black cloud coming up against the wind. Gradually it spread until it
covered the whole sky. The wind now died away for a few minutes, and
then rose again and seemed to rush from all quarters of the heavens
at once, and formed a sort of whirlwind round Midnapore; then from
the darkest part of the cloud flashed a vivid streak of lightning,
followed almost immediately by a terrific clap of thunder. For three
hours the storm continued, and scarcely three minutes elapsed between
each clap, while we saw the lightning running along the ground for
several yards.
[Sidenote: SNAKE.]
The other morning two men who lived in Midnapore caught a cobra de
capello, or hooded snake, and they were examining it when suddenly it
bit them both, and they died in the course of half an hour. We have
not yet seen any snakes in our house, although most people frequently
find them. This, as I think I told you, I attribute to our keeping
the mungoose, of which the snakes are much afraid.
The chikary, or huntsman, makes a large oval shield, which he covers
over with leaves: in the upper part are two very small holes. When
he perceives a bird he crouches down behind his screen, keeping a
watch through the two little holes, and creeping on very slowly. When
he has approached near enough, he thrusts forward a long thin stick
like a fishing-rod, and touches the bird with one end of it, on which
there is a little lime; the bird sticks to it, and then the man draws
back the pole and secures the animal.
In this way a great number of partridges are taken, with snipes,
woodcocks, pigeons, &c. I had two hoopoes given me the other day. The
Major who commands this station has four elephants for the use of
the troops under him, to carry their tents when they are marching;
and whenever we like it he lends us one for a ride. On the back of
the elephant is placed a large pad, and on that is a thing like a
great cradle, with two seats in it. A man sits on the neck with his
feet in stirrups of rope, and a pointed piece of iron in his hand,
which he presses behind the elephant's ears to guide him. Another
man runs by the side and encourages the animal in Hindustanee. When
we want to get on his back, the man on the neck presses the iron rod
on the middle of the animal's head, and he kneels down; a ladder is
immediately brought, and we climb up into the seat, or houdah, as it
is called, and then the huge monster rises again. His pace is very
slow and very jolting. He is not allowed to pass over any bridges,
lest his weight should shake them down; he accordingly goes through
the water instead. Neither may he go where he is likely to meet many
horses, lest he should frighten them.
My costume here would make you smile. I wear thin shoes, white
stockings, white trowsers, a short black cassock reaching a
little below the knees, and a hat made of pith covered with black
merino--the crown is about four inches high, and the rim about six
or seven inches wide. This is my out-of-door dress. Indoors, unless
when any one calls, I wear a white jacket instead of the cassock. I
am without any waistcoat. At a dinner-party, black silk socks, black
trowsers, and my long black silk cassock.
The only coins in use at Midnapore are the pice and the rupee;
the pice is worth a farthing and a half, and the rupee about two
shillings. Another kind of money passes here, viz. a little shell
called a cowrie, of which 120 are worth a pice. At Madras and
Calcutta there are many other sorts.
The insects are a great nuisance here. If the candles were not
protected by a glass shade they would be instantly extinguished.
Thousands of insects of all sizes swarm, jumping and flying about the
lamps, of all colours, green, yellow, blue; and many of them sting,
whilst others smell most abominably.
Every morning the mollie, or gardener, brings in a basket of
vegetables for us to look at, and select what we shall require for
the day's consumption. The cold weather here begins about the middle
of October, generally on the 15th, and we are all looking very
anxiously for it; but by cold I mean only such a lower degree of heat
as will enable us to go out in the middle of the day (provided we
carry a great parasol), which we cannot do now.
[Sidenote: DINNER COSTUME--NATIVE SERVANTS.]
