_Journey to Lucknow--Nocturnal disasters--View of the
Himalayas--Wild-beast fights--Banquet given by the King of Oudh--Grand
display of fireworks--Our return to cantonments_.
Unquestionably the pleasures of travelling cannot be said to be
altogether unalloyed--a consideration which the journey from Segowly to
Lucknow irresistibly forced upon our minds, how determined soever we
might be to adhere to the traveller's first principle of making the best
of everything. We left the station about dusk, upon a night in which the
elements seemed to have combined to cause us as much discomfort as
possible, and the violence of the storm about midnight compelled us to
take shelter in every tope of trees we came to, or, as it appeared to me,
wherever the bearers thought we stood a good chance of being struck by
the lightning which was vividly flashing in most unpleasant proximity.
The deluge of rain soon made the path so slippery that our progress was
much retarded, which would not have signified had it not happened that
every now and then my slumbers were most disagreeably disturbed by a
crash which flattened my nose against the side of the palanquin, or
produced a violent shock to every part of my body, the effect of a slip
of some unhappy bearer who was himself on the broad of his back, and had
brought down the palanquin, bearers and all, in his tumble.
This occurred to me no less than five times in one night, and the
consequence was that my palanquin was in even a worse condition than my
body; it did not possess a single uncracked panel, nor were there any
means of keeping the doors in, far less closed, and the cooling influence
of the rain which pelted upon me was only counteracted by the feverish
anxiety I experienced from the momentary expectation of feeling the
bottom give way, which would have inevitably landed me in the mud in a
most deplorable condition--as had been the case with every book or other
loose article about me.
Daylight, however, revealed a prospect which banished at once the
remembrance of our nocturnal annoyances. The whole of the Himalayan
range, tinged by the glowing rays of the rising sun, displayed to our
delighted and astonished gaze its long and majestic line of snowy peaks,
while the atmosphere, cleared by the night's heavy rain, brought out in
bold relief the sharp outline of every point and angle from the clear
horizon-line of the various summits down to where the light morning haze
still shrouded their base.
Unobscured by intervening mountains, and towering high above a sea of
mist, well may they impress with wonder and admiration the traveller
journeying over the plains of India, as he beholds them for the first
time; nor could I, familiar as they were to me, withdraw my gaze until
the increasing power of the sun rendered the atmosphere more hazy, and
gradually veiled this glorious picture from my view, as if it were too
precious to be exhibited for any length of time.
The journey to Goruckpore occupied us two nights and a day of incessant
travelling over a flat but cheerful-looking wheat country. It is a
pretty little station, containing a regiment and a few civilians, and is
situated on the banks of the Rapti, our old Nepaulese acquaintance under
a very different face.
The Gograh, which we crossed the following morning, is the boundary that
divides the British territory from that of his Majesty of Oudh; and
Fyzabad was the first town in his dominions at which we halted. Situate
about six miles from the river, it is approached by a narrow muddy lane
which winds among numbers of squalid huts, while a considerable
sprinkling of handsome mosques and minarets showed the predominance of
Mahomedanism in the country in which we were now travelling; but they all
seemed falling to decay, and were inhabited chiefly by Hindoo monkeys,
who lazily inspected one another on the sunny corners of some ruined
temple, or chased each other irreverently through the sacred groves.
Fyzabad was formerly the capital; but the seat of government was changed
to Lucknow at the accession of Azof-up Dowlah in 1775.
We were not sorry, after spending another twenty-four hours in our
rickety palanquins, to see the massive mosques and lofty minarets of
Lucknow looming in the distance, while handsome buildings in varied
styles of architecture gave to this city a handsome and more imposing
appearance than any I had yet visited in the provinces of India.
We had been so much delayed by the weather, that we missed seeing the
wild-beast fight, which was just concluded as we entered the town. This
was not so much to be regretted however, since, from all we heard, it had
on this occasion proved a tame affair, though it is often most exciting.
The fight between the buffalo and tiger seemed to have caused most
interest, but the unfair practice of blunting the horns of the buffalo
was not congenial to the fair-play feelings of the British portion of the
community. Those who have witnessed a combat between a hyaena and a
donkey, however, say that it exceeds in its ludicrous interest any other
of these animal encounters; the donkey (as is natural) possesses the
sympathies of the spectators, and usually comes off victorious.
His Majesty had prepared a grand entertainment for the evening, whither,
in company with my kind host, the Assistant Resident, I was by no means
sorry to repair--for the King of Oudh is necessarily associated in one's
mind with exquisite sauces and viands, and we promised ourselves a first-
rate dinner after our tedious journey.
The street leading to the palace was brilliantly illuminated, as was also
the palace itself, while the view from the reception-rooms was most
unique. The glare of lamps lighted up a square, in which was a garden
fitted with the grotesque frames of the various fireworks of the evening.
Birds and beasts of all descriptions were there, waiting to be let off.
Meantime, extraordinary equipages came driving up in rapid succession;
the magnificent coach-and-six of the King was followed by the
unpretending buggy of the bold subaltern, while natives of high degree
descended from gorgeously attired elephants, or sprang lightly off their
prancing Arabs: the varied costumes of the different guests as they
passed under a blaze of lamps added not a little to the brilliancy and
novelty of the scene.
