In passing the grove mentioned in the last chapter, by the edge of a
fosse, or ditch, overgrown with bushes, and not far from some miserable
huts, I thought I heard a rustling, and reining up my tangan and
listening, I could distinguish the deep bass of a grunter, with the
running treble of sundry little pigs. My heart went pit-a-pat; here,
thought I, is a glorious discovery! I shall be the first to rouse the
grizzly monster from his lair, and launch a spear at him. I wished,
however, to be sure, and listened again—’twas a palpable grunt.
“Yoicks! tally-ho!” shouted I, waving my hat, as a signal for my friends
to come up and share in the anticipated sport.
Roused by my voice, and a stone cast into the ditch by my syce, an
unclean beast of large dimensions, black and mangy, issued therefrom,
and, rather leisurely, I thought, for a wild boar, jogged across the
open space, followed by a tribe of young ones. Now then, Frank Gernon, I
mentally exclaimed, gird up the loins of thy resolution, and prepare for
desperate deeds.
Thus internally soliloquizing, I slacked my rein, put spurs to my
tangan, and, spear in hand, rode furiously at him. La Mancha’s knight
did not charge his windmill more valiantly. I pushed him hard, but he
kept ahead, dodging, joltering, and grunting, and for the life of me I
could not place myself in a position to give him the _coup de grace_. At
length, by vigorously urging my beast, I found myself alongside; my arm
was raised; the glittering javelin poised with as direful a presage as
that of one of Homer’s heroes; already in imagination my burnished point
had searched out the seat of life, and I saw the crimson tide distilling
from the wound; I rose to deal the mighty stroke, when snap went the
stirrup-leather, away flew my spear, and I, and not the hog,
incontinently bit the dust. Yes, down I came, a thundering thump.
Painful was the revulsion of feeling—I never felt more foolish in my
life. Away went pig and tangan—and so they might, for aught I
cared—whilst I, like a dying gladiator, lay prone on the earth, applying
vigorous friction to my shoulder. In a few seconds, my companions rode
up, to my confusion, convulsed with laughter, which they vainly strove
to repress.
“You’re not hurt, I hope, Gernon?” said my host, endeavouring to compose
his features into a look of commiseration (a dead failure, by-the-bye).
“No, not much,” said I, writhing with pain; “nothing to speak of. It was
that confounded rotten stirrup; but I should not have cared, had I
speared the hog.”
Upon this, there was another volcano of laughter. I felt annoyed, and
begged to know, fiercely, what they found so amusing in a friend’s
nearly breaking his neck.
“Oh, my good ami,” exclaimed the Frenchman, “you most pardonnez—but ha!
ha! ha! you ave hunt the village pig, ha! ha! ha! and not the vild
hogue. Oh, mon Dieu, je vais mourir—oh! oh!”
“Yes,” added Augustus, “oh! oh! oh! you really must excuse us, Gernon,
he! he! he! for laughing a little at your griffinish mistake; indeed,
you have been chasing a villager; but you are not the first that has
made such a blunder. Come,” he continued, “here’s your steed; mount once
more, and we’ll show you some real sport. I see you are game to the
backbone, and will prove a staunch hog-hunter.”
I was mortified at my blunder, but this piece of flattery acted as a
cataplasm to my wounded spirit; so I thought it best to join in the
laugh against myself, and remounting my tangan, and re-adjusting the
stirrup, we once more continued our route.
After crossing a bare plain, we found ourselves on the banks of the
river, covered for miles with a belt of grass and long reeds. The
beaters were now put in, and dismal yelling and shouting commenced. In a
few minutes the cry of _sewer, sewer!_ (“hog, hog!”) arose from many
voices; the reeds ahead waved and rustled, and in a moment a tremendous
boar burst from the cover, and bore right away across the hard plain,
towards the cultivation.
Away went Augustus in gallant style, with a yell or war-whoop that made
the welkin ring. The second mate joined chase right before the wind; my
little hard-mouthed Punch stuck down his head, laid back his ears, and,
unbidden, followed next, keenly alive to the sport, though I had a hard
matter to manage him and my long spear to boot; and in a moment more the
Frenchman thundered past, with brandished spear and horse tight in hand.
