposed to be sleeping when the +operation was performed, and I could not help admiring--horrible as +the sight was--the accuracy with which she performed the throes and +agony of death. To borrow an idea from Junius, "None but those who had +frequently witnessed such awful moments could describe them so well." + +At the house of my Monghyr friend I met a French gentleman, an +indigo-planter of Tirhoot, in Behar. He invited me to pay him a visit, +and to accompany him in his boat. He was about to sail on the following +day. I say "sail," for at that time (the month of August), the country +was inundated, and it would have been impossible to travel by land. +I accepted the invitation, and we sailed from Monghyr to Hajeepore +without going near the Ganges for several days. + +Monsieur Bardon, the French planter, was one of the most accomplished +and agreeable men I had ever met, and in truth one of the greatest +characters. The hospitality of the Tirhoot planters is proverbial in +India, and I believe I might have lived in that Garden of the East, as +it is called, from that day to this, as a welcome guest of the various +planters, if I had chosen still to be their guest. As it was, I was +eight months in the district, and then had very great difficulty in +getting away. A now celebrated officer, at that time commanding the +Irregular Cavalry at Segowlie, induced me to visit him; and after +leaving his abode, I went to the Bettiah Rajah, who initiated me into +the mysteries of tiger-shooting. It was in the dominions of this small +chief that my hands and face were so browned that I became far less +fair than many natives of the country. Before leaving Tirhoot, however, +I paid a visit to Rooder Singh, the Rajah of Durbungah, the richest +native perhaps in all India. He has two hundred thousand pounds a year +net revenue; and in a tank in his palace there is lying, in gold and +silver, upwards of a million and a half sterling. Chutter Singh, the +father of the Rajah of Durbungah, was a firm friend of the British +Government during the Nepal war. He raised a regiment of horse and +provisioned it. When asked by the authorities for his bill, he replied +that the Government owed him nothing. + +After leaving the Bettiah Rajah, I proceeded to Lucknow, where I +improved myself greatly in Hindostanee. In this city, and in Delhi, +the purest is spoken. At Lucknow I made the acquaintance of Ally Nucky +Khan (the prime minister of the King of Oude, who is now imprisoned in +Fort William), of Wuzy Ally Khan (a celebrity of Oude, who is since +dead), and of Rugburdiall, the eldest son of the late Shah Beharee +Lall, one of the richest bankers in India. Shah Beharee Lall is said to +have died worth seven millions in cash; but I have reason to believe +that three millions sterling was the utmost that he died possessed of. +Rugburdiall held the office of treasurer to the King of Oude. Ally +Nucky Khan gave me the idea of a man of small mental capacity, but of +immense cunning and inordinate vanity. The late Mr. Beechy, the King of +Oude's portrait-painter, must have taken at least a score of likenesses +of Ally Nucky, who, to say the truth, is a remarkably good-looking +personage. Wuzy Ally Khan was a tall and handsome man of about +five-and-forty. His manners were refined, his address charming, and his +bearing altogether that of a well-bred gentleman. Of his talents there +could be no question; and he was, moreover, a learned and well-informed +man. There could be no doubt that Wuzy Ally Khan, in point of fact, +ruled the kingdom. The conversational powers of this man were immense, +and he was both witty and humorous. A more agreeable companion it +would be difficult to meet with in any country. When I first made his +acquaintance, he was in great favour with the then resident at the +court of Oude; but, on the appointment of Colonel Sleeman, he fell +into disrepute with the British officials and continued so up to the +time of his death, which occurred about two years ago. I was five +months in Oude, and, during that period, spoke nothing but Hindostanee +or Persian. I made a point of avoiding my own countrymen, and of +associating only with the natives of India. + +Previous to leaving Lucknow, a letter was despatched to Nena Sahib, +informing him that a gentleman of distinction, a most intimate friend +of the Governor-General, and related by birth or marriage to every +member of the council in Calcutta, as well as a constant guest of the +Queen of England, was travelling through Hindostan in disguise, and +would most probably, by his presence, illumine the abode of Maharajah +Bahadoor, and it was hoped that every respect would be paid to the +dignity of the Sahib's exalted position, &c., &c. When the draft of +this epistle was read aloud by the moonshee, who had written it from +dictation, I expostulated, on the ground that the contents were not +in accordance with the truth. My scruples, however, were eventually +overcome, and I took leave of my Lucknow friends, after being provided +with all that I should require on my journey (of about forty-five +miles), and an escort of fifteen sowars (horsemen); for the road, at +that time, between Lucknow and Cawnpore, was infested by robbers. About +a mile from Bhitoor my palkee was placed upon the ground. I was asleep, +but awoke, and inquired, "Kia hua?" (What is the matter?) + +I was informed by the bearers of my palkee that the Maharajah Peishwa +Bahadoor had sent out an escort in honour of my approach, and presently +there appeared at the door of my palkee a soldier-like looking Hindoo, +who made me a very respectful salaam. The escort consisted of eight +foot-soldiers with drawn swords, and four sowars. The former, running +by the side of my palkee, encouraged the bearers to make haste; while +the latter caused their horses to curvet and prance, and thus kick up +a frightful dust. At the abode of the Maharajah Bahadoor, I was met by +several of his musahibs (courtiers), who were exceedingly polite, and +conducted me to a suite of apartments which had apparently been made +ready for my reception; and so far as servants were concerned, I was +literally surrounded. A sirdar bearer (personal attendant, or Indian +valet) took charge of my two boxes which contained my wearing apparel. +A khansamah (butler), followed by three khidmutghars (table servants), +asked me if I would take some iced water, and in the same breath +informed me that every kind of European drink was at hand. Brandy, gin, +champagne, claret, sherry, port, beer, cherry-brandy, and soda-water. +And what would I take for dinner? Whatever the Sahib's heart might +desire, was in readiness. Turkey? goose? duck? fowl? beefsteak? +mutton-chop? ham and eggs? And here the khansamah (a venerable +Mussulman) informed me, sotto voce, that the Maharajah was constantly +in the habit of entertaining European gentlemen; and that, although +his highness was himself a strict Hindoo, he had no kind of prejudice, +so that if I preferred beef to any other kind of meat, I had only to +give the order. I assured the khansamah that since my arrival in India, +I had never tasted beef, or hog's flesh, and that if he would have +prepared for me, as speedily as possible, some rice and vegetables, I +should be quite satisfied. With a profound salaam the khansamah took +his departure, followed by the khidmutghars. The sirdar bearers, and +four other men, then approached me reverentially, and begged to conduct +me to my sleeping apartment and the bathing-rooms. + +There is something peculiarly quaint about the arrangement of European +furniture in the house of a native gentleman. In the house of an +European, the servants are, of course, taught how to arrange tables, +chairs, and beds, according to European ideas; but it is otherwise with +the servants of a rajah, or native gentleman. The consequence is that +in the dining, or drawing-room, you will find a wash-hand stand, and a +chest of drawers, and a toilet-table, while in the bed-room you will, +perhaps, discover an old piano, an organ, a card-table, or cheffonier. +The furniture has, for the most part, been purchased at various sales, +and has belonged to officers of all grades, civil and military. There +are the tent-table and the camp-stool of the dead ensign, in the same +room with the marble-topped table and crimson damask covered easy chair +of some luxurious judge. On the mantelpiece you will find a costly +clock of the most elegant design and workmanship, and on each side +of it, a pair of japan candlesticks, not worth half-a-crown. In this +way are arranged the pictures on the walls. Immediately underneath +a proof print of Landseer's "Bolton Abbey," or "Hawking," you will +observe a sixpenny coloured print of the Duke of Wellington or Napoleon +Bonaparte. The pictures, also, have been bought indiscriminately +at various sales, and have been as indiscriminately suspended on +the walls. There are the print-shop ballet girls intermingled with +engravings of the most serious character. Fores's sporting collection +with the most classical subjects. Foot-stools, musical-boxes, and +elegantly bound books, writing-desks, work-boxes, plated dishes, +sugar-basins, and teapots, are arranged in the most grotesque fashion +imaginable. Upon an elegant mahogany sideboard you will find decanters +and glasses of every description and quality. Upon another sideboard, +in the drawing-room, you will find a variety of dinner-services, and +earthen fragments thereof, all mixed. There was but one set of rooms +at Bhitoor for the reception of "Sahib logue," and this was the set +that I then occupied. + +I had scarcely made myself comfortable, when the khansamah informed me +that dinner was on the table. This was welcome intelligence, for I had +not tasted food since morning, and it was half-past five P.M. I sat +down to a table twenty feet long (it had originally been the mess table +of a cavalry regiment), which was covered with a damask table-cloth +of European manufacture, but instead of a dinner-napkin there was a +bed-room towel. The soup--for he had everything ready--was served up +in a trifle-dish which had formed part of a dessert service belonging +to the 9th Lancers--at all events, the arms of that regiment were upon +it; but the plate into which I ladled it with a broken tea-cup, was of +the old willow pattern. The pilao which followed the soup, was served +upon a huge plated dish, but the plate from which I ate it, was of the +very commonest description. The knife was a bone-handled affair; the +spoon and the fork were of silver, and of Calcutta make. The plated +side-dishes, containing vegetables, were odd ones; one was round, the +other oval. The pudding was brought in upon a soup-plate of blue and +gold pattern, and the cheese was placed before me on a glass dish +belonging to a dessert service. The cool claret I drank out of a richly +cut champagne glass, and the beer out of an American tumbler, of the +very worst quality. + +I had not yet seen "the Maharajah." It was not until past eight that +a moonshee came and inquired if I would have an interview with his +highness. I replied that it would give me great joy, and was forthwith +conducted through numerous narrow and gloomy passages to an apartment +at the corner of the building. Here sat the Maharajah on a Turkey +carpet, and reclining slightly on a huge bolster. In front of him were +his hookah, a sword, and several nosegays. His highness rose, came +forward, took my hand, led me to the carpet, and begged of me to be +seated on a cane-bottomed arm-chair, which had evidently been placed +ready for my especial ease and occupation. After the usual compliments +had passed, the Maharajah inquired if I had eaten well. But, perhaps, +the general reader would like to know what are "the usual compliments." + +Native Rajah. "The whole world is ringing with the praise of your +illustrious name." + +Humble Sahib. "Maharaj. You are very good." + +Native Rajah. "From Calcutta to Cabul--throughout the whole of +Hindoostan--every tongue declares that you have no equal. Is it true?" + +Humble Sahib (who, if he knows anything of Asiatic manners and customs, +knows that he must not contradict his host, but eat his compliments +with a good appetite). "Maharaj." + +Native Rajah. "The acuteness of your perceptions, and the soundness of +your understanding, have, by universal report, became as manifest as +even the light of the sun itself." Then, turning to his attendants of +every degree, who, by this time, had formed a circle round me and the +Rajah, he put the question, "Is it true, or not?" + +The attendants, one and all, declare that it was true; and inquire +whether it could be possible for a great man like the Maharajah to say +that which was false. + +Native Rajah. "The Sahib's father is living?" + +Humble Sahib. "No; he is dead, Maharaj." + +Native Rajah. "He was a great man?" + +Humble Sahib. "Maharaj. You have honoured the memory of my father, and +exalted it in my esteem, by expressing such an opinion." + +Native Rajah. "And your mother? She lives?" + +Humble Sahib. "By the goodness of God, such is the case." + +Native Rajah. "She is a very handsome woman?" + +Humble Sahib. "On that point, Maharaj, I cannot offer an opinion." + +Native Rajah. "You need not do so. To look in your face is quite +sufficient. I would give a crore of rupees (one million sterling) to +see her only for one moment, and say how much I admired the intelligent +countenance of her son. I am going to England next year. Will the Sahib +favour me with her address?" + +Humble Sahib. "Maharaj." + +Here the Native Rajah calls to the moonshee to bring pen, ink, +and paper. The moonshee comes, sits before me, pen in hand, looks +inquiringly into my eyes, and I dictate as follows, laughing inwardly +all the while: "Lady Bombazine, Munnymunt, ka uper, Peccadilleemee, +Bilgrave Isqueere, Sunjons wood-Cumberwill;" which signifies this: +"Lady Bombazine, on the top of the Monument, in Piccadilly, Belgrave +Square, St. Johns Wood, Camberwell." This mystification must be excused +by the plea that the Rajah's assertions of his going to Europe are as +truthful as Lady Bombazine's address. + +The Maharajah then gives instructions that that document shall +be preserved amongst his most important papers, and resumes the +conversation. + +Native Rajah. "The Sahib has eaten well?" + +Humble Sahib. "Maharaj." + +Native Rajah. "And drunk?" + +Humble Sahib. "Maharaj." + +Native Rajah. "The Sahib will smoke hookah?" + +Humble Sahib. "The Maharajah is very good." + +A hookah is called for by the Rajah; and then at least a dozen voices +repeat the order: "Hookah lao, Sahib ke waste." (Bring a hookah for +the Sahib.) Presently the hookah is brought in. It is rather a grand +affair, but old, and has evidently belonged to some European of +extravagant habits. Of course, no native would smoke out of it (on the +ground of caste), and it is evidently kept for the use of the Sahib +logue.[1] + +While I am pulling away at the hookah, the musahibs, or favourites of +the Rajah, flatter me, in very audible whispers. "How well he smokes!" +"What a fine forehead he has!" "And his eyes! how they sparkle!" "No +wonder he is so clever!" "He will be Governor-General some day." +"Khuda-kuren!" (God will have it so.) + +Native Rajah. "Sahib, when you become Governor-General, you will be a +friend to the poor?" + +Humble Sahib (speaking from the bottom of his heart). "Most assuredly, +Maharaj." + +Native Rajah. "And you will listen to the petition of every man, rich +and poor alike." + +Humble Sahib. "It will be my duty so to do." + +Native Rajah (in a loud voice). "Moonshee!" + +Moonshee (who is close at hand). "Maharaj, Protector of the Poor." + +Native Rajah. "Bring the petition that I have laid before the +Governor-General." + +The moonshee produces the petition, and at the instance of the Rajah, +reads, or rather sings it aloud. The Rajah listens with pleasure to +its recital of his own wrongs, and I affect to be astounded that so +much injustice can possibly exist. During my rambles in India I have +been the guest of some scores of rajahs, great and small, and I never +knew one who had not a grievance. He had either been wronged by the +government, or by some judge, whose decision had been against him. In +the matter of the government, it was a sheer love of oppression that +led to the evil of which he complained; in the matter of the judge, +that functionary had been bribed by the other party. + +It was with great difficulty that I kept my eyes open while the +petition--a very long one--was read aloud. Shortly after it was +finished, I craved permission to retire, and was conducted by a bearer +to the sleeping-room, in the centre of which was a huge bedstead, +a four-poster, but devoid of curtains. On either side were large +looking-glasses in gilt frames, not suspended on the walls, but placed +against them. Over the bed was a punkah, which was immediately set +in motion. The movement of the punkah served a double purpose; it +cooled the room, and drove away the musquitoes. Having thrown myself +on the bed, the bearer, who was in attendance, inquired if I would be +shampooed. This was a luxury to which I was always partial, and, having +signified that I desired it, four men were shouted for. Each took an +arm or a leg, and began to press it, and crack the knuckle-joints of my +fingers and toes. This continued until I had fallen asleep. I did not +wake until eight o'clock on the following morning, when I was waited +upon by the khansamah, who wished to know my pleasure with respect to +breakfast. He informed me that he had "Futnum and Meesum's," Yorkshire +pie, game pie, anchovy toast, mutton-chop, steak, sardines--in short, +all that the Sahib logue were accustomed to take. + +My breakfast over, and my hookah smoked, I lighted a cheroot, and +walked out into a verandah, where I was soon joined by some of the +Maharajah's favourites and dependents, who poured into my ear a +repetition of the flattery to which I had listened on the previous +night. It is not very tedious when you become used to it, and know +that it is a matter of course, and is applied to every European guest +of any real or supposed importance. Whilst thus engaged, smoking and +listening, I was joined by the Maharajah, who held in his hand the +Delhi Gazette, the Mofussilite, and the Calcutta Englishman. Of their +entire contents he had been made acquainted by a half-caste, whom he +kept (so he informed me) for the sole purpose of translating, orally, +into Hindostanee, the Indian journals and the government gazettes, +published in the English language. There was no occasion for me to +read these papers, for the Maharajah gave me a very accurate resumé of +them; having done this, he asked me to play a game of billiards. I am +not a bad billiard-player; on the contrary, I have the vanity to think +that I play remarkably well; but it was quite evident to me that the +Maharajah did not play his best, and that he suffered me to beat him as +easily as I did, simply out of what he considered to be politeness. All +the while we were playing the favourites or courtiers of the Maharajah +were praising us both. Neither of us made a stroke, good or bad, that +did not bring down a shower of compliments. My impression is, that if I +had run a cue, and cut the cloth at the same time, the bystanders would +have shouted in praise of my skill and execution. I had already seen +enough of native character to know exactly how I was to act. I feigned +to be charmed with my success--childishly charmed. Whilst I was thus +(to the delight of my host) ostensibly revelling in my triumph, the +marker--a native, a Hindoo--took up a cue, and began to knock the balls +about. He cannoned all over the table, went in off the red and white, +screwed back under the cushion, and, in short, did whatever he pleased, +and with perfect ease. + +I could not help expressing to the Rajah my astonishment at the Hindoo +marker's skill; whereupon, he informed me that, when he was a mere boy, +he had been taught by the best player (an officer in the Light Cavalry) +that ever came to India, and that for several years past he had been +marker at various mess-rooms where billiards were played. The name of +this Hindoo Jonathan was Runjeet. He was six-and-twenty years of age, +about five feet five in height, remarkably slim, had a very handsome +face, and eyes full of fire and spirit. He was for a long time marker +to the Horse Artillery mess at Meerut, where I once saw him play a game +with an officer celebrated for his skill. Runjeet gave his adversary +sixty points out of a hundred, and won easily. What with his pay, or +salary, the presents he received from gentlemen to whom he taught the +game, and the gold mohurs that he occasionally had given to him when he +won bets for his backers, Runjeet was in possession of some six hundred +pounds a-year; but he was so extravagant in his habits, that he spent +every anna, and died, I was told, "not worth money enough to buy the +wood to burn him." + +The Maharajah, on leaving the billiard-room, invited me to accompany +him to Cawnpore. I acquiesced, and the carriage was ordered. The +carriage was English-built--a very handsome landau--and the horses +were English horses; but the harness! It was country-made, of the +very commonest kind, and worn out, for one of the traces was a piece +of rope. The coachman was filthy in his dress, and the whip that he +carried in his hand was an old broken buggy-whip, which some European +gentleman must have thrown away. On the box, on either side of the +coachman, sat a warlike retainer, armed with a sword and a dagger. In +the rumble were two other retainers, armed in the same manner. Besides +the Rajah and myself there were three others (natives and relatives of +the Rajah) in the vehicle. On the road the Rajah talked incessantly, +and amongst other things that he told me was this, in reference to the +praises that I bestowed on his equipage. + +"Not long ago I had a carriage and horses very superior to these. They +cost me twenty-five thousand rupees; but I had to burn the carriage and +kill the horses." + +"Why so?" + +"The child of a certain Sahib in Cawnpore was very sick, and the Sahib +and the mem-Sahib were bringing the child to Bhitoor for a change of +air. I sent my big carriage for them. On the road the child died; and, +of course, as a dead body had been in the carriage, and as the horses +had drawn that dead body in that carriage, I could never use them +again." The reader must understand that a native of any rank considers +it a disgrace to sell property. + +"But could you not have given the horses to some friend--a Christian or +a Mussulman?" + +"No; had I done so, it might have come to the knowledge of the Sahib, +and his feelings would have been hurt at having occasioned me such a +loss." + +Such was the Maharajah, commonly known as Nena Sahib. He appeared to +me not a man of ability, nor a fool. He was selfish; but what native +is not? He seemed to be far from a bigot in matters of religion; +and, although he was compelled to be so very particular about the +destruction of his carriage and horses, I am quite satisfied that he +drank brandy, and that he smoked hemp in the chillum of his hookah. + +It was half-past five o'clock when we arrived at Cawnpore. The +officers, civil and military, and their wives, were just coming out +for their evening drive on the mall. Some were in carriages, some in +buggies, some on horseback. Every soul saluted the Maharajah; who +returned the salute according to Eastern fashion--raising the hands +to the forehead. Several gentlemen approached the carriage when it +was drawn up near the band-stand, and inquired after the Maharajah's +health. He replied that it was good and then introduced me to them +in the following manner, and in strict accordance with the letter he +had received from Lucknow: "This Sahib who sits near me is a great +friend of the Governor-General, and is a relation of all the members +of Council--a constant guest of the Queen of England" (then came +this addition of his own) "and of both Houses of Parliament." I need +scarcely say that I wished my Lucknow friends had not covered me with +such recommendations; for, wherever we went, and to whomsoever we +spoke--no matter whether it was an European shopkeeper or an official +magnate of Cawnpore--I was doomed to hear, "This Sahib who sits (or +stands) near me is a great friend," &c., &c. Having exhibited me +sufficiently in Cawnpore, the heads of the horses were turned towards +Bhitoor, and we were dragged along the road at a slow pace, for the +animals were extremely fatigued. The natives of India have no mercy +on their cattle, especially their horses. During the ride back, I was +again bored with the Rajah's grievance; and, to quiet him--for he +became very much excited--I was induced to promise that I would talk +to the Governor-General and the Council on the subject; and that if +I did not succeed in that quarter, I would, on my return to England, +take the earliest opportunity "some day, quietly, after dinner" (this +was his suggestion), of representing to her Majesty the exact state +of the case, and that an adopted son of a Hindoo was entitled to all +the rights and privileges of an heir born of the body. I furthermore +promised him most solemnly that I would not speak to the Board of +Control, or to the Privy Council on the subject; for the Maharajah +assured me that he had the most positive proof that both these +institutions had eaten bribes from the hand of the East India Company +in respect of his claim. On probing him, however, I discovered that +this positive proof was a letter from a villanous agent in England, +who had written to him to say that "the Company had bribed the Board +of Control and the Privy Council, and that if his Highness expected to +succeed, he must bribe over the head of the Company. Three lacs (thirty +thousand pounds) would do it all." + +The Maharajah gave a nautch (native dance by women) that night. + +On the following morning I awoke with a very bad headache, and in a +philosophic mood. The various perfumes which had been sprinkled over +my dress had somewhat overpowered me, and it may have been that the +story told me in whispers by one of the three slaves who came to sing +me to sleep had disordered my imagination. I was told that two women of +rank were kept in a den not far from my apartments, and treated like +wild beasts; and a third--a beautiful young creature--had recently been +"bricked up in a wall," for no other fault than attempting to escape. + +After breakfast, the Rajah showed me his elephants, his camels, his +horses, his dogs, his pigeons, his falcons, his wild asses, his apes, +his aviary full of birds, and all the rest of his curiosities. Then he +exhibited his guns and pistols--by Purdey, Egg, and other celebrated +makers--his swords, and his daggers, of every country and age, and when +he had observed that he was very happy, under the influence of some +stimulant recently imbibed, I took an opportunity of discoursing on the +vanity of human wishes, and especially with reference to his Highness's +grievance. I translated many sentiments of Juvenal and Horace into +Hindoostanee; but, I regret to say, they had no effect on Nena Sahib. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] The word "logue" simply signifies people; but, when applied as +above, it is nothing more than a plural. "Sahib logue" (sahibs) "mem +logue" (ladies), "baba logue" (children). + + + + +THE UPPER PROVINCES. + + +It is impossible for an English gentleman to take his departure from +the house of a native of India without giving a number of testimonials, +in the shape of "letters of recommendation" addressed to no one in +particular. Nena Sahib had a book containing the autographs of at +least a hundred and fifty gentlemen and ladies, who had testified in +writing to the attention and kindness they had received at the hands +of the Maharajah during their stay at Bhitoor. Having expressed my +satisfaction as emphatically as possible in this book, the khansamah +(house steward) demanded a certificate, which I gave him. Then came +the bearer, the men who guarded my door, the coachman, the grooms, +the sweeper. For each and all of these I had to write characters, +and recommend them to such of my friends as they might encounter by +accident or otherwise. It is a fearful infliction, this character +writing; but every one is compelled to go through it. + +I was now on my road to Agra, to pay a visit to a schoolfellow, who was +then in the civil service, and filling an appointment in the station. +It was in the month of September that I made the journey--the most +unhealthy season of the year. Opposite to the first dâk bungalow, some +twelve miles from the station of Cawnpore, I was stopped by a set of +twelve palkee bearers, who informed me that a Sahib whom they were +taking to Allyghur had been seized with cholera, and was dying in the +bungalow. I hastened to the room and there found, stretched upon the +couch, a young officer of about nineteen years of age. + +His face was ashy pale, and a profuse cold perspiration stood upon his +forehead. His hands and feet were like ice, and he was in very great +pain. The only person near him was the sweeper, who kept on assuring +me that the youth would die. As for the youth himself he was past +speech, and I was disposed to think with the sweeper, that he was +beyond cure. I administered, however, nearly a teaspoonful of laudanum +in a wine-glass half-full of raw brandy, and then took a seat near +the patient, in order to witness the effect. Ere long the severe pain +was allayed, and the youth fell into a profound sleep, from which, I +began to fear, he would never awake. To have administered a smaller +dose at that stage of the disease would have been useless, for the +body was on the very verge of collapse. Nevertheless, I began to feel +the awkwardness of the responsibility which I had taken upon myself. +Presently a palanquin carriage, propelled by bearers, came to the +bungalow. An elderly lady and gentleman alighted, and were shown into +a little room which happened to be vacant [A dâk bungalow has only two +little rooms.] To my great joy I discovered that the new arrival was a +doctor of a regiment, who, with his wife, was journeying to Calcutta. I +was not long in "calling in" the doctor; and I had the satisfaction of +hearing him pronounce an opinion that the young ensign was "all right," +and that the dose I had administered had been the means of saving his +life. How readily, to be sure, do people in India accommodate each +other. Although the doctor and his wife were hurrying down the country, +and albeit the youth was pronounced out of danger, they remained with +me until the following afternoon; when, having dined, we all took our +departure together--the youth and I travelling northward, the doctor +and his wife in the opposite direction. + +The night was pitchy dark; but the glare from the torches rendered +every object near to us distinctly visible. The light, shining +on the black faces of the palkee bearers, they appeared like so +many demons--but very merry demons; for they chatted and laughed +incessantly, until I commanded them to be silent, in order that, while +we moved along the road, I might listen to the ensign's story, which he +told me in the most artless manner imaginable. + +"I have only been six weeks in India," he began, "and at present only +know a few words of the language. How I came into the Bengal army +was this. My father was in the civil service of the Company, in the +Madras Presidency; and, after twenty-one years' service, retired on his +pension of one thousand pounds a year, and his savings, which amounted +to twenty thousand pounds, and which were invested in five per cent. +government securities, so that his income was two thousand a year. +We lived during the winter near Grosvenor-square: a house of which +my father bought the lease for twenty years, and the summer we used +to spend at a little place in Berkshire which he had bought. It was +only a good sized cottage, and the land about it did not exceed three +acres. But it was a perfect gem of a residence, and quite large enough +for our family, which consisted of my father and mother, myself, and a +sister who is a year and a half older than I am. I was at Harrow. My +father intended that I should go to Oxford, and eventually be called +to the bar. My sister had a governess, a very clever and accomplished +girl, and the most amiable creature that ever lived. We were not an +extravagant family, and saw very little company; but we had every +comfort that a reasonable heart could desire, and I fancy that we lived +up to the two thousand pounds a year. You see the education of myself +and my sister was a heavy item. The governess had a hundred pounds a +year, and then there was a singing-master and a drawing master. About +two years ago my father died, and my mother became almost imbecile from +the excess of her grief. She lost her memory; and, for days together, +knew not what she was doing. Under my father's will she was entitled +to all that he died possessed of, and was appointed his sole executrix. +The house in South-street was given up, the unexpired portion of the +lease disposed of, and the little place in Berkshire became our only +home. My father's pension of course expired when he died, and we, the +family, had now to live on the interest of the government securities. +My mother, who was as ignorant as a child on all matters of business, +was recommended to sell her government securities, and invest the +proceeds in a joint-stock bank which was paying, and for more than a +year did pay, eight per cent. But, alas, one wretched day the bank +failed, and we were reduced suddenly from comparative affluence to +poverty. The cottage, furniture, and all that my mother possessed, was +seized, and sold. This happened only two years ago. Fortunately for +me, my school education was pretty well completed; but of course the +idea of my going to Oxford, and subsequently to the bar, was at once +abandoned. My sister was obliged to take a situation as governess, in +the family of a director of the East India Company: and through that +gentleman's influence I obtained an ensigncy in the Native Infantry. +The loss of her fortune, the parting with my sister (who is now on +the Continent with the director's family) and myself, had such an +effect upon my mother, that it was deemed necessary to place her in an +asylum; where at all events she will be taken care of and treated with +kindness. But I have my plans!" exclaimed the young man, who had just +escaped the jaws of death. "In ten years I will save enough to take me +home to them; for, if I study hard--and I will do so--I may get a staff +appointment, and----" + +Here the bearers of my palkee informed me that two other travellers +were coming down the road. They saw the light in the distance, more +than a mile off, and they--the bearers--began to talk loudly and argue, +that it was impossible for me to hear what the ensign was saying, +and all attempts to silence them were vain. They were discussing, +as they carried us along, whether they would exchange burdens with +the down-coming bearers, insomuch as they were nearly midway between +the stages. This is very often done by arrangement between them, and +thus, in such cases, they get back more speedily to their homes. It +was decided that the exchange should take place, if the other party +were agreeable; for, on the down-coming travellers nearing us, the +bearers of us--the up-going travellers--called a halt. Forthwith the +four palkees were gently lowered till they rested on the ground. And +now the chattering of the bearers became something awful. A native +of Hindostan can settle nothing without a noise; and, as each palkee +had twelve men attached to it besides the torch-bearers and those who +carried our boxes, the number of voices, whooping, shouting, asserting, +contradicting, scolding, and soothing, exceeded sixty. I and my +companion, the ensign, shout to them to "go on!" At length I got out of +my palkee in a rage, and not only screamed at, but shook several of the +black disputants. Whilst thus engaged, the doors of one of the downward +palkees were opened, and a voice--that of a lady--thus greeted me, very +good humouredly. + +"My good sir, depend upon it that you are retarding your own progress, +and ours, by attempting, so violently, to accelerate it. Pray let them +settle their little affair amongst themselves." + +"I believe you are quite right," I replied. + +"Have you any idea of the hour?" she asked. + +"Yes. It is about a quarter to twelve," said I. + +"I have lost the key of my watch; perhaps the key of yours would fit +it." + +I hastened to my palkee, brought forth from beneath the pillow my watch +and chain; and, taking them to the door of the lady's palkee, presented +them through the opening. + +"Thanks," said the lady, after winding up her watch, "thanks. It does +very well," and she returned the watch and chain. I saw, by the light +of the torch, not only her hand--which was very small and pretty--but +her face, which was more bewitching still, being lovely and young. + +"Is there anything else you require?" I asked. + +"Nothing. Unless you happen to have with you some fresh bread. My +children, who are asleep in the other palkee, are tired of biscuits, +and I imagine we shall not reach Cawnpore before mid-day to-morrow." + +It happened that I had a loaf in my palkee, and, with all the pleasure +of which the heart of man is capable, placed it in the hands of the +fair traveller. On this occasion she opened the doors of her palkee +sufficiently wide to admit of my having a really good gaze at her +beautiful features. She was enveloped in a white dressing-gown, and +wore a hood made of black silk, and lined with pink. Her hair was +brushed back off the forehead; but the long dark tresses came from +behind the ears, and rested on her covered shoulders. + +"Are you going to Agra?" she inquired. + +"Yes," I replied. + +"Perhaps you would be good enough to return two books for me to the +wife of the assistant magistrate. They will, no doubt, afford you as +much amusement on your journey as they have afforded me. I finished +them this afternoon, and they are now an encumbrance." With these words +she handed me the volumes, which I faithfully promised to return. By +this time the bearers had settled their affair, and were ready to +lift the palkees. I bade the fair traveller "good night, and a safe +journey." We shook hands. + +The reader may ask, "Who was your friend?" I did not know at the time. +It was not until I had arrived at Agra that I was informed on this +head. The books which she entrusted to my care I had not read; and, +after parting with the ensign at the dâk bungalow at Bewah, they were, +indeed, most agreeable companions. I have mentioned this little episode +in my journey, not because there is anything in it worth recording, or +because there is anything romantic therewith connected; but simply to +show how readily we (Christians) in India obliged one another, albeit +utter strangers, and how gladly we assist each other, whenever and +wherever we meet. Such an episode in the journey of a traveller in +India is one of its most commonplace incidents. + +Since the news of the recent deplorable disasters has reached this +country, many persons have expressed their surprise that a lady should +be suffered to travel alone with her children, or be accompanied by no +more than one female servant. The fact is, or rather was, that, on any +dangerous road, a lady utterly unprotected was safer than a gentleman. +The sex was actually its own protection. During my stay in India, I +knew of at least a score of instances in which officers and civilians +were stopped upon the roads, plundered, assaulted, and in one or two +cases murdered, in the Upper Provinces; but I can only bring to mind +two instances of European ladies having been molested. This is not +to be attributed to any ideas of gallantry or chivalry on the part +of marauders in the East; but simply to the fact that they knew the +perpetrators of an offence committed against a lady would be hunted +down to the death, while the sympathies entertained for the sufferings +of a Sahib would be only those of an ordinary character, and soon +"blow over." Even the palkee-bearers knew the amount of responsibility +that attached to them, when they bore away, from station to station, a +female burden; and, had the lady traveller been annoyed or interrupted +by an European traveller, they would have attacked and beaten him, even +to the breaking of his bones and the danger of his life, had he not +desisted when commanded by the lady to do so. This has happened more +than once in the Upper Provinces of India. + +In December, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, the road between +Saharumpore and Umballah was infested by a gang of thieves. Several +officers had been stopped, robbed, and plundered of their money and +valuables. I had been invited to Lahore, to witness the installation +of Sir Walter Gilbert and Sir Henry Elliot as Knights Commanders of +the Bath. The danger, near a place called Juggadree, was pointed out +to me by a mail contractor, who, finding me determined to proceed, +recommended me to dress as a lady for a couple of stages. I did so. I +borrowed a gown, a shawl, and a nightcap; and, when I came near the +dangerous locality, I put them on, and commanded the bearers to say +I was a "mem-Sahib," in the event of the palkee being stopped. Sure +enough, the palkee was stopped, near Juggadree, by a gang of ten or +twelve armed men, one of whom opened the door to satisfy himself of the +truth of the statement made by the bearers. The moment the ruffian +saw my nightcap--a very prettily-frilled one it was, lent to me by a +very pretty woman--likewise a small bolster, which, beneath my shawl, +represented a sleeping baby, he closed the door, and requested the +bearers to take up the palkee, and proceed; ay, and what was more, he +enjoined them to be "careful of the mem-Sahib!" + +I have incidentally spoken of the installation of Sir Walter Gilbert +and Sir Henry Elliot, in December, eighteen hundred and forty-nine. +Eight years have not yet elapsed, and how many of the principal +characters in that magnificent spectacle have departed hence! Sir +Walter is dead; Sir Henry is dead. Sir Charles Napier and Sir Dudley +Hill, who led them up to Lord Dalhousie, are dead. Colonel Mountain, +who carried the cushion on which was placed the insignia of the order +is dead. And Sir Henry Lawrence is dead; and poor Stuart Beatson. Alas! +how many of that gay throng, men and women, husbands, fathers, wives, +and daughters, who had assembled to witness the ceremony, have perished +during the recent revolt in the Upper Provinces of India! Those who +were present on that sixth of December eighteen hundred and forty-nine, +and who, in eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, quietly reflect on what +has occurred since, will scarcely believe in their own existence. It +must appear to them--as it often appears to me--as a dream; a dream +in which we saw Sir Charles Napier, with his spare form, his eagle +eyes, his aquiline nose, and long grey beard, joking Sir Dudley Hill +on his corpulence and baldness, and asking him what sort of figure he +would cut now, in leading a forlorn hope? and Sir Dudley, proudly and +loudly replying, that he felt a better man than ever. Presently, a meek +civilian, in a white neckcloth, and ignorant of Sir Dudley's early +deeds, was so unfortunate as to put the question:-- + +"_Did_ you ever lead a forlorn hope, Sir Dudley?" a query which induced +Sir Dudley Hill to groan, previously to exclaiming-- + +"Such is fame! A forlorn hope, my dear sir! I have led fifty!" + +This was, of course, an exaggeration; but I believe that Sir Dudley +Hill had, in the Peninsular War, led more forlorn hopes than any other +officer in the British army. + +I have wandered away from the high road to Agra, and must return to +it. I parted with the ensign at Bewah, and commenced reading the books +which the then unknown lady had entrusted to my care. The day, towards +noon, became hot, damp, and extremely oppressive; and there was no dâk +bungalow, or other abode, within nine miles of me. Before long, I heard +thunder in the distance, and presently the bearers communicated to me +that a heavy storm was approaching, and that, in order to escape its +fury, they wished to halt at a village just a-head of us. I consented, +and was now hurried along the road at the rate of five miles an hour. +My palkee was placed beneath a shed, and the bearers congregated around +it. One of the number lighted his pipe (hubble-bubble), and passed it +to his neighbour; who, after three whiffs, passed it to the next; who, +after three whiffs, sent it on, until each had partaken of the smoke. + +The little village, which was a short distance from the road, contained +about sixty or seventy inhabitants, and about double that number of +children of various ages. My presence excited no small degree of +curiosity, and the whole of the villagers approached the shed, to have +a look at me. The men and women, of course, were not alarmed, and +looked on simply with that stupidity which is characteristic of the +cultivators of the soil in the Upper Provinces of India. But it was +otherwise with the more youthful, the children. They held aloof, and +peeped from behind their parents, as if I had been some dangerous wild +animal. My bearers wished to drive them all away; but I forbade this, +partly because I had no desire to deprive the villagers of whatever +pleasure a long inspection of me might afford them, and partly because +I wished to sketch the group and listen to their remarks, which were +chiefly of a personal character, and for the most part complimentary, +or intended so to be. + +A vivid flash of lightning, and an awfully loud clap of thunder, +accompanied by a few large drops of rain, speedily dispersed the crowd, +and I was left to myself and my bearers, who now huddled themselves +together for warmth's sake. The air had become chilly, and even I was +compelled to wrap my cloak and my blanket about my thinly-clad limbs. +Another vivid flash of lightning, and another awful clap of thunder; +then down came such hailstones as I had never seen before, and have +never seen since in the plains of Hindostan. In size and weight they +equalled those which sometimes fall in the Himalaya mountains in June +and July. With these storms the rains usually "break up," and then the +cold weather sets in, and with this season of the year, what climate +in the world is superior to that of the Upper Provinces of India? When +the thunder, lightning, and hail had ceased, and their continuance did +not exceed fifteen minutes, the sun came out, and the face of heaven +was as fair as possible, but the earth gave evidence of the severity +of the storm. Not only was the ground covered with leaves and small +branches, intermingled with the hail, but cattle and goats had been +killed by the furious pelting of the huge stones; whilst the electric +fluid had descended on one of the mud huts of the village in which I +had taken refuge, and had stretched out in death an old man and two +of his grandchildren, a boy of six years of age, and a girl of four. +The parents of these children were absent from the village, and were +not expected to return until the evening. On being informed of the +accident, I expressed a desire to see the bodies, and was conducted +by several of the villagers to the hut in which they were lying. I +recognised at once the features of the old man who was a prominent +figure in my sketch, and of one of the children, the little girl +who held the old man so tightly by the hand while she peeped at me. +The face of the boy had not struck me. There they were lying dead, +but still warm, and their limbs, as yet, devoid of rigidity. The +matter-of-fact way in which the natives of India regard the death of +their relations or friends is something wonderful to behold. It is not +that their affections are less strong than ours, or their feelings less +acute. It is that fatality is the beginning and end of their creed. +They are taught from their childhood to regard visitations of this +character as direct and special acts of God--as matters which it is +not only futile, but improper to bewail. None of the villagers--men, +women, or children, exhibited any token of grief while gazing on the +lifeless bodies they surrounded. And, on asking my bearers whether the +parents of the children would weep when they returned, and found their +offspring thus suddenly cut off, they replied, rather abruptly, "Why +should they weep at God's will?" + +As I was preparing to leave the village, a middle-aged woman came up to +me, and said:-- + +"Sahib, the parents of the dead children are very poor, and the expense +of burning their remains will press very hard upon them. The wood +for the old man will cost eight annas, and the fuel for each of the +children four annas; in all, one rupee." + +I placed the coin in the woman's hand, and left, besides, a donation +for the bereaved parents who were absent; having previously called +several of the villagers to witness the proceeding. This I did at the +suggestion of the palkee bearers, who entertained some doubts of the +woman's honesty. We had not proceeded far, when I descried a small +encampment beneath a clump of mango trees. It consisted of an officer's +tent, and two long tents for native soldiers--Sepoys. One of these long +tents was for the Hindoos, the other for the Mussulmans. When we came +opposite to the encampment, I desired the bearers to stop, and to put +some questions to a Sepoy who was standing near the road. I gleaned +from him that the encampment was that of "a treasure party," consisting +of a Lieutenant, and a company of native infantry, proceeding from +Mynpoorie to Agra. + +"Won't you go and see the Sahib?" asked the Sepoy. + +"I don't know him," said I. + +"That does not signify," said the Sepoy. "Our Sahib is glad to see +everybody. He is the most light-hearted man in Hindostan. His lips are +the home of laughter, and his presence awakens happiness in the breast +of the most sorrowful. His body is small, but his mind is great; and, +in his eyes, the Hindoo, the Mussulman, and the Christian, are all +equal." + +This description, I confess, aroused my curiosity to see so +philosophical a Lieutenant, and it was not long before my curiosity was +gratified; for he made his appearance at the door of his tent; and, +observing my palkee, bore down upon it. + +The Lieutenant wore a pair of white pyjamahs, which were tucked up to +his knees, no shoes or stockings; a blue shirt, no coat, no jacket; +a black necktie, and a leather helmet with a white covering, such as +one sees labelled in the shop-windows "for India." His person was very +small certainly, and the calves of his legs not bigger than those of +a boy of twelve years of age. In his mouth he had a huge (number one) +cheroot, and in his hand, a walking-stick, with a waist nearly as big +as his own. Resting his chest upon this walking-stick, and looking me +full in the face, perfectly ignorant, and seemingly indifferent, as to +whether I might be a secretary to the government, or a shopkeeper, he +thus familiarly accosted me:-- + +"Well, old boy, how do you feel after the shower?" + +"Very well, I thank you." + +"Come in and have a cup of tea, and a round of toast, if you are not in +a hurry to get on. It will set you up, and make you feel comfortable +for the night." This offer was so tempting, and so cordially made, that +I was induced to accept it. + +"Bring the Sahib into my tent, in the palkee," said Lieutenant Sixtie +to my bearers; and then addressing me, he remarked--"Don't get out. +You'll wet your slippers." + +The bearers followed the Lieutenant, and put down my palkee upon two +tiers of small boxes, which were spread over the space of ground +covered by the tent. + +"I was obliged to resort to this box dodge," said my host, "or I should +have been drowned. I wish I owned only a quarter of this rhino we are +treading on. If I did, catch me at this work any longer, my masters!" +It was the treasure that the boxes contained, in all about twenty-five +thousand pounds. "Look here, old boy. Forego, like a good fellow, the +tea and the toast. My servants will have such a bother to get a fire +and boil water. Have some biscuits and cold brandy-and-water instead. +You should never drink tea while travelling. It keeps you awake; and, +what is more, it spoils the flavour of your cheroots. By the bye, have +one of these weeds." + +I thanked my host; and, without any sort of pressing, yielded to his +every wish--even unto playing _écarté_ with him, while smoking his +cheroots and drinking his brandy-and-water. The stakes were not very +high. Only a rupee a game. During the deals, my host would frequently +exclaim: + +"By Jove! what a godsend it is to have some one to talk to for a few +hours! I have been out for five days; and, during that time, have not +uttered a word in my own language. Haven't had the luck to come across +a soul. This escorting treasure is the most awful part of an officer's +duty, especially at this season of the year." + +"But it must be done," I suggested. + +"Yes. But why not by native officers?" + +"Would the treasure be safe with them?" + +"Safe? Just as safe as it is now, if not safer; for, although I am +responsible for the money in these boxes, I don't know that the whole +amount is here. I didn't count it; and, if there was any deficiency, +I should say so. Now, a native officer would satisfy himself on the +subject before he took charge. Don't you see?" + +Here our conversation was interrupted by a havildar (native sergeant), +who appeared at the door of the tent, saluted the Lieutenant, and +uttered in a deep and solemn tone of voice the word Sa-hib! + +"Well. What's the matter?" said the Lieutenant. + +"Maun Singh Sipahee is very ill." + +"What ails him?" + +"He has fever." + +"Then I will come and see him in one moment." With these words the +Lieutenant threw down his cards, and invited me to accompany him to the +tent wherein the patient was lying. + +Maun Singh Sipahee was a powerful Brahmin, who stood upwards of six +feet two. He was a native of Oude, and had a very dark skin. When +we entered the tent, he attempted to rise from the charpai (native +bedstead) on which he was reclining; but the Lieutenant told him to be +still, then felt the sick man's pulse, and placed his small white hand +across the broad black forehead of the soldier. + +"Carry him into my tent. The ground is too damp for him here," said +the Lieutenant; and forthwith the bedstead was raised by half-a-dozen +of the man's comrades. In the tent medicine was administered--a small +quantity of tartar emetic dissolved in water, and given in very small +doses, until nausea was produced, and a gentle perspiration stood upon +the skin of the patient. + +"You are all right, now, Maun Singh," said the Lieutenant. + +"No, Sahib, I am dying. Nothing can save me." + +"Then you know better than I do?" + +"Forgive me, Sahib." + +"Listen. Lie very quiet; and, before we march, I will give you another +sort of medicine that will set you up." + +The Sepoy covered his head over with his resaiee (counterpane), and lay +as still as possible. + +"They always fancy they are going to die, if there is anything the +matter with them," said the Lieutenant to me. "I have cured hundreds of +fever cases by this treatment. The only medicines I ever use in fever, +sir, are tartar emetic and quinine. He has taken the one, which has had +its effect; the other he shall have by and bye. I wouldn't lose that +man on any account. His death would occasion me the greatest grief." + +"Is he a great favourite?" I asked. + +"Not more than any of the rest of them who were with the regiment +at Affghanistan, where they not only proved themselves as brave as +the European soldiers, but where they showed themselves superior to +prejudices most intimately connected with their religion--their caste. +That man, whom you see lying there, is a Brahmin of the highest caste; +yet, I have seen him, and other Brahmins now in my regiment, bearing +upon their shoulders the remains of an officer to the grave. Of course, +you are aware that to do a thing of that kind--to touch the corpse of +an unbeliever--involves a loss of caste?