_A picnic on the Nepaul frontier--A boar-hunt--The Terai and its
resources--Our shooting quarters--Incidents of sport--A tiger-hunt--The
great elephant exhibition of 1851--Camp Bechiacor_.
Pitched under the shade of some wide-spreading mangoes are a variety of
tents of all sizes, from the handsome and spacious marquee to the snug
sleeping tent; near them are picqueted a number of fine-looking Arab
horses in prime condition, while the large barouche, which is standing
close by, might have just emerged from a coach-house in a London mews; a
few servants are loitering about, and give life to this otherwise
tranquil scene.
Nobody can for an instant suppose that this is the camp of Jung Bahadoor;
his tents are green and red and generally surrounded by soldiers; his
horses do not look so sleek and fresh as these; he has not got a barouche
belonging to him, far less a piano, and I think I hear the music of one
proceeding from yonder large tent.--No--this is an Indian picnic--none of
your scrambling, hurried pleasure parties to last for a wet day, when
everybody brings his own food, and eats it uncomfortably with his
fingers, with some leaves for a plate and an umbrella for a roof, and
then persuades himself and others that he has been enjoying himself. Let
such an one come and make trial of a deliberate, well-organized picnic of
a fortnight's duration, such as the one now before us, with plenty of
sport in the neighbourhood, while the presence of the fair sex in camp
renders the pleasures of the drawing-room doubly delightful after those
of the chace.
Boar-hunting, or, as it is commonly called, pig-sticking, is essentially
an Indian sport, and I could not have partaken of it under more
favourable auspices than I did at Hirsede, when, having obtained
intelligence of a wild boar, and having been supplied with steeds, some
five or six of us proceeded in pursuit of the denizen of the jungles. We
soon roused and pressed him closely through the fields of castor-oil and
rare-cates. The thick stalks of the former often balked our aim. He
received repeated thrusts notwithstanding, and charged three or four
times viciously, slightly wounding my horse, and more severely that of
one of my companions. After being mortally wounded, the brute
unfortunately dodged into a thick jungle, where, hiding himself in the
bushes, he baffled all our efforts to dislodge him. In their attempts to
do so, however, the beaters turned out a fine young boar, who gave us a
splendid run of upwards of a mile at top speed--for a pig is a much
faster animal than his appearance indicates, and one would little
imagine, as he scuttles along, that he could keep a horse at full gallop.
However, he soon became blown, and, no friendly patch of jungle being
near for him to take refuge in, was quickly despatched,
Our revels having been kept up to a late hour, I left Hirsede in the
small hours of the morning, and came up to Jung Bahadoor's camp on the
Nepaul frontier.
A small stream divides the Company's from the Nepaulese dominions, and on
crossing it the change of government was at once obvious. The villages
looked more wretched, the people more dirty, the country was almost
totally uncultivated, and nearly all traces of roads disappeared as we
traversed the green sward of the Terai of Nepaul, scattered over which
were large herds of cattle, grazing on the short grass, which extended in
all directions over the vast expanse of flat country.
This province is governed by Krishna Bahadoor, a younger brother of the
prime minister, an active and energetic officer. Any complaint of the
peasantry is in the first instance brought to his notice, and referred by
him to his brother, if his decision does not give satisfaction. His
subordinates are a sirdar, or judge, and several subahs, or collectors.
The Terai is a long narrow strip of territory, extending for three
hundred miles along the northern frontier of British India, and is about
twenty miles in breadth. The whole tract is a dead level. For the first
ten miles after crossing the frontier the country is used chiefly for
grazing by the inhabitants of the adjoining British provinces, who drive
thousands of cattle across the border, paying a considerable revenue to
the Nepaul government for the privilege of so doing.
Ten miles from the frontier commences the great saul forest, which is
also ten miles in breadth. It is composed almost entirely of the
valuable saul-tree, and a great quantity of timber is annually exported
to Calcutta down the Gandaki, which is navigable to the foot of the
Cheriagotty hills. The licence to fell the saul timber is confined
exclusively to Nepaul merchants, and the payment demanded by Government
for such permission is so enormous that the trade is not very profitable.
The principal sources of revenue derived from this district are the land-
tax and the receipts from the sale of licences for felling timber and for
grazing cattle. The large amount thus received, together with the number
of elephants which are annually caught in the great forest, renders the
Terai a most valuable appendage to the Nepaul dominions.
