_Marched to Chillembroom—Famine in the Place—Punishment of
some who attempted to escape—Imprisoned—Put in Irons—
Provisions scanty and bad—Conducted to Bangalore—
General Treatment—Starvation—Inhuman Conduct—Comic
Accident—Prisoners divided into three Parties—Sorrow
at Separation—Sent to Burrampour—Imprisoned and in
Irons—Nearly starved—Sent again to Bangalore—Marched
to Seringapatam—Heads shaved—Treacherous European—
Compelled to submit to the Mohammedan Rite—Afflictive
Situation—Ablution—Death of Hyder Ali._
We were here about two months, when a circumstance took place, which we
then considered very fortunate, but soon to our sorrow found it the
reverse. Nineteen of our men, with Lieutenant Wilson of the Yarmouth,
effected their escape; they had a few blankets among them, of which they
made ropes; and by this means, availing themselves of a dark night,
descended to the ditch over a stupendous stone wall; but they knew
nothing of the country, or which way to steer. Nineteen of them were the
next day brought in with their arms pinioned; and the other, our
boatswain’s mate, was drowned in attempting to cross a river. Lieutenant
Wilson was stripped, and flogged with tamarind twigs very severely, when
they plastered his back over with sugar, and exposed him to the sun, by
way of finishing the punishment due to his crime; the men were put in
irons. In consequence of this affair, in a day or two after, we were
marched to a strong prison, and the whole of us put in heavy leg-irons,
with a scanty miserable allowance; and the guards were doubled. In this
situation we remained two months, when an order came from Hyder Ali to
march us from thence to Bangalore; in consequence of which, our irons
being knocked off, we were coupled two and two in hand-irons. This being
done, we were marched out of the fort, not knowing our destination. In
this case there was no distinction, except that the officers were kept
separate; for all were linked, both officers and men. We had the painful
sight of seeing them pass us in irons; a state of degradation which
affected many of us, and myself for one. Our first lieutenant and the
lieutenant of marines, named Carthew, were brothers; these worthy men
were coupled together in a double sense, viz. fraternal affection, and
strong bolts of iron. They were, however, released from bondage in the
year 1784, and are, I believe, both still living, one an admiral, and
the other a clergyman.
We soon understood that our destination was Bangalore; our march
commenced, and a severe one it was: several had no shoes, which was no
small misfortune; many being coupled together whose tempers were by no
means congenial, was another source of evil, and particularly so after a
heavy day’s march. It frequently happened that we were kept, though I
believe, not designedly, without food for many hours after reaching the
ground on which we were to sleep; and wo to the poor weary wretch who
should attempt to sit down to rest himself, for in this case he would be
sure to have the application of the but-end of a musket between his
shoulders: in short, no butcher ever drove oxen with more cruelty than
we were driven. In order to prevent a surprise, we were taken by the
most unfrequented ways; and one day, in a most dreadful abyss on the
margin of the road, we heard the noise, as we supposed, of a
rattlesnake, which alarmed us all; but if it was such, it must have been
of an enormous size, otherwise it could not have made the noise it did.
A curious circumstance took place at one of our halting spots, which
were mostly under trees, and which, though alarming at the time, was
very laughable afterwards. Two of our men, about one o’clock in the
morning, were preparing their rice coffee, in order to be ready for the
morning’s march; when taking their cudgeree-pot off the fire, it broke,
and scalded one of them, who gave a terrible roar, which was mistaken
for a tiger’s by those near him, who were not half awake. This induced
them to bawl out,—a tiger! a tiger! which was quickly communicated to
the whole, as they were successively roused from their sleep. Our
officers, being near us, took the alarm also; and such a scene of
confusion ensued, as would require an abler pen than mine to describe.
All were intent on personal safety, but all were not of one mind; hence,
one hauled this way, and another that, till twenty or thirty pairs came
in contact; numbers fell on each other, while some endeavoured to haul
their weaker partners up into trees. The guards were running about like
madmen, not knowing the cause of this hurly-burly; and I am persuaded to
this day, had we not been ironed, the guards would never have entered
our thoughts, and many would have been miles distant in a very short
time. Several had the marks of this dragging business, on their wrists,
for months afterwards. Smith, our corporal of marines, being the only
man out of irons, and who could talk Moorish well, was sent for by the
chief of the guard, who, I believe, was as much frightened as ourselves;
but when he understood the cause of all this confusion, he was highly
pleased, for he was apprehensive of something worse. Many of the guards
were at a considerable distance at this time; but the panic gradually
subsiding, the tom-toms were sounded, the horns were blown, the guards
collected, and we composed ourselves to sleep, wondering at what had
happened.
