TO THfc KINGS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY ^r T * THE LIBRARY OF THE OF LOS UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA ANGELES MEMOIRS OF THE EXTRAORDINARY MILITARY CAREER OF JOHN SHIPP, LATE A LIEUTENANT IN HIS MAJESTY'S 87TH REGIMENT. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. " Rnde am I in speech, And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace ; For, since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used Their dearest action in the tented field; And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broil and battle: * * Yet, by your patience, I will a round unvarnished tale deliver." VOL. I. LONDON: HURST, CHANCE, AND CO. 1829. V LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. General Sir John Doyle, Bart., 2 copies. Major-General Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart. Major-General Sir George Ash, Bart. Major-General J. Watson, C.B., 3 copies. General Newbury. General Need. General Heydenger. Colonel Denty, East India Company's Service. Colonel Knight, ditto. Colonel P. Philpot, late 24th Light Dragoons, 2 copies. Colonel Effingham Lindsay, 22d Foot, 2 copies. Colonel George Becher, Company's Service. Colonel Hay, Company's Recruiting Dep6t. Colonel Thomas Valiant, Commandant 40th Foot, 2 copies. Major Cunningham, Bengal Native Infantry, 4 copies. Major Mead, ditto. Major Showers, ditto. Major Shadwell, 4 copies. Major Waythe, late Maidstone Cavalry Depot. Major E. R. Stevenson, 76th Foot. Captain G. Beauclerk, Royal Welch Fusiliers. Captain Covell, Barrack-Master. 5138,89 US SETS vi LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Captain Roberdeaux, 4th Bengal Cavalry. Captain Scott. Captain Elliott. Captain Mai-tin French, late 18th Hussars. Captain Gates. Paymaster W. Bates, 65th Regiment. The Library of the 65th Regiment. Captain Marshall, 2 copies. The Twelfth Regiment Royal Hussars, 16 copies* Major Badcock, 8th Hussars. Major Brett, ditto. Captain Lord George Hill, ditto. Captain Ponsonby, ditto. Captain Lyons, ditto. Captain Morgell, ditto. Captain Hankey, ditto, 2 copies. Captain Whittaker, ditto. Lieutenant Sir W. Young, ditto* Lieutenant Shedden, ditto. Lieutenant M'Call, ditto. Cornet Macnamara, ditto. Cornet Ball, ditto. Cornet King, ditto. Cornet Thomas, ditto. Cornet Shewell, ditto. Cornet Christmas, ditto. Major W. H. Gully, 87th Regiment. Captain Lord A. Chichester, ditto. Captain J. Fenton, ditto. Captain W. Hutchinson, ditto. Captain James Bowes, ditto. Captain T. O'Brien, ditto. Captain J. S. Doyle, ditto. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Vll Captain the Honourable H. N. C. Massey, ditto. Lieutenant G. Mainwaring, ditto. Lieutenant R. R. Harris, ditto. Lieutenant W. L. Stafford, ditto. Lieutenant W. Smyth, ditto. Lieutenant P. Ramsay, ditto. Lieutenant P. F. Blake, dittoi Lieutenant C. Greaves, ditto. Quarter-Master S. Carr, ditto. Captain Paul, Madras Native Cavalry. Lieutenant Campbell, ditto. Captain George Brady, Madras Infantry. Lieutenant Anthony Brady, ditto. Lieutenant Harden, ditto. Lieutenant Johnson. Lieutenant F. M. Martyn, 2nd Horse Guards. Lieutenant Paling, late 24th Dragoons, 2 copies. Lieutenant Connor, 40th Foot. Ensign Rowlins, dkto. Ensign Rogers, ditto. Ensign Keane, ditto. Ensign Sheil. Lieutenant Jones. Cornet Jones. Quarter-Master St. Marshall, 40th Foot. J. Dart, Esq., Secretary of the East India Company. J. Morris, Esq., East India Director. J. P. Mellaird, Esq., 4 copies. William Roper; Esq., 3 copies. William Tindall, Esq. Rev. G. F. Nicholas, 2 copies. Rev. J. Cole, 2 copies. Rev. James Smith. Vlll LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. John Rannie, Esq., 3 copies. John Becher, Esq., 5 copies. Charles Becher, Esq. Richard Becher, Esq. Robert Becher, Esq. Charles W. Gibson, Esq., 2 copies. C. F. Gibson, Esq. G. H. Gibson, Esq. Edward Gibson, Esq. John Stephen, Esq. Mr. Alderman Venables. J. Nelstrope, Esq. ,'."' "i" Richard Sanderson, Esq. John H. Brady, Esq. James S. Buckingham, Esq. F. Nicholas, Esq. . < Messrs. Greenwood, Cox, and Co., 2 copies. Wageman, Esq., 2 copies. I. G. Palling, Esq., 2 copies. John Small, Esq. Edward Baker, Esq., Ipswich. C. B. Lincoln, Esq. James Smith, Esq., 6 copies. J. Churchman, Esq. W. White, Esq. J. Potter, Esq. Weston, Esq. Halton, Esq. ^ J. Phipps, Esq. James Henry, Esq. Ronald, Esq. H. Hebden, Esq. >^uJ William Williams, Esq. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. IX John Russell, Esq. Charles Smith, Esq. Tupper, Esq. Henry Ellis, Esq. Philip James, Esq. J. Booth, Esq. 3 copies. William Briggs, Esq. George Hepworth, Esq. Charles Feldwick, Esq. A. L. Phelps, Esq. Henry Deval, Esq. William Deval, Esq. R. R. Becknell, Esq. John Davidson, Esq. John Hunter, Esq. William Blanchard, Esq. Thomas Jones, Esq. Dr. Monro. Dr. Houlton. Dr. Bennett. William Carter, Esq. Henry Herman, Esq. William Copland, Esq. George Roberts, Esq. Dr. Harcourt, 1 1th Dragoons. Dr. Churchill. Dr. Canstatt. Henry Maddock, Esq. I. M. Bincks, Esq. G. F. Isaac, Esq. T. I. Parker, Esq. T. Rock, Esq., East India Company's Service. John Mearing, Esq. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Mrs. Long of Suffolk, 2 copies. Mrs. North of Suffolk, 2 copies. Miss Smith. Mrs. Whittaker. Mrs. Wallis. A Friend to Merit, 2 copies. An Old Friend, 2 copies. Six Ladies, 6 copies. Friends Anonymous, 31 copies. PREFACE. IN laying before the public a familiar and unreserved detail of the incidents and adventures of my past life, I trust it will not for a moment be supposed that I am ac- tuated by vanity, or by a desire to make an ostentatious display of my military ser- vices. That, in the course of those services, 1 have exercised some degree of daring, to the merit (if any) attached to which I may justly lay claim, I do not affect to deny ; but it is far, very far, from my thoughts, to assume the possession of uncommon for- titude, or to arrogate to myself any degree Xll PREFACE. of heroism superior to that which would be displayed, on occasions which required it, by every brave officer in his Majesty's service. Having thus, first, disclaimed all inten- tion of boasting of my performances, or of holding myself up as a prodigy of valour, it becomes me next to declare that I do not pretend to afford the reader any import- ant intelligence respecting our Indian pos- sessions, either as regards statistics or po- litics. Information on these subjects must be sought in the works of writers of far higher pretensions than the humble author of these Memoirs. My design has been to present the public with a simple and unadorned narration of my own life, from the period of my infancy PREFACE. Xlll to the date of my having been, unfortu- nately, compelled to quit his Majesty's ser- vice. Interspersed with the incidents and adventures which have marked my career, will be found various amusing, and some affecting anecdotes, with my remarks (of- fered with extreme diffidence, though with great sincerity), on corporal punishment in the army, and on other subjects upon which I deem myself privileged to avow my sentiments, with the conviction that I cannot possibly give offence to any one. If, among the anecdotes which I have introduced, the eye of criticism may detect many which may be deemed of too trivial a nature, and devoid of that piquancy which can alone confer a value on such light and unimportant materials, I can only V1V PREFACE. plead that I may have been led to over- estimate their merit, from the hearty laugh- ter which they created when they were first noted by me ; and I trust it will be recol- ected that it is a rough soldier who has ven- tured to think them worthy of publicity. So, also, if i in my account of the battles and sieges in which I have had the honour to participate, my details shall appear flimsy or meagre, more especially as concerns the objects of the government of India in the various campaigns in which I have been engaged, be it remembered that I do not profess to know their designs ; that my con- stant occupation in my professional duties afforded me no time to study them; and that it is the subaltern's duty to act, and not to reason. PREFACE. XV It is with considerable pain that I feel myself bound to confess that my principal object in submitting these Memoirs to the notice of the public, is the hope of attract- ing attention to my present unfortunate situation. Inured, I may almost say from my infancy, to the pursuits of war; having always been an enthusiastic admirer of the profession of a soldier; and having attes- tations that on many perilous occasions I have performed the duties of that profes- sion to the satisfaction of my superiors; I cannot but admit that I feel with intense severity the sentence which condemns me to be no longer an aspirant in the field of glory. To the justice of that sentence I bow with humility, for it seems to be the opinion of my best friends that I acted in- XVI PREFACE. temperately under mistaken notions; but its effect I must ever feel acutely, and I cannot refrain from expressing a hope which I can never cease to indulge that 1 shall not be permitted, at the age of forty-three, and in active and vigorous health, to linger out my days an outcast from that profession in which my life has hitherto been spent ; for which I am qualified by nature and habit ; and to which I am enthusiastically attached by inclination. My Memoirs, such as they are, I leave to the indulgent consideration of a liberal public. JOHN SHIPP. Bhurtpore Cottage, Alpha Road, Regent's Park, January, 1829. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP, &c. &c. CHAPTER I. IN the ponderous mouldy register of the little mar- ket-town of Saxmundham, in the county of Suffolk, covered with the red remnants of the old worn-out velvet pulpit-cushion of the said village church, into which the Christian Religion had been beaten and enforced, both with clenched fist and pointed elbow, and which now plainly told the congregation that it had at last yielded only to Parson Brown's impressive manner and arguments ; in this prodigious volume, protected by huge brass clasps, which naught but the rough hand of the man of skulls * could force to * The sexton of the parish. VOL. I. B Z MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. obedience ; after the oft-wetted thumb had aroused some hundreds of gigantic leaves from their peaceful slumber, and the book had opened wide its time-worn pages, there was (and I doubt not is still to be) dis- covered, a plainly-written record, setting forth, in most intelligible terms, that I, John Shipp, the hum- ble author of these memoirs, came into this wicked and untoward generation, on the 16th day of March, A- D. 1785. If this register be an authentic enrol- ment, which I have neither reason nor inclination to doubt, I was the second son of Thomas and Letitia Shipp, persons of honest fame, but in indigent cir- cumstances, who had both " drank deep" of the cup of sorrow. Of the latter of those dear parents I was bereft in my infancy ; and, as my father was a soldier in a foreign clime, thus was I thrown on the world's tempestuous ocean, to buffet with the waves of care, and to encounter the breakers of want. At the death of my poor mother, I was left, with my elder brother, in utter destitution. The ad- vantage which other children derive from the sup- port and good counsel of an affectionate father, we had never known ; and we were now suddenU MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 3 bereft of a fond mother's fostering care, and, with it, of our humble parental home. Where, under such circumstances, could we look for protection ? Friends we had few, if any; and those who might have been generously disposed to assist us, were, unfortunately, incapacitated, by their own distressed circumstances, from extending a helping hand towards us. Need I feel shame, then, in avowing that there was one place .of refuge, and one place only, in which two helpless orphans could obtain, at once, food, clothes, and shelter; and that that one asylum was the village poor-house ! At the age of nine I was deprived of my brother, who was pressed on board a man-of-war. He was a remarkably fine youth of about fourteen; and, being of a wild spirited disposition, I have every reason to believe that but little pressing was required to induce him to go to sea; but rather, that being, like myself, homeless and dependant, he gladly availed himself of the opportunity which offered of setting his youthful heart free from bondage, by becoming a volunteer in the service of his country. Since that period (now upwards of thirty years) 1 B2 4 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. have never heard of him! Whether he early met a watery grave, or still lives, I know not ; but this I know, and cannot restrain myself from stating, that the uncertainty of his fate haunts me day and night, and stands an eternal barrier between me and peace. Could I but again see him, though it were even as a wandering mendicant, in the tattered garb of poverty, it would afford me comparative happiness to what I now feel from entire ignorance of his doom. Should this simple narrative, by any possible chance, happen to meet the eye of one who is acquainted with my poor brother or his fate, any information concerning him will be gratefully received by me, * to say how gratefully it were difficult to at- tempt. To return to my own memoirs : now that my bro- ther had left me, I was desolate indeed ! His de- parture afflicted me most sincerely, and I felt myself alone in the wide world, a friendless, isolated being. * My brother's Christian name was Robert. He was pressed in the year 1796, but on board what ship I could never learn. His age would now be about forty-eight or forty-nine ; and he pro- mised to be a tall, handsome man, of rather fair complexion, but with dark eyes. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 5 But the spirits of childhood, buoyant and elastic, though they may be depressed for a time, readily accommodate themselves to all exigencies, and rise superior to the greatest calamities. Grief, however poignant at first, will not dwell long with youth ; and the ingenuity and curiosity of a boy, ever on the alert to discover some new expedient with which to amuse his mind and to gratify his fickle fancy, effectually prevent him from indulging in unavailing despon- dency. I was naturally a wild dog, of an active unconquerable spirit ; and, although the miseries pe- culiar to my friendless situation could not but at first severely affect me, yet, after a short time, I found that, in spite of them all, I had so contrived it as to have established in the village a character for mischief infinitely superior to that possessed by any other boy of my own age. This character, however reverenced by boys of the same genius, was not, it must be acknowledged, very likely to increase the number of my real friends ; and I therefore cannot speak in very rapturous terms of the comforts I enjoyed at this period of my youth. I have a recol- lection of sundry tricks and misdemeanors in which MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 1 was very actively concerned, and for which I was frequently as deservedly punished ; and, as far as my memory serves me, my time, just at this juncture, was passed in a pretty even routine of planning and executing mischief, and receiving its reward. This, however, was not long to last; for fickle fortune threw an incident in my way which diverted my attention from all my former tricks arid frolics, and turned my thoughts into a new channel. One autumn's morning, in the year 1797, while I was playing marbles in a lane called Love Lane, and was in the very act of having a shot at the whole ring with my blood-alley, the shrill notes of a fife, and the hollow sound of a distant drum, struck on my active ear. I stopped my shot, bagged my marbles, and scampered off to see the soldiers. On arriving at the market-place, I found them to be a recruiting- party of the Royal Artillery, who had already en- listed several likely-looking fellows. The pretty little well-dressed fifer was the principal object of my notice. His finery and shrill music were of themselves sufficient attractions to my youthful fancy: but what occupied my thoughts more than MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. / either of these, was the size of this musical warrior, whose height very little exceeded that of the drum by which he stood. " Surely," thought I to myself, sidling up to him, te I must be myself as tall, if not taller, than this little blade; and should make as good a soldier !" Reflections of this nature .were crowding thick into my mind, when the portly ser- geant, addressing his words to the gaping rustics by whom he was surrounded, but directing his eyes to the bed-room windows in the vicinity of his station, commenced a right royal speech. I swallowed every word spoken by the royal sergeant with as much avidity as the drum-major's wife would her morning libation. It was all about " gentlemen soldiers" " merry life" " muskets rattling" " cannons roar- ing" " drums beating" " colours flying" " regi- ments charging"' and shouts of " victory ! victory !" On hearing these last words, the rustic bumpkins who had enlisted, exposed their flowing locks, and with their tattered hats gave three cheers to " the King God bless him." In this I most heartily joined, to the no small amusement of the assembled multitude. " Victory" seemed still to ring in my ears, and the 8 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. sound inspired my little heart with such enthusiasm, that it was not until some minutes after the rest had left off cheering, that I became conscious, from the merriment around me, that I still held my tiny hat elevated in the air, waiting for a repetition of that spirit-stirring word. Finding myself observed, I adjusted my hat with a knowing air, elevated my beardless chin with as much consequence as I could assume, and, raising myself on tiptoe to appear as tall as possible, I strutted up to the sergeant, and asked him, in plain words, if he would " take I for a sodger ?" The sergeant smiled, and patted my head in so condescending a manner, that I thought I might venture to take the same liberty with the head of the drum ; but in this I was mistaken, for I had no sooner touched it than I received from the drummer a pretty sharp rap on the knuckles for my presumption : his drum-head was as sacred to him as the apple of his eye. I again mounted on tiptoe and urged my question, " Will you like I for a sodger ?" intimating, at the same time, that I was " bigger than that there chap," pointing to the little fifer. Incensed at this indignity, the boy of notes MEMOIRS OP JOHN SHlPf. was so nettled, that he commenced forthwith to impress on my face and head striking marks of his irritation in being thus degradingly referred to. This I felt that I could have returned with compound interest; but, as my antagonist had the honour of wearing his Majesty's livery, I deemed it wiser to pocket the affront with my marbles, and make the best of my way off. I accordingly made a retrograde movement towards home, full of the scene I had just witnessed, and vociferating as I went along, <e left, right," " right, left," " heads up, soldiers," " eyes right," " eyes left," &c. In short, I had thus suddenly not only been toiiched by the military, but got the military touch; and from that 1 day forth I could neither say nor do anything, but in what I thought a soldier-like style : my play consisted chiefly of evolutions and manoeuvres, and my conversation of military phrases. Shortly after this adventure, I was sent to live with a farmer in the town, whose heart was as cold as the hoar-frost which often blighted his fairest prospects. Fortunately for me, however, his wife was of a dif- ferent disposition. This good dame proved almost a B5 10 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. second mother to me, and frequently screened me from the effects of my master's rage ; but so restless and untoward (to say the truth), were my inclinations and propensities, and so imperious in his commands, and unrelenting in his anger, was my master, that, in spite of my kind mistress's intercession in my favour, I seldom passed a day without being subjected to his cruel lash. This treatment was but little cal- culated either to conciliate my affections, or to effect a reformation in my conduct. My feelings became hardened under the lash of oppression ; and my de- sire to leave a place so little congenial with my dispo- sition increased daily. Meantime, all the cats and dogs in my master's house were made to go through military evolutions ; the hoes and rakes were trans- formed into muskets, and the geese and turkeys into soldiers. Even my master's whip, which was always in requisition at the conclusion of these perform- ances, could not eradicate my propensity for " sol- diering," Every time his back was turned, my mili- tary exercises were resumed ; and, when I could not by possibility find time to be thus actively engaged, I solaced myself with whistling, God Save the King MEMOIRS OP JOHN SHIPP. 1 1 The British Grenadiers, and See the Conquering Hero Comes. The first of these tunes I once com- menced in the church-yard during a funeral service, for which I got the sexton's cane over my back; " that being no place," as the said sexton judiciously remarked, " to show my loyalty in." Even the old women in the parish could not pass me without a mi- litary salute, such as Heads up, missis ! Eyes right, missis! Keep the step, missis! Sec. These pranks often brought me into disgrace and trouble, and usually ended with an application of the end of my master's whip. In the dreary month of December, when the white snow danced along the glen, and the icicle sparkled on the hoary oak, I had transported my frozen limbs into a turnip-field, close by the Great Yarmouth Road, where I stood shrivelled up like a dried mushroom, plotting and planning how to escape from the truly wretched situation in which I felt myself to be then placed. I had just put my cold fingers into my mouth for the purpose of warm- ing them, and had given them the first puff, when I heard the distant sound of martial music. Down 12 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. went my hands, and up went my heels. I made art eschellon movement towards the place ; jumped over the gate ; brought up my right shoulder a little ; then gave the word forward, and marched in double- quick time. The music soon got nearer, or, at all events, I soon got so near to the music that I was glad to halt. Just at this moment the whole band struck up, Over the Hills and Far Away, which kindled a flame in my bosom which nothing but death can extinguish, though I have now long since had my full share of the reality of the Scotch melody. On coming up to the party of soldiers, I gave the colonel a military salute, by first slapping my lea- thers, then bringing up my right hand (which, by the bye, was the wrong hand), to" my forehead, and extending the thumb as far as I could from my fingers. I continued in this position, keeping my elbow parallel with the top of my head, until the colonel came close up to me, and, remarking how studiously I retained the same position, conde- scendingly said, with a smile, " that's a fine fellow." On this head, I perfectly agreed with the gallant commandant, as may be readily supposed; and the MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP, 13 compliment so elated me, that I felt by no means certain whether I stood on my head or my heels, but ran about, first in the front, then in the rear, until at last I ran bump up against" master," who presented himself to my astonished eyes, mounted on Corporal Dash (a horse of his I had so named), with a long hunting-whip (a very old friend of mine) in his hand. The moment I recognized these old acquaintances, I saw that I had not a minute to lose ; so, making up my mind that a good retreat was far better than a bad fight, I ran off at full charge, as fast as my legs would carry me, my master riding after me, and roaring out most lustily, Stop, stop ! If, instead of stop, he had said halt, it is more than probable that my legs would instinc- tively have obeyed ; for, from the constant drills to which they had been subjected, they began to move quite mechanically. As it was, however, on I went, until a stile brought my master up, when, as I was quite out of breath, I thought I might as well halt too. Here I had the satisfaction of hearing my master swear roundly, that he would kill me when he caught me. "Thank God," thought I to myself, 14 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. " you have not got me yet." The moment my per- secutor rode on, I cut across a field, and again gained the head of the corps of Royal Horse Artillery, who were at this time just entering the suburbs of the village. Here I dared not venture to follow them any farther, until my master's hurricane had blown over ; so I mounted a gate, where my heart yearned after them, as that of a wounded soldier does after his corps in the battle's heat. Here I again set my wits to work how to elude the chastisement I was sure to receive from the infuriated man of clods. The regiment which I had seen was, I had ascer- tained, on its march to Yarmouth, to embark for fo- reign service ; and, from the condescending manner of the colonel (who returned my salute), I made no doubt whatever that he would be glad to take me for a soldier. Full of these thoughts, I loitered about all day, but dared not venture in, until, at length, my interior began to express wants respecting which I had not before reflected. These demands were of a nature not to be drilled into obedience; so, at last, overcome by fatigue and inanition, in I marched, having first seen my master march out. My mis- MEMOIRS OP JOHN SHIPP. 15 tress, who was ever ready to act the part of a kind mother towards me, soon provided me with a sub- stantial meal. I was not long in doing justice to the repast thus kindly set before me; and, having effec- tually satisfied my appetite for the time present, I took the precaution of lining my pockets with a large hunch of bread and cheese, to subsist on the fol- lowing day, when I intended to be in light marching order to follow the soldiers. Having thus pru- dently provided in some degree for the future, I betook myself to my usual occupations ; but I had not commenced work more than five minutes, when I espied my master reconnoitreing me from behind a hedge. Presently he crossed a stile with a large whip in his hand, and I could discern, from his art- ful movements, that it was his intention to come upon me unperceived. Now and then, in order that my fears might not be excited, he would stoop down and pull a turnip ; but I was too good a soldier my- self to be out-general'd in this manner. I stood from my work, the better to observe the enemy's movements, and kept my eye upon the fugleman. At last, I saw him make preparations to arrange his 16 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. whip ; so I immediately arranged my legs for a start. "Every step that he now takes/' thought I to myself, " is a step nearer to my back ; whereas, now that I have ten yards' start, there is still a chance for me." My master perceived that I was ready for a bolt, and soon broke from slow time into quick, and from quick to double-quick, which put me to the charge, my master following me, swearing, threatening, and roaring out, Stop him, stop him! a second time. I turned round to look who was likely to stop me, when my foot came in contact with a large clod, and I tumbled, heels over head. Here the chase ended, for my tyrant caught hold of me by a smock-frock which I had on, and commenced flogging me ; but, from the race I had given him, I found he was so winded that he had not strength left to hurt me much ; so I " showed fight" at once by seizing hold of the lash of the whip. This so enraged him, that he threw me from him with such violence, that one side of the smock-frock and I parted company, and I had just sufficient time left me to get up again and make my escape, which I did, leaving my master, as a token of my unalterable affection, the one side of MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 17 my upper garment. Let it be his winding-sheet, for he was a cruel monster! The remaining half of my smock-frock I stuck in a hedge in the same field, as a further token of my regard, and as a proof of my anxiety to leave him all I could spare. I then made a movement towards the town, in the hope that I should see the colonel, but he was not to be found ; and I went from public- house to public-house, in search of the soldiers, till night began to don her sombre mantle, which was as gloomy as my poor little friendless bosom. Go home I dared not; so, after wandering about the farmer's house, I at last got into the stable, and slept ah 1 night in the hay-loft, dreaming I was a ge- neral, and riding over the battle's plain. Here I slept as sound as a dead soldier, until I was awoke in the morning by the gruff voice of my master, in- quiring if they had seen anything of me, and pro- testing that, whenever he caught me, he would skin me alive. "Bob" (one of his men), he bellowed out, " saddle that there old horse, Corporal Dash, and I'll go and see where he is, and, if I catches him, I'll put him in the stocks, and see if that can't 18 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. cool his courage for him. He is the most tarna- tionest and outdationest lad I have ever seen; it was only the day before yesterday, that I catched him riding the old sow, Polly, with a pitchfork, and singing out Victory, victory; but I'll see if the stocks won't cool him." The old corporal was saddled accordingly, and led out- I could distinctly see him through a small hole in the loft, and he trotted off to- wards the market-place. I now began to think what place was best and safest for me. Skinning alive I could not bear the thoughts of; and, as to the stocks, it is true they might have cooled me, for it was freez- ing hard, and as bitter a morning as ever blew from the heavens; but there was nothing soldier-like in the situation, and the thoughts of such a position were not to be endured. As soon as Bob had left the place to go to his work, I began to form plans for my retreat. Re- solved, for the present, to act on the defensive, I first reconnoitred the course, to see that the enemy was not lying in ambush for me, or lurking in the vi- cinity of my hiding-place. Finding all clear, I de- scended to the stable, and soon gained the road. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 19 Having passed through the barn-yard and orchard, I peeped in at the farm-house, but could not catch a glimpse of my kind mistress. My bread and cheese I had eaten the preceding evening, and my stomach began now to evince symptoms of mutinous commo- tion; but the fear of falling again into the hands of my merciless enemy prevailed over all other consi- derations, and, in an adjoining field, I regaled my- self very contentedly on a turnip. I had just con- cluded this sumptuous repast, and was beginning to reflect seriously on the situation in which I had placed myself, when the band struck up that beauti- ful old melody, The Girl I left behind Me. This was both meat and drink to me, and its sweet notes comforted my before-inconsolable bowels. I put my- self in marching and soldier-like attitude ; and with my hands stuck close to my leathers ; my fingers di- rected towards the earth; chin elevated; toes pointed; thus I stepped off with the left leg, keeping time with the tune, until I arrived at the toU-gate, about a quarter of a mile from the town. Here I could not help halting, to look back on the little place of my birth, the scene of my boyhood and of 20 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. many a sportive hour. I found the tear trickling down my cheek. It was near the grave of my fond mother, too. I hesitated for some time, whether to proceed or return ; but my master's dreadful threat rushed upon my mind in all its terror, and this im- pelled me onwards; and I again joined the followers, men and boys, girls and dogs. I was but a child, but I was a child cast upon the world, parentless and in the hands of a cruel master. I could not believe it possible to be worse off, and therefore continued my march towards Yarmouth, without a mouthful of bread to eat, or a penny in my pocket. I knew not a soul in the place to which I was going; but my truant disposition took a hop, step, and jump, over all difficulties. My worldly effects consisted of a hat, which had once been round, but which, from my continually turning and twisting it into the shape of cocked-hats, road-hats, soldiers' caps, &c. was now any shape you wished; a little fustian jacket; waistcoat of the same material ; a coarse shirt, which, from a violent shak- ing-fit, was completely in rags ; a pair of leathers, intolerably fat and greasy ; ribbed worsted stockings ; MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 21 and a thwacking pair of high-lows, nailed from heel to toe. These, with a little stick, were my only in- cumbrances, save a gloomy prospect. I was bitterly hungry and sadly tired ; but on I went, until we ar- rived within a mile of Beccles, some sixteen miles from home. Here some of the soldiers branched off to their quarters in the vicinity of the town; but I followed the greater body, as the more probable means of getting something to eat. The band now again struck up, Over the Hills and Far Away. I marched at the head, but began to find that my poor craving stomach could no longer feed upon delicious melody ; so I now made up my mind to accost the colonel, and ask him if he could not enlist me for a soldier. The colonel seemed a kind-hearted ,man ; so, as modesty on my part was now quite out of the question, I bent my way to the head inn, where all the officers were assembled. I inquired for the colonel, and was at last shown into a room where he was sit- ting, with other officers, at breakfast. I strutted up to him with my hat in my hand, and made him a most obsequious bow, with my hand and foot at the same time. I then stood straight, as if I had swal- 22 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIFP. lowed a sergeant's pike ; when the colonel laughingly said, " Well, my fine little rustic, what's your plea- sure ?" I said, making another bow, and scraping the carpet with my nailed high-lows, " Soldiering, your honour." At this, the whole of the officers burst into a roar of laughter, in which the colonel most heartily joined. I thought it was the fashion in the army, so I joined them, which only served to increase their mirth, and many of them were obliged to hold their sides from excess of laughter. I soon found that all this merriment was at my expense, at which I began to evince some slight displeasure, and was just about to express it in words, when the colonel said, in the most affectionate manner, " My dear lit- tle child, you had better return to your fond mother's lap." Here I could not help piping, and I replied, " Sir, my mother is dead." " Could I even take you," continued the colonel, " I should imagine that I was robbing some fond parent of its child ; besides, we are proceeding on foreign service, against the enemy." This news only served to increase my anx- iety to go, and I again entreated him to look with compassion upon an orphan. I saw him turn from MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 23 me and wipe away a falling tear ; and then, address- ing me with the affection of a parent, he said, " My dear little fellow, if I was going to remain in Eng- land, I would take you ; but, under the present cir- cumstances, I cannot." Here I again began to cry, and I told him that I was sixteen miles from home, and had not got a piece of bread to put in my mouth. Upon this, the whole of the officers vociferated, Waiter, waiter, waiter! The waiter was speedily in attendance, when I was ordered breakfast by twenty persons at the same time. I was still re- solved not to give up my point ; but the colonel again told me it would be impossible for him to take me, but assured me that I should be taken care of, and desired me to go down stairs and get my breakfast. I did so, and, in passing round the table for the pur- pose of retiring, some gave me a shilling, some six- pence, so that I had more money than I had ever before possessed in my life. I ate a hearty breakfast in the kitchen, the servants asking me a number of impertinent questions. After breakfast, I counted my riches, and found that I had ten shillings, at least, in my leathers, into the pockets of which I every mo- 24 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. ment introduced my hand, to feel if all was safe. In the afternoon I was ordered dinner, and at last placed in the charge of a sergeant, who inquired who and what I was. I slept with him, and slept most soundly, too, thinking I was a soldier. Early the next morning I was awoke, when the sergeant showed me a note from the good-natured colonel to my master, whose name and address he had pumped me out of the evening before. The sergeant was proceeding to Woodbridge Barracks, and he had directions to take me over to my master, as well as to deliver the colonel's note, which was open, and contained a most earnest request that, for his sake, my master would not flog me. The generous colonel had also given the sergeant five shillings for me, which he gave me before I started from Beccles. About three o'clock in the afternoon, I arrived at my master's, who was at home. The kind message of the colonel was com- municated to him, and he faithfully promised the sergeant that all should be forgiven and forgotten. I was lured, under this promise, to return to my work, resolved to do better in future ; and I began to think that I really had not much reason to complain : for, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 25 on counting my money, I found I had fifteen shillings and sixpence left, after treating the sergeant on the way home. Scarcely, however, had the sun risen on the following day, when my master seized me by the neck, and dragged my clothes off my back. He had with him a double-handed whip, such as is used by colliers, and with this he lashed me so unmercifully, that I have no hesitation in saying that, had not a man, who was labouring in an adjoining field, inter- fered, he would have killed me. He was the most inhuman man I ever saw ; and, if he was not dead, and his family in abject poverty, I should, before this, have published his name; but, not to add to their present calamities, I will bury such feelings with their father, and begin a fresh chapter, with accounts more interesting to my readers ; first entreating their forgiveness for having dwelt so long on the scenes of my boyhood. 26 CHAPTER II. ABOUT this period, 1795, the three experimental re- giments * were ordered to be formed, viz. the 22nd, 34th, and 65th regiments ; the former at Colchester. I was, one morning in that year, about the month of Janu- ary or February, busily employed in a field close by my master's house, when who should I see but one of the parish officers, making towards me, with a large paper in his hand. I began to muster and parade my crimes, but found, on a fair review, that I had done nothing that merited the interference of an offi- cer ; so I stood up boldly till he approached me, and * The object of government in forming these " experimental re- giments," as they were called, was to relieve parishes of boys from the age of ten to sixteen, who were allowed to enlist, on the parish paying the expenses of their joining the recruiting depot at Col- chester. Each of these regiments was composed of a thousand boys, who made such excellent soldiers, that it appears extraordi- nary that no such plan was ever again adopted ; the three regiments here spoken of having been the only corps formed in this way. