an anecdote which may prove serviceable to many; the circumstance
happened, within my own knowledge, to a brother subaltern with whom I
was very intimate. He had, from the day of his admission to the service,
formed the resolution of amassing a certain sum, which should be devoted
to the comfort of three sisters he had left in Scotland, and who, he
knew, would not, in the meanwhile, be destitute of support. At the end
of about his tenth year of service, his favorite object was effected,
and he remitted to them no less than twelve hundred pounds, _i.e._ four
hundreds to each, with a letter, expressing his satisfaction at being
enabled to provide them the means of improving their diet, &c.; closing
his brotherly epistle with the assurance, that, in so doing, he had
surrendered his all; and that, as it was his intention thenceforward to
lay by every spare rupee for the purpose of retiring from the service,
they were to expect no further aid until his demise. The good souls were
astonished at the receipt of so handsome a present, which they never had
expected; they put their heads together, and, after many a pleasing
_confab._, in which expectation, rather than gratitude, doubtless was
expressed, made up their minds to the full conviction that their brother
was as rich as a Jew, and that there was no occasion for economy in
future. They made their good fortune known, both by words, and by the
encrease of their establishment, &c., &c.; and, for a year or more, made
a very gay appearance on the strength of their brother’s money; but, as
that was rather ‘of a perishable nature,’ and because, as poor Richard
says, ‘going often to the meal-tub, but never putting in, will soon find
the bottom,’ bills, and demands of various kinds, began to accumulate,
and the ladies were reduced to considerable distress. In this awkward
predicament, application was made to the agent through whom the payment
had been paid in London; but he knew nothing whatever of their brother’s
concerns, nor could he venture to make them any advance upon the bills
of exchange they proposed to give him. Reduced to the last extremity by
their own imprudence, they wrote him a most extraordinary letter, which
was submitted to my perusal, wherein, among other matters, they
reproached him as having occasioned their distress ‘_by not having been
punctual in the_ ANNUAL REMITTANCE _he had led them to expect_!’ The
foregoing _fact_, I am thoroughly satisfied could be matched, if many
family occurrences, of which the public do not hear, were exposed to
view. The number of questions I have been obliged to answer, and the
evident disappointments that have resulted from my candid exposition of
the subjects in question, leave not a doubt in my mind, that the most
preposterous expectations are often (as in the above instance) formed
upon very slight grounds, or even without the smallest foundation.
According to the regulations, every man in the service ought to be paid
monthly; but this is not always done, even in times of peace, on account
of the collections, _i.e._ the revenues, being received only at
particular periods: if nothing particular should occur to occasion the
monies being otherwise appropriated, the deputy pay-masters at the
several stations receive notice, that the amount of pay, due to the
troops attached thereto, may be received; otherwise, it sometimes
happens that two, three, or more months, elapse without any such notice
being given. It is inconceivable to what inconvenience such delays give
birth! No regimental pay-master, no regimental agent, no certain means
of obtaining a supply of cash, in general, exist. Consequently, recourse
must be had to the native money-lenders, of whom I have already made
honorable mention. When a notice arrives at the deputy pay-master’s
office, application is made by him for an escort, generally of a company
of sepoys, under the command of an European officer, which proceeds to
that civil station whence the supplies are to be derived. Sometimes,
however, the escort is detained for many days, or even for weeks; this
is usually owing to sudden calls for remittances having been received,
when, of course, the escort had better wait for fresh receipts than
return empty handed.
Payments are made in specie, generally in silver; the _sicca_ rupees of
Lucknow, Benares, Patna, &c., being held as _sonauts_, in which the pay
of the whole army is calculated. When much gold is received at a
station, but especially at the Presidency, that coin is instantly
depreciated, to the great loss of every military man. In some instances,
payments are made to troops by means of bills of exchange, payable at
short dates: this answers very well for small sums, in situations not
authorizing the detachment of a party to escort from a considerable
distance, provided the party on whom the bill is given be a responsible
man, which is very generally the case; for, though we do sometimes hear
of a _shroff_ (_i.e._ native banker) stopping payment, very little
apprehension need be entertained as to the punctuality of those on whom
respectable firms draw, as they usually do, at fifty-one days.
This is done with the view to induce the party who is to receive the
money, to discount with him who is to pay it; thus deriving to the
drawer of the bill a double profit. It happens sometimes, as I once
experienced, that some little pretended informality is not discovered
until the bill becomes due, when it is generally returned to be
rectified: by this device, an additional profit is exacted. I do not
apply these cases to all the _shroffs_, but notice them as being
occasionally within the sphere of an European’s disappointments, and to
caution against a too hasty acceptance of bills from any _shroff_ not
established in character, as well as in property.
