The day before we arrived at Cawnpore, Colonel Wade sent for me, and
gave me a strong and handsome letter of recommendation. In the evening
of the next day we marched to tents which had been previously pitched
for our reception. Here we found two officers of our own regiment, ready
to receive us, with one of whom I had often dined when an officer in the
same camp. He received me kindly, and promised me his friendship.
Nothing of moment occurred during the short time I was at this station.
Having refitted, we started on route to Meerut, about three hundred
miles by land, under the command of two officers, whose sole study was
to promote our happiness and welfare. I do not know that I ever spent a
happier time. Our march was always over by nine o'clock, and we encamped
under the salubrious scent and pleasant shade of the lofty mango. After
journeying in this pleasant manner, we reached Meerut on the 9th day of
November, 1809, having been eleven months and a day from England. Here I
was welcomed by all my old comrades, and found myself full sergeant in
Captain Beattie's troop.
On the evening of our arrival we were inspected by the commanding
officer, now Major-General Need. I was well received by all the
officers, and indeed by all the corps, save two or three corporals whom
I had supplanted in their long-cherished hopes of promotion. This
naturally placed me in no very enviable situation with these men, and
several attempts were made to try my courage; but I was too well versed
with the rank I held, to permit myself to be imposed on or annoyed. When
they found this, their ire passed away and their grievances were
forgotten. After the inspection, my commanding officer called me on one
side, and said, "I am much grieved to see you in your present situation,
after the many laurels you have gained in India, but I feel pleasure in
having it in my power to promote you to the rank of sergeant; and, if
you conduct yourself well, be assured I shall not lose sight of your
further promotion." I was obliged once more to go through a regular and
systematic course of drills, both on horseback and on foot; but, as I
was already well acquainted with both, I was soon dismissed.
I had not been in the regiment above one year, when a colonel,
commanding a corps of the Company's native cavalry, who had known me
before, offered me a riding-mastership, a situation equal to an
ensigncy. I was elated with the idea; it was the situation which, of all
others, I should have fancied. I dressed myself in my best, and off I
marched with the colonel's kind invitation in my hand, not having the
shadow of a doubt of the full and joyous concurrence of my commanding
officer, who, I thought, would gladly embrace the opportunity of giving
me a proof of the friendship he had so often professed for me. I
presented the letter, and begged his consent and aid in the fulfilment
of my wishes. He read it, paused, knitted his dark eyebrows, and it was
so evident that he was displeased, that I began to muster my offences,
but I could think of nothing in which I had offended him. Imagine my
surprise and mortification when he returned the little document into my
hand, accompanied with this sweet and consoling declaration, "I shall
not recommend you for any such thing." He was just about to leave the
room, when I presumed to remonstrate on the cruelty of such a denial, in
preventing me from getting such a respectable situation; and I pushed
the matter home by asking him if he thought me unworthy of it, or if I
had displeased him in anything. He said, "No; but," continued he, "don't
you think I like good men in my regiment as well as Colonel K----?
Besides," he said, "what am I to do for a sergeant-major if you leave
the regiment, or perhaps for an adjutant, if anything should happen to
either of them?" Two of these persons were younger than myself, and in
full and blooming health. I felt my pride wounded and my feelings hurt,
and I could not help expressing my sentiments to that effect, and we
parted at enmity. This was a death-blow to my present hopes. I made the
best excuse I could to the colonel who had made me the kind offer, and I
was in a short time made drill-corporal in my own regiment, and
afterwards drill-sergeant. This was a situation I was fond of, and a
preparatory step to that of regimental sergeant-major. For a time this
new toy pleased me, for I would, at any time, sooner command than be
commanded; but the duties of a drill-sergeant are very laborious.
