that ‘a camel will carry a weight of 1,200lb., and will perform a
journey of three hundred leagues in eight days.’ Now, my own experience
convinces me very fully that few camels will carry more than eight
maunds, when making, on an average, stages of from fourteen, to sixteen,
or, at the very utmost, twenty miles within the day, for two months;
allowing a weekly halt.
So sensible are the Government of India of the inability of a camel to
perform any thing like the service above described, that, in all their
contracts, in which it must have been seen they take care so to
proportion the burthens, that none but the choicest of cattle could move
under them, it is especially detailed that such camels as may be
admitted upon the Company’s establishment of carriage-cattle, should be
rated in the proportion of three camels to one elephant; which, in other
words, assigns to each a burthen composed of two private tents, the
weight of each, when dry, being 275lb., and, when wet, 426lb.; including
poles, pins, mallets, bags, &c.
Taking the medium as a standard, _i.e._ one wet, and one dry tent, the
average burthen would be only 701lb., which will be found a greater load
than any camels, setting apart perhaps one or two of extraordinary
powers, which have come within my observation, could carry in a proper
manner, so as to answer general purposes, when marching with a regiment.
The value of a camel varies according to size, form, age, condition, and
disposition: supposing all those points to be mediocrity, from eighty,
to a hundred and twenty, rupees may be taken as a standard; observing,
that, where no military movement is in question, the prices are often
lower, and that, in cases of emergency, they have been known to rise
even so high as to four, five, and six, hundred rupees: but such,
fortunately, is very rarely the case.
Most gentlemen keep two or three camels, for the purpose of carrying
their tent, liquors, and cot. If on a moderate scale, two will generally
prove competent to the work, but if the tent be large, the liquors and
linen abundant, and the cot extensive, or on a heavy construction, a
third camel will be necessary. In fact, I know not of worse policy, than
that we too often see adopted, of burthening an animal with as much as
it can stand under. When the moment of difficulty comes, as it rarely
fails to do, infinite vexation, and an enormous encrease of expence,
invariably follow. Hence, it will be found advisable, though the primary
expence may be encreased, and the subsequent monthly charges be a trifle
greater, always to retain three, in preference to two camels; unless the
intended burthens be very compact, and not subject to accumulate a great
addition of weight in wet weather.
The difference shewn to exist between tents, when wet, and when dry,
according to the Company’s standard, ascertained by actual experiments,
should prove a guide to all persons about to proceed on a march, so to
proportion the loads imposed on their cattle as not to endanger their
total failure. It should never be forgotten, that excoriations, however
trivial in the first instance, speedily rankle into wounds, not simply
painful, but generally trenching deeply on the immediate powers, as well
as on the condition, of those useful dumb animals, which submit to the
last moment to the will of their heedless employers.
Camels, as well as elephants, lie down, so as to bring their stomachs to
the ground, while receiving or discharging their burthens. At such
moments, the former are extremely irritable; snarling, and watching the
opportunity for biting. To say the best of these animals, they are never
to be trusted, their dispositions being, for the most part, sanguinary
and treacherous, although they are not carnivorous, being fed chiefly on
_gram_, and chaff of various kinds: a camel, like the bull-dog, rarely
lets go his hold.
The expence of maintaining a camel may be averaged at about four or five
rupees monthly, exclusive of its portion of the _surwan’s_ (_i.e._ the
driver’s) wages: the large crook saddle, with its _jolah_, or canvas
trappings, and its _saleetah_, or canvas sheet made of _tawt_, for the
purpose of lading tents, and especially for bringing in chaff, may be
averaged, for wear and tear, at about a rupee monthly. From this it will
be seen, that if a _surwan_, attending three camels, should receive six
rupees for pay, and that each of the camels should cost six more, the
whole expence, amounting to twenty-four rupees per mensem, would fall
far short of that incurred by one elephant.