With respect to the recovery of sums advanced on bills of exchange,
extreme difficulty very generally prevails. The bankrupt laws of Britain
do not extend to her colonies, and, if they did, it could be to the
several presidencies only; beyond their immediate sites, the several
courts of judicature have no immediate authority over any but British
subjects. About thirty years back, the Supreme Court at Calcutta made an
attempt to extend its powers into the interior, and to take cognizance
of civil matters between the native inhabitants, but they were
personally opposed, and such serious consequences were apprehended, that
the enterprize was relinquished, and the judges compelled to confine
their operations to the letter of that act by which they had been sent
to India.
Until within the last ten years, the troops in the upper
provinces received an addition to their pay, under the name of
‘double-full-batta,’ originally given by the Nabob Vizier of Oude to the
officers serving within his dominions, and by the Company to all who
served beyond their own immediate possessions: this has, however, been
abrogated, and full-batta is now the highest pay given on any occasion.
When the above allowance, _i.e._ double-full-batta, was in force, the
upper provinces were considered preferable in point of emolument; but,
on account of the great prices of liquors, and of all articles,
excepting immediate table provision, in demand among European gentlemen,
very little advantage was gained from the receipt of greater pay; except
by those who proceeded upon a plan of determined economy, and retired
from the great circle of society for the express purpose of living
within certain bounds, whatever privations they might endure. Such
persons necessarily acquired property in proportion to their receipts;
an object of great importance where the legal interest is twelve per
cent., and where abundance of government securities at ten per cent.
have been generally for sale at par, or nearly so, in the money market.
Under such favorable circumstances, the first saving was invaluable; it
was sure to accumulate, and commonly was doubled in about seven years.
Since the abolition of ‘double-full-batta,’ the Presidency is considered
the best station, so many opportunities offering of making cheap
purchases at the several daily auctions in Calcutta, only sixteen miles
from the cantonments at Barrackpore. In a gig, the distance may be
easily ran in two hours, the road being remarkably good; in a
_palanquin_, the journey may occupy about four hours, if a relay of
bearers be posted at the half-way _bungalow_. During the rains, and
especially when the tide serves, a well-manned _pulwar_, or a
_paunchway_, or _dingy_, (small boats calculated for expedition,) may
proceed from Barrackpore to Calcutta in little more than an hour; the
return is rarely very quick, except during spring-tides in the
dry-season, before the river rises. Care must be taken to start with the
first of the tide, but not before the _baun_, or _bore_, has past.
Those who have seen the _bore_ in the Medway, and in the Severn, will at
once comprehend the dangers attendant upon that impetuous rush of the
waters, which, in the Hoogly, begins near Fultah, about forty miles
below Calcutta, and may be felt even so high as Nia-serai, full
thirty-five miles above the capital. In a work entitled ‘The Oriental
Voyager,’ by J. Johnson, Esq., Surgeon in the Royal Navy, at page 80, is
the following passage. Speaking of the Ganges, he says, ‘The tides in
this river, particularly at full and change, are rapid beyond belief,
forming what are called _boars_, or _bores_, when the stream seems
tumbling down a steep descent, doing great mischief among the boats, by
upsetting and running them over each other: ships themselves are
frequently dragged from their anchors, and dashed furiously against each
other, at these periods. They attempt to account for these torrents, by
saying they depend on the other small rivers, that open into the main
one by bars; which, at a certain time of the tide, allow the waters to
rush out, all at once, into the great stream, and thereby so much
encrease its velocity!’
