_Jaunpore--A shooting-party--Scenes in camp and on the march--A Nepaulese
dinner--Ghazipore--The Company's stud--Indian roads--Passage of the
Gograh--Jung Bahadoor's mode of despatching an alligator_.
Being anxious to visit Jaunpore, I left Benares one evening after dinner,
and accomplished the distance, 36 miles, with one set of bearers, in
seven hours and a half.
The first object that attracts the eye of the traveller as he enters
Jaunpore is the many-arched bridge thrown by the Mahometans over the
Goomte, and considered the finest built by them in India; on each side
are stalls, in which sit the vendors of various wares, after the fashion
of old London Bridge. On an island in the middle of the river was
discovered a huge figure of a winged lion guarding an elephant, which
would suggest some connexion with the sculptures found at Nineveh, and
must date much further back than the erection of the bridge.
Passing through a serai, which was filled with travellers, we reached the
fort, built, it is supposed, by Khan Kan, or one of the kings of the
Shirkee dynasty, about the year 1260. From one of its turrets we had a
magnificent view of the town and the surrounding country, while
immediately below is seen the river, spanned by the picturesque old
bridge, unmoved by the fierce floods which so constantly destroy those
arched bridges that have been erected in India by Europeans.
The appearance of the town is diminished in size, but increased in
beauty, by the many stately trees which are planted throughout it, while
here and there a huge screen of some musjid rears its Egyptian-looking
crest, and gives to the town an appearance peculiar to itself; Jaunpore
is, in fact, the only city in India in which this style of architecture
prevails.
On our way out of the fort we passed a monolithe, on which was an
inscription in the same character as that on Ferozeshah's Lath at Delhi,
which has been recently translated by Mr. Prinsep. In the main gateway
were some porcelain slabs which had at one time formed part of a Jain
temple.
The Itala musjid, to which we next bent our steps, has been built on the
site of one of these temples; its cloisters remain untouched, and the
figures on almost every slab bear undoubted testimony to the previous
existence of a Jain temple on this spot. The large square rooms, which
were filled during our visit with true believers, were curiously roofed;
a dome was ingeniously thrown over the square. An octagon, placed on
solid buttresses, supported a 16-sided figure, which in its turn
supported the dome. The Jumma musjid, which we also visited, was
remarkable for its magnificent screen, 120 feet in height by 70 in
breadth, and covered with curious inscriptions and fantastic devices; the
top is slightly narrower than the base, tapering in depth as well as in
breadth.
The population of Jaunpore is about 35,000; there is a small European
station near the town. In the course of the evening's drive I saw a
specimen of the Addansonia or baobab-tree: the trunk, measuring 23 feet
in circumference, was perfectly smooth and the branches were destitute of
leaves. There are but five other specimens in India, and not many in
Java, where the tree was discovered by Mr. Addanson; it is said to have
attained, in some instances, the enormous age of 2000 years.
Leaving Jaunpore about midnight, I reached the camp of Jung Bahadoor on
the following day. The scene as we approached was in the highest degree
picturesque; 5000 Nepaulese were here collected, followers, in various
capacities, of the Prime Minister, whose tents were pitched at a little
distance from the grove of mango-trees which sheltered his army and
retainers. On our arrival he was out shooting, so, mounting an elephant,
we proceeded to join him. We heard such frequent reports of fire-arms
that we fully expected to find excellent sport; great was my
disappointment, therefore, when I saw him surrounded by some 20 or 30
followers, who held umbrellas, loaded his guns, rushed to pick up the
_game_, or looked on applaudingly while he stealthily crept up to take a
deliberate pot shot at some unlucky parrot or small bird that might catch
his eye as it perched on a branch, or fluttered unconsciously amongst the
leaves. But the most interesting object in the group was the
lately-wedded bride, who was seated in a howdah. Jung introduced her to
me as "his beautiful Missis"--a description she fully deserved. She was
very handsome, and reflected much credit on the taste of the happy
bridegroom, who seemed pleased when we expressed our approval of his
choice.
Before quitting the subject of Jung's shooting-party, I must remark, in
justice to him as a sportsman, that he considers nothing less than a deer
to be game at all. Tiger or rhinoceros shooting is his favourite sport,
and he looks upon shooting a parrot, a snipe, a hawk, or a partridge as
being equally unworthy of the name of sport, nor does he understand why
some of those birds should be dignified with the name of "game," and the
others not.
