is all my apparatus on the table. Most people have only a shelf, on
which they place their medicine-chest, dressing-case, pistols, &c.;
but I found this so inconvenient, that I resolved to have the whole
in one moveable box, and I find it a great additional comfort. In the
lining of the palanquin are pockets for books, &c., and stuck here
and there are hooks, on which to hang a watch, &c.
I have pillows especially for my palanquin. I take a blanket and a
few books, and then I can start in tolerable comfort for a four or
five days' journey. There is a place outside behind for a large brass
washhand-basin; in front there are two little windows, like those
of a carriage, with glass and Venetian blinds; behind there is one
window, and also a lamp with a glass in the back of the palanquin, so
as to show its light inside.
Cuttack, November 8, 1843.
[Sidenote: ANECDOTES OF TIGERS.]
I have just been called out to see an enormous Bengal tiger which
some native huntsmen shot last night. It has been long prowling about
between Cuttack and Chogga, and has carried off many unfortunate men.
A party of us intended to go out and look for him next week. He was
wounded first by a shot in the shoulder; the second ball went through
his eye and killed him at once. It was a magnificent beast.
On the 9th a large leopard was brought in, and also a wild boar. The
latter animal is excessively savage and very dangerous. The usual
mode of hunting is on horseback, armed with long lances or spears.
His strength is very great; he is much larger and longer than the
English pig. When enraged his back becomes as much curved as that of
the hyæna; indeed, it is a good deal so at all times. From the top of
the head to the tail extends a thick mane of bristles, not hanging
down like a horse's mane, but standing perfectly upright. I have a
young one now in a sty, but the men are obliged to throw his food to
him, as he flies at them directly they go within reach. The tusks of
the wild boar grow to several inches in length. A friend of mine was
out one day when a boar charged his horse; the brute made a spring
at its hinder parts, cutting right and left, and both the hind legs
of the steed were severed to the bone, and his master was obliged to
dismount and shoot him.
This reminds me of another anecdote. Miss D., the sister of the
doctor at Balasore, was out riding a short time since; a gentleman of
her acquaintance was with her. They were moving slowly along, when
suddenly they heard a crackling of the branches by the roadside,
and the next instant an enormous tiger sprang into the middle of
the lane, just in front of them. The horses appeared paralysed;
they could not move, but stood trembling in every joint. The tiger
turned round, glared upon them, opened his mouth wide, and gave that
horrible ya a-a-a, then made a spring, bounded into the jungle on the
other side, and disappeared.
The tiger which they brought in the other day measured ten feet six
inches in length, and one foot two inches round his ankle. This
species possesses enormous strength; a single blow from his paw is
sufficient to crush a man's skull into one frightful mass.
The adjutant of the 8th Bengal Native Regiment told me of a case
which he had seen. A tiger seized a large English bullock, tossed it
over his shoulders, and then sprang at one bound over a fence several
feet in height: so you may easily imagine that a wild tiger is not a
very pleasant companion.
We had a sad loss the night before last. I have already mentioned
our beautiful little antelope, which used to come and lie at my feet
while I was writing. The other night I heard him give a faint scream,
and hastened to see what was the matter; he had been bitten by a
cobra, and was dead in ten minutes. Poor little fellow! I could have
cried,--my wife _did_. I have seen many, but never knew one so tame
before. I doubt whether any of the servants had dry eyes as its body
was thrown into the river. The bite of the cobra causes the body to
swell to a frightful size.
The other day my wife was walking in the garden, when a large cobra
glided past her; she called some of the men, who soon killed it, but
it was too large to put into a bottle. A gentleman, happening to call
just then, asked me whether I had seen the poison. I said, "No." He
took the head between his fingers and squeezed it in such a way as
to open the mouth. In the upper jaw were two very large white fangs,
corresponding as it were to our eye-teeth. As he squeezed with more
force, a tiny drop of perfectly transparent colourless fluid issued
through the point of each fang--these were drops of venom that pass
into the wound. The gentleman who showed me this was a medical man,
and he said that he would not for a lac of rupees have the half of
one of those drops get into a cut in his finger.
