FURTHER DETAILS.
“Oh solitude! where are thy charms
That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
Than reign in this horrible place.”
Presiding at the table was the Commissioner, who, with the rest,
appreciated the ludicrous position in which I had been placed. I do
not think that he was altogether pleased at having come across the
people at all; but it now only remained to look the matter boldly in
the face, and, as far as possible, to prevent the news from spreading.
In this I think he was successful, for the march was continued without
any attempt at opposition, and, as matters turned out, we eventually
arrived at our destination without having to strike a blow.
At the best of times, even under cover, the natives lack cohesion; in
the open they are nowhere, being too heavily handicapped by want of
discipline, indifferent weapons, and inherent apathy and ignorance.
It is more difficult to assign any adequate reason for their poor
show of fighting qualities when strongly entrenched; the few who had
ever faced and survived disciplined troops and English guns probably
exaggerated their own prowess, and consequently, too, the number and
strength of the enemy.
The theory of fighting appears to constitute in the eyes of the Burmese
a very amusing game: it was their delight to build a great stockade,
arm it with what weapons they could muster, and fancy themselves secure
from even the most daring of intruders. Untaught, too, by numerous
reverses, it was also their fancy that an enemy invariably attacks
in front, so that any flank movement completely disorganized them,
all their strength having been concentrated on the front of their
building. Had we, for example, attacked the Rangoon Pagoda—the key
of the whole position—from the front, our troops would to a certainty
have been frightfully punished; but we moved under cover of the jungle
to the east side, where we were least expected, and its defenders
ignominiously fled without anything more than the faintest show of
resistance.
The result of coming in contact with such peaceful, well-behaved
natives inspired greater confidence into our party; and while scarce a
shot had been fired hitherto at any kind of game, partly owing to the
nature of the surroundings, and partly because we thought it might be
distasteful to our worthy chief, no objection whatever was now raised
to a little shooting, and it was in this wise that I encountered my
first tiger in his native haunts and majestic beauty.
We were encamped in a large open space by the side of a somewhat broad
but shallow stream, which furnished men and animals with the best
and most abundant supply of water that we had come across since our
departure. Nor did its advantages end here, for, besides to some extent
protecting one side of the camp, its rippling music was very refreshing
to our ears as we rested during the heat of the day.
As the result of a conversation, in which sport was the leading topic,
it was agreed that four of us should go in a body and see what we could
make of the jungle-fowl, which had, as usual, been crowing away that
morning all along the line of march.
Accordingly, towards sunset we sallied forth, the two officers
belonging to the European detachment and their orderlies, the officer
in command of the Sepoys, and myself, with a Burmese lad to carry my
ammunition.
A few minutes’ walk brought us to the jungle, which we at once entered,
on the _qui vive_ for whatever small game might turn up, the idea of
encountering anything larger having, strange to say, never occurred to
any of us. We were soon threading our way through an exceedingly pretty
part of the jungle, amid gigantic trees with gnarled trunks, festooned
with creepers, and inlaid with delicately-tinted and waxy-looking
orchids, that peeped out everywhere from a profusion of spotless green
leaves. These beautiful flowers, which always appear to me to be gifted
with more expression than perhaps any other, seemed to warn us of
dangers lurking within that tangled mass of vegetation, the haunts of
the cruel python and other formidable creatures. There is much to be
said in favour of the orchid, in spite of its lowly position in the
vegetable kingdom as a parasite, or, to let it down more easily, an
epiphyte. It is, in point of fact, a veritable robber, though not to
the extent generally supposed; for, though it derives its sustenance
from the tree on which it grows, yet this is extracted from the effete
bark, and not from the juices. In this respect, therefore, orchids
are more sinned against than sinning; sinners or no sinners, they
are worthy of adoration, whether abroad in their sylvan haunts or as
exotics at home. Exquisite in themselves, they show how, on so frugal
a diet, they can rival any of our favourites, on which animal and other
manures have been lavishly expended.
