PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES OF AN OLD OFFICER BDWARD AUNOLD : 19O6 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES OF AN OLD OFFICER BY COLONEL JAMES P. ROBERTSON, C.B. WITH PORTRAITS LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD IPufcltsfier to tfje Eirtrta ffice 41 & 43 MADDOX STREET, BOND STREET, W. 1906 [All rights reserved} 35. QJL DEDICATED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE R. B. HALDANE, M.P., Secretary of State for War, IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THE LIFE-LONG FRIENDSHIP THAT EXISTED BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND HIS NOBLE-HEARTED AND WORTHY FATHER THE LATE EGBERT HALDANE OF CLOANDEN OUO PREFACE IN giving these pages to the public, I feel rather nervous, from the remark that my publisher made ' Some of your adventures are almost incredible.' I do honestly assure my readers that I only put down facts, and I think I may truly say that I have had a long life wonderfully protected by a gracious God through more hairbreadth escapes and wonderful experiences than fall to the lot of most men. When quite a small child I was taken to bathe at Portobello, near Edinburgh, by the companion and friend to my grandmother, Mrs. Stuart of Fincastle, who spent her latter years at Portobello. As soon as my things were taken off I jumped into the sea, waded out till I was carried off my feet, and rolled under till my lungs were full of water, when all feeling of suffocation dis- appeared, and I felt quite comfortable looking through the water above me like rough green glass. The colour gradually deepened till it became black, and then I was insensible and drowned to all appearance in fact, I went through the whole experience of a drowning man, but a lady in the next machine saw a little white hand above the water, and rushed in and carried me out. When I vii viii PREFACE came to myself I was lying on the floor of the bathing-machine, being well rubbed. A few years after, I fell and damaged my skull while looking at fireworks from the top of the garden wall. I fell off the rocks at Prestonpans, and damaged my left leg so badly that I was months in bed. Then it was discovered that, from lying so long on one side, my spine was twisted, and I remember Dr. James Simpson and another doctor putting their cold fingers all down my back. I had to be cased in steel for two years, and was taken to Carron Vale, where I ran wild and did no lessons, and after this I returned to the High School in Edinburgh, where I had a bad fall at football and had a stone knocked right into my knee-cap, which kept me in bed for six weeks. Then, when on a visit to my cousin at Callander, I took a fancy to see what was in a magpie's nest on the top of a larch-tree. I set up the stable-ladder and from that took to the branches. When just under the nest, the branch I was standing on broke short off, and down I fell to the ground, fortunately missing the ladder. I hit my head against the tree and lay quiet for some time, feeling none the worse, and just put back the ladder and said nothing about it. The history of my face alone would fill a chapter. When quite a small boy I got the present of a toy cannon. All boys had them in those days, and fired them all day long on the Queen's birthday. This custom has long since died out. On this occasion I found my cannon nearly full of paper, and to get that out I took a bit of strong wire, made it red-hot, PREFACE ix and tried to burn the paper out, when, in con- sequence of being already loaded, bang ! went the cannon, and the wire shot through the lobe of my right ear and stuck in the ceiling of the room. My dear mother came in and requested me not to fire any more in the house. The ear got all right again, but to this day is a different shape from the left. When I was trying to blow up a wasp's nest, the mine of coarse blasting-powder went off in my face, and peppered it full of unexploded large grains of powder. I went to my room and with a gold pin dug out every grain, cleaning the wound with my nail-brush. It was a most painful operation, but if I had left the powder in I should have had a blue face for life, like my ancestor Graeme of Inchbrakie, who bore the sobriquet of Black Pate from an accident of the same kind. A fall out hunting smashed the bone of my nose into little bits, and on another occasion I fell on a rock, and my two front teeth came through the skin below the under-lip. After the above by no means full list of accidents in my younger days, possibly my friends will be prepared for some startling personal adventures in after-life. My dear mother used to say, ' Oh, laddie, laddie, you'll come to some awful death if you don't take more care of yourself !' But here I am at the patriarchal age of eighty-four, able to take a twenty-mile run or more on my bike and without a mark or damage on my face, but please remember that I have been for many years a total x PREFACE abstainer, and I never went into any fight or battle on anything stronger than cold tea. The bare list of my horse and carriage smashes would fill pages, and some of them you'll get in their right places, but I must spare you for the present. THE AUTHOE. September, 1906. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGES Birth and ancestry First voyage to Calcutta Some exciting moments Result of shipping a sea A. dangerous job Return home Mr. William Morris The slave-trade Visit to Jamaica Effects of emancipation A black face and a large knife A strange burglar A tusk through the leg Yellow fever A presentiment which came true - 1 18 CHAPTER II At the Military Academy, Edinburgh Gazetted to the 31st Regiment Voyage out with a draft A lark The march up-country A monster crocodile Indian thieves An unpleasant bedfellow A tiger-hunt Arrival at Umballa 'Don't pull my hair!' How I won my spurs A hairbreadth escape Occupation of Kytul Laying out a cantonment 19 30 CHAPTER III The 31st Regiment Ferozepoor Jackal-hunting Escape from an elephant Chuffy's escape from a wolf On sick leave at Simla Landslips In a hyena's den Mahseer-fishing A water-nurse Adventures on the river Volunteering to remain in India From Meerut to Cawnpore and back A tame boa-constrictor - 31 45 xi xii CONTENTS CHAPTER IV PAGES Private theatricals at Umballa Start for the Sutlej cam- paign Forced marches and short rations The Battle of Moodkee A hand-to-hand fight Nearly beheaded A contemporary account The second battle - 46 69 CHAPTER V The Battle of Ferozesha "Water and oranges An extra- ordinary incident The Crown Prince of Prussia and the Iron Cross Company-commander, Adjutant, and postmaster A silver-plated tent-pole The Battle of Budiwal Loss of our baggage Occupation of Lud- hiana The Battle of Aliwal Astonishing escapes Capture of two guns A deserter 70 85 CHAPTER VI The Battle of Sobraon Remarkable injuries 'He saved my life !' A Durbar at Lahore Procuring tiles An adventurous ride to Ferozepoor An overdose of laudanum Fifty boatloads of invalids Chuffy's fate A fire ' / am the commanding officer !' Arrival at Bombay A good ship and a questionable captain St. Helena Ascension On half rations in the dol- drums The fair maid of Orta Quarantine and drunkenness A complimentary letter from the Duke of Wellington - 86112 CHAPTER VII Walmer A romantic story ' Sailors as well as soldiers !' Some disagreeable boating experiences Manchester A singular old gentleman Dublin Prince George of Cambridge and the tenpenny nail The Smith O'Brien Rebellion Maryborough Colonel Pepper Bagging trout After the ball The old regimental colours Athlone Yachting Nearly drowned A CONTENTS xiii PAGES practical joke An unpleasant affair A lady's portrait Salmon-fishing on Loch Melvin Fermoy A hunt- ing smash Some election incidents Cork - 113138 CHAPTER VIII A model embarkation A horrible voyage My ' Friend of the Sword' Zante Four months in Florence Miss Lever and the charger An absurd mistake In the Pet to Sicily Ascent of Mount Etna Malta Return to Zante in the Lizzie Nervous passengers Woodcock- shooting in Greece ' Roughing it ' in reality Winter at Santa Mora - - 139160 CHAPTER IX Quarantine in a ditch Another shooting expedition A near thing An exciting race A visit from Abdi Pasha A merry Christmas A foolhardy challenge The Lizzie on the rocks Departure for the Crimea 161 172 CHAPTER X Drawing the enemy's fire My water-supply Transport muddles Turkish farriery Making crow's-nests ' Gordon in the trenches The first assault on the Mala- koff In command of transport of the Second Division The failure to take the Redan A hot night in the trenches Trophies from Sebastopol Clearing the hospitals of dead Building a camp for the animals A watering device The best house in camp Visit to the Alma A will-o'-the-wisp An expensive entertain- ment Livadia A life-saving exploit A fine explosion A faithful Jew Eaten by rats Clearing up and coming away - - 173 202 CHAPTER XI Formation of a Military Train Start for China Outbreak of the Indian Mutiny Sir Colin Campbell and Lord Canning We become a Cavalry regiment Choosing xiv CONTENTS PAGES horses The wrong ' present ' Fatal chargers On the road to Allahabad My officers A scene at the Horse Guards Sore backs Round Lucknow Relief of the Sikhs in Bank's bungalow After the relief of the Resi- dency A case of temporary insanity A difficult task - 203227 CHAPTER XII Under Sir James Outram Daily skirmishing Information from the enemy Capture of two guns Complimented in orders How to start a bazaar A comical day's work A sovereign for a glass of beer Under fire from 30,000 men A short, sharp fight Two more guns captured Hodson's Horse at work The proudest day of my life General Outram's report on the charge 228 248 CHAPTER XIII In command of a convoy A disagreeable affair Saving the camp Cavalry versus washerwomen A 'keen pursuit'! Russell of The Times ' This isn't Woolwich Common !' An uncomfortable position A night alarm An un- seen enemy An amusing incident Sunstroke By steamer to Benares In hospital at Calcutta Home Thanks, promotion, and decoration How long I was in the 16th Lancers The Military Train disbanded Its shabby treatment by the War Office Summer in Shet- land Mrs. Elizabeth Mowatt's wonderful adventure The Veterans' Parade at Edinburgh Castle, May, 1903 - - 249278 APPENDIX List of Crimean and Indian Mutiny Veterans present on the occasion of His Majesty's State Visit to Edinburgh, May, 1903 ..... 279284 PORTRAITS JAMES P. KOBERTSON AT THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN. From a painting executed in 1841 - Frontispiece COLONEL JAMES P. KOBERTSON, C.B., AT THE AGE OF EIGHTY-ONE. As presented to H.M. King Edward on the occasion of the Veterans' Parade at Edinburgh Castle, 1903 - - - - To face p. 250 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES OF AN OLD OFFICER CHAPTER I Birth and ancestry First voyage to Calcutta Some exciting moments Result of shipping a sea A dangerous job Return home Mr. William Morris The slave-trade Visit to Jamaica Effects of emancipation A black face and a large knife A strange burglar A tusk through the leg Yellow fever A presentiment which came true. I WAS born on January 26, 1822, at Carron Vale, the property of my father, the Honourable Duncan Robertson, M.D., who owned also an estate near Callander known as Roehill, or, in the Gaelic, Knock - Carrup. On the top of a little mound, standing in the north-west corner of this property, two march walls crossed at right angles, and the four proprietors could stand each on their own land and shake hands at the same time. My grandfather, James Robertson, owned a small estate on the south bank of Loch Tay, and was a married man with a son six years of age when Prince Charlie landed in Scotland. It is a matter of history that the Robertson clan loyally joined 1 2 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES the Prince, with the disastrous result that the Campbells cleared them out of Loch Tayside, when my grandfather took refuge in Callander. I believe he only saved his life by having married one of the Campbells of Monzie ; and it is a remark- able fact that, while my paternal grandmother was a Campbell, my maternal grandmother was Louisa Graeme of Inchbrakie the two properties were contiguous in Strathearn and thus two of my ancestors were concerned in the Perthshire history of the burning of the ' Witch of Monzie.' It is a well-authenticated fact that Graeme of Inchbrakie exerted himself to save the woman's life, while Campbell of Monzie insisted on her being burned, and carried his point. The so-called witch, when tied to the stake, flung a precious stone at Inchbrakie, saying : ' As long as your descendants hold this stone your property will be secure, and descend from father to son.' Monzie she cursed with failure of direct line of descent. Both of these remarkable prophecies have literally come true. Not long before Inchbrakie was sold, the stone, set in a ring, was removed to Edinburgh in complete disregard of the conditions stated in the witch's last words. Monzie has never since descended from father to son. To return to my father : he was educated for the medical profession, and settled for many years in Jamaica, where he practised as a physician, and as a Member of Council got the title Honourable, eventually becoming owner of a very fine estate there called Friendship. I should like, while BIRTH AND ANCESTRY 3 referring to him, to record a very remarkable matrimonial chain which commenced quite early in the eighteenth century by the marriage of a young man, then living in Jamaica, who started the chain. In his old age he married a second wife who was quite a young girl, a Miss Lutman. During her husband's last illness, my father, Dr. Robertson, attended him professionally ; and he made the very extraordinary request to my father that he would, after a reasonable period, marry the young widow, who had no near relations living in the island. This he did, and became owner of part of Friendship ; the other half he purchased from Mr. Lutman, his wife's brother ; and the whole estate thus became his property. After many years of happiness, Mrs. Robertson died, and some time after my father returned to Scotland and married my mother, Susan Stuart of the royal Stuarts of Fincastle. She was the youngest daughter of Colonel Robert Stuart, of Fincastle, and Louisa Graeme, of Inchbrakie, his wife. To make a long story short, about twelve years after my father's death, my mother married Dr. Liddell, who was the first Principal of Queen's College, Kingston, Canada, and who afterwards, on account of my mother's health, returned to Scot- land, and became the parish minister of Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire, where he lived for about thirty years, dying in 1880, and thus ending the matri- monial chain of more than 150 years, my mother having predeceased him. In her brother, Peter Stuart, ended the line of Fincastle. Many old 12 4 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES Perthshire families have thus disappeared within my own lifetime. When out in the Maroon War in Jamaica, my father had a narrow escape of his life. He was shaving one morning in the open air, having hung up a little glass against a tree, when one of the enemy fired a poisoned arrow at him, cutting his chin open. Knowing the deadly nature of the wound, he, with his razor, cut the piece clean out on the spot, and thereby saved his life. The mark of the wound is clearly to be seen in his portrait, painted by Sir Henry Raeburn, which hangs in my dining-room. To return to myself: I determined to leave home after my mother's second marriage, and went off quietly to London, and got a berth as midshipman on board the London, one of Wigram and Green's East Indiamen ' free traders,' as they were then called, on account of the East India Company having lost their charter and privileges. Nothing very remarkable occurred during our passage to Calcutta, but one day I was ordered to go with one of the quartermasters, who had something to do in the magazine. The magazine was a strong iron room, down in the after-hold, where all the cabin stores were kept. My orders were to sit at the scuttle and hold a lantern so that he could see. The quartermaster was sometime fussing about ; he had evidently got hold of something very nice before he got to the magazine. Presently I heard the iron door open, and I got SOME EXCITING MOMENTS 5 a peremptory order to come down with the lantern, as he rather noisily informed me, with a good deal of strong language, that he could not see what he was doing. I accordingly went, and held the lantern up outside the open door. After fumbling about for some time, he ordered me to come inside, lantern and all. In I went, and sat down on a bag of powder. Presently, after some more fumbling, I got the order, ' Take the candle out of the lamp and hold it in your hand/ ' Oh dear !' I said ; ' what would the captain say if he knew this ?' To which my friend replied, with a fresh edition of strong language intermixed : ' I know just as well as the captain that, if you drop that candle, we will all be in hell- fire in less than five minutes.' Need I say how I crawled out most carefully, nursing the candle till I got well outside. Of course, I dared not tell the captain, or anyone else, or my life would not have been worth living. On board no one ever peached on another. When we were going round the Cape, blowing hard, and the wind right aft, I had just turned out of my hammock for morning watch (4 a.m.), when the ship suddenly broached to, and a tremendous sea broke right on board of us, and came thundering down the main hatchway, which was wide open. I shall never forget the comic scene which ensued. The doctor jumped out of bed, and sent his head right through the Venetian blinds with which all the cabin doors were furnished 6 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES for ventilation. There he stuck, with his face a perfect picture of horror. At the same time a young cadet rushed out of the cabin, went wildly along the deck, burst through the after-cabin doors, and rushed into the arms of three young ladies, who were on their way to Calcutta, on ' spec ' as we used to call it in those days. By this time the steerage was half full of water, and the young gentleman was speedily rolled up in a blanket, head and all, and shot back into the water. But the most comical sight of all was the captain. He was a rotund little man, and he jumped out of his cabin in his shirt to make his way on deck ; but he had scarcely got outside his door, when a lady, with no particular garments on, rushed at him, seized him round the neck, screaming, * Oh, save me ! save me ! save me !' To see the captain struggling to get rid of her arms was a sight worth seeing. For myself, I had such unbounded faith in the ship, that I did not feel the least alarmed, and with a good supply of buckets, and plenty of hands, we soon cleared all the water out again. Although quite at home in any part of the rigging by night or day, I had a very trying and dangerous I may say awfully dangerous job one day. After getting into the * trades,' the captain ordered the skysails to be set. Now, skysails are, as the name implies, at the very top of the masts. I was ordered up to set the mizzen-skysail, which was then on deck, and the halyard by which it was to be hauled up had to be carried up A DANGEROUS JOB 7 by me and passed through the head of the mast, just under the vane. Up I went, with the long rope coiled loosely and hanging on my shoulder. I had no difficulty in getting as far up as the royal yard, but just above that the rigging ended, and there was nothing but a pole well greased and perfectly smooth. To the top of this, about ten feet high, I had to climb with the heavy bundle of rope, and pass the end through the top of the mast and pull it through. A slip meant certain destruction, and there was nothing but the greasy pole to hold on by, and it was swinging to and fro with the motion of the ship. I was merci- fully preserved, and came safe down again. It was about the most unpleasant bit of work I ever did in my life, worse than facing a man with a drawn