The advantages attendant upon an elephant, are, that the load is all
carried compact and entire; that he can travel in swampy districts,
where no other animal could proceed at all; and that he is serviceable
to ride upon, and to join in the line to beat hogs, and other game, out
of heavy covers. On the other hand, a camel will travel on those dry
soils which destroy an elephant’s feet, without sustaining the smallest
injury; he is more patient under heat, and the absence both of fodder
and of water; his prime cost is considerably less; his maintenance
cheaper; and, where a division of carriage becomes necessary, one camel
may be sent off, while the others are retained. But camels rarely thrive
if exposed during the rains; hence, it is customary to build sheds for
their reception during that season: this, however, is done at a very
trifling expence, and might, doubtless, be dispensed with altogether, at
least in the upper provinces, if young animals were to be purchased that
had never been so domesticated. Few gentlemen retain their camels while
serving near the Presidency, where fodder is at a most enormous price,
and where the mange commonly attacks within a few weeks after arrival.
The heavy, awkward, and apparently slow, gait of the camel, generally
induces to a belief that its rate of travelling is disadvantageous,
inasmuch as it may denote inability to keeping up with the generality of
elephants. This, however, is a great mistake, for it is very common to
see the latter, when in the least over-burthened, or when the weather is
hot, or the road sandy, very late in arriving at their destination;
whereas, the camel, under an appropriate load, will move on at a regular
pace, generally making a distance of seven feet, as I have repeatedly
ascertained, from the centre of that spot whence it lifts a foot, to
where it again sets it down: few elephants do so much; they walk
quicker, but their strides are rarely so extensive.
The propensity of a camel to stale, so soon as eased of his burthen,
renders it indispensably necessary to drive him to a distance so soon as
the tent is off his back; otherwise, the urinous stench attached to the
spot would render it very unpleasant, or, rather, insupportable. The
native chemists extract large quantities of ammonia from those stands
where camels have been kept for many weeks.
The greatest inconvenience attached to a camel is his utter inability to
swim across a river, such as any other animal would consider no
impediment. It is true, that, occasionally, camels may have been seen to
swim for a few yards, but, in general, they turn upon the side, and,
unless instantly rescued, would infallibly be drowned. Perhaps this
arises from the general roundness of their bodies, which are very easily
acted upon by the super-incumbent weight of the neck and head, that
become levers, not sufficiently opposed by their almost fleshless limbs.
Some camels enter with readiness into ferry-boats, even of the rudest
construction, while others require to be urged by the display of fire in
their rear, or even by the actual cautery! When once on board, they are
generally quiet, but do not seem to entertain such a dread of their
insulated situation as horses do.
In this particular, the elephant has a most decided superiority: he
enters the water with alacrity, and, guided by the _mohout_, who
preserves his seat on the animal’s neck, until the latter may, by way of
frolic, descend to walk on the bottom, keeping, at the same time, the
end of his proboscis above water, makes his way to the opposite bank,
though perhaps a mile distant. If there be occasional shallows, whereon
he can refresh himself, two or three miles are passed with equal
facility.
In their wild state, elephants cross very large rivers in herds; the
young ones swimming by the sides of their mothers, which, occasionally,
support their gigantic calves by means of their trunks, either passed
under the body, or slightly hooked in with the young one’s proboscis.
When domesticated, elephants lose much of their natural energy in every
instance; and, in lieu of viewing a tiger without fear, gradually become
so timid, as to be dreadfully agitated at the sight, or smell, even of a
dead one: hence, in tiger-hunting, those elephants which are more
recently taken from the _keddahs_, provided they be sufficiently trained
to be safe in other respects, are usually best suited to the sport, and
afford their riders a better chance of success.
Those who cannot afford, or who consider it unnecessary, to retain
either an elephant, or camels, usually purchase, or hire, bullocks, when
about to march to any station not very remote. Some, indeed, prefer them
altogether; but, after having given them more than one trial, both from
necessity, and from the persuasions of others, my mind is made up to the
full conviction, that, although rarely costing more than sixteen or
twenty rupees each, (that is, from forty to fifty shillings,) they are
the most tardy, the most troublesome, and the most expensive, of all the
beasts of burthen in question!