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHEPP. 27 smilingly said, " Shipp, I have frequently heard of and observed your great wish to go for a soldier." He then read the paragraph, and asked me if I was willing to go ; for that, if I was, the parish would rig me out decently, and that he would take me to Col- chester. My little heart was in my mouth; I re- peated his words, will I go, and eagerly assured him of the rapture with which I accepted his offer. The affair was soon concluded ; so down went my shovel, and off I marched, whistling See the Conquering Hero Comes. By four o'clock of the same day, to the honour and praise of the parish be it spoken, I was rigged out in my new leather tights, new coat, new hat, new shoes, new every thing, of which I was not a little proud. I begged, as a particular fa- vour, that I might sport colours in my hat, and even this was permitted to my vanity as long as I remained in the town. I took an affectionate leave of all my old playfellows and my good mistress; and even my cruel master was not neglected by me, for I never had malice or unforgiveness in my disposition. The next day, by seven o'clock in the morning, I was on my way to Colchester; and, when I was seated on V C t ZifiT c2 28 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. the front seat of the coach, I would not have ex- changed situations with the Grand Pacha of Egypt, or the King upon the throne of that land of which I was a native. Scarcely had I seated myself, and ad- justed my feet in a safe situation, than I indulged my coach companions by whistling several martial airs ; but, coming to a well-known turn of the road, from which you take the farewell-peep at Saxmund- ham, as much as I loved my king, I stopped short in the middle of the national anthem, and my eye bent its way instinctively towards my native village, where I first saw the light of heaven, and rested on the little village spire, which reared its gothic head over the remains of my poor mother. Towards this painfully interesting object I looked and looked, till the place of my nativity was buried from my sight by the surrounding trees. When bereft of this view, I felt pensive and sad, and could only console myself by reflecting that I did not fly from my parental roof; nor was I deserting aged parents or unpro- tected sisters, for I had no one to bewail my depar- ture. Yet I could not help feeling that I left some- thing behind me that hung like a magnet to my MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 29 heart: with all my misfortunes, all my cares and troubles, still I could not quit, without a pang, the place of my birth, and the tomb of my beloved mo- ther. At last, some gentlemen on the coach, having heard my history from the person who accompanied me, cheered me up, by saying that they knew the corps I was going to, and that they were all lads like myself. This notice from strangers so en- livened me, that I began to regard myself as no small personage, and I talked as much as any of them, until we arrived at an inn at Colchester, where we dined. Here I was marched off to the colonel of the corps in which I was to serve ; from the colonel to the adjutant; from the adjutant to the sergeant- major; from the sergeant-major to the drum-major; and thence to his wife, an old drunken Irish woman, but as good a creature as ever drank whiskey. In the custody of this lady the friend who came with me left me, first giving me a hearty shake of the hand, and wishing me every happiness. I must con- fess I felt now quite deserted; about twenty boys gathered round me, and I soon found that my fine leathers were the subject of their ridicule and 30 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. laughter ; some of them crying out, fe Bill, twig his leathers!" "Smoke his new coat!" "My eye, what a buck!" " Some gemman's son, I suppose, run away from his daddy !" " Never mind," said another, " we'll soon drill his leathers into hot rolls and butter." Here my friend Maggy, the Irish wo- man, interposed her aid in my behalf, " Arrah !" said she, " what are you gazing at, you set of spal- peens, you ? Be off, you set of thaves, or I will be after breaking some of your hasty dirty mugs for you. Arrah! don't mind them; sure they are no- thing at all but a set of monkeys just catched. Come here, honey, and let me see who will be after laying a finger on you." Here she seated me by her side, nibbed my chin, patted my back, eyed my coat and breeches, and asked me if I had got any pence in my pocket, with which she should get me some hot rolls and butter, for ta. I gave her -a shilling, and she brought two rolls and butter. The residue I sup- pose she spent in gin, for she began to give me some of her Irish hugs; so much so, that I wished myself at a greater distance. One of the boys cried out, " Ask for the change, ask her for the change, or MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 31 she will do you." At this imputation Maggy got on her legs, and, seizing a large trencher, tottered, or rather staggered, towards the boy, and ex- claimed, " You great big blackguard, you, do you want to rob me of my name ? Take that, and bad luck to you !" Here she hurled the trencher at him, but the effort carried old Maggy off her legs, and she exhibited her gigantic figure on the floor, to the amusement of all the barrack. I could not help laughing heartily, though I found I had got among a queer set; when, the drum-major entering, and see- ing his wife on the floor, vociferated, " Get up, you old drunken hag ; or, by St. Patrick ! and that's no small oath, but I'll pay you off." Here Maggy made an effort to rise, but the drop had done her up ; and I was obliged to give her a helping hand, and she was put to bed, clothes and all. On the following morning, I was taken to a bar- ber's, and deprived of my curly brown locks. My hair curled beautifully, but in a minute my poor lit- tle head was nearly bald, except a small patch be- hind, which was reserved for a future operation. I was then paraded to the tailor's shop, and de- 32 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. prived of my new clothes, coat, leathers, and hat, for which I received, in exchange, red jacket, red waistcoat, red pantaloons, and red foraging-cap. The change, or metamorphosis, was so complete, that I could hardly imagine it to be the same dapper little fellow. I was exceedingly tall for a boy of ten years of age; but, notwithstanding this, my clothes were much too large : my sleeves were two or three inches over my hands, or rather longer than my fin- gers ; and the whole hung on me, to use a well- known expression, like a purser's shirt on a hand- spike. My pride was humbled, my spirits drooped, and I followed the drum-major, hanging my head like a felon going to the place of execution. I cut such a queer figure, that all who met me turned round and stared at me. At last, I mustered up courage enough to ask one little chap what he was staring at, when he replied, " Ask my eye, Johnny Raw;" at the same time adding his extended fingers and thumb to the length of his nose. Passing some drummers on their way to practice, I got finely roasted: " Twig the raw-skin!" "Smoke his pantaloons !" " Them there trousers is what I calls MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 33 a knowing cut !" " Look at the sign of the Red- man!" &c. &c. Under this kind of file-firing I reached my barrack, where I was doomed to undergo the same routine of quizzing, till at length I got nettled, and told one of the boys, if he did not let me alone, I should take the liberty of giving him a good threshing. This " pluck," as they termed it, si- lenced most of my tormentors, and I was permitted, for a time, to remain unmolested. In this interval the drum-major went out, having first put my lea- thers, &c. into his box, of which he took the key. I sat myself down on a stool, which might not in- aptly have been styled the stool of repentance; for here I began first to think that soldiering did riot possess quite so much delight as I had pictured to myself. Still I resolved to put a good face on the matter, and so mixed with my comrades, and in an hour was as free and as much at home with them all as if I had known them for years. The drift of my new acquaintances, in being thus easily familiar with me, was soon apparent ; for one of the knowing-ones among them called me aside, and asked me if I knew where to sell my coloured clothes; as, if not, he c5 34 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. would go with me, and show me. I told him that the drum-major had them. " Yes," replied he, " I know he has ; but you see as how he has no business with them. Them there traps should be sold, and you get the money they brings ; and, if you don't keep your eye on the fugleman, he will do you out of half of them." He further said, that, when he en- listed, he got more than five shillings for his things. I replied, that of course the drum-major would either sell them for my benefit, or permit me to do it ; and, if the latter, that I should be thankful for his kind- ness. At this moment he entered, when the boy, who had just spoken to me, approached him, and said (pointing to me), " That there chap says as how he wants to sell them things of his in your box, and that I am to go with him, to show him the place where I sold my things." To this falsehood I could not submit, and I therefore went up to the drum- major, and said, " Sir, I said nothing of the kind ; all I said was, that I supposed you would either dis- pose of the things for my benefit, or allow me to do so." " Yes, yes," said the drum-major, " that's all right; I will sell them for you, and you shall have MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 35 the money." The boy here turned upon his heel, muttering something like fudge, and the things were put into a handkerchief and carried off into the town. When the drum-major had left us, the same boy came up to me, and called me a liar, stating that he had a great mind to thresh me ; and, as a proof of his inclination, he attempted to seize my nose be- tween his finger and thumb. I got in a rage, and told him, if he ventured to touch me, I would fell him to the ground; when all the boys gathered round us, and said, "Well done, Johnny Raw!" "Well done, old leather-breeches!"" That's right, Johnny Wapstraw !" Finding that I did not venture to strike the first blow, my antagonist called me a coward. This I knew I was not; so, as I could submit to his insolence no longer, I struck him, and to it we went in right earnest. After half a dozen rounds my opponent gave in. This, my first victory, established that I was neither a coward nor to be hoaxed with impunity. Eulogiums were showered down upon me, and the shouting and up- roar were beyond description. I understood after- wards that he was a great bully, and always fighting. 36 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Our boxing-match had just concluded, when the drum-major entered, and produced the proceeds of my clothes; viz. II. Is. 6d. for a new hat, coat, waist- coat, and leathers: a fair price, some said; while others thought they ought to have fetched thirty shillings ; but I was very well satisfied, and stood hot rolls and butter to all around, not forgetting my antagonist, who shook hands, and said it was the first time he had ever been beaten, and that he would some day, in friendship, have another trial. I assured him that I should be at any time at his service, and thus this matter ended. After this I went into town, to purchase a few requisites, such as a powder-bag, puff, soap, candles, grease, &c. ; and, having procured what I stood in need of, I returned to my barrack, where I under- went the operation of having my hair tied for the first time, to the no small amusement of all the boys assembled. A large piece of candle-grease was ap- plied, first to the sides of my head, then to the hind long hair ; after this, the same kind of operation was performed with nasty stinking soap; sometimes the man who was dressing me applying his knuckles, in- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 37 stead of the soap, to the delight of the surrounding boys, who were bursting their sides with laughter to see the tears roll down my cheeks. When this ope- ration was over, I had to go through one of a more serious nature. A large pad, or bag filled with sand, was poked into the back of my head, round which the hair was gathered tight, and the whole tied round with a leather thong. When I was dressed, for parade, I could scarcely get my eyelids to per- form their office ; the skin of my eyes and face were drawn so tight by the plug that was stuck in the back of my head, that I could not possibly shut my eyes; add to this, an enormous high stock was poked un- der my chin, so that, altogether, I felt as stiff as if I had swallowed a ramrod, or a sergeant's halberd. Shortly after I was thus equipped, dinner was served; but my poor jaws refused to act on the offensive, and when I made an attempt to eat, my pad behind went up and down like a sledge ham- mer. In the evening I went to parade, and was in- spected by the colonel, who said I was a promising lad, but that my clothes did not fit, which he ordered 38 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. to be altered. At this moment the master of the band came up to the colonel, aud said he should like to have me in the band, to learn the flute and to beat the triangles. This request was granted, and I was the following day removed to the band-room, and commenced my musical avocations, and in six months I had beaten the sides of the triangles nearly as thin as my own, and had also become a tolerable flute-player; but, as at that time we got several volunteers from the militia, among whom were two excellent flute-players, I was removed back to the drummer's room, and put to the fife. In a short time I was made fife-major ; no small office, I assure you. I wore two stripes and a tremendous long sash, which almost touched the ground. As the reader may suppose, I was not a little proud of my new office ; I began to ride the high horse among my old comrades, and to show my authority by enforcing obedience by very powerful arguments, for I was permitted to carry a small cane, and to use it too. In the absence of the drum-major, which was fre- quent, I carried the silver-headed stick, some seven feet long, and when we furnished the band for gene- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 39 ral guard-mounting, I astonished the spectators with my double demi-semi twist of my cane, and began to think myself one of the brightest of the bright. At this period the regiment moved to the Hythe, about a mile from Colchester, and twice a day we beat through the streets, followed by all the girls and boys in the town, some of the rosy-cheeked beauties begging me to play favourite tunes of theirs. These entreaties for particular airs were urged with such pathos, accompanied with such fascinating smiles and leers, that the fife-major occasionally vouchsafed to comply, always, however, keeping up his dignity, by making a compliance with such requests appear a great condescension. I strutted about the town with my little cane under my arm, like some great man of eminent consequence, whom the community could not do without; became a great favourite with all my officers ; was happy and contented ; and time passed imperceptibly and very pleasantly away. Mean- time, I grew very tall, though somewhat slender ; and my red coat had been thrown off, for which was sub- stituted a splendid white silver-laced jacket, with two small silver epaulettes, which my swagger in- duced to fan the evening breeze. 40 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. My days were now comparatively cloudless ; yet still my youthful tricks had not entirely left me. Some of these frequently led me into scrapes and unpleasant predicaments. The following were among the frolics with which I at this time diverted myself: viz. filling the pipes of my comrades with gunpowder ; putting a lighted candle in their hands while asleep, then tickling their noses with a straw; tying their great toes together, then crying out fire; blacking their hands with soot, then tickling their ears and Hoses, to induce them to scratch themselves, and thus to black their faces all over; putting lighted paper between their toes when asleep ; pulling the stools from behind them when in the act of sitting down; sewing their shirts to their bedding when asleep : all these, with fifty more, I regret to say, were in those days my constant delight and practice. These mischievous pranks led me into many a fight, but that did not discourage me. I had a natural propensity to tease people, and, as I did not scruple to indulge it, you may be sure I did not escape with- out my share of tricks in return. He who plays at fives, says the old proverb, must expect rubbers ; and MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 41 accordingly, one day, when I was sitting up stairs, a hundred voices bawled out, " Pass the word for the fife-major ; the adjutant wants him." I bounced down in an instant, and soon found that the whole barrack were in a roar of laughter at my expense, for to the tail of my coat was attached a large sheet of paper with these words in legible characters, The Biter Bit. To have evinced any displeasure at this hoax, would only have served to render me more ridicu- lous, and to increase the hooting and laughter at my expense ; so I joined in the laugh, and affected to think it a remarkably good joke. About this period a circumstance happened which, in some degree, blighted my pride, and almost cooled my military zeal. It was nutting season ; I made a party to go, and we arrived at the wood, where the filberts hung as thick as laurels on a soldier's brow. We had not bagged more than a bushel, when we were pounced upon by three keepers, and taken prisoners to the barracks. The three boys who were my companions on this ex- cursion got two dozen stripes; I lost my two as fife-major, and was turned back to my original post 42 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. as drummer, or rather as fifer. This severe punish- ment did not arise from the enormity of purloining the nuts, but from the fact of our being found some four miles from the cantonment. Under these cir- cumstances we might have been taken up as de- serters, and the keepers have received two pounds each man ; so that, upon the whole, we had reason to be grateful that the more serious offence was not urged against 'us. Shortly after this unfortunate occurrence, the regiment was ordered to proceed to the barracks at Helsea, Portsmouth. This was soldiering in clover ; and good living, fresh scenes, faces, and events, con- spired to make me, in a measure, forget the stripes which I had lost. I was not long on the march before I became as knowing as the best of them, and was soon well versed in the tricks of the road. I found that it was the practice of some of the land- lords to give us fat pea-soup, and of others to regale us with greasy suet dumplings, as heavy as lead, by way of taking off the edge of our appetites. These dishes I invariably avoided, stating that they were injurious to my constitution, or that the doctors had MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 43 forbidden me to eat such food. I therefore waited for the more substantial fare, the roast and the boiled, which I attacked with such zest as could not fail to convince the landlord of the delicacy of my constitution, and of the absolute necessity of my refraining from less substantial diet. In two hours after dinner the duff and pea-soup eaters were as hungry as ever; but I kept my own counsel, and thus was enabled to go on my way with a smiling countenance, that indicated good and substantial fare. When we were treated in the scurvy way I have spoken of, by the landlords on our line of march, we never failed to leave some token of our displeasure behind us. Thus, one day at Chelmsford, we were compelled to submit to dreadful bad quarters, and even the extreme delicacy of my constitution (which had so often succeeded with me before) could not, on this occasion, induce our host to give us any thing but greasy puddings and fat stews, made of the offal of his house for the last month. The fat on the top of this heterogeneous mixture was an inch thick ; and I, for my own part, protested that 44 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. I could not and would not eat it. Finding me so positive, he privately slipped a shilling into my hand to quiet me, which I did not think it expedient to refuse. This bribe tended, in some degree, to pacify me; but my comrades, on quitting the house evinced their disapprobation of the treatment they had met with, by writing with a lighted candle on the ceiling, D d bad quarters. How are you off for pea-soup ? Lead dumplings. Lousy beds. Dirty sheets. This was the mildest description of punishment with which we visited landlords who incurred our displeasure ; for, in addition to this, it did not re- quire any very aggravated treatment to induce us to teach some of mine host's ducks and geese to march part of the way on the road with us : to wit, until we could get them dressed. These birds would sometimes find their way into MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 45 drums. I was once myself a party concerned in a pilfering of this kind ; at least, indirectly so : for I was accessory to the act of stealing a fine goose a witness of its death (or rather what we supposed its death) and an assistant in drumming it. More- over, I do not doubt that I should have willingly lent a hand towards eating it, also. The goose, however, was, in our opinion at least, very snugly secured, and we commenced our march without the least fear of detection, chuckling in our sleeves how com- pletely we had eluded the landlord's vigilance. The bird only wanted dressing to complete the joke, and discussion was running high among us as to how that could be accomplished, when, to our astonishment, who should pass us on horseback but the landlord himself? He rode very coolly by, and, as he took no sort of notice of us, we concluded that he might, very probably, have other business on the road, and for a time we thought nothing more of the matter ; but what were our feelings when, on halting in the market-place, we perceived this very landlord in earnest conversation with our colonel ; and, to all appearance "laying down the law," as it is called, 46 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. in a most strenuous manner. At last the colonel and he moved towards us ; on perceiving which my knees broke into double-quick time and my heart into a full gallop. On arriving near to the spot where our guilty party was drawn up, the Colonel, addressing us, stated, that " the gentleman who stood by his side, complained that he had lost one Of his geese, and had informed him he had good reason to suspect that some of the party to whom he now spoke had stolen it." For the satisfaction of "the gentleman" (whom we, one and all, most heartily wished under ground) our knapsacks were ordered to be examined, and underwent the most scrupulous inspection ; but no goose was to be found. Professing his regret for the trouble he had caused, and apparently satisfied that his suspicions were ill- founded, our worthy landlord was just on the point of leaving us, and the boys around were grinning with delight at the notion of having so effectually deceived him, when, to our utter confusion and dismay, the goose, at this very juncture, gave a deep groan, and the landlord protested roundly that " that there sound was from his goose." Upon MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 47 this the investigation was renewed with redoubled ardour ; our great coats were turned inside out, and, in short, almost every thing belonging to us was examined with the minutest attention ; but still no goose was to be found. The officers could not refrain from smiling, and the boys began again to grin at the fun ; but this merriment was doomed to be but of short duration, for the poor goose, now in its last moments, uttered another groan, more loud and mournful than the former one. In fact the vital spark had just taken its flight, and this might be construed into the last dying speech of the ill-fated bird, and a full confession of its dreadful situation and murder. The drum in which the now defunct goose was confined, stood close against the landlord's elbow, and his ear was, unfortunately for us, so correct in ascertaining whence the sound of woe proceeded, that he at once roared out, " Dang my buttons, if my goose bean't in that there drum !" These words were daggers to our souls ; we made sure of as many stripes on our backs as there were feathers on the goose's ; and our merriment was suddenly changed into mortification and despair. 48 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. The drum-head was ordered to be taken off, and sure enough there lay poor goosy, as dead as a herring. The moment the landlord perceived it, he protested that, " as he was a sinner, that was his goose." This assertion there was no one among us hardy enough to deny ; and the colonel desired that the goose should be given up to the publican, assuring him, at the same time, that he should cause the offenders to be severely punished for the theft which had been committed. Fortunately for our poor backs, we now found a truly humane and kind-hearted man in the landlord whom we had offended; for no sooner did he find that affairs were taking a more serious turn than he had con- templated, and that it was likely that he should be the cause of getting a child flogged, than he affected to doubt the identity of the goose, and, at length, utterly disclaimed it, saying to the colonel, " This is none of mine, sir ; I see it has a black spot on the back, whereas mine was pure white j besides, it has a black head : I wish you a good morning, sir, and. am very sorry for the trouble I have given you." Thus saying, he left MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 49 us, muttering, as he went along, " Get a child flogged for a tarnation old goose ? no, no !" Every step he took carried a ton weight off our hearts. Notwithstanding this generous conduct in the pub- lican, who was also, by his own acknowledgment, a sinner, our colonel saw very clearly how matters stood; but, in consideration of our youth, and that this was our first offence (at least that had been dis- covered), he contented himself with severely admo- nishing us ', and the business ended shortly after with the demolition of the goose roasted. We remained at Helsea Barracks for nearly a year, where we acquired the appellation of the Red Knights, from our clothing being all of that colour. I do not recollect anything of importance that occurred to me at that place, except that I was con- demned to pass a week in the black-hole there, for what the soldiers called " eating my shoes." This punishment I brought upon myself in the following manner. I had been out to receive my half-mounting, consisting of a pair of shoes, a shirt, two pair of stockings, and a stock ; and, on my way home, as ill luck would have it, an old woman, VOL. i. D 50 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. with whom I had frequently before had dealings, and who was well known among us by the title of the plum-pudding woman, happened to throw her- self in my way. Her pudding was smoking hot ; I was exceedingly hungry ; and my mouth watered so at the tempting sight, that I could not drag myself away. But, much as I longed for a slice, what was to be done ? I had no money, and my friend the plum-pudding woman was by far too old a soldier to give trust till pay-day. The pudding, however, it was impossible for me to dispense with ; and finding, therefore, that all my promises and entreaties, with the view of obtaining credit, were fruitless, I at length, in an evil hour, incited by the savoury smell which issued from the old woman's basket, proposed to her to buy my shoes. After a irood deal of bargaining, we at length came to an understanding, by which it was agreed, that in consideration of a quarter of a yard of pudding and a shilling, to be to me paid and delivered, my new shoes were to be handed over to the dealer in plum- pudding, as her own proper goods and chattels. This contract being honourably completed on both MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 51 sides, I retreated to a solitary shed to eat my duff (the name by which this description of pudding was well known among us), where, without any great exertion, I soon brought the two extremities of my quarter of a yard together. The last mouthful put me to the extremity of my wits to devise how I could possibly account for the sudden disappear- ance of my shoes. My first impulse was to run in search of the old woman, and endeavour, by fair promises, to coax her out of the shoes again; but I soon found that no such chance was left me, for she had made a precipitate retreat from the place where we had transacted our business together, knowing well that she was punishable for having bought such articles of me. Nothing appeared to be now left for me but a palpable falsehood ; and, although of this I had a great abhorrence, yet I really had not sufficient courage to think of avowing the literal truth. At length I thought I had hit upon a sort of compromise, and I determined to say that I had "dropped" my shoes on my way home, which, though not exactly the fact, yet approached nearer to the truth than anything else D2 52 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. I could devise, likely to serve my end. As on all other occasions of the kind, however, it appeared that I might just as well have made a full confes- sion at once ; for my statement was not believed, and as I could not in any other way account satis- factorily for the elopement of my shoes, I was ordered seven days' black-hole for the purpose of refreshing my memory. Against this punishment I prayed long and loudly, but all to no purpose ; so, with the remainder of my day's rations under my arm, off I was marched, not much elated with the dreary prospect before me. When I heard the door of the cell creak upon its hinges behind me, and the huge key grate in the lock, I began to think that I had parted with my shoes too cheap, and, for some time after, I sat myself down in a corner, and brooded in melancholy mood over the misfortune which I had by my own folly brought upon myself. But I was never one of the despond- ing kind, and it therefore soon occurred to me, that, instead of indulging in dismal reflections, it would be far wiser, and more pleasant, to devise some means by which I might contrive to amuse myself MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 53 during the period of my confinement. Seven days and seven nights appeared to me at first to be a long time to remain encaged in darkness ; and yet there was certainly something soldier-like in the situation. The mere fact of being a prisoner had a military sound with it. To be sure, I was im- prisoned for having eaten my shoes; but what of that ?> Was it not quite as easy for me to imagine myself a prisoner of war? Certainly it was; and accordingly, with this impression strong on my mind, I dropped into a profound sleep in the midst of my meditations, and dreamed that I was deposited in this dungeon by the chance of war. On waking I found myself extremely cold, from which I in- ferred that it would be necessary for me to contrive some plan by which I might comfort my body as well as my mind ; and I therefore immediately set about standing on my head, walking on my hands, tumbling head over heels, and similar gymnastic exercises. In this manner, sleeping and playing by turns, I managed to pass my time in the black-hole for one whole day and night, by no means unplea- santly ; when, about nine o'clock the next morning, 54 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. I heard the well-known voice of the drum-major asking for me, and desiring that I might be libe- rated. On hearing this order given, I presumed that, of course, my period of captivity had expired ; and, although the time certainly appeared to have passed off at a wonderfully rapid rate, yet I ac- counted for it by considering that I had slept away the greater part of it; and, in addition to this, that it was but natural it should seem to have passed quickly, since I had been, during the whole period, exempt from parades, drills, head- soaping, &c. When I first got into the daylight, I could scarcely open my eyes, and no sooner had I brought my optics into a state to endure the light, than I was asked by the drum-major how I liked my new abode, and if I was ready to return to it. I perceived, from the smile which accom- panied these questions, that I had little further to fear, and I soon understood that I had only spent one day and one night in the black-hole, and that the remainder of my sentence had been remitted. I was hailed by ah 1 my comrades as if I had been cast on, and escaped from, some de- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 55 solate island ; and, having macadamized my inward man with six penny pies (out of the shilling I had received from the old pudding-woman, of which I was still possessed), I was soon as fit for fun again as the best of them. But, the regiment being now about to embark for Guernsey, I will commence our voyage in a new chapter. CHAPTER III. WE had received orders to hold ourselves in rea- diness to embark as I then imagined, for foreign parts, and the idea made my heart bound for joy. In a few days we embarked on board a small sloop, at about four o'clock in the afternoon, and in an hour after got under weigh. When the sun had re- tired to his western chamber, the sky looked gloomy and indicated wind; and, in another hour, there arose so terrific a gale, that we were obliged to put the tarpaulins over the hatches, to protect us against the large seas which broke over us. The scene was enough to frighten a person of greater courage than I possessed. There were soldiers crying women screaming children squalling sailors swearing the storm all the while continuing to increase, until at length it blew a perfect hurricane ; the rain came down in torrents, and the vivid lightning's flash ex- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 57 hibited the fear depicted on every countenance. At this juncture a poor frightened soldier mustered up courage enough to ask the captain or master of the sloop, if there was any danger. At this question every ear was open, and the son of Neptune gruffly replied, " Danger, shipmate ? If the storm con- tinues another hour, I would not give a rope-yarn for all your lives. When we reach that point on the lar- board-bow, you must throw out your grappling-irons, and hold in, for she will then be close-hauled, and go under water like a duck, and you will all be in Da- vid's locker before you can say luff, boy /" Then, addressing himself to one of his men, " Steady, Tom, steady; don't let her go off; don't you see the light a-head; run it down. Steady, boy, steady! luff a little, luff!" At this moment an awful sea broke over us. My mouth was full, and I was wet to the skin; but, strange to say, I felt no alarm. Our little vessel dived like the gull after its prey. As soon as she righted, I said, " Captain, that was a wetter." He replied, " Ay, boy ; you will get plenty of them before we make the port." " Very consoling, truly," thought I to myself. I had just 58 MEMQIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. squeezed myself up into a small compass, head and knees together, close to the helm, when we shipped another tremendous sea, which carried away our fore-staysail, and made so terrific and dreadful a flapping, that an officer bellowed out from below, " Is there anything the matter ?" " Yes," replied the captain, " the devil to pay, and no pitch hot*." These words were scarcely spoken, when we shipped another awful sea, which washed three soldiers over- board. At this crisis, a sailor bellowed out, " Light a-head, sir." " The devil there is ; what does it look like ?" roared the captain. " Like a light," re- plied the sailor. " A Frenchman, I suppose," voci- ferated the captain. These words caught the ear of the military captain on board, who hollowed out * A common expression among sailors, when any confusion or perplexity prevails on board ship. In Lemon's Dictionary, 1783, it is attempted to be explained in the following manner: " Pay the ship's sides, [pix, pitch; strangely debased by the French into poix, and then pronounced as if it was written pay] ; that is, to pitch the vessel's sides. Hence is derived that common expression among sailors, ' Here's the devil to pay, and no pitch hot ;' mean- ing, ' Here's the black gentleman come to pitch the vessel's sides (*'. e. come to help us), and you have not so much as made the pitch-kettle hot enough to employ him."' MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 59 from below, " What did you say about a French- man ?" " Why, that, if it gets clear, we may have a bit of a fight; for I see there is a Frenchman a-head," replied the sea captain. " Then," said the soldier, " I had better get my men ready. Sergeant, get the bugler ! Sound to arms ! Call the drummer, and tell him to beat to arms!" But the devil a drummer, drum, bugler, or bugle was forthcoming. All the men were busily engaged below, and by no means in a condition to come to the scratch, French or no French. Notwithstanding this, the noble sol- dier strutted about on deck by himself, with a cocked- hat, and sword in hand, when a merciless sea washed off his gay hat, and the gallant captain lost his ba- lance, and fell into the hold, bawling out most lus- tily for his three-cornered scraper, which was buffet- ing the raging billows. " I say, captain, have the goodness to send down my hat. Is my hat upon deck ? Have you seen my hat ?" " Your hat, sir," replied the son of Neptune, with infinite sang-froid, " has got under sail, and I should not be surprised if it made port before you." Here he changed the subject, by hailing the man on the fore-castle : " Tom, 60 l^EMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. where is the strange sail?" " Sheered off to lee- ward; but she is a Frenchman, by the cut of her gib," replied a sailor. " Steady," said our naval commander, and on we went; but by no means steadily, for I never saw a little bark more un- steady, though she really seemed to dive through the water like a duck. Morning now began to dawn, which only threw light (as even the captain con- fessed), upon the heaviest sea he had ever seen. The black clouds seemed to fly, and the thunder and lightning to rend the very atmosphere asunder. Our distant haven was in sight; but the wind was foul, and it was therefore impossible to avoid mak- ing several tacks before we could get in. Our poor fellows, what from fear, cold, hunger, want of sleep, and being wet through, were completely worn out. I kept my station the whole night, more from fear than from any attachment to it ; although I cer- tainly did not feel the great alarm that was so vi- sibly depicted on the countenances of most of my comrades. From extreme cold, and being quite wet through, I cut but a sorry figure by the time we began to near the land. The prospect, from about MEMOIRS OF JOHN SH1PP. 61 three or four miles off, was extremely beautiful. Some little cottages studded the high and lofty rocks, and, here and there, small bays and little villages enlivened the scene, and consoled us with the idea that we were not going to be landed on a barren rock. We soon after saw the extensive town of Guernsey. Part of it seemed hanging on an emi" nence, and the view of the old castle, which is built of stone, and calculated to buffet with many a wintry storm, was extremely picturesque. In the distance we could see Fort George ; and, in ten minutes after, we ran into the bay, which, being sheltered and protected by surrounding high-lands, was tran- quil indeed, when compared with the main ocean. Boats were in attendance, and we soon set our wet limbs on terra firma. Having landed, I could not help viewing my person, of which I at all times had a good opinion. I looked for ah 1 the world like a squeezed lemon, or the bag of a Scotch pipe ; and I should have been glad to have taken the edge off my appetite, and the dirt off my clothes, instead of dancing through the, town; but I was, of course, obliged to obey orders, and when I struck up my 62 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. tune (for I still led the fifers), I tipped Monsieur The Downfal of Paris. I found the march did me a great deal of good ; and, by the time I reached the barracks, I was in prime order for my breakfast. We were stationed in Fort George, in ex- ceedingly good quarters, though I could not bring myself to be reconciled to the ponderous draw- bridges in use there, which foreboded no great stretch of liberty. I was particularly fond of rural and pensive wanderings, to muse on nature's beau- ties, and the sight of an orchard, in particular, was at ah* times hailed by me with great delight ; for I could feast upon its beauties for hours together, to the gratification of more faculties than my vision. The drawbridges seemed to cut off these delightful prospects. It was true, I could see them from the fort, but then the prospect was too far, and I lost all relish in the distance; and, being in consequence compelled to steal out, I was apprehensive that some of my solitary rambles would get me into dis- grace. My doubts and forebodings on this head were soon verified; for, in less than a week, I saw my name posted up at the gate, " John Shipp, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHPIP. 63 confined to his barracks for one week." A week was to me an age. Confinement was intolerable : de- prived of the pure air, of the delightful ramble along an orchard's hedge, and of the salubrious smell of the orange groves. Oft have I, from the rampart-top, sighed at the distant prospect, and, while my long- ing eye lingered on the golden produce of the orchard within sight, my heart panted to be at liberty, to take a nearer view and taste again of nature's beauties. The word confinement haunted me from one bastion to another, and I saw no refuge for the future but a more circumspect line of con- duct, on which I firmly resolved. When three long days of my week had been numbered with the dead, the drum-major was taken seriously ill, and on the morning parade the colonel inspected the drummers. I was always remarkably clean, that was my pride : the colonel' eye'd me from head to foot, and at last told the adjutant that I was to act as drum-major. I was nearly shouting liberty in the colonel's face, but I checked myself just in time. He at the same time gave me a ticket for a play, which was to be acted in the town, and, in the evening, se- 64 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. veral boys were committed to my care to accompany me to the theatre. Thus, for a brief interval, I was restored to favour; but, whenever fickle fortune deigned to smile upon me, some untoward circum- stance was sure to happen, and nip the fair promise in its bud. I had scarcely got the stick of office into my hands, before I cut so many capers with it, that I soon capered myself back to the dignity and full rank of fifer ; was deprived of my staff of office ; and, of what I considered even much worse my li- berty. My name was again exhibited to public gaze at the drawbridge-gate, for seven long days, during which I was obliged to kick my heels along the ramparts, contenting myself with contemplating the distant prospect. One day I effaced my name from the list of the confined, unobserved by the sen- tinel; but in this I was detected by the sergeant, for which I had the felicity of attending drill three times a day with my musket reversed, and my coat turned inside out; and, in this manner, for several hours each day, I was obliged to comply with the mandates of a little bandy-legged drill-sergeant, who did not fail to enforce his authority and dig- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 65 nity in a manner by no means agreeable to my feelings, especially to those of my back. This I could bear well enough; indeed I was obliged to bear it ; but my turned coat seemed to hang upon me like some badge of ignominy, and I imagined that every eye was upon me. Had I been a de- praved and callous-hearted youth, this method of disgracing me would have only served to harden me in vice; and I cannot deny that at this treatment I felt the seeds of disobedience rankling in my heart, and had almost resolved within my mind, that the next time I was doomed to wear this garb of infamy, it should be for a crime worthy of such disgrace. I found my disposition soured, and the spark of revenge kindling in my bosom ; and I am persuaded that this method of disgracing youth, in- stead of eradicating vice, serves only to nurture those rancorous feelings which irritation, arising from a sense of degradation, is sure to excite, and which, in the young mind, might, by a more judi- cious and conciliatory .treatment, be either totally repressed in their birth, or at least easily extin- guished. 06 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Our regiment being now ordered to prepare for embarkation for Portsmouth, my garb of disgrace was thrown off, and I embarked as sprightly as any, having been disgraced in this way for a misde- meanor that would scarcely have disgraced a school- boy. We reached our old barracks at Portsmouth, without any other occurrence save a little casting- up of accounts, and a few distorted faces from sea- sickness. 