Last June, when the weather was intensely hot, after we left Pooree,
where we had resided for six weeks with Mr. and Mrs. B., I went to
Chandapore, a delightful place on the sea-coast, about seven miles
from Balasore. The thermometer was 105° in-doors at six o'clock in
the evening. When I started from Cuttack the thermometer in my palkee
stood at 126°. At Chandapore I was glad to put on a cloth coat and
cloth trowsers. That is one great advantage in my station; I have
almost every variety of climate, except extreme cold. Indeed, when
the bishop asked me how I liked my station, I told him I would not
change with any chaplain in India.
At Chandapore four of us one morning started for a walk over the
sands. We took no shoes nor stockings, and had our trowsers tucked
up to the knees. How we did laugh at eyeing ourselves! we were like
a set of merry boys. Every now and then one of us would step upon a
quicksand and sink down half up his legs, and have to scramble out.
Then, as we ran along in the water about six or eight inches deep,
we would suddenly see two or three sea-scorpions, and run away, or
perhaps slip or stumble over a piece of rock, and then down we came,
and all roared with laughter, and then the magistrate sang out,--
"There was an old man at Barbago,
He lived upon nothing but sago;--
Oh! how he did jump,
When a doctor said, plump,
'To a roast leg of mutton you may go.'"
[Sidenote: SEA-SCORPIONS.]
I caught a couple of the sea-scorpions; they do not sting, but cut
with the edge of their tails, and it is said that the wound is
incurable. They are covered with a hard shell.
[Sidenote: RELIEF FUND.]
There is a great deal of illness about now, although the weather is
most delightful: the thermometer seldom above 80°; the morning quite
chilly. I am very well; the only complaint I have is that of getting
exceedingly fat. I think I have mentioned our relief fund. There are
a number of poor Christians here who have lived by beggary, stealing,
and all sorts of wretchedness. We are trying to induce them to work,
and give them materials, and purchase at a high rate what they
produce, and I quite hope our plan will succeed.
You would have laughed to have seen me to-day, surrounded by a crowd
of half-black women, measuring out prints and calicoes for dresses,
&c.; I being obliged to do it, as my wife was poorly. The things they
make are to be given, as rewards, in our new Christian school.
Barripore, November 28, 1843.
[Sidenote: SOLITUDE.]
How extraordinary does this utter solitude appear! I have just been
outside the bungalow: there is none of that confused murmuring sound
which is almost universal in England. Every noise is distinctly
heard: a child's voice, or a dove's coo, appears to break the
intensity of the silence. And then, the thought that, excepting a
few barbarians, there is not a human being within a day's journey!
The whole feeling is exciting, but oppressive. Millions of black
heathens interpose between me and a single European; and yet, with
one brace of pistols and a good thick stick, I feel myself perfectly
secure. But I will give an instance of the power which each European
possesses over these people.
When I went to Balasore with the L.'s, we had four palanquins, and
consequently forty bearers. At one place, where we stopped to change
men, Mrs. L. sent a man to my palanquin to say that she wanted to
speak to me. I at once walked across to the spot where her palanquin
stood. The night was as dark as pitch, with a nasty drizzling rain.
The red flaming torches disclosed a group of from eighty to a hundred
natives, with their long black hair and immense mustachios, naked,
except a cloth round their loins.
As we changed bearers here, there was of course a double set present.
We had four palanquins--one containing a native nurse and three of
Captain L.'s children; another, Captain L. and one child; another,
Mrs. L.; and the fourth was my own. On one side of the road was a
dense thicket, or jungle; on the other, a deep canal, called by
the natives a "nullah;" and these, as well as the dusky group,
were flittingly lighted by the torches of the mussalchees. Every
man, as is the custom, had a long stick in his hand. We were many
hours' journey from any European; Captain L. was totally enfeebled
by sickness; and, in short, I was the only person who could have
attempted to knock a man down.
[Sidenote: SOCIAL RELATION OF EUROPEANS AND NATIVES.]
But mark the power of white skin (not but that mine is getting
somewhat mahogany colour): when I bent down to learn what Mrs. L.
wanted, she was too faint and weak to speak loud, and the abominable
babbling of the hundred men about us prevented the possibility of my
hearing what she said.
