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Music Hall Ballad, "A thousand curses never tore a shirt." Eastern Proverb. And yet the modern modification of the Pagan oath, " By Jove," has been all-powerful in the mouths of word-coiners of political cries to kill with ridicule what cannot be overthrown by argument — a duty called Patriotism. Sir Henry Havelock-Allan in a speech on the death of Lord Beaconsfield, said — " It must be allowed that he possessed one virtue — Patriotism — but that was a Pagan virtue." If Patriotism be Paganism, then there be many English folk content to be writ, " Pagan." Among them we must not venture to include the Postmaster-General, judging by the following from The Times of November 21st, 1892. '• The Drilling of Post-Office Messengers. — A deputation from the Council of the International Arbitration League waited upon the Postmaster-General at St. Martin's-le-Grand on Friday evening to protest against the miHtary training of the telegraph boys in the postal service. Mr. W. R. Cremer, M.P., Secretary to the League, introduced the deputation, which, he explained, was composed of members of organised bodies of workers, who were there to endeavour to stay a movement they looked upon with great disfavour. Mr. Howard Evans, chairman of the Council, said the League had done not a little in the past to counteract the Jingo spirit — the war spirit of this country. The deputation were there to protest against the telegraph messengers being compelled to go into the army just as they attained the age of manhood, which was, in fact, a system of indirect conscription. Several others having spoken, the Postmaster-General in reply said the case of the deputation had been /airly and reasonably placed i.lLlOil viti PREFACE. I bejore him. He was in thorough sympathy with the League, and it was their duty, as representatives of the League, and as Trade Unionists, to criticise the action of any public department which tended to increase the military spirit of the country." It is needless to remark that drilling telegraph boys has no more to do with compulsory service than the Salvation Army's big drum, or the red smocks of the Shoeblack Brigade. The Peace Association would also forbid the use of the national flag, ignoring the last advice given by the Prince of Peace to his followers — " Let him that hath no sword sell his garment and buy one." UNION JACKS. The International Arbitration and Peace Association wrote that the Committee of the Association had adopted a resolution as follows — " That, with reference to the letter of the Earl of Meath to the chairman of the London School Board offering to give £^o towards the provision of ' Union Jacks ' to be displayed in Board Schools, this committee trust that, should the offer be accepted, no use will be made of the flags tending to {oster among the children a spirit of militarism, or of contempt for or disparagement of other nations." The letter was referred to the School Management Committee. The Gas Workers' and General Labourers' Union (South Woolwich Branch) forwarded the following resolution : — " That this meeting strongly condenms the undemocratic spirit of such members of the London School Board as are favourable to the introduction of Union Jacks, together with some ritual in keeping with that semi-barbaric worship of national fetishes known as Jingoism, into our Board Schools. And we think the members of the London School Board could be better congratulated upon a fitness for their high office were they rather eager in the suppression of such tales of the triumphs of the British flag as have made the name of Englishmen a pretty general byword for rapacity, tyranny, and oppression throughout the world, and, instead, endeavour to sink the vaunt of racial superiority and encourage in the young mind the nobler ideals of a reign of universal brother- hood and peace. Furthermore, we think any educational movement which may possibly bias children politically unfair to their parents, who are of many varied shades of political opinion, some thinking British traditions of the past rather I'^l PREFACE. IX remarkable for impudence than dignity, and British rule (in India, for example, where salt is taxed 400 per cent, to keep the younger sons of our aristocracy in snug billets) the most intolerable burden the world has ever had to bear." These people know that the Civil Service in India is filled by open competition. But they know also that political triumph is apt to follow the banners of those who lie longest and strongest. Like Count Tolstoi, they look only upon the inscriptions on one side of the coins set in circulation by the teaching of Christ. The Count follows this view to its logical conclusion in " The Kreutzer Sonata," in which he submits a plan for the extinction of the human race. It will commend itself to those who are neither men nor women. When the earth is peopled by such, love and war will cease. Mean- while in every tongue and nation Jingoes will abound from General Joshua to Private John Ploughman. " And Caleb said. He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife." — Josh. XV., 16. Emile Zola has put into the mouth of a despairing French soldier the following opinion : " Mais, repris par sa science, Maurice songeait a la guerre necessaire, la guerre qui est la vie m6me, la loi du monde. N'est-ce pas I'homme pitoyable qui a introduit I'idde de justice et de paix, lorsque I'impas- sable nature n'est qu'un continuel champ de massacre ? . . . . ' S'entendre ! " s'ecria-t-il. ' Oui, dans des siecles.' Si tous les peuples ne formaient plus qu'un peuple, on pourrait conce- voir a la rigeur I'avenement de cet age d'or ; et encore la fin de la guerre ne serait-elle pas la fin de I'humanit^ ? . . . . J'etais imbecile tout a I'heure, il faut se battre, puisque c'est la loi." The survival will be of the fittest. Englishmen shrink from the acknowledgment of Patriotism, perhaps because they feel the boastful ballad of the music-hall is not true in its first postulate — men. In a country where universal liability to military service is not the law of the land, expressions of patriotism seem out of place, too much like Artemus Ward dedicating his wife's relations to the maintenance of the American Union. We rely mainly upon the conscripts of hunger officered by the sans-souciant sons of affluence. " But Romans, in Rome's quarrel, spared neither land nor gold, Nor hmb nor life, nor child nor wife, in the brave days of old." PREFACE. It is not thought that the biography of the special type of Jingo here selected has much of interest, apart from the fact that half-a-century of life, mostly over sea, has forced a wider horizon upon his physical and mental vision than falls to the lot of home-keeping Englishmen. Allowance must also be made for the taint of military heredity and the contact with many men of many creeds. If lessons are to be learned from events the truth must be told. " Naught has been set down in malice." The Canadian Campaign tells itself in telegrams and letters. Without permission I have used the names of some old comrades and others. I have also quoted from Articles I had written in the United Service Magazine. The two illustrations initialed "I. A." involving mysteries of millinery, have been kindly supplied by a lady friend, and I have been helped in the re-production of others. My friend, Comte de Borde, for- merly of the French navy generously copied my originals by photography, and they were finally engraved by Messrs. Dellagcna and Co. But my thanks are above all due to my friend " Meg Dyan " for her valuable help and unflagging interest in the work, without which Gunner Jingo would probably never have seen the light. T. Bland Strange. CONTENTS. PART I. PAGE. Chapter I. — Soldier Jhat — Petticoat Influence — "Enfant de Troupe"— Waterloo — Piety and Profanity — Tales of My Grandmother — A Royal Spree — A Burst with the Hounds—'* Pallida Mors" — School Days and Holidays — Irish Highlanders — A Non-Competition Wallah Chapter li. — College Life — " Mos pro Lege" — The Minstrel Boy — Charles Gordon— Adam Lindsay Gordon — Promotion — A Military Arnold — A Snooker Aristocrat — A Quiet Pipe — Astronomical — Sky Signs Chapter IV. — A Vision — A Brain Wave... Chapter V. — The Calpe Hunt — Africa- Wedding Parties ...' -Shooting and 22 Chapter III. — Gibraltar — Gib-al-Taric — Saracenic Con- quest — A Queen's Chemise — Rien de sacre pour un Sappeur — The Union Jack — A Capture — Spanish Honour — ScrambHng ... 35 45 48 Chapter VI. — Andalucia — Red Hot Shot — An Ass who Lost his Head — A Ride in Andalucia — The Insular Englishman — " Zingari " — Pepita — Cadiz — "El TigreReal " 52 xn CONTENTS, PACK. Chapter VII. — Bull Fightinj^, Professional and Amateur — A Matador's Salute — A Knowinff Bull — Demos — A White Hat — Picadors and Horses — Chulos and Bandarilleros — The Melee — A Wild Waltz — The Slain — Cosas de Espaha — An Amateur Bull Fight — Turkey Plucking — Wicked Women — A Crowned Monarch of the Street — A Flea- Bitten Grey ... ... ... bi Chapter VIII. — Gib Once More — Moorish Haiks and Highland Kilts — The Carnival— ■" Rule Britannia" — •: Plus Royaliste que le Roi " — The Crimea ... 70 Chapter IX. — Home Again — Disappointed — Chair au Canon — The Sub and the Bombardier — Ould Ireland — Another Woolwich Job — The Antilles — Yellow Jack and Port Royal Jack 74 Chapter X. — " D.T." — Creole Love — Opera and Man- grove Swamp— Mother Wingrove — The Blue Mountains — A Negro Hymn — Ruined Plantation — Blacksmith and Minister — M.P. and Waiter — A Devil Fish — A Young Earthquake — Negro Disturbance — Island Hospitalities — Ordered Off — Jigger'd 84 Chapter XI. — Negro Home Rule — Amiable Aborigines — Simian Aptitudes — A Yellow Bandana — A Principal Production — Quarantine — New Provi- dence — War Preparations — Pig Hunting — Anglo Saxon Relatives — The Imperial Octopus — A Swim for the Mail — A Fire — A Retrieving Snake — A Spectral Pipe — A Garrison Order — A Missing Detachment — Wanted for the Crimea ... ... 99 Chapter XII. — Store Ledgers and Kit Inspection — The Autocrat of the Quarterdeck — Pugilistic — A Coral Reef — Soldier-Sailors — Peace Proclaimed — Two Greetings — Crimean Heroes — An Awkward Question— Moplahs — Wolf, the Amal — Conti- nental — A British Matron — A Soft Seat — A Wrathful Gaul — A Telegram ... ... ... 114 Chapter XIII. — Indian Equipments — The Land of the Pharaohs — The Red Sea and Colombo — Calcutta ! CONTENTS. Xtll PAGE. and Contemporary History — Hullock Train March — Benares Punishment Parade — A Com- missary of Ordnance — The Hutcha — A Plimi- Pudding — A Start — (iun Elephants— The Hooshiar One — An Ekka— A Release... ... ... ... 131 Chapter XIV. — The Scrimmage of Secundra — Artillery Tactics in India — Chanda, a Spoilt iiittle — A Regimental Legend — A Climax ... ... ••• H7 Chapter XV'. — Morning Orders— The Don — Jedburgh Justice — Winged Enemies — Sultanpoor — A Young May Moon — A Reconnaisance — A Word in Season — An Artillery Steeplechase — Close Quarters — "Follow me, Lads!" — Demon Rockets — Elephantine Philosophy ... 154. Chapter XVI. — Fort Moonshee Gunj— Polite Orders — ,, 9th Lancers — Percy Smith — An Unsuccessf' I Attempt — More Captured Cams — A War Corre- spondent ... ... ... 164 Chapikr v\'II. — The Siege of Lucknow — Defences Taken in Reverse by Outram's Force — Not allowed to Cress the Bridges on the North — Arming a Battery by Night — Tommy Butler's V.C. — Death of an Empress Maker — Clearing Enclosures — A Card Party — Pyjamas — A Scare — We were not to take the Kaiser Bagh — A Prisoner- — A Big Fish — A Kiosk — A Looted Horse — Prize Money... 169 Chapter XVIII. — Bronze Heroes — The Bayard cf India — Bolt Holes — National Contrasts — AH Baba's Jars — A Blow up — A Long Drink and a Long Sleep — Incongruities — Nobody's Child — Dead Like a Soldier — Another Job for Jingo — The Residency Ruins — Taken Prisoner ... 186 Chapter XIX. — Gunners and Highlanders Routed — A Skied Gun — " X and Y " — A Gift Horse — F>om Tent to Palace — Unwelcome Neighbours — Poor Appetite — " Saw away, Doctor ! " — Hot Weather Campaign — V'ariola — " Lightly Won and Lightly Lost!" — Surprises of Sorts. ... .. ... 203 XIV CONTENTS. PAGE. Chapter XX. — Amalgamated Artilleries — Nightmare — Nawabgunge — Swords — The Feeders of Ravens — Truculent Fakirs — A Surprise Party — Aquatic Equitation ... ... ... ... ... ...212 Chapter XXI. — The Jhungy Guns— Merry Sunshine- Noah's Ark Camp ... 225 Chapter XXII. — A Bullet without a Billet — Contra- dictory Orders — Paper Collars — Unlearned Lessons — A Methodical Major — Iron Cuffs — A Common Soldier's Common Honour ... ... 232 Chapter XXIII. — The Bivouac — Riding to Cover — The Throw Off — A Rasper — The Finish — Kismet — The Last of the Black Horse Battery — A Scare 246 '' ! Chapti-r XXIV. — An Unposted Sentry — The Longest March must have an End — .\ Dance of Death and Resurrection — The Lost Pension — Vacv. ination Marks — Sic Transit Gloria ... ... ... ... 263 Chapter XXV. — Dak-Bungalow Breakfast — The Well of Cawnpore — The QuaHty of Mercy Strained — The Taj — Delhi — New Drills and Old Gun Car- riages — A Cropper— Hot Weather Shikar — Zubber Khan — Soldiers' Grievances — Soldiers" Colonies 271 Chapter XXVI. — Jottings from Jingo's Journal — In the Hills— Simla Thirty Years Ago — Flora and Fauna — Rope Bridge — Kooloo Valley — -Poly- andry — Rhotung Pass, 13,000ft. — ^Sources of Rivers Beas and Chenab — WMckerwork Bridge — Lahoul Valley — Women— Buddhist Temples- Praying Machines — Moravian Missions ... Chapter XXVII. — Alone — Yaks — Lamas — Ladak Tea — Tartar Tents — Ibe.x — Pig-tailed Shikaris — Bara Lacha Pass — Sing Kung La Pass, 17,000 feet — Ladies' Coiffure — Bewildered Guide — Glaciers — Ladakis (Male and Female) — liabies Few — Karjuk— "O! Man I Pat Mahoon "— Lost Coolies — Watershed — Char — Sale of Kashmir — The Rajah's Rapacity — Willow-Pattern-Plate Country 280 291 CONTENTS. XV PAGE. Chapter XXVIII. — Beyond the Rains — More Lamas — Portable Praying Machines — Sampoo River — Buddhist Monastery — Zascar Valley — Monks and Nuns — Mendicity and Mendacity — Surveyors — Phegam — Zunker Glacier — Servants 111 — One- Fifth of a Wife — Marmots — Pitidar — Snowstorm — Gilmotundi — Avalanche — 23,400 feet — Nunnoo Kunnoo — Pir La Moula — Abode of Snow Spirit — Crevasses — Dumohi — Wurdwan Valley — Kash- miri Character — Nagan Undher — Wounded Bear — Peculiar Pipe — Grass Sandals — Unsuccessful Ibex Stalk — Sacrifice a Sheep — Successful Bear and Bara Singa Shooting— Martund Ruins — Isla- mabad — Under the Chenars... ... ... ... 302 Chapter XXIX. — Lotus Eating — Peri Mahal — Mogul Dynasty^ — Nautch Girls — Punditanas — A Lady Killer— An Evening Party — Twelve Tined Ones — Star Chamber — ^More Bears — Camel Ride — Tale of a Foot — Missing Mahatmas— Mahometan Christian — Zubber Khan's Farewell ... ... 317 Chaptsr XXX. — Piping Times of Peace — Cholera Creeds— A Sainted Scamp — Widows and Weddings — Honeymoon March — Drumhead Discipline — Chinese Gordon asks in Vain — Lights and Shadows on a Sun Dial— Farewell East ... ... 331 Chapter XXXI. — Homeward Bound— Sailoring — Over- board — Gunnery School — A Royal Gunner— Mili- tary Lessons of Sorts — Volunteers— Aldershot — Chalons — Two Stories of 1H70 — Bazaine — Gordon 338 PART 11.— WEST\\ARD HO ! Chapter I. — Quebec— King Cash-Balance — The Old Flag— The New Guard — Winter Armament — English Ears — The Ice Cone — Tandems — Winter Bivouacs — Canadian Seigneurs — Lord Dufferin — The Phantom Fox — Electricity. ... 347 itHkmtm XVJ CONTENTS. PAGE. Chapter II. — The Tricoleur and the Green — Goldwin Smith — Blue Blouse — An Inquest — Captain Short — The Centenary of 1875 — Charles Kingsley — The Marquis of Lome and the Princess — Palliser Guns — Mission to British Columbia — The Mormons — Lost Boundaries — Canadian Military College 365 Chapter III. — Too Old to Soldier — Start a Ranche — Blackfeet Neighbours — Legal Difficulties — General Jingo's Hardest March — Crowfoot and Old Sun — Horse-thieves, Red and White — A Judas Kiss — House Building, Well-sinking, etc. — Cattle Killing — Round-ups— Broncho-Busting — First War Note —Indian Strength — White Weakness — Called to Command — Old Soldiers Turn Up ... ... .. ... 380 Chapter IV. — Storm Foreseen — Causes — Party Politics — Amnestied Rebel and Murderer — Land Claims Unadjusted — Prairie Indians no Practical Grievance — Cattle Killing Impunity — Destruction of Buffalo — Northern Indians — The Squaw and the Agent's Dog — Annexation Scheme ... ... 400 Chapter \'. — Telegram of Fight at Duck Lake— Burn- ing of Fort Carlton and Retirement of Police to Prince Albert — Blackfoot Scare at Calgary — Raising Mounted Corps — High and Bow^ River and Military Colonizatian Ranche Patrols — Ordered to March to Join General Middleton — Who can Take Care of Himself — Dancing, Raid- ing, and Patrolling — " Non Possumus "^ — Red Men on the War Path — White Men Denouncing Everybody and Everything— As I can get no Arms, Ammunition, nor Authority, Propose to Disband Troops I have Raised — Excellent Results, backed by Frog Lake Massacre ... ... 404 Chapter VL — Letter to Lieutenant-Governor — Alarm of C.P.R. Employes— Strike of C.P.R Workmen — Appointed to Command in Alberta — Its Size — General Middleton Orders up Militia — P'ield Force Ordei— Two Raw Militia Battalions— 300 Miles Frontier Patrolled — Colonel Ouimet's Trip CONTENTS. xvn PAGE. East — Ammunition Factories — Equipment and Supplies take Time — A Princess's Gift — " Owre Mony Maisters " — Police Placed under Military Law — Expense of Extemporising Transport. ... 413 Chaptkr VTI. — Burnt Prairie and Severe Snowstorms — 65th Voltigeurs — Scout Cavalry — Light Kit and Magazine Rifle make Dr. Johnson's Dragoon Pope's Essay on Man — Revised V^ersion — Buffalo Bill Parade — A Protective Tariff on Saddles — First Advance — Snowblind Scouts — And Rev. Scouts — Amalgamated Police and Military Code — A Brigade- Major's Frictional Electricity — No Climate — Sloughs of Despond — Winnipeg Light Infantry — Three Successive Convoy Columns — Camp Orders — Sportmg Medicos — Canadian Pioneers — Indian Signalling — Peccant and Penitent Indians — King George's Men — Fort Edmonton — H.B.C. ... ... ... 426 Chapter VIII. — Fort Edmonton put into a State of Defence — Incessant Drill and Target Practice — Elastic Boat Building- — Anticipated Famine in the North — Teamsters' Strike — Scout Cavalry and 65th Advance to Victoria, leaving Detachments — Collecting Supplies — Rear Column Close Up — Newspaper News — Fish Creek — Fort Pitt — Half- Breed Scare — Flour-Clads not Appreciated — Suggested Experiments Relegated to the Enemy — Plan of Campaign — " Ma Boule Roulant " — Edmonton Folk — My Own Affairs... ... ... 446 Chapter IX. — Order of March — Queen's Birthday at Frog Lake — Massacre — Fort Pitt — Comnientary on the Gospel — Scouts on the Wrong Trail — Steele's First Skirmish — Frenchman's Butte ... 460 Chapter X. — Non-returning Messengers — First Pro- vision Convoy — Indian Rifle Pits — Cul-de-Sac — Seven Trails — Steele on Big Bear's Track — Chivalrous Red Men— Some Prisoners Released — General Middleton with Reinforcements— Steele's Fight — Race for H.B.C. Store — The Shade of " Malbrook" — More Muskeg — The Beaver River — Chippwayan Surrender — General Middleton comes XVIU CONTENTS. PAGE. to Beaver River — Pow-Wow — Colonel Williams at Frog Lake — More Boat Building — Colonel Osborne Smith crosses to Cold Lake — Captain Constantine scouts East — McLeans traced to Lac des lies — Mr. Bedson meets Them — Force Broken Up — Causes of Muskegs — My Old Oppo- nent and Myself both Suffer — Conclusion of Official Dispatch ... ... ... ... 494 Chapter XL — Colonel Montizambert's I^eport on " A " and '* B " Batteries — Major Short's Home Coming 511 I Chapter XIL— My Son to the Old Corps— The Pillar of Cloud by Day — The Pillar of Fire by Night — Indian Revenge — A Broken Leg — A Friend in Need — A Forfeited Pension — General Jingo's Jubilee— Consolation — Farewell Canada 520 Chapter XIIL— ' Gun with a Soul — Hawaii Found and Lost — The Girdle of Empire — Nigger Butcher or Hero — American Patriotism — Australian Natives' Association — Old Colonists — Germany and Russia in the Pacific — Colonial Governors — Democracy — Inter- Imperial Free Trade — Postal Muddles^ — The British Disunited States — Austra- lian Heptanarchy — A Peripatetic Council — United Empire ... 527 Chapter XIV. — Finis. 545 Full Page Illustrations. Gunner Jingo's Jubilee Petticoat Influence ... Europa Point ... Pepita ... Chutter Munzil Palace, Lucknow A Conquering Captive Noah's Ark Camp ... ... Alec Galbraith's Leap Habet! Buddhist Monastery, Ladak, Zascar Valley Title. 4 40 58 191 197 229 252 255 303 CONTENTS. XIX Kashmiri Punditanas B Battery's Christmas Greeting Military Colonization Ranche Steele's Scouts To f'tce PAGE 320 349 392 480 Maps. Lucknow Part of Dominion of Canada Battle of Frenchman's Butte Big Bear's Trail To face 169 ... 396 ... 489 ... 508 GUNNER JINGO'S JUBILEE. PART I.— CHAPTER I. SOLIJIEK Jh.VT- 1'ETTICOAT INFLUENCE — " EnKANT IJE TrOUI'E " - Waterloo I'lETY AND Profanity -Tales of My Granomother — A Royal Spree — A Burst with the Hounds- " Pallida Mors "School Days and Holidays — Irish Highlanders— A NON-COMI'ETITION WaLLAH. My hero was not a hero, though of soldier caste. His earUest recollection was of the dusty maidan of Meerut, as lie and his brother cantered on their ponies, Syce- followed, along the line of the old Cameronian Regiment, whose tall white feathers stuck out of monstrous wide- topped shakos. Being a boy he had no right to a doll — but he had one — a soldier doll in a red coat. He cut its arm off to make it more closely resemble Colonel Oglander, the old chief of the Cameronians, who had lost an arm in the Peninsula. The amputation was followed by a copious effusion of saw- dust which threatened the solidarity of the doll, but his mother, with the kindly surgery of her needle, saved the idol of her boy, which imaged the grim idol of that grim old covenanting regiment.* Half a century later, an old veteran hobbled on to a parade ground in British North America, and talked of the old Colonel to the new Colonel — the boy he had seen on iiis pony. The old Cameronian had kept his broad bonnet, 'A bronze stntiie of the Earl of Angus, wlio raised the afitd, or Caincroniun ke^nnent in 1689, has been nnveiled by the Karl of l)oiit;las, in Lanarkshire, in the presence of tlie Lord Provost of Glasgow, several of the past and present officers of the regiment and others. The statue, which is by Mr. Brock, K.A., has been erected to coniineniorate the 200th ainiiversary of the raising of the regiment, and is so placed that the figure over- looks the ground on which the first parade of the regiment was held. — '• Timks," Sept. i2tli, 1892. B r i K! 2 GUNNKR JINGO S JL'BII.FK. covered with white linen, as it was in India, to be buried with him in the new world he had survived to reach — where he had seen with scorn the modern skimp glengarry trans- ferred to the Irish and English Regiments as well as to Highlanders recruited in Manchester composing what is called our localised army. The subject of our sketch was called " Tommy," supposed to be short for the more euphonious nomenclature bestowed upon him by his godfathers and godmother, who had promised far more for Tommy in the mattei* of renunciation of '* the world, the flesh, and the devil " than he was able to perform. From the Meerut cantonment Tommy was carried across the deadly Terai to the health-giving Himalayas, where his observations were mostly confined to the tops of the lofty Deodars, whose roots were far down in the valley below ; owing to his feet being generally higher than his head in a sort of *' Palkj' " — a position not favourable to accurate observation. Fortunately for veracious chroniclers, there are great hiati in the recollections of childhood. Tommy's next was the stately Indiaman, homeward bound, with a cargo composed largely of Indian children, those terrors to the modern young man, who, howc\ or, is not averse to cultivating their grass- widowed mammas on Indian troopships. Tommy was promptly taken captive b}' a little lady in frilled trousers and two pig-tails. As the old Jacobite ballad has it : " There's a rose in the gar- den for you, young man, To kiss the pretty girl with the trousers on ;" — and Tommy did it early and often, as the Irishman votes in America. r-*ossi- bly the reprehensible ten- dency and abject submis- sion to petticoat influence thus early displayed was due to heredity. ' buried —where ' trans- 1 as to what is apposed sstowed lio had nciation able to '\ \ across lere his le lofty below ; id in a iccurate iat hiati kvas the >m posed 1 young r grass- roniptly a little «ers and the old it : the gar- ng man, jirl with it early rishman Possi- ble ten- submis- ifluence ed was .]M ,^-^:_: i^ ■^'%' .r-W^- I'KTTICOAT INFI.ITF.NCI I One of Tommy's ancestors had found himself in IVince Cliaihe's body-guard at Culloden, because his best girl had sewed a white cockade in his hat and he had not had the pluck to pull it oft". When, however, a round shot broke his sword in his hand and so saved him the trouble of sheathing it in a hopeless cause, his lady-love proved equal to the occasion and got him out of one fix by putting him into another. When her lover, pursued by the ** Seidther Roy " (Red Soldiers), King George's Dragoons, threw himself at her feet, she promptly raised her petticoat and placed him in safety under its protecting hoops, as she sat at the harpsichord, that did duty in those days for a piano. As the King's officer entered she did not rise, but played a defiant Jacobite air. He bowed politely, lifting his three- cornered hat, and said he was bound to search for her attainted lover. She smiled sweetly and imploringly on the King's officer, bidding him search where he pleased. The defiant melody died away into a Highland Lament, and her tears began to fall on the ivory keys. The King's ofticer was a gentleman first and a Hanoverian after. He took in the situation, for a third and larger foot protruded beneath the lady's dress. The officer politely ki.ssed the lady's hand, whispering : " 1, too, would fain be a rebel to secure such hiding place," treadi iig heavily at the .same time on her lover's clumsy foot, * half in jealous anger at the coign of vantage which he envied, and also to warn the rebel that he must not linger in so compro- mising a situation. t The lady played "God save the King," in token of gratitude, as his Majesty's officer descended the stairs and withdrew his men. The lover escaped to Ital^', and the lady procured his pardon, return, and Knighthood, by presenting to the King, "the pair of handsome Grenadiers she had gotten for his Majesty's Service." Perhaps the pardon was granted all the more readily inasmuch as the other branch of her husband's family, " dour Whigs " as they were, had raised a company of foot, and fought for King George II., who presented them with drums and colours. Poor little Tommy, ignorant of his family history and •This historic foot has descended in all its grandeur to Tonuny. tSee Dennistoiin's Memoirs of Sir R. Strange and A. I.iinisden. .1 (;UN.NER JINCiOS JL'BII.FK. unconscious of heredity, only followed his instincts in loving the little lady in the pantelettes. " On revient toujours h ces premiers amours?" Bah ! he never saw the small lady again, and promptly forgot her in the more exciting process of collecting Barrack boys of the old Pongo* Battalion for raids against the town boys at Chatham. In one scrimmage he got a blow with a stick that laid him up for months, and might tlius early have finished his career and prevented this veracious history being written. His military tendencies were still further developed by long walks with his father about the Chatham Lines, where the deep ditches inspired a sort of awe, heightened by his father's explanations of the mysteries of curtain, flank, and bastion redoubt and ravelin, so that years afterwards, wlien he entered a Military College fortification came to him as by intuition. " Great praise is due to Cormontaigne, Who gave flanks to his redoubt But not to his ravelaine," sounded like a long-forgotten nursery rhyme. So eager was the little man to follow his father and drink in his talk about the forts and his fighting forbears, that he would never betray fatigue, but stride along by the six-foot man, until in one of their walks the boy dropped faint- ing at his side. It was the little fellow's pride to wear, as sword, a dirk that had belonged to his uncle, who, when a midshipmite, was found asleep at his perilous post in the tops of a line-of- batlleship, at the close of a bloody engagement. The Cameronians embarked for the First Chinese War, and Tommy's father, then in his prime, went through the campaign. He returned wun some curious loot and much darkness of complexion, for the army did not in those days wear sun-helmets. It is amazing how they escaped without universal sunstroke. Meanwhile, his eldei brother being sent to school. Tommy and his mother lived with his grandfather, an e.x-Captain of Light Dragoons, who had fought at 'The Pongo Battalion was composed of depots of reKimeiits in India. The name " Pongo " was derived from a mischievous monkey, probably owing to the cliaracter of their recruits. PIETY .\N!> PROFANITY. J Waterloo, afterwards served in India, and lived to be ninety-four. On the anniversary of Waterloo, the old Dragoon appeared at breakfast with a laurel leaf in his button-hole ; upon it, in gold letters, "Waterloo." Tommy, his eyes big with astonishment, remarked : *' Clrandpapa, where does the tree grow with those wondeiful leaves V " The old man stroked his white moustache, patted the child's head, and said : " My boy, when you are a man you will find that tree and get some leaves for yourself." The boy sought that tree for nearly half-a-century, cast and west, from the Tropics to Canadian snows, yet never a leaf he found, and discovered too late that it grows on the shady side of Pall Mall. His grandmother, a very tall and stately dame, with white hair and Hashing black eyes, all the more expressive in that she was quite deaf, unfortunately came down late to break- fast this important morning. After the meal, and as the old man, (who, though in moments of irritation rivalled "our army in Flanders," was nevertheless a pious presbyterian,) had commenced his long gi icc, she rose and began talking . He stopped short seized her b}' the wrist, trying to force her to keep her seat, and shouting : " By G— d, you shall hear it ! "— gabbled to the end of his grace, whilst the old lady remonstrated : " Don't, Alec, you hurt me " The Calvinism, cast off in his gay youth, had returned in all its severity with age. Hinc Hl can aftnrd lo wait for employment on the wri'tcht^d pittance ternuil half-pay ; it is only rich men who can take many of tlii' connnands offered to (jeiierais, anil in these days of vohmteerinK i""! Klobe-trotting oo the chance of lieinK "taken on" by some general for a cainpainn, it is the man with money or inflcential friends who has the best chance of gettmy brevets, and thus rising to the top. h i> UEtOAl) .\KU<)W." )nly rich men who can afford Cran\mer edncation for thiir sons.— .■\ithi)i;. 10 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. for the wounded soldier brother, as the accompanying letter shews. " St. James' August nth, 1820. ** To Lieutenant Alexander Jingo 42nd Regiment. Clarence Barracks, Dublin. "Dear Jingo, In answerto yours, 8th instant, which reached me this morning, I am to observe that it has given me surprise, for 1 sent you the Duke of York's reply, which you ought, whether directed in London or Dublin, to have received some time ago : the purport was every wish to serve you when- ever the fair opportunity offered — for the present therefore rest satisfied and ever believe me, "Yours sincerely, " VVll.M.\M Rix." The King gave his father, the ex-dragoon, a refuge in his old age, among the military knights of Windsor, where he occupied quarters in the Castle, and always got a kindly nod and often a friendly chat with the blufl["Sailor King. Tommy's uncle used to tell a characteristic yarn about his quondam ship-mate. After a monotonous cruise in the West Indies, the Duke of Clarence, then a midshipman, was bent on a spree ashore — a dance with the pretty yellow girls, in what was called in West Indian parlance, " a dignity hop " at Kingston (Jamaica). The Duke asked his captain for leave, but was refused. He went below in dudgeon, but shortly re-i.ppeared in plain clothes, with the ribbon of the Garter across iiis breast, walked up to the captain and demanded n boat. " Certainly, your Royal Highness," said the Captain, doffing his cocked hat till it nearly swept the quarter deck. The Duke again plunged below, and re-emerged from the midshipmen's berth in suitable seedy garments, bent on his spree in cog. No sooner had his head appeared above the hatchway, than the boatswain's shrill whistle sent the jacks scampering aloft to man the yards. Boom ! boom ! boom ! thundered forth the Royal salute across the calm waters of the bay, startling the sleepy city of A ROYAL SPREE. n Kingston, and dying away in the echoes of the far-oft' Bkie Mountains. The captain's gig lay alongside, with the Royal Standard flaunting in the stern, while the captain and officers stood at the gangway, hats in hand, bowing profoundly. The Duke turned red, bent his head in acknowledgment of the un- welcome salute, jumped into the boat, took the tiller ropes, and ordered the men to give way. The jacks bent to their oars with a will, enjoying the joke, and envying the Royal mid the spree he would have. He steered to an unfiequented wharf in a disreputable part of Blacktown and ordered the boat to return to the ship, meaning to make a night of it. He dived into the crooked lanes of Blacktown, but to his horror, when he reached the house of festivity, he saw a guard of honour (Royal Marines) drawn up in front of it. The drums beat, the arms clattered to the present, the officers, swords dropped to the Royal salute, while from the verandahs peeped several pairs of " lovely black e3'es," in eager and happy expectation of selection by a Ro3'al partner. But the Royal mid, after receiving the salute, walked up to the officer in command, and said : " Sir, accept my apologies to yourself and your men, for the indignity my thoughtlessness has brought upon his Majesty's uniform. Please to withdraw your guard as 1 intend to return to the ship." And he turned on his heel, without one glance at the expectant houris, lest his resolution should fail. The dark eyes of more than one beautiful Creole glittered with tears of vexation at the loss of a Royal lover, even if it were for one night only. But he hurried to the shore, hired a negro and his canoe to paddle him to the ship, and so managed to slink on board and cheat the disciplinary captain out of a Royal salute pre- pared for his reception when he should return, limp and repentant, next morning. Instead of which he reported himself at once, apologised to the captain for the trouble he had caused the ship's company, adding : " I shall not forget, sir, the lesson you have given me." And he did not, for he advanced that captain's promotion as soon as he had a chance. Though kindly, the King was a d'sciplinarian. i 12 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILKE. When Tommy's papa was a cadet at Sandhurst with the King's son, the Duke of Munster, a fox, with the pack in full cr}', swept across the parade ground. The sporting English instinct was irresistible — the cadets broke their ranks, and many joined the chase in spite of their officers. Tommy's father, sound of wind, long of limb, and lean of flank, soon took the lead, but towards evening he found himself thrown out, with the Duke as his only companion. What was to be done ? The}' were miles from the College. The Windsor coach came swinging along. "Jump up behind and take a lift," said the good-natured guard, giving the boys a hand up. But the coach was going the '. rong way ! '* As well be hung for a sheep as a lamb," said the King's son. *' Let us go on "o Windsor Castle." In vain his comrade demurred — there seemed nothing for it but to follow the chapter of accidents. On arriving at Windsor, they were dead beat, no money, hungry, and spattered with mud. The Duke insisted on both going up to the Castle. They were shown into the presence of the King, sitting over his after-dinner wine. ** You young scamps, what the devil brings you here?" "The Windsor coach, sir," said the boys, and they made a clean breast of it. The King laughed heartily, ordered them a good dinner and a bottle of port. Ne.xt morning came retribution in the shape of a subaltern officer of the Cadet Company, who came to demand the bodies of the Gentlemen Cadets, the Duke of Munster and Harry Jingo. The King ordered the culprits to be produced, and asked from the officer the particulars of their oftence, which being given with military brevity, accorded with the confession of the lads. "Ah !" said the King, "what punishment will they get?" " Fort^^-eight hours black hole on bread and water." " Serve 'em right ! Damned young rascals ! They have had their fun, and must pay the piper. March 'em off!" And so they were, and ensconced out mitigation of punishment. in the black hole with- PALLIDA MORS. 15 The old king ever after shewed a friendly feeling for Tommy's father, whom he used to joke about his escapade, and Oi'ten invited to spend his holidays at Bushey Park — once the abode of the beautiful and talented Mrs. Jordan, whose married life with the Duke of Clarence had been without reproach. But— " Pallida Mors cquo pcdc piilsat Paitpcrim tahvrnns Rcginiiiiqiu' liinrs." Death came equally to the beautiful actress, the king, and the ex-dragoon.* As he sat among the huge oak beams in the Castle garret, to which he had been consigned to be out of the way on the day of the funeral, the muffled drums of the Guards brought home to Tommy his Hrst bitter bereavement, in which there was a strong dash of cupboard-love, for the old man used to conceal, for their private feasts, fruits forbidden to both by the doctor and the severer women-folk of the establishment. Tommy dried his eyes when the roll of the drum fell upon his ears, and his heart swelled with pride as he looked down on the martial pageant that carried the old warrior to the resting place that was, after all, not to be his last, for yefU's after, in visiting the spot. Tommy found that alterations in the precincts of St. George's Chapel, had caused the removal of the remains, he knew not whither. Tommy's father being still on service, his elder brother was sent to one school, preparatory for Sandhurst, and Tommy to another for Eton, where he was left for his first Christmas holidays, as he was considered too small to make his way to Ireland by himself Those were gloomy days for Tommy, nevertheless, they were lightened by love and war. For the schoolmaster's daughter was kind to Tommy, who was a pretty boy, with nice manners. She used to kiss him after his hebdomadal tub, which she superintended. This was trying to Tonimy, who would have preferred taking the initiative. In after years he took his kisses as they came. '• • The house of silence and darkness received, in 1837, the body of Kins William IV. and thither also, in 1849, was taken from Bentley Priory the mortal coil of the mild and charitable Queen Adelaide, whose coffin, accordmg to her expressed injunctions, and in touching remembrance of the glorious profession to which her husband s early manhood had been devoted, was carried by the sailors of the Royal Navy. l' H 14 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. The fighting was furnished by the schoolmaster's son — and as Tommy could not reach his face, he contented him- self with kicking his shins, in return for which he received severe boxes on the ears. The subject o*" dispute was the possession of a rosebud, presented to Tommy after a Christ- mas dance and mistletoe performance with a buxom beauty, named '* Susan," to whom the schoolmaster's son was paying his addresses. Alas ! Tommy had no sense of proportion or fitness of things. He got the rose all the same, and kept it. Subsequent holidays were spent with their mother's relatives on the wild west coast of Kerry. They were pleasant sunmiers there at the old Castle by the sea, when the boys made love with strict impartiality to all their pretty Kerry cousins in succession. With the boys they learnt to handle oar, and sail, and fishing-rod ; " to ride, to shoot, and to speak the truth," which was equally the education of an Irish or a Parthian gentleman of the past. The girls are married, and the boys, except an amateur preacher and a parson, are gone, let us hope, to happier hunting grounds. The eldest, a magnificent fellow, died on a misty November morning at Inkerman, as a Captain of the " Die-Hards " should — his coat blackened by the discharge of more than one Russian rifle, so close had been the struggle. The next fell before a Maori Pah — and the sailor lad at Gamla Karbly, in the Baltic, where a boat landing was attempted. The boy had urged his boat's crew in advance of his captain's gig and of the whole flotilla. The grape fire of a masked batter}' woun<^ed some of his crew, broke some of the oars and his own arm, but the undaunted boy stood up in the stern sheets, still urging his men to row on. A Russian bullet found his heart — and the enemy gave him a grave, for the expedition retired defeated. Tom's only brother sleeps under broad Atlantic billows, after hard service in India and New Zealand, where his mortally wounded cousin died in his arms. When the Cameronians returned from service in China they were quartered in Edinburgh Castle. For the brothers the old fortress was haunted by the ghost of their ancestor, Kircaldy of Grange, who had defended it for the hapless Mary against her cruel cousin, Elizabeth. But Elizabeth (unmindful of the honour of her lieutenant, who had promised an amnesty to the soldier surrendering only to SCHOOI- DAYS. 15 Kircaldy to be hanged at the Market the Edinburglj share of scliool loons." though famine) ordered Cross. Tom and his brother were sent to Academy, where they had more than their figlits to prove they were no ** Southern their speech was southern. The last occasion on which this epithet was applied to Tom it was answered by a blow. Just then the school-bell rang, and the fight had to be arranged for after hours. Tommy's opponent was older than himself, of stouter build, and the cock of his class. Poor Tommy's heart sank, and during the recess for their frugal lunch he consulted his brother on tlie possibility of getting out of it. Truth must be told — Tommy funked. Tom's brother shook his head, sa3'ing : " 1 would gladly take him oft' your hands, but the fellows would not stand it. I am in the senior class. There is no way out of it. Tommy, the family honour depends on you — you ;;///vS/ see it through. We cannot be called ' Southern looiis,' for we are Scots and Camercnians to boot." After hours there was a tumultuous gathering of the whole school, about 300 boys, in the fighting field, the sides of which sloped upwards like an amphitheatre. The princi- pals, backed by their seconds, peeleo to their shirt-sleeves and stood ready, when, to Tommy', great relief, the police appeared to disperse the assembly. The sixth-form boys promptly ejected them, and ordered the fight to commence at once. Again poor Tom's heart sank, though he came up to the scratch like a man, only, alas ! to go down like a ninepin before his more powerful assailant. The triumphant shouts of his opponent's class-mates rang in his ears, and when he rose to his feet Tom's "funk" was gone — he felt punishment no more. Round after round was fought, till there were four "lovely black eyes" and a plentiful outpouring of claret. At length his antagonist began to flinch, for a well-planted blow broke the bridge of his nose. He turned his face to avoid more punishment, and a blow under the left ear dropped him senseless. Now the shouts of the whole school greeted Tommy, for he was known to be the 3-ounger and weaker bo}-, and the fight had been forced upon him by what was felt to be a deadly insult to a Scot. When brought to his opponent acknowledged himself i6 (lUNNKR JIN(;0 S JUBILEK. ii 5 defeated, and declined to fight any more. Tom was hoisted on the shoulders of his classmates, and escorted to his liorrified mother, whom they comforted by remarking : " Ah, but you should see the other fellow." Tom appeared at school, a green shade over his eyes. '* Fechting again," remarked Pat MacDougall, his severe but well-beloved master ; " an' wha is it noo ? " When told, he exclaimed : " Ech, mon ! But ye didna thresh yon ? " "Aye, but he did," shouted his class-mates in chorus. ** Yer faither's son ! What's bred in the bane, will aye 'oot in the flesh. Hand 'oot y'ere ban', ye belleegerent young Cameronian," and a couple of Pandys were administered Ijy the evidently approving pedagogue. The opprobrious term of " Southern loon " was dropped in he school and the fights of the brothers were few during the time they remained there. A great change has come over the Edinburgh Academy during the Victorian reign. At its commencement boys of all ranks crowded the forms, from the son of Mac- allum More to the porridge-fed son of the small farmer or tradesman who pinched himself to get the best possible education for his sons. And wisely, for of such and of their kinsmen from Ulster were the builders of this great Empire — notably of India. Though poor, they were proud of the drop of good blood — they were often tenth cousin fourteen times removed to the lairo of their name, who sat on the bench beside them and whose influence subsequently got them an Indian cadetship ? The mingling of classes did good all round. The poor lad became a gentleman in every sense of the word, including the e.xterior manner, and, as Scotch boys are no respcctors of persons, the young aristocrat got toughened instead of toadied, found his own level, and learnt to respect his pooi"er school-mate, whom, perhaps, when he became governor of a colony, he would find to be his prime minister. With the rise in value of Scotch shootings, due to the demand for them from trade millionaires, the Scotch aristocracy and gentry' could afford to send their sons to Eton and Rugby, with the result that they became "just like every other fellow, don't you know." They ceased to be Scots, while the poorer lads, left to themselves on the Academy benches, ceased to be gentlemen, and became Radicals, iKisii Mi(;Hi.A.\'ni:Ks. 17 because they never mixed with or got, a day's shooting tVom their mercenary kinsmen. Hence the Midlothian miracle — that the sons of those who had built an Empire should wish to destroy it. liut the rise in the value of shootings, the conversion ol the Highlands into deer forests, and the Lothians into sheep walks, have had a worse result. It have seriously impaired our military strength by depriving us of the recruiting grounds of our hardiest soldiers, and Irish disaflection has done the rest. J'here are few Highland soldiers, nor many Lowland Scotch. We manufacture Highlanders out of Glasgow Irish, who, by the time they learn to tie their garters, do not make bad soldiers. But trousers would be less e.vpensive and more comfortable than kilts. Localisation without conscription is a fallacy, like building a bridge without the keystone, ^'ou may call Regiments or lirigades Lothian or anything else you like, but on the voluntary system you must take your recruits from the centres of population and rely upon the conscripts of hunger, and as Parliament won't vote for strong men's wages, they get weakly bo^'s. In the higher ranks of the public service the system of competition has opened the door widely to the Irish, who have largely superseded Scotch, notably in the Indian Civil Service. The Irish, being of brighter brain, can write more fluent examination papers and Government minutes. Whether they can run an Empire remains to be seen. iManipoor does not promise well tor government by Competi- tion Wallahs. There were exceptions to the Scotch lairds, who expatri- ated their tenants without caring whither the}' went. The author, while shooting in the Western Highlands once, came upon a wild desolate valley, where, on that August after- noon, there was but one thin curl of smoke from a lone mountain shelling, scarce visible amid the purple heather and the grey boulders. His host remarked in explanation : "During my father's time, a recruiting sergeant took forty braw lads for a Highland regiment from this glen." The Sassenach sportsman asked : " Do you think 3'our father was justified in making a wilderness for sport ?" " Yes," answered the other, " it was best for them and C H 18 GUNNFR JINGOS Jl'mi-Ki: best for us. The land could not support them. Do you see yon little house the L.iioke rises from ? A gilly born in that house, is one of the richest commoners in Australia. He entertained the Duke of Edinburgh. Before he sent his- people out, my father got a sheep run in Australia. Upon it he started them with stock in which both parties were to have shares. The lad in question became overseer, and has built himself a splendid house on my land. Now whose is it ? I won't try law, I shall go out and compromise in the interest of my second son." He did so. The run and the stock were divided, and they tossed up for the mansion and the builder lost it. He built himself another — a palace — on his half of the run. He does not sleep with his fathers on the desolate hillside, but in sunny Australia, in his bran-new family vault, hard by the church he had himself erected on the land he gave for the purpose out of his own wide acres. The old Scotch widow lady, and her sons, perfect types of the physical beauty not uncommon at the Antipodes, dispense a princely hospitality in the squatter mansion, with its Greek-columned stone portico. The spacious hall shewed trophies, won by the brothers for physical feats at an English University — there were no prizes for mental culture, nor were the handsome, gentlemanly, young giants conversationally interesting to an old-world traveller. When taken to the stable, where the horses rivalled their masters in beauty, the guest thought — •' Ah, here we have something hi common I can talk to my hosts about !" They were all there on the points of a horse and rode like centaurs, but when asked if they liked Adam Lindsay Gordon's " Bush Ballads," and ** How we beat the Favourite," the answer was : ** I never read Gordon — I never read poetry." The son of the old Scotch laird who owned the other half of the run was the exact opposite to the sons of his father's shepherd — brilliantly cultivated but a feckless chiel, a sort of gentleman Burns, who brought his run to the hammer and returned to his farnily castle in Argyle. A gentleman is seldom a colonial success, and it sometimes takes a colonial more than a generation to become a success as a gentleman. From the Edinburgh Academy the eldest Jingo brother A NON-COMI'KTITION WAIJ.Ail. 19 entered Sandhurst. Tommy had still to follow the colours, and though his book-learning suftered thereby, he studied men and manners ; some of the manners were of a decidedly questionable character, such as being encouraged to draw regimental caricatures and recite battle ballads upon the mess table, at the conclusion of which he would be invited by thoughtless young officers to sip usquebagh from the regi- mental cup as it passed round with the pipers. When that came to his father's ears the officers got a sharp reprimand and Tommy a severe thrashing. When his father returned to India, having exchanged into the " King's Own Borderers," which he subsequently com- manded, there was no one to repeat the lesson, for it was shortlv found out that Tommy could thrash a .schoolmaster with comparative impunity. Fortunately, the senior cadets at Woolwich quickly corrected this tendency to insubordi- nation. Tommy's mother, a clever and beautiful woman who long retained her youth of body and mind, was his most charming companion, friend, and confidante. She spoilt him in child- hood by her own unselfishness,but, as he grew up, all that was best in him was due to her influence. Perhaps, fortu- nately, he had no sisters, and knew nothing of the familiar- ity which breeds contempt, too often common among many- sistered men without brothers. Hence he had a certain deference for the sweeter sex, of whom his mother was to him a type. How he became a Woolwich cadet was on this wise. His father being in India, his mother took him to London and laid before Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Master-General of the Ordnance (afterwards Lord Raglan) the services of Tom's family, as a claim to a nomination. The old veteran, who had lost an arm at Waterloo, seemed to take a fancy to the tall lad, perhaps because he had known his father and grandfather, said he looked good stuft" for a soldier, and asked if he thought he could pass the examination ? Tom, who in spite of his erratic education was generally near the top of his class, promptly answered, " Yes, sir." " Then you shall go up in three months," was the equally prompt reply. When he saw the synopsis of the subjects for examina- tion he was horror-struck. It was mainly mathematics, in C— 2 20 «;i:nnkr jinc.os jl'bilkk. which he was weak, having been at schools wlicie the tcacli- ing was ciiiefly classical. He went straight to a niatheniatical coach, for there were crammers in those clays. liut little harm was done in that direction, however, for a lad had only one ciiance. lie could not go up again and again, cramming after each failure until his brain was addled and physique and sight impaired. In former days there was a ti.xed standard, which, if passed would enable a candidate of average education and ability to profit by the after-teaching at Woolwich. There was a probationary e.xamination at the end of the first year which eliminated the idle and the hopelessly dull. The time at Woolwich now appears too short to enable the cadet to digest the mental pabulum with which he has been stuffed before joining. Let us return to Tom in the sombre parlour of the cranmier producing his nomination for Woolwich. The tutor proceeds to examine him. Caesar he could read and parse as if it were English, and a good deal better, for he had not wasted time on English grammar, which did not e.xist in those days, and was only invented for ladies' schools in the latter halt of the Victorian era. His questioner then went on to history, geography, French, free-hand drawing and general subjects ; then E!uclid, in all which he found substantial knowledge, but when if came to accurate arithmetic, to sa^ nothing of algebraical dodges, his pupil was nowhere. The coach threw the books on the table . "a bang, and said : " It's no use, I can't take you, you couldn't possibly pass in three months." " But I promise you that I will work hard," pleaded Tom. "You would inevitably disgrace my school — I won't have you." The lad rose, strode out to the gate v/'.iere the cab was still standing, pulled his portmanteau of^' the roof and threw it into the hall. "What do you mean ? " said the master, angrily. " I mean to stay," was the quiet reply. " You're a strange lad," he remarked. " Well, if you give me your word of honour that you will not go up without my \-Q the tcach- A NON-COM PKTITION WAI.I.AIt. 21 leave you may .ta)'. and I will do my best for you-vour pluck may pull you through." ^ ^ "N'ou may go up, you will pass." And he did. . 22 CHAPTER II. College Life--" Mos iko lege " — The Minstrel Boy — Charles Gordon — Adam LiNnsAV Cordon — Promotion— A Mihtarv Arnold — A Sn(50Ker Aristocrat — A (juiet I'ipe — Astronomical — Skv Signs. Fornierl}' it was f his division, each in their turn, commencing with the junior. The correct thing was to stand perfectly still without flinching or remonstrance, and the arms folded, which had a dignified aspect, and saved the knuckles from the buckle end. At the conclusion of his punishment the senior remarked : " So much for being a mutinous-looking beggar." With seniors of bad disposition discipline occasionally degenerated into cruelty. The prevailing spirit was, how- <:ver, more of fun than delibera'e cruelty, thougli many a severe and sometimes salutary lesson was conveyed. A dark-complexioned, sardonic "snooker," a professed Atheist, who made himself conspicuous for blasphemy in a by no means strait-laced community, was appropriately nick- named "the Demon." To accentuate the resemblance (as Henry Irving's lime-light was not in vogue) blue blazes were extemporised by pouring Eau de Cologne on his hair and setting tire to it, with the result that not only his hair but liis face was severely burnt, and his eyes only nanowly escaped. Another boy, of adipose tissue and sedentary liabits, that rendered activity distasteful, was st\ led the " i3ou'Khng Banchute." His fat person was compulsorily arrayed in extremely tight and brilliantly-coloured batliing drawers, in which he was made to climb to the top of the high cupboard, that nearly reached the ceiling of the has lack-room, and from this coign of vantage to jump through the top of the half- tester barrack-bed, splitting the calico, and coming dowi. in Si cloud of du.-^i amid the applause of his tormentors. An Irish cr- let, w'^ose extremely studious habits and puri- M-aK. Ii \ 24 C;UNNKR JTNGOS JUBU.KF. tanical* propriety of demeanour were considered inappro- priate to his nationality, was compelled to recite and sing amatory stanzas from his national bard, got up as : ** The minstrel boy to the war has gone. In the ranks of death you'll find him, His oxterf sword he has girded on, And his wild harp (banjo) slung behind him." But the compulsory performance most appreciated was the irresistibly comic efl'ect of tliis knightof the rueful countenance singing : " Oh ! the toinie Oi've lost in wooing, In honting and pursuing The loit that loies In woman's oyes Has been me soul's ondoing ! Tho' wisdom oft hath sought me, I scorned the lore she brought me. Me only books Were woman's looks. And folly all they taught nic." A contrast to the knight of the rueful countenance was a laughter-loving youngster, whose irrepressible exuberance of spirits during study was a source of annoyance to the corporal on duty, who ordered him an extra dose of frivolity on the principle si/ni/ia similihus citraiitiir. The festive youth was compelled to execute a " pas seul " up the hall of study to the platform of the Octagon Tower, whence the spectacles of the grim German professor glared at the ap- parently insane performer as he pirouetted and kissed his hand, singing his own accompaniment in an assumed, and by no means unmelodious, falsetto. The refrain ran — " My name's Taglioni, And I'm a damned I — talian!" The performer was a remarkably bpjad-shouldered hand- some lad, with merry brown eyes. It was too much for the professor's gravity. •Ho was killcil in the Crimea. I'urlta.'i nays were iicreditary. for lie was (lesceiideit from a Colonel nf Cruinwell's army. Il-xtra drill. t ChARLKS (JORDO.N. 25 laiice was was (Icsceiiili'il After using his wonted formula, "Shoken! shoken ! Kaporal, put dat slientlemans onder arrests ! " he burst out laughing. The consequences wei'e not, as well as I remember, very serious to the merry-making one, at any rate not sufficiently so to make him serious for any length of time. The cadet's name was really an Italian one and historic in the Royal Artillery, like many others of foreign origin, such as Torriano, de Rienzi, d'Aguilar, des Aguilliers, Du Flat, Le Mesurier, etc. In the anteroom of the R.A. Mess hangs the portrait of General Borghardt, the father of the Royal Artillery. He was, like Von Moltke, a hard bitten old Dane, survivor of countless battles and sieges. The reason for the foreign orit^in of so many of our Royal Artillery oflicers who became ilni '^ - ?: regimental caste and upheld its glory, " Ubique,"' i' i ,,, generations, was that the fighting English i.. .-t ■> lacy prefeired the Cavalry and Infantry service, in wliK.ii rank could be purchased and no stiff' examinations were required. They were too proud, in fact, and mentally indolent to study the base mechanic science of artillery. On the Continent it was otherwise, and men like Leonardo da \'inci were gunners as well as artists and aristocrats. Charles Goixlon was at the R.M.A. at this time.* Though a severe disciplinarian, as an old cadet, and eccentric in his modes of punishment, as in all else, he never joined in these frivolities. Being snort o' stature he was rear rank man to Cadet Jingo on LJie left flai' ; !>< the Cadet Company. Gerald Graham (General Gral .'Hi, V.C, also of Soudan celebrity), was the right hand 'Me v mc:; t)ie cadets were paraded on the occasion of the Chare St :-, i >;.; in 1S4S, when the Iron Duke took such precautions as '••,! IcreJ any risir.g inpossible. Nothing was foigotten, even tlK ^.aiots were paraded, served out with ball cartridge, and given the brief instiuclion not to fire without orders, " toifire low, and to fire slow." Charles Gordon had always strong opinions, and was ad- dicted to scai"cely " sotto voce " conunents on affairs in general and on orders in particular, disturbing to the ccpianimity of liis front rank lile, behind whom the speakci' was unseo! . *Ciorilon Hasliit of Kliartomii 26 G..'N.NKR JIN(;OS JfHILKE. On one occasion an order was read out that on tlie recom- mendation of the doctor, gentleman cadets were forbidden to bathe later than the month of October. •' Damned nonthence, coddling young soldiers," lisped Gordon, "let us bathe all winter and prove that it's wholesome and the doctor's a fool." An argument like that of Dickens' pat'ent, who, forbidden mufiins, "eat 'alf a crown's worth and then blowed his brains out to prove that muffins was 'olesome and the doctor was wrong." The front rank file grinned and got an extra drill for unsteadiness. Gordon stepped to the front, took the blame upon himself, and also got a drill for his pains. Next morning, ?.fter " > ' (extras) as the defaulter's drill was called, they double^ /r to the cadet's pond and bathed, continuing to do so all winter, though they had some- times to break the ice. A warm friendship, which lasted for their lives, existed between Charles Gordon and "Long 'i'om," as Cadet Jingo was familiarly called. Gordon would at times, with6ut apparent reason, withdraw himself from his friends, not speaking for days, then he would come upas if nothing had happened, and say : " Come for a walk, old fellow." In these walks they made many plans. Strange to say, Gordon had always a hankering after Africa. They were to volunteer for service at the Cape, get long leave, not difficult in those days — equip a waggon, trek north, shoot elephants, and with the proceeds of the ivory carry on further explora- tions. Details were not forgotten, even to the pattern of a rifle and a hunting knife, " Long Tom " being considered an authority, as his father had given him a gun and a rifle, both of which he could use fairly, shooting snipe and seals on the West Coast of Kerry. Had he been told then that his impulsive little comrade was to be a great soldier, his self-conceit would hav^ led him to Ihink : " More likely me than him ! " The characteristics, which years later made Gordon the idol of many Englishmen, had scarcely developed. But those African plans fell through — " the best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft a-gley ! " Their paths I •? I ■4 I CHARLKS GORDON. ^7 separated — Gordon was commissioned into the Royal Engineers, which Jingo missed by one place, getting 1st Artillery — mainly in consequence of steeple-chasing over the ditches in Woolwich marshes, using levelling rods as leaping poles, whereby the survey and the poles suffered. When Gordon was forming his ever-victorious Cliinese army, he applied for his old friend to organise the Artillery of his Force, but was refused. " Lieutenant Jingo could not be spared from Regimental duty in India." A few months later he was sent home round the Cape in charge of invalids ! But they met again. On his return from China, Gordon was put to build mud forts at the mouth of the Med way. H*. spent his spare time and spare cash in teaching street Arabs. When asked by his friend why he had not accepted the enormous present of " Sycee " silver given him by the Emperor, replied — " Wanted to show them there was no price for a British officer." The following characteristic letter was the last he wrote to liis friend : — " Massowah, i.Sth May, 1878. " Colonel Jingo, R.A., Quebec. '* My dear Jingo, " 1 never forgot you or the R.M.A. or our ideas so much in common as they were. " wrote to me, and I received his letter with yours yesterday, on my arrival here from Berbush, Zeyle, and Harar, wiiich is some 235 miles inland. " It was very interesting to see Harar, which for years had bullied Abyssinia, it is a walled town of 20,000 inhabi- tants. Burton visited it in 1862 — and described it in the book he wrote — ' Eirst F'ootsteps in Africa.' The town was founded in the 7th century. Egypt occupied it in 1874, and it is now under my Government. " I have written to * to tell him to consult with vou (ask him to show you my letter) about his future. It would be abMute ruin for him with no profession to be out here, what can he do, look at him yourself, is he an engineer, a carpenter, a botanist ? It is the one great mistake our class of life makes in educating their children to no trade. A iicplR'W of General Gordon. ®i 28 (;i-nm:r jinoos ji-himi; ' ! " Put our birtli, our energy, and our determination into shoe-making, carpentering, etc. we could beat the trades- men out of the field, but now we paj' ;^ioo's for a miserable education of which more than two-thirds is useless. " How often during my life I have regretted I could not braze metals, could not solder, etc. *' Kindly advise for the best for I feel for him, and thank you and Mrs. for your kindness. ** 1 do not know if you knew his father , a queer Puritan of the Cromwell type.* " Vou and I have had difterent lives, but as 1 said to , yours "s the safer and smoother ; you at any rate are not dependant on a man (H. Highness) having dyspepsia or not, this 1 am dependant on. " Kind regards to Mrs. " Yours sincerely, " C. E. Gordon." Adam Lindsay Gordon, poet and stockrider, was also a cadet in tho.se days. He was tlie exact opposite of Charles Gordon — a dreamy lad, with a far-ofl' look in his eyes, indi- cative perhaps of the touching and semi-philosophical bush ballads, so dear to every Australian heart, redolent as they are of fatalism and wattle blossoms, though scarcely indica- tive of the man who beat " the Favourite." Unwittingly, Lindsay Gordon caused the loss of his swabs to Corporal Jingo, who was on dut\ in the Hall of Study. In marching out, the future poo*^, probably in dreamland, paid no heed to Jingo's word of command and got a sharp rap on the head with the edge of the ruler, which drew blood, and brought him from tlie clouds. " Shoken ! shoken ! shoken ! " shouted little Troppenager, the German professor. " Kaporal, I reports you." Which he did, and Jingo was reduced to the ranks, the Commandant remarking that though he maintained excellent discipline, his methods were irregular. Jingo's first promotion was brought about by infringe- ment of rules. There was a Spartan simplicity about the ablutions of the cadets — they took their riiorning bath under the pump. In doing so. Cadet Jingo was unfortunate enough to sever the tendons of his foot by treading on a •Major Haylry. K.A.. killed in ;iction during Indian Mutiny Campaign. A M1I.HAKV ARNOl.n, 29 broken bottle, wbich sent him to hospital for so long a time that it lost him an examination, and many places in his regiment. One day he, with others, was smoking in the hospital ward, against orders. The spurs of " Eardley the Upright," or " Ramrod," as it was generally shortened to, clanked up the passage. Cigar ends were thrown out of window and cadets stood to attention. •' Who's been smoking here ? " asked the oflicer. " I, sir," said Jingo. Seven days' close arrest was the punishment. "Anyone else?" remarked the Captain, looking round with someth'ng of a sneer when there was no response. The others probably considered one scapegoat quite sufficient for the occasion. At the completion of his punishment. Cadet jingo was sent for to the Orderly-room, pondering in his mind what new peccadillo had been detected. To his surprise, the Commandant said : *' I have sent for you to tell you that, though your conduct cannot be considered steady, and you have not reached the Upper Academy, 1 intend to promote you." " Thank you, sir, I would rather not be promoted," was the foolish reply. " 1 can't report my comrades." " You are much too line a fellow to be a fool, and 1 shall promote you, and you will do your duty as a soldier on your honour." Cadet morality was elastic on many points, but when a cadet was put upon his honour, it was never known to fail. If placed under arrest in his room, no sentry or watch was ever kept upon him. Thus in his abrupt and kindly fashion did the Captain of Cadets .secure the hearty service and affectionate esteem of all who sei"ved under him, man or boy. It was the turning point of their lives when they came under the influence of Eardley Wilmot, the Military Arnold of Woolwich. Cadet Jingo was shortly promoted Senior Corporal of a Division. On the first day of the term, a coronetted carriage, with flunkeys complete, entered the gates with the humbler cabs of other last joined cadets. From it alighted a still beautiful woman with her son, a fair- haired delicate-looking lad. He was among those told oft' :fr I I I II I I 30 (ilNNKR JlN(;O.S JL'im.M,. to the Division commanded by Corporal Tom. His regula- tion portmanteau, containing the usual trousseau, including the indispensable cotton night-caps, generally used to boil eggs in, was carried to the barrack-room by a stately flunkey and deposited on the sanded floor with a sigh of relief, and a cloud of powder from his hair. Surveying the room, with its iron bedsteads, pewter basins and grated window, he touched his hat to his master and said, with an air of respectful condolence : " Good G — d, my lord, they are not going to put you into sue!-; an 'ole as this ? " "That will do, Mr. Plush ! " said the Corporal in charge of the room ; but the magnificent one heeded him not, and again touching his hat for orders, received his dismissal from his master. " And what is your name, sir ? " said the Corporal, some- what aggravated by the sang-froid of the flunkey. " Lord Ronald P' atagenet de Montmorency Grosvenor," said the little man, drawing himself up all his inches, and fixing a fishy gray aristocratic eye on his interlocutor. "Oh, you're a lord, are you ! " and he gave the poor boy a box on the ear with the comment, " Ough ! It's only like boxing any other fellow's ear ! " Then — " Your hair's too long, sir, get it cut regimental length. Number 24 barrack-room, you'll find a barber." When the lad rntered the room designated, he found an impromptu barbc , with all the paraphernalia necessary, the shoulder straps of a Corporal appearing above the apron. A pair of candle snuffers for scissors and tallow as an accessory were produced. On saying he had been ordered to get his hair cut, he was again asked his name and unfortunately gave his title with it. He was told to turn round and hold up his coat tails. Scarcely realising what was contemplated, he did so, and received a kick, with the remark : " I never had the honour of kicking a lord — ^just like any other fellow's " Being made to sit down, and scissors substituted for snuffers, which were not found expeditious enough, his hair was reduced to less than military brevity. As he left the chamber of tonsorial torment, walking moodily and brooding over the indignity to which he had A SNOOKKK /KISTOCRAT. 31 been subjected, he met the Senior of the Division, who had got wind of the practical joking that was going on, and thought the poor lad had probabl}' had enough of it. The bov expected more harsh treatment from the commanding looking senior who stopped him, especially when he heard the oft-repeated query : " What's your name ? " He answered with the same fatal precedence of his title. The senior put his two hands on his shoulders and, looking down kindly, said solemnly : " Did your Godfathers and Godmothers in your baptism wherein, etc., etc., call you Lord Ronald and so on ? " " No, sir," said the boy, a new light breaking in upon him. '* My christian name is Ronald." " And your family name ? " " Grosvenor," said the boy. '* Very well, my lad, when you are asked your name, give it, and if anyone wants to know your title, you can tell them that also." He took the hint thankfully and was bullied no more, for he was an amiable lad and turned out a very good tellow. Academy days, in spite of hard study towards the end of the term for those who had been idle, passed pleasantly with kindly cameraderie and athletic sports. Eardley Wilmot, the captain of cadets, kept a pack of beagles, which were followed on foot. Lieutenant Biddulph* being a whip that few could match. It was a sport that laid the foundation of an enduring soundness of wind and limb in those who pursued it, instead of wasting health and money in Saturday and Sunday leaves to imaginary friends in London, from whom written invita- tions, which were too often "fudged," as it was technically termed, were expected to be shewn. But those whom a limited purse made wise if nothing else, would make expeditions into the country, bivouac in Epping Forest or elsewhere, instead of going to imaginary relatives. One Easter a cadet 8-oar ascended the river. The funds of the crew ran low, and Le Fer and Jingo, the most impe- cunious and eccentric of the lot agreed to sleep in the boat. Towards day-break it was cold, and they found moreover, ♦General Sir Michael Biddulph, Keeper of the Crown Jewels at the Tower. I i iT 32 (.rNNTK JlNdoS jrHll.K.i:. f ! )a j fi I'M that the ribs of the boat and their own were not in accord. Going ashore, they tried to join their comrades in tiie iiotel but found it closed and silent. Jingo, by a jump, managed to grasp the balcony and pull In'mself up, whilst his com- panion waited for him to make an entry, descend and open the door. A policeman, unfortunateh', had witnessed the house- breaking gynmastics, sprang his rattle and another appeared. Le Fcr bolted, policeman No. 2 in hot pursuit. The hotel was roused by this time, and Jingo's unconventional entrance explained, but nothing was seen or heard of Le Fer save the returning footsteps, slow and depressed, of his pursuer. Had he been captured ? With a bewildered face, the policeman related how he had followed hard upon the burglar through lanes and byeways into a churchyard where just within his grasp, he had mysteriously disappeared. The man patrolled until he was tired without getting on the track of his prey. riiere was no use speculating as to his whereabouts, so Jingo and his friends tipped the "peelers," — glad to see the last of them, and sat down to a breakfast of rashers and eggs. When nearly through the third relay, I e Fer dropped quietly into a seat at the table and at once appropriated his share with the ferocity of a Chocktaw after a long fast, re- marking, in answer to their astonished queries, that he had enjoyed a smoke with an unobtrusive companion, who didn't bore him as the present company were doing with questions. Later on the truth was elicited. Le Fer had dashed into an open vault, which had been prepared over night for the burial of a local magnate, sat himself coolly on a cofHn-lid and smoked his pipe until his pursuer got weary of search- ing for him. During his last winter vacation young Jingo had varied trotting over snipe bogs by riding to hounds over the Kerry Hills. Politeness in opening gates was not appreciated by the Kerry girls of the period. His cousin gave him a mount named " Breakbones." The brute kept up its reputation, by smashing a collar-bone for our Jingo. When he joined the riding school, names were called — "Jingo ! hum! any relation to Paddy Jingo, of the Royal 'Orse?" ASTRONOMM Al. 3i " Cousin." "All! you llirish tliiiik you can ride. Well, take your countryman, * Shamrock ' " — the greatest brute in the school. " Lead the ride — cross your stirrups — wa-a-lk, march — tro-o-ot — get into those corners. Here, sergeant, letch the long whip." Crack, crack ! an irregular circus en- sued. " There you are ! all over the place ! like peas on a drum ! 'Alt ! Wo-o gave you hordcrs to dismount, Mr. Brown ?" he remarks to a poor beggar who had been shot over his horse's ears. " Without stirrups prepare to mount — mount," and alter some ineffectual swimming on his stomach lirown is given a leg into the saddle. "Walk — march — trot — leading tile circle — go large. You won't take that 'orsc into them corners, won't you ?" and the riding master made a rush at Shamrock — with a whip. The knowing old brute waited till lie was close, and then let fly, kicking the forage cap off the irate riding master, who knocking the tan off the lace of that diminutive bauble, replaced it on the three hairs left to him, shewing a bald patch behind like a monk's tonsure, now apoplectically purple. "Bring out the bar — top-hole," and the furze-covered obstacle was set up by the grinning order- lies. It was without precedent to produce it so early. " Now then, leading file, steady ; don't let that 'orse rush." Bless you ! steam steering gear would neither guide nor hold Shamrock, upon whose callous old mouth untold num- bers of recruits had hung until pulled over his head. A three foot si.\ bar was nothing to Jingo, after stone walls and five- barred gates. Though to give him his due old Shamrock made ample provision for avoiding the prickles, for he cleared them by about 2ft. " That will do," said the auto- crat of the tan — " Don't want no cruelty to hanimals 'ere — take away the bar — make much o' your 'orses." Lieut. Jingo was continued in the lead of the ride. The same performance was gone through about half a century later, with another young Jingo — ^his son. The army is Conservative. After being commissioned, some months were spent at the astronomical observatory, for in those days artillery officers were, if they so desired, permitted scientific employment, and under such men as Generals Sabine, Lefroy, Eardley Wilmot, Younghusband, Smytlie, Strange, Haig, Blakiston, Drayson and others, a series of valuable magnetic observa- tions were carried out wherever our flag floats. D [ ; W . ! V 't I 34 GUNNER JINGO S JUBII.KK. The younger orticers, however, occasionally vai'ied astro- nomy with nights devoted, not to the signs of the zodiac, but to those of the Woolwich tradesmen, their permutations, anc combinations being not strictly mathematical. A large red cocked hat was exchanged for a golden boot, the gigantic golden ** 9 " over a Hebrew *' mont de piete " by inversion became " 6," while the three balls dangled in the place of the snuff-taking Highlander, whose image, with the superscription, '• Licensed to be drunk on the premises," was one morning found conspicuously dis- played over the door of the commandant. They were before the time \n their crusade against the tyranny of sky signs and aggravijting modern adver- tisements. A tax upon advertisements all these years would have yielded a large revenue and certainly lessened the confusion of the unfortunate foreigner who might well imagine the naiiie of any unknown station was. *' Colman's Mustard," and who sees upon an omnibus only •' Nestle's milk " when he looks for the place of it* destination. 35 CHAPTER III. Gibraltar -(Jib-al-Taric-Sakacenic CoNyuKsT— A Quekn's Chemisk -HiKN 1)E SACRE POUR UN SaPPEUR— ThE UnION JaCK — A CAPTURE — Spanish Honour -Scramblinc;. The hill of Taiic was named after the Arab conqueror, who was the crest of the wave of Saracenic War that surged through Spain, across the Pyrenees, until it met the frankish chivalry of Charles the Hammerer upon the plains of Tours, thence to be rolled back through the passes of Roncesvalles in the alternate defeat and victory that marked the centuries of Spanish Crusade. Tradition says that one little wavelet rippled west to that corner of Armorica which was the last refuge of the stubborn Kelt. There on the site of the City of Aleth (St. Servan) Les Puits des Sarrasins gives local C' lour to the legend. Was it ever among the possibilities that the Cross should pale before the Crescent in Europe, or be wiped out as it was .n those Eastern lands where it first rose and spread ? In the West the scimitar of Islam shivered on the mail-clad warriors, among whom was neither sophist nor schoolman to weaken war with words, such as divided the schools of Alexandria and distracted the Councils of Byzantium. The Western barbarian, who had forsaken Wodin to follow the faith of the White Christ, had not forgotten the manhood of his sires nor the respect for his women folk, which monogamy, the necessity of a cold climate, and the strife for life in such regions had engendered. Hence the birth of chivalry, from the contact of the virile Frank with the cultured feminine Christianity of the Roman populations he had subdued. The Saracen knew more science than either Goth or Latin Christian, and the Pagan Greek more of art than either. Tlius the triumph of the Cross retarded the march of science for many centuries. In the plenitude of its power it destroyed the sensuous Pagan worship of Art and persecuted Science with Galileo. D— 2 iTT*" I ^6 crNNKK jingo's JUBnKK. " VicisTi Galiukk."' "Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean ; the world has grown gre}' from thy breath ; We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fulness of death. * » # # # ^* O lips, that the life-blood faints in, the leavings of rack and of rod ! () ghastly glories of saints, di^ad limbs of a gibbetted god ! * * * * * * Of the maiden, thy mother, men sing, as a goddess with grace clad around ; Thou art throned where another was king ; where another was queen she is crowned ; Yea, once we had sight of another ; but now she is queen say these. Not as thine, not as thine was our mother, a blossom of flower- ing seas. •» * # * # # For thine came pale and a maiden, and sister to sorrow ; but ours Her deep hair heavih' laden with odour and colour of flowers. White rose of the rose-white water, a silver splendour, a flame. Bent down unto us that besought her, and earth grew sweet with hei name. For thine came weeping, a slave among slaves and ^ejected ; but she Came flushed from the full-flushed wave, and Imperial, her foot on the sea." That Europe would have been happier or more advanced than she is had Charles Martel been defeated on the plains of Tours is improbable, judging by the state of Islam to-day. Yet Islam in the ^ast is scarcely a criterion of what Isla"^ would have been in the West. There would have been no feudal system, no Crusades, nothing of what we call mediaeval art or faith. The mind refuses to look down the long vista of " might-have-beens " — suffice that, as the cold morality of Christianity never took root in the East, so the polygamy of Islam could not flourish in the West ; yet the red towers and fairy courts of the Alhambra in the green valley of the Vega bear witness to the culture of SARACKMC CO\Ofi;.ST. 37 vancca ains oi to-day. Isla'n ;cn no ■e call \w\\ the cold LSt, "=^0 West ; libra in Iturc of the most brilliant branch of the Saracenic race, most in contact with the West, while the old Moorish Castle of Gibraltar reminds us of a warlike power that has passed to the Englishman, for it is the quarters of the subalterns of Royal Artillery, and the five lads on the deck of the steamer, wliose anchor chains rattle through the hawser holes, are looking up to the twinkling lights that gleam from their future home. The roar of the evening gun had died away amid the hills of Spain, and the great shadowed rock looked like a lion couchant, keeping watch and ward. But to-night the subs do not think much about Saracens, lions couchant or rampant, nor even of the daring capture of the fortress by a handful of Marines and its subsequent stubhdrn defence by red-hot shot against the fleets of France and Spain. Some day tiie lads will shoot quail round the old ruined tower, called "the Queen of Spain's Chair," and learn perhaps from the very excellent garrison horar}', that the tower was so called because from its snmmit the Queen of Spain used to watch tlie progress of the siege, and rashly vowed slie would not cliange her chemise while the British flag floated over Gibraltar. Poor lady ! it became yellow, and the Court ladies, to console her, dyed their under garments with saffron, which became the fashionable colour for underlinen. It is to be hoped the Queen eventually changed her i".;ind — and her chenu'se.* No, to-night the thoughts of the newly-arrived subs run wholly on their future life. Presentation to the Govcn.or took place in due time — there was Tonnny Jingo, the senioi-, '3illy Pease, the most amiable, Le F^er, the soi- disant sardonic, wlio seldom said kind things but always did them, Johnnie Scoct, " E! Rubio " the Red, as the Spanish girls called liim, and "Chikito," the little dear, as they called their favourite youngster. Mis E.xccllencv, Sir Robert Gardiner, himself an old gunner, made them an encouraging little speech to the eflect that if " i'ien de sacre pour un sappeur " — everything was possible for a gunner. The great Napoleon, he i-emiiidec' them, was a subaltern of Artillery It is said when Corsica * II is said tlif tfiill^'iit Governor I'viiitual y oiilii-i In- li>u( red sifticit-mly long tnoiixli (o iMiiliU- hi r to tlo su. :7F" 38 GL'NNKR JINGO S JUBILEE. was under British rule, he applied for a commission in the English Army — had he succeeded the fate of Europe might have been changed I His Excellency forgot to mention that Napoleon would have died of disgust under Wellington, who did not know how to handle artillery, and never allowed an Artilleryman to teach him. The tradition has been handed down in the Horse Guards, but as their writ did not run in India, little Bobs of Cabul got a chance. These matters, however, did not trouble the buoyant spirits of the new- joined subs. Young Englishmen take England's supremacy every- where in a very matter-of-fact fashion — they had reason. Our flag had not been furled in the Ionian Islands ; the British drum-beat, that heralds the rising sun around the globe, had not become intermittent by the withdrawal of Imperial troops from Canada and Australasia, though the old flag still floats above loyal people and loyal hearts beat beneath the Queen's unifuini of Canadian Militia and Australian Volunteers. There had been no Boer surrender, no cession of territory, nor frontiers lost by arbitration, nor had the British fleet been employed to destroy the lobster-pots of Newfoundland fisherfolk. Lieutenant Jingo thought it quite natural, when sent on duty to Europa Point, that his orders should be to fire on any ship not showing her colours, and that no vessel, not even a cock-boat showing British colours, should be molested within reach of our guns. A vessel, going through the Straits, passing our flag, and not showing her own in return within reasonable time, had a shot sent across her bows as a reminder ; if disregarded, another under her stern, a third through her rigging if she continued obstinate — but th"^ second was very seldom required. In any case, the Con.- 1 of the Nationality economising bunting had to pay the price of the shot, recovering it from his own Govern- ment. Smart Yankee clippers were about the only ones which tried to run tlie gauntlet, seldom successfully, for the gunner subalterns got to know the cut of a Yankee craft and gave them less law than the others. I am afraid our long sulx'iltern took pleasure in sending his shot hopping in dangerous proximity to the dolphin striker, and then close under the stern. On one occasion a Yankee skipper shook out his Stars ill the might n that igton, lowed been id not itters, nevv- ivery- ?ason. ; the d the val of lie old ii beat i and I'itory, 1 fleet idland :nt on )n any ■ven a ilested ;h the \vn in is her stern, ?— but ;e, the o pay overn- which funner i gave )altern gerous ler the ; Stars Sf" ^1i u:. -i*. th 'i'^?.^-:-'s:^->' ' /"^ 1. '^C'4«\.;»vi y^^UU'- •'" ■* -S"**** TIIK CNfON JACK. 41 '»■ 1 and Stripes b}' hand over the taftVail as a compromise, but a third shot singing between his taut spars, made him run them up to the peak, accompanied, no doubt, by a salvo of such oatlis as the descendant of the Puritans is noted for. Famihavity with the Scriptures for many generations has given him his undisputed pre-eminence in picturesque blasphemy. Just as the morning gun boomed at sunrise, the big Sergeant — Crawford Lindsay — burst into the room of the sub on duty, calling : " Sir.there's a Spanish Guarda-costa chasing a Contraban- dista I She has let drive at her already, the puir deevil has run up the Jack and is making straight tor the Guard Battery. Ve ken, sir, we perrmit no hosteelities in oor waters — so 'ave just lodded number one gun." Jumping out of bed and scrambling into his uniform, the Lieutenant was quickly standing on the parapet of the battery with a telescope to his unwashed eye. Sure enough, there they were, like two great sea-birds skimming along the waves, their tall lateen sails spread like white wings before the spanking breeze, dashing the foam fi'om their bows. The Guarda-costa could no longer fire her solitary bow gun, as the shot would have come direct for the Hritisli Battcrv. ilic Lieutenant's svmpathies as well as those of h IS Scotch .Sergeant had gone out to the gallant little craft, smuggler though she was, that flew our flag. Rather than sunender-.he had stood on, despite the chasing shot, and now, every reef shaken out, she staggered under her huge lateen Sf.e was rushine to destruction on the black rocks sail rouixl which the sea foamed like an angry cauldron. No time was to be lost. A shot could not be fired to check the mad race, without risk of striking both — they were in exact line aiid close together — there was nothing foi" it but to shoot over t'.ieir heads, letting the Spaniard know she was break- ing the law of nations in carrying hostilities into neutral waters. A word from the oflicer, and tlie keen-eved Scot had taken his line of sight and sent his iron message. fell bevoiul both and went dancing along in jets of spray, that rose in tiny fountains far away. The strong breeze cleared away the .^inoke and seemed even to carry off the report, but it bore to the guiuiers the derisive shout of the crew of the II li:: I 42 GUNNKR JINGO S JUBILKK. Guarda-costa, who realised that the guns from their great lieight could not be depressed to strike. The smuggler could not change her course without being boarded, but she managed to swing into a little cove, where she dropped her wings and lay in comparative safety. Some of her crew scrambled on to a ledge of rock at the foot of the battery wall. The Spaniard hove to, lowered her boat, and also pulled into the little cove, and proceeded to make prisoners of the smugglers. The sub shouted in his best Spanish that this would not be permitted and the captors must consider themselves prisoners. The jeering retort was : '* Come and take us." Calling for a rope, it was made fast to the muzzle of a ball, and before had gun, the guard were ordered to load with they had realised the situation, the officer had slid down amongst the Spaniards, and was politely informing the cap- tain he was a prisoner. The answer was a volley of "puniateros" and "carajos " with an accompanying flourish of his sword. The English officer had no sword, but he pointed to the levelled carbines of the gunners, who crowded the embrasures of the battery. The Spanish captain noted the grey eye of Crawford Lindsay behind the sight of his carbine, which was reduced in length to a round O. He, therefore, became more polite, an understanding was arrived at — the matter was to be referred without delay to the Governor of Gibraltar, and the Spaniard gave his parole that he would await the decision. The honour of a Spaniard can always be trusted, be he peasant, robber, or hidalgo.* The English ofiicer ordered the withdrawal of the guard, and swarmed back up the rope. *At a picnic in the cork woods the Governor's A.D.C. lingered behind to i>ay the rLCAOiiiiig, and imprudently sliowed some gold pieces. The t\viht;lu fell swiftly as he rode after the piiny, the still eveninj; was disturbed by a hoarse " Uoca a bajo ! " (mouth to the ground), the Spanish robber's usual order to dismount and deliver. The linglish officer, roused from his reverie, possibly of bright eyes among the merry party ahead, saw the mu/zles of many "escopetas " poir.ted towards him. He was ridmg through one of the sunken roadways nia.iy thu , iis he (month i:iiglish .uaii, saw ifjh one of moiiora ;is spears flight iiii- jjrace he He who 1 are no a lady's remarked, ike toll for ise With a as loth to rloimi. He Said he, about our His Captain wlicn routed out of bed was somewhat sleepily perplexed. •*Tut! tut!" he said," what an awkward complication! You are so impulsive, Jingo ! Snding down a rope ! How unseemly for the officer in charge of the guard ! " But the orders were distinct, and had been obeyed in a fashion, eccentric perhaps, but practical. A messenger was dispatched to the Governor, and an order came for the release of the Spanish officer and a safe conduct for the Contra- bandista into Gibraltar Bay. Much loneliness had to be endured by the subaltern on duty at Europa, but he was an omniverous reader, and the garrison library excellent. He had mastered Spanish with an occasional help from certain dark-eyed dictionaries, and the too ardent pursuit of knowledge was varied by bouts of boxing and single-stick with his sergeant, who had a drop of good blood in him as his name and appearance implied. Had the " lang-legget Scot" served under Louis XI. instead of Victoria he might have been a Qucntin Durward ; as it was lie served his time as a sergeant, took his discharge, and became Sherift'or Head Constable in the rough early days of British Columbia, where Crawford Lindsay's heav\' hand was too much for the rowdiest miner. For duty our sub was in artillery charge of the Rock Gun District, /.<■., the whole jagged summit of the rock. Every gun magazine and store had to be inspected weekly to the despair of the District Gunners, who found it hard to follow the long-legged, deep-chested sub in his short cuts and climbs. A bet was once made against his clambering from the sea- level to the summit of the rock in a given time. It was thought impossible. He won the bet for his backers by running along the top of the old wall built by the Emperor Charles Quinto. It was ruinous in many places and the stones clattered down as he mounted. Of course, like other tail-less apes of the garrison, he tried to rival the tailed natives by attempting to descend the precipitous face of Gibraltar, from the Signal Station to Catalan Bay, where the height is lessened by a vast accumu- tion of sand. When the depressing Levant or Siroc wind IjIows it brings with it clouds of ^' arm moisture frcmi the .Mediterranean and fine sand from the African -^'osert. The sand, striking against the perpcndiculai fa . of the TrP* 3f,i I' 11! i I 44 C.l-\NKR JINGO S JUFMM.i:. rock, trickles down in tiny rivulets, causing, in tlie long ages, the vast accumulation piled up at its Eastern base. It is needless to say, Tom Jingo and Johnnie Scott, who had made the attempt together, failed to reach the sands of Catalan Bay, and Jingo had to be ignominiously helped from a " parlous " position by the sash of his companion. 4S CHAPTER IV. A Visi(j\,--A ]}kain Wave. "Oh, solitude ! where are the charms, 1 hat sages have seen in tiiy face ?" " J'aime beaucoup la solitude," a sentimental F<^rench- woman remarks, but she candidly adds- "a deux " " lorn had not tried it that way, but one evening his soli- tude was shared. He was sitting down to rest upon . boulder o grey lin.estone, looking across t-he purple Tea to Africa; the sea wnid blew refreshingly in his face. Where he rose pn.k flush of sunset faded' into pale opa^ the homed moon sa.led like a silver canoe ; a solitary star athwart the little wavelets of her own ^gean sea He had been clambering round his district, inspecting the guns, watching our relatives, the apes, and thinking fbou^ thecatacysm that had separated the 'pillars of Hercule Mons Calpe and Mons Abyla, dividing Europe and AfricTn^ a point where their flora and fauna a?e identical. He was' suddenly brought back from the oppressive eternity of a dead past to a living present. A woman's hand was gently laid upon his shoulder-she must be standing there behind him tu.'n'i.rh "? ' o""?^' ''" ^'^ "°^ "^^^^ ^-^^^P^ to slightly tu.n his head. He knew that hand, it was the large well- oimed hand of a tall woman, the ring she always wore wis bv^he W. V ' '°o''"> ''""^' ^•^^ ^'" '^^ '-^"^i^'^t castle hfs Ins fl T '"t- ""• ^'''' ^''' -^"^"^^^ t« ^«"^- l^'-^ck to tood t7'r"''"^ '■'"'"- ''^" °"^^'"d^ ^''^••' by which he stood to say farewell-her head bent down under her hood, her eyes wet with tears-or rain drops, were they ^ Siie could not be beside him now, but her spirit might and i soothed him. He feir .h. .,....,...k,,^ ,,,Z painfb e'ln ieasun I I H M: i I il 46 GLNNKR JIN(;C).S jrHll.KI.. of the '* ganglionic chords," " nerve centres of the abdominal brain " as the new American medical cult has it. He rose and turned — ** Is he sure of sight ? There stood a lady, youthful and bright ! ***** He gazed — he saw : he knew the face Of beauty, and the form of grace ; It was — by his side. The maid who might have been his bride ! ***** Around her form a thin robe twining. Naught concealed her bosom shining. Through the parting of her hair. Floating darkly downward there. Her rounded arm shewed white and bare : ***** He started now with more of fear Than if an armed foe were near. # * • * * art thou here ? » # * # # But ere yet she made reply. Once she raised her hand on high ; It was so wan and transparent of hue, You might have seen the moonbeam through, ' I come from my rest to him I love best. That I may be happy, and he may be blest.' ***** Upon his hand she laid her own — Light was the touch but it thrilled to the bone. ***** But never did clasp of one so dear Strike on the pulse with such feeling of fear As those thin fingers, long and white, Froze through his blood by their touch that night. The feverish glow of his brow was gone. And his heart sank so still that it felt like stone. A HKAIN WAVi:. 47 She is gone ! Nothing is there but tlie cold giey stone. Hath she sunk in the earth, or melted in air ? He saw not— he knew not, but nothing is there." Most miserable and disturbed, he strode down the rock to his lonely barrack-room— no cheery mess for the solitary sub on duty at Europa Point. As a lad, he remembered having seen the wraith or pre- sentiment of a school friend one morning, at daybreak when going shooting. He had gone into the kitchen for the brogues he had left to be greased over-night, e.xpecting to find them by the kitchen fire. There stood his chum, in his ordinary cord shooting suit ! He knew his friend was in England and the momentary hallucination had not troubled him much until he heard afterwards that his friend had died about that time. So now he noted the day and hour of this last vision, which for manifest reasons he did not care to confide to anyone and was miserable till the next mail brought him a home letter It was not black-edged ! It told him of the marriage of his cousin, ol which he had had no previous information. She had come to him on her bridal night ! The relief that it was not her death helped to soften other feelings. Hissolitary tour of duty at Europa Point was over, and he rejoined the cheery messmates at the north end of the rock, who made the vaulted roof of the old Moorish castle ring with a welcome. His artillery district was changed to the charge of those marvellous galleries where the teeth of the British lion grin through grim portals of solid rock. r I 48 m CHAI'lTR V. The t'AM'K Hunt Akkica SHDoriNc; and Weduinc; Tarties. Time now passed pleasantly, and vvitii no snubbing tVoni seniors — not that it was necessary, tor 3'oungsters were knocked into shape before leaving the sliop,* and on joining found brother officers in reality as well as in name. Our quintette of subs eschewed the tables of gieen cloth, and restricted themselves on guest nights to the " first cannon," as the Prince l^egent's allowance of wine, tiioughtfuUy provided by that much abused Pi'incc for impecunious subalterns, was called, and the decanteis for which had a distinguishing label. The custom has been discontinued and the allowance absorbed in the general mess expenditure. The " Four Georges " might never have been written had her Majesty bestowed upon Thackeray the titular honour he is said to have coveted. As the expenses of Army life were about half what they are to-day, the youngsters were able to keep horses and hunt with the Calpe hounds. Unlike the loose stone walls and stiff banks of the West of Ireland to which Jingo was accustomed, Spanish fences in those parts are few and slight, except where the prickly pear or aloe comes in, and then they are not to be negocialed. A little spice of danger was added when the fleet came in and the irrepressible "mid " got outside a horse. Riding in his usual fashion, he would generally elect to hunt the M.F. H. In vain the poor man, with a pack of hounds in front and a pack of " mids " behind, would protest /ic was not the fox. "All right, old Red-coat! When in distress, hoist the K.M. Acailciiiy. TIIK CALPK HUNT. 49 TlliS. ig from rs were and on 11 as in n cloth, ; "first wine, nee for Iters for as been ral mess ten had [nour he at they imdhunt alls and ligo was few and in, and danger )ressible thion, he jhc poor I" mids " loist the danger-signal, and we'll 'bout ship ! " was tlie clicciy assurance. It was novel fox-hunting in every sense. The meet was usually at a half-ruined old convent, a dilapidated Hacienda or Venta. Then followed long wanderings over uncultivated country to pick up the scent, which, evrporating quickly under the hot sun of Spain, only lay in tiie shades of the €ver-green oak glades of the cork woods, or m the opener spaces where the myrtle bushes rising to the horses' flanks and the aromatic herbs yielding fragrance to their bruising hoofs, ought (v)ne would imagine) to have demoralised any right-nosed English foxhound. Then the wild-looking Spanish earth-stoppers were a surprise when you came suddenly upon them ; they looked like bandits hurriedly burying a treasure or a corpse. When the scent was picked up there were short scurrying gallo]'-, dodging the gnarled branches of the corktrees, or trusting your horse over ground intersected with ravines hidden by the tall myrtle and "The cistus, with its purple eye, Blooming but to die," which the fox rarely did, except at a good old age, for the earths ycrc many and the earth-stoppers — Spanish. " Mariana por la manana " was the invariable Iberian reply to the II uignant M.F.H. *' Manana es la calle por donde se va a la casa de nunca !" Just so. "To-morrow is the street by which you reach the house of Never." Then there was the subalterns' yacht, "Gitana," with their old Genoese pilot, Giacomo, and the scratch crew of " the boys," in which they would carry sail in a way calculated to make a sailor's hair curl. Alas ! one wild night, oft' the coast of Barbary, the yacht was lost. The subs were ashore shooting, and Giacomo contrived to get to land somehow. They were homeless, but managed to make their way to the town of Tetuan, where the Moorish officials were more polite than Sir Euan Smith found them. A house was provided near the mouth of the Mehannish river, and snipe, red-legged partridge, and boar were to be got there. A guard of Moorish soldiers (paid for by the party) was imposed upon them. This added more to their dignity than their safety. F. 50 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILKE. :! I. One day, out shooting, they noticed a long procession wind- ing through the hills to the music of trumpets and tom-toms. Ladies in litters tempting to a nearer approach, some of the male part of the procession took deliberate aim and fired at the Faringi. Although it was a wedding procession this was not a " feu de joie " that the Bedouins were indulging in- Tiny spurts of dust flew round the feet of the Englishmen, and a few bullets pinged about their ears. They opened into skirmish line, and showed a front ; but as they had no ammunition except bird-shot, that eminent strategist, Hamley,* who was one of the party, suggested a strategic movement to the rear, in which all except "the iron one" concurred, especially as their escort of Moorish soldiers w«;r,i seen galloping away — for reinforcements, they after- wards affirmed. When it came to the ears of the local Pasha that the Englishmen had been fired upon he expressed regret that he could not control the Bedouins, but offered to burn the nearest village. The execution of the project, with its accompaniment of looting and ravishing, might have been acceptable to their gallant escort, but was declined with thanks by the British officers. Meanwhile, the novelty of the situation had worn off. Of food there was little to be got but the proceeds of their guns,, and game was getting scarce in the immediate neighbour- hood. Yet, going far afield, the shooters were liable to have the tables firned, as on the occasion of the wedding festivities. It was winter, and the winds blew keen from the snowy Atlas range. There was no glass in the picturesquely-arched Moorish windows of the summer palace they inhabited ; they had brought bedding from the yacht, but there were no carpets on the azulcjo-tiled floors, and ;io table but a sort of tray with legs about four inches high, round which they squatted for meals, curling t\ eir length of leg as best they might, till cramp supeivened. The pretty-coloured tiles were m i •Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Hruce Hamley, K.C.B., was even then a brilliant writer of fiction and tlie life of the little party. Since then he has risen to fame by sword and pen in the service of his coi'iitry. He entered Parliament, but was out of place there, where a man can only serve his party oi himself. His book on the " Opera- ti. us of War " was the first written, and, it may be said, it still is the only text-book on stratefjy in the Knglish lauKuaKe, and uns'.Tpassed in any other. Since this was written liphastjonc to the "land of the leal," for a loyal hearted man he was, in spite of the dastardly statement in the " Standanl " which appeared on his death : "That he was the best hated man in the army,"— a statement I would like to qualify by a short Saxon word of three letters. AFRICA. 51 aesthetic to look at, but cold to sit upon. Tom's only pair of breeches had been torn to the verge of indecency by the thorn-bushes, and were in the hands of a local sartorial artist for repairs. He had borrowed a kilt from Johnny bcott, which he supplemented with leather gaifers a cos- tume not uncomfortable except for sitting on cold tiles Once he put their httle portable stove to warm the special pattern of tiles on which he sat for dinner. Removing the stove as soon as that meal was announced, he plumped down for fear someone else woiJd appropriate his warm corner. Alas ! it was a hot corner, and he suffered severe cutaneous afflic- tion for many days in addition to the pitiless chaff of his comrades, who compared him to a locomotive The party were getting uncomfortable in other respects- their period of leave had run out, and there were no means of communicating with the garrison at Gibraltar or of gettine back. At length, a passing " fellucca " relieved them and took them back to a gentle wigging, and in time for the season of gun practice. E— :^ r !■ 52 CHAPTER VI. ANDALUCIA. Red Hot Shot — An Ass who Lost his Head — A Ride in Andalucia — The Insular Englishman — " Zingari " — Peimta ~ Cadiz — " El Tigre Real." At the time-honoured practice of firing red-hot sliot from the batteries that had repulsed the combined fleets of France and Spain by setting fire to those roof-decked vessels so much resembling our Noah's Ark pictures, constructed to protect the decks from the plunging fire of the high rock batteries, our sub had a narroM' escape. Jingo had just been relieved from his gun and his place taken by Le Fer, when, at the next discharge, the gun burst and the fragments spread destruction, killing and wounding the gunners. Jingo escaped, as he was standing in the shade of one of the big trees of the Almeida battery, and was pro- tected by its trunk. The first thing that met his eyes was a poor fellow, pros- trate, with the front of his skull blown away, and his brain actually visible.* Close to him lay Le Fer, breathing, but apparently insensible. Jingo went to the latter, raised head, and loosened his jacket, and, as Le Fer opened eyes, said : " I will bring the surgeon, he is close." Le Fer, in his usual dry tones, slowly replied : " Give me a weed, old fellow, and send ' Sawbones some of the men who v^ant him more than I do." Though evidently in great pain, Le Fer silentl}' smoked and chewed the end of his cigar until the doctor came, who found on examination that he had been struck on the leg and his his to • The poor man had had a portion of the bone of his forehead blown away, and the brain was exposed, but the scalp was drawn over and the wound healed. He lived for some months, and when Lxcitea the blood vessels of the brain could be seen pulsatnR Itencath the skin. AN ASS WHO LOST HIS HEAD. 53 his his to hokcd who ind his foot crushed by a huge fragment of the wooden gun- carriage, but fortunately there was no fracture of any im- portant bone. When the doctor compHmented him on his patience, '* the iron one " made a grim joke that it was " only an ass who lost his head," pointing to the headless carcase of an animal which lay in the roadway behind the battery. The breach of the gun had been blown to the rear, and had carried off the head of a passing donkey, ridden by a Spaniard, sitting very far back as usual, near the animal's tail. The rider had stood on his feet as the ass sank under him, had swcr a bit, but not so much probably as Balaam, and had finally walked off, never to be seen in Gibraltar again. Le Fer was many months before he recovered from his contusions, and the dangerously wounded gunners were sent home to England. After the drill and practice season leave was easily obtainable, under the plea of perfecting oneself in the language. Jingo, having sent his portmanteau, parked with city garments to Cadiz, rode ofl' in light marching order, his " alforjas " (saddle-bags) containing little but sketching materials, a revolver, and Ford's unequalled handbook. He preferred travelling alone, as Englishmen are such incorri- gible grumblers over inevitables — oil, garlic, fleas, and the tarry taste of wine from the bota.* Not that the journey ever was lonely, for he made friends with all sorts and conditions of men — *' Gente del Camino," "Zingari," ''Arrieros," ** Contrabandistas," and their enemies, the " Carabineros," priests, women, and peasants. He even accompanied a mountain battery of artillery for several marches. Treated *' en camarade " by the officers, he learnt something of the excellent system of the Spanish mountain artillery. Oui* own peerless screw-gun batteries of Himalayan artillery were not then in existence. Now the Muscovite must reckon with those and the flower of British and native armies, ere he descend the slopes of the Hindoo- koosh, as inevitably as the glacier — glacier-like, he will melt Jam! ihe lived for liulsatns • Wine is carried and l^opt in pigskins lined with tar—the bota is r. similarly tarred leathern brittle, often hung from kttchei\ rafters, thus one nnderstands the words of the matchless Sheinitic poet, " I am become like a bottle in the smoke " R 54 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. if before he reaches the valleys. But let us leave the Russ upon the Pamir, and return to our sub in the Sierra Nevada. Finding his suit of "dittoes" playing out, besides being abominably conspicuous and marking him an unmistak- able Englishman, thus adding many pesetas to his expenditure, he assumed what was .hen the ordinary costume of the road, the picturesque and serviceable majo dress, the smart jacket, many-buttoned breeches, and bottines, sash and sombrero. A viiigt a>is, on csl bien dans tin grc/iier, or in a Posada, and takes one's oil and wine with a cheerful countenance. Jingo rode abo... the mountain towns and villages of the Sierras down to the valley of the Vega, lingering many days and moonlight nights about the courts of the Alhambra, and the gardens of the Generalifi, his head full of histor}', diluted with Chateaubriand and Washington Irving. Such memr ies haunt from youth to age, and a water-colour sketch still brightens his room with mimic sunshine upon the vermilion towers, the green gardens, and the far-away snowy summits of the Sierras, their changeful tints like opals in the dying day. Thence he tore himself away to stately Seville and its Giralda, and to Cordova with its many-pillared mosque con- verted into a cathedral. Southern Spain used to be, way still be, a land of romance to any youngste?' with a good digestion, a light heart, and a little imagination. But he must be familiar with the liquid lisping Latin of the "Andalu^ena " and have the gift of rolling off the sonorous Spanish without biting the ends off the words. Los Ins^lcsc se liahlan Caskllaflo con los dicntes scrrados. Above all, he must not be an insular Iilnglishman, that most heartily detested being on the face of the earth. Froissart chronicles the haughty ways of the insolent Islan- ders. When our Plantagenet kings led our English chivalry and 3'eoman archers to the conquest of France, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, there was perhaps excuse for English hauteur. And even after the Union, when we faced Europe and America, patriotically submitting to the press-gang to man the fleet that swept our enemies from the seas, we had reason for national pride. Europe now sees in the wealthiest and most defenceless people of the world, who, like the, Romans of degenerate days, refuse personal service in ti.eir own defence, nothing to authorise national swagger in mdividuals. Often have I seen the niozo scowl as the dismounting THE INSULAR ENGLISHMAN. 55 Englishman threw him the reins of his horse. It is the reprehensible " here — boy — hold my horse" manner which makes the proud, but naturally courteous Spaniard recoil, nor will he be placated with tips. That man's unconscious horse will be treated worse than his who distributes the only coin which enriches both giver and receiver. The travelling Englishman, too, will pay an evening visit to Spanish ladies in his everlasting "dittoes" and thick dusty boots, when everyone else wears a black coat. Pity it is ! that though he often looks like a young Apollo in a Nor- folk suit, his manners are not also Olympian — unless it be the Olympia of West Kensington ? The custom of the English ;:>my never to wear uniform €ven at military ceremonies, r.nong nations who do the reverse, has an air of insolence. 1 have seen a British general inspectii.g Colonial troops in a shooting jacket, and at a London dinner, given by volunteer officers, one ma}' see the guest of the evening — perhaps a guardsman officially con- nected with the hosts — "en Pekin," the only man so attired, except the waiters. As had been said, our sub had sent his portmanteau to Cadiz, and as the Queen of Spain's Court was at Puerto de Santa Maria at that season, wc shall see presently how he fared there. Riding through the mountains towards Ronda, he was warned not to stop at a certain settlement of the Zingari and especially to avoid a particular Posada of evil repute — "Muy mala gente." In fact the whole neighbourhood was bad and there had been many robberies, m; ny a " milagro Andaluz," as the little wooden wayside cross tliat marked a murder is sometimes facetiously termed. But he gave little heed to these stories, taking them as part of the stage business of travelling in the unfreciuented parts of Spain. He carried little cash and showed less, and was generally taken for a Spaniaid, or, at least, one familiar with their ways, and only when caught sketching in the sun was he detected as a mad Englishman, "loco Inglese." And that is a character foreigners are not over anxious to tackle. Thanks to our traveller's habit of smoking his cigarette and chatting to the stable boy whilst his horse was eating his barley, his powerful grey Andalusian steed had kept in good condition.