67 CHAPTER IV. WE had not been long at Portsmouth, when the head-quarters of the regiment were ordered to em- bark on board of the Surat Castle, East Indiaman, a fifteen-hundred-ton ship, then lying off Spithead, and the remainder of the corps on board of other ships at the same place. Our destination was the Cape of Good Hope. The Surat Castle, in which I was doomed to sail, was most dreadfully crowded ; men literally slept upon one another, and in the olorp-deck the standing beds were three tiers high, besides those slinging. Added to this, the seeds of a pestilential disease had already been sown. An immense number of Lascars, who had been picked up in every sink of poverty, and most of whom had been been living in England in a state of the most abject want and wretchedness, had been shipped on board this vessel. Many of these poor creatures 68 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. had been deprived of their toes and fingers by the inclemency of winter, and others had accumulated diseases from filth, many of them having subsisted for a considerable time upon what they picked up in the streets. The pestilential smell between decks was beyond the power of description; and it was truly appalling to see these poor wretches, with tre- mendous and frightful sores, and covered with ver- min from head to foot, many of them unable to as- sist themselves, left to die unaided, unfriended, and without one who could perform the last sad office. The moment the breath was out of their bodies, they were, like dogs, thrown overboard, as food for sharks. To alleviate their sufferings by personal aid was impossible, for we had scarcely men enough to work the ship. These circumstances were, I sup- pose, reported to the proper authority; but, whe- ther this was the case or not, in three or four days we weighed anchor, with about sixty other ships for all parts of the world. The splendid sight but little accorded with the aching hearts, lacerated bo- dies, and wounded minds of the poor creatures be- low. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 69 the signal was fired to weigh. Immediately every sail was wavering in the wind, and in a quarter of an hour after we stood out from land, each proud bark dipping her majestic head in the silvery deep, and manoeuvreing her sails in seeming competition to catch the favouring breeze. Such firing, such signals, such tacking and run- ning across each other now prevailed, that our cap- tain resolved to run from it; and the evening had scarcely spread her sombre curtains over the western ocean, and the golden clouds begun to change their brilliant robes of day for those of mur- key night, when our crew " up helm," and stole away from the motley fleet, plying every sail, and scudding through the blue waters like some aerial car or phantom-ship, smoothly gliding over the sil- very deep. In three or four hours we had entirely lost sight of our convoy. We were running at the rate of eleven knots an hour, and, as it seemed, into the very jaws of danger. The clouds began to as- sume a pitchy and awful darkness, the distant thun- der rolled angrily, and the vivid lightning's flash struck each watching eye dim, and, for a moment, 70 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. hid the rolling and gigantic wave from the sight of fear. The wind whistled terrifically, and the shat- tered sails fanned the flying clouds. All was con- sternation; every eye betrayed fear. Sail was taken in, masts lowered and yards stayed prepa- rations which bespoke no good tidings to the inquir- ing and terrified landsman. I was seated in the poop, alone, holding by a hen-coop, and viewing the mountainous and angry billows, with my hand partly covering my eyes to protect them against the lightning. It was a moment of the most poig- nant sorrow to me; my heart still lingered on the white cliffs of Albion, nor could I wean it from the sorrowful reflection that I was, perhaps, leaving that dear and beloved country for ever. During this struggle of my feelings, our vessel shipped a tre- mendous sea over her poop, and then angrily shook her head, and seemed resolved to buffet the raging elements with all her might and main. The ship was shortly after this " hove to," and lay compara- tively quiet; and, in about a couple of hours, the wind slackened, and we again stood on our way, the masts cracking under her three topsails and fore MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 71 storm-staysail. However, she rode much easier, and the storm still continued to abate. I was dread- fully wet and cold, and my teeth chattered most wofully; so I made towards the gun-deck, some portion of which was allotted for the soldiers. There the heat was suffocating, and the stench intolerable. The scene in the olorp-deck was truly distressing : soldiers, their wives and children, all lying together in a state- of the most dreadful sea- sickness, groaning in concert, and calling for a drop of water to cool their parched tongues. I screwed myself up behind a butt, and soon fell into that stupor which sea-sickness will create. In this state I con- tinued until morning ; and, when I awoke, I found that the hurricane had returned with redoubled fury, and that we were standing towards land. The captain came a-head to look out, and, after some considera- tion, he at last told the officer to stand out to sea. The following morning was ushered in by the sun's bright beams diffusing their lustre on the dejected features of frightened and helpless mortals. The dark clouds of sad despair were in mercy driven from our minds, and the bright beams of munificent 72 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. love from above took their place. The before down- cast eye was seen to sparkle with delight, and the haggard cheek of despondency resumed its wonted serenity. The tempestuous bosom of the main was ' now smooth as a mirror, and all seemed grateful and cheerful, directing the eye of hope towards the far- distant haven to which we wete bound. A great number of the fleet were the same morn- ing to be seen emerging from their shelter, or hiding- places, from the terrific hurricane of the day before ; but our captain was resolved to be alone ; so the same night he crowded sail, and, by the following morning's dawn, we were so much a-head that not a sail was visible, save one solitary sloop, that seemed bending her way towards England. Some three weeks after this, we were again visited by a most dreadful storm, that far exceeded the for- mer one, and from which we suffered much external injury, our main top-mast, and other smaller masts, being carried away. But the interior of our poor bark exhibited a scene of far greater desolation. We were then far from land, and a pestilential disease was raging among us in all its terrific forms. O C3 O MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 73 Naught could be seen but the pallid cheek of dis- ease, or the sunken eye of despair. The sea-gulls soared over the ship, and huge sharks hovered around it, watching for their prey. These creatures are sure indications of ships having some pesti- lential disease on board, and they have been known to follow a vessel so circumstanced to the most dis- tant climes, to countries far from their native ele- ment. To add to our distresses, some ten barrels of ship's paint, or colour, got loose from their lash- ings, and rolled from side to side, and from head v to stern, carrying every thing before them by their enormous weight. From our inability to stop them in their destructive progress, they one and all were staved in, and the gun-deck soon became one mass of colours, in which lay the dead and the dying, both white and black. It would be difficult for the reader to picture to himself a set of men more deplorably situated than we now were; but our distresses were not yet at their height: for, as though our miseries still required aggravation, the scurvy broke out among us in a most frightful manner. Scarcely a single indivi- VOL. i. E M '4 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. dual on board escaped this melancholy disorder, and the swoln legs, and gums protruding beyond the lips, attested the malignancy of the visitation. The dying were burying the dead, and the features of all on board wore the garb of mourning. Every assistance and attention that humanity or generosity could dictate, was freely and liberally bestowed by the officers on board, who cheerfully gave up their fresh meats and many other comforts, for the benefit of the distressed; but the pestilence baffled the aid of medicine and the skill of the me- dical attendants. My poor legs were as big as drums; my gums swoln to an enormous size; my tongue too big for my mouth; and all I could eat was raw potatoes and vinegar. But my kind and affectionate officers sometimes brought me some tea and coffee, at which the languid eye would brighten, and the tear of gratitude would intuitively fall, in spite of my efforts to repress what was thought un- manly. Our spirits were so subdued by suffering, and our frames so much reduced and emaciated, that I have seen poor men weep bitterly, they knew not why. Thus passed the time ; men dying in dozens, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 75 and, ere their blood was cold, hurled into the briny deep, there to become a prey to sharks. It was a dreadful sight to see the bodies of our comrades the bone of disputation with these voracious natives of the dreary deep ; and the reflection that such might soon be our own fate would crush our best feelings, and with horror drive the eye from such a sight. Our muster-rolls were dreadfully thinned; indeed, almost every fourth man amongst the Europeans, and more than two-thirds of the natives, had fallen victims to the diseases on board, and it was by the mercy of Providence only that the ship ever reached her destination, for we had scarcely a seaman fit for duty to work her. Never shall I forget the morn- ing I saw the land. In the moment of joy I forgot all my miseries, and cast them into the deep, in the hope of future happiness. This is mortal man's career. Past scenes are drowned and forgotten, in the anticipation of happier events to come; and, by a cherished delusion, we allow ourselves to be transported into the fairy land of imagination, in quest of future joys never, perhaps, to be realized, .but the contemplation of which in the distance E 2 76 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. serves at least to soothe us under present suf- fering. I cannot close this account of my first voyage on board a large ship, without testifying my heartfelt thanks to all the officers, both naval and military, who accompanied us, for the unbounded kindness and generosity they evinced, and the privations which they endured for the sake of their poor suf- fering fellow-creatures on board the Surat Castle. Nothing was withheld by these gentlemen that could tend to alleviate the pang of suffering. Could this mark of my gratitude ever meet the eye of even one of these humane individuals, I should be de- lighted; more particularly the little captain of the ship : he was but a little man, but his heart was, in charity, as big as the ship he commanded. When the view of land first blessed our sight, the morning was foggy and dreary. We were close under the land, and were in the very act of standing from it, when the fog dispersed, the wind shifted fair, and we ran in close to the mouth of Simmon's Bay. The now agreeable breeze ravished our sickened souls, and the surrounding view delighted MEMOIRS OP JOHN SHIPP. 77 our dim and desponding eyes. Every one who could crawl was upon deck, to welcome the sight of land, and inhale the salubrious air. Every soul on board seemed elated with joy; and, when the an- chor was let go, it was indeed an anchor to the broken hearts of poor creatures then stretched on the bed of sickness, who had not, during the whole voyage, seen the bright sun rising and setting, sights at sea that beggar the power of description. For myself, I jumped and danced about with my long legs like a merry-andrew, and I found, or fan- cied I found, myself already a convalescent. The anchor had not been down long, when a boat came off from shore, on board of which were se- veral medical gentlemen, who questioned us as to whence we came, whither we were bound, the state of the ship, the nature of the disease, and the num- ber of men that had died during the passage. The number of men was a finishing blow to our present hopes, and we were ordered to ride at quarantine ; but every comfort that humanity or liberality could dictate was immediately sent on board : fresh meats, bread, tea, sugar, coffee, and fruits of all kinds; 78 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. and, in a few days, our legs began to re-assume their original shapes, and the disease died away. The quarantine was very soon taken off, and the troops landed, and were marched, or rather carried, to the barracks that stand on the brow of the hill, at the back of Simmon's Town. Here our treatment was that of children of distress; every comfort was afforded us, and every means adopted by our kind officers which could contribute towards our recovery. For the first fortnight drills were out of the ques- tion, instead of which we were kindly nursed, until the disease was completely eradicated; and by this careful treatment we were all soon restored to the enjoyment of health. But few men died of those that were landed; and, if I recollect right, our total loss was seventy-two men. Notwithstanding all our troubles and misfortunes, we arrived before the other divisions of the regiment; but they had not suffered from disease : their loss was two men only. 79 CHAPTER V. SIMMON'S TOWN is situated on the bay which bears the same name, and contains many well-built houses. Here we were stationed for a short, time ; and, as the regiment was not restricted from going out, I soon commenced reconnoitreing the localities of the neighbourhood, and was glad to find that there were a number of well-stocked gardens close to the barracks. A pound of meat (and that of the worst), and three quarters of a pound of bread per diem, was but a scanty allowance for a growing lad. Indeed, I frequently managed to get through my three days' bread in one ; but, as we could get fish for a mere song, and as the gardens of our neigh- bours, the Dutchmen, supplied us with potatoes, we continued, one way or another, to fare tolerably well at this station. We were soon after moved to the station of Mui- 80 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. senbourg, seven miles nearer to Cape Town, a post defended by a small battery, and the beach, in places of easy access, guarded by a few guns. The road from Simmon's Town to Muisenbourg sometimes runs along the beach, which is very ftat, and on which the sea flows with gentle undulations ; and, at others, winds round the feet of craggy hills, co- vered with masses of stone, which have the appear- ance of being merely suspended in the air, ready to be rolled down upon you by the slightest touch. On these hills whole regiments of baboons assemble, for which this station is particularly famous. They stand six feet high, and in features and manners ap- proach nearer to the human species than any other quadruped I have ever seen. These rascals, who are most abominable thieves, used to annoy us ex- ceedingly. Our barracks were under the hills, and when we went to parade, we were invariably obliged to leave armed men for the protection of our property ; and, even in spite of this, they have frequently stolen our blankets and great coats, or anything else they could lay their claws on. A poor woman, a soldier's wife, had washed her MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 81 blanket and hung it out to dry, when some of these miscreants, who were ever on the watch, stole it, and ran off with it into the hills, which are high and woody. This drew upon them the indig- nation of the regiment, and we formed a strong party, armed with sticks and stones, to attack them, with the view of recovering the property, and in- flicting such chastisement as might be a warning to them for the future. I was on the advance, with about twenty men, and I made a detour to cut them off from caverns to which they always flew for shelter. They observed my movement, and im- mediately detached about fifty to guard the en- trance, while the others kept their post, and we could distinctly see them collecting large stones and other missiles. One old grey-headed one, in particular, who often paid us a visit at the barracks, and was known by the name of Father Murphy, was seen distributing his orders, and planning the attack, with the judgment of one of our best ge- nerals. Finding that my design was defeated, I joined the corps de main, and rushed on to the at- tack, when a scream from Father Murphy was a 5 82 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. signal for a general encounter, and the host of ba- boons under his command rolled down enormous stones upon us, so that we were obliged to give up the contest, or some of us musl inevitably have been killed. They actually followed us 1 to our very doors, shouting in indication of victory; and, during the whole night, we heard dreadful yells and screaming; so much so, that we expected a night attack. In the morning, however, we found that all this rioting had been created by disputes about 'the division of the blanket, for we saw eight or ten of them with pieces of it on their backs, as old women wear their cloaks. Amongst the num- ber strutted Father Murphy. These rascals an- noyed us day and night, and we dared not venture out unless a party of five or six went together. One morning, Father Murphy had the consum- mate impudence to walk straight into the grenadier barracks, and he was in the very act of purloining a sergeant's regimental coat, when a corporal's guard (which had just been relieved) took the liberty of stopping the gentleman at the door, and secured him. He was a most powerful brute, and, I am persuaded, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 83 too much for any single man. Notwithstanding his frequent misdemeanors, we did not like to kill the poor creature; so, having first taken the precaution of muzzling him, we determined on shaving his head and face, and then turning him loose. To this cere- mony, strange to say, he submitted very quietly, and, when shaved, he was really an exceedingly good- looking fellow, and I have seen many a " blood" in Bond Street not half so prepossessing in his appearance. We then started him up the hill, though he seemed rather reluctant to leave us. Some of his compa- nions came down to meet him ; but, from the altera- tion which shaving his head and face had made in him, they did not know him again, and, accordingly, pelted him with stones, and beat him with sticks, in so unmerciful a manner, that poor Father Murphy actually sought protection from his enemies, and he in time became quite domesticated and tame. There are many now alive, in his Majesty's 22nd regiment of foot, who can vouch for the truth of this anecdote. We soon bade farewell to Muisenbourg, and marched to Windbourg, and were in camp for seve- ral months. Here we suffered dreadfully from the 84 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. inclemency of the weather, and from lying on damp ground in small bell tents ; added to which, our very lives were drilled out by brigade field-days, from three and four o'clock in the morning, until seven and eight o'clock at night. At this period the Caffres were committing the most terrific murders and rob- beries amongst the Dutch boors up the country. To stop these devastations, a rifle company was formed from the several corps of the 8th Dragoons, and the 22d, 34th, 65th, 81st, and 91st regiments, and placed under the command of Captain Effingham Lindsay, one of the bravest soldiers in his Majesty's army. We were dressed in green, and our pieces were browned to prevent their being seen in the woods where the Caffres congregated. About three months after the formation of the company, we were sent up the country, in conjunction with the light company of the 91st Regiment and a corps of Hot- tentots. We embarked on board the Diamond fri- gate, and reached Algoa Bay in fourteen days, hav- ing experienced bad weather. From thence we marched to Grafrenette, about five or six hundred miles in the interior, and fifteen hundred miles from MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 85 Cape Town, and took up our quarters in a Dutch church. The road from Algoa Bay to Grafrenette is hill and dale, and infested with lions, tigers, hyaenas, wolves, and elephants; and we frequently saw eight or ten a-day, at a place called Rovee Bank, a day's march on this side of the great pass. One day I went out shooting wild ducks here with another person. We came to a pool of water, sur- rounded with very high grass (some of it ten feet high), which abounded with wild ducks and geese. I took aim and fired, and had just time to see that at least one bird had fallen a victim to num- ber four, when I heard a most tremendous roar, and the whole pool was in a moment in a state of commo tion. I was in the act of plunging into the water after my butchered duck, when, imagine my asto- nishment and alarm, on seeing an enormous white elephant rush out from the grass, roaring loudly, and striking the grass aside with his trunk. Neither myself nor my companion had ever seen one before, and we had now no inclination for a second peep ; so, leaving the ducks to their fate, we took to our heels, and never stopped till we arrived safe in camp. 86 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. At every farmer's house on our line of march we found sad vestiges of murder and desolation. Whole families had been wantonly massacred by this wild and misguided race of people, whose devastations it was now our duty to check, and whose ignorance is so extraordinary, that I am persuaded they are insensible that murder is a crime. Beautiful farm-houses were to be seen still smoking; the families either murdered, or run away to seek refuge elsewhere. Not a living creature was to be seen, unless, perchance, a poor door might be discovered howling over the dead o o o body of his master ; or some wounded horse or ox, groaning with the stab of a spear or other muti- lation. The savage Caffre exults in these appalling sights ; gaping wounds, and the pangs of the dying, are to his dark and infatuated mind the very acme of enjoyment. This barbarous race, when they have succeeded in any of their murderous exploits, appear to be so excited to ecstasy, that they will jump about in a sort of phrenzy, hurling their spears in all directions, and in the most reckless manner, either at man or beast. They are quite MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 87 insensible to the value of money, which they would accept on account of its glitter only; while a more shining gilt button would be prized by them as of inestimable value. In short, they seem scarcely to possess a rational idea beyond what may tend to the gratification of the appetite ; and I have myself seen them with women's gowns, petticoats, shawls, &c. tied round their legs, and between their toes, and in this manner they would run wildly into the woods, shouting in exultation. These people had got information that we were their avowed enemies and come to destroy them, and take from them their enormous herds of cattle : they were, therefore, driven far into the interior of almost inaccessible parts of the country, where we could not follow them. Some few stragglers were left in the neighbourhood to watch our movements, with whom we had some slight skirmishes ; but, from the extreme intricacy of the woods, we could do but little with them. The Caflfres may unquestionably be considered as a formidable enemy. They are inured to war and plunder, and most of them are such famous 88 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. marksmen with their darts, that they will make sure of their aim at sixty or eighty paces' distance. When you fire upon them they will throw them- selves flat upon their faces, and thus avoid the ball ; and, even if you hit them, it is doubtful whe- ther the ball would take effect, the skins worn by them being considered to be ball-proof. Added to this, as they reside in woods, in the most inacces- sible parts of which they take refuge on being hard pressed by their enemies, an offensive war- fare against them is inconceivably arduous. Before they deliver the darts with which they are armed, they run side-ways ; the left shoulder projected forward, and the right considerably lowered, with the right hand extended behind them, the dart lying flat in the palm of the hand, the point near the right eye. When discharged from the grasp, it flies with such velocity that you can scarcely see it, and when in the air it looks like a shuttle-cock violently struck. They carry, slung on their backs, about a dozen of these wea- pons, with which single men have been known to kill lions and tigers. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 8iJ From this harassing warfare, travelling through almost impenetrable woods, over tremendous hills, and through rivers, we were soon in a terribly ragged condition. Our shoes we managed to replace from the raw hides of buffaloes, in the following manner : the foot was placed on the hide, which was then cut to the shape of the sole, and fastened to the foot by thongs made of the same material, sewed to the sole instead of upper-lea- thers. In two or three days this dried and formed to the shape of the foot, and was sure to be a fit. When we had remained at this station about two years, it was truly laughable to see the metamor- phosis of the once-white regimental trousers. Here and there pieces had been sewn in to patch up holes, and, these pieces being of materials of other texture as well as other colours, we looked, at a distance, like spotted leopards. During these two years I had sprung up some six inches, out- growing, of course, both my jacket and trousers ; and, when I was in full case for parade, my figure must have been exceedingly ludicrous. My jacket was literally a strait jacket; for, from its extreme 90 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. tightness, I could scarcely raise my hand to my head. My pantaloons or trousers had been, during the whole period, continually rising in the world, and now they would scarcely condescend to protect my protruding knees. I was but a novice at the needle, so that the patches I put on were either too small or too large. In this predicament I had to march nearly fifteen hundred miles through Africa. The rest of the men were but little better off, and we might well have been compared to Falstaff's ragged recruits, with whom he swore he would not march through Coventry. Having continued on this duty for upwards of two years, to very little purpose, the Cape of Good Hope was ordered, by the British Govern- ment (in 1801), to be given up to the Dutch. To remove the Rifle Company, and the light company of the 91st Foot, a small vessel was despatched from Cape Town to Algoa Bay, for their conveyance to the capital, preparatory to embarking for India. I was despatched over land with a Dutch boor's family, then about to leave the station for Cape Town. The whole of the officers' baggage was MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 91 committed to my care, which was a very serious charge and responsibility, through such a wild and desolate country. On this trip I had to pass along the margin of the country inhabited by the Caffres; and, although the Dutch family with whom I travelled had muskets and four waggons, these sojourners in the woods and hills neither feared them nor their guns. After laying in a good stock of powder and shot, we commenced our march in regular battle array. I was mounted on a horse, with my rifle slung over my back, always loaded, and a pistol in my holster-pipe ; on each side rode the Dutch- man's two sons ; after us, four Hottentots, armed with muskets ; then the old boss (the master) ; and, following him, the four waggons containing the families and property of all. The rear-guard con- sisted of two head servants (Hottentots), armed, on bullocks ; then four on foot, with their families, many of the women carrying two children Thus we would accomplish twenty miles a-day over the most enormous hills ; and, if we could not reach a farm-house by the setting sun (which was the time we generally halted) we selected the most open spot 92 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. we could find for our encampment, forming a square with the four waggons, keeping bur cattle inside, where they were fed. Six men out of the twelve kept watch the whole night, and were relieved every four hours, in which duty I always took a part. In fact, we were so often disturbed, either by the Caffres, or some beast of prey prowling about our little fortified encampment, that we might be said to be always watching. The Caffre possesses a great deal of cunning and craft. Their system of attack is this : under the garb of night, when all is still, save the roaring lion, the hungry tiger, or the screaching owl, they will crawl on their hands and knees, imitating the cries of any animal of the woods, or any bird of the air. At the smallest noise they will turn themselves flat on the ground, so that you may walk close by and not observe them ; and the first indication given you of having such dangerous neigh- bours, is by the incision of a spear, or the blow of a club. These imitations of the cries of animals, and chirping of birds, are well understood amongst them- selves. No wonder, then, that we should watch. It was no unusual thing in the morning to see their MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 93 spears lodged in the top of our waggons, and close by where we kept watch ; but we never attempted to leave our possessions, and resolved not to throw away our precious powder and ball on slight occa- sions. To narrate the numerous trials, watchings, privations, perils, and escapes of this trip, would of itself fill a larger space than I can devote to such a detail. Suffice it, for the present, that we at last reached Cape Town in safety. The Dutchman with whom I was travelling had two daughters ; the younger of whom, Sabina by name, was a most lovely creature. She was tall, and rather slim; of symmetrical form; in complexion, a brunette ; with black eyes and hair ; her foot ex- tremely small ; and her waist scarcely a span. Her manners were vivacious and interesting, and her education had been by no means neglected. As we proceeded on our perilous journey, this charming girl would single me out as her companion, and seek consolation in my society and conversation, from the coarseness of her father, who was a very gross man. It need scarcely be confessed by me, that I was nothing loath to be thus distinguished ; neither can 94 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. it reasonably be expected that I was long insensible to the charms of my amiable companion. I would walk by her side, while she rode my horse the whole march ; and, in this manner, day after day passed away like so many hours, and our attachment grew stronger and stronger, and at length settled into a deep-rooted affection, and was cemented by an inter- change of protestations of mutual love. She was a year younger than I ; my age being then sixteen, and her's fifteen ; but the appearance of both was far beyond that tender age. Convinced of the reciprocity of our attachment, thus we journeyed on, indulging in visions of bliss ; and it was not until we had approached within a short distance of our destination, that the idea first crossed my mind that we must soon part. Until this moment all my faculties had yielded to the fascinations of my enslaver, from the contemplation of whose beauty it had seemed treason to steal a thought ; but, now that the time approached when my duty must tear me from her, and when I re- flected that from that duty there was no possibility of shrinking without disgrace, the absolute necessity i MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 95 of separation from my beloved Sabina rushed upon my senses, and almost drove me to despair. These bitter thoughts having thus suddenly and painfully intruded, I revolved within my mind, in all ways, the possibilities of extricating myself from my perplex- ino; situation : and the more I reflected, the more o * was I distressed and embarrassed. Marriage would not have been consented to by my commanding officer, on account of my extreme youth ; the thought of any less honourable proposal I could not myself encourage for a moment : and, in short, it soon became clear to me, that there was but one road of escape from the heart-rending necessity of parting at once, and for ever, from my lovely bru- nette, desertion. The idea of being compelled to resort to such an alternative startled me; I knew the enormity of the offence, and the consequences of such a step ; but the recollection that it was my only resource haunted me day and night. As often as it intruded upon my distracted mind, I en- deavoured to drive it from me ; but it stuck to me like ivy on the crumbling tower. What to do I could not resolve. I at last mentioned the subject to 96 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Sabina, and it seemed that the thought of our approaching separation had been by her also forgot- ten in our mutual love. The moment I hinted at the possibility of parting, she turned as pale as death ; I saw the crystal tear steal down her beautiful cheek ; she trembled ; and at last swooned away. It was then the dark fiend again urged me on, and I promised, in the moment of grief and excitement, that I would desert, and follow her wherever she might go. Her sweet eye beamed ineffable plea- sure ; she seized my hand ; kissed it a hundred times; and she said, in a most pathetic manner, " Will you really return with me to my home?" I declared I would, whatever might be the result. She said, " Swear it, and I shall live ; deny me, and I shall die." The concluding part of this appeal was urged with such a searching anguish, that it drew from me a solemn promise of desertion. This resolution was communicated to her family, and one and all urged me to go, or rather return with them to their homes, pointing out the happiness I should enjoy with their beautiful sister. These were argu- ments too cogent to be resisted, and I again pro- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 97 raised to return with them. Scarcely had the fatal promise been repeated, when the recollection of my native country, my home, my country's glory, my regiment, and the disgrace attaching to the committal of so bad a crime, all rushed in quick succession upon my bewildered mind. I thought I paused; but a single glance from the eye of my beloved Sabina plainly told me that the first whisper of love would suffice to confirm me in my fatal reso- lution. We were now within sight of Cape Town, and here again my feelings, distressed at the thought of deserting, goaded me beyond description. I sometimes gave up the idea, and resolved to fly from temptation, and seek protection with my regiment; but the melodious voice of Sabina calling me by name, would at once dissipate my better resolutions, until I at last abandoned all idea of the possibility of parting. I contented myself with praying most devoutly that the regiment might have sailed ere I arrived, which would have saved me from the stigma of desertion. In the event of the regiment being still at Cape Town, I had sworn to VOL. i. F 98 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. my betrothed and her family to return to them. Thus we parted : my arrival was hailed by my com- rades with delight, as they feared I had been mur- dered by the Caffres ; and I received every kind of congratulation, and several very handsome pre- sents, from all those officers whose things I had in charge. Some hundred miles before I had reached Cape Town, the old Dutchman had tried hard to persuade me to remain behind, with all the property, till he and his family returned. This I resolutely refused : desertion was of itself bad enough, with- out adding to it the crimes of breach of trust and theft. I had not, in our long and arduous march, lost or injured a single thing, but delivered them all safe into the custody of their rightful owners, and in the evening went to see my Sabina at her friend's house, where I was informed that the family pro- posed leaving Cape Town for their home on the following Monday. After a severe struggle, I con- sented to accompany them ; for which purpose I stole out of the barracks after hours, and joined them at the appointed place outside the town. I need not say my arrival was hailed with delight, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 99 for I had kept them waiting an hour beyond the appointed time ; Sabina locked her arm in mine ; the procession moved on; and in my excessive love I forgot my crime. Reader, judge me not too harshly: consider my youth, and the temptation I had to contend against ; and, before you utterly condemn me, place yourself under the same com- bination of circumstances, and tell me how you would have acted in my place. We had proceeded about thirty miles from Cape Town, and were busily engaged building castles of future bliss, when (oh, short-sighted mortals !) the provost-marshal thrust his head into the waggon, and pointed a pistol at me, saying, if I attempted to move, he would shoot me. This mandate was too pointed to be disobeyed ; and, in ten minutes after, I was on my way back to Cape Town, having been dragged from the embraces of her for whom I had sacrificed my ah 1 . From that moment I never saw, or heard of, the fair Sabina or her family, who would also undoubtedly have been seized, but that I took all the blame upon my own shoulders. I was tried by a regimental court-martial for being absent F2 100 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. from morning parade, and for desertion, and sen- tenced to receive 999 lashes, being more than fifty lashes for every year I was old ; but my commanding officer was a kind and affectionate man, and had known me from the day I entered his regiment ; he could not consent that I should receive a single lash, but sent for me, and admonished me like a parent, painted the crime of desertion in all its enormities, and dismissed me, with the assurance of his full forgiveness and friendship, adding, that he was assured I had been deluded away by the Dutch- man and his family. This I never would acknow- ledge, until some months afterwards, when, knowing that they must be far out of our reach, I related the whole transaction. Some of the Dutch troops, to whom we were to resign the Cape, had already arrived from Java and Batavia, and other Dutch settlements, many of whom flocked to the wharf to see us embark, and, where they dared, to offer insults. A huge brute sidled up to me, with his greasy mustachios, which he began to curl and twist between his fore-finger and thumb, at the same time chucking me under MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 101 the chin, and calling me a pretty boy. For this I took the liberty of saluting him with a kick on the shins, for which he attempted to seize my ears ; but I fixed my bayonet (a weapon the Dutch have a great aversion to) ; so he marched off. The following morning we embarked for India, on board a small American vessel that had been lying a con- siderable time at the Cape. When the land was buried in distance, I could not help reviewing the many providential escapes I had already experienced during my short career, and the mercies that had been extended to me in the most perilous situations. Did men but oftener attribute them to that great source from whence all our mercies are derived, we should think less of our often fancied hardships, and feel grateful for the blessings we enjoy. In my case, it was impos- sible to look back upon the last four years 'of my life, without trembling at the scenes I had been carried through in safety, and addressing a prayer of thanksgiving to the fountain of all love, for the unmerited protection that had been extended towards me. 102 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. We had scarcely got to sea a day, when we found that it was a difficult matter to determine which was the more cranky, the vessel or the cap- tain. She took in water in large quantities, he grog ; she would not go steady, neither would he ; she rolled and pitched, so did he ; she shook her headj so did he ; she was often sea-sick, so was he : in fact, they were a cranky pair. She had lain so long at the jCape, that her bottom had become foul, and she would not go more than four knots an hour, if it blew a hurricane, and then she seemed to tear the very water asunder. We prowled about the deep like the wandering Jew on earth, until at last our water began to evince symptoms of decline, and it was justly feared we should soon suffer much under a hot sun for want of that great essential ; but about a week after we stumbled upon land, which, after a great deal of recon- noitreing, our wise captain pronounced to be some part of Sumatra. However this might be, it was a welcome sight to us ; but, as it was late in the evening when we discovered it, we were obliged to steer about the whole night. About ten o'clock MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 103 the clouds began to thicken, and the wind blew from shore ; about twelve it blew a smart gale, and we hove to ; our vessel lay like a log of wood, scarcely moving, till the morning dawned, when the storm had subsided in a great degree, and we stood in for land. The hills looked woody, and the valleys fertile. We at last got into a small bay, or basin, where the surrounding scenery was beautiful in the extreme. Several canoes were to be seen steering up the creeks, and men and women run- ning into the woods, in seeming alarm and con- sternation. We anchored about 300 yards from the shore. The movements of the natives did not evince any friendly inclination towards us, but the contrary ; and it was fortunate that we had the means of taking by compulsion what we should willingly have purchased, wood and water, those two essentials to man's existence. To convince them, if possible, that our appearance in this basin was not of a hostile nature, a small boat was des- patched, with six or seven men, four of them armed. I was one, and we approached the shore with great caution. We could plainly see people 104 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. hiding behind trees, and carrying away their move- ables from some huts which stood about two hun- dred yards from shore, where we could also discover fishing-nets, canoes that had been dragged ashore, a few domestic fowls, and one or two goats and kids. We beckoned them to approach, but they seemed shy, and would not come near us. The captain's servant was a native of Ceylon, and could speak several languages. We landed him, but he was justly afraid to venture far from the boat. He soon, however, made them under- stand the object for which we put into this port, and informed them that we were willing to pur- chase both wood and water at a reasonable price. This they would not consent to, but re- quested us immediately to weigh anchor and leave the bay, or dread the displeasure of their king, whom they had apprised of our intrusion into their country. It appeared from this that we had no alternative but to take what we required by force ; we, therefore, disregarded the threats of the sub- jects of his black Majesty, and the following morn- ing got out the long-boat, with implements for MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 105 getting in water, and cutting wood. The latter was already cut to our hands, as the surrounding country was one mass of fuel, that had decayed, and been blown down by the tempest. The water was close by, a most beautiful crystal stream ; but the mo- ment we had commenced work, we saw an enormous number of people, with swords, spears, and dag- gers, approaching towards us. We formed a line, primed and loaded, and prepared for a fight; but, resolved not to be the aggressors, we again des- patched the native servant to endeavour to reason them into compliance ; for which purpose, a small safeguard went with him. After a great deal of threatening and blustering, they consented to sell the water for five dollars per butt, and the wood in proportion. This exorbitant claim was of course rejected with indignation ; but, still wishing to keep friendly with them, we offered one dollar per butt. This was refused by them, and the servant returned. Meantime, we continued filling our water utensils and collecting fire-wood, with the greatest industry, keeping our eyes on them all the while. There appeared to be a deal of consultation among the F5 106 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHUT. natives, and a number of messengers going and coming : at last an arrow was fired, which fell close % to where I was standing. Another soon followed it ; and the officer in command of our party then ordered two or three men to fire in the air. This alarmed them so, that they took to their heels, and ran shouting into the woods, and we went hard to work. In about an hour, the inhabitants, ' encouraged by our pacific appearance, sent a man to inform us, that " his Majesty had been pleased to permit the strangers to tread upon the margin of his country, and drink his water of mercy," (so interpreted by the native servant) ; and that " his Majesty would come and hold communion of friend- ship with the strangers on the following day, if the day was auspicious ; that we might drink as much water of his mercy as we pleased, and cut as much wood ; but his Majesty begged we would not attempt to make incursions into his country, as he could not be held responsible, if his elephants and bull- dogs got loose, and destroyed the strangers; and further, that he would, in his most gracious mercy, send us all sorts of fruits, &c., at a moderate price." MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 107 To this message we returned a very gracious answer ; and about ten the following morning a great number of boats were seen coming down the several creeks, which, concentrating at the bottom of a small village a little way up the largest creek, at last came on their way towards the ship, in num- ber about thirty, with about four men in each boat. It had been before understood that not one person would be admitted with arms, and only ten people at a time. His Majesty did not choose to make his appearance, but had instructed those that did come to say, that he had consulted his divines, and they had pronounced the day an inauspicious one. We were, therefore, deprived of his royal presence ; but, if he was as big a thief as those he sent to represent him, his Majesty was qualified for a more exalted sphere the gallows : such a set of rogues I have never seen in the whole course of my life. They brought oranges, plantains, &c. and some few ducks, chickens, and eggs, for barter ; but they were such thieves that you could not trust them even to handle the article you wished to barter. If you trusted it out of your own hand, it was 108 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. handed by them from one to another, and ultimately to their canoes, and then you might " fish for it," to use a soldier's term. A ludicrous scene took place between a tar and one of these fellows. Jack offered his blanket for sale, as he had now got into a warm climate, and it was of no further use to him. Jack, in good, sound, and intelligible English, par- ticularized the length, breadth, and quality of his blanket, qualifying his description with many an oath, not one syllable of which did the purchaser understand. During the examination of the said blanket, Jack kept hold of one end, pledging his tarry honour to the authenticity of his assertion, that it was a real Witney. Some one at this mo- ment took off Jack's attention, and he withdrew his hand from the blanket, which soon found its way to the canoe. The tar uttered sundry imprecations touching his " day-lights" and " grappling-irons," and was up on deck, and down into the canoe, in a moment, overhauling every thing; but neither the blanket nor the purchaser was to be found. At this the sailor ran about like a madman, until, at last, he espied the fellow moving down the fore-hatchway. