We were still obliged to carry on our approaches with all possible
vigilance and activity; and our discipline was not relaxed in the
slightest particular. We were compelled to watch the enemy with a
jealous eye, not allowing our late little victory to feed our vanity, or
to seduce us from our wonted caution. Every eye was now fixed on the
hill which was in front of our head approach; and various and ludicrous
were the reports and opinions, during the day and night, of the
movements on the said hill. Fallen trees were magnified into guns and
mortars; variegated bushes into soldiers; the light between the trees
into flags; and the midnight _ignis fatuus_, on its nocturnal rambles,
into torches and lights of the enemy. The rustling leaves, falling down
the wintry glen, were construed into the coming foe; and, had one of our
captains been the commander-in-chief, the hill would have been treeless
and leafless, for he would have blown them all up instead of the enemy.
The glass was never from this gentleman's eye. Could his thoughts and
speculations by day and night have been committed to paper, his words
would have shone forth in all the radiance of a military vocabulary.
What shells would he not have expended upon the poor _ignis fatuus_! All
we could do or say, he would not believe us. If he had been our general,
we should have been in Khatmandoo, the capital of Nepaul, in half the
time. His system was new and wonderful; for, when arguing on the best
plan to be adopted, he had always the most happy knack of catching the
enemy asleep. But in these notions he happened to have mistaken his men.
The Nepaulese soldiers never sleep, or rather, such is their
watchfulness, that you can never surprise them. This misconception of
their character would have led him wrong as often as the _ignis fatuus_.
It is quite preposterous to hear some men boasting of what they would do
if they had the command. Soldiers are not to judge of the actions of
their superiors, but implicitly to obey any orders that may be
communicated to them. It is certain, at least, we have no right to
promulgate our opinions to the prejudice of others. I longed for an
opportunity of seeing this kill-devil of a captain well tried as a
soldier; for, if he killed people as fast by the sword as he did by the
tongue, two companies of such men would clear the universe, asleep or
awake. However, I never had my wish gratified in this respect, though I
do not despair that I may hear of some of his brilliant exploits when he
is general; for his merits surely cannot be long before it reach the
throne.
While we were parading the company in the evening, the captain observed
a man looking extremely ill, and asked him what was the matter with him.
"Nothing at all, your honour, only a little scratch one of them
spalpeens gave me on the hill yesterday; but, sure, it's nothing worth
while talking about." As the surgeon was standing near the parade, he
was sent for, and the man went into a tent to show his scratch, as he
called it, when it was found that the ball had carried away the point of
his lower rib, and the wound having been neglected, the surgeon
expressed some doubts as to whether the ball was still in or not; when
the soldier replied, "I beg your pardon, that's a great big mistake, for
here it is" (pulling it out of his pocket), "beat as flat as a
crown-piece." He was then ordered to the hospital, but was almost
obliged to be dragged there, for he bellowed out, "Arrah, captain,
honey, are you going to send me to the hospital before I get
satisfaction and revenge for this wound?" He was, of course, obliged to
go, and he got better; but during the campaign against the Nepaulese, he
never had the satisfaction he required.
The following day I went on outlying piquet, on a small hill about half
a mile from the right of the camp. This was, strictly speaking, a piquet
or post of observation, as, immediately behind it, was a small foot
pathway from the hill, which our advanced post had not yet reached. It
was, therefore, requisite to guard the mouth of this little pathway with
great care.
I believe it was when on this service that I had occasion to notice an
instance of sagacity in a dog, that may be deemed worthy of being
recorded.
In passing the sentinels, I found it necessary to admonish one of them
for not challenging in a louder voice. To my astonishment, the excuse
which the man made was, that he was afraid of waking a faithful dog of
his, which was asleep under a bush just by.
"What!" said I, "then I suppose you sometimes take nap about with this
faithful animal."
"Why, yes," said the man, innocently, "sometimes, sir; and, to say the
truth, I have but five minutes ago relieved him from his post."