sword or a loaded rifle. We were nearly three months in Calcutta, dis- charging and taking in cargo. On our return passage home, an outward-bound ship hailed us to say that the King was dead, and that Queen Victoria was on the throne. It is rather remarkable that the three middies who sailed on board the London, myself and two others, all joined the army : Grossman into the East India Company's service, Harrison into the Royal Marines, and I joined the 31st Regiment. On my return to London, Mr. William Morris, I may say, took charge of me. He was a West India merchant, and had a large and extensive connection in Jamaica, where our property Friendship was. The slaves having been freed in the West Indies, 8 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES things began to look very black, and Mr. Morris was very anxious to go out to look after his own interests. He owned a ship called the Black River Packet, and soon made arrangements for the voyage, taking me with him. As is now a matter of history, our West India possessions were ruined by the haste and over zeal which, in my opinion, far outran the knowledge of the good people at home. To begin at the beginning, the African savages who were exported to the West Indies were, to a great extent, prisoners taken in war ; they were brought down to the coast, sold to Europeans, and taken comfortably across to the West Indies. I say ' comfortably ' advisedly, because there was no object in treating them otherwise, for the c fitter ' their condition on arriving at their destination, the more capable they were of doing their work on the estates, and thus fetched a higher price. When our men-of-war began to scour the coasts to cap- ture the ships containing these negroes, in order to avoid the English ships the ' traders ' huddled the poor wretches together and packed them like herrings in a barrel into very fast sailing ' slavers'; even so, those who got to the West Indies were the most fortunate. On every estate there was a hospital and a competent medical man paid a fixed yearly sum for attendance, and the proprietor naturally took care that his men were well looked after. As a rule the trade being now stopped they were eaten as prisoners of war in Africa instead of being sold into European service in the THE SLAVE TRADE 9 islands, where the great majority were well fed, clothed and housed, nursed when ill, and generally cared for. I myself saw a man-of-war chase and capture a slaver ; what became of the unfortunate ' emancipated ' creatures on board I never knew. Now look at the treatment the proprietors in the West Indies received. The nation was constantly told the owners were receiving compensation for their loss and that millions had been spent on the price of the slaves, but the landowners derived little good from that. Suppose our farmers in Great Britain had all their horses taken from them at a market price, with a strict prohibition against purchasing others, how could farming be continued ? Yet that was the manner in which the unfortunate West Indian proprietor was served ; it has constantly been thrown at their heads that they received ample compensation. I visited Jamaica shortly after the emancipation, expecting from the crusade against slavery I heard of in England to find evidences of the cruel ill- treatment and neglect the poor slaves had received for generations in the bad housing and worn-out condition of the race. How different was everything to what I imagined ! They were still in the homes provided by their late owners : nice little cottages many of these, with gardens attached, having the appearance of our small suburban houses at home, with abundance of fruit-trees, particularly oranges, on which the * poor slaves ' fed their pigs, and as much additional land as they wished to cultivate, which raised 10 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES abundance of the food they required, with the smallest possible amount of labour. They were not overworked, any more than a farmer overworked his horses, for that would have been to the owners' detriment, and they were a thousand times better off than our own unemployed, or hundreds of the employed, for that matter, in this enlightened twentieth century. Now look at the aspect from the proprietor's point of view. Things were going on as badly as they could ; for the one idea which the anti- slavery party had impressed on the child- like mind of the negro was that to work meant slavery. They simply as a body declined to do any work whatever, and had a high old time of it while the sugar-cane rotted in the fields and the coffee-berries dropped over-ripe from the trees, while the owners of the land were actually starving, and in many instances were forced to abandon their estates, which were left to become a wilderness, as no one would purchase them. I stayed the greater part of my time in Jamaica with my cousin, the Honourable Duncan Robertson, of Gilnock Hall. His so-called slaves had taken their emancipation, but things went on exactly in the same manner as previously : house-servants, coach- men, grooms, and the whole establishment, continued on precisely the same footing. No locks were on the doors ; these stood open day and night, the silver being left on the dining-room sideboard all the time, and the quondam slaves elected to remain where they were perfectly contented and happy. I should like to record as a fact that only one EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION 11 man was pointed out to me by more than one native as having been flogged ; this satisfactorily proved to me that flogging was by no means an everyday occurrence. I should mention that I moved about the island a great deal, so that I am not recording the experience gained in one place or on one estate only. Flogging was the only punishment for serious offences, and I am at a loss to know what other punishment could be inflicted. I am of opinion hooligans would be made the better by the same treatment now. I had one rather exciting adventure there. Having gone with a young friend to travel on business, we arrived at a sugar estate near Savanna-le-Mar, some two miles from the town, on the second night out. There we found an old gentleman in charge, who was bitter in his complaint that his splendid fields of sugar-cane were rotting in the ground and being devoured by the negroes' pigs, the negroes themselves refusing to do a stroke of work. There was a cart- load of sugar-cane standing at the mill, and I pro- posed, half in fun, that we should grind it ourselves. Off we started, set the mill going, and I began to stuff the canes into the rollers. We had no sooner began than out came the negroes from their settle- ment, stopped the mill, and ordered us back to the house, where we did go, after some lively passages and strong words between the old gentleman and the negroes. Presently the whole village turned out, men and women, some with axes, some with cutlasses or clubs. Mr. Smith ran into his room and brought 12 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES out a brace of pistols, one of which he handed to each of us young fellows, retaining a double gun for himself. Rather a steep flight of steps led up to the front-door, and we had just arrived at the head of the steps when the mob arrived at the foot. Old Smith was a plucky old fellow, and called out : ' The first man who puts his foot on these steps will be shot dead, and the second likewise.' This caused a halt, and the women began to use strong language, urging the men to go up and do for us, but no one dared to go first. There we stood, the three of us in a row, and after a time we observed that the crowd began gradually to disperse one at a time. Smith did not seem to take it very seriously, and in due time we had our dinner and retired for the night. My room was some distance from the others, and Smith had taken his pistols back and hung them in his room. I confess I felt very uncomfortable when I got to my room. Everything was in a dilapidated and worn-out condition. At the end of the room stood a large old-fashioned four-post bed with mosquito curtains. The head of the bed stood against the wall, and was equi-distant from both sides of the room. At the other end, exactly opposite, was a large window without glass, but closed with Venetian blinds in a rather dilapidated condition. I observed also an old rusty sword without a scab- bard hanging on a nail on the opposite side of the bed to the door, which was at right angles to the window, and in the far corner of the room. I soon fell asleep, and how long I slept I know not, but I awoke with a terrible feeling of dread. I partly A BLACK FACE AND A LARGE KNIFE 13 sat up in the bed and listened, wondering what had wakened me. I observed a single ray of moonlight, coming through the broken window, gleaming across the room, which was in profound darkness. Pre- sently I heard the door being gently pushed open and grating on the floor as it was moved. Then a slight creak on the floor, and then another, evidently a heavy footstep coming towards the bed. The only word which describes my feelings is the word 6 horror,' staring as I was towards the door in the profound darkness. Suddenly a black face, with a large knife in its mouth, appeared for an instant as a man passed through the gleam of moonlight ; then I heard breathing close to the side of the bed and the mosquito curtains being gently pulled out, and in another second they were thrown up. At that moment I sprang with one bound through the cur- tains on the opposite side of the bed, made a clutch at the rusty sword which, fortunately, I caught, ran round the foot of the bed (all this happened in far less time than it takes to write it), and made a fierce cut in the direction of my would-be murderer. Instead of hitting him I put a big notch in the bed- post, and my adversary ran quickly out of the room and disappeared. The whole thing took place in an incredibly short time and without a word being spoken on either side. I pulled my valise from under my bed and sat on it in the corner of the room till daylight, with the old sword in my hand, being terribly punished by mosquitoes. Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless a fact 14 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES that I did not mention a word of the affair next morning ; but I need not say we made the best of our way out of such an unpleasant neighbourhood. I afterwards went to stay at my own place, Friend- ship, and found the old housekeeper who had been there in my father's time. Everything was going on comfortably, and everyone was happy. The factor in charge of the estate was a cousin of my own, a Robertson, and he and his elder brother had been taken to Jamaica when young men by my father. The younger brother remained as factor of Friendship, married a black wife, and had a flourish- ing family. His brother settled at Kingston, and remained a bachelor. The chief of the Robertsons was at this time in the 42nd Regiment. I well remember seeing him at Blair Atholl games when as a boy I was staying with my aunt, Betsy Stuart, of Fin- castle, at the Milton, which she and her sister fortunately had settled on them for life. Like a great many other Perthshire gentry at that time, this chief spent money a good deal faster than it came in from the estate, so to raise money he resolved to sell part of the ancestral property ; but, as it was strictly entailed, he had to get the permission of the two next heirs (he had no family himself) to the chieftainship, and it was ascertained, by going back a good many generations, that the legal heirs were my two cousins in Jamaica. With their permission (they receiving a small sum as compensation) he sold part of the estate. After a time the same game was repeated, this time for the sale of the A STRANGE BURGLAR 15 whole estate. Permission was again granted, but most fortunately, before any legal document was signed, the chief died, and the old bachelor at Kings- ton succeeded to the title and estates. Here was a comically sad state of things. The prospective chief of the Robertsons (his nephew) was a delightful black man. I wonder how he would have looked in a kilt ! Fortunately, however, the chief married and had a family, and so the black man's nose was put out of joint. Who can say, however, in future generations, that the black man will not succeed should the present direct line fail ? Before leaving Jamaica I may relate a rather amusing episode which occurred while I was there. My cousin and Mr. Morris were absent on business at Kingston, and I was the only man (?) left at Gilnock. A report was brought in for my absent cousin that some evil-disposed natives were going to loot the house (not our own people). I ought to mention that we had brought out with us from London 500 in silver to pay wages, and most of this was still in the house in boxes of 100 each (these I had taken from Lombard Street in a butcher's cart, and had them driven by a boy all through the slums of East London down to the docks). What a delightful prize if it had only been known to the roughs ! Well, to return to my story, the household at night consisted of four maid- servants, Mrs. Robertson, and myself. Mrs. Robert- son had the silver under her bed, and she took the four maid-servants into her room for the night and barricaded the door. I had all the rest of the house 16 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES to myself and a faithful companion a beautiful Cuban bloodhound named Gift. She could stand on the ground, put her paws on my shoulder, and lick my face. There was a small bit of garden enclosed in front of the house, and a gate leading up to the front-door. My window looked upon this garden, and the house was only one story high. I loaded my rifle and went to bed, Gift lying on the floor. A low, deep growl awoke me, and I jumped up and looked out, the rifle in my hand. The window was without glass only a Venetian blind. I saw the gate partly open, and a man crawling forward towards the house. He lay a long time without moving, and I came to the conclusion that he was waiting for others. Presently he came nearer and I covered him with the rifle, and was just about to draw the trigger, when, lo ! he put up his head, and turned out to be a black calf ! One day, not long before this. I was out shooting with Gift as my constant companion, when suddenly a wild boar rushed out of some long grass, knocked me over, passing one tusk through my left leg ; and before I got on my feet he wheeled round and made another rush at me. He would certainly have ripped me up, as I was on my back, but Gift seized him fast by the ear and held on. His tusks, as it were, played on her throat, but he could not strike. I jumped up, put my gun to his ribs and drew the trigger, dropping him dead. It was only a very powerful dog that could have held that brute for a moment. When the negroes were set free, they of course I SAIL FOR HOME 17 expected to be well paid for any work done, and when paid in copper they smelt it and threw the coin away, calling it a nasty smelly thing. Hence, the 500 in silver had been taken out to pay these delightful creatures. Jamaica is a lovely country, and I cried when I left it, so happy was I there. We took out a doctor with us who was apparently far gone in consump- tion. I think he was carried on board. He had come for his health only, and returned after some time perfectly well and strong. I saw him in London after his return, and ascribed his cure entirely to Jamaica. I am sorry I cannot remember his name. Mr. Morris, having wound up his business, pre- pared to return home. The ship was then lying at Black River with a full cargo on board. Mr. Morris embarked, and also a gentleman of the name of Rose, who was coming home with us. The captain and I went on shore, as he had some business to settle, and as all hands were busy getting under way and the pilot on board, we only took two ship's boys to row us ashore. After some little delay we returned to the beach, and great was the indignation of the captain to see his ship beating out to sea, the pilot being afraid that the wind was going to drop. We pulled off as hard as we could, but the ship went faster than we did, and the two boys rowed until they were dead beat, and then gave in. The captain arid I then took the oars, and rowed until we were pretty well done. Ultimately the ship condescended to wait for us, and then we got 2 18 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES on board. I was terribly exhausted, and within a few hours developed yellow fever. There being no doctor on board, the captain pro- ceeded, as was the custom in those days, to bleed me in both arms. For some time I was delirious, and quite unconscious of what they were doing with me or to me, but I was told afterwards that I insisted upon having a large poultice of wet salt applied to my spine, and I believe that that saved my life, as it has since been ascertained that saline drinks have marvellous power in cases of yellow fever. Some time before leaving Jamaica I had told my cousin that I knew there would be a death on board ship on the way home, and as I had several times had various presentiments which came true, it caused some excitement. After some days of delirium I must have fallen asleep, for I have a perfect recol- lection of being awakened by a loud splash. I looked up, and seeing one of the ship's boys sitting at the head of the bed, I said : ' What's that ?' 4 It was Mr. Rose,' he replied ; ' he died last night, and they have just dropped him overboard.' * Oh, then,' I said, ' I shall recover, for there was only one death to take place on board.' From that day I rapidly recovered, and I have a lively recollection of the enormous appetite that I developed. No sooner had I eaten a heavy breakfast than I was longing for midday dinner ; then just as hungry again for tea, and afterwards for supper. I lay nearly all day on a mattress on deck, and I need not say how kind everyone was to me. I remember also how all my skin peeled off by degrees from the effects of the fever. CHAPTER II At the Military Academy, Edinburgh Gazetted to the 31st Regiment Voyage out with a draft A lark The march up-country A monster crocodile Indian thieves An unpleasant bedfellow A tiger-hunt Arrival at Umballa ' Don't pull my hair !' How I won my spurs A hairbreadth escape Occupation of Kytul Laying out a cantonment. WE arrived home in due time, and Mr. Morris strongly urged me to give up the sea and go into the army. So I proceeded to Edinburgh, and went through a course at the Military Academy there, studying military drawing and surveying, and I also became rather an expert both with the rapier and single-stick. I have three medals to show for it. Mr. Morris then wrote to Lady Clarendon, requesting that she might use her influence to get a commission for a young friend of his. He (Mr. Morris) had for many years transacted all her West India business. Her ladyship kindly wrote a note to Lord Hill, the Commander-in- Chief : ' My dear Lord, I want a commission for a young friend of mine,' giving name, etc., and within a fortnight I was gazetted to the 31st Regiment. This was unusual luck, for most young men in those days had to wait for two or three 19 2 2 20 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES years with their names on the Commander - in - Chiefs list before getting a commission. Years after, when quartered in Ireland, I had the satis- faction of thanking both Lord and Lady Clarendon for their kindness. His lordship was at that time Lord Lieutenant in Dublin. After the usual six months at the depot at Chatham, I embarked with a draft of recruits for Calcutta early in 1842 to join my Regiment, which was then in Afghanistan, avenging the massacre of the 44th Regiment. On the passage out we had a very disagreeable black man as steward. There was also a cadet on board, who was disliked by everyone on account of his unpleasant manners. The steward's hammock hung in the steerage just outside the cadet's cabin door, and one night, when my chum and I were on watch (as the officers had to keep watch all the voyage), we resolved to have a lark. The ship was rolling heavily as we proceeded to work, and creeping gently down to the steerage, we tied a string to the steward's hammock, attach- ing the other end to the cadet's cot ; as they swung together with the motion of the ship, it did not awaken either of them. We then put a loose cord over the above-mentioned string, and carried both ends up on deck, when, by jerking the string, we awoke both the parties. The steward growled and made a grab, as he thought, at the person who was shaking his bed, and so found the string, which caused the cadet to sit up in great indignation. As soon as we had heard the steward was roused, THE MARCH UP-COUNTRY 21 we let go one end of our loose cord, and pulled it up on deck. The result was beyond our fondest anticipation. The steward got noiselessly out of bed and followed the string attached to his hammock, and just as he got up to the cadet's bed to make a grab at the occupant, the cadet hit him fair in the face, knocking him down. A free fight in the dark followed, and we both rushed off to the other end of the ship, and laughed till we cried at the success of our little plan. Duly arriving at Calcutta, we landed, and were quartered at Fort William. After a short stay there we started on our march up-country, a battalion of recruits, composed of drafts for the various regiments in Bengal. We used to march on an average twelve miles a day, starting at two or three o'clock in the morning, and finishing our day's work before breakfast, always resting on Sundays or after storms of rain, when the roads became impassable. I generally spent the rest of my day out shooting, but the country in the immediate vicinity of the Grand Trunk Road was very poorly stocked with game. One day, when out with Dickens, of the 21st Fusiliers, tramping along the high bank of a nullah, a native came up to speak to us in a rather excited condition, and requested us to shoot a very large crocodile that had for years lived in a pool below and killed ever so many people, and had become the terror of the women who had to come down the nullah for water, sometimes dragging in a cow or a sheep, and not unfrequently a woman or child. 