The Ganges, Saturday, Nov. 4, 1837.
I sent off my Journal to you the day before yesterday from Monghir. We
arrived there early on Thursday morning, and G. found there were so many
people there whom he ought to see, and we saw so many objects that were
tempting to sketch, that he agreed to remain there all day. All the
English residents, _six_ in number (and that is what they call a large
station), came on board immediately, and amongst them Mr. D., Lord S.'s
son. I thought he had been married a month ago, but it appears he
prefers being married in a regular clerical fashion, and is waiting for
the bishop, who is travelling about marrying and confirming and
christening, and who is to be at Monghir in ten days.
We landed at half-past three, in a covered boat, with umbrellas, &c.,
and went straight to a tent, where the Resident had collected all the
Monghir manufactures for our inspection; but it is impossible to buy
anything, as what is to become of it in camp? Otherwise, the inlaid
tables and boxes were tempting, and there was the prettiest dolls'
furniture possible, tables, and cane-chairs, and sofas, and footstools,
of such curious workmanship. The vehicles of the place, amounting to
four _buggies_ (that is a foolish term for a cabriolet, but as it is the
only vehicle in use in India, and as buggy is the only name for said
vehicle, I give it) and a bullock cart, were assembled for our use.
We drove off to Seetakund, where there is a hot spring--a thing I never
believed in; I thought the water might be a little warm, just the chill
taken off, but it was impossible to keep one's finger in this even for a
moment, and it was the most beautiful, clear-looking basin of water, so
blue and bright. The drive there was a real refreshment; it is the first
time for two years I have felt the carriage going _up hill_ at all, and
this was not a simple slope, but a good regular hill. Then we came to
some genuine rocks--great bleak, grey stones, with weeds growing between
them, and purple hills in the distance. I felt better directly.
We all sketched away, and did not come back till it was dusk.
Altogether, it was a nice scrambling, homelike expedition, if I had not
come back with such a bad headache. But, though I did, I liked Monghir,
and respect J. for having organised such a good day.
Patna, Sunday, Nov. 5.
Here we are, in such a comfortable house, I never saw the like, and very
cool and pleasant it is.
We anchored last night within sight of the town; but Patna is six miles
long at least, and Mr. T. lives at Bankipore, a sort of Battersea to
Patna; so we got up at six this morning, and went on deck to see the
town. There never was anything so provokingly picturesque, considering
that the steamer goes boring on without the slightest regard for our
love of sketching.
It was a Hindu holiday. I must do the Hindus the justice to say that
they make as many holidays out of one year as most people do out of ten;
and I am not at all sure whether a small importation of Hindus would not
be acceptable to you, to accompany your boys to school as regulators to
their school-days. It would be a safeguard against their being
overworked. The whole bank was lined with natives bringing immense
baskets of fruit for 'the Ganges to look at,' as the Nazir[A] expressed
it; and they were dipping their baskets into the river with their
graceful salaams and then bowing their heads down to the water. They are
much more clothed here than in Bengal, and the women wear bright crimson
veils, or yellow with crimson borders, and sometimes purple dresses with
crimson borders, and have generally a little brown baby, with a scarlet
cap on, perched on their hips. I wish you would have one little brown
baby for a change; they are so much prettier than white children. Behind
these crowds of people, there were old mosques and temples and natives'
houses, and the boats of rich natives in front with gilded sterns, and
painted peacocks at the prow. In short, just what people say of India;
you know it all, but it is pretty to see; and I mean the 'moral' of my
Indian experience to be, that it is the most picturesque population,
with the ugliest scenery, that ever was put together.
[A] The head of the Governor-General's native servants.
We breakfasted at eight, and just as we had finished, Mr. T. came with
all the English resident gentlemen to take us on shore--Mr. G. amongst
the rest. Such a pleasure for Miss H. I think that little iron is coming
well out of the fire.
There were carriages without number at the ghaut; a regiment, brought
from Dinapore to receive his lordship, which lined the way up to Mr.
T.'s house; a band to play; a second breakfast to be eaten, and the most
comfortable house possible.
My room is lined with idle books, and these up-country houses all have
fire-places and carpets; and though it is still very hot, the idea that
it ever may be cold is reviving. G. and F. went to church, where Mr. T.
read prayers and another gentleman read a sermon, and they said it was
one of the best-performed services they have heard in this country. We
have taken a hideous drive this evening over some brown plains, and have
twenty-six people at dinner, I grieve to say. I am as stiff as a poker
with the fall into the hold of the flat, and was obliged to stay at home
all day.
Monday, Nov. 6.
A dull dinner, very! but Mr. ---- is in himself a jewel; and he looks
like that man in Matthews's 'At home' who used to say, with a melancholy
look, that he was 'fond of fun;' but still, in that melancholy way, he
is very pleasant. His eyebrows keep me in a continual state of
wonderment. They are thick masses of very long hair, and if they were my
eyebrows, or if he were my Mr. T., I should with a small pair of
curling-irons and a great deal of _huile antique_, make them up into
little ringlets, like a doll's wig. I think they would have a very
original and graceful effect. We have had such a fatiguing day--just
what we must have at every station--but still it is fatiguing. There
were about forty people at breakfast; then, from eleven to one, F. and I
received the ladies of the station, and most of the gentlemen came
again, even those who had been at breakfast. G.'s audiences went on for
four hours; so the aides-de-camp had a pleasant day of it.