* But one day the road he was descending •" El ojo del iin\o eti«orilera el cavallo." Antjlice— The eye of the master will fatten the hori.e. ,€r 56 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. \, I ' became a sort of dislocated staircase of loose stones. Almanzor came down, and in struggling to his feet, tore oft' a shoe. He was dead lame. It had happened close to the Posada of evil repute, but as night was coming on, there was nothing for it but to stay there. Fortunately a forge formed part of the interior court. The smith, a powerful gipsy, agreed to shoe the horse, and began at once rather roughly to lift the shoeless hind leg. Tom warned him that Almanzor was difficult to shoe, especially by a stranger, but the Romany gave a guttural carajo : "Don't you think I know my own business ? " As there was only one way to shoe Almanzor, and the gipsy did not know that wa}', Tom stepped aside to see the circus. Through all the centuries that have passed since he left the East, the Spanish Egyptian has not learned the Western way of shoeing. The man called an assistant to hold the hoof and began to work, facing the horse's quarter, but Almanzor soon sent both men flying across the forge. They picked themselves up slowly, and did not seem violently eager to tackle the job again. Charcoal only was used in the i..ountain forges, and yet there was a sulphurous smell about the place — was it the gipsy swears ? Almanzor usually carried his flowing tail like a '* panache blanche." now it touched the ground, ttcked into his quarters, his ears were laid back, and the whites of his eyes were visible. His master went up to him, made much of him and whispered into his ear, as he was wont, and the naughty symptoms vanished. Then Tom lifted his leg, and, taking a hitch of his tail round the fetlock, held it securely for the smith, who, after cursing Almanzor's mother, finished the job and was duly paid. Tom, signalling Pepita, the pretty waitress, ordered wine fc: all. .She had been looking on with the rest of the loungers, assuming a pose '* plastique," which she knew to be fetching ; her arms thrown back above her head, as she needlessly prolonged the operation of putting a pomegranate flower in her blue-black hair. The action threw out her shapely bust under tiiv° snowy chemise abo''e the low-laced bodice. Her short yellow basquina displayed the well-formed .r- N^ PEPITA. 59 :y >7 "r?" ■rff^ ankle and foot that could stamp and patter so effectively in a bolero. Her eyes— well, they were Spanish ! and gita'na .it that. True daughter of the Gaditanae, the dancing girl of Cadiz, who conquered her Roman conqueror. In our own day, the renaissance of the skirt dancer and the decline of the hideous pirouette performance with an apology for a petticoat, is only a return to that ancient Eastern source of graceful movement, the Nautch girl. A Yankee will bet his •' bottom dollar " that the daughter of Herodias was a skirt-dancer, and he will tell you he saw her in Mexico without the historic "plat, tete de sanit. The wine went round, and the moon rose ; a guitar, tam- bourine, and castenets were produced, and Pepita took her part in dancing and singing snatches of Andalusian song, eminently descriptive of herself and her little ways : " Es una hembra morena. Con unos ojos barbales. Que lumbran como sirales Tiene los dientes parejas* Blancos como los ovejas. Mi madre no quire soldados aqui Qui rompen la puerta y trie trac con mi." As travellers start early to avoid the sun, Tom essaNcd to go bedwards, but his popularity had risen, and it was hard to get away, and also advisable to carry with him his saddle and "alforjas." In that he was anticipated by a friendly hand, which, in lifting the saddle on to his head, caused the pistol to drop from the holster. A bullet went through the ceiling. Tom picked up the revolver, and sighting a water-pot across the patio, put out to cool its contents, he smashed it and showed to the company the remaining four loaded chambers. Mine host remarked : " Basta ! senor, we understand you carry the lives of six men. We never saw the like before. Good-night and safe journey to-morrow." Pepita brought him his morning chocolate so thick that the spoon would almost stand in it. And then at break of day he rode away, giving Pepita the tiny gold dollar she begged IThe Spanish " j " is a soft g;ittiiral " h." The author will not be responsible for Tom's bpanish under the influence of bright eyelight and moonlight. 6o GUNNKR JINGO S JUHII.F.K. f f from his watch-chain, to add to t!ie other gold ones she wore as ornaments. The fame of his weapon had preceded him. Further along the road the ladies of a party travelling to Cadiz wished for t' a escort of a •' Caballero '' so well armed, but their male friends intimated that their *' escopetas " were ample protection. On reacliing Cadiz he rode to the hotel where he had sent his portmanteau, and asked for a room; but the dapper little office clerk eyed the travel-stained majo and suggested the Posada del Sol as a more suitable place for people of his sort. Jingo felt inclined to vault the bar and shake him, but resisted the temptation and only laughed, pulled his key from his pocket and opened his portmanteau, which he saw in a corner. The clerk eyed the operation with suspicion, and evidently thought a "gentle- man of the road " must have robbed the owner, but did not like to intercept without the presence of a " guarda civili." When the open portmanteau disclosed the uniform of a British officer, and the clerk contemplated the tall straight figure before him, he took in the situation, and was profuse in apologies for failing to estimate rightly the eccentricities of the Englishman, who was then shown the best room, where he peeled off his dusty dress, and enjoyed the long-postponed luxury of a bath. Jingo then sallied forth to find an old friend, John Burden, a genial English wine merchant, transmogrified into " Don Juan Bordone." Not realising that they could be the same person, Tom proceeded to describe his friend as a " jolly old fellow with a red face and white hair." " You d d irreverent young rascal, is that the way you describe your friends ? "was heard from behind a red curtain. A hearty handshake followed and an invitation to dinner. It is hard to keep your mouth shut when j'ou have put your foot in it, but Tom made a minimum of apology. His friend had married a charming Spanish lad}', and after dinner Tom found himself in their box at the Opera, and the next evening at a Court ball at Puerto Santa Maria, where her Majesty of Spain was staying for the baths, and at which Tom's uniform proved a passport. The transition KI. TIGKK RKAL. 6l was sudden from a dance witli Pepita and the Zingari to a waltz with the Marquesa de , the bluest blood in Spain in the most exclusive Court of Europe. The ladies of the Court looked like lovely sisters, so similar were they in type, but, indeed, the Spanish aristocracy are closely allied. The men ? Well, I am afraid our youthful sub did not find them as interesting as the ladies. His partner, the Marquesa, notwithstanding her>sr7//^' ■ azitl, hat! the full figure of a peasant girl, with the grace of an aristocrat ; the rich blood tinged her cheek through its olive, and her eyes positively outshone Pepita's and her own diamonds. E/ tigrc rval, was her sobriquet in society — she was said to have a temper and a will of her own. During a pause in the slow, swimming, Spanish waltz, Tom had the unwisdom to ask his partner the name of the little man in buttons, alluding to a short gentleman in Hussar uniform, who was eyeing them uncomfortably. "My husband," she said, with a mischievous gleam of teeth and eyes, " but let us not waste the music." The next time Tom saw her, the tigrc real was tamed, and there was no smile on the older, but still beautiful face. She and her husband were fugitives from a Spanish revolution. The couple sat on the deck of a Channel steamer, and she was carefully wrapping her little, old mummy from the cold. Tom was also a passenger, and while pacing the deck he had recognised her, but to make sure, he coaxed away her little dog and read the name on the collar. On arriving at Folkestone, she was in tribulation at the Custom House over their many boxes, containing all the portable valuables they could get away with. They could not speak a word of English and had no courier. Tom made himself known to the Custom's officer, and told him they were refugees of the revolution. Their boxes were not opened, and in the refreshment room, he tipped the waiter and ordered him to attend to their wants. She seemed to wonder why things went so smoothly all at once, but she did not recognise her old partner, who had kept in the back- ground, but who had the satisfaction of hearing her tell her mummy she always did like Englishmen. Tom could help her no more, but he would have liked to have held her thin hand for a moment, yet, Englishman-like, he left her without taking off his hat. 62 II II i li CHAPTER VII. BULL FIGHTING; PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR. A Matauor's Salute - a Knowing Bull— Demos — A White Hat- Picadors AND Horses — Chulos and Bandarilleros — The Melee — A Wild Waltz — The Slain-Cosas de Espana — An Amateur I^ullfioht — Turkey Pluckinc; — Wicked Women — A Crowned Monarch ok the Street— A Flea-Bitten Grey. The Plaza de Toros brings back the barbaric arena of old Rome, with a dash of the medieval tournament — a vast multitude of spectators, athirst for blood and strife, brilliant colours under a dazzling sky, the Alcalde in his seat of office, the pomp, the heralds, the calm active matador as he stands to receive the furious onslaught of the bull, with naught but his keen, bright blade and scarlet capa. Before the final onset he turns to the spectators, tier upon tier, and he knows where, among that sea of heads, is she, for whose smile to-night he will risk his life to-day. He kisses to her the cross handle of his sword ; who can tell, among those flicking fans and gleaming eyes, which woman's heart it is that flutters at the salute, well-known to her, unknown to all besides ? She may be peasant or noble, maid or wife He turns quickly, for the bull is upon him — a cunning bull who will not regard the flourish of the tantalizing capa, but goes straight for the matador. Surely there is no escape ! Many hearts thump, one woman's throat is dry, all heads are bent in eager expectation. As the bull lowers his massive front, it seems as if the matador must be impaled against the wooden barrier of the arena, where he stood to make his last salute. But no ! His foot is lightly placed between the lowered horns and the agile matador at a bound clears the charging bull, whose horns crash into the splintering wood-work. The A MATADORS SAI.UTK. 63 man turns and derisively gives him a twist of the tail and a smack on the quarter. A thunder of bravos shakes the arena, perfumed handkerchiefs, frais, bouquets, sombreros, cigar cases, purses shower upon the bowing matador, whose calm, set face is turning a trifle pale, for he knows the sulky half-stunned brute, which is slowly preparing to renew the conflict, is not one to be deluded by the scarlet scarf. And now, so quick and furious are the charges made, that the man in his extremity, turns from the bull and vaults the barrier, while a low murmur rises from the fickle multitude, as they hiss the matador, and shout '' bravo Toro." A flush surmounts the pallor now. The man raises his sword hilt to his lips a second time, turning his eyes from the bull to the woman — a mad act for a matador at such a moment. And Demos sees and is ashamed that it doubted the courage of a gallant man. Again the bull comes thundering down on his assailant, again the matador, having thrown away his useless capa, stands perfectly still to meet the onslaught, again the horns are lowered, when, with a side step of a few inches the matador straightens his sword arm and the bull drops dead beside him without a quiver. But the sleeve of the matador's gay jacket is ripped to the shoulder. Again the mob thunders out bravos — this time for the man — but he takes no notice, save by a quick glance in the old direction, ere he draws his sword from the neck of the prostrate bull and wipes the marvellously-tempered blade bending beneath his foot. Then he strides from the arena, leaving flowers, fans, and punses in the bloody dust. As the gaily caparisoned mules, four abreast, canter into the arena and drag off the carcase of the slai! in a whirl of dust, irresistibly again does the mind revert co the Roman Amphitheatre. The excitement was over, the crowd must relax, the}' suddenly spied the tall white hat and black hatband. Ally Sloper like, worn by a solemn Scotch doctor who was sitting next Tom. Now a white hat is undeniably suitable under a burning sun, but uriusual in conservative Spain, where sombreros and maniiilas are black. A wag shouted : " II sombrero bianco !" The refrain was taken up by ten thousand voices, accen- tuated by as nearly many sticks and twice as many feet ^ (iUNNER ilNGOS JUBILEE. HI keeping time, and all eyec-i were fixed upon the Ally Sloper looking medico, who asked his neighbour what it all meant. Tom told him, what he could have setn for himself, that his was the only white head covering in that vast assembly and Demos would have it off. The dogged Scot damned Demos and sat stolidly crowned. There were cries of: " Where did you get that hat ? Take it off ! Knock it off ! Throw it to the toro !" and an amendment to pitch the obdurate owner after it, all which motions were duly translated by Tom, with the r-adition of his favourite Persian proverb : " Politeness is the only coin which enriches both giver and receiver." The economical side of the question seemed suddenly to strike the Scot, who got up, doffed his offending hat and bowed, amid shouts of applause which rivalled those that greeted the successful matadoi . Demos was appeasec — the doctor sat down and resumed his Ally Sloper tile. The arena had meanwhile been cleared of the despised trophies sliowered upon the angry matador, sombreros thrown back to bare-headed enthusiasts, though not always to the rightful owners, whiie officials of the ring reaped a rich harvest of flowers, purses, and fans. The sand was raked over the blood, and all was ready for the renewal of the games, more merciless than the Roman, for neither man, nor bull, nor horse was ever spared. No matter how good a fight the}' made, the thumbs were always down. The four picadors, gorgeously appa riled as to the upper man, unpicturesquely padded as to their lower extremities, to protect them from the horns of ihe bull, sat proudly, lance in hand, on the high-peaked saddles ot their poor old, blindfold Rosinantes, patient servants of man, " Butchered to make Iberian holiday ! " At a signal from the Alcalde, whose box bore the royal arms, and to whom all eyes turned as to Caesar, the clarions rang out, the doors were fiung open by the alguazils, who usually ensconced themselves behind as the gallant bull dashed out in the arena, charging Mie picadors. But this time he varied the performance jy standing still, wild-eyed and irresolute. The olguaziis peeped out from behind their respective half-doors to see why the bull did not come on. riCADORS AND HORSES. 65 but they beat a rapid retreat, for toro went for them alternately, trying to prod them out, amid the jeers of the populace, until an impatient picador rode up and pricked the bull with his lance. The lances have a disc a few inches from the point to prevent a thrust so deadly as to spoil sport. The bull turned, th'" opposing spear flew into splinters as he charged home, and plunged his horn*; into the horse, pinning him against the barrier and goring him until the entrails gushed out. By a violent effort the maddened horse dashed forwards and galloped round the arena, trampling on his own intestines, but bearing away his rider unharmed. There seemed no pity in that Christian crowd.* The poor horse soon fell under his rider ; the nimble •chulos vaulted the barriers and took off the attention of the infuriated bull from the fallen picador, by flapping their many ■coloured capas in his face and leading him to pursue them, one after the other, until the picador was released from his dying horse and assisted over the barrier, his cumber- some, heavy leggings preventing him vaulting as did the flying chulos. None were now left in the arena but the bull and the three remaining picadors, sitting like expectant statues. The bull, pantmg, snorting, and pawing the dust, gave a trium- phant bellow, believing himself lord ot the arena until he caught sight of those three silent, statuesque picadors. Insulting in the calmness of their pose he evidently thought them, for he dashed across the arena at the one opposite to him. He was received on the poii". of the lance, which bent like a reed, and then broke but ; ever slipped in the vice- like grip of the rider, who vas borne backwards almost to his horse's croup, yet never lost his seat. The horse was forced to rear upon his haunches, but the impetuous charge was not stayed an instant. With lowered horns thrust into the animal, he fairly lifted horse and rider over his head. They fell upon the bull's back, man under, bringing the bull he nd eir * Does Christianity inculcate pity for " the br\ites tliat jjerish ? " " Tlioii slialt not muzzle ti>e ox that treadeth out the corn," and "The nicrrifiil man rc^aniith tlic lifo of his beast,' come from the Old Testament, 'rhe New tells iis we " are of more value than many sparrows," thouKh the little fellow was irred to Venus, and had a t{oo?'rir's wife in Arnold's poem veils the head of Ptah, she turns the picture of the Virgin to the wall, that Mary may not see her peccadilloes. Are her sisters of colder climates more consistent ? In the ancient city of Tarifa, upon one day in the year, a bull is let loose in its narrow and tortuous streets, causing amusement to men and boys, amateurs of the arena, but consternation to ordinary folk. Women watch the fun from their balconies or from the Rejis, grated windows, where in the gloaming, they enjoy what is termed, " turkey plucking," that is, when the heads of two persons of opposite sex get very close and their hands mixed, rather like Pyramus and Thisbc until the lion appeared. When the bull is loose " turkey plucking " is in abeyance. Tom and the doctor were strolling through the town in happy ignorance of this fiesta. Suddenly there was a mighty clamour and confusion and a bull appeared, tearing down the narrow street, followed at a respectful distance by •Things of Spain. F— 1 f^^ i^ 68 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEK. a shouting mob of men and boys, flinging projectiles of all sorts. Tom dashed through an open doorway into a group of giggling girls. They let him pa.^s, and banged and bolted the door behind him. The wretched doctor was cut oft*. He next appeared climbing the Rejas, the bull below stamping and snorting with baffled rage. The girls were ** costuras " (work girls) of the Spanish grisette type. They shrieked with laughter and mercilessly prodded the poor doctor with their needles to make him let go. Tom was very angry, remonstrated and swore in two languages, but he could not control half a dozen frisky females armed with needles. They only laughed at him, and as fast as he tore one away from torturing the doctor another would take her place. In vain he unbolted and opened the door, shouting to his friend ; retreat was cut oft' by the bull, which was making ineftectual prods at that portion of the doctor's person that was " nearest and most inviting." The long legs of the unfortunate man had slipped through the Rejas, rucking up his trousers, and the crazy girls were tatooing the bare flesh. Tom could with difficulty restrain himself from joining the wicked but con- tagious hilarity. At last a more vindictive prod caused the tortured victim a violent convulsion ; his hat fell off and dropped on the horns of the bull, which shook its head ; the hat rattled sonorously, but was not dislodged. The bull waltzed with the Ally Sloper like hat cocked knowingly over one e3'e, and while his attention was thus diverted from the doctor, Tom opened the door. The bull dashed for it, and Tom had barely time to slam and bolt it ere the horns splintered it. The brute had stuck his horn through the hat and firmly fixed it there, somewhat flattened and out of shape to be sure, and thus adorned he trotted bellowing down the street to the great relief of the naturally indignant doctor. But what can a man do with a wicked woman except kiss her The doctor chose the latter black sombrero at the nearest his pent-up wrath on Tom, with long-suppressed laughter. Tom apologised meekly, but was not forgiven, and the next day added to his delinquencies. Before the rosy-fingered dawn had opened the pearl grey curtains of morning our two travellers were nt the or let her severely alone ? alternative. He bought a shop, and then poured who had begun to shake A FLEA-BITTEN GREY. of stable. The doctor's steed, a white one, rather high in bone and low in ilcsh, had been stabled in a disused outhouse, there being no room in the ordinary stable of the inn where Tom's steed stood. As the doctor led out his horse to saddle him, in what there was ot fei"?y daylight, he exclaimed : " Here — confound it all, this isn't my horse 1 He's spotted, or piebald, or something." But no ! There was the unmistakeable Roman nose, with the pale pink suft'used over the nostril, the watery gre}' eye and white eyelashes. To assur himself he stroked his steed, when horror ! the brown patches writhed under his hand ! His horse was literally transformed to a flea- bitten grey. Why a disused shed should be so prolific in fleas is one of those " Cosas de Espana '' no fellow can understand. Now the doctor was as pernicketty about fleas as a woman who hates dogs and the scent of magnolias. (N.B. — Bad sort of woman to marry is a woman who dislikes dogs and the perfume of flowers, she never cares much about men). It was u.seless to try to curry-comb the fleas out, the readiest way seemed to be to ride him into the sea. A nice level beach was close at hand, so Tom recom- mended the doctor to do Parthenon frieze, i.e., that he and his steed should, like Haidee and Juan form -a group antique, Naked, natural, and Greek !*' and so drown the Spanish " pulgas," that most persistent of fleas. But the medico was too modest, though there was no one about at that early hour. He jumped on to his horse, clothed as he was, and rode him slowly into the sea. The water rose higher and higher, ajid the fleas crept higher. The doctor rode on until his long legs were twined round the horse's neck, and he found the fleas had left the animal and settled on the man. He forbore a final plunge, and so came back to the shore, bear- ing the transferred insects upon his own unhappy' person. He vented his wrath in such unmeasured teiins upon Tom for what he considered his insidious advioe that they parted company. Moral — Nev^er trust man or woman who only takes half your advice. 70 i CHAPTER VTII. Gib ONCE MORE — Moorish Haiks and Highland Kilts— The Carnival — " Rule Britannia "— " Plus Royaliste que le Roi " — The Crimea. About the hour of evening gun-fire as Jingo rode across the neutral ground towards the gates of the old fortress, he met the quartette sallying forth for their evening ride, and he heard Billy Pease remark : " Hullo ! Here comes a big cock Spaniard." " He is riding Long Tom's horse then," said Le Fer, " masquerading may be lawful, but not always expedient." The sequel shows the words and acts of the speaker were not alwa3's consistent. Next morning at gunfire Tom was startled by seeing a Moor in his bedroom. Sleepily he wondered if the old denizens of the Tower had returned from the other world ; on arousing discovered that it was Le Fer in a Moorish haik, fez, slippers, and precious little else ; his aquiline features and dark complexion made the disguise complete. Thus attired, to save the trouble of dressing and undressing, it was his habit to go down and bathe. Tom wanted to accompany him, but here came tlic rub. There were many Moors in Gib, but they did not usually promenade with British officers. Le Fer suggested fom should wear Billy Pease's haik, which he used as a dressing gown. This, with the hood pulled over his head and Moorish slippers, completed the costume, and it was no one else's business that there was nothing but a nightgown under it. Down they strode through Bell Lane, where many belles resided, to the old mole, and enjoyed a plunge in the cool green sea, followed by a stroll through the market, munching green figs and muscatel grapes. Next day came a lengthy epistle from the Town Major's office, demanding "reasons in writing " for wearing Moorish costume in the city of Gibraltar. Brevity being the soul of wit, Tom turned up the corner mm MOORISH HAIKS AND HIGHLAND KH.TS. 71 of the official document, and answered in one word, initialed, thus : " Coolness. T. J." He had to put in an appearance next day at the office, and was told severely that his reply shewed excessive coolness. When he reiterated the fact with edifying seriousness, that it was coolness, and nothing more or less that led him to adopt the costume, he was told not to do it again, as the ladies objected. He ventured to inquire how they recognised him. . ,• "By your pink heels," was the reply. " Oh ! " The story got about, and a huge Highland officer borrowed the kilt of the smallest bugler in his regiment and marched past tlie house of the lady complainants, on his way to bathe ever}' morning. More than /lee/s was visible, but no objec- tion could be made — it was uniform. The rough old Colonel of the same distinguished regiment was annoyed by the persistent crowding of the aforesaid ladies on the limited ground of the Almeida. The regiment was in line, and he gave the word : " Gordon Highlanders, r — r — reet aboot face ! Ground arms ! " The fans were put in requisition, but the Spanish ladies were not put to flight by the Colonel's manoeuvre. As there were very few unmarried ladies in Gib., dances were rare, but the youngsters took advantage of the balls at the theatre, where it was the custom to choose a partner for the season from tiie Spanish grisettes, who danced beautii'ulb , were very bright and cheery, and had charming manners. But the preference of the " shes " for the \A'earers of the Queen's uniform led to jealousies on the part of the "hes," (" Rock Scorpions," as tlie Gibraltar Spaniards are unkindly called), and n atters culminated at the Pinata, the last ball of the carnival. A huge chandelier, ornamented with bon-bons and minia- ture trophy flags, was lowered from the ceiling, and a Spaniard was blindfolded and given a long stick, which he flourished round to enlarge the circle of men standing ready to scramble for the sweets and little flags of all nations as trophies for their (jiiendas. rhese withdrew to the bo.ves to watch their partners struggle for tlK" relics of the Pinata \ 72 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILKK. chandelier, whicli the blindfolded one eventually broke, after sundry impartially administered whacks to the men who, in their eagerness, came within reach. On this occasion there was not the usual impartiality shewn, for the stick always came down on a British uniform. The bandage was evidently inettectual, but the young officers took their whacks good-humouredly. When the Pinata was broken the scramble began. The stick-wielder was then at liberty to push up his bandage and join in the scrimmage. This he did by going for the smallest officer in the room, our friend Chiquito, who had secured a prize and was quietly walking away with it. The Spaniard followed, and tried to snatch the trophy from him (it was a little Spanish flag). There was no surrender on the part of Chiquito, so the bigger man knocked him down. In less than two twos the assailant was on the broad of his back and the row became general. Navajas were drawn, the English of(i- cers picked up the chairs as shields and weapons, and after clearing the room of every Spaniard, they brought down their girls from the boxes and began to dance again. (Women always side with the conquerors). The band being a military one, played up for their officers, and " all went merry as a marriage bell," until the chief magistrate appeared upon the scene with a body of Scorpion police. He ordered the arrest of our Tom as the ringleader of the previous fracas. Tom was dancing quietl}' with his partner, Dolores, when a policeman seized him roughly by the collar of the open mess jacket he wore. The arm that encircled Dolores' slim waist was quietly withdrawn and the fist came down like a sledge hammer on the glazed leather top of the policeman's hat, which was about the level of Tom's shoulder. The minion of the law was brought to a sitting position, where he remained struggling with his hat, which had been driven over his face and firmly fixed there. The policeman's hr.t of those days had steel ribs up the sides to prevent its collapse from a bonnetting blow, but the force applied on this occasion had not been contemplated by its ingenious constructor. The police drew their truncheons and, headed by the magistrate, made for Tom, but his tv/other officers rallied round him, and in less time than it took to clear out the civilian Spaniards, the Scorpion police, magistrate and all, were ejected from the theatre. The bon netted policeman. 9S9 PLUS ROYAI.ISTE QUE LK ROI. 73 like a small Samson Agonistes, was sport for the young Philistines, but instead of bringing down the house he had to be led forth ignominiously, for no one on the spot could, or would get the hat oflf". The girls had disappeared in the tumult and the band, who had all along been with difficulty kept from helping the officers, was marched off, while the triumphant youngsters, after singing *' Rule Britannia " to an empty house, prudently dispersed to their quarters, lest any of the senior oflicers should be informed of the row, and appear on the scene. Next morning a complaint was lodged before the Governor and Tom was made the scapegoat. This time he felt uncomfortable for he had a recollection of hustling the portly figure ofthechief magistrate outofthetheatredoor, and flinging into the street a certain little baton of office, surmounted b}' a gilt crown. This indignity to the Royal emblem troubled a conscience " plus royaliste que le roi." At the same time he felt that he would have surrendered at once had no hand been laid upon the Queen's uniform which he wore, while the magistrate who directed the arrest appeared in the usual British shooting coat, from the pocket of which, at the eleventh hour, he produced his little baton of office. However the matter ended in a lecture from a superior officer on the supremacy of the civil over the military power, the edge of which was taken off' b}' the lecturer asking Tom with a smile, what was his fighting weight ? But a bloodier fight was looming over Europe. The Crimean War was declared, and the quintette of subalterns was broken up. Tom, to his intense disgust, was ordered to England to join a company in the West Indies, to which he had fallen b}' promotion. The other four went to the Crimea, where they saw hard service, and Le Fer, who had always pretended that he did not " seek the bubble reputa- tion at the cannon's mouth," volunteered for the spiking party of the Redan. ' CHAPTER IX. Home Ac.ain — Disai'I'ointkd -(2iiaik au Canon — The Sub and the Bombardier — Ould Ireland— Another Woolwich Job — The Antilles — Yellow Jack and Port Royal Jack. " Home again from wandering on a foreign shore, And, oh ! it fills my soul with joy to see my friends once more." :!li Not a bit of it ! The lady of the hallucination was the happy mother of twins, and our sub sent her a pretty wedding present. He was burning now only with a desire to go to the Crimea. After a short visit home he returned to Woolwich, and having got strong recommendations for active service, he haunted the Adjutant-General's office, then at Woolwich. The Deputy-Adjutant-General R.A. of those days was a kindly sensible fellow, and saw in the tough, strong sub excellent " chair au canon," so he was promised the first death vacancy which occurred in his regiment. There had not yet been an engagement. I regret to write it. This other- wise amiable young officer eagerly scanned the daily papers for news of the first general action, which would inevitably take him to the front, so unprincipled and selfish do those become who follow the nefarious profession of arms ! One always wonders why He, " unto whom all hearts are open and all desires known," declared that He had " not found so great faith, no, not in Israel," as in a Roman centurion. But the Roman legions have marched past into Eternity, and the House of Rothschild rules the civilised world, in which THK SUB AM) IHK BOMHARDIKK. 75 we arc bound to include the Czar of all the Russias. Will the present King of Israel give to the last-named potentate Hindostan for an inheritance ? Meanwhile, our sub was not wise in his generation ; there- fore, he must have been a child of light, for he did a very unwise thing. The D.A.G., R.A., had a confidential clerk, an excellent man and a full bombardier, who sat daily at his desk driving his quill through the enormous pile of corre- -spondence he had to submit for the sign manual of his chief The Lieutenant on his frequent visit appeared. The bom- bardier did not look up from his task, but simply said : '* The Adjutant-General will not sec you to-day." The foolish blood of some ancestral Irish Rapparee rose to the brain of the officer, and he said : *' Do you know to whom you are speaking? Stand to attention ! " The non-commissioned officer's pasty official face did not flush like that of the angry sunburnt sub. He put down his pen and rose to his feet, saying : " Sir, the Adjutant-General has given me orders to admit no one." The discomfited officer would have liked to have made some sort of apology, but he slunk out instead. Next day there was an order for him to take charge of a detachment of Field Artillery ordered to the north of Ireland, with a private note from the D.A.G. to say that he would not forget his desire for active service. And so in early summer he marched through pleasant *' ould Ireland," before the reign of Parnell, the last king of the Stuart line, had made it unpleasant, and there he forgot for a time his hunger for more active service. The people were kind, the old lord who owned the property on which the barracks were built, had set aside a special snipe bog for the subaltern on duty, and the considerate captain, as it was within sight of the barrack-gate, allowed its use* ; the " pisantry were the noblest in the wor-r-ld," as Dan O'Connell put it, the unplundered gentry hospitable, and pretty girls galore. * )n the first spot of shiiking boK the last-joined EiiMlisli sub invariably found a jack snipe. It seemed to rise out of his pocket, zig-zag round his head, and soar away with an ironic " Cr-r-rake" after he had let oft both barrels. Jingo, more to the manner born, witliout a notion that he was spoiling sport, shot the poor bird after it had said *' Cr-r-rake ! " His comrade was desole. .►i.^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 l.i 1.25 " m m 1.4 l!M M 1= 1.6 V] <^ /} VI e. V /a y /A Hiotogiaphic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ V ^Q^" :\ \ 6"^ s> 74 1 CHAPTER IX. HoMK Again — Disaitointki) -Cmaik au ('anon The Sfn and thk HoMBARDiEK — OuLi) Ikei.and— Anothek Wooi.wich Jdh -Thk Antilles —Yellow Jack and I'okt K(jval Jack. *' Home again from wandering on a foreign shore, And, oh ! it Hlls my soul vvitii joy to see my friends once more." Not a bit of it ! The lady of the iiallucination was the happy n. other of twins, and our sub sent her a pretty wedding present. He was burning now only witli a ilesire to go to the Crimea. After a short visit home he returned to Woolwich, and having got strong recommendations for active service, he haunted the Adjutant-Cieneral's oflicc, then at Woolwich. The I)eput\'-Adjutant-Gcneral R.A. of those days was a kindly sensible fellow, and saw in the tough, strong sub excellent *' chair au canon," so he was promised the tirst death vacancy which occurred in his regiment. There had not yet been an engagement. I regr. t to write it. This other- wise amiable young oflicer eagerly scanned the daily paptrs for news of the first general action, which would inevitably take him to the front, so unprincipled and selHsh do tluise become who follow the nefarious profession of arms I One always wonders why He, " unto whom all hearts are open and all desires known," di glared that He had " not found .so great faith, no, not in Israel," as in a Roman centurion. But the Roman legions have marched past into Kternity, and the House of Rothschild rules the civilised world, in which TIIK SLB AM) TMK BOMUARDIKK. 75 we arc oound to include the Czar of all the Russias. Will the present King of Israel give to the last-named potentate Mindostan for an inheritance ? Meanwhile, our sub was not wise in his generation ; there- fore, he must have been a child of light, for he did a very unwise thing. The D.A.G., K.A., had a confidential clerk, an excellent man and a full bombardier, vvlio sat daily at his desk driving his quill through the enormous pile of corre- spondence he had to submit for the sign manual of his chief. The Lieutenant on his frequent visit appeared. The bom- bardier did not look up from his task, but simply said : " I'he Adjutant-Gc'cral will not see you to-day." The foolish blood of some ancestral Irish Kapparee rose to the brain of the officer, and he said : " Do you know to whom you are speaking? Stand to attention ! " The non-commissioned officer's pasty official face did not flush like that of the angry sunburnt sub. I le put down his pen and rose to his feet, saying : " Sir, the Adjutant-General has given me orders tf» admit no one." The discomfited officer would have liked to have made some sort of apology, but he slunk out instead. Next day there was an order for him to take charge of a detachment of Field Artillery ordered to the north of Ireland, with a private note from the D.A.G. to say that he would not forget his desire for active service. And so in early summer he marched through jileasant ** ould Ireland," before the reign of Parnell, the last king of the Stuart line, had made it unpleasant, and there he forgot for a time his liunger for more active service. The people were kind, the old lord who owned the property on which the barracks were built, had set aside a special snipe bog for the subaltern on duty, and the considerate captain, as it was within sight of the barrack-gate, allowed itsuse* ; thc"pisantry were the noblest in the wor-r-ld," as Dan O'CoiUicIl put it, the unplundeied gentry ho-;pitable, and pretty girls galore. • )n till' first spot of ^It.ikiiin lion the lasijoiinil Kiinlisli siili inviiri.ibly foiiiid ,i jack snipt'. It si.t'iiU'd to rise out of liis pocktt. /i^/aM roiiiid liis licul. and so.ir awuy with .111 ironic " Cr-r-rak " after lir liad li-'t oft both barrels. Jiii«o, iiiori' to tlic iiiaiiiur born, without a notion that Ik; was spoihiiK sport, shot tin' poor bin! after it liad saiil " Cr-r-raki- 1 " His comrade was desoli'. 76 GLNNEU JINGO S JL'HILKh. But the dfiy of reckoning was only deferred. Looking tlirough a military paper, anxiously longing in the spirit of thr old martial toast for " A bloody war or a sickly season," his eye caught the large letter heading : ANOTHER WOOLWICH JOB. *' We hear that Lieutenant Jingo, whose company is in the West Indies, where his presence is much required, two subalterns in succession having died of yellow fever, is to be permitted to go to the Crimea out of his turn." The bolt was shot. The next mail brought his orders for Port Royal, Jamaica. The West Indian mail steamer sped him across the summer sea, her sharp bows dashing aside the yellow Sargossa weed which floats in the endless eddy of that shoreless ocean river that flows from the Gulf of Mexico, to warm the moist climate of Western Ireland. Disraeli declared the Gulf Stream had much to do with the character of the dwellers by the shores of that " melancholy ocean" — the same Sargossa sea, with its little crabs dancing on its golden wavelets, as their ancestors had done three hundred years ago round the prow of the low caravel that had carried Columbus to the Western World and given him an excuse to encourage his faint-hearted crews with the hoped-for proximity of land though they were still in mid-ocean. There were pleasant planter folks on board, with their grotesque coloured domestics in blazing bandana turbans. The sugar industry was not, at that time, quite ruined by the refusal of the slavery abolitionists to pay a half-penny in the pound duty, in favour of free-grown sugar. With equal consistency to-day, the octogenarian descendant of a slave owner, who rules our motley government, (the Cabinet livery of England should surely be motley for all parties !)* would fain have abandoned Uganda, whence the roots of the slave trade spread their deadly tendrils athwart the dusky continent. A balmy tropical morning beamed upon the glassy waters of Port Royal Harbour, promising a blazing day. The land ^ H •" I met ;i fiiol i' the fnrt'St. ;i liidtli y fool ; :> iiiisi'niilc worlil ." THE ANTILLES. n wind had died down and the sca-breczc had not yet begun to curl the green waves on to the beach, nor to toss the long feathers of the cocoa-nut palms which fringe the low spit of land on which stands I'ort Royal, with the huddled-up shanties of Negro Town by the shore, and beyond, the barracks, and the long, low, red-brick crumbling batteries of antiquated guns which had slept through nigh half-Ji-century of peace, and which even the echoes of the Crimean war had failed to displace for something more modern. The green mangroves swept away in a curve past the palis- ades oi that well-peopled burying ground, where many a good fellow has been sanded down, to the scarcely more lively town of Kingston, while beyond were the green hills of Up Park Camp, beyond which rise the long wavy lines of the Blue Mountains. The white cottages of Newcastle, the Sanitorium, nestled on the spurs of slopes covered with tropical verdure. A lovely picture, this emerald gem of the Antilles made — ** A summer isle of Eden, lying In deep purple spheres of sea." Grim, old red-nosed Noll con(|uercd it for us — when shall we give it away ? Its commerce we have let go to America — it would be protection to stop it. St. George's banner, broad and gay, (are we to pull out the ciosses of the three other fighting saints, Patrick, Andrew, and David?) floated in those days from the peak of the old battle-ship, B(f:^tnu>cii, recalling Rodney and the old sea-dogs and carry- ing us back in imagination to the buccaneers, those pictur- esque old rowdies of the Spanish main. The listless present seemed to slumber in the long-forgotten past, and the tranquil waters covered the earthquake buried city that lay hidden beneath the keel of the panting, puffing West Indian mail steamer, the only thing alive. Kre her anchor chains had rattled ll-.rough the hawser holes, anil the morning gun had boomed across the bay, it was aliv with craft of all sorts, a flotilla of canoes and boats, iadcn with tropic fruit and flowers, and peopled with laughing, chattering men and women of many shades, from the just warm " ten cents to the dollar " girl to the ebon, plenteous-lipped daughter of Ethiop, with her gleaming teeth and eyes, and 78 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEK whose white and colouied calico garments scarce restrained her buxom charms, in the excitement of paddhng her own canoe. Here in the Antilles meet in fantastic contrast the feminine types of four continents. The pretty English girl in ** kiss-me-quick bonnet," and the pure Africain';, whose voluminous and(perhaps to her own male) voluptuous lips, suggest to the white man only an indefinite post- ponement of osculation. The delicate featured Aryan woman of the Indian coolie moves gracefully along, carrying her child on her hip. Here and there a dash of Chinese blood appears, as well as Anglo-Spanish, French from Louisiana, and original Carib. , . •5 On ^1Vwt \i.<0(i'^rRoHtSs ** Ah, there's the uniform of the dear old regiment in the stern sheets of a boat." She sweeps along- side with the stroke of men-of-war's-men. " God bless my soul 1" The men are in their shirt sleeves and regimental trousers, Nnv '^:^. ^ ■A§ but the little forage caps are cocked on woolly heads, and — and — "By jove, they are all niggers, non-com and all." The sailor officer saw the new-comer's surprise, and said : YELLOW JACK 79 'ivcv ^ •' All, yes, they all get that way in time. You'll soon find your hair curl tighter than it does now, just like those other fellows." Our sub did not know that there was an establishment of negro gunners attached to the Koyal Artillery, and splendid men they were, very useful for fatigue duties in that climate. They had been formerly enlisted from crews of captured slavers ; the fellows with teeth filed to points and who were said to have had cannibal antecedents, niade the best gunners. But that source of supply has long since ceased, captured slaves are now sent to Liberia to keep company with "Auntie" who came to see the Queen the other day. The modern Jamaica Baptist nigger is a poor substitute for the fresh-caught African. It was early when the swarthy crew landed the new arrival at the Barrack Wharf, where he was met by his brother officers, for no one but a lunatic wastes a tropical morning in bed. As a matter of course, a gunner is made at home everywhere except at Woolwich, where the near- ness of modern Babylon draws men into its vorte.x and away from comrades. There, in Jamaica, was found one of the crew of the cadet 8-oar, and others Tom had never seen before, but the same hospitality was extended by all. The breezy breakfast of pink mullet en papillote, kedgeree, and green chillies, alli- gator pears, plantains, and custard apples, in the mess verandah, with the sea wind sweeping throigh, was cheery. There was no talk of the deadly yellow fever that liad taken two of his comrades, and which was still more than decimating the men. The irony of fate is for ever repeating itself Tom had been promoted by the death of the president of the cadet court-martial that had administered to him the most effective thrashing he ever had in his life. He had never felt the slightest ill-will in the matter — least of all now, when he had been sent to fill the poor fellow's place. It was and is aftcralonglife the fixed f)pinion of General Jingo, that a good gunner is rarely a bad man. He never knew but one, and as a cadet he had freely used the buckle end of the belt for his reformation. The only instance in which he had used it, it failed — for the man had a dogged courage that resisted punishment and earned for him the Victoria Cross (which of course he did not get). But he was selected for 8o (iU.NNKR JIN(.()S JlBll.KK. a responsible post in which lie brought disgrace upon his corps. '* Sun ober de yard arm, long drink or short drink, sah ?" said the black mess waiter after orderly-room, morning chat and cigars. , The new comer looked for explanation. " Urinky for drunky or drinky for dry ?" was all that was vouchsafed to intimate the difference between a cool san- garee with lots of the juice of fresh green limes and only a dash of Madeira, or a stift' '* B *' with but a dash of •* S." At daybreak next morning was the Lieutenant's first duty — a funeral, for which he arrayed himself according to regulation, in tight coatee and epaulettes, the collar stiflF with gold embroidery to the ears, and the leather stock buckled behind the neck, the whole surmounted by a top- heavy shako and a stift' white shaving brush for a plume. The pocket of the swallow-tailed coatee held a diminutive prayer-book and a cigai case, a degree more useful than the modern tunic with a breast pocket where even a pocket handkerchief creates such a protuberance that that requisite article has to be carried up the sleeve like a man doing a card trick. The parade ground was tenantless, no firing party, no following party, no mufiled drums, no parson. Four un- painted wooden boxes were aligned on the wharf where waited a couple of long canoes, with niggers and mattocks to scrape up the loose sand of the palisades, the usual burying-ground. The officer asked the crew where the funeral party was, but only got grins and shakes of the head, with the explanation : *• Yellow Jack funeral — for true — sah ! " He walked over to the barracks and found the Scrgeant- Major unable to give any more satisfactory answer, for he had evidently taken several extra tots — medicinally, no doubt. He was placed under arrest and the dismal duty went on. The lily maid, Klaine, had a water funeral, but her boatman was mute ; better had these been so also. The pestilential vapour of the green mangrove swamp along which they coasted in the close morning air, excused a cigar, and the poor fellows who were being taken to their last and longest resting place would not have objected could they have known. i I'<)RT KOY.M. lACK. 8i I i riie negroes stite had only been whetted by the pig, uway Hew the carefully coiletl rope, until the gunwale literally smoked under the friction. The line was out and taut in a jiffy , and the canoe shot over the water till Tom |)ut in his paddles and backed water to try to check the run. Now the monster would dash from side to side, nearly upsetting the canoe, and causing the poor balanc- ing " Demon " to turn a peculiar tint, then he would plunge right down until the bows dipped. Many a salmon had our fishing friend played, *' but never aught like this.'* llow to reel, give line, or butt was a puzzle. He pulled his best, but the fish could go faster than the boat. Suddenly the line was slack — had he broken off ? There was his black fin making straight for the canoe. Tom seized the harpoon and stood ready in the bows, shouting to " the Demon " to steady her with the oars. When almost touching Tom launched his harpoon, it turned the shark, but glided off his back with only a scratch, and again the line was taut and the canoe spinning along as before, in instant peril of being capsized. And now other black fins came skimming round to see the fun ; the situation, like the rope, was strained, and Tom was half minded to cut ( I our Iv to but line fin and ;aclv :hed his Itaut tant lame the cut I'OKI KOV.M. lAl K. both and give it up, when be iieard the enoouiaging siitiuts of bis men from tlie beacli, fof the garrison bad turned out to watch the novel sport. So he put iiis i)ack into the sculls, the huge brute began to give way, and Tom faiily played him until be lay like an exhausted salmon leady to be gafled, almost still, now and then showing his white belly and the huge mouth under his nose. Calling to the onhjckei'sto be ready to haul in, Tom nuide a spurt for the beach, and as the keel grated the men dashed in and dragged the shaiL high and dry. lie lashed furiously with his tail and bit in two a handspike which had been thrust into his open jaws, but a smart gunner lopped off his caudal appendage, ami thus rendered him powerless without that leverage. Ik- was then easily dispatched and cut open. The tish-hooked beef had caught in the roof and sides of his mouth, the smaller steel hooks and wire having held, though he had sna|)ped the iron chain, which with the pig, iron hook and all, were found insid'^ him. Next came a Marine's coatee, fortunately the owner had not been inside; it had probably been hung in the rigging to dry the pipeclay vvith which the white braid breast-adornment of those days was cleaned. A gust of wind had blown it overboard, and it bail l)een taken by " Port Royal Jack " as a salmon takes a lly. A tin colander, a foot in diameter, turned up, which the cook's mate had let slip when washing the greens — here was a spinning spoon l)ait for " jack," as it sank, shooting from side to side, as such shaped articles do when dropped into the sea. There was an assortment of beef bones, the remains of '* Jack's " rations, tufts of feathers, and miscel- laneous trifles, with three or four fish about a foot long sliaped like young sharks. Whether they were so or not, and sheltered in the mother's mouth, as tlic sailor's yarn has it, is left for naturalists to decide. " Fori Royal Jack'' measured twelve feet from the tip of snout to tail, antl the Boscaiceit boys rejoiced over its cap- rurc. Whether his successor was put on the ration list history does not relate. G— 2 84 ClIAPTKK X. D T." Creole Love — Oj'Eka and Mangkovi; Swamp ^^()rIlEK WiNciKOVE— The Ulue Mountains -A Nkcko Mv.mn— Klineu I'lantation—Blacksmitu and Minister Ml*, anu Waiter — A Devil Fish — A YouN(i KAKTiiyrAKK — Ne(,r() Distckiiance — Island Hosimtalities — Oruekkd Okk -JiciciEK'n. '* Don't leave me, old fellow, for (lod's sake, don't go away or that cursed Jackass will come and play tlic trombone in my ear, and my head is splittin{j already. If you forsake nie like the rest, I sliall finish it with this," he said, holding up a razor he was sharpening at his dicssing table. The speaker was a beautiful boy, with a perfect classic face, large violet eyes, long-lashed like a woman's, and with a mass of crisp curls crowning a Greek head. I le used to be called " Pretty Folly " at the shop.* Tom turned and closed the door gently, and as he saw the wild look in the now bloodshot eyes^ the quiver on the sensitive mouth, and the trembling hand that held the razor, it came like a flash upon him that this was D.T. His com- rade was one of those unfortunate fellows whom no one ever sees drunk, who never appeared unfit for duty. He had lately withdrawn from the intimate society of his comrades, having formed a liason with a handsome Creole girl, as young as himself, and the unhappy sequel had followed — a pretty baby. Tom did his best, seldom leaving him day or night, until the doctor insisted upon his being relieved by a sentry. The cure was slow and the reformation fitful, for alas, he had reached that stage when promises are naught. The foolish girl, who, with the easy morality of her race and that climate, did not consider such a connection discreditable, loved him in her own passionate way, and nursed him tenderly, but ■ 4 i • R. M. A. CRKOLF LOVE. 85 to iiitil iThc I had ilish bte, I him but could refuse him nothing, not even his mad entreat}' for liquor, which she managed to get for him. When this was discovered, siie was made to return to lier people. As a last hope, Tom joined him in a pledge to touch no lif|Uor so long as they remained on the station ; but his poor friend broke his promise, and in spite of watch and ward and doctor the end came soon. Tom kept his oath, and to it, together with abstinence from meat, may be attributed his impunity from illness, for he was habitually careless and exposed himself to the sun while tishing and shooting, and often to the miasms of f-.wamp and forest. The grief of the girl was as violent as pcrliap«> short-lived, happily for such nature •. She asked Tom for a pair of white gloves to pn; upon her Ixautiful " karpse," as she called her lost lov. I'hoir w.iys are not our ways, nor their thoughts our thoughts, it is best so. In a few hours the dead 'lad to be remov- d iVoiu the living —" from friend and from lover." *' Or ere decay's eftacing fingers, Had swept the lines where beauty lingers." Tom took him and many another poor fellow to tha dismal "God's Acre," where he had read his first funeral service. El I'oiitito ucgro, as the Spaniards call it, was not stayed. Like every good .soldier. Lieutenant Jingo was a fatalist and felt no personal anxiety. But his surroundings were depressing, for being the only subaltern available, he was on perpetual duty ; the other who acted as Adjutant and Quartermaster, was engaged to a bright Irish girl, who sent each mail what Tom called the ** Hallinafad Chronicle," a cross herring-bone correspondence, deciphering which apparently occupied his whole time between mails. A faithful fellow he was, and a magnificently handsome pair they made. He was blown up testing fuzes, and died shortly after. Meanwhile the Crimean war went on with its record of duty and suffering, for which came honoui-s — ribbons and crosses on! ,-, for subalterns, brevets in addition for happy captains. But there was a bi .ght spot for the solitary sub. The Governor of Jamaica and his charmijig wife were very kind 86 <.rNNi;K .)iN(ios jrniLKr. to liim, and lie had a room at Govcninicnt House when- ever he could get over to Spanislitown. He asked lor a little modification of the rigour of his imprisonment to the low spit of sand and coral reef, the barrack, the batteries, the hospital, and the dead-house, which constituted Port Royal, but was refused. Tom thought it was perhaps because his chief was known not to be a /yrrsoiin i^rn/n at Government House. Of course Jingo was wrong and still more wi'ong in the sequel. A celebrated Spanish opera troupe had come to Kingston, and there was a pressing invite to their Excellencies' bo.x and a room at Government House. So at dusk he put his mess jacket and white trousers (which were t/r rii^iirnr), in a tin box in the bow of his canoe and paddled oft". Wliat could happen except some poor fellow die in the hospital during the night, and for that there was the doctor, and he would lie back before daylight. On arrival at the capital lie changed his clothes and entered the regal box, whore were his l)riglit handsome friend, with her kindly chat, her equally kind husband, and his chum, the A.D.C, a man of his own regiment. Tom felt a qualm of military conscience when the officer commanding the troops also entered the box, but the chief was not supposed to know he \vas absent without leave, and was too kind and wise to ask questions. The evening was a treat, a delightful break in the sad monotony of Tom's life, though he was not able to accept the oftcred hospitality of the Governor, and had to make his way back in his canoe when the opera was over. He tried a short cut through the lagoons, but the bright moon went behind clouds, and he lost liis wav in a labvrinth of mangrove stems. The pestilential miasma of the swamps assailed him with the lassitude it brings and which fasting intensified, the mosquitoes were maddening, as both hands were on the sculls he could not scratch. But he ]-)ul1ed away to be in time tor morning parade. He reached the palisades, that dismal swamp where his friend lay ; his head felt like molten lead and his back ached to dislocation with every stroke. Kingsley's marvellous description of the fever- stricken Aniyas Leigh in the mangrove swamps of Central America came to his mind, and the charges brought against Sir Walter Raleigh by the Royal pedant, who said the poor prisoner was so great a liar " lie hath declared that h'^ I OI'KKA AND MA\f;K(-)Vr. SWAMP -V I I Visited lands where oysters do grow upon trees "-and here they hung from the mangrove hranchcs dipping in the sea— a perpetual reminder of a gallant sailor and a .-oward Kin- I he sudden p,nk flush of a tropical dawn had tinged LlTe sky. I le would he late tor parade. He put on a last spurt and just as h.s keel grated on the harrack head,, the ml.rn- nig 5^un hoomed and the mellow f,ugles rang out the revedle. "^ Me tried to run his canoe up high and dvy as was his wont l>ut Hs strength was gone. lie plodded across to his quar ers eehng dizzy, and meeting a group of laughing C.eoleg.rls going to market with haskets of hananas on U-i,';" ^^'^'.'rt^:^;'^^^' '''•';'■'• ''■^''' ^^'•-'^'^♦■^'^ '•^^"••^■'^ ^^^'-^vlng their sknts with the abandon ol their natural walk, so unlike the stumping ot high-heeled Kuropean Cemininitv. He was not too .11 to note these things-" Ha, that was' a good sign" he thought. ^ ^ ' But their greeting depressed him. "Hi 'mv sweet niassa. you have ^'eIlow Jack for true," said a softlv^vmpa- thetic voice trom thickish lips under solemn kindlvsphvn\-likc eyes, that might have been Cleopatra's in her gentlest mood only Cleopatra was a Ptolemy, a pure Clreek, not halfl Luropean, halt-African like the girl before him. A tew paces further he met the adjutant, who said • " Mv dear fellow, you look awfully seedy. ■ Goto vour room Til send the doctor. "Send Mother Wingrove." (his old black washerwoman) was the request of the object of all this solicitude lom got to his room, looked in the glass, and saw the white.s of lus eyes were bright yellow. His Demon offered breakfast, but was hustled off to hasten Mother Wingrovc In bustled the comfortable stout negress. who in her caress- ing way undressed and put him in a warm bath covered with blankets and thence into bed. on which more blankets were piled. She made no unflattering allusions to his awful asnect but said : — ' * '• I make you all right soon, mv sweet sonny ; don't vou take no nasty doctor stuff" Then she gave him a big drink of a hot decoction of herbs, which she called teber tea. Next day he felt all right e.xcept for a tasce m his mouth as if he had feasted on the contents of Simon Peter's sheet of unclean things He thought he would get out of bed, but he flumped 88 GINNER JINGO S Jl'BII.F.K. on the floor, and the old lady from the next room waddled in followed by the doctor, who had been anxiousl}' waiting for the end of that long sleep. "Hi, you bad boy!" said the fomier, picking up the big fellow in her stout arms, and putting him back to bed like a baby. " I tell j-ou I make you a-rite, but you muss keep quite jess yit." The doctor, a man beyond his profession, remarked, "Glad Mother Wingrove got j'ou first. I doubt if I could have pulled you through. S'our extreme temperance has helped you, for you seem to have had all the symptoms of the prevailing epidemic, onl)' I never saw such a case of recover}'." 'I'he Demon thought it was " Obeah," African witchcraft. Strange to say, the incident appeared to have broken the spell ; others recovered, and the epidemic died out. The doctor tried hard to get the remedy from the negress, but money would not buy it, though she was ever ready with it and the vapour bath for those who would trust her. There are long intervals without yellow fever in the West Indies, and then life is a delightful if somewhat dreamy existence. In the mountains almost any climate can be obtained. The deep dark gullies of fern-palm, like those in parts of Australasia, the gigantically-buttressed cotton- wood monarchs of the forest, festooned with flowering garlands of tangled vines, the quaint growth of perfumed parasitic orchids, mostly night blooming, the heated vapourous air all carry back the mind to the period of the coal measures, here an arrested epoch, so it seems, in whose tepid seas the ancient shark still swims, and the gigantic iguanadon glides along the slimy shores of its lagoons. T'erhaps its peculiar characteristic was silence and the absence of forest song-birds, or, indeed, of any life except the exuberant insect and the flashing metallic tints of the tiny luuuming birds fluttering over hot-hued flowers of purple, scarlet, and ^'ellow. There is not much to shoot at in a Jamaica forest but pigeons and poor little doves, though to the lover of nature its solitudes are never dull. Our sub spent many delightful days in its shadow, for to his great delight a detachment of Artillery convalescents was sent up to Newcastle undei' his charge. Hitherto the luxury of the mountains had been Tin: 141. ii: mointains. 89 but turc ^tful lent idei" ecu reserved for the fortunate British infantry that formed pait of the garrison, it being considered necessary to keep all tlie gunners by their guns, although twenty-four hours would have brought them to the batteries strong with the health-giving mountain air. From the flowery porch of his cottage quarter he could sec over verdant valleys, with blue-green strips of sugar-cane and the darker green of cofiee-plantation and forest, to where that long strip of coral strand*, his military prison, stretched into tlie distant sea. On the opposite side of the bay lay the swampy parade-ground of Fort Augusta, in the precincts of which the 22nd I)i 'goons have left almost a complete list of their regiment — /// rJoiic. Whose folly sent them there ? Or what use could they have been without sea-horses ? Perhaps in the old marooning days the}- went. The grave-yar^ had been overgrown with bush antl Lieutenant Jingo came upon it in a dual expedition for shoot- ing guinea fowl, and inspecting the armament of the fort, of which an artillery non-commissioned officer was in charge. He could never be left longer than a month lest he should go mad. The last 1 heard of this delectable fortress was in a late newspaper. A non-commissioned oflicer of a West Indian icgiment had gone mad there, and had fired at the ofiicer who came to inspect. The officer had to return for a detachment, and as the madman had taken \x\) a good defen- sive position and wounded some of the party, they were compelled to skirmish up to and then shoot him. We have forgotten both the follies and the glories of the history of Jamaica, but have repeated the former, even that last folly of giving constitutional government to the idle children of hastily liberated slaves, whose arrogant claims culminated in insurrection, and who had to be put down in blood by a resolute man — Governor Eyre — whom some of us wanted to see exalted as high as Hainan, and others only raised to the peerage. The Anglo-Sa.xon never understands the negro unless he has been personally his master or under his heel. A tropical country producing by coloured labour valuable products, gianted political equality, and you have inmiediately political inequality, the numerical preponderance giving superiority to •Don't nMiU'inlit T ■ Iiulia's coral strand " tliat Hisliop Hclnr's missionary liyinn tills iis ahiii.t. niir that part of Hindostan wlitrc ■ So uri en a yladi', so soft a sod, (>nr l^nylisli fairii s ML'Vir trod ; " but tluii India is a bin conntry and missionary expfrii'iici' fxttiisivc. 90 (.r\M:R iiNf.os iriuiiK the inferior race. Tlicn conies strife, and eventually, as the negro is more prohtic tiian the white in hot chmatcs, you have the result — black barbarism, as in Ilayti. This is the problem the United States of America have to solve. They should not take Cuba or accept Jamaica unless they mean to alter their constitution and govern tlie negro race. As it is, they may find in the not very distant future, a belt of black barbarism spread across their Southern States. Tom made many mountain excursions, ascended the Blue Mountain peak, whence he had a magnificent view of — clouds ! Then he crossed to the other side of the island, lie had bought a mountain pony and was riding one Sunday evening near a native village. The sweet melody of negro voices singing a well-remcmbcred hymn bi'ought with it a Hood of memories ; his conscience reproached him, he had not been to church. Of course he tried the thi'cadbarc e.xcu.se to himself, h( had been worshipping in " the temple not made with hands." It would not wash. There were these poor scmi-savagcs worshipping (iod in decorous fashion, he would draw near and see what good might come to A/s soul. The chapel was thatched and many-windowed, all open to the evening breeze. The hynm had ceased and the minister was holding forth, jingo rod? close up to a window. The negro girls grinned and giggled plenteously at the " buckra " (white man). The preacher's attention was drawn to the frivolity of the female part of his congregation and the cause, and his face assumed a piously stern expression. Casting up the whites of his eyes, his rich bass voice rolled out in sojcnni tones : " Brudders and sissers, let us sing a nym ob m\ own compogin and den pray for de soul ob our poor loss white brudder." He gave out the first verse, thus : " • Bring in de man wid de durty soul — durty soul ! Walk him along on hre and coal — Hre and coal I De missable man wid de durty soul — durtj^ .soul I ' " Toon^ — ' Cocoa blossoms bloom so sweet.' " He repeated this through again. The air was a lively, lilting one, a sort of Moody and Sankey, though these gentlemen had not then been invented. A ni:(;ko iivmn. 91 It is curious that the Anglo-American lias but little music, grave or gay, which he has not borrowed from the slave. The congregation sang with gusto, the ladies especially accentuating the reproof it conveyed, with "nods and winks" and very much "wreathed smiles" at the unlucky intruder. Accidentally or of malice prepense, at the end of the words given out, they sang the words of the " loon " — their favourite one : "Cocoa blossoms, blow so sweet, blow so sweet, Blow so sweet — we'll have a little motion too." It is hard to say if the last lines were suggestive of a dance, but certain it is that the emotional Christianity of West Indian coloured women had very little effect on what wc would call their morals. Mow it effects the men except in making them insolent, I cannot say, nor dare I say how it aftects those white races that take to it as readily as the negro, to wit, certain classes of the Anglo-Saxon and his Celtic neighbour, the Welshman. Buckle has not gone into this subject in his " History of Civilisation." Jingo retired from the church half laughing, half sad. For during the rainy season he had read much in the verandah of his cottage — from cove to cover, though he had been made to learn much of it in childhood by heart — of that most wonderful and beautiful of all books, and he had got as much puzzled over St. Paul's metaphysics as that honest old fisherman, St. Peter, declared himself to be. So he took a <- jurse of " Paley's Evidences," with the usual result of only becoming more muddled. " Butler's Analog}' " did not mend matters, nor " Locke on the Human Understanding," in that it proved the mind of the new-born babe a blank, its ideas coming from surrounding material objects, from a night-light to a nurse's nose when she snored. Tom came to the con- clusion that the human mind was not a machine capable of Judging of the " plan of salvation " any more than an Irish landlord can sec the justice of the " plan of campaign." Much mountain air, however, and reading of the unprinted book of God improved his digestion and restored mental repose. As for practical morality, a diet such as a priest of the Roman Church would consider a perpetual fast, exorcised those devils that we are told, " Come not forth but by prayer and fasting." 92 GUNNKK JINGO S JUBU.KF.. This digression on the mental condition of Lieutenant Jingo at this period must be excused to the author as giving the key to many of the shortcomings of some of the Jingo family in general, and of our unheroic hero in particular. In one of his wanderings, our Jingo sprained his ankle badly, and was kindly taken in and hospitably entertained at the house of a planter. " The Great House," as the planter's dwelling is always called, stood on a hill overlooking a flat valley, a green sea of sugar-cane. The brec/e broke it into waves, and lights and shadows fleeting across it completed the illusion of a sea of verdure, whose shores were dark jungle-covered cliffs. There were islands of jungle also, pro- jections of rock in what seemed to once have been the alluvial bottom of a mountain lake. The soil was black and rich and the cane luxuriant, but thei-e were no hands to wield the machete* for harvest. The great sugar-crushing mill stood silent and idle, the wild flowering convolvulus creeper, with the passionate luxuriance of tropical vegetation, clasped the rusty machinery in its soft fantastic tendrils. The emancipated slaves and their sons no longer cared to work, except fitfully. Why should they ? They were tenants at will — their own will — on the master's land. A sort of black Ireland it was. He had left them at first, hoping they would work, but a very little work in the day and a great deal of banjo and shay-shay dancing at night was the cheerful routine of negro existence, supported on a natch of plantains and a little salt fish, while for garment, there was a calico shirt and trousers on one sex, and a sort of unpretentious cotton teagown for the other. Piccaninnies in plenty, with no garments at all, are no encumbrance. And the white planter who owned these fertile acres, fast lapsing into jungle, had been wealthy once, he and his fathers, in slave times, and might have been so still, had the philanthropistgiver of other men's goods consented to a slight tax in favour of free-grown sugar, and permitted some species of vagrant act conducive to even partial industry. Hut perhaps no one of less authority than Moses could regulate slavery. To follow it with political franchise has proved a failure. A few East Indian coolies and Chinese have been imported without much beneficial result. *Negro cutlas. M.P. AM) WAITKK. 93 The planter host, living hopelessly in his mansion decay- ing from damp and lack of repair, was a cultivated amiable gentleman, educated at Eton and Oxford. He still struggled on, his wife bearing her part uncomplainingly, except as to the future of her children. 1 le had now neither place nor power among his coloured neighbours — every Justice of the Peace, every county official was black. It was government, not by brains, but by counting noses, and the majority of noses were black. Before his ankle allowed him to walk our sub was sum- moned to the plains as a member of a Court Martial, his short leave having expired. His friend lent him a pony, which he rode to a village, and there left to be returned, while he hired a trap from the blacksmith, who owned the only conveyance in the village — a mule cart. On bargaining for the trip down to Spanishtown, about twenty miles, the sable smith asked five pounds. "But I don't want to buy the trap and mule," said Jingo. " No, sail ; dat is de hire." '* But it is extortionate." *'Torshun or no torshun, you take it or leab it. An' you pay down fo' you start." '* Where does the nearest magistrate live ? " enquired our sub. " Jus top ob de hill dere," said the sable one, pointing to a handsome house. " Very well ; whatever the magistrate says is right. I'll pay and leave the money with him." "Jus so! An' you bring me his honour's receep fo' de money. Dat gcnleman's member of Legislatur. I vote fo' him." "That's bad," thought Jingo; "an electoral conscience is a poor thing to expect justice from." He rode to the big house, dismounted with difficult}', hitched his horse to a paling, and knocked. The door was opened by a negro in a white linen suit with a napkin on his arm. " Is your master at home ? " " Sah ! I hab no master but Gawd." No use to attempt apology and say, " I mistook 3'ou for the butler ! " The magistrate had risen from dinner and opened the door himself, hence the napkin — :or it may have T 94 GL'XXKK JINGO S JfHILKi:. been old habit. He had been a waiter in early days, and now ivailed for the Premiership of the island. The matter was explained, and Jingo submitted that the pi"ice was exorbitant. The answer was a shrug and the oft-repeated formula : . *' He free man same as you — please yourself, he please hisself, I please myr^elf, ebbery body pleased all roun'." But Jingo demurred, said ^, -j>. he was not pleased, he .^^ uOMt j\(j, pay the money A^^ ^~^ ' protest, but would ^ should under appeal. This remark pro duced a guffaw so loud and a grin so wide that Tom had a momentary hope that the ends of the mouth might meet at the back of his neck and the top of his woolly head come off. Hut it didn't — the powerful jaw of a practised parliamen- tary orator, white or black, is not easily dislocated. The money was paid, a receipt given, and Tom re- turned in no good humour C*IV»U wjC^^TftRU for his drive. ^"""^ """^^ He started with the blacksmith, driving a rattletrap sort of gig, with a mule which could be made to go only with the special bad language of his master, and was like the one driven by the religious ladies in Sterne's *' Sentimental Journey." The road was rough and his sprained ankle painful, the night was hot and his companion odorous as a crocodile * or an Assyrian Guardsman, not that Lieutenant Jingo had ever met an officer of that distinguished corps — he had only seen their pictured presentment and read somewhere that they were " curled darlings, smelling of musk and insolence." Suddenly the negro pulled up. They had reached a spot where the road was a narrow ledge along the edge of the precipice, with a steep bank on the other hand, the tall ♦ The natural odour of negro or crocodile is musk. ,, MI-ACKSMITII AM) MIMSTKK. 95 iLatlicry bamboos, through which the wind sighed, closed overhead and increased the inky darkness. The dull roar of a mountain torrent in its rocky bed rose from the depths below. poun' ri.i?h oft'," demanded the place hotter than Jamaica, and " You gib nic nuddcr driver. Tom told him to go to a perhaps used adjectival cuss words of sorts. " Sah ! I a minster ob de Gospel, supprize t'heah ejjicated genman use sich lanwidge." The Lieutenant meditated as to whether he could chuck the minister down the gully and drive on. But lv_ was on the wrong side of the trap, he had a sprained ankie, and the blacksmith was the heavier man, with the muscular develop- ment of his trade. So Tom lit a cigar and said he was in no hurry. Presently the mosquitoes tackled the cigarless negro, he began to be impatient, and said, *' I go on for tree dollar." lie got no answer. " Two dollar ?" More scratching and some expletives. " One dollar ?" Still no answer. '* Ginune cigar den I go on." A puff of smoke in his face was the reply. The pent-up profanity of that preacher burst forth in a torrent. Lieutenant Jingo's cuss words were nowhere in comparison. " Sorry to hear a minister of God blaspheme him," said the Lieutenant, taking a long pull at his cigar and carefully knocking oft' the ash. The minister drove on and there was silence, broken only by the croaking of the tree-frogs and the necessar}' swears on the part of the charioteer to make his mule go. The sun rose as, nearing Spanishtown, they drove down the Boca Agua, " Bog Walk " as the uneuphonius English- man has called it. " Stan ' us a drink, massa," suggested the driver, asstmiing a conciliatory manner. " Would be pleased to pay for the rope that hangs you, for one will be wanted some day," was the reply. Possibly the prophecy came true, for some black Baptist ministers were hung for complicity in the negro insurrection which broke out shortly after. Early as it was. everyone was about, and Tom went to Government House, where he enjoyed a luxurious bath ■■M^aiapM 96 (IINNFU JINfJOS Jl'HII.KK. \ ! and breakfast. He told his story to the Governor, and asked if he could appeal against the extravagant sum sanctioned by the native magistrate. But the Governor shook his head, saying: *' It would pro- bably be tried before a coloured Judge, and we have instruc- tions from the Colonial OfTice never to interfere with the deci- sions of a coloured magistrate. There is a good deal of feel- ing just now because my wife said she was too tired to dance with a black M.P. who asked her. — You must give up dancing, my dear," he said, turning to Her Excellency. ** Not at all," she replied, " I shall intimate my Ro3'al pleasure on this point to my very intelligent A. 1).C." It was given out •'that to avoid offence, the A. D.C. would arrange for this ceremonial." Tom's friend, the A. D.C, had heard the shark story and now accompanied him down to Port Royal on the chance 6f some similar fun. The Court-Martial was over, and the Lieutenant was relieved of his pleasant charge of invalids, who had all recovered. The fishers got a larger, wider- beamed canoe, but they had no sport. They could not get a rise, for the wily sharks would not take the most fascinating bait. They seemed scared by the sad fate of " Port Royal Jack." They got another hsh, however, but not to fry. One calm blazing afternoon, after the sea-breeze had died, they spied a black mass floating on the still surface of the water. It was a sun or devil-fish, a huge flat fish like a maiden-ray, measuring about seven feet across with a hideous mouth and a tail, which perhaps gets him a name he does not otherwise deserve, as he is quite harmless. Creeping up with noiseless paddles, the huge fish was suc- cessfully harpooned by the A. D.C. There was a rush of line, and the harpoon-shaft quivered for a few moments as the brute sped away, and then the pole dropped from its socket in the barbed point as it was meant to do, the line being fastened to the steel head, and also with two half- hitches round the pole, which thus acted as a float and drag on the poor devil-fish, preventing him from diving or going fast. He could not execute the lively manoeuvres of the shark, but he made steadily out to sea, towards the outside reefs, over which the sea, for the wind had risen, was break- ing furiously. The game was not worth the candle. At last, when the canoe was within a few feet of apparent destruction, the line was cut and the poor devil let go. I A YOUNG KARTHyUAKE. 97 had still 11 m a SLIC- as 111 its line drag roing If the litside reak- At larent Sail was lioistcd, and the canoe spun back to harbour. As the fishers neared the Boscmvcn they were all sitting on the windward gunwale, for there was no ballast. The huge hull of the nian-of-vvar suddenly took the wind out of the sail, and the whole crew went headers backward into the sea, while the dug-out canoe half filled with water and all but upset also. Tom and his comrades were all good swimmers, so bcfoi'e the Bo^'aiccii could lower a boat they had reached the gunwale and conunenced rocking the canoe cradle-fashion to dislodge the water. This would have been done more ex- peditiously had the sharks which infest the harbour been remembered. But that danger never occurred to any of them until safety was reached, when Tom's black boy said : " Hi, massa, de shark miss him berry good dinner." But as a fact, sharks will not approach much splashing. A sail is sometimes slung overboard by the corners during a calm in the tropics, and used as a bath by the men, a boat rowing round and splashing meanwhile. *• Once upon a time," — I forget the date, the reader can look it up for himself — the old town oi Port Royal was swallowed up by the sea during an earthquake. People with strong eyes and imaginations can on calm days, like Tommy Moore's Lough Neagh fisherman, see the ruins, *' In the waves beneath him shining," and are only deterred from diving for the buried treasures of the buccaneers b}' the sharks. The garrison had a few gentle reminders of the event with no more serious result than the impromptu appearance as Aphrodite on the part of a married lady, who rushed from the bathing house in terror, without any apparel but her beauty — and a bathing towel, which she flourished in despair. Tom got used to it — the earthquakes, I mean. But there were other disturbances besides young earth- quakes, thought very little of at the time. The negro population, under injudicious philanthropic petting, like Jeshuron, *' waxed fat and kicked." The troops were main- tained in " masterly inactivity," the Adjutant-General and his orderly officer for the occasion were for a time under a fire of garbage, material and vocal, with an occasional brie bat from the negro viragoes, against whom no weapon could be used but chaff. Once made to laugh they got into 98 GUNNER JINGOS JUHILEK. good-liuniour and sent home their men, who had prudently kept in the rear rank. Matters culminated some years later, when it was found necessary to hang hy Court Martial the Reverend Mr. Gordon, a coloured Baptist minister, and also to suspend the constitution of the island. It was subsequently restored by Mr. Gladstone, who could not, however, reinstate the clerical gentleman, nor could he even be amnestied. With the disappearance of the epidemic of yellow fever, painful memories were forgotten, or rather, were not allowed to interfere with the daily life of those who still enjoyed the sea-breeze and the sunshine of a really pleasant climate. The kindly, unpretentious hospitalities of the impoverished planters were as much appreciated as those of the Govern- ment officials. There were pleasant picnics in the mountains by day and an occasional dance at Up-park Camp or on the deck of the guard ship by moonlight with the Creole ladies, who are proverbially charming. The name Creole does not ' necessity imply coloured blood, as some persons imagine. t is also applied to persons of perfectly pure ancestry born in the West Indies, and some of the best blood of England courses in Creole veins. But our sub was suddenly removed from this genial society, where he had already many kind friends, and ordered to the Bahama Islands, to relieve an officer appointed to the Horse Artillery in the army of the Crimea. How poor Jingo envied him ! Just before embarking, his foot became inflamed, from no apparent cause but a little purple spot on the end of the big toe. He consulted his Demon who, after brief examination, shouted : '* Hi I you be jigger'd I " His fine, open countenance expanded more widely than usual, as he noticed the incipient look of resentment on his master's face, at being thus familiarly, not to say disrespect- fully, addressed. The Demon explained that the ** chigoe," one of the insect plagues of the West Indies, had laid a bunch of eggs in his foot. These he deftly extracted with a needle. It was his last office for his master, who parted from him with regret, for the African makes a good servant but a bad master. The Demon's grief was assuaged by being presented with some of the high-collared shirts which he had so persistently worn. \'.^ mt J by lich CHAPTER XI. Negko Home Rule — Amiable Ahorigines — Simian Aptitudes- A Yellow Bandana — A Principal Prodoction — Quarantine— Nkw Providence — War Preparations — Pig Hunting — Anglo Saxon Relatives— The Imperial Octopus— A Swim for the Mail— A Fire— A Retrieving Snake — A Spectral Pipe— A Garrison Order — A Missing Detachment— Wanted for the Crimea. The mail steamer which carried our Lieutenant to his destination, Nassau, the capital of New Providence, one of the Bahama group, coasted along the luxuriant shores of Cuba and Hayti, or San Domingo, as Columbus called it, because he discovered it on Sunday. Hispaniola, New Spain it was afterwards named, is now the paradise of negro Home Rule. It consists of two independent republics, and has had many vicissitudes. The whole island belonged to Spain until the Treaty of Ryswick, 1697, when the east end was given to France. The natives still speak Creole French and Spanish. The gentle aborigines whom Columbus loved, and whom the amiable missionary, Las Casas, tried to serve by baptism and the substitution of negro slaves for Indian labourers, were improved off the face of their beautiful island. Neither remedy proved effectual, in this world at least. Whether the baptism saved them in that world to which they have passed, Lieutenant Jingo was not sufficiently versed in theology to decide. At the epoch of the first French Revolution, the negroes imitated their white brothers of France, and extirpated the, to them, odious ruling caste of Frenchmen. This was an argumentunt ad hominem, as difficult of digestion to the advo- cates of the rights of man in France, as it was to the founders of the American Republic. But France had set herself the task of overrunning Europe, and Napoleon, who sold Louisiana and its Frcneh- H— 2 lOO GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. i I men to the United States, never seemed to grasp the future importance of the New World as the much-abused Bourbons had done. He therefore let things slide in San l^omingo, and Toussaint L'Overture was put into the Rcpubliccin school books as a patriot. With true simian aptitude, when Napoleon III. executed a "coup d'etat," the negro President, Zoolouque did ditto, and assumed the Imperial purple and big boots, and like his prototype he died an exile. When Jingo land- A?^ Iv^V ed at Jackmel, the mail-port of Hayti, he found the sentry on the tumble-down wharf, a caricature in black of a Volti- geur of the Imperial Guard at Paris, with the same tall tri- coloured plume, to which a tropical shower had given a bedraggled droop, for there was no sentry bo.N. On the rain ceasing. Sambo got a chair and sunned himself and his plumage while he smoked a long cigar, his rusty rifle between his knees. But we must not be too hard on Sambo, there is ex- cuse for him, he may be a step nearer the ancestral ape than the Anglo-Sa.xon. Yet our army culti- vated Prussian pigtails and grenadiers after Frederic the Great, considering powder on the soldier's head as essential as in his musket, forgetting that these details were of his father, the glorified Sergeant-Major, and not of the genius of his son. Wellington never copied anyone's clothes nor tactics, but stuck to the thin red line. After the Crimea our caps iKi^vTA^vtl\cwv \ NEGRO HOME RULE. lOI •fcl tat, in :cen no Court Martial and scarcely any punishments, i'ni socks had carried the day before the books were c,[ . led. The General was pleased. The hired transport, Eiiinia Eiigrnia, lay in the b.arboui of Port Royal, a disgraceful old tub ot only 400 tons. The men were transhipped at once, otherwise there might have been a break in the good conduct. The Lieutenant had a farewell dinner at mess, and after good-bye to the unfortu- nates who remained, he strolled down to the wharf to meet the boat that was to take him to the transport. There was no one there but a sailor lad, apparently about seventeen years of age, kickinghis heels against the wood-work of the jetty The bright moonlight showed the giit letters on his hat ribbon, " Boscawen," and his hat, well on the b ck of his head, freed the clustering Sa.xon curls over the ha.'iscjrpe face. A heavy footfall echoed along the pier anf' .1 'i\.i,-e negro appeared in evident ill-temper about somethii ?, ■ ' ) > walked behind the sailor and shouted : " Hi, you Boscawen blackguard ! " The boy jumped to his feet and, hitching up the waist- band of his trousers, slowly remarked : " What's that you say, you d — n nigger ? " ** I say, 3-ou Boscawen blackguards, all same, d — n tiefs." The boy drew back a few paces, threw oft' his hat, wliipped his white smock ovet his head, and in a few seco' . \ stood stripped to the waist and posed for the attack. •'>:•, -kin, white as a woman's, but with rigid muscles gleamiu^: !i the moonlight, like the marble torso of a Greek statue, and the i PUGILISTIC, 117 proud head, with its well cut features, set on the column of throat, added to the resemblance, though there was a de- cidedly un-statuesque gleam in the eye and in the curl of disdain on the hairless lip. The big negro presented a strong con- trast. He wore no coat, and beyond his rolled-up shirt sleeves the masses of softish muscles stood out under the black satin skin. His straw hat was thrown off, and the frizzled mane came low down on his retreating forehead. But there was a certain lion-like look in his angry ferocity, for he had not the loose lips of the common or banjo variety of nigger. The pair seemed too unequally matched, and Jingo felt ashamed of the policy of "masterly inactivity." But before he could frame a protocol he saw interference was not needed. The negro had rushed at the boy, but could not touch him — the lad was a sublime boxer ! He just walked round his opponent, putting in his blows with a thud, now and again varied with a counter, full on what should have been the bridge of that negro's nasal organ, but which made as much impression as hammering the lion on a door-knocker. But Sambo was losing his wind and his patience. Suddenl}' he put down his head, and, butting the boy, sent him sprawl- ing on his back. Then be rushed like a wild beast on his prey, and, fastening his teeth in the pectoral muscles of the lad's naked breast, began like a bulldog to worry him. Jingo thought it was time for him to take a hand. Plant- ing his heel in the small of the nigge^ 's back, he twisted the fingers of his right hand well into the wool, until he got a grip firm enough to lift him oft* the boy. The furious savage dashed at the fresh assailant, but was met straight from the shoulder under the chin, which made him keep his head up and give ground, until Tom worked him backwards close to the pier's edge. Now, watching his opportunity, Jingo planted a blow between the eyes, which sent the negro with a semi-somersault into the sea, whither he was followed by a hearty prayer that the sharks would take him foi* supper. That prayer, like many another, was not answered. The Lieutenant, having as he thought, safely disposed of one of the parties, turned to the other, who was faint and bleeding from a nasty wound in the chest. Tom knelt over him and with his handkerchief tried to bandage the ii8 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. awkwardly-situated place. While so engaged he saw stars and felt as if the back of his skull had been lifted off. He staggered to his feet and confronted his late opponent, who was swinging an oar round his head like the two-handed sword of a mediaeval paladin. Another sweep of that blade would do for him 1 Before it fell he had closed with his assailant, who dropped the oar and fled into the darkness of the crooked streets of Blacktown. Jingo felt too giddy to follow, and returned to the wharf, where he found two boats — one from the Boscan'cn and one from the trans- port. The " Boscawens " were surprised a^ the unprovoked attack, for which the >oung sailor could in no way account. The boat's cox put the old time-honoured question : " Well, my lad, who is she ?" but he got no answer. The thickness of the muscles at the base of Tom's skull, or perhaps of the skull itself, had saved a fracture. The wonder was that the bump of philoprogenitiveness had not been obliterated by the blow, the effects of which he felt for weeks. The motion of the vessel gave him the sensation that his brain was loose — some of his friends have said that it has remained so. The old tub could sail only in one direction, before the wind, which was favourable, and the delighted soldiers declared the Gravesend girls had hold of the tow-rope. What remained of two companies of Artillery were on board, but only two officers — Captain Hill, a big, imperturL:.ble blond, with a moustache to match, and Lieutenant Jingo, with his brain loose. There were a number of ladies, grass- widows, and children of officers. Things went pleasantly until it became evident that the skipper, an amiable little man when sober, was very seldom so, and yet persisted in keeping the reckoning himself The crew were a mongrel lot and many coloured. The bo'sun and a few petty officers only were British. The soldiers, told off in watches, pulled and hauled as required, for all were eager to get home. Lieutenant Jingo was on watch one moonlight night, walking the deck with the second officer. All sail was set before a light breeze. Suddenly the sea changed colour from purple to pale green. Being only a soldier Tom hesitated to express the opinion that they were in shallow water over a coral reef, the peailiar aspect of which he knew weM. But he did ask for information as to the I A CORAL RKKF. 119 change. Before he got an answer, there was a shock which nearly sent both men on their faces. The masts shook, the sails flapped, and the vessel heeled over until it was hard to stand on deck without holding on. Jingo ordered the watch to fall in and tore down to report to his superior, but before he could reach him, he had to run the gauntlet of ladies in ddshabille holding up a variety of night-gowned children for him to save. His swimming feats were known, but the extent of his powers of imagination had not been known, even to himself, until this occasion, and when repeated to him in calmer moments he did not recognise his own inventions to account for the entire absence of danger in the situation. On the morrow there was general indignation when the ladies compared notes and found he had promised each " mamma " in particular to save her special children, to say nothing of herself Though the sea was comparatively calm, the number of boats was quite inadequate. Ere Tom reached his Captain's cabin, which was aft, the imperturbable one appeared in voluminous striped pyjamas, that only wanted stars to com- plete the American banner. Pulling at his blonde mo ;stachc, as he did in any little difficulty, he said : *' Yas ! All wight ! Sound the assembly, fall in the men, and tell the Sergeant-Major to call the roll." But all hands were on deck already, the sailors in a state of confusion getting contradictory orders from their Captain, who began by wanting everybody put in irons. The only quiet ones were the soldiers, who stood as if on parade, holding on, while answering their names to Sergeant-Major Dunlop, who saluted ** all present " in his usual parade manner. The first officer, pointing to the gunners, remarked to Jingo— "Those are the only fellows that can be relied upon. Can you pick out a good boat's crew ? " "Yes." " Very well, I will take out a kedge anchor, and see if we can't haul the ship astern. I dare not trust our coloured rascals in a boat, they would make for the shore and may do so anyway, so put a sentry on each boat." The long, low coast of Florida was visible in the moon- light. " But before I can do anj^thing, that drunken sweep, the •skipper, must be got into his cabin and locked up tliere. You ' jiiiai.iv"9i.. ^ 1 20 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEF. It explain to your boss that /le has to take the responsibihty would be mutiny for «/r." Captain Hill came on deck, correctly dressed and received the report. He soon took in the situation and the Lieuten- ant's explanation. Though deliberate, as big men often arc, in manner and decision, he was as quick to act upon that decision once made, as he was .slow to abandon it. He suggested to the obfuscated Captain the propriety of a temporary seclusion, and as the hint was not taken, he hustled the little man into his cabin, locked the door and put the key in his pocket. It was all very well to put sentries on the boats, but there were no arms to give them as they had not been taken out of the arm-chests, which had been stowed below, for, though it was war time, no one expected to meet a Russian cruiser. The sentries, apparently unarmed, w^re posted, but the Lieu- tenant noticed that Gunner Deacon liad the round end of an iron marline-spike in the hollow of his hand, the point up his sleeve. He said nothing, for the sailors all wore shcatl> knives, The old Bahama crew were fallen out, and the chief officer ordered them to lower a boat. This was too much fur the coloured sailors, they made a rush, led by the bo'sun, who was promptl}' felled to the deck by the sentry, Gunner Deacon. The coloured men drew their knives, but on the appear- ance of more marline-spikes, the sailors picked up the bos'un and retired to the forecastle where they stood sulkily watch- ing the soldiers lower a boat, get out the kedge anchor, and run out a hawser passed round the capstan. The bo'sun soon came to his senses in more ways than one. He was a British seaman, and ashamed of himself, but having once led the men wrong he found he could not get them right in a hurry. They refused to work either capstan or pumps, which duties therefore devolved on the soldiers, who also, under the direction of the ship's officers and quartermasters, put the sails aback to further help her oft". The ship was rapidly making water, but the breeze was light and she lay without bumping. The slack was hauled in and the soldiers began to walk round the capstan cheerily singing a sailor song — " Oh-ye-ho ! Ramzo ! gallant Captain Ramzo ! Ramzo was a sailor, gallant Captain Ramzo ! He'd jump 'em and kick 'em and knock a man down !. Hey oh ! Ramzo ! etc. " > SOLDIER-SAILORS. 121 that The disciphnary methods of the legendaiy skipper, though severe, seem to have been necessary with mixed crews of coloured men and foreigners.* The capstan bars were manned until the}' bent. The anchor held, but there was no stir in the ship though the bows were higher than the poop which was afloat. Suddenly with the twang of a gigantic harp-string, the hawser snapped, fortunately close to the capstan, for the ends flew across the deck and would have about cut a man in two had one been in the way. As it was no one was hurt for the deck had been kept clear. The men on the capstan were of course flung forward in a heap and the broken end of the hawser, flying along the deck, flashed in.o the sea in a huge serpent- like coil. The anchor could not be recovered from the boat which returned to the ship. A second hawser and a second anchor were put out with a like result. Meanwhile, as the carpenters could not get at the damage, all spare hands were at the pumps, officers and men taking their turns alike, for the coloured sailors remained useless through fear and sulks. But it was weary work, and no progress seemed to be made though the water was kept from gaining. No refreshment was given to the men, the cooks were at the pumps and the captain kept the key of the spirit-room. Towards morning the wind and sea began to rise, and the vessel to bump on the recks. What tide there was seeme at the full. The last chance lay in the best bower anchor and the chain cable. All were tired, but a supreme effort was made ; everything moveable was shifted aft where the ship floated, the capstan hands were exhausted and dispirited. At last a streak of red appeared in the sky, the ship lurched heavil}' and slid into deep water, an exultant shout rose from the men, but there was a rush of water in the hold. Incessant pumping had still to be kept up. At noon the ofiiccrs got observations and found the ship oflf the coast of Florida. The old tub having only soldiers for cargo (she was probably too unseaworthy to cany anything more valu- ablej, was light and had made leaway, and the boozy captain had made no allowance for the set of the Gulf Stream. • Thf- abolition of the navigation laws has almost ousted the ordinary British seaman in the Mitrcaiitile marine. We are told these cheap, and sometimes r.asty foreign sailors and free ports have given us the carrying trade of the world. We may have to modify both without losing either. The protective policy of other nations and a desire to hold our ICmplre bycoiiniiercial union — the interest of the pocket is stronger than sentiment; for. ■■ wlare your treasure is there will your heart be also "—may compel a new departure. A It 1 ! 1 22 (If.NNER JIXGOS JCBILEE. Getting into the fog region where the warm water meets the cold Arctic current, they were for a long time without reli- able observations ; they went far out of their course oH* the coast of Newfoundland, and the voyage was protracted until all hands had to be allowanced, especially hard on Jingo who had a fearful hunger for flesh food, due to the damp cold and to his abstinence from meat while in the tropics. The fat salt pork and weavelly biscuit were not appreciated by th^ poor ladies, who willingly abandoned their share to Jingo i i exchange for his portion of what there was of farinaceous food in the form of •' death-bed puddings," as naughty tait- prefen'ing children call them. Past the fogs, the weather became bitterly cold, and the coloured men more than ever unreliable. The gunners did most of the work on deck and a few even volunteered aloft, among them Deacon, who also took his turn at the wheel. One evening when the old tub was beating as close a-^ she could against a head wind. Jingo declared he smelt i.ne perfume of peat reek and the gorse blossom of " ould Oireland," where the gorse is never out of bloom nor kissing out of season, the Lord be praised 1 He was derided and told his brain was still loose. Next day they made the old head of Kinsale whose bluffs were crowned with golden gorse in all the glory of earl}' Spring. Fresh provisions were taken in and another start made. At last they sighted the white cliffs of Kent. The first news the pilot brought was that peace was pro- claimed. It damped the pleasure of that insensate Jingo's return, the more so when, seeing the downs of Shorncliffe dotted with white tents, h 2 asked what troops they were, and was told they were the Foreign Legion.* *' Prince Awlbert's poor relations," that disrespectful pilot said. Jingo knew that the King's German Legion had rendered good service in the days before our Sovereign fortunately lost Hanover by the Salic Law — but was it necessary under Queen Victoria ? Conscnption has dried up that source. In the next strife for National life. Englishmen will have themselves to accept cornpulsoiy service for the defence of ♦The German Legion raised for the Crimea never fired a shot, but were given lands in South Africa. It is the only instance where military colonisation has been tried by England, and it has been said that the infusion of a German military clement among the Boers was not an advantage to us. TWO GRKETINGS, 123 the soil as the duty and privilege of a free elector. The sadness of it is, we tvill delay until it is too late to save us from disaster if not some national dismemberment, as befel France, Austria, Denmark, and Turkey after a few weeks* war. Of course the senile babblers will prattle on about the silver streak as monotonously as its ripples upon our shores, ignoring that the conditions of naval war must have altered since Nelson's time, and we have nothing now to guide us except the efficacy of the torpedo and the unwieldiness of ironclads. Of course the east wind which always blows down the chops of the Channel, welcomed the homeward-bound troop tub. But she reached Woolwich Arsenal Wharf at last. There Jingo's men were absorbed by a Woolwich adjutant, whose greeting to his comrade was typical of the man and the place — "Who's your tailor? " Sun and storm had tarnished our Jingo's uniform. The retort was — " Your's is your maker." The Lieutenant saw his men no more. They were dis- tributed among the conglomeration of companies composing an arm of the service still ludicrously designated as the "Royal Regiment of Artillery," and were kept out of sight on fatigues until they also had passed through the hands of the Almight}' Maker of — modern soldiers. Jingo wandered disconsolatelj"^ along the long front of the Barracks, as yet ungraced by the figure of Fame pla5Mng quoits with laurel crowns. He could get no quarters, all being reserved for the home-coming siege train. It was late and wet and he was told to go and look for lodgings in the town. A gruff voice from an upper window shouted : " Here, you long fellow from the West Indies, come and have a shake down with me." It was a Woolwich adjutant ! — unlike that other as gold to pinchbeck. There were not many inches of Dick Oldfield, but every inch was sterling. The siege train marched past her Majesty, and Jingo and his men were put to keep the ground with the "peelers." The solid tread of those magnificent veterans, bronzed and bearded, made their comrade proud of them, though he had no share in their well-earned honours. Some of the schoolboy officers were served out with medals for the parade, which were taken away from them afterwards 124 GUNNER JINGO S jmiLKF. because they had not been under fire. Apparently there is neither heart nor brain to officialdom. A letter was sent bj' the owners of the hired transport, attributing the safety of their vessel to the detachment of Ro3'al Artillery. The Lieutenant only heard it acci- dentally, and the men not at all, as they had been removed from his command — the Sergeant-Major getting a commis- sion as Quartermaster, which he so well merited. For his faithful soldier-servant the Lieutenant was able to get a good berth in the officers' mess. Montgomery had yielded to the fascinations of a plump, pink cook, too much for him after the dusky damsels of the tropics. He required a rest, and it was better than following the fortunes of a Jingo subaltern ; moreover, his term of service had nearh' expired. Tom was glad, therefore, to be appointed Acting-Adju- tant to the Field Batteries, which gave him experience of the mounted branch, and took him for a brief space to Aldershot, which was then in its infancy. There he had a closer acquaintance with the German Legion, striking-looking troops, as they marched past sing- ing their " Soldaten-Lieder." Their Anglo-Saxon com- rades don't sing so well, but perhaps they fight no worse for their vocal deficiencies. Returning to Woolwich, he found that entertainments for the Crimean heroes were the order of the day and still more of the night — glorious dances with the London belles in the great mess-room, where the marble statue of Armed Science looked down with stony stare upon " fair women and brave men." Jingo had monopolised a lively brown- eyed I'ttle brunette, they passed many pleasant quarters of an hour in cosy corners of ante-room sofas, and "mamma" did not seem to mind. In the intervals of dances she devoted to his comrades, one of them remarked to him : " Lucky dog ! Jolly girl ! Nice little piece of ordnance, fifty thousand pounder." But in the breathing space of a mad post-horn galop, the girl pertly said — for fun let us hope — looking i p at the broad expanse on the breast of his tunic : "You have no .nedals ! Where did so big a fellow manage to hide during the war ? " " Allow me to take you to your mother," was the only answer. " Mamma " gave a cordial invitation to their house in I I I il' MOl'LAHb. fi town, which was vaguely accepted, but our peppery Jingo never got over that awkward question, which probably pre- vented the popping of another. A brother officer was more fortunate in the wooing of her sister. She admired his jacket and medals, especially the .Star of the Medjedi, and sportively asked him for it. " Yes," said he ; " but you must take me with it." About this time Jingo got to know a good many people in the London world, where plain clothes obliterated the dis- tinction of medals. But he soon tired of the crushes, whci-c the big balloon petticoats of the period prevented dancing or even sitting on the stairs ; and, moreover, a great part of his modest allowance disappeared in gloves and hansoms. So he determined to cut Society until he had won his spurs. To carry out this resolution he cropped his hair so short as to be unpresentable, which excuse would be scarcely possible now when the back of a blond young man's head looks like a pink sucking-pig. Jingo's brother had an unlooked-for chance in India. The Moplahs, a tribe of Arab fanatics that we are now wisely trying to enlist in our Indian army, had broken into insurrec- tion. A Madras Sepo}' regiment had been sent against them. They went for the " Mundrassee Logue "' with their huge knives and carved them. The regiment had been formed into square, which diminished their front of fire, and the Moplahs attacked the angle, for the same reason that W'luban did. They broke in and it was a bad business. Jingo Senior was sent against tiie fanatics with a detach- ment of his father's regiment — the King's Own Borderers. They were met by the Moplahs at the entrance to a bazaar. To fire would have meant shooting into a promiscuous mob of traders, women and children. The K.O.B's were halted. The leader of the Moplahs, in the green turban of a Hadji, advanced and began a harangue, flourishing his tulwar and calling on the faithful to follow But there was something about the big quiet officer w]u' "me out to meet him without drawing sword or pistol, and the set line of white faces behind him with ordered arms, that seemed to have a damp- ing effect on the faithful, which was completed when the officer, without uttering a word, walked close up to the gesticulating Ghazee, evidently "bhanged"* for the occasion, * " Bhang," a preparation of lienip used by Mahometan fanatics, to excite tlioni to fighting frenzy without taking away their senses, except that of sensibihty to danger. 126 GUNNER JINGO S JL'HILEE. seized him by the wrist of his sword-arm, and bent him to his ivnces, wrenching liis sword from his grasp. The Englislnnan put the blade under his foot, broke it, and flung the pieces into the crowd. The Ghazee and those behind him remained stupefied for a few moments. Then the former rose from the kneehng position to which he had been forced, and bowing his head with both hands to his face, made salaam, putting the palms together in the attitude of supplication. •' A-a-p ka Gola-a-m hi I '" he said, quietly. " Your High- ness' .slave." " Bid your foliowei's to put down their arms at the feet of the Sircar," was the reply. And the}' did so. When Gunner Jingo asked his infantry brother how so simple a proceeding occurred t<^ him, the answer was : " Well, 1 never thought about it. The fellow looked such a gibbering ape ! *' Unlike jingo, his brother was phlegmatic. Some years after, this same brotlv^'" was appointed a Cap- tain to a young second battalion re' ^nt in Ireland, manu- facturing soldiers out of the w '* paddies " of those days. Our Jingo was sent on the same sort of job to Sheer- nasty-ness on the Medway, where he became District Adjutant. The drudgery and dulness were alleviated by lots of good fellows, a fighting Chaplain from China, " Jovial Jock," the flag Lieutenant who was Admiral of the Green during the late naval manceuvres, and a gigantic gunner, named Wolf, or " the Amal," as he was called, being evidently Norse by name and race, though nothing of a Goth. He was one of those fellows who could do all things well without knowing it, soldier, sportsman, athlete, artist. When the Staff College was first formed, it was open to the competition of the army, without favovr or distinction of corps. At the first examination for entrance, heading the list of about twenty successful candidates, were fifteen Engineer and Artillery officers. It was thought necessary to handicap those corps by allowing only four Artillery officers, as repre- senting some 35,000 men, to enter each term, as against an officer from each battalion of Guards, Infantry of the Line, I •I A BKITISII MATUO.N. 127 or Cavalry Regiment, which pracU( ally excluded the scien- tifn- corps from the Staft' of the Army. The successful candidates who were debarred from entering, by the misfor- tune of belonging to the Artillery, were permitted to go up for the final examination without going through the course of instruction. Wolf was one of these. He passed with flying colours, though he was never allowed to serve on the Army Staff, but like other Artillery officers, was thrust back into the Regimental Staff. Wolf and Jingo occupied opposite rooms and a pair of bo.xing gloves hung in the passage with which bouts of read- ing and painting were varied. Of these two it had been said, artists were spoiled when soldiers were made, but as it was a Frenchman who paid the pretty compliment, allow- ance must be made for Gallic licence. When the leave season came on, jingo went to the Conti- nent, where he studied and sketched in France, Spain, and Italy, and subsefjuently did the toui- in Switzerland and the Rhine, in compr iiy with two other gunners likewise artisti- cally inclined, or rather, they confined their admiration of beauty to living specimens — a British matron with three pretty gills, for apparently "papa " did nothing but sign cheques. " Mamma,"' though her husband had amassed wealth by a patent for improving our batteries — .ty remained in the lir.ip garments that now clung to her ample person. Assiduously' they rubbed her down with wisps of hay, making a noise peculiar to grooms, a transparent outlet for cachinnations that nearly choked them. But the}- lay awake far into the night in the hay-loft where they slept, shaking with laughter, that had still to be suppressed lest the least sounds of it should be audible in the rooms below, where the ladies slept. " Mamma " had been partially pacified after supper and they wished a truce for the morro»v. It came, and all started amicably together, but thethree guides were required to push up the father and mother and the panting Count, where ivules h ' A WRATHFUJ, GAUL. 129 I r ^ could no longer travel on the ^novv and the crevasses, so the gunners took care of the girls and the secure lacing of their Balmoral boots. Fairing off pleasantly, the column of route was at full intervals. The impedimenta necessitating a slower pace in rear, the advanced guard arrived before it at the " jardin " so called because tlie Alpine flora blooms in profusion at the edges of the snow, which the brilliant sun, through the clear thin air, converted to tiny rivulets over the soft green turf The girls sat to rest while Jingo clambered to a little knoll foi- an opening view of the valley below. He got one— and returned to his companion who was eager to share it. Leading her to his coign of vantage : " Look ! " he said. ^'lose under them was the fat Frenchman making his toilet, mopping his bald head with a yellow silk pocket-hand- kerchief with one hand, and balancing his wig on the other. He had proposed to the girl t!