"Choop ruho!" (keep quiet) I called out, but to no effect. "Choop
ruho!" I bawled, but still to no avail; I could not hear what Mrs.
L. said. Suddenly I snatched the stick out of the hand of the man
next me, just gave it a little flourish, and jumped into the middle
of the crowd. "You want the whip, eh?" I shouted. "Choop ruho, will
you?" (for a word or two of English generally slips in either at
the beginning or the end of a hasty sentence). In one instant there
was a dead silence: not a word of resistance, or even insolence.
Mrs. L. was weak and faint, and it seemed she wanted a glass of
wine-and-water; this detained us a little time, but as long as we
remained there I found that, even if a whisper arose, the single
word "Choop" was sufficient to quiet it directly.
Now, some people may say, here is a long story about nothing, or
rather about getting a glass of wine-and-water; but I wish you
to observe everything that takes place. Now, the nullah and the
jungles, and the torches and the palanquins, are no great wonders
in themselves, but together they make a pretty picture, or rather a
striking one; and so through life you will find that every half-dozen
things that you observe will either form, or assist in forming, some
picture in your minds, which will certainly prove amusing or useful,
or both.
Then, again, suppose I had told you that I desired the men to be
quiet, and they obeyed me: that would have been much shorter, but it
would not have led the mind on to any other train of thought; whereas
the narrative, as I have related it, suggests many ideas which, if
followed up, would fill whole pages; for instance--
1st. Why did the men dread the whip, when they were equally well
armed?
2nd. Are they accustomed to feel it?
3rd. Are they generally oppressed, and in what way; and would a
native government be an advantage to them?
4th. In what does that superiority consist which makes one hundred
Hindus afraid of one European?
5th. What is civilization? What is the difference between _real_
civilization, and that knowledge of arts and sciences, of
railroads and balloons, which is commonly dignified with the name?
And also what is the connexion between real, true civilization and
religion?
Here are a few out of numberless trains of thought and questions
which might arise, and do naturally arise, from the little anecdote
I have given. Now, suppose I had said, "At one stage Mrs. L. said
something to me which I could not well make out on account of the
noise the men made; however, I soon quieted them, and then found that
she wanted some wine-and-water." That description would have given no
idea of what actually took place, neither would it have afforded any
subject for after consideration.
It was bitterly cold last night. I had on cloak, trowsers, a flannel
jacket next my skin, a thick coat buttoned up to my neck, a double
blanket over me, and both doors of my palkee shut. Yet I awoke about
four o'clock this morning shivering with the cold, and was glad to
get out and have a good run of two or three miles, flapping my arms
against my sides, to restore the warmth. Mrs. Acland has complained
of the cold for the last two days, even at twelve o'clock at noon.
The fact is, people here become so accustomed to intense heat that
they often find the cold weather very trying, and the hot season is
notoriously the most healthy part of the year, though I fancy it is
now as warm as an English summer.
Poor Mr. B., with whom we stayed while at Pooree, has had an attack
of the terrible jungle-fever, and will, I fear, be obliged to
return to England. A sick person, at least in my district, is quite
a rarity: all the diseases are so rapid in their operation, that
a week's illness is considered a long time. If it is violent, the
patient generally dies in a few hours, or at most in two or three
days; if slight, he is by that time convalescent, and generally
proceeds at once either to the Cape of Good Hope or to England.
Cuttack, December 10.
I have been to Midnapore and back again. Whilst I was at Balasore
information was brought in that one hundred and fifty or two hundred
elephants had come down into the paddy-fields about twelve miles from
Balasore, and that they were destroying the crops. Two or three of
the Europeans there wanted to make up a party to go and attack them;
I should very much like to have gone with them, but could not afford
the time; so the proposition fell to the ground.
