to lock my patarahs or tin travelling-boxes. There were many valuable
things in them, and when I reached the first stage they had not then
come up; yet I proceeded day after-day for one hundred and fifty
miles without the slightest uneasiness; and these patarahs, which
had passed through the hands of sixteen men successively, all of the
poorest class and each one alone, arrived at Cuttack in safety one
day after myself. I should not have felt so easy had this occurred in
England. But enough of this subject for the present.
I was riding out with two friends a few days ago near Balasore, when
we saw a cavalcade approaching, consisting of several armed men, some
on horseback others on camels. We inquired who they were, and learned
that it was the escort of Bheere Singh, who had been on a pilgrimage
to Juggernat'h. We joined the Rajah and had a long gossip with him.
The first salutation was a salaam on both sides, that is,--we
bowed almost to the necks of our horses, pressing the palms of our
right hands against our foreheads. The Rajah, being more polite,
or having better command of his horse, salaamed with both hands.
I shall describe the man, because, judging from the present state
of his country, it is possible that he may hereafter figure in the
history of India. He appeared about forty years of age, strongly
built, but not very tall; large black whiskers, and the universal
moustache, which however was smaller than usual. There was much
fire and animation both in his eyes and gestures; I should say also
that his look betrayed a cunning and intriguing spirit. He was
evidently unwilling to say much concerning the disturbances which
have recently taken place in his country, but was most anxious to
hear our opinions. He said he had seen the burra lord (great lord),
Ellenborough, as he came through Calcutta; and I wondered whether the
real object of his journey might not have been to see and speak with
the Governor-General rather than to perform his devotions at Pooree.
But one thing struck me especially, and it is a thing highly to the
credit of our Indian Government. Pointing to his retinue, he said,
"This I very much admire. In my own country and all the native states
(that is, states governed by native rajahs), if I were to go to
sleep, I must set my guards round me with their arms in their hands,
and I dare not ask a stranger to carry a thing for me lest he should
run away with it. But directly I come into the Burra Beebee Company's
territories" (the East India Company is called the Burra Beebee, or
the great lady, by all the natives), "directly I come into their
territories, although they are so vast, so immense, from sea to sea"
(and he stretched forth his hands in every direction), "directly I
come there, if I am weary, I can go to sleep under any tree by the
roadside, and I can tell all my guards to go to sleep also. If I want
anything carried, I can say to the stranger 'Carry it,' and I know it
is safe. Oh! the Burra Beebee Company is a very good great king."
And most assuredly it is so. Wherever we come we give sound laws, and
the people find peace and comparative happiness. Under the native
rajahs all is anarchy, bloodshed, and oppression. Would that the
whole of India were under our sway, and that our Government would
seek, by firm and decisive measures, to introduce the blessings of
Christianity amongst the thousands and millions of their heathen
subjects! I consider these few words of Bheere Singh to confer far
more real honour on our Government than all their victories.
[Sidenote: A MEETING.]
How little one knows in England of the pleasure of meeting with an
acquaintance! The other night, as I was travelling and just dozing in
my palanquin, I was roused by a loud voice--"Hulloh, Acland! what,
is that you?" I was out of my palkee in an instant, and Mr. C., of
Talacore, jumped out of his. What a break in the monotony of the
road! and yet there was one great unpleasantness about it, and that
was, we were obliged, after a few minutes' gossip, each to return to
his own solitary palanquin. He produced some oranges; we sucked one
or two, and then separated.
FOOTNOTE:
[5] This man continued most faithfully attached till his master's
death, and was then inconsolable.
Cuttack, December 25, 1843.
Yesterday morning Captain W. sent to ask me whether I would go out
into the jungle with him and try and get some hares. I did not feel
much inclined, as my yearly supply of stores, such as wine, beer,
candles, vinegar, &c. &c., had just arrived from Calcutta. However I
thought that perhaps I should see something which might amuse me, so
I went. At three we started on our ponies across the tedious sands
to the river. The water we crossed in a boat, and then remounted and
rode for some distance into the jungle: at last down we got. We had
fourteen men with us to beat the jungle.
[Sidenote: CHOUDWAR.]
