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'UP THE COUNTRY'
Letters written to her Sister
FROM
THE UPPER PROVINCES OF INDIA
BY THE
HON. EMILY EDEN
AUTHORESS OF
'THE SEMI-DETACHED HOUSE' AND 'THE SEMI-ATTACHED COUPLE'
NEW EDITION
[Illustration: colophon]
LONDON
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET
PUBLISHER IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY
1867
LONDON
PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO.
NEW-STREET SQUARE
TO THE
LORD WILLIAM GODOLPHIN OSBORNE
MY DEAR WILLIAM,
I know no one but yourself who can now take any lively interest in these
Letters.
She to whom they were addressed, they of whom they were written, have
all passed away, and you and I are now almost the only survivors of the
large party that in 1838 left Government House for the Upper Provinces.
Many passages of this Diary, written solely for the amusement of my own
family, have of course been omitted; but not a word has been added to
descriptions which have little merit, but that they are true and that
they were written on the spot.
Now that India has fallen under the curse of railroads, and that life
and property will soon become as insecure there as they are here, the
splendour of a Governor-General's progress is at an end.
The Kootûb will probably become a Railway Station; the Taj will, of
course, under the sway of an Agra Company (Limited, except for
destruction), be bought up for a monster hotel; and the
Governor-General will dwindle down into a first-class passenger with a
carpet-bag. These details, therefore, of a journey that was picturesque
in its motley processions, in its splendid crowds, and in its 'barbaric
gold and pearl,' may be thought amusing. So many changes have since
taken place in Indian modes of travelling, that these contrasts of
public grandeur and private discomfort will probably be seen no more, on
a scale of such magnitude.
Believe me,
Ever your affectionate Aunt,
EMILY EDEN.
EDEN LODGE, KENSINGTON GORE:
_May_, 1866.
'UP THE COUNTRY.'
CHAPTER I.
On board the 'Megna' flat, Saturday, Oct. 21, 1837.
'Once more upon the waters, yet once more,' and so on. We are now fairly
off for eighteen months of travelling by steamers, tents, and
mountains--and every day of a cabin seems to me like so much waste. They
ought all to go to the great account of the long voyage that will, at
last, take us home again. And this cabin looks so like my 'Jupiter'
abode, in all its fittings and appointments, that it is really a pity so
to throw its discomforts away in going farther off. Well, I am sure it
is all for the best--I make no objection--I like to see things take
their course; but still I _do_ say, that for a person who required
nothing but to be allowed the undisturbed enjoyment of that small
Greenwich house and garden, with all its little Cockney pleasures and
pursuits, I have been very hardly treated and rather overworked. We got
up at five this morning; the servants were all in a fuss, and Wright was
in all the delusions of carpet-bags and nice bandboxes, in which she may
be indulged till we leave the steamer, and then she will be obliged to
wake from them, as the coolie is yet to be discovered who would carry a
carpet-bag, and a bandbox does not precisely meet the views of a camel.
When we came down for some coffee, the great hall was full of gentlemen
who had come to accompany his lordship to the ghaut--even Mr. Macaulay
had turned out for it. F. and I, with Captain P., soon took ourselves
off, and drove down to the landing-place. There were two lines of troops
from the door of Government House to the river, and the band was playing
that march in the 'Puritani' which, when we were at the Admiralty, used
to be played every morning by the Guards' band, and which, consequently,
always carries me back to the horrid time of our preparations for
leaving England, so I can always cry it all over again to that tune. The
road was covered with carriages and riders; and, at the ghaut, a large
set of our particular acquaintances were waiting for us, so we got out
and stood with them while G. made his progress on foot. It was really a
very pretty procession: such crowds of people and such diversities of
dress. He is not so shy as he used to be at these ceremonies, though I
think a long walk through troops presenting arms is trying to everybody.
The instant he arrived at the ghaut, he gave a general goodbye, offered
me his arm, and we walked off to the boats as fast as we could. The guns
fired, the gentlemen waved their hats, and so we left Calcutta. It has
really done handsomely by us, and we ought to be obliged to them for
_saying_--if it is no more--that they are sorry we are going. But I
daresay we are an amusement to them. They liked our balls and parties,
and whatever we did or said was the subject of an anecdote; and if we
said or did nothing they invented something for us--and it all served to
wonder at--which, in a country where there is little society and few
topics, was an advantage.
