Having, by General Capsicum’s promised interest, obtained a fortnight’s
leave of absence, I took an affectionate leave of Grundy and Marpeet,
and sent on my two or three servants to Mr. Augustus’s boat, accompanied
by Teazer and the one-eyed bull-dog. The next day, in the early grey of
morning, I proceeded with him to Tolly’s Nullah, a creek near Calcutta,
communicating with the Balliaghāt Passage, where the boat was lying. It
was a cool and pleasant morning, the air delightfully fresh. On our way,
we met several ladies and gentlemen of Calcutta on horseback.
In India, bathing and early rising principally contribute to create the
amount of health generally enjoyed there, which would be far greater and
less precarious than it is, were it not for an immoderate indulgence in
the pleasures of the table, which inflames the blood, disorders the
liver, and renders the whole system peculiarly susceptible of disease;
then steps in mercury—the remedy—which is a fearful shatterer of the
constitution, and in the end proves worse than the disease.
I would earnestly advise all my brother-griffins, if they value their
happiness, to live moderately and simply though generously, and to guard
against the insidious habit of drinking _brandy pawney_, to which a hot
climate offers strong and peculiar temptations. These precautions
observed, and the mid-day sun avoided, a fair average amount of health
may be enjoyed for years.
My friend’s boat rowed ten or twelve oars, and was of a kind a good deal
in use in Calcutta. The front part was decked, and behind it had a
cabin, with Venetian windows, occupying about half the length, and
rising several feet above the gunwale; inside there was a small table,
and on each side lockers, which served for seats; to the back of these
again were some cots or dormitories. It differed from the up-country
going craft in being keeled, and having on the whole far more of the
European long-boat build.
As we shot along the creek for a few miles, each turn gave us peeps of
the rich and luxuriant scenery of this part of Bengal. Gardens of
plantain, mango, and jack-trees lined the banks, intermixed with clumps
of the tapering bamboo; clusters of neat huts, with arched roofs,
appeared half-buried beneath their umbrageous foliage, through openings
of which, in the dim, chequered light, village girls, with water-pots on
their heads, might be seen gliding along, and imparting to the whole
scene an air of primeval and truly Eastern simplicity.
Here and there, in front of a hut, mantled with its creeping gourd,
would appear the milk-white cow or petted calf, picketed by the nose,
and munching his _boosa_[15] under the cool shade of the tamarind or
plantain, whilst kids and goats, in various picturesque attitudes,
sunned themselves on the ruined wall or prostrate tree. Sometimes we
came on fishermen, in their _dingies_, or canoes, with outspread nets
catching the much-prized _hilsa_;[16] or we looked on the dark peasantry
in the green rice-fields, engaged beneath a fervid sun in their various
rural occupations.
Occasionally we came suddenly upon a market, with its congregated fleet
of boats, and its busy, squabbling assemblage of villagers, fish, grain,
and vegetable venders, &c.; or a thannah, or police station, would break
into view, known by its picturesque burkundazes lounging about in front,
armed with spears or tulwars, and the portly, bearded thannahdar, _en
déshabille_, smoking his _kulian_ under the projecting thatch of the
entrance. The novelty of the scene, so truly un-English and Oriental,
delighted me, and my heart bounded with joy from a feeling of vitality
and freedom.
At length we began to approach those vast forests, called the
Sunderbunds,[17] stretching for two or three hundred miles across the
delta of the Ganges, and through a considerable part of which our route
lay. The vicinity of this wild tract was indicated by the gradual
termination of the cultivated country, and the commencement of the
half-reclaimed lands on the borders, presenting to the view stumps of
trees, patches of jungle, and some paddy fields, occasionally a few
scattered huts, with their sickly inhabitants huddled around them.
The boatmen being somewhat exhausted, and the tide on the turn, Mr.