Knowing, from dear-bought experience, that a bullock which can carry
five maunds is a _rara avis_ of its kind, I was much surprized to find,
in Mr. Colebrooke’s little treatise on the Husbandry of Bengal, an
assertion, that the enormous ‘load of 500lb. of cotton is generally
carried from Nagpore to Mirzapore, a distance which, by the shortest
route, exceeds four hundred miles, in journies of eight or ten miles
daily.’ That some remarkably fine cattle are bred in the Nagpore
district is well known; but I should have greatly doubted, under any
other than the highly respectable authority alluded to, whether it would
be possible to select, in all Bengal, a sufficient number of bullocks,
bred in the country, to carry on the extensive trade between Nagpore and
Mirzapore, under the circumstance of carrying 500lb. as an ordinary
load.
I have possessed very fine bullocks, such as could not, generally, be
obtained for less than a hundred rupees the pair, and I have had
occasion to rely on their services; but found, that, whenever they were
laden beyond four maunds, (320lb.,) they became restive, and required
many extra hours to perform a march of twelve or fourteen miles, even on
excellent roads, and when in far better plight than _mahajuny_ (trading)
bullocks are commonly seen.
But let us refer to the regulations of the Company respecting cattle to
be admitted upon their establishment; we shall there find, that one
Mirzapore bullock nearly equals three of them. ‘The standard of cattle
to be retained for, or received into, the service, is not to be less
than fifty inches for the draft-bullocks, and forty-eight inches for the
carriage-bullocks. Each carriage-bullock shall be competent to carry a
burthen of _one hundred and eighty pounds_ weight, exclusive of his
pad.’
Now, it is well known the Company employ excellent cattle, and take care
to have justice done them; as, indeed, they are fully entitled to
expect, when they allow no less than thirty sicca rupees for each
bullock purchased on their account; especially, as any distance beyond
sixteen miles, or when laden for more than nine hours within the
twenty-four, or when carrying more than 180lb., come under the
denomination of a forced march, and subject the Company to all risks.
I should rather apprehend that an error has crept into Mr. Colebrooke’s
otherwise most accurate calculations, owing to a _cutcha-maund_ of five
_paseeries_, (of 10lb. each,) being in general use in that part of the
country. Five of these maunds, of 50lb. each, make a _tungy_, which is
the common load for cattle carrying iron, and other dead weights.
Therefore, if we estimate the general burthen to be in _cutcha_ (_i.e._
small) maunds, we shall find the result to be nearer the ordinary
result, than when we take 500lb. for the amount of a load. It is a
well-known truth, that a private tent, with its poles, pins, mallets,
and bags, is an ample load for any bullock, even in its dry state, and
that, when wet, it must be a choice animal that is competent to bear it
for even a very few miles.
In some of the very stony parts, it is usual to shoe the bullocks, the
same as is practised in many parts of England; but, in general, that is
not found necessary. The saddles and pads must be properly attended to,
and the loads should be well strapped on; otherwise, owing to the
skittishness of the cattle in India, and their disposition to lie down,
very frequently, in a day’s journey, considerable injury must be
sustained, by such articles of lading as may be subject to breakage,
from such a practice.
However great a drawback such a propensity may appear, it is found, that
liquors may be safely trusted to be conveyed by bullocks; but, in order
to ensure the bottles from breaking, it is found necessary to pack every
one of them separate, wrapping round it a small loose band, of that soft
kind of hemp known by the name of _paut_, and stitching the several
rounds together in the same manner as Florence oil flasks, &c., are
enveloped by small bands of fine straw.
The _paut_, above mentioned, is grown in every part of the country, but
chiefly in Bengal, where it attains to a considerable diameter, perhaps
an inch and a half in diameter, and often grows eleven or twelve feet
high. About three years ago, I presented a specimen of _paut_ to the
Bath Society, measuring more than ten feet in length: it was the
remainder of a quantity in which I had packed some bottles when quitting
Bengal, and had never been so much as put to the hackle.
Nothing is so effectual as this material towards preserving bottles from
fracture; when properly wolded, they may either be packed in boxes, &c.,
without any addition of straw, &c., or they may be advantageously put
into strong bags of _tawt_, and thus, with seeming negligence, be
carried on either side the bullock. I have several times adopted this
mode, and found it by far the safest, as well as the least expensive,
and best suited to the animal. By it, the necessity for boxes was
obviated, and a good bullock could easily carry five dozens of wine for
any length of time, and for any number of miles, a regiment would
commonly march.