The Sunderbunds, Monday, Oct. 23.
We came into these lovely riant scenes on Sunday morning. They are a
composition of low stunted trees, marsh, tigers and snakes, with a
stream that sometimes looks like a very wide lake and then becomes so
narrow that the jungle wood scrapes against the sides of the flat--and
this morning scraped away all G.'s jalousies, which are a great loss. I
never saw such a desolate scene: no birds flying about--there is no
grain for them to eat. We have met only one native boat, which must have
been there since the Deluge. Occasionally there is a bamboo stuck up
with a bush tied to it, which is to recall the cheerful fact that there
a tiger has carried off a man. None of our Hindus, though they are
starving, will go on shore to cook--and, indeed, it would be very
unsafe. It looks as if this bit of world had been left unfinished when
land and sea were originally parted. The flat is dreadfully hot at
night; but not more uncomfortable than a boat must necessarily be in
this climate.
I must make you acquainted with the other flat, because then, once for
all, you will understand our prospect of travelling companions. You know
all about Mr. and Mrs. A. and their two children. Mr. and Mrs. B. are
our next couple. He is one of the Government secretaries, clever and
pleasant, speaks Persian rather more fluently than English; Arabic
better than Persian; but, for familiar conversation, rather prefers
Sanscrit. Mr. and Mrs. C. (belonging to Mr. B.'s office) are a very
pleasant couple; he acts and sings, and knows most of the people we
know, and she sings and plays on the harp like an angel; and they have a
small child, the least little sick thing possible, which I affection,
and I mean to borrow it when we are in camp to play in my tent. I often
_weary_ for a child to talk to. Captain and Mrs. D. are our commissariat
couple--she is very pretty. General E. is the public military
secretary--an astutious oldish man. The two steamers generally anchor
together at night; but the other comes in later than ours, and so we
have seen none of the other party but Mr. A., who says they do very well
together, all things considered. General E. is suspected of not being
partial to the small D., A., and C. children--there had been rather an
angry controversy about some apple and pear jam; and, in general, they
were all, like our noble selves, so much bored that they went to bed at
eight. Otherwise, they were all perfectly happy.
Wednesday, Oct. 25.
We stopped at Koolna yesterday for coals, and stayed an hour to let the
Hindus cook their dinner. We are out of the Sunderbunds now, and
steaming between two banks not quite so elevated, nor nearly so
picturesque as those flat marshes between Eastcombe and the river; and,
they say, we shall see nothing prettier, or rather less hideous, between
this and Simla, except at Raj Mahl. G. is already bored to death with
having nothing to do. He has read two novels and cannot swallow any
more, and is longing for his quiet cool room at Government House. The
nights are dreadful--all for want of a punkah--and hardly any of us get
a wink of sleep. However, we shall soon overtake cooler weather. The six
gentlemen passed the three first nights on deck, owing to the heat
below, and I sat up in bed fanning myself. The native servants sleep any
and everywhere, over our heads, under our feet, or at our doors; and as
there are no partitions but green blinds at the sides and gratings
above, of course we hear them coughing all night.
Thursday, Oct. 26.
They are steering us very badly; we go rolling about from one side of
the river to the other, and every now and then thump against the bank,
and then the chairs and table all shake and the inkstand tips over. I
think I feel a little seasick. Our native servants look so unhappy. They
hate leaving their families, and possibly leaving two or three wives is
two or three times as painful as leaving one, and they cannot endure
being parted from their children. Then they are too crowded here to
sleep comfortably. Major J. observed in a gentle, ill-used voice: 'I
think Captain K. behaved very ill to us; he said that between both
steamers and the flat he could lodge all the servants that were
indispensably and absolutely necessary to us, so I only brought one
hundred and forty, and now he says there is not room even for them.'
Certainly this boat must be drunk, she reels about in such a disorderly
fashion. I wish I had my cork jacket on.
I am glad that in your last letter you deigned for once to comment on
the 'Pickwick Papers.' I collected all the stray numbers, and began
reading them straight through to-day, because hitherto I have never had
time to make out exactly what they were about, delightful as they were.
I wish you would read over again that account of Winkle and the horse
which will not go on--'Poor fellow! good old horse!'--and Pickwick
saying, 'It is like a dream, a horrid dream, to go about all day with a
horrid horse that we cannot get rid of.' That book makes me laugh till I
cry, when I am sitting quite by myself. ---- There! I thought so. We are
aground, and the other steamer is going flourishing by, in grinning
delight.