The forest now resounded with the report of double-barrelled firearms,
and jungle-fowl were falling on all sides. Reloading, I followed,
as I thought, in the track of the others, but their reports sounded
further and further away as I advanced, and at length died away
completely. Now and again I hailed them by name, but I might just as
well have searched for a needle in a haystack as my companions in such
a labyrinth, so I soon followed an independent course. That we had
scattered was not to be wondered at—indeed, unavoidable; twisting about
and facing every point of the compass in order to avoid trees and to
steer clear of patches of thorny, low-growing jungle, both for their
own sake and for the sake of what they might harbour, anything like
keeping in touch was impossible. I found myself, therefore, alone, but
for my little ammunition-bearer, who kept as close to me as he could,
bounding forward whenever I fired, and every bit as interested in the
proceedings as I was myself.
I had been creeping along cautiously for some time, looking to right
and left and listening attentively, when it suddenly dawned upon me
that it was time to get back to the camp. I accordingly did so with
every feeling of confidence, but a few attempts convinced me of the
fact that I was lost.
In my perplexity I took my boy into confidence, but, either owing to
my imperfect knowledge of the language or his timidity, he proved but a
Job’s comforter. Nor was there any help to be derived from the position
of the declining sun, as it was completely hidden from view by the
thick foliage overhead and everywhere around; so I proceeded at random,
all interest in the excursion having vanished, and my every thought
centred on how to get clear of the forest.
Having performed the operation of “right-about-face,” I must surely be
making progress; and it is astonishing how, under such circumstances,
a straw seems sufficient to clutch at. I was still fresh, which was
something; a trifle warm perhaps, and well disposed towards a pint of
the _dimidium dimidiumque_ of the ancients had such been available,
but, in default of nectar, I sought another comforter, that had often
helped me to pull myself together and look an unpleasant situation in
the face. My companion looked as if he would liked to have followed my
example, but I had not even a cheroot to offer him.
Barely ten minutes after this the jungle terminated abruptly, and we
came upon a green sward of considerable extent, and fringed with trees
and undergrowth. It almost resembled an artificial clearing, inasmuch
as not even a shrub intercepted its continuity; and I was on the point
of crossing it when a terrific roar on my right sent all the blood back
to my heart, and a magnificent tiger trotted into the enclosure. I was
too taken aback to move; my pipe dropped from my mouth on to a stump,
scattering its lighted contents over my feet. The tiger was a grand
specimen—graceful, sleek, and beautifully marked, but for the moment
his beauty concerned me far less than my own slight chances of escape.
My thoughts involuntarily wandered for an instant to that farce in
which the pariah-dog enacted a leading _rôle_—what a contrast to this
awful reality! and I was just resolving to pour the contents of both
barrels into his face, in the hope of blinding him, when he snarled at
me and disappeared, lashing his tail.
This was a great relief, for the perspiration was streaming down my
face, and my teeth were clenched as in death. I recovered my pipe, and
looked round for my boy. He was gone, and my calls received no answer.
I would have signalled to him by firing, but the young absentee was in
possession of both powder and shot, leaving me with only two charges to
depend on in case of further emergencies. I was therefore compelled to
proceed alone, coming to the conclusion that he had bolted on hearing
the tiger roar, and had either made off to his own village or else
succumbed to fear, or to _something worse_, the bare possibility of
which I dared not contemplate.
Absolutely alone! Lost in a tropical forest, with night coming on
apace, and no ammunition other than the two charges of small shot
already in my gun. This was truly an enviable position, especially as
the forest was known to be swarming with wild beasts, such as I had
just encountered. I shouted once more for my boy, and plunged again
into the thicket at haphazard, and in a state bordering on desperation.
Anxiety and fear quickened my steps; my eyes seemed to penetrate
further than usual, and my ears detected the faintest sound. I was
startled by the snapping of a twig under foot, while the cry of a
jungle bird terrified me. How I wished they were all defunct, or that
I had never attempted to molest them in their hidden retreats.