22 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES ' There he is ! there he is !' he said, pointing at a little distance on the other side of the river. For a long time I could see nothing, but at last it dawned on me that what I had taken for a log of wood was the brute in question. * Come,' the native said, ' and I will take you to him.' We kept out of sight, and going up the river about a quarter of a mile, we waded across, and reached the other side. Presently we came to a place where there were a number of bushes and trees. A well-marked foot- path led down through this to the river. The native pointed to the path in dumb show, indicating that we would find our friend at the other end, but declined to follow us a step further. I had both my barrels loaded with ball, and Dickens the same. I went first, and to prevent making any noise, we both crawled through the bushes on our hands and knees in profound silence. Soon I found myself close to the great brute. He was lying on the sand fast asleep, with just a small bush between me and him. He was simply a monster. I cannot pretend either to guess his length or his height, as he lay on the sands beside the deep pool of the river ; but he appeared to rise over 3 feet from the ground as he lay on his stomach. I gently nudged Dickens with my elbow, and he replied in a whisper, * Where ?' but that was quite enough to awaken our friend, and I caught his eye glaring at me. He stretched forward one great claw, and disclosed a nice tender spot right under A MONSTER CROCODILE 28 his arm. I put the muzzle of the gun close to this spot, and drew both triggers at once. Instantly there was a terrific plunge as he bounded into the deep pool. A perfect fountain of water, tinged with blood, burst up, and he dis- appeared. We waited a long time on the bank of the river in the hope that he might come up again or float. The bubbles, which had risen thickly at first, subsided gradually, but he never appeared. I think he must have been killed, as the two balls were bound to pass through the most vital parts of his body. You might shoot at alligators for years, and never get such a chance of lodging a ball in such a tender place. A number of small tortoises rose to the surface, swam about, and then dis- appeared, and we reluctantly left the spot. Everyone has heard of the expert Indian thieves. Our commanding officer was Major Straubenzie (I think of the 39th Foot), whose wife accompanied him, and they had an uncomfortable experience of these fellows. Our custom was that most of our baggage and some of the servants always moved on in the evening, so as to have breakfast ready on our arrival at camp in the morning. During the night the thieves cleared out everything from Strau- benzie's tent, including the whole of the wearing apparel, so that when the bugle sounded the turn-out in the morning, the Major and his wife simply could not appear. So they had to borrow two doolies from the doctor, and being rolled up in their bedclothes, were ignominiously carried to the next station. 24 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES I need not say that they went well ahead of us, and we knew nothing of the affair till after our arrival in camp. The only disagreeable experience which I re- member having was that one morning, when my servant came in with a candle for me to prepare for the march, as I threw off the bedclothes, I saw to my horror a large cobra nestled quietly for warmth against my naked leg. In an instant he jumped out and disappeared, nearly frightening my servant into a fit. While we were marching through the Raj Mawl hills, we were warned that there were a number of tigers about, and this we soon found out to be true. The commanding officer had taken up his quarters in a dak bungalow, and you may picture his horror when, just as he was finishing breakfast, he saw a tiger, in broad daylight, pounce upon one of our camp-followers, sit down under a tree immediately in front of the house, and proceed to eat him. He described the steam rising from the unfortunate man's body as the tiger was munching him. As soon as he dared, he sent word down to the camp, and we all turned out, some on the baggage elephants and some on foot. We had a grand tiger-hunt, but of course the tiger was not fool enough to let himself be seen, and so we came back as we went. But the next day I had rather a disagreeable experience myself. Two of us had been out shooting all day, and when returning to camp, I proposed to fire off my gun, one barrel of which was loaded with ARRIVAL AT UMBALLA 25 ball, as I had no means of extracting it in camp. My companion said : * Fire at that white mark on the rock there/ which I did. The moment the ball struck the rock, we heard a terrific roar from a tiger close to us. We had a native with us, leading a little dog, and I shall never forget the man's expression. He turned literally blue, owing to the blood leaving his skin, and the dog's hair stood straight on end all over. We made the best of our way back to camp, keeping all close together, and most fortunately Mr. Tiger did not attack or follow us. As we marched up-country each detachment was dropped at the nearest point to its own station, and so the battalion gradually dwindled away until we were a mere handful, when, in due time, we arrived at the Regiment, which was then encamped near the city of Umballa. When I joined my Regiment at that place, it was armed with flint-locks, and had just returned from the punitive expedition to avenge the loss of the 44th. When in Afghanistan the General wore a wig, and during the campaign, when they were holding the fortress of Jelalabad, an earthquake occurred, in which the room where the General was asleep came down, smothering him in dust and plaster. So anxious was he to keep up the fiction of wearing his own hair that, when they commenced to dig him out of the ruins, he called out, * Don't pull my hair !' Three days after joining the Eegiment we were ordered off to Kytul. Kytul was what was then 26 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES called a protected Sikh State, and a compact had been formed with the Rajah that, at his death, the State was to become part of the East India Company's possessions. The Rajah having died, his widow, the Ranee, refused to give up the fort. It was a small town surrounded by a high brick wall, and well armed. In consequence of this refusal, Sir George Clark, the political agent, resolved to take it by force, so the 31st Regiment, with the 3rd Light Dragoons and some Artillery, were ordered to take possession of the place, and Sir George went with us as political agent. My groom, who was new to the ways of the Regiment, did not come up to time with my horse, and there was nothing for it but to march on foot with my company. Presently an officer, seeing me, and learning why I was unmounted, sent me his spare horse. Being a much taller man than myself, his stirrups were too long for me, and as I mounted the animal he made three bucks, and the third dislodged me, as I had not my feet in the stirrups, and I was landed over his head into a thorn - bush. One of the thorns passed right through my cheek and into my tongue. Getting on my feet, I pulled the thorn out and called for the horse, which had been caught, had the stirrups shortened, mounted, and rode the animal for the march. My men were delighted, and murmurs of ' He'll do !' went round. The horse was a noted buck-jumper, and the senior officer kept me at my distance, as he did not wish it near his own beast, and so I won my spurs with the Regiment OCCUPATION OF KYTUL 27 Kytul was three marches from Umballa, and the third night we camped a short distance from the town. During the night the Ranee went off with a whole string of carts loaded with treasure, and to distract our attention their soldiers showed them- selves at a respectful distance, however and as they were armed with matchlocks, kept blowing their matches, as much as to say, ' We are coming.' The consequence was we stood to our arms all night, and the treasure got well ahead. I suppose Sir George did not find this out till the next day, when the whole force went in pursuit ; but soon after dark, not having overtaken it, we were halted, piled arms, and lay down to sleep. I, being very young and foolish, was too proud to bivouac beside the soldiers, so, taking a blanket, I rolled myself well up, head and all, and lay down some yards off. I awoke in the night to a rumbling noise and a violent pull at my hair. This proved to be a wheel of one of our guns, which was passing right along beside my head. It appeared the Artillery had come up, and seeing our men asleep, had, in avoiding them, come my way, and another inch or two more and I should have been crushed to death. This cured me of my reserve or pride, and I slept near my own men for the future. We returned to Kytul in the morning. Sir George Clark had hoped to regain the treasure for the British Government without actually attacking the convoy, as in this latter case part at least of its value must have gone as prize-money to the force. As matters turned out, the whole 28 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES thing disappeared, and never was seen again, so all the treasure was lost. We were allowed to enter the walled town of Kytul, but the orders were that nothing was to be taken out. While rummaging in the palace I saw a dagger I greatly coveted, and wrapping the blade in rags, I tied it to my leg, and so passed the searchers. Our uniform then was composed of a pair of white duck trousers and a close-fitting jacket buttoned to the throat, so that the hiding of loot was a difficult matter. The men had broken the legs off a set of metal chairs and set them up to play at skittles, and after the game left them lying about ; one of these was carried away by a soldier, and he afterwards found it was made of solid silver ! I have my dagger still. On returning to Umballa, we heard it was intended to make it a first-class military station. Captain Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Mag- dala) was the engineer officer in charge, and he set to work to mark out the cantonment under the real old system. The site was a plain, which had been under crop, and his instrument was a plough. Long lines indicated the main roads, and between them the ground was divided into a gigantic chess- board. Then one fine morning we (the officers) were all marched up from the camp, each to select a square to build on. ' Gentlemen/ said Napier, ' there is your little ground ; build a house to your liking on it, and when it is finished you can live in it.' There were pointed out the field officers' lines, the captains' lines, the subalterns' lines, while at LAYING OUT A CANTONMENT S9 some distance on the other side of the main road the barracks were marked out and planted in echelon. We were not long in choosing, according to our seniority, our plots, which were a free gift from the Government. Each one set to work according to his own ideas. I took care (with a view to brickmaking) to choose a piece which was out of favour, owing to its having an old road which had been well churned running through it ; this was specially suitable for making the bricks which were to build the walls. Having dug a well, I had water added to make the clay the right consistency ; bricks were quickly turned out in uniform sizes by a native from a mould made of wood, and the little native girls carried them off on their heads to dry in the hot sun. I chummed with another officer, Lieutenant Sparrow ; our two plots of ground were thrown into one, and I proceeded to build the house after my own fashion, which consisted of the roof being put on before the walls were begun. A framework of posts with horizontal bars supported the roof, which consisted of split bamboos made into a frame of net- work, which was then drawn up, lashed on to the supports, and thatched with grass ; the walls were soon built in with the dried bricks, manipulated with clay instead of mortar ; three glass doors in front and three behind opened off sitting,- bed-, and bath-rooms, and the floors were composed of a sort of asphalt made of mortar and pounded brick. Before the rains set in I had finished our house, 30 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES up to which time we had lived in our tents all the hot weather. So popular was my design that it became the model for many of the subaltern quarters. After we left Umballa I sold it for nearly twice the amount it cost. Umballa is now one of the largest stations and finest situations in India. CHAPTER III The 31st Regiment Ferozepoor Jackal-hunting Escape from an elephant Chuffy's escape from a wolf On sick leave at Simla Landslips In a hyena's den Mahseer-fishing A water-nurse Adventures on the river Volunteering to remain in India From Meerut to Cawnpore and back A tame boa-constrictor. IN those days (1843) the 31st Regiment was a grand old corps, having served twenty- three years in India ; its commanding officer, Colonel Bolton, had served in the Peninsula. I should be sorry to say how many years of service the two Majors had seen, but the junior of them always required a chair to mount his charger, and one of the Captains (by no means a senior) had been at Waterloo and proudly wore the medal. As to the rank and file, many of them had grey hair, and in the ranks we had the third generation of the 31st. Other men were there who, having come out to the Regiment as boys, had their children serving as buglers and bandsmen. Many of the married women also had been born in the Regiment. Lieutenant E. Lugard had been the Adjutant for years, and when he got his company I was one of his subalterns. As for the Quartermaster, he had 31 32 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES actually been on board the Kent, as also had Lieutenant Bray when a child, whose father was then an officer in the Regiment. Everyone must have read Major Macgregor's account of the loss of the Kent East Indiaman in the Bay of Biscay. I had the pleasure of meeting Major Macgregor in after-years in Dublin, and his son was the well- known writer under the nom de plume of ' Bob Roy.' Years after, when the Regiment returned from India and was quartered at Walmer, in Kent, the captain of the Cambria, who rescued the 31st from the Kent, came to see us, and, you may depend upon it, received a warm welcome. It was strange to think that the Quartermaster, Benson, and Lieu- tenant Bray, who were there to receive him, had actually been on board his little brig. To return to India : when I joined the Regiment at Umballa, we were expecting the long- deferred order for home, but the disturbed state of the Punjab prevented this, and after I had enjoyed only about two or three months' residence in my new house, we were ordered up to Ferozepoor to watch events. There we remained in a standing camp till the beginning of the following hot season, when we returned once more to Umballa, and took possession of our old quarters. We enjoyed the stay at Ferozepoor very much, as there was good shooting then in the neighbourhood ; and as we had a pack of foxhounds originally imported from England, we got capital runs with the foxes and jackals. Most of the hounds had been born in India, and JACKAL-HUNTING 33 had lost the pluck of their ancestors ; but one old hero of the name of Hannibal survived, and in- variably had the honour of going in first at the finish. One day the natives brought in a full- grown jackal, having sewn up its mouth with a needle and thread (the native gipsies use this method of securing themselves from the bite of the jackal and other wild animals when they catch them). I volunteered to carry it off to some dis- tance, and unsew the mouth before letting it start on its run, thus giving it a good chance ; this proved more than I could accomplish, for it was a particularly savage animal, and as I placed it on the ground to release its mouth, it rushed up my legs and over my chest, burying its nose in my neck. After I had twice felt the pressure of its cold muzzle there, it occurred to me that were I to let the lips loose the next time it ran up me its teeth would be in my throat, so I was obliged, most unwillingly, to let it go as it was, when he gave the pack a good run before we were in at the death. While at Ferozepoor I had some of the several marvellous escapes which have followed me through life ; over and over again I have been within an ace of losing my life, and been spared by a merciful Providence. One night a large elephant got savage, broke from its keeper, and started on a furious stampede through the camp. He charged the first tent he came to, which contained twelve sleeping men, tore the canvas down, and trampled it, while the men 3 34 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES rolled underneath, inextricably mixed up with tent ropes and pegs ; then in a blind fury drove his tusks into the ground with such savage force that one of them broke off short at the jaw, leaving four feet plunged into the ground. Strange to relate, not a man was killed or hurt. More savage than ever with the pain caused by the loss of his tusk, the elephant tore up the main street of the camp, and, fixing his attentions on my tent, kicked out all the pegs on one side. I, like the men, was sound asleep, and awoke as the cloth of the tent came down on my face ; not in the least realizing what had happened, I stumbled to my feet in the darkness and scrambled outside, right under the forelegs of the enraged animal, who was standing still, but swaying his body and his trunk backwards and forwards above me. I did not require a second to realize my danger and take the hint to clear off as quickly as possible to the rear of some tents, while the elephant, giving a loud scream, charged on to the horses' picquets and stampeded the frightened animals, with the picquet ropes and pegs dangling behind them, thus