“Ha! ha!” said he, as he passed me, “now you vill see de death of de
veritable vild hogue.”
Augustus gained on the boar, who, with his milk-white tusks, bristly
back, and sidelong look, presented a most formidable aspect, and was
evidently an ugly customer. The planter pushed him closely, and, in
passing, delivered his spear with such effect, that it stuck bolt
upright in the back of the boar, who nevertheless continued his onward
course, as if spitted for the feast.
It was now the turn of De la Chasse; up he came, and in capital style
delivered his spear with a _coup de théâtre_ just behind the shoulder,
wheeled round his horse with a “ha! ha!” and the monster rolled over and
over. He was a magnificent boar, with a hock like a bullock’s, terrific
tusks, and such a neck of brawn! e’en such a brute as one sees Madame
Diana flying after, barelegged, in an old tapestry, or playing pitch and
toss with a score of dogs in one of Snyder’s noble pictures. But ’twas
all up with him now; his little blood-shot eyes were half-closed, his
tongue was out, and all his sinews and muscles were stiffened in death.
“’Tis ver fine hogue,” said the Frenchman, looking up, after
contemplating, him for some minutes in mute delight, and pulling out his
gory spear, buried two feet deep in the shoulder; “but I give him dat
last poke ver well, eh! by Jhobs?”
“Yes, you certainly finished him in very sportsmanlike style, Monsieur,”
replied Augustus; “I thought he would have charged me as I delivered my
spear, and am glad he did not, for with those tusks of his, gentlemen,
he would have been an ugly customer, and have left his mark on my
gallant Rustum and me. But come, we will try up the river again.”
The legs of the boar were now tied, a pole was thrust through them, the
huge animal was hoisted on the shoulders of four of the coolies, and
home along with us.
The beaters now once more advanced, latees waved, the shouts were
renewed, and in a few minutes there was a cry of some animal, when a
creature of the deer kind, of a slate colour and clumsy shape, bolted
from the reeds, and with an awkward up and down sort of movement, made
across the plain.
“A hog-deer,” shouted Mr. Tupper; and with arms and legs working like a
mannikins, spurred after him, the rest of party following.
The hog-deer have little speed or bottom, so he was soon overtaken and
killed—casting up a piteous look, as Augustus, who on this occasion gave
the Frenchman the go-by, drove his keen spear into him.
After the death of the deer, we all by acclamation voted an adjournment
to a neighbouring shady tree; there dismounting, and throwing ourselves
on the ground, we commenced a vigorous attack on the cold meat and pale
ale, chatting, joking, laughing, and masticating, at one and the same
time. The game was laid out before us, in order that we might feast our
eyes on that, at the same time that we gratified our palates.
[Illustration: Returning Home from the Hog Hunt.]
The lunch fairly discussed, I was surprised to see a servant hand a
small hookha, or _kulian_, covered with silver chains, and emitting a
delicious odour, to Augustus. Upon my honour, I mentally exclaimed, you
indigo gentlemen seem to have a good notion of comfort. Mr. Augustus
wiped the mouth-piece with his thumb and finger, put it between his
lips, and emitting an elaborate whiff of a yard and a half long, slowly
leaned his back against the trunk of the tree, half-closed his eyes, and
exhibited the most perfect appearance of unalloyed sublunary bliss I
have ever beheld. After half an hour’s rest, and partaking of the
_kulian_, which was generously passed round by our friend, we arose, and
prepared for a renewal of the campaign.
In this we were as successful as in the commencement of the day. Three
more small hogs were killed; on one of which, after sundry abortive
attempts, and one or two imminent risks of unshipment, I fleshed my
maiden spear—a feat marked by such uncommon skill and unique adroitness
on my part, that I made it the leading subject of conversation for a
month afterwards.
Our sport over, and man and beast fairly exhausted, we now bent our
course towards home, wending our way over the plain we had crossed in
the morning. We four cavaliers, our spears over our shoulders, mounted
on our steeds of various statures, led the way; then came straggling
attendants, lagging heavily along; and lastly, the goodly show of game,
slung on poles, and borne on the shoulders of coolies, brought up the
rear.
