TIMELY RETREAT; Lt OB, A TEAE IN BENGAL BEFORE THE MUTINIES, TWp .SISTERS. / r * '" IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. SECOND EDITION. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, in rtrinarg to ler jfttajtstp. 1858. In compliance with current copyright law. LBS Archival Products produced this replacement volume on paper that meets the ANSI Standard Z39.48- 1984 to replace the irreparablv deteriorated original. 1988 ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. I." PAGE THE ELEPHANTINE BROTHERS 30 THE CONTRAST 11 VAN IN THE DESERT 41 MONSIEUR GRENIER 54 ADEN 57 THE ADMIRALTY AGENT 65 DAK GHARRIE 91 BENARES Ill NATIVE BOAT, CAWNPORE 114 BAZAAR IN DHOORGHUR 155 CHUPRASSEE 166 HOLT TANK 202 THE JHAMPAUN 224 JUNGLE COSTUME 263 THEDANDEE 270 BREAKFAST IN THE JUNGLE 272 KHITMUTGHAR AND COOLIE 274 DANDEE IN DIFFICULTIES ...... 293 Directions to the Binder. DOORWAY AT BHARGEE Frontispiece. THE LANDOUR HOUSE to face 235 VILLAGE OF BHARGEE 295 TAAL ,,306 PUHARRIEMEN 311 b DEDICATION. I To OUR MOTHER, We affectionately inscribe these, the first fruits of our literary labours, as a slight compensation for the many anxieties she endured during our absence from her, and we would that all those who open these volumes might look upon them with her indulgent eyes, and judge leniently the errors which must necessarily accompany the work of such tyros in literature as we are. At the present moment, when all eyes are turned with such absorbing interest to- wards the East, and any subject relating to India seems tinged with unusual import- ance, we have permitted ourselves to believe IV DEDICATION. that these descriptions of every-day Anglo- Indian life may prove acceptable to a wide circle of readers. In the narrative we adopted the fictitious name of Dhoorghur (the far-off city), but the reader is requested to bear in mind that the actual place designated is MEERUT. We have only to premise, in launching our venture on the great sea of authorship, that both our pen and pencil illustrations are true and faithful copies from nature, and should their perusal excite only a por- tion of the amusement that accompanied their production, they will have more than fulfilled the hopes of MADELINE \ AND I WALLACE-DUNLOP. ROSALIND ) February, 1858. THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, A YEAR IN BENGAL BEFORE THE MUTINIES. INDIA has long been a household word to us. Father and mother, aunts and uncles, had all spent great part of their lives there ; my cousins, as they arrived at years of dis- cretion, all seemed naturally to bend their steps towards the "glowing East." From our earliest infancy japanned cabinets and boxes of marvellous workmanship were as familiar to us as dolls or spelling-books. Bronze Hindoo idols of grotesque form, and preserved snakes and insects of every con- ceivable shape, decorated our house, which literally overflowed with curiosities; so we VOL. I. B 2 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, may be said to have grown up quite in an Indian atmosphere. My most juvenile re- membrances are connected with letters from the East, the agony of disappointment when they did not arrive, and the ecstasy of delight with which they were received. Had my father lived, it would probably have been our lot to have joined him in India, and as it was, my brother often suggested that we might as well all come out and live with him as stay in England a proposal we had always treated as a great joke, till one autumn, London being empty, and Paris growing dull, the brilliant idea crossed our minds that we two might run out alone overland to India, take a peep at Keith and the country, and be back in next to no time, almost before we were missed^ The more we thought of it, the more delightful and feasible the scheme appeared. The complete nov.eity, besides the dasb of independence and adventure that seasoned the plan, gave it a charm in our eyes. Then, beyond all, the extraordinary opportunities of collecting together with the greatest facility an outfit A YEAR IN BENGAL. 3 of unparalleled elegance, presented to us by the close of the French Exhibition, com- pletely decided us. Mamma, having made the voyage two or three times herself, and knowing that scarcely a mail could leave England without carrying out some friend who would look after us in all needful things, saw no objections to the scheme. It was then the close of November; so, writing to India to warn Keith of our advent, and to London for the requisite funds, we set to work in real earnest, and laboured so successfully, both in Paris and London, that before February arrived we found ourselves the fortunate possessors of fifty- three dresses each, besides an immense variety of nonde- script articles which it would never have entered our heads to purchase at home, but which might (so people told us) be useful abroad. I think, had we known before- hand all the miseries of preparation to be gone through, which seems a necessary pre- liminary to a voyage to India, we should scarcely have undertaken the trip so hastily. But it was then too late to retreat; so, con- n 2 4 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, soling ourselves with the hope that for ten years at least we should never require to be teased by dressmakers again, and our friends by assurances that we should certainly be back in a year like travelled monkeys, we set our faces boldly (metaphorically speak- ing) eastward ho ! I pass over the touching adieux of our friends, the various farewell parties held in our honour, and the numerous bets taken by unbelieving gentlemen for and against the chances of our speedy return; also, I draw a veil over the inexpressible miseries of packing, the total subversion of all order in the house, our mingled horror and despair at discovering, on the very last day our agent said he could give us for our luggage, that the tin cases provided were not half large enough to hold our Paris finery, and the desperate determination with which we in- duced any lady in the neighbourhood pos- sessing a tin box to bestow it upon us, our astonishment at the amazing bulk of our worldly belongings, and the indescribable sensation of relief with which we saw them A YEAR IN BENGAL. 5 all depart for the steamer, leaving us a day or two's leisure to breathe quietly. (It is a rule with the Peninsular and Oriental steamers that all luggage must go on board a day or two before the passengers do.) Last words are always miserable things; only those who have passed through the same ordeal can at all sympathise in it; and, notwithstanding our fixed determination to return so soon, I suppose our party down to Southampton was just as wretched a one as leave-taking expeditions are sure to be both to principals and assistants. At Southampton the company provide a little steam-tug, which plies two or three times between the pier and the Indian steamer to convey passengers on board and bring back all the friends who have come down to see them off. That wretched little steamer, how well I remember it carrying away its melancholy freight of tearful faces and despairing hearts what bitter partings, what heartrending scenes from our grand life-drama are acted out here ! Do you see that weeping woman, who is stifling her 6 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, agonising sobs and dashing the blinding tears from her eyes, that she may take (alas ! in how many cases) her last farewell look at the face dearest to her on earth? or that grey-bearded veteran, who, with folded arms and compressed lips, is nerving himself to control his voice so as not to upset the struggling manhood of the fair-haired youth who is now launched forth alone in the battle of life, with his mother's last trembling kiss yet warm on his brow, and his father's earnest blessing still thrilling through his frame ? God help the brave young spirit that means to act so nobly, and God help the sad hearts that are borne away ! What earnest love follows them what true souls are pleading in prayer for their well-being ! For those who love to study the human heart divested of disguise, Southampton ought to be a most interesting place. At these times it is most aggravating to see people, who, as they say, have got over all their farewells yesterday, looking on, calm (they can hardly be unconcerned) spectators of the scene. Then that horrible band goes A YEAR IN BENGAL. 7 on mercilessly playing through everything in the most excruciatingly correct manner ! While we were still watching the receding steamer, Mr. de Vaux, with the kindest in- tentions in the world, would come asking us where we chose to sit at dinner, and even about making up our party for the desert vans, till, wishing him at the bottom of the sea, we fled down stairs, and, in the midst of our wretchedness, felt we could never be sufficiently thankful for the luxury of a cabin to ourselves. Never can I forget the dreary desolation of that afternoon : utterly rejecting all the steward's offers of consola- tion in the shape of dinner or tea, we spent our time in wondering how we could have been such fools as to undertake the journey at all, and reiterating to each other our un- alterable determination to return within the twelvemonth while, to complete our miseries, that dreadful band struck up in the saloon, and we were almost driven frantic by being compelled to listen to all the waltzes and galops of last season, bringing up such vivid pictures of bygone days, when 8 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, we never dreamt that steam-boats and India were so soon to be our lot. All days, how- ever long, must have an end, and night at length closed on our sorrows, and morning dawned on a most wretched ship's company, for we fell at once into the track of a storm that blew without cessation till we neared Gibraltar. Scarcely any one appeared on deck for about seven days, and for my own part I only knew when it was day or night by the steward's rushing in to light the lamp or put it out the stewardess being hors de combat on account of the storm. After its violence had a little abated, a few pale and subdued-looking individuals contrived to stagger on deck and look at each other, there being nothing else to see, save the ocean. When at last we made our appearance, suf- ficiently recovered to think about dinner, every one else had taken his place. The rule is to choose a seat at the beginning of the voyage, which you retain till you leave ; of course the places kindly offered us near them by Mr. and Mrs. de Vaux had long been filled up, so the captain, saying he was our A YEAR IN BENGAL. natural protector on board, took us under his care, and assigned us seats near him, be- tween two gentlemen, known as the elephan- tine brothers, on account of their immense size and imperturbable silence. The captain chose them, he said, because they made the best watch-dogs on board. My unaccus- tomed eyes were much astonished at the im- mense quantities of nourishment that seemed necessary to recruit the exhausted frame of my elephant. No wonder he was so stout ; everything edible that came in his way was pounced on by his broad, fat fins, and de- spatched with marvellous celerity. The only words he found leisure to address to me during dinner were, "Tapioca good," with a significant point at the dish. Nora drove her elephant away, by wickedly insisting on asking him questions, till the poor creature, finding his feeding-time getting curtailed, re- fused to sit longer in her vicinity, and changed his seat. We found these two ungainly cubs had been sent out on their travels to get polished up. They spent their time in playing chess THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, THE ELEPHANTINE BROTHERS. with each other on deck, or in writing their journals down stairs. Several (young) gen- tlemen on board kept these interesting books, and it was an edifying sight to see them all in the saloon alternately writing and reading out their remarks to each other. I asked one day what they could possibly find to write about, and was told, " Oh, a great many exciting events happened ; for instance, during the late storm no less than three gentlemen fell down the same stairs, and A YEAR IN BENGAL. 11 all broke their noses in the same place." Several stalwart-looking youths were so re- duced by sea-sickness, that their companions had to feed them with scraps of biscuit and port wine, and then lead them up and down the deck. I often admired a handsome, spirited little Turkish- Armenian boy, the protege of an English clergyman, who was trying to edu- cate and bring him up with his own sons. The contrast between the fair-haired, quiet, well-behaved English boys and the restless, wicked, sparkling little Turk was so striking, THE CONTRAST. 12 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, I transferred it to my sketch-book. His kind patron hoped to send him back, when grown up, to teach his countrymen, saying, "They tell me he is very rude; but he is always good to me." It seemed a hope- less kind of expectation. No doubt a good example and education can do much; but the gentlemen on board said he was the greatest little scamp they had ever seen, and so mischievous, that the sailors were sometimes obliged to put a hook and rope through his waistband and hang him sus- pended over the ship's side to punish him. Of course, like every one else, we landed at Gibraltar, and enjoyed ourselves heartily; it was so pleasant to see sunny skies and smooth water again ; the quaint foreign look of everything was so piquant and delightful. We gazed with unfeigned admiration on the Moorish turbans, Spanish mantillas, and all the motley assemblage of queer characters in the market-place. Rosinante - looking steeds, with an unmistakable Barbary cut about them, were standing tethered to stakes, their strangely-shaped saddles covered with A YEAR IN BENGAL. 1 3 netting and large tassels of many-coloured worsted, showing almost more than any- thing else that we had left conventional England far behind. We were led, awe-struck, through the ponderous fortifications and seemingly end- less warlike stores kept here, and looked wonderingly at the little bit of neutral ground which separates us from Spain, and sorrowfully at the many wrecks lying about no less than sixteen ships lay stranded on the shore within sight. They bring you sweet little bunches of violets here for sale, and every one came on board laden with delicious oranges, about fifty for a shilling. Fine weather to Malta, and then finding the Marseilles mail had not arrived, we were to wait two days for her. The island was full of troops, and the town gay with visi- tors and officers : among the latter we had some friends and cousins, who came to take us on shore to see the lions. First of all we were hurried to see the Carmelite friars, who are embalmed after death " pickled monks" our friends called them ; then came all the 14 THE TIMELT RETREAT ; OR, churches, gardens, and shops. It seemed to me, whatever you wanted, it was necessary to walk down the principal street first. We laid in a stock of Maltese lace, which was afterwards stolen from us. Though highly amused, we were very tired when we reached the ship again making arrangements to be on shore very early to practise with our pistols. Yes, reader do not start amongst the miscel- laneous articles we had brought from home was a pair of small Colt's revolvers, which we insisted on purchasing, thereby utterly scandalising all our quiet acquaintances, who considered it a wanton outraging of all pro- priety; but we were bent on having our own way. The Santhal rebellion was still fresh in our recollections, and we had about one thousand miles to travel up country; besides, I knew my brother never thought of moving without fire-arms, and I had often heard that the sight alone of a pistol was enough to frighten a native. People asked, in tones of deep concern, if we really would use weapons of defence in case of an attack. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 15 "Certainly," I said; "if it came to a ques- tion of my shooting a native or his shooting me, I should choose the former alternative." We had made up our minds, in case of the worst, however, to aim at the legs of our assailants, as I have a slight prejudice about killing a man, and would infinitely prefer disabling him. Mamma was only afraid lest we should manage to shoot each other by mistake; to prevent which mishap we went on shore expressly to practise loading, and aiming at a mark. We acquitted our- selves, we were told, with great credit ; and certainly could handle our pistols without feeling afraid of them as we used to do. I always see that ladies, when they do shoot, seem to find it far easier than gentlemen, as from not drinking wine or smoking, they have a steadier hand and more correct eye. The array of fire-arms on board was some- thing marvellous: each gentleman had a rifle, or revolver, with a special, and it ap- peared unique, improvement which made it superior to any one else's. One afternoon a general cleaning fever seized every one, and 16 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, I was amused, on looking down into the saloon, to see each gentleman producing his favourite weapon, and descanting on its ob- vious merits. Nora went below to give ours to be cleaned also, and in a few moments a stout gentleman, of a peaceful turn of mind, rushed on deck, evidently in a great state of trepidation, and began describing to a friend the uncomfortable sensations he had experienced on seeing one formidable-look- ing fire-arm after another appearing, till the whole saloon seemed bristling with them; but when a lady stepped into her cabin and exhibited hers, the alarmed Cockney thought it high time to beat a retreat. I mentally trusted any obnoxious native might be as easily frightened. On the evening of our stay in Malta there was a grand concert given in the town, at which our cousins tried hard to persuade us to appear; but, feeling dubious as to whether the age and standing of these youths entitled them to act as cha- perones, we preferred remaining quietly on board. Nearly all the passengers had gone, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 17 and the good old captain, though highly commending our prudence, was sure we felt very much disappointed about it, and by way of devising some means of amusing us instead, he determined to take us in a boat into all the harbours of Valetta as soon as the moon rose. We prepared for the expedition by dress- ing in brown hats, dark skirts, and loose scarlet flannel jackets, made expressly for boating in what I considered the very per- fection of feminine nautical costume; yet, when we passed through the saloon, I heard a gentleman say, " I can't stand this. Let me away, let me away, before I get burnt up !" The captain ordered his boat to be manned by all the little boys in the crew, and we had a glorious row in and out of quiet, se- cluded little harbours, and underneath the hulls of tall, dark ships, whose black taper- ing masts were towering up to the heavens ; for the English fleet lay anchored here with its Russian prizes, side by side, conquerors and 'prisoners alike reposing after their toils were done. VOL. i. c 18 THE TIMELY RETREAT ;. OR, There was a splendid rnoon; and. some- times the oars were drawn in, and the little rowers sang us some well-known chorus,, or the bolder ones gave us a solo. It was pleasant to hear their fresh boyish voices, chanting out "Partant pour la. Syrie," or, "What will they say in England?" both na- tional songs now. We did not envy the crowded, hot concert-room. Music on the water, and moonlight around, what combi- nation of circumstances could be more fa- vourable to reverie? Accordingly, I fell into a fit of musing, and was so quiet the captain asked two or three times what I was think- ing about; so next day, as a mark of my sense of his kindness to us, I gave him a copy of my thoughts almost verbatim. They are hardly worth perusing, unless, reader, you chance to be in our situation, and, then I. think you will hardly fail to find> your own thoughts echoed back to you, imperhaps different words^: 'Neath Dian's beams, that, softly bright, Now flood the world with pearly light, We o'er the waters, still and dark, Glide onwards in our little bark, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 19 And yield to musings once again, That half are pleasure, half are pain. Ah me ! the witchery of the hour When memory 'wields her mystic power, And bids those solemn founts be stirred Whose deep sad tones are rarely heard ; Then, as we bow before her sway, She speaks of those far, far away ; Of happy homes in distant lands, And lone days cheered by friendly hands. What thrilling thoughts the bosom swell When music lends her master spell, And opens with resistless art The sealed-up treasures of the heart ; Then paints each scene of bygone years^ The beacon-lights of smiles and tears That glimmer through the misty sea And 'shaded land of memory, Where float those faded, fleeting dreams Whose radiance still around us gleams, Those high resolves and ardent aims That rouse the soul ere yet the claims Of worldly thoughts and worldly ties Have crushed our hopes and dimmed our eyes. And now, while standing thus between Our dear old friends and those unseen,. And leaving childhood's world ideal To mingle in the battle real, We fix our earnest, wistful gaze Upon .our future's deepening haze, Oh ! as we plead for strength to bear The all -unwonted' weight of care That darkens the horizon-fair, May our unceasing, earnest prayer Be, "Gfuard'us, Lord; from every ill, And keep our spirits child-like still !" c 2 20 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, The day after we quitted Malta was Sun- day, and it was a pretty sight to see all those stalwart English sailors dressed in their Sunday best, with their jaunty neck- ties coquettishly arranged, and the spotless white trousers and stockings, sported in honour of the day, the latter being too great a luxury for constant wear. All the available seats were placed on deck, and an impromptu pulpit got up, with the union- jack thrown over all, and there, on the sunny waters of the blue Mediterranean, the voice of prayer and praise arose from many an earnest heart. But, notwithstanding the solemnity of the whole, our gravity was hardly tested when the German band, hav- ing received instructions to perform the Morning Hymn, struck up, each instrument in a different key, and triumphantly ran a race through six verses. Vainly did we wait for the pause when the congregation were to aid with their voices; the band played steadily on, till some more daring spirits struck in at different parts, according to where they supposed the music was, or A YEAR IN BENGAL. 21 ought to be ; and sounds of rnore dire confu- sion or discord I have rarely listened to. As we had now left all appearance of rough weather far behind, our kind captain proposed to get up dancing, that being the orthodox manner of passing the evenings on board the Peninsular and Oriental steamers; so, on mounting the stairs, after tea, we were agreeably surprised to find the decks cleared of all encumbrances, and lanterns hung around, like fireflies. I cannot say they threw much light on the subject, but must have looked very fairylike to any vessel at a distance. The band were arranged round the capstan. After two or three dances with our own set, I was dismayed by the apparition of a small individual, considerably shorter than myself, lost in a huge great- coat, apparently chained on to him, from the massive gold links visible at the open- ing. This little being requested the honour of my hand for " a round dance," a request I with some difficulty comprehended, never having heard a waltz or galop so denomi- nated before. As I could not possibly ac- 22 THE 'TIMELY RETREAT.; OR, cede to his demand, he sank into his ori- ginal peaceful obscurity .-again, amidst: a non- descript mass of .clerks, schoolmasters, j&c., .proceeding to ;the -colonies. Though the steamer seemed steady enough for walking, iit was .trying in the .extreme for saltatorial purposes, and I frequently expected to take -a 'flying leap over -the 'bulwarks, quite in- voluntarily, as you may .suppose, -.but ;my rpartner, ;though a 'magnificent one at a Woolwich ball, was almost too swift for the circumscribed limits of a deck, and my hands were often (extended to grasp the ropes for safety. The last day or .two of our Ava life had been spent in. an active -canvass for places in the desert vans. You .are allowed to make up your own party of six (the number. each ,van contains), but : if .you fail to do so, you must apply to the purser, who allots you a seat with some nearly 'Completed party. It is amusing to see people rushing about frantically, exclaiming, " I only want one more to fill up my number. Smith won't go unless Brown goes too;" and "I have just A YEAR IN BENGAL. 23 room for one; if I go -to the purser, he will give me that horrible Dutchman whom no one will admit, he is so stout; or that wretched Frenchman, whose very hair smells of :tobacco." The manoeuvres to escape going in a van^with children, -or to be elected to one which boasted the presence of some divinity (for the time being), were edifying, and we had reason to be grateful to Mr. de Vaux, who had settled our desert party almost before we .left Southampton; so we looked calmly on amidst all the excitement. This important point being settled, the balloting for numbers commences. A mem- ber of each party draws a number from a bag. The vans start five at a time, with an interval of four hours between each set, till all are despatched. When you reach Cairo you are informed at what hour the first batch are appointed to leave, so that a little calculation tells you when your tuni will come. We considered ourselves very lucky in getting that usually unlucky number, "thirteen," as that ensured us some time at Cairo a place much more worth seeing 24 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, than Suez, where the unfortunate early arrivals would have to kill time as best they could. And so, with music, dance, and stormy debate, the gallant Ava sped her way, and shortly landed us on the wharf at Alexandria; and then, indeed, every tie of home seemed severed, and we wished our- selves the lucky passengers to return in her. But there was too much hurry and bustle going on for prolonged meditations, and rail- ways won't wait for sentiment; so, after a hurried breakfast, we had just time to reach the station, having witnessed, en route, a grand scrimmage among the donkey-boys for patronage. In the train, people usually arrange them- selves according to their van parties, and we were deposited in a broad-gauge carriage, just as if we were going to Edinburgh ; but oh! the difference in speed we seemed to crawl along and our principal amusement was getting a young Irish gentleman to beg oranges for us, which he did like a true son of Erin, and in the broadest accent. Leaning out of the window and coolly looking into the A YEAR IN BENGAL. 25 next compartment, he said, " Won't ye give us some oranges for a lady, if ye plaise ?" an appeal which was promptly responded to by some dexterous hand neatly pitching them in, and a mock combat ensued. Stopping at one of the stations, our tall friend managed to get out of the window (the door being locked), and made an excursion down the train, pelting in oranges till the whistle sounded, when he appeared amongst us literally like Harlequin, all-fours. The amuse- ment of playing ball with oranges had now become universal; everybody grew vehe- mently excited about it, clapping their hands with delight at a good catch, and shouting disapprobation at the awkward individual who failed in arresting the ball, letting it slip down the bank, and so losing it irre- coverably. In his energetic attempts to catch an orange, Master Sims lost his hat and pugheree, eliciting a shriek of commiseration from every one in the train as it flew past. The want of a hat in this climate might be a dangerous thing, but we were fortu- nately able to lend him a spare one a large 26 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, brown -mushroom, decorated with blue bows. This he tied on with immense satisfaction, and looked so absurd in.it, that we laughed till we were tired. His great delight was to put his head out ;at the -stations and ask the guard some question, to which, seeing the blue bows, he always began replying, "Ma'am," and then, observing the coat, con- tinued, " Beg pardon, sir, thought it was a lady." This was nothing, however, to the sensation the hat created at the Nile, where, the floating bridge not being completed, we had to cross in little steamers, and just as we turned out of the carriages it so happened the homeward-bound passengers were land- ing, and the amazed consternation with which they regarded young Sims's nonde- script attire, supposing that to-be the newest importation from the land of fashion, and dreading the being compelled to appear in such a garb themselves, was delightful to behold. There is a very creditable lunch provided for you at Kafileh, which everybody attacks with the desperation of famished wolves or A YEAR IN BENGAL. 27 hungry railway travellers much the same thing. At the last station before we reached Cairo, a dragoman hooked himself on to our carriage, having knowingly come out by a previous train 'to forestal competition, and very useful Omar was in driving away the swarms of donkey-boys and settling us at Sheppard's. After the seven o'clock dinner we determined on a donkey ride. The moon showered floods of light on the dark-green foliage and stately white houses around ; and not knowing how soon we might be called on to depart, we wished to make the most of our time. We had great difficulty in procuring donkeys, their owners having departed for the night. Some of the gentle- men, however, worked on the feelings of the more avaricious spirits, and after various small contretemps of saddles turning round, &c., we retired to rest, having arranged to start as early as possible for the Pyramids. Six o'clock next morning saw us eager ex- pectants of breakfast in the large saloon, but Mr. de Vaux was informed by the waiter that none was given out till nine. A party 28 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, of gentlemen in an ante-room seemed, ne- vertheless, refreshing themselves very com- fortably a fact which doubled our envy, as we had no time to lose, for Mr. and Mrs. Grier, with whom we were to perform our excursion, were anxious to start. At last a gallant sea captain, pitying our distress, came to the rescue, and after vainly trying to excite Mr. de Vaux to invade the culinary department, that gentleman being far too polite to assert an Englishman's prerogative and command a supply of refreshments, made a successful raid on the pantry. Others joined in the pillage, and it resulted in satisfac- tory chicken, ham, bread, and coffee. They would have assisted us earlier, had they not fancied Mr. de Vaux was in charge; but better late than never, and with the inner man well fortified, we set out on our expedi- tion. It was little short of marvellous the speed at which our Jehu drove through the crowded lanes and bazaars of Grand Cairo. At no part could we have passed another vehicle, and what with crowds of pedes- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 29 trians, strings of camels, and many a fair Eastern dame mounted a la Zouave on sleek mules, I felt extremely nervous; but Omar's lungs seemed equal to any amount of shouting. We 'Stopped at one of the merchants' stalls to invest in some white muslin for turbans, and found a serious dif- ference between English and Egyptian mea- surement, albeit both are yclept yards. We laughed-heartily at each other's grotesque appearance, with a Moslem turban surmount- ing a mushroom hat; but how to arrange Mrs. Grier's was a difficulty, that lady wear- ing a bonnet, and nothing could prevent it looking like Mother Bunch's. At the banks of the Nile in Old Cairo we were ordered to descend, and coachee wisely demanding his fare of twenty-five francs, made off with it, promising to be in waiting on our return. Omar then selected the five likeliest donkeys, which were speedily shipped and sent across. We were then carefully assisted up a plank into the boat, Omar coolly lifting Nora up in the most undignified manner, thinking her not big enough to inspire awe. 30 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, Our noble steeds were in readiness on the other side,, and, fortunately for Nora and. I, we had had. some little practice in sitting sideways on a gentleman's saddle, nothing else being procurable. We -started at a fair, trot through fields and over patches of grass on the confines of the desert. Poor Mrs.- Grier had a sad tumble, being forcibly ejected over her donkey's head, and> more frightened than hurt, piteously called on her beloved James to aid her, but he having already ex- perienced no less than three downfals, con- sidered one a- trifling circumstance; and cantered blithely on.. At the foot, of the Pyramids we were surrounded by scores of swarthy Egyptians, in loose, 5 dark-blue cos- tumes and the invariable fez ; we had not the slightest intention of performing the ascent, but had long cherished, a lingering desire to do.so, and finding our guide never for an instant doubted the feasibility of it, we resigned ourselves to the ^tender mercies of four Arabs, that being the number allotted to each aspirant for surmounting the rugged sides of old- Cheops' monument, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 3 1 Each wrist was seized upon by a dusky son of the desert, while two stood behind read} 7 to relieve the first pair, and, nolens. volenSj we were dragged, on to an endless chorus of " Jump, jump" their only Eng- lish word. At first it was good enough fun, and the Arabs laughed and chatted inces- santly; but soon. I got out of sight of Nora, and despite her. cries of "Maud, Maud," my attendants hurried me on. Poor Nora! clambering up stones of from four to five feet with her short legs was a difficulty, to say the least of it, while the merciless Arabs would suspend my whole weight from my unfortunate wrists, which I momentarily ex- pected to give way. Every instant increased my exhaustion. Nora was out of sight, and neither Mr. Grier. nor little Sims near, and my attendants kept poking their ugly black phizzes and rows of glistening teeth in my face, imperatively demanding " bucksheesh," and: significantly pointing at' my bracelets and pocketSj the latter containing some fif- teen sovereigns; At last, when ready to drop, I encountered'a fellow-passenger coining 32 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, down, who, I suppose, pitied my pallid as- pect. He made them stop, and I rested in peace for a few moments, and then at it again. "No surrender!" was the cry; and after ten minutes' more severe toil the sum- mit was achieved, and we were at liberty to sentimentalise and dream as our several tastes might direct. Far away lay the old town of Cairo, with its fantastic minarets and gilded cupolas glittering in the sun, the broad, placid Nile bearing on its calm bosom many a picturesque craft with its queer rig and dark lateen sail. Close by us were the two lesser Pyramids, and the hideous old Sphinx glowered at our feet. Feathery palms broke the horizon on one side ; on the other, the endless tract of sand wearied the eye with an oppressive sense of boundlessness. But as the sun was appa- rently concentrating all its rays on the exact twelve feet square we were resting upon, we thought the sooner we descended the better. This was not quite so fatiguing an operation as the ascent, though the endless jumping was rather wearisome with no assistance but A YEAR IN BENGAL. 33 the same tight clasp on each wrist. When the height from one stone to another was unusually great, one of the Arabs went down first, and, quietly taking Nora in his arms, deposited her on the stone beneath, and she was far too weary to resist or re- sent the indignity; indeed, throughout, they treated her as a perfect child. In vain she adopted the manners of a woman of ad- vanced age; they were either naturally or wilfully obtuse, and would not alter their behaviour. And then we went to examine more closely the world-renowned Sphinx, the enigma propounder of the Libyan Desert. Alas ! how rudely were my infantile visions of that wondrous being dispelled ; shivered into a thousand atoms lay the image I had reared for myself. Two of the dearest dreams of my childhood had been to see the Sphinx of the Desert and the Forest of Fontaine- bleau. Nature never disappoints her votaries, and the forest far exceeded my highest hopes ; but the Sphinx no, I can find no term strong enough to express my dismay. VOL. I. D 34 THE TIMELY BETBEAT ; OR, I approached the desert, with my head filled alternately with floating dreams of that face Alex. Smith describes as "still looking on with calm, eternal eyes;" and Eothen's en- chanting description of " those sweet pouting lips which gave the law of loveliness to the world before the Greeks arose, and decreed that henceforth the short upper lip was to be everywhere the type of beauty." (I quote from memory.) Here was the ideal; what was the reality ? A huge square face, whose massive and protruding jaw could only be compared for strength and form to a lion's a large chasm, where once may have stood a nose, and small, half-shut, peering eyes. Oh, how disgusted I was. I expected to be disappointed with the Pyramids which have been so vulgarised; but the Sphinx it was too cruel; there was no redeeming point. I could only shut my eyes, and strive to forget it all as soon as possible, and determine that, should it ever be my lot to come here again, I would do so at murk midnight, when the faint rays of the lady moon, and my own yearning desire to restore A YEAR IN BENGAL. 