Thursday, Dec. 7, 1837.
We had our wedding yesterday morning; the tent made up into a very good
chapel. Miss H. was very nicely dressed, and looked very well. Mr. G.
was uncommonly happy.
Mr. Y. always puts me in mind of R. He could not build up an altar to
his mind, and was prancing up and down the tent, just in one of R.'s
ways.
He treated with immense scorn an idea of mine, to try the state housings
of the elephant, which are scarlet, embroidered all over in gold; but I
sent for them, and you can't imagine what a fine altar we made, with
four arm-chairs for railings, and some carpets and velvet cushions in
front. It was quite picturesque, only we were obliged to forewarn Mr. G.
that neither he nor H. were to faint away _towards_ the altar, because
it would then all come down with a crash. She cried less than I
expected; but indeed her spirits were very much kept up by a beautiful
shawl G. gave her.
We had a quiet dinner yesterday. Most of the camp dine at a great
wedding dinner given by a relation of the A.s.
The young Prince Henry of Orange is at Calcutta, and we heard this
morning that he has settled to come up dâk (or travelling day and night
in a palanquin) and join us. He will overtake us about Tuesday or
Wednesday, between this and Cawnpore.
G. cannot stop here for him, but we leave Captain M. behind to bring him
on, and he brings up an extra aide-de-camp from Calcutta.
We are going to put Giles at the head of his establishment, and are
organising tiger hunts, &c., on the road for him. I am very glad he is
coming. His father wrote such a pretty letter to G. about him, and it
will be easy to amuse a boy in a camp.
St. Cloup[B] is in ecstasies at the prince's arrival.
[B] The Governor-General's cook.
He was cook to the Prince of Orange at the Hague, and knew this boy as a
child--'un jeune homme charmant!--toujours le chapeau à la main--si
poli, si gentil!--Allons, madame, je vais parler au khansamah; nous
allons faire bonne chère. Il ne se plaindra pas de son diner, Dieu
merci!'
B. is defeated with great loss, and we are going to see the Baiza Baee
to-morrow. A Mrs. ----, her great friend, has been here this morning, in
the first place to bring Chance a pair of gold bangles and a pair of
silver bangles that were made for him by a young officer who saw him at
Barrackpore, and who left them to be offered to Chance on his progress.
You never saw such a good figure as he is, and he walks just as the
native women do, when their ankles are covered with bangles.
Then Mrs. ---- came to say that the Baiza Baee had asked her to come and
interpret for us, which will be a great comfort. She says the Baiza Baee
had said to her, 'I want to give the Miss Edens a native ball and
supper. I think I had better buy a house large enough.' She stopped
that; and now, to save us five miles of dusty road, the Baee is to come
down to her private tents, which are pitched only a mile off.
Saturday, Dec. 9.
We had our ball on Thursday--a particularly sleepy one--perhaps my
fault, for I could not keep my eyes open; but the dancing seemed sleepy,
considering the degree of practice the dancers must have had.
There was an old Mrs. ----, with hair perfectly white, and a nice mob cap
over it, who bounded through every quadrille with some spirit, but most
of the young people were very languid. We had a great deal of
health-drinking and _speechifying_; but as they understood we liked
early hours, they ordered supper at eleven, and after supper,
fortunately, my nose began to bleed, which was an excellent excuse for
coming away.
Everybody else is much the better for marching. F. is in a state of
health and activity perfectly unequalled, and with a really good colour.
G. detests his tent and his march, and the whole business so actively,
that he will not perceive how well he is. I never shall think a tent
comfortable, but I do not hate it so much as G. does, from the
dawdlingness of the life; and I would go through much more discomfort
for the sake of the coolness of the mornings.
We paid our visit to the Baiza Baee yesterday. The young princess came
to fetch us, but as we could not ensure our tents being so completely
private as they ought to be, B. asked her, through the curtains of her
palanquin, not to get out, and said that we would follow her
immediately. So we set off in one carriage, and W. and three other
aides-de-camp in the other, and quantities of servants and guards, and
her palanquin was carried by the side of our carriage, with six of her
ayahs running by it, and a Mahratta _horsewoman_, all over jewels,
riding behind, and hundreds of wild-looking horsemen in such picturesque
dresses, galloping backwards and forwards, and the princess's uncle on
an elephant, whom they had painted bright green and blue, and who went
at a full trot, much, I should think, to the detriment of 'my uncle's'
bones. It was an odd, wild-looking procession, quite unlike anything we
have seen yet. The visit to the Baee was very like any other native
visit.
She is a clever-looking little old woman, with remains of beauty. She
covered us with jewels, chiefly pearls and emeralds, and there were
fifteen trays a-piece, for F. and me, filled with beautiful shawls,
gauzes, &c.--you never saw such treasures. However, the astutious old
lady was fully aware that they all went to the Company, and after we
came away was persuaded by Mr. B. to retain them; but she told us
confidentially and iniquitously that the jewels had been specially
prepared for us, and inferior articles of the same kind would be sent
with the list that is always given to Mr. B., so that he could make no
claim on these. We laughed, and assured her that was not the usual
English custom, and she took them all back again very willingly, except
two little rings, which we kept in exchange for ours. Mine was made of
pearls in the shape of a mitre, and it looked so handsome on Chance's
tail that W. wanted to apply to B. to know if he would not waive the
rights of the Company just in favour of that ring and that tail!
