Parell[4] was full of guests; and in order to afford them a greater
diversity of amusement than the daily routine of a monotonous Eastern
life affords, our excellent host resolved on a day's excursion to the
island of Salsette, accepting an invitation to rest for an hour on his
return at the house of a wealthy Parsee, whose liberality and zeal for
the interests of the Company had won him the favour of the merchant
princes' representative. In order to be ready for our departure at
daybreak, we were called at three o'clock. In this country, such an
hour sounds uncomfortable; we are all inclined to sympathise with the
writer of the old Scotch ballad, and declare--
'Up in the morning's no for me,
Up in the morning early;'
but in India, it is a luxurious theft from sleep; and even now the
remembrance of my starlit bath of that Indian morning comes pleasantly
across my mind. The bath was literally taken by starlight; for the
tumbler of oil, with its floating wick--which is the ordinary lamp of
the country--was hardly seen in its far-off corner, when I unclosed
the jalousies, and admitted the solemn, silvery planet-light. The
window above the bath opened into the garden; and it is scarcely
possible to conceive greater physical enjoyment than reclining in the
warm element, listening to the soft sounds proceeding from
without--the castanet music of the singing-tree, the rustling of the
fan-palm, the trickling of the fountain: even the distant cry of the
retiring jackal was pleasant; whilst above the giant palms, I could
see the dark violet of the sky, on which the
----'Ship of Heaven
Came sailing from Eternity,'
and from whence Canopus threw its laughing lustre full on the water in
which I was immersed, and kept me for a time motionless, lest I should
break or mar its beautiful reflection. But every enjoyment has its
dark shadow: as life has its 'insect cares,' so Eastern night has its
mosquitoes; and a sore contest one has with them on issuing from the
bath at such an hour. How they flit about, imps of evil as they are,
and sound their horn of defiance in our ear!--a very marvellous sound
to proceed from such tiny creatures, and, to persons of irritable
nerves, worse even than their sting, or at least an additional horror.
They proved strong incentives to a hasty toilette; and the whole
gipsying-party was speedily assembled in the hall, where coffee and
biscuits were handed round. Then followed a pleasant drive through the
fresh morning air; and it was not without regret that we exchanged the
open carriages for the close imprisonment of the palanquins, in which
shortly after we threaded the mazes of the jungle. It was still early
morning when we reached the cave in which we purposed remaining
during the heat of the day. Outside, a tent had been pitched for
the servants; within, a splendid breakfast was spread for
ourselves--tables, chairs, food, and cooks having preceded the party
thither. Books and prints were also provided, to beguile the tedium of
our inevitable seclusion, and pleasant companionship promised a still
greater resource against _ennui_.
The caves of Salsette have been already so often described--once by
the pen of Heber--that I shall not attempt a repetition, but content
myself with informing my readers, that we occupied the large one,
dedicated to the ancient worship of the Buddhists; a gloomy temple,
but cool, and possessing a certain interest from having been the scene
of superstitious horrors round which hang the mystery of an almost
unknown past.
After dinner, we prepared to mount the hill, and explore the smaller
cells in which the hermits of Buddhism had formerly dwelt. The ascent,
though very steep, was not difficult, and, once gained, afforded a
glorious view of the island and the distant sea. The caves, with their
singular stone-carvings and reliefs, were also very interesting, and
must have been pleasant abodes for the worthy men who there had aimed
at a pleasanter saintship than that attained by the tortures to which
the followers of Brahma, and of his legion of subordinate deities,
often subject themselves. We amused ourselves for some time examining
these cells, and not till the sun was sinking behind the taller trees
of the jungle below, did we think of returning. Our descent, however,
was to be effected by another and far more difficult pathway than that
by which we had mounted the hill--steps or niches irregularly cut in
the mountain's side, offering the only means of reaching the cave
below. My head turns at the very recollection! The chief of the hamals
had followed us; I looked at his naked feet, that with such a charming
certainty grasped the rock, and resolved on making him my _cavalier
servente_, backing my gracious intimation to that effect with the
promise of a rupee for guerdon, at which he appeared more pleased than
at the honour of the selection; and thus grasping the arm of my black
knight, I began the terrible task before me, having purposely lingered
out of sight till the rest of the party were at the bottom.
But, alas! a very kind, very good-natured, very stout gentleman in
tight boots--I had not observed how _very_ tight they were!--perceived
my incongruous escort, and hastened back to take his place. In vain I
represented my partiality for my companion of shoeless feet and steady
eye; he was as incredulous as Desdemona's father was of her love for
the Moor. In vain I deprecated 'giving him so much trouble;' his
politeness was resolute; and I was compelled to accept the assistance
of his hand, and with a beating heart to make the first step. Alas! in
this instance it was not only _la premier pas qui coute_; the fourth
and fifth were worse; at the sixth my courage failed me utterly, and I
felt an insane desire to throw myself over the precipice, and thus
terminate the horror of fear and giddiness that distracted me. I
begged my companion to let me go, but he good-naturedly suggested that
I might as well try to live a little longer, and therefore advised me
to shut my eyes, and let him lift my feet from step to step. I was
obliged to comply, and thus, to the great amusement of the party
beneath, we made our tedious way down the hillside. If any of my
readers have ever felt the kind of panic I have tried to describe,
they will understand and sympathise with me on the occasion. The
precipice below was really very alarming, and there was nothing on the
bare side of the mountain that could soothe the imagination with the
hope of something to clutch at. Still, I felt more ridiculous than I
had ever thought I could be, when, on reaching the foot, I received
the bantering congratulations of the others; and my assistant, with a
bow, assured me 'that we had effected our descent with the agility and
grace of two antelopes!'