35 my idol to its place, may perhaps enable my imagination to raise again some faint shadow of the image I once delighted to worship. No devotee ever approached the shrine of his patron saint with more awe and venera- tion than I did no startled day-dreamer ever woke to find his delusions more ruth- lessly swept away, his visions more com- pletely banished. Some lonely little orchids were flowering under our feet, claiming irresistibly their meed of admiration, and the pleasure of gathering them gave the first hopeful sign of animation and returning interest in mun- dane affairs after the sobering shock of our great disappointment. So in subdued spirits, fatigued both in body and mind, we prepared to retrace our steps to Cairo. Altogether we looked upon the ascent of the Pyramids as a melancholy failure, having frequently undertaken far more perilous ex- peditions amongst the rocks and chasms of our native land entirely by ourselves. It is simply mechanical exertion, requiring nei- ther tact, balance, nor steadiness of head all D2 36 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, indispensables in cliff climbing. The Arabs themselves are agile as cats, many of them volunteering to scale the Lesser Pyramid in five minutes for the sum of one shilling a far more difficult undertaking than that of Cheops, owing to the unbroken surface of plaster it presents. Our donkeys were fully alive to the dif- ference of having their heads turned home- wards, and quickly carried us to the shores of the Nile, where a general fight amongst the boatmen ensued for the favour of our patronage. Omar quietly borrowed Mr. Grier's stick, and applied it liberally about the heads and shoulders of the squabblers, speedily dispersing them. On arriving at the other side, as might have been foreseen, no carriage was visible, and as Omar was immediately despatched to bring some kind of conveyance, we were turned adrift in an extremely close and dirty bazaar. I pro- duced my sketch-book and proceeded to transfer some of the groups to it, and women and children crowded round us, uttering cries of astonishment on recognising each A YEAR IN BENGAL. 37 other's figures. I can't say I much enjoyed such close contact ; the children are a mass of flies and dirt, and ophthalmia in its worst form reigns rampant on most of them. The strange veil, connected with a hood over the head by a long-shaped piece of brass be- tween the eyes, does not give a pleasing ex- pression to the face, and the unvarying blue- black eyes grow tame after a while. At last the welcome tramp of donkeys announced the return of Omar. The car- riage was, of course, non est, and we were thankful, tired as we. were, to mount our un- comfortable saddles again. These saddles consist of a small square of wood, covered with sheepskin. A hump rises in front, and is considerably in the way, not to mention the ancient state of the girths, which con- stantly give way, landing you suddenly in mud or dust, as the case may be. Another scene of fighting of course commenced, sum- marily quelled by Omar and his knobbed stick, and we reached the shelter of Shep- pard's tolerably done up. We were much struck with the spicy character of the donkey- 38 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, boys' vocabulary. They pick up any piece of English wonderfully quickly, and each batch of young cadets and civilians passing through take a Young England delight in im- parting to them the newest and choicest bit of slang then current. Thus you hear them recommending their donkeys as "bricks," and if you fear a tumble, they sing out " All serene !" This, from an unkempt little Egyptian, has a peculiar effect. They are one and all well up in "Yankee doodle" and "If I had a donkey." That evening the front of the hotel pre- sented a delightfully exciting scene from the crowds of donkey-boys fighting for notice, and the number of itinerant vendors striving to persuade us to buy their goods, chiefly con- sisting of folding-up paper lanterns, punkahs of various shapes, and coloured veils, all in- dispensable, they assured us, for the desert journey. Before reaching Alexandria, every gentle- man, as if by magic, came out in a pugheree, a thick roll of muslin twisted turban-wise round their wide-awakes, with two ends A YEAR IN BENGAL. 39 carefully disposed to fall behind, partly for ornament, partly to keep the sun off the neck, the whole tastefully surmounted with a coloured veil to protect their eyes, for we now began to understand what an Eastern sun was like. We had no time next morning to think if we felt tired from our unwonted exertions, for our batch of vans started at five A.M. A hurried candlelight breakfast, anything but genial, and then we were all packed accord- ing to previous arrangements. Again our sea-going friend showed his thoughtfulness for our comfort in procuring us each a de- licious cup of hot coffee, which, in the shiver- ing feeling induced by such early rising and the cool air, was very enjoyable. All the cadets are collectively placed under the charge of the senior officer going out not that he looks much after them, but still he has the power to forbid their gambling, or doing anything manifestly improper. Who undertakes to see them across the desert I know not, but it must be an unenviable task; and as we were returning to our hotel the night 40 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, before, we saw a van standing with five griffs, patiently beguiling the time by smoking, while they waited for a missing comrade, who, however, not turning up in time, they proceeded without him. If you lose your seat through carelessness in this way, the company are not responsible for your transit across the desert, and how such people manage I cannot say. As you are probably two nights separated from any kind of baggage, it is important to have all necessaries with you compressed into as small a compass as possible, and the difference of opinion on this subject between passengers and coachmen often leads to " ter- rific rows." I should guess the Jehus, being Egyptians, sometimes give themselves airs in the hopes of " bucksheesh." Mr. Wallis, having a wife, nurse, and child to provide for, considered himself entitled to a good- sized leather bag, which the coachman de- cidedly objected to. When Mr. Wallis de- posited it in the van, coachee strove to drag it out. This John Bull defied him to do. Coachee then said, till the obnoxious bag A YEAR IN BENGAL. 41 was removed the van should not stir. J. B. instantly announced his perfect willingness to wait all day, and night too, till at length, as usual, English obstinacy defeated Arab impetuosity; and coachee, fearing to be left too far behind by his comrades, drove off in a foaming fit of baffled rage. The fates seemed combined against our making a clear start, for what with kicking horses, &c., we made little or no progress for VAN IN THE DESERT. an hour. Each van contains six persons, and is pulled by four animals, the leaders horses often symmetrical little things, though very vicious ; the wheelers are always mules, which on this day certainly fulfilled their part of the old proverb nobly. We thought ourselves very fortunate in starting so early, as, besides the sunrise, in itself a grand sight, 42 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, we were anxious to see as much of the desert as possible, and with six pair of eyes, all keenly looking out, nothing could escape us ; so no wonder we saw more than all the other travellers put together. Little scraps of mirage were constantly appearing, just like the glittering effect of the sun on rippling water, with a vague kind of landscape be- hind. We distinguished some scared ante- lopes bounding away, and disturbed vultures and wild dogs from the skeletons of the. camels and horses lying dead on the wayside. The road is tolerably good across the desert, though fearfully monotonous, and we were thankful to reach the stations, at three of which a kind of nondescript meal is laid out, consisting chiefly of skinny birds, sup- posed to be chickens, but no larger than pigeons. A wonderful compound, popu- larly styled camel-stew, with fly-sauce, and a very wizened-looking joint of cold meat, was gravely pointed out to us as the shank- bone of a camel. After all, however, one can make a very good meal. They always have excellent ham and biscuit, and often A YEAR IN BENGAL. 43 good rice and curry. The worst of it is, the drinking water is so bad; it is brought from Cairo in skins and kept in tanks, so it becomes quite green and thick. There was no soda-water, and Nora and I, not having learnt to drink bitter beer, had no resource left but oranges, and were most thankful for a supply of them from our thoughtful sea friend. There is a poor Englishman's grave at the third refreshment-station ; he died suddenly here, and was buried in the sand, with a heap of stones over him to keep off the wolves and birds of prey. What a melancholy resting-place ! But the longest day must have an end, and all weariness was dispelled in delight at the first sight of the moon on the Red Sea, which we had ample time to admire, as we did not reach Suez till twelve at night. The cross- ing the desert is looked upon as such an in- fallible test of temper, that a gentleman, who had been considerably smitten with a pretty girl on board, very sagaciously managed to get into their van for the transit, and next day informed me he was quite cured, as the 44 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, young lady's temper had been unequal to the trial. Pity it is more individuals do not follow my sage friend's example, and try some experiment of the sort ere taking the final plunge. Morning at Suez found us and many other anxious inquirers wandering about in quest of some beloved box or favourite bag ap- parently missing, for all the baggage, mails, and cargo of the steamer is collected as the files of camels come in, and laid in the open space of ground outside the hotel, literally an acre of boxes ; and as this is the only chance you have on the way of seeing all your luggage at once, and assuring yourself of its safety, many people try ocular demon- stration to satisfy their minds on the point. It is no easy matter, however, to identify any particular box among a hundred others precisely similar, and you meet puzzled indi- viduals gazing wildly about, and getting more hopelessly bewildered every moment, till at last they rush frantically away in desperation, feeling persuaded that that box has been left somewhere on the road, and the A YEAR IN BENGAL. 45 company must be somehow responsible for the same. Many heartrending scenes were being enacted. Here a stifled shriek of de- spair announces that the top of a lady's bonnet-box has invaded the interior, and so adieu to Alexandrine's airiest compositions ; there a manly voice, making remarks more expressive than polite, proclaims the fact that somehow salt water has penetrated his gun-case, and coated his favourite rifle with rust. And now behold the advantages of tra- velling without a gentleman. The moment Nora and I appeared, we were overwhelmed with offers of assistance. " There's a port- manteau of yours up here." "Here are two of your trunks." " Only tell me how many boxes you have, and I will soon find them all for you." " Miss Leslie, there's a deal case of yours coming unfastened, but I have ordered a man to nail it up." " I saw one of your bags in the office j" and so on, till with our own eyes we saw each precious package was safe ; and this is always the case with ladies alone. Every gentleman feels bound to assist them ; whereas, if you 46 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, have a gentleman with you, people look on grumpily, and never think of helping you, however much you may require it, because that would be aiding him, which they don't choose to do. It was melancholy to see some of the boxes quite battered to pieces and the contents falling out. It is impossible to have too strong trunks for the journey. I must say our luggage presented a hetero- geneous mixture of shapes and sizes, and I may just here remark that we paid the com- pany the sum of 12. extra for overweight of luggage ; so let those who imagine they may take as much as they please, learn ex- perience by our fate, and be wise in time. "We never thought of there being any re- striction; and you are only allowed three hundredweight each. Certainly we were taking a frightfully heavy rifle for Keith, expressly made to shoot elephants with, and our saddles weighed something considerable. I was delighted with the complexion tint of the Suez Arabs ; it is exactly the right depth for a picture ; perhaps the men, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 47 from being exposed to the sun, are too swarthy ; and then they are so dirty, it is difficult to tell what they were originally, but the children are just perfection ; their glowing, orange-tawny arms were so beautiful, it made us look quite with disgust on our cold, unmeaning white ones. We peeped into an infant school, and saw a whole set of bright- eyed little heads, adorned in fez caps, rock- ing to and fro industriously, and chanting that . monotonous drawl, which seems their only idea of lessons. The hotel here is, without exception, the most filthy, uncom- fortable, worst-managed, and highest-priced place I ever saw ; any decent innkeeper would make a fortune in next to no time ; but then, I suppose, the dirt, heat, flies, and ennui would kill most people in a year, so the man who stays must have some compensa- tion. From all this discomfort we were glad to step on board the little steamer which was to convey us to the Bengal, then awaiting us four miles lower down. We were quite struck with the foreign ap- 48 THE TIMELY KETKEAT ; OR, pearance of the ship's officers, many of whom were listlessly looking over the side, watching our advent. They were all gaunt, yellow, hungry-looking men, with discon- tent legible on most of their faces. We did not discover the extent of our losses till fairly under weigh, when, on diving into the recesses of our black leather bags, we found half the contents had been abstracted, many most valuable belongings departed for ever and aye. Imagine Nora's consternation on finding one bag vanished, containing a complete set of hair cushions, rollers, together with two lovely plaits of hair, which she had laid in to guard against the possible ravages of fever on her tresses. What could she do ? It was a loss not to be spoken of to the masculine gender, who would never have viewed it in the painful light it merited; so, in melancholy silence, she bore her bereavement; but, as she touch- ingly observed, " What use will my beau- tiful false hair be to those nasty Arabs ? They can't wear it, and will just offer it for sale to the next set of passengers ; and I A YEAR IN BENGAL. 49 have a horrible conviction that my name was somehow mixed up with it." But even this was not the worst ; words cannot describe the mental horror I endured on first becoming aware of the absence of my Diary. Nora and I had often been laughed at for carrying about with us two bulky, ledger-like books, with massive locks, the inside of which no mortal was permitted to behold; but, spite of all ridicule, we per- sisted in retaining our precious diaries ; and now this repository of all my choicest secrets was in possession of some unbeliever, whose profane hands might break open the lock, and expose it to the eyes of some English- man, who perhaps might, for the fun of the thing, publish it! What a horrible idea! No wonder I flew on deck in despair, to communicate my loss to Nora, and would not be consoled by the offer of some gentle- men to recover the book at any price from the thieving Arabs, on condition they might read it first a proposal I unhesitatingly re- jected; and after enduring three days and nights of agony of mind on the subject, con- VOL. I. E 50 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, ceive, if you can, my rejoicing to find that on changing our cabins a few days after coming on board, the precious book had been left in my old berth, and was restored to me intact, to be more carefully guarded than ever. Our first night on board the Bengal was one of unmitigated wretchedness, as we then awoke for the first time to a full con- sciousness of the " plagues" of Oriental life. The Benyal was swarming with cockroaches of enormous size, and in a rampant state of hunger and liveliness, apparently ready to attack anything. Hundreds were slaugh- tered in the energetic chase that immedi- ately commenced, but the more you killed the more numerous their companions be- came, till at length, despairing and fatigued, we sat down to contemplate our position. Mrs. de Vaux stood for two hours outside her cabin, deaf to the expostulations of her husband and the stewardess, positively re- fusing to re-enter it unless the body of THAT cockroach she had seen was brought out to her. I wonder Mr. de Vaux did not at A YEAR IN BENGAL. 51 once find a cockroach (no difficult matter) to pacify her; but I suppose he considered it his duty to endeavour to teach her to for- tify her mind against foolish fears, and all that sort of thing. The stewardess declared that taking in the cargo had disturbed the creatures, and made them restless; but they were perfectly harmless, and, in a day or two, would subside into their habitual quietude. And with this assurance we were fain to content ourselves, and take posses- sion of a cabin, where, from every article you touched, out scuttled three or four great monsters, with their scaly legs quite making a rattling sound on the oilcloth, so active that it was almost impossible to catch them, and so hard that it was very difficult to kill them; a very determined rap with a s.hoe only made them lie still for a second or two, and then off they ran as lively as ever. The crowning point was placed on our grievances by Nora discovering, on lift- ing up her pillow, a snug party ensconced, only waiting the moment of darkness to run over her face. It was too cruel, under these E 2 52 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, circumstances, to expect us to extinguish our light at half-past ten, and leave the cockroaches in undisturbed possession, for the quartermaster knocks at each cabin at that hour, with " Lights out, if you please, miss 1" and, if you do not instantly comply, he has strict orders to come in and " douse the glim" himself a threat which compels you to consign yourself to total darkness just as you see a whole army of moving black spots storming your counterpane. We had not felt the hardship of the " early closing movement" on board the Ava, but now we determined to evade it by all the means in our power, and soon discovered that by keeping a box of matches in readi- ness, when the quartermaster left the sa- loon we could relight our lamp, and con- tinue our defensive operations undisturbed. Habit lessens all marvels, they say, and cer- tainly we got in a degree accustomed to the cockroaches ; but my nerves were fortunately never tried by the presence of a rat I feel convinced I should have committed some rash act. We of course heard fearful le- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 53 gends of their doings in former voyages; how they ate off ladies' nails and eyebrows, and dragged their shoes into the saloon; and how a young lady, waking one night to find one curled up on her nose, sprang straight out of her berth, and ran shrieking the whole length of the ship, to the fore- castle. How she got back we never heard ; I should judge it must have been rather a trying process. The heat now began to be something frightful; not so much that the thermometer was high, but there was such an indescribable oppression and closeness in the atmosphere, it was suffocating; and yet it was called "coolish weather." During the hot season, we were told, the ladies all sleep on deck, their cabins being fit for no- thing but salamanders ; and a curious effect it must have had to watch the ascent of the veiled beauties, arrayed in every imaginable variety of cloak and hood. The deck is divided down the centre by a sail, and mat- tresses laid all over : at a given signal, all profane gazers are ordered away, and the silent procession troops up, and each finds 54 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, her resting-place. At early dawn they again retire, to simmer slowly in their close cabins, till the deck's ablutions have been performed, and order restored for the day. Most of MONSIETJB, GB.KNIEII. the gentlemen spent their time in sleeping in various grotesque attitudes on deck, and the ladies seldom came out of their cabins? A YEAR IN BENGAL. 55 but lay still, fanning themselves all . day. They advised us to do the same; but we found the closeness down stairs unbearable, and much preferred the .unconfined deck. One day, while in my cabin, Nora rushed down in such a breathless state of sup- pressed laughter, it was some time before she could explain what had happened. She had gone on deck with the ship's kitten in her arms, and found scarcely any one there, save one gentleman, who was sound asleep, in such a comfortable attitude, head well back, mouth open, and hat down over his eyes, that she felt much inclined to fling .the cat upon him, and the temptation was too great to be resisted. The captain just -then appearing at the door of his cabin, she ap- pealed to 'him by a look and movement : of her hand, and as he seemed to nod assent, she stole behind the sleeping victim, and, taking a good aim, sent poor pussy flying, who, just alighting on his face, sent his hat off, and, what with the start of waking and the impetus of the blow, rolled the poor man, chair and all, over on the deck. She dared not wait to see what next befel, but darted 56 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, down to the security of her own cabin, and then, hearing the aggrieved man's voice in the saloon, we neither of us ventured to go out and face him so soon after the insult. He was wonderfully magnanimous, how- ever, only prophesying that when we reached Calcutta he should take dire and signal vengeance on her. People always threaten that kind of thing when they are going to a place they know very well and you do not. We reached that unique spot, Aden, in the morning, but were advised not to land, as there was nothing to see, and the heat was overpowering blazing is the only term to describe it so we sat patiently on deck all day, employed in sketching the burnt-up, cinderish-looking hills, and watching the griffs on shore, who were running races on the native ponies, and getting some " fright- ful spills." Several returned on board very lame in consequence, besides being laid up with fever afterwards; so on the whole we were rather glad we had remained quietly in the ship, though the operation of coaling is very dirty and tiresome, and we had to A YEAB IN BENGAL. 57 58 THE TIMELY RETKEAT ; OR, take refuge on the skylights, from the " washing decks" it rendered necessary. Some gentlemen amused themselves with taking photographs of Aden ; but we heard afterwards that was only a ruse to get pic- tures of ourselves and others on board, which we considered rather impertinent. I remember thinking they turned their camera the wrong way at the time. The sea after leaving Aden is a source of perpetual astonishment : covered during the day by flocks of pretty little flying-fish, shoals of " skip-jacks" the harlequins of the deep and quantities of porpoises, with sometimes a shark or turtle; at night lighted up with phosphorescent fire, and so calm, that the very stars were reflected in long rays of pale light, as the moon is at home. The atmosphere is so clear you can distinguish most plainly the colour of the stars. We passed close , to the Maldives low, tropical-looking banks .of cocoa-nut- trees, just such as you see in pictures. As we neared the shores of Ceylon, we all began to be on the qui vive for the first sniff of those " spicy breezes" which poets A YEAR IN BENGAL. 59 describe as being perpetually blown off that island; and while we were at dinner, some of the knowing ones had the decks and bul- warks rubbed over with a horrible kind of lemon-grass oil a coarse, rancid sort of ver- bena scent so that each griff as he came on deck exclaimed, " Well, I do smell some- thing !" So no doubt he did. The scent was so overpoweringly nasty, that most of the ladies felt sick, and the worst of it was, there was no escape from it all night. Long low reefs of rocks, covered with the invariable cocoa-nut down to the water's edge, were all we saw of Ceylon that even- ing. Next morning beheld us early on shore, and, on reaching the pier, we were put into vehicles much resembling bathing-machines in shape, with windows, and driven to some of the accredited lions. Very stupid, of course. The natives puzzled us extremely : no amount of conjecture could settle which were men and which women ; all appear to wear the same costume precisely, though I hear there is some slight difference in their jackets, which we could not discover. All rejoice in long ebon tresses, carefully turned 60 THE TIMELY RETREAT J. OR, up with tortoiseshell combs. The Cinga- lese gentlemen are quite au fait at that mystery to our countrymen, viz., "back hair." Thanks to our powerful friend at court, a pleasure party had been organised to Wak Wallee, a lovely spot some four miles inland, and the head steward had orders to provide a suitable repast; accord- ingly, several suspicious-looking hampers, containing taper-necked bottles and a bulky bundle in a blanket, accompanied us. The road led through forests of cocoa-nut-trees, interspersed with plantains; here and there cool green paths gave you tempting-looking peeps through the interminable groves, show- ing little thatched r: huts surrounded by swarms of juvenile blackies, playing beneath the shade of stately palms. This our first acquaintance with tropical vegetation was quite startling. ; After the arid, parched rocks'ofAden, and the many days' sea, it was most refreshing to our wearied eyes to drink in the gorgeous beauty of everything around : the luxuriance and astonishing variety of the foliage, the A YEAR IN BENGAL. 61 fantastic shapes of the trees, and then the extraordinary profusion of flowers, their wonderful size and colouring those rich, sleepy-looking, creamy blossoms, with their heavy Eastern fragrance lulling your senses into forgetfulness, and steeping your soul in the luxuriant indolence of an Oriental fairy tale; and then those deep, fiery crim- son cups, with their glowing petals and their dark, palpitating hearts, transporting you at once to the land of magic and genii ! In these days, however, you are allowed no tune to indulge in day-dreams, nor were we in- clined just then, for it was delightful to hear the screams of pleasure with which people recognised some old greenhouse friend in the hedges. To say nothing of the ferns, only fancy that lovely Pteris tremuli, the petted darling of so many a lady's fernery, whose delicate fronds are with us so tender and transparent, spreading out large green leaves, looking quite vulgar in their rude health 1 Really I was fairly wearied out, and so much excitement before breakfast makes your head ache, so we were fain to 62 THE TIMELY RETREAT j OR, lean back in silence and enjoy the beauty of the scene. Not long were we left in peace, however, for our spirited steed positively objected to perform his duty any longer ; and after vainly trying every kind of expostula- tion, we were compelled to alight and ascend on foot the steep hill which leads to Wak Wallee, and truly thankful were we to reach its welcome shade and cool verandah. Most of the party had already arrived, and we all did justice to the various good things, iced champagne, and claret cup provided for us. Eating and drinking are sad interruptions to romance ; nevertheless, we felt more at liberty to admire the prospect after our re- past The horizon around was bounded by blue hills of every shape and tint; far and near the eye wanders over broken ground, covered with interminable cocoa-nut-trees. In the valley at our feet, a broad river divided itself into many a silver stream, that wandered away into the silent forest; while close to us, under the feathery foliage of palms and date-trees, were seated a party of natives, who, scenting "bucksheesh" from A YEAR IN BENGAL. 63 afar, had gathered round, and were sedu- lously devoting themselves to our amuse- ment. Some offered for sale those bright- coloured stones expressly manufactured in Birmingham for the Ceylon trade; and others, stripping off a palm-leaf, proceeded to invent marvellous birds, stars, and orna- ments "out of the strips; then, suspending them on pieces of grass, shook them about for our edification. They were most in- geniously constructed, and we took some to the ship for the benefit of the children. They brought us also bunches of nutmegs in their hard, green coats : they were not half ripe, but looked very tempting. At length, one by one, the carriages were reluctantly turned homewards. We were the last to depart, and were brought to a sudden stop- page by finding a huge tree felled and laid right acro'ss the road. Here was a catastrophe ; other road there was none, and we were already late. At length the horse was un- harnessed and led over the tree, then we severally stepped over, and lastly the car- riage, by the united efforts of Mr. Duncan, 64 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, coachee, and some apathetic-looking natives, was safely deposited on the other side. Our journey was continually interrupted, for these horses have all a bad habit of jibbing dreadfully; and whenever, hi consequence, we came to a stand-still, poor Mr. Duncan had to descend and turn the wheels round, while a shower of blows on the horse's back admonished that animal to proceed. We found, to our horror, on reaching the steamer that we had far exceeded the ap- pointed hour of sailing. I had not the least idea we were so late. Fortunately we had some people of consequence with us, or doubtless Nora and I would have been left behind/Those passengers who had returned in time were naturally very angry with us for keeping them waiting so long, to say nothing of the important despatches we de- layed on their road. As soon as we got on deck, some people told us the Admiralty agent was dreadfully displeased with us; but we instantly turned the tables on him, by attacking him so unmercifully for having failed in his promise of joining us, that we A YEAR IN BENGAL. 65 bewildered the poor little man to such an extent, we fairly made him believe it was entirely his fault the mails had been detained a moment. He looked so absurd afterwards, pacing the deck cogitating deeply over his misdeeds, that I could not resist making a sketch of him. Here he is. THE ADMIRALTY AGENT. At Ceylon the purser laid in a goodly store of pines and plantains wherewith to stock our desserts, and these were hung in tempting clusters " from the iron stanchions VOL. I. F 66 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, by which the boats were suspended. To- wards this Eden of forbidden fruit many a griff's longing eyes were turned. The cadets had their manly dignity to keep up, how- ever, while we had nothing to do but amuse ourselves, and the display was really more than we could resist; so, after dropping a few hints as to our fondness for fruit in general, and plantains in particular, and boldly expressing our intention of stealing some if possible hints of which no one would take any notice Nora determined to help herself from the purser's fruit-garden. So, choosing- a time when nearly all the pas- sengers were down stairs,, and the moon not having risen, partial obscurity shrouded the decks, and calling to mind successful orchard raids of former days, she mounted the bul- warks, stepped into the boat, and trium- phantly seizing a handful of bananas, re- turned to the deck with her golden prize, to the intense bewilderment of the startled quartermaster, who was not quite sure, first, if she was canny, and secondly, whether he. ought not to report her to the captain for A YEAR IN BENGAL. 6 7 stealing and breach of discipline. How he settled the matter with his conscience I know not, but a few days afterwards a bunch of plantains was sent to our cabin for our private use, with the compliments of one of the ship's officers, who, I suppose, had once been fond of plantains himself, and pitied us our daily 'temptation. Our arrival at Madras was signalised in the same manner it had been at Aden, by an irruption of Coolies, all talking and ges- ticulating together. The heat was stifling, and we had no inducement to go on shore, having left our nominal chaperone at Ceylon. We determined, had the surf been very high, to go through it by way of excitement, but the day was so still it was not worth the trouble, so we contented ourselves with exa- mining the different wares brought for sale. And first, the ices. I don't know how many vendors of that commodity beset the steamer, nor. how many gorgeous coloured glasses of red, orange, and pink ice were carried about all dav. The officer on watch exacted, a tf kind of black mail, consisting of unlimited F2 68 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, ices, in consideration of allowing the men a stand on deck. I have no doubt it assisted in washing down the coal-dust. We heard the ice was very good, but did not venture on any ourselves. The officer on watch, being the youngest on board, swallowed so many, I felt sure his careful mother at home would have been alarmed at such indiscrimi- nate indulgence. We contributed our little mite to make up for the mother's care he doubtlessly missed, by frequently bringing up raisins, figs, and such delicacies from dinner for his benefit. I am sorry to say he oc- casionally displayed considerable temper, in requiting our kindness by pitching the dain- ties overboard ; but he was a well-disposed boy on the whole. The jugglers, so famed in Indian tales, played their parts well. They fried rice, multiplied balls endlessly, and performed several wonderful feats. They had a dried snake-skin which they assured us would come alive, and after blowing on it for some time the man produced a large, lively snake. Nora just saw it move, and shot down to her cabin, there to lie perdue. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 69 despite our young friend the middy's offers of turning the men out of the ship. I must refer again to those fearful cock- roaches. .On retiring to our cabins a nightly fight commenced. Tap, tap, went shoes energetically, but the enemy were too strong for us, and often have we been awakened by an alarming sensation of something crawling over our faces, a hasty dash of the hand con- firming the fearful suspicion that it was a cockroach. Our cabin being near the pantry, we were afflicted with an extra number of these horrors. The transparent character of the cabin partitions allows interesting scraps of conversations sometimes to be overheard ; for instance, in a lady's voice : " George, I'm certain I heard something crawling." No response, George being in the land of Nod. " George," louder, " are you asleep? There's a cockroach. Oh, dear George, do get up and kill it." Some sleepy-toned remonstrance implies he'd rather not. " George, I'll never love you any more if you don't instantly look for that cockroach." And on no re- sponse being made to this terrific threat, a 70 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, sound of weeping and lamentation ensues of ever having left her dear mamma and her home for an unfeeling wretch who doesn't care if she is happy or miserable. By this time the original instigator of the matri- monial fracas, the offending cockroach, has marched off, leaving the unhappy George wide awake, and fully aroused to the neces- sity of consoling and soothing the delicate object of his affections, while every griff within earshot is shaking with laughter, and longing to cry out " Encore !" While at Madras we received letters sent to await us there by the thoughtful kind- ness of a veteran Anglo-Indian of the old school, telling us what we were to do on arriving in Calcutta; and though personally unknown to any one there, it was a re- viving feeling to think that people were ex- pecting our arrival, and making preparations for it. After two or three tedious days up the Hooghly, the steamer anchored off the hand- some houses and pleasure-grounds of Garden Reach, a suburb of Calcutta; and while we were gazing curiously on the shores of a A YEAR IN BENGAL. 