At a dinner-party every one brings his or her own table servant. This
assemblage has a very pretty appearance: the ladies are all in white
dresses and short sleeves, and the gentlemen in white jackets and
trowsers, except the Major and myself; he wears a red jacket, and I
a black cassock. Behind each chair stands a dark-brown man with long
black beard and mustachios, dressed in a sort of white tunic and a
white turban, with a coloured sash wound several times round the
waist. As it would be the greatest mark of disrespect for a servant
to appear in the presence of his master with covered feet, they all
leave their shoes outside the door. After the meat is cleared away,
before the puddings are brought in, the servants go out and smoke for
five minutes. There is not a man, either Mussulman or Hindoo, except
of the very lowest caste, who would eat anything that came from the
table of a European. They would consider it a degradation, and would
not even drink out of anything we had ever used, or touch what we
had cooked. The Hindoos eat only once a-day, unless on their grand
feasts. Their food then is boiled rice, with perhaps an onion and a
little spice in it, which they eat with their hands.
[Sidenote: LANGUAGE.]
The language of this country, though confessedly a compound of two
or three Eastern tongues, appears to me to have many remains of
what must have been the original language of man, that is to say,
those which must have existed from the very earliest time bear a
close propinquity to the words of other and later languages. Several
instances which came under my notice bear out this opinion.
It is curious to observe how the different castes or ranks here keep
distinct, and it is this which renders so many servants necessary.
The man who lays the cloth would feel degraded by dusting a chair,
and he who dusts the chair would rather leave his place than dust the
room. Again, two men of different castes will neither eat, drink, nor
sleep together. Their bed is a mere mat, which explains well that
saying of our Saviour, "Take up thy bed and walk."
The other day my basin had not been emptied. I told the carah of it,
whose business it is to attend to my apartment, and he went a hundred
or more yards to call the matee, because it would have been beneath
his dignity to throw the water out into the adjoining bath-room.
The men here are a sadly idle set; they make almost slaves of their
wives. Early in the morning we may see troops of women going out into
the jungle, from which they return in the evening with great fagots
of wood; these fagots are about twelve feet in length, and in the
middle quite two in thickness, and are carried on the head. The poor
creatures are obliged continually to stop and rest.
The higher classes of the natives wear a kind of loose white gown,
down to the knees, and very loose trowsers, also white embroidered
slippers, no stockings, and a white turban. The lower classes wear
nothing but a long white cloth tied round their hips.
Every one here, both native and European, takes a cold bath at
least once a-day. When a native dies his body is burnt, and to
make the funeral pile every native keeps four or five large trees
growing in his garden. As soon as he dies, one, or two, or three
trees, according to the man's rank, are cut down and surrounded
with a great quantity of dry stubble, on which the body is placed.
Formerly, his wife was burnt alive at the same time. This was called
a sati. There are a great many tombs of holy men about the country,
and on these the people throw little wooden images. There is one
tomb here on which are placed two large dumb-bells, and the people
imagine that every Sunday night the man who is buried there rises
up and plays with them. There is one very disagreeable custom here,
which exists more or less all over India; it is called dustoorie.
Whenever anything is bought, for every rupee that is paid the seller
is obliged to give the servant of the purchaser two pice; so that
the more he has to buy, the better it is for the servant; and if
a master were to say he would not allow dustoorie, no native would
enter his service.
I have just been to look at the man who is making me some white
jackets. The women here never do any needlework. The men sit down on
the floor, and hold the work between the great toe and the next.
[Sidenote: DESTRUCTIVENESS OF THE WHITE ANT.]
I was the other day in want of a sheet of pith, on which to fasten
some butterflies, and, going into my dressing-room, where I knew I
had left four pieces on a shelf only the day before, I found them
apparently in good condition; but, on taking them up, discovered them
to be only so much dust. I then examined the other things upon the
shelf, and found them to be in the same state. This was the work of
the white ant, which was swarming about. I called the carah and sent
him to the bazaar, or the place where all the little shops are, and
told him to procure me sixteen pice worth of turpentine, and when it
was brought I spread it over the shelf, and, soaking into the wood,
it destroyed the ants. If let alone they would, in about two days,
have eaten the chest of drawers, all my clothes, and everything in
the room. I have just been engaged in catching with a green net on
the end of the bamboo a most beautiful swallow-tailed butterfly, and
in doing so frightened away a jackal, who was so impertinent as to
intrude into the compound in the middle of the day.
Midnapore, November 11, 1842.