Capsicum ordered them to drop anchor in the stream not far from the
shore, that they might refresh themselves. It was a curve in the river
where we brought to, deep and broad, and remote from the habitations of
men. The lazy dark tide rolled slowly on, its movement barely indicated
by a slight set in the current, with here and there a few tiny curling
whirlpools, which seemed to my imagination to tell of the fearful depths
and frightful monsters below. An open spot of green sward approached the
bank on one side, whilst beyond this, on both banks, the huge trees of
the sombre forest hung darkling over the Stygian stream—here emerging
into light, as from a realm of dolorous shade which might have daunted
Rinaldo himself.
How my thoughts now flew back, awakened by the contrast, to the flowery
meads and crystal streams of merry England! My companion now ordered
chairs and his hooka to be taken to the roof of the boat, and there,
with a teapoy and tumblers between us, we seated ourselves at our ease,
a hearer with a large chattah, or umbrella, shielding us from the
noontide rays of a powerful sun. A few faint airs, wafting the chirp and
pipe of unknown birds, came fanning from the woods, which, with the
monotonous bubble of Mr. Augustus’s hooka, produced a tranquil and
soporific effect upon me.
In the little patch of grass meadow I have mentioned, which lay nearly
opposite to us, two or three miserable stunted white cattle were
feeding, one of them considerably nearer the margin than the others.
Whilst looking towards them, I thought I discerned something dark slowly
emerging from the water where the muddy shelving shore dipped into it. I
kept my eye steadily fixed upon the object, which evidently moved and
presented to my view the resemblance of two large foot-balls, at the end
of a rough log of wood. I directed my companion’s attention to it, at
the same time asking him what it was.
“There, yonder,” said I, “just beyond the tuft of reeds. See! see! it
moves.”
“Oh, I perceive the rascal,” said he; “it’s a huge alligator, making a
point at that poor beast of a cow; but I’ll spoil his sport. _Bearah
Bundook laou juldee!_ bring up the rifle quickly.”
Ere gun, however, could be brought, the monster, as if anticipating our
intentions, suddenly rushed from his concealment, with a rapid and
wriggling motion, and in an instant had the unsuspecting cow by the
nose.
The poor brute struggled, her tail crooked with agony, her two fore-feet
stuck out, and bellowing most lustily, whilst the alligator hacked
rapidly towards the water, dragging the cow along with him.
“Quick! quick!” shouted Augustus, as the servant blundered along,
capsizing a bucket or two in his hurry, and handed up the gun.
“Click,” went the lock—the rifle was pointed, but it was too late: the
scaly monster sunk with his prey, as the bullet cracked sharply over the
eddy; a few bubbles and a slight curl of the deep waters alone marking
the spot where the poor cow had disappeared in a doleful tragedy—her
last appearance in public.
“What a ferocious monster!” I exclaimed; “do they often carry away
animals in this way?”
“Oh, yes,” replied Augustus, vexed that he had been foiled. “Alligators
in the salt and brackish waters of the lower parts of Bengal are
dangerous and ferocious; but as you recede from the sea, for some reason
or another, they become comparatively harmless, and seldom molest man or
beast, confining their depredations to the finny tribe. Near my factory
they are continually carrying off the villagers from the ghauts, and I
have heard and believe, though I have never witnessed a case, that they
sometimes adroitly knock the fishermen from off their dingies by a blow
of the tail, and then snap them up in a moment.”
“Why do not the people hunt and destroy the brutes?” I asked.
“They require more salt to be put upon their tails than your sparrows at
home,” said Augustus with a roguish smile, which made me think that he
had been cognizant of an early attempt of mine in that way. “However,”
he continued, “after a good many poor devils have been carried off,
blacky’s apathy is a little disturbed, and he does sometimes catch them
in the following manner. A party row slowly up the stream, dragging a
number of hooked lines after them; when these are arrested by the horny
hide of the alligator, as he lies in the mud at the bottom, they slowly
raise the torpid brute (who seldom makes any resistance) till he appears
above the surface; they then simultaneously dart a number of small
barbed harpoons into him, to the heads of which (whence the shafts are
made to detach easily) stout cords are fastened, and thus they secure
his body; to prevent his doing mischief with his jaws, they present a
stick, and when he seizes it with a snap, they belay a cord round those
formidable instrument of destruction.”