^- evening before as a foi-loni hope. She laughed outright and 'Fom joined in. The poor, startled foreigner hastily replaced his wig hind-side before,' and wrathfully shock his li ;t at Tom. The echoes rang with laughter and "sacrcs," which quickly brought un the rest of the party. Even " mamma " could "not stand it, and gave way like the rest. _ With mingled threats and insults, the Count panted up to lom,whowas finally forced to say he would have to administer a cuffing if he were not silent. To-morrow, matters could be arranged. "Ves, to-morrow," said the angry Frenchman— but he would not stay for lunch. That meeting on the morrow never came off. Not for one moment is it to be supposed that the Frenchman dreaded sword or pistol— it was ridicule he feared. The ladies saw him no more, and thanked Tom for the riddance. The governor .said he i .;ped " thev had seen the last of that con- founded Count," ukI "mamma" added, "the po • dear man was too funny for anything." Fven to marry her dauo-hter she probably mca.it. They planned further expeditions across the Alps to the Italian lakes, and so on, hut " I'liomme propose, (he didn't in tins case), Di(;u dispose." In the valley was a telegram for Tom. The Indian Mutiny had broken out, and he was offered an appointment on the i"^o GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. Staft' of his old Colonel, to go out with the first detachment of troops by the overland route. This time his chance had come and he took it. The farewell was hasty and the journey home without a break. iU\ lent lOUt 131 CHAPTER XIII. Indian Equipments — The Land of the Pharaohs — The Red Sea AND Colombo— Calcutta and Contemporary History — Bullock Train March— Benares Punishment Parade — A Commissary of Ordnance —The Butcha — A Plum-Pudding — A Start — Gun Elephants — The Hooshiar One — An Ekka — A Release. On arrival in England, Jingo was met by his father, who had left the army to save himself from being promoted to the rank of General, thus losing the price of his commissions. Everything was hurry and bustle to get the lightest possible outfit for an Indian campaign, about which the only thing certain was that a minimum weight would be allowed. The detachment was the first to be sent by the overland route. The big ditch had not been dug by the forced labour of Egyptian F'ellahs, directed by the brilliant French- man who was t sufter at the close of his long life because he had not calcn 'ted the cost between forced and free black labour, the diflV.rence between salubrious sands and miasmatic marsh and reck, in short, between Northern Africa and Central America. Let us sci what the Almighty American and his dollar will do with the Nicaraguan canal ! The isthmus of Suez was very much what the children of Israel left it, except for a few miles of railroad just begun. The iiicrns of transport were much the same. The force carried " its treasure" (arms, ammunition, and busbies) "on the bunches of camels," themselves on the cruppers of asses, and in four-wheeled chariots called " 1 iiar-^-bancs." The men were clothed in white canvas sea-kits and were supposed to pass as an unarmed party. It was not known how far the passing of troops would be considered a breach of the neutrality of Egypt. But things are changed for the better, thanks to the commercial instinct of our great Hebrew " Maire de Palais," and the warlike policy of his " peace at any price " successor K— 2 ifi 7i lii m I ||f :: 132 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILKE. But we are anticipating. A regimental ball was given to the departing officers, and as all England was palpitating v/ith horror at the atrocities of the Mutiny, the avengers were conjured bj' gentle dames and damosels to slay and spare not. Yet in the first newspaper they saw in Calcutta an M.F. questioned our rig^t to "let loose a brutal and licentious soldiery on the mild Hindoo." The Royal Artillery had not .served in India since Uie battle of Plassy. The requirements of India were unknown quantities, that even a scientific corps could not supply. So the men were served out with pillow cases to put over their busbies, with a pocket in front holding a leather peak, which, as there were no means of keeping it at any angle, Happed over the wearer's nose and eyes. " Flap-doodles," the irreverent soldiery styled them. fhey were given to the men as they marched off the parade after an address from the hero of Kars, Sir Fenwick Williams — a pair of pillow cases and two flap-doodles to each officer and man, to be carried in the hand as they marched to the land of the Pharaohs. Even the solemn Sphinx might have smiled had she seen the head gear provided by a thoughtful War Department. But she never had the chance ! The reckle.ss staff officer who led the column down the High Street of Woolwich, skied his two pe^-ks, boomerang-fashion, and they came back with a vindictive curve to his Colonel's feet, who administered a mild rebuke — too late I The men had followed the ex- ample set them and the air was thick with skimming scimi- tar-shaped pieces of leather. As to the armament, some of the woodwork of the gun-carriages bore the date of the baule of Waterloo. When Jingo became a captain and was left in command of a battery, he felt it his first duty to break up those old carriages by trotting them over rough ground until they dropped to pieces and new ones had to be supplied. So the old gun-carriages were embarked, but wives and children, alas I had to be abandoned to the merry music of " The Girl I left behind me !" Shor^ ?:civicc has to a certain extent remedied the evil of too many married soldiers. This time it was no old tub of a sailing troopship, but the splendid Austi-alian steam-packet, packed rather close to be sure, but with comparative luxury, for the warmer latitudes soon allowed sleeping on deck. The}' sped through the Mediterranean, past the pillars of Hercules, the old rock ■■4 THE LAND OF THF. PHARAOHS. »33 fortress of Gibraltar on one hand and the African coast Jingo knew so well, on the other, and where he had sailed in tlie little " Gitana " over the purple waters which had borne the keels of Carthagenian and Roman Trieremes, the long galleys of the Norsemen and their descendants of to-day. The shores have changed, but not the sea — "Time writes no wrinkles on thine azure brow." Malta ! Cairo I Ever3'body knows them without seeing, and reads in the guide-books about the Knights of one and the Mamelukes of the other. The east of " Eothen " is familiarised. Tomni}^ Atkins, the little man with a penny cane, has introduced the Pyramids and the Pharaohs to Badalia Herodsfoot and the East-end costers ; and Cleopatra's Needle, does it not stand dwarfed and abashed by the big houses on the Thames Embankment ? But the potent spell of the records in stone and dessicated men and women of this most ancient civilisation is not weakened for thinkers, because many have seen without thinking of aught but that Bass's beer is good at Sheppard's Hotel after a hot dusty tramp in the footsteps of the Pharaohs. More pleasant to contemplate is the conservative tyranny of the Pharaohs than the dyspeptic radicalism of the dismal dweller by the Lake Shores of primitive Europe, he who sat on the platform of his pile-built dwelling, too cowardly to light his neighbours on the shore. He and his women dropped their bone brooches, their hairpins, and their fish- hooks into the kitchen midden heaps of shells, just as the Maoris do to-day. Let us hope that the }'oung world was warmer, and that there were hot springs bubbling out in volcanic old Europe as in Maori land to-day, enabling them to boil their suppers and to parboil themselves. The Cave Dweller living on the sunny side of the rivers of France was evidently a bolder and a happier man ; he warmed hi.iiself with the chase of the curve-tusked mammoth and the reindeer, while liis wife stayed at home to cook and receive visitors. In the evening, by the fire he scratched pictures of himself, his wife, and his hunting, on the tusk of the mammoth, which his descendants dig up long ages after when the world has grown old and tired. Neither Cave nor Lake Dweller worried about his soul, to him the claims of his stomach wei'e more imperious than they were to those lentil-fed dwellers by the Nile. They suffered soul hunger, iw jaj IP llllljWj^^p^l^ I ■ IfV ilil !.i ,* 1 -frt :i 134 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEK. which was fed by the Priests with solemn ritual and the body was kept for the soul's return. The future of reward and punishment is everywhere pictured. It dwarfed the importance of daily life to a nation of slaves content to build pyramids for their masters in return for a mere pittance of bread and onion. It was a creed only less com- forting than that of the Christian slave in Pagan Rome, who was liable to be thrown into a fish pond at the caprice of a mistress, or of the Salvationist in London to-day, because in lieu of mere consciousness of salvation acquired with the help of drum and tambourine, it imposes the necessity of work to be done. Moses was a practical man, he told the people he wished to raise from slavery to be a nation of cultivators and warriors, nothing about their souls, steeped though he must have been in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, his mother's people perhaps. Does not Renan, the great Hebrew scholar, think so ? He preferred to hold before the Israelites only earthly rewards and earthly service, "vineyards that ye planted not, cities that ye builded not." And the Jew, like the Scotchman, has tried to keep not only the commandments, but everything else he could lay his hands on.* The Egyptian has been bested by both. He was spoiled by the Israelite of old, and the Scotch engineer stokes up his engine with the mummy that was embalmed for the return of his soul. Among the rifled tombs Jingo found an Egyptian girl ruthlessly deprived of her cerements. She was 40:^0 years old, and yet she died young ! Her thin face had a refined look, the once full lip had been pressed by her last lover — Death — had she ever another ? Jingo took her small, thin, brown hand in his big hot one, with futile wonder whether her soul would feel the sympathy of the passing soldier. Her little finger with its filbert nail came oflF, and he put it in his pocket for that other girl he might some day make his wife. Would she appreciate the memento of her rival's last flirtation ? The steamer to embark the troops on the other side of the isthmus was delayed a week, giving time for a pic-nic to the pyramids. The cavalcade of long-legged soldiers cantered gaily out on Cairene donkeys ; very much like Kingsley's • Max O'Rell. 'IJ THE I.ANU OK TIIK PHARAOHS. •35 \i Goths were these, their descendants, prone, with boisterous good humour, to fight, drink, or to make love, whichever came first. At the foot of the great pyramid, which is a stairway of gigantic steps, each one about three feet high, and a broad platform on the summit, looking like a point from the far below, the wrists of our Jingo were seized by two wiry Arabs, who intended to haul him upandbe backsheeshed, while another inserted his turbanned head behind him as a propel- ling ready-cushioned seat. A backward kick sent the proffered Ottoman fl3Mng, and with a right and left bander our angry Goth smote the Egyptian on either side. They fell prone, while the long-legged barbarian, taking each stone in a giant's stride, reached the top without a pause. I'he races remain unchanged, one barbaric at bottom with a veneer of civilisation, the other an ancient civilisation over- laid with barbarism. A few days saw tiie detachment across the isthmus in motley order of march, after a fireless night-bivouac on the extremely cold desert, which at night parts with its sun- acquired caloric. On the morning after arrival they were mustered, hot, dry, and dusty in the Quadrangle of the Hotel at Suez. Sad-faced ladies, many in mourning, the first fugitives from India, watched from the balconies the arrival of the first reli(;fs from England. Suddenly they were amongst the dust}' ranks with baskets of oranges and ginger- pop, and the thirsty gunners were atti'm/risses to demoralisation ; when it got to bottled beer there might have been heard : "Yes, mum, we'll pay hoff them blooming black beastesses ! " The saturnalia had to be sternly stopped by the officers whom the ladie« had not noticed. The night, hut and stuff}, was passed by the zealous .Staff" Officer in the hold of the troopship, superintending the stowing of ammunition, and when mornir^- broke in blood- red glory over the shining wet sand and sea, the site where th , destruction of the Egyptian army might well have V^ .:n, he tried to dash oft' a sketch of the scene in v;att:r-colour. His chief stood behind him. *' How can you waste time when there is so much to be done ?" he said. M Qf '1 I li i J 36 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILF.F. The Colonel, who never spared himself nor anN'or*^ else, did not know how his Staft' Officer had passed the previous hours. " There is nothing more to be done, sir," was the reply, '* everything is stowed away." He ripped oft' the offending sketch and sent it flying down the morning breeze. Henceforward every spare moment was devoted to learning Hindustani, the first language baby Jingo had spoken, and it came back to him as b\' magic. A crowded troopship — the Red Sea in summer need not be described, nor burnt-up Aden, nor Colombo, with its palms, outrigger canoes, and native population of apparently inter- changeable sexes, men with petticoats and knotted up back hair, and women ditto. Calcutta was in a fever. Lord Canning had refused to accept white volunteers, or disarm doubtful regiments, until they had shot their officers. Of course in these days, when the sentence of contemporary history is so often reversed, we say he was quite right. Then — with Cawnporc, the base of Sir Colip. Campbell's relief for Lucknow, in a critical position, thing? still looked gloomy, notwithstanding the hard-won success of Delhi and of Havelock's desperate march. The detachments were hurried up without twenty-four Hour's dela}'. Everything not absolutely necessary was left behind rn store at Calcutta, including the busbies in their pillow-case covers. In those days sun-helmets were not. The Colonel ordered a quantity of ttrrban stuff in the Bazaars which, folded round the men's forage caps, Sikh fashion, down the temples and round the base of the skull, gave ample protection against sun and sabre stroke, besides providing them with ■* pillow. The smart Hussars wore it folded neatly round the edge of the forage cap, thus courting sunstroke on the exposed temple, and thej- suffered accordingly for the whim of their Colonel. V/hat the old Anglo-Indian heads were made of is a wonder ; that there was good stuff inside them is certain, probably the white powdered wig and three- cornered cocked hat of Clive's day were as good as a solar topee. There was a short railway journey to Ranegunge, and ''m A PlMSirMENT I'ARADr:. 1 3/ then a long tramp up the Grand Trunk Road with the bul- lock ti-ain, for many nights and days without a halt, except ti) eat. Bullocks failing, wretched villagers with their beasts had to be impressed ; the owners often bolted, and the bullocks, unaccustomed to FZuropeans, became unmanageable. But the detachments pushed on, and one morning the sacred city of Benares, with temples and ghats reflected in the yellow Ganges, rose out of the plain with the sun. A parade of the garrison drawn up in hollow square — a line of unlimbered guns — opposite, a row of Sepoy prisoners — tinc-looking Oudh men with the handsome features of their Jhat, some still clothed in the tight coatee and shoulder wings, the white dhotee for trousers, scarce reaching to the knee— on the right an old native officer, with a white beard and moustache carefully curled like a white cat's, and wearing on the breast of his uniform the medal for the Sikh cam- paign, round his neck the gilt necklace and the Order of Merit. These men had been tried by Court Martial and con- victed of mutiny and the murder of their officers — " Nimuck Haranii " — (faithless to their salt) — they were to undergo the native punishment of being blown away from guns, when their remains would be collected by the sweeper caste, a defilement that would necessitate, for the Hindoo, ages of degraded transmigration for his soul ere he could hope to be re-embodied in the caste he would lose by such a death. The veteran native officer stepped from the ranks and saluted the Brigadier. " Sahib, i have ot'en faced death for the Sircar, i CGovernment), let me show mv Baba logtie (children) how to die." " Yes," said the Brigadier, " pity you did not show them how to live like loyal Poorbeah soldiers." The old man made no reply but marched proudly up to the Hank gun, and saluting it with his right hand, touching the muzzle and then his forehead on the caste mark, he looked steadih'^ at the gunner. Then he gave the command : " Ready ! Fire ! " When the smoke cleared, a heap lay on the ground. The guns were not shotted, it was not necessary. "Now men," said the Brigadier, "follow your officer." But no man moved. A )f ! I' I'i i3« <;UNNK.R IINCJOS JUniLKK. The six right liand files had to be marched to the six guns faced about, and their arms stretched and tied to the wheels at either side. •' Ready I Fire ! " The six heads bowed, but this time the pieces flew. Lieutenant Jingo's post was a few paces in rear of the centre of the line of guns. An arm flew back, rotating from the wrist where it had been tied, and sent a swish of blood into his face. He wished the campaign had opened for him in some other fashion, asked leave to stand further to the rear and wiped his face. The difficulty was solved by using a reduced saluting charge instead of the service one, and no more remains flew back. The disagreeable duty completed, the force marched back to breakfast, and the sweepers gathered the remains, Hrahman, Rajpoot, and Mussclman — "In one red burial blent." None had flinched. It was Kismet. A field force *o throw itself into Oudh, cut itself free from base of supply and line of communication, and effect a junction with Sir Colin Campbell before Lucknow, was to be hastily formed under General Franks, a tine old crusted veteran, one of the original " Rakes of Mallow," it was said, for he hailed from there. A small siege train was required, for there were fortified cities (to wit, Sultanpoore) and strong positions between them and their objective. Also a reserve of field service Infantry ammunition had to be organised. Colonel Maberly, the Commanding Officer of the Artillery Division was the man for the occasion, and he had named the luckless Lieutenant Jingo, Commissary of Ordnance. "But, sir," remonstrated that unhappy youth, " I'll be out of the fighting ; " and waxing hot, added : " Sir, I did not accept a position on the Royal Artillery Staff' to run a Noah's ark ammunition train." " You will obey orders and not talk nonsense. I have arranged for your full share of seeing the fighting. The General wants an extra galloper to carry orders in action, you aren't a light weight, but I told him you would ride any- thing and go anywhere, so that's settled. Sit down now and calculate the amount of transport, elephants, camels, and bullock-hackeries you will require, for the field siege train, ammunition for the guns, howitzers and mortars, the reserve ^ilL. A COMMISSARY OF ORDNANCr. 139 I for the Field Artillery Division, the supply of Infantry ammu- nition in the Held, and their reserves." And the Colonel threw him a bundle of papers covered with figures of the estimated amount of ammunition for the various calibres, etc., which he had already calculated. There only remained for Jingo to estimate the number of transport animals — merely that and nothing more. Great Jingo! Which was to carry what and how much? It was like a horrid arithmetical question from " Alice in Wonder- land." His poor bewildered brain saw an endless Noah's ark procession of elephant.s, "a-waving of their trunks," packing themselves with 24-pounder death-pills, camels and sacred bulls slowly trundling sacrificial cars full of fuzes, while the wooden axles turned and creaked in his brain. A, crowd of apathetic gharry wans, already bitoed (sat) outside the office tent, their heads wrapped in their bedding to keep out the morning cold. To every question asked as to what weight their hackeries would carry, came the grunted : " Haw ! Sahib I Gee haw ! " Jingo felt inclined to smite them for their asinine reply, which after all was only — " Yes, sir ! " Then the Commissariat Gomashta and the oleaginously interpreting Baboo also said, " Yes, sah ! " with hateful Oriental acquiescence to any impossibility proposed by a " Sahib." Oh, for one hour of Bishop Colenso with his biblical arithmetic, to find out how many of which would go into what ! But his chief, whose head was worth two of his subordinate's for figures, ultimately came to the rescue of the bewildered Lieutenant. He could not forbear a smile at the jottings already put down by the puzzled Jingo. Wisely he took upon himself the calculations and left the Lieutenant to the executive. Between them and various Baboos, and stolid old Sergeants, the ammunition transport was at last organised. Then — the reward — the General's galloper 1 He had no horse — none was to be got for love or money. There were barely sufficient for the Field Artillery, none for the Artillery Staff, and there were elephants and bullocks for the heavy guns. In an evening stroll Jingo met a stately Afghan in a long 140 GUNNER JINGOS .rumi.F.K. HI ■ r ;l!i fur poshtcen, striding at the head of his caravan of camels and horses. War or no war he must trade, or rather, on account of war, he had brought his horses to sell. There was one, a compact Caubul grey stallion, only 14-2 hands, and barely four years old, carrying a pack of raisins and tobacco as proudly as it it were a Princess. A bargain was struck without the usual haggling, much to the grief of the Afghan, who got just what he asked, some raisins being thrown into the bargain as it was Christmas Eve. A plum pudding would be necessary. The few servants who could be got by the officers of newly-arrived English troops were not, in those distressful days, the sort who turn out a lovely dish from nothing in no time. "If you wi?h to preserve your appetite, never inspect the cook's proceedings," is a wise maxim in many lands. But plum pudding was a mystery to the jungle wallah who acted as bobbachee. Jingo had to supervise, and when he saw the filthy cloth the pudding was to be boiled in he rushed to provide a substi- tute. The first thing which came to hand was a lady's long white stocking pulled out of Jingo's bullock trunk by a brother sub amid shouts of *' Who is she ?'' The fact was, that, having worn out his -ucks in the tramp up the Grand Trunk Road, Jingo had ^ :^'..t the Baboo interpreter to buy some in the bazaar. The man had returned with ladies' long cotton stockings ! The prize was carried oft" and the pudding boiled in it, a temporary garter closing the top. Great was the astonish- ment of the Colonel when the lifted cover disclosed a lady's leg I A surgical operation with a pen-knife released the pudding, wliich was pronounced not bad, considering — but — there was something peculiar ! And the festive evening was marred by the early disappearance of some members of the mess. The raisins had been carried in a bag which had held tobacco. At last the Field Force paraded to move. In the centre, the phalanx of solid British infantry in line of contiguous columns — on the right, the loth, the General's old regiment, spick and span in scarlet, old soldiers of Indian service who had not been to the Crimea and who looked like Grenadiers beside the boy battalions of the 97th and 20th, both recruited after the depletion of veterans in the Crimean war, Thring's Royal Battery on the right — on the left, Cotter's Horse Battery from Madras — in the rear, a Bengal bullock battery, nil. lUTCIIA. 141 f^ while Waller's clepiiaiits crawiiig the heavy guns in tandem, towered likea vision of the army of I'yrrhus above the bayonets of' '.he British Infantry which gleamed through the thin veil of dust that was already rising from incipient movement. On the extreme right again, a troop of British " Tonnnies " mount, d on tattoos, made a good substitute for cavalry, of which there were none, bi't a few wild squadrons of Inegular Punjabi horse. In rear oi all v/as the Ghoorka Brigade of Infantry with many-coloured umbrella.s stuck in the mu/zles of their muskets, and looking like a crawling column of brilliant lady-birds, while flanking them was their own ex- tremely irregular artillery. Jung Bahador had loyally sent the Nepaulese army sweeping from the hills to share in the loot of the cities of the plain. The redoubtable Ghoorka Infantry, under their own officeis, were a useless and un- disciplined mob. What the little Ghoorka becomes under a British officer goes without saying. There are no martial strains to enliven real war. The bandsmen were all in the ranks with rifles, except the Company buglers. But away behind the tangled ammunition columns was the crowd of camp followers — grass-cutters, dhoolie-bearers, tents, bazaar and baggage animals, an endless stream of struggling, gesticulating men, gurgling camels, placid elephants, and ox carts. Cries of " Oh ! Raam-jee ! Oh ! Ra-a-am Bux ! " between lost friends, mingled with the British "damn!" and "Juldee kurro " (make haste) of the rear guard. The General's trumpeter had sounded the advance — little clouds of dust and dancing pennonless lance-points spreading across the front and flanks showed where the Irregulars were scouting. Jingo got the order to lead the elephant battery by the best road. The horsed guns could make their way across the sparsely fenced country and it was the dry season. His little horse, " Butcha," full of pride and gram, in his brass bossed appointments, carrying a Royal gunner instead of a pack of raisins and tobacco, was jumping out of his skin, eager to fight the biggest horse he could find. He promenaded a good deal on two legs, in fact the regimental jokist had remarked : "Jingo's horse has six legs, and this I'll prove to you, For he lifts up his fore legs, and then he stands on two." i II i 142 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEK. And the result was similar to that told of Mrs. Simpkins in the song. When he reached the elephant battery, he had been quieted down to a hand canter. The leading elephant raised his trunk and trumpetted. This was too much for the mountain-bred Butcha. Camels he had seen, " but never aught like this." He rose, balanced a moment, and Jingo, quitting the stirrups, took a lock of mane with his bridle hand to avoid pulling him over. No use — over he fell backwards, his rider barely escaping the peaks of the regimental saddle which dug into the ground. Jingo scrambled to his feet but he had fallen on the handle of his pistol, which had slipped round the sword belt to the back. It was a nasty one, but he and Butcha picked themselves up and started the elephant battery. The Butcha got used to elephants and to most things before the campaign was over. There was the long tangle of ammunition train to drill into the habit of moving on the reverse Hank to avoid getting in the way of fighting deployment, for in those days, there was a pivot flank. To impress the tactical fact, "that left in front, right's the pivot," and vice versa, upon the brains of ount wallahs (camel drivers) and ghar'ywans, with his limited knowledge of Hindostani, drove young Jingo to the verge of distraction. As for the dust, the sentence of reversion to it seemed likely to be prematurely carried out. When a cart broke down, the contents, say *' howitzer " ammunition, had to be distributed on others and thus would get mixed with gun ammunition or infantry small arm, and so had to be re-adjusted on arrival in camp, when they did eventually arrive, dog-tired and long after everyone else. But after a few days, his wonderful Sergeant conductors soon had everything running smoothly. Once get a native into a groove and he'll stay in it. One day the siege train halted, a heavy gun had stuck in the muddy bottom of a nullah. Jingo rode up, they unhooked the lead'ng tandem elephant to get him to shove behind or lift the muzzle of the gun with his trunk. But he would not, he only bellowed and swore and swayed uneasily, shifting from one foot to the other in the sticky mud in which he was sinking. At last, with a piteous shrill trumpet, he touched the sharp point of the iron sight on the TMK HOOSHIAR C»NK. 143 muzzle.* The wise brute's meaning was evident without the mahout's explanation. " He says he is afraid of hurting himself, sahib." "Well," said Jingo, in jest, "tell him to spoke the wheel." ' Promise him backsheesh, sahib, and he will," was the answer. The elephant carefully got iiimself a securer footing, and curling his trunk round a lower spoke, made the wheel revolve, the shaft elephant put in his ponderous weight, and the gun slowly rose out of the mud and rolled up the opposite bank. The triumphant mahout demanded backsheesh tor his " Hooshiar Hatti " (wise elephart). "You scamp! You want the backsheesh for yourself!" " No, sahib, 1 dare not cheat him, and if you don't give him backsheesh, he will remember you are no gentleman and will never work for you again." "There is something in that," thought Jingo, " whichever is master, elephant oi mahout, must have the backsheesh." "All right," said he aloud, flipping up a couple of rupees, which the mahout caught in succession. " How shall I know you don't cheat him ? " "Come and see him fed this evening, sahib." At last that dreary march did have an end. Long after everyone else was comfortably smoking the pipe of repletion, the weary, dinnerless Jingo sat on his charpoy in the tent shared with Joe Smart, the Adjutant. Genial Joe ! A native came up and salaamed. " What next ? " thought Jingo, " are the Ghoorkas smoking hubble-bubbles hiside their ammunition boxes?" It was an invitation to see the Hooshiar Hatti get his supper. " Blow the Hooshiar Hatti ! I haven't had my own supper." " Seeing is believing, sahib," said the Mahout, im- pressively'. Jingo's dinner or ;^uppei, that is to say, his first morsel •Specially pointed sights had bi en fixe J to avoid using the awkward old-fashioned qxiartcr sights. I : i if !■■, 144 GUNNKR JINGO S JUBILKK. since breakfast was not read}', so he followed the nialiout down the elephant lines. The moon had risen and silvered the great grey backs of the monsters who were blowing dust over themselves. The Hooshiar one was swaying to and fro, fanning himself with a branch, looking like a mad, male Ophelia who had not drowned himself, but lived to be old and bald, and had thatched his head with straw and wild weeds. Huge chupatties, (flat cakes made of fir.. , rancid butter, and coarse sugar) had been purchased and stood on edge round the fire where the mahout had cooked the elephant's backsheesh supper before his own, the animal keeping an eye all the time on the proceedings. Taking one of the chupatties, the mahout offered it to the wise one, who weighed it carefully with his trunk and then deposited it with a satisfied smack in his raw-looking mouth. " Now, sahib, this second chupattie is light weight, you see he will find it out." The elephants are accustomed to a certain ration weight of chupattie when fodder is scarce. The Mooshiar took the chupattie by the edge, weighed it, there came an angry twinkle in his wicked little eye, and he caught the mahout a slap in the face with the huge leathery chupattie, which knocked him heels over head. " See, sahib, I dare not cheat him I '" And he went up with a larger chupattie. " Here, you foolish one, did 1 ever cheat you ? This is overweight." And the wise one was mollified and made to salaam the sahib, who went back to his supper. The Hooshiar one generally led the train. He had a habit which his mahout connived at. The route of the heavy guns seemed to be irresistibly drawn through sugar cane kates, where the elephants would deftly sweep up a trunkful, and tapping the roots on their knees, to knock off the cnj'th, would suck the ends as one would asparagus. Then the wretched Ryots would come crying for justice with u|>lifted hands, and the mahout would nny he was exceeding!}' sorry and the next day "da capo." The elephant which carried the Staff tent and baggage and his mahout were equally deficient in morality. Passing through a village, the beast lifted anything handy and passed it up to the mahout. The baggage increased to a mountain, and the elephants were always late in coming up. So the GUN ELEPHANTS. 145 habit ' guns kates, , and caj-tb, n the ilitted sorry smart Adjutant had an inspection when out tumbled a whole curiosity shop, brass cooking pots, carpets, etc. The mahout was handed over to the provost sergeant for a thrashing and the elephant looked on and inwardly chuckled. On one occasion a river had to be crossed. The Hooshiar was in the lead and declined to pass the bridge, refusing to believe the statement of the Royal Engineer that it was all right. After trying with one foot and then with the other, he shouted his contempt for the whole corps of R. E. In vain the mahout mercilessly dug the iron into the back of the animal's neck until the blood flowed, in vain were promises of backsheesh lield out. At last a Bengal gunner solved the difficulty. Taking his lunch under a mango tree, he said : "Don't worry the wise brute, let him take the gunf/iron^/i the river, and you come and have a drink." The wise one was unhooked and sent to try the river bottom, which he reported solid, and in walked the whole train, dragging the heavy guns through. They disappeared. Jingo felt depressed with responsibility — -would they ever come up again I Nothing remained above water but the breathing tips of the elephants" trunks and the mahouts standing on the backs of the submerged animals. Through they went, up the shelving banks, and out the opposite side, while the ammunition carts, oxen, and camels crossed the bridge. It was hard foi- a Griff to understand the wisdom and ways of the men and beasts of the mysterious East. Jingo went to get a coal to light his pipe from the cooking Hre of a naked bullock driver. The man had a string over his shoulder and a spot of white paint on his forehead. The Christian shadow fell upon the Brahman's food, his foot had rested inside the circle drawn round the fire. The n:an rose and threw away his dinner with a gesture of disgust. Jingo felt irritated. " He, the heir of all the ages, in the foiviuost liles of time," who tubbed regularly, to defile the food of that scpiatting savage I Bah ! that man's ancestors were civilised when Jingo's wore l)lue paint I Besides, the loor wretch had lost his dinner — Jingo never spoilt another native meal. There was like to be a l)ad row. A Ghoorka soldier per- sisted in cutting into the line of ammunition waggctns with his cart. The sergeant conductor smote the oxen and L ■ ! IS ' ^ i %k \ 1 i j :,■ If 1 ■ 146 GUNNER JtNGOS JUBrLEE. damned and liustled the driver. The man drew his cookerie and the sergeant knocked him down with a stick of firewood. It was the private cart of a Ghoorka Colonel with a harem lady ! But relief came at last in the shape of a Bengal Artillet-y officer who knew Hindustani. His men had mutinied without murdering him and his occupation being gone, he was sent, to Jingo's intense delight, to relieve him of the duties of Commissary of Ordnance. Then there was a day's halt — a blessed halt ! A portion of the force was engaged within sound of cannon. Was the unlucky J'l e;o never to get himself foughten I Something had been forgotten, Jingo must go back to the town they had already passed. " Oh, yes, it was quite safe ; The enemy would not run in that direction." Jingo did not want lo kill liis horse and he might miss the way, for night was coming on, so he got a native with an ekka. Why an ekka ? ** Ek " means one. It is a cart to carry one, but it must be a being with rever- sible hinges to his or her legs to sit cr. a platform less than two feet square, covered with a dome. For a fellow six feet two, here was a problem ! The machine should have been called a " sulky," for Jingo felt that way as he started, the native driver sitting some- where between the shaft and the horse's tail. The long legged sub tried all sorts of postures. If his legs stuck out they were broken ou the wheel, if they hung out behind the pony was lifted oft' its feet. The most convenient posture was to hitch his feel; into the roof and sit on his own shoulders. He executed his commission to the Colonel's satisfaction, and returned to Camp at daylight, broken on his rack, for every joint ached. But he unstiffened after a delicious bath administered in a jet from the mussach of a faithful Bhistie, a good breakfast, and the sense of release from that awful ammunition train. I H7 CHAPTER XIV. The Scrimmage of Seci'ndra — ARtiLLERV Tactics in India — ChandA, A Spoilt Battle — A Regimental Legend— A Climax. March 1 March ! It was getting monotonous through the flat fields of the Jaunpore District. Here indigo, there sugar-cane, wheat or grain, now and then a burnt-up bit of barren plain or scrubby jungle or mango tope. And there was dust, always dust ! The brilliant winter sun was not overpowering, and the hour before dawn, when the march commenced, was cold enough to make one glad to get the feet out of stirrups and walk. On the morning of the 22nd of January, General Franks was joined by Colonel D'Aguilar and his Battery of Horse Artillery, with two squadrons of Queen's Bays who had made a dash from Allahabad and a night march. The next morning, the General attacked — Horse Artillery in ad\'ance on the flanks of the Infantry skirmish line, the heavy guns kept in reserve, as also the CO. of Artillery and his Staff. The rebels occupied a belt of low jungle, which concealed their movements and made it difficult for guns to get through, thus necessitating wide and irregular intervals between guns and supports, never much regarded by the gunner of that day in India, whose maxim was : " L'audace, encore l'audace, toujours l'audace ! " exemplified by such a quartette of gunners as General Olpherts, V.C. (Mad Jack), Colonel Maude, V.C, General Tombs, V.C, and last but not least. Lord Roberts, V.C. Brigadier Wood (Sir Luvid) reports : — " At all times the freest use has been made of the Field Artillery, doing what would be considered in European war- fare, the duty of Infantry," while Anderson's Horse Artillery on emergency charged as Cavalry. When riding at the head of his guns through the low bush. Captain Thring was surprised by an agile native swordsman, whose 2 ' i '1 ii' ll m fi I 148 GiJNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. keen tulwar cut through the peak of the sun-helmet and the skin of his nose, stopped only by the thick folds of his pugaree. The powerful Englishman settled accounts with his assailant, whose loss was his life as against a patch of white sticking plaister on Thring's sunburnt nose, which produced a temporary squint and much merrimeni among his comrades. The General, gradually forcing his way through the jungle with the Infantry, sent Colonel D'Aguilar with two Horse Artillery guns and two squadrons of the Bays to threaten the enemy's left flank, "directing him at the same time to observe the greatest caution," so the official account of the action at Secundra says. The result of the caution was that Colonel D'Aguilar, with his little detachment, got possession of the rebels' camp, destro3'ing their tents and blowing up three cartloads of ammunition. In spite of the difficult country from which the enemy was driven, our losses were inconsiderable. This was an unsatisfactory commencement for Joe and Jingo and their chief, who had neither part nor lot in it, but they managed to cut themselves loose next time. IBefore daylight on the 19th of February, the force marched as usual. About the time they were looking forward to a mifi-day meal, they had another style of refreshment. The enemy's Artillery opened fire at long ranges and wei'e replied to by our heavy guns. Middleton's and Cotter's (Madras) horsed guns got the order to advance with the skirmishers, directly against the entrenchment of Chanda. The skirmish, or really the fighting line, was composed of the picked marksmen o( the loth, the 20th, and the 97th Regiments, under Colonel Longden, very much as the old light companies of Regiments used to be worked, and their fire, combined with that of the Artillery, was exceedingly effective. There was a minimum target for the enemy and the main body of the Infantry and the heavy guns, which were pounding away, were kept out of range of the enemy's musketry. A fighting line of skirmishers and Field Artillery were General Franks' invariable tactics, as they were exceedingly elastic and quick in their movements. Before the advance, Colonel Maberly, taking Jingo with him, rode forward to reconnoitre positions and a line of advance for the guns. Seizing the advantageous cover of a mango-grove, -J The le main h were enemy's \rtillery y were Before 1, rode for the o-grove, A SPOILT BATTLE. 149 they got within about 300 yards of the right flank of the enemy's position. The round shot from their own heavy guns swished high over their heads. " I think they are making oft", sir," remarked Jingo, looking through his field glasses. " Lend me your glasses," repHed the Colonel. He satis- fied himself in a few moments, and, handing back the glasses, mounted hastily, and dashed away at a gallop, straight for the enemy's entrenchments. Jingo thought his chief was demented but swung himself into his saddle and followed him. The enemy's fire was heavy from their centre and left flank, but had nearly ceased from the right, towards which the pair were making. It was evident that the enemy were retiring from their own left. Jingo followed his chief across the shallow ditch, riding through the embrasure. A dead Sepahi gunner lay beside the silent gun, but the mass of the enemy was hurriedly retreating towards their left. " Mark these two guns as captured by the Royal Artillery," said the Colonel. " How am I to do it, sir?" " Write it with the point of your sword, sir," shouted the Colonel, and a large R. A. was scrawled on the bronze guns above the fish crest of the Kings of Oudh. Meanwhile the fire was getting hot from the advancing British skirmishers, Enfield bullets came whistling through the embrasure. " Fasten your handkerchief to the point of your sword," was the next order, '* mount the parapet and wave it." The pocket-handkerchief was not a clean one, but it went up to procure a cessation of fire from friends, and to proclaim the capture of that part of the position. The display on the parapet was not prolonged. The infantry rushed in, travers- ing the entrenchments, and the village of Chanda in rear, capturing four more guns, and turning the retreat into a promiscuous flight. Middleton's and Cotter's guns advanced at a gallop, the gunners clinging for bare life to the axle seats and limbers. Getting in rear of the entrenchments, they poured a fire into the confused crowd of the rebels who were trying to cross a stream. Thring's R. A. bullock guns, together with Simeon's n:; i I i mN i U¥ HO GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. (Bengal) had "accompanied the line in its advance, and they came into action against a body of the enemy, holding a ridge of rising ground by which the skirmishers were checked. The ridge was abandonftd after a few well-directed rounds." *' Now for a Cavalry charge 1 " shouted the gunner chief, who had no right to indulge in such vanities, and turning to Jingo, ordered him to ride back for the General's per- mission. Jingo left with a heavy heart, knowing that his irrepress- ible chief would nail the Cavalry without leave, there being no distinct Cavalry leader for the mounted " Tommies " of the lOth Regiment, the group of Indigo Planters, with their hog spears, under Mr. Venables, and the Punjabi Horse under RusseldarrGholam-Ma-bund-Khan. Looking for a needle in a bundle of hay is nothing to look- ing for a General on a battle-field. When found, leave was granted, and the General became an accessory after the fact. As Jingo rode back on his now played-out charger, he came across the handiwork of the Cavalry ; scattered about were dead Sepahis and Mr. Venables with a lance thrust through his thigh that pinned him to his saddle, a couple of wounded "Tommies," and some dismounted troopers leading their wounded horses. Shortly after the Colonel appeared, followed by a motley staflf. Lieutenant Percival, Commissary of Ordnance, Captain Angus, interpreter, and Jenkinson, the civil magistrate, with Joe Smart, the adjutant, riding at the head of the returning Cavalry. They were flushed with triumph and nothing else, for no one had had anything since morning coffee. They took a smoke to keep off hunger, while Joe told his comrade how the chief had " led the Cavalry up the plain to the right, which was covered with Sepoy fugitives, who turned and stood at bay, firing their muskets and fighting with their swords until cut to picpes. ' One little group stood splendidly at bay and the Colonel, who was a tender-hearted, generous man, called out — " Spare those brave men !" But he had to change his mind suddenly, for he was only saved from a dang^roys sword cut by the high cantle of his regimental saddle. He promptly shot his assailant, which was the signal for the rest to go down. " The pursuit was carried on for about A RKGIMKNTAL I.KGKNl). '51 mind a mile and a half, to the end of the plain, until groves of mangoes and a close jungle rendered a further advance im- possible." The yarn and the pipes were scarcely concluded ere the order came for the whole force to move in a direction to the left of their original front. The General, knowing that two iorcesof the enemy were trying to effect a junction, had thrown himself between them, defeated one, and now turned to face the other, but without an idea how close they were. After marching about three miles, the order was given to halt and pitch camp. The Ghoorkas, who had not been engaged, were thrown forward as outposts. The General was in a horrid temper — he had had no lunch — and growl- ing that " that damned hot-headed gunner" had spoilt his battle. The tent-pegs of his own old regiment, the lOth, were not properly aligned. "The regiment had gone to the devil entirely," since he gave up the command. The hand- some old man strode up and down, swearing profusely, ordering the tents to be struck and re-pitched. The soldiers of the I oth rivalled their old chief in swears, not loud, but equally eloquent. They also were mostly Irish. " May the divil fly away wid the ould man from Munstlier ! Bad luck to the boys that didn't shoot him at Sobraon I " The General had a legend, and the men knew it. They loved his fighting qualities, but his strictness .sometimes irritated them. When firing blank one day a bullet whistled past Colonel Franks. He did not stop the firing, but when the number of rounds ordered had been completed, he rode up to the regiment, and said — "Boys, there's a damned bad shot in the lOth. Me nearly shot my trumpeter, and what should I have said to that boy's mother ? I don't want to know the blackguard's name, the officers will not examine the men's pouches." They were on the eve of a campaign and the Senior Major came to him before an action and said — " Don't put yourself in front of the regiment to-morrow. Colonel, you know there are always one or two bad men in a regiment." " Thank you. Major, it's very kind of you. 1 might have given you a step." When the icth were drawn up for the final advance, he put himself at tlieir head, and said — i i.: ri 11 !; i 152 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. " Boys, I'm tould ye mane to shoot me to-day. Take my advice, and don't shoot Tom Franks till the foighting's done, for ye won't find a better man to lade ye." J'he regiment answered with a cheer, and carried the Sikh batteries with the bayonet rather than run the risk of shooting the old fire-eater at their head. jingo had been sent to ask for orders for the camping of the Horse batteries, who had come up late from th^ pursuit, but was afraid to approach the General in his present mood. His stat^' had fled, even to Captain Gordon, the man who managed him best. It was 5 p.m. and growing dusk and neither man nor beast had tasted food since morning. All of a sudden there was a rattle of musketry from the left, the boom of a heavy gun, and the lob of a round shot. The General's horse was being led up and down behind him by the syce, who was as much afraid as Jingo to ask for orders. The tall, active old man was in his saddle in a moment, himself and his big grey horse a picture. " Never mind the tent-pegs, boys, pick up your rifles, and fall in, and follow me." The men were in their shirt sleeves, but they slipped on belts and pouches, and moved forward with a cheer for the General, forgetting in an instant the bad language used on both sides. The Artillery, fortunately not unhooked, swept round to the left at full intervals, and unlimbcred for action, but could not open fire, for the Ghcorka outposts were being driven in among the guns. When the front was clear, the guns opened. The enemy's Artiller}^ was quickly silenced, and their Infantry driven back. They made a second attack, but with no better success. The General rode up and down the line, talking to the men. " Boys, me heart bleeds for ye. I know you've had neither bite nor sup this blazing da}', but I've given ye your bellyful of fighting and you must bivouac by your arms to-night." The call for Commanding Officers and Staft' was sounded. " Gentlemen," said the General, " we must be prepared for another attack during the night, we have no outposts beyond our guns, I expect the utmost vigilance. The officers must set an example. I'll have no shurrking and lurrk- ing in doolies.* • .\ Hool'fi is a curtained litter tor carrying the wo jnded. iiUli A CLIMAX. '53 In spite of "excursions and alarms" the imperturbable native cooks improvised a meal. Jingo with a pleasant sense of repletion and a pipe, lay down beside the guns and dozed, but woke suddenly with the sen.se of some unfilled duty, and rising, visited the sentries along the line of unlimbered guns, loaded with canister. The moon was bright and shone in a fretwork of light and shade upon the white curtains of a doolie under a tree at some little distance in rear of the centre of the line of guns. He thought of the General's last injunction, and ifting his sword scabbard to prevent clanking, he walked towards the suspicious doolie and raised the curtains. " Sheets, by Jove, and a round protuberance ! " Me drew 'is foot back and administered a deliberate kick. It was followed by a fearful imprecation in the General's voice. Jingo turned and fled to the utmost extremity of the line and flung himself down by the flank gun, a thoroughly demoralised subaltern, feigning the sleep which would not come. He felt utterly depressed. Here was his long sought " bapteme de feu ! " He had helped his chief to spoil a battle, he had missed the " divarsion '' of a Cavalry charge, and he had finished up by kicking his General. What will be the end of a military career commenced in such a fashion ? had your m •54 In ^1 1^ CHAPTER XV. Morning Orders -The Don— JeuhurciH Justice — Wini.eu Enemies — SuLTANPooR— A Young May Moon — A Reconnaissance ■ A Wohh in Season- An Artillery Steeple-Chase — Close Quarters— "Follow Me, Lads !"— Demon Rockets — Elephantine I'hilosophy, There was much le?s Orderly-room Clerk and much more personality in the military system of that epoch. Early the following morning our Lieutenant was sent to the General to know if there were any special instructions for the Artillery, the previous evening having closed somewhat con- fusedly. He went in fear, if not trembling. Would the General recognise the indiscreet executor of his orders in the unobtrusive subaltern who stood behind the Adjutant, and Quarter-Master Generals, Brigade Majors, and others, as the}' surrounded the old man while he sipped his morning coffee and gave his orders. They received their instructions and left, there remained only the luckless Jingo, who made nor sound nor sign. The General, in his long grey coat, stirred the bivouac fire with his boot. Suddenly he turned, and seeing the waiting officer, his grey eyes lit up with a comic twinkle and there was a lift of one corner of the grizzled moustache that betrayed an inclination to smile. "The Artillery ? Ah, yes I Tell the Colonel, with my compliments, to make his own disposition for the march — we are not likely to get near John Pandy to-day, he had enouf^h of us yesterday. Good morning." The General nodded and Jingo retired, immensely relieved. The General had evidently recognised his mid- night assailant, but his manner was kind, and at the end of the campaign, he mentioned him favourably in despatches. Jingo kept his own counsel. At the next halt, when C.O.s and Staff were called for, the General casually remarked upon the hardships 11 A' JKUBLRGil JUSTICK. 155 of the past twenty-four hours endured by all ranks, ending with : — *• 1 have to take caie of myself, however, it won't do for the General to break down." From that date the Artillery Colonel was dubbed " Don Quixote " by the irreverent. He had the noble side of the Don's character and something of the aspect and habits too — solemn, tall, dry, and unweariedly energetic. For weeks together he slept in his long boots, but he was better mounted than the Don, and in his madness, if such it were, there was the method of a clever, conscientious man and a good soldier. Fate had failed to fit him with a squire of the rotundity and wisdom of Sancho Panza. The monotony of the marches was varied by the necessity of greater precautions. The enemy had closed in upon our line of cornmunication, which had accordingly to be abandoned, and the force of cavalry was inadequate for scouting, though the Punjabi Irregulars were adepts, especially when loot was to be found. Occasionally Sepahi prisoners were brought in who had abandoned all traces of uniform, and posed as innocent husbandmen. But their erect carriage was against them in the eyes of an officer who had served in the Native Army, and if the short test of calling the prisoner to attention resulted in his instinctively assuming that military position sentence was passed. *♦ Layow 1 " (take him away), was addressed to the Punjabi escort. One day the advance guard was thrown into dire Cv^nfusion by an unexpected attack. The Cavalry and Horse guns had halted at noon in a grove of mango trees. A foolish trooper, noticing what looked like a brown sack hanging from a branch above his head, prodded it with his lance. It was a hornet's nest! The Cavalry, who had not dismounted, scattered in flight. The Artillery had had the order to " Dismount, down props, and feed the horses," The maddened animals, released from the bit, nose-bag on nose, dashed away, knocking dovMi the dismounted drivers, who were vainly trying to hold them and who narrowly escaped being crushed by the wheels. After a wild career at full gallop, the leading limber wheel was caught in a tree, the suddenly arrested team was flung round in a heap, and the second gun was brought up on top of the first. When the gunners, in spite of the terrible stings of the hornets, undid 156 CISSKR JINf^'OS ji:hii.ei".. I \i w V' M i ii 11 1: i f' I the tangle, not a man nor horse was seriously hurt. But though the Staft' and all spare hands, armed wit'i branches, had done battle with the insects, the force had eventually to evacuate the tope of trees. Fortunately no enemy but the winged ones appeared. The vedettes had stood their ground being beyond reach of the attack. On the 22nd of February, 1858, in the early mornin;s% the force was ordered to deploy on the march. Once ot^' the roads among the dew laden Helds (for the crops were green at that season), there was no dust. In the distance, catch- ing the rising sun, glittered the golden minarets and domes of Sultanpoor, while a pale moon grew faint in a sky whose rose tints melted into zenith blue. Graceful groups of the romded foliage of mango groves broke the level aspect. The scarlet of the long lines of British Infantry contrasted with nature's green, and the glint of burnished accoutrements. The sheen of dancing spears shone above the brilliant turbans of the Irregular Horse, followed by the more sombre hue of the Artillery and the crawling columns of the Ghoorkas in rear, with white bullocks drawing theii guns, while high above all loomed the broad foreheads of the elephants as they trundled the heavy guns like baby carts behind their huge forms, walking with their peculiar slouchy gait and noiseless footstep. All made a picture framed in the memory. Put it face to wall ! It is irresistibly recalled by a note of the bugle. A happy inspiration iiad seized the Bugle-Major (a Kelt of course). The mellow bugles of the Light Infantry rang out the lively march of — " The young May moon is beaming, love, And the glow-worm's lamp is gleaming, love. How sweet to rove through Morna's grove. While the drowsy world is sleeping, love ! " And so some marched to death, and all were light- hearted. This time the General made his own reconnaissance. Jingo was sent to accompany him and to bring back orders. Along the line of freshly-turned earth, form-i..g the enemy's entrenchments, beyond musket-shot he rode, followed by his Staft", a feat impossible in these days, the rejection by the Sepahi of the greased rifle cartridge, which caused the Mutiny, rendered its suppression comparatively easy. I vm I A WORD IN SKASOX. 157 light- 3rs. iv's V $ his the 1 the M When about opposite the centre ot' the enemy's position, which was approached by a road at right angles lo it, there was a sndden puft" of white smoke, a thud, and a shower of dust and gravel over Jingo. A cannon-shot, meant for the General at the head of his Staff, had struck close to the tail — our sub. The smart canter at which they were riding had made it miss its intended mark. The black muzzles of fourteen heavy guns could be counted in a sunken battery, commanding the road, and some of them began to belch forth flash an i ball. Jingo yot his orders tc bring up the horsed guns through the intervals of the Infantry. Suppoi'ted by the picked infantry marksmen, they were to pass by a Hank march an eighth of a circle to the left, under cover of tall cane and indigo crops. As he neared the line of scarlet columns a cheer broke out, the galloper from the front was the signal for attack. Tiie Artiller}' trotted gaily out amid the cheers of the Infantry, Major Pennycuick in command. To get forward as rapidly as possible he led them out along the pucca road. Jingo liding beside him tried to explain that fourteen heavy guns comui^nded that road, but the rattle of the gun-wheels jirevented hi:' being heai'd. In despair at last he rose in his stirrups and s!iouted, " Left take ground I " using the sword-arm signal at ilie same time. Every gun wheeled sharp tc the left of}" the load and across the diji ^ i the side. The Major rode at him, I'ed with rage. "D you, sir, how dare vou take command of my battery ? " The answer came from the masked guns which sent their round shut bou-.uling like cricket balls in quick succession down the n^ad, throwing up fountains of dust and stones. The Major nodded, " All right I " and in a few momeats the moving Artillery were sheltered by a tlepressi(Mi in the ground and hidden by high crops until out of the direct line of tire. The enemy's guns being embrasured had a limited traversing range, and their gunners could only get glimpses of the flying Aitillery executing an audacious tlank move- ment across their front. The enemy's shot flew harmlessly overhead, struck short, and bounded or ploughed the ground between the intervals of the irregular eclielons which swept past in a wild artillery w^ ' 1 ?'•' !; ii B 158 GUNNKR JINGO S JUBILEF. Steeple-chase, into which the rtrst orderly advance had degenerated. Fierce but friendly rivalry existed between the Royal Gunners and their Indian brothers. The former accustomed to the decorous jog which alone is permitted to the Field Artillery on Woolwich Common or across the unenclosed heaths of Aldershot* saw with surprise the leading echelon of Madras Artillery dash at a wall, the leaders, encouraged by the shouts of their Irish drivers, rising, as the long traces permitted, simultaneous!}' into the air, pair after pair, like well-trained circus animals. But the " circus " illusion vanished in a cloud of dust and debris, as the gun wheel?., knocking down half the height of the kutchaf brick wall, bounded to the top, over, and down with a crash — and t!iere lay limp, like a living thing arrested by a broken back. A gun axle had smashed, for which there was no immediate repair. The Indian gunners cursed the luck which let those " blank, blank beggars from Woolwi Mi give them the go-bye I " I regret to record that there was a rin;^ ■ hardly sup- pressed triumph in the passing remark of the steady "hands down " Woolwich driver who shouted — "Well rode, Pat I" to the disconsolate Madrassees. A man must have ridden the wheel horse of a gun and felt the merciless Juggernaut thunde> rattle behind as he goes at an obstacle to know what nerve means, especially if he has once seen the wheel grind slowly over the flattening bod}' of a comrade. Whyte Melville met his death athwart the furrow of a ploughed Held. The hunting-field and the battle-field have spirit-stirring moments. But to sit in the saddle ashamed to bow to the dzing ! and ping 1 or to notice the wicked scream of jagged bits of rotating shell is best described by Zola in " La Debacle." ' Mais ce qui frappa surtout , ce fut I'attitude des conducteurs, a quinze metres en arriere, raidis sur leur chevaux, face a 1' ennemi il fallai vraiment un tier courage pour ne pas menie battre des yeux, a regarder ainsi les obus venir droit sur soi, sans avoir seulment I'occupation de mordre ses pouces pour se • Behind every ditch would stand the British farmer with his pitch-fork, backed by his Tory Member of Parliament, to prevent a manoeuvres' act. t Sun-dried brick, much more friable than kiln-baked. ■ *u' M '*; i Cl.OSr. QUARTKRS. 159 e des leur fallai e des sans pur se backrd distraii'e. Les servants qui trevaillaient, eux, avaient de quoi penser a autre chose ; tandis que les conducteurs, inuiiobiles, nc voyaient que la mort, avec tout le loisir d'v songer et de I'attendre. On les nbligeait de faire face a V ennemi, paroe que, s'ils avaient tourne le dos, r irresistible besoin de t'uite aurait pu emporter les boninies et les betes. A voir le danger, on le bra'/e. II n' y a pas d' herojsme plus ol)scur ni plus grand." It was no use waiting to play long bowls with 9-pounders against 32 and 24-pounders, theie was nothing for it but to close on the flank of the heavy guns, and the wild gallop steadied down. The enemy's first fire flew harmlessly over head, killing a few bullocks and drivers in the second line, and bowling over a luckless camel or two that must put their stilted carcases in the way. The elephants, much too wise to be beguiled under fire, had long ago been exchanged for bullock draught. Meanwhile the advancing Artillery- had been getting within grape range of the enemy. Jingo rode by his chief in front of the centre of the leading echelon. A salvo burst from the " gates of hell," as the late Poet Laureate would have called it, and a flight of grape shot sangintheairwith the swish of a flock of migrating starlings;a few more strides and the peculiar swagger flourish of the native gunners turning their sponge staves was visible through the smoke. Then came another volley of grape. This time laid low, the iron hail threw up spurts of dust all along the hard ground in front and danced forward, driven by the hot breath of battle. Jingo noticed the leading driver on his right clutch the mane with his bridle hand, while the right held the whip expended over the off horse, for they were in the act of reversing for action. The driver's left leg hung loose from the knee like a doll's with the stuffing out ; but the man brought round his horses with exactitude, and then sat in the saddle, white and now clutching the mane with both hands. If he groaned it was lost in the shouts of command, the rattle of the wheels, and the quick reports of rou.nd after round of case shot poured into the hostile battery as the echelons came up in succession and aligned themselves. The swords of the subaltern officers riding in front were raised to check the pace foi' a few moments BSE!99i n 1 60 ta'NNKR JINGO S U-nil.KK I i k f IS J; I'll !■' iJi! II' before wheeling i'or action front. Tliere were not -'?iif!i('ient gunners to have lifted round the gun-traiL--, so it was done by the horses — with extreme precision. There seemed no haste now. Everything was di ne mechanically. Round atter round of case shot was jxiured into the enemy, until — " Cease hre ! " sounded. There was the mad General riding to the hunt through the smoke, shouting, like a naught}' girl at a fair : " Follow me, lads ! " But there were none to follow. The Infantry were pant- ing half a mile behind. The Sepahi battery stood silent, and the smoke still wreathed from the black muzzles ncjt two hundi-ed 3'ards off. "Well, bedad ! if you're not coming, boys, I'll go by meselfl" shouted the old Hre-eater, riding straight for the nearest gun. He was followed by twt) or three oHicers of his .Staff. They could see the Sepahi gunner raise the port-tire — another instant and the General and Staff would be "in smithereens," as he would himself have expressed it. MeLeod Innes, Bengal Kngineers, raised his revt^lver and the gunner tell. A scramble into the battery, where the native gunners lay pretty thick about their guns, sliowed the reason of our success plainly. It was a sunken battery, and the guns rested on the dried bottom of a gheel (pond), with their muzzles only just above the terrain. In turning them to meet our flank attack the heavy trails had broken through the crust of mud, and iu -ome cases even the wheels on which the gun had pivoted, thus accounting foi' the lirst inaccuracy of their fire, while otn; case shot, delivered point i)lank, had been most effectiv< , as their dead gunners, as well r'.< the splintered rammers lying round testwi-l l^)Ul that iiishap alone would have silenced their li*«, for, with the curious impro\ idence of natives, they had no spare ones. More quickly than it took to realise the situation did the Infantry swarin in and press along the whole line of entrench- ments, while the yXrtillcry limbered up and trotted round to take the whole position in reverse, tbllowing mercilessly in purstiit, and pouring roiuid after round uii ■ the retreating- masses Our losses were ii i.'d.)le, tor the General's INDIAN .Mvlll.l.KkY '!. ACTUS. I6l trout ai- a netn lo tirough ■els on lie tirst, [Kiint aimers, t, tor, > spare liii the trenrh- md to jsly in reating Ineral's 'I tactics ot" aclvaucing with P'ield Artillery ami picked Infantry marksmen, had brought a niiniinum of n)cn under fire with a niaxinunii of efllect. Aldershot umpires rule guns out of action within a mile of Infantry fire. Success vvil be to verrides this vicious teaching that men nutst lie him who o letire lest they be killed. Tactics move in circles, with, changes in weapons ; picked shots with magazine rifles and breech-loading guns with shields will yet form the advance. The (3udh Talook-dars, native gentlemen who commanded tiie rebel armies, though brave and accustomed before out rOgiiiie to lighting among theniselve-, were ignorant of "la grande guerre." The native oflicei's who commanded the .Scpaliis had the knowledge and ideas of sergeants. Their positions \\('i-c well chosen and entrenched, bu.t alway-^ with tlie idea that we would of necessity make a front attack ;uid go blundering down the road leading to t!u. centi'e of their position. That night the vVrtillery ammunition waggons iiad to be re- plenished and the cajitured guns destroyed befoie the force marched oft'. So Jingo's hands were full, (iitil late and again early, long before day, was he trymg to buist the beautiful long bronze guns, highly ornamented anil sonorous as a bell. But the " beastly things " refused to be burst and became moi'e dangerous in their deatli than in tlieii" lite. At last, iic loadf'd some of the longest w ith native [)ovvder up to the muzzle, jammed in a couple of siiot, then finding a di'y well handy, he threw them into it, muz/.le down, 24 and 18- por.nders, previously connecting a fuze with the touch holes up W' which the well was tamped with earth. I'lie t'u'e was lighted and every (jne went under cover. With a loar a column of dust and ^inoke rose, and out of it appeared tliree majestic demon rockets ; like the Prince's plume of the heir api>armt of hell, it seemed to the terrified jingo, who watclied thi> pyrotechnii' di-play as it soared almost out of sight, falling later like destroying angels in the direction of the camp. f)nc, a 24-poundcr. went through a tent, wliicli wa.s fortu- nately empty as the men were forming 011 parade Staft' officers rode in rday> to curse him, and as rhe force; inarciied off-gangs of isht'^ * from the bazaars of .Sultanpoor * Disatteeted bands of piunderers who sweWed the rebel annirs c: :i 162 GUNNKR JIXGOS .ILBILKK. 1 ^:t! hung round to cut his throat and annihilate the small detach- ment who were vainly striving to destroy the almost sacred guns, decorated as they were with the device of King or Emperor, and many a boastful text from the Koran which the infidel soldier could not read. After the ineffectual fireworks, there were no means of collecting the guns. Jingo at last slew them where they lay. Digging a shallow grave for each, they were again heavily loaded and two shot, with a space between each maintained by a short stick, were rammed in. This method was suggested to him b}' a leery old gunner who had remarked : " Nature aborrs a wackyyum, sir." The masses of valuable metal had then to be transported in hackeries to the great disappointment of the Budmashes. The gun carriages had, meanwhile, been reduced to heaps of smouldering ashes. So it was late in the day when Jingo overtook the head of the artillery column, where he found his chief He was immedi- ately sent back to bring up the elephant batter}-, for the passage of the Goomti had to be forced through the dis- affected city of Sultanpoor, before which the rebel army had just been defeated. A dashing irregular cavalry advance had already been made under Aikman, who had been decorated with a tulwar cut across the face, t(j which was subsequently added a V.C. on his coat. The heavy guns were to be brought up as quickly as pos- sible and posted on our bank of the rivei' on each side of the bridge over the Gooniti. To save time it was decided not to change the draught from elephant to bullock. Once in a way the " wise ones " might be humbugged into going under tire. They shufiled along quietly and swiftly at first. Jingo riding in advance to show the way to the l)ridge through the narrow streets of the native town, whose male inhabitants scowled from their doors while the other sex smiled with timid curiosity over veils from lattices and I'oofs. Middle- ton's horse battery was in front. " Heads up, lads, the girls are all in the top store^' windows !'' A few stray shots sang down the street from other than Zenana weapons. The " wise ones " understood at once that they were being humbugged into danger. What were \\C.'s to them ? They furiously trumpetted their dis- % KI.EPHANTINK PHILOSOPHY. etach- ilmost FKing which ans of ey lay. neavily itained d was lo had sported mashes, leaps of head of immedi- for the the dis- my liad advance d been ich was as pos- c of the :d not to ce in a ig under ,t. jingo ugh the labitants ed with Middle- p storcj' icr than at once lat were leii" dis- i content.* In vain the mahouts prodded until the blood ran down behind their poor flapping ears. Scolding and abuse were drowned in angry trumpettings, but the elephants could not turn with their guns, the streets were so narrow. The " Hooshiar one " made up his mind and took his line. Flourishing his trunk with shrieks of rage and pain he dashed forward, his ponderous cannon rumbling behind him. Right in his path rode Jingo on poor little Butcha, quite subdued now to all the incongruous sights and sounds of Oriental war. Before them was the rear waggon of Middleton's Horse Battery, the advance of wliich was checked by a column of Infantry on the bridge. On came the thundering trumpetting terror. Jingo turned in his saddle and felt sick with fear. No escape, no opening on either hand ! Not even a projecting balcony to clutch and pull himself up out of the way while he left his poor Butcha to be flattened to annihilation. But he was saved from the baseness of such desertion. A dull rumble and a crash — shrieks, groans, curses — a cloud of dust through which loomed the great " Hooshiar " tianquilly blowir.g dust from the ruins of a house over himself and his mahout. He had taken his gun through a pri)jccting corner and had brought down the whole front of a building, inhabitants and all, in one fell ruin at his feet, thus effectually barring progress to the guns. He himself did not wish to ; Jvance. So soon as he was satisfied that the firing had ceased and there was no further danger to himself, he proceeded leisurely to clear aw^ay the ruins of beams and rafters, piling them in an orderly fashion on one side. Then I'cfresliing himself from the contents of a basket of sweets, from the open shop front on the other side of the street he went on his way rejoicing, with the self-satistied air of liaving done a good action. But his 1 evident in little eye. the naughty ns nypocnsy was twinkle of his wicked * Klrpliams are quite coiumu to perform at strictly peace manoeuvres. They will march past, trailing their guns in perfect line and saluting simultaneously with their trunkr to touch the heart of the most ijloriticil Serjeant Major who ever wore spil<0(l helmet. Imperial crown, or cockeii hat. They will even assist at gun practice, but to become a tanget ! No ! .\mong the ^;un elephants there was one ol in for both. M- I ^'^-"lil J g m~, i g i ai i . il.. , I l^ n hi I m 164 CHAPTER XVI. Fort Moonshee Gunj — Polite Orders— 9TH Lancers — Percy Hmith — An Unsuccessful Attempt — More Captured Guns — A War Corre- spondent. Eight more marches, enlivened by the (jut vive maintained in passing through the hostile territor}' of Oudh, with its many fortified villages and warlike population, brought them on the evening of the 4th of March to Selimporc. Informa- tion had been brought to the General of a fort, situated about a mile from the line of march for the following day, and which could not be left in possession of an enemy, who would fall on the rear and loot the baggage. Yet on the other hand, the morrow had been Hxed for the junction of General Franks' force with that of Sir Colin Campbell before Lucknow. Any dela}' now would dislocate the plans of the Conmiander-in-Chief. It was hoped to carry the mud-fort of Moonshee Gunj by a coup (ic main. On the morning of the 4th at daybreak, the advance guard, two guns, R.H.A., Lieutenant Arbuthnot, a squadron of the 9th Lancers, Captain Coles, and three Companies of the 97th, Major Chichester, were dcil'^cted to attack the the whole, fort. Colonel pushed on Maber R.A. the guns and General himself. Lieutenant Jingo position of the the right to commanding Cavalry. Evidently impatient of any delay, the doing his own reconnoitering, appeared, was sent to ask for orders as to the Artillery. " Go to Hell with the Artillery ! " was the answer. Jingo saluted formally and reined back behind the General, with a mind to tell him that he considered him the best authority on the way to that locality. All the Staff had been despatched on various errands. After a while the General looked round. ',»! 4 'I ,>j& POLITE ORDKRS. 165 imself, Jingo of the eneral, best iff had le the N " Well, what are you waiting for ? Have you not got your orders ? " " No, sir. I don't mean to take that order, and you did not mean to send it." " Vou are right. Tell the Colonel he can select his own position for his guns. There ! He has done it ! " as the first shot was heard and answered by the fort. The Lieutenant galloped back and gave the message — the polite one — and was told to return in case the General desired a further change, which he very soon did, for he said : — " Those gunners are playing at long bowls ! " Tliis remark Jingo did repeat to his chief as the most concise way of putting the Geieral's views. The Horse Artillery sub overheard and flushed in his yellow beard. With the Colonel's permission he went, followed by the supporting Lancers, (old hands the 9th) who knew how to get theie, to be always near, and never in the way. The Horse Artillery galloped to within 400 \'ards of the Fort and again opened fire, enfilading one face which they silenced, for the enemy's guns were eti barbette. Then up the glacis they dashed to within 200 yards, clearing the parapet with case shot. But from the loop-holes of the central keep came an unpleasant musketry fire which the little 6-pounders could not silence. The Gunners unslung carbines, and lying down in the standing corn, replied. Here the Colonel's stirrup-iron rang out a response to a musket ball, and there were some few casualities among the men. Both leaders of one gun were wounded, though they stood like Lady Butler's picture of " Patient Heroes," and it was only when they were required to move that it was found the}- could not. Meantime, Bradford's Madras 24-pr. Howitzers came up, and by their larger calibie of shell, seemed to render the outer defences untenable, for the enemy began to bolt. The ditch communicated with a series of dr}' nullahs, down which the white turbans could be seen streaming. Now for the Cavalry! But where were they ? Well and wisely under cover. In vain Jingo looked to the rear, at last he caught the gleam of a lance nead just above ground, for the 9th carried no useless pennon. The troopers had dismounted in a hollow, but in less time than it takes to tell they were up, let loose, extended, and I H] iiia n ii<, r . f - p - i r , j a r» t'i^ M 1 66 (irNNKR JIN(;oS .|l?BILKi:. if i Hi' It riding down a file on each side of the nuliaiis radiating fvom the ditch. Now and again a lance was lowered and there Was a white turban the less. As quickly they reformed when their work was done. After the campaign this veteran Cavalry regiment were told, when they got home to Aldershot^ that they had to begin to learn their work. By this time the Infantry had come up and rushed the works. But there still remained the interior castellated keep with flanking towers, to the fire from whose loopholes the Artill- ery were exposed. The General ordered them to retire and rejoin the line of march, and Jingo was sent to tell the Engineer officer, McLeod Innes, to blow open the gate of the citadel with a powder bag. On reaching that part of the inside of the exterior entrenchment, which led to a second work by a bridge over the ditch, Jingo saw that this second enclosure in front of the keep had been abandoned by our men. The body of an officer lay in front of the citadel gate beside a beam, which he and his men had used as a battering ram to break open the gate. He had been shot dead and some of the men wounded. The beam had been dropped — and the men had retired under cover of the outside of the second line of wdrks. With the assistance of Sergeant Wilkins and a couple of Horse Artillery Gunners, Jingo turned one of the enemy's guns from the exterior entrenchment, and kicking into the ditch the dead body of a Sepahi that lay across the bridge, ran in the gun and opened fire on the gate. But the 6-pounder shot only made little holes which did not even let daylight through, thus proving that there was some further barrier behind. He then fired at and struck what appeared to be the lock, but still the gate remained solidly closed. A shot jamming in the bore, the gun business seemed to be hopeless and it was decided to try a powder bag. The sergeant carried the body of the gallant young officer, Lieutenant Perc}' Smith, to the rear. Unfortunately the guns had bfeen ordered away and there was nothing but the native powder in captured gun limbers. \ bag had to be extemporised out of a " setringee " (carpet). While Jingo and McLebd Innes were Engaged in this task the latter, who was stooping over the bagj ffeU, shot through the uppei" part of both thighs, (his wounds were salved by a f' KoKl MooNSIIKI, (.INI. lo: II V.C'.)ancl Jingo cairicd out tlie duty, at which ( aptain Middletoii of the 29th offered to assist. Having arranged for a heavy tire to be kept up on the l(i(i|)-holes l)y the infantry, wlio were slieltered by the exterior slope ot' tin- second entrenchment, the two officers made a rush, jingo carrying the bag, fixed it to tlie gate of the keep, and whc 11 Middleton had ht the fu/e with a pf)rt-tire tied to his hog spear, which he always carried,* they both bolted and reached the exterior gate in safely. The storming party was ready for a rush, but — the explosion only blew a few splinters from the gate, which still stood almost as before. The native powder bad proved too weak. Now came an iiiiperative order from tlic (ieneral to retire immediately. But there were the enemy's guns stand- ing in the exterior entrenchment and one close to the obfiurate gate. i'hese guns would certainly be turned on the retiring force and there were no spikes to render them unserviceable — besides, to abandon captured guns was not to be thought of. The Hre from tbe keep, now that the covering British Infantry were withdrawn, was redoubled, jingo and the remaining officers daslied into the gate, Hung round the gun trail, and ran it out. Directly they had passed the bridge they were sheltered, as were the remaining three guns which were also carried oft', bullocks having been procured. The derisive shouts and last shots of the pluckv garrison who still held the keep, were not pleasant to tlie ears of the retiring men, whose cor.solation, however, was the capture of the guns. The little episode of the repulse before the mud fort of Moonshee Gunj never appeared in the brilliant official litera- ture of the day. There was no special correspondent, he was with the Headquarter Staff, and when the official ac- counts did appear jingo failed to recognise tlie battles in which he had borne a humble part. It is ever thus, the individual sees only round himself". Overtaking the column, jingo had to push on to the Commander-in-Chief before Lucknow, to ascertain the camp- ing ground for the various batteries of Artillery, which were here distributed to different brigades, the heavy batteries • On one occasion Middleton rode at a native who slicid off the head of his spear with his sharp tulwar— the tough bamboo went through him. he had cut it tn a point ! IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) O 4 '^> A A & ■% 1.0 I.I 1.8 1.25 II 1.4 II ,.6 -^ 6" ► V Photographic Sdences Corporation 33 WfeST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716)873-4503 4 ^ \ o^ '<> Jamania. 1^^ To face f age 169. n C»in<" 0^ To face page 169. 169 CHAPTEK XVII. Thk Siege OK I.ucknow — Defences Taken in Reverse by Outram's FoKCE — Not allowed to Cross the BRiixiKs on the North— Armino A Battery by Night — Tommy Hutler's V.C. - Death ok an Empress MAKER — Clearing ENCtnsuREs — A Card Party — Pyjamas - A Scare — We were not to take the Kaiser Bagh — A Prisoner — A Big Fish — A Kiosk— A Looteij Horse — Prize Money. " The walls grew weak ; and fast and hot Against them poured the ceaseless shot. VVith unabating fury sent From battery to battlement ; And thunder— like the pealing din Rose from each heated culverin ; And here and there some crackling dome Was fired before the exploding bomb ; And as the fabric sank beneath The shattering shells' volcanic breath In red and wreathing columns flash'd The flame, as loud the ruin crash'd. Or into countless meteors driven, Its earth stars melted into Heaven ; Whose clouds that day grew doubly dun, Impervious tu the hidden sun, With volumed smoke that slo Aly grew In one wide sky of sulphurous hue." Siege of Corinth. On arrival before ,Lucknow the Artillery Division of General Franks* forrc was broken up. The heavy guns joined the siege train, and the horse batteries were made over to Colonel Wood, who commanded the Horse and Field Artillery of General Outram's force on the East bank of the river Goomti, whence the heavy guns, under Colonel Riddell, enfiladed and soon silenced the enemy's line of works along the canal. Because both Havelock's and Sir Colin Campbell's advance had been from the Alum Bagh (Garden of the World), the native commanders imagined the attack must come from the same quarter, and they therefore erected the formidable line of works, which, as before stated, were taken in reverse. Colonels Carleton and Maberl}' conducted the siege opera- tions from the south, and Lieutenant Jingo remained on the 't I ill in I ■.\] r 170 GLNNKR JINGO S JUBILEK. personal Staff of the latter, but as they were short of oflicers, he voKinteered for night duty in the batteries in addition to the daily Staff ones. He had but one solid sleep during the siege and his recollections became hazy and linger in his memory like the broken pieces of a fantastic dream, of white tents of the camp among the park-like gardens of the Dil KhushA (the palace of the "Heart's Delight ")a meretricious strawberry cream coloured building, in front of which and the Mahomed Bagh the inexorable British batteries were pounding away at the city of fair white palaces and mosques, golden domes, and needle-like minarets rising from the greenery of gardens to cleave the cloudless blue of an Indian sky. A desultory reply came from the long lines of the beleaguered city. The Dil Khush& Batteries played principally on the works in front of the handsome buildings of the Martiniere which was not Oriental but French in design, a school for native or half-caste boys. The founder. General La Martine, served the Kings of Oudh before our Raj. There seems to have been a genial easy-going amiability about the French soldiers of that period who served in the armies and courts of Oriental Kings, with whom they were much more popular than their successors, the unbending Puritan Scotch or North of Ireland men who became residents at native Courts. On the 6th of March at 4 a.m. a force under General Outram, was detached with Horse, Field, and Siege Artil- lery, to cross the river Gooniti. The 9th Lancers, always in spotless white, though they had kept the field since Delhi, like their war-worn comrades, the Bengal European Fusiliers, who wore blue tunics (fortunately there was no glaring scarlet cloth available)* the Queen's Bays, Punjaub Cavalry, 23rd Welsh Fusiliers, 79th Highlanders, and Rifle Brigade formed a splendid force. The crossing had commenced by the lower Pontoon Bridge. Sir Colin Campbell " appeared at 4.30 a.m. and ordered the Artillery to detile over the upper bridge and for some time this defiling went on, until the upper bridge was considered too weak for the Artillery and they were ordered to defile over the lower, this alteration rendered the crossing the line of Infantry by the Artillery necessary."* » Despatch of Co.'o icl D. E. Wood, R. H. A. ARMING A BATTERY BY NIGHT. '71 With some fighting the force made good their ground on the opposite side of the river, the Horse and Field Artillery being actively engaged. On the 9th, the Bengal Fusiliers, and 79th Highlanders stormed the " Chukker Kothi." The colours of the old Fusiliers, on the topof that building was the signal to Sir Coliq Campbell of success — he now decided to advance but would not allow Outram to cross the bridges and enter the city from the North, fearing unnecessarilj' to increase the loss of life. A fresh battery was ordered to be armed with 8 mortars in front of the Martini^re. This work had to be done silently and at night, as the ground to be passed over was under fire. Lieutenant Jingo took his turn at this duty. There was no moon and no road, the country was intersected by dry nullahs, no gunner had been in the new earthwork thrown up by the Engineers and no one knew the way. So they made a night of it. When the bullocks blundered into holes, the cart followed with a would break the up the animals run, and the mortar jerking to the rear lashings, elevate the pole and hang by the yoke, (fortunately they were not vocal beasts), where they would patiently swing until a gunner swarmed up the pole, pulled out the yoke pins, and let them drop. The mortars were then remounted. And all had to be done in 74 GUNNER jingo's IL'BILKK. Ilodson met his fate calmly, sending his love to his wife, with the message that his last thoughts were with her. He said quietly : *' I have tried to do my duty to man. May God forgive my sins." So died an Irregular Leader of Irregular Horse. Fanatics in Parliament demanded his trial for the death of the Mogul Princes, but the bold spirit had already gone before a higher tribunal. As long as the traditions of our race last the dauntless Hodson will hold a place in the Val- halla of heroes of English blood. When Jingo got back to camp his grimy aspect, exhaling a perfume of rosewater, was greeted with roars of laughter by his Staff mates. When the city was entered the troops found themsel/es in a labyrinth of lanes, houses, palaces, and courtyards, which had to be carried in succession. This was effected by pushing forward batteries of small mortars from enclo- sure to enclosure and breeching the walls with a howitzer as soon as a further advance became necessary^ — a dynamite cartridge would do it now. The howitzer was loaded and run up by hand close to a wall. The discharge blew down about seven feet, opening out a garden of orange trees and shrubs from which the Sepahis brought a heavy musketry fire on the exposed gun — tliere was a momentary hesitation — the post of loader was vacant ! The Lieutenant stepped in and a couple of rounds of case shot were poured into the bushes. Before the third could be fired the gunner serving the vent threw up his arms and fell shot through the head, convulsively flinging the priming irons from him. They could not be found. Moments seem vastly prolonged when a man stands at attention watching the smoke wreaths slowly leaving the muzzle of an empty gun, while bullets whistle past in succession. The primitive method of firing was still in vogue in India. There were no friction tubes — the gun missed fire again and again. More casualties occurred, and Jingo felt immenseh'- relieved when the detach- ment was ordered to take cover. Eventually the garden was forced and the mortars established there, shelled in advance, and so on ad infinitum it seemed. Another night the monotony was relieved by an invitation to a card party. The Captain of the battery to which Jingo was attached for that night's duty, a brilliant but reckless PYJAMAS. '75 r«rr; soldier who wore a V.C. which he liad gained by desperate bravery, proposed cards, and suggested stopping the fire of a mortar to utilise the platform, at the same time bringing a lantern which attracted fire. Jingo refused to cease fire and was told he was a young fool. They had their game, but not on his mortar. Every one of that quartette, good soldiers as they were, had eventually to leave the service — not that this special game was ever heard of. Next day the mortars were again pushed forward, and Jingo found himself in a walled enclosure commanded by musketry from a neighbouring minaret. To get a better view and to point with greater precision, he stood astride on the cap-squares of the mortar. A flick ofdustonthe top of the wall, a blow on the head, and he was knocked off the mortar. A bullet from the minaret had struck his conspicuous white turban, for after the chaff about his disreputable appearance he had folded over his dirty Kakee puggeree a white muslin garment, which he had picked up in the ro.sewater apartment. He felt stunned and had a dim ic'ea that ., it was no use for a fellow with a hole in his /— ^ head to trouble about picking himself up. / So his men did it for him. His helmet had fallen off and he put up his hand to feel for the hole. There was neither blood nor wound, only about the size of a walnut, and he felt rather ashamed of having done dead. The doctor seeing he need not look for the bullet in the patient's head, examined the tur- ban — the helmet had rolled away, o and the turban ' uncoiled itself like a soft white snake. "Ahem ! What have we here ? Delicate muslin, exquisitely em- '*^V,?.f 4(1 -^u i;6 (iUNNKH JINCOS JfHII.KK, i \' I 511; n broidered from the distant looms of Dacca ! A mcin-saliil)'s scarf!" (There was no white woman witliin 200 miles). " A native lady's pyjamas ! Well my young friend, you owe your life to the multiple folds of the diaphanous garment of a bright-eyed beguiler of darkness ! " The doctor was waggishly addicted to Johnsonian prose and Oriental metaphor. ** I presun'e it is a gaged'amour you carry on your helmet, like a knight eVrant. But," he added critically, with his head on one side, regarding the garment as an old ciow docs an empty marrow-bone, " a woman's p3'jamas doubtless contain charms — when she wears them — and even apparently when misplaced on the occiput of the other sex — nevertheless, I would suggest your dropping that unconventional head-gear or get it dyed Kakee rung, if that's not desecration of your Noor Mahal's* pyjamas ! " "Don't be absurd, doctor," said jingo, getting savage instead of thankful for his escape, " I picked them up in the Begum Khoti, but vou know the women had all left." "Ah — dessay ! " said the doctor, dryly, and as the patient did not requi''c liis attention he turned it to the marksmen on the minaret and brought one down with a borrowed ritle. The victim hung with his head and arms over the balcony like one of the murdered puppets in a Punch and Judy show, and the doctor grimly rf.joiced over the success of his irregular practice. Feeling dizzy and tired. Jingo lay down and slept, in spite of the reverberating cannonade. He dreamt that the doctor was throwing pebbles at him to make believe they were bullets. He roused himself to try and catch the delinquent. It was dark now and a red eye watched him. It was the slow match held in a lintstock which a gunner had stuck into the ground in line with the lieutenant's head, and the gravel in his face was knocked up bv the enemy's bullets directed at the light. Jingo got up, removed the lintstock with the glowing match, and finding a comrade was doing his duty he finished a dreamless sleep, from which he was awakened by — " I say, old fellow, 1 am afraid I'm done for ! " His brother sub, Harry Tracey, stood by him, his trousers Light of the Palace. A StAHh, 177 stained witli l)luu''^ while their guns carried out their work. The battery wa 11 a yard which had a large open gateway leading from a i-oad behind, on the right a postern door, and on the left /r.<;r/// ai. PRIZK MONEY. 185 //// 5/Vji,'v of Liickiioii<" He had some difficulty in proving that Lieutenant Jingo had become Captain Jingo. As it was " the pi-ice of blood " the money was handed over to the Home for the orphan daugliters' of soldiers. ^ It IS6 ii !• CHAPTER XVllI. Bronze Hkkoes — The Bayard ok India — Boi.r Holks— Natk nai. Con- trasts— Ali Baba's Jars — A Blow ir— A LoN(i Drink and a Lon(; Sleep — Incongruities — Nobody's Child— Dead Like a Soldier — Another Job for Jingo — The Hesidency Kvins — Taken Tkisonkr. General Franks' Brigade had only carried a corner ot" one the squaies of the Kaiser Bagh, of which there were several, each one larger than Trafalgar Square and with the same idea of ornamental water and fountains, but with airy ar.i- besque kiosks instead of bronze heroes — Nelson — hook-nosed old Napier of the dispatch shorter than Caesar's, '* Peccavi I have Scinde " — Havelock — Charlie Gordon, with his bible and his cane, and — a little distance from them once stood Outram,with sword drawn, looking back wards* — he who never lookedback, the "Bayard of lnd\a,'\saiispciir<'tsa)/s rcproc/ic, he who never drew sword throughout the Mutiny Campaign, but led Havelock's handful of Cavalry with a thi^k stick, deeming the mutinous soldiery unworthy of his steel. But Jingo's thoughts were very far from Trafalgar Square and its bronze heroes, when he found himself ordered to leave his battery and take some gunners to carry 5^-inch shells, loaded and fuzed, to be thrown by hand through the windows o*" the lower story of the Kaiser Bagh, which was still obsti- .ately occupied by the enemy. On reaching tlie spot he found it was the same building along the roof of which the attempt had been made to advance. It was as useless to try throwing shells through those iron-barred windows as to force the outside doors with men e.xposed to fire from across the square. He went into the upper story and was met by some of the soldiers of the 97th. • General Outrani's equestrian statue, a very artistic production, once stood in Waterloo place, on show, before it was sent ont to Calcntta, tlie most appropriate spot for its final erection. NATIONAL CONTRASTS. 187 "This way, sir! We have made a hole in the floor to fire down, but the beggars fire up, and they have shot the Sergeant-Major and a lot of our chaps." And no wonder ! The room below was dark, and every head standing out against the light got a bullet through it. " No thank you, I am not going there," and Jingo ordered the lads to pound with the butts of their rifles in different parts of the room to mislead the occupants below as to where a fresh hole would be made. The floor was tiled. Taking a " mugdah," a large club used by Pulwans (native athletes), he dashed it through the floor and held it in its place, plugging the hole. The fuze was lighted, the mugdah was withdrawn an instant to let the shell drop, and the hole was replugged by the Lieutenant. An explosion followed and a burst of half a dozen Sepahis out of the doorway into the square, who were shot like bolting rabbits as they ran by the Infantry below. And so on for a few more rooms until the occupants took the hint and cleared out of their own accord, leaving as legacy a huge depot of gunpowder, of which more anon. There were no more men shot through the head, though a gunner got his hand blown off by the pren^ iture explosion of a shell. The other squares of the Palace had also been entered and the same wild scenes prevailed everywhere — an orgie of blood and plunder, varied by grotesque comedy. The national characteristics of the three warlike races of our islands were curiously contrasted — the Englishman, stolidly smashing inoffensive jars of rosewater while he left untouched jewel-spangled garments, because the stones were unpolished and uncut — the Irish soldier admiring himself in a mirror until it was smashed by a bullet — and the Scot, with the front of his kilt held in his teeth regardless of appearances, was with both hands pulling high up on to his thighs, pair after pair of harem ladies' pyjamas of satin, silk, or embroidered muslin, securing all with a Cashmere scarf. Dropping the garb of old Gaul over the garments of the harem, he gave himself a shake, and arranging his sporran, remarked : "Now, sir, mebbe I'll pass muster, they'll jest think I'm as a gude wife aften finds hersell," and he swaggered off past the long pictured walls where the loves of the gods 1 88 OfNNER .liNr.os ji-mi.i F. and heroes with the daughters of men were depicted, the wonien of whicli, mostly drawn in profile, Egyptian fashion, seemed to look at him from the corner of one of their eyes, but they did not disturb his equanimity as the painted presentment of beautiful women on the tombs of Thebes did the poor young monk, I'hilanmion of Alexanilria. Hut what is this the practical Scot has spurned ? A little white satin slipper, torn music leaves — "The heart bowed down," a guitar with broken strings, little odds and ends of a European lady's dress! Fhey may have belonged to some poor captive or some willing slave ! Tales are told of such inmates of the Oudh harems. But there was little time to mark the coloured kaleidoscope of events for one who had to turn in it. There was another job for Jingo. 'The shells thrown into the building had set fire to the Kaiser Hagh. Colonel Napier * directing the attack, ordered him to empty into a well a quantity of powder stored in a corner of the burning building. On reaching the spot he found to his consternation a large room, round whose walls were ranged Ali Baba's jars con- taining, not forty thieves, but gunpowder! He could have wished for the girl with the boiling oil, or better still with water ! But the well was deep and there was nothing to draw with. It was also in the square and therefore exposed to the enemy's fire. Colonel Napier was not far oft' ; Jingo went to him and pointed out the impossibility of emptying the store of powder before it must be reached by the flames. Me suggested further " that the troops should be withdrawn from the neighbourhood and the magazine allowed to blow up, if the enemy shcjuld be so unwise as to attempt recovery of the lost ground before that event, so much the better." But Napier looked at him, coldly, and said : " When I want your advice I shall ask for it." "Then give me a strong working party, sir. I have not enough men." " Go to the officer commanding the 97th, and get what men you want." Jingo asked for help from his half-dozen gunners, who all volunteered. He took the first who had stepped out, a smart, young, intelligent Bombardier — Shoeing-Smith Lever. * The late Lord Napier of Magdala. A HLOW ri\ 189 What need of more victims from among those lie knew, those who had stood by liim througli so much ? It was wrong, but he preferred to take strangers to die with him and went to the Infantry officer to ask forasergeant and twenty of his men. Poor fellows ! They tackled the job bravely. Fwo men could barely lift and carry between them a jar of powder and drop it down the well, and not half the heavy task was done, when the Sergeant reported that there was another room nearer the fire containing more powder than the one they were emptying. The Lieutenant called to his Bombardier and went in the direction indicated. They had gone through two or three rooms and Jingo was in the act of passing an open doorway leading into the square, perhaps halfway between the two magazines, when he was blown out through it. As he lay on the ground, a vast column of yellow dust, beams and stones, followed by a dense cloud of black smoke, rose in the darkened air, then a rain of debris of which nothing touched him. He was unhurt, but dazed. He thought of the Bombardier who had been following him and he went to the open doorway, for that part of the wall was still standing. He could see nothing for the volumes of smoke, but shouted the Bombardier's name, to which came a faint answer from within. The poor fellow appeared at a window clutching the iron bars, his clothing in flames. The Lieutenant went close up and told him to turn to his left and make for the open door- way. But he must have been bewildered and so took thewrong direction, for he never cameout until he wasbrought forth in a doolie. Jingo entered the ruins but could not find him. The doolie-bearers were on the spot immediately, and Jingo had a horrid vision of poor, charred, wounded men, groaning as they were put into the doolies. How he got or was taken to the doctor's tent he never knew. His first recollection was of a long drink of delicious, foaming beer, such as he never tasted before or since. It was a draught of Lethe and he dropped on to the tent floor. When he opened his eyes the sun was shining through the tent door chick, making thin strips of light and shade upon the blue and white striped setringee. He shouted — " Qui hi ! " the equivalent for " Qui vive." A strange bearer came. 190 (.LNNF.K jiNoos jrmi.ii:. ? "What's the matter, Ram Saiiiiny?" "The sahil) was cliiiiik in the doctor's tent, ami I put him to bed." There was no missili- near, tor liis hoots had been removed. " Wliat time is it?" The man went to the tent door and looked up at the sun. "Mid-day, sahih." "Where are the Colonel and the Adjutant ?" "(lone across the river — Burra tii^>;er, sahih I " (very early). Their common canvas dwelling was j^one. " Folded their tents like Arabs, and silently stole away," thought Jingo. So he rose and found himself none the worse, except that eyelashes, eyebrows, moustache, and beard were singed. After a mussock bath and breakfast, he m<»unted his new ])urchasc and rode over the pon- toon bridge. In reporting himself to Colonel Riddell, commanding the siege train on that side of the river, his explanation was cut ^' )rt by the bouleverscment of his auditor. The Colo I's horse suddenly veered round and fell dead with a bulk, through its head. They were at the time in a low mortar battery with a parapet only about two feet high, for the sappers had not tinished it. It was conuuanded by musketry from under the golden domes of the Chuttermunzil Palace, just across the river. In the stream had been moored a miniature pleasure frigate, representing a British man-of-war of the old type. She had been sunk by the batteries, but her bulwarks, poop, and ma.sts appeared above water, and by the bank lay another huge tish boat, like that found in the Kaiser Bagh, only i/s scales were not of solid silver or it would not have remained to add its mournful testimony to the bizarre spectacle everywhere presented by the devastated relics of this incongruous Court, ruled by women and eunuchs, making futile war while their king was a prisoner in Calcutta. The bodies of slain soldiery tenanted the rooms and corridors of his pillaged palaces — they were everywhere in the streets and narrow lanes of the city, festering in the sun, distended corpses floating down the poisoned river ; slaughter was avenged by pestilence on the army of occupa- tion long after the rage of battle had past. But the end was not vet. %efi ^ DEAD LIKE A SOLDIER. 193 The Commander-in-Chief would not permit the Force on the .lorth side to enter the city by the bridges which were held by the Bengal European Fusiliers and Captain Gibbons' Horse Battery. The latter had had many casualties during this sort of perpetual picket duty. There v*'^s not much to be done, therefore, on that side and 'le Lieutenant was told to return to his duties on the other. Indeed, there seemed to be no use for Jingo except to be blDwn up, metaphorically and literally. Some comment was made upon his prolonged sleep. To be everybody's servant and nobody's child was too much, so he wrote out a resignation of his Staff appoint- ment and asked to join a service battery. On his way back, he bethought 'vm of his poor Bombar- dier and rode to the Dilkusha 1 riiace, then turned into a hospital. Round the lofty rooms were ranged the wounded. No neat skillful sisters glided round the charpoys of the suffering soldiers, but here and there ci-ouched a half naked native, fanning away the flies in such a perfunctory fashion that they crawled undisturbed over many a poor fellow's face and eyes, whose hands were too feeble to brush them away. Among these was the Bombardier, an unrecognisable mass of cotton wool and crawling flies. He knew the voice of the Lieutenant, who bent over him to catch the weak muffled response, and he put his arms about his officer. Ranks are not in the army of martyrs. "Tell my mother I died like a soldier." ** No, not 3'et, you must live to see her." Tears were not in Jingo's line, but he turned away his face from the hospital orderly as he walked out and went off to write the following letter : — " Camp Badshabagh, •'1 8th March, 1858. '' To Lieut.-Colonel Maberly, Late Commanding Royal Artillery of Siege Train, Lucknovv "Sir, — I have the honour to bring to your notice the steadi ness displayed by Shoeing-Smith Lever, of Captain Lc Mesurier's Company, 3rd Company, 14th Battalion, Royal Artillery. "On the i6th of March, 1858, he was mainly instrumental in emptying into a well a quantity of captured powder in a room of the Kaiser Bagh while the building was on fire at no great distance from h.im. O !' 194 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. " A second room was then reported to contain a large quantity of ammunition. To this he was proceeding when an explosion took place, which has, 1 believe, rendered him helpless for life, if he recover at all. " I beg to request that the circumstance be reported to the Brigadier Commanding, in the hope that some consideration of his conduct may affect the amount of pension awarded, or that a situation, if he is ever fit to fill one, may be requested for him, or at least a record of his service kept. "T. J , (Signed) Lieut. Royal Artillery', and Quartermaster Artillery Division. " '* Forwarded to the Adjutant-General of Royal Artillery, for record in the office of the battalion to which Shoeing- Smith Lever belonged. " I regret to say that the man has since died of the injuries received. (Signed) "J. E. Dupuis. Major-General Commanding." The day following. Jingo was again sent to the advance in command of a detachment, and then on special duty by the Engineer Officer directing operations. Colonel Napier, who had selected him for the previous job, now ordered him to take his men and empty — another powder magazine into a tank along the front of the building ! The powder this time was in the vaults under one of th2 kiosk buildings in the great square before described. Descending some steps he stcjd at the entrance of a vault. The massive door opened easily. There was blank darkness inside, except for a gleam of light from a window at the end of a long passage, apparenth' ccti posed of huge sacks of gunpowder, standing about six feet high and two feet in diameter, resembling Kentish hop-pockets in size and shaf)e. The whole vault, about fifty feet square, was probably filled with sacks sufficient to shake half the city to its foundations, but that it was isolated in the centre of the great square. " This time," thought Jingo, " my hour has come. I shall not survive this job. The enemy mean to blow it up as soon as it is full of men. 1 don't want company." ANOTHER JOB FOR JINGO. 195 to ol in [pe- lts Ithe low lant Ordering his men to remain outside, he took off his trailing steel scabbard, and holding one of the gunner's sword bayonets between his teeth so as to leave his hands free to grope, he entered with extended arms, feeling the huge sacks on each side. He found one open near the door and he brought out a handful of its contents to examine. It was coarse grain cannon powder of native manufacture ! Expecting every moment to encounter some desperate fanatic willing to destroy himself so long as he sent to per- dition a goodly number of the hated infidel, he reached at last the little window, on the sill of which was a tinder box such as natives use. Was the owner near ? Looking out of the window, he noted a long line of newly disturbed earth leading to the buildings on the opposite side of the vacant square, where an enemy might well lurk, ready to set a match to what was evidently a powder hose. Jingo made his way quickly back, with an eager desire just to get that Sapper Colonel into the vault too. He would make no suggestion, remembering the reception of his last in that line. Putting a sentry on the door he went for the Colonel. Saluting, he said : ** Sir, I have a little difficulty as to the best way of carry ing out your instructions, would you mind giving me the benefit of your advice ? " *' Certainly," said the Colonel, entering boldly. But he drew back. *' Will you kindlj' follow me to the little window, there is something I think you ought to see." He looked at the tinder box and the disturbed line of earth and said : " This job is impossible for you. You can take your men away. I will have a trench dug and flood the vault from the tank." "Just so!" thought Jingo. "Make a suggestion to a sapper I " And he went off with a light heart and a festive step. A trench was dug and the magazine flooded. Major Barry, R. A., and a number of others were severely injured by i. explosion in another part of the Kaiser Bagh. The Residency had been carried by the Infantry with but 0—2 fi ; "I -:.J, t '■> 196 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILKE. little opposition on the previous day, March 1 6th, after bom- bardment. So destructive had been the continuous artillery fire that it seemed to have paralysed resistance everywhere. The sight of the battered gate of the Residency, riddled with round-shot and barely hanging on its hinges, the shallow ditch and crumbling parapet, over which in many places an English boy could have ridden his pony, the building inside, so pitted with bullet marks that you could scarcely put your hand upon the wall without covering one, and which was held for half a year in the heart of an insurgent city by a handful of Englishmen agaimt an army of 30,000 men, is a page of history without parallel, an unlettered monument to the dogged tciiaciiy of our race. The crumbling ruins are tidied over. No boastful column rears a record, but the graveyard speaks — the gray slab, " Here lies Henry Law- rence, \vho tried to do his duty."* The little mounds over the nameless dead that we call "common soldiers," or *' rank and file " in official phraseology', are mutely eloquent, and they seem to say, like the Spartan monument at Ther- mopylae : "Go, stranger, tell it in Lacedemon that we lie here, obedient to her sacred laws." Meanwhile, the mortars and howitzers had been ad- vanced to the front of the great Imaum Bara. Not far from the post was a handsome private house with a mirador tower. Jingo noted that all the jalousies on the side towards the battery were closed, those on the mirador side, looking over the quarter of the city still occupied by the enemy under the Moulvie, were open, though the afternoon sun blazed upon them. It struck him that the house was used as a signal station. There came a lull in the firing during the noontide heat. The stillness which reigned after the incessant turmoil of the last few days was a relief to the tired gunners, and they lay down to rest in any available nook of shadow from the glare. Leaving a junior sub in command, the Lieu- tenant started to explore and walked quietly round the house. His suspicions were not allayed. Without an- nouncing his presence by trjang the door, he rushed at it with his shoulder forward, some fastening gave way, and he was launched, an uninvited guest, into a bevy of terrified • The inscription was dictated by liimself. V I >1 TAKEN PRISONER. 