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 109 Being certain of his man, he took one hop, skip, and jump, and fastened on the fellow's neck, vociferat- ing, (< Halloa, shipmate, where have you stowed my blanket ? Come, skull it over, or I shall board you, before you can say luff." The fellow did not, of course, understand one word he said ; but Jack soon brought him to his bearings, as he called it, by mooring him on the deck, and swearing that, if he did not " skull over the Witney," he would tear him into rope-yarns. Thus roughly treated, poor blackey bellowed out lustily for mercy, which brought down the first officer, who asked Jack Carter (for that was his name), what was the matter. He replied, " This here black rascal has grappled my blanket, so I am just after boarding him ; and, if he don't shore it out, I'll sink him, or Jack Carter is no sailor." Here he commenced hammering his head against the deck, until the knave said some- thing to one of his countrymen, who ran forward where his canoe was, and put an end to the dispute by producing the Witney. The following day we again bent our way towards India, with light hearts and cheerful countenances. 1 10 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. We soon reached the Pilot, cruising off the sand- heads of Saugar, and steered our way up the River Hoogley. This river is wide, and its current power- ful. The views on each side, when you get as far as Fultah, are romantic, and we wore out our eyes in feasting on nature's beauties. On rounding the cor- ner, or protruding neck of land, on which stand the company's* botanical gardens, Fort William first ap- pears.; then Calcutta, with its innumerable shipping, bursts upon the view, and the beholder gazes on the beautiful fortification of the fort, and the city of palaces, with astonishment and delight. We passed the fort in full sail, and were hailed from its ramparts by the artillery, and part of the 10th Regiment of Foot, then in garrison there. We returned the wel- come greeting with three loud cheers, and in five minutes after came to anchor off Esplenade Ghent, after a voyage of more than five months. Ill CHAPTER VI. THE instant the anchor was gone, boats were alongside, for the purpose of conveying the two com- panies ashore ; and, in a couple of hours, we were safely lodged in our quarters at Fort William. Here the five companies of his Majesty's 10th Regiment of Foot joined our lads, with bottles of rum, and a scene ensued that was beyond description ; drinking, sing- ing, dancing, shouting, fighting, and bottles flying in all directions. The sight was terrific ; so I marched oflfto the bazaar, to get out of the bustle ; went round the fort, and visited everything worth seeing. On my return to the barracks, I found the men lying in a state of the. most disgusting drunkenness ; some on the floor, others on cots, trunks, and boxes. In those days I knew not the taste of spirituous liquors ; and, indeed, for years after: consequently, instead of joining those scenes of revelry and discord, they 112 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. were to me offensive and disgusting in the extreme. The very smell of arrack would at any time drive me from the barrack, and many a night have I slept in the open air to avoid the fumes arising from its use, as well as the drunken jargon of those who drank it to excess. I had now attained the age of eighteen years ; was healthy and active ; a zealous (though very hum- ble) member of the profession I had chosen ; and an ardent aspirant to share in my country's glory. With these feelings and qualifications, assuring my- self that, now I was in India, I was in the wide field of promise, I began to revolve in my mind if I could not better my situation. I was then fifer and bugler in the light company, the kind captain of which, seeing my anxious spirit, generously under- took to improve me in reading and writing, of which I at that time knew but little. In the course of one year's close application, I so much improved as to keep his books of the company and his own private accounts. I then begged of him that I might be re- moved from the drummers to the ranks. I did not like the appellation drum-boy. As I have seen MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 113 many a man riding post, who was at least sixty years old, still called a postboy, so, if a drummer had attained the age of Methusalem, he would never acquire any other title than drum-boy. Indeed, there were many other things I could never bring myself to relish in any eminent degree : such as flogging (to say nothing of being flogged), and danc- ing attendance on a capricious sergeant-major, or his more consequential spouse, who is queen of the sol- diers' wives, and mother of tipplers, and an invita- tion-card from whom to tea and cards is considered a ponderous obligation. In about a week after having made this request, I was transferred from the drummers' room, and pro- moted to the rank of corporal. This was promotion indeed, three steps in one day! From drum-boy to private; from a battalion company to the Light Bobs ; and from private to corporal. I was not long before I paraded myself in the tailor's shop, and tipped the master-snip a rupee to give me a good and neat cut, such as became a full corporal. By evening parade my blushing honours came thick upon me. The captain came upon parade, and read 1 14 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. aloud the regimental orders of the day, laying great stress upon, " to the rank of corporal, and to be obeyed accordingly." I was on the right of the com- pany, being the tallest man on parade, when I was desired by the captain to fall out, and give the time. I did so, and never did a fugleman cut more capers ; but here an awkward accident happened. In shouldering arms, I elevated my left hand high in the air; extended my leg in an oblique direction, with the point of my toe just touching the ground ; but, in throwing the musket up in a fugle-like man- ner, the cock caught the bottom of my jacket, and down come brown Bess flat upon my toes, to the great amusement of the tittering company. I must confess, I felt queer; but I soon recovered my piece and my gravity, and all went on smoothly, till I got into the barracks, where a quick hedge-firing commenced from all quarters; such as, " Shoul- der hems!" " Shoulder hems!" " Twig the fugle- man!" This file-firing increased to volleys, till I was obliged to exert my authority by threatening them with the guard-house, for riotous conduct; but this only increased the merriment, so I pocketed MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 115 the affront, as the easiest and most good-natured mode of escape; my persecutors ceased, and thus ended my first parade as a non-commissioned officer. In my new sphere of life I now felt that there was, unquestionably, some satisfaction derivable from being " Clothed in a little brief authority." A corporal has to take command of small guards ; is privileged to visit the sentinels whenever he pleases his suggestions are frequently attended to by his superiors ; and his orders must be promptly obeyed by those below him. There is certainly a pleasure in all this, and a man rises proportionately in his own esteem. In short, to confess the truth, I now looked upon a drum-boy as little better than his drum. Full of the importance of my situation and duties, thus passed the time for nearly six months, at the end of which I was advanced to the rank of sergeant, and, shortly afterwards, to that of pay-sergeant, in the same regiment. The post of pay-sergeant is certainly one of importance, and he who holds it a personage of no small consideration. He feeds and 116 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. clothes the men \ lends them money at moderate interest and on good security; and sells them watches and seals, on credit, at a price somewhat above what they cost, to be sure, but the mere sight of which, dangling from a man's fob, has been known to gain him the character of a sober steady fellow, and one that should be set down for promo- tion. Thus, at least, good may sometimes be educed from evil ; and, as it is not my intention to enter into a detail of the chicanery practised among the minor ranks in the army, let it suffice that I never served in a company in which every individual could not buy, sell, exchange, lend, and borrow, on terms peculiar to themselves. Shortly after my promotion, an order arrived for the two flank companies of the regiment to proceed to join the army then in the field, with all possible speed. We were to proceed by land, the distance about twelve hundred miles, and the season winter. Every hand was busily engaged in making the neces- sary preparations for the journey, equipping our- selves as lightly as possible ; when an unfortunate mis- understanding occurred, which was but too likely, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 117 not only to prevent our journey, but to put an end to some of our lives. On the arrival of troops at Fort William, it had been the custom to stop from each soldier of his Ma- jesty's army, eight rupees; but for what purpose, strange to say, they were never told. This deduction had been made from the pay of our two Companies without any explanation ; and, as the men were now proceeding on active service, it was but right and na- tural that they should desire to know (as we had been accustomed in the regiment), why any part of this pay was withheld from them. They called upon their officers for explanation, who were as much in the dark as themselves. The greater part of the two companies then marched, in a sober deliberate man- ner, towards Major-General Sir Hughen Bailey's quarters, to seek.redress. Here they were given to understand that the sum of eight rupees was custo- mary to be stopped from each soldier, to insure him a decent burial. This explanation only added fuel to flame, and excited in the hearts of the men (few of whom, poor fellows! ever wanted burial, as will be seen in the sequel of this narrative), the most 118 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. bitter rancour against such a custom. The men re- turned to the barracks; liquor was resorted to to feed the spark already kindled in their bosoms ; till at length they became bent upon open rebellion and mutiny. This spirit of disaffection was manifested most strongly in the grenadier company. Both com- panies were doatingly fond of their officers, who took great pains to explain to them that violent measures, and taking the law into their own hands, would never be likely to get their wrongs redressed ; but that, on the contrary,- those very acts deprived them of the power of interceding for them, and explaining to the proper authorities the grounds of their complaints. This timely explanation had its due effect, and we, one and all (I mean the Light Company), said, " March us before the enemy, that we may wipe away this our first disobedience ;" but those who had drank deeper of the poisonous cup of rebellion, in the Grenadier Company, were still unappeased and spreading wide the infectious sparks of mutiny ; so much so, that the officers were again called in to quell them. Their colonel they loved dearly ; he was a father to his men ; the adjutant they hated. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 119 On the arrival of the former, the men became pas- sive, and the tumult was hushed ; but, when the lat- ter appeared, the shouting of, " Kick him out !" " Turn him out !" resounded through the barracks, and he had a narrow escape for his life. When he had left, the tumult again ceased; the men retired to ,*- their cots; and, in an hour, all was silent as the grave. The next morning the eight rupees were refunded; and, on the morning following, we left the fort, with the band of the regiment playing us through Calcutta, where we were met and hailed by all assembled. Every face smiled with joy ; every breast beat high for glory. The country through which we passed was fertile and well inhabited ; plenty smiled around, and all seemed peace and contentment. Here presided English justice ; the Pariah cottager was protected in his reed-thatched hovel, and the ploughman was seen smiling over his nodding crops. We lived like fighting-cocks ; thought nothing of five or six and twenty miles a day ; every face wore the smile of contentment ; all were healthy ; and the merry song and story beguiled some of our more dreary night-marches. 120 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Thus merrily we reached the army, our marches averaging twenty-six miles a day. We were met some miles from camp by his Excellency Lord Lake, the Commander- in-Chief, who said that he was delighted to see us. At this flattering greeting of the Commander-in-Chief, we gave three cheers, in which his lordship and staff heartily joined us. I must confess I felt at this moment sensations I was a stranger to before j a kind of elevation of soul indescribable, accompanied by a consciousness that I could either have laughed heartily or cried bitterly. Nearer camp we were met and greeted by nearly the whole European army. Such shout- ing and huzzaing I never heard, nor could I have imagined that the mind of man could be worked up to such a height of feeling. For myself, I could not help dropping a tear, for what, I cannot tell ; but so it was. On reaching the general hospital, we saw many men without legs, some without arms, others with their heads tied up; and it was a most affect- ing sight to behold these poor wounded creatures waving their shattered stumps, and exerting their feeble frames, to greet us warmly as we passed MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 121 along. The scene that followed would beggar description : drinking, dancing, shouting, that made the Byannah Pass echo again ! Reader, believe me when I assure you that in those days I knew not, as I said before, the taste of spirituous liquors ; consequently, I did not join in these bacchanalian orgies, but reconnoitred the camp, which, to my spirits, was far more exhilirating than the jovial cup. Three days restored us to some kind of order and discipline, and all went on smoothly. Hoolkah, a native Pindaree, was at this time in full force, with about sixty thousand horse, and twenty-five thousand infantry, encamped a short distance from us, ever on the alert to watch our movements, and supported by Ameerkhan, and other self-created Rajahs. From the very nature of this service, against a flyin genemy, thoroughly ac- quainted with the localities of the country, we had but little chance of coming up with them. Any- thing like a general engagement they studiously avoid; plunder only is their aim. In this wsy they pay themselves, giving their chiefs any great article VOL. I. G 122 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. of value that may fall into their hands ; that is to say, if they are known to have it. Their wives are excellent horse-women, and many of them good shots with the matchlocks, and active swords- women. They are always mounted on the best horse, and it is not an unusual thing for them to carry one child before them and another behind, at full speed. The Pindaree horsemen (and indeed all horsemen in India) have a decided advantage over the English. Their horses are so taught that they can turn them right round for fifty times without the horse's moving his hind legs from the same circle, or pull them up at full speed instanta- neously. Our horses are heavy, fat, and quite unmanageable with the bit ; it takes them as long to get round as a ship ; and you cannot pull them up under ten or twenty yards. Some of their horsemen have spears seventeen feet in length, which they handle in so masterly a style that singly they are dangerous persons to have any thing to say to ; but I have frequently seen Lord Lake charge, with his body-guard, a whole column of them, and put them to the rout. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 123 A few days after our arrival, we moved on towards Jeypore, these plundering rascals riding close by us, manoeuvring on our flanks, and giving us a shot now and then, to let us know they wished to be neighbourly. On one of these occasions it nearly cost me my life. We were in column on one side of a field, near some high corn called juwar, about half a mile from our column on the other side of the field. I had at this time the fastest pony in India, called Apple, on which I rode on a-head to the extreme end of the field, to have a shot at the head of their line of march ; for which imprudence my own life was nearly the forfeit, for round the corner I came almost in contact with about a hundred' of the enemy. I soon wheeled round, and galloped back again as fast as my pony could carry me : they fired at me fifty or sixty shots, not one of which touched me. Ever after, I kept a little more within bounds. We had frequent skirmishes with detached par- ties, killing numbers with our six-pounders ; but we could not come up with them. We therefore made our way towards Muttra, a great haunt for 124 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. the Pindarees, where we lay for some time, trying to surprise them ; but they were ever on the watch, as the rattling of our swords might be heard a mile off. Tired of this service, we took possession of the town of Muttra, driving them out. Here we had glorious plunder shawls, silks, satins, khem- kaubs, money, &c. ; and some of the men made a good thing of it. I was not idle ; but an untoward circumstance for a time delayed my exertions : I was quartered in a large square or Rajah's palace, and had to ascend several flights of steps to get at anything worth notice. All the way up this stair- case were little iron plated doors, locked with several locks. As Paul Pry says, I thought this " rather mysterious ;" I therefore commenced lock- smith and knocked off the locks, when I found the room full of bales of silk and shawls. I had just removed one of the largest bales from the top, and was in the very act of walking off with it, when, on turning round, a most brilliant eye met mine, set in one of the most hideous heads I had ever beheld. What monster this could be I could not at first imagine, nor did I stop very long to consider, but MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 125 marched off rather precipitately with my prize ; being at the moment more frightened than I was willing to confess, even to myself. On reflection, I was ashamed of my fears; so, having "screwed my courage to the sticking-post," in I marched again, with a drawn sword in my hand, and having con- vinced myself, by a second peep, that my friend with the glaring eyes was no other personage than one of the Gods Mahadooh, I saluted him with a cut across his face for taking up his quarters in that solitary place, and took the liberty of making free with all the silks and shawls under his protection. A short time after, we returned to quarters at Cawnpore, to spend the produce of our short campaign, Hoolkah having retired to a distant part of India, to his winter quarters. Early in the following spring our active enemy was again in the field, and approaching the city of Delhi, where the inhabitants were not very well disposed towards us, and in which we had but a small force of native troops. We immediately marched, by forced marches, to their relief, and found Mr. Hoolkah had been besieging that place, 126 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. but that, some two or three days before our arrival, he had raised the siege and crossed the river Jumna; a necessary precaution on his part, for our cavalry were lightly equipped. Colonel Burn, to his praise be it spoken, was marching from the opposite direction towards Delhi, for the succour of that place, with five companies of native in- fantry, when he unfortunately fell in with the whole body of Hoolkah's cavalry, and, wonderful to say, he made his retreat good to Sha/nlee, a large town, fighting every inch of his way. There he took possession of a small gurry, or mud fort, for the space of six days, defending himself against an immense body of the enemy, suffering the most dreadful privations, and worn out by continual watching. The grand army crossed the Jumna, to the rescue of Colonel Burn and his little band of native heroes, and in two days afforded him the succour he so much wanted, having, with this view, performed a distance of eighty-four miles in forty-eight hours. Never shall I forget the cheering of the handful of men on the ramparts of this little asylum. His lordship, to whom I was MEMOIRS OF JOHN SH1PP. 127 close, dropped the tear of sympathy when waving his hat to them. I had that morning preceded the army for the purpose of taking up the encamp- ment, and on the approach of our advance-guard, some of the straggling enemy were seen loitering behind the main body, who had marched early that morning. We had two six-pounders with us, five troops of his Majesty's 8th Light Dragoons, five troops of his Majesty's 24th Dragoons, with a regiment of Native Cavalry ; and' we succeeded in killing a few of these marauders, who were plundering and laying waste the whole country. We could always trace their line of march by the dreadful destruction they had committed. Some few sepoys were killed from the tops of the houses of Shamlee, many of which were higher than the little fort. For this breach of good faith his lord- ship gave up the town to plunder. The scene that followed would take an abler pen than mine to describe breaking open houses and boxes ; tearing open bales of shawls, silks, and satins ; and fighting hand to hand : the tumult is inconceivable to any one who has not witnessed such a scene. 128 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. We marched the following morning, treading upon the heels of the enemy ; but, as they had a day's start of us, and their horses wiU go from fifty to sixty miles a day, it was impossible for us to come up with them. On our road we passed several villages that had been burned to the ground ; poor, naked, and plun- dered creatures, men, women, and children ; burn- ing corn-fields ; dead elephants, camels, horses, and bullocks ; and the road was strewed with moah-berry, on which they feed their horses for the purpose of making them drunk, in which state it is incredible the astonishing distance they will go, though you can count their ribs a mile off. The rear-guard of the enemy generally kept their eye on our advanced-guard, detaching parties on each of our flanks, and, by way of amusement, giving us occasionally a shot. I recollect, on one of these days' marches, a most impudent fellow, mounted on a beautiful horse and finely bedizened, came within two hundred yards of our column, passing upon us some unpleasant epithets, and once or twice firing his matchlock. He at last MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 129 wounded a man of the native cavalry. This so annoyed me that I asked his lordship if he would permit me to attack him. His answer was, "O, never mind him, Shipp : we will catch him before he is a week older." I never in my life felt more inclined to disobey orders, for he was still capering close by us. An officer commanding one of the six-pounders, came up at the same time, and told his lordship that, if he would permit him, he would knock him over the first shot, or lose his commis- sion. His lordship said, " Well, try." At this moment the fellow fired his matchlock again, and immediately commenced reloading his piece. Our gun was unlimbered, laid, and fired ; the ball, striking the horse's rump, passed through the man's back, and the poor animal's neck, and we said " So much for the Pin." We marched, on the average, about twenty-five miles a-day ; but we were obliged to push our poor horses on even faster than this, for Hoolkah was making his way to Futtyghur, a small military station. This is a rich city; and, no doubt, his inclination was to plunder and burn it. He G5 130 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. arrived at Furrackabad, about three or four miles from the above station, the day before us, for the purpose of exacting money from the Rajah there. The little force at the station was withdrawn from the barracks, and placed for the protection of the mint, which had a short time before been esta- blished there. In the evening they arrived, and on the morning of the same day we marched up- wards of twenty miles, halted till eight o'clock at night then made ourselves as light as possible, and again moved on, intending to surprise them before daylight the following morning. We had twenty-eight miles to v accomplish before that time, and there is no doubt, from the judicious arrange- ment made for this attack, by his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, that scarcely a man would have escaped us, had not a most unfortunate circumstance occurred, which was near destroying all our plans. An ammunition-tumbrel belonging to one of our o o six-pounders, from the rapid rate at which we were moving, blew up within half a mile of the enemy, who were buried in the arms of sleep, they having made a forced march, so as to prevent the MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 131 possibility of our reaching them. This alarmed a few of those who happened to be awake; but they supposed it the station-gun at Futtyghur. This station-gun was really fired about ten minutes after, and some of them got on the move ; but thousands of them were still asleep. I would recommend all officers who serve in India, to attack the enemy, if possible, in the night. At this time it often happens that not a single sentinel is to be found on the watch. This want of vigilance is to be attributed to their eating and smoking too much opium, a practice carried by them to such an excess, as com- pletely to deaden their faculties ; from which, their stupor in sleep is so extraordinary, that if a gun were fired under a man's nose, he would scarcely have the power to awake. When the day dawned, they were surrounded, and a general attack commenced on all sides. Some were cut to pieces in their sleep, others in endea- vouring to escape. The carnage became terrific; his Majesty's 8th, 24th, and 25th Dragoons, two regiments of native cavalry, and a corps of horse- artillery, mowing them down with grape-shot in 132 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. hundreds. About two thousand were left dead on the field, and, amongst the number, several poor tradespeople from Furrackabad, who had come to the spot to sell their commodities. We pursued them many miles from the scene of action ; they, in their flight, burning the barracks and adjacent vil- lages. The same evening, or the following morn- ing, the enemy reached the station of Mainporee, a distance of seventy-two miles. At this station we had one native corps only ; but they were prepared to receive them. This little band took possession of the house of the judge (Mr. Cunningham), and defended themselves against Hoolkah's immense body of horse. The battle of Furrackabad was on the 16th or 17th day of November, 1804; after which the enemy shifted their course towards the Fort of Deig, the property of the Bhurtpore Rajah. In the neighbourhood were his infantry, about twenty-five thousand men, with upwards of a hundred pieces of cannon. Hoolkah little dreamt that, on the 13th of the same month, his infantry had met with a similar defeat to that which his cavalry had experienced on MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 133 the 16th. Major-General Frazer, with a small force, had completely routed and defeated them, taking all their guns and stores. This action was at several intervals extremely doubtful, our force being so inadequate to that of the enemy. We had no European regiment there, except the Company's European regiment, and the 76th Foot, both corps not more than six or seven hundred men. The enemy sought protection under the walls of the fort, and, although our ally (the governor of the Fort of Deig) fired on our army, General Frazer, seeing the danger of a defeat, charged at the head of the 76th, supported by the European regiment and Na- tive troops, and succeeded in driving them from their guns, and from the protection of the fort; but, in the heat of the action, the gallant general received a ball in the foot, and was obliged to retire from the field. He died a short time afterwards. Colonel the Honourable W. Monson, on whom the com- mand devolved, completed his work, and a decisive victory was the result. Hoolkah, being informed of the disaster of his infantry, then shifted his course towards Bhurtpore, demanding immense sums of 134 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. money from the Rajah, under threats of laying waste his country, which at that time might be called the garden of India. His encampment was close under the walls of the fort, leaving a body of about two thousand men to harass and annoy us. About the 18th of December, we took up a posi- tion before the Fort of Deig, and in two days after broke ground against it. The two companies to which I belonged led the column, carrying tools for working. The night was as dark as pitch, and bit- terly cold. Secrecy was the great object of our mission, and we slowly approached the vicinity of the fort, steering our course towards a small village about eight hundred yards from the spot, where we halted under shelter from their guns. This village had been set on fire two days before, and its inmates compelled to take shelter in the fort. Small parties were despatched in search of eligible ground for trenches, and within breaking-distance. I was despatched alone through the desolate village, to see what was on the other side. I was yet but a novice in soldiering; and, believe me, reader, I had no great fancy for this job ; but an order could not MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 135 be disobeyed, so off I marched, my ears extended wide to catch the most distant sound. I struck into a wide street, and, marching on tiptoe, passed two or three poor solitary bullocks, who were dying for want of food. These startled me for the moment, but not another creature could I see. I at one time thought I heard voices, and that I could see a blue light burning on the fort, from which I inferred that I was getting pretty close to it. Just as I had made up my mind that this must be the case, I distinctly heard a voice calling out, " Khon hie?" in English, "'Who is there?" I was rivetted to the spot, and could not move till the words were repeated ; when . I stole behind one of the wings of a hut close on my right. Soon after, I heard the same man say, " Quoi tah mea ne deckah;" which is, " I am sure I saw somebody." Another voice answered, " Gud- dah, hogah;" which signifies, " A jackass, I sup- pose;" for there were several wandering about. I fully agreed with the gentleman who spoke last; but was determined to throw off the appellation as quickly as possible, by endeavouring to find my way back. In attempting to make my retreat with as little noise as possible, I put my foot into some fire. 136 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. This compelled me to withdraw rather precipitately, and they heard me, when one of them said, " Hi quoi'" which is, " There certainly is somebody." The other replied, " Kis wastah nay tuckeet cur- rah" "Why don't you ascertain it, then?" Hear- ing this, I dashed into another hut, and squatted myself down close, resolved, at least, to have a fight for it. A man passed the door of the hut twice; but, at last, crying out, " Catty ek lungrah bile hie" which signifies, " There is only one lame bullock," he rejoined his party. The attempt to steal away in so dark a night would have been im- practicable; I must infallibly have been heard. I resolved, therefore, to have a run for it, and off I bolted, up the same street through which I had come, when a whole volley of matchlocks was sent after me, but they did not attempt to follow; at least, as far as I know, for I did not stop to look behind me. I arrived safe at the division, not a little frightened; and I can venture to say that (the elephant affair excepted), I never ran so fast before in my life. This afterwards proved to be a strong cavalry piquet. We at last took possession of the village, and MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 137 established a dep6t there, and a rising ground about two or three hundred yards from it was the spot selected for our batteries. We were at first heard, when the fort commenced a heavy firing, but in the wrong direction. Every man was employed in dig- ging a sufficient space to lie down in, and, in the course of a ^couple of hours, we were covered and protected from their shot. We then erected batte- ries ; and, by daylight in the morning, every thing was finished, and we were so close to the enemy that we could distinctly hear English spoken*, and the reveille beaten. On Christmas eve, as dark and cold a night as ever blew from the heavens, the breach was re- ported practicable, and the rising of the moon was a signal for marching to the storm. She did rise, in splendid effulgence, over one of the highest bas- tions of the fort we were about to storm; and we could see, by her light, spears on the ramparts as thick as plants in a new-set forest. We were now * The English, which we were confident we heard spoken on this occasion, was, no doubt, by a drummer who had deserted from the 76th Regiment, and who was afterwards found dead in the fort. 138 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. and then saluted with a solitary gun from the fort, to let us know they were not asleep; blue lights were seen burning on their ramparts, and they oc- casionally indulged us with a rocket or two, which played beautifully in the air. The soldiers, seeing I was a spirited youth, and a competitor with them for glory, gave me a few sa- lutary hints, especially an " old veteran" of the 76th Foot, who had been then fighting about twenty years in the East. Among the hints he gave me were these : 1st. Never to pass a man lying down, or supposed to be dead, without giving him the point of the bayonet or sword; for it was a common trick of theirs to lay themselves down on your ap- proach, and then to watch the opportunity of cut- ting you down. 2nd. Whenever I saw a rocket, or shell, fall near me, to get as close to it as possi- ble, and lay myself flat on my face. This was un- doubtedly very excellent advice; but I soon got tired of killing dead men, and lying down every time I saw a rocket; the having neglected to do which, on one occasion, however, nearly cost me my life, which I shall mention in its proper place. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 139 The storming party consisted of about seven hundred men, composed of two companies of his Majesty's 22d Regiment, ,two of the Company's European regiments, and the rest Native troops, the whole under the command of Colonel Ball, a brave old hero, but so feeble, that he was obliged to be pushed up the track of glory. The two flank com- panies to which I belonged led the column. Ser- geant Bury, of the Grenadier Company, headed the foremost; but, being wounded at the moment, he was compelled to leave the battery. I volunteered to take his place. The enemy had a strong intrench- ment between our batteries and the breach, with innumerable guns, so placed as to have a cross fire on the storming party. However, we soon fought our way through their intrenchments, our gallant Captain (Lindsay) cheering, and boldly- leading us on. Crossing these trenches, this brave officer was cut with a spear in the arm, and also received a severe wound from a sabre ; but his gallantry and zeal were so great, that he could not be prevailed upon to retire from the scene of action. A little on our right I saw some of the 140 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. enemy point a gun at us. Immediately, with three or four comrades, I rushed out to spike it ; for which purpose, I was in the act of searching for the touchhole, to put a nail in it, when one of the enemy's gollandauze (artillery-men) fired the gun off, and I was thrown on my back in the trench, and the same man was in the act of cutting me to pieces, when a grenadier of our company, named Shears, shot him, and I once more escaped. For- tunately for us, the whole of the enemy's great guns were elevated too much, owing to which the shots passed over our heads. If they had been properly directed, we must have been annihilated to a man. Within fifty or sixty paces from the breach, I received a matchlock ball in the" head, which dropped me to the ground, the blood flowing profusely. When I came a little to myself from the stun, I found myself impelled onward by one of our companies, who were close together, and running stooping to avoid the shots, which, being near the breach, were uncomfortably thick ; but we reached, and soon planted the British flag on the summit of the bastion which was breached. Our MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 141 opponents fought hard to resist our entrance, throw- ing immense stones, pieces of trees, stink-pots,* bundles of straw set on fire, spears, large shots, &c. ; but resistance was in vain : we were deter- mined to conquer. In spite of this laudable resolu- tion, however, we found some hard work cut out for us on making good our ascent. The streets in the fort were narrow, running across each other, and every ten yards guns were placed, for the purpose of raking the whole streets. Added to this, many of the enemy had got into high houses, in which there were loop-holes, from which they could fire down upon us, without the possibility of our getting at them. Near the corner of a street, in a kind of nook, I saw our dear Captain Lindsay attacked by five or six of the enemy. He was on one knee, and quite exhausted, having lost much blood from his for- mer wounds ; but, to our great joy, we were just in time to save him, and punish some of his as- * , As this term occurs here for the first time, and may appear to be somewhat unseemly, it may be well that the polite reader should be informed, that it is commonly used in the army, and means a vessel filled with combustibles, tar, brimstone, &c. 142 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. sailants. From the intricacy of the place, we were afraid of shooting our own men, and were therefore obliged to keep pretty close together. At mid- night, I again met Captain Lindsay, clearing Qne of the streets, when he asked me how I felt myself. I complained of a wound in my side, but said that I could find no hole ; but this was not a time for talking. In turning sharp down a street rather larger than those we had cleared, we met a column of the enemy, with a person of rank in a palanquin. We soon stopped his black Highness ; and, to as- certain who was inside the ^palanquin (which was an open one), I, with several others, probed our way with our bayonets, when a tremendous fat Zemindar (an officer) roared out most lustily, and began to show fight. He fired a matchlock at me, which went through the wing of my coat, but did not touch my person. Before I could retaliate, my comrades had finished him, and we then com- menced at the column ; but I took from the palan- quin the gun which had nearly robbed me of life. It was like the barrel of a gun, about two feet long, with a round handle ; at the handle-end was a MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 143 sharp hatchet, at the other extremity a sharp hook. This extraordinary instrument I presented to the commander-in-chief ; but he refused the present, saying it was my trophy. His lordship was after- wards prevailed on to purchase it, at the price of two hundred rupees. We at this time got informa- tion that the five companies which had deserted from the Honourable Colonel Monson, in his mas- terly retreat from Jeypore, were standing, dressed in the full uniform they deserted in, outside the principal gate jaf the fort, with their arms ordered, without apparently making any resistance, and fre- quently crying out, " Englishmen, Englishmen, pray do not kill us ; for God's sake, do not kill us." As these supplications proceeded rather from fear than from penitence for the crime they had been guilty of that of deserting to an enemy these men could expect no mttrcy. We had positive orders to give them no quarter, and they were most of them shot. About three o'clock, when I was completely tired and done up, I took my station under the gable end of a brick building, and began to examine the 144 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. extent of my wounds. The one on the head was a bad one, having touched the skull ; it was about two inches long, and one broad, and I was a little alarmed for the consequences. The wound which I supposed I had received in the side, was nothing more than the wind of a cannon-ball, which it was thought must have passed between my arm and side. It was quite black, and much swoln, and on its margin there appeared red streaks, which convinced the doctors that it was caused as before stated. I felt it for months afterwards. The wound in my head had been so long exposed to the night air, that, on examination by the medical gentlemen, it was pronounced to be a dangerous one ; but, with an e^ellent constitution, and youth on my . side, I soori recovered. The killed found next morning exceeded the o number of our storming-party. We had but few killed, but a great number wounded. Poor Ser- geant Bury found his way in, wounded as he was, before the whole company had entered, and fought hard the whole night. Early in the morning he was looking over the parapet of the fort, when a MEMOIRS OF JOHN SH1PP. 145 cannon-ball struck him on the back, and killed him on the spot, otherwise he would have been re- warded with a commission ; but such is the fate of war ! The taking of this small redoubt was but a preparatory and necessary step before we com- menced a regular siege against the strong fort, and equally strong town, both of which, however, they gave up, being fully satisfied of the impossi- bility of holding either. VOL. I. 146 CHAPTER VII. I WAS obliged to nurse myself a little, as the strong fort of Bhurtpore was, we understood, to be our next job. Having but in part led the last party in, I became a volunteer to lead the Forlorn Hope at Bhurtpore. This offer his Excellency, Lord Lake, accepted, with encomiums on my zeal, and a promise that, if I escaped, I should have a com- mission. We arrived before this place about the 29th day of December; encamped about two miles from it ; and immediately commenced our opera- tions against it. Hoolkah was lying under its walls, with his immense body of cavalry, who committed every kind of cruelty on the camp-followers that fell into their hands, such as cutting off their hands from the first joint of the wrist, cutting off their noses, ears, &c. ; but seldom killing them out- right. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 147 During the preparation for the siege, when off duty, I amused myself with going out to the ad- vanced piquets, where there were continual skir- mishes with Hoolkah's cavalry, who were always loitering about, day and night. On one of these occasions, I nearly paid dear for my imprudence. I ventured far beyond the piquet, in hopes of picking off a fellow who was showing off his horse- manship. As I was mounted on a good horse, and was well armed, I rode after him, gaining ground fast ; but, on looking behind, I found myself a con- siderable distance from the piquet, and that several horsemen had got between me, to prevent my return. To have run away, would have given them encouragement; no other remedy was left but to dash through them. Our piquet, seeing my situa- tion, got a six-pounder, and fired a long shot at them. During the consternation caused by the ball striking near them, and smothering them in dust, I made the best use of my horse's legs, got safe to the piquet, and never ventured so far from home again. On the 1st day of January, 1805, we broke H 2 148 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. ground against this strong fortress and town. I was again on the working party, my wound being nearly closed. We halted near a wood, and a party hav- ing been sent on to reconnoitre, we at last pitched upon a place, and commenced our nocturnal labours. We had not been at work ten minutes, when they heard our working-tools, and commenced a most terrific cannonade. We were ordered to desist, and to lie down behind the earth we had thrown up, which, fortunately for us, was of a suffi- cient thickness to be musket-ball proof, or we must have suffered dreadfully ; for their little rough iron balls flew about as thick as bees. The cannon- shot were generally high : some that fell short, rolled, and were brought up by our little mound of defence. They kept it up gloriously for half an hour, conceiving that we intended to take them by surprise ; but, from the reports of this fortress con- taining 100,000 soldiers, and the enormous sum of nineteen croer of rupees, our orders were to ap- proach it by a regular siege. I fear I shall be thought rather tedious in relating the disastrous events at this place ; but we must take the gall MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 149 with the honey. The firing having ceased, except at intervals, we re-commenced our labours ; and glad indeed were we to set blood again on the move. The night was bitterly cold, and the ground damp ; but we kept ourselves in exercise with our work, and by daylight we had completed our trenches, and four-gun breaching-battery, within five hundred yards of the town wall. The moment the day dawned, our night's work was observed. The fort was again in a blaze ; flags were hoisted ; the parapet of the town wall was one general mass of spears and little flags, as far as the eye could reach ; and the heads of soldiers studded the ram- parts with variegated colours, their turbans being generally of the most prominent dyes, red, yel- low, and pink. Such shouting, roaring of cannon, whistling of shot, grumbling of rockets, and waving of flags and spears, made me reflect for a moment on the folly of having ever sold my " leathers," to participate in such a scene; but this thought was soon buried in the shouts of defiance from our trenches. We did not show hands, as we had none to spare ; but as we were, of course, anxious to see 150 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. what kind of a place this said Bhurtpore was, we took every opportunity of peeping, whenever we saw a gun fired, crying out, " Shot," which was a signal to bob our heads. On the firing subsiding in the slightest degree, we continued our work, and at length completed our batteries and maga- zines, and widened our trenches to seven feet, leaving just sufficient room to pass and repass, so as to communicate with our principal dep6t under shelter. During the whole of this day, the enemy kept up an almost incessant fire, both with great guns and small arms, and we had some few men wounded. A soldier of the Light Company, named Murphy, stood upon the bank, exposing himself, and drawing upon us the fire from the fort Some of us remonstrated with him on his imprudence, when Paddy coolly replied, " Never fear, honey ; sure I have got my eye on them ; and, if they kill me, bad luck to me if I don't be after paying them for it when I get into that same fort." In the course of the day he was shot in the finger for his disre- gard of our advice, which, he said, was " just because he was looking another way at the time." MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 151 In the evening we got our guns into battery, erecting two small batteries of twelves and sixes. A constant fire was kept up by the enemy during the ni^ht, and blue lights were to be seen at O ' O intervals, as though to inform us that they were on the watch. From the debauched habits of the Mus- selmen, in any situation in life, they seldom retire to rest till very late ; and then, indeed, so stupified with eating and smoking auffeem (opium), that they are incapable of being roused to any active duty. From their constant use of this intoxicating drug, they are dull companions when the spirit is ab- sorbed and dead within them ; but, when revived, I know no set of people more talkative, communica- tive, and jovial. Often have I listened with delight to an old Musselman soldier's relation of his campaigns and stories. We heard drums and music the whole night, now and then accompanied by the inharmonious roar of their guns. The guns used in India by the Natives are of cast iron ; but, from their using ball beat out instead of cast, the guns labour and roar dreadfully, and the rough surface of their balls tears the muzzles to pieces. 152 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. When the morning bestrewed its bright rays abroad, we threw a little further light upon the subject, by opening our breaching-battery with a salvo, accompanied with such terrific cheering and shouting, as seemed to startle the new-risen sun, which at that identical moment peeped from behind its golden curtains to see what was the matter. The enemy, after a moment's pause, were seen in a tremendous bustle, mustering their full force; and their heads were so thick, that, had our shelling- battery been ready, we might have made dreadful havoc among the motley group. They shouted, yelled, screamed, groaned; small arms whistled, cannons roared ; and, in an instant, the fort was enveloped in smoke. It was altogether a most 'terrific scene. At this moment a soldier called out, " Shipp, have you made your will ?" I said " Yes ; which is, that I will lead you into that fort un- daunted, for all their smoke and rattle." " Well done, Jack !" said one ; " That's a hearty !" said another ; and many a joke followed : but, to con- fess the truth, I thought it no joking matter, but wished most earnestly that I could say with Mac- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 153 beth, " I have done the deed." Notwithstanding this, I saw no cause for fretting. Without parents, or ties of any other kind, I felt that I was fully justified in acting " As if a man were author of himself, And knew no other kin." My ambition was to signalize myself in the field of honour; and, if it was to be my fate to fall, I consoled myself with the reflection, that I could not die in a better cause than fighting for my king and country. These were my real feelings, but the business that was going on during the whole of this day afforded me but little time for reflec- tion. Towards evening, however, we were re- lieved from the trenches, and obtained some rest. The next day I took another peep at the Pins> who were in immense numbers in front of our pi- quets. My fingers itched to be among them, but my last escape withheld me. It was truly tanta- lizing to see these fellows chuckering their horses not more than a quarter of a mile from our post; but what irritated us still more was, that these miscreants, that evening, sent into our camp about H5 154 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIP?. twenty grass-cutters, belonging to the 8th Dra- goons, some with their right arms cut off by the wrist-joint, and others with the loss of their noses and ears. These poor creatures paid dearly for their disobedience of general orders, which forbade any grass-cutter from going out alone; but, for the love of plunder, they will at all times risk their lives. It will appear scarcely credible to the ge- neral reader^ when he is informed, that to every fighting-man in an Indian army, there are at least ten camp-followers. The majority of these live by plundering the adjacent villages round the camp and on the march; robbing every hut and field within ten miles round. There is no possibility of checking them, or preventing these abuses. Amongst these fellows are thieves of every de- scription, and the most notorious are jugglers. They commence their nocturnal pilferings in a state of nudity, oiling themselves all over to prevent their being held if caught ; they then creep on their hands and feet like dogs, and frequently imitate them in barking and howling, as well as most other animals, more particularly goats, sheep, and MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 155 asses. In the course of my narrative, I shall have occasion to mention several instances of this nature that happened to myself. On the following morning, I went again on duty in the trenches. We retired into the wood before mentioned, which had a path of communication with the trenches, though it was a considerable distance from the grand breaching-battery. Our operations against the fort continued active and resolute; but our balls made but little impres- sion upon the mud bastions and curtains. Many of them scarcely buried themselves, and others rolled down into the under-works of the enemy, and were kindly sent back to us. It is almost folly to attempt to effect a practicable breach in a fort built of such materials. The crust you knock off the face of a bastion or curtain, forms a great bar- rier to your approach to a solid footing. Youn^r engineers are too apt to judge, from the appear- ance of the fallen mud, that the breach is practi- cable ; when, the first step the storming-party takes, they find they sink up to their necks in light earth. A woful instance of this nature I shall have to 156 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. advert to more particularly in the course of my narrative ; and, if it prove a timely hint to the in- experienced, I shall be rewarded. Stone forts are soon demolished ; when undermined well at the bottom, the top will soon follow, and they cannot easily be repaired: but mud forts defy human power. We this day erected howetzer and mortar-bat- teries, and, when they first opened, they struck ter- ror and consternation into the enemy, who fled in every direction, to avoid those destructive engines ; but, in a few hours, they dug holes in the ramparts, which they got into whenever they saw those un- welcome visitors on the wing ; and, unless the shell happened actually to fall on them, they escaped in this way. But our shelling in those days was a mere bagatelle to what it is now. A shell in five minutes, was then enormous ; now, twenty in one minute is by no means extraordinary, and these twice as big as in the times of which I speak. This day the enemy was pretty passive ; no doubt, making places of refuge. Our shells, if thrown further into the town, must have been most MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 157 destructive, for the population was evidently prodigious, from the number of fighting men. The houses frequently appeared on fire, and several small explosions took place daily ; no doubt, small magazines. These little incidents generally created cheering by the besiegers, and redoubled firing by the enemy. In the course of the day we saw the Rajah for the first time: he was on the shabroodge, or royal bastion, with his suite, reconnoitreing with a spy-glass. The officer commanding the howetzer battery laid a shell for the shabroodge, which struck the very top of it, and soon dislodged his highness and suite. In a moment not a soul was to be seen. On this bastion was an enormous gun, about a seventy-two-pounder, which before had been laid up in embryo, but which, as a mark of revenge for our having disturbed his highness, was now got ready. From its gigantic size they could not de- press it sufficiently to bear upon our batteries, or it must have torn them to pieces. At last off* it went; the report was like that of an earthquake, but the ball went a good quarter of a mile over us. Several other shots were, in the course of the day, 158 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. fired from it, but the balls never came nearer. Our soldiers, finding it did no harm, christened it Civil Tom; but, from the enormous dust it kicked up, the enemy thought it did wonders for some time ; until, at last, finding out their mistake, they turned its gigantic muzzle towards camp, and ac- tually threw a ball close to the flag opposite Lord Lake's tent, more than two miles from the fort. The only real mischief Civil Tom ever did (which, by the by, was rather uncivil) was killing a poor water-carrier's bullock, and carrying away the poor man's right arm. This was more than a mile from camp. The night passed away without anything of moment, we still keeping up a regular and constant fire (to prevent the enemy from rebuilding what we had had so much trouble in knocking down), and at times indulging them with a few whistling shells, to keep them awake. We now began to grow impatient to see what was inside this boasting fort, for we had pretty well seen what was outside. The breach soon began to wear a stormable appearance, when we MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 159 discovered that they had thrown out two small guns for the purpose of a cross fire and cutting off our storming party, and to annoy and rake our breach- ing-battery. For removing this evil we threw out two six-pounders, and we had not fired many shots and given them more than a dozen shrapnells, when a tremendous explosion took place, which finally removed the annoyance. In the evening I heard the head engineer say to Captain Nelley, commanding the breaching-battery, that he imagined we should, on the following even- ing, put a stop to their vaunting. " The next evening!" I muttered to myself. I was standing close to Captain Nelley, who turned round to me and said, " Shipp, how do you like that informa- tion ?" I replied, " I wish it was this night, sir." This I did wish most sincerely, for I felt that, having once resolved to undertake the desperate service in which I had volunteered, the sooner I was in action the better : " Between the acting of a dreadful thing, And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream ; 160 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. The genius and the mortal instruments Are then in council j and the state of man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection." I- have heard some men say that they would as soon fight as eat their breakfasts, and others, that they " dearly loved fighting." If this were true, what blood-thirsty dogs they must be ! But I should be almost illiberal enough to suspect these boasters of not possessing even ordinary courage. I will not, however, go so far as positively to assert this, but will content myself by asking these terrific soldiers to account to me why, some hours previ- ously to storming a fort, or fighting a battle, are men pensive, thoughtful, heavy, restless, weighed down with apparent solicitude and care ? Why do men on these occasions more fervently beseech the divine protection and guidance to save them in the approaching conflict? Are not all these feelings the result of reflection, and of man's regard for his dearest care his life, which no mortal will part with if he can avoid it ? There are periods in war which put man's courage to a severe test: if, for MEMOIRS OF JOHN SH1PP. 161 instance, as was my case, I knew I was to lead a forlorn hope on the following evening, innumerable ideas will rush in quick succession on the mind; such as, " for aught my poor and narrow compre-: hension can tell, I may to-morrow be summoned before my Maker." " How have I spent the life he has been pleased to preserve to this period ? can I meet that just tribunal ?" A man, situated as I have supposed, who did not, even amid the cannon's roar and the din of war, experience anxieties ap- proaching to what I have described, may, by pos- sibility, have the courage of a lion, but he cannot possess the feelings of a man. In action man is quite another being : the softer feelings of the roused heart are absorbed in the vortex of danger and the necessity for self-preservation, and give place to others more adapted to the occasion. In these moments there is an indescribable elation of spirits ; the soul rises above its wonted serenity into a kind of phrenzied apathy to the scene before you, a heroism bordering on ferocity ; the nerves become tight and contracted ; the eye full and open, moving quickly in its socket, with almost maniac wildness ; 162 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. the head is in constant motion ; the nostril ex- tended wide, and the mouth apparently gasping. If an artist could truly delineate the features of a soldier in the battle's heat, and compare them with the lineaments of the same man in the peaceful calm of domestic life, they would be found to be two dif- ferent portraits ; but a sketch of this kind is not within the power of art, for in action the counte- nance varies with the battle : as the battle brightens, so does the countenance ; and, as it low'rs, so the countenance becomes gloomy. I have known some men drink enormous quantities of spirituous liquors when going into action, to drive away little in- truding thoughts, and to create false spirits ; but these are as short-lived as the ephemera that strug- gles but a moment on the crystal stream, then dies. If a man have not natural courage, he may rest assured that liquor will deaden and destroy the little he may possess. Our two companies were relieved for the night, for the purpose of resting ourselves and preparing for the ensuing evening's attack. On this occasion .one of our poor fellows was killed by a shot from MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 163 the fort, and he was ordered to be immediately buried. When we were about to leave the trenches we found him still lying there, when the sergeant was called, and asked by his officer, why he had not been buried, according to orders. The ser- geant, an Irishman, answered, ( Faith ! your honour, he has grown so mighty stiff since he went dead, that he would neither ride nor walk ; he threw himself off my back twice ; but I am just after ordering a fatigue-party to march him there, whether he will or not." The same sergeant was chided a short time before for shooting an unarmed man. His officer O told him it was a cowardly act to shoot a poor fellow without arms. " Arms ! your honour, I beg your honour's pardon, he had two ; ay, faith, and fists at the end of them; and he was just after going to be mighty saucy besides. Besides, your honour, did not a spalpeen shoot at and hit me at Deig, without so much as bidding me the time of the morning, or by your lave or with your lave? Fait ! they must expect no palaveration or blarney from Dennis Gaffen." To relate the anecdotes of 164 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. this man would fill a volume ; but, as the two little ones mentioned may bear the reading, I will insert a few more in their proper places. I slept soundly, and early in the morning com- menced cleaning and new-flinting my musket, and pointing my bayonet, that it might find its way through the thick cotton-stuffed coats of our ene- mies. All Musselmen soldiers wear these coats during winter. The cotton is about two inches thick, and the coats are worn rather loose, so that you can with difficulty cut through them ; and I am persuaded that many of them are ball-proof, and that bayonets and spears are the only weapons against them. In the course of the day I walked down to the batteries, to well ascertain the road I had to take to the breaches. Our batteries con- tinued, with unabated exertions, to knock off the defences; and every thing, from appearances, seemed calculated to insure complete success. My heart was all alive this day, and I wished for the sombre garments of night. This was the 9th day of January, 1805. The greatest secresy was observed as to the storming party; no general MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 165 orders were issued, nor was there any stir or bustle till the hour appointed, nine o'clock. Orders and arrangements were communicated to officers com- manding regiments and companies, and in the same private manner conveyed to us. The gun fired as usual at eight o'clock. This was the signal to move out. I kissed and took leave of my favourite pony, Apple, and dog, Wolf, and I went to my post at the head of the column, with my little band of heroes, twelve volunteers from the different corps of the army. Reader, you may believe me when I assure you, that at this critical juncture, every thing else was forgotten in the enthusiasm of the cj O moment, except the contemplation of the honour- able post confided to me. " What!" thought I, " I, a youth, at the head of an Indian army !" I began to think it presumption, when so many more expe- rienced soldiers filled the ranks behind. I thought that every eye was upon me, and I did not regret the pitchy darkness of the night, which hid my blushing countenance. All was still as the grave, when I distinctly heard somebody call, " Sergeant Shipp!" This was Lieut.-Colonel Salkeld, adjutant- 166 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. general of the army, who brought with him a gol- landauze, who had deserted from the fort, and who, for filthy lucre, was willing to betray his country- men. This man was handed over to me, he having undertaken to lead me to the breach. If he at- tempted to deceive me, or to run from me, I had positive orders to shoot him; consequently, I kept a sharp look-out on him. We then, in solemn silence, marched down to the trenches, and re- mained there about half an hour, when we marched to the attack in open columns of sections, the two flank companies of the 22nd leading, supported by the 75th and 76th European Regiments, and other Native infantry. I took the precaution of tying a rope round the wrist of my guide, that he might not escape; for firing at him at that moment would have alarmed the fort. Not a word was to be heard ; but the cannon's rattling drowned many a deep- drawn sigh, from many as brave a heart. I was well supported, having my own two compa- nies behind me. Colonel Maitland, of his Majesty's 76th Regiment, commanded this storming-party, and brave little Major Archibald Campbell his MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 167 corps. The former officer came in front to me, and pointed out the road to glory; but, observing the Native whom I had in charge, he asked who he was, and, on being informed, said, " We can find the way without him; let him go about his business." I remonstrated, and repeated to him the instructions I had received; but his answer was, " I don't care; if you don't obey my orders, I will send you to the rear." I did obey, and on we moved to the attack. Immediately behind me were pioneers, carrying ga- bions and fascines to fill up any cavities we might meet with. The enemy did not discover our ap- proach till within fifty paces of the ditch, when a tremendous cannonade and peels of musketry com- menced; rockets were flying in all directions; blue lights were hoisted; and the fort seemed convulsed to its very foundation. Its ramparts seemed like some great volcano vomiting tremendous volumes of fiery matter ; the roaring of the great guns shook the earth beneath our feet ; their small arms seemed like the rolling of ten thousand drums; and their war-trumpets rent the air asunder. Men were seen skipping along the lighted ramparts, as busy as em- 168 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. mets collecting stores for the dreary days of winter. The scene was awfully grand, and must have been sublimely beautiful to the distant spectator. We pushed on at speed ; but were soon obliged to. halt. A ditch, about twenty yards wide, and four or five deep, branched off from the main trench. This ditch formed a small island, on which were posted a strong party of the enemy, with two guns. Their fire was well directed, and the front of our column suffered severely. The fascines and ga- bions were thrown in ; but they were as a drop of water in the mighty deep : the fire became hotter, and my little band of heroes plunged into the water, fol- lowed by our two companies, and part of the 75th Regiment. The middle of the column broke off, and got too far down to the left ; but we soon cleared the little island. At this time Colonel Maitland and Major Campbell joined me, with our brave officers of the two* companies, and many of the other corps. I proposed following the fugitives ; but our duty was to gain the breach, our orders being confined to that object. We did gain it ; but imagine our surprise and consternation, when we MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 169 found a perpendicular curtain going down to the water's edge, and no footing, except on pieces of trees and stones that had fallen from above. This could not bear more than three men abreast, and if they slipped (which many did), a watery grave awaited them, for the water was extremely deep here. Close on our right was a large bastion, which the enemy had judiciously hung with dead under- wood. This was fired, and it threw such a light upon the breach, that it was as clear as noonday. They soon got guns to bear on us, and the first shot (which was grape) shot Colonel Maitland dead, wounded Major Campbell in the hip or leg, me in the right shoulder, and completely cleared the remaining few of my little party. We had at that moment reached the top of the breach, not more (as I before stated) than three a-breast, when we found that the enemy had completely repaired that part, by driving in large pieces of wood, stakes, stones, bushes, and pointed bamboos, through the cr-evices of which was a mass of spears jobbing diagonally, which seemed to move by mechanism. Such was the footing we had, that it was utterly VOL. I. I 170 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. impossible to approach these formidable weapons; meantime, small spears or darts were hurled at us ; and stones, lumps of wood, stink-pots, and bundles of lighted straw, thrown upon us. In the midst of this tumult, I got one of my legs through a hole, so that I could see into the interior of the fort. The people were like a swarm of bees. In a mo- ment I felt something seize my foot : I pulled with all my might, and at last succeeded in disengaging my leg, but leaving my boot behind me. Our establishing ourselves on this breach in sufficient force to dislodge this mass of spearsmen, was phy- sically impossible. Our poor fellows were mowed down like corn-fields, without the slightest hope of success. The rear of the column suffered much, as they were within range of the enemy's shot. A retreat was ordered, and we were again obliged to take to the water, and many a poor wounded soldier lost his life in this attempt. Not one of our officers escaped without being wounded, and Lieutenant Creswell was almost cut to pieces. He, I believe, still lives in England, and, should this little history fall into his hands, he will read these events with MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 171 as much regret as the narrator writes them. We, as may be supposed, returned almost broken-hearted at this our first failure in India. Our loss was a melancholy one, and the conviction that the poor wounded fellows we were compelled to leave be- hind would be barbarously massacred, incited our brave boys to beg a second attempt. This was denied: had it been granted, it must infallibly have proved abortive ; for there was, literally, no breach. The disastrous issue of our attack caused the enemy to exult exceedingly ; and the shouting and roaring that followed our retreat, were dag- gers in the souls of our wounded and disappointed soldiers, who were with difficulty restrained from again rushing to the breach. I found that I had received a spear-wound in the right finger, and several little scratches from the combustibles they fired at us. Pieces of copper coin, as well as of iron, stone, and glass, were extracted from the wounds of those who were fortunate enough to escape. We were, in the course of the night, relieved, and went to our lines to brood over our misfortunes. i2 172 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. I found, the next morning, to add to my feelings of distress, that the old wound in my head had opened afresh ; the wound on my shoulder, having injured the bone, was also extremely painful ; but that on my finger, being a flesh-wound, did not trouble me much. The general orders of the day following were highly flattering to us all, placing the blame, if any, where it ought to be. Our en- gineer, finding the spot we had attempted strong and impracticable, changed his position more to the eastward, where the difficulties were not so formidable. During these new operations, our breaching- guns, four in number, were sent to the park to be re-bushed, their bushes having been injured from the constant firing and heat. Thus ended our first attempt to take the strong fort of Bhurtpore by storm. Not to dwell longer on our painful failure, I will conclude this chapter with the introduction of two or three anecdotes, illustrative of the felicity of matrimony among the Irish soldiers. These may serve to divert the reader, during the repairing of our guns, and the erection of new batteries, preparatory to a second attack. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 173 An Irish soldier once waited on his commanding officer with what he termed a very serious com- plaint: "Another man," he said, mentioning his name, " had upbraided him that he was not mar- ried to his own wife, whom he accused of being no better than she should be, and called her many bad names besides, which he should be ashamed to mention to his Honour." Colonel. " Well, my good fellow, have you any proof that you are legally married ?" Soldier. " Faith, your Honour, I have the best proof in the world." Here he took off his hat, or rather cap, and exhibited a cut skull, saying, " Does your Honour think I'd be after taking that same abuse from any body but a wife ?" Colonel. " Indeed, I should imagine not ; but have you no marriage-certificate ?" Soldier. " None, your Honour, except the one on my head. Don't your Honour ^rink I am married ?" Colonel. " I never saw more positive proof of any fact in my life ; and, if the man dares again to say that you are not, I will punish him." 174 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. " Thank your Honour/' said Paddy, and off he marched, perfectly satisfied, leaving the Colonel and his friends to laugh heartily at the irrefragable proof that had been submitted to them of the fact of the poor fellow's being legally noosed. On another occasion, I happened to be in the adjutant's office, when a sergeant entered, for the purpose of reporting another man of stripes, for speaking disrespectfully of himself, and reducing his wife's character in the barracks, by " calling her bad names." "What names did he call her?" said the ad- jutant. " Faith, your Honour, I would not make such a big baist of myself before any gentleman as to repate them ; but the worst name he called her was that she was a drunken blackguard, and never sober besides. Now, your Honour, my wife never gets so right down drunk but she can always stand upright without tumbling ; and when she does take a drop of the cratur, she never says a word to nobody, but lies quiet in her bed till she gets sober again." MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 175 " Well, well, sergeant," replied the adjutant, " if your wife will be so imprudent as to get drunk in the barracks, she must expect men will make ill- natured remarks upon her, and I cannot interfere ; but, if you will manage to keep your wife from drinking, I will punish, any man who may molest her : as long as she forgets herself, men will talk." " It's a hard case, too, your Honour," rejoined the persevering sergeant, " that we cannot take a drop of comfort together without the ill-natured remarks of the men about her parentage and hedi- cation, and her family abstraction. She is of as good a family as any in the town of Mayhoe. Sure, her father, who was a trumpeter, made a great big noise during the Irish rebeUion ; and she had three own brothers by the same mother, but not the same father, that were drummers in the same regiment with their father. Indeed, she is from a genteel family, your Honour, and cannot put up with the language of those foul-mouthed savages in the barracks." Much more would he have said; but, finding 176 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. the adjutant inflexible, he went off, muttering to himself, and by no means pleased with the recep- tion he had met with. Some years ago, at the station of Meerutt, in the East Indies, as I was passing the barracks of the 53d Regiment, late one evening, I heard a man and his rib at high words. " By the powers, Judy, if you don't be after holding your tongue, but I'll stop your gab, so I will." " You, you spalpeen ! Arrah ! do you think to frighten me, who have been campaigning it these forty years, and travelled through all the countries in Europe, besides Spain and France? Fait, you may as well attempt to frighten a milestone as me ; therefore, none of your blarney : sure, it would have been better for me to have been blind the first day I saw you. Och ! Judy has made a pretty bargain for herself: after all her service, to have such a husband ! " " Faith, honey, I wish the first time I saw your ugly mug I had been hanged ; it would have been much more genteel than to be humbugged by a MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 177 famale woman ; and, only I don't like to strike one of the softer six, bad luck to me if I wouldn't bate you as black as indigo : therefore, will you be after going for the liquor ?" " The divel a toe, Paddy the divel a toe, my dear honey ; don't think to come the old soldier over me : one who has roughed it winter and sum- mer, day and night, hail and snow, thunder and lightning, fire and water, smoke and dust ; it won't fit, Paddy." " Fait, Judy, you have seen a little service, joy ; and it's a great shame you haven't got a mighty big pinsion for your loyalty to your country, for gin- drinking, rum-tippling, whiskey-stealing, husband- scolding, dead-robbing." " By the powers, you villain, if you dare be aftef saying I rob the dead, I, Judy O'Gum, all the way from Donoughmore, and who have followed the soldiers from my very cradle, I will bate your head as flat as your sense. Och ! you tafe, do you mane to cast a slur upon me, who have gone through the toils of a hundred campaigns?" " Fait, you followed the soldiers, becase why, i5 178 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Judy ? Sure, honey, I know all about you : dogs and girls always follow the soldiers." " Say that again, and I'll split your ugly mug with this stick." te Put a finger on me, Judy, and, by my con- science, but I'll give you what you never had before in your life, a great big bating." " Och, then, Pat, here goes if I die." Upon this, she rushed at him with the fury of a tigress; and poor Pat had enough to do to parry and guard, to keep off her well-aimed blows. At last she tumbled, exhausted by her own efforts, when Pat triumphantly exclaimed, " By St. Patrick ! there lays three yards of bad stuff." " It's a lie, Pat, it's a lie ; the divel a bit of better stuff in the whole regiment. Fait, Pat, I am not done yet ; only let me get up, and I'll show you that I am blood to the back-bone :" but Pat, convinced that his last imputation against his rib was false, kept her do\vn, her hands and feet going at the rate of double-quick, accompanied by a volley of epithets not exactly adapted for ears polite. Thus went on the scuffle, till I thought a timely MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 17& interference might prevent worse consequences; but scarcely had I told tlte man to desist, than the woman turned her abuse upon me, called me everything but a gentleman, and asked what busi- ness was it to me, if a man chose to bate his wife? " Oh," said I, " certainly not ; it is no affair of mine; therefore, don't let me interfere in your domestic avocations ;" and off I marched, reflecting on the delectable pleasures of matrimony. Having merged into the merry mood, I cannot close this chapter without making some mention of an officer who served with us at Bhurtpore, and who, by his uniform good humour and love of fun, contributed greatly to keep up our spirits. The officer to whom I allude, was Captain Nelley, commanding the breaching-battery, a most brave, active, and zealous soldier, and dearly beloved by the men, for his condescending and jocular manners. He would join in any piece of fun to keep us alive ; was always particularly anxious to detect the Irish soldiers in the perpetration of bulls ; and would pervert whatever was said by Sergeant Gaffen, and others from the Emerald 180 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Isle, to his own meaning. Being in the constant habit of joking with and quizzing the men, it was not to be wondered at that many tricks were played him in return. These he would take with the most perfect good-humour. When the cap- tain was seated on the ground at his dinner, some mischievous wag would, on a sudden, call out, " A gun on our left." On this the captain would instantly spring up to reconnoitre, and, on his return, he would find some part of his dinner purloined, or his grog drunk. When it was cold weather, the captain always wore a Welsh wig. On these occasions, when he was fast asleep, we would stick a crooked pin in the wig, attached to a cord some ten yards long, and then sing out, " A gun." This would always rouse him from his slumbers; and, the moment he moved, the wig, of course, suddenly disappeared. On these occa- sions he would affect to be quite outrageous, would stamp and storm, and call us all the thieves he could think of. After a time, the wig would be returned, by putting a stone in it, and then throwing it close to him, singing out, " Shot." MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 181 At these jokes the gallant captain would laugh heartily, generally concluding with, " Ay, ay; never mind, my boys ; I'll pay you off for this." In short, he was as prime an old boy as ever graced a battery. 