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 "fyHHAINIH
 
 THE 
 
 PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MARQUESS OF HASTINGS, 
 
 K.G.
 
 TBIT; 
 
 PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 MARQUESS OF HASTINGS, 
 
 K.G. 
 
 <H0hrn0r- Mineral anb (Komrnaitber-in-Cfjkf in Jnbia. 
 
 EDITED BY HIS DAUGHTEB, 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. H. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET. 
 
 1858.
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SAVILL AND EDWAKDS, PRINTEBS, CHANDOS SffEEST, 
 COVElfT-GAEDEK.
 
 THE 
 
 PRIVATE JOUENAL 
 
 OF 
 
 THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 
 
 1815 Continued. 
 
 FEBRUARY 21st. We marched this morning. In 
 order to examine more closely some objects which 
 I had only seen at a distance, I quitted the line 
 and went across the ruined city. We found the 
 descent from the ridge on which the palace stood, 
 and which we were obliged to traverse, much more 
 steep on the further side than it was on the side 
 next our camp. Such a path as there was for a 
 considerable part of the way consisted chiefly of 
 steps from one broken block to another. No animal 
 but an elephant could have carried a rider over such 
 ground. Ours proceeded freely and confidently, 
 nor did any one of them make a false movement. 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
 357155
 
 '2 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 It was interesting to see them try, by shaking- with 
 the foot, the stone on which they were to rest their 
 weight, in order that they might be assured of its 
 firmness before they quitted the balance of their 
 last position. The first object of our examination 
 was a kiosk or tower, whence the emperor used to 
 see the elephant-fights. The latticed turret, to 
 which the ladies descended for the same purpose, is 
 near it. The same ornamental carving, though not 
 in as elegant a style as that which distinguished 
 the other edifices here, has been employed in the 
 kiosk. We thence went to an elevated pillar, 
 hollow, and containing a staircase thickly bristled 
 from the bottom to the top with representations of 
 elephants' tusks in white marble. It is recorded 
 that on occasions of great rejoicing three or four 
 lamps were suspended to each of these tusks. Such 
 an illumination must have been exceedingly strik- 
 ing. We took up our ground at Kirowlee, a village 
 affording nothing remarkable. 
 
 February 22nd. We marched to Secundra ; and, 
 passing through a fine gateway, we found our 
 tents pitched in the large garden which surrounds 
 the tomb of Akbar. That venerable building: is in
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. o 
 
 a sad state of dilapidation. It gives one pain to 
 say that this has not arisen wholly from neglect, 
 though the consequences of neglect alone are suffi- 
 cient to excite regret. This enclosure was un- 
 fortunately chosen during the Mahratta war for 
 the station of European Light Dragoons. It was 
 impossible that, without any disposition to injure 
 the building, such a set of inmates could occupy 
 the place long without occasioning much deteriora- 
 tion. The garden is a square planted with mango 
 trees. In each face of the wall it has an elevated 
 turret gateway, elegantly inlaid with different 
 coloured stones and enamelled tiles. That by which 
 we entered leads to the front of the sepulchral 
 edifice, and on that account has been distinguished 
 from the others by superior size and ornament. 
 The part through which one passes is in fact a fine 
 hall. The stories above this form tolerable apart- 
 ments, and the building is surmounted at the four 
 corners by white marble minarets. From each of 
 the gates a causeway of bricks, covered with a 
 pavement of different coloured stones, leads to the 
 tomb. This stands on an extensive base paved 
 with marble, to which you ascend from the cause- 
 is 2
 
 4 THE PRIVATE JOUJUNAL , [FEB. 
 
 way (itself raised above the level of the garden) by 
 three or four steps. The tomb is a very large square 
 building of red stone. It is divided into three 
 stories; the upper ones diminishing in size so as to 
 leave a broad terrace. The uppermost is an en- 
 closure of white marble open at top. It is in truth 
 an arcade of white marble surrounding the osten- 
 sible sarcophagus of the Emperor. This is elevated 
 on a platform of three steps from the marble floor 
 of the court. The sarcophagus is very elegantly 
 carved, and though thus exposed to the weather, 
 has suffered little. The outer sides of the arcade 
 are of that marble network (in great part) of which 
 I have already made mention. Much damage has 
 been done to this ; and the pinnacles which crown 
 the arcade have been let to go to ruin. The most 
 extraordinary inattention has been the permitting 
 trees, which sprung from seeds accidentally blown 
 into cavities between the stones, to grow to a size 
 which must make their roots act like levers for the 
 destruction of the building. I ordered these to be 
 immediately cut away, and I directed that a so- 
 lution of lead should be frequently poured into the 
 chinks till it should be sure that the roots were
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 5 
 
 destroyed. The basement story of the edifice 
 consists of a sort of arcade, separated into parts 
 and closed to the front in many parts by marble 
 screens. In the middle, an elevated portal leads 
 into a vestibule, which one can perceive to have 
 been richly ornamented with blue and gold. The 
 smoke of the lamps used by the persons who have 
 tenanted it has nearly obscured this decoration. 
 From this place, a sloping passage, lined and floored 
 with white marble, leads to the interior of a large 
 
 ' O 
 
 dome to which the edifice visible from the garden is 
 the case or covering. Here, on the natural level of 
 the soil, a marble monument, in the simple form 
 affected by the Mussulmans, covers the real grave 
 of Akbar. The veneration felt for it is lively, and 
 the fragrant flowers with which it was bestrewed 
 evinced that it had visitors who preserved an 
 interest for the name. On each side of the vesti- 
 bule a marble grating gives a view into a kind of 
 chapel, where are the tombs of some of the Prin- 
 cesses of Akbar's family. Having satisfied my 
 curiosity, I relieved another feeling, by directing 
 the magistrate to apply immediately such repairs 
 as were necessary to check the progress of this
 
 6 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 premature decay in the building, and to give the 
 edifice a chance of the duration which it deserved. 
 The memory of Akbar does not belong to a parti- 
 cular race or country ; it is the property of man- 
 kind. All that can promote the recollection of 
 one Avho employed power to benefit his kind, must 
 interest man ; inasmuch as the reverence paid in 
 such a reminiscence says, " Go and do likewise/' 
 to those on whom the comfort of millions depends. 
 The magistrate, Mr. Turner, told me that he knew 
 not anything which would cause so much sensation 
 throughout the country as the order which I had 
 just given. He said that the gratitude for such 
 an attention to the monument of Akbar would be 
 general, though the sentiment, soothed by that 
 attention, would never have induced the indivi- 
 duals to come forward with a contribution for such 
 a purpose. To restore this pile to its pristine 
 splendour would require an enormous expenditure, 
 and would, perhaps, be after all impracticable ; 
 yet even to the re-establishment of ornamental 
 parts there has been a liberal advertence in the 
 plan which I traced to Mr. Turner. It has sug- 
 gested itself to me, that a useful watch over the
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 7 
 
 building may be framed by building within the 
 garden a range of modest residences for invalid 
 native officers, who should be charged with the 
 special duty of giving notice to the magistrate; 
 when any accident occurred which called for speedy 
 remedy. 
 
 February 23rd. Marching amid some ruined 
 buildings, whose remains attested the former mag- 
 nificence of Secundra, we approached Agra. It is 
 well that it is understood a poet's fancy has no 
 limitations, otherwise the accuracy of Sir William 
 Jones as to " Agra's roseate bowers " might be 
 called in question. Never did soil encourage less 
 the expectation of a crop of roses than the arid 
 tract outside the walls of Agra. Whatever hope 
 might have existed that there would be some 
 symptoms of gardening within vanished on our 
 passing the ruined gate. Nothing meets the eye 
 but the confused heaps of red stone which vouch 
 for the former population of this celebrated city. 
 When, after traversing this field of desolation, one 
 reaches habitations, the mind is forcibly struck 
 with the inferiority of the present mansions, 
 because the remains of the ancient houses at least
 
 8 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 bear witness that they were constructed of a better 
 material than mud. A pleasing attention was 
 exhibited on this occasion. All the inhabitants 
 were in their best dresses, and the variety of colours 
 in the shawls and turbans, contrasted with the 
 shining whiteness of the clothes, gave the crowd a 
 very lively appearance. Having passed through 
 the city, we crossed a small esplanade to the fort, 
 by which lay our shortest route to our camp. 
 
 The massiveness of this building, which is rather 
 a castle than a fort, excites one's admiration on the 
 first view. The great height of the walls, the size 
 of the stones with which it is built, and the excel- 
 lence of the masonry, extort one's acknowledgment 
 of much scope of mind in both the plan and execu- 
 tion. Within the gate, a pretty steep ascent, 
 rendered easy by a well-managed road, commences. 
 It leads to a second gate, by which one comes on 
 the parade, formerly the principal court of the 
 palace. This was encircled by its separate w r all. 
 The detachment of troops which occupied the fort, 
 Tinder Lieutenant-Colonel Cuppage, was here drawn 
 up ready to receive me. Going out at the further 
 end of this square, we came to the descent. It is
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 9 
 
 a hollow way cut in the hill, and, as it is paved with 
 large flag-stones, channelled to afford sure footing-, 
 it presents no difficulty for a horse. On arriving 
 at the drawbridge, I observed the particular cau- 
 tion of an elephant which preceded me. He could 
 not be prevailed upon to pass it until he had tried 
 it several times by putting one foot upon it, ap- 
 pearing to throw his whole weight upon that foot, 
 and to shake the bridge, in order to ascertain its 
 firmness. Our tents were pitched at Nomella 
 cantonment, the station of the troops, as being 
 healthier than the confinement of the fort, to 
 which a garrison, periodically relieved, is furnished. 
 This position is nearly two miles from the fort. 
 The situation has no advantage but airiness. 
 Nearer to the fort, the ground is all encum- 
 bered with ruins. We went to see the cele- 
 brated taj, about a mile from our camp. Our first 
 view of this building had been from the top of 
 Akbar's tomb, at a distance of not less than eight 
 miles, when the dome, illuminated by the setting 
 sun, had a most grand appearance. From the 
 nearer position of our camp, the dome seemed to be 
 of a size inferior to what we had supposed when
 
 10 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 we had seen it from afar ; and this conception of 
 its being somewhat deficient in magnitude, was 
 sensible to me as I approached the edifice. One 
 reaches it by passing through a heap of ruins and 
 miserable huts. A handsome gateway of red stone 
 leads to a parade, between two ranges of buildings 
 heretofore ornamented, but now in miserable dilapi- 
 dation, which were probably the residence of guards 
 appropriated to the place. Having got beyond 
 these buildings, one finds oneself in front of the 
 principal entrance to the garden. This is a mag- 
 nificent and beautiful gateway of red stone, par- 
 ticularly hard in its nature, inlaid with ornaments 
 of white marble, or with slabs of the same, con- 
 taining passages from the Koran traced in black. 
 The great elevation of this gateway, its proportions 
 and the style of its decorations, fitly prepare the 
 mind for the noble object which one is proceeding 
 to contemplate. The garden is a square, divided 
 by two avenues of mango trees, which cross each 
 other at right angles. The middle of the avenue, 
 which leads to the taj, is occupied by fountains in 
 marble basins. A full view of the taj from the 
 gate is intercepted by the spreading of the mango
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 11 
 
 trees near the taj. Nothing is lost by this tem- 
 porary interruption of a distinct perception of all 
 the parts. The pure white marble of the dome 
 rising above these tufts, is advantageously con- 
 trasted with the green ; and I felt my notion of a 
 want of magnitude immediately expelled. On 
 getting clear of the obstructions to a complete 
 sight, one is filled with admiration. Many monu- 
 ments of human skill and labour exist more vast 
 and more sublime than this; but it may be 
 doubted whether genius ever conceived and executed 
 another fabric of equal taste or elegance. Written 
 descriptions of buildings never convey any tolerable 
 idea of them, therefore I do not undertake to 
 portray the details of the taj ; but an outline may 
 be given of its general plan sufficiently intelligible. 
 An immense platform, if it may be so termed, 
 of earth supported by walls of the red stone, affords 
 a vast area, in the centre of which the building 
 stands. The taj is octangular ; or perhaps one 
 might better describe it as a square, the angles of 
 which had been truncated and blunted. The whole 
 of the building, dome included, is of white marble, 
 which has a light brilliancy under the powerful
 
 12 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 rays of the sun, that makes it look as if it were in 
 some degree transparent. Detached at some dis- 
 tance from the corners of the building rise four 
 minarets of white marble, very tall and beautifully 
 proportioned. They must be elegant, when they 
 can be considered as fit appendages to the prin- 
 cipal edifice. 
 
 Further removed from the taj, but still on the 
 esplanade, and forming part of the plan, facing 
 each flank, stands a mosque of red stone. The 
 rear of the esplanade or platform looks to the river. 
 Either of these mosques, placed as a single and sub- 
 stantive object in any city, would be a dignified 
 ornament to it. Here they are truly subordinate. 
 Their being of red stone, and not of white marble, 
 has been criticised. This cannot have happened 
 through an erroneous economy, much less through 
 want of reflection, where such thought has evi- 
 dently been exercised on the whole design. It has 
 been the policy of the architect, and I am inclined 
 to believe it a judicious one. He has feared that 
 had the mosques been white they would have dis- 
 tracted the eye from the main fabric, and would 
 from their distance have excited the notion of an
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 13 
 
 assemblage cf buildings, so as to have prevented 
 the gratifying sense which now exists of unity in 
 the structure. The mosques now look like depen- 
 dencies, the character which they ought to bear ; 
 and, though of inferior material, they are still 
 becoming dependencies. Inside the building, just 
 beneath the dome, is the tomb of Nour Jehan, to 
 perpetuate whose memory this splendid mausoleum 
 was raised. It occupies the exact centre, the se- 
 pulture of any other person in this spot not being 
 originally intended. The tomb of Shah Jehan, 
 however, was subsequently placed close to that of 
 his queen. It is said that the monarch had pro- 
 posed building on the other side of the Jumna an 
 exact counterpart to the taj, as the receptacle for 
 his own remains. A considerable embankment, 
 supported by walls of red stone like that of the 
 taj, does exist directly opposite. A junction was 
 to have been formed by a magnificent bridge. The 
 whole of such a structure would have been grand 
 beyond any ordinary scale ; but I should doubt if 
 it would have excited as much true feeling as the 
 building in its present state. There would have 
 been a bewilderment in the contemplation of it
 
 14 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 that would have prevented the impression of gentle 
 admiration which almost every person recognises 
 in viewing the edifice as it now stands. Whatso- 
 ever had been the purpose of Shah Jehan, his son 
 thought the taj the most commodious depository 
 for the deceased Emperor, and accordingly placed 
 his body in a tomb close to that of Nour Jehan. 
 The tombs are of white marble, of the simple 
 ordinary form usual among the Mohamedans, 
 but inlaid with scroll-work of sprigs of flowers 
 in coloured stones, exquisitely wrought. A screen 
 or fence of white marble open work, about seven 
 feet high, surrounds the tombs. The carving of it, 
 representing flowers, leaves, &<;., is of the most 
 perfect quality. It is further ornamented with 
 coloured scroll-work equal in taste and execution to 
 that of the tombs. An exterior fence of silver 
 once existed; but it was carried away by the 
 Mahrattas. I cannot think its absence a loss. It 
 surely could not have harmonized with the chaste 
 simplicity of the other objects. In the vestibule, a 
 staircase leads down to the sepulchral chamber in 
 which the bodies of the Emperor and his Empress 
 were really interred. A tomb exactly correspond-
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 15 
 
 ing to that which is above covers each of their 
 coffins. " And this is all the space you can occupy 
 in this vast edifice," is an irresistible observation of 
 the mind. The thought would not be less appli- 
 cable to any living individual pufled up with 
 the notion of the immensity of position he was 
 filling in the universe. "I, too, have lived, and 
 had a prodigious share in my ant-hill," would bo 
 the language of a dying pismire. I retired from 
 the taj, gratified far beyond my expectation, though 
 it had been highly raised. The Maha Rana of 
 Dholeporc (anciently of Gohud) came and encamped 
 near us. I fixed to see him on the morrow, rather 
 in defiance of etiquette. It is the custom of the 
 native sovereigns to keep inferiors, who come to 
 pay their respects, dancing attendance for several 
 days before they grant an audience. The trampling 
 on the convenience of another is a distinguished 
 proof of elevation. 
 
 February 2ith. I went early in the morning 
 to examine the fort. Though of considerable 
 strength, it is rather a royal castle than a fortress. 
 The first sensation I felt in passing through its tall 
 and massive gateways, was wonder at what had
 
 16 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 become of the race of men by whom such a pile 
 had been raised. The magnitude of the plan, the 
 size of the stones which composed the walls, and 
 the style of the finishing, do not belong to the 
 class of inhabitants now seen in these regions. So 
 true it is that the character of a sovereign imparts 
 itself speedily to all whom he sways. As long as 
 the Mussulman Emperors preserved their individual 
 energy, the people over whom they ruled were 
 capable of proud and dignified exertions. But 
 effort is contrary to the disposition prompted by a 
 hot climate; and if a man do not expect reward 
 for it in the notice of his superior, it is unnatural 
 that he should rouse himself to it. The sloth of 
 the later Emperors let down the springs of that 
 machine which had effected the conquest of India. 
 The example and the encouragement to vigour of 
 spirit failed together, and the apprehensions ex- 
 pressed to Tim our by his ameers were realized. 
 Their fears were that if they continued to reside in 
 the country, " our sons \vill become speakers of the 
 language of Hind." The phrase implied not so 
 much that the AfFghan race would forget their 
 mother tongue, as that they would naturally be
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 17 
 
 reared in the indolent habits and feeble sentiments 
 of the conquered. The higher classes, in fact, he- 
 came rapidly vitiated and effeminate ; not so the 
 lower orders. These lost, indeed, a sense of 
 national pride, and that kind of information which 
 is the joint possession of a people acting under en- 
 lightened and high-minded leaders ; but the con- 
 stant call for military service, to which they thought 
 themselves born, has kept them from generation 
 to generation individually martial. In truth, the 
 Mussulman part of the population must have felt 
 itself as at all times living only under an armed 
 truce amid the more numerous Hindoos. Thence 
 the attachment to the sabre has been maintained, 
 and this disposition in the Mussulman has caused 
 the Hindoo to habituate himself to arms in self- 
 defence. This is what has occasioned the manly 
 spirit observed by me as so prevalent in these upper 
 provinces. It is, luckily for us, a spirit unsus- 
 tained by scope of mind ; so that for an enter- 
 prise of magnitude in any line, these people 
 require our guidance. Such was not the case 
 when their forefathers built this fort. The help 
 contributed by the multitude in raising it has not 
 VOL. IT. c
 
 18 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 been mere bodily labour. The execution of every 
 part of it indicates workmen conversant with the 
 principles and best practice of their art. The Motee 
 Musjeed, adjoining the palace, is a beautiful mosque 
 of white marble. It has suffered considerably from 
 an earthquake. As I had noticed several blocks of 
 marble which had been saved from the ruins of 
 other edifices, I had no hesitation about directing 
 them to be immediately employed in repairing this 
 fine monument of former splendour. I do not 
 believe that the least sentiment of obligation will 
 be felt by the Mussulmans for this preservation of 
 a distinguished place of worship, their indifference 
 in that respect being extreme ; but it is befitting 
 the British name that its government should not 
 suffer (where it can easily prevent it) the decay of 
 structures which are decorations to the country it 
 rules. Within the palace, there is a much smaller, 
 but still elegant, marble Musjeed, which was ap- 
 propriated to the women of the zenana. It is in 
 good condition. The apartments of the palace are 
 in a sad dilapidated state. Taste appears to have 
 been consulted in them rather than magnificence. 
 When one looks from them upon the narrow turret
 
 1815.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 19 
 
 in which their sometime tenant, Shah Jehan, was 
 confined by his son, Aurungzebe, one is forcibly 
 struck with the recollection of the price which 
 those despots pay in the precariousness of their 
 fortune for the arbitrary indulgence of will which 
 they exercise. The constant sight of those walls 
 within which he had stalked supreme, and the per- 
 petual hearing of the martial music which pro- 
 claimed the appearance of his supplanter, must have 
 grievously sharpened to the unfortunate monarch 
 the pangs of his imprisonment. The bath-chambers 
 of the palace, lined and paved with marble, inlaid 
 in the same fashion as at the taj, are in a ruinous 
 condition. The dome of one of them is incapable 
 of being repaired without an expense which cannot 
 be incurred ; and whensoever it shall fall, which 
 must happen soon, it will infallibly destroy all the 
 beautiful workmanship beneath it. Anxious to 
 rescue so delicate a specimen of art, I asked the 
 collector and the magistrate, who accompanied me, 
 whether it could be reconciled to the inhabitants to 
 let that marble be transported to Calcutta. Those 
 gentlemen assured me there were not ten persons 
 in the city who knew of the existence of those
 
 20 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 baths and certainly not one who had the slightest 
 feeling respecting them. The pride of ancient 
 splendour was, they asserted, quite incomprehen - 
 sible to the people, provided it were unconnected 
 with the tomb : as to any sepulchral monument 
 they pay superstitious veneration, though they 
 would not contribute a rupee to secure the hand- 
 somest from destruction. I consequently directed 
 the marble of this chamber, as well as the white 
 marble basin of a fountain which I found in the 
 artillery-yard, full of all kinds of lumber, to be 
 raised and shipped for Calcutta, where they may 
 be somehow or other employed as ornaments to the 
 city. I would not this morning look at the Hall 
 of Mirrors, because the expense of lighting it 
 might be spared till Lady Loudouu should be able 
 to visit it. The arrangement of the ordnance and 
 stores is good. What was formerly the great hall 
 of audience is now the armoury, and answers the 
 purpose well. 
 
 In the middle of the day I received the Rana of 
 Dholepore, who came attended by a splendid 
 retinue. His manners are very good, and he ap- 
 peared exceedingly sensible of the courtesy which
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 21 
 
 I endeavoured to show to him. At the close of the 
 Mahratta war we sacrificed his interest rather too 
 lightly to the gratification of Scindiah; and I 
 wished to eradicate, as far as I might, the dissatis- 
 faction which the circumstance must have produced < 
 He lamented that the son, who had accompanied 
 him on his march, had been that morning taken so 
 ill as not to be able to come to me. On inquiring 
 about his malady, we were told that excessive 
 debility was the complaint, and that the native 
 doctors who ascribed it to a malady in the chest, 
 had been physicking him in vain for the last twelve 
 months. I strongly advised the Rana to let the 
 young man consult one of the medical gentlemen 
 of our camp ; and when he took leave he promised 
 to counsel his son to that effect. 
 
 February 25th. I went to return the Eana of 
 Dholepore's visit, waiving the native etiquette 
 which thinks that in paying that compliment ex- 
 peditiously too much attention is shown. The 
 poor man had come far to offer his respects, and I 
 was, moreover, solicitous that his sick son should 
 not be unnecessarily detained from home. Rana is 
 a Hindoo title of sovereignty of great antiquity,
 
 22 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 and thence is held a higher appellation than Maha 
 Rajah. There are but three or four chiefs who 
 possess it, and there is a sort of reverence for the 
 older time which prevents potentates of more 
 recent extraction from assuming it. I found the 
 Rana's camp perfectly well arranged, and his 
 durbar was better regulated and more orderly than 
 any I had seen unless, perhaps, the Rajah of 
 Bhurtpore's. His son, Phoop Sing, was introduced 
 to me, as were his ministers and principal sirdars. 
 A single rich chair was set for me under a canopy. 
 I insisted upon having chairs brought forward for 
 him and his son. To this he earnestly objected, 
 saying that I was his sovereign, and that although 
 I had ordered him to take a chair in my tent, 
 which his duty required him to obey, he must not 
 sit in my presence in his own tent. I should not 
 have noticed so trivial a circumstance were it not 
 to remark the essential advantage of keeping up a 
 tone of dignity with these people, so that a chief 
 shall not be ashamed of admitting before his own 
 nobles the right of the Company to command him. 
 It makes compliance with requisitions a matter of 
 course, without further consideration, instead of
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 23 
 
 being a point to be deliberated upon. Any amenity 
 of manner shown under that high pretension becomes 
 a flattering favour, when it otherwise might not 
 have been felt at all. Having subdued the modesty 
 of the Rana, I placed him and his son on each side 
 of me. Phoop Sing appears to be about seventeen 
 or eighteen years of age. His countenance, not- 
 withstanding strong marks of illness, is handsome 
 and of amiable expression. Indeed, in the look 
 and manner of the father there is a gentleness very 
 prepossessing. I had brought with me Dr. Gordon, 
 surgeon to the body-guard ; and I entreated Phoop 
 Sing to retire from, the heat of the durbar to 
 another tent with that gentleman, and to explain 
 to him without reserve all the symptoms of his 
 disorder. The Rana now solicited me to let some 
 Nautch girls be called in, as his country was famous 
 for them, and he had brought the best it furnished. 
 Though nothing is more tiresome than such an 
 exhibition, I was in politeness obliged to accede to 
 the proposal. The ladies consequently entered, and 
 displayed their skill. They were splendidly dressed 
 for the occasion, but were in nothing superior to 
 those I had seen elsewhere. When I was about to
 
 24- THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 take leave, a brace of hawks were presented, which 
 I was given to understand was the ancient homage. 
 The Rana wanted to mount his elephant and escort 
 me to my camp, but I would not allow it. As a 
 civility to him, I complimented him aloud on the 
 appearance of his troops, who were under arms 
 around us. lie said they were not his but mine, 
 on which all the officers and men put forth their 
 best smiles of satisfaction. As soon as I had the 
 opportunity of questioning Dr. Gordon about Phoop 
 Sing, I had the satisfaction of learning that he 
 thought the young man's malady radically slight, 
 and that he attributed the present feebleness of the 
 patient entirely to the injudicious management of 
 the native physicians. He said that he had pre- 
 scribed a course of medicine and diet which he was 
 sure would produce a very beneficial alteration in a 
 fortnight ; and Phoop Sing promised to adhere to 
 it rigidly. In the afternoon I went with Lady 
 Loudoun to the palace in the fort; the Hall of 
 Mirrors being in readiness for our reception. 
 Nothing can be better calculated to give a notion 
 of Asiatic refinement in luxury than this hall. A mul- 
 titude of coloured lamps suspended from the ceiling
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 25 
 
 throw a blaze of lustre around, and the figures mul- 
 tiplied in the looking-glasses with which the walls 
 are covered give a curious appearance of movement. 
 Fountains play in marble canals, and at the further 
 end of the hall there is a singular device. A sheet 
 of water falls in two cascades, one above the other, 
 but the spaces down which it tumbles are the 
 fronts of large glass cases filled with candles, so 
 that the light is seen through the descending 
 liquid. The freshness of the water in some degree 
 counterbalances the heat from the lamps. This is 
 one of those places, however, the enjoyment of 
 which is to consist in purpose not in practice; for 
 I should think the Emperor after having once 
 passed half an hour in it, would feel little tempta- 
 tion to repeat the visit. 
 
 February 26th. Divine service. In the after- 
 noon I went again to look at the tsij. Its perfect 
 beauty makes repeated inspection interesting. I 
 told the ofh'cer who commanded the escort of the 
 body-guard, that any of his men might enter the 
 building, should they be curious to view the 
 interior. Several availed themselves of the per- 
 mission; and all who did so, on approaching the
 
 26 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 tombs touched the pavement with their foreheads. 
 I gratified the attendants very much by ordering 
 a new silver-tissue canopy, with proper standard- 
 poles to be raised over the monuments. That 
 which now exists is completely ragged, and sup- 
 ported by shabby sticks covered with coarse red 
 paint. The reverence shown by the troopers to 
 the remains of the sovereigns is sufficient to show 
 how a little attention of this sort will be appre- 
 ciated. Again and again I say that men are to be 
 gratified not by what we think important, but by 
 what comes home to their habitual feelings and 
 prejudices, howsoever trifling it may appear to us. 
 This is a policy sadly neglected by the British in 
 this country, and the consequence is visible in the 
 very little approach to assimilation towards which 
 our long dominion over the country has led the 
 natives. In regard to the taj, however, Govern- 
 ment had been laudably careful and munificent. It 
 was in a state that menaced speedy downfall. Seeds 
 of the pepul tree, carried by the wind or by birds, 
 got into crevices of the masonry in the dome, and 
 taking root there, were growing luxuriantly. The 
 power of such roots of oversetting walls is well
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 27 
 
 known, and the neglect of a few years more would 
 have made the damage to this building irreparable. 
 Justly alarmed, Government ordered the deracina- 
 tion of these trees ; not restricting, however, its 
 attention to that point, but liberally ordering the 
 restoration of all that suffered injury from time or 
 accident in the edifice. The repairs were found 
 more extensive and chargeable than was appre- 
 hended ; but the work has been done in the com- 
 pletest manner, both in regard to elegance and 
 to permanence. I was told the natives greatly 
 applauded the piety of the act, though they would 
 not have done it themselves; remaining quite 
 insensible to any merit in the preservation of the 
 building as a splendid monument of art. Mr. 
 Turner, the magistrate, informs me that in the 
 Christian burying-ground there are several tomb- 
 stones, bearing Italian names, with the date 
 corresponding to the erection of the taj. This 
 circumstance strongly confirms the supposition that 
 artists had been procured from Europe to plan and 
 execute the building. 
 
 February 27th. In the morning, I went to the 
 fort to decide on some repairs stated to be neces-
 
 28 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL' [FEB. 
 
 sary. The readiness in which a battering train is 
 kept here for sudden service, pleased me much. 
 The provision is not advisable against bordering 
 states alone ; there is within our own territory an 
 evil, to meet which one should be prepared. The 
 constant obstruction to our police by Dya Ram's 
 possession of the strong fortress of Hattrass, must 
 soon produce a question on that important point. 
 His just confidence in the strength of his fort, and 
 in the quality of the numerous well-disciplined 
 troops which his large income enables him to main- 
 tain, makes him forget that he is nothing but a 
 jagheerdar and subject. He affects the style of an 
 independent chief, and, to augment his revenue, 
 as well as to secure aid from them, he gives shelter 
 to bands of robbers, who pay him a tribute for the 
 protection. This has been suffered much too long. 
 A person in his situation, and with his pretensions, 
 must, through apprehension, be hostile to our 
 Government, and the mischief is obvious which 
 must attend the existence of a fortress in the heart 
 of our possessions, under the command of an indi- 
 vidual disposed to render it an invitation and an
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 29 
 
 asylum for any of the adventurers who may as- 
 semble armies on our frontiers. In the middle of 
 the day I held a durbar. The persons present were 
 as follows : Goorghun Beg: Khan, jagheerdar, who 
 had a command under Lord Lake ; Aratun, his son ; 
 Ibrahim Beg Khan, son of the late Nawab ; Ismael 
 Khan, connected with the Nawab at Pulwul ; Rao 
 Chootur Bhoja, formerly minister of Jypore ; 
 Bukhshee Balmochund, formerly vakeel from 
 Jypore to the British Government; Ahmed Yar 
 Khan and Akber Yar Khan, sons of Khod Yar 
 Khan, jagheerdar in this district ; Neeamut Oolla 
 Khan, who holds a pension; Wujud Ali Khan, 
 Cazy of the city of Agra ; Ullum-oo-Deen, law 
 officer of the court of Agra. They appeared all 
 respectable and polished men. 
 
 At night we went to view the taj by moonlight. 
 It was well worth the trouble. The night was 
 cloudless, and the moon shed a brilliancy on the 
 pure white of the building that was uncommonly 
 striking. The silence, the chastened light, the 
 solemnity of the scene, all contributed to enhance 
 the real beauty of the appearance. We lingered
 
 30 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 long at the spot, contemplating- the objects from 
 various points, and when we departed, it was with 
 a deep impression of gratification. 
 
 February 2Sth. We bade adieu to Agra. In 
 taking leave of Mr. Metcalfe and Mr. Strachey, 
 I requested the former to take with him to Delhi 
 the gaudy state chariot, as a present to the King. 
 That it might be complete, I sent the four fine 
 horses accustomed to draw it, with their rich 
 harness. As an article of convenience and splen- 
 dour, it was the most striking that I could send ; 
 and I wished to show the attention, as I had so 
 much shorn the pretensions of his Majesty to 
 supremacy. From the cantonments to the place 
 where our boat waited for us, the route lay under 
 the walls of the fort. Just at the ghaut we saw 
 the famous brass cannon. It is probably the 
 largest, certainly the most useless, piece of ord- 
 nance ever cast. It lies, without a carriage, on 
 blocks of timber near the ghaut, whence one infers 
 that there was at some period an intention of 
 moving it elsewhere by water. The transportation 
 of it would not be difficult, but 1 am told that no- 
 thing would more painfully a fleet the feelings of
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 31 
 
 the inhabitants of Agra than the removal of this 
 gun. When we embarked, we did not go straight 
 across the river, but proceeded up it about a mile 
 to see the Queen's gardens. It was a favourite 
 retreat of Nour Jehan. There are not in the build- 
 ings any vestiges of magnificence. The garden is 
 subdivided into a number of square compartments 
 by high terraces, which cross each other. These 
 terraces, while they form the walks, serve to con- 
 duct to the different parts of the garden the water 
 raised from the Jumna by a wheel worked with 
 oxen. This constant irrigation produced verdure 
 in the garden, when little appearance was left of it 
 in other places during the hot season. The garden 
 is now in the possession of Government ; it is put 
 to the national use of raising a quantity of forest 
 or fruit trees, which are delivered gratis to any of 
 the zemindars who apply for them. 
 
 Notwithstanding this facility, and the prospec- 
 tive advantage, there are few of the zemindars who 
 will be at the trouble of planting out those trees. 
 The fruit which we found in the greatest plenty 
 here, was a kind of orange, the eatable part of 
 which is almost loose within the rind. It adheres
 
 32 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MABCH, 
 
 by only a few fibres. In point of flavour and suc- 
 culence, it is by no means a good sort. Embarking 
 again, we descended the stream, and landed near 
 the tomb of Eatimud-oo-Dowlah, the father of Nour 
 Jehan. It is the plan of the tomb of Akbar on a 
 diminished scale. The ornamental work of the 
 inside is of the same style of inlaying with that 
 at the taj, but of coarser material and inferior 
 execution. With regret I observed how much it 
 had been suffered to go to decay before this part 
 of the country came into our possession. On 
 inquiry, I found that lands had been bequeathed to 
 a branch of Eatimud's family, which still holds 
 them, for the purpose of keeping up this monument. 
 I directed the magistrate to apprize them that, if 
 decent repair was not from time to time bestowed 
 on the building, Government would resume the 
 lands as forfeited by the non-performance of the 
 duty assigned. I hope the menace may have some 
 effect. Our camp was very near the tomb, as the 
 elephants, camels, and cattle from our former 
 ground had a considerable circuit to make in 
 order to gain practicable ford. 
 
 March 1st. To Eatimudpoor, twelve miles.
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 33 
 
 
 
 March 2nd. To Firozabad, thirteen miles. 
 
 March 3rd. To Shekoabad, fifteen miles. 
 
 March 4th. To Burawul, ten miles. 
 
 March 5th. To Bikree, nine miles. 
 
 None of these marches have produced anything 
 worthy of observation. The country which we 
 have traversed is poorly cultivated, not having yet 
 recovered the devastation which it suffered in the 
 Mahratta war. 
 
 March 6th. Marched to Mynpooree. The 
 country has improved considerably in appearance, 
 and at Mynpooree there is all the elegance of build- 
 ings which marks a British station. In the town 
 there is a building asserted to be Hindoo, with a 
 steeple so like that of many churches in England, 
 as to give me at first the conviction that it was an 
 European place of worship. I could not learn 
 when or by whom it was erected. The body of 
 the building does not correspond at all with this 
 appendage. Probably some Portuguese in the 
 earlier period of their intercourse with this country, 
 has prevailed on a rich native to let him add this 
 decoration to the temple, which the native was 
 disposed to raise. This day's march was twelve miles. 
 
 VOL. II. D
 
 34 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MABCH, 
 
 
 
 March 7th. To Bueegaon, nine miles. 
 
 March 8th. To Muddunpoor, twelve miles. 
 
 March 9th. To Sookhraee. 
 
 March 10th. To Futtehghur. The country 
 had been improving in appearance latterly. As 
 we approached this place, I was much struck with 
 it. The whole plain, wherever the eye can reach, 
 is covered with luxuriant crops. Numerous and 
 large groves of mango-trees break the uniformity 
 of the scene, and those at a distance form a rich 
 background to it. The part immediately close to 
 the cantonment is an exception to this statement. 
 It is broken in an extraordinary manner by small 
 ravines, not running in any general direction, but 
 forming the most confused map of intersections 
 imaginable. This tract is of course uncultivated, 
 and nothing can present a more arid sterility than 
 its face. A considerable protection is afforded to 
 the cantonment by this state of the soil ; for cavalry 
 cannot approach but by the roads, on all of which 
 there are narrow passes. The supposition that 
 cavalry could reach a station so much withdrawn 
 from the frontier may seem strained; yet it is 
 certain from former instances that the Mahrattas,
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 35 
 
 and still more the Pindaree Horse, would be very 
 capable of penetrating thus far ; and probably 
 their appearance on the spot would be the first 
 notice of their irruption. A strong temptation for 
 such an enterprise exists. There is a mint here 
 for converting into our coin the various moneys 
 received in the course of trade by these districts, 
 and paid as bullion in the settlement of public 
 demands. At times many lacks of rupees are ac- 
 cumulated in the mint. Our camp was pitched on 
 a part of the parade, near the theatre. We have, 
 however, this evening established ourselves in an 
 excellent house, lent to us by Mr. Donnithorne, 
 the collector and mint master. It is very exten- 
 sive and convenient. 
 
 March llth. The young Nawab of Furrucka- 
 bad and his brother came to breakfast. They had 
 come out on their elephants to make their salaams, 
 on our approach yesterday, and I had given this 
 invitation as a compliment, which has been highly 
 felt. The Nawab appears very intelligent, and 
 shows more of education, both as to manners and 
 information, than any native of his age whom I 
 have met. The young men were much pleased
 
 36 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAHCH, 
 
 with strawberries, which they had never seen 
 before ; I gratified them with an assurance that I 
 would endeavour to get some plants for them. 
 This fruit came from a garden of Mr. Donni- 
 thorne's, and was tolerably good. In the middle 
 of the day, I had a levee. The principal civilians 
 were Sir Edward Colebrooke and Mr. Deane, com- 
 missioners for the settlement of the ceded and con- 
 quered provinces, two men to whose talents and 
 indefatigable industry the Company is extraordi- 
 narily indebted ; Mr. Donnithorne; Mr. Wright, 
 judge and magistrate; Mr. Ncwnham, superinten- 
 dent of resources; Mr. Laing, secretary to the 
 commissioners ; Mr. Moore, assistant ditto ; Mr. 
 Christian and Mr. Trail!, assistants; Mr. Reilley, 
 civil surgeon ; Mr. Blake, assay master. 
 
 March 12th. We had divine service in the 
 house. The Rev. Mr. Thomason, who had pre- 
 ceded us from Agra in order to embark here for 
 Calcutta, had been accidentally detained. We 
 have summoned the chaplain from Cawnpore, Mr. 
 Henderson, to officiate here during our stay. 
 
 March 13th. I went to Furruckabad to return 
 the Nawab's visit. His guardian privately soli-
 
 1815.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 37 
 
 cited through Sir Edward Colebrooke, that I would 
 go on my elephant, as the young Nawab was not 
 a good horseman, and it would not be proper for 
 him to be on an elephant should I be on a horse. 
 This weighty article was settled according to his 
 wish. The city is nearly three miles from Futteh- 
 ghur. About a mile from the gate, the Nawab 
 and his kinsmen met me, making their elephants 
 kneel in salutation. This ceremony being over, 
 they hastened with all speed back to the city, that 
 the Nawab might meet me at the palace. 
 
 I followed leisurely, and had a thorough view of 
 FiuTuckabad. It is large and populous ; but it has 
 much more the appearance of a multitude of huts 
 suddenly run up in a grove for temporary residence 
 than it has that of a city. The streets are wide 
 and were very clean. The people of any substance 
 were all dressed for the occasion, and testified great 
 respect. The palace stands at the further end of 
 the town in the midst of houses ; winding paths, 
 rather than lanes, lead up a tolerable ascent to it. 
 The Nawab met me at the gate, too narrow for the 
 elephant to enter, and I was carried a few steps in 
 a palankeen to a hall of reception. This has evi- 
 
 357155
 
 38 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MARCH, 
 
 dently been built by an European architect. It is 
 spacious and lofty, commanding a fine view over 
 the plain. There is a garden, well laid out in the 
 formal fashion, at the foot of the terrace on which 
 it stands. The airiness of this part of the palace, 
 therefore, compensates for the manner in which 
 it is shouldered by buildings on the other side. 
 Thirty-one trays of presents were offered, but I 
 would only take the plainest shawl that appeared 
 among them. A message was sent from the 
 zenana, by his mother, imploring my protection 
 for the Nawab. They cannot in their notions 
 separate power from the arbitrary use of it, and 
 even their experience of us cannot make them 
 think themselves secure against those oppressions 
 which they were accustomed to undergo from the 
 governments that preceded us. This family was 
 desperately squeezed while it was under the do- 
 minion of Asoph-oo-Dowlah. They now enjoy in 
 security a dignified opulence. The tone which I 
 held on closing my visit was, I believe, very satis- 
 factory. 
 
 March 14th. I went at daybreak to examine 
 the fort. It is one of the country mud forts, but
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 3 
 
 of considerable extent. After this territory had 
 been ceded to us, we brought forward a claim that 
 the Nawab Vizeer should repair' some damages 
 which had, through inattention, accrued to the 
 works after they were by treaty become ours. The 
 Vizeer was glad to compound for laying down the 
 sum which we said the repairs would cost, and an 
 assurance was given to him (lest he might appre- 
 hend a second demand) that the money should not 
 be applied to any other purpose. As the cash, 
 however, went into the general treasury, there was 
 no particular impatience in Government to expend 
 it on its destined object, and it is only of late that 
 an order has been given for the repairs. They are 
 forward for the time employed, and the place will, 
 for a less amount than that allotted for the service, 
 be made of sufficient strength for any purpose 
 which can be contemplated in it. The only utility 
 of such a fortress is, that in the temporary denuda- 
 tion of the district from the troops being employed 
 elsewhere, it may receive the public treasure, the 
 women, the civil officers, the sick, and the baggage 
 of the corps in the field ; all of which might other- 
 wise be at the mercy of predatory parties. The
 
 40 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MABCH, 
 
 fort is on a cliff above the Ganges, but that ele- 
 vated bank is giving way so much, from the cur- 
 rent setting against it, that it will be difficult to 
 keep any regular face on that side ; on the other 
 hand, an attempt to surprise it from the water 
 could scarcely be undertaken, as the strength of 
 the stream would make the chances infinite against 
 a boat's hitting its point in a dark night, the only 
 time which could afford a hope of success to such 
 an enterprise. The fronts presented to the land 
 would require a good battering-train and much 
 leisure, neither of which such an enemy as could 
 assail them is likely to have. After breakfast, I 
 had a levee for the native officers of the new levies 
 as well as those of the battalion of the 4th Native 
 Infantry stationed here. This is an attention 
 which has, as I am assured, a very beneficial effect. 
 The officers feel elevated by it in the opinion of 
 their countrymen, and the distinction is an addi- 
 tional motive for attachment to our service. 
 
 March 21st. -Nothing has occurred in the inter- 
 mediate days worth entering. 
 
 March 27th. Examining the nature of the ra- 
 vines, I discovered easily the cause of their broken
 
 1815.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 4-1 
 
 appearance. The soil is very full of konka, a kind 
 of limestone. Though the konka is not in layers, 
 where a number of the nodules of it happen to be 
 together they bind each other and resist the action 
 of the rains, which wash away the looser earth. 
 Hence are produced those singularly rugged irre- 
 gularities which mark this spot. The banks of the 
 ravines are full of cavities which afford safe retreats 
 to a number of wolves. The inhabitants have, 
 however, a superstitious prejudice against killing 
 wolves. They believe that wherever the blood of 
 a wolf is shed, several other wolves of a peculiarly 
 fierce quality will be produced from it, and will 
 make it their special business to avenge the slaugh- 
 tered wolf by preying on the aggressor or his 
 family. Many children and some w r omen are car- 
 ried off every year from Futtehghur by the wolves, 
 which come after dark into the very houses ; and 
 the people are always satisfied that some indivi- 
 dual of the family, in which the calamity occurs, 
 must have provoked their vengeance by killing a 
 wolf somewhere. I had orders given to my own shi- 
 karee (keeper) to shoot a wolf for me, as I wanted 
 to see if there were any difference between it and
 
 42 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [APHII,, 
 
 the wolf of Europe. He answered that if he could 
 get a shot at a wolf while it was passing a piece of 
 water he would certainly try to kill one for me, 
 but that he did not dare to attempt it where the 
 blood would fall on land. 
 
 April 2nd. Mr. Henderson having arrived, we 
 have had divine service this morning for all of the 
 cantonment. The only place capable of receiving 
 such a congregation is a large room under the same 
 roof with the theatre. The vicinity is rather in- 
 congruous, but in this country one must avail one- 
 self of the best resource that occurs. 
 
 April 8th. A man brought some lizards of a 
 species of which I had seen but one before. They 
 are about a foot in length, of a dirty cream colour, 
 the skin granulated, and the tail horizontally flat- 
 tened. They do not show any activity, and never 
 attempt to bite. By the man's description they 
 live in a social way, a good many of them together, 
 in mounds of sandy soil. 
 
 April 9th. Divine service at five in the morning. 
 Mr. Reilly showed to me a small kind of cobra 
 capella, preserved in spirits. It has the spectacle 
 mark very distinct near the head ; but Mr. Reilly
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 43 
 
 assures me that this kind, discriminated from the 
 others by its yellow hue, never grows to a length 
 exceeding a foot. I take this to be what the Por- 
 tuguese denominated cobra menil; though our 
 people, misled by the natives, have been fruitlessly 
 seeking for some very minute serpent of superiorly 
 venomous quality, which they imagine to be 
 designated by that name. The natives in general 
 believe all serpents to be poisonous, and have a cur- 
 rent notion about some very small snake whose bite 
 kills in a few seconds, though none of them can 
 point out the kind. From the inquiries I have 
 made, I understand the snake-catchers are not 
 acquainted with any very small serpent that is 
 dangerous. 
 
 April 16th. I sent to the Nawab of Furrucka- 
 bad two fine tigers, which I had just received from 
 the E/ana of Dholepore. The delight which this 
 present gave to the young man surpasses all descrip- 
 tion. He told Sir E. Colebrooke the tigers were 
 just what he wanted to have ; but that they should 
 be sent to him by the Governor-General was such 
 an honour to him, in the estimation of the country, 
 as would add the highest consideration to his family.
 
 44 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [APRIL, 
 
 "We had divine service in the morning. It ip 
 always well attended, notwithstanding the heat. 
 Many half-castes were present. 
 
