tourists, are necessarily to be attended to previous to departure. I
have already warned my readers, that no furnished house, no lodgings, no
public vehicles, no inns, and, in short, no preparation for the lodgment
or convenience of temporary sojourners, are to be expected in any part
of India; with the exception of the taverns and punch-houses already
described. Therefore, when an excursion is to be made by water, a
_budjrow_ must be hired, which may commonly be effected either by what
is called ‘_teekah_,’ or so much for the trip, according to the
distance, with some allowance for demurrage; or the vessel may be hired
at a certain monthly sum; generally taken at ten rupees per oar.
Sometimes return-_budjrows_ are to be had at a cheaper rate: whichever
way the bargain may be made, the person hiring has nothing to do with
the pay, or provision, of the several men employed in navigating the
vessel.
The following Table of Allowances granted by the Company to officers,
and others, proceeding, according to orders, from one station to
another, will be both useful to those who may be proceeding to the East,
and serve to give a general idea of the periods required, in ordinary
seasons, taking the year round, for a boat’s reaching her destination,
and returning to the place she quitted. The allowance likewise includes
whatever may be intended for not only the _budjrow_, but for an
attendant baggage-boat, and a cook-boat.
TABLE OF ALLOWANCE
FOR
BUDJROWS AND BOATS.
Sonaut Rupees
per Month.
To a Colonel 930
To a Lieutenant-Colonel, Physician, General, or 630
Chief Surgeon
To a Major and Head Surgeon 360
To a Captain, Pay-Master, Deputy Pay-Master, and 180
Regimental Surgeon
To a Subaltern, Hospital, or Regimental Mate 100
To a Cadet 80
To a Conductor 50
Officers are entitled to the allowance for _budjrows_ and boats only in
the following instances: viz.
When posted to corps on their first joining the army.
When ordered to proceed, by water, upon any duty.
When removed, _without their own application_, to supply vacancies in
the corps to which they are removed.
When water conveyance is not practicable, the difference of _batta_ is
to be drawn, calculating from the day of appointment, and allowing ten
miles for daily progress.
Where no ascertained rate is given, officers are to draw at the rate of
ten miles against, and fourteen with, the current, for each day’s
progress. The following may be considered the general standard; by which
extraordinary cases are likewise governed.
From Calcutta to Berhampore is allowed for 1
as
Ditto to Monghyr 1½
Ditto to Patna, or Dinapore 2
Ditto to Buxar 2¼
Ditto to Chunar or Benares 2½
Ditto to Allahabad 3
Ditto to Cawnpore 3½
Ditto to Futty-Ghur 4
Ditto to Dacca 1
Ditto to Chittagong 2
Ditto to Midnapore ½
It is proper to remark in this place, that a boat may, at most seasons
of the year, proceed to Berhampore, (provided the river be open,) in
about seven or eight days. The distance by water is nearly double that
by land, owing to the winding course of the river, which formerly could
competite with that passing under Lucknow; which, owing to the mazes of
its course, received the name of ‘_Goomty_,’ or winding.
Within the last twelve or fifteen years, many of the narrow isthmuses
have been cut through, whereby the distance from Moorshadabad to
Calcutta has been reduced full twenty miles; some yet require the aid of
art, to perfect what the hand of time seems preparing for the still
further abbreviating the passage by water: probably, in the course of
twenty years, the river may be brought into a tolerable line; but, how
long it will remain so, is another consideration; as the soil is every
where, except about Rangamatty, (_i.e._ the red soil,) a few miles below
Berhampore, so loose as to be totally unqualified to restrain the
violent current which prevails in every part during four months in the
year.
The passage to Chittagong can rarely be performed in a common _budjrow_,
a great part of it being across the mouth of the Megna, indeed, in an
open sea, subject, at least, to very heavy swells, if not to squalls,
such as give much trouble even to those who are on board substantial
sloops, and other vessels coming under the description of _sea-boats_.
However, during the cold months, an adventurous _manjy_ will sometimes
make the trip with his _budjrow_, provided a handsome gratuity be
offered on such a hazardous occasion.