It is, however, entirely owing to the excellent management of Jung that
the revenue of the Terai is now so considerable. In 1816 this province
did not yield more than one-tenth its present revenue, which is now
computed to amount to fifty lacs (500,000 pounds). Still the Terai might
be made yet more profitable. At present no use whatever is made of the
hides and horns of the hundreds of head of cattle that die daily in this
district, which are left to rot on the carcases of the beasts. It would
remain to be proved however whether, even if permission were granted by
the Nepaul Government, any would be found possessing the capital or
enterprise to engage in a speculation which would, unquestionably, ensure
a handsome return.
It is not, however, in a pecuniary point of view alone that the Terai is
considered by the Nepaulese as contributing to the prosperity of their
dominions; it is looked upon as one of their chief safeguards against
invasion. For nine or ten months a disease, denominated by the natives
the "Ayul," renders the Terai impassable to man, so deadly are its
effects even to the natives of the country. It would appear that might
be obviated--if we are to believe the native theory somewhat gravely
recorded by Mr. Hamilton (who made a journey through this province with a
mission sent by Government in 1803)--by going in search of and killing
certain serpents, which are said to poison the atmosphere with their
breath. I should be inclined to recommend the cutting down of the jungle
in preference to the cutting up of the serpents; and I have little doubt
that, were parts of the great forest cleared, and wide roads cut through
it, it would cease to be so pestilential a locality as it is at present.
In case of a war, there would be no difficulty, even now, in our troops
possessing themselves of the whole territory to the foot of the
Cheriagotty hills in the cold season; but as we should have to maintain
some position throughout the year, the top of those hills themselves
would be the only one available, and here, in the heart of an enemy's
country, and cut off from all communication with India, the position of
the garrison would be anything but enviable.
I observed several of the natives of this district afflicted with goitre,
and I was informed that cretinism was also prevalent,--a fact which
proves clearly the fallacy of the old doctrine that these complaints are
attributable to snow-water, for all the water drunk by the inhabitants of
the Terai rises in the Cheriagotty hills, on which snow rarely if ever
falls. This would be strongly corroborative of the correctness of the
idea that malaria is the origin of goitre and cretinism, even if the
experiment which has been tried at Interlacken, of building a hospital on
the hills, above the influence of the infectious atmosphere in the
valley, had not proved completely successful.
The camp which was destined to be our headquarters during a few days'
shooting was pitched in the plain near the village of Bisoleah, distant
about two miles from the borders of the grand jungle. Its appearance was
totally different from those already described; two more regiments were
here in attendance upon the Minister; the men were all comfortably lodged
in grass huts got up for the occasion, and the innumerable host of camp
followers, who on the march had been contented with wrapping themselves
up in their thick cloths, and sleeping in groups round the various fires,
were now engaged in erecting like temporary habitations, forming by these
means a grass village of considerable extent.
Horses, oxen, camels, elephants, were tethered in every direction, or
wandering in search of sweeter tufts of grass. The village itself was
close and dirty; the largest house, which stood near a temple, was
occupied by some half-dozen wives of the Minister, who had come to the
borders of their country to welcome home their lord and master.
Our tents were pitched between the camp and a small clump of trees, near
which upwards of 300 elephants were tethered; a stream divided us from
them, the banks of which presented a continual scene of confusion, as men
and animals, at all hours, passed along in crowds, while the motley
groups, collecting as the Minister moved about to inspect various parts
of his establishment, indicated the whereabouts of that great personage.
The scene struck us as particularly novel and attractive when we arrived
from Hirsede about mid-day; as we approached from one direction, the
Minister Sahib arrived from another, mounted in a handsome howdah, the
trophy of the morning being a tiger which he had just killed, and which
was lashed on to the elephant following him, while a hundred more hustled
one another up the steep bank and through the crowded street, greatly to
the inconvenience of his dutiful subjects, who were salaaming
vociferously.
We immediately started in quest of like game, and commenced beating the
heavy jungle, by which the plain was bounded as by a wall, but fortune
did not smile upon our efforts, and we only succeeded in killing a deer
and a pig. I found my first experience in shooting from a howdah to be
anything but agreeable: the deer bounds through the long grass as a
rabbit would through turnips; and, at the moment one catches a glimpse of
his head, the elephant is sure to be going down a steep place, or
stopping or going on suddenly, or trumpeting, or doing something which
completely balks a sportsman accustomed to be on his own legs, and sends
the ball flying in any direction but the right one. Our line of
elephants consisted of upwards of one hundred, and they beat regularly
and silently enough, except when the behaviour of one of them irritated
some passionate mahout, who would vent his wrath upon the head of the
animal by a blow from a short iron rod, or would catch him sharply under
the ear with a huge hook, which he dexterously applied to a sore kept
open for that purpose; then a loud roar of pain would sound through the
jungle for a moment, much to our disgust, as it startled the deer we were
silently and gradually approaching.