causing a terrible dis- turbance. He was caught soon after by his keepers, no real harm having been done, as no one was hurt. The following day Captain Brookes had the broken tusk dug out of the ground by his company. It took half a day to do it. It was a fine bit of ivory, and he kept it as a trophy. One day I was out without my gun and nothing but my riding-whip in my hand, and my favourite dog, Chufiy, was with me, when we fell in with two ON SICK-LEAVE AT SIMLA 35 wolves. I made after and flogged them, expecting they would run, but one turned at once and made a snap at Chuffy 's back, just across the loins. Had he caught the dog a little lower down he must have crushed the spine and killed him ; as it was, his teeth slipped, and the terrified Chuffy rushed away. I did not see him for twenty-four hours, when he returned covered with mud and dead beat, with four nips or holes where the wolfs teeth had gripped him, fortunately by the skin only. Poor Chuffy had a sadder fate two years after when saving my life from a tiger. On arrival at Umballa from Ferozepoor, I was suffering from fever, and obtained leave to spend the remainder of the hot weather at Simla, so I set off at once. I shared a bungalow with Lieutenant Willows, Bengal N.I., who came out to India in the same ship with me. Our house was the highest on the hill called Jacko, rising to a great height above the town of Simla, and dotted over with bungalows. The only other house near us was called the Eagle's Nest, about 100 yards away. Several of the 31st officers got leave at the same time, and they lived at a large bungalow lower down the hill. Captains Garvock (afterwards Sir John Garvock) and Longworth, also Lieutenants Hart and Law, were there, and we all enjoyed our stay in the hills im- mensely, notwithstanding that it was a very wet season. The rain poured down on us through the roof of our house, so that we had to live for two days 32 36 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES in bed, the top of which was covered with waterproofs. The whole house was flooded, the water running out at the door. In consequence of the heavy rains, there were several dangerous landslips all over the mountains. An officer was awakened by someone knocking at the door in the middle of the night : ' Please will you take us in ?' said a brother officer, with his wife and family; 'our house has just fallen in.' One night I was awakened by a deep rumbling noise, and I distinctly felt the house shake, but fell asleep again. Fancy my astonishment in the morning to find that a tremendous landslip had just missed our house by a yard or so. It had cut clean through two roads, and great trees had been swept away and smashed up like matchwood. This gave us a long journey up the hill and round the top of the landslip to get down to the town. Early one morning, before daylight, I saw some- thing through the glass door moving about on the veranda. I got up, and saw that it was a large hyena, carefully snuffing over one of my sleeping servants to see where he could get a comfortable bite. I gave a shout, and the hyena disappeared like a shadow. In the morning, with Chuffy's help, we traced him a good distance into the forest until we came to his den, which was entered by a round hole in the rock, going almost perpendicularly into the ground. I went home, got my gun, loaded both barrels with ball, tied a wax candle to the end of an alpenstock, and, returning to the hyena's den, lighted the candle, and proceeded to wriggle down IN A HYENA'S DEN 37 the hole. Down, down, I went, sometimes almost faster than I intended, it was so steep. Suddenly I dropped into a large cave, and I could see by the light of the candle bones and skulls scattered about, and the stench was something awful. I could just see at the other end of the cavern a hole which appeared to lead into a second cave, and all at once there was a fearful commotion inside that. To my horror I discovered that it was a whole colony of hyenas just awakened out of their sleep by the flickering of the candle. Had they come out I should have been eaten up in five minutes, and the gun would have been no protection what- ever. I need not say that I got back into daylight as fast as possible, and I was thankful to breathe fresh air again. It was no easy task to get out, as I had to work my way with my heels and on my back, always keeping the gun ready and pointed in case of a rush from below ; thus, with the gun in one hand and the alpenstock and candle in the other, I had to fight my way up with my elbows and heels only. One day we made up a party to go fishing for mahseer in the interior. So we started off on horse- back Captain Longworth, Lieutenant Hart (who was Lugard's brother-in-law), and myself. The road to the interior wound round the hills, which were so steep that in a distance of ten miles you could not find a bit of flat ground large enough to pitch a tent. Some parts were beautifully wooded with fine large oaks and pine-trees, others covered with grass, and the road, or rather path, was by no 38 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES means very safe riding narrow, with no protection from the steep drop on one side, and in some places the path was only a steep descent of smooth rock, or, at all events, solid rock for the most part. Then occasionally you might meet a troop of hill- men bringing in a large log of wood to Simla ; with short cross-sticks under the log, some twenty or more men carried the tree on their shoulders, and this for long distances. They were delightful people, simple, perfectly honest, bright, and with great natural politeness ; but one thing they positively objected to no European must enter any of their houses. A Rajah had, however, put up a small hut, a single room about 12 feet square, with a door and no windows, at the place where we were going to fish. Here three of us were stowed away, and, of course, the door was open all night. We had to bring all our food with us, and it was all packed away under a little table in the middle of the hut. Just at daylight something awakened me, and I saw a fox with a round of beef in his mouth, walking out of the door. I shouted, ' Thieves P jumped out of bed, and rushed after him, followed by the other two, through a stubble field, which punished our poor naked feet terribly. The fox, in getting over the wall at the end of the field, dropped the round of beef, which we picked up in triumph and carried back to the hut. We used to fish from daybreak until the sun came upon the water, after which time the fish refused to take. We then amused ourselves by fishing in shallow water with a cast-net, as the fish MAHSEER-FISHING 39 came there to warm themselves in the sun. As the river was muddy, the fish could not see us, so when we cast the net, which was loaded all round with lead, we walked over it with our bare feet, and it was the greatest fun, when we found a big fish in, or rather under, the net, getting him out again, for, of course, we had to kneel down up to the neck in water and grope about till we found him. We used to start out to fish before daylight, and several times, as we went along the road to where we began fishing, we encountered quite a lot of black snakes crossing the road on their way to the river, but whether to fish or only to drink I cannot say. They passed at a wonderful pace for snakes ; we simply stood still and they took no notice of us, and I fancy they returned to the high ground every morning. Longworth had a native follower, or servant, if you like to call him that, but he was simply a good-natured savage, and had not the slightest idea of the ways or wants of an English- man. David, as we called him, carried Longworth's rod or anything else as required, generally an umbrella, as the sun in those deep valleys was very powerful. One morning a heavy rain came down, and Longworth shouted for his umbrella. Presently he discovered David squatted on a large stone about 100 yards off, his chin resting on his knees, as only a nigger can squat, and holding up the umbrella quite comfortably. Longworth shouted and David smiled, but did not move till the rain was over, when he politely returned the umbrella ! I forgot to mention that when we came to the 40 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES place where we had to leave the road the horses were sent back to Simla, and we had to walk the rest of the way. To descend a Himalayan path down a steep hill is about as disagreeable an under- taking as you can well imagine ; it is exactly like going down a steep stair four steps at a time, and dropping on each foot alternately. Fancy that sort of work for half an hour or so ! The natives go straight up and down the hills, however steep they may be, and nothing but a dog could go with them, and, of course, they have no trousers or shoes to impede them. When we got near the bottom of the valley, we came upon some houses. The in- habitants came out smiling and offered us peaches and walnuts, and there, for the first time, we came upon a native nursery. On the side of what was to them the public road a small stream of bright sparkling water was conducted, and at a certain spot little jets of water shot out, and under each jet was a very young baby, rolled up so that he could not move, and the water played upon his fore- head and ran down behind without wetting his face or clothes. There they slept for hours, perfectly content. I had heard of the water-nurse before on board ship, but I am afraid I did not believe it then. On more than one occasion I passed the place, and the babies were always there, sometimes a proud mother looking on, sometimes no one but the happy babies alone. About a fortnight after our return to Simla, Hart and I went off by ourselves to another place where we heard there was good fishing. We pitched our ADVENTURES ON THE RIVER 41 tent on a beautiful grassy spot close to the river, and then, by damming up the clear stream which ran past the tent, we made a fine pool for our morning bath. As it was no use fishing after the sun was on the water, we used to enjoy the casting- net, and generally took a snooze in the middle of the day. I went out on one occasion to shoot by myself, and while crossing the track of a recent landslip (which led right down the river, where there was a raging torrent over the rocks) the ground gave way under my feet, earth, stones, and myself all went sliding down the precipice together, and it seemed as if nothing could save me ; but far down below I saw a bush which was still growing, and as I shot past I caught it with my right hand, still keeping the gun in my left. There I held on while the loose earth and stories expended themselves in the river below. I cannot say how long I hung there, but it must have been a long while, as there was no one near at the time, and I had no feeling of pain in my hand, although I was holding on to a cactus bush, the prickles of which were driven into my hand in all directions. There was a chance of life if I held on, of certain death if I let go ; for nothing could have lived in the raging river below me for five minutes, although our fishing water above was comparatively smooth. The natives of the neighbouring village had evidently seen what happened, for I heard great shouts, and presently a band of them arrived at the edge of the landslip, and taking each other's hands they worked their way right across the soft 42 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES ground step by step, every man carefully putting his feet where the man before him had been. The leading man cautiously made each step firm before he took another. When he came to me and took hold, we returned exactly as they had come, step by step, until we were on solid ground. Next day Hart wanted to see the place, so we went down along the bank of the river. We very foolishly got on to a rock overhanging the torrent to get a better view, when suddenly Hart slipped and shot off the rock, but I fortunately caught him by the wrist. Luckily he was very light and I was strong. I dropped on my knees, and held on to the rock with my toes and the fingers of my right hand, to save us both from being dragged over. ' Oh, save me, save me f he cried ; to which I replied : ' Don't struggle till I get a better grip of the rock with my feet. Never fear ; if you go, we'll go together !' I then gave him my other hand, with which I had been pushing myself back, and got him safely up. Poor fellow ! he was killed at the Battle of Moodkee, December 18, 1845, not very long after our little adventure ; and his name now appears on the monu- ment which his brother officers put up in Canterbury Cathedral to the men and officers who were killed in the Sutlej campaign. Hart's leave being up before mine, we just left our tent standing, as it was not worth taking away, and started off one fine morning, he going direct to Simla, while I, all alone, took a wander through the VOLUNTEERING TO REMAIN IN INDIA 43 hills with one servant and Chuffy. At some places the natives had not seen a white man for more than a year, and I had to sleep in the open air for the whole fortnight, never being inside a door. I generally stopped at a village or near one for the night, and my bed, a light charpoy, was set up in the high road. When I went to the spring or stream to have my morning wash, the whole female population turned out to admire the operation, which was very trying shall I say ? to my feelings. I generally had a guide from place to place, and ultimately arrived at Sabatoo, and from there returned to Simla. On my return to Umballa, almost before I got settled in my house, Major Baldwin, Lieutenant Timbrell (the son of a splendid old officer of the Bengal Artillery), and myself, were ordered down to Meerut to take charge of the men of the 40th B/egi- ment who volunteered for the 31st, as all regiments before leaving India were allowed to volunteer for any regiment remaining in India ; thus the bat- talions were filled up with acclimatized soldiers. In the old days our volunteering was very simply con- ducted. Major Baldwin sat at a table in the orderly-room with a sheet of paper before him, and the men who wished to volunteer were called in one at a time. Then the man's character, as recorded in what was called the ' Defaulter Book,' was handed to the Major, and he read it. This contained a record of every offence committed since the man enlisted. Then he simply said ' Accepted/ and put the man's name on his paper ; or ' Rejected,' when 44 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES the man walked out, and the next one was called. Thus, any really bad or troublesome men could be ' rejected.' So it was we got a grand lot of seasoned soldiers with fair characters, and forming nearly half the Regiment. We three, with our volunteers, marched from Meerut to Cawnpore and settled down quietly there, awaiting the arrival of the Regiment from Umballa, when one fine morning we got the order to march back again to Umballa, and were several months absent from the Regiment. Timbrell and I did think this rather hard lines, as we had hired a bungalow, made a garden and sunk a well in it for irrigation, and set up a billiard- table ; but as orders must be obeyed, we had simply to march back and leave our house and garden behind. On the way back I purchased a boa- constrictor, about 10 feet long, from a party of wandering natives. He was quite tame ; I used to hang him round my neck like a fur boa, and he walked about my tent, but the servants were terribly afraid of him. It was most interesting to see him eat. When I gave him a pigeon dead, of course he reared up and struck it hard, seizing it by the head, his two long fangs going through the breast ; then he rolled himself round it, crunching all the bones ; afterwards he pressed it into his mouth, the under-lip being quite elastic and stretch- ing all round the bird. Thus, holding it in his coil, he pressed it in and took a fresh grip with his fangs, and he worked away till he got it all in, when you could see it quite distinctly passing down A TAME BOA-CONSTRICTOR 45 into his stomach. The wonderful extension of the under-lip was something I had never seen described in natural-history books. When we marched, I coiled him in a round basket, just as you would coil a rope, put on the lid, and he remained quite comfortable till the day's march was over, when he joined me in my tent. As the native word for a serpent is saump, I called him Sammy. Poor Sammy had his head smashed one day, and I could not find out who did it, but that was his end, poor fellow ! CHAPTER IV Private theatricals at Umballa Start for the Sutlej cam- paign Forced marches and short rations The Battle of Moodkee A hand-to-hand fight Nearly beheaded A contemporary account The second battle. THINGS were going from bad to worse in the Punjab. One great man after another was being murdered. The army had got quite out of control, and spoke openly of taking India, and afterwards making a bridge of boats from Calcutta to London. And when an Adjutant of one of the regiments (an Englishman) told them that that was impossible, they spat in his face. He told me that himself when we were first quartered at Lahore, on the termination of the first great Sikh War. The Sikh army for that campaign was composed of old and well-tried veterans, who had never been beaten ; and who does not know now what splendid fighting material the Sikhs are made of? This we found out to our cost, when we met them face to face in the Sutlej campaign, which only lasted six weeks, and in that short time we lost 10 officers and 203 non-commissioned officers and men, 16 officers wounded, and a like proportion of men. I am sorry I cannot give the exact number of wounded, but 46 PRIVATE THEATRICALS AT UMBALLA 47 only four of us officers came through scathless, and I was one of the four. But to proceed with the thread of my story. On our arriving finally at Umballa, we found that our Colonel's son (Bolton) had been appointed Adjutant of the 31st, being transferred from another regiment to ours, and had succeeded Lugard in that appointment, the latter having been promoted to Captain. Bolton had a great taste for private theatricals, and got a house in the lines handed over to us to convert into a theatre. I was immediately installed as scene-painter and stage-manager, and was also the first lady of the company. Mrs. Neland, a sergeant's wife, was my dresser, and had very good taste, arid for the next three months it was a never-ending source of amusement learning our parts, rehearsing, and acting. A young officer just out from home was the other lady of our company. He was small and very good- looking, Tritton by name, and did the smart young ladies who had to be made love to, while I was sometimes young and sometimes old, with the assistance of a burnt cork to mark the lines of age. We had all sorts of comical adventures. In one play I came on as a young lady leading a pet dog by a scarlet ribbon. Lieutenant Bray was my lover. He walked gracefully forward, exclaiming ' Dearest Susan,' and threw himself into an attitude of devotion, when my pet dog pinned him by the calf of the leg, and his speech ended in a yell of pain, to the huge delight of the audience, who 48 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES roared till their tears ran down. One other adven- ture will suffice. Lieutenant had to be dis- covered (as the curtain went up) in the centre of the stage, dressed as a lady and about to sing. The curtain had to be rolled up from the bottom by two men at the side (out of sight, of course). The bell rang, and up went the curtain, catching the lady's (?) dress. She seized the curtain, and struggled to force it down. Another tug from the men quite unaware why the curtain would not go up when up went the poor lady, hanging on and kicking franti- cally. What all the audience saw was a pair of legs kicking wildly up and down two or three times, till the curtain finally went down with a bang and the petticoats were released Of course, these little incidents were quite as much amusement to the audience as the play, knowing as they