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, sir, these fellows braved the opinion and the taunts of every +Hindoo in the country, in order to pay respect to the memory of those +officers whose dangers and privations they had cheerfully shared. You +are aware, perhaps, that at last the government found it necessary +to issue a general order to the effect that any Sepoy of any other +regiment who insulted the men of this regiment, by telling them they +had lost their caste, would be severely punished and dismissed the +service? Such was the case, sir; and many courts-martial were held in +various stations for the trial of offenders against this order; and +many Hindoo Sepoys and Mussulman native officers were very severely +dealt with. And the thing was put down, sir; and now-a-days there is +nothing more common than for the Hindoo Sepoys, in all the regiments, +to ask permission to carry the remains of a popular officer to the +grave. Indeed, ladies are often thus honoured, and children. They seem +to have agreed amongst themselves that this does not involve a loss of +caste. So much for caste, if it can be got over by an understanding +amongst themselves! Caste! More than four-fifths of what they talk +about it is pure nonsense and falsehood, as any straightforward native +will confidentially confess to you. I don't mean to say that some +Hindoos are not very strict. Many, indeed, are so. But I mean to say +that a very small proportion live in accordance with the Shasters, and +that when they cry out, "if we do so and so we shall lose our caste," +it is nothing more than a rotten pretext for escaping some duty, or +for refusing to obey a distasteful order. There are hypocrites in all +countries, but India swarms with them more thickly than any country in +the world. And the fact is that we foster hypocrisy. Our fellows, and +most of them Brahmins, released a good many cats from the bag, when +they were taunted with having lost their caste! If you are not in a +frightful hurry to get on, stay till we march, and go with us; and I'll +tell you and show you something more about caste. You can send on your +palkee and bearers to the next encampment ground, and I'll drive you in +my old trap of a buggy. It is not a remarkably elegant affair, but it +is very strong and roomy. By the bye, we shall have to travel 'three in +a gig;' for I must put Maun Singh, my sick Sepoy, between us; and you +will find him a very intelligent fellow, I can tell you, and the dose I +intend giving him will make him as chirpy as possible." + +The conversation and the manners of the Lieutenant--free and easy as +were the latter--had fascinated me, and I accepted his invitation. + + + + +MARCHING. + + +The small but heavy boxes containing the rupees were placed upon the +hackeries (native carts), and the treasure party was now ready to +march to the next encampment. The night was warm, and the Sepoys in +what might strictly be termed half-dress. They wore their red cloth +coats and their chacos; but their lower clothing was purely native; +a dhotee (narrow strip of thick calico) wound round their loins, and +falling in graceful folds about and below the knees. Some sat upon +the boxes of treasure: others, not in line or military order, walked +by the side thereof. The Lieutenant, Maun Singh, and myself brought +up the rear. A syce (native groom) led the horse, and thus saved the +Lieutenant the trouble of driving. The buggy was not, certainly, a very +elegant affair. It was of very ancient construction, and the lining +was entirely worn out; nor had the panels been painted for some years. +The Lieutenant told me that he had bought this vehicle at a sale, five +years previously, for the sum of five pounds, and that since that time +it had travelled (marched, was the word he used) all over Bengal. The +harness was of Cawnpore make; and, when new, had cost only two pounds +ten shillings. Cawnpore, until recently, was chiefly famous for its +harness, boots and shoes, bottle-covers, cheroot-cases, helmets, and +other articles made of leather. A nest of Chinese settled in the bazaar +many years ago and introduced the manufacture of such matters. The +horse which drew the buggy had been a caster; that is to say, a horse +considered no longer fit for the cavalry or horse artillery, and sold +by public auction, after being branded with the letter R (signifying +rejected) on the near shoulder. He was a tall, well-bred animal; and, +according to the Lieutenant's account, had won no end of races since +the day he had been knocked down to the Lieutenant for sixteen rupees, +or one pound twelve shillings. The fault, or rather the misfortune, for +which this animal had been dismissed the Company's service, was total +blindness of one eye, and an inability to see much out of the other. + +"But, he is a ripper, nevertheless," said the Lieutenant, touching the +animal very gently with the whip, and making him hold his head up; "and +will put some more money in my pocket next cold weather, I hope. He is +entered for the Merchant's Plate, gentlemen riders, sir, and I am his +jockey." I expressed a hope that he would be successful. + +It was a moonlight night, and slow as was the pace at which we +proceeded, I never so much enjoyed a ride in my life. The scene +altogether was highly picturesque, and, as far as I was concerned, +had the wonderful charm of novelty; while it was impossible not to +be extremely entertained by the volubility and lightheartedness of my +military friend, who, notwithstanding he had extracted from me that I +did not belong to the civil service or the army, had refrained from +inquiring my name or pursuit, and invariably addressed me as Old Boy, +albeit my years were certainly not in excess of his own. + +"Well, Maun Singh!" cried the Lieutenant, "how do you feel now?" + +"Quite well, but very weak," was the Sepoy's reply. + +"Then you must have a little drop of weak brandy-and-water. Hold hard, +syce, and give me the suraiee (water-bottle)." + +The brandy-and-water was mixed in a silver tumbler, and handed to +Maun Singh, who, _as soon as the groom went again to the horse's +head_, applied it to his lips, and drank, without any scruple. On the +contrary, it struck me that he liked the liquor. + +"You have lost your caste," said the Lieutenant, jocularly. "You ought +to have drunk it, you know, as medicine, out of your own lota (brass +vessel)." + +This observation--made with a view to draw the Sepoy out for my +edification--had its effect. It was thus Maun Singh discoursed, while +the Lieutenant and myself smoked our cheroots on either side of him:-- + +"The Sahib logue believe everything that the natives tell them about +caste, and the consequence is they believe a great many falsehoods. +If I could lose my caste by drinking medicine out of this tumbler, I +would lose it by drinking it out of my own cup, because it came out of +a bottle which you have handled, and perhaps some drops of it touched +your fingers, while you were pouring it from one vessel to the other. +Empty a bottle of brandy or gin into your chillumchee (brass wash-hand +basin), and tell one of your palkee-bearers to throw it away. He and +his companions will drink it, but not in your presence. Ask the same +man to drink the liquor from your tumbler. He will put his hands +together, and implore you to excuse him, as he would lose his caste." + +"But is it not forbidden in the Shasters?" said I. + +"There is no mention of brandy in the Shasters, Sahib," returned Maun +Singh, with some humour. "The Shasters are silent on the subject. +But, supposing that it were forbidden; do not men of every religion +frequently and continually depart from the tenets thereof, in minor +things, or construe them according to their own inclination or +convenience, or make some sort of bundobust (agreement) with their +consciences? Indeed, if we did not make this bundobust, what Hindoo +or Mussulman would come in contact at all with one another, or with +Christians, and certainly we, the natives of India, would not serve as +soldiers." + +"How so?" + +"Because we should be in continual dread of having our bodies +contaminated and our souls placed beyond the reach of redemption--and +who would submit to that for so many rupees a-month? Who can say +what animal supplies the skin which is used for our chacos and +accoutrements? The cow, or the pig? The Mussulmans, when we laugh +together about it, say the cow. We protest that it is pigskin." + +"And how do you usually settle these disputes?" I inquired, with an +eagerness which seemed to amuse the Sepoy. + +"O, Sahib!" he replied, "it would be a pity to settle any dispute of +that kind, since it always affords us some merriment on a long march. +When Pertab Singh came down to Barruckpore to corrupt the regiments of +native infantry there stationed, in eighteen hundred and forty-eight, +he wanted them to protest against wearing the chacos." + +"And how was he received?" I inquired. + +"They listened to him as long as his money lasted, and then made known +to their officers what he was about." + +"And who was Pertab Singh?" + +"A relation of the Ranee of Lahore." + +"And had he money?" + +"Yes; and distributed freely." + +Here the Lieutenant informed me of the particulars relating to the +mission of Pertab Singh, which was simply to excite the native +troops to mutiny and to kill their officers; but the plot was happily +discovered by the information given by the Sepoys of the 16th +Grenadiers. "There was an investigation, but the government deemed it +best to treat the whole affair as a farce, and Pertab Singh was looked +upon as a fool and a madman, and eventually set at liberty. It was said +that the Sepoys who gave the information were to receive an order of +merit; they had no reward at all, however, beyond some expressions of +praise from the authorities." + +Suddenly, the treasure party halted, and all the Sepoys were speedily +congregated beneath a mango tree. + +"What is the matter?" cried the Lieutenant. + +"Adjutant Bargow Sahib's grave," said Maun Singh. "Do you not remember +the spot?" + +"I did not, in this light," said the Lieutenant, alighting from the +buggy, followed by myself and Maun Singh. "Yes; here he rests, poor +fellow--one of the best and bravest beings that ever breathed. He +died suddenly one morning when we were encamped here. He was a great +favourite with the men, as you may judge from the respect paid by those +now present to the spot where his ashes repose." + +One of the Sepoys suddenly began to call down curses on the head of +some sacrilegious thief. He had discovered that the piece of marble +which had been let into the head of the chunam (plaster) tomb, and on +which was cut the name, age, and regiment of the deceased, had been +abstracted. + +"Ah! that of course," said the Lieutenant. "It is always the case. +They steal the bit of marble to make a currystone--a stone on which +they grind the ingredients for a curry. It was not worth more than a +shilling, intrinsically; but if it had only been worth one anna, or a +quarter of an anna--half a farthing--they would have carried it away +all the same, just as they steal pieces of iron and lead from the stone +bridges, and thus do immense mischief. All along the Grand Trunk Road +you will find the stones used for headstones carried away from the +graves." + +The march, thirteen miles, occupied us five hours, so slowly did the +bullocks crawl along with the treasure. It was about four o'clock when +we came to the ground--the hour at which, in strictness, the Lieutenant +should have started; but he informed me that when on separate duty, he +took a good deal of responsibility on himself, and without detriment +to the interests of government, suited his own convenience and that of +his men. He therefore preferred making night work of the business, and +having the whole day at his own disposal. + +"Send your bearers away, and spend the day with me," said the +lighthearted Lieutenant. "You can get other bearers at any of the +villages in the neighbourhood; or, if you are not in a violent hurry, +march the whole distance to Agra with me. I can stick your palkee and +boxes on the top of the treasure, you know." + +I accepted the invitation with pleasure, and entered the tent, where we +found tea and biscuits ready. After partaking of this refreshment we +threw ourselves down on charpoys (native bedsteads), and soon fell fast +asleep. + +We slept till ten, when we arose, had breakfast, consisting of--the +old story--grilled fowl, curried fowl, and eggs, with beer instead +of tea; and then we went out and sat under the mango trees, which +formed a dense shade over the encampment. The Lieutenant had with +him a pellet bow, and was shooting at the squirrels, which abound in +the Upper Provinces of India. While he was thus employed a Sepoy--a +Brahmin--called out: "Sahib, you have no right to do that. It is +written in the general orders that you must respect the religious +feelings of the Hindoos, and here are you wantonly destroying the life +of animals in our presence. I shall report this to the Colonel Sahib, +when we return to the regiment." + +From the tone in which the Sepoy spoke, I thought he was in earnest. +The Lieutenant, however, assured me that he was only ridiculing one of +those absurd general orders which frequently appear, but of which bad +and discontented Sepoys often take advantage. Ere long this Brahmin, +observing that the light of the Lieutenant's cheroot was extinguished, +brought him some fire. The Lieutenant gravely shook his head, and +said--"No; it is written in general orders that no officer shall employ +for his own purposes a Sepoy who is a soldier and not a servant, and +that any officer so offending will subject himself to be tried by a +court martial." Then, taking the fire from the hand of the Brahmin, +he remarked to me--"The consequence of that order, for which there +never was the slightest occasion, is simply this: those men who are +willing to oblige their officers laugh at it, while the disaffected +will insolently quote it if required only to pick up a glove or a +walking-stick. Many an officer has been severely reprimanded for asking +a Sepoy to carry a letter for him to the post office." + +It was a very pretty scene, that encampment. The tents; the arms piled +in front of them; the horse under a tree, and his syce seated near him; +the old buggy and harness not far off; the Sepoys in groups employed in +cooking their food for the mid-day meal; the numbers of brass vessels +lying about in all directions; the score of squirrels hopping from +branch to branch, or running up and down the trunks of the trees; the +crows, the minars, and the sparrows on the look out for crumbs; the +bullocks taking their rest after the fatigues of the past night; and +then, before as well as after the meal, the men crowding round the +well, and washing themselves from head to foot, and washing also their +under garments, which are speedily dried in the sun of that climate. It +is impossible to witness and not admire this part of the Hindoo and +Mussulman religions. + +After one o'clock, when every man had enjoyed his smoke, there was +scarcely a soul, except myself and the Lieutenant, awake in the +encampment. All were fast asleep in the open air. The Asiatic must +sleep after his mid-day meal, if it be only for half an hour. The loss +of this little sleep is a very severe privation. + +At three o'clock the encampment was again all life. Some of the Sepoys +wrestled, and exhibited amazing skill and strength in the art. To an +European it is a mystery how men who live upon nothing but farinaceous +food can be so muscular and powerful. Others smoked their pipes (small +hookahs), and played at a native game called puchesee, resembling +lotto; while a goodly number congregated around a Mussulman, who was +reading aloud the Bagh-o-Bahar, a Hindoostanee work of great celebrity. +Two or three of the company were musical, and played alternately on the +sitarre (native guitar or violin), accompanied by the tom-tom (native +drum), and the voices of those who were disposed and able to sing. As +for the Lieutenant and myself we beguiled the time in conversation and +with _écarté_. Towards sunset a palkee dâk carriage was reported to be +in sight, coming down the road. "Hooray!" cried the Lieutenant; "come +along! let us board him. I am in want of a few small matters." + +It was not long before the dâk carriage was abreast of the encampment. + +"Stop!" shouted the Lieutenant to the driver, who instantly pulled up. +"Whom have you got inside?" + +Before the driver had time to reply, the door was slided open, and an +elderly gentleman, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, put out his +night-capped head, and exclaimed: + +"Hulloa!" + +"What! have we woke you out of your sleep, old boy?" said the +Lieutenant, laughing. + +"Yes," replied the old boy, very good-humouredly, "what do you want?" + +"Only to ask you how you are." + +"I'm pretty well," was the reply, "but half choked with the dust." + +"What's taking you down the country?" + +"Urgent private affairs." + +"Going to be married, I suppose?" + +"Well, you have just guessed it." + +"Make my most respectful salaam to your intended, will you?" + +"By all means." + +"When do you expect to reach Cawnpore?" + +"To-morrow, at three P.M." + +"And how do you stand affected for liquors and weeds? Do you want +anything, old boy? Brandy, beer, soda-water? Say the word." + +"Nothing; I have more in the well here than I shall be able to consume." + +"Then I'll trouble you for the surplus; for I am very short, and cannot +get anything till I reach Agra, while you can replenish at every +station, you know." + +"All right, my child," exclaimed the old boy; and, with the greatest +cheerfulness, he alighted and began to unpack his stores. From these, +the Lieutenant took six bottles of beer, two bottles of brandy, a dozen +of soda-water, and three hundred Manilla cheroots. This done, the old +boy expressed a desire to push on; but the Lieutenant detained him +for at least ten minutes with a series of questions, several of which +(I thought), were somewhat impertinent; for instance, he inquired +his intended's name? whether she was tall, short, or of the middle +height? what was the colour of her hair and eyes? good-looking, and +accomplished? And to all these questions, the old boy responded with as +serious an air as if the Lieutenant had a perfect right to put them. + +At last the old boy proceeded on his journey. + +"Do you know him?" I inquired of the Lieutenant, as the carriage rolled +away. + +"Oh, yes," was the reply; "he is a Major commanding a native infantry +regiment at Banda. He is a very good fellow, and has heaps of property; +but a frightful fool, except in the way of money-making, and at that +he is awfully clever. I first made his acquaintance in Affghanistan. +He was then in the commissariat department, and was only taken out of +that department about a year ago, when he attained his majority. He +knows nothing whatever of soldiering, having been in staff employ ever +since he was an ensign. All the Sepoys, as well as his officers, laugh +_at_ him as he comes on the parade ground and attempts to handle the +regiment; and, after the farce is over, he laughs _with_ them. For +thirty years he was employed in commissariat duties, in which he is +very efficient. At the expiration of that period, he became a Major; +and then, according to the rules of the service, he was withdrawn from +staff employ, and appointed to command a corps!" + +"Surely you are jesting?" + +"On my honour, I am serious. That is a part of our military system, +sir." + +Here our conversation was interrupted by the approach of the +Soubadhar--native commissioned officer--who pronounced in a deep, +sonorous, but feeble and inarticulate voice, that familiar word +"Sahib!" or, as more commonly pronounced, "Sarb!" + +"Well, old man, what is the matter?" said the Lieutenant to the almost +imbecile native veteran, who had served in the time of Lord Lake, and +who ought to have been pensioned many years previously, despite any +remonstrances against such a measure. The old man forthwith began to +detail a string of grievances, which the Lieutenant faithfully (?) +promised to see remedied, albeit he could understand but a few words +the old man said--so very indistinct was his speech, from sheer old +age, and the loss of his teeth. + +"A grievance, real or imaginary, is quite necessary for that old +man's existence," said the Lieutenant; "and if he can't find one for +himself (which is a very rare circumstance), he will concoct one for +the Sepoys. To make grievances is the end and object of that old man's +life; and, I am sorry to say, that he is a perfect representative of +the entire body of native commissioned officers, who are, generally +speaking, despised by the men of the regiment, as well as by the +European officers. These are the gentlemen who brew or ferment all the +mischief that occasionally occurs in native regiments. They suggest to +the men to make all sorts of extortionate demands, just as a regiment +is on the point of marching. That old man's present grievance, as +far as I could collect, is that the water is very bad here, at this +encampment ground, and that government ought to have a new well sunk. +He happens just now to be suffering severely from one of the very many +ailments consequent on his time of life, and he attributes it to the +water." + +"Which happens to be very good," I remarked. + +"Precisely so. These native officers, of every rank and grade, are, in +my opinion, the curse of the native service. Many very clear-headed +and experienced officers have recommended doing away with them, and +appointing in their stead more European officers; but the advice has +never been heeded, and never will be, I fear." + +It was not until midnight that the little camp was broken up, and +we resumed the march towards Agra. During the drive, the Lieutenant +entertained me by relating a number of stories connected with the +war in Affghanistan. Several of them interested me exceedingly; one, +in particular. It was this; which I now give in the Lieutenant's own +words, as nearly as I can recollect them. + +"About a year ago," said he, "I was passing through Meerut, on my way +from the Hills, whither I had been on sick certificate, and was putting +up for a few days with my friend Richards, of the Light Cavalry--a +man whom I had known during that disastrous campaign to which this +narrative has reference. One morning, after breakfast, there came +to the bungalow of my friend an Affghan, who was a dealer in dried +fruits--such as grapes, apples, and pomegranates,--and inquired if +the Sahib or mem Sahib was in want of any of these commodities, which +he had just brought from Caubul. My friend's wife, who had also +been in Affghanistan, and spoke the mongrel Persian current in that +country, replied in the affirmative, and the Affghan was admitted +to the verandah to exhibit his specimens and declare his prices. To +talk to these dealers is rather amusing at times, especially when you +know their habits, and customs, and peculiarities, as well as their +language. To people who have been in their country, it is like meeting +with an old friend, and one lingers as long as possible over the +business of the bargain and sale. And so was it this morning. We had +him for at least an hour in the verandah before my friend's wife would +decide upon what she would take. This matter concluded, the Affghan +inquired if the lady would buy a kitten--a Persian kitten; kittens +being also a commodity with these travelling Affghans. + +"'Yes; where are the kittens?' said the lady. + +"'Here,' said the merchant, putting his hand into a huge pocket at the +back of his chogah (a sort of gaberdine), and withdrawing, one by one, +no less than sixteen of these little animals (all males). For more +than the hour which was consumed in negotiating about the fruit, and +talking on other subjects, this living bustle had remained perfectly +motionless, and had not uttered a single sound; but now, when they +saw the light, and were placed upon all-fours, they ran about and +mewed--bushy tails on end--after the most vigorous fashion imaginable. +There they were! Kittens as black as the blackest ink, kittens white as +the whitest snow, kittens as yellow as the yellowest gold, and kittens +piebald, brindled, and grey. + +"'There, mem Sahib; take your choice. Twenty rupees (two pounds) each.' + +"The lady selected one of the white and one of the black kittens, and +for the two he was induced to accept thirty-five rupees (three pounds +ten shillings). This may seem a large sum of money to give for a brace +of young cats; but it must be remembered that they came from Bokhara, +and were of the purest breed that could possibly be procured. + +"The Affghan dealer took his leave, and promised to send the fruits +in the course of the day. He fulfilled his promise; at tiffin-time +there came a boy of about eleven years of age, bearing the basket +containing them upon his head, which was shawled after the fashion of +the Affghan people. The boy was admitted to the room. No sooner was he +shown in, than his exceedingly beautiful countenance, and its peculiar +expression, riveted the attention of all of us, and we put to him a +variety of questions which he answered with great intelligence, and in +a tone of voice so soft and silvery that even the guttural sounds he +uttered came like music on the ear. + +"'Look into that boy's face,' said the lady to her husband and myself; +'observe his every feature, and his teeth,--regard especially his +smile,--yes, and even the shape of his fingers, and then tell me of +whom he is the very image.' + +"'I know,' said my friend. + +"'So do I,' exclaimed your humble servant. + +"'Stay!' said the lady, energetically. 'Do not speak; but let each of +us write the name on a slip of paper, and see if we agree;' and tearing +up an envelope and taking a tiny pencil-case from her watch-chain, she +wrote a name upon one slip, and then handed to me and to her husband, +respectively, a slip and the pencil-case. When we had each written a +name, we compared them,--and they did not agree exactly. My friend +and his wife had written Captain Percy ----, and I had written Mrs. +Percy ----. That the boy was the offspring of that unfortunate couple +(cousins), who perished in that campaign, and of whose young child no +one ever knew what had become, we were all quite satisfied; and our +reflections became extremely melancholy. + +"We questioned the boy as to his parentage, his relation to the +Affghan dealer in cats and fruit, and on a variety of other matters. +His replies were simply to the effect that he was an orphan and a +slave; that he knew not the place of his birth, but believed it +was Affghanistan; that he was a Mahommedan, and that his earliest +recollections were associated with Caubul. + +"Whilst we were thus interrogating the boy, the Major of my friend's +regiment, accompanied by his wife, drove up to the door. They had come +to pay a visit. When asked to look at the boy, and say to whom he +bore a resemblance, they at once declared, 'Poor Percy ----!' Several +officers of the regiment were sent for. They came, and immediately +on seeing the boy expressed an opinion that he was the child of the +unfortunate officer whose name has been partially recorded. The poor +boy, meanwhile, exhibited some anxiety to return to his master. But he +was detained and further questioned as to the manner in which he was +treated. He confessed that his master was rather severe, but withal a +very good man. + +"It was resolved to summon the Affghan dealer and make him render an +account of the boy, and of how he became possessed of him. For this +purpose a messenger was dispatched, and enjoined to make haste. + +"The Affghan dealer came, and was cautioned that he must speak the +truth; whereupon--as is the custom in India from one end to the +other--he declared that he never spoke falsely, and that he would +rather have his tongue torn out. This little preliminary over, the +examination (which was conducted by the Major of the regiment, a very +shrewd and clever man, and who, by the way, was distantly related to +the unfortunate couple to whom the boy bore such a strong resemblance) +commenced:-- + +"'Who is this boy?' + +"'He belongs to me.' + +"'Your son?' + +"'No.' + +"'Any relation of yours?' + +"'No.' + +"'Your slave?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'You bought him?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Where?' + +"'Caubul.' + +"'When?' + +"'Four years ago.' + +"'From whom did you buy him?' + +"'A merchant.' + +"'His name?' + +"'Usuf Ooddeen.' + +"'What did you give for him?' + +"'Three camels.' + +"'Of what value?' + +"'Thirty rupees (3_l_.) each.' + +"'The boy was cheap, then?' + +"'No.' + +"'How so?' + +"'He was young and sickly.' + +"'Did Usuf say where he got him from?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Then tell me.' + +"'From a woman.' + +"'What woman?' + +"'A native of Hindostan.' + +"'An ayah?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Was she his mother?' + +"'No.' + +"'Is she living?' + +"'No.' + +"'When did she die?' + +"'Eight years ago.' + +"'Where?' + +"'In Caubul.' + +"'Now tell us all you know about this boy.' + +"'I have answered all the Sahib's questions; will the Sahib answer a +few of mine?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Do you believe this boy to be of European birth?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Do you think you know who were his parents?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Were they people of a distinguished family?' + +"'Yes.' (This question was answered rather proudly.) + +"'Of pure blood?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'But is the Sahib certain that this boy is the child of certain +parents?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Then will the Sahib take him?' + +"'Yes.' + +"Here the poor boy placed his hands together and supplicated the Major +to let him remain where he then was, in the service of the Affghan +dealer. Heedless of this interruption, which was soon silenced, +the examination--or rather the conversation, as it now became--was +continued:-- + +"'What will you give for him?' + +"'What do you ask?' + +"'_You_ must speak, Sahib.' + +"'One hundred rupees.' + +"'He cost me nearly that when he was very young and sickly.' + +"'Well, two hundred rupees.' + +"'No; Sahib. Half a lac of rupees would not purchase him.' + +"'But, my good man, slavery is not permitted in the British dominions, +and we will detain the boy.' + +"'Against his will?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'On suspicion that he is born of European parents of distinction?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Then I will give the boy his liberty; and if he then wishes to follow +me, and you detain him, he is your prisoner instead of my slave.' + +"Here the boy again entreated the Major to spare him. + +"'Never mind that.' + +"'But suppose that I could prove to you that he is the child of a +sergeant of the Queen's 13th Regiment of Foot, and of his wife? What +then? Would you take the boy?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'You would?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Then you shall have the boy. Many of your questions I answered +falsely, on purpose. The true history of the child I will recount to +you, and produce such proofs as I have in my possession. I vowed to God +and to the Prophet that I would never sell the child, and I have kept +my word. It will be a bitter grief to me to part with him; but, for his +own sake, I will endure it. + +"'Usuf Ooddeen was my elder brother. He kept a shop in the bazaar at +Caubul. This child was brought to him by a woman of Hindostan, who not +only deposited with him the child, but a sum of money in gold mohurs +and rupees; likewise a quantity of English jewellery, and her own gold +and silver bangles. She represented to my brother that the child's +parents had been killed, and that she was afraid every European in +Affghanistan would share their fate. My brother knew the woman, that +is to say, she had been a customer at his shop, and had purchased from +him sundry articles of warm clothing for her employers and herself. +After leaving the child, and the money, and the jewellery, in all to +the value of about four thousand rupees, she went her way, and never +returned. It is most likely that she died suddenly of cold, like very +many of the native servants of Hindostan, both male and female. The +frost settled about their hearts, and they slept their lives away; or, +if they escaped death, they lost their toes, fingers, ears, or noses. + +"'When the British army was victorious, and affairs were in a somewhat +settled state, my brother was most anxious to deliver up the child, +the money, and the jewels, to the British authorities; but a number of +his friends dissuaded him from so doing, on the ground that the bare +possession of the child would place my brother's life in jeopardy, +by inducing a conclusion that he was the affrighted accomplice of +murderers, assassins, and thieves. I confess that I was one who +entertained this opinion, and I shook my head whenever my brother +repeated his desire. Four or five years ago, my brother died, and I, +a wandering dealer, became the guardian of this boy (for whom I have +a great affection), and the holder of his money, for which I care +not, and which I have no desire to retain. He has travelled thousands +and thousands of miles with me. He has been to Bokhara, to Cashmere, +all over the Punjab, to Mooltan, Scinde, all through the north-west +provinces down to Calcutta, to Simlah, Mussooree--wherever the English +have settled themselves in India; and I have done all in my power to +expose him, in a quiet way, to the gaze of ladies and gentlemen, in +the hope that some day he would be recognised and restored to his +proper position in life. Never, until now, has any one been struck +with his countenance, beyond casually remarking to me that he was a +very pretty boy; certainly, no one ever seemed to have the slightest +idea that he was born of European parents, and is a Christian; for he +is not a Mussulman--though he thinks he is a Mussulman, and says his +prayers, and is very constant to all the observances of the Mussulman +faith. Gentleman, I am a wandering dealer from Affghanistan, but I am +not destitute of good feeling and integrity, little as you may credit +my assertions in this respect. Give me a proof that you know who were +the child's parents, and I am willing to restore him, and all that +rightfully belongs to him, to your custody.' + +"'But are you not satisfied with my word? Never mind the money and the +jewels--much as I should like to see the latter--all I require is the +boy,' said the Major. + +"'Of course, the Sahib would not speak an untruth knowingly,' returned +the Affghan. 'But I require some proof that the boy is the child of +certain European parents.' + +"'Well, there is the likeness, the unmistakeable likeness, that he +bears to his father and his mother.' + +"'That will not do,' said the Affghan, interrupting the Major. 'Can you +write in the Persian character, Sahib?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Then, write the name of this boy's father in the Persian character, +and let me see it.' + +"The Major did this, and handed it to the Affghan, who looked at the +writing, smiled, and said: + +"'What else? What was the Sahib's nishan (crest)?' + +"'This,' said the Major, holding out the little finger of his right +hand, upon which was a signet-ring. 'This was his nishan. We are of the +same family, and the nishan is the same.' + +"The Affghan, having examined the crest, again smiled, and said:-- + +"'What else?' + +"'What more do you want?' said the Major. + +"'Do not be impatient, Sahib,' said the Affghan. 'The identification of +a child, who may be an heir to property, is not so light a matter as +the purchase of a kitten. Did you know the child's mother?' + +"'Yes,' said the Major. 'She was also a relation of mine.' + +"'What kind of person was she? Was she handsome?' + +"'Very.' + +"'The colour of her eyes?' + +"'Dark--almost black.' + +"'And her hair?' + +"'Brown; the colour of this lady's' (pointing to the wife of my friend). + +"'If you saw her likeness, in miniature, do you think you could +recognise it?' + +"'If it were a faithful likeness, I could.' + +"The Affghan put his hand into the breast pocket of his chogah, and +produced a greasy leathern bag, into the mouth of which he inserted his +finger and thumb, and presently produced a small tin box, round and +shallow, which he very carefully opened. Having removed some cotton, +he handed the box to the Major. All of us instantly recognised the +features of the unfortunate lady who had perished by the side of her +husband, in Affghanistan. Who could possibly forget that sweet feminine +face of hers, which had been painted for her husband by one of the +most distinguished miniature painters of the age? The production of +the likeness in the presence of the boy (who appeared to take little +interest in what was going on), had a sad effect upon the Major. He +sat down upon a chair, covered his manly face with his hands, and wept +bitterly. + +"'And do you know this, Sahib?' asked the Affghan, when the Major +had somewhat recovered his violent emotion: placing in his hand poor +Percy's seal. + +"We all recognised the seal, the crest of which, of course, +corresponded with the crest on the signet-ring of the Major. + +"'And this?' asked the Affghan, holding up a bracelet which we had seen +Mrs. Percy wear many and many a time. + +"'And this?' holding up to our gaze a small brooch she used to +wear constantly. And, amongst numerous other things, he exhibited +to us a little pocket-book, in which she kept her memoranda, such +as:--'November 9th. Cut the ends of my dear little boy's hair. Sent +mamma a small portion.--November 12th. Had a long talk to the old +ayah, who swore to me that she would ... and I believe her, for she +has been a good and constant creature to us, in our dangers and our +difficulties.' + +"'And this? And this? And this? And this?' said the Affghan, +withdrawing from the leathern bag its entire contents, every article +of which was instantly identified. 'There, Sahib, take them all, and +the boy, into your custody. The money, which was left with him, I will +restore to you to-night. It is at present in the bazaar, in the charge +of my camel, whom no one dare approach, except myself and this boy.' + +"Here a very extraordinary and painful, but perhaps natural, scene +occurred. The boy, who had been comparatively passive, now broke out +into a vehement expostulation, and spoke with a rapidity which was +truly amazing, considering that he distinctly enunciated every syllable +to which he gave utterance. 'What!' he exclaimed, 'will you then leave +me in the hands and at the mercy of these unbelievers? What have I done +to deserve this?' + +"'Be quiet,' said the Affghan to the boy, in a gentle tone of voice. + +"'How can I be quiet?' cried the boy, clenching his fists convulsively, +and drawing himself up, whilst his eyes glared, and his nostrils +dilated, with uncontrollable passion, and something like foam stood +upon his crimson lips. There could be no doubt whose child he was, so +wonderful in his wrath was the likeness that he bore to his father, +who was very seldom provoked to anger, but who, when it did happen, +was 'perplexed in the extreme:' in short, a perfect demon until the +paroxysm was over. + +"'Baba (child)!' said the Major, 'listen to me.' + +"'Don't talk to him now, Sahib,' said the Affghan, compassionately. 'In +his anger his senses always leave him, and he cannot hear what you say. +Let him exhaust his fury upon me. He will be powerless presently.' + +"And so it was. After a brief while, the boy sat down on the carpet, +gasped for breath, and was seemingly unable to move or speak. The lady +of the house offered him a glass of water, but he shrunk back, and +declined to receive it from her hand. + +"The Affghan took the Major aside, spoke to him in private, and then +left the room. Here another very painful scene ensued. The boy, +exhausted as he was, attempted to follow his late master; he was +restrained, of course; whereupon he uttered the most heart-rending +cries that ever were heard. The Major had him conveyed to his bungalow, +where a room was set apart for him, and a servant and an orderly had +him in their keeping. It was a month before the boy could be reconciled +to his 'fate,' as he called it; and soon afterwards arrangements were +made for sending him home to his grandfather and grandmother, who are +persons of a lofty position in life and very wealthy. They received +him with extreme affection, and on the death of his grandfather, he +will succeed to a title and an estate worth eleven thousand a-year. The +Affghan, who was very fond of the boy, corresponds with him regularly, +and they exchange presents, as well as letters. + +"Kelly, of the 62nd, who was killed at Ferozeshah, and who formerly +belonged to the 13th Foot, when they were in Affghanistan, told me a +more curious story of a little girl, than the one I have related to you +of this boy." + +"What was it?" I asked. + +"My dear fellow," said the Lieutenant, "I cannot talk any more just +now. You shall have it some other day. We are not going to part company +yet, old boy." With these words he fell asleep, his feet over the +dashboard, and his head resting on my shoulder. + + + + +THE MARCH CONTINUED. + + +The next encampment-ground at which we halted was close to a dâk +bungalow; and, during the day, there were several arrivals and +departures, the travellers merely halting for an hour or so, while +some refreshment was got ready. The Lieutenant, who appeared to know +everybody in Hindostan (I never met a person who did not know him), +contrived, to use his own phrase, to "screw a small chat out of each +of them." On one occasion he returned to the tent richer than he left +it. He carried in one hand a small basket containing preserved oysters, +crystallized apricots, and captains' biscuits, and in the other a stone +bottle of Maraschino. Under his arm was a quantity of gauze, which he +wanted for a veil, he said. These contributions he had levied from a +lady who was going to Muttra, where her husband was an official of some +magnitude. She had just returned from England, the Lieutenant informed +me, and was looking as blooming as possible. To my question, "Do you +know her?" he responded, "Oh yes; she is one of my sixty!" + +"Sixty what?" + +"First cousins." + +"All in India?" + +"Every one of them. My good sir, I have at this moment, in the Bengal +Presidency alone, upwards of two hundred and twenty relations and +connexions, male and female, and every one of them--that is to say, the +men and the boys--in the service of the government." + +"Is it possible?" + +"Yes. What is more, four-fifths of the number are in the civil service. +I should have been in the civil service too, only I was sent away from +Haileybury for rebellion and card-playing. It is not an easy matter for +me to go to any station in these provinces without finding a cousin in +it." + +"Do you know the assistant-magistrate of Agra?" + +"Yes." + +"Is he a cousin of yours?" + +"_He_ isn't. But his wife's father and my father were own brothers; so +it amounts to pretty much the same thing." + +"And do you know the judge of Jampore?" This was a gentleman to whom I +had letters of introduction. + +"Yes. His mother was my aunt." + +"It must be dangerous," I suggested, "to express an opinion of any one +in India in the presence of a man who has so very many relations." + +"Oh, dear no!" said the Lieutenant. "A man with such a frightful lot of +connexions has no right to be, and is not generally, very sensitive. +Bless me! if I had nothing to do but to stand up for my relations, I +should run the risk of being perpetually knocked down. Life is much +too short for that sort of thing. Therefore, when I hear any one abuse +or reflect upon any relation or connexion of mine, I am invariably +silent; or, if appealed to, express my indifference by a shrug of the +shoulders." + +Here we were interrupted by the old Soubahdar, who came to the door of +the tent. He had dined, washed, smoked, slept, and had now got up to +grumble. His huge teak-box, which measured four feet by two, and two +feet deep, and without which he never travelled, had received a slight +injury, and of this he had come to complain. He said, that in the time +of Lord Clive or Lord Lake, if such a thing had happened, the men in +charge of the hackeries (carts) would have been hanged on the spot; +and Phool Singh Brahmin, whose exertions, he alleged, prevented the +utter destruction of the box, would have been promoted to the rank of +havildar. + +"Clive and Lake!" whispered the Lieutenant to me. "He talks like a +leading article in a London newspaper." Then, turning to the old man, +he inquired, "Would Lord Clive or Lord Lake have sanctioned your +carrying about that beastly trunk on a march at all?" + +"Yes, Sahib." + +"It is not true. Lord Clive and Lord Lake gained their victories by +the help of self-denying men, who cheerfully endured any personal +inconvenience; not by a parcel of old grumblers like yourself, who have +no right to refer to the career of those illustrious men." + +"Sahib, I was with Lord Lake's army." + +"Then, that's the very reason that you ought not to be here." + +"But our present Colonel, Sahib, was with Lord Lake." + +"And I wish he was with Lord Lake now!" + +"I shall report this, Sahib." + +"Very well. Do!" + +Whereupon the old officer left the tent, and the Lieutenant assured me +that the Colonel, who was as imbecile as the Soubahdar, would cause the +matter to be investigated, and that he, the Lieutenant, would, to a +certainty, receive a severe reprimand. + +"For what?" I asked. + +"For not having made arrangements for the safe conveyance of the +baggage, and for having treated with a want of courtesy a native +commissioned officer of the regiment. I need scarcely say, that this +reprimand will not in any way interfere with my night's rest." + +"But, the complainant will forget it," said I, "before he gets back to +the regiment." + +"Forget it!" exclaimed the Lieutenant. "Forget it! A native--especially +a native commissioned officer--forget a grievance! Catch that old man +forgetting the slightest unpleasantness that has occurred to him +during this march. He will, it is true, forget his present grievance +to-morrow, when he has a fresh one; but at the end of the journey they +will be forthcoming in a lump." + +This prophecy was destined not to be fulfilled; for, presently, a +Sepoy came to the Lieutenant, and reported that the Soubahdar was very +ill. We hastened to the old man's tent, and found him, strange to say, +in the last extremity. He was going very fast; but, nevertheless, he +continued to gurgle forth a grievance. He demanded, with his last +breath--why the East India Company did not give him his pay, as in Lord +Lake's time, in _sicca_ rupees? + +"You shall, in future, receive it in _sicca_ rupees," said the +Lieutenant, bending over the old man, whose hand he grasped tightly. + +"And will my losses be made good?" he asked, with awful energy. + +"Yes," said the Lieutenant. + +"It is well!" and the old man slipped almost imperceptibly from one +world to another. + +That the old Soubahdar, who was upwards of eighty, had died of natural +causes, there could be no question; but, clamorous as was the entire +company for the interment of the body, the Lieutenant determined on +taking it to Agra, for the purpose of a surgical examination. Meanwhile +the old man's effects were scrupulously collected and put under seal. + +We were now only twenty-six miles from Agra, the capital of the North +West Provinces, and it was agreed to perform the distance in one march. +We therefore started at sundown, and travelled all night. The moon was +shining brightly, the road was in excellent order, and, notwithstanding +that the old Soubahdar was lying lifeless on the top of some of the +treasure-boxes, the Sepoys were in high spirits, and on several +occasions even jocular in respect to the deceased's weakness--that of +perpetually grumbling. + +Shortly after the day had dawned, I beheld on the distant horizon +something like a large white cloud. Had we been at sea, I should +have said it was a sail or an iceberg, to which it bore a striking +resemblance. I pointed it out to the Lieutenant, who smiled. + +"Don't you know what that is?" he said. + +"No," I answered. + +"Can't you guess?" + +"No. What is it?" + +"That is the famous Taj Mahal. That is the building that defies the +most graphic pen in the world to do justice to its grandeur and its +transcendent beauty. Bulwer, in the _Lady of Lyons_, has a passage +which sometimes reminds me of the Taj:-- + + A palace lifting to eternal summer + Its marble halls from out a glassy bower + Of coolest foliage, musical with birds. + +But how far short must any description of such a place fall! How far +distant do you suppose we are from that building?" + +"About two miles." + +"Upwards of nine miles, as the crow flies! Yes; that is the Taj, the +tomb of a woman, the wife of the Emperor Shah Jehan. The pure white +marble of which it is built was brought from Ajmere. For upwards of +twenty-five years, twenty-five thousand men were employed, day by day, +on that edifice. I am afraid to say how many millions it cost. The +Mahrattas carried away the huge silver gates and made them into rupees. +What became of the inner gate, which was formed of a single piece +of agate, no one can say. The general opinion is, that it is buried +somewhere in Bhurtpore. The original idea was, to build a corresponding +tomb on this side of the river for the Emperor himself, and connect the +two by a bridge of white marble. A very pretty idea, was it not? Lord +William Bentinck was for pulling the Taj down and selling the marble, +or using it for building purposes." + +"Impossible!" + +"Not at all. He thought it was very impolitic to allow these gorgeous +edifices to stand--these monuments of folly, extravagance, and +superstition, which served none but the worst of prejudices, leading +the natives to draw prejudicial comparisons between the simple and +economical structures of the British and these stupendous and costly +erections of the Moghul Emperors. And most assuredly our bungalows, +churches, and other buildings do present a most beggarly appearance +alongside these masses of polished marble and red stone. It looks +as though we had no confidence in our hold of the country, and +therefore would not go to any expense worth speaking of. Look at our +court-houses, in the civil lines, as that part of Agra is called--a +parcel of paltry brick and mortar pigeon-holes, not to be compared with +the tenements that the menial servants of the Emperors inhabited. Look +at the Government House, the Metcalfe Testimonial, and other paltry +European edifices. + +"Surely," said I, "you would preserve rather than deface or destroy +these magnificent works of art--these wonders of the world?" + +"Works of art and wonders of the world they doubtless are; but, +under existing circumstances, they are eye-sores, and I would +pull down every one of them, and convert the material into useful +buildings--barracks--splendid barracks for our British and native +troops; hospitals, worthy of being called hospitals; court-houses, +churches, magazines, and so forth." + +"But what barbarians the natives would think us!" + +"What does that signify? Are we the conquerors of the country, or are +we not? As to what they would think of us, they can't think much worse +of us than they do already. Do we not eat swine's flesh? and do not +English ladies dance (the natives call it 'jumping about'), and with +men who are not their husbands? Barbarians! Why, the very dress that we +wear renders us barbarians in their sight." + +The sun had now risen high in the heavens, and his rays fell upon the +Taj, which we were gradually approaching. I was wrapped in admiration, +and wishing in my inmost heart that my talkative companion would +cease, and leave me to gaze in silence on that glorious scene, when +suddenly the procession halted, and the Lieutenant shouted out the word +"Hulloa!" in a voice so loud that I was completely startled. + +"What is the matter?" I asked. + +"Matter!" the Lieutenant echoed me. "Matter! Look a-head! There is a +wheel off one of those rickety carts, and those confounded boxes are +scattered all over the road." Here the little officer bounded like an +Indian-rubber ball from his seat, and in a towering passion with all +the world in general, but no one in particular, rushed to the spot +where the disaster had occurred, and there began to fret, fume, and +snort most violently. + +"Hush, Sahib!" said one of the Sepoys, saluting his officer very +respectfully, "or you may wake the Soubahdar, and _then_ what will +happen?" + +This appeal had the effect of restoring the Lieutenant to calmness +and good-humour. He smiled, and seemed to feel that matters would +certainly have been worse, and the delay more protracted, had the old +man been alive and witnessed the accident. + +One of the boxes was smashed to pieces, and the rupees were lying about +in all directions, the Sepoys picking them up, and searching for others +in the dust and sand. I never witnessed a more ridiculous or grotesque +scene than this--the native soldiers in their red coats and chacos, +but with bare legs and without shoes, kneeling, and sifting the earth +through their fingers, the Lieutenant in his pyjamahs and solar hat, a +cheroot in his mouth, and in his hand the buggy-whip, which he used as +a baton while giving his orders. + +"Does this often happen?" I was tempted to ask. + +"Constantly," was the Lieutenant's reply. "The Government has +a bullock-train for the conveyance of stores; and even private +individuals, by paying for the carriage, may have their goods taken +from station to station; but, in respect to treasure, we cling to the +old system. The military authorities apply to the magistrates, whose +subordinates provide these hackeries, which were in vogue some five +thousand years ago. And just observe those rotten boxes." + +"Why are they not lined with cast iron or zinc?" + +"It would be too expensive. The Government cannot afford it." + +"But why should not the Government use its own bullock-train for the +conveyance of treasure, instead of hiring these antiquated and rotten +conveyances?" + +"Because the bullock-train is under the post-office authorities; and +the military authorities have nothing to do with the post-office +authorities." + +"Is that a reason?" + +"No--nor is it rhyme; but it is a part of our Indian system, and, what +is more, it is Government logic. However, I am not going to stop here +all day. We will push on, and get into Agra before breakfast. The +treasure will come all right enough, and I will be there to meet it at +the office of the magistrate and collector." + +We now took our seats in the old buggy. The hood was raised, the syce +sat behind, and off we went at a canter, which very soon became a +gallop. In the parlance of the Lieutenant, the old horse was indeed +"a ripper." When warm there was no holding him, and he went over +his seven and a half miles of ground in thirty-seven minutes. At +the bridge of boats which crosses the Jumna, we met, by chance, the +assistant magistrate (the friend with whom I was going to stay, and +the husband of the Lieutenant's first cousin). He was dressed in a +pair of large jack-boots, corduroy breeches, a shooting-coat, and a +solar helmet, and was riding an immensely powerful Cape horse. He did +not recognise either of us at first, but pulled up, and turned round +the moment the Lieutenant shouted out his name, with the addition of +"Old boy!"