We walked along through the wildest scenery, looking for hares, until
we arrived at Choudwar--at least that I believe to be the name of
the place I described once before, which I said reminded me much of
the ancient Petra. There are several long deep ravines filled with
dense jungle, the sides composed of perpendicular black rock, a sort
of iron-stone, in some parts of which steps have been cut, and in
other places great blocks are lying about irregularly, or forming the
foundations of the houses of the ancient inhabitants.
We had found no game of any sort except porcupines, which abound
here. At last we came to a ravine of the shape of an acute triangle.
The lower line was a perpendicular face of rock of perhaps forty feet
in height, the other line was a steep slope, and all the hollow was
filled with thick jungle. Captain W. and myself were standing about
the middle of the lower line, and we ordered the men that were with
us to go down and beat the bushes in the hollow.
[Sidenote: SPORTING.]
As they went down I observed to Captain W. that I thought it looked
a likely place for something rather larger than hares. He replied
that the men said there were no wild beasts about here. He had
hardly done speaking when we heard the most frightful snarling growl
proceeding from the bushes down at the farther point of the angle.
"A tiger!" screamed the men, and ran off in every direction as fast
as they could. "Give us the guns with ball," shouted we; for those
in our hands had only small shot, and the men behind us held our
other guns. "It is a great hyæna!" shouted I, as with another growl
an enormous one sneaked out of the bushes up the bank opposite to
that on which we stood. Bang! went the Captain's gun and mine at the
same time;--down fell the brute, up again, turned round, yelled, and
screamed, inclined to make a rush at us. Bang! bang! again with the
other barrels, and with a scream the animal bounded off on three
legs, his hind thigh having been broken by one of our balls. "Powder!
powder, quickly!" was the cry, and our men handed us the powder and
balls: we reloaded as quickly as possible, our hands trembling with
excitement.
"Give chase!" I shouted, and off we set as hard as we could run
towards the other bank, where the beast was still running, and
turning every now and then to snarl at us. "Coolies, drive him
hither!" cried Captain W., and on we bounded; but the coolies were
not at all willing to obey the command, and so we had a long chase.
"I'll fire; you mind him if he turns," exclaimed W. Bang! A yell from
the hyæna; and down he rushes towards me. Bang! he's down--no--up
again. Another shot from Captain W., and over he tumbles and is dead
in a few minutes.
The excitement of such a chase is very great. I was hot and tired,
and also fat; but when I saw the enormous brute all was forgotten,
and I leaped down the rocks, scrambled up the hills, and bounded over
the bushes, as if I had been a boy.
The hyæna is a cowardly animal, although he has immense strength both
of jaw and paw. Had this been a tiger, he would at the first wound
have flown at us, and perhaps killed us before we had time to load
again; but the hyæna rarely turns upon the hunters unless he sees
that all escape is hopeless. I had no idea that these animals were so
large. This was little if at all less than a full-grown tiger. He did
not spring out like the latter would have done, but sneaked along as
if he thought his horrid ugliness would protect him.
As we were coming home over the sands, I asked Captain W. if he did
not mean to discharge his gun before he went in. "Yes," said he,
"and there is a target," pointing to a large black pariah dog, which
was feasting on some rotten carrion at a considerable distance. We
dismounted, took our guns, and Captain W. fired. The ball struck the
sand between the animal's legs, and he stared round him as if to know
what it meant. Captain W.'s next shot struck the sand close to the
dog's nose. Off he started, when I raised my gun and fired, and he
rolled over dead. This was a useless piece of cruelty; the killing
the hyæna was right, because these animals do much mischief among the
cattle, and will also carry away young children; but the dogs are in
a great measure our scavengers, and carry off all sorts of filth.
The only other things we fired at were some jackals and a
white-headed falcon. The former we missed; the latter I killed. The
miner is a pretty bird, of which I have before spoken. I consider it
good eating, although most persons have a prejudice against it, as
not being a very clean feeder. They fly in large flocks. The other
day, with a small charge of shot, I killed five at once. The parrots
are very destructive to the fruit, especially the custard-apple; I
therefore frequently shoot them in my own garden.