When tents are carried on oxen, it is necessary to divide the load as
equally as may be practicable; observing, that those which have to carry
the two _flies_, ought not to be encumbered with mallets, pins, &c., as
it is a great desideratum to make sure, as much as practicable, that the
flies, the pole, and a certain portion of pins, together with a mallet
or two, should arrive early; it being of less consequence if the
bullocks bearing the walls, _satrinjes_, &c., be somewhat later; since
the main part of the operation of pitching the tent, consisting of
raising the _flies_, may be performed, and shelter afforded, without the
walls, &c., being present.
Although a very large stout bullock may, here and there, be found
capable of carrying a pair of cloaths-trunks, with a small cot above
them, such must not be generally expected. The trunks will, if properly
constructed, sit close, as they do on a camel; but the cot will
assuredly swag, so as to cause great unsteadiness of gait, and subject
the animal to chafe under the pad: besides, the disposition of most
bullocks is such, as by no means to warrant the lading them with any
article subject to great injury from a fall.
I have already said the bullock is the worst kind of carriage used in
the army, but for draught it is essentially serviceable; in fact,
without this animal, I know not how the service could proceed in India.
A great deal, however, depends on breed; and no less on due feeding and
proper exercise. Only certain parts of the country, such as the Purneah
and Sircar-Sarun districts, are found to produce oxen of a standard and
frame suited to the ordnance department; in which, on the Bengal
Establishment alone, full five thousand head of cattle are employed,
exclusive of a large establishment of elephants and camels, allotted to
the conveyance of camp equipage.
The proportion of bullocks allowed for the draught of field-pieces of
various calibres, with which they are expected to keep pace with the
ordinary rate at which troops march, are as follow:—
To a 24 Pounder 24 Bullocks.
18 Ditto 18 Ditto.
12 Ditto 12 Ditto.
6 Ditto 6 Ditto.
3 Ditto 4 Ditto.
8 Inch Howitzer 14 Ditto.
5½ Ditto 10 Ditto.
4⅖ Ditto 6 Ditto.
Artificer’s Cart 10 Ditto.
Tumbrel 6 Ditto.
It may surprize those who are personally unacquainted with India, to
learn that horses are very little employed in carriages. I have already
shewn, that, with the exception of the _r’hunts_ let out for hire about
Calcutta, of which some are drawn by one, or by two _tattoos_, all the
vehicles in use among the natives, and all the laborious part of
whatever may relate to building, trade, and agriculture, are consigned
to oxen; of which the prices are, in some places, so low, that a small
pair, fit to be worked at a well in a gentleman’s garden, may usually be
had for about ten rupees (_i.e._ 25_s._); while the generality of
husbandmen rarely pay more than six rupees (15_s._) for a pair, such as
are adequate to the very insignificant tillage bestowed on the soil.
The indigenous breed of horses, if Bengal can boast of any such, is
remarkably small, hardy, and vicious: to me, however, it has ever been a
doubt, whether this breed, called _tattoos_, be not a degenerate race
from some supply obtained, at a very remote date, from Durbungah, and
the districts ranging under the northerly frontier. That breed,
generally distinguished by the appellation of _serissahs_, is again
questionable, and may, in all probability, be traced to the _tazees_,
bred in the Maharrattah country, and in every part of the _Punjab_.
Considering the great strength and perseverance of _tattoos_ in general,
it is rather surprizing that they are not put to more purposes, than
merely serving to carry a load on a march, or to convey some infirm, or
rather affluent, traveller, when moving from one part to another. As few
castrations take place among the males, and the sexes are allowed to
intermix without restraint, the species would multiply rapidly, were it
not that little care is taken of the pregnant mares, and less of the
progeny; which usually has to shift for itself, and to cut its own grass
wherever a scanty meal may be obtainable. If a selection were made of
the _tattoos_, male and female, fitted for breeding from, there might be
established a supply of cattle, far more useful to the peasant, than
those miserably defective oxen which, in spite of the professed
veneration of all Hindus towards those sacred animals, are often kept
toiling at the plough until nature interposes in behalf of the worn-out
deity, and compels the reluctant peasant to allow the hour of
dissolution to pass on in peace.