--household words in the mouth of the Lieutenant, for he +not only applied them to things animate, but inanimate; for instance, +his corkscrew, his teapot, his buggy, his watch, his hat, everything +with him was an old boy, in common with the Lieutenant-Governor, or the +general commanding the division. + +After I had been greeted by my friend, who had been at a loss to +account for my delay in reaching Agra--the Lieutenant thus addressed +him: + +"I say, old boy. Look here. I have a lot of treasure for you about +seven or eight miles from this; but there has been a break down. Send +out a lot of fellows to give assistance, will you?" + +"Yes." + +"And look here, old boy. There's a dead Soubahdar." + +"A what?" + +"A dead Soubahdar. He died suddenly, and I don't wish him to be buried +without an examination, because I bullied him mildly only a short time +previous to his going out. You will manage that for me, old boy, won't +you?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"He died of old age, and his last grievance; but still I should like a +medical man's certificate; just to satisfy the colonel who served with +him in Lord Lake's time, you know, and all that sort of thing." + +"I can manage all that for you," replied the official, riding by the +side of the buggy; "but push on, for the sun is becoming rather +oppressive, and I have no hood to my saddle, remember." + +My host and hostess made me as comfortable and as happy as any +traveller could wish to be made. Of the former I saw little or nothing +from eleven in the morning till three or four in the evening, for he +was what is called a conscientious officer, and attended strictly +to his work. During these hours I used to read, or pay a visit to +the mess-rooms of a regiment where a billiard-table was kept. To +the officers of the regiment I was introduced by Lieutenant Sixtie, +previous to his return to his own corps. He stayed eight days in +Agra--upon some plea or other--and sent his company on, in advance of +him. + +Agra--that is to say, the society of Agra--was at the time split into +two sections, the civil and the military. They were not exactly at +open war, but there was a coolness existing between the two branches. +They did not invite each other, and very seldom exchanged calls. For +me, who was desirous of seeing all parties, this was rather awkward, +living as I was in the house of a civilian. So I resolved upon taking +a small bungalow for a short period, and furnishing it in a mild and +inexpensive manner. I was candid enough to confess to my host that, +as I was in no way connected with either branch of the service, I was +anxious to avoid taking any part in their local differences; and he had +the good sense not to press me to remain under his roof. + +A few days after I had located myself in my bungalow, I received +a call from a native gentleman, a Seik chieftain, who was, and +now is, a state prisoner on a handsome stipend. He drove up to my +door in a small phaeton, drawn by a pair of large black mules of +incredible swiftness and agility. This fallen chieftain--a tall and +powerfully-built man--was no other than the renowned Rajah Lall +Singh, who commanded the Seik cavalry at the battle of Ferozeshah, +and who was subsequently Prime Minister at Lahore, during a portion +of the time that the British Government undertook the administration +of the Punjab on behalf of Maharajah Dulleep Singh. Lall Singh was +now studying surgery. More than one medical officer in charge of the +hospitals which he attended, informed me that the Rajah was already +a comparatively skilful operator, and could take off an arm or a leg +with surprising dexterity. Notwithstanding his previous character--that +of a sensualist and faithless intriguer; one, indeed, who had not +been constant even to his own villanies--I could not help liking his +conversation, which was humorously enlivened with imitations of English +officers with whom he had come in contact, and was entertaining to the +last degree. His anecdotes, relating to the late Runjeet Singh, were +peculiarly interesting; coming as they did from the lips of a man who +had been so much in the company of that remarkable monarch, who in many +respects resembled Napoleon the First, especially in the selection of +the instruments of his power. "All his" (Runjeet's) "chief men," said +the Rajah, "were persons of obscure origin: Tej Singh, Sawan Mull, +Deenanauth, and the rest of them." + +"But you were an exception," said I. + +"Indeed not," was his reply. "I began life as a muleteer, and hence my +partiality for mules, perhaps." + +After a while the Rajah invited me to take a drive with him, to a house +about two miles in the country, and situated on the banks of the Jumna. +It was not his own house, which was then under repair, he said, but +had been placed at his disposal by a friend. I thanked the Rajah, and +stepped into his carriage; he followed me, seized the reins, shook the +whip, and away we went at the rate of sixteen miles an hour. + +The garden-house, at which we soon arrived, was a spacious building of +European architecture. It had formerly belonged to a general officer +who had married a native woman of considerable wealth. The furniture +was all of European make, and was arranged very much in the same +manner as that in the Sahib Logue's apartments at Bhitoor. In point +of quality it was also very much the same--a portion costly, and the +rest of a common description. This house, too, was constantly inhabited +by English folks who sought a change of air for a few days. Since his +removal to Agra, Lall Singh lived more like an European than a native, +and had got into the habit of sitting at ease in a chair, instead of +cross-legged like a tailor on the carpet. His dress was of the simplest +and most unpretending character imaginable; and, with the exception of +a signet-ring on his forefinger, he had no ornament on his person. The +table of the apartment to which he conducted me was literally covered +with surgical instruments--saws, knives, scalpels of every size and +shape. Amongst them I perceived a pair of swords in wooden scabbards +covered with rich green velvet, and ornamented with gold and precious +stones. Observing that my eyes rested on these swords, he took one up, +and remarked, "These have performed some curious operations in their +time; but never in a hospital. They have been used chiefly for taking +off heads. This once belonged to Dhyan Singh, and that to Heera Singh, +who were both assassinated. They are of Damascus steel, and are sharper +than any of these knives or scalpels. I have sent a number of swords +to England to have them made into surgical instruments." Here our +conversation was interrupted by a domestic, who announced-- + + "THE LALLAH SAHIB;" + +and presently a native gentleman walked, or rather limped (for he +was lame of the right leg) into the room, and made a very graceful +salaam, first to the Rajah and then to myself. He was rather short in +stature, but very stoutly built, and about forty years of age. His eyes +were full of intelligence and vigour, and his features regular and +well-shapen. His manners were easy, affable, unassuming, and modest, +and his attire as plain and quiet as possible. + +"This gentleman, Sahib," said the Rajah, addressing me, "is a great +friend of mine. This house belongs to him. A strange world is this! +Only a few years ago, I offered a reward of a lac of rupees (ten +thousand pounds) for his head, or two lacs to any one who would bring +him alive to my tent." + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes; and if I had caught him, how changed would have been the whole +face of affairs in this country!" + +"How so?" + +"This gentleman was the contractor for the British army; and, if I had +got hold of him, the army could not have been supplied." + +"But why was he worth more alive than dead?" I asked, with a laugh, in +which the native gentleman heartily joined. + +"Because," returned the Rajah, coolly, "if we had secured him alive +we would have made him feed us with the supplies bought with his own +money; which should also have paid the reward for his capture. This, +by the way, was claimed by several who brought in heads, alleging that +each was the head of the Lallah the contractor; but the attempted +imposition was discovered, and the perpetrators were themselves +decapitated." + +Unlike Hindoos and Mussulmans, who drink in secret, Lall Singh drank +neat brandy openly; and, rising from his chair, he administered unto +himself a couple of glasses--or rather a tumbler half-filled--on +this occasion. He could take more than two bottles of brandy without +being in the least intoxicated. This was owing, of course, to the +circumstance that he consumed considerable quantities of bhang; just +in the same way that an opium-eater is rarely or never affected by +drinking deeply of wine. + +The Rajah's visitor, the Lallah Jooteepersâd, had a grievance, and a +rather substantial one. He had claimed from the Government fifty-seven +lacs of rupees (half a million and seventy-thousand pounds sterling) as +the balance due to him for feeding the armies employed during the two +Seik campaigns; and the Government had threatened to prosecute him, in +one of their own courts, for an attempt to make an overcharge of forty +thousand rupees, or four thousand pounds. + +"And if they understand the principles of good government thoroughly," +said the Rajah, "they will convict you, imprison you for life, and +confiscate all your possessions, real and personal. That is the way +the Lahore Durbar would have settled so large a claim. But the Indian +Government has not the courage to act in that way." + +"But I have not attempted to make an overcharge; and if my agents have +done so, let it be deducted, if it be incorrect," said the Lallah. + +"You are a criminal," said the Rajah. + +"How so?" asked the Lallah. + +"You say the Government owes you fifty-seven lacs?" + +"Yes--and honestly." + +"Well, is not that enough to warrant your being transported for life, +or hanged? But, as I have told you, the Government has not courage to +prosecute you." + +In this opinion, however, Lall Singh was in error; for, that very +night, the Lallah was informed that he was, to all intents and +purposes, a prisoner, and must not leave Agra. The firm belief +of every native, not only in the district but throughout India, +was, that these proceedings had been taken to evade payment of the +contractor's just demands. But the Lallah himself was the first to +deny this assertion, and to declare that the prosecution arose out of +the circumstance of the Commissary-General being a near relative of +the Governor-General of India; that a civilian in power had a quarrel +with the Commissary-General, and had represented, semi-officially, +that great frauds had been committed, and there could be no question +that the heads of the departments were cognisant of such frauds; that +the Governor-General, anxious that the honour of a member of his +ancient family should be cleared up, had determined upon a strict +investigation; and that the civilian in question suggested the public +prosecution of the contractor as the speediest and most satisfactory +means of arriving at the result! And such was the opinion of many +officers of the Government, civil and military! + +The contractor, however, was eventually acquitted, and the Government +paid the bill. But, to this day, the natives of India believe that +the object of the Government was to cheat their creditor; while the +officers, civil and military, are equally sanguine that it was "the +honour of the family" that led to the most extraordinary and protracted +trial that ever was known in India, and which was emphatically +denounced, by the press and public; of every country in Europe, as +absurd, unjust, and shameful. Nevertheless, Jooteepersâd cannot have +harboured any revenge for the wrongs (involving disgrace and dishonour) +which were heaped upon him; for it is he who has fed, for several +months, the five thousand Christians during their incarceration in the +fortress of Agra; and, amongst the number of civilians there shut up, +is the gentleman who conducted the prosecution on the behalf of the +Government, and who, in the execution of his duty, strove very hard +indeed for a verdict of guilty! Without Jooteepersâd we could not have +held Agra! + +When the sun had gone down, and it was cool enough to walk abroad, +Lall Singh led me into the extensive gardens which surrounded his +temporary abode. The Lallah had left us, and I was now alone with the +ex-Commander of the Seik Cavalry and the ex-Prime Minister of Lahore. I +felt much more pleasure in his society than I should have felt had he +been in the plenitude of his power; for he bore his altered condition +with great dignity and cheerfulness, and discoursed upon all sorts of +topics without any restraint or reserve. He even talked about the Ranee +of Lahore--with whom his name had been so frequently coupled--and with +a chivalrous spirit (whether his assertions were true or not is another +matter) assured me that his intrigues with her had been confined +exclusively to politics. I asked him where this helpless woman had fled +to, after her miraculous escape from Benares, in the garb of a man? He +replied that he knew not. He was sure she was not in Nepal--where the +authorities supposed her to be--but somewhere in our own provinces. + +"Was she a beautiful woman?" I asked. + +"No; and never had been," was his reply. "But she had eyes which could +charm like those of a snake, and a voice sweeter than that of a bird." + +"They say she was the Messalina of the East," and I explained to him +what the allusion signified. + +"It is not true," he exclaimed vehemently. "She was a vain and clever +woman; but the very opposite of the character that she has been +described. She was proud of the influence she possessed over men in +making them subservient to her will and her caprices." + +"Had she great power over Runjeet Singh?" + +"None. She was his doll, his plaything, and the only being who could +calm him when he had the horrors. Nothing more." + +"How the horrors?" + +"Runjeet Singh began life as a petty chieftain, with a few hundred +followers. He acquired a vast kingdom, and had the most powerful army +that the East ever saw, or will see. Whilst he went on conquering, +shedding blood, and plundering, he was easy in his mind; but, when +he found that he had got as much as he could manage, he stopped; and +then came his disquiet. His great fear then was that he could not +retain what he had become possessed of--and his chief horror was that +the Koh-i-noor would be carried off--that diamond which Runjeet Singh +stole, and which the Ranee has worn a thousand times as a bracelet. +That diamond which is now in the crown of England." + +"Where did it come from originally?" + +"No one can say that. The history of the Koh-i-noor has yet to be +written. Did you ever see a likeness of Runjeet Singh?" + +"Never." + +"Then I will show you a very faithful one; a miniature taken by a +famous painter who came from Delhi, and spent his life in Lahore. The +Maharajah was a diminutive, shrivelled man, frightfully pitted with +the small-pox, which had destroyed one of his eyes; but with the other +he could gaze for an hour without ever winking. He had a shrill and +squeaking voice; but it terrified those who heard it, especially when +he was angry. He did not talk much; but he was a great listener. Then, +shrivelled and emaciated as he was in his later years, he was possessed +of immense physical strength when roused; and upon horseback, where +skill could be exercised, few men in his kingdom could have disarmed +him." + +"Indeed!" + +"He inspired all those who approached him--whether European or +native--with respect mingled with intense fear." + +Our conversation was here interrupted by a gardener, who presented the +Rajah and myself respectively with a nosegay; and who volunteered the +information, that some workmen, in digging the foundation for a vine +trellis had come upon an old house under the earth, and in it had been +found several gold and silver coins. + +"Where?" asked the Rajah. + +"There," said the gardener, pointing in the direction. + +We hurried to the spot, and found that the workmen had gone; but sure +enough, there were the walls of an apartment, formed of red stone and +white marble. + +"This quarter of Agra," said the Rajah to me, "was formerly inhabited +by persons of the highest rank. Where we are now standing was, no +doubt, once the site of a palace; and these walls are those of +the ty-khana--a vault beneath the dwelling from which the light is +excluded. In these dark places are usually perpetrated what you English +call 'dark deeds.'" + +I expressed a desire to explore this newly discovered apartment of +former days; but the Rajah told me it was then too late, as the workmen +had gone; but he promised me that if I would come to him at daylight on +the following morning, he would have great pleasure in gratifying my +curiosity. + +On the following morning, having spent a very dreamy night, I was +carried in my palanquin to the Jatnee Bagh. Such was the name of +Jooteepersâd's garden-house, in which Lall Singh then resided. The +Rajah was dressing. I was confronted by a Seik with an enormous +beard, whose hair was a yard long and tied up in a peculiar knot +on the top of his head, and who politely inquired if I would take +coffee. Ere long the Rajah made his appearance, and we went together +to the newly discovered ty-khana, which was now guarded, since gold +and silver had been found there. The workmen, some twenty in number, +came and commenced their labour: that of clearing away the earth in +all directions, in order to get to the bottom of the apartment in +the ty-khana. This was accomplished in about two hours, and we then +stood upon a stone-floor in the centre of a room, about sixteen feet +square. In several of the niches were little lamps, such as are burnt +upon the tombs of Moslems, and a hookah and a pair of marble chairs +were found in the subterraneous apartment; of which the sky was now +the roof. Whilst examining the walls, I observed that, upon one side, +there was a ledge about six feet high from the floor (and carried up +therefrom), and about a foot in width. This ledge, which was of brick +and plaster, resembled a huge mantelpiece, and was continued from one +end of the apartment to the other. I asked the Rajah the reason of +such a structure in the apartment. He replied that he did not know, +nor could any of the workmen account for it; one of them, however, +took a pickaxe and dug out a portion, when, to my surprise and horror, +I discovered that in this wall a human being had been bricked up. The +skin was still upon the bones, which were covered with a costly dress +of white muslin, spangled all over with gold; around the neck was a +string of pearls; on the wrists and ankles were gold bangles, and on +the feet were a pair of slippers, embroidered all over with silver wire +or thread; such slippers as only Mahommedan women of rank or wealth can +afford to wear. The body resembled a well-preserved mummy. The features +were very distinct, and were those of a woman whose age could not at +the time of her death have exceeded eighteen or nineteen years. The +head was partially covered with the white dress. Long black hair was +still clinging to the scalp, and was parted across the forehead and +carried behind the ears. It was the most horrible and ghastly figure +that I ever beheld. + +The workmen appeared to take this discovery as a matter of course; +or, rather, to regard it only with reference to the gold and silver +ornaments upon the skeleton, and it was with great difficulty that +I could prevent them stripping it, forthwith. As for the Rajah, he +simply smiled and coolly remarked: "A case of jealousy. Her husband was +jealous of her, and thought her guilty, and punished her thus--bricked +her up alive in this wall, with no room to move about, only standing +room. Perhaps she deserved it,--perhaps she was plotting against +his life; perhaps she was innocent: who can say? Hindoos as well as +Mahommedans punish their wives in that way." + +"You mean that they used to do so in former times, previous to British +rule in India. But such a thing could not occur in our time." + +"It does not occur so often as it did; but it does occur, sometimes, +even in these days. How do you know what happens in the establishment +of a wealthy native? Let us look a little further into the wall. It +strikes me that we shall find some more of them." + +Orders were given accordingly to the workmen to remove with great care +the whole of the ledge, in short, to pull away its entire face. This +was done; and how shall I describe the awful spectacle then presented? +In that wall there were no less than _five_ bodies,--four besides that +already alluded to. One of the number was a young man, who from his +dress and the jewels on his finger-bones must have been a person of +high rank; perhaps the lover of one, or both, of the young women; for +he had been bricked up between two of them. The others were evidently +those of confidential servants; old women, for they had grey hair. +They possibly had been cognisant, or were supposed to be cognisant, of +whatever offence the others had been deemed guilty. + +The sun was now shining brightly on these ghastly remains, covered with +garments embroidered in gold and silver. The air had a speedy effect +on them, and, one by one, they fell; each forming a heap of bones, +hair, shrivelled skin, dust, jewels, and finery. The latter were now +gathered up, placed in a small basket, and sent to Lallah. Their value, +possibly, was upwards of a thousand pounds. How many years had passed +since that horrible sentence had been put into execution? Not less than +one hundred and seventy, or perhaps two hundred. + + + + +INDIAN SOCIETY. + + +Whilst I was at Agra, a distinguished military officer of high rank, +who had just been appointed as a member of the Council, passed through +the station on his way to the seat of government, Calcutta. It was +supposed that this general officer would, on the first vacancy, become +Deputy-Governor of Bengal; and of course the society of Agra was +resolved to do him honour. It would not do for anybody to hang back +on an occasion like this; and, for the nonce, both the civilians and +the military were of one mind, and actually met on an amicable and +pleasant footing, to talk the matter over, and to decide upon what +was to be done. After a friendly debate, which lasted for four hours, +it was resolved that Sir Gunter and Lady Gallopaway should be invited +to a ball and supper, and not to a dinner. It was further determined +that the entertainment should take place, not at Government-house +(that would be too Civil)--not at any mess-room (that would be too +Military)--but at a good-sized hall called the Metcalfe Institution, +this being perfectly neutral ground. My friend, the civilian with +whom I had been staying, had a perfect contempt for these local +squabbles--although he was really compelled to take a part therein; +and, after the meeting was over, he sat down and wrote a metrical +squib, ridiculing the whole affair, and sent it for publication to one +of the newspapers, the _Delhi Gazette_. For this squib--seeing that it +sneered at both the civilians and the military--I unfortunately got the +credit, and the consequence was, that, when I made my appearance at the +ball, several of the heads of the society who had formerly received +me with extreme cordiality, answered me only in monosyllables when I +addressed them. Indeed, I learnt afterwards, from my friend's wife, +that a meeting had actually been called to consider the propriety of +not inviting me, and that I had very narrowly escaped that punishment; +for had it not been for the vote of her husband my name would have been +omitted, as there were ten for and ten against me, when he held up his +hand in my favour. + +But to the ball. There were present some twenty civilians, all dressed +in black with white cravats; and each had brought with him his +wife, or a sister, or daughter. Of military men (all in full dress +uniform) there were about forty-five or fifty; and the ladies who +came with them may have numbered thirty. In all, say that there were +present--including visitors and stragglers like myself--one hundred +and forty. I was rather late, and, on entering the room, beheld one +of the oddest sights that I ever witnessed: all the black coats were +huddled together, and so were all the reds. They had been unanimous +only so far as giving the entertainment was concerned; and it seemed +to be distinctly understood by each party that there was to be no +mixing; and so the civilians formed quadrilles and danced with the +civil ladies, and the soldiers with the military ladies. Had there +been a royal regiment in Agra, there would have been three parties, +owing to the jealousy that existed formerly between the Queen's and +the Company's officers. Besides myself, there were two "interlopers +in the East" present at that ball. The one, a French gentleman; the +other, a German Baron. They, too, were travelling about in search of +the picturesque, and here they had it with a vengeance. The Frenchman +could not comprehend this exclusiveness on the part of the blacks; but +the German assured us that to him it was a very common sight, and to +be witnessed at every ball in every garrison town in his country. "But +there," said he, "the military look down on the civilians, while here, +it seems to me, that the civilians look down on the military. See, see! +See how disdainfully that old Mrs. Revenue Board scrutinizes the dress +of Mrs. Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè!" + +Sure enough such was the case. "But regard!" said the Frenchman; "how +angry is that Mrs. Sudder Adawlut, because that little Mrs. Infantry +(whose husband, I am told, is the younger son of a poor English lord) +is contemplating her _nez en l'air_. Truly this is a magnificent +spectacle! Is it always so, I wonder?" + +I was enabled, from experience, to inform him, that in almost every +large station--and at Agra especially--it universally occurs; but that +in small stations seldom or never. + +Here we were approached by Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè himself. After +exchanging a few words with the foreign gentlemen on either side of me, +he passed on, seemingly proud and happy at having had an opportunity of +slighting me in public, on account of the doggerel for which I had the +credit. + +"Mais, monsieur," said the Frenchman to me, "who, in wonder's name, +are all these Damzè gentlemen? There is one Damzè, colonel of such a +regiment; another Damzè, major in another corps. There is a Deputy +Commissary-General Damzè; there is a Mr. Damzè in the Indian navy; +another Damzè is a military secretary; some half dozen Damzès are, I +have perceived, on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief. Parbleu! C'est +Damzè--toujours Damzè! for here, by Heaven, I meet with still another +Damzè! Who _are_ all these Damzès?" + +I informed him that Damzè was the patronymic of a nobleman in power; +and with this explanation he was thoroughly enlightened, and appeared +to be perfectly satisfied. + +"Let us move up towards the General," said the German Baron, who had +been introduced to the old hero. "Let us go and say a few words to him." + +It was not easy to do this; hemmed in as was the General by those +who desired to make him remember them in the future. However, it was +managed at last; and, somehow or other, we three interlopers contrived +before long to monopolize his attention--we the only people in the +room to whom he could not be of any service--for there was nothing +that he could give, or get for us, if we had wanted his patronage. We, +rather maliciously--so far as the crowd was concerned--stood about +the distinguished old man and guarded him; and I have reason to know +that he was grateful to us for so doing. Towards the hour of twelve, +however, we had to stand back; for Mrs. Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè came +and sat upon the sofa on the left side of the General, and talked to +him in an animated but somewhat anxious manner, which became even +more anxious when Mrs. Revenue Board approached, and taking a seat +on the General's right (eyeing Mrs. Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè with +a somewhat haughty expression), congratulated the General on his +recent good fortune. At this advanced stage of the evening also, Lady +Gallopaway was flanked right and left by old Mr. Revenue Board and +Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè, C.B. The reader is requested to note that +these two letters--C.B.--were Damzè's by right; or, at all events, that +he had been recommended for the order, and that the recommendation had +been instantly attended to; albeit Damzè had never been within range +of an enemy's cannon in the whole course of his life. Lady Gallopaway +yawned. + +At length a gong sounded, and the band struck up that usual signal that +supper is ready, "O, the Roast Beef of Old England, O, the Old English +Roast Beef." + +The anxiety of the ladies who sat on either side of the General was now +at it height. They fanned themselves with fearful vigour; and we, the +three interlopers, fancied that we could hear the palpitation of their +hearts. Meanwhile their husbands, respectively, by their looks, evinced +a corresponding anxiety. Each stood ready to offer his arm to Lady +Gallopaway as soon as the General had made his election--of the lady +he would lead to the supper table. Each party was equally confident +but equally nervous, like the parties to a lawsuit. For weeks past +this question of precedence had been debated in Agra, and very warmly +debated--namely, whether Mrs. Revenue Board, of the Civil Service, or +Mrs. Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè, C.B., was entitled to the _pas_. Now was +the moment for a decision, or at all events an authority in support +of either position or argument. The old General (upon whom both Mr. +Revenue Board and Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè, C.B., had their anxious +eyes) rose, smiled, bowed to the ladies who had flanked him, left them, +and wandered about the ball-room, looking to the right and left, as +if searching for some one. Presently he stopped short before little +Mrs. Infantry, who was talking to a cornet of the 17th Light Cavalry. +The General offered her his arm. She took it very graciously, and was +led away. But before leaving the room she halted, turned round, and +stared very significantly at the two elderly ladies who were still +seated on the sofa, overwhelmed in surprise, horror, and indignation. +Infantry, who was only a lieutenant in his regiment, observing that +the General had recognised the social right of his wife, which she had +derived solely from him, instantly rushed up to Lady Gallopaway, and +offered her an arm (which she took), led her away in triumph, leaving +his own Colonel (Damzè) and old Mr. Revenue Board gasping and gaping at +each other in mutual disgust and consternation. Had a shell burst in +the building, had the powder magazine exploded and shattered all the +windows, the commotion could scarcely have been greater than it was at +that moment. No one could account for this extraordinary conduct, or +caprice, as it was termed, on the part of the old General. Damzè, who +had just been flattering him concerning his wonderful achievements, +now declared that "the old fool had become half-witted since eighteen +hundred and forty-seven," while Revenue Board, who a quarter of an hour +previously had, to the General's face, held forth on the unflinching +independence which had marked his character through life, now +protested--openly protested--that he had been a time-server throughout +his entire career, and had some object in thus truckling before the son +of an influential peer! The ladies on the sofa stared at each other; +now commiseratingly and in silence for at least two minutes, then +simultaneously ejaculated: "What _can_ it mean!" + +"I thought it would have been me," said Mrs. Revenue Board. + +"You?" said Mrs. Damzè. + +"Yes; why not? My husband is a civilian of twenty years' standing." + +"Is not my husband a Lieutenant-Colonel and a C.B.? If he were only a +Major and a C.B. he would take precedence of Mr. Revenue Board." + +"You are quite mistaken." + +"Indeed not. Do you suppose a C.B. goes for nothing?" + +"No; but----" + +Here Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè and Mr. Revenue Board, who had been +discussing the same question, but in a calmer spirit than their +wives, approached, and, making common cause against the upstart enemy +(Infantry and his wife), formed a quartette and went into the supper +room; where, to their intense mortification, they heard little Mrs. +Infantry talking loudly, on purpose to attract the notice of all +present. What was even more mortifying still, the old General was +paying her marked attention. + +The red party, that is to say, the military, were in very high +spirits; the black, the civilians, correspondingly depressed. The +quartette, consisting of Damzè and Revenue Board, and their wives, ate +voraciously, but evidently without appetite. They sipped their wine +with an absent formality, which was very entertaining to lookers-on, +who were in no way interested in the momentous question which was +preying on their very souls. + +"It shall not end here," said Damzè, moodily fixing his eyes on the +chandelier. + +"Not, indeed!" said Mr. Revenue Board. + +"I shall put my case to the Governor-General direct," said Damzè. "His +Lordship is a near connexion of mine." + +"I am perfectly aware of that," said Mr. Revenue Board; "but it is my +intention to submit my case to his Lordship through Mr. Bommerson, +the Lieutenant-Governor of these provinces, officially; and, if his +Lordship's opinion should be adverse, I shall have my appeal to +the Court of Directors, amongst whom, thank Heaven! I have several +relations and warm friends." + +"And you will write, I hope, my dear," said Mrs. Revenue Board, "to Sir +John Bobgrouse, who is the President of the Board of Control, and whose +secretary married your first cousin--recollect!" + +"_We_ can write, too," said Mrs. Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè. + +"You may write to anybody you please," said Mrs. Revenue Board, +defiantly and contemptuously; "but you will remember that the point +between us is this--that even if your husband, in consequence of having +got, no matter how, a C.B.ship, has the right to precede my husband, +a civilian of twenty years' standing--whether you have the right to +precede me? That is the question; and I hope, Revenue dear, you will +not fail to raise it." + +Reader, the question was submitted in all its bearings for the +consideration of the Most Noble the Governor-General of India, who, +declining to take upon himself so fearful a responsibility, referred +the matter to the Home Government. Leadenhall-street had something +to say to it, and so had the Board of Control. While the case was +pending, the newspapers in every part of India literally teemed with +letters on the subject, and their editors were invited to give their +opinions thereon. Only one of the number was weak enough to do this, +and bitterly did he repent of his rashness; for, having decided in +favour of the C.B. and of Mrs. C.B., he lost (so he confessed to me) no +less than six-and-twenty civilians (each of twenty years' standing) in +his subscription-list. For more than eighteen months this precedence +question formed a leading topic, not only in the public prints, but in +private circles. It became, in short, a perfect nuisance. At length the +decision of the Home Government came out to India; but, alas! they had +only half done their work. They had given C.B. the precedence over the +civilian of twenty years' standing, but had been silent about their +wives! So, the matter was "referred back." A clerk in the Private +Secretary's office told me that he was occupied for three hours in +copying only the Governor-General's minute on the Court's despatch, +which was a very lengthy one, and signed by the chairman for himself +and the other directors, whose names were given in full. He further +informed me that the whole of the documents connected with this weighty +affair would, if put into type, form a volume five times as bulky as +Sir William Napier's _Conquest of Scinde_! + +How the matter was settled eventually I do not know; for, when I left +India, the question had not been decided. On the great point, when it +was referred for a second time to the Home Authorities, there was a +difference of opinion between the Court of Directors and the Board of +Control, and a long correspondence ensued on the subject, between each +of these departments of the Indian Government and the Governor-General, +who was required to have the case laid before the Advocates-General +of the Supreme Courts at the various Presidencies. These gentlemen +differed one with the other in their views of the case, each alleging +that the point lay in a nutshell, and was as clear as possible. For all +I know to the contrary, it may be in the nutshell at this moment. Both +Lieutenant-Colonel Damzè and Mr. Revenue Board laid "cases" before the +Calcutta barristers, who pocketed their fees, and laconically expressed +their opinions respectively, that the parties who consulted them were +in the right--"there could be no doubt on the point," they said. Damzè +sent a copy of his case, and the opinion of his barrister thereon, +to Revenue Board, who rather triumphantly returned the compliment. +I regret to say, that this contest engendered in Agra a great deal +of what is called bad blood, and induced many ladies to descend to +very unseemly personalities. For instance, Mrs. Damzè one evening, at +the band-stand, told Mrs. Revenue Board, that when she (Mrs. R. B.) +returned to England, she would have no rank at all, as her husband was +not an esquire even--but a "mister" in his own country. To which Mrs. +Revenue Board replied:-- + +"And you, pray? Is not your husband in the Company's service?" + +"Yes," rejoined Mrs. Damzè; "but you forget the C.B.!" + +Let us now return to the Honourable Lieutenant Infantry. When that +officer came up, and led away Lady Gallopaway to supper, Damzè was +overheard to say, "I'll take the shine out of that young gentleman." +And, if taking the shine meant constantly bullying the subaltern, +Damzè certainly kept his word. And when the next hot weather came, and +the Lieutenant wished to accompany his sick wife to the Hills, Damzè, +when he forwarded the application for six months' leave of absence, +wrote privately to the Assistant Adjutant-General, and recommended +that it should not be granted. The honourable subaltern, however, +was rather too strong for his colonel, in the way of interest. +Presuming on the acquaintance which existed between his father and the +Commander-in-Chief, he wrote a letter to that functionary, and a few +days afterwards found himself in general orders. The wrath of Damzè +may be easily imagined, especially as he had boasted to several of +his officers of having put a spoke in the Lieutenant's wheel. And by +way of throwing salt upon the Colonel's wounds, the Lieutenant called +upon him, and, in the politest manner possible, inquired if there was +anything he could do for him at head-quarters. + + * * * * * + +While at Agra, a Bengalee Baboo called upon me. Judging from his +appearance, I should have guessed his age to be about fifty years; but +he was upwards of seventy. He spoke English with marvellous fluency +and accuracy, and could read and write the language as well and as +elegantly as any educated European. He was, perhaps, the cleverest +Hindoo whom I encountered during my sojourn in the East. His manners +were peculiarly courteous and winning, and there was an air of +penitence about the man, which, apart from his abilities, induced me +to treat him with kindness and consideration. His name was--let us +say--Nobinkissen. + +The history of Nobinkissen was simply this. He was a Brahmin of the +highest caste, and, at the age of eighteen, was a writer in the service +of the government, on a salary of ten rupees per month. He ingratiated +himself with every civilian under whom he served, and gradually rose, +step by step, until he became the Sheristadar, or head clerk, of a +circuit-judge of a court of appeal. In this office he acquired riches, +and was still adding to his store, when his official career was brought +prematurely to a close. + +I must here inform the reader that not one civilian in a hundred, +no matter what his rank or grade, can read and write Hindostanee or +Persian, although the majority of them have some colloquial knowledge +of both those languages. Yet, as a matter of course, they append their +signatures to every document of which, on hearing it read aloud to them +by their native officials, they approve. Their orders they dictate +orally; those orders are transcribed by the Sheristadar, who gives +them to a native writer to copy. This done, they are read aloud for +correction or approval, and then signed in English by the covenanted +civilian. Before leaving office every day, such civilian may have to +sign fifty, sixty, or a hundred documents; for the rule is, not to sign +each of them when read, but to sign them in a mass at the breaking-up +of the court. Here Nobinkissen invented his means of money making. +Whenever the judge gave a decree in any case of importance, he made a +counterpart of such decree, and when the signing time came, obtained, +without any sort of trouble or inquiry, the signature of the Sahib +and the seal of the Court to both documents. He was thus, to all +intents and purposes--or, at all events, for his own--in possession +of something tantamount to the fee-simple of the lands in dispute. He +could arm either the appellant or the respondent with the final decree +of the Court, under the hand and official seal of the judge. The only +question with him now was, which of the litigants would give the most +money, and to each, in private, and in the Sahib's name, he exhibited +the documents. The highest bidder, of course, gained the day, whereupon +Nobinkissen took the coin, handed over one of the decrees, and burnt +the other. + +It fell out that Nobinkissen was attacked with fever, and, in a state +bordering on delirium, he parted with, that is to say, sold, to both +respondent and appellant, a decree, under the hand and seal of the +judge, such decree arming the holder with the power to take possession +of a very large estate in Bengal. Each party, fearful of a disturbance, +which often occurs when possession of an estate is sought for, +applied to the magistrate of a district, under a certain regulation +of government, for assistance, in order to enable him to carry out +the judge's decree, which each, as a matter of course, produced. The +magistrate was naturally much perplexed, and made a reference to the +judge, who could only say he had signed but one decree. There was then +a report made to the government by the magistrate. An investigation +ensued, and the judge was, meanwhile, suspended, for great suspicion +lurked in the minds of many that he was not so innocent as he affected +to be. When Nobinkissen recovered from his sickness, and saw the +dilemma in which his superior, the judge, was placed, he made a clean +breast of it, and confessed that the guilt was his, and his alone. +Nobinkissen was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be imprisoned in +irons for the term of his natural life. For nine years he was in the +gaol at Alipore, near Calcutta. At the expiration of that period he +was called upon to furnish some information of which he was possessed, +in relation to certain public affairs. He was brought from the prison, +confronted with several officials, amongst whom was a member of the +council. His altered appearance, his emaciated form, his attitude of +despair, and the intelligence and readiness with which he responded to +the questions put to him, touched the hearts of those by whom he was +examined, and the member of council, who has been since a director of +the East India Company, spoke to the Governor-General, and eventually +obtained Nobinkissen's pardon and release. The Hindoos and Mussulmans +in India (like the Arabs) do not regard being guilty of a fraud or +theft as a disgrace. The degrading part of the business is, being +convicted, and Nobinkissen, on being set at liberty, could not face his +countrymen in Bengal, and therefore retired to the Upper Provinces, +where he lived in comparative obscurity, and in easy circumstances, for +he had not disgorged his ill-gotten gains. His wife had taken care of +them during his captivity. + +At the time that Nobinkissen called upon me, the government of India +were in considerable difficulty in respect to finance. A new loan +had been opened, but it did not fill, and the government had very +wisely determined upon closing it. Nobinkissen made this a topic of +conversation, and his views--albeit they came from a man who had been +convicted of a fraud--are, at the present time especially, entitled to +the very gravest consideration. + +"Ah, sir!" he remarked, "it is a pitiful thing that the government of a +great empire like this should ever be in pecuniary difficulties and put +to their wits' end for a few millions annually, in order to make the +receipts square with the expenditure." + +"But how can it be helped?" I asked. + +"Easily, sir," he replied. "Why not make it expedient to do away with +the perpetual settlement of Lord Cornwallis, and resettle the whole of +Bengal? That is by far the most fertile province in the East; but it +is taxed lighter than even these poor lands of the Upper Provinces. +Look at the Durbungah Rajah. Nearly the whole of Tirhoot, the garden of +India, belongs to him, and he does not pay into the government treasury +half a lac (five thousand pounds) per annum, while his collections +amount to upwards of twenty lacs. These are the men who get hold of +the money and bury it, and keep it from circulating." + +"But all zemindarees (lands) are not so profitable in Bengal?" + +"No; many are not worth holding--especially the smaller ones, although +the land is just as good, and just as well cultivated." + +"But how is that?" + +"They are so heavily taxed. You must know, sir, that in those days--the +days of Lord Cornwallis--the greatest frauds were committed, in respect +to the perpetual settlement. The natives who were about, and under, the +settlement officers all made immense fortunes, and the zemindars from +whom they took their bribes, have profited ever since to the cost of +the poorer zemindars, who could not or would not bribe, and to the cost +of the British government. It is a great mistake to suppose that the +whole of the landholders in Bengal would cry out against a resettlement +of that province. Only men holding vast tracts of country, at a +comparatively nominal rent, would cry out." + +"And tax the British government with a breach of faith?" + +"Yes. But what need the government care for that cry, especially when +its act is not only expedient, but would be just withal? In Bengal, all +the great zemindars are rich, very rich men. In these provinces, with +very, very few exceptions, they are poor, so that the whole of Upper +India would be glad to see the perpetual settlement done away with, and +the land resettled." + +"Why so?" + +"That is only human--and, certainly, Asiatic--nature. Few of us like +to behold our neighbours better off than ourselves; so that the cry +of faith-breaking would not meet with a response in this part of the +world." + +"Yes; but in Europe the cry would be too powerful to contend against. +The Exeter Hall orators and the spouters at the Court of Proprietors +would--" + +"Ah, sir! India should either be governed in India or in England. It is +the number of wheels in the government that clogs the movement of the +machine." + +"Very true." + +"But who are these men--these zemindars with whom you are required to +keep an implicit faith? Are they your friends? If so, why do they never +come forward to assist you in your difficulties? Did a single zemindar, +when, after the battle of Ferozeshah, the empire was shaking in the +balance, lift a finger to help the government of India? And, to-morrow, +if your rule were at stake, and dependent on their assistance, think +you they would render it? Think you they would furnish money if your +treasury was exhausted? Not one pice! Think you they would furnish +men to protect your stations denuded of troops? No! Although hundreds +of them can each turn out a thousand or two of followers, armed +with iron-bound bludgeons, swords, and shields, when they desire to +intimidate an European indigo-planter, or to fight a battle between +themselves about a boundary question. These are the men who, in your +greatest need, would remain neutral until, if it so happened, you were +brought to your last gasp, when, as one man, they would not fail to +rise and give you the final blow." + +"Do you believe that? I do not." + +"Sir, I know my own countrymen better than you do." + +"If such a state of affairs were to come about, and these zemindars +remained neutral, of course the cry of breaking faith would be absurd +in the extreme. Neutrality, in such a case, would be almost as bad as +hostility." + +[Nobinkissen's prophecy has been fulfilled to the letter. Our rule +has been at stake, in imminent peril, and not one of these men has +offered to assist us with men or money. The Rajahs of Durbungah and +Burdwan alone, to say nothing of the Newab of Moorshedabad, between +them could have furnished an army of, at the very least, five thousand +stalwart fighting-men, whereas they have looked upon our difficulties +in perfect apathy. It is from the coffers of men of this stamp that +large sums should be extracted annually towards keeping up a vast--an +overwhelming--European force in India. Faith with such men as these! +What claim have they to our faintest consideration! What right to +expect that we shall any longer forego the collection of several extra +millions annually--several extra millions which, to every intent and +purpose, is our just due?] + +"There is a line in Shakespeare, sir," Nobinkissen continued, "which +the government of India should adopt as its motto, and act up to +consistently-- + + 'Cæsar never does wrong without just cause.'" + +Our conversation was here interrupted by a noise in the road. I went to +the window, and observing a great crowd, inquired of one of my servants +who was standing in the verandah:-- + +"What is the matter?" + +"A bullock has fallen down, and they are trying to get him up--that is +all, Sahib," was the reply. + +I rushed to the spot, followed by Nobinkissen, and there beheld a +scene which in no other country would have been tolerated by the crowd +assembled. + +One of a pair of bullocks, drawing an over-laden cart, had from +weakness and fatigue, sank beneath the burden. The driver of the +animals (a Hindoo) had broken, by twisting it violently, the tail +of the poor beast, which was nothing but skin and bone, and was +covered with wounds from ill-treatment. Heavy blows and the tail +breaking having failed to make the jaded ox stand upon his legs, the +driver--heedless of my remonstrance--collected some straw and sticks +and lighted a fire all round him. The poor beast now struggled very +hard, but was unable to rise, and presently he resigned himself to be +scorched to death. + +"I always thought that the cow was a sacred animal with Hindoos?" said +I to Nobinkissen. + +"Yes," said he. + +"And here is a Hindoo who works one of his gods till he drops down with +sheer fatigue, and then cruelly puts him to death!" + +"Yes, that often happens," said Nobinkissen, smiling. + +"Then, what an absurdity and inconsistency for the Hindoos at Benares, +and other holy places, to make such a noise if an European only strikes +a sacred animal with a whip! Why, it was only the other