did who the actors were. Meanwhile the troops were being moved up- country, and the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Hugh (afterwards Lord) Gough, arrived at Umballa ; also the Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, his son, and his staff, and with him came the Crown Prince of Prussia (this Prince never came to the throne), with an aide-de-camp and doctor. We had a grand performance in our little theatre, and the Crown Prince was very much fascinated by the appearance of one of the ladies, and requested to be introduced to her. On being told that the lady in question was an officer, he refused to believe it, and insisted upon seeing her. He was highly amused when he came FORCED MARCHES AND SHORT RATIONS 49 to dine next day at our mess, and I was presented to him, and had the honour of taking wine with him as Miss So-and-so of the night before ! Not long after this the news came that the Sikhs had invaded India, and were marching south. Wild excitement was the order of the day, and every available man was hurried up to the front by the Commander-in-Chief. We, the 31st, marched from Umballa, as fine and fit a Regiment as ever stood on parade, 1,200 strong. What orders the Colonel got I know not, but he hurried us on night and day without waiting for our baggage or mess. The first day's march went on till darkness closed in, when we lay down on the ground, having had nothing to eat all day since breakfast. We slept till daylight next morning, when we were again hurried forward, halting in a short time near a large village. We had no sooner piled arms than I and others went off to forage. We merely wanted food ; we did not plunder or do any harm to the inhabitants. The first thing I got hold of was a large chatty holding about a gallon of fresh milk. Immediately after, I met one of my own men coming out with an armful of hot chupatties. ' Hulloa,' I said, 'where did you get these?' ' Oh/ he said, ' an old fellow in there has just been making them for me.' So we sat down together. He got half the milk, and I shared his booty. Lieutenant Atty had an adventure that pained him very much. He went into the village and took out a chatty that was lying in a corner full of grain 4 50 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES to feed his horse. What was his surprise to find, when he poured it out to fill the horse's nose- bag, a beautiful pair of gold bangles hidden in the grain. Some poor woman, expecting to be robbed, had taken them off and placed them there for safety, and so she lost her bangles altogether, as there was no time to go back with them ; no Britisher would have taken them from her wrists had she left them there. The next morning early we pushed on as hard as ever, and my food for that day consisted of a large lump of brown sugar and half the contents of my horse's nose-bag. That night I was so done up that I simply lay down where we halted, and fell fast asleep as I lay on the sand, with my chum, Timbrell, beside me. In the morning we heard that the mess- sergeant had hurried up on an elephant during the night with a small supply of cooked food, which was carefully divided amongst the officers. A piece of tongue was cut in two and laid aside for myself and Timbrell, but it had disappeared in the morning. Afterwards, Ensign P. confessed that he was so hungry that he had eaten it all. He never heard the last of that performance, and years after he was received with a shout of * Who stole the tongue ?' Timbrell and I were not guilty of this, but some of the others thought it rather fun to chaff him. The last day's march, which culminated in the Battle of Moodkee, will always remain strongly im- pressed upon my mind, as that was my first experience of the whistle of a bullet fired in anger. Just at the break of day the Colonel halted the A COLONEL OF THE OLD SCHOOL 51 Begiment, and gave the word of command in a loud voice : ' With ball cartridge, load.' I may mention at this time that we were quite alone, with no other troops near us, as far as I knew. Then he turned to me and said, pointing to a village about half a mile off : * Robertson, take a corporal and two men, and see if the enemy are in that village.' ' Pleasant,' thought I, ' for our small party, as, if they are there, small chance of our coming back again !' Fortunately they were not in that locality, and so we marched on. The Colonel appeared in a perfect fever to get forward, and as we hurried on the men kept falling out from sheer fatigue. Soon we found ourselves a mere handful, and had to halt for some hours until the men slowly crawled up one by one. Colonel Bolton was a fine old soldier, but very strict, and still adhered to ancient ways and customs. In those days the men had to wear high and stiff leather stocks to keep their heads up, about as absurd an article as can be imagined for a man to fight in. On this occasion he, the Colonel, was quite wild at the straggling of the men (as if they could help being done up, poor fellows !), and he observed one of them with his stock off. ' What do you mean, sir ?' he said. ' Put on your stock imme- diately.' I was standing close to the man, and observed a wild expression come over his worn face. For a moment I thought he was going to shoot the Colonel ; then he put his forehead on the muzzle of 42 52 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES his firelock, and blew his brains out. I don't know how the Colonel felt, but it gave me a very ugly turn. The body was gently put into a doolie, and on we marched again till late in the afternoon, when we halted. Throwing myself down on the sand, I said to a brother officer : ' I could not march another yard to save my life.' We had now overtaken the headquarters of the army, and we saw other regi- ments about, but, as far as I know, received no orders from anyone in authority. Suddenly the alarm sounded, and we struggled on to our feet. Our General was Sir Harry Smith, commanding the first division, in which we were. Probably he did not know that we had arrived, as we had re- ceived no orders whatever, and at this time I did not know who was to be our General or where we were going in fact, we knew nothing whatever but that we had been pushed forward day and night. However, the Colonel gave the order, ' Fall in, quick march,' and we trotted on about a mile till we came in sight of a great line of jungle. Then we halted and formed line, with all the precision of a parade, the men being dressed in perfect parade order. I was the senior subaltern of No. 1 Company, which was commanded by Captain Wills, and little Tritton was the Ensign. Just as the line was formed, facing full upon the immense extent of thick jungle, ping came a bullet just over my company, and an Irishman in front of me exclaimed, * Holy Jasus ! that was a bullet ! Then the word of command was given, * Quick A HAND-TO-HAND FIGHT 53 march/ and we advanced straight down on the jungle, which extended right in front of us. When within a few yards, I heard the Colonel call out, 1 Level low, men level low !' but almost before they got their muskets to their shoulders we received a withering volley from the unseen enemy at close quarters, making a terrible number of gaps in the line. Down went the Colonel and his horse and the bugler at his side, all three shot. The men gave a wild Irish yell, and rushed into the jungle, where a desperate hand-to-hand fight took place. Immediately the Regiment was entirely broken up in utter confusion. No words of command were given indeed, none would have been heard if given ; but each officer, followed by a mob of his men, was fighting on his own hook. My pay-sergeant came up to me immediately after the first volley and said : 'The Captain is killed, sir ; you are in command of the company.' It is impossible to describe how the fight went on, but the one idea seemed to be to drive the enemy out of the jungle at the further side. As I was moving forward I passed a tree, behind which a Sikh officer was standing. I did not see him, but he made a fair cut to take off my head. At the same instant Lieutenant Pollard, who was immediately behind me, put up his sword over my head and caught the blow, but received a cut in the shoulder himself. Just at that moment a Grenadier drove his bayonet into the Sikh and drew his trigger. The Sikh fell right in front of me, and I stepped over him. The whole thing was done so instan- 54 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES taneously that I knew nothing of it until Pollard told me after the fight was over. The next instant, I remember, I saw Captain Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala), riding all alone, dressed in plain clothes, and having nothing but a walking-stick in his hand. Then I saw several of the enemy rush at him, a cloud of smoke obscured my view, and I saw no more ; I reported afterwards that I had seen him killed, but, wonderful to relate, he had escaped unhurt. I very much regretted afterwards that I had not asked him for particulars of the adventure. I understood that he rode all the way up from Umballa alone, and had just arrived in the middle of the fight, riding straight into the battle. Soon I found myself out of the jungle on the other side, with one of the men hanging on to my hand, exclaiming : ' Come back, sir come back ! Look where we are !' And sure enough, there we were, right behind one of the enemy's batteries, which was blazing away at our own people. The gunners were too busy to notice us. I cannot say how time flew, or where we went, or what we did, but the next thing I remember is that we were running right up against the Commander- in-Chief and his staff, while Lieutenant Law, of my own Regiment, was wildly waving his sword about and shouting, * Charge ! charge !' Sir Hugh Gough then called out in a loud voice, * These guns must be taken !' I ran up to him, caught him by the knee, and cried out, ' Where are the guns, and we will soon take them ?' Young Fitzroy Somerset, one CAPTURE OF THE MOODKEE GUNS 55 of the staff, heard what I said, took off his cocked hat, put it on the end of his sword, held it up, and called out : * Follow me, and I will show you the guns/ We rushed after him with a loud cheer and took the guns, bayoneting the gunners, who fought desperately to the last man. If I am not mistaken, these were my old friends whom I had been behind when emerging from the jungle shortly before. It was now getting dark ; the enemy had evidently retired, for the firing had almost ceased. Trotting along with my little mob of men behind me, I ran up against a brother officer, Lieutenant Elmslie, who also had a small company following him. Elmslie remarked to me : * What a terrible lot of our poor fellows are killed !' At that moment a Sikh, who was sitting in a small tree just over our heads, took a deliberate shot at us, and the ball passed within an inch between our faces. Instantly every one of our parties levelled and fired at him, and down he came, just at our feet, riddled with bullets. This was the Battle of Moodkee, 1845. In this battle, as in all the others in which the Sikhs were our adversaries, their gunners were conspicuous for their reckless bravery and devotion to their guns. They never left them, but died rather than yield ; and there were no white flags and no quarter asked or given on either side, so we had just to fight it out. Shortly after my return home I received a letter from Lieutenant Bray, a brother officer (who was home on sick leave at the time of the war), asking me to write an account of the campaign, which I 56 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES did. He afterwards returned my letters, saying, ' You ought to keep these : they give such a clear idea of what took place ' ; and, as I still have the originals, I take the liberty of publishing them, even if there is some slight repetition : BRAENDAM, BY STIRLING, November 7, 1846. * MY DEAR BRAY, ' 1 received your long letter of questions the very night I left London for Scotland, and had the pleasure of answering it in prospect for the voyage down, but I was so sick that I could do nothing but confound steamboats in general, and the one I was in in particular. We were sixty hours on the passage in a gale of wind. * I am now on leave till the return of the Regiment, when I hope you will come and see all your old friends that are left of us. * What will please you best, I suppose, is an account of all the uprisings and downfallings of the 31st from the 12th December, when we left Umballa, up to the end of the campaign, so I shall give you my own ideas on the subject, such as they are. We got the order on the 1 Oth to march on the 12th towards Ferozepoor, and most of us had no carriage, as unts* and hackeries were not to be had for money, so we got them for "love," 'tis said, but Mrs. , the commissariat humbug's wife, knows best. * The morning we marched Bolton gave me leave * Camels. A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT 57 for a few hours to look for " carriage," so I charged at the first hackery I saw, and took it by force, after a great fight with three gomashtas* of Mr. Simpson's establishment. 4 The line of march was a scene of the greatest confusion, and no end of smashes, the unts being burra, bobery, wallas. Lots of hackeries were stuck in the sand, with very little chance of getting out again, and the niggers, of course, having a quiet smoke on the carpet of patience, while the hackery walla twisted the biles' f tails, even to cracking, and shouted, " Hack, hack !" I saw a camel jammed tight into a ditch, with all the soldiers' tin pots squashed ; one soldier was trying to pull it up by the tail, two others punched its head with their muskets, and the nigger tugged at the peg in its nose from the front. A little to the right two or three camels were going at full gallop, with the men's bedding flying off in all directions. Some of us had our things on tats, or horses, and others had nothing but coolies. I got to camp at the end of an eighteen-mile march, and found the mess-tent just pitching, but nothing to eat in camp, as the consamaj had agreed to supply us with a breakfast mess ; and no one had anything to eat except old Willes, who was laughing at us all, as he had refused to join the breakfast mess. That day we had nothing to eat except gram or niggers' cold chupatties. I did not see my baggage till next morning, and slept in Captain Willes' tent on the ground, and was very cold. I hugged old * Chief natives of commissariat, t Bullocks. J Messmen. 58 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES Carlo most affectionately to keep myself warm. The next day we went two marches on to Sir hind, and then to the Dak Bungalow, where we left the Ludhiana Road and took across country to Busean in two days, and then two other marches to the village of Moodkee, about three o'clock on the afternoon of the 18th. On the 17th I had nothing to eat ; we got into camp after dark at night, and I fell fast asleep on the sand, and did not move till the bugle sounded in the morning. There was a little bit of bread and beef served out at the mess- tent to each officer, and P. stole a tongue which was to be divided among those who were absent. We did not find out till long after who had taken it, but we used to shout out at breakfast, " Who stole the tongue ?" And at length P. confessed, saying that some one else would have taken it if he had not ! This brought the whole mess about his ears, and some never gave him a moment's peace afterwards ; he has since bolted to the 65th, I think. 1 On the 1 8th, about twelve o'clock, I got some chupatties and milk out of a village, which we looted to a small extent, but only for grub ; the sepoys took all they could get, and forced open doors and windows wherever they went the sewars !* We were regularly done up when we got into camp at Moodkee, and lay down on the ground to sleep, as the tents were not up. I was just dozing off when I heard a running of men and the order to fall in sharp. We formed at quarter- * Pigs. A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT 59 distance column and went forward immediately, some of the officers with their swords drawn with- out the belts, and the men with their jackets off. Old Quigley of the Grenadiers was dressed this way. You may remember him as one of the oldest 31st men. Forward we went, no one knew where to, but all the other regiments were doing the same. Presently the Artillery began to blaze away ahead of us, and we saw the shells bursting in the air. We all forgot sore feet then, and went on at a kind of run for about three miles, the men calling out, "Come on, boys, or they will be away before we get at them." Old Willes was riding his white charger, as he was quite done up and couldn't walk. Tritton and I were his subs. We deployed into line, a short distance from a low, thick jungle, on the other side of which there were lots of dust, smoke, and what the men called " A row going on." Just as No. 1 was formed something hit the dust in front of us and went whiz over my head. One of the men called out, "Holy Jasus ! that was a bullet !" It was the first I had heard, and sounded very nasty. ' We moved forward with lots of sepoy regiments behind us, and the 80th on our left. Presently I saw them form square and some Cavalry come out of the dust. This proved to be a few of the 3rd Light Dragoons, who had been separated in the confusion from the regiment. Two or three of them halted close behind me, and one called out, " Go on, boys ; there are lots of them before you." We were through them from right to left. The man was plastered with dirt, and his sword blood-stained. 60 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES On we went into the jungle, with a tremendous fire of musketry and guns in front of us. Of course, we were much broken by the bushes, which would have done well for Light Infantry, but for nothing else, and the men were beginning to get hit. The first person I saw on the ground was Bulkeley, who looked quite dead, and just then there was a sort of rush to the rear of a chief and his followers on horseback, who had been with us all the morning to show us the shortest way. How he got into the fight I know not, but he made the best of his way out again. A " beast " with two tom-toms, who had tormented us all the day with his thumping, nearly rode over us. He was followed by the Hooka Burda,* standard-bearer and the bie loguef in a terrible hurry. The sepoys were doing the same, and one was shot by our men for running away. I saw a batch of them behind a big tree, firing straight up in the air, and shouting to us, " Barrow,^ Broders, barrow !" But no " Barrow " in them ! The last words I heard Bolton say were " Steady, 31st steady, and fire low for your lives !" Cockins, the bugler, was trying to hold the grey horse, when they were all three hit and went down together. This was from the first volley by the enemy. Shortly after Willes was hit, and I took command of No. 1 (which I had all through the campaign). The ball entered his right arm, below the shoulder, and went into his chest, making only one wound. He said he was hit from behind by the * The man who carries hooka. -f- His companion. I 'Goonf A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT 61 sepoys. Young was hit in the back of the neck, and the buckle of his stock saved him, as the ball ran round and came out in front. Hart and Brenchly were both hit in the body, and did not live long. 4 We soon got into a regular mob, blazing away at everything in front of us, and nearly as many shots coming from behind as in front. I saw Napier, the Umballa " Wattle and dab "* man, in a blue pea-coat and black sailor's hat, laying about him, and Sir H. Hardinge in a black coat and " tile " with his " star " on. Sir Hugh Gough rode up to us and called out, " We must take those guns T Law was standing near me with his legs wide, shouting out, "Charge! charge!" and hitting the ground with his sword, and sometimes the men's toes (just as he used to set Growler on Shaw's dog). I called out to Sir Hugh Gough : " Where are the guns, and we will soon take them ?" and Somerset put his hat on his sword, and called out, " Thirty- first, follow me !" We rushed after him through the smoke, and had the guns in a moment. On we went, and came upon two light guns which the enemy were trying to take off the field ; but some of our shots hit the horses, and brought them to a stand. They then took a shot at us, not twenty yards oif ; down we went on our noses at the flash, and the grape went over our heads in a shower. I felt it warm ; then a rush, and the guns were ours, the gunners not attempting to run away, but cutting at us with their tulwars. I think those * Refers to Captain Napier's powers as house-builder at Umballa. 