At dawn on the following morning the stir and bustle in camp announced an
early start, and our elephant appeared at the tent door just as the
gallant rifle corps marched past, the band playing the "British
Grenadiers." Mounting the elephant, we picked our way through the debris
of the camp, now almost deserted; some few of the coolies were still
engaged packing the conical baskets which they carry on their backs, one
strap passing over the forehead, and two others over the shoulders. The
appearance of a hill coolie as he thus staggers along under his
tremendous burden is singular enough, and so totally unlike that of the
coolies of the plains, that it was a sort of promise of there being in
store for us more curiosities, both of Nepaulese men and manners, in
their native country, and we looked with no little interest upon the
first specimens we had seen of the Newar race--the aborigines of Nepaul.
Short and compact, the full development of their muscle bore evidence to
their almost Herculean strength. Their flat noses, high cheek-bones,
small eyes, and copper-coloured complexion are unequivocal signs of a
Mongolian origin, whilst the calves of their legs, which I never saw
equalled in size, indicate the mountainous character of their country.
Threading our way on our wary elephant through nearly 5000 of these
singular-looking beings, all heavily loaded with the appurtenances of the
camp, we soon overtook the cortege of the Minister and his brothers,
which consisted of three or four carriages dragged along by coolies, over
a road which, in many places, must have severely tried the carriage
springs, as well as nearly dislocated the joints of Jung's "beautiful
little Missis," whom I saw peeping out of one of the windows. The rest
of this motley crowd, with which we were destined to march for the next
three weeks, was made up of Nepaul gentlemen in various capacities, who
cantered past on spirited little horses, or squatted cross-legged in the
clumsy, oddly constructed "Ecce," a sort of native gig; besides these,
there were merchants and peddlers, who followed the camp as a matter of
speculation. Amidst an indiscriminate horde, our elephant jogged lazily
along, generally surrounded by eight or ten others, with whom we marched
for company's sake. We usually arrived at the mango tope destined to be
our camping-ground about ten o'clock in the morning, and lounged away the
heat of the day in tents; towards the afternoon Jung generally went out
with his gun or rifle, shooting with the former at parrots at ten yards
distance, and with the latter at bottles at a hundred. There was not
much attraction for the sportsman throughout the whole line of march, and
I only bagged a few couple of snipe, partridges, wild-duck, and quail.
Our dinner was always supplied from Jung's own carpet, for he does not
use a table, and it was with no little curiosity that at the end of the
first day's march I looked forward to the productions of a Nepaul
cuisine. We had not forgotten to provide ourselves with a sufficient
_stand-by_ in case it should not prove altogether palatable. Towards
evening an enormous dish, containing rice enough to have satisfied the
whole of the gallant rifle corps, was brought into our tent, closely
followed by about 20 little cups formed of leaves, one inside the other,
each containing about a thimbleful of some exquisite condiment; also
three or four saucers containing some cold gravy, of unpleasant colour,
in which floated about six minute particles of meat.
Filling my plate with rice, which had been well and carefully greased to
improve its flavour, and scientifically mixing the various other
ingredients therewith, I unhesitatingly launched a spoonful into my
mouth, when I was severely punished for my temerity, and almost overcome
by the detestable compound of tastes and smells that at once assailed
both nose and palate: it was a pungent, sour, bitter, and particularly
greasy mouthful; but what chiefly astonished me, so much as to prevent my
swallowing it for some time, was the perfume of Colonel Dhere Shum Shere,
the fat brother, which I was immediately sensible of, as overpowering
everything else. Not that I would for a moment wish to insinuate that it
was a nasty smell; on the contrary, it would have been delicious on a
pocket-handkerchief; but to imagine it going down one's throat, in
company with an immense amount of grease and gravy, was nearly enough to
prevent its doing so at all.
Our march to Ghazipore was through country richly cultivated and
pleasing, if not absolutely pretty. The numerous poppy-plantations were
evidence of our proximity to the headquarters of one of the largest opium
agencies in India. Ghazipore is approached by an avenue of handsome
trees, more ornamental than useful, seeing how utterly destructive it is
to the permanent welfare of a road.
The mausoleum, containing a monument to Lord Cornwallis, is solid but not
ungraceful: upon one side of the monument are sculptured the figures of a
Hindoo and a Mussulman, and on the other a British and a native
grenadier, all of whom are weeping. The building is prettily situated
near the bank of the Ganges, on a large plain or maidan, across which
pleasant avenues lead in all directions; the one which we followed
brought us to the stables of the Company's stud, containing 700 horses.
On our way we remarked a number of handsome houses now unoccupied and
falling rapidly into decay, the military force at the station having of
late been much reduced. The horses were being exercised, notwithstanding
which they carried a good deal of superfluous fat, and vented their
spirits by occasionally breaking loose, and dashing pell-mell through
rings of their companions, who, grudging them the sweets of liberty, made
vigorous efforts to partake of them, and in some instances succeeded. I
saw not less than eight at once dashing about in the large training
enclosure. My friend having already bought three, we thought it best to
withdraw ourselves from further temptation, and set out to join the camp
at Cossimabad, 16 miles distant, still passing through richly cultivated
country, which was as pretty as a dead level ever can be.