day that a mob +collected around the house of the magistrate and set the authorities at +defiance: all because the magistrate had ordered that one of the bulls +which crowd the streets should be shut up, on the ground that he had +gored several people." + +"That is the doing of the Brahmins, who incite the people to such acts; +and every concession on the part of the government leads those Brahmins +to believe that they have great power, and leads the people also to +believe it. If a Mahommedan finds one of those bulls in the way, and +gives him a thrashing with a thick stick, or probes him in the side +with a sword, the Brahmins say nothing, nor do the people of Benares." + +"Why is that?" + +"Because it would not be worth while. The strife would be profitless; +for, you see, sir, the Mahommedans are not the rulers of this country, +but the Sahibs are; and hence the jealousy with which they are watched. +In time, the Government of India will see the necessity of forbidding +Hindoo festivals in the public streets--abolishing them--just as +Suttee was abolished. It is only the dissolute rich and the rabble who +take any delight in these festivals, many of which are indecent and +disgusting. Sensible and respectable Hindoos take no part in them; on +the contrary, they avoid them, and think them a nuisance. Hindooism +will never become extinct, so long as this world lasts; but the British +Government has the power of doing away with those obnoxious observances +in the public thoroughfares, which only disfigure the religion." + +"Well, in that case, you would have to do away with the Mahommedan +festivals?" + +"Most certainly--in the public streets. In private, the Mahommedans +as well as the Hindoos might be permitted to keep their festivals in +whatever way they thought proper. Do you suppose that the Mahommedans, +when in power, suffered the Hindoos to block up the streets continually +with their processions, as they do now? Think you that they entertained +the same consideration for the bulls and the monkeys at Benares as the +British now entertain? And when, in turn, the Mahrattas overran this +part of the country, think you that Agra was ever deafened, as it now +is, with the din of the Buckree Ede and the Mohurrum?" + +"Perhaps not. But then you see, Nobinkissen, we are a tolerant people, +and wish to convince both creeds that we have no desire to interfere +with their religious prejudices in any way whatsoever." + +"Yes; but then you are inconsistent, and the consequence is, that you +not only get the credit of being insincere, but are imposed upon to the +utmost." + +"How, inconsistent!" + +"Why, you declare that you have no desire to interfere with the +religious prejudices of the Hindoo and the Mahommedan; but you, +nevertheless, encourage missionary gentlemen to go from station to +station to preach in the open air concerning the superiority of your +religion over all others. Believe me, sir, this does a great deal of +harm." + +"Ah! but we make converts!" + +"How many do you suppose?" + +"I cannot say." + +"I can. Take India from one end to the other, and you make, annually, +one out of fifty thousand." + +"No more?" + +"No more, sir! That is the result of preaching in the open air, all +over the country, and the distribution of thousands and hundreds of +thousands of tracts printed in the Hindostanee and Bengalee languages. + +"Well, that is something, Nobinkissen." + +"And of what class of people are your converts?" + +"Respectable men of all classes, I suppose." + +"The dregs of both Hindoos and Mussulmans. The most debased and +degraded of Indians--men who only assume Christianity in the hope of +temporal advantage and preferment--and who fling aside their newly +put-on faith, and laugh and scoff at your credulity the moment they +find their hope frustrated. I could give you at least one hundred +instances; but one will suffice. Not long ago a Mussulman, named Ally +Khan, was converted by Mr. Jones, a missionary in Calcutta, and, +shortly after his conversion, obtained an appointment with a salary of +one hundred rupees a month, in the Baptist Missionary Society. Here +he contrived to embezzle sixteen hundred rupees, for which offence he +was indicted in the Supreme Court, found guilty, and sentenced to a +year's imprisonment in the Calcutta gaol. On hearing the sentence he +exclaimed: 'In the name of the devil, is this the reward of renouncing +my religion? Farewell, Christianity! From this hour I am a Moslem +again!' + +"Another very flagrant case occurred in this very station. A civilian +took into his service a recently converted Hindoo, as a sirdar-bearer. +The fellow had charge of a money-bag, and ran off with it. And where +and how do you suppose he was apprehended? At Hurdwar, taking an active +part in the Hoolee Festival! The Roman Catholic priests have long +since left off asking the natives of India to become Christians. Those +who voluntarily present themselves, are, after a strict examination, +and a due warning that they must hope for no temporal advantage, +admitted into the Church." + +"And do they have any applications?" + +"Very very few, indeed; but those whom they admit do, really and truly, +become Christians." + +These last words of Nobinkissen were scarcely pronounced, when a palkee +was brought up to my door, and out of it stepped a Roman Catholic +priest--an Italian gentleman, a Jesuit--whom I had met a few evenings +previously at the house of a mutual friend. Nobinkissen, who appeared +to know the reverend father intimately, related to him the substance of +the conversation we had just held, or rather the latter part thereof, +and the priest corroborated every allegation that Nobinkissen had made. + +"Yea," he added, "we now devote our attention, exclusively, to the +spiritual wants of the white man who requires our aid--convinced, as we +are, of the hopelessness of the task of converting the Hindoo and the +Mussulman to Christianity." And, in addition to the instances of false +converts afforded by Nobinkissen, he did not scruple to detail several +others of an equally atrocious character and complexion. + + + + +THE UPPER PROVINCES. + + +Having seen Agra, its edifices, ruins, society, European and native, +and having visited Secundra, Futteypore, Sickri, and Muttra, I +journeyed upwards to Delhi, where I was received by Mr. Joseph Skinner, +the eldest son of the late Colonel Skinner, renowned as the founder and +commandant of the famous Skinner's Horse. Mr. Joseph Skinner's house +was, at all times, open to all travellers. He was without exception the +most hospitable man that I ever met in any part of the world. At his +board were to be met daily, either at luncheon or at dinner, civilians +and military men of every rank and grade in the service, as well as +native gentlemen of position in India--Hindoos and Mahommedans. Even +the young princes, sons of the King of Delhi and descendants of the +Great Moghul, used frequently to honour Mr. Skinner with their company. +The title by which they were usually greeted was Sahiban-i-Alum, +signifying "Lords of the World." But the most remarkable native that +I ever met at Mr. Skinner's hospitable board was the late Maharajah +Hindoo-Rao, a little, fat, round Mahratta chieftain, with small +twinkling eyes, and a countenance replete with fun and quiet humour. +He was a pensioner of the Gwalior State, and drew therefrom twelve +thousand pounds a year, which was guaranteed to him by the British +Government. Large as was this income, Hindoo-Rao contrived annually +to spend more than double the amount, trusting continually to fate +to relieve him from his pressing pecuniary difficulties; not that he +ever suffered them to prey upon his mind; on the contrary, he made +them a subject of jocularity. In addition to being as hospitable as +his friend Mr. Skinner, Hindoo-Rao was addicted to field sports on a +large scale, and kept up a very large establishment for the purpose of +gratifying this propensity. He was considered--and perhaps justly, by +those qualified to form an opinion--the best shot in all India, and +with his rifle he had destroyed several hundreds (some say thousands) +of tigers. Hindoo-Rao had another very expensive hobby. He desired +to possess himself of the Philosopher's Stone, by which he might +transmute metals--a mode by which he proposed to improve the state +of his finances and eventually pay his debts. On all other points, +Hindoo-Rao was sufficiently sensible and shrewd, but on this point he +was childish, if not insane. Thousands and thousands of pounds were +squandered by him in this absurd pursuit, for he was constantly the +victim of juggling forgers, swindlers, and rogues. His house was on +a hill immediately overhanging Delhi, and it has recently been made +famous throughout Europe as the position of one of our batteries. +Night after night in that house would furnaces blaze, while some +impostor, who pretended to have the secret, was at work with his +chemicals. + +I ought to mention that this Mahratta chief was a near relation of the +royal family of Gwalior, and that he had been banished and pensioned +for having been engaged in some intrigues against the Gwalior State. + +The Maharajah Hindoo-Rao was a great gourmand, and those who partook +of his dinners never forgot them. It was not often that the old chief +could be induced to discuss politics, but on the occasion of the 41st +Regiment of Infantry having mutinied at Delhi--a mutiny which, by the +way, was hushed up--I heard him very energetically exclaim: "Ah! if you +go on humouring your native soldiers in this way, they will never be +satisfied until they govern the country!" + +The late Sir Charles James Napier visited Delhi while I was there. He +came, not as ordinary commanders-in-chief usually come, with a large +suite and an escort covering a square mile of encamping ground, but +attended only by two aides-de-camp and a military secretary. It was +on the morning of his Excellency's arrival that the mutiny in the +41st Regiment, to which I have just alluded, occurred. Sir Charles +reviewed the regiments then quartered at Delhi, including the 41st, +and complimented them _en masse_! The review over, Hindoo-Rao, who was +a great horseman, rode up to the commander-in-chief on his spirited +charger, and expressed the happiness it afforded him to see an officer +who had so distinguished himself in the military annals of his country. +Sir Charles appeared much pleased with the open, frank manner and +independent bearing of the old Mahratta chieftain, and accepted, on +behalf of himself and his staff, an invitation to dine with him that +evening. A large number of gentlemen, European and native, assembled +to meet his Excellency; and when Sir Charles returned thanks for the +honour that had been paid to him in drinking his health, he made +allusion to the pleasure that it afforded him in seeing Christians, +Hindoos, and Mussulmen on such good terms, and living together in such +amity and concord. What a change since that evening, which to me seems +but as yesterday! Several of our party, on that occasion, have become +chiefs of the recent rebellion, and were accessory to the massacre of +English gentlemen and ladies. + +Hindoo-Rao died in eighteen hundred and fifty-four. His funeral was +thus described to me by a friend who witnessed it: "They dressed up the +old gentleman's corpse in his most magnificent costume, covered his +arms with jewelled bracelets of gold, with costly necklaces of pearls +and diamonds hanging down to his waist, placed him in a chair of state, +sat him bolt upright--just as he used to sit when alive--and thus, +attended by his relations, friends, and suite he was carried through +Delhi to the banks of the Jumna, where the body was burnt with the +usual rites, and the ashes thrown into the river." + +Mr. Skinner also is dead. He died in eighteen hundred and fifty-five. +When I think of him I am rejoiced that he did not survive to be +brutally massacred, as his brothers have been; or to see his house +(near the Cashmere Gate) which was always the scene of good-fellowship +and good-feeling, turned into a battery by the rebels; or the church, +built by his father, burned and destroyed by the people who had for +years and years paid, or affected to pay, unqualified respect and +devotion to his family. + +I made the acquaintance of another personage at Delhi, for whom I +had a very great liking and regard. This was Mirza Futteh Allee Shah +Bahadoor, the heir apparent to the throne of Delhi. He was a very +amiable and intelligent prince, and had an extraordinary thirst for +knowledge. Amongst other things that he was curious to learn was the +history of steam power, railroads, and the electric telegraph. For +hours together he would encourage me--nay, importune me, to talk with +him on these matters. _Apropos_ of this prince and his family--while +I was at Delhi the festival of the Eed came to pass, and there was an +omen which was variously interpreted. The King, in other words the +Great Moghul, sacrifices a camel. The King kills (or used to kill) +the camel with his own hand, by driving a spear into the breast of +the animal. On the occasion to which I now refer, the King, being +extremely old and feeble, was assisted by two attendants, and, in +attempting to drive the spear, it broke in two pieces. That was the +omen. The friends of Mirza Futteh Allee Shah Bahadoor interpreted +it as prognosticating the King's death and the speedy succession +of the heir apparent to the throne. Others, however, said that it +prognosticated the downfall of the King and of his throne for ever. +Mirza died about a year ago of an attack of cholera; and it may not be +premature perhaps to say that the throne of the Great Moghul will not +in future be recognised. There was another curious prophecy connected +with the throne of Delhi, and current for many years in the Punjab. It +was implicitly believed that the Sikh soldiery would one day or other, +and before long, sack Delhi; and, in eighteen hundred and forty-five, +when the Sikh army crossed our frontier, Delhi was its destination. +This prophecy has to some extent been fulfilled. The Sikh soldiers +have tasted of the plunder of Delhi. But who could ever have dreamed +that their entry into the city of the Great Moghul would be in company +with British soldiers? It is as though, and quite as incredible as +if, some one had predicted in eighteen hundred and sixteen that, in +eighteen hundred and fifty-five, the Queen of England, a grand-daughter +of George III., would be a guest at the Tuileries of an Emperor of the +French, and a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte; and that such Queen would +be led upon the arm of such Emperor to visit the tomb of the Prisoner +of St. Helena. + +After leaving Delhi I crossed over to Meerut, which was then, as it +always has been since its formation, the favourite station in the Upper +Provinces of India. In eighteen hundred and forty-six and forty-seven +there were as many as ten thousand troops quartered at Meerut, +including two regiments of British foot, a regiment of dragoons, and +three troops of horse (European) artillery. Until lately, it has always +been deemed prudent to keep a very large European force at Meerut in +order to keep Delhi (only forty miles distant) in check; for it was +stipulated in one of our treaties with the family of the Moghuls, that +no British infantry or cavalry, or other European troops, should ever +be quartered in the Imperial City or its immediate vicinity. When, +however, the Punjab was annexed, the European force at Meerut was +lessened to meet the exigencies of the times; and of late Meerut has +not been, in respect to the number of European troops, the station that +it was formerly. + +There are no ancient buildings to be seen at Meerut. All is of European +structure. The church, the barracks, the court-houses, the treasury, +the theatre, the bungalows of the civilians and military officers, +as well as those of the merchants and "others," are all of brick and +mortar, lath and plaster; and they were for the most part thatched, so +that the Sepoys had very little trouble in setting fire to them. The +reason why houses are commonly thatched instead of tiled and shingled, +is that the thatch keeps the interior of the dwelling so very much +cooler. + +While at Meerut I was a guest of the editor of the journal which used +to issue from that station, and as my stay extended over six weeks, +during which period I frequently assisted the editor in his work, I +gained some knowledge of the practical working of the press in the +Upper Provinces. I am authorized to make any use I please of this +knowledge. + +In the first place I may mention that the order of Government +forbidding civilians or military men corresponding with the press, was, +to every intent and purpose, a perfect farce and a dead letter. On the +staff of the Meerut paper were several gentlemen belonging to each +branch of the service. These gentlemen not only wrote, but some of them +wrote for pay--for so much per column; while the correspondence columns +were filled with letters from covenanted civilians or commissioned +officers, judges, and magistrates, and their subordinates; brigadiers, +colonels, majors, captains, and subalterns contributed anonymously, +whenever the spirit moved them. Ay! and frequently the members of the +staff of the Governor-General and of the Commander-in-Chief would not +only send items of news, but comments thereon; and I have reason to +know that this practice was continued up to the date of the recent +outbreak, and is still continued. By the way, the late Major Thomas +was virtually the editor of the _Mofussilite_ at Agra at the time he +received his death wound in the field of battle. The Delhi newspaper +was also written for by civilians and military men of all grades. + +It was the press that introduced to the notice of the Government many +clever and able men, who had no other interest to help them. I could +mention scores of instances, but two will suffice. Herbert Benjamin +Edwardes, of the Bengal Fusiliers, the "Brahminee Bull" of the _Delhi +Gazette_, and Mr. Campbell, of the Civil Service, who was "given up" +to Lord Dalhousie as the "Delator" of the _Mofussilite_, and promoted +to an office of great responsibility. In the last-mentioned paper +there also appeared, in eighteen hundred and forty-seven, forty-eight, +and forty nine, a series of leading articles on military reform and +other matters, some of which attracted the notice of Sir Charles +Napier. They came from the pen of General (then Major) Mansfield, of +the Fifty-third Foot, and at present chief of the staff of Sir Colin +Campbell. It was not to silence these men, who displayed their ability +in the newspapers, that they were placed in staff employ, or promoted. +On the contrary, I know that they were expected--and in some instances +requested--to use their pens in defence of certain Government measures; +and that, on several occasions, they did vigorous battle with their +former literary chief, the editor of the paper in which they first made +their appearance in print. I remember that on one occasion the editor, +on being beaten in an argument, headed his admission of the fact with +the following lines:-- + + Keen are our pangs; but keener far to feel + We nursed the pinion that impels the steel. + +There are no newsmen in the Upper Provinces of India, nor, indeed, +in any of the Presidencies. Whoever wishes to take a journal must +subscribe for a certain period--year or half-year. The rates for the +_Mofussilite_, or _Delhi Gazette_, were three pounds twelve shillings +per annum, or two pounds per six months. The net profits of both these +papers, in eighteen hundred and forty-nine and fifty, were upwards +of five thousand pounds per annum. With the exception of the _Friend +in India_, when under the control of its original proprietor, these +journals of the North-West were by far the most remunerative of any in +the East. + +There was a native newspaper published at Meerut, called the +_Jam-i-Jumsheed_, which title signifies a bowl or glass, into which if +you look, you will see what transpires in the whole world. The history +of this paper is very curious. + +It was founded without the knowledge, privity, or consent of the +conductor of the European journal, by the head pressman, of his +establishment, who was a Brahmin. The editor of this native print, +which was lithographed in the Oordoo language, was the moonshee of the +English press at Meerut. He was well skilled in English, and his chief +employment was translating the native correspondence. Having constant +access to the desks of the compositors, this press moonshee acquired +a knowledge of every item of news furnished by European as well as +native correspondents, and of this knowledge he failed not to avail +himself. This, however, was but a small evil, comparatively. Unknown +to the conductor of the Meerut paper, a much greater evil arose from +the publication of the native print. Availing himself of such sources +of information, its editor seized the views of his employer--views +intended only for European eyes, and gave his own version of them +to his readers in the Hindoostanee language; and, what was equally +mischievous, he published quantities of matter which the conductor +of the Meerut paper thought proper to suppress after it was set up +in type. These were the morsels in which the native editor took most +delight. A single instance will suffice. The following appeared in the +leading columns of the _Jam-i-Jumsheed_, the facts having been kept out +of the columns of the Meerut paper, at the instance of the friends of +the gentleman who was guilty of the indiscretion:- + + An act of retributive justice has just been committed by the + worthy magistrate of this district. It was supposed that an + escaped convict from the jail was secreted in a village about + four miles distant from this cantonment. In the dead of the + night, the magistrate, at the head of a large body of police, + visited the village, aroused the inhabitants from their + slumbers, and demanded the culprit. The villagers denied any + knowledge of him. The magistrate, with characteristic kindness + and consideration, gave them half-an-hour to make up their + minds. At the expiration of that time, as the culprit was not + produced, he set fire to the village. In those flames, which + illuminated the country for miles round, thirteen lives were + sacrificed; namely, those of three men, four women, and six + children. One of the unfortunate women was in labour at the + time. Some malicious natives in the neighbourhood of Meerut + give out that the Sahib has been notoriously mad for several + years past. Let us hope, however, that the Lieutenant-Governor + will not heed such insinuations, but after complimenting the + magistrate on his vigour and his zeal, appoint him to the first + judgeship that may become vacant. No less than six hundred + persons are, by this fire, rendered homeless beggars. But what + of that? Must justice be obstructed? + + It remains for us to add that the escaped convict of whom + the magistrate was in search, has been in Oude for the past + month, and that no notice of this affair will appear in any of + the papers printed in English and edited by the Sahib Logue. + Those gentlemen are far too modest to make known the manifest + blessings which arise out of British rule in India. + +For upwards of a year and a-half the native paper went on filching +news, and writing in the above strain. At length the conductor of the +Meerut journal was furnished with some information which led to his +discharging his employées, the head pressman and the moonshee, and +breaking up their journal, the _Jam-i-Jumsheed_. And more than this +was done. The danger of permitting native newspapers to be published +without any sort of supervision was elaborately, and from time to time +dwelt upon by the English editor, and at length the Government was +moved to call for a return of the journals printed in the Hindoostanee +language in the Upper Provinces of India, and for an account of the +number of copies that each issued. With this return and account the +Government was well satisfied; first, because the aggregate circulation +was so ridiculously small (comparatively), that it was quite clear that +the native press had no power or influence; and, secondly, that the +tone of the best conducted and most respectable journals of the native +press were loud in their praises of British rule, and firm supporters +of the Government. It was overlooked with reference to the first point, +that in no country, and in India especially, is the actual circulation +of a newspaper any criterion of the number of persons acquainted with +its contents, its chief items of intelligence, and its sentiments on +the most important questions of the day. Let us take for example, the +greatest paper in the world--the _Times_. Compare the number of copies +that are struck off daily with the number of hands into which that +paper passes, the number of eyes that read it, and the number of ears +that listen to hear it read. As to the second point, the praise of the +Government of India, it was laughable to hear it mentioned, albeit the +subject was of so serious a character. That praise was bestowed very +much in the same spirit that Jack Wilkes is said to have conveyed a +serious warning, with a humorous grin, to an election mob--"I hear +that it is your intention, gentlemen, to take that person (there!) +who is interrupting me, place him under that pump, and duck him! Now, +if you should do so, no matter how much it may be for his own good, +you will--I give you this emphatic warning--incur my most serious +displeasure, gentlemen!" They (the native editors) used to wrap up the +most bitter irony in the most complimentary phrases, and frequently +their allusions, if viewed abstractedly, were both humorous and witty. +A case in point. The late Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western +Provinces, a few years ago, presided at an examination of the students +of a Government public school. Amongst other questions which his honour +put to the boys of the first class was this--"How does the world go +round?" The head boy, a very intelligent Hindoo, gave an admirable +reply--spoke, as the saying is, like a book. The editor of a native +paper, in a notice of the examination, predicted that this boy would +come to a bad end for giving such an answer to the Lieutenant-Governor +of the North-West Provinces. "He ought," said the native editor, "when +so questioned by so potent a ruler, as to the cause of the world's +going round, to have flung science into the gutter, and, having assumed +the most cringing attitude imaginable, he should have placed his hands +together, and then have responded meekly, 'By your honour's grace, +favour, and kindness, does this planet revolve upon its axis.'" This +same editor once wrote a notice of a ball given by the officers of +the Horse Artillery mess at Meerut to the ladies of the Twenty-ninth +Foot, on the occasion of that last-mentioned and distinguished regiment +coming to the station. When translated, literally, to an Englishman +this notice would seem the most flattering account possible; but, if +such Englishman took it in the sense in which Asiatics understood and +comprehended it, he would, without any sort of doubt, have admitted +that it was the most extraordinary and ingenious admixture of satire +and obscenity that ever was printed and published! + +The same editor, during the second Sikh campaign, burlesqued the +despatches of Lord Gough; but so cleverly, that they were taken by +English people, who heard them translated, as genuine productions. This +was the man who never lost an opportunity of bringing British rule in +India into disgrace, ridicule, and contempt amongst his countrymen, and +who, eventually, by producing his writings, and having them translated +literally, succeeded in obtaining an appointment under the Government +worth one hundred and fifty rupees per mensem! The great article +on which his good fortune was based, was one descriptive of Lord +Dalhousie, on the back of an elephant, proceeding to a spot appointed +as the place of an interview between his Lordship and the late +Maharajah Goolab Singh. Neither the London nor the Paris _Charivari_ +ever surpassed this squib, so far as its spirit of ridicule was +concerned, while in point of mischief those European journals of fun +would never have dreamed of going the lengths of the Asiatic writer. +"What became of this native editor?" may be reasonably asked. I hear +that he is now aide-de-camp and military secretary to Bahadoor Khan, +the rebel, who is at the head of a considerable army, and, according to +the latest accounts, in possession of the entire Bareilly district. He +(the native editor) is a Mahommedan, of very ancient and good family; +he has an extremely handsome person and plausible manners, and should +I again wander in India, it will not at all surprise me to find him +in the service of the British Government, and filling some office of +considerable dignity and emolument. + +I have incidentally spoken of the theatre at Meerut. It was a building +about the size of the Adelphi Theatre, and was built by subscription, +some twenty-five years ago. The performers were, of course, amateurs, +officers in the civil and military services, and now and then an +interloper, possessed of histrionic abilities. The ladies were those +young gentlemen who could be best made up to imitate the gentler sex. +The scene-painters, scene-shifters, prompters, and so on, were men +belonging to the various European corps quartered in the station, +men who had been about, or connected with, London theatres, and who +understood their business thoroughly. On an average, there was a +performance once a fortnight. Tragedy was seldom or never attempted; +nothing but standard comedies and approved farces. It pains me to +think of the last performance I witnessed on the Meerut boards; +for, with the exception of myself and another gentleman, every one +who had a character assigned to him is now numbered with the dead. +The play was _The Lady of Lyons_. Claude Melnotte was an officer in +the Governor-General's Body-guard; his height was under five feet, +and his weight exactly eight stone. Pauline was the magistrate of +Bolund-Shahur, who was six feet three, and weighed twenty-one stone and +some pounds. In short, Claude was about the smallest, and Pauline about +the biggest man, in British India. These two died of natural causes +within the last three years. The rest have all been massacred or killed +in action. Some perished at Cawnpore, and other stations, and some have +fallen before Delhi and before Lucknow. And, alas! amongst the audience +of that night, how many have since been prematurely despatched from +this world--men, women, and children! + +There are some matters connected with theatricals in India, in the +Upper Provinces, which would strike any gentleman or lady fresh from +Europe as very odd. Huge punkahs are suspended from the ceiling, and +pulled by natives during the performance. Without the punkahs the +heat in the house would be unbearable. Then, there are no boxes, and +there is no pit. One part of the house, that nearest to the stage, is +set apart for the officers civil and military, and their wives and +families. The rest of the house is generally filled by non-commissioned +officers and private soldiers. As a matter of course, the greatest +order prevails throughout the play, which is usually produced "under +the patronage of the officer commanding the station and his lady." The +actors are never hissed; but the applause, in which the men always +join, is loud, long, frequent, and encouraging. + +In most of the large stations, where European troops are +quartered--such stations as Meerut, Agra, Umballah, Cawnpore, +Lahore--the non-commissioned officers and men of the regiments get +up theatrical performances, which are attended by the society, And +very creditably, too, do they perform. I have seen a sergeant of the +8th Foot (Colonel Greathead's regiment) play, at Agra, the character +of Doctor O'Toole, in _The Irish Tutor_, in a style and with a racy +humour which reminded me more of the late Mr. Power than any actor +on the metropolitan or provincial boards in England ever did. And at +Umballah, I have seen a corporal of the Third Dragoons act the part +of _The Stranger_ in a way that moved an audience, "unused, albeit to +the melting mood," in the literal sense of the phrase, to involuntary +tears. But by far the best actor (I am speaking of non-professionals) +that I ever listened to, considering the range of characters that he +played, was a private in the 9th Lancers. I would have gone night +after night, to see him in tragedy, comedy, or farce; or even to hear +him sing a sentimental or a comic song. He was a younger brother of +an intelligent, influential, rich, and deservedly respected London +tradesman, whose name is known in every quarter of the world where +the English language is spoken. It behoves me to say that these three +men (who, by the way, are all dead) were possessed of great general +ability, and had, respectively, received a good education. + +It is not for a wanderer and an interloper like myself to make any +suggestions to an enlightened (I use the word advisedly) Government; +but I do hope that when order is restored throughout our Eastern +dominions, when the affairs of the country are a matter of local +consideration, the health, comfort, and recreation of the British +soldier in those hot plains will command more attention than has +hitherto been bestowed upon them. I hope to see barracks in which the +men can live in comparative comfort--barracks lofty and spacious, and +fitted with punkahs, and other conveniences such as are required for +the climate, and such as one always finds in the abodes of officers and +gentlemen. I hope to see separate sleeping apartments for the married +couples, and separate sleeping apartments for the mass of children +above seven and eight years of age. I hope never again to see men, +women, young girls, and boys, and infant children, so huddled together +that those who escaped demoralization ought to have been exhibited as +curiosities of the human species. I hope never again to behold white +children, girls of thirteen years of age, the offspring of British +soldiers, married, in order that they might remain in the regiment. + +"Surely," I once remarked to the Colonel of a Royal regiment in India, +who made some remarks on the painful topic last alluded to--"Surely +this might be obviated?" + +"Yes, my good sir," was his reply. "But it would cost this Government +an outlay of a few thousands of rupees. A little while ago I had a +battle with the Government. I insisted on having punkahs hung up in +the barracks, and I spoke in a tone so decided that even the frowsy +military board--composed of several very old and feeble Company's +officers of the last century--was frightened into something like +activity. Well, sir, the punkahs were suspended, and I fancied that I +had gained an immense triumph; but I was very much mistaken. It was a +case of 'There are your punkahs, and now let your men pull them, or +employ the natives to do so!' So that the punkahs, after all, instead +of promoting a current of fresh air, impeded it, and served only as +perches for the flies, and cobweb-booms for the spiders. The idea of +the poor men paying for punkah coolies!" + +"What would it cost to punkah the whole regiment during the hot +season?" I asked. + +"I can tell you exactly," said the colonel: "for I have made a correct +estimate. The cost for the five hot months would be under three hundred +pounds; and by laying out this sum the Government would save some three +thousand or four thousand pounds a-year, at the very least." + +"How so?" + +"Many men cannot bear the heat of these barrack rooms, crowded as they +are, and left without punkahs. The consequence is, that they become +ill, go into hospital and die there, or spend the greater part of their +time there. I should say that if the men had better accommodation, +and the same means as _we officers_ have of keeping their apartments +cool, we should save in every regiment fifty lives annually. Now, +every recruit who comes from home and joins a regiment in the Upper +Provinces, to fill up a death or casualty in the ranks, costs the +Indian Government a hundred and ten pounds sterling. I have pointed all +this out; but it is of no use." + +"I would report it to the Horse Guards," said I. + +"I did so, two years ago." + +"And what did the Horse Guards say in reply to your statements?" + +"Precisely what the learned world said of poor George Primrose's +paradoxes--they said nothing. They treated them with dignified silence, +and perhaps contempt. However, I did not stop there. I went further." + +"You addressed the Throne, or Prince Albert?" + +"No; I did not go so far as that. We had just got the Albert hat out, +and after a careful examination of it, I came to the conclusion that +his Royal Highness would hardly be disposed to give much ear to my +complaint touching the discomfort of the British troops in India. But +I wrote to an elder brother of mine, who represents a borough in +Parliament, and I begged of him to bring under the notice of the House +of Commons the condition of the British soldier in India, and move for +a report of the officers in command of the various regiments doing duty +in this country." + +"And he did so, I hope?" + +"Not he. He wrote to me to say that he had never spoken in the House, +and never intended doing so, as he had not the faintest ambition to +become a public orator; but that he had shown my letter to several +friends of his (members of Parliament), who would only be too glad of +an opportunity of bringing themselves into notice; and that they, one +and all, blew upon it, remarking that the condition of the British +soldier in any part of the world was a frightful bore; but that the +condition of the British soldier in the East was a bore utterly beyond +toleration. 'My dear George,' (he went on to say to me), 'your story +would only be received with an ironical hear, hear! followed by a +series of coughs, as though the subject had given the House a sudden +chill and a very bad cold. Even that garrulous goose, Jamsey, to whom +(in despair, and in order to oblige you) I showed your letter--even +Jamsey, who is always ready to talk for hours about everything or +anybody, shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, sighed, lifted up his +hands, groaned, _It won't do_, and left me. Find out some indigo-planter +who has been, or is supposed to be, guilty of some sort of oppression +towards a sable cultivator of the soil, and we will pretty soon grind +his bones to make our bread, my boy; but, for Heaven's sake, and the +sake of the House of Commons, don't inflict upon us your British +soldiers." + +To leave the colonel, and express my further hopes--I hope to see +in every large station throughout India two Christian churches +erected--one for the Protestants and another for the Roman Catholics. +Both erected at the expense of the Government. I hope to see, also, +in every large station, a library to which every soldier, at stated +hours, shall have access. I hope to see soldiers' gardens--such as +the late Sir Henry Lawrence recommended--in which the men may, when +they feel disposed, work, or amuse themselves in the cold season. I +hope to see a theatre in every large station built and kept in repair, +not by subscription from the poor men, but at the cost of the State. +I hope, in fact to see the British soldier in the East--not petted, +pampered, and made a fuss of, but made as sensibly comfortable as the +climate in which he serves will admit of his being made. I hope, from +the bottom of my heart, never to see brave men put into such a barrack +as that at Loodianah, which fell in upon, and buried in its ruins, +the remnant of her Majesty's 50th Regiment of Foot: one of the most +gallant regiments in the Army List. They went into the field, during +the first Sikh campaign, nine hundred strong. Nine hundred bright +bayonets glittered in the sun as they marched away to give the foe (in +the words of Lord Gough) "a taste of cold stale." They were at Moodkee, +Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and Sobraon. Out of that nine hundred, only three +hundred returned to quarters in March, eighteen hundred and forty-six. +In three months, six hundred had fallen in battle! The campaign over, +they were quartered at Loodianah, and placed in barracks which had +been frequently reported rotten, unsound, and dangerous. But of this +report--though forwarded by the Commander-in-chief--the military board +took no notice. The consequence was, that in a dust-storm on the night +of the twenty-first of May, ten years ago, the barracks came down! +Beneath that mass of dust and smoke, and unburnt bricks, lay all the +men, women, and children, left to represent the glorious 50th Regiment +of Foot! Beneath that mass were the heroes who had escaped the carnage +of the battle-fields in which three to one of the Regiment had died! +Fifty-one men, eighteen women, and twenty-nine children, were killed by +the fall of those barracks; one hundred and twenty-six men, thirty-nine +women, and thirty-four children, were badly wounded--many maimed and +disfigured for life! Well might the Colonel of that regiment cry aloud, +"My God! there is no 50th left! The enemy did its worst; but it is the +Company Bahadoor that has given us the finishing blow!" + +The English reader may possibly doubt the accuracy of these details; +but there is a huge grave at Loodianah containing the bones of those +men, women, and children of the 50th; and scores of officers still live +to bear testimony to the truth of my assertions in respect to this +horrible catastrophe. + +The engineer at Loodianah was written to by the secretary of the +Military Board, and asked why he had not made a report of the state of +the barracks which had fallen in? He replied that he had written three +letters on the subject, and that his predecessor in office had written +seven; and the foolish man was stupid enough to ransack the records +of his office, and "had the honour to transmit for information of the +Board copies of these documents." For this absurd effort of memory, and +ridiculous attempt to clear himself of blame, he was removed from his +appointment, and sent to do duty with the Sappers and Miners--a sort of +very severe punishment in the East for any engineer officer guilty of +an indiscretion. + + + + +CHURCHYARDS, ETC. + + +I cannot leave Meerut without taking the reader to the churchyard of +that station. + +An Indian churchyard presents a very different aspect to a churchyard +in England or elsewhere. The tombs for the most part are very much +larger. When first erected or newly done up they are as white as snow, +formed, as they are generally, of chunam (plaster), which somewhat +resembles Roman cement; but after exposure to only one rainy season +and one hot weather, they become begrimed and almost black. The birds +flying from structure to structure carry with them the seeds of various +plants and herbs, and these if not speedily removed take root and +grow apace. A stranger wandering in the churchyard of Meerut might +fancy that he is amidst ruins of stupendous antiquity, if he were not +aware of the fact that fifty years have scarcely elapsed since the +first Christian corpse was deposited within those walls which now +encircle some five acres of ground, literally covered with tombs, in +every stage of preservation and decay. I was conducted in my ramble +through the Meerut churchyard by an old and very intelligent pensioner, +who had originally been a private in a regiment of Light Dragoons. +This old man lived by the churchyard, that is to say, he derived a +very comfortable income from looking after and keeping in repair the +tombs of those whose friends are now far away; but whose thoughts +nevertheless still turn occasionally to that Christian enclosure in the +land of heathens and idolaters. + +"I get, sir, for this business," said the old man, pointing with his +stick to a very magnificent edifice, "two pounds a year. It is not +much, but it is what I asked, and it pays me very well, sir. And if you +should go back to England, and ever come across any of her family, I +hope, sir, you will tell them that I do my duty by the grave; not that +I think they have any doubt of it, for they must know--or, leastways, +they have been told by them they can believe--that if I never received +a farthing from them I would always keep it in repair, as it is now. +God bless her, and rest her soul! She was as good and as beautiful a +woman as ever trod this earth." + +"Who was she?" + +"The wife of an officer in my old regiment, sir. I was in her husband's +troop. He's been out twice since the regiment went home, only to visit +this grave; for he has long since sold out of the service, and is a +rich gentleman. The last time he came was about five years ago. He +comes what you call _incog._; nobody knows who he is, and he never +calls on anybody. All that he now does in this country is to come +here, stop for three days and nights, putting up at the dâk bungalow, +and spending his time here, crying. It is there that he stands, where +you stand now, fixing his eyes on the tablet, and sometimes laying his +head down on the stone, and calling out her name: 'Ellen! Ellen! My own +dear Ellen!' He did love her, sure_ly_, sir." + +"Judging from the age of the lady, twenty-three, and the date of her +death, he must be rather an old man now." + +"Yes, sir. He must be more than sixty; but his love for her memory +is just as strong as ever. She died of a fever, poor thing. And for +that business," he again pointed with his stick to a tomb admirably +preserved, "I used to get two pounds ten shillings a-year. That is the +tomb of a little girl of five years old, the daughter of a civilian. +The parents are now dead. They must be, for I have not heard of 'em or +received anything from 'em for more than six years past." + +"Then who keeps the tomb in repair?" + +"I do, sir. When I am here, with my trowel and mortar, and whitewash, +why shouldn't I make the outside of the little lady's last home on +earth as bright and as fair as those of her friends and neighbours? +I have a nursery of 'em, as I call it, over in yonder corner--the +children's corner. Some of 'em are paid for, others not; but when I'm +there doing what's needful, I touch 'em up all alike, bless their +dear little souls. And somehow or other every good action meets its +own reward, and often when we least expect it. Now, for instance, sir, +about three years and a half ago, I was over there putting the nursery +in good order, when up comes a grey-headed gentleman, and looks about +the graves. Suddenly he stopped opposite to one and began to read, and +presently he took out his pocket handkerchief and put it to his eyes. + +"'Did you know that little child, sir?' said I, when it was not +improper to speak. 'Know it?' said he, 'yes. It was my own little +boy.' 'Dear me, sir!' I answered him. 'And you are, then, Lieutenant +Statterleigh?' 'I was,' said he; 'but I am now the colonel of a +regiment that has just come to India, and is now stationed at Dinapore. +But tell me, who keeps this grave in order?' 'I do, sir,' says I. +'At whose expense?' says he. 'At nobody's, sir,' says I. 