A friend has just made me a present of a very small kind of monkey,
about nine inches high, of a light-brown colour. His antics are
often very amusing. I fasten him by a chain to a thick pole in the
compound, at the top of which is his house. He will sometimes turn
his waterpot upside down and sit on it in the gravest possible
manner. He will then perhaps stoop down and gather a blade of grass,
and examine it as attentively as though he were inquiring to what
species and genus it belonged. Perhaps by this time several large
knowing-looking crows, something like English magpies, will have
collected round him, holding their heads on one side and looking as
if they were listening very attentively to his lecture on botany.
Presently you would see the sly little monkey turn his eye to see
how near they are, and then with one bound he will catch hold of the
nearest crow by the neck; but the crow is the stronger of the two
and always gets away safe. These crows are as common as sparrows
and quite as tame, for they will hop into the verandah and pick up
anything the parrots drop. We have two parrots; they are of a kind
very common here; so I told a man to go out and catch me a couple, as
I wanted to teach them to talk. He did so, and they are now getting
very tame. I gave him a few pice for his trouble. They are of a
kind that I do not remember ever to have seen in England. The upper
mandible is red, the lower black. From the lower mandible extends on
each side a broad black stripe, to where we suppose the ears to be;
and there is another black stripe from one eye to the other. These
stripes give the bird a very peculiar appearance. The upper circle
resembles a pair of tortoiseshell spectacles.
I had a young hyæna given to me, which I made every endeavour to
tame, giving him milk and food, but nevertheless as soon as I
approached he flew at me. As he has scarcely any teeth I did not fear
him, but took him in my arms, being careful to keep a tight hold on
his neck. He slept during the day, but showed an inclination to go
out at night, but, not being permitted to do so, continued making the
most extraordinary noises resembling the sobbing of a child in pain.
The servants were all afraid of him. Having kept us awake that night,
I resolved the next to try him outside the house, and accordingly,
fastening him up, I gave him a box to sleep in. The next morning I
found he was dead. The servants declared he had been killed by a pack
of jackals, but I shrewdly suspected they themselves to have been
guilty.
The other day I caught one of those beautiful little squirrels which
I have before described. It is grey, with a broad yellow stripe down
each side. The body is about as big as my thumb, and the tail the
size of my middle finger. I borrowed a common squirrel's cage, but
the little thing was so small that it immediately struggled through
the wires, and the mungoose, perceiving it, killed and devoured it. A
great many of them live in the thatch of our house.
[Sidenote: MUSK-RAT--MUNGOOSE.]
The musk-rat is a small sharp-snouted animal, from which musk may be
extracted. The scent rising from it is overpowering. All the houses
here swarm with them, but the mungoose has either killed or driven
away all that were here, and our house therefore is quite free from
the smell. The mungoose is very destructive. I just left the room for
a few minutes, and while absent it commenced demolishing some eggs
which I had brought in from the fowl-house: there were eight on the
table; he had broken five over my papers and then dipped his paws in
the ink and ran over the table. Whilst punishing him for this fault I
held him by the neck, but he nevertheless managed to give me a severe
scratch with his claws. He is a thorough beast of prey, and will eat
nothing but animal food except sugar.
[Sidenote: COBRA DE CAPELLO.]
The prawns here are most delicious, and many of them are as large
as a good-sized lobster. I was crossing my compound in the dusk a
few evenings ago, after feeding my fowls and ducks. I walked slowly,
thinking of England and my children, when I happened suddenly to cast
my eyes upon the ground. I started back on perceiving within two
paces of me the dreaded cobra de capello--its head raised, its hood
expanded, and manifesting every sign of anger. Two, or at most three,
steps more, and I should have trodden upon it and received the fatal
bite. Unfortunately I had no stick in my hand; I called the servants
to bring bamboos, but by the time they came it had glided into its
hole, and I went home thanking the Supreme Being who had saved me
from the fearful danger. Since that time I have not been out without
a large bamboo in my hand, for, although I have stopped up the hole,
yet the cobra de capello is, no doubt, still in my compound. The bite
of this snake is most deadly.