The best mode is to embark at Calcutta on board one of the Chittagong
traders, of which some are commonly on the point of sailing, and to make
a sea trip at once, in a secure, and tolerably pleasant manner. It is
true, this mode does not offer all the conveniences of a good large
_budjrow_; but that is balanced by the safety and celerity with which
the voyage is made. A _budjrow_ will rarely complete the trip to
Chittagong under three weeks; whereas, a coasting sloop will commonly
perform it in as many days, after quitting the pilot, either in the
northerly or southerly monsoon; the coast being east, with a very little
southing.
After a _budjrow_ has been offered for hire, it will be but common
prudence to send a carpenter on board to search her bottom, and to place
a servant on board for a day and a night, to ascertain how much water
she may take in during that time. Some of the best, in appearance, are
extremely rotten, and can only be kept afloat by constant baling, in
consequence either of the depredations of worms, or of the number of
years they may have been built. Some are neat and clean, others are
filthy in the extreme; some are supplied with good Venetians, lockers,
curtains outside the windows, &c., &c.; while not a few, though not
totally destitute of such conveniences, offer them in a most miserable
state of wretchedness and of inutility. The roofs of nine in ten do not
keep out water.
It will, on every occasion, be indispensably necessary to make memoranda
of the terms on which the _budjrow_, &c., may be taken; and to obtain
from the _manjy_ a written agreement; the want of which may prove
unpleasant, either in consequence of any misunderstanding, or from any
attempt that may be made to impose upon such Europeans as may not be
supposed to have sufficient knowledge of the ordinary routine of such
affairs, to secure them from depredation.
The masts, sails, rigging, &c., of the vessel should be carefully
over-hauled; and, in particular, great care should be taken that one or
two good _ghoons_, or track ropes, of sufficient length, be on board;
since a defect in this branch of equipment will inevitably produce great
delay, and, in strong currents, subject the boat to imminent danger.
Let it be remembered, that, whatever the number of oars paid for may be,
so many actual boatmen there ought to be, exclusive of the _manjy_, or
steersman, and the _goleah_, or bowman: it is a very common deception to
count the latter in among the rowers, because he sometimes sits to an
oar fitted out for him on the very prow of the vessel, when there is no
occasion for his standing to throw the _luggy_, or bamboo-pole, whereby
the boat is kept clear of banks, shoals, stumps, &c.
When an engagement is made of the _teekah_, or job-kind, the _manjy_
will, for his own sake, endeavor to get away as speedily as possible,
and will ordinarily make sure of a good crew, in order that his money
may be the sooner earned; but, when paid by the month, there will be no
end to excuses, delays, and evasions: the _dandies_ will generally be
wanting in number, and their quality be very indifferent.
The best mode, on such occasions, is to apply to the police, which,
under proper circumstances of established criminality, will put a _peon_
(or messenger) on board, at the expence of the delinquent, and make such
a change in the posture of affairs as cannot fail to please the
employer. This is a safe and efficacious mode of proceeding; whereas,
when justice is taken into the hands of the person hiring the boat, and
that abuse and blows are dealt out, under the hope of gaining the point,
the grounds of complaint are laid, and the _dandies_, so far from doing
their duty, will either abscond wholly, or secrete themselves in such
manner as effectually to impose an embargo.
I do not mean to say, that sometimes a recourse to the _manual_ may not
be advisable, or even peremptorily necessary; but such must be adopted
with extreme caution, and with such a mixture of resolution and
conciliation, as may produce the desired effect, without establishing a
character for brutality, or unnecessary harshness. If, during the trip,
occasion for complaint should arise, it is best to refer the matter to
any persons in office, whether native or European, who may be within a
suitable distance. The _manjies_ have an insuperable antipathy to this
mode of proceeding, because it deprives them of all grounds for
justification, or representation; the want of which, in the hearing of
an European magistrate, speedily induces to their corporal punishment;
while, in the estimation of a _cutwal_, or chief of a village, it is
sure to subject them to some pecuniary loss, whether by fine, by
deduction from the sum to be paid as hire, or by having to maintain one
or more _peons_, according to the nature of the offence.
Most _budjrows_ have two apartments, exclusive of an open _veranda_ in
front; the latter is on a level with the dining apartment, but the
chamber, which is more towards the stern, rises one or two steps above
their level, in consequence of the form of the vessel’s stern: beyond
all there is usually a small privy, which, being still more elevated, is
ascended by other steps.