62 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES two guns were taken away by the Sikhs later on that night, as I never saw them afterwards. Pollard was shot in the leg at Moodkee, and the sergeant-major, old Mulligan, was cut all to pieces. After it was quite dark the firing was kept up, the men blazing away at nothing, or at each other, and the bugles sounding " Cease firing " in all directions. At last they left off firing, and we got something like a regiment formed at quarter dis- tance, but no colours or bugler to sound the Regi- mental call, so we got a nigger bugler to try it, and just as he got out a squeak some one nearly knocked the bugle down his throat ; and this was Sir Harry Smith, who asked what on earth we were making such a row for. We were a long time col- lecting the men, and then marched back towards camp, but were halted some way in front of it, and had to sleep on the sand till morning. So much for my first battle. If you would like to have the others, let me know, and you shall have them the first wet day I am at home.' The other letter was dated November 27, 1846, and it must be remembered these letters were not written for publication, and in the familiar style of one brother officer writing to another. I may state that years after this date, when Bray had left the 31st Regiment, we used often to have a chat about old times at the Rag in London. He, I know, served throughout the Abyssinian campaign under Lord Napier of Magdala. I have already mentioned that Bray (when a child) was on board the Kent, East THE MORNING AFTER MOODKEE 63 Indiaman, which was burnt in the Bay of Biscay. His father was an officer in the 31st., and after- wards, I believe, commanded the 39th in India. ' MY DEAR BRAY, 1 1 had the pleasure of receiving yours in answer to my last, but have been moving so much about from one place to another lately that I could not find a quiet day to give you more of the army of the Sutledge, not Sutlej, as they make it now. * The morning after Moodkee, volunteers were called for to bring in the dead and wounded, and White and I went out with a party of men. We had scarcely got to the field when the Commander- in- Chief ordered us in again, saying that the Sikhs were advancing upon us. I got leave from White to go and look at them, and after riding a little way I saw the camp-followers running like mad ; the doolie-bearers dropped the doolies, and, making a grab at their lotas* and copra, f bolted. Two or three elephants, loaded with dead, were running as fast as the mahouts, by screaming and kicking, could make them go, and one of our sergeants was hanging on to an elephant's tail, not having had time to get up before the stampede. Presently I saw the Sikh cavalry coming up at a gallop, with Lall Singh at their head. I just took a good look at them, and then cut back as hard as I could. I found the Regiment formed in front of the camp, and ready to move forward ; but we only stood in the sun all day, and then went into our tents in the afternoon, and * Brass drinking-vessels. f Clothing. 64 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES in the evening buried poor Hart and Brenchly in one grave, below a large tree on the west side of the village of Moodkee. 'The next day we had a rest, and some more troops joined us from the rear. 'The following day, being the 21st, we turned out at two in the morning and moved forwards towards Ferozesha. We marched all day in a sort of letter S direction, without water, and in the afternoon, when the troops were quite done up, formed in order of battle. Sir Hugh, having found out on which side of the Sikh camp their batteries were, of course went in front of them, and having sent forward a few 6 -pounders, to let them know where we were, and get ready, we moved forward ; and there being plenty of jungle and bushes, of course, Light Infantry were not wanted, and we formed two fine long lines to catch all the shot as they came ! The 6-pounders finding no go, Sir Hugh ordered the Cavalry to charge the camp, which was done in the most splendid style by the 3rd Dragoons alone. Our Nigger Cavalry, I believe, did not support them in any way, and their commander's (Cap- tain B. Melville) defence was : " Finding that the enemy had moved off, we made for Ferozepoor !" The 3rd Dragoons, after cutting their way through many thousand Sikhs of all arms, and taking a number of guns, but not being supported in any way, were obliged to make the best of their way out of the camp with great loss ; and, having no spikes, the guns which they had taken were imme- diately reopened upon them. The Infantry were A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT 65 all this time blazing away, and the Sikhs giving us round shot, shells, grape, and canister, for our musket balls, the first line gradually advancing, and we, moving after them, got most preciously peppered without firing a shot. We now found the ground covered with men of the 80th, 29th, and 1st Europeans, and they kept calling out, " Don't fire, boys ; our men are in front of you." 1 It was now getting dark, and we got the order to move forward, and a little way on we formed a complete line of men and muskets on the ground, with here and there a man or officer standing, or on one knee, keeping up a fire as well as they could, our men calling out, " Give them it now, there is nothing but the Sikhs in front of us." Just then a shell burst in my company and knocked a lot of us down. I thought it was all over with me, but got up and found I was not hurt. About twenty men were smashed, and some appeared to have been blown two or three yards off their feet. Baldwin was a little to my left, behind No. 2, and I heard him call out, just as if on parade, " Captain White, keep your men together, sir, and fill up that gap !" And immediately after, he said, " I am hit, men ; take me off !" One of the men caught him as he fell, and he was taken to the rear. Poor Bernard was shot about the same time, quite dead. His sword was brought to me by Sergeant Kelly, No. 1, and I told him to keep it. The next day Noel took it, as he had broken his own in the final charge. We stood our ground and kept up a sharp fire for a long time, every now and then advancing a little till we were 5 66 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES close up to the entrenchments. Many of their tents were on fire, and by that light I saw a large gun, just in front of us, and not a man left with it. The Sikhs had retired, and we had possession of this part of their camp ; but instead of holding what we had got with so much loss, we were ordered to retire for the night. We then went back in a sort of mob, men of all regiments being mixed together, and every officer shouting for his own company or regiment. One man would say, " Where is the 80th ?" " Here it is," would say another. " No, this is the 31st," said a third, and so on. The colours of two or three regiments were all together, and everyone would have it he was right. I ran up against Law, who was crying out, " Where is Paul and the colours ?" and at last, seeing him, he held on, and called out, "Here is the 31st; this way, 31st," etc., till we got into some sort of order. But there was no firing in front of us then, and we thought the battle was over. We formed at quarter-distance column, and lay down on the cold sand. It was then we began to feel the most frightful thirst, and not a drop of anything was to be had. I had a little gin in a flask, and took a pull at it, giving the rest to the men with me. But this only made us the worse, and the cold was so intense that we were quite frozen. ' I shall never forget the miseries of that night. There was no end of a row in the Sikh camp and a constant dropping fire, but we thought this was our own people, and by the light of the tents I could see there were lots of men moving about, and presently one or two guns opened on us with grape A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT 67 and round shot. We just lay where we were and let them pepper away. There was a horrid bugler sounding some nigger regimental call, and every time he sounded, bang ! bang ! came the grape amongst us. At length Sir Hugh, who was just behind us with those of his staff who were left ordered the 80th to form line and retake the guns. It was just as well he did this, for they had not gone far before they met an immense number of Sikh infantry crawling down upon us, to find out where we were. After a sharp fire, and losing a section of Grenadiers by one discharge of grape, they took the guns, and I am not sure but they had to take them twice during the night, having nothing to spike them with. The cold was very severe, and we had nothing to cover ourselves with, so I took little Tritton in my arms and put Sergeant Murphy at my back, with two or three fat men for blankets and pillow, and there we lay all night, one above the other, to try and keep ourselves warm. I was soon fast asleep, for even the shot could not keep me awake. ' A little before daylight we stood to our arms and formed line with the Artillery in front of us, but Colonel Spence, with great judgment, gave, " Threes, left shoulders, forward," and got clear of the Artillery to the right. There was a thick mist and you could only see a few yards. Presently a battery opened in front of our Artillery, and they answered ; if we had been behind them, we should have been well pounded. We advanced very quietly upon a strong battery on the left of the Sikh camp and just at the angle ; they did not see us till we 52 68 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES were right upon them, and they had only time to fire one or two rounds when we gave them a volley and charged right into them. Spence was on foot in front and was one of the first over the ditch. We bayoneted a great many artillerymen and infantry who stood to the last ; we also took a standard, and then charged on through the camp, polishing off all we could get at. I got a drink out of a gun-bucket, the water being as black as ink, and my throat was in such a state with the want of water that it cut me like a knife. As we passed through the camp, I got some gram and a lump of goor (rough sugar), upon which I breakfasted. We formed a sort of irregular line of all the regiments on the other side of the Sikh camp, and Sir Hugh Gough and Sir H. Hardinge rode down the line, and there was great cheering. Law was reported shot, and I took command of the Grenadiers, and gave Tritton No. 1. When the Big Wigs came to the 31st, I was on the right of the line with a Sikh tulwar in one hand and a lump of goor in the other, grubbing as hard as I could. We were told to send an officer and party to get water, and I went to see what was to be had in the camp. I found Law doing the same ; he, being an old hand at looting, had left us the moment the fight was over, and I made up my mind to do the same the next time. This is the end of the second battle, but the Sikhs came back and fought another the same day, which I shall give you in my next. Let me have a line when you get this with any remarks you may think necessary. A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT 69 ' Pollard was mounted on the evening of the 21st repeating the words of command (for the Colonel, who had almost lost his voice), and was shot through the body, but lived till the 24th. Pilkington was shot through both ankles the same night, but I did not see either of them. ' No word of the Regiment yet. I do wish they were home. 1 Trusting that this will find you well, ' Believe me, my dear Bray, ' Yours very sincerely, ' J. P. ROBERTSON. ' I am much afraid that our casualties at Moodkee were very much increased by some regiments of sepoys who remained outside the jungle, and blazed away, hitting friends and foes alike, while the fight was going on, as early in the morning when we were looking for the wounded and removing the killed, I did not see a single dead sepoy. Fortunately, they fired very high, as men will do when much excited. Captain Young, as I said before, was hit fair on the buckle of his stock from behind.' CHAPTEE V The Battle of Ferozesha Water and oranges An extra- ordinary incident The Crown Prince of Prussia and the Iron Cross Company-commander, Adjutant, and postmaster A silver-plated tent-pole The Battle of Budiwal Loss of our baggage Occupation of Lud- hiana The Battle of Aliwal Astonishing escapes Capture of two guns A deserter. THE 31st Regiment came out of the campaign with only four officers unwounded, and who had been in every action. The four were Major Spence, the biggest man in the Regiment, Captain Longworth, the tallest, and Lieutenant Noel and myself. In every action we had to march straight up to the enemy's guns and take them. Sir Hugh Gough's simple strategy was to put the strongest regiment into the hottest place, and no attempt was ever made to outflank or turn a position, which must account for the heavy list of casualties. At daylight the Major called for volunteers to look for the wounded men. Captain White and I offered ourselves at once, and with the assistance of some elephants we accomplished our painful task. After two days' rest the army advanced in the direction of Ferozesha. I was on the rear-guard, and was particularly struck, while darkness lasted, 70 THE BATTLE OF FEROZESHA 71 with the terribly circuitous route we were taking, as I could tell this by the stars. Here is Major Spence's account of his experiences in the campaign : * I appear to have had a charmed life, commanding as I did the Regiment in every action, and have escaped being wounded in a most astonishing way. Had two horses killed under me, balls through my cap and scabbard ; my sword broken in my hand by grape-shot, and at Sobraon a Sikh, who was lying apparently dead in the trenches, jumped up, when my head was turned the other way, and was bayoneted by one of my men just in time to save my life ; I having just broken my sword in an encounter.' My own escapes will come in in their own place. Some of the wounds were remarkable. My own Captain, Wills, was hit on the right arm about half-way between the shoulder and elbow. All that was to be seen was a red spot, not even bleeding, and the ball had entered there, ran up his arm, and down into his lungs. After the fighting was over at Ferozesha, the wounded from Moodkee were brought up to the Regiment (as we lay on the ground) as they were passing on to the hospitals at Ferozepoor. Captain Wills, who was quite sensible, made the doolie- bearers bring him to his own company, and it was then that I saw the wound. When I went to him he said in a low weak voice, ' Don't let them take me away. Let me die with my company.' But what could we do with a dying man in the fighting- line ; so he had to go, poor fellow ! but more than one eye was wet as we saw him carried away. He 72 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES lived only a day or two. It is little scenes like these that we seldom hear of in the glowing accounts of glorious victories. At Ferozesha, Lieutenant Flasket was hit on the heel of his boot, and his foot wrenched right round, and it was many a day before he put it on the ground again. I carried him on my back for some distance, as we were only being pelted at long range by the enemy. As I said, I was one of the rear-guard leaving Moodkee, and it was late in the afternoon before we joined the Regiment, which was almost immediately ordered to advance, and the enemy's guns opened on us at long range. The balls at first came popping past just like cricket-balls at play. Then an ugly shot came whiz, and hit my right-hand man fair in the face, and I heard a man exclaim, ' There's poor Finnigan down !' That was the first casualty I saw ; but presently our guns opened, and the firing became loud and fierce. We simply stood and saw nothing in front of us for the smoke, but loaded and fired away as hard as we could. Major Baldwin was on horseback just behind me, when he called out (but quite quietly), ' I'm hit, men ; take me off.' Poor fellow ! that was his death- wound, and we never saw him again. Suddenly, just in the rear of my company, a shell exploded, and I and three other men were thrown violently on our faces. I thought I was killed, and wondered that I felt no pain ; then I moved my arms and they were all right, and I got up quite unhurt. But I shall never forget the man lying just in front of me, partly on one side, and in the exact attitude of the AN EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENT 73 celebrated statue of the dying gladiator on his shield. His face was quite calm, and without saying a word he rolled over dead in a moment. The fighting went on till quite dark, when we were ordered to retire a short distance and lie down ; and what a memorable night it was, with our damp clothes and the thermometer below freezing-point, and a fierce burning thirst, and not a drop of water to be had. We lay there all night, and I was almost frozen to death very wonderful, but quite true. I fell asleep huddled up with a private on each side in the vain hope of getting a little warmth. I dreamt I was swimming in a very beautiful bath, and drinking mouthfuls'of water, when a shower of grape-shot started us to our feet. A foolish Artil- leryman had lighted a port-fire close to us, and, thanks to his stupidity, the enemy opened fire on us in a moment. At daylight the word of command came, ( Fall in ; quick march,' and we advanced in the direction of the enemy's works, for they had entrenched their camp. A rush and a wild hand-to-hand fight en- sued, bayonets versus Sikh swords. One man had his four fingers cut clean off against the barrel of his musket as he drove the bayonet home. In a very short time we had possession of the camp, and the first thing I did was to seize a bucket standing at the muzzle of a gun (the water black as ink) and pour it down my throat. For a moment I felt nothing, and then an acute pain attacked me, as if I had swallowed a sword, caused by my not having had a drop of water for twenty- four hours. The enemy 74 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES went clear away, and we did not attempt to follow them beyond their camp, where the tents were left standing. We discovered a well. I got a bucket, and made a long line for it by cutting off a lot of ropes from the tents and tying them together. There was such a rush to the well that I was nearly pushed in, and had to get a party of men to stand behind and protect me. I drew the water as fast as possible, while the mob standing round almost fought for it, and during the time I was at work, Sir Hugh Gough came up with one or two of his staff, and it was some time before he got any water, as there was nothing to drink out of but my bucket ; the men were too mad with thirst to pass it even to the Commander-in-Chief. My little party then went foraging for something to eat, and came upon a quantity of fine oranges in a tent. After a great feast, we thought of the other men of the company. Mine, by the way, was No. 1 of the first brigade of the first division of the army of the Sutlej. How were we to carry the oranges ? A bright idea struck us. We pulled off a dead man's trousers, tied up the end of the legs, and carried off our prize. I made the pay-sergeant fall in the company and gave every man two oranges. However, before they were devoured an alarm was given that the enemy's cavalry were coming, and the Regiment rapidly formed square, and then