182 CHAPTER VIII. HAVING abundance of spare time while prepara- tions were making for a second attack on the fort, Lord Lake determined to disturb Hoolkah in his hiding-place ; for which purpose a party of infantry was despatched with about four six-pounders. We soon came within sight of him, sheltered a good deal from his view by high trees and jungle. The fort, observing our manoeuvres, commenced a heavy cannonade. Hoolkah, alarmed, got on the move, and made towards Futtypoor Seccrah, one of his old haunts. Once from under the walls of the fort, our cavalry soon put his troops to flight ; immense numbers were killed, and elephants, horses, camels, spears, matchlocks, colours, &c. were brought into camp. Hoolkah's best elephant was that day taken, and some little treasure was found on camels. Notwithstanding this routing, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 183 however, they took up their old ground, and we returned to camp, with some few men killed and wounded. This skirmish, instead of decreasing their impudence, seemed only to increase it; for they were day and night hovering round our pi- quets, the object of which was to take our atten- tion from their main body, who had been despatched to intercept a small detachment that was on the way to join us, from Muttra. Our spies soon brought intelligence of this, and, in little more than ten minutes after, three regiments of dragoons were on the move to rescue them, and arrived just in time to save our stores and the lives of the little party. Hoolkah commanded in person on this occasion, and it was reported that he was killed, though this proved afterwards to be false. A re- ward was offered for his bond, and a great num- ber were tendered, but none belonged to one- eyed Hoolkah. It is true, heads were produced without an eye, but the phiz of that notorious Pin was too well known to Chiggram (our best spy), to admit of our being imposed on. My wounds at this time were nearly well, and, 184 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. having been unsuccessful in the first Forlorn Hope which I had led, I volunteered to lead the second. One night, previous to the time appointed for the second attack, I sauntered to a retired spot, far from the observation of my comrades, to muse over the prospect then immediately before me, and to ask His aid who alone has the power to protect us. Scarcely had I entered a wood about one hundred yards from the trenches, when my attention was arrested by a soldier on his knees, fervently supplicating the aid of Almighty God in the coming storm. The moment he heard my foot- step, he suddenly arose, and, seeming ashamed of the way in which he was engaged, he said, ' e Who's that ?" I answered, " Sergeant Shipp ; who are you ?" He replied, " Private Murphy." "Murphy!" I repeated; "is it possible that such a blasphemer as you, who, day after day, and hour after hour, boast your own infamy in a wanton disbelief and contempt of every quality that can constitute the man and the Christian, and who, no later than yesternight, solemnly pro- tested before your comrades, that you firmly be- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 185 lieved there was 110 place of punishment save a man's own conscience, and that hell was merely a name to frighten and intimidate schoolboys can it be possible," continued I, " that you have at this late hour retired to this lonely place, and are found in the act of prayer?" " Shipp," he replied, in a softer tone, and in nearly the fol- lowing words : " Whatever men may boast or say in their deluded and more irrational moments, there is a period when aU those blasphemous ex- pressions rush across the human mind, and the recollection of having uttered them leaves an in- conceivable pressure on the humbled heart; but I pray you, do not expose me to my comrades, or I shall become their jeer and ridicule. I beg this as a favour." " What !" said I, " more afraid of the derision of men, than the wrath of an of- fended God ?" " No, no," replied he ; " but you know how religious soldiers are held in derision by some of our comrades." " Well," I said, " I shall keep your secret, and you may confidently trust me on this subject; I will promise you most solemnly that I will never join in the laugh against you, and, if you have not finished, I shall 186 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. be gratified in joining you in prayer, as I have re- buked you for your profligacy." He affection- ately seized my hand, and pulled me towards the earth. ***** On the following day this poor fellow was sum- moned to his last account ;j and who knows but this single act of faith and devotion might have saved his immortal soul ? Two o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th of January, 1805, was arranged for the second storming of Bhurtpore. To prevent any obstruc- tion by ' the trench, which was supposed to be at this part deep and wide, a bridge of bamboos was made, that would admit of three file a-breast. This bridge could be thrown a considerable dis- tance by a hundred men, and was supported by ghee dubbahs (skins), in which the natives keep oil and butter for exportation, which, when dried, are light, and will bear a considerable weight before you can sink them. Elephants and camels were also laden with tents, and hackeries (or carts drawn by bullocks) with bales of cotton, all to fill up the ditch, to enable us to cross to the breach. I once more took my station with my twelve MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 187 volunteers, supported by my two companies as before. A shell from one of the howitzers was a signal to move. On this signal being given, the shell, bursting in the muzzle of the gun or mortar, killed two of our grenadiers: a sad beginning. The bridge followed the Forlorn Hope, carried on men's shoulders, and must have appeared some extraordinary monster to those who were not ac- quainted with its intended use. We moved on, and before I got half way down to the fort, six of my men were killed or wounded. The enemy, no doubt encouraged by our late defeat, had re,- doubled their fire, both in guns and men ; and on the right side of the breach they had thrown out an under-work, which was filled with matchlock- men, and in which they had several guns. My men kept falling off one by one ; and when I arrived at the edge of the ditch, which appeared wide and deep, and was assisting the men with the bridge, I received a matchlock bah 1 , which entered over the right eye, and passed out over the left. This tumbled me, my forehead literally hanging over my nose, and the wound bleeding profusely. I 188 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. was at this time close to our gallant Captain Lindsay, who, at the same moment, received a ginjall ball* in the right knee, which shattered the bone to pieces. I recovered a little from the stun of my wound, when the fis t thing that met my eye (for I could only see with one) was the bamboo bridge quietly gliding down the stream, being some yards too short. Nothing but killed and wounded could be seen, and there was not the most distant chance of getting in. To have at- tempted crossing the ditch would have been an act of madness. In descending we must have plunged over our heads in water, and they had two small guns bearing on the spot. At last a retreat was ordered. Previous to this, our poor fellows stood like sheep to be shot at, without the remotest hope of success. The camels and elephants, alarmed by the tremendous firing and shouting, could not be induced to approach the fort, many of them throwing their loads and running back to camp, and wild into the woods. * This is a long matchlock, which moves on a pivot, and carries about a two-pound ball. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 189 Seven hundred men were killed and wounded on this occasion. Our brave Captain Lindsay's wound was so bad that his leg was amputated in the battery. My wound was a dangerous one, having touched the bone. I was immediately sent home to camp, where I lay completely blind for several days. This, added to our disastrous defeat, threw me into a fever, and nearly cost me my life ; but, with the aid of a kind provi- dence, and the advantage of a strong and unim- paired constitution, I soon recovered. Our engineer now gave up this side of the fort as perfectly hopeless, and we went more to the eastward, breaching a prominent bastion ; but the whole fort was so constructed that one part protected the others, and therefore, wherever we breached we were sure of a destructive cross-fire. From our melancholy failures, our poor fellows became disheartened ; scarcely a man had escaped without being wounded, and the sad recollection of their poor comrades that were left behind in a mutilated state, was the constant topic of conver- sation. Our mortification was greatly increased 190 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Tjy seeing our men's clothing paraded on the ramparts, and worn by the miscreants in the fort. However, we still lived in the fond hope that our next effort would prove more successful. I could again go abroad, although my wound was by no means healed. It was now truly distressing to enter our men's tents, where, but a short month before, the merry joke went round, and mirth and hilarity prevailed. Naught but gloomy faces, and even them but few, were to be seen : some had lost brothers ; others, dear comrades ; Captain Lindsay had lost his leg ; Lieutenant C res well had been cut to pieces ; and every other officer was wounded. Our loss in killed and wounded in the two assaults, in our two companies alone, was nearly the one half of the total number. After the storm, our breaching-guns were again sent to the park to be re-bushed. This was a sea- sonable pause to enable us to recruit our shattered frames and spirits ; but it also gave the enemy an opportunity of repairing and reinforcing every point of attack. On the 18th of February things began to wear MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 191 a more enlivening appearance. The breached bastion seemed to bow its haughty head to our roaring guns, and the 20th was talked of as the day for storming it. Our last disastrous repulse was scarcely eradicated from our minds ; the massacre of our brave comrades was still alive in our memo- ries; but the fond hope of retaliation (I do not mean in cutting up a poor defenceless creature, not a single instance of which can, in the long course of our wars, be brought against the Com- pany's army) spirited us up, and we looked for- ward to the time when we might drag the garments of our murdered comrades from the backs of the vaunting foe. They were now daily and hourly exhibiting to our view the number of muskets they had taken ; our ammunition which had fallen into their hands was now turned against ourselves ; as also our cannon-shot, which they had picked out of the two old breaches. We again possessed our wonted spirits and cheerfulness, and made prepa- ration to retrieve the British character. The pa- tient conduct and intrepid gallantry of our officers and soldiers when in the hour of their utmost dis- 192 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. tress, from repeated defeats, did not pass unno- ticed by the enemy ; and it is not improbable that the resolution and heroism then displayed by the troops were the means of facilitating that long friendship which afterwards subsisted between the Rajah of Bhurtpore and the Company. The day appointed, 20th of February, arrived, and was ushered in with a new and unexpected scene. About four hundred men from the fort, emboldened, no doubt, by our tardiness, and -the repeated defeats which our troops had experienced, rushed out upon us just as we were relieving trenches, and actually reached and had possession of our batteries and trenches before we could return. Every one of these men were in a state of intoxication, and fought desperately ; but we soon drove them from the batteries ; then, turning our guns against them, dreadful was the carnage. The fort fired indiscriminately at the whole party. These fellows were, no doubt, a set of vagabonds they wished to get rid of, and, if this was the case, their wish was fully realized, for a very few re- turned to tell the tale. This was the kind of reta- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 193 liation we sighed for ; but we lost a considerable number of men, killed and wounded, in this affray ; but these they had not the barbarous gratification of cutting up. Their wounded men left within our reach were sent to the Native hospitals, and every comfort administered to them. They were in the same wards with our wounded men, where friendship presided instead of murder. Had the war been between Native and Native, the cruelties would have been equal on both sides. When this strange rencounter had subsided, the storming-party was ordered for twelve o'clock. Reader, imagine my disappointment when my doctor most positively forbade my being em- ployed on this occasion, as my wound in the forehead was still in such a state that, should I get heated or catch cold, he feared an inflammation of the brain would take place. I could have thrown what few brains I had in his face, but I was obliged to obey. The Forlorn Hope was led by Lieutenant Templer, of the 76th Regiment, as brave a little fellow as ever wore a red coat. I looked on at a short distance from the scene of VOL. I. K 194 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. action, and a desperate hard struggle it was. No sooner did our brave boys gain the top of the breach, than the well-directed fire from the fort swept them off. Footing they had none ; they literally hung on the bosom of the bastion. A third retreat was the result ; leaving behind them up- wards of five hundred dead and wounded : indeed, they might all be said to be dead, for death was inevitable. The enemy again manned the breach in swarms, shouting victory ! It would have been better for me had I been there, for I am sure I fought and struggled as hard as any one engaged. I cannot describe my feelings and those of the other spectators of this dreadful scene ; but what can eight or ten men a-breast do against a legion, posted aloft, and protected by walls, bastions, &c., and where every possible engine is in requisition for their destruction ? Thus exposed, there was never any real chance of success. The whole circumference of the bastion, if lined with men, would not have contained more than fifteen or twenty men a-breast; and the whole means of the fort were levelled on this small space, to their MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 195 certain defeat and destruction. All that was in the power of mortal man to do was done, but all our efforts were in vain. The storming-party was again ordered for the following day. I suffered an excruciating headache, but said nothing of the badness of my wound, which at that time bore a most frightful appear- ance, resolved to die rather than give up my past honour. I assured my doctors that I was well, and felt quite adequate to take my station, and en- treated that they would not stand between me and glory. At last they consented, and I made the most of the short period between that and the storm, in supplicating the divine protection, and in penning a letter to my only relation, on account of arranging my little affairs. I had made up my mind that I could not, in all human probability, escape a third time ; but He alone who created life can destroy it. In the evening I left my tent, to seek in solitude that consolation for my troubled bosom which the drunken and tumultuous riot of a camp could but ill afford. The captain of our company, under whose care I had been brought up, K2 196 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. was one of the best and most pious of men. In gratitude I mention the name of Captain Effing- ham Lindsay, now colonel on the half-pay of the 22nd Regiment of Foot. To this beloved indivi- dual I am indebted for having implanted in my bosom, in early youth, those religious principles and feelings by which I have ever since endea- voured to direct my conduct, and from which, in the hour of affliction and of peril, I have ever derived inexpressible comfort. It was with the view of gaining consolation and support from pri- vate meditation and prayer, that I now retired from the riotous company of my companions in arms, the evening previous to my leading, for the third time, the Forlorn Hope at Bhurtpore. Scarcely had I gone beyond the discordant sound of re- velry, and begun to muse upon the subjects that were ever uppermost in my mind, viz. the possi- bility of my ever returning to my native village, or ever seeing my poor father, when an object pre- sented itself to my sight that for a moment startled, and, I must confess, a little alarmed me. The moon was just peeping from behind the high MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 197 towers of the fort, and shedding her bright rays through the tree near which I stood, when, by her light, I perceived that the object which arrested ray attention was an European soldier, prostated on the ground, as I supposed, dead. I approached him, but could not hear him breathe. I laid my hand on his cheek: it was cold and chilly; which confirmed me in my first opinion, that he was dead. At last I ventured to grasp his icy hand, which roused him, and he rose up and said, " Why did you disturb me? I have had a sweet sleep." Then, looking at, and suddenly recognizing me, he said, "Is that you, Shipp?" I replied," Yes ; what brought you to this dreary spot?" He re- plied, " The same, in all probability, that guided you here." " What," said I, " do you suppose that to be?" He replied, "To reflect on the scene before us for to-morrow. Yes, sergeant," he con- tinued, " I have this night stolen like a thief from the riotous parties I have too long joined, to spend an hour or two alone ; and, if I must confess it, in prayer. Having offered up my prayers, I felt my poor heart relieved of a burden I cannot describe, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. and thus I fell asleep, and am now glad to meet a friend in this lonely spot." We then, together, made the earth our communion-table, and offered up our poor but fervent devotions to the throne of mercy. It was the will of the Almighty to call my companion in prayer the next day from the world, and to spare me, but with a wound in the head, to show my dependance upon his mercy. Two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day was ordered for the assault. I forgot my aches and wounds, and was at my old post. Lieutenant Templer, of his 'Majesty's 76th Regiment (he was but a little man, but he possessed the heart of a lion), accompanied me on this occasion, with a small Union Jack, to plant on the enemy's bastion. He gave me his hand, and, smilingly, said, " Shipp, I am come to rob you of part of your glory ; you are a regular monopolist of that commodity." He continued, " I will place Old England's banner on their haughty bastion, or die in the attempt!" He fell a victim to his zeal, having first planted his 'colour on the bastion. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 199 On the way down from the camp, we met his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief and suite. His Lordship addressed me and my Forlorn Hope : " Sergeant, it is with sincere regret I again see you wounded, and again at the head of your little band of heroes. I will not check your praise- worthy spirit; go into glory, my lads, and may heaven prosper your zeal, and crown you with triumph !" His lordship addressed every corps that passed him; but when the remnant of the two companies of the 22d Regiment marched by, he was seen to turn from them, and the tear fell down his cheek ; but, fearful it might be observed, he took off his hat and cheered them. This was not the tear of Judas, for his lordship often shed tears of sorrow for our great loss at this place. He was a true soldier's friend, and valued their lives as much as he did his own. The storming-party marched out in the usual steady order; yet, from our recent calamitous defeats, there was not that spirit amongst the men which I had witnessed on former occasions. We had already experienced three disastrous repulses from this fort, and there now seemed a cloud on MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. every brow, which proceeded, I have no hesita- tion in asserting, from a well-grounded apprehen- sion that this, our fourth assault, would be con- cluded by another retreat. If any sight could be exhibited to the human eye that was calculated to work upon the feelings of men already disappointed and dispirited, it was the scene that was exposed to our view on approaching to this breach; for there lay our poor comrades who had fallen in previous attempts, many of them in a state of nu- dity ; some without heads ; some without arms or legs; and others whose bodies exhibited the most barbarous cruelties, for they were literally cut to pieces. The sight was truly awful and appalling, and the eye of pity closed instinctively on such a spectacle of woe. Those who attempted to ex- tend the hand of relief were added to the number of the slain, as the spot was much exposed to a cross- fire from the fort. Could any sight be more dis- tressing for affectionate comrades to look on ? I say affectionate, for, among men living together in one barrack, and, perhaps, under one tent, in fami- liar intercourse, there must be a greater regard for each other than is found to subsist among those MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 201 who meet casually, once a day or once a week. In a soldier's barrack the peculiarities, good or bad, of every individual are known ; added to which, arduous services will always link men together in the bond of union and affection. Many of these mutilated objects still breathed, and could be seen to heave the agonized bosom; some raised their heads clotted with blood; others their legs and arms; and, in this manner, either made signs to us, or faintly cried for help and pity. It was a sight to turn nature's current, and to melt a heart of stone. Such was its effect upon our lines, that, after a short conflict of the softer feelings, the eye of every man flashed the vivid spark of ven- geance against the cruel race who had committed such wanton barbarities; and, if mortal effort could have surmounted the obstacles in our path, those who witnessed the horrid scene I have just de- scribed must infallibly have succeeded. But the effort was beyond mortal power. Braver hearts, or more loyal, never left the Isle of Albion, than those who fell like withered leaves, and found a soldier's grave at Bhurtpore. K5 202 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Our ascent was found, for the fourth time, to be quite impossible : every man who showed himself was sure of death. The soldiers in the fort were in chain armour. I speak this from positive con- viction, for I myself fired at one man three times in the bastion, who was not six yards from me, and he, did not even bob his head. We were told afterwards, that every man defending the breach was in full armour, which was a coat, breast-plate, shoulder-plates^ and armlets, with a helmet and chain face-guard ; so that our shots could avail but little. I had not been on the breach more tfian five minutes, when I was struck with a large shot on my back, thrown down from the top of th,e bastion, which made me lose my footing, and I was rolling down sideways, when I was brought up by a bayonet of one of our grenadiers passing through the shoe, into the fleshy part of the foot, and under the great toe. My fall carried everything down that was under me. The man who assisted me in getting up, was at that moment shot dead : his name was Courtenay, of the 22d Light Company. I regained my place time enough to see poor Lieutenant MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 203 Templer, who had planted the colour on the top, cut to pieces, by one of the enemy rushing out, and cutting him almost in two, as he lay flat upon his face on the top of the breach. The man was imme- diately shot dead, and trotted to the bottom of the ditch. I had not been in my new place long, when a stink-pot, or other earthen pot, containing com- bustible matter, fell on my pouch, in which were about fifty rounds of ball cartridges. The whole exploded: my pouch I never saw more, and I was precipitated from the top to the bottom of the bastion. How I got there in safety, I know not ; but, when I came to myself, I found I was lying un- der the breach, with my legs in the water. I was much hurt from the fall, my face was severely scorched, my clothes much burnt, and all the hair on the back of my head burnt off. I for a time could not tell where I was. I crawled to the oppo- site side of the bank, and seated myself by a soldier of the same company, who did not know me. I sat here, quite unable to move, for some little time, till a cannon-ball struck in the ditch, which knocked the mud all over me. This added greatly to the 204 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. elegance of my appearance ; and in this state I contrived, somehow .or other, to crawl out of the ditch. At this moment the retreat was sounded, after every mortal effort had been made in vain. The case was now deemed completely hopeless, and we were obliged to give up the contest, having lost, in killed and wounded, upwards of three thou- sand men (braver, or more zealous, never lived) against this fort. Of the twelve gallant fellows who composed the third forlorn hope led by me, not one returned to reap the proffered reward of the Commander-in-Chief. Add to this, the loss of one of the best officers in our army, Captain Menzies, of the 22d Grenadier Company, Aid-de-Camp to Lord Lake. He fell endeavouring to rally some Native troops that were exposed to a galling fire, and began to give way. In this heroic attempt he lost his life, regretted by the whole army. Of our two companies, scarce a soul escaped uninjured. Near the breach, the dead, dying, and wounded, would have melted the heart of the most callous wretch ; and, had not the little party who stormed the eleven-gun battery proved successful, few, if MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 205 any, would have escaped the dreadful carnage. You must permit me to draw the gloomy shroud of mourning over this scene of misery and terror. The sad details of this siege have years ago been before the public ; and here my personal services at Bhurtpore ended, leaving impressions, both on mind and body, that can never be obliterated. Jn the course of the siege, frequent overtures were made from the fort, but of what nature I do not pretend to know. They were at last, however, obliged to come to our terms, which compelled them to pay all the expenses of the siege, &c., after which we raised the siege, and returned to camp. The loss of the enemy must have been immense : report said, five thousand men, women, and children ; and, from the immense concourse of inhabitants in the town, with their families, that number does not appear to be at all improbable. Certain it is, that they must have been as heartily tired of it as we were. Our sad failures, on the occasion of this me- morable siege, may unquestionably, in my opinion, fairly be attributed to our total want of means. 206 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. What were four breaching-guns against such a fort as that of Bhurtpore ? Forty would not have been too many : as a proof of which, if we contrast the means of attack at our disposal, with those pos- sessed by Lord Comberraere, in his successful siege of the same fort, it will be, found, that the number of guns employed on the latter occasion., compared with the former, was at least ten to one. With the original force of Bhurtpore (calculated at not less than a hundred thousand men), it was scarcely possible that, with a less number of guns, the place could be taken by assault. It should be recollected, also, that, with the means we had, the ditch which surrounded the fort made it q\iite inaccessible to us. Sapping and mining, the only way by which Bhurtpore could have fallen, was, at the period of the first siege of that place, scarcely known in India ; and shelling was then only in its infancy. The former of these methods was resorted to by the present Commander-in-Chief, with great success ; and the latter, from the improvements which, since 1805, have been made in this de- structive system of warfare, with at least ten times MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 207 the vigour and effect that it was possible for us to impart to it. It will not, I trust, be supposed for a moment, that, in making these remarks, it can by possibility be my intention to detract, in the slightest degree, from the gallant achievements of the army under Lord Combermere, in 1817. After our last failure, conciliatory orders were published to our disheartened troops ; every thing was done to console and comfort them ; and, with these judicious measures, though the men could scarcely bear the stigma of being defeated, yet, after a few days' reflection, their features began to brighten up, and they began to weigh things in a proper light ; when an unexpected and untoward event happened, that was likely to have been at- tended with the most frightful consequences. The peace having been ratified, the garrison had per- mission to visit our camp. Imagine our mortifi- cation and surprise, when many of them had the presumption to appear, under our very noses, with the coats, sashes, and arms, they had torn from the dead bodies of our poor comrades. This news 208 MEMOIRS ,OF JOHN SHIPP. flew through the camp in a moment ; the whole army was out ; every eye flashed vengeance : but, by the timely interference of the Commander-in- Chief, and the officers in general, the men were calmed, and the mischief stopped. In the next general orders my name appeared as Ensign in his Majesty's 65th Regiment, with many flattering encomiums by the Commander-in-Chief. From the whole of this regiment, during the short time I remained with them, I received the most marked attentions ; and whenever I served with, or met them afterwards, I experienced from them the most disinterested friendship. On the day of my appointment, I was meta- morphosed into a gentleman ; hair cut and curled ; new coat, &c. &c. ; had an invitation to dine with the Commander-in-Chief ; but, of course, kept myself in the background. The gentleman did not seem to sit easy on me ; for, you must know, I was then a blushing modest youth : but the extremely kind inquiries of his lordship, and of his equally kind son, if I was there, tended greatly to dissipate my shyness. His lordship, on hearing I had ar- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 209 rived, approached me with extended hand, and shook mine cordially, saying, " I congratulate you as a brave young fellow, and I shall not lose sight of your merit." He requested I would sit next to him at dinner. I did so ; and, after the cloth was removed, he made me fight the Forlorn Hopes over again, at the recital of which his lordship was much affected. The next day his lordship again sent for me, when he addressed me in these words, "Shipp, I have been thinking a good deal about your case. You, of course, have not much money. I know your generous Lindsay will do anything to serve you, but he must really leave a little for me to do. You may therefore draw on me, through the field pay-master, for what you want." His lordship afterwards sent me a tent, two camels, and a horse, as presents. The rest of my fitting- out my excellent friend, Captain Lindsay, gene- rously gave me. Lord Lake was truly my friend, as he was that of every soldier in the army. He was munificent in his charities, being ever the first in subscribing large sums to whatever cases of distress appeared. 210 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. I will relate one instance of his benevolence and generosity. A very old lieutenant could not pur- chase a company then vacant ; indeed, knowing he could not purchase, he had thought nothing of the vacancy. In the evening I was standing with this officer, when the orderly-book, publishing his promotion by purchase, was put into his hands. He said, " There must be some mistake, for he had not a rupee he could call his own." At that moment Colonel Lake, his lordship's son, came up, and wished him joy of his promotion. The other said, " Colonel, there must be some mistake in this ; I cannot purchase." Colonel Lake said, " My father knows you cannot, and has therefore lent you the money, which he never intends to take back." These were the sort of acts in which his lordship delighted, and in consequence he was loved by his army, and admired by the people wherever he came. In about three weeks after having been appointed ensign in the 65th Regiment, his lordship promoted me to the rank of lieutenant in his Majesty's 76th Regiment, thus faithfully keeping his promise of MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 211 not losing an opportunity of serving me. In this regiment I became a great favourite with my colonel, the Honourable William Monson, then Brigadier-general of the army. One of the articles of treaty was, that Hoolkah should be driven from under the walls of the Fort of Bhurtpore. This had been done ; but he still hovered about camp, annoying our foraging-parties and small escorts coming into camp with supplies. A few days after having joined the 76th Regiment, I was appointed an extra aid-de-camp to the Bri- gadier, to proceed on a foraging-party, consisting of one regiment of Native cavalry and four six- pounders, with five hundred of irregular or local horse. We had not proceeded many miles from camp, when we saw Hoolkah's troops in immense force, posted on an eminence. They showed symptoms of fight. We collected our elephants, camels, and bullocks, and left them in charge of the five hundred irregular horse ; then, placing two of the six-pounders behind the regiment of Native cavalry, we moved slowly on till within two or three hundred yards of the enemy, when 212 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. we gave them about twenty rounds of grape, killing great numbers. We then charged them, and cut up a great number more. I had a narrow escape ; my horse was killed by a spear-wound in the chest, which entered his heart, and I fell under him. The horseman was about to give me a few inches of the same spear, when the honour- able Brigadier cut him down, and thus I escaped, taking the liberty of riding my well-meaning adver- sary's horse to camp. I was a good deal hurt by the fall, but this, with one or two men wounded, and some few horses killed, were the only casualties of the day. Hoolkah, finding that our hands were so unoc- cupied that we had more leisure than suited his purposes, made towards Jeypore. We crossed the river Chumlah, near Daulpore, in pursuit ; but lie retired to his old haunts, with his colleague Emeerkhan, and we to quarters in Futtypoore Seccrah. The foUowing year, everything wearing the pacific garb, and the gallant regiment to which I belonged being literally cut to pieces so much so, that we MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 213 had scarcely a sound man left in the regiment, it was considered to be time that the corps had some cessation from war. Twenty-five years had they been in India, and stood the brunt of all Lord Lake's conquests, and those on the coast. When I was in the regiment (1805), I believe there were only two men of the original corps, Lieutenant Montgomery, and Quarter-Master Hopkins. I am sure the latter, who is now living in England, will go through my campaigns with me with pleasure. The former, from the frequent wounds he had re- ceived, died a short time after the date to which I have referred. Would he had lived to have enjoyed the rewards of his gallantry ! for both these soldiers, like myself, were raised from the ranks by their merit. It has been my concern to watch that corps as if I was still connected with it: whenever I get hold of an Army List, my first care is for my old respected and gallant corps, and it is with regret I see my old and dear friends dying off; but this is incident to man's mortality, as well as to warfare. The regiment now embarked for Calcutta. I preceded them, in charge of invalids. Many of these poor fellows were without arms and legs ; 214 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. and some of them so dreadfully cut up, that scarcely a human feature could be traced. Many died from their wounds. Mine, by the blessing of Divine Pro- vidence, continued to do well ; but I was visited with the most excruciating headaches and dizziness from the wound in my head ; and the terrific spec- tacle of the last scene at Bhurtpore so affected my mind, that scarcely a night passed in which I did not dream of " hair-breadth 'scapes i' th' imminent deadly breach," and fancy I was fighting my battles over again. My head was so much injured, that the report of a gun would startle me dreadfully ; but, with an excellent constitution, care, and avoiding drink, I soon recovered, though the wound across my forehead has considerably impaired my sight. Twelve pieces, or splints, came away from the upper part of the wound; and when you put your finger upon it, the skull was so thin that you could feel the pulsation, like the pendulum of a clock. My wounds are still a certain and sure weather-glass. That on my forehead will, to this day, swell and ex- pand on any change of the weather, or variation in the atmosphere. 215 CHAPTER IX. You have now, reader, followed me through my military enterprises, up to the time of my being appointed lieutenant in the 76th Regiment. The time has arrived when I have to request that you will beat the silvery wave Avith me; for I am bound to my native country with my regiment, after an absence of ten years. On arriving at Calcutta, our reception was gratifying in the extreme. Every house opened its hospitable doors, and the tables groaned under a profusion of good cheer. Every one was anxious to hear the tale of war, and wherever I went I was thought ill-natured if I refused to repeat storm after storm, and all my battles over and over again. But, the ship being about to weigh anchor, our stay here was but short. We embarked at Balloh Ghaut, on board small sloops, and in three days reached the vessel, the 216 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHUT. Lord Duncan, Captain Bradford, in safety. We had on board a great number of passengers, and about two hundred invalids, under the command of Cap- tain Lindsay, of my old corps. Two days after- wards we bade adieu to the Indian shores, leaving many dear and respected friends behind us. We were at this time at war with France, and the Indian Seas were well watched by cruisers from off the Isle of France. Our fleet consisted of thir- teen Indiamen of the first-rate, convoyed by the Tremendous, seventy-four, and Hindostan, seventy- four. We sailed in two lines, headed by the two se- venty-fours. All seemed order and discipline, and we thought ourselves a match for any ships of France we might have fallen in with. Every thing went on smoothly, practising and drilling our guns once a week, and keeping a constant look-out for the enemy. Off the coast of Madagascar a ship was discovered, early in the morning, standing right down upon us. Seeing her a single vessel, we conceived her to be one of our cruisers from off the Cape of Good Hope ; but, when she was within one mile and a half from us, she could not answer MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 217 our signals, and consequently ran towards the land, which was to windward of us. The Tre- mendous, being a fast sailer, went in chase of her. The Frenchman soon found that he was mis- taken. He, no doubt, at first, took us for a French fleet that was then out in these seas, and relied upon his fast and superior sailing to enable him to get away, should he prove mistaken; but our Commodore overhauled him hand over hand. The Frenchman tacked, turned, and twisted, but he found it was of no use. He therefore resorted to his natural cunning, shortened sail, and at last backed main-topsail, and waited till the English vessel came within pistol-shot. The Commodore, con- ceiving that the Frenchman was about to strike, did not wish to injure her, and therefore would not fire. The French captain availed himself of this interval, and gave the Tremendous a whole broad- side, by which she was so disabled as to become an immoveable log on the water. The Frenchman up-helm, and off he started. The Commodore, at last, got his ship's broadside to bear, and nearly VOL. I. L 218 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. tore her out of the water. However, she was a faster sailer than any ship in our fleet, and, finally, made her escape, to the mortification of the whole fleet, except one Captain Brus6e, a French pri- soner of war, a passenger on board our ship, who danced with ineffable delight; natural enough; but not very pleasant to the sight of an Englishman. The following day we experienced a most vio- lent hurricane, which lasted for two days without cessation. Fortunately, our fleet suffered but little injury, with the exception of one vessel, the Lady Castlereagh, which we thought must inevitably have been lost. She was about a quarter of a mile from us, and we could at one time see her whole keel. There was a general shriek of terror from all on board of us, and our captain said that he feared she would never right. The next gi- gantic wave, however, brought her up, and she did right, in spite of our predictions, but seemed to roll, pitch, and labour dreadfully. Some part of her masts were carried away; but what, I do not now recollect. Three of our ships separated from the MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 219 fleet, and we imagined that they had fallen into the hands of the French, for we learned, at St. Helena, that they had been seen a few days before from that island. The name of the French ship which we had fallen in with, was Le Cannonier, a sixty-four, from the Isle of France. We under- stood that she was so badly wounded, that she was obliged to put into Simmon's Bay, not aware, at that time, that the Cape was again in posses- sion of the English. She soon found this out, cut and ran, and got clear to the Isle of France. Our three strayed ships made their appearance at St. Helena the following day, having seen the French fleet the ni^ht after the affair between o the Tremendous and Le Cannonier, and, under cover of the night, escaped unobserved, or they must have been taken, as the French fleet con- sisted of five sail or more. Our reception at St. Helena, by Governor Brooks, was truly splendid and hospitable. We remained there, I think, eight or ten days, after which we again stood towards Old England. Our voyage thither affords me an opportunity of in- L 2 220 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. troducing what may be not unamusing to the reader under the title of, SHIP MISERIES AND TRICKS. TRYING to save yourself from a fall, discover, after every mortal effort, that you have found your way into the pigsty, and that such has been the force of the fall, that tb<5 sailors are obliged to clap a tackle on your leg to get you out, for which kind services you have an excellent oppor- tunity of showing your liberality. Trying to save yourself from falling overboard, seize hold of a lady's gown, and carry part of the flimsy robe in triumph with you to the silvery deep ; thus adding to your ducking, or bitter cold immersion, the eternal anger of the offended fair. Endeavouring to save yourself from a fall, when the ship is rolling terrifically, find your precious body quietly deposited in the orlop deck, a depth of about twenty feet. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 221 In carrying pea-soup, find yourself floored on your back, with the contents of the soup-dish over your face and clothes, but with this consolation, that all is not lost, having received your mouthful of the boiling decoction. When the ship is pitching, show your skill in sliding along the deck, by making a desperate effort from the quarter-deck to the forecastle: brought up by your head coming in contact with that of Mungo, the West Indian cook ; who, think- ing you one of his countrymen, and up to their me- thod of fighting, gives you several butts before he discovers his mistake; teaching you, however, by this catastrophe, that Mungo's head is much harder than your own. A dandy, in full fig for dinner, parading his be- dizened figure on the quarter-deck, and cutting as many capers as a cat in a tripe-shop, is invited to the forecastle to see a strange sail (a hoax), and the distant speck he views with his eye-glass. Captain. Don't you see her, sir ? Look a little more to the starboard-side; she is very small. 222 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Dandy. Upon honour, I cannot, for the life of me, discover her ; and I flatter myself that my eyes are as brilliant as any body's, d n me. Strange ! cannot get a glimpse of her ! Captain. You have not washed your eyes this morning, sir; look, my dear fellow, yonder she is, quite plain. Dandy. Cursedly strange! cannot see her. Captain. Luff, boy. Boy. Ay, ay, sir. He luffs the vessel up, when she ships a tremen- dous sea, which drenches the poor dandy from head to foot, and his sneezing prevents, for time, his indignation against the cold blue waters. At last, he gains breath enough to exclaim, "This is what I call a confounded bore, d d bore ; 'pon honour." For which he has the satisfaction of being laughed at by the passengers, and grinned at by the tars. Giving a dandy a tarry rope to pull by, by which he has the delectable pleasure of walking off with a good half-pound of tar, which takes him the rest of the passage to get off. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 223 Soaping the cuddy-ladder about half way up, by which some annoying puppy has an opportunity of showing his skill in gymnastics, at the expense of his back and sides. Going to roost a little muzzy, wake in the night with the cramp, and find that you can only lie and roar, not being able to move hand or foot, on account of some kind friend's having lashed you in your hammock, to prevent your falling out. Taking the head of the table as the least crowded place, by a sudden roll of the vessel find the whole of the dinner lodged in your lap, with dishes, plates, knives, forks, and glass, and the rear-guard brought up by a score of fat passengers, who are all driven towards the scene of distress. When the ship rolls on the contrary side, you have the pleasure of being uppermost in your turn, and riding some of them back again, disencumbering your clothing and person of your hot and greasy cargo, to the great advantage of those then beneath you. 224 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Finding, from the stupidity of the servant, who has forgotten to lash your chair, that the first roll of the ship gives you an opportunity of cutting a somerset backwards. Endeavouring to save your- self, unfortunately seize the sea-pie, and get the contents in your palpitating bosom. In the act of drinking a glass of port wine, the ship gives a terrific roll, by which the lady on your left gets the contents of your glass over her new silk dress, newly purchased of Mrs. Perceval, Regent Street. After this accident, the lady, whom you are obliged to sit next during the whole voyage, makes the long passage to the East (some six months) particularly agreeable. Walking with a lady on the quarter-deck when the ship is rolling, in endeavouring to save your- self, pull the lady over you. This untoward cir- cumstance draws from you the most earnest apo- logies, which only increase the virulence of the fair spinster, and you are obliged to pocket the charming epithets, " Stupid fellow," " Awkward creature ;'' and part to speak no more. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 225 Sporting your figure on the poop of an Indiaman, find your new Bicknell's hat riding on the blue waters. Having no other, obliged to purchase a greasy cap from one of the sailors, from which me- tamorphosis you are dubbed the "pirate." Being rather scanty of clean linen, resolve to have a general wash, for which purpose you tow over the major part of your little kit, when, from the injudicious majiner in which you have tied the knot, you have the mortification of seeing the whole riding on the hoary billows one satisfaction only remaining to you, that you know where they are. In stormy weather, after having puffed and blowed the galley-fire for above an hour, and at length succeeded in getting your pot of coffee boiled, proceed, with great caution, to convey it to the table ; but, from a sudden heave of the vessel, the very first step you take your now boiling coffee (to which, after all your trouble, you have an un- doubted right) finds its way into your loving arms, rather more to the prejudice of your outward, than L5 226 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. to the satisfaction, as you had intended, of your inward man. Going up the rigging to look out for land, find yourself tied hands and feet by the sailors, and kept there till your liberality in grog is duly and in form exhibited by an order on the steward for a gallon. Sleeping on your watch, find yourself suddenly called up to perform some part of your duty ; when, lo ! some wags have tied you hands and legs to a gun. Sleeping to leeward late in the morning, find yourself swimming, the morning watch having commenced washing decks. Symptoms of anger would only increase the laugh at your expense. In the ship in which I sailed to India, a young midshipman was sleeping on his morning watch, on the leeward side. The officer on watch ordered the sailors to bring half-a-dozen buckets of water, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 227 and at a preconcerted signal the poor snoaring middy was to get the contents. The signal was given, and souse went a couple of buckets; then two more. The officer sung out, " Tom, you are overboard; strike away." The little fright- ened fellow's hands and legs went the same as they would if he had been actually swimming, and it was some time before he could make up his mind that he was safe on board ; more especially when some of them bellowed out, "Throw him a rope throw him a rope." Showing your agility in ascending the ship's side, miss your footing, by which you have a most favour- able opportunity of showing your swimming powers also. Being anxious to land after a long voyage from India, trust your precious body in an open boat. A hurricane coming on, your little bark is driven out to sea, and you are obliged to seek refuge in an enemy's country. If you escape with life, you are fortunate indeed; but the loss of your long- collected treasures is inevitable. 228 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Being obliged to sit next to a gentleman who is an intolerable taker of snuff, which is continually blowing into your eyes. To mend this annoyance, your snuff-loving neighbour gets drunk before the cloth is removed from the table, and then becomes so importunate for conversation, that he thrusts his snuffy proboscis into your face ; or, in his vehe- mence, upsets his snuff-box into your lap. Quarrelling with the officers of the ship ; in con- sequence of which, wherever you show your nose, you are sure of being soused and played all man- ner of tricks with by the crew, to the great amuse- ment of the other passengers. Having refused to get up for the purpose of having the steerage washed, find yourself, when in a comfortable slumber, cut down by the head ; by which you learn that your nob is not quite so hard as the deck, though, perhaps, thicker; and are taught, at the same time, the necessity of con- forming to the rules of the ship. Refusing to bring up your hammock from below, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 229 find, when you are going to turn in at night, that some scamp has emptied the tar-bucket into it, by which you have the felicity of having your bedding sticking to your back. No grumbling permitted. Being monstrously beloved by the passengers, from your urbanity and complacency of manners, find that, as a token of their unalterable affection, they bribe sailors to play you all manner of tricks ; such as tripping you up by a rope ; tying your legs when asleep; dragging you from one side of the deck to the other ; sousing you from the main- top, whenever you venture in its vicinity; putting grease on your chair, when you are about to seat yourself; filling your tea with salt ; your cigar with gunpowder ; your grog with jalap ; your boots with water ; your bed with tar ; and five hundred other tricks. Therefore, as the society of a vessel is necessarily small, make yourself agreeable : if not, the above will be your fate. Under the raging sun, inhaling from your port- hole the little breeze that sometimes condescends MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. to visit you, and in those pensive moments com- mitting to paper the occurrences of the voyage, when, all of a sudden, a squall comes on, and your effusions, desk and all, find their way into the briny deep, and you have the mortification of seeing them descending rapidly to Neptune's treasury. During a storm, find your cot loose, which rolls from side to side, to the great terror of all the passengers, and to the great risk of your life : cannot, dare not, move ; and, from the noise and bustle on deck, your shrill notes of fear pass unheeded, save by the frightened inmates be- low, who hug their beds in alarm. Thus you are doomed, at the mercy of the billows, to roll from side to side, and from head to stern, at the expense of your ribs and head. Considering yourself a connoisseur in the manu- facture of spruce-beer, make twelve dozen, and invite your friends on board the ship to pay you a visit, to regale themselves on this cooling beverage MEMOIRS OF JOHN SH1PP. 231 the following day. In the middle of the night, however, find yourself awoke by a file-firing which alarms the whole ship, and which, on examination, you find to proceed from the bursting of your deli- cious spruce, occasioned by the rolling of the ves- sel, and the heat of the lockers in which it had been deposited. Being obliged to sit next to a person with whom you have quarrelled, and are to settle your little affair of honour on arriving at the first land. Dancing down the middle with a fat Sodagah's wife, who, for the last twenty years, has been regaling on the delicacies of the East, and whom you are literally obliged to drag down the country dance. When poussetting, or swinging corners, the mischievous helmsman gives the ship a luff up, which brings the whole weight of the said fat Sodagah's wife upon your liverless side, to the no small amusement of the rest of the party, who laugh most heartily at the struggling and flounder- ing of yourself and fat partner, to restore your- selves to a perpendicular position. 232 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Showing your agility before the assembled pas- sengers, by ascending the rigging, find your way down much quicker than you went up, by slipping from the ratlines, which have been recently tarred ; by which fall you are minus some few inches of skin from your nose, hands, and shins, besides spoiling your new suit of clothes. As one of the pleasures of being a sound sleeper, find, when you awake in the morning, that you have been tied in your hammock, with your face towards the deck ; in which state you are obliged to hang suspended till some kind friend relieves you. Sitting, on a passage from India, next to your tailor or shoemaker, to whom you owe a long bill. Being out-general'd, so that you are obliged to sit next to- a right down West-Indian Black, who has but an intolerable smattering of your mother- tongue, but whom, sitting next to you, you are, as a matter of politeness, obliged to hand to and from table, and occasionally to lead down the merry MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 233 dance; and who sometimes solicits you with such fascinating grins to accompany her in a duet, that you cannot, without offence, refuse. Sitting opposite, or next to, a prodigious fat gentleman, or dame, who has a wheezing asthma. Sitting opposite to a tawny and sun-burnt invalid, who is proceeding home with all the diseases inci- dent to the climate of India, and who is so quar- relsome and peevish, that, in commiseration for his sufferings, you condescendingly agree with him on every subject, although in direct opposition to your own experience and judgment. Playing whist with an invalid of this kind, who plays a card every half-hour; and, if you hurry him, is very likely to throw the whole pack at your head. Making love on the poop early in the morning, and planning your schemes how to elude the vigi- lant eye of a parent, find, when your arrangements 234 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. are finally settled, that your whole conversation has been overheard by " pa'," from the mizen- mast, behind which he had stolen unobserved. Miss i is confined to her cabin, and you are obliged to sit next to the said pa' for the rest of the voyage. Sitting between two foreigners, of whose lan- guage you do not understand a syllable ; and who, from their violent gestures, appear to be laying deep plans for cutting your throat. 235 CHAPTER X. WE arrived in England some time in October, 1807. We landed at Long Reach, and proceeded to Dartford, in Kent, from whence I marched my invalids, or rather had them carried, to Chelsea Hospital, a journey which I was three days in accomplishing. On the fourth day I reached the place of destination, and having made my report to the commandant of Chelsea, I returned to join the regiment at Dartford. Here we remained for about a week or ten days, receiving the greatest kindness from the gentlemen in that town and its vicinity. From thence the regiment was ordered to Notting- ham, and I obtained leave of absence to proceed home. My primary object in coming to England, was the hope of seeing my father ; and I anxiously availed myself of the opportunity which now offered 236 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. of revisiting my native village, full of anticipation of the pleasure with which I should relate my ad- ventures to all who had formerly known me. The coach which was to convey me to the village of my birth, had not proceeded many miles, when a coin- cidence happened, which, though " true as holy writ," might be thought, without this assurance, to bear the marks of fiction. On the coach, next to me, sat a pilot from Aldborough, in Suffolk, who suddenly addressing himself to me, said, " I really cannot help thinking, sir, from your extraordinary resemblance to a person I once knew, that you are his son." The words, " once knew," turned my blood -cold, and it was some minutes before I could muster courage to ask the name of the person to whom he referred. What was my astonishment, when he at once replied, " Shipp ! " " Is he, then, dead, sir ? " exclaimed I, convinced now that it was my father of whom he spoke. " I regret to say he is," replied the pilot; and he added, while his lip quivered, and the tear of sympathy stood in his eye, " You are his son John, I feel sure that I cannot be mistaken now." At this moment the MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 237 coach stopped to change horses, and I jumped off; and, instead of supping with the rest of the passen- gers, took a solitary stroll to hide my grief. I had left India at a great sacrifice to my prospects. There were all my friends, and there lay all my interest. I might have made a very advantageous exchange, and remained in that country ; but I could not resist the temptation of coming to England, from anticipations of the delight I should enjoy in recounting my life to a parent who had almost from my infancy been estranged from me. I had now heard, in the sudden and unexpected manner I have related, of that parent's death ! But, not to dwell longer on this painful subject, I made up my mind, that, notwithstanding what I had just learnt, I would still proceed to Saxmund- ham. On arriving there, I found living my father's two brothers, and my mother's sister. With the latter I took up my quarters, and spent a most happy fortnight under her roof. To enumerate the alterations which had been made, both in places and persons, since I left my native village, or to detail the inquiries I had to answer, and the con- 238 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. gratulations which poured in upon me from all quar- ters, would be as uninteresting to the reader as it would be tedious to myself. My relations at Sax- mundham are now all numbered with the dead. I soon returned to Nottingham, and rejoined my regiment. From thence I was ordered to Wake- field, in Yorkshire, on the recruiting service. Here nothing but gaiety prevailed ; and, as I was the only officer at the place for a considerable time, I re- ceived invitation upon invitation, to dinners, balls, and suppers ; and, to confess the truth, I thought myself no small personage, which, as I was now in the Grenadier Company, was not, in its literal sense, very easily to be controverted. While I was at this place, I was called upon to perform the office of second, in an affair of honour between a military officer of rather dimi- nutive person, and a huge fellow of a civilian. The circumstances which gave rise to the quarrel were as follow : Among the fair attendants of a ball which was given one evening in the town, was a very pretty girl, on whose charms the tall gentleman had for MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 239 some time looked with amorous inclination, and whom, it is to be presumed, he therefore wished to exclude from the attentions of all but himself. The young lady herself, however, was not so ex- clusive in her notions; and, accordingly, finding her conversation courted, and the favour of her hand solicited, by a dashing little officer in hand- some uniform (and who, though a warrior of some- what small dimensions, was really a dapper, good- looking little fellow), she made no scruple either of listening to his flattering tongue, or of accept- ing his hand for the dance. This preference of the man of steel so irritated his huge rival, that he determined to pass some insult upon him. He accordingly found a more compassionate lady as his partner ; and, no sooner had the dance com- menced, than he took the first opportunity which presented itself of treading, with all his weight, on the little officer's toes. In dancing down a second time, he played him the same trick. Our little hero did not think it much of a joke to have the full weight of a gentleman full six feet three in height, and stout in proportion, twice 240 MEMOIRS OF JOHN S HIPP. on his toes within a few minutes; but, as his tor- mentor made the most ample apologies on both occasions, he felt fully disposed to endure the pain with as much fortitude as possible, and to attribute the occurrence to accident; wheji his little rustic beauty, who had more carefully watched and better understood the manoeuvres of the neg- lected swain, whispered in his ear, " A pointed insult, sir." These words roused the blood of the son of Mars in a moment; he watched the move- ments of his toe-treading foe, and, just as he was coming down the middle a third time, to repeat the trick, he jumped upon a chair, and from thence sprung on his enemy's back, and, seizing his nose, he wrung it in so unmerciful a manner, as to com- pel its proprietor to cry out most piteously for help. The parties were at length separated by the mas- ter of the ceremonies, and a challenge was of course the result; the gentleman whose nose had been thus scurvily treated, in the presence of almost the whole town, being compelled either to fight or to quit society. Mortal combat having been appointed to take MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 241 place the next morning, it was arranged by the seconds that the principals were to be placed back to back, and that from thence each party was to step six paces, and then to fire together by signal. Preliminaries being thus concerted, and the fatal morning having arrived, the parties met punc- tually at the appointed spot, and were duly ranged with their backs to each other. At this moment the contrast between the courage of the two gentlemen was to the full as apparent as the ludicrous disproportion in their size. When I was placing them on the line drawn by me for their march, my little man, who possessed true " pluck," and was as cool as a cucumber, observ- ing the trepidation of his opponent, whispered to me, just loud enough to be overheard, " Where shall I hit him, Shipp ? Shall I wing him ?" On hearing this, the knees of the six-foot Yorkshire- man, which were already on the trot, broke into a full gallop ', and, when his second placed the pistol, duly primed and loaded, into his hand, he seized it by the muzzle. This mistake, as I al- ways loved fair play, I rectified; and, at last, the VOL. i. M 242 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. word " march" was given. Away went long-legs, getting over at least three yards of ground at each stride; and, had we permitted him to proceed at this rate, the one might as well have fired from the top of St. Paul's, and the other from Table Mountain; so the seconds saved him the trouble of extending his walk any further, by measuring twelve paces; and, the signal having been given to fire, the little one's ball cut through the collar of his affrighted opponent's coat, and the big one's nearly shot his own toes off. At this crisis of the affair, the gigantic rustic was scarcely so tall as his little rival, and his knees and body were so in- clined to take a more firm position, that we ex- pected every moment he would fall flat on the earth; when his second roused him by saying, " Come, sir, we must have another shot." This brought him fully to his senses, and he exclaimed, throwing down his pistol, " I'll see you d d first; he has put it through my coat already, and the next time I may get it where the tailor cannot mend it. No, no; I am perfectly satisfied; so I wish you a good morning." And off he trudged, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 243 at a pretty round pace, to the great amusement of the other three, as well as of some country- bumpkins, who were grinning from behind an ad- joining hedge, and who roared out, " Well done, little un ; bravo, little robin-redbreast." By the re- sult of this affair, the six-feet-three gentleman lost his honour as well as his deary, and the subject was the theme of many a song in Wakefield for years after. The routine of dissipation which was kept up at Wakefield, was not to be sustained by me without expense; and to meet these expenses I spent more than my income. This extravagance with the loss of fifty pounds of which I was robbed by my servant, and the assistance of a designing sergeant, who took advantage of my youth and inexperience soon involved me in debts, to liquidate which I was obliged to apply for permission to sell my com- mission. This, in consideration of my services, was readily granted; and, having effected a sale, I paid every shilling of my debts, and with the residue of the money repaired to London, where,' in about six months, I found myself without a M2 244 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. shilling, without a home, and without a friend. Thus circumstanced, my fondness of the profession induced me to turn my thoughts to the army again. I could see no earthly difficulty why I should not rise in the same way I had before ; and accordingly I enlisted at Westminster, in his Majesty's 24th Dragoons, and in two or three days after went with the recruiting-sergeant to the cavalry dep6t at Maidstone, then under the command of Major- General George Hay. I had not been there long before an officer, who had served with me in cam- paigns in India, arrived at the dep6t, and, imme- diately recognising me, my history was made known to the commanding officer, apd I was promoted to the rank of sergeant. I remained at the depdt about three months, at the expiration of which we were ordered to India, and I embarked as acting quarter-master on board the New Warren Hastings, Captain Larkins, and sailed from Spit- head on the 8th day of January, 1808. We experienced a most terrific gale in the Bri- tish Channel, and were at last obliged to run for Torbay, where we brought up near where the East MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 245 Indiaman, the Abergavenny, was lost. Near us lay a ship of war, from which, at the imminent hazard of the lives of an officer and six men, a boat was sent off to our ship, the crew of which, after riding in safety over the mountainous waves, de- sired us, in a most authoritative tone, to throw out a rope. All hands were at the leeward side in a moment, when there was a general whispering amongst the tars. " Shiver my timbers," said one, " but that looks like a press." " Start me," said another, " but so it does." Thus went round the general buzz, when the man of authority, in size not much larger than a quaker,* with a sword as long as himself, and a huge cocked-hat, as big as a gaff top-sail, which he skulled off with as much grace and majesty as a grand bashaw, flew up the side of the ship in an instant. He saluted the quarter-deck (as is usual), then mounted on tiptoe, and danced up to the captain, who was on deck, and, with the authority of an Admiral of the Red, demanded to see the ship's books. At this sound * A false gun, made of wood, about two feet long. 246 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. every sailor writhed his features and limbs into the most ludicrous distortions ; some limped, others stooped, and all did their utmost to appear as de- crepit and unfit for service as possible. As our ship was then in imminent danger of going ashore, the captain remonstrated, setting forth the perilous situation of his ship, the number of lives, and the amount of property on board ; but, notwithstanding that we were at that moment dragging our two anchors, the little officer persisted in obeying the orders of his commander, and walked off with six of our very best seamen. By the loss of these men, our ship was involved in double the danger she was in before, as they were our ablest hands. Whether or not this was a justifiable act, I am unacquainted ; but its enforcement at such a con- juncture seems sadly at variance with the principles of humanity. Fortunately for us, however, the storm soon abated, and the following morning, ere the feathered tribe were on the wing, we again stood on our way towards our destined port. Our ship had suffered but little injury, and she now scudded sweetly along the blue waters, her white MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 247 sails sworn with majestic pride, and the eye of every one on board lingering (until it was lost in * the distance) on that dear isle from which we were so rapidly departing. After this, we had a lon and tedious voyage, in which much misery was experienced by all the troops on board, in conse- quence of the cruel and despotic conduct of our commanding officer. This gentleman is now no more ; and, if it were on this account only, I should refrain from mentioning his name. For this, and other reasons, I shall withhold from the reader all detail of conduct which I have myself long tried to forget ; and content myself by stating, in justi- fication of the epithets applied by me to such con- duct, that the cat-o'-nine-tails was constantly at work; so much so, that Captain Larkins at length interfered, and protested " that he would not have his quarter-deck converted into a slaughter-house, nor the eyes of the ladies on board disgusted with the sight of the naked back of a poor screaming soldier, every time they came upon deck." The distant low-land peeping from afar, and the company of little messengers from the myrtle-grove 248 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. at length apprised us that we were in sight of the long-looked-for haven. The wind was contrary, and night had begun to throw over the silvery deep her sombre mantle, so that we were obliged to stand out to sea, to avoid getting into the currents that prevail near this land. Early in the morning it was dark and hazy, but at about ten o'clock it cleared up ; the sun shed her bright beams over the Indian Ocean ; the little harbinger of peace was again on the wing ; and we again beheld the land : Joy is upon the lonely deep, , When Indian forests pour Forth to the billow, and the breeze, Their odours from the shore. Oh ! welcome are the winds that tell A wanderer of the deep, Where far away the jasmines dwell, And where the myrrh- trees weep! Bless'd, on the sounding surge and foam, Are tidings of the citron's home ! All the passengers were now promenading the quarter-deck: some viewing the beauty of the scenery; others whispering sad notes of farewell MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 249 love ; and all anxiously looking forward to the mo- ment of disembarkation. We were crowding all possible sail to get the ship safe into the river by night. The wind was fair, and the sky was spotless, save here and there some little white flying clouds, that seemed to dance about us. In an instant after the ship was thrown on her beam-ends, her gunwales under water, and passengers tumbling and rolling over each other. The crew had to struggle hard to keep her head above water. Every eye was wildly fixed on the captain, and every cheek wore a deathlike paleness. At last, away went her foretop-mast, top-gallant and royal-mast, foreyard, main-royal-mast, main-top- gallant, and main top-mast; and her mizen-mast was much injured. In that short moment the cup of bliss was . dashed from our lips, and we lay a complete wreck upon the water; but, the masts having gone, carrying every thing before them, and the ship having righted, every hand was as in- stantaneously set to work, and busily employed in remedying the evils and clearing the wreck. It was imagined at first that the ship had gone ashore ; M 5 250 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. but, on trying the pumps, it appeared that she had made no water. We soon discovered that our mis- fortune was occasioned by what are termed, in those seas, white squalls. These come on without any previous indication; and, though of short du- ration, are so destructive while they last, that no ship under heavy sail can stand against them. These squalls are most frequent when the sky is clearest. They are supposed to be contained in those little white flying clouds, which, previous to the storm, are seen hovering over the ship, as though watching to catch the mariners off their guard. We were again obliged to stand out to sea ; but we soon cleared away, and once more stood towards land. The day was rainy and hazy, when, through the darksome mists, we beheld a sail, and soon dis- covered, to our great joy, that it was the boat of a Calcutta pilot, who immediately came on board our vessel. On examining the masts, we discovered that the maintop-mast would not bear her sail therefore, splinters and stays were immediately put on. The day brightened up, but the wind blew MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 251 strong ; so, not being able to discover landmarks, we cast anchor for the night. The next morning we found that we were so close to land that we could see men walking on the sea-beach, and dis- tinguish huts and towns in the distance. We weighed anchor early, and stood towards Saugar, the wind blowing a smart gale. At one time we approached so near the breakers that we expected to go ashore, and a few minutes after we shipped a tremendous sea, the major part of which went over the poop and through the great cabin-win- dows, carrying trunks, boxes, beds, and every- thing before it. I was on deck at the time : the ship's stern seemed to be fastened, and she shook much; but at last on she went. I have no hesi- tation in saying that her stern struck the ground, but no injury was done beyond sousing a few trunks and beds. We at last reached Saugar in safety ; but before we arrived there our feelings were excited to a high pitch of sympathy by an inter- esting scene. Captain Larkins was standing on the poop, close by where I stood, with his glass at his eye examining the ships which were lying 252 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. at anchor, when he suddenly exclaimed, " I surely know that ship lying yonder ; my eyes cannot deceive me, it's my old ship, the Warren Hastings." The pilot was requested to go within hail of her. All hands were upon deck ; every eye fixed on the strange ship ; and sailors and soldiers manned the rigging. The captain got the large speaking-trumpet, and bellowed out, " What ship, a-hoy ?" Answer, " The Warren Hastings what ship are you ?" Answer, " The New Warren Hastings." Here the shouting of the crews of both ships was quite deafening. Our captain could not say a syllable more, but was so much affected as to shed a tear to the memory of his old ship, which he had manfully defended, but lost to some French ship-of-war. She had been retaken by some of our cruizers. A short time after this we came to anchor a little above Saugar ; and the following day we were shipped on board sloops, and sailed up the river Hoogley, and in about a week came to anchor off Fort William, Calcutta, and were again placed on terra firma. We remained in the fort about a MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 253 fortnight, and while boats were in preparation for our conveyance up the river Ganges, to our re- spective regiments, all was gaiety and mirth. The monsoons, or rainy season, having com- menced, we sailed from Calcutta, under the com- mand of Colonel Wade, on route to Cawnpore, where we arrived in safety in about three months, with the loss of seven or eight men drowned, and of a few others, who died from having eaten too freely of unripe fruit. 254 CHAPTER XL IT is my intention to devote this chapter to a few practical hints to young men about to embark for India, either in the civil or military service. The remarks which I shall make, being the result of personal observation during a service of twenty- five years in that country, will not, I trust, be un- acceptable, either to the young men themselves, or to their parents or guardians. As the whole chapter will be engrossed by this subject, which, to many readers, may prove wholly uninteresting, it seems fair at its outset to give them to under- stand what they are to expect, in order that an opportunity may be afforded them to " skip" if they think proper. First, as to the outfit for India. A gentleman came to me some few months since, and said, " I have been given to understand, sir, that you have MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 255 been a considerable time in the East Indies. I have an only son, now on the eve of embarking for that country, as a cadet ; will you have the good- ness to inform me what necessaries will be requisite for his passage ? Some say it will cost two, some three, others, four hundred pounds. I should wish to make my boy comfortable, but if a large sum be required, it will place me in difficulties." I re- plied, " Sit down, sir, and I will soon ease your mind on that head, by reducing the sum requisite to meet such demands, to something less than one * o hundred pounds." The following is a copy of the list I gave him, and this was on a splendid scale ; the one half might, if there were an absolute neces- sity for it, suffice : . s. d. 4 dozen calico shirts, without frills at 5s. each 12 1 dozen night-shirts 3s. each 1 16 6 calico night-caps . . Is. each 6 (i 1 dozen sheets 4s. 6d. per pair 2 14 4 dozen hand-towels . lOd. each 2 6 pair cotton loose sleeping-trousers 3s. each 18 1 dozen half-cravats Is. each 12 4 black stocks 3s. each 12 20 18 256 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. f. *. d. Brought forward 20 18 1 dozen pair of nankeen pantaloons ~) , , > 15s. per pair 800 or trousers 3 6 pair of light shoes . >. 10s. per pair ,300 2 pair of boots ... . 1. per pair 200 2 pair of slippers . . . 4s. per pair 080 2 dozen pair of stockings . . 2s. per pair 140 6 pair of worsted ditto . . 3s. 6d. per pair 110 2 dozen pair of half-stockings . Is. per pair 140 6 flannel shirts . 5s. each 1 10 2 black waistcoats . .14s. each 180 4 white waistcoats . . . 14s. each 2 16 2 dozen pocket handkerchiefs . Is. each 140 2 pair of cloth pantaloons . . 1. 14s. each 380 2 black silk jackets for hot weather 1. each 200 1 cloth ditto . . . . .200 1 good dress coat . . . . 500 4 pounds of wax candles . . 3s. per Ib. 0120 Wash-hand stand, cot, soap, &c. &c. . . 500 62 13 The whole of these things being adapted for a warm climate, will form part of the young man's requisite stock of clothing in India, while other things would be found entirely useless on his arrival, as too heavy and warm for the country. The only things that must be an actual loss would be the warm clothing taken out. Of these, but a MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 257 change will be required. I have seen a cadet sell in India, for ten or twenty rupees, articles that must have cost his parents a hundred pounds, some of which he had never put on his back. If parents have money to give their sons, let it lay the foundation of a capital in India, on which to build a fortune. Money, on board a ship, leads youth to the gambling-table, thereby sowing the seeds of that destructive vice which may lead to his utter ruin. The monotonous life during an Indian voyage naturally turns the minds of warm- spirited youth to every species of amusement. Play is proposed by some artful gambler at first for mere trifles from which they go on to larger sums, so much so that I have known several young men land in India, without a shirt to their backs, having lost them at play during the voyage. The dreadful consequences of this vice require no commentary from me. Gambling, in India, is not what it was twenty years ago, it's true ; but even now many are its victims, who must linger out the residue of their days in despair, in vauv sighing for their dear native homes. 