"Very candid, truly," said I; "but are you not aware, my good fellow,
that you could be shot for sleeping on your post?"
The sentinel admitted that he knew well the consequences to which he
would be subjected by so doing; but notwithstanding this, he asserted
that he could thoroughly confide in his faithful companion, who, on the
slightest noise, would jump upon him, and awake him.
On further inquiry, I learnt that this sagacious and faithful creature
would regularly, when his master was on watch, stand his hour and walk
his round; that, in very dark nights, he would even put his ear to the
ground, and listen; and that, during the period assigned to him as his
turn to watch, he would never venture to lie down, but would steadily
and slowly walk his round, which nothing could induce him to leave, such
was his opinion of the nature and responsibility of his post. The man
added, that he once gave him to an officer of the Company's service, who
took him from the station where he was (Meerut) to Loodiana, a distance
of four hundred miles, and that, the moment the officer let him loose,
he returned to his old master, having performed that great distance in
two days and a half; that he was on the main-guard the night he
returned, and he was awoke by the dog licking his face. It appeared that
he had been through the barrack, and visited every sleeping soldier on
their separate cots, until he found his master. The man related several
anecdotes of this animal: among the rest, he said he was one day out
drinking toddy, some miles from camp, and from the intoxicating effect,
and the extreme heat of the weather, he went to sleep. On awaking, he
found his clothes torn in several places, and that he had been dragged
more than three yards from the bush under which he had lain down; but
what was his astonishment, on getting up, to find a large snake almost
torn to pieces, no doubt by his faithful guard! He was a powerful dog--a
kind of Persian hill greyhound--that would kill a wolf single-handed.
On the following day we opened our batteries on some stockades on the
face of the hill intervening between us and the fort of Muckwanpore. The
first stockade that we proposed to dislodge, was one about eight hundred
or a thousand yards from our battery. We could not approach nearer than
this, as a deep and enormous declivity lay between us. This being the
case, we were under the necessity of commencing at this great distance.
The stockade seemed alive with men. There was also a tent pitched in it,
with several colours flying, in token of defiance. Some dozen shells,
which were beautifully thrown into this stockade, put some of them to
double-quick; the tent soon disappeared, as well as the colours, and
most of the men, save now and then one or two taking a sly peep to see
what we were about. The eighteen and twenty-four pound balls, however, I
am convinced never had power to penetrate that little edifice of art. It
was evidently built of green bamboos. These, when green, are very
elastic, and, being interwoven, as this stockade seemed to be, there is
no question that, at the distance from which we fired, they would resist
the power of our balls. We frequently saw men running and picking up
something, a hundred yards or more from the place. We could not suppose
that they were picking up stones.
In the course of this day we received a communication to admit into camp
a native from the fort, with his attendants, six in number. "Halloa,"
said one, "what! they have had a sickener, have they?"--"They have had
enough on't," said another. A soldier standing near me bellowed out,
"Arrah, Corporal Freeman, dear, sure the enemy have got the Corporal
Forbes" (meaning the cholera morbus), "for the rajah is coming to take
_ta_ with Sir David Maloney." This was what our men had christened him,
I suppose to make his name shorter. Various were the reports in
circulation, and every one had his own opinion. Here again the glass of
the noble captain, of whom I have already made honourable mention, was
constantly at his eye, looking for this messenger of peace. Sometimes he
saw him on horseback; then in his palanquin, attended by one hundred
followers. "If he was the commander-in-chief, he would not permit one of
them to come within a mile of the camp, armed." One time he saw the
rajah riding on a milk-white steed on the hill; but this procession,
unfortunately, proved to be no other than little white clouds riding in
the sky. Ten thousand were the methods and styles in which this
messenger was to make his appearance, and not one was right, for he
arrived carried in something like a sailor's hammock, with one follower.