After the crew had refreshed, we pursued our voyage, plunging into the
dreary solitude, intersected by a labyrinth of creeks and rivers; on
each side arose a wall of forest, with a thick undergrowth of the most
luxuriant vegetation, springing from the fat alluvial soil.
The silence of death was around, broken only at intervals by the distant
crow of the jungle fowl, the cry of the deer, or the blowing of a
porpoise, and the measured dash of our oars, as we swept along,
sometimes on the surface of a broad river, with bright green trees on
each side, and black-faced monkeys chattering in the branches; at
others, in some lateral creek, where the boughs almost brushed our deck.
There is something solemnly impressive in such a scene, which seems
truly to speak in majestic tones of the power and greatness of the
Creator. Such a scene in the howling wilderness carries the imagination
back to that primeval period when man was not on this earth, when
shipless seas broke on voiceless shores, and the mammoth and the
mastodon roamed undisturbed amongst its silent forests and lonely
retreats.
Occasionally a Mugh or Arracanese boat, of peculiar construction, with
its broad-faced crew and banks of oars, laden with bees’ wax, ivory,
&c., glided by, or a raft, heavily laden with piles of wood or charcoal
for the Calcutta market, swept past us, a momentary relief to the
death-like loneliness of the place: the wood they carry is cut and
collected by a particular class of men, who pursue their perilous trade
in these jungles.
Sometimes, too, the continuity of the forest was broken by a cleared
patch, and piles of timber ready for lading; or the hut of one those
religious devotees or fakeers, whose austerity acquires for them the
respect of the ignorant and superstitious boatmen, whom, by their charms
and incantations, they profess to insure from assaults of the alligator
and the tiger. Boatmen, however, and even fakeers, are continually
carried off; but as superstition always counts the hits, and never
reckons the misses, a few favourable predictions sets all to rights
again.
At one of these fakeer stations, we made a halt, and a more wretched
locality for a man to take up his abode in imagination can scarcely
picture. A small spot of about half a quarter of an acre, was cleared
from the forest, and in the centre of it was a fragile hut of thatch and
bamboo, which a puff of wind might have blown away; a tapering bamboo,
with a small red pennon, rose above it, and a little clay durgah for
prayer adjoined, to indicate the sacred calling of the lonely occupant.
As we brought to, the fakeer came down to the boat, and was most
respectfully received by the crew. He was an aged man, withered up like
a potsherd, and smeared with dust and ashes; his long, grizzled, and
matted beard swept his breast, and a tiger skin was thrown over his
shoulders; he held a long stick in one hand, on which he supported his
bent, decrepid form, whilst in the other he carried a dried gourd-shell,
or calibash, to receive the contributions of the boatmen.
Here was a Trappist of the East, submitting to every danger and
privation from motives somewhat similar to those which actuate the
ascetic order all the world over—motives which we cannot but respect,
however mistaken we may deem them.
Bidding adieu to this recluse of the woods, we once more pursued our
course to the eastward, and after nearly a day’s rowing, changed it to
the north, following the line of one of the many rivers which, spreading
out as they approach the sea in various lateral directions in the
Sunderbunds, form that intricate maze.
In a little time, the forest became less dense, and a few miles more
brought us again into the cleared and cultivated country. Our eyes once
more rested with pleasure upon the green rice-fields, the patch of
sugar-cane, the cluster of coco-nuts, and the busy haunts of men.
“Well, Mr. Gernon,” said Augustus, “I suppose you are not sorry to be
nearly at the end of your voyage.”
“No,” I replied; “though I have been greatly interested by the wild
scene through which we passed. But how far are we now from the
Junglesoor factory?”
“Not far,” said my friend; “please God we’ll sup at my house to-night.