Where Mr. Johnson got his information about these bars, I know not; nor
would it be possible, in my humble opinion, for any man to have
disguised, or confused, the fact more completely than is done in the
above paragraph: a circumstance which creates surprize, when we
consider, that the volume in question contains many remarks, inducing us
to expect the absence of so unphilosophical a description, and so
erroneous a conception. The matter lies in a nutshell, as Mr. Johnson
ought to have known: viz. Those rivers whose mouths are much expanded,
and that, after a course of several miles, during which their banks are
nearly parallel, suddenly contract, are subject to _bores_; that is, to
an immense wave which heads the flood tide. This _bore_, which is
described with justice as being very powerful, arises from the
contraction of the channel; which, while it directs the great volume of
water into a narrowed space, necessarily compels it to assume a greater
height. The successive flow drives on the leading wave, which gradually
subsides as it becomes more distant from the propelling power. But the
_bore_ rarely, if ever, occupies the whole breadth of the stream; it
ordinarily runs upon one side, until it comes to a bend, when it crosses
over, and continues its action until another turn of the river causes it
to cross again; and thus until its force is expended. The _bore_ does
not run under Calcutta, but along the opposite bank; it crosses at
Chitpore, about four miles above the fort, and ranges with great
violence past Barnagore, Duckensore, &c. Lesser rivers, whose mouths lie
embayed; as is the case with the Medway, which branches from the Thames,
and the Wye, that falls into the Severn, are subject to _bores_, in
consequence of the tide taking such a course as throws the great body of
water into them. In such small streams, the _bore_ will generally be
tremendous; because so great an expanse is suddenly thrown into so
narrow a channel: hence, the bridge at Chepstow is necessarily raised to
so great a height, and by floating made to yield to the tide’s force.
I much fear Mr. Johnson was not very successful in his enquiries, nor
over fastidious in his acceptance of vulgar errors; for, I observe, that
at page 113, he has allowed himself to be egregiously duped regarding
_Mannacolly Point_; so called, from the village of _Mannacolly_, which
formerly stood there. Mr. Johnson tells us a long story about a lady
proceeding to India, and finding her husband a corpse at that place:
whence, ‘_Melancholy Point_.’!!! I am well aware, that the same fable
has been retailed to many others, who gaped for information; but that is
no apology for its being upheld as matter of fact: had any respectable
authority been consulted on the occasion, before the volume was
committed to press, so palpable a traditional error would not have been
offered to that public, among whom so many are equal to its refutation.
What Mr. Johnson states respecting the injuries done to ships by the
_bore_, is at times verified, but they are rarely worthy of notice: if a
vessel be properly secured, the _bore_ will have little effect on her
safety, though the swell may cause her to pitch rather deep for a while.
During the rainy season there is no _bore_; which is to be accounted for
by the tide being so weakened at its entrance into the narrows near
Fultah, as not to be competent to form such a wave as precedes it at
other seasons; but, in exchange for this, a violent eddy, and great
agitation of the waters, takes place between Diamond-Harbour and that
place. It has been several times my lot, when proceeding with the last
of the tide from Barrackpore to Calcutta, to meet the _bore_, generally
near Chitpore; but, as its approach was indicated by the putting off of
all the small craft from that shore, along which it invariably pursued
its course, and to remain near which would be dangerous, my boat-men
always followed the example, and kept along the centre; where, though we
were tossed about famously, no danger existed. Once, indeed, in turning
Sulky Point, in a sailing boat, I was obliged to dash through the
_bore_, which I did not suppose to be so near, notwithstanding the
_dingies_, &c., were putting out. The surf assuredly appeared awful, but
we mounted over it, stem on, without difficulty, and speedily recovered
from a certain pallid complexion which had insensibly crept over our
countenances, as we approached the roaring waters. From what has been
said, it must be evident that the _bore_ travels at the same rate as the
incipient spring-tide, the velocity of which is different in various
parts, but may be taken at an average of full twenty miles within the
hour. Notwithstanding this rapidity, vessels, such as _budjrows_, and
other craft, intended for pleasure, or for burthen, ordinarily ride safe
at anchor; sustaining no injury from the _bore_, though they may perhaps
drag their anchors a few yards. But, to insure this security, care must
be taken that the broadside should not be exposed; else there will be
great danger of over-setting: this danger is not unfrequent, owing to
the _manjies_ and _dandies_ (boatmen) neglecting, especially during the
night, to swing the stern round, either by means of a spring, or a small
hawser, or by _luggies_ (bamboo-poles); so that the vessel’s head may
meet the _bore_ in its direct course.
Those who are anxious to make the best of their way, should not delay
putting off until the tide may have fairly set in, but ought to be out
in the stream just as the _bore_ is ranging along the bank, so that they
may receive the first impulse, which is prodigiously forcible, and
endeavor, by the exertions of their boatmen, to keep up, as much as may
be practicable, with the leading waters. It is wonderful how great a
difference this sometimes makes in the start from Calcutta! Sometimes a
_budjrow_ may, by this precaution, reach beyond Bandel, and nearly to
the ultimatum of the tide’s way, after which, the current is invariably
in opposition, at various rates, according to the season of the year.