The Company, with a view to obtain a certain, regular, and efficient,
supply of horses for their cavalry regiments, have, for about seventeen
years past, maintained an establishment for breeding from select mares
in North Bahar: the liberality with which this has been supported, and
the admirable selection made of persons for the management of every
branch, should give the most favorable result; especially as the spot
chosen for its site is peculiarly eligible in point of grazing.
But it does not appear that the expected benefits have been produced. I
recollect seeing a splendid calculation, made about the year 1794, which
went so far as to demonstrate, that, by the end of the twelfth year,
full fifteen hundred horses would annually be supplied from the stud.
Seeing that an agency still exists for the purchase of cavalry horses,
and knowing that the whole strength of the light regiments of cavalry do
not exceed six thousand horses, even including the body-guard, we may
reasonably conclude, that the stud is by no means competent to furnish
one-fourth of that number within the year!
The _tattoos_ of Bengal rarely grow to the height of twelve hands; they
are slight limbed, and cat-hammed; but carry immense burthens during a
day’s march, and are no sooner turned off, having their fore-feet
tethered, than a general war seems to be proclaimed among all of the
tribe that may be within sight or hearing. Kicking, biting, and
gallantry, are the order of the day; and woe betide the incautious wight
who should, at such a time, approach within reach of their heels!
Few _tattoos_ ever have the _bursautty_; a peculiar breaking out about
the legs, (by no means resembling the grease,) to which horses, in
general, are extremely subject throughout the low countries; especially
if their standing be not remarkably dry, and exercise given in
proportion to their allowance of _gram_; which is a species of pulse,
growing on a low plant of the tare kind, and commonly sold at about a
rupee per maund.
Of this _gram_, a horse will eat from three to six seers, (of 2lb.
each,) according to his size or appetite; half in the morning, and half
at night. When high fed, and but little rode, the most valuable horses,
in particular, become victims to the _bursautty_; which, though it
disappears in the spring and summer, invariably returns, generally, too,
with encreased force, during every rainy season. As yet, no cure has
been discovered for this ruinous disease, though numbers of gentlemen,
of eminent abilities, have devoted their attention towards its
eradication: its abatement has, in some instances, been effected; but,
notwithstanding the utmost skill and perseverance, the blotches have
returned, in sufficient force to satisfy all medical men, that no
decided mode of treatment, and no general specific, has, hitherto, been
established.
The exemption of _tattoos_, for the most part, from so formidable a
distemper, seems to indicate their peculiar fitness for the climate: it
matters not whether nature first planted them on the soil, or whether,
by long continuance, they have become habituated to it, so completely as
to defy that virulence with which the climate attacks strange animals.
Wandering among all the puddles and jungles at every season; and
subsisting on the remains of temporary verdure; ultimately, indeed,
browsing, or devouring, the withered remains of long grass; these useful
animals contract no disease, save what may be engendered by such
absolute scarcity as would go nigh to starve a donkey!
The next breed of horses, in point of strength and hardiness, is the
_tanian_, a small kind, obviously distinct from all the other breeds of
India, and peculiar to the Thibet and Bootan countries, that lie at the
back of our eastern and northern frontier, all the way from Assam to
Sirinagur: allowing for the intervention of the Nepaul Rajah’s
dominions. These horses are, with few exceptions, piebald; though a few
are seen entirely of one color. The breed may be characterized in a few
words, viz. that they are remarkably stout, hog-maned, have short bushy
tails, very short necks, and large heads.
The Bootan merchants, who come down yearly with various articles of
manufacture, such as mats, cloths, &c., of a very peculiar kind, by no
means displeasing in their patterns, commonly lade their goods upon
_tanians_, which they dispose of ultimately for a small sum, perhaps
from twenty-five to sixty rupees each; reserving, however, a few,
whereon to transport the British woollens, and other articles they
obtain from the produce of their sales.