 April 20th. A Mogul, whose clear complexion, 
 manners, and dress bespoke him of rank, had met 
 me yesterday in my morning ride. Dismounting 
 from his horse he approached me with a petition, 
 which I of course received. On putting it into 
 my hand, he said it was secret. I requested him to 
 call on Mr. Ricketts for the answer ; and I put the 
 petition into my pocket. When I got home, it ap- 
 peared to he only a solicitation that I would grant 
 him a private audience in such a manner as would 
 not attract notice. I transmitted the petition to 
 Mr. Ricketts, entreating him to tell the Mogul 
 that the conference between them would answer 
 just as well as if I granted the audience. Mr. 
 Ricketts has related the substance of the secret 
 communication, which was to this effect. It was 
 conceived that the misbehaviour of Dya Ram at 
 my durbar must have left on my mind the deter- 
 mination to punish that chieftain. His officers 
 were exceedingly attached to his eldest son, and 
 feared the young man might be implicated in the
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 45 
 
 ruin of his father. They therefore proposed to 
 fulfil all my wishes, on the condition that I would 
 engage to let the sou succeed his father. If I 
 would make that promise, I had nothing to do but 
 to advance, with three battalions, against Hattras, 
 when the gates should be immediately opened, the 
 corpse of Dya Ham should be laid at my feet, the 
 fortress should be surrendered, and the son should 
 take the oath of fealty. I desired Mr. Ricketts to 
 inform the Mogul that if the British Government 
 were disposed to punish Dya Ram, it was strong 
 enough to do so, without resorting to the baseness 
 of conspiracy and murder ; ordering the Mogul to 
 quit Futtehghur immediately. 
 
 May 2nd. An animal of the badger tribe was 
 brought for our inspection. It is a native of the 
 lower range of hills ; and is called by our people 
 the grave-digger, from its habit of burrowing into 
 places where corpses are interred, in order to feed 
 on them. An uglier animal I have never seen. It 
 is less than our badger, and the head not so much 
 prolonged, of a dirty black and white, with a fore- 
 arm and paw of uncommon strength in proportion 
 to the size of the creature, to aid it in delving. It
 
 46 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 has been objected to those who maintain the doc- 
 trine of final causes, that they reason inversely ; 
 and it is insisted that instead of a certain confor- 
 mation having been bestowed on an animal, with a 
 .reference to its destined mode of living, it is the 
 peculiar structure of the animal which determines 
 its propensities, and above all its selection of food. 
 The position could not be exemplified more spe- 
 ciously than by instancing the shape of such a 
 quadruped as the grave-digger. Supposing that 
 shape accidental, a consciousness attendant on it of 
 incapacity to overtake weaker animals above 
 ground, or to escape from stronger ones, would 
 necessarily incline the grave-digger to seek its sub- 
 sistence, and at the same time to ensure its safety, 
 by pursuing creatures which burrow ; in the course 
 of which habit, its stumbling on the ample store 
 of a buried body would naturally superinduce in 
 the individual the custom of searching for so con- 
 venient a provision. This argument, impeachable 
 on many other grounds, would not account for the 
 undeviating instinct with which different animals 
 show an eagerness for some particular kind of 
 food, apparently assigned to them by Providence,
 
 1815.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 47 
 
 though they may never before have seen it. My 
 children have a little ichneumon, which was taken 
 so young out of the nest, that there is no pro- 
 bability of its ever having fed at that time but by 
 sucking the mother. It has since been reared on 
 bread and milk. The other day a lizard ran across 
 the floor, the ichneumon darted at it, seized it, and 
 devoured it greedily. The circumstance seems to 
 have awakened in the ichneumon dispositions quite 
 dormant before ; for it ever since has shown a 
 captiousness and a readiness to bite, of which there 
 was not antecedently any symptoms. To look for 
 buried carcasses may have been taught the grave- 
 digger by accident ; but it is still a practice linked to 
 those propensities which seem to be the destination 
 of his being. There appears a constant arrange- 
 ment in nature for circumscribing the extension of 
 species otherwise likely to become too numerous ; 
 .and the function of the grave-digger is probably to 
 .keep within bounds certain races which breed under 
 the surface, and which, but for such an enemy, 
 would pullulate too rapidly. 
 
 May 18th. A native brought a number of 
 black scorpions to show to us. They are shorter,
 
 48 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAY, 
 
 broader, and flatter than any I had before seen. 
 He bad thrown them out of an earthen pot on to 
 the ground ; and when our curiosity was satisfied 
 he collected them with his fingers and put them 
 quietly back again. I could not learn that he con- 
 sidered himself secured by any charm against their 
 sting, and it appeared that he depended solely on 
 not provoking them by handling them roughly. 
 
 May 24th. A wolf was brought for examina- 
 tion. It was said to be of full size. In that case 
 these Indian wolves are not so large and powerful 
 as the wolves of Europe. 1 saw no difference in 
 other respects. 
 
 May 30th. Observing a hyena which some men 
 had brought, I noticed that one of its forelegs was 
 broken ; the men answered very quietly that they 
 had broken it on purpose, in order to prevent the 
 animal's getting away if he happened to extricate 
 himself from the rope with which he was tied. 
 There is a strange inconsistency with these people. 
 The have great reluctance to kill anything; but 
 short of putting it to death, they will without 
 compunction exercise any cruelty on it. A day or 
 two ago three guanas were brought. Each had its
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 49 
 
 Lack and lower jaw broken to prevent its running 
 off or biting. Yet these same folks exert them- 
 selves to preserve the lives of the pariah clogs (dogs 
 that belong to nobody) on a particular occasion ^ 
 Once or twice in every year, the magistrate here 
 gives notice that on such a day parties will be sent 
 out to kill all dogs found straying. This is done 
 on account of the frequency of mad dogs. The 
 notice is given that gentlemen possessing dogs may 
 keep them tied up on that day ; and the natives 
 constantly defeat the purpose of the magistrate by 
 enticing into their houses, and shutting up as many 
 dogs as they can, though they have no partiality 
 for the dogs and are much troubled by them at all 
 times. 
 
 June 4th. The King's birthday; but as the 
 hot winds are still in force, there was no making 
 any party for the celebration of it. I had the 
 troops out on their parade to fire a feu de joie in 
 honour of the occasion, this evening; though it 
 was after sunset, the air and the ground were of a 
 temperature almost intolerable. I always take a 
 short ride at daybreak, but even then the heat is 
 great. 
 
 VOL. II. E
 
 50 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUNE, 
 
 June 15th. The Nawab Vizeer insisted on send- 
 ing his son to compliment me on our success 
 against the Gorkhas. This day Nusser-oo-Deen, 
 who now has the title of Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah, 
 arrived at the ground allotted for his encampment 
 near the new custom-house, about a mile from my 
 quarters. He was accompanied by Agha Meer, 
 the real minister, (now dignified by the name of 
 Moatummud-oo-Dowlah), and by Rajah Dya 
 Krisheii, the dewan. Their escort, suite, and camp- 
 followers amounted to at least 15,000 persons. I 
 should have been rejoiced to receive the young 
 Prince immediately, but the laws of etiquette in 
 this country would not allow it. The minister and 
 Mr. George Baillie, assistant to the Resident at 
 Lucknow, came from Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah to ask 
 leave for his waiting on me. I fixed that he should 
 breakfast with me to-morrow. I received the 
 minister with every mark of civility. The kind 
 attention of Mr. Deane and Mr. Donnithorne,- in 
 sending to me a quantity of peaches from their 
 gardens, enabled me to make a very acceptable 
 present of fruit to Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah. 
 
 June 16th. The whole party came to breakfast ;
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 51 
 
 and the young Prince seemed unfeignedly happy to 
 see us. He presented me in the usual tone of 
 observance, with a sword, which, with a delicate 
 attention to my former objections to costly gifts, 
 was of trifling price. It fulfilled the custom, which 
 was enough. 
 
 June 17th. I went to return the visit, attended 
 by all the gentlemen of the station. We were on 
 elephants, which is here the highest state. 
 Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah met us about halfway, with 
 all his suite. We proceeded through his escort, 
 many of whom had seen me at Lucknow, and 
 seemed quite glad to meet me again. When we 
 descended at the Prince's tents we went for a 
 moment into the durbar, and thence to the breakfast 
 tent. A party of the Nautch women had been 
 brought from Lucknow to enliven the festival. After 
 they had performed some time with their usual 
 monotony, a female balancer succeeded ; and then 
 came a buffoon representation of a Persian courting 
 a Hindostanee woman. The latter character was 
 acted by a Cashmerian boy, who took off with some 
 acuteness the tone and manner of three or four of 
 the Nautch women. The women seemed much 
 E 2
 
 52 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUKE, 
 
 amused with his ridicule of them. When we arose 
 from table, we went into a tent where very hand- 
 some presents were laid out. At the upper end of 
 it there was a portrait of me curiously arranged. 
 It was a three-quarter, copied on canvas from the 
 picture done by Mr. Home, at Lucknow ; but the 
 figure had been cut out from the rest of the canvas, 
 and had been fixed on a transparent gauze, which 
 produced a very odd effect. I took a shawl, telling 
 the Prince he knew my rule about presents. As 
 the sun was high and strong when we parted, I 
 would not allow Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah to quit the 
 tents ; but there was no preventing the ministers 
 from seeing me safe home. Moatummud-oo- 
 Dowlah said it would discredit him in everybody's 
 eyes if I forbade his attendance. 
 
 June 18th. I this day sent to the Prince, 
 though in truth it was giving it to the Nawab 
 Vizeer, a beautiful grey horse which the Prince 
 Regent had bestowed on me. Any article which 
 money could purchase would be but an insignificant 
 present to a person in possession of vast riches. 
 An English horse of such quality was not pro- 
 curable for money. It was, therefore, a magnifi-
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 53 
 
 cent gift ; but it was well merited by one who had 
 lent to me (on my simple signature) , for the use of 
 the Company, 2,600,000 sterling in cash; and I 
 could be sure that the Prince Regent would applaud 
 my having so disposed of his present. The simple 
 circulation of such an amount of coin, all silver, in 
 our own provinces, must be an extraordinary 
 benefit to the Company's territories, and of course 
 to the Company itself. 
 
 June 19th. Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah and his party 
 dined with me. Such a ceremony is an oppressive 
 service at this season ; but as there was much cor- 
 diality, it went off very well. Many of the Mussul- 
 mans in other parts of India will not eat with the 
 Europeans, although they sit down to table with 
 them. All those from Lucknow partake of the 
 dinner without scruple, if they have a general 
 assurance from you that there is no swine's flesh 
 in the dishes. I observed that three holy men 
 who accompanied Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah were as 
 little scrupulous as the rest. 
 
 June 20th. Moatummud-oo-Dowlah had an 
 audience from me on business. He had caused 
 the substance of the Nawab Vizeer's applications
 
 54 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUNE, 
 
 to be communicated to me beforehand, that I 
 might consider how far I could meet them. 
 Luckily they were in general so fair that my 
 answers were satisfactory. One of them related to 
 a point on which the Nawab Vizeer had extraordi- 
 narily set his heart. Our district of Khyraghur is 
 uncommonly famous as a spot for tiger hunting. 
 The Vizeer, who takes with him on his hunting 
 excursions nearly six hundred elephants to drive 
 the game from all quarters to the place where he 
 purposes to sport, was quite fascinated with the 
 accounts he had received of the advantages pos- 
 sessed by this tract for his style of recreation; 
 and he solicited the cession of it to him on any 
 terms. The district is of no benefit to us. It is a 
 long strip between the dominions of the Vizeer 
 and the Gorkha territories, from both of which 
 predatory parties are continually plundering our 
 farmers, harassingly occupying our troops, and 
 furnishing the ryots with an excuse for nonpay- 
 ment of their rents. The possession is therefore a 
 trouble to us, and makes little return to the Trea- 
 sury. I told Moatummud-oo-Dowlah that I was 
 highly desirous to gratify the Vizeer; but as I was
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 55 
 
 the depositary of the Company's interest, I could 
 only act according to the principle of that trust. 
 I said, that as we had expelled the Gorkhas from 
 the low lands, which bordered on Khyraghur, a 
 rich and extensive territory, including the part 
 which his Excellency so much coveted, was at my 
 disposal, and I professed my readiness, on the ter- 
 mination of the war with the Gorkhas, to make 
 over to the Vizeer that territory upon terms that 
 might be satisfactory to my employers. I repre- 
 sented that as the Vizeer gained much in point of 
 security by the issue of the war, he would at all 
 events probably wish to compensate us for our ex- 
 penditures. Were a grant of Khyraghur and the 
 conquered lands adjacent to be added to the former 
 consideration, I conceived the Vizeer might be well 
 inclined to wipe off one crore from the debt which 
 we had recently incurred towards him. The 
 minister said that he looked on the proposition as 
 perfectly just, and that he had not a doubt of the 
 Vizeer's cheerful acquiescence. If I can accomplish 
 this arrangement, it will be a prodigious point 
 gained for the Company. 
 
 June 21st. Imteeauz-oo-Dowlah came to me,
 
 56 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUNE, 
 
 that I might carry him to the mint, and show to 
 him and his party the whole process of coinage. 
 They seemed much gratified. They then break- 
 fasted with me, after which I had a number of 
 chemical experiments exhibited to them by the 
 assay master, Mr. Blake. This seemed to be quite 
 novel to them, and excited their wonder very much. 
 I asked Dya Krishen if Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah had 
 tried the English horse, as I had apprized him that it 
 was perfectly gentle. The dewan answered, that the 
 young Prince would not venture to mount it on any 
 account without having previously received the 
 Nawab Vizeer's special permission. In the evening 
 I dined with Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah, in his encamp- 
 ment. It is surprising how well children of rank 
 are brought up to go through these ceremonies 
 with patience and gravity. Nothing could be 
 better than the manners of this young man. At 
 table we had a repetition of the songs, the 
 balancing girl, and the buffoonery, without the 
 slightest variation. 
 
 June 22nd. The written answers to the vizeer's 
 applications were signed by me, and delivered to 
 Moatummud-oo-Dowlah and Dya Krishen, who
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 57 
 
 professed their conviction that the tenor of the 
 document would be highly gratifying to his Excel- 
 lency. 
 
 June 23rd. Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah and the rest 
 came to the audience of leave. I gave some 
 presents for himself and the Nawab Yizeer, and I 
 made my children give some curious articles to 
 Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah, in return for Hindostanee 
 dresses sent to them from the zenana. Lady 
 Loudoun likewise gave him a handsome present. 
 On the two ministers I bestowed very rich khelauts. 
 These, a heavy weight, were put over their 
 ordinary clothes, and to Moatummud-oo-Dowlah 
 there was superadded a fur cloak a peculiar 
 distinction. Such clothing, with the aid of a 
 sword, with a broad belt thrown over one shoulder, 
 and a shield dependent from the other, must in 
 this broiling weather have made the patients pay 
 dear for the honour bestowed on them. They 
 appeared, however, extremely sensible to the 
 distinction, and waddled to their elephants with 
 infinite complacency. The young Prince seemed 
 really concerned at the separation, and earnestly 
 recommended himself to our remembrance. Dya
 
 58 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JULY, 
 
 Krishen threw out privately to Mr. Ricketts his 
 anxiety to be freed from his office. From other 
 circumstances I feared there is in the Vizeer's 
 character a suspicion and a fickleness which make 
 it difficult to serve him with comfort. 
 
 July 12th. The rains set in some time ago, 
 and have been more plentiful than usual. There 
 is thence a keen prognostication among the natives 
 of fertility. The ground is thoroughly soaked, 
 and the ploughs are everywhere at work. While 
 the hot winds blow, the soil is baked as hard 
 and close as it is during a severe frost with us. 
 Heavy as is the quantity of rain which has fallen, 
 it has not yet been sufficient to make the general 
 temperature of the air much cooler. The breeze, 
 indeed, is no longer scorching, but the earth has 
 been so much heated that the glow from it con- 
 tinues. For the present the rain is suspended; 
 it is, therefore, a moment of great convenience 
 for the farmer, who hopes to get his seed into 
 the ground before a second deluge comes. Though 
 with their miserable ploughs they can only just 
 scratch the surface of the soil, they get plentiful 
 crops without manure. By repeated ploughings
 
 1815.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 59 
 
 they pulverize the earth very thoroughly, and 
 in this rests all their confidence of what is to 
 produce a beneficial return. Many of our people 
 have supposed that this management may be the 
 best suited to the soil and climate, and have 
 imagined that our system of ploughing would 
 not answer. They overlook the disproportioned 
 amount of labour expended here on every acre, 
 and the large quantity of seed required to ensure 
 a satisfactory crop. I am satisfied that infinite 
 advantage may be rendered to the community 
 by the introduction of some of our practice, 
 which the farmer here would readily adopt had 
 he ocular proof of its benefit. Much good which 
 might be done to this country is passed over, 
 from an erroneous persuasion that the people 
 are too obstinately wedded to their own habits 
 to adopt any improvement from us ; but in all 
 unenlightened nations it must be the case, that 
 men are not able to comprehend theories, and can 
 be convinced only by what is proved to their sight. 
 If these people remain rivetted to their prejudices 
 the fault is in those rulers who have made no effort 
 for the diffusion of knowledge among them.
 
 60 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 July 22nd. A curious account has been given 
 to me of a sect called the Saads, who inhabit 
 a particular quarter of the city of Furruckabad. 
 They have been settled here for about two hundred 
 years, but do not seem to have any accurate 
 tradition of their origin, or whence they came. 
 In many respects they resemble our Quakers. 
 They make no salaam or salutation to anybody, 
 yet are respectful in their look and demeanour. 
 Their religion is pure Deism. Distinction of caste 
 is rejected by them, and they marry chiefly among 
 themselves. Being strictly moral and industrious, 
 they are respected by their neighbours of the 
 Hindoo or Mahomedan persuasions. At fixed 
 periods they have public meetings of each ward 
 of their part of the city, on which occasions their 
 particular articles of doctrine are expounded and 
 inculcated by some of the principal persons, 
 irregular conduct of individuals is investigated, 
 and distresses not entailed by culpable indiscretion 
 are relieved from the fund of a voluntary contri- 
 bution. Although their manner is mild, they have 
 not the gravity of the Quaker, but appear in every- 
 thing perfectly simple, contented, and inofiensive. I
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 61 
 
 do not recollect to have met with any mention of 
 these people, and it is singular that a sect so 
 strongly discriminated from the other natives, 
 and so numerous, should not have attracted more 
 notice. 
 
 July 29th. Our short residence here has occa- 
 sioned the circulation of a considerable sum of 
 money in the neighbourhood. The advantageous 
 effect of that addition to the means of the people 
 around is very pleasingly exhibited. A great num- 
 ber of patches of ground, which at our arrival here 
 were in a state of hopeless neglect, are now under 
 tillage. I allude to the little flat plots among the 
 ravines. Remarkable industry has been shown in 
 smoothing and rendering cultivable very many 
 surfaces which were so broken as apparently to bid 
 defiance to the approach of the plough. Much en- 
 couragement is undoubtedly given to activity in 
 this respect. If a man will undertake to bring a 
 spot of waste ground into cultivation, the collector 
 will grant him a lease for five years rent free, with 
 a specified light acknowledgment for the succeed- 
 ing three years. At the expiration of the eighth 
 year, the collector has to agree for a new lease on
 
 62 . THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JULY, 
 
 the ordinary terms of the district. The result of 
 such a bargain in England would be that the occu- 
 pier would work the land to exhaustion, and then 
 quit it. That cannot happen here; the land, 
 without any appearance of richness, has a principle 
 of renovation in it which causes it to be always 
 in heart, if it be but kept sufficiently ploughed. 
 Of course the occupier at the end of his lease has 
 from his experience learned to place such confidence 
 in an ample return that there is nothing so far from 
 his wish as to quit his tenure. In some English 
 publications I have seen strong representations 
 made against the enormous proportion of the pro- 
 duce of the land exacted by the British Govern- 
 ment in India. That in many cases under the 
 permanent settlement the demand is so large as to 
 operate oppressively, I well believe, yet that is not 
 to be charged directly to Government. Much 
 oversight was committed in that arrangement, 
 
 o o y 
 
 which (as it was managed) was more specious than 
 really beneficial. It was assumed that the zemin- 
 dars were the real landowners, and that, command- 
 ing as such the attachment of the peasantry, they 
 would insure the adherence of the latter to our
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 65 
 
 Government if their own interest in the land were 
 secured from precariousness or extortion. On this 
 principle, the proprietary right of the zemindar to 
 the tract under his management was declared, sub- 
 ject to his paying in perpetuity to Government a 
 quit-rent, settled generally by the rate at which he 
 was actually assessed. "Where the payment was 
 heavy, it was supposed the zemindar would indem- 
 nify himself by an improved cultivation or by 
 bringing into tillage the waste lands thrown in 
 without charge into the allotment assigned him. 
 It was forgotten that the zemindar was not the 
 cultivator, and no protection was given to the ryot, 
 the real tiller (perhaps the real proprietor) of the 
 soil, against the oppressive exactions of the zemin- 
 dar, whose actual dependent he was made by this 
 settlement. In fact, the zemindar was originally 
 nothing more than the contractor with the native 
 government for the rent of a certain district. He 
 resembled the middle-man in Ireland. The indo- 
 lence of administrations would render this contract 
 generally hereditary. In many cases the contract 
 was in some old family possessing the habitual 
 reverence of their neighbours, and thence exercising
 
 64. THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JTTIT, 
 
 considerable influence over them; but in many 
 other instances the ruin of respected stocks had 
 caused their place to be occupied by upstart adven- 
 turers, hateful to the people, and hating them in 
 return. In either supposition, where the rent 
 demanded of the zemindar was high, he looked to 
 discharge it as well as to provide for his own main- 
 tenance by squeezing the ryot. He never felt an 
 urgency for advancing money to bring the waste 
 land into cultivation ; the ryot could not engage 
 in such a speculation when he was at the mercy of 
 the zemindar ; therefore little of the ground which 
 was waste has been brought into tillage where the 
 permanent settlement exists. 
 
 It is clear that the object of attaching the popu- 
 lation of the country to you must have failed as 
 far as this was the engine which was to effect it ; 
 and it is fortunate that there are many other cir- 
 cumstances which have had better influence. 
 "Whatsoever the burden may be, under which the 
 ryots labour, where the permanent settlement is 
 established, there is no such grievance in these 
 provinces. Here, it is the real farmer who rents 
 the land from Government. A due allowance is
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 65 
 
 made for the slenderness of his capital. It is 
 known that he must pay those who till the land 
 for him by giving to each a certain proportion of 
 the general produce ; he must set aside the seed 
 for the next sowing ; and he must lay apart what 
 is requisite for the subsistence of his family, before 
 he can sell anything to furnish his rent. This dis- 
 trict of Furruckabad contains on a round calcula- 
 tion about 700,000 English acres of cultivated 
 land, and about 350,000 of waste; which latter 
 must be to a certain degree useful for cattle. The 
 arable land is assessed on an average at 4s. Qd. the 
 English acre, nothing being required for the waste. 
 This is certainly a moderate rent, for land which 
 always yields two crops in the year and often three. 
 Further, in any case where the crop fails, a remis- 
 sion is made in proportion to the deficiency of pro- 
 duce. In the districts of Bareilly and Shahjehau- 
 pore the rent is still lighter. In each of these the 
 arable land is more than double the amount of 
 what exists in the district of Furruckabad. The 
 highest average in any of the twelve large districts 
 comprised in the conquered and ceded provinces is 
 6$. 4:d. per English acre. That takes place in 
 VOL. n. F
 
 66 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 southern. Goruckpore alone, and arises from this, 
 that the waste (about 1,300,000 English acres) 
 affords good pasturage, for which a rent is virtually 
 involved in the charge for arable land. 
 
 August 2nd. We had this morning an exhibi- 
 tion which was interesting to me. A cobra capella 
 was brought that I might see it attacked by an 
 ichneumon. The latter was young and wild, so 
 that it was necessary it should be held in a string 
 to prevent its getting away. The snake was lifted 
 by an iron hook out of a basket and laid on the 
 ground. At first it only looked about, as seeking 
 in what quarter it might best escape ; but when 
 the ichneumon was brought near, it suddenly reared 
 itself as if it recognised a mortal enemy, and spread- 
 ing its hood hissed violently. The ichneumon had 
 so little disposition to the contest that the people 
 were forced to swing it to its antagonist by the 
 string. The snake seized it twice by the back. 
 The ichneumon did not appear harmed by the bite, 
 but it became irritated, and advanced of its own 
 accord to the cobra capella ; the latter ceased hiss- 
 ing, and appeared to hold up its head as high as 
 possible. The ichneumon sprang at it, and seizing
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 67 
 
 the closed jaws of the snake between his own 
 brought its head to the ground. In that state, he 
 must soon have killed the snake had he not been 
 so solicitous to make his own escape, that he quitted 
 it and endeavoured to run away. I think it must 
 have been fear that made the snake keep its mouth 
 shut when it was assailed. I have seen a snake 
 of another sort kill a large rat by folding itself 
 round the rat and squeezing it to death, and I had 
 imagined that to be the procedure of all snakes in 
 such contests ; but the cobra capella never attempted 
 it with the ichneumon. The latter was dragged 
 forward again to the fight. The snake struck at 
 it several times; yet, what appeared to me very 
 extraordinary, never offered to bite it. The effort 
 was a violent blow made with the head, of such 
 strength as that twice when the snake missed the 
 
 O 
 
 ichneumon the sound against the plaster pavement 
 was very sharp. I nevertheless think the 
 snake was in a capacity to bite, because he could 
 open his mouth perfectly to hiss. The ichneumon's 
 disinclination to repeat his attack was so decided 
 that the combatants were restored to their respec- 
 tive baskets. I should have ascribed the impunity 
 F 2
 
 68 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [ATTCK 
 
 of the ichneumon to the thick wiry hair with 
 which it is covered, and which might have pre- 
 vented the fang from reaching the skin; Dr. 
 Reilly, however, assured me that he caused an 
 ichneumon to be bitten on the inside of its thigh 
 by a cobra capella, and that he doubted whether 
 the trifling transient inconvenience which the ich- 
 neumon appeared to suffer was beyond what a 
 simple pinch of the snake's teeth might have 
 occasioned without the intervention of any poison. 
 To satisfy himself that his experiment was correct, 
 he repeated it with another cobra capella and 
 another ichneumon. The result was the same. 
 
 August llth. This morning I presented the 
 colours to the first battalion of the 29th Regiment 
 raised here. We made the ceremony as impressive 
 as possible. The sepoys pay great reverence to 
 their standard. The staff of one of the colours 
 belonging to a battalion which has been serving 011 
 the hills was broken just before the campaign 
 opened, and the commanding officer had it replaced 
 with a new one. The battalion suffered in two 
 unfavourable actions; upon which the native 
 officers came to the commander of the battalion,
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 69 
 
 and told him that the ill-fortune of the battalion 
 had been foreseen, that there was not a man in the 
 corps who was not convinced they should always 
 be unlucky as long as the new staff was attached 
 to the colours, and beseech ed him to let the old 
 one (which, from a presage of what had occurred, 
 they had brought with them) be mended, and re- 
 stored to its situation. The officer reasoned against 
 their superstition, but judiciously acceded to their 
 wishes, and the old staff, duly repaired, was rein- 
 stated to the infinite comfort of the battalion. 
 
 August 12th. This being the Prince Regent's 
 birthday, we had a parade of all the troops in the 
 morning. In the evening I gave an entertainment 
 to all the gentlemen and ladies of the station, 
 with the Nawab of [Furruckabad and his brother. 
 The illumination of the garden within which our 
 house stands was brilliant and really handsome. 
 There were above 50,000 lamps. This decoration 
 is not here expensive : the frames on which the 
 lamps are hung are bamboos tied together with 
 bits of fibrous bark. The lamps are little cups of 
 half-baked earthenware. About two inches of a 
 dried stringy grass are fixed upright in each of
 
 70 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Axra. 
 
 the cups by a piece of moist clay, and then the cup 
 is half filled with mustard-seed or Palma Christ! 
 oil. The natives manage this with great dexterity. 
 We had fireworks, tolerably good, but not with 
 the variety common in Europe. A supper closed 
 the business, and luckily the evening was compara- 
 tively cool. The best part of the day's arrange- 
 ment was a pardon granted to some of the convicts 
 working in irons. 
 
 August 15th. We had a representation of part 
 of the adventures of Krishna. It is performed by 
 boys, who are much extolled for their talent in the 
 exhibition, and who at the time of the Hoolee 
 attend the Court of Scindiah, and other native 
 Princes, to display their ability in this religious 
 dance. On those occasions there is a successive 
 representation ; the history being resumed every 
 night. We were satisfied with a detached portion. 
 The part selected by the youths was Krishna's 
 pastoral residence with the Gopas or Nymphs. 
 The boys who acted the parts of those rural 
 beauties sang hymns in honour of the juvenile 
 deity, and often tempted him to join in the dance 
 with them. The dance consisted in floating
 
 1815.J OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 71 
 
 rapidly round a circle with the same step that is 
 used in the waltz, only here each person goes 
 singly. The inflexibly grave air of complacency 
 affected by the representative of Krishna was re- 
 markable. In the course of the entertainment he 
 placed himself in the several postures in which one 
 sees the images of the pictures of Krishna in the 
 temples. Three centuries ago in England, repre- 
 sentations of passages in the life of Christ formed 
 part of the Christmas amusements in the resi- 
 dences of the nobility, and in other European 
 countries the religious interludes have come down 
 to a much later day. Whenever the intellect has 
 not been expanded, a necessity has been felt by the 
 priesthood for speaking to the eyes of the mul- 
 titude. 
 
 August 19th. The Nawab of Furruckabad and 
 his brother came to breakfast that I might take 
 leave of them. I gave to the Nawab a remarkably 
 handsome double-barrelled fowling-piece, light 
 enough to suit his youth. He said instantly, " A 
 present from you is a mark of kindness which 
 makes my heart exult, but the assurance you j ust 
 before gave me of your continued protection was
 
 72 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [AUG. 
 
 incalculably more valuable." They are brought 
 up to great readiness in these complimentary terms. 
 To the younger brother I gave a pair of pocket 
 pistols, and Lady Loudoun sent by them an ele- 
 gant present to their mother. 
 
 August 20th. We attended church for the last 
 time. Our residence here has afforded the unusual 
 convenience of divine service every Sunday, there 
 being no chaplain attached to the station, and we 
 have always had a good congregation. Mr. Met- 
 calfe and Mr. Strachey took leave of us to return 
 to their respective residencies. The former has 
 told me that when the state carriage arrived at 
 Delhi, the King was quite overjoyed, and antici- 
 pated the convenience he should find in being 
 carried by it occasionally to his villa ; his council, 
 however, took the matter into serious deliberation, 
 and their wisdom pronounced that not either the 
 King or the Queen ought ever to get into the car- 
 riage. My present, therefore, is wofully thrown 
 away. The principle of the decision is understood 
 to be, that a carriage is the vehicle for folks of an 
 humbler class, and thence beneath the royal dignity. 
 
 August 21st. After dinner we embarked in our
 
 t 
 
 
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 73 
 
 boats, leaving with regret a number of individuals 
 from whom we have received the most unremit- 
 tingly polite attentions. It is not that civility 
 alone which commands my regard for them. I 
 have had the opportunity of observing narrowly 
 the conduct of those persons in their several stations 
 under Government, and I have been impressed with 
 the strongest sense of their upright and active dis- 
 charge of their duties. I have been long satisfied 
 that under no other Government is there such in- 
 cessant and laborious application to the business of 
 the office. The humanity and justice towards the 
 natives with which the functions are fulfilled, are 
 no less exemplary. Where we fail is, in our want 
 of any attempt to inculcate principles of morality 
 into the natives, who are strangely destitute of any 
 such instruction. This has arisen from a fear that 
 we might excite in the people a supposition of our 
 endeavouring to convert them to Christianity ; but 
 this jealousy could never arise from our putting 
 into the hands of village schoolmasters small tracts 
 of ethic injunctions extracted from the sacred books 
 of the Hindoos. The Brahmins never make any 
 exhibition of the sort to the lower classes, restricting
 
 74 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [ATO. 
 
 themselves to enforce a blind observance of cere- 
 monies. 
 
 August 24th. Having sailed from Futtehghur 
 on the 22nd at daybreak, we reached Cawnpore 
 this day about ten o'clock. We anchored close to 
 Captain Gilbert's (the barrack-master), where Major- 
 General Marshall and the principal officers of the 
 station were waiting to receive me; I landed imme- 
 diately, and fixed to see the Native Infantry under 
 arms to-morrow morning. I thought it unneces- 
 sary to expose the European troops to the sun, nor 
 would I order out the 5th Native Cavalry, as I had 
 seen it before, and as it is extremely severe on 
 horses to manoeuvre in heat such as reigns at 
 present. 
 
 August 25th. We have had a handsome line of 
 seven battalions in the field namely, two battalions 
 of Grenadiers, the King's G7th Regiment, the 1st 
 battalion of the 16th Regiment, the two battalions 
 of the newly raised 28th Regiment, and the Golan - 
 dauzes. My object, besides looking at the condi- 
 tion of the troops, was to see whether the officers 
 understood movements with so considerable a line. 
 Everything was done most satisfactorily. Since
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 75 
 
 that, I have had a levee. Gave a dinner aboard 
 the SonamnJckee. 
 
 August 26th. I went at daybreak to the race- 
 ground to see a trial of a piece of artillery which I 
 had directed to be constructed. It had occurred 
 to me that a howitzer, capable of receiving hand 
 grenades of the larger size, might be made so light 
 as that a camel could carry with ease the piece, 
 and the particular kinds of carriage which I thought 
 applicable to the purpose. I had made Colonel 
 Grace come over to Futtehghur, that I might dis- 
 cuss the matter with him. In consequence of 
 what we there determined, he has had a howitzer 
 cast and mounted according to the plan. A single 
 man can take it off the camel and put it together 
 in three minutes. The trial has answered my 
 utmost wish. The shells can be thrown one thou- 
 sand yards ; and I never in any practice saw less 
 deviation from the line. The case shot for this 
 gun consists of forty-four carbine-balls. It throws 
 them, with an elevation of ten degrees, 300 yards, 
 completely in a body. In short, the invention has 
 answered perfectly. As the camels will carry this 
 little ordnance with ease at the rate of forty miles
 
 76 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Atra. 
 
 a day, this will be an important weapon against 
 predatory parties. I am still more satisfied with 
 my success in a trial to mount a twenty-four- 
 pounder carronade on the carriage of a field twelve- 
 pounder somewhat strengthened. This has stood 
 proof thoroughly, and the carronade can thus be 
 employed as a field-piece. Four bullocks draw it 
 readily. Its shot will range nearly 2000 yards. 
 Afterwards I gave audiences all the morning. Had 
 a large party to dinner on board. 
 
 August 27th. Attended church. Breakfasted 
 at Captain Gilbert's. Afterwards I gave audiences 
 to a number of individuals, than which nothing can 
 be much less amusing. The object of each is to 
 urge some little departure from justice in his favour. 
 In truth, partiality has generally avowed itself in 
 a very sturdy manner in the government of India. 
 
 August 28th. Sailed from Cawnpore at day- 
 break. 
 
 August 81st. Having yesterday evening an- 
 chored about three miles above the fort of Allaha- 
 bad, and there received the commandant, Lieute- 
 nant-Colonel Haldane, aboard my boat, we passed 
 the fort this morning. The breadth of the Ganges
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 77 
 
 between Allahabad and Joosy, on the northern 
 bank, is very considerable, and the stream rapid. 
 The Jumna, itself a large river, is received into the 
 Ganges at the point of the fort; this junction not 
 only produces 110 apparent augmentation in the 
 volume of water, but in less than three miles below 
 Allahabad the river is obviously much diminished, 
 but there is not either depth or current in this 
 narrow part to account for this dwindling of sur- 
 face. A great portion of the water must undoubt- 
 edly sink through beds of sand immediately after 
 passing Allahabad; and that supposition will ex- 
 plain the strength of the stream at all periods abreast 
 of the fort. I believe that this is not an uncom- 
 mon occurrence in rivers, though not frequently 
 noticed. The Trent, at Newark, has evidently lost 
 much of the water which it shows at Nottingham. 
 
 September 2nd. Anchored about three miles 
 short of Sultanpore. 
 
 September 3rd. Had divine service in the Sona- 
 mukhee, after which we fell down to Sultanpore. 
 Mr. Brooke, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Wilberforce Bird, 
 and Mr. C. Harding, had come from Benares to 
 meet us. They dined with us aboard, as did Major
 
 78 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 O'Brien. Major-General J. S. Wood had also 
 come to Sultanpore, but he was seized with an at- 
 tack of the liver which confined him to the house. 
 I went to see him this evening. 
 
 September 4th. Reviewed the Sth Native Ca- 
 valry, commanded by Major O'Brien. The perform- 
 ance of this regiment has pleased me the most of 
 any which I have witnessed of the native cavalry, 
 though it is not so well mounted a corps as the 
 others. Indeed the state of all these cavalry regi- 
 ments does great credit to their officers. After the 
 review we breakfasted with the mess, and then 
 embarking fell down to Benares. Shums-oo- 
 Dowlah gave us a salute of artillery as we came 
 to anchor. 
 
 September 5th. We went ashore very early to 
 see the celebrated Observatory. Beyond the simple 
 proof which it affords that astronomy was at one 
 time successfully cultivated in this country there is 
 little curious in it. The date of that proficiency in 
 the science, referred to by it, is not remote. It is 
 matter of great dispute whether it was built by 
 a Hindoo Rajah or by one of the Mahomedan Em- 
 perors, which marks the period of its erection to
 
 1815.] OP THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 79 
 
 have been subsequent to the establishment of that 
 dynasty. From the Observatory we went to the 
 Mint, where Dr. Yeld had prepared for us a very 
 interesting exhibition. In addition to all the pro- 
 cesses of assaying and coining, he had collected a 
 number of manufacturers of the finer articles of 
 commerce to show how each was made. The ex- 
 treme simplicity, and little cost, of the looms and 
 other machinery employed for the most delicate 
 goods, was peculiarly striking. After being much 
 gratified with this spectacle, we proceeded to look 
 at the minarets of the great mosque. They are 
 high, and elegant in form ; but they bear no com- 
 parison with the minarets of the Taj. We got 
 into our barge from the ghaut at the foot of the 
 mosque, and as soon as we reached our pinnaces, 
 weighed to continue our course down the river. 
 I should not omit noticing the extraordinary 
 narrowness of most of the streets through which 
 we passed in Benares. Our palankeens could 
 scarcely pass. The people were cheerfully respect- 
 ful, to the great surprise of the magistrate and 
 other gentlemen who accompanied us. 
 
 September 9th. Moderate as is the distance
 
 80 THE PRIVATE JOUKXAL [SEPT. 
 
 from Benares, a contrary wind blew with such force 
 as to counteract all the effect of the current, and it 
 was only this morning Ave reached Ghazipore. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Nicoll, commanding the King's 
 17th Foot, came aboard. I excused myself from 
 landing till the evening. The Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 some other officers, and Mr. Harding the collector, 
 dined with me. After dinner, I went to look at 
 about 450 young horses, bred at the Company's stud. 
 They clearly evinced the improvement attained in 
 the breed of horses by that institution. Nothing 
 is so erroneous as the opinion entertained in 
 England, that fine horses are common in India. 
 Even middling ones are rare and high-priced. The 
 ordinary run are of very inferior quality. 
 
 September 10th. Attended church, or rather 
 had divine service in the riding-house. Re- 
 embarking by eight o'clock, we resumed our 
 voyage. 
 
 September 13th. The wind having been adverse, 
 it was not till this day that we anchored abreast of 
 Diiiapore. Major-General Need, commanding the 
 troops at the station, came aboard, with Colonel 
 Watson, of his Majesty's 14th Foot, and several
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 81 
 
 staff-officers. I invited them to dine with me, and 
 declined going a-shore this afternoon. 
 
 September 14th. I reviewed the 1st battalion 
 of the new-raised 30th Regiment of Native In- 
 fantry. The men were tall and smart, but very 
 lathy. The habitual moderation of the natives in 
 point of food is strikingly exemplified by the 
 speedy alteration made in the appearance of those 
 who enter the regular service. The punctuality 
 with which they receive their pay allows them to 
 indulge in ampler and more comfortable meals than 
 their earnings from any kind of labour would 
 admit, and they thence attain a degree of muscle 
 and strength scarcely ever seen among the pea- 
 sants. 
 
 September 15th. Reviewed the 2nd battalion 
 of the 30th Regiment. Both battalions are well 
 grounded in their discipline. I had a levee at the 
 mess-room of the 14th Regiment, to receive the 
 native officers of the new regiments, and of a 
 battalion of the 18th, having had a levee yester- 
 day for the Europeans. 
 
 September 16th. I rode to see the farm and 
 establishment of Mr. Havel, about two miles from 
 
 VOL. II. G
 
 82 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 the cantonments. Everything seemed judiciously 
 planned, and kept in admirable order. The prin- 
 ciple of this farm is to breed and support stock to 
 supply a very extensive sale of cured meat; he 
 furnishes a large quantity of this to Calcutta, as 
 well as to the upper stations. Lately he has 
 undertaken to make wine, and from the sample 
 which I have tasted, I think there is every proba- 
 bility that he may produce it of good quality. 
 About three o'clock I anchored off Hadjipore, a 
 little way up the Gunduck river. The scenery was 
 beautiful, there being some height of bank and 
 consequent feature. The width of the river, and 
 its turnings, give our anchorage the appearance of 
 being in a large lake. There is not now much 
 stream, though at times it is rapid. Between four 
 and five o'clock I went ashore to inspect part of 
 the stud, the object of my visit thither. The 
 brood mares were what I had gone to see this after- 
 noon. Those lately procured from Katywaur and 
 Cutch were what pleased me best. The Arab 
 mares, though they have elegant shape, are very 
 slight; probably they are of inferior races. The 
 Persian and the Jungle-tazees have more strength,
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 83 
 
 with good form. Those, however, which I first 
 named unite more serviceable qualities than any of 
 the rest. Having dined at eight o'clock with Mr. 
 Moorcroft (superintendent of the stud) to meet a 
 large party which he had invited from Patna, I 
 returned to my boat to sleep. 
 
 September 17th. I went ashore at dawn, and 
 had a large number of colts and fillies, chiefly two- 
 year olds, led past me. It was impossible to see 
 them and not to be sensible how far the plan has 
 answered towards introducing a better breed of 
 horses into the country. It appeared to me that 
 the stock got by English horses was clearly the 
 most promising. After that, those got by a Katy- 
 waur horse, called Runjeet Sing, showed the best 
 character. The progeny from Arab sires was not 
 as good ; probably because there is not in the mares 
 sufficient size to correct the want of it in the horses. 
 The system now proceeded upon is a judicious one. 
 Mares are given from the stud to the zemindars, on 
 their binding themselves to forfeit a certain sum if 
 they sell the mare, or if she be stolen under cir- 
 cumstances justifying suspicion of connivance. The 
 mares are to have the benefit of the stud horses 
 G 2
 
 84 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 gratis ; and Government is to have the refusal of 
 the produce at one year old for a hundred rupees 
 (12. 10s.) ; it is obvious how much the extension of 
 this plan must forward our object of securing a 
 remount of horses sufficiently strong for the cavalry, 
 so as not to be left to precarious dependence on 
 neighbouring countries, which at best rarely send 
 to us horses of adequate bone. It was late before 
 this inspection was over. I had so much business 
 on hand that I was forced to decline breakfasting 
 with the company, and I got back to my boat. It 
 is really interesting to compare the shapes of horses 
 of such various races. The English horses were, 
 beyond any doubt, the best. I have examined here 
 about 600 horses of various breeds and crosses. 
 
 September 18th. I went on shore at daybreak 
 to look over Mr. Moorcroft's accounts, and in par- 
 ticular to ascertain the average expense of each 
 mare introduced from the different countries whence 
 we bring them. I bestowed shawls, as a compli- 
 mentary acknowledgment of their zeal, on some 
 individuals whom Mr. Moorcroft pointed out as 
 having used peculiar exertion in forwarding his 
 views. I then returned to my boat and sailed for
 
 1815.J OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 85 
 
 Patna. The wind being from the east, and the 
 Ganges so low that there is little stream to coun- 
 terbalance the breeze, we do not lose much by 
 delay. 
 
 September 2'3rd. The clouds in the east having 
 for the last two or three days menaced the equi- 
 noctial gale, we had agreed to let it be spent before 
 we should embark. This morning the gale came 
 on with great violence. It was a fine spectacle to 
 see its first burst upon the Ganges. Vast clouds 
 of sand were whirled into the air from the banks 
 which lay dry in the middle of the river. They 
 appeared to be carried to a great height. Torrents 
 of rain succeeded, and these showers have continued 
 with little interval throughout the day. The 
 intense heat which reigned before this storm came 
 on has been very agreeably diminished. 
 
 September 24th. We have had divine service 
 at Mr. Campbell's, there being not even a tem- 
 porary church here. Badness of the weather, which 
 still continues, prevented many from attending. 
 
 September 26th. There are still deluges of rain. 
 Before this fall happened, the quantity had been 
 greater than had almost ever been remembered.
 
 86 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 In Tirhoot, the ordinary amount is thirty inches ; 
 but this year it had reached fifty. No injury to 
 crops is apprehended from this additional drench. 
 The principal part of the opium manufactured for 
 the Company is raised here. The management of 
 the poppy is troublesome for the cultivator ; but 
 he is well paid for his labour. The rich soil requi- 
 site for the advantageous growth of the plant is 
 let by Government at a high rent ; but advances of 
 money are made by the opium agent to the cultiva- 
 tors, and though they are bound to sell the whole 
 produce to Government, at a fixed price, I have 
 calculated that they clear about 4:1. 10s. on the 
 English acre. According to the usual payment 
 for labour, that is a large return for their care and 
 exertions. 
 
 September 28th. The weather having cleared, 
 and the wind having come round to the west, we 
 have this morning taken leave of Mr. Campbell, a 
 host who makes his hospitality sit light by the 
 frank and quiet manner in which he exercises it. 
 There is a generous turn in that respect among all 
 the servants of the Company whom I have seen; 
 but there is a tact which can give distinction in
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 87 
 
 the observance of a kindness generally practised, 
 and Mr. Campbell is fortunate enough to possess 
 it. The breeze being fair, we made a run of about 
 forty-three miles, and anchored off a village called 
 Moah, near Derriapoor. 
 
 September 29th. On account of some vessels 
 which got aground on a sand bank, we have 
 anchored earlier than we otherwise should have 
 done, yet we have come more than fifty miles, and 
 have passed the troublesome channels opposite 
 Monghyr. The scenery has been fine, as we kept 
 along the southern shore of the river, which is 
 
 O x 
 
 here about three miles broad. The rich plain of 
 Bahar is so striking from its high cultivation, and 
 so diversified with numerous mango-groves, that 
 one does not perceive the absence of undulation.. 
 In approaching towards Monghyr, the Corruck- 
 pore hills alter the character of the country 
 entirely. They are not magnificent; but to an 
 eye long accustomed to the uniformity of surface 
 along the upper banks of the Ganges, they afford 
 a pleasing variety. The place at which we have, 
 moored our boats is about a mile above the hot 
 well of Sittacoon, abreast of some hills which
 
 38 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 appear composed of fragments of rock, and which, 
 are picturesque though completely bare. 
 
 September 30th. We have run between fifty 
 and sixty miles, and are anchored about a mile 
 short of Colgong. Mr. Brook, the Governor- 
 General's agent at Moorshaclabad, is come with 
 his wife and daughter, to meet us. He expatiates 
 on the disappointment which will be experienced 
 by the Nawab of Bengal at our not stopping at 
 Rajemahl, where he has convened all his elephants 
 to show us sport. Our time ; however, presses so 
 much that we cannot make even a day's delay. 
 
 October 1st. >Had divine service aboard the 
 Sonamukhee, before we sailed. Afterwards we 
 made a good stretch to Siclygully, where we have 
 anchored. 
 