As the chamber contracts considerably towards the after-part of its
floor, it will be necessary to ascertain whether a small cot (_i.e._ a
bedstead) can stand in that part of the _budjrow_, without
inconvenience; as also whether the height, between the floor and the
roof, may admit of the bed-posts being erected. If the space should not
allow them to be elevated, they must be unshipped, either by taking off
their hinges, or by drawing them forth from their sockets, and the
curtains must be suspended from hooks, nails, &c., driven for that
purpose into the beams that support the roof.
Though floating on a large river, whose waters are celebrated for their
virtues and purity by the whole population of Hindostan, it will,
nevertheless, be indispensably necessary to take on board a good large
_g’oulah_, or jar, which may be lashed to the mast, and be used as a
depot for such water as may be intended for culinary purposes, or for
beverage. In a few hours it will have settled thoroughly, and should
then be drawn off as required into smaller vessels, called
_kedjeree-pots_ by Europeans, but by the natives _gurrahs_.
Whence the former designation originated I never could learn, but
conclude it resulted either from the supplies of crockery furnished to
our shipping at _Kedjeree_, or from the very common circumstance of that
preparation of rice, split peas, &c., called _kitchurry_, which may
often be seen boiling, wholesale, in vessels of this description, for
the supply of a dozen, or more, of _dandies_, &c.
The forepart of every _budjrow_ is decked, and furnished with two
hatchways, with appropriate coverings: the whole of the part under the
deck, which reaches from the _veranda_ to the stern, is generally
considered by the _manjy_ as a privilege, of which he rarely fails to
avail himself, when it is possible to render the trip a trading voyage.
Against this too much precaution cannot be adopted; for not only will
the _budjrow_ be so heavily laden as to draw more water, (an object of
considerable importance,) but to track with far greater difficulty, and
to leak very abundantly.
If any contraband trade can be carried on with tolerable safety, it is
usually in this manner; because, owing to the general deference paid by
the custom-house officers, and _chokey-peons_, in every part of the
country, to European gentlemen, and to their equipages, few, or none,
will attempt to search a _budjrow_ under hire: the facility with which
goods can be landed, is such as to obviate, almost totally, any danger
to be apprehended in the performance of that part of the adventure.
Government has, it is true, placed a number of checks on this kind of
fraud; but, unhappily, it is out of its power to go so far into the
remedy as would put a total stop to illicit commerce, without subjecting
their own servants, of whatever rank, to the intrusive, and ultimately
insolent, researches of those natives by whom they should, on every
occasion, be treated with the utmost respect and consideration. It is
inconceivable with what secresy, and caution, the manjies act on such
occasions. An instance is within my knowledge, of a gentleman hiring a
_budjrow_ at Patna, to proceed to the Presidency, but it was in vain
that he importuned the _manjy_, day after day, and hour after hour, to
complete his crew, and to have all in readiness for embarkation: at
length, all was adjusted, and the vessel proceeded in high style.
The gentleman was unaccountably drowsy, and often wondered at the
rapidity with which he seemed to be making his passage, but was not
displeased to find himself so speedily floated towards the place of
destination: it was in vain that he endeavored to prevent the _manjy_
from stopping at Chandernagore, a French settlement, about twenty-two
miles from Calcutta; when, to his great surprize, he saw several boxes
of opium, which had been concealed in various parts of the _budjrow_,
and particularly under the floors, handed out to some _sircars_ who were
at the _g’haut_, or landing-place, anxiously awaiting her arrival.
However unpleasant the above-mentioned cargo might have proved, it
cannot be compared with the truly offensive practice common among all
the boat-men of Hindostan, of cutting such fish as they may purchase,
catch, or steal, into slices, and hanging them over the quarters to
become sun-dried. This custom should never be tolerated on any account;
not only because the effluvia are cruelly distressing, but, that,
wherever it is allowed to obtain, all the rats are sure to be attracted
from whatever boats, or banks, may come in contact with the _budjrow_:
once in, Old Nick cannot get them out; except by emptying the vessel
completely, and fumigating her with sulphur; or by sinking her for a
while, so as to drown the vermin, of all descriptions, that harbour in
the numberless recesses, chinks, &c., to be found in every quarter of an
old _budjrow_.