In addition to my gun, I carried a stout branch, which I hurled at
every suggestive clump likely to harbour any kind of animal. I realized
to its full the couplet of the poet—
“As in the night imagining some fear;
How easy is a bush supposed a bear:”
in my case a tiger. Hope was ebbing fast, so I scanned the trees
around, with a view to taking up my position in one of them for the
night.
Even then I should not be beyond the reach of tigers, snakes, and
black ants; while, if I fell asleep, I might have occasion to prove the
literal truth of the words: _Periculosior casus ab alto_!
The outlook, both above and below, was certainly as bad as bad could
be, and I felt sick with anxiety, and so weary with suspense that I
almost wished the end would come and leave me at rest.
It was, however, decreed otherwise, and to my intense satisfaction
the trees became further apart and the undergrowth less dense, and—oh,
joy!—a familiar sound smote my ear, and I once more stood on the brink
of a stream.
This was a relief in many ways. First and foremost, I lay my gun
down, tucked up my sleeves, and drank greedily, for I was both hot
and thirsty; and then I once more lighted my pocket companion and
considered my position. Though matters had decidedly improved, I was
still on the horns of a dilemma. We were encamped, it is true, on
the banks of just such a stream as this; but, even if this were the
identical one, ought I to follow its course up stream or down? The
pleasing thought also occurred to me that animals are wont to make for
the water to slake their thirst during the first watches of the night,
but this troubled me far less than the choice of direction.
The ultimate result of my calculations was a decision in favour of
moving with the stream; so I advanced with extreme caution, looking
on all sides whenever I was following one of the many bends of its
tortuous course.
Once, a large moving object loomed some way ahead, leaving the water’s
edge and striking inland; it was probably a tiger, but the increasing
darkness rendered identification impossible; and my attempts to
ascertain the nature of its footprints when I shortly afterwards
crossed its path were equally fruitless.
Save for the rippling of the stream perfect silence reigned around,
a few stars twinkled overhead, and the dark line of the forest looked
more gloomy than I had ever yet seen it. Doubtless my feelings painted
the surroundings in unusually gloomy colours.
It was now half-past-six by my watch; and on making the next bend, I
saw a light not very far ahead. It might of course belong to a party
of the rebels out reconnoitring, in which event I should be between
two fires. Stooping down and gliding inland from cover to cover, I
approached cautiously; while, as I neared the place, other fires came
in sight, and figures flitted past them. I crept closer and closer,
resting for a few seconds behind each convenient bush; the figures
were in the “shadowed livery of the burnished sun,” though taller and
slighter than the average Burmese. Still more cautious, and bent almost
double, I traversed the remaining distance, soon making out every
detail of the camp I had quitted the same afternoon. Not sorry to stand
upright once more, I sauntered gaily into the place, whistling a tune,
answered the challenge and proceeded straight to my tent.
The others were just sitting down to dinner, at which I soon joined
them; after which, in return for their consideration in allowing me to
enjoy the meal undisturbed by questions, I gave them a full account of
my adventures, and was heartily congratulated on my narrow escape.
Comparing notes with my fellow-sportsmen, I found that the whole party
had scattered, returning separately, but in good time. Captain H.—the
“long one,” as we called him—had also encountered a large tiger asleep,
and was just pushing a bullet down over the shot, when the animal
awoke, snarled at him, and walked unconcernedly away. Considering how
these animals rest during the day and prowl about in the evening, there
was every reason to suppose that his tiger and mine were identical; if
so, its experiences that day, encountering no less than three white
faces—the captain’s, his orderly’s, and my own—were indeed probably
without precedent.
That night, I slept soundly; and we started early next morning, for
time was precious. Not long after the commencement of this march, we
came upon a herd of wild elephants, which at once fled, making the
jungle appear as if agitated by a strong wind.
It was just as well from our point of view that they did not attempt
to fraternize with our tame ones. As a rule they are timid creatures;
but the Rogue is an exception, and a very ugly customer to deal with,
moving at a pace far beyond anything that could be expected of his size
and awkwardness, and making the forest resound with his trumpeting.