199 women, who were occupying a large lofty room almost devoid of furniture. There were no decorations or signs of that sort of pretty litter which indicates the abode of a woman, ^rom the squaw to the Parisian Cocotte. These things the soldier took in at a glance — also that the women were old and ugly except one. The old ladies fled. He made no effort to intercept and watched them scuttling away, their thin bandy legs encased in trousers, tight below the knees aud wrinkled at the ankles, giving the appearance of a horsey man's nethers. They had pulled up their chuddahs to run the faster and he saw with indifference the last pair of brown heels vanish, as a heavy cotton quilted striped purdah fell and closed the horseshoe arch through which they had shuffled with that peculiar noise and gait necessitated by the heel-less Oriental slipper dragged along on the toe. But — in the centre of the room stood — She ! A dusky beauty, whose brown tints contrasted with the white of her gauzy garments, whose little hands were together in the native attitude of submission, and whose head was bent. '* Ap ka golam hi ! " she murmured. " More like to be the other way," thought the surprised soldier. *' Is she also an Arabian Nights' Entertainment — this statuette in bronze and marble, that would be the despair of a sculptor ? '' He approached. She started at the clank of his steel scabbard on the marble floor. There was a quick glance from her dark eyes, like that of a frightened wild thing caught in a trap. She half turned to fly, then faced him, and stretched out her arms. The movement made a tinkle of silver bangles on her wrists and ankles. *' Take them," she said, making a motion to draw off her bracelets ; '* but do not harm me, sahib ! " and she looked at him imploringly with her brown velvety eyes. Jiugo was being mesmerised ; he hardly knew what he was doing. With a vague idea of staying this dainty vision, he lifted her gently in his arms, where she unresistingly lay, her head drooping on his shoulder, as he whispered in her ear : "Oh, foolish onel The sahib logue do not make war upon women," and her arms folded softly and confidingly round his neck. He carried her across the room to a i; 200 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. I i 1 II charpoy where she seated herself cross-legged, her shapely brown limbs shining through her divided skirt of gauzy muslin and her eyes downcast like a contemplative she Buddha — if there be such a being 1 She, however, was a Musselmani. ** Glad there are no Sikhs to loot this little captive as they did the Sepahi," thought Jingo. "Wonder if she is doing Delilah while her women go for help, and the Philistines be upon thee. Jingo ? " He assumed an air that tried to be judicial but was not judicious, for the judge sat beside the prisoner and took her hand. "Where are your "omen gone?" He had learnt Hindostani colloquially in a .ashion by study and practice, and passed as an interpreter when the fighting was over. " I must search this house." He rose slowly as if to execute his threat. She sprang up and put herself between him and the pmdah doorway. " Don't follow my women," she said, " it will surely cost you your life and perhaps mine. I may persuade my women not to tell if you will only go away at once. Oh, go away ! " she implored, with despairing gestures, " my man may come back at any moment and they will kill you and me too." "Lie words!" said Jingo, slowl}^ "your man won't come back, he is a cowardly hound to have left you here to watch us and give information, or to hide some valuable treasure they had not time to take away," and he watched her face to see the eftect of his random shot. In spite of her evident consternation, a quietly comic smile lit up her thoroughbred Caucasian face. " Yes," she answered, " he is a coward, and you are big and brave as Roostum ! He will not come back so near the Ghora logue, you have advanced quickl}', but there is no treasure here but me, and you see how he values me I " showing her white teeth in a silent little laugh, for natives seldom laugh outright, at least the men do not and the women only occasionally. " But your Ghora logue will come to look for you and 1 shall be undone ! If you will only go away, I can get off at dusk and I will tell no one, and I can bribe my women." " No Ghora logue shall harm you while I am here, but I will go back now lest they should come to look for me." TAKKN PRISOXr.U. 20 1 '* Oh, don't leave me ! " with a sudden cliange to softnes«^ in her tone, " I am afraid now to be left alone ! See you are a sahib," she added, taking his hand and turning his signet ring, *' you can protect me, don't leave me, take me with you I " throwing her arms round him. " I will follow you everywhere " — she almost used the words of Ruth — " I will be the sahib's servant ! Mera dhil tera samni pawnee hogea ! " (my heart has become water before thee). She murmured a distich from a Hindustani love .song, looking up in his face and clinging to him. "If thy bright eyes the Brigand should see. The conqueror, thou, the captive is he ! ' repeated Jingo. " My pretty captive has turned the tables," and a foolish thought ran through his brain. He had sent in his resignation, he might remain — be left in garrison — in Lucknow ! ikit the Colonel I F^ancy his face if this pretty piece of loot were brought to camp ! How take her to the picket? Impossible! Besides — his duty I Her women could not have left the building in daylight, they would come back to her, and she could get away. It would soon be dark. He tried to explain the impossibility, but she would not let him go until he had promised to come back and look tor her — some day. She could not remain where she wa-^, she would go, but not far — the fighting would be over in a few days, she would look out for him always and make h signal. Her husband would be afraid to return to the city and she hoped never to see him again. She had money for present needs, and poor Jingo felt bewildered over the fatal facility of female resource and the weakness of man's rash promise. How to account for his long absence ? For a woman he could lie like a man of honour. But the story of another woman was the subject of sympathetic interest in camp. A Bengal Artillery officer attached to the Ghoorka Brigade, got information that Misi> , the sister of a civil oflicer who had been cruelly murdered during the first outbreak in Lucknow, was still a prisoner in the city. The rebels had separated her from her brother and had shot him under the walls of her prison where she had heard the death shots. But a native, an I':; (' n 202 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. old man of rank and influence, though he could not save her brother, rescued her from death or worse. Disguised as a native woman, she was handed over to the care of his mother until opportunity could be found of returning her to her friends, for the old Talookdar was wise enough to foresee that the British Raj would reassert itself. He had been forced to join the rebels, to flee the city with them, but he sent intimation of the whereabouts of his prisoner. Captain N took a party of Ghoorkas to rescue her from the house, which had been set fire to in the assault. Forcing his way in, a native lady rushed to meet him, but the gallant Scot had no use for such an article. Explanations were short. He took her in his arms and carried her oif in safety. He had never seen her before, but the lady found lover and husband in the brave gunner who had been her preserver and she was able to save the life and estates of her native protector, whose rebellion was condoned. Yet a third woman appeared upon the scene. Three limp officers rode out of the city in the still sultry evening of a baking day " to eat the air " as the natives say, or what there was of it. Returning they met a radiant vision, a golden-haired girl on a golden chestnut filly. The rose bloom of England had not yet left her cheek. Hat, habit, and mount, she might have dropped out of the Row, but for the handsome white clothed syce who strode beside her flourishing a white yak's-tail chowrie with something of the air of guarding a princess. The three officers reined up and made room for her to pass. Three helmets were doffed — a surprised smile played about the e3'es and lips of the lady as she bowed slightly ; she was not yet accustomed to the woman worship of Anglo- Indian chivalry as it then was. She was the young wife of a wounded officer just come out to nurse him. '•Who's your friend ?" said No. I." " Don't know," said No. 2 ; ** Nor I either," said No. 3. ** Wonder who she belongs to, wish it was me." 203 CHAPTER XIX. ! Gunners and Highlanders Routed — A Skied Gun--" X and Y"— A Gift Horse — From Tent to Palace— Unwelcome Neighbours — Poor Appetite — "Saw awav, Doctor!" — Hot Weather Campaign — Variola- " Lightly Won and Lightly Lost ! "—Surprises of Sorts. The day following the capture of the '* Muchee Bawn," two heavy guns under Lieutenant Warren were pushed forward to occupy the high terrace forming the basement of the "Jumma Musjid." Warren was supported by a company of Highlanders. The enemy advanced through the narrow lanes and opened fire upon the party. The guns responded by sending a shell occasionally into those houses where the enemy shewed themselves in any numbers. But the gunners and the gallant Highlanders were routed by an unforeseen and irresistible enemy. The reverberation of firing brought down a swarm of hornets from their nest in an archway under which the gun was firing. The maddened gunners rammed in a shell with- out a cartridge. There was a miss fire, of course, and powder was hastily poured into the vent from a powder horn and the gun fired with just enough powder to light the fuze and drop the shell in front of the muzzle where it fizzed and everyone threw themselves flat. Fortunately, it burst upwards without hurting anybody, but it brought down a fresh contingent of hornets. The tortured Highlanders crouched on the ground striving to cover their bare knees with their kilts to prevent attacks higher, but at last they broke and fled, followed by the gunners. By this time the Sepahis had been driven from post to post and the Oudh levies of the Moulvie from the city, whose inhabitants had also fled by the roads left open for them by the Commander-in-Chief. The place was tenanted only by the dogs, the dead, and the marauding camp-followers. Jingo longed for one thing only — sleep ! A square sleep : »' 204 GUNNER JINr.OS JUBILFK. ll! between cool white sheets ! He began to take the tirst instalment in a siesta after returning from the front, but he was disturbed by a conversation in the tent he shared with his chum, tiie Adjutant. He heard a chuckle and the words — " Hi, Jingo ! You're the man ! A stupid old sub of the old sort, none of your cursed competition wallahs ! That is what tlie Brigadier writes in his chit. So look alive, old man, he wants you at once at the great Imaum Bara. He has got a gold medallist University B.A. man up there, trying to mount a gun on the top of the highest building in Lucknow, and he wants him relieved before he kills himself and the whole gun detachment." The .selection might be considered complimentary or other- wi.se, but there was the order, so Jingo shouted, "Qui hi ! " ordered the nutmeg roan, and, followed by his syce, was soon on his way through the deserted streets of the city. " What in the name of Allah, do they want a gun for on the top of the great Imaum Bara ! It could not be depressed sufficiently to hit anybody ! " reasoned Jingo. It afteiwards transpired that the Commander-in-Chief desired a gun so skied, to overawe the enemy still in the suburbs. •'You might as veil spit at them, sir ! ' the blunt Briga- dier Barker CommatK ng the Artillery had said. " Always making o.. '"ons, those dom gunners from Woolwich ! " retorted the ou.. ^ate old Highlander. *' Not at all, Sir Colin, the gun hall go up ! " And it did, and the officer selected for the duty was an eminent scientist. But when the Brigadier saw his arrange- ment, he was struck with consternation and dispatched the order above quoted. When Jingo by many ll\i:;hts of steps, reached the flat roof that was to form the platform for the gun, he found his scientific little friend juht oeginning to take the weight of it by means of an extemporised derrick, blocks, and tackle. The whole detachment was below steady ing the gun which had to be raised about 1 50 feet, and — horror of horrors ! " Hold on, old fellow ! Just let us have a look round together," Jingo said, wishing to break gently to him that he had come to supersede him. ii X AND V. 205 " Oh, it's all right !" pulling out his note book. " I.et X =tlie lever, Y==the counter lever, W^=the weight, w=the counter weight " *• And how much the unknown quantity — the rottenness of the bags in which you have put the shot for counter- weight ?" The shot, piled in gunny bags to counterbalance the gun, etc., were already forcing themselves through the straining sacking. The senior Lieutenant was compelled to give the order to stop. It was a vast flat-roofed building. There must be a drain for the heavy tropical rains to run ofi". In a corner of the roof, close to the position selected for the gun was an iron grating about two feet square. Jingo had it removed and a drain was disclosed from top to bottom of the building, just sufficient to admit the gun perpendicularly. The gunners below were ordered to break a hole in the base of the wj'l into the drain, the gun was dismounted on its muzzle, slung perpendicularly by its trunnions, and hauled up by tackle through the drain to the roof. And the " stupid old sub " sent in his report to the Brigadier that the order had been carried out. Active operations were over. The siege train was broken up and our Lieutenant was transferred to a service battery of elephant guns, commanded by Captam Good- enough, an old cadet comrade. Jingo parted with regret from his old chief. Colonel Maberly, for whom he had a sincere regard, as well as for his tent chum, the Adjutant, Lieutenant Smart. The health of the former had suffered from the fatigues of a campaign in which he had never spared himself and he returned shortly after to England. A kind farewell letter came to Jingo to thank him for his services and a RS. told him that £ had been put to his credit in a Calcutta bank to buy himself a horse, ** for," said the Colonel, *' you wore one out in my service." The money was not drawn by the Lieutenant, but the thoughtful kindness was never forgotten. Jingo's new battery (the Pompadours, from the colour of their turbans), commanded by Captain Goodenough, who shortly afterwards lost the fingers of his right hand in a skirmish * was quartered in the Kaiser Bagh. F- :)m tent * Major-General Goodenough, C.B, 206 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. to palace might have been considered an acceptable change, but for the other occupants, who made their unwelcome pre- sence known, not by sight nor sound, but by odours which tainted the perfume of the devastated gardens, for the orange blossoms had begun to open in spite of war and destruction. Where were the dainty ladies who so lately filled the courts, wandered in the gardens, and enjoyed the luxurious marble hummaums ? The bodies of some of their defenders lay in all sorts of out-of-the-way corners, some under piles of torn curtains, under which they had crept to die or been secreted by the comrades who had not had time to carry them oflf, others filled shallow graves among the half-ruined gardens, and one had found an airy resting place, whence his body, festering in the sun, poisoned every passing air. To dream that she *' dwelt in marble halls," may have been agreeable to the Bohemian girl of the poet Bunn's creation, but the reality lingo found most unpleasant. There were marble pillars and pavements, and walls inlaid in flowery mosaics of cornelian, jasper, and onyx, like bits of the beau- tiful Taj, but the pestilential odour was everywhere, and worst of all about the apartments he had selected to live in. Night or day there was no respite. A Peri who lives only on perfume would have had a bad time, and he, poor mortal, felt himself sickening. He was uncomfortable, moreover, about the fate of the little iady he had left in the deserted house and his promise haunted him. He had not been able to get away to search for her. Many officers and men were down with fever, daily there was some duty. The hot weather had set in. Jingo thought he would sleep on the roof, perhans there he would escape the vengeful odour of death that was so unendurable. So he got a ladd. r and mounted, but he nearly fell off backwards, for there, prone, lay the sun-bloated body of a huge fat Ethiopian eunuch, who had been shot through the head, and had dropped close to the balustrade which overlooked the street, probably while firing from the roof during the fighting. Jingo fled from him more quickly than he might have done when living, and sent the sweepers to remove him. The pestilential odour abated, but he still felt constant nausea, especially after eating, and his food had a hateful flavour. Was he being slowly poisoned by some vengeful native ? He would eat nothing but eggs. Great Jove 1 the same odious taste. The salt I Ah 1 He sent for his kitmugar. ! SAW AWAY, nOCTOK, 207 : "Where did you get the salt ?" "1 found it herein the palace, sahib." And he produced a ghurra. it was powdered alum I An otficer's mess had been established in one of the kiorks in the square of the Kaiser Bagh. One sultry evening, when the air did not circulate even through the open archways as did the innumerable winged insects fluttering round the lamps, an oiderly from the hospital came to say, with the doctor's complimf^nts, that Lieutenant Jingo was wanted. Gunner McCausland, the soldier servant who had replaced Montgomerie, had been wounded some time previously — the bullet had shattered the elbow, necessitating amputation, which the doctor had delayed, hoping to save the arm. But why he " was wanted " puzzled our sub, who rose to go in no good humour. He was waiting for dinner — always a bad quarter of an hour with an Englishman — and his appetite had returned with the disuse of alum for salt. Making a short cut through the few shrubs that remained of a gard"^*:;, he fell over something and embraced Mother Earth. A swann of flies buzzed about him, and a terrible smell assailed his nostrils. He had stumbled over the foot of a Sepahi, which stuck out from a shallow grave. He felt inclined to damn everything above an inch high, which would have included the Sepahi's toe. " I knew you would humour the poor fellow," said the doctor. '* He wants you to see him grin and bear it, I sus- pect. He refused to have it off until you came.'' "Thank you for comin' sur. Just let me hould yer hand wid the only wan they'll be afther lavin' me. Now docthur, ye may saw away." And he grinned and bore it. This sort of feeling was not unnatural nor uncommon between the old long-service soldier and his oflicers. His Captain (Goodenough) got him a situation ..s time-keeper in Woolwich Arsenal, and he had a small pension. The elephant battery was now under orders to take the field. The escaped Sepahis of the Lucknow garrison had overrun Oudh and swelled the forces of the discontented Talookdars. who, with their warlike retainers, still held their village forts, and plundered the wretche 1 ryots to provide supplies. A hot weather campaign had commenced. The garrison I-; t:i; ■•■■■I 208 OrNNER IINGO S JL'BILK' of tpe captured and now pestiferous city rejoiced, for the}- were already tired of inactivity from which they suffered, it being too violent a reaction after the exertions of the siege, and they preferred the greater fatigues and the intense heat of marching and fighting to the dull monotony which had begun to fill the hospitals. Jingo bethought him of his promise to the dusky beauty, and he made his way through the thinly-peopled streets, for the citizens wore slow in coming back to their houses and trusting the amnesty proclaimed. The house with the mirador tower was unoccupied, and its empty halls gave back a melancholy echo to his footfall. Jingo began to reproach himself for having left his promise so long unfulfilled, and he lingered, wandering from room to room, thinking he might find some trace of the missing " She." His footstep had a double echo surely ! He turned anc' confronted an old woman whom he thought he recognised as one of her attendants. The crone looked back and made a sign to follow. Through narrow lanes and crooked passages between high walls he was led to a little room in a corner of a large empty court, with r 50ms looking into it, and unlighted by windows on the street. And here he found hisj charmer. She had not been molested in her new and unpretentious dwelling, but she reproached him with long tarr3Mng. " My women are tired of watching for you, but I told them the sahib logue do not lie," she said, with a smile. He must tell her that soon — on the morrow — he might march. Meanwhile her magnetism asserted itself, r.nd he found it hard to tell her. But she only said when tht news was broken, putting her arms about him : ** You will take me, I still have money and a palkee. I will only take my ayah.'' It was difficult to make her understand the impossibilit}'. His absence might not be for long, but who and what might not come between 1 At last he tore himself away and was a little surprised and perhaps piqued at the Oriental calmness with which she accepted *' Kismet." When he got back to quarters he found the battery was to march the following day. He felt dull and hea>^y, and his head ached; he had been walking in the sun, but he would be 'I: VARIOLA. 209 I a y. all right next day, lie thought. He passed a feverish night, and at daybreak when they paraded, he felt no better, but would not report sick a . it was pretty certain there would be fighting. But the doctor stared hard. " Hullo ! What's the matter with you ? All over rash.? " " Prickly heat," said Jingo, sententiously, doing his own diagnosis. " Unpleasant, but not dangerous." " Dessay I *' said the doctor. And the Lieutenant who loved, rode away. It has been so before and since — and will be so again. It was a fearful day. The hot wind, like the breath of a furnace, blew the clouds of dust raised by the marching column into swirls, which whisked away across the baked plain. The patient elephants plodded along with noiseless footstep, their mahouts' heads swathed in huge turban folds. The very gun wheels seemed muffled on the sandy track. The Infantry were in advance raising clouds which hid the sun, though his angry red rays penetrated the dun obscurity. How did the foot-soldiers breathe, let alone march, in that perambulatory hell ? There came a short halt, but to Jingo everything seemed to swim round instead of stopping. In the effort to dismount he fell from his horse. " Variola maligna ! " was the doctor's verdict " Malignant smail-pox," was the Captain's translation. " Poor fellow ! We must send him back to hospital at once." They thought he was unconscious, but he heard and asked for a drink. A little cold tea moistened his parched lips. Fortu- nately the column was not far from the city, so he was packed in a doolie, his sword laid beside him and his charger led behind by his syce. The motion of the doolie, and the measured guttural rhythm "hung! hung! " of the bearers as they shuffleil along at their peculiar run, not keeping step, yet which makes the motion easier than would be sup- posed, sent him to sleep. There was a hiatus of a day in his recollections, but the illness was not seveic, for he had an iron constitution, and in a short time he was convale.scent and able to write to his mother asking her to tell the girl cousins that his beauty was not spoilt. Captain Peel of the Naval Brigade at this time closed a ■I lO (;r.NMK .iiN(;os .ii'bii.ef. ji , ' ! I brilliant career, a victim to the fell disease, and many another followed. As soon as Jingo was able to get about he went to look for " She," as he had a second time rashly promised to do. But they never met, and he heard afterwards that the lady, who evidently preferred the Sahib logue to her own people, had been consoled and found a protector in an officer with less arduous duties. *• Lightly won, lightly lost." The Lieutenant recovered quickly. He had taken both complaints lightly and his cure was aided by hearing, to his satisfaction, that his resignation had not been approved of at head- quarters. He ;Hjw found himself appointed Staft' Officer to an An J Division in the field, which necessitated buying a .^r horse. General Sir Hope Grant commanded uie Oudh Field Force, a flying column in perpetual pursuit of various insurgent chiefs still in com- mand of considerable contingents of Sepahis and Oudh fighting men. The arch miscreant. Nana Sahib, had not been captured yet ; according to common rumour, a common liar, he was here, there, and everywhere. But the Sepahis had no heart to fight and as they c.rried no commissariat, but lived on the country, they were hard to overtake and our poor fellows suffered mainly from sunstroke, not from the enemy's fire. On one occasion camp had been pitched at noon to deceive the enemy, and almost within touch of their outposts. After the men's dinner of tough bull beef washed down with a tot of ration rum, the order was given to strike tents and march. A peremptory order had come from Sir Colin for the force to return forthwith to Lucknow, as an emeute of Mahommetans was expected at the festival of the " Buckra ka eed." The garrison of Lucknow considered themselves capable of eating the Mahommetans, as well as their sacrificial goat, but the field force was ordered to return for the ceremony. A blow must be struck before returning. It would be impossible to leave an enemy to fall upon the helpless train that follows in the rear even ofajlvhig column in India. The attack was delivered as usual and it was pursuit from start to finish. It was startling to see men drvipping, though the force was under scarcely appreciable fire. It was sun- stroke on bull beef and ration rum 1 The gravev> v/ere filled SURPRISES OF SORTS. 21 I orce of ckra ves leir for It the rom 3Ugh sun- lied in that fight without sword or bullet. Before night the force changed front, so as to start at dawn on the return march. The camp-followers were between the troops and the position latel}' occupied by the enemy. Whether .some of the latter returned or not under cover of the darkness, was never found out, but shots were heard, panic seized the poor camp-followers, and helter-skelter they charged into the lines, squadrons of grass-cutters, tattoos, doolie- bearers, camels, and their drivers, tumbling over tent-ropes in the dire confusion. Officers and men rushed from their tents only to be knocked down and perhaps trodden upon by the spong}' foot of a camel. In despair, after being so treated two or three times, an oflicer, short in temper and stature, drew his revolver and shot the next charging maniac that appeared. None knew friend from foe and firing became promiscuous. The wise ones lay flat on the ground and wished for day, which when it came disclosed many strange and some sad sights. The short-tempered officer had shot his camel-driver. An officer who, suflFering from the sun, had lain down with a damp towel wound round his head turban fashion which, with a black beard and flowing pyjamas, gave him an Oriental aspect, was promptly felled by the clubbed rifle of an infantry soldier, while a stout Colonel and his equally stout Sergeant-Major discovered that they had passed a considerable time in a panting skirmish round a tree, which they nearly cut down in their vicious swipes at each other. Another alternative for effecting a surprise was to march all night so as to reach the enemy's posts before day, when a short but refreshing snooze could be indulged in before attacking. But it had the drawback that they occasionally found themselves by daylight in about the same place as they had started from, the march having by an intelligent guide been conducted in a circle. As might be concluded, it was bad for that guide unless he had made his escape before the denouement. Years after, looking into that blazing scroll of fame- — the "Army List " — record of officers* services — Jingo, trying to remind himself of the incidents of his services, would find after his name the record of an engagement in Oriental orthographies, the how and when of which he had not the faintest recollection. Pompey and Caesar were so very much alike, especiallv Pompev. p— 2 I ''i: 212 CHAPTER XX. Amalgamated Artilleries— Nightmare— Nawabgunge — Swords — The Feeders of Ravens — Truculent Fakirs — A Surprise Party — Aquatic Equitation. " He saw the lean dogs beneath the wall, Hold o'er the dead their Carnival, Gorging and growling o'er carcase and limb ; They were too busy to bark at him. From a Tartar's skull they had stripped the flesh. As ye peel a fig when its fruit is fresh, And their white tusks crunched o'er the whiter skull, As it slipped through their jaws, when their edge grew dull. As they lazily mumbled the bones of the dead. Till they scarcely could rise from the spot where they fed ; So well had they broken a lingering fast With those who had fallen for that night's repast. And Alp knew by the turbans that rolled on the sand, The foremost of these were the best of the band : Crimson and green were the shawls of their wear, And each scalp had a single long tuft of hair, And all the rest was shaven and bare. The scalps were in the wild dog's maw, The hair was tangled round his jaw." The troops and batteries of the Artillery division changed from sometimes Royal to sometimes Bengal or Madras, and the Commanding Officer was also a variable co-efficient, * but the Staff Officer seemed a fixture. " Men might come and men might go, But he went on for ever. " No matter how composed or commanded the division might be, Jingo, though a Royal, met with kindness from all. It speaks well for the gunners of that time that when * Colonel Carlton, of the Bengal Artillery, commanded at this time. NIGHTMARE. 213 BE ed nd on en eventually amalgamated, the esprit and the glories of all mingled harmoniously, as to-day, in *' Ubique ! " With such a man as Lord Roberts to lead, it is not, perhaps, surprising. It was now the merry month of June, and after one of those scampering little skirmishes and long pursuits fourteen sunstruck Hussars lay dead under one tree. On the sultry night of that 12th the column was not far from the town of Nawabgunge, which the enemy held in force. A halt had been called to wait for daylight. Jingo had a happy knack of snatching a sleep anyhow ; perhaps the arrears of waking during the siege of Lucknow had to be made up. The gnarled root of a mango tree, softened by his turban, afforded a pillow. But that night fatL and the butcha were against a comfortable snooze. His syce had not come up and he had twisted the reins round his wrist. Butcha woke him with a premc .itory jerk. There was no sound, yet a ghostly cavalcade in grey swept past between the advanced unlimbered guns, with no clank of steel or accoutrements. The very horses' feet seemed muffled by the loose sand and the gunners sleeping by the guns were not disturbed. Jingo forgot which was front or rear. The spectral horse- men were natives — could the enemy be so bold ? The}' turned out to be a squadron of our own Irregulars going out to reconnoitre, and who had been scarcely noticed by the sentries, so different was their silent advance from the clatter of European cavalry. There was no grass upon the baked earth for the hungry Butcha to crop, and he slept as he stood. But his rider had a fearfully mixed nightmare. He was Hector being dragged by the chariot of Achilles. He was Mazeppa torn to pieces by wild horses. He was to be flattened by the foot of an elephant carrying the skeleton ribs of a Megatherion, and it towered above him with its load from the Paleo- lithic age. The dreams of centuries are but seconds. It was, after all, only a commissariat elephant coming up with its noiseless tread that always seems so stealthy for so huge a beast, and carrying the iron framework (like some unfleshed pre-historic monster) of camp ovens belonging to the wonderful never-failing Indian Commissariat. The Butcha, as startled as his master, nearly pulled Jingo's arm out of the socket. Ever after Jingo had a horror of sleeping 5» i.,t 214 GUNNER JINGO K JUHILKK. where an elephant might tread on him, and if he could, he would choose the root of a tree with low projecting branches, which precaution was, however, unnecessary, as elephants, as V ell as their mahouts, are careful. Day was breaking and the dropping fire of outposts had commenced. The order for the Artillery might have been freely tendered as '* Devil take the hindmost 1 " and yet it was the old story — an Infantry escort for Field Artillery that could gallop and was expected to do so. One battery was ordered to the right, another to the left, to sweep the enemy's line obliquely from both flanks. As they could not be in both places at once, the Staff" went to the left with Captain Alured Johnson's " Q " Field Battery. Its commander, Major Gibbon, had been wounded in a previous aflair and was left in hospital. "Q " pushed through the enemy's irregular skirmish line and opened upon their main position. The battery was sur- rounded by low brush, but from a bush about one hundred and fifty yards in rear bulle*^s whizzed at regular intervals in unpleasant proximity to jingo and Jack Hallows, of the 87th Ro^'al Irish, the latter being attached to the Artillery as interpreter. They were two extensive targets with nothing to do but look pleased. The Infantry escort had been left far behind. " Better flush that fellow," said Jack. Waiting until the next puff" of smoke told that the man was unloaded, they both rode at the bush where the smoke still lingered, Jack firing his revolver as he advanced. The Oudh man rose from his lair, threw down his gun, and drew his tulwar. Jingo in passing delivered a regulation sword- exercise cut with his ponderous blade. Yovng Jingo was proudof his swordsmanship; he could cut through the thick part of a hanging leg of mutton, bone and all, and now he expected to see that unbeliever's head fly from his shoulders. Instead, the tulwar deftly turned the sword, while a round white spot of bare skull, the size of a rupee, showed that the poor fellow had lost his Houri handle.* His turban, wound round his head, had left the top unprotected. Circling his horse. Jingo passed his sword through the poor devil's brown body just above the cummerbund. One of Jack Hallows' small • The long tuft of hair left on the shavej scalp for Honris to lift their lovers into Paradise. n.\vv.\bgu.n(;k. 215 revolver bullets had struck the breastbone and anotlier had penetrated the turban, without reaching the skull. It was hardly a fair scrimmage and could not well have been avoided, yet the pair felt disgusted. " Mai.s, a la guerre, comme a la guerre." That was a cruel war. There were atrocities to be avenged, English hearts were hardened, and Oudh men, who had a perfect right to defend their country, and were not responsible for the cruelties of a mutinous soldiery whose cause they had espoused, suftered with them. The battery escort of the Rifle Brigade, Ccler et Au(fn.\; now came up at the double and cleared the scrub. A tail Sepahi was retiring sullenly, reloading as he went. One of the foremost files of riflemen called out in Cockney vernacular : *' 'Ere, you black b , 'old on a bit ! " But the invitation met with no response from the Sepahi who did not even look over his shoulder at his diminutive assailant, who, making a supreme efllbrt, overtook iiim and plunged his bayonet through the back of the retiring Sepahi with such force that both men fell together. The Sepahi did not rise. Coming back to the battery, the two officers noticed that Lieutenant Neil, (son of the gallant General who was killed a: the relief of Lucknowj, was leaning over his horse's neck. " What's the matter ? " was the instant query. " Don't know, feel very sick, suppose it is the sun." He was put into a doolie, and his sword hung from the pole. There was no wound, nor any appearance of sunstroke, but on the belt-plate was a splash of lead. On the right flank, the advance had to be made across an open glacis slope. The enemy's guns were posted on the crest, behind the mud wall of a mango tope. Embrasures had been pierced, and their horses and limbers were on a reverse slope and sheltered among the trees. Our guns in the open began to suffer and one was disabled by a round-shot. Jingo had followed his ArtillerN' Chief, and to him General Sir Hope Grant, seeing no one else available, gave the order : '• Go and tell Daly of * Hodson's Horse ' to charge those guns." mm 2\C) OL'NNKR JINGO S JIHILKK. Ilil I ! I The messenger lost no time, and none was lost by Daly, who put himsell' at the head of his men, shouted, " Charge ! ' and dashed forward. He was followed — by his orderly. The native troopers were slowly making a jostling, jogging, right incline. Jingo called out to the gallant leader who, turning in his saddle, shouted reproaches, then curses in Hindustani and Knglish. They would have followed Hodson anywhere, but tlic new sahib they did not know, though later they learned to trust him as confidently as their lost Hod.son. There was no bolder leader among Anglo-Indian chivalry than Daly. The General saw his messenger returning. " What's up ? " ** Don't know, sir, but Hodson's horse are not charging." "Tell Sir William Russell to charge with the 7th, and Hodson's Horse to follow in support." Again the Butcha flew. Leaving the order with Daly, Jingo passed on to the Hussars and gave his message. " Wlio are you, sir ? " Perhaps he was taken for a second Nolan, ordering another Balaclava on a small scale, for it was not usual for a gunner to carry orders to Cavalry, nor was he on the General's personal stafll'. Jingo explained. The Adjutant was called. " Repeat that order, sir ! " He did. " All right. Queen's Own Hussars, by your centre, draw swords I " But the " Queen's Own " — the old •*' Queen's Own !" — their bones lie bleaching in the valley of Balaclava. These were raw boys on bucking, unbroken whalers. The clatter of scabbards started — plunging, rearing, bucking ! '* Steady, men ! God bless my soul, you're like a lot of Yeomanry Cavalry! Walk! March! Trot! Canter! Charge ! " And away they dashed after their brave Colonel and the squadron leaders, straight for the guns ! No flinching among the English lads, and the horses seemed to know the boys meant business, for they settled down into a steady stride. The Lieutenant, his message delive''ed, thought he might legitimately enjoy the novel luxury of a Cavalry charge now, for he had missed that at Chanda. So he put himself on the right of the line, and once more drew his sword, sur- SWORDS. p.ised to find how clean it was, considering. Tliat evening tiic Hindoo bearer spat as lie took liis master's sword, and handed it to the low caste Mather to clean. The enemy had now seen what was up, and a clump of Ghazee Infantry threw tluMiiselves in front of the wall while the guns were being withdrawn. A few wild, scatter- ing shots and shouts, and the tulwars flashed round the fluttering green flag of the Ghazees. Through this gesticu- lating mob the Englishmen silently rode, like a hot knife through a pat of butter, riding over them or knocking them down with slogging blows from the flat, the back, anything but the edge of the sword. If by accident the edge did lead, it would neither cut through the folds of the turban nor the quilted cotton coats they wore. The regulation Cavalry sword cannot keep its edge through being perpetually drawn from, and returned with a smart flourish to the steel scabbard, and the handle, too large and round, generally turns in the hand. The squadron leaders alone killed their men. They knew enough to deliver point — that is, hold out till' iron as Kalstaf!" did. One understands " men who smote with the edge of the sword " did not mean recruits. The galloping gunner had leisure to note these things, for the Hank on which he rode overlapped the mob of Ghazees, and he found no opponent for his steel. Fearful of a wigging for amateur dragooning, he reined round and saw the unharmed Ghazees picking themselves up. But not for escape, llodson's Horse were coming up in support. With wild shouts, in rather open order, on swept the Irregulars, mostly Sikhs, without sympathy for Oudh Poorbeah, or Moslem. Their keen tulwars making drawing swoops, always in a direction supplemented by the speed of the horse, did work the clumsy British blades could not do. A Ghazee, rising from the ground, turned to fly, his tulwar raised to protect his head. A passing Sowar severed from the wrist the hand holding the sword. T".: land, still clutching the weapon, flew off some feet, and u jct of blood spurted from the artery. Another man, just staggering to his teet, had his back laid open diagonally from shoulder to waist, and the spine severed. Nothing escaped the torrent of horsemen, whose front rank used with deadly dexterity that queen of armcs hlamlws, the lance. It was held tent-pegging fashion, except that here the weapon was R I I ; 218 GUNNKR JINCiOS JLBIl.F.E. deftly extracted by the rider bending forward and letting his right arm go witli tiie butt over liis back and the point to the rear, when tlie weiglit of the stabbed body and the speed of the horse extracted the lance. The native tulwar, made of charcoal steel by a caste of smiths, • whose secrets are transmitted from countless ancestors, takes a keen edge, unblunted in its leather sheath. The handle, flattened and widened at the centre, with a disc end, exactly fits the small sinewy native hand, and cannot tur.^ in the grip. When the line of the knuckles corresponds with the edge the latter always leads, as you can tell by the clean whistle of a true sword-cut compared to the fluif of a dufter. As the curved tulwar is manifestly unsuited for ihrust ihc native substitute is to bring the edge <.){ th'j curve to the throat or body of an opponent, when the shape of the blade and the speed of the horse will give a nasty gash. As a rule, a native never expects point. It is said, Hodi-ion always killed his man by meeting his assailant's first cut with the folic of his sword and then delivering point. Few things are more remarkable than the stol' ' con- servatism of military practice. The great deveic it of fiiearms is one reason for the sword being rememb nly as an inconvenient adjunct for parade purposes. Jingo retains little of the possessions of his ancestors but their swords. One, belonging to the old Light Dragoon grand- father of Waterloo, is a curved blade, about as useless as they make them to-day. The old man used to say the English Dragoons rarely did more than cut a Frenchman's coat, but a man wounded by a French swordsman generally died. It was a thrust delivered at speed. A better weapon was given to Jingo by his friend Zubber Khan, a native officer of Irregular Horse. " Take it, sahib," he said ; "it has been in my father's family for many generations ; it has been red with the blood of the 'nimuk harami,' (faithless ones) of my countrymen, shed for the Sircar. But I can wear it no mo e. Our regiment is supplied with Europe swords. Mine weighs many maund. I could almost put my head through the hilt. * The swords supplied to the British ariny arc made by the thousand and mostly by foreign contractors. \ hot blast furnace and coal containing sulphur are used, with results any chemist could foretell, and our recent battles have amply illustrated in the matter of swords and bayonets TIIK FFKDKKS OF KAVFNS. 219 But what docs it matter ? They liave also given us Europe bits, and a sowar can no longer cliuckker (circle) round a rupee." The moon rose early on the night after the action. Jingo was riding slowly hack to his tent, over the ground whei"c the dead were lying thickest. lie noticed the body of a very handsome man whom he had seen killed the day before. Stripped to his loin cloth, he lay on his back, with his arms outstretched and his broad breast bare, his face upturned to the moonlight, with gla/cd eyes unclosed, and upper lip still curied with the death grin of rage and pain. His white teeth gleamed under his black moustache, his head was towards Jingo, pillowed on a little hillock, and Jingo sat regarding him rather sorrowtuUy, as having passed in the prime of life from all the pleasant things of a not unpleasant world for those who are wise enough to enjoy. Now, Jingo knows that ** whom the gods love die young." Could it be a trick of the moonlight. I'he man moved I Slowl}' contracting his arms, he then shot them out with a jerk like a satisfied stretch. Gicat heavens! Jingo had seen the man killed the day before, he could not possibly be alive. An eerie feeling crept over him, the oft-told tales of Indian "zadoo " (magic) flashed through his mind. He would see this out. The Butcha snorted, and trembled, and broke into sweat under the caressing hand of his master. The spur was equally ineffectual, the animal was rooted to the spot. His rider dismounted and walked up towards the corpse, which lay on the further slope of the little hillock. As he approached he could see the whole athletic form of the dead man, his shield and sword lying beside him. The corpse stretched its hands towards its weapons, the head was slightly lifted, as if in an effort to rise, and then sank back as if exhausted. Jingo's brow was damp and his heart throbbed. Another stride or two, and a vulture flapped out from the dead man and hopped a short distance, too goi-ged to fly, its bald head and neck besmeared with blood. It had eaten its way into the carcase, and tearing at the tendons had caused the hideous contractions. Jingo drew his revolver and shot the vulture, which, after all, was only partaking of the feast prepared for him by man. But it was useless. Long lines of flapping wings were sailing towards the spot, the prowling hyena laughed, and pariah dogs and jackals raised a yowl of discontent ^ 220 GUNNKR irNGOS lUBILEE. at being disturbed by one of the illogical givers of that repast. The column, marching in pursuit to Fyzabad, pressed on through the ancient Hindoo city of Adjudeah, with its many sacred temples and ghats, on the bank of the Gogra. The rear guard of the enemy was in the act of crossing ; when a few shots from the Artillery sank the last boats. But there were no means of following in pursuit. Many stalwart Fakirs, armed with heavy iron-bound latties of stout bamboo, scowled from the steps of the sacred precincts with no salaam (peace be with you!) until certain impulsive subs demanded the usual salutation from the men, who were evidently Sepahis tired of running away. The subs were onl3' two, out for an evening ride *' howah khana kiwasti " (to eat the air). The salute of amity and submission was refu.sed and tlie Fakirs retreated to the temples, whereupon the unarmed youngsters rode their ponies up the sacred steps into the very presence of the gods, whose stony eyes saw not the submission of their armed votaries before the whips of a pair of unbelieving British boys. But then that pvvful army was encamped only a few miles distant. In a short time it was broken up, for Cis Gogra Oudhwas declared pacified, and our Lieutenant was thankful to find himself appointed to " Q "' Field Battery. The rains had set in. Cha- butras (mounds ot earth) were raised under the tents. The oolitical officers declared amnestv \ '^iS everywhere, and talked of the \/^r*T/> blessings of peace and the horrors of war. All were weary of the latter, .^n imaginnlive soldier drew the _r dawning future ' as shown in our —^ "^ illustration. Re-wAct." ^ bellious Talook- *^P*'iisiliers were one of the oldest regiments of the Hon. East India Company. They had been sent direct from the Campaign in Persia, under General Neil. He dieil at their head at I.ncknow. They had landed in their sea kit, canvas smocks and tronsers, withont waiting for uniform, and had marched up country to joit» Havelock. No regiment bore a more distinguished part in the Mutiny Campaign than the gallant old " Dirty Shirts." A METHODICAL MAJOR. 241 r In bst fal lit) Die rangCvS, set in order in the limbers. He was lying wounded, many hundred miles to the rear, but his orders were obeyed. The sub got the credit, and the Sepoy sowars a very bad five minutes. There were confused shouts. The gunners could see but little, for their own smoke hung, but they caught a gleam of tulwars, they heard a patter of retreating hoofs, and when the smoke and dust-cloud had cleared there remained a few dots upon the plain — the prostrate men and horses. And the dust-cloud trailed away in the distance. But there was more to follow. Hardly had the sub taken in the ranges he had made use of, when he heard the familiar rumble of guns, advancing through the dust left by the retreating Cavalry. There they came ! The celebrated Black Horse Battery of a mutineer Brigade. Soon they spoke ; shell after shell burst, all too high, showering bullets that rattled on the limbers, denting without penetrating, contusing men and horses, but causing no serious casualties. It was soon over. The accurate range and superior ammunition of " Q " speedily led to their withdrawal. The Infantry carried the villages previously shelled by the heavy guns. Darkness falls swiftly after short twilight in India. The Force retired, their orders being not to pursue, but form a living Ute dii pout for the bridge about to be constructed. Accordingly they took up a position along the line of a dry ** nullah," forming the base of a salient angle of the river. The guns, forming the salient of the living tete dii pout were posted on the edge of the nullah, down which they could not be depressed. But our sub knew better (as one of his men remarked) than " for to hargue with a hinfantry hadjutant " on the choice of an Artillery position. When the latter had gone, he quietly withdrew his guns about 300 yards from the ravine along which an enemy could have crept unseen. There were no Infantrj' outposts between the guns and the enemy. From the edge of the ravine the ground sloped gently back to the new position, so that only the muzzles, but nothing of the men as they lay between their guns, could be seen over it. Dinnerless and supperless, save for what they had in their haversacks, so were they to spend the night. The horses, after being watered, were picketed in a second nullah, parallel to that in front. A single small tent was pitched to serve as hospital and guard B I I i :^:- 242 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. tent, but as all hands were practically on guard it was unoccupied. The Infantry were at some distance. It was pitch dark. After ordering the guns to be double- loaded with case-shot, Jingo lay down with his men. But not to sleep. He gave orders to prevent the guns being fired prematurely (in which case they could be rushed before reloading) and decided to wait till the enemy topped the bank of the ravine and shewed against the sky line, cluster- ing together in the way men do instinctively, but unwisely^ preparatory to a dangerous rush. The officer was calculating on the repressive tendencies of his silent guns. Contrary to the story books, the expected did happen. The Sepahis gathered in the nullah, and lining its edge, opened a desultory fire on the guns, hoping to draw their fire and then rush them. Their bullets rang on the bronze gun metal and struck the wood-work of the carriages with a dull thud, but there was no response. Not a stir came from the recumbent gunners, who were completely sheltered by the slope of the terrain. The firing had almost died away. Jingo lying with his ear close to the ground, heard, telephonically, the Sepahi officers urging their men in persuasive but ineffectual Orientalisms — " Chullaw mera bahi ! Chullaw bahadur 1" (go on, my brother ! go on, noble warrior I). Suddenly in the opposite direction, there was a bewilder- ing row, like Donnybrook broke loose. The accents of a well-known Western tongue jarred the hot stillness of the night. " Faugh a ballagh ! your sowl to blazes ! Lemme go till I welt the black beggars out o' that." The shout was followed by the rush of the Munster man, who had broken away from his comrades. His long cavalry sword, sweeping and flashing round his head, was a most effectual " Faugh a ballagh." A rattle of musketry from the Sepoys did not stop Paddy Doyle. He dashed between the guns at the astonished enemy, shouting hia battle cry and his blasphemies. And the Sepahis actually bolted, imagining they were attacked by a battalion of * - Dirty Shirts 1" (mostly Irishmen). No regiment inspired a greater terror among them than the Madras European Fusiliers. il.Mi IRON CI S. 243 ^iry the Ihis rerc pn). the But Paddy's career for death or glory was ignominiouslycut short. He tripped over his scabbard and fell on his face. A couple of his comrades ran to the front and dragged him to the rear by his heels. His face scraping through the mud, smothered his swears. When propped on his feet he presented a most ludicrous spectacle, as he tried to steady himself by the sword he still held gripped in his hand. But Jingo was too angry to laugh, for the position was critical. The Sepahis might recover from their panic at any moment. " Take away that man's sword, and bring a pair of hand- cuffs ! " was his quick command. These were speedily produced by the never-failing Douglas — who, it always seemed, could have produced any- thing, even the ** Holy Grail " itself, from his haversack had the officer demanded it — and clapped upon the soldier's wrists. Partially sobered by the indignity, he raised his manacled hands in pathetic entreaty. "Don't disgrace me foriver afore the inemy, sorr 1 Take thim ugly ruffles aflf me wrists, and 1 promise on the honour of a sojor to obey orthers 1 " Jingo knew his man, and told the Sergeant to remove the handcuffs. " May the Lord of Glory reward ye wid that same an' plinty of it, sorr ! " was his thankful ejaculation. " Hoorroo ! An' now boys, gimme me gun rammer ! " For Paddy was a smart soldier when sober, and held a post of honour as No. 2 of No. I gun. But, *' Off to the guard tent and remain until relieved I " was the order of the officer. " Reet about faass ! Queek marrch I" the executive command of the Sergeant. The gunner brought his hand to his bald head (for he had left his helmet in the Sepahi position) faced about in three motions, and so far trifled with orders as to make the quick into a slow march — a sort of drunken balance step, without gaining ground, thereby having the satisfaction of remaining under fire as long as possible. At last he disappeared into the nullah. Having got rid of the drunken Irishman, who, it seemed had, in his turn, disposed of the Sepahis, there was a lull. The Lieutenant lay down on the sodden ground to rest. But not for long. The restless Adjutant of the Fusiliers R— 2 T.5i 244 GUNNER JINGOS JUBIl.KE. VJIf' I' I attracted by the firing, returned, trailing his steel scabbard in a way that again drew fire, for the Sepahis had recovered from the scare administered by Paddy. Night fire is seldom effective, but intensely demoralising, especially when the men have been under it for hours, wet, tired, hungry, and sleepless. It is too dark to see shirkers, and one never knows when a startled sleeper will open fire on his comrades, eventually to be taken up all round. The best man feels helpless. So the Artillery sub inwardly d — d with " a big big D " the Infantry Adju- tant, as he raised his long length to answer his interlocutor, who remained standing, with singular indifference to fire. He was one of those wrongly-constituted men who have no proper sense of danger for himself or others. He had a lately-healed scar on both cheeks, through which a bullet had passed without cutting out his tongue. Jingo, it is shameful to relate, momentarily regretted that fact. He could not, however, help admiring Seton, that heir to one of the oldest Scotch baronetcies, famous in history, whose subse- quent life was not pleasant enough to keep him from shouldering a musket in the ranks of a Prussian Fusilier Regiment, during the war of 1870. But his admiration did not prevent him hearing with delight the " fire-eater's" good night, as he departed, trailing his clattering weapon, and drawing a pattering fire after him. That proverbially dark hour before the dawn seemed endless. The firing ceased in front, but in a lull of the tropical downpour of rain, it broke out towards the right. This puzzled, but did not trouble the Lieutenant. He knew his horses were defiladed from fire, by a bend in the nullah. The air grew chill, his teeth chattered, visions of an ague fit impending for himself and his men, disturbed his attempt at rest. Then the day burst. A biscuit and a cup of coffee from the indefatigable native cooks, who had managed to cross with the rations, made matters look brighter. Nevertheless, it was with a feeling of irritation that he heard the dry voice of his Sergeant, which seemed to be about the only dry thing in camp. " Gunner Doyle wad spake till ye, sir 1 " He walked towards the guard tent on the right flank. It had been riddled with bullets. Inside it was the now sobered A COMMON SOLDIERS COMMO!< HONOUR. H5 Irishman, sitting on nothing, with his arms clasped round his knees, blowing a morning cloud from his dudheen. Removing it from his mouth to the hollow of his horny hand, he stood to attention. *' Aft" ve plaze, sorr, I'm sorry to be afther forgettin myself It was the wather." He omitted all mention of the rum. " Might I return to jooty, sorr ? " " Did you stay here all night under that fire ? " " \'is, sorr. On the honour of a sojcr, I could not lave the tint, but wid the help of God, an' lyin' on me belly, the blackguards missed me entoirely, so t ley did." The enemy, stealing round the flank, had noted the gleam of the solitary white tent, and had Hrcd on it for lack of any other visible object. " Well, Doyle," said the officer, regretfully, " I cannot overlook a drunk and disorderly under arms. Twenty-one days C.B." The old scamp did not mind restriction to camp, there being no bazaar and no scarlet ladies. As for the loss of his daily tot, his comrades would share theirs with him, to say nothing of the Lieutenant's ration, which was never inquired about. The Sergeant jotted down the [)unisht''cnt in his note book, *' Regimental Entry to be transferred to defaulter sheet and sent to headquarters first opportunity." The seasoned old soldier — " Ould Tough " as hiscMnrades called him — seemed none the worse for his escapade. After u breakfast, .seasoned by the chatt' of his comrades, he assisted the non-com. to replenish the ammunition limbers, and things being quiet in front, he brought out his cleaning traps and set to work to polish his beloved gun to its very linch-pins. And as he removed the lead splash of a Sepoy bullet here and there on the metal, mourning over a dent or two in the wood-work, he sang his favourite refrain, irresist- ibly reminding one of a Royal Warrant for the encourage- ment of recruiting : *'Your sowl to bla.'^cs. Sure I'll raise 3'our wages, From fifty shillins To two pounds tin." I* 246 J*4 k CHAPTER XXIII. Thb Bivouac— Riding The Finish — Kismet- Scare. TO Cover — The Throw Off— A Rasper— The Last of The Black Horse Battery— A For three days and nights " Q " stood to their guns, or, rather, lay down beside them on the sodden earth, with no covering but their greatcoats, to be alternately drenched by tropical downpours or scorched by the fierce rays of the sun, whenever that luminary pierced the dark pall of over- hanging clouds. The panting Europeans, stifled by the moist heat, were tempted to replace their heavy sun-helmets by the festive forage-cap, which, as it rested on one ear, courted sunstroke. It does not require direct sun-rays to produce heat-apoplexy. Had decorum and mosquitoes permitted the removal of all clothing save a turban, "Q" might have enjoyed some of the luxury of a Turkish bath, including a frequent warm douche. As it was, their situation more nearly resembled a wet pack in an extra-heated hydro- pathic establishment, without the salutary results. Here were sown the seeds of jungle fever, the effects of which mostly follow a man to his grave, if they do not take him to it by a short cut. Not a man of the detachment escaped. There was no doctor with them, and it was bad form to report sick just then — there would be leisure to die " in the sweet by-and-bye." Each day the Black Battery sent a few ineflFectual missiles from long range, but the excellent position of " Q," protected as they were by the folds of the terrain, made them difficult to hit. Yet their opponents daily selected the same position, the range of which had been so exactly obtained. They consequently had to withdraw, with probable loss, after a short interchange of incivilities. The night attacks were discontinued, as the Infantry were KIDING TO COVER. 247 drawn closer to tlic guns, and their outposts were pushed farther forward since the night of the successful sortie by the (h'unkcn Irishman. Relief came at last, the bridge was built. The raft had hitherto sufliced to bring the tlaily rations for men and horses, but now the whole force streamed across, followed by the inevitable army f camp followers. Conspicuous among them were the elephants, who, dissenting from the opinion of the Kngineer officer, declined to make use of his handiwork, and walked through the river, with only their trunks visible for breathing purposes. Paddy Warren soon made his way to his friend, greeting him with : "Well, old fellow, what did you say to 'Collars' the morning you crossed ? He wanted you court martialled." "I don't ren. ember. Perhaps the expressions I made use of were not Parliamentary ; but when he told the Geneial what I sai(i did he tell what he did'i " " Yes, yes, and the old chief laughed, and said, ' I hope this will be a lesson to you not to interfere with Irish subalterns of Artillery.' You are well out of it, Jingo, old man." "And so is my gun,'' interpolated Jingo. "'Collars' is not a fellow to bear a grudge," continued his friend. " He joined in the laugh against himself, and he will like you all the better. Your rebuke suggests a title for a pious leaflet, ' Plain Words for a Staff Sinner.' " Sergeant Douglas thought " Q " came under the category of the wicked. There was no peace for them ; the Black Battery commence., to drop shells into the new camp. The White Hussars, some squadrons of Irregular Cavalry, two guns of Royal Horse under Lieutenant Black, and two guns "Q," with a detachment of the Rifle Brigade, the whole under that smart soldier. Brigadier Horsford, were to try and effect a capture of the aggravating guns, apparently the last and best equipped among the mutineers. The camp was left standing. After dark, without sound of bugle, the Force stole silently forth, the Irregular Cavalry leading. The sounds of horse-hoofs were muflled by the soft earth, only the jingle and clatter of the White Hussars aggravated feelings longing for a stealthy advance. In comparison, the dull rumble of the gun-wheels seemed to be one of nature's noises — a continuance of the thunder-growling overhead i ■.I- ^1 248 GUNNER jingo's JUBILEE. among the black clouds that hung low in the starless sky. The horses walked out, and the Rifle Brigade swung along with more than their usual " elan." Not a word was spoken, not a pipe lighted. The Horse Artillery followed close on the Hussars. At starting Lieutenant Jingo, by right of seniority, was pre- paring to lead the Artillery Column with his own guns, when the Horse Artillery sub rode up, and said in his quiet way, pointing to his own detachment : "The right of the line and the pride of the army" — the common tt...st of the Royal Horse Artillery when drinking to their corps. He used it on this occasion to assert as inoffensively as possible his claim to the post of honour on behalf of his corps. It might have been disputed by the Field Battery officer considering his seniority, but from a feeling of comradeship he forbore. He liked the quiet Etonian officer ; they had been cadets together, and 'heir ditierencc in manner, character, and physique, perhaps made them more friendly. Lieutenant Black was pale and thin, with delicate features ; and a keen and excellent soldier. " Mind you keep the post of honour," his comrade said to him that night as he rode to the front with his guns, for Jingo felt just a little sore. He knew his compact gulf Arabs, eight to a gun, were more than a match in speed and endurance for the six awkward, long-legged, half-broken geldings in the ilorse Artillery teams. Years after, a bursting shell f'Uiiid his friend at the post of duty. To- night neitiier knew the destiny in store for each. Morning bnike slow and grey, disclosing a flat countr}- sparsely covered with low Jungle of large-leaved bush. The Rifle Brigade vvc.c rapidly extended on each side of the rough track along which the guns and Cavalry moved. Scarcely had the deployment been effected when a pattering fire opened down the whole from, followed b}' a rapid ad\ance to drive in the enemy's outposts. The Irregular Cavalry were let loose for a turning movement. The Br gadi.M* became impatient at the necessarily slow advance of tiie skirmishing Infantry, though the Rifle Brigade now, as evjr, worked up to their motto, "Celer et audax." The ground becoming more open in front, he ordered the advance of Cavalry and guns. The track here descended, furrowed into deep gullies by the late rains. THE THROW OFF. 249 Moving at a trot, the horses of Lieutenant Black's leading gun fell. In an instant men, horses, and gun were in a tangle at the bottom of the descent ; the remaining guns pulled up with difficulty, throwing off right and left to avoid riding over their comrades. Lieutenant Black, to cover the confusion, and give time to right it, brought his second gun into acHon at a distant line of skirmishers, thereby preventing the other guns or the Cavalr\' passing to the front. Jingo sat impatiently chafing, not liking to stop the futile fire of his comrade, by ordering an advance and so leaving him in the lurch — besides, as 'he Cavalry officer was senior, and took no initiative, Jingo could hardly do so in the absence of the Brigadier. He, however, soon came up, fuming at the delay. " Is it any use firing at tliosc distant skirmishers?" he asked Jingo. " Might as well spit at them, sir," was the reply of the impatient sub. "Will you let me go ahead with the Cavalry ? " " Yes, go, and Lieutenant Black car. pick up the pieces and follow. Tlic Infantry will he up directly." The White Hussars dashed past, tollowed by J'ngo at a steadier pace. " No\v, mv friend," he thought, " I gave 30U the lead — you lost it. When a fellow bungles over the first fcnoe, he has to pick himself up. You can't dw it for him with the pack in full cry. Black, my boy! if I sec the ragged rumps of 3'our long-legged garrons again this day in fiont of 'Q,' may I be -'rammed, crammed, and double damned down the great gun of Athlone ! ' as the Orange oath says '' R-r-r-r-at-tat-tat ! A rattle of musketry in front — the Hussars incline to the right to unmask the advancing guns — an empty saddle or two and the riderless horses following in their section ! A line of newly-turned c.irth wos visible across the road ; turbans showed above it, and long bunciooks gave forth 1 dropping fire. Oi; the left a ragged-looking mob, with shields, tulwars, and long guns, led by a wild fellow with a flag. Probably the crowd had taken a dose 01 " bhang '" to prepare for the paradise of bright-eyed girls awaiting the Zul hv-\ mm 250 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. '*! I '! Mahometan beyond the gates of death. And Jingo sends them there with a whiff' of grape-shot. The Hussars trotted along the road to the now abandoned earthwork, for the thickening jungle made progress too slow otherwise, and the guns followed. The Lieutenant, who was too soft-hearted to drown a kitten, glanced carelessly now at what had once been brave men. With sword and brass-bossed buckler still grasped In their hands, they lay, as they had fallen, on their faces, for they had been running forward, and it stretches them out very limp, does the grape-shot. Here and there a turban, rolled off or carelessly twisted round the temples, showed the bare brown head with its long tuft of hair. The Lieutenant noted these things with artistic perception, even while his thoughts were occupied with weightier issues. It is often thus that an effective picture reaches the mental vision and remains stamped on the memory. It was an instantaneous photograph on the outward eye. While taking all this in. Jingo was really watching the Hussars in his front; a single sword was raised and gleamed an instant through the dust, for the morning sun had dried the road. Threes right and left ! (they did not go all fours those days). Evidently there was an obstacle in front for the Cavalry. If so, how could his guns get over? They could not turn and file through the jungle as the Cavalry did. The Royal Horse were thundering close behind, so he pressed forward, set his teeth, hardened his heart, steadie 1 his horse, and whoop la ! the powerful black had cleared the ditch, seeming to alight like a goat, all four feet together, on the berm, about a foot space between ditch and parapet, and then scrambled up the soft parapet, where he stood panting. The drop on the other side was a trifle. He turned and looked at his advancing teams. The sun- light glorified them, their coats shone with sweat, and here and there a fleck of foam ; the trace-links glittered and danced. The men's fac^s, under their grey helmets, were grave and quiet. He loved them all, men and horses — should he save them and call a halt ? The prudent Douglas had halted and dismounted limber gunners — this looked like business. Yet it seemed impossible that harnessed teams with a gun behind them could surmount what Cavalry had drawn rein at. The officer's prophetic vision saw a tangled heap of men and horses in the ditch, and the cruel Jugger- I ids :ed :he :he to ice ler on it nd he of tic ith ve on he 'as 'as he se he lid he ei he he en he :re ad :re as ke lis ad ed i o: i ,K II ij' I t w. T. A KAS!>KH. -J 5 3 '1 i' V naut gun slowly crushing out tlicir lives. His actual vision, for they were coming close now, saw the grim hard face of his leading driver, Alec Galbraith, whose grizzled moustache made a straight line across liis set mouth. His left hand was down, his right, v;ith the whip lash gathered in it, was extended with a sort of mesmeric effect over his off horse. There was no need to give any word of command, it had to be tried and here was the num to try it. I'he officer reined back and watched the coming sacrifice to the god of war. The chariot seemed thundering to its doom. The brave little leaders would liave cleared the ditch, fo'' their fore feet pawed the parapet, but the second pair stopped dead on ll'e brink, and back into the ditch fell the leaders, Galbraich under them. The impetus of the third pair pushed the second with their driver on to the top of the leaders, but the powerful Vv-heelers, firmly held by the driver, stopped the gun in time to prevent the crushing death for man and beast that seemed impending. In a twinkling the giuiners had the team unhitched, the little Arabs scrambled up like cats, unhurt, and shook themselves, even Galbraith crawled stiffly out. 'llie bottom of the ditch was V shaped, and he had lain under his riding horse un- harmed, and the v/ise litt'e beasts had not tramplecf upon him in getting out. His long sword * in its steel scabbard was bent ; falling across the ditch above him, it had in great measure kept the weight o*' his ho'se off him and tiius had helped to save Inm. "Are you hurt, Galbraith?" was the officer's anxious query. " Naw, sir ! " And valking up to his h.orses, he patted and made rrujch of them, and prepared Uj mount. Then, turning to his .second driver, he said, slowly — '• Yoong mon ! I'll just trouble ye to follow yer leading dhriver anither time, and not to get •'he funks." The word was now given to levevse. and the gun was brought up at a gallop. The horses in successive pairs cleared the ditch, and scrambled -wer tiie parapet t and the gun leapt Hkc a live thing over ditch and bank i:Uo the load on the opposite side. The second gun tbl lowed easily in the * Artillery drivers in Indix wore long cawair^ swortlH then, not the useless cheese knives now carru'd ♦ The Indian ArtiHery used Ioiikim traces than ii; permittad ir. Un(»land. ?p 254 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. ; u track of tlie first, for the crumbling earth filling the ditch made the task lighter. The Lieutenant saw the fresh wheel tracks of the Black Horse Battery, they having evidently been just withdrawn from the work they had been intended to defend, probably on account of the turning movement of the Irregular Cavalry. Over the top of the parapet he could see the heads of the Brigadier and his Staff approaching. Delays are dangerous ! Off he trotted with his guns before he could be stopped. A Staff Officer cleared the ditch and rode after him, shouting " Halt I " The headstrong Jingo heard perfectly, and increased the pace. His guns broke into a gallop, rendering further commands inaudible, for his pursuer could not pass them to reach him, as the road was narrowed by the dense jungle through v/hich the Cavalry had not been able to advance. He knew he was unsupported — behind him, disobedience of orders, court martial, etc., — before him, a moving cloud of dust — under his horses' feet a trail of gram (horse feed) dropped from leaky nose bags, then a bag itself, artillery pattern, emphasizing the gun wheel tracks of the Black Battery. Jingo was now far in front of his guns, intent upon the trail. The road took a sudden turn, and, there, a short hundred yards before him, was the last division of the Black Horse Battery in action, two guns at close intervals, and only a corporal's guard of Sepahis as escort. To halt, in order to open fire, would be destruction ; he saw the gun sponges turn in the air, heard the case-shot rammed home with a thud, the native gunners blowing the slow match to light the port-fires. With a sudden impulse he gave a stentorian shout, and a fox-hunter's " tally-ho ! " that seemed to paralj'ze the native artillerymen, rang out above the rattle of the gun wheels. A trumpet sounded the charge — the guns were not fired — the native Commandant sitting stolidly on his horse now turned to ride slowly away. The English officer noted that he wore the gold belts and appointments of a brother officer, murdered by the mutineers, and Jingo's blood boiled to close with him, but the Sepahi corporal stepped forward with his musket at the ready. His bayonet was not fixed (the Sepahi seldom fixed his bayonet) and there was no excitement in his hand.some face, only a look of quiet *' Kismet ! " " Whose ?" thought the Lieutenant, '* his or mine ? or both ? " He bent ■■»« V5 —•^ *!»•**'*-'*»* •(J'V ~~**r ' •- ihi fc i i'm 11 m ml . s ■n I i I! M I/- • i THK FINISH. 257 his head and body behind the horse's neck to escape the bullet, and dropped the point of his sword. The man's shoulder struck his right knee, and he fell without firing. Had sword and musket both failed then ? There was no time to think, for he was among the native guiuiers, smiting and prodding, somewhat ineffectually. They had drawn their tulwars, but escaped between the gun wheels and under the horses' bellies, into the jungle. The drivers tried to unhook and ride off their horses, but they were cut down in the attempt by " the sword of the Lord in the hand of his servant " Douglas, who had ridden up with other mounted non-commissioned officers. Among them was the Quarter- master-Sergeant of the Horse Artillery, an excellent swordsman, who went for that native officer and returned with his sword and belts, saying, with a grim smile : "The native gentleman had no further use for them, sir." He offered them to the now radiant Jingo, who declined them with thanks and suitable encomiums. Lieutenant Black, who was now upon the scene with his ments, secured the abandoned gun teams waggons. The Brigadier also rode up, his horse himself in a blazing rage, his brown eyes black moustache, alwa3's waxed a rEmpcreur, now extra stiff with anger. He made as if he would ride over the Lieutenant, but the big black horse and rider had a vis incrtice which brought up the Brigadier with an undignified jolt. *' Damn you, sir I " he said, between his clenched white teeth, " how dare you disobey orders ? Where are your Cavalry escort ?" " 1 don't know ! " and the Lieutenant very nearly added, " I am d d if I care 1 " "Where are the enemy? "the Brigadier added, looking round, bewildered, and not realising the situation in the cloud of dust and confused mass of guns, men, and horses. " I don't know," replied the Lieutenant again, with aggra- vating deliberation, " but there are his guns," pointing, sullenly, with his sword. " God bless my soul ! You don't say so ! " and several expressions passed over his face, in which lingered a trace of mounted detach- and ammunition in a lather and flashing, and his > i, lid 258 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. anxiety at a situation not provided for in any tactical books. " We must get out of this jungle as quickly as possible. The enemy must be in force and not far, and they may yet be down on us before we can get clear. The Infantry are miles in rear, and the Cavalry tangled up in this infernal jungle somewhere behind — nothing but you d d hot- headed gunners ! " "With somebody else's guns!" the Lieutenant added. The Brigadier, recovered now, laughed kindly, and said : "Well, well. Jingo. We will say no more about dis- obedience of orders. You have done a good morning's work, going out with two guns and coming back with four. Devilish dashing thing ! Never heard of anything like it, by gad ! I'll have a good mark put against your name at the Horse Guards." If a mark was made, it must have been in pencil, and was rubbed out one day by a War Office clerk, who had a new piece of indiarubber to try. Limber gunners were mounted on the captured gun teams, and they rode off, with pardonable swagger, to rejoin the rest of the force, the Staff and the triumphant Lieutenant at their head. Jingo was about to sheath his sword, when the same Staff Officer, who had shouted himself hoarse ti-ying to stop him, remarked, with a very broad grin on a very broad mouth : *' We must change your nom de guerre from * Gunner . Jingo ' to ' Beau Sabreur.' " " No," was the reply, " I missed my chance and he missed me. " He had reason," said the wide-mouthed one, showing more teeth ; " look at your sword." It was greasy to within six inches of the hilt, just to where the sword-maker (for it was not tailor-made any more than its owner) had engraved the family crest of the Jingos, which was smeared with blood. Just then they came upon the body of the Sepahi corporal, the quiet look of " Kismet " still upon his handsome face. He lay in a pool of blood darker than his scarlet uniform (the old-fashioned coatee). His bare, brown limbs would have served as model for a bronze Apollo. The Lieutenant's sword had entered downwards above the collar-bone, and KISMET. m fral, He [the lave Int's land out below the shoulder-blade. The speed of the horse and the shock of impact had prevented the swordsman knowing how deftly the blade had done its worlc. The Sepahi's musket lay beside him, loaded, capped, and cocked ; his finger had been on the trigger — why had he not fired ? the mutineer's heart fail before the the avenging sahib, because the memories murdered sahib, a sweet mem-sahib, logue he had played with when the Captain's -rose before him ? Did he feel the hour of Kismet Kismet ! Did white face of of another, a of baba orderly had come ? The Lieutenant called one of the men to draw the charge and put the musket on the gun-limber. " It might have held my life," he thought ; " but my Kismet was not rammed down with that bullet, i may as well keep the weapon, it may serve as a duck gun till I get my own shooting-iron left at Calcutta " — for marching order was mighty light in those days. The Hussars, having got clear of the jungle, formed the rear guard. More Cavalry appeared in the distance, and the usual demand was made upon Jingo to open fire. There were two things — yea, three things — he always tried to be deliberate about — to open fire — to retire — to back a bill for a friend. As they drew nearer, the Khakee, instead of white, showed they were our own sowars, who had been sent forward early in the morning to make a turning movement. They had succeeded admirably. Their sweep had been so far-reaching as to threaten the enemy's line of retreat, which accounted for the abandon- ment of their prepared position. The Irregulars had suffered. Captain Palliser, who commanded, had a severe sabre wound. The Brigadier was in high good humour. Guns captured by gunners was unique, even in the startling annals of the Mutiny. The little Trumpeter, who had sounded the charge without orders and then dashed into the melee with a sword as long as himself, vas had up for a make-believe wigging as his share of the glory. Thus : ** Yoii wereordered to stay in rear. What brought you to the front?" " My *orse. sir — couldn't 'old *im." tl The little brat, whose feet barely reached the end of his s— 2 i ! IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A 4^ 1.0 144 128 |2.5 >^ 1^ III 2.2 I.I !■« H^ iy& 1.25 1 ''- 1 '-^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIH STREET vti^as? (1 N.r. I4S80 (716) «72-4503 « %^ <> 6^ ^*^ 'ij,^ iv 26o GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. Ill I ! : saddle-flaps, sat in a statuesque attitude, with his trumpet resting on his short thigh. '* Why did you sound the charge without orders ? " "Eard you 'oiler 'tally ho!' and thort yer made a mis- take, sir 1 " ** My boy, * Tally ho 1 ' was shouted at Waterloo by the Staff-Officer who ordered an advance of the Horse Artillery in pursuit of the French." '* Like to read that story, sir," said the boy. " Well, when we get into cantonments we will try and get some books," said the good-natured officer.* There was a little comfort in camp now. The Brigadier gave a dinner in commemoration of the breaking up of the Black Horse Battery, for the remaining guns had made good their retreat, but they were never heard of more. The Brigadier's little London Arabs of the Chota Ruffles, his own regiment, stole his dinner, waylaying the native kitmugars on their way to the mess-tent. However, as there was enough left, the Brigadier could afford to laugh, as he said : " Poor little beggars 1 They have not had a blow-out of anything but fighting and marching for many a long day, and they have marched and fought well." " Brigadier, vous avez raison," a chanson of the Empire, learnt in the Crimea from our allies, was sung with gUatO. As there was a short, quiet time, the indefatigable sportsman, Warren, started early morning shootings with Jingo, who used as his shooting-iron the Brown Bess no longer wanted by the Sepahi corporal. The gheels were full of full-grown flappers, for men had been too busy of late shooting each other to molest them, so the sportsmen made excellent bags of ducks. To be sure they had to go considerably beyond the outposts, and wander- ing parties of the enemy's sowars still infested the country. But immunity had brought recklessness. It had been suggested to the Chief to put a stop to these excursions, but S" Hope Grant only chuckled, and said : " Let the boys alone 1 My sporting subs are my best * Rudyard Kipling has been criticised for making his Tommies talk travestied " Lays of Ancient Rome " or " Ossian." Many a long-service soldier in India was better read than a modern officer would imagine, who had himself been crammed with selected sentences of English literature till he hates the sight of any book but a shilling shocker. I A SCARE. 261 and scouts, they beat the Politicals hollow, and they learn the country for me." One early morning Jingo and his friend were having splendid sport in a long winding gheel, having penetrated much beyond their usual limits. Suddenly arose a cloud of dust, through which nothing was visible, though out of it could be heard the trample of many hoofs. Surely, nothing less than a large party of the enemy's sowars advancing between them and the direction of camp, where the syces with the shooting ponies had been left ! Poor beggars ! They would have a short shrift if they were captured. But the odds were they had escaped into the jungle. '* Warren was brave, but to his heart, The life-blood thrill'd with sudden start." had I, so sure ider- But isted [ope best pestled k wat with IhiUinK The gallant Jingo was in an equally abject funk. Their case seemed desperate — the anticipated ending too horrible for contemplation. And nothing larger than duck-shot! They were already knee-deep in the gheel. Shouts mingled now with the clatter of hoofs, sounding close to the edge of the gheel. They were coming at a sharp trot. There was nothing for it but concealment, and that but a poor chance. The gheel was not deep — they must have been seen. Nevertheless, in they rushed, crouching among the rushes to their very chins, with difiRculty keeping their guns dry for a last, if futile, efiFort to account for the first who ventured to come close. But the probability was they would be potted from the bank without any chance of repl)'. The end was not yet. There came a bellow — and the enemy took shape as a herd of water-buffaloes being driven down by villagers to drink at the gheel. In spite of the reprieve from the sudden deatii they had expected, our friends felt almost mortified at the relief. The}' looked foolishly at each other, burst into a laugh, crawled out, and found their syces, of whom they made no inquiries, trusting these had not taken in the ignominious situation. If they had done so they were much too polite to notice it to the sahib, whose eccentricities they never seemed to remark. The blazing sun almost dried them before they reached camp. 262 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. I The mess had an appetising supply of snipe and duck, and the sportsmen a go of ague, to which, with the help of quinine, they were getting accustomed, though it made them rather buzzy about the head at times. But they kept their counsel and the stoiy did not leak out. and Ip of them their 263 CHAPTER XXIV. An Unposted Sentry — The Longest March ml-st have an End— A Dance of Death and Resurrection — The Lost Pension — Vaccination Marks- Sic. Transit Gloria. '* For they say the war is over, And again each war-worn rover, Doth his little girl discover." Ballad of the Boidd Sojcr Boy. At last the order came tor " Q " to rejoin headquarters; they were to march across country with an escort of Irregular Cavalry, leaving the best roads for the Infantry. "Across country " meant a series of ** Sloughs of Despond," into which guns and Cavalry often sank girth-deep. Once they stuck. Night overtook them in the rice khates, baggage and tents not forthcoming,. The latter could not have been pitched had they been there, for there was nothing approach- ing solid ground except the narrow raised paths between the inundated rice fields. There was nothing* for it but to leave the horses, as they stood, in the guns, letting them eat ofi'the green rice within their reach. The Cavalry were able to get on drier ground and place outposts. The Lieutenant, after posting sentries, lay down with his men on the driest path he could find, between two khates, close to the guns, and ** wished for the day." Wrapped in his wet cloak, his teeth chattered with ague. He felt no hunger. Most of the men were in the same case. Every- thing was wet — no wood for fires — nothing but haversack rations. The situation made him remember how much of his time had been taken up repeating the formula of the orderly officer — *' Any complaints ? " to men who have nothing to complain about. Now he never asked for complaints, and the men never made any. It is puzzling to know what part of our peace training has any relation to war. The fever-stricken officer did not know he had slept, but 264 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. he certainly awoke towards morning with a sense of warmth, comfort and refreshment, and the remembrance of a dream of delicious heavy bed-clothes. It had not been a dream I Very extraordinary — but he felt too "comfy" to rouse himself Close to him was a sentry he had not posted. The gaunt figure strode up and down, breaking the grey sky line of coming day. " Hullo 1 " he called out, " what are you doing without a great-coat ? " And the figure slunk off without reply. The officer rose and unwrapped himself There were one! two! three great-coats over him ! No. 24710 was in white letters on the first coat. "Whose number?" he asked. " Gunner Doyle," said a non-com, for the men were beginning to stir about. " Send him here and the other men the coats belong to," was the officer's order. They were marched up in file along the narrow path. " Look here, men ! You should not do this, 3'ou know ! " Here the officer-manner broke down. " Please don't ever do it again — it is not right." The men took up their coats without reply and waded into the mud to look after their horses. The longest march must have an end, no matter how many drop by the way. " Ha-a-a-lt !" The command long drawn out to prevent a sudden pull or strain on the tired gun-horses, differing from the short, sharp word which arrests the biped soldier. •' Prepare to dismount 1 " " Dismount ! Down props 1 Look to your horses." The tired drivers obeyed somewhat stiffly and languidly, for the long fight against the fever was beginning to tell, and it was the fourth, or periodic, ague day with many. The reports from N.C.O. of sub-divisions had come in as O.K. — all correct — no galled shoulders, etc., for the rainy season, during which the horses' skins are as liable to tear as wet brown paper, was over. The morning was bright and crisp, but the sun was getting hot. THE LONGEST MARCH MUST HAVE AN END. 265 V L " Now, men 1 " said the Lieutenant, assuming a cheerful air, " the last halt before we get into cantonments 1 Polish up everything, trace-links, every strap and buckle, boys I We have l.rid a tough time, but the 'Jhungy Division ' is going to swagger in as if they had come off an Aldershot picnic and their best girls, that they left behind them, were all in the top windows ! Heads up, heels down, Tommy 1 " But the memory of many a Mary Jane, with her pink fresh face, perky little lace cap, and trim figure, saddened the heart of " Tommy." He knew not that she had consoled herself with another Tommy, the ** bobby," or even the baker's boy, else he would have felt more philo- sophic. As it was, the absence of the bright eyes, that would have looked appreciation, made the swagger somewhat of a make-believe. There would be black orbs peeping from heavily veiled faces ; graceful, undulating, bronze ladies with posed water jars, or babies straddled on the swelling hip, but what were these to Tommy ? His heart was heavy for the "girl he left behind him" — the girl who had long since forgotten him. And why not ? Merciful Providence gives us each a forget book in which to write the names of those we love. The Lieutenant sat by the roadside watching, with a pleased and kindly eye, the efforts of his men, while his syce polished the irons and bo.sse.s of his horse appointments. He tried to smoke a mild cigar, for strong tobacco was too much for him now, but it had no taste and he flung it awaj'. The march has been a silent one. There have been no songs, for that mir.strel boy, the ballad-making Bombardier, sleeps far from the sound of the Bells of Bow that chimed over his cradle — the coster-cart his mother watched while his father alternately boozed and beat her. Is she still patiently enduring, or has her rest come too — perhaps by the hand of the brute she once loved ? Her bo}' fills a nameless grave on the banks of an ancient sacred river. The little cross with his name and number, cut by a comrade, was kicked down by a passing Mahomedan fanatic after " Q " had marched. But they remained long enough there to pro- tect it from the four-footed wild beasts, so the material part of him was left to fertilise the wide-spreading mango, which, with its luscious fruit, shaded his grave from the merciless 266 GUNNKR jingo's JUBILKE. sun that killed him. And so he passed into the laboratory of the untired chemist "whodoeth all things well." The neighbouring Fakir says, ** Ram ! Ram I The vital spark of this white man's soul will be used for the Bidgely-ka-tar — the lightning wire which passes above his head — for the obtuse worshipper of a carpenter was not fit to supply a soul for a pig." The furbishing up was completed. Men and horses had enjoyed the short rest. Trumpet sounded. The Lieutenant's foot was in the stirrup. The hot quivering haze that makes the horizon dance began to move slowly round — quicker — quicker — the landscape waltzed, the ground rose and bent the leg he stood on, the dusty road upheaved slowly and struck him on the back of the head. Was it an earthquake ? No ! He had had that experience elsewhere. A doolie was fetched — ah 1 that is comfortable, out of the blinding glare, and that cursed mad waltz of the hot horizon. '* Hung I hung ! hung I " The bearers began their monotonous chant. Blank — blank — blank ! " Had a good Jeep ? Head nice and cool ? " — a voice was asking. He put up his hand. Where are the brown curls that frizzed in spite of military shears? Head shaved ! " Don't put a fellow in the cells I Qui hi 1 " No answer. " Confound that bearer ! " Up jumped Jingo from his bed — and flopped on the earth floor of his tent. " Shure, I knew he'd chate the divil ! Glory be to God I " And old Doyle lifted the helpless Lieutenant on to his bed and then appeared with a basin of broth. He ate it hungrily. •' He'll do," said the doctor, who carne in shortly after, summoned to what was considered a resurrection. " Well, my friend, the last time you were under my hands you owed your life to a native lady's pyjamas ; this time you owe it to that old scamp Doyle, who gave up his big drink on coming into cantonment to look after you. No hospital nurse could have done it better." Convalescence was slow, and the Lieutenant grew im- patient to be about among his men, Iromwhomhe knew he was soon to part, for he had been for some time senior sub on the long list which reaches from Pall Mall to the uttermost ORDERED TO THE HILLS. 267 rth red to ing Lild parts of the earth,* The weather was now cool and bracing. The men having been served out with new bedding had put their old setringieson the horses still picketed in the open. He noticed through the tent chicks that some clothing had fallen oflF the horses, and was being trampled. He got up to draw attention to it. Seeing his old Sergeant he tried to call him by name. He could not remember it — could not recall a single name of those he so intimately knew. He walked out, touched a man, and pointed to the fallen clothing. " Glad to see you out, sir," said the man. The ♦ficer nodded his thanks, walked back to his tent, sat down, put his head in his hands, and sobbed like a child. He was ordered to the hills on sick leave. Doyle packed everything, for his native bearer had left him during his illness. Native servants vary. Some are very faithful, mostly Mahomedans. His bhisti had followed Jingo throughout the campaign. He had found Mokhum sitting by the body of a former master, an Irregular Cavalry officer killed in action. At first he would serve no second master — would go back to his own people — but he turned at last to the Lieutenant and never left him either in sickness or danger, on one occasion bringing up a fresh liorse for his master in action when the fire was so hot that the syce could not be got to face it. Everything was ready, and the Lieutenant partook of his last "chota hazrie"in the lines of *' Q " with a full heart. The men crowded round. Sergeant Douglas brought out a sheet of foolscap, which he handed to the Lieutenant. His eyes glanced over the kindly words, and he felt very proud — more so than if he had sent in his own name for a V.C. and got it. " Thank you. Sergeant," he said, " I understand. But it is not usual in the service for soldiers to give expression to any opinion or feeling regarding their officers. Officers, however, may tell their men, as I tell you, I never want to lead better soldiers." The Lieutenant carefully concealed that document, till he lost it. There was a pause, and then the Sergeant said : He was relieved by a much decorated young sub troni the Crimea (now General Geary, C.B.). 268 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. " About that punishment of Gunner Doyle, sir — couldn't he be recommended for restoration of pension ? " The old man here stepped forward and saluted. " You see, sorr, there's a sintince agin me av deprivaslmn av pinshun, which might be restored for good sarvice afore the inemy, if you'd mention it to the Major. You see, sorr, I've two campaigns, thrutty odd engagemints, includin' Sevastopol and Lucknow, and a wownd to the good. And it was all along of a little girl, sorr, that I desarted, the cray- chur ! I couldn't lave her, sorr, the way she was, and I had married without lave. I was a recruit and knew no better, sorr, and I had to choose 'tween my counthry and my little girl — well, anyways, sorr, I couldn't lave her thin, and we was ordered off, so I desarted, and the Coort Martial sintinced me to be deprived of pinshun or any binifit that might accrue from future sarvice. Av coorse, I know, sorr, they couldn't help it, it's the regulashun — but sorr " " Why didn't you tell me this before ? You have to be clear of regimental entry before being recommended. Your crime for drunkenness under arms has gone in. It is too late, my poor fellow ! But I'll do my best, and I know the Major will also." And the Lieutenant was rattled away in a " dak gharry," with "Good-bye and God bless you, sir 1 " accompanied by a sickly sort of cheer, that had a ring of despondency and make-believe about it. English soldiers cheer when their hearts are heaviest, as the shouts that come from the parting troopship testify. Years afterwards, in the routine of relief, fourteen non- commissioned officers and men, out of the original two hun- dred of "Q" that had embarked for India, landed at Woolwich. Among them was the "Ould Tough" Doyle. The Lieutenant had been promoted to another battery, and *' Q " re-organised into something that did not know itself, nor that anyone else knew. A dirty strip of paper was handed one day to Captain Jingo. It was a request to go and see Gunner Doyle in hospital. He went, expecting to see the last of the *' Ould Tough," but he looked hale and hearty, though somev/hat crestfallen. " AfT ye plaze, sorr, I'm sorry to thrubble yez, but there's a young docthur here has marked me for discharge and I not iwwT— ^aff^ VACCINATION MARKS. 269 coniplated nie twinty-wan years by eighteen months. 'Twas boy sarvice some av it — mebbe afther all they might be givin* me pinshun, aff I put in me twinty-wan complate, and it's all along o' that wownd, sorr. Mebbe ye disremembers. 'Twas that same blackguard, up in the shtaple of the mosque, that knocked ye aff the morther, whin the lady's petticoat came in handy — glory be to God," the old scamp remarked, with a perfectly sober face, appropriate to the piety of his exclama- tion, and concealing his internal enjoyment at chaffing his officer. " I took yer place, sorr, wid the plum-line, and the nixt bullet sthruck me on the shoulder and kim out at me elbow without braking a bone av me. We was being examined for vaccinashun marks, and the docthor, wid a pane av glas in his oye, was mistakin' the bullet mark for a vaccinashun, an' sez to me — 'Where was you vaccinated and who did it ?' 'A sapoy, sorr,' sez Oi, * at Lucknow.* ' Serjeant, take that man's name down for imper- thinance,' sez the docthor, wan of thim new wans he was, that owns no rigimint and no rigimint would own. Ye know the sort, sorr, they're Majors and Giniral'^- now. 'Nooffince, sorr,' sez Oi, * but it's thrue for me, a bullet-mark it is.' * Yes,' sez he, examinin' the place, 'that must ir.terfere with your carryin' a knapsack. I must mark you fr/r discharge.' ' But, sorr,' sez Oi, 'Oi've carried me knapsack nicnya day since — worse luck.' And he walks aft' to the nixt man." The previous Commanding Officer, who was with the battery in the Crimea, and was left wounded at Lucknow,* a man who would worry the War Office for a year, and write a ream of foolscap to get compensation for a soldier's trousers, was not the sort of man to let Doyle's case slide. But he was impotent to save the pension. " Uncle Toby " was not arraigned before the War Office when " the accusing spirit that flew to Heaven's chancel with an old soldier's oath, blushed as she gave it in, and the recording angel dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out for ever." There are, of necessity, in the army many accusing spirits, but no lachrymose recording angels at the War Office to drop a tear and blot out a soldier's crime ! It is easier to reach the ear of an Oriental despot than to influence the machine called a Constitutional Sovereign. What shall be • The late Gtrarnl Ojbbon, C.B. f 270 OUNNFR JINGOS JUBILEE. said of a service that necessitates the forfeiture of a pension which may accrue from future sert'icc for a military offence at the commencement of a soldier's career ? " Leave Hope behind who enter here " was written over the gates of Hell. It might be so for some who enter barrack gates. The Colonel could not save Doyle's pension, but he got him a position as timekeeper in Woolwich Arsenal, which he held till reductions by a Liberal Minister, necessitated his discharge, with that of a crowd of efficient artisans. They emigrated to the United States. When our next small war demanded an increase of war material they were wanted, but were not forthcoming. In our next great war their children will be found to have helped to build up the United States. Doyle swept a crossing, wearing his medals, till a passing War Office clerk, a C.B., in shiny boots, said that to him which made the old soldier go to his garret and put his three medals and five clasps into the fire. The bellows helped to convert them into undistinguishable silver to the value of something under ten shillings. This proved more serviceable to him in his need than the decorations of his Sovereign, whose image and superscription he would not sell. He had before now endured taunts and brickbats in her defence from Fenian fellow- countrymen. Want, and drink when procurable, brought him at last to the workhouse hospital. There he ** slipped away " unobtrusively. The medical students joked over his emaciated carcase in the dissecting room. Where the pieces went, it is hard to trace. They got probably mixed up with the remains of an old pauper Orange-woman from the •' black North." In life they wrangled over their differing creeds and politics — their remains mingle peacefully. The disposal of his remnants would not have troubled the " Ould Tough," but he was a good Catholic, and had the prejudices of his creed and country as regards " dacent Christian burial." Sic transit Gloria I — we cannot say Hie jacet ! 271 CHAI^TER XXV. DAk-Buncalow Urkakfast— Thk Well of Cawnporh-Thh Quality OF Mercy Strained— Thf. Taj— Delhi— New Drills and Old Gum Carriages— A Cropper— Hot Weather Shikar- Zuubbr Kuan — Soldiers' Grievances— Soldiers' Colonies. Dftk-bungalows had been re-established along the Grand Trunk Road, and the traveller, who felt a return of appetite after a comparatively cool night in his palkc; ijharri, asked what he could have for breakfast. " Sub cheese hi ! Kadawan 1 " (There is everything for your highness) said the complaisant ki''^ igar. "Then bring me some curried crocodile." •' < . ireeb purwah ! Croc-croc-crocdile. Nab i, j.ihib — Sepahi logue, sub loot leah. Sub khata hi 1 " (^ Protector of the poor 1 There are no crocodiles. The Sepahi people have looted all — have eaten all) was answered, with folded hands and true Oriental composure. "Biftick?" "Nai, sahib." " Mutton ghosht ? " "Nai, sahib." " Unda ? " (eggs) *' Nai, sahib." And so on ; the inevitable answer being, *' Lieken, moorghi hi, sahib " (there are fowls). And forthwith, while he had his bath. Jingo heard the fluttering chase and death of his breakfast, which was cooked before it had time to get tough. On reaching Cawnpore, there were the ruined entrench- ments, surrendered to the perfidy of Nana Sahib, and the well of ghastly memory, once choked with slaughtered women and children. It has since been surrounded by a beautiful Gothic screen, which softens but cannot obliterate the odious memory. As Jingo stood beside it, he called to mind a certain morning when a small force had been drawn up preparatory to attack. On the left of his guns had stood the remains of the old 32nd, who had formed part of the glorious garrison of Lucknow Residency. The principal element in the re-conquest of India had been the destruction of the tele- graph. Orders could not be senc, and in default Englishmen 11 : 272 GLNXER JINGOS JUBILEE. i I ' I 111 always did the right thing. As soon as the telegraph had been righted, one "the first messages which had been sent by it was to the army ofOudh from that amiable gentleman and scholar, the Governor-General of India, "Clemency Canning," as his detractors called him. It was characteristic — inculcat- ing mercy to the conquered, and finishing with a quotation from Shakespeare — " The quality of mercy, etc." The Brigade-Major had read it to the force, in a flat, monotonous tone, and seemed to bite off the ends of the words. Brown and gaunt, the veteran soldiers of the 32nd had stood with ordered anus. At the conclusion of the dispatch no word had been spoken, but a low growl had rolled down the ranks, and the butts of the rifles were struck with a spasmodic thud upon the ground. The bugle had sounded the advance. That day, the 32nd took no prisoners. Their wives and children helped to fill the well of Cawnpore. To these men was first addressed the message of mercy. People called it the " irony of fate " — a better name might have been invented. The first distant glimpse of the 7t»j at Agra is just a little disappointing, when seen from over the tree tops, the gleaming white dome with its tall candle-like minarets against the clear blue sky. It looks — well, like something good to eat I — the sugared top of Noormahal's bride-cake. It is her grave — the favourite wife of Shah Jehan, the Conqueror. " . . . . the magnificent son of Akbar, As he fled from the triumphs and trophies of war, Preferred, in his heart, the least ringlet that curl'd Down her exquisite neck, to the throne of the world." And yet it was the old story, Othello's — only it ended with a scimitar instead of a bolster. And the Taj is the stony tear of ineffectual remorse he idly shed over his withered *' rose of Kashmir." He sleeps beside her in this, the most exquisite mausoleum of the world, that glistens, white and pure, as it did two hundred years ago. Some one had put fresh flowers on the tomb of Noormahal. There were none on the grave of Shah Jehan. Jingo took a white rose from the lady's garland (she won't miss itl) instead of picking out a little stone from the flowery mosaic of her marble tomb, as some barbarians have DELHI. 73 done. He whistled a few bars of ''The Last Rose of Summer," and startled echc^s floated in a melodious chorus round the lofty dome. Then ^he strains of a well-known waltz were taken up by the invisible choir with still more fantastic effects It was the echo of a military band from a merry pic-nic party dancing in the large mosque on the left- hand side of the Taj. Jingo strolled over. The ladies, so fair and pink (for it was Indian winter), look, to the fever- stricken traveller, like Peris let loose from Paradise. Since the solitary lady at Lucknow, he had not seen white woman- kind — or unkind — for more than a year. He felt tempted to introduce himself and ask for a dance, nor would he have been snubbed, for Anglo-Indians are always genial and hospitable, and just then they were more so, after the past miseries of the Mutiny. In a country where all are pretty much the same jh^t, freedom of intercourse is possible. But our Jingo was dusty and travel-stained, his head was shaved from recent fever, he knew he was an unpicturesque person, so he slunk back to his gharrie and rattled along the dusty road another liundred miles to Delhi. In an early morning walk along the Chandi Chowk, under the shade of its trees, he passed the bloody Chabutra, before the Kutwali, where the murdered bodies of outraged Englishwomen had been exposed, and where, in bloody revenge, lay the last princes of the house of Timour, slain by Hodson in fulfilment of his oath of vengeance. A little further on was an English officer buying bulbuls (nightingales), of whom Jingo inquired where the regimental doctor was to be found, for he felt ill. ** Come and breakfast with me and I'll write him a chit to come over," was the characteristic Anglo-Indian answer. As a natural sequence to a man buying bulbuls, his home was a bower of roses, presided over by a pretty wife. She had been lately married. Her first husband was shot by one of his men at the commencement of the Mutiny, and when it was over, her present husband had been sent to the hills wounded. The widow had dried her tears, nursed, and married him. They were poor, but, to make a proper story-book ending, a native appeared one day and produced the will of her uncle, the Principal of Delhi College, who had been murdered at the outbreak. On the back of the will was written in Dr. Taylor's handwriting — " The bearer of this, by name, whom I have for ■^•; :-n ! r t?4 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. He has forced large amount, a I'llM his He the years befriended, will be my murderer, me to give him all my papers and bills to and 1 know he intends my destruction." The native was arrested, and the notes found concealed in his house. He had come to demand compensation from the Government for injuries inflicted by the rebels, and he had produced the will as a proof of his faithfulness to master, not understanding the purport of the addenda, was convicted of complicity in the murder, and paid penalty, while the will, being in favour of the newly-married niece, put a golden sequel to the love among the roses and bulbuls. They were a very charming pair, and if they were not happy ever afterwards, in true fairy-tale stj-le, they should have been. Latter-day historians often try to overturn contemporary beliefs. It would be p'easant to think that the naturally gentle people of India had not been guilty of the atrocities laid to their charge during the military revolt. No doubt, some of the horrors were exaggerated, but, while the mass of the population was guiltless, or, at the worst, apathetic, unfortunately the bazaar ruffians and some of the mutinous soldiery committed acts that are unwritable. Jingo became acquainted with the President of one of the courts that had been held on mutineers. He told him that during the proceedings he had put aside his revolver lest the temptation to use it should overpower him, in listening to the boastful admissions of men, who, having no hope of escaping death, seemed to glory in the recital of their fiendish atrocities. He had taken notes, and after sentence it was permissible to discuss evidence. Jingo was not an over- sensitive subject, but the perusal of those notes literally made him ill, and can never be thought of without pain. That reprisals were severe is not surprising, but it is to the credit of the British soldier that native women suflered no wrong at his hands. After the wonderful palaces, the site of the Peacock Throne and Imperial tombs, and that marvellous minaret, the Kootub of Delhi, and the massive ruins of pre- Mahomedan conquest, came Umritzur, with golden temple reflected in its sacred tank, the holy book and the sword beside it, which the Goroo inserts between the leaves hap- hazard to find the text to read to his warlike audience — a custom typical of this nation of soldiers. NEW DRILLS AND OLD GUN CARRIAGES. 275 From Umritzur, Lahore, the ancient capital of the Sikh power, was reached, and thence Mooltan, the baked-up city on the borders ot" the desert which stretches down to Scinde. Here, in the cantonments, Captain Jingo found the battery to which he was appointed. It was the cheerful, bright, cold weather of the Punjaub, and the usual kindly greeting of the " Ubique " gunner met him here also. Time passed pleasantly. After a campp'gn comes drill, and the young Captain woke up the new battery to move- ments rather more lively than those on Woolwich Common, and over very much rougher ground ; consequently the old gun-carriages which had been sent out from England, some of them bearing the date of the battle of Waterloo, began to go to pieces, with unfortunate results, *br a couple of poor fellows got badly hurt. Those carriages had been condemned by Boards many — but not replaced, until the}' got beyond sitting upon, either by Boards or gunners. After morning drills there was the Gyiikhana and some- times an impromptu scamper across country to the horse lines, the sub on duty being left to bring home the battery in more sober style. The guard turned out to receive the galloping CO. There was no one to open the gate to the horse lines. The sporting light-weight sub, who was leading, turned in his saddle and shouted : " Oh, blow the gate ! Will you take the wall. Captain ? " And his active chestnut cleared it in splendid style. The Captain felt his heavy Cabul charger was pumped and rolling in his gait ; but he pulled him together, for it would never do to refuse before the guard what the sub had taken. But his charger's forefeet touched the wall, and a somersault resulted. Fortunately, the rider fell clear, for the peaked cantle of the regimental saddle made a hole in the muf:! (ground). Jingo picked himself up and a syce dusted him. The battery filed through the gate in due time, and morning stables were gone through in a hazy fashion by the spilt one, who, when feed was sounded, called his subs to ride home to dinner. It was breakfast time I The celibate gunners lived fraternally in a big bungalow. After that morning's mishap, a stiff hurdle was put across the entrance to their compound, which their horses had to jump before reaching the stable. It was found an excellent device for teaching chargers to i'lmp, in preparation for T — 2 i ..'J ! .1 ;' !.! n lilll |fl| m i I'! 276 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. the hunts with the bobbery pack and the coming station steeplechase. To vary the drills, there was shooting quail, which came in flocks at certain seasons in the cotton khates ; plenty of black partridges in the patches of tall jungle grass ; and sand grouse on the burnt-up plains ; duck by the river and the gheels ; further afield, the ravine deer, a species of gazelle ; black antelope ; and Ubara bustard. The hot season had come round again. Already, the burning breath of the sandy deserts of Scinde had begun to blow from the south. Yet Jingo could not rest all day shut up in a dark bungalow, even with a punkah, and the hot wind tempered by the perfumed kuskus tattie, which the coolie kept wet, until, like his master, he fell asleep, the one with his book dropped from his hand, the other cross-legged, like a new Buddha, holding fhe slackened punkah-rope which, no longer working with mechanical motion, left the room like a darkened Hades. The wrathful sahib woke the outside sleeper with inconsiderate and ill-expressed threats of ven- geance, alas I too often carried out by the feverish European with an enlarged spleen, to the great danger of the native affected with ditto. The soldiers were confined to barracks and longed for the rains, which came not to the desert cantonment of Mooltan that year. An almost asphyxiated soldier goes into the verandah and sees the dun-cloud of a dust storm rolling across tho maidan. Thinks it may be rain, and asks the coolie his opinion. The colloquy was unsatisfactory, and the wretched, dozing coolie receives a dig in the ribs, which nearly causes death. The soldier is brought up before the Commanding Officer. " He was afther stoppin' the punkah and makin' game av me, sur, and I lost me timper. ' Pawnee purt ? ' says I, quite civil like, (does it rain). ' Pawnee purt ? ' says I agin, getting angry. * Gee haw 1 ' says he, as if I was a jackass, "and wid that I hit him a dig. " Unfortunately, the inflection on a sentence makes the difference whether it be a question or an affirmative, and *' gee haw " there meant, " yes, sir," from the poor native, who lied, rather than contradict the ghora logue, with poor results to both, for the soldier had to be severely punished. Jingo preferred the parched plains, with the occasional ZUBBER KHAN. 277 shelter of a clump of palms, and he prolonged his shooting ^ expeditions late into the hot season. One blazing noon, he sat by a mud wall, under the flickering shade of the hot-wind-shaken palms. A native approached and salaamed. He leaned upon a long gun. There was that something which made the men take to each other at once. The manly, frank look about the neatly cut face of the stranger, less dark than usual, with cheek bones shewing Mongul origin, and the curled beard and moustache of the Mahomedan, with his spare, sinewy frame, were indicative of the qualities time shewed him to possess. " Why is not the sahib asleep under a punkah ? " he asked *' Fond of shikar," was the reply. *' But you can shoot nothing with such boots. Take them off, and you shall find shikar." It was done, and leaving his h^rse with the syce. Jingo followed his new, noiseless friend, with bent and aching back, crouching along nullahs, where the hot gravel burnt the soles of his stocking-feet. At last, Zubber Khan, with a sign for caution, pointed to three ravine deer asleep under a bush, about a hundred yards off. The buck, on the right, never rose after Jingo's shot through the heart, nor the doe, on the left, after Zubber Khan's ; the third started, but fell to the second barrel of Jingo's double rifle. The s^'ce, with the pony, came up, and the quarry was carried back to cantonments. Zubber Khan was a non-commissioned officer of Irregular Cavalry, quartered ii the same cantonment. He was a gentleman bj' birth, of Pathan origin, dating from the conquest of Arungzebe. His father was a Zemindar, near Delhi. The two me.i became fast shikar friends and Zubber Khan was entrusted to buy a swift Biccanecr camel for their shikar. Splendid sport they had among the black antelope and Ubara bustard on the plains. The camel would be made to circle until the quarry was within range, for the black buck were accustomed to camels and allowed approach in this fashion. The sahib, riding in rear, would fire from the saddle, or sometimes slide off and walk parallel to the camel's hind legs. They could travel great distances and I if 278 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. yet return to cantonments without long absence, thus dispens- ing with leave ; for, unfortunately, that indulgence was not to be had. Once, on returning from a short leave shooting excursion, Jingo found there had been a row. He was only the second in command, and the discipline was not in his hands. The drills and the horses had been made over to him as his province. With the best intentions the senior acted on the idea, not yet defunct, that the only way to keep the soldier sober was to spend all his money for him. The Queen's regulations authorized certain stoppages for messing, etc.. Calculated on the meagre ration of bread and meat only, as issued in England, where the soldier's pay is made to supply everything else from potatoes to pepper, mustard, salt, sugar, tea, and coffee. That " man cannot live by bread alone," even with the addition of | lb. of meat includiug hone, is an unconsidered inaccuracy in the placards, which proclaim a free ration to the confiding recruit, as well as the delusion of a free kit. In India it was otherwise, because the mild Hindoo, not the British taxpayer, paid. The Indian Government gives literally a free ration. But the English stoppage was continued, and luxurious breakfasts, including Europe hams, were provided for Tommy, who ohucked them out of window and doggedly refused to sigi his accounts. The battery was much married, with and without leave, and the old-fashioned fellows wanted to send all their money to their wives at home. Jingo had pleaded strenuously, but in vain, for them. The Queen's regulations seemed too strong for him and humanity, and Jingo got put under arrest. The men marched to theBriga- dier's quarters, without orders, and stood silently before him, for they knew that soldiers may not address superiors in a body. They were sent back to barracks, and obeyed. The Brigadier ordered that the stoppage for extra rations should cease, and that Captain Jingo's sword should be returned to him with an apology. But his leave was stopped, while his senior was given sick leave so long that he never returned, being promoted in the interim. But the difficulty remained. The men still doggedly declined to sign their accounts for the past month's stoppages. The Captain went to the barracks as usual on muster day, said nothing, handed the men their books, and every man SOLDIERS COLONIES. 