_IN THE COMPANY'S SERVICE_
And now I must pass quickly over that time of my life on which I
should most love to linger, those halcyon hours when, with Marian by
my side and the prospect bright before us, we voyaged through those
Indian seas, down the long coast of Malabar and up the long coast of
Coromandel, past the Isle of Serendib, and the reefs and foaming seas,
to where the tangled banyan roots overgrow the muddy mouth of the
Hooghley.
Being, as we were, the only two idle persons on board that ship, we
were thrown upon each other's company day after day, and in the long
talks we had together she gave me her account of the injuries which
she had suffered at the hands of my cousin Gurney. And what pleased me
most in these conversations was not to hear her kind and loving
professions towards myself, so much as that bitterness which she now
manifested against Rupert, for whom, she told me, she cherished a
hatred as strong as her former liking and attachment.
"You are not to think," she said, "that I ever held your cousin in
that regard which he was vain enough to believe and boast of. It is
true we were good friends, and had been such before I had yet made
your acquaintance. But he was a man for whom I had a strong distrust,
and that in spite of his swaggering airs and gallant speeches, fit to
turn the head of some silly, vain girl who knew nothing of the world."
"How came you to put yourself in that villain's hands," I asked, with
some reproachfulness, "by venturing on board the _Fair Maid_?"
"I own that was a wrong, foolish act," she answered, "of which the
wrongs I have suffered in consequence are sufficient proof. But when I
first yielded to Rupert Gurney's solicitations to take my passage in
that ship, I looked to the fact that Captain Sims was her commander,
and it was him I relied on to afford me protection. Can you not
understand how tired I was of my life in Yarmouth, in that old, dreary
inn; and how I wished to be abroad and see the great world, and also
to embrace my own parents, from whom I have been separated these
twelve years?"
Thus she made her defence. Nor was I like to gainsay it, loving her as
I did, with the same folly and blindness as of old, and ready to see
and to hear just as she bade me, so that I might only be let hug
myself in the belief that I had her affection in return.
"For the first part of our voyage," she told me further, "all went
well enough, until your cousin recovered of those wounds you had given
him. Then he began to take a tone with me which I could ill brook; and
you may imagine my uneasiness when I perceived that he had greater
interest with the men than Mr. Sims, and that I was fairly in his
power. As soon as we had got out in these seas he threw off all
pretence of taking me to Fort William; and when I implored him at
least to set me ashore in Bombay, where I might find another ship, he
flatly refused, and told me plainly that I was nothing more than his
prisoner. I applied to Mr. Sims for protection, but he answered that
it was none of his business, and since I had come aboard freely there
was nothing penal in detaining me. This man, I could see, was afraid
of Gurney, who shortly after raised a mutiny against him, put him in
irons, and carried him into Gheriah."
I had forgotten to say that when we took the pirates' castle, Captain
Sims was found among the prisoners, who, producing his papers, and
making out a long tale about his being an innocent merchant skipper,
fallen into the hands of the Moors, not only got his freedom, but a
handsome compensation out of the plunder of the place, with which he
took passage home to England.
Marian told me that her complaints and anger at last drove Rupert to
put her ashore, where he gave her, like Sims, into Angria's custody.
"And the horrors of that prison," she said, "are not to be described,
nor even conceived by one who has not had experience of it. I was
locked into a small cell, with scarce room to move or breathe, and the
insufferable heat was such that I was forced to strip naked and lie on
the floor, with scarce a rag to cover me. What would have happened to
me if the fort had not been taken I dare not think. I must have gone
mad or died."
"Do not let us speak of it," I said, soothing her. "All those horrors
are passed, and not likely to return. Where we are going, in Calcutta,
you will find friends and English customs; and your faithful servant,
if you will have him as such, Athelstane Ford, will stand guard over
you with his life."
This was the nearest approach which I made to a declaration of my
love, choosing rather to drift by force of circumstances into the
position of Marian's accepted lover than hazard all I had gained by
seeking to pluck the fruit before it was ripe. It was sufficient for
me in the meantime to elicit from her those expressions of abhorrence
towards my cousin (and late rival), which assured me that she was
effectually cured of her unhappy tenderness for that villain.
"Thank heaven, you are not likely to be troubled with any further
sight of him," I said, to clinch the matter. "After these events
Master Rupert will be no such fool as to endanger his neck by
trespassing on the Company's territories."
"I wish never to see him, nor so much as to hear of him again," Marian
answered warmly.