'It is kept +in order by the dictates of my own conscience. Your little boy is in +good company here; and while I am whitening the tombs of the other +little dears, I have it not in my heart to pass by his without giving +it a touch also.' Blest if he didn't take me to the house where he +was staying, and give me five hundred rupees! That sort of thing has +happened to me more than five or six times in my life, not that I ever +hope or think of being paid for such work and labour when I am about +it." + +"That must have been a magnificent affair," said I, pointing to a heap +of red stone and marble. "But how comes it in ruins?" + +"It is just as it was left, sir. The lady died. Her husband, a judge +here, took on terribly; and ordered that tomb for her. Some of the +stone was brought from Agra, some from Delhi; but before it was put +together and properly erected, he married again, and the work was +stopped. I was present at the funeral. There was no getting him away +after the service was over, and at last they had to resort to force and +violence--in fact, to carry him out of the yard. But the shallowest +waters, as the proverb says, sir, always make the most noise, while +those are the deepest that flow on silently. Yonder is a funny tomb, +sir," continued the old man, again pointing with his stick. "There! +close to the tomb of the lady which I first showed you." + +"How do you mean funny?" I asked, observing nothing particular in the +structure. + +"Well, sir, it is funny only on account of the history of the two +gentlemen whose remains it covers," replied the old man, leading me +to the tomb. "One of these young gentlemen, sir, was an officer--a +lieutenant--in the Bengal Horse Artillery; the other was an ensign in a +Royal Regiment of the Line. There was a ball, and by some accident that +beautiful lady of our regiment had engaged herself to both of them for +the same dance. When the time came, both went up and claimed her hand. +Neither of them would give way, and the lady not wishing to offend +either by showing a preference, and finding herself in a dilemma, +declined to dance with either. Not satisfied with this, they retired +to the verandah, where they had some high words, and the next morning +they met, behind the church there, and fought a duel, in which both of +them fell, mortally wounded. They had scarcely time to shake hands with +one another when they died. In those days matters of the kind were very +easily hushed up; and it was given out, though everybody knew to the +contrary, that one had died of fever and the other of cholera, and they +were both buried side by side in one grave; and this tomb was erected +over them at the joint expense of the two regiments to which they +belonged. I get ten rupees a year for keeping this grave in order." + +"Who pays you?" + +"A gentleman in Calcutta, a relation of one of them. I'll tell you +what it is, sir. This foolish affair, which ended so fatally, sowed +the seeds of the fever that carried off that beautiful and good woman +yonder. She was maddened by the thought of being the cause of the +quarrel in which they lost their lives. I knew them both, sir, from +seeing them so often on the parade ground and at the band-stand; very +fine young men they were, sir. Yes; here they sleep in peace." + +"Whose tombs are those?" I asked, pointing to some two or three +hundred which were all exactly alike, and in three straight lines; in +other words, three deep. + +"Those are the tombs of the men of the Cameronians, sir. These graves +are all uniform, as you observe. Fever made sad havoc with that +regiment. They lost some three companies in all. Behind them are the +tombs of the men of the Buffs, and behind them the tombs of the men of +other Royal Regiments of Infantry--all uniform you see, sir; but those +of each regiment rather differently shaped. To the right, flanking the +Infantry tombs, are the tombs of the men of the Cavalry, 8th and 11th +Dragoons, and 16th Lancers. In the rear of the Cavalry are the tombs +of the Horse and Foot Artillerymen--all uniform you see, sir. Egad! if +they could rise just now, what a pretty little army they would form, of +all ranks, some thousands of 'em, and well officered, too, they would +be; and here a man to lead them. This is the tomb of Major-General +Considine, one of the most distinguished men in the British army. He +was the officer that the Duke of Wellington fixed upon to bring the +53rd Foot into good order, when they ran riot in Gibraltar some years +ago. This is the tomb of General Considine, rotting and going rapidly +to decay, though it was only built in the year 1845. A great deal of +money is squandered in the churchyards in India. Tombs are erected, +and at a great expense frequently. After they are once put up it is +very seldom that they are visited or heeded. Tens of thousands of +pounds have been thrown away on the vast pile of bricks and mortar and +stone that you now see within this enclosure, and with the exception +of a few all are crumbling away. A Hindoo--a sweeper--said to me the +other day in this graveyard, 'Why don't you English burn your dead as +we do, instead of leaving their graves here, to tell us how much you +can neglect them and how little you care for them? What is the use +of whitening a few sepulchres amidst this mass of black ruin?' I had +no answer to give the fellow, sir; indeed the same thought had often +occurred to me while at work in this wilderness. Do you not think, +sir, that the government, through its own executive officers, ought +to expend a few hundred pounds every year on these yards, in order to +avert such a scandal and disgrace? I do not speak interestedly. I have +as much already on my hands as I can perform, if not more; but I do +often think that there is really some reason in the remarks of that +sweeper. All these graves that you see here so blackened and left to go +to ruin, are the graves of men who have served their country and died +in its service. Very little money would keep the yard free from this +grass and these rank weeds, and very little more would make all these +tombs fit to be seen; for neither labour nor whitewash is expensive in +this part of the world. One would hardly suppose, on looking about him +just now, that the sons and daughters of some of the best families +in England are buried here, and that in a very short time no one will +be able to distinguish the spot where each is lying; so defaced and +so much alike will all the ruins become. What, sir, I repeat, is the +use of throwing away money in building tombs, if they are not kept in +repair? Instead of laying out fifty or a hundred pounds on a thing like +this, why not lay out only five pounds on a single head-stone, and put +the rest out at interest to keep it up?" + +"Or a small slab with an iron railing round it?" + +"Ah, sir; but then you would require an European to remain here, and a +couple of native watchmen to see that the railings were not carried off +by the villagers. As it is, they never allow an iron railing to remain +longer than a week, or so long as that. They watch for an opportunity, +jump over this low wall, and tear them down, or wrench them off and +away with them." + +"But surely there is some one to watch the yard?" + +"Yes, two sweepers--men of the lowest caste of Hindoos. And when it +is found out that a grave has been plundered of its railings, or that +the little marble tablet, which some have, has been taken away, they +deny all knowledge of the matter, and are simply discharged, and two +others of the same caste are put into their places. It would not be +much to build a comfortable little bungalow for an European--a man +like myself, for instance--and give the yard into his charge, holding +him responsible for any damage done, and requiring him to see that +the grave of every Christian--man, woman, and child--is kept in good +order. But horrible as is the condition of this churchyard--looking +as it does, for the most part, more like a receptacle for the bodies +of felons than those of good and brave soldiers and civilians, and +their wives and children--it is really nothing when compared with the +graveyard of Kernaul. Kernaul, you know, sir, was our great frontier +station some twenty years ago. It was, in fact, as large a station +as Umballah now is. It had its church, its play-house, its barracks +for cavalry, infantry, and artillery, its mess-houses, magnificent +bungalows, and all the rest of it. For some reason or other--but +what that reason was I could, never discover, nor anybody else to my +knowledge--the station was abandoned with all its buildings, which +cost the government and private individuals lacs and lacs of rupees. +You may be pretty sure that the villagers were not long in plundering +every house that was unprotected. Away went the doors and windows, +the venetians, and every bar, bolt, nail, or bit of iron upon which +they could lay their fingers; not content with this, the brutes set +fire to many or nearly all of the thatched bungalows, in the hope of +picking up something amongst the ruins. The church--the largest and +best in the Upper Provinces, with no one to take care of it--was one +of the first places that suffered. Like the other buildings, it was +despoiled of its doors, windows, benches, bolts, nails, &c., and +they carried away every marble tablet therein erected, and removeable +without much difficulty. And the same kind of havoc was made in +the burial-ground--the tombs were smashed, some of the graves, and +especially the vaults, opened; and plainly enough was it to be seen, +that the low caste men had broken open the coffins and examined their +contents, in the hope of finding a ring, or an ear-ring, or some other +ornament on the person of the dead. I went there a year ago on some +business connected with the grave of a lady, whose husband wished her +remains to be removed to Meerut, and placed in the same vault with +those of his sister, who died here about eighteen months since. I was +not successful, however. There was no trace of her tomb. It was of +stone, and had been taken away bodily, to pave the elephant shed or +camel yard, perhaps, of some rich native in the neighbourhood. Looking +around me, as I did, and remembering Kernaul when it was crowded with +Europeans, it seemed to me as though the British had been turned out +of the country by the natives, and that the most sacred spot in the +cantonment had been desecrated out of spite or revenge. And it is just +what they would do if ever they got the upper hand." + +[Whilst I write, it has just occurred to me that this old soldier and +his family perished in the massacre at Meerut on the 10th of May. +He was in some way related to, or connected by marriage with, Mrs. +Courtenay, the keeper of the hotel, who, with her nieces, was so +barbarously murdered on that disastrous occasion.] + +"Why, bless my soul!" exclaimed the old man, stooping down and picking +up something, "if the old gentleman hasn't shed his skin again! This +is the skin of a very large snake, a cobra capella, that I have known +for the last thirteen years. He must be precious old from his size, the +slowness of his movements, and the bad cough he has had for the last +four or five years. Last winter he was very bad indeed, and I thought +he was going to die. He was then living in the ruins of old General +Webster's vault and coughing continually, just like a man with the +asthma. However, I strewed a lot of fine ashes and some bits of wool +in the ruin to keep him warm by night, and some fine white sand at the +entrance, upon which he used to crawl out and bask, when the sun had +made it hot enough; and when the warm weather set in he got all right +again." + +"Rather a strange fancy of yours, to live upon such amicable terms with +the great enemy of the human race?" + +"Well, perhaps it is. But he once bit and killed a thief who came +here to rob a child's grave of the iron railings, which its parents, +contrary to my advice, had placed round it, and ever since then I have +liked the snake, and have never thought of molesting him. I have had +many an opportunity of killing him (if I had wished to do it) when I +have caught him asleep on the tombstones, in the winter's sun. I could +kill him this very day--this very hour--if I liked, for I know where +he is at this very moment. He is in a hole, close to the Ochterlony +monument there, in that corner of the yard. But why should I hurt him? +He has never offered to do me any harm, and when I sing, as I sometimes +do, when I am alone here at work on some tomb or other, he will crawl +up, and listen for two or three hours together. One morning, while he +was listening, he came in for a good meal which lasted him some days." + +"How was this?" + +"I will tell you, sir. A minar was chased by a small hawk, and in +despair came and perched itself on the top of a most lofty tomb at +which I was at work. The hawk, with his eyes fixed intently on his +prey, did not, I fancy, see the snake lying motionless in the grass; +or if he did see him he did not think he was a snake, but something +else--my crowbar, perhaps. After a little while the hawk pounced down, +and was just about to give the minar a blow and a grip, when the snake +suddenly lifted his head, raised his hood, and hissed. The hawk gave +a shriek, fluttered, flapped his wings with all his might, and tried +very hard to fly away. But it would not do. Strong as the eye of the +hawk was, the eye of the snake was stronger. The hawk for a time seemed +suspended in the air; but at last he was obliged to come down, and +sit opposite to the old gentleman (the snake) who commenced, with his +forked tongue, and keeping his eyes upon him all the while, to slime +his victim all over. This occupied him for at least forty minutes, and +by the time the process was over the hawk was perfectly motionless. I +don't think he was dead. But he was very soon, however, for the old +gentleman put him into a coil or two, and crackled up every bone in +the hawk's body. He then gave him another sliming, made a big mouth, +distended his neck till it was as big round as the thickest part of my +arm, and down went the hawk like a shin of beef into a beggarman's bag." + +"And what became of the minar?" + +"He was off like a shot, sir, the moment his enemy was in trouble, and +no blame to him. What a funny thing nature is altogether, sir! I very +often think of that scene when I am at work here." + +"But this place must be infested with snakes?" + +"I have never seen but that one, sir, and I have been here for a long +time. Would you like to see the old gentleman, sir? As the sun is up, +and the morning rather warm, perhaps he will come out, if I pretend to +be at work and give him a ditty. If he does not, we will look in upon +him." + +"Come along," said I. + +I accompanied the old man to a tomb, close to the monument beneath +which the snake was said to have taken up his abode. I did not go very +near to the spot, but stood upon a tomb with a thick stick in my +hand, quite prepared to slay the monster if he approached me; for from +childhood I have always had an instinctive horror of reptiles of every +species, caste, and character. + +The old man began to hammer away with his mallet and chisel, and to +sing a very quaint old song which I had never heard before, and have +never heard since. It was a dialogue or duet between the little finger +and the thumb, and began thus. The thumb said: + + "Dear Rose Mary Green! + When I am king, little finger, you shall be queen." + +The little finger replied: + + "Who told you so, Thummy, Thummy? Who told you so?" + +The thumb responded: + + "It was my own heart, little finger, who told me so!" + +The thumb then drew a very flattering picture of the life they would +lead when united in wedlock, and concluded, as nearly as I can +remember, thus: + + THUMB. + "And when you are dead, little finger, as it may hap, + You shall be buried, little finger, under the tap." + + LITTLE FINGER. + "Why, Thummy, Thummy? Why, Thummy, Thummy? Why, Thummy, + Thummy--_Why_?" + + THUMB. + "That you may drink, little finger, when you are dry?" + +But this ditty did not bring out the snake. I remarked this to the +old man, who replied: "He hasn't made his toilet yet--hasn't rubbed +his scales up, sir; but he'll be here presently. You will see. Keep +your eye on that hole, sir. I am now going to give him a livelier tune, +which is a great favourite of his"; and forthwith he struck up an old +song, beginning + + "'Twas in the merry month of May, + When bees from flower to flower did hum." + +Out came the snake before the song was half over! Before it was +concluded he had crawled slowly and (if I dare use such a word) rather +majestically, to within a few paces of the spot where the old man was +standing. + +"Good morning to you, sir," said the old man to the snake. "I am happy +to see you in your new suit of clothes. I have picked up your old suit, +and I have got it in my pocket, and a very nice pair of slippers my old +wife will make out of it. The last pair that she made of your rejected +apparel were given as a present to Colonel Cureton, who, like myself, +very much resembled the great General Blücher in personal appearance. +Who will get the pair of which I have now the makings, Heaven only +knows. Perhaps old Brigadier White, who has also a Blücher cut about +him. What song would you like next? 'Kathleen Mavourneen?' Yes, I know +that is a pet song of yours; and you shall have it." + +The old man sung the melody with a tenderness and feeling which quite +charmed me, as well as the snake, who coiled himself up and remained +perfectly still. Little reason as I had to doubt the truth of any of +the old man's statements, I certainly should have been sceptical as +to the story of the snake if I had not witnessed the scene I have +attempted to describe. + +"Well, sir," said the old man, coming up to me, after he had made a +salaam to the snake and left him, "it is almost breakfast-time, and I +will, with your permission, bid you good morning." + +I thanked him very much for his information, and suffered him to +depart; and then, alone, I wandered about that well-filled piece of +ground. I have always had a melancholy pleasure in strolling from +tombstone to tombstone, and reading the various epitaphs, and on that +morning, after all that I had heard from the old pensioner, I was just +in the humour for gratifying this morbid desire. + +Some miles to the northward of Meerut is the station of Burnampore. No +troops are quartered here; it is what is called in India a purely civil +station, containing only a magistrate (who is also the collector of +the revenue), an assistant (a covenanted civilian), the establishment +of the office, and a small police force. To these two gentlemen and +their few subordinates were entrusted the care and the collections of a +district as large as Lancashire or Yorkshire, and containing, possibly, +as many inhabitants. The idea of two gentlemen keeping in order a +district of such dimensions was simply absurd; but they did their +best, and that was all that could be expected of them. I remained four +days and nights at Burnampore, and during that time was a guest of the +assistant magistrate, whose acquaintance I had made at Meerut. Anything +more monotonous and dreary than the existence of a gentleman stationed +at such a place it would be very difficult to imagine. My host assured +me that if it were not for an occasional visit paid by some traveller +on his way up or down the country, both himself and his superior +officer would have died of ennui. "If it were not for the shooting, +which is very good in this district," he added, "I would rather be a +permanent passenger on board ship, or the inmate of a debtors' prison +in London, or any other part of England--in either case, one would have +something like company, and one would have, at all events, a somewhat +cooler and more congenial climate." + +In the district of Burnampore there are a great number of wolves, and +during my short stay, even, two were brought in, and the Government +reward (two rupees a-head) claimed upon them. These ferocious creatures +often carry off the young children of poor people and devour them. +It was in this district that "a wolf child," as the natives of India +express it, was found some years ago, and taken to Meerut, where it was +exhibited as a curiosity. "There can be no question," said my friend +and host, when I spoke to him one morning on this subject, "that the +male wolf, in all these cases, seizes and runs off with the infant, and +that when he has carried it alive to the den, the female, especially if +she happens to have cubs at the time, instead of killing and devouring, +suckles and fosters the little human being. So, after all, the story of +Romulus and Remus may not be a mere fable." + +"No," said I. "But what is that Greek epigram from the Anthology of +Bland and Merivale? The she-goat that suckled the whelp of a wolf, +which wolf, when she had no more milk to give it, killed her and eat +her. Something about + + 'Be kind, be gentle, and do what you will, + A stubborn nature will be nature still.'" + +"Yes," replied my host. "I do remember something about it; and by and +bye we will talk the matter over, and refer to the volume, which I have +amongst my books; but at present you must excuse me, for I have a duty +to perform. You may come with me and witness the operation, if you +like; but understand me, I shall not be offended if you decline to do +so." + +"What operation?" + +"That of hanging." + +"What? Hanging! Hanging what? + +"A man--a culprit--a murderer. Is is a part of my duty to see this +operation performed. Come," he added energetically, and slapping me on +the shoulder. "Come, be a sort of Selwyn for once in your life." + +Whilst I was hesitating, the magistrate approached in his buggy. He +had been taking his morning drive, and had dropt in upon his assistant +to have some friendly conversation. He had forgotten all about the +forthcoming execution; and, on hearing that we were just about to start +for the spot, he very kindly offered to take us there--an offer which +was accepted by his assistant with many thanks. So, off we drove, three +in a gig, like so many men going to witness a pugilistic encounter in +England during the beginning of the present century. + +When we had arrived at the place of execution, a field some distance +from the gaol, in which had been erected a temporary gallows, I +was surprised at not finding a mob. There was no one there but the +culprit--who was eating as much rice as he could, and as fast as he +could--a couple of native policemen with drawn swords guarding him; +the gaoler, who was a Mahommedan, and a Bengalee writer (clerk), who +stood with pen, ink, and paper in hand, ready to dot down the official +particulars of the scene, preparatory to their being forwarded to +Government, according to a certain regulation. + +"Is everything ready?" said the assistant magistrate to the gaoler. + +"Yes, Sahib," he replied; "but he has not yet finished his breakfast." + +"In one minute, Sahib," cried the culprit, who overheard the +conversation; and hastily taking into his stomach the few grains of +rice that remained upon the dish, and drinking the remainder of his +half-gallon of milk, he sprang up, and called out the word "Tyear!" +signifying "I am ready." He was then led up to the scaffold, the most +primitive affair that I ever beheld. It was only a piece of woodwork +resembling a large crock or crate in which a dinner-service is packed +for exportation. Upon this crock, which was placed under the beam, he +was requested to stand. Having obeyed this order, the rope was adjusted +around his neck. The assistant magistrate then called out to him in +Hindostanee, "Have you anything to say?" + +"Yes, Sahib," was the reply. And he began a long story, false from +beginning to end, but every word of which the Bengalee writer took +down. He spoke, and with vehemence, for about thirty-five minutes, +when, having stopped, either finally, or to take breath, the assistant +magistrate gave the signal to the gaoler, by waving his hand. The crock +was then pulled from under the culprit by the two policemen, and down +dangled the culprit's body, the feet not more than eighteen inches from +the ground. + +They are not adepts in the art of hanging in India; it took the culprit +at least ten minutes to die. At times I feared, so desperate were his +struggles, that he would break the beam, snap the rope, or bring down +the whole apparatus. In the days of Henry Fielding, the vulgar used to +speak of hanging as "dancing on nothing," and this horrible idea the +Indian culprit on that morning amply realised. The reader must not, +however, sympathize with his sufferings. He had been justly convicted, +and was justly put to death for murdering, in that very field where he +expiated his offence, a little girl of seven years of age, in order to +possess himself of a single bangle she wore--a bangle valued at one +rupee four annas--half-a-crown of English money. I cannot accuse myself +of a cruel or brutal disposition; but, if the monster whom I saw hanged +had had a thousand lives instead of one, I could have witnessed the +taking of every one of them without a single atom of a desire to save +him. + +The cutting down of the culprit, as soon as it was discovered that +life was extinct (for as there was no crowd of pickpockets and vendors +of cakes and ginger-beer to take a moral lesson, the prescribed hour +was unnecessary) was quite as primitive as the foregoing part of the +operation. One of the native policemen with his blunt sword, severed +the rope by sawing it just above the tie, and down came the corpse. +I was tempted to jump out of the buggy in which, sitting between the +magistrate and his assistant, I had witnessed the execution, and +examine, or rather look attentively at, the deceased. A finer head, in +a phrenological point of view, I had never seen, and across the naked +chest was suspended the sacred thread, indicating that the culprit was +a Brahmin. + +"Is it not very odd," said I, on my return to the buggy, "that most +of the diabolical crimes committed in this country are committed by +Brahmins?" + +"Not at all odd," replied my host. "Do you not know that they believe +nothing can hurt their pure souls after death; and hence their +comparative recklessness in this world? There was a Brahmin hanged +here, about a year ago, who, just before he was turned off, made a +speech such as that made by Napoleon on paper to Sir Hudson Lowe--'You +may convict me of what you please; you may make me a prisoner; you may, +if you like, shackle these limbs, and consign me to a dungeon; but you +will find that my soul will be just as free, just as proud, as when it +awed all Europe!'" + +"Ah, but that was the emanation of ----" + +"What the deuce is that?" cried the magistrate, who was driving us +rapidly towards home. "See! That thing in the road." And coming up to +it, he reined in the horse. + +The syce (groom), who was running behind the buggy, picked up the +object, at his master's bidding. It was a cloak--a lady's cloak--made +of most costly materials--satin and silk, and wadded throughout. It +had evidently fallen, unobserved, from some palanquin during the night, +and an examination of the footprints showed that the last traveller +who had moved along the road was journeying upward, and was then most +probably staying at the dâk bungalow, at Deobund, a halting-place +some twelve miles distant. The assistant magistrate, after we had +breakfasted, proposed that he and I should drive to Deobund, and make +inquiries. I was nothing loth, and a swift mare having been harnessed +and put to the buggy, off we started, two sowars (native horsemen or +mounted police) cantering behind us. + +About two miles from the bungalow to which we were proceeding, we +overtook a tribe of large monkeys. I should say there were as many as +four hundred, and each carried a stick of uniform length and shape. +They, moved along in ranks or companies, just, in short, as though +they were imitating a wing of a regiment of infantry. At the head of +this tribe was an old and very powerful monkey, who was no doubt the +chief. It was a very odd sight, and I became greatly interested in +the movements of the creatures. There could be no question that they +had either some business or some pleasure on hand, and the fact of +each carrying a stick led us to conclude that it was the former upon +which they were bent. Their destination was, like ours, evidently +Deobund, where there are some hundreds of monkeys fed by a number of +Brahmins, who live near a Hindoo temple there, and perform religious +ceremonies. They (this monkey regiment) would not get out of the road +on our account, nor disturb themselves in any way, and my friend was +afraid to drive through their ranks, or over any of them, for when +assailed they are most ferocious brutes, and armed as they were, and in +such numbers, they could have annihilated us with the greatest ease. +There was no help for us, therefore, but to let the mare proceed at a +walk in the rear of the tribe, the members of which, now that we were +nearing Deobund, began to chatter frightfully. Just before we came to +the bungalow, they left the road, and took the direction of the temple. +Fain would we have followed them; but to do so in the buggy would have +been impossible, for they crossed over some very rough ground and two +ditches. My friend, therefore, requested the sowars to follow them, and +report all they might observe of their actions. Meanwhile we moved off +to the bungalow, in search of the owner of the cloak. The first person +whom we saw was an ayah, who was sitting in the verandah, playing with +a child of about five years of age. + +"Whose child is that?" asked the assistant-magistrate of the ayah. + +"The mem-Sahib's." + +"What is the mem's name?" + +"I don't know," she replied, with a smile which seemed to say that +she was not warranted in being communicative. While travelling, few +servants who know their business will tell strangers the name of their +master or mistress. + +"What is _your_ name?" he then inquired of the boy, in English. + +"I don't understand you," was the reply, in Hindostanee, accompanied +by a shake of the head. It is wonderful how rapidly the children of +Europeans in India take a cue from a native servant of either sex. Not +always, but in very many cases, it is in deceit and falsehood that +children are first schooled by the servants. The reader must understand +that deceit and falsehood are not regarded as immoralities in the eyes +of Asiatics. A man or woman who, by fraud and perjury wins a cause, or +gains any other point, is not looked down upon as a rogue, but up to as +a very clever fellow. Several other experiments were made in order to +extract from the ayah the name of her mistress, but to no purpose. The +only information we could learn was, that the lady was much fatigued, +and was sleeping. We said nothing about the cloak, by the way. + +The servants of the bungalow, and at Deobund (there were four of them) +now came up to make their most respectful salaam to one of the lords +of the district, the assistant-magistrate, on questioning them in +private as to the name of the lady, we were in no way successful. All +that the ayah would tell them, they said, was, that she had come from +Calcutta, and was going to Simlah. "She is a burra beebee, however, +Sahib," added the Khansamah; "for all along the road, after she left +the steamer at Allahabad, until she arrived at Meerut, she was escorted +by two sowars; and when she reaches the Saharunpore bungalow, she will +find sowars ready. This is the only district in which she has had no +escort." + +This was a mystery that my friend could not unravel: why, if other +magistrates had been indented upon (as magistrates very frequently +were, when ladies were nervous and travelling with only an ayah), he +should be omitted; especially as his district was as dangerous to +pass through as any other (not that there was much or any danger in +those days), was more than he could understand; and he very naturally +became all the more curious (apart from the ownership of the cloak) to +know the name of the lady who had broken the link of her escort when +she came into his district. "Perhaps," said he to me, "either I have +or my chief has given her husband some offence, and, possibly, he is +small-minded enough to decline asking me to do what after all is only a +matter of duty, or of civility and compliment, which amounts to pretty +much the same thing. However, we shall see." + +My friend now mentioned to the Khansamah, a very old but very active +and intelligent man, the sight we had seen on the road--the regiment of +monkeys. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the old man, "it is about the time." + +"What time?" + +"Well, Sahib, about every five years that tribe comes up the country to +pay a visit to this place; and another tribe comes about the same time +from the up-country--the hills. They meet in a jungle behind the old +Hindoo temple, and there embrace each other as though they were human +beings and old friends who had been parted for a length of time. I have +seen in that jungle as many as four or five thousand. The Brahmins say +that one large tribe comes all the way from Ajmere, and another from +the southern side of the country, and from Nepal and Tirhoot. There +were hundreds of monkeys here this morning, but now I do not see one. I +suppose they have gone to welcome their friends." + +The sowars who had been deputed to follow the tribe now rode up, and +reported that in the vicinity of the old temple there was an army of +apes--an army of forty thousand! One of the sowars, in the true spirit +of Oriental exaggeration, expressed himself to the effect that it +would be easier to count the hairs of one's head than the number there +assembled. + +"Let us go and look at them," I suggested, "and by the time we return +the lady may be stirring." + +"But we will not go on foot," said my friend; "we will ride the sowars' +horses. In the first place, I have an instinctive horror of apes, and +should like to have the means of getting away from them speedily, if +they became too familiar or offensive. In the second place, I do not +wish to fatigue myself by taking so long a walk in the heat of the day." + +We mounted the horses, and were soon at the spot indicated by the +sowars. There were not so many as had been represented; but I am +speaking very far within bounds when I state that there could not +have been fewer than eight thousand, and some of them of an enormous +size. I could scarcely have believed that there were so many monkeys +in the world if I had not visited Benares, and heard of the tribes at +Gibraltar. Their sticks, which were thrown together in a heap, formed a +very large stack of wood. + +"What is this?" my friend said to one of the Brahmins; for since his +appointment he had never heard of this gathering of apes. + +"It is a festival of theirs, Sahib," was the reply. "Just as Hindoos +at stated times go to Hurdwar, Hajipore, and other places, so do these +monkeys come to this holy place." + +"And how long do they stay?" + +"Two or three days; then they go away to their homes in different parts +of the country; then attend to their business for four or five years; +then come again and do festival, and so on, sir, to the end of all +time. You see that very tall monkey there, with two smaller ones on +either side of him?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, sir, that is a very old monkey. His age is more than twenty +years, I think. I first saw him fifteen years ago. He was then +full-grown. His native place is Meerut. He lives with the Brahmins at +the Soorj Khan, near Meerut. The smaller ones are his sons, sir. They +have never been here before; and you see he is showing them all about +the place, like a very good father." + +Having seen enough of these "sacred animals," we returned to the +bungalow; we were only just in time, for the lady was about to depart, +albeit the sun was very high in the heavens, and the day, for the time +of year, was extremely hot. We caught sight of her in the verandah. My +friend became deadly pale, and exclaimed: "Is it possible!" + +"What?" I asked him. + +"I will tell you on our way home. I must see her--speak to her--painful +as our meeting must be. Only fancy, if that cloak should be hers!" + +The lady, who must have learnt from the servants at the bungalow +the name of my friend, the official, evidently desired to avoid +an interview with him; for upon our approach she retired from the +palanquin, which she was arranging, and entered hastily the room she +had occupied. We (my friend and myself) went into the other room of the +bungalow, which happened to be vacant. Presently we heard the voice +of the ayah. She was very angry and was accusing the servants of the +bungalow of being thieves. She had now, for the first time since they +were lost, missed several articles, and amongst them the cloak of her +mistress. She was perfectly ready to swear that she had seen them all +since their arrival at the bungalow; that she had removed them from +the palkees with her own hands; and if the servants had not stolen +them who had?--who could have done so? Distinctly did we hear the lady +command the ayah to be silent--to say nothing of the loss, and enter +her palanquin; but the ayah, too much enraged to hear or to heed the +command, repeated her accusation; whereupon the servants in a body +rushed into the apartment in which we were standing listening, and +after protesting their perfect innocence of the theft, referred to the +character for honesty which every one of them had borne for many years. +Strange to say, frequent as are the opportunities which the servants at +these bungalows have of pilfering from travellers, they rarely or never +avail themselves of such opportunities; and, whenever it has happened +that a lady or gentleman has died in one of them, the money and effects +have always been forthcoming, with nothing whatever missing. + +The lady now forced the ayah to depart, and enter her palanquin, in +which the little boy was sitting; she was about to follow, when my +friend rushed into the verandah, and, seizing her by the hand, detained +her. She was as agitated as he was; and quite as pale. He held her +hand in his with a firm but withal a gentle grasp, and looked into her +face, which must have been beautiful when she was a few years younger. +As it was, she had still a charming profile and countenance, and a +skin as white as snow. From the window, or rather looking through the +Venetians, I beheld the scene, which reminded me of that exquisite +picture of Mr. Frank Stone--_The Last Appeal_. There was a look of +agony and despair in the face of the man; while the woman, who appeared +to sympathise with his sufferings, did not for awhile raise her eyes +from the ground. But at length she did so, and, looking mournfully into +my friend's face for a few seconds, burst into tears, and presently +her head, involuntarily as it were, rested on his shoulder. Suddenly +recollecting herself, she again attempted to take her departure; but +my friend, now grown desperate seemingly, placed her arm beneath his, +and walked with her to a clump of shade-giving mango trees, in front +of the bungalow, and there they held a conversation which lasted some +ten minutes. The lady then tore herself away from my friend, and after +bidding him farewell, she threw herself into her palanquin, which was +speedily lifted by the bearers and borne away, followed by the two +sowars, who were commanded to escort the fair traveller to the next +station. My friend, from the verandah of the bungalow, watched the +procession till it was out of sight, and then, seating himself on the +steps, covered his face with his hands, and wept like a child. + +"Come!" I said, after a time, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I am not +very impatient to know your secret, but it is time that we thought of +returning. What about the cloak? You have not restored it to the owner." + +"No, my dear fellow, and I never intend to do so. She has consented to +my retaining it. That cloak has warmed her dear limbs, and the sight of +it shall warm my heart till the last hour of my existence." + +On the way home my friend (who was accidentally drowned in the river +Jumna, about two years ago) spoke as follows: + +"Ten years have now elapsed since that lady and I were +fellow-passengers on board of a ship bound from London to Calcutta. +She was then seventeen years of age, and I twenty. On the voyage we +became very much attached to each other, and eventually loved each +other devotedly. And, what was more, we were betrothed. It was arranged +that as soon as practicable we should be married, I was compelled, +on arrival, to remain at the college at Fort William for a year, to +pass an examination; she was obliged to proceed to a large station +in Bengal, to join her family. Her father was a member of the civil +service; previous to her arrival he had promised Alice (that is her +name) to an old man, a judge, who had been twice married, and who +was then a widower. This old man was very rich, and had--as he still +has--a great influence with the government. A brother of his was one +of the lords of Leadenhall-street, and of this country. For some time +after our unhappy separation we corresponded regularly; but suddenly +the correspondence ceased. Her letters to me, and mine to her, were +intercepted. Meanwhile, the old judge, to whom she had been promised, +paid his addresses to her. She refused him. Many devices were resorted +to in order to wean her affections from me. They all failed. At length +they hit upon one which had the desired effect. They caused a paragraph +to be inserted in one of the Calcutta journals, to the effect that I +had married the daughter of a half-caste merchant. Alice was permitted +to see this paper, but none of those containing my indignant denial of +the truth of the announcement. + +"In disgust at my imagined faithlessness, and in despair and +recklessness, Alice at length accepted the hand of the old judge. They +were married. When made acquainted with this horrible fact, I became +half-mad. I drank very hard, had an attack of _delirium tremens_, and +was sent home for change of air and scene, to recruit my health. On +my return to India, after an absence of eighteen months, I was sent +to Dacca, where there was not the slightest chance of my ever seeing +Alice. Subsequently, I was, at my own request, transferred to these +provinces, but sent to Banda--a sort of penal settlement for refractory +civilians; not that I ever committed any offence beyond that of loving +Alice and being beloved by her. You must understand that, owing to the +influence of his brother, her old husband, shortly after his marriage +with Alice, became the great man he now is; and he had only to express +a wish in this country, touching the appointment or _dis_appointment +of any junior in the service, to have such wish instantly realised. My +only surprise is, that when it became necessary for her to pass through +this district, I was not ordered away to Scinde, on some trumpery +business, alleged to be special. Had there been any idea that we should +meet--as by the merest chance we have met--again in this world, I +should certainly have been removed, and ordered to some other station +miles away. I have never seen her since we parted in Calcutta, now more +than nine years ago, until this very day. But, thank Heaven! she loves +me still!" + +"I was afraid, when I saw you talking to her beneath that clump of +trees, that----" I was about to make some observations. + +"Ah, no!" he interrupted me. "There is no danger. Great and lasting +as my love for her is, I could not bear the thought of taking the +slightest advantage of her feelings; or to see her fall from the sphere +in which she holds a lofty and proud position. She is not happy, +neither am I. But spirits will recognise each other, and be united for +ever and ever. Ours is not a solitary case; sometimes when ladies in +India fall they deserve far more of pity than of blame." + + + + +THE HIMALAYAS. + + +I have already spoken of a German Baron and a French gentleman whom I +met at Agra, and I have said that they, like myself, were travelling in +search of the picturesque, and with a view to become acquainted with +Oriental character from personal observation. + +While staying with my friend at Barnapore, I received a letter from the +former, proposing that we should meet on a certain day at Mussoorie, in +the Himalaya mountains, and travel into the interior together. I agreed +with all my heart; and my friend, the assistant magistrate, was tempted +to apply for six weeks' leave, in order that he might accompany us. + +Let me describe these foreign gentlemen. They were respectively about +my own age--thirty-two--had seen a great deal of the world, and of the +society at every court and capital in Europe. They were both possessed +of considerable abilities, and of the most enviable dispositions; +always good-natured and good-tempered; patient and cheerful under those +innumerable little difficulties that almost invariably beset a wanderer +in the East, or, in fact, a wanderer in any part of the world. They +had, moreover, a keen sense of humour; and, each in his own peculiar +way, could relate a story, or an incident in his life, in such a manner +as to make it wonderfully mirth-provoking. They were men of refined +understanding and of very refined manners: take them all in all, they +were the most charming companions I ever encountered. They were utterly +devoid of vulgar nationalities--of any enthusiastic admiration of their +own fatherlands, and would just as soon ridicule the foibles peculiar +to their own countries, respectively, as the foibles of a man of any +other country. My friend the assistant magistrate was also a desirable +companion. He, too, was a good-tempered, good-humoured being, with a +keen sense of humour, and some wit. He had read a great deal of late +years, in that out-of-the-way station to which he had been appointed, +and he had profited by his reading. + +It was beginning to be very hot in the plains, and my friend and myself +were not a little glad when we found ourselves on the road to a colder +clime. We drove as far as Deobund in the buggy; and, at three P.M. +threw ourselves into our palanquins (palkees), bound for Dehra Dhoon +at the foot of the hills; at which place we arrived at about nine +o'clock on the following morning, and were deposited--both of us fast +asleep--in the verandah of the hotel, kept by a Mr. William Johns, who +had been formerly a professional jockey in the North-West Provinces of +India. + +So much has been written of Dehra Dhoon and Mussoorie, that even a +brief sketch of these places would be unwarranted in this narrative. + +As soon as we arrived at Mussoorie we began to collect coolies +(hill-men), to carry our baggage and stores. We required in all about +one hundred and fifty for the expedition, and by the time that we had +got these people together, and made arrangements with them, and the +guides whom we required, and had laid in our stock of provisions, &c., +the foreign gentlemen joined us, and expressed their readiness to start +at any given moment. We lingered, however, for two days, in order that +they might take some rest, and make the acquaintance of the gentlemen +at the club, who, at the instance of my friend, had made them as well +as myself honorary members of the institution. + +On the third morning, in the front of the club-house, our marching +establishment was collected, and the one hundred and fifty men of +whom it was composed were laden with the baggage and stores. There +were tents, the poles thereto belonging, camp tables, chairs, beds, +bedding, leather boxes of every kind, containing our clothing, &c., +deal chests, containing all sorts of provisions, dozens of cases of +wine--port, sherry, claret--beer, ducks, fowls, geese, guns (rifles +and others), umbrellas, great-coats, &c., &c., &c. Having seen this +train fairly off, we, the four of us, followed shortly after on foot, +and overtook them at the Landour Hill, a mountain about nine thousand +feet above the level of the sea. We were all in high spirits--including +my friend the assistant magistrate--notwithstanding he put on his lady +love's cloak as soon as we were out of sight of the club, and began to +quote in a melancholy but very loud voice, which reverberated through +the valleys on either side of us, those glorious lines of the poet +Thomson:-- + + "There is a power + Unseen, that rules th' illimitable world-- + That guides its motions, from the brightest + Star to least dust of this sin-tainted mould; + While man, who madly deems himself the lord + Of all, is nought but weakness and dependence. + This sacred truth, by sure experience taught, + Thou must have learnt, when wandering all alone: + Each bird, each insect flitting through the sky, + Was more sufficient for itself than _thou_!" + +Our first halting-place was about nine miles from Mussoorie. It was a +flat piece of ground, some distance down the southern face of the peak +over which the road wound. The place was called Sowcowlee, and here and +there were to be seen a few patches of cultivation and a cowshed. Our +course lay in the direction of Almorah, another Hill Sanatarium for the +English in India. The tents pitched, and all made snug and comfortable, +we threw ourselves down upon our beds, not to sleep, but to take some +rest after a long walk. Meanwhile our servants busied themselves in +preparing the dinner, for which the exercise and the change of air had +given us all a keen appetite. + +"Well!" exclaimed my friend (whom in future we will call Mr. +West), raising to his lips a bumper of claret, and quoting from the +Sentimental Journey, "the Bourbon is not such a bad fellow, after all." + +Neither the Frenchman nor the German understood the allusion; but when +it was explained they relished it amazingly. We were rather a temperate +party; and after the second bottle of wine was emptied, we caused the +glasses to be removed from our small table, and a green cloth spread +over it. We then began to play at whist--a game of which we were all +equally fond; and, what was of great consequence, we were all equal as +players. We did not gamble exactly; but the stakes were sufficiently +high to make either side attend very carefully to the game. The whist +over, we each took a tumbler of warm drink, and turned in for the +night, and slept, as the reader may imagine, very soundly. + +On the following morning, at sunrise, we were awakened, and informed +that upon a hill opposite to our encampment there were several large +deer. We arose, and went in pursuit of them. After dodging them for +some time we came within range, and each of us, selecting his animal, +fired. One shot only took effect, and that was from the Baron's rifle. +During our ramble we discovered that there were plenty of pheasants +in the locality, and so we agreed to remain for the day, and, after +breakfast, see what we could do amongst them. Under the circumstances +we should have been compelled to halt, for, as is usual on such +occasions, our servants had forgotten several little matters essential +for our comfort, if not necessary for our journey, namely, the +pickles and the sauces, the corkscrew, the instrument for opening the +hermetically sealed tins containing lobsters, oysters, and preserved +soups. Amongst other things that had been left behind was the Baron's +guitar, and without it he could not, or would not, sing any of his +thousand and one famous German songs. And such a sweet voice as he had! +So, while we were amongst the pheasants, five coolies were on their way +back to Mussoorie, to bring up the missing articles above enumerated. + +By two o'clock, we had bagged eleven noble birds, and returned to our +encampment, sufficiently hungry to enjoy the refreshments which the +Khansamah (butler), who was a great artist in his way, had prepared for +us. Our repast concluded, we had our camp bedsteads brought into the +open air, and threw ourselves down on them. + +Holding his cigar between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, +the Baron thus went off:-- + +"Who can explain the inscrutable mystery of presentiments? Who can +fathom the secret inclinations of the human heart? Who can lift the +veil of sympathy? Who can unravel the web of magnetic natures? Who +can fully comprehend that link which unites the corporeal with the +spiritual world? Who can explain that terrible symbol which pervades +so many of our dreams? The sweet anxiety that seizes us when listening +to some wonderful tale; the voluptuous shiver which agitates our frame, +the indefinite yearning which fills the heart and the soul. All this +is a guarantee that some invisible chain links our world with another. +Let no one condemn as idle nonsense that which our shallow reason may +refuse to accept. Can the most acute understanding explain, or even +comprehend, its own growth; or even the growth and colouring of a mere +flower? Is not Nature herself a perfect mystery unto the minds of +thinking men?" + +"What is the matter, Baron?" asked the Frenchman. "Have you a nightmare +in this broad daylight?" + +"No, no," returned the Baron, with good-natured impetuosity. "It is not +so. I wish to tell you something--a little story, if you will listen." + +"Pray go on," we (his three companions) cried out, simultaneously. + +"Some ten or twelve years ago," the Baron proceeded, "I was travelling +from Munich to Berlin. Tired by the continual rumbling of my carriage, +I resolved upon taking a day's rest at Augsburg. It was the day +of All Souls. The autumnal sun was shining brightly, and a large +procession went its way towards the cemetery, a mile distant from the +town. Wherefore, I know not; but I was instinctively led to join this +procession. On arriving at the cemetery we found it, comparatively, +crowded. All the graves were decked with flowers and sprigs of +young cypress, and near every stone there sat or knelt, at least, +one mourner. Tears of love and regret wetted the sacred earth. In a +singularly agitated frame of mind, I wandered through the cemetery. The +recollection of departed friends, and of dear ones far away, made me +sad, unhappy, miserable. And I could not help thinking that if I had +been then entombed, no friendly hand would on that day have deposited +a wreath or a flower upon my grave, no beloved eye shed a tear of +sorrow, no faithful heart sent up to Heaven a fervent prayer for the +eternal rest of my soul. Haunted by such gloomy thoughts, I wandered +on, and at last came to a newly-made grave. An hour previously had +been buried in that spot a young girl of seventeen years of age. The +parents and the lover of the girl stood weeping near her grave, and +her young friends adorned the mound with freshly gathered flowers. +In a fit of profound melancholy, I bent down, mechanically picked up +a half-opened rose-bud, and walked on. Approaching the gate of the +cemetery, with the intention of returning to my hotel, my eyes fell +upon a tablet upon which were engraved the following words:--'Respect +the property of the Dead. Flowers are the property of the Dead.' These +simple words made a very great impression on my already excited mind: +and glancing, involuntarily, at the rose-bud which I still held in my +hand, my heart smote me for having carried it away from the girl's +grave. I was on the point of returning to re-deposit the flower, when +an indescribably false shame prevented my doing so, and I left the +cemetery with the rose in my hand. On returning to my hotel, I put it +in a glass of water, and placed it on a small table near the head of my +bed, upon which I threw myself, and soon fell into that state which all +of you must have experienced: a state in which the senses hover between +sleep and wakefulness, as though undecided which to choose. Suddenly +my apartment was filled by a bright but soft light, without my being +able to perceive whence it came. Be it known that I had extinguished +my candle. Ere long, the door of my room was opened; and in glided, +noiselessly, a pale spectral figure, clad in a white robe, and wearing +a garland of flowers. It was the figure of a young girl, and the face +was angelic. With motionless eyes and outstretched hand she approached +my couch, and in plaintive voice asked me: 'Why hast thou robbed the +Dead? Why hast thou taken that flower which a faithful lover threw upon +my last resting-place on earth?' Seemingly my pulses ceased to beat, +and I could scarcely breathe. The phantom then stretched forth the +left hand, and took the rose out of the glass; and with the right hand +she beckoned to me, saying: 'Come! Come, and give back the property of +the Dead. Respect the property of the Dead. Come! Follow me!' In vain +I tried to resist. I arose, and followed the figure out of the room +and into the deserted streets. It was not dark; for the moon was at +her full and shining brightly. Onward stalked the figure, I followed +her towards the cemetery. We arrived at the gate. She touched it. It +opened noiselessly. We entered. She led me to the grave--the grave from +which I had taken the flower. With trembling hand I received from hers +the rose, and placed it on the very spot whence I had removed it. And +then--" + +Here the Baron paused--and relighted his cigar. + +"Well--and then?" we all asked. + +"Then," replied the Baron, "I awoke--that is to say, if I had ever been +asleep. And looking in the tumbler in which I had placed the rose, I +discovered that it was gone." + +"The chambermaid, possibly; or the waiter, who may have entered your +apartment for orders, may have seen, admired, and carried it away while +you were slumbering," suggested the lively Frenchman; "and a very lucky +fellow you were, not to have missed your watch and your purse at the +same time and place." + +"No," said the Baron, shaking his head. + +"Perhaps," said Mr. West, "you had taken more wine than usual?" + +"No," was the reply. "The truth is that the story I have related to you +was written by that great Austrian wit and satirist, Saphir. It was one +of his earlier compositions, which, strange to say, were all of a very +melancholy cast. Saphir, however, to this day asserts that his story of +'The Death Rose' is a fact, and that it happened to himself." + +One by one, we dropped off to sleep, and slept for about an hour +and a-half. On awakening, the Frenchman, West, and myself, almost +simultaneously exclaimed, "Confound your Death Rose, Baron!" for the +truth was that the story had taken possession of our senses, while we +were asleep. + +"I thought it would," said the Baron laughing. "Everybody dreams of the +Death Rose after I have told the story. But, ah! See in the distance! +Here are the coolies returning! I can make out my guitar-box on the +head of one man. Ah! to-night we will sing plenty of songs!" + +And in the evening the Baron sang for several hours (we could have +listened to him all night) some of the most sentimental, and some of +the most humorous songs that I had ever heard. Fortunately I knew +enough of German to appreciate them; and my friend, Mr. West, was +equally fortunate. As for the Frenchman he understood and spoke--albeit +very imperfectly--every language current in Europe. On that night we +retired before twelve, for we had agreed to rise and proceed early on +the morrow. + +In pursuance of such agreement, as soon as the day dawned we struck +our tents, packed up our traps, loaded the coolies, and set out for a +place called Demooltee, distant some fourteen or fifteen miles. The +road, which had been very, very seldom travelled over by Europeans, +was a narrow and bad road, winding round and leading over lofty peaks, +some ten or eleven thousand feet above the level of the sea. Above us +and below us we frequently saw herds of Ghooral and other deer; but as +we could not, or would not rather, have stayed to pick up any that we +might kill, we suffered them to graze on, and preserved our ammunition. +By the way we saw an animal which none of as had ever seen before--an +animal called the Seron. It is a species of chamois, but larger and +stronger. Its colour was reddish, and it had a quantity of stiff, short +hair on the neck, which gave it the appearance of a hogged mane. The +native guides told us that it was a very shy animal, and only to be +found where there was a great quantity of wood. The scenery of this +part, in March, was exceedingly beautiful and varied. At times we had +a good view of Mussoorie and the surrounding country. At other times +we moved through vast forests of pine, and woods of oak, rhododendron, +and other magnificent trees. In the midst of one of these woods our +halting-place was situated, a large grassy flat, bounded on either side +by a deep and steep precipice, while in every direction the surrounding +mountains, which locked us in, were covered thickly with trees. + +"What fools men are," exclaimed the Baron, whilst the servants were +unpacking, "to huddle themselves together in old countries when lands +like these remain uncultivated and unenjoyed! And what fools are those +travellers who go, year after year, gazing on comparatively paltry +mountains and lakes which the eyes of the vulgar of all nations have +beheld, when such fresh and gorgeous scenery as this may be looked at! +Travelling in Switzerland and Italy--bah!" + +"But, my dear Baron," said the Frenchman, "you forget that the +Peninsular and Oriental Company demand four pounds a day for conveying +you from England to India, in consequence, they say, of the dearness of +coals." + +"Ah! well," laughed the Baron, opening with his own hand a bottle of +hock, and emptying the contents into a silver tankard, "if you regard +the matter in an economical point of view, you at once cut short my +argument and my sentiment. Egad! what grapes could be grown on yonder +hill, in that warm valley! What wine could be grown there! I will come +out to this country with a few German peasants. I will have vineyards. +I will make a fortune so colossal that Rothschild, when