The cavalcade, the game, the wild track of reeds, the distant masses of
wood topped with the coco-nut and betel-palm, all seen in the streaming
light of the setting sun struggling through the evening’s haze, would
have made a fine subject for that prince of animal painters, Landseer.
A pleasant meal at my friend’s house closed this my first day’s
hog-hunting in India. I had become a mighty hunter at once, and stood
two inches higher whenever the feats I had witnessed crossed my mind;
the feeling of exultation would have been unalloyed indeed, but for the
adventure of that cursed village pig.
The supper was capital, and, ye powers that preside over gastronomy, how
we did eat! It is a fortunate dispensation of Providence that all men
are not hog-hunters, or frequent famine would be the inevitable result.
Augustus was pleasant, the Frenchman loquacious, Mr. Tupper had much to
say, and the hogs were, at a moderate computation, slain over again half
a dozen times at least before supper was ended.
Amongst other subjects incidentally discussed, was that of several
dacoities, or gang-robberies, lately committed in the neighbourhood,
attended with great atrocities.
This part of Bengal had long been famous, or rather infamous, for these
plunderers, who, led on by their chiefs, the Robin Hoods of India, were
a terror to the country. The bands move about, at times levying
contributions from the inhabitants, in numbers often sufficiently great
to enable them to defy the police, which is, or was, very
inefficient—their leaders are great desperadoes.
“I hear,” said Augustus, “that Ramsunker has been plundering in this
neighbourhood, and swears he will pay me a visit one of these days; but
let him come, and we’ll endeavour to give him a warm reception.”
De la Chasse and Tupper said they should like nothing better than a
skirmish with the banditti, and begged that Augustus would send off an
express for them if the aforesaid Ramsunker should ever make his
appearance at the Junglesoor Factory.
Augustus promised to do so, saying that he should be equally ready to
attend their summons if they were first selected for plunder; in short,
a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, was then and there
struck; after which the high contracting parties, becoming full of
Bacchus, sung several songs, disputed, quarrelled, became maudlin, wept,
swore everlasting friendship, and retired to rest.
Besides that one to which the permanent residence was attached, Mr.
Augustus had several out-laying factories, which he visited from time to
time, to superintend the manufacture of his indigo; at all of these he
had little bungalows, or temporary abodes, where we tiffed and passed
the heat of the day.
We were one morning at the factory on the river, where I have stated
that we first landed, quietly smoking in the little turret, or
summer-house, when a great hubbub below, and the noise of people
running, saluted our ears. Mr. Augustus rose hastily, and ran out to see
what was the matter, I following him, at the same time despatching a
servant to ascertain the cause of the uproar. He soon returned, and
stated that a youth had just been carried off from the ghaut by an
alligator, which had snapped him up whilst in the act of washing his
cloth or _dhotee_.
Excited by this account, we posted off to the ghaut, where a clamorous
crowd was collected, many of them looking and pointing towards the
centre of the river. On inquiry, we learnt that the alligator was there,
playing with his victim; and, casting our eyes to the middle of the
stream, there, sure enough, in the centre of the rapid current, his long
jagged tail rising above and occasionally lashing the surface, was the
monster, tossing and shaking the lifeless body of the poor black boy,
and amusing himself as a cat does with a mouse before she makes a meal
of it.
Mr. Augustus sent immediately to the bungalow for his rifle, which soon
made its appearance: it was a piece of the kind called commonly in India
a “bone-breaker,” and carrying a weighty ball, eight or ten to the
pound. Having loaded it, he took a deliberate aim at the alligator.
I waited in breathless suspense for the result—bang went the rifle, and
the ball dashed up the spray within a foot of the creature’s head, and
then went ricochetting over the expanse of water.
“A close shave,” said Augustus; “but come, we’ll try him again.”
Once more the rifle was loaded and fired, but on this occasion with more
success, a dull, lumpish sound telling that the ball had taken effect.
It requires, however, ordinarily, many balls to kill an alligator; but
down sunk the head of the monster, his long serrated tail waving in air
as he descended to the depths of the river, like a sinking warrior
flourishing his broken brand.
This fellow, it appeared, had long been carrying on his depredations in
this part of the river, and the boatmen and fishermen determined at last
to make an attempt to capture him; this they next day effected in the
usual way by dragging the bottom with hooks.