The pig, which formed part of the game-bag of the afternoon, was, in the
first instance, only severely wounded, and an elephant was commanded to
finish the poor brute; as he lay, grimly surveying us, his glistening
tusks looked rather formidable,--so at least the elephant seemed to
think, as for some time he strongly objected to approach him. At last he
went timidly up and gave the boar a severe kick with his fore-foot,
drawing it back quickly with a significant grunt, which plainly intimated
his opinion that he had done as much as could reasonably be expected of
him. His mahout, however, thought otherwise, and, by dint of severe
irritation on the sore behind his ear, seemed to drive him to
desperation, as the elephant suddenly backed upon the pig, and, getting
him between his hind legs, ground them together, and absolutely broke him
up. After this we went crashing home, regardless of the thick jungle
through which we passed, as the impending boughs were snapped, at the
word of the mahouts, by the obedient and sagacious animals they bestrode.
Daybreak of the 30th of January found us not foot in stirrup, but foot on
ladder, for we were mounting our elephants to proceed in search of the
monarch of the Indian jungles, intelligence of the lair of a male and
female having been brought into camp overnight. A hundred elephants
followed in a line, forming a picturesque procession, towards the long
grass jungle in which our noble game was reported to be ensconced. On
reaching the scene of action we formed into a line and beat regularly the
whole length of the patch. We were not destined to wait long, and the
crack of my friend's rifle soon sounded in my ears. He had wounded the
tiger severely, and the animal had again disappeared in the long grass.
We were now on the alert, as it was impossible he could escape us; and in
a few moments I had the satisfaction of seeing him bounding through the
grass at about thirty yards' distance. The report of my rifle was
quickly followed by three more shots as he passed down the line, and he
fell dead at the feet of the minister, with five balls in his body.
In the evening, after our return from a good day's sport, we paid Jung
Bahadoor a visit in his tent, and went with him to see the elephants
which had been caught for the service of the Government during his year's
absence from the country. In a square enclosure were upwards of two
hundred elephants of all sorts and sizes. Here might be seen an elephant
fastened between two others, and kept quiet only by being dragged
continually in two different directions at once, no mahout having yet
ventured to mount him; while, in evident terror at her proximity to such
a monster, stood an anxious mother performing maternal duties to a young
one not much larger than a calf, who was in no way puzzled by the
position of the udder between her fore legs, but by a dexterous use of
his trunk helped himself in a manner wonderfully precocious for so young
a baby; indeed, he seemed very much pleased with having a trunk to play
with, and certainly had a great advantage over most babies in possessing
so permanent a plaything. Behind this interesting party stood a large
elephant, with huge tusks, which had been chiefly instrumental in the
capture of the victims he was now grimly surveying at a considerable
distance, it not being safe to let him approach too near, as he seemed to
be under the delusion that every elephant he saw still required to be
caught. Each mahout now brought forward the prizes he had captured since
the commencement of the year, and they were severally inspected: those
which had no tufts of hair at the tips of their tails, or were in any way
deformed, were put aside to be sold to unwary purchasers in India; while
those approved by his Excellency were reserved for the use of government,
or, to speak in plainer language, for his shooting parties.
As I do not know the points of an elephant as well as those of a horse,
the want of the tuft was the only mark I could distinguish. However, the
science of elephant-flesh seemed to be as deep and full of mysteries as
that of horse-flesh.
Having finished our inspection, and the pay of an unsuccessful mahout or
two having been stopped, Jung entered into a long disquisition upon the
subject of the wild sports of the Terai. He told us, amongst other
things, that he had forbidden all deer-shooting here, although the
revenue to Government upon the skins amounted to 400 or 500 pounds a
year, in order that he might enjoy better shooting. Of course, we
praised the love of sport which could prompt such an order, and said
nothing of the love of country which might perhaps have prevented it. I
was often struck by the despotic tone which the prime minister assumed,
and it only confirmed my previous opinion as to his substantially
possessing the sovereign power.
We killed five or six more deer and pigs before quitting Bisoleah on the
following day, our road to Bechiacor leading us through the great forest,
at this season perfectly healthy. We found our camp pitched in the broad
dry bed of a mountain torrent, which I observed to be filled with
fragments of granite and micaceous schist.
As the shades of evening closed in upon the valley, the scene became
extremely interesting: high upon the hill sides,--for we had reached the
base of the Cheriagotty hills,--groups of natives, crouching round their
fires, were sheltered only by grass huts, the labour of an hour. While
lights twinkled in the minister's camp, soldiers were gathered round
their watch-fires, and the villagers were assembled near a huge crackling
blaze to witness so unusual, and to them so exciting a scene, as 5000
souls encamped in their solitary valley.