occurred an incident that I can vouch for. The Governor- General, Lord Hardinge, with his son and one native trooper, rode into our square. It appeared afterwards that he had sent his escort AN UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENT 75 back with the Crown Prince of Prussia (whose doctor, his only attendant, had been killed that day), and the Prince went right away out of India, but I really don't know by what route he went. The Governor-General addressed us in a firm voice : ' Thirty-first, I was with you when you saved the Battle of Albuera ; behave like men now.' He then took the star off his breast and gave it to his son. He evidently never expected to leave our square alive, and up to that time we had no idea that any- thing was wrong, but in some unaccountable way the greater part of our army had melted away in the night, and Sir Harry Smith's division was left almost alone to face a fresh army, the formed line of which we could see advancing upon us in perfect order, and as this was a war where no quarter was asked or given on either side, and we had to fight it out to the bitter end, things looked very black indeed. We had not a gun left, or if there were, the ammunition was all expended ; but most of them were smashed ; and dead horses and broken limbers were lying about, having been completely outmatched by the heavier artillery of the Sikhs. The fresh army halted a good way off and opened fire, and this went on for hours, the enemy evidently thinking that our army was in the empty Sikh camp, and that we had set a trap for them. I fell fast asleep, and awoke with a start to find the men on their feet, and wildly pointing to our left front we saw the 3rd Light Dragoons and a regi- ment of native Cavalry riding straight for the enemy's flank, a mere handful of men attacking 10,000. We 76 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES cheered wildly, and fancy our rage when, just as the Dragoons closed with the enemy, our native Cavalry turned tail and bolted. We gave them a volley as they disappeared in the dust, and before it and the smoke cleared away not a man was to be seen ; the whole Sikh army had bolted ! I always believed, and I still do, that the Sikh General had received an enormous bribe to retire ; for while we were still wondering, Sir Harry Smith rode up to us and said, * I congratulate you, 31st ; there's not an enemy within ten miles.' Thus ended the memorable two days' fighting at Ferozesha. Here is a newspaper extract which I still have : 'The 31st, this gallant old corps, seems to have received more than its share of hard knocks in the four last glorious battles it was engaged in. At Ferozesha it was merely the cool and determined fighting of this Regiment and the old 50th that saved Sir H. Smith's division from destruction, as they found themselves in the midst of the Sikh camp quite unsupported/ The 50th were certainly there also, but so were the 29th, and I am certain it was with them that we formed line as I have stated above. After the fight we took possession again of the Sikh camp, and remained there another day, while the army was being got into shape again. Quite a number of men had gone off during the night, a report having been spread that the army were to retire upon Ferozepoor, and in the dark they had actually passed this second Sikh army, which came down upon us the next morning. It was at the THE CROWN PRINCE AND THE IRON CROSS 77 beginning of the fight that poor Pollard was killed he who saved my life at Moodkee. The Adjutant was also killed, and from that day I had to take his place. The doctor of the Crown Prince of Prussia was also killed in the earlier part of this engagement, and Lord Hardinge sent the Prince from the field with his own escort (as I have already related), which accounts for his entering our square with only one man and his son. On the Crown Prince arriving at home he expressed his wish to the British Government that he might be allowed to present the decoration of the Iron Cross to the officers with whom he had fought in these battles, and I was told that the reply was that officers of the British Army were not allowed to wear foreign decorations. I have always felt that being deprived of this decoration was a deep and lasting grievance, and I think the German Emperor should send us it yet at least, to the few survivors of these memorable battles. After this I had to command my company as well as fulfil the Adjutant's duties, and act as postmaster, which was a most troublesome berth, as in those days all letters had to be paid for on delivery, as well as sorted, being sent up in sacks. I had 'to get them delivered and collect the pay. As the commissariat had not arrived, we had just to forage for ourselves. I got hold of a bag of native fine flour, a lot of ghee (clarified butter), and a big brass basin, which I polished well with sand ; then lighted a fire, boiled the water, and made a fine dish of porridge, making a wooden spoon out of 78 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES a bit of stick. Just as I was having a feast the Colonel came up, and I offered him some ; but, being an Englishman, he could not be persuaded to try it. I enjoyed the foraging very much ; it was certainly not plundering, and I may just relate another little incident : I saw one of my men with an axe in his hand, and asked him what he wanted with that. ' Look here, sir,' he said, and taking me into a grand-looking tent, showed me the tent-pole plated with silver in the most beautiful patterns. We cut it right down one side with the axe. It was very thick, and that ancient tent-pole would have been a prize for the British Museum. Having chopped it (the silver) in two halves, and knocked it into two flat bundles, we had each as much solid silver as we could carry. I put my share inside my military cloak, which I had strapped on my back ; but the very first day's march I was so tired of my load that I threw it into a ditch. We marched in the direction of the Sutlej and encamped on the banks of the river. The main body of the army was now encamped not very far above Ferozepoor, and we heard that the enemy had constructed a bridge of boats and were fortifying a large camp on British territory. Word also came that an army of Sikhs had crossed the river near Ludhiana and were threaten- ing our rear and communications. Sir Harry Smith was dispatched at once, and the 31st, of course, was one of his regiments. After several days' march back towards Umballa, Sir Harry got word that the enemy were encamped THE BATTLE OF BUDIWAL 79 between us and Ludhiana. We marched all night to attack them, and as we marched, some of their spies set fire to the bushes some little distance on our right flank, repeating this from time to time, so that the enemy knew exactly where we were. We found them in possession of a large walled city, with a battery of guns drawn up in front of the principal gate on an eminence. From there, as soon as we came within range, they opened a heavy and most destructive fire on us. We were marching in column of companies, their fire taking us at an angle. One shot which I saw killed seven men. Lieutenant Timbrell was com- manding the company in front of me, with a soda- water bottle of cold tea resting on his hip. A round shot cut the bottle from his hip without touching him, and even without his knowledge ; and when I came up to it I picked it up, emptying it of its contents. After some manoeuvring we formed line and advanced against the enemy. Sir Harry Smith was looking at them through his glass, and I heard him remark distinctly, * It won't do to-day ; they are too strong for us.' We then changed our direction and marched for Ludhiana, and as long as we were within range of their guns they kept up a heavy fire upon the column, and we lost more men that day than in the Battle of Aliwal (fought a few days later, January 28, 1846), this being the Battle of Budiwal, fought on 21st. Both men and horses were terribly knocked 80 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES up, and the Infantry had to help to drag the guns, many of the officers doing their share. It is a great mistake, in my opinion, to fight a battle after a long march, and on this occasion we found it to be so, as the enemy were in a fortified town, with a high solid brick wall all round, and had we charged the guns outside the gate, we should have been help- lessly shot down from the walls. Sir Harry's infor- mation must have been very bad, or he would never have attempted to attack the enemy in such a position. The first water we came to was a pool of mud in which the cattle had wallowed for a long time, and it was almost as thick as soup, and very filthy. But we rushed in up to our knees and drank greedily, scooping up the mud with our hands. Most of the men, myself among the number, were very ill after it, and we suffered many other hard- ships that are never recorded in the grand accounts of battles that appear in history. As soon as the- firing commenced, our long train of baggage and the camp-followers and sick men, who were being carried in doolies, were deflected out of range of the enemy's shot, and circled round through the jungle, in the direction of Ludhiana ; and when we retired from the fight, the enemy, seeing the baggage unprotected, rushed out upon it, killed everyone they could get hold of, indiscrimi- nately, and plundered everything. Scarcely any of our camp-followers were killed ; they took to their heels like greyhounds. The two Syces who were leading my horses jumped on their backs and galloped hard, arriving at Ludhiana long before we LOSS OF OUR BAGGAGE 81 did. I lost everything but the clothes I stood up in, and the post-bag with the undelivered letters, and for months afterwards I was worried by the postmaster-general to send him the postage. I referred him to the enemy who had looted the post-bag. A good many other officers were as badly off as myself; but as the baggage had scattered, some of it found its way safe to Ludhiana, and Timbrell's tent arrived all right ; so I had at least a covering over my head, though I had to sleep in my clothes on the ground. The Indian Government was remarkably good and liberal under the circum- stances, as we got handsome remuneration for everything that was lost. Four of us were provided with a soldier's tent, and there was no difficulty in Ludhiana in getting charpoys and a supply of Indian quilts and sundry other necessaries, so we soon made ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit. After two or three days we returned to Budiwal, as the Sikhs had retired to the banks of the Sutlej, and we found our poor sick men lying killed in the jungle, most of them in the doolies, as they had been shot as they lay in bed by the muzzle of a musket being put against their side. You can imagine how savage the men were after such a sight. Little Tritton lost everything, like myself, so he and I adjourned by ourselves to a house, stripped, and washed our shirts, then set the house on fire, held up our shirts till they dried, put them on, and went quietly back to the Regiment. At the place our baggage had been plundered, 6 82 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES letters and papers were lying about all over the ground, and many of the letters were picked up and read, I am ashamed to say. I remember being much amused at hearing one read out from people that we did not know. It was from a wife in England, giving her husband instructions how to curry favour with someone in power, and thereby get a good fat staff appointment ! We carefully interred all our poor murdered com- rades and returned to Ludhiana. Our next movement was to follow the enemy to Aliwal. Close to the town of that name they had established a camp on the banks of the Sutlej. We marched early in the morning, and after passing over some rising ground, we descended to the level of the river on to a magnificent flat plain, extending for miles in the direction of the enemy's entrenched camp. Sir Harry Smith formed his forces in order of battle, the Infantry in line, with the Artillery at intervals, and the Cavalry on the flanks. We marched steadily forward. Our Grenadier Company was on the extreme right of the line, and I came next with No. 1 Com- pany of the 31st. Soon the enemy opened fire at long range, and at first the shot failed to reach us ; but we soon had it come hopping along like cricket -balls, and we could distinctly watch it coming. They passed either through or over the line ; but soon a shell burst right in front of my company, and several of the men fired at it. ASTONISHING ESCAPES 83 I was blowing up my right-hand man for being so foolish, when a round shot cut half his cap from his head without hurting him. It smashed the arm of Mitchell, the man immediately behind him, and cut off the haversack of a third man, in which he had a loaf of bread. This went rolling away to the rear ; he immediately ran after it and picked it up amidst a good deal of chaff from his comrades. As we got close up to the enemy I saw that there were two guns directly in front of us, and my men peppered the gunners so effectually as to speedily reduce their numbers to two. Just then a mounted man rode right at us all alone, and I ran out to meet him ; but before we met both he and the horse rolled over dead, shot by my own men behind. He fell right at my feet, and I picked up his sword. At that moment I distinctly saw one of the two gunners who were left put a charge of canister-shot into the gun, and then his comrade fired right in our faces. I instinctively put my arm across my eyes, and got a shower of dust and sand in my face, while the sole of one of my boots was ripped off right to the heel, but I myself was totally unhurt. My company then made a rush at the guns. Another charge of canister was put down by the same man, while his comrade stood ready with the port-fire, when just at that moment he was shot dead, falling down on the light. His companion, seeing him fall, ran to pick up the port-fire ; but it was extinguished. He immediately turned round upon us, drew his sword, and rushed forward, 62 84 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES waving it above his head, and died in front of his guns. Such were the brave men with whom we had to contend. I was first up to the guns, and marked the howitzer by a sharp stroke of the Sikh's sword, which I had picked up shortly before, across the muzzle, making a notch thereby, while one of the men wrote with a piece of chalk " 31 " on the guns. I took the linchpin out of the wheel of the other gun (it was a lion's head in brass), and put it in my pocket. These two guns were bronze, and highly ornamented and beautifully inlaid on the carriages, and, I believe, had been a present from some former Governor -General to Runjeet Singh. Two days afterwards, when I heard that the guns were to be sent home to the Queen at Windsor, I went quietly back and replaced the linchpin with its lion's head in its place. The fight now became general, and I saw a magnificent charge of the 16th Lancers, who rode right through one of the enemy's squares. As they, the Lancers, came round our right flank, and galloped in front of the Infantry line, a regiment of sepoys, our own men, opened fire upon them, and I rushed down the front of their line, knocking up the muskets with my sword, and shouting in Hindustani, (( Our men, our own men !" It was a great wonder I was not shot, for some of the muskets were fired right in my face ; but men can do wonderful things and escape in the heat of battle. Referring to the guns that we took that day, I A DESERTER 85 believe they were planted in front of some part of Windsor Castle, but I have never seen them. I wonder if the notch I made with my sword is still to be seen on the muzzle of the howitzer. After some rather hard fighting we drove the enemy right across the Sutlej, and took possession of their camp. The battle was scarcely over when a prisoner was brought up to the Colonel, in charge of a corporal and two men. He turned out to be an Englishman who had deserted from the Bengal Artillery many years before and joined Runjeet Singh's Army, in which were both English and French officers, for Runjeet was very fond of getting them to assist him in that grand army he was so proud of. This man had the rank of Colonel, and I at once recognised him as the officer who was with the guns that gave us such a mauling at Budiwal, and I told him that I saw him there, but he stoutly denied it. Here the corporal, saluting the Colonel, said in his Irish brogue : * There's a nullah quite handy ; shall I take him down there ?' at the same time significantly tapping his musket. 'No,' said the Colonel, 'you scoundrel ; take him to the main guard !' This man was ultimately pardoned by the authorities, but I know not what became of him afterwards. We then returned to the main army, and found that Sir Hugh Gough was waiting for us to make a grand attack on the enemy's camp at Sobraon, which was strongly entrenched. CHAPTER VI The Battle of Sobraon Remarkable injuries ' He saved my life P A durbar at Lahore Procuring tiles An adventurous ride to Ferozepoor An overdose of laudanum Fifty boatloads of invalids ChufFy^s fate A fire ' / am the commanding officer P Arrival at Bombay A good ship and a questionable captain St. Helena Ascension On half-rations in the * dol- drums ' The fair maid of Orta Quarantine and drunkenness A complimentary letter from the Duke of Wellington. ON the morning of February 10, 1846, the whole army advanced towards Sobraon. The first division, in which we were, was on the right flank, and we were destined to attack the enemy's camp close to the Sutlej. The camp may be described as roughly a half- circle, resting on the River Sutlej. It was protected all round by a rampart 9 or 10 feet high, with portholes constructed of wood, on a level with the ground outside, which could, therefore, be swept with grape-shot. The bridge of boats was about half-way from the two corners of the camp, so you may judge what a desperate undertaking we had before us. We were just halted out of range, and a little to our left were the 9th Lancers. The enemy occasionally sent a long shot over their heads, and I remember distinctly watching how 86 THE BATTLE OF SOBRAON 87 every man slightly bowed his head in his saddle as the shot whistled past, and all the pennons of the lances moved forward and then back again in the most perfect unison ; for when a round shot is coming in one's direction, as the sound rapidly increases in volume, it is almost impossible to resist the idea that the shot is going to strike yourself. After a short, far too short, bombardment, which has been severely criticised since (as it resulted in a terrible loss of life to our army, and left the enemy quite unshaken), the whole force advanced to the attack. We found ourselves in front of a tremendous rampart, 10 or 12 feet high, with portholes for guns, built with wood near the level of the ground, while the top of the rampart was held by men with only the head and shoulders visible. They kept up a terrific fire on us, for the men were all picked shots, and as fast as a man fired, he handed his musket to the men behind him, when a loaded one was handed back in return. Three times we got close up to the works, and three times we were driven back. During these attacks both the officers carrying the colours were mortally wounded Ensigns Tritton and Jones. The latter died at once. My poor little subaltern, Tritton, just before we were ordered to advance under fire, had come to me for a drink of cold tea, and while he was opening the flask the order came, * Fall in !' ' Ah !' he said, 1 it's always the way ; when I want a thing I can't get it. Never mind, I'll have some by-and-by.' These were the last words he spoke to me. 88 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES After the two officers carrying the colours fell, Corporal McCabe picked up the regimental colour, rushed forward, climbed the embankment, and planted it there. How he escaped being riddled with bullets was simply miraculous, and with a loud cheer