 October 2nd. Having learnt that the current 
 was stronger through the lower passage, between 
 the Ganges and the Bangrutty, than through the 
 cut by which in our way up we had entered the 
 great river, we determined to avail ourselves of the 
 advantage. We have therefore come four or five 
 miles beyond the cut, and have taken up our 
 station for the night on the north shore, bordering
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 89 
 
 on the plains of Gour. Though I am informed 
 that the ruins of the ancient city present scarcely 
 anything to interest curiosity, beyond their vast 
 extent, we should not have failed to visit them had 
 it been tolerably practicable. The plain, however, 
 is at this season so covered with reeds and jungle 
 grass, as well as in many places so soft from the 
 rains, that even elephants would have difficulty in 
 working through it. Of course, an expedition of 
 seven miles, under such circumstances, could not 
 have been undertaken. 
 
 October 3rd. We quitted the Great River, and 
 were soon beset by fakeers, who, rowed in boats 
 by a couple of men, came off from the shores to 
 solicit charity. In the upper country I have met 
 with many an importunate beggar, mounted on 
 a tolerable horse, and attended by a groom. We 
 anchored not far from Dewanserai. 
 
 October 4th. Passed Moorshadabad and Cos- 
 sim-Bazaar, without landing. Anchored near the 
 latter. One of our party saw a snake caught by 
 a native belonging to the fleet, and mentioned to 
 me the circumstances, which involve a point of 
 natural history novel to me. The man was walking
 
 90 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 in a field by the river, and my informant was close 
 to him. A large cobra capella crossed the path ; 
 the man immediately ran towards it. The snake 
 did not coil itself, bat continued its retreat with 
 its head raised eight or ten inches from the ground, 
 and turned back. The man stooped, pausing for an 
 instant, as if to fix the snake's eye with his own. 
 He then suddenly seized the tail with his right 
 hand, and raised it sufficiently to throw the rep- 
 tile's head to the ground ; then he slid the fore- 
 finger and thumb of his left hand swiftly along the 
 snake's back (drawing the animal back by the tail 
 at the same time) till he pinched it just at the 
 head. He next twisted the body of the snake 
 round his left arm, and kept it firm by pressing 
 the arm to his side. Having obtained a knife, he 
 forced the snake to open its mouth, by pressing it 
 at the angle of the jaws. He quickly took out the 
 fangs ; but he then proceeded to take out with the 
 point of the knife, from just above the angle of 
 the jaws, two substances, which my informant 
 states to have resembled small pickled capers. The 
 reason assigned by the man for extracting them 
 was, to prevent the snake ever getting new fangs.
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 91 
 
 Can these glands for such I suppose they were 
 placed at such a distance from the sockets in the 
 jaw, furnish means for the reproduction of the 
 poisonous apparatus? I am not aware that the 
 existence of such glands has hitherto been sus- 
 pected by our anatomists. As to the mode of 
 catching the snake, I believe it to be so easy that 
 nothing but confidence is required. There has 
 appeared to me a remarkable want of agility in 
 the cobra capella, and I even think some time is 
 necessary to it for getting into a condition to 
 strike. After the man had finished his operation 
 on the snake, he suffered it to bite him without 
 concern. 
 
 October 5th. Passed Berhampore without land- 
 ing, and anchored near Putolee. Heavy squalls 
 to-day. 
 
 October 6th. Advanced to near Santipore. Mr. 
 Paton, Mr. Burney, and Mr. Barnett came off to 
 dine with us. We had a violent squall, with heavy 
 rain in the afternoon. It shows that the season is 
 not yet broken up here, though it had decidedly 
 changed at Patna when we left that place. 
 
 October 7th. We reached Barrackpore, where
 
 92 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 we found the buildings, which were to be com- 
 pleted in April last, still in an unfinished state. 
 My children related to me with horror a circum- 
 stance which they had seen, and which my being 
 occupied by writing in another boat had prevented 
 my observing. As their pinnace descended close 
 to the side of the river, they saw a wretched old 
 man, whom three or four persons (probably his 
 relations) had brought down to the shore. These 
 people were holding the man's arms behind his 
 back, and restraining his legs, while a Brahmin 
 was smothering him, by filling his mouth and 
 nostrils with mud. The poor wretch was struggling 
 violently. It is likely that in the lassitude of 
 disease, he had given way to the importunities of 
 his tired family, and had consented to submit to 
 this pious operation, which he did not find pleasant 
 in the performance. The deed was done in broad 
 day. So far was there from being any attempt to 
 avoid observation, that the spot was quite public, 
 and there was all apparent consciousness of recti- 
 tude on the part of those concerned in the perpe- 
 tration of the act. 
 
 October 8th. Had divine service on board the
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 93 
 
 SonamuJchee; after which we dropped down with 
 the tide to within a couple of miles of Champaul 
 Ghaut, that we might be certain of our time for 
 to-morrow morning. It is requisite to land in 
 ceremony. 
 
 October 9th. We landed at six this morning ; 
 the members of council, chief justice, bishop, and 
 a crowd of other public functionaries receiving us 
 at the ghaut. The streets were lined by the 
 troops to the Government House. There I had a 
 public breakfast; after which I resumed my seat 
 in council. There is an immense accumulation 
 of business to be waded through ; so that my occu- 
 pation would be too little varied to afford matter 
 for my journal for some time. 
 
 November llth. Received from Ceylon the 
 news of the important victory gained by the Duke 
 of Wellington over Napoleon at Waterloo. The 
 guns of the fort have been fired, and we are 
 planning a grand entertainment on the occasion. 
 
 November 27th. I went to see the school and 
 other establishments of the missionaries at Serham- 
 pore. Dr. Carey, Dr. Marshman, and Mr. Ward 
 are the persons now conducting the concerns. They
 
 94 THE PEIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 are all men of learning and skilful in various 
 sciences. Their activity appears indefatigable, and 
 its effects speak highly in favour of their zeal and 
 judgment. The plan of their school is, to educate 
 at cheap rates the white or half-caste children of 
 Europeans in indigent circumstances; but they 
 likewise receive and breed up destitute orphans. 
 The wives and daughters of the missionaries are 
 the teachers in the female school. The good ma- 
 nagement of the school at large is manifested, not 
 only in the proficiency and decorous behaviour of 
 the scholars, but in the remarkable paucity of 
 deaths which have occurred within the last seven 
 years. The printing-house is conducted with great 
 ability. The gentlemen showed to me specimens of 
 the Scriptures in the languages and characters fol- 
 lowing : Sanscrit, Hindostanee, Mahratta, Ooriya, 
 Bengalee, Punjabee, Telinga Burmah, Cashmeer, 
 Assam, Pushtoo, Beloochee, Carnatee, Brig Bhasha, 
 Chinese, Persian, Tamul, Cingalese, Arabic, Arme- 
 nian, and Malay. The missionaries make the paper 
 and cast the types within their own establish- 
 ment. It was striking to see the number of natives 
 learned in those several tongues translating the
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 95 
 
 Scriptures into them. This is ordinarily effected by 
 one of the missionaries rendering the English into 
 some middle dialect which they mutually under- 
 stand, whence it is turned by the Asiatic into his 
 own language. One circumstance was very curious. 
 Dr. Carey, the principal of the establishment, men- 
 tioned to me that the Affghans asserted themselves 
 to be the descendants of expatriated Jews. In 
 confirmation, he put the question in Hindostanee 
 (that I might comprehend what passed) to an 
 Affghan Moolavie, who distinctly maintained the 
 fact as preserved by tradition among them. He 
 was particular in distinguishing that they were 
 Beni-Israel, not Beni-Jehoudah. The distance 
 does not render it impossible that the tribes should 
 have been marched from Palestine to Cabul ; and 
 from the remotest time we trace among the Asiatic 
 despots the practice of removing whole commu- 
 nities from their ancient habitations to people 
 some unsettled country. Making progress only 
 part of the year and resting during the season 
 unfit for marching, this multitude would be long 
 in reaching its destination, but would ultimately 
 effect it without having undergone much incon-
 
 96 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 venience. The habit which we have witnessed in 
 this country of large bodies living perpetually in 
 tents, and migrating with their cattle and furni- 
 ture, explains the facility of this operation. Any 
 one who has seen the distribution of property and 
 the nature of cultivation in India will readily com- 
 prehend how little burdensome the passage or the 
 temporary halt of such a host (controlled, as we 
 may suppose it, by officers appointed to guide its 
 march) would be to the intervening territories. 
 
 December llth. An account has been detailed 
 to me of a woman's having recently burned herself 
 with the body of her husband, near Barrackpore. 
 This is an event so very common as to produce no 
 sensation in the neighbourhood, and it is by mere 
 chance that any European, other than the magis- 
 trate, hears of it. To the latter information is 
 given in the course of his business, but generally 
 some days after the occurrence. Climate requires 
 the corpse to be burned so speedily after death that 
 there is no time for previous notice ; and the ma- 
 gistrate only knows of it, when a woman sacrifices 
 herself with the body, in consequence of the report 
 from some of his native policemen, whose duty it
 
 1815.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 97 
 
 is to attend on such occasions that the woman may 
 be rescued, should she appear to be acting under 
 compulsion, or should she change her mind from 
 fright. Cause for this intervention (the only degree 
 of obstruction which our Government has thought 
 allowable) has happened but very rarely. The 
 merit and dignity of the act are so continually in- 
 culcated by the Brahmins, that these poor ignorant 
 victims are bewildered by indistinct notions of piety 
 and sublimity. The hapless creatures are peculiarly 
 exposed to the operations of the delusive sentiments 
 so studiously instilled into them. The charities of 
 life are here so little exercised, or indeed compre- 
 hended, that a woman has, on the death of her 
 husband, the most disconsolate prospect. The son's 
 wife, or perhaps her own married daughter, becomes 
 legally mistress of the house, and the widow, de- 
 graded into a kind of servant, is usually treated 
 with tyrannical impatience as a burden on the 
 family. The existence of the women is at all 
 times dreary. They have none of that society 
 with their nearest neighbours which cheers even 
 the lowest classes in Europe. They have not 
 either mental food or domestic occupation to fill 
 VOL. n. H
 
 98 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 their time in their almost unbroken confinement 
 within their dark, inconvenient dwellings. Their 
 incapacity to instruct their children precludes the 
 amount of resource which that would afford, so 
 that their minds are in complete stagnation, and 
 suffer all the irksome lassitude of such a state. A 
 licit excuse for breaking forth from that torpidity 
 is, therefore, to them a fascinating opportunity; 
 and when they give way to the impulse, they do 
 it with an exaggeration arising from their being 
 unaccustomed to measure an exertion of their 
 spirits. The death of their husband sanctions a 
 vehemence of energy which is a relief to the sad- 
 dened heart. The woman has been taught that it 
 is praiseworthy to encourage herself in the intoxi- 
 cation, and she does so, enjoying too much the 
 novel pleasure of it to look aside. In this temper 
 she professes the resolution of immolating herself 
 on the funeral pile. Should she recede when she 
 has once made the declaration, the utmost degree 
 of public shame and opprobrium attaches not only 
 to the woman but to her family ; so that her own 
 dread of disgrace, and still more the instigations 
 of her kin, will operate almost irresistibly to prevent
 
 1815.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 99 
 
 her from faltering-. But she has in truth no time 
 for her passion to subside. The preparations for 
 burning the body of the deceased are very simple, 
 and are made with the utmost dispatch. Often 
 not more than two or three hours elapse. The 
 intended ceremony is not frequently known in the 
 next village, whence there is rarely any concourse 
 of people at it. Should the woman's spirits appear 
 to flag, she is aided by bang, or some other intoxi- 
 cating drug. Indeed, I believe this is always 
 administered, though in small quantity, that the 
 credit of the victim's self-devotion may not be 
 diminished by any apparent unconsciousness of 
 what she is about. At all events, she perishes in 
 complete absence of all reflection. It is visible 
 that in this matter the Brahmins practise on the 
 predisposition of the unfortunate creatures who are 
 betrayed into this stupid and painful sacrifice. The 
 policy is easily intelligible. The entire frame of the 
 Hindoo doctrine displays the forecasting solicitude 
 of the Brahmins to keep the other classes in a sub- 
 mission to them, more or less grovelling, as they 
 could manage it. It has been a consequence well 
 understood by priestcraft in all nations from the 
 
 H2
 
 100 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [1815. 
 
 earliest time, that if they could subjugate men to 
 the admission of some signal violation of innate 
 feelings as an act of piety, all minor prostration 
 of sense would follow of course. An unqualified 
 triumph over reason and sentiment in one instance 
 rendered contest on subordinate questions idle. 
 Hence arose the recommendation or the injunction 
 of human sacrifices ; and hence has flowed the 
 encouragement or the enforcement of lesser, but 
 still brutal, transgressions on our nature, when the 
 paramount atrocity could no longer be reconciled to 
 the mitigated ferociousness of a community. Let 
 us bless our age and country ; but let us also feel 
 how much it is the interest and duty of man to 
 define and disseminate the principles which bar the 
 first steps towards these dreadful aberrations.
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 101 
 
 1816. 
 
 JANUARY 1st. Never before did a year open to 
 me with such chilling prospects. In a few days 
 my wife and children, the only comforts by 
 which I am attached to this world, are to embark 
 for England. Nothing will remain to cheer me 
 under unremitting and thankless labour ; yet I feel 
 a bond that will never allow me to relax in effort 
 as long as my health will suffice. I at times 
 endeavour to arouse myself with the hope that I 
 may succeed in establishing such institutions, and 
 still more such dispositions, as will promote the 
 happiness of the vast population of this country ; 
 but when the thought has glowed for a moment it 
 is dissipated by the austere verdict of reason against 
 the efficacy of exertion from an atom like me. 
 The Almighty wills it; it is done without the 
 mediation of an instrument. The notion of being 
 useful is only one of those self-delusions with which
 
 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JAW. 
 
 one works oneself through the essentially inept 
 
 vision of life 
 
 I know the ques- 
 tion has often forced itself upon us, 
 
 how we can ever 
 
 have brought ourselves to the determination of this 
 parting, which, however called by each of us tem- 
 porary, is by each of ns felt to be probably final, 
 though we do not let our minds define the augury. 
 We perceive an indispensable duty to our children* 
 which enjoins it. The relations which produce 
 that very duty are only a part of that wonderful 
 mechanism impelling all things in a direction in- 
 comprehensible, " while this muddy vesture of 
 decay doth close us in." Intellect labours to unravel 
 this till it sinks exhausted. How well is it said, 
 " I thought to understand this, but it was too hard 
 for me." 
 
 January 6th. An extraordinary confirmation 
 has just occurred of the persuasion entertained by 
 
 * His only son had been very ill on the passage down 
 the river. Lady Loudoun returned to ludia alone in 
 1819.
 
 1816.] OF THE MAKQUESS OF HASTINGS. 10S 
 
 me respecting the melancholy tone of life which is 
 the lot of women in this country. The magistrate 
 of Sarun has represented to Government the neces- 
 sity of a police regulation for raising walls or 
 wooden fences to a certain height round the wells 
 in that district. At present, it is the habit of the 
 country to leave the wells without any harrier 
 whatever, so that at night a person may readily 
 step by accident, or be pushed by violence into 
 one of them. The magistrate states that in the 
 
 o 
 
 course of last year seventy-seven bodies were re- 
 ported to him to have been taken out of the wells, 
 and in the preceding year the number had ex- 
 ceeded ninety; the extent of such casualties not 
 having, probably, in either year come within the 
 knowledge of his burkendauzes or constables. Of 
 these cases, he asserts far the greater portion to 
 have been suicides, indeed he conceives two-thirds 
 of the number to have been undoubtedly so. Al- 
 most all of those whose death was deemed volun- 
 tary were women. This has happened in a district 
 where there has been no uncommon occurrence, no 
 interruption of the ordinary course of society no
 
 104{ THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JAN. 
 
 inroad of an enemy which could occasion despair 
 in the poor wretches from loss of caste through 
 violation. Some momentary impulse of vexation 
 acting on minds sick of a vapid nothingly 
 existence has most likely been the cause of this 
 strange circumstance. Incapacitated from mental 
 resources by want of education and want of inter- 
 course with others, at the same time debarred from 
 corporeal activity by their inflexible customs, they 
 feel so oppressive a void that the superaddition of 
 any incidental disgust renders the facility of in- 
 dulging despondency irresistible. The magistrate, 
 with reason, thinks that such a barrier round the 
 well as would require the lapse of a second or two 
 to clumber over, might restrain many of these acts, 
 by giving time for a suggestion of fear to inter- 
 vene. 
 
 January 15th. Accompanied my wife and chil- 
 dren to the powder mills, eight miles from Calcutta, 
 where we embarked on board the Sonamuckhee. 
 Not arriving till night, it was judged best to 
 remain at anchor till next morning. 
 
 January 16th. The wind was so unfavourable,
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 105 
 
 and the tide so weak, that we could not reach 
 Diamond harbour, where the William Pitt was 
 lying. We anchored not far below Fultah. 
 
 January 17th. I had now to bid adieu to all most 
 dear to me, as there are ceremonies at Calcutta to- 
 morrow (on account of the Queen's birthday) from 
 which I cannot decently be absent. Prepared, as 
 I was, I have been quite stupified at this fulfilment 
 of our own determination, and I only feel the con- 
 fused soreness of a blow the real mischief of which 
 I have not recollection to appreciate. I am only 
 conscious of its having been the resignation of 
 every comfort 
 
 How little an exercise of thought shows one the 
 possibility, and thence enforces the certainty, that 
 all apparently rigid destinations of the Almighty 
 are kindness. 
 
 February 13th. Our ordinances in this country 
 have been generally instigated by some casual 
 occurrence. In other countries, laws are only re- 
 cognitions and enforcements of settled opinions of 
 the community, and as these opinions are the result
 
 THE PRIVATE JOUENAL [FEB. 
 
 of long observation and practical experience, there 
 is little danger that an edict founded on them 
 should be inconvenient to society. From the want 
 of a comprehensive view in our system, many of 
 our regulations, while they correct one evil, in- 
 stitute many sources of oppression. When we 
 invested the zemindars with the proprietary right 
 in the lands of which they were before the superin- 
 tendents, it became necessary to secure to Govern- 
 ment the regular payment of the rent reserved for 
 the State ; and for this purpose the law was esta- 
 blished that, in the event of arrears to Government, 
 the whole estate should be put up for sale, the 
 residue of its produce (after Government should 
 have paid itself) being restored to the zemindar. 
 This was evidently framed upon a contemplation of 
 the confined zemindarries near Calcutta. A detec- 
 tion of the mischief of this practice was one of the 
 advantages arising from my tour up the country. 
 Many of the zemindarries are of such extent that 
 there can scarcely be any competition of bidders for 
 them; but what is still more material, the native 
 officers round the collector form such combina-
 
 1816.] OF THE MAEQUESS OF HASTINGS. 107 
 
 tions that purchasers are intimidated from coming 
 forward ; bankers are threatened if they attempt to 
 aid the defaulter ; and the estate is sold to one of 
 the gang for perhaps a tenth of its value. If any 
 man he suspected of endeavouring to get at the 
 collector in order to open his eyes, a forged accu- 
 sation of some criminal procedure is made to the 
 magistrate against him, and is supported by per- 
 jured testimony. The individual is instantly im- 
 prisoned, and lies there till his turn for examination 
 comes on the file, which may not be for many 
 weeks. In the meantime the sale is dispatched. I 
 communicated my remarks on this evil, but the 
 correctives were insufficient. Attention is called 
 anew to the case of a singular circumstance. 
 Through a strange want of consideration in the 
 collector, a frontier zemindarry, of at least twenty 
 miles square was advertised for sale for an arrear of 
 700 rupees. The magistrate luckily heard of it, 
 and stopped the procedure by paying the sum for 
 the zemindar. We shall now put effectual guards 
 against the abuse. 
 
 March 6th. A curious circumstance took place
 
 108 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAHCH, 
 
 at Barrackpore this afternoon. A party from 
 Calcutta being with me to pass three days here, 
 some foxes were caught that the strangers might 
 be entertained with a sight novel to them, 
 coursing with the siyah-gosh, or small hunting- 
 lynx. The fox of India is not above half the size 
 of ours, but is remarkably swift, and dodges with 
 greater quickness than a hare. When turned out 
 in an open space about 150 yards before the siyah- 
 gosh, the fox was soon overtaken, and, as the 
 agility of the siyah-gosh at turning is equal to that 
 of the fox, the course was but of short continuance. 
 Double the starting distance was, therefore, allowed 
 to another fox. Its pursuer gained upon it rapidly ; 
 but, blown by the prolonged exertion, at length 
 stopped and laid down in the sulky manner habitual 
 to them when they are foiled in an attempt. The 
 fox, which was at this time about 100 yards ahead 
 of the siyah-gosh, after running a very little way 
 further, turned round and began to bark, it then 
 advanced to within thirty yards of the siyah-gosh, 
 going round it and yelping. This appeared exceed- 
 ingly like the fascination which is supposed to befal a
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 109 
 
 bird from fear on a serpent's fixing its eye upon it. 
 We approached the parties, and the fox, though 
 completely wild, did not make off till we were not 
 more than fifty yards from them. The siyah-gosh 
 did not show any disposition to make a second 
 effort. The animal is, in these circumstances, so 
 sullen and vicious that the keeper is obliged to 
 occupy its attention with some chopped raw meat, 
 in a long wooden spoon before he can get behind the 
 siyah-gosh to slip the leash again through its collar. 
 March 30th. A dispatch from our agent in 
 Simoor, one of the largest hill territories rescued 
 from the Gorkhas, announces a perplexing con-.- 
 tingency. Kurrum Pershad, the Rajah of that 
 country, who had been expelled by the Gorkhas, 
 was so odious to the people, from the singular 
 brutality of his character, that there was no im- 
 posing such a tyrant again upon the emancipated 
 district, but wishing still to observe hereditary 
 pretension, as likely to preclude future troubles, 
 we raised his son (though yet a child) to the mus- 
 nud, confiding the government during the mino- 
 rity to the mother, a woman of remarkable talents.
 
 110 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 Kurram Pershad is drooping under a slow but 
 apparently fatal illness. The Ranee says that in 
 the event of his death, though he has separated 
 from her, and is residing at 200 miles' distance, 
 she must burn herself. She does not talk of it as a 
 matter of feeling, for her contempt and hatred of 
 her husband were not disguised ; nor does she even 
 put it on the footing of religion, but treats it as a 
 matter of mere decorum. The narrow scope in 
 which thought is exercised by these people prevents 
 this woman, comparatively clever, from perceiving 
 that after the act she would not have any sense of 
 having fulfilled this curious decency of life. The 
 agent is directed to represent that her destroying 
 herself would be so injurious to her son, and such 
 a breach of her plighted faith to protect the 
 country till he came of age, that she would entail 
 on herself universal discredit. This consequence, 
 which should be equally indifferent with the other, 
 will, if strongly exposed to her, probably put a stop 
 to her extravagant purpose. 
 
 April 13th. The detail of an atrocious crime 
 has been transmitted in the Report of the Circuit
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. Ill 
 
 Court of Moorshedabad. One Boolund Khan, a 
 Mussulman, burned off both the hands of his own 
 daughter, a girl of twelve years of age. The 
 monster tied the child to a stake or post, bound her 
 hands together, and then wrapt them in cotton, 
 which he soaked in oil. Having set fire to the 
 cotton, he continued supplying it with oil as fast as 
 it was exhausted, till his diabolical purpose was 
 completed by the entire destruction of both the 
 poor victim's hands. His concubine assisted him 
 in this horrid act, and probably instigated it. The 
 severest punishment that could be annexed to such 
 an offence, according to the Mahommedan law, 
 has been adjudged against him. He is to receive 
 twenty stripes with the korah (leather whip), and 
 to be imprisoned for five years. The woman is to 
 be imprisoned for two years. Now, imprisonment 
 without labour, which could not in this case be 
 ordered, is really no punishment on these people, 
 who would desire nothing better than to be fed in 
 idleness. It was my expedient to keep up the dis- 
 tribution of the civil law of the Mussulmans and 
 Hindoos, because they were respectively acquainted
 
 112 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [APHIL, 
 
 with the provisions, and squared their arrange- 
 ments of property by them ; but the upholding of 
 the stupid and unequitable code of Mahommedan 
 criminal law is a gross absurdity. Obvious as this is, 
 there is great difficulty in altering a judicial system 
 which the whole British magistracy of the country 
 has been studying and administering for so many 
 years ; such an extent of evil does an original error 
 entail ! We have in Council settled on the wretched 
 girl an allowance for life, which will maintain her 
 comfortably. 
 
 April 15th. I have this day read a letter from 
 the Guntoor Sircar, on the coast, stating a very 
 affecting circumstance. A village was surrounded 
 by the Pindarries. The horrors perpetrated by 
 these demons at other places made the poor vil- 
 lagers, totally unarmed and incapable of resistance, 
 fly to the desperate resolution of burning them- 
 selves with their wives and children. The houses 
 were all of wood and palm-leaf mats ; so that most 
 of them being set fire to at once, the dreadful 
 sacrifice was immediately fulfilled. Some boys 
 who had not the courage to bear the flames
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 113 
 
 escaped, and explained the circumstance. All the 
 rest of the inhabitants perished ; and I am strictly 
 forbidden by the Court of Directors to undertake 
 the suppression of the fiends who occasioned this 
 heart-rending scene, lest I should provoke a war 
 with the Mahrattas. Hundreds of women belong- 
 ing to other villages have drowned themselves in 
 the wells, not being able to survive the pollution 
 they had suffered. All the young girls are carried 
 off by the Pindarries, tied three or four, like calves 
 on a horse, to be sold. By the Report of Lieu- 
 tenant-General Sir Thomas Hislop to me, the 
 different columns which penetrated the Nizam's 
 territories and ours, in this last irruption of the 
 Pindarries, could not amount to less than 23,000 
 horse. They carried off booty to the value of more 
 than a million sterling. 
 
 May 3rd. We have received the news of an 
 occurrence at Bareilly which is a striking proof in 
 support of the representations made by me to the 
 Court of Directors respecting the possibility of 
 convulsions in their empire. It is difficult to make 
 that Court understand that their territorial posses- 
 
 VOL. II. I
 
 114 THE PEIVATE JOUKNAL [MAT, 
 
 sions here are not precisely like an estate in York- 
 shire, or that they are not to expect as blind a 
 compliance with their instructions in the one case 
 as they might in the other. What has happened 
 will probably convince them of the existence of 
 those dangers which they suspected to have been 
 only held out by those in function here from the 
 pride of keeping up great establishments. The 
 Rohillas, who conquered the extensive territory in 
 which the city of Bareilly stands, and bestowed on 
 it the name of Rohilcund, were a tribe of Affghan 
 Mussulmans. Their intolerance drove the greater 
 part of the Hindoo inhabitants from the tract; 
 but successive swarms from Afghanistan supplied 
 the place of those fugitives, and kept the country 
 in a high state of cultivation. The restless and 
 enterprising character of the Rohillas led to con- 
 stant encroachments by them on the possessions of 
 the Nawab Vizeer. The latter, wearied with re- 
 sistance, claimed our aid as his allies; and Mr. 
 Hastings, actuated undoubtedly by a foresight of 
 the consequences which might ensue from such an. 
 influx of Mahommedan soldiery into the territories
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 115 
 
 within the Ganges undertook the war. The Rohillas 
 were subdued ; and their country was made over 
 to the Nawab Vizeer; a portion of it, containing 
 the city of Rampore with some dependent towns, 
 being assigned to the heir of Hafez Eickhmet (the 
 late ruler), as a jagheer which was to be held of 
 Oude on feudal conditions. Subsequently the 
 provinces in question were ceded to us by the 
 Nawab Vizeer, and the fealty of the Nawab of 
 Rampore was transferred to the British Govern- 
 ment. A police arrangement had been directed 
 by proclamation for all the large cities under the 
 presidency of Fort William. A cess was to be 
 levied on the inhabitants, apportioned by the per- 
 son of principal note in each quarter or ward of the 
 city, the produce of which was to support an estab- 
 lishment of city watchmen, under the exclusive 
 appointment and control of the contributors to the 
 fund. The rate on the highest scale of property 
 was four rupees (ten shillings) a year, the general 
 run from sixpence to one shilling, the lowest classes 
 being wholly exempt. Marked distaste had been 
 expressed by the chief inhabitants of Bareilly, on 
 i2
 
 THE PEIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 the first mention of this impost, possibly from 
 apprehension that it might pave the way for other 
 taxes ; but more probably from a mischievous 
 spirit instilled into the multitude which only 
 sought some opportunity for displaying itself. The 
 magistrate used great calmness and temper, delay- 
 ing the enforcement of the order, while he explained 
 to the leading persons of the city the real motive of 
 the plan. As its object was that the police officers 
 belonging to the magistrate should be freed from 
 the town duties, in order that they might be 
 employed more actively in attention to the securi- 
 ties of the public roads, a purpose in which the 
 inhabitants of the city were interested, on account 
 of their trade, no less than the population of the 
 villages, he nattered himself that his explanation 
 would at least prevent any opposition. 
 
 On the day on which he had given notice that 
 he would come into the town to regulate the estab- 
 lishment with the principal inhabitants, he found 
 his way through the main street obstructed by a 
 clamorous mob, at the head of which appeared the 
 chief moofty, who, from age and station, had great 
 influence. The magistrate, imagining he had gone
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 117 
 
 too far to recede without discredit and injury to 
 the public service, ordered a few horsemen (who 
 always attend the magistrates) to open the road 
 for him, not even then apprehending serious resis- 
 tance. As the horsemen advanced, they were 
 assailed with spears, thrust at them from the shops, 
 so that they could not proceed. Three of the 
 horsemen were killed, and four wounded. On this 
 the magistrate brought forward the infantry guard 
 from one of the gates ; but the mob disregarded 
 the menace, and continued to defy the soldiers, till 
 the magistrate was obliged to order them to lire. 
 Six or seven persons were killed or wounded; 
 among the latter was the moofty, though very 
 slightly. The circumstance made him the more 
 virulent, and irritated the populace. Though the 
 mob dispersed on the firing, the magistrate saw 
 that nothing was to be done, and soon after with- 
 drew. That evening the people assembled in 
 great numbers at a mosque outside of the town, 
 hoisting the green or Mahommedan flag, as assum- 
 ing it to be a religious contest. Next day, the 
 Chief Judge of the Court of Circuit opened an 
 intercourse with the people, and endeavoured to
 
 118 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 allay the ferment. The mildness of the procedure 
 was believed by the people to proceed from fear, 
 they being well apprized of the scantiness of the 
 force at the disposal of the public authorities. 
 They, therefore, were insolent in their language 
 and demands, requiring not only a written 
 engagement that the cess never should be enforced, 
 but that the sepoys, who had fired by order of the 
 magistrate, should be surrendered, to be put to 
 death. The chief judge expostulated on the mad- 
 ness of these propositions, when suddenly the 
 people took a more pacific tone, and there appeared 
 hopes of accommodation. Another day passed in 
 this sort of negotiation, but on tlie following 
 morning the reason for the mitigated temper dis- 
 played by the insurgents was manifested. Their 
 chiefs had sent to Kampore, and other considerable 
 towns, for assistance. Every year large bodies of 
 military adventurers come from Affghanistan to 
 Ranipore, as a station at which they can wait till 
 their services may be hired by one or other of the 
 native sovereigns, to whom they circulate offers. 
 Of course, that city always contains a warlike 
 multitude, ready for any enterprise. From Ram-
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 119 
 
 pore and the other parts of the country great 
 numbers of armed men had been pouring into 
 Bareilly during the night, and in the morning they 
 showed themselves to the amount of about 12,000, 
 drawn up in good order, all under green flags. 
 Still, any violence appeared so doubtful, that the 
 son of one of the judges of the Court of Circuit 
 (Mr. Leycester) attempted to pass unarmed to the 
 cantonment. He was seized by the insurgents 
 and hacked to pieces. This murder was the signal 
 for assault. Their line moved on rapidly against 
 our handful of troops. Fortunately, 400 Irregular 
 Horse had joined in the course of the night; 
 before that, the force had consisted of less than 
 250 sepoys, with about 300 of the Bareilly pro- 
 vincial battalion, and two field-pieces. The in- 
 surgents suffered heavily from the grape-shot as 
 they came down, yet their charge was so resolute 
 that they actually took one of the six-pounders. 
 The other was instantly wheeled upon the group 
 which had got hold of the former, and a discharge 
 of case-shot killed or wounded almost every man of 
 them. The steadiness of the infantry, who were 
 in the open plain without cover (an unjustifiable
 
 120 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 management), repulsed every effort of the insur- 
 gents, and the cavalry charging them in flank 
 rendered their rout complete. The daring manner 
 in which the insurgents exposed themselves may be 
 best judged by their loss, which could not be under 
 1500; ours was about 200. Reinforcements arriv- 
 ing to our troops within four or five hours after the 
 action, all the auxiliaries deserted the Bareilly people, 
 and entire submission was shown by the latter. 
 Had the event of the contest been different, the 
 whole of Rohilcund would have been in insurrection. 
 They have undoubtedly depended on the support of 
 Ameer Khan, to whom it is known the insurgents 
 dispatched expresses. He has in his army about 
 12,000 troops from Rohilcund, so that his con- 
 nexion with the country is strong ; and one sees 
 to what length the mischief might have gone had 
 the issue of the first struggle been unfavourable 
 to us ; for, in that case, we should have had 
 an extensive revolt against our authority under 
 the character of a Moslem war. A consideration 
 extremely embarrassing attends this question, 
 namely, how far we can with safety allow the 
 continuance of the Nawab's separate jurisdiction
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 121 
 
 in Rampore. He was absent from the city on a 
 hunting party when the reinforcements sent to 
 Bareilly departed ; but it must be doubtful whether 
 that absence was not arranged for the purpose of 
 avoiding the necessity for giving obstruction to 
 the march of those auxiliaries. 
 
 May 10th. This day the treaty has arrived by 
 which the Nawab Vizeer has agreed to receive the 
 little district of Khyraghur, with the lands adjoin- 
 ing to it, conquered from the Gorkhas, in liquidation 
 of one crore of rupees of our debt to him. The 
 rental of Khyraghur is 45,000 rupees, but from the 
 constant depredations committed in the district 
 by banditti (chiefly from the Yizeer's dominions) 
 we have not, on an average, received 10,000 
 annually. The Gorkha lands are extensive and 
 valuable, but in a situation which forbad their 
 being any convenience to us. The arrangement, 
 though essentially desirable for the Nawab Vizeer, 
 could never have been made but through his 
 wish to adopt whatever I recommend. This 
 agreement enables me to assert that the Gorkha 
 war has not cost the Company one single shilling. 
 
 May 27th. A cobra capella was brought this
 
 122 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 morning to the house at Barrackpore. In order to 
 ascertain the rapidity with which its venom would 
 act, a fowl was presented to it. The snake bit the 
 fowl in the thigh. The fowl did not appear to 
 suffer more pain than had it been seized by any 
 other animal; and, having round its leg a string 
 by which a man held it, sat down quietly in the 
 same posture which it had used before being bitten. 
 It did not appear agitated in any manner, but 
 shortly seemed overcome with a stupor, and rested 
 its bill on the ground. From a doubt whether it 
 was much affected or not, it was gently touched 
 with a stick, when it raised its head with brisk- 
 ness, and looked round in a natural way, as if 
 nothing ailed it. The somnolency, however, imme- 
 diately returned, its eyelids closed tranquilly, and 
 it again rested its bill on the ground. In a few 
 seconds it sank on its side withoiit the least strug- 
 gle, and in four minutes (by a stop-watch) from 
 the time of its having received the bite it was 
 quite dead, without having shown a single gasp or 
 convulsion. The snake was not large, being under 
 three feet long. Its back was broken, but perhaps 
 the irritation arising from that wound might exalt
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 123 
 
 the quality of the venom, though the animal was 
 in other respects enfeebled. 
 
 June 1st. This day has brought to me the 
 treaty of alliance by which Nagpore in fact 
 ranges itself as a feudatory State under our protec- 
 tion. A singular contention of personal interests 
 at the court of that country, resulting from the 
 unexpected death of Ragojee Bhoosla, the late 
 Rajah, has enabled me to effect that which has 
 been fruitlessly laboured at for the last twelve 
 years. Though dexterity has been requisite, and 
 money has removed obstructions, I can affirm that 
 the principles of my engagement are of the purest 
 nature. Pursojee Bhoosla, only son of the late 
 Rajah, succeeded to the musnud without opposition. 
 He is blind, and thence used to remain unseen in 
 the palace, so that he was in fact unknown. He 
 was generally understood to be of weak capacity, 
 but when his elevation gave people the opportunity 
 of examining him, he was discovered to be literally 
 an idiot. His cousin, Appa Saheb, an active sensi- 
 ble man, about twenty years of age, is presumptive 
 heir to the musnud, Pursojee having no children. 
 Through his natural pretension, and with as much
 
 124 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUNE, 
 
 of assent as the Rajah could comprehend and 
 testify, Appa Saheb was called to the guidance of 
 affairs as minister. Aware that there is a strong 
 party against him in the palace, he feared that 
 Pursojee might be made to adopt a son, which, 
 according to Mahratta institutions, would cut out 
 Appa Saheb. The latter had to apprehend that 
 this would be a machination of Scindiah's with the 
 women of the palace, and those apparent depen- 
 dents who really guide them ; and he foresaw that 
 in such an event Scindiah would support the adopted 
 child with troops, in order to acquire the rule over 
 Nagpore. 
 
 Under these impressions, Appa Saheb was not 
 difficult to be worked upon. He is confirmed in 
 his legitimate power, and he is ensured against the 
 adoption by my professing to consider Pursojee 
 incapable of the volition necessary to the act. This 
 is most strictly true, for the poor Rajah has 
 no will or wish beyond eating and sleeping. The 
 security, therefore, to Appa Saheb is only simple 
 justice. I believe the advantage of our having 
 thus converted Nagpore from a very doubtful neigh- 
 bour into a devoted friend is universally felt here ;
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 125 
 
 yet the whole extent of the gain will not be 
 thoroughly computed. The arrangement enables 
 me to leave unguarded above three hundred miles 
 of frontier, for which I had difficulty to allot de- 
 fence ; it totally oversets the plan at which Scin- 
 diah has been secretly working for inducing the 
 Peishwa to re-establish the Mahratta confederacy ; 
 it deprives Scindiah of troops and treasure, on 
 which he calculated in all his hostile speculations ; 
 it gives to me, by the junction of Colonel Doveton's 
 corps with the Nagpore forces, an efficient army on 
 the open flank of Scindiah's country; and it renders 
 the interception of the Pindarries, should they 
 venture another inroad into our southern territories, 
 almost certain. I regard this event as giving me 
 the fairest ground of confidence that I shall be 
 able to achieve all I wish to effect for the Com- 
 pany's interest without any war. This rests on 
 our presumption of the Peishwa's fidelity. If he be 
 treacherous (and there is no answering for a Mah- 
 ratta) we might have a struggle ; but the conse- 
 quence of such a contest could not now be doubt- 
 ful, and it would only make the ultimate arrange- 
 ment more beneficial to the Company.
 
 126 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 June 3rd. Captain Caldwell, one of my aides- 
 de-camp, has communicated to me a circumstance 
 strongly characteristic of the lower classes in this 
 country. The bearers or carriers of palankeens in 
 Calcutta are chiefly from Balasore, and keep up 
 among themselves certain rules. One of Captain 
 Caldwell's bearers lent to the head bearer of another 
 gentleman all his little savings from his wages, 
 being to receive an interest. Finding the interest 
 was not forthcoming, the lender desired that the 
 principal should be returned; there being no wit- 
 ness or written document of the loan, the head 
 bearer stoutly denied the loan. The other apprized 
 him that, if that plea were maintained, he (the 
 lender) would put himself to death, which would 
 force the head bearer to do the same thing for the 
 establishment of his veracity in the denial. The 
 head bearer was obstinate. On this the lender 
 went to his masters stable, and was some time 
 after found hanging quite dead. The head bearer 
 was now called upon by his fellows to purge his 
 honour from the imputation fixed upon it. No 
 argument, however, could persuade him to hang 
 himself, and the rest of the bearers look upon him
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 127 
 
 as a perverse and discredited wretch for declining 
 so rational a mode of vindicating his integrity. 
 
 June llth. A vexatious delay in my political 
 objects has occurred from the laxity of the Jyepore 
 Rajah. He had been harassing us early in the 
 year with importunate supplications to be taken 
 under the protection of the British Government on 
 the terms of a subsidiary treaty. Our occupation 
 in the Gorkha war prevented my acceding to his 
 wishes lest Scindiah should oppose the alliance, and 
 hostilities be inconveniently excited in that quar- 
 ter. After the termination of that war, the dis- 
 tresses which the Jyepore Rajah had been suffering 
 from the exactions of Ameer Khan in those terri- 
 tories augmented formidably, and at length the 
 Rajah, forced to confine himself to his capital, 
 witnessed the preparations of Ameer Khan for 
 besieging him in that city, his last refuge. In 
 these circumstances the Rajah renewed his peti- 
 tion. It was favourably met, and Mr. Metcalfe, 
 the Resident at Delhi, was directed to settle the 
 terms with the vakeels whom the Rajah was to 
 send for the purpose. The conditions were agreed 
 upon ; but as the case pressed, Ameer Khan having
 
 128 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [jtnns, 
 
 actually invested the city of Jyepore, I had in the 
 meantime ordered a force to assemble at Rewarry, 
 on the Jyepore frontier. The Rajah availed himself 
 of this to proclaim that the treaty was signed. 
 Ameer Khan had brought about 200 pieces of 
 cannon for the siege. Fearing that he should not 
 be able to withdraw them if the division from 
 Rewarry moved rapidly forward, he thought it best 
 to retire betimes. He accordingly fell back about 
 twenty miles. The stupid Rajah felt such an 
 emancipation from immediate peril in this, that he 
 despatched an express to his vakeels with orders 
 not to proceed with the treaty. The instructions 
 reached them a few hours before the time they 
 had fixed for the formal execution of the docu- 
 ment, the several articles of which had been all 
 previously agreed upon. 
 
 Mr. Metcalfe, though justly indignant, has re- 
 pressed all show of anger, only directing the 
 vakeels to obtain from their master an explicit 
 declaration whether the negotiations were or were 
 not to be considered as entirely done away. In 
 the case that they were to be regarded as finally 
 broken off, the Rajah was to be apprized that in
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 129 
 
 no extremity of his fortunes should he ever have 
 assistance from the British Government. This 
 procedure of the Rajah's is very embarrassing. 
 I cannot embark for the Upper Provinces while 
 this matter is in suspense; yet this would be a 
 moment of singular advantage for my appearing 
 with a large body of troops in the vicinity of Scin- 
 diah's frontier. The defalcations from his calcu- 
 lated resources by the loss of Nagpore must alarm 
 him exceedingly. Were I in the neighbourhood, 
 it is impossible that he should not come forward 
 with amicable overtures, in order to avert what 
 he would contemplate as an impending storm, and 
 his co-operation in the extinction of the Pindarries 
 might be readily made a condition in a pacific 
 arrangement between us. The conduct of the Jye- 
 pore Rajah shows with how short a forecast these 
 native princes act, and may explain how they have 
 successively sunk before our steady policy. 
 
 July 1st. Passing up to Barrackpore, a gentle- 
 man who accompanied me pointed out a place 
 where, six or seven years before, he had seen a 
 woman burn herself with the corpse of her husband. 
 The spot was on the bank of the river, from which 
 
 VOL. TI. K
 
 130 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JULY, 
 
 to the public road, or rather street, the distance 
 was not more than one hundred yards. The place, 
 a sort of suburb to Calcutta, and each side of the 
 road is occupied by carpenters' shops or sawyers' 
 sheds. On the side nearest to the river these huts 
 are not so close together as to impede considerably 
 the view of the space behind them. My informant 
 was travelling along the road when his attention 
 was caught by the preparation of the pile. Learn- 
 ing on inquiry what was going forward, he got out 
 of his buggy and proceeded to the spot. The 
 woman who was about to burn herself was old. 
 A few Brahmins attended her, but in so public a 
 place there were not above fifty persons, and most 
 of these children, who had the curiosity to witness 
 the scene. The woman appeared unagitated. She 
 probably was prepared with intoxicating drugs, as 
 she seemed in some degree stupid, though she went 
 through the ceremonies correctly. When she was 
 placed on the pile, a large cloth like a sail was 
 spread over her, and the Brahmins kept her from 
 moving by every two of them holding each end of 
 a, bamboo across her body. The dry straw heaped 
 over the sheet, together with the smoke, prevented
 
 1816.] OF THE MAKQUESS OP HASTINGS. 131 
 
 any struggles being perceived, and the shouts of 
 the Brahmins rendered any groan or scream of the 
 victim inaudible. Scarcely any of the sawyers or 
 carpenters had left their work to look at what was 
 doing. The provisions of Eternal Wisdom are all so 
 simple (and in that consists their sublimity) that 
 often nothing presents itself to fix one's thoughts 
 upon the impulse and the effect, when the moral 
 influence is as irresistibly operative towards the 
 end as the most marked phenomenon of nature. 
 Among many visible dispensations of Providence for 
 checking excess of multiplication in all classes of 
 animated beings, we may observe that wheresoever 
 population is great, a general apathy about existence 
 seems to take place ; so that the indifference of the 
 individual respecting his own life, or that of others^ 
 tends by a silent but sure consequence to counter- 
 balance production. It is to be noticed that this 
 indifference does not appear to be the result of any 
 reasoning, but probably arises from the succession 
 of petty disgusts, suffered in the jostling of crowded 
 society. In an accumulation of numbers, the ap- 
 pendages which each individual introduces for his 
 own advantage in the various trades, arts, or 
 
 K2
 
 132 THE PKIVATE JOUKNAL [ATJCU 
 
 courses of life pursued, present many perils. 
 Noxious processes, poisonous materials, or danger- 
 ous machinery, become traps for the mcaution and 
 ignorance of others, in proportion as the density 
 of population compresses residence more closely. 
 This is a perpetual check on increase. But it is a 
 provision quite distinct from the other to which I 
 have above alluded. 
 
 August 14th. I have received a curious account 
 
 O 
 
 of indisputable accuracy respecting the Garrows, a 
 populous nation inhabiting an extensive tract of 
 hill country bordering on our north-east territory 
 and on Assam. They are divided into many inde- 
 pendent communities, or rather clans, acting to- 
 gether from a principle of common origin, but 
 without any ostensible head of their league. With 
 them all property and authority descends wholly 
 in the female line. On the death of the mother, 
 the bulk of the family possessions must go to the 
 favourite daughter (if there be more than one), 
 who is designated as such without regard to primo- 
 geniture during the lifetime of her parent. The 
 widower has a stipend secured to him at the time 
 of marriage. A moderate portion is given to each
 
 1816.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 133 
 
 of the other sisters. A son receives nothing what- 
 ever, it being held among the Garrows that a man 
 can always maintain himself by labour. The 
 woman acknowledged as chief in each of the clans 
 is called Muhar. Her husband is termed Mu- 
 harree. He is her representative in all concerns, 
 but obtains no right in her property. The clan 
 will interfere if they see the possessions of the 
 Muhar in a course of dissipation. If a daughter 
 be the issue of the marriage, a son of the issue of 
 the Muhar's father is sought in preference to 
 become her husband; and in default of such a 
 person, the son of the nearest female relation of 
 the Muhar (he being of due age) would stand next 
 for selection. The husbands to the sisters of a 
 Muhar are called Lushkurs, and it is a denomina- 
 tion to which a notion of rank is attached. These 
 families always endeavour to intermarry within 
 their own clan if possible, otherwise by inviting 
 the son of a Lushkur from a neighbouring clan. 
 The son of a Muhar, or of a Muhar's sister, is 
 similarly sought from another community when a 
 fit husband for the Muhar's heiress cannot be 
 found in her own clan. The wealth of the Mu-
 
 134 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [AUG. 
 
 bars is considerable, and tbey bave a real power 
 from tbe number of tbeir slaves. These are either 
 bought, or individuals sentenced for crimes, or the 
 progeny of those in such servitude. By means of 
 these the Muharrce enforces that degree of obe- 
 dience which the usages and opinion of the clan 
 have established as due to the Muhar. The hills 
 are not in that part abrupt or steep, while their 
 being covered with wood affords many conveniences 
 to the inhabitants. The villages are frequent, 
 wide, and rich. Much industry, with sufficient 
 skill, is exhibited in the cultivation of the soil, 
 so that the country exports annually a large 
 quantity of grain, cattle, and bogs. This infor- 
 mation has been acquired in consequence of a com- 
 plaint from one of our frontier zemindars that the 
 Garrows had invaded his lands, burned his vil- 
 lages, and murdered a number of his people, to 
 punish which aggression he solicited that a detach- 
 ment of troops might be employed. It did not 
 seem likely that this outrage should have been 
 committed without provocation, though the ze- 
 mindar stated it so. Therefore, before I would 
 send troops to chastise the Garrows, I despatched
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 135 
 
 a commissioner to inquire into the case. He 
 found that the zemindar had lawlessly exacted 
 imposts on every article of the hill trade, and by 
 disregarding repeated remonstrances entailed this 
 severe infliction. 
 