Mooftee-ka-Poorwah, Sunday, Dec. 10.
Yesterday they made a mistake in the time, and called us at half-past
four, which gave us an hour's drive in the dark, over a very bad road,
and an hour to wait for breakfast. I never did see so hideous a country,
and this is a very ugly station. 'Foully Palace' looks particularly
striking, as the dust has actually dyed the tents brown, and G.'s
disgust is turning him yellow.
He is longing to go back to Calcutta. The weather has grown so much
cooler and pleasanter, I cannot agree with him.
Koosseah, Monday, Dec. 11.
We had a sixteen miles' march, quite as much as the servants and troops
could manage, and we were above three hours coming in the carriage.
G. and F. rode the last five miles. We are encamped under trees, and it
looks prettier. The King of Oude has sent his cook to accompany us for
the next month, and yesterday, when our dinner was set out, his
khansamah and kitmutgars arrived with a second dinner, which they put
down by the side of the other, and the same at breakfast this morning.
Some of the dishes are very good, though too strongly spiced and
perfumed for English tastes. They make up some dishes with
assafoetida! but we stick to the rice and pilaus and curries. St.
Cloup is so cross about them.
The king has also sent greyhounds and huntsmen, and a great many
beautiful hawks, and we are going out hunting this afternoon if the
elephants are rested after their long march. To-morrow, F. and I mean to
strike off from the camp to a place called Kurrah, where there are some
beautiful tombs, and we shall have a tent there, with breakfast and
luncheon. It is three miles from the camp, and all our cool light time
would be lost if we went there and back from the camp.
Kistoghur, Wednesday, Dec. 13.
Our hunting expedition was on a grand scale, huntsmen and spearmen and
falconers in profusion, and twelve elephants, and five miles of open
country, and the result was, that we killed one innocent and
unsuspecting black crow, and two tame paddy birds, which one of the
falconers quietly turned out. But it was a grand sight, and I have made
a rare sketch of some of the people.
F. and I went off to Kurrah yesterday morning, and found three tents
pitched opposite to a beautiful tomb. G. and Captain N. left us after
they had seen two or three ruins, and we stayed out sketching with P.
and M. till breakfast time. The sketching mania is spreading luckily,
for as these young gentlemen must go with us, it will be a great
blessing both for themselves and us if they can draw too. P. has set up
a book, and seems to draw well. These little quiet encampments are very
pleasant, after the great dusty camp.
W. had meant to shoot at Kurrah; he always goes on the day before, as he
hates getting up early and likes living alone; but there was some
mistake about his tent last night, and when he arrived with a tired
horse over a cross-road, there was nothing but his bed, and no tent, and
all the servants sleeping round a large fire. The servants said, 'O,
Sahib went away very impassionate.'
We went on our elephants at four, to see the fort, an old ruin, on a
real, steep rock, with a great bird's-eye view of the Oude country.
Certainly a hill is a valuable article. We then joined the camp, through
four miles of old temples and tombs, and the ground about as uneven as
that at Eastcombe. Altogether, Kurrah answered to us.
We had rather a large dinner afterwards.
Futtehpore, Dec. 15.
Yesterday we were at a very dull place, Thurriah by name, and were not
even tempted to ride out of the camp. The band plays in the afternoon,
between five and six, which I established, because at dinner it is
impossible to listen comfortably; and it really plays so beautifully, it
is a pity not to hear it.
All the party walk up and down what we call High Street in front of our
tents. The Y.s with their two children, he taking a race with his boy,
and then helping to pack a camel. The 'vicarage' is always the tent that
is first struck. The A.s slink off down A-alley, at the back of their
tent, because in her present state of figure she is ashamed to be seen;
the C.s take an elephant. Colonel P. walks up and down waiting to help
Mrs. R. off her horse, and wishing she would not ride with her husband.
Mrs. L. toddles about with her small child, and L. always makes some
excuse for not walking with 'Carry dear.' The officers of the escort and
their wives all pursue their domestic walks; the aides-de-camp and
doctor get their newspapers and hookahs in a cluster on their side of
the street. W. has his hookah in front of his tent, and F. sits with
him, and they feed his dogs and elephants. G. and I and Chance sit in
front of my tent. Altogether it is a public sort of meeting, in which
everybody understands that they are doing their domestic felicity, and
nobody takes the slightest notice of anybody else.
Futtehpore, Dec. 16.
The Prince of Orange arrived at two yesterday. He is a fair,
quiet-looking boy, and is very shy and very silent. He did not seem the
least tired with ten days and nights of palanquin. We sent the carriage
to meet him some miles off, with some luncheon. G. pressed him to try a
warm bath, and five minutes after saw his own cherished green tub
carried over.
'I really can't stand that,' he said; 'if he keeps my tub, there must be
war with Holland immediately. I shall take Batavia, and tell the guns at
Fort William to fire on the Bellona at once.'
We all went out on elephants in the afternoon; Captain A. (the Dutch
captain and tutor), and Captain C., and all. The prince came on my
elephant; and we saw some beautiful mosques and ruins. Also, there are
twenty native chiefs encamped about, who had come from a great distance
to meet G.; so there were quantities of strange sights for our guest.
We march again on Monday, and I believe that F. and I shall go to
Lucknow the week after next, from Cawnpore.
This must go.