Cuttack, January 2, 1844.
I have been to Pooree; but what I am going to relate now is an
adventure, not of my own, but of some valiant officers of the
regiment stationed here. The Captain, the Lieutenant, the Ensign, and
a Serjeant, went out for a day's shooting; and I had the story from
two separate individuals of the party. They rode to the ground, and
then skirted for some time along the side of the dense jungle. At
last the Captain says--"Well, I am tired; I shan't go any farther.
Bring me my camp-stool." Fancy a man's taking a camp-stool when he
goes out to hunt or shoot! However, down he sat; and the other three
proceeded some way farther. At length the Lieutenant says--"Well, _I_
am tired; I shan't go any farther. Give me my camp-stool." Down he
sat; and on went the other two, until the Ensign said--"Well, I am
tired; I shan't go any farther. Give me my camp-stool." And he sat
down.
The Serjeant, with one native, now proceeded down a narrow path which
led into the jungle. He had not been gone more than five minutes
when the Ensign heard the report of a gun, and the next instant the
Serjeant rushed out of the jungle, without his hat, without his gun,
with his mouth wide open, eyes staring, and hair all on end. "What's
the matter, Serjeant?" cries the Ensign. "A tiger, sir," says the
other, without stopping. "A tiger?" "Ay." Down goes the Ensign's gun
over his camp-stool, and off he starts after the Serjeant as fast as
his legs can carry him. "Hulloh!" exclaims the Lieutenant, as they
came rushing towards him: "why, what's in the wind now?" "A tiger! a
tiger!" they shout. Down goes the Lieutenant's gun, and he quickly
joins in the race. "What in the world are you all after?" cries the
Captain, as they came to where he was comfortably sitting, drinking
a bottle of beer, and smoking a cigar. "A tiger! a tiger! a tiger!"
is again the reply. "Pooh, pooh, nonsense!" said the Captain, moving
slowly towards his horse. "Nonsense!" answered the fugitives; "we
tell you there is a tiger down there: go and see yourself." "No, I
am tired," says the Captain; "I shall go home." And he jumped on
his horse, and, followed by his brave comrades, galloped back to
Cuttack. How the natives did grin and chuckle. They, too, had seen
the frightful monster, and knew that it was a poor harmless jackal
which had put to flight the Captain, and the Lieutenant, and the
Ensign, and the Serjeant!!!
But there is moral to this tale. Another officer asked the Serjeant
afterwards why he ran away? The answer was, that he ran at first
because he was alone and unsupported, and that he ran afterwards
because he saw the officers run. And this will ever be the case. If
the officers show a firm front, so will the men: if the officers
waver or hesitate, it will naturally strike a panic into the minds of
those who are accustomed to look up to them for guidance. Remarkable
instances of both these positions we have recently had at Jellalabad
and Kabul.
[Sidenote: COSTUME REGULATIONS.]
I start on Friday next for Balasore. I go principally for the sake of
exercise and shooting. There are a great many bears there. My wife
has just hired a new woman-servant. She is of the Ooriah Mehanee
caste, and therefore may not wear petticoats, but only the common
native dress. Now, all ladies like their own personal servants to
wear petticoats; but here it is so strictly forbidden, that the
woman, if she were once to put them on, would be deserted by her
husband and children, and never be suffered to eat with any of her
tribe. But then the Hindu law, whilst it is thus severe on any breach
of caste, provides an easy mode of getting over the difficulty. My
wife gives the woman eight shillings: the woman gives half of this
to the priest, and with the other half she provides a feast for her
tribe. After this she may wear her petticoats in peace and security.
Barripore, January 5, 1844.
[Sidenote: MIRAGE AT POOREE.]
There is one part of the sands at Pooree, on which if you stand
about the middle of the day, and look towards the north, you are
surprised to observe in the distance an English town. You see several
three-storied houses, with doors and windows: interspersed here
and there are several very English-looking trees; and at a short
distance, standing on a small hill, you see the ruins of a large
castle, with the green ivy clinging to it in many parts. Often have I
stood and gazed upon this scene, for it reminds me of dear England.