71 land that for a twelvemonth at least was to be our home, we found two gentlemen had come on board to fetch us ; so, hastily taking leave of all our old friends on board, we prepared to land. Reader, have you ever experienced that uncomfortable sensation, going to stay with people you have never seen or heard of before? for this was our un- enviable plight. The family who were to have received us were unable to do so, owing to the unexpected illness of one of its members ; and Mr. and Mrs. Norton, hear- ing of our expected arrival, with that prompt hospitality to be met with only in India, instantly offered their house for our recep- tion ; and though we had always been in the habit of looking on all Indians as one large brotherhood, it was with no slight feelings of trepidation we quitted the old JBengal, and, stepping into the carriage wait- ing for us, drove to Chowringhee. Though now fairly landed in the East, we were far too much occupied by the flutter and agitation of our novel position 72 THE TIMELY KETREAT ; OR, to have time to consider what our first im- pressions of scenery and people might be. It was late in the evening, and as we emerged from the cool, dark night under the spacious portico, and looked into the brilliantly lighted hall of Mr. Norton's house, it seemed as though our stereotyped ideas of India were going to be fulfilled. Marble pillars and steps in the front, and a crowd of graceful, bowing, sable attendants clus- tering together behind, it only wanted a tame tiger and an elephant in the distance to complete a legitimate picture of Indian life. Though a murmur ran through the swarthy crowd of "Khana!" which was interpreted to us as meaning the Sahib was at dinner, in a few seconds our courtly, genial host, and pretty, delicate-looking hostess, were standing in the hall, doing their best to obviate our natural feelings of shyness, and welcome us to India. As it was late, and we were really tired, we soon retreated to our rooms, and commenced our first acquaintance with mosquito curtains and Indian waiting-maids under the most A YEAR IN BENGAL. 73 favourable .auspices. Mrs. Norton's head woman being a Portuguese, could speak English very well indeed. We took a care- ful survey of the rooms, thinking we should surely turn up a scorpion or two, to the great amusement of the Ayahs, who fol- lowed all our movements; but, discovering nothing more alarming than a lizard, we consigned ourselves to peaceful slumbers, till wakened at seven next morning by the Ayahs to take our cup of tea and bread- and-butter, and to know that a new phase of our lives had begun. On board the steamer we had been continually changing; each day there was something new and interesting; but here, for the first day or two at least, everything was so unexcep- tionably well arranged, so perfectly quiet and orderly, so utterly strange, and, as a neces- sary consequence, so dreary and depressing, that it was by the most stoical determina- tion alone that we kept our spirits up at all, or checked an earnest, longing desire to return by the next steamer. Very soon, however, we began to find out connecting 74 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, links with home in the great chain of so- ciety round. Our veteran friend and first correspondent at Madras sent a telegraphic announcement of our arrival to Keith -at Dhoorghur, more 'than nine hundred miles off, and brought us back an answer from him, waking up again our strong induce- ments to remain out one year in the country. Mrs. Norton's indefatigable kindness never failed, and things began to brighten up; still we Avere firm in our determination to hate India, and received the visits of one or two of our fellow-passengers with the de- lighted empressement only bestowed at home on old and tried friends. On making inquiries respecting our jour- ney to Dhoorghur, we found the prospect looked rather formidable. You travel in little carriages, technically termed " gharries," holding two people, and drawn by one horse. You retain the same gharrie all the way (unless it breaks down ; a frequent occur- rence), and relays of horses are kept waiting at stations on the road: this is called travel- ling by dak. Laying your dak for an up- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 75 country journey is a most serious under- taking, not to be hastily commenced, or .lightly spoken of; and the .awe with which -we heard our contemplated proceedings considered, impressed us with a deep sense of its importance. The first thing to be arranged is the day on which you may leave Calcutta. As the gharries and horses are of .course limited, only a certain number qf travellers can be allowed to start at a time. Keith was naturally anxious we should join him speedily; and on account -of the daily increasing heat it was thought expedient for us to start with as little delay .as possible ; but really to hear the interminable impedi- ments thrown in the way by the director of the Dak Company, one would have thought he was personally interested in keeping us as long as practicable in Calcutta. One day, some bridge having broken down, there were "thirteen of our gharries detained on the other side ; and, until we hear they have crossed, it will be quite impossible to give any new daks;" then, some native Rajah, moving, had monopolised all the horses in. 76 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, his district, and we must be patient till he had passed; then, fifteen young cadets, just arrived, were waiting to join their regiments, and must be forwarded with the smallest possible delay; and at least eleven young ladies besides ourselves had to be sent up, under the charge of their several Ayahs, to the various residences of their anxiously ex- pectant friends. " But next Thursday week yes, perhaps, on Thursday week, he could not promise, but we should have the first refusal of that day's dak, and should hear further from him on the subject ;" and, as he inexorably refused to name an earlier day, we were fain to content ourselves by enjoy- ing Calcutta in the mean time. Society in any highly civilised town must be much alike all the world over; and visit- ing and shopping in the morning, tiffin at two o'clock, the evening drive on the Mall when the sea-breeze sets in, with a late din- ner, and perhaps a ball, does not sound so very unlike the usual routine of a London day. Every one knows Calcutta is a mag- nificent city ; its rows of dazzling white A YEAR IN BENGAL. 77 mansions would be princely residences in England; its well-watered roads, and beau- tifully laid-out squares, could hardly be sur- passed at home. The nightly scene on the Course is very striking in some respects, in others very like home. Gentlemen on splen- did Arabs are bending beside carriages in which recline languid ladies with the newest O possible Paris bonnets on ; pretty, pale chil- dren go out for their airing in fairy equi- pages; graceful girls ride by, with the very same hats you saw a month or two ago in Rotten-row. Half shutting my eyes, I often fancied myself in the Park again ; only here all the children are lying back sound asleep, exhausted with the heat, all the ladies look pale and weary, and the gentlemen tired and melancholy. Instead of the pleasure- boats of the Serpentine, you see here large ships and frigates anchored close to the drive. One peculiarity of the river is, that the banks become deep so suddenly you can step off the crowded Course on board the largest vessel. The black Jehus here are quite as proud of their position as their 78 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, dignified and white-wigged brethren at home ; and the two native Syces who run after the carriage with the pretty white chowries (horse-tails they carry to flap off the flies), are far more picturesque than our stately footmen. It is "the thing" here, as at home, to drive very slowly, but sometimes a buggy appears coming at a reckless rate, and people say, " Of course that's some American cap- tain. They always drive at that frightful pace till they succeed in smashing themselves or some one else." Once it was my lot to behold strange, unwonted sight a bride in full costume, with all her bridesmaids low dresses, orange-blossoms, and all com- plete driving in state up and down the Course. Whenever there is a wedding among the 1 half-caste population, they are kind enough thus to display their bridal splen- dour to the eyes- of an. astonished public. One naturally looks round for the elephants you have, been taught to believe are every- where to be seen, but elephants are not allowed into the streets of Calcutta for fear A YEAR IN BENGAL. 79 of alarming the spirited little Arabs ; so this one great Eastern feature is totally wanting. Everything is on a grand scale, and the marks of wealth are profusely lavished around ; but though people open their houses in a style of princely hospitality, still I should think that to the timid new corner, whose heartstrings are still quivering with the severing of all his home ties, the glare and glitter, the etiquette and immovable rules of society, must be positively hateful. It must be very difficult in any necessarily confined society to avoid falling into a kind of local jargon of conversation, and no doubt nearly every circle at home lays itself open to such a charge ; but of all incomprehensible things, the technical jargon of Anglo-India is the most overpowering. I remember once being thrown in some degree upon the hos- pitality of a Yorkshire farmer, and for a couple of hours listened to a language of which the keenest attention scarcely enabled me to catch the meaning of one word in ten. German would have been simple in com- parison. The good man was quite nattered 80 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OK, by the breathless interest with which I ap- peared to listen to him, but the strain on my faculties was so great, I did not recover the fatigue for a week. With something of the same bewildered sensation did I now every morning sit listening to the cream of Cal- cutta hopes and fears, gossip and fun, feeling every instant more and more hopelessly con- fused, every moment more helplessly over- powered. If now and then a ray of intelli- gence seemed to dawn on my bewildered brain, the next sentence was sure to crush down the presumptuous idea, till I really often thought another half hour would in- fallibly make me idiotic, and hailed the an- nouncement of tiffin with delight. The dra- matic effect of these conversations I can never hope to render in words alone, but I may venture to give English readers some faint idea of what I underwent in attempting to follow dialogues like this : " So I hear Smith is sent up to the Mo- fussil, and we are to have Grant here." " Dear me ! I thought he was in the Judicial." " So he is; but interest, you A YEAR IN BENGAL. 81 know " " What is Stevens doing in Calcutta?" "Don't you know? He is to be Deputy-Assistant Advocate-General." "Why, I thought Jones was promised that." " Yes, but he's gone into the Commissariat." 11 Ah ! they always manage to make that do." " Did you hear they had offered the Salt Chokees to Brooks?" " Well, he won't take it, will he, after they behaved so badly to him about those Omrahs?" "I don't know how that may be settled, but I know he must move, as Saunders is to be Super- intendent of the Abkaree Revenue." " You don't say so ! Then what's Brown to do ?" "Oh, lie's been offered the Twenty-four Pergunnahs." " You don't mean that \ Why, what can Government be thinking about?" " Ah ! you may well say so. Talk of the right man in the right place indeed !" Enter Jones, to whom the news is repeated. 11 Yes, I heard it, and very much pleased I was, too. He's just the fit man for it. That's the second unexceptionable appointment Go- vernment has made this season." Enter Brown, who is congratulated, and replies : VOL. i. G 82 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, "No; the fact is, I just told Government they might as well appoint my Khitmutghar, for anything I knew about the duties of the office." " Then what are you going to have?" " Why, I hear Dean's going home, and I have some promise of being Civil Sessions Judge in his place; and then, you know, that's a kind of step into the Sudder Adaw- lut." " Into the Sudder ?" An ominous silence ensues. Perhaps some of those pre- sent have had an eye in that direction for themselves or friends, for the pause is broken by a burst of indifferent topics, and the visitors depart. What between " Civil shop " and " Mili- tary" ditto, one might sooner learn a new language altogether than make yourself con- versant with Anglo-Indian technicalities. Doubtless the spirited interchange of senti- ments on the part of new comers of different degrees of griffinage sounded nearly as .stupid to the old hands, for they often sat by with a bland smile of forbearance on their faces while we eagerly discussed the state of Rotten-row and the last Botanic, or com- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 83 pared notes on the Princess's and the Opera, evidently thinking life too short to be wasted on such small ends ; while we were in turn baffled and awe-struck when they recom- menced their interminable " shop." We fortunately had two opportunities of seeing the beauty and fashion of Calcutta in ball dress, and once in fancy dress at a splendid ball given to Lady C. ; but with the ex- ception of punkahs and thermantidotes (a singular contrivance with wheels for creating n. draught of air), all was precisely like a very good ball at home. Punkahs do not strike you much in a ball-room, but in a church, when there are two or three dozen flat, white boards, with dimity frills sewn on to them, all being jerked violently over your head at once, and all out of time, I defy the most serious-minded attendant to refrain from feeling exasperated first, and sleepy afterwards. One feels if the Coolies would only pull them all pne way just for a mo- ment it would be an inexpressible comfort to your eyes; but no, they perversely persist in pulling them just contrary. There's a G 2 84 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, punkah on the eve of catching up its fellow breathless excitement now how tiresome it's all wrong again. Who could attend to service under such distractions ? As for the clergyman, I could not listen to what he was saying, because I was so astonished at his remembering a single word when his congregation were quite invisible, nothing to be seen save that sea of white moving punkahs, waving about all around, entirely hiding him from sight one moment, and the next showing shifting glimpses and dis- solving views. I never heard so fatiguing a sermon. The most disagreeable part of Calcutta life is the state of espionage in which you live. Your most secretly laid plans are in- stantly known to the whole world, and highly embellished tales of all you say and do fly round the community like wildfire, of course gathering as they go. People say the native servants propagate these reports, for though pretending to know nothing of English, they understand enough to make a great deal of mischief. The rapidity with A YEAR IN BENGAL. 85 which news circulates is startling. We were told by a friend that half an hour after our arrival, he and all the other gentlemen in the clubs of Calcutta knew we had brought pistols out with us. It has rather a sobering effect to learn you are thus watched. They all seemed perfectly well acquainted with our resolution of returning home in a year's time, and all laughed most openly at the apparent absurdity of the idea, offering to take any amount of bets with us on the sub- ject. They little knew the iron wills of the people they were speaking to; every one, however, thought we had done a very spirited thing in coming out, making a plea- sure trip of so long a voyage, and told us that our determination of facing all the un- known dangers of a dak journey was, to say the least, " very plucky." All people who have never been to the Mofussil look on the undertaking with great respect and some alarm. I do not know how the days slipped away ; the mornings were usually occupied with visitors or shopping, and after tiffin, what 86 THE TIMELY RETKEAT; Oil, between the real necessity of not exerting ourselves at all, on account of the heat, and the fancied necessity of wearing a new bonnet every night on the Mall, which of course always had to be unpacked, with all et ceteras to match, from the depths of some mysterious box, we had a hard life of it. Each day added to the stores being prepared for our dak trip : we were only passive instru- ments. Mrs. Norton consulted some of 'her friends, and daily received new suggestions of something absolutely indispensable. It was like victualling for a siege : Guava jelly and marmalade, all manner of biscuits, tea, preserved meats, soda-water, sweet syrups, wine, or any other beverage you drink. We stipulated for an endless supply of coloured railway literature; yet with all this preparation, it was only the night before we started that our old ally, Mr. Duncan, sent us a large supply of pillows, and spoons, and forks, all invaluable comforts on the road, and which had been till then forgotten. An Ayah, with very superior credentials, had been engaged to accompany us; she claimed A YEAR IN BENGAL. 87 twenty rupees per month for wages a very large sum in these parts in consideration of being able to speak English, but the only words I ever heard her use were, " My darling child" a phrase she repeated most glibly, but always completed the sentence in Hindostanee, so we were not a bit the wiser for it, As you are only allowed a certain quantity of luggage in a dak gharrie, after selecting those articles you cannot do with- out, you bid a sad adieu to the remainder, and consign it to the tender mercies of an agent to be forwarded by that slowest of all slow movements, yclept a bullock-train; and if you are singularly lucky, you may see it again in six weeks or two months, at the earliest. But so many and so unac- countable are the delays which befal these unhappy trains, that an interval of six months between despatching and receiving a box is thought rather quick travelling, and many anxious expectants of Paris millinery, after patiently waiting a whole year for the appearance of the bonnet which is to elec- trify the station, and writing unweariedly to 88 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, every postmaster on the road for informa- tion, finds the missing box has been peace- fully reposing in some out-of-the-way re- ceiving-house, and the contents are of course faded and old-fashioned; or having perhaps been fished up out of some river on the road, the finery that was to have totally eclipsed and struck envy into the heart of every other lady in the place, is reduced to an indistinguishable mass. Nor are ladies the only suiferers: gentlemen expecting saddlery and crockery ware often find their tempers equally tried by its total destruc- tion. In fact, every day in India calls more deeply on that very large stock of patience which, it is to be hoped, every one who lands on these shores has laid in, or woe be it to him. At length our dak was announced as " laid," and as it seemed impossible that any one could suggest anything more to be pro- cured in the way of stores, we prepared to leave our hospitable friends, and take a final plunge into the unknown land before us. Our last night in Calcutta was spent at a A YEAR IN BENGAL. 89 ball, from which we returned just in time to change our aerial dresses for something more suited to our long, hot, and dusty journey, the first hundred and fifty miles of which were to be performed by railway. Mr. Norton accompanied us to the railroad station, which, being unfortunately on the other side of the Hooghly, from the " west end" of Calcutta, before reaching it you have a long drive and a disagreeable river to cross, for this branch of " Gunga's stream," so celebrated by poets, is a broad, rapid, peculiarly dirty, and by no means tempting-looking river. We were told we left " blue water" behind on entering the Hooghly, and certainly it is more the colour and consistency of pea-soup than anything else. The railroad is only open as far as Raneegunge, where our gharrie was in wait- ing. All railroads are provokingly alike, but the country we passed through was new enough dotted over with many strange- looking native villages, swarming with little black children, strongly reminding us of the bronze Hindoo idols at home. 90 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, At Raneegunge we found Mr. Boyle (an utter stranger) ready to meet us : some friend in Calcutta had written to him to do so. It seems the usual thing for people here to send you on from one station to an- other, consigned to the care of some of their friends, who appear to think it the most natural thing in the world to take any amount of trouble about you. What a pity that railroads and increasing civilisation should alter such an agreeable state of things. We found also that Messrs. Sandford and Merton, two young cadets, fellow-passengers of ours from England, were to start by dak up country at the same time we did ; so Mr. Boyle directed the coachmen of our two gharries always to keep close together, in order that we might give and receive assist- ance in case of accident, as he thought, though we were all such dreadful griffs, that they might be some protection to us on the road ; and of course they were proud of the charge. In an uncivilised country like India, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 91 Avhere ladies are not treated by the natives with the reverence they receive at home, the presence of a gentleman is often indispen- sable. We all took tea together in the somewhat melancholy-looking hotel, and then Mr. Boyle packed our gharries for us in the most scientific manner. It requires some skill and experience to put everything where you can easily find it again, and yet out of the way. We looked with great interest on the vehicle which was to be our abode for so many nights. It was a light, small carriage, DAK GHARRIE. 92 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, made entirely of wood, and painted green. There are no seats in it, but a mattress is spread over the bottom, on which you re- cline the whole way (and now we mentally thanked our friend for those pillows); a shelf at the foot held our books, biscuits, tea, &c. ; a netting nailed at the top received our hats and other superfluous articles (I hear when families travel that is the baby's place) ; two pockets at the sides were filled with soda-water; and the well underneath was crammed with bags, extra stores, &c. Ayah and the boxes were stowed away on the top of the vehicle ; and, to complete all, a small lantern hung suspended from the middle to light us on our way. While the process of packing the two gharries was going on, Mr. Sandford borrowed Mr. Boyle's little tattoo (pony), and, though warned the animal was vicious, started to have a canter, from which he returned in safety, though he informed us afterwards, privately, that he had had no less than seven tumbles. At last all was completed, and we started, highly excited and in great spirits, the coach- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 93 men having received orders to stop at some dak bungalow about eight the next morn- ing, where we could rest during the day, and start again at night. These bungalows are built by Government entirely for the use of travellers, at intervals of about fifteen miles, the whole way along the Grand Trunk Road from Calcutta to the Himalayas. They are mostly built on the same plan : two prin- cipal rooms in the centre, and a dressing and bath-room on either side. A Khitmutghar is placed in charge. Our first night passed without any adventures, though the novelty of our position, and the jolting and dust of the gharrie, effectually prevented any chance of sleep; besides, our two companions being equally restless, generally hopped out of their gharrie at every stage, and came to know how we were getting on. Next morning commenced our acquaint- ance with dak bungalows, and the very first step revealed a serious deficiency in our stores ; for, on sending the Ayah to ask for some towels, she came back, saying there were none. Here was a misfortune! Our 94 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, English ideas had never extended to pro- viding towels ourselves, and, as no Indian thinks of travelling without them, of course our Calcutta friends never doubted that we were properly supplied in that respect. On consulting our companions, we found Mr. Sandford in the same predicament ; but Mr. Merton, having instructed an agent to pro- vide everything requisite for his journey, produced a bundle, and generously divided them equally amongst us; but, though more than enough for one, it formed rather a scanty allowance when distributed among four. We were far too grateful, however, to complain ; and every afternoon the said towels might be seen, washed, and drying in the sun for the morning's use. And now began our troubles with the language. We had relied greatly on the Ayah, and finding her totally useless, were thrown entirely on our own re- sources. I had learned, before quitting the steamer, about twenty common sentences, which were of inestimable benefit to us; and, after a lengthened interview with the Khitmutghar in charge, we succeeded in ob A YEAR IN BENGAL. 95 tainiug eggs, grilled fowls, milk, and an un- limited supply of hot water for tea. This is all they can furnish you with ; everything else you carry yourself. The moorghie (na- tive chicken) is a most unpromising looking article of food, which nothing but stern ne- cessity compels you to eat. You see numbers of these unfortunate creatures marching about the compound as you drive up, and the mo- ment breakfast is ordered the chase com- mences, which of course ends in the capture and death of the unhappy fowl, who, in a few minutes after, is placed, broiled, on the table, woefully skinny, and tough, and taste- less, to a degree scarcely conceivable in Eng- land. In curry, of course they taste better ; but we did not much relish the rancid but- ter used in native cookery, and preferred knowing what we were eating. For some days we cheerfully ate grilled moorghies, eggs, and biscuits, for breakfast, and ditto repeated at dinner; but now these dainties began to lose their relish, and then we fell back on our potted meats. But as most of the biscuits were slightly sweet, the com- 96 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, bination was not pleasant; and as for pre- serves ! I shall never recover my taste for guava jelly and marmalade again, nor have I yet learned to look with equanimity on gingerbread, that comestible usually forming our first meal about daybreak, when, finding ourselves in want of something to do, and knowing we had no chance of breakfast for some hours, we amused ourselves by eat- ing nuts and dispensing them to our com- panions. That first day passed off very [well; and when the coachman arrived up to time in the evening, we started, flattering our- selves our journey was going to be the easiest thing possible. The farther we got from Calcutta, however, the worse our horses became. Every six miles you arrive at a " chokee," and change horses: harness- ing each fresh horse was the signal for a scene of biting, kicking, plunging, and rear- ing, that would have sent most ladies at home into fits. The horses seemed per- fectly unbroken; and when, by main force and the assistance of several Coolies, the A YEAR IN BENGAL. , 97 harnessing was effected, the creature would stand on his hind-legs for some moments, and then insist on turning round to take a good look at us, or at the back of the carriage, so that we momentarily expected it to upset. Sometimes they were dragged out, roaring, screaming, and biting, like tigers, and, when harnessed by superior strength, positively refused to move at all ; on which some dozen Coolies flung them- selves on the wheels, and, turning them round, pushed the gharrie on the hind- quarters of the animal; and if this proves ineffectual, they tie a rope to his fore-legs, and drag him on till he is compelled to move. It appeared to be an understood thing between the quadrupeds and bipeds engaged in the struggle, that if the former was once got into motion, it must go on to the next chokee, which, after resisting to the last, for form's sake, it generally did at full gallop, making up for lost time, and then yielding its place to the next in order, who went through precisely the same ma- noeuvres. At first it was impossible not to VOL. I. II 98 . THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, feel somewhat anxious as to what our fate in the melee might be; but afterwards we learnt to look to these constantly-recurring scenes at the chokees as the chief source of amusement and excitement through the night, and felt quite defrauded of our rights when any mild-tempered animal allowed it- self to be quietly harnessed, and proceeded on its way without giving any trouble. When a horse totally refuses to move on, these ingenious people have a mode of light- ing a fire underneath the animal, and when the heat becomes painful, the creature gal- lops off ; but I am assured (though I never saw it) that the horses sometimes become so cunning as to defeat the aim of their tor- mentors by lying down on the fire, and so extinguishing it. Crossing the first two or three rivers was rather trying to our nerves. The gharrie stops, and the horse is taken away, but there are no lights or other signs of a chokee ; and while you look out, wondering what is going to happen to you, suddenly a swarm of yelling, screaming, black Coolies A YEAR IN BENGAL. 99 swoop down on you, and carry your gharrie off bodily. I defy the most strong-minded woman not to feel very much frightened when she finds herself surrounded by water, and apparently completely at the mercy of a set of demon-like beings, who encourage each other on by a series of yells and shouts worthy of Bedlam. A young lady who passed a few nights before we did, told me she quite gave herself up for lost, and when she reached the other side was in such a state of agitation, that she willingly gave these black rascals a rupee (2s.) each, which they, seeing she was frightened, demanded, when they would have been handsomely paid with a couple of annas (3d.). When we got across the river at last, we found our two friends waiting at the water's edge : they had been carried over first, and being startled themselves, knew we should be dreadfully alarmed, and tried to insist on the two gharries being kept together, but, finding themselves powerless, they came as near as they could to reassure us. On each side of these rivers there is generally a long H2 1 00 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, tract of deep sand, over which you must be pushed by men or bullocks, as horses cannot manage it at all. No more chance of sleep for us that night ; and very early next morning the coachman positively insisted on our alighting and getting into the gentlemen's gharrie, as our wheel was too much broken to go on. There was no time allowed for deliberation; so, snatching up a few necessary things, and leaving our luggage to its fate, we were all four packed into one gharrie, Nora and I crouching inside, and the two gentlemen sitting with their legs out of the windows, till we reached the next dak bungalow, where we were turned out and left to our own devices for the day. Under the most favourable auspices, a day in a dak bungalow is apt to become monotonous even to griffs, to whom all is new. Our first care was to order breakfast; then, having settled which room was to be the dining-room, we sepa- rated to take a bath and dress for the day. And what an indescribable comfort it was to get rid of all the dust and tumbled things A YEAR IN BENGAL. 101 of the night, and emerge, freshened up, to enjoy breakfast as best we could, first always ordering a Coolie to pull the punkah. Go- vernment generously provides punkahs to all the bungalows, though the rest of the furniture is of the scantiest possible descrip- tion, consisting of a bedstead, table, and one or two chairs in each room, and a most meagre supply of crockery-ware. You are supposed to bring all comforts with you. Breakfast over, we ordered dinner, and, being rather tired of the eternal grilled moorghies, did our best to change the bill of fare. We had seen some geese on the road near, and tried to make the man under- stand we wanted one roasted. This being a flight above my colloquial powers, we had recourse to pantomime; but in vain. Per- haps it was not the right season to kill a goose; but at any rate we gave up the attempt in despair. We must have suc- ceeded in making the man understand we wanted something extra to eat, for in a short time he returned with a large, lively, grey rabbit in his arms, which, on being set down, 102 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, began careering round the room as hard as it could tear. The Khit, pointing to it, said significantly, " Curry." We alb laughed heartily, but, tired as we were of moorghies, we could not fancy devouring that poor grey rabbit ; so, shaking our heads, the Khit marched off with it. Nora and I then re- tired to our rooms to read or sleep till dinner was announced, after which meal we began repacking our stores and preparing for de- parture. On the evening in question, how- ever, we had some doubts about getting off at all. There being only one gharrie, we walked a long way down the road to see if there were any signs of the other coming up. As far as we could see, the road was empty, so we concluded, rather despondingly, we were doomed to pass the night there; and the Khit coming in, made us comprehend that it would be necessary to have two Chowkedars (watchmen) in case of Dacoits. Acting on this hint, the two young men began to look at their swords and examine the loading of our revolvers, when, delight- ful sound! the missing gharrie drove up, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 103 and, cheerfully paying off the Chowkedars, we went merrily on. After proceeding some way quietly, the gentlemen's gharrie came into violent contact with a down-country vehicle, both coach- men being doubtless asleep, and in a mo- ment all was confusion. The whole front of their gharrie was smashed, the coachman sent flying into a hedge, where he lay howl- ing dreadfully ; the poor Syce was carried away with his leg really hurt. The two occupants of the down vehicle were laughing and trying to patch up their dilapidated shafts and harness. It was astonishing how soon the confusion subsided. These collisions are too frequent to cause any remark. The coachman was picked out of the hedge and ordered to drive on, and the only harm done (we were laughed at for considering the Syce's lame leg as an accident of the slightest importance) was, that the shelf con- taining their stores being broken to pieces, they reposed for the remainder of the night on a bed of broken glass, guava jelly, tea, cigars, and brandy, the mingled odours of 1 04 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, which were very unpleasant. Besides, the dust poured in in such volumes, they were obliged to adopt the uncomfortable attitude of lying on their backs, holding up a blanket with their feet, to save themselves from being choked. Soon afterwards an obstreperous horse in their carriage ran into ours, and stove in the whole of the back, so that we were compelled to have it changed at the next station. It was a mercy our heads were not broken. Then, just as we were composing ourselves to slumber, the rickety motion and sudden jolting of our carriage,' with the crashing of .boughs on the top, and the shrieks of the Ayah, who was afraid of being rubbed off, announced we had certainly left the road, and, on looking out, we found we were descending a very steep declivity, and heard the shouts of the gentlemen, who, seeing us disappearing into the ditch, were flying down the bank to assist us. After blowing up the somnolent coachman and bullying the horse frightfully, we were with some trouble extricated from our perilous position without bodily injury, and pro- A YEAR IN BENGAL. ] 05 ceeded on our way; but these and similar mishaps were of such constant occurrence, that Nora and I were obliged to be always on the alert. We heard afterwards of other travellers who went regularly to bed and slept all night comfortably in their gharries, but we were compelled to be always dressed and ready for all emergencies. That same topic of dressing has been much discussed at Calcutta, and various opinions were given us on the subject; but we found far the best plan was always to wear a dark barege skirt, which was 'cool, and did not look rumpled easily, and a loose, white muslin jacket, which, with a waistband and ribbons, ap- peared quite respectable in the daytime, and was quite comfortable for reclining in at night. We had fortunately a large store of these jackets, and found them an immense comfort. It was extraordinary how soon we fell into the routine of dfik travelling, and how much each day added to our experience. Gentlemen are proverbially more restless under inaction than ladies, and our two friends found the day hang very heavily on 106 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, their hands. Their chief employment after breakfast was to unpack their shell-jackets and swords, in which gorgeous garb they would array themselves, and commence a never-ending dispute on the respective merits of their facings, and buttons, &c., which, however, whiled away an hour; and then they usually fell to arguing. Having been schoolfellows at home, they knew each other's weak points well; but Mr. Merton being a Londoner, and older both in years and experience than his companion, a hot- headed Highlander, had greatly the advan- tage in an argument, and invariably suc- ceeded in turning the conversation to the absurdity of a penniless Scot boasting of his " lang pedigree." Mr. Sandford, who always ran blindfolded into any trap laid for him, would retort, he supposed Mr. Merton had no family to be proud of ; when the unmoved Londoner would go on to speak of the Scottish kings, whom he designated as no- thing but " petty, marauding chieftains ;" while Mr. Sandford, firing up, declared vehemently that " some of the most chival- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 107 rous names of Christendom had sprung from the royal blood of Caledonia." He would then rush into the verandah to cool his heated brain by the solace of a cigar ; while Mr. Merton chuckled internally over the splendid rise he had taken out of the fiery Scotchman. Every afternoon we were sure of an hour's amusement in looking over the bungalow book a volume in which all travellers are expected to record their names, when they arrived, when they left, what they gave the Khit, with a column for general remarks, which people will fill up with a detail of their sentiments and feelings, in spite of a grave remonstrance at the opening of the book from the postmaster of the district, who balances these books monthly, to the effect that remarks are only requested regarding the state of repair of the house, and furniture, and the behaviour of the Khit. Notwith- standing this explanation, each succeeding party of travellers persists in announcing, for the benefit of future comers, that they feel " very comfortable," " quite serene," 108 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, " all the better for brandy pawnee," with facetious remarks on the former names. People may take up their abode for as long as they please in these bungalows, paying a rupee per diem to Government for the same. For any period under three hours you pay eight annas (one shilling). The book usually made its appearance towards the evening, when the Khit brought in the kettle for tea, as we always fortified ourselves before starting with a mild refreshment of tea and biscuit. These two youths seemed to find insur- mountable difficulty in the language, for when Nora and I had learnt the names of everything in common use, the only words impressed on our companions' minds were, " Arg" (light) a shout which at the chokee was always responded to by an angular native bearing a live cinder on a brick, by means of which our friends imbibed the fragrant weed and " Ghora lao" (horse bring) an order which was thundered out whenever the desired animals seemed not forthcoming. As Mr. Morton rarely pro- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 109 nounced his r's, I sometimes wondered how the natives comprehended him at all. At Allahabad Mr. Merton was to leave us, as the finger of destiny, represented by the number of his regiment, pointed another way. We were quite sorry to part with so agreeable a companion, so perfectly gentle- manly a protector. Mr. Sandford was to go on with us, and, before leaving, Mr. Merton took his friend aside, and read him a long lecture on the onerous nature of the duties he was undertaking. Mr. Merton evidently thought that hitherto the charge of our precious selves had been entirely on his shoulders; now the responsibility de- volved on Mr. Sandford, who was emphati- cally warned to eschew smoking and beer, lest the somnolent qualities of those articles should overpower the watchful wakefulness necessary to guide our griffinish steps through the dangers surrounding us. All this, and much more, was instantly repeated to us by Mr. Sandford, the beautiful transparency of that youth's character leading him to impart to us immediately everything that was com- 110 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, municated to him. Both these young men had all the stuff in them necessary to make good soldiers ; but I much fear India will soon alter that buoyant light-heartedness that led them, when with us, to look on every new contretemps as a fresh piece of good fortune. The peeps of country we got on our road up, when there was light enough to see any- thing, were not prepossessing, being usually long tracks of dry, white dust, as far as the eye could reach, without the slightest eleva- tion to break the monotony of the view; but when we passed through native villages before the inhabitants had all gone to rest, the glimpses we got were picturesque in the extreme groups of weird, impish-looking figures seated round their fires, cooking and smoking ; those who wished to sleep stretched on their charpoys in the open air, with a swarm of little, naked, bronze children, all merry and laughing, and one and all pre- senting corporations which might compete with any alderman. Why all native children, even the merest babies, present this extra- ordinary appearance, I never heard. Some A YEAR IN BENGAL. 