 The principal of the neighbouring Garrows who 
 met the commissioner on his invitation to them, 
 avowed and justified the conduct they had held, 
 saying that as they could not get at the zemindar 
 himself, they were forced to make his people feel 
 the iniquity of his conduct. The commissioner 
 instructed them in a better mode of redress than 
 this wild justice, by teaching them how to convey 
 their complaints to the nearest British magistrate 
 should any similar occasion arise, and the zemindar 
 has been threatened with the forfeiture of his 
 zemindarry should he ever again attempt to levy 
 duties altogether unauthorized by this Government. 
 It was in the course of these communications that 
 the commissioner learnt from the Garrows, who 
 are very unreserved, the particulars which I have 
 minuted. 
 
 September 6th. Two young women have been 
 executed near Hooghly for murdering a little girl.
 
 136 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 Their only motive for the horrid act was, that they 
 might possess themselves of the paltry ornaments 
 which the poor child wore. We are apt to connect 
 with age a notion that the feelings are blunted, 
 and one should thence have been less surprised to 
 hear of the commission of such a crime by an old 
 woman than by two females in all the bloom and 
 glow of youth. The real difference is, that in 
 early life the same value is not set upon property, 
 so that the same appetence for an article of no 
 considerable price would not be natural. I record 
 the circumstances here, because it is the best 
 anwer to those who maintain that you should leave 
 the Hindoos to themselves, and not endeavour to 
 disseminate instruction among them. If one feels 
 one's moral sense outraged by the perpetration of 
 an atrocious deed immediately within one's know- 
 ledge, we have an interest in the prevention of 
 such acts ; but if there be superadded a conscious- 
 ness that indifference to the prevalence of crime 
 is a sin in government, it becomes a duty to reflect 
 in what source the frequency of such guilt origi- 
 nates. In the present instance the murderers were 
 not wretches instigated by want or savage from a
 
 1816.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 137 
 
 long course of depravity. They were women of 
 the same rank and of the same village with the 
 child which they killed, Their act proceeded from 
 their having no conception of the brutality and 
 wickedness of what they were about to do. This 
 deficiency in all estimate of social obligation is 
 general throughout the population of Bengal. Its 
 consequences disgust one at every turn. And one 
 hears, " Why can't you let the poor people go on 
 in their own way ?" 
 
 September 14th. We have had a singular com- 
 munication from our Resident at Katmandhoo. 
 The Gorkha ministers waited upon him, and with 
 great apparent uneasiness told him that a large 
 Chinese army, commanded by a Che-Cheou-Choon 
 (an officer of high rank and unlimited power), had 
 arrived at Lassa, and was proceeding to their fron- 
 tier. The Resident apprized them it was what the 
 Governor-General had known, and he further 
 informed them that we were acquainted with their 
 having caused the advance of this army by having 
 represented to the Emperor of China that we had 
 solicited a passage through Nepaul for our troops 
 in order to invade the Chinese dominions, and that
 
 138 THE PKIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 their refusal to grant the passage was the motive 
 for our attack upon them. The ministers, without 
 any hesitation, acknowledged their having made 
 such a statement, and said that as they supposed 
 we should find means of undeceiving the Chinese 
 Government, they (the Gorkhas) had to apprehend 
 the indignation of the Emperor. The Resident 
 assured them that the explanation had been already 
 received by the Che-Cheon-Choon from us through 
 the Rajah of Sikhem. They replied that they 
 took it for granted it would be so ; that the conse- 
 quence would probably be an attempt on the part 
 of the Chinese to punish them for the imposition ; 
 and that they were thence anxious to know whe- 
 ther we should take the opportunity of renewing 
 hostilities in that event. On the Resident's expos- 
 tulating with them for harbouring the thought 
 that we could deviate from the amity which we 
 had plighted in the treaty, they showed unreserved 
 satisfaction, saying they could not be sure that we 
 might not think it justifiable to punish them for a 
 false charge against us, of which we were ignorant 
 when we signed the pacification. Their ready 
 admission of the lie they had used is curious.
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 139 
 
 They professed, as they were no\v satisfied we 
 should not undertake anything against them, that 
 they did not mind the Chinese ; yet they should 
 send a deputation of their principal persons to 
 conciliate matters, and prevent the mischief of a 
 new war in their country. This led the Resident 
 to observe that they need not be uneasy, as the 
 passes across the Himalaya mountains must be 
 easily defensible against any army; but they 
 answered that there were gaps through the hills 
 of such breadth as to make the entrance into their 
 country from that quarter practicable at any season 
 for the largest columns. They described the route 
 to be through wide valleys, with little inequality 
 of surface. 
 
 October 1 1th. A dreadful inundation has taken 
 place at Bheerboom. A river which comes down 
 from the hills, was banked up on both sides with 
 mounds of great height and thickness, to prevent 
 its casual overflowing from injuring the cultivation 
 of the country. The showers fell scantily during 
 the rainy season, but of late they have been uncom- 
 monly heavy ; in consequence the river became so 
 swollen as to burst its banks in many places. The
 
 140 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 torrents have swept away a great number of vil- 
 lages with their inhabitants, and cattle to an 
 immense amount have been drowned. We have 
 directed the public functionaries to distribute 
 money for the present support of individuals who 
 have survived the wreck of their property. The 
 system of embankments must be always liable to 
 produce these accidents. Canals, easily cut in such 
 a country, which would be extraordinarily useful 
 in common seasons, would safely carry off by a 
 gradual discharge the water so dangerous in a 
 state of accumulation. 
 
 October 12th. Fresh solicitations for an alliance 
 have just reached us from the Jyepore Rajah. He 
 states the rupture of the negotiations to have been 
 altogether a mistake on the part of his vakeels, 
 asserts that his anxiety for the league had never 
 faltered, and implores that the negotiations may 
 be renewed. Notwithstanding these professions, I 
 still suspect him. I think he wants to have the 
 appearance of being in treaty with us, because he 
 imagines that it would check the projected enter- 
 prises of predatory powers, but I believe he shuns 
 the putting himself so decidedly under the rule of
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 141 
 
 the British Government as would be the conse- 
 quence of a subsidiary alliance. I have directed 
 him to be informed, that as an act of special indul- 
 gence I would suffer the treaty agreed to by his 
 vakeels to be considered as open to his acceptance 
 and signature, but that I could not allow any new 
 negotiation. This will bring the matter to a point. 
 October 13th. I observed this day from a win- 
 dow of the Government House, a column of sand 
 raised to a very great height on the road near the 
 course by a whirlwind ; it preserved its form un- 
 broken from the bottom to the top, yet it must 
 have been exceedingly thin, as the sand or rather 
 brickdust of that road is as fine as possible. I 
 observed a small round white cloud just above it, 
 and have no doubt of that cloud's having produced 
 the effect ; I noticed a similar cloud over a column 
 of dust or sand in the Upper Country, yet I could 
 not perceive in either case such an apparent descent 
 of a part of the cloud as takes place in the eleva- 
 tion of a waterspout. The principle of the pheno- 
 mena seems to be the same. I suspect that there 
 is in the waterspout much less liquid than is 
 ordinarily supposed, and that it is a very thin
 
 142 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 film of water whirled round a large empty cy- 
 linder. 
 
 October 19th. A serious expostulation has been 
 made by this Government with the Peishwa. 
 That worthless favourite, whom we had confined 
 for the murder of the Guickwar's minister, when 
 the latter had come to Poona on the pledge of our 
 protection, and who escaped from that confinement, 
 has been privately corresponding with the Peishwa ; 
 and the latter has been (secretly as he thought) 
 raising troops. Our knowledge of these levies was 
 intimated to the Peishwa, and the danger he was 
 incurring was frankly stated to him. After much 
 discussion he promised solemnly to disband the 
 levies, and to surrender the favourite, Trimbuckjee 
 Dainglia, should the latter put himself in his high- 
 ness's power. The assemblage of force is stopped, 
 but the profession respecting Trimbuckjee Dainglia 
 is nugatory. These native princes have all a curious 
 mixture of the frowardness and inconsequence of 
 children, with a dexterous cunning: and a darin* 
 
 o c* 
 
 spirit of enterprise. The frequent recurrence of 
 these discussions, any one of which may produce 
 extensive flame, is a matter not at all comprehended
 
 1816.] OF THE MAEQUESS OP HASTINGS. 143 
 
 at home, where the tranquillity of India is ima- 
 gined to depend wholly on our pleasure. This 
 attempt at armament by the Peishvva is not 
 unconnected. 
 
 October 26th. A proposition has been made to 
 us from the Madras Government, that they should 
 be authorized to undertake the administration of 
 the State of Kirnool, ah 1 owing to the Nawab its 
 chief a certain income out of its revenues. The 
 late Nawab was our feudatory, bound as such to 
 have no relations with any other power, and to 
 maintain a certain number of troops for our service. 
 In his internal government he was to be quite in- 
 dependent. On his death, the second son seized 
 the capital (a strong fortress), and ascended the 
 musnud. We upheld the pretension of the eldest 
 son, who happened to be at the time within our 
 territories, and furnished him with a body of troops 
 to recover his rights. Through operations skilfully 
 conducted by Colonel Marriott the fort was re- 
 duced, and the eldest son established in his heredi- 
 tary possessions. It does not seem a natural conse- 
 quence of this arrangement that the Nawab, 
 without the surmise of any misconduct urged
 
 144 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [NOT. 
 
 against him, should be deprived of his authority 
 and of his revenues, except as to such portion as we 
 might munificently leave to him. This is a remnant 
 of the old system, in which our convenience was 
 the only influencing principle. It is evidently an 
 unjust principle when no real necessity can be 
 pleaded, but I am further convinced that it is a 
 thoroughly impolitic course. The confidence of 
 each State that it may depend on your justice would 
 produce a general submission to your strength; 
 because that strength would then be a security to 
 every chief against rapacious neighbours, and would 
 be upheld from a sentiment of common interest. 
 I am proceeding on this plan with a success most 
 gratifying to me ; and we have directed an observ- 
 ance of it towards the Nawab of Kirnool. 
 
 November 8th. When the Nepaulese found our 
 arms prevailing over them, they sent to the Em- 
 peror of China, representing that the British had 
 requested permission to pass across the Nepaulese 
 territories in order to attack China, and that on 
 their refusal of that licence we had waged war on 
 them, and had subjugated part of their country. 
 This appears to have occasioned great sensation
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 145 
 
 at Pekin. A person of high rank was despatched 
 immediately with a large army to Lassa, with the 
 title of Che-Cheon-Choon, which, we are given to 
 understand, implies unlimited power in both the 
 civil and military lines. The Sikhem Rajah, who, 
 from having smarted under continual aggression, 
 was very hostile to the Gorkhas, learned this cir- 
 cumstance, and offered to transmit to the Chinese 
 army any letter in which we might think fit to 
 repel the falsity of the Gorkha statement. Captain 
 Lattei*, political agent on the Rungpore frontier, 
 was directed to address a letter to the Che-Cheon- 
 Choon, detailing the real circumstances of the war, 
 and referring to the Sikhem Rajah for the accuracy 
 of the explanation. We have this day received the 
 answer which the Che-Cheon-Choon returned to 
 Captain Latter. It is a very sensible performance. 
 He states that there is an air of verity in the re- 
 cital which commands conviction ; besides which, 
 the Sikhem Rajah has borne testimony to the 
 manner in which the war was forced upon us. 
 But, above all, his own knowledge of the lying 
 character of the Gorkhas disposed him to yield im- 
 plicit confidence to all we advanced on the subject. 
 VOL. n. L
 
 146 THE PEIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 He desired it to be understood tliat all was well 
 between the Chinese and the English, which latter 
 were a wise and moderate people, never assailing 
 others without provocation; but that he should 
 heartily punish the Nepaulese for having dared to 
 practise upon the Shadow of Heaven (the Emperor) 
 with false stories. The Sikhem Rajah, with sin- 
 gular simplicity, observes that although the matter 
 is thus courteously settled, the occurrence will 
 make the Chinese revise the state of their con- 
 nexions on the frontier. In consequence, he fore- 
 sees that he shall be exposed to harassing oppres- 
 sions and hostilities unless he proceed at once to 
 make his election between the Chinese and British 
 Governments, declaring himself feudatory to one 
 or other of them. He adds, that the good faith 
 and generosity of the British leave no room for 
 hesitation in the choice, and he desires to be en- 
 rolled as a dependent on the British Government. 
 This relation with him, which we never could have 
 imposed by force of arms, from the extreme diffi- 
 culty of his country, may be of great use, from the 
 communication which it ensures by way of Thibet 
 with Pekin.
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 147 
 
 November 10th. A very extraordinary despatch 
 is received from our minister at Katmandoo. It 
 is a detail of the communication made to him by 
 the Gorkha ministers, of their settlement with the 
 Che-Cheon-Choon. They admit that they treated 
 their mission with considerable haughtiness and 
 sneering incivility ; but they appear satisfied with 
 his having professed that he pardoned them in the 
 name of the Emperor for the false statement which 
 had put his Majesty to the trouble of sending an 
 army. There is strange contrariety in the charac- 
 ter of these people. In some things they are 
 tenacious of points of honour to the most puncti- 
 lious degree, while in a case of this kind they have 
 no shame in acknowledging to us their having 
 been publicly reprobated for a profligate lie. We 
 have had the account of the audience from a 
 minister of the Sikhem Kajah's, who had been in- 
 structed to witness it. He asserts that the Che- 
 Cheon-Choon treated the bahradars with contemp- 
 tuous levity, not suffering them to sit down before 
 him, and twitting them with their absurdity in 
 believing that they could make head against the 
 English. He made them engage to send a mission 
 L 2
 
 148 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 to Pekin every year, to do homage to the Em- 
 peror. 
 
 November 15th. It is very pleasing that each 
 succeeding year diminishes the number of offences 
 committed within our provinces, notwithstanding 
 that few can now escape being put on the list, 
 whereas many used heretofore to be perpetrated 
 without being so ascertained as to come within the 
 knowledge of the magistrate. Our rule has cer- 
 tainly augmented the amount of human comfort in 
 an extraordinary degree. The effect is perceivable 
 in an increase of population very surprising. It is 
 to be admitted that our estimate of the number of 
 inhabitants has hitherto been very loose, from the 
 habits of the people, which forbid any stranger, 
 even a native officer, to enter a house. Latterly 
 we have directed the magistrates and collectors to 
 specify the number of cities, towns, and villages in 
 their respective districts. This was, of course, upon 
 record, on account of the quit-rent payable by each 
 of those assemblages ; but the functionaries were 
 required to mention what they would compute to 
 be a fair average number of houses, after throwing 
 the cities and large -towns into the scale, for each 
 of those settlements. After receiving their calcula-
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 149 
 
 tions, which appear to have been carefully and 
 cautiously made, the result gives, for the Lower 
 Provinces, the enormous population of more than 
 seventy millions. The Lower Provinces are bounded 
 by the Soane river, south of the Ganges; 
 by the Gunduck, on the north of that river; 
 stopping short of Benares and its subordinate 
 districts. The Upper Provinces contain a much 
 greater surface, but not so thickly studded with 
 villages, though far more populous than any 
 part of Europe. How is it that we main- 
 tain sovereignty over this immense mass? By 
 equity solely, which may have proceeded in some 
 degree from consciousness of inability to maintain 
 a position on other terms, but which surely speaks 
 highly for the honourable feeling predominant in 
 the mind of almost every one educated in our 
 country. 
 
 December 17th. It is surprising how frequent 
 are the occurrences in this country which bring 
 home to the mind irresistible refutation of the hy- 
 pothesis maintained by some able men in England, 
 that it is inexpedient to enlighten the lower classes. 
 Their assumption is, that by letting men in humble 
 station see too distinctly the advantages of higher
 
 150 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 positions in life, you make them discontented with 
 their natural occupations, and ready to seek melio- 
 ration of their condition by violence, while you 
 further vitiate their minds by enabling them to 
 question the principles of that tranquil morality in 
 which prejudice and habit would otherwise con- 
 strain them to walk. In the first place, the pas- 
 sions of the multitude are not in any country 
 to be restrained, but by the conviction of each 
 individual in the mass that there exists a 
 force ready to control him if he proceed to 
 turbulence. This curb, however, will assured- 
 ly be less necessary over a community where 
 the discriminations between right and wrong 
 are well defined and generally understood. In 
 respect to public tranquillity, therefore, great 
 benefit is gained by disseminating instruction. 
 With regard to the imagined morality attendant 
 on narrow information, every day's experience here 
 contradicts the notion. Nowhere is the perpetra- 
 tion of horrid acts more frequent than in this 
 country, though the natives are mild in character, 
 and urbane towards each other in manners. Their 
 crimes arise from the want of any principle which
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 151 
 
 can correct impulses of revenge, jealousy, or cupi- 
 dity. The observation is excited by a communica- 
 tion just received from the magistrate of Cawnpore. 
 For some time past, several native officers and 
 sepoys of our troops have been missing; they 
 had proceeded on leave of absence, singly and 
 unarmed, as was customary, to their homes ; 
 which homes, however, the inquiries instituted 
 from their overstaying their term, proved them 
 never to have reached. Much investigation was 
 fruitlessly made on the subject. At length, a man 
 taken up for some crime, offered to put Government 
 in possession of a clue to the business, were he 
 promised liberation. The pledge being given, he 
 directed the search of the magistrate to certain 
 wells, in which the bodies of thirty-four of our 
 sepoys were found. These had all been murdered 
 in crossing the district of Cawnpore, in the heart 
 of our territories. It is matter of universal noto- 
 riety, that when a sepoy gets his leave of absence, 
 he has the indulgence of lodging with the collector 
 of the zillah where he has been stationed, any 
 little sum which he has scraped together, and of 
 receiving: an order for the amount on the collector
 
 152 THE PEIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 of the zillah nearest to his home ; so that the 
 murderers could hope for no spoil beyond the trifle 
 which the individual carried for the purchase of his 
 daily food, or at least something too unimportant 
 to have been deemed by the owner worth the 
 trouble of securing by a bill. We have learned 
 that the assassins came from Moorsaum and Hat- 
 trass. Those are strong fortresses belonging to 
 the Talookdars, Bhugwunt Sing and Dya Earn. 
 Talookdar in the Upper Provinces, is the same as 
 Zemindar in Bengal. When these territories were 
 ceded to us by Scindiah, we unaccountably left 
 those Talookdars in the enjoyment of forts and 
 garrisons, which might have been necessary for any 
 man of considerable property in the tumultuous 
 state of a Mahratta community, but were useless 
 and incompatible under the regularity of our Go- 
 vernment. The consequence has been, repeated 
 complaints by our magistrates and collectors 
 against these Talookdars, for their protection of all 
 kinds of lawless adventurers, who paid high for 
 the protection, and plundered the neighbouring 
 districts to have the means of so paying. Our 
 Government, discouraged by the great strength of
 
 1816.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 153 
 
 the fortresses, has always unbecomingly evaded the 
 question. 
 
 December 23rd. The ravages of the Pindarries 
 in the Ganjam district, with the consequent danger 
 of Cuttack, and the extent of depredation com- 
 mitted by these atrocious banditti in the territories 
 of our ally the Nizam, have at length induced my 
 colleagues to take a step which would have been of 
 infinite importance six weeks earlier. They declare 
 themselves now ready to record an unanimous 
 opinion that the extirpation of the Pindarries must 
 be undertaken, notwithstanding the orders of the 
 Court of Directors against adopting any measures 
 against those predatory associations which might 
 embroil us with Scindiah. No step could be taken 
 for the suppression of those gangs which would not 
 have a tendency to involve us in hostilities with 
 Scindiah and Holkar, who regard the Pindarries as 
 their dependents ; therefore, with the most decided 
 notion as to what honour and interest advised, I 
 could not undertake an act in the teeth of the 
 Court's prohibition, when I had to apprehend that 
 there might be opinions recorded in Council against 
 its necessity, or even policy. To draw the full
 
 154 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 benefit from the fortunate sentiment now expressed 
 by my colleagues is not practicable immediately. 
 Before I could assemble the different divisions 
 requisite for expelling the Pindarries from their 
 fortresses, and for, at the same time, overawing 
 Scindiah, the hot winds would be at hand ; and I 
 dare not expose to such a season our troops, which, 
 native as well as European, have been singularly 
 debilitated by the most severe and extensive epi- 
 demic fever ever known in India. The 87th Regi- 
 ment alone has buried above one hundred and 
 twenty men. I shall, however, avail myself of this 
 declaration of Council to pin Scindiah to one point 
 or the other. It is far better, if he be resolved to 
 risk his existence for the support of the Pindarries, 
 to place him in the condition of an armed enemy. 
 In an open war, there is a termination in prospect ; 
 but supposing Scindiah to be secretly identified 
 with the Pindarries, the kind of war now waged 
 against us might go on for years without approach- 
 ing any decisive issue. The resolution of suppressing 
 the Pindarries shall be communicated on my part 
 to Scindiah, and the question shall be put as to the 
 conduct he will in that event observe. I have
 
 1816.] OP THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 155 
 
 been meditating a shooting excursion (which my 
 health much requires) to the neighbourhood of 
 Gour ; and these circumstances will confirm me in 
 that purpose. Scindiah will understand the readi- 
 ness with which I could reach the upper country 
 by dawk from Gour ; he will over-refine, and regard 
 my expedition as planned merely to secure to 
 myself that convenience; and he will have the 
 notion (not altogether groundless) that there is a 
 state of preparation requiring him to be temperate 
 and compliant.
 
 156 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 1817. 
 
 JANUARY 1st. I cannot open the new year with 
 any remark more satisfactory than one which 
 applies to the school established by Lady Loudoun 
 at Barrackpore, because its success is not only 
 gratifying to her views, but may be urged in proof 
 of what is practicable in this country. The founda- 
 tion is for the instruction of eighty native boys, 
 and sixteen European and half-caste girls. The 
 boys are to be taught arithmetic and Hindostanee, 
 as well as writing in their own language, the 
 Bengalee. Such boys as show particular attention 
 are to be rewarded by being taught English. To 
 preclude all jealousy in the natives as to the object 
 being the conversion of the children, Lady Loudoun 
 made a collection of stories, apologues, and maxims, 
 all illustrating and recommending principles of 
 morality, without reference to any particular reli- 
 gion. This, which was to be the English class- 
 book, she had translated into Bengalee and Hin-
 
 1817.] OF THE MAKQUESS OF HASTINGS. 157 
 
 dostanee, as the book for those classes also. The 
 compilation was put into the hands of some of the 
 principal natives at Barrackpore, who approved it 
 earnestly, and communicated the tenor of it 
 throughout the neighbourhood. The consequence 
 is, that the most anxious interest is made to get 
 boys admitted into the school, and the children of 
 Brahmins are among the most solicitous. The 
 progress made by the boys is very striking. There 
 are many who read English with fluency. I made 
 some of them construe the English into Hindo- 
 stanee, to see if they really understood what they 
 were reading, and I was surprised at their accurate 
 conception of the meaning and force of the 
 phrases. A sepoy grenadier, who was allowed 
 by me to study as a supernumerary (being the son 
 of a native officer), has made wonderful pro- 
 gress ; he writes English copies even elegantly. 
 I desired him to tell me what was inculcated by 
 the story which he was reading, and he said it was 
 that kindness to the weak or destitute was what 
 God required from the strong, and that a neglect 
 of it would displease the Almighty. This is a 
 species of instruction which these poor people never
 
 158 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 get at home. Were it to go no further than their 
 acquiring some notions of justice and humanity, 
 which they would never otherwise be likely to 
 attain, much good would he achieved; but it is 
 quite impossible that when you have opened the 
 mind of a boy to a certain degree, and have given 
 him the power of reading, he should stop at his 
 school-book. He will unavoidably proceed to gain 
 that information which the Brahmins would have 
 prevented his ever reaching, had they perceived this 
 education as likely to lead to it ; and he will thence 
 become an active instrument in dispelling the 
 baleful superstitions of his countrymen. This fore- 
 cast does not suggest itself to the Brahmins, who 
 are caught by the immediate advantages which 
 they think proficiency in science will bestow on 
 their children. It must at the same time be said 
 that the Bi'ahmins near Calcutta are becoming 
 oblivious of their caste, and indifferent about their 
 customs, with a rapidity not observed by them- 
 selves. It may, therefore, be not simple short- 
 sightedness, but a disposition not to see objections 
 unless they are forced upon them, which makes 
 them overlook the infallible consequence of the
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 159 
 
 expansion given to the intellect of their children. 
 The girls in this school are Christians, and are 
 kept totally apart from the other branch of the 
 school. They are taught writing, arithmetic, 
 and needlework, and appear to be very well 
 managed. Hitherto the effect of the institution 
 answers the benevolent wish in which it was 
 planned. 
 
 January 10th. Having so recently had occa- 
 sion to notice the mischiefs arising from the pro- 
 tection of robbers and murderers by Dya Ram and 
 Bhugwunt Sing, a violent complaint from the 
 magistrate of Allyghur comes appositely. The 
 insolent pretensions of Dya Ram have been the sub- 
 ject of numberless representations. He not only 
 has for a long time past refused to let any of the 
 Company's servants, civil or military, go into the 
 fort of Hattrass, but has forbidden their entrance 
 into the town, and has stopped all the processes of 
 our judicial courts against persons in either. The 
 magistrate now complains of Dya Ram's having 
 seized and confined within his fort several indi- 
 viduals (British subjects), by whom he conceived 
 himself offended ; but he more particularly repre-
 
 1GO THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JAN. 
 
 sents the outrage of a village having been sur- 
 rounded by the troops of Dya Ram, in order to 
 extort the surrender of an individual, though the 
 magistrate was actually there. On the magistrate's 
 directing the commanding officer to retire, the 
 latter said he knew no chief but Dya Ram, and 
 should not move without his orders. The magis- 
 trate despatched a police-officer to Dya Ram, with 
 a letter detailing the circumstances, and desiring 
 that the officer should attend his court to answer 
 for the contumacy, but the letter was treated with 
 complete disregard. My colleagues have repre- 
 sented the absolute necessity of putting down 
 assumptions so injurious to the administration of 
 our justice, as well as so insulting to our cha- 
 racter. I have told them the thing must not be 
 done by halves ; if we step forward at all, we must 
 extinguish the whole of the evil which a nest of 
 fortresses, actually maintained against us, produces 
 in the heart of our dominions ; and that I was con- 
 fident the boasted strength of Hattrass would give 
 us little trouble if proper means of attack were 
 prepared. It is determined by us to require the 
 dismantling of Hattrass, Moorsaum, and the
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 161 
 
 dependent forts ; and to treat Dya Ram and Bhug- 
 wunt Sing as rebels if they resist. They are closely 
 connected in consanguinity; and they, with their 
 retainers, can bring into the field full ten thousand 
 men of well-equipped troops a formidable force, 
 pretending to independence on us, just within that 
 portion of our frontiers the most exposed to attack. 
 The moment is not inopportune. The excuse is 
 convenient for assembling a larger force than the 
 precise object can demand, which force Scindiah 
 will perceive to be in a moment convertible against 
 Gwalior. The Nagpore subsidiary force, under 
 Lieutenant -Colonel Adams, strengthened much 
 beyond its stipulated rate, overhangs Scindiah on 
 his eastern flank; Colonel Doveton and Colonel 
 Smith, with their respective divisions, could at any 
 moment penetrate his southern frontier; and he 
 now will see an army assembled within four or 
 five days' march of his own station. There is every 
 reason, therefore, to trust that he will be supple 
 and complaisant. Expecting that Dya Ram will 
 resist, from the extravagant notions they have 
 taken up of their skill in defending places, I shall 
 send such a number of mortars against Hattrass 
 
 VOL. II. M
 
 162 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JAN. 
 
 as must soon reduce it to a heap of ruins. They 
 have never yet in this country employed mortars 
 properly. There is nothing .more impotent than 
 shells when they fall at long intervals, and nothing 
 more destructive where the succession is quick and 
 constant. 
 
 January 22nd. The determination of Scindiah 
 is announced. He desired to reflect before he 
 answered the communication which I caused the 
 Resident to make to him. He then sent for the 
 Resident, said he would depend upon me, and 
 would join in the extirpation of the Pindarries, 
 though it would be advisable not to let the inteii- 
 
 O 
 
 tion be known at the instant ; but hoped I would 
 have no objection to his occupying the lands 
 whence the Pindarries should be driven. The Resi- 
 dent said that, although he was not aware of its 
 being actually the case, some of the lands might 
 belong to the Nizam or the Peishwa, in which 
 event they would be restored to our allies; all 
 other territory, he was sure, I should cheerfully 
 leave to his Highness. I was glad to hear this 
 proposed condition, as it implied sincerity of deci- 
 sion; still, one is not to trust to a Mahratta ; and
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 1G3 
 
 all that is to be rested upon is, that Scindiali does 
 not feel himself strong enough at present to uphold 
 the Pindarries. 
 
 January 23rd. Having reached Barrackpore 
 last night, we set out this morning before day 
 on our sporting expedition. We proceeded in the 
 Feel-cherry to liana Ghaut, where we landed at 
 three in the afternoon. We were met by Mr. 
 Paton, judge and magistrate of Kishnagur, and 
 Mr. Barnett, commercial resident at Santipore. 
 We thence went in carriages to Mr. Paton's, 
 at Kislmagur, where we dined and slept. At 
 daybreak we crossed the Jellinghy. Travelling 
 part of the way in carriages and part in palan- 
 keens, we arrived at Berhampore about half-past 
 six, where we dined and slept at Mr. Ahmuty's. 
 It was lucky that he has quarters in that splendid 
 cantonment, for we had had journey enough, and 
 should have found it tiresome to proceed to Moor- 
 shedabad, in the Appeal Court of which he is an 
 officiating judge. The extraordinary unhealthiness 
 of Moorshedabad, which seems to have been 
 becoming worse year after year, has forced most 
 of the European functionaries to seek residences at 
 M 2
 
 164 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JAN. 
 
 some distance, aud only to repair to the city for 
 the discharge of their duties. These continued 
 maladies, which had reduced the formerly great 
 population of Moorshedabad to a third of its origi- 
 nal number, have been discussed in Council, and 
 Government has ordered, as a public act, a cor- 
 rection of the evil which no representation or 
 persuasion could prevail on the inhabitants to 
 apply. The city is full of thick copses of bamboo, 
 which prevent a circulation of air; and in the 
 midst of these masses there arc multitudes of little 
 stagnant pools. We have directed the bamboos to 
 be extirpated, and compensation, framed on a fair 
 valuation, being made to each owner ; and we have 
 ordered the pools to be either filled up or enlarged 
 into tanks which may contain a serviceable supply 
 for the people, while the quantity of the water will 
 prevent its growing putrid. So incorrectly do 
 large bodies of men judge of attentions to their 
 welfare, that it is probable this operation will be 
 looked upon rather as an oppression than as an act 
 of kindness. Mr. Loch, city magistrate of Moor- 
 shedabad ; Mr. Smith, one of the judges of the 
 Court of Appeal; and Mr. Magniac, assistant-
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 165 
 
 register, had met us in our way to usher us into 
 Berhampore. 
 
 January 25th. This morning, Saturday, I re- 
 viewed the Company's European regiment, com- 
 manded by Major Broughton. It was strong, and 
 in good order. Afterwards, we set out to proceed 
 on our journey. In passing through the skirts of 
 Moorshedabad, I had the satisfaction of witnessing 
 the progress already made by the keen and judi- 
 cious activity of Mr. Loch, in clearing away exten- 
 sive portions of the forest of bamboos. At three 
 o'clock we reached the banks of the Ganges. The 
 river was so low, that the remaining channel was 
 scarcely a mile wide. Jugguth Seyt and Rajah 
 Oud\vunt Sing had each sent up their mor 
 punkhas from Moorshedabad (of which both of 
 them are residents), to wait for me at this place. 
 They were richly-ornamented vessels, and really 
 elegant in their fashion, with many smaller boats 
 attendant upon each. Infinite jealousy would have 
 been caused by my giving a preference between 
 the two. Jugguth Seyt is a banker, perhaps the 
 richest in the world, whose firm had in times past 
 been useful to Government; and Rajah Oudwunt
 
 166 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 Sing is the representative of a very old family. I 
 professed to the dewans who had charge of the 
 flotillas, my sense of the polite attention ; but I 
 said, laughingly, that as I was there only as a 
 sportsman, I could not use those magnificent con- 
 veyances ; therefore, giving money to be distributed 
 among the boatmen, I crossed the river in one of 
 our own bhauleahs to Godaghary, near which our 
 camp was pitched. The situation was quite a 
 jungle, close to a jeel, or large pool, on the banks 
 of which many alligators were amusing themselves. 
 A grenadier company of the 21st Native Infantry 
 met me as my guard remarkably fine men. 
 
 January 26th, Sunday. We remained quiet in 
 our tents. Our party consisted of Mr. Adam, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Doyle, Mr. Chastenay, Captain 
 M'Ra (?), Captain Caldwell, Captain Stanhope, 
 Captain FitzClarence, and Dr. Sawyers all of 
 whom had accompanied me from Calcutta with 
 Mr. Ewer, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Hunter, and Mr. 
 Lambert, civil officers of that vicinity. 
 
 February 2nd. We marched to English Bazaar, 
 the residence of Mr. Chester. At this place the 
 greatest part of the silk sent home to England is
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINC7S. 167 
 
 collected. The factory which Mr. Chester inhabits 
 displays the prodigious difference between our 
 present situation and that which existed not many 
 years ago ; for the house is surrounded by a walk 
 flanked with bastions, %>n which cannon were 
 mounted, and it was really a frontier post, though 
 it is now quite in the interior of even what are 
 now termed the Lower Provinces. It was curious 
 to see the millions of silkworm cocoons laid up 
 here. They are baked in ovens to kill the grub, in 
 which state they may be preserved for six months. 
 Mr. Chester told me that when the grubs are 
 thrown out, after the silk has been spun off, the 
 eagerness of the jackals to get them is surprising. 
 They seem regardless of any danger in attempting 
 to obtain such a dainty. That food has the singu- 
 lar effect of producing a sort of intoxication on the 
 jackals. The morbid affection is transitory, and 
 does not seem to tend to a madness like that of a 
 rabid dog ; but it, for the time, makes the animals 
 stupid or violent, and careless of themselves. Is an 
 escape from the ordinary contemplation of life a 
 gratification equally to the quadruped and to the 
 human creature? We met here Mr. Williams,
 
 16 S THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 assistant to Mr. Chester; and Mr. Lamb, surgeon 
 of the station. 
 
 February 6th. I had allowed myself a certain 
 number of days for absence from Calcutta, and I 
 would not be seduced fcito extending the term 
 which I had fixed. Not that I am exonerated 
 from business on this excursion ; relays of camels 
 bring to me with speed every day the boxes from 
 the several departments, containing all matters 
 not of absolute routine. I labour at these from 
 the time we return to camp in the morning till 
 the hour for going out in the afternoon; and if 
 that time do not suffice, I work again at them 
 before I go to bed. In other points, however, a 
 protracted absence might be inconvenient, and 
 Scindiah's compliant professions have removed the 
 contingent necessity for my hastening to the 
 Jumna. I therefore this morning quitted Peer- 
 gunge, on my return to Calcutta. In our way to 
 English Bazaar, where we were to encamp, we had 
 to beat again the plains which we had traversed 
 on the 3rd. 
 
 February 7th. "We marched for the ruins of 
 Gour, fording a river which discharges itself into
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 1G9 
 
 the Maha-Nuddee, and which even at this season 
 is tolerably deep, we ascended what is represented 
 as the rampart of the ancient city. It is sur- 
 prising how rapidly a glance of the eye dispels the 
 notions which one adopfs from exaggerated de- 
 scriptions of place. The first conviction was, that 
 the mound on which we were proceeding had not 
 been raised for defence, but was, in truth, nothing 
 more than a bund (as it is here called), or dyke, to 
 keep the floods from overflowing a considerable 
 tract of country encircled by the elevation. This 
 first impression being established, the suspicion 
 followed, of course, that the city had not been co- 
 extensive as is the fashion to believe with these 
 outworks, but that the space had contained a 
 number of detached villages. Everything that I 
 saw confirmed this presumption ; so that the im- 
 mense magnitude of Gour appeared to me a gratui- 
 tous supposition. This spot has been undoubtedly 
 populous ; but there are not remains of magnifi- 
 cence to attest that leisure and wealth of society 
 which almost necessarily induce the erection of 
 vast edifices, or the imdertaking other works where 
 great concert of labour is requisite. The prodi-
 
 170 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 gious size of one of the tanks has been advanced as 
 furnishing a scale by which the extent of the city 
 might be judged. There is nothing in that tank 
 which makes me draw a conclusion such as would 
 place either the conception or the execution on a 
 high footing. The whole country in that neigh- 
 bourhood is studded with pools. Where several 
 stood very near each other, it would be natural to 
 think of joining them, and of giving the united 
 sheet of water a regular form especially as clay 
 for making bricks must be dug up somewhere, and 
 could be as expediently raised in the performance of 
 this work as at any other place. There is, conse- 
 quently, nothing to excite admiration on the score 
 of magnitude, and there are no remains whence 
 one can infer ornament to have belonged to the 
 tank. We encamped close to the ruins of the fort 
 and palace ; so that as soon as the heat was a little 
 mitigated in the evening, we set forth to continue 
 our examination. I had heard the walls of the 
 palace described as forty feet high, and in other 
 respects a noble remnant of antiquity. The wall 
 which surrounded the space said to have been 
 occupied by the palace is high, but in other points
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 171 
 
 it might be regarded as shabby. In fact, there are 
 two walls of small bricks, like what were used by 
 the Romans, the interstice between which is filled 
 up with clay. To prevent the bulging out of these 
 walls, the whole mass tapers to the top, where it 
 becomes so narrow as not to admit of a parapet, or 
 indeed to allow of a man's walking on it. There 
 are scarcely any vestiges of the palace, none that 
 give a notion of its ever having been fine. The 
 fort presents scarcely anything better. The ram- 
 parts have been but moderate : the gateways, of 
 brick, are just the ordinary structure seen in all the 
 old native forts large, from containing the lodg- 
 ment for the guard, yet devoid of any particular 
 dignity. We went some distance to see a mosque, 
 which, in a description of Gour, is represented as 
 equalling, in structure and ornament, the finest 
 specimens of architecture in the Upper Provinces. 
 A building which is only fifty fee't square is not 
 very striking from its size; but this mosque has, 
 in addition to that defect, the demerit of being 
 decorated in as bad taste as can well be imagined. 
 Its boasted ornaments are bricks, glazed with dif- 
 ferent colours. These are not inserted so as to
 
 172 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 display any elegance of pattern ; simply a line of 
 them intersects the red surface of the build- 
 ing. In short, we were exceedingly disappointed 
 at this, and at all else which we examined in Gour. 
 There seems a general propensity to eke out with 
 the fancy the importance of any ruined place, and 
 to devise for it anterior grandeur, though it exhibit 
 no trace of splendour. The large quantities of 
 bricks, remarkably well burnt, which have been 
 taken out of the mounds here for purposes of build- 
 ing in the neighbourhood, afford no estimate of 
 the quality of the city. The new structures raised 
 with them would occupy a miserably small space 
 compared with the imagined extent of Gour. The 
 only natural inference is, that the facility of getting 
 clay of proper texture, with plenty of jungle for 
 burning it, led the inhabitants of the city and of 
 the adjacent villages to build more generally with 
 brick than has been the practice in those parts of 
 Bengal where similar convenience did not exist. 
 While we were at Peergunge, some of the gentle- 
 men went to see the Adeena mosque, distant about 
 twelve miles from that place. I could not afford 
 myself the indulgence, as it would have interfered
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 173 
 
 with my working 1 at business in the middle of the 
 day. By their account it is curious, yet not mag- 
 nificent, notwithstanding a front of 500 feet. It 
 is a succession of small cupolas, supported inside 
 the building by columns of a dull blackish sort of 
 granite, clumsy, but in some parts ornamented 
 with tolerably sharp carving. This mosque was 
 built by Shere Shah ; and it is observable that the 
 remains in Gour bear the character of Mussulman 
 work. The splendour, therefore, of the city, when 
 it was the Hindoo capital of Northern India, is 
 very problematical, or rather, may be said to be 
 upheld by no evidence. 
 
 February 8th. We set out for Seebgunge, 
 where our boats were to meet us. 
 
 February 9th. We embarked before dawn at 
 Seebgunge. This town is on the Baughretty, a 
 little above the confluence of that river with the 
 Ganges. My present tour has confirmed strongly 
 an opinion which had for some time been floating- 
 in my mind. I have suspected that the Brah- 
 minical religion did not originate in the provinces 
 towards the Indus, but made its progress from the 
 maritime ports of Bengal. A principal ground for
 
 174 THE PEIVATE JOUHNAL [FEB. 
 
 this supposition was, the otherwise unaccountable 
 circumstance that the Hooghly should be a sacred 
 stream, while no sanctity or reverence is attached 
 to the Ganges eastward of the spot at which the 
 comparatively small channel of the former sepa- 
 rates from the main river. Had the veneration of 
 the Ganges begun in the Upper Provinces, it 
 seems almost impossible that the supei'stition 
 should not have accompanied the increasing 
 volume of the waters quite to the sea. Ablu- 
 tion and committal of the dead to a running 
 stream being parts of the Brahminical ritual, 
 the priests encouraged the observance of them 
 by hallowing the river on which they fixed their 
 establishments. The magnitude of the Hooghly, 
 as far as the tide reaches, would naturally 
 make persons who had not examined the distant 
 country believe it to be the estuary of a magnifi- 
 cent stream. When devotion to the river had 
 become so firmly fixed as not to be shaken, the 
 discovery that the Hooghly was composed by the 
 union of two insignificant branches, the Baughretty 
 and the Jellinghy, would be too late. The sanc- 
 tity would be to be carried up that branch along
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 175 
 
 which the accidental course of the extending re- 
 ligion proceeded. In this manner the Baughretty 
 became sacred, while the Jellinghy remained un- 
 honoured. On arriving at the point where the 
 Baughretty flows out of the Ganges, some casual 
 circumstance probably determined the migrating 
 swarm to cross the latter river, instead of turning 
 along its southern bank. If any consideration led 
 them to fix themselves rather inland, instead of 
 remaining on the northern bank of the Ganges, 
 there would be a strong motive for attaching 
 sacredness to any river bordering their new settle- 
 ment. Supposing them to have established them- 
 selves at Gour, it was, on the above principle, 
 natural to call the river which flowed by the 
 station the Baughretty, identifying it with the 
 river of that name already hallowed, and feigning 
 that the stream which washed the shores of Gour 
 crossed the bed of the Ganges to form the channel 
 nearly opposite, and possessing a prescriptive title 
 to reverence. When, subsequently, the extension of 
 population took its direction along the banks of 
 the Ganges westward, that river was also made 
 sacred, and the quality would necessarily be as-
 
 176 THE PKIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 signed to it up to its very source. To account for 
 this sanctity, the tale was devised, evidently by 
 people who never had had information respect- 
 ing that source, that the Ganges issued from the 
 mountains through a chasm in a rock formed like 
 the mouth of a cow; this natural phenomenon, 
 which linked itself with the religious prejudices of 
 the people for the animal, being supposed to dic- 
 tate to the inhabitants the reverence in which the 
 river should be held. Bowing down the Ganges 
 for about thirty miles, we landed at Bogwangola, on 
 the Cossimbazar island. We there found elephants 
 waiting for us, which Mr. Loch had brought, the 
 first stage being impracticable for a carriage. We 
 proceeded on them about ten miles, when carriages 
 were in readiness, and transported us in good time 
 to Berhampore. We were there hospitably re- 
 ceived by Mr. Smith, judge of the Circuit Court. 
 
 February 10th. Partly in palankeens and partly 
 in carriages, we proceeded to Kishnagur, where 
 we had our usual cordial reception from Mr. 
 Paton. 
 
 February llth. Having gone in carriages to 
 Santipore (sixteen miles) , we there embarked in the
 
 1817.] OP THE MAKQUESS OF HASTINGS. 177 
 
 Feel-Churry. We rowed to Pulta Ghaut, nearly 
 thirty miles. There we found our carriages, and, 
 missing Barrackpore, we arrived by nine at night 
 in Calcutta. 
 
 February 16th. Some circumstances relative to 
 the death of the Eajah of Nepaul (which event 
 was communicated to us in November) have been 
 detailed, and are worth recording. Vaccination 
 had been introduced with great success by the 
 surgeon of the Residency ; and several chiefs had 
 subjected their families to it with the happiest 
 issue. The small-pox was raging in the western 
 provinces of the state, and the Rajah was earnestly 
 pressed by the Resident to secure himself by re- 
 sorting to a precaution which had proved so safe. 
 The Rajah appears to have been perfectly inclined 
 to it; but, apparently at the suggestion of persons 
 around him, he declared himself obliged to wait 
 for a fortunate day. His eldest son, a promising 
 boy, was soon seized with the disorder and died. 
 Even this could not determine the unfortunate 
 sovereign. Shortly after, the malady appeared 
 upon him. Hope being speedily over, he was 
 carried to die in the Great Temple ; a ceremony 
 
 VOL. II. N
 
 178 THE PKIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 which is always decisive, and the individual is laid 
 on the stone floor, and left without succour till he 
 expires. Two of his wives (the mother of the 
 boy just deceased, with another that was childless) 
 had declared their resolution to burn themselves in 
 case of his demise. When his death was an- 
 nounced, two of his sisters and three slave girls 
 were added for the sacrifice ; whether at their own 
 request, or whether the dreadful destination was 
 forced upon them, could not be learned by our 
 people. They all showed great firmness in mount- 
 ing the funeral pile. The ceremony was over but 
 a few days when the Rajah's half-brother, an active 
 young man, was declared ill beyond recovery. He 
 was carried to the temple, where he lingered for a 
 short time, and then expired. His two wives 
 burned themselves with the corpse. This Prince 
 had upon the death of the late Rajah insisted upon 
 being taken into the Council of Regency, which 
 the minister Bheem Syn had formed of himself 
 and two of his creatures. The difficulty of resist- 
 ing so natural a pretension make the point em- 
 barrassing for Bheem Syn ; and the death of the 
 young man was observed to have come as oppor-
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 179 
 
 tunely as the decease of his brother, who was 
 known to be manceuvring to free himself from 
 the dominion of the minister. It is most probable 
 that the deaths were natural, yet great alarm took 
 place. The only remaining male of the reigning 
 family was a child three years old. The Ranee, 
 his mother, secretly addressed the Resident, saying 
 that she threw herself wholly on the British for 
 the preservation of her son. A few days after the 
 Ranee was said to have died of the small-pox. 
 Her death was certain, but the assertions were 
 loud that she had had the small-pox six or seven 
 years before. One may reasonably infer that in 
 any malady which could give a colour for carrying 
 the patient to the temple the issue must be sure ; 
 because, it may be supposed, it would be thought 
 a gross impropriety in any person not to complete 
 the act of dying after being exposed in the temple 
 for the purpose. Indeed, I understand it to be a 
 settled matter that such a breach of decorum shall 
 never take place. As nothing can be more advan- 
 tageous for Bheem Syn than to rule in the name 
 of the minor, who is absolutely in his power, the 
 young Rajah is probably secure. Bheem Syn is 
 N 2
 
 180 . THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 one of the Thappas; a low family, which, by 
 getting the military power under its sway, has 
 established a predominance in the state. He is an 
 intelligent, active man, totally devoid (as are all 
 the Gorkhas) of those prejudices which prevent 
 the natives from adopting the results of our science, 
 though they witness the practical advantage. The 
 Gorkhas have watched and imitated us with as- 
 tonishing assiduity. All their arrangements of 
 picquets and other camp duties are exactly ours. 
 Bheem Syn took Mr. Gardner, the Resident, to 
 see a practice of mortars which Mr. Gardner re- 
 ports to have been very good. 
 