There, look!” said he; “do you see yonder white building, and the thick
cluster of trees, overhanging it at the turn of the river?”
“I do.”
“Well, that’s one of my out-factories; there I’ve ordered some of my
people to be in waiting with horses, or an elephant, to take us on to my
shop, which is about six miles inland.”
“An elephant!” I ejaculated, as I mentally rubbed my hands.
The boatman plied their oars with redoubled vigour, their cheerful songs
and shouts bespeaking that buoyancy of hearts which an approach to
“home” ever inspires amongst all mankind.
We now neared the white building, which proved to be a small temple,
crowning a little ghaut or flight of steps, running down to the water’s
edge, backed by something like an old ruined fort or factory, overshaded
by masses of foliage of the banyan and peepul trees, growing out of
fissures of the walls.
On the crest of the ghaut stood an elephant caparisoned with his bright
red _jhoul_ and _howdah_[18] fanning himself with the branch of a tree;
hard by him were a couple of horses, saddled, and held by their _syces_
or grooms, each of whom bore a hog-spear; whilst near and around, groups
of villagers, factory servants, and followers of Mr. Augustus, in
various picturesque costumes and attitudes, some squatting in masses,
some standing, others reclining on the steps or abutments of the ghaut,
were all impatiently awaiting the arrival of the boat.
These groups, backed by the ruined walls, the massive banyan with its
twining roots, and a little sort of bungalow, or summer-house, on the
projecting bastion, which stood out in strong relief against the evening
sky, all constituted, when viewed in the mellow sunlight of the rich
Claude-like repose of the hour, a scene well worthy of the pencil of a
Daniell.
The boat moored, a lively meeting and embracing took place between those
on board and their friends at the factory, for the Indians, I have
observed, though in some thing apathetic, are remarkably affectionate to
their relatives.
Augustus himself now stepped ashore with all the dignity of a monarch
returning from exile to his dominions, amidst the bows and prostrations
of his rejoicing subjects. Great were the salaamings, and manifold the
signs of life, which his arrival caused in the group. The syces
tightened the girths of the horses; two stately greyhounds rose from a
recumbent posture, whilst a couple of little pepper and mustard terriers
ran yelping and wagging their tails to greet their master; the _mahout_
dug his _ankous_, or goad, into the elephant’s head, to rouse him from
his drowsy state of abstraction, exciting a loud trumpeting scream, as
he drove down towards the boat. The gomastah, or manager, a Bengalee, in
flowing muslin robes, now advanced with dignified salaam, and made a
report of how things had gone on in his absence, whilst a Portuguese, of
the complexion of charcoal, with a battered hat and white jacket, named
Alfonso da Silva, also had a great deal to say touching the recent
operations connected with the manufacture of his master’s indigo.
“Now, Mr. Gernon,” said Augustus, “these matters settled, which are you
for, a gallop, or a ride on the elephant? take your choice.”
“Oh! the elephant,” said I, “by all means. I have never ridden on one,
and long to be on that noble fellow, who looks like a moving mountain.”
“Then,” said my kind-hearted host, “let us mount. I see they have put
the guns in the howdah, and we may have a shot at something as we go
along. I must give you a lesson in shooting off an elephant, which is no
easy matter to a young hand. Here, _hauthee laou_ (‘bring the
elephant’).”
Another dig and another startling blast, and the leviathan was alongside
of us.
“_Buth! buth?_” said the driver, and down knelt the docile beast to
receive us.
The coolie, or attendant, now applied the ladder, to his side; Augustus
ascended, and I followed him. Here, then, was one of my Oriental
day-dreams realized, and I fairly boxed up on “the elephant and castle.”
’Tis a fine thing to be mounted on a gallant charger, to spurn the sod,
and, catching all his fire, to feel yourself “every inch” a hero; or to
dash away in a brave ship over the blue billows with a spanking breeze,
as free as the winds that propel you; but I doubt if even they can
impart such sensations as you experience when towering aloft on the back
of an elephant, nine feet high, moving, with majestic and stately
stride, through palmy scenes of orient beauty, you find yourself raised
far above the humble pedestrian, and taking in the whole country as with
an eagle glance.