When a single gentleman is intent on proceeding on the most economical
and expeditious plan, he will find it best not to have even a cook-boat
in his suite; but should confine himself entirely to whatever
convenience his _budjrow_ may afford. If this plan is acted upon, the
several boxes, &c., may be arranged within the cabins, or, at the
utmost, under the deck; taking care, however, to debar the _dandies_
from visiting that part of the vessel, by placing stout battens, or
bamboo-laths, across, by way of confining them to the fore hatchway,
down which they ordinarily keep their cloaths, fire-wood, &c., &c., and,
occasionally, make a _choolah_, or hearth and fire-place, of mud,
whereon to cook the victuals of the crew; an operation performed by one
of the _dandies_, who, on that account, is exempted from all ordinary
duties, and who is generally capable of serving up an admirably
well-savored curry.
The after-part of the hold is commonly spacious enough to hold a tent of
ordinary dimensions; but it may become a question how far it would be
prudent to put camp equipage in the way of the rats, which would,
probably, for the sake of shelter in the vicinity of the culinary
operations, soon burrow into the hearts of the packages, and do
inconceivable damage. If, however, no other place can be allotted for
the reception of a tent, and the weather be such as not to warrant its
being stowed upon the poop, no alternative is left, and the risk of
destruction, or, at least, of very serious injury, must be met with
resignation.
Though not indispensably necessary, a tent of some kind will be found
extremely convenient, when proceeding by water to any distant station,
especially during the hot season. As the boat-men usually come to about
sun-set, or, perhaps, a little earlier, if any favorable situation, or
the proximity of some large town, should invite, a small tent may easily
be taken ashore, and pitched on the elevated bank, where the freshness
of the air, and the wide range of prospect, prove a most comfortable
relief to a person who, during the day, may have been obliged to remain
under the heated roof of a cabin, whereof the windows were closed to
keep out the sun, hot winds, and flying sand.
Many gentlemen have one small boat employed chiefly in going forward
with such a convenience, and which, after the bed, &c. may be shipped at
day-break on board the _budjrow_, that no delay may arise in departing,
waits to receive the baggage left on the spot, with which it proceeds at
such a rate as soon makes up for the detention: a boat of this kind is
extremely useful in many instances, but especially in procuring supplies
from an opposite bank, for going to or from shore in shoal water, for
towing a _budjrow_ in strong waters, for carrying out an anchor, or
rope, to warp by, &c., &c.
Where only a _budjrow_ and such a small boat are employed, the latter
generally has a _choolah_, or hearth, &c., prepared within it under a
small thatch. She commonly has to carry the proper supply of dry
fire-wood; that obtained on the way being, with few exceptions, green,
and causing the viands to acquire a very smoky, unpleasant flavor. The
poultry are also usually conveyed on the thatch of the cook-boat, in
small _tappahs_, or cages, made of split bamboos: this part of the stock
may consist of a dozen of fowls, with a few ducks, and a goose or two;
and, occasionally, is accompanied by one or two milch goats, which,
being supplied with foliage cut for that purpose, during the day, and
being sent to some verdant spot when the boat comes to in the evening,
rarely fail to furnish milk enough, of a very superior quality, for the
morning and evening tea.
The traveller must not expect to be supplied with beef, mutton, or veal,
as he may proceed, in any part of the country, except at military or
civil stations: there he may, perhaps, be enabled to purchase a
sufficient supply of meat to make some variety in his diet as he passes
from one station to another; but, unless in some very particular
situations, he must content himself with poultry of various kinds, but
chiefly chickens, and with kids, of which the meat is excellent. He may,
at some of the principal towns where Mussulmans reside, here and there
fall in with a butcher, who can furnish a joint of _kussy_ (_i.e._
cut-goat); or he may perchance pick up a tolerable sheep, which may, at
all events, serve for gravy, and supply his pointers and spaniels with
two or three days’ substantial provision.
The mention of cutting up a sheep for such purposes, may appear
extraordinary to the European reader, but it must be recollected, that
such sheep are rarely worth more than two shillings, that in some parts
the country swarms with them, and that their wool is not valuable, owing
to its being lank, coarse, harsh, and not of a strong fibre: it is,
indeed, more like that hair which grows upon many horses that are turned
out during the winter, and comes off by handfuls as the spring advances.