 March ]4th. Hattrass has fallen in the manner 
 that I expected. It was certainly the strongest 
 fortress in this part of India ; was amply provided 
 with artillery, and stores of every kind ; and was 
 garrisoned by troops not only highly disciplined, 
 as well as numerous, but firmly attached to Dya 
 Ram. All these fortresses, however, look to the 
 being assaulted, and their defences are calculated 
 accordingly. The number of works framed with 
 the view of contesting the place inch by inch in- 
 sured that the blowing about of them with shells
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. LSI 
 
 would be more than any garrison would have firm- 
 ness to bear long. Forty-four mortars had, there- 
 fore, been ordered for the service. . It was proof of 
 great courage, that the garrison bore such a bom- 
 bardment for fifteen hours, and continued the 
 defence even when a magazine had blown up. 
 Luckily it was not the principal magazine, the ex- 
 plosion of which would probably have destroyed 
 every man in the fort. A shell did go through 
 the roof (imagined bomb-proof) of that magazine, 
 but the fuse had flown out, and the shell, in burying 
 itself below, did not happen to touch any powder 
 barrel; it was a wonderful escape for the poor 
 people. At length, in the night, the garrison 
 sallied, and attempted to escape. Dya Ram, with 
 a few horsemen, got off; the rest were either slain 
 or taken, and the fort was immediately occupied 
 by our troops. The glacis was mined in many 
 parts. The ditch is 125 feet broad, and 85 feet 
 deep. The sudden and apparently easy reduction 
 of this fortress, deemed by all the natives impreg- 
 nable, with most trifling loss on our side and dread- 
 ful slaughter on that of the enemy, will make an 
 extraordinary impression at all the neighbouring
 
 182 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 courts ; and we really wanted a success of this 
 kind to retrieve our military character in the 
 article of sieges. I rejoice that the old chieftain, 
 who is a gallant fellow, got off unhurt. All the 
 women had been sent away from the fort before 
 the batteries opened. 
 
 March 23rd. An embarrassing scene has 
 opened to us. Towards the close of last year we 
 discovered traces of many intrigues of the Peishwa's, 
 which bore the appearance of hostility to us. At 
 best, his objects wei'e wholly irreconcileable to the 
 articles of that treaty by which we fixed him on 
 the musnud. Negotiations had been going on 
 with the late Rajah of Nagpore, with Scindiah, 
 with Holkar, and with the Guykwar. We per- 
 suaded ourselves that he only aimed at a re- 
 establishment of his supremacy over the other 
 Mahratta states ; a dignity which he might con- 
 ceive to be only nominal, but which would, in fact, 
 imply the continuance of that confederacy of the 
 Mahrattas intended to be for ever barred by 
 the treaty of Bassein. The death of llagojee 
 Bhoosla, and our consequent treaty with Nagpore, 
 so totally overset the plan of a Mahratta combina-
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 183 
 
 tion, that I think we followed up the clues which 
 we had procured with less attention than we ought 
 to have done. Enough, however, had been detected 
 to make it expedient that I should write to the 
 Peishwa for the purpose of showing him that we 
 were apprized of what he had been doing. I 
 mentioned this kindly as an aberration of which I 
 was sure he had not comprehended the quality, 
 entreating that no shyness might follow the dis- 
 covery, but that he would rest upon me with 
 all his former confidence if he determined (as I 
 doubted not would be the case) to dispel from his 
 mind projects incompatible with the friendship 
 between the two states. He sent an answer full of 
 gratitude for the gentle manner in which I had ex- 
 posed a procedure liable, as he was now sensible, 
 to be construed as a direct hostility to the British 
 Government, and thence capable of drawing down 
 ruin on himself. He declared that his agents had 
 gone beyond his instructions, which only went to 
 obtain a titular pre-eminence among the Mahrat- 
 tas, and that, as he was now conscious even that 
 step was wrong, he threw himself wholly on our 
 generosity, imploring us to rely implicitly on his
 
 184 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 good faith and attachment to a government to 
 which he owed his dominions. We were so anxious 
 to conciliate him, that we would not let him per- 
 ceive our knowledge of a subsequent transaction 
 most suspicious in its appearance. At length his 
 sincerity and honour have been displayed in their 
 true light. He had renewed his solicitations for 
 the pardon of Trimbuckjee Dainglia. In my letter 
 I explained to his Highness, in terms as distinct 
 as I could use without insinuating my conviction 
 of his own guilt, the imputation of his being an 
 accomplice in the murder of Gungudhur Shastree, 
 which would unavoidably follow the notoriety of 
 his Highness's intercession till the crime had in 
 some degree been forgotten. This appeared to 
 have produced the due effect. Shortly after, how- 
 ever, the Peishwa renewed his application to the 
 Hesident, and on Mr. Elphinstone's urging to him 
 the objections which had been stated by me, his 
 Highness broadly said that what was refused to 
 solicitation might be extorted by force. The 
 Resident, in temperate and respectful terms, re- 
 presented the unfitness of such a threat. The 
 Peishwa did not endeavour to explain away the
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 185 
 
 words ; but he did not repeat the menace, and the 
 matter was passed over as a momentary ebullition 
 of peevishness. Little time had elapsed before Mr. 
 Elphinstone received information of the secret en- 
 rolment of troops throughout the Peishwa's domi- 
 nions, and even of a considerable assemblage of 
 them under Trimbuckjee Dainglia. Having com- 
 municated this to the durbar, the Resident was 
 astonished to find his representation met by an 
 absolute denial of the fact. On his insisting on the 
 accuracy of his intelligence, and quoting particu- 
 lars which showed how thoroughly he was apprized 
 of what was going forward, it was promised tbat a 
 body of horse should be immediately sent to dis- 
 perse the collection of troops if any existed, though 
 perfect incredulity was still professed on the sub- 
 ject. Mr. Elphinstone was not to be duped. He 
 was not entitled to question the sincerity with 
 which the body of cavalry was despatched ; but be 
 attached to it private emissaries of his own, in- 
 structed to watch and impart to him the proceed- 
 ings of the Mahratta commander. From them he 
 speedily learned the cavalry were placed in the 
 midst of a number of villages filled with Trimbuck-
 
 186 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 jee's troops, to whom the former gave no obstruc- 
 tion or trouble. Furnished with these particulars 
 he waited upon the Peishwa, who produced to him 
 a letter from the commander of the cavalry report- 
 ing his being stationed in the specified position, 
 and declaring that there were no troops collected 
 in the vicinity or anywhere else that he could 
 learn. Mr. Elphinstone opposed to this report the 
 precise intelligence which he had received from his 
 emissaries on the spot ; further specifying different 
 columns which were marching to that rendezvous 
 with the overt sanction of his Highness's officers, 
 and particularizing various large sums sent by his 
 Highness himself to assist the levies and bring for- 
 ward the troops into the field. He moreover ex- 
 hibited to the Peishwa a list of the troops which 
 his Highness had summoned to the capital. These 
 combined indications of hostility, the Peishwa was 
 informed, had been communicated to me; and the 
 President anxiously pressed his Highness to reflect 
 and trace back his steps, so as that when my orders, 
 the tenor of which Mr. Elphinstone could antici- 
 pate, should arrive, the Resident might have a 
 justification for suppressing them. The Peishwa
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 187 
 
 received the remonstrance haughtily and slightingly. 
 Mr. Elphinstone told him that, as the cavalry 
 which had been detached for the purpose had not 
 acted, he should direct a part of the subsidiary 
 force to attack the insurgents as rebels against his 
 Highness' s Government, unless his Highness chose 
 to protect the assemblage with his sanction, which 
 would be tantamount to a declaration of war. The 
 Peishwa, not being prepared for so sudden a crisis, 
 made no objection ; but immediately after this con- 
 ference gave instructions for redoubled activity in 
 levying troops and putting his fortresses in a state 
 of defence. 
 
 April 19th. Trimbuckjee's troops have been 
 routed with severe loss in two gallant attacks made 
 upon them by detachments from the subsidiary 
 force. The Vinchoor Jagheerdar, a nominal depen- 
 dent of the Peishwa' s, but considering himself i;s 
 really under our protection, availed himself of the 
 ostensible character given to the business; and 
 affecting to consider the insurgents as in revolt 
 against his Highness's Government, he pursued 
 them in their retreat with his cavalry, and finally 
 dispersed them. Between five and six hundred
 
 188 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [APEIL, 
 
 horses were taken from them by him. It is not 
 known whither Trimbuckjee has fled. We have 
 obtained complete proof of the extensive and des- 
 perate treachery of the Peishwa. It appears that 
 even in the autumn of last year he was soliciting 
 Scindiah, Holkar, Ameer Khan, the Guykwar, the 
 Rajah of Nagpore, and the Nizam, to join with 
 him and drive the English out of India. Scindiah 
 and Holkar have promised to assist him against 
 us ; but I deceive myself much if I leave them the 
 power of stirring. I am satisfied that none of 
 them, not even the Peishwa, are aware of the 
 degree in which I have silently and gradually 
 augmented the divisions on the southern frontiers 
 of the Mahrattas, from a timely conception of the 
 exigencies likely to occur. Those different bodies, 
 in fact armies, are in positions which would allow 
 of their acting instantaneously; and they intercept 
 the communication between the native powers as far 
 as regards the march of bodies of troops. Still, this 
 perfidy of the Peishwa's is very unfortunate when 
 the ticklish undertaking for the extirpation of the 
 Pindarries is coming forward to execution. A vigo- 
 rous decision was requisite, and it has been taken.
 
 1817.] OP THE MAKQUESS OF HASTINGS. 189 
 
 May 26th. The blow has been successfully 
 struck against the Peishwa. Colonel Smith was 
 ordered to advance his division, in separate detach- 
 ments, with as little parade as possible, to situations 
 whence by a forced march they might unite at 
 Poonah. The Resident was instructed, as soon as 
 the troops should be in those forward stations, to 
 demand an audience of the Peishwa, and to deliver 
 to him this option; instant commencement of hos- 
 tilities, or an engagement on his Highness's part to 
 deliver up Trimbuckjee to the British Government 
 within one month. Should his Highness accept 
 the latter alternative, his three strongest fortresses 
 must be put into possession of Colonel Smith as 
 security for his Highness's good faith. On this 
 condition he would not be removed from the mus- 
 nud; but, as the deep and persevering treason 
 which had been carried on against the British Go- 
 vernment must prevent any future confidence in 
 his friendship, his Highness's means of injuring us 
 would be diminished by a defalcation from his 
 power, though the alliance should in point of form 
 continue. I was particularly pointed in directing 
 that this resolution of exacting cessions from him,
 
 190 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 as the penalty of his base and profligate attempt 
 to excite a general conspiracy against MS, should be 
 distinctly explained to him, lest he should endea- 
 vour to represent it as barred by his submission to 
 the simple condition respecting Trimbuckjee ; and 
 Mr. Elphinstone was accordingly precise in inti- 
 mating it. Four-and-twenty hours were allowed 
 to the Peishwa for his determination. He affected 
 to treat the communication lightly, as if he had 
 already taken his part and resolved to abide by it. 
 I think he had expectation to the last, of being 
 succoured by Scindiah and Holkar. Whether or 
 not he received intelligence of their inability to 
 stir is doubtful ; but after having let the day and 
 the earlier part of the night pass in apparent indif- 
 ference, about midnight he sent to treat with the 
 Eesident. The latter answered that he had no 
 powers to negotiate; he had received specific 
 instructions leaving him no latitude ; he had com- 
 municated them to his Highness, and he had no 
 further function till his Highness's choice was 
 made. The Peishwa let the twenty-four hours 
 expire. This was expected, and provision had been 
 made for the occurrence. At eight in the morning,
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 191 
 
 the heads of the different columns appeared before 
 Poonah ; and the necessary positions being pre- 
 viously fixed, the city was immediately invested. 
 The inhabitants were so confident in the discipline 
 of the British troops, that they did not show the 
 least agitation. His Highness had seven thousand 
 infantry (chiefly Arabs), besides a large body of 
 cavalry, in the palace, which forms a kind of for- 
 tress ; but the dreadful effect of the shells at Hat- 
 trass had been so bruited through the country, 
 that no man had trust in walls. The Peishwa sent 
 his ministers to profess his unqualified submission. 
 Orders were put into the hands of the Resident for 
 the delivery of the three forts ; and a proclamation 
 has been issued, offering two lacs of rupees 
 (25,000i?.) for the capture of Trimbuckjee. I have 
 never had the least notion that the Peishwa would 
 encourage any real step for the apprehension of 
 that criminal, but the amount of the reward will 
 make Trimbuckjee sensible that he cannot stay in 
 the country without being seized by somebody. 
 He will, therefore, go off to some distant state, 
 Scinde or Cabul possibly, where the secret boons of 
 the Peishwa will enable him to live splendidly.
 
 192 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUNE, 
 
 This is an issue which I should prefer much to his 
 being taken. 
 
 June 28th. The new treaty by which the 
 Peishwa subscribes to the exacted cessions, has 
 arrived. It re-establishes the treaty of Bassein 
 (the treaty of alliance), with a stricter construc- 
 tion of certain articles. It abrogates for ever all 
 claim to supremacy on the part of the Peishwa 
 over the other Mahratta states, declares them 
 independent, and bars the Peishwa from any species 
 of interference with them. It binds the Peishwa 
 not to maintain a vakeel at any foreign court or to 
 receive one thence. It stipulates that the Peishwa 
 shall not admit into his dominions the subjects of 
 any European or American state without the 
 consent of the British Resident. It settles all the 
 contested points between the Peishwa and Guyk- 
 war (advantageously for the latter), which the 
 British Government had been bound to arbitrate. 
 It transfers to the Company all the Peishwa's 
 rights in Bundelcund, a matter of great con- 
 venience to us. It yields to this Government the 
 fine fort of Ahmednuggur, a post of extraordinary 
 importance in keeping up the communication
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 193 
 
 between the Hyderabad and the Poonah subsidiary 
 forces ; and it cedes to us districts near Bombay, 
 connecting that Presidency with Surat, affording 
 a clear revenue of thirty-four lacs of rupees in 
 commutation for the five thousand cavalry which 
 the Peishwa was bound to keep up for us as his 
 contingent, and which he never did maintain. 
 These terms are in themselves severe. When, 
 however, they are measured by the magnitude of 
 the injury aimed at us they will not appear harsh ; 
 nor will the necessity of imposing them be doubted 
 when it is considered that our experience had 
 proved the impossibility of our relying on the most 
 solemn pledges of the Peishwa, who must unavoid- 
 ably be more malignant from the detection of his 
 treachery ; so that we had no choice consistent 
 with our own security, but to cripple him if we 
 left him on the throne. The extreme of deposing 
 him was altogether repugnant to my feelings as 
 long as our absolute safety did not require the pro- 
 cedure. Relaxations or partial restorations may be 
 practicable should we find him steady and honour- 
 able hereafter ; but his disposition is so radically 
 bad that I have little hope of his meriting favour. 
 VOL. ir. o
 
 194 THE PEIVATE JOURNAL [JULY, 
 
 In the mean time we trampled under foot a mis- 
 chief which might have become serious. 
 
 July 8th. Embarked from Calcutta for the 
 Upper Provinces, with the fervent hope that I may 
 be the humble instrument for extinguishing an evil 
 which has been a bitter scourge to humanity. The 
 horrors committed by the Pindarries exceed all 
 imagination. Having for some time back had the 
 means of getting at the correspondence between 
 the Pindarry chiefs, Scindiah, and Ameer Khan, I 
 find the strongest assurances from the two latter 
 of support to the Pindarries when the British shall 
 attack them. The complete insignificance which 
 Scindiah or Ameer Khan would ascribe to any pro- 
 mise makes this of little consequence. It will be 
 the beginning of October before troops can take 
 the field : the rains and swollen rivers being still 
 more distressing to the Pindarries than to our 
 people, any premature demand for movement is 
 unlikely. 
 
 July 13th. I have hazarded a supposition, 
 deduced from particular circumstances, that the 
 present Hindoo religion had not its origin on the 
 banks of the Ganges. This persuasion is strongly
 
 1817.] OP THE MAEQUESS OF HASTINGS. 195 
 
 upheld by a dissertation which Dr. Robert Tytler 
 has lately published, on the remains of temples to 
 Siva, in the island of Java. These are represented 
 as still exhibiting great magnificence with regard 
 to size and architecture. All the images connected 
 with Hindoo worship are found in these ruins; 
 some as statues, some in alto or basso-relievo, skil- 
 fully and even elegantly executed. Structures so 
 vast (I have seen drawings that show them to be 
 really grand) do not betoken filiation, when one 
 finds nothing correspondent in plan throughout 
 the country whence the creed is imagined to have 
 been borrowed. It seems more natural to conceive 
 that splendid monuments referring to the worship 
 indicate the parent soil of the religion, and that the 
 imitation on a smaller scale belongs to a country 
 which has adopted the faith and ceremonies. On 
 the Coromandel coast there are temples of a 
 description very superior to those in this part of 
 India; but that can only excite the question 
 whether the source of the worship should be attri- 
 buted to the southern part of this peninsula, or to 
 the eastern islands. It leaves unaffected the ob- 
 jection to assigning the banks of the Ganges as the 
 o 2
 
 196 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JULY, 
 
 cradle of the doctrines. Perhaps ray opinion on 
 that head may receive some additional support from 
 a fact which I overlooked in discussing this subject 
 some time ago. The Carumnassa river, from its 
 springs in the Vindhaya ridge to its confluence 
 with the Ganges, is deemed so polluting that it is 
 shunned with the greatest apprehension by the 
 Hindoos. Should a Hindoo pilgrim in crossing 
 it in a boat receive the smallest sprinkling from 
 the splash of an oar, he must pay an expiatory sum 
 to the Brahmins, or must recommence his pilgri- 
 mage at the place where he set out, be the distance 
 ever so great. A superstition so singularly contra- 
 dictory to those habits of the Hindoos, which make 
 them regard every other stream with partiality, 
 cannot have arisen but from the inculcation of the 
 Brahmins. The motive for such a policy in them 
 is thence an object of speculation. It is possible 
 the leading personages of that caste may have had 
 some reason for wishing to restrain the propensity 
 of their disciples to extend their progress up the 
 southern bank of the Ganges ; having endeavoured 
 to make Gour, to the northward of the river, the 
 principal seat of the religion, they would from
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 197 
 
 that impulse convert a natural boundary so defined 
 as the Carumnassa into a religious barrier, by 
 making the touch of its water a serious defilement. 
 If there be anything in this surmise, it strengthens 
 the former inferences, whence I had concluded the 
 Brahminical ceremonies to have been introduced up 
 the Hooghly. The aim of Dr. Tytler's dissertation 
 is to prove the identity of the worship of Budh 
 with that of Siva, each being, according to his 
 opinion, pure deism. Probably Budhism was so, it 
 being understood that Budh was not a typificatioii 
 of the Deity. The images of Budh, as far as I. 
 can learn, were never worshipped. It is said they 
 were meant to invite and instruct the multitude 
 towards the proper adoration of the Supreme Being; 
 the figure of Budh being only that of a priest dis- 
 playing the calm benignity of spirit and abstracted 
 contemplation of the Creator, which the principles 
 of that faith enjoined as the homage most pleasing 
 to the Almighty. The worship of Siva is as widely 
 different from this as possible. Siva is a god of 
 terrors. Though Dr. Tytler states the placidity of 
 countenance given to him in some statues as re- 
 sembling the humane tranquillity of Budh's fen-
 
 19S THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 tures, the circumstance alters nothing in the re- 
 ceived character of the divinity. He is still the 
 destroyer, and all his attributes point at infliction. 
 Besides,, the worship of this idol is direct. The 
 formularies prescribe invocation and offerings im- 
 mediately to the statue. It is nugatory to say 
 that the prayers are offered to the sole-existing and 
 invisible power through the emblematic representa- 
 tion which the statue exhibits. This is the subter- 
 fuge under which, in all times, idolatry has en- 
 deavoured to shelter itself against the charge of 
 obvious folly in bowing the knee to man's handi- 
 work ; yet the devotion paid in all those cases to 
 the statue itself gives the lie to the excuse. 
 Beyond this irreconcileable discrepancy, Dr. Tytler 
 himself furnishes, what appears to me an insur- 
 mountable evidence against his hypothesis. He 
 describes the prodigious number of statues of 
 Budh which surround the terraces of the great 
 temple of Siva at Brambanan. Surely if anything 
 were meant by this exhibition, it must have been 
 the proud and insolent triumph of a new doctrine 
 over a failing one, in which sense the multiplied
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 199 
 
 figures of Budh were ranged as attendants on the 
 predominant object of adoration. 
 
 July 20th. This day I have interchanged 
 visits with the Nawab of Bengal in our pinnaces. 
 The pretence of being exceedingly pressed for time 
 enabled me to excuse myself from the usual form 
 of receiving his Highness' s visit some miles below 
 Moorshadabad, and returning ifc ashore on my 
 arrival off the city. In this latter shape I should 
 have been subjected to accept an entertainment; 
 a heavy penance in weather so warm as now 
 reigns. Though rejoiced to escape a ceremony 
 which would have been oppressive to all parties, I 
 am glad to have seen his Highness again. He is 
 a mild and gentlemanly young man ; but in all 
 instances there is an advantage arising from these 
 interviews between the Governor-General and 
 natives of rank ; for the courtesy which naturally 
 must be exhibited on those occasions has a ten- 
 dency to obviate many misunderstandings, and 
 tempers the opinion generally entertained of a 
 repulsive dryness in our Government. 
 
 July 23rd. This day we entered the main river.
 
 200 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 We did not continue in it long ; but turning to the 
 left, we proceeded up a branch which runs parallel 
 to it. The current was not in this by any means 
 so strong as in the principal stream, which is this 
 year remarkably powerful from the unusual quantity 
 of rain. The channel which our fleet is now navi- 
 gating was not practicable for large boats two 
 years ago. It is now a considerable volume of 
 water, and is said to be increasing. It is probable 
 that the flow of the water into the cut, from the 
 Ganges to Sootee, has occasioned a greater direction 
 of the stream through this channel. The Hooghly 
 might in consequence become extraordinarily 
 augmented, a circumstance not at all desirable. 
 
 July 27th. We have this day passed Siclygully. 
 Quitting the main river opposite to Rajemahl, we 
 proceeded up one of the mouths of the Coosy, and 
 again descended into the Ganges through another. 
 By this course we avoided a portion of the river 
 between Rajemahl and Siclygully, where the stream 
 runs with great violence. 
 
 July 28th. This day it has blown fresh from 
 the eastward, and we have nearly reached Colgong. 
 Three boats have been overset to-day, and two
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 201 
 
 lives lost. Nothing can be more agreeable in the 
 imagination of those who have not experienced it 
 than a voyage up the Ganges. It is, however, an 
 undertaking excessively tedious, and attended with 
 much danger. 
 
 July 29th. A verification of what I yesterday 
 observed concerning the danger of this voyage 
 occurred about noon to-day. A violent squall 
 burst suddenly upon us, and nine vessels were 
 overset or sunk in consequence of being dashed 
 against each other. We were happy enough to 
 save all the people. Fortunately the principal loss 
 (in wine, stores, saddlery, &c.,) falls on me who am 
 most equal to bear it. 
 
 August 2nd. We have had a rough gale to- 
 day. Fortunately it was from the right quarter, 
 and it enabled us to get past Monghyr. At this 
 point there is much embarrassment for vessels pro- 
 ceeding up the river. The stream runs with such 
 force round the bastions of the old fort (the river 
 making a bend here) that a strong breeze is re- 
 quisite to aid the trackers in hauling the boats 
 against it ; and in the channel, at a distance from 
 the fort, there are sunken rocks which make the
 
 202 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Atrff. 
 
 passing in that part very dangerous. The river 
 being at this moment uncommonly full of water, 
 the current is peculiarly violent, and many of the 
 vessels were dangerously whirled about, notwith- 
 standing the strength of the wind. Five boats 
 were sunk to-day. These losses are serious to in- 
 dividuals. 
 
 August 5th. We have been getting forward 
 tolerably well considering the strength of the 
 stream. It has blown fresh at times from the 
 eastward, without which we could not have pro- 
 ceeded. Another boat was run down this morning, 
 the people luckily saved. The river is fuller at 
 present than the oldest people remember to have 
 seen it, and it has overflowed the country to a 
 great extent. Several villages appeared like 
 islands in the expanse of water. Notwithstanding 
 the strength of the current and roughness of the 
 waves, many persons have passed us floating by 
 means of empty earthen pots fastened to their 
 shoulders, while they pushed before them the little 
 raft laden with the wares they were carrying to 
 market. The collector of the district assures me 
 that they will in this manner descend the river
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 203 
 
 four or five miles (having to walk the distance 
 back again) to sell a lot of commodities, the value 
 of which would be little above fourpence. I have 
 been observing a dexterous mode of fishing. Two 
 men have a net like a large English bat-fold net, 
 of which each holds one of the side sticks. They 
 leap off the bank where the stream is strong and 
 water deep. When they are a little way from 
 the shore, and have taken a proper distance from 
 each other, they dive in order to get the net near the 
 bottom, the current carrying them down quickly. 
 As soon as they come again to the surface they 
 make for the shore, and I was surprised to see how 
 successful they were. Since we have anchored this 
 evening, the hilsa have been sold in the fleet at 
 sixty-four for a rupee, equal to a half-crown. It 
 is a kind of shad, running from one to two pounds 
 weight, and would be excellent were it not very 
 full of bones. The lowness of the price, when the 
 erews of our large fleet must have added so prodi- 
 giously to the purchasers, shows the wonderful 
 plenty of the fish. 
 
 August 9th. Our vessels reached the eastern 
 end of Patna yesterday evening. The wind being
 
 204. THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [AUG. 
 
 unfavourable, we were obliged to anchor. The 
 house of Mr. Campbell, with whom I had engaged 
 to stay while the damages of our fleet were repair- 
 ing, was above five miles higher up along the bank. 
 I attempted this morning to row to it in the Feel- 
 Cherry or Government barge ; but although we 
 had two-and-thirty stout expert paddlers, we were 
 totally unable to make head against the stream. 
 We were obliged to push for the other side of 
 the river (which is now about five miles broad 
 here), in the hope that the current would be 
 found slacker o^er the inundated grounds. It 
 was so in a considerable degree, yet we were 
 obliged to make our progress by steering from 
 village to village, where, standing like islands in 
 the flood, they broke the violence of the stream. 
 From most of these villages the inhabitants had 
 retired betimes. At one we saw the poor people 
 constructing rafts with earthenware pots and 
 faggots made of drift wood, for the purpose of 
 committing themselves to the current, should the 
 water continue to rise. They had four or five 
 boats, which could give them little aid in 
 guiding such machines. The only assistance we 
 could render was the bestowing some rope which
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 205 
 
 would help to bind their rafts firm. After nearly 
 five hours of hard work we reached the hospitable 
 mansion of Mr. Campbell. 
 
 August 12th. The account of damages has 
 now been made up. "\Ve have lost thirty boats, 
 including the small attendant panswas. In the 
 later wrecks several lives have been lost. This 
 being the Prince Regent's birthday, \ve keep 
 it here in all form. I yesterday received the 
 Raj Gooroo (high priest) of Nepaul, who was 
 sent by the Government to compliment me. Such 
 an attention from the court of Katmandhoo, at a time 
 of the year when all ordinary intercourse between 
 the hills and the plain is suspended, makes great 
 impression on the natives here, who, according to 
 their notions, ascribe every civility to a dread of 
 power. The poor man was so ill, as to have been 
 nearly incapable of going through the ceremony. 
 Almost all his suite are similarly attacked with 
 that fever which makes the vicinity of the forest, 
 at the foot of the mountains, so dangerous in the 
 rainy seasons. I showed particular cordiality to 
 Gooroo, to repay him for what he had suffered, 
 and I understand he is highly gratified. Mr. 
 Wellesley, assistant resident at Katmandhoo,
 
 206 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [AUG. 
 
 who accompanied the Gooroo, tells me that their 
 journey was extremely toilsome and even dangerous. 
 The torrents which they had to cross were so 
 rapid, that two of Mr. Wellesley's horses were 
 carried away, and dashed to pieces against the 
 rocks. The general knowledge of the politics of 
 India which the Gooroo exhibited in conversations 
 with Mr. Wellesley, struck the latter strongly. 
 On one occasion the Gooroo observed, that whether 
 we wished it or not, the British must carry their 
 sway up to the Indus. " One after another," said he, 
 "the native sovereigns will be urged, by folly, or 
 overweening pride, to attack you; and then you 
 must, in self-defence, conquer; andthen you are much 
 the stronger, whether you intended it or not. J) 
 This involved an oblique censure on his own 
 government, for the indiscretion of quarrelling 
 with us. Certainly, had they left us alone, they 
 might with ease have subdued the Sikhem Rajah 
 and the kingdom of Assam operations in which 
 we should not have felt interested and the 
 addition of strength to the Gorkhas, who have 
 known well how to draw resources from their 
 conquests, would have been very great. The
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 207 
 
 fatigue I have had in giving a multitude of 
 audiences, and in bringing up business which had 
 fallen into arrear through the separation of the 
 secretaries' boats, has prevented my making my 
 entries regularly, or I should have minuted my 
 comfort at finding that during the night of the 
 9th, the river fell above a foot perpendicular, 
 so that the poor folks who were preparing their 
 rafts would not be driven to that hazardous 
 embarkation. The water has diminished ever 
 since. I was much pleased to learn from the 
 judge at the head of the Appeal Court, as well as 
 from the magistrate of the city, the comparative 
 infrequency of crimes in this city, which contains 
 above two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. 
 The tranquillity of it is also remarkable, considering 
 the number of old Moslem families resident here, 
 to each of which many idle dependents are attached. 
 It is only ascribable to the large proportion of 
 European functionaries on the spot, through 
 whose superintendence a transgression is immedi- 
 ately chastised. There is nothing more injurious 
 than delay between the commission of a crime 
 and its punishment; the intervention of but a
 
 208 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Are. 
 
 moderate term suffices to erase from the multitude 
 a distinct impression of the offence, so that the 
 tardy infliction loses its principal utility as an 
 example. 
 
 August 13th. Continued our voyage. 
 
 August 14th. No observation is trifling which 
 marks a peculiarity in the feelings of any people. 
 We passed to-day a shore where for a great length 
 the chain of villages was continued. Of course 
 crowds of people collected on the bank to see the 
 fleet. It rained smartly. Almost every man was 
 provided with an umbrella, with which he sheltered 
 himself; but I did not see a single instance in 
 which a man offered that protection to a woman, 
 though many of them had infants in their arms. 
 The umbrella is an appendage which women rarety 
 carry in this country. Their want of it on this 
 occasion seemed calculated to call forth a humane 
 attention; there did not, however, appear any 
 symptom of sensibility towards the fair sex. We 
 have anchored four miles above Dinapore. 
 
 August 16th. We have passed Chuprah. The 
 Collector of Sarun has mentioned to me a circum- 
 stance which indicates a great activity of trade.
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 209 
 
 He receives monthly, on an average, a lac of 
 rupees, of which about four-fifths are paid in notes 
 of the Bengal Bank. These must have been re- 
 ceived from Calcutta in payment for commodities 
 sent thither. The great convenience of an institu- 
 tion by which large sums are so readily transmitted 
 is very striking. 
 
 August 29th. Since the 14th, we have not had 
 any rain, and the weather has in consequence been 
 intensely hot. The rate of the thermometer during 
 the day has been from 92 to 98. I have observed 
 it in my boat to reach 88 at four o'clock in the 
 morning, which maybe supposed the coolest period 
 of the twenty-four hours. I have received an 
 account of the Gooroo's death, and lament it sin- 
 cerely. He had appeared better from having been 
 cheered by the tone of his reception ; but the day 
 after we had quitted Patna, the fever returned with 
 such violence as carried him off in a few hours. 
 AVe have just anchored at Mirzapore. 
 
 September 2nd. I have been pained by the 
 death of Lieutenant Henry Fitzclarence, one of 
 my aides-de-camp. He was a mild, amiable young 
 man, earnest in seeking information, and in iui- 
 
 VOL. II. P
 
 210 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 proving himself by study. He sunk under the 
 fourth day of a fever. It is only surprising there 
 has not been more of serious malady in the fleet 
 from the extraordinary oppressiveness of the wea- 
 ther. This day we have passed the fort of Alla- 
 habad, an operation always difficult, from the 
 strength of the stream, and have anchored opposite 
 to Papamow. Yesterday morning we were in- 
 formed that, although we might reach the vicinity 
 of Allahabad, we should there be obliged to stop, 
 the falling of the river having reduced the passage 
 to intricate channels between shoals over which 
 there were not above two feet of water. Our large 
 
 O 
 
 pinnaces could not be hazarded in such a naviga- 
 tion. Last night there was a sudden swell in the 
 river, probably from the melting of snow in the 
 mountains; and a strong easterly breeze sprang 
 up in the morning, so that we traversed, without 
 embarrassment, the whole space in which we were 
 to have encountered difficulty. One of the gentle- 
 men of my suite observed to the head pilot of 
 Allahabad how fortunate the rise of the water and 
 the favourable breeze had been ; the man, putting 
 his hands together respectfully, said, with great
 
 1817.] OF THE MAKQUESS OF HASTINGS. 211 
 
 simplicity, " But I suppose, sir, the Governor- 
 General had ordered it so." 
 
 September 4th. I had a proof to-day of the 
 dangers of this navigation. The wind being con- 
 trary, the men belonging to a bhauleah were track- 
 ing it along shore, and they kept the boat near 
 the bank from being between it and my pinnace ; 
 on a sudden at least a ton weight of earth fell 
 from the bank upon the bhauleah and sent it to the 
 bottom in an instant. A bhauleah is a barge, with 
 eight or ten oars, attached to a pinnace; and it 
 has a low cabin like that of a Venetian gondola. 
 This boat belonged to one of the aides-de-camp, 
 and had he been in the cabin, he must have perished. 
 There was one man at the stern and another at 
 the head of the bhauleah to guide her in the rapid 
 currents, but luckily no portion of the earth fell 
 upon them. 
 
 September 12th. We have anchored at Jaje- 
 mo\v. Nothing has occurred since my last entry, 
 except that at Dalmow a man of rank sent by the 
 Nawab Vizeer was waiting for me. He had 
 brought several elephants with howdahs for my 
 service, with fine tents, beds, cooks, servants, dogs, 
 p 2
 
 212 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 and hawks. I went ashore to pay the compliment 
 of admiring this establishment, though I professed 
 my regret that the necessity of making the most 
 of a favourable wind would not let me profit by 
 this kind attention. I wrote a cordial letter to the 
 Nawab Vizeer on the subject, and ordered a dona- 
 tion to the poor of Dalmow, which belongs to him. 
 The weather has continued most oppressively hot. 
 
 September 13th. I rode from Jajemow to Cavvn- 
 pore this morning. The troops were drawn out 
 to receive me and looked extraordinarily well. I 
 took up my quarters at the house of Mr. Shake- 
 spear, superintendent of police for the Western 
 Provinces. Everything here is parched with the 
 heat and drought. If there be not rain soon, the 
 crops will perish, and a serious dearth may be ap- 
 prehended. Grain is at considerably more than 
 double its usual price through the general fear of 
 scarcity. 
 
 September 17th. I have just received the dis- 
 tressing account that Lieutenant-General Sir 
 Thomas Hislop is dangerously ill at Hyderabad. 
 Through this circumstance, his troops are not so 
 forward as I expected. They cannot reach the
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 213 
 
 Nerbudda till the end of October. I must thence 
 postpone the assembling the centre and right 
 divisions of our main army till the 20th October. 
 They were to have been formed on the 10th; but 
 as their destination is to occupy positions which 
 menace Gwalior, it is not advisable to move so 
 early as that Scindiah might be recovered from the 
 impression before the troops from the south began 
 to pass his territory to get at the Pindarries. The 
 left division under Major-General Marshall will 
 assemble at Collingur on the original day. 
 
 September 18th. The Nawab Vizeer has been 
 exceedingly anxious to come to me ; but I am so 
 immersed in business, that I am forced to put off 
 our meeting until I shall have returned from the 
 Jumna ; a very indefinite period. It is pleasing to 
 believe that real feeling makes the Nawab Vizeer 
 so solicitous of this interview. I have seen here 
 the English physician who attends him, and who 
 says that, whenever the Vizeer mentions my conduct 
 towards him, it is in a tone of affectionate energy. 
 Why have we not more generally held to these 
 people a manner which establishes such beneficial 
 influence ?
 
 214 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 September 23rd. Accounts of Sir Thomas 
 Hislop's being out of danger. This is a great 
 relief to me, for my toil hud been much augmented 
 by the provisional arrangements I had to frame for 
 the contingency of his decease. It appears to me 
 certain that Scindiah, though necessarily put on the 
 alert by my visit to these Upper Provinces, does not 
 yet comprehend the decisive and extended nature of 
 our purpose. A letter of congratulation on my 
 having reached Cawnpore has arrived from Holkar. 
 The phraseology is more strong than is usually 
 employed in such compliments. Construing the 
 professions into an overture which his fear and 
 embarrassments might well suggest, I have in my 
 answer declared my disposition to promote his 
 authority and welfare on any terms which will 
 provide for the future tranquillity of Central 
 India. 
 
 September 28th. The Resident has explained 
 to Scindiah the necessity for Sir Thomas Hislop's 
 marching across a part of his Highness' s dominions 
 to attack the Pindarries. Scindiah appeared quite 
 unprepared for such a communication. He was 
 confused; said he must consider on the point; and
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 215 
 
 repeated often that he was taking measures for 
 destroying the Pindarries. The Resident re* 
 plied that, as no steps towards that object on the 
 part of his Highness had been discoverable, the 
 British Government had been forced to undertake 
 the business ; and if his Highness had been sincere 
 in his former pledges, he had now only to order 
 that every amicable attention should be shown to 
 the British troops within his territory. Here the 
 matter rests. 
 
 September 30th. Scindiah has subscribed to 
 the requisition of the llesident, and has issued an 
 order to his different commandants to receive the 
 British troops as friends, and to give them every 
 facilitation in their march to the Nerbudda. His 
 Highness has further desired that I should be as- 
 sured of his disposition to follow my wishes in 
 every respect. I have perfect information that 
 he has agents with Holkar, Ameer Khan, and 
 Hunjeet Sing, urging those chiefs to join him in 
 opposition to us. Of this no notice must be taken. 
 Duplicity of that sort is the incorrigible habit of 
 the Mahrattas. We must not look to the security 
 of honourable pledges from them, but be satisfied
 
 216 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 with carrying point by point through gentle inti- 
 midation. 
 
 October -l-th. On my inquiry into their mode 
 of making ice here, which proves to be the same as 
 the process used in Bengal, a circumstance some- 
 what curious was mentioned. If there be a single 
 white cloud floating in the atmosphere, let the 
 weather be ever so cold, no ice can be procured that 
 morning, even though the wind be from the west, 
 which is the best quarter. 
 
 October 5th. A curious detection has occurred. 
 Two men were stopped at a ferry by one of our 
 police officers, who suspected that they had stolen 
 a book which they had with them, and which 
 seemed too good to belong to persons squalidly 
 dressed. On examining their turbans, in which the 
 natives usually conceal anything valuable, he found 
 in each an impression of Scindiah's seal taken off' in 
 wax. This led to an examination of the book. 
 Several letters were found in it dexterously con- 
 cealed between the cover and leaves which were 
 pasted down on it. Of the letters, two were from 
 Scindiah, being sealed with his private seal. One 
 was to the Rajah of Nepaul, the other to Bheem
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 17 
 
 Syn, the first minister. Two other letters from 
 Hindee Rao Gwatkia, brother-in-law to Scindiah, 
 are addressed to the minister and his brother. The 
 other letters are from the secret agent of Nepaul at 
 Scindiah's court. He urges Bheem Syii and three 
 or four more of the leading men to attack the Bri- 
 tish directly, assuring them that Scindiah is pre- 
 paring to take the field against us with a powerful 
 army. The Mahratta, not caring into what scrape 
 he got the Gorkhas, would be glad to excite any 
 trouble to us for the chance of its alleviating pres- 
 sure on himself; but the circumstance affords no 
 solid presumption of Scindiah's determination to 
 be restive. I have directed the letters of Scindiah 
 and Hindee Rao to be delivered by the Resident to 
 the former unopened and without explanation. It 
 will make him believe he is closely watched, yet 
 that we do not seek ground of criminating him. 
 He has privately sent for a great quantity of camels 
 for the eventual transportation of his family and 
 valuables from Gwalior. The camels, however, 
 never can reach him but by our permission. 
 
 October llth. The Resident has spoken roundly 
 to Scindiah. He has informed his Highness that
 
 218 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 the Governor- General had, after deliberation, 
 formed his plan for the suppression of the Pindar- 
 ries, without considering the co-operation or the 
 opposition of any one. The choice between those 
 two procedures could only affect the Maharajah 
 himself. The Governor-General had not the 
 remotest wish to injure the interest or lower the 
 dignity of his Highness, but neither could be con- 
 templated if Scindiah counteracted the object which 
 the Governor-General was determined, at all events, 
 to carry through. Scindiah declared himself tho- 
 roughly disposed to accommodate himself to my 
 wishes. The next morning the Resident attempted 
 to make Atmaram Pundit sensible of the benefits 
 the Maharajah would derive from a frank co-opera- 
 tion with me. Atmaram Pundit, who is Minister 
 for Foreign Affairs, shrugged up his shoulders and 
 said, " The weakest must obey the stronger/' It 
 was a curious avowal of incapacity for effectual 
 resistance. The Resident caught at the expression, 
 and asked him whether he thought we meditated 
 any unprovoked hostility to Scindiah. Atmaram 
 answered eagerly that he could have no suspicion ; 
 the customs of the British Government were too
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 219 
 
 well known for anything insidious to be appre- 
 hended ; the salutary course for his master was, 
 under present circumstances, to accede unreservedly 
 to the purposes of the Governor-General ; but that 
 it was still humiliating to appear to act through 
 constraint. The Resident assured him everything 
 would be avoided which could give his Highness's 
 union with us such a semblance in the eyes of the 
 country. The minister said that the delicacy 
 would be duly appreciated, and we should find his 
 Highness sincere. 
 
 October ] 6th. I quitted Cawnpore before day- 
 light this morning, and am encamped on the Jooie 
 Plain. A circumstance has occurred which will 
 affect the superstitious minds of the natives strongly. 
 There was a shock of earthquake just as I was 
 setting out. The same thing took place when 
 Lord Lake was leaving Cawnpore on his successful 
 campaign against the Mahrattas. The coincidence 
 has nothing odd in it when it is known that slight 
 shocks of this sort often are perceived on the ter- 
 mination of the rainy season. I am much inclined 
 to think they are not earthquakes. I suspect that 
 there is some impulse which suddenly presses a
 
 220 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 considerable body of the atmosphere downwards, 
 and that the elasticity of the air springing up again 
 from the surface of the earth, occasions the vibra- 
 tion as well as the rumbling noise heard at the 
 time. In a real earthquake there is a peculiar 
 heaving of the earth, which is very different to my 
 feeling from the kind of shock we have just expe- 
 rienced. The recurrence of this phenomenon at a 
 particular season confirms the probability of its 
 being atmospheric. 
 
 October 21st. Yesterday, the several corps com- 
 posing this division assembled in our present camp 
 at Secundra. I have made five easy stages of it 
 with the troops from Cawnpore. The arrangement 
 of the camp had been previously prescribed by 
 me, and I found everything well executed. On 
 examining the camp this morning, I found the 
 immense train of baggage much more compactly 
 stowed, and, of course, more easily secured, than I 
 had expected. When I viewed it on the line of 
 march, the difficulty of protecting it against 
 cavalry appeared almost insuperable; but I was 
 assured by the staff-officers accustomed to service 
 in this country that the persons employed with
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 221 
 
 the baggage contribute actively to the defence of 
 it. The drivers of the hackeries (a kind of cart) 
 make little fortifications with great rapidity, by 
 drawing up their carriages in squares, and unyok- 
 ing the oxen, which are then placed in the centre. 
 Most of the hackery-drivers have spears, so that, 
 unless the cavalry have fire-arms, which is very 
 rarely the case, they set the assailants at defiance 
 from within their barricade. The cavalry cannot 
 dismount, for the horses in this country are so 
 vicious, that one man cannot give to another his 
 horse to hold. The Bunjaries are equally dexterous. 
 They are a remarkable community. The name 
 implies migrating through the desert ; and such is 
 their course of life. They have no fixed habita- 
 tions, but move about, as convenience of pasture 
 invites, with their numerous herds of cattle, in the 
 uncultivated tracts near the foot of the northern 
 hills. The principal people, however, among them 
 keep up a constant communication with our mili- 
 tary stations and with the native courts ; so that 
 they are ready at call when their services are 
 wanted. Their business is to furnish cattle on hire 
 for the transportation of baggage or grain. In
 
 222 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 the latter they are dealers ; a circumstance which 
 enables the Commissary-General to contract with 
 them at once for the provision and the carriage on 
 occasions when it would not be convenient to recur 
 to our own magazines. The grain is carried in 
 bags hanging across the backs of the oxen. When 
 they are approached by hostile cavalry, the Bun- 
 jaries make a square redoubt with the bags, which 
 they throw off their oxen and rear into ramparts 
 with surprising quickness. Most of the men have 
 matchlocks and are very resolute, so that the plun- 
 dering horsemen do not like to approach them. 
 The Bunjaries are very fair in their dealings and 
 trusty to their employers. Their cattle are docile 
 and quick in movement. The heat continues 
 oppressive, but the troops are healthy. 
 