279 signed without a word. There were few punishments and no courts-martial that year, and the battery was the best shooting battery of the Brigade. I'he married with leave arrived from England, and there was rejoicing save among the desolate without-leaves. But their sorrows were over sea, and salt-water mercifully solves many ties and troubles. The women and children who did come were verj' helpless in the new land, and strangely un- adaptable to changed conditions, as the English poorer class generally are. The women would walk about with apologies for bonnets and the children persist in playing ** hop-scotch " with the fearful sun blazing on their yellow curls. They were all soon down with fever. What holocausts of beautiful British children — " non Angli sed angeli " — have been and are sacrificed in India during the two centuries we have held it. And we might largely have avoided the sacrifice of Innocents, held India as securely, and been more ready to meet the Muscovite when he shall descend from the slopes of the Hindoo Koosh, had we planted colonies of married officers and soldiers in the valleys of Cashmere and down the long lines of Himalayan frontier, instead of dragging them home as pauper reservists to the slums of our cities. Delhi was mainly re-conquered by the European regiments which swept down fresh from their cantonments in the hills. Henry Lawrence founded a home for soldiers' children in the hills. But that only shows what might have been. IV 28o CHAPTER XXVI. JOTTIN'CIS FROM JiNGO'S JOUKNAL -In THE HiLLS — SiM LA JO YkAKS AOO — Flora and Fauna - Rope Bridge — Kooloo Valley — Polyandry — Rhotl'ng Pass, ij.oooft— Sources of Rivers Beas and Chenah — Wickerwork Uridge — Lahoul Valley — Women -Buddhist Tem- ples—Praying Machines— Moravian Missions. May i8tli, 1861. — Was packed into a doolie and am off to the hills at the recommendation of a Medical Board. Rattled all night over the infamous road, thinking often of the poor fellows in yonder barrack who will have to crawl through si.x months of suffering — many a fine fellow will go on a gun carriage to that little square place in the jungle where I have followed so many ! There they sleep in whole ranks. What an army of martyrs will rise from that lonel}' burying-place among the palms when the last trumpet calls to boot and saddle for the battle of Armageddon ! There are no stones near Mooltan, indeed the great alluvial valleys of Hindostan are, for the most part, singularly devoid of stones. It was aggravating to think one might walk 500 miles and not find a stone to throw at a barking dog. Farewell then, to Mooltan with its three G's — Gurda, Gurumi, and Ghoristan — dust, heat, and sepulchres. Corderoy roads one knows of — did you ever hear of a straw highway ? As there are no stones the road is covered with long jungle grass in bundles, the mail carts soon ress it down, and then it is a pleasant road to ride daks on horseback, but oh 1 the immense holes which are only hidden by the stratum of straw I I thought the roof of my head would fl}' off with the jolting and the heat. Passed Lahore, Jellunder, and Umballa — the hills at last ! I can't describe the feeling of seeing stones and running water. Soon the lower hills rose, only a few hundred feet at first, for it was a misty morning, and the IN THE ini.LS. 281 higher ranges were veiled. How my eyes have ached to see a mountain — anything but the aiid plains and deserts they have too long rested on ! As we rise from Kalka loose low stone walls appear and ticfl/rs — by Jingo ! I fiiiist sting myself for auld lang syne. 1 feel getting stronger hourly. Kussowlic, with jolly, honest, Scotch fir, smelling turpcntiney. I feel drunk with the beauty of those valleys stretching away at my feet. Am never tired of looking by the hour at the shadows and lights chasing each other over their beautiful faces. Simla. My old connade, Warren, as warm-hearted as ever, gave me a cordial welcome to his bungalow. He is just the same as when we used to prowl about the outposts, shooting in (Hidh, except that he has turned Benedict since those days. A pic-nic in the crimson rhododendron forests. A ball, too, and peacocking about. I must leave all this civilisation, it is ratlu;r overpowering, and 1 am not used to it. Simla is pleasant at the time, but apt to leave a bad taste, like sweet champagne. June 1 2th. — Left Simla with little Burnet, who has been photographing capitally. 14th.— Narkunda, 8,480 feet above the sea. Splendid view when the mist clears. The hillsides are covered with wild strawberries, large and full-flavoured, and the air is heavy with the perfume of jasmine, which grows wild every- where. Potatoes grow splendidly in almost virgin soil — labour is only tour annas per diem ! Dark deodar forests — pheasants, somewhat resembling our domestic fowl, onl}' black. What a country to colonize with officer jhat. There, in the valley below, grows the tea, and the Sutlej, a silver thread from here, will float that stately timber to the sea. Forests full of game, rivers teeming with mahrseah. Came the short cut over the mountain, capped with mist like our own Highland grey rocks and glens, all but the heather — "Where fain to be kiss'd through his thin scarf of mist, Benmore to the sun heaves his wet, shining shoulders." June 15th. — Walked down the short cut to Kotegurh, a Moravian Missionary Establishment. The path lay through splendid pine forest. There were all sorts of glorious pheasants in these valleys, goorul or Himalayan chamois, and occasionally bear (but I was not successful). Very !• ^ I' Ml 282 Gt'NNKR JINGOS JCniLEE. hot climbing the hill, and a profusion of wild apricots by the path side. Saw an idol carried in procession. It was in fact a graven image, hut the makers had scarcely transgressed the commandment. The priests carried long horns '* gilt with silver," as Pat says, and when these were exalted the}' gave a long, monotonous, but not unpleasant note, reminding one of tlie " Ranncs des V'aches." Heaven knows why that same •' Rannes des Vaches " should be so appreciated, for, if it is not the original tune the old cow died of, 1 don't know another ! June i/th — Started early, having sent on our servants, tent, etc. Last post-office, last dak bungalow, good-bye civilisation. Wish I felt stronger. Went down a steep and roughish puck dundy to the Sutlej, which is here crossed by a wooden bridge over wild turbid torrent between cliffs — very hot — tropic vegetation. Left the temperate zone of firs, etc., this morning and are among plantains, bananas, and such like. Not a breath of air. Stiff walk up to Dilas, on the top of a high hill — had a delicious showerbath an iiaUircl in a mountain stream. Reached Dilas at I p.m., found our tent on a green knoll above the village. Feel so free, dark- ness creeping on, night wind soughing HtfuUy iip the glen and Happing the ilys of our little tent. It's a wild night and wind and rain have it all their own way. A great grey wolf or hill fox comes prowling down towards u.s, much to my dog's disgust, who growls desperately, but only pursues to a prudent distance. Grey morning breaks, and the clouds come rolling up the mountain valley and enter unbidden into our tent — rain, now drizzling, now pouring. Difficult to rouse natives — poor beggars, the}' look as if they really would be washed out of creation. June 1 8th. — Rain has ceased and the mountains and purple shadows have come out soft and clear. Walked to Chouai, an indefinite sort of village up the hill, where we had some difficulty in getting supplies. The flies are almost maddening here. Shall take my gun and prowl up the hill as 1 hear chukkore (the fire-eater of India, red-leg partridge of France and Africa) calling. This home of the pheasant tribe is certainly favoured with a glorious variety ; there is the Manaul, all gleaming in purple, and gold, and green, he swoops down the khud, positively like a live firework, over the tops of the gigantic deodars into the valley. Shot one dead, and it fell almost an afternoon's walk away, in the FLORA AND tAUNA. 283 valley below. Impian pheasant is, I think, the swell name of this gorgeous bird. Then there is the Argus pheasant, all over white eyes, and a scarlet ruffle round his neck. I'his Argus must be the bird Bishop Hcbcr alludes to, when he talks of . . . '• the bird of thousand dyes, whose plumes the dames of Ava prize." There is also a phea.sant with two long tail feathers, probably the progenitor of our own almost domestic bird, besides heaps of common jungle fowl exactly like our domestic dunghill — the snow pheasant, a purely marked game bird ; the tree partridge, with long crooked claws for holding on to branches ; the ordinary black partridge of the plains ; and woodcock in winter — they don't fly so briskly as our home bird. Of the deer varieties there arc goorul or Himalayan chamois, its horns not curved so much as its Alpine prototype ; the musk-deer, and the kukkur, or barking deer. As for Flora, she has strewn these m(»untains with a lavish hand. Among old friends one finds the despised and scentless dog-violet, a little yellow heartsease, whole acres of wild anemones, tormentilla reptans, Alpine campion, prunella, germander speedwell, varieties of wild geranium, hillsides purple with blue iris ; besides thousands utterly unknown, and others recognised as West Indian favourites and acquaintances. Datura among them. Nearly all the varieties of the Killarney terns, from common bracken to maiden-hair, except perhaps the Desmond, appear to abound. But one looks in vain for the ** wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower." Nature here seems to strive for effect, not to make bouquets nor even pretty parterres, but whole hillsides are gorgeous with similarity of flower and tree, beauty just missed through lack of flow- ing water, till — " the eye falls asleep in the sameness of splendour." Day after day, march after march, find us r^limbing the same hillsides, monotonous in darkling pines and summits lost in mist, the same sort of wild glens, the same sort of huge detached rocks. June 19th. — A thunderstorm last night in the valley below that Byronics would be required to describe. Went to a place called Kote, by a pathway or puck-dundy — a term applicable in many cases to a path something between a sheep-track and a dislocated staircase — down black rocks into a wild glen. On the top of a hill is a Davy-ka-makan. There is the tent of the Tartar turned into a dwelling, the curled eaves, etc. h i ''« I :i! I HI 284 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. June 20th. — Mist and rain, as usual, mountains clothed with scraggy evergreen oak, a little like the cork tree of Spain, though not so pretty and umbrageous. Coming down, the valley to Gibee was more than usually lovely— camping ground by the music of tailing waters, shut in from the mist of the mountains above by the tall pines —the heat will be unpleasant, and the flies — horrible! Shed our sunburnt skins, which peeled ofV to-day. Saw splendid walnut trees, such as one passes when descending into Italy over the Splugen, though there is nothing Swiss Alpine in the scenery, indeed, the perpetual greenery and want of lakes, combined with the monotonous slope of the mountains, forbid a com- parison with the lower Alps. What the eternal snows are like, iioiis vcnviis. June 2 1st. — After leaving Gibcc we entered a new style of country, grassy unwoodcd slopes, and cultivation in those queer little built-up patches peculiar to these hills. Following the course of a rapid stream, now muddy and swollen with the late rains, passed bridges, constructed in the canti-lever style which would delight the modern garrison instructor, and came to Mungalorc, a hot place in the valley. Why do they always consign us to the custody of David Jor , Esq., of Locker celebrity ? For at each halting-place ere is what the natives call a Davy-ka-makaun, or Iclol-house. June 22nd. — At Plack the Tesseel told us that the only bridge was swept away, which meant, at least, eight days' delay, for the only other road is through Kangra, and as B.'s leave is limited we must push on. Pretty little bungalows with lovely views. Such a place to be lazy in for half a lifetime, if one was not tired of it in twenty-four hours. June 24th. — My old friend Zubber Khan arrived. He caught me up by double marches, and reproached me for having left without telling him. June 26th. — Left Plack, where there is nothing to kill. Cool breezes and a beautiful view are all very well as accessories, but . We are going to make a detour by an unfrequented path, crossing the objectionable river (over which the bindges are broken) by a rope of grass, sounds insecure, but no acrobatic performance is intended. June 27th. — There is a filthy grime, a dirty old man of the mountain, who is frightening our lowland niggers into fits, and he tries to take a rise out of me by saying there never was so big a man crossed the rope, and that it may A HOPK BRinr.F. 285 break. He also descants upon the impracticability ot' the patli, whicli lie terms a *' very falling-clown road." On the way wc met a flock of sheep and goats carrying loads. They come over the [)asses to Thihet. Saw the snow nearer and clearer than before, not like a vision of cloudland, as it appears from Simla. It does one's baked-np heart good to see the snow look real. ( )ne can see the rope bridge far below, spanning the lieas like a thread. The river is about 1 50 yards across, and seems to have cut its violent course, by force of its own wild will through adamantine walls that rise nearly perpendicular to a height of seven or eight hundred feet. No pen or pencil could convey the wildness and grandeur of this dark chasm — even H 's sun-pictures fail, for the old orb of day can only illumine .one side even at mid-day, and the apparatus is not large enough to take in the tops of the glorious heights of rock which imjirison the raging river. Not a word can be heard above the roar of the waters, and the rope coolies gesticulate like lunatics to make amends for the deprivation of speech — that exercise which is so dear to every blackskin, the amount of work exactly in inverse proportion to the amount of talk. The rope bridge is composed of eight ropes of grass (rather loosely made, apparently), and each rope is about an inch and a quarter in liamcter. A hollow cylinder of wood, (just a piece of the trunk of a tree, ten inches through, with the centre scooped out), slides over these ropes. To this is attached a sling of grass rope, in which the traveller sits, clutching a short stick which goes over the top of the wooden slide. Ropes are tied round the body and the sling, to prevent an accident in case of giddiness. But this 1 found unnecessary. A lighter rope is made fast to the bottom of the sling. The whole con- cern starts with a rush down the slack of the rope, but is pulled across by jerks after passing the centre. My kit, a swagger- ing fellow, exhibited some reluctance to crossing, and put off the operation until nearly evening. It took a long time crossing, as everything had to be slung separately, and there were no less than twenty-five coolies to be got over. Heaven knows what they carry, for my wardrobe consists of two flannel shooting-shirts, two pairs of flannel knickerbockers, a pair of gaiters, woollen stockings, and boots, my bed, one blanket, and a rezai. I will never again bring Hindostanis to the hills, they can't walk, their roti khanas and uswabs n 11 |:i I'M M I 1 1 5 1 1 li I ill 286 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. (rubbish) are a perpetual nuisance, and the}' become idiotically paralysed in cold and rain. A dinner of Bombay deckchee, containing goat chuccore r.nd bacon. I must shoot for the pot now, as our staple food is goat, and B does not approve the flavour of that animal. June 28th. — Steep ascent next morning to a green summit, where the breeze blew, oh, so fresh I What would they give in Mooltan for such a life-giving air ! From this ridge we can see our last night's camping ground, and to-day's halting place below us, though they say they are ten miles apart. It almost seems one could shy a stone to either — not much in the way of a path up the mountain. As we descend, the Kooloo valley opens before us in a more tranquil style of beauty than anything we leave behind us. The river meanders and makes islands as it goes along, as if it loved to linger there before it goes dashing and foaming with ceaseless roart hrough those glorious gorges to the sea. It has a weary way to wander through the sultry plains of Hindostan. Across those mountains, to the east, lies the Spitti valley. I wonder how they manage marriage settle- ments here, for every lady has many husbands. How very unkind of fate ! when some of the dear girls at home have not got even one. And certainly there can be no comparison in loveliness. I may be prejudiced, but I would sooner have half an English wife, than a hundred of these hideous creatures. But, after all, I am not sure it is a bad arrange- ment, for the husbands who are invested in so recklessly, are not more than fractional men ; the wives are much the stouter, larger, and physically finer, and do all the work in the fields, while the men sit at home, smoke, and mind the babies. The women are not well-featured, and they wear enormous tails of hair (not their own always), twisted round their heads like turbans, while at work. Hair is a capital non- conductor of heat, but it don't look '* handsome " when worn in this style. The wedding-ring is worn in the nose, and they indulge in a profusion of bracelets — the gilt of each husband, I presume, but where are the other wedding-rings worn I wonder ? The husbands are generally brothers ; they don't seem to quarrel, probably haven't enough pluck to fight. On dit the system does not answer, as the population is diminishing in the Spitti district. There are probably economical reasons for this division — of labour can I call it ? for the country can't support a large population. If our RHOrUNG PASS. 287 *' girls of the period" persist in amplifying the folds of their drapery at their present extravagant rate, why, it may come to the same thing, and a lot of fellows hav^e to go shares in the expensive luxury of a wife. Then, what is to become of the surplus commodity ? June 29th. — Bijourah. It is quite a pleasant change to leave the confined gorge>> we have travelled through, and come to the op^n, smiling valley before us, the only one of this character I have seen in these hills. This is a ver}' Brahmin}' place, and consequently full of children. June 30th. — Camping in the valley under some large trees at the foot of an old ruined fort with some tall towers left standing. There are many of these — in fact, all the hoiiacs are built apparentl}' capable of defence, with a slight dash of the Tartaresque, willow-pattern-plate style. July 3rd.— Boorwah, eight miles further on. The valle\' closes by great walls of rock, wild and picturesque, and we see the snow near. My shooting-boots cut my heel, and 1 am trying the mountain sandal made of rice straw rope (twisted soogawn). They are capital for rough walking, but are ditificult to keep on the feet at first. An officer of the Rifle Brigade was killed ibex shooting, and the shikari attributed it to the \voaring of boots. Rice has been culti- vated all along the valley to this point — here it ceases, as we get ;;ear the s.iow. July 4th - From Boorwah a gradual ascent of the Rhotung Pass (1 3,000 feet) begins, and after some distance the path becomes something between a young cascade and an insane staircase of unlimited length. Scenery extremely fantastic, an infinite variety of beautiful waterfalls — one in particular I should select if 1 were to become Undine, it seems to come from cloudland to lose itself in spray. What a quaint wa\ coolies have of regularly blowing oft' steam. This is a severe pull for them, as they can't obtain substitutes at Murra, which is only a collection of a few stones on the summit of the pass. We crossed a small glacier The eternal snow about here is extremely dirty. After passing the stones on the top of the Rhotung the scenery becomes very wild, no trees, etc. This ground is a fc'vi|OTJR{\H 1. .. !■! V:'\ i 288 GUNNKR JINGO S JUBILEE. watershed between two large rivers. We arc at the source of the Beas, which we have followed for miles, until here it rises from a hundred little rivulets of melted snow that run from the glaciers. The Chen^b rushes down the other side of the Pass — I wonder why it is so wild to get on, I would stay and linger here if I were the river god — he does not know what dreary leagues of sand lie before him ! We crossed here at the foot of the pass by a bridge of most peculiar construction — three ropes of twisted brushwood, each about an inch and a half in diameter, support the footway, which consists of small hurdles about a foot wide laid upon three ropes, a parapet about two and a half feet high is formed also of brushwood ropes, and the whole swings about somewhat unpleasantl}', particularly so to 13 *s kitmugar, who sat down about half-way, and could not be induced to stir. The poor old fellow had quite lost his head, but another man came behind him, and got him along somehow. We are now in the valley of Lahoul ; Koksur, a collection of a few mud huts, contains Mongul-lcoking men, with extensive cheek-bones, quite dififerent in character trom the Caucasian people on the other side. The whole village seemed drunk and riotous — they distil a liquor from barley not unlike whiskey. The women wear a most peculiar costume, dark- coloured instead of the all-pervading Karkee of Kooloo, with a diminutive silver bread-basket-looking thing, only a little larger than a rupee, stuck on the top of the head. They all wear chatelaines with chains down their backs, and what appears to be a young warming-pan attached, the use of which I can't conceive. Their hair is rather well got up, with huge turquoise ornaments, and some of them are almost pretty. Poor things ! t'ley are better than they look, for when nothing would induce our Kooloo men to carry the baggage the ne.xt day, those dear little women with warming-pans whipped it up and bore it oft". B 's native gallantry was shocked at the idea of the gentle beings becoming beasts of burden, and at tirst resisted their solicita- tions to be permitted to act as porters. They have none of the habits of seclusion practised by Hindoo women, which are borrowed from the Moslems, for they came and crowded round our tents while we were dressing — partly from curiosity (B thinks a good deal from feelings of admiration), but really to secure light things to carry. July 5th. — Both of us seedy from drinking snow water. I'KAYINO MACHINKS. 2.S9 B , I fear, is going to have a touch of ague and tevcf — our tent has never heen dry since we started, and it lias rained more or less every da}' — Reached Sissoo. July 6th. — Rode to Goondla, lO miles, then on to Kardung, another I2. Scenery along the road wild and grand, snow and rock, Alp piled on Alp. At Goondla, Danioda Chund, a wealthy individual, was very civil. Change coolies on double marches. Buddhists in this valley— temple by the side of the rock, and for the first time saw one of those windmill praying machines. A hollow cylinder with wings attached to it revolves on the principle of a windmill. The cylinder is filled with written prayers. Each revolution counts as a prayer. But the sinner in Thibet, as elsewhere, sometimes finds it difficult to rais*. the wind — some praying mills are worked by water in the streams that run from the perpetual snows. The hotter the weather the more snow melts — are people wickeder in hot than in cold weather ? Byron says : "What men call gallantry and gods adultery, is much more common when the climate's sultry." It really is a neat style of attempting to cheat Omniscience. If sermons could be thus turned off. Gospel-grinding on these lines would be economical. Innumerable stones, rudely carved with prayers, are stuck up like cairns. The missionaries tell me that the sentence so often carved on these stones are the syllables : " O ! man i Pat Mahoon ! " (Oh ! thou jewel in the lotos, O ! ) Is it an allusion to the eternal Irishman ? There are three Moravian missionaries in the valley — singular people, they have never made a convert, nor are ever likely to, as they can't afford to buy one. They sent home to Germany for three wives — girls they had never seen came out, quite promiscuous-like, " this side up with care," and were con- signed to an agent in Bombay, and one missionary went down to meet the consignment. They tossed up which was for which ; he married one and brought up the two others. They live harmoniously, as if they had married each other all round. We did not find out which belonged to which, for they talked about "our wives." They have one child among them, and ill seemed to take such an interest in it that it might be p^X of the joint-stock company. Tara Chund, head man at Kardung, tells us that there is no road to u li ■ V', I i il': I • h 290 GUNNER jingo's JUBTLEF. Kashmir by Kishtowar, beyond Trilograth, the great place of Hindoo pilgrimage— missionaries also say we can get neither coohes nor food in that direction, as they never heard of any- one going that way. B returns to Simla to-morrow I shall push on to Leh, capital of Ladak. There are nine marches of perpetual snow, without a village, so all food, wood etc must be taken with us on coolies. ' * 3 III 291 CHAPTER XXVII. Alone — Yaks —Lamas— Ladak Tea — Tartar Tents — Ibex — Pigtailed Shikaris — Bara Lacha Pass — Sing Kung La Pass, 17,000 Feet — Ladies' Coiffure — Bewildered Guide — ^Glaciers — Ladakis (Male AND Female) — Babies Few — Karjuk — " O ! Man i Pat Mahoon " — Lost Coolies — Watershed — Char — Sale ok Kashmir — The Rajah's Rapacity — Willow Pattern Plate Country. July 7th. — Sunday. I miss B dreadfully. Consoled myself by taking the locks of my guns to pieces and cleaning them. They were in a fearful state of rust from perpetual rain anddamp. Made more enquiries of Tara Chund, who though dirty and diminutive in person, is nevertheless a wellin formed good-natured fellow, and he assures me I shall get splendid shooting to the west of the Ladak road, and none in the direction of Leh. Shall, therefore, cross the Bara Lacha mountains into Ladak, and strike westward for Kashmir. Saw the old red-billed Cornish chough in great numbers. Yaks for the first time, the quaintest thing in cows ; they have long hairy wool and bushy tails, finer and thicker than horses. Here ye are, my Buffon I The shepherds of the Lahoul country wear the old original fool's cap and a long rope twisted round their waists to go down cliffs with. Noticed a comet, large and clear, at the foot of the Rhotung Pass, due north, and close to the nose of the Great Bear. July 8th. — Marched to Kulung ; fine clear day, and cool breeze blowing from the snow. Saw a live Lama. He wore a red robe (the sacred colour) and was, without doubt, the dirtiest emanation of the Deity I ever set eyes on. Tara Chund came with us to Darcha. He owns the country from Koksur to Darcha. Is descended from an old Rajpoot family u— 2 292 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. II If who came from Bengal in the days when the Lahoul valley paid tribute to the Chinese Empire. The valley revolted, and with the assistance of the Rajah of Kooloo, beat off the Chinese troops. Subseque itly, the ancestor of Tara Chund, a wily Bengalee, made himself useful in arranging a treaty with the Chinese, or rather Tartars, who abandoned the valley. For these services he received his present Jaghire, and his family a;e employed to this day on the frontier sett- ling disputes between the Kooloomen and the Tartars from Thibet, who come to traffic at the foot of the Bara Lacha Pass. On arrival, T. C. brought an enormous brazen tea-pot, and an attendant dirty Lama poured out a very refreshing cup of tea, made in a peculiar way, ofa reddish colour, like cocoa. It had milk, sugar, and butter in it, and was very good. He also brought me some excellent apricot whiskey. They make a respectable, but weak, whiskey from barley. Next morning he sent me the same Gampish teapot, containing tea made after the custom of the country, with butter and salt. That was too much. I drank a little for civility sake, but it nearly made me ill. T. C. says I must take six da^ -' provisions and firewood for self and coolies. Saw them measuring out the evMasting ghee, haggling as usual over seers, kutcha and pucca. There stands my sleek Hindoo bearer, who looks upon me and all my race as unclean. Look at the filthy fingeris of the hillman who is measuring out ghee for the cleanly Hindoo — now and again he cleanses his hands by giving them a rub in his abominable hair, and then ?ets to work ramming the solidified ghee with his hands into small chatties for my pure-feeding friend. — The homely old dandelion makes its appearance in these valleys, but still no daisy on the close velvety turf. Holly, ivy, and mistletoe grow in the lower valleys —but where are the pretty girls ? This is a tantalising arrangement. July 9th. — Reached Darcha very early — only a short distance from Koolung. On dit, there is another case of bridge broken, this time a bridge of ice over a torrent, which can't be repaired until next winter. Suppose I shan't see a white face for a month to come, nor village, nor house for six days. Pig-tails positively ! Sketched two men from the neighbourhood of Lassa where the grand Lama hangs out — most picturesque and Tartaresque, but difficult to pourtray faithfully from a general vagueness of feature, a want of nasal development peculiar to the Chinese and Tartar, as if \V( PIGTAILED SlilKARIS. 293 nature had been in a sketchy humour and left them unfinished. July 1 2th. — Reached Pul-um-00, a place, if such can be called a place, which boasts no local habitation, yet has a name. It is a camp of nomadic Tartars who live in small black tents made of goats' hair blankets. Thej' gave me some delicious milk. Crossed to their camp over a most extraordinary chasm with the wildest of torrents beneath spanned b}' a rainbow of foam. The overhanging rocks nearh' met above and were joined bj' two pieces of timber — such fantastic freaks of nature I have never seen before. Went on about four miles beyond this camp and was brought up short by another torrent, utterlj' bridgeless and wild. Could have crossed mj'self and then sat on the other side and looked at my coolies who declined the passage. They told me that the river was swollen by the melting of the snow during the heat of the da}-, and that after the night chill it would be fordable at day-break. Camped. Hearing that ibe.N occasionally frequented the mountain above, I started about 3 a.m., with young Hari Chund, son of Tara, and heir presumptive, good-looking chap with extensive eyes, and earrings about three inches in diameter, set with pearls and turquoises, and two wild Tartar shikaris who sported pigtails and matchlocks, and the Chinese sort of shoe one sees in pictures. There was, to me, something ludicrous about the idea of going shooting with pigtails. Wo saw five ibex, but unfortunately came upon them to wind- v.'ard, which, of course, the}' would not stand. Ibex shooting is supposed to be the most difficult and dangerous sport ; every year there are victims. Poor MN'ers, of the Rifle Brigade, was killed this season in the Kooloo country. He fell down a precipice, and Nichols, of his regiment, whom we met at Phago, recovered his body. — Tried to get above the ibex, without success. The best chance of a shot is from above, as they look out below. Spring is the season for ibex shooting, before the snows have melted ; after that they go off to inacces sible regions, .so I haven't a ghost of a chance. My pigtail friends tell me that having once sniffed the tainted air of the hunter, they won't come near these parts for a month, so I must try my luck elsewhere. Saw some half-dozen broods of snow pheasants with their mas, the largest and gamiest-looking of the pheasant tribe — caught a young one. There are constant sunshine showers among these mountains, and yet no rain- .'U' H If 294 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. bow, except in the t'oam of a waterfall. I almost live on chuccore, a fine bird — generally pot a brace on the march, as there are plenty here. Wonder if they are the same as the partridge one used to shoot in North Africa and eat with kus-kusoo ? The plumage, as far as I can recollect, is the same, but the Himalayan bird is Hner, the natives call him the fire-eater and say he eats red-hot coals — the diet keeps him in fine flesh. I can't understand these fellows' lingo, and have to do double-distilled translation — English, Hindostani — and their language, whatever it is, seems to consist chiefly of chee-chees and chung-chings. July 1 2th. — Natives told truth for once. The torrent was wadeable this morning, no snow having melted durii. , the night. Passed the stream over which the ice-bridge (as they termed a small glacier) had given wa}'. It is really unpleasant to see these poor hillwomen carrying loads, and they work much more cheerfully than their abominable male relatives, who never dream of assisting the poor things in any difficulty. Wading across the last stream, which was the worst, 1 took care of one coolie lady — not the youngest and best looking, nor the one who shewed her pretty, fat little legs ; it was the oldest and nastiest for whom I preux chevalier, and she was not an atom grateful, I saved her a old thing, worse. We are impossible though did the good ducking, if no Sing-kung-la. (It is these Chinese names The hills on each side entering the pass of to write or remember without dividing them into syllables.) close in walls of granite capped with perp-^tual snow, which has glided down in a glacier to the very bottom of the valley. It is covered by a debris of stones, etc., the thickness varying from inches to feet, and the stream in man}' places runs below. These violent rivers roll along great stones with a noise like thunder. Indeed, '* the sound of many waters " is ever in my ears, for we generally follow the course of a torrent. Crossing the pass this evening, came across a group of Ladakis sitting under a rock, drinking red tea, with the addition of butter and salt, out of a huge pot. The beverage was dispensed by a man, though there were several ladies present, whose coiffure was peculiar, consisting of a combination of dirt, turquoises, silver, and sheepskin. — It is with difficulty I can get my coolies to take even the short marches they do. I could go double the V nFWILDERKD OUIDE. 295 ?Bs^:: length myself, but cui bono ? They carr}' from 30 to 40 lbs. weight, poor beggars ! I rtnd even my ritle and shooting belt with ammunition, etc., make some difference at the end of a long day's march in these mountains, ave not passed through so bare, so wild, so utterly desolate a country. My dirty old Lama divinity parted om me this morning with many signs of gratitude, gave him backsheesh the day I sketched his godship, d he has made himself generally useful ever since, s no milk, wood, nor food of any sort are procurable the ne.xt few marches I bring them all with me, e.xcept the first, which is supplied by a couple of milch goats that accompany me. These hill people are singularly fond of flowers, and the wildest of them, the men in particular, wear a llowcr in their caps. Flora festoons the very skirts of eternal snow. — The voices of women are almost in- .__^ variably soft and sweet, no matter what semi- civilized tongue they speak in (excluding Billingsgate ladies). Even the laughter and soft chatter of these poor Tartar things as they prepare their food after marching is not unmusical. July 13th. — The descent from the Rumjuk valley was gradual, but unpleasant, owing to the loose sharp fragments of rock, etc. Had to cross numerous icy-cold streams. The summit of the pass, snow, nothing but snow and cloud, and needle-like masses of black rock projecting here and there. A snowstorm came on while we were on the summit, and we could not see 20 yards before us. The guide seemed quite bewildered, said he had lost his way, and wanted to sit down in the snow and wait until the storm blew over. This was impossible, so I pelted him with pieces of ice till I made him move on, like the peeler and poor "Jo" — " move on, move on, it's alius move on ! " He was a native of the hills, but a poor creature, like most of them. It was bitterly cold and my Hindostanis seemed stupefied. They complained of pain in the head, and 1 rubbed their noses with snow, telling them it was the custom of my country and a certain cure tor headache. The treatment acted like a charm. I felt uneas}' lest some of them should lie down, and if they did, the chances are they would never rise again from that rest. Felt the cold myself, tor I had nothing on but a flannel shirt, long stockings and knickerbockers, and my ■': I IP: it 296 GUNNKR JINGOS JUBILKF, fingers seemed frozen round the rifle I carried. Nor was it wonderful, considering the height, 17,000ft., 3,000 higher than Mt. Blanc, the diflference of temperature, of course, due to latitude. It is really curious how stupid and indifferent natives become from cold. One coolie persisted in wandci-ing away from the rest, and I had to go after him myself and bring him back, after a great expenditure of shouting and abuse, to which he was as utterly indifferent as he was to his safety. The snow was firm and sound and after some time we came upon tracks of some of our people who had gone ahead under the guidance of a Fartaresque goat-herd, who was really a fine sharp fellow. — As these mountains arc in the Tropics, all unsound snow appears to melt during the Summer and fresh snow rarely falls until late in the Autumn, consequently, one does not see the fearful crevasses which render crossing the Alpine snows so dangerous, especially when concealed by a fresh fall, as they often are. Then glaciers bring down on their surface an imjncnse amount of rock debris which renders them easy to cross. The mountains, when not graiite or hornblende, are generally of some species of black mica slate, very friable, particularly under the changes of intense cold and tropic sun to which they arc subjected, consequently one often sees a sort of sandwich, a layer of 50 feet — thick ice between two slices of rocky debris. At the foot of the pass, as we came down, we found ourselves in the Ladak countr}'. On that patch of brilliant green is a flock of queer little mares feeding (this is entirely pastoral f^ountry), and a fine Ladaki keeps a vague look-out after the wild little beasts. He wears a picturesque cap, hanging over one side, similar to the Catalan peasantry, only the colour is not red. He caught a mare for me to cross the stream upon, and showed all his white teeth as I caught the rope he had twisted round her jaw and vaulted on to her back. He is altogether the finest fellow I have seen for a long time, and if he only washed himself would be as fair as I am, though that is not saying much, for between sun and wind and rain I am about as dark as a well- coloured meerschaum. Looking down this valley of Karjuk there is a long line of red, warm-looking hills, a contrast to the cold grey ones we leave behind. Here the coolies indulged in tea, and I walked up the valley. We came upon another Ladaki camp, consisting of the same black LADAKIS : MALE AND FEMALE. 297 blanket sort of tent, with a hole in the top for chimney. Window ventilators I don't 'nuigine they desire, for the cold in winter must be intense, judging from what it is now in July. Some men, as we approached, ran up the mountain like wild animals, evidently afraid of us, but the ladies of the camp came out to meet us, and were remarkably civil and hospitable, spreading a sheepskin for me to sit on, and otVered fresh mijk, curds and a sort of paste, looking like a mixture of flour and curds. The milk was delicious — yak milk, 1 suppose, for the herds about consisted only of yak mares and sheep. The whole picture was most novel. The yak has great chowries, or immense tufts of silky black hair, one for his tail, one for each haunch, and one on each flank, or, rather, just under the girth, and a mass of mane or hair all over his head. lie seems to be a singular, but most useful beast, for lie carries burdens, gives milk and wool and beef too, t)nly 1 expect he is too i^rccious to eat. His tail is much valued in Ilindostan, where they are sold for as much as ten rupees, to make chowries or lly- flapper affairs. The women of these ncMuadic people were as curious as their cattle. Their dress is really pretty and lively in colour (and in other respects too, probably), but they them- selves are so fearfully and wonderfully made, so utterly plain. They have great, broad, ileshy faces, with large pieces of meat for cheeks, and yet withal, a good-natured kind expression. One old woman was more terribly ugly than a blear- eyed nightmare. She was a labyrinth of wrinkles, without form and void of feature. All people who live much in the open air get wrinkled early, from involuntarily screwing up their eyes and features in the glare of the sun, or when expo.sed to wind and rain. Her dress was exactly the same as that of the young girls — a fault not unknown in other lands. The Ladaki women wear a cap resembling the old broad blue bonnet of Scotland, set jauntily on one side, only it is black. The coiffure, as usual, consists of coarse conmion tuiquoise, red coral-like beads, sheepskin, and last but not least, dirt. Round their throats they have a thing like a small horse-collar covered with the all-pervading dirt and red ill : ■' I i i 298 urNNKR JINfKVs jmiLEK. i liiacis, ami occasionally a Russian coin* for ornament ; for wainitli, a sheepskin (the woolly side in, after Mr. O'Lynn's fashion) thrown over the shoulders, a dirt-coloured upper gar- ment, and a jictticoat of strips of different coloured cloth, each strip about six inches wide, sewn longitudinally together. The colours are red, yellow, black, and dark green, the whole sobered and rendered pic- turesque by dirt. Be it understood that lilth in every case enters largely into the composition of all pictures in Ladak. What would Murillo have; done but for dirt in the pictures of his brown Spanish boy, John the Baptist, and his equally brown monks ? Ihese Ladak ladies wear a species of shape- less Chinese stocking boot which gives them the appearance of being elephant- footed. Whether they are so or not re- mains to be seen. They dispense with crinoline, but, being naturally stout little parties, do not appear limp. Babies are evidently not one of the staple manufactures of the country, for I see few. Perhaps they 'herd with the goats in the higher pastures. In the evening I reached Karjuk, a very few hovels, a great number of Mausoleums, anc' piles of lor -^ stone praying walls, bu'lt up with carved stones covered witi. the ceaseless allusion to "^''r. Patrick Mahoon. Everywhere ^*x©Ric '' I •Thirty years have passed, aiui the pau .'iperial (icfenceby large maps and catch phrases about " Mervoiisiiess " and " Masterly . 'ivity " is afjaiii in the ascendant . The i;nnlish people are always ready for doses of So "'MK syrup — Mrs. Winslow's or any other old woman's. A distinKnislied General, throngi. the " Times," October 29th, 1892, assures ns that ' in a military point of view, and so far as India is concerned, it is evidei\t the conntry of the Pamirs may be left out of acconnt as a possible base of operations. AnioM^st the many invasions of India which occnrred in ages gone by there is no record of any attempt having ever been made from that quarter." I am not sufficiently versed in Indian History to say there is no such record, but there is very strong tradition among the natives of that region that in times past ca . iVy invaders came from the north into Kashmir, corroborating the tradition received by Zi-b'u r Kh-.n from his forebears. He could trace hi.s ancestors to the time of the couqm -t • ;'. ■imgzebe, and he assured me that an in- vading force of Central .\sian cavalry had de^c. nded into India by the passes in the north of I.adak, and through Kashmir. Sir George Malleson informs us th.i; I'l •jSGAkbar Khan sent an army " to conquer Kashmir. His force consisted chiefl;. oi c .airy, and although he did not certainly enter Kashmir by way of the Pamirs, he invaded it through the most northern pass, and con- quered it." It is not pretended that Turkoman cavalry selected passes 17,000 feet hig , when there are iniunnerable others of less altitude, any more than it is expected that the Russians have '■elected the Pamirs as a jumping offplace. Mountain heights are only valuable in military operations, because they command the passes that wind about their feet. In that charm- ing book, " Where Three Empires meet," a man who is more of a soldier than many who wear uniform, tells us how the Cossack has already descended the Hindoo Koosh into terri- tory once under our influence. Hut we do not wish to see, and are preparing, only — to turn the other cheek. "o! MAN I PAT MAIIOON." »99 it is (like the nose at Lucknow) a mystic sym- bol— V.O.V.—" () ! man i pat mahoon."* As feared, two coolies are not forthcoming, lost their way in the snow and one of them was carrying the poles of our little paul tents. Bitterly cold, no tent, no dinner, for the other missing coolie carried the kitchen on his hack. \ Was glad to oreep into one of the miserable hovels I had cleared out, and fall asleep after a severe day's work. My kit awoke me, having manai'^f-d to cook some pigeons I had shot on the road (thcie was no road) as we came along. After dinner and pipe I wouldn't have called the Queen my uncle. Sent back some men to look after the missing coolies, who turned up about the middle of the next day, considerably bruised and utterly done, having fallen and lost themselves and my tent bamboos in the snow. They are only five feet long and light. The beggar had not much to carry. Waiting for new ones and for the arrival of the kitchen detained me till the afternoon. The inhabitants of the place are civil and I got with difficulty a couple of sticks for my tent, for nothing grows in this valley above a foot high. It must be un- commonly cold in winter here, for even now the men are all clothed warmly, in July. Some of them wear long sheepskin coats, woolly side in. Their hovels have no windows but " A hole in the roof and all complate. Through which the smoke most gracefully doth retrate." The men smoke long, thin, iron pipes (not bubble bubbles). These appear their chief characteristics, combined with the attribute of being much more civil and obliging than the people in the territory under British raj. July 14th. — Remained most of the day at Karjuk, and in the afternr»on made tracks up the valley, about 7 miles, ^f^-s^ • Any one who served through the Mutiny canip-iign will remember the bird-like profile of a well-known officer, which appeared as by niayic traced by mysterious hands upon the walls of every dak bungalow alon^ the Grand Trunk road, on the marble walls of the Peacock Throne Room at Delhi, on the palaces of Oudh, on moscpie an ' temple, it met the eyesof the advancing troops. ICven Sir Colin Campbell is said to have recoiled with an astonished "damn," ashe fought his way into the Residency, and recoRuized the enormous nose with nothing of a chin delineated among the holes of nnisket balls that pitte- ^he hills, and of course scare the game. So after an un si-ccessful ramble returned to camp, shooting a marmot. August 4th, Sunday. — Returned to Cumber and the ser- vants. Went on to Murrug, three miles off. Found my bearer cleaning his kitchen range, he carries about pots and pans enough for a Battery mess. Ordered him to send I i T I 312 GUNNKR JINGOS JUBILEE. me a dozen pairs of grass shoes up the hill, he sent me one pair only and too small, so I cut my feet to pieces and nearly broke my neck as I had to wear English shoes. August 5th. — Left camp, etc., at Murrug, and went up the mountain. Saw three bara singa (stags) a long way off. Cold, hail, rain, mist. Slept on the mountain. It is no use trying to shoot here in the rainy season, was told so before, believe it now. They say the bears go down to eat the fruit in the valley, and the ibex go off to the highest peaks, where one may sometimes see the scimitar-shaped horn against the blue sky line. They are only to be got in the colder months till April or May. When the snows drive them down they are less wideawake. August 7th.- -Took a long prowl over the mountains, saw eight ibex (very wild) and a large red bear. After a long stalk :5onielhing alarmed him and he went off. Came down a .'hort crt, precipitous rather, and found myself towards dusk, in the woods above Cumber village. Went on to camp, etc., at Murrug. 8th. — Moved camp to Busman, and made arrangements for supplies for my coolies as I am off to Seranugger, over the mountain, not by the usual track through the valley. ^' villages on the way, servants and impedimenta go lower road to Chittur. Zubber Khan and my kitmugar wiiu me. The shikarees tell me if I sacrifice a sheep to the Almighty and distribute the flesh to the poor I shj.ll be sure of fine weather and sport. They, themselves, are of course the poor alluded to, and I am perfectly well aware whose are the sheep upon all the liills, and I don't expect to make a bunderbust with him to give me bears for sheep. Neverthe- less I give the sheep. It may make the shikarees more lively and work better. 9th. — Up mountain above Busman and walked all day without seeing anything, except a small black snake, very poisonous, the second I have killed. Not pleasant walking in the long grass in sandals and stockings. This bad sport is disheartening. The shikarees say I have been where no other sahib has been — perhaps they lie, but I know I have walked from the snows to the valleys day after day without a shot. No one could work harder, but this is not the right tinij of year. loth. — Harwut Camp. Saw three bears. Went to wind- BEAR SHOOTING. 3'3 ward of one. He was off at once. Got a shot afterwards at another, not so large as the fnst which was as big as a cow. Fired at about I20 yards, ball hit him fair behind the shoulder, seemed to stagger him, but he made off. Zubber Khan then fired, striking him in the thigh, yet he still made down the hill for the jungle, with me after him as sharp as possible. He halted in some rocks and bush and 1 got below him to cut off his further retreat although the shikarees advised me not, as a wounded bear generally charges down hill. Went up to about lo yards of where he was, but could not see him for jungle, though the bushes shook as he came straight towards me. Rearing on his hind legs his great woolly head appeared above the bushes about two yards off. I let him have the left barrel fair in the centre of the horse-shoe on his chest, when he growled, rolled over, and shuffled off in another direction. " Shahbash," from the faithful Zubber Khan showed me that he was at my elbow in case I had missed. After loading I followed and fired the two barrels without effect, apparently, which astonished me. At last I got within 30 yards and determined to try a head ^hot. Hit him half an inch below the eye, which dropped him at once. To my surprise found he had been hit no less than si.x times before he fell. One ball had gone clean through the shoulders, another just behind them, a third through the chest, yet he did not fall until the last pierced his brain. (N.B. — Shall make a memo, not to go at a bear from below for I see the effect of even well placed balls is uncertain).* He had a tolerable amount of grease though not a very good skin. Feel very koosh after skinning my first bear. A thunder- storm after getting to camp — didn't we eat a breakfast I About one o'clock it was. Have been lucky enough to get a brick of Thibet tea, not very good, but most acceptable to poor beggars who have nothing to drink but snow-water. Still feel very .seedy, but shan't go into Seranugger empty- handed. Iith. — The sight of a big brown she-bear with two nearly full-grown cubs, made me forget my ailments. After a successful stalk leeward, fired, and hit behind the shoulder, but the ball entered about four inches too far back, so she went off with a roar. Told Zubber Khan to look after the I' '.I' l.,l\ I I 11 !; it « ' My rifle had a round bullet, which had to be rammed down with a mallet. .. 1 314 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. cubs, but they looked after themselves, and he could not get a shot, so he turned attention to the old 'un, and hit her in the flank. After following, we traced her under a large rock. Suddenly she sprang out, let a roar within a few feet of us, and dashed off like greased electricity, though she was bloody from shoulder to flank. Am ashamed to say we both missed her. My footing was insecure, I slipped, fell backwards, and let off my rifle in a vague way. As i knew the bear was badly hit, and could not finally escape, followed her tracks an immense distance, all day in fact, until she got right into the valley jungle. Had almost given up, when a horrid yell from my shikari, Kurream, and a roar from old Bruin made me think the former was a gone coon. Found all serene, except hj was in a mortal funk. He was lying on his face. The bear had taken an extensive sample oi' the voluminous folds of his nether garment, making a sanguinary scratchwork pattern on the brown skin. Can only account for his escape by the extreme rottenness of his trousers. He had fired at her with my double rifle, and missed her. The jungle was so thick here one could not see far. We tracked Bruin into some bushes on the edge of a most awful precipice, indeed, the whole of the g'ound we liad come over in the latter part of the pursuit was such as 1 should be sorry to retrace at speed in cooler moments ; gave iier the coup dc grace from the small American pea rifle. Could just see the points of her ears through the bush. The back of her head was towards me at about lOO yards, and the small bullet struck her fair between the ears, dropping her dead. The body rolled a few feet down the hfll, over the edge of the precipice, and then went a most tremendous smash, 400 feet I should say, into the torrent below, where she rebounded with a loud thud, I fear to say how high, but I really think ten feet into the air. Saw her the whole waj down, bounding .Vom rock lo rock in a most extraordinary fashion. It gave one a fair idea of one's fall should the foot slip in such a place. Got down with some difficulty, and found not a bone broken, except the skull, which was smashed The bones of the animal enormous, and the muscular develop- ment of the fore-arm (corresponding very much with that of man) magnificent; splendio skin, hair half a foot long. Seldom underwent such fatigue as in this hunt. Had no breakfast, only a cup of tea before daybreak at star'-ng. /^ MARTUND RUINS. 315 nothing but a liitle snow-water passed my lips since. Felt utterly exhausted sitting by the dead bear, thought reaching camp (sent on 10 miles) utterly impossible. Coolit with our breakfast of hard boiled eggs, chupatties, and bottle of cold tea, was left far behind, and never put in appearance until we reached Zug Murrug at nightfall. How glad we were to see the glimmer of the camp fire 1 (N.B. — Never go shoot- ing in the rains without brandy). Zubber Khan's pluck enables him to undergo fatigue and harusi>hip in a wonderful way for a Hindostani. August 1 2th. — Saw two bears up hill, too seedy to follow them. Eat opium pills, don't do much good. The faithful Zubber says 1 must go and lay up at Seranugger, hills and bears can wait. Coolies, too, have nothing to eat, so we must make tracks for t.ie valley. They say the bear killed is a very old one, used to hunt the shepherds and occasion- ally eat sheep. The b'^ck bear is rarely carniverous, living largely on mulberries, etc. The brown bear at the beginning of winter, before hibernating, likes a meat meal or two, be it the liver of an elderly lady or a tender lambkin. August 13th. — Went down to Chittur, roughish road in one part. Muchtah Shikari lives there by the Hereball Mountain. Dirty, wet place at this time of year, though lovely, walnut trees, etc. Rained tremendously all night and day. Bottom of the valley under rice cultivation. Went into the top storey of a house to sleep, instead of in wet blanket on wet grass. Oh, the fleas ! Have suffered from the sharp navaja of the Spanish Fulga, bloodthirsty, in Posada and Venta, but never aught like this. Shied my clothes into the strean in the morning to soak. Walked (but clothed) on to Reinpora, pretty place where the country opens, large trees and running water, emerald meadows. Had my first glimpse of the Vale of Kashmir — o:- rather, the extensive plaui so-called — from the top o' the Hereball Mountain. The old rock was bathed in mist and rain. Pheasant again to see open country, all supremely beautiful ana i- ctile. In the higher mountains are Nature's kitchen gardei , wild rhubarb (very good), carrots, onions, parsley', ga lie, and lower down, raspberries, black and red currants, strawberries, as good as English, apple trees, cherries, wr.lnuts, mulberries in profusion. 15th. — At Martund. Curious old ruins, unlik'j the modern Hindoo architecture, disfigured as it is by fantastic forms fjii H 1 1 1 f i 3ii i;i- 3i6 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. of sculptured ugliness, nor yet showing any relationship to the Moslem Mosque or frail Minar. The heavy mass of ruins are more like the Egypto-Greek in massive sim- plicity. Evidently a Buddhist temple and monastery built in the old time before Brahman corruption. The remains of the old cloisters and little cells are distinctly visible where the recluse Buddhist sought Nirvana. Walked on to Muttong, breakfasted under some magnificent chunars near two sacred tanks filled with holy fish and Fakirs bathing, crowds of dirty rascals with long matted hair, their naked bodies smeared with dirt and ashes ; they were being waited upon by some rich shopkeeping Bunneahs and the usual assort- ment of women, devout and otherwise, after the fashion of their kind all the world over. Walked to Islamabad, the old Moslem capital. Pleasant place for the sahib logue under the stately chunars, close by the cool tank and arti- ficial streams. There, to our astonishment, we saw two English ladies with their brother. 1 6th. — Caught half a dozen trout in the stream above the town. Floated down to Seranugger by the river. Very pleasant this dolce far nicntc after the hard work over the snowy passes of the Himalaya and the desolate tablelands of Thibet. i 317 CHAPTER XXIX. LoTDs Eating— Peri Mahal — Mogul Dynasty — Nautch Girls — PuNuiTANAs — ^A Lady Killer — An Evening Party — Twelve Tined Ones — Star Chamber — More Bears — Camel Ride — Tale of a Foot — Missing Mahatmas — Mahometan Christian Zubber Khan's Farewell. It is said that eating the seeds of the lotus deprives men of desire. September 2nd. — Here have I been lotus-eating to a disgraceful degree, fishing for unsophisticated trout with the coarsest of improvised flies, or drifting idly through the broad-leaved pink lotus among the floating island gardens on the lake. These islands are made by putting hurdles and brushwood on the mass of lotus leaves and tangled water weeds, and earth over all. Seranugger itself I do not care to stay in, the old wooden buildings are more quaintly mediaeval European than Asiatic. September 3rd. — Off to the hills a^ain. September 5th.— Islamabad. Met «"r. , who forbade my going shooting — Englishman-like had to kill something — with the Yankee rifle shot the head off a dicky-bird perched on the projecting ridge pole of a semi-thatched boat that was passing — the crew were squatting round a pot, the body of the dicky-bird dropped into it, to the consternation of the dinner-party ; where the shot came from they could not tell, for I was not visible. Perhaps they did not desire the feathered addition to the! I meal. One of my milch goats was rubbing her nose on a spit stuck in the ground beside the cook ; knocked the spit from her nose with a rifle bullet without grazing the goat, and won a wager from Zubber and astonished the kit. 6th. — Returned Seranugger way ; seedy with hill dysentery till near the end of the month, most disap- pointing. sui 4i\ 318 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. h October 1st. — Started again for Islamabad, feeling all serene now. Walked one day last week with Zubber Khan to Peri Mahal, the Palace of the Peris. Said to have been constructed by Akber Shah, with the assistance of those lovely and loving sprites, but alas ! little remains of their labour of love. The beauty of the situation was worthy of their selection, a sloping hillside terraced with this excavated palace looking down on the lotus-covered lake, with its floating island-gardens of flowers and vegetables. Wandered among the ruined baths and tangled rose thickets, thinking sorrowfully about that Imperial race, so lately blotted from the page of history in blood and crime. It seems only yesterday an English gentleman, a fair-haired blue-eyed man from Rugby, slew with his own hand the last Princes of the once glorious Mongul dynasty, surrounded as he was by a cowering crowd of Moslem soldiery. Poor Hodson 1 I won't forget his pleasant cheery face, nor the day his destined bullet found him. Perhaps it was well so — Paladin as he vvas, prince of partisan leaders, had he lived, Mr. Gibson and the ghost of Joseph Hume, ** in his old brown coat, all snufty down before " (if ghosts wear coats) might have haunted the House of Commons until they had hung poor Hodson. But I have got a long way from the Padishahs, their fountains, gardens, and glorious chenars, their pretty pavilions by the murmuring water and their handsome hummams. One can't but sympathise with these old Badshas, Akber the Magnificent and his son — those Emperors whose very ruins are such glories as the Taj, and which at least deserve the he .^age of all artistic natures. The sarcastic Baboo declares that broken bottles will mark the ruins of our Raj. He ignores our railroads. As to the " love-lighted eye " department of the Vale of Kashmir, I thought it a miserable failure, perhaps I was not in a position to judge, though I could certainly do so dispassionately. The majority of the professionals who get paid for doing the love-lighting business are sadly plain, poor things. Went to a dinner and nautch at the shawl merchant's. The former part of the entertainment did credit to his national taste in the cuisine, and he appeared to enter into the spirit of the native performance with the character- istic readiness of a Frank to amuse and be amused — happy facility ! But the latter part was a most dreary affair, though performed by the prima donna (rather pretty girl I '^ :) NAI'TCH r.IRI.S. !2I P- ^ .^, with a n.'ime about a rose) and the c/i'tr of the danseuses of Kashmir. They have all, of course, undeniable Oriental eyes, large, dark, and sleepy — the lids artificially blackened for extra etTect. Their pretty statuesque arms and ankles tinkle with many bracelets and anklets. Tlie ricbness of their barbaric golden coin ornaments, and their long black hair hanging down the way they wear it, would make a very effective picture if they would only sit still, smoke, chat, and pass the long snake-like hookah from one pretty pouting mouth to another. Alas, they are not paid to make pictures, so they begin to dance and sing, or rather nautch and bowl — from that moment they are hateful. Why, hang it all, it has not even the small merit of impropriety to recommend it, like the can-can and other dances of the European professional ladies. The Punditana women do a good deal of picturesque drawing of water and bathing by the river very early in the morning. They arc generally handsome. The dress is a long dark claret-coloured chemise, I suppose I must call it, for it is an under and only garment, (except the long veil, or chudder), which shews the refined type of the Hindoo with the usual pretty arms and wrists, and their figures have the graceful poise which belongs to those races where the water is not turned on from the main. October 2nd. At Islamabad again. 3rd. — Walked up to the top of the breezy hill behind, and had a glorious gaze at this fertile valley and then on to Atchebull, one of the sources of the Gheluni (Fabulosus Hydaspes) where there is, or rather was, another of those lovely gardens. There are the ruins of Akbar's baths lettered all over with Persian poetry, but larger and heavier-handed than all, is scrawled, Sam Buggins, 24th Foot. 4th. — Walked to Chougaum, and here 1 am with my tent under a haycock. It is the cUfLom of the country to put haycocks up in trees, an excellent plan for a climate of deep snow, rain, etc. The autumnal tints are telling now, swelling up in crimson and gold woodland hills even to the eternal snows. Here we are at the old camp re, listening to the stories of my shikaris and the ru noi.i s of devastating animals told by unveracious villagers, \vith clasped hands and the usual preface of *' Protector of the Poor 1" One came, begging \l\ 322 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILKK. li me to go to his village and shoot a brown bear which had killed his mother-in-law and eaten her liver ; my private opinion was that he was an ungrateful person, but as I did not believe him, 1 asked for the corpse. " Sahib," he said, " I must bury her, and throw her ashes into the sacred river. What do you want her for ? " "I should tie her up, the bear would come to finish her, and I would finish him." He shook his head and went awa}' sorrowful — why should he be so, left in possession of his mother-in-law's ashes ? I was under the impression there was no dead relative, and he only wanted me to go to the village to profit by the purchase of his supplies for my party. He came again and said : "Sahib, the bear has killed my cow. I am a Hindoo and cannot eat cow, you may have her." Thought there must be something in this ; went to the village, had the remains of the cow trailed a little way through the jungle, and tied to the root of a tree. There we waited for the devourer. He came to finish his last supper. It was just about dusk, and I could scarcely see the sights of my rifle, but was lucky enough to lodge a ball in the region of the lady-killer's heart. The pill did not prevent his endeav- ouring to make a closer acquaintance with me, though the wound was mortal. Perhaps he wished to give me a last embrace. These advances to familiarity were met with the contents of my left barrel; Zubber Khan also hit him fair in the chest (my rifle makes a small hole, and my smooth- bore in the hands of Z.K. a large one). This was too much for any well-regulati ')ear. He seemed puzzled how to act, and finall}' retired to the jungle. It was now quite dark; the short twilight dies suddenly in these latitudes. The jungle was dense, so we went back to tent and dinner, leaving two coolies to watch the cow's carcass, which we had brought nearer the camp. Had dined well off my favourite shikar stew, and was lighting my pipe, when to my disgust 1 heard a hullabaloo. Guessed what it meant, took my rifle, called Zubber Khan, and went off to the cow. Was met by the two coolies, frenzied with funk. They said a black bear having polished off the beef au natttrcl wished to taste them ditto. We found the mangled remains, sat down behind some bushes and waited patiently, for a cold dark hour, then fetched blankets to make a night of it. Came back, heard the report of Zubber Khan's gun quite close, and something crashed through the jungle beside me. Zubber Khan told me he had A\ FVENING PARTY. 323 wounded a bear, which had made off. Rolled myself in my blanket and waited. Was dozing pleasantly, when an in- fernal grumbling match awakened me. It was, in fact, an evening party over the remains of the lady-killer's supper, and the lion of the party appeared to be a lady panther, for she certainly talked most, and was probably the handsomest. Four bears had come, possibly without invitation, for they all were quarrelling dreadfully among themselves, and shewed no respect to me, the giver of the repast. I dispersed them with a shot, harmless I am sure, for it was so dark could scarcely see a yard, and only let drive in the direction of the voices of the angry disputants. Rolled over and slept until the heavy masses of cloud which had gathered began to pelt down rain. Made for the tent, drenched and disgusted. Next morning found the lady-killer stretched stark and stiff in his bloody tracks. Sent down some coolies to bring him in, which they did, triumphantly, tied to the branch of a tree. We found and followed the tracks of Zubbcr Khan's wounded bear for some distance, unsuccessfully, though we found blood on the trail. 9th to I ith. — Sleep out every night now, on the watch for game. No fire, no companionable pipe, for Bruin has keen scent, and objects to tobacco more than a good-natured girl who says she likes it but doesn't. October i ith. — Started for Serapoora, pretty village among the hills at the mouth of the Wurdwan valley. Bathed at Atchbul, beneath the artificial waterfalls of the son of Akbar — icj^-cold, delicious ! I pray that the founder be behisht in the seventh Asman. Verj' lovely this iiingling of the sisters — nature and art. The stately, shadowy chenars reflected in cool, clear waters, and the wild mountain, clad in jungle, almost frowning on the scene of peace and luxury below. Fountains, baths, pavilions — alas, now a heap of tangled wild rose jungle. 1 2th. — Started at daybreak for Sangaur. Sent to the village for a shikari. Chose one, Azim (a name out of " Lalla Rookh," you see), tall, rather slight, but clean- limbed fellow, with no superfluous meat upon him, deep- chested, thin open nostril like a blood Arab. Made a tent abris out of my waterproof sheet and Zubber Khan's, by sewing on buttons — our mountain walking-sticks serve for poles, a rope and four pegs complete it — might with advan- tage be introduced into our service. Started for the hills Y— 2 324 GUNNKR JINGO S JUHll.KK. with the abris, blanket, and food for three days, for the Bara singa, or Himalayan stag. The grass-sandalled foot falls lightly on the dead pine needles, save when some hateful twig cracks with an annoying noise in the silent forest through which we steal in Indian Hie. Came upon a muddy little pool, where there were the deep prints of his enormous hoofs, like a cow's. On we crept, until the village shikari clutched my arm, and with an excited face pointed into the tangled mass of forest. Made out the branching antlers about 200 yards off. We all sank noiselessly into the long grass, waiting for him to show a little more — waited, waited what seemed an eternity — in reality perhaps a quarter of an hour — and then the noble beast showed his stately head. Raised my rifle, something startled him, and he dashed off along the hillside. Ran a few paces to get a clear sight, and lired. Phud ! went my ball, and the magnificent fellow staggered, but, to my utter chagrin, bounded off as if nothing was up. It was astonishing to see the way he made through the thick branches, with his antlers laid back. I hastily gave my hunting knife to the shikari and bade him follow, for I was afraid to go down the jnountain at the pace required, as I had sprained my ankle on one of those fruit- less night affairs after bears. Followed dejectedly in the track until my shikari waved ni}' bloody hunting-knife. There lay the noble quarry, as large as a good-sized pony, with branching twelve-tined antlers. Shikari delighted, insisted on shaking grimy bloody hands with me. The ball had gone clean through the shoulder and lungs an inch above the heart, and lodged just under the skin on the further side. Our united strength could scarcely lift the enormous brute. Night was closing in, so, leaving a shikari to keep vigil, we went down to the village for coolies to bring him in. October 13th. — Glorious venison steak spluttering, smoking on my pewter plate for breakfast! Shikaris, servants and coolies had a feast. The Bara singa made the pine-clad hills echo last night with their loud roars of defiance to each other. This is their love- making season, and, like the knights of old, they fight over it ; but none hold back, as at the tournament held b}' Pen- dragon for his daughter's hand, where all contended save three — two who loved their neighbours' wives and one who loved his own. This breezy hilltop is a jolly bedroom, a STAR-CHAMBER. 325 perfect Star-chamber. They glitter, through the fretwork of ibrest aisles of tall pines, like the jewels Aladdin saw by the light of his lamp. The forest music is a queer lullat)y. Ihe Hying squirrels, chattering like girls in bed long after other folks are asleep. An o'"l had something to say, for he came and sat on a branch above my iiead, but, like a good many people with a reputation for wisdom, he sent me to sleep. There is a painful scarcity of water up here for a morning bath. 14th. — No stags appeared. Stayed all day on the hill- tops, and slept under the old tree by the half-dried pool, where 1 hoped some stately stag would come for a mud bath — none did. My shikaris are most picturesque, a small capon the back of their shaven heads, showing the sun-browned forehead and face, finished with a thick bushy beard and moustache. Their upper garments are sufliciently vague and flowing to please an artist — a woollen Loho, or thin blanket, worn after the fashion of a Scotch plaid, legs bandaged like in the pictures of Anglo-Saxon worthies, feet grass-sandalled. The bandages support and protect in mountain walking and keep the feet warm in wet and snow. We were following the course of a rocky mountain stream up a glen, full of fern and tangled wild flowers below and dark umbrageous trees above, when Azim's quick eyes detected a black she-bear and two cubs up a very high wild cherry tree about 100 yards ofl". She saw us, and slid down the tree. Zubber Khan fired, apparently without eftect. She bolted till I dropped her dead with a bullet in the brain, and wounded one of the cubs, which ran off. Azim treed both young *uns, from which perch they were shot like garden thrushes. Felt compunction when I saw the poor little beggars, but they were orphans, and their skins are beautiful. The old missus has a lovely soft black skin, quite worthy of appearing before Buckingham Palace on a Guardsman's head. i6th. — Started up the mountains, followed by a coolie with blankets and food, but saw few tracks of game. Towards evening heard the bellowing of stags above us and came on their tracks at a spot where there was a spring. Most difficult to follow noiselessly, for the dead leaves are falling, and carpet the forest with a plaguily noisy drugget. After a long bare-footed stalk got within 200 yards of three does and a stag, which were scared by Zubber Khan's rifle going off accidentally. It was a hair-trigger. i ' :• I »i iii 326 GUNNKR JINGOS JUBILKK. I7tli. — Chilly these times without a fire. At daybreak we heard two stags challenging across the valley. They were evidently spoiling for a tight. Got between as they approached each other, one got our wind and went oflf, the other came on defiantly to meet a foe he did not wot of We could hear, but not see, his approach. His evil destiny tempted him within reach of my rille. He bore splendid antlers, 12 tines. Fired, he tumbled down the steep hillside, we could hear him crashing through the branches. Dashed after him with my hunting knife, he tried to rise, struggled to free himself I seized him by the antlers, and finished him. He must have stood 13-2 at least. Slept in a small shanty of pine branches made by the cowherds when they come up here in Summer, but the roof was defective. Snowed hard, six inches on my blanket when 1 woke. Went down to camp, as the snow drives down the stags. The silver shower off the foliage drops down one's neck, wetting one's inside garments. 19th. — Up the hills again, eastward, on game tracks, the crunching snow prevents close approach. Misty and dark, and grass sandals are not the warmest chaussure in thawing snow. 20th. — My " liver wing " troubles man begins to break in the sultry it is not months but years he needs perhaps never be restored. A Muf me again. Once a heats of Hindostan to restore what may suk bath of ice-cold water poured over me daily may not be exactly wise — could not sleep with pain last night. Can't do hill work to-day, a difficulty in breathing. Took a prowl in the jungle. Saw a black bear, could not get a fair shot, but fired and wounded him. Poor brute ! He roared and danced in a bewildered way. Second barrel missed fire, and he made off into dense jungle. Followed quickly, carrying the pain in my side like poor Bruin, until .lightfall. Returned to camp feeling better from exercise anJ excitement. That beast of a bearer I The lazy beggar did not dry my rifles properly after cleaning. I lost a fine black bear in consequence. The poor brute went to die miserably in the jungle, for he is too badly hit to live. 2 1 St. — Went out at daybreak on the tracks of the wounded bear. Shikaris are keen sighted and will detect a drop of blood upon a leaf in the thickest jungle. Lost the tracks, but saw another black she-bear and two cubs. TALK OK A KOOT. 32; Dropped her dead, but the cubs made off. Skinned hei', and came back to breakfast in camp. Alas, my leave is nearly up. Must make tracks for the plains and bid farewell to the paradise of shikar. November 7th. The patient camel is a de|)lorahle grumbler, but, like the British soldier, he "grumbles and goes." The Oriental legend has it that the pre-historic camel prayed to Allah for a hump to prf vent men riding himas they did tlie horse. His prciyer was granted, and the archangel Hung a hump from 1 leaven which enables two nien to ride the camel. Zubber Khan and I thus started from the foot of the hills. A hattcric ik c/iassc provided supplies as we i"ode along and a small />rj//<'r/c (fv cuisine, carried by our sowari camel was deftly managed by Zubber Khan, who proved almost a "cordon bleu." Camel riding, after long disuse, is trying, requiring India-rubber vertebr£e. Ease myself by riding and running 10 miles alternately. The marvellous condition produced by mountain training makes a ten mile run a rest after a prolonged camel jolt.* In this fashion we averaged 50 miles a day. Our ship of the desert did not get much in the way of green food, but was fed on spices and condiments of sorts, according to the knowledge of Zubber Khan. The camel's abstinence from water was not severely tried, but when he has to fall back on his water stomach, the camel grumbles and gurgles till he brings up his water bag, which sticks out of his snaggle-tooth jaws like a huge raw sausage, about a foot and a half long, and five inches in diameter. Thankful to say, he did not often have recourse to this watering arrangement, which was supremely unpleasant to hear and see. As ve jogged along, Zubber Khan regaled me with stories and puzzled me with queries. He had been on leave, staying at his father's house near Delhi. He was awakened one night by the noise of a robber working a hole through the sun-dried mud wall of the house, near the head of his charpoy. Noiselessly drawing his tulwar, he laid it beside him and feigned sleep. The hole accomplished with little noise, a man crept in, crawled round the room, and was returning with his selected loot. Zubber Khan knew he would be naked and oiled, probably carry a dagger — no I 1 Kiy * On arrival the garrison Sky races were on, and being challenged by a champion runner beat him in a mile Inirdle race over the horse track. He did not know how tit I was. il 1 •; t: I 328 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. holding this stamp of burglar. So watched him wriggling out, serpent-wise, on his stomach. When sufficiently in the hole to be unable to turn, Zubber made a slash with his sword, got up, struck a light with flint and steel, lit a lamp, and picked up the foot of the intruder severed just above the ankle. " I shall find the owner of this in the morning," thought Z. K. to himself. " He won't come back for it, nor will he go far without it." So he composed himself to finish his sleep. Next morning, following the blood-tracks, he found the owner of the foot ensconced in a neighbouring patch of jungle, having tied a cord round his own stump and stopped the hemorrhage. Recovering the small amount of property he had taken, Zubber Khan put the robber on his own horse and conducted him to the cutwali (gaol). " Would you believe it, sahib," he went on to me, " the white Magistrate put tuc in prison ! — I, a soldier of the sircar. 1, whose sword has been red with the blood of mine own people in defence of the sahib logue. I, a descendant of nobles who came with Arungzebe, the Conqueror, 200 years before you set foot in Calcutta as merchants. I, to be thus degraded ! " " And the robber ? " "They sent him to the hospital, treated him kindly, cured him, and let him go. Sahib, you are a strange people ! Can you explain this treatment meted out to me ? " I could not explain to his satisfaction that bail was not given in cases of homicide — except when an English working man kicks his wife to death — but that is feminicidc. Zubber Khan tokl startling stories of Zadoo nagic with all the earnestness of credulit}', but I never could see anything to beat Maskelyne and Cook, except perhaps the ma'igo-grvwing and child-stabbing through the basket.* As we ncared our journey's end, the cheerful Zubber became distrait and taciturn. " Sahib," he said, at last after long silence, " 30U never lie ! Tell me, are you not a Mahomedan ? " " No, Zubber ! What put that into your head ? " *' You are not like other sahibs. You drink no strong • Madame Blavat/ky hatl not iiiiveiletl Isis.aiul MahatmaswcrL' not toitlicoiiiiiig in the Thibet of those days. U ihin tbe creature for the Creator Christians — which is right ? " " You have also your sects," I said. " .Sunnies and Scabs. And how many false Mahdis have you had ? " " What then is the dilTerence between you and , sahib," mentioning a Roman Catholic officer. " Oh I the difference is not essential. The Catholics worship the mother of Christ and some saints. You also pay great reverence to the tombs of saints." " What I worship a woman, and a woman with such a story I No, sahib, you may call yourself a Christian, but I shall meet you in Paradise." " I can't believe in Mahomet's Paradise, Zubber. The desire to live and to generate are the variously disguised motive powers on this earth, or it could neither have come into being nor be continued. It must be so in the other worlds, or they would not exist. Your houris are childless, a senseless and ser.sual stultification of God's law as we see it everywhei'c. Besides, have your relations with women on this earth been so satisfactory that you would l.-e content to have no other joy in Paradise ? " " You have not answered my questicjiis, sahib. You put Then there are so man}' kinds of . B y im 1 %n t a {'if ii : f f f 330 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. Others to me. We have eaten from the same dish. I have been to you not only as a friend, but have made myself as a servant. If my comrades get to know of it 1 shall lose caste." " None shall ever know that you are to me other than a comrade. There is no reason why 3'ou should lose caste eating with me. We have eaten no swine's flesh, nor drunk wine. You have helal-kuroed (bled), as the Koran directs, all that we have killed. Your fathers took to them- selves high caste Hindoo wives from those they had con- quered and converted. That is why you Indian Mahomedans have these foolish traditions about caste, which are not to be found in the Koran " Zubber Khan comforted himself with repeating that I am as good a Moslem as he is, and we disputed the point no more. Zubber Khan, though poor, would never accept money from me. He accepted ni}' hospitality as far as food and ammunition went, and I gave him the rifle he liked best when we parted. Black or white, I had no truer friend, nor more uni=elfish, cheerful, plucky companion, as true a gentle- man as ever wore a sword. * November I5lh. — Rode into Mooltan cantonments. JOURNAL FIMS. * He afterwarcis became my friend Warien's trusted companion in more stirring scenes of shikar than ever fell to my lot, for when I was in the tiger districts there was other shooting going on. Once Zubber Khan and Warren were shooting partridge, and came suddenly close upon a tiger. "Go back, sahib," said 2ubber; "you have a family, I am childless. I will face the tiger." This, of course, was not permitted. Fortu- nately the tiger did not charge. Zubber Khan rose to distinction in our service, became a native officer, and went through the Kabul War. He gained his pension, and then entered the service of a Rahnee. These are the men of the faithful lighting races we do well to honour, to raise to rank and dignity in our service, not the competition wallah Hindoo Baboo we are pushing into office and emolument because he passes parrot-like examinations, scribbles in the Press, and spouts at Congress. 331 CHAPTER XXX. Piping Times of Peace — Cholera Creeds — A Sainted Scamp — Widows and Weddings — Honeymoon March — Drumhead Discipline — Chinese Gordon Asks in Vain — Lights and Shadows on a Sun Dial — Farewell East ! During Jingo's long leave welcome marching orders had come for the Battery. The new station, Ferozepore, was further north, and had a good character for salubrity. The cold weather march was delightful luxury compared to the hot weather and rainy season campaign. Starting before da3'light, most preferred to walk, as the stirrup irons were cold in the early morning. As soon as it was light a sharp trot could be indulged in, shaking men into their saddles and warming up the horses. About the time the sun was getting powerful there would be a halt for chota hazri — coffee, a biscuit, and a smoke for all hands, the cooks having gone ahead the night before — an easy march, and the camping-ground would be reached before noon, generally a tope of mango trees, as there were no constraining strategic reasons obliging us to camp in the open. Tent-pitching took little time, and the horse-grooming was soon got over. The men were old hands, and the establish- ment of kolasses and syces ample. The rest of the day was spent in shikar, of which there was abundance. The new station was an agreeable change, and things went swimmingl}' at first. But an enemy who knows no truce put in an appearance. " Captain, your little trumpeter is down among the rest. Wish you'd pass the night in the hospital, the men have got the funks," said our sporting but conscientious young surgeon. "All right!" Of course the hospital had been visited daily by an officer, and efforts had been made to put a cheerful face ou n 332 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEK. matters. But there had come a sudden increase in the deaths. Cholera walked down one side of a barrack- room, and all the men on that side thought they had to go. Some took to teetotalism, some to drink and gambling, and some to religion of the short-and-sharp salvation style — the " believe-only " business, no other is possible, for there is no time for pottering over good works to prove repentance genuine, just work up assurance. St. Paul, with his " Lest I myself should be a castaway," would have been nowhere among the fervid emotionalists of a cholera camp. Unfortunately, the authorities were not so quick turning men into camp in those days as they are now. But they went at last. The Captain started athletic sports, steeple- chases with the gun horses — whe 'lers, leaders, etc. — drivers up, and shikar was permitted to all ranks ad lib. Meanwhile the toll was taken. Jingo's poor little trumpeter was nearly the last, and he died in his captain's arms after a night of agonising convulsions. As his soft, dark eyes at last closed peacefully, and the livid blueness passed from the little thin face, leaving it like wax, a pink ray of dawn shot through the hospital window and lit up the dead boj^'s face with glory. He had been a bright, honest, plucky, little scamp. He had chucked the defaulters' book into a well to wipe out the records against the veteran drunks of the Battery. Alas, for good intentions ! It was fished up. Let us hope this one was not put into a certain pavement, but counted to him for righteousness. He would not lie, and took his punishment like a man. His mother wrote to the Captain about her "sainted bo}-," and he was not denied the title. He had as good a right to the glory that came through the hospital window as most of the wry-necked saints in church windows have to their halos. The biggest gunner in the battery occupied the next cot. When he saw the Captain lay down the little trumpeter, and rise — damp with the death-dews of the boy — to leave, the big man turned his face to the wj^ll \/\\\\ a groan : " My Gawd ! The Captain too is a dead man like the rest of us." " He's not a dead n\in, but you are a damned fool if you funk yourself into your grave," was the unlooked-for answer. On the other side was a sturdy little driver. He had been p. sailor. He was now in collapse, and the attendants began WIDOWS AND WKDDINGS. 333 You're takin' me into ain't a goin' to pleaze II just have to fetch me to remove his cot into the verandah, that his death agonies might not demoraHse others. "I knows what you are up to. that there verandah to die, but 1 yer. I'm blowed if I'll die, and ye' back." And he did not die. 1 he Angel of Death seemed weary — or was he snubbed ? The little trumpeter was the last he took. '* You must have a peg," said the doctor to Jingo, as he left the hospi^nl. " You look white about the gills after 3'our night's Vif; 1." The Captain had to see about mourning — from the canteen fund was it ? — for widows dearly love becoming weeds with flaunting veils which hang behind and hide no pretty faces. The weeds had to be got, though they were ere long to be changed for bridal garments. Soldiers' widows in India are often passed on to loving comrades — cynics say they are some- times bespoke — a happier arrangement than going back to pensionless penury in the slums of a great cit}', and soldier- stepfathers seem to take as readily to the families of their comrades as they do to their widows. When the plague was stayed, short leaves to the hills were granted to ofificers, and some men sent up to the sanatoriums. Captain Jingo's turn had come, in more senses than one. He went up to the hills single and returned double. The Battery again had marching orders, this time half across India, to the great camp of manoeuvres at Lucknow. So the soldier's wedding had to be in double-quick time, and the honeymoon a march of over four hundred miles. The bride changed her wedding-dress for a habit, and rode of!" on her husband's second charger to meet the Battery at the foot of the hills ni route. The men had smothered the leading gun and horses with roses, and improvised it into a hymeneal car for the bride, but her blushes were spared, to the disappoint- ment of the honest fellows who had expended their decorative art in vain. A compromise was effected. Her charger was garlanded, and, donning an officer's forage cap, the bride was presented to the Battery and started at their head on the long march of a soldier's wife — sometimes a weary one. But the beginning, at least, was made as bright and easy as possible for the young bride. First the cheery ;l' ■•1 ail] ail 1 iS i ■ J f ! 334 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. chota hazri on tlie road, then as the sun grew warm, her buggy was brought up, tents had been sent in advance, and breakfast, with a nuzzer of flowers, was ready for her on arrival. The march sped happily to its end. The good Colonel and his wife received the Battery bride almost as a daughter. The great camp of mimic war was to her a long picnic. Her husband's Battery had carried off the prize with the highest shooting figure of merit in the Brigade. The gallant old chief — Sir Hugh Ro.se — had been eulogistic — he could be very much the reverse when necessary. The return march was commenced not very smoothl3\ Volunteers from Batteries returning to England had elected to remain for service in India. Among them was a man with a defaulter's book of his own composing, and the Captain warned the man to turn over no more leaves in the old st3de. He seemed to have taken the advice, but before the break- up of camp, he went on an extensive spree, which included setting fire to a bazaar, happily without much damage. The man was brought before the Colonel, as the powers of a commanding officer of a Battery are limited, by the presence of a I ieutenant-Colonel. The Captain produced the long record of offences, but asked in vain for a deterrent punishment. The Colonel resolved to try leniency once more, and gave a slight but technically illegal sentence^ confinement to camp (to keep him out of mischief as long as possible). The old barrack lawyer detected the irregularity and appealed to the Commander-in-Chief at his final inspection. The Colonel was told of his error, but no order was given for the man's release. On the eve of marching, under the influence of liquor, the soldier forced his way into the Captain's tent to demand his immediate release. He was told no order had yet been received on the subjed, and he became insolent. Fortunately he was not flung out, but a file of the guard called. Next morning the man refused to march. He was secured to a gun carriage with a light cord, long enough to allow of his marching comfortably if he pleased, and the word was given to advance at a walk. He preferred to throw himself on his face, but a short experience of that mode of progression satisfied him of its disadvantages, and on his expressing a desire to march, he was released and allowed to do so. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS ON A SUN-DIAL. 335 He was now beyond the jurisdiction of the lenient Colonel, and for his second offence received a suitable punishment from his Captain, who, however, had his misgivings as to the legality of his proceedings. At the next General's inspection Jingo expected a complaint to be made, and anticipated the man by asking him to make it. But the man said he had none to make, and thenceforth became a good soldier. Different men require different methods. A Major had come to command the Battery. The Captain's occupation had gone with his big pay, his wife's health was not good, he was therefore glad to be selected to return to England in chargeof drafts of time-expired men and invalids to proceed round the Cape of Good Hope. Chinese Gordon had asked for his old friend to help him to organise the Artillery of his ever-victorious army, but Jingo could not be spared. He was too much married. Marching with his heterogeneous command down country, in due course they reached the ancient city of Benares. Jingo wandered along the magnificent ghats, by the sacred river and the temples, through the native bazaars in narrow lanes, where the pretty little white Brahmin bulls promenaded at their own sweet will, helping themselves to whatever seemed succulent to their sacred appetites, without let or hindrance from the owners. Then there were the sacred monkeys and the hospital for sick animals of sorts which must not be killed, yet sometimes suffered the more cruel death from hunger, among a contradictions between religious theory and glaring as our own. Among ruins of a still more ancient part of the city, Jingo came upon a gigantic sun-dial, not a horizontal plane as we have it with a gnomon at an angle according to latitude, but an inverted arch —a wall with a semicircle cut out of it. The diameter of the circle was about thirty feet. Where the gnomon should have been, stood the huge Phallic emblem so common in India, and all over the world in the infancy of creeds, the emblem which drew the ancient Israelites from the worship of Jehovah, that our Druidical ancestors worshipped, the Menhir stones which you still see in Brittany surmounted by a cross, with that wisdom of the Roman church which sanctified superstitions it could not overthrow. people with practice as ; '1 J t-i 336 tiUNNKR jingo's JUBILKE. Jingo was struck by the thought of the amount of precise calculation necessary to cut correctly every minute and degree on that immense semi-circumference of nearly fifty feet. Every pair of marks on each side of noon had required a separate calculation, only two shadows making the same angle for the same hours a.m. and p.m. Doubtless a sun- dial can be ordered complete at the Co-operative Stores, but Jingo had once tried to make one in an out-of-the-way part of the world, so he knew what calculations were involved when so many minute sub-divisions were marked. Besides all these there were other marks he did not und rstand. Scarcely expecting an intelligent answer, he turned for information to an old Brahmin who sat silently in the shadow of the dial, taking no notice of the young soldier. He wore no clothing but his loin-cloth, a Braliminical cord over the shoulder, and a caste-mark of paint on liis high but somewhat narrow forehead, which indicated an Aryan intellect of no mean order. His handsome, refined features and neatly-proportioned thin frame, showed a descent from countless generations who had done more mental than physical labour, aiul unspeakable pride of race lurked in the quiet dignity of manner, which was polite without being servile. To this man, god-descended in his own eyes and those of his fellows, we send a lower middle-class, narrowly- educated Englishman as a missionary, and expect conversion — of which ? The old Brahmin explained the signs as connected with the procession of the equinoxes — the sort of knowledge a young Englishman crams and forgets as readily. Jingo expressed some surprise at the scientific knowledge dis- played in the construction of such a dial, evidently of great antiquity. A glint of humour passed over the thin, handsome face of the old Hindoo, as he said, dryly : '* You ought to know, sahib, that my ancestors were skilled in astronomy when yours were still savages over the black water." " True," said the soldier, " but your people seem to have stood still, else why do your Pundits permit the worship of so filthy an emblem ? " pointing to the huge upright stone, garlanded with flowers and wet with the libations of female devotees who desire children, the one thing necessary for the happiness of an Oriental wife. KARKWKI.I. KAST. "Sahib," continued the old man, "it is a meet emblem of that power of reproduction which peoples the universe. Do 3'ou not know that the flowers are male and female, that the passing breeze, the flitting insect, fertilizes one with the pollen of the other and produces fruit and seed in due season ? The insects themselves, the fishes, the birds, the beasts, all things living, including man, are guided by the irresistible impulse of the great creative power. Is not that sacred which brings into the world a soul, a spark of that divine being to which it will eventually return, when the material with which it has been mysteriously connected shall be dis- solved into elements by death, to be used again and again by the great Chemist. Sahib, are these truth words, or what you call filth? Our books are older than yours, but the great book of nature is open to all of us." Jingo was not a missionary, so he had no cut-and-dried answer. This was scarcely surprising. A very eminent Presbyterian who had spent a lifetime in Indian Mission work had been heard sorrowfully to admit that he doubted if he had made a dozen absolutely sincere converts among high-caste Hindoos, "though," he said, "much enlightenment has followed the secular education I have given." His pupils would freely admit that they no longer believed their own sacred books, stultified as they are by the physical science of the west. When asked what hindered their bap- tism, they would not confess fear of the awful social penalties inflicted on a high-caste Hindoo by such a step, but with true Oriental subtlety would reply : " You tell us we can do nothing of ourselves ; when the Holy Spirit compels, we shall be baptised." Meanwhile, the secular teaching has produced the Baboo of the Indian National Congress, and a native Press which exceeds the Irish in treasonable vituperation. Thus Jingo bade farewell to India, with its marvellous, interesting lands and peoples, and its unsolved problems, which most of us only begin to think about when we have left its shores for ever. 33^ CHAPTER XXXI. •!r-' Homeward Bound — Sailoring — Overboard- Royal Gunner — Military Lessons of Aldershot — Chalons — Two Stories Gordon. Gunnery School — A Sorts— Volunteers — of 1870 — Bazaine - - The voyage round the Cape of Good Hope in the good ship Hotspur, with her estimable skipper, Captain Toynbee, was hghtened by encouraging the time-expired soldiers to work, and in a few weeks there seemed to be no more invalids, and red and blue jackets were on the best of terms. Some of Jingo's statements regarding the treatment of soldiers by a most pious nation will scarcely be believed by those who have little opportunity to verify them. Some mentally- deranged soldiers were put on board at Calcutta, at the last moment. Neither the Captain of the vessel nor Jingo were told that they might be dangerous to themselves or others. No separate cabins nor place of security were provided for them — to save expense the Captain of the Hotspur thought. One poor fellow after trying to set fire to the ship saved further trouble b}' jumping overboard, and could not be rescued. Since doing away (for economic reasons probably), with the hospital for lunatic soldiers, formerly at Fort Pitt, Chat- ham, the poor fellows used to be turned loose in the streets of that town, so as to throw upon the city authorities the expense of sending them to lunatic asylums. 1 believe the practice has been discontinued, or we should hear more of it. Greenwich Hospital has been turned into a Naval College, and Chelsea will perhaps soon follow, and the good work of kind-hearted, naughty Nell Gwynne disappear, though her ennobled posterity' still grace the Peerage. Jingo was seconded by three excellent subalterns, who, not content with pulling and hauling with the watch on deck, would sometimes join him aloft and take a turn at reefing topsails, and the mizzengot to be called the "soldier A KOYAL GUNNKR. 339 officer's mast." It is exhilarating (when you get used to it) to struggle with the flapping canvas as you lean over the yard-arm and look down into the green seas as the vessel rolls. But Jingo eschewed the weather-earing, the foot- ropes out there were unpleasantly short for his long legs. One calm lay he managed to reach the main truck, having [ '•eviously taken the precaution of paying his footing to the bo'sun. At the Cape, jingo was welcomed by his old friend, the Iron One, now Military Secretary to the Governor, and he spent some pleasant- days up country nd at the vineyards with him and his wife, enjoying the sight of the red soil and the green trees, after so long at sea. A spell of leave among the Kerry mountains and fishing on the lakes, and Jingo went *^o school again for a year — the gunnery school — was then appointed to the Field Artillery in Ireland, and shortly afterwards to the Instruc- tional Staff at Woolwich. His work there delighted him, perhaps not always his pupils. The young officers all passed through his hands on first joining — charming youngsters ! Jingo loved boys — and girls ! Does .so still, I'm afraid. Among others came H.R.H. Prince Arthur. Jingo wondered how he was to make him understand that on parade he was Captain Jingo, and the I'rince, Gentleman Cadet Guelph. So he began by telling him off to " No. 7 " — a sort of man-of-all-work to the squad, to whom it was, "Fetch a grease-pot. No. 7 !" " Scotch up there. No. 7." But, bless you ! there was no need. There was no smarter, steadier gunner in the squad than the gunner of the blood Royal. And it was hard and dirty work they had, no kid- glove busi,ness. The jeuucsse doree were more inclined to give themselves airs than the true blue-blooded ones. Jingo had to remark that perhaps the Beerage had a hereditary right to think no small beer of themselves. But they also make excellent soldiers when it comes to fighting, which is the easiest part of the profession. At first his Royal Highness seemed denied that part. After returning from Canada, where he had served with the Rifle Brigade, he gave a dinner to his old instructors, and was congratulated on his baptemc dc feu. ** No," he said, " 1 was not under fire, but I mean to get myself foughten some day in spite of them ! " And we know he did. "There are enough of us/* he remarked, "to Z — 2 n 340 GUNNER jingo's JUBII.KK hpare one to die in our prop)er place. Nothing would fix the crown so firmly in our family, as it has done for the House of Savoy." The peasant and the peeress give up lover, husband, brother at their country's call — why not the first lady in the land ? Mere gunnery instruction was varied by being given charge of Artillery Volunteers at Easter manoeuvres. Jingo was rash enough to point out in the Times certain tactical errors. Thinking he was giving a military lesson h.-: got one himself — in discipline. The day of discussion h.^d not dawned, and with his friend, Charles Brackenbury, he was sent for to the Horse Guards and wigged. He had put his tactical opinions over his signature, and was told that of the two offenders he had the greatei- cheek. He wrote no more on military subjects until he left England. But his tongue got him into as much troi:ble as his pen. He was ordered to give a course of lecturt s to the National Artillery Association at Shoeburyness. Tht lectures seemed to have caught on in two directions. The Volunteer Artillery of North Britain, without his knowledge, had applied for his appointment in some instructional capacity to their force. He was again sent for. Partly in jest, but more in earnest as he waxed warm, the D.G.A. began : " A pretty kettle of fish you have made with your lectures to Volunteers. They want rifle-guns, forsooth — say they might as well drill with old gas-pipes as with the obsolete smooth-bores. You have put Lord Northbrook in an awkward fix, for these Volunteer Colonels have political influence, and the issue of rifle armament to Volunteers will be a large item in the estimates. And, confound it, sir, they have asked for you to be appointed in some impossible position. They seem to forget that you are only a Captain, and, by God, sir, you seem to have forgotten it too ! " From a subordinate there can be no answer but silence to this sort of thing. But Jingo thought all the more that England was a little place, small people in it, so he turned his thoughts to the New World, and found an opening in Canada, for the little people at the top of the big Empire were bent on shrinking it, and the withdrawal of Imperial garrisons was contemplated. But meantime he saw mimic war on a large scale on the plains of Chalons, and on a smaller scale at Aldershot, where, MILITARY LESSONS OF SORTS. m through the good offices of his friend Geary, he got a tem- porary position on the Statt' for the manoeuvres. Gunners of the present day hardly know how much they owe to General Geary's administrative abihty and fixedness of pur[)ose. It is largely due to his efforts that the position of Major was accorded to officers commanding batteries. After theoretically slaying the tin-bellies (as the House- hold Cavalry are vulgarly yclept by the officers of the line), who had exposed themselves to guns brought up the reverse of a slope, the P'orce to which Jingo was attached trium- phantly carried the Hog's-back, and, flushed wi^h lunch and conquest, descended to attack the Fox Hills. The Artillery were told off, as usual, to a place in the procession which they could not dispute, hemmed in by narrow lanes. In real war ten minutes with the axes on the gun-limbers would have cut a way through the hedgerows. But this could not be ; therefore, rather than be destroyed in column of route, they preferred to die fighting, and advanced to a turning road, deploying along it, and opened fire. The galloping umpires were upon them, and the batteries were ruled out of action, to the disgust of their commanders, who poured their phials of wrath on Jingo, the instigator of the move- ment and director of its execution. If they had onlj' kept quiet between the high hedges the umpires might not have realised the situation. When the General went for Jingo at the final palaver. Colonel Domville would not have his subordinate blamed, and took the responsibility on his own broad shoulders. Next day brought its revenge. The umpires ruled the Highland Brigade out of action, one of the defunct batteries » '" yesterday was brought up on their flank. It was first concealed and then unmasked by shunt- ing empty raihvaycarriageson a siding, and forming an epaule- ment of coal oil casks. They were empt}*. The umpires generously decided they might have been filled with earth. From the handful of troops at Aldershot to the extensive manoeuvres of the French armies, was like passing from a box of prettily-painted toy-soldiers to those masses of men by which the fate of nations alone can be decided. The French army of 1 870 like our own to-day, rested upon its glorious traditions. They were rudely awakened. The French army of to-day is an entirely different machine, ever striving for efficiency Defeat has made the French officer 34-' GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. modest, serious, and hardworKing. Their organisation could, with reserves, probably produce four million trained soldiers on emergency. In 1869 Colonel Milman, R.A., and Jingo were accredited to witness the manceuvres at Chalons. Military Mass was the first parade they saw. Thirty thousand troops of all arms were formed in a hollow square ; in the centre, the eagles round the high altar ; the front lines, unlimbered Artillerv ; behind, the bearskins of the Imperial Guard, the shakos of Voltigeurs and Piou Pious and the turbans of Zouaves ; in the rear of all, flashing helmets and cuirasses, gorgeous Corps de Guide, Chasseurs d'Afrique, etc. No words of the oflficiating priest could be heard in so vast an arena. But, on the elevation of the Host, the Artillery thundered a salvo, the gleaming lines of bayonets flashed through the smoke to the present, and the drums beat. Jingo was carried away ; for a moment he wondered if Madame de Maintenon's Revocation of the Edict of Nantes had not been a success after all, since it produced uniformity of faith. He forgot there was no faith except here and there in the breast of a Breton conscript. The spectacle was a gorgeous sham. Captain Bazaine, the nephew and A.D.C. of the General, was sent to invite the English officers to lunch. They were distinguishable in uniform, for British officers had not yet begun to frequent courts or camps in knickerbockers. Jingo said something a~ 'o the soleinnitj' of the spectacle they had just seen. " Bah ! I am a Protestant," said the A.D.C, " my body obeys the words of command but my soul does no obeisance to their bread God, au J my colleague here prefers Voltaire to Thomas a Kempis." The Marshal asked Jingo if he did not think Chalons a spl:;ndid training ground. ' A Marshal of France honours an English Captain of Artillery in asking his opinion," said Jingo. " Frankly, I thiak t is unwise to train troops only in country differing from t'.ie rest of France in its level openness. It is true the fate Ci' France was decided upon the plains when Charles the I lammerer defeated the Saracens, but the Germans will not elect to meet you on the Plains of Chalons. They are not Eastern cavalry. Besides, the habit of manoeuvring in the open may lead to disregard of cover." CHALONS. 