We slept at the out-factory of Gurrialpore that night, and were
agreeably surprised the next morning, shortly after breakfast, by a man
running in to inform us that the alligator had been captured, and that
the muchwas, or fishermen, were then in the act of towing him on shore.
We immediately proceeded to the river’s brink, and there, sure enough,
we observed two dingies, or canoes, fast approaching, and lashed closely
side by side.
As they came near, we perceived that the alligator was between them,
well secured, his head above the water and projecting in front between
the prows, and his long tail laving in the wake behind; in his huge jaws
was a stout stick, well belayed with a cord above and below; in short,
bridled and bitted for any gentleman who, like the adventurous Mr.
Waterton, might have felt disposed to take a ride upon him, which, not
being particular, and preferring a horse myself, I certainly felt no
inclination to do.
On the boats touching the shore, we stepped on board, and looking
between them, found the space, a breadth of a foot or two, occupied by
the horny and rugged back of their prize, into which were wedged the
barbed heads of some half a dozen small iron harpoons, with cords
attached in the manner I have mentioned in a former chapter.
By dint of ropes and bamboo poles, the natives, who showed themselves
wonderfully adroit at the business, soon had him on the shelving bank,
when my host proceeded very deliberately to put ball after ball through
his head, to the number of four or five.
This, for any description of landsman, would have been more than enough;
but, as I before observed, an alligator is an inordinate glutton in the
way of punishment, and requires much to give him his quietus. However,
he was considerably damaged, no doubt—sufficiently so to admit of his
being easily thrown on his back, care being still taken to prevent his
doing mischief, by the pressure of long bamboo poles on his body and
tail.
One of the muchwas now, with a sharp axe, or some such instrument,
proceeded to cut him open, and having done so, he removed the intestines
as completely as the cook does those of a fish preparatory to consigning
it to the frying-pan.
Mr. Augustus now gave the order to remove the “pressure from without,”
which was accordingly done, when, strange to relate, but nevertheless
perfectly true, the _unkillable_ monster sprang bodily up, recovered his
natural position, and lashing his tremendous tail right and left, made
both the dust and the crowd to fly, the latter skipping off nimbly, and
giving him what sailors term a wide berth. Thus he continued to lash his
tail and move his liberated jaws for some time after, though unable to
stir from the spot.
This extraordinary tenacity of life is common to all reptiles and
cold-blooded creatures, though not in all to an equal degree; it is very
remarkable in the turtle of the Indian rivers, which I have known to
scuttle off to the water _minus_ their heads, when cut off by the
enraged _piscator_, as the shortest way of getting the hooks out of
their mouths.
As I watched the dying throes of the alligator, after so long resisting
all attempts to extinguish his vital spark, under every circumstance of
advantage to his assailants, I could not help feeling in all its length
and breadth the utter state of impotency to which the lord of the
creation—man—would be reduced, however well supplied with weapons,
offensive and defensive, when once fairly grappled by him in his native
element. Humiliating thought!
A _post mortem_ examination of the alligator showed us Mr. Augustus’s
ball firmly wedged into the thick part of the tail; and an analysis of
the contents of the stomach brought to light two legs, half an arm, and
sundry rings and silver bangles, which had once adorned the slender
limbs of some hapless village maiden.
Having now gratified our curiosity, and performed our duty to the
public, the inquest broke up—verdict, of course, “justifiable
_alligatricide_”—and we returned home.
One morning, a few days after this—the most eventful, as will be seen in
the sequel, which had occurred to me since I had trodden Indian
ground—we were seated at table after breakfast, my host drowsily smoking
his hookha and conning the Calcutta paper, I concocting a despatch for
home, when suddenly a confused and distant noise was heard, including
the rapid beat of a _doog-doogie_, or small native drum.
My host laid down his paper and listened; for a moment it died away,
then again rose on the wind; there was a hubbub of voices—of flying
footsteps—and lastly, of one or two dropping shots.
“By heavens! there’s something wrong,” said Augustus, half-rising from
his chair, and still intently listening. “_Quon hye?_” (‘who waits?’)