At the expiration of twenty-one days, under many distressing
circumstances, we reached Bangalore. Here we were halted, and after
three days, the Mohammedan and Brachmin grandees came from the fort, and
separated us into three parties. The division I was in was sent to
Burrampour, three days’ march from Bangalore. I do not recollect ever
seeing a day of more sorrow. On parting, the tears flowed copiously from
many, and grief was portrayed in almost every countenance. When we
reached the place of our destination, prior to entering the prison, our
hand-irons were knocked off, and leg-irons substituted. They gave us
rice for the first eight or ten days, when they changed it to ragee, the
flour of which is nearly as black as coal. This, no doubt, occasioned
the death of numbers of our poor fellows, who died in excruciating
agonies, which I think would not have been the case, had they had
medical assistance; but they might as well have asked for mountains of
gold, as any thing of this nature.
Here we remained three months, at the expiration of which time, being
all ordered out to muster, the youngest were selected from the rest, to
the number of fifteen, myself one; our irons were knocked off, and we
were put for that night in the prison, as usual. This was mysterious to
us; we knew not what to make of it. The next morning, we, the fifteen
boys selected, were sent off to Bangalore, where we were told we should
be taken good care of. We sorrowfully parted from our companions, and,
after three days’ march, arrived at the spot. Here we met with more
English youths, who had been taken, in like manner, from other prisons,
and sent hither also. We were exceedingly glad to see each other, and,
of course, mutual inquiries took place as to the cause of our being thus
collected; but we were all equally ignorant, and a kind of gloomy
pleasure was the result. We now mustered fifty-two boys, the oldest
seventeen, and the youngest (a Mr. Randal Cadman, whom I shall have to
mention again) twelve. The first of their operations was, searching us
for knives, scissars, &c. and such as they found, they very
goodnaturedly took from us; they then sent us several legs of mutton,
with cudgeree pots, water, salt, &c. but carefully prevented our having
any thing to cut it with. Nine of us formed a mess, and boiled one of
the legs, which was our portion; but when ready, we were at a sad loss
how to divide it, having been deprived of every instrument necessary for
that purpose. After a hungry debate, one, more sagacious than the rest,
procured a tile, with which instrument, and our exertions in tearing, we
reduced it with much difficulty into three parts; we then formed
ourselves into three parties, three in each, and, as we had made three
joints of it, each party took one; and after taking it in our hands, and
tearing as much as our mouths would contain, we passed it to another,
till our turns came again. This was a necessary invention, which the
rest were forced to adopt;—could you, my good reader, have done better?
Three days having expired, we were sent for by the killadare, or
governor, who, after viewing us with apparent goodnature, gave us some
fruit; which kindness we could not account for, all was mystery still,
though we were repeatedly told that we were high in the estimation of
Hyder, and considered as his children. On this piece of information,
some were thoughtful, and some thoughtless. After a few days had
elapsed, we were marched off to Seringapatam, Hyder’s capital; but our
marches were easy, and our food was abundant. On the ninth day after we
left Bangalore, we reached the capital, where we were seated between two
gates for nearly three hours, and gazed at by innumerable multitudes,
who were passing and repassing through the place, and who had never
beheld such a sight before. From thence we were ordered to a tabla, or
square, where they continued their kindness to us; but we were all this
time quite ignorant of their base intentions. One month passed over our
heads very comfortably, when the guards being increased, we were ordered
out to muster. Near us stood a number of hodgams, (barbers,) who had
orders to shave our heads. This we positively refused, and they did not
use force, as this was only preparatory to something of greater moment.