343 I " Oh, you think the Plain of Chalons as level as a billiard- table ? To-morrow I will post 30,000 men and you will find it hard to see them." Before day a couple of mounted orderlies, with led chargers, were sent to their hotel, and the two English officers were taken to the front of the position. The Marshal was as good as his word. First line, supports, leserves were admirably posted, and Jingo learnt the lesson that there are folds in the terrain of most plains that will give cover to troops. Bazaine had consummate :-kill in the selection of a defensive position, as he proved at Gravelotte, only strategically it faced in the wrong direction. The genial, broad-shouldered, thick-necked soldier had won his field grade in Africa, by getting his men to push him over an Arab stockade. He gave one the idea of great natural shrewdness, but little reading ; an excellent tactician, but a poor strategist. Whether he preferred a dynasty to his country, and so held his trump card until he lost the chance of playing it at Metz, has been much discussed. At the beginning of 1 870, Jingo got leave to follow the French Army as a private individual, at his own risk and charges, to study his profession. On the eve of his departure he was stopped by telegram and was told that Mr. Gladstone feared his presence might cause compl'cations. Jingo had ro notion he was so important a person. Many officers were allowed to go as newspaper correspondents, and directly after the peace, before the armies of occupation were withdrawn, he visited the battle-fields with his friend , nd quondam comrade, Maurice. Being both obstinate men, they had many amicable word-battles over the .ites of more serious strife. Of course, Jingo must have got the worst of it in controvers}' with so brilliant an essayist. But they combined on occasion. They had been refused access to the parapets of Thionville by the German sentries. This was aggravating, as thev had only a few hours to spaie. Happy tliouglit ! The I1 gh steeple of a central church was conveniently loop-holed with sh.ell bursts. They made for i^, but were refused access, in spite of a silver key. The church was undergoing repairs ; the custodian turner' his back for an instant to superintend the woiknien ; the two bolted up the stairs and ensconced themselves among the rafters of the belfry, whence the shell holes in i 344 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. the roof gave a complete bird's-eye view of the fortifications and the position of every German battery. The watchful Teuton had been sold. They were startled on their perch by the tremendous peal of the huge bell just above, whicli warned them they had barely time to catch the train for Metz. Rapidly descending, they found themselves locked in and the workmen gone. Looking^ through the key-hole they saw the obstinate custodian locking the outer gate, and shouted to him. He opened the Sesame, with violent abuse of what he was pleased to call perfidy, declaring the offenders, " not true men but spies " who would bring ruin upon him. He refused a douceur, and begged them in frightened accents to begone and tell no one. Besides the professional knowledge gained, many characteristic stories of the contending nationalities were heard. A young French Lieutenant of Artillery was conspicuous for his reckless gallantry and devotion to duty during the siege of Paris. Yet he managed to spend in musical recreation most of the few hours left for rest. As provisions got scarcer his meat ration was reduced to a sparrow per diem ; these he kept in a cage at the window near his piano, and fed them with the crumbs of his daily biscuit. His landlady anxiously watched him grow thinner and paler, and entreated, in vain, to be allowed to transform his little pets into a pi'de (falouettes. At length a Prussian shell smashed the cage and the pi^no and liberated the Lieutenant and his pets as he sat singing his own requiem. The coarser qualities called forth by war do not alter a refined nature, which often combines the tenderness of a woman with the courage of a man. It is not strange that it should be so, considering whom we have been trying to imitate more or less for the last eighteen hundred years. We are told He took His human nature from His mother only. Certainly imitation of Chr^ ,t seems more natural to women than to men. The German, with a coarser type of chivalry, succeeds better, perhaps, as the world wags. A one-year volunteer with three troopers rides up to the octroi gate ot a small French town. The donanicr hesitates to open to the enemies of his country. A pistol bullet bores a hole through his tall hat, accompanied by the remark ; TWO STOklKS OF 1 87O. 345- "Why don't you uncover to a German gentl'^^.ciii, and not keep him waiting at the gate ? " The Frenchman removed his hat and looked at the hole, " 1 did not open the gate," he said, " because there are 500 French infantry in the town. Do you wish to visit them ? " *' Certainly," said the undaunted young Uhlan, "1 am sent to demand their surrender," and tearing out a leaf of his pocket-book, scribbled a pencil note for one of his men to gallop with to the rear : " Five hundred French infantry reported in this town. Am going to demand surrender. Push on in ji^upport. \r tl on He had found no outposts outside the little town, and, to his amazement, no sentries until he was challenged at the gate of a building which .seemed to have been an old con- vent. The little French red-leg was so astonished that he nearly let off his chassepot in spite of the dirty white handkerchief which fluttered from the lance point of a Uhlan. The guard turned out, and Monsieur le Commandant was sent for. He came out from the dejeuner, wiping his moustache with his napkin. He had won liis epaulettes for service in Africa, but had grown a trifle tubby, and slower in thought and action. " Mais, M'sieu, milles tonneres de Dieu I ce n'est pas de rigeur k faire des affaires a I'heure de dejeuner." " But I am ordered to demand your immediaic surrender. The town is surrounded, defence hopeless, we will settle it at breakfast, and you shall be my guest afterwards." So saying, the cool youngster, who saw there was no retreat, dismounted and threw the reins to one of his troopers. After finishing breakfast, with a better appetite than the disturbed Frenchman, he pu'.led out his watch and said : " \'ou have only ten minutes more to make your arrange- ments. The advanced guard will be lieie directly." He got up and walked in despair towards the barrack gate, closely followed by the French officer, who was beginning to regain his confidence just as the German's was evaporating. But there was a clatter of hoofs down the ill- paved street, and lance flags fluttered and danced as far as e^'e could see. Squadron after squadron poured in from ail i, 346 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. sides. They had ridden at speed, and five hundred Frencli infantry had surrendered to a German University student of one year's mihtary service. There are crowds of such English lads. By conscription for the militia, the national constitutional force, alone can they be utilised. Such a law was the natural sequence to the abolition of purchase. If Mr. Cardwell's military advisers had had the courage of their opinions, Englishmen by this time would have learnt that the obligation of short military service for the defence of their country was a blessing in disgui.se. About that time Charlie Gordon had returned ratlier shattered from China, and was put to build mud forts at the mouth of the Medway — not conducive to the cure of the ague from which he sufllei-ed. He and Jingo often met and resumed the old walks and talks of cadet da3's. " Why did you not accept the loads of syce silver the Emperor of China sent you, Charlie? U yo/i don't care about money there are your nephews and nieces, and your ragged school." 1 " Had to shew the Chinese there was no price for a British officer. The pay of my army was in arrears." Perhaps the key to Gordon's character was, not his con- tempt for money, but a constitutional indifference to women, which enabled him, without hypocrisy, to keep to the standard of absolute purity he had set up for himself. When his time came, Gordon went to the Soudan, and Jingo saw his old friend no more. Another comrade also went to the '* land of the leal.'' Wolf, the Anial, the Crichton of old Shoebury and Sheerness days, liad been set to do office work, which he injudiciously varied with outbursts of violent athletics, There being no officer competing for a veteran race in heavy marching order, Wolf insisted on entering, to shew the old stuff. Me wo\^ the race, and died of heart com- plaint. END Ol I'.AKT I. -i GUNNER JINGO'S JUBILEE PART Ij. WESTWARD IIO! " Cent I'aviron, qui nous monte, ']ui nous inene, (?'est I' aviron, qui nous rnonte en haut.' 347 PART II.— Westward-Ho 1 CHAPTER I. QuEEEC — King Cash-Balance — The Old Flag — The New Guard — Winter Armament — English Ears — The Ice Cone — Tandems — Winter Bivouacs — Canadian Seigneurs — Lord Dufferin— The Phantom Fox — Electricity. " Man)- a vanished year and age, And tempest's breath and battle's rage Have swept o'er Corinth ; yet she stands A fortress formed to Freedom's hands. The whirlwind's wrath, the earthquake's shock Have left untouched her hoa / rock, The key-stone of the land " After half-a-dozen years of pleasant home service, during five of which he had held an appointment on the Instructional Staff, our Jingo found himself on the deck of a steamer, speeding up the broad waters of the miglity St. Lawrence. The grey citadel on the rock loomed dark against the flush of sunset that turned to burnished copper the glittering tin roofs and spires of the quaint old city of Quebec, and t"ansformed the tranquil river into molten metal, while the ships and craft along the quays, and the tall buildings stand in violet and purple shadows. The opposite shores of Levis were flooded with a light which broke in a mad kaleidoscope of colour upon the crimson and green, scarlet and purple, and 348 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. golden foliage of a Canadian Autumn. There is but one Quebec in the wide world. But the British garrison was to be withdrawn from this Gibraltar of America. It was the reign of King Cash-balance. Quantities of guns, shot, and shell were sold to Yankee contractors, the barrack furniture to Jews, and the very sentry-boxes shipped home with the departing troops. The flag, however, was not sold. It was handed over to Jingo. The Canadian Government was called upon to form garrisons *' to provide for the care and protection of the forts, maga- zines, armament, and warlike stores handed over to them. It was further intended that these troops, in addition to per- forming garrison duties, should serve as practical schools of gunnery for the training of all ranks of the Militia Artillery." Captain Jingo, with the local rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, had been selected to raise and organise such a garrison for Quebec, while a similar duty was entrusted to another Imperial officer — Colonel French — in the Province of Ontario. Twenty-one years after the birth of " B " Battery Canadian Artillery, when they came of age, they sent to their military father a kindly Christmas greeting, a photograph of himself as in the old days, when he was Inspector of Artillery for the Dominion, and Commandant of the Citadel o*' Quebec. From henceforth Gunner Jingo must tell his own stor3\ The garrison of Quebec were the 6oth (King's Own Rifles) and the Royal Artillery. Curious coincidence, more than a century ago detachments of these two corps, forming part of Wolfe's victorious army, were the first to enter the city of Quebec and place the British flag where the Flcur-de-lys had flown so long. The 6oth were then the Royal American Rangers, the old " Ubique " were the same. To me, an officer of the latter corps, was confided the honour of hoisting the old flag. When the last British Legionary departed, mine was the task to form its first guard of Canadian Artillery. The evacuation had been so rapid, only a few days elapsed between my arrival and the embarkation iji'l! Ill I 1 I ' .- 1 " KING CASH-BALANCE. 351 of the British garrison, scant time to enUst, arm, uniform, and drill the first new guard for the citadel. The Dominion Government had made a good selection of officers for me. Given a Canadian gentleman and you generally have the making of a good officer, for, as a people, they have military aptitudes of no mean order. 1 was exceptionally fortunate in Captain Montizambert, Lieutenants Duchesnay and Short, all men of soldier jhat. The two first were of old French-Canadian stock, whose ancestors had served in the British Army, and Duchesnay was descended from de Salabcrry, the hero of Chateauguay ; and in the veins of Lieutenant Short, an English Canadian, ran the blood of General Brock, slain at Queenstown Heights. Assistant-Sur- geon Neilson also bore a name known in Canadian history. For non-coms., rank and file, an ex-Sergeant of Artillery (Lyndon) and a few old Canadian Riflemen formed a nucleus, to which were added some Canadians and a young English- man who had failed in an army examination. He became Sergeant-Major Lavie of " B " Battery. It did not take long to knock such good stuff into shape. But where were the arms, ammunition, and uniform to come from ? The difficulty was solved by taking possession of those of the Quebec Volunteer Artillery, of which Captain Montizambert was Adjutant. The Jews, to whom the Control Department had sold the barrack furniture, even to the iron bedsteads the men lay upon, came to claim their purchase. But the gate was shut on the Hebrew nose, and they were left to settle the matter with the Canadian Government, who had not bought them, thinking the furniture would be left to them with the forts, etc. The Dominion Government, per- haps disbelieving that the English Government would take so serious a step as the abandonment of the fortress of Quebec before a garrison vvas formed, had taken no active m.easure except mj' appointment and that of the officers above named, as a temporary measure, pending their passing a satisfactory examination after some months' instruction. Other officers — Prevost, La Rue, Tasherau, Eraser, White, Sheppard, Imlah, etc., were subsequently added as they passed examinations after courses of instruction, in giving which I was materially aided by Master-Gunner Donald- son and Sergeant Clifford, R.A., when they arrived the following Spring. No man was ever served more loyally than I was. What I ''i| i Ji IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I 1.25 tii >- IIIIIM 1.4 r '> ^:^ /. Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STRUT WnSTER.N.Y. 145S0 (716) S73-4S03 'ji<^ 352 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. the labour was, can best be judged by any professional soldier picturing to himself the task of raising and training an Artillery garrison, and re-arming a fortress during the severity of a Canadian Winter, without experienced assist<- ants. The guns had been dismounted by the Royal Artil- lery before embarking, that the Royal Engineers might repair the platforms, and were deeply buried in snow drifts before I could get at them with my Canadians, who made up for lack of artillery training by the resourcefulness which comes of life in the forest lumber camps. They handle guns as deftly as they roll the huge logs. Ice and snow are their roadways and allies. They were never beaten, not even at Shoeburyness in the " Go-as-you-please " style of gun mounting. In mounting the i lO-pounder breech-loading guns, with the thermometer 30 d^rees below zero, the hooks of the tackle would snap like glass, the fracture showing that the fibre of the iron had crystallised with the intense cold. Perhaps the breaking of the iron suspension bridge over the falls of Montmorency was due to this cause. But the task was finished without accident. Jingo, who did not feel the cold — had he brought with him some latent heat from India? chafled the Canadians on their muffling. But they turned the tables. One blizzardy day, with the flaps of their fur caps down, they could not hear even his stentorian com- mands. So he got hot, despite the temperature, and told them he would keep them on parade until they did drill pro- perly. Being an Englishman he did not require ear-flaps. After parade it was remarked — '* Colonel, your English ears are frozen," and a handful of snow had to be rubbed in. One glorious morning in early Winter, before a flake of snow had fallen, when the St. Lawrence glittered like a mirror of polished steel, parade was impossible with such skating prospects. We descended from our eerie to the river below and spun along for miles against the wind, to the musical ring of our skates, and invigorated by the cham- pagney feeling of the air. Miles were covered — under the cliffs which Wolfe had scaled a hundred years before, past the long wharves where the lumber of northern forests lies piled in masses, until the wooded banks were reached and the leafless trees of Spenserwood sparkled with the icicles of a " verglas " which coated every twig and made the forest monarchs look like chandeliers turned upside down. On, THE ICE CONE. 353 on, beyond the red rocks of Cap Rouge. The wind blew tiil it caught one's breath and Hterally shut one's mouth by freezing moustache and beard together. Each looked at his neighbour for the dead white spot which indicates frost-bite. But none so suffered. Veering about before the wind, with coats held of>en, sailwise, we shot back over our tracks with- out moving a foot, at almost the velocity of an express train. Shouting and singing with the glee of a schoolboy. Jingo did not at first hear the calls of his comrades, who could not overtake him, but at length the breeze bore to him : '* For God's sake, hold on, Colonel ; see the air-hole ! " And he noted the steel blue broken by the dark open dancing water. Just in time he swerved from the apparently inevitable. That night snow fell a foot deep, and never again to Jingo's vision did the St. Lawrence wear its smooth steel face. Ever afterwards, broken in gigantic hummocks with the flow and ebb of tides, it was all but im- passable to the steam-ferries. Then the hardy voyageurs launched their canoes for passenger traffic between the shores of Quebec and Levis. Paddling through the open waters until solid ice or floating field is reached, the active fellows jump out, and slide along their canoe until another opening is reached, while the freights sit cosily wrapped in furs at the bottom of the canoe. Towards the end of the Winter the ice cone had formed at Montmorency. The falls are higher than Niagara, but, of course, not so great a volume of water. The frozen spray builds up a mountain some 200 feet high, down which the hardy natives toboggan very much as their Norse ancestors did (before they left the Old World) down the Alpen slopes on their broad shields, to terrify and defeat the Legions of old Rome. The Battery marched out on their snow-shoes, guns on sleighs, down the St. Lawrence to the foot of the cone, where arms were piled, and the men broke off to amuse themselves — the dangerous tobogganing was most attractive. The Englishmen were taken down on the little sleighs provided on the spot. The skilful •' Monty," in default of a girl, took down his chief in safety, remarking : " There, Colonel, guess you couldn't do that on your own hook, thoup'h Englishmen don't require ear-flaps." The reply was the immediate ascent of the taunted Englishman, climbing by footholes cut in the ice, and A A 354 GIJNNKR JIXGOS JUBII.EK. dragging the sleigh after him. When the dome-roofed summit is readied one lias doubts as to wliicli way the downward slide may come off, away out into the sunshine, over the level plain at the foot of the cone and half way across the St. Lawrence, or back nto the seething cauldron of foam, where the river shoots with ceaseless thunder and vibration over the edge of the precipice, while the mist rises in rj^inbows and spans the black abyss. '* Facile descensus." Jingo shot oft' into space from the summit, and felt his heart in his throat, for the sides are so steep that the sleigh touches nothing for several seconds. When it reached the more gradual slope it swerved. He tried to rectify it by steering with a heavy foot, where a feather-weight touch would have sufficed. His inexperience sent the sleigh spinning. An interval of uncon.sciousness followed. A cut head and various contusions were the reward of rashness, and the knowledge that there is a thing or two an English- man cannot do impromptu. Nor is it to be supposed that anyone not a native born could attain to the perfection of a Canadian skater, practised in the art as they are from childhood. The brilliant groups of niasqueraders at Carnival times in their waltzes and daring flights on their steel blades exemplify the hackneyed phrase, *• the poetry of motion." While the icy hand of Winter was on the land, paralysing commerce, the business men joined the soldiers in a tandem club, which might be seen spinning down the crooked turnings of the sally-ports of the Citadel Hill, led in turn by a civilian or military jehu. Fantastic feats were performed in the narrow lanes of the old city, '* foUow-the-leader " round lamp-posts, down snow-covered flights of stairs, and up the Heights of Abraham by the road made since the soldiers of Wolfe scaled the precipice on that eventful morning that gave half a continent to Great Britain. The tandem rendezvous was generally some quaint Canadian village hostel, where the cargoes of rosy cheeks and bright eyes were unloaded for the dance, which generally followed a scratch meal, the music provided by the Battery band sent on before, or a local fiddling genius. Then came the spin home, the tinkle of sleigh bells and laughter, making music under the pines, until the silver spires of Quebec gleamed in the moonlight. Whatever opinion may be entertained as to the diffi- WINTKR BIVOUACS. 355 culties of invading Canada during the Arctic Winter, which were exempHfied when the American armies of Arnold and Montgomery were driven discomfited from the old rock fortress of Quehec, oui- tiny garrison was famiharised with mihtary operations in Winter. Long snow-shoe marches were frequently made, and in 1873 the Battery hivouacked in the v\oods without tents. A handful of hardy disciplined Canadian soldiers, equally at home with a.xe and rifle, who can, on their snow-shoes, move through the forest carrying their own provisions, hlankefs, and ammunition, and transporting their tents and light sheet iron stoves on toboggans or Indian sleighs, would make a serious diversion on the flank of an invading force confined to the tram- pled high ro.ids and incapa- ble of deployment. On another occasion the left or French-Canadian Division, men, for the most part, who have served an apprenticeship in the lum- ber shanties, left Quebec on F"ebruarv 36th at tlay- break in heavy marching order, with blankets, three days' provisions, snow- 1^ ' 356 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. shoes, and an axe replacing sword-bayonet in the waist beh. Having reached the north shore of a lake they struck into the woods about twelve miles out, clearing a road through the forest for the tent sleighs. Here they were joined by Indian guides of the Huron tribe under Francois Gros Louis of Lorette. Camp was pitched on the picturesque shores of Lac Sagamite, which nestles amongst the lower spurs of the Laurentians. In an amazingly short space of time arms were piled, packs off, and the forest ringing with the rapid strokes of their axes. Soon the blue smoke curled from the canvas village and the savoury steam of the soldier's supper soup mingled with the fragrant sapin boughs which form the elastic bed of the wearied hunter. Here is a Frenchman's description of an English- man's winter bath : — "Le lendemain matin, pour preparer son corps a de nouvelles fatigues, le soldat bronze des Indes se rappelant sans doute les joyeux ebats des nymphes et des naiades dans les eaux bleuatres des lacs merveilleux qui nous entouraient, se roulait comme un serpent, en costume adamique, dans I'epais tapis, de neige oil nous enfoncions jusqu' aux genoux. Un moment, nous avons tous craint que cet exercice refrigerant fflt dans I'ordre du jour, el beaucoup d'entre nous tremblaient dej^ de froid. Mais cet example n'etant suivi que par un seul officier canadien, nous en avons ete quittes pour la peur." On the following day, the Right Division marched out in the same order and encamped with their comrades. The Field Battery was left as the Citadel guard under Captain Short. The night was cold and clear. Huge camp fires threw into fantastic light and shade the groups of soldiers who disturbed the stillness with English songs and old Canadian voyageur chansons. Next day was devoted to practicing the men in snow-shoe attack, heavy marching order. The programme anticipated an enemy from Stoneham. Picked marksmen of the Battery, under the guidance of their Huron ally, Frangois, acted as scouts, the position of the enemy being supposed to give him command of the open surface of the lake. A long flank march was made through the woods and the line of attack and supports formed on his flank, cutting him off his line of retreat to Stoneham. The attack was delivered, to the CANADIAN SEIGNF.URS. 357 manifest alarm of the occupants of a log hut, who took up a strong position under their beds and could not be dislodged by force of British arms or the diplomacy of a Schouvaloff. On the return march a small river had to be crossed. The Indian guide declared the ice unsafe, but the Force passed on a couple of felled trees, Indian fashion (au pont sauvage). The only mishap occurred to a field officer, a heavy swell, who fell through the ice, attempting a passage on his own account. He was none the worse, only wiser for his ducking. Sound of firing now showed that the camp had been occupied by an unexpected party of the enemy. A second detour had to be made. The scouts sent out reported the camp occupied and an ambuscade laid by the hostiles, who had also sent out Indian scouts. After some skirmishing the camp was taken from the rear, thus cutting off the retreat of the defenders who, fortunately, turned out to be friends from town, laden with a very welcome supply of varied provisions, to which they helped to do justice, in spite of the apparent treacherous designs so happily frustrated. Friday was wild and stormy ; tents were struck and the Force marched home, leaving a small detachment under Captain Duchesnay to bring up the rear on Saturday. Not a man fell out during the march and the only casualty was a frozen nose of the Wellington type. As the tents of the Militia Department had not been available, the kind and liberal Seigneur of Lotbiniere lent some light cotton ones and portable stoves used by his lumbermen in their encampments. Each tent holds fifteen men and with its stove only weighs 35lbs.* The mixture of French and English lent a peculiar charm to the society of Quebec. The seigniorial rights had been abolished by laws which could not do away with the kind * It is curiuus and instructive to not? tliat Arctic canipaiRnin(;,as practised on snow- shoes by Canadian troops, is being taught to our Sepahis in the Chitral valleys and passes by voung officers from the Military College of Canada — Lieut. Gustave de Lotoiniere, R.K., ana Lieut. Henneker, Connaught Kangers, who, while on service on our Ladak frontier sent to Canada for snow-shoes, and instructed some of their men, thus making it possible to operate in winter over passes hitherto closed for eight months. Tlie fighting men that couid be drawn from our vast Empire would be more varied than the auxiliaries of the Roman Legions. Our very vastness gives us means of defence, had we only the heart to use them. Yet this is the Empire the little-hearted ones would have us cast away till our 40.000,000 starve or eat each other when the world is closed to our trade. It is not the masses alone but the classes that are at fault. The absence of conscription severs our universities from the army, which has suffered in consequence. While Goldwin Smiths and Gladstones are products only possible to universities without military thought, could such men be the out-put of German or French universities ? 358 UUNNEK JINGOS JUBILKK. ti ■ hearts and genial hospitality of the few remaining seigneurs. None who knew him will forget The Seigneur Joly de Lotbiniere and his delightful family ; a Frenchman by race, a loyal Englishman at heart. Since the lilies were withdrawn the young men of their race have served under the British flag and shed their blood in India and other far off dependencies of our Empire. The welcoming doors of Point Platon, on the St. Lawrence, were ever open, and many a glorious day did Jingo have with the Seigneur and his sons, tracking the cariboo in his forests or floating in canoes on his rivers, when the debacle brought down the fields of logs to his mills. Strange it is to note in what perverted channels the fountains of Imperial honour flow, when directed by politicians. The Seigneur Joly de Lotbiniere had the confidence of both races, rendered emine.it service to his country, and yet, though descended from the French noblesse, none of the easily acquired knighthoods showered upon political adventurers has fallen upon him. With the Canadian Spring, which bursts so suddenly into Summer, tobogganing, skating, and sleighing came to an end, but sugar-picnics to the maple groves, began. The new Governor-General arrived and took up his residence in one wing of the Citadel. The popularity of Lord and Lady DufTerin was established at once, as it .so readily is every- LORD DLFFERIN. 359 where. But his social success was the least part ol* his able administration. From the Atlantic to the Pacific his genial presence and the oil of his eloquence tended to allay pro- vincial friction in the young confederation of Canada. He also saved from Vandalistic destruction and decay the picturesque old gates and walls of Quebec. He not only took an interest in the old fortress, but in the new garrison, and became the first patron of the Dominion Artillery Asso- ciation. He wrote : — '* Citadel of Quebec, " 23rd Sept., 1872. " My Dear Colon.', *' 1 cannot quit the precincts of your fortress without ex- pressing to you my sense of the kindness, courtesy, and consideration which have been shown to Lady Dufl'erin and myself by you and your officers during our stay. In a hundred delicate ways we have been made to feel how welcome we were amongst you, and how anxious you were to render our residence pleasant and convenient. If we come back here our neighbourhood to you and Mrs. will be an additional attraction, as we shall feel we are returning to the society of real friends. " I am not sufficiently of a military turn to be justified in paying you a compliment on your men, except through Colonel Fletcher, but in all those respects of which lean pre- sume to judge, they seem to be in first-rate order. They never have failed to show me every respect, the guard has always turned out with the greatest smartness, and my eye has never lit upon a drunken soldier. " Next year I hope to stay on later in the season, when I hope we may have many a brisk scamper together over those posts and rails across the water. " Yours sincerely, " Dlffkrin." The hunt club (called Stadacona, after the Indian name of Quebec) had been established for military as well as sporting reasons, to get the French-Canadian officers accustomed to cross-countr}' riding, and Lord Dufferin gave it his patronage. Until hounds arrived from England the hunt had taken the prosaic form of a paper steeplechase. The long winters confined the hunting season to Spring and Autumn. As at Gib., when the fleet came in, the soldiers i 36o GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. were put upon their mettle by the reckless riders of the Blue Jackets, Through the generosity and energy of Captain Temple, the hounds arrived, but an unlucky accident prevented his being their M. F. H., and the post was offered to the Citadel Colonel. Shortness of purse com- pelled him to decline, but the sporting merchants of the lower town agreed to foot the bill. Captain Short was an excellent whip, and the pack was maintained until •' B " Battery was transferred from Quebec to Kingston. " Rey- nard's Legacy " recalls most of the members of the old Stadacona. THE LEGACY OF THE PHANTOM STADACONA HUNT. FOX OF THE Now, alas ! my race is run, There's an end to all my fun ; No more I'll be a rover By hillside or by cover, For the ice king's come at last, And my death is in his blast ; So I'll even make my will 'Ere my paw is frozen chill. Tally ho ! my boys, ye ho ! Hark away ! To the noble British Peer, With his hat upon one ear. Come to rule us from afar. Where men call him " Reen-a-var," Which means king of men they say. For, by Jove, he leads the way. So my honours and my fame rie ma}' tackle to his name. Tally ho 1 etc. For the Guardsman* and his horse, And the ex-Hussar of course. With their thorough-breds so hot, As they bolted like a shot. ♦ Colonel Fletcher. THE PHANTOM FOX. Or a missile to a targe, Or a Balaclava charge, I have ordered lots of ice, From old Gunter's shop so nice. Tally ho ! etc. There's a Bobby tight and true As e'er wore the well-known blue, And Jack Heighani is his name, I will back him to die game In upholding British law. So I'll give to him my paw. For he's huntsman and he's whip. And collects for us the tip. Tally hoi etc. Then a Major of Hussars, Also nobly won his stars ; Ferdy Turnbull is his name. If he is not known to fame, Then by Jingo, sir ! he ought. For the fox he nearly caught — So I'll give to him my brush, He may drown it in his lush, Tally ho I etc. There's a Gunner with a name That I'm funkey to proclaim, Montizambert 'tis in French, At battery or at trench He would never slacken rein. Though he does not want the brain Yet I'll give to him my head When this poor old body's dead. Tally ho ! etc. 361 Between dashing Mrs. D And the other ladies three My fond heart I do divide. I'd take any for a bride i 362 GUNNER jingo's JUBILKE. If 1 was a Mormon bold ; Sure to none could I be cold, Of Diana's followers fair, With their gold or raven hair. Tally hoi etc. To the subs of Battery " B," Short, La Rue and Duchesnay, I would give a martingale. For they never leave my tail, When they should be holding hard ; They decline to play that card. Though Jack Sheppard rides as free. He is cooler, don't you see ? Tally ho 1 etc. Here's for you, Charley Gething, So often at the death in, My old whip, and spurs and cap, For you never need a gap. Nor the Stewarts, Gibb, nor White, On his little nag so tight ; Besides hosts of friendly names, Sure I don't forget their claims. ' Tally ho, etc. To Desbarats and de Lery So gallant and so cheery, ! Like the chivalry of France Who would smiling break a lance ; To Dan Driscoll and his boys. Who don't bother us with noise, I give my land and estate With my money and my plate. Tally ho 1 etc. There's a heavy man and horse Goes thundering on his course. In the legions he has served, Whose banners never swerved Where the British Tally ho 1 Struck such terror in the foe. KI.IXTRItnV. i(^3 Him the friendly youngsters tlub " Pater Miles " of the club. To him I leave my blessing, 'Tis all I'm now possessing. Tally ho ! etc. Signed X Keynard, his paw. Witness, M. F. H. Jingo. Huntsman, Jack Heigham. Whip Primus, Charlie Short. „ Secundus, C. Gething. My official duties often took me to Ottawa. Thcrr Mie hospitable doors of Government House were ever open to me in the regime of Lord Dufferin, as well as of the Marqviis of Lome. The memory of that kinJncs.. is refresb'ng, for 1 know it was given to one who could render n' ' ing in return. Moreover, they both helper me strenuously in military orgauisauon as far as is possible to the repr' seii- tatives ^I'a Monarchy which reigns but does not rule. In one of my Winter visits to Lord Dufferin there was an illustration of the climatic influence that causes the difference between the go-ahead push of the Transatlantic and the slower but more solid progress of insular Englishmen. If it makes a difference in the temporarily-transplanted -ndividual (who is said to go up like a rocket and come down like a stick) — for the suddenly-increased energy wears men out — reminding one of Dr. Ox's experiment with ozone in a dull Dutch village — what must be its effect on generations of men and women ? One night when the thermometer was below zero and the electric aurora borealis was flushing outside, and making the telegraph needle? dance, we sat in the warm drawing- room of Rideau Hall. " Time for all good children to be in bed," said the sweet hostess and mother, and the obedient little ladies Black- wood came round to give their good-night kisses. Lord Dufferin, who described America as the obedient parents," maintained British discipline The child drew back her head with a start, and 1 the tingle of the lips that virtue had gone « " Bless me ! you must be the — the - "land of at home, knew by It of me. Mephistopheles, 364 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. Colonel Jingo. There was a blue spark when you kissed that child." I offered to repeat the experiment with some of the grown-ups, as a mere matter of scientific investigation, of course. The challenge was not accepted. *' But I am sure you could light the gas with your finger," said Lady Dufferin ; and 1 did. Then, taking her hand and shuffling across the room together, to accumu- late frictional electricity — she also was able to light the gas. Lord Dufferin and otners followed suit after a little practice and sufficient working up, much to their amusement and the detriment ot the carpet. ) 365 CHAPTER II. T;£E Tricolodr and the Green — Goldwin Smith^ — Blue Blouse — An Inquest— Captain Short — The Centenary of 1775 — Charles KiNGSLEY — The Marquis of Lorne and the Princess — Palliser Guns— Mission to British Columbia— The Mormons — Lost Boun- daries — Canadian Military College. East and West, the services of the Battery were required. On the 5th of August, 1872, they were called out on the requisition of the Mayor and Sheriff, and very often after- wards. In September, Lieutenant Tascherau and forty non- commissioned officers and men, with two 7-pounder rifle guns, were sent to distant Manitoba, with a similar detach- ment from "A" Battery, to keep the Half-breeds in order. On the former occasion, the French and Irish Canadians went at each other with rival tricolour and harp on green. The}' were not content with stones and shillelaghs, but revolvers began to play, and the bearer of the green flag was shot dead. Pluckj' Captain Heigham, with his handful of police, stood between the crowds in vain. It requires two sides to fight. It was thought the Irish, being the most truculent, should be first got rid of. They were therefore charged by the mounted men of the Battery, and thence- forth formed no item in this disturbance. The Infantry portion of the Battery, drawn across the street, effectually prevented the French-Canadians, whose foes had been discomfited, from tbllowing the Irishmen home as they wished to do. They proposed to carry the tricolour through the files of the Battery, and fired a few high revolver shots by way of emphasis. The mounted officer in command asked which of the.n meant to go and tell his wife that they had shot him with their fooling. A good-natured laugh showed the day gained, and the French-Canadians retired with their flags to their own quarter, St. Roch's. 366 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. Shortly before this, two prophecies had been made. Goldwin Smith, while my guest, informed me I was on a fool's task in organising Canadian soldiers, in view of the near annexation of Canada to the United States. Twenty years have passed and his prophecy seems no nearer its fulfilment, in spite of his *' damnable iteration." The second prophecy was mine. If it were not for Canadian soldiers the French and Irish would be at each other's throats. The sequel showed the true prophet. For serious riots again broke out later on. The Quebec Parliament was threatened by a mob, an effort made to break open the gaol and release the prisoners, flour stores entered and partiall}' plundered. On the arrival of '* B " Battery, the marauders were quickly ousted, and the troops drawn up to prevent a repetition. The mob mounted the cliffs above St. Paul's Street, and thence rolled down rockb and stones from the crumbling fortifica- tions. Fortunately, the troops were kept beyond reach of the heavy stones, but could scarcely be sheltered from the shower of lighter missiles. The Mayor had ensconced himself inside the store, whence he could safely survey the atk'utc. As he would not give the order to act, the Colonel invited his presence, that he might share in the compliments which were flying. When he came, the attention of the mob was turned from the soldiers to the civil functionary. His return was barred by a file of sturdy gunners, who stolidly said they had orders to let no one pass, not even "his worship the Mayor." It was suggested he should read the Riot Act, and he was provided with the copy, fished out of the sabretache of the CO. Mumbling it more quickly than a hungry friar would his grace before meat, he gave the necessary authority to act, and was allowed to retire. Captain Short was directed to clear the street with the mounted men. He did so with his usual impetuosity. A passing street- car divided him from his detachment, and he was furiouslj' assailed, receiving a deep cut in the forehead. The horse of a trooper slipping on the car-rails put another man at the mercy of the mob. The Infantr}' portion of the Battery '/as advanced to the rescue. It was my habit when ordered on civil disturbance to fix bayonets beforeleaving barracks, with the treble object of keep- ing the fire low from the weight on the muzzle, producing the BLUE BLOUSE. 367 salutary effect on the mob which steel always does, and cheating the '•penny-a-liner" of the opportunity of writing that " at this point the blood-thirsty officer lost his head, and ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge an inoffensive crowd." Bayonets being fixed, the advance of the men by sections with trailed arms had all the effect of a charge, without any of the inconvenience of giving such an order. The men, who had long been exposed to the taunts and assaults of the mob, broke into a double and the rioters fled before them, seeking refuge down lanes and in doorways, whence they emerged as soon as the retire was sounded. The CO. was afraid of getting his men out of hand and had hitherto refrained from opening fire for fear of injuring foolish spectators who were not actually assaulting the troops. Now was his opportunity. He had long noticed the ring- leader, a man in the blue blouse of an ouvrier, fresh trom the barricades of the Paris Commune. " En avant, mcs enfants," he had been shouting, " Les voila qui reculent. Je connais la trompettc. Nous allons les ecr-r-aser on leurs a defundu de tirer! " This Communist was followed by only a few of the most determined. I halted the rear .section of eight men and opened fire. Half-a-dozcn men and a cab horse dropped. Also the "blue blouse." Most of the others rose and limped off, but the blue blouse remained on the pavement, and a little red stream trickled into the gutter, a suitable receptacle. From that day to this no shot has been fired in the streets of Quebec. A large force of Militia was sent from Montreal next day, but it was' not required. But the Commanding Oflicer's difficulties were not over. There was an inquest upon " Blue Blouse," who lay on a deal table, with a small purple hole in the centre of his forehead. Coroner and doctor were sympathetic. The sapient opinion of the latter was that the dead man had been shot by a revolver and the base of the skull fractured by a heavy stone. I asked to see the bullet which he purported to have extracted and found it to be that portion of lead which divides the hollows in the front and base of the Snider bullet. Upon it was the stamp of the broad arrow. I was able to convince the gentlemen of the jury that the missile was the regulation rifle bu"et and not the 368 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILKE. revolver bullet which bears no such stamp. The Snider bullet enters by a hole no bigger than its circumference but flattens out on meeting an obstruction. In this case it had shattered the base of the skull in its partial exit. The jury were anxious to find a culprit of some sort, and having been told that only one section of men had fired, they desired to see that section in the uniform they had worn, with a view to assuring themselves (so they said) that " B " Battery were the executioners and no other corps. I sent a note to the citadel ordering down a section of men ('* P.S. — Private. Any of the actual firing party to be carefully excluded.") When they arrived the coroner remarked, with evident satisfaction : *' One of these men then must be the homicide who acted on your order ? " "Oh, dear no 1 None of the firing party are here. You wanted to identify the uniform of the Corps. There it is." A verdict was tnen given in accordance with facts. It is curious that the bugle notes which call Tommy Atkins to his duty — it may be his death — have no spirit- stirring war clang about them. The long-drawn plaintive notes of the assembly rang out clearly over the snow- covered hog's back of the Citadel parade-ground and reverberated through the casemates. The sulky soldier}' began to tumble out of their warm beds into the keen below- zero night air. The pink flush of aurora borealis swept softly upwards to the steel-blue zenith, putting out the stars that scintillated so sharply in the still midnight sk}'. They looked like glory holes in the firmament, giving glimpses of an infinite radiance bej'ond. •• What's up now ? " " Oh, goin* to blazes I The old game, them bloomin* French-Canadians burning up their blessed city again ! " The frequent terrible conflagrations in the stove-heated wooden houses of the suburb of St. Roch's had turned " B " Battery into an auxiliary fire brigade. To give the devil his due, perhaps to the disgust of the orthodox angels. The military fire-engine and their axemen were ever in the thickest of it. At last, Charley Short, as keen a soldier as ever drew sword, coming unscathed from Indian bullets, gave his life, and saved the city by blowing up a house, himself with it. CAFFAIN SHORT. 369 His taitlit'ul Sergeant, Wallick, accompanied him to the Valhalla of iieroes. Their monument is the city. Yet another '* stands in the Comitium plain tor all men to see." This time the alarm was not for St. Roch's. The Com- mandant had had a shrewd suspicion that the breechloading guns, mounted for the defence of the fortress, would not be workable in severe frost He had reported accordingly, but being only an artillery officer, his opinion, like that of Mr. Toots on general subjects, was " of no con.sequence." Officers and men were at their alarm posts in double quick time, but the breech screws were frozen solid, and the enemy was requested to wait until fires had been lighted in the guns to thaw them out. Then the old ladies in the city beneath shook in their beds as the guns above them thundered out into the stillness, just as they iiad done a hundred years before, dealing death to the rash American General who, at midnight of that last day of 1775, had tried to storm the virgin fortress when she was wrapped in her mantle of snow. Could he have deferred his attack for a century he would have had a better chance. But the angry citizens would not be placated by excuses of military experiment, and the city Press declared that the Commandant had fired a midnight /t'// de joic to celebrate his acquisition of the new Boston waltz step. Unfortunately he started another fire that was anything but joyous. The lamp left burning on his study table, shaken by the reverberatior. had ignited the papers. The enemy was repulsed, but his quarters were in a blaze. In a few minutes, the officers rushed to the rescue, and the married ladies, en (/f'shabfl/e, but wrapped in martial cloaks, were deposited in comfortable arm chairs, and their half-dozen 'ttle girls, enveloped in blankets, were soon seated in safety on the mess-room table, the whole party being comforted with mulled wine. The conflagration was soon got under, the men from the guns turned ^'^ the fire engine, and the vaulted casemates pre- vented tne fire spreading to the upper story. During these years " A " Battery had been made equally efficient under Colonel Irwin, at Kingston. There being little prospect of active service in Canada, officers and men of both batteries volunteered for service with the Imperial army. Captains Wilson and Herbert, and Surgeon Neilson were accepted for service in Egypt, and Herbert, a promising young officer, died at Cairo. B B i i I mmm 370 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. The Literary and Historic Society of Quebec, celebrated in 1875, the repulse of the American troops, commanded by General Montgomery (whilom officer of the 17th Regiment in the service of his Brittanic Majesty George III.,) who, on the blusterous wintry morning of December 31st, 1775, attempted an assault upon the redoubts and fortifications, which at that time did duty for our present Citadel. The General's intrepidity gave him a soldier's death. His want of success rendered possible the loyal Canadian of to-day. Thus fifteen short years after the conquest, ere the immortal Wolfe and Montcalm had returned to their dust, Briton and Gaul were shoulder to shoulder repelling the in- vader of our sacred soil. It is not generally remembered that results as momentous to America as the issues of Waterloo to Europe, were decided on that bleak New Year's Eve, beneath the beetling crags by the shore of the St. Lawrence, where Montgomery found his winding sheet of , — ^ snow. Then it was decided that for another hundred years at least the New World was not to be one huge Republic, and that the wills of those who were determined to dwell under the ancient institutions of their ancestors mutt be respected or the issue again relegated to tlie ultiwn ratio regis d popiili. The celebration of the Centenary of the Literary and Historic Society was followed by a similar demonstration at the Institut Canadien of Quebec, on the 30th, which went off with great eclat, and by a ball at the Citadel on the 31st, given by the Commandant. "Again soldiers and civilians in the costume of 1775, moved about in the old fortress, some in the identical uniform worn b}' their ancestors at the time of the memorable repulse," many of whose descendants, both French and English, are still in Quebec. A novel feature of the entertainment was the midnight salute from the Citadel guns. In view of uniting the sympa- thetic patriotism of the two races, it is, per- haps, a pity that the custom has been given up. Among the many visitors from the Old World to the Citadel, none appreciated its associations and beauty more than Charles THK MARQUIS OF I.ORNK AND THE PRINCESS. i7^ ;s IS Kingsley. As he stood on the ledge of rock that overlooks the foaming cauldron of Montmorency, he was accosted by a Yankeefied guide, wiio shouted in his ear statistics of the number of cubic feet descending per second, etc., etc. " C — c — confound the fellow ! " said Kingsley, " I would rather a man shouted at me in church." The Marquis of Dufterin was succeeded by the equally popular f-arquis of Lome and his amiable Princess. In the long run, the sterling qualities and great ability of the Scot were found out and thoroughly appreciated — in Canada, at least, where people were best able to judge. During my experience of fifteen years in Canada, no Governor-General ever gained so thoroughly the confidence and affection of the people of Canada, of both races. To his grasp of the military situation (perhaps second only to that of Sir Charles Dilke), Canada largely owes the establishment of the small-arm cartridge factory and shell foundry at Quebec, and had he been seconded by his Government, Canada would long since have converted, in her own factories, her mass of old smooth-bore 32-pounder guns into 64- pounder rifles, on the Palliser principle, at a minimum cost, affording a rough, serviceable armament for earthworks at strategic points on her long frontier, quite equal to anything that could be brought against them over- land. From the first his talented wife shewed herself a true daughter of her Royal House. Her tact, generosity, and large-heartedness, were shewn in a thousand ways in the interest she took in " all sorts and conditions of men." It does not require the incident of her furnishing from her private purse an ambulance for the help of the wounded in the North-West Campaign to prove this. Unfortunately, her time in Canada was cut short by a sleigh accident, from which she suffered severely and long. But absence from Canada has not cooled her kindly sym- pathies with its people. After the campaign in the North- West, she made particular enquiries for those who had been engaged there — among others, a young Canadian officer who had been frequently on duty at the Citadel during the stay of the Governor-General. Seeing no prospect of permanent employment in the limited Canadian Service, he had come to England in the hopes that his qualifications might obtain him a commission in the British army. He was disappointed, BB — 2 f « Fl ,J 372 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. I I i and enlisted as a trooper in a Lancer regiment. It was mentioned to her Royal Highness, with an expression of regret for his bad luck. She commented that it ought not to be considered a misfortune to wear Her Majesty's uniform in any rank. ** But he has no friends in this country, and is unlikely to rise to a commissioned rank." ** But it's plucky of him," said the Princess, *• and I should like to see him. Couldn't he come to the Palace?" "In the fairy tales, your Royal Highness, Princesses do what they please, and everything comes right. But this is the fag end of the nineteenth century." The conversation was discontinued. But the full private of Lancers was sent for to Windsor Castle by Her Majesty, and informed that his advancement depended upon his merit, and his being a Canadian born would prove no hindrance. He went with his regiment to India, and five years, with the approbation of his officers, brought him the desired rank. In 1877, Captain Edward Palliser visited Montreal to inspect the means for the conversion of guns on his brother's (Sir William Palliser) principle. The initial experiments were carried out with complete success, but were dropped on a change of Government. Sir William Palliser never- theless presented two 180-pounder guns, which cost ;^700 sterling. He had to buy them from her Majesty's Govern- ment ami pay Sir Williatit Armstrong for their conversion. The gift of Sir William reads like a bit of old Elizabethan story, when English gentlemen fitted out warships at their own charges to meet the Spanish Armada. The guns were duly mounted in the Citadel of Quebec. Why this liberality ? " Noblesse oblige." One of Sir William's ancestors was Commodore of t' e Fleet which aided Wolfe in the capture of the city. The duties of Inspector of Artillery being combined with those of Commandant of the Gunnery School, carried me through the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island, and Nova Scotia. They were lightened with spells of splendid sjx)rt, salmon and trout fishing. The generosity of Lord Lome gave me the freedom of the Risti- gouche River for one season. These duties were subse- quently extended over the whole Dominion, and I was sent, t ■ i THE MORMONS. 373 in conjunction with two Royal Engineer officers — (Major Hennell, of the Bombay Army, volunteered to accompany me) to report upon the proposed defences foi* the Pacific coast, and the best terminus, from a military point of view, for the Canadian Pacific Railway. As there was no C.P.R. in existence, we had to go through the United States, via Mormonland, California, and thence northward. The ti-ans-continental journey was even then luxuriously Pullmanised, and we had no incident beyond carrying as a fellow-passenger a fresh-captured wounded "road-agent." The Sheriff's men sat with drawn six- shooters, and forewarned us in the event of their having to open fire to " lie low." But the prisoner died of his wounds. No need to dwell upon the picturesque Salt Lake City, with its garden-surrounded bungalows, in which each wife has a separate door. Mormon industry has workced wonders, irrigating the alkaline desert into fertility by streams brought from the snowy summits of the Sierras. We enjoyed a promiscuous bathing party, of which a stout old German Jew, who had turned Mormon, was the head centre. Surrounded by his numerous red-headed wives, the poor man persisted in floating wrong end uppermost, due to the extreme buoyancy of the Salt Lake and the accumulation of adipose tissue at that end of his person. In vain the shrieking women endeavoured to right him. I swam to his rescue, and seizing a handful of tissue with the parti-coloured gar- ment, produced a gurgling groan from the inverted Mormon, who was, however, safely propelled to the steps of the pier along which the bathing-boxes were arranged. Having had quite enough aquatics, the extreme brine being very painful to the eyes, I made for my bathing-box with the least possible delay, but encountered a procession of Mormon ladies with pink parasols. As my hired garments were scanty in the extreme, the situation was highly unpleasant, especially when aggravated by the giggles under the sunshades, which were only lowered at the moment of passing. Inserting my hand over the top of the door of my bathing-box, I maladroitly knocked the key off the nail on which it had hung. My companion had already reached the shelter of his box, and I shouted to him to climb over the partition between the two and open my door from the inside. " All right, old fellow," was followed by a crash of wood and the exit of the yelling Mormon ladies from their own compartment, in extreme ■■' I liill 374 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILF.K. deshabille. My friend had scaled the wrong partition, which had broken and precipitated him into the red-headed seraglio. From this exhibit of aquatic Mormonism, we visited the successor of the polygamous prophet, who held forth to us on the manifest material advantages of the institution, as evidenced by the marvellous industry which had converted the alkaline deseri into a garden watered by streams drawn from the perpetual snows of the Sierras, *' a work only possible," he said, " to a redundant youthful population, the product of polygamy, which," he added, " was a necessity in a new and sparsely-settled country. A second wife was required to look after the first, and do the housework during illness," etc. In such countries women will rarely accept the position of a servant, and prefer that of a supplementary but acknowledged wife. " But if the institution rests on purely material grounds why drag in the authority of religion ? " *' Because it has Biblical authority." " Certainly, in Patriarchal times it was permitted, but — " Since when did Jehovah change his morals ? " '• Well, since the coming of Christ." " Will you kindly quote the text in which Christ forbids polygamy ? " I felt rather stumped, but as my interlocutor was a Bishop I fired oft' at him the text — *' A Bishop should be the husband of one wife." •' Ah, Christ did not say that. It was that self-opinionated person, I'aul, who himself admits that he gave much unauthorized advice on marital subjects. His followers call their religion Pauline Christianity-" " Then, if you have the sanction of the Old Testament and no contradiction in the New, why bring in the brass plate business ? It won't go down in this century." Here our relations became strained, and we took our leave. The United States Government has declared polygamy illegal — except as practised among Christians. Passing through Oregon and Washington territory, once ours by actual occupation, we saw the forts of the old Hudson Bay Company in the fertile provinces of the Pacific Coast, which we abandoned to American bluster.* • The average Biiglishmaii has not yet realised that we have lost Oregon, judging by an ilhistratud paper of the present date which locates Oregon " in the Far West of Canada." LOST BOl'NDARIKS. 375 He who said, " I care not who writes the history of a people provided I write its ballads," was justitietl by the ex- position of American policy, as set forth by the sweet singer of " Uncle Sam." "If I was legislator of these United States, I'd settle the fish question accordin' — Give the Yankees all the meat, And the British all the bones. And put the boundary t'other side of jordin." But American cutcness has been abetted by British dull- ness. It is said the English Commissioner reported Oregon not worth keeping, because the salmon of the Columbia River will not ri.se to a fly. Common rumour is not always a common liar. As wc go north there is still a more painful object les.son which the lovers of arbitration would do well to take to heart, but, alas I " peace at any price " people are never readei's of history. The last Treaty of Washington, 1 871, and the arbitra- tion of the late Emperor William of Germany, lost us the Rosario Channel and the island of San Juan, which render insecure our ocean highway to the East from the termina- tion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, still unfortified, though an acre of plans and proposals, mine amongst the number, have been submitted to and " approved " by numerous committees. The subject is still bandied about between the departmental officials of the Dominion and Imperial Governments, through the Colonial Office, War Office, and Admiralty, each, when found, like Captain Cuttle, " making a note of it ;" and .so it goes on in the ni e r ry-go-rou n d . As a guide to the future, it may be as well to take a glimpse at the past, especially just now, when the claim of the United States to that part of the North Pacific called Behring Sea is to be submitted to arbitration.* The United States, in common with other powers, strenuously oppo.sed the similar claim of Russia, at the time she held the whole coast of Behring Sea, but now they seem inclined to go snacks. Since decided, on tlie Yankee all tlie meat, British all the bone principle. 7 376 r.UNNER JINfiOS .IfBILEF. The boundary between Alaska and Canada had been pur- posely kept unsettled, with the usual policy of establishing a raw on the British Lion. The Ciovernment ot" Canada has repeatedly asked for its settlement, knowing that further gold discoveries, and the consequent rush of miners from the United States, would make a boundary more diflicult to settle. A non-diplomatist is at a loss to discover why a settlement of the Newfoundland dispute was not insisted upon long ago. The indisputable right to Madagascar, with its splendid harbour, we have yielded, giving the French their long-desired base of operations against our route to India by the Cape. It is painful to see how diplomatists have muddled away what the sword had won, and what might have been a com- plete Canada, instead of driving her nearly to the North Pole. Is it to be wondered at that some Canadians desire to return to warmer latitudes, at the price of expatriation or annexation ? It is not generally remembered that Wolfe was not the first conqueror of Canada. I. — Quebec was captured by English ships in 1629, under Sir David Kertz (or Kirk), a French refugee, who carried the Governor, Champlain, a prisoner to England. A treaty with France, in 1632, restored to her Quebec, Acadia (Nova Scotia), and Isle Royal (Cape Breton) ; Champlain returning to Quebec and resuming the government, restored New France for a fresh struggle between the two great rival powers under Wolfe and Montcalm, who might have spared their blood, and that of many brave men, had they known that the verdict pronounced upon their death in the "boudoir" of a French King's mistress, " Nous avons perdu quelques arpents de neige en Amerique," might in substance be re-echoed in a British Parliament after the loss of Canada by those who believe that commercial relations will remain when Empire is abandoned. We can aflbrd no more messing and muddling of boundaries in the future. The loss of Canada would be the beginning of the end. Our most secure link with Australasia would be broken, and Africa would follow. Canada is the longest, strongest, and most important link in our chain of Empire that girdles the globe. 2. — By the treaty of 1763, England acquired all the LOST BOirNDARIKS. 377 Frencli possessions in Amcrici wliicii hemmed in the tliiitceii colonics from Acadia to Louisiana. 3. — liy that of 17S3, she ahaiuloiied to the United States " immense tracts ol" territory, unsettled, and, in f'p 't, unknown." The boundary was Hxed from the north-west angle of the i.ake of the Woods, due west to the source of the Mississippi, an impracticable line, for the sources of the Mississippi arc many hundred miles to the south. 4. — Consequently, by jay's treaty of 1794, and the Convention of 1 81 5, the boundary was changed to the 49th parallel of northern latitude, driving Western Canada almost into the Arctic Regions, to be subsequently sandwiched by the purchase of Alaska from the accommodat- ing Muscovite. 5. — At the time of the Treaty of Ghent in 18 14, " England was actually in possession" (chiefly through the gallantry of native Canadians) " of the fortress of Mackinau, of Lake Michigan, of the site of the present City of Chicago, and of a line of territory terminating at the fort of Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi. She had won back in fair fight, and held by right of war, the whole of the tcr' itoiy conceded in 1783, that which now constitutes Michigan, and the more Northern States of Wisconsin and Minnesota." She held a fort 450 miles down the Mississippi, captured and held by Colonel Mackay, a Scotch-Canadian, and Captain Rollette, a well-known French-Canadian adventurer, with a force of Indians, Half-breeds, Orkney-men, and " voyageurs." Yet by that treaty the whole territory was ceded to the United States, as was also the State of Maine, ours "not only by the right of war, but with the consent and content of the population," still largely French-Canadian. On the other hand, the Americans gave up nothing, for they had nothing to give, and ** had not even a sentry on the Canadian shore." Had it been otherwise, England retaining her conquests for the cost of war, Can?da would have had unfrozen sea- ports on the Atlantic coast. And the Canadian Pacific Rail- way going through British territory would have been much shorter than the Inter-Colonial, which is forced to an enormous detour by the wedge driven into our territory by the State of Maine, approaching as it does to within twenty miles of Riviere du Loup, where a few troopers in 378 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. a night-ride over the border could, with dynamite cartridges, blow up bridges and culverts. 6. — The Ashburton Treaty of 1842, ratified these incon- veniences. I have heard Americans boast of the smartness of their Commissioners, who produced a forged map, showing a different course for the head waters of the St. John River, which was then agreed upon as the boundary. Now we hear of a Russo-American official inserting false statistics in the Behring-Seal-Fishery papers as data to be arbitrated upon ; when found out he was of course promptly disavowed. The fiat for removal of '* B " Battery to Kingston, Ontario, to be replaced by *' A " Battery in the fortress of Quebec, was a source of great regret, especially to the former. The officers and men being mostly French- Canadians had few ties in Ontario, while they loved the old city which had seen the birth of the military organi- sation. The Batteries were transferred in June, and the good people at Kingston soon made the new-comers feel at home. The Battery occupied the Tete du Pont barracks and Fort Henry. The Military College of Kingston had been established under Colonel Hewitt, R.E. A proportion of commissions in the British Army are annually awarded to successful competitors, and in the annals of our late little wars and explorations, the Canadian cadet has writ his name large, which is not surprising, con- sidering the solidity of the system there pursued compared with the hustle and cram of Woolwich and Sandhurst. The entrance to the Canadian College is not competitive. The standard is only sufficient to secure the competency of the candidate to profit by instruction. The young Canadian comes with a good physique and a fallow brain. There is a steady course of four years' training, as against eighteen months or two 3'ears at Woolwich or Sandhurst. It is unfortunate that Canada does not sufficiently utilise in her own service the scientifically trained cadets of the Military College. We must not suppose the objection to their employment is similar to that I once heard against Westpoint cadets when inspecting that institution with visitors from Congress. A Western senator remarked, " This, sir, is a useless institu- tion, for the manufacture of a shoulder-strap airistocracy we do not require on this continent." " But," I remarked, I 11 I r CANADIAN MILITARY ."OLLEGE. 379 " they do not all become soldiers, and, at any rate, they make good citizen^." " No, sir, they ain't much account in civil life. You can't get a Westpointer to tell a lie any way." r % alas ! my interest in military matters was abont to receive a wrench, by my being placed underregulat'ons which had not been in existence when I embarked for Canada, and which were made retrospective. 38o CHAPTER 111. Too Old to Soldier— Start a Kanche — Blackfeet Neighbours- Legal Difficulties -General Jingo's Hardest March^ — Crow- foot and Old Sun — Horse-thieves, Red and White — A Judas Kiss — House Building, Well Sinking, etc. —Cattle Killing — Round-ups — Broncho-Busting — First War Note — Indian Strength — White Weakness — Called to Command — Old Soldiers Turn Up. In 1 88 1, after thirty years service in the Royal Artillerj', in which I was Colonel, 1 became entitled to a pension, but was informed by the War Office that it would not be given tome unless I resigned the service of the Dominion of Canada, and further, should I do so and elect to return to England, I would, in a few years be compelled to retire under the new age clauses, with probably a less pension than that then oflfered. A soldier of 40 is considered too old to lead 100 men, but an octogenarian is not too old to run or ruin an Empire. Under the circumstances, there was nothing for it but to resign both Imperial and Canadian service to enable me to draw m}' pension. Very much against the ;(rain, and with man}^ unavailing remonstrances, I became a civilian. Leaving my family at Kingston, Ontario, where I had commanded, I started for the North- West to p -ospect for a site for a horse or cattle ranche in the, then lutl'j known, country near the base of the Rocky Mountains. I had, as previously stated, passed through the ranche country of the United States with ni}' friend. Major Hennell of the Bombay Army, when I was sent to report upon the best terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway from a military point of view, and also to report on suitable coast defences. I then had my attention drawn to the subject of cattle and horse raising on the prairies. There being, in 1 881, no Canadian Pacific Railway, I had START A RANCHE. 381 to travel through the United States to Bismark, where I took the stern-wheel steamer up the Missouri River, on and off mudbanks, to Fort Benton in Montana. Meeting with a young Englishman, who had been on a sheep station in Australia, we joined forces and bought a prairie schooner (a covered waggon) and four horses, loaded up with provisions, and staited North for Canada, along the base of the Rocky Mountains, fording half-a-dozen rivers, more or less difficult at that season of melting snows, and prospecting as we went for about 200 miles. We fixed upon a suitable site in the "Great Lone Land." I applied to the Canadian Government for a grazing lease of 70,000 acres, north of the Bow River, about 50 miles south- east of where the town of Calgar}' now stands. It then con- sisted of four or five log huts, i.e., The Hudson Bay Store, 1. G. Baker's, the police pallisaded post, and the police officer, Captain Denny's house, where I was hospitably entertained, as at every post of the North West Mounted Police. Seventy thousand acres was a large order even in the " Great Lone Land " and it was beyond my means, even combined with those of m^'^ Australian companion to run such a concern. But I had been in communication with friends, officers in Canada, in England, and in India, to form a Military Colonisation Ranche Company, to breed suitable horses for the army, and to settle there when kicked out of the service by new regulations. It was necessary to secure the site by occupation. The young Australian and myself drew up our wagon, picketed our horses, and pitched our tent on the beautiful banks of the swiftly- flowing Bow River, where the wooded islands gave material for a log-hut. We started to cut down trees, but neither of us being skilled axemen, progress was slow. Though I had left Khigston before the snow was off the ground, we had spent so much time prospecting that Winter was again approaching. My Australian companion thought the cold climate would not suit his complaint, or perhaps — well I .something else. Just at this juncture came the ordinance of the Canadian Government, forbidding sheep to be raised north of the Bow River, which was to be reserved for cattle on the advice of a certain ranching senator '"ho subsequently changed his mind and took his cattle soul- , when this monstrous restriction was withdrawn — too late for me — but it decided my waver- f SI 382 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. ing Australian companion to leave me, for he understood nothing but sheep. I paid him back his share of investment in waggon, team, and store of provisions, and found myself alone in the " Great Lone Land," with no nearer neighbours than the Blackfeet Indians, about ten miles off. I went to them, and with the aid of Mr. Leheureux, the interpreter, and by the kindness of the Indian agent, Mr. Pocklington, who interceded for me with the Blackfoot Chief, " Old Crowfoot," 1 squared matters with him. After a present and a " pow-wow," he was very polite and friendly, and permitted two Indians, '* Old Brass " and " Cut Face " — the latter .so named bee luse he had cut off his wife's nose for infidelity — to come an'j help me to build a log-hut. The Indians brought their " teepees " and squaws, but not the lady minus the nose, v ho had been divorced after that opera- tion. The Indians we re fair workers when humoured, and good axemen, and the women worked hard also, cutting light poles and grass for the roof and afterwards mudding it and the chinks between the logs. But, fortunately, I was not dependent on them, for I got the assistance of a white man, an excellent axeman and good fellow, who spoke a little Blackfoot. He was a young Canadian named Morris, the son of a former Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba. We were a curious crowd, but got on famously. I h id the good luck to shoot an antelope, and we had bacon, flour, tea, and tobacco — what more does a fellow want, with good company ? The log-hut built, we entered into occupation on m}' birth- day, the 15th of September, thus securing a homestead right of settlement, and laid up provisions for the winter. Unfortunately, nothing else was secure. My lawyer, who had been employed to obtain the necessary charter from Government for the formation of the Military Colonisation Company, informed me that the whole work had fallen through because the young Australian, whose name had been inserted with mine and others, in the application for a Charter, had left the country, and that I must therefore return at once to Canada, and start a fresh application, or lose the claim for seventy thousand acres. There was nothing for it but to go back immediately — but how ? There was no railroad nearer than 300 miles or thereabouts, and Canadian Winter was setting in. Just in the nick of time a couple of visitors arrived. Two friends, GENERAL JIXGO S HARDEST MARCH. 383 young police oflficers, Perry and Provost, drove up in their waggon on their way East — one to be stationed at Cyprus Hills and the other going on leave. They ofllercd me a .seat for part of the way, which was thankfully accepted. I left the house, waggon, team, and provisions in charge of Morris, and a thoroughly trustworthy fellow he proved. We had not gone far when a terrible blizzard set in, snow fell over a foot de(>p, in a few hours you could not see 3'our hand before you. Uur waggon broke down, and there would have been an end of the old officer and the young ones also, but that they were overtaken by a survey party with carts, al.so making their way East. Some of their horses had died of hardship, for under the snow, which the warm " Chinook " wind soon melted, the country was found to be burnt ; not a blade of grass for a hundred miles. The devastation caused by prairie fires, partly accidental but often deliberate on the part of Indians, as the best means of relieving their country of white men and their herds, is as hard to realise by dwellers in civilisation as is tiie heart- sickening sight to a settler of " the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night," that when started late in the Autumn means the slow death by starvation of thousands of ranche cattle. The difficulty of campaigning in such a country can be understood. Fortunately, the Spring came soon after tlie outbreak in 1885, and the fresh grass, growing like magic as the snow melted, alone rendered possible the march across the prairie of columns with the long convoys of provisions necessary in a country which produces nothing but gophers, coyotes, and Indians. The coyote is a prairie wolf, and the gopher a sort of ground squirrel, which burrows and makes prairie galloping dangerous, especially when there has been a slight " flurry " of snow. At last, after much hardship, we reached the terminus of the C.P.R. on our feet. Of the few remaining horses that dragged themselves and our supplies, (with, alas! much cruelty, many oaths, and a little assistance from the men of our party), there were more than one which had literally lost their feet — the hoofs had dropped olV from a disease peculiar to the country, due to constant travelling in alkaline mud. Next Spring the Military Colonisation Company was put on a proper footing by the assistance of Messrs. Gunn and Benson, Members of the Canadian Parliament, and the new Charter -.juiiu 384 GUNNER jingo's JUBILEE. il ^ duly secured. I had furnished the initial expenses, and taken the largest proportion of paid-up capital myself. 1 started back in the early Spri' g again, before the snow had melted, taking with me my youngest son. Alec ; the son of a brother officer, Falk- Warren ; and also, as foreman, Mr. Hatton, an ex-Militia officer of ranche experience in Colorado. After leaving the C.P.R. we had about 300 miles to drive. We had purchased a waggon, teams, and supplies, and, joining forces with Lord Boyle and his brother, and Mr. Wilmot, for that part of our trail which was common to both, we plodded on day by day through alkaline swamps that the melting snows had left almost impassable. We marched for near a month, and I do not remember a day when we did not stick in a swamp, necessitating generally the unloading of our waggon and the carriage of the contents on our backs to terra firma. As the foreman had sprained his arm by an upset, and the two lads, only sixteen years of age, were not game to shoulder sacks of oats and flour, this duty devolved on ex-General Jingo, who was supposed to be too old for military service, according to the wise warrants of the War Office, introduced by the gentlemen who ride hobbies and high stools. This march also had an end. It was the hardest the ex- General had ever made. There was no blazing camp tire, no wood on the treeless plains. The monotonous tinned meats, and greasy bacon, and chips of ship biscuits, s'^aked in the fat of the latter, were gulped down with pannikins of hot milkless tea. When old Jingo rolled under the waggon, sharing the limited space with his son, the foreman, and the other boy, it was not often for deep sleep. His thoughts went back to those happier days when even the sultry marches of a hot-weather campaign in India could be lightened by genial comrades. But those were the times when hope and Jingo were young, when the laurel with the golden legend of his grandfather seemed within grasp. Now — hope was dead — Jingo had long since discovered that that tree does only grow on the shady side of Pall Mall. There was a grim consolation that though Royal Warrants considered him unfit to command men, he could at least manage wild horses. As soon as the two boys were installed in the log hut, built the previous fall, and a field for potatoes fenced, ploughed, IIOUSF THIFVF.S : RKD AND WllITi: 385 and sown, the " Boss " and his foreman drove south into the United States, purcliased a band ot' a hundred brood mares and three staUions, liired a tew cowboys, and drove the horses back for 160 miles to Canada. Tlie rains had begun, and the buzz of tlie merry mosquito was heard in the land. We had no tents, and nothing but blankets and canvas sheets under and over tor sleeping in. Not that there was much sleeping done. Vov many nights the mares had to be circled by mounted men to keep them from breaking back to the country whence they had been driven, where horse thieves abound, who would consider it smart to stampede on their backtracks a band of horses just bought by a "blarsted Britisher." And even after the marcs were on the ranche they had to be closely guarded from the same gentry, who did succeed in running off a couple, by hiring themselves on the ranche as cowboys, and then dis- appearing with their mounts and one extra. It did not pay the " Boss "to leave the " ninety-and-nine in the wilderness " and go after " that which was lost," ami to send anyone else v;as as equally futile as to apply to the police. From time immemorial the beautiful valley of the Bow River has always been the home, the head-quarters of the powerful and once warlike Blackfoot nation. It was here that the election of their chiefs took place, a dignity for many generations hereditary in the family of " Crowfoot." The Sapo Mexico or Mecitlico is a strange compound of the old Frencli voyageur — Sabot-Shoe, and Mexico (Mecitlico) great, an Aztec or Voltic word applied to Mexico, the Great or Big Land. The name was won by an ancestor of C'rowfoot, who slew in battle the chief of the Crow tribe, a man of gigantic stature, and the sho(^ or mocassin of the slain warrior was long retained in the family of the conqueror as atrophy. Hence the name, originally " Big Crow Shoe," was corrupted to Crowfoot. Though tiicv cherish the memory of their past wars they arc now peacefully settling ilown on their Reserves. They are fed by the Canadian Government as there are no buffaloes to hunt. The nomadic teepee or lodge, originally of buffalo skin, became canvas, -md is now rapidly giving place to the log-houses of cotton wood, built on their Reserves, where farms are established ! 'I' h\ 386 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. under the superintendence of the Indian Department. But the braves do not take kindly to agriculture, they make the squavv.s work. It would have seemed a more natural step if, instead of farming, the Government had first given them cattle to herd, that being the natural step between the war- rior-hunter stage and the agriculturist. The Blackfoot braves are tall and handsome, their flowing blanket costume adding to their apparent height. They have not the muscular development of a white man, as they have never worked, and their buftalo hunting was done on horse- back. Their aquiline beardless faces shew intelligence, and their bearing is dignified and gentlemanly. The hair is left long and tangled, only feathered upon the warpath. Crowfoot, their chief, was like a dark Duke of Wellington in feature, and he had something of the level-headedness and shrewdness of the Iron Warrior. He had the wisdom from the iirst to see that the ^/jtrue interests of his people lay in •^ / friendliness to the white man. He Q^'^ would, had he been left more power, have checked the irregularities of his headstrong braves. " Old Sun," the second chief, a veteran warrior of heavier build and physique, had not the acute brain of Crow- foot, but had been a desperate fighter in his day. In his lodge were said to be concealed the scalps of white men -^nd, slander added, longer and fairer tresses. When my family came up to reside in the terra-cotta- coloured mansion, " Strangmuir," we were often surprised by uninvited guests. The mocassined feet would be across the threshold before a sound was heard, and the Indian would quietly seat himself beside the piano, where the girls were practising, ask for tobacco, light his pipe, and go on smoking placidly, and listening while the governess repeated the "one! two! three !" with equal stolidity, though the old warrior beside her had an ominous disc of parchment attached to his costume, from which still hung the now scanty tuft of a pale scalp-lock. Crowfoot and Old Sun were our most frequent visitors. They would sit in the long room, which was school-room and dining-hall, until dinner came up, brought in with much ""^^Wv^t^^^""' CROWFOOT AND OLD SUN. 387 'ty indignation by Debby, our Irish cook, a thorough aristocrat Ukc all her race when " naygurs " are concerned ; moreover, had not her uncle ousted Lord Listowel as niimber of Parlimint for the Kingdom of Kerry ? To think that " the loikes of her should be cookin' Christian mate for durty hay- thins in paint and blankets." Crowfoot's table manners were those of the gentleman he was. He would gulp down gallons of hot tea, and then cool himself off with the fan provided by one of the ladies of the house. — Squaws and Indians whose rank did not entitle them to enter, uninvited, the house of the "white chief with one eye open," as the\' called Jingo (from his watchfulness and his eyeglass) would have to content themselves peering in at the windows of the lower story. At all hours the beady brown eyes of squaws might be upon you. The braves rarely condescended to let their curiosity get the better of their manners. Old Crowfoot has passed away since the events recorded took place and is probably sleeping on a raised platform in the wooded islands of the Bow. The corpse is not buried until the dry air has dessicated it. It is startling to come upon the last lonely couch of a dead warrior, covered by his blanket, his rusty gun and his whip beside him. Of course one would never willingly disturb such repose as it may be, but the first one I saw, I raised (I hope with pardonable curiosity) the end of the blanket and the skull rolled at my feet. I carefully replaced it. I often again sought that resting place, it had a curious fascination for me, but I never found it. Had his tribesmen i"emoved it for burial ? The squaws are not so good-featured as the men and do not do the same amount of dressing up. That peacock-like part is assumed by the brave, who naturally acquires and attracts the greatest number of squaws. The uncomely squaws are relegated to the hardest labour. Long ages of this natural selection ,^ and peacocking on the part of the men have perhaps led to the striking difterence in facial-^' beauty between the men and the women. Both sexes disfigure themselves with red and yellow paint. The Blackfeet, through their chiefs Crow- foot and Old Sun, who had solemnly sworn C C- VAW sai 388 C.L'NNER IINGOS lUBILKE. brotherhood with the -..hite stranger, confirmed it over many sacks of flour, pounds of tea, and tobacco given by the latter. But their hearts were Indian all the same, or else their young braves were uncontrollable in their desire to steal horses, which, if they could not keep, they might be rewarded for bringing back. The Military Colonisation Ranche horses were closly herded. The Blackfect started a prairie fire. They took good care always to do this with the wind in the direction to favour them, that is, toivards iis. The fire stampeded the horses. To arrest either the fire licking up the dried grass or the mad mob of frenzied horses flying before it, was like trying to stop a cyclone. On reaching the river the horses scattered through the bush along the fringe, and many dashed into the water and swam across to the Indian Reserve — as they were meant to do. The poor mares lingered with their little ones until their very tails were scorched. Some of the young colts perished before reaching the river, and we found their poor charred bodies on the blackened ground. Wt crossed the river and recovered most of the horses ourselves. A valuable mare was missing. The settlers to deal with Indians, and little in that line themselves. Superintendent Steele was an exception. He sent a sergeant and an interpreter, and I went with them accom- panied by a ranche hand, Sinclair. The missing mare was discovered, and given up by " Low-Horn," the minor chief of the delinquent's camp. The latter rejoiced in the name of " Dried-String-Meat." He certainly would have become dried strmig-tip meat if Judge Lynch had had him on the other side of the line ; Mr. Dried-String-Meat resisted, but in less time than it takes to tell, the native gentleman found himself on the broad of his back with the sergeant's knee on his breast and a dainty pair of ruffles on his wrists, before he knew where he was. Another native, Mr. " Red- Meat," drew his knife on the sergeant, with the intention of converting Iiitti into red-meat, but an old and more benevo- lent Blackfoot arrested the hand of the would-be assassin and the prisoner was irresistibly persuaded to take his seat on the four-wheeled buckboard, to which he was secured by the quiet sergeant, who bore the inappropriate name of " Fury." A crowd of excited Blackfeet had surrounded the waggon, police will not allow unfortunately do very A JUDAS KISS. 3«^9 and the head Blackfoot soldier, a grenadier in a high goose- cap head-dress, seized the horses' heads, but had to rehnquish them on a smart apphcation of the whip across his face. Having secured the M.C.R. iiorses, we drove through the crowd of Indians. The prisoner was taken to the Ranche wliere, like St. Paul, he was chained to an cver-vigilant soldier, for the trusty sergeant had handcuffed him to him- self. Thence he was conducted, with Red-Meat and the grenadier, to the police barracks, to be tried on a charge of horse-stealing and resisting the police, with the usual result of acquittal. I have no recollection of an Indian ever being punished for anything by the civil power until the rebellion broke out. I went to Calgary to give evidence, but the re- lease had taken place before my arrival, and the amiable magistrate assured me that the prisoner was willing to give me the kiss of peace, which he did, taking me unawares ! I knew it was a Judas business, for my red friends are to this day killing my son's cattle whenever they can get a chance of doing so without detection. The next year 350 head of cattle were bought in Idaho, and my boy and Bob Newbolt, the son of a brother officer, helped to drive them up. Timber was cut in the mountains, floated down the Bow, and thus corrals and stables were built. Subsequently 2,000 more head of cattle and 300 more mares were bought. The following Winter my eldest son, Harry, then on the Dominion Survey, now in the Royal Artillery, joined the M. C. C. Ranche with four other youngsters, sons of officers. Nearly two years had passed, working with my men, sharing their meals and a corner of a log hut with a mud floor, but little more extensive than that shown at " Buffalo Bill's." Our costumes too, resembled that of his picturesque cowboys, but our occupations were rather more serious, our fare harder, and our pay less. When I came back to England after the North-West Campaign, I was surprised at the ovation accorded to Buffalo Bill by Princes and swells of sorts of both sexes. A plan of a house had been sent east and the pieces for its erection were forwarded back, window sashes and doors complete, all rather like a Chinese puzzle to be put together. Fortunately, we got the foundations dug, a cellar excavated, and the baulks set up before the extreme cold began. Sitting on the rafters shingling the roof, with the U 390 r.lTNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. n li iM thermometer below the freezing point of mercury and four reflected suns in the sky, with halos round tliem, such as you see in pictures of Arctic regions, was extremely trying and provocative of profanity, especially when the hammer lands on the thumb. The house rested on a sill of squared logs, the outer walls of two-inch plank , upright, fitted in a groove in the sill. The outside had tarred paper and clap boarding over all. Inside there was an air space and an interior lining of paper and tongued and grooved lumber. It was two-storied, and contained ten rooms and a covered annex in the rear. The whole was painted pale tcrra-cotta, so soon as the weather permitted paint to remain liquid. As everything above ground freezes, and to five feet below it, root houses had to be excavated for the storage of potatoes, etc. In like manner, poultry houses had to be dug out from a bank in rear of the house. But the crowning terror was sinking a well, which suffered a partial collapse. No one was down there, fortunately, to suffer premature burial. As you cannot ask a man to do what you won't do yourself, the clearing, after the first slip, had to be begun by my son and myself. I began to think I'd almost as soon dig my grave as dig a well. Then stones had to be carted from the river and the well lined. A garden was ploughed, fenced, and planted. Words cannot describe the fantastic performances of a pair or four bronchos, when hit ^ed into a plough to turn the primeval sod of cussed toughn '^. There are no earth-worms in the prairie country to pern. ^ and lighten the soil, a subject Darwin has omitted in his ti«- ''se. House-building operations were varied with cattle herding, for our amiable neighbours, the Indians, were ever on the alert to kill a cow or a calf, though they were abundantly supplied with beef by Government. The Bow River bounded our ranche on the south, and when frozen w.is used by the Indians as a highway in their journeys to Calgary, where they and their squaws go for periodic?, Jevilments, and returning hungry kill the settlers' cattle. On the opposite side of the river was their Reserve, and the boundary had to be ridden down the bank to watch for tracks of passing cattle over the frozen river. My son, Alec, when on his beat, saw a party of Indians dismounted on the high bluft" above the river. This always means mischief. Withdrawing quietly to watch them, he found they were driving cattle down to the river, where another party of Indians were wait- CATTI.i: KILLING. 391 ing to receive them. Alec made them move 011 to their Reserve ami leave the cattle. Following the trail to some distance, he came to pony tracks mingled with those of cattle and blood. The Indians had managed to drive off a couple of steers before his arrival. He found where they had killed, carried oft' the meat, nnd secured the hides with our brand upon them. It was nightfall. A blizzard had sprung up, and he had to make his way to Pruen's, one of our military colonists, and was lucky to get there. Ne.xt morning I followed the tracks, and informed the police, who found the stolen meat and arrested the delinquents. This time the trial was of a more formal character and, if possible, of a more unsatis- factory result, the verdict of the Judge being, " Not guilty, but don't do it again." Several years have passed, and my son writes that "Lake Raiser " (the original cattle thief), has just killed one of his best cows. The presence of the police has alone prevented these matters being squared by the settlers themselver, in the sliort and decisive way they manage it over the border. I had secured as foreman an e.\-Canadian gunner, sub- sequently in the North-West Mounted Police ; when his term of police service had expired he had lived with the Indians. An adventurous fellow was Jim Christie, a well-educated Scotchman, a good shot and horsebreaker, and a kind- hearted, cheerful chap, who never had an enemy but him. self. On the great Canadian steppes, along the base of the Rocky Mountains, lie the cattle ranges, huge unfenced areas, leased from the Government at the rate of one cent, per acre per annum. They are covered with short, nutritious grass, which in the Winter cures into natural hay. The snow seldom lies for more than a few weeks at a time, owing to the warm Chinook wind of the Pacific, which licks it up. Some years the Chinook wind ceases to blow, the thermometer falls below zero, the snow accumu- lates, and in bad years the cattle die in considerable numbers. The horses do not so suffer, they paw themselves pasture, which the cattle cannot do. Snow freezes in the cleft hoof, and lames them. The helpless cattle drift before the blizzards, and finding no shelter on the treeless prairie, they smother in the snow-filled coulees. The herds of the various ranches get mixed, and every Spring there is a " round-up " by the North-West Associa- 392 GUNNER JINGO S JL'BIl.EK. i tion of Ranchers. Each sends representatives in proportion to the number of stock, and the commissariat is carried in pi I. irie waggons. The cowboys scatter out and sweep the country in such fashion that few animals escape. At tiie conclusion when the scattered stock are assembled, comes the cutting and branding of calves. This cruel, but necessary, process is the only means of distinguishing one man's cattle from another. The huge herd, b}' gradual piessure of cowboys riding round the flanks, are made to circle. The calves stick to their mothers in a marvellous manner amid the turmoil of shout and trampling hoofs. As the different brands are recognised from the outside, a cowboy will dash in and drive from the rest a cow with her calf to a place allotted for a particular brand — a difficult matter, requiring as skilful turning as that of an expert polo player, And the cow ponies are something of the same style. The cow does her level best, by twisting and dodging, to get back to the herd, and sometimes succeeds. Then it all has to begin over again, and so on until each brand has been separated into a distinct mob, kept apart by the owner's cowboys riding round. Now comes the branding and castration of the calves. The neighbourhood of a corral is generally taken advantage of, but failing this, it has to be done on the open prairie. The calves are made to circle, and a couple of good hands with a lariat will almost simultaneously lasso hind and fore foot. The pou}' knows his work as well, or better, than his master, from whose hands the lariat is .scarcely cast, before the pony throws himself '^n his haunches to receive the strain. When a full-grown beast has to be arrested, in full career, it takes the pony all he knows to keep his feet, but the weight of the rider is added, and the strain always taken at the proper angle — from the horn of the saddle. The calf, with his legs wliipped from undei* him, is operated upon and branded with a hot iron. From daylight to dusk hundreds are branded, the me; working in the choking dust of the corrals and the blazing heat of the sun. The scene becomes almost as exciting as the arena of a bull-fight. In the eagerness to get through the work quickly, men will tackle and throw a fairly grown bull-calf, perhaps lassoed by only one foot. Sometimes it is a tos.s-up which goes down. Should the cow throw herself into the strife, the odds arc H BRONCHO-BUSTING. 395 badly against the man, who will have to clear the con^al fence as lively as a torero. In the case of sales, where grown cattle iiave to be re- branded or vented, to save time and labour, they are driven into a long shoot, at the end of which is a sort of swing fence hinged with raw hide to a post fastened horizontally on the ground and gradually drawn to the opposite side by a winch. It secures the animal during branding. The iron is inserted between the bars of the shoot. With an accompaniment of angr}- bellows and plaintive moans, frizzling of burnt flesh, and a smell of singed hair, the cruel operation is concluded. The branding of colts and horses is somewhat similar, but more exciting and a trifle dangerous. The broncho is handy with hoofs and teeth. The bands of horses arc reared on the prairie in perfect freedom, the foals running with their mothers. These '^ands are only approached on horseback ; in early Spring the scattered groups are rounded-up and driven into the home pastures. Thence they are driven into the large corral, and selected mares into smaller corrals, one at a time, to the sires. I'he geldings are drafted out, and those chosen for breaking driven into the circular corral a few at a time, where they are circled round until the horse required is lassoed and a turn with the lariat taken round the snubbing post, in the centre of the corral. The rest of the geldings are then let out and the process of " lironcho-busting" commences. Brutal work it is. But time cannot be devoted to gentler methods, which would produ e a more tractable animal, and Western men are wcdt' J tn fish and game, and are not so dependent on Government. Among them the revolt broke out. They are said to have had some reasons for discontent in the character of some subordinate Indian agents. In Canada, all appointments are political, and a large proportion of subordinates were of the Irish persuasion, for the Anglo-Saxon does not usually strive for an ill-paid Government billet. The first outbreak of Indians was at Frog Lake. An Indian had been imprisoned for stealing beef, said to have been put in his way by an agent. While undergoing imprisonment, his squaw became intimate with the prosecutor. When the Indian had served his term of imprisoiiment he returned, and the ag«nt was shot. So the massacre bt'gan. After the last fight the squaw was found hung in our line of march, also the dog of the agent, and all white prisontrs were released. So it ended, as far as the Indians were concerned. Riel was allowed to remain for months among the Half- breeds, fanning the flame of discontent. He had Fenian assistance in his first rebellion, and during his long residence in the United States, had been led by Celtic eloquence to believe that, could he maintain a revolt for some months, which was quite on the cards (the C.P. Rail- way not being completed, it was thought that troops could not be sent from Crnada), the United States might be got to acknowledge the Western States of Canada as belligerents and accede to their request for admission into the Union, ANNEXATION SCHEME. 403 with a debt to be paid out of the United States treasury, to tho-^i: who had brought about the happy result, either by miintaininga stains belli in the territory or by manoeuvring the matter through Congress. Among Half-breeds and Indians these wild projects obtained credence. D D- 404 CHAPTER V. Telkgram of Fight at Duck Lake— Bcrning of Fort Carlton and Retirement of Police to Prince Albert — Blackfoot Scare at Calgary — Raising Mounted Corps — High and Bow River and Military Colonization Ranche Patrols — Ordered to March to Join General Middleton— Who Can Take Care ok Himself — Dancing, Raiding, and Patrolling — "Non Possumus"— Red Men ON THE War Path — White Men Denouncing Everybody and Everything — As I can get nl Arms, Ammunition, nor Authority, Propose to Disband Troops I have Raised— Excellent Results, BACKED by Frog Lake Massacre. Scarcely had the echo of the first shots, fired at Duck Lake, died away, ere the news was flashed to Ottawa that Fort Carlton was burnt and the Police were retiring on Prince Albert. The Government realised that the Civil Power was unable to copewitli the situation. The Minister of Militia, Adolphe Caron,* a French-Canadian gentleman, young and energetic, did not dread responsibility. He wisely confided the executive to General Middleton, commanding Canadian Militia, who acted with extreme promptness and decision. Meanwhile a flood of telegrams reached me, mostly by the hands of mounted Indians, who never failed to carry them faithfully if paid half in advance and the remaind'^'r on delivery. In reply to that already quoted, in which the Minister of Militia did me the honour to call for my services in flattering terms, I put my fastest team into my buck-board (a ligtit prairie contrivance on four wheels, in which you can make a bee-line anywhere, without reference to trails or coulees), and drove to the nearest telegraph office, Gleichen, about 1 3 miles oft'. Thence I wirea that my services were at the disposal of the Government, despite the knowledge that 1 was liable to for- feiture of Her Majesty's pension for answering the call to Now Sir Adolphe Caron, K.C.M.G. BLACKFOOT SCARE AT CALGARY. 405 arms in support of Her Maje5t3''E Government. But I had already committed myself ere I left home, for as my half- broken bronchos were plunging to be off, the foremar Jim Christie, making a long-forgotten military salute, put a paper into my hand. Glancing at it I saw it was a list of volun- teer troopers for the Alberta Mounted Rifles, to furnish their own horses, arms, and appointments. Heading the li.st were both my boys, one of whom sat by me on the buck-board. With a twinkle of a merry brown eye he said ' '* It's all right, governor ! The boys will stick to you. Every man or the ranche is down." He let go the horse? and I shouted back : " All right, boys ! Sergeant Christie, take charge." On my way I was met by an Indian, who handed me the following telegram : " Gleichen, March 30th. "To General Strange. " Latest report. Fort Carlton burnt. Crozier retiring to Prince Albert. Slight skirmish. Tv/o mounted police killed, ten wounded, seven civilians, not known how many Breeds. Great fright in Calgary, Sunday night. Report, Blackfeet going to take the town. People all assembled in Hall. Greet excitement. Women very much frightened. There will be a train going west to-night or early a.m. "J. E. Flaherty, " Station Master." While waiting for the train to Calgary, to try to raise troops of Scout Cavalry, came the following . " To Major-General Strange. " Proceed with mounted corps organised by you to Qu' Appelle and report yourself to Major-General Middleton. " A. P. C-.RON." I answered thus : " P.O., Gleich'^n. " To A. P. Caron, Minister of Militia, Ottaw . " No corps yet organised. Not sufficient arms 1 ammu- nition or service equipment. Enrolment of men ollv^red for local service only, to protect this district, left desticute of Police. Bands of cattle and horses liable to be run off by Indian emissaries of rebels." I wrote to General Middleton, with whom I had served in India, explaining the situation ; that the Cowboy.s, the only s ' t 406 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. armed men in the district, could not be withdrawn from the cattle country (which is in the heart of the Indian Reserves) as that proceeding would offer to Indian raiders, horses und cattle, both transport and supply, which would enable an Indian rising to be prolonged indefinitely ; that the Canadian Pacific Railway and Telegraph also required protection where they passed through the Indian Reserve, otherwise the transport of troops' equipmeijt and supplies would be inter- rupted by the burning of a few wooden bridges or culverts. Anu I stated my requirements of arms and ammunition, saddlery and equipment. He wrote in reply : "April 6th, 1885, " Fort Qu'Appelle. " My Dear Str^vnge. " Just received your letter, which explains a great deal 1 wanted to know. " I quite agree with you that you can do better service where you are, and that I can take care of myself here. " The fact is, everybody is scared and is losing their senses. I do not believe I shall fire a shot, though I intend being cautious. There hj.s been an awful lot of mismanage- ment somewhere. They are sending me 2,000 more men, and 2 Gatlings, besides the 1,000 I shall soon have, (at present I have only 350 and no Cavalry). I have ordered saddlery to be sent to you, so cannot authorise Mr. Cottingham,* but if there is any hitch I will telegraph authority to you to get siddlery from Cottingham. I shall be at Touchwood to-morrow. " Ever yours sincerely, "Fred Middleton." As regards the telegram from the station-master at Gleichen, reporting the panic in Calgary, and dread of the Blackfeet sacking the place, I never anticipated danger on that score, though experience of the Indian Mutiny had taught me to expect the unexpected. The noble red man is not fond of fighting in the open, and never attacks a large * I had aaked authority to purchase the small stock of saddlery in the hands of th« only local saddler in Calgary, and to start him making more. DANCING, RAIDING, AND PATROLLING. 407 settlement, or at a disadvantage. Anyway, my ranche lay right on the trail to Calgary, between it and the Blackfoot Reserve, and distant from the latter about seven miles. My wife, three little girls, and a lady cousin were under the pro- tection of my youngest son, only eighteen years of age, (my eldest son was with me), and Jim Christie, the foreman, an old hand with Indians. I left directions with him to put things in a state of defence, as well as he could, without alarming the family or letting the Indians imagine we were afraid of them. He had six well-armed men on the ranche, a host in themselves. He judiciously loop-holed the cellar aboui the level of the ground, under the plea of giving increased ventilation, for the upper part of our dwelling house, being of plank lumber, was not bullet-proof. The mens' quarters, being in two log houses detached from ours, were more defensible. A band of Indians having camped in the brush near the river, without women or impedimenta, an attack was anticipated, or at least an effort to run oft' our horses and cattle. The wily Jim got the ladies and women-servants down to the mens' quarters under the plea of a dance and a supper afterwards, while the patrols sneaked out at intervals. My wife, an extremely nervous woman, who, with an access of terror induced by a horse cocking an ear or his tail, would irreverently compare me to the son of Nimshi, was aware of the situation and took it with perfect sang fro id, e^'-n when she heard the shots exchanged by our men with •- lixlians who, a quarter of a mile from the house, were trying to run off" with our horses. They did not succeed, howev^er. One of our men, named Cole, dropped the leading Indian from his horse ; his companions stopped to pick him up and carry him away, and our horses were left — being used to the place they were difficult to drive away. The Indians subse- quently made another eftbrt, by driving them into a slough were thirteen were smothered. It is .^ common device with Indians to drive wild horses into a slough vvhere, being exhausted with their struggles, they can be caught and mounted. Before marching North, I removed Mrs. Strange and the children from the ranche. and took a house foi* them in Calgary, as soon as a garrison arrived. There they remained until the close of the rebellion, while Jim Christie and his men, including my boy, Alec, and I3ob Newbolt, protected the I i 4o8 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. cattle and horses. Thanks to their vigilance we only lost about forty head during the disturbance. On reaching Calgary, I was cordially received by the citizens, but the Mayor * and others did their best to pre- vent the enrolment of men, telling them thej' would be forced to march with me, while the town, left unprotected, would be plundered and burnt by the Indians. But '* in the multitude of (town) councillors was no wisdom found." A public meeting was called, and after a few words from me the Western men began to enrol freely. Excellent stuft' they were, some of them young English gentlemen, who, if they don't succeed as settlers, invariably make first-rate soldiers. The majority were cowboys out of a job ; unfortunateh' tiie long Winter had obliged many of them to sell their horses and saddles, though most of them had stuck to their Win- chesters and six-shooters. I was implored by some citizens not to enlist such " rowdies " as they were pleased to call them. I was informed that they would never submit to discipline, etc., but 1 had lived too long among them not to know their good qualities as well as their little weaknesses. From start to finish they never gave me the slightest trouble, and were the best-behaved men of the Force, always to the front yet never grumbling. They were not all British subjects, some being citizens of the United States, and here I anticipated a difficulty which never arose, for they took the oath of allegiance to her Majesty without flinching, and served her faithfully. I found that the Minister of Militia had appointed Mr. Hatton, formerly my foreman, and an ex-Captain of Canadian Militia, to the command of the Alberta Mounted Rifles, and I was fortunate enough to enrol Mr. Corryell, a land surveyor and ci-dcvnnt cadjt of the II. M. College of Kingston, who subsequently became a Lieutenant of Steele's Scouts, together with Captain Oswald, another ex-Militia officer. Sergeants Dunn and Lauder, formerly of the Mounted Police, were appointed Lieutenants, and my eldest son (who, like Corryell, was a graduate of the Kingston Military College, and ipso facto h.eld a commission in the Canadian Militia) I made my A.D.C. and General Staflf* * Kxuctly six months later this gentleman, presiding at another public meeting, said " at iin early date pf the events referred t > lie had misunderstood the General, and had been in the wrong— he took it all back."— " Calgary Herald," Oct. loth, 1885. RAISING MOUNTED CORPS. 409 Officer, as there was at the time no other person of military education and experience available in the district. His comrade volunteer troopers, who all knew him as a good cowboy and good fellow, had previously petitioned to have him appointed Lieutenant of the troop. I had myself received a telegraphic order from General Middleton to assume command of the Alberta District, and was re- gazetted into the Canadian Militia. An infantry home guard for Calgary was enrolled under Major Walker, formerly of the Gunnery School and Mounted Police. The ranche men all came forward. Stimson, Manager of N.W. Cattle Company, Jenkins (late Rifle Brigade), Smith, and others. The Pine Creek settlers were represented by Godsell, Pruen, Newbolt, Goldfinch, and Gabbet, and the men of the Military Colonisation Ranche, under the foreman, Christie, as before stated, together with the Bow River settlers, formed a chain of mounted patrols. Major Stewart, formerly of Princess Louise's Ottawa Dragoon Guards, raised the Rocky Mountain Rangers in the McLeod district and patrolled the frontier. The Alberta district is largely devoted to horse-raising. Every ranche had its herd, but they were unbroken bronchos, with the exception of a few in daily use. It was difficult to suitably mount the Alberta Rifles and the Scouts. The ranche companies did not like at first to suppl}' horses on trust, ')ut the Military Colonisation Ranche came forward and met the •vant on the written agreement of the troopers to repay the amount from their pay as it became due. And in no instance were they defrauded. In the meantime, I had received neither arms, ammunition, nor saddles, but had had intimation from the station master at Gleichen that a large quantity of ammunition was con- signed to a Half-breed trader on the Blackfoot Indian Reserve. The Mayor an;', others were still opposing me in raising troops, probably on the strength of the telegram from the Minister of Militia ordering me to march, with what troops I could raise, to the assistance of General Middleton, which not beiny in cipher had leaked out, for nothing that will create a panic or a scandal is sacred to a Transatlantic telegraphist. A meeting of settlers at Fish Creek had expressed resolutions in very strong Western terms against the Government, and threatened a White Rebellion in addition to a Red one. I had written to the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West 4IO GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. Territory, asking him to assist me in these matters, and complaining of a telegram he had sent the Mayor, as one likely to encourage him in the line of opposition he had adopted. Here is the Governor's reply : " Regina, 2nd April, 1885. " My Dear Strange. ** I have your letter of the 28th March. I presume you refer to my telegram to Mayor , of Calgary. *' You are aware that I have no power to authorise Militia Companies. It must be done through the Militia Depart- ment. I presume by this time you and others interested in raising Cavalry Corps have obtained from Ottawa the necessary authority. " I note what you say about , I will communicate with the C. P. Railway and ask that no fixed ammunition be forwarded to him, // they have the power to stop it, ivhich I doubt. " The messages we have from Crowfoot are of a very friendly nature, and if we should require assistance from him in the shape of men for scouts we can get them. ** I hope your family are well, and have not been frightened, although the rumours reported to have been circulated have been enough to frighten anybody. However, we shall soon be in a position to handle matters here, and bring the trouble to a speedy ending I trust. " Yours very sincerely, '* E. Dewdney." About the same time I received the above, the following was brought to me by a courier, who at considerable risk, had pushed through 200 miles from Edmonton to Calgary — the mail waggon had been intercepted, and had ceased running. "Edmonton, 7th April, 1885. " To General Strange. " Have wired Sir John, Indians on the war path. Send us men and arms immediately. Can't you help us at once ? "J. McDouGALL, J. P., Chief Factor, H. B. C. ** Geo. a. Simpson, J. P. " Donald Ross, Chairman, " Committee of Defence." RED MEN ON THE WAR PATH. 411 The settlers from '.he Red Deer River, about lOO miles north, under the Rev. Mr. Gertz and Mr. Beatty, brought in their families to Calgary, reporting their horses and stores raided by Indians. I also had authentic information that the Indians had destroyed farms, plundered the Hudson Bay Stores, Indian Department officials and missionaries at Bear Hills, Battle River, Peace Hills, and Beaver Lake, and I received messages from all these quarters imploring assist- ance, and yet another from the station master at Gleichen, which is on the Blackfoot Reserve. '•Gleichen, 6th April, 1885. '* To General Strange. " You were speaking to me of sending some of your men here, do you still intend doing so ? Employes are getting very uneasy and threaten to leave. No arms or ammuni- tion have arrived for us yet. Accommodation for your men can be had as I told you, the only fear employes have is of Crees coming — so many absurd rumours — cannot quiet them any longer, please reply. "J. E. Flaherty." As the only consignment of ammunition yet notified was for the Half-breed trader to sell to Indians, which the Lieu- tenant-Governor doubted his power to intercept, while the only arms were those in the hands of the Blackfeet, (Winchester repeaters) there was a little excuse for the station master's anxiety, though the Church of England missionary, the Reverend Mr. Tims, stuck to his post on the Blackfoot Reserve, and said nothing — officially, though privately I knew he expected bad times. Under the circumstances I was surprised (being a mere soldier) at the " non possunius " of the Lieutenant-Governor, whose authority I had looked upon as reflected from the Crown, and still more disagreeabh' surprised at the following from the Minister : — "Ottawa, April 8th, 1885. "To Major-General Strange, Calgr.y. " If these troops you are raising are f^^ general service I feel disposed to authorise and pvovide arms as soon as possible. "A. P. Caron." A 412 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. I wired : — " To Hon. A. P. Caron, Minister of Militia, " Ottawa. " One troop is enrolled for local service, another is being enrolled for general service.