Soon after this encounter, the camp was thrown into an unusual state of
excitement. The Commissioner was cool and collected as usual, but news
of an important and possibly disagreeable nature had evidently just
reached him.
At any rate, a number of padded elephants, heavily laden with armed
Europeans and Sepoys, were at once ordered to the front, and went off
in hot haste. Without being aware of it at the time, we were within
a day’s march of a large stockade, the capture of which was the main
object of the Expedition. For a few hours the camp was plunged in
profound silence; the remaining troops being kept under cover, ready at
a moment’s notice for any emergency.
And so we remained until the shadows of the trees began to lengthen
considerably, when one of the troopers galloped up with a despatch,
from which it appeared that, as our force appeared in sight, the
Burmese had fled for their lives, leaving only a few decrepid old men
and women, some pariah-dogs, and a number of cooking utensils. Thus was
extracted this thorn from the Commissioner’s side without a shot having
been fired. He out-Cæsar’d Cæsar, for he came and conquered without
even seeing! Those who were not needed to garrison the place returned
to camp that evening, while other elephants went with provisions, &c.,
for the new occupants.
From this it would appear that the Burmese were totally ignorant of our
approach until we were within a day’s march of their stronghold, and
then in all probability only by the merest accident.
Some woodcutter in the vicinity may have spied us out that morning
and, seeing so many laden elephants and armed men, conveyed a very
exaggerated report of our strength. On the backs of these pachyderms
must be large guns; at all events he fancied he saw them, and reported
them.
He must any way have piled on the agony, else the enemy would scarcely
have evacuated a position already strong by nature, and rendered still
more so by art, without striking so much as a blow.
Such conduct indeed could only be accounted for on the supposition that
they imagined us in possession of large cannon; the range and power
of our guns may have been known to some of them, and, having already
profited by the lessons of hard experience, they were by no means
anxious for further instruction.
The evacuation was described as one of the most disorderly,
precipitate, _sauve qui peut_ affairs which it is possible to imagine.
They melted away on the principle of “The devil take the hindmost,” and
they certainly left very little for his satanic majesty.
Some allowance must, however, be made for their behaviour. To their
intense bewilderment they were about to be attacked in the rear,
a direction from which they least expected it; and, while still
cogitating over the unwelcome intelligence, they suddenly behold a herd
of elephants bearing down upon their stockade as fast as they could
be urged along, each teeming with redcoats armed _cap-à-pie_. A belt
of forest moreover hid our force till close at hand, when its sudden
appearance created a “panic.”
All doubt and uncertainty were now at an end, and the sole remaining
impediment to the peace of the province had now been removed by a bold
strategy, in which were displayed some of the finest qualities of the
human mind—true courage, self-reliance, ability to act on one’s own
convictions, and far-seeing perspicuity.
And yet our Commissioner was still anxious. The finale must have
rushed upon him so hurriedly and unexpectedly; the relief from a state
of tension to one of an opposite nature was also too abrupt, and the
reaction gave him sleepless nights, during which he doubtless reviewed
the momentous proceedings of the past three weeks. Extremes meet and
produce like effects; and a sudden, unexpected stroke of good fortune
will sometimes unhinge us more than an unlooked-for disaster.
All this was mere conjecture on my part, for, as I have already
mentioned, he never allowed his own troubles to be shared by others.
Another important qualification that characterized him was an
instinctive knowledge of the exact moment at which to strike the
decisive blow. It goes without saying that he must have employed
trustworthy spies who, in the garb of mendicants or some other guise,
succeeded in gaining admission into the stockade, heard all that was
going on, and reported that afternoon the state of consternation in
which the inmates were at the time. Nevertheless, had the enemy but
delayed a day longer, there might have been some awkward resistance.
All round, then, the future Sir Arthur Phayre displayed the highest
qualities, not only of Governor in a civil capacity, but also of
General, _au fait_ in the military branch as well.