 October 22nd. This morning I reviewed the 
 line. It consists of the 24th Light Dragoons, 3rd 
 Native Cavalry, 7th Native Cavalry, body-guard, 
 three troops of Horse Artillery, detachment of Foot 
 Artillery and Golandauze, European flank bat- 
 talion 87th Regiment, 2nd battalion 1st Regi- 
 ment Native Infantry, 1st battalion 8th Native 
 Infantry, 2nd battalion llth Native Infantry, 2nd
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 223 
 
 battalion 13th Native Infantry, 1st battalion 24th 
 Native Infantry, 2nd battalion 25th Native In- 
 fantry, 1st battalion 29th Native Infantry, Dro- 
 medary Corps, and Rocket Corps. The whole 
 made an excellent appearance. The sole point on 
 which Scindiah makes difficulty (and that is main- 
 tained only by a solicitation that I will not urge 
 it) is the putting us in the temporary possession of 
 the fortress of Asseer. Doubtful, as we must be, 
 of a Mahratta's good faith, it is awkward to leave 
 so strong a post unoccupied in the rear of the 
 troops who advance from the Deckan by Booram- 
 pore. The fort is on their line of communication. 
 Still I shun the appearance of harshly extorting 
 this cession from Scindiah after the many im- 
 portant points to which he has subscribed. I have 
 directed it not to be pressed, satisfied that when I 
 shall have crossed the Jumna he will take fright, 
 and spontaneously offer to put Asseer-Gurh into 
 our hands. 
 
 October 27th. Yesterday morning I crossed 
 the Jumna by a bridge of boats, admirably con- 
 structed. It is about 800 feet in length, and so 
 firm, that when a number of elephants were on it
 
 224 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 at the same time, it did not seem to yield. Soon 
 after we came into camp, the Commissary-General 
 was informed that an elephant had run sulky on 
 the other side of the Jumna, and would neither 
 step on the bridge nor swim the river. Four 
 strong elephants were immediately ordered down 
 to coerce him. Curiosity might have led me to 
 witness the process, only that the sun (the ther- 
 mometer being now at 98, in the middle of the 
 day) was too powerful to be wantonly faced. I was 
 told that these four-footed corregidors, upon being 
 bidden to punish the refractory animal, would beat 
 the delinquent under the belly so severely with 
 their trunks as to leave him incapable of moving, 
 unless he submits. The persuasion, however, is said 
 to be very speedily efficacious. I am told, that if 
 an elephant who has once undergone the discipline 
 sees, on any future occasion of his restiveness, the 
 inflictors brought towards him, he will tremble 
 violently and rush to do that which he had before 
 refused to perform. I could not learn how the 
 elephants were taught to understand that they 
 were to beat their fellow, which appears to me 
 the most extraordinary point in the business. I
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 225 
 
 have judged a little of this procedure to be 
 requisite with Scindiah; therefore I have sent a 
 letter saying that as I have passed the Jumna, 
 I must know distinctly at once whether he accedes 
 to my terms, or rejects them. One cannot wonder 
 that he is in no haste to subscribe a treaty, 
 which is to render his power very unimportant 
 ever after. We are obliged to remain on this 
 ground another day, in order that some works, 
 destined to protect my bridge in our absence, may 
 be completed. 
 
 October 31st. After having made one march 
 from the bridge to Loharrie, a second brought us 
 yesterday to the ground which we now occupy 
 close to the city of Jaloun. This is the capital of 
 Nana Govind Rao, in whose territories we have 
 been since we crossed the Jumna. He was a vassal 
 of the Peishwa's ; but the feudal supremacy was 
 transferred to the Company by the late treaty. 
 The country is in the highest degree rich as to 
 soil and cultivation ; but it bears evidence of the 
 insecure condition of the inhabitants under a native 
 government. Our camp at Loharrie was sur- 
 rounded by seven villages, each of which wac for- 
 
 VOL. II. Q
 
 226 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 tified in a manner to make the assault of it with 
 regular infantry a serious undertaking. The Nana 
 came out about three miles, and drew up his guards 
 parallel to our column yesterday morning. The 
 political agent entreated me not to ride along the 
 line, but to pass it unnoticed, it having been the 
 Nana's duty to meet me on my first entrance into 
 his fief. The omission would have been heavily 
 mulcted by his former liege lord. These things 
 appear to us idle, but I believe our Indian diplo- 
 matists are in the right to be strict about them, as 
 the native chiefs are apt to construe their essential 
 duties according to the rate of our exacting these 
 outward visible signs. The poor man took fright, 
 and sent to know whether I would allow him to 
 fire a salute of artillery in honour of my arrival, 
 as he did not dare to do it without permission after 
 such a manifestation of my displeasure. He was 
 told that he might expend his powder without fear 
 of increasing my wrath ; yet the laws of the Medes 
 and Persians ordained that I must keep him another 
 day in waiting (to my own inconvenience as much 
 as his) before I admitted him to an audience. 
 Dowlut Rao Scindiah has swallowed his potion,
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 227 
 
 and Heaven knows it was a bitter drench for him. 
 He agrees to co-operate with all his forces against 
 the Pindarries ; to prevent the establishment of any 
 similar association in his dominions; to give free 
 passage to the British troops through all his ter- 
 ritories in pursuit of the Pindarries ; and to put me 
 in possession of two of his fortresses for the security 
 of our communications. What is still more im- 
 portant than the whole of the above concession, 
 he recognises my liberation from that article of 
 treaty by which the British Government was bound 
 not to negotiate with any state in whose concerns 
 the Mahrattas had ever taken a part. As Scindiah 
 and Holkar claimed this interference with every 
 state in central India, we were precluded from 
 making any league against the predatory system. 
 I shall now rivet such shackles upon Scindiah and 
 Holkar as that all the treachery they are at this 
 moment meditating will be impotent. In fact, 
 the downfall of the Mahrattas is achieved. 
 
 November 3rd. We are two marches west of 
 
 Jaloun, approaching the Scinde river, and skirting 
 
 Scindiah' s territories within a mile. The fertility 
 
 of soil and activity of culture continue. Though 
 
 Q.2
 
 228 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 there is a regularity preserved among the followers 
 of the camp beyond what I could have thought 
 practicable, we cannot avoid doing injury to the 
 standing crops. The villagers were astonished 
 when they were told that an appraisement of the 
 damage done should be made by a person on their 
 part with one of our commissioners, and that the 
 amount of loss should be made good in money. 
 This is the first British army which has traversed 
 the territory, so that the people expected from us 
 the same indifference to their sufferings which they 
 had experienced from Mahrattas. A respectable 
 old man said to his neighbours, " Our own armies 
 would never be so careful to prevent harm, and 
 would never think of making compensation." On 
 the 1st inst., I received Nana Govind Rao. He 
 expected to be treated coldly and distantly ; but I 
 spoke to him frankly, and the effect was imme- 
 .diately visible in his altered countenance. He 
 seemed very proud of a khelaut (dress of state) 
 which was conferred upon him, earnestly professing 
 that he would be always found a devoted adherent 
 of the British Government. 
 
 November 4th. We halted this day, in order to
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 229 
 
 let some treasure overtake us. I received Arneer- 
 ool-Moolk, jagheerdar of Bownie. He wishes to 
 give up his jagheerlands, and to take a pension 
 instead ; an arrangement very desirable for us ; 
 but he makes the stipulation that he shall be exempt 
 from the jurisdiction of the courts, and exclusively 
 amenable to the arbitrary power which the supreme 
 government exercises in state cases. Nothing can 
 more strongly mark the prematurity of our attempt 
 to force upon the Indian population our judicial 
 system than the abhorrence which every man of 
 family among the natives entertains against being 
 summoned, even as a witness, into one of our 
 courts. On this account, it is almost impossible to 
 obtain the testimony of any of them in criminal 
 cases, where they have been present at the per- 
 petration of the act. They will, in the preliminary 
 examination, admit their having been present, but 
 will stoutly swear that they did not happen to 
 notice what was going forward, and can say nothing 
 on the subject. With the lower classes the system 
 is equally unpopular. The security which they 
 enjoy in person and in property is duly estimated 
 by them ; but that they refer entirely to the prin-
 
 230 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 ciple of Government. The inconvenience, the 
 expense, and the delay which they experience in our 
 civil proceeding's,, make them unreservedly lament 
 that they are not subjected to military decisions. 
 
 November 5th. Crossed the Pohooj river, the 
 high banks of which are broken into confused 
 ravines. In the afternoon, I received the Rajah of 
 Dutteah, in whose territories we now are. As he 
 is one of the feudatories who has manifested the 
 most zealous attachment to the British Govern- 
 ment, I spoke to him with particular cheerfulness ; 
 giving him also an excellent rifle gun (as he is a 
 great sportsman), and a very fine sword. In the 
 course of conversation, I said that I lamented the 
 mischief which we had unavoidably committed by 
 being obliged to encamp in such highly cultivated 
 plains ; a damage which I was sensible the pecu- 
 niary compensation made by us could not ade- 
 quately meet. The Rajah answered, " That is an 
 inconvenience suffered but once, while the benefit 
 I receive from British protection is enjoyed every 
 year." These Buudela chiefs have one observance 
 in their ceremonious politeness, which is certainly 
 the result of a refined sentiment, and which was
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 2G1 
 
 found also among the Mexicans, or Peruvians. In 
 visiting a superior, they are so far from apparelling 
 themselves richly that they clothe themselves below 
 their ordinary style of dress. The notion is, that it 
 would be disrespectful should they happen to appear 
 more splendid than the person to whom they came 
 to pay homage. The Rajah was dressed in a plain 
 cotton dyed olive, the favourite colour of the Bun- 
 delas, without ornament of any kind. When he 
 had retired from the durbar, he repeatedly expressed 
 to the political agent (Mr. Wauchope) his warm 
 sense of the tone with which he had been 
 received. 
 
 November 7th. Adverting to the procrastina- 
 tion of Scindiah, I thought it might be advisable to 
 make another march towards Gwalior. We, there- 
 fore, advanced to Mehewdy, where we are now 
 encamped, at the distance of between forty and 
 fifty miles from his capital. The treaty, however, 
 arrived last night, executed by the Maharajah. 
 He subscribes to all the conditions which I dic- 
 tated, and has swallowed a bitter drench in so 
 doing. I should have thought myself oppressive 
 had he not been so thoroughly false a fellow. The
 
 232 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 engaging to co-operate ill the extirpation of the 
 Pindarries, whom he has fostered to whom he 
 has plighted protection, and who really have 
 hitherto constituted a material part of his strength, 
 must be deeply mortifying. He grants free pas- 
 sage to the British forces through all parts of his 
 dominions, in pursuit of the Pindarries ; binds him- 
 self not to levy or enlist any troops during the 
 ensuing operations ; agrees that no division of his 
 army shall move from its present station, and gives 
 us temporary possession of the fortresses of Hindia 
 and Asseer-Gurh, as security for his due observance 
 of the above conditions. As those fortresses abso- 
 lutely command the dominions belonging to him, 
 between the Nerbudda and Tapty (the richest of 
 his territories), the pledge is sufficient. Important 
 as those points are, they fall short in that respect 
 of our emancipation from the article before alluded 
 to in our treaty of 1805, by which the British 
 Government had debarred itself of the right of 
 entering into relations with any state over which 
 the Mahrattas claimed prerogatives. As the Mah- 
 rattas advanced this pretension with regard to 
 every state of central India, except Jyepore this
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 233 
 
 strange gratuitous engagement prevented our 
 forming any confederacy which should check Mah- 
 ratta combinations. Every state, quite to the 
 Indus, has solicited me to take it under British 
 protection ; but I have, till now, been restricted 
 from meeting the petition. In consequence of the 
 present treaty, I shall immediately fashion this 
 league of the Western States, guaranteeing to 
 Scindiah or Holkar any acknowledged dues from 
 those states which prescription has established. 
 Before the signature of the treaty, it was distinctly 
 explained to Scindiah that Kotah, Boondee, and 
 Kerowly would be taken under British protec- 
 tion, with the above reservation of his interests 
 as to any annual payment from them. They will, 
 in our hands, be barriers interposed between him 
 and Holkar. He must have felt that consequence; 
 but he was unable to struggle. We are in a fair 
 way of achieving arrangements which will afford 
 quiet and safety to millions who have long been 
 writhing under the scourge of the predatory 
 powers, as well as under the ferocious cruelty of 
 the Pindarries. I trust that my soul is adequately 
 grateful to the Almighty for allowing me to be the
 
 234 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [NOT. 
 
 humble instrument of a change beneficial to so 
 many of my fellow-creatures. 
 
 November 8th. The Rajah of Dutteah came to 
 Seeoondah, a mile in front of our camp, to solicit 
 that I would take a morning's shooting in his 
 rumnah or preserved chace, which is close to that 
 town. He was so exceedingly eager on the point, 
 that I could not but gratify a person so faithfully 
 attached to the British state. Sport not having 
 been my expectation, I was not disappointed in 
 this morning's exercise with the Rajah. There 
 were great quantities of antelopes and nylgaws; 
 but as there was no cover, they were very difficult 
 of approach. The ground being nearly bare and 
 thinly studded with trees, there was no getting 
 within shot of the animals on the elephants. I, 
 therefore, had to advance stooping between two 
 oxen, led by men who were hidden by a screen of 
 leaves. My red coat, however, was so striking to 
 those of the herd who happened to be wide of our 
 line of direction, that they took the alarm re- 
 peatedly, and communicated it to those towards 
 whom we were stalking, consequently I got only 
 very distant shots, and did not more than
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 235 
 
 wound two nylgaws, one of which was after- 
 wards overtaken and brought to camp. I had at 
 least a good laborious walk, and I had the satis- 
 faction of pleasing the Rajah in no ordinary degree, 
 as my going upon a shooting party with him 
 would be considered by the natives as a compliment 
 of high rate. 
 
 November 9th. I remained in the same carnp, 
 and received the young Subahdar of Jhansi. As 
 the title implies, the chiefs of that territory were 
 only officers entrusted by the Peishwa with the 
 temporary command of the district ; but one of 
 them, who was a man of head as well as of courage, 
 succeeded in making the subahdarship hereditary 
 in his family, maintaining in other respects towards 
 the Peishwa the relations of fealty with some 
 pecuniary payments. The Subahdar is now our 
 feudatory. The present one is a boy, smart, though 
 not good-looking. I gave to him a handsome 
 watch ; and his attendants had some difficulty in 
 preventing him from examining it minutely instead 
 of attending to the forms of the durbar. This 
 marks the difference between Mahratta and Mussul- 
 man education ; for a lad of the same age, of the
 
 236 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Xoy. 
 
 latter description, would have observed all the cere- 
 monies of the audience with the most scrupulous 
 precision. In the morning, I have reviewed five hun- 
 dred horse sent by the Rajah of Sumptur to join my 
 force ; an irregular crew, part armed with match- 
 locks and part with spears, yet useful to spare our 
 cavalry the fatigue of patrol duties. As great 
 jealousy exists between the Jhansi and Sumptur 
 chiefs, I took care to balance the compliment of 
 the review by praising in the durbar the valour of 
 the Jhansi troops who had repelled an attempt of 
 the Pindarries to plunder Mow-Raiieepore, a rich 
 town belonging to the Subahdar. This gave great 
 satisfaction. From adverting to the possibility of 
 such an enterprise on the part of the Pindarries, I 
 had desired that the Jhansi troops should not join 
 me, but guard their own territory. 
 
 November 12th. On the 10th, we marched to 
 Terait, our present camp. The principal object of 
 the movement was, that I might not humiliate 
 Scindiah by the appearance of holding the rod of 
 compulsion over him after he had acceded to all 
 my requisitions. Still, though we seem to -have 
 quitted the direct road to Gwalior, we are in this
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 237 
 
 camp only three miles more distant from that city 
 (by another route) than we were at Seeoondah. I 
 am just come from receiving the Rajah of Sumptur. 
 The gravity of the durbar was put to the test by 
 a whimsical accident. After the Rajah had ten- 
 dered his nuzzur (the present offered to a superior) 
 I requested him to sit down in an arm-chair. His 
 weight, for he is very fat, enabled him to compass 
 this easily ; but when he was to rise, and be invested 
 with a khelaut, he was so wedged that the chair 
 stuck fast to him, and there was some trouble in 
 disengaging him. Luckily, everybody preserved 
 a steady countenance, so that there was no addition 
 to the Rajah's embarrassment. 
 
 November 13th. We marched to Talgong. The 
 dreadful epidemic disorder which has been causing 
 such ravages in Calcutta, and the southern pro- 
 vinces, has broken out in camp. It is a species of 
 cholera morbus, which appears to seize the individual 
 without his having had any previous sensations of 
 malady. If immediate relief be not at hand, the 
 person to a certainty dies within from three to five 
 hours. An extraordinary prostration of strength 
 is an almost instantaneous symptom in the disorder.
 
 238 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 Hence our surgeons have first administered cor- 
 dials, and then laudanum. The remedy has saved 
 many, but numbers have died even under its early 
 application. As yet, the malady has only attacked 
 the natives, and among them it is nearly confined 
 to the followers of the camp ; so that it seems as 
 if poor living made persons more liable to it A 
 disease of this nature, however, once it gain ground 
 among a number of men, appears speedily to aug- 
 ment in acrimony, and I fear it will soon extend 
 itself to other classes. 
 
 November 14th. Talgong. Just as I appre- 
 hended, the malady has not only spread to the 
 sepoys, but has attacked the Europeans. Four 
 men of the 87th Regiment have died of it to-day. 
 Ninety-seven deaths are reported to me as having 
 occurred during yesterday and the forenoon of this 
 day. There is an opinion that the water of the tanks, 
 the only water which we have at this place, may 
 be unwholesome and add to the disease. I do not 
 think there is anything in the supposition, yet the 
 feelings of the men should be consulted ; therefore, 
 I march to-morrow to reach the Pohooj river, 
 though I must manage to provide carriage for 
 above a thousand sick.
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 239 
 
 November 15th. We crossed the Pohooj this 
 morning, and encamped on its eastern bank, close 
 to the little fort of Saleia. The march was terrible, 
 from the number of poor creatures falling under 
 sudden attacks of this dreadful infliction, and from 
 the quantity of bodies of those who died on the 
 waggons and were necessarily put out to make 
 room for such as might be saved by the convey- 
 ance. It is ascertained that above five hundred 
 have died since sunset yesterday evening. Ten of 
 my own servants are among the number. The 
 ground we are upon is sandy and dry, with the 
 benefit of a running stream convenient to the 
 camp. The difference of the soil from that which 
 we have quitted, with the appearance of a rippling, 
 though shallow, current, Ifas persuaded our people 
 generally that the disease will now stop. This 
 imagination may be useful, for I think apprehen- 
 sion renders the frame more liable to the influence 
 of distemper. Collateral causes may have increased 
 the malignity of the disease, but it is evident that 
 this is the same pestilence as has been raging in 
 the Lower Provinces. We have information of its 
 gradually ascending the river to Patna, Ghazeepore, 
 Benares, and Cawnpore. It has arisen, undoubtedly,
 
 24:0 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 from the irregularity of the seasons during the 
 year. Though my tent is thoroughly ventilated, 
 Fahrenheit's thermometer was this day at 86 in it. 
 Before sunrise, too, it was warm, although the air 
 was really sharp at the same hour two mornings 
 ago. 
 
 November 16th. We continue on the same 
 ground. This day has exhibited an apparent abate- 
 ment of the contagion ; that is, the cases sent to 
 the hospital tents have been fewer, and the quality 
 of attack on individuals less severe. Probably this 
 is not owing to any real change in the atmosphere. 
 The malady, I should suppose, seized, in the first 
 instance, on all those who, from general habit or 
 accidental circumstances, were predisposed to re- 
 ceive the infection ; and tn them it would rage with 
 the greatest virulence. It made its impression 
 more weakly, and thence more tardily, on persons 
 whose bodily temperament was not so ready to 
 admit it, yet could not ultimately resist it. Debility 
 from previous illness, or from low living, seems to 
 have invited the attack. Only four officers have 
 yet been affected with the malady, and in each of 
 the cases the symptoms, though distinct, were com-
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 241 
 
 paratively light. The diminution of the disease as 
 to extent and violence, however sensible, still leaves 
 its present amount a most afflicting calamity. I 
 have lost four of my servants in the course of this 
 day. As I rode through the different quarters of 
 the camp in the morning, the scene was heart- 
 breaking. Numbers of dead and dying camp- 
 followers met the eye in every direction, and one 
 heard on all sides the querulous lamentations of 
 those who were more recently seized, and who, 
 with a total loss of self-command, were resigning 
 themselves to their fate, instead of recurring to 
 medical aid. I had a gentleman with me supplied 
 with a mixture of laudanum, spirit of hartshorn, 
 and camphor, properly diluted with water ; and he 
 administered relief from* his bottle to some poor 
 creatures who would not have sought assistance, 
 and were unlikely otherwise to meet it. Our sur- 
 geons have such unremitting employment in the 
 hospital tents that they cannot go about the camp 
 as their humanity would dictate. 
 
 November 17th. Little improvement this morn- 
 ing. Many deaths have taken place among the 
 Europeans and sepoys last night. Several officers 
 
 VOL. II. B,
 
 242 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nor. 
 
 are ill, but none of the cases are alarming. The 
 surgeons press me to remain on this ground another 
 day, and of course I accede to their wish, though 
 I think the encamping on the banks of the Betwah, 
 a large and limpid river, would have material effect 
 on the spirits of our people. Extravagant accounts 
 of our calamity will assuredly be carried to Gwalior. 
 They might have produced a wavering in Scindiah's 
 good faith were it not for the treaty we have con- 
 cluded with Ameer Khan. To this latter chief we 
 guarantee those territories which he has wrested 
 from states with whose losses we have no concern. 
 He becomes the feudatory of the British Govern- 
 ment, employing his army according to our direc- 
 tion for the present, and disbanding it on our 
 requisition. Scindiah must feel that this force 
 could be instantly let loose on his back, in addition 
 to other strength of ours, even were this division 
 reduced by the pestilence to inertness. But there 
 is such spirit and science in our officers, that the 
 very chips of this division, howsoever it might be 
 thinned, would defeat any native army which could 
 be brought against them. 
 
 November 18th, No apparent good has attended
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 243 
 
 our remaining here. The numbers sent to the hos- 
 pitals are great. The body-guard has above half 
 its amount in hospital, with forty-two of its atten- 
 dants. I have lost two servants in the day. There 
 has been great difficulty in preventing all the camp- 
 followers from taking to flight, which would para- 
 lyse the movements of the division. They have 
 been principally quieted by the intimation that we 
 were to cross the Betwah to-morrow. They know 
 it is. the road to Kalpee, and they thence think we 
 tend towards home; whereas the object is to spread 
 still more nets for the Pindarries by dividing my 
 force. The delay of Sir Thomas Hislop's acting 
 on the Nerbudda, though without doubt inevi- 
 table, is to be lamented heavily. Had we not put 
 all matters here out of question, the consequences 
 might have been seriously embarrassing. I detached 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Philpot this morning with the 
 24th Light Dragoons, two squadrons of the 3rd 
 Native Cavalry, a troop of Horse Artillery, and a 
 battalion of infantry, with four guns. They are to 
 proceed to the ford of Bojpoor, near Jhansi, where 
 they will cross to the eastern bank. The detach- 
 ment is employed to intercept any body of 
 E 2
 
 244- THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [NOT. 
 
 Pindarries which may be driven in that direc- 
 tion. 
 
 November 19th. We have achieved a march of 
 fifteen miles with less inconvenience than I expected. 
 Our camp is divided into two parts by the Betwah, 
 a broad and clear stream, fordable here at Erich, 
 but not passable between this and Bojpoor, a dis- 
 tance of fifty miles. The high banks here show 
 that the river must, in the rainy season, be more 
 than a quarter of a mile broad. At present, the 
 water does not occupy, more than half the extent. 
 Its appearance, however, was sufficient to cause 
 universal exultation among the troops and camp- 
 followers, who attached a notion of purity of air to 
 so considerable a river. Our encamping ground on 
 both sides is high, dry, and open. The pestilence 
 for sheer pestilence it is of the worst description 
 will thence be mitigated as far as position can have 
 influence. I believe that to be but little, except as 
 refers to the spirits of the men, in whom despon- 
 dency seems to invite the infection. Confidence, 
 on the other hand, is not a security, for I have seen 
 several persons fall, suddenly struck, while they 
 were walking and conversing with cheerful vigour.
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 245 
 
 Some of them died in a few minutes, before assis- 
 tance could be procured. 
 
 November 20th. There is thus far a favourable 
 change that few new cases, in proportion to former 
 days, have been sent to the hospital, and the quality 
 of the attacks appears not so virulent. One of our 
 medical gentlemen and two European officers died 
 in the course of last night. My sirdar bearer, the 
 best native servant I have seen, was taken ill 
 yesterday. Not above an hour before, he had gone 
 to his brother (who lives with an officer in the 
 camp) to prevail on him to take medicine, as the 
 brother was seized with the disease. He succeeded 
 in overcoming the reluctance of his brother, and 
 the latter is now recovered. When the distemper 
 assailed my poor man, no persuasion could induce 
 him to take medicine, nor did the gradual failure 
 of his strength make him relax in his obstinacy. 
 He died this day a victim to his prejudice. A 
 letter has been received from Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Adams, commanding the Nagpore subsidiary force, 
 apprizing me that he has at length (on the 14th) 
 received from Sir Thomas Hislop the long expected 
 order for crossing the Nerbudda. His division, or
 
 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nor. 
 
 those of Sir Thomas Hislop, which cross the river, 
 will not be likely to find any Pindarries. I believe 
 the whole of them have evacuated their lands and 
 retired westward, in consequence of learning that 
 Scindiah, Holkar, and Ameer Khan had sacrificed 
 them in the recent engagements with us. 
 
 November 21st. There is an unquestionable 
 diminution in the activity of the pestilence. Two 
 officers have been reported dead in the course of 
 the day, but they had been attacked at Saleia, and 
 had never arrived here. The men are much 
 cheered by our present situation. A distressing 
 circumstance occurred in camp to-day. A large 
 elephant was seized with one of those fits of 
 frenzy which sometimes break forth in the males. 
 The mohout's son, a lad, was riding the animal, 
 but was totally unable to restrain it ; and the ele- 
 phant ran among the tents, attacking other 
 elephants, or camels, or horses, wherever he found 
 them. The mohout learning this, and anxious for 
 the safety of his son, hastened to the elephant, 
 who, so far from being placated by the voice of 
 his feeder, ran violently at the man. The poor 
 fellow endeavoured to creep into a tent, but the
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 247 
 
 elephant caught him by the leg with his trunk, 
 dragged him out, and trampled him to death 
 before the eyes of his son. The elephant after- 
 wards killed a camel. A powerful elephant was 
 brought out to subdue the enraged creature. A 
 large ball of spices was given to him to animate 
 him for the combat. He was immediately charged 
 by the rioter, and received the shock with perfect 
 self-possession, extending his hind legs to give him 
 greater firmness. When the mad elephant was 
 somewhat exhausted by repeated fruitless efforts, 
 the other became the assailant in his turn, and 
 with such success that he soon drove his antagonist 
 out of the camp. The defeated combatant fled 
 for shelter to a hollow in a ravine, where he Avas so 
 wedged that he was easily secured with chains. 
 Accounts have just reached us that the Peishwa, 
 on the 6th instant, attacked the Residency at 
 Poonah. No circumstance is communicated further 
 than that the Peishwa was repulsed with great 
 loss. The attack must have been most treacherous, 
 and made with enormous superiority of numbers. 
 We have to rejoice in the issue of this attempt, 
 not less on account of the safety of so valuable a
 
 218 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [NOT. 
 
 person as Mr. Elphinstone, than on the infliction 
 which the perfidy of the Peishwa receives. He 
 ought to have been removed from the musnud 
 when we were forced to punish his former machi- 
 nations. 
 
 November 22nd. No one who had not witnessed 
 the dismay and melancholy which have lately per- 
 vaded our people, can comprehend my sensations 
 on hearing laughter in several parts of the camp 
 to-day. All are in spirits. The separation of the 
 camp into five divisions along the river gives every 
 advantage to the westerly wind now blowing ; the 
 east wind reigned during our sufferings. Still the 
 malady is not extinct. The cases which now occur 
 are of persons on whom the disease could not lay 
 serious hold, therefore the attack appears in a 
 mitigated form. Many put themselves on the sick 
 list who might bear up against the degree of 
 seizure. For three days I had repeated sensations 
 of giddiness with faint sickness. I recurred to 
 medicine, without subjecting myself to the more 
 decided treatment thought necessary where the 
 distemper was professed, which would at once have 
 rated me ill, and have caused agitation in the
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 249 
 
 camp. I believe few persons have escaped without 
 some little indisposition. 
 
 November 23rd. All going on well in the camp, 
 but the loss is heavy among the sick left at Saleia. 
 A generous exertion of a soldier of the 87th Regi- 
 ment was mentioned to me to-day. They were 
 bringing the poor fellow in a dooly (a kind of 
 hammock suspended on a pole) from Saleia hither. 
 He saw a sepoy of the escort fall with a sudden 
 seizure of the pestilence, and struggling in convul- 
 sions. The European gallantly quitted the dooly, 
 placed the sepoy in it, and walked by the side of 
 the dooly till he delivered the sepoy to his regi- 
 ment in this camp. With grief I add, that neither 
 of the poor fellows survived the night. The de- 
 tachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Philpot has 
 lost two officers (of the 24-th Light Dragoons) and 
 many men. The country people were zealous in 
 transporting the sick for him ; in return for which 
 I have sent presents of money to each village. 
 
 November 25th. No new case of the distemper 
 has occurred in camp for these two days. One 
 hundred and seventy-two convalescent Europeans 
 and ninety-eight convalescent sepoys have arrived
 
 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [NOT. 
 
 from Saleia. It was exhilarating to see the joy of 
 the poor fellows on rejoining their comrades. 
 
 November 27th. Yesterday and to-day have 
 passed without anything particular, except that 
 five or six attacks of the malady have proved the 
 pestilence not to be entirely gone. The cases 
 were, however, slight. The Pindar ries appear to 
 have entirely quitted the territories which they 
 occupied, and to have assembled at Seronje. The 
 slow progress of the troops from the Deckan is 
 heavily to be lamented. My plan rested on rapi- 
 dity of execution, and its complete success in this 
 quarter justified the principle. 
 
 November 29th. Last night some bustle was 
 occasioned in our camp by a pack of wolves, which 
 came to the very centre of it. They carried off a 
 tame antelope which was kept by a native sports- 
 man to aid him in creeping up to the herds, and 
 they likewise made free with some goats. Though 
 it was clear moonlight, they seemed so confident 
 in their numbers as to have little fear of the sen- 
 tries. The circumstance having occasioned con- 
 versation, an officer mentioned his having seen a 
 wolf the other morning course down an antelope.
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 251 
 
 It cost the wolf a longer and more persevering 
 exertion on the plain than a greyhound could have 
 maintained, yet it also required a degree of speed 
 beyond what I should have supposed the wolf to 
 have possessed, as the antelope is a very fleet 
 animal. 
 
 November 30th. The Rajah of Sumptur having 
 shown particular attention in providing conveyances 
 for men of Lieutenant-Colonel Philpot's detach- 
 ment who fell sick on the march, I sent to him a 
 handsome watch in token of my obligation. He 
 was so gratified by this civility, that he fired a 
 salute in acknowledgment of it from the artillery 
 on his ramparts. He also sent a vakeel to my 
 camp to return his thanks. So much weight with 
 these people has a little appearance of thinking 
 them worthy of notice ! From the vakeel we have 
 learnt that the same disease which has afflicted us 
 so severely had broken out in the city of Sumptur 
 before we crossed the Jumna, and had carried off 
 near two hundred persons. At Chutturcote, about 
 one hundred and twenty miles to the south-east of 
 this place, there is at this season a mela, or reli- 
 gious festival and fair, at which great numbers of
 
 252 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nor. 
 
 the natives assemble. The meeting had scarcely 
 commenced when the pestilence broke out, and 
 destroyed so many in the first day that the others 
 fled with the utmost expedition from the place. 
 The particulars of the action at Poonah have 
 arrived, and are most creditable to the gallantry of 
 Mr. Elphinstoiie and Lieutenant-Colonel Burr 
 (who commanded our troops), as well as to the 
 firmness of our soldiers. The Peishwa, in conso- 
 nance to his habitual profligate treachery, attempted 
 by a sudden attack to crush the Resident and the 
 small force which the latter had with him. His 
 Highness employed not less than 20,000 cavalry, 
 and about half that number of infantry, in this 
 magnanimous effort. Our force consisted of only 
 one European battalion, and three native battalions 
 without cavalry. On the Peishwa's troops opening 
 their cannonade, our little force advanced, assailed 
 the multitude, and speedily cleared the field. Mr. 
 Elphinstone's account is dated on the llth, up to 
 which period none of the Peishwa's troops had 
 ventured to show themselves again near the British 
 camp. Brigadier- General Smith, with his divi- 
 sion, was expected to reach Poonah next day.
 
 1817.] OF THE' MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 253 
 
 December 2nd. For the sake of taking fresh 
 ground we have shifted the camp to the other side 
 of Erich, continuing still as near to the banks of 
 the river as the deep ravines will allow. In passing 
 amidst the ruius of public buildings which attest 
 the former extent and opulence of Erich, now a 
 mere village, one cannot help feeling painfully the 
 consequences of that predatory warfare which has 
 ravaged these countries ever since the Mahrattas 
 established themselves in this part of India. The 
 destruction of any monuments of human industry 
 or taste seems an injury to mankind, but the sensa- 
 tion is keener when one reflects how much of indi- 
 vidual misery must have attended the convulsion 
 by which the desolation was effected. 
 
 December 4th. I have received information 
 that the Pindarries have marched in a northerly 
 direction, as if going to Gwalior ; and the rumour 
 is strong that Scindiah has invited them thither to 
 back him in an intended dissolution of the recent 
 treaty. Did I think Scindiah, cramped as he is, 
 unlikely to venture on a step so desperate and irre- 
 trievable, still nothing in war must be disregarded 
 because it is improbable. I therefore send orders to
 
 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Philpot to march with all expe- 
 dition from Burvva-Sangor to the Sonari ford, on 
 the Sinde, whither I also shall repair with the 
 division, leaving my heavy cannon and stores at 
 Sumptur. I have sent to apprize Scindiah of this 
 movement, stating that I take this step in order to 
 be at hand to cover him from the Pindarries, 
 should he be doubtful of his own troops. He will 
 understand this perfectly. At Sonari we shall be 
 much nearer to Gwalior than when we were at 
 Seeoondah. 
 
 December 6th. Having encamped at Emroke, 
 we received the pleasing intelligence that Brigadier- 
 General Smith had, on the 17th of November, dis- 
 persed the Peishwa's army and taken possession of 
 Poonah. Scindiah has had this information some 
 days ; otherwise he would have felt such disposition 
 to imitate the example of the Uajah of Nagpore 
 and Holkar as all his dissimulation could not have 
 concealed. Those two chiefs have, with the most 
 profligate treachery, been collecting forces to act 
 against us. They are luckily, each of them, 
 hampered beyond what either calculates. 
 
 December 7th. Encamped at Sajanore. The
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 255 
 
 country through which we have passed, and all 
 around us, is of a singular nature. The base is a 
 perfect flat; but there arise out of it a great 
 number of long narrow masses of rocks, high, and 
 broken into very picturesque forms. The masses 
 are insulated, with great intervals, yet all keeping 
 the same direction. The appearance may be best 
 described by saying that they look like remnants 
 of many immense parallel walls, in each of which 
 the gaps prodigiously exceed the parts left upright. 
 December 8th. Encamped at Bandere, a town 
 belonging to Scindiah. Numerous Mahomedan 
 buildings, of handsome structure, though now much 
 dilapidated, show that it must have been a place of 
 considerable importance ; it is now poor and small ; 
 everything withers under a Mahratta government. 
 The impression made by my present march has 
 been apparent. Scindiah sent to the Resident to 
 ask if I doubted his Highness's sincerity in any 
 point. The minister said that if I had any sus- 
 picions Scindiah would take up his abode at the 
 Residency, or would send his father-in-law, or the 
 fathers of his sons-in-law, to remain as hostages. 
 The Resident judiciously declined an offer in which
 
 256 THE PKIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 there could be no advantage ; frankly exposing to 
 the minister at the same time my title to complain 
 that the Pindarries had advanced so far without 
 opposition from his Highnesses troops. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Philpot has crossed the Sinde, and placed 
 himself between the Pindarries and Gwalior. It is 
 a hazarded movement, but perhaps requisite in the 
 peculiar situation of affairs. 
 
 December llth. The intersection of the country 
 with ravines impracticable for our artillery obliged 
 us to make such a circuit that we have been forced 
 to divide our route from Bandere to our present 
 position at Sonari into three marches. The scarcity 
 of water in these tracts narrows the choice of rest- 
 ing-places. Imleah and Semai, our intermediate 
 camps in the Dutteah Rajah's territory, were in 
 the midst of highly cultivated plains. The land 
 as it approaches the Sinde becomes evidently 
 coarser, yet it is well tilled. The ground here 
 near the river is broken into ravines in a very extra- 
 ordinary manner. We are now within twenty- 
 eight miles of Scindiah's camp, so that we ought 
 to be neighbourly. 
 
 December 12th. We have received an account
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 257 
 
 that on the 27th November, the Rajah of Nagpore 
 attacked the British Residency, but was beaten off. 
 Nothing can exceed the baseness and ingratitude of 
 this conduct. It is to be hoped he will have to pay 
 dear for it. On the symptoms of his evil disposi- 
 tion, Brigadier- General Doveton was ordered to 
 send a force to Nagpore by Sir Thomas Hislop, 
 and I had at the same time ordered Brigadier- 
 General Hardy man to march thither with the 
 King's 17th Foot, a battalion of Native In- 
 fantry, and the 8th regiment of Native Cavalry. 
 A reinforcement of a battalion of Native Infantry 
 with three troops of regular cavalry and two 
 Galloper guns, under Lieutenant-Colonal Gohan, 
 would reach the Residency on the night of the 
 28th November. The communication with Nag- 
 pore is now cut off by small parties of the Rajah's 
 cavalry. 
 
 December 13th. Astonishing alarm was created 
 at Gwalior by our approach. The Resident has 
 quieted it by public assurances that no hostile step 
 was to be apprehended from our proximity. The 
 body of Pindarries which had been pushing for 
 Gwalior, on learning that Lieutenant-Colonel 
 
 VOL. II. S
 
 258 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 Phil pot with his force was between them and the 
 city, turned to the south-west, pointing towards 
 the Kerowly fords of the Chumbal. Toolsie Bhye, 
 the stepmother and guardian of young Holkar, on 
 hearing of the Peishwa's having taken the field, col- 
 lected the army, marched southward with the pro- 
 claimed intention of supporting the Peishwa, and 
 invited Seetoo to join her with his Durrah of Pin- 
 <larries then on its retreat to the west. The old 
 lady soon found herself beset by the division from 
 Guzerat, the division of Sir Thomas Hislop, and 
 the division of Sir John Malcolm. The gallant 
 army was seized with a desperate trepidation. 
 Holkar sent to beg pardon for this freak of his 
 mother's ; asserting (which was true) that he had 
 warned Seetoo against approaching his camp ; and 
 an answer was returned to him that matters might 
 be accommodated. Ameer Khan appears to stand 
 firm to his engagements. 
 
 December 14th. The Grand Bazaar which is in 
 the very middle of the camp, was thrown into 
 excessive confusion at three o'clock this morning 
 by a pack of wolves. The animals were so bold 
 that they were with difficulty driven away.
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 259 
 
 December 16th. The detail of the affair at 
 Nagpore has reached us. The repulse of the Rajah 
 has been a glorious effort of bravery on the part of 
 our troops. The Resident, Mr. Jenkins, had with 
 him only two battalions of Native Infantry, his 
 own escort of two companies, and three troops of 
 the 6th Native Cavalry ; the whole not exceeding 
 1350 rank and file. The force led against them by 
 the Rajah was estimated at 20,000, with thirty-five 
 pieces of cannon. The action was renewed at inter- 
 vals during several hours, but at length terminated 
 in the complete discomfiture of the Rajah. The 
 despicable animal had the meanness after the defeat 
 to send a message to the Resident, professing his 
 sorrow for what had happened, (his sorrow at not 
 having been able to murder an ambassador residing 
 on the faith of alliance at his court !) and his 
 hope that matters might be restored to the ancient 
 footing. Mr. Jenkins answered that the Governor- 
 General alone could determine that point. We 
 shall speedily have troops enough at Nagpore to 
 put affairs on a much better footing than the 
 ancient has proved. Our loss in the action was 
 nearly 300 killed and wounded, 
 s 2
 
 260 THE PKIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 December 19th. About ten miles from this 
 place there is a rocky hill covered with temples, 
 built by the Jeyns or Jynes, though none of the sect 
 are to be found in this vicinity. Many of the 
 structures are recent, having been raised, as I am 
 told, at the expense of wealthy individuals of that 
 communion residing in Delhi, Agra, and other 
 large cities. Each of the temples contains an 
 image of Budh, of very old sculpture, and dis- 
 coloured apparently from having been long buried 
 in times of persecution. Discussions excited by 
 these edifices have enabled me to obtain more pre- 
 cise information respecting the Jynes than I before 
 possessed. Though connected by religious faith, 
 they do not live together in any part of India as a 
 separate tribe, but are intermixed in society like 
 the Quakers in England. They are a peculiarly 
 mild people, holding the doctrine of the metem- 
 psychosis (erroneously ascribed in Europe to all the 
 inhabitants of India), and thence refraining from 
 destroying anything that has life. As far as I can 
 learn they are pure Deists; the image of Budh 
 being 110 object of worship with them, nor con- 
 sidered as a representation of the Deity. The
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 261 
 
 tranquil and complacent countenance which always 
 distinguishes the figures of Budh is said to be an 
 exemplification of that abstracted devotion of the 
 mind requisite, according to their notion, in the 
 grateful admiration of the Supreme Indescribable 
 Being. Thus, the image inculcates the tone of ado- 
 ration, but is not the object of it. From sifting 
 various accounts, and from many forcible indica- 
 tions, I am persuaded that this was the earliest 
 faith prevalent in India, and that it was overset 
 by the intrusion of the Brahminical system. The 
 Budhists have evidently suffered bitter persecu- 
 tion from the Brahmins ; it is proved by an adage 
 which I am told they frequently utter at this day, 
 " Should you find yourself between a Hindoo and 
 a tiger, trust to the mercy of the tiger rather than 
 to that of the Hindoo." There is in this phrase a 
 peculiarity very remarkable. It would seem to 
 imply that the black race were not the aborigines 
 of this part of India, where, indeed, the natural 
 influence of climate seems to produce a bronzed 
 tint like that of such Portuguese or Spaniards as 
 in Europe are much exposed to the sun. 
 
 December 22nd. For change of ground, the
 
 262 THE PEIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 multitude of our followers rendering it difficult to 
 keep our camp long free from offensiveness, we 
 have shifted our position to Oochar, a spot three 
 miles lower down the river than Sonari. We are 
 close to two vast and elevated masses of granitic 
 stone, the top of each of which appears perfectly 
 level. Many suspicious symptoms have been de- 
 tected in Scindiah's conduct. It is quite clear to 
 me that had we not hastened to fix ourselves so 
 near him, he would have taken the field in favour 
 of the Peishwa at the same time that Holkar 
 did. 
 
 December 24th. An official report has been 
 received that the native commandant of Jubbul- 
 pore (in the Nagpore service) attempted, on the 
 19th, to stop Brigadier-General Hardyman, who 
 was proceeding to the relief of the Resident with 
 eight companies of the King's 17th Foot and the 
 8th regiment of Native Cavalry. The enemy was 
 immediately charged and routed, losing above 300 
 killed and wounded on the spot, with four brass 
 field-pieces. Our loss was only thirteen killed or 
 wounded. After the action, the inhabitants of 
 Jubbulpore constrained the armed fugitives, who
 
 1817.] OP THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 263 
 
 had taken refuge there, to abandon the city, which 
 with the fort was surrendered to our troops, or 
 rather the latter were invited into it. The city is 
 large, and is very material as a military station. 
 Brigadier-General Doveton arrived at Nagpore 
 on the 12th, so that the aid of Brigadier-General 
 Hardyman was, in fact, superfluous. His having* 
 been ordered to move in that direction is never- 
 theless fortunate, as this little advantage will make 
 beneficial impression throughout that part of the 
 country. 
 
 December 27th. We have just fired a royal 
 salute for an important victory gained by Lieu- 
 tenant- General Sir Thomas Hislop over Holkar's 
 army, on the 21st, at Mahidpore, near Oojein. 
 The patience and moderation with which we strove 
 to wean that Government from its project of suc- 
 couring the Peishwa was misconstrued into a doubt 
 of our ability to coerce it, and a tone of the utmost 
 insolence was assumed by Holkar's sirdars. They 
 sent to advise Sir Thomas Hislop to be cautious 
 how he interfered with them, as he would find in 
 case of rupture that he had not to deal with raw 
 levies but with Holkar's veterans. To crush that
 
 264 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 army was therefore indispensable. Sir Thomas 
 Hislop appears to have done it effectually, most of 
 Holkar's infantry having been destroyed, and all 
 his artillery (above seventy pieces) taken. It 
 remains to be seen whether this event will confirm 
 Scindiah in his pacific conduct, or whether a point 
 of honour may urge him to the desperate effort of 
 a battle with this division (now weakened by 
 detachments) in the hope of withdrawing pressure 
 from the wreck of Holkar's army. 
 
 December 28th. The advantage of changing 
 our ground has been made sensible to us all. Our 
 last position was in heavy clotty soil, whereas here 
 the sand predominates. From Christmas evening 
 till this afternoon we have had heavy rain, which 
 would have rendered the clay very uncomfortable. 
 The wind has shifted to the north, and the clouds 
 are dispelled. I am told that a similar fall of rain 
 occurs in Bundelcund every year at this season, 
 with not more variation than three or four days 
 sooner or later. 
 
 December 29th. Our guns have again fired for 
 the dispersion of the Rajah of Nagpore's army on 
 the 16th, by Brigadier-General Doveton. The
 
 1817.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 265 
 
 batteries were stormed with little loss on our side, 
 and sixty-six fine brass guns were taken. The 
 Rajah had previously surrendered himself; an evi- 
 dent collusion with the sirdars whom he left at 
 the head of his army. Should they be successful, 
 he would of course be freed ; were they beaten, he 
 could plead his personal submission as a pretension 
 for his being left on the musnud.
 
 266 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JAN. 
 
 1818. 
 
 JANUARY 1st. I this day received the native 
 officers of all the troops in camp at a levee in the 
 durbar tent. It is an attention very flattering to 
 their feelings, as it exalts them in the eyes of the 
 soldiers. They expressed their gratification strongly 
 to some of the European officers. 
 
 January 1 2th. We have remained in the same 
 camp, the situation of which is as salubrious and 
 as convenient for good water as it is advantageous 
 for holding Scindiah in check. Brigadier-General 
 Watson, with a battalion of the 7th Native Infan- 
 try, and another of the 26th, has joined us. We 
 have received the account that Lieutenant-Colonel 
 McMorine, on the 5th, attacked, and routed with 
 considerable slaughter, a body of 2000 horse and 
 3000 foot of the Nagpore troops, which had reas- 
 sembled at Sreenuggur, after the dispersion of the 
 army by Brigadier-General Doveton on the 16th
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 267 
 
 December. He took four guns, the whole of the 
 artillery they possessed. The enemy, though they 
 had taken up a strong position, made but a wretched 
 resistance. On the defeat of their cavalry, which 
 was first charged, the infantry immediately ran 
 away to get off through the narrow streets of the 
 town. 
 