We now started at a good, swinging pace, followed by the horses, whilst
sundry burkundazes and peons, with spears and staves, trotted on nimbly
before, clearing the way of the boys, cows, village pariar dogs, and
idlers. Thus we wound through the village, and soon entered on the open
country, which for the most part was perfectly flat, and bounded by
villages and topes of mango trees. Here and there the land rose a
little, forming a sort of rough pastures, on which herds of the black
slouching buffaloes were feeding, mingled with small white Bengalee cows
and bullocks, their bells tinkling, and tended by herdsmen enveloped in
blanket sort of hoods, with long sticks over their shoulders.
We had not proceeded far on the plain, when a horseman appeared in the
distance, approaching us at a hand gallop.
“Halloo!” said Augustus, “here comes my neighbour and brother planter,
Mons. De la Chasse, as funny, but as good a fellow as ever breathed. I
hope you have a tolerable command of countenance, for you’ll require it
when you hear our friend’s English.”
By this time Mons. De la Chasse was sufficiently near for me to
distinguish the Gaul in every lineament. He was a long and gaunt man,
with the face of a _vieux mousquetaire_, wore a white solah hat, with a
vast amplitude of brim, a white jacket, and long military boots. His
horse was a large hatchet-faced animal, of a cream colour, with a swish
tail, which, however, bore him along over bush and jungle in capital
style. As he approached brandishing a hog-spear, he rather brought to my
mind the picture of a Spanish bull fighter.
“Velcome! velcome! goot friend; glad to see you back,” said he, riding
up, and waving his hand as he wheeled his horse about “You look ver well
by Jhobs.”
“Thankyee, thankyee, Monsieur; all’s right with me, but what have you
been doing in this part of the world?”
“Oh, de old vay. Ve have had de jodge down, and one of his amis, abote
some cochery affairs; had him out for a day after de hogue; killed two,
tree—one old boar give fine sport—ver fine; near kill us though, by
Jhobs; ha! ha!—but who that wid you, Capsicome?”
“Oh! a young friend of my father’s come to see how we carry on the war
down here. Let me introduce him to you—Gernon, Mons. De la Chasse, &c.”
“Appi see you amongst us, Sare.—By de vay, I not tell a-you I have had
’noder kick ope with dat Bobberygunge talookdar: d—m fellow, his bulloke
spoil twenty beegah my plant. I shall him have ope to de jodge, by
Jhobs—he is a—a—a (casting about for a suitable expression, and setting
his teeth) a frightful shackass.”
This moved my risibles, in spite of a gentle poke from Augustus’s elbow,
and a reproving look compounded of gravity and laughter. Fortunately, at
this juncture, a dismal yell broke on our ears, and we perceived ahead
of us, slinking across the plain, two animals somewhat larger than
foxes.
“What are they?” I asked.
“Oh! a couple of jackals,” said my companion. “Would you like to see a
run?”
I eagerly expressed my assent.
“De la Chasse,” said Mr. Augustus, “take a gallop after those jackals;
our friend here wants to see a hunt.”
“Oh! ay, ve’ll stir dem ope,” said the light-hearted Frenchman, who,
like his countrymen in general, seemed ready for any thing that promised
excitement. “_Choorda khoota choorda!_” (“let loose the dogs, let
loose”) he shouted, and in a moment the greyhounds were slipped.
“Hark away!” shouted Augustus; the Gaul gave the View halloo, and after
the jackals darted the beautiful animals; their bodies undulating like
serpents as they emulously strove to pass each other. The small dogs
followed in full cry, and my _matur_, or master of the hounds, not to be
outdone, and justly anxious for the reputation of his charges, drew the
cords of the bull-dog and Teazer, lustily cheering them on.