And yet, if you go to the place, what do you suppose you find?
Nothing but one long flat bed of loose sand, without one vestige of a
tree.
The appearance is caused solely by the refraction of the rays of
light. To explain this I will give an example. If you hold a stick so
that the lower part is in the water and the upper part in the air,
the stick will appear to be bent at the point where it passes the
surface of the water; or, place a shilling in a cup or basin, so that
you cannot see it because the side of the cup hides it from you, fill
the cup with water, and then you will see the shilling, although it
is still in the same spot it was in before. This bending of the rays
is what is called refraction, and is caused by the rays passing out
of one transparent thing into another which is more or less dense
than the first. I think that the cause of the mirage at Pooree is
this. Hot air is less dense than cold air. The steam which comes
from a kettle is still water, but it occupies a much larger space
than the water did. One kettle of water will give much more than a
kettlefull of steam, so that it is evident that the heat has made the
water occupy a much larger quantity of space. Still the steam is only
water; therefore it must be much less dense than cold water. If you
filled a saucepan with water, and fastened the lid down, so that no
steam could escape, it would burst it: the particles of heat cause
the particles of water to be less closely connected together. But
that is a subject too abstruse for this work.
Well, hot air, like hot water, is less dense than cold air; also
water is more dense than air. You could not run along as quickly in
the water as you could in the air; you could not strike a person with
your hand under water hard enough to hurt him; and this is because
the water is more dense or solid than air: therefore, air with a good
deal of moisture in it is more dense than when dry. But along the hot
sands of Pooree, close to the sea-shore, there must be a great deal
of heat and also a great deal of moisture.
In the direction in which you look to see the mirage I mentioned,
there is a small piece of stagnant water from which much moisture
must arise under the burning heat of the sun; consequently there
must be much refraction in all directions. And this is seen in
looking the right way from all parts of the Pooree sands; and from
the particular point to which I have alluded, this picture, owing,
I suppose, to certain marks in the sand, assumes the appearance of
a castle, houses, &c. All this is a very rough explanation; but it
may serve to give you some idea of the probable cause of the mirage.
Ships have sometimes appeared to be sailing in the air from the same
cause; and distant coasts, which were far below the horizon, have
been distinctly seen by means of the refraction.
Guzzeepuddee, 8 miles from Balasore, January 12.
[Sidenote: SPORTING.]
Yesterday morning about four o'clock we started from Balasore on
horseback. The party consisted of the magistrate, the surgeon, and
myself. It was a brilliant moonlight, but somehow I thought I should
like to finish my night's rest, and therefore soon got into my
palanquin, and had a most comfortable nap. I was awakened at daybreak
by my bearers stopping and telling me that they did not know the way
to Guzzeepuddee. I got out of my palanquin, loaded my gun, inquired
my way of the first native I saw, sent my palanquin on, and then with
two servants entered the jungle. Whereabout the magistrate and the
doctor were I had not the slightest idea. I had a delightful ramble
through a jungle, many of the natives following me from each village
through which I passed, and appearing to take great interest in the
success of my sport.
I went on, with my broad-brimmer hat and brown leather gaiters,
followed by twenty or thirty black fellows, forcing my way through
the thickest, densest shrubberies, thinking at every instant that
I might come suddenly on a large bear. Every now and then a break
would occur in the jungle, and I would emerge from the tangled
thicket into a broad open space of three or four acres, covered with
the smoothest turf, interspersed here and there with the graceful
bamboo, and surmounted on all sides with a literal wall of trees and
underwood. On their branches sat the splendid wild fowls and the
beautiful peacocks, whilst from all sides I heard the soft cooing of
the doves.
Then again I would find myself in a similar open space; but instead
of the turf there was a broad sheet of water, with the red and white
lotus-flowers floating on the surface, and the glittering white
paddy-bin (a sort of small stock) stretching along the edge. A little
farther on I came suddenly on a large jheel (a piece of shallow muddy
water), with the heron and the pelican, and I think the spoonbill,
standing on the sides and busily catching their breakfast of fish.
Several of the most curious of the birds I shot, in order to preserve
their skins, and occasionally, as a hare darted across my path,
I would raise my gun and fire. But one bird I must describe more
particularly.