The boats employed for carrying baggage are of two kinds; _woolachs_ and
_patellies_: the former are built in the lower provinces, with round
bottoms, and often draw much water; the latter are chiefly of up-country
build, have flat bottoms, and are clinkered; this construction suits
them admirably to the shallows, which, after the rainy season, abound in
all the rivers beyond the tide’s way, and especially at a distance from
the sea.
Some of the _woolachs_ used by the more opulent native merchants are
capable of bearing from fifteen hundred to three thousand maunds,
(_i.e._ from eighty to a hundred and twenty tons,) but their medium may
be taken at from four to eight hundred maunds, which is also the general
measurement of _patellies_ in the common employ of grain-merchants, &c.:
many are to be seen of full two thousand maunds, but such are calculated
for the great rivers only; not but that in the channels abundant depth
of water may be found, so deep, indeed, that several ships, of five
hundred tons burthen, have been built at Patna, which is, by water, six
hundred miles from the sea; but those channels are so crooked, and the
currents so strong, as to render it very difficult for the ordinary
number of _dandies_, proportioned to the tonnage, to navigate such
unwieldy boats with safety and expertness,
The best size for a baggage-boat to attend upon a _budjrow_, especially
in proceeding against the stream, may be from three hundred to five
hundred maunds: observing, that the _patelly_ is by far better
calculated for shallow water, and for the conveyance of horses, than a
_woolach_; but, being so low in the water, the former is rather subject
to be swamped in rough water, and, owing to its construction, is very
apt to become hog-backed, and, ultimately, to give way in the middle; an
accident which seldom or never happens to the latter.
When horses are to be carried in boats, as is very commonly done, it
becomes necessary to make a platform, at about a foot from the bottom of
the boat, consisting of brush-wood, mats, and soil: the thwarts being
rarely a yard asunder, one must be taken out to make a stall of
sufficient width; therefore, if three or four horses are put on board
the same boat, a corresponding number of thwarts must be withdrawn. When
the animals are about to be embarked, the thatch opposite the stall must
be raised high enough to allow a horse to leap in without danger, from
the bank.
This operation is often attended with considerable difficulty; for some
horses are extremely averse to enter upon the solid platform of a large
substantial ferry-boat, such as that at Ghyretty, even when placed on a
level therewith, by means of a fixed, or moveable pier. When, therefore,
it is considered how many obstacles seem to oppose the admission of a
horse into a covered boat, when, probably, he is standing above his
knees in water, and has to rise, under every disadvantage, over the
boat’s gunwhale, it will not appear surprizing that many hold out for
hours, notwithstanding every effort on the part of the _syces_, (or
grooms,) and that a large portion are severely lamed in the attempt.
It is curious to observe how very quiet and temperate horses become
after embarkation! In such a situation, they seem to forget that
wonderful propensity they invariably display when on shore, to attack
each other, even when at a considerable distance; but, though parted by
only a few feet, they become so tractable while in a boat, that their
natures seem to undergo a complete change.
Notwithstanding this periodical, or, rather, local, timidity, it will be
proper to secure that part of the boat’s side against which a horse may
be able to kick; many instances having occurred of fiery steeds driving
their hooves through the planks, which are not always very sound, and,
even if undecayed, are generally by far too thin to resist so severe an
operation: more than one _patelly_ has foundered outright, with all the
contents, in consequence of such an accident; the best mode of
preventing which, is, by fastening a quantity of _jow_ (an aquatic
species of fern,) to the inside, as a lining, whereby the planks may be
secured from injury.
When a vessel is tracked against the stream, it is usual for the
_dandies_, or boatmen, to go ashore, each furnished with a club of
bamboo, about two feet in length, to which a piece of strong cord is
fastened at one end; at the same time, the _ghoon_, or track-rope, is
veered out from a pulley in the mast head, or from a block lashed
thereto, to as great a length as the situation may demand; commonly,
from about seventy to a hundred and fifty yards may suffice, though, in
very shoal water, mixed with deeps, or, where the ground is foul, even a
greater length may be requisite.