It is dangerous sport, but very exciting. The elephant is
invulnerable except at one point, and that is a small hollow in the
middle of the forehead. I said invulnerable, but that is an improper
word; I mean, that that little spot is the only point where you
can hit him fatally. Fancy an enormous elephant charging at full
speed down a narrow path, with dense jungle on either side, and the
sportsman standing still till he comes almost close, and then aiming
at the forehead. Suppose he misses the one little spot--the elephant
seizes him with his trunk, dashes him to the ground, and then
kneels upon and crushes him; that is to say, if it is a fierce male
elephant. The tusks of a large one are worth fifty pounds.
[Sidenote: JUGGERNAT'H FESTIVAL.]
The sight of the dead pilgrims by the roadside in this part of India
is very dreadful; they go to Juggernat'h by hundreds, or rather by
thousands. At the grand festival in June this year, when the car of
Juggernat'h is dragged from the temple to his country house, there
were present at least eighty thousand pilgrims from all parts of
India, who each make large offerings to the idol, and during their
stay are not allowed to eat any food but what has been prepared in
the temple by the priests. Of course, for this food a most exorbitant
price is charged, and at the same time it is of so inferior a quality
that numbers died of cholera in consequence of eating it. Many of the
pilgrims when they leave Pooree have not a pice left, and literally
lie down and die of starvation by the roadside. The instant they are
dead they are surrounded by jackals, dogs, and vultures, who quickly
peel all the flesh from the bones: it is a horrid sight, but one
which is too frequent to create surprise.
To the support of this temple our Christian government pays 6000_l._
a-year, whilst at other places it supports one, two, or more
priests. Some will scarcely understand all the arguments by which
this pernicious support of idolatry is defended. The principal
reason given is, that, when we took possession of the country, we
found a number of heathen temples, supported out of the produce of
certain lands which were appropriated to their service; and that we,
having taken possession of those lands, are bound to support the
same temples by money derived from our own revenue. When the Roman
Catholics conquered a country, their first object was to extirpate
idolatry; when the Mohammedans waged war, they did it in order to
destroy the idols of the heathens; but we encourage and protect all
those wicked and evil superstitions.
Terrible as is the sight of the mutilated bodies of the pilgrims, it
is not to me half so shocking as their thanks when they are relieved.
As I travel, some poor wretch, who has more the appearance of a
skeleton than a human being, comes to the side of the palanquin,
and cries in Hindustanee, "Oh, great king, have mercy! I have been
to Juggernat'h, and I have no rice. I have not tasted food, O great
king, for three days. Oh, great king, give me some cowries to buy
some rice!" I give the man a pice or two, and then he exclaims,
"May Juggernat'h bless you, O great being! May Juggernat'h make
you prosperous!" This invocation of a blessing from an idol sounds
most frightful. The horrors of the roadside scene I will not
describe--they are too fearful.
The above account reminds me of the exaggerated manner of expression
in use among the Eastern nations. I will give another instance of
it, premising that it is the usual style of language employed by the
natives towards their European masters. At Midnapore, the other day,
I wanted to call on the commanding officer; I accordingly got into
a tanjore,--that is, the body of a gig, supported on two poles, and
carried by men. As they took me up, I told them to go to the Colonel
Sahib's; they spoke together for a few minutes, and then one of them
said in Hindustanee, "O representative of God, your slaves do not
know where the Colonel Sahib lives."
"Well, do you know where the Salt-Agent Sahib lives?"
"Yes, O representative of God."
"Then take me there."
I had turned away a domestic for being impertinent--a case of
very rare occurrence amongst the natives. He was my own personal
attendant, and an excellent servant, but I would not allow him to be
insolent, and therefore discharged him at once. For weeks this man
stood at the gate of my compound, ran for miles by the side of my
palanquin when I went out in it, and, if he saw me walking, threw
himself on the ground at full length before me, extending his hands
clasped over his head, and then crept or rather glided on his stomach
close to me, kissed my feet, placed them on his head, and, whilst the
tears ran from his eyes, exclaimed in Hindustanee, "O great being! O
representative of God, have pity on your slave! punish me, whip me,
but let me be your slave, O great king!" One day he brought his two
little boys with him, and made them also kneel at my feet. He was an
old man with a long beard, and he rubbed it in the dust, and cried
and sobbed. I looked at his sons, and thought of my own children,
and, as I considered he had been sufficiently punished, I told him to
get up and I would try him again. He raised himself on his knees, and
kissed the hem of my garment.[5] He is now the most useful servant I
have. He is a sheikh--Sheikh Ibrahim is his name, and he had served
every one of my predecessors, the chaplains at Cuttack.