* The conditions for both being those you sanctioned to Captain Stewart. If you decline to furnish arms and equipment, please let me know at once and authorise payment of expenses already incurred and I will disband corps. Part are now guarding railroad at Gleichen, rest at Calgary. " T. B. Strange." I sent copies of the Minister's telegram and my reply to General Middleton. The threat to disband troops had the desired result. It fetched them all round, backed as it was by the Frog Lake massacre (nothing like a massacre for the official mind). The following was announced to me in cipher, which being translated ran thus : — " Touch Wood Hills, April 9th, 1885. " To General Strange, Calgary. " Terrible massacre at Frog Lake, near Fort Pitt. Consult Lieutenant-Governor, and take what steps you consider necessary. "Fred Middleton, Major-General." I had been doing my best in both directions, without much result. •As soon as a Militia garrison was sent for the district, both troops volunteered for general service and marched with me. 413 CHAPTER VI. Letter to Lieutenant-Governor— Alarm of C.P.R. Employes - Strike of C.P.R. Workmen — Appointed to Command in Alberta- Its Size — General Middleton Orders up Militia — Field Force Order — Two Raw Militia Battalions — 300 Miles Frontier Patrolled — Colonel Ouimet's Trip East — Ammuni- tion Factories — Equipment and Supplies Take Time — A Princess's Gift — " Owre Mony Maisters" — Police Placed Under Military Law — Expense ok Extemporising Transport. On receipt of order to confer with Lieutenant-Governor I went for him thus : "April 9th, 1885, Calgary. • "To His Honour Lieut.-Governor Dewdney. " Sir, " Having been placed in command of the troops in this district by Major-General Middleton, and directed to confer with you, *' 1 have to inform you that there are no troops in this district except 35 men raised by myself, part of 'whom a''e holding the railroad at Gleichen, the remainder at the police post here, where there are only five policemen and fovir prisoners. " The only rifles supplied me are fifty long Snider rifles, no use to mounted men. " You saw the dubious telegram of the Minister of Militia in reply to my repeated requests to obtain rifles. " You should be aware of the open declaration at a public meeting of white men to join the rebellion. " It is in my opinion necessary to proclaim martial law in this district, the conditions of which are different from the rest of the North-West. " It may be necessary for me to move a force North (when I get one). I cannot mo >^e without supplies, transport, and 414 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. ■ an assured base. You will explain to General Middleton the condition of things. " I have the honour to be, sir, ** Your most obedient sei^vant, "T. B. Strange, Major-General." On the same day that I got the station master's telegram that the railway employes were likely to abandon their posts unless protected, I sent a detachment of Alberta Mounted Rifles to Gleichen to reassure them, and without further discussion of powers I ordered the officer commanding the detachment to seize the consignment of ammunition previously referred to, as also that in the store of the Half-breed trader at Gleichen on the Indian Reserve. Having had considerable experience of Blackfoot scouting in the direction of stealing cattle and horses I did not accept the Governor's proposed addition to the force. The difficulties of the situation were increased by the strike of the workmen who were building the C.R Railway through the mountains of British Columbia. The small police force under Inspector Steele, an excellent oi^cer, trained in the Gunnery School, and whom I wished to accompany the Force, could not be withdrawn, as they were required to protect the C.RR. stores. Public necessity is the noble working man's opportunity, he knows no country and no law but his own temporary advantage. The following telegrams sufficiently defined my command for present purposes. It was afterwards extended over the whole district of Alberta, a country rather larger than England and Wales. The Alberta Field Force subsequently marched 700 miles from its southern base, McLeod, to nearly the 60th parallel of northern latitude, i.e., farther north than the southern end of Hudson's Bay, and about the same latitude as the South of Greenland. Telegrams : — '* Camp, via Qu'Appelle, "April 8th, 1885. " To Major-General Strange, Calgary. " Have ordered Militia to Calgary and McLeod. Authorise you to assume command of all troops between Calgary and McLeod and Gleichen. Report to me all movements. " Fred Middleton, " Major-General." ' GENERAL MIDDLETON ORDERS UP MILITIA. 415 The Minister's answer to my suggestion to disband troops ran thus : *• Ottawa, April 'Otli, 1885. " To Major-General Strange, " I authorise employ of troops you have raised. Will send on anus. •• A. P. Caron." And the Lieutenant-Governor at my request sent the following in ciphe" : " From Calgary, "April loth, 1885. " To General Middleton, "General Strange powerless until Militia and arms are here. He can act from here on Edmonton District. Strong force should also work direct from Swift Current to Battleford in connection with your troops, which will, I presume, concen- trate at Clark's Crossing. " E. Dewdney." " Camp, via Qu'Appelle^ "April 9th, 1885. " To Major-General Strange, " Have ordered Colonel Ouimet with his Battalion to pro- ceed to Calgary and report to you. Please arrange con- jointly with Lieutenant-Governor Dewdney as to the best point at which to place the troops. " Fred Middleton, " Major-General." At this juncture telegrams were uncertain in reaching me, as I had run downforaday or two to the Military Colonisation Ranche to say good-bye to my family, and to make final arrangements for their safety and that of the cattle and horses, as well as to select horses to be sent up as mounts for the Alberta Rifles and Scouts. My second son I ordered to be put on scout duty near the M.C.C. Ranche, and, with the other cowboys, he became a home guard to look after the womenfolk until they were taken to a place of safety. I did not think it advisable to have all the famil)' eggs in one basket, as in the opinion of many, a " Custer " affair was on the cards. 4i6 't- GUNNER JINGO S JUBILKK. Shortly before starting, a friend of mine, an ex-o(Ticer cf the Uni'^ed States Army, sent me a book on the destruction of General Custer and his force, possibly meant as a whole- some w irning. I need not say 1 had no intention of commit- ting Custer. On returning to Calgary I took up my headquarters at the Police Barracks. Having previously arranged for Home Guards and patrols of such mounted men as were available for the Calgary and High River District, the following public notice was issued : •• Calgary, April 9th, 1885. " Major General Strange, having been authorised to assume command of all troops in this District between Calgary, McLeod, and Gleichen by Major-General Middleton, Com- manding Forces, relies upon the cordial co-operation of all ranks and all loyal citizens. " FIELD FORCE ORDERS. •' Commanding Officers of Corps will issue orders to their Guards to fire upon all persons attempting to steal horses or committing other depredations. " Inhabitants are warned not to wander about after night- fall, for fear of accident." An attempt had been made to run oflf the horses of Major Walker, commanding Home Guards, and his men were fired at. Horses are not kept in stable, but allowed to graze free — only being stabled or corralled at night to drive in the rest when wanted. "Winnpeg, April 9th, 1885. "To General Strange, Calgary. '* Ordered to report to you with my regiment (Winnipeg Light Infantry) on arrival Calgary. Hope start Monday. Good working Battalion 350. Two Gatling guns here. Try send me orders get one for you also. Anything else you want ? Delighted to be under you. "W. Osborne Smith, "Lieut-Colonel." But it was not so easy to get "anything else" one wanted, as Smith's telegram below shows. ' TWO KAW MILITIA MATTAI.IONS. 417 " Winnipeg, I itli April. " To Gknkrai. Stkan^i;, Calgary. " Red tape detaining me and want of great coats. Hope start Monday. Requisition for aninn'n'tion according your telegram refused here by StatV. Am telegraphing Ottawa savagely. Ouimet left yesterday. Sh;.ll 1 take whole liattalion, seven companies, to Calgary, or Iravc detachment Gleichen ? Repl}'. Asked Police to send you my cipher. '• W. OsHOKNK Smith." This was an entirely new liattalion raised on the present emergency by Osborne Smith, who had served in the Imperial Army as a subaltern and subsequently in command of Militia at Winnipeg after General Wolseley's expedition to Red River. The physique of the men, mostly western working men, was far superior to that of a modern British regular regiment, but the military training of officers and men, exclusive of the Colonel and two or three others, was ;///. But they were willing and obedient and anxious to get to the front. In accordance with the following cipher telegram f|;om General Middleton, I communicated with Major Stewart, who V ""^ ' ising the Rocky Mountain Rangers, and Inspector Cotton, North-West Police, who had placed Fort McLeod in a state of defence as a refuge for families in the neighbourhood, stationed couriers between McLeod and Calgary, and who had assisted me by every means in his power, and who subsequently sent a rifled field gun equipped as Horse Arcillery, to join my Column, with a picked detachment of North-West Mounted Police, who had been trained at the Gunnery Schools. They were com- manded by Inspector Perry, a graduate of R.M.C. The subjoined show that at last troops were moving over the vast theatre of war. " To Gf.nkrak Strange, *' Have complied with first part of your telegram with regard to supplies. Cannot make out the latter part (cipher referring to Cotton). Suggest when you are ready, arrange to patrol between Cyprus Hills and Old Wives Lake.* Have 1 • About 350 miles of frontier patrolled by Major Stewart with his Rocky Mountain Rangers, E E 4i8 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. arranged with White (Controller North-West Police) to patrol east of your position to prevent Riel escaping South. *' Fred Middleton." "Touchwood, April loth. "To General Strange, " Have ordered Colonel Ouimet md his Battalion to push on with all possible speed to Calgary, and have instructed Colonel Jackson to send 250 stand of arms for distribution as required, also 20,000 more rounds ammunition. " Fred Middleton," " Brandon, April loth. " To General Strange, Calgary. " Please get billets for our corps (65 th Montreal Voltigeurs) 27 officers, 298 men, two horses. Is it expedient that I should provide a pilot engine for the safet}' of our train ? "Ouimet, Lieut. -Colonel." As this was tlie first train which had come West through Indian territory, there were doubts as to its safe arrival. The Canadian Militia Companies were only 40 strong, an organisation which suits rural districts where 40 men are about as many able-bodied volunteers as can be obtained in a village. The officers and men are known to each other and the battalion strength is only about one German or French company. In large towns this organisation might advantageou-^ly be modified, but the Canadian Militia are organised on the principle followed by the classic scoundrel who cut his men dovvn to fit his bed. The majorit}' of the 65th Battalion were raw recruits, who had never fired a rifle, as it had been found that the trained men could not be taken from civil employ, and ^-ubstitutes had to be hastily recruited and clothed. How many men of the London Post Office Volunteer Battalions could be made to march on emergency without dislocating the postal service — more impoitant than that even of the men in the field ? On the nth of April came a telegram from Colonel Ouimet to say that part of their camp equipment had been lost on Lake Portage, so I had to get them billetted by the COLONEL OITIMET's TRIP EAST. 419 Mayor and rationed by the Hudson Bay Company. In orthodox war there are depots for everything and matters run in a groove. Out West there was nothing but brick- malting without straw, and before even a soldier had reached me, came a telegram from Middleton : — " Move at once on Edmonton with whatever force you can command. The two regiments being hurried up with all possible speed. Do 3'ou want more infantry, etc. ? Have no Toronto Field Battery, only A. and B., one with me, the other with Otter. Will send you a gun as .soon as Battleford is relieved. Concur in your proposed arrangements." On the arrival of the 65lh, I met them on the railway platform. Colonel Ouimet, M P., was commanding. After explaining the situation and iny intention to push forward as soon ?s possible, he suggested that I should attempt negociations through the Catholic Bishop at Edmonton. M}' reply was that I was a soldier with orders to advance, nego- cipting was the province of the civil authorities. He said he wished leave to return East for the following reasons : — 1st, To look after the camp equipment, part of which had been left behind, also thai he could explain to the authorities the absolute necessity for immediately forwarding the arms, ammunition, and supplies, so often asked for but not yet sent, and without which I could not advance ; that he would be of more rse to me at the base of supply than at the front ; and 2nd, that his presence was required in Parlia- ment, which was assembling, and that it was the custom of the English army to give leave to an officer to attend legis- lative duties ; and 3rd, that he was very ill, to which the medical officer would certify. With the first reason I certainly concurred— as to the second, 1 admitted the custom of the British army — the third plea I left in the hands of the medical officer, who duly reported Colonel Ouimet's unfitness for active serv'ce, and I could see for myself that it was so. I gave him leave to go East. I have given these details and ciphei" telegram in justice to Colonel Ouimet and myself '• Ottawa, April i6th. " To Gfnlral Strangk, '* Papers discussing Ouimet's trip to Winnipeg. I take it for granted he was on leave. Please let me know. " A. P. Caron." E E — 2 il si I 420 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. '• Ottawa, April 20th. " To General Strange, Calgary. ** Saw Minister. All right. Must I go back at once, or will you grant me leave to remain ? Please answer. "J. A. OUIMET." I was obliged to recall Colonel Ouimet as directed, and I had the following communication from him : " Montreal, April 2ist. " To Major-General Strange, Calgary. " 111 with internal hemorrhage, but going immediately as ordered. "J. A. OUIMET." He followed the Column to Fort Edmonton, where I left him in command. He rendered great assistance in main- taining the line of communication and supply at Edmonton, as well as providing for the safety of the Lac la Biche District, by sending fifty mounted men, under Captain des Georges, 65th. His amicable relations with the Roman Catholic Bishop were doubtless of advantage in keeping the French Half- breeds of St. Albert on our side. But I did not concur with his action of arming them before the English settlers, who had previously garrisoned Edmonton, a course Vv-hich he subsequently explained. The 9th Battalion, also French-Canadian, was subsequently sent up under Colonel Amyot, and garrisoned the Calgar}' District. General Middleton wrote later to this effect : "You will think me very selfish in sending you all the French Battalions, If anyone can manage them you can." The sequel shewed that they were entirely reliable. General Middleton had done all in his power to assist me but the Military stores in Canada, as in all Anglo-Saxon parliamentary-governed countries, were kept at the lowest possible figure. The Snider ammunition sent to my Force, was eleven years old, and would have been rejected by any commander taking the field under ordinary circumstances. Having my.self been an Inspector of war stores, I was quite aware of the situation, but ** faute de mieux," said nothing. AMMUNITION FACTORIES. 421 My subordinates, as will be seen, were not so reticent. When Inspector of Artillery for Canada, I had succeeded in getting the support of Mr. Caron, Minister of Militia, for the establishment of a cartridge factory at Quebec. By working day and night, this factory now supplied the wants of the Eastern Columns. Mine they did not reach. What would have been the result had this factory not been established may be left to the imagination. For, since the introduction of quick- firina' arms a reserve of ammunition in Europe for military opeiwvions in America had not yet been tried. When in Australasia, I urged on the Colonial Governments the necessity of an ammunition factory on the spot. General Edwards, of course, did the same. I don't know if one has been established. Military reports are waste paper to Governments carried on by oratory and votes. The want of serviceable ammunition was, however, the least part of the difficulty. The country about Calgary pro- duced nothing but horses and beef on the hoof Further north there were no food supplies, but the small quantities stored at the Hudson Bay posts, which had been for the most part already looted. I put myself in communication with Mr. Hardisty, the H.B.C. Factor, who was willing to help me, but wanted authority for disbursements. This was subsequently given by Mr. Caron, who never hesitated when he saw his wa}'. It is almost impossible for me to explain, or for the deni- zens in civilised countries to understand, the difficulty of dis- entangling a red tape knot 2,000 miles away. Before I could touch a single policeman four departments had to be tackled, as a selection of a few sample telegrams from the piles I received will shew. " Ottawa, April 12th, 1885. " To Major-Genekal Strange. " You can take Steele with you. " A. P. Caron." " Regina, April i8th. " To General Strange, Calgai'v. ■ "With regard to moving the whole of Police from the mountains, you must settle that with Government and C. P. Railway. You will be responsible for arrangements made there. " E. Dewonev." 422 GUNNER jingo's JUBILEE. ** Humboldt, April 1 5th. '• To General Strange, " I concur with you about disposition of Police and Cotton. Can't undersv-.nd delay of Osborne Smith, and Winchester rifles. Both ordered long ago. " Fred Middleton." Militia i 50 Winchesters these are to be sent to "Ottawa, nth April. ** '^o General Strange, " Have already transferred to we had at Winnipeg. I believe Calgary. " F. White, Controller of T^olice." The cry was, " Still they come ! " But they didn't. The transport question was helped by my taking over the carts and horses of the Government Survey, which had wintered west of my ranche, under the " Boss," Mr. Lynham. He and his men were willing, but permission had to be obtained through many departments. Finally, from the Lieutenant-Governor, came authority. "Regina, April 13th. " To General Strange, " Caron informs, horses and carts at Lynham's to be held for use at his department. You are authorised to use them for transport north ii" necessary. " E. Dewdney." There were no ambulances, medical stores, or comforts, but the senior Regimental Medical Officer, Surgeon-Major Pennefather (retired), on his arrival with W. L. Infantry, extemporised them, and they were supplemented in accordance with the following : — " Park Argassa, April i6th, 1885. " To Major-General Strange, Caigar}'. " Proposed to furnish your colu'-.in with field hospital. What staff and appliances have you available so we can supplement and not duplicate. Reply imiupdiately. Swift Current. " J. W. Laurie, Major-General." In this connection it is not forgotten in Canada that the Marchioness of Lome, then in England, equipped from her A PRINCESSS GIFT. 423 private purse an ambulance with its staft" ot" doctors, hospital dressers, medical comforts, etc. She also provided, througli the Minister of Militia, a pipe and a plug of tobacco for every soldier in the Force. Not only Canadian ladies, but an American, Mrs. Perry, sent warm clothing, etc. These luxuries, however, did not reach the Alberta Force, but the goodwill was appreciated all the same. *' Much of the material collected after great labour and cost never reached the poor fellows for whom it was intended. It was stolen by the way, plundered, 1 am ashamed to say, by the ■ r.msters, and some we are informed, fell into the hands of ' i oundmaker ' and his braves, who captured a convoy, and for days feasted gloriously upon potted meats, preserved fruits, marmalade, jellies, and held high carnival with fine brandies and luscious wines intended for the brave fellows shut up in Battleford." (Canadian Blue Book, 1886.) This was the only convoy captured by the Indians during the campaign. The Alberta Field Force, whose communi- cations were protected, lost none. When once th*^ difficulty of organising a military expedition to a wilderness 2,000 miles away from any populated country was realised, every- one was willing to help. But '"Owre mony maisters,' as the taed said, when every tooth in the harrow made a tag in his back." The experiment of rendering homogeneous a Force composed of Police, Militia Volunteers, Scouts, Home Guards and teamsters, was, I should say, entirely novel in the annals of administration. Nothwithstanding that total prohibition of liquor is the law in the North-West, the evils of drunkenness were greater than in any community among which it has been my lot to live. A few days after the arrival of the Militia, a mounted policeman, who was drunk, created a disturbance in 65th camp, and when arrested threatened to shoot the officer of the guard. I applied to General Middleton to have mounted police put under Militia Act, and the following correspon- dence resulted : — " Clarke's Crossing, April 19th. ** To Majgk-Ginkkal St'^angk, Calgary. " Have telegraphed Caron about putting Police under Militia Act. Remember you have no power to assemble Court Martial, as yon kHon: Must arrange about that if 424 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. necessary. Have no troops for Crowfoot until affairs develop, and if I had, have no officer to command transport and commissary, no officer available just now. Don't believe half the reports 1 hear. You have not reported how it is that Colonel Ouimet had left you. Can hand Police over to Civil power.' •'F. MiDDLETON." But the Minister of Militia differed, and seemed as ignorant ao I was that I had " no power to assemble Court Martial " after being re-gazetted into the Service and placed in command of a District i,ooo miles from everybody. He telegraphed : — " Ottawa, April i8th. "To Major-Generai. Strange, " Every man on active service must be under military discipline. You will be supported. "A. P. Caron." (Cipher telegram). "Calgary, April 19th. '* To General Mh)dleton, Clarke's Crossing. " Please give me power for Courts Martial. Policeman threatened to shoot officer 615th. Handed over to Civil power. Shall be beyond Civil power i:o-morrovv, when I march for Edmonton with 160 men, 65th Battalion, 20 Mounted Police, 40 Scout corps. Advanced scouts at 'Lone Pine,' no obstacle but snow. Remainder of 63th, 160 men follow (as soon as carriage can be got) with 20 Mounted Police and field gun from McLeod. I have left orders for Osborne Smith to follow with remaining four companies of his Battalion, one was left at McLeod, one at Calgary, one at Gleichen, with detachment at Crowfoot. C.P.R. handcart supplied to enable officer to run down his whole Cor oany by rail to support detachment at Crowfoot I hope you wiil not allow detachments to be removed from Calgary, McLeod, and Gleichen during my absence. O.sborne Smith's advance, to follow me, delayed by want of saddlery for Mounted Rifles, telegraphed for to Jackson and sanctioned, not sent yet. Osborne Smith anxious to go on his own hook to ' Sounding Lake.' I have no objection, if you think fit, but I fear I should not be able to work East by Saddle Lake with only 65th, after leaving garrison at Edmonton and securing communications from Calgary." EXPENSE OF EXTEMPORISING TRANSPORT. 425 General Middleton objected to my second in command goi:ig on his " own hook." Meanwhile 1 had been fortunate in securing as supply officer, Sergeant Hamilton, North-West Mounted Police. In conjunction with the Hudson Bay Company, he secured sufficient supplies and waggons, in addition to the Govern- ir-^nt survey carts before alluded to. But a heavy rate of wages had to be paid, for settlers hiring teams for the campaign would have to forego all hope of a crop, as plough- ing was just commencing, and few had more than one team. This, with waggon, they would not hire for less than five to eight dollars per diem. Moreover there was the risk. n> 426 CHAPTER VII. Burnt Prairie and Severe Snowstorms — 65TH Voltigeurs — Scout Cavalry— Light Kit and Magazine Rifle Make Dr. Johnson's Dragoon— Pope's Essay on Man — Revised Version — Buffalo Bill Parade — A Protective Tariff on Saddles — First Advance— Snow- blind Scouts— ^And Rev. Scouts — Amalgamated Police and Military Code — A Brigade Major's Frictional Electricity — No Climate — Sloughs of Despond — Winnipeg Light Infantry — Three Successive Convoy Columns — Camp Orders — Sporting Medicos — Canadian Pioneers — Indian Signalling — Peccant and Penitent Indians — King George's Men — Fort Edmonton — H.B.C. During the week which elapsed before sufficient transport, supplies, ammunition, and forage could be collected, (for the prairie had been burnt by the Indians for many miles along the line of march, and a severe snowstorm had since covered the country,) the 65th Voltigeurs were encamped and drilled incessantly. Musketry instruction and target practice, skirmishing and outpost instruction were carried on, and their arms, which were in bad order, were overhauled by an armourer. The officers and men were cheerful and active, as French-Canadian soldiers always are. They were armed with Sniders and uniformed like the Rifle Brigade, except that I got them supplied with the Western broad felt hat, looped up to the left with the regimental button. It could thus be worn to the sunny side at will, and had a smart appearance, like the Bersiglieri without plume. InColonelOuimet's absence, the command devolved on Major Hughes, while Lieutenant Starnes, a smart young officer, was Acting-Adjutant. A troop of Scout Cavalry, the nucleus of which were 20 Mounted Police drawn from the mountains, under Inspector Steele, was rapidly got into shape by him, he instituted a simple system of single rank drill by fours — eveiy fourth man a horse-holder. But as the horses steadied with work, horse-holders became unnecessary. The men on dis- ' " SCOUT CAVALRY. 427 mounting would throw the reins over the horse's head. A severe Mexican bit, with a long whip-end to the bridle, was used. If a horse in attempting to move trod on this he would give his mouth a wrench, thus they soon learned to stand still to let a man fire over the saddle. In fact, most cowboys' horses will do this. The arms ofthe men were a short Winchester magazine rifle and a six-shot revolver, and the only "arme blanche "carried by my Cavalry was the doctor's case of instruments. (The lance is the queen of weapons for close pursuit, as I have seen it used in India, but for the North-West Campaign it was an impossible weapon.)* The rifles were very eftective up to 600 yards, and as Indians never showed them- selves in the open, but waited until we were in the wooded country, Jie range was sufficient. I am aware that it is heresy to express the opinion that mounted Infantry do not require a long-range cumbersome weapon, yet I don't know many countries where one can often see further than 600 yards, certainly not in England, and even on the bald- headed prairie there are undulations which will conceal an Indian when he means mischief. The Indians also are armed with Winchester repeaters, which they get from the States, and they will sell anything, from medicine-pipes to for Winchesters and ammunition. cowboy, like the Indian, habitually carries his rifle across the saddle, slipped through a leather loop on the projecting horn of the Mexican saddle, from which his lariat, serving as a picket-rope, also hangs ; even the Mounted Police, though provided with a carbine bucket, preferred to carry the rifle cowboy fashion, and as there were no narrow gates on the prairie I did not interfere. The cartridges were carried in the only reasonable fashion for a fighting man — in belts — the 2nd reserve in holster- bags, the 3rd in waggons. change of under-clothing, was with an extra blanket under waterproof coat was rolled in front, and a tin pannikin was tied to the saddle- horn. It is a great mistake to fuss about changing clothes when wet in the open, and a man generally gets chilled hrough doing it in a wet tent. Keep moving until you wives. The Their kit, composed of a rolled in a blanket behind, the saddle, while the A proportion of N.M.W.P. had been at one time armed with them, 428 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEF. can dry yourself at a camp-fire, for the warmth of your body acts like the wet pack in hydropathic treatment. Of course, this is always supposing there be woollen under- clothing, which may even when damp be slept in with impunity, provided one is wrapt round with a good blanket, lined with supper, and consoled with a pipe and a tough conscience. The uniform of the Scouts was the usual prairie outfit — a broad hat looped at the side, woollen under- clothes, buckskin shirt, and schapps, *' chaparejos," long leather .v.'ggings, a sort of trousers without a seat, as described by Pope in his '* Essay on Man," (revised version) : " Lo ! The poor Indian, whose untutored mind Covers him in front, but leaves him bare behind ! " Only, the cowboy wears tweed trousers under his schapps, instead of a breech-clout supplemented by leggings. These details become a question of Cavalry efficiency. If a dragoon of the Johnsonian type* is to carry a trousseau on his horse, besides yellow, black, and white dirt (chrome, pipeclay, and blacking), he must ride an elephant, and then go at a walk. I had left the Ranche in my everyday clothes, buckskin shirt and schapps, for I had no uniform, and could get none had I so desired. When we joined the Eastern Militia Force, under General Middleton, I heard the men remark : " Hullo ! Who's that fellow ? Guess that's the ' Buck- skin Brigadier.' " So I fished out an old stable-jacket and a pea-coat, gar- nished with police buttons and shoulder-straps, and boots and breeches. The Police were only too glad to leave their white pipeclayed helmets in store, and the whole Force, Infantry and all, were supplied with soft felt hats looped up at the side, instead of the " coup de soleil," face-blistering, frost-biting forage-caps they had arrived in. This, with the scarlet uniform of the Winnipeg Light Infantry, gave them a '* devil-may-care " aspect, more in accordance with the regi- mental character than the spiked pot we have copied from the Prussians. The soft hat is also infinitely more com- ♦ " A soldier who fights indifferently on foot or horsebacl?." A PROTECTIVK TARIFF ON SADDLES, 429 t'ortable, for a man can sleep in it, and tie a handkeicliiet' or muffler over it when the thermometer gets down about zero. Some diess distinctions of rank being necessary, these were adopted — a twist of gold cord round the hat for Captains, two for r()mmandLrs of Corps, and three for the General. The police stores supplied these necessary adornments. The scarlet tunics of the Mounted Police, against the green, used to make my eyes ache when out scouting, so my good friend, Steele, put them away under the tents in the waggons, and the men wore service.' Me brown Montana canvas fatigue dress. He himselt, a splendid-looking fellow and a good soldier, could not give up the swagger of his scarlet tunic, and 1 did not ask him to make the sacrifice, though it would have cost hir his life in the Hrst skirmish at close quarters, had he not been handy with his six-shooter. His Scouts, about 40 Western men (no tenderfeet), with their own horses, Mexican saddles, and arms, were ready to start North with me, but the much- telegraphed-for, long-promised saddles for the Alberta Mounted Rifles had not arrived when I marched North, so, in despair, I ordered fifty from the United States. The Canadian Customs authorities detained them at Winnipcc; until the campaign was over. I did not know the cause of delay until the 19th of May, when I wrote : "Victoria, May 19th, 1885. "ToTHK Hon. hie Mi.nistkr 01 Customs, Ottawa. " Sir, *' I have the honour to bring to your notice the conduct of some of your officials in Winnipeg in delaying the trans- mission of a supply of saddles urgently required by the Cavalry under my command, by declining to forward them to Calgary on the grounds that I was not authorised to order supplies for the Government. " In the first place I submit they might have been sent to Calgary in bond. " In the second place, military equipment for the Govern- ment should not be charged duty. "The action of your subordinate has seriously crippled my advance, which has been delayed waiting for saddles, not anticipating such monstrous conduct on the part of an 430 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. official employed by the Government, at a crisis like the present. " Sucli an individual is evidently unfit to occupy the position he holds. " 1 have to request the saddles be forwarded forthwith, if it has not been already done. " I have the honour to be, sir, " Your obedient servant, " T. B. Strange, Major-General, " Commanding Alberta Field Force." Meantime, those provided by the Militia Store Department arrived after 1 left, and the Alberta Rifles, about 8o, were at last completely equipped. One hundred and fiftj' Winchesters also arrived, with 15,000 rounds and 208,000 rounds Snider. It is admitted that Buffalo Bill's circus as an e.xhibition of '* broncho-busting " was nowhere compared to the first few parades of the Alberta Mounted Rifles, with the new saddles supplied by the Militia Department — flimsy aftairs, put together with tin-tacks, which the bronchos bust up with lightness of heart. The Mexican saddle is the only one in use out West, and is the most suitable. I should not care to ride across English country in one, nor to ride a broncho in a hunting saddle — "autre pays, autre mceurs." The men were good riders, but to sit a bucking broncho is one thing, and to hold on the saddle also when the girths give way is quite another. Consequently the prairie w.'is in a few minutes strewn with men, rifles, revolvers, and relics of saddles, in which some horses were tangled up, while others careered around until they were lassoed by the men with reliable saddles. The broken ones were patched up, and after some severe marching and patrolling there was no more equine exuberance. The Alberta Mounted Rifles were uniformed in the same serviceable brown canvas suits and slouch hats as the Police fatigue dress. Three days after the arrival of the first detachment of Militia at Calgary, the first advance was made, by pushing forward an officer. Lieutenant Corryell, and 15 of Steele's Scouts, with the Rev. Messrs. Gertz and Beatty, and settlers from the Red Deer, who had taken refuge in Calgary. I had armed them with the first lot of Snider rifles FIRST ADVANCK. 431 received, and had transformed Mr. Beatty into Sergeant-in- Cliarge. FIRST Ain'AXCK. Memo, of Instructions. Calgary, April 15th, 1S85. To LitirTENANT CoRRYKLL, Steele's Scouts. (i) You will proceed as soon as you get the order from Major Steele, in the direction of Edmonton, in advance of a party of Red Deer settlers, armed as Home Guards. Sergeant Beatty is in charge of them. They are supposed to defend themselves in case of attack. Your first duty is to scout for them. They have yotir rations and supplies. (2) Their destination and yours, for the present, is Red Deer Crossing. Make arrangements to secure yourself. Place the buildings in a state of defence as quickly as may be, doing as little damage as possible. Knocking chinks out between the logs will give you loop-holes.* (3) Should you be attacked before reaching Red Deer, or on arrival, you may conclude that the homesteads of the settlers are occupied by the enemy, and your small force would probably not be able to dislodge them. You will in that case retire steadily, sending back word to Calgary, which you would do in any case of armed resistance. (4) If you cannot find two reliable men at MacPherson's Coulee, to act as couriers you will h^^'e to use two of your own men, sending one back to mt to report arrival at MacPherson's Coulee, and leaving the other there, if it can be managed, to forward dispatches from Red Deer River to me. (5) I hope that the whole or 'art of my force will be able to move to MacPherson's Coule. on Monday morning. Mr. G. B. Elliott had volunteered his services as oflfice clerk, but having had his feet frozen, he could not march, and I was reluctantly obliged to dispense with his services. Inspector Dowling, N.W.M. Police, left in charge of •If you saw across logs making loop-holes you will have the house about your 432 GvJNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. Police Barracks and Stores at Calgary, established a line of couriers to follow my advance, but I felt a sense of relief when I crossed the Bow River and left the telegraph behind. Now there was no string holding nie, to be jerked day and night. I had cast myself loose at last ! As all the Mounted Police in the District had been placed under my command, and put under the Militia Act and Articles of War, though I -a'as not dvh'gated authority to hohi Courts Martial, 1 was made ajustice of the Peace, notwithstand- ing that I had not the Shakespearean qualification, " a fair round belly with fat capon lined." The Police Inspectors, at my request, were given local rank of Captains in the Militia to enable them to act with troops, and Steele that of Major, and with this thoroughl}' illogical Anglo-Saxon com- promise, we had to get along, and did so, becau.;e all hands were anxious to do their duty. I have no recollection of having to inflict any but minor punishments, .Vom the day we mai'ched and left the transport officer dead drunk on the hank of the first I'iver — the Bow. The punishment in this case was a bucket of cold water over his head, but " he lay like a warrior taking his rest, with his martial cloak around him." A pathetic telegram came from an old Indian comrade, formerly Madras Fusiliers, asking to join my Force. 1 had completely lost sight of and, 1 fei>r, forgotten him. He had become a " Mossback," or Manitoban farmer. He made his way up from Winnipeg, and as x 'ode out at the head of my command, an elderly man, with a worn face, whom I did not recognise, though wearing the Indian medal, took hold of my horse's mane, and conjured me by the day we captured the Black Horse Battery, to give him one more chance of a fight before he died. Made him baggage "boss" on the spot, vice the transport -.jflicer, left drunk by the river. As he performed the distressful duties of baggage and transport officer satisfactorily, and as the only officer 1 had on the Staft' was my son. wIk was A.D.C., I appointed my veteran friend. Captain Dale, l^iajor of Brigade. During the campaign he shewed unwear/ing assiduity and pluck, though his thoroughly old-time British-officer manner of damning Militia- men in general and Frenchmen in particular was productive of a good deal of frictional electricity, which required all my best French, and most oleaginous manner, to neutralise. The Head-Quarter Staff was completed by my standard- SNOW BLIND SCOUTS. 43: beaver and teamster, Wheeler Micklc, who carried in the tVonrofhis waggon the only battle flag with the Force. It was a sixpenny cotton pocket handkerchief printed with the Union Jack. The excellent fellow carried it under fii-c at Frenchman's '.iutte, having no weapon but his whip. But the most important personage of tli«j staff was the cook ; with a colla'^sible sheet-iron stove, the chimney of which went through a tinned hole in the tent, and telescoped for carnage ; he performed miracles of culinary art (jut of pork fat, tinned meat, and hard tack. Had any decorations been awarded to my Force 1 should have reconiMi'ided him for D.S.C. (Damn Smart Cook). Obtained foi^ Mr. Hamilton, Quartermaster of Police, the relative rank of Captain and Supply Officer, and as an army really walks on its belly and not on its teet, he worked miracles in this respect, with the assistance of Mr. Hardisty, of the Hudson's Bay Company, who were my paymasters. Colonel Forrest, the Paymaster to General Middleton's force, not being Sir Boyle Roche's bird, could not be in two places at once. During the campaign 1 drew no pay for my son or myself. We had each selected two excellent chargers from the M.C.C. Ranche and our personal wants were supplied by tlic soldiers' rations of tinned beef and biscuit, without grog, of which there was none, except in the form of hospital comforts, upon which neitlier of us had occasion to draw. The men complained that a long course of tinned Chicago beef, from which Liebig's extract had previously been made, produced only the results of chewing blanket. The entire absence of vegetables, the .lard tack washed down by the tannin of boiled te.., caused weakness of physique and irrit- ability of temper. It was said that the General even suffered from the latter, but as the Staff complained that their horses and themselves were worn out following him incessantly from tail to head of the Colunni and vnr vasa, both accounts can't be correct. The hundred miles of country to Red Deer, through which the advance had to woi"k, is the last and highest steppe of the prairie country before reaching the foot hills of the Rockies. It is about 4,000 feet above sea level, and the land gradually rises until the great divide at Lac la Biche is reached, where the waters of the Arthahaska and many mighty rivers, unloosed by the short .Summer, I- F 434 GUNNER JINGO S JL'BII.KF:. flow into the Arctic Seas. The physical character of the country, I have been told by the ubiquitous Russian officer, exactly resembles that of the Siberian steppes. As to climate, the southern steppes of Alberta have none, only a wind — the Chinook.* When that blows from the F'acific it is temperate, irrespective of the season, and even warm in Winter for a few^ days at a time. When that wind ceases, the temperature will fall 30 below zero. In Summer the sun is very powerful, but from the lightness of the air, due to altitude, never oppressive. Th.e early Spring of 1885 was most unfavourable to the advance. A few days warm Chiriook wind melted the snows, flooded the rivers and coulees, and made swamps and Sloughs of Despond as bad as Bunyan's, in every depression on the prairie, in which the men sank to the saddle-girths, and waggons above the axle-trees. Then the Chinook wind ceased, the thermometer suddenly fell, and severe snowstorms of a blizzardy type prevailed. The glare of the sun on the snow produced snow blindness, and Lieutenant Corryell and seven of his troopers were so smitten. But, with a courage and devotion that deserved recognition, he had a leading rein attached to his horse and was led by a trooper, whose sight was not affected, and so continued his advance. He how- ever, did not go to his death, like the blind King of Bohemia between his faithful knights, for the marauding- Indians had retired, and he occupied the log houses at the crossing of the Red Deer River, where he was ordered to halt until overtaken by the first Column a few days after. The Rev. John McDougall — a Methodist missionary, who could ride and shoot as well as speak the truth, was born among the Stoney Indians, among whom his father had also lived and died — offered, with four Stonies, to push through to Edmonton and assure the settlers that 1 was advancing with all possible speed to their assistance. To him I wrote thus : "Calgary, April 15th. " To THE Rev. |oiin McDougall, " Sir,— " I accept with satisfaction 3'our loyal offer of assistance to act eyes and ears to our forces with your faithful Stonies. * " What sort of weather is it ?" as the hunting man said to his groom. " Open the sliutters and see."—" Bedad. sorr ! the devil .1 climate at all, at all. have they in this benighted land. Shiire, its black dark and snitUs of onions and cheeie, sorr!" AM) Rr.VF.RKN'n SCOITTS. 435 " You will be good enough to report to Lieutenant Corryell, who commands detachment of settlers and Scouts, and he will transmit information to me. You are at libert}' to push on as far as you like, keeping communication with Lieutenant Corryell as far as practicable. You are aware settlers are returning to Red Deer. I have armed them. Lieutenant Corryell will move in advance of them, and establish an outpost at Red Deer, so that you can fall back on his party if pressed. ' You will not tail to communicate to Lieutenant Corryell and Major Steele the distinctive mark the Stonies will wear, to picvent our men Hring on them by mistake.* You are at liberty to start as soon as you are ready. It would be best not to be .'• een starting with Lieutenant Corryell or settlers." O!) 17th April, Colonel Osborne Smith, with his I'rovisional Battalion, Winnipeg Light Infantry, 326 of all ranks, arrived at Gleichen on C. P. R. ; left Major Lewis and a company to relieve the detachment of Alberta Mounted Rifles, guarding <:he railroad and watching the trails from the North, which < • ntre at Crowfoot, near Gleichen. Battalion reached Calgary the same evening, and were put under canvas. Next morning a company of W. L. I., under Captain Valency, were ordered to march a hundred miles South, to garrison Fort McLeod, from which a detachment of twenty Mounted Police, with field-gun, under Inspector Peny, N. W. M. P., had been withdrawn to accompany my Column to the North. An officer's detachment of Alberta Mounted Rifles scou'.ed for the Infantry as far as High R"ver, where they were met by Mounted Police Scouts. On the 1 8th April, left Colonel Osborne Smith, command- ing Winnipeg Light Infantry, at Calgary, where he would remain until such time as transport could be obtained for the W. L. I. In my absence he was to assume com.nand of all troops south of my position, and endeavour to maintain communication until re-united. And on the 20th, I started with the first Column, composed as follows : SCOUT cAVAi.Kv (under Major Steele). 20 Mounted North-West Police. 40 Mounted Steele's Scouts — Captain Oswald. * A white scarf. Y y. 436 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. Right wing of 65th V'oltigeurs, Four Companies (160 men) — Colonel Hughes. Capt. Wright, 43rd Regiment, Supply and Ti'ansport Officer, Medical Officer and outHt, Surgeon Pare. Six stretchers. SECOND COLLMN When transport is available, under Captain and Inspector Perry, North-West Mounted Police. 20 Mounted North-West Police, with Held-gun. Left wing of 65th Voltigeurs, Four Companies. .Supply and Transport Officer, Mr. Desbrisay. Medical Officer and outfit. Six stretchers. THIRD COLCMN Under Colonel 0.sborne Smith, C.M.G., as soon as tiansport is available. Alberta Moiuited Rifles, Major Hatton, who will, after the passage of the last Column, leave a detachment under Lieut. Dunn to patrol the trail between Edmonton and Calgary. '" Four Companies W. L. L Supply and Transport Officer, Captain Hamilton, N.W.M.P. Medical Officer, Surgeon-Major Pennefather. And outfit witii 12 .stretchers. Orders had been given to tit up two waggons as ambulances, but pressure on the .Supply Oflicer prevented its being done. The never-bare bone of contention — officer's baggage — came up, but the limited transport rendered it necessary to reduce it to a minimum. Of course the order;; were evatied with the usual artifice As for the men, knapsacks and blankets (light kit limited to one change of underclothing and two blankets) were carried in the company waggons, in which a certain proportion of the ollicers and men were allowed to di-ive by reliefs towards the end of each day's march,, to get along as quickly as possible. Eacii company liad three 2-wheeled survey carts, drawn by ca.yuses (prairie ponies), to carry tents, ' ■Hiii Sl.OLT.HS ni- DFSrOND. 437 baggage and cooking outfit. The iatter was carried separately in charge of the company's cook. The Coh.nnn marched the first 200 miles at the rate of 20 miles a day. through swamp arid difficult counti\y witliont roads, and toward.^ the close of the campaign, when toughened with work, the 651!! V.oItigeurs did 35 miles in one day. Insj:,ector Perry conducted the march of his Column and tlie crossing of the Red Deer Ri\er with com- plete success, re-estahlishing tlic *'erry at tiiat place. He proved a very ahle officer, as he knew the country ^vell Me was a graduate ot' tlie Canadiaii R. M. C'o'lege, with a year's service in tlie Royal Knginecrs. And liere I must correct an error in Ciciu ral Middleton's report, which states tl^ie Column left Calgary on April 20th, and reached Edmonton on May Stii, having made tlie march of 194 miles in 15 days. My Order Book shews 1 reached Edmonton on April 30th, having marched from Calgary in lO days. As we were enlcring a wilderness from which no supplies could be drawn — the first 60 miles burnt prairie without a blade of grass or a stick of firewood, the last 100 to Edmon- ton with the trail rnnnii\i', through hostile Indian territory, a woody and swampy- country of soft black soil — it was necessary to cany fifteen days' provisions and forage, as well as a reserve of ammunition, a condition of things that com- pelled an enormous convoy. Oui of all proportion to the protecting force of 160 Infantry and 60 Cavalry Scouts were the 175 waggojis and cans, which a. times, from intervening swamps and creeks, unavoidably extended a distance of one and a half or tw(.' miles. The troop."- were raw and required detailed instructions and coi^stant war.-hing by the lirigade- Major and myself the only tv\o men witli the Force who had seen war, hence the mir.utia: of the few sample orders quoted, and tiir issue u<' diagrams fr»r the order of march. The 65th H'i a Frenc4i-Canadian Battalion, new to the work, .I'm! not familiar with English. The melting of the wint'-'s siiou had llooded the nvers. The first obstacle was the IV>w River, which in those days boasted neither bridge nor ferrv, aiul had to be forded. It was three feet deep, with a very strong, icy-eold current Nose Creek, a tributary, was a second obstaeit*. Thus tl)e first was enfori edly a short march, but inany ca«;;, olel hand)* kncjw that it is nev«-r advisable to make the first a long march.. mtsis 1^ 43« GUNNKK JINGOS JUBILKf. On April 20th we encamped shortly after c 'ossing " Nose Creek." MEMO. OF ORDKRS. i I. — The march of waggons will be regulated according to contents. 2. — A bugler will be detailed from the rear guard for the rear waggon to sound halt by order of the Transport Officer, should the rear of the Column be delayed and the front required to halt. These sounds will be passed to the front by the other buglers. A bugler will also be detailed with the advanced guard to sound halt from the front. He will travel on the Staff waggon in rear of the advance guard and receive his orders from Major Steele to sound halt or advance. The sound to close up, in a similar way, will be sounded from the front and passed to the rear. 3. — The waggons with reserve ammunition win be in charge of the rear guard of Infantry. 4. — The non-commissioned officer in charge of rear guaid of Scout Cavalry will be responsible that no waggons, carts, nor stragglers are left behind. 5. — The head of the Column will halt occasionally to allow the rear to close up. 6. — Whenever the country admits of waggons and carts leaving the trail, they will advance six abreast to shorten column of route. 7. — Major Steele will make his own arrangements for advance and flanking scouts, and the selection of a suitable camping-ground, with water, about four p.m. 8. — As there is no wood for a distance of 60 miles in our front, the Supply Officer will be responsible that no wood is wasted. Sentries will be ordered to allow no fires after supper. 9. — The grass being burnt in our front, hay must be econo- mised, also oats, of which the supply will be limited. (As it was necessary to allow teamsters to carry oats for their horses, restriction was difficult.) CAMl' ORDKRS. 439 10.- 1 1 As the Column will not halt at noon to cook, each man will carry a couple c t> n * ■ ; ■;• i^^-''^ ^aht\ ct1^^KS^(louy•-cld J»i- Ivi^anlrU V FLOrR-CLADS NOT APPRFCIATFn. 453 The gunbont to cany the 9-poiinder was more soMdly built, with a platform of stout timber in the centre, aiul bales of hay formed a musket-proof parapet. As there was not space to allow full recoil, the gun was lashed, the whole boat taking the recoil, the gun being traversed by pointing the boat's head in the direction the gun was to lire. As 1 had Hred a I lOpounder gun at Shoeburyness oti'a raft constructed of casks, with a superstructure of planks, 1 had no doubts about the boat bearing the recoil without injury. The horse boat was also more solidly built than those for Infantry. ^uliflu .U4i(-cl(xl Horse -Wi--N^_; Unfortunatel}* my flour-dads, which were mainly carried along by the current and steered by sweeps, did not inspire the same confidence as did the steam flotilla of General Middleton. To add to the difiiculties of the situation, the ofificer commanding W.L.I, forwarded to mean official letter, condemning the construction of the boats, together with a request for a Board to try experiments on the penetration of flour sacks by rifle bullets, and finally a request to be allowed to condemn a large proportion of the ammunition issued to the troops, the defects of which had been brought to light by target practice. 1 454 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILKE. V i ■ ii The protests against the boats were met by ordering a Board of Oflicers, (selected on the principle of a jury to convict an Irish murderer,) to take evidence of experienced H. B. navigators and the boat-builders themselves. The experiments on the penetration of flour sacks were left to the enemy, and officers objecting to the quality of the ammunition were advised to restrain the fire of their men until they got within short range of the enemy. On the 1 2th, the Board reported the boats fit. Some few additional ties had been added, and the troops were held in readiness to embark. The transport waggons and all horses, except six for the gun team, were sent forward to Victoria under escort of a detachment of N.W.M.P. A Half-breed from the settlement of La Boucan was arrested by Captain Constantine, W.L.I., who knew him to have been implicated in Kiel's first rebellion. It was proved that he had lately returned from Poundmaker's Camp, and letters from Riel's Camp were found upon him. Subse- quently another Half-breed, implicated by the examination of the first, as in communication and sympathy with Riel, was also arrested. Police Inspector Grisbach, with Major Hatton's troop, was ordered to make further arrests at the La Boucan settlement, but this was not effected, notice having been conveyed to the suspected persons by Half-breed friends. On the 13th, a heavy storm of snow, wind, and rain set in and postponed the embarkation of the troops, but all stores were embarked and arranged, as before de.scribed, to afford as much protection as possible to the men. A ferry boat in use at Clover Bar was purchased, with its wire rope, windlass, and appurtenances. The wire cable could be stretched across the river in narrow parts, thus establishing an impromptu ferry, to be thrown across to operate on either or both sides of the river, as might be found necessary. The general opinion was, that as soon as the Indian scouts ascertained that I was committed to the north bank of the river. Big Bear would join forces with Poundmaker and fall upon my communications and the defenceless settlements on the south shore. Poundmaker had already captured a convoy of 30 waggons, destined for Battleford. My plan of campaign was, that the column, moving by the north bank of the river, should, by means of the Scout PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. 455 Cavalry, keep communication with the boats, wiiich carried the bulk of the provisions, land trariaport being ditVicult. I meant to effect a junction within striking distance of the enemy, yet not so near as to jeopardise the disembarkation. My force was to proceed eastward, and the Hattleford column, supplemented by steamers which could go up strejim from General Middleton's Force, to come westward, until we should open communication, and attack from both sides, either Poundmaker, or Big Bear, or both united, as the case might be. This plan 1 had submitted to General Middleton, and obtained his approval ; but the Hudson Bay officials, who were undoubtedly the best judges of Indian hnhits of thought, assured me that the Indians would inevitably ; 'fack the French-Canadian column, whether it went by land oi by water. 1 hiid no intention of giving them the chaiiLe, and, as 1 had ascertained by my advanced Stouts tha' 'lore were no hostiles in any numbers west of V^ictoria, I ordered the land Colur I -. halt at Victoria, to effect a junction witl. the boats there. M} intention was to land the English troops (W.L.I.) at that place, and embark the French-Canadians. But 1 kept this to myself, knowing that my every movement was reported by Half-breed sympathisers, and would be published by Press correspondents in my own Force, if they got the chance. Both were deceived by the manner in which the Force left Edmonton. The reasons given by the Hudson Bay officials for their belief that the French-Canadians would be attacked in preference was the belief before expressed : that the little soldiers who spoke French like Half-breeds and did not wear red coats (for even the Police wore scarlet), could not be the Queen's men, and might possibly, from sympathy with them, be half-hearted. The result .showed that they were mightily mistaken, as 1 felt sure they would be. As there was an openly-expressed opinion that the flotilla would never reach its destination without disaster, I embarked in it myself with the Staff. But I had no intention of being caught in the boats while my Force was engaged on shore. On the 14th, we dropped down the river with the Winnipeg Light Infantry and the 9-pounder ?un and horses in five scows, Scouts in canoes leading the advance. 1 456 GUNNFR JIXC.OS JUBILEK. The weather cleared, the tall pines rustled overhead, and Mie swift, yellow, gold-bearing waters of the Saskatchewan swirled beneath us for many a mile, for it was 300 to Fort Pitt. There was a certain luxury in enjoying the ** dolce far niente " after our hard marching, though a sharp look- out had to be kept, and the Winnipeg men pulled lustily at the sweeps, cheered by the lively boat songs of the French- Canadian pilots, with which one had become familiar in many a lumber cainp in days gone by. I had not the heart to stop them, thou'^h they might have attracted the attention of a prowling Indian scout ; still it cut both ways, raising the confidence of my men, while it showed the Indians we had no dread of what they could do. But it had to stop towards dusk, in fact it died down of itself when the men knew it was dangerous. i BOATMAN .S SO\(;. '• C'est I'aviron, qui nous montc, qui nous mene, C'est I'aviron, qui nous montc en haut. A laclaire fontaine M'en allant promener J'ai trouve I'eau si belle Que je m'y suis baigne. II y a longtemps que je t'aime, Jamais je ne t'oublierai. Vive la Canadienne ! Vole, mon coeur, vole ! Vive la Canadienne ! Et ses jolis yeu.x doux, Et ses jolis yeux, doux, doux, doux, Et ses jolis yeux doux I Derrier chez nous, y a-t'un etang Trois beaux canards s'en vont baignant^ Roule, roulant, ma boule roulant, En roulant ma boule ! " Da Capo. EDMONTON FOLK. 457 It Before leaving Edmonton, I received a deputation from tlie inhabitants requesting that a larger garrison should be left there, and wiierever I went it was the same story of alarmed citizens begging that 1 should still further reduce a Force already inadequate to the task before it. To bear this statement out, I give an extract from the Edmonton Biillcthi, of May 15th. "On Wednesday afternoon last, a deputation, consisting' of Messrs. J. Brown, J. Cameron, and J. A. McDougall, pre- sented a petition to Major-(ieneral Strange, in command of the Alberta Field Force. ' We, the undersigned inhabitants of lulmonton District, having heard of ycmr determination to reniox e all the troops stationed in Edmonton, except one company of the 65th ]-5attalion, beg to state for your consideration the following facts :— ' I St. — That this, the most important place, is the only point along the whole North Saskatchewan Ki\ er which has not yet suffered attack ; 2nd. — That we are surrounded on every side by numerous Indians, some of them already hostile and others restive ; 3rd. — That, the Indians being accustomed to a method of transmitting intelligence, marvellous for its accuracy and rapidity, your departure and our defenceless position will be at once known among them : it is therefore necessary, as a precautionary measure that more troops should be left with us, and that we oursehes should be properly armed and liberally supplied with fixed anmiunition ; and this not only for the protection of our lives and properties, but that we may be auxiliary to such garrison as may be left here. You, yourself, must be aware that the preserx ation of pri\ ate property means not only benefit to the owners thereof, but also the cutting off of supplies from the enemy, and tends to the more speedy crushing of the Rebellion. We, therefore, beg earnestly to recjuest (1) that, until the present troubles are past, at least three companies of troops be left with us as a garrison ; (2) and that we oursehes may be forthwith furnished with pn.per arms and be liberally supplied with the necessary ammunition therefor. ' For the people of Edmonton (Signed) 'John I5rown. ' John Camkron. 'J. A. McDoiGAi.i., J.F." 458 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. •' The deputation was well received by Major-General Strange, and the following reply was received next day : — I ! ' Gentlemen, ' I cannot cripple the expedition which I am ordered to carry through, by leaving more troops at Edmonton. You will bear in mind that, besides the company of the 65th and the Edmonton Volunteer Company left in Hudson Bay Fort, Edmonton, there is also another company of the 65th, with a small detachment of Police at Fort Saskatchewan, as well as a half company of the 65th at Government Farm. I have ordered a detachment of Alberta Rifles, under Lieutenant Dunne, to patrol in your neighbourhood until the arrival of the 4th company, W.L.I., which are reported to have left Calgary on the 7th, and they cannot now be very far from Edmonton, and they are being followed by two companies of W.L.I., to leaveCalgary with convoy of provisions to-morrow. Since my arrival I have not ceased to telegraph, pointing out the necessity of supplying arms to the citizens to protect themselves. I have this day received by telegram from General Middleton information that he has ordered 100 stand of arms for the Edmonton Home Guards. I have improved, and given directions for still further improvement of the defences of Fort Edmonton, which I hope you will assist in carrying out. / notice with surprise and regret that few of the names appended to this petition appear on the roll of the Home Guard, as it exists at present. There are a few stand of rifles still unappropriated, besides two cannon, which require gun detachments, and for which Volunteers should offer and be drilled. Those willing to assist in the construction of the extra defences will, I trust, send their names to Major Grisbach, N.W.M.P., an experienced officer, of local knowledge, to whom is entrusted the command of the District in my absence. * I have the honour to be, gentlemen, ' Your obedient servant, ' T. B. Strange, Major-General, ' Commanding Alberta District.' " Subsequently Colonel Ouimet arrived, and was in com- mand. Captain Hamilton, Supply Officer, also remained at Edmonton. While attending to other people's affairs I was MY OWN AFFAIRS. 459 frorEdmr.0^ r "'"'"' "^ """'^"O "'•<"' '° '-y -fc housri'u^^H^n" "■' '"^^'"^'^ "' ^°" Saskatchewan, their nouse gutted, ours may be next. "I have information that there are eight lodges of Crees camped and watching our place. I suppose mS —has not energy enough to make them leave. The first blow I strike Irrsati,^rTl"'"'?r-.'-""^'^^ ^«" -^ the children th! I , ^^'^' ^''^"^^ '^ ^'" ^°^t "« a fortune. Send R.n^h'^^ V^^^'' •" right-hand drawer of my writing-table at Kingtton. '. '° ^' "'P' ''^ ^^^^--^^ «^"k vaults, " Yours, etc., T. B. Strange." 11: 460 CHAPTER IX Orders for Flotilla — Canoe Scouts - Fort Saskatchewan Refugees — 5,000 Dollar Prisoner — Miscellaneous Volunteer Aids — AnEx-Hussar -TheChurchM I LiTANT- Fort Victoria -Protected Communications — Pow-Wow — A Press Correspondent in the Ranks — Scout Reports — Communication Opened with General Middle- ton — A Letter to Big Bear — An Audacious Scout. The following order was issued tor the flotilla, which was composed of ei^.it large flat-bottomed boats with a Hudson Bay pilot and assistant on each. " Five Infantry boats, each containing a com- pany with camp equipage, ammunition, and food supplies. ** One gunboat, containing an Artillery detachment, N.W.M.P., 9-poundergun, and ammunition. " One horse barge, with forage, and carrying the gun team. ** One ferry-boat scow, carrying stores and a coil of wire rope, sufficient to span the river, thus creating, in a few hours, a ferry enabling the troops to act on either side of the river." The flotilla was preceded by river scouts, men of the type one finds on all wilderness waterways of the West, Half- breeds mostly, who can balance on a log going down a swift stream, the only way to do which is, balance pole in hand, to give the log a regular rotation with the feet, dancing in fact, keeping time to their own wild chansons. In a birch- bark canoe they will balance a portly' Englishman playing a salmon. Whenever the boats were made fast to the banks by night or day, pickets and sentries were of course posted, but landing was seldom found necessary, as even the cooking was done on board, stones being placed in the barges to support the FORT SASKATCHKWAN REFUGEES. 461 Stoves. Officers and men were divided into watclies, as on board ship, and there was no bugle-sounding, e.xcept on an emergency, our object being to sHp down the river attracting as little notice as possible. In the event of being fired upon the orders were — the flotilla was to keep on never minding, without returning fire e.xcept by special order. Incessant pumping and bailing were necessary, as the boats were newly constructed, on the elastic plan of the Hudson Bay Company's boats already alluded to, and leaked considerably. Passed Fort Saskatchewan on the moining of the 15th, where prisoners were landed * and the Fort inspected. There had been a heavy snowstorm the previous night and early morning, and the snow lodged on our blankets while we slept. The refugees within the pallisadesof the Fort were in tents, and, as may be supposed, far from comfortable. Amongst them I found Major Butler, his wife and children, and governess. the latter the daughter of an old brother officer. These delicately-nurtured ladies bore their hardships like "thoroughbred 'uns" whh ga/c/c dc cam; in spite of the deplorable fact that all their finery and adornments had been thrown down a well for concealment, when their house was looted by the Indians ; but they retained natural beauties which compensated. Another lady, a bride, when told in the hour of peril to secure what she valued most, promptly threw her wedding dress out of the window into the waggon which stood ready to start with the fugitives. She clung to that garment through hurried flight by day and stealthy bivouac by night, until she reached the shelter of the pal- lisades of Fort Saskatchewan, \,here it was spread upon her lowly bed to make up foi' the blankets she had left to the la it • The Half-breed prisoners l)cfote iiieiitioned, who had been in connnuiiication with Kiel, a lom I had bronght down the river wiili nie. I handed over to Grisbach, witll the siiRKestion not to dnrry tlie trial nntil the present troubles were over. These gentle- men, on beina amnestied. bronKht an action against me for false imprisonment, md claimed 5,000 (lo'lars damages, which, as the Imperial Government liad deprived me of my pension fortaknit; up arms, I was scarcely in a position to pay, but as I had given the prisoners over to the civil power. I was relieved of the responsibility. I never heard whether these rebels were compensated by the Government for the sake of the Half-breed vote, which brought in their candidate. But I do know that while rebels were paid large sums for losses, thi' consecpience of their own misconduct, many loyal men were not paid for services rendered. But this is a constantly recurring phase of Government bv votes. Among others I have just received a letter from Archdeacon (then Canon) McKay, who states he had not yet receded the pav of 360 dollars which I sanctioned for his services as Chaplain, let alone interpreterand scout. But if the Canadian Govern- ment were neglectful, the Church was not. The late Bishop of Saskatchewan assured in reply to a letter of recommendation that he would take the Canon's war service into account by promoting hini to the rank of .\rchdeacon. 462 GUNNER JINGO S JUBII.KE. ! i Indians. Possibly she had had an idea that the garment might soon come in handy again in those troubled days. Major Butler begged to accompany my Force, and as he had some years' experience as a settler in the country, 1 put him in charge of the road-repairing party, while the ladies volunteered as hospital nurses to the Force ; in vain I informed them that there were no becoming caps or aprons amongst the medical comforts, and they only abandoned their purpose when I assured them they were much too attractive for the position. The composite character of volunteer service ottered to me, was added to by the subjoined telegram from an ex- Hussar, my old friend Captain Palliser, of the 7th, who wired thus : ** Ottawa, " Minister consents, am off" to join you as captain, but will serve with pleasure as full private. (Signed) " Palliser." He made his way to the front, sometimes riding couriers* horses, which was rough on both parties, for he stood about six and a half feet, and rode over fourteen stone. Finally, he paddled down the Saska*^chewan in a dug-out canoe, with a Half-breed guide, and restored my communications, which had been interrupted, thus rendering important service. The church militant was strong in the force ; with the leading Scouts, acting as interpreter, was Canon McKay, of tlie Anglican Church. He, like the Rev. J. McDougall, who had preceded me to Edmonton, and still accompanied me, was born in the North-West. The son of an old Hudson Bay official, he had a University education and the gift of tongues Indian. The Rev. Mr. Mackenzie, a young Presbyterian minister, marched from Fort McLeod with the Mounted Police, and the 65th had their faithful chaplain, whose name I have forgotten. All these reverend gentlemen were well armed and mounted, except the latter, who rode in an ambu- lance and carried no weapon but a crucifix, with which he went under fire to administer the rites of his Church to the mortally wounded. Exception has been taken to the warlike character of my reverend scouts, but it must be borne in mind that they were men as well as missionaries, and, like others, eagerly desired to rescue the Englishwomen from the hands of the Indians. CHURCH MtLITANT. 463 Canon, now the Venerable Archdeacon, McKay often went alone in advance of my Scouts, and in the fight at Loon Lake, heexposed himself recklessly with awhite flagof truce, seeking to obtain a parley for the surrender of the captives, who, as we advanced, were carried further by Big Bear, through swamp and muskeg to the impenetrable forests in his rear. All attempts at truce or parley were vain, Canon McKay's Indian neophytes would have none of him or his white flag, except trying to shoot him. On reaching Victoria, May i6th, I found an old Hudson Bay Post, which 1 ordered to be put in a state of defence, anil a detachment of the 65th left as garrison. Settlers coming in, having abandoned their farms, were enrolled as a Home Guard under the Rev. Mr. McLaclilan, Methodist minister. The situation is best described by an extract from a letter I wrote at the time. '• Victoria, May i8th, 1885. * « « » « • " This is a very lovely place, an old H. 1>. C. Fort I am trying to repair and garrison with settlers ; poor people, who have been hiding in the woods, return when they see the troops. The young children look especially miserable, and many have died. I shall try and get food lor them, and get them all into the Fort. The country is in a terrible state — no food — and nnaged by Indians and Riel emissaries. I can't be everywhere at once. If the Government would only send arms for settlers they could defend themselves. General Middleton seems to be well supplied with regular troops, artillery, and a steam flotilla. I wish you saw my flotilla of flour-clads floating down the Saskatchewan. If it were not for the amazing delay of the Militia Store Depart- ment in sending arms, etc., and opposition from almost every source, except the enemy, I would have been through this business a fortnight ago, or at any rate, a good way through it." I have been blamed for weakening my Force by leaving too many detachments to protect my communications and secondary base, but I was justified by the results. My long line of communication, of about 500 miles by trail and river, was never seriously interrupted, I never lost a supply train, and in the end. Big Bear's band was dispersed, the white captives set at liberty, and Big Bear himself and his sub- 464 GUNNKR JINGOS JUBILKE. chiefs, surrendered. And this was accomplished with a minimum of casualties to my Force. On the other hand, the loss of any of the ground which I had covered, would have caused more serious panic to the settlers and encouragement to the Indians than even the abandonment of Fort Carlton and the loss of Fort Pitt and the captives there taken. Moi'c- over, I iiad expected that the remaining companies of W. L. I., the first of which should have reached Edmonton the day after I left, would have been pushed on more quickly than they were, followed by the 9th Battalion Voltigeurs, Colonel Oswald, to be replaced by the Montreal Garrison Artillery, Colonel Amyot, an excellent battalion of blue-coated Infantry, who had formerly been under my command, and were anxious to join me; they, however, were kept at Regina. But to return to the flotilla. The horscboat unfortunately sank when starting from Fort Saskatchewan. The Artillery drivers crossed in a small boat, towed the leading horse by his picket cord, the rest followed, were secured by the drivers, and, marching by land, joined the Force. The boat having sunk near the shore, was raised by pumping out the water, and was then towed in rear. On the 17th, messengers came into my camp from " Peccan," a chief of the Crees, who had resisted both the intimidation and persuasions of Big Bear to make him join the rebellion. As one of Peccan's men had killed one of Big Bear's, he dreaded reprisals. Through my inter- preter, the Rev. J. McDougall, I enquired if any of his men would join us as scouts. He assured me that these Indians, being under Methodist influence could be trusted. It is a fact, explain it how you may, that though Protestant missionaries wee plundered, Roman priests only were murdered. The ? une day Steele, with Scout Cavalry, moved out to Saddle Lake. On the 1 8th, Peccan himself came into camp, and after a *' Pow Wow," replied that he must consult his band, if he should actively assist us. Whilst awaiting his answer, troops were instructed in attack formation, and a detachment of W. L. I., under Lieutenant Alexander, in constructing kedge anchors for boats (a framework of stout wood filled with stones). Though the delay was irritating, I thought it important to secure the assistance of Peccan's Indians, who knew every step of the country, whereas ni}' cowboys i!! A PRKSS CORRESPONHKNT IN THK HANKS. 465 ^1 rs were now on new ground, and in wooded country very dift'erent from their own. Heavy rain fell on the 19th, and the black mud was churned up on the soft trails. Report came from Steele that the advanced party of Scouts, under Corryell, had not heen heard of, and must be short of provisions. There was also a report of their capture (not authentic), and no news of Hatton's advance. The dilatory Peccan came into camp on the 20th, and said that his people would not consent to act as scouts. Hatton's Cavalry being reported clo.se, I therefore marched from Victoria with the Winnipeg Liglit Infantry and 9-pdr. gun. The 65th, under Colonel Hughes, I ordered to embark in the flotilla and drop down the river, touch being maintained between the land and river Columns by means of the Mounted Scouts. In pursuance of my plan for keeping dark my arrange- ment as to which party should go by the boats, I allowed the English-Canadians to remain where they were, camped close to the boats, and the French-Canadians in the camp which terminated their march from Edmonton. At the last moment the French Regiment was marched down to the boats and the English remained with me. I had in my camp what Lord Wolseley has called the ''curse of modern armies," — Correspondents, but in one instance only did I find them so. They vverean.xious to send back by the last courier the final arrangements for my advance and were very importunate for information. The duty of misleading them I delegated to my Brigade-Major, a task he performed con anion'. Hut vials of concentrated wrath were poured upon me by next mail. I was denounced as a madman, who did notknowhis own mind for twenty-four hours, fatigue and responsibility having reduced me to this deplorable condi- tion I The fact being, I did know my own mind, but took care no one else did, as I had rea.son to believe that information in the Winnipeg Press was conveyed to Half- breeds by sympathisers. The Methodist minister was utilised as a Captain of the Home Guards (i.e. the enrolled settlers) and entrusted with maintaining communication. The stores also were placed in his charge, and he had to issue rations to the settlers and their families while they were unable to procure food for them- selves. He was shown how to construct a stockade bastion H n 46^ GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. 111^ for an unprotected angle. A half company of the 65th was left to garrison the Fort. May 20th. — Marclied to camp, Vermilion Creek, and issued the following orders : — Countersign — "Jericho." I. — No bugles will sound in camp except Reveille. 2.— In the event of an attack, the men will extend, take the best cover at hand, and open fire. Remaining in compact bodies under fire is to be avoided. 3. — The outlying pickets will march in at Reveille, leaving the sentries standing. The pickets having had their breakfasts, the sentries will be relieved from their pickets to enable them to obtain theirs. The sentries will be finally withdrawn when the Column leaves the camp, the outlying pickets forming the rear-guard. I have come upon one of Steele's reports, which shows the thorough way he did his work. He had previously reported that the hostile Indians had left their Reserves near Saddle Lake, and cached supplies, which he discovered. "Camp, Saddle Lake, " 20th May, 1885, 6 p.m. "To M.\jor-Gi:m;r.\i. Strangk, Commanding A.F.F., "Vermilion Creek. "Sir, " I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch per Trooper McQuarry. "I have received no news from the front so far. The men who went out have still rations for one day. The scouting party went out seven miles to-day to the front, E. and S.E., and have nothing to report. "The working party of the 65th arrived here yesterday. Sergeant Borrowdaile, of Scouts, who has been directing them, reports the trail has been put in good order. They are repairing the crossing of the creek in our front to-day and for 10 miles east the trail is good. " As the boats have orders to go on to St. Pauls by to- morrow evening, I will have the country thoroughly examined by scouts along their flank. " We have collected the remainder of the barley to-day, i; 1- COMMUNICATION OPENKD WITH OKNKRAL MIDDI.ETON. 467 |y. about 550 bushels in all. The potatoes \vc liave not touched, not having bags to put them in. "The old trail is impassable, the road which lias been repaired is the south fork, z>ia the Indian P'arm. '• There is excellent camping ground here for the whole Column, water and wood convenient, and country pretty open. " I have the honour to be, " Your obedient servant, " S. B. Stkki.k, Major, "Commanding Cavalry.'' Having camped at Vermilion Creek on the night of the 2 1 St, Saddle Lake was reached next day. That evening Corryell returned with Scouts and party of Cavalry ^sent to get communication with the boats, and reported that 65th outposts had opened fire on some Indian scouts near the bank. One of my couriers carrying dispatches, (a brother of Steele) also reported being fired upon, and he had a bullet hole in his hat. As I was anxious to open communication with Colonel Otter's column at Battleford, aiul thus with General Middle- ton, who had arranged to send the first steamer available, with troops up the river, to take Big Bear in reverse, while I advanced from the west, I called for volunteers for this hazardous service. Sergeant Borrowdaile and Scout Scott volunteered to go in a canoe down the Saskatchewan to Battleford, hiding themselves andthecanoe bydayin the bush, and paddling at night. Sent by them a dispatch, detailing my present strength and position, and saying that it was my intention to push on to Fort Pitt as fast as possible. The following long-delayed telegram in cipher came round by Calgary and reached mc by courier. " Fish Creek, May 1st. "To Major-Gf.neral Strange, Commanding A. F.F., " Calgary. " Carry out your original plan, release the poor women if possible. Go to Fort Pitt and restore confidence. Until you hear further do not move on Battleford. These raw soldiers require whipping up at first when the fracas begins — attack surround flying, (sic) We have lO killed, and 40 H II — 2 468 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. to 45 wounded. The wounded are doing well. Steamer Northcote with some supplies stuck, shall move in a day or two. •' Frki) MmnLKTON." W Meanwhile, Fort Pitt had been abandoned by the Police and burnt by the Indians. My messengers duly reached General Middleton, without mishap, except that Sergeant Borrowdaile had lost his pistol. General Middleton sent them back to me with a letter from him to Big Bear, demanding his immediate surrender. On Borrowdaile asking for a pistol to be issued to him out of the store for the return journey, the General told him it was not necessary, as he himself would go through the country with a stick. When he did come, however, he arrived with steamers, carrying a Battalion of Infantry, Gat- ling guns, and Cavalry. General Middleton's letter, addressed to Big Bear, for various reasons — among others the deficiency of pillar post- boxes — failed to reach that gentleman. As for that audacious young scout, Borrowdaile, he was not crushed by the General's joke about his walking-stick, back to his comrades with the turned-up broad hat bearing the inscription : " I was Creek — I was not at Batoche." I told him He came leaf of his not at Fish of General Middleton's letter to Big Bear, and the Sergeant certainly did his best to deliver the message — from his rifle — at Loon Lake. i 469 CHAPTER IX. Order of March— Queen's BiHTHnAv at Ko^^ r FORT P.XT-C0M^ME.VX.RV ^^^I^G.^^^^^J^iH^l,'^:^;^- Trail-Steeles First Skirmish -FhenchmansBu?te On May 22nci, the column, after dinner at 1 1 a.m., struck ents and marclied at noon. We could not get off before as the g,-a,n and potatoes, abandoned by the Indians, and 'for which there were no bags, had to be collected, stored in the waggon-boxes, and all other articles piled on top T e pioneer detachment (65th) accompanied the advance guard earned provisions for three days, and had instructions^o go ch.rl o^^f -'■'''' °P''°''^."."'ty °ffe'ed. Major Butler hfd charge of < 'us road-repainng party. The Winnipeg Light Infantry lormed advance guard, one company, vvithou flankers; scouting and flanking being done by Steele's Scouts who kept connection with Infantry advance by connecting fi es as usual The Infantry advance guard wasi^folZeS by the gun, with ammunition waggons— as per diagram. Ordkr of March. M >f Major Steele's ft Cavalry, M Major Hatton's ff Cavalry. tt Pioneers Waggons [] 65th Regiment. I I to carry pioneers and tools. 470 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILKE. ■r Advance Guard W. L. Infantry. Empty Waggons II to carry Infantry. 9-pounder gun. ++ ■■+ Artillery ammunition waggon. Head Quarter StaflF waggon. Steele's waggons. Hatton's waggons. Infantry ammunition waggons. .; 1 Main body W. L. Infantry Empty waggons „ Hospital Infantry tent and cooking M Supply under Colonel Smith. to carry Infantry, waggons. „ waggons. waggons. t» ORDER OF MARCH. 471 W. L. Infantry rear guard. Empty Waggons II to carry ln<'-ntry. Cavalry tttt 'ear guard. if »»> tt „ Mounted Scouts. 1 1 Pioneers. tt Cavalry. 1 1 Waggons. 1 1 .Vdvauce and Rear Guard s. 1 1 j Ma'.r Hody. Orders. As usual the waggons will be corralled as nearly as possible in a circle. No waggon will be allowed out of the circle, except the Gun, unlimbered, in a position to obtain fire, but then as near as possible to Artillery waggons. No tents for cooking or truck of any kind allowed within the corral. The difterent corps, Head Quarter Staff, etc., will pitch tents in single line round the corrals, as near as practicable to their own waggons. These orders to be carried out as far as the nature of the ground will permit. Herders will take charge of the horses.* In the event of attac'-; on line of march, the waggons will, if ground per.nit. drive into a circular corral under Captain Wright, assisted by Mr. Allan, waggon boss. Teamsters will defend the corral. The long-expected rifles having arrived, the teamsters, who were all Western men and mostly accustomed to handle a rifle, were issued arms as I had promised them. When the supply waggons became empty, as they could not return to Edmonton without escort and a certain amount of food for teamsters and horses, they were used to carry infantry, which enabled the Force to move with greater rapidity along the trails, now deep in mud from incessant rain. , * Herders were well-armed cowboys. Ill 472 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. The character of the country continued the same from Victoria, undulating and intersected by creeks, lakes, and swamps draining into the Saskatchewan, varied by thickly- wooded poplar bluffs, interspersed with open patches of prairie. The soil was a rich black vegetable mould, doubtless very fertile if cultivated, but there were no signs of such since leaving Victoria, except the patch of farm cultivated for the Indians near Saddle and Frog Lake Reserves. On the 23rd, we camped east of Dog Rump Creek, and the Alberta Mounted Rifles rejoined the Force. In consequence of there being a scarcity of biscuits, they were retained for emergencies, and the troops were warned to have bread baked in anticipation of their requirements. The Western cook with his collapsible sheet iron stove performs miracles of baking, even on the march and under all sorts of difficulties. Camped at Moose Hill Creek, near Frog Lake, on the 24th. The following is from an unknown correspondent to the Press : — "The Queen's birthday at Frog Lake. The Winnipeg Light Infantry spent a unique Queen's birthday this year. It dawned cold and rainy on ♦^hem at Dogberry Creek, 45 miles west of Fort Pitt. Breakfast was taken in the i ain at 5 o'clock, after which General Strange made the following address : " He said : ' Colonel Smith, officers, and men of the Light Infantry. You have marched admin.bl}', and I am proud of the stuff" I command. This is the Queen's birthday, without the Queen's weather. We cannot have any fireworks to-day, Mr. Big Bear won't give us the chance, but from information I have, we are close behi..d him, and when the chance does come, I know you are the stuff to take it. As this is the Queen's birthday, let us give her three cheers.' "The cheers were given and then, it being Sunday, the first verse of the ' Old Hundredth ' was sung, and the march resumed. The rain came down steadily till noon. At about that hour it commenced to clear up, and by three o'clock it was quite .fine, and the sun shining brightly. The column camped for the night one mile from Frog Creek, where the massacre occurred, strong pickets FROG LAKE MASSACRE. 473 ce and guards being on duty. After supper, several of the officers and men walked to Frog Lake Settlement, and there a terrible sight was seen. The settlement consisted of the Roman Catholic Mission, a mill, and some eight or nine settlers' houses. The Church, parsonage, mill, and every settler's house was burnt and levelled to the ground, and their contents strewn around. In the cellar of the parsonage, and guided there by the terrible smell, one of the most awful sights I ever beheld was witnessed. Four headless bodies were found huddled together in a corner. Two of the bodies had been Father Fafard and Father Marchand, another was that of the lay brother, and the fourth, some one unknown. The corpses were horribly mangled, all four heads were charred with fire beyond recognition. The bodies of the priests were recognised by their beads found in their pockets. The remains of Delaney, Quinn, and Gilchrist were discovered in the woods near by. A body, supposed to be that of Mrs. Gowanlock, was found in a well, both legs were severed near the thigh, and the arms above the elbows." A report was made to me by W. B. Cameron, H. B. C, on his release after the action at Frenchman's Butte. He had been taken prisoner by Big Bear's Indians, April 2nd, at Frog Lake, and related thus : "At Frog Lake, Indian Agent Quinn, was killed by ' Travelling Spirit.' He fired the first shot. Next man to fall was Charles Gouin, carpenter, standing beside Quinn ; he was an American Half-breed, thought to have been killed b}' * Manit-choose ' (the Worm). Delaney and Father Fafard were first shot by ' Pass-koo-gu-yoo ' (Bare Neck), being only wounded then, but afterwards killed by ' Pas-kea-ka- wean's ' son, (the man who wins). Gowanlock was killed by the Worm, Gilchrist and Dill tried to run, and ' Apis-chis- koose,' (Little Bear), after shooting Williscraft, shot Gilchrist and fired at Dill three times. The last named was on horse- back, the others on foot. Dill was finally shot by ' Ka-we- chat-way-mat,' (the man talking to another). Father Mar- chand from Onion Lake, was killed by Travelling Spirit. When news of Duck Lake reached the place, the Big Bear Indians were loud in their assurances of friendship, but before daylight they came in a ■ <>dy to Quinn's house, and two of them went up into his bedroom. Big Bear's son, (Bad Child), or King Bird, and another Indian, intending to shoot him, as he lav in bed. He was married to a Cree woman. His brother- 474 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. I in-law, ' Lone Man/ followed Bad Child upstairs and prevented them. Meantime the Indians below had taken the three guns from the office, and Travelling Spirit called out to Quinn to come down, but Lone Man told him not to go. He went down, however, with the others. The Indians took him over toDelaney's house, threatening him. Before going intoQuinn's house, the Indians had taken all the Government horses, and Lone Man and Travelling Spirit quarrelled over the horses, and Travelling Spirit and the others then went to Hudson's Bay store-keeper, Mr. Cameron, and made him give them what ammunition there was in stock. Big Bear now appear.;d, and said : ' Don't take the things out of store, Cameron will give you what you want.' After getting a few things they went out. Cameron was ordered by Travelling Spirit to go to Quinn's house, and had to obey. The other white men had been brought there, with Pritchard the Half-breed interpreter, and the priests were there also. The Indians demanded beef. Travelling Spirit afterwards took Mr. Cameron to the Roman Catholic Church, saying 'all th 3 white people are there.' It was Good Friday and the priests were celebrating mass. Big Bear and 'Miserable Man' were standing near the door, while all the others were kneeling. While service was going on. Travel- ling Spirit entered, and knelt in mockery in the centre of the church, rifle in hand, war hat on, and face painted yellow. The priest finished service, and the people went to Delaney's house. Mr. Cameron went to his own house, but Travelling Spirit again came for him, ordering him to go to Delaney's house." Here the narrative was broken off as we had to march, and it was never again resumed. Camp Fiog Lake, 25th May. — While the bodies of the murdered were being hastily buried, a report came in from Captain Oswald, commanding advanced Scouts, that the Indians were in force near Fort Pitt, the ruins of which were still smoking, and that he required immediate assistance. I pushed on at once with Major Steele's Cavalry , Captain Perry's detachment N.W.M. P., horsed 9-pounder gun and one company W.L. Infantry in waggons, leaving Colonel Smith to follow with the remainder W.L.I, and supply train. At the same time I sent orders to Colonel Hughes. 65th, to drop down in their boats parallel to us. Having FORT PITT. 475 le m ^00 S^ 9 . V'^lv^^ THK WORM. OR BAD CHILD. THK BOY. CRKE CHIKF, started after noon, we reached Pitt (30 miles) the same even- ing, finding Captain Oswald's party of Scouts posted in a poplar bluflf,* where the\ could observe the enemy without being themselves discovered. Major Butler's pioneer party were also fortunately undiscovered. The ruins of Fort Pitt were still smoking, but the enemy had retired, leaving only a small part of the buildings comparatively intact. The Force camped for the night on the plateau above the remains of Fort Pitt, throwing out pickets as strong as the small force with me would permit. Ordkrs. Fort Pitt, May 26th, 1885. I. — A fatigue party, W.L.I. , with its officers, will parade at once to clean out tho.sc buildings of Fort Pitt still left standing, preparatory to their being put in a condition of defence, in accordance with plans which will be supplied to the officer in charge. * Clumps of poplar tree.-» are called bliifl.s in Western parlance. ^ 476 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. ,1 -Threequarter rations will be issued from this date. Any person detected stealing rations, tt a juncture like the present, when it is desired to rescue women and children from the Indians, is not worthy of the name of man. He will therefore be considered a brute, and will be flogged. The issue of rations to Headquarters, Staff, and officers will be the same in quantity and quality as that issued to the men. By order, C. H. Dale, Major of Brigade. Hi Though I had been denied authority to hold Court Martial, I had no notion of allowing disorder, and the above order stopped thefts of provisions from the carts and waggons, which had hitherto been difficult to prevent. The neighbourhood of the fort was littered with the debris of broken furniture and articles for which the Indian has no use, with a mass of religious books and tracts, some of which were in the sign language made for their use by the mis- sionaries — among them a curious commentary on the Gospels. It was the mutilated body of a N.W. policeman ; his heart had been taken out and stuck on a pole close b}' ! Next day, after my Scouts had had a skirmish with the Indians, I found another commentary written, this time by a white man on a red one. It was the body of an Indiaii Chief bereft of his scalp-lock. "A la guerre comme a la guerre." None of my ecclesiastical scouts were with me at this time. They had all betaken themselves to Battleford, for, not know- ing in what direction Big Bear had gone with the lady prisoners, whose whereabouts was mj' first anxiety, I had sent the Rev. J. McDougall across the river with Captain Perry and 20 Mounted Police, with whom was the Rev. Mackenzie, to search for traces of the white women. None had as yet been found on this side, except the body of the murdered woman at Frog Lake, supposed to be Mrs. Gowanlock, though there were tracksof thelatecrossingof theriverat Pitt, and a raft was found concealed in the bushes. I knew that on the opposite bank three trails diverged about ten miles from the river : one East to Battleford and Poundmaker's Reserve, the second South- West to Sounding Lake and Crowfoot on the Blackfoot Reserve, and the third West, along the south bank of the river towards the La Boucan Halt-breed Settlement, and the !;!!: SCOUTS ON THE WRONG TRAIL. 477 Indian Reserves, where Big Bear's emissaries had aheady been. The country, quite difterent from that on the North, is fairly open on the south of the North Saskatchewan at this part of its course. But Indians, moving in bodies, habitually follow their old trails. European ideas of strategy would presuppose that Big Bear and Poundmaker would unite their forces rather than allow themselves to be attacked in detail. It was not then known that Poundmaker had been so severely handled by Colonel Otter's column, and that he had subsequently surrendered to General Middleton, after the action at Batoche and Riel's capture. The question of supplies would also have come in. The wooded north bank of the Saskatchewan is not a cattle country, but Poundmaker was reported to be well supplied with cattle, while Big Bear was mainly dependent on the provisions taken at Fort Pitt and Hudson Bay Stores for keeping his men together. They were Plain Crees, Wood Crees, and Chippwayans, with a mixture of a few Half-breeds and malcontents of all sorts from the South. The Wood Crees and Chippwayans could always subsist in their own country, but would be helpless on the plains, where the mounted Plain Crees would be quite happy raiding the southern ranche country, were it only unprotected. As the whereabouts of Big Bear's band was unknown, nor whether a junction had been formed with Poundmaker, scouts were sent in every direction. Captain Perry, with his detachment of 20 Mounted Police, accompanied by Canon McKay and the Rev. J. McDougall as scouts, who having been born in the country could both track like Red men, were ferried across the Saskatchewan. They reported a trail which shewed the recent passage of the river and tracks of Cree carts opposite Fort Pitt, and they found the prints of white women's feet and slippers, and what appeared evident signs of the McLean family having been taken across. Immediate steps were taken to stretch across the Saskatchewan the wire cable we had brought with us, and to arrange the ferry boat with block and tackle to run on it, so as to enable the whole or portion of the Force to cross, should it be ascertained with any degree of certainty that Big Bear had crossed with his captives. A severe storm delayed the operations : Captain Perry was ordered to follow the tracks he had found as far as the meeting of the three I? 478 GUNNER JINGO S JL'BILEE. i< 1!^ \ trails, to make sure which trail the party had taken, what force accompanied it, and then to return as soon as possible with the information. A party of Half-breed scouts were also sent across the river, with orders to strike the trail running west and see if any considerable force had recently followed it along the south bank with a view to fall on our communications. A third party. Major Steele's Cavalry, were sent on our side of the river to reconnoitre West and North. The Half-breed scouts returned at nightfall and reported there were no fresh tracks on the western trail. Unfor- tunately, Captain Perry took it upon himself to ride into Battleford (90 miles), with his whole detachment, without sending me any information and I neither saw nor heard anything of him for nine days. He had become a nine days' wonder to me ! When he turned up, it was with General Middleton and the steamers. Possibly he had some vision of " Kudos,'' for opening communication with General Middleton by his daring ride, but Sergeant Borrowdaile had been before him, and if I had any power of bestowing " Kudos," I should have been thankful to anyone coming the other way. There were 300 well- mounted Police at Battleford, any of whom, I am sure, would have been glad of the job if they had been allowed to undertake it. As it was, Captain Perry's absence deprived me of my Horse Artillery detachment for the Q-pounde** gun at Frenchman's Butte^ but luckily my A. D. C., Lieutenant Strange, proved very competent to take his place, assisted by Sergeant O'Connor, North-West Mounted Police, and a volunteer detachment of Winnipeg Light Infantry, who were hastily drilled to work the gun. Major Steele and his party came upon a heavy recent trail which first ran West, then North, and finally, after circling for about thirty miles, the}' found them.selves, after nightfall, in thick brushwood on the river bank, within three miles of Pitt. Steele, six-shooter in hand, was himself leading, followed close by one of his men, and so silent was the advance that the Indians were uncertain as to the cause of the occasional rustle of leaves. For there is no silly jingle about the accoutrements of a Western scout ; no clattering of steel scabbard, he has no sword, even his horse's feet seem muffled in the soft soil, and to use a Hibernicism, his very m i r ■ STEKLKS FIRST SKIUMISII. 481 I Stirrup-irons arc wdod, and his head collar chain a hair-rope or raw hide. Ilie movements of tlie huhans are etpially noise- less, only more so. Both parties liad closed to within a tew feet, when an Indian .softly challenged, not knowing friend from foe in the gathering darkness. The white Scout with Steele (Sergt. Hutlin) answered as quietly, in Cree, " Keeka !" (wait). But the native gentleman would not wait, fired at Steele, missed him, and received Major Steele's bullet and the Scout's through his hody. .Some scatter- ing shots were exchanged, probably without effect in the twilight and gloom of the bush , and the Indians letircd. Two of their ponies were captured, not a difiicult task, as the Indian ca3'oose, beau ideal for a mounted foot-fight- fights ; any an American ing man, always browses while his master other sort of rest only makes hini tired, as officer put it. The fallen Indian was the Chief who had started the out- break at Saddle Lake. Upon his breast he wore the Queen's medal, supplied by the Canadian Government, an ornament about the size of an agricultural trophy for a prize pig. These medals are solid silver, and naturally much valued by the Chiefs, who hand them down from father to son as j^roofs of loyalty. One often sees them bearing the image and superscription of good King George ill. Next morning, on passing the spot where he fell, I was struck by the tall athletic figure of the dusky warrior as he lay, like a bronze statue overthrown by some iconoclastic hand, and clothed only with a grim smile and a breech clout, the usual summer fighting full dress uniform of the Red man. He had lost his medal and his scalp ! On receiving intelligence of this skirmish from Major Steele, on the 27th, that the enem}' were in his front, and that the Scouts had counted 187 lodges, I immediately marched with all the troops at my disposal, leaving a com- pany of the 65th under Captain Giroux to fortify and protect what remained of Fort Pitt. Camp equipage and stores I left behind, dispensing with tents. I had only three days' rations, no supplies having reached me since I left Edmonton. The Force was already on reduced allowance. A proportion of the supplies had to be left in the boats for the 65th Regiment. There had not been time to bring the beef casks ashore. II 4«: GUNNKK JINGO S JLHll.F.i:. My Force consisted of : — 197 Infantry — rank and HIc ; 27 Cavalry ; deducting the detachment taken to Battle- ford by Captain Perry, and the Scouts with Major Steele ; One 9-pr. M.L. K. Gun, under Lieutenant Strange, with volunteer detachment W.L.I. Wishing to advance quickly, I used all available waggons to carry the W. L. Infantry detachment, and sent 65th detachment, under Colonel Hughes, down the river in the boats, with orders to eft'ect junction with me when within striking distance of the enemy. On reaching Major Steele, the waggons were corralled under Captain Wright. I could not spare a guard to leave with them, but the teamsters were mostly armed. Advancing about four miles, through somewhat difficult country, I found the enemy occupying a very advantageous position on the slopes of a thickly-wooded ridge, interspersed with ravines. The summit of the ridge away to our left was bare ; upon this I could plainly see a considerable number of their mounted men moving about. Some were circling exactly as laid down in the Red Book, evidently signalling our approach to those below, at the same time displaying themselves in a way very unusual with the Indians, but perhaps vith the intention of drawing us off the main trail of their " of retirement, which I was following with the directing -tre of my Force. Lieutenant Strange quickly brought his gun into action, and with a few admirably-directed rounds of shrapnel shell, cleared the ridge. Major Steele, with N.W.M. Police and Scouts, and one company of the W.L.I, extended to the left, advanced and cleared the wood, without loss on our part. The remainder of the W.L.I, under CoNneiOsborne Smith, were extended to the right, and also advanced through thick woods without encountering any serious opposition. It was very difficult to maintain connection in so small and widely-extended a Force, in the dense bush in which we found ourselves. Small trees, not much thicker than a man's wrist, grew close together, making it difficult for a man on foot, and more so for a mounted man to make his way. I fear I should have lost my small army in this very big country, had it not been for the exertions of Captain Constan- FRKNCHMAN S niTTTK. 4«3 tine, Adjutant of the W.L.I., who managed to keep touch with both wings of iiis regiment and vvitii me. At tile commencement of this, our first engagement, I had told him I should be fuund, not as Dundee said, " where the dead are lying thickest," but where the tracks of the *' travois "■'■ were thickest. My A.D.C. had become Commandant of Artillery, and fortunately, he was an excellent shot, having won the Dominion Artillery Association prize, and my only other Staff Officer, the Brigade-Major, like an old sleuth-hound, had followed the firing to the extreme left. The 9-pounder gun was the only portion of my army which could not break away from me. It had to follow the travois trail. As it was late in the day before the enemy showed them- selves, I was not able to wait for the junction of the 65th, under Colonel Hughes, who had left their boats and advanced with alacrity on the first sound of the firing, leaving their uneaten dinners behind them. I followed the enemy's trail until darkness was approach- ing, through very dense wood and difficult country, where we could scarcely find space to corral the waggons, which had been brought up by Captain Wright. After scouting a short distance in advance, the Force bivouacked round the corral, under arms ; extinguishing fires after cooking, posting a circle of sentries, and picketting the horses. The 65th had neither blankets, greatcoats, nor rations, having left every- thing in their boats, and their comrades of the W.L.I, had but short rations to share with them. The darkness of the night, and the black shadows of the forest which surrounded the corral to within a few feet of its circumference, rendered objects invisible at a short dis- • In travelling, the Indians always carry their impedimenta on " travois." The teepee or lodge poles, are divided into two bundles, one on either side the horse, like shafts, the butt-ends trailing on the ground, and the small ends joined on the horse's withers, in front of the saddle, where the squaw sits, perhaps with comfort, but not with dignity. Armed in peacetime with a quirt, a thong of platted hide, used as a whip; on the war-path she carries the primitive weapon of pre-Adamite man, a kelt: a split stick, in which is inserted and secured an axe-shaped stone. This is occasionally used to batter the i.rad of a wounded enemy, when she is mercifully disposed. The ends of the " travois " are kept from spreading by two pieces of transverse wood lashed across, between which the cover- ing of the tent forms a bag. Here her household §ods are carried, including papooses and dried meat and puppies. The transport is further mcreased by miniature " travois," drawn by dogs. But the Crees, with whom we were fighting, were al-o supplied with two- wheeled Red River carts, which will go anywhere, being elasticall) >:<. pt together by raw- hide lashings instead of nails. I I- 484 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILKF. V, It tance, except at the bivouac fires, and these were promptly c xiinguished after cooking. Frenchman's Butte, May 27th.— The men extended in single file to cover the whole circumference of the corral, lay under the waggons, so as not to be trodden upon by the horses. Sentries were posted by corps to cover their own front inside the corral, and horses were turned into the corral about midnight, and tied up to the waggons. In the event of attack the men were cautioned against wasting their ammunition. Night firing is not effective, except occa- sionally on friends. Scouts patrolled during the night lound the camp. On the morning of the 28th, the Force was roused without sound of bugle, and at daybreak, after a scant}^ breakfast, again moved forward towards Frenchman's Butte, the Winnipeg Light Infantry sharing their half rations with their connades of the 65th. The advance was led by Major Steele's Scouts, dismounted, extended in front, and flanking each side of the trail. The Infantry advanced guard, under Colonel Hughes, of the 65th, the pioneer bridge party v/as in rear of the 63th ; they and W.L. I., under Colonel Osborne Smith, formed the main body. Lieutenant Strange, with the 9-pounder, followed the Infantry ; the rear half-company was told off as an escort to the gun, and after them came the inevitable train of waggons, gun, and Infantry ammunition reserves, etc. The absence of tents and baggage, and the scant suj^plies, reduced now to two da3^s' rations for half the Force, con- siderably diminished what had been an unwieldy length of wheeled column, which was of course absolutely confined to the narrow trail, where a single breakdown would, in most places necessitate cutting a fresh track through the bush to enable the remaining waggons to pass. Suddenly we came to a comparatively open space, to which numerous trails converged from every direction. It was the encampment where the braves had held their last sun-dance ; the poles of the great Sacred Lodge still stood, with the leafy garlands hanging from the central one, showing how lately a batch of young warriors had been made, under the usual circumstances of self-torture, to proA'e maul}' endurance, while the old warriors had recounted their prowes.s, mostly in horse-stealing and murder. I was once present at a sun-dance of the Black- i ' i ^.mm^'i0!MS FRENCHMAN S BUTTK. 485 to \n. t\v till k\ :n Ho id lid Ik- feet, where the most applauded warrior wore a pohceman's old tunic, on the back of which was chalked a representation of himself hring into a teepee of sleeping enemies. The horses also were depicted in convenient proximity for removal after this glorious feat of arms. Youths and veterans worked themselves into war frenzy with dances and incantations. A very limited number of squaws are allowed to be present on these occasions, and those chiefly old women who are there to supply tea and surgical appliances to the self-wounded. The immense number of lodge circles, with the central mark of their Hres, confirmed the report of the Scouts, that we would probably be opposed b}' about 700 braves. I had discounted their previous reports, as Steele informed me that the 1 lalf-brced Scouts had got a bad scare the day previously. The Indians had cut them oft' from the main bod}', and they had only escaped by hard-riding and good luck — one of the most advanced, John Whitford, barely saving his scalp, and losing his hat. I was riding with the advanced Scouts, when we came upon a camp Hre still alight, with an abandoned dough cake in the ashes. It was at the edge of an abrupt descent, down the wooded slope of which ran the trail, leading apparent!}' to what seemed to be the proper left of their position. Streamers of red and white calico, the spoils of Fort Pitt, hung from the branches of trees on the opposite crest of a bare glacis slope. The valley, here about 500 yards across, was inter- sected by a sluggish creek, widening into a swamp, and fringed here and there with willows. The hill was salient and the swampy stream, a tributary of the little Red Deer River, tbllowed (like a swamp ditch to a natural fortress), the outline of the ioot of the slope, eventually co join the Saskatchewan, which I knivv to be aboiu five miles to the right. The crest of the hiil was thickly wooded, and with field-glasses could be detected what appeared to be long lines of rifle pits along its edge. They were skilfully con- cealed, however, even the loose red earth dug out ir, tlieir construction had been iiidden by broken branches ot trees stuck into it, to represent a living grouth. There was not a sound nor sign of any movement, the very streanurs drooped in t' ' :ill morning air. Steele and his men were close behind, but withdrawn from the brow to avoid observation ; the ground on our side o[' the valley was hemmed in with thick hush, leaving little i 486 GUNNKR JINGOS JUBILEE. room for formation, except a small space to the right rear, which was concealed from the enemy by bush. Here the waggons were subsequently corralled. Nothing more was to be learnt from this side, so I descended to reconnoitre with Scout Patton. We had reached the bottom of the valley and were close to the little stream, when his horse suddenly sank to the girths. I reined back, and he scrambled with difficulty to solid ground, saying it was useless to proceed further, as it was evident our horses could not cross there. We returned to the crest of the hill without being fired upon. The enemy evidently wished to draw us into an ambuscade, and calculated that I would go blundering on with my Force. 1 subsequently found that the attracting streamers, which I had distrusted as being so at variance with the usages of Indian war, would have enticed us into the re-entering angle made by their main line of rifle pits. A long and deep shelter trench, admir- ably constructed and concealed, gave a flanking fire on the left face of their position, into which the trail led. The field gun was ordered up, and opened fire from the edge of the descent, Vv'hich quickly drtw a heavy response. I deployed the small Force at my disposal, ordered Major Steele's Police and Scouts to extend to the left, dismount and descend the hill to a fringe of willow bush along the edge of the creek. The 65th, under Colonel Hughes and Major Prevost, went down the hill at the double and extended along the creek on the right of the dismounted Cavalry, and the Winnipeg L.I., under Major Thibeaudeau, on their right again, took v/hat cover they could get in the willow bushes at the edge of the swamp. Two companies W.L.I. , under Colonel Osborne Smith, were held in support on the hill, while Major Hatton's Alberta Mounted Rifles were dis- mounted, and ordered to cover the right flank, where the wood was thickest. As I rode along the ridge, an admirable view of the entire position was gained. No sooner had my men extended, than the whole line of rifle pits from the opposite sunmiit opened fire for about a mile. But it was without much effect, as the range was about 400 yards and my men had taken all the cover they could get in the willows, and very steadily returned fire. Lieutenant Sirange had got the exact range — 600 yards — of the pits, with a few preliminary common shell and percussion fuzes, .mim»iJtiltMS FRENCHMAN S BUTTE. 