After killing the jackals, which was soon effected, we regained the
road, and in half an hour reached the Junglesoor factory. The residence
was a square building of one story, surrounded by a terrace and covered
verandah; on one side was a large garden, filled with orange and other
trees. Further back were groves of bamboo, mango, &c., intermingled with
buildings, vats, stables, &c.
We dismounted, and Augustus invited the Frenchman to come in and sup;
but he declined, pleading a necessity for returning home; but he added,
“Ven vil you come take your _luck-pote_ vid me?”
“Ha! ha! ha! _pot-luck_, I suppose you mean, Monsieur?”
“Yais, to be sure,” said the good-natured Frenchman; “but I put de horse
before de cart only. What you mean, you dam Capsicome, by laugh at me?”
said he, poking at him with the butt-end of his hog-spear.
After other good-humoured passes between them, it was arranged that La
Chasse was to come over the day after the ensuing, to breakfast, make a
day of it, and “hunt ope de hogue,” and he was to bring a friend.
I now entered with my companion, and proceeded to the dining-room. We
found the candles lighted and every preparation for a comfortable meal.
We had a roast goose, curry-fish, prawns, &c., to which we did ample
justice; a cool bottle of claret was then produced; Augustus changed his
boots for slippers, cocked his legs on the table, ordered his hookha,
and another for the purpose of initiating me, and we were soon in that
blissful state, compounded of overflowing health, light hearts, moderate
fatigue, and a delightful sense of repletion, when the heart expands,
and all the better feelings of our nature predominate. I have always
thought, though an inversion of the orthodox rule, that the first and
most effectual step towards making men good is to make them happy.
The following day was devoted by Augustus to repose and domestic
arrangements—things having fallen a little into arrear during his
absence. In the course of the morning, however, he took me round his
estate, showed me his garden, his stables, and his farm-yard; also his
indigo vats, his drying-houses, &c.; whilst exhibiting the latter, he
explained to me the process of manufacturing the dye.
The morrow at length arrived, the sun rose in splendour, the weather for
the season (the beginning of October) was breezy and cool, and all
things seemed to wear a propitious aspect, and to promise a delightful
day’s sport. In a short time, De la Chasse arrived, accompanied by a
square, tight-built little man, named Tupper, who had recently (as is
not unfrequent in India) changed his berth of mate of a country ship for
that of an Indigo planter’s assistant.
An abundant breakfast duly despatched, there was a buckling of spurs, a
slinging of brandy-bottles, an examination of hog-spears, and other
preliminary movements for the foray. Outside, too, was a great muster of
Augustus’s retainers, coolies or factory men, real “blue demons,” in
almost Paradisaic costume, with long sticks, or _latees_, over their
shoulders, wherewith to beat the jungles.
Augustus now vaulted on his Arab, a beautiful creature, with a high
reputation, as I was told, as a hog-hunter (horses in India enjoy the
sport as much as their masters), and with his spear in hand gave the
signal for departure. Out marched the whole cavalcade, I mounted on a
sturdy little hill pony, called a tangan, as hard-mouthed and headstrong
a little devil, as I afterwards discovered to my cost, as ever tumbled a
griffin.
Each of us hunters was armed with a spear, whilst spare ones were
carried by the syces. The spear used in this sport, by the way, is a
very formidable weapon. The shaft is about seven feet long, the head an
elongated heart, or rather leaf-shape, as keen as a razor, and to aid
its murderous effect, the butt-end is loaded with about a half-pound of
lead.
We now wound along, bending our course for the banks of a river, where
wild hogs and other game were said to abound. Having crossed the plain,
we found, ourselves amongst mango groves and woodland, interspersed with
scattered huts and small villages, and I became, by some accident,
separated a good distance from my companions.
In passing the edge of a tope, or mango grove, an adventure happened,
which, though somewhat derogatory to my dignity in its results, my
integrity as a historian obliges me to relate. A pause in the narrative
may, however, be expedient, in order to give me the requisite degree of
composure.