I was standing by the side of a large jheel, when a native called
out, "A bird, very good: look, sir." I looked in the direction in
which he pointed, but could see nothing, and was going to scold him,
when he said, "It will come." I continued watching, when presently
I saw what appeared to be a long snake rising from the water. It
was some little time before I could make up my mind that this was
actually part of a bird, and by that time the long neck was again
drawn under water, and nothing was visible.
[Sidenote: A WATER-RACE.]
I continued to watch, and presently, at some yards from the spot
where it had before appeared, the same snaky form was again elevated
into the air. It was almost like shooting at a reed, but however I
raised my gun and fired. There was an instant struggle in the water,
and then I saw the body of a large dark-coloured bird floating on
the surface. Wishing to obtain the body, I turned to the natives and
said, "The man that wants a pice, bring that bird to me." The pice
is a little more than a farthing, but enough to find a family for a
day. Six or eight boys and men dashed into the water, and there was a
regular race, struggling and swimming in order to obtain the prize.
One boy had just reached the spot, when suddenly it disappeared;
now the long neck rose in a different place, and again there was a
rush to obtain the pice. The bird, which was evidently much wounded,
began to move across the water, keeping its long neck about eighteen
inches above the surface, no other part being visible. I was running
round the banks to have another shot, when the bird suddenly rose,
and, with its long legs extending behind, flew over the jungle. I saw
it fall at a short distance, but the bushes were so thickly matted
together that I could not get near the place.
As I advanced farther from Balasore the natives of the village
appeared astonished at my appearance, many of them probably never
having seen a white man before. Some stood still staring at me,
others ran and hid themselves in their houses. At last I came to
a large open space of a mile or more in diameter, and here a most
singular scene presented itself. Throughout the whole extent of the
space, large masses of black rock, perfectly smooth and rounded at
the edges, rose at intervals to the height of twelve or sixteen feet,
at an angle of about 70°. It appeared as if some mighty city had been
swept over by a hurricane, and all the walls were tottering to their
fall.
Some time after this, to my great satisfaction, I arrived at the
tent, which had been sent there the day before, and found a plentiful
breakfast ready, and the rest of the party anxiously awaiting my
arrival. I had been nearly six hours on foot. Our tent is about
eighteen feet square, with one pole in the centre, a table and chairs
inside, and our palanquins, in which we sleep at night, standing
under a sort of canvas verandah. There is another very small tent for
a bath-room, and also a part composed of a single piece of canvas for
the servants. The latter is about thirty feet long and fifteen broad.
[Sidenote: ENCAMPMENT.]
And now let us look around the encampment. The immediate
neighbourhood consists of rice-fields, from which the paddy has been
cut. At about half a mile from the tents on either side is a thick
jungle, and in the distance are the rugged and magnificent hills of
the Neilghur, which I have already described.
At six o'clock in the evening the sun was just setting as we three
sahibs returned from our day's shooting. The magistrate is just
washing his hands in a chillumchee, or brass basin, at the door of
the tent. In the front-ground, on two chairs, are seated the doctor
and myself; the former is having his long leather gaiters or overalls
pulled off. I have one foot in a chillumchee of warm water, the other
resting on the black knee of one of my servants, who is shampooing
and cracking each joint of the toes. Now he has done that, wiped the
foot dry, put on the shoe, and is squeezing or kneading each muscle
in the calf of the leg. No one but those who have experienced it can
have any idea what a luxury this is when you are very tired!
Behind us stands a long-bearded turbaned khitmutgar, with sherry
and glasses. Our guns are leaning against the side of the tent, our
horses are picketed to a tree close by, and the grooms are busily
rubbing them down. A hundred or a hundred and fifty black natives are
separating into groups according to their castes, and are lighting
fires all around in order to cook their dinners. Behind the servants'
tent is a fire of charcoal, over which a black man is turning a hare,
some partridges, a peacock, and several other results of our day's
sport. Close by is another fire of wood crackling and sparkling, on
which are stew-pans with salmon, oysters, &c. &c., which have come
from England.