He was a dirty, ill-looking, thick-set fellow, with small eyes, wide
face, and a low forehead. In spite of these disadvantages of person,
however, he assumed all the consequence of a nabob; but when we
commenced examining his hammock and person, to see that he had no hidden
weapon, his ambassadorship was highly offended, and protested that, to
use his own words, "He would not permit his holy person (for he was a
priest) to be polluted or defiled by the contaminating touch of a
Christian." He added, "that he was a high-priest, and that, rather than
submit to such debasement, he would return to his rajah, and inform him
of the prodigious indign scrutiny of his holy person." He was soon
informed, that if he did not submit to the required forms and rules of
the East, he of course might return to his master, and tell him what he
pleased. He was getting into his hammock for this purpose, when his
holiness thought better of it, and said, "Well, you may examine." While
I searched his ponderous cumerbund (a long cloth that was round his
waist) he endeavoured to avoid my touch, by cringing from me, as he
would from the bite of a serpent; but I gave his holiness such a twist
round, that he thought he would never have stopped. Upon this his eye
darted vivid flashes of fire; I saw him clench his fists with rage; he
foamed from the sides of his mouth; and at one time I really thought
that the holy personage was about to forget his holiness, and coming to
the scratch. Having no secreted weapon upon him, he was permitted to
pass, and it was a very necessary precaution to examine such a fellow
strictly, for he was a Goorkah, or bastard Tartar, a race pre-eminently
bloodthirsty and cruel, and of the same sect with those who committed
such wanton cruelties on the poor unfortunate spy of Ettoondah. In
obedience to our instructions, we passed him into camp, and in about an
hour he returned, his sallow face contracted and distorted with all the
rage and malice that can make the human features terrific. He passed on
in sullen silence, in his heart vowing vengeance, as he had no doubt
been unsuccessful in his embassy. His sudden exit, and obvious
displeasure, indicated a renewal of hostilities; at least so said the
all-wise captain, who was the very fountain of information--a complete
reservoir of the pure stream of knowledge, at least as far as his own
opinion went.
Notwithstanding this sage prediction, however, two more days passed
away, when another ambassador came into camp--if not so holy as the
former, certainly more like a statesman. This second messenger remained
a considerable time in deep and secret conversation with our noble
general, who could see as far as most folks, although the service had
deprived him of one eye. At last he left, his eye beaming delight. He
smiled and bowed as he passed, and we, one and all, immediately flew to
the sure channel of information. His opinion was peace; and, for once
during the captain's campaigns, he was right, for, the day following,
the firing from our batteries ceased, and the uncle to the then reigning
rajah, who was regent, was expected in camp. Every eye was on the
look-out for this great personage, and various were the opinions of the
anxious multitude, and they were as ridiculous as they were varied. The
wise captain was not idle, either with his glass or his tongue. To do
honour to the reception of such a personage, the two flank companies of
the 87th regiment, and the two flank companies of the 25th native
infantry, formed a street to the general's tent, where every preparation
was made to receive our visitor as regent, and uncle to the reigning
rajah, who was a boy. Having waited some hours after the time, Sir David
began to get nettled, and was in the act of withdrawing the troops and
setting our batteries to work, when the shrill sound of the war-trumpet,
and the roll of the war-drum, were heard, which were signals that the
regent was on the move. Shortly afterwards we saw him descending the
hill in a superb palanquin, attended by about twenty armed men on foot.
At the end of the street he was met by the adjutant-general,
quarter-master-general, and several other staff-officers; and, after a
little hugging, they led him on, taking his hands in theirs in token of
friendship. Thus they proceeded to the general's splendid tent, the
street presenting arms, which he perfectly understood, and to which he
bowed in a most majestic manner. I do not think that in the course of my
service I ever beheld a more noble and venerable-looking man. He was
most superbly dressed, with numberless daggers stuck in his cumerbund,
and a sword by his side that seemed studded with diamonds and precious
stones. His neck, turban, and hands were one mass of jewels. Our brave
general met him at the door of his tent, when the greeting was most
laughable; something like that of Doodle and Noodle, in "Tom Thumb." The
manners of our visitor were those of a perfect courtier; but he was
free, affable, and jocular. In two hours after the customary sprinkling
of scents, the treaty of peace was ratified, and he returned towards
home with pleasure in his eye. Here the wise captain ran about,
delighted and delighting, saying, "Did I not tell you so? I knew it--I
could not be deceived--the thing was plain. People must have been blind
not to have foreseen this event."