1 1 1 BENARES. say the mothers tie a string round their bodies and feed them till it breaks; at any rate, the fact is universal. Native children seem very much coaxed and petted by their seniors; and I am sure that very green John Bull, who is represented as being so asto- nished at hearing foreign babies crying quite naturally, just like English ones, instead of screaming in French, could not have been more amazed than I was to see a gaunt, black-bearded man dandling a two years child on his knee, and amusing it with the very same old sounds and grimaces that have 112 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, charmed and soothed our nursery children ever since we have had nurseries at all. I suppose it shows how necessary they are, or they would not be in such general use. Sometimes, when passing through a vil- lage, we witnessed a fete going on, and the hideous music, yelling, shouting, nasal sing- ing, uncouth gestures, and strange garb of these demoniacal-looking natives, strongly re- minded me of the pictures of Pandemonium. We sometimes overtook long trains of bul- lock-waggons crawling lazily along, and rais- ing dust enough to choke every one they met : no wonder they take a year to get up country if they always walk at that pace. Whenever a train appeared in sight, our coachman extracted some very wheezy notes from a battered horn, to warn the drivers to keep on one side ; but as the men were gene- rally asleep and when awake the bullocks were very difficult to manage I often ex- pected, as we came tearing along at full speed, that our light carriage would come in colli- sion with one of these enormous vehicles, in A YEAK IN BENGAL. 113 which case it would infallibly have been smashed. I used often to lie looking out into the night as we were being rapidly whirled along, and think how easily we might be carried off anywhere, and by anybody, and no one be a bit the wiser, and then months of research would fail to discover our where- abouts to anxious friends; and the nervous- ness entailed by these uneasy thoughts could hardly be dispelled by the remembrance of that brace of revolvers reposing at the bot- tom of our gharrie, or even by the neighbour- hood of that gallant youth who was quietly slumbering in the carriage behind. And yet I have often heard of young girls, just ar- rived from England, put into one of these gharries, with a body-guard of one Ayah, and expected in about a month's time to turn up somewhere in the Punjab, a dis- tance of sixteen hundred miles. Incredible as it may sound at home, they do seem to arrive somehow in safety. Up to this time all our adventures had been great fun ; good VOL. I. I 114 THE TIMELY BETHEAT'J OB, health and spirits had carried us through everything happily, but the first touch of illness brought forcibly before us our ter- rible helplessness and loneliness. From my unfortunate English inability to sleep, ex- cepting when quite undisturbed, through all these weary nights, I never seemed to myself to lose consciousness at all, and this, added to our being such dreadful griffs as not to insist on the coachman stopping before the heat of the day began (they kept us out sometimes till noon), gave me a smart attack of fever. I felt it coming on as we left Cawnpore, but I would not give in, and by NATIVE BOAT, CAWKPOKE. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 115 the time day dawned I was fast becoming worse, and Nora terribly frightened. As was natural in the first moments of alarm, all the awful tales of the sudden illnesses of India we had heard rose to her mind. I was really too ill to speak ; totally powerless, and far from all human help, she could only sit bathing my temples with water, and asking for aid where none seek it in vain. At last the sound of wheels told the ap- proach of another gharrie, and Nora frantic- ally besought the driver to stop, in the hopes it might contain some European who could give us some directions. The stranger gharrie drew up a short distance from us, and she jumped out without any covering over her head, and but one shoe on, so fearful was she of losing this chance of information. No doubt she told her tale in a pitiable state of suppressed grief and agitation ; but the tra- vellers, being half-castes, with the usual apathy of their class only grunted out a few words signifying that the bungalow was not far off, and there was no European station i2 116 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, near. Half maddened, she returned to re- new her entreaties to the driver to proceed faster, Mr. Sandford adding a more sub- stantial inducement in the shape of a bribe, so we quickly reached the bungalow, and found another traveller already there. Nora pencilled a hasty line explaining our state, and asking if medical assistance was pro- curable. I lay down on one of the small charpoys, and was fast becoming insensible. At all events, the quiet and darkened room was better than the jolting gharrie and burn- ing sun. The Unknown answered the note in person a subdued-looking individual, very gentle, and who seemed to pity us thoroughly. While they were deliberating what to do, Mr. Sandford drove up. On our gharrie increasing its speed, his had fallen behind, and shortly had subsided into a ditch, overturning Mr. Sandford and all his belongings. I can fancy the flood of broad Scotch the irate young man poured on the obtuse driver. As we had no quinine to administer, the stranger suggested sending A YEAR IN BENGAL. 117 for a native doctor. These men are edu- cated in Calcutta, and walk the hospitals there ; they are then generally affixed to native regiments. It being the only re- source, he was accordingly summoned. Just as he arrived at the bungalow, a Captain Dean alighted, and was immediately ac- costed by Mr. Sandford, who gave a hurried sketch of our position. Captain Dean in- stantly recognised the black medico, saying he knew him well. The man, having been attached to his regiment, had often attended his children. But I leave it to my readers' imagination to picture, if they can, the scene. I was lying, barely sensible, in a burning fever, and utterly regardless of appearances, my hair having all been let down to allow my head to be more easily wetted ; Nora standing by me, alternately crying bitterly and laying wet handkerchiefs on my forehead ; the Ayah, crouching at my feet, murmuring in- cessantly, "My darling child;" a turbaned individual, with dusky hands, feeling my 118 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, pulse ; Captain Dean interpreting, and Mr. Sandford leaning awe-struck against the door, fearing to be left alone, and yet not daring to enter, while the stranger we had first applied to was busy arranging a tattie. Of course I understood nothing of the consultation, but was suddenly aroused by the word " calomel," which I positively refused to touch, haying a mortal horror of that drug; whereupon the medico fell back upon soda-water, of which we fortunately had a good supply, and this simple remedy constantly administered, combined with per- fect quiet, revived me considerably. The Chupramou bungalow seemed patronised that day, for, during my formidable consultation, a lady in a palkee arrived. This was a great boon to us, as she could speak the language, and, with the ready kindness of an Anglo- Indian, installed herself by my bedside as head nurse. But we were forbidden to think of stirring that night, as any fatigue would have induced more fever. It was Sunday, and we could not help contrasting our posi- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 119 tion with that of our friends at home, and feeling what a mercy it was mainrna could not see the state her precious daughters were in. Very long that day seemed, and very dull it would have been, but that towards evening I was so infinitely better that Nora was able to go into the verandah for a little air and exercise, and found Mr. Sandford in all the importance of preparing to keep guard for the night. He borrowed one of our pistols, and, as a means of inspiring a salu- tary awe in the minds of the natives around, loaded it, then stole behind an outhouse, where they were in full enjoyment of the evening hookah and gossip, and, at the mo- ment when their mirth was highest, fired off all six barrels. Total silence fell on the group, each feeling certain he was a dead man, till some more courageous ones ven- turing to move, and finding they could do so still, the rest took heart, and carefully felt themselves all over. The important pistol was again loaded, and Mr. Sand- ford then took possession of the room 120 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, next ours, ordered a supply of candles, and, holding his drawn sword in one hand and the loaded pistol in the other, rigidly set himself to keep awake all night. Nora, however, persuaded him to lay the pistol down, as we felt certain he would be firing it through the wall in his sleep. We then made ourselves as comfortable for the night as the erratic gambols of some lively lizards on the walls admitted. Next morning found me free from fever, though rather weak, but perfectly equal to continue my journey that night. Captain Dean had taken his departure the evening before, promising to send up a telegraphic message from Cawnpore to Keith, begging him, if possible, to come and meet us. Pre- vious to starting, however, he bestowed a serious exhortation on Mr. Sandford (every one seemed to think it necessary to give him advice), which that ingenuous youth took the earliest opportunity of imparting to us, the pith of it being, after some highly com- plimentary personal observations on us, that A YEAR IN BENGAL. 121 " Mr. Sandford was to look to himself, as he (Captain Dean) could plainly see we were never meant to many ensigns." Mr. Sandford often chuckled and rubbed his hands, just as if it gave him a great acces- sion of importance, in his own estimation at least, to be supposed capable of standing in need of such a warning. The night passed over without any adventures save the loss of a pith helmet, in which Mr. Sandford had invested the day before, and which rolled out of the carriage while its owner was asleep. Things are often dropped out in this way if you are not careful, as it is too hot to keep the doors shut; indeed, we heard of a lady who nearly lost her baby in the same way. Waking up one night, she missed it, and ran frantically up the road looking for it; fortunately it was found about a mile behind, quite unhurt, having fallen on a thick soft bed of dust, and provi- dentially no jackals or wild dogs had come near it. Babies in India seem often to have narrow escapes, for some friends of ours, 122 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, when travelling, were pitched out of their gharrie pell-mell, and on looking about to see what harm was done, the baby was found lying under a heavy box; but, as its father observed, its bones being only gristle, they rebounded like india-rubber when the pressure was removed, and it was not a bit the worse for its temporary squeezing. It is really amazing to think of the number of gharries that are upset and smashed every day, and how few people ever seem to get hurt. No sooner was I perfectly recovered, than Nora began to sicken, precisely in the same manner. It was no great wonder if our spirits fairly sank under this new misfor- tune, and we began anxiously to look for Keith's arrival, or for some finish to be put to our daily anxieties. Fortunately, this time, we were able to stop at an Eng- lish station, and send for an orthodox English doctor, whose authority, of course, we dared not question, and who sent her compounds to swallow of whose ingredi- ents we were totally ignorant. She took A YEAR IN BENGAL. 123 them all, however, most scrupulously, and from their effects, or the quiet, became so much better, that we were allowed to pro- ceed that evening. Mr. Sandford was to have left us here, but he could not think of deserting us in our distress, and deter- mined to go on until we either reached Dhoorghur, or met my brother, whom we momentarily expected. The doctor had warned us that we must be housed in some bungalow before seven o'clock in the morn- ing, or the consequences might be serious. Our only means of quickening our speed was by bribing largely ; and, accordingly, Mr. Sandford offered a four-anna piece at every chokee. Under this silver spell the horses came out like magic, and we galloped over the ground in fine style ; but, alas ! our good fortune was only transient ; a few bumps, a sudden stoppage, and then a gentle subsiding to one side, and we dis- covered the melancholy fact that a hind- wheel was off, broken into little pieces, and Mr. Sandford's coachman, instead of stop- ping to help us, went on faster and faster, 124 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, till he disappeared altogether. Our coach- man then deliberately unharnessed his horse, and galloped after them, leaving us to do what we could, which was not much. I pulled the cushions out of the fallen gharrie, and made a couch for Nora of them; and there we were left, Nora, myself, and the Ayah, sitting for two mortal hours by the roadside, watching the last beams of the de- clining moon, and wondering what amount of truth there might be in all the le- gends we had heard of tigers, snakes, and Dacoits. We had not then learnt to dread the night dews as even more formidable than these open enemies, nor did it strike either of us that the doctor had been giving Nora calomel the day before, and, conse- quently, exposure even to the hot night air was very dangerous for her; and, in fact, she caught a cold that night, the bad con- sequences of which she felt some time after; so, on the whole, I much preferred the simple remedies prescribed by my sable physician. No visible enemy made its ap- pearance, and the utter solitude was un- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 125 broken, till two Burkandazes (native police), passing by, discovered the prostrate gliarrie, and while the Ayah was giving them a voluble account of the misfortune, poor Mr. Sandford drove up in a breathless state of agitation. His horse had bolted, and could not be stopped for six miles ; and when at length it was pulled up, and our panting coachman arrived to recal him, he could only just comprehend that some serious accident must have happened, and returned, fully ex- pecting all the way to find one or both of us killed. On his arrival he hardly dared to ask what was the extent of the injuries re- ceived ; he must have been agreeably re- lieved to find us, as usual, unhurt. Now, as it was imperative that Nora should pro- ceed at once, and make up for lost time, we took possession of his carriage, while he mounted on the top; and, leaving the Ayah to look after all our property in the fallen carriage, we once more commenced our weary journey. How long we proceeded I know not, but the carriage stopped sud- denly, the ; door was pushed back hastily, 126 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, and a familiar voice exclaimed, " Maud ! Nora ! wake up !" It was Keith. And now this long-looked-for meeting had arrived, it was so very like one of the- many day- dreams I had arranged about it, that I could scarcely realise the fact that we were really awake, and actually so near the end of all our troubles. Indeed, it was difficult at first to believe, especially by the dim rays of a lantern, that the tall, gaunt, thin, long-faced individual before us, dressed entirely in white, with hardly any hair (that orna- ment having been cut off during a recent fever), and his head surmounted by a huge pith helmet, was really the same long- absent brother whom a carefully cherished photo- graph at home had represented to our sisterly eyes as a stalwart and handsome- looking Highlander. However, the fact was undeniable ; and, rousing ourselves up, we got into his gharrie our third move that night and, with many sincere thanks, we took leave of our kind champion Mr. Sand- ford. I shall always regard him as an old friend A YEAR IN BENGAL. 127 wherever we may meet. He was a rough diamond, that could be easily polished; and while he retraced his steps towards his own station, we gave ourselves up to the blissful consciousness that our long and toilsome journey would soon be over, and the relief and delight with which, after all our misfor- tunes and adventures, we resigned ourselves to the guidance and protection of our brother, may be imagined, though not described. Keith told us afterwards, that, in searching for us, he had stopped every " up-country" gharrie that passed him on the road, and his Chuprassee had ruthlessly wakened up every traveller by inquiries for the two Miss Sahibs, who were thus fortunately found at last. I have been thus minute at the risk of being thought prosy, in describing all the details of a dak journey, because if railroads continue progressing at their present rate, dak travelling for such long distances will soon belong as much to the annals of the past as posting does in England. The ex- penses of the journey to us were, first, 350 128 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, rupees (35) for the gharrie and horses; then every coachman drives you a distance of about sixty miles, and receives a buck- sheesh, varying from eight annas to a rupee. Our daily expenses for two were about four rupees, but there were innumerable claims for bucksheesh from Bheesties, Punkah- wallahs, &c., so Mr. Sandford generally put twenty rupees at a time into his pocket, and paid everything; and when that was finished, everybody paid him his share, and he began again with twenty more, as being the sim- plest way of keeping accounts. The first few days of our life at Dhoor- ghur were unparalleled fordulness and gloom. We reached it one fine morning at six I o'clock, having been ten days and nights on the road, and dusty and weary enough we were. Keith led us at once to our side of the house, and left us to refresh ourselves preparatory to breakfast. Lutchmie, the Ayah, being still absent in charge of the boxes, a low-caste woman was temporarily called in, who kept bowing every time we looked at her, till I feared she would be A YEAR IN BENGAL. 129 seized with vertigo. Keith was obliged to go off to his Kutchery (court-house) directly breakfast was over, and we were left to fol- low our own devices till seven o'clock; as it was then only ten, we did not much admire the prospect. We wandered through the silent rooms, dimly lighted and almost un- furnished bare, whitewashed walls, no cur- tains, and the wooden rafters above looking like a barn and wondered if all our days were to be equally dreary. A bachelor's residence certainly presents no contrivances for killing time. Keith's bookcase was filled with law com- mentaries and various judicial works; and the Waverley Novels, when discovered, were hailed with rapture, and carried off in tri- umph to our own rooms, whither we re- treated, to be out of the way of the number- less tall figures gliding in and out to have a look at the new Miss Sahibs. A welcome diversion took place in the middle of the day, by the arrival of our boxes and Lutchmie. We set on our bag- gage with enthusiasm, and began arranging VOL. I. K 130 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, our wardrobes on a scale of neatness they never had presented before nor have since. Luckily, Keith came in earlier than we ex- pected, or I think we should have been forced to quarrel by way of variety, and summoned us to see the horses he was train- ing for our carriage, going round the com- pound in the break. They were pronounced satisfactory, and we were informed we might shortly have our evening drive a delightful relief after a day of confinement. Keith had a perfect menagerie of dogs, with all of whom we had to make acquaintance. Some of them positively refused to receive our friendly advances, growling defiance at us, as base usurpers of their master's attention, causing him to overlook them ; and all were tardy of being convinced that we were not some new kind of game introduced for their special edification, and the threatening man- ner they sniffed at us was rather alarming. It gave us some slight idea of the quietude Keith's household were accustomed to, that his dogs had apparently never seen the phe- nomenon of a lady in English attire. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 131 The evening passed quickly away in talk- ing over home affairs ; and the next day being Sunday, Keith was at liberty to stay with us, and we did not feel inclined to ap- pear at church, knowing that strangers in India must undergo a tolerably strict scru- tiny. Monday saw us fairly started on the sea of Indian life, receiving visitors, &c. Our first two or three days in the large old house at Dhoorghur were anything but enlivening, especially before we got settled to our various employments ; indeed, the whole house, with its huge dark rooms, from which all light was carefully excluded, and its long rows of pillars and arches, had a kind of Castle of Otranto look, and the utter impossibility of moving out of it all day made us fancy ourselves prisoners in an enchanted palace, under the influence of some magic spell an illusion increased by the complete silence that reigned around, unbroken save by the ceaseless swing of the punkah, while ghostly forms, with swarthy faces and white raiment, were continually gliding about, apparently objectless. K2 132 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, I never could understand why these ser- vants passed in and out of the room so often ; my private belief is they kept up a constant espionage over us, the results of which were retailed to our friends' servants over the evening hookah. But the uncom- fortable feeling of " eyes" everywhere was not pleasant; you might look up any mo- ment, and catch them peering in under the half screen suspended in the doorways, and then a suppressed titter ran through an ante- room, giving a sensation of unlimited num- bers. We used to feel thankful when tiffin was announced by a meek-looking Khitmut- ghar, with folded hands and bent head, as it gave us some occupation, and, by good ma- nagement, might be extended to an hour. Though our servants pretended not to comprehend our mother tongue, we were afterwards convinced in many ways that their ignorance was in some degree as- sumed, as when Nora and I spoke to each other in French they invariably quitted the room. It is nearly impossible to escape for one A YEAR IN BENGAL. 133 moment from the prying black eyes and stealthy movements of these numerous at- tendants. In the public rooms they are always walking noiselessly in and out, and startling you by placing a note in your hands, and addressing you, when you be- lieve the room vacant. If we attempted to escape into our own rooms, it was worse still, for, however quietly you walked in, some unseen intelligence was instantly con- veyed to the Ayahs, and in a few moments their white garments appeared in the ve- randah, and they came trooping in from all sides. At first this was an intolerable nui- sance ; we had no less than three always haunting us. First, that very superior wo- man (in her own estimation), Lutchmie, who had been entrusted with the charge of our precious selves up from Calcutta; but, as her wages were double that of any other servant in the north-west, my brother begged she might be returned to her native city as quickly as possible, before she stirred up a rebellion in his house. She was only wait- ing a good opportunity of going down coun- 134 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, try. The second woman (also Musselma- nee), who was to replace her, was a quiet, dignified person, with the remains of some beauty. She never appeared to do any con- ceivable thing, except arrange the drapery of her sarree in graceful folds, and hand things to us brought by the under-woman, who was an active, clever little creature, frightfully ugly, of a very low caste, who did all the work of our rooms. While we were dressing, these three women always sat in a row on the floor behind us, with their six big eyes following our every move- ment, and whispering comments on every- thing we did. Reflected in the glass before me, I could always see these three black faces, thrown into striking relief by their white draperies, gazing with untiring asto- nishment at us. Sometimes the effect was so absurd that we could not help laughing. I remember the cushions or whiskers on which we rolled our hair were a source of per- petual astonishment and amazement to them. Letting down your hair was always a signal for a series of energetic nudges ; and when A YEAH IN BENGAL. 135 the marvellous cushions appeared they all showed their white teeth and shining eyes in concert. My politeness restrained me from making use of the only Hindoo word I knew relating to the subject, it being equivalent to "Get away with you!" so we were e'en compelled to submit daily to the martyrdom with a good grace, till one day, on feelingly lamenting our miseries to a lady, she called our various attendants in, and explained to them " that it was very rude to stare at people dressing, and in future they were always to sit outside the door till they were called;" and the relief and comfort to us were inexpressible. And now for an account of our first intro- duction to Dhoorghur society. We were to make our debut at a dinner party given by the Commissioner, under the most favourable auspices as far as patronage went; but poor Nora was anything but happy in her mind at the prospect, having caught cold during that little episode by the wayside on our journey up. She felt her complexion was not satisfactory, so at first took to her bed, 136 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, and vowed she would not go at all. How- ever, my persuasions, combined with some curiosity to inspect the society we were cast amongst, gained the day; and behold us fully equipped for the evening. It seemed so strange, driving along through the bright moonlight in an open carriage, without cloaks or shawls; but the heat was suffo- cating. We entered the room through a drapery of lace curtains, and found the usual amount of stiff sentences being ex- changed between the company while wait- ing the arrival of dinner. Nora looked re- lieved when an officer who had called on us led her in to dinner, while I was con- sisted to the charge of a gentleman whose o o o jacket presented a perfect blaze of golden embroidery. The smallest of small-talk then ensued, our hosts considering they had done enough in providing a splendid dinner and two new young ladies for their guests' edification. Perhaps some of our relatives may be inclined to think the latter item a small one; but riimporte, we were new a great consideration in India. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 137 I always found that dinner-givers gave themselves little or no trouble about any- thing. In a well-trained household the Khansamah (butler) arranges everything, and each guest brings his own servant, who waits on him exclusively, and never thinks of attending to any one else; so if you have not got your own Khitmutghar, or a stupid one, you stand a good chance of being starved. Round soup, or any popular dish, these servants cluster in crowds, and posi- tively struggle for the first supply for their own particular Sahib, while outside you hear a subdued fight going on continually for the earliest choice of clean plates or fresh champagne. All natives are so much alike I could not attempt to distinguish any of our men from, the others, nor could I have asked for anything if I had ; and having waited patiently a long time for some water, I applied to my glittering neighbour, who succeeded, after some delay, in telegraphing back his man from the middle of a very hot encounter, and especially ordering him to bring me the desired beverage. I never 138 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, could conceive at first why the water was always brought to dinner in old wine-bottles, which looked so ugly after our bright crystal at home ; but I soon found the greater ease with which these bottles can be kept in the ice, and brought out fresh and fresh made them much to be preferred. When, we adjourned to the drawing-room it looked very cheerful, being well lighted and cleared for dancing. Oh, the delights of a Calcutta matting ! but woe to the unhappy griff un- used to it, who, after six lessons at home, recklessly confides himself and his trusting partner to its slippery surface a spread eagle being the invariable result. All our lady friends will sympathise in our feelings during the first few moments of suspense. "Would our captivating toilettes be unavailing in pro- curing us partners, and of what kind? For- tunately for me, I made my debut in a waltz with Keith, and could not have chosen better for myself. Nora was whirled round the room by a tall artilleryman, whose epaulette she had the greatest difficulty in hanging on to, at the risk of rubbing off her nose, while A YEAR IN BENGAL. 139 we both had the pleasure of knowing that two or three eye-glasses were steadily fixed on -our white shoes, which were decorated with cherry-coloured bows. And this was the beginning of a controversy, that raged long and violently as long as we remained in the station, about these said bows. We persisted in wearing them, both because we liked them, and also had the authority of our Paris shoe- maker for doing so ; but the society of Dhoor- ghur were divided in opinion as to their merits. Some gentlemen admired them ex- travagantly, and some ladies instantly fol- lowed our example; others stood aloof, to hear what the general opinion would be on the subject before they committed them- selves finally ; while some people disap- proved of them entirely, and discoursed quite learnedly about " effect" and "colour" when striving to put down the unoffending "bow" movement. Altogether, the evening was amusing, and Keith came home determining forthwith to give a dance himself, the preparations for which we commenced the next day, by 140 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, making out hieroglyphical lists of names of people who had called from the pile of cards in the baskets, and sending an invita- tion to the owner of each card therein con- tained. And here I must allude to the dire perplexity we were often thrown into by these same cards. Two officers would gene- rally call together (I suppose to keep each other's courage up), and send in two cards, which informed you that Messrs. Smith and Jones are standing before you. "We rise and bow silently, wondering which is Smith, and which Jones. A lively conversation ensues on the last dust-storm and the great heat, with awful pauses, generally ending by the two visitors starting up spasmodically, then rushing forward they shake hands with you nervously, and depart. On the Course that evening we bow bewildered to some indivi- dual in a similar uniform to our visitors, and then, instantly feeling convinced it is the wrong person, drive on, growing very red in the face. As the evening of our party drew near, we held many committees as to ways and A YEAR IN BENGAL. 