RESIDENCE IN CALCUTTA.
“DEBT IS A MAN’S HUSBAND[13].”
“i.e. A man in debt is always at the mercy of his creditors, as a woman
at her husband’s.”
1823.—Baboo Ramohun Roy—Nāch girls—Children in India—Sickness
in the Fort—The Rains—Vessels for a Voyage on the Ganges—Indian
Fever—Arrival of Lord Amherst—Introduction of Steam-boats on
the Hoogly—Interest of Money in Calcutta—Robberies—Jamh o
Deen, Prince of Mysore—The Doorga Pooja—Images of Clay—the
Races—Chinese Screens—The Dog Crab.
1823, _May_.—The other evening we went to a party given by Ramohun Roy,
a rich Bengallee baboo; the grounds, which are extensive, were well
illuminated, and excellent fireworks displayed.
In various rooms of the house nāch girls were dancing and singing. They
wear a petticoat measuring, on dit, one hundred yards in width, of fine
white or coloured muslin, trimmed with deep borders of gold and silver;
full satin trousers cover the feet; the doputta, or large veil, highly
embroidered, is worn over the head, and various ornaments of native
jewellery adorn the person.
They dance, or rather move in a circle, attitudinizing and making
the small brass bells fastened to their ankles sound in unison with
their movements. Several men attended the women, playing on divers
curiously-shaped native instruments.
The style of singing was curious; at times the tones proceeded finely
from their noses; some of the airs were very pretty; one of the women was
Nickee, the Catalani of the East. Indian jugglers were introduced after
supper, who played various tricks, swallowed swords, and breathed out
fire and smoke. One man stood on his right foot, and putting his left leg
behind his back, hooked his left foot on the top of his right shoulder;
just try the attitude _pour passer le temps_. The house was very
handsomely furnished, everything in European style, with the exception of
the owner.
The children of Europeans in India have a pale sickly hue, even when
they are in the best of health; very different from the chubby brats of
England.
All the Indian fruits appear very large, and a new comer thinks them
inferior in point of flavour to the European; as for the far-famed
mangoes, I was disgusted with them, all those to be had at that time in
Calcutta being stringy, with a strong taste of turpentine.
The fort is spacious and handsome, but very hot from the ramparts that
surround it. The 44th Queen’s have lost three officers by death, nine
more have returned to England on sick certificate, and three hundred of
the privates are in hospital; this in six months! The mortality amongst
the privates has been dreadful, owing, I believe, to the cheapness of
spirituous liquors, and exposure to the sun.
Port or sherry is seldom seen on table, during the hot weather; Madeira
is not much used; Burgundy, Claret, and light French wines are very
rationally preferred.
Where the climate is so oppressive, what are luxuries indeed at home, are
here necessary to health and existence; to walk is impossible, even the
most petty Europe shop-keeper in Calcutta has his buggy, to enable him to
drive out in the cool of the evening.
_June 1st._—This is the first day of the month; the morning has been
_very_ hot, but at this moment the rain is descending, as if the windows
of heaven were again opened to deluge the earth; the thunder rolls
awfully, and the forked lightning is very vivid. I never heard such
peals of thunder in Europe. No one here appears to think about it; all
the houses have conductors, and as the storm cools the air, it is always
welcomed with pleasure by those on shore.
Our friends who are going to Lucnow have hired their boats, an absolute
fleet! I must describe the vessels.
1st. A very fine sixteen-oared pinnace, containing two excellent
cabins, fitted up with glazed and Venetian windows, pankhās, and two
shower-baths. In this vessel our friend, his lady, and their infant, will
be accommodated.
2dly. A dinghee for the cook, and provisions.
3rdly. An immense baggage boat, containing all their furniture.
4thly. A vessel for the washerman, his wife, and the dogs.
5thly. A large boat with horses. 6thly. A ditto. What a number of boats
for one family! The hire of the pinnace is twenty rupees a-day, about
2_l._; the other boats are also very expensive. They will be three or
four months before they arrive at Lucnow; they quitted us the 12th of
June.