[Sidenote: NUMBER AND NAMES OF SERVANTS.]
I do not know the names of all my servants, but I will mention a few.
Ibrahim is my sirdar, or valet, and chief man; my bearer is Maqua
(which, by the way, is a name in use amongst the Indians in North
America); my water-carrier is Rangore; my watchman, or chokedar,
Sieboo; my sweeper, Ramoo. These last four are allowed me and paid
for by Government: I give them a trifle in addition to their regular
pay. The cook, or bowachee, is Callipar; and the table-servant, or
khitmutgar, is Pekhoo. We only keep one table-servant; every one
else keeps two, and many four or five. My syce, or groom, is Saitor;
I do not know the names of the coachman, grass-cutter, tailor, and
carpenter, nor of my wife's woman-servant, or ayah, as she is called.
I think these are all our domestics, except the dobee, or washerman,
but I do not know his name.
I believe every one in Bengal keeps more servants than I do. In the
Madras presidency not nearly so many are required, as one there
will do the work of three here. I do not know how it is in Bombay.
I suppose it is on this account that in the Bengal presidency we
receive higher pay than in the other parts of India. I said that I
kept fewer than most people, but I certainly think I am better served
than those who keep double the number, and I attribute it to this: I
never beat my servants; I scold them, but do not strike them: and I
believe that they exert themselves very much in order that they may
remain with me on that account, for the cruelty practised by many
towards their domestics is most shocking. Yet I firmly believe that I
am better served, and, if I may use the expression, really loved, for
that very reason.
When a servant is ill it is usual to stop his wages entirely: this
I think wrong, and I therefore only stop half, which is another
inducement to them to exert themselves in order to remain with me. I
will give an instance of the sort of exertion to which I allude. When
I packed the last box for England, my carpenter was ill; my cook is a
very handy sort of man, so I called him, and desired him to nail up
the box; he did it without a moment's hesitation. Almost any other
cook would rather have left his situation than have done what he did
not consider his work.
Again, I do not know any other person who can get one man to wait on
both the sahib and the mem. My khitmutgar not only does this, but
also cleans my gun, and sometimes goes out shooting with me; when he
is thus engaged the cook supplies his place. These are the advantages
of kindness.
It is a common saying that the Hindus have no sense of gratitude,
that they have not even a word to express that feeling in their
language. I do not believe it, and will give you a case in point.
When we are going to travel we pay the money for the bearers into the
hands of the postmasters beforehand; he then orders the men to be
ready at each stage, and he subsequently sends them their pay. At one
stage, as I was going to Midnapore some time ago, the men complained
to me that they had not received their money for many months. I
questioned them, and, finding their story probable, I promised to
speak to the postmaster, and also offered to carry a petition from
them to him. This I did; there had been a fault somewhere, but not, I
believe, with the postmaster. However, the poor men got their money.
Since that time, whenever I go along the road, as soon as I come to
that place a man calls out, "Here is the kind sahib that took our
letter for us;" and although the stage is ten miles in length, yet
they carry me over it in less time than it takes me to go a six-mile
stage elsewhere. My palkee is a heavy one, but they literally run as
fast as they can the whole way; and two additional men always go with
them without asking for any pay. Is not this something like gratitude?
[Sidenote: HONESTY OF NATIVES.]
They are said to be extremely dishonest--I mean the natives
generally. This also I deny; although their treatment by individuals
is enough to make them so; for on the part of Government the
error--if any--lies in an excess of mildness and lenity. I would not
hesitate, if it were necessary, to intrust a thousand rupees to a
servant to take to Calcutta: that is for him a fifteen days' journey.
Yet, if he chose, he might easily get beyond my reach; and such a
sum would be sufficient to purchase an estate which would render
himself and his descendants landed proprietors and gentlemen. I doubt
whether you could say more than that for English honesty; although,
of course, there may be exceptions here as well as there.