 January 13th. The definitive treaty of Holkar's 
 submission has arrived. It would, at all events, 
 have been just to punish that Government for 
 its extraordinary faithlessness. After having 
 anxiously solicited to be taken under British pro- 
 tection, and having received the kindest assurances 
 of it, the Regent Bhye (stepmother to young 
 Holkar), on the Peishwa' s taking the field, imme- 
 diately collected Holkar's army, and declared the 
 resolution of supporting her master, as the Peishwa 
 was termed by her. This proof of the persisting 
 adherence of the Mahratta states to each other, 
 added to the great amount of force produced by 
 the Regent, with the aid of but a moderate sum 
 from the Peishwa, rendered it necessary to reduce 
 the future means of Holkar to very narrow com- 
 pass. The territory now left to him will not at
 
 268 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JAN. 
 
 present yield to him above sixteen lacs of rupees, 
 or 200,000 yearly; but after five or six years of 
 decent management it will more than double that 
 revenue. Part of his possessions is assigned to 
 Ameer Khan, who with fifty-two battalions and a 
 large force of cavalry might have given us no little 
 trouble, had we not made him see that his security 
 and his interest would be better consulted by his 
 attaching himself to us than by his taking a con- 
 trary part. Zalim Sing, of Kotah, gets another 
 large portion of Holkar's territories. Extensive 
 districts, on both banks of the Nerbudda, are ceded 
 to us, which will be available either for exchange 
 or as provision for those who have served us. The 
 troops which Holkar disbands, by an article of the 
 treaty, will probably endeavour to keep together 
 and maintain themselves by plunder, so as to 
 require our crushing them before they establish a 
 new association of Pindarries. Scindiah. who has 
 hardly disguised his intention of taking the field, 
 should our game become embarrassed, will probably 
 now be satisfied that he has nothing for it but to 
 be quiet. 
 
 January 18th. A royal salute was fired, and
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 269 
 
 the troops were drawn out in line this morning, as 
 a respect to the Queeu'.s birthday. The appearance 
 of the troops was very fine. I had directed the 
 Resident at Gwalior to give notice of the ceremony., 
 and to say that if any of Scindiah's sirdars wished 
 to take the opportunity of seeing so considerable 
 a body of our troops, they should be received with 
 all possible attention. None of them, however, 
 availed themselves of the intimation. 
 
 January 19th. Two agreeable articles of intelli- 
 gence have reached us. Roshun Khan, Roshun 
 
 o * 
 
 Beg, and Panim Sing, sirdars of Holkar's army, 
 had declared their discontent at the treaty, and had 
 retired to Rampoora. They endeavoured to collect, 
 at that place, a force with which they might act 
 independently. Their habitual influence with Hol- 
 kar's troops occasioned many to flock to this new 
 standard ; and the chiefs furnished themselves with 
 artillery from fortresses in which friends of theirs 
 commanded. Fortunately, Major-General Brown, 
 who was detached with cavalry from this division, 
 surprised them in the midst of their preparations. 
 They were routed with much slaughter, and the 
 loss of their artillery, amounting to eleven brass
 
 270 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JAN. 
 
 guns. Panim Sing was taken, but the other two 
 chiefs escaped. It appears that these sirdars had 
 caused the Regent, Toolsie Bhye, to be privately put 
 to death the evening before the battle of Mehidpore, 
 because she attempted to resist the plan of fighting 
 the British army. The other occurrence was the dis- 
 persion of the Pindarries who had stuck to Kurreem 
 Khan and Wassil Mahommed in their flight. The 
 number was about sixteen hundred, all finely 
 mounted. To escape from Captain Grant, who 
 was moving against them with a body of Mysore 
 horse, they had made a very long march during 
 the night, and had made but a short halt, when 
 they were attacked by the 5th regiment of Native 
 Cavalry, under Major Clarke, detached from the 
 division of Lieutenant-Colonel Adams. Between 
 nine hundred and a thousand of the Pindarries 
 were killed in the charge or in the subsequent 
 pursuit. Namdar Khan, a chief of note among 
 them, was killed among the first. It is as yet 
 uncertain whether Kurreem Khan and Wassil 
 Mahommed escaped, since there could be no know- 
 ledge of the individuals who were cut down in a 
 scattered chase of some miles. The fate of this
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 271 
 
 party will show to the natives that no lightness of 
 equipment or exoneration from baggage will enable 
 an enemy to evade long the combinations of our 
 movements. 
 
 January 22nd. The confidence and the real 
 strength given to the native troops by our disci- 
 pline has been most strikingly exemplified by late 
 occurrences. We have just received the official 
 report of an uncommonly gallant resistance made 
 by a small body of ours against a very superior 
 force. A battalion of Bombay Native Infantry, 
 barely 580 rank and file, under Captain Staunton, 
 had been sent to reinforce our garrison at Poonah. 
 On its way it halted at a village, within three 
 miles of which the Peishwa had happened to en- 
 camp for the day with his army. His Highness 
 heard of our battalion, and thought it a fine op- 
 portunity to gain an easy triumph. He therefore 
 caused the village to be assaulted by 3000 Arabs. 
 Making their attack with great courage, the 
 Arabs penetrated into the village; but almost 
 every man who entered it perished by the bayonets 
 of our sepoys. Further attempts were made, but 
 with less vigour and with severe loss to the assail-
 
 '272 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 ants. At length the Peishwa abandoned the enter- 
 prise; and as the approach of Brigadier-General 
 Smith did not allow his Highness to remain in the 
 vicinity, the battalion found itself at liberty to 
 prosecute its march next day. 
 
 Jan. 26th. For the sake of fresh ground, we 
 have this day shifted our position to the vicinity of 
 Launche, about seven miles from Oochar. There 
 is here a ford across the Sinde, somewhat nearer 
 to Gwalior than that contiguous to our last camp. 
 No reports of consequence have been received. It 
 appears that it was not Namdar Khan, but another 
 chief of the name of Namdar, who was killed when 
 the Pindarries were surprised by Major Clarke. 
 Kurreem Khan and Wassil Mahommed escaped on 
 that occasion. They have fled towards Bhopaul, 
 with about four hundred horse, in the utmost dis- 
 tress and despair. 
 
 February 2nd. We have moved to Kinjowlie, 
 nine miles from Launche, still keeping along the 
 Sinde. Wassil Mahommed and Namdar Khan 
 have sent to Lieutenant-Colonel Adams, who was 
 in active pursuit of them, to offer their surrender 
 on an assurance that their lives would be spared.
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 273 
 
 This promise was given, so that they probably 
 yielded themselves immediately. Their negotiator, 
 a Bhopaul officer, did not disguise their miserable 
 condition. He represented them as starving in 
 the jungles, amid which they had separated in 
 parties of eight and ten. Kurreem Khan, either 
 from sickness or a wound, had quitted them with 
 the purpose of hiding himself in some village. 
 
 February ith. Jeswunt Rao Bhow, commanding 
 a detached army of Scindiah's at Jawud, had fur- 
 nished Cheetoo with provisions while he was re- 
 treating with his body of Pindarries through the 
 territories under the Bhow's rule; and he had 
 further sent to Cheetoo intelligence of the approach 
 of our cavalry, which otherwise would have sur 
 prised that chief. These facts were perfectly ascer- 
 tained ; yet Jeswunt Rao was informed they should 
 be overlooked if he gave no fresh cause of com- 
 plaint. Our moderation only encouraged his 
 laxity. It was discovered that subsequent to the 
 warning he had enrolled a large number of the 
 troops which had seceded from Holkar's army on 
 the signature of the treaty, and that Pindarries 
 newly sheltered were actually in his camp. He 
 
 VOL. II. T
 
 274 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 was required to dismiss the former, to surrender 
 the latter, and to give up to us the two officers 
 who had been the more immediate instruments in 
 this violation of the articles. Information being 
 received that the Bhow's cavalry were saddled, and 
 meant to escort the Pindarries out of our reach, 
 Major-General Brown directed a squadron of our 
 cavalry to occupy the road by which the escape 
 was intended, while he should renew his remon- 
 strances to the Bliow. Jeswunt Rao showed little 
 attention to the General's representations ; and in 
 the meantime the Bhow's infantry advancing with 
 cannon opened a fire on our squadron. Major- 
 General Brown, on this hostile aggression, imme- 
 diately attacked the camp, where he made con- 
 siderable slaughter. The broken troops of the 
 Bhow took refuge in the fortified town of Javvad ; 
 but Major-General Brown soon blew open a gate 
 with one of his twelve-pounders, and forced them 
 to throw down their arms. Jeswunt B/ao Bhow 
 escaped with a few mounted followers by the 
 opposite gate. Twelve pieces of cannon were 
 taken, with much other booty. Scindiah had 
 been apprized by me that this chastisement would
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 275 
 
 be inflicted if the Bhow persevered in his infrac- 
 tions of the treaty. I know not how his Highness 
 will relish the realization of the threat. This 
 flagellation of a refractory general and petulant 
 troops is no had hint to the rest of Scindiah's 
 sirdars, or indeed to the Maharajah himself. An 
 official account is received that Cheetoo endeavoured 
 to pass the Nerbudda at different places, in order 
 to join the Peishwa, but was prevented by our 
 guards on the opposite bank. He then directed 
 his course eastward, keeping near to the river. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Heath, stationed at Hindia, on 
 the southern bank, heard of him, crossed with a 
 detachment in boats during the night, and com- 
 pletely surprised Cheetoo's camp. The chief him- 
 self escaped. His son, his brother, and a great 
 number of his men were killed. Everything 1 
 belonging to the party was taken, including some 
 hundred horses and camels. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Adams had heard of Cheetoo's easterly march, and 
 was advancing to look for him, so that the unhappy 
 wretch is not likely to find repose. It is quite 
 curious how that great body, of from twenty-five 
 to thirty thousand horsemen, has been dissolved 
 T 2
 
 276 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 within the short space of ten weeks. They have 
 expiated by dreadful sufferings the horrid cruelties 
 which they had antecedently exercised upon 
 others. 
 
 February 19th. Nothing worthy of notice has 
 occurred since the last date. Our only military 
 intelligence is of skirmishes against the cavalry 
 with which the Peishwa endeavours to cover his 
 retreat. On all these occasions the superiority of 
 our disciplined native cavalry is brilliantly dis- 
 played. The Peishwa has been forced to retreat 
 beyond the Kistna. He had the villainy to send a 
 secret offer of poisoning Gokla, the general of his 
 army, if in consequence we would admit him to 
 terms; for, by way of exonerating himself, he 
 taxed Gokla as the author of all the violences 
 at Poonah; adding that Gokla kept him (the 
 Peishwa) in thraldom, and would not allow him to 
 throw himself on British generosity. It is super- 
 fluous to say that the proposition was met with 
 undisguised abhorrence. All appearances at Gwalior 
 being tranquil, we left the banks of the Sinde six 
 days ago, and are now encamped close to our 
 bridge over the Jumna. Four months only will
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF. HASTINGS. 277 
 
 have elapsed to-morrow since the assembling of this 
 division at Secundra. The actual campaign lasted 
 but three months, and in that short space of time 
 the alteration wrought in central India is so 
 extraordinary that one feels oneself still too near it 
 to comprehend it thoroughly. In security, in 
 tranquillity, and in revenue, our gain is very 
 great ; in honour the return is not, I trust, less 
 ample; for justice and liberality have been as 
 conspicuous as valour in the conduct of all our 
 officers. Our Bundeelah allies have shown a glow- 
 ing gratitude for the extinction of the Pindarries. 
 To the Rajah of Dutteah, who had most distin- 
 guished himself by activity in procuring supplies 
 of grain for our camp, I presented two brass six- 
 pounder field-pieces. He was wild with transport 
 at such a favour ; and as he did not get the guns 
 into his town till eight at night, he began at that 
 hour a salute with them which I suspect was only 
 stopped at last by failure of ammunition. When 
 we quitted the Sinde, Brigadier-General Watson 
 was sent with three battalions of Native Infantry, 
 the 7th Native Cavalry, and the battering-train, 
 to join Major-General Marshall at Bairseah.
 
 278 THE PEIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 February 21st. This morning we re-crossed 
 the Jumna, and are encamped at Ooreea. As a 
 large elephant loaded with baggage was coming 
 into the camp, he took some offence at another 
 which was not of equal strength, and chased the 
 latter among the tents. At length the pursuer 
 overtook the fugitive, and seized its tail with his 
 trunk; but instead of twisting off a piece of the 
 tail, an injury often inflicted by elephants on each 
 other, he seemed satisfied with alarming the object 
 of his anger, and did not offer any harm to it with 
 either his trunk or tusks. Some spearmen ran to 
 deliver the smaller elephant; on this the rioter 
 desisted; and, as if conscious that he had done 
 wrong in occasioning so much bustle, the docile 
 animal salaamed to the people, and held up its 
 leg to have a chain put upon it. The salaam, or 
 compliment which they are instructed by their 
 drivers to pay to persons of rank, is performed by 
 the elephant's bending back his proboscis and 
 touching his own forehead with it. In other cases, 
 it is done at the command of the driver, but in this 
 instance it was spontaneous, which is an extremely 
 curious circumstance, as it evinces the comprehen-
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 279 
 
 sion of the animal that the gesture was conciliatory 
 or respectful. 
 
 February 24th. Reached Cawnpore. I was 
 met by a letter from the Resident at Lucknow, 
 mentioning that the Nawab Vizeer, in consequence 
 of learning the shortness of my intended stay at 
 that station, wanted to set off by dawk to pay his 
 attentions ; that is, he proposed to travel post in 
 a palankeen by relays of bearers arranged by the 
 post office. The notion of undertaking an exer- 
 tion which required a sacrifice of all the conve- 
 niences held indispensable by an Indian prince 
 towards ordinary movement evinces great eager- 
 ness to prove respect ; perhaps I might more justly 
 say to indulge attachment, for I really believe such 
 to be the Nawab Vizeer's unaffected feeling. His 
 
 o 
 
 devotion has been cheaply purchased, since we have 
 been no more than simply just towards him; but 
 then justice is so rare among the natives themselves 
 that they feel it marvellously when they happen to 
 be the object of its application. The Resident 
 repressed the plan by saying, that on account of 
 the uncertainty which would attend my mo- 
 tions I had directed him to entreat that the
 
 280 THE PKIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 Nawab Yizeer might not come forward from 
 Lucknow. 
 
 February 27th. Yesterday the last of the troops 
 destined to reoccupy these cantonments settled 
 themselves quietly in their barracks. This early 
 return to quarters is not only important for the 
 health of the men, (the hot winds being near at 
 hand,) but is a great diminution of expense for the 
 Company. The magnitude of the force which we 
 had in the field unavoidably occasioned a prodigious 
 charge. It was hoped that its amount would pre- 
 vent contest. At all events, the bringing forward 
 such strength was deemed a sure mode of render- 
 ing the completion of our purposes speedy, and in 
 this we had not been disappointed. The cessions 
 of territory which the unprovoked hostility of 
 Holkar and the Nagpore Rajah has forced us to 
 exact from those princes, will have an effect beyond 
 the merely paying for the troops required to pre- 
 clude a repetition of such wanton attacks. The 
 corps kept in advance for that purpose will in their 
 forward position defend our old frontier, as well as 
 if it were their former line, so that no addi- 
 tion need be made to our establishment beyond
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 281 
 
 three or four battalions of invalids to garrison 
 fortresses. The difference between keeping these 
 latter embodied, or the paying them pensions in 
 their several districts will be trifling. The real 
 result will therefore be that the Bengal establish- 
 ment will have about twelve battalions of its Native 
 Infantry paid by the ceded territory ; which comes 
 to the same thing as throwing an annual sum 
 equal to the pay of those troops into the treasury. 
 If the Peishwa be at length as decisively subdued 
 as we have reason to expect, a large portion will 
 be taken for the Company from his dominions; 
 in which case, this campaign instead of being 
 burdensome to the Company's finances will have 
 benefited them extremely. 
 
 February 28th. The fort of Sattarah, in the 
 Peishwa's country, has been taken by Brigadier- 
 General Smith, after two hours' bombardment. 
 Our people have at last been taught the use of 
 mortars, which they seem never to have considered 
 before. The capture of Sattarah is useful, from 
 the position of the fort ; but it is further so from 
 the habitual contemplation of that place by the 
 Mahrattas as the heart of their empire. The
 
 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [FEB. 
 
 Rajah of Sattarah is the hereditary sovereign of 
 the Mahrattas ; and, though held a prisoner by the 
 Peishwa, who (like the French Maires du Palais) 
 usurped the powers of Government, he is still 
 nominally the chief. Bajee Rao's family being 
 Brahminical, a member of it cannot be a sovereign; 
 but Bajee Rao reigns under the title of Peishwa, 
 equivalent to Vizeer, and keeps up the farce of 
 asking once a year the orders of the Rajah, whom 
 he retains in captivity. Aware of the probability 
 that we should endeavour to give the Rajah an 
 independent sovereignty, the Peishwa, on his 
 flight from Poonah, took the unfortunate Prince, 
 who is only fourteen years of age, out of the fort, 
 and has been dragging the young man about with 
 him. The Prince's life runs great risk from this 
 jealousy. Kurreem Khan, Cheetoo or Seetoo, and 
 Namdar Khan, principal Pindarry chiefs, have 
 surrendered themselves unconditionally. The 
 former was in Jawud, concealed by Juswunt Rao 
 Bhow, when the town was taken. Not being able 
 to get a horse in time to escape with the Bhow, he 
 hid himself in an obscure corner, and at night he 
 got out at the gate unnoticed, from being without
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 283 
 
 clothes. Attempting to scramble over some rocky 
 hills, he hurt his feet so much as to be unable to 
 proceed, and in the morning he called to some 
 straggling sepoys and requested them to take him 
 to the General. He has been perfectly well treated, 
 as is the case with the others, who, finding all 
 retreat cut off, threw themselves on the mercy of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Adams. They all agree in the 
 same story, that Scindiah sent a confidential agent 
 to plight his assurance of support to them if they 
 would direct their course to Gwalior. The agent 
 particularly told them that Umbajee Punt (one of 
 Scindiah's generals), with eight battalions and 
 thirty-four pieces of cannon, would join them in 
 the first instance, and that further succour should 
 be afforded as they advanced. Umbajee Punt did 
 move from the neighbourhood of Oojein with the 
 force specified, pretending that his troops had 
 mutinied for want of pay, and had brought him 
 eastward in restraint, which would have otherwise 
 been a violation of the treaty; but before that 
 force could pass the Chumbul, the Pindarries had 
 been completely dispersed. At the time, I believed 
 this movement of Umbajee Punt's to be made with
 
 284 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 the object mentioned, and by the secret direction 
 of Scindiah ; but the principle of manifesting our 
 forbearance to the last prevented any notice being 
 taken of the step, other than by the Resident's 
 telling Scindiah's minister, laughingly, that he 
 must not imagine us really duped. 
 
 March 2nd. Yesterday we crossed the Ganges ; 
 but in order to fashion our new camp properly, we 
 did not advance more than two miles from its 
 bank. This day we have reached Oonaum, and 
 are attended by Hafez Ali Khan, who is deputed 
 by the Nawab Vizeer for the purpose, with tents, 
 cooks, and a suwarry, besides an escort of cavalry 
 and infantry. The troops contrast admirably with 
 the body-guard, and the 2nd battalion 25th Native 
 Infantry, which accompany me. 
 
 March 4th. We encamped yesterday at Nya 
 Serai, and this day we halted at Boodleke Thukeea, 
 on our approach to which we were met by Im- 
 teeanz-oo-Dowlah (formerly called Nusser-oo- 
 Deen),* the Vizeer's eldest son, and the minister 
 Mootummud-oo-Dowlah. They came in great 
 state, but breakfasted with us without formality. 
 * This prince predeceased his father.
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 285 
 
 In the evening they dined with me. A rich khe- 
 laut, with a palankeen, elephant, and horse, was con- 
 ferred on the minister, the Nawab Vizeer having: 
 
 * O 
 
 expressed to the acting Resident his solicitude that 
 I should treat the minister with distinction. 
 
 March 5th. We moved very early this morn- 
 ing. At sunrise, we met the Nawab Vizeer about 
 three miles from Lucknow. I believe that each of 
 us felt unaffected pleasure at this renewal of 
 acquaintance. I quitted my own elephant to sit 
 beside the Nawab Vizeer in his howdah. Thus 
 we proceeded through the streets of the city to the 
 palace. 1 lamented to find that the objectionable 
 practice of scattering rupees among the populace 
 was still kept up, and I was obliged to bear my 
 share in doing what I censure, as the Nawab 
 would otherwise not have thought himself at 
 liberty to bestow this gratuity on the crowd, while 
 he would have been secretly hurt at being re- 
 strained from displaying the expected liberality. 
 I owe courteous compliances to one who assisted 
 me during the late campaign with above one hun- 
 dred elephants for carrying the tents of the Euro- 
 pean troops. The scramble for the rupees is
 
 286 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 attended with numberless acts of brutal violence : 
 the young and active extorting from the aged and 
 infirm, or from women, the money which the 
 
 feebler had the good luck to catch. I saw several 
 
 
 
 blind persons dispossessed in that manner of the 
 piece which I had managed to throw into the skirt 
 of the garment held out by them. Nobody seemed 
 to think it worth while to interfere for either the 
 prevention or the punishment of the injustice. I 
 was repeatedly duped by men apparently blind, 
 who were led by others, but who immediately 
 abandoned the disguise when the exertion of their 
 sight was necessary towards securing a rupee that 
 had fallen to the ground. The fraud was most 
 dexterously performed. We breakfasted at the 
 palace of Furruh Buksh, with the Nawab, after a 
 contestation in the preliminary durbar, where I 
 obliged him to take the right of me on the musnud. 
 To break a connexion which possible (though not 
 probable) circumstances might make troublesome, 
 I insist on considering him an entirely independent 
 sovereign, not as the Vizeer of the Mogul Empire 
 in India. After breakfast, I retired to the British 
 Residency, close to the palace, where I have fixed
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 287 
 
 my quarters. The Resident, Mr. Monckton, is not 
 here. During his absence, the business is ably 
 conducted by his first assistant, Captain Raper. 
 
 March 6th. The Nawab Vizeer breakfasted 
 with me. I had previously ridden to the park of 
 Dilkoosha, which appeared to be very well kept in 
 order. He seemed much gratified when I told 
 him I had done so. 
 
 March 7th. Having been told that it would be 
 a pleasing compliment to the Nawab Vizeer if 
 I would breakfast with Imteeanz-oo-Dowlah, I 
 accepted an invitation from the young Prince, and 
 went to his house this morning. The Nawab 
 Vizeer and all the principal persons of the court 
 were there. After breakfast, we repaired to 
 Khoorsheed Munzil (mansion of the sun), a palace 
 which the Nawab Vizeer has just completed. It 
 is a small turreted building, representing a castle, 
 with a moat, not ten feet broad, round it, and a 
 tiny bridge. 
 
 In the principal room, my portrait occupied one 
 end, and a full length of Mademoiselle Pariset, 
 copied from the print, decorated the other. There 
 did not appear to me to be any place for attendants
 
 288 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAKCIT, 
 
 in this edifice, so that I suppose it is only intended 
 as a place at which a breakfast may be occasionally 
 given. It is about a mile from the town palace 
 of Furruh Buksh, and a small park is forming. 
 The building of it is just one of those expedients 
 to which a person of unextended views is obliged 
 to resort in order to get rid of superabundant 
 wealth. At half-past six in the evening, we 
 dined with the Nawab Vizeer. There was the 
 usual entertainment of singing girls, who were as 
 little calculated to please the eye as to gratify an 
 European ear. But we had one accompaniment, 
 novel at the feast of a native sovereign ; an Irish 
 bagpiper, Jerry Gahagan, whom the Nawab Vizeer 
 has taken into his service, at a large salary, is a 
 very good performer. One of the courtiers told 
 me with a good deal of jocularity, that Jerry often 
 disappointed the Nawab by sudden attacks of sick- 
 ness (as they were construed) after dinner. On 
 those occasions Jerry used to retire to his bed, at 
 the foot of which a bulldog was chained, and at the 
 head of it a large monkey. These trusty guardians 
 would not let anybody approach to inquire into 
 their master's malady. The narrator chuckled ex
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 289 
 
 ceedingly at the Nawab'a want of perception that 
 the dram-bottle was Jerry's only disorder. 
 
 March 8th. Prince Soliman Shekoh, and Prince 
 Mirza Sounder Shekoh, brothers of the King of 
 Delhi, breakfasted with me. In the early part of 
 the morning I had gone to see the menagerie, 
 having been told that I should find there a wild 
 man. He was said to have been dug out of a hole 
 in a bank near the Gorkha Hills, having been seen 
 to creep into it when cut off from escaping, after 
 five or six others who made their way into the 
 jungle. By the description, he was sullen and 
 ferocious, his language being quite unintelligible. 
 In proof of his being wild, it was mentioned that 
 when taken he was in a state of complete nudity; 
 a proof not very conclusive, as I have seen the 
 fakeers in our own provinces entirely naked. There 
 was nothing peculiar in the man's appearance. 
 He was small, but that is the case with all the 
 inhabitants of the first range of hills. Instead of 
 manifesting any savageness, he smirked and fol- 
 lowed us throughout the menagerie, probably ob- 
 serving from the testimonies of respect paid to us 
 that our party consisted of persons of rank. I 
 
 VOL. n. u
 
 290 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 asked if any one who could speak the Gorhka 
 language had ever been brought to address him, 
 and was answered in the negative. I am satisfied 
 that this supposed wild man is only a natj^e of the 
 hills, who with others had been obliged for some 
 criminal act to seek refuge in the jungles. A 
 large hole, the mouth of which could be easily 
 blocked against beasts of prey, would be the 
 likeliest shelter for such fugitives during the night. 
 The Nawab Vizeer and all his principal nobles 
 dined with me. The courtiers are very splendid 
 on these occasions, being all dressed in brocades or 
 richly embroidered cloth, with fine turbans. Else- 
 where but in the Nawab Vizeer's dominions, the 
 Mussulmans generally make a difficulty about 
 sitting at table with Christians ; but here there is 
 no such objection, and the guests eat freely of our 
 dishes. I had understood that the Mahommedans 
 were strict against using the left hand in eating ; 
 this day, however, I had a proof to the contrary. 
 There is a Hindostanee mode of dressing a fowl, by 
 which, after having absorbed much spice, it is served 
 up quite dry, and done as we term it to rags. One 
 of the Lucknow nobles, who sat opposite to me,
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 291 
 
 took a whole fowl of this sort upon his plate, and 
 holding it with one hand, he with the other (inter- 
 changeably) employed his fingers so dexterously as 
 to pinch off from the bones every particle that 
 could be swallowed. Another drew to himself at 
 the dessert a dish of lemonade ice, all of which he 
 managed to dispatch, though it required the fingers 
 of both hands to get each piece up to his mouth, 
 as he did not use a spoon. 
 
 March 9th. I rode this morning to see the Char 
 Bagh, a garden of the Nawab's, between two and 
 three miles' distance from Lucknow. It is of great 
 extent, but totally neglected. From the quantity 
 of trees, it would afford positions for several elegant 
 villas, and I was surprised to see such a tract of 
 ground apparently deserted so near a city to which 
 so many natives of rank resort. Probably there is 
 some superstition or prejudice in the case. The 
 late Nawab Vizeer, Saadut Ali, ordered out from 
 England an iron bridge, which he intended to 
 erect over the Goomtee. It arrived safe at Luck- 
 now, with two English mechanics destined to put 
 it up. The purpose of raising it is abandoned; 
 and the reason is avowed namely, that as it is 
 u 2
 
 292 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 deeply unlucky to complete a bridge begun by 
 one's father, there would be danger that the evil 
 fortune might extend even to a bridge bespoken by 
 a parent. After breakfast I returned the visit of 
 the Delhi Princes. On my return, I held a durbar, 
 the monotony of which was a little relieved by the 
 compliments which the natives were enabled to 
 pay on news just received from Poonah. Briga- 
 dier-General Smith with his cavalry, on the 18th 
 February, surprised the Peishwa, who, on the sup- 
 position that he should make the overtaking him 
 impracticable, had thrown all his infantry and 
 artillery into his forts, and kept the field with only 
 his numerous horse. Gokla, the Peishwa's chief 
 commander, put himself at the head of about 3000 
 men and made a gallniit charge. He was, how- 
 ever, immediately killed, and the body which he 
 had led being driven in confusion among those who 
 were endeavouring to prepare their horses, all was 
 thrown into irreparable disorder. The Peishwa 
 sprang upon a fleet horse, and went off with the 
 utmost speed ; every man as fast as he could 
 mount followed the example. The pursuit was 
 continued as long as the horses of our troops, who
 
 1818.] OF THE MAEQUESS OF HASTINGS. 293 
 
 had made a march of thirty miles to get at the 
 enemy, could furnish a gallop. The Mahrattas 
 did not leave above 300 on the spot, but the panic 
 in which the survivors fled would have all the 
 effect of a more bloody victory. "What was still 
 more important, the Rajah of Sattarah and his 
 family fell into our hands. If their exultation upon 
 finding themselves transferred from the Peishwa 
 (by whom they feared to be murdered) to us, with 
 whom they believed their lives to be safe, was 
 great, their astonishment was not less when they 
 were informed that we meant to raise the Rajah 
 to an independent sovereignty. The Peishwa was 
 aware that such was likely to be our policy, and 
 on that account he had dragged the unfortunate 
 family into the field with him. The Nawab 
 Vizeer, on learning this success, ordered a royal 
 salute to be fired from each of the forts in the 
 neighbourhood of Lucknow. In the evening, we 
 dined with the Nawab Vizeer. Fireworks in 
 the garden of the palace succeeded the dinner; 
 and then I took leave, having previously insisted 
 that not either the Nawab Vizeer or his son should 
 accompany me during any part of the march
 
 294 THE PRIVATE JOUBNAL [MAECH, 
 
 towards the Gogra. There was no affectation in 
 the regret professed on both sides at parting. The 
 young Prince said to the Hesident sorrowfully, 
 " Have I no chance of seeing him again ?" The 
 Nawab Vizeer himself had all the appearance of 
 being excessively moved. The consciousness of 
 reciprocal good offices has produced the sensation 
 on both sides. This impression was so prominent 
 in my mind, that the minuting it has made me 
 pass over a circumstance worth mentioning. While 
 I was sitting on the musnud with the Nawab 
 Vizeer, waiting till dinner should be announced, 
 seventeen sons of Ramzaun Ali Khan (one of the 
 principal nobles) were brought up to present nuz- 
 zurs to me. On my expressing admiration at the 
 show of so large a family, I was told that he had 
 at home twenty children more, either females, or 
 males too young to be introduced. Knowing that 
 Ramzauii Ali Khan was not opulent, I was vexed 
 at seeing his sons expensively dressed to pay that 
 short compliment ; till, after dinner, I learnt that 
 the Nawab Vizeer had liberally ordered them to be 
 completely equipped at his cost. 
 
 March 10th. We crossed the Goomtee soon after
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 295 
 
 dawn by an excellent bridge of boats which the 
 Nawab Vizeer had ordered to be prepared, and we 
 advanced about seven miles to Cheynhaut, where 
 we found our camp pitched. 
 
 March llth. We marched to Nawabgunge. 
 On setting out in the morning, I found myself 
 beset by an immense crowd of Lucknovv beggars, 
 who had pestered us during the whole of yesterday. 
 Learning that it was their intention to accompany 
 me at least till I should pass the Gogra, I applied 
 for the assistance of Hafez Uln Khan, the darogha, 
 who had been appointed by the Nawab Vizeer to 
 attend me as long as I should remain within his 
 dominions. He assured me that the camp should 
 be free from them to-morrow ; but he told one of 
 the gentlemen that his not interfering without 
 
 O o 
 
 orders was on account of its being thought rather 
 a matter of dignity to have those clamorous paupers 
 in the train of the Nawab Vizeer's escort. Exclu- 
 sive of the teasing importunity of these gentry, 
 who endeavour to extort money by their noise, the 
 numerous thefts committed in our camp last night 
 render such appendages very inconvenient. Among 
 the crowd, I recognised a fellow who had twice
 
 THE PKIVATE JOURNAL [MAECH, 
 
 deceived me at Lucknow by personating- a blind 
 man, and who laughed heartily the second time at 
 the success of his imposture. 
 
 March 12th. This day we reached Massovvlie. 
 The country through which we have passed is 
 beautiful. It is, indeed, a dead flat, but it is 
 covered as far as the eye can reach in every direc- 
 tion, with heavy crops of wheat, and decorated with 
 extensive groves of large mango- trees. Numerous 
 pools of water add to the variety of the scene. 
 
 March 13th. Arrived at Byram Ghaut on the 
 Gogra. There is here a cantonment, occupied by 
 a detachment from Secrora (at some distance beyond 
 the river), with two pieces of cannon. The troops 
 who now hold the station belong to the 1st bat- 
 talion of the 2nd Native Infantry. Major Duncan, 
 commanding the battalion, joined us yesterday. 
 He speaks in high terms of the salubrity and 
 comforts of Secrora and Byram Ghaut. That the 
 quality of the country was altered, appeared from 
 our being encamped on something very like a grass 
 plot. I have seen a worse attempt at greensward 
 in many a field of Norfolk that had been laid 
 down as grass for three or four years. We found
 
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 297 
 
 here a darogha dispatched by the Nawab Vizeer to 
 collect and superintend boats for our passage of the 
 river. A more magnificent man I have not seen 
 for a long time. He met me on a horse richly 
 caparisoned, himself being clothed in fine brocade 
 trimmed with fur. His elephant and his gaudy 
 palankeen followed him, so that he was in the 
 height of state. I regretted to tell him that he 
 was to have the trouble of getting his boats up the 
 Chowka Nuddee, which is a branch that separates 
 itself from the Gogra above Kyreeghur and rejoins 
 the river at this place. 
 
 March 14th. Reached Lalpore. 
 
 March 16th. We yesterday reached Bansorah, 
 where we are now encamped. There were so few 
 boats up that we made little progress in getting 
 our things across the Nuddee (stream) till this 
 morning. The fault did not lie with the darogha, 
 who is no less active than gorgeous ; but the large 
 boats could not remount the current so as to keep 
 pace with our march. The great difficulty has been 
 the getting the camels across. Four have been 
 drowned to-day by staggering off the platform- 
 boats into the water. They are helpless in these
 
 298 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MABCH, 
 
 circumstances. The faculty of swimming would be 
 uselessly bestowed 011 an animal whose frame and 
 qualities appear to have a special adaptation to the 
 regions where he is indigenous. His length of leg 
 and broad fleshy foot, with a comparative exility of 
 trunk, are admirably suited to the traversing 
 rapidly wide tracts of sand; while the same pecu- 
 liarity of conformation unfits him for swimming, an 
 exercise to which he never can be called in his 
 original country. The elephants swim particularly 
 well. One, however, refused to take the water 
 to-day ; a strong rope was then put round his neck 
 and fastened to the neck of another elephant, who 
 dragged the stubborn one towards the water, while 
 another pushed him behind. In that manner they 
 soon got him off the bank, when he swam across 
 with great tranquillity. 
 
 March 17th. We crossed this morning, having 
 in the interval learned that there was no truth in 
 the information which we had received at Lalpore, 
 as to the interference of a second channel with our 
 route. It was the artifice of the zemindar, who 
 wished to dissuade us from coming into the lands 
 belonging to him, lest the standing crops should
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 99 
 
 suffer from us as much damage as they would from 
 the Nawab's hunting party. If he heard the as- 
 sertion that we should pay for any injury we might 
 do, I am sure he would not believe it. On landing, 
 we were met by the Aumil (superintendent of the 
 province), Hakeem Mehdy Ali Khan, with his 
 brother and many attendants. The Aurnil told me 
 he had the Nawab Yizeer's orders to attend me 
 throughout all the territories within his jurisdic- 
 tion. In our way to Terwah, where we have taken 
 up our ground, we have passed through a country 
 as highly cultivated as that which we left on the 
 other side of the Chowka Nuddee. The wheat is 
 not sown in drills, as is the case in Bundelcund ; 
 but the crops are most luxuriant, and not a weed 
 to be seen in any of them. I asked the Hakeem 
 how the corn was kept so clean, to which he an- 
 swered that it was owing to the unremitting atten- 
 tion of every one to destroy weeds, wheresoever they 
 found them growing in the roads or fields near the 
 villages, so that there was not any seed of them to 
 be carried by the wind into the ploughed ground. 
 March 18th. In our road to Poorunpore, we 
 have beaten an extensive Jow (tamarisk) jungle,
 
 300 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MABCH, 
 
 but we could not find a tiger, though we were 
 assured that one haunted the place. A list of the 
 current prices of articles in the surrounding villages 
 is given to me every day soon after we have halted, 
 that by such a check I may prevent the camp- 
 bazaar from making the soldiers and camp-followers 
 pay exorbitantly. From to-day's list, I infer that 
 poultry must be in great plenty in this country ; 
 for eggs are at one hundred and fifty-six for a 
 rupee ; that is, at the rate of five eggs for less than 
 an English penny. 
 
 March 19th. Sir David Ochterlony has arrived 
 in camp, having come in his palankeen, with relays 
 of bearers, from his division in the Jyepore terri- 
 tory. He was accompanied by my old acquain- 
 tance, the Nawab Ahmed Buksh, whom I was 
 really glad to see again. 
 
 March 20th. We retraced our steps to Terwah, 
 our route to Poorunpore having been easterly. At 
 noon to-day I invested Sir David Ochterlony with 
 the ribbon of the Grand Cross of the Bath. The 
 Hakeem and the Lucknow functionaries attendant 
 on me, with all the native as well as all the European 
 officers of our camp, were invited to give as much
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 301 
 
 character as possible to the ceremony. In the 
 evening-, I had a dinner, at which all the European 
 gentlemen were present. The Aumil, or Hakeem, 
 though he has absolute rule over a territory as 
 large as three or four English counties, is not 
 (according to the law of the Medes and Persians, 
 which changeth not) of rank to sit at table with 
 me. Ahmed Buksh possesses the due elevation, 
 and is my guest as long as he remains in camp. 
 He has as little scruple as the Lucknow Mussul- 
 mans about eating with us. 
 
 March 21st. Reached Peterassee Ghaut, on the 
 Gogra, and found above seventy large boats as- 
 sembled for us. We have agreed to continue on this 
 side of the river for four or five marches more. I 
 noticed to-day the laborious mode in which the fields 
 are tilled. The soil, very tenacious, is broken-up with 
 heavy hoes, evidently from the inefficiency of the 
 miserable kind of plough which alone is known in 
 this country. The clods are then broken with 
 clubs, after which the surface is pulverized with a 
 light harrow. Great industry must be used to 
 produce what I witness. 
 
 March 22nd. Moved, and encamped at Mulla-
 
 302 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MABCH, 
 
 pore. Praising, to the Hakeem, the condition in 
 which I saw the districts under his superinten- 
 dence, I asked what was the encouragement he 
 gave to cultivators who undertook to reclaim 
 jungle land. He said that from the first crop he 
 took nothing, from the second he took a seventh, 
 which he did not augment for two or three years 
 more, till it was seen that the undertaking was 
 decidedly beneficial to the speculator. In that 
 case, a fifth of the crop is demanded for Govern- 
 ment. It is taken in kind, and is the only deduc- 
 tion from the profit of the husbandman. In old 
 cultivated districts, a third or a composition for it 
 is exacted by Government. 
 
 March 25th. We marched on the 23rd to 
 Sereea; all a cultivated country. This morning 
 we reached a spot still called Rajapore, from the 
 name of a large village which no longer exists. 
 The Aumil, with great judgment, built four vil- 
 lages, each at a distance of about a mile from this 
 place ; and he divided the families of the ancient 
 village among them, taking care to make their 
 new accommodation more agreeable than the old. 
 In this manner, with but a moderate outlay of
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 303 
 
 money, lie gave to the people such facilities for 
 bringing the jungle into cultivation, that they set 
 about it vigorously, and have brought a very con- 
 siderable tract into good tilth. I observed a curious 
 circumstance in fording a river. The number of 
 elephants which took the water at once produced 
 such an agitation in it as alarmed the fish to some 
 distance, and I saw several of the fresh-water 
 mullets skip along the surface for fifty or sixty 
 yards. Their whole bodies were seen, and they 
 only touched the top of the water by a succession 
 of bounds. This fish is often seen in Bengal 
 during the hot weather, swimming for some time 
 with its head entirely out of the water. 
 
 March 26th. I have omitted to mention that 
 Sir David Ochterlony left us on the night of the 
 22nd, to return to his troops in the Jyepore 
 country. The interview with him has enabled me 
 to settle all the arrangements for maintaining a 
 field (or advanced) force in a position calculated to 
 afford ready means of crushing any attempts at 
 troubling the security which we have promised to 
 the Rajpoot States. Ahmed Buksh manifested a 
 handsome spirit of disinterestedness. When I
 
 304 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAHCH, 
 
 learned that he had accompanied Sir D. Ochter- 
 lony, I suspected that he had some application to 
 make ; but he never insinuated any request, nor do 
 I believe that he contemplated any advantage. 
 When I was in the Upper Provinces, three years 
 ago, I distinguished him by civilities, from liking 
 the manliness of his character. To show his sense 
 of that attention, he undertook this toilsome jaunt 
 of 400 miles (day and night) in palankeen, having 
 to retrace the same extent. The fact proves how 
 much influence attends a little politeness from any 
 of our functionaries in high station. I gave him 
 a valuable sword when he took leave. We had 
 yesterday evening sent forward the baggage to 
 Pursah, the place where we are now encamped. 
 
 March 27th. We halted at Pursah. Fahren- 
 heit's thermometer is now usually about 95 in the 
 middle of the day. Rain having fallen in the night, 
 I this morning saw again the glorious range of 
 mountains which separates Hindostan from Tar- 
 tary. At this season, though the air seems per- 
 fectly clear, there exists a haze which prevents 
 even any dim adumbration of the mountains from 
 being perceivable, unless after copious showers.
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 305 
 
 The snowy peaks are still indistinct, showing 
 themselves only like patches of white clouds, as if 
 sky intervened between them and the highest 
 ridge of the black mountains ; yet the bold abrupt- 
 ness with which this vast barrier rises from the 
 plain is exceedingly striking to an eye accustomed 
 to the ordinary uniformity of surface in the pro- 
 vinces bordering on the Ganges. Perhaps there is 
 more than mere contrast in this. I believe that 
 there is in our nature a notion of sublimity attached 
 to elevation, and some indistinct conception of mak- 
 ing oneself a momentary partaker of the supe- 
 riority is a more operative cause of the propensity 
 one feels for clambering up eminences, than any 
 curiosity from the expectation of an extensive 
 view. 
 
 March 28th. "We set out before daybreak for 
 Muttairy. 
 
 March 29th. This being Sunday, there was, of 
 course, no shooting ; but it was necessary to pro- 
 ceed to Rummia-Bheer, in order that on the 
 morrow the principal part of our baggage might be 
 dispatched across the Gogra before us. In riding 
 from Muttairy to the present ground, a circum- 
 
 VOL. n. x
 
 306 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MABCH, 
 
 stance occurred which shows how deficient natives 
 of rank are, not only in general knowledge, but in 
 information relative to facts appertaining to their 
 immediate vicinity. One of my aides-de-camp 
 pointed out to Mirza Hadi the brilliancy with 
 which one of the peaks of the Himalaya ridge ex- 
 hibited itself, from being illumined by the rays of 
 the rising sun. Mirza Hadi agreed in the obser- 
 vation, and accounted for the appearance by saying 
 that it arose from the whiteness of the freestone 
 which composed those peaks. On the officer's 
 telling him that what he saw was the snow which 
 permanently covered that range of mountains, 
 Mirza Hadi laughed in ridicule of the notion; 
 asking how it should be conceived that snow should 
 lie unmelted on the peaks when there was not any 
 on the plain, since those summits were so much 
 nearer the sun. Yet Mirza Hadi is not only able 
 in his management of the district under his brother, 
 the Aumil, but lives in constant society with the 
 latter, whose title of Hakeem (learned man) ought 
 to imply that he had the means of communicating 
 some principles of natural history. 
 
 March 30th. We remained at Eummia Bheer.
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 307 
 
 March 31st. We had fixed to march to Muda- 
 neeah. In the night, a villager arrived to inform 
 us that a few hours before a tiger had attempted 
 to carry off a labourer, who had, however, been 
 luckily saved by some of his comrades, whose 
 shouts had intimidated the tiger. They had been 
 resting themselves in the jungle, and were not 
 seen by the animal when he approached the poor 
 fellow, who was working in a field. I set out 
 before day to look for this ferocious creature, 
 imagining that its haunt did not lie very wide of 
 the line of march. The guide, however, carried us 
 off a long way. The tiger was not found, though 
 numerous prints of his feet in the sand evinced 
 that he frequented the jungle which we were 
 beating. After a long and tiresome circuit, we 
 crossed the Gogra over a bridge of boats, which 
 the Aumil had caused to be constructed. It was 
 well made, though not in the capital style of our 
 bridge across the Jumna. The branch of the 
 Gogra which we thus passed is at present only 
 180 yards wide, though the dry sand on each side 
 shows that in the rainy season it must be an im- 
 mense stream. We forded another branch, and
 
 308 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 reached our camp at Mudaneeah somewhat after 
 eleven o'clock, by which time the heat was 
 intense. 
 
 April 1st. We went out to look for tigers on 
 the island between the two branches of the Gogra, 
 being told by the people that five had haunted it 
 for some time. The traces of their feet in the sand 
 were so numerous as to prove that the place had 
 been recently frequented by more than one. But 
 though we beat the jungles with great accuracy, 
 we did not find any. Having restricted ourselves 
 from shooting at other game, the day's sport was 
 lost. Another party saw a tiger, which escaped 
 them. It is curious to observe the force of habit. 
 Were a tiger to get away from a showman in 
 England, and to be supposed hidden in some of the 
 copses, no person would venture to labour in any 
 of the neighbouring fields. Here, the people not 
 only work close to the usual lair of tigers often 
 seen by them, but actually follow their cattle into 
 those jungles. Nor does this proceed from any 
 experience that the tiger, if unprovoked, is not 
 likely to attack them ; for they have constant in- 
 stances of the animal's seeking to prey upon men.
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 309 
 
 The danger is one to which their minds have been 
 accustomed from youth, and they consider it as a 
 condition inseparable from their existence. 
 
 April 2nd. We marched nearly north to Bhurt- 
 pore, beating some jungle and killing some deer in 
 our way. The country here is nearly untilled. It 
 consists of extensive plains checkered with open 
 woods of the Seesoo. This tree, in its general ap- 
 pearance, much resembles an old birch, except that 
 the leaves are of a livelier green ; but its timber is 
 strong and serviceable. The plains are covered 
 with grass, which, though it does not form a sward 
 like that in England, is rich and succulent. It is 
 the Doob grass. Numerous parties of the Brin- 
 jarries have fixed their temporary habitations 
 throughout this tract for the purpose of pasturing 
 their cattle during the dry season. Their huts are 
 very simple. They are composed of reeds, and look 
 like long narrow roofs taken off from thatched 
 cottages. Being without upright walls, they appear 
 not to allow height for any one to sit at his ease 
 but just in the centre. This, however, is of little 
 importance to the owners ; because, as they always 
 select a spot close to a grove, they sit (both men
 
 310 THE PEIVATE JOUBNAL [APML, 
 
 and women) under the trees in the day, using the 
 hut only for sleeping. The herds of cattle belong- 
 ing to these stations, respectively, seem to run 
 from a thousand head to thrice that number. 
 