In the midst of these mysterious kindnesses, an European made his
appearance, clad, in the Mohammedan dress, with a large red turban, and
a formidable pair of mustaches. This man saluted us in a very
gentlemanly manner, but we looked on him with suspicion and surprise. He
gave us to understand, that he was sent directly from the killadare, to
use his influence with us in having our heads shaved, &c.; he also more
than intimated, that if we persisted in a refusal, they would take such
steps as would be very disagreeable to us, which no doubt was true
enough. He appeared to be our friend, and sincerely advised us quietly
to submit; which we did. This being done, they left us to ourselves
another week, when, one morning, the same barbers came, with twelve of
the most robust men I ever saw; these were some of Hyder’s _getiees_,
all from Madagascar, kept by him for feats of strength and agility,
which I shall, in the sequel, attempt to describe. Their appearance told
us plainly that something was going on, although we could not form any
opinion of the object which they had in view; but the arrival of
Dempster, the name of the European before alluded to, once more
unravelled the mystery. He addressed us in the most endearing, though
hypocritical, language, and gave us to understand, that we were to be
circumcised, and made Mohammedans of, by the express order of Hyder. We
were thunderstruck; but what could be done? He saw our agitation, and
playing off his persuasive artillery, his artifice and address had more
influence with us than the guards; in short, they forced each of us to
take a quantity of majum,[3] a drug well calculated to stupify the
senses and deaden pain; but it had little effect this latter way.
A mat, and a kind of sheet, being provided for each of us, we were
ordered to arrange ourselves in two rows, and then lie down on our mats.
This being done, the guards, barbers, and those twelve men
before-mentioned, came among us, and seizing the youngest, Randal
Cadman, a midshipman, they placed him on a cudgeree pot, when four of
those stout men held his legs and arms, while the barber performed his
office. In this manner they went through the operation, and in two hours
the _pious_ work was finished, and we were laid on our separate mats;
where, with the effects of the majum, some were laughing, and others
crying; which, together with the pain, rendered our condition truly
curious and ludicrous. In the evening they placed several sentinels over
us, not for the purpose of guarding us from an escape, this being
impossible, for more reasons than one; but to protect us from the
bandicuts, a species of the rat kind, as large as young sucking pigs,
which they much resembled, and which were very numerous there. We were
soon convinced that this was an act of mercy on their parts, as those
creatures (lying in our blood as we were) might have done us
considerable mischief. In this state we remained two months, when, with
the exception of two,[4] we all got well.
During our illness, or rather soreness, the clothes we had were taken
from us, and coarse habits given us; but we were not, even yet,
completely Mohammedanized, and therefore more evils were at hand. Four
large coppers were brought into the square, accompanied by facquars or
priests, worstards or schoolmasters, and a religious train,—to
consummate the business, and make us genuine children of the Prophet.
Each copper would, at least, contain one hogshead and a half of water,
which was made unusually warm. The reason assigned for this, was, as we
understood afterwards, that we had eaten a great quantity of pork in our
time, and consequently were very unclean. Here was no small diversion
for idle spectators, to see us jump out of the coppers half scalded; the
facquars, in the midst of their prayers, suspending their ceremonies,
and joining the guards in running after and bringing us back; for, by
the time two were taken, they would be in pursuit of two more, who had
made their escape from this terrific ordeal. In this we found some
advantage; for during our short absence the water naturally cooled, so
that we could at length stay in it until the prayers were finished by
the priests. This continued three days successively, in conjunction with
the confused prayers of the facquars, the threats of the guards, and our
own apprehensions at this mode of scalding. These preparations and
performances being ended, we were hailed as the children of the Prophet,
and the favourites of the Nabob.
Now, exclusively of our mental feelings, we had every good in abundance;
and thus they continued to treat us for three months; but, alas! our
troubles had only just begun. About this time, 1783-4, Hyder Ali Cawn
died. The more immediate cause of his death was an ulcerated back; and
reports were then circulated in the capital, that towards the close of
his life, when the ulcer was rapidly spreading, he, by advice, ordered
several criminals at different times to be killed, in order to apply
their livers to his sore. It is, however, but just to state, that for
this I have no other authority than hearsay, though I have no reason to
doubt that it might be truth.
We were now formed into a company, but having Dempster for our
commander, was no small mortification to us; knowing him to be a base
wretch, and a deserter from the Bengal Artillery. Dempster was a man of
considerable abilities, and, as we soon learnt, had been a chaplain to
one of the regiments at Gibraltar. This man, with a native named Abdel
Gunney, both formerly officers in the Company’s service, was at the
bottom of all the cruel treatment we received for the period of a year
afterwards. We were now, every morning and evening, paraded before the
palace in full Mohammedan dress; and this scoundrel would very
frequently march us up and down before the English officers’ prisons,
and particularly before that of the brave but unfortunate Colonel
Bailey, of whose end I shall have to speak very shortly.
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