he is in +difficulties, will have to write to me. Yes, I will. The thing is to be +done, and I will do it." + +"But you forget," said Mr. West, "that you are now some twelve or +thirteen hundred miles from the nearest sea-port, Calcutta, and that +there would be some little difficulty in transmitting the produce to +Europe." + +"Europe! Europe! Why do you talk of Europe? Does not British India +contain enough of Europeans to make a market? This bottle of good wine +which we are going to drink costs twelve shillings in this country. +I could grow it, make it, and sell it for one shilling a bottle! Ah! +you may laugh; but I tell you this is the fact. I am a proprietor +of vineyards, and do not speak at random like a schoolboy, or an +enthusiast. The natives of the country would soon learn that art--for +an art it is--of wine-making; and, as for the soil, it is superb. Yes! +Grow wine, which would do your soldiers good. Generous wine, instead +of that blood-drying, brain-consuming, soul-destroying arrack--your +horrible grogs, and your bile-making beers." + +"But we have no roads, Baron." + +"True! But is there a scarcity of labour in India? Are pickaxes, +shovels, spades, saws, and gunpowder to blast rocks, so expensive that +a government cannot procure them? Roads! My good sir, only a few years +ago there was no road over the Splügen! The time was when you had no +road from Calcutta to Benares. You have no roads! Well, make them. The +wine and the tea that you grow will more than pay for them, as well as +remunerate the growers." + +"The tea?" asked Mr. West. + +"Yes, the tea, I said!" returned the Baron. "You have discovered that +you can grow tea in the lower range of these mountains, and you do grow +it in small quantities; now why not, having made the experiment, grow +it in _large_ quantities? I would say to Mr. Chinaman, 'I thank you +very much, but I do not want any more of your tea. You are insolent, +overbearing, and insulting in your dealings with me, and now you may +drink your own tea, and I will drink _my_ own tea; and, if you like, +you may stir yours with your own pigtail. We will bring China into our +own dominions, for God has given to this climate and to this soil the +same properties as your soil and climate possess.' I do not say it, +as you know, with any sort of intention to offend, but the result of +my experience leads me to believe that the government of this country +is, in all matters (save annexation), as slow as the government of +the Dutch was in by-gone days. There is a listlessness and a languor +about its movements; a want of everything in the shape of society and +enterprise, and seemingly such an earnest desire to discourage the +efforts of those who would in reality develop the resources of India, +that I am astonished any man unconnected with the services should +persevere in the attempt to make a living in the Eastern British +dominions." + +"I quite agree with you," said Mr. West, "especially as regards that +portion of your remarks which relates to the obstacles thrown in the +way of enterprising Englishmen. I have been a member of the Civil +Service for nearly ten years, and have always been impressed with the +idea that the policy of the government in respect to settlers in +India, was and is a very erroneous policy." + +The conversation here was brought abruptly to a close by the approach +of one of the guides, who, in a very confidential manner, imparted to +us that there was a kakur (a barking deer) grazing on a crag not far +from the encampment. So we seized our guns, went in pursuit, and were +fortunate enough to kill the animal. His bark resembles exactly that of +a Skye-terrier when very much excited. On our return to the encampment +we encountered a huge bear, and succeeded in killing and carrying him +to the door of our tent, where the natives skinned him and deprived him +of his fat, which they boiled down and used in the lamps instead of +oil. And very brightly did it burn; but the aroma was not a peculiarly +pleasant one. I am afraid to say how much grease was taken from this +enormous bear; but I know that I am speaking within bounds when I +assert it was in excess of two gallons and a half. + +We dined at dusk, and then, as usual, betook ourselves to whist, but +so cold did it become shortly after dark, that we were forced to put +on our great coats, notwithstanding there was an enormous wood fire +in front and at the back of our tent. These fires had been lighted +to serve another purpose beyond that of giving warmth--namely, to +scare away the leopards which abounded in that locality. It was a +very picturesque scene; the white tents standing out in relief from +the dark wood, lighted up by the fires, and here and there groups of +coolies wrapped up in blankets, and sitting as closely as possible to +the blaze. + +At daylight on the following morning our march was recommenced. We +had a distance of ten miles to travel before we could reach the next +halting-place, named Kanah Tall. During this march we did not go out +of our way for game, but only took such as chanced to cross our path. +All we killed was ghooral, (which we did not stop to look at even) and +two braces of partridges of very peculiar plumage. They were remarkably +handsome birds, with a red mark round the eye and down each side of +the neck, olive-coloured feathers on their backs, and their wings and +breasts covered with white and red spots. We could not fail to admire +the beauty of the flowers which flourished in this locality. The ground +on either side of the narrow and wild road was literally covered +with violets, dog-roses, and a lily of the valley, and other little +decorations of the earth, of which I know not the name. Throughout +the whole march the scene was truly fairy-like. Kanah Tall was only +five thousand feet above the level of the sea, and therefore very much +warmer than our last halting-place. Of this we were by no means sorry, +not only for our own sakes, but for the sakes of our personal servants, +who had never before travelled out of the plains. Here, at Kanah +Tall, we found the English holly growing. Botanists may tell me what +they please about this holly of the Himalayas bearing a distinctive +character; but I say it was the English holly--the same sort of holly +that I saw last Christmas in almost every house in London and in the +country. + +Here, at Kanah Tall, we shot no less than seven elks. These deer are +very plentiful hereabouts, and do a great deal of damage to the crops +of the poor villagers at harvest time. Ghooral and kakur also abound +here. We were so tired on the evening that we stopped at Kanah Tall +that we could not sit up to play at whist! We actually fell asleep over +our second rubber, and by general consent threw our cards upon the +table and sought our beds. + +The next day, at three P.M., we arrived at a place called Jullinghee, +ten miles distant from Kanah Tall. Jullinghee is a large village +situated on the right bank of the Bhagaruttee, a stream that flows +direct from Gungootrie, and is in consequence one of the most sacred +streams that compose the mighty and holy Ganges. We were encamped +beneath a clump of apricot and walnut trees, but it was frightfully +hot; for we were now not more than a couple of thousand feet above +the level of the sea. The woods, however, were exceedingly beautiful +and diversified. Not only were there apricot, walnut, rhododendrons, +oaks, hollies, and other trees of the higher altitudes, but also the +tamarind, the fig-peepul, the pomegranate, and others of the plains. +At this village we procured some honey, which is taken from its makers +in a very singular manner. The bees build in cavities in the walls of +the houses, which are closed within by a moveable board, and are only +entered by the bees, by a small aperture from without. When the owners +of the houses want honey they darken the interior of the house, and +removing the board, which forms the back part of the hive, extract as +much as they require. The bees during this process fly out into the +light to discover their enemies, who then close the back part of the +hive, and remain safely within doors until the wrath of the bees has +subsided. + +In the evening we took a walk in the village of Jullinghee, which +appeared to be rich and populous, but very dirty. Our arrival had +caused a great stir, and there was a large concourse of people near our +tents to look at us. A short distance from the village were the ruins +of several houses which once formed a separate hamlet, but which had +been deserted for fear of a ghost which was said to haunt it. The same +effect of superstition is by no means uncommon in the plains of India. +There is a very curious instance in the Meerut district. A village +had long been deserted under the idea that it was haunted by a fakir. +The settlement officer, however, with much difficulty prevailed upon +a neighbouring Zemindar to farm the land at something like a nominal +revenue. Shortly afterwards the Zemindar presented himself to the +settlement officer, and represented that he had been very ill, and +that the visitation was ascribed by his friends and by himself to his +impiety in interfering with haunted lands. The settlement officer, +however, talked to him and insisted on his keeping his engagements, +and once more did he venture to brave the ghost. So complete was his +success that the village shortly became one of the most flourishing +in the district, and the very relatives who had been foremost in +reproaching the zemindar for his impiety, brought a suit against him in +one of the local courts, to recover a share of his large profits! + +On the day following we marched to a place called Teree, a large +straggling village, situated on a plain of some extent, at the junction +of the Billung and Bhagaruttee rivers. A regular hot wind was blowing +here, and our tents were unbearable; so we threw ourselves beneath +the shade of a huge tree which grew on the banks of the Billung, and +which served also as a shelter for a party from Srinugger, who were +celebrating the marriage festival of a Bunneah (corn-merchant) of some +twenty-two years of age, with a young lady of eight. The little damsel +was on the ground, and did ample justice to the marriage dinner, which +consisted of rice, butter, sweetmeats, and a goat roasted whole--a goat +which had been decapitated by one blow, and cooked without any sort +of preparation beyond the removal of the entrails; it was not even +skinned. Portions of this feast were distributed on plantain leaves to +each guest by the Brahmins, who officiated as cooks and waiters. + +Teree is the residence of a Rajah, named Soodersain Saha, whose family, +before the Goorkha invasion, ruled over the provinces of Gurhwal and +Sirmoor, and indeed over the whole hill country as far as Simlah, +and from the snowy range to the plains. Expelled by the Goorkhas, he +sought refuge with the British: and after defeating the Goorkhas, +was replaced by us in the greater part of his territories; a part of +them we retained as the price of our assistance, namely, a portion of +Gurhwal, the whole of Dehra Dhoon, and a part of the Terai. And we hold +Landour and Mussoorie from him at a nominal annual rent. The Rajah is +extremely civil to Europeans, and the moment he heard of our arrival he +sent a deputation to wait upon us. The deputation brought with them a +variety of presents, consisting of milk, sweetmeats, dried flour, dried +fruits, and a couple of goats. The deputation gave us to understand +that it would afford the Rajah very great pleasure to make our personal +acquaintance; and we were just on the point of starting for his +Highness's abode, when his arrival was unexpectedly announced to us. At +Srinugger, in a portion of the country we took from him, is situated +the family palace, a handsome and substantial building. This is rather +a sore point with the old Rajah, and as he considers the more modern +abode which he now inhabits beneath his dignity, he prefers going to +see any one with whom he is desirous of having an interview. + +Having caused chairs to be placed in the front of our tents, we +advanced to meet the Rajah, who, dismounting from a large Cabul horse, +joined us, shook hands with us very cordially, and remained with us for +upwards of an hour. He was a very small and rather an old man; active +and intelligent. He talked to us about the Goorkha war, of which he +had been a spectator in the British camp; and he was very eloquent on +Punjab politics, and greatly praised Lena Singh, whom he described as +"very far in advance of any of his countrymen in point of humanity, +civilization, and prudence." The little man told us, amongst other +things, that he was thinking of having an iron suspension-bridge over +the Bhagaruttee, but that he could not find an engineer; and that his +applications to the Government, although he was ready to defray every +expense, had not met with any reply. The present bridge is a sling or +swing, and constructed in the following manner. Two lines of coir rope, +each consisting of a number of smaller ropes, are suspended from the +rocks on either side of the stream, and apart from each other about +four feet. From these ropes depend, at intervals of about two feet, +smaller lines or ropes about three or four feet deep. These support +slight wooden ladders, the ends of which are lashed firmly to one +another. The whole affair has a very frail appearance, and at first +it requires no small amount of nerve to step from ring to ring of the +ladder, over that roaring torrent beneath. Of course this bridge is +only passable by men. Cattle and mules swim across the river much +higher up, where the torrent is not so rapid. + +We asked the Rajah where he had got his idea of an iron suspension +bridge, and he replied: "From a picture-book which was given to me by a +gentleman who was out on a shooting excursion some years ago in these +hills." + +We stayed two days at Teree, and, despite the heat, enjoyed ourselves +amazingly. Our next encampment ground was at a place called Pon, a +march of eleven miles. Our route at first lay along the south bank of +the Billung river, and then up a deep glen at the foot of a mountain, +whose summit was some five thousand feet above the level of the ocean. +The monotony of this day's journey was broken by meeting with another +marriage party, some of whom carried parasols of evidently Chinese +manufacture, and made out of painted paper. We shot also several green +pigeons--a very different bird from the green pigeons of the plains, +and much better eating. By-the-by we also met a pilgrim and his wife on +their way to Gungootree, the source of the Ganges: both of them were +painted and bedaubed after the most grotesque fashion. The Frenchman +took a sketch of this couple, and I have heard that it now adorns an +album in the possession of the Empress of the French. + +Our next march was to a place called Tekowlee, where we halted beneath +the shade of some large trees, and near the banks of a clear stream +of water. On one side of the stream there grew a quantity of wild +mint, some of which we gathered and cooled, preparatory to using it +for "cup." There is a moderate-sized village near Tekowlee, and a +Gosains' house or monastery, which is inhabited by a large number of +this sect: we visited, and entered into conversation with them. The +building was composed of a large square court-yard, surrounded by a +range of two-storied barracks, or rather cells, the lower story of +which is protected by a verandah. The place was full of men, women, and +children: the Gosains being the only monastic order who are permitted +by their tenets to marry. + +We had been out sixteen days before we reached Loba, near to which +place the Commissioner of Kumaon resides during the rains and the +autumn. His bungalow is built upon the spur of a hill of considerable +length, and there is a good quantity of flat ground in the vicinity. +Not far from the bungalow is an old fort, a Goorkha stronghold, which +commanded the pass leading to Almorah. It is chiefly celebrated, +however, as the place where Moorcroft and Hearsey were discovered on +their return from the Munsarowar lake, whither they had gone disguised +as Bairagis; and so well had they sustained their characters, that +they would have returned undetected, had not a rumour of their attempt +reached the ears of the authorities and excited their vigilance. +They were harshly treated for some days, but eventually released on +a promise that they would return direct, and without delay, to the +British territories. + +The Commissioner was not at the bungalow when we arrived. Mr. West, +however, knew him sufficiently well to warrant our taking possession of +it for the day. After a residence for some time in tents, a house is a +very agreeable change. + +On leaving Loba we came upon the Pilgrim road, constructed by a +former Commissioner of Kumaon to facilitate the progress of the +pilgrims to the sacred places within the British Himalayas. It was +a very humane project, for many of the unfortunate pilgrims used +formerly--overcome by the difficulties of the route--to lie down and +perish by the way-side. Of these pilgrims we met swarms--hundreds, if +not thousands--and with some we occasionally stopped to converse. + +Our encamping ground, at which we arrived at four in the afternoon, was +a short distance from a village called Guniah. Our tents were pitched +beneath a clump of trees, and close to a clear stream called the Ram +Gunga, in which we caught a quantity of fish with a casting-net. There +are some mines between Loba and Kumaon, but we did not go out of our +way to visit them. Here an accident happened to the Baron. He sprained +his ankle and could not walk; so the next morning we put him into a +Dandi, and he was carried along the road by four of the coolies. A +Dandi is a pole, upon which is hung by its two ends, which are gathered +together, a piece of cloth or canvas, open in the centre. This forms +a hollow seat, not a particularly comfortable one, until you get +accustomed to it, when the motion is rather pleasurable than otherwise. +During this day's march we shot a quantity of black partridge, a hill +fox, a deer, and a wild dog of enormous size. + +On the third day after leaving Loba we sighted our (then) +destination--the town of Almorah. On nearing the place we came upon +a hill to the right, which bears the name of Brown's Hill; so called +after an officer of the 31st Native Infantry, who, in the Goorkha war, +volunteered to take it with his company, though it had a stockade on +the top which was obstinately defended. And he did take it, after a +very severe loss. A monument is erected on this hill to the memory of +those who fell in the engagement. A little further on is a large tree +now used as a gallows. This tree was the scene of a well-remembered +occurrence, just after the above-mentioned battle. A Goorkha, shot +through the leg, had fallen here. The fighting over, a British officer +was standing over him, and giving directions to a party of Sepoys to +have him taken to the hospital; when, raising himself with his left +hand, with his right he cut the officer down with his kookeree--a +deadly weapon with which the little Goorkhas now chop up the rebels. + +Apropos of a kookeree in the hands of a Goorkha, I must relate a +little matter which I now know to be a fact, but which I could scarcely +credit when it was first told to me. A party of Goorkhas--say fifteen +or twenty--will proceed to a jungle in which they know there is a huge +tiger. They will surround the jungle, form a circle, and closing in +gradually, hem in the ferocious beast. Every man will then drop down +on the right knee, as soldiers do forming a square, and, kookeree in +hand, wait for the spring of the tiger, who becomes somewhat bewildered +and anxious to make his escape. After moving about for a brief while in +this den, of which the bars are human beings (about five feet high), +and glaring first at one and then at another, he lashes himself into +a fury and makes his spring: then the nearest Goorkha delivers a blow +with his kookeree which divides the tiger's skull. Wonderful as this +feat is, I once saw at Jutog, near Simlah, a sight that struck me as +even more wonderful. A Goorkha battalion was (and now is) quartered +at Jutog. There was a festival at which the Goorkhas sacrifice an ox. +The adjutant of the battalion asked me if I should like to witness the +ceremony; as it was something new to me, I replied in the affirmative, +and we walked to the parade ground, where the whole regiment, in +undress, was assembled, and surrounding the victim and the executioner. +The ox was forced to kneel, and by the side of him knelt the little +Goorkha, armed with the kookeree, which is nothing more than a huge +curved knife, but very heavy, and as sharp as a razor. At a given +signal he struck the ox immediately behind the hump over the shoulder, +peculiar to all Indian cattle; and the body was divided into two parts. +He had, with a single blow, gone though the ox just as completely and +as cleanly as a butcher with his hatchet would remove a chop from +a loin of mutton. They are a very odd race of people, those little +Goorkhas; wonderfully honest even among themselves; light-hearted +almost to childishness; capable of enduring any amount of toil; +obedient and respectful, without cringing to, fawning on, or flattering +their superior, the white man. The great blot upon their characters is +their frightful jealousy of their wives. Woe betide the woman who gives +her Goorkha husband the faintest reason to suspect her of infidelity! +He at once takes the law and the kookeree into his own hands, and slays +both the wife and her (real or supposed) gallant. I am glad to say this +is not a frequent occurrence, though it does happen now and then. As a +body, the Goorkha women are as virtuous as their husbands are honest +and brave. + +The Commissioner of Kumaon received us at Almorah, his head-quarters, +with great cordiality and kindness, and offered us rooms in his house. +This offer we declined, inasmuch as our party consisted of four, and +his house was not a large one. Besides, he had other visitors who were +putting up at his bungalow. We accepted, however, his invitation to +dine, and on our way rode through the town, which is considered the +best in the British hill possessions. Bishop Heber writes that Almorah +reminds him of Chester. It consists of one street about a mile and a +half long, and about sixty feet wide, paved with large slabs of slate, +and closed at either end by a gate. One half of the town is much higher +than the other, and the street is divided in the middle by a low flight +of steps on which the ponies pass up and down with extraordinary +self-possession. The houses are small, but neat and whitewashed. +They all consist of two or more stories. The lower ones are shaded +by wooden verandahs more or less carved. At one end of the town is +the old Goorkha fort; at the other end Fort Moira, a small English +fortification, near to which were the Sepoy lines. A neat little church +has just been erected at Almorah. The people of the place are all +fair-complexioned, and some of the children as white as those born of +European parents. + + + + +RETURNING. + + +At Almorah I parted company with my foreign friends. They intended +crossing the mountains--the snowy range--to pay a visit to Kanawur. +This was a journey for which I had not much inclination; besides I was +doubtful whether I could breathe at an elevation of eighteen thousand +feet above the level of the sea. As it was, several of the coolies died +of cold and the rarity of the atmosphere. In fact, both of my friends +themselves had, as they informed me afterwards, a very narrow escape. +On several occasions they were compelled to huddle themselves amongst +the coolies in their tent, and the sheep which they were taking with +them for food were kept alive for the sake of the warmth they could +impart in the canvas abode. The grandeur of the scenery, they said, +would defy any attempt at describing it. What they most wondered at +was the impudence of that insect, man, in daring to climb up into such +regions. + +My friend, the assistant magistrate, had still a fortnight of unexpired +leave, and proposed to me that we should pay a visit to a friend of +his at an out-of-the-way station, called Bijnore. I had not the least +objection, and thither we went. We were most hospitably received, +partly out of regard for ourselves in particular, but chiefly because +our host had not seen a white face for five weeks. + +The cutcherry, or court-house, was undergoing repair, and the +magistrate, therefore, was obliged to administer the duties of his +office in his own abode, or rather in the verandah; for a large number +of half-clad natives in a hot country do not impart to a confined +space an agreeable perfume by any means. To me this scene--the native +court--was particularly interesting. There sat the covenanted official +in an arm-chair, with his solah hat on and a cheroot in his mouth, +listening very attentively to the sheristadar, or head clerk, who +was reading or singing aloud the entire proceedings in the case then +pending. + +The prisoner, surrounded by half-a-dozen native policemen, all with +drawn swords, was standing ten paces off. Ever and anon he interrupted +the court by protesting his innocence, and assuring the Sahib that +the whole of the depositions were false from beginning to end. This +interruption was usually--I may say invariably--rebuked by the +words, "Choop raho, suer!" ("Hold your tongue, you pig!") And, not +unfrequently the nearest policeman accompanied this mandate by giving +the culprit a smart blow on the back or a "dig in the ribs." I have +seen prisoners well thrashed in our Indian courts of justice by order +of the presiding magistrate for talking out of their turn; but that was +not the case in the present instance. No more violence was resorted +to than was absolutely necessary for the maintenance of order and the +progress of the trial. The offence of which the prisoner stood charged +was that of forging a bond for five hundred rupees, and suing thereon +for principal and interest. The defence was, that the signature to +the bond was not a forgery, and that the money had been advanced to +the prosecutor; to prove which, no fewer than seven witnesses were +called. Each of them swore, point blank, that, upon a certain day and +at a certain place, they saw the prisoner pay over the money, and saw +the prosecutor execute the deed. To rebut this, the prosecutor called +eleven witnesses who swore, point blank, that, upon the day and at the +hour mentioned as the day and hour on which the deed was executed, they +met the prosecutor at a village forty miles distant from Bijnore. In +short, if their testimony was to be relied upon, the eleven witnesses +had proved an alibi. + +This was one of those cases which happen continually in courts +of justice in India; where the magistrate or judge must not be, +and is not, guided by the oaths of the witnesses, but entirely by +circumstances. It is one of those cases, too, in which it would be +dangerous to consult the native officers of the court; for having +received bribes from both parties, their advice would be dictated +entirely by pecuniary considerations. With them the question would +be simply out of which party--the accused or the prosecutor--could +most money be got in the event of "guilty" or "not guilty." With +regard to the characters of the witnesses, they are pretty equal, and +generally very bad on both sides. Indeed, in nearly all these cases, +the witnesses are professionals; that is to say, men who are accustomed +to sell their oaths, and who thoroughly understand their business. They +know exactly what to say when they come into court, just as an actor, +who is letter perfect in his part, knows what to say when he comes on +the boards. In fact, a case is got up exactly as a play is. Each man +has his particular part and studies it separately; before the day of +trial comes they meet and rehearse, and go through "the business" till +they verily believe (such is my opinion) that they are not perjured, +but are speaking the truth. As for shaking the testimony of men so +trained to speak to a certain string of facts, I would defy the most +eminent nisi prius advocate in Europe. Besides, even if you should +reject one part of a statement, it does not follow, in a native court, +that you should reject the whole. The price paid to these professional +witnesses depends, in a great measure, on the nature and magnitude of +the cause. It is about twelve per cent. out of the sum in dispute. +I believe it is distributed amongst the witnesses, and the like sum +amongst the native officers of the court. This, of course, does not +include little extra presents given secretly to those who are supposed +to have the greatest amount of influence with the Sahib, and who +pretend that they will speak to him favourably. The personal servants, +also, of the European magistrate or judge expect some gratuity, and +hang about a client like the servants of badly regulated hotels where +attendance is not charged in the bill. It is this that makes litigation +so expensive in India that even the successful party is often ruined +before the suit is half concluded. + +"Tiffin is ready, Sahib," said the khansamah, coming into the verandah, +and placing his hands together in a supplicating attitude. "It is on +the table, Sahib." + +"Then we will adjourn," said the magistrate, bowing to me, and rising. +This was at once the signal for breaking up the day's proceedings. + +The tiffin over, we began to play at whist, and continued to do so +until the sun had lost his power, when the buggies were ordered, and we +took a drive in couples along a very bad road. It fell to my lot to be +the companion of the magistrate, a very able and excellent man: one of +the most efficient officers in the East India Company's civil service. +He was, moreover, an admirable linguist, and spoke Hindostanee as well +as any native. + +"You understood the proceedings to-day?" he asked me. + +"I followed them; yes." + +"And you heard the evidence?" + +"Yes." + +"What would you say? Is he guilty or not?" + +"I cannot say, although I have thought a good deal on the point. Even +while we were playing whist, to-day's proceedings were uppermost in my +mind. Nothing can be clearer than that either one side or the other is +perjured." + +"Both sides are perjured. If the bond be genuine, the men who really +witnessed the execution and who subscribed their names as witnesses +will not come forward, or else they are such fools that the native +lawyer for the defence will not trust to them lest they should be +confused and commit themselves." + +"But what do you think? Is the bond a genuine document or not?" + +"That is the very question. And when there is no evidence to weigh, how +are you to act?" + +"I suppose that in those cases you give the prisoner the benefit of the +doubt?" I remarked. + +"Not always. If I did that, I should acquit almost every culprit that +is brought before me, and so would every judge throughout the length +and breadth of the land. By the way, about a year ago, I sent a case to +the sessions judge--a case of murder. I fancied there could be no doubt +as to the guilt of the accused; which was the opinion of the sessions +judge and of the Sudder Court of Appeal. The man was hanged about six +weeks ago; and now I have discovered, beyond all question, that he was +hanged for the offence of which his prosecutor was guilty! It may be +all very well for people in England to rail at the administration of +justice in this country; but they would be less severe upon some of us +if they could only come out here and see the material with which we +have to deal. The administration of justice may be, I confess, very +much reformed and improved, but where the great bulk of the people +are corrupt, it can scarcely be in anything like a perfect state." +This statement, remember, was made, by a magistrate who speaks as +well as writes the native language as well as the natives themselves. +But conceive the confusion and injustice in those courts, where the +magistrates solely depend on corrupt moonshees for what they know of +the evidence. + +There is but very little twilight in India; and by the time that we had +returned from the drive it was dark. Shortly afterwards, dinner was +announced. Dinner over, we resumed our whist, and played until midnight. + +The following day was a native holiday--a Hindoo holiday. What with +Hindoo holidays and Mahommedan holidays, nearly a third of every year +is wasted: for, upon these days public business is suspended and the +various offices closed. It is devoutly to be hoped that, when our rule +in India is completely re-established, these absurd concessions--these +mere pretexts for idleness--will no longer be suffered to prevail. +It is only the pampered native servants of the Government, civil and +military, who are clamorous for the observance of these "great days," +as they call them. Go into the fields or ride through a bazaar on +one of these holidays and you will see the people at their work, and +the shopkeepers pursuing their respective avocations. You pass the +court-house, the treasury, the magistrate's office, and observe that +they are all shut up. You ask the reason, and are informed that it is +a native holiday. You go to an establishment founded and conducted by +private enterprise--a printing-office, for instance--and you observe +Hindoos of every caste, and Mussulmans also, at their daily labour. +Why? Because the head of such an establishment stipulates that those +who wish for employ must work all the year round, and they prefer +employ on such terms to no employ at all. So it is in some mercantile +firms in Calcutta, and at the other Presidencies; albeit such firms +experience very great inconvenience from the circumstance of the +Government banks being closed on these holidays; if a merchant wishes +to get a cheque cashed, or a bill discounted, he must wait sometimes +for days together. Even the doors of the Queen's courts are often +closed, and the judges and the counsel left unemployed, notwithstanding +that the litigants are British subjects; and this because the native +writers in these courts and the officers attached to them, are paid by +the Company's Government, which recognises absence from duty on these +holidays. + +It would be hard to deprive either of the great sects of certain +holidays in every year. The Doorgah-Poojah, for instance, or the +Mohurrum; but it is sheer folly, and profitless withal, to sanction +these constantly repeated interruptions to public business. The idlers +of the covenanted civil service in India are, naturally, in favour of +closing the doors of the various offices as often as possible; but the +hard-working portion, those men who take some interest in the discharge +of the duties for which they draw their pay, regard the native holidays +as an intolerable nuisance which ought, long since, to have been +abolished. + +Whilst we were enjoying ourselves after dinner, on the evening of the +Hindoo holiday, the khansamah came in, and announced that two Sahibs +had arrived. + +"Two Sahibs?" said our host. "Who are they?" + +"They are strangers to me, Sahib," said the khansamah, "and they do not +speak Hindostanee; but their bearers say that they are Lord Sahibs." + +"Who on earth can they be?" said the magistrate of Bijnore (loudly) to +himself; and, rising, he left the table to make inquiry in person, and +offer the travellers every hospitality. + +"O, I beg your pardon," said a voice from one of the palanquins. "But +would you be good enough to tell me where I am?" + +"You are at Bijnore," said the magistrate, blandly. + +"Bij-what?" + +"Bijnore." + +"Then, how far am I from Meerut?" + +"A very considerable distance--forty miles at least." + +"How the deuce is that?" + +"Well, sir--in the words of the Eton Latin Grammar--I may reply:-- + + Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. + +But where have you come from?" + +"From Seharry something or other; but confound these nores, and pores, +and bores! There's no recollecting the name of any place, for an hour +together. The magistrate--I forget his name just now; but it was +Radley, Bradley, Bagley, Ragley, or Cragley, or some such name--told me +he would push me on to Meerut, and here am I, it seems, forty miles out +of my road! Well, look here. I am Lord Jamleigh." + +"Indeed! Well, you are welcome to some refreshment and repose in my +home, in common with your friend; and whenever you desire to be 'pushed +on,' I will exert my authority to the utmost to further your views." + +"O, thank you. My friend is my valet. Here, Mexton, jump out and take +my things into a room." + +While Mexton is obeying this order, and while his lordship is following +his host, let us inform the reader who his lordship was, and what was +the object of his mission to India. + +His lordship was a young nobleman, who was about to enter Parliament, +and, being desirous of acquiring information concerning India in +order to be very strong when the question for renewing the charter +came on in eighteen hundred and fifty-two or fifty-three, he resolved +on travelling in the country for a few months: the entire period of +his absence from home, including the journey overland, not to exceed +half a year. After a passage of thirty-four days--having already seen +the Island of Ceylon, and approved of it--his lordship landed at +Madras, was carried up to Government house, where he took a hasty +tiffin, and was then carried back to the beach, whence he reembarked +on board the steamer, and was, three days afterwards, landed at the +Ghaut in Calcutta, where he found a carriage ready to convey him +to the vice-regal dwelling. After two days' stay, he was "pushed +on," at his own request, to the Upper Provinces: his destination +being Lahore. The newspapers got hold of his name, and came out with +something of this kind:--"Amongst the passengers by the _Bentinck_ +is Lord Jamleigh, eldest son of the Right Honourable the Earl of +Dapperleigh. His lordship leaves Calcutta this evening, and will +pass through the following stations." Then came a list. At many of +the stations he was met--officiously met, by gentlemen in authority, +who dragged--literally dragged--him, in their anxiety to have a lord +for a guest, to their houses, and kept him there as long as they +could: taking care to have the north-west journals informed of where +and with whom his lordship had put up. He was not allowed to stay +at a dâk bungalow for an hour or two, and then proceed, taking--in +the strictest sense of the phrase--his bird's-eye view of India, its +people, its institutions, and so forth. Some of them threw obstacles +in the way of his getting bearers, so that he might remain with them +for four-and-twenty hours, and thus thoroughly impregnate and air their +houses with an aristocratical atmosphere. Others lugged him to their +courts and collectorates, albeit he had seen one of each at Burdwan and +Bengal, and consequently had seen the working of the Indian judicial +and revenue departments, and knew all about them! This sycophantic +importunity of a few government officials soured his lordship's temper, +which imparted to his manners a rudeness which was perhaps foreign to +his nature. His lordship was led to believe that _all_ Indian officials +were a parcel of sycophants--progress-impeding sycophants--and hence +he grew to treat them all alike: and he did not scruple, at last, to +extract his information from them much in the same way that a petulant +judge who has lost all patience with a rambling witness, takes him +out of the hands of counsel, and brings him sharply to the point. For +instance, "I know all about that, but tell me this,"--note-book in +hand--would Lord Jamleigh in such wise frequently interrogate his civil +hosts, who insisted on doing themselves the honour of entertaining +his lordship. The fact was that, in his own opinion, he knew all +about India and its affairs long before he touched the soil, for he +had read a good deal in blue books and newspapers. His object, as we +have before hinted, was simply to see the country and travel in it, or +through it, and thus arm himself with a tremendous and telling weapon +in a contested debate, should he take part therein. And therefore +when his lordship asked questions it was not so much with a view to +obtain information as to test the accuracy of that already acquired +by reading, over the fireside in the library, of his father's mansion +in Bagdad Square. Thus, the entries in his lordship's note-book were, +after all, merely a matter of form. + +Having divested himself of the dust with which he was covered, and +having restored himself to his personal comforts, his lordship joined +our little party, and partook of some dinner which the khansamah had +prepared for him. His repast concluded, his lordship moistened his +throat with a glass of cool claret, and proceeded, in his own manner, +to interrogate his host, who was not only an accomplished scholar, but +a ready and refined wit. It was thus that the dialogue was commenced +and continued:-- + +"What is the number of inhabitants in this district?" asked the noble +guest. + +"Upon my word I don't know; I have never counted them," said the host. + +"But have you no idea? Can't you give a guess?" + +"Oh, yes; some hundreds of thousands." + +"Ah! And crime--much crime!" his lordship persevered. + +"Very much. But we are going to reduce it, during the ensuing +half-year, exactly thirty-three and a-half per cent.," answered the +magistrate, looking uncommonly statistical. + +"How?" + +"Well, that is what my assistant and myself have decided upon." + +"I do not understand you. How can you possibly say at this moment +whether, during the next six months, the amount of crime shall be +greater or less?" His lordship was puzzled. + +"How? Why just in the same way that the directors of a joint-stock bank +determine in their parlour what shall be the amount of dividend payable +to shareholders. My assistant wanted to make a reduction of fifty per +centum on the last returns; but I think thirty-three and a-half will be +a very fair figure." + +"You intend, perhaps, to be more severe?" said the young legislator. + +"Nothing of the kind. On the contrary, we intend to be less energetic +by thirty-three and a-half per cent.--to take matters more easily, in +short." + +"I wish I knew what you meant." + +"I will explain it to you." + +"As briefly as possible, please." His lordship did not want to be +bored, evidently. + +"By all means." + +"I only want facts, you see." + +"And I am about to give you facts--dry facts." + +"Well?" + +"The facts are these. There is a district in these provinces nearly +twice the size of this, and it contains nearly double the number of +inhabitants." + +"Yes." + +"During the past half-year, the number of convictions in that district +has been very much less than the number of convictions in this +district. And the Sudder Court of Appeal has come to the conclusion, on +looking at the figures in the official return, that the proportion of +crime to population, in this district, is greater than it is in that +district." + +"Very naturally." + +"Indeed? But suppose that the magistrate of that district only attends +his court once or twice a-week, and then only for an hour or two on +those days; and suppose that his assistant is a young man who makes +sport his occupation and his business, and business his recreation and +his sport. And suppose that I and my assistant work hard, and do our +best to hunt up all the murderers, thieves, and other culprits, whom +we hear of, and bring them to justice and to punishment. What then? +Are the figures in the official returns, touching the convictions, to +be taken as any criterion of the crime perpetrated in our respective +districts?" His worship delivered these questions triumphantly. + +"In that case, certainly not." + +"Well, the Sudder have looked at the convictions, and the consequence +has been, that in the last printed report issued by that august body +(composed of three old and imbecile gentlemen) to the Government, the +magistrate of that district and his assistant have been praised for +their zeal, and recommended for promotion, while the magistrate and +assistant of this district have been publicly censured; or, to use the +cant phrase of the report, 'handed up for the consideration of the Most +Noble the Governor-General of India.'" + +"Is it possible?" asked the Lord, throwing up his hands. + +"You ask for dry facts, and I have given you dry facts." + +"May I make a note of this?" (pulling out an elegant souvenir). "Not +that I should think of mentioning your name." + +"You may make a note of it; and, so far as mentioning my name is +concerned, you may do as you please. I have already written to the +Sudder what I have stated to you," was the answer. + +"What! about the thirty-three and a-half per cent?" + +"Yes; and, what is more, I have insisted on a copy of the letter being +forwarded to the Governor-General." + +"And what will be the result, do you suppose?" + +"I neither know nor care. I have just served my time in this penal +country; and, being entitled to both my pardon and my pension, I intend +to apply shortly for both." + +The reader will be glad to hear that a long correspondence ensued on +this subject between the Sudder, the Government, and the mutinous +magistrate. The upshot was, that the imbecile old men who had too +long warmed that tribunal were pushed off their stools by the +Governor-General (Lord Dalhousie), who, very meritoriously, bullied +them into resigning the service; threatening, as some say, to hold a +commission on their capacity for office. In their stead were appointed +three gentlemen, whose abilities and vigour had hitherto been kept in +the back settlements of India. The crowning point of all was, that the +mutinous magistrate was one of the illustrious three! + +Lord Jamleigh informed us that he had seen Lahore, and that he was +about to go across the country to Bombay, and that he should then have +seen all three Presidencies, as well as all the Upper Provinces, and +the Punjab. He regretted, half apologetically, that he had not been +able to take a look at the Himalayas, Simlah and Mussoorie; but the +fact was, "he was so much pressed for time." + +"Poor devils!" exclaimed our host, smiling. "But, as they won't know +anything about it, they won't feel it much--indeed, not at all." + +"To whom are you alluding?" asked my lord. + +"The Himalayas," sighed our host, passing the claret to his lordship, +who, by this time, had discovered that he had not got into a nest of +sycophants, who worshipped a title, no matter how frivolous or how +insolent the man might be who wore it; but that he had accidentally +fallen into the company of persons of independent character; and +albeit, they were desirous of giving him a welcome and making him +comfortable--being a stranger who had lost his way--nevertheless, were +determined to make him pay in some shape for the want of courtesy he +had exhibited when the bearers set his palkee down at the door of the +bungalow. This discovery made his lordship a little uncomfortable, and +rather cautious in his observations. He felt, in short, as one who +knows that he has committed an error, and that some penalty will be +exacted; but what penalty, and how exacted, he cannot imagine. Had he +been able to get away, he would probably have taken a hasty farewell of +us. But that was impossible. His jaded bearers were cooking their food, +and, until twelve o'clock, there was no hope of getting them together. + +The khansamah came in with a fresh bottle of wine. Our host, +withdrawing his cigar from his lips, inquired of him if the wants of +the gentleman's servant had been attended to. + +"Yes, Sahib," was the reply. + +"And have you given him any champagne?" + +"No, Sahib." + +"Then do." + +"Oh, pray do nothing of the kind!" exclaimed his Lordship. "He is not +accustomed to it." + +"Then he will enjoy it all the more," said our host. "I hope he is +taking notes, and will write a book on India. I should much like +to see his impressions in print; and he may possibly dignify me by +devoting a few lines to the character of my hospitality. It is to be +hoped, however, that, should his travel inspire him with a thirst for +literary distinction, he will confine himself to a personal compilation +of his experience, and not go into judicial or revenue matters; for, +should he do so, you may find yourself clashing with him, and that +would be awkward. His publisher's critic might be inclined to break +a spear with your publisher's critic, in their respective reviews of +your respective works, and it would be quite impossible to conjecture +where the controversy might end. Indisposed as I am, generally, to +obtrude my advice upon any one, and much less on a perfect stranger, I +nevertheless feel that I am only doing you a kindness when I say that, +if I were you, I would regard Hindostan as a sort of Juan Fernandez, +myself the Crusoe thereof, and this valet as my man Friday; and then, +with a due observance of that line of demarcation which should always +be drawn between civilised man and the savage, I would not permit him +to keep even a stick whereon to notch the day or time of any particular +event that occurred during my residence in the country, lest he should +some day or other--in consequence of my having discharged him, or he +having discharged me--rise up and instigate some man or other to call +in question the accuracy of my facts. The wine is with you; will you +fill, and pass it on?" + +Lord Jamleigh became very red in the face, and rather confused both in +manner and speech. As for myself and the two assistant-magistrates, +there was something so benignant in the expression of our host's +handsome and dignified countenance--something so quaintly sarcastic in +the tone and manner of his discourse, that, had we known that death was +the penalty of not maintaining the gravity of our features, our lives +would certainly have been forfeited. + +A silence for several minutes ensued; and then Lord Jamleigh spoke to +our host as follows:-- + +"Most of the young noblemen who come to this country, come only to +travel about and amuse themselves. I come on business--I may say, +Parliamentary business. My time is short, and I must make the most of +it. I dare say, when you saw my name in the papers, as having arrived +in India, you little thought that I was not a man of pleasure and +excursion?" + +"Upon my word, the subject never once became a matter of speculation +with me," said our host. + +After some further conversation, in which our host spared his visitor +as little as was consistent with good breeding, Lord Jamleigh, who had +been "sitting upon thorns," rose and said:-- + +"I am afraid I have already trespassed on your goodness too long. I +will not attempt to apolo--apolo--or to express how much--how much; nor +to assure you that--assure you--that when--" + +"Oh, pray don't mention it!" said our host, smiling. "You desire your +palkee?" + +"If you please," said Lord Jamleigh. + +The palkee was ordered, and we were standing in expectation that +it would be instantly announced as "ready," when the sirdar-bearer +(head personal attendant) came into the room, in a state of excessive +trepidation, and informed us that the Sahib's Sahib (Lord Jamleigh's +valet) was drunk, asleep, and refused to be disturbed on any pretence +whatever. + +This announcement, which caused general merriment, induced Lord +Jamleigh to ejaculate:-- + +"That's the champagne, I suspected as much!" + +"Where is he?" inquired our host of the sirdar-bearer. "In his palkee?" + +"No, Sahib," was the reply. "He is lying on that Sahib's bed," pointing +to me. + +Here, again, everybody laughed, except myself. I was rather angry, +being somewhat particular on this point. So I suggested that he might +be put into his vehicle at once. The native servants, of course, were +afraid to touch him, lest he should awake and "hit out;" so we, the +five of us, Europeans, the magistrate, the two assistant magistrates, +Lord Jamleigh, and myself, had to lift, remove, and pack in his palkee, +the overcome, and perfectly unconscious valet. He must have been +sipping brandy-and water before he came to the bungalow, for he had +only half finished his bottle of champagne. Lord Jamleigh now got into +his palanquin, and composed himself for the night, or, rather, the +remainder of it, and in order that there might be no mistake as to his +Lordship's destination, the magistrate sent a horseman to accompany +the cortège, with directions that "the Sahibs" were to be taken to +Durowlah, on the road to Meerut, and to the house of the magistrate, +by whom Lord Jamleigh had been invited, or rather, "petitioned," to +stay with him, should he pass through that station, and (to use his +Lordship's own terms), as he had promised to do so, he supposed that he +must keep his word. When a palanquin is escorted by a sowar, the sowar +when the destination is approached, rides on and gives notice that a +lady, or gentleman, as the case may be, is coming; and, as the natives +of India can never pronounce European names properly, the precaution is +usually taken of writing down the name of the traveller on a card, or +a slip of paper, and giving it to the sowar. In this case, "Viscount +Jamleigh" was written down for the guidance and information of the +Durowlah functionary. + +It was about seven A.M. when this card was put into the hands of the +gentleman who had invited Lord Jamleigh; whom, by the way, he had +never seen. The bungalow was immediately all life and in commotion; +the servants ordered to prepare tea and coffee; the best bed-room +vacated by the present occupants; hot water in readiness; and ere long +a palkee--a single palkee--loomed in the distance; the other palkee +was a long way, some three miles, behind. One of the bearers who was +carrying it, had fallen and injured himself, and thus was a delay +of an hour and a half occasioned. And during that hour and half a +pretty mistake was committed. The first palkee was that containing the +valet, and the one behind was that of his lordship. The valet had not +recovered the effects of his potations; and, on being awakened, seemed, +and really was, bewildered and stupified--so much so, that he could not +inform the magistrate that he was "only a servant," and not entitled +to the attentions that were showered upon him. With trembling hand, he +took the cup of tea from the silver salver, and gazing wildly round, +murmured, rather than said-- + +"Brandy! Little Brandy!" which was at once brought and administered. +He then had his warm "wash," sat down on the best bed, and suffered +himself