I went on tolerably well with the troubles and vexations of this arduous
office, when, one fine morning, it was rumoured through the lines that
the sergeant-major was defunct in hospital. I was congratulated from all
quarters as his successor, as a matter of course, and the eye of the
whole regiment was upon the drill-sergeant. I expected a summons every
moment from the commanding officer. So sanguine was I myself, that I had
directed that all my "traps" might be put in moveable order; when, lo!
another sergeant was appointed sergeant-major, leaving poor me the butt
and jeer of the whole corps. I could not imagine what could possibly be
the cause of this strange appointment. I say strange, for two reasons:
first, that the situation had been promised to me; and, secondly, that
the sergeant who was appointed was, of all others, the most unfit for
it. I felt hurt beyond description, but my spirit was too proud to
permit me to ask why I had thus been passed over. I bore it as patiently
as I could, still trying to kill care by fagging at the drills; and no
doubt some of the poor fellows under me felt the weight of my
disappointed hopes, for I had them out late and early. I mentioned,
however, the circumstance to my captain, and told him I would resign
both my drill-sergeantship and also my three other stripes; but the
captain, having more prudence and temper than his sergeant, advised me
to put up with it, saying, that he had no doubt the colonel had
something better in store for me. This supposition appeased my troubled
mind, and I endeavoured to smother my grief by making myself a better
drill; and in a short time the storm had blown over, and the event was
nearly obliterated from my memory. After this affair I always avoided
the colonel, and whenever chance threw me in his way, I gave him the
customary salute due to his rank, but accompanied with a few dark looks,
as tokens of my gratitude.
Thus I went on, chewing the cud of disappointment, when one morning I
happened to be straying down a narrow lane, brooding over my
misfortunes, and trying to assign some reason why my commanding officer
had passed me over in promotion, when, in turning a corner, I almost
came in contact with the object of my meditations, who could soon have
put my mind at peace--the colonel himself. I tendered him a most formal
salute, almost as stiff as my feelings were towards him; this dumb
greeting being garnished with one of my blackest looks. I was passing
on, with one eye looking over my shoulder, and at last I turned my whole
body round to have a good stare at him; when, to my surprise, as if he
had anticipated my thoughts, I found that he also had countermarched. We
were now face to face, and retreat would have been unsoldier-like; so I
commenced the attack, by approaching the spot where he stood, as if I
was returning home to my barracks. When passing him, I of course gave
him another salute, somewhat smoother than the former. From this
amendment in my behaviour, I was in hopes he would speak to me as I
passed, for I was ripe with a speech as long as my sabre, which I had
been some time cementing together. I had hardly gone past, when he said,
"Halloa, Shipp--come here." I approached him, and, after giving him a
more conciliatory salute than usual, was just about to open my battery
upon him, when he commenced a hedge-fire, by saying, in a kind and
friendly manner, "Well, Shipp, how do you get on?" Here was a pretty
preface to my intended speech! I stood at attention, knowing the respect
due to my commanding officer, and replied, "I get on but badly, Sir."
"How is that?" said the colonel. I said, "I had but little encouragement
to get on well, since he was pleased to pass me over in
promotion."--"Why, then," said he, "did you not come and ask me for it?"
Here my spirit nettled; I told him, no doubt impetuously, that, if he
did not think me worthy of it unsolicited, I should never ask it of him.
By this I struck the chord of his displeasure, and he replied, "Then you
will never get it." I tipped him another salute, rather bordering on
impudence, and was in the act of facing to the right-about, and for this
purpose had drawn my right foot back to my left heel, when he turned his
displeasure into kindness, and said, "Stop, sergeant; suppose I have
something better for you than what I have taken from you, and which you
did not think worth soliciting." He said this with an inquiring eye, and
I replied, that my prospects in life depended entirely upon his
friendship towards me. If he withheld that, I had nothing further to
hope. He answered, "My good-will and friendship you have; but you must
divest yourself of that impetuosity of temper, and depend upon it I
shall not lose sight of your welfare: go home, and keep yourself quiet."
Thus we parted. I wanted a balm of this kind to soothe and calm me; for,
what with my disappointment, and the trouble I had with obstinate young
soldiers and drunken old ones, my patience and temper were really worn
threadbare, and, from constant bellowing at the drills, my voice had
become as gruffly sonorous as a bad church organ. But, in all my
distresses, I never lost sight of my duties and respect to my superiors,
knowing that any neglect on my part would lose me everything. I was on
good terms with every officer and man in the regiment, and made it my
study to be the first on parade, and the last off. I had risen through
the several gradations of lance-corporal to full--lance-sergeant to
full--drill-corporal--drill-sergeant--pay-sergeant--and
troop-sergeant-major--without being once confined, or on any occasion
reprimanded by a superior officer.