During the dry season, which includes from the end of October to the
middle of June, though sometimes the rains are of greater duration, or
set in earlier, the Hoogly river is nearly in a state of rest above
Nia-serai; but, during the rains, and especially about August and
September, not only the beds of the rivers, but the country around,
present a formidable body of water. Within the banks, the current may
average from four to eight miles an hour, according to localities, but
what is called ‘the inundation,’ rarely exceeds half a mile; and, I
believe, never moves at a full mile within that time.
In this, due allowance must be made whether the waters are rising, or
falling: in the former instance, they will become nearly stationary
until they may overflow where nearest the sea, and thus obtain a vent;
in the latter case, such parts as may be near to great rivers, then
subsiding within their banks, must be greatly accelerated.
As the parched soil of Egypt is refreshed by the overflowing of the
Nile, so do the waters of the Ganges, by their annual expansion and
abundance, renew the fertility of many millions of acres, and restore
the blessings of health to those industrious and peaceable peasantry
inhabiting that flat country through which they majestically wind their
course.
At Calcutta, and Dacca, each of which is about seventy miles from the
sea, not only is the water unpalatable, from its saline impregnation,
but even the sand, taken from the beds of the rivers, is found to retain
so much moisture, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, as to
disqualify it from mixture in the cements used for building, but
especially for making tarrases, known to us here under the designation
of grist floors.
The great tank at Calcutta, which occupies a space of about ten acres,
is not less than two hundred yards from the river. The soil is generally
a rich sandy loam near the surface, but becomes rather looser, and
inclinable to a fine gravel, after digging about ten feet. The tank may
be sixty feet from the top of its banks, (which are level with the
streets,) to its bottom; and the river is from four to seven fathoms
deep opposite its site. We should conclude that such a distance would
secure the waters of the tank from becoming brackish; but the soil
favors the communication with the river, and, during the hot season,
occasions the tank to be so strongly impregnated as to be unfit for
either culinary purposes, or for washing. What is more remarkable, the
wells in the different out-works of Fort-William, some of which are four
or five hundred yards from the river, partake equally of the moisture:
so much, indeed, as to have caused Government to be at a great expence
in forming an immense reservoir, (to be filled, if required, by rain
water,) occupying the whole of one of the bastions.
It should be here noticed, that, during the rainy season, the rivers are
full up to their banks, and run with such force, often six or eight
miles in the hour, as to occasion the tide to be little felt, either at
Calcutta, or at Dacca; consequently, the whole of the water, both of the
rivers, and of the tanks and wells, becomes fresh and pure. On the other
hand, during the hot months, viz. March, April, May, and part of June,
when, except during a north-wester, or squall incident to the season,
not a drop of rain is to be expected, the waters are every where
proportionably low; and, as the tides come up with extreme force, we
must conclude the portion of sea-water to be very considerable. Such is
the fact; for those who visit either Calcutta, or Dacca, at that season,
and who drink even of the tank-water, are sure to feel its cathartic
effects, and, eventually, to suffer under a very troublesome kind of
itch. At Dacca, where the air is more saline, all visitors undergo the
penance of a copious eruption: some of the old residents have a return
of it every hot season; although they may be extremely careful never to
touch river water, but, like the inhabitants of Calcutta, allot a
spacious _godown_ to the reception of immense jars of earthen ware,
which, being placed side by side, in close rows, are successively filled
by the _aub-dar_, or servant whose business is confined to the care, and
to the cooling, of water for table expenditure. The water thus preserved
is caught in large vessels, placed under the several spouts that conduct
it thereto, during heavy falls of rain; the quantity varies according to
the consumption, but we may ordinarily compute that of a family at
Calcutta to amount to full sixty or seventy hogsheads within the year.
In the course of a few weeks, each vessel will be found to contain
innumerable larvæ, occasioned by musquitoes, and other insects, and
which would, in a certain time, taint the fluid. It is therefore
customary to strain the whole so soon as the larvæ are discovered, and
afterwards to plunge into each jar an immense mass of iron, made
red-hot; whereby whatever animalculæ may have escaped through the
strainer may be destroyed. This being done, some alum is dissolved in
water, and a sufficient quantity put into each vessel to fine its
contents. Some, and I think the practice should be more generally
adopted, after the foregoing operations, sprinkle a quantity of very
fine sand on the surface of the water in each jar; thereby giving, to
whatever gross particles it may contain, a tendency to precipitation. It
may, at first view, appear that, in the common course of society,
gentlemen must be subject to partake of water which may not have been so
scrupulously purified, and perhaps brought from some neighbouring tank,
or from a river, impregnated by the influx of a brackish tide. Such may,
assuredly, be the case occasionally; but it will be found, on reference
to what has been said of the duties of the _aub-dar_, or water-servant,
that purified water is carried by a bearer, in a _bangy_, or perhaps in
a _soorye_, or earthen jug, to the house at which his master is to dine.