Friday, Oct. 27.
We remained aground for two hours, and _touched_ several times after we
were afloat. Some of the other party visited us in the evening, and I
lent General E. a novel to help him on. I have been reading 'Astoria,'
out of that last box you sent us, and that great fat 'Johnsoniana.' The
anecdotes are not very new, but anything about Johnson is readable. G.
has got some Bridgewater Treatises, which he likes.
Beanleah, Saturday, Oct. 28.
We stopped at Surder yesterday, to take in some sheep. We ought to have
been there two days ago, if we had had better pilots and fewer
groundings. G. said, last night, when we again failed in landing there,
that it seemed to him Absurder rather than Surder. He made another good
pun to-day. How our intellects are weakened by the climate!--we make and
relish puns! The A.D.C.s are very apt to assemble over our cabins at
night, to smoke and to talk, and we hear every word they say. When it
is really time to go to sleep, I generally send old Rosina up to
disperse them, in her civilest manner. I was telling W. O. that they
were like so many old Chelsea pensioners; they go on prosing night after
night exclusively about the army, the King's army and the Company's
army; and that, if there were only a little levity in their talk, I
should not so much mind being kept awake by it. He said, 'Ah, yes, we
were very animated last night about the Company's army, and your old
Rosina came creeping up with "O sahib, _astai_ bolo" (_gently_ speak);
upon which G. observed, "Ah, if she had said, O sahib, _nasty_ bolo!"
that would have satisfied Emily much better.' This joke being founded on
Hindustani, and coming from the Governor-General, kept the whole suite
in a roar of laughter for half an hour. They really relished it.
Two young writers whom we had known at Calcutta came to Surder to meet
us, and we took them on board and took them back to Baulyah. How some of
these young men must detest their lives! Mr. ---- was brought up entirely
at Naples and Paris, came out in the world when he was quite a boy, and
cares for nothing but society and Victor Hugo's novels, and that sort of
thing. He is now stationed at B., and supposed to be very lucky in being
appointed to such a cheerful station. The whole concern consists of five
bungalows, very much like the thatched lodge at Langley. There are three
married residents: one lady has bad spirits (small blame to her), and
she has never been seen; another has weak eyes, and wears a large shade
about the size of a common verandah; and the other has bad health, and
has had her head shaved. A tour is not to be had here for love or
money, so she wears a brown silk cushion with a cap pinned to the top of
it. The Doctor and our friend make up the rest of the society. He goes
every morning to hear causes between natives about strips of land or a
few rupees--that lasts till five; then he rides about an uninhabited
jungle till seven; dines; reads a magazine, or a new book when he can
afford one, and then goes to bed. A lively life, with the thermometer at
several hundred!
Raj Mahl, Monday, Oct. 30.
We are now, after ten days' hard steaming, only 200 miles from Calcutta.
G. sighs for the Salisbury 'Highflyer' and a good roadside inn; but
to-day we have come to some hills, and a pretty bit of country. We
landed at four, saw the ruins, which are very picturesque, gave Chance a
run on shore, and we had time for one sketch. But the real genuine charm
and beauty of Raj Mahl were a great fat Baboo standing at the ghaut,
with two bearers behind him carrying the post-office packet. There were
letters by the 'Madagascar,' which left London the 20th July, and was
only three months on her passage. I had your large packet, and ten
letters. Altogether it was a great prize, was not it? and just at such
an interesting period. I think the young Queen a charming invention, and
I can fancy the degree of enthusiasm she must excite. Even here we feel
it. The account of her proroguing Parliament gave me a lump in my
throat; and then, why is the Duchess of Kent not with her in all these
pageants? There is something mysterious about that. Probably nothing is
more simple, or obvious, but still I should like to know what the
mother and daughter say to each other when they meet in private. To
return to your letters. There must have been one missing, because
Newsalls suddenly burst upon me as your actual residence, whereas I did
not know that there was such a place, that it had ever been built, or
that you ever thought of taking it.
Wednesday, Nov. 1.
We expect to be at Monghir to-morrow morning, whence I can send this. We
passed through some pretty scenery yesterday; but it is all over now, I
am afraid, and we shall see nothing but flat plains till we arrive at
Simla.