the whole brigade rushed forward and established themselves inside the enemy's camp, then, after some desperate fighting, they forced the enemy to retire across their bridge of boats. I actually saw them marching (not running) with their arms sloped in a most defiant manner, but when they got on to their bridge of boats, it gave way, and our Artillery at once opened fire on them, making fearful havoc, while the river swept them away in hundreds. My subaltern, little Tritton, although shot right through the head, lived till night. I knelt beside him, holding his hand in mine till he expired. Poor boy ! I cut off a lock of his hair and gave it into his mother's hands when we were quartered at Walmer. She lived at Canterbury, and when I took the hair out of the same paper in which I had first folded it, some sand from the battlefield where he fell dropped out. We gave him a soldier's grave, as we were under orders to march again in the morning, and every available doolie was required for the wounded. It was a very miserable night for those that were left, and I am not ashamed to say my eyes were wet as I knelt by my dear comrade's bedside in the dreary, dark tent a soldier's tent in which four of us were quartered after we lost all our baggage at REMARKABLE INJURIES 89 Budiwal ; and here was I left all alone, the other three killed or wounded. But to return to the battle. Our Horse Artillery had got into the camp by an opening close to the river, and had thus been able to open fire upon the bridge of boats at short range, and it was this battery, I believe, that smashed the bridge. Captain Garvock, who was on Sir Harry Smith's staff, was hit on the leg by a ball that passed through the flesh without touching the bone ; as he could feel it under the skin on the other side, he coolly took out his penknife and cut it out there and then, and stuck to his duty till the battle was over ! Lieutenant Law had a ball stuck in his shoulder- blade, and he refused to have it cut out, and I fancy it never was taken out, as it was there years after. Timbrell, my chum, had a terrible smash ; a heavy iron grape-shot passed through both thighs, smash- ing both bones, and lodging under the skin like Garvock 's on the far side. Sergeant Meredith carried him out of action back to back, and Timbrell told me what a fright he got when, looking down, he saw his two heels where his toes ought to have been ; both his legs had turned right round. The doctor told me he was mortally wounded, and I went to see him as soon as possible. Imagine my surprise to see him sitting up in bed with a cheroot in his mouth ; they said it was nothing but sheer pluck kept him alive. For many months he was kept with both his legs resting in a kind of box, the feet being fixed in their correct position at the far end ; in this way both legs remained the same 90 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES length. Had the feet not been fixed, one leg would have been longer than the other. As it was, his height was reduced nearly 4 inches. He afterwards rejoined the Regiment, and was my subaltern when quartered at Maryborough in 1849. An amusing incident in connection with this battle occurred some years afterwards on the pier at Kingstown, near Dublin, where all the beauty and fashion were promenading to hear the band play. A Captain, formerly of the 50th Regiment, who was then living on his pension, suddenly rushed up to me, threw his arms round my neck, and shouted at the top of his voice : ' He saved my life ! he saved my life !' At this everybody crowded round, and then the Captain, turning about to his audience, said with the tears in his eyes : ' When I was lying desperately wounded at the Battle of Sobraon, and begging for a drop of water, he ' pointing to me ' took oif a dead man's shoe, ran down to the river and brought me a drink/ This was quite true, as I filled the shoe three times for him. Having thrown a fresh bridge of boats across the Sutlej, the whole army crossed over into the Punjab, and commenced the advance upon Lahore, the capital city. It was a grand sight to see us marching in order of battle, one long line of Infantry sweeping forward with our Artillery, and supported by the Cavalry ; but no enemy appeared to dispute the advance. The first morning a frightened stag galloped along the front of our line, and just as he had passed in front of the 31st, a Ghoorka sergeant stepped out some paces to the front, knelt down on A DURBAR AT LAHORE 91 one knee and fired, and the stag rolled over at once a beautiful shot. In due time we arrived at Lahore, and encamped just outside the city. The son of our old Major (who had by this time left the Regiment, Major Van Courtland) came to see us. He was a Colonel in the Sikh army, but had remained at Lahore and had not been fighting against us. I and two or three of the other officers went a ride with him, and he conducted us all through the city, and wound up our ride by taking us on to the top of one of the city gates, where we were most kindly received by the guard, who even waited upon us while we drank champagne. We were told after- wards that we had run a great risk, but all ended well. It must be remembered that at this time peace had not yet been signed. A few days after, a grand durbar was to be held, to arrange the terms of peace. I was in command of the guard of honour, and saw everything most comfortably. An immense tent was pitched, in which the Governor- General with the Commander- in- Chief and staff received all the great Sikh Princes and chiefs. They arrived on elephants, gorgeously draped, and as they walked past me into the tent, I had a good look at them. They appeared to be very anxious arid uneasy, evidently suspecting treachery, and under their grand draperies I could see that they all had coats of chain armour. I presented arms as they walked past, and the last to go in was Duleep Singh, so well known for many years in this country. He was then quite a small boy, being carried in his bearer's arms, and at the 92 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES entrance the bearer took off the little Prince's slippers and left them at the door. They were beautiful works of art, and embroidered in gold. I took one up and put it in my pocket, but thought that it might be considered an insult, so placed it quietly back again. I stood at the door of the tent, but could not hear what was said, and saw grand presents being presented and exchanged. When the chiefs came out, I presented arms again, and they hurried to their elephants just as a salute was being fired in their honour from a battery of siege guns, which made a terrible row and smoke. One day Noel and I were wandering about, and came upon some of our men, who appeared to be looting from a beautiful old mosque, while a native was shouting lustily, when Sir Harry Smith rode up, and, without asking any questions, laid into the men with a cane he had in his hand. The men ran away back into camp, laughing and evidently thinking it a good joke to be thrashed by a General ! We went inside and saw that the dome of the roof was highly ornamented with beautiful encaustic tiles, and almost at the highest part of the dome there was a hole right through, as if a shell had dropped in. We got upon the roof, I really don't remember how, as we wanted some of the tiles, and I offered to try and reach them if Noel would hold my feet. I actually got in head and shoulders through the shot-hole and dug out a lot of tiles, but to get back again was the difficulty. There I was, hanging by my heels head down, with the prospect of a 60 -feet drop on to the pavement below. PROCURING TILES 93 After a desperate struggle, and clinging on to the sides of the hole with my nails, and Noel pulling his best, I got back again. Some of these tiles are now in the Museum of Science and Art in Edinburgh, with several other things which I presented, among them my ancestors of Inchbrakie's old charter- chest. On our return to camp with the tiles I found a note waiting for me, saying Captain Lugard wanted to see me. He was at headquarters (on account of the tremendous casualties among the general staff), acting as Adjutant-General and Sir Hugh Gough's right-hand man, although only a Captain in the 31st Regiment. He told me that the Governor- General had decided to send home a large party of wounded men to England, as a proof that the war was over, and informed me (a young subaltern) that I might have the command. He also said that the Regiment was to go home at once via Calcutta, but that I should be home six months before them. Of course I joyfully accepted the offer. ' You must leave to-morrow morning for Ferozepoor, and I will send a Cavalry escort with you, as a large part of the Sikh army are still wandering about.' ' All right,' I said, ' I am ready, and very many thanks for your kind remembrance of your old subaltern.' The next morning about three an escort appeared, and I, with my dispatches in my cap (having nowhere else to put them) from the Commander-in- Chief to the General commanding at Ferozepoor, set off on the long ride, my orders being that they were to be delivered that day. I was dressed in a scarlet 94 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES jacket and black trousers, and had my sword on. My baggage was to follow. I, however, took my second OO O J horse, and away I started with an escort of fifty men and an officer. About midday we arrived at a camp that had been established to keep open our communications ; there the officer commanding my escort announced that his horses were done up and that he could go no further till next day. I replied, ' My orders are to go to Ferozepoor to-day, and I'll go whether you come or not.' The officers in the camp did their utmost to persuade me not to go, saying that there was no road through the jungle (which was quite true), and that they had no guide to give me. However, after a good lunch, I started alone on my second horse, trusting to my bump of locality to find my way through the jungle. Most fortunately, just after starting, I met a strong detachment, escorting a battery of heavy guns. I asked them where they came from, and they said the bridge of boats. My next question was, ' Do you think your gun-wheels have left a mark through the jungle?' and they said, * Yes.' However, as it turned out, every now and then the marks had become invisible, and I had to cast forward until I found them again. Some time after, I came to a sort of road with a fence on each side, evidently leading to a village. I followed the road and suddenly found myself in an open space, and rode right into the middle of a regiment of the enemy ! Some were drawing water, and many were standing or sitting about, evidently halting for their midday rest. I was going at an easy canter ADVENTUROUS RIDE TO FEROZEPOOR 95 at the time, and without either slackening or quickening my pace I cantered right through the middle of them. My only fear was that I should ride against some of them, as they were thickly scattered about. My scarlet jacket immediately attracted their attention, but they simply stared at me in astonishment, and I smiled and nodded at them amiably as I rode past. Not a man raised his hand against me, but when I had passed the last of them I had a most uncomfortable feeling, expecting every moment to get a shot in the back. However, nothing happened, and as long as I was in sight I kept up the same easy pace. Then I went off pretty hard until I got some miles between me and my friends. Without further adventure, and just about sun- down, I arrived at the bridge of boats. There I found an old friend, Harry Yule (afterwards Sir Harry Yule). He had lived in the same terrace in Edinburgh as I did when we were boys together. He was most hospitable fed my horse, gave me a good tea, and provided a guide to take me to Ferozepoor, which, he informed me, was at least ten miles off. He was in the Bengal Engineers, and then in charge of the bridge of boats. He after- wards rose to distinction in India. It was quite dark before we started, and I could only see the white figure of the guide in front of me as he trotted along, taking a bee-line across country with a great many low mud fences to cross. The manner in which my mount kept his feet, as he scrambled over these impediments, was quite wonder- 96 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES fill. He was a Kabul horse which the Regiment had brought back with them, and was the most sure-footed animal I had ever ridden. At last, about ten o'clock at night, we came in sight of the lights of the town, and, most providentially, at the very first door I rode up to I found a party of our own wounded officers with Dr. Stewart in charge. Of course, they were greatly surprised at my sudden appearance. They were playing cards, and looked as if they had seen a ghost when I entered. There sat poor Law with a bullet in his shoulder- blade (which he would never allow to be removed) ; Pilkington with smashed ankles ; Flasket with his twisted and smashed foot all brother officers of the 31st. Dr. Stewart at once ordered a bed to be put up for me in his own room in the hospital, which was close by. I was quite stupefied with fatigue, and had scarcely thrown myself on my bed when Dr. Stewart rushed in from the surgery exclaiming, * I'm a dead man ! I'm a dead man ! I have swallowed a fearful overdose of laudanum !' The hospital sergeant followed him in with two orderlies, who seized him and began to rattle him up and down the room, saying, ' This is your only chance, sir ; this is your only chance.' Poor man ! he only groaned out, ' Oh, let me lie down !' I shall never forget the horrors of that night. They dragged him up and down, and every now and then threw him on my bed. I was past sleeping altogether, and lay awake staring at them, as they hustled and knocked him about. Towards WOUNDED MEN FOR HOME 97 daylight the sergeant thought that the worst was over ; they then let him lie down, and he recovered all right. To add to the horrors of that night, there was only a door between us and the wounded men, which stood open. Some of them were moaning in agony, while others were cursing at the disturbance keeping them awake all night. It was altogether very horrible to me in my exhausted condition, after a continuous ride from 3 a.m. until 10 p.m. Next morning 1 presented my official documents to the General, and matters were put in train. Two hundred men were to be selected out of the different hospitals, and were of all arms of the Service Cavalry, Infantry, and Artillery. All the doctors did was to select the men. I had to find out from themselves rank, name, and all particulars, and to make a correct list myself. I had, for instance, to go into a ward and ask, ' Any men here for England ?' and I might get a joyful answer, ' Yes, I am,' or a groan, ' Oh, I shall never see England again !' When the boats were ready the embarkation commenced, and two doctors were put in charge Dr. Rutherford and Dr. Laing. I got on splendidly with them, and during the whole nine months we were together not a disagreeable word passed between us, to the very best of my recollection. Dr. Rutherford rose to the highest post as an Inspector- General of Hospitals. Doctors were not created Majors and Colonels in my day. Dr. Laing was ordered back to India, while we were 7 98 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES quartered at Walmer, in Kent, and I went off in a small boat and boarded the ill-fated Birkenhead in the Downs, and was the last of his friends to say good-bye to him. The terrible shipwreck on the south coast of Africa, in which his life was lost, is a matter of history. Before sailing from Ferozepoor Lieutenant Paul arrived as an escort with forty men of the 31st, and I proceeded to arrange our fleet of fifty boats. A temporary house had been constructed on each boat of bamboos and straw, the boats being very much like a Thames barge quite flat, with a 3 -foot gunwale all round. I handed over one boat for the doctors, took one for myself, and selected a guard- boat, in which were placed one sergeant and ten men, and their only duty was to take charge of the treasure-chest, in which were put rupees for the men's pay, also all my own valuables the Sikh sword and the Kytul dagger, the tiles, and sundry other things, letters, etc. Had they not been in the guard-tent I should have lost all in the fire of which you will hear presently. We had also commissariat and cooking boats, and in the rest of the fleet the doctors arranged the wounded men as they thought best, with one or two of the escort in each to act as hospital orderlies. Our order of sailing was the same every day. The doctors' boat went first and kept in front. When they halted for the night the other boats made fast to the bank below them, one by one as they arrived. I came last and passed everything before mooring. By this arrangement the doctors began their visits the moment they CHUFFY'S FATE 99 arrived, and worked their way down to the lowest boat, which prevented any delay. I was very much cheered as I rode up to the boats the first day from Ferozepoor by hearing a hearty voice call out, ' Oh, boys, it is our own little officer that is to command us !' This was Mitchell, of my own company, who had lost his arm at Aliwal by the same shot that knocked half of my right-hand man's cap off. For a few days we had a native Cavalry escort, but they soon left us. From the Sutlej we sailed into the Indus, where the banks on our side were covered with jungle and almost uninhabited. I had my faithful dog Chuffy, whom I had had for years, and he followed me everywhere. He saved my life at the expense of his own. For as I returned after dark one night from the doctors' boat to my own, while making my way through the jungle along the bank of the river, I heard a slight squeak behind me, and Chuffy was gone in a moment, with- out another sound ! Had he been in front of me the tiger would have taken me instead of Chuffy. After that I took no more night walks, but a few days after some of the enemy, or, at all events, an enemy, brought down a gun to the opposite side of the river, and commenced to practise at our boats. The only thing that we could do was to extinguish all the lights and stay as quiet as possible until morning ; but shortly before daylight, when every- one was fast asleep, they came over in a boat, crept stealthily up the bank of the river, and my boat being the first thing they reached, they threw some burning charcoal on to the thatch and made off. I 72 100 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES awoke to a blazing fire, and dashed into the bath- room, where there was a row of large chatties filled with water for the morning bath, and threw the water with all my might against the flames. Of course, it only returned on myself, as the fire was overhead, and I immediately recognised that the thing was hopeless ; so I made for the door, which was fastened, and while I was struggling to open it, a dense cloud of smoke rolled down upon me. In another moment I should have been insensible from suffocation, but with a tremendous effort I tore the door open, and after gasping for breath in the fresh air, made my way on shore along a plank. The servants also, who were sleeping in front of the boat, escaped, and at break of day there I stood, shivering in a wet shirt and nothing else, watching the boat burn to the water's edge and sink. There I was, eleven days from the nearest station where I might get clothing of any kind, and nobody had much to lend me. However, I borrowed a suit of clothing and a pair of slippers, with a couple of towels for a pugaree, and took possession of a very small boat which contained commissariat stores and comforts for the sick men. At the first station we came to, the name of which I forget (it was either Succar or Roree Bukar), I was hospitably enter- tained by some of the officers, and succeeded in getting some decent clothing. When arriving at a military station, it is etiquette to report your arrival to the General in command, and my experience of the ceremony was invariably the same :