Bengal at the above season, is induced by nearly the same causes that,
according to our best informations, engender the yellow fever in
America, yet no symptom of that alarming complaint has ever been known
in India, nor does the bilious, or putrid fever, of Bengal at all
assimilate in regard to symptoms with the American fatality. Certainly
it is common to see whole villages in a state of jaundice, and in some
years the ravages of the disease are truly formidable; but, though it
may be classed as epidemic, we may, at the same time, annex an endemic
distinction in regard to each village separately. Except in cases of
putrid accession, or of obvious _typhus_, there does not seem any danger
of infection; and it has been proved, that the malady might, by proper
care, be wholly averted. It is a fact, that, at several civil stations,
and at some of the principal military cantonments, which were formerly
considered the emporium of fever, the inhabitants have been preserved in
an ordinary state of health merely by cutting a few drains, or by
banking up such places as formerly proved inlets to inundate plains that
now remain sufficiently free from water to allow of pasturage during the
whole of the rainy season.
The confinement occasioned by a long term of rain, must necessarily
alter the habit, while the incumbent atmosphere, being laden with
moisture, must, at the same moment, dispose the system to the reception,
or to the generation, of disease. The poor native does not change his
diet, and very probably retains the same damp cloaths for many days. His
temperate system of living seems to be his greatest aid in case of
illness; those medicines that in him effect a great change being found
comparatively feeble when administered either to one of a debauched
conduct, or to Europeans; who, being accustomed to a more substantial
and more stimulant mode of living, are not to be acted upon but by the
more potent of the materia medica.
It has often been asked, as a matter of surprize, how it happens that
Bengal has never been visited by the plague. The question has been
founded on the supposed affinity between that country and Egypt, in
regard to the annual inundations; and to the narrowness, as well as the
filth, of the streets in the great cities; which would, if the
conjecture were correct, induce pestilence, as the same causes are said
to do in Turkey.
The case is widely different. In Egypt, although the lands are
inundated, rain is scarcely ever known to fall; the floods coming from
the southerly mountains. Hence, the inhabitants are under all the
disadvantages attendant upon a hot atmosphere, during eight months in
the year, and are, for the remaining four, exposed to the insalubrity
arising from the inundation, especially when it is draining off.
In regard to the narrowness of the streets, and the filth they contain,
something may be said in alleviation. The houses in Turkey are much
higher, are built of more solid materials, and the inhabitants being
wholly of one religion, viz. followers of Mahomed, but partaking of some
of the bad habits of the neighbouring countries, being also in a more
variable climate, more pointed attention is paid to durability and to
closeness in the edifices, than is commonly shewn in India. In the
latter country, the utmost jealousy subsists between the Mussulmans and
the Hindus, but the latter are most numerous in every place, even in the
cities where Mussulman princes hold their _durbars_, or courts. This
jealousy occasions the Hindus to look upon every vestige of a Mussulman
as a contamination; and, as ablutions are enjoined even more by the
Hindu law than by the Koran, which is the Mussulman’s book of faith, we
may consider the person of a Hindu to be as clean and wholesome as
repeated washings can make it. He wears only a small lock of hair,
growing from a spot about the size of a dollar on the crown of his head.
His cloaths are washed as often as his body, and, on the whole, it
should appear almost impossible for him to carry any disease arising
from, or communicated through, a deficiency of individual cleanliness.
The houses of the natives throughout India, if we except about one-third
of Benares, about a twentieth of Patna, the same of Moorshadabad, and a
mere trifle of the Black Town of Calcutta, are built of mats, bamboos,
and straw; in the latter, they have been, under late regulations, tiled.
The generality of village-huts are built with mud walls. On the whole,
however, whether owing to cracks in the walls, or intervals between them
and the thatches, windows, &c., the air finds a free course throughout.
Add to this, that the natives do not sleep on feather beds, flock, &c.,
but generally on mats made of reeds. This, of itself, may be considered
a preventive against infection.
The fires kept up in the houses of the natives of Turkey are in fixed
stoves, or under chimnies, which do not answer the purposes of
fumigation. Whereas, the Indian, by means of a moveable stove,
unintentionally fumigates the whole house; making the eyes of all smart
with the smoke. This fuel is not bituminous; but, in every situation, is
either wood, or the dried dung of cattle. Besides, the floor of a
Hindu’s house is, perhaps daily, washed with a thick solution of
cow-dung, whence a freshness is diffused, not perhaps very gratifying,
in point of savour, to an European’s nostrils, but assuredly
anti-septic, and answering various good purposes; especially as the
walls are, to the height of, perhaps, three or four feet, smeared with
the same mixture. The use of tobacco is common to both Turkey and India,
and may be considered as contributary to a resistance against the damps
during the rainy season, as well as against infection.