141 means. Keith had never given such a thing before, and I felt our London experience was worse than useless. Instead of writing to Blagrove for the number of musicians we wanted, feeling sure the result would be per- fection, Keith wrote to the colonel of a native regiment, whose band was reported a good one, requesting its services for the evening, and, being graciously referred to the band- master (an Englishman), had an interview with that worthy. I directed Keith to ask for six men, thinking that a sufficient num- ber for our rooms. But, to my dismay, we were informed that the band, being com- posed of natives, who are taught music simply by constant repetition, it was im- possible to divide them, or the men, finding themselves put out, would be perfectly use- less. This was somewhat provoking. As we especially wished to have an evening party, and not a ball (every lady understands the difference), the prospect of an entire band was somewhat alarming. However, as the option appeared to be the whole band or none, we chose the lesser evil; and as we fortunately possessed a large verandah, the 142 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, band, consisting of some thirty men, were safely stowed away in it; thus achieving a double advantage, that of dulling the sound and putting the performers out of the way, much to Keith's satisfaction, he having an insurmountable objection to dancing in the presence of " niggers." The music settled, next came arrange- ments for supper, and here Keith left us, saying he could not attend to Kutchery work and supper too. And now, instead of a hundred-and-one pastrycooks, ready to furnish every conceivable edible at a moment's notice, or the experienced cook revelling in visions of the jellies and creams which were to be the pride of the evening, everything had to be entrusted to native servants, in whose powers I had little faith. However, supposing all other party- givers in the station must find themselves in the same predicament, and feeling all communication between ourselves and our servants to be hopeless, we had recourse to a lady friend, who promised to aid us. Accordingly one morning our kind ally, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 143 Mrs. Douglas, arrived, and summoning our Khansarnali (head-servant), informed him we wanted to have a party, and asked what he would give for supper. After musing some moments with a puzzled look, he sug- gested " a roast sheep." " Oh, you guddah !" (donkey) was instantly the natural reply of the Anglo-Indian ; then, turning to us, said, " You see, my dears, this man evidently knows nothing; he must not be trusted. I will consult my Khansamah, who under- stands all about these things, and will send you a list, which your man can get trans- lated in the bazaar, and that will settle it all." We were of course delighted to leave the whole affair in her hands. Suppers are much the same things here as at home, only in the hot weather cream is difficult to procure good, and before the ice- pits are opened, setting jellies, &c., must be trying to a cook's temper and skill. We were puzzled in the list sent us to find a " goose pie" particularly insisted on, till we heard that all raised pies are thus denomi- nated, whatever may be the season of the 144 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, year, or the materials of which it is com- posed ; and this is always a certain success in a native's hand. The morning of the eventful day found our rooms cleared for dancing and pro- fusely decorated with flowers, while nearly all the civil service of Dhoorghur, having cut Kutchery for the day, were assembled in them, everybody suggesting some new and impracticable improvement, or pleasing themselves with the idea of being useful. The gentlemen, with their coats off, both on account of the great heat and also to look business-like, were alternately executing gro- tesque dances with each other by way of practice, calling on us to direct them through the intricacies of some entangled " renverse," and rushing off to concoct some mysterious and nauseous compound of claret and green tea (too scientific a process to be trusted to servants), meant to impart increased vigour to the dancers in the evening; while Nora and I, on our knees on the floor, were pa- tiently endeavouring to rectify the depre- dations the rats had made in our Calcutta A YEAR IN BENGAL. 145 matting. Now and then we were all sum- moned to inspect some newly arrived sup- per-dish, decorated in an entirely original and striking manner by our ingenious Bob- bagee (cook). Altogether, what with laugh- ing, talking, making lobster-salad, arranging fruit and flowers, it was the queerest day I ever spent ; no maid to look after our things, or dress us. An Ayah takes an hour to lace up a dress, and then does it all wrong most dreadfully trying to one's patience. I know for a fact that many married ladies teach their husbands to do it. There's conjugal helpfulness ! At last, with the thermometer over a hundred, our guests began to arrive, and we proceeded to enjoy ourselves as we best could. One comfort was, our guests knew each other much better than we did, so no introductions were necessary ; had they been, I don't know what we should have done about names. I did not see much difference between this and an English dance, except the prin- cipal topics being, "Oh, So-and-so could VOL. I. L 146 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, not come, he's got fever;" " I luckily got my hot fit over an hour ago;" while one of our guests had had her finger bitten by a snake the day before, but it was progressing favourably. And then people seemed so careful about overfatiguing themselves, and wanted to leave directly after supper; reply- ing to my astonished remonstrance at such a Gothic proceeding, "Ah I Miss Leslie, when you have been another hot season in India, you won't be so fond of dancing either." We succeeded in making a few energetic people stay for a second supper, so our " ball" was considered a most spirited one, though at home I should have looked on it as a languid failure. The only other remarkable feature of the evening was the behaviour of the "band- boys," who, being introduced into the supper- room, pounced on everything eatable, even down to a ham, and carried it bodily away, as announced to us by a breathless Khitmut- ghar when we were discussing the events of the evening before separating. Our first dinner party was a terrific failure. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 147 There were some married people not invited to the dance whom it was imperatively ne- cessary to have ; so we gave ourselves up victims to necessity, and after racking our brains to remember, and tongues to produce, some of the unearthly sounds carefully culled from our vocabulary, gave up the attempt in despair, and having written out a list such as our English experience dictated, re- quested Keith to translate it to the Khan- samah, which he did ; but the man evidently thought we had the most meagre ideas on the subject of a feast compared to his own, and consequently altered our select list to please himself. The result was, on the even- ing in question a heterogeneous variety of articles appeared on the table, in defiance of all rule, which would never have suggested themselves to me. Thus, a leg of mutton was dropped, as if by accident, between a piece of veal and a turkey, while a shoulder jostled some sweetbreads and oyster- patties, and every available corner of room was somehow filled. Keith, who never saw what other people had on their tables, was fully L 2 148 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, alive to the deficiencies of his own, and looked aghast at the whole proceedings. Nothing could be done; the servants could understand no words, and were obtuse to all signs; so Nora and I, feeling perfectly help- less, could only talk unconcernedly, and try not to laugh at the unending profusion before us. So the dinner passed off somehow. After all, people are not exigeant in India, particularly to new comers. They know too well the difficulties we have to contend with ; but we took good care, after that painful evening, always to warn the man, on pain of instant dismissal, not to exceed the list given him by so much as a piece of bread. I conclude we had a very stupid man to deal with at first, for our later experiences of dinners, &c., were much more easily managed, and without the slightest trouble. Before describing an Indian day, it is ne- cessary to have some idea of an Indian night. We retired to our rooms about half-past ten, which, though soundingquite a primitive hour to us, was later than many of our friends', early parade and hard work necessitating early A YEAR IN BENGAL. 149 hours. The furniture of our rooms consisted literally of two ponderous wardrobes and two little low beds, with net mosquito curtains, placed in the middle of the room just under the punkah, the walls pierced with doorways on all sides simply for better ventilation. The dressing-room on one side opened into the verandah, in which I often stood to enjoy the stillness of the night, put- ting to flight a whole tribe of Punkah- wallahs waiting outside till wanted for Keith's punkah and ours ; at least the Ayahs always rushed out and dispersed them when- ever I approached the windows. The scene at night was very tempting, the broad white pavement of the verandah looking so pure and peaceful with the chequered shade of the round pillars thrown across it by the moon quite a long colonnade ; the air was heavy with the scent of orange-blossoms and the large Indian jessamine from the garden which came close to the house; fantastic- looking palms and other trees closed a pic- ture which I often wished the home people could see. You could not, however, yield 150 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, your spirit up to enjoyment, for there were numbers of bats swooping about, and I have a great horror of such unclean animals; then one dared not step off the white flooring of the verandah, for the house had been cele- brated for snakes, and the gravel all round it had been broken up to prevent their ap- proach, snakes having a dislike to moving over rough places. The drowsy hum of the insect world rather heightened the repose of the scene, but a horrible screech from some night bird, or the unearthly cry of the jackal, sends you back into the house with your dreams of home all shattered to fragments. During the hot weather in Bengal you always sleep under a punkah, with or with- out mosquito curtains, according to taste. We preferred them, and when the time ap- proached for getting into the little bed, one Ayah, seizing a duster, begins violently agitating the air on one side. This is done to alarm any knowing mosquitoes who have stationed themselves on the edge of the curtain ready to hop inside directly it is raised, while the other woman carefully un- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 151 does a little scrap of it, under which you insert your head, and then slip dexterously in. Sometimes no care can exclude your bloodthirsty tormentors, and then I pity you ; but, generally speaking, science defeats them entirely, and you defy them. Unless your servants are careful, however, the curtains are no protection against animals, for Nora found, one morning, a lizard inside hers, and read the Ayahs a serious lecture in English on the subject, which impressed them con- siderably. The last words to the Ayahs were always an injunction to call us at four o'clock, and the name of the pony that was to be in readiness for each. The punkah then begins to move violently, and you are left to the miseries of a long hot night. Oh, the unutterable wretchedness of it ! If all cir- cumstances are favourable no mosquitoes, no jackals near if after an age of restless- ness you should fall into a troubled slumber, you are probably aroused by an oppressive feeling of suffocation a dreadful sense of im- pending evil. The air is so dense it seems to choke you; and after two or three despairing 152 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, gasps for breath, you wake to the melancholy consciousness that the punkah has stopped the Coolie is doubtless asleep. Now this mis- fortune is of such common occurrence, that many gentlemen make their punkah man sit in the room, and keep a large store of boots and other miscellaneous articles beside their beds solely for the purpose of pitching at his head whenever he forgets his duty; but as a lady's punkah is pulled by means of a rope passed through a hole in the wall, this method of waking him is not avail- able. They are then obliged to scream "Punkah kencho" (pull) till the desired end is obtained, and they become thoroughly awakened. We had observed that our Coolies had got an empty box placed on end in the passage outside our room, on which they always mounted when engaged in pulling our punkah. This, we remarked, was rather an unsteady seat; so by getting up and calculating where the rope was, then making a good jump for it, an energetic tug would pull it out of the Coolie's hands, and a smothered sound of a general roll would A YEAR IN BENGAL. 153 convey the intelligence to us that box and Coolie had found their level on the ground, from which Coolie would gather himself very much awake, and pull lustily for a few minutes, soon, of course, to relapse, and the same scene to be enacted over again, till the cooler morning hours arriving, we succeeded in getting some sleep. There are three Coolies allotted to each punkah, and as the night ones have nothing to do in the day save sleep, they have no business to be so idle. I heard a young ensign say that whenever his punkah stopped at night he had all the Coolies up before him, and fined them an anna all round without exception. " The consequence is," said he, " my punkah never stops." When I afterwards wondered how they contrived to pay fines out of their pit- tance, Keith declared that as that young man had never paid his men anything since they had entered his service, of course the fines and payment were equally imaginary. We were called every morning at four o'clock. The Ayah stood beside my mos- quito curtains, murmuring out, "Baba cha 154 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, budjah (four o'clock), baba," &c., till I an- swered her, and very sleepily, having, per- haps, had only an hour or two's rest, pre- pared to rise a helpless victim to my sense of duty. They never attempted to waken Nora, knowing it was a hopeless experiment, as they dared not resort to such extreme measures with her as I did. Once up, the business of dressing was quickly achieved. A glass of water, and sometimes a bit of bread, formed our early meal. Afterwards, as we learnt to make ourselves more com- fortable, we always had coffee before start- ing. The instant we were up, the Ayahs rushed out to stop the punkah. Our Punkah- wallahs certainly had an easy life of it. Proceeding to the hall door, we found our two fat little ponies standing ready with their Syces, and two or three Chuprassees and a policeman superintending the operation of mounting. We almost always bent our steps to the Course, as it was a wide, soft road, shaded by trees, and having been well watered for the previous evening's drive, was not so dusty as any other way ; besides, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 155 156 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, it was nearly the only ride we knew. If we tried any other we were sure to lose ourselves, for we could not reconcile it to the tender feelings of our English consciences to make our Syces toil after us on foot as we cantered away, and always stationed them at the head of the Course. You dare not be out later than six, as by that time the sun becomes too powerful for safety. Indeed, I think our riding in the hot weather at all was a mistake, though before we left home we had been so warned to keep .up good English habits, that we persevered till Nora was laid up. People who rise at four to ride, if, like myself, they cannot sleep in the middle of the day, do not get sufficient rest to recruit their exhausted energies pre- paratory to undergoing the depressing in- fluence of another long hot day. Most people, on returning from the morning ride, have "chota hazaree," a kind of preliminary breakfast, but as Keith set his face deter- minately against such a proceeding, declaring it to be a vice and the foundation of half the liver complaints in the country, we used to A YEAR IN BENGAL. 157 retire to rest breakfastless, and ordering the punkah to begin again, went to sleep, or lay awake, as we pleased, till nine, when we rose, had a bath, and dressed for the day. An Indian bath-room presents a very dif- ferent spectacle to the comfortable apart- ment known by that name in an English home. It is a small room, with bare, white- washed walls and a stone or chunam floor, a little raised bank portions off one part of it to confine the water, a row of gurrahs (earthenware pots), full of water, stand ranged on one side, and the Ayah pours over you the contents of as many of these as pleasure or duty dictate. Generally speak- ing, whenever snakes are found in a house, the bath-room is their resort: perhaps they go to drink the water, or perhaps they find it a quiet room, where they are unmolested greater part of the day. When you appear in the drawing-room, you probably discover the Mollee (gardener) giving the last touches to the vases of flowers which it is his duty to arrange every morning. When left to their own taste, 158 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, natives always make up a very stiff round bunch of flowers without leaves a kind of embryo Covent Garden bouquet ; but if you take the trouble of showing them once or twice how you like your flowers arranged, they take great pains, and really pick up an idea very quickly. A " bhote atcha" (very good) from the Miss Sahib sends the Mollee away in a perfect hurricane of salaams, and with a happy heart for the rest of the day. There was a large and very handsome yellow acacia which we were very fond of, because it reminded us of the laburnums of home. I one day, when we expected a dinner party, directed the Mollee to fill the fireplace with this blossom ; and then, as we expressed ourselves much pleased with the result of his labours, the consequence was, that the fireplace was daily decorated with larger and larger branches of the golden flowers, till in pity to the poor tree, to say nothing of the numerous insects necessarily brought into the house, I was exceedingly glad when that acacia passed out of bloom. It did not appear to strike the man's mind A YEAR IN BENGAL. 159 to substitute any other flower in its place : that would have been an exercise of reason- ing faculties beyond him. Supposing breakfast is not ready, now is the time to answer some of those numerous chits (notes) which form so prominent a fea- ture in an Indian day, as you never think of entrusting a servant with any longer message than " Bhote bhote salaam do" a compre- hensive phrase, which appears to mean, " Give my compliments ;" or " Many thanks ;" " I have your note, and will attend to it." In fact, that wonderful sentence seems all-suffi- cient ; but anything, even the simplest thing, beyond, has to be written. Many people naturally spend the interval between chota hazaree and breakfast in writing; conse- quently, just at this time, there is generally an influx of notes requiring immediate atten- tion. I am sure any lady's Indian expe- rience will afiirni that six notes in a forenoon is a very moderate average to take of the number daily received. All Indian meals seem to be movable feasts; no subject admits of greater variety. 160 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, Our breakfast-hour was nominally half-past nine ; but perhaps Keith had had a bad night, or some business required his presence in his office, so that I have often heard eleven strike as we sat down to table. Breakfast seemed always to be read)', and only required the magical word " Lao" (bring) to summon it forth. The meal itself varies, of course, with the taste of each household. During the reign of the first Khansamah with whom I was acquainted, it always consisted of four side dishes, con- taining rice, dol (a kind of dried pea), omelet, and fish. This was a breakfast Keith had ordered on one occasion, and it was never altered in the slightest degree unless Keith suggested chops when gentle- men were staying with us. In the north-west, strawberries are plenti- ful at the commencement of the hot weather, and always appear on the breakfast-table with any other fruit that may be in season, and raspberry-jam is a standing dish in every house. Though the cows here are such pretty little gazelle-like creatures, very small, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 161 generally cream-coloured, with dark, promi- nent eyes and thorough-bred heads, yet few people will touch cow's rnilk, but always carry about flocks of goats with them. My brother would not allow it on his table, and goat's milk to an English palate is peculiarly disagreeable. I could not at first understand the reason of this prejudice, but heard that the Indian cow is supposed not to be at all particular in its feeding; it will eat carrion, or any such horrible thing it finds anywhere. Your only chance of being safe is to keep your own cows, and guard them carefully ; thus Nora, who had an insurmountable dis- like to goat's milk, had her cow tethered in the compound. There is no trusting to ap- pearances. Who would have thought it, to look in their innocent faces ? But, after all these precautions, the milk is very poor, and if you ask for cream, are told you must wait till the cold weather for it. Every good thing seems put off till the cold season; in the mean time, you must exist on expectation. But the goat's milk is not always good : we used to have frequent discussions about it. VOL. I. M 162 THE TIMELY KETREAT ; OR, At times it is quite undrinkable, though the natives never seem to see any difference in it, holding, no doubt, that it is milk after all. The goats were brought into the verandah and milked just as it was wanted. I, being inexperienced, could not well tell before it went into the tea when the milk was good or bad (unless the fact was unmistakable), but Keith, by long practice, could discover it in an instant. Sometimes, if he was engaged with letters or papers, and I omitted to ask his opinion before handing his cup, with the first mouthful would come an exclamation of horror and disgust : " There's that poison- ous stuff again. Here, Qui Hye, send for the goatman take all this away bring some more milk and, above all, remember the goatman is fined a rupee" all this and much more in a torrent of Hindostanee. Occasionally I would venture to remonstrate it could not be. the man's fault, as I had seen the goats milked in the verandah : " It did not signify it was entirely his fault." Then the Khitmutghar, with folded hands, would explain there was no more milk to be had, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 163 it was all used; "no matter, the Sahib was peremptory some must be brought: and, somehow, more was always found. This is always the way in India: the servant assures you that what you require is not procurable, you stamp your foot and say " Lao j" he then commences a long and fluent speech, with a hundred good reasons why your demand cannot be supplied, to which you politely reply, " Jow" (go away), and in nine cases out of ten he will return with the desired article; and thus, thanks to their reverence for English wilfulness, a very small amount of Hindostanee can be made to accomplish a good deal. Keith told us that, at the first out-station he was appointed to, he lived for four years on moorghie cutlets alone ; his servant always prepared that dish and nothing else, and he cared too little about it to remember to de- sire the man to vary the bill of fare. Break- fast over, Keith started for Kutchery, and this Burra Sahib, whom English imagina- tions always suppose preceded by silver sticks, and followed by a train of servants, M 2 164 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, often started on foot, carrying his own white covered umbrella, and wearing a huge pith helmet, also covered with white; a Chu- prassee followed with some volumes of solemn aspect and portentous size. Keith gone, we prepared to make arrangements for getting through the day as we best could. After nine o'clock, an Indian house is shut up for the day, every window carefully closed and darkened, every ray of light scientifically intercepted. Our drawing-room was in the middle of the house a long room with pillars at either end, scantily lighted by a thatched skylight and any subdued rays from the adjoining rooms. It was seventy feet in length a dreary-looking room, which no amount of furniture could fill, the flat surface of the walls broken by numbers of doorways, each one half filled by a little red curtain or swinging screen. - . As soon as gun-fire announces the hour of noon, all gentlemen on visiting thoughts intent arrange their neckties in the most elaborate manner, take the last look over their book of compliments, and, stepping A YEAR IN BENGAL. 165 into their buggies, proceed to pay off as many visits as they can get through between the hours of twelve and two, the space allotted by Dhoorghur etiquette to calling. I need not remark on the absurdity of a rigid adherence to a rule which compels people to be out in the hottest part of the day. Every one suffers alike from it, and every one complained bitterly of the hard- ship, yet no one had the moral courage suf- ficient to break through it. We heard of other stations in which the evening was the fashionable hour for calling a much more sensible plan, truly but here the rules were strict ; the votaries of fashion were therefore compelled to submit to the certainty of being grilled in the present, and the chance of a fever in the future. Before twelve no one is visible; and after two, "The doors are shut," is the invariable answer to all late comers, that being the hour set apart fof the all-important tiffin, or the children's dinner. We, being new comers, had to run a perfect gauntlet of visits from the whole station. The sound of wheels in the distance foretels the advent of some 1"66 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, one, and an excited Chuprassee generally rushes in to announce " Missy Baba Sahib logue," or " Owr Mem-Sahib," meaning, gentlemen or more ladies are coming. A pause of a few seconds and then the cards are presented, you give the order for ad- mittance, and the visitors enter. There are no bells or knockers in an Indian house, CHUPRASSEE. as there are sure to be two or three Chu- prassees or other servants standing about A YEAR IN BENGAL. 167 ready to receive your card. It was very awkward for us, being utter strangers to the whole society, to know who was the indi- vidual standing before us. My brother never could spare time to stay and introduce us, but was always at Kutchery. People gene- rally hunt in couples, and you receive, per- haps, two ensigns who have determined to return Leslie's card, left at their mess, by a visit to his sisters; and the keenest attention throughout the call often fails to inform you what their respective appellations may be. We were reduced to a frightful state of conglomeration as to the various titles of our new acquaintances; we could not call them all Colonels, and so were compelled to adopt simple Mr., without respect to grey hairs, for sometimes the captains looked older than their colonels, and as it was the height of the hot weather, many called in their white jackets. Here was another difficulty: what regiment did they belong to ? We dare not praise or abuse any particular band (gene- rally a favourite topic), lest it might be theirs. I, who at home used to look with 168 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, equal horror on an Army List and a Brad- shaw, now sat patiently wading through its columns of names, wondering which was which, and it was not till after weeks of patient and unremitting study that I mas- tered some of its difficulties. As for the alphabet of letters gone mad put after some of the names, they are still as the Egyptian hieroglyphics to me. We got into sad dis- grace by persisting in calliDg the officers of native regiments " Native officers," in dis- tinction to the European ditto, that being a point all John Company's servants are very touchy upon. Another little fact of natural history we learnt was, that doctors of regi- ments might always be known by their culti- vating larger moustachios and beard than any other officer, and talking consequentially of the service, drill, &c. I wonder why they shirk the Medico, which they inva- riably do. "We were often fairly at our wits' end, when the welcome hour of two sounded and the last buggy drove off, leaving us at peace for the rest of the afternoon, it not being consi- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 169 dered " the thing" at Dhoorghur to ask any one to stay tiffin unless they had previously been solemnly invited by note to do so. We had heard from enthusiastic young ladies details of the delights of a "tiffin party" and its unlimited flirtations, and were therefore pleased in no small degree at receiving an invitation to an entertainment of this sort. On the eventful day a kindly dust-storm cleared the air, which felt deli- ciously cool as we drove to our friend's house. Having been admonished to come early, we arrived about one, and found several ladies, work in hand, gaily chatting, and a lovely little girl playing elfish pranks amongst them. Soon some officers dropped in, full of the last game at rackets; and two o'clock saw us marching in stately procession to the adjoining room, where the only dif- ference I could discover between a tiffin and a dinner was, that the sweets and solids appeared together. Then followed some music, and the gentlemen hurried off to settle some contested point in their game, while we resumed our morning's occupations, 170 THE TIMELY BETREAT ; OR, till six o'clock announced the carriage for the evening drive. I have seen several tiffin parties since that first experience, and found each one astonishingly like its predecessor. Tiffin over, in the hot season most ladies retire to their rooms to rest, and seeing we rose at four, I don't think we could have been accused of indolence had we followed their example; but we were- not sufficiently naturalised to forsake English habits so much, and therefore determinately read and worked, practised and drew, like modern Griseldas, till the sun whom we were taught quite to look on as our natural enemy tired of persecuting defenceless crea- tures any longer, sank at last into his gory bed, and we began to breathe freely again, and prepare for our evening drive. Far from being cool, however, the air was just like a blast from some fiery furnace, so that we were obliged to improvise impromptu tatties by fixing wet handkerchiefs inside our parasols, and holding them before our burning faces, thereby causing beholders to think there were two modest Feringhees A YEAR IN BENGAL. 171 left who did not recklessly expose their faces to the sacrilegious gaze of all mankind. These hot Winds crack your lips and chap your skin far more quickly and effectually than the most ruthless and biting frosts at home can do. The Course at Dhoorghur was considered a particularly fine one, being more than a mile long and very broad, with trees on either side, and a wide space kept soft for riders. Owing to the number of regiments stationed at Dhoorghur, we were generally provided with a band every night, but the artillery one was deservedly the favourite, and Tuesdays and Fridays were considered the fashionable nights on the Dhoorghur Course, just as they are in Kensington Gardens. As every one combined in prais- ing the artillery band, we were anxious to test its merits. Besides, hearing it was always a crowded night on the Course when they performed, we determined to make our first appearance on one of their evenings, and carefully learnt up a phrase indicative of our wish to be driven to the appointed place 172 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, a slightly raised square on a maidaun (plain) at one end of the Course. We arrived very early, while the indus- trious Bheesties were busy flinging the con- tents of their water-skins over the dusty ground the Indian substitute for watering the roads. Anything more dreary than the Course at an early hour (or on a no-band night) cannot well be imagined, a few re- spectable families, who appeared to consider it a solemn duty to air the ponderous an- cient carriage every evening, being the only occupants of the solitude besides the chil- dren. These olive-branches are all sent out on diminutive tats, or disposed of in go- carts, the American propeller that bane of peaceful, ruminating gentlemen at home being unknown. The number of attendants who seemed requisite to look after the well- being of these Young Hopefuls was utterly absurd to our eyes. Each pony, however small, is led by a Syce (groom), every child requires an Ayah, and sometimes a bearer, and often a Chuprassee, so round each little group walked quite a collection of attend- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 173 ants. These children looked very pretty with their white dresses and gay ribands, their hair carefully brushed and curled, as no bonnets or hats were worn, and their little white arms and bare necks forming a strik- ing contrast to their sable attendants. As for the Course, even when most crowded, looking in the least like Kensing- ton Gardens, that was a dead " take in." True, all the carriages drew up in their ac- customed stations round the band, but a so- lemn silence prevailed ; conversation (when people spoke at all) was carried on in whis- pers. The first time you see any acquaint- ance when driving up and down, you greet them with a languid bow or friendly nod, according to the degree of intimacy you wish to preserve ; after that you take no notice of them. "We used to spend mo- ments of great agitation when first the Course began to fill. As it was sure to be growing very dusk, it was exceedingly dif- ficult to recognise anybody, unless, like owls, you could see in the dark, and our time was generally taken up with " Here are 174 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, two red-coats coming ; do we know them ?" or, " Shall we bow on the chance?" " Now, I think this is an engineer. Do we know any engineers?" After we learnt up the uniforms, it was easier to distinguish our friends; but often we were startled by the apparition of an irregular cavalry or staff uniform, the wearer of which, having been introduced to us in mufti, was completely disguised. It was impossible to venture on bowing indiscriminately to everyone we met, as many of the shopkeepers and Crannies (clerks) drove quite as well-appointed buggies as the officers, so that was no criterion ; and many gentlemen made a point of never call- ing on any ladies, so it would not have been pleasant to have insisted on claiming ac- quaintance with them. After driving two or three times up and down the Course, you go and wait at the band, listening to the music. And here a .most rigid silence was preserved. It was not surprising that we, being total strangers, should not find much to say ; but the people whose listless apathy we were wondering at A YEAR IN BENGAL. 177 As soon as the men are well settled, and at the best moment for an effective entrance, . an uproarious clatter of swords announces the Rifle officers, and before, that has sub- sided, a further clattering, mixed with the jingling of spurs, heralds the arrival of the artillery. They are artistically arranged, horse in. front, to show their gold em- broidery, foot behind, while the griffs are wisely kept in the rear, as not adding much honour to the corps. They behave, on the whole, remarkably well, poor boys, only looking intensely bored a feeling which the grave colonels appear to participate in, as they threaten the clergyman whenever his sermon exceeds twenty minutes or half an hour in length, that the health of their men cannot stand such close confinement. It was delightful to see all the griffs, at the close of service, buckling on their swords with well got-up indifference, while no doubt mentally wishing cousin Jane or Mary were there to see how well they looked in regimentals as- they canter off to mess for breakfast. The VOL. I. N 178 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, officers of native regiments, not being obliged to attend service with their men, make a very poor show compared to the others. We had got over our first astonishment at punkahs in Calcutta, and it was a great source of discomfort to us here that the seat allotted to us in church came exactly be- tween two punkahs, so as to receive no air from either. It was a great relief to us, also, when some methodical person kindly had large printed statements of where all the different grades and people were to sit pasted over the church, as it materially assisted us. in our classification, though it made us all look rather like compartments full of fatted animals at a show, with their names ticketed on them. One morning, " when from peaceful slum- bers waking," our ears were greeted by sun- dry unearthly sounds, squeaking, groaning, &c., proceeding apparently from a basket the Ayah was holding in her hand, labelled, "With Dr. Hind's compliments; to be well shaken before taken." The shaking part of A YEAR IN BENGAL. 179 the prescription had, doubtless, been well administered, to judge from the doleful sounds issuing from it. No spying into the basket could inform us of its contents. Of course the Ayahs both poured out a flood of gibberish high Dutch to us so we ordered it off to Keith's room by signs; but his watchful bearer would not allow the Sahib to be disturbed, and the mysterious basket was brought back to us, its distressed occu- pant loudly testifying his disapproval of the whole proceeding. We dared not let it out in our room, not knowing precisely its na- ture, so despatched it to the Chota Sahib, thinking it rather a good joke to get that little gentleman up in time for breakfast, at which meal, when we assembled, the un- known turned out to be a monkey, which was instantly ordered in for inspection ; and a scared-looking native led the animal in, secured by a long chain. It was very small, but had the most wrinkled and old-fashioned face, and kept elevating its eyebrows and jabbering at us, till its demands for cake and N2 180 THE TIMELY RETREAT;, OR, fruit were complied with. Nora and I were most thankful we had not let the creature loose in our bedroom. We soon discovered the author of the joke ; but it was amusing to see the mystification of the real Dr. Hind, who (happening to call that day) was in- formed how his prescription had been carried out. Not being a "joking man" at all him- self, it served him as food for speculation for many a day ; indeed, I don't know if he has yet fathomed it. The monkey soon made its escape, aided and abetted, no doubt, by its keeper, whom we never thought of up- braiding for neglect. Our next pet was a pretty little leveret, very delicate and timid, which duly appeared at dessert every evening with a blue ribbon round its neck, and forgot its natural shyness in the delight of wandering over the table, nibbling the peaches and melons on the various plates. It certainly ate an hetero- geneous combination of things, beginning with jellies and blanc-mange, succeeded by fruit, and finishing by sipping its tea like a A YEAR IN BENGAL. 