 April 3rd. Arriving at our present ground of 
 Mohaneeah, we learned that a native had been 
 badly wounded by a tiger. The head Serjeant of 
 the Quartermaster-General's department had been 
 just questioning the poor fellow about the places at 
 which a nullah, apparently muddy, was passable; 
 he had gone but a little way from him, when he 
 was called back by the screams of the man, who 
 was, however, providentially delivered before the 
 serjeant could approach. The man had been pass- 
 ing near a reed-bed ; the tiger suddenly dashed out 
 upon him and attempted to carry him off. A herd 
 of buffaloes, of which the man had the care, chanced 
 to be close to him ; bold from being in a mass, 
 they charged the tiger, and forced him to quit his 
 prey. The man was so much torn that his reco- 
 very is doubtful. We went out this afternoon, as 
 soon as the sun had got tolerably low, to look for 
 this tiger ; but we were foiled by the swampiness 
 of the ground. Several elephants were bogged im-
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 311 
 
 mediately, and we found it wholly impracticable to 
 beat the jungle, which was of great extent. 
 
 April 5th. We marched yesterday to Simrie, 
 and thence this day to Kuckera ; both marches in 
 a south-easterly direction. The greater part of 
 this morning's track was through a part of the 
 forest. It is devoid of underwood ; the timber in 
 general shabby, though now and then a fine saul- 
 tree occurred. The length and straightness of 
 bole in that tree, as well as the tough, durable 
 quality of the wood, renders such timber valuable. 
 I have noticed a phenomenon, which the inha- 
 bitants of these parts call the double dawn. The 
 day appears to break, but those first streaks of light 
 pass away, and the sky becomes again obscure for 
 a minute or two, when the light shows itself anew 
 and augments rapidly. The cause is easily com- 
 prehended. The ridge of mountains is to the east 
 of us. The first rays of the sun striking on the 
 snowy summits produce a reflection of light on 
 clouds immediately above. As the sun rises, the 
 ray no longer takes the snow in the angle neces- 
 sary to produce the effect, while the elevation of 
 the interjacent mountains retards our view of the
 
 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [APRII, 
 
 ordinary dawn. Our proximity to the snowy 
 range makes the air really cold till about eight 
 o'clock; and although in the middle of the day the 
 thermometer reaches 90, we have not had any sen- 
 sation of the hot wind which we learn has for three 
 weeks past been strong at Lucknow. 
 
 April 6th. Marched south-east to Kureecha, 
 principally through the forest. When we came 
 out upon an extensive plain, on which the wood- 
 cutters have erected the congregation of huts 
 denominated a village, I observed the camp- 
 followers eating greedily something which they 
 appeared to collect among the grass. On my 
 inquiring what it was which they seemed to relish 
 so much, some plants of the grass (pulled up by the 
 roots) were brought to me. The blade of the 
 grass is not, at this season at least, above three 
 inches in length. It is hard, tough, and devoid of 
 succulence. The tufts grow detached from each 
 other, not producing anything like a sward; but 
 each plant had a number of short thick stems ; on 
 these there were found many white excrescences, 
 from the bigness of the largest pea to double that 
 size. These were evidently exudations from the
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 313 
 
 sap. They were saccharine and farinaceous ; so 
 that they were pleasant and probably nutritive. 
 One might be tempted to admire this economy of 
 nature, which provides by an unusual process a 
 food for animals denied in the quality of the leaf 
 itself, did one not recollect the sandy deserts where 
 no substitute for ordinary nourishment is discover- 
 able. The motives for bestowing a boon or with- 
 holding it are equally beyond our reach. Shall a 
 worm measure the wisdom of the Almighty? 
 
 April 8th. Yesterday morning we reached 
 through a skirt of the forest to Basbureeah, an 
 assemblage of reed-huts belonging to some new 
 settlers, who have just cleared or broken up an 
 extensive tract for cultivation. It is only two 
 miles from Namparah, which is mentioned as a 
 considerable town. We met here Sir Roger Martin, 
 Mr. Forde, Mr. Mordaunt Eicketts, Mr. Ainslie, 
 and Captain Stoueham, who had come from their 
 neighbouring stations to join me. Some of our 
 camp elephants who followed us with baggage 
 were stopped in the wood by a large wild elephant ; 
 he did not attempt to injure them, but would not 
 let them pass. When the officer commanding the
 
 314* THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 rear-guard came up, he made some of his men load 
 and fire at the stranger, who went off in conse- 
 quence, but quite leisurely. This morning we have 
 by the advice of Sir R. Martin made a march of 
 fifteen miles, in nearly a northerly direction, to 
 reach the bank of the Rapty ; and we have halted 
 near a village called Koolwye. The country on 
 this side of the Rapty is a plain, part of it terroiee, 
 which implies land prepared for rice crops. The 
 soil is singularly productive in that grain. The 
 forest comes down to the other side of the river, 
 which is a clear gently-flowing stream, with some 
 stones in its channel, but still not a pebbly bottom. 
 We are now within seven or eight miles of the first 
 range of mountains. They are wooded and have 
 a bold appearance ; but the sublime effect of the 
 entire ridge is lost by our being too near the inter- 
 vening ranges to see the principal one. In con- 
 templating that eternal snow, one has a feeling 
 analogous to pride. It must be an indistinct sense 
 of triumph at mastering by comprehension that 
 which we know to be insuperable by bodily exer- 
 tion. 
 
 April 9th. Last night an elephant belonging
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 315 
 
 to the Aumil got loose, and threw the camp into 
 great confusion. He killed his mohout, who had 
 probably on some occasion maltreated him, for the 
 animal did not attempt to injure any one else. I 
 am told that elephants will retain for a long time a 
 keen remembrance of any peculiar harshness used 
 towards them. The people, fearful of his doing 
 more mischief, drove him out of camp by pushing 
 torches at him ; and he betook himself to a wood, 
 whence he has not yet returned. 
 
 April 10th. We marched at an early hour, de- 
 signing to beat some coverts which lay little wide 
 of our route. The first of them was a wet hollow 
 with thick reeds in parts of it. Following its 
 course without success, we found it widen into what 
 is called here a jheel, that is, an extensive pool with 
 a scattering of reeds, which implies the water to be 
 of no considerable depth. The ground having 
 been sound in such portions of the hollow through 
 which we had passed as were covered with water, 
 it was taken for granted the bottom of the jheel 
 would be so likewise. We, therefore, attempted 
 confidently to cross it. Suddenly my elephant 
 sank in the mud till the water reached its eyes.
 
 316 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [APEIL, 
 
 The situation was perilous in the extreme. To get 
 off from the elephant was out of the question, on 
 account of the mud. On the other hand, it was 
 with the greatest difficulty I could save myself 
 from being thrown out of the howdah, so violent 
 were the jerks given by the elephant in its endea- 
 vours to extricate itself. In making these exer- 
 tions, it often laid the side of the howdah nearly 
 flat on the water. After long struggling, the 
 animal managed to turn itself round, and I could 
 feel that it was bending up first one of its fore- 
 legs, and then the other upon the firmer ground, 
 whence we had made our plunge. They have pro- 
 digious force in drawing themselves forward when 
 they have got upon their knees, so that when this 
 was effected we soon got out. The elephant was 
 much strained. 
 
 April 13th. On the llth, we marched twelve 
 miles, approaching obliquely the hills. Our route 
 lay through portions of the forest which separated 
 extensive plains prepared for a rice crop in the 
 rainy season. There was nothing particular but 
 the appearance of several canoes at a village remote 
 from any stream. Such a provision shows what a
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 317 
 
 deluge must rest upon this plain during the wet 
 period of the year. We encamped near a hamlet 
 called Bughwora-Tal, and we halted there yesterday, 
 which was Sunday. This position was close to the 
 edge of the forest, through which to the first range 
 of hills the distance cannot be more than three 
 miles. This morning we advanced to Mussarah. 
 From an alteration in the direction of the first 
 hills, which now trend eastward instead of south- 
 east, we increased our distance from the mountains 
 by preserving our former course. 
 
 April 15th. We marched yesterday to Hutteea 
 Coon, and have this day encamped at Huneea. No 
 shooting in the course of either march ; for the 
 whole country is an interrupted sheet of cultivation. 
 Great industry is evidently employed, yet the im- 
 plements of husbandry are wretched. The people 
 live in small hamlets of huts, built with reeds or 
 matting, upon a rude framework of wood which the 
 neighbouring forest supplies. 
 
 April 19th. We reached Jurmah Kummereea 
 this morning, Sunday. We had the discomfort of 
 finding that a very bad fever was raging in the 
 villages around us, though we had made the march
 
 318 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [APEX!, 
 
 expressly to get out of the way of malady prevailing 
 near our last encampment. 
 
 April 21st. Yesterday morning we moved our 
 camp about three miles from the infected villages ; 
 and it was placed on the bank of the Bangunga, a 
 fine pure stream, while we went to beat some 
 jungles which had been described to us as excellent 
 by the people of the neighbourhood. After having 
 been led a great distance, we found the supposed 
 jungles to be places unfit for sheltering game; our 
 disappointment was balanced to me by the oppor- 
 tunity of seeing many flowering shrubs and trees 
 with which I was not before acquainted; some 
 fragrant, others beautiful. A low tree, which 
 appeared to me to be a sort of guava (different 
 from the West Indian), was in great profusion. 
 This morning we marched at half-past three. 
 
 April 22nd. Our camp remained on the same 
 ground as yesterday. The Aumil, his brother, and 
 his nephew had their audience of leave, when I 
 conferred on them dresses of honour in token of 
 my having been satisfied with their attentions. 
 
 April 24th. Our tents were sent forward to be 
 pitched on the bank of the Tenavie.
 
 1818.] OF THE MAEQUESS OF HASTINGS. 319 
 
 April 25th. We encamped about two miles 
 east of Lotun, avoiding that place, as the pestilence 
 was committing ravages in it. 
 
 April 26th. We marched to Secundra, and took 
 up our ground between a fine running stream 
 and a large jheel of clear water. No spot could 
 appear more healthy, yet we had the mortifi- 
 cation of finding that the pestilence was in all the 
 surrounding villages. It has broken out in our 
 camp ; but our experience in the manner of treating 
 it has stood us in good stead. On the first attack, 
 about twenty grains of calomel are put upon the 
 tongue and washed down with spirits or pepper- 
 mint water. It seems as if the sudden impulse 
 given to the stomach by this quantity of calomel 
 prepared the nerves of it for the subsequent admi- 
 nistration of laudanum, which was given largely 
 with peppermint and spirits. 
 
 April 28th. This morning we marched to Na- 
 toon. Several deserted villages were pointed out 
 to me. The inhabitants had been forced to give 
 up the cultivation of that tract on account of the 
 quantity of wild elephants who destroyed the 
 crops. The poor people had raised several small
 
 320 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [APEIL, 
 
 platforms, on very strong posts, with the notion 
 that by using their matchlocks from them they 
 might frighten away the spoilers; but the ele- 
 phants pulled several of the men down with their 
 trunks, and then trampled them to death. Three 
 men were killed in this manner in one night. 
 
 April 29th. Reached Phoolwar, where we were 
 met by the pleasing account that Lieutenant-Co- 
 lonel Adams had given Bajee Rao a severe blow. 
 When Bajee Rao's fortunes seemed desperate in 
 his own territories, the Rajah of Nagpore secretly 
 invited him to push with his army for that capital, 
 where our force was (he represented) small, and 
 where Bajee Rao should be joined by the Rajah 
 and all his troops. We luckily got at that corre- 
 spondence. The Rajah and his ministers were 
 seized. When the ministers found we were in 
 possession of the whole business, they confessed 
 without reserve, and upbraided the Rajah to his 
 face for having forced them against their re- 
 peated remonstrances to take a part in this act of 
 treachery. The Rajah answered, that it was his 
 duty to risk ruin for the service of the Peishwa, 
 who was his legitimate superior in the Mahratta
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 321 
 
 empire, and that as the ruin had fallen on him, he 
 must bear it. When this principle shows itself to 
 be paramount to all ties of faith, it is lucky we 
 have been forced to break down the Mahratta 
 power. Bajee Rao, on approaching the Wurda, 
 learned the seizure and deposition of his brother 
 conspirator. He then halted, probably, to wait 
 answers from Scindiah, to whom he had sent 
 vakeels. The approach of Brigadier-General 
 Doveton obliged him to move and take a northerly 
 course ; but Lieutenant-Colonel Adams ably headed 
 him. The Mahratta army was thrown into imme- 
 diate confusion by a few rounds from our horse 
 artillery, followed by a charge of cavalry, the in- 
 fantry of Lieutenant-Colonel Adams' division not 
 having been able to keep up in a march of thirty- 
 four miles. About 400 of the enemy were killed, 
 and five brass field pieces taken from them. The 
 constrained change of route, and the disorder of 
 all parts of Bajee Rao's force, will probably enable 
 Brigadier-General Doveton to overtake the enemy, 
 and complete the work which the extreme fatigue 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel Adams' cavalry unavoidably 
 left imperfect. 
 
 VOL. II. Y
 
 322 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 April 30th. Arrived at Goruckpore. It was 
 time that we should quit the field, for the heat is 
 now very great. During the last two days, with 
 all the artificial management so well understood in 
 this country, I could not keep the thermometer in 
 my tent lower than a hundred. 
 
 May 5th. I have had time to look around me, 
 and observe the nature of this station. The soil 
 appears very poor, which accounts for the paucity 
 of cultivation in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 a town containing sixty thousand inhabitants. 
 The forest, that is to say a prolongation of it, 
 comes within half a mile of the cantonments, and 
 is full of wild elephants, often dangerous for those 
 who late in the evening travel through it. Tigers, 
 also, haunt the vicinity, but cannot be pursued 
 among the trees. Decayed tombs, and groves of 
 old mango trees, so extensive as to give the 
 environs the appearance of a vast wood, attest that 
 Goruckpore must at some former period have been 
 a place of considerable wealth and importance. It 
 is curious, that out of this multitude of mango 
 trees not one has been grafted, so that the fruit is 
 uniformly bad. Even in the gardens of the Euro-
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 323 
 
 peans, little management has been shown in the 
 culture of fruit, though peaches, grapes, and figs 
 are said to thrive well here. The only fruit now 
 in season is an apple about the size of an English 
 crab, mild, mealy, and nearly without flavour. 
 Nobody has yet thought of improving them by 
 grafting, notwithstanding the natives are expert 
 in that process. 
 
 May 8th. I this day received a deputation from 
 the Government of Nepaul. It consisted of Kajee 
 Bulner Sing, Dobee Bhuggut, and Kundhur Gun- 
 put Oopadheea. The first appeared a well-bred 
 man, frank, though polished and respectful in his 
 manner. The second seemed very intelligent, and 
 equally well-mannered. The third was an exple- 
 tive. There was something comic in the notion of 
 their being sent to compliment me on my successes 
 over those with whom they had been secretly nego- 
 tiating a league against us ; but, in dealing with 
 governments as well as with individuals, one should 
 give every facility for the treading back a false 
 step. On that account, I studied to show cheerful 
 courtesy to these deputies, of which they appeared, 
 and subsequently expressed themselves, duly sen- 
 Y 2
 
 324 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 sible. I gave private presents to each of them, as 
 well as khelaats or dresses of distinction. They had 
 brought for me some of the beautiful pheasants of 
 the hills the crimson kind figured by Edwards, 
 and the green and gold called in some late publi- 
 cation the Impeyan Pheasant. The poor birds 
 were, when produced, so overcome by the heat that 
 it was evident they could not be kept alive. One 
 of the strong mountain-sheep, on which packs of 
 goods are brought from Tartary to Nepaul, was 
 presented to me ; likewise an animal which I con- 
 ceive to be the moufflon described by Buffon, and 
 whence he imagines the various breeds of domesti- 
 cated sheep to have been deduced. 
 
 May 17th. The proceedings of several general 
 courts-martial have lately been perused by me here 
 in ordinary course. They substantiate a fact, which 
 I had noticed before, deserving of remark. The 
 number of sepoys tried for the murder of their 
 comrades is very considerable. In our native regi- 
 ments, none but men of high caste are suffered to 
 enlist ; so that the individuals being ordinarily con- 
 nected with respectable families, have the best 
 chance to be impressed with any just sentiments or
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OP HASTINGS. 325 
 
 principles of rectitude that may be afloat in the 
 country. A dignity, too, is attached by general 
 opinion in India to the character of a soldier; 
 whence the sepoy may be expected to habituate his 
 mind to a generous tone of thought. This latter 
 impulse does influence the conduct of the sepoy 
 with regard to certain points, but does not appear 
 to have any effect upon it relatively to the crime 
 here contemplated. In the many instances of that 
 crime brought before me, there is not one in which 
 it has been committed in momentary passion. The 
 cases are uniformly marked with deliberateness ; 
 and it is astonishing how trifling a motive, whether 
 referable to cupidity or spleen, is sufficient to 
 prompt assassination. The gain of four or five 
 rupees, or the gratification of the most petty pique, 
 seems quite enough to urge the sepoy to the cold- 
 blooded murder of his fellow-soldier and intimate 
 companion. The cause lies in this, that the per- 
 petrator has no conception of the atrocity of the 
 act. Let this be the answer to those who contend 
 that it is unwise to disseminate instruction among 
 the multitude. Absence of instruction necessarily 
 implies destitution of morality. God be praised,
 
 326 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [MAT, 
 
 we have been successful in extinguishing a system 
 of rapine which was not only the unremitting 
 scourge of an immense population, but depraved its 
 habits by example, and inflicted necessities, while 
 it stood an obstacle to every kind of improvement. 
 It is befitting the British name and character that 
 advantage should be taken of the opening which 
 we have effected, and that establishments should 
 be introduced or stimulated by us which may rear 
 a rising generation in some knowledge of social 
 duties. A time not very remote will arrive when 
 England will, on sound principles of policy, wish to 
 relinquish the domination which she has gradually 
 and unintentionally assumed over this country, and 
 from which she cannot at present recede. In that 
 hour it would be the proudest boast and most de- 
 lightful reflection that she had used her sovereignty 
 towards enlightening her temporary subjects, so as 
 to enable the native communities to walk alone in 
 the paths of justice, and to maintain with probity 
 towards their benefactress that commercial inter- 
 course in which we should then find a solid interest. 
 May 2]st. The deposed Rajah of Nagpore, 
 Appa Sahib, has made his escape from the escort,
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 327 
 
 which was conducting him to Allahabad, where he 
 was to reside within the fortress till the Govern- 
 ment of his cousin (a minor) should have acquired 
 stability. When the danger of a counter revolu- 
 tion should be over, it was intended that he should 
 have liberty to live in the city of Benares with the 
 allowance of a handsome income. His flight may 
 be attended with some trouble to us. Though he 
 is destitute of energetic qualities, any person of 
 prominent rank, whose success would lead to the 
 enriching his adherents, readily collects in this 
 country active and turbulent adventurers versed in 
 the modes of assembling the needy armed vagrants 
 with which central India swarms ; and Appa Sahib, 
 from the delicacy observed in not searching him 
 when he was sept from Nagpore, carried off some 
 of the crown jewels of great value. It is at least 
 consolatory that our disinclination to impose on 
 the prisoner any restraint which might subsequently 
 have been thought by us more than necessary, has 
 given him the facility of getting away. Per- 
 fidious as he had been, and incorrigibly persevering 
 in that treachery, there is a commiseration due to 
 fallen greatness, which should forbid the giving it a
 
 328 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUNE, 
 
 mortification not absolutely indispensable for one's 
 own security. We erred in our calculation of the 
 sufficiency of precautions, but we erred on the 
 right side. 
 
 June 1st. Bajee Rao, the late Peishwa, is in the 
 neighbourhood of Assear-gurh, with a slender force. 
 His troops were so dispirited, and so harassed by 
 the constant pursuit which they had suffered, that 
 large bodies quitted him with the professed pur- 
 pose of going to their homes in the Poonah state, 
 and submitting to the British Government. Chim- 
 najee Appa (Bajee Rao's brother), and Appa 
 Dessye Nepaunkur, one of the principal Mahratta 
 chiefs, carried off their followers with this inten- 
 tion some time ago. They have since surrendered 
 themselves to Mr. Elphinstone. Bajee Rao's 
 object in crossing the Tapty and taking his present 
 course, was to push for Gwalior. He trusted that 
 his appearance there, and the influence of his office 
 upon Scindiah's sirdars, would force the Maha- 
 rajah to take the field in his favour. All the passes, 
 however, are so well watched by competent corps, 
 that Bajee Rao has found the plan impracticable. 
 Unable to retire again across the Tapty on account
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 
 
 of Brigadier-General Doveton's arrival on the oppo- 
 site bank, Bajee Rao has sent a negotiator to Sir 
 J. Malcolm. He has been informed that he can 
 never be permitted to hold again a public station. 
 If he shall surrender himself, he will be suffered to 
 reside at Benares, with a fit allowance for the 
 maintenance of a household becoming a person of 
 rank ; but if his decision be not immediate he will 
 be attacked. Our detachments are closing round 
 him. The fear of passing the rest of his days in 
 confinement, which, were he taken, would be his 
 lot in punishment of his wanton and venomous 
 treachery, will probably make him throw himself 
 on our mercy. What a proud situation he has lost 
 through devotion to a low, illiterate, and profligate 
 favourite. It is not probable that Scindiah's 
 governor of Aseer-Gurh will admit Bajee Rao into 
 it. He knows that we possess the Maharajah's 
 order for the surrender of it to us, though the 
 course of affairs rendered it unnecessary for us to 
 enforce it ; and were that order now to be brought 
 forward, the Killehdar's disobedience to it would 
 place him in the light of a rebel. The speedy 
 reduction of Mundelah by Major-General Marshall,
 
 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUNE, 
 
 and of Chanda by Lieutenant-Colonel Adams, 
 holds forth to the Killehdar an intelligible warning, 
 that by sheltering the ex-Peishwa in his fort 
 (which would entail immediate attack from us) , he 
 would only hopelessly involve himself in a worse 
 condition than that of the fugitive. 
 
 June 10th. The radical policy of the Mahrattas 
 was oddly avowed lately by an agent of Scindiah's. 
 The rights or possessions of the Mahratta chiefs 
 are strangely intermixed with those of the different 
 rajahs between the Jumna and the Nerbudda. In 
 one instance there was a district enveloped in the 
 territories of the Rajah of Boondee, the annual 
 revenue of which was divisible in. equal portions 
 between the latter chief, Holkar, and Scindiah. 
 As the two Mahratta Princes kept agents there to 
 watch over their shares, there was an obvious 
 chance of quarrels ; and we wished to secure the 
 Boondee chief, who had been taken under our pro- 
 tection, against any vexatious pretention on the 
 part of his neighbours. It was therefore proposed 
 that Scindiah should cede his title to any income 
 from the district in question, and should receive 
 from us certain villages producing a rent consider-
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 331 
 
 ably beyond what we wished him to give up. A 
 strong disinclination to close with this proposal 
 was manifested. When it was urged that Scindiah 
 would not only be a great pecuniary gainer by the 
 exchange, but that he would acquire a. tract which 
 actually connected itself with his old possessions, 
 and would be exclusively his, the Mahratta negotia- 
 tor denied that the circumstance of sole occupancy 
 could be an advantage to his master equal to what 
 the maharajah enjoyed by his co-partnership in the 
 Boondee district. On surprise being expressed at 
 this assertion, he explained it by saying, "We 
 Mahrattas have a maxim that it is well to have a 
 ringer in every man's dish." His meaning was, 
 that there was solid value in pretexts for inter- 
 ference which would afford opportunities of pillage 
 or extortion. 
 
 June 17th. Bajee Rao has submitted and placed 
 himself in the hands of Sir John Malcolm. He 
 had been so surrounded that resistance or retreat 
 was equally impossible. That he will live tran- 
 quilly on the generous allowance (equal to one 
 hundred thousand pounds yearly) which we have 
 assigned to him, is not believed by me. His in-
 
 832 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JUNE, 
 
 triguing spirit never will be at rest. Though he has 
 lost much treasure in the field, and though Mr. 
 Elphinstone obtained possession of a hoard of his 
 valued at seventy-five lacks, he certainly has with 
 him considerable riches in jewels. They will 
 furnish the means for any sudden collection of 
 troops; as whosoever has money in this country 
 may always find adventurers provided with horses 
 and arms ready to enrol themselves for pay without 
 the least consideration for the cause ; and he will 
 seek to fashion a juncture in which his funds may 
 be so employed. The conspiracy would probably 
 be discovered, and only entail on him an imprison- 
 ment which we have been loath to inflict, notwith- 
 standing his former guilt. In the meantime, this 
 event terminates the war, and completes the destruc- 
 tion of the Mahratta power. The resources of Scin- 
 diah will now dwindle into absolute insignificance ; 
 and he must, without recurrence to a subsidiary 
 treaty, look to the British Government for the main- 
 tenance of his authority over his own subjects. The 
 dispersed plunderers having now no head under 
 whom they could reunite, will look out for other 
 modes of subsistence ; and it is to be hoped that a
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 333 
 
 tranquillity will prevail in central India which we 
 may improve to noble purposes. The introduction 
 of instruction into those countries, \vhere the want 
 of information and of principle is universal, is an 
 object becoming the British Government. It is 
 very practicable. Detachments of youths who 
 have been rendered competent at the Lancasterian 
 schools in Bengal under the missionaries, should 
 be despatched under proper leaders to disseminate 
 that method of teaching. Its progress would soon 
 enable numbers to read and comprehend books of 
 moral inculcation in the Hindostanee language. 
 Lady Hastings caused a compilation of apologues, 
 and of maxims relative to social duties, to be 
 printed for the use of her school at Barrackpore. 
 It was not only studied, to all appearance profitably, 
 by the boys, but many individuals of high caste in 
 the neighbourhood used to apply for the perusal of 
 copies. It has all the attraction of a novelty, 
 while the simplicity of what it recommends is likely 
 to make impression on minds to which any reflec- 
 tion on the topics was never before suggested. 
 
 June 19th. It rained very heavily yesterday. 
 Riding, this morning, over a large tract of ground
 
 334 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JULY, 
 
 which had been peculiarly arid, I saw a number of 
 frogs, of the fullest size, sitting round a splash of 
 the water which had so recently fallen. They were 
 so nearly white that only a slight tinge of yellow 
 was perceivable in the colour. I was told that 
 they were but just come out of the earth, and that 
 in two or three days their skins would have 
 re-assumed their natural appearance, which is 
 exactly like that of the frogs in England. It was 
 evident that the skins had been bleached by their 
 long seclusion from light ; yet I am not aware that 
 this effect is observed upon frogs in Europe, on 
 their coming forth from their winter retreats ; and 
 I suspect that some property of the soil must aid 
 the change here. It seemed to me that these frogs 
 were studiously exposing themselves to the sun. 
 
 July 3rd. Having embarked yesterday evening, 
 we this morning began our course down the Bapty. 
 This river rises between the first and second ridges 
 
 o 
 
 of the mountains, so that it receives no accession 
 from the melting of the snows, and it has now no 
 strength of current. Fortunately it rose above two 
 feet last night, from heavy rain which had fallen 
 the day before ; a circumstance important for the
 
 1818.] OF TELE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 335 
 
 security of our boats, which are otherwise liable to 
 founder by striking on the trunks of trees half 
 embedded in the sands under water. The Rapty 
 is not now wider at Goruckpore than the Thames 
 at Hampton Court, but its banks show that late 
 in the rainy season it becomes a considerable 
 stream. 
 
 July 6th. This day we entered the Gogra, 
 which we found to be at least two miles wide. 
 The current is not so rapid as I had been taught 
 to expect, whence it may be inferred that the river 
 has not yet attained its height. We lost but one 
 boat in coming down the Rapty ; probably it had 
 touched on some spur of a submerged tree, for 
 immediately after it had been perceived to leak it 
 filled with surprising quickness ; as it happened to 
 go down in shallow water the men and horses 
 (belonging to the body-guard) were all saved. 
 
 July 8th. Yesterday I quitted the Sona- 
 mukhee soon after she had weighed anchor, and I 
 rowed ahead to look at a remarkable Banyan tree, 
 close to the village of Revel-Gunge, near the con- 
 fluence of the Gogra and Ganges. It must at one 
 period have been a beautiful tree ; but the parent
 
 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [JULY, 
 
 stein has long been cat away ; so that what remains 
 appears an assemblage of trees laterally connected 
 in singular and fantastic ways. It has the merit 
 of a group, and exhibits the still continuing process 
 of originally pendant fibres swelling into new 
 trunks. There is disappointment, however, from 
 the want of evidence to the eye that the mass is 
 the produce of one stock. It is unaccountable that 
 when the natives attach a religious veneration to 
 trees of this sort, which have spread themselves to 
 any tolerable degree, no trouble seems ever to be 
 taken for aiding the extension of such as would 
 offer every invitation to the care. To fence the 
 tree against cattle, which browse greedily on the 
 tender filaments, is all the attention necessary. 
 Having returned to the Sona-mnkhee, we entered 
 the Ganges about one o'clock. It had then begun 
 to blow hard from the east. The adverse wind, and 
 the roughness of the water occasioned by the opposi- 
 tion of the gale to the stream, soon scattered our fleet 
 sadly, and I was compelled to anchor, lest I might 
 hazard the safety of some of the vessels by over- 
 taxing the efforts of the crews. The gale continued 
 violent all night, and has persevered this day, con-
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 337 
 
 straining us to remain in our positions, with little 
 communication between the vessels. 
 
 July 9th. The gale having subsided, we 
 weighed anchor this morning and arrived early 
 in the afternoon at Dinapore. No accident had 
 happened in our little fleet, which is very fortunate, 
 considering the situation where the gale found us. 
 As the Ganges is above five miles wide in that 
 part, and the wind had to blow up a reach of at 
 least double that extent, the force of the waves 
 was considerable. A circumstance related to me 
 by Mr. Wemyss, collector of the district, may give 
 a notion of the ravages committed by the pesti- 
 lence. It raged here nearly about the time when 
 our camp in Bundelcund was suffering from it, 
 and more than two hundred and fifty persons were 
 buried out of two moderate sized villages. We 
 shall never have any tolerable conception of the 
 aggregate loss in these provinces, but it must have 
 been dreadful. 
 
 July 10th. Though the wind was rather 
 adverse, it was moderate, and the strength of the 
 stream carried us well past Patna this morning. 
 We had not long been clear of the city, keeping 
 
 VOL. II. Z
 
 338 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL 
 
 as close as we could to the windward shore, when 
 the wind suddenly shifted and drove us with irre- 
 sistible force towards the land. Such vessels as 
 had time let go their anchors. Mine luckily held. 
 Five vessels were wrecked, and some others received 
 damage ; all the people of the vessels which went 
 down were saved. 
 
 July 13th. We have this day anchored close 
 to Monghyr, the strength of the wind against the 
 violent current forming whirlpools through which 
 we dare not trust our heavy laden baggage boats. 
 The shift of wind on the 10th did not last. The 
 gale returned to its former quarter, and has 
 continued from the east with a violence which has 
 annoyed us much. One of our store boats drifted 
 and was in great peril. An officer reprehended a 
 fellow aboard her who sat smoking instead of 
 assisting in exertions for the safety of the vessel 
 and of his own life, though the dress and appear- 
 ance of the man indicated him to be a dandee or 
 waterman, the fellow replied with perfect compo- 
 sure that he had nothing more to do with the 
 vessel, as he had hired a substitute who was then
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 339 
 
 at the oar, and he himself had paid for his passage 
 to Baughlipore. 
 
 September 2nd. A sad chasm exists in my 
 journal. Just after we had passed Monghyr, 
 which a favourable shift of wind enabled us to do 
 with safety to all the boats, packets from Eng- 
 land came to occupy my attention. They were in 
 two or three days succeeded by voluminous papers 
 from the Council ; and as no remarkable incident 
 presented itself, I neglected my entries. On land- 
 ing at Calcutta on the 23rd July, I found such an 
 arrear of business waiting for me as could not but 
 wholly engross my time and thoughts. Having 
 mentioned my landing at Calcutta, I ought not to 
 omit saying how deeply I felt the behaviour of the 
 immense crowd of natives assembled along the 
 road by which I walked from the ghaut to the 
 Government House. All was silence; but there 
 was something in the kind and respectfully wel- 
 coming looks of the poor people infinitely more 
 touching than the loudest shouts of joy could have 
 been. 
 
 September 6th. The advantage that may be 
 z 2
 
 340 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 gained by giving a little turn to an occurrence in 
 politics has been just strongly exemplified. A 
 vessel has arrived from Rangoon with some Bur- 
 mese officers, who are probably of more consequence 
 than they represent themselves. Their ostensible 
 purpose in coming hither is to make inquiry 
 respecting some delinquents who have fled from 
 their state ; their real object, as may be gathered 
 not only from likelihood but from their repeated 
 questions to individuals, is evidently to ascertain 
 if the Mahrattas had been beaten down as com- 
 pletely as rumour asserted. In the extensive 
 conspiracy of the Peishwa, begun before my arrival 
 in this country, the co-operation of the Burman 
 Empire against our power formed a part. The 
 emissaries of the Peishwa succeeded perfectly with 
 the King ; and his Majesty favoured us, early this 
 year, with the obliging requisition that we should 
 cede to him Moorshadabad and the provinces 
 to the east of it, which he deigned to say were 
 all natural dependencies of his throne. The 
 ambassador charged with this courteous com- 
 munication was detained at Dacca while the
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 341 
 
 letter was forwarded to me. I directed the letter 
 to be returned to the King, not through the am- 
 bassador, but by way of Rangoon, with a friendly 
 representation that I knew his Majesty's wisdom 
 too well to be the dupe of the artifice which had 
 been attempted; that I sent to him a letter pur- 
 porting to be from him, but clearly forged by some 
 of his frontier chieftains, who thought they might 
 find personal advantage in a rupture, though it 
 would be injurious to both countries ; and that I 
 was so confident of his Majesty's indignation at 
 the profligate effort that I felt the ties of our amity 
 drawn closer by it. Fortunately for the King, the 
 rainy season prevented his acting till the accounts 
 of our successes had reached his ears, and he has 
 now despatched these officers to satisfy themselves 
 whether the game was really over. He will now 
 compliment my sagacity in detecting the forgery, 
 and will make use of the loophole to withdraw un- 
 discredited. The circumstance shows, too, the 
 benefit of rapidity in war. Had our operations 
 been less speedily decisive, we should have been 
 obliged to devote a force (ill spared) to prevent
 
 342 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 that devastation of our territories which his Ma- 
 jesty graciously threatened in our default of obe- 
 dience. 
 
 September 19th. A curious circumstance has 
 occurred. I went out in my carriage. As is the 
 custom in this country, the groom, or dresser, of 
 each horse was ready to accompany it; but at 
 starting, one of the four turned back, leaving the 
 three others to proceed. The fellow soon rejoined 
 us by taking a short cut across a place round which 
 the carriage had to make a degree of circuit. 
 When I had got home, another of the syces told 
 his comrades that he must hasten for a draught of 
 water, and he ran before them to the building 
 where they are lodged. Unluckily, he found the 
 cooking-pot taken off the fire, and either through 
 hunger, or through thinking it a good joke to be 
 beforehand with his messmates, began to feed 
 eagerly. The cook, coming in, called to him to 
 stop, telling him he had seen the syce who had 
 slunk back put something into the pot and stir it 
 about, imagining himself unperceived. It had 
 been the cook's intention to advise the other syces 
 not to taste the food till they had made the fellow
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 343 
 
 eat some of it. On this being explained to them, 
 they desired the villain to eat some of the mess. 
 This he declined, saying that as he found himself 
 discovered it did not signify if he avowed his 
 object, which was to make all of them mad, and 
 thereby get them turned away from my service. 
 I learn that a drug which produces this effect is 
 well known among the syces. The poor fellow who 
 took part of the food became completely insane in 
 a few hours, and his comrades say he will remain 
 in that state for three or four months, but that the 
 drug never occasions death. In the Upper Pro- 
 vinces, it is a frequent practice for wretches, under 
 the appearance of travellers, to attach themselves 
 to any party journeying on the road, and then (as 
 if in return for the protection afforded) to offer to 
 the latter a share in some food, which they pretend 
 to have obtained in charity. The food is prepared, 
 and produces rapid stupefaction, often, though not 
 always, followed by death ; the helpless creatures 
 are then plundered by their new companions. The 
 notoriety of the trick, and the proclamations of the 
 magistrates to put people on their guard, do not 
 prevent continued instances of this.
 
 344 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [SEPT. 
 
 September 27th. I happened to mention to an 
 engineer officer the change which had, in the 
 course of one rainy season, taken place at Dinapore. 
 The cantonments were a considerable distance from 
 the Ganges, and one used to go some way up a 
 nullah to reach them. The violence of the river 
 has swept away all the intervening land, so that 
 the barracks are now on the bank of the Ganges. 
 The officer related to me a much more remarkable 
 alteration, which he had the opportunity of ascer- 
 taining most accurately. He had been encamped 
 at Surdah, three hundred yards from the Ganges, 
 on a bank of sand and clay, which was twenty-four 
 feet above the level of the water. Returning to 
 the place after the rains, he found that the tract on 
 which his tent had stood was wholly swept away. 
 Being able to ascertain the exact spot where he 
 had resided, by a distance measured at the time 
 from a silk factoiy, he sounded the water there ; 
 the depth was thirty feet. From this experiment 
 he could establish that a mass of earth, two miles 
 in length, fifty-five feet in depth, and on an 
 average two hundred and fifty yards broad, had 
 been carried away in one season. This gives some
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 345 
 
 notion of the formidable currents which are to be 
 encountered by those who have to proceed up the 
 river. 
 
 October 6th. This day I went to the Rumnah. 
 It is a spot of some extent, covered with high 
 jungle grass, useful for thatching. I purchase the 
 standing crop every year from the village to which 
 it belongs, at a rate which the villagers conscien- 
 tiously do not carry to more than thrice what it 
 ought to be. My object is to have a degree of 
 sport now and then in the cold season by seeking 
 for a few wild hogs and partridges which haunt the 
 place. As the villagers are allowed to carry away 
 all the grass cut to make openings through the 
 jungle, and, moreover, get at the close of the season 
 all that has not been trampled by the elephants, 
 they have a decent advantage in the bargain. A 
 curious circumstance was mentioned to me on the 
 spot. A deep nullah or creek, with high steep 
 banks, bounds one side of the Rumnah. A man 
 was sitting on the bank mending his net, when an 
 alligator crept out of the nullah at a considerable 
 distance from him, and, coming behind the man, 
 seized and carried the poor wretch into the water.
 
 346 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [OCT. 
 
 There was a cunning as well as a boldness in this 
 act which I should not have attributed to an alli- 
 gator; but the fact was testified to us by so many 
 persons who actually saw it, that I cannot doubt 
 the truth of the relation. 
 
 October 14th. I have finally settled a business 
 which I had anxiously at heart. A son of the 
 Rev. Dr. Carey, one of the Baptist missionaries, 
 has undertaken the introduction of village schools 
 in Rajpootana, on Lancaster's plan. He takes up 
 with him, for this purpose, several native boys, 
 educated at Lady Hastings' school, and at the 
 school of the missionaries. I have allotted six 
 thousand rupees ' for this experiment, without 
 trespassing on the Company. There was an 
 occurrence in which I was thought exposed to 
 hazard, and the Nawab Vizeer, as an act of 
 devotion on account of my escape, wanted to have 
 three thousand rupees scattered among the beggars. 
 I suggested that a much better use might be 
 drawn from the money, by making it furnish some 
 instruction to ignorant natives, than in flinging 
 it to idlers who were mendicants, not from neces- 
 sity, but by profession. The Nawab Vizeer
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 347 
 
 caught readily at the project, and requested that 
 the money might be so applied. By adding an 
 equal sum of my own to it, I make it our joint 
 effort, and the fund is fully sufficient for the 
 trial. I have now fashioned everything respecting 
 it completely to my satisfaction. The want of 
 instruction in the vast territory of Rajpootana, 
 containing several independent states, may be 
 judged by this; the first minister of Jyepore, a 
 man otherwise of ability, cannot write, and can 
 scarcely read. The unremitting course of spoliation 
 which has ravaged those fine countries for the 
 last fifty years produced a sort of despair, which 
 made every one neglect all concerns but that of 
 living through the passing day. 
 
 November 7th. I have been noticing a number 
 of those minute ants which swarm about our rooms, 
 employed in dragging a dead hornet along the 
 floor. Their mode of conquering insects so pro- 
 digiously beyond their own size, and which one 
 might suppose formidable for them, had on prior 
 occasions been observed by me. When they find 
 any large insect exhausted and incapable of active 
 efforts to escape, they surround it in multitudes
 
 348 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nov. 
 
 clambering up to its head in rapid succession, and 
 each one infusing its venom. The poison soon 
 dispatches the animal assailed ; then the body is 
 dragged away to some safe place, generally the 
 little vacancy left between the mat and the wall. 
 How these ants, which at other times one sees only 
 straggling singly over the wide extent of the floor 
 in a large room, can so suddenly assemble in 
 numbers to attack their prey is a curious question. 
 That they do give each other intimation cannot be 
 doubted. I remember having seen three parties, 
 each dragging a large moth along the floor in the 
 same direction, with the interval of about a yard 
 between the parties. A little in front of each set, 
 several ants were running with great exertion, 
 spreading themselves at times to right and left of 
 the line by which their prize was to be carried. I 
 remarked that, although they frequently ran back 
 to those who were dragging the prey, they did not 
 strive to take share in that labour, but immediately 
 hastened forward again. It struck me that their 
 business must be to ascertain if the course was 
 clear ahead, and to communicate the assurance to 
 their comrades. To try if it was so, I placed my
 
 1818.] OF THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 349 
 
 foot between the second and last of the parties, 
 striking the ground with it gently. When the 
 explorers came within the concussion, they were 
 evidently alarmed, and turned back in great haste 
 to their body; upon which the party instantly 
 changed its route, carrying off the moth at right 
 angles from their former direction. Two facts seem 
 settled by the experiment ; first, that intimation of 
 danger was distinctly conveyed ; secondly, that the 
 ants were not bearing their burden to any fixed 
 domicile. I have never been able to discover a 
 nest of those ants, and I believe them to be com- 
 pletely migratory, because, though I have some- 
 times found a number of them congregated behind 
 a shutter at night, in three or four nights after 
 there would not be one in the place. I thence 
 surmise that they do not drag apart for their own 
 food the insects which they kill, but that they 
 carry their prey to a safe corner in order to lay 
 their eggs in it, so as that the little worms when 
 hatched (which, I suppose, takes place rapidly) 
 may have sustenance. The ants reared in that way 
 would probably attach themselves, as soon as they 
 attained their perfect shape, to the first gangs they
 
 350 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [Nor. 
 
 met. No investigation of this sort can be frivolous 
 when the deductions from such petty premises lead 
 to no less an end than a juster perception of the 
 dispensations of Almighty wisdom. The remark I 
 have made to-day suggests a pregnant conclusion. 
 Their own support, if not the nourishment of their 
 young, exacts from these ants that they shall live 
 in a state of perpetually active exertion for massa- 
 cring other animals. There is nothing confounds 
 the mind more than the contemplation of that 
 arrangement by which certain sorts of creatures 
 can only maintain existence through killing others ; 
 by which, indeed, such extra provision appears 
 made for the destruction of animated being as that 
 many kinds seem to have been framed with dispo- 
 sitions insufferably teasing and noxious to others, 
 so that the slaughter of multitudes of them is 
 secured without the agency of any impulse to prey 
 upon them. Life presents itself as bestowed only 
 for the purpose of its being extinguished, and this 
 inscrutable end appears as fully answered after an 
 hour's existence as after a protracted term. Why 
 beings should be created and endowed with exqui- 
 site sensitiveness merely to suffer and be destroyed
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 351 
 
 is a question which bewilders thought whensoever 
 it is reflected upon. We attempt to reconcile the 
 difficulty by saying that, when one distinguishes 
 in other respects such bountiful adaptations for the 
 creature called into life, the same Beneficence must 
 regulate the other portion of the animal's destiny, 
 though we are not capable of unravelling it ; and 
 we endeavour to satisfy ourselves with this persua- 
 sion. Surely a more illogical process cannot be 
 imagined than, instead of balancing contradictory 
 phenomena, the assuming bounty in the second 
 case, where the circumstances are diametrically 
 opposed in their nature to those whence we infer 
 Beneficence in the first. In consequence, I do not 
 believe that any one could steadily examine the 
 operation of his mind on this subject without being 
 sensible that his acquiescence in the popular con- 
 clusion is an effort of reverence, not a result of per- 
 fect conviction. We have a strong inclination to 
 believe firmly that which is so consonant to our 
 notions respecting the goodness of the Creator ; 
 yet we cannot establish that point of creed by the 
 same measurements which influence our opinion 
 decisively on other parts of the question. There
 
 352 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL [DEC. 
 
 is one mode of considering the matter, which 
 perhaps disentangles it. Our reason, whence we de- 
 duce all consequences which we feel and pronounce 
 to be certain, is possibly allowed to act only in 
 prescribed lines. There are points which, though 
 partially and obscurely exposed to our mental ken, 
 appear not to be subjected to our ratiocination. 
 When we attempt to parallel any one of those with 
 deductions fashioned from the habitual workings 
 of our reason, we forcibly endeavour to square the 
 circumstance with rules to which it can have no 
 relation. Considered by our ordinary course of 
 conceptions, incongruity, discordance, repulsion 
 must be the issue. But these belong to the inap- 
 plicable standard, not to the intrinsic quality of 
 the fact. In the latter, therefore, nothing exists 
 really repugnant to the belief which we are prone 
 to entertain; and when it is so shown that our 
 reason does not protest against the faith, we are 
 entitled to feel comfortable in a solution correspon- 
 dent, as to its bearings, with our just reliance on 
 the kindness of an Almighty Father. 
 
 December 13th. We have had accounts of the 
 Rajah of Jyepore's death. Two of his wives and two
 
 1818.] OP THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS. 353 
 
 female slaves burned themselves on the funeral 
 pile with his body. I am conscious that such a 
 circumstance does not occasion here those painful 
 and revolted feelings which would arise in one's 
 mind were one removed to the distance of England 
 from the scene. It is not that the frequency of the 
 occurrence causes apathy, but here one sees in this 
 disgusting and barbarous custom relations with a 
 variety of particulars in the forms of society, which 
 though almost impossible to be detailed, take off 
 from the strangeness of the procedure. A blind 
 ignorance, which makes the poor victim credit all 
 that is told her by the Brahmin, is the cause more 
 immediately influential. The Brahmin urges t h i 
 sacrifice from superstition and attachment to habits; 
 but it is to be apprehended that he is often bribed 
 to exert himself in overcoming the fears of the 
 hapless woman ; because the family of the deceased 
 husband save by the immolation of the widow the 
 third of the defunct's property, which would other- 
 wise go to her. The miserable condition to which 
 a woman is reduced when left childless at the death 
 of her husband forcibly aids the inculcations of the 
 Brahmin. She is, as to estimation and treatment, 
 
 VOL. II. A A
 
 354 THE PRIVATE JOURNAL, ETC. [1818. 
 
 reduced below the rank of the meanest servant. 
 She cannot marry again; she has no chance of 
 enjoying society ; she must not even, though she 
 have money, set up an independent establishment 
 for herself; and her own paternal or maternal 
 family have, with the usual absence of all affec- 
 tionate ties among these people, altogether cast her 
 off from the hour of her first repairing to her hus- 
 band's roof. Despair, therefore, conspires with 
 bigotry and enthusiasm to make her take a step 
 reconciled to the contemplation of women in this 
 country from their earliest youth ; while the abso- 
 lute incapacity of such an uninformed mind as hers 
 to have any distinct sense of the pangs she must 
 undergo promotes the obstinacy of her resolution. 
 
 THE END.
 
 Conduit-street, Hanover-square. 
 
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