With regard to the apprehensions arising from filth, fortunately, they
are not better founded than those just noticed as dependant on the
narrowness of the streets. This lucky evasion of disease is not,
however, to be attributed to any attention on the part of the natives
individually, or to the fostering care of the native governments. Few
towns of any importance but are built on the borders of some navigable
river, of which there are abundance throughout the country. The swarms
of vultures, kites, crows, and of a large kind of butcher bird, standing
at least six feet high, called the _argeelah_, added to the immense
numbers of _pariah_ dogs, generally roving at liberty, and
unacknowledged by any particular owner; together with the multitude of
jackalls, that patrol through the cities, as well as the plains, during
the night, all contribute to remove whatever carrion, or putrescent
matter, may be exposed to their researches.
It would not, perhaps, be so easy to keep cities in a state of tolerable
cleanliness in such a hot climate, if the inhabitants subsisted on
butchers’ meat. The shambles alone would prove highly offensive: it is
therefore fortunate that the natives make rice and vegetables their
principal food. There being no privies attached to houses in general, is
an additional benefit; though accompanied with some small inconvenience,
it being requisite to walk to the outskirts of the city, or, eventually,
among some ruins, on all occasions. The privies of the higher orders of
natives, and of Europeans in general, are built on a plan which admits
of instantly removing the filth; a practice never neglected by a
servant, whose office consists only in that duty, and in sweeping the
house at various times of the day.
The _argeelah_, or butcher bird, before mentioned, is to be seen
partially all the year round; but, generally speaking, comes with the
first showers in June, and stays until the cold season is far advanced;
when it retires into the heavy covers on the borders of the large
unfrequented lakes, near the mountains, to breed. This bird has been
fully described in the representation of the Ganges breaking its Banks,
in my work entitled the ‘WILD SPORTS OF INDIA,’ published by Mr. Orme,
of New Bond-street, and by Messrs. Black, Parry, and Kingsbury, of
Leadenhall-street. It is by some called the bone-eater, from its
peculiarity of digestion; it having the power of swallowing whole
joints, such as a leg of lamb, and of returning the bone after the meat
has been digested: when thus rejected, it appears as clean as though it
had been boiled for a whole day. I cannot give a better idea of the
fitness of this bird to eat of the most putrid substances, than by
stating, that I have frequently rubbed an ounce, or more, of emetic
tartar into a piece of meat, which an _argeelah_ has swallowed, without
shewing symptoms of uneasiness on the occasion, though very closely
watched for hours after. From this, it may be inferred, that ordinary
stimulants do not disagree with the stomach of this unsightly, but
innocent, and useful, animal.
Inland towns are usually built in the vicinity of some large _jeel_, or
lake, or on some ravine, which, during the rains, forms a rapid water
course. Such as are near to hills, are often, for many days together,
impassable; owing to the torrents which, through their means, find a way
either to some expanse, or to some navigable river,
The _jeel_, or, for want of one, the tank nearest to the town, usually
becomes the receptacle of every Hindu corpse, and, at the same time,
supplies the inhabitants with water for every purpose. One would think
this intolerable practice were, of itself, sufficient to deter men, who
pretend to the utmost delicacy and purity in all respects, from drinking
at so contaminated and corrupt a reservoir. What then shall we say, when
it is known that the borders of tanks in such situations, become places
of ease, where men, women, and children, perform their duties to the
goddess in colloquial association; and where, having got rid of their
burthens, they free themselves from its remains, by washing with those
very waters whence, probably, another person is baling into his pot, or
leather bag, for culinary purposes, or for beverage.
Tanks and _jeels_ are, in almost every part of India, full of rushes,
and of the conferva, which, together with duck-weed, docks, &c., both
cover the surface and fill up the deeps. They are, generally, replete
with small fishes of various descriptions, and if of any extent, or
deep, either harbour, or serve as visiting places for alligators, which
infest both the running and the stagnant waters in every part of the
country. These voracious animals travel at night from one _jeel_, or
tank, to another; often announcing their presence by snapping up some
poor unsuspecting Hindu, who wades up to his middle for the purpose of
performing his ablutions, and of offering up the customary prayers on
such occasions.
In many tanks, alligators are known to exist in numbers; nay, in some
places, they are subsisted by the eleemosynary donations of travellers,
who disburse a trifle in money, or present some provision to a
_faqueer_, (or mendicant priest,) to provide food for the alligators,
which come forth from the waters, on hearing the well-known voice of
their holy purveyor; from whom they seldom fail to receive each a small
cake of meal, or some other provision. This liberality does not,
however, occasion any qualmish scruples of gratitude; it being found,
that alligators thus handsomely treated are not a whit more reserved in
the application of their teeth to bathers, &c., than those which have
never been honored by such liberal consideration.