to be punkahed by two domestics in snow-white garments. This +revived him somewhat; but still he felt far too ill to talk. He simply +shook his head, and there was a good deal of meaning in that shake, if +the magistrate could only have understood it. + +"Take some brandy and soda-water, my lord," said his host. + +The valet nodded assent. + +The magistrate mixed the dose, and administered it with his own hands. + +The valet sighed, and again shook his head. + +"You will be better presently, my lord," said the magistrate. + +"Drunk as a lord!" hiccuped the valet. + +"O, no, my lord! It was the jolting along the road." + +"In that coffin?" said the valet, who now began to regain the use of +his tongue. + +"Yes, my lord." + +"Am I a lord? He, he, he! Where am I?" + +"At Durowlah, my lord." + +"And who are _you_?" + +"Your host, my lord." + +"Then this is not the station-house?" + +"Not exactly, my lord." + +"Give us a little drop more of that last brew." + +"Yes, my lord." + +"Ah! Thank you! I feel better now--much better. It was that champagne. +Good it was, though. What place was that we were at?" + +"Bijnore, my lord." + +"I'm not a lord." + +"Would that I were in your place, my lord!" + +"Well, it isn't a bad place," grinned the valet. "Plenty to eat and +drink, little to do, and good wages. But hang this Hindyer! It was a +mistake altogether!" + +The magistrate took this for fun, laughed immensely, and then said:-- + +"We had Lord Frederick Pontasguieure staying with us for a week, last +winter. A very amusing character he was." + +"O, had you? Was he amusing? O! We don't keep his company. Don't know +him. I'd give a five-pound note to be in Piccadilly at this moment. +This is a nice mess. But the traps are all right, I see. There's the +dressing-case, and the writing-desk, and the little medicine-chest." + +"Recline upon the bed, my lord, and have a gentle sleep. The punkah, +you will find, will very speedily lull you to repose." + +"Well, I will," said the valet; and soon fell fast asleep. The +venetians were then closed, and the house kept as quiet as possible. + +When Lord Jamleigh himself arrived, and established his identity, the +scene that ensued may be easily imagined. + +The magistrate, with a marvellous want of tact, acknowledged the +mistake that he had made: told, in fact, the whole uncomplimentary +truth. Lord Jamleigh, and perhaps with reason, was dreadfully annoyed +at the idea that the servant should have been mistaken for himself; +but he let out, however, that that was the third time the thing had +happened, and that in future he should insist upon the fellow wearing +livery, instead of plain clothes, and a black wide-awake hat. + +The valet was speedily lifted out of the best bed, and transferred to +another apartment, where he slept himself sober, and arose at about +half-past one to explain to his lordship that he was not much in fault. + +I would advise all noblemen and gentlemen who, like Lord Jamleigh, +would take a bird's-eye look at India, not to travel with an European +servant, who, in that country, is as helpless as an infant, and quite +as troublesome, besides being in the way of everybody in every house. +It is, moreover, cruel to the servant. He can talk to no one, and +becomes perfectly miserable. + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS. + + +The house of a civilian (a magistrate and collector) in the heart of a +district, such as Bijnore, is really worthy of contemplation. With the +exception of a bungalow, which is usually occupied by the assistant, +and which may, therefore, be said to belong to the magistrate's house, +there is no other Christian abode within five-and-thirty or forty +miles. The house is usually well, but not extravagantly, furnished; the +walls are adorned with prints and pictures, and the shelves well stored +with books. In a word, if the punkahs and the venetian blinds, the +therm-antidotes, and sundry other Indian peculiarities were removed, +you might fancy yourself in some large country-house in England. + +There was at Bijnore a native moonshee who was a very good scholar; +and, as I was anxious to read Hindostanee and Persian with him (the +more especially as I much enjoyed the society of mine host and his +assistant), I was induced to accept an invitation to remain for a +month. During this period I studied for several hours a-day, besides +attending the Court House regularly, to listen to the proceedings, and +acquire some knowledge of a most extraordinary jargon, composed of a +little Hindostanee, a little Persian, and a good deal of Arabic. This +jargon is known in India as the language of the courts. A good Persian +and Hindostanee scholar cannot understand it, unless he is accustomed +to it. Many magistrates and judges have insisted upon having pure +Hindostanee spoken; but to no purpose. Up to a recent period, Persian +mixed with Arabic was the language in which legal proceedings were +conducted,--Persian and Arabic being as foreign languages to the people +of India as English, German, or French. And, when the order went forth +that Hindostanee was to be used, the native officers of the courts, +and the native lawyers who practised therein, complied with it by +putting a Hindostanee verb at the end of each sentence, and using the +Hindostanee pronouns, retaining in all their integrity (or rascality) +the Persian and Arabic adverbs, prepositions, nouns, adjectives, and +conjunctions. An indigo planter in Tahoot, who spoke Hindostanee +perfectly, having lived amongst the natives for upwards of twenty +years, assured me that he did not comprehend a single sentence of a +decree in court Hindostanee, that he heard read out to him--a decree in +a case to which he was a party. What is even more absurd, each court +has its own peculiar jargon, so that the magistrate or judge, who from +long experience has acquired a thorough knowledge of the jargon of his +own court, has very great difficulty in comprehending the jargon of +another court. This might be altered by fining any officer of court, or +native lawyer, who, in matters connected with a suit, used words and +phrases unintelligible to the mass of the people; but the order would +have to emanate from Government. No magistrate or judge would venture +on even an attempt to bring about so desirable a reform. + +Whilst at Bijnore, I was seized with an attack of tic-douloureux, and +suffered all its extreme agonies. One of my host's servants informed me +that there was a very clever native doctor in the village, who could +immediately assuage any pain--tooth-ache, for instance--and he begged +permission to bring him to see me. I consented. + +The native doctor was a tall, thin Mussulman, with a lofty forehead, +small black eyes, long aquiline nose, and finely chiselled mouth and +chin. His hair, eye-brows, and long beard were of a yellowish white, +or cream colour. Standing before me in his skull-cap, he was about the +most singular looking person I ever beheld. His age did not exceed +forty-four or forty-five years. He put several questions to me, but +I was in too great pain to give him any replies. He begged of me to +sit down. I obeyed him, mechanically. Seating himself in a chair +immediately opposite to me, he looked very intently into my eyes. After +a little while, his gaze became disagreeable, and I endeavoured to turn +my head aside, but I was unable to do so. I now felt that I was being +mesmerized. Observing, I suppose, an expression of anxiety, if not of +fear, on my features, he bade me not to be alarmed. I longed to order +him to cease; but, as the pain was becoming less and less acute, and +as I retained my consciousness intact, I suffered him to proceed. To +tell the truth, I doubt whether I could have uttered a sound. At all +events, I did not make the attempt. Presently, that is to say, after +two or three minutes, the pain had entirely left me, and I felt what is +commonly called, all in a glow. The native doctor now removed his eyes +from off mine, and inquired if I were better. My reply, which I had no +difficulty in giving at once, was in the affirmative; in short, that I +was completely cured. Observing that he placed his hands over his head, +and pressed his skull, I asked him if he were suffering. + +"Yes, slightly," was his reply; "but I am so accustomed to it, it gives +me but little inconvenience." + +I then begged of him to explain to me how it was that he had the power +to afford me such miraculous relief. That, he said, he was unable to +do. He did not know. I then talked to him of mesmerism and of the +wonderful performances of Dr. Esdaile, in the Calcutta hospital. He +had lately heard of mesmerism, he said; but, years before he heard of +it, he was in the habit of curing people by assuaging their pain. The +gift had been given to him soon after he attained manhood. That, with +one exception, and that was in the case of a Keranee--a half-caste--no +patient had ever fallen asleep, or had become beehosh (unconscious), +under his gaze. "The case of the half-caste," he went on to say, +"alarmed me. He fell asleep, and slept for twelve hours, snoring like +a man in a state of intoxication." I was not the first European he had +operated upon, he said; that in Bareilly, where he formerly lived, he +had afforded relief to many officers and to several ladies. Some had +tooth-ache, some tic-douloureux, some other pains. "But," he exclaimed, +energetically, "the most extraordinary case I ever had, was that of a +Sahib who had gone mad--'drink delirious.' His wife would not suffer +him to be strapped down, and he was so violent that it took four or +five other Sahibs to hold him. I was sent for, and, at first, had great +difficulty with him and much trembling. At last, however, I locked his +eyes up, as soon as I got him to look at me, and kept him for several +hours as quiet as a mouse, during which time he had no brandy, no +wine, no beer; and, though he did not sleep, he had a good long rest. +I stayed with him for two days, and whatever I told him to do he did +immediately. He had great sorrow on his mind, poor man. Three of his +children had died of fever within one short week, and he had lost much +money by the failure of an agency-house in Calcutta. There was a cattle +serjeant, too, an European, whom I also cured of that drinking madness +by locking up his eyes." + +"What do you mean by locking up his eyes?" + +"Well, what I did with you; I locked up your eyes. When I got his eyes +fixed on mine, he could not take them away--could not move." + +"But can you lock up any one's eyes in the way that you locked up mine?" + +"No; not everybody's. There was an artillery captain once who defied +me to lock up his eyes. I tried very hard; but, instead of locking up +his, he locked up mine, and I could not move till he permitted me. And +there was a lady, the wife of a judge, who had pains in the head, which +I could not cure, because she locked up my eyes. With her I trembled +much, by straining every nerve, but it was of no use." + +"Do you know any other native who has the same power that you possess?" + +"Only three; but, I dare say, there may be hundreds in these provinces +who have it, and who use it. And now, Sahib," said the native doctor, +taking from his kummerbund (the cloth that encircles the waist) a +bundle of papers, "I desire to show you some of my certificates, at +the same time to beg of you to pardon my apparent want of respect in +appearing in your presence in this skull-cap instead of a turban; but +the fact is, that when I heard you were in such great pain, I did not +think it humane to delay until I had adorned myself." + +I proceeded to examine very carefully every one of his many +certificates; not that I was in any way interested in them, but +because I knew it would afford him great pleasure. In all, they +were quite as numerous as those which English charlatans publish in +testimony of their skill in extracting corns. They were more elaborate +however; for it is by the length of a certificate that a native judges +of its value--just in the same way that Partridge, when Tom Jones took +him to see _Hamlet_, admired the character of the King, because he +spoke louder than any of the company, "anybody could see that he was a +king." As for myself, I sat down and covered a whole sheet of foolscap +in acknowledgment of my gratitude to Mustapha Khan Bahadoor, for having +delivered me from unendurable torments. To my certificate I pinned a +cheque on the North-West Bank for one hundred rupees (ten pounds), +and, presenting both documents to the doctor, permitted him to take +his leave. Some months afterwards, on discovering that this cheque had +not been presented for payment, I wrote to the assistant-magistrate, +and asked him, as a favour, to send for the native doctor, and obtain +some information on the subject. In reply, I was informed that the +doctor preferred keeping the cheque appended to my certificate as an +imperishable memorial of the extraordinary value in which his services +had been held by an European gentleman, and that he would not part with +it for ten times the amount in gold or silver. Such a strange people +are the natives of India! Their cupidity is enormous certainly, but +their vanity (I am speaking of the better class) is even greater. +One hundred rupees was equal to half a year's earnings of the native +doctor, and yet he preferred holding the useless autograph of an +insignificant Sahib like myself for the amount rather than realize it. +The native doctor evidently reasoned thus:--"I might spend the one +hundred rupees, might not be believed if I made the assertion that I +had received it; but here is the voucher." Some may imagine that he +kept it as a sort of decoy-duck; but this I am perfectly satisfied was +not the case. + +I was now about to leave Bijnore, and, as time was of no object to me, +I made up my mind to travel no more by palkee, or horse dâk, but in the +most independent and comfortable manner. I therefore provided myself +with two small tents, and two camels to carry them, two bullocks to +carry the tent furniture, my baggage, and stores; a pony for my own +riding, and a similar animal for a boy khitmutghur, who was also my +personal servant or bearer. + +I engaged also a cook and a sweeper, or general helper; so that, when +the sawans (camel drivers), the bullock-man, and the syces (grooms), +were included, my establishment numbered, in all, eight servants, +whose pay in the aggregate amounted to fifty rupees (five pounds) per +mensem. This, of course, included their "keep," for they provided +themselves with food. The expense of keeping the camels, the bullocks, +and the ponies, was, in all, thirty-five rupees (three pounds fifteen +shillings) per mensem; while my own expenses, including everything +(except beer and cheroots), were not in excess of fifty rupees per +month; so that I was thus enabled to travel about India at a cost +of not more than two hundred pounds per annum, or two hundred and +twenty-five pounds at the very outside. The reader must remember that +in almost every one of the villages in India, fowls, eggs, rice, flour, +native vegetables, curry stuff, and milk are procurable, and at very +small prices, if your servants do not cheat you, and mine did not; for +I made an agreement with my boy khitmutghur to that effect; indeed, I +entered into a regular contract with him previous to starting, touching +the purchase of every article that would be required during my journey. +This boy was, in short, my commissariat department. His name was +Shumsheer (a word signifying in the Persian language, "a sword"), but +he generally went by the name of Sham. He had been for several months +in the service of the assistant magistrate of Bijnore; who, as a very +great favour, permitted the boy to accompany me on my travels; he was +so clever, so sharp, so intelligent, and so active a servant. He was +not more than sixteen, and very short, for his age; but stoutly built, +and as strong as a young lion. He was, moreover, very good-looking, and +had, for a native of Hindoostan, a very fair complexion. He had been +for several years the servant, or page, of an officer on the staff of +a governor-general, and he spoke English with considerable fluency, +but with an idiom so quaint, that it was amusing in the last degree to +listen to him. He had been "spoilt," in one sense of the word, while at +Government House, not only by his own master, but by the whole staff, +who had encouraged him to give his opinions on all subjects with a +freedom which was at first very disagreeable to me. But, ere long, I +too encouraged him to do so; his opinions were so replete with such +strong common sense, and were expressed in such an original fashion. +If an inquiry touching a certain administration had been called for +by Parliament, what an invaluable witness would that boy have been +before a Committee of either house--provided he had not been previously +"tampered with!" + +When all my preparations had been completed, I took leave of my +friends, and left Bijnore at three o'clock one morning. My destination +was Umballah. I did not take the main road; but a shorter cut across +the country, conducted by a guide who knew the district well, and who +was enjoined to procure for me another guide as soon as his information +failed him. + +By seven o'clock we had travelled over twelve miles of ground, and +as the sun was beginning to be very warm, I commanded a halt. Our +tents were then pitched beneath a tope (cluster) of mango-trees whose +branches formed a dense shade. Having bathed, breakfasted, smoked, +and read several pages of a Persian book, I fell asleep, and was not +awakened until noon, when Sham came into my tent and reported that +there was an abundance of black partridge in the neighbourhood: he +then proposed that I should dine early--at one P.M.--and at half past +four take my gun; and, permitting him to take another, sally forth in +search of the game. To this proposal I at once assented, and removing +my camp stool to the opening of my little hill tent, I looked out into +the fields, where I saw some men ploughing. For the first time during +my travels I was struck with the appearance of the instrument which the +natives use for tilling the soil; an instrument which, in fact, closely +resembles that used by the Romans, according to the directions laid +down in the Georgics: + + "Curvi formam adcipit ulmus aratri," &c., &c., + +and at first I felt some surprise that an implement so apparently +ill-fitted for the purpose for which it is designed, should answer +all the requirements of the cultivator. The substitution of the +English plough for this native hùr has been several times projected by +gentlemen who were zealous in the cause of agriculture; but without +any success, or reasonable hope thereof; for when we consider the +cheapness, and the great amount of labour always available, the general +lightness of the soil, the inaptitude of the natives of India for great +or continued physical exertion, the inferiority of the cattle, all of +which are the marked characteristics of India, it would not only be +undesirable, but impossible to introduce the English plough generally +as an implement of husbandry--an implement requiring physical strength, +manual dexterity, and a superior breed of cattle for draught. Rude and +simple as the native hùr is, or as it may seem to the casual observer, +cursorily viewing the operation of ploughing, it has still many good +qualities which render it peculiarly suited to the genius of the Indian +cultivator; and it is not in any immediate endeavour to improve it +or alter it that any real benefit can be conferred on the cause of +Indian agriculture. All the efforts, therefore, that have been made in +that direction have been time and trouble expended to no purpose. It +has been said that all improvement to be real must be spontaneous, or +take rise within itself; and it would seem to be more reasonable to +improve such means and appliances as the natives use and understand, +without running counter to the ideas and shocking the prejudices which +they entertain, by endeavouring to compel their adoption of European +modes of culture, which, however well suited to the land of their +origin, have not the quality most necessary to their practicability, +that of being comprehensible to the people of India. The true end of +agriculture: + + "with artful toil + To 'meliorate and tame the stubborn soil, + To give dissimilar yet fruitful lands + The grain, or herb, or plant, that each demands," + +is best to be attained by aiding and assisting the development of those +resources of the soil which have already been made visible by the +people themselves. + +Here it is that the duty of the Government begins. The precariousness +of the land tenure is one of the greatest impediments to the outlay +of capital by the tenant in the improvement of the land; and as +there is but little prospect of the removal of this objection, the +Government should fulfil what would, were the case different, be the +obvious plans of the landholder in developing the resources of the +soil. Irrigation and manure are the two great points most deserving +of attention. On both points the resources of the country are +incalculable; the advantages evident and immediate; both require system +and an outlay of capital, which the zemindar (native landholder) is +often unable, and oftener unwilling, to adopt and incur--from want of +confidence in the administration of the law and the law itself. With +the ryot, or cultivator, the case is very different. The law, or the +administration thereof, affects him in a very slight degree compared +with the zemindar. The land tenure matters very little to him; his +rights have been secured; he profits by the outlay of capital on the +land. Risk he has none. His advantage is immediate. But he does not +possess the means of improvement in any way. He may build a well, dig +a tank, or plant a grove to the memory of a departed ancestor, and by +so doing enhance the value of the land to the zemindar; but he almost +always ruins himself by the act, leaving his debts to be paid by his +descendants, and the well, tank, or grove mortgaged to the banker +for the extra expenses incurred in its establishment! It behoves an +enlightened Government to do for the people and the country what they +are unable to do for themselves. An inquiry properly set on foot, and +undertaken by competent persons on the part of the Government, to +investigate all particulars regarding the state of agriculture, would +bring to light many facts, which, if made fitting use of, would not +only greatly redound to the honour but adduce greatly to the advantage +and profit of the State. The information thus acquired, and not founded +on the reports of native (Government) collectors, police officers, +and peaons (messengers), but ascertained by the personal inspection +of European officials, and from the opinions of the zemindars and +cultivators themselves, would enable the Government to know and devise +remedies to obviate the evils arising out of the gradual decline of +the agricultural classes in our earliest occupied territories. It +would show the Government many places where the expenditure of four +or five thousand rupees (four or five hundred pounds) in the repairs +or erection of a dam, for the obstruction of some rain-filled nullah +(a wide and deep ditch), would yield a return yearly of equal amount, +besides affording employment, and the means of livelihood to hundreds +of persons. It would show where the opening of a road, or the +building of a bridge, involving but a small expenditure, would give a +new life to a part of the country hitherto forgotten, and render the +inhabitants flourishing and happy, by throwing open to them a market +for their produce--a market at present out of their reach. It would +prove incontestably that the means of irrigation--the true water-power +of India, has been even more neglected than the water-power of that +(in comparison with the United States) sluggish colony, Canada. The +initial step once taken--the march of improvement once fairly set on +foot--private enterprise, duly encouraged, will follow in the wake of +the Government; and capital once invested, land in India will become +intrinsically valuable, and thus obtain the attention it merits. +Agricultural improvement would induce lasting and increasing prosperity +of the cultivating classes (the bulk of the population) and of the +country itself. + + * * * * * + +"What! Sham! Dinner ready?" I exclaimed, on observing the boy +approaching the tent with a tray and a table-cloth. + +"Oh, yes, sir; quite ready. And very good dinner." + +"What have you got?" + +"Stewed duck, sir--curry, sir; pancake, sir. And by the time you eat +that, one little quail ready, sir, with toast. I give dinner fit for a +governor-general, sir; and the silver shining like the moon, sir." + +(It was in this way that he ran on whilst laying the table.) + +"But why are you preparing covers for two, when I am dining alone?" + +"Yes, sir. But only poor mans has table laid for one. That place +opposite is for company sake. And suppose some gentleman come--not +likely here, but suppose? Then all is ready. No running about--no +calling out, 'Bring plate, knife and fork, and spoon, and glass,' +and all that. And if two plates laid, master, if he like--when I am +standing behind his chair keeping the flies off while he eats--may +fancy that some friend or some lady sitting opposite, and in his own +mind he may hold some guftoogoo (conversation). That's why I lay the +table for two, sir." + +I had been warned by the gentleman who permitted Sham to accompany me, +that he was such an invaluable servant, it was only politic to let +him have his own way in trifling matters; and therefore instead of +objecting to his proceeding, I applauded his foresight. + +Whilst discussing the stewed duck, which was excellent--as was indeed +every dish prepared by Sham, when he had "his own way--" and while +he was standing behind me, keeping the flies off with a chowrie (a +quantity of long horsehair fastened to a handle), I talked to him +without turning my head: + +"You say you wish to take a gun. Have you ever been out shooting?" + +"Oh, yes, sir. When my master went up from Calcutta to Mussoorie and +Simlah with the Governor-General, I went with him. And I often went +out shooting in the Dhoon, with my master, who was a great sportsman, +sir. And I was out with my master--on the same elephant--when the +Governor-General shot the tiger." + +"What! Did the Governor-General shoot a tiger?" + +"Oh, no, sir. But my master and the other gentlemens make him think he +did, sir." + +"Explain yourself." + +"Well, sir, the Governor-General said he had heard a great deal of +tiger shooting, and should like to see some for once. So my master, who +was a very funny gentleman, went to an officer in the Dhoon--another +very funny gentleman--and between them it was agreed that his lordship +should shoot one tiger. And so they sent out some native shikarees +(huntsmen), told them to wound but not kill one big tiger in the +jungle, and leave him there. And the native shikarees did shoot one +big tiger in the jungle, and they came and made a report where he was +lying. Then next morning when all the elephants and gentlemens was +ready, and the Governor-General had his gun in his hand, they all went +to the jungle; and when they got to the place and heard the tiger growl +very angrily, my master called out; 'There, my lord--there he is; +take your shot!' and my lord fired his gun, and my master cried out +very loud: 'My lord, you've hit him!' And my lord, who was very much +confused--not being a sportsman--said, 'Have I?' And all the gentlemens +cried out: 'Yes, my lord!' And then some of the gentlemens closed +round the tiger and killed him, by firing many bullets at him. And my +lord had the tiger's skin taken off, and it was sent to England to be +make a carpet for my lord's sitting-room. And for many days all the +gentlemens laughed, and asked of one another, 'Who shot the tiger?' And +the Governor-General was so happy and so proud, and wore his head as +high as a seesu-tree. But he had enough of tiger-shooting in that one +tiger; for he was not a sportsman, and did not like the jolting of the +elephant in the jungle." + +My repast ended, and the table-cloth removed, I lighted a cigar, and +took my camp-stool once more to the opening of the tent, when, to my +surprise, and somewhat to my dismay, I found myself besieged by a +host of ryots, cultivators of the soil, each bearing a present in the +shape of a basket of fruit or vegetables, or a brass dish covered with +almonds, raisins, and native sweetmeats. These poor creatures, who +doubtless fancied that I was a Sahib in authority (possibly, Sham had +told them that I was a commissioner--a very great man--on a tour of +inspection), prostrated themselves at my feet, and in the most abject +manner imaginable craved my favour and protection. I promised each and +every one of them, with much sincerity, that if ever it lay in my +power to do them a service, they might depend upon my exerting myself +to the utmost; and then I made a variety of inquiries touching their +respective ages, families, circumstances, and prospects, in order to +prove that I had already taken an interest in them. I then asked them +some questions touching the game in the locality, and was glad to hear +the report made by Sham confirmed to the letter. I was assured that +the light jungle in the rear of my tents literally swarmed with black +partridges. + +It was now nearly time to go out, and in the course of two hours I +brought down no less than seven brace, while Sham distinguished himself +by killing five birds. By the time I returned to my tent I was weary, +and retired to rest, having previously given orders that I was to be +called at two A.M., insomuch as at that hour I intended to resume the +march. It is one thing, however, to retire to rest, but it is another +thing to sleep. What with the croaking of the frogs in a neighbouring +tank, and the buzzing and biting of the musquitoes in my tent, I could +not close an eye. I lay awake the whole night, thinking--thinking of a +thousand things, but of home chiefly; and right glad was I when Sham +approached my bed, holding in one hand a cup of very hot and strong +coffee, and in the other my cigar-case, while the noise outside, +incident on the striking of the tents and the breaking up of the little +camp, was as the sweetest music to my ears. + + + + +FORWARD. + + +I was twelve days marching from Bijnore to Umballah, and, by keeping +away from the high-road, I did not see during my journey a single +European face. I moved entirely amongst the people, or rather the +peasantry, of the Upper Provinces of India--a very poor and very +ignorant peasantry, but, comparatively speaking, civil and honest. Sham +made a much greater impression upon them than I did; mounted on his +pony, and dressed in very gay attire--a purple velvet tunic, pyjamahs +of red silk trimmed with gold lace, a turban of very gorgeous aspect, +and shoes embroidered all over with silver. He had more the appearance +of a young rajah or prince than a gentleman's servant. And Sham talked +to his countrymen--if the wretched Hindoos could be so called--in a +lofty strain which vastly amused me, though I did not approve of it. I +said nothing, however. As for the camp arrangements, he had completely +taken them out of my hands, and he was so much better manager than +myself that I was well content that it should be so; all that was left +to me was to name the hour for departing from an encampment-ground, and +the next spot whereon I wished my tents pitched. + +It was past six o'clock on the morning of the 20th of April, when I +came within a few miles of Umballah. The mornings and the nights were +still cool; but, in the day the heat was beginning to be very severe. +However, after taking my coffee and making my toilet, I caused my pony +to be re-saddled, and, followed by Sham mounted on his pony, rode into +the cantonments, inquiring my way, as I went along, of the various +servants who were moving about. I eventually found myself at the door +of a bungalow, which was tenanted by a very old friend and distant +connexion of mine. He was an officer in one of her Majesty's regiments +of foot, then stationed at Umballah. + +"You will sleep here, of course, during your stay," he said; "but you +are the guest of the mess, remember. We have settled all that, and we +will go up in the buggy presently to deposit your pasteboard in the +mess reading room. I will point out to you where you will always find +your knife and fork, and I will introduce to you all the servants--the +mess-sergeant especially." + +I must now digress for a brief while, in order to give the uninitiated +reader some idea of Indian etiquette as it exists amongst Europeans, +members of society. In other countries, or at all events in England, +when a gentleman goes to take up his abode, for a long or a short +period, in a strange locality, it is usual for the residents, if they +desire to show him any civility, or make his acquaintance, to call +upon him in the first instance. In India the reverse is the case. +The stranger must make his round of calls, if he wishes to know the +residents; and, what is more, he must leave his cards on the mess, +"for the colonel and officers of her Majesty's ---- Regiment." You may +leave a card on every officer in the regiment, from the senior colonel +down to the junior ensign; and each of them may, and possibly will, +invite you to his private board; but, if you omit to leave a card on +the mess, it would be a gross breach of decorum in any member of the +mess to invite you to dine at the mess-table, because you have "not +left a card on the mess." And not only to the royal regiments does the +rule pertain, but to every regiment in India, and to every brigade of +artillery. + +Having left my cards at the mess of the regiment to which my friend +belonged, I was driven to the mess-house of the ---- Dragoons, where +another expenditure of cards was incurred; then to the mess-houses of +the two native infantry regiments, and the mess-house of the native +cavalry regiment. I was then whisked off to the house of General Sir +Doodle Dudley, G.C.B., who commanded the division. The General was very +old, close upon eighty; but he was "made up" to represent a gentleman +of about forty. His chestnut wig fitted him to perfection, and his +whiskers were dyed so adroitly, that they were an exact imitation of +their original colour. The white teeth were all false; likewise the +pink colour in the cheeks and the ivory hue of the forehead. As for the +General's dress, it fitted him like a glove, and his patent leather +boots and his gold spurs were the neatest and prettiest I had ever +seen. In early life Sir Doodle had been a rival and an acquaintance +of Beau Brummell. When a Colonel in the Peninsular war, he had been +what is called a very good regimental officer; but, from 1818 until +his appointment to India, in 1847, as a General of Division, he had +been unattached, and had never done a single day's duty. He was so +hopelessly deaf, that he never even attempted to ask what was said to +him; but a stranger, as I was, would scarcely have credited it; for the +General talked, laughed, and rattled on as though he were perfectly +unconscious of his infirmity. I ventured a casual remark touching the +late dust-storm which had swept over the district, to which the General +very vivaciously replied:-- + +"Yes, my good sir. I knew her in the zenith of her beauty and +influence, when she was a lady patroness of Almack's, and the chief +favourite of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent. Oh, yes! she is +dead, I see by the last overland paper; but I did not think she was so +old as they say she was--eighty-four. Only fancy, eighty-four!" Then +darting off at a tangent, he remarked, "I see they give it out that I +am to have the command-in-chief at Bombay. The fact is, I don't want +Bombay, and so I have told my friends at the Horse Guards at least a +dozen times. I want the governorship and the command-in-chief at the +Cape; but, if they thrust Bombay upon me, I suppose I must take it. One +can't always pick and choose, and I fancy it is only right to oblige +now and then." + +"We shall be very sorry to lose you, General," said my friend, +mechanically; "very sorry indeed." + +"So I have told his Excellency," exclaimed the General, who presumed +that my friend was now talking on an entirely different subject. "So +I have told him. But he will not listen to me. He says that if the +court-martial still adheres to its finding of murder, he will upset +the whole of the proceedings, and order the man to return to his duty; +and the court _will_ adhere to its original finding; for the court +says, and I say, that a private who deliberately loads his firelock, +and deliberately fires at and wounds a serjeant, cannot properly be +convicted of manslaughter only. Well, it cannot be helped, I suppose. +The fact is, the commander-in-chief is now too old for his work; and he +is, as he always was, very obstinate and self-willed." And the General +continued, "For the command of an army or a division in India, we +want men who are not above listening to the advice of the experienced +officers by whom they are surrounded!" + +When we were leaving the General, he mistook me for my friend and my +friend for me, and respectively addressed us accordingly (his eyesight +was very imperfect, and he was too vain to wear glasses). He thanked me +for having brought my friend to call upon him, and assured my friend +that it would afford him the greatest pleasure in the world if the +acquaintance, that day made, should ripen into friendship. + +"He is an imbecile," I remarked, when we were driving away from the +General's door. + +"Yes; and he has been for the last six or seven years," was the reply. + +"But he must be labouring under some delusion with respect to being +appointed to the command-in-chief of an Indian presidency?" + +"Nothing of the kind. He is certain of it. He will go to Bombay before +six weeks are over, you will see." + +The General _did_ go to Bombay, where he played such fantastic tricks +before high heaven, that the angels could not have "wept" for laughing +at them. Amongst other things, he insisted on the officers of the +regiments buttoning their coats and jackets up to the throat, during +the hottest time of the year. He would have nothing unmilitary, he +said, "hot climate or no hot climate." He was quite childish before he +relinquished his command, and was brought home just in time to die in +his fatherland, and at the country-seat of his aristocratic ancestors. +Although utterly unfitted, in his after life, to command troops, he was +a very polished old gentleman, externally; and, having enjoyed a very +intimate acquaintance with Blücher, and other celebrated commanders, he +could repeat many anecdotes of them worthy of remembrance. "Blücher," +he used to say, "generally turned into bed all standing, jack-boots +included; and, if his valet forgot to take off his spurs, and they +became entangled with the sheets, woe betide the valet. The torrent of +abuse that he poured forth was something terrific." I also heard the +General say that Blücher, having seen everything in London, remarked +with great earnestness, "Give me Ludgate Hill!" and on being asked to +explain why, replied, with reference to the number of jewellers' and +silversmiths' shops which in that day decorated the locality, + +"Mein Gott! what pillage!" + +After leaving the General's house, we called upon some six or eight +other magnates of Umballah for the time being; and on returning to +the mess-house at the hour of tiffin, I was rather fatigued. The +scene, however, revived me considerably. There were seated round the +large table, in the centre of the lonely room, some seventy or eighty +officers of all ranks, from the various regiments in the station. There +was to be a meeting held that day at the mess-room, to discuss some +local matter, and the majority of those present had been invited to +"tiff" previously. No one was in uniform--at least, not in military +uniform; all wore light shooting-coats and wide-awake hats, covered +with turbans. The local question, touching the best means of watering +the mall, where the residents used to take their evening ride or drive, +having been discussed, the party broke up. Some went to the different +billiard-rooms to play matches (for money, of course); others retired +to private bungalows to play cards, or read, while reclining on a couch +or a bed, or a mat upon the floor. Every one smoked and sipped some +sort of liquid. It was to a room in my friend's bungalow that eleven of +the party, inclusive of myself, repaired, to while away the time until +sundown, by playing whist. + +Never did the character of an officer's life in India strike me so +forcibly as on that afternoon. There was an air of lassitude and +satiety about every one present. The day was hot and muggy, and the +atmosphere very oppressive. It was a fatiguing bore to deal the cards, +take up the tricks, mark the game, or raise to one's lips the claret +cup which Sham had been called upon to brew. Sham was well known to +most of the officers of the regiment to which my friend belonged. He +had made their acquaintance (to use his own words) when he was on the +Governor-General's staff. + +The three men who had not cut in at whist were lounging about, +and making ineffectual attempts to keep up a conversation. The +shooting-coats and the waistcoats were now discarded, and the +suspenders, and the shoes, or boots; in short, each person only wore +strictly necessary clothing, while the native (coolie) in the verandah +was ever and anon loudly called upon to pull the punkah as strongly +as possible. That room that afternoon presented a perfect picture of +cantonment life in India during the summer season, between the hours of +two and half-past five, P.M. The body is too much exhausted to admit +of any serious mental exertion beyond that which sheer amusement can +afford; and it is by no means uncommon to find your partner or yourself +dropping off to sleep when called upon to lead a card, or follow suit. +The three men who were sitting (or lying) out, soon yielded to the +influence of the punkah, closed their eyes, and got up a snore, each +holding between his fingers the cheroot he had been smoking. + +Ah, yes! It is very bad to have to endure the frightful heat--to feel +one's blood on the broil, even under a punkah, and with doors and +windows closed, to exclude the hot air of the open day. But what must +it be for the men, the privates and their wives and children? They +have no punkahs, though it has been shown that they might have them +at a trifling cost. They have no cold water, much less iced water to +sip--though they might have it, if the authorities had the good sense +(to put humanity entirely out of the question) to be economical of +that invaluable commodity in India, British flesh and blood. They, +the men of the ranks, and their wives and children, have no spacious +apartments (with well-fitted doors and windows), to move about in, +though there is no reason why they should not have them, for the land +costs nothing, and labour and material is literally dirt-cheap in the +Upper Provinces of India. + +"But the Royal Infantry Barracks at Umballah is a fine, large +building!" it may be suggested. I reply, "Not for a regiment one +thousand strong"--a regiment mustering one thousand bayonets, to say +nothing of the numerous women, and the more numerous children. In a +cold climate, it would be ample for their accommodation; but not here, +where in a room occupied by an officer, the thermometer frequently +stands at ninety-three degrees, and sometimes at one hundred and five +degrees. In the matter of ice, the reader must be informed how it is +manufactured. During the "cold weather," (as the winter is always +called,) small earthenware vessels of shallow build, resembling saucers +in shape, are filled with water, and placed in an open field, upon a +low bed of straw. At dawn of day there is a coating of ice upon each +vessel, of about the thickness of a shilling. This is collected by +men, women, and children (natives), who receive for each morning's, +or hour's work, a sum of money, in cowries, equal to about half of +a farthing. When collected, it is carried to an ice-pit, and there +stored. The expenses are borne by a subscription, and the amount for +each ticket depends entirely on the number of subscribers. In some +large stations, an ice-ticket for the hot season costs only three +pounds. In smaller stations it will cost six pounds. The amount of ice +received by each ticket-holder is about four pounds, and is brought +away each morning at daylight, in a canvas bag, enveloped in a thick +blanket, by the ticket-holder's own servant. It is then deposited in +a basket made expressly for the purpose. In this basket is placed the +wine, beer, water, butter, and fruit. The bag of solid ice is in the +centre of all these, and imparts to each an equal coldness. These +four pounds of ice, if properly managed, and the air kept out of +the basket, will cool an inconceivable quantity of fluids, and will +last for twenty-four hours--that is to say, there will be some ice +remaining when the fresh bag is brought in. If a bewildered khansamah, +or khitmutghur, in his haste to bring a bottle, leaves the basket +uncovered, the inevitable consequence is, that the ice melts, and there +is an end of it for the day. I have scarcely known a family in which +corporal punishment was not inflicted on the servant guilty of such +a piece of neglect. But, great as was the privation, it was always +cheerfully endured by the society, when the doctors of the various +departments indented on them for their shares of ice respectively. +And this occasionally happened, when the hospitals were crowded with +cases of fever. Scores and scores of lives were often saved by the +application of ice to the head, and the administration of cold drinks. + +Ice is not manufactured below Benares. Calcutta and its immediate +neighbourhood revels in the luxury of American ice, which may be +purchased for three half-pence per seer (two pounds). The American +ships, trading to India, take it as ballast, which by the time it +arrives in the river Hooghley becomes a solid mass. + +The sun has gone down, and it is now time to bathe and dress for +our evening drive. The band is playing. We descend from the buggy, +languidly; and languidly we walk first to one carriage and then to +another, to talk with the ladies who are sitting in them. They, the +ladies, wear a very languid air, as though life, in such a climate, +were a great burden--and it is, no doubt, a great burden from the +middle of April to the first week in October. There is a languid air +even about the liveliest tunes that the band plays. Then we languidly +drive to the mess-house for dinner. The dinner is more a matter of +form than anything else. But the wines, which are well iced, are +partaken of freely enough--especially the champagne. There is, of +course, no intoxication; but as the evening advances the company +becomes more jovial, and by the time the dessert is placed on the +table, that dreadful feeling of languor has, in a great measure, taken +its departure. It is now that the evening commences, and many very +pleasant evenings have been spent in that Umballah mess-room, despite +the heat. The colonel of the regiment to which my friend belonged was +a man of very good sense; and during the hot season he sanctioned his +officers wearing, except when on parade, a white twill jacket, of a +military cut, with the regimental button; and he had not the slightest +objection to a loose necktie instead of a tightly-fitting black stock. +This matter ought to have been sanctioned by the highest military +authority, the commander-in-chief; or rather, it ought to have been +stated in a general order that such rational attire was approved of, +instead of being left to the caprice of a colonel, or brigadier, or +general of division. The regiment of royal cavalry, too, were equally +fortunate in their colonel. He was also of opinion that the comfort +of the officers under his command was worthy of some consideration, +and he could not see the necessity of requiring a gentleman to sit +down to dinner in a thick red cloth jacket (padded), and buttoned up +to the very chin. But before I left Umballah, the old General altered +this, and insisted on "this loose and unsoldierlike attire being +instantly abandoned." He had overlooked it for several months, or, at +all events, had expressed no objection; but suddenly the major-general +commanding was aroused to observe with great regret that the dress in +some regiments was fast becoming subversive, &c., &c. The reason of +the major-general's sudden acuteness of observation was this:--he was +about to give a ball at his own house, and for some inexplicable cause +had not invited any of the officers of her Majesty's ---- Regiment of +Foot. But on the morning of the night on which the ball was to take +place, he requested his aide-de-camp to write the following note:-- + + "The Major-General commanding the Division desires that + the band of H.M.'s ---- Foot may be in attendance at the + Major-General's house at half-past nine precisely." + +And the band went at half-past nine, for the General had a perfect +right to order the men to attend at his house whenever he pleased; but +the band went without their musical instruments, for they (as I believe +is the case in all regiments) were the private property of the officers +for the time being, and, like the regimental plate, the loan thereof +for any particular occasion must be regarded as a matter of favour, and +not as a matter of right. So the General had no music out of the band: +and the officers in the station had no comfort in their dress, until +the General left the station for his command at Bombay. + +It may possibly be imagined that the General had, in his earlier days, +done the State great service as a military commander, and for that his +appointment was the reward. Nothing of the kind. When he left the army, +and became unattached, he was only a regimental colonel, and had only +been once mentioned by the Duke of Wellington in his despatches, as +having gallantly led his regiment into action; for this single mention +he was made a brevet major-general and a C.B., while other colonels +who had performed precisely the same service, remained unpromoted +and undecorated. Sometimes, during his Indian career--not that he +was intoxicated by wine, for the General in his dotage was rather +abstemious--he would be utterly oblivious to the fact that he _was_ in +India, and would hold a conversation with some young ensign, (who had +been one of his dinner party, and who, in haste to get away early to +billiards, came up to say good night) after the following fashion:-- + +"Look here, my pretty boy, as you will be passing Fribourg and +Pontet's, just look in and tell them--O, how like you are to your dear +mother! I can remember her when she was thought, and truly, to be one +of the prettiest women in all Europe! Charming eyes--lovely complexion! +Well, look in at Fribourg and Pontet's." + +"Yes, General." + +"And tell them to send me a canister of the Duke of Kent's mixture. O! +how very like you are to your dear mother, my pretty boy! The last they +sent me had scent in it. Tell them I hate scent in snuff." + +"Yes, General." + +"O! how VERY like you are to your dear mother!" + +(The General had never seen the boy's mother in the course of his long +and useless life.) + +"Yes, General." + +"Well, do not forget the snuff." + +"O, no, General! Good night." + +"God bless thee, my pretty boy! O! how like you are to your dear +mother!" + +I do not mean to say that General Sir Doodle Dudley was an average +specimen of the General officers sent out by the Horse Guards to +command divisions in India. That would be untrue: for some, though +very old and inefficient, could see, hear, and understand. But within +the past ten years, some others that I know of have been sent out, to +Bengal alone, who were not one whit more efficient than General Sir +Doodle Dudley. + +The nights being more enjoyable, comparatively, than the days, no +wonder that they are rarely given up for sleep by the majority of +military men or younger civilians in India. Of course, married men +with families must, and do, for the most part, lead regular lives, or, +at all events, conform to some fixed domestic rules. But it is not +so with the unmarried, who take their rest (sleep) much in the same +way that inveterate drunkards take their drink--"little and often." +You will see a young officer playing at billiards at half-past two or +three in the morning, and at five you will see him on the parade-ground +with his company. He has had his sleep and his bath, and, to use his +own words, he "feels as fresh as a three-year-old." Between seven and +twelve he will also have an hour or so of "the balmy," and then, after +tiffin, he will perhaps get a few winks while reading the newspaper or +a book, or while sitting on the bench in the billiard-room, "watching +the game." Have these young men, it may be asked, nothing to do? Have +they no occupation? Yes. They have to keep themselves alive and in +good spirits, and that is no easy task either, in the hot weather of +the Upper Provinces. Some of them (a few) in the East India Company's +Service will take to studying the languages, in the hope that +proficiency therein will lead to staff employ. Those, however, who do +not happen to have good interest to back their claims soon find out +that the order of the Governor-General in Council touching a knowledge +of the Native languages is a mere sham; and that ignorance clothed with +interest is--so far as advancement in life is concerned--far preferable +to a well-stored head and a steady character. + + + + +MILITARY MATTERS. + + +"A court martial! Is it possible?" exclaimed my friend, on looking +into the general order book, which was put before him on the +breakfast-table. "Well, I did not think it would come to that." + +"I did," said the Major of the regiment, who was sitting opposite to +him. "For it strikes me that the chief is never so happy as when he is +squabbling with the members of the courts, and publicly reprimanding +them for their inconsistency, or whatever else may occur to him. This +is the seventh court martial held in this station within the past two +months, and with the exception of one case, the whole of them were +unnecessary." + +I was tempted to ask who was to be tried. + +"Two boys," replied the Major, "who thought proper to quarrel at the +mess-table, and to make use of a certain little word, not