Thus ended the fighting against the Nepaulese, this having been the
second campaign in what is called the Goorkah war. It was a fortunate
thing for all hands that hostilities were thus terminated, for seventy
men of the 87th regiment had that morning gone to hospital with the
dysentery, a complaint that was raging with great violence, from the
damp situation of the valley, and the thick fogs that lodged there till
nearly mid-day. Guns were ordered down, and we began to prepare for
quarters. None were sorry for it, for already were our toes playing at
hide-and-seek through our boots, and our wardrobes were much the worse
for wear. We were given to understand, from the quarter-master-general,
that the post which we took had been vacated by the enemy's troops,
without orders, and that they were sent back reinforced to retake and
keep it, in which attempt, if they did not succeed, their heads were to
be the forfeit. This accounts for the desperate manner in which they
fought and struggled to keep the post.
Having vacated the hill, and our enemies having now become our
friends--for many of them had already come down into camp for the
purpose of purchasing articles in our bazaars--some three or four of us
made a party to visit the fort and stockades; for which purpose we
started after breakfast, and reached their advanced outpost. Here we
were stopped, and informed that we could not be permitted to proceed any
further, without the permission of the keeledar, or governor of the
fort; but that, if we would wait, a man should be sent to ask if we
might advance. To this we consented, and, in about half an hour after,
the man who had been sent on this errand came back, with two other men,
and said the keeledar had been pleased to grant us permission to go, but
that we must go unarmed, leaving our swords in the last stockade. The
ascent of the hill towards the fort was extremely difficult; and at
every turning of the road was a strong stockade with guns; so that our
necessary loss in taking these hills and posts must have been enormous,
for there was scarcely any footing.
We at last reached the grand fort of Muckwanpore, if it deserved the
name. It was built of stone and brick, and was very high; but a dozen
shots from our twenty-four-pounders would have levelled it with the
ground. Indeed, one bastion had given warning of its intending to stand
no longer. The tempests that rage in these hills had shaken its
foundation. The gate was strong, but its hinges were small. On our
entering, a small guard at the gate presented arms, a drummer beat the
grenadiers' march, and a little fifer played the tune. Both the drum and
the fife were of English manufacture. A little further was the tent we
had seen in the stockade--at least some part of it. It was riddled like
a sieve with our shells, and the top of it was hanging in ribbons. Here
we were introduced to the governor, who was seated on a greasy cushion,
the pillows of which, though they had once been white, were now the
colour of his face. He received us cordially, and shook hands with us
most heartily; and he was really a very jolly old fellow, some twenty
or twenty-three stone, his fat sides hanging in large flaps over his
hips, which we sometimes made shake again with laughter. He paid us many
compliments about our fighting and system of warfare, and wanted to know
how many thousands we had had killed. When we assured him that we had
not lost more than forty he laughed heartily, and said, we meant forty
hundred, for they had lost more than that. We spent a pleasant hour with
this fat governor, who, after we had looked round the fort, had the
politeness to parade his regiment for our inspection. I never saw a
finer body of men in my life. They were as well armed, and as well
equipped in every respect, as our native troops. After this we returned
to camp, and the following morning marched towards cantonments.
[Illustration: GHOORKA SOLDIER.
From a Sketch taken by the late Earl of MUNSTER.]