With such assurances she satisfied me. Perhaps my hopes played me
false, and made me take gratitude for something dearer; or it may be
that Marian, who knew well enough what were my feelings towards her,
did return me some fondness at this time, and was resigned to accept
my suit. Even if I deceived myself, I will not repent it. For I know
that this life of ours is but a series of illusions, where we stand
like children at a peepshow in a fair, beholding pictures which we
mistake for real things. So that I say that he who falsely thinks
himself beloved is just as well off for that time as he who really is
beloved. Yet so far as I was concerned, if any man had said to me then
that Marian did not love me, I should have scorned him.
Of my love for her I must not speak at all, or I shall never have
done. Long before we reached the Hooghley she had recovered from the
ill effects of her imprisonment, and moved about the ship with that
command which her beauty gave to her. Her charm was such as I have
never seen in any other woman: compared with them she seemed like a
bright child among old, sleeping men, almost like a living body among
the withered tenants of the tombs. And before we had been upon our
voyage above a fortnight the commander and both lieutenants of the
_Thetis_ were at her beck and call, while as for the little
midshipmen, down to one youngster of twelve, they swore by her as if
she were a goddess, and fought duels about her in the cockpit with
their dirks.
Before we arrived in Bengal she talked to me much about her parents,
who had been settled at Fort William for nearly twenty years. It was a
long time since she had had news of them, she told me, but when she
last heard her father was prospering in his business, which was that
of a drug factor, not in the civil service of the East Indian Company,
but trading under their licence, and shipping his merchandise in their
bottoms. So much she knew, but nothing besides, and it was with as
much curiosity as myself that she saw the Sunderbunds drawing near,
and our sloop anchoring off Falta to wait for a pilot up the river.
The Hooghley, famous as it is, is only one of the mouths of that great
river the Ganges, sacred and renowned throughout Indostan. Yet it is
upwards of forty miles long, for so great was the distance which
separated us from our destination. By means of a fair wind we
accomplished this difficult navigation, dangerous on account of the
numerous shoals, in a very few hours, passing on our way the fort of
Budge-Budge, where the Company kept a small garrison.
The scene along the banks of the river was most strange to me at this
time, and made an impression not easy to be effaced. The trees which
overhung the most part of the banks, of a character quite unlike
those we have in Norfolk, were gloomy and forbidding in the extreme;
but when we came to one of the people of the country's villages, and
saw the men dressed in gay turbans, the women walking about with
curious earthen vessels on their heads, and the stark naked black
children playing in the water, I was altogether bewildered, and could
scarcely credit that I, who saw these things and had come to dwell
amongst them, was the same boy who had been bred up so peacefully in
that English village among the flat meadows bordered by the shallow
broad.
However, we came at last to that place since so celebrated, though
then considered only as the third among the Company's settlements in
the East; I mean Fort William. The fort itself was at this date of no
great size or consequence; but in the neighbourhood along the river
bank were many fine warehouses erected by the English. In the rear of
these was built the native town, which the Moors call Calcutta. Here
the houses are generally mean and dirty; but some of the rich Indians
lived in very noble style, having fine gardens round their houses,
ornamented with fountains and groves of tulip trees and mangoes.
Marian and I were put ashore in the ship's gig, having first bid adieu
to the officers, and set about inquiring the way to Mr. Rising's
house. In this at first we were unsuccessful, but at last I found an
obliging person on the quay who directed his native servant to guide
us to it.
This man, to whom I gave a handful of pice, conducted us through some
narrow streets of the town, very ill-paved, and full of a most evil
smell, to a lonely neighbourhood on the side of the river further up,
where there was a house built in the Moorish fashion, and enclosed in
a wild garden much overrun with weeds. All round this garden was a
high wall, conformable to the jealous disposition of these people. The
entrance was by a narrow gate, and there was a miserable dwelling
crouched against the wall inside, the door of which stood open. Some
black children were playing in front of this hovel, who cried out when
they saw us, and ran indoors. An Indian came out, very gaunt and
fierce, who demanded in English what we did there.
"We are come to see Mr. Rising," I told him, using his own language
which Mr. Scrafton had taught me. "Is this his house?"
"It is, my lord," says the fellow, much surprised, and giving a low
bow, which they call a salawm.
With that I dismissed our conductor, and Mr. Rising's gardener--for
such he was--brought us to the house. We now saw that though
originally a fine mansion it was sadly decayed. The walls should have
been white, but excessive heat had cracked and blistered them, and
turned everything to a yellowish hue. The Indian brought us inside,
and into a long, low-ceilinged room with a great window opening on to
the river. This room had no furniture except two small tables; but all
round the walls was a covered settee, very broad, such as the Moors
are used to sit on with their legs tucked up beneath them. To a
European it is uncomfortable at first, but by degrees I grew
accustomed to it. In this room presently Marian's father came to us.