The crops most generally reared are, sugar-cane, poppies, rare (a species
of pulse), wheat, often with a delicate border of blue-flowered flax,
tobacco, mustard, peas, and sometimes vetches. The large rose-gardens
for which Ghazipore is celebrated lay to the right. I regretted that our
way did not lead us through them, but we had evidence of their existence
in some delicious otto of roses, which is easily procured here.
The road by which we were now travelling was what is called in India a
cutcher-road, which means unmetalled. It is a pity that Government
should spend so much in macadamizing roads, when cutcher-roads answer
just as well for all the wants of native traffic. The rocks here are of
limestone formation, and consequently, as there is not much traffic on
any road in India, if the trees were cut down, roads on a limestone
formation would always keep themselves in repair, provided the side
drains were properly kept open. The bridges are all good, and, if the
line of road was well bridged throughout, the country conveyances could
always make their way along it with perfect ease. If the money now spent
in macadamizing were spent in making the necessary bridges, the resources
of the country would be much more fully opened out than they are at
present; a garre-waller, or cart-man, can always appreciate a bridge,
never a macadamized road. At present the bridges on this road are all
wooden, and liable to be carried away by the first heavy flood.
The whole way to the frontier of Nepaul we travelled along a
cutcher-road, accompanied by a train of at least a hundred hackerys,
without the slightest inconvenience; and until the style of cart at
present used by the natives becomes wonderfully improved, this road may
well be used, except of course during the rains.
A few days' march brought us to the banks of the Gograh, a large river
rising in the western Terai, and measuring, at the point where we
crossed, at least half a mile in breadth. As we came upon the cliff
overlooking the river, the scene was novel and amusing. As 5000 persons
had to reach the opposite bank, and no preparations had been made for
their transit, the confusion may be easily imagined. The good-humour of
the hillmen, however, was imperturbable, and, though there was plenty of
loud talking, the remarks made were usually of a facetious nature.
The stream was rapid, and carried the boats down some distance. Ten
elephants, with nothing visible but the tips of their trunks and the
crowns of their heads, on which latter squatted the mahouts, made the
passage gallantly. On the opposite side we passed through a village, the
little square of which was absolutely filled with monkeys. They resort
thither by hundreds from the neighbouring jungles to be fed by the
villagers, and are most independent in their behaviour, unscrupulously
attacking the man who brings their daily allowance, and, as they are
accounted sacred, they are of course unmolested. We saw some serious
fights amongst them, young and old mixing indiscriminately in the melee;
a mother was frequently seen making a rapid but orderly retreat with her
young one on her back.
We occasionally passed picturesque villages, the inhabitants of which
were of course all attracted by so novel a spectacle. The system pursued
by the villagers here is the same as may be observed in many parts of the
Continent of Europe: they invariably congregate in a collection of mud-
built closely packed huts, showing a gregarious disposition, and great
aversion to living alone. I do not remember to have passed one solitary
house. As the whole of the country is richly cultivated, the distance of
their dwellings from the scene of their daily labour must in some
instances be considerable.
The Gandaki, over which we were ferried, is a large stream rising in
Nepaul, and as broad as the Gograh. We went some distance up its banks,
in the hopes of finding wild-pig, but were unsuccessful.
The minister, however, being determined not to go home empty handed,
doomed to destruction a huge alligator, unconsciously basking on a sand-
bank. Accordingly, arming eight of us with double-barrelled rifles, he
marched us in an orderly manner to the bank, when, at a given signal, 16
balls whistled through the air, arousing in a most unpleasant manner the
monster from his mid-day slumbers, who plunged into the stream and
disappeared almost instantaneously, and the Minister Sahib, coolly
pulling out the wallet which contained his tiffin, remarked that we might
profitably employ ourselves in that way until he came up to breathe, when
he should receive another dose. Retiring therefore a few yards from
me--for a Hindoo may not eat in the presence of a Christian--he and his
brothers were soon deep in the mysteries of curious viands. Perceiving,
however, that I was not prepared for an alfresco luncheon, he shared with
me some grapes, pomegranates, etc., as well as a piece of green-looking
meat, which I found very delightfully scented. As we were in the middle
of our repast, our wounded friend showed his nose above the water, when
he was immediately struck by a splendid shot from the minister, who was
in no way disconcerted by having his mouth full at the time. Lashing the
water furiously with his tail, the alligator once more disappeared: he
came up shortly after, and the same scene was enacted three times before
his huge form floated lifeless down the stream.