altogether +becoming gentlemen, if applied to one another. The Senior Captain, who +was the senior officer present, very properly put them under arrest, +and sent them to their quarters. Our Colonel, who is, I am very happy +to say, extremely particular on this as well as on every other point +that tends to preserve the tone and character of the regiment, wished +these lads to receive from a higher authority than himself a severe +reprimand. That authority was the General of the Division; and if the +General of the Division had been Sir Joseph Thackwell, an officer of +sound judgment, or any commander of Sir Joseph's stamp, all would +have been well. But the Colonel, who has since found out the mistake +that he made in not weighing the individual character of Sir Doodle, +forwarded the case on to him through the Brigadier in the regular way, +the young gentlemen meanwhile remaining under arrest. The Colonel also +saw Sir Doodle privately, and pointed out to him, so far as he could +make himself understood, that a severe reprimand was all that was +required. Sir Doodle, however, did not view the matter in this light, +and forwarded the proceedings to the Commander-in-Chief, at Simlah. +After a fortnight's delay, during which time those two boys have been +confined to their respective bungalows, the order has come down for a +general court martial, to assemble and try them. This will involve a +further imprisonment of some three or four weeks; for the chief is sure +to find fault with the court's finding, and send back the proceedings +for revision and reconsideration previous to confirming and approving +of them." + +"And what do you suppose will be the upshot?" I asked. + +"That the lads will be released, or ordered to return to their duty," +said the Major. "Have you ever witnessed a military court martial?" + +"No." + +"Then I would advise you to witness this." + +On the following day, a frightfully hot day, the thermometer being at +ninety-two, I accompanied my friend in his buggy to the mess-room of +the regiment, where I beheld some five-and-twenty officers in full +dress. All these officers were in some way or other connected with +the trial; besides these there were present some five-and-thirty +officers in red or blue jackets, but without their swords; these +were spectators. It was altogether a very imposing scene; especially +when the thirteen members took their seats around the table, the +President in the centre, and the Deputy-Judge-Advocate of the Division +opposite to him; the prisoners standing behind the chair of the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General. The lads were now perfectly reconciled +to each other, and as good friends as ever. Indeed, on the morning that +followed their use of the one very objectionable little word, mutual +apologies and expressions of regret passed between them; and, in so far +as the settling of the quarrel between themselves was concerned, it +was most judiciously and satisfactorily arranged by their respective +friends. + +The court having been duly sworn, and the charges read aloud by the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, the prisoners were called upon to plead. +Both of them wished to plead guilty, and said so in a low tone to the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, who in an equally low tone of voice, +said-- + +"No, don't do that; say 'Not guilty.'" + +"But look here, my dear fellow," said one of the prisoners to that +functionary, who was the prosecutor on the occasion; "what's the use of +denying it? We did make two fools of ourselves." + +"Yes; what's the use of wasting time?" said the other prisoner. + +"If we plead guilty, there's an end of it, and the court can sentence +us at once, and send the papers up to Simlah by to-night's post. I am +sick of that cursed bungalow of mine, and want to have a change of air." + +"Well, do as you like," said the Deputy-Judge-Advocate. "But my advice +is that you plead _Not_ guilty, and then in your defence you can +put forth whatever you please in extenuation, and mitigation of the +punishment." + +"But here we are brought up for calling each other liars in a moment +of passion, and if we say we did not call each other liars, we _are_ +liars." + +"And what is more, we are liars in cold blood," urged one of the +prisoners. + +"Will you admit that you were drunk?" said the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General. + +"No," they both called out. "We were not strictly sober, perhaps. But +where is it about being drunk? We didn't see that in the charge." + +"Yes, here it is, in the second instance of the second charge, +'having while in a state of intoxication at the mess-table of her +Majesty's ---- Regiment of Foot, on the night,'" &c., &c. + +"Oh! that's an infamous falsehood, you know. Who said that? Not Captain +Stansfield, who put us under arrest? If he swears that he shall answer +for it. Intoxicated! not a bit of it! Screwed, nothing more!" cried the +young officer in a sort of stage whisper. "On my honour, as an officer +and a gentleman, nothing more." + +"These charges have come down from head-quarters, having been prepared +in the office of the Judge-Advocate-General." + +"Who is he? What's his name?" asked the prisoners. + +"Colonel Birch," was the reply. + +"Then he shall give up his authority." + +"Well, plead Not guilty, and you will have it." + +"Very well, then, off she goes: 'Not guilty!' Fifty not guilties, if +you like, on that point." + +While this little, but interesting, debate was pending between the +prosecutor and the prisoners, the various members of the court were +holding with each other a miscellaneous conversation, or otherwise +amusing themselves. + +Colonel Jackstone, of the Native Infantry (who was the president of +the court martial, in virtue of the seniority of his rank), was talking +to Colonel Colverly of the Dragoons, about some extraordinary ailment +of his wife which required the constant administration of brandy and +soda-water, in order to keep her alive. It was a low sinking fever, +he said, from which she had suffered for the last six or seven years +at intervals of three months; and it was always worse in the hot +weather than at any other season of the year. Captain Bulstrade, of +the Artillery, was talking to Major Wallchaffe, of the Light (Bengal) +Cavalry, concerning a fly-trap which he had that morning invented; a +ginger-beer or soda-water bottle half filled with soapsuds and the +opening besmeared with honey or moistened sugar. Captain Dundriffe was +recommending Captain Nolens to buy some beer which a native merchant +had recently imported into the station. Lieutenant Blade, of the +Dragoons, was playing at odd and even with his fingers, on honour, +with Lieutenant Theston, of the same regiment; and, with a pretence +of being ready to take notes of the proceedings of the court martial, +each, pen in right hand, was keeping an account of the score. Blade +used to boast of being the inventor of this simple game, but there were +officers in India who declared that it owed its existence to a late +Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, and who invented it at school when he +had been shut up in a dark room (with another boy as fond of gambling +as himself), as a punishment for card playing and other games of +chance requiring light to see what was going on. Nothing could possibly +be simpler than the game, and played as it was, on honour, nothing +could be fairer. Blade lost thirty pounds on the first day of the court +martial, but won the greater part of it back on the day following. +Of course it would not do to play at this game with strangers or +promiscuous acquaintances. Lieutenant Belterton of the regiment was +making use of the pens, ink, and paper, by sketching the President and +several others who had somewhat prominent noses; and young Lofter was +trying to rival him in this amusement. My own friend was very busy +writing; and, from the serious expression on his countenance, you might +have fancied he was composing a sermon, or writing a letter of advice +to a refractory son; he folded up the paper, and passed it round till +at last it reached me. I opened it, and read as follows:--"We shall be +here till four. Take the buggy and drive up to the bungalow, and tell +the khitmutghur to bring down the ice-basket, also Mr. Belterton's +ice-basket, with a plentiful supply of soda-water from our mess; for +they are rather short here, and can't stand a heavy run upon them. +Tell him also to bring several bottles of our Madeira, for theirs I +do not like, and won't drink. It has not age, and has not travelled +sufficiently. Cigars also. I am literally bathed in perspiration, and +so I fancy are most of us at this end of the table, for the punkah is +too far distant to admit of our receiving any benefit therefrom. This +is an awful business." + +In compliance with the request contained in the above note, I left the +Court, drove off as rapidly as possible, and communicated my friend's +wishes to his servant, who immediately hastened to fulfil them. By the +time I returned to the Court the first witness was under examination. +Such a waste of time! Such a trial to the temper of all present! +Instead of allowing the Senior Captain to state the facts--and he would +have done so in less than three minutes--and then take them down on +paper, each question was written on a slip of paper, and submitted +to the President, by the Deputy-Judge-Advocate, who showed it to the +officers sitting on either side of him, who nodded assent. The question +was then read aloud to the witness:-- + +"Were you present on the night of the 10th of April, at the mess-table +of her Majesty's ---- Regiment of Foot?" + +The Captain replied, "I was." + +The question and answer were then copied into "the book," and the slip +of paper on which the question was originally written was torn up. +This occupied (for the Deputy-Judge-Advocate was not a rapid writer, +and was apparently in no particular hurry, being a man of very equable +temperament) eight minutes. The second question was put in precisely +the same way, the same ceremonies having been gone through. The second +question was:-- + +"Were the prisoners present on that occasion?" + +"They were," replied the Captain. + +Again the copying process went on, slowly and methodically, and Blade, +who was still playing odd and even, called out in a loud voice, +to make it appear that he was giving up his mind entirely to the +investigation:-- + +"What was the answer? I did not hear it distinctly; be so good as to +request the witness to speak up." + +"He said, 'They were,'" returned the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General. + +"Oh! 'They were,'" repeated Blade; writing down a mark, signifying that +he had just lost four rupees. + +Twenty minutes had now elapsed, and the above was all that had been +elicited from the first witness, who was seemingly as impatient as +most of the members of the Court. The Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, +however, had patience enough for all present, and so had Blade, and +his adversary at odd and even. My friend having scowled at Blade for +putting his question, and thus prolonging the inquiry, that aggravating +officer now periodically spoke to the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, +who invariably put down his pen to answer him; just as if he could not +possibly speak with that instrument in his hand. It was a quarter-past +two when the examination in chief was concluded. It began at twelve +precisely; so that two hours and fifteen minutes had been consumed in +taking down the following, and no more:-- + +"I was present on the night in question, and placed the prisoners +under an arrest, for giving each other the lie in an offensive and +ungentlemanlike manner. They were excited seemingly by the wine they +had taken; but I cannot say that they were drunk." + +The Court then adjourned for half-an-hour to the mess-room, to take +some refreshment--every one dripping, drenched. Then came the opening +the fronts of the thick red cloth coats, and the imbibing of brandy +and soda-water, iced beer, and other fluids, and sundry violent +exclamations, that it was worse than the battle of Sobraon--more trying +to the constitution. Every one then sat down to tiffin; and, having +hastily devoured a few morsels, smoked cheroots. + +"I say, Blade," said the Senior Captain, "what did you mean by wishing +me to speak up? Surely you heard my answer?" + +"Mean, my dear fellow? I meant nothing--or if I did, it was only to +take a mild rise out of you. However, don't interrupt me just now, for +I am thinking over a lot of questions I intend to put to you, when we +get back into Court." + +"Questions? About what?" + +"About drink! That's all I will tell you now. You don't suppose that I +was born the son of a judge of the Queen's Bench for nothing, do you? +If so, you are vastly mistaken. Is that your Madeira, or ours?" + +"Ours." + +"Then just spill some into this glass. Ours is not good, certainly, +but it would not do to say so before the Colonel. Ah!" sighed the +lieutenant, after taking a draught: "that is excellent! Yes. Drink +is the topic on which I intend to walk into you, practically. And be +very careful how you answer, or you will have the Commander-in-Chief +down upon you with five-and-twenty notes of admiration at the +end of every sentence of his general order; thirty-five notes of +interrogation in the same; and every other word in italics, or +capitals, in order to impress the matter of his decision firmly on our +minds. 'Was the Court raving mad? Witness ought to be tried!!! folly! +imbecility! childishness! The veriest schoolboy ought to know better! +Deputy-Judge-Advocate ignorant of his duty!!! The President insane!!!! +Confirmed, but not approved!!!" + +"What are you making such a noise about, Blade?" inquired the Colonel +of his regiment, good-naturedly. + +"Nothing, Colonel," said Blade. "No noise. But here is a man who has +the audacity, in our own mess-house, to asperse the character of our +Madeira." And, taking up the Senior Captain's own bottle, and holding +it before the Senior Captain's face, he exclaimed,--looking at the +Colonel, "He positively refuses to taste it, even." + +"Nonsense," said the cavalry Colonel, approaching them with a serious +air, and with an empty glass in his hand. "Nonsense! Do you really mean +to say that our Madeira is not good--excellent?" + +"No, Colonel," said the Senior Captain of the Royal Infantry regiment. + +"Taste it, and say what you think of it, Colonel," said Blade, filling +the Colonel's glass, which was held up to receive the liquid, with a +willingness which imparted some mirth to the beholders. "Taste it. +There." + +"I have tasted it," said the Colonel, "and pronounce it to be the best +I ever drank in my life, and, in my judgment, infinitely superior to +that of any other mess." + +"So I say," said Blade, filling his glass; "but the misfortune is, he +won't believe me." + +"Order a fresh bottle of our wine for him, Blade," said the Colonel, +"and let him taste the top of it." + +"No, thank you, Colonel," said the Senior Captain; "I would rather not. +Remember, I have to conclude my examination." + +"Ah, so you have," said the Colonel, moving away. "But take my word for +it, that better Madeira than ours was never grown or bottled." + +When the Court resumed its sitting, I observed that some of the members +of the Court became drowsy, and dropped off to sleep, opening one eye +occasionally, for a second or two; others became fidgety, impetuous, +and argumentative. The President inquired if the members of the Court +would like to ask the witness any questions. Several responded in the +affirmative, and began to write their questions on slips of paper. +Blade, however, was the first to throw his slip across the table to +the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, who, having read it, handed it +across to the President, who showed it to the officers on either side +of him, who nodded assent. The question was then handed back to the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, who proceeded to read it aloud. + +"You have stated that the prisoners were under the influence of wine, +but that they were not drunk. What do you mean?" + +"I mean," said the Senior Captain, "that they--" + +"Not so quick, please," said the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General. "You +mean that?--Yes--I am quite ready." + +"I mean," said the witness, "that though they had both been partaking +freely of wine, they were not--" + +"Freely of wine--don't be in a hurry," said the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, repeating each word that he took down. + +"Mind, he says 'Freely,'" said Blade. "'Freely of wine.' The word +'freely' is important--very important. Have you got down the word +freely?" + +"Yes," said the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, having put down his pen +to ascertain the fact, and make it known to his interrogator. + +"Very well," said Blade. "Then put the rest of the answer down, at your +earliest convenience. I am in no particular hurry." + +"Well?" said the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General to the witness--"they +were not--not what?" + +"Not drunk," said the witness. + +"There is nothing about drunkenness in the charges," said the +President; "where are the charges?" + +"Here, sir," said the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General. "But, please let +me write down your remark before we go any further." + +"What remark?" inquired the President. + +"That there is nothing about drunkenness in the charges. According +to the last general order by his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, +on the last court martial held in this station, everything that +transpires should be recorded." And the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General +then resumed his writing in the slowest and most provoking manner +imaginable. Several of the audience walked out of the Court, and +went into the room where the refreshments were. I followed them. We +remained absent for more than ten minutes; but, when we came back, the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General had not yet written up to the desired +point, previous to going on with Blade's question. This at length +accomplished, he looked at the President and said, "Yes, sir?" + +"There is nothing about drunkenness, and the prisoners are not charged +with it," said the President. "The words, 'while in a state of +intoxication,' are to all intents and purposes surplusage." + +"There I differ with you, sir," said the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General. + +"So do I," said Blade. + +"Clear the Court!" cried the President; whereupon the audience, the +prisoners, the witnesses--in fact, all save the members of the Court +and the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, withdrew, whilst a discussion, +which lasted for three-quarters of an hour was carried on, every member +giving his opinion, and most of them speaking at the same time. + +When we returned to the Court, after three-quarters of an +hour's absence, the Senior Captain resumed his seat near the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General. We were not informed of what had taken +place. A pause of several minutes ensued, when Blade threw across +the table another little slip on which was written a long sentence. +The Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General handed it to the President, who, +on reading it, looked a good deal astonished, and shook his head, +whereupon Blade, who was evidently bent on mischief, called out, "We +are all of that opinion at this end of the table." + +The President then handed Blade's written question to the officer who +sat next to him on his right, and that officer passed it on to the +next, the next to the next, and so on till it had been seen by every +member of the Court. Some signified by a nod, some by a shake of the +head, others by a shrug of the shoulders, what they thought about it; +and as there seemed to be a difference of opinion, the Court was again +cleared in order that the vote for or against might be taken. So once +more we were driven into the mess-room to refresh ourselves and laugh +over the absurdity of the whole proceeding. After waiting there for +about five-and-thirty minutes, the Adjutant announced, in a loud voice, +"The Court is open!" and we returned to hear the President say that, as +it was now nearly four o'clock, the Court must be adjourned--another +absurdity in connexion with courts martial. After four o'clock, the +Court must not sit, even if twenty minutes in excess of that hour would +end the proceedings, and render another meeting unnecessary. + +The Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General then locked up his papers in a box, +placed it under his arm, bowed to the Court, walked off, called for his +buggy, and drove home. The members of the Court, the prisoners, and the +audience then dispersed, and retired to their respective bungalows; all +very tired, and very glad of some repose. My friend, on taking off his +coat, asked me to feel the weight of it, out of curiosity. Saturated +as it was, it must, including the epaulettes, have weighed some +five-and-twenty pounds. + +The next day at eleven the Court again met. The first thing that was +done was to read the proceedings of the previous day. This duty was +performed by the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General, and, slowly as he read, +it was over in twelve minutes, for I timed him. That is to say, it had +taken four hours and a half to get through the real business of twelve +minutes, or, giving a very liberal margin, the business of half-an-hour. + +And now another very curious feature of an Indian court martial +presented itself. The President asked the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General +if he had furnished the prisoners with a copy of the past day's +proceedings. The Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General said:-- + +"No; the prisoners had not asked for a copy." + +The President said:-- + +"That does not signify. Did you tender them a copy?" + +"No, sir." + +"Then you ought to have done so." + +The prisoners here said that they did not want a copy. + +The President's answer to this innocent remark was, that whatever they +had to say they must reserve till they were called upon for their +defence. + +Desirous of not provoking the animosity of the President, they bowed, +and very respectfully thanked him for the suggestion. Whereupon +the President, who was a terrible talker, and passionately fond of +allusions to his own career in the army, mentioned a case within his +own personal knowledge. It was a case that happened in Canada, and he +had reason, he said, to remember it, because he was at the time on +the staff of that distinguished officer, Sir James Kemp, and heard +Sir James remark upon it. The Honourable Ernest Augustus Fitzblossom, +a younger son of the Earl of Millflower, was tried for cheating at +cards, was found guilty, and sentenced to be cashiered. This sentence +was confirmed and approved by the General Commanding-in-Chief, and +the Honourable Lieutenant went home. An appeal was made to the Horse +Guards, and it came out that no copy of each day's proceedings had +been tendered to the prisoner, and upon that ground the whole of the +proceedings were declared by his Royal Highness the Duke of York to be +null and void. He (the President) did not mean to offer any opinion on +that case, but he merely quoted it, and being on Sir James's staff at +the time, he had reason to remember, in order to show that such was the +rule. + +A Captain in the Bengal Cavalry said he knew of a case which occurred +in this country (India) where the very reverse was held. The +prisoner--a Lieutenant Burkett, of the Bengal Native Infantry--was +tried for being drunk whilst on outpost duty. The trial lasted for +seventeen days, for no less than thirty-eight witnesses--principally +natives--were examined. The Lieutenant, at the close of the case for +the prosecution, demanded a copy of the proceedings, in order to +assist him in drawing up his defence. His demand was not complied +with. He was convicted and dismissed the service. He appealed to the +Commander-in-Chief, who ruled that a prisoner had no right whatever to +a copy of the proceedings until after his conviction, and therefore he +confirmed and approved the sentence, or rather, as he had done that +already, he rejected the appeal. + +"Did he appeal to the Horse Guards?" asked the President. + +"No; he belonged to the Company's service." + +"Well, did he appeal to the Directors? They might have restored him. +They have just restored a man, Bagin, who was cashiered two years ago +for gross fraud and falsehood in several instances." + +"Yes, I know. Bagin was in my regiment. But Bagin has an uncle in the +direction, besides a stepfather who would have had to support him and +his family if his commission had not been restored to him. Burkett had +no friends, and very lucky for him." + +"How do you mean?" + +"He entered the service of a native prince, and, being a steady fellow +and a clever fellow, he made a fortune in the course of nine years, and +is now living at home on his fifteen hundred a year." + +"I know of another case," said another member of the court, and he +proceeded to detail the particulars. When he had finished, another +member told of another case; and so this desultory narration +of individual experiences went on for one hour and a half--the +Deputy-Judge-Advocate, with his tongue protruding, writing away as +methodically as possible. What he was writing I do not know; but I +fancy he was taking down the "heads" of the various cases that were +quoted, in order that his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief might have +the satisfaction of examining them. I was told afterwards that we, the +audience, and the prisoners, ought not to have been allowed to remain +in court during this narration of cases, and the anecdotes which the +narrators wove into them; but I need scarcely say I was very glad that +our presence had been overlooked; for if I had not seen and heard what +took place, I should not certainly have believed, and therefore should +not have dreamt of describing, it. It was during this conversation +that Blade won back from his adversary, at odd and even, the greater +portion of the money he had lost on the previous day; nor that either +Blade or his adversary failed to take a part in the conversation, +for both of them would now and then ejaculate "What an extraordinary +case!" "Did you ever!" "No, never!" "It seems impossible!" "Cashiered +him?" "Shameful!" "Who could have been the chairman of the Court of +Directors?" "A Dissenter, I'll be bound!" + +"Well, sir," said the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General to the President, +when he had finished his writing, "what shall we do? Shall we adjourn +the Court until a copy of yesterday's proceedings is made, and given +to the prisoners?" + +"No doubt," said the President; "that is the only way in which the +error can be repaired. But a copy must be delivered to each of them." + +"But had we better not take the opinion of the Court on the subject?" +suggested the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General. + +"By all means," conceded the President; "but in that case, the Court +must be cleared, while the votes are taken." + +"Clear the Court!" cried the Adjutant; and out we all marched again, +into the mess-room, where more cheroots were smoked, and more weak +brandy-and-water imbibed. + +The third day came, and the Court re-assembled. The +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General read over the entire proceedings, +beginning from the very beginning, the swearing of the members, up to +the adjournment of the Court, and the reasons for such adjournment. +Here another discussion or conversation ensued, as to whether it +was necessary to read more than the last day's proceedings. The +Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General said he was quite right. The President +thought otherwise. All the other members of the Court spoke on the +subject, many of them at the same time. Blade and his adversary also +gave their opinions, the former for, and the latter opposed to the +view taken by the President. As this was a point that must be cleared +up, insomuch as the decision that might be come to would regulate the +future proceedings in this respect, the Court was again "cleared," and +we again marched into the room where the refreshments were to be had. +In half-an-hour's time we were re-admitted. But it was not until the +following day (for members are not allowed, in short, they are bound +by oath not to divulge what may be decided when the doors are closed), +that we learnt the Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General had carried his point, +and that a sort of parody of that old nursery story, about "the fire +began to burn the stick, the stick began to beat the dog, the dog began +to bite the pig," was the proper way to open the proceedings of each +day during a protracted trial by general court-martial! + +So curiously is human nature constituted, that I, in common with the +rest of the audience, began, after the fifth day, to like the business, +and to watch its various twistings and turnings with great interest. +The mess-house, at which the Court was held, became a favourite lounge +for almost everybody in the station; and it was curious to hear the +bets that were made with reference to the probable "finding," and the +sentence. The trial lasted over thirteen days, inclusive of two Sundays +which intervened; and the proceedings were then forwarded to Simlah, +where they remained for a fortnight awaiting the decision of the +Commander-in-Chief, who, in fulfilment of Blade's prophecy, certainly +did put forth "a snorter of a General Order," and as full as it could +be of italics, capitals, and notes of exclamation and interrogation. +His Excellency "walked into" the President, and recommended him to +study some catechism of the Law of Courts Martial, such a book as +children might understand. His Excellency further remarked that the +Senior Captain (the principal witness), or any man wearing a sword, +ought to be ashamed of admitting that he was unable to define the +various stages of intoxication; and that he was astounded to find +that the Court in general should have paid so little attention to +the admirable reasoning, on this point, of a junior member whose +intelligence appeared to have enlisted no sympathy. (This had reference +to Blade.) His Excellency went on to say, that he had never himself +been drunk in the whole course of his long life, and to that fact he +attributed his position; that if the Court had done its duty it would +have cashiered the prisoners; that a "severe reprimand which the Court +awarded was a mockery which stunk in the nostrils," and that the +prisoners were to be released from arrest and return to their duty +without receiving it. But the Chief did not end here. He went on to +say, that he would maintain the discipline of the British army in the +East, in all ranks, or else he would know the reason why. And being, I +fancy, in some difficulty as to what to use, in the case (whether marks +of admiration or interrogation), he emphasized the last word of this +culminating and very relevant sentence thus:-- + +"WHY?!!!" + +It was a matter of grave doubt whether the determination, thus +expressed, to uphold discipline in the army, was in any way assisted +by such general orders as those fired off from the pen of the ardent +Commander-in-Chief; the more especially as such general orders were +copied into the newspapers, and were read by (or listened to while +others were reading aloud,) every non-commissioned officer and private +in Upper India, Native and European. Three weeks after the promulgation +of the general order just alluded to, a trooper in the dragoons +having been talked to seriously by the captain of the troop, for some +irregular conduct, thus unburthened himself:-- + +"You! What do I care for what YOU say? You are one of those infernal +fools whom the Commander-in-Chief pitched into the other day for BEING +a fool." And as the peroration of this speech consisted of the dashing +off of the speaker's cap, and hurling it into the captain's face, the +man was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be transported for life. + +If it be inquired by the reader whether the above description of a +Court Martial in India is a fair specimen of what usually transpires at +these tribunals, I reply, emphatically, "Yes;" and I make the assertion +after having watched the proceedings of no fewer than eighteen Courts +Martial during my sojourn in the East Indies. + + * * * * * + +Four officers who had obtained six months' leave of absence, and +who had rented between them a furnished house at Simlah, were about +to proceed there. I was tempted to accompany them. We left Umballah +at sunset in palkees, and at seven o'clock on the following morning +arrived at the foot of the hills, at a place called Kalka, where there +is an hotel. Having breakfasted, we commenced the ascent on ponyback, +and in the course of an hour and a half arrived at Kussowlie, where +a regiment of her Majesty's Foot was quartered. Here we rested for a +brief while, and then pursued our journey. Strange to say, although the +climate is superb, and the scenery grand beyond description, the men +(so I was told) preferred the plains, regarding them--to use their own +words--"less like a prison than the hills." From Kussowlie we pushed on +to Sirée, which is about half way between Simlah and Kalka. Here there +is a bungalow, at which we dined on the everlasting "grilled fowl," +hard-boiled eggs, and unleavened bread. Some friends at Simlah, who had +been written to previously, had sent five horses to meet us; so that, +when we resumed our journey, we were mounted on fresh cattle. All along +the road the scenery is extremely picturesque and beautiful; but, in +point of grandeur, it does not, in my opinion, equal that of the Alps. + +It was nearly dark when we arrived at our destination and entered the +house, where we found everything ready for our reception; the servants +had been sent on a day or two in advance of us. + +It is a long and fatiguing ride, forty miles in the sun, albeit there +is generally a light breeze to modify the heat; and we were all +disposed to retire to rest. But we were unable to do so. The gentlemen +who had sent the horses to meet us, as soon as they were informed +of our arrival, came to see us, and, what was more, to take us to a +subscription ball, which was to take place that night at the Assembly +Rooms. It was useless to plead weariness. We were compelled to go. + +The society of Simlah, though composed of the same elements, +differs very much from the society of Mussoorie. The presence of +the Commander-in-Chief, or the Governor-General, and sometimes both +(as was the case when I was at Simlah), imposes a restraint on the +visitors to this sanitarium. The younger men are less disposed to +run riot, and incur the risk of having their leave cancelled, and +themselves sent down to the plains. A ball, therefore, at Simlah +differs from a ball at Mussoorie. It is so much more sedate. More than +one half of those who prefer Simlah to Mussoorie, do so in the hope of +prepossessing one or other of the Great Authorities, by being brought +into contact with them, and thus obtain staff employ or promotion; +and very amusing is it to look on at a public entertainment and +witness the feelings of jealousy and of envy that swell the breasts +of the various candidates for notice and favour. Nor are the little +artifices that are resorted to unworthy of observation and a smile. +At this ball there was a lady, the wife of a civilian (a sad fool), +who had a great facility in taking likenesses, and she had drawn the +Governor-General in every possible attitude, both on foot and on +horseback. These clever and admirably-executed sketches were laid +upon a table in the ball-room, and excited very general admiration; +and it was very soon "buzzed about" who was the artist. The wife of +another civilian, however, maliciously neutralized the effect these +sketches would probably have had, by falsely saying, loud enough for +his Lordship to hear, "Ah! she said she would do the trick with her +pencil!" The consequence was, that when the lady's husband begged his +Lordship would accept this collection of portraits, as well as a few +sketches of the house inhabited by the Great Man, his Lordship,--as +delicately and as gracefully as the circumstances would admit +of,--"declined them with many thanks;" just as though they had been +so many unsuitable contributions to some popular periodical. The wife +of a military officer, however, was rather more fortunate. She, too, +had a great talent for drawing, and had taken an excellent likeness +in water colours of the Commander-in-Chief's favourite charger--the +charger that had carried the old Chief through his battles; and as the +lady begged that the Chief would accept the picture, he did so, and +the next _Gazette_ made known that Captain Cloughcough was a Major +of Brigade. By the way, this was an excellent appointment, for the +office required no sort of ability, and Cloughcough had none; he was, +moreover, a most disagreeable person in his regiment, and constantly +quarrelling with his brother officers, who were delighted to get +rid of him. To chronicle _all_ the seductive little arts which were +resorted to on that night, to effect a desired end, would half fill a +volume. But I cannot omit the following: it struck me as so _extremely_ +ingenious. There was a lady, the wife of a young civilian, who had two +very pretty little children--a boy and a girl. Of these children, the +Governor-General took great notice, and, whenever he saw their mother, +made inquiries touching "the little pets," as he was won't to speak of +them. On the night of that ball, his Lordship did so. The lady replied +that they were quite well; but that the doctor had said their return +to the plains would be fatal to them, and that they must be sent to +England. + +"Then you had better take the doctor's advice," said the +Governor-General. + +"But, alas! my Lord," said the lady, "we have not the means. My +husband's pay is only 700 rupees a month, and we are, unfortunately, +very much in debt." + +"That's a bad job," said my Lord. + +"Yes," sighed the lady; "it is a very painful reflection--the idea of +losing one's little dears. But what is to be done? I dread the coming +of the 15th of October, when my husband's leave will expire, more than +I dread my own death." + +"Could you not remain up here with them through the winter?" + +"And be absent from my husband, my Lord? Besides, two establishments on +700 rupees a month!" + +"That is true." + +"If we could _send_ them to England under the care of some friend, +we would do so, before the hot weather sets in. But we cannot afford +it. Or if my husband had an appointment in some healthy station, out +of the plains, then they might be spared to us. The thought of the +beautiful roses on their cheeks just now leaving them, and their dear +little faces becoming pale and sallow, and their little limbs shrinking +till they are almost skeletons--it makes my very heart bleed!" (And +the pretty and ingenious little lady took her kerchief, raised it to +her eyes, and suppressed something like one of Mrs. Alfred Mellon's +stage sobs, which went, straight as an arrow, to the Governor-General's +sensitive heart.) "If," she continued, "my husband were a favourite +with the Secretary; but he is not--for he is too independent to +crave--then the case would be very different." + +"The Secretary!" exclaimed the Governor-General, "what has he to do +with it?" + +(The lady had aroused his Lordship's sympathy, and now she had touched +his pride, and inflamed his vanity.) + +"I thought he had all to do with it, my Lord." + +"You shall see that he has _not_," said the Governor-General. "Be +comforted, my dear madam, and come to the refreshment room." His +Lordship gave her his arm, and led her away from the couch on which +they had been conversing. + +This "children's dodge," as it was called, was eminently successful. +The lady's husband was appointed superintendent of one of the most +delightful hill stations in India, on a salary of 1200 rupees +(120_l_.) per mensem. + +The ball over, at half-past two in the morning we returned to our +house, where I was disgusted to hear that a leopard had carried off out +of the verandah a favourite dog of mine. It is no easy matter to keep +a dog in Simlah, except in the house. The leopards are always on the +look-out for them, and will often carry them off in your very sight, +while you are riding or walking along the road. + +The great business at Simlah, as at Mussoorie, is devising the means +of amusement, or rather of varying the amusements so as to render them +less irksome than they would otherwise become. Cards and billiards +are the principal pastimes; and, now and then, pic-nic and excursion +parties are got up; and, once or twice a month, private theatricals +are resorted to. Invitations to dinner-parties and evening-parties +are plentiful enough; but to men who go to Simlah without wives and +families, and who don't intend to marry in the East, these reunions are +a bore rather, after a brief while, and such men prefer dining under +their own roofs. There was an hotel at Simlah, kept by a Frenchman, who +provided a _table d'hôte_ every day at seven o'clock. This used to be +very well attended; for, generally speaking, better fare was to be got +there than anywhere else. By the way, the host had once been an officer +in the French army, and was rather a touchy man. On one occasion an +officer complained of the character of some dish on the table, and +was challenged to "fight with either sword or pistol." This challenge +was declined; but the officer said he would have no objection to an +encounter, provided the weapons were cold legs of mutton. + +There is an enormous mountain at Simlah, and around its base there is +a good macadamized road, some fifteen feet wide. This is the favourite +ride of the visitors, and every fine afternoon some sixty gentlemen, +and nearly as many ladies, may be seen upon it taking the fresh air. + +Simlah is a much more expensive place to spend the summer at than +Mussoorie, in consequence of its great distance from the plains, whence +almost every article of food and all descriptions of "stores" are +carried on men's shoulders. The mutton of the hill sheep is not equal +to Welsh mutton; but when properly kept and dressed, it is very good +eating. The hill cattle also afford tolerable beef; but the joints are +very small. House-rent at Simlah is also much dearer. The furnished +abode, for which we paid 100_l_. for the season, we could have got at +Mussoorie for 60_l_. The same may be said of articles of clothing and +of merchandize. The majority of the European shopkeepers (there were +only five or six) appeared to be doing a good business; but I question +whether they made money. They have to give, in most cases, very long +credit, pay high rates of interest to the banks for money, and high +rents for the extensive premises they are obliged to occupy, to say +nothing of having to live as all English people must live in India. +The hotel did not pay the proprietor, notwithstanding his house was +generally full of people, and his charges were seemingly exorbitant. + +There was no club at Simlah when I was there; but, since then, one +was established. Its existence, however, was very brief. The fact is, +people in India very soon grow tired of a thing; and, what is even +worse, you will find that when a large number of persons, who have +really nothing to do but amuse themselves, very frequently meet, they +wrangle, quarrel, split into small coteries, and become on very bad +terms with each other. How the old Himalaya Club at Mussoorie has +existed so long, is miraculous. A club in India is not like a club in +England, where scores of the members are unknown to each other, even +by name, and possibly do not meet more than once in a month. + +Some of the views at Simlah are magnificent; and from several points +may be seen, in the far distance, the river Sutlej, stealing its way +through the mountains. The water has the appearance, when the sun is +shining upon it, of a narrow stream of quicksilver. Some of the hills +are literally covered with rhododendron trees, fifty or sixty feet +high, and when they are all in full bloom the effect may be easily +imagined. + +To Jutsy, some five or six miles from Simlah, and where one of the +Goorkha battalions was always stationed, I have already alluded. There +are but two or three bungalows there, and they are occupied by the +officers of the battalion. + +The season that I spent at Simlah was a very pleasant one, and +notwithstanding it was enlivened by several exciting incidents--to wit, +a duel, a police affair, a court martial, and an elopement,--I was very +glad when it was over, and we could return to the plains. + + + + +TANTIA TOPEE. + + +When I visited the Nena Sahib, I saw this miscreant, who has since +so distinguished himself as a soldier and a general, and has recently +been captured and hanged. He was not called Tantia Topee at Bhithoor, +but "Bennie," simply. He was not a servant exactly--at all events +not a menial servant; but one of those numerous "hangers-on" of Nena +Sahib who repaid by flattery the favours they received in the shape +of board, lodging, and presents. The name of "Tantia Topee," so a +native gentleman in India informs me, was an assumed one; and I will, +therefore, speak of the hero as "Bennie," whom I remember sufficiently +well to describe him. I had not the least idea when I gave him a +general letter of recommendation, that he would fill so many pages of +Indian history, and give brigades and divisions of British troops such +trouble and vexation before they succeeded in catching him. + +Bennie was not more than thirty, and at the time of his execution his +age could not have exceeded forty years. I question even if he were so +old as that, though he may have looked older. He was a man of about +the middle height--say five feet eight--rather slightly made, but very +erect. He was far from good-looking. The forehead was low, the nose +rather broad at the nostrils, and his teeth irregular and discoloured. +His eyes were expressive and full of cunning, like those of most +Asiatics; but he did not strike me as a man of eminent ability. There +were a few men amongst Nena Sahib's flatterers who were really clever +men, but they were not Mahrattas; and my impression is that Bennie +was not a Mahratta, but a member of some obscure family in the Upper +Provinces of India, under British rule. Like the rest of the tribe +of flatterers who surrounded Nena Sahib, Bennie was obsequious and +cringing to every European who visited Bhithoor. This demeanour, of +course, was not the offspring of respect, but prompted rather by the +impression that it might tend to some advantage. + +There are many persons in India, natives especially, who are of +opinion that Nena Sahib did not dictate the atrocities that were +committed at Cawnpore; but that they were committed by order of the +various adventurers, such as Bennie, who became powerful the moment +that Nena Sahib consented to rebel and raise his standard. Asiatics +are frequently placed in the awkward position of being responsible +for the acts of their retainers--acts that they not only do not +sanction, but forbid. This was the case with Moolraj, the Governor of +Mooltan. From the first, and to the day of his death, he declared (and +his declaration was supported by the very strongest circumstantial +evidence) that so far from giving an order to his turbulent soldiery +to kill or attack Messrs. Vans Agnew and Anderson, he did all in his +power to shield them from harm. Indeed the verdict of the camp which +condemned him, rather inconsistently, brought in a verdict of "Guilty; +but a victim of circumstances." + +That Nena Sahib well deserves the fate that is in store for him, +whenever he is captured, there can be no species of doubt; but, in the +absence of some proof, I should be sorry--especially after the letters +I have read on the subject--to attribute to the man that fiendish +treachery and horrible massacre which took place at Cawnpore in July, +1857. Nena Sahib had seen so much of English gentlemen and ladies, and +was personally (if not intimately) acquainted with so many of the +sufferers that it is only fair to suppose, when he ordered boats to +be got ready, he was sincere in his desire that the Christians should +find their way to Calcutta, and that what ensued was in violation of +his orders, and the act of those who wished to place for ever between +Nena Sahib and the British Government an impassable barrier, so far as +peace and reconciliation were concerned. No one knew better than Nena +Sahib that, in the event of the British becoming again the conquerors +of India, the very fact of his having spared the lives of those who +surrendered, would have led to the sparing of his own life, and hence +the promise he made to Sir Hugh Wheeler. One friend (a gentleman of +great experience) writing from India on this subject, says:-- + +"In my opinion it was the Mahommedan soldiery who insisted on that +awful measure. Having so many helpless Christians in their absolute +power, they could not resist the temptation of sacrificing them, for +their _faith's sake_." + +It is to be regretted that previous to hanging "Tantia Topee," some +statement was not extracted from him touching what took place at +Cawnpore. Of course, it could not have been relied upon _per se_, but, +as evidence, confirmatory or contradictory, of other statements made +by other miscreants, who may yet fall into our power, it would not +have been _entirely_ valueless. I do not mean to say that the culprit +should have been allured to confess by any promise, or insinuation, +that his life would be spared if he spoke the truth. That is, I would +not have breathed the word of promise to his ear, and then have broken +it to the hope; nor would I have subjected him to any _corporeal_ +torture. Nevertheless, I would have had "out of him" something like +"the truth"--if not "the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," +and so would Sir John Lawrence, or Mr. Wingfield, now at Lucknow, or +Mr. Dampier, or Major Elwall, and a score of ex-Thuggee officers now +living. It is a sad mistake to hang this sort of people in a hurry; or, +for the matter of that, to hang them at all. They have not that dread +of death that Europeans have, but almost invariably meet their fate +without exhibiting the faintest fear. There are punishments which, to +their minds, are far more terrible. They are not as "cowards who die +a thousand deaths in dreading one which must come at last." They are +rather cowards who die a thousand deaths in dreading one _life_ which +they long to end. I was never more impressed with the truth of this +than when, with the permission of Lord Dalhousie, I had an interview +with Moolraj in his cell at Lahore; he was then under the charge of Dr. +(now Sir John) Logie, who is "in attendance" on the Maharajah Dulleep +Singh. The constant cry of the wretched captive was, "Ah, let them take +my life by one blow; but not draw it out of me by slow degrees!" As far +as I can recollect, it was not then decided whether his life should be +spared or not. + +I would treat culprits like Tantia Topee, Nena Sahib, Bahadoor Khan, +the Nawab of Bandah, &c., much in the same way as the convicts of +Norfolk Island were treated in former days--make death the first favour +for which they should crave, and the last which should be granted unto +them; but with this difference, that if they murdered each other, the +hope of ending their days for the deed should be a vain one. To hang +such men is to frustrate the end and real object of all punishment, +which is to deter others from the commission of the same offence. When +such men are exterminated they are speedily forgotten, and their end +is not regarded as an example for the prevention of evil; but so long +as they are living, and suffering what to them is far worse than death, +the case is otherwise. Be it known, however, that I am not an advocate +for the abolition of capital punishment in _this_ country for the crime +of murder. The gallows, judiciously used, is, in my humble judgment, a +very wholesome terror. + + THE END. + + + + + LONDON: + SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, + CHANDOS STREET. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes + +Obvious errors of punctuation and diacritics repaired. + +The following alternate spellings have not been changed: +"sanitarium" / "sanatarium", "Hindostan(ee)" / "Hindoostan(ee)". + +Variants of "Goorkha" were changed to that spelling (pp. 21, 311, 409). + +Hyphen removed: Deyrah Dhoon (p. 26), mantelpiece (p. 106). + +Hyphen added: band-stand (p. 256), head-quarters (p. 313), mem-Sahib +(p. 116), mid-day (p. 127). + +The following phrases are spelled both with and without hyphens and +have not been changed: "a-year", "a-month", "a-day". + +P. 11: "hand" changed to "hard" (becomes a hard gallop). + +P. 28: added "a" (became eventually a marker at a billiard-room). + +P. 72: "way" changed to "was" (he was playing one morning). + +P. 82: "Duleep Singh" changed to "Dulleep Singh". + +P. 83: "contures" changed to "conjectures" (There were many +conjectures). + +P. 107: "the" added (dinner was on the table). + +P. 123: added "a" (two thousand a year). + +P. 140: "far" changed to "for" (for the trial of offenders). + +P. 165: duplicated "not" removed (who not only deposited with him the +child). + +P. 179: "Mogul Emperors" changed to "Moghul Emperors". + +P. 230: "followship" changed to "fellowship" (the scene of +good-fellowship and good-feeling). + +P. 234: "af" changed to "of" (military men of all grades). + +P. 288: "hunded" changed to "hundred" (one hundred and fifty men). + +P. 300: "develope" changed to "develop" (develop the resources of +India). + +P. 335: "sirbar" changed to "sirdar" (our host of the sirdar-bearer). + +P. 336: "he" changed to "be" (he might be put into his vehicle). + +P. 362: "chesnut" changed to "chestnut" (His chestnut wig). + +P. 362: "died" changed to "dyed" (his whiskers were dyed so adroitly). + +P. 412: "and" added (English gentlemen and ladies, and was personally). + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wanderings in India, by John Lang + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43997 *** |