Then there was company at luncheon; and, at half-past three, G. held a
durbar. Some of the rajahs came in great state--one with a gold howdah
on his elephant; another had a crimson velvet covering to his carriage,
embroidered with gold, and they all had a great many retainers. To some
of them G. gave gold dresses and turbans, and we went behind a screen to
see Mr. T. and the other gentlemen help the rajahs into their gold
coats. The instant the durbar was over we set off, an immense party, to
see Patna, and we saw the Durgah, one of the largest Mussulman temples
there is, and then went to a part of the town where the streets are too
narrow for a carriage, and where they had provided tonjauns and
elephants for us, and we poked along, through herds of natives, to a
curious Sikh temple, which is kept up by contributions from Runjeet
Singh. The priest read us a little bit of their Bible (not the Koran),
very much to our edification, and they brought out a sword in a red
scabbard, which they worship, and they gave George some petitions, and
then we went home to another great dinner.
Tuesday, Nov. 7.
We have had a much quieter day. In the morning the rajahs of yesterday
sent G. his presents--shawls, kincobs, &c., three very fine elephants,
and two horses. There was nothing very pretty in the presents, except an
ivory arm-chair and an ivory tonjaun inlaid with silver. F. and I had
two very picturesque camels and camel-drivers to sketch in the morning,
and the rajah to whom they belonged sent in the afternoon to beg we
would accept both camels and riders. Such nice little pets, in case of
anything happening to Chance or to F.'s deer. However, we returned them,
and I heard last night that he was quite puzzled and annoyed that we
would not keep them.
G. went to see the jail and the opium godowns, which he said were very
curious. There is opium to the value of 1,500,000_l._ in their
storehouses, and Mr. T. says that they wash every workman who comes out;
because the little boys even, who are employed in making it up, will
contrive to roll about in it, and that the _washing_ of a little boy
well rolled in opium is worth four annas (or sixpence) in the bazaar, if
he can escape to it.
We took a quiet drive with W., and then went to a large granary that was
built years ago, and then found to be useless, and now it is only
curious for the echo in it. There we found Mrs. A., Mr. G., and Miss H.
and some others; and Mr. G. had brought his flute, and Miss H. observed
that the echo repeated the notes of the flute better than anything else.
But then Mr. G. clapped his hands, and that was better still. He gave
her his arm as we came out, and she looked very shy; and we all tried to
look very stupid and unobservant. I have not seen such a promising
attachment for a long while. Half our party went on board to-night, and
G. goes at seven to-morrow morning; but F. and I are going to stay with
Mr. T. till the evening, and then drive straight to the ball at
Dinapore, only five miles, and A. stays for us. All the others go, as G.
has a levée in the morning.
Dinapore, Thursday, Nov. 9.
We arrived in excellent time for our ball, and to see G.'s landing,
which by moonlight and torchlight was a very pretty sight. The whole way
from the ghaut to the house where the ball was given was carpeted, and
there are plenty of troops here to make a street, and our own people
turned out in great force.
There were some very pretty people at the ball, which went off
remarkably well. Mr. G. danced three times with Miss H., which is
considered here equal to a proposal and a half. Dear stern old Mr. T. is
quite interested in that novel, and came two or three times in the
course of the evening with a melancholy face of fun, to say--'The
_little affair_ is going on remarkably well: he is dancing with her
again.' We are now going to a review, and then to a dinner given to us
by the Queen's 31st regiment, which is to end in another ball and
supper.
Well! it is lucky that anybody _can_ do anything they ought to do, but I
had only four hours' sleep last night.
Friday, Nov. 10.
The dinner went off well, and so did the review. The 31st is J.'s
regiment, so he was extremely anxious that they should do a great deal
to our honour and glory. We sat down seventy-four to dinner, Colonel B.
between G. and me, and the chief lady and the senior captain of the
regiment on our other sides; the old bishop, whom we met here, took F.
to the opposite side of the table. It was a less formal dinner than I
expected. G. had to make another speech, and longer than last night's,
and it was very original and neatly turned, and gave great satisfaction.
We stayed through part of the ball, and came away before supper, on
pretence of fatigue. Both Patna and Dinapore have distinguished
themselves, and it has really been all done so cordially and handsomely
that we can bear a little fatigue for the sake of the goodnature of the
people who entertain us. And, at all events, it makes a gay week for the
station. Some ladies came sixty miles to these balls. At the ball there
were some rajahs in splendid dresses; such magnificent jewels, and some
of them had never seen an English ball before. They think the ladies who
dance are utterly good for nothing, but seemed rather pleased to see so
much vice.
Such jewelry as we saw yesterday morning! A native was sent by one of
the gentlemen to show us some really good native jewelry. There is an
ornament called a surpéche, which the rajahs wear in their turbans, but
there is seldom such a handsome one as this man had for sale. It was a
diamond peacock holding in his beak a rope of enormous pearls, which
passed through an emerald about the size of a dove's egg; then there
came the tassel--the top was of immense diamonds, with a hole bored at
one end of them, and they were simply drawn together into a sort of
rosette, without any setting. Then there came strings of pearls each
ending in three large diamonds. These ornaments are often made with
discoloured pearls and diamonds with flaws, but this was quite perfect.
The man asked 8,000_l._ for it, but will probably sell it to some native
for 6,000_l._ They stick it into their turbans by a gold hook, and the
tassel hangs over one ear. We have steamed quietly along to-day, and I
have been asleep half the afternoon.