As all treaties contracted in India, between native and European powers,
are ever to be held with a jealous and watchful eye (for naught but time
can make them valid), it was necessary for us to take up a position to
watch the proceedings of our new friends. Under the cloak of friendship,
some of the most barbarous massacres have been perpetrated; and treaties
have been frequently signed and sealed, and, ere the signature was dry,
the enemy have commenced infringing on their contracts and sacred ties.
It has even been known that, during the time occupied by the parley
necessary for completing such negotiations, the enemy have been busily
engaged in making preparations for striking a more effectual blow. It
was but prudent, therefore, that we should keep our eye upon them. In
accordance with one of the covenants of the treaty, a British resident,
and the usual escort, were to remain at the capital. This escort
marched, on the same day we did, to Khatmandoo. Our march was through
the pass of Cheriagotte, where the mad-brained young officers wanted to
force an entrance. My description of this pass, as I proceed, will prove
how fatal, and contrary to the dictates of reason, would have been any
such attempt.
I was on the rear-guard the morning we left the valley of Muckwanpore.
The enemy--or, perhaps, I should say our friends--flocked in great
numbers, to bid us farewell, or see us depart. The whole of the baggage
was nearly gone, when a number of these soldiers gathered round the
guard, asking all manner of questions. A most respectable-looking young
man, wearing the dress of an officer, came up to me and said, "Were you
not in the action on the hill of Muckwanpore?"
I told him that I had had that honour.
He replied, "So was I; and I fired three shots at you from behind a
tree--are you not wounded?"
I replied, "No."
"Well," said he, "I never missed my man before in my life."
I asked him at what period of the action it was that he aimed at me.
"When you were fighting with Sobah Khissna Rhannah," replied he.
"You were not far from your man, then," said I, "for one of your shots
struck the peak of my cap."
At this he laughed. He afterwards complimented me on my swordmanship,
and said that few could touch the sobah in that exercise. He then asked
to look at one of my men's muskets, and he put himself through the
manual and platoon exercises, giving himself the word of command in
English. I never saw motions more clean or more compactly executed. I
asked him where he learned English, and the English modes of drill. He
replied, "From Browne," who was a deserter from the Company's European
regiment. He added, that a man of the name of Bell, a deserter from the
Company's Foot Artillery, had also taught him his exercise, and Browne
had instructed him in English. The former, he said, had been made
colonel of artillery, and the latter schoolmaster; but they had both
been discharged from the service at the commencement of the war.
At last we moved off, the young stranger shaking me heartily by the
hand, and saying, "I love a brave soldier; and the white men are all
brave." This young man, it appeared, was the adjutant of the corps of
which Khissna Rhannah, who fell under my fortunate sabre, was colonel.
Our first march was tolerably easy, as it lay under a winding hill; and
we reached nearly the top of the pass, and encamped. On the following
morning we dispatched our things very early, to prevent them falling
into the hands of the people, should they attempt to prove
treacherous--which was not at all improbable--after we had descended the
ghauts. When under the base of the hill, the road, which had been before
wide and tolerably good, narrowed off, and we soon found ourselves
sinking down between two enormous hills. The road was scarcely wide
enough, in some places, to admit an elephant, with his load, to pass. On
each side of this terrific hill were huge rocks and stones piled up for
our destruction. Some, of enormous size, the least touch would have
precipitated upon our heads, and they seemed to have been rolled to the
brink for that purpose. There were stockades upon stockades, all looking
on and commanding this little and narrow excavated pathway. Had we once
entered, as I have before mentioned was suggested by some rash-brained
young officers, not a soul could have escaped destruction. I should
think that, in the middle of this ghaut, the perpendicular rock on each
side must have been five hundred feet high; and therefore, had there
been no other weapons of destruction than the ponderous masses of rock
and stone which they could have hurled upon us, our annihilation must
have been inevitable, for escape was impossible.