In the year 1813, another sergeant-major made a retrograde movement, and
tumbled into his grave; but I still could not make up my mind to solicit
the appointment of my commanding officer, although I saw several other
sergeants running down to ask for it. Notwithstanding this, I kept at
home, where I dressed, expecting every moment to receive a summons from
the colonel, who, I thought, surely would not again pass me over. Here I
waited, looking every now and then out of my barrack-room window, but
neither messenger nor orders arrived. I began to think it had been given
away a second time, and a dreadful struggle ensued between pride and
interest; the former said, "Don't go;" the latter, "Go, or you get
nothing." After a long contest, pride succeeded, and I remained where I
was. At evening drill I was early at my post, and was going through my
regular course of evolutions, when the adjutant rode up to me, and said,
"Why don't you go and ask the commanding officer to give you the
vacancy?" I replied, "Sir, I should deem myself unworthy of such a
situation, did I beg or cringe for it. If my commanding officer deemed
me deserving of such an appointment, he would give it me without
hesitation; and, should he be so kind, he may rely upon my strictly
performing the duties intrusted to me, and thus proving my gratitude;
but ask it I never can." After this fine speech, I went on with my
drill; when the adjutant, after pausing a few seconds, said, "Well, if
you are too proud to ask for it, I am not;" and off he gallopped. In a
quarter of an hour he returned, and said, "You are appointed
sergeant-major." I thanked him most cordially, and assured him he should
never have cause to regret his kindness. He replied, "Shipp, to be
candid with you, I admire your proper spirit in not begging the
situation, nor does your commanding officer think the worse of you for
it: you will immediately move into the sergeant-major's bungalow, and
assume the duties of that office. I need not, I am sure, inform you what
they are." On the following morning I moved into my new house, and
published my own appointment. Here all the cares and anxieties of my
past life were forgotten. The very idea of having the whole regiment
under my special command at drill, was to me inexpressibly delightful,
and I looked forward to the day as the consummation of my military
glory.
As a groundwork for proceeding properly in my new office, I established
an inseparable vacuum between my rank and that of the other
non-commissioned officers, treating them with every respect consistent
with theirs, and, in time, making them sensible that such a difference
must be established between their station and that of the privates under
their command. I enforced prompt obedience and attention from them, and
they from those under them. This they at first construed into pride on
my part; but, in time, that prejudice wore off, and they obeyed with
pleasure. Those who proved refractory were removed from their
situations, and those more obedient promoted in their stead. Thus things
went on smoothly and pleasantly; and, in two or three months, I could
trust them in the discharge of their duties with confidence, and they
soon learned how far they could go with me. I had a strict and vigilant
adjutant; he made a strict and vigilant sergeant-major; he made good
non-commissioned officers; and they good private soldiers. Thus,
discipline and good-will towards each other went hand in hand together.
My situation was a respectable one, and, what was equally pleasant, a
lucrative one. I had as many titles as any peer in the kingdom:--
J. Shipp, R.S.M.--Regimental Sergeant-Major.
J. Shipp, G.K.--Gaol-Keeper.
J. Shipp, U.T.--Undertaker.
J. Shipp, L.M.--Log-Maker.
The perquisites of all these situations brought my pay to a handsome
amount; I was respected by the officers, and loved by the men; and I had
scarcely a wish ungratified. The year round I always found the same
people, with but little variation, in the congee-house; and one man, a
fine young fellow, was never off my gaol-book. The moment he was
released he was assuredly in the guard-room again, and from thence to
his old place of abode. I once asked him how he could, month after
month, prefer that solitary and secluded life to that of liberty. He
replied, "Habit is second nature," for there, he said, "he could, alone
and undisturbed, brood over his sad and hitherto melancholy career." He
concluded in a most pathetic manner: "Sergeant-major, I have never done
any good since the time your predecessor got me flogged. I assure you, I
endeavour with all my energy to forget it, but I cannot; it crushes me
to the ground, and that day's disgrace has been my ruin. I am of a good
family, but I never can or will return to disgrace those dear parents
with a scarified back." Some three months after this he died, in a sad
state of inebriety.