181 Christian. Every morning, when the Mol- lee brought in the flowers to replenish our vases, the hare's breakfast was sent in, con- sisting of a bunch of fresh lucerne. It was generally asleep in either my lap or Nora's, and formed an inexhaustible topic of con- versation to visitors, calling up countless anecdotes of former pets. However dreadful the heat might be, we had always one unfailing comfort in the ice. This all-important luxury, having been care- fully prepared in the cold weather, is buried in pits till the philanthropic gentlemen who undertake the charge announce that the dis- tribution of ice may begin. People buy shares in the beginning of the season, and the amount of ice belonging to each share is determined by the quantity made. Some seasons ice is plentiful, at others rare. Every morning, about two o'clock, the ice-pits are opened, and each waiting 'servant receives his master's portion. We were fortunate enough to have the shares of some absent friends in addition to our own, so we were 182 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, enabled to indulge in the luxury of ices as often ' as we pleased to call for them ; and they formed the only tiffin which Keith did not stigmatise as " a vice." How Indians in old days existed with- out ice, I cannot imagine; in illness it is perfectly invaluable, and to everybody the comfort is inexpressible. We used to send for a tumbler of water just for the pleasure of inhaling the cool atmosphere round it, and the delight of watching its frosted sides. Native servants generally make ices very well, though the saltpetre will intrude some- times. Vanilla is a great stand-by; also raspberry jam and peaches; but melon ice is horrible. In Calcutta, people have the priceless advantage of Wenham Lake ice, and, after envying them for some time, we hit on an excellent plan of imitating it, by desiring the Khitmutghar to freeze pure water very hard; then, broken into little bits, [it was carried round the table, and popped, cool and sparkling, into your tum- bler ; and the effect was first-rate. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 183 As we were frightfully at a loss for amusement, Mrs. Douglas most kindly offered us the loan of two side-saddles whilst waitr ing the arrival of our own per bullock train ; and en attendant better things, we had Keith's hill ponies out. As they never were used but on his shooting expeditions, and were solemnly sent out for an airing every evening, we thought we might as well per- form that duty ourselves. Keith was doubt- ful if they would permit of a lady's habit, so we had them up one night after dinner, and proceeded to try them in our dinner dresses, to the intense bewilderment of the Chu- prassees lounging in the verandah, who thought us decidedly non compos. The biggest pony was introduced under the peculiar appellation of " Grog." "We were further informed he was very vicious, but 'a first-rate shooting pony, allowing Keith to take aim and fire without moving; and, moreover, could gallop over stones and bits of rock in a manner we thought savoured of Munchausen. He had the failing, how- 184 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, ever, of generally stumbling on level ground, and occasionally pitched on his nose if not sharply looked after. In appearance, " Grog" was dark iron grey, very thick and hairy about the ankles, short legged, long bodied, and with a head fit for a dray horse, though .himself only reaching twelve hands; never- theless, all agreed in calling him a model of a hill pony. We privately thought hill ponies must be singularly ugly animals. The smaller one was named " Tommy," a dark bay, with a spirited little head, and slightly retrousse nose. F rom the annals of his former possessors, he was known to be twenty-two years old, but might have been any amount beyond it ; and, notwithstand- ing his advanced age, he was as naughty and wicked as a " four-year old," combined with the wilfulness of a mule. He always knew the exact punishment he would receive for each act of insubordination, and con- trived always to keep his rider fully occu- pied. He was the most impertinent pony I ever saw: he would boldly trot up to an A YEAR IN BENGAL. 185 animal three times his own size, with his nose in the air, shrieking defiance. When- ever he saw a horse in the distance, he would commence whinnying a trick I have a particular aversion to, and always rewarded by a good cut over his nose, on which he would dart off at full gallop ; and so cunning was he, that directly he whinnied, before receiving his chastisement, he would start away in anticipation; then, when tired of being out, he would resolutely shy at every- thing he saw ; no matter if he had passed it a dozen times, he would wheel round and toss his head, until, losing all patience, I generally finished by breaking my whip over him. Nevertheless, he was a great pet I suppose from his sheer impudence and when out in camp, " Tommy" was generally allowed his liberty while the others were picketed, and might be heard poking his nose amongst the dishes, looking for toast, his favourite edible. I have seen him go up and down rocks like a goat, till I doubted his being a flesh and blood tattoo, and in- clined to think him a Brownie in disguise. 186 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, In contrast to these substantial animals was a delicate little Burmah pony, " Puck," which my cousin bestowed on us during our stay in the country; and for fleetness I never saw his equal. At home he would have been thought the size for a child of five or six, but he carried Nora nobly, and could keep pace with, and beat, many a fine-look- ing steed. He and " Tommy" were bitter rivals, and never lost an opportunity of biting each other secretly. A few days after our arrival some horse- merchants brought a black Persian horse for my brother's inspection, which he bought, destining him for his buggy an oflice he performed very creditably at first; but as we could not have a horse in the stable without trying him ourselves, we found him far too good to be condemned to harness; and he soon testified his own opinion of the matter by regularly kicking the buggy to pieces whenever subjected to the indignity of drawing it, though he was as gentle as possible when ridden. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 187 How I used to envy the officers their chota hazaree! Our morning ride led us past the artillery mess-house, where the table was laid under the wide stone verandah and decked with golden melons, luscious peaches, and glowing strawberries, strongly inciting us to break the sixth commandment, and carry off a part as spoil; and then the jovial party which generally surrounded it in their white jackets, all constraint laid aside, re- tailing with high glee how Brown on the previous evening had overheard a senti- mental speech administered by Smith to Miss , while poor Smith feels his appe- tite vanish, and vainly tries to suggest that Brown's horse was past his management at the time, thus leading him to invent pleas- ing fictions to conceal his discomfiture. We generally heard a tolerably accurate state- ment of the early breakfast, while at our own later meal, from Mr. Wren: he was cer- tainly the most indefatigable news-collector I ever knew. Of course, everything was communicated under the rose ; but I know 188 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OK, every one he called on that day was sure to be favoured with a recital thereof. Your importance in India is settled by the rank you hold. Thus my brother, being the " collector," was styled the Burra Sahib (great master), while his joint magistrate and assistant were Chota Sahibs (little masters); and well did this cognomen suit the latter gentleman in every respect. His prominent forehead, and merry, good-hu- moured face, invariably reminded me of codlin apples; but I am indebted to him. for many a hearty laugh. He one day alluded touchingly to the manner in which the Indian climate had told on his personal appearance, by saying that his top-boots, which had fitted him to perfection when he left home, now looked like his little finger placed in a wine-glass ; but the naivete and bonhomie with which he suited the action to the word were irresistibly provocative of mirth, not to mention his choice collection of little hymns, carefully instilled into his youthful mind by his tender Scotch relations. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 189 One, a great favourite of his, ran thus: "I was not born a little slave to labour in the sun." At this point he broke off to suggest the palpable untruth of the statement, seeing that here he .was a miserable slave to Kut- chery, and enduring the pitiless Eastern sun. The consequences were, he was as well known by his self-given title of " Little Slave" as his baptismal name. Many a time have I seen this valuable servant of Government indulging in melons and strawberries with the graceful ease of a schoolboy, having perhaps kindly offered to assist me in arranging them for dessert, while I was lost in admiration of his consuming capacities. At another time he would enter the drawing-room, and show us a terrific law book, telling us Keith had set him all that to learn, and thereby worked on our feminine sympathies to invite some favourite (for the time) to tiffin, to lighten the tedium of his existence. In his judicial capacity he, of course, was at liberty to inflict personal chastisement on his servants, which he occa- 190 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, sionally did; and after sounds of a general scrimmage in his room, he would emerge, looking heated and languid from his exer- tions, when he would remark, with great simplicity, that his fool of a bearer would hand him an unbecoming waistcoat, for which dire offence he had been compelled to shy all the movables in the room at his (the bearer's) head. I often feared that such a gigantic spirit, confined in such a small compass, would speedily wear its unfortunate possessor out. One morning, when out riding with us, in a transport of affection for his horse, a Don Quixote looking animal, he suddenly seemed to disappear, and but for a pair of tiny black sleeves round the horse's neck, and a diminutive foot in the stirrup, I should have feared the worst ; but he was only embracing his steed. " Tommy," how- ever, was seriously alarmed, and shied to one side, thinking some kind of fly had alighted on " Cavalier's" back. I was agreeably disappointed with the whole class of cadets young officers whom A YEAR IN BENGAL. 191 that miserable book " Oakfield" had led me to look on with such pity. There was one round-faced, rosy-looking lad whom we es- pecially patronised ; he looked about twelve years old, but was, no doubt, more, or he could hardly have held a commission. When calling on us one day, he began speaking of " Oakfield," saying he was read- ing it, but it was not the least bit true. "For one thing," he said, "the young officers in the book are laughed at for writing home. Now, with us, every fortnight you see all our fellows writing as hard as they can, and, instead of laughing at you, the other fellows urge you on. I have never missed a mail since I came out." Of course we advised him by all means to keep up so good a habit. Many of these poor little griffs lead the most dreary lives it is possible to imagine ; they ride the funniest possible little tats, club together three or four in one house, dine at the mess, and are rarely seen any- where by any one save their fellow-officers. 192 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, Unless some lady of the regiment takes pity on them, they are too shy and too much afraid of being snubbed to call on any one else. Sometimes at church they are visible, or on those rare occasions when a party of amateurs open the theatre ; but on the Course, and at all other places where Anglo- Indians delight to congregate, they are non est. It is amusing and delightful to hear the astonishment with which a young griff, fresh from school and cricket, describes the kind- ness with which some grey old colonel has directed his ignorant proceedings, advised him about the purchase of a horse, and arranged for him to share his bungalow with another griff, whereby he is at once raised to the dignity of a householder, and when for the outlay of 20. he finds himself the fortunate possessor of a somewhat bony, and, in some respects, ill-favoured animal, which, however, looks very well on the Mall, and carries him gallantly to parade, when the griff, I say, warranted and encouraged by A YEAR IN BENGAL. 193 the said colonel, finds himself in this respon- sible position, he delivers himself up to the enjoyment of it all with a zest and energy which it is refreshing to behold. Do you think the senior officer loses any- thing by thus condescending to direct and aid his subaltern? I think not. Indeed, the kindly feeling thus implanted will most probably last till death severs the bond. No doubt there are many unhappy exceptions to this; but I have often seen with pleasure the senior officer conducting tjie newest griff through his round of visits to the station, and noticed the half-admiring, half-pitying air with which the man of perhaps ten years' experience listened to the crude observa- tions of the youngster, and smiled on the boyish assumption of dignity with which the griff announces how things are done at home, remembering the time when he, too, passed through the same ordeal, thought the same thoughts, and met with the same sym- pathy. In contradistinction to our fresh, open friend was a sandy-haired, thin, wizen-faced VOL. i. o 194 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, youth, commonly known at Dhoorghur as " the Obnoxious Boy." And well had he earned his title : Indian forcing applied on a canny Scotch temperament had made . him precocious and sharp to a degree perfectly alarming. He was continually being had up in the Court of Requests for non-payment of his servants, yet talked largely of his stud, and kept three horses to my own know- ledge. On our arrival, he, amongst others, had called, and, of course, received an invi- tation to our first party. As we sent one to the owner of each card on our table, and as few of the officers of his regiment had made our acquaintance, they being, for the most part, a retiring set, he boasted at the coffee- shop of his invitation, saying, " Ah, you see the Leslies were obliged to ask me ; they knew their evening wouldn't go off if I wasn't there, because they've heard of my dancing, you know." A night or two previous to our party he began descanting on the various wondrous exploits of horsemanship he had performed, and then informed us of his pas- sionate fondness for dancing, saying, " I A YEAR IN BENGAL. 195 think riding and dancing always go to- gether; a good rider is sure to be a good dancer ; and the fact is, my regiment always make me go to parties to keep up their credit in that line." It was utterly impos- sible to snub him in any way. If he heard of a story going about to his disadvantage, he would instantly pick it up, and retail it himself as a good joke. Nora and I were alternately amused and awed at the solemn manner in which some of the gentlemen warned us against con- fiding in any member of our own sex. They told us frightful tales of scandal that had originated in this way, saying that motherly old ladies would come and talk us over, telling us to look on them in the light of our own maternal relative ; and, having basely extracted our confidences of hopes and fears, would carry it round for the benefit of the station as a pleasing bit of gossip. Even our small friend, Mr. Wren, joined in the uni- versal cry against elderly Indian ladies, say- ing " they had tried to come it over him in that way, but he knew a thing or two, and o 2 196 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, was not so easily caught." I don't wonder at any elderly lady feeling moved to com- passion at seeing a youth of his tender age and small size being launched, unprotected, into the vortex of mess dinners and un- limited champagne, without feeling a longing desire to call him under her sheltering wing. But such reiterated forebodings and gloomy warnings necessarily made us at times very doleful, and caused us to look with an eye of suspicion on all the really kind-hearted ladies who came near us, till we learnt that feminine instinct was far more to be de- pended on than any amount of masculine reasoning, and so boldly chose our own ac- quaintances, undeterred by their desponding precepts. One great item in an Indian lady's day consists in overlooking the stores which the patient Box-wallahs unfold for her benefit. These men frequently commence the world with no greater stock than an empty soda- water bottle, but with a perseverance and cunning worthy of an Israelite, they trade on till they become the owners of stores of A YEAR IN BENGAL. 197 heterogeneous articles, and the manner they pack everything into the smallest possible compass is marvellous. I have seen the whole verandah, the floor, and chairs of the room covered with the contents of a mode- rate-sized box. Pickles, sardines, perfumes, groceries, crockeryware, millinery, dresses, shoes, hosiery, and stationery, form some of the ingredients of their bundles. We were too lately arrived from England to want anything from these men, and the jewellers claimed more of our patronage. Their great delight appears to consist in unfolding all they possess, and laying it out on the floor; and as each brooch, bracelet, &c., has its separate piece of rag, it is a process requiring both time and patience. When everything was exhibited, we generally selected the things which pleased us, and then retired to our own rooms, leaving the Ayahs mistresses of the field; and then a perfect Babel com- menced, as the men invariably ask double they mean to take, and we, knowing our unfitness for bargaining, deputed the Ayah to do it, who, proud of her brief authority, 198 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, exerted it to the utmost, and often asto- nished us with the results of her labours. Still I know she never beat them down too much, for she always seemed pleased with f her "dustoor," the amount they presented to her for her patronage, being so many pice off each rupee we had expended. Their tariff of prices is utterly absurd, and varies with the rank you are supposed to be in. Thus, up on the hills, where we were un- known, their charges were moderate, and when we returned to Dhoorghur, the same men would ask exactly double for the iden- tical ring or ornament they had offered us at Landour; but then at Dhoorghur we were the collector's Miss Sahibs. The amount of sleep natives can get through used to be a continual wonder to me. Any spare time and they have plenty of it is invariably passed in this manner; and it was one of our greatest amusements (think what a pitch we must have be^n re- duced to!) to preserve tranquillity till the calm and measured sound of breathing as- sured us that the Chuprassees in attendance A YEAR IN BENGAL. 199 were fast asleep; then, elevating my voice to its loudest tones, I would shout " Qui hye," at which I inevitably heard a series of grunts and starts, like small fire-arms going off, and a sleepy voice would reply, " Missy Baba," and a limp-looking figure, very much tumbled in appearance, would enter. I al- ways knew from their answer if they had been very long off, by their dropping the "Missy" and simply saying "Baba:" this was when considerably bewildered and startled. But it was delightful to see the native servants amusing the little English children : their patience seems inexhaustible. Thoroughly childish in their ideas, they easily suit their play to their little com- panions' intellect; and I have watched them by the hour unweariedly amusing a cross little thing, imitating a tiger or elephant, walking on hands and knees about the floor with the little charge mounted on their back, and inventing endless games. They are never tired or put out of temper, but seem really to enjoy it; and certainly the child repays their care with an affection I 200 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, have never seen evinced to an English nurse. It is rather troublesome, sometimes, the amount of attendance they insist upon, and at a juvenile party you can hardly see the children for the number of servants. No child, whether boy or girl, can go out for the evening without its Ayah and bearer; and if they venture to leave the room, the child is sure to set up a shriek, and continue unappeased till their return. I suspect their attendants enjoy the excitement of a social gathering, and so make their presence impe- ratively necessary to the children's comfort, to ensure their own participation in them. What a terrific state of confusion com- menced when our luggage arrived after its long absence in the bullock train, and yet every one told us we were extremely lucky to get it so speedily. Keith was fortunately at home when the important event took place, and all business was laid aside in eagerness to inspect his new rifle, which was instantly unpacked, all the Chuprassees look- ing on awe-struck at the size of the mur- derous weapon. At last we got them to A YEAR IN BENGAL. 201 open some of our boxes, which, notwith- standing all our care, presented a melancholy spectacle. The tray of a bonnet-box had given way, and some exquisite bonnets were utterly ruined, not to mention wreaths, &c. Then the havoc amongst the perfumes was ruinous: so many bottles of delicious Jockey Club and exquisite Frangipani had either escaped altogether or been fairly smashed, causing a strange combination of odours to arise on their cases being opened. Every- thing seemed dusty, and the wretched cock- roaches had insinuated themselves into some of the trunks through the keyholes, I sup- pose, whilst all had a battered and travel- worn appearance, sadly differing from their bright, strong look on quitting England,' as though the fatigues of the journey and trials of the climate had been too much for them. One room could not contain all our multi- tudinous treasures, and, for weeks after their arrival, ball-dresses, books, linen, ribbons, &c., strewed the floor in inextricable con- fusion. The Ayahs have no idea of arrange- 202 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, ment : they folded everything neatly, and put it into the wardrobes, which were crammed full ; and whenever you asked for anything, it was sure to be at the bottom of a pile of others, entailing the careful build- ing of the whole up again. On the evenings when no band played on the Course, the fashionables of Dhoorghur would usually resort to a large tank of holy water in the neighbourhood, surrounded by trees, which, with some quaint little Faqueer temples, reflected in the water, and the heavy shadows of the trees above, joined to. several Suttee tombs dotted round, made a most picturesque scene. I should have enjoyed it more but that we often observed a most peculiar smell near, and on asking Keith what it could possibly be, he replied, "Roast Hindoo, no doubt;" and it was lite- rally true, this being the favourite burying or rather burning place for their dead. An- other annoyance was the hideous monkeys. Troops of these sacred animals often came flocking towards the carriages in hopes of A YEAR IN BENGAL. 204 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, being fed a hope I took care should never be realised, having heard a veracious ac- count of a poor lady (a griffin, of course), who, having visions of the Zoological Gar- dens before her, took out a couple of buns to give the monkeys of one of these sacred topes. While the buns were being broken up and distributed to a few expectants, the other monkeys collected round and waited patiently for their turn to come ; but, find- ing they had been called down from their trees, and their appetites excited, by a false hope of buns which did not seem to be forthcoming, they chattered threateningly at the poor lady, who, becoming alarmed, strove to retreat, but was seized upon by the offended community, and only rescued from her perilous position with great diffi- culty by her friends, and with the loss of nearly all her garments. The tank near us was a favourite haunt of pilgrims, who came in great numbers to bathe in its sacred waters, which were sup- posed to possess great virtues. And what A YEAR IN BENGAL. 205 saucy beggars these pilgrims are ! One even- ing, a well-dressed young man, with a most disagreeable expression of countenance, sud- denly flung out his arms as our carriage rolled by, with a request that the great lady would bestow on him, her slave, the sum of one rupee. " Ah !" murmured a lady with us, amused at the coolness of the demand, "some day, perhaps, you may get it." We passed on, and in a few minutes the young man was running along by the carriage, assuring the lady that it was " his most earnest wish to receive the rupee from her honourable hands alone, otherwise he hardly cared for it." "Jow, jow," was the reply mildly given. But after a short interval again appeared the panting supplicant, fur- ther to inform us, "that, as he was soon going to leave that part of the country, it was necessary that the money should be given him at once." "Nickal jow," now said the lady, thoroughly roused by his impertinent perseverance ; and we saw no more of him. 206 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, It is nearly impossible to give people at home the slightest idea of the monotonous sameness of a lady's life in the hot weather even in a large station ; but I can never hope to describe anything like the utterly dreary existence of ladies at an out-station (as I have heard it done), the complete stagna- tion of all amusement, almost of employ- ment, the utter lassitude and exhaustion of the body, and the perfect depression and prostration of the mental energies. Suppose you are (as is often the case) the only lady at the station, your husband goes out to office about ten o'clock. Now, if you have any children, fortunate, indeed, are you; those untiring little mortals will always give full employment to any one who chooses to take much trouble about them. Their powers of life are fresh and young; there is an un- ending spring of vital energy about them, which even the hot weather cannot subdue. In the simple fact of dressing them up for their morning and evening drives, the lan- guid mother may find some occupation and A YEAR IN BENGAL. 207 exercise for her taste at least ; but supposing you have no children, or they are in Eng- land, what remains to be done? Literally nothing. Until about seven o'clock you know no single event (with 'the exception of tiffin) will occur to break the monotony of the day. The piano is too much out of tune to be bearable ; besides, the exertion of touching it is too great; you have written up all your correspondence; you have read all the amusing books in the house, and have not energy enough to begin any others ; you cannot possibly sleep any more ; if you look out of the window, the glare blinds you ; and if you could bear it, you would see nothing no moving creature to break the stillness. Just as the Indian poet observes, Nothing comes by day But shadows on the wall ; Nothing comes by night But the grim jackal. If a woman has a highly-cultivated mind, and many resources within herself, she may battle more bravely against the adverse 208 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, circumstances around her; but when failing health is added to all the rest, there are few people who will not at least deteriorate very much, if they do not altogether succumb. When seven o'clock comes at last, and you get into the carriage, there are, perhaps, only two drives to choose from, both of which you know so well and are so wearied of. When you are out you see no one, save two or three exhausted gentlemen, driven out by ennui to take a breath of air, such as it is, hot and glowing. You return to find your husband too tired with his day's work to speak, almost to listen to you. After existing in this way for five or six years, can you be surprised to hear a lady say, as I once did, after describing the dreary stagna- tion of her life as being agreeably diversified by a dangerous fever, when she overheard the attendants saying there was not the slightest hope of her recovery her only sen- sation being extreme thankfulness " Here, then, is at last an end of this weary exist- ence altogether?" No doubt it was very A YEAR IN BENGAL. 209 wicked of her, and she ought to have had different thoughts in her mind at such a time ; but I cannot help thinking it was ex- ceedingly natural. Probably military men suffer almost as much from ennui as ladies do; but then they have generally some kind of mess to resort to, and a billiard-table, as well as the solace of smoking. Besides, I naturally pity my own sex the most. What indescribable happiness it was to receive our first home letters all the fa- miliar names and places mentioned. If letters are a pleasure at home, they are a priceless boon out here. No one can tell how precious each trivial item of intelli- gence can sound till he has read it in exile what bright visions of bygone days it may recal. Ah ! good correspondents at home, never let your benevolent exertions flag be- cause you deem your absent friends will- have lost their interest in local news; this is just what you must try to prevent. Always keep constantly before them continual fresh details of home affairs, and do not balance your debtor and creditor account too rigidly ; VOL. I. P 210 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, remember the obstacles Indian people find to prevent their writing much or often the harassing over-work, the wear and tear of mind and body, joined to the depressing climate. Pay a chance letter back with compound interest ; so shall you prevent your relations from returning home at last dried- up mummies with ossified hearts. We used to count the days till our Eng- lish letters were due, and when they ar- rived, spend the whole day in reading and talking them over, though our friends rather aggravated us, by persisting in be- lieving we were wonderfully happy ; and while we considered ourselves as leading rather dull lives, and somewhat to be pitted on the whole, they would picture us as spending our days in a perfect whirl of balls and pic-nics, saying they heard on all sides that Dhoorghur was such a delightful sta- tion our position was much to be envied, and we must enjoy the country extremely. While in contradistinction to these glowing descriptions of what India was expected to be, we constantly received letters from A YEAH IN BENGAL. 211 cousins domesticated in different parts of the country, and mostly of the same standing in it as ourselves, one and all expressing their dreadful disappointment, and bewailing their hard fate most pathetically. One drew a touching picture of his miseries, saying, " I came out thinking I should lie all day on a sofa, fanned by attentive servants, who at a look would bring me cigars, beer, &c.; that I might occasionally rouse up sufficiently to sign my name to some paper, which there would not be the slightest necessity to take the trouble of reading, while the rupees kept pouring in like a fairy tale. But, alas ! for the sad reality : day after day sees me seated on a hard cane chair, hemmed in by hot, dirty natives, my brain racked by the intri- cacies of a language difficult of comprehen- sion, and nasal in the extreme. I dare not sign a paper, or I am sure to get into trouble about it perhaps hang a man uninten- tionally while the rupees are eked out in a manner barely subsistable on." Another writes, in daily terror of being dragged, a hapless but struggling victim, to the hyme- p2 212 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, neal altar. For having twice danced with the same young lady, and assisted her to put on her cloak, he received an admonitory letter from the mother, demanding his intentions, to which he, being a mild youth, replied penitentially, and in a roundabout manner, " None." A furious reply was the conse- quence, and a warning not to venture about the station solus (something in the manner of one's " Bogie" days), advice he strictly complied with, plaintively observing, " It's rather hard not to go out till the owls do, as he hears some new young ladies have ar- rived; but he daren't stir till dark, or the offended matron's piercing eyes will transfix him, and publish him to the world as a gay deceiver." Dust-storms are such a peculiar feature of Indian life, that they deserve a separate notice. Their approach is heralded by an unmistakable smell of dust, and some think by a peculiar stillness in the atmosphere. Perhaps all the beauty and fashion of Dhoor- ghur are collected on the Mall, apparently engaged in listening to the band, when sud- A YEAR IN BENGAL, 213 denly, from no visible cause, the sleepy coachmen start into life, a panic seizes the startled horses, people who were talking quietly to you a second before, with a half- uttered word of adieu spring into their buggies, and dash off. " Sauve qui peut !" seems the motto. In an instant every car- riage is seen tearing away as hard as it can go, arid the maidaun is left a desert, for the bandmen even have disappeared like magic. The first night the scene was en- acted before our astonished eyes, we had no time given us for reflection, for the Syces, who are generally squatted down just under the horses' noses, sprang up, ejaculating the magic word " Tophane" (storm). The coach- men flogged the horses, and we were carried off full gallop home, where a number of ex- cited Chuprassees tore down the steps and hurried us into the house; barely in time to escape being choked, however, for, with all our haste, clouds of dust were whirling angrily past as the doors closed. It is really no joke to be caught in a dust-storm, for it sometimes lasts two hours, till you believe 214 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, the whole dust of the country must be blown away ; and woe to the unhappy wight who, having neglected the warning signs of its ap- proach, is far from friendly shelter. The dense darkness alarms the horse, who dares not move ; if he did, you would be afraid to trust him; the blinding storm comes on so swiftly that your best plan is generally to remain perfectly motionless, though you ex- pect the hood of your buggy to be blown away, and you lose sight of all landmarks in an instant. I have heard of people who have succeeded in reaching the inside of their own compound, and yet could by no means dis- cover the house till the storm had passed by. I never was out in a violent one, but have been assured by ladies, that besides the dis- comfort of having your hair filled with sand, and your bonnet totally ruined, the smother- ing sensation is really alarming. Inside a house a dust-storm always creates a great commotion. As we sat at breakfast one morning, a number of Chuprassees, exclaim- ing " Tophane !" rushed in to secure all the windows firmly. If a cranny is left open, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 215 every corner of the house is filled in an in- stant with sand, and adieu to all comfort for some hours. We ran quickly to our own rooms to see if all was prepared there, and then I stayed for an instant to watch the coming storm. A dense mass rising from the horizon forms a half-circle in the sky, light- brown at the edges, and growing an inky blackness in the centre: it approached with marvellous rapidity. In one instant huge dark masses were rolling on close to the house, driving before them flocks of birds, who were falling down, either choking or stunned. The darkness was instantaneous. As I turned from the window, it was impos- sible to distinguish a single object; I could hear Nora speaking, and Keith's voice in the distance sounded a long way off; but we were all obliged to remain exactly as we were till the black darkness passed away, and a thick orange smoke reigned instead, like the worst possible description of a Lon- don fog; and when that had cleared entirely off, the windows were thrown open. After all your care, it is impossible to keep the 216 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, sand quite out, and a thick white coat is generally spread over everything ; but with all its disagreeables, a dust-storm is con- sidered rather in the light of a boon, as the air is delightfully cooled and freshened, espe- cially if it is followed by a few drops of rain, as is sometimes the case. Just as the hot season was at its height, when we had received scores of visitors, and returned an infinity of morning calls, and when, after the arrival of our boxes, we had settled down determinately to a variety of employments, all our plans and arrangements were interrupted by Nora's falling ill. It was only fever, they said, and such illnesses are hardly noticed, they are so common. I know not what sanitary rule we had in- fringed, or what heedless imprudence we might have committed. We rode regularly every morning, and drove out every evening, and eschewed alike the dews of night and the heat of day ; but these precautions seemed unavailing, and before I had well taken in this unexpected misfortune, Keith was laid up also, and I had them both on my hands. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 217 I could not speak a word to any of the servants, and knew no one to whom I could apply for advice and assistance. Keith had only been appointed to the Dhoorghur station just before our arrival, so he had no intimate friends at hand. I spent my time entirely in Nora's room, except when Keith's respect- able-looking bearer informed me the Sahib would see me. I was then much struck by the great superiority of native men-servants over women ditto. Keith's bearer sat day and night at the door of the room, and never seemed absent an instant from his post, always watchful and attentive; while our women, though very good-natured, had not the slightest idea of nursing, and were only in the way. I always found it far easier to do everything myself than attempt to ex- plain it to them. I never dared to come out to dinner among all the Khitmutghars by myself, so lived on biscuits and soda-water in my own room, and, with the exception of the doctors' daily visits, never saw a Euro- pean. I believe I was particularly unfortu- nate, for the kind-hearted helpfulness of 218 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, Indians is proverbial; but they are very much divided into cliques, and as all the civilians' wives had gone up to the hills for the hot weather, and we had no military relatives in the station, we belonged to no set, and were quite isolated. As Keith got better and Nora worse, two or three ladies would have aided me in nursing her, but she was then too ill to bear the presence of strangers, and I was becoming too anxious to be able to give up my place to any one ; but the utter misery and loneliness of those few weeks went far to confirm all my pre- vious hatred for India and longing for home, and the pitch of tension to which my nerves were strung may be imagined when I allowed hordes of rats to gambol round me unchecked, almost without a thought. At length the two doctors attending Nora gave up all hope of her recovery. Keith and I, hoping against hope, determined to try moving her to the hills. The medical men said the slightest exertion would kill her ; but as they both agreed we must lose her at any rate, we de- termined to refer the point to herself, and she A YEAR IN BENGAL. 219 instantly begged to be taken away. The doctors told her plainly she could not live six hours in a palkee ; but as she still preferred running the risk, in spite of the remonstrances of both doctors, Keith carried her into her palkee. I stepped into mine, and we started the saddest cavalcade that ever was seen. Keith and one of the doctors accompanied us. I believe they had not the slightest hope. Mine never failed ; but the unutterable agonies of that journey can never be con- ceived. We could only travel a few hours every night, going very slowly, and stopping every hour to give Nora nourishment. My palkee was tied to hers that I might fan her, as we could not make the bearers keep together in any other way, and the heat was suffocating; and then Indian travellers know the frightful noise they make at the changing stations, which it is impossible to prevent. Resting all day in dreary dak bungalows, with nothing to do but watch the failing breath that came every moment more and more faintly, surely in moments of desola- tion and exile like these, without a Heavenly 220 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, arm to lean on, the weary spirit must have flagged; but God always gives us strength according to our need. There were many difficulties in the way of our journey to be overcome; from our constant stoppages and short stages, the Coolies prepared for our palkees were very difficult to procure, and the dak had to be continually fresh laid. There were pes- tilential miasmas to be guarded against, and rivers to be forded, swollen to a formid- able extent by sudden showers. My hopes and fears were too much bound up in Nora to care for or remark anything beyond, and Keith's indomitable energy carried us through all, to be more than rewarded at the end ; for the first cool breezes of Mussoorie seemed to revive our sinking in- valid, and though for weeks the new doctors shook their heads, and refused to speak with any certainty as to her recovery, to my eyes the improvement was steady and unvarying. Keith was obliged to leave us almost imme- diately, to return to his duties, but many friends crowded around us with offers of A YEAR IN BENGAL. 221 sympathy and assistance ; utter strangers to us even by name begged us to come to their houses, or offered to give us undisturbed possession of part of them, so that I felt the seeming apathy of the ladies at Dhoorghur had been due only to the hot weather, not to any want of feeling in themselves. The first fortnight we spent in the hotel, and then moved into a house on one of the highest points of Landour. Landour is just above Mussoorie, about six hundred feet higher up. We preferred it because it was supposed to be healthier, and not being so fashionable as Mussoorie, is much quieter. One most annoying feature of In- dian society is that you are obliged when ill to send for the doctor appointed to your station, or branch of the service, however much you may dislike him. Not knowing this piece of medical etiquette, I sent one evening for the nearest doctor from the hotel, and, after waiting an hour, received a polite note, saying it was quite impossible for him to attend professionally, and the doctor whom I was bound to send for lived 222 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, so far off I did not like disturbing him that night. I believe the man really could not help himself, and was very sorry to appear so unfeeling, but if Nora had been seriously injured by the want of advice that evening, it would have been no consolation to me to learn that the doctor regretted it as much as I did, but dared not break through the "red-tape" regulations of his profession. As Nora began to get better and I had time to look about me, I found we were established in as strangely constituted and independent a little household as I ever heard of, with a whole set of servants, none of whom could speak a word of English. First came the Ayah, who, in her red and white drapery, was generally to be seen in the verandah, looking out at the prospect; a very smart Chuprassee, always standing about waiting for orders ; our steady, quiet Khit, from Dhoorghur, who was only remark- able for stupidity, hard work, and the won- derfully lengthened drawl he could give to " bhote utcha," with which he answered everything he heard ; a Khansamah, who was also a cook, and used to tease my life A YEAR IN BENGAL. 223 out every night by insisting on knowing not only what I wished for dinner, but also breakfast, and the only conceivable dish, for that meal whose name I knew was Ked- geree, and I soon grew weary of that : eggs \ve had seen enough of coining up country. I used to be quite annoyed every night to hear his low " Salaam Missy Baba" outside the door, knowing the long, tiresome collo- quy which must follow. At last, some be- nevolent ladies took pity on us, and came up nearly every evening to arrange these affairs for me. Our Khansamah, of course, always went about without slices, and was very lame; no wonder, for he wore big brass rings on his toes that must have been very uncomfortable under any circum- stances, but in shoes would have been quite unbearable. Next came a Sweeper, to keep the rooms in order; then a Bheestie, to carry up water for the household. My fat grey pony had, of course, the same trim, dapper little Syce that took charge of him at Dhoorghur; Nora's jhampaun required six men, four to carry it and two to relieve guard, besides a Tyndal to look after them. 224 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, When a lady is going out here, instead of ordering up her carriage and pair as at home, she sends for her jhampaun and six, THE JHAMPAUN. the Tyndal taking the place of coachman. It is the fashion to dress your Jhampaunees in a kind of livery, which consists of a cap, tunic, belt, and trousers of black and red, grey and blue, or any other colour dictated by taste ; black bound with red, though very common, is the colour best suited to their complexions. I have seen orange bound with black, and other vagaries gor- geous to behold. Each jhampaun is pro- vided with a Tyndal, a man whose business it is to keep the men in order, have them A YEAR IN BENGAL. 225 ready when you want them, and tell them at what pace to go ; he also carries notes like a Chuprassee, and, in the house trims the lamps and arranges furniture, &c. He is bet- ter dressed than the Jhampaunees, receives better wages, and thinks himself a very great man. Ladies always require a Tyndal, and gentlemen think him an utterly useless servant. It is very difficult to get; men to enter your service except through a Tyndal. Though this man exacts a fee from each one, and can dismiss them at his pleasure, yet they imagine he protects them from tyranny, and will all leave in a body at his command. A Jhampaunee's wages are four rupees per month, and his dress costs about five shil- lings, and lasts him a season; a Tyndal's wages are five rupees per month, and his dress is about ten shillings. You are obliged to dress them, as their own clothes are sure to be very dirty, and besides, they always adopt the very smallest possible amount of clothing they can appear in. Having been simply Coolies before, their dress elevates them at once into Jhampaunees. VOL. I. Q 226 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, I had directed our Tyndal, through a friend, to procure red-and-black suits for our men, but did not settle the colour of his own dress ; accordingly, one day he came into the verandah of the room where Nora was lying, and counted out to us every individual article of the whole set, down to caps and waistbands. It was a sore trial of our risible faculties ; however, we succeeded in preserv- ing at least the appearance of rigid gravity, only to be more severely tried, for in a few moments the fussy Tyndal returned, and, marshalling the whole line of Jhainpaunees, arrayed in their new attire, in the verandah, desired them to make their salaam to us. Nora began to laugh, and turned her head to the wall to hide her face ; I received their introduction with all proper decorum, and they were just retiring, when Nora lifted up her head to take a little peep at them, which the watchful Tyndal instantly observing, shouted to them all to return, and make another reverence to the " chota Missy Baba." This totally upset me, and I was obliged to fly from the room to preserve A YEAR IN BENGAL. 227 my dignity. When I returned, I found the Tyndal arranging about his own costume, and insinuatingly presenting a frightful coat of pale mulberry, bound with lilac, for our inspection, which he evidently admired ex- tremely himself, but feared it would not meet with our approbation. I told him I liked nothing but blue, but he either did not, or would not, understand me, and soon after answered my call, dressed up in the ob- noxious mulberry suit, over which his bronzed face looked so hideous, that we both exclaimed with horror, and made him un- derstand we would positively have nothing to do with it whatever; and in a few minutes we saw a Coolie walking off with it, while O / the Tyndal stood with folded arms wistfully gazing after his departing finery. He after- wards procured himself a black cotton velvet dress, with red pipings, in which, seeing nothing objectionable, we quietly ac- quiesced. My pony " Grog," who had always been considered too stupid to do anything wicked at Dhoorghur, became so spirited under Q2 228 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, the combined effects of long rest and the bracing qualities of his native mountain air, that it was difficult to know what to do with him. The first day I was able to ride on the hills (as a friend had come to stay with Nora), I ordered the pony out, and appeared in the verandah ready to mount, just as Mr. Janies, the clergyman, came up to ask after Nora. Nothing would induce the naughty pony to come near the house, and if I attempted to approach him, he commenced a series of clumsy gambols, tugging violently at his rein, and dragging the poor Syce round and round the little inclo- sure which had been levelled for a court-yard : the weak little Syce had barely strength enough to hang on to the rein and run wherever he was pulled. Mr. James remon- strated strongly with me on the impropriety of riding so dangerous an animal. Certainly the paths were very narrow, and the khuds (precipices) very deep, but really it was too absurd to be baffled by a creature that I had always looked upon as a kind of old cow. I tried coaxing " Poor old pony !" " For- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 229 tunate that it is old," said the kind clergy- man, "it will be sooner quiet." I had him blindfolded, but none of the men there could mount me, and the least scrape on the gravel sent him off capering worse than ever; but my determination rose with " Grog's " obsti- nacy, and at last I had the satisfaction of mounting him. But all my troubles were not over; he was so nervous, the waving of a bough made him start, and so skittish, that the appearance of any figure in the dis- tance was the signal for another series of tickings. I was obliged ignominiously to submit to the man's leading him past, to save myself the trouble of fighting for ever. This tiresome fit lasted for several weeks, and was a source of continual annoyance to me in our daily airings round the hill. These daily airings were almost the only object of interest in our otherwise uneventful day. As soon as we announced to the Ayah that we were ready to start, she disappeared to in- form the Tyndal, who instantly ran out to collect the Jhampaunees, and in a few minutes they appeared with the machine. Nora, 230 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, being too weak to sit up, had a lying-down jhampaun ; and when the interior had been scientifically filled up with pillows, the Chu- prassee, Tyndal, and two of the Jhampaunees, each taking an end of the mattress Nora was lying on, lifted it bodily into the jhampaun, thus saving her all trouble of moving. No- thing could have been more gentle and thoughtful than the way in which these rough, untutored men always treated Nora during her illness. Then the Ayah put into the jhampaun two or three extra parasols, cloaks, some sweetmeats anything she thought might be wanted on the way. Nora always went out as she had been dressed for the morning. Her hair had all been cut off during her fever, and was now short and curly, so that her head on the pillow looked like a child's of ten or twelve years old; in that position it was very inconvenient for her to wear a hat, and I saw not the slightest impropriety in her going without one, parti- cularly as we rarely met any one in our quiet neighbourhood. But the good people around thought differently, and after two or A YEAR IN BENGAL. 231 three hints on the singularity of our proceed- ings, poor Nora was obliged, in deference to public opinion, always to have a hat at hand, ready to pop on if any English person approached us. As soon as the usual operation of fight- ing with and blindfolding rny pony was ac- complished, we prepared to start. I often wished some one would daguerreotype our procession it would have made a most cha- racteristic group. First, in his own estima- tion, stood our dandy Chuprassee, with his long sword, and little red turban jauntily stuck on one side of his head; the jham- paun, with its six picturesque bearers in their red-and-black uniforms, and the Tyndal, walk- ing in all the conscious pride of superior rank and attire; and my knowing-looking pony and dapper little Syce, with his classical fea- tures and haughty expression : he never even heard if any of the Jhampaunees spoke to him, but walked on in dignified silence, only rousing up at my voice. My pony was per- fectly intoxicated by the bracing air, and was always on the look-out for something to 232 THE TIMELY EETKEAT; OR, shy at. The sun coming out very bright, I asked for a parasol, which the Tyndal offi- ciously fetched out of the jhampaun ; but unfortunately the Ayah had put in one with a pink lining, and nothing would induce " Grog" to allow it to come near him. The more the Tyndal kept presenting it to me, like an exaggerated rose, the more determi- nately did " Grog" dance about, and blunder up against the Jhampaunees, who, always dreadfully frightened of horses, looked upon him as the very incarnation of mischief, and dodged about dreadfully, so that, fearful they would drop Nora in their alarm, I tried to give up the contest. The Syce very slyly handed me the offending parasol, closed, from behind, but " Grog" kept his eye on me, and the faintest flutter of fringe or the least noise sent him off capering again, and the whole scene was re-enacted. " Grog" was, in fact, the exciting element of our day : he refused to allow any parcel, basket, or bundle to pass him, and particularly objected to um- brellas. When any such appeared in the distance, the Syce ran on ahead, impe- A YEAR IN BENGAL. 233 riously calling on the people to stand out of the way, put their umbrellas down, and hide their bundles in the bank. The Jhampau- nees, in mortal terror" lest the ferocious animal should trample them down, all joined in ordering any approaching native to get away, as a very fierce horse was coining; so we advanced in a kind of Royal Progress. All the men vied with each other in procuring most gorgeous flowers for Nora. Her jhampaun looked like a huge nosegay by the time we returned to the house. The Tyndal, having been used to children, only thought of obtaining the largest and gaudiest blossoms, but the Chuprassee had much better taste, and sometimes made up very elegant bouquets; even my Syce was fired with emulation, and would climb a khud to gather a pretty orchis, or some rarer flower. Sometimes the pillars of her jhampaun were tastefully decorated for her edification sometimes a most elaborate bouquet was ar- ranged, a firm, tall stalk forming the centre: around this various flowers were tied on in 234 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OB, rows, till it looked like a multitude of dif- ferent blossoms growing from the same stem. The Tyndal once made up a most magnifi- cent bouquet of this description, with a bunch of bright red berries in the middle. All the tune he was making it, however, he was warning us that they were poison; when it was finished, he seemed still very uneasy in his mind about it ; at length, fear- ing, I suppose, that it would be impossible for Nora to help eating one, he pulled them out and flung them over the cuff, substi- tuting a large dahlia in their place. They could not at first understand our delight in discovering an unknown or rare fern, and our preferring an insignificant-looking leaf to a- brilliant flower appeared incomprehen- sible to them; they would pick every flower on the bank we pointed to before coming to the desired leaf. But they are too well accus- tomed to these kind of vagaries on the part of English people to be astonished at any- thing. These ferns are one of the most striking objects to a new comer. The trees, branches, and trunks, are covered during A TEAR IN BENGAL. 235 the rains with long, thick moss, which forms a splendid bed for ferns; they grow accord- ingly with the most extraordinary profusion, enveloping the tree entirely by their luxu- riant and varied foliage, quite eclipsing the original leaves of the poor tree, which look small, dark, and shrivelled in comparison. Twice every day did we perform the cir- cuit of the two Landour hills, and heartily sick of them we were. One undeniable ad- vantage of Mussoorie certainly is the greater variety of rides close at hand. '-Our house was perched -up on a little promontory, seven thousand feet high; a narrow neck of land connected it with the Landour hill. We seemed to be at the end of all civilisation; beyond us there was nothing but the dark, melancholy mountain peaks, as far as the eternal snows. On one side we could trace the (Eglevar river winding its silvery way through a deep valley, the sides dotted with native villages, which, almost invisible by day, shone out at night like fiery planets. In front of us lay Mussoorie, six hundred feet below our level; 236 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, and beneath, stretched far away, that lovely green garden of the valley of the Dhoon, bounded by the fantastic blue peaks . of the low Sewallick range ; and beyond them the plains of India, as far into the hazy distance as the eye could reach. In the still valleys far below us we could always see the Lam- merguys sailing about. When we first entered our house it was entirely enveloped in mist, and for many days I was far too much occupied with Nora to think of looking out; but never can I forget my thrill of delight, when, for the first time, the clouds cleared away, and the lovely valley of the Dhoon lay stretched before me in all its ethereal fairy-like beauty. How can I describe the singular effect of thus living literally up in the clouds ? they are above and around you; they fill the house. You cannot even see the pillars of the verandah outside your window ; pile after pile, the gigantic masses roll ceaselessly by, continually changing their shapes, but always retaining their unvarying dull, leaden colour one moment revealing short glimpses A YEAR IN BENGAL. 237 of richly-wooded khuds and rocky defiles, then wrapping them silently again in im- penetrable gloom. No one can conceive the strange, startling effect of these sudden peeps into cloud-land. A rent is made in the veil surrounding you; through a little space you could cover with your hand, you see miles and miles away, through the Dhoon, peace- ful green fields and trees, and quiet rivers, and the pale, pure blue of the Sewallicks in the morning, or its tremulous rosy tint in the evening. You gaze with breathless awe, but, alas ! in one fleeting second the beautiful vision has vanished, leaving you half uncer- tain whether it was a veritable glimpse into " faerie land," or an illusion altogether. Of course, if the sun happens to be shining be- hind one of these cloud-pictures, the effect is indescribably enhanced. As the season advances the rain is some- thing astonishing a perfect torrent pouring on day and night, without cessation ; so you can scarcely hear yourself speak in the house from the clatter of the drops on the roof. Down it comes, till you believe every atom 238 THE TIMELY EETEEAT j OK, of soil and vegetation must inevitably be swept away, and all the houses be carried down in the flood. In England there is a fall of about thirty inches of rain scattered throughout the whole year, but here a hundred and six inches must fall in three months; consequently, no wonder it comes down with a will, as if it had no time to spare. At Cheeunee, higher up, I am told there is a fall of six hundred inches during the rains ; but I see no object to be gained by going to such a place, as one could easily stand under a waterfall at home, and so realise the sensation to perfection. But when the rains begin to break up, what language can describe the marvellous beauty and endless variety of the Himalayan sunsets ? No word-picture, however truth- ful, no artist's hand, however skilful, can hope to approach their sublime magnificence. You may talk of glowing gold and flaming scarlet; you may picture the small floating clouds, looking quite black against the fiery crimson behind, and the dark, palpitating, purple mountains, rearing their solemn heads A YEAR IN BENGAL. 239 high into the soft paly green of the sky around all this may give you a vague, soothing idea of grandeur but the reality ! you cannot imagine it; you must go there to see for yourself, and feel awed by the mys- terious immensity of God's world. We lived about two months in a state of perfect seclusion, refusing all visitors of the male sex, and were beginning to be rather tired of it. The rains were enough to try any one's patience, though we went out re- solutely every day in spite of them. Nora had thick black flannel curtains to her jhampaun, which, when let down, effectually excluded all damp, while I encased myself in a bear- skin jacket, and, rejecting all protection from an umbrella, faced everything. All the ladies at Mussoorie, when on horseback, in- dulged in coats or paletots of all colours and shapes: some appeared in light drab pea-jackets, with huge pearl buttons; others in mackintoshes; but the unfortunate feathers in their hats always presented a woebegone and draggled appearance when saturated with rain. I felt quite proud of mine, which, 240 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, being an emu's plume, did not absorb the moisture to the extent ostrich or cocks' feathers did. But the rains began to pass over at last, and Keith obtained his leave and came up to Landour. Nora being now able to join us in our ride, we frequently bent our steps to the Mussoorie Mall, which was crowded every evening with fashionables. The elderly ladies and great invalids were carried in jhampauns, which were an intolerable nui- sance to the equestrians, and doubtless the latter were equally disagreeable to the for- mer. Then the Mall is by no means un- limited in space ; it is a winding road cut on the side of the hill, and a slight wooden railing guards the side that slopes down to the valley ; there are some very sharp turns, trying to nervous people, when you know that most likely four or five wild horsemen are sure to come flying round them full upon you; and up and down this Mall the greater part of the Mussoorie community delight to gallop at the greatest extent of speed they can urge their horses to achieve, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 241 endangering life and limb to a frightful de- gree, not of themselves only, but their neigh- bours also. Natives are proverbial for their dread of horses, and the Jharnpaunees sway from side to side of the Mall, while the reck- less riders tear left and right, no one think- ing of keeping their own proper side. Hair- breadth escapes are daily enacted. Our un- fortunate friend, Dr. Hind, as usual managed to get into the midst of it. When riding peacefully one evening, with his Syce .close by for protection, a lady, on a spirited steed, suddenly turned the corner, swept past him, turning him clean into the outstretched arms of his attendant, and disappeared before he had time to see who it was. He was luckily unhurt thanks to his precautions of pre- paring for the worst but had only breath- enough left to request his Syce to help him on his pony again, and lead him safe from such, a dangerous neighbourhood. Numbers of people get spilt from violent collisions round these corners. One is named " Dan- ger Point," yet no one thinks of moderating his speed, or making arrangements to keep VOL. i. "B 242 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, the jhampauns apart. Then the slight rail- ing is a very insufficient safeguard. Indian horses are a pugnacious race, and have a peculiar fondness for occasionally getting up on their hind legs, rearing, biting, and fight- ing with each other to an alarming extent, till the weakest is driven to the dangerous side, and sometimes disappears down the khud. Nevertheless, the Mall is always well patronised, and we enjoyed the excitement extremely. We received an invitation one day to a pic-nic, given by the Pic-nic Club, at a place called " Swetenham's Bungalow," some eight miles off, and were recommended to start about twelve. "We had not the least idea of the distance, so confidingly trusted to our friend's advice, and entered our jhampauns at the hour mentioned on the appointed day. We went on in good faith for about an hour, fully occupied in admiring the scenery, and new peeps of the snowy range we occa- sionally discovered; but when another hour passed by r and still no signs of any human habitation, we began to fear that our Jhain- paunees were walking dff with us, and but for A YEAR IN BENGAL. 243 their evident reluctance to proceed, should have been seriously alarmed. After some deliberation we commenced a polyglot in- quiry of how much farther we had to go, when, to our dismay, the Tyndal pointed out a speck in the distance, saying that was the Sahib's bungalow. AVe now began to pass Khitmutghars returning with bundles of crockery, signs that dinner was over; and when we did reach the rendezvous, we found the party busily engaged in playing at "Consequences," and we were thankful to sit down at a respectful 1 distance, with a gentleman who, like ourselves, had "come too late to get any supper." Not but what the remaining Khits generously contributed some scraps they did not particularly want themselves, after which slight refection we commenced a survey of our companions, in return for the very liberal one they had bestowed on us; we saw at least forty ladies and gentlemen, many of whom were per- sonally known to us, but seemed determined to ignore our presence, till, a new game being started, some stragglers came in, amongst 244 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, them Mr. and Mrs. Percy, who at once came forward to greet us, and we ventured to draw near the larger group. The " Conse- quences" had been given up, from the highly personal reflections they contained, and a peculiarly sensible game instituted in their place. This consisted of a stake fixed in the ground, a circle marked round it, and some paper packet carefully balanced on the top of the stake; a distance of six or seven paces is then marked off, and a short stick is handed to a lady, who, standing at the proper distance, flings it at the stake, causing the packet to fall down; if it falls outside the marked line it becomes her property, if within, she retires, and another takes her place. Of course the most inappropriate articles are put up : thus a dignified elderly gentleman received a pair of hair-cushions; an exquisite, a wooden doll; and a fashion- able lady a short pipe. We were rather astonished, after the minor value of these prizes, to hear a valuable diamond ring put up by the club secretary, and still more so when his wife A YEAR IN BENGAL. 245 won it; but we afterwards discovered it. was an amiable ruse to cause more excitement, the ring in question being the lawful pro- perty of the lady herself. I am sorry to. say we soon grew tired of looking on at this. in- tellectual game, and Keith having arrived, we made a small exploring party, sketching; and on returning, in an hour's time, we found the place deserted; nothing remained but well-picked chicken bones and scraps from the " Consequences," some of which we took the liberty of reading, and thought them extremely impertinent. As Keith was going- down to Dehra for a few days' shoot- ing, he left us on the road ; and the forlorn gentleman, who had been a fellow-sufferer with us through this very stupid day, kindly saw us home, not much gratified with our first specimen of an Indian pic-nic. I never can forget the excitement Mus- soorie was thrown into at the prospect of the fancy ball; long will it be remembered in the annals of the place how the storehouses of every one's brain were ransacked for be- coming costumes, and what frightful histo- 246 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, rical blunders were made. All scandal was stopped a month beforehand, people being too busy to invent Caught but their dresses. Mrs. Ludlam's shop was cleared out, and trumpery her wildest dreams had never hoped to sell turned out the "very thing." Johnstone, -the tailor, ran his fingers madly through his hair, and protested he had no sleep or rest day or night. At the same time, weariness -of mind could not subdue the natural flippancy of his tongue, for on a rather portly gentleman being measured for a Dr. Johnson's coat, he facetiously re- marked, " Lor, sir, why you cuts into 1 more velvet than even Martin himself, sir." This undignified mention of himself naturally reached the said " Martin's" ears. He being a gentleman of amiable but princely de- portment, took upon himself to remonstrate with the offending " snip," thereby destroy- ing that worthy's last remnant of equanimity, and causing the destruction of at least two dresses. The dead secrets every one kept up, and how some one found a pair of false calves A YEAR IN BENGAL. 247 being sent to Mr. Jones, which, of course, was circulated on the. Mall that evening, with the addition, that when Mr. Jones tried them on, they would -come round to the front of his legs if he moved about, thereby causing a singular and novel appear- ance ; how Mrs. Ludlam, being sworn over to secrecy, exhibited a pair of elegant gauze and tinsel wings, and then was aghast to find that it was guessed they were intended for a fairy. As I had never appeared in fancy -dress since the time I was five years old, and per- sonated a juvenile Parsee, I had no ante- cedents to go by, and many a lengthy dis- cussion did it involve. At last it was settled that we should represent two Granvi liaise girls ; and notwithstanding many qualms as to the propriety of displaying our ankles, our short red petticoats were satisfactorily accomplished. That unfortunate being, Dr. Hind, who never stirred without an accident, came up from Dhoorghur for the ball, and his pony wickedly pitched him down a khud, from 248 THE TIMELY I^ETEEAT; OR, which he emerged considerably cut and bruised; but a skilful application of arnica and court plaister made a whole man of him, and rather added to the effect of his ex- tremely picturesque attire. He was the happy possessor of a brilliant orange coat, through the back of which the rats had eaten their way. This was mended up ; and a pair of voluminous white satin trousers, with a Topsy looking turban, com- pleted 'his characteristic costume. As it was difficult to assign him to any particular nation, he was generally supposed to repre- sent the " Great Mogul" as he appears on packs of cards, the bruised state of his nose being 'explained, according to the popular song, by the castigation administered by the Vizier to the obnoxious blue- bottle. It was considered a very truthful get up on the whole. Several quadrilles were formed, but the Old English was quite the A 1 of the even- ing, both for style, beauty, and grace. The dresses were really magnificent, but how those substantial hoops performed a waltz, I A YEAR^N BENGAL. 249 J know not, though I heard some of the gen- tlemen complain of the contusions inflicted on their knees. Our amiable little friend Mr. Wren was there in a most appropriate dress, as " Buttons" to the Court Quadrille. Owing to the shrunken appearance of his nether man, before alluded to, he had resort to the expedient of adopting deep lace ruffles to his silk breeches, making him look like a small bantam in " Bloomers." An extremely lanky Saladin caused many heartburnings amongst the young ladies, his wife having departed this life some three months previously. Saladin was an irre- proachable dancer, but there was an inde- scribable something in the conventional scarlet and tinsel, a familiar air pervading the entire costume, that impelled one irre- sistibly to look for the wire handle, on turn- ing which you felt persuaded the whole figure would perform one of those impossible somersaults that are so captivating to all juveniles. Chieftains of Scottish clans were there, who ne'er had seen the Scottish land, brave in pasteboard ornaments and strangely- 250 THE TIMELY RETREAT : OR, if * ' t ? fashioned jackets; and Albanians, who had sacrificed their hirsute appendages at the command of lovely Greek maidens in tanta- lising spangled boots. As we wished to have something new, we determined on a Domino Quadrille, and having arranged our party, at a stated signal we retired to the cloak-room, and donned our sable cloaks and masks. We then made the tour of the rooms, and were edified by the remarks of those around us, who must have thought we had suddenly become deaf from the liberal comments they favoured us with ; but many amusing mis- takes of course arose, one lady treating my brother to some affectionate speeches, think- ing him her husband. The best character of the evening was " Christie Johnstone." To my -astonishment, I recognised Nora's grave doctor's face in a Newhaven fishwife's mutch, creel on her back, and all complete. But the unfailing spirit he kept up contributed immensely to the evening's amusement. But anything to equal the flood of scandal that transpired after the fancy ball: it beats description. As we rode down to the Mall A YEAR IN BENGAL. 