In camp, it is a very general custom for every guest’s servant to supply
his master with water of his own purifying; which is effected either by
means of alum, or of some other astringent producing a similar effect.
The waters in the great rivers have various sources; but, speaking
generally of the Ganges, which receives almost all the other rivers in
its course from those mountains among which it has its source, to the
Bay of Chittagong, where it empties itself into the sea in an immense
expanse, we may divide its properties according to the countries through
which it passes. Hence the various opinions that have been entertained
of its qualities; which have been generally mentioned in a very loose,
indiscriminate manner, without reference to the various soils whereby
its purity must be affected, in a country where, as in Egypt, annual
inundations prevail; or where, at least, such immense quantities of rain
fall as would astonish a person not habituated to the most impetuous
showers.
The Ganges takes its rise at the back of the Kammow Hills, beyond
Hurdwar, where it issues forth as a narrow, but rapid stream, from among
broken rocks, and soon spreads to some extent in the fertile plains of
the Rohilcund district, which it divides from the province of Delhi. The
natives of India rarely venture beyond Hurdwar. They have, however, an
opinion that the true _Ganga_, as they term the Ganges, originates at
that spot; and, considering the cow as the greatest blessing given to
mankind, (for the Hindus venerate it with even more fervor than a
Catholic does a supposed relic of our Saviour,) emphatically term it
‘the Cow’s Mouth;’ implying thereby the purity, as well as the value, of
the waters.
But those mountains which give birth to the Ganges, are likewise the
sources of the Barampooter; a river exceeding even the Ganges in
capacity! These two immense streams deviate at their origin to opposite
quarters; the Ganges proceeding westward, and the Barampooter eastward.
The former, after winding at the back of the Kammow and Nagrocote
Mountains, passes Hurdwar, and, proceeding in a devious track through
the plains of Oude, Allahabad, Benares, Bahar, Jungleterry, Mauldah,
Comercally, Dacca, and other subordinate districts, receives the
Luckyah, as a branch from the Barampooter, and a few miles below Dacca
unites with that river; whence, under the designation of ‘the MEGNA,’
they pursue their course for about sixty miles to the eastern part of
the Bay of Bengal, forming by their junction a volume of water,
encreasing, from about seven, to twenty miles in width.
In the upper country, the Ganges receives various inferior streams, such
as the Doojoorah, the Cally-Nuddy, the Goombeerah, the Gunduck, the
Mahanuddy, the Rooee, the Jumma, the Goomty, the Carimnassa, the Gogra,
(or Dewah,) the Soane, the Coosah, and various other streams not vying
in extent with the Ganges, but generally equal to the Thames at London.
The Gogra, the Soane, and the Coosah, are, indeed, rivers of the second
class; as wide as the Thames at Gravesend.
From Sooty, which is in the Jungleterry district, the Ganges throws off
a considerable branch: this widening in a curious manner, under the name
of the Baug-Retty, passes Moorshadabad, formerly the seat of the
government of Bengal, under Sooraja Dowlah, Meer Jaffiers, and their
ancestors; at length, after a course of about 150 miles, it meets at
Nuddeah, with the Jellinghy, also detached from the Ganges, whence the
two form a large river under the name of the Hoogly, which, flowing
under Hoogly, Bandel, Chinsurah, Chandernagore, Serampore, Calcutta, and
many inferior places, empties itself into the western end of the Bay of
Bengal, having previously received the Roopnariam, and the Dummoodah.
In its course from Bagwangolah, which stands near to Sooty, the Ganges
sends a great variety of small streams through the Jessore, and
Mahomedpore districts, which, meeting with large inlets from the sea,
form an immense labyrinth of deep waters, intersecting that wild country
called the Sunderbunds, in such various mazes as to require a pilot for
their navigation.
Having thus detailed the courses of the rivers, I shall account for
their rise and fall; as thereon many physical points of the utmost
importance will be found to depend: the various soils through which they
pass will be described, and enable us to judge more correctly, of the
causes of that variety of character attached to the waters in various
parts.