During the last fortnight I have heard of three persons having been
killed by it in Midnapore. Two of them were hunters, the other was
one of the wives of the Rajah. She put her hand into a cupboard
to procure something, when a cobra, which had concealed itself
there, bit her. When a person is wounded by this venomous reptile he
generally expires within an hour. The only possible cure, and that is
an uncertain one, is to swallow every few minutes a glass of brandy
with some eau de luce, or smelling-salts, dissolved in it, while a
man stands near beating you with a heavy whip. Or, instead of this,
you may be fastened to a carriage and be compelled to run as fast as
possible. The object is to keep you awake, for the danger of the bite
consists in the heavy lethargy it produces. The remedies applied,
however, are sure to bring on a violent fever, which frequently
proves fatal. Few diseases in this country last longer than an hour
or two. Fever, cholera, and inflammation of the liver, the three
great scourges of India, commonly prove fatal within from two to
twelve hours, so that no one can exist here without being constantly
reminded of the uncertainty of human life. It is curious that I, who
dreaded so greatly the reptiles of India, should have been at once
sent to the station where they most abound, for there is probably
no place in Bengal where serpents and lizards are so plentiful. Our
house is infested by numbers of centipedes, which get on the chairs
and on the clothes in a most unpleasant manner. However, we have
neither of us yet been bitten.
I have not seen a scorpion alive. My wife and I were walking in the
compound the other day, when we saw a very large snake looking at
us through the hedge of aloes. It was of a light-brown, and was, I
think, five or six feet long.
The other day my servants brought me in a venomous snake which they
said they had killed in the compound; I took it up by its tail and
carried it into my wife's dressing-room to show it to her. I laid it
down on the floor, and soon it began to wriggle away, and, raising
its head, turned at us. Fortunately there was a stick at hand, and,
taking it up, I killed the animal with one blow. So great is the
dread of them here, that no one ever sleeps without a light, lest,
stepping out of bed at night, he should place his foot upon some
venomous creature; most people keep a long bamboo in every room. We
never put on our shoes without first examining well to see that
there is nothing alive in them. The oil which we burn in the evening
and at night is extracted from the cocoa-nut and has a most agreeable
smell. For this purpose cocoa-nuts are brought from Ceylon and all
the neighbouring islands. This oil could not be used in England,
because it congeals into a sort of fat when the thermometer is at 64°.
[Sidenote: YAMS--POTATOES.]
We have a kind of root here which they call a yam, although I do not
think it is one. It is brown outside and white within; about two feet
long and thickest at the middle, where it is four inches in diameter.
This they boil and then fry into lumps; it is exceedingly nice.
Potatoes are scarce, dear, and bad, except sweet ones, which I like;
they are very stringy, and taste like potatoes mixed with sugar.
[Sidenote: BAMBOO.]
I think I have described to you the graceful appearance of the
bamboo-tree, but it is its extreme usefulness that renders it so
precious. It is a sort of hollow strong cane, and serves for the
upright posts at the corners of the native houses and also for the
door-posts. To our own bungalows or thatched houses it forms the
rafters to support the thatch; it is used for scaffolding and for
ladders without any shaping or preparing. One joint of it makes a
very good bottle; a long piece of it, with one side cut off and the
stoppage at the joints cut away, makes a waterspout or watercourse,
or a thing for fowls to eat or drink out of. In short, it would be
tedious to enumerate the many uses to which it is put.
I had the other day an instance of the extent to which servants carry
the system of doing each his own work and no one's else. I had been
feeding the parrots with a little rice and had spilt a few grains
of it upon the table. I called the barah, or furniture-cleaner: he
said it was the parrot's food, and therefore it was the waiter's
business to clean it up. I told him to do as he was bid, but he would
not, and then I said that if he did not I should discharge him with
a character for disobedience; this he preferred to doing what he
considered was not his own work, so I sent him away at once.
None of my servants can speak a word of English, and I am sometimes
rather at a loss on this account; but I always keep a dictionary on
the table, and I am rapidly acquiring a knowledge of the Hindustanee
language. There are no shops that Europeans can go to, except at
Calcutta. In the country, which is called the Mofussil, a sort of
pedlers come round with goods. I offer them generally one-third of
the price they name, and they in most cases take it. The other day,
my wife was making up her accounts, and asked the kitmajar how much
he had given for a certain article; the man said, "Three rupees."