The court-yard behind contained a large tank, in which the reflection of
hundreds of lamps glittered brightly. Servitors, soldiers, and officers
of his _Condimental_ Majesty's household, filled every available portion
of the yard. The spacious reception and banqueting rooms were crowded to
excess, and smelt like a perfumer's shop in which, by some accident, all
the bottles had been left uncorked; while brilliantly-attired natives
scratched past you, glittering with jewels, and _chevaux de frise_ of
sharp gold tinsel.
At last the King made his appearance, and the guests all jostled into
chairs as best they might. My position, almost immediately opposite his
Majesty, afforded me ample opportunity of inspecting the quantity and
quality of the jewels with which his person was absolutely loaded, and
which I had never seen equalled in magnificence: a rope of pearls,
passing over one shoulder, was tied in a knot at his waist, from which
the costly ends negligently depended; his turban and breast were covered
with diamonds and other precious stones; and it was a matter of wonder
that he did not sink under the heat of the room, combined with the extent
of mineral productions he carried on his person. But the jewels, though
worthy of great attention, did not possess nearly so much interest in my
eyes as did the mode by which he renovated the burly form that they
adorned. On one side of him stood the bearer of his magnificently
jewelled hookah, on the other the bearer of the royal spoon, the contents
of which he was already wistfully surveying as it was mixed up by the
skilful feeder into the form and consistency that his Majesty loved, and
put, as a nurse would put pap, into his Majesty's mouth, which was then
carefully wiped by another man, who, I presume, is called the "wiper,"
and who was succeeded in his turn of duty by the hookah-bearer, who
gently inserted the mouthpiece between the royal lips, in order that his
Majesty might fill up, by a puff of the fragrant weed, the time required
for the preparation of another spoonful. This routine of feeding,
wiping, and smoking was only varied when the King slowly licked his lips,
which he did in a dignified manner, and with a reproachful look at the
wiper, whereat the wiper might be observed to tremble: poor wiper! I dare
say that, if his Majesty finds it necessary to lick his lips thrice in
one meal, it is equivalent to signing poor wiper's death-warrant. But
his Majesty was not the only person that licked his lips; I found myself
repeatedly doing the same, but it was with the feelings of a hungry hound
as he envies a more fortunate member of the pack the possession of a
juicy bone. Though the royal table groaned with viands, and though I was
famishing, there was nothing but sponge-cake that any but a madly
imprudent person could have ventured on. The cold cutlets, fried in
rancid lard, rise up before me now, an unpleasant vision of the past; and
I distinctly remember the mingled disgust and horror which I felt while
breaking the crust of yellowish tallow to help a gallant young officer
near me, who must have endured the privations of a Sutlej campaign to
enable him to eat it.
At last we discovered some drinkable champagne, and drank her Majesty's
health with all the honours; after which we paid a similar compliment to
his Majesty of Oudh, while all the grandees of the realm--who, sitting on
chairs like ourselves, lined one side of the long range of tables, and
seemed enveloped in a blaze of glistening jewels--looked as if they
thought it all a very disrespectful proceeding.
There was a very loud band that played "God save the Queen," and two or
three very discordant singing women, who sang what I suppose was an Ode
upon Sauce, as being the Oudh national anthem. At length dinner was
over, and immediately there was a rush to the windows to see the
fireworks, which seemed to be all let off at once, so that it was
impossible to distinguish anything but a universal twisting and whirling,
and fizzing and cracking; and an elephant looked very brilliant for a
moment, and then went off through his eyes with a bang, and was no
more;--sham men exploded; and real men jumped into sparkling, crackling
flames; and rockets and fire-balloons went up; so that, if the lessee of
Vauxhall or Cremorne could let off or send up half as many things as were
let off and went up on this occasion in the court-yard of the Lucknow
Durbar, he would make a fortune. At last everything that had not gone in
some other direction went out; the King stood at the top of the stairs,
and those who were presented, after receiving tinsel necklaces from the
hands of royalty, passed down stairs, and the guests went away by
whatever means of conveyance they might possess--a very motley and
somewhat noisy party. The mode which we made use of to return to
cantonments, a distance of four miles, was rather singular, not to be
recommended except on an emergency: the carriages seemed to have
decreased in proportion as the number of guests had multiplied, and in
some unaccountable manner many of us were left to accomplish our return
as best we could. It was in vain that we attempted to persuade the seven
occupants of a buggy to receive us among them--we met with a stern
refusal. It was useless to supplicate a number of rich Baboos, on a
handsome elephant, to help us in our difficulties; the rich Baboos
laughed, and told us we might get up behind, if we liked. And so all
that brilliant throng went whirling back to cantonments, and we were left
disconsolately standing in the court-yard, with the probability of having
to trudge home. This was not to be thought of for a moment, and we had
just arrived at a pitch of desperation when a handsome carriage, with the
blinds all up, and drawn by a pair of high-stepping horses, came rattling
toward us. Not a moment was to be lost; we rushed frantically forward
and ordered an immediate halt. In vain did the venerable coachman and
determined-looking servant intimate to us that the carriage was his
Majesty's; his Majesty, we assured them, was still carousing in his
palace: so, depositing them both in the interior, without loss of time we
mounted the box, and a moment after the high-stepping horses were dashing
along the road to cantonments in brilliant style. We looked
contemptuously down into the buggy, still clung to by its seven
occupants, and galloped at a startling pace past the jocose Baboos, very
much to the annoyance of their sedate elephant. On arriving at the
cantonments we liberated his Majesty's domestics, and, ordering them to
be careful how they heated his high-caste Arabs on their way back, we
adjourned to a repast, to which the King's dinner had not incapacitated
us from doing ample justice.