The words were scarcely uttered, when, wild with alarm, a servant rushed
in followed by one or two others, exclaiming, in almost frantic tones,
“Sahib! sahib! _dacka! dacka!_”
My host turned pale, started from his chair, and rapidly interrogated
the affrighted men, who answered him all clamorously at once, and with
the most animated gesticulations.
“In the name of all that’s good,” said I, thunderstruck at the scene,
“what on earth is the matter?”
“Matter! my dear fellow, the dacoits—that’s all; the robbers are upon
us; we must defend our lives; there is not a moment to be lost.”
The plot now began to thicken: three burkundauzes rushed in, with a
confirmation of the intelligence that Ramsunker and his gang were close
at hand, bent on fulfilling their recent threats, and that they had
already plundered two or three neighbouring hamlets.
Not an instant was wasted; the doors were banged to and bolted in a
trice, bars laid across, and some heavy boxes piled up against them.
Guns, pistols, and hog-spears were put in requisition; the burkundauzes
loaded their matchlocks and blew their matches, and the whole of us
immediately ascended to the flat roof, determined to defend the
fortress.
Having gained this position, the next point was to reconnoitre the force
of the enemy, and the posture of affairs outside.
A low parapet wall, some three feet high, encompassed the flat roof of
the planter’s mansion; and over this last, sheltering as much of our
persons as possible, we cast our eyes in the direction of the mass of
bamboo and other foliage, amongst which the indigo vats and other
out-buildings were principally situated.
All there was ominously still, except that, every now and then, a
factory coolie, like a startled hare, would burst forth from his
concealment, and with looks of terror, fly across the opposite
rice-fields.
The vat-houses, &c., had now, it was clear, been abandoned by all the
planters followers, and were in possession of the dacoits, who were
probably rifling them. Of this we had speedy confirmation, by perceiving
three or four dark, undersized figures, almost naked, and armed with
swords and spears, creep cautiously out and cast furtive glances towards
the house.
“There they are,” said Augustus: “those are some of the rascals
preparing, no doubt, to make an assault upon us. Well, we must give them
a warm reception. I wish with all my heart we had De la Chasse with us;
but how to communicate with him and the distant police station,
surrounded as we are, I know not. However,” he added, “he cannot fail
sooner or later, to learn our situation from some of the runaways. Here,
Gernon,” said he, handing me a double gun, “here is something for you;
now do your best, like a valiant knight, and win your spurs.”
Here, thought I, is a pretty adventure! I shall inevitably be figuring
in a return of killed and wounded, without ever having joined a
regiment. Call you this a party of pleasure, i’faith? I had soliloquized
to this extent, when a little white cloud of smoke puffed itself forth
from the brightly verdant screen formed by the drooping bamboo hedge,
followed by the whistling of a matchlock ball within a few feet of my
pericranium.
To tell the truth, this music had no particular charms for me; though,
when “honour pricked me on,” I could listen to it awhile, buoyed up by
visions of glory, promotion, prize-money, and so forth, as well as
another.
On hearing the whine of this ragged missile, I instinctively bobbed my
head a shade lower than the parapet wall: this little involuntary
working of the conservative principle, however, was speedily succeeded
by an energetic display of its opposite, as by an active rebound up I
started, presented my gun, and dropped shots—one, two—quick as thought,
into the spot from which the cloud of smoke had yet hardly
disappeared;—how many I killed, I can’t say.
Augustus also fired; and immediately, as if roused by our daring, a
numerous band of some 200 or 300 dacoits, as ill-looking a set of
fellows as I ever beheld, armed with swords, spears, and a rusty
matchlock or two swarmed forth from their places of concealment, rushed
down upon the house with a frightful yelling, sprung upon the terrace,
and endeavoured to force the doors. These, however, though rather
fragile, as Indian doors generally are, were sufficient for the moment
to resist their efforts.
Our garrison replied by loud shouts of defiance, which, with a volley
from the guns and matchlocks, sent them, to our astonishment, to the
right-about, and they again sought shelter amongst the trees, carrying
off two or three wounded.
I congratulated Mr. Augustus on their unexpected retreat, expressing a
hope that we had seen the last of them, for the disparity of force went
far towards diminishing the liveliness of the joke.