One day I was going my usual round with the orderly-officer, who twice a
day visited the congee-house. This officer was a famous one for scenting
anything; he could smell a cigar a mile off. In going round the yard,
which is enclosed by a tremendous high wall, he discovered a large
beef-bone, recently dropped. The sergeant was called to account for this
ominous appearance. This sergeant was a shrewd fellow, and he
immediately said, "Oh, Sir, the pelicans have dropped it." This was
very plausible, for these birds will carry enormous bones; and
frequently, when fighting for them, they drop them, so that this might
very probably have been the case. The moment the dinner-trumpet sounds,
whole flocks of these birds are in attendance at the barrack doors,
waiting for bones, or anything that the soldiers may be pleased to throw
them. The men were in the habit of playing them many mischievous tricks;
but, notwithstanding this, at the well-known sound of the dinner-trumpet
they were regularly at their station. Some of the more mischievous boys
would tie two large bones together, and throw to them: these would be
swallowed with the greatest avidity by two of those poor hungry
mendicants, who, in general, would both soar above the barrack-tops with
their prey, pulling and hauling against each other, and attended by a
hundred crows and kites, pecking them on the head most unmercifully.
Sometimes they would throw out a single bone, a pretty large one, with a
string and small kite at the end of it, or a large piece of rag. One of
the pelicans having swallowed the bone, he would fly aloft, with the
string and kite hanging out of his mouth, and with hundreds of his own
tribe after him, in hopes he might throw up the bone again, which these
birds can do with the greatest facility. Thus ascending, they are lost
sight of amidst the clouds; but the same gentleman would frequently be
in attendance the following day at dinner-hour, with a portion of the
string hanging to him.
We had not gone much further on our round, when the officer scented a
bundle of cigars, which he picked up and archly said, "Sergeant, what
luxurious dogs these pelicans must be! I have already seen beef, mutton,
and pork bones, and here I find a bundle of cigars. I should not be
surprised if I stumbled upon a bottle of brandy next." This the artful
sergeant did not know how to account for; but the thing was obvious
enough: the whole had been thrown over for the prisoners, by some of
their friends. The sergeant was severely admonished for his neglect of
duty, and a long conversation then took place between me and the
orderly-officer, on the subject of these wonderful birds. They grow so
tame that they will feed out of your hand. At night, they roost on the
tops of the barracks, and on trees in their vicinity. In the morning
early, they pay their respects to the river-side in search of any dead
bodies that may be washed ashore; and it is a most appalling sight to
see those ravenous creatures, with hundreds of enormous vultures,
tearing human bodies to pieces. If you live on the banks of the Ganges,
it is no uncommon sight to see crows, vultures, and hawks, riding down
the river on dead bodies, feeding on them as they sail along. This is
easily accounted for. Hindoos, in general, are committed to the pile
after death, and burned to ashes; but the poor people, who cannot
perform this last office to their departed relatives, burn the hair off
the body, which is then committed to the Holy Gunga, as they call the
Ganges. The bodies, when exposed to the sun, swell to an enormous and
frightful size.
One day, I was walking on the banks of the Ganges, when I saw a group of
people sitting together, and mumbling something to themselves. Near them
I saw a corpse, wrapped in a white sheet, with its feet covered with
water. A few moments after, a young man, I should think about twenty
years of age, shouldered the corpse, and, walking slowly to an elevated
bank, he hurled it into the river, in the same manner you would a log of
wood. He then plunged in after the body, and deprived it of the
winding-sheet, leaving the corpse to float down the tide in a state of
nudity. When the youth reached the shore, I asked him who the young
person was that he had thrown into the river. He replied, with a kind of
grin, "My wife." I said, "You don't seem to be very sorry about her." He
said, "No; it was God's pleasure." I asked him how old she was, and he
said, "Thirteen years old." I then inquired if he had any family. He
replied, "Not now; she had one, a little girl, but that the Gunga had
got the day before." I then asked him how long his wife had been dead,
when he informed me that she died the moment before I came up. The
father and mother of the unfortunate girl were both there, but seemed as
indifferent as the rock on which they had perched themselves to watch
her progress down the rippling stream--the cold grave of millions.
[Illustration]
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