487 re In d He then tried shrapnel, evidently without much result, as the fire from the pits did not slack. The range was too short for time fuzes to be accurate and, in any case, the bullets seemed only to cut about the branches of the trees without reaching the occupants of the pits, who had also got the range of the gun with long-range Sharpe's rifles, — (A considerable quantity of empty cartridge cases from this weapon were found in the pits) — and the wicked " ping-ping " of the bullets made it desirable to order the gun detachment to lie down. No. 2 sponging and ramming home while kneeling. The officer alone stood to watch the effect of his fire. There was no cover for the gun, and it could not be withdrawn without losing its coign of vantage, though its position was changed once, so as to enfilade in succession both faces of the salient line of the rifle pits. On the failure of shrapnel, a few rounds of the special case with leaden balls were tried, with no better result, and Lieutenant Strange again had recourse to common shell with percussion fu/es. These, bursting in the loose earth thrown up in front of the pits, exploded in them, and, as we afterwards ascertained from Indians who surrendered, killed one and severely mangled three others in one of the large pits, or shelter trenches. The Indians bolted from some of the pits tlius enfiladed and retired to the woods, from which the}' kept up a desultory fire. Meanwhile, I observed some of the Infantry endeavouring to c'> OSS the swamp and the creek. They sank waist high in I !Trk mud, and even had they succeeded in crossing, th' ; e v^as before them onh' the open slope of gradual glacis, •iv/e-t Vy the fire from the pits. A:- ' aw the advance checked, I rode along the ridge to tJie it ., anr? descended to the position occupied by the 65th and St\ ^'.; s .Scouts. Being the only mounted man in the valley, the enemy honoured me with a special salute, and I dismounted, not wishing to draw fire, but also to test the situation for myself, which had to be done on foot. I found Steele and asked if he could get his men across. He said he thought it impracticable ; several of them had tried and had sunk to the waist. Constable McRac was here i.ounded, receiving a bullet in the left leg. He objected to ^^'. >enioved until he had used up his cartridges on the " d — d K<-!ihins." ?" 488 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILKK. h 11 « = ! 1 could see that my men were at a great disadvantage, being overlooked by the enemy, who could see almost every man as they lay, whereas mine could only judge of their whereabouts from the smoke of theii" rifles and so could produce very little effect on the enemy by their upward rifle tire on men in pits who were careful not to expose themselves. I determined to try a turning movement round the enemy's right. Direct frontal advance, even if practicable, would, 1 was sure, entail very severe loss while crossing the swamp and open glacis, under the Winchester magazine-rifle fire of the enemy from their pits. An attack on their left flank, which they seemed to invite by their streamers and war- whoops, would, I jud..; x', lead me into worse difficulties and a subsequent exai " i of the ground proved the truth of my supposition. ..cover, I wished, if it were possible with my small Force, to push the enemy towards the river, up which I was hourly expecting the advance of General Middleton's Force with steamers, rather than allow the Indians to break North, where, if he could only get food for his band. Big Bear might travel unmolested until he reached the Great Fish Lakes — or the pole for that matter. I ordered Major Steele toretire his men to their horses on the ridge, mount, and make a detour under cover of the bush to our left, to see if he could find a place to cross the valley and turn the enemy's position, while their attention was occupied in front. For this purpose the 65th were further extended, to fill the space previously held b}' the dismounted Police and Scouts. The Infantry kept up a slow but steady fire, as had purposely been the fire of the 9-pounder gun, for only twenty-two rounds of common shell (the only projectile we had found effective) remained. Major Steele, having been absent a considerable time without sending back a report, 1 told the Half-breed Scout, John Whitford, who had remained behind, to lead mc- on the trail of Steele's men. 1 thought I might, at no great distance, find an opening on the wooded ridge along which they had started, from which it could be seen if they had effected a crossing. But he led me in a circle through the wood, and I shortly found myself back again in the spot whence I had started. He said he had lost his way, a statement I did not credit, but I could waste no more time in the effort. Shortly afterwards, Steele reported that the enemy's mMt a I jid d mKM i ! ii 518 IS ■; •mMS FRENCHMAN S BUTTE. 491 position extended about a mile and a half, * that he could find no way of turning it, and that their strength was six or seven hundred. I therefore sent an order for him to return. After the event, he informed me that he might have crossed his men on foot, if he had had a company of Infantry to guard his horses, but there was not force available to have detached any for such a purpose. By this time. Major Hatton reported the enemy on our right, circling round our rear, and firing into the corral. The thick bush which stretched from the enemy's left round to our right and rear, formed an impenetrable screen for the! movements. I ordered the corral to be retired out ot fire. This was steadily done by the teamsters under Captain Wright ; Majo. Dale directed Hatton, with the Alberta Mounted Rifles, to cover the retirement in front, rear, and exposed flank. Lieutenant-Colonel Osborne Smith came to me, and expressed his opinion as to the hopelessness of further advance — there being no open space on the opposite side to maintain ourselves for the night, should we succeed in reach- ing it — and plunging into the dense forest with the handful of men at our disposal. \Ve could neither abandon our waggons nor cross them to the other side. The Force had eaten nothing at all since 3.30 a.m., and but little for the last twenty-four hours, and the horses had not been unharnes.sed for about eight hours. We had, moreover, only one day's rations for the Force. I did not think it advisable to sacrifice men for more than doubtful results. The afl'airs at Duck Lake, Fish Creek, and Cut Knife made me cautious. 1 was hourl}' expecting rein- forcements from Battleford, or an advance from that direction in the enemy's rear, when a complete capture might have been effected, which it was impossible for me to accomplish. I was more impelled to this course, being assured by Steele that the Half-breed guides (upon whom we were dependent for a knowledge of the Indians in these parts) were confident that they would not evacuate the position unless surrounded, as they had the food supplies captured at Fort Pitt, and pasture for their horses. They would await, rather, a second * In reality I believe the Indians kept following Major Steele's movements to prevent his ontflanking them, and subsequently retired in that direction, taking the prisoners with them. Some carts were seen in the distance moving that way, and the g-pounder gun stopped the rear cart with a shell, but, thinking they probably containecf women, possibly white ones, the fire was stopped. w^ 492 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEF. ■I I ! r J attack ; which might be dehvered under more favourable conditions. Besides Constable McRae, N.W.M.P., Privates Lemai and Marcotte were reported seriously wounded. I sent Brigade- Major Dale to look for Captain Robert, the Adjutant, 65th, and enquire whether the wounded of this regiment had been brought up. Major Dale brought me the Adjutant, but no information could be extracted from him. I then applied to another officer of the 65th more directly con- cerned, who informed me that all the wounded had been brought up except Lemai, who would die anyway, and that the stretcher-party refused to go to the advanced position where he had fallen. I pointed out to him that he was responsible for his men, as I was responsible for him, and asked him if he expected me to go on the quest myself — the uo'iveU' of that officer's reply, as he turned on his heel, was too funny ; 1 simply laughed. It was ; " General, I have been shot at quite enough to-day, and 1 am danmed if 1 go down thei'e again." Under the circumstances there was nothing for it but to accept the n'lle so impolitely left to me. Ordering my son to open a sharp fire of case-shot to cover the advance of my stretcher-party, I went to Dr. Pare (65th), who came with alacrity, as well as the stretcher-party. Father Prevost, Chaplain to the 65th, also followed me, crucifix in hand, to administer the last rites of his Church. We found Jie man well to the front, lying in an exposed position, and 1 must admit some impatience, which the good priest did not seem to share, during the confession of sin, and suggested to the brave Padre the desirability of lumping the lot, which he did ; and putting the dying man into the stretcher, under Dr. Pare's direction, the party moved up the hill, and I brought up the rear with the man's rifle. The fire grew hotter as we ascended the hill ; the rear man dropped his end of the stretcher, and I took his place. Thus General Jingo, who finished his first fight by kicking his General, met a just retribution in having to carry his wounded off his last field. All the wounded were put into the ambulances and moved quietly to the rear. The waggons forming the corral had retired some time previously, under escort of Major Hatton, with orders to halt at the first open ground, and were now followed by the re- FRF.N'CHMAN S BrTTE. 49.S niainderot" the Force, the gun covering the movement, tliough there was no molestation from the enemy. The j'ifle pits liad nearly ceased fire. Major Steele's Scouts dismounted and extended in rear, and a small party was left to watch the enemy. Major Dale, who was suffering from bronchitis, pluckily stuck to his work until it was finished, when he had to be carried oflf the field in an ambulance. The Forci reached open ground about six miles distant, where the w.^ggons were corralled, the horses turned out to graze, and t!ie men allowed to cook. The 63th had had but little food or rest since leaving their boats the day previously. They had, moreover, to march down to them and embark before nightfall. Hut, on reaching the river, the boats could not be found. The pilot, on hearing the sound of heavy firing, had dropped behind an island for concealment, and had not been able to return against the current. Eventually they wei'e compelled to go with the current to Battleford, taking our remaining stock of provisions with them. The homeless 65th returned to me, without food, blankets, or even great- coats, and though the men never complained, there was nothing for it but to return to Fort Pitt, about five miles distant. Lieutenant-Colonel Osborne Smith also urged an imme- diate return on behalf of his men, who were suffering from want of tents during the rainy season which was then pre- vailing. At Fort Pitt, too, I could better dispose of the wounded, and get the hourly-expected communication from Battle- ford, and the first convo}' of provisions from Edmonton, which was also long due. It fortunately arrived next day, under the escort of Captain Dudley Smith's Winnipeg Light Infantry, Mig Ihis red Ime ]alt Ire- 494 CHAPTER X. NON-RETURMNG MksSKNGKRS -FlKST I'ROVISION CoWOV — InIJIAN RiKI.K Pits — Cul-de-sac— Seven Trails — Steele on Big Bear's Track- Chivalrous Red Men— Some Prisoners Released — General MiDDLETON WITH Reinforcements — Steele's Fight^ — Race for H. B. C Store— The Shade of " Malhrook " -More Muskeg — The Beaver River — Chippwayan Surrender -General Middleton COMES TO Beaver River— -Pow-Wow — Colonel Williams at Frog Lake — More Boat Building — Colonel Osborne Smith crosses to Cold Lake — Captain Constantine scouts East — McLeans traced toLacdesIles — Mr. Bedson Meets Them — Force Broken up — Causes of Muskegs — Mv Old Opponent and Myself both suffer — Conclusion of Official Dispatch. On arrival at Pitt, I sent two Scouts in canoes to look for the barges of the 65th, which had a sergeant and 12 men on board, as well as our remaining stock of provisions. Hitherto all the messengers I had sent to General Middleton, and those who, like Captain Perry and his 20 Police, went on their own account, remained with him, preferring to come back with the steamers. Meanwhile, I was left without intelli- gence. A communication had long ago reached me from General Middleton through Colonel O. Smith, that he would send the first steamer available with troops from Battleford, to take Big Bear's band in rear. Subsequently I received a letter to say that as Poundmaker had surrendered, he did not think it necessary to send either steamer or troops, but when my last two couriers had arrived within forty mles of Battleford, they met a steamer coming up with a contingent of newspaper correspondents, Mr. Bedson, Supply Officer, and provisions, but no troops. In my dispatch I had asked General Middleton to land a force at the mouth of English River, where there was a land- ing in rear of Big Bear's position. Whether there was ammunition on board the steamer I cannot say, but I was NON HETURNINt; MKSSKNGKRS. 495 for on rto nd on ck li- m Id d, a id ut f nt a Id- is IS running short of it, and had reported the fact by those couriers who were taken on board and carried back to Battle- ford. This was the third time I had opened correspondence with General Middleton without any response. My couriers were hke the ravens which were sent out from the Ark — they never came back. On the 29th of May, as previously stated, Captain Dudley Smith, W.L.I., arrived with a convoy of supplies from Edmon- ton, which set me at ease on that score. The Half-breed Scouts, under orders given to Steele, were directed to watch the enemy, but he reported that this duty was negligently performed. May 30th. The Force again marched East towards French- man's Butte, camped, and sent out scouts. A limited number of tents had to be taken, as the rainy season was severe, but all extras in the way of tents and baggage were left at Pitt. May 31st. Divine Service. Very heavy rain. Scouts reported Indians in vicinity of camp. June 1st. The Force moved on to Big Bear's trail — the Scout Cavalry in advance under Major Steele. We camped about two miles north of the enemy's old position after mak- ing a detour to avoid the swampy ground. At the end of the valley of the tributary to Little Red Deer, we found ourselves in a cul-de-sac, surrounded by dense forest, impassable to our supply waggon train, and which could only be traversed by our Scout Cavalry in single file. On going over the ground at Frenchman's Butte, over 300 rifle pits were counted ; the large trenches on the enemy's left flank commanding the trail approaching their position, formed a formidable ambus- cade. They were admirably constructed, being about fift}' feet long and eight feet deep, and afforded perfect cover. We were afterwards told that the prisoners had been safe-guarded in these pits, but removed the day before our attack. A line of fire was got by a ledge, and loop-holed logs for head cover, the whole concealed by branches stuck in the loose excavated earth. It was here the flags and streamers had been principally displayed, to induce us to attack at this point. It would require time to construct, and 500 men to defend such a line of works, evidently' not meant to be hastily abandoned. From what I saw I could well believe the if' I; t 496 CiL'NMK JINGO S JUBILKK. Statement of my Half-breed Scouts, who were personally familiar with some of the defenders, that many of them had experience in Indian wars against United States troops. About 25 waggons and 40 carts had been abandoned by Big Bear in his flight. Tools, sacks of flour, furs, odds and ends of all sorts, the plunder of Fort Pitt, were strewn about and were collected by our fatigue parties. June 2nd. Examined the trails by which the enemy had dispersed. We traced no less than seven, undoubtedly meant to baffle pursuit, as they eventually converged into two. Along one of these we found traces of Mr. McLean and the ladies of his famil}', evidently left for our guidance. Bits of coloured worsted were knotted to twigs along the trail, and a piece of [^aper had been left, sa3'ing they were all well, but were being carried north-west. These, with true woman's wit, they had contrived to drop beside the trail. At this juncture I received a message from Cieneral Middleton that he had passed up the river to Fort Pitt, and would be in niy camp next day with reinforcements, which was tantamount to an order to me personally to halt. But I sent on all my Cavalry with Major Steele, who was naturally eager, as all were, to follow Big Bear's trail and rescue the McLean family, the ladies of which, as well as others, must have been exposed to great suffering, in being dragged through forest and muskeg. L';. order to push on with the most speed possible, Steele's comrnand carried nothing but ammunition, tinned meat, and biscuits ii their saddle-bags and haversacks. McKay, H.B.C., with ten Alberta Mounted Rifles and Scouts, followed the other trail and released Mrs. Gowanlock (who, we were thankful to Hnd, had not been barbarously murdered as we had supposed), also Mrs. Delaney and other prisoners, taking them, with about thirty-six of Big Bear's band, to Fort Pitt. It is pleasant to be able to say that these ladies, as well as those of the McLean family, told us they had suffered neither indignity nor ill-usage at the hands of their Indian captors. The chivalrous treatment of their lady prisoners speaks volumes in favour of the Canadian Red man, as compared to his brother across the boundary, perhaps because neither the Government of King George nor of Canada has ever broken faith with the Indian. Pity it was that the land claims of the (;i:m:kai. Minni.ivrnN with uiinkonci minis. 497 Ind kk i\y II er Ir's lilS ler Irs. Iks to jhe len Ihe F'ench Half-breeds weri' ij^nored iiiilil discontent t,'re\v into rtbellion — but wliite settlers have been treated in similar fashion as ref^ards homestead claims. On tlie jnd June, Brigade-Major Dale brought released prisoners into camp — the Rev, Mr. and Mrs. Quiney, Messrs. Cameron, Ilalpin, and Dufresne, and five Hall-breed families. June 3rd. General Middleton arrived in my camp with some 200 mounted men. In reporting that 1 had sent Major Steele with all my Cavalry, about 70, in pursuit of Big Bear, I urged that he should be supported and asked to be allowed to take on some of the newly-arrived Cavalry, who had only marched from Pitt that day, but General Middleton did not think it necessary, and said he would wait until he had heard from Steele. I obtained permission, however, to send my Infantry and waggons by a trail towards Onion Lake, which turned nearly parallel to that on which my Cavalry were moving, and had a cross trail connecting the two, but I myself stayed in General Middleton's camp to get com- munication with Steele. At 2 a.m., a courier arrived from him, reporting en{,'age- nient and asking for ambulance for three wounded men — Sergeant-Major Fury, N. W. M. P., and Scouts Fisk and West. I gave Steele's despatch to General Middleton, who decided to follow Steele with his Cavalry of about 200 men, some Infantry, and two Gatling guns. The Infantry, however, had to return as delayingthe advance. I followed my own Infantry and overtook them at Stony Camp, having sent an ambulance by the cross trail to Steele, and on the 5th, 1 marched on to Frog Lake. I had directed Major Steele with his Cavalry to rejoin me by the cross trail, but General Middleton had taken all my Cavalry with him, leaving me only 15 mounted men with which to scout and keep up communication — as he informed me in the follovvitig : "Camp, H miles from your last Camp, June 4th. " To Major-Gknkr.\i. Str.wgk, "Sir, " I am going to take Major Steele and his men on with me to try and catch Big Bear. 1 am sending all my Infantry back as the roads are too bad. I have sent Major Steele's three wounded men into Fort Pitt. " Fred Middleton, " Major-General, Comg." K K ■,f^ 498 GUNVKK JINGO S J'JBII.KK. Subjoined is Major Steele's .eport at Scout Lake, which I forwarded to General Middleton. The site of this aftair had been miscalled Loon Lake. V\ " Camp, Scout's Lake, "Big Bear's Trail, 5th June, 1885. " To Major-General Strange, " Commanding Alberta Field Force. " Sir, " i have the honour to inform you that, in accordance with instructions, I scouted for the trail of prisoners, Mc Lean. "This I found i mile N.W. of Camp, leading north- westerly, and following the trail found at first Indian camp, 10 miles, a note from TvInLean stating, ' All's well. May 27th, going N.W.' Have been informed by the escaped prisoner, Quiney, that Big Bear's party, with the McLean family, had separated from the other bands, and was only 50 fighting men strong. " I hurried on, camping at noon 25 miles N.E. While at dinner we were alarmed by two shots fired by McKay at Indian scouts, who unfortunately escaped. " McKay had gone on in advance of Sergeant Butlin's party without my knowledge. These scouts waited in ambusii and shot Scout Fisk of the ad\'ance party, breaking his arm. The main body was dismounted and extended at once, and rushed through the brush, but no Indian was seen. "We advanced without further mishap, to-night camp 45 miles N.E. on Big Irear's trail. Fisk rode on pluckily without a murmur. The trail showed a large pariy to be in front and about one day old. " Found a second note from McL.ean, stating, ' All's well, May 28«^h.' and found signs left by him on the trciil. " Marched at dayhght and advanced parly under Sergeant Butlin, arrived at hill commanding Indian camp of previous night. Two teepees standing and occupied, a few head of horses and oxen, the remainder moving towards and crossing a ford to island or point, about 1,200 yards in advance. At the pre- vious camp to this, we found 53 camp-fires, and therefore, knowing them to be too strong in numbers, it was only my intention to parley with them through Mr. McKay, if discovered. "Their picket, hidden within a few yards of the ad\anced party, however, discovered them, and fired the alarm. -^ ■■^Mm^ii^SMM STEELE S FKiHT. 499 at was well, reant ^ious orses rdto pre- ifore, my the the " Seeing them retiring to an apparently impregnable p osition on this island,'' I put the horses in cover and extended on the brow of the hill to punish a few of them. Their Chief called out to his men to ' go at us, that we were only six.' They commenced crawling up the hill, under cover of the brush, the leader getting to within lo feet of Teamster Fielders, who had volunteered to join us. Fielders killed him and puffs of smoke immediately appeared from clumps of brush all through the bottom and hills surrounding their camp. My Scouts killed two more running from us, then nred a volley into the teepees and at the Indians taking to cover, killing one from the teepee. The line then rushed to the bottom under strong fire, then divided, the left charging the hill commanding the position, and turned their position, bring- ing heavy fire on them, the right taking the swamp along the lake. Squadron-Sergeant Major Fury was with the left, and was shot, by a man with a Sharp's rifle, through the right breast, while going up the hill. The Scouts were on the brow in a few minutes. The Indians retired as our men advanced on the run and lying down fired a volley, when the Indians attempted to make a stand. We had cleared the whole ridge half-an-hour after firing commenced. The right cleared the swamp, killing 5 Indians, and losing none. The left shot 7 who were retiring through the brush to the ford, about 600 yards from the hill, and wounded one — the last seen attempt- ing to cross. The right then retired to protect the horses and flanks, and I had a white flag hoisted to parley. Mr. McKay told them to give up the prisoners —the answer was a volley from the island. " A second attempt met with no better result, and this time we asked theni ;o allow McLean to speak to us. They then called out that ' they would fight us and clear us out,' and the Chief attempted to rally his men to recross the ford, calling them cowards for running from so few ox us. We then con- tinued to exchange shots until a buckboard was fitted to carry Fury. " The left had one more wounded in Scout ^- Vest of Edmonton, who was shot in the leg, ball eniering at ;r( e-cap and remaining in thigh. Ke rode his horse, however. We destroyed the ammunition found in teepees, and then burnt them, with their contents. " Mr. McKay collected four horses and two colts, which we brought with us. I kept a fire on the island until the wounded were well-retired, and then retired 12 miles. Fury :*l Peninsula. K K 2 50O GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. showed wonderful pluck and determination. After halting two hours, we moved on 12 miles further, to firs>^ feeding ground for the horses, camping for the night at 11.30 p.m. " The horses were terribly played out, having travelled 80 miles on very little feed since morning of previous day, over a much worse trail for muskeg and brush than that between Vermilion Creek and Sucker Creek. " I moved on at 3 a.m. again, meeting ambulance from General Middleton's column, at 8 a.m., 10 miles from our camp. " On the previous night I had sent on Messrs. McKay and Gisborne, with Sergeant Butlin and Fielders, into camp to report, and fetch ambulance for the wounded. They arrived and reported to General Middleton at 12.30 p.m. " I camped at this place, sending on the wounded to Fort Pitt. Fury scill keeping up well. Doctor reported his recovery safe, unless internal bleeding commenced. He dressed Fisk's arm, one bone of which was shattered — the bullet was easily extracted from West's leg. " On my arrival at this camp, I received orders from General Middleton to send on my sick horses and men to Fort Pitt, and return with the remainder with his command to the pursuit of Big Bear. Fourteen were returned, unable to go on with us. Remained in camp with remainder of Scouts and Hatton's. command to-day. Orders to march to-morrow. " I did not receive your dispatch until two hours ago — courier's excuse being that he had lost it in lining of his coat. The N.C.O. and men behaved with great steadiness in the fight of the 3rd ; Captain Oswald and Lieutenant Corryell set their men an excellent example, and the Rev. Mr. McKay risked his life to a considerable extent. *' I thank you for the kindness in sending us the ambulance, tents, and rations. " I have the honour to be, air, " Your obedient servant, "S. B. Steele, ' ' "Commanding Cavalry A. F.F." June 6th. Marched and camped at Duck Lake. Scouts reported Indians at H.B.C. Store, near Beaver River, towards which it was thought Big Bear was making, as he must have been running short of provisions, having abandoned so much in his flight, and this Store was the last at which he could hope to get supplies. But my Infantry were dead beat .iwMmm>XiM4l THE SHADE OF MALBROOK. 501 from marching in rain and through awful mud. The 65th, who had borne the brunt of the marching for 500 miles, having been in the first advance, had tramped the soles off their boots — some were literally barefoot, others with muddy bloodstained rags tied round their feet. And yet Goldwin Smith, Professor of Accurate History (!), writes : " No French icgimcnt went to the front ! " Their commanding officer told me the men could march no more, and wanted to know when they would be allowed to go home. I outwardly thanked that officer for his informa- tion, and rode up at once to the battalion. They certainly presented a pitiable spectacle in their tattered uniforms. The misery of our march through swamp and forest had been added to by the mosquitoes and horse flies, which were almost unbearable. Addressing the battalion in French, as was my habit, I said : "Mes enfans, votre commandant m'a dit que vous demandez quand vous pouvez retourner chez vous. Mais, je n'ai qu'une reponse — c'est celle-lk de votre ancien chanson : bts [•ds live so he jat ' Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre — a ! Ne sait quand reviendra ! ' " • It had the desired effect, the weary little French-Lanadians shouted : " Hourra! pour le general! En avant ! Toujours en avant I " And they stepped out to the refrain of their ancestors : " Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre — a ! Mironton, mironton, mirontaine, Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre — a, Ne sait quand reviendri ! '' Queer whirligig of time ! That an English General should be cheering the soldiers of New France by a couplet in which their ancestors of Old France unconsciously enshrined the memor}' of Marlborough ! * * Since writing the above I have read with pain that tliree young officers, 63th Regi- ment, have tarnished the fair fame of this gallant corps by a puerile attempt to blow up V ith dynamite Nelson's Monument in Montreal. 502 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. But. alas ! I knew that the shade of Marlborough could not carry my exhausted Infantry (to say nothing of a 9-pounder gun) through some thirty miles of swamp and forest in time to head off the swiftly-moving remnants of Big Bear's band, who were making for the H.B.C. Provision Store on the banks of the Beaver River. So I left orders with Colonel Osborne Smith, whose men were in better condition than the 65th, and who had also apparently been supplied with better boots, to push on after me as fast as he could. But the 65th would not be outmarched by their English-Canadian comrades. Captain Perry, who had returned to me with his detachment of Police-gunners, reported that the 65th not only kept up, but dragged the gun and horses with ropes through a long and heavy muskeg. The Infantry marched all night, and overtook me at day- break next morning at the first Hudson Bay Store near the Beaver River, which I had reached the previous evening by riding ahead with my Staff and fifteen mounted men, who were all I had, as the remainder were with General Middleton. We reached it just in time to secure the provisions, consisting of eighty sacks of flour and a supply of bacon. It was nightfall when we arrived, and we sawaparty of Indians who were making for the same goal, but they turned and went back into the woods, while we indulged so f ?ely in a supper of fried bacon and dough cakes, that I for one fell asleep on the floor of the H.B.C. Storehouse, pipe in mouth, and was waked up by my A.D.C., to whom I had set fire as well as to myself. The sentries seemed to have been more vigilant, for we were not moksted by the Indians. Next morning, June the 7ch, the Infantry having rejoined, I left a party of the W.L.I, to guard the provisions and watch the trails, and moved on to reconnoitre the banks ot the Beaver River, following the trail of those Indians we had seen the previous night. They were Chippwayans from Big Bear's band, and had just crossed the river in the canoes with which they were provided, this being tneir own Reserve, to which they had just returned after Frenchman's Butte. The Roman Catholic Church and Mission had been more or less plundered, and the priestj Father Le Goff, had been carried off by them when they went to join Big Bear at Fort Pitt and Frenchman's Butte. ; CHIPPWAYAN SURRENDER. 503 At a second H.B.C. Store, near the Mission, another hundred sacks ot flour were secured, and a couple of boats which had been concealed on the other bank were brought over by two Scouts who had crossed. General Middleton's orders were not to cross the river. On the 8th, the whole of the Infantry had arrived at the Mission, and strong pickets were posted, to watch the river bank and the Chippwayan trail on our side through the woods from the East. Captain Palliser, who had en route restored my interrupted communication with Edmonton, now reached me and joined my Staff, of which he was a most cheerful member, ready, as he said himself, for any duty from full private to Commissary-General. June 9th. — The Roman Catholic priest, Father Le Goff, arrived in camp, having been prisoner with Big Bear. I sent him back to the Chippwayans with an order for them to come into camp and surrender unconditionally, laying down their arms. If the order were not complied with in twenty-four hours, they would see the smoke of their log-houses, as 1 would burn every house on the Reserve, except the Chapel, the Priest's house, and the H.B.C. Store. Father Prevost, Chaplain of the 65th, accompanied Father Le Goff. The Chippwayans surrendered themselves and their arms, and came into camp within the given time — 33 men with rifles and guns. The women and children, with 1 1 more braves, came into camp afterwards. The arms surrendered were, of course, not the best they had, H.B.C. muskets being made to do duty, with a few Winchester repeaters they had got at Fort Pitt. The stocks of the Winchesters had been broken by the Police before the}' had abandoned the place, but the wily Indian had ingeniously repaired them with raw hide, which, when dry, tightens like an iron band. The Chippwayans were not so well armed as the Plain Indians who had Winchester magazine-rifles. The Wood Indians prefer sliot guns as more useful for game, which when charged with slugs or H.B.C. trade balls, are not bad weapons at close quarters in a thickly wooded country. On the iith, I ordered a Court of Enquiry on the Chippwayan prisoners. Father Le Goff was the principal evidence, backed by Messrs. Halpin and Cameron. The former, with true pastoral love of his flock, would gladly have exonerated them, but the evidence was too strong, and eight were found guilt} of being ringleaders, plundering, 1^ ■.V ■ h- 504 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. h I I laid I and inciting to rebellion. All the young men had fought against us. No punishment was awarded by General Middleton, who subsequently held a Pow-Wow. They were told not to do it again. The majority had acted through fear of Big Bear, and some by the tempta- tion of sharing in the plunder of Fort Pitt. But the most curious thing revealed by the Enquiry was that the Indians were largely swayed by the belief that North- West Canada would be sold to the United States, and only those who joined in the outbreak tending to such a result would receive any portion of the purchase-money. They combined the wisdom of Goldwin Smith and Wiman, the renowned advo- cates of annexation or sale of Canada to th^ United States. Some of the Chippwayans whom the priest declared to be reliable, were sent down the Beaver River in canoes to report any signs of Big Bear's crossing, or of the McLean family, whom it was thought Big Bear would carry North with him to Lac des lies, where the supply of fish was abundant at that season. The surmise proved to be correct as regarded the McLean prisoners, who were taken there by the Wood Cree section of Big Bear's band, but he himself, abandoning his prisoners, turned in his tracks, after being pressed at Scout or Loon Lake. At this place General Middleton also was obliged by impassable muskegs, to abandon the pursuit, and he returned, following my trail to the Beaver River, which he reached with his Cavalry and mine on the 14th. He had sent Colonel Williams with the Midland Battalion to join my force. They were detailed to watch the trails which converged about Frog Lake. Meanwhile a detachment of Winnipeg Light Infantry, under Lieutenant Alexander, had been repairing the boats on the Beaver, and constructing a large scow and four other boats. The task was difficult without nails and proper tools, but wooden pins were used, and the omnipotent Canadian axe, wielded by the handy men of the Winnipeg Light Infantry, produced wonderful results. In these boats, I proposed with a small Force to descend the Beaver River to where the Wood Cree trail crossed it, and to follow it to Lac des lies. Colonel Osborne Smith volunteered to cross the Beaver and reach Cold Lake whence there is canoe communication to Lac des lies. a^M COLONEL OSBORNE SMITH CROSSES TO COLD LAKE. 505 ;nt ■lit id. to lil '* Cest Taviron, qui nous monte, qui nous mene ! C'est I'aviron, qui nous monte en haut ! " as the voyageurs still sing, for the canoe is the true trans- port of the extreme North- West Canadian wilderness, inter- sected as it is by water-ways and short portages. To go up the cataracts of the Nile with soi (/isaul Canadian voyageurs was found to be a very different aftair. The conditions were difterent ; a fancied resemblance cost us Gordon. I obtained permission from General Middleton for Col. Osborne Smith, with lOO men of the W.L.I. , togo to Cold Lake with provisioned canoes, and the Rev. Mr. McKay as guide. A detachment were preparing to start forLacdes lies, in pursuit of the McLean family, as our Scouts had told us that the Wood Crees were willing to surrender themselves and their prisoners, when Mr. Bedson, General Middleton's Supply Officer, met them (the McLeans) as they came by another route and conveyed them to Fort Pitt. There they found well-earned repose and sympathy for the heroic courage with which they had endured their privations. Captain Constantine, Adjutant of the W.L.L, had, with four men, scouted along the Chippwayan trail in search of Big Bear and the McLeans, until his provisions had run short and he had with difficulty made his way to Fort Pitt. The Infantry were employed cutting out the trail of the Chippwayans, in case the Force had to move in that direction. The weather was hot b}' day, and the mosquitoes terrible, but at night there were sharp frosts, though it was midsummer, shewing the country unsuitable for general crops, though cattle could be reared on the abundant natural hay. In spite of their privations, the health of the troops was excellent, but the horses, through marching incessantly through swamps, contracted a disease of the hoof, causing it in some cases to drop oflf. The muskeg character of the country is due to that cnblem of Canadian industry — the beaver, which, cutting down trees with Ir' , teeth, causes them to fall across streams to make his H- .,is and dwellings. The courses of innumerable streim^ are thus stopped, and they expand into swamps and numerous lakes. The exceedingly gradual slope of the watershed to the Arctic Ocean drains slowly. The embouchures of the great rivers are frozen for eight or nine months of the year, while the 11 5o6 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. lill ¥>'['' headwaters flow from warmer latitudes. The whole Northern Region has become a vast net-work of lakes and swamps, connected by sluggish streams. The growth of timber is dwarfed but dense. Forests are sometimes drowned by the spread of waters. They stand, bearded with moss, dead and grim, until they decay and fall into the swamp, making an inextricable tangle of stumps and stems, all but impassable. The soil is rich black vegetable mould, but there is no miasma, the Summer is too short to develop pestilential decay, and the rigour of a long Winter makes those solitudes healthy to their only human denizens — the wandering Indian and the fur trader. I was waiting for the surrender of the Wood Crees, but General Middleton, satisfied with the surrender of all the prisoners, ordered the return of the Force, which started for Frog Lake-crossing on the 24th, where they embarked for Fort Pitt in steamers. The Force was broken up, except the Winnipeg Light Infantry, who remained at Fort Pitt, under Colonel Osborne Smith. The Cavalry, under Major Steele, with Transport Train, commenced to retrace their long march back to Calgary, 7110 Edmonton. I, myself, was obliged to go to Winnipeg down the Saskatchewan in the long-unaccustomed luxu"y of a steamer, with the hopes of settling the claims for supply and transport service. But I was obliged eventually to go on to Ottawa to see the Minister of Militia on that subject. Alas I seven years have gone •. and I am still applied to for unadjusted claims. A Claims Commission, sitting in a city, can very deliberately criticise in cold blood the expenditure of money made under the pressure of rebellion over vast areas of territory, accentuated as it was by plunder and massacre. On my way down, at Battleford, 1 saw my old enemy, Big Bear, in durance vile, and I can honestly say I personally' felt no animosity towards him for the many weary miles he had led me. After evading all the Columns sent to intercept him, by turning in his tracks, travelling almost alone, and covering his own trail, he made his way down to Fort Carlton, where he was arrested by Sergeant Smart, of the North-West Mounted Police, about the only man in the Force who had never gone after him, as he had been left in charge of the ferry across the Saskatchewan at Fort Carlton. >■■«-»• MY OLD OPPONENT AND MYSELF BOTH SUFFER. 509 S|l ,h The accompanying map shows the marches of the Alberta Field Force, after Frenchman's Butte, of General Middleton's Cavalry and Colonel Otter's Column, from Battleford, and Colonel Irvine's N.W.M.P., from Carlton. It will be seen that Big Bear was headed off from all sources of supply, and eventually made a dash for the settlements. Big Bear's appearance indicated natural intellect ; he had a massive head, and his own people said of him that he had a big head and a small heart. After trial, Big Bear was sentenced to imprisonment for life for having made war upon her Majesty's Govern- ment. Without trial, I was sentenced to deprivation of a pension gained by thirty years' military service, for taking up arms at the bidding and in defence of her Majesty's Government About the same time that my old opponent. Big Bear, was set at liberty by her Majesty (the King of kings gave him a fuller release), I was also restored to my long-forfeited pension, and await my fuller release, when we shall, perhaps, both find out wherein we both erred. •'The Irony of Fate " is a favourite phrase — the humours of a " Roi faineant,^' or, as we call it, a constitutional monarch, who, theoretically, can do no wrong, are, at least, as startling. In this lecital I have been compelled to use the egotistical pronoun more than I liked, but lest I should be thought to imagine that mine was a one-man army, I quote the conclu- sion of my official despatch to General Middleton. " Where all ranks did their duty it seems invidious to select, but it is manifest that the success of a General is mainly due to his Staff and commanding officers. " I, therefore, especially bring to notice Major Dale, late Madras Fusiliers, Brigade- Major and Quartermaster- General; Lieutenant Strange, A.D.C. ; Captains Hamilton, N.W.M.P., and Wright, 43rd Regiment, Supply and Trans- port Officers at the base and with the Force, vigorously seconded as they were by Colonels Ouimet and Amyot, commanding respectively at Edmonton and Calgary, and by Messrs. Hardisty and McDougall, H.B.C. ; Major Steele and his Cavalry, with Captain Oswald and Lieutenant Corryell, who were the eyes, ears, and feelers of the Force, and who, in their spirited pursuit of Big Bear, crowned with success the long and weary march they hav^ protected, and to a certain extent 510 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. guided ; the Rev. J. McDouf lUand Canon McKay were, from their long and intimate knowledge of the country, usefully conne:ted with this Force. The steady endurance of the Winnipeg Light Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Osborne Smith, C.M.G., and the cheerful alacrity of the 65th Battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Hughes, happily illustrated the military instincts of the two warlike races composing the Dominion of Canada. That the 9th Battalion were not more actively employed in no way detracts from the honour due to soldiers who did their duty at their appointed posts. " Had a larger Force been available to protect my base, and the 9th Battalion deployed on the slope of Frenchman's Butte beside their comrades of the 65th, the campaign would have been materially shortened, and the results more satisfactorily decisive. " I have the honour to be, sir, " Your obedient servant, '* T. B. Strange, Major General, " Commanding Alberta Field Force." 511 CHAPTER XI. ColonelMontuamhert's Kei'ort on Short's Home CoMiN(i. A " ANu "It " IUtteries -Major i88i — Major-General Luard, Coinmanding Canadian Militia, in his report, says : " The Royal School of (iunnerv at Kingston loses its Commandant by the attainment to the rank of retired Major-General of Colonel T. B. Strange, the able and well-known officer of Royal Artillery who has devoted ten of the best years of his life and has been like a father to the Artillery of Canada." Perhaps the above will excuse pride in my military children, and permit a short account of their share in the North-West Campaign, though not under my personal command. 1885 — On the evening of the 28th March, a detachment of " B " Battery, R. C. A., consisting of 8 officers, and 106 non-commissioned officers and men, with two 9-pounder field guns and 18 horses left Kingston for the West under com- mand of Colonel Montizambert, with orders to meet " A " Battery at Renfrew, and proceed with the least delay possible per C. P. R., via the north shore of Lake Superior, to report to the General Officer Commanding at Winnipeg for orders. At 9 p.m. the same evening, Captain Peters joined at Ren- frew with 5 officers and 107 non-commissioned officers and men, 2 guns and 18 horses of " A '" Battery, R. C. A., from Quebec. Colonel Montizambert reports : " We went on then at once via the C. P. R., and after passing Biscotasing we arrived at west end of track (Abbott's division) about 5 p.m. 30th ; everything that gentlemen and all the C. P. R. officials could do to help us was done. Here began the difficulties of passing the gaps on the unconstructed portion of the road, between the west end of track and Red Rock or Nepigon, sixty-six miles from Port Arthur. About 400 miles had to be passed 5i: GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. i' by a constantly varying process of embarking and disembark- ing guns and stores from flat cars to country team sleighs, and vice versa. There were sixteen operations of this nature in cold weather and deep snow. On starting from west end of track on the night of the 30th, the roads were found so bad that it took the guns seventeen hours to do the distance, thirty miles, to Magpie, and from there •^o east end of track by teams, and march twenty-three miles further on, then on flat cars for eighty miles with thermometer at 5" below zero. Heron Bay, Port Monroe, McKeller's Bay, Jackfish, Isbester, and McKay's Harbour, were passed by alternate flat cars on con- struction track and teams, in fearful weather »'ound the north shore of Lake Superior, the roughest region in the world, and Nepigon, or Red Rock, was reached on the evening of the 3rd of April. The men had no sleep for four nights. This command was the first that passed over this route from the East. " On reaching Winnipeg, I found orders from the Major- General Commanding to proceed to Qu'iVppelle with both Batteries, and leaving Major Short and ' B ' Battery there for orders, to at once bring ' A ' Battery up the trail to join his force, consisting of the Winnipeg Field Battery and the 90th Regiment, both from Winnipeg, going North to attack Riel. " ' B ' Battery, under Major Short, was a few days after- \.ards ordered to Swift Current to join Colonel Otter's column, about starting to the relief of Battleford. " On reaching the General's column the march to Clark's Crossing was made, and a good deal of hardship cheerfully faced by the men, ' bHzzards ' and muddy swamps, whero the guns and teams sunk up to their axles, having to be encountered. " Here the column was divided, one half crossing under my conunand, and going down the left bank of the river : com- munication was kept up between the two columns by tele- graphing by bugle sound. " I had the Winnipeg Field Battery, under Major Jarvis, 35 of ' A ' Battery, Scouts, and the Royal Canadian Grenadiers (Colonel Grassett). " On the morning of the second day, the 24th April, General Middleton's column, on the right bank, was attacked at Fish Creek. i! nrnri \nkm COI.ONKL MO\Ti;^AMBKRT S KKI'OKT. 513 A " J-JaT'iickv. — Fish Cki;i:k. I '* Here ' A ' Battery particularly distin^'uished themselx c's. Captain Peters and Lieutenant Ri\ers led the j^arrison •division down the coulee, and attacked the rebels in their pits, at close qiiariers. Captain Drury and Lieutenant Ogilvie, with tiie field guns, took updifferent positions during the action, at times under heavy fire at close quarters. They shelled houses occupied by the rebels, setting one house and one hay-stack the garrison men out of the coulee, on hre. To get Lieutenant Ogilvie ran a gun up to the edge of tlie ra\ine, and fired case-shot point blank at the pits at the bottom, within 20 yards. Two men were struck at their guns when sponging. ' A ' Battery had 70 men engiiged, and lost three killed prd twelve wounded. |li "B" Battkkv. — CtT IvNiih. " Major Short's connnand of ' B " J^attery, Service Detachment, joined Colonel Otter's colunm, arc! after the long march up the trail from Swift Current to Battleford, was engaged with that Force at the action at Cut Knife on the 2nd May, against the large band of Pound'.naker, with Stonies, Sioux, and Crees. They had two 7-pr. guns, and a gatling under Captain Rutherford ; Captain Farley with Lieutenants Prower and Pelletier having charge of the garrison men. Lieutenant-Colonel Otter's report mentions this corps in the highest terms, with especial mention of the conspicuous gallantry of Major Short. In this action Lieutenant Pelletier, Sergeant Oaffney, Corporal Morton, and Gunner Reynolds were severely wounded. 5 rs " A " Battkrv — Batochi;, May yth, loth, iith, and i2th. "After 13 days unavoidable delay at I'ish Creek, the Force marched on Batoche, and early on the morning ofthecjth, the welcome command came ' (iuns to the b^ront.' A three-mile gallop brought us there, and the 2 guns of ' A ' Battery came at once into action. Major Jarxis' guns preseiu in reserve. A rush was made on the guns by die Breeds and Indians, and here Lieutenant Rivers' gatling, which had accompanied l-s, was of signal service, in the absence of any Infantry escort, which we had necessarily left far behind. Captain Howard (an American volunteer) acting as a gun number, turned the _ J 514 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. crank, and poured in such a fire as enabled the guns to be limbered up, and retired without serious loss. Again, after the Infantry came up, the guns attempted the shelling of the pits from the same point, but the nature of the ground, con- sisting of rolling prairie and heavy bluffs, made it necessary to come to too close quarters for effect-ve work ; on this morning Gunner Phillips was wounded at the edge of a ravine occu- pied by the enemy, and rolled down into it. Here Gunners Coyne and Beaudry coolly went down the ravine and brought up their comrade, who was lying in front of the rebel pits not loo yards off; poor Phillips was shot the second time, and killed, while being carried up ; the rescuers escaped unhurt. They were recommended for the Victoria Cross. " During the two next days an incessant Infantry duel went on, the guns going in and shelling when opportunity offered. " On the morning of the fourth day, when the decisive affair took place. Captain Drury had been out on a reconnaissance with General Middleton, with one gun, and when the action began, I left that gun with the reserve force in the ' zareba,' and took up the other three and the gatling. All four were in action during the whole of the engagement. Major Jarvis with the Winnipeg Battery guns, and Lieutenant Ogilvie with one of 'A's' did capital service in keeping down the galling flank fire of the rebels from houses and pits on the opposite side of the river, and also preventing the enemy's communications by the scow. Captain Coutlee, Winnipeg Field Battery, and the gatling, under Lieutenant Rivers were sent up to the high ground on the right of the Infantry attack, and took the ravines and pits occupied by the enemy in enfilade, doing splendid service. It is more than doubtful that the brilliant charge would have been the success it was, had this not been done. From subsequent conversations with some of the Breeds who had been fighting against us, I learned that the wholesome awe they had of the big guns ' which fired once and made the shot run after them and fire aga'n,' was immense. The sound of the gatling also struck terror, but I could not ascertain that it did so much execution. The houses fired at on the other side of the river were found afterwards to have been completely wrecked on the inside by the bursting shells, though from a distance the effect was not visible, owing to the thinness of the walls letting the shells through like a pane of glass. " ' A ' Battery had, during the fighting at Batoche, one man killed and four wounded, one of whom, Driver Charpentier, afterwards died ; also one horse killed and one wounded. I wish to particularly mention the services of Captain Young, ^ yr COLONEL MONTIZAMBKRT S REPORT. 5IS Winnipeg Fd. Battery, who, both while with the guns and later on as Brigade Major to Lieutenant-Colonel Straubenzie, commanding the Infantry Brigade, did excellent work. " From Batoche, the Batteries went on with General Middleton's Column, via Gardupuy's Crossing, where Riel was ta.:' 1, to Prince Albert, being here in particular, as they always were, of great assistance to the Columns in making roads, bridges, etc. Almost everyone had to come to the gunners for horse-shoeing, collar-making, tailoring, cobbling, etc. " The surrender of the Indian Chief, Poundmaker, and his band, at this time, is a matter of h^'^tory. Fort Pitt. " Big Bear had still to be disposed of, and General Middleton left Battleford with a flying column, taking with him, of the Artillery, only Major Short, Captains Peters and Rutherford, Lieutenant Farley, with the gatlings and about 50 N.-C. officers and men from the two Batteries. This Force, forming a junction vvith the Alberta Field Force, and making Fort Pitt their base, hunted Big Bear round Loon Lake and down the Beaver River ; they crossed some most difficult country, full of swamps and muskegs. " The guns and Batteries were left at Battleford under my command, but very shortly afterwards left with Col. Otter's column (consisting of ' C ' Company, under Captain Sears, and the ' Queen's Own,' Col. Miller), going across the Saskatchewan, and heading due North with orders to patrol Squirrel Plains. " 1 took with me, under Captain Drury, Lieuts. Ogilvie field guns, and 27 N.-C. officers and and Prower, men. " This Expedition lasted three weeks, and on the 27th of June the Artillery left for Battleford, reaching the north bank at 10 p.m., 28th. L L — 2 5i6 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. " Major Wilson, Captain Pages, and Lieut. Imlah also served in the North West. ** In October my detachment left for Qu'Appelle, by route marching. " This was a prairie march of 300 miles, and was accom- plish^,* in 10 days, including the crossing of the South Saskatchewan, which took one whole day. " It gives me great pleasure to testify to the good conduct of all ranks, and the cheerful way in which duty, sometimes of the most arduous nature, was performed, and hardships made light of. There was almost a total absence of crime, and I never heard a grumble. " I have the honour to be, sir, " Your obedient servant, "C. E. MoNTiZAMBERT, Lt.-Colonel, " Comnidt, R.S.(i., Quebec." FiioM THE " Kingston \\'hig." •' Home Coming of a Popular Oeeicer — Battery Welcome. Carrieu into the Barracks — SuRROuxnEn by Friends who Gaze on HIS Bronzed Face and Threadbare Clothes— Driven to his Home — Through the Fight — Incidents by the Way. I If; " A dozen cabs, a score ct dogs, a crowd of boys, a group of military men, a bev'y of ladies, a large number of batterymen and citizens were seen about the K. and P. R.R. station last evening. The animate portion were anxiously waiting for the train to arrive. It came in at 5.50 o'clock. The hrst person ^ff MAJOR SHORT S HOMK COMING. 517 seen was a * B ' batteryman wearing a forage cap made out of a portion of an oat bag, and a gray coat, belted with a piece of cloth of a different colour. His shoes were yellow and well worn. The bronzed face of the soldier was suffused with smiles on viewing home once more. He stood in the baggage room door. The batterymen who had been marched out to the track cheered with a gusto at the sight of Major Short, who dashed out of the car and greeted the company. He kissed his wife, and had only performed such successfully when the batterymen ("r- -ircled him, hoisted him in the air, and amid shouts oi rejoicing carried him through the ponderous gate and archway of Tete du Pont Barracks. ct es ps le, IE. ON of len iSt he Ion " THK MAJOR S APPEARANCK. " The crowd of boys, soldiers and women followed, and the ' beau ideal of an officer,' as Col. Otter described him, shook hands with the many friends who pressed about him. The Major's face was brown, \ery brown, so brown that it glistened in the sun. His tunic was a half grey and nearly threadbare, the red and gold trimmings begrimed and dull, stood out in bold comparison with the polish and finish of his brother officers. The Major's eyebrows, moustache and parts of his hair were of a very light brown — the sun had taken all the colour out of them. During his tourings he had grown a beard, but this he had removed as soon as he reached the abodes of civilisation. Upon the Major's head was the Battery fatigue cap, wedge shaped. It was well worn and the formerly bright red was very dingy. Just above the brass ' B ' was a hole, into which was fixed a mink's tail. A big rent on the opposite side w.'is sewn as only a bachelor or a grass widower could sew it. The big aperture had been made by a bullet at Cut Knife Creek battle. The usual glittering sword belt and fixings were gone, a shoulder strap of tanned leather alone held up the sword. The luggage of the Major showed evidences of hard usage. A big Ivaffalo coat, he had annexed, was a source of comfort, and was regarded with envy by the less fortunate officers. It had been the Major's companion in his nightly bivouacs. The batterymen led in two strong Indian dogs, secured at Frog Lake. They were intelligent looking and exact counterparts of the pictures seen in books of Esquimaux dogs drawing sleighs across the ice. They had the bushy waving tails, the high ears and sharp noses. " As soon as Major Short had shaken hands with his friends, a line of men attached to the carriage of John Carruthers, 518 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILEE. Esq., drew up at the guard room and halted while the Major's horse, ' King Tom,' was brought over for inspection. The animal neighed a welcome, and demonstrated his gratitude by rubbing his nose about his master's person. Then the Major, Mrs. Short, and Miss Carruthers stepped into the carriage, and the fifty batterymen trotted out into the street and pro- ceeded to the Major's residence. As the cavalcade passed through the streets hundreds halted and lifted their hats to the gallant soldier, whose home-coming was a source of gratifi- cation. CHATTING WITH THE MAJOR. " This morning Major Short, in civilian dress, was found in the barracks. He told the reporter that the trip across the C.P.R. gaps on the way out, was the most awful journey any body of men could have made. They rode for nights, many of them falling off their horses, so tired and sleepy were they. For days they wore frozen clothes. Several times they lost their way. The only other experience that reminded him of the journey across the frozen was^^s was the hunt after Big Bear and the walk through muskegs. They were only a day behind Big Bear when they came to an impassable muskeg, and were reluctantly compelled to turn back. " The last work the Major did was to visit the Reservations with Colonel Herchmer, and bring in prisoners. The Indians were particularly penitent. Over all che encampments the white flag of peace fluttered. CUT KNIFE CREEK. " The battle of Cut Knife Creek was a severe one. The men fought bravely, and secured the key of the position hen the Forces were recalled. Afterwards they had to take the same point over again. The Indians had been driven from the right, from the front, and into a coulee on the left, and could have been swept out of existence had not the recall sounded. The reason for the retreat has never been announced. The Major told how he shot the Indian who pierced his cap. He said that a score of Stonies were driven off on the run, when a "3ig brave deliberately turned and fired at him. He (the Major) was twenty feet away from his men urging them forward. The shot pierced his cap. At once he grabbed the rifle from a soldier, tried to fire, but the cartridge would not go off. He flung the rifle aside, drew his revolver, and hit the MAJOR short's HOMK COMING. m ing the Indian's attempts r^^^^^^^ batteryman, see- he alive ! ! ' and firerbuUnissed T^'^t' ^^>'"^ ' ^^ ^'^^^ •' down, and drew his 'bltkerotr hl'^h "d"" f" ''''''''' - ^^erwards a blow from the butt nf t^l a • "'', "" '"^^^nt nian's hands sent h"m to h k "^? '" ^'^'^ ^'-'^nch- Major Short after variT took .' boS -^"/'"^ ^^^°""^^- brave's belt. The Maior'^^L^ ''°'y'? ^"^^^ ^om the fallen shot on the field.'- ^ '""'^^'^ J^^^ ^^e Barber,' was No more loyal soul than Charley Shorf ha. ;. my lot to meet and l-,^ «, '^''ey ^noit has it ever been Quebec like Jinf Bludso Tn th^ '" '1^' conflagration at ''He weren't no saint-but at judgment i d run my chance with him. He seen his duty, a dead-sure thing— And went for it thar and then ; And Chnst ain't a-going to be too hard ^Jn a man that died for men." (Pike County Ballad.) 520 CHAPTER XII. Mv Son to thf. Old Corts -The Pillar of Clouu by Day — Thk Pillar of I-'fre by Night — Indian Revicnoe A Broken Leg — A Friend in Need— A Forfeited Pension- GENERAL JINGO'S JUBILEE — Consolation — Farewell Canada. " I'm off bj- themorninK train, To cross the ra.,inj( main, Hi: Ho! " On our return from the campaign, my son found an order awaiting him to join without delay the Royal Artillery at Woolwich. He had been appointed to Jingo's dear old corps, having previously qualified for a commission at the Canadian Military College. His appearance in Woolwich in buckskin shirt and schapps would have been too startling an innovation, and tailors are few and far between in the "Wild West." We got him rigged out as soon as possible for the voyage, but he was specially ordered to visit the family tailor in London before putting in an appearance. A lovel}' bright morning in the Fall could not altogether dispel the tinge of sadness with which 1 parted from my boy, to surrender him to the traditional career of his family. As we rattled over the prairie towards Gleichen railway-station, the awful pillar of cloud, indicating the birth of a prairie fire, drove all else out of our heads. Soon the pillar wreathed itself into a black pall across the sky, the familiar rush and roar were heard, and tongues of flame seen, as we neared our terrible foe. It had evidently been started by the Indians from their Reserve, knowing that the wind would sweep it down on our devoted Ranche. They had openly sworn to be revenged upon me for leading the troops against them. Here was the first instalment of its fulfilment. I and my boys were alone in the waggon. There was a chance. A tiny stream trickled in the bottom of the next coulee, and the grass was -e^H MY SON TO THi. OLD CORPS. 521 green along its margin. We might meet it here. The whole force of the men would be on the spot in a short time to assist us. Jumping out we wetted in the stream the horse blankets, which lav on the bottom of the waggon. We began to light the fire in the intervals between the little pools wherever .here was a chance of its crossing. 1 know no more depressing task, for it is rarely, if ever, successful, and yet one has to fight on, beating the flames with the wet blanket, stifling and faint, mouth and throat parched, hair and clothes singed and blackened. And so it goes on, sometimes for a whole day and night, with the miserable, haunting thought of blac' ened acres spreading hundreds of miles away to the first large river, the moans of starving cattle, and possibly a burnt-out homestead, with all one's belongings gone in one fell swoop. The men did not come. My bo}' pulled out his watch. t " Father, I must leave you. If I miss this train I miss the ne.xt boat for a week. You know ni}^ orders." " Do 3'ou mean to leave me on this burning prairie ? " '* It was you who taught me to obey orders." He mounted the waggon and drove away, leaving me about as sick at heart as ever I had been in the course of a long life. His reward, in addition to a good conscience tincards /lis Oitccn, was the forfeiture of his pay for the period during which he had been engaged at the front against her enemies, being ignorant of his appointment, for no W\ir Office foolscap could reach him. He had overstayed the date on which he had been ordered to join at Woolwich. Old Jingo's reward was to come soon. It was getting dusk, and the pillar of cloud by day was changed to a pillar of fire by night. To me, in the wilderness, the words always came with an ever-recurring horrible irony. The men came at last, and the fire was stayed b} heading it at the source of the little stream which ran into thic Bow. The first stage of the Indian revenge being fire, the second was cattle-killing and driving oft' horses. In the latter they could not succeed successfully, as the horses, many of them bred on the range, could not be driven away. 1 tried to give the men a rest on Sundays, so the 52: (lUNNKK JINGO S JUHILKK, Indians selected it as their day of work. 1 took the boundary riding on Sunday. One Saturday night the last rider's report was : " Band of horses driven north, followed by Indian pony tracks." To head off a couple of hundred horses is not easy. Harry was gone ; Alec on the other end of the range, twenty miles off. So I asked for assistance from the household. With the promise of quiet horses I got two ^dy volunteers. Had to take an unbroken broncho my- self, which had onl}' been backed a couple of times. It was necessary occasionally to do so, for example's sake, as the men, if allowed, would ride the old horses to death rather than be always at the " Buffalo Bill " business, which palls upon one terribly, especially when there is no gallery. Following the tracks, we turned our horses for a minute to look at the long wavy line of the Rockies, the snow-peaks flushing and changing in mingled metallic lustre and mist, the rays of the setting sun glorifying the dull prairie into red radiance, while in the purple distance it seemed to reach the actual feet of the walls of rock and snow. (( # * Where the mandate of God, Into cloudland and glory transfigures the sod." " Why pine for the hedgerows of England ? " At this moment one of the ladies dropped her whip, I dismounted to give it to her. After remounting, my "blamed" broncho began a circus of bucking. Though he did not succeed with me, he bucked my hat off, and 1 had to dismount again to pick that up. Between irritation and the force of military habit, I carelessly took a lock of the mane and the bridle, without the precaution of keeping the horse's head close to my shoulder. He plunged, got his head away, and delivered a kick which broke my leg below the knee in two places. Where I fell was in a hollow, where a man's bones might bleach before he was found, so I requested the lady of the dropped whip to stay with me as landmark, the other to ride to the ranche and bring assistance. Alas I she took the wrong direction. Shouts failing to arrest her, my companion rode after her, but fearing to lose track of me, returned without succeeding in overtaking her. There was nothing for it but to let her go also to the ranche. The Chinook breeze was blowing. I told her to keep it on her A BKOKI.N LKO. 523 tre the ler right cheek, and to bring it back on her left. Then she shot away into the gloom ; hairpins would not stand the pace, and the last tl ing I saw was a flash of stream- ing golden hail It was ditlicult to niak«' oneself com- fortable, for the huge Mexican spur bent up the foot in the wrong direction ; putting the broken leg over the other gave comparative ease. Pipe after pipe was smoked watch- ing the stars come out. The long low howl of the c vote began to be heard. I hey circled round nearer and nearer, until 1 could see the gleam of red eyes. In spite of shouts, for I had no revolver, the circles were growing smaller. It was only four hi^urs in point of time, but it seemed eternity before my ear, close to the ground, caught the rattle of wheels and the thud of hoofs on the prairie. My messenger had been successful in again finding me, and had brought men with waggon and litter. " Mexican Jack " slit up the boot and breeches deftly, put the leg in splints, and the good fellows carried me gingerly. But the jolting of that litter was . The other lady, fbitunately, hit upon the railway, and riding to a station telegraphed to a doctor, who turned up the next day from Calgary, about fifty miles off. Recovery was tedious, for, when the bandages were removed, the leg broke again. It had barely re-united when again the fire-fiend appeared, this time from the C. P. Rail- way. The sparks from the passing engines light the dry prairie grass and conflagration is inevitable. Year after year the C. P. Railway has been permitted to devastate enormous tracts — one of the main causes of the slow development of the North- West Territory. Lately the Company has been compelled to plough a fire-break. Ploughing turns the sod over, and prevents the fire spreading. Had this been done seven years ago, many men would have been saved from ruin, and thousands of cattle from starvation. On this occasion the hands were all out, and the house itself was not secure. Seizing the crutches I went on with the womenfolk to guard the patch by which the fire could reach the house, fell, and again wrenched the damaged leg. But the troubles, which seemed about as bad as they could be for old Jingo, were unexpectedly lightened by the camara- derie which seems incredible to a civilian. Colonel Hennell, who was at home on leave from India, crossed the Atlantic to come and help me. He took my place in the management of the Ranche, until a telegram told him that his regiment was 524 GUNNER JINGO S JUnil.KF.. going to the front in Burniali. Without a halt lie reached it, and well earned the decoration he wears. But before his departure he helped us through with our Christmas festivities. Pleasant gentlefolk neighbours from the Old Country came from a distance. There were theatricals, and the lafters of the long dining-room rang to the music of " Cowboy Cole," who was as handy with the fiddle as the rifle. Me became master of the ceremonies, and indi- cated many novel movements in the mazy by singing his instructions, "hands down the centre and back, twist your partners, swing your ladies, set," and so forth. But the Red River jig in costume fairly brought down the house, from ladies to cowboys. Of course Jingo could only look on — a proceeding he was not much accustomed to. But his enjoyment was dashed by a long blue letter to the effect that, having accepted service under a Colonial Government during the North-Wejt Campaign, he thereby forfeited her Majesty's pension, of which he would be deprived. He was directed forthwith to refund the amount paid to him fi'om the time of his taki ng the field up to date. Jingo declined to refund anythi ng, and informed her Majesty's Government that, as they had deprived him of his pension, they could recoup themselves. When applied to, H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief expressed regret that financial matters were not in his province. As to appealing to her Majesty, under a Constitutional Government, one might as well appeal to the Merovingen dynasty. Our electoral " maire de palais " at this time was Mr. Gladstone. Deprivation of pension at this juncture was to Jingo a serious thing. Out of 2,ooo, not a single head of cattle re- mained on the blackened Ranche. It had been necessary to drive them across the river, and trust them to fate and the tender mercies of cattle-stealers, red and white. Jingo lay with a broken leg, nearly as helpless as when, fifty years ago, he was born into the ser\Mce of her Majesty. And this was GENERAL JINGO'S JUBILEE ! But there were consolations. When his old Scouts, now disbanded, saw him limping about the Calgar}^ streets, they planked down their dollars and sent him a gold-headed ebony walking-stick, with an inscription, and an address ; while the teamsters of the Force subscribed and presented him with a silver-plated tea-service, with an inscription duly setting forth confidence and loyalty. This was accompanied CONSOLATION. 5^5 o e by an illuiiiinatctl address, iri'esistible. I spent a few weeks in the Ma.xim-Nordenfelt workshops and then, with the gun, s^^^arted and made no hale until half the circumference of tht- 111 Me globe was covered, save thf^ few hours when the vessel coaled at the Paradise of the. Pacific, those isla ^ds which more than a century ago — 1778, when the Tnited States of America was an infant Republic — that inordinate jingo, Captain Cook, discovered. He named them after the First Lord of the Admiralty, but the liquid- tongued Islanders have long since abjured the ugly name for the softer sounding " Hawaii." The year after Cook's death, Kamehameha, the warrior King, subjugated the Island group. Captain Vancouver, of the British Navy, some years later, visited the Islands, ai^d established friendly r lations with the King and his subjects, teaching them how to build coasting vessels. 528 GUNNER JINGO S JUBILKK. In 1819, Kamelianieha tlic Second, a weak prince, came under the infiuence of the Enghsh and American missionaries. Idolatry was abohshed. In 1824, the King and Queen visited England, and died there of measles. This sad event had a sinister effect on the suspicious minds of the natives. In 1843, the King ceded tlie Islands to a British Naval Officer, Lord George Paulet, who appointed a commission for their government. The act was disavowed by Great Britain, which had just begun to grow little. The French naval officers then stepped in, and took high- handed measures, establishing the Roman Catholic religion in islands that had been mainly under the influence of Protestant Missions. The King appealed to the Powers, and in 1B44, the inde- pendence of the island was guaranteed by England, France, America, and Belgium. The direct Royal line becoming extinct, the representative of a collateral branch, Kalakaua was elected King by ballot. He was a man of fine physique, but his features gave one the impression that a dash of negro blood ran through his veins, imparting to his character the inordinate vanity peculiar to that race. He was very intelligent and well educated, but played " poker " to such an extent with his fi'iends that he made ducks and drakes of his finances. He was tolerated and even popular, for much the same reason as old Rowley (Charles II.) i.e., he was a good fellow and not likely to increase the Royal prerogative to the detriment of the white adventurers, who really govei'ned the country, while they played poker with the King. When I visited Honolulu, the capital, in November, 1888, the genial King, Kalakaua, was extending his hospitality to an American base-ball team. The beautiful scattered town in its gardens of tropical greenery, was cii fvtc, the sans souciaiit population, white, blacJ;, brown and yellow, were garlanded with flowers, redolent of perfume, and vocal with the liquid monotony of native love songs. The King was to give a Hawaiian feast in the Palace Gardens. During the day I had gone to pay my respects to the British Consul, some members of whose family I iiad knoAvn in other lands. It was the hour of siesta, but as I was anxious to be HAWAII Forxn anh lost. 5^9 ?8, I to ivn ins iVC jtb Ice Ito he presented to the King and see tlie novel tV;tc, 1 called, and found the representative of the British power was an amiable gentleman of delicate health, whose life was being pro- longed by residence in a mild climate. He disliked public functions, at which, he informed me, the order of precedence given to him was not in accord with the dignity of the countr}- he represented. The American Consul having been stj'led b}' his Government " Minister Plenipotentiary," took the lead, and the British representative habitually absented himself On this occasion he proposed that 1 should be presented by tlie United States Con.-^ul, an honour I declined. Going alone, my card got me past the sentry, and an A. D.C, a strikingly-handsome Hawaiian, educated at an Italian Military School, presented me to his Majesty. He and his Court gentlemen lo ked cool and picturesque in white linen coat.^ and tiousers, a pale blue silk sash giving a touch of colour. The Princesses were spoilt by wearing I^arisian costumes, vhich did not suit them. The full, graceful forms of the V'unger native women of lower I'ank were draped in white tea gowns of classic simplicity, which haiMiionised admirably with lights and music, but ajipeared incongruous when worn I'iding en cavalier. The Palace gardens were flooded with electric light, in which the feathery foliage of the tall palms gleamed a sliim- mering silver, while the dark avenues of denser trees were scarcely illuminated by the soft effulgence of many-coloured Chinese lanterns. The King had a very fair band, somewhat addicted to Offenbach, but the interludes were filled up with Hawaiian love songs. They seemed to have no other except the Missionary hymns, which would hardly lend themseb'es to festivities of this sort, unless manipulated by Salvation lasses, who had not as yet invaded this last Kden of the earth. The feast was held in a huge tent, decorated with ilags of all nations, palm branches, and roses. The tal)l(;s were boards on the ground, covered with white damask ; the guests sat cross-legged on strips of matting, a sadly-ci-am|)- ing position foi- an unaccustomed Kuropean, who, when he found himself garlanded with flowers, felt like a sacrificial victim, though, fortunately, he had to eat, instead of being M M 530 GUNNKR ji\(;os JUHII.rr. eaten in the old island fashion. A brovvn beauty stood behind him in a white tea-gown, gently cooling his bald head with a long-handled feather fan. The feast looked prettier than it tasted — tropic fruit and flowers, mysteries of raw shark, roast dog or pig, which was it ? wrapped in plantain leaves. But the guest was bound to finish off with the linger-dipping " Poi," for which it were better for you to use your own linger, or the lady ne.xt you may use hers and expect you to suck it. This favourite dish looked and tasted like sour pink paste. There was cham- pagne to wash it down. I did not stay to witness the "Houlah-1 loulah " dance of native women, probably more suggestive than graceful. These old-world dances still linger, in the new, among primitive races. The love dance remains, though the war dance is forgotten. "They have the Pyrrhic dances yet ; The Pyn-hic phalanx they forget." Tlic following dayl had a private chat with his very intelli- gent Majesty, wlio was nmch interested in the Maxim auto- matic machine gun, of which he had read. He wished to possess one, to reinforce his small army of about lOO men, "An Iron Battalion," he called it, " requiring neither pay, rations, nor uniform, only cartridges, and one cool head and loyal hand to guide it." Under such auspices, rc\'olutions would cease to be rose water. He sav/ very clearly that his royal rights would be more respected by the Protectorate of a Monarciiical Government like England -whose considerati<'i^, for the native Princes of India he recognised — than by a Republic, and that " Hawaii fo- the Hawaiians" might liave fi better chance of being a fait caxompli. But he had no son. and his practical poliric were n/>res iiioi /(■ deluge. His sister, the lately deposed Queen Lilinokalani, is the widow of an yXmerican ; her nie^r, Kaialani, is a pretty, clever girl, being educated in England. In restoring her to her rights, President Cleveland has acted like a gentleman and a statesman, tor the annexaMon of Hawaii to the United •SLm THE C.IR1>(.K OK EMPIRF. S3 1 States would have been a stultilication »;t' their iiolitioal principles. The natives are against annexation to the United States, anci tlit^ wiiite jiopulation not unanimous. The Enghsli and Germans in llavvaii oiit-nuniini the citizens of the I'nitcd States, while the P'rencli are few. There is a large Chinese population. On my voyage home froni Australia I again visited the Island, and sav,' \hr King KalaUaua and his sister, the deposed Queen, a Hne woman, dressed n la Worth. Her manner wa^ simple and gracious, in conversation she was an fail with current events. It is unfortunate that, though we found, we seem to have practically lost Hawaii, lor it is the tirsi stage in the com- mercial highw'ay between Canada and Australasia, and v/ould be a coaling place for a line of mail steamers between our two greatest Colonies, who lia\'e hitherto been dependent on the American line. I'nfortunately, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, absorbed in its eR'orts to secure a monopoly by ousting the Allan Line steamers tVom Halifax, has failed to establish a line of steamers to Australasia.* Without such communication, and a I\aciHc cable. Western Canada is a "rul do sac," breaking the girdle of British colonial coni!i,erce, for the hne from Vancouver to Japan is an >iutlet to a tbreign country, with which the trade of Canada is as nothing, cojnpared with, what it would be with Anglo-Saxon Australasia. On intimate tiade relations, and communication between Canada and Australasia, rests the future continuance or break-up of the British Empire. The commeiTe of Canada is closed to the south by the hostile tariffs of the United States, as well as by the Canadian protective duties, ncitlier likely to be entirely removed. Communication and trade eastward with. Australasia, and wcstvvaKi vvith England, wouW give new life to Canada, nnd make her a long line ot commerce, the longest Mil' strongest link in the chain of a Federated Hritisli i/nipirc — instead of driving her into annexation with the United Stat«'s, tor thu^ sake of a commercial outlet. Once Canada leaves us, the girdle of Empire is broken, and Australasia must follow ; then South Africa, and with- out the last, India. • Sincu till* was in iw printer's hand? the loac talked of !>«» been partly acoomplii MM — 2 532 GUNNER JINGO S JIJBII.KE. p . i. The indefatigable Canadian engineer, Sandford Fleming, four years ago brought the Pacific cable before the Colonial Conference, who approved, but her Majesty's Government turned a deaf ear. Instead of an alternative line, we have been multiplying Eastern extension cables, ail running through that narrow neck of debatable land, the Isthmus of Suez, where, if there were twenty cables, they could all be cut in an hour. During the late crises in Kgypt, telegraph communication was interrupted. In the Russian War scare, of 1SH5, the Eastern rvlcgrapli comniiiiiicatioii was broken 30 l/nies in the spaee of four months, causing panic in Australia and raising rates of insurance on shipping. The Eastern cable passes from Australia to Java, a Dutch possession, on to the Malay Peninsula, across India and Egypt (that bone of European contention) ; thence it li< s in the shallow waters of the Mediterranean (where it is subject to interruption), and again emerges on foreign soil ; and yet a General of Royal En- gineers, for some time Acting Agent-General to the Colon}' of New South Wales, has put it above his signature in The Tinn's, that a Pacific cable is of " no strategic importance ; '* and as Parish Councils are more important than Imperial matters, we have permitted the Governments of Queensland and New South Wales to hand over the key of the Pacific cable to the French in New Caledonia. The C. P. Railway telegraph already runs from ocean to ocean through Canada. If we had one from Ireland to Canada and another across the deep undredgeable Pacific, by the Sandwich Islands, Fiji, and the Fanning Islands to Australasia, we should have an electric girdle round the globe, nowhere touching on foreign soil. But if Hawaii once became a portion of the United States there would be a broken link in the Imperial chain of com- munication, for, though one of the last acts of Lord Salisbury's Government was, /ante (/e niieux, to annex a played-out guano island, it could scarcely be considered a suitable station for the Pacific cable.* Four years ago I saw in the harbour of Tasmania a British man-of-war, which had completed the survey for the * Since this was written we have allowed our colonies to give the other ami of the cable to France, in New Caledonia. .-^wMiMMiMr NIGGKR BUTCHER OR HF.KO ? 533 Pacific cable route. They had found no insuperable diffi- culty, yet we have no alternate line, not merely to Australasia, but to India.. The energetic American has pushed across the Pacific in summer steamers — boats like those which shoot so swiftly along his lakes and rivers — floating hotels with palatial saloons and bridal cabins, all white and gold Cupids. The practical side is that they carry mails, cargo, and strong American sympatiiies tc Sydney, that home of the blatar.t Biillrtiit newspaper, which neither fears God nor regards man. It is unfortunate that the Review of Rei'iews publishes his monthly caricatures as the inde.x of public opinion in Australia. 1 saw in Melbourne a statue lately raised to Gordon. New South Wales had sent her contingent to his rescue and ther. repented of her generous act. I read in the Bitllefin that Gordon was "a sainted nigger butcher," deserving no statue. Which is likel}' to be the true expression of the generous heart of Australia ? " l)e mortuis " is no concern of the Bulletin, the Boomerang, and such like rags. When the Honourable Mr. Dalle}' died (he had been the Prime Minister who instigated the Australian contingent for the relief of Gordon), the Hiilletiti suggested the monument of an ass in a lion's skin, i-^ngland has jilaced a memoi-ial to the Australian .Statesman in Westminster Abbey. Which treat- ment of her son does Australia really desire ? The effusions we have quoted are the natural result of American editorial influence in Australia. Every hour that the monopoly of communication has been left to tht United States line between San Francisco and Australasia, it was saj^ping Bi'itish ti'ade, British corniection, and British senti- ment in favour of the L'nited States. Naturally so ; and who can blame the patriotic energy of that country of which every citizen is an active patriot at home and abroad, by sea or shore. It cannot be denied that many colonists have republican sentiments, and look to the l'nited States for protection. No doubt, Jonathan is |)re|)aring to pick up the pieces of the Kmpire John Bull seems determined to throw away, and is aiming at the leadership of the Knglish- speaking race. But how would the race fare undei- Jonathan ? Would he protect countries which make hostile tarifts against him, while he admits their products duty free, as easy-going John Bull docs? While the Americans advise us so sympathetically to let Ireland go, their treatment of % 534 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. secession in the Southern States is something for the colonists to consider in the event of their throwing in their lot with them, and is an example to us of the virility of the younger branch of the Anglo-Saxon Race I spent a blading Christmas in magnificent Melbourne, where the profuse Australian hospitality substitutes cham- pagne for more welcome afternoon tea. Made a member of every club, plutocrat and Bohemian, the Englishman feels ashamed when, in his own clubs in London, he finds it difficult to get Colonists made members, or to reciprocate the welcome which was lavished on him at the antipodes. For one English globe-trotter who visits Australia, a thousand come to London, and in the tear of social life and business they are overlooked. I found their hospitality not confined to club life. Everywhere, in New Zealand, Tasmania, and each Australian colony, I met with kindly reception, both in the mansion of the squatter and the farmhouse of the free-selector. In New Zealand, the Britain of the Southern Seas — which produced the finest of native races — there is every reason to believe the Anglo-Saxon will not degenerate. Of all our colonies the first, emigration to it has been the most systematic and select — ^and it has borne fruit in producing the most kindly, genial, and unpretentious society it has been my lot to meet. Tasmania, though less fortunate in its early settlement, and with less of life and enterprise than New Zealand or Australia, is not behind-hand in the character of its gentle-folks. In fact, go where you will through vast Anglo-Saxondom, be it India, Canada, Australasia, or Africa, if you seek the widest, most self- reliant type of Englishman, you will find him beyond the narrow seas. We need not fear a Federated Empire if we, the noble parent stock which produced these oft'sets, would only look beyond our islands. During the year I was in Australia, I read and listened to debates in every colonial legislature, and had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of their talented and genial public men. Almost all, except those of the inevitable Irish persuasion, were favourable to British connection, but it is not a question which will come to the polls, and we shall drift apart unless the mother-country takes the initiative. It is true the Imperial Federation League is dead, with a joke as its final utterance. " Hoviiig accomplished the object Ol.I) COLONISTS. 535 /or li'hich it was /oniicd, it lias dissolved." It deserved to die, for it never had the pluck to put forth a programme ; but the idea is not dead, and will not die. Perhaps the noisiest share of the clamour for separation is due to the use made by politicians of the "Australian Natives Association." Its very name proclaims ignorance of the outside world. The black fellow is irresistibly recalled to the mind of the Anglo-Sa.xon by th.e ill-chosen title of the associated Australian born, from the nature of things, young men. When they were debating on some new emblematic bird of the Spread Eagle kind for their new .society, some one suggested the laughing jackass. Upon these unimaginative, ignorant people, designedly ignorant of history, which is not taught in the State .Schools of Victoria, and but little in others, depends the future rela- tions of their country to ouis. The old colonist is passing away, and is succeeded by his sons, who talk as if they and not their fathers had built up the marvellous growth of the antipodes. Let them see that they are tit to stand in their fathers' shoes. There are tew grander men, mentally, morally, and physically, than the old Australian colonist. 1 le is the survival of the fittest, for the weak went to the wall. Generally of good birth, sometimes of humble origin, but with solid schooling from the old country, especially the Scotch, they have further educated themselves at many a lonely outpost of civilisation. I have heard them sneered at by separatist compatriots as bucolic intellects. They are the reverse, and form, all over Australasia, a natural aristocracy, without an exact counterpart in any part of the world. They know that union is strength, and are, as far as I have seen, at heart L'nited Empire Loyalists. But they are outvoted by their own shepherds and the mechanics of the towns, and they believe that England has thrown up the game of Empii-e. The people of Great Britain must answer this question before the race of old colonists dies out, or l'nited Empire will never be. That Australia has real grievances there is no denying. The hauling down of our flag under the late Lord Derby Admin- istration was a bitter humiliation and a tangible injury to the Australians, which they felt though we did not. This and the French convicts being sent to New Caledonia are a 536 (iCNM'U .nN(;os .iiniLi:!': princi|ial cause of indifference to the unity of the E^mpire, as well as tlic belief that ue are a decaying people in the old land. The home system of defence by large maps has not prevented the angry colonists from seeing how the Dutch p(.ssessions — Java, Sumatra, and their chain of islands — trend to New Guinea. The Dutch have 30,000 Sepoys in Java and their Iiulian possessions. When they are under *' pickel haube" how long will it be before German influence works its way into the unoccupied continent of Australia? The larger jwrtion of New Ciuinea being German, gives a ba.sc of operations to the strongest nn'litary power in the world (rapidly becoming a naval power) upon an island larger than Great Ih'itain, and as close to Queensland as Livei'pool is to Dublin. German patriotic spectacles see when opportunity offers. They discovered when Schleswig-Molsteiji should be absorbed, when Klsace and I.othringen bad to be restored, when the Teutonic Boers re(|uired sujjport and sympathy by extension of German inlluence in Africa. When the young Queen of Holland re(|uires i)rotection they will then incorporate the only maritime ])eople who ever " swept the chops of the Channel with a broom." Finance may be cpiieted with Belgium and the Congo. People do not realise that Holland stands ne.xt Great Britain as a colonial power, holding 688, 000 sc|uai-e miles of territory, with 26,841,000 inhabitants. France comes as a poor second with 8,723,000 inhabitants and 382,700 square miles, as Dr. Geffcken wrote in his "British Empire" before the late scramble for Africa, and our /aissrz /aiir policy to France in Siam. Vet another great military power ma}' dispute the German shai^e of influence at the antipodes — Russia, to check whose advance treaties are about as futile as agree- ments with a glacier. The consolation is, the glacier is likely to melt undei" the sun of Hindostan, gleaming on a hundred thousand British bayonets and twice that number of the most warlike races of India, our allies. We have lately patched up some sort of treaty with the Ameer of Kabul — an ally we nearly lost by our policy of wobble. If Russia ever does, through our imbecility, overrun India, the restless Sikh and Moslem, under Mu.scovite officers, may apjiear on the Queensland coast to share in the scramble for the golden continent. " Not in our time, O Lord ! " I hear COLONIAL fiOVLUNORS. 537 it said. If he goes, he goes to stay, foi- the cMniatc suits the native of India. Let not any confident Queenslandcr imagine that the disciplined Sikh Infantry and the Mussehnan Irregular Horse, with Kussian leading, would not he a match for the best hush chivaliT of Austfalia. The Australian colonies were formerly largely governed by ex-soldiers, hut of late the antipodean democrat re(|uires a loid, and in one instance has been so uncivil tf) him that urgent private afJairs brought home the lepresentative of the Sovereign. An Australian writci' tells us, "Colonial Governors are by nature, habit, and training, fervent advocates of Imperial Federation." I am inclined to riualify this statement by a short .Saxon word of three letter^. lie must know that the modern Colonial Governor strictly conforms to the type he is sent to represent, a constitutional M>//<7///»V7///, and is never a fervent advocate of anything ; as to their habit, nature, and training, it is often Radical. A Conservative Government gets rid of a troublesome opponent by making him a Governor ; while a Liberal Goverimient, more consistently, appoints one of its sui)p()rters. The speeches of Colonial Governors steer vei\v clear of Imperial L'nion, but rather lean towards prophetic pictures of colonial independence in the near future, pleasing to the super-fervid patriot oftheSiy/mT rclcgrapli type, who, nevertheless, is not satisfied ; for appetite grows with feeding, while the undemonstrative believer in British connection goes home from a public function depre.s.sed with the feeling "that there is no King in Israel, and every man does what is right in his own eyes." Not a comforting feeling for the student of Scripture, who remembers the events which led to the sacred writer's remarks. One of the most popular of Colonial Governors, a man who despised sentries and the usual paraphernalia of a prancing ])ro-consul, and who never had his hospitable doors shut ex- cept to a " brick-tielder " (h"bt wind) found himself invaded by an antipodean politician in a hurry, who, seeing a neat damsel coming down the great staircase in the coolest of simple costumes, beckoned her, said : " M}' dear, I am in a hurry to see vour master," and slipped a coin into her hand. With perfect composure she conducted him to the study door, which she threw open. ^ ^ •'%'^, IMAGE EVALUATrON TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 >^ 1^ 12.2 " li£ IlillO 1.4 m Photographic Sdences Corporation ^ 3,1 WCST MAIN STMIT WCBSTH.N.y. 14SS0 (716) S72-4S03 >^^ V ^9>'- .^. 538 (iUNNER JIN(;OS .U'BILKK. "Bob, here is a gentleman very anxious to see you. He has just given me a half-crown." " Si no es vero, ben trovato." The dread of the democratic element, which would be introduced if the Colonies had a share in the government of the Empire, is a deterrent to the older Conservative party of Great Britain, but as Federation would be limited to foreign policy, defence, and commerce, there is no place for social questions in such a scheme. Besides, democracy is about as practically triumphant in England as elsewhere, and a United Empire would be very much to the interest of the over-crowded British working man, if he had the brains to see it and prevent himself and his work from being excluded from the Colonies, as they are from the United States. When once a British workman turns colonist he becomes a rabid protectionist and an opponent to immigration, and as he is the Governtiient he does as he " D " pleases. Instead of developing the interior of Australia, considerable portions of which irrigation will facilitate, one third of the population of Victoria (a territory as large as England) is centred in Melbourne, making strikes, bank failures, shoddy clothes, bad boots, and indifferent machinery, to the comparative neglect of agriculture. The legislation against squatters has forced them to buy huge tracts, to try and exclude the free selector, exactly opposite to the result expected, which was to encourage agricultural settlement. Of the pure Australian wine, comparatively little finds its way direct to England; a good deal is shipped to France to supply the loss of the vintage from phylloxera. It pays duty, is French-labelled, and made into Bordeaux tor the English market. Next to none finds its way into digestion- destroying tea, coffee, and whiskey-drinking Canada, of which the districts under the tyranny of legal prohibition are naturally the most drunken and destructive of police morale. Tinned salmon from the factories on the banks of British Columbian rivers, where the huge stern wheels of the steamers kill the crowding salmon, I have seen on Australian tables. It had journeyed across the continent of America and the Atlantic to London, and thence to New Zealand by the Cape of Good Hope. Good for the C.P.R. and the shipping trade, bad for the pucket and palate of the n;^»i INTER-IMPKRIAL FREK TRADE. 539 to the is ish m- of ral [he Ion fnt i\V IR. Ihe Australian consumer, and the profits ot the British Columbian producer. In the event ot inter-Imperial Free Trade being established, not only would the stream of commerce flow westward to the British Isles, like the ceaseless ocean- current of the Atlantic, and of the Pacific to Canada from Japan, but also inter-colonially eastward, as the long tea- trains of the C.P.R. already do. I saw on the wharves of Tasmania pine lumber from Norway and the Baltic shores. Fourteen thousand miles across two oceans it had been carried, round the Cape of Storms, while about one-third the distance over the milder Pacific, the gigantic pines of Briti.sh Columbia wave in millions of murmuring acres along endless fiords, waiting to be felled into the sea ready for shipment ; while from the opposite shores of the Pacific the magnificent hard woods of Australasia (the Kauri pine is nearl}' exhausted) would find a ready market in Western Canada, where literallj' for 1,300 miles, from Vancouver to Winnipeg, no hard wood grows from which you could cut an axe-handle. When ordering the repair of gun carriages in British Columbia, suitable wood had to be sent from England ; before the C.P.R. was built, every rifle, every bullet, every soldier's button was sent round Cape Horn to British Columbia. The antipodean seasons being exactly the opposite of the northern, their fruit harvests ripen in our northern Spring. Into the lap of the short Canadian Spring could the golden bananas, pine-apples, and oranges of Australasia be poured, for across the 1,000 miles of prairie and sterile north shore of Lake Superior, almost until you reach the fertile peninsula of Ontario, no orchard fruit will grow. A small quantity of Ontario orchard fruit finds its waj' into the North-West Provinces, often to be frozen in transit. Many a barrel of apples have I had destroyed through their being left on a railway platform twenty minutes, with the thermometer below zero. Australian fruit, arriving in early Summer, would not be subject to destruction by frost in transit across Canada. The supply of orchard fruit from British Columbia is very limited ; that from California ripens at the wrong season for distribution in Canada, and is also subject to duty. To the uninitiated these may seem trivial details, but to the people of a prairie province fruit is not merely a luxury but a necessity, and tasteless dried apples, imported from the 540 GUNNER JINGOS JUBILEE. United States under duty, form part of the daily ration of a rancheman. Of course, the importation of fruit into Canada would be a trifling item compared to v/ool, hard wood, wine, New Zealand tl .x, and other raw products, but few Australian manufactured goods would be wanted in Canada or anywhere else. Next to telegraphy postal communication is the life-blood of empire. Let us hope the efforts of Henniker-Heaton to overthrow the dogged dulness of the Post Office in favour of an Imperial penny post, may be crowned with success. I may, however, give him some experiences of my own, which will show the necessity for some better under- standing between different parts of the Empire. They may supply him on occasion with useful arguments. I was refused a money-order from Tasmania to my son in Canada, because the only arrangements for postal communication between Australasia and Canada were through the United States Post Office. The post-masters of the United States were thus able to dictate to British colonists through what post-olificcs alone money-orders could be sent in Canada. I began to doubt whether Canada was British territory. After personal appeal to the Postmaster-General of Tasmania, the money was sent on my assurance that there was such a post town as Calgary, and that there was a British province named Alberta, about three times as big as Tasmania. He had in his office no list of Canadian post towns, except that issued by the United States, which arbitrarily lays down what are to be, what they term, '* international money-order offices." My son's acknowledgment of the money took six months to reach me, because the post-master in Calgary did not know the postage for Australia, and my son's letter being one cent under-stamped was sent to the dead-letter office, by a barbaric rule of A«nerican post-offices that insufficientl}'- stamped letters go to the limbo of the dead-letter office. In short, there is no end to the mischievous and wasteful pranks of the Lord of Misrule in the British Disunited States. These disunited states of Great Britain stultify themselves and each other in every relation in which they come in contact, for lack of .some central authority, definite bond of union, or some platform where the representatives of the various states could meet to discuss their relations, learn to ■'»A*iitti*:tMii THF BRITISH DISUNITED STATES. 541 know and respect each other, and understand something of the great Empire, of which they are a fraction. Such a meeting, to be of any use, should be held alternately in the capital of each state. Everywhere we are struck with the anomaly of the intense individuality of a race which has built up a vast Empire, but seems to lack the power of organization to hold it together. The spectacle is appalling. In Australasia, a heptanarchy of Anglo-Sa.xons are fighting each other and the mother country with hostile tariffs. In South Africa and British North America there is something similar, with the additional complication of an elen.ent of French and Dutch origin. And yet, surely, order could be evolved out of chaos, if Englishmen would only look beyond the fog of their island at their glorious Empire, and insist on politicians (for we have no Statesmen), dealing with the mighty constructive problem it presents, instead of striving for further disintegration. Now would seem the accepted time. If the imaginary document called the British Constitution is to be torn into shreds for the triumph of Home Rule in Ireland, why not extend the principle so as to diminish the evil, for the Irish would not hold tlie balance of power in a federated Empire. It would be an easier task for the wit of man to evolve a new constitu- tion embracing an Empire, as has been done by the younger branch of the Anglo-Saxon race in America and kindred Teutons in Europe, than to prc^^'ide for Irishism ruling Ireland without its ruling England also. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Jingo knows he's not an angel, but hopes he's not a foo', and having had a wider personal experience of the Empire than falls to the lot of most soldiers, ventures to express a few opinions on Imperial matters. Wordy conferences in London, to which the Press is not admitted, and whose proceedings are only published in Blue Books no one reads, lead to poor results. To the average Englishman a lamp-post in Piccadilly is more important than half a continent over sea. The problem must be solved by the head taking the initiative. It is a bad business when the tail wags the dog. The prerogative of the Crown, which has been insidiously and unchivalrously abstracted while it has been worn by a greatly beloved and conscientious Queen, must be restored. The Government of Oceana should be settled from the deck of a man-of-war, visiting alternatel}' the various states it is proposed to federate. Royal Com- 54-' OUNNFR JINCJOS JUBILEE. mission is a synonym for how not to do it, or I would use tlic words here. Tlie choice of a figure-head to the peripatetic council is not of vital importance. A Russian diplomatist describes Lord Salisbury as a wooden figure- head painted to look like iron on the bows of the iron-clad Conservative ship of State. Lord Rosebery might be desciibed as an iron figure-head to the rotten old wooden ship of Radicalism. If the genial and talented heir-apparent cannot be spared from laying foundation-stones,- thei'e are other princes of the blood Royal — one a practical sailor, one a practical soldier ; and one of Her Majesty's .sons-in-law has shown himself a practical Governor of a great colony (is that why he was given no second chance ?) — a legal luminary might be spared from the Divoi'ce Court to clothe the edicts of common sense in the jargon of the law. Add Sir Charles Dilke and Lord Brassey to assist in .solving the numerous Sphyn.x riddles they have started in the books they wiitc while out of ofiice. Season with an Anglican Prelate, a Roman Cardinal, and a Nonconformist light. The Australian colonists are very hard up for loans, and talk less about "cutting the painter " than in days of greater boom. They might just now listen to reason for their own advantage. Starting from London at the beginning of the year, the Committee (if they would only commit themselves to anything) might advantageously spend three months in Canada, while the Legislature meets at Ottawa ; go on to Australasia for the Antipodean Winter ; then cross India in the cool season, returning by the Cape of Good Hope. They would be in a position to ofler terms to Colonial Governments and to lay their views before the English Parlia- ment, which, with one in Dublin and one in Edinburgh, becomes a local legislature. The Federal Council to be evolved for matters purely Imperial, should contain but few members, being more executive than " talky-talky," if that be possible in the palavering present. The number of representatives from each State to be proportionate to the amount of revenue paid for Imperial purposes, or popula- tion, if preferred. In an evil hour we gave to colonists the possession of continents of which they only occupied the fringe, demanding nothing in return, not even that they should treat our commercial exports exactly as we treated theirs. UNITKD KMPlRf. 543 This is the crux of the problem. It may be solved by P2ngland becoming a protectionist country, except as regards her colonies, and vice versa, thus securing to her a supply of food and raw material for manufactures, from Imperial ports instead of from foreign countries, who might at any time form a commercial ring for our starvation. A combined Russia and America, who are our principal purveyors of grain and meat, could in this fashion bring us to our knees without firing a shot. In dealing with the practically independent states we have created by giving responsible government to some of our colonies, while the}' would have to bear the cost and consequences of war in which they have no voice, we are face to face with the old problem of taxation without representation, the non-solution of which cost us the thirteen colonies of America. We do not now propose arbitrarily to tax our colonies, we let them tax us, while we promise to defend them. With calm I'eliancc on the dull amiability of England, they propose to retain the connection and such protection as it involves, until they are able to stand alone. We are told this is the view of many colonists. Then the old country will be invited to " step down and out," to become a second Holland, or what she will, to devote herself to the cultivation of orchids in lieu of tulips. It is useless to ask the colonies to give up any self-government we have given them. They must now as equal states. If they give up the right to manufactures they must get a quid pro quo. The problem for us is — nigh forty millions on these islands incapable of raising one-half their food supply, the necessity for emigration imminent ; on the other side, continents we own requiring population for their develop- ment. In such countries men are toe scarce to admit of professional soldiering, and volunteers require professional leaders. The senseless rule forbidding retired officers serving Colonial Governments, except with loss of pension, has, without observation, done as much for the efTacement of our Empire as the edict which caused the tea to be thrown into Boston Harbour. The prohibition has pre- vented the settlement of such officers in the colonies, where they would have formed a loyal link for British connection. Lending a few officers for a short period to the colonies of the meet us tax our 544 GUNNKR jingo's JUBILKK. does not produce the same result. As soon as they have giasped the situation, and made themselves acceptable to colonial volunteers, they are withdrawn, and replaced by a man who has to begin all over again. ^ 54S CHAPTER XIV. FINIS. In America are the children of many nations, yet they are all Americans. The strife between Democrats and Repub- licans is accentuated by the quadrennial scramble for office, from Postman to President, but the road to political prefer- ment never lies, as it sometimes does with us, in the repudia- tion of national rights or national honour. With Americans the maintenance of such rights is " patriotism," with us it is " Jingoism." American cities shew as many church steeples as factory chimneys, yet you never hear American Statesmen quote maudlin Christianity about turning the National cheek to the smiter, in war or tariflf. " He that has no sword let him sell his garment and buy one," was the last advice of the Prince of Peace to his followers. If we mean to maintain an Empire we must first be strong — by sea and land. Strength by sea is an unknown quantity. For half a century there has been but little to guide us, and that little is not encouraging to the theory that our shores are inviolable. The task of our navy is a gigantic one. They cannot safeguard our food supplies and commerce if detained round our coasts to protect forts and harbours which should be made able to defend themselves. Nor can we send our ships across the Hindoo Koosh or the Rocky Mountains. Our small regular army must be free to strike anywhere, leaving to the Constitutional Force, a conscripted Militia, with exemption for efficient Volunteers, the task of forming our last line. Then let an enemy land upon our shores, and it will be an easy task to count those who return. If compulsory education and compulsory drill went N N 546 GUNNER JINGOS JUBII-EK. together, six Summer months in a Mihtia camp would be sufficient for discipHned efficiency. Such service would be a boon, mentally, morally, and physically to every English- man from 20 to 21, upon whom the lot fell, or who did not prefer exemption by becoming a genuinely-efficient Volunteer, as most of the urban population would. University students, shop assistants, mechanics, would prefer to qualify as Volunteers, and volunteering would not be the slipshod thing it now is, for any man who failed in discipline, or to qualify by attending a certain number of drills and rifle practices, would be returned as liable for Militia Conscription. There should be no exception for peer or peasant. The mere existence of such a law would make the Volunteer a genuine soldier . the difference between the two being, the Volunteer criticises, the soldier obeys. The strain of future wars will be such that the disciplined rank and file must respond to, and believe in, th2 s cill of hi s officer. 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A NOTABLE WOMAN, and" Other Sketches. By MiM.icKNT Erskink Wkmyss. Crown 8vo., 3s. ()d. The " MoRNiN(, FosT " says: "Is full of interest, antl merits an honourable place in the historical literature of the day. ' DIOGENES SANDALS By Mrs. Arthi:r Kknnard. Crown 8vo. cloth 3s. 6d. Second Edition. The " Times ' says ; " We cannot but praise ' Diogenes Sandals ' for the observation, the enthusiasm, the susceptibility to poetic influences which it evinces in its author." The " Standard " says: " .\ book to take up and put down and to take up again, and finally to keep among those we count as our companions." A QUEEN OF CURDS AND CREAM, liy Dorothea Ghraru, Author of " Lady l>aby," &c. Crown 8vo, cloth 3s. Cd. Third Edition. The "Standard" says: — "That it is well written, and in its way, a notable novel, is a matter of course." REMINGTON & Co., Limitkd, LONDON & SYDNEY. REMINGTON & Co.'s NKW THREE AND-SIXPENNY HOOKS (continued). 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Ki^hth lulition " WoKi I) " says: •■ Is a much more clever and engrossing story than any ol the others written liy this author." BOUND TOGETHER, By III c;ii Conway, Author of "Called Back," &.c. Crown Sxo, cloth js. rul. Ninth edition. The " Satl-rdav Kkvikw " savs : 'Clever, amusing, thrilling, packed full of interest." FOR THE SAKE OF THE FAMILY, By May CkommivI.in, Author of" Love-Knots," licc, »S:c., Crown iSvo. js. f>d. The " TiMKs " says : " Is highly sensational and decidedly interesting." L O ^ 3±J - KlSr O T s , A No\el. By M.w Ckommi:i.in, Author of " Midf^e," " l'"or thf:- Sake of thi- l'"aiuiiy," cVc, Crown