“Ah!” said my friend, “I would not have you halloo before you’re out of
the wood, or draw precipitate conclusions; I know the villains too well;
they have plenty of pluck, and are now, depend on it, going to make sure
of us in some way attended with less risk to themselves.”
We now listened, and soon heard the sound of axes in the wood, followed
by the crash of falling bamboos.
“What can they now be at?” said I.
“I suspect,” replied Augustus, “that they intend to scale the house, and
are making ladders of bamboo for the purpose.”
Some conversation with the native garrison tended fully to confirm this
view of the matter, and 200 or 300 to eight or ten are overwhelming
odds.
“I fear,” said the planter, “we must beat a parley, unless immediately
relieved by De la Chasse or the thannah folks, and make the best terms
we can for ourselves, or they will scale the roof, massacre us all in a
trice, and then plunder the place. What is your idea of the matter,
Gernon?”
“Oh,” said I, “I’m for fighting as long as there’s a fair chance; but if
there’s none, as I’ve no wish to ‘adorn a tale’ by figuring in a
massacre, I vote with you that we give in, provided they grant us an
honourable capitulation.”
As we were thus speaking, a servant exclaimed that a man was advancing
from the wood where the dacoits were carrying on their operations: he
was unarmed, and made a sign that he had something to communicate. One
of our intelligent burkundauzes hailed and asked him what he wanted.
The reply, as explained to me, was, that he had a message from his
sirdar, or chief, the redoubtable Ramsunker, to deliver to the sahib.
He was told to advance with confidence, that he would he admitted to
deliver his message, and that no harm would be done to him. On the
promise of safe-conduct, the herald came forward, nowise distrustful,
and was forthwith admitted.
He was a middle-sized but wiry and athletic fellow, intensely black,
half-naked, with matted hair, small, loosely-twisted turban, and a broad
untanned leathern belt over his shoulder.
Being asked by Mr. Augustus what he had to say or propose, he replied,
that he was sent by his sirdar to state that he was now making ladders,
with which he would in a few minutes scale the house at all points, and
put every soul to death, unless his terms were at once complied with:
these were the immediate payment of Rs. 300, upon which he would at once
draw off his band, and give no further molestation to any one.
The indigo planter, finding further resistance would be useless, and
knowing that these dacoits, on the principle of honour amongst rogues,
were men of their word, fulfilling every engagement, whether to rob and
murder, or abstain, with scrupulous fidelity, determined on acceding to
their terms; this he intimated to the little plenipo, who thereat made a
salaam, grinned horribly a ghastly smile, and returned to report to his
superior the success of his mission.
To be brief, there was an immediate stir in the grove, and presently the
chief, as sinister-looking a villain as I ever beheld, came forward to
about the middle of the open space fronting the house, accompanied by a
body of some ten or twelve of his followers.
Mr. Augustus gave him a bag containing the Rs. 300, for which he made an
obeisance, and then wheeling about, he rejoined his band, who, after
several loud shouts, moved off with their plunder, and without offering
us any further annoyance.
“Well,” said Mr. Augustus, shaking me by the hand, “how do you find
yourself, after being stormed and besieged?—a pretty piece of business
this, eh? You little thought of witnessing such an adventure, I’ll be
sworn, when you came down to sport at the Junglesoor Factory. This was
not the shooting you expected.”
“I did not, indeed,” said I; “however, I think we have saved our honour,
and our bodies are certainly intact, albeit you have lost your rupees.”
“That’s true,” said my friend; “but I should still like to give the
rascals a trouncing and recover the _spolia opima_, and will try it, if
De la Chasse and the police make their appearance before they have got a
long start of us.”
This was scarcely said when we heard the sound of horses’ hoofs, and in
a moment De la Chasse and Tupper, in breathless haste, came spurring up
to the house. The former threw himself from the saddle, and in a moment
had us by the hands.
“My goot Capsicome! my dear young friend! are you all a—live? all well?
Dat’s goot; thank God—thank God! I hear you vas beseiged by dis raskal
dacoit; so Tupper and me, ve mount our ’orse, ride off to the tannah for
de police—dey vill be here directly, tannahdar and all, little and pig.
But come, tell me _vraiment_ all vat was happen—vere are dey?—who have
dey kill?—vat have dey rob?—vere are dey gone?—Come tell it all, for I
am dam _impashant_ to know all.”