We returned to the principal cave to have coffee, and then,
re-entering our palanquins, were soon again in the depth of the
jungle. I was tired--one soon wearies in that climate; the light was
dim and solemn; and the chant of the bearers, by its monotony, helped
to lull me into a sound slumber, for which the palanquin is always an
agreeable cradle; and thus, in deep sleep, I was borne onwards, till
the halt, to which my bearers at last came, roused me; and with a very
dim recollection of where I was, I started and awoke. For a single
instant, I thought myself still dreaming, however, for an unexpected
and surprising vision was before me.
The palanquin had stopped in a large garden, or rather grove, which
was brilliantly illuminated with coloured lamps; even the lofty
cocoa-nut trees were not without a crown of rainbow tinted light. As I
was assisted in my exit from the palanquin, two young Parsee boys, in
flowing white robes, girt with a scarlet shawl round the waist,
advanced and presented me, the one with a large bouquet of roses,
tied, after their usual fashion, round a slender stick, and dripping
with rose-water; the other, with a thin long chip of sandal-wood,
having at the end a small piece of white cotton, steeped in delicious
attar of roses. After receiving their gifts, I was conducted by them
to the house, where the owner, a Parsee merchant, met and welcomed me
with the ordinary salutation, pressing his hand to his head and heart,
and then offering it to me. My palanquin had arrived last, and I found
all the rest of the party seated round a table covered with a splendid
repast--a regular hot supper, intermingled with fruit and flowers in
profusion. The chief ornament of the table was a handsome silver vase,
presented to our host by the East India Company, of which he appeared
very proud, lifting it from the table, to shew the inscription on it
to each of the party individually. At the end of the banquet, the
quiet attendants moved round with a very elegant silver flagon of
rose-water, the neck of which was very long, and as thin as the tube
of a china pipe; from it they poured a few drops on the head of each
of the guests. The sensation produced by this sudden trickling of cold
rose-water is very pleasant, though a little startling to strangers.
We had so recently had refreshment, that we were not inclined to do
justice to the hospitality proffered, and the supper was scarcely
tasted; but on rising to go, our host explained to the 'Governor
Sahib,' 'that the feast was his: it had been prepared for him; he had
looked on it! it was his!' These polite assertions were a little
mystifying, till one of the staff-officers, well versed in the manners
of the natives, explained that the governor was expected to carry off
what remained of the entertainment. It was really difficult to help
laughing at the whimsical notion of carrying away the roast turkeys,
kid, fruit, &c., which was before us; but all was actually the
perquisite of the train of attendant servants, and I suppose they took
possession of it. The gifts offered to the governor when travelling
are also theirs, when not too valuable; that is to say, when they only
consist--as they generally do in mere villages--of fruit, eggs, nuts,
and sweetmeats. If the present be, as it occasionally is, a camel,
with its head painted green or red, it is usual to accept it, re-paint
it blue or yellow, and make a return present of it, to the original
donor, who, of course, feigns to be totally unacquainted with the
animal thus 'translated.' Gifts made to the governor become the
property of the East India Company, as no servant of the Company is
permitted to receive a private present; and it would be the height of
discourtesy to refuse the wonted and time-honoured 'offering' made on
the occasion of a visit to the Burra Sahib.
After many courteous salaams and farewells on the part of our host, we
resumed our journey, gratified at this glimpse of the interior of a
native home. The Parsees are generally rich, and their houses or
_bungalows_ are large and handsome. Their adoration of light tends
greatly to the embellishment of their dwellings, as to every upper
panel of the wainscoting they attach a branch for wax-candles, which
are lighted every night, and give to the building the appearance of
being illuminated. These 'children of the light' are a fine race, very
handsome and intelligent. The upper servants at Parell were all
Parsees; one, named Argiesia was an especial favourite with us all,
having always a shrewd and amusing answer for every question put to
him. We remember on the occasion of a total eclipse of the sun, which
took place during our stay in Bombay, asking him why the people of the
village near the house made such a noise with their tom-toms. His
reply was:
'Because ignorant people, Ma'am Sahib, think great serpent is
swallowing the sun, and they try to frighten him away with big noise.'
'And what do you think the shadow is, Argiesia?' we asked. He looked
grave for a minute--one never sees an Oriental look puzzled!--and then
answered:
'Sun angry men are so wicked. In anger, him hide his face.' This
ready-witted and poetical Ghebir met his death, not long after, in one
of his own sacred elements, being drowned in the Mahr River, 'where
ford there is none.' He once expressed great surprise to me that a
nation possessing Regent Street--a description of which he had
received from his father--'should come to live in India.'
It was night when we reached Parell after our day's pleasuring; and we
all agreed that the climate of India, during the winter months, is of
all others the best adapted for picnics, which are so often marred in
England by ill-timed showers or gloom; and yet, certain memories came
back half reproachfully as we spoke, painting to our mental vision the
pretty lanes and fresh green dells and dingles of England, the soft
cool breeze, the varied and flitting shadows, the open-air enjoyment
of many a past summer-day, when in our own merry island we
'Went a gipsying a long time ago,'
and we gave an involuntary sigh for the country of our birth.