I have now become acquainted with the three seasons in India; the cold
weather, the hot winds, and the rains. The last have set in; it is quite
warm; nevertheless, the rains descend in torrents for some hours daily:
pankhās are still necessary.
The natives are curious people; my ayha was very ill yesterday, and in
great pain, she would take no medicine unless from a doctor of her own
caste; brandy was prescribed; she would not take it, said it was very
wicked to drink it, that she would sooner die; therefore I was obliged to
leave her to her fate, and sent her home to her friends; she is a good
and honest servant.
In July, my husband was seized with one of those terrific Indian fevers,
which confined him to his bed about fourteen days; he got up looking very
transparent and ghostlike, and in a state of great debility, from which
he was some time in recovering. Happily, he was saved from a premature
epitaph.
I had great trouble with the servants, with the exception of five of
them; a speech made by the ayha is worthy of record:—“It would be a
great pity if the sāhib should die, for then—we should all lose our
places!”—symptoms of fine feelings!
Lord Amherst arrived, and we attended a party given to those over whom he
had come to reign.
There is much talk here of a passage to India by steam. “Cœlum ipsum
petimus stultitiâ,” which means, “On veut prendre la lune par les
cornes.” Heaven forefend that I should find myself in a steam-boat, in a
fine rolling sea and a brisk gale, off the Cape. I should not hesitate
to give the preference to the twelve hundred ton ship. Some of the old
rich Indians, as they are called at home, will have full opportunity to
try its safety before my time is come. We have, however, established a
steam-boat upon the Hoogly, which goes about four knots against tide;
something prodigious in a river where the tide runs like lightning, and
with tremendous force.
At this time we became anxious for an appointment up the country, at a
cooler and healthier station than Calcutta, far removed from the damp,
low, swampy country of Bengal Proper.
_August 29th._—The Governor-general and Lady Amherst are great favourites
in Calcutta; the latter renders herself particularly agreeable to her
guests at the Government-house. The new Governor-general is so economical
he has discharged a number of servants, quenched a number of lamps; on
dit, he intends to plant potatoes in the park at Barrackpore; people are
so unaccustomed to anything of the sort in India, that all this European
economy produces considerable surprise.
It happens that in India, as in other places, they have an absurd custom
of demanding a certain portion of the precious metals in exchange for
the necessaries and luxuries of life, to procure which, if you have them
not, you are forced to borrow from agents, the richest dogs in Calcutta:
and why? Because, forsooth, they merely require _now_ eight per cent,
(formerly ten) added to which, after your debt reaches a certain amount,
they oblige you to ensure your life, and in this ticklish country the
rate of insurance is very high.
In the third place, which to us is the _argumentum ad hominem_,
many and many are the lives that have been sacrificed, because poor
miserable invalids have been unable from their debts to leave India.
Interest—horrible interest—soon doubles the original sum, and a man is
thus obliged to pay the debt three or four times over, and _after that he
may_ put by a fortune to support him in his native land.
Do not suppose I am _painting_; this is the plain fact, of which almost
every month furnishes an example.
A man on first arrival (a griffin) cannot or will not comprehend that
“one and one make eleven[14].”
_Sept. 7th._—Since our arrival we have been annoyed with constant
robbery in the house. Seventy rupees were stolen one day, and now they
have carried off about eighteen silver covers that are used to put over
tumblers and wine-glasses to keep out the flies; in consequence we have
discharged our Ooriah bearers, who we suspect are the thieves, and have
taken a set of up country men.
_Oct. 1st._—We have had a singular visitor, Shahzadah Zahangeer Zaman
Jamh o Deen Mahomud, Prince of Mysore, the son of Tippoo Sāhib, and one
of the two hostages.
He resides in a house near us, and sent us word he would honour us with
a visit. The next morning he called, and sat two hours. He had studied
English for twelve months. Seeing a bird in a cage, he said, “Pretty bird
that, little yellow bird, what you call?”—“A canary bird.” “Yes, canary
bird, pretty bird, make fine noise, they not _grow here_.” In this style
we conversed, and I thought my visitor would never depart. I was ignorant
of the oriental saying, “Coming is voluntary, but departing depends upon
permission[15];” his _politesse_ made him remain awaiting my permission
for his departure, whilst I was doubting if the visit would ever
terminate. At last he arose, saying, “I take leave now, come _gen_ soon.”