“It is soon told, Monsieur,” said Augustus. “Ramsunker and 300 of his
men attacked us; we stood one assault, capitulated, and paid Rs. 300,
black-mail, to get out of the scrape.”
“Black male! vat de devil’s black male?—you mean, I suppose, you pay Rs.
300 to de black males—I not suppose you pay to de black females.”
Augustus laughed, and explained.
“Vell, vell, you did your best; de grand Napoleon himself vas obleege to
yield to numbers; 300 to ten is too moch. But,” added he, “I do hope ve
may yet catch dis dacoit, get de money back, and give dem goot trashing
beside; dere is 100 of de police, and twenty or thirty more of us—vat
say you?”
“Just what I was proposing to our young friend here, as you came up;
undoubtedly, let us try; but there’s no time to be lost, if we would
wish to succeed, for they have already a considerable start of us.”
The proposal, indeed, was generally relished; the horses were ordered to
be saddled; each of us armed himself in some way or other, and in a few
minutes more, the portly thannahdar, or head of the police, as burly a
fellow as Shakspeare’s fat knight, mounted on a rat of a pony, made his
appearance at the head of a numerous body, some 80 or 100, of the
neighbouring police, drawn from several stations.
Mr. Augustus intimated to the thannahdar his determination to pursue the
dacoits, so soon as his followers had slightly refreshed themselves, of
which, after the distance they had come, they evidently stood in need.
This the thannahdar intimated to his men; some of whom began to smoke in
little knots or groups, squatting on their hams; others drank water,
which they drew in their brazen lotas from a neighbouring well; whilst
others unfolded little stores of rice, or parched gram, tied up in
corners of their vestments, and set to daintily picking and eating the
same. Poor prog to fight upon, thought I, holding as I do that the
stomach, and not the heart, is the seat of valour.
All the above was mingled with an incessant gabble touching the recent
event, with a plentiful outpouring of abuse on the female relations of
the aforesaid dacoits.
The police refreshed, off started our little army in pursuit of the
enemy, who we calculated could not be many miles off, the four
Europeans, (if Augustus may be included under that denomination) and the
thannahdar—the cavalry of the division—taking the lead, whilst the
police peons—the infantry—principally armed with spears and tulwars,
brought up the rear.
As we advanced, we learnt from the villagers that the body of the
dacoits (too large to move unobserved) had proceeded in the direction of
a certain ferry on the river. Thither we bent our course, and learnt
from the ferry people that they had recently crossed and were close at
hand. The remainder of the adventure I shall sum up in a few words.
The dacoits were soon overtaken; like Cæsar, we came, and saw—would I
could add, we conquered! but in that, the most essential point, the
parallel with the great Roman’s despatch unhappily fails.
On approaching the dingy array of the dacoits, they halted and showed a
bold front. Augustus and De la Chasse marshalled their men, and
addressed what were intended for some spirit-stirring exhortations to
them. Tupper and I took the flanks, and doubtless felt (I can speak for
myself) rather queer.
We advanced; the dacoits, sword and spear in hand, came forward doggedly
to meet us—our line wavered—in vain we screamed and exhorted; the
dacoits dashed in—cut down three or four; _sauve qui peut_ was the word,
and away flew our men over the plain. After a little irregular cutting
and slashing, we followed, and with difficulty saved ourselves by the
speed of our cattle.
I will leave the reader to imagine the rage of Mr. Augustus, the
vehement _pestes_ and _sacres_ of the Gaul, and the downright
straightforward abuse of the stiff little mate, elicited by this
shameful misbehaviour of our troops; the censures, reports, &c., arising
out of it; and the uneasiness felt, after we had got back to the
factory, of another visit from the exasperated Ramsunker. Fortunately,
however, he came not; and from fugitives and others we learn that,
satisfied with putting us to the rout, he had made off with his gang and
booty to a distant part of the country.
All this, of course, formed matter for animated discussion and
commentary amongst us four at the factory, De la Chasse and his friend
remaining for a couple of days to afford us their countenance and
protection. We had a very merry time of it—shooting and boating in the
day, and a rubber of whist or a song at night.[19]