The first sight of Mr. Rising gave me a shock, and must, I think, have
given a worse one to my companion. He was, as I knew, a man of middle
age, yet he looked very, very old, being bent down and much wrinkled,
with his hair nearly white. Moreover, his eyes wandered as if he were
uncertain which way to look, and while he spoke his fingers worked
strangely up and down his bosom, as if groping over the strings of
some musical instrument.
"Well, sir," he said in a thin, halting voice, seeming to find each
word an effort, "what is your pleasure with me?"
"I have come here, sir," I said, "with one whom you will rejoice to
see. This is Mistress Marian Rising, your daughter, who has come out
from England in my company."
For at Marian's prayer I had strictly promised to say nothing about
the manner of her voyage, which might have done her some discredit
with the Calcutta folk.
As I pronounced the above words the girl herself sprang forward and
cast her arms about her father's neck.
"Father!" she said. "Don't you know me--your little Marian, who has
come home!" And she wept on his bosom.
Then it was a pity to see that ancient, stricken man wakening, as it
seemed, out of his trance, and gradually making sure who it was that
embraced him.
"My child! My child! Why have you come here?" he said presently. And
then shed some tears himself, and clasped her to him, and kissed her.
"Where is my mother?" asked Marian, as soon as she had raised her
head.
"Poor child! Your mother has been dead these eighteen months," he
answered sadly. "I should have written to tell you of it, but I was
preparing for my passage home--indeed, I don't know why I have not
started before this."
He gazed round him as he spoke, so as to convince me that indeed he
did not know, and had lost the power--poor man!--to understand his
circumstances or to take any resolution whatsoever.
I came away from that strange scene terrified, not so much by what I
saw, as by an instinct I had that this man's dreadful wreck was only a
sign of that great and abiding horror which lay like a shadow all over
the land; just as in the fable the glimpse of one monstrous foot was
sufficient to warn the spectator that a giant came along. Which
feeling in my mind was rather confirmed than dispelled when I came to
learn, as I soon did, that Mr. Rising's sad condition was brought
about by the drug called opium, a staple of this country, the magical
properties of which herb seemed to me then of a piece with the
frightful sorceries and dark secret practices of the people, as I
afterwards came to know them, and which, with their abominable
idolatrous superstitions, used often to make me wonder that the
Almighty did not destroy them with His plagues of fire and brimstone,
like those wicked Cities of the Plain. Yet one good result of my
observance of these people's horrid customs was to inspire me with a
becoming and devout gratitude that I had been born a citizen of
Christian England, a blessing which we should the more prize since
Providence has seen fit to deny it to so many millions of His
creatures, and to bestow it upon a few. Sad it is that even among
those few there should be found multitudes unmindful of their
opportunities, who give themselves up to dissolute lives, or who turn
away from the blessed truths of Scripture to hanker after liturgies
and Romish inventions.
* * * * *
And now, having arrived safe in Calcutta, I looked forward to a period
of rest and security not only for Marian, but myself, after the rough
taste we had both had of fortune in her cantankerous mood. As soon as
I had seen Marian lodged in her father's house, I sought out Mr.
Holwell, one of the principal Company's servants in Calcutta, and
commissioner over the police of the town. To this gentleman I brought
a letter from Mr. Scrafton, to recommend me to his good offices, and
having read it he at once received me very civilly and promised me his
friendship.
He asked me many questions about the taking of Gheriah, and also about
Mr Robert Clive, whose character stood high in the estimation of every
one in Bengal, even the Moors having bestowed on him the name of Sabat
Jung, signifying the daring in war.
"We had heard of this affair before you came," Mr. Holwell told me.
"The man Angria was famous in these parts, and supposed to be
invincible, so that his sudden destruction by our armament has given
the natives here an altogether new idea of the English power. It will
be well if this doesn't do us more harm than good, for the Moors are a
jealous, suspicious race. Our agent in the neighbourhood of
Moorshedabad, the Nabob's capital, has warned us that the English have
many enemies at the Court, who seek to poison the Nabob's mind against
us. I believe there are some spies come down here to examine our
defences and the strength of our garrison."
"What!" I said. "Do you think the Nabob intends anything against us?"