The respiration and effluvia proceeding from an animal, perhaps twenty,
or twenty-five, feet in length, and from six to twelve in circumference,
must have an effect upon even a large body of water. Allowing that such
a monster should consume as much air as ten men, which, surely, is not
an unfair calculation, and that twenty gallons of water contain one of
air; as a man, on an average, consumes one gallon of air in a minute,
the alligator must consume twelve hundred gallons, equal to near twenty
hogsheads, in an hour: in twenty-four hours, the quantity of water
contaminated by one alligator would amount to four hundred and eighty
hogsheads!
From this, we may conceive the effect produced by the presence of,
perhaps, seven or eight alligators in a tank not exceeding two acres in
measurement, and no where above twelve or fourteen feet in depth: we
must likewise take into the account abundance of fishes; for, if that
abundance did not exist, the alligators would speedily decamp. Add to
these two sufficient drawbacks, all that has been said of the impurities
added by the inhabitants, and we shall form such a nauseating and
unwholesome combination as must cause us to wonder how ever one should
be left to tell the fate of his lost friends.
Amidst the mountains, where, of course, the inundations cannot be of any
duration, and where the waters of every description are limitted as to
extent; the streams being very small, and, excepting a few hollows
between two hills, or, eventually, a valley, in which a pool may exist,
alligators are to be seen. They are generally small, but of a very
savage species, making up, by their rapacity and activity, for the want
of that bulk which renders the alligator of the great rivers more
apparently dangerous. By the term ‘small,’ we must not conclude them to
be diminutive, but, that they rarely exceed twelve or fourteen feet in
length. Such will, however, seize a bullock when wading in a tank, or
_jeel_; stealing upon him with the utmost caution, so as not to disturb
the fluid, and even keeping the dorsal spines depressed until the very
moment of seizure; when, fastening upon the unwary animal’s leg, and
throwing his whole weight backwards; at the same time swinging round, so
forcibly as to raise the greater part of his disgusting frame above the
surface, the alligator, by one violent effort, which appears almost
instantaneous, ordinarily succeeds in dragging the poor animal into a
sufficient depth. Pain, surprize, and the unrelaxing bite of his
devourer, combine to disable him from making any adequate resistance;
being, besides, kept completely immersed by the subtle and experienced
assailant, no more is seen, except that the waters appear for about a
minute violently agitated, by the efforts of both parties: the alligator
is, however, compelled to raise his head above the surface when in the
act of deglutition. This is seen daily, even when a fish becomes the
victim. On these occasions, the stupendous animal rears in the waters,
exposing sometimes so far as his shoulders, and ordinarily biting the
fish in two, when, with the utmost ease, he swallows what would make a
hearty meal for thirty or forty men of keen appetite. I have frequently
seen an alligator thus chuck down a _rooee_, or river carp, weighing
from fifty to sixty pounds: a size by no means uncommon in the great
rivers of Bengal!
The great use made of water by the natives in every part of India,
occasions an immense number of tanks and wells to be dug, chiefly by
persons of property, under the pretence of aiding the poorer classes,
but, in fact, with the view to become popular, or of transmitting their
names to posterity by affixing them as designations to the tank or well
in question. This takes place equally in regard to plantations,
generally of _mango_ trees; and in the building of _seraies_, for the
accommodation of travellers, such as Europeans generally understand to
be caravan _seraies_; but that term can only apply to those parts of
Arabia, &c., that furnish caravans; which are not known in the great
peninsula of India; where, on account of the extent of sea-coast,
navigation absorbs the chief part of the trade. _Seraies_ are usually
known by the name, or title, of the founder. Thus, _Maraud ka Seray_
implies that the public accommodation for the reception of travellers
was founded by Maraud; respecting whom the people in attendance either
have some traditional account, or supply a famous history, invented for
the occasion.
_Seraies_ are now going fast to decay; the power of the native princes
has been so much abridged, and their influence is so little felt, that,
generally speaking, were a rich or exalted character to found a _seray_,
even on the most liberal footing, it is probable his expectation of
immortal fame would not be realized. The rage is now more bent towards
_gunges_, or grain markets; _hauts_, or villages, holding periodical
markets; _maylahs_, or annual fairs; and, in fact, to such
establishments as afford a profit, or which, from becoming notorious in
the way of trade, are more likely to perpetuate the celebrity of the
institution.
_Durgaws_, (commonly called mosques,) appertain exclusively to those of
the Mahomedan faith, and _mhuts_, which are, properly, places of Hindu
worship, also _madressahs_, or colleges, with endowments for _faqueers_,
or Hindu priests, seem to hold their ground. These, like the abbeys of
Monkish times, are ever to be found in the most beautiful and most
eligible situations: above all things having a command of excellent
water.