251 the succeeding afternoon, one after another, astonishing pieces of intelligence greeted us, till "vve thought Mussoorie had fairly taken leave of its senses. No less than eleven pro- posals had been made more .than half refused. " I assure you I heard it from the best authority," said Mrs. Grey ; " young Barton got his 'jewaub' last night, and he has in consequence thrown up the rest -of his leave, and rushed down to the plains in de- spair." " Impossible," said another lady ; "I heard Mrs. Phillips was dying to *catch him for her daughter." " Well, all I know is, that he was seen in a frantic state going down to Rajpore; indeed" (mysteriously) " there were traces of tears on his face." Un- fortunately for the pathos of this narrative, the pause was broken ;by the identical hero of it, young Barton himself, cantering past, looking as rosy and happy as possible, and gaily chatting with the supposed hard- hearted Miss Phillips. Mrs. Grey having a few seconds before staked her diamond ring on the truth -of her information, here thought it advisable to order her jhampaun to proceed. 252 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, " So," said the representative of the Great Mogul, "Mr. Leslie has been accepted by the. fair widow, and poor Smith threatens him with a duel." Keith the night before had actually danced a quadrille for the first time with the lady in question. "Did you hear Miss May had refused Mr. Thayre be- cause she said he had such thin legs ?" while Miss Dornton told Mr. Escott " she was not going to take anybody else's leavings." And so the tide rolled on, and the climax was put by finding myself congratulated as the affianced of a rickety-looking Bohemian, with head considerably top-heavy. The " Fancy Ball " had kept all gossip in abeyance, but now, that being off their minds, they all rushed back to the delights of criticising their neighbours, and repeating every one's sayings and doings with con- siderable additions. There is a frank sim- plicity about young ladies who have been educated on the hills truly refreshing to our more conventional manners, thought at first slightly bewildering to unaccustomed ears. For instance, Miss May informed me " it was A YEAR IN BENGAL. 253 so delicious to get a gentleman to walk home from a party beside her jharnpaun, they did say such sweet things in the moonlight ;" while Miss Dornton loudly complained " that this season she had had no admirers to speak of;" and on my informant asking "her if she classed him as one of her suite, she pondered seriously for a few moments, then gravely re- plied, "No; I think you like to dance and flirt with me, but I don't consider you in love with me." And yet they say ladies never speak their minds ! The same young lady used to ask gentlemen for advice about the various offers she had received, whether they thought she had done wisely in refusing or accepting, as the case might be. My cousin had been quizzed on his supposed rejection by a pretty girl he knew very little of, and as he was rather a cool young gentleman, he one evening, when dancing with her, for want of something better to say, told her that he had just been informed that she had rejected him with scorn. The young lady looked up instantly, saying, " I should not have done so if you had asked me." Malcolm 254 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, felt himself in a scrape, and replied, that as he had been engaged some time, it amused him to hear people say such foolish things. The engagement was all a sham, but was the best device he could go in for at the mo- ment. But by far the best pic-nic we saw in the hills was one given by Mr. and Mrs. Percy. They somehow contrived to have all the most pleasant people, and there was a con- stant succession of amusements. Fire-arms seemed the order of the day, and I really expected some unfortunate blackie would re- ceive a stray bullet or two, for the creatures are so greedy after the lead that is fired, they will run any risk to secure it. Bottles were put up in all directions, and sent flying by the experienced marksmen. As the ex- citement grew keener, Mr. Davies suggested throwing a hat in the air and firing at it. He instantly commenced flinging his own wide- awake up, and with unerring aim perforated it every time. A Captain Wilson, ambitious of distinguishing himself, requested leave to have a shot at it a permission readily A YEAR IN BENGAL. 255 granted, on condition that he (Captain Wil- son) allowed one in return at his glossy ten- and-ninepenny. Captain Wilson acceded, never thinking Mr. Davies would have the heart to injure his bran-new headpiece, and in all complacency succeeded in hitting the already riddled wide-awake. "Now's my turn," said Mr. Davies, snatching up his rifle. " Off with your hat, Wilson." Captain Wil- son was aghast. What ! seriously desecrate his beloved beaver ? Surely not. Mr. Davies was inexorable, and, moreover, not a man to be trifled with ; for, cocking his rifle, he said, very gravely, "I tell you what, Wilson, if you don't instantly send that hat of yours up, I'll just fire at it on your head." And he de- liberately raised the weapon to his shoulder. This was growing ticklish, and as Captain Wilson preferred risking his hat to his brains, he reluctantly tossed it up. The sharp crack rang out clear, and the hat fell minus a part of the brim, while Captain Wilson ruefully examined it, mentally vowing never to try such experiments again. We then adjourned to a tent erected for dancing. Many had 256 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, been the cogitations respecting the procuring of the band. The gallant Mr. Macgregor took it in hand, and promised to arrange matters with his colonel, rather a grumpy old gentleman, who, after acceding to the re- quest of allowing the band to play, positively refused to hear of their walking such a dis- tance. Again the dauntless Mr. Macgregor came to the rescue, and by dint of borrow- ing all his friends' tats and throwing open his own stable, the band duly appeared, their instruments and books slung behind, career- ing up the hill-side on every imaginable species of horse and pony, and of course in the highest of spirits. Some of the ladies pre- ferring a rambling expedition to the archery many were engaged in, our amiable little friend, Mr. Wren, volunteered as a squire of dames, and took the lead, boldly calling on all to follow, and he would guide them safely. Scarcely were the words out of his mouth when a slip of his foot sent him rolling down the khud. A suppressed shriek of alarm was changed into unequivocal bursts of laughter, for the poor little man had been caught in his A YEAR IN BENGAL. 257 perilous descent between the forked branches of a tree, which suspended him, like a golden fleece, by his coat-tails. In vain his kicks and struggles ; he was too securely fastened. One or two of the ladies humanely ventured a short way down, and with long sticks com- menced poking the unwilling inhabitant of the tree-top in hopes of extricating him ; but whether from laughter or inability, they failed in dislodging him, and were compelled to seek for stronger help, which restored the blushing youth to a more natural position on terra Jirma, not soon to act as leader on such treacherous ground in future ; and, after considerable merriment, we wended our way homewards, delighted with our day at Cox's bungalow. Natives are so accustomed to look on the feminine members of their own race as in- ferior creatures altogether, that it is some- times difficult for ladies to exact from them the proper amount of respect and submis- sion. A native will always help a gentle- man first at dinner, if not sharply looked after, and, as an habitual rule, ignores all VOL. i. s 258 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, ladies' commands, as far as he can do so consistently with the safety of his place. When a lady hires a servant herself J he con- siders himself in some degree bound to her, but when a bachelor marries, his servants unite in being passively rude, and perfectly deaf to the new lady's orders ; and a gentle- man, to enforce obedience to his wife's rule, must particularly and pointedly say that he shall require for the Mem- Sahib, and expect from each servant in his establishment, the same obedience they yield to him. Keith exacted (in appearance at least) great re- spect both for himself and us ; if any of the men-servants had to bring a message to our part of the house, after tapping at the door they would retire several feet back, and wait patiently with folded hands till some one came to attend to them. The show of dahlias at Landour was something marvellous; they grow perfectly wild, and whole acres of khuds are covered with their showy blossoms. When you picked a flower of course it was generally almost single, but the effect of the whole was A YEAR IN BENGAL. 259 gorgeous in the extreme, and I used particu- larly to admire them ; when the turf under- neath the plants was thickly strewed with their fallen leaves, the brilliant colours, mixed with the Lycopodium moss, made a carpet fit for Titania. The Jharnpaunees were very fond of adorning themselves with dahlias; while waiting for us outside the church, they usually employed their time in the pleasing duty of sticking one behind each ear, much in the fashion of a horse's rosettes. The conclusion of service was always the signal for a tremendous scene of confusion among the Jhampaunees, and it seemed a perfectly hopeless matter ever to think of finding your own among such a crowd of figures so undistinguishably alike ; your only chance is to stand still till the Tyndal sees you, and then it is all right, but how people manage who have not a Tyndal I cannot conceive. The hill used to look quite gay on Sundays, with the various jhampauns going merrily home, and their bearers chant- ing their monotonous song. Keith one day s2 260 THE TIMELY KETRE AT ; OK, interpreted it for me, and it ran thus : " Go carefully now, my brothers, we are going down hill. Beware, there is a large stone on the left, while on the right the road looks rough and uneven. Take care, go slowly, now, for we are turning, the path is very steep, and behold there is another Mem- Sahib coming to meet us ; . also in the dis- tance is a horse appearing. Take care, take care." And so it goes on, while the men be- hind repeat, in murmuring cadence, " Take care, take care." Towards , the close of the rains, the con- tinual landslips taking place all round us be- came quite alarming. You went down to Mussoorie by the usual path, and on re- turning in an hour's time, found it broken clean away, gone down the khud; and un- less you are very careful, you have a great chance of following it. We have often been compelled to turn back, and retrace our steps a long way, from finding some path totally impassable, even for cat-like Jham- paunees or hill ponies. These landslips often threaten to overwhelm bungalows A YEAR IN BENGAL. 261 perched in little nooks of the hills ; indeed, I should feel nervous at living in one, unless it had a good wide space behind. The darkness comes on so suddenly that we were often caught on the Mall, and had to find our way home as best we could. After two or three narrow escapes from unex- pected landslips, if we had forgotten to have a lantern waiting at the foot of the hill for us, we never dared go on without bor- rowing one from the soldiers at the dep6t, or impressing some wandering native, by the hope of bucksheesh, to light us home. Natives never think of stirring without a light after dark, as they are dreadfully afraid of wild animals, thieves, and, above all, ghosts. Keith had long determined to take us with him on a shooting excursion into the interior of the Himalayas, and I had always looked forward to the idea with unmixed pleasure. We had proposed undertaking a pilgrimage to Gangoutri, the mysterious source of the holy Ganges, but having been tempted by balls and gaieties to linger in Mussoorie till 262 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, there was not sufficient time for such a long expedition before Keith's leave expired, we gave up the plan, and Keith determined in- stead to march through a part of the Teree country, which was a less trodden route than the other, being out of our own terri- tory altogether. We hoped to be able to reach the snows, and Keith had visions of adding a tahir to his hunting trophies, hav- ing shot specimens of almost every other species of game in the Himalayas save this. It is a kind of wild goat, very large, very wild, and only to be found close to the snows. As soon as the last ball of the sea- son was over, we commenced making pre- parations for our jungle life. None of our lady friends had ever been on a similar expedition, so no one could give us the slightest information as to what we should require. The only fixed idea we had on the subject was that Keith announced he could only allow us one pittarah each for our per- sonal luggage. We expected the weather to be frightfully cold further up, and we knew it was then very hot in the sun, so we must A YEAR IN BENGAL. 263 prepare for all emergencies. Remembering our old mountain experience, we determined on a costume at once useful and original. Our black felt riding-hats divested of fea- thers and bows, the brims well turned down to protect our eyes, a thick roll of white muslin twisted round to shield our heads from the fierce rays of the sun, and blue veils to guard our complexions from its bad effects, riding-habit jackets buttoned up close to the throat, and short grey woollen skirts, with black cloth riding-trousers JUNGLE COSTUME. 264 THE TIMELY EETEE AT ; OR, strapped under the boots (the said straps were discarded after the first day as imprac- ticable), the heels of our boots well studded with nails, and a long stick with a spike at the end, which Keith thought would assist us to climb, and you have a picture of what we thought a very sensible and suitable dress for the jungle. We could not quite do without any kind of feminine adornment, so the muslin ends of the pugheree which hang down the back were ornamented with little red stripes, which Keith declared would scare away all the game, and as we were obliged to conclude that muslin sleeves would be very much in the way, we had little scarlet flannel ones sewn into our jackets. Keith himself adopted an entire suit of dingy olive-green, helmet and all covered to match, which was always his shooting colour, to deceive the poor deer and other animals, so that in a wood or on a hill-side it was difficult to distinguish him. When our expedition to the interior was fully arranged, Keith wrote a letter to the A YEAR IN BENGAL. 265 Rajah of Teree, requesting him to send us two of his Chuprassees to accompany us on our wanderings, as it , would facilitate our procuring provisions to have these men of authority with us, and a few days afterwards, on going for our evening ride, we met them on their .way. to our house, carrying huge tulwars (native swords), and bearing a large missive 'from their master to Keith, expres- sive of the Rajah's happiness in doing any- thing for our gratification. Then commenced a series of annoyances about Coolies : just at this season it was difficult to procure them, for the cold weather coming on, many families went down to the plains for the winter, and the Coolies had full employment without leaving their homes. At last, by sending to Raj pore, and offering four annas per diem, we succeeded in beguiling a troop of ill-conditioned, dirty, ragged natives to surround our bungalow with professions of anxiety to enter our service ; a better dressed one in the lot acted as spokesman. This was their Tyndal, and on hearing that we had one of , our own, they refused to accompany 266 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, us, and were about to depart; but Keith, knowing that we should have the same diffi- culty with all others, determined to dismiss our own man, on which they agreed to stay; but our six Jhampaunees hearing of it, came forward, and vowed if their Tyndal went away they would follow him, till Keith re- minded them that would be rather a losing transaction, as two months' wages were owing to them, which they would thereby forfeit ; so, with much grumbling, they thought better of it. You are compelled to keep your servants' pay one or two months in arrear, or they are sure to walk off and leave you when their services are most required. Then the laying in of provisions reminded us forcibly of our Calcutta experience, only we knew better what was wanted ; and as it would be doubtful what we were to subsist on the first few days, a succession of tongues and salted humps were ordered, besides an im- portant-looking piece of fat bacon, Keith having found from former experience that game alone was very dry eating, never A YEAR IN BENGAL. 267 having any fat on it, wild animals taking too mucli exercise for that substance. Tents were looked to, and numberless blankets put up. Nora having been an invalid, had a small charpoy, which was taken to pieces every morning and made up in the evening. Keith and I each possessed an india-rubber sheet, supposed to be a suffi- cient safeguard against damp. When the all-important topic of what we could do without had been arranged, it was deter- mined books were an essential, so we made a special expedition to the Landour Library, and succeeded in hunting up some volumes, which had their full complement of pages, with the exception of "Lewis Arundel," which was minus its cover and some fifty leaves at the beginning and ending ; but the old soldier in charge strongly advised us to take it, saying it was " such fine reading;" and very glad we were that we complied with his request, as it was the pleasantest companion we had. These filled one 'pit- tarah, and the man who carried it must have had a strong back. At last all was 268 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, ready. Our first, march was to be Cox's bungalow, the scene of some of our pic-nics. This camping-place had been chosen on ac- count of being an easy distance from Mus- soorie, and we were to pass a night there to see if all had been properly arranged, and in case of any essential having been for- gotten, it could be easily sent for. And there, on the site where we had dined and danced, a merry party, were now pitched our three tents Keith's, ours, and though last, most important, the Bobbachee Khama, which I soon learnt to look upon with feel- ings of the greatest respect and affection. That first night was one of but little rest for us, what with the strangeness of our posi- tion, and having to make such shifts for room and conveniences ; then the entrance to our tent being a simple flap of sailcloth easily raised, it seemed utter madness to think of sleeping when robbers or animals might so comfortably walk in;, and as it did not quite close, we got glimpses of the dark blue sky and a star or two, and the boughs of trees over our tent, waving and looking mysterious in the night. The dogs, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 269 too, were anything but happy, and kept howling and barking constantly; while the poor Ayah was so ill that we were afraid she would be unable to proceed next day. In the morning we found breakfast laid on a folding-up table, under a venerable hill oak, and had great difficulty in keeping our seats from the uneven nature of the ground ; but we had unusual luxuries in seats and a table, very few people on a shooting expedi- tion caring for such encumbrances. Our ponies were ready saddled to carry us as far as it was practicable for them to go, after which we were to be disposed of in dandees. A dandee is a machine of very simple construction, being a long pole, with a piece of sailcloth fastened to it for a seat; a rope is passed across the back to lean against, and the same to place the feet on ; two men carry the pole on their shoulders, and you proceed sideways, crab fashion. It is a ca- pital way of seeing the country, as nothing obstructs the view; but when ruthlessly dragged through thickets of thorns, as we often were, we wished for some defence for 270 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, THE DANDEE. our knees and back. If we mounted once that day we must have done so fifty times, for the path in many places did not deserve the name of one at all, and the ponies had to scramble down places where Nora wisely sat down and let herself slip ; at last it got quite too bad for them, and with many a petting word and fond adieu we dismissed our four-footed favourites, but "Tommy," who A YEAE IN BENGAL. 271 was an old campaigner, still continued with us, behaving precisely like a human being; the others were to remain at Landour, and there await our return from our expedition. Our first experience of dandee travelling was down a hill-side, and I expected every moment to be forcibly ejected from my seat, and had to cling with my arms clasped round the pole ; but we were rewarded by finding a perfectly tropical valley, abound- ing in ferns, many varieties quite unknown to us, and all in a profusion and luxuriance that would have sent a botanist into rap- tures. The Dandee-wallahs were highly amused at our excitement, for we insisted on being set down, and rushed frantically from one beauty to another, call ing to each other to admire, while our men patiently sat down and enjoyed a smoke: their hookah never was idle; it was always making a round, and each took a few whiffs and passed it on ; they seemed to consider that it had a reviving effect, but it appeared to me to set them off coughing, till I expected them to choke. But we dared not delay, as we had a long inarch before us, and the last 272 THE TIMELY KETREAT ; OR rays of the sun were tipping the hills as we entered the Valley of the (Eglevar river, which Keith had destined as our first camp- ing-place. The banks of the valley were cul- tivated throughout the whole length of it, fields of rice sloping one over the other, like the vineyards of the Rhine. We chose some cleared fields for our camping-ground, and had to wait patiently two mortal hours for our tents to arrive. This taught us a lesson : always to despatch them some time before we ourselves started, that the men might have things in readiness on our arrival. BREAKFAST IN THE JUNGLE. A YEAK IN BENGAL. 273 Finding, however, that after the first morning waiting for breakfast delayed our starting too far into the heat of the day, we determined in future to despatch one Khit- mutghar and some camp equipage very early to some appointed spot, there to await our arrival. But before leaving our camping- ground, Nora and I always insisted on hav- ing some chupatties by way of breakfast. Keith had so accustomed himself to do with- out any but necessary meals, that he con- sidered early chupatties an absurdity, and no doubt the Khitmutghar thought the same ; but as we were turned out very early, and knew we had no chance of any breakfast till twelve, or some indefinite time after that, we were positive on the point, and some very thick underdone chupatties, and a tumbler of water, always made their ap- pearance with the Ayah in the morning. Sometimes we got a little butter with them, then we thought ourselves very well off; but often the Khits were too idle to make butter, or could not procure milk (in which case Nora and the Khit VOL. I. T 274 THE TIMELY RETREAT } OR, always had a difference of opinion on the subject), and then they sent us in guava jelly a very good thing in its way, but when you have a large lump of it given you to eat with a half-raw flour-and-water cake, I must confess it is rather difficult to swal- low. During our morning refection, we often heard Keith's voice outside the tent : " I say, when are you two coming out ? The men are waiting for those plates, and unless your tent goes off soon, it will hardly be up in time for you to-night." The operation of making butter is so simple, that it was really a great shame the men did not always have it made for us. Some milk is put into a bottle, and a KHITMUTGIIAB, AND COOLIE. A YEAR IN BENGAL. 275 man sits shaking it slowly until the butter comes. It is just the kind of indolent occu- pation a native enjoys. Keith was greatly amused once to find we had been eating butter made of buffalo's milk, without being aware of it; but really, except for its very pale colour, I saw no difference. Sometimes it was very difficult to procure milk at all; the people would refuse altogether to sell it. Then they keep it in such dirty wooden vessels, that unless you have it milked into your own basins at once, it is worse than useless, as it turns sour instantly. When we stopped to breakfast about noon, the villagers would often say there was no milk ; the morning's milk was done, and they could not get any more till late in the afternoon. Keith would try to reason with them, that the milk would not be created like a flash of lightning, just at four o'clock when they went to milk, but was collecting little by little all day, and if they would go now they would doubtless be able to procure as much as he wanted. But reasoning is gene- rally utterly wasted on a native: the dis- T 2 276 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, cussion usually terminated by our having to take what we wanted. It always required three men to carry a bowl of milk into camp : first went the Teree Chuprassee, to show we had the Eajah's authority for all we did ; our man Keniah went to see the other did his duty, and to enforce orders ; and last, the goatman to carry the milk, which, of course, neither of the others thought of touching. After the first two nights in camp, that miraculous pony, " Tommy," was sent home, as it was utterly impossible for him to pro- ceed any farther, and no living pony save himself could have got so far. It was popu- larly reported among the servants that he could scale a straight wall, but even Ms re- markable powers failed before the formidable crags we encountered, and " Tommy Tattoo" and his amusing tricks departed from our camp. By the way, that is an absurd pecu- liarity of all natives they will persist in adding each animal's class to his name, just like Christian and surname, as Tommy Tattoo, Harry Coutah (dog), Minnie Pussie. I think Keith's little Ghoorka Chuprassee A YEAR IN BENGAL. 277 Keniah. deserves a separate notice. He was an energetic, restless man, who always looked so wide awake that you expected his eyes would inevitably fall out of his head. He affected a kind of gamekeeper's style of dress, and was a first-rate Shikaree (hunter), enjoying the sport as much as his master did, and was the only man in whose courage Keith placed any confidence. In case of emergency, especially in the dangerous and apparently fascinating pursuit of elephants, as a general rule, when you have fired off one gun, and turn hastily round to receive a second from your attendant, you find he has taken to his heels at the first glimpse of the enemy, and is already half a mile behind. When we brought Nora up to the hills during her fever, Keniah rode a little tat beside my brother's palkee the whole way, and was ready to turn his hand to anything, acting as his personal servant all the tune ; and those who understand natives will know what a stretch of complaisance that was. These little Ghoorkas are as strong as hill ponies and as brave as lions. I have heard gentlemen, after shooting expeditions, speak- 278 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, ing in raptures of their powers of endurance and good fellowship. When provisions failed, they cheerfully lived on Abernethy biscuits and whisky, throwing caste to the winds. Their reverence for the sacred cow, however, is too strong a prejudice to be lightly overcome, and there was a serious disturbance in the Ghoorka battalion in the Dhoon in consequence of the European pen- chant for beef. Now whenever the inha- bitants of Dehrah desire to taste the for- bidden food, they have to send up a secret message to Mussoorie, and a Coolie brings down a covered basket, in blissful ignorance of what it contains. How utterly ridiculous these prejudices of "caste" appear to us. A gentleman at Dehrah told us all his Coolies threatened to leave one day because they discovered a tallow candle in their lantern, that being an article they have a mortal aversion to; he showed them, how- ever, that the straps of the jhampaun they daily carried were made of leather, equally part of a dead animal. As they principally gam their livelihood by being Jhampaunees, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 279 it would not do to discover anything about them contrary to their caste ; so they thought better of it, and remained with him. It is difficult at first to persuade oneself that the black from a native's hand will not come off on anything white. Among our sticks was one a great favourite of the dan- dee men. The handle had evidently been scorched, I suppose to straighten or other- wise improve its appearance; and it was consequently quite black. Nora pointed it out to me, after it had been in use some days, saying, "There, I always said the colour came off these people's hands, and now you see it does." Hill people have few or none of those absurd prejudices about caste that warp the minds of the plains men. The high class Mussulmans on the Afghanistan frontier will often join our officers at mess, if they are previously assured there is no pork on the table, and these Hindoos, Rajpoots, as they call themselves, know little, and care less, about that obnoxious word " caste," unless some officious plains people explain it all to 280 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OE, them. Travellers' servants are, of course, very mischievous in this way. Keith always visited with the severest displeasure any such case of tampering with the simple minds of the mountaineers that came to his know- ledge. One day he offered a lump of guava jelly, left from our morning chupatties, to a village boy, who began to eat it with great relish, but was instantly called aside by one of our Coolies, and duly instructed in the exceeding impropriety of touching any food belonging to a Feringhee, and the child threw away the sweetmeat with disgust. Keith instantly had the offending Coolie summoned to his presence, and after a severe reprimand he was turned out of camp. We had now fairly left civilisation behind, and began to enter with full zest into the enjoyment of the free wild life of the jungle. Every night we pitched our transient home in some new spot, generally in the neigh- bourhood of some village, keeping at a re- spectful distance, however, because there are no sanitary regulations in force in these parts, and we often had cause to remember A YEAR IN BENGAL. 281 Coleridge's remark, " that he had traced seventy distinct diabolical smells in Cologne," and thought our hill villages first cousins, in some respects, to the far-famed cathedral town ; but it was necessary to consider that our Coolies purchased their "otta" the coarse flour, which is their principal food every day. These poor creatures were well pleased when they could get otta, which was not always the case, although we had the Rajah's permission, backed by the presence of his Chuprassee, to take as much as we wanted, at a tariff of prices fixed by himself, yet the villagers often put the poor men off with mundoor, a horrible seed, which looks very like buckwheat when growing, but when made into chupatties (for we tried some as an experiment) tastes as much like baked mud as anything I can conceive, never having eaten the latter compound. There is one lovely crop on these hills, and the seed from it is really very nice, baking fresh and crisp ; they call it " Batou," but it is just what we call Prince Regent's Feather at home; and no one can imagine 282 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, its brilliant effect on the hill-sides in masses who has only seen stiff single plants. It is much larger in size here than with us, and varying in shade from the palest pink to the deepest scarlet, and from the most delicate straw to a dark olive. Its glowing tints give a richness to the colouring of the landscape quite^inconceivable. One of our dandee men was a Punjabee, a very active, restless fellow, a perfectly dif- ferent type and temperament to the others. We called him the " Zouave," from his pre- datory habits : he had all the mercurial light- heartedness of a Frenchman, and was the established wit of the party. Whenever we neared a village he was always despatched by his companions to forage, and collected stores of gourds, cucumbers, and such-like luxuries, often bringing down on his devoted head storms of abuse from some offended villager an attack he seemed always to parry with consummate impertinence, to judge from the merriment of his companions. Always in good spirits, and inclined to make light of all discomfort, always the first to insist on A YEAR IN BENGAL. 283 running up some extra steep hill, and the first to declare he should die on reaching the summit, our Zouave generally con- trived to keep himself and companions in good humour all day. Our dandee men held themselves quite aloof from the other Coolies, owning no brotherhood with them, or obedience to their Tyndal. They had such a number of bundles to carry, that after the first day we were obliged to allow them a Coolie for their baggage alone. The two eldest men ruled the little TDand, fighting all the battles, and purchasing all provisions for the common store; of course -the Zouave was always in the thick of everything that was going on, but the younger members seemed to yield unquestioning allegiance to their seniors, and waited patiently by when any knotty point was being discussed. There was one red-haired man who had excited great at- tention at Landour, no one ever having seen a Jhampaunee with anything but black hair before; he constituted himself our special body-guard, and wherever we wandered, we 284 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, were sure to find our faithful attendant close at our heels, just like a dog, and it was equally difficult to get rid of him. Whenever we saw, as we were being car- ried past, any pretty flower or leaf, pointing towards it, we called out " Do, do" (give), until after two or three snatches at ugly or common flowers, the desired object was at- tained; very often, however, they refused to pick some especially gorgeous flower or berry, but following the usual plan of treat- ing us like children, would shake their heads, saying, " Krab" (bad), and push hastily on out of the way of temptation. No doubt we sometimes wanted poisonous things, but I am quite sure they often said so just to pre- vent our stopping too often. There was one creeper especially, which flung itself in beau- tiful festoons from the highest trees, with large bunches of thick long pods, covered with a strange, shiny, woolly substance, hang- ing in tempting profusion close to us. I often asked for this pod, but never could get it, till one day, having set us down to rest beside a stream, the men occupied in A YEAR IN BENGAL. 285 washing their hands and faces, chattering and smoking, Nora and I climbed up and secured some very fine specimens, which we proceeded to inspect. I broke some of the pods open, and we were examining the fur round them, when some of the hair (getting through my gloves, I suppose) made my fingers grow suddenly hot, and begin to swell. I pulled off my gloves, and was looking ruefully at my red hands, when the dandee men discovering what we were about, set up a shout of laughter at the scrape the Missy Babas had got into. It was no use to look offended, as I felt inclined to laugh myself. I dipped my hands into the water, but without effect, and then one of the men went and fetched some kind of leaf, which he pounded between two stones, and pouring a little water over it, desired me to lay the poultice so made over rny wounded fingers ; it cured the smarting directly. Nora not having broken open any of her pods was not so badly off, and the men pitched away the remainder of the offending seeds, and all the rest of the day were making joking allu- 286 THE TIMELY EETREAT ; OR, sions among themselves about those wretched pods, as I could hear "Missy Baba" con- tinually repeated. They had never heard of Eve, or no doubt that would have been their text. Were I to note the various changes in the (always lovely) scenery we passed through, it would be a continual chant of all the superlatives in the English language, and second-hand raptures are apt to be fatiguing ; but I must allude to the flowers. Everything in the vegetable world grows on such a large scale, and in such profusion, it wearies your senses to take them all in, particularly when you feel keenly your botanical educa- tion has been sadly neglected. In some of the valleys and rivers the most exquisite creepers were growing in the wildest luxu- riance, and with a wealth of blossoms that cannot be described. The grasses are so enormous, and mingled with plants of such startling singularity, that again and again you pathetically repeat, " Why was I not taught botany?" These grasses are often much higher than yourself, and clinging on their A TEAR IN BENGAL. 287 stems are gigantic grasshoppers, and such fabulous-looking insects, that I was often re- minded of that picture representing the Brobdignag farmer's hand picking up Gulli- ver from the field, in which the stalks, leaves, and insects are all painted such an exagge- rated size. Pushing our dandees through the tangled network of jungle was sometimes very hard work, particularly when I had my umbrella up. Having broken my parasol the first day, I borrowed from a Chuprassee a blue cotton umbrella, with brass handle and top, worthy of Mrs. Gamp. This saved me some scratches, but often I was obliged to put it down, and then it was real purgatory : our collars were torn to pieces, our hats dragged off, and left hanging on trees ; at night we often found our necks skinned, and bleeding from the