"No, I don't say that," Mr. Holwell answered. "The present Nabob,
Allaverdy Khan, has always been our good friend. But he is old and
sick, and his nephew, who is likely to succeed him, is a dangerous
young man, puffed up with pride and conceit. If he should come to the
throne he is only too likely to find some pretext for harassing the
Company."
To these forebodings I paid but little attention at the time, though I
was soon to learn that they were not idle fears. Mr. Holwell, after
having ascertained that I was acquainted with the Gentoo language,
offered to procure me employment under the Company in one of their
counting-houses, as interpreter, which offer I gladly accepted for the
time. I was to receive a salary of 200 rupees by the month, in
addition to which Mr. Holwell undertook to procure me a dustuck from
the Governor, enabling any merchandise I chose to trade in to pass
through the province of Bengal free of taxes or duties to the Nabob's
government.
I soon found out that this privilege of trading on their own account
proved, together with the presents they received from native merchants
who did business with the Company, the most valuable part of the
livelihood of the Company's servants. Their salaries were so
wretchedly small as to be insufficient for the necessities of life in
this climate, where the poorest European is obliged to keep half a
dozen black servants in his pay. For my part, I did not embark in
trade myself, having no capital, but I accepted the offer of a Gentoo
merchant to lend him the use of my dustuck to cover his goods, for
which he paid me handsomely.
These Gentoos, as they are called in that part of India, are the
original natives of the country, who follow the idolatrous religion
taught by their Bramins, practising human sacrifices and other rites
too vile for description. Over them the Moors have established their
empire by force, but being a military race, incapable of business,
they commit the details of their government to certain of the Gentoos,
who collect their revenues, and amass great fortunes. They are very
dishonest scoundrels, as I discovered, and at first, finding me new to
the Company's business, I have no doubt they overreached me. At the
same time I received many handsome gratifications from them, so that I
came to consider myself ill-used when I did not pocket a hundred or
two rupees over a transaction involving some thousands. But in the
course of a few weeks, as I began to understand the trade better, and
to cut down their exorbitant demands, these men marvellously abated
their complaisance. Some of them, even, who had professed to know no
English, suddenly showed themselves to be conversant with it, and
chose to conduct their negotiations with some other servant of the
Company.
During this time I was lodged, upon Mr. Holwell's recommendation, in
the house of a respectable, God-fearing widow, Mrs. Bligh, whose son
had recently gone up country to our factory at Cossimbuzar. Every day
I attended at the counting-house, where I was placed under the orders
of the Honourable Robert Byng, brother of the ill-fated admiral of the
same name, and who managed the business of the Company's investment in
rice, one of the principal branches of their trade. The Gentoo
merchants came to us there to make contracts for the provision of such
quantities as we required, after which they travelled about Bengal,
purchasing the crops, and sending the grain down the river in barges,
to be shipped at Calcutta for England.
Another staple of the Company's commerce, and the most valuable of
all, is silk. The Bengalee Indians are renowned for this manufacture,
yet they have no regular places set apart for it, but in their
villages scattered up and down the country, every man works for
himself in his own hut, doing no more--such is the natural laziness of
this people--than just sufficient to support him. The merchants are
consequently obliged to travel about from place to place, collecting
the stuff, which they do chiefly at the country fairs, where the
peasantry assemble once a year, bringing their work to be disposed of.
It is these customs of the people which have made it necessary for us
to set up an establishment in their country, like the Dutch at
Chinsurah and the French at Chander Nugger; for unless there were some
English on the spot to collect this merchandise and have it ready
against the arrival of the Company's fleet, the ships would often
return empty, or be obliged to pay extravagant prices to the native
monopolists of the trade.
While I was thus employed in the daytime, I seldom allowed an evening
to pass without visiting Marian at her father's house. Here I was most
kindly received, and for a time my hopes ran high. But, I cannot tell
how it was, I began presently to discover a change in Marian for which
I could not account. While her friendship towards me was in no way
lessened, but if possible increased, I gradually became aware that I
did not possess her entire confidence. She would sometimes look up
disturbed, I had nearly said frightened, at my entrance. At other
times when we were in the midst of conversation her attention seemed
to wander, and her expression became troubled, as if she had some
secret anxiety preying on her mind. I cannot say how unhappy I was
made by these symptoms, though I was far indeed from guessing at their
cause.
Suddenly, in the midst of these private disquietudes, an event
happened which cast a shadow over the whole community of Calcutta.
Intelligence arrived that Allaverdy Khan was dead, and his nephew
Surajah Dowlah proclaimed Nabob of Bengal.