When we reached the other side, the eye was met by stockades, fortified
hills in all directions, and strong breastworks thrown across the
roadway, which was here somewhat wider; though our road all along was,
in fact, nothing more than the bed of a river, surrounded and commanded
by numberless little fortified sugar-loaf hills. These the foe had been
obliged to ascend by means of ladders. To complete the destruction these
hills must have dealt upon us, they had poisoned a stream of water,
either previous to our march from the ravine some ten days before, or
since the treaty of peace was signed; but this was timely detected. The
poisonous grass I have before alluded to, had been sunk in a kind of
basin, which was constantly replenished by water that fell from the
rocks behind it. This might be about twenty yards round, and two deep.
On the morning of our return, an elephant, belonging to
Lieutenant-Colonel Rose, of the Company's army, as also a horse
belonging to that officer, had preceded the army, and even the baggage.
The elephant got his fore feet in the water, of which he drank a little,
but seemed not to relish it. The horse could not be induced to drink
much, nor would the elephant again touch it. When urged by his keeper,
such was his perverseness, that the driver descended, and, on looking at
the water, he saw a yellowish colour rising to the surface, which was
caused by the pressure of the elephant's feet on the grass. The keeper
immediately introduced his hand, and pulled out the poisonous herb. This
occurrence was without delay communicated to our gallant commander; and,
never shall I forget his indignation and displeasure at this
intelligence. The fact being ascertained by the medical department, and
both the elephant and horse dying shortly afterwards, Sir David
peremptorily called upon the Nepaul government for satisfaction for this
diabolical attempt to poison his army; but they denied all knowledge of
such a base transaction, protesting that the heads of the offenders
should be the penalty, if they could discover the authors of such a
scheme, which they affected to suppose must be the act of some
individual who had sustained injury by the war. They promised that a
most strict inquiry should be set on foot, and that the result should be
made known to our government. Here, I believe, the business ended; at
least, we heard no more of it. A guard was, after this discovery,
placed on the poisoned water, to prevent any of the cattle that followed
from drinking it; and the basin was afterwards filled up by our
pioneers, as an effectual remedy to prevent any other travellers that
might be journeying that way from becoming its victims.
Nothing worth narrating happened during our march to our new place of
encampment, or where a temporary cantonment was to be erected; save that
we went to visit the still exposed bones of those poor creatures who
were murdered at Summanpore and Persah. Skulls, and whole bodies, were
here to be seen in all directions, and scarcely a tree that had not
fifty shots in it. We dropped a tear to the memory of the poor fellows
who had here fallen, and committed their fleshless bones to the earth.
Having arrived at our new place of encampment, we found that some
temporary barracks had been erected there, for two regiments, the year
before. The site of our new cantonment was marked out. It was on the
banks of a beautiful lake, well stocked with fish and wild fowl. Here
every one commenced building his hut, not knowing the moment we might be
called upon to re-commence the campaign; for breach of treaties with
such people was an everyday occurrence. From the long and uninterrupted
friendship which has now subsisted between the two nations, we may, I
think, with fairness conclude, that first impressions are the most
durable; and, if in my power, I would take especial care not to run the
risk of a failure at the beginning of a campaign. An effectual blow then
makes the enemy shy and tame; and the complete victory gained over the
Nepaulese, at Muckwanpore, beat them into principles they never knew
before. They are, however, still tenacious of admitting strangers into
their country, and it is with difficulty that a passport can be obtained
to visit any part of their beautiful territory.
In the month of March we had built and completed our bungalows, or huts,
containing two or three rooms each; but we had scarcely got housed when
we received orders to proceed to Cawnpore by water--a tedious and long
trip at that time of the year. I therefore, being almost tired of war's
alarms, began to turn my mind towards the object of my affections, with
whom I had kept up a constant correspondence during the whole campaign.
I asked for permission to proceed by land to Cawnpore. This was readily
granted, and I started alone on this long trip--a distance of four
hundred and thirty miles.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE FORT OF HATTRAS.
From a Sketch taken by the late Earl of MUNSTER.]