My wife replied that she did not think he had given so much; he
answered, "Yes, three rupees." She said, "Now, I don't believe you
gave more than two rupees;" to which his answer was, "Yes, I gave two
rupees." Still she did not credit him, and said, "Now, I am sure you
only gave one rupee;" and he replied, "Yes, one rupee." And he was
quite satisfied: and all this time he answered as calmly as possible,
and did not appear in the least ashamed; and yet this man is one who
is considered a very good servant, and whom I believe to be as honest
as any one I have.
November 12.
[Sidenote: EARTHQUAKE.]
Last night, a little before ten o'clock, my wife was gone to bed, and
I was sitting up reading and writing. In this country, you may know,
the servants at each house, instead of having a clock, strike a gong
at every hour. It is a flat circular plate of bell-metal, which, when
struck with a wooden mallet, gives forth a very loud ringing sound.
Just before the gong struck ten, I heard a noise like that of a buggy
(or gig with a large head to it to keep the sun off) approaching.[2]
I thought to myself, "Why, there must be a party somewhere to-night;"
at which I wondered not a little, because every one asks the Padre
Sahib to their parties, and I had received no invitation. The next
moment the noise seemed to increase, and become like the motion of
a large heavy carriage. Almost immediately after, with a sound like
rolling thunder, the whole house rocked backwards and forwards,
while I was nearly thrown off the chair on which I was sitting.
The rumbling continued, I should think, for about a minute before the
shock of the earthquake came, and for about a quarter of a minute
after, while the shock itself may have occupied about ten minutes.
I was quite startled; and, proceeding to my wife's bed-room, advised
her to get up and put on something warm, lest we should have to pass
the night out of doors. I then went to the store-room, and made the
best provision I could for a bivouac: my preparations were, however,
needless, as the shock was not repeated.
I can compare the motion to nothing so well as to the pitching of a
small boat in a short cross-sea, or where two tides meet one another.
My wife said her bed gave two distinct pitches up and down. While
I was making my preparations for departure I heard a loud noise of
crows, ducks, fowls, and all sorts of birds, cawing, cackling, and
screaming, as if they were very much frightened. The natives all
round started up and blew their conchs (a sort of shell, which they
use instead of a trumpet); and this morning every one is talking
about the earthquake.
[Sidenote: POPULATION.]
Speaking of the natives reminds me of the subject of the population
of India, which is very much exaggerated. It cannot be compared, in
proportion to the extent of the country, to that of England. There
are said to be 40,000 natives in Midnapore, though I much doubt the
fact; and then on every side, farther than the eye can reach, extends
a vast expanse of thick jungle (that is, bushes growing so close
together as to be altogether impassable, and full of tigers, deer,
leopards, buffaloes, elephants, &c.); and as the same is the case
throughout the whole of India, I should think that nine-tenths of the
country consists of thick, close jungle, or enormous swamps. Here and
there, amidst all this, is found a small native village, composed of
a few huts; but the population in such places is probably not above
one in thirty square miles on the average; this is, of course, a
mere rough guess. The jungle-men, who are nearly black, though not
at all resembling the negro in feature, are said to be the original
inhabitants of the country. Their religion is unknown, and I believe
they possess no written language. The people were driven into the
bushes by the lighter race of men, whom many suppose to have been
some of the ancient Egyptians, probably not less than two or three
thousand years ago. Amongst this race sprang up, even subsequently
to this, the religion, or rather superstition, of Hindooism. Again,
about seven or eight hundred years ago, the whole country was overrun
and conquered by the Mohammedans. Seventy or eighty years ago we
obtained a firm footing in a small portion of the country. Not long
after, the Mahratta chiefs attacked the Mohammedans in various
places; the Mohammedans called upon us for assistance; and thus we in
time became possessors of almost the whole country.
The greatest difficulty in the pronunciation of the language is the
letter _h_, which is always aspirated, and never pronounced as it is
in our _th_, and yet this letter often comes after a consonant.