The next day he sent three decanters full of sweetmeats, very like the
hats and caps that used to be given me in my childish days, mixed with
caraway comfits, and accompanied by this note:—
“Some sweetmeats for Missess ⸺ with respectful thanks of P. Jamh o Deen.”
I suppose my visitor Prince Jamh o Deen did not understand the difference
between compliments and thanks. I did not comprehend why the sweetmeats
had been sent, until I was informed it was the custom of the natives to
send some little valueless offering after paying a visit, and that it
would be considered an insult to refuse it.
_13th._—We went to a nāch at the house of a wealthy Baboo during the
festival of the Doorga Pooja or Dasera, held in honour of the goddess
Doorga. The house was a four-sided building, leaving an area in the
middle; on one side of the area was the image of the goddess raised
on a throne, and some Brahmins were in attendance on the steps of the
platform. This image has ten arms, in one of her right hands is a spear
with which she pierced a giant, with one of the left she holds the tail
of a serpent, and the hair of the giant, whose breast the serpent is
biting; her other hands are all stretched behind her head, and are filled
with different instruments of war. Against her right leg leans a lion,
and against her left leg the above giant. In the rooms on one side the
area a handsome supper was laid out, in the European style, supplied by
Messrs. Gunter and Hooper, where ices and French wines were in plenty for
the European guests. In the rooms on the other sides of the square, and
in the area, were groups of nāch women dancing and singing, and crowds
of European and native gentlemen sitting on sofas or on chairs listening
to Hindostanee airs. “The bright half of the month Aswina, the first of
the _Hindu_ lunar year, is peculiarly devoted to Doorga. The first nine
nights are allotted to her decoration; on the sixth she is awakened;
on the seventh she is invited to a bower formed of the leaves of nine
plants, of which the Bilwa[16] is the chief. The seventh, eighth, and
ninth are the great days, on the last of which the victims are immolated
to her honour, and must be killed by one blow only of a sharp sword or
axe. The next day the goddess is reverently dismissed, and her image is
cast into the river, which finishes the festival of the Dasera.
“On the fifteenth day, that of the full moon, her devotees pass the night
in sports and merriment, and games of various sorts: it is unlucky to
sleep; for on this night the fiend Nicumbha led his army against Doorga,
and Lukshmi, the goddess of prosperity, descended, promising wealth to
those who were awake[17].”
A short time before this festival, the Sircars employed in Calcutta
generally return home to enjoy a holiday of some weeks.
Immense sums are expended by the wealthy Baboos during the Doorga Pooja.
_Dec. 2nd._—Would you believe that we sit at this time of the year
without pankhās, with closed windows, and our floors carpeted! In some
houses, fires are adopted. We have not yet come to this, though I
occasionally have found it cold enough to desire one. The mornings are
delightful, and the nights so cold, I sleep under a silk counterpane
quilted with cotton, called a Rezai.
The natives form images in clay; the countenances are excellent; the
eyes, eyelids, and lips move remarkably well; they are very brittle; they
represent servants, fakīrs, and natives of all castes: the best, perhaps,
are to be procured in or near Calcutta; they are attired according to the
fashion of the country, and cost from eight annas to one rupee each.
We are in the midst of our gaieties, balls, plays, and parties, agreeably
varied. Our first meeting (the races) is held during this month; for we
have our Derby, and Oaks, and Riddlesworth. The Riddlesworth is with us a
very interesting race, all the riders being gentlemen, and sometimes ten
or twelve horses starting. From the stand, of a clear morning, there is a
good view of the horses during the whole of their course.
We have just received from China two magnificent screens, of eight panels
each; they are exceedingly handsome, and keep out the glare by day and
the air by night: I think I may say they are magnificent.
Amongst the ornaments of the household, let Crab the terrier be also
mentioned; he is much like unto a tinker’s dog, but is humorous and
good-tempered, plays about, chases cats, and kills rats, not only in the
stable, but house, and serves us in the place of a parvulus Æneas.