The tanks in the hills, that is to say, such as have resulted from
artificial means, are generally small, full of weeds, and rarely lined
with masonry; their banks are soft, and the waters, being accessible to
cattle on every side, foul and turbid. Sometimes these become nearly dry
during the hot months, affording, if any, a most offensive and
insalubrious beverage. Nevertheless, the indolent native will often
drink thereof, rather than send half a mile to a purer spring. The
generality of these tanks have originally a regular supply from
numberless springs, fed either by a natural syphonic process from higher
lands, or by percolation of the profuse dews that, throughout the
immense jungles on the higher soils, fall during the hottest months; but
the want of proper attention to preserve the tanks from the incursions
of cattle, which, being very wild in their nature, often swim or wade
over to the opposite sides, quickly choak the springs, which, in such
open soils, easily find other vents, and expose the inhabitants to great
suffering from drought. In many instances we see wells dug in the tanks;
thereby causing a great saving of labor; as, when once a spring
discharges into the tank, in such a situation, it is not necessary to
dig the whole area to an equal depth. This is a cheap expedient, adopted
by such as have vanity enough to attract public notice, but not money
enough to do the thing completely, or to a great extent.
From these causes, we are led to the consideration of those effects
produced in hilly countries, by the waters in common use. Nor are we
deceived in our expectation as to the results naturally arising from so
forcible an agent. We find throughout the hilly country, that, exclusive
of the diminutive features attached, all over the world, to the various
classes of mountaineers, there is an additional tendency to departure
from the ordinary bulk of the natives in the adjacent low lands,
obviously induced by the diet, and most especially by the waters in use.
It is remarkable that in Tomar, the back part of Chittrah, and Ramghur,
where the immense extent of low woods almost debars population, and
where the Hill people, known by the name of _Dhangahs_, subsist
principally on rice, wild fruits, and, occasionally, a little game, and
where they drink of water such as has just been described, collected
either in small pools, or in artificial tanks, the inhabitants are
extremely stinted in their growth, are squalid, troubled with wens, half
devoured with a kind of scurvy, herpetic eruption, and appear even at a
very early age to lose their vigor. They have, besides, a peculiar kind
of opthalmia, partly induced by an excessive passion for liquor, there
distilled in large quantities, and by their exposure to a damp,
impregnated atmosphere; while in their huts, their whole happiness seems
to consist of an intense fumigation, chiefly from green-wood, such as
would wholly suffocate one not habituated from his birth to so admirable
an imitation of the fumes of Tartarus.
The difference between these haggard objects, and the inhabitants of the
plains from which the mountains take their rise, requires no comment. It
most forcibly arrests the traveller’s attention, causing him to doubt
whether, within the short interval of perhaps six or seven miles, he may
believe his senses, which pourtray to him a change from vigorous and
personable manhood, to a decrepid, hideous, and dwarfish, state: more
resemblant of the Weird Sisters than our imaginations can conceive, or
than our best comedians can represent.
Some tanks, dug by the more charitable persons of property, are on a
very extensive scale, covering perhaps ten or twelve acres. Many of
these are of great antiquity, and have been very deep, perhaps thirty
feet, but, by the growth of vegetable matter, added to the heavy bodies
of sand and dust that nearly darken the air in the dry season, of which
much falls into the waters, their depth is considerably reduced: in
some, various shoals appear, indicating the accumulation of rubbish, and
in a manner reproaching those who use the element with indolence and
ingratitude. In such places fish abound, and grow to an astonishing
size, sometimes affording excellent angling, but their flavor does not
correspond with their looks; for the most part they are intolerably
muddy. The quantity of weeds, the shoals, and various posts being
generally sunk in different parts of the tank, armed with tenter-hooks,
for the purpose of preventing poachers from robbing the stock, are
insuperable bars to the use of nets. Boats are not in use in such
places, and there seems to be no attention in any respect to any thing
relating to such waters, except that the _shecarries_, or native
sportsmen, exercise much ingenuity and skill in their depredations among
the wild geese, wild ducks, teal, widgeons, &c., with which all the
waters of India are profusely stocked during the winter months; when
every unfrequented puddle is covered with wild fowl, which often alight
during the dark nights on waters situated in the very hearts of cities,
in which sometimes tanks are seen of such size, as to secure the birds,
when collected near the centre, from the reach of small shot. This,
though not to be classed with daily occurrences, is by no means
singular.
By far the greater number of tanks, especially those by the road-side,
or contiguous to cities and populous towns, are walled in with masonry.
In such case, they have at one, or more sides, either a long slope, or a
flight of steps of excellent masonry; some, indeed, have both, the
former being intended for the use of cattle, which are either suffered
to drink there, or are employed to carry large leather bags of water for
the use of the inhabitants. Owing to the great force of the periodical
rains, and to the swelling of the soil during the season of excessive
moisture, the masonry is generally burst in various places, and for the
most part either sinks, or is prostrated into the tank. As no credit
would follow the repairs of such breaches, they are left to their fate.