258 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. A young man, on landing in India, should carry this conviction with him, that nine-tenths of the native servants are decided thieves. For this rea- son, all the clothes, &c. should be marked, and the vigilance of the master of the goods is absolutely necessary to insure their safety. Various are the tricks played off on the inexperienced by their native servants ; and, if one is turned away for theft or other delinquency, it is always ten to one that his successor is worse. Hence, it is better to keep to one set of servants, if possible, and nothing but personal watchfulness will insure their honesty. When the washermen take clothes to be washed, the pockets, and sleeves, and legs of pantaloons should be carefully searched, by which process they will generally be delivered of something valuable; such as silk stockings, silk handker- chiefs, and so on. Old clothes should never be given to servants, or they will assuredly, sooner or later, find their way back into the trunks of their old master, and be replaced by some of his better ones. A master who keeps only just so many things as are absolutely necessary for his comfort, will be MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 259 far less likely to be robbed, than one who abounds in superfluities. The servants should be paid monthly, and each should be made responsible for the things placed under his charge, which things should be required to be produced by them previous to their being paid. Nothing contributes so much to keep a servant in India honest, as the conviction that his master is well acquainted with, and looks after, his own property. Many, on their first arrival in India, in their eagerness to feed on the delicious fruits of that country, sow the seeds of a disease that they scarcely ever part with but in death dysentery. Young men should recollect that their stomachs are not likely to adapt themselves suddenly to the strong and powerful acids contained in pine-apples, mangoes, pomegranates, &c. Many young men die from their too free use of these fruits ; and those who escape an early tomb are scarcely ever restored to perfect health. I have often seen the most deplorable spectacles of men lingering out a wretched existence through an excessive use of 260 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. fruit. The pine, I am convinced, it is at all times dangerous to eat much of; and I would strongly recommend young persons, on their arrival in India, to refrain from indulging in this tempting and de- licious fruit, if they wish to avoid becoming early victims to its fascinating and luxuriant taste. Man- goes are less palatable, but less prejudicial to the constitution. I would recommend plantain and the custard-apple as the best fruits after the outward voyage, and these should be, for some time, used with moderation and caution. A free use of spirituous liquors drives many youths to an early tomb. If once resorted to to quench thirst, in a climate like India, it will soon allure the individual into habitual sottishness. Therefore, look well before you take the proffered cup of liberality; it contains a poisonous ingre- dient, and, if taken to excess, is in reality the cup of destruction. If it be requisite that you should drink spirits at all, which I very much doubt, let it be within the bounds of sober pru- dence, and with a fair proportion of the crystal stream. I have myself spent as long a time in MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 261 India as any young man going out as cadet in the company's service would be required to serve. I am now in England, at the age of forty-three, in the enjoyment of perfect health, with the excep- tion of occasional twinges from my wounds ; and I do not hesitate to attribute this to the fact of having always rigorously followed that advice which I now offer to others. Though bathing, in so hot a climate as India, is absolutely necessary, as well for cleanliness as for the promotion of health, yet there are many sad evils attending the mode of doing so. I would o o strongly recommend bathing from the shower- bath, as the best method, and the most congenial to the constitution. Immersion in any shape is attended with extreme danger. The sudden tran- sition from heat to cold, is too great a shock for most constitutions in so warm a clime, where the state of the blood is always that of fermentation. I would recommend the morning as the best time for taking the shower-bath, and then from well- water, which is always warm. This is done by a bheesty, or water-carrier, standing above you, and 262 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. pouring it over you from his sheep or goat-skin, in which he carries water for your use. After bathing, when the skin has been -wiped dry, let your bearer use the rubbers freely. This will set the blood in circulation, and contribute greatly to health and comfort. The baths in India, which are ge- nerally made in the earth, are intensely cold, and ought not to be used except with the greatest caution. The greatest care should be taken that the body is sufficiently cool before plunging in ; and, afterwards, that the bather does not remain too long in the water, a practice which can only serve further to impair a constitution already weakened by copious perspiration, I have seen people, after indulging in this Indian luxury, so languid that they have been obliged to be led to their couch. If the evil is within reach in those nights when the dry heat defies language, few could resist such a temptation. On such occasions, I have found rubbing with worsted mittens, which are used for the purpose of creating circulation of blood, to have a very good effect. I have felt as refreshed from this rubbinsr as I have from bathing. Some MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 263 desperate young men I have known apply wet cloths to their bodies when the heat has been great. A dreadful rheumatism is the sure consequence of such rashness. Sad and many are the diseases brought on by sleeping exposed to the night air. This may, per- haps, be done with impunity for years, but rest assured, like all other indiscretions, it will termi- nate in disease and repentance; as, however dry and hot the midnight may be, heavy dews are sure to come on, on the approach of morning. It is not an unusual thing for young and inexpe- rienced men to drink cold water when in a heated state, and that, too, with the greatest avidity. This is frequently attended with sudden death. I would recommend weak brandy and water instead of pure water. Many of the running streams are impregnated with poisonous matter from snakes and toads, and other venomous animals. I would also recommend that whatever is drunk should be drunk gradually, and when the body is cool and the blood composed. I am of opinion, and I speak from experience, that to imprudences of this kind 264 . MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. may be attributed the one-half of the diseases to which young men fall early victims. I would, on no account whatever, suddenly expose the body to any temperature different from that to which it has been accustomed. A person who wishes to live in health in India, must certainly nurse the constitu- tion. However people may ridicule the use of the chattah, or large umbrella used in India, and however curious it may appear to a young man on his landing, it is, notwithstanding, absolutely requisite to shield the brain from a scorching sun ; more especially on first landing. If you can afford a palanquin, by all means sport one, by which you will be saved from many a burning fever. With attention, and by studying the season, it is my opi- nion that a man may live in India as long as in a colder and more salubrious country; but care is certainly requisite. However Johnny-Newcome- like it may appear to an European eye, I would, notwithstanding, strongly recommend the use of the broad-brimmed solah hat. These hats are made of pith, are extremely light, and effectually keep the sun from the head. They are to be pur- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 265 chased in Calcutta, and many parts of India, for a mere trifle ; but, where they cannot be procured, straw hats, the crown of which ought to be well stuffed, and the brim lined with green silk, will make a very good substitute. I would recommend the early adoption of flannel shirts, which will be found very conducive to health, by keeping the blood in motion, absorbing the perspiration, and keeping the skin from that disagreeable dryness which it is liable to in the hot winds. In the cold weather, I would recommend the use of worsted stockings, either with shoes or boots. O ' From the extreme languidness to which the hot season has reduced the system, th^ extremities should be taken great care of, and flannel used freely. I do not know any exercise better, in the cold season, than long walks, or long rides on horseback ; the rougher the nag the better. Smok- ing, on cold mornings and evenings, may be judi- cious ; but, in .the hot season, this practice drains the body of the little moisture left by the climate. The use of the hookah, I am persuaded, injures VOL. I. N 266 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. fifteen constitutions in twenty. It would be better for a man to blow bagpipes all the days of his life, than to be lugging and puffing at the hookah. Besides this, the expense attending this Eastern luxury is enormous : Rupees. Tobacco, per month . . ' . 8 Rose-water, do. ;>-,, ;* .,, . .> v 4 Spices, do. .... 2 Hookahbahdar, do. . ' . 8 Cooly, to carry the same, do. |<* -to '. */ 4 Repairing of apparatus, &c. ~^. . 4 month, or 360 rupees per annum. P er . I would advise all persons proceeding to India to use no other water for drinking than that which has been previously boiled. This process will cleanse the water of all injurious matter that may be con- tained in it. Alum will be found useful in puri- fying water ; but boiling is preferable to any other means. Sore eyes are prevalent in India, arising from many causes. I have no hesitation in assert- ing, that looking up at a vertical moon will injure the sight. I speak from positive fact: one night, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 267 sleeping on the poop of an East Indiaman, on my voyage to India, I lay on my back, gazing for a con- siderable time at the bright and spotless moon. Thus gazing, I fell off to sleep. On the following morning, when I awoke, I felt a most unpleasant itching in the eyes, and I could scarcely refrain from tearing them out of my head. I immediately applied to a medical gentleman on board, who said it was the opthalmia; but, when I informed him what I had done, he replied, " You could not do a worse thing to injure the eyes ; and, if you don't take care, you may lose your sight, for I see a great degree of inflammation has already taken place : your only plan, now, is to keep the light from them." After this, it was some weeks before they were again strong enough to meet any consi- derable light. Weak brandy and water is frequently used to strengthen the sight, and I have found the most salutary effects from it. The other causes are generally known : I therefore pass them over. There is a most disagreeable visitor in India, about the commencement of the fains, or during the hot winds, called the prickly heat, which is N2 268 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. attended with the most unpleasant and annoying sensations. It makes its appearance by little spots, pr white bladders, on the surface of the skin, with intense itching ; so much so, that few can resist the temptation of aggravating these symptoms by scratching themselves. This arises, I should sup- pose, from the effect of the cold night-breezes on a heated state of the blood. The cold breezes of night are inhaled with avidity, as an ineffable luxury; but these winds, being dry, absorb the perspiration, which, being thus suddenly checked, causes these itching bladders to rise on the surface of the skin. I have seen people so bad with this eruption, especially under the arms, that they have been ready to tear themselves to pieces. Some young and inexperienced men attempt to stop the progress of this eruption ; but this should never be tried, as I have heard some of the most learned of the faculty affirm, that it eradicates other diseases, and cleanses and purifies the blood. I suffered every year, for five-and-twenty years, from this supposed evil of climate, as much as any one, but I never attempted to check it. Many of MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 269 those who did, I have known fall victims to the supposed remedies, or sow the seeds of a confirmed rheumatism, which they could never shake off. The remedies resorted to by these deluded men speak for themselves as most erroneous and dangerous : applications of cold cloths to the body, lying naked in the cold air, being fanned, and every kind of cold application that could be thought of. I have known men bathe with their clothes on, and thus lie down to repose. Such imprudences re- quire no comment, as the results must be evident. The only remedy I ever adopted, and that by me- dical advice, was powdering the rawest parts. Application of the nails is like infusing poison into the veins, and by such applications I have seen the most appalling sores, that never were got rid of; therefore, I am convinced, that in these cases nature should be allowed to take her course, and she will be found the best doctor. About the same time of the year, yon will be visited with boils all over your body. A little boy of mine once had sixty-four at one time, some of them as big as a pigeon's egg, and those principally 270 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. on his chest. Had I checked them, and driven them in, his death would have been inevitable : as it was, although the child was only four years of age, he played about as usual, and was soon well again. Another thing I would never check, that is, perspiration ; that renovating attendant, flowing in its natural channel, is the very key-stone to an Indian constitution. I would advise the inexperienced on no account to venture bathing in the Ganges. In this river there are many dangerous parts, not visible to him who is a stranger to its course and currents. Three instances that I was an eye-witness to, would, I should hope, be a sufficient warning for men not to risk their lives in so foolish a manner. I was one day shooting on the borders of the Ganges, near Cawnpore, when I saw a native sitting down on the banks of the river, washing his hands. In an instant he was seized by an alligator. I could see the dreadful struggle, by the commotion in the water, and the blood which for a moment disco- loured it, but the man never rose again. The second instance was an European soldier, bathing MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 271 off Monghire ; and the third was a little girl ; both of whom were seized by an alligator, and carried off in the same manner. Besides the risk of meet- ing with those fearful creatures, there are innu- merable quicksands, which move in the current, and, for aught you can tell, under the very spot where you are bathing; and, added to these, there are numberless eddies, or whirlpools, that will suck you under in a moment. On these occasions, it is very rare that aid can be afforded, even if persons were on the spot at the time. On two occasions, I myself nearly lost my life in bathing. The first was in a quicksand, but I was only on the verge of it ; one step further, and no power could have saved me. On the other occasion, I was bathing in the Ganges (it was the last time I ever bathed, although many years before I returned to this country) ; I was trying to swim against the current, when a dead man came in contact with me. In the moment of fright and consternation, I sunk. In my struggle to get away from him I got the cramp, and immediately went down, and but for the the kind aid of some natives, I should have been drowned. 272 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. Many difficulties may be avoided, and much imposition and extortion prevented, by an early acquirement of the language. I recollect being once called upon to interpret and explain a khan- sumah's (or, more properly named, consumer's) bill, and thus it ran : Jfc. a. P- Bread * .; ... 1 Rootee 'teifl ' 8 G Butter . . ... 1 4 6 Muckin ... 1 2 Milk ... 8 o Dood . . 4 6 So it went on, charging the article first under the English term, and then under a term quite unin- telligible to you. Thus, for instance, the words rootee, muckin, and dood, are to you inexplicable terms, which your khansumah will take good care he will " no Englify." Hence, you are led to imagine them requisite for the house, and thus the imposition ends successfully. As you grow wiser, your servants grow more honest. To prevent these, and numberless other annoyances, the acquirement of the language is absolutely necessary for a person MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 273 who does not wish to be robbed, and to become the dupe of those artful fellows. I learnt the tongue my- self in one year, so that I could converse fluently on any subject. I was enabled to do this the more readily, by living in a familiar and friendly inter- course with the natives, making a point of entering into conversation with every man, woman, or child I met with, asking them the names of every thing within my sight. By this plan, in two months I could ask for any of the necessaries of life. Those most difficult I wrote down ; and thus, without book or master, I learnt to speak Hindostanee as well as many, and indeed better than some, who had been in the country for twenty years. If you wish to learn the language, Gilchrist's book will lay a good foundation, and the rest will be easy enough. On no account hire a servant who can speak English. In the first place, they are generally found to be great rogues ; and, by their speaking English to you, you deprive yourself of the best and most ready method of becoming acquainted with the lan- guage. I have heard some young men commit the most ludicrous mistakes, and thus become the N5 274 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. ridicule and sport of their native servants. One wiseacre, in a regiment to which I once belonged, addressed his servant one day in the following terras : " D n your eyes, you black rascal, sub- saib buckery, hum buckery nay hy ?" Which is literally this, all the gentlemen were goats, was he not a goat? He intended to say that all his brother officers had got goats, what was the reason he had not got one. Such mistakes as these very naturally draw upon a man the jeers of the natives. In the Company's service, you cannot hold any staff situ- ation without being well acquainted with the lan- guages most in use. All civil and military affairs are so connected with the Oriental languages, that if you will not study and learn them, you may linger out your days as a lean subaltern, and be as poor as a half-pay drummer. The next piece of advice which I shall offer, is to avoid all violent sports and exercises. Among other sports, that of snipe-shooting is frequently attended with very bad consequences, and is, in general, much better avoided. The physical exertion which must necessarily be used in MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPF. 275 pursuit of such game, cannot fail to heat the blood to a high and dangerous degree, and in tliis state, under a burning sun, and while the blood is in a state of fermentation, many lovers of the sport will plunge into cold water after birds. Such a sudden transition from extreme heat to extreme cold, cannot be endured by the finest con- stitutions without great danger. Ah 1 sports of this nature tend, also, to encourage an inclination for drink. The toils incident to these misnamed plea- sures cannot be borne without drinking something stronger than water ; and hence, some stimulus being absolutely necessary, many are led to exceed the bounds of prudence to such an extent, in some cases, that I have known several instances where an individual has drank, in the course of one day's shooting, a whole bottle of brandy, besides copious libations of beer. Thus, many a man, by his love for shooting, lays the foundation of an addiction to drink, to which he is sure to fall a victim ; and I have seen several instances where the combined effects of exposure to the sun, and of indulgence in intemperance, have, in less than two years, sent 276 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. many a promising young man to the cold grave, before he had attained the age of twenty, although, to all appearance, double that age. In short, I am fully persuaded (and, if necessary, I could give a long and faithful catalogue of cases in point), that, in fifteen cases out of twenty, whenever a young man in India is found labouring under a debilitated and emaciated constitution, the original cause of his disease is to be traced either to an addiction to drink, a wanton exposure to the noon-day sun, or a rash indulgence in violent sports and exercises. I fear that it may safely be asserted, that more die from one or the other of these causes, than from the effects of the climate. Young men should be very cautious of attending auctions. The very perusal of the exaggerated catalogues which are issued, is of itself a suffi- cient seduction to rouse the torpid mind in the monotony of the long days in India, and to induce young men to attend those places of resort. Each article (more especially such as are the production of our native land) is set forth in all the allurement of bombast, and dressed in the most attractive gar- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 277 ments, to induce inexperienced youth to become the purchasers. The seller also protests that " the article offered for their bidding is now about to be knocked down for less than the one-half of its original cost in England ; that he is actually throw- ing the article away ; but it must be sold for what- ever it brings, little or much." The auctioneer again appeals to some inexperienced young griff, calling him by name, " Do pray, Cornet so-and-so, permit me to say another rupee for you," at the same time pledging his honour that the said article cost five times the sum in Old England. The production is, of course, afterwards found to be a true native of India. These, and five hundred other stratagems to inveigle the unwary into bid- ding, are resorted to ; but no sooner is the article knocked down to master's name, than the honour- able auctioneer tells him to his face that it is " not worth a rap." The deluded purchaser of an article which he has no earthly use for, finds, when too late, that he could have bought the said thing in any of the bazaars for one half of the price he has given. Another, and more seductive, temptation to 278 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SFIIPP. men to become buyers at these sales, is the three months' credit which is frequently given. I have seen cadets buy three horses at one sale horses that had run the gauntlet through the whole of the auctions in India> and never drew an offer of five rupees at one of them, till some griff becomes the purchaser, at some two hundred rupees each. These are sent to livery-stables as soon as they are bought (if the stable-keeper will take them in), at one rupee per diem ; and, if their proprietor's purse is not a long one, the said rips will be detained for their keep, and their master summoned before a court of equity for the amount, when, if not prepared with the coin, the said court (such is their rigid equity) will detain his mortal person until the liquidation of the debt, with sundry costs, fees, &c. &c. On such occasions, if a man has no friends, and less credit, he may, peradventure, be lodged in gaol till the final arrangement of the affair. Many of these auctioneers will force things on you, and no sooner get your name on their books, than they send a peremptory demand for the money, which, if not immediately forthcoming, in some one MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 279 or two days after, you will have a summons from the court before alluded to, which you must at once attend to, by proceeding thither, either to defend the cause or pay the money. If you are a moment behind the time specified, you are nonsuited, and obliged to pay, or remain in custody. Natives, called box-wallahs, or hawkers, will, in like manner, force their goods on those unacquainted with this court, as they are sure of recovering their money through its agency. Merchants, both European and Natives, will do the same thing, and use the same mode of recovery, if you should prove re- fractory. Almost all young men, on landing, will be sur- rounded by five hundred sircars, or babboos (money-lenders.) These miscreants are the great- est rogues unhung. They will buy all your old clothes, or, more properly, steal them, and pur- chase you others, for which they will charge an enormous price. These articles, washed, starched, and ironed for immediate use, look well to the eye, but, on being again washed, will appear something like the honour of the auctioneer, rather threadbare, 280 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. and not of a texture to bear scrutiny. These sircars will lend you money on interest ; but they will not lend you even a hundred rupees, if they are not permitted to purchase your sea kit at their own price, as well as your new kit, to rig you out for service in India. In these cases, they always insist on having your promissory note for the full amount ; and they will afterwards take especial care that you do not leave Calcutta without handing out either the money, or such a guarantee as shall be unquestionable. To enumerate the rogueries of these pests, would fill up more space, and occupy more time, than I have inclination to dedi- cate to them. Suffice, that they, one and all, are the greatest set of rascals in India, and that's saying great things. Through the munificent libe- rality and the admirable arrangements of the East India Company, these things have now* been in a great measure done away with. On the cadet's landing, there is a receiving-officer, and a mess, and every thing else that is requisite is furnished on the cheapest terms. The impositions of these sircars, who hover around a griff in the most sub- MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 281 servient and cringing manner, begging and entreat- ing " Master's favour, custom, and patronage," are thus prevented. The cadet, if in want of anything that is reasonable, has only to apply to the receiving officer of the cadet depdt, who will purchase the article for him at the cheapest rate, deducting its amount by small instalments from his pay. He may be furnished with boats to proceed up the river on the same terms, as also with an advance of pay to meet the required expenses. Whatever sums of money you pay, no matter to whom, black, white, tawny, brown, or nan- keen-coloured, always take and keep receipts, or you . will have to pay your bills twice and thrice over. This is a common trick with the na- tives. It is natural for young men, on first landing in any country^ to wish to do as others do, and to con- form, as far as possible, to the usages of those with whom they are obliged to associate. This desire to imitate others must be very cautiously indulged in ; for I regret to say that, among the luxuries of the East, sensual pleasures stand pre- 282 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. eminent, and cannot be too severely reprobated, or too carefully guarded against. Here the most shameful and barefaced intrigues are carried on under the very eyes of the magistracy ; and thus it becomes a mere matter of lounge for a young man first to resort to drinking-houses, and thence to repair to scenes of profligacy, which I cannot describe, where, at noon-day, he indulges his be- fore uncorrupted passions, until at last he becomes an habitual debauchee, and sinks into the grave an early victim to sensuality, perhaps without a friend to soothe his sad pillow of disease, or to close his dying eyes. In a printed book intended for general circulation, it is impossible for me to dwell more minutely on this subject ; but I have thought it my duty to point out to the unwary tra- veller the gulf which lies before him, in order that he may in time turn from the path which leads to it. I proceed to light my beacon on another pro- minent rock, on which multitudes have already been wrecked. A young man, on joining his regi- ment, which happens to be stationed in some MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 283 remote part of the country, instead of meeting with that hospitality and friendly association which he has a right to expect at a well-regulated mess (the great basis of unanimity amongst the officers of a corps), finds every officer of the regiment living separate, and keeping native women. With these women they spend the greater part of their time, to the entire neglect of the more intellectual and rational pursuits of men. With such examples before his eyes ; at a solitary place, far from any large station, where good society is to be met with; deprived of the company of his brother officers, and doomed to a life of unvaried monotony; the inexperienced youth who joins the regiment is but too often induced to fall in with the prevail- ing folly ; and, at length, instigated by others, and seduced by the amorous professions of a mercenary fair (or rather black) one, he consents to keep her and her numerous attendants. This connexion being formed, he may, probably, ask himself this question; " Who is it that I have thus selected to be my companion, the sharer of my fortunes, the participator of my cares, the solace of my woes. 284 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. and the partner of my bed?" If he does not know, I will tell him, in plain terms, but without the least exaggeration. She is a black woman, labouring under the influence of dark idolatry ; so ignorant as to be wholly unfit for your companion ; so immodest and lascivious as to be disgusting; jealous in her disposition ; cruel in her nature ; despotic to your household; extravagant in her expenditure; and her sole object in connecting herself with you, is the mercenary prospect of having herself, and those whom she may please to call her relations, kept at your expense. This, young man, is a true character of the object you have selected to spend your days with. To a consciousness of the consequences of this illicit and vicious connexion, a man is first awakened by the inharmonious jabber of half a dozen black bantlings surrounding his table, which groans under huge dishes of curry and rice. When each little darkling is ushered into the world, gold bangles are expected for the mother, silver ones for the nurses, new dresses for all the lady's relations, and a grand dinner to her whole circle of acquaintance, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 285 at least fifty persons. When the darling little creature is christened, a similar routine of ex- penditure must be quietly submitted to, to which is . usually added an entertainment to your brother officers, on which truly interesting occasion you would be accounted but a shabby fellow if you did not sport sparkling champagne. When the child begins to toddle, there is another day of jubilee, for all which rejoicing poor " master" pays the piper. Then comes the day when the little duck begins to lisp the endearing names of pa' and ma'. This is another gala-day; and, before all these holydays have been duly observed, the probabi- lity is that " master" receives an addition to his already-crowded circle, by the production of another dear little stranger with master's nose and eyes. Thus goes on the life of a man who has once formed a connexion of the kind of which I speak, till at last he awakens to reflection and remorse, and distractedly asks himself " What have I been doing ? What is to become of these children ? Can I abandon them ? Am I not already a beggar, 286 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. for ever estranged from my native land, and cut off from all chance of again seeing my dear rela- tions in England?" Alas! these reflections are too late, and it remains only for the victim of his own folly to consider what he has remaining which may console him. Has he love ? No. Has he peace of mind? No. Are the children which he is support- ing his own? Very doubtful, even this. Is his mode of life such as he can reconcile to his prin- ciples or feelings? No. In short, he has nothing but the gratification of a sensual appetite to set against all the misery which must inevitably be en- tailed on him by its indulgence. His moral princi- ples become vitiated ; his prospects for the future cannot fail to be blighted; and he has little but wretchedness to look forward to. I have myself known officers intimately who have formed these sad connexions, and who, although they certainly did not absolutely become Musselmen or Hindoos, yet have been so infatuated as to lose, to all appear- ance, every thought for the present, and all regard for the future. Let but the iron hand of poverty assail you, or sickness enter your doors, then shall MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 287 you find that those whom you have for years fed, clothed, and cherished, will be the first to turn and sting you ; all will then unite to benefit themselves by your misfortunes ; all your faithful lady's soi- disant relations will conspire to plunder you; and your charmer herself will soon take an opportunity of wounding you in the tenderest point, by eloping with one of her long-supported brothers or cousins, leaving you in your poverty, or on the bed of sick- ness, to drink the bitter draught of repentance. Should any of your offspring by this heartless woman be boys, they would be left behind to assist in soothing your cares, as unsaleable commodities ; but, for the girls, especially if they should have proved handsome, they would be carried off by their mother, for a purpose, the mere contempla- tion of which would, one would suppose, alone deter men from forming connexions so likely to entail misery both on themselves and the wretched offspring of their criminal indulgence. If I were to relate instances of the misery and woe which I have myself known to result from these illicit connexions, I could fill a volume in 288 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SIIIPP. enumerating cases in point which have fallen under my own observation ; but my aim is to avoid hurt- ing the feelings of any man, and my object of cau- tioning the inexperienced, will be sufficiently an- swered without reflecting on those whom I have known to fall victims to this seductive but criminal folly. I beseech young men about to proceed to the East Indies, to ponder over the picture which I have drawn. Let them be assured that I have not sketched it from imagination ; but that what I submit to their consideration is the result of per- sonal observation, and taken from undeniable facts, which I have myself been an eye-witness to. If any thing can be objected against it, it is, that I have rather said too little than too much. I have now given many hints, which I sincerely hope may not be thrown away, to young men pro- ceeding to India. I hope I shall not be thought too presumptuous if I say a few words to the young ladies proceeding to that land of iniquity. If you live in India, you may suppose that you must do as Indians do. I hope those days are fast gliding into the shades of dark oblivion, and MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 289 that Indian mothers have learned, from woful ex- perience, that they must become English mothers, if they wish to become happy parents. Young ladies are but too prone, in this land of luxury and idleness, to give way to that languidness which the climate promotes, and leave off all their little accom- plishments, playing, singing, drawing, &c., qualifica- tions which tend to endear them to their husbands, and render them agreeable in society. For these rational amusements are substituted sleeping, lounging, inactivity, &c., which, in time, bring on an habitual dislike to every personal exertion, and plunge the individual who thus indulges into riiany of those diseases saddled upon the climate. I am of opinion that you require as much exercise in that country, if not more, than in a colder, to rouse those faculties to action which are rendered dormant by the inactivity naturally incident to so warm a climate. From the enormous size of the houses in India, salutary exercises can be resorted to without exposure to the heat of the weather. Be assured that moderate exercise will be found the best and cheapest doctor. The hints I have laid VOL. i. o 290 MEMOIRS OF JOHN 8HIPP. before the young men relative to health, apply, equally, to both sexes. There are not more abandoned women in the universe than the young aiahs or nurses of India, except that many of them do not drink. It behoves the mistress of a family to keep her eye sharply on the affairs of her household, or she will soon have to regret the loss of many of her most valuable articles, for they never steal anything of petty Value. The penalty, if detected, is a short impri- sonment, during which the delinquents receive more money for their support than is equivalent to keep them. Therefore, let the old adage be your motto, " Safe bind, safe find." If you are careful, they must, by compulsion, be honest : if you neglect your own affairs, it is, of course, an inducement for them to plunder, and you, by such neglect, become accessory to your own ruin. I have known young ladies stripped of their whole sea-stock before they had been in the country three months, by merely entrusting their keys to a servant. The manners of many of the aiahs are fascinating, and young ladies are apt to exclaim, MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 291 " What a dear creature that aiah is ! what a kind woman !" Be assured, these attentions and little endearments are put on to impress you with a confidence in their love and honesty, and when they think this confidence is fully inspired, and that your suspicions are lulled into repose, they immediately commence their purloinings. This they will do by degrees, first taking things that you do not immediately require for daily use. Keep your servants in their proper places; be mistress of your own household affairs ; you will then not have the mortification of being robbed, and your domestics will be good and honest, not by chance, but by necessity. Young ladies are very apt, when they have learned a little of the language, to get their female servants to tell them tales of the East, which being a tissue of love-sick stories, founded on the basis of romance and false sentiment, can only serve to corrupt the morals, and to encourage the servants to venture upon such liberties as must end in a disgustmg fami- liarity. Ladies ought to be very particular in the selection of female servants, for on them depends o2 292 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. tke peace of all their domestic servants. If they are bad, there will be no end of quarrelling and fighHng amongst them. If possible, I never would take a servant without a personal reference. Writ- ten ones they can procure anywhere by giving a Native writer a few pice. It is frequently thought a great recommendation that servants should have it in their power to produce a great number of written characters ; in my humble opi- nion, there cannot be a greater proof of a bad servant. I would recommend ladies to be parti- cularly careful in examining the persons of their female servants. That dreadful disease, the itch, is most common; and few of these women, from their slothful and dirty habits, are free from scor- butic affections. I will now presume to say a word to Indian mothers, and I trust I shall not offend in so doing. Every woman is proud of becoming a mother, both in the most splendid palace, and the humblest cot ; but how shall I designate that mother, who can, the moment her offspring blesses her embrace, thrust it from her as if some monster had been MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 293 born, into the lap of a harlot, to be fostered at the bosom of impurity, and encircled by the arms of a wanton, contaminated, as is frequently the 'case, with some infectious and dire disease ? Why this estrangement from your babe ? Why this unna- tural severing of the dearest ties of nature ? Mo- thers, the only answer to these questions is, that you part from your sweet babe rather than any trouble which it may cause, should add one wrinkle to your appearance, or steal one blossom from your cheek. This is, indeed, a perversion of nature that appals the heart of sensibility. The babe is confided to a Native, whose very first step proves her unnatural conduct ; she tears from her bosom the babe of her own body, and, for mercenary motives, gives nourishment unto yours. What can, in rea- son, be expected from such women ? If the child does not fall in infancy, thus it is brought up: k is nursed, dressed, and washed, by its Native nurse, in the nursery, where some mothers condescend to visit it, if at leisure, once a day ; but this nursery must be so remotely situated that the crying of the poor babe shall not offend the sensitive ears of its 294 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. parents. Here, subject t<& all the ill treatment and ill humour of an inhuman and ignorant woman, the child is neglected, and, too frequently, almost for- gotten, by the authors of its being. Should this babe, from illness or otherwise, be irritable, or cry, there is an infallible remedy to stop its cries opium which these wretches will admi- nister in large quantities. Within my own know- ledge two babes have been destroyed by this drug. One of them was in the regiment I was in, and in its little stomach, after death, was found more than the eighth part of an ounce. The nurse merely urged, in her own vindication, that the child was so cross she could not pacify it. These aiahs use this pernicious drug freely them- selves. The other case occurred in Calcutta : the parents had gone to a ball, and during the evening, despatched a servant to see if the child was quiet ; he returned, and said it was asleep. This satis- fied them, and the merry dance went on. On their return home the babe was still asleep, and they went to repose. On the following morning the child was found dead, and the opium found in it. MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. 295 The use of this drug, In a slighter degree, is, I am convinced, the cause of many a sickly child in India. The two cases which I have related of children dying from the effects of opium administered by their hired nurses, to stop their cries, or, in other words, to save themselves trouble, are instances which fell under my own observation. Hundreds of others might be related from indubitable autho- rity ; and I could dwell, longer than would be agreeable to me, on innumerable cases of infants being destroyed, or rendered sickly, by the use of this deleterious drug ; or, which is little better, being infected with some vile disease, communi- cated by their hireling mothers, and not discovered until the contamination has been so confirmed in the system as to endanger the child's health for life. If, with my unlettered judgment, and in the warmth of my feelings against this unnatural practice, and against those Englishwomen who become mothers in India and encourage it, the above remarks should appear too severe, let those 296 MEMOIRS OF JOHN SHIPP. mothers take the hints which I have thrown out to themselves, and, having dressed them up in a better clothing than it is in my power to give them, let them ask themselves if there is anything untrue or unreasonable in what I have asserted. If a mother can reconcile the practice, which I repro- bate, to her conscience, I should be glad to hear on what ground ; but if not, and she still continue to cast her child from her to the care of a stranger, simply because the nursing her own offspring might rob her of some portion of her charms, or of her leisure ; if she must still look young and fasci- nating at the expense of her poor baby ; and if, by such neglect, her infant perish, let it be her reflection how far she may fairly be considered to have contributed to its death, and in what terms she will best justify herself at the judgment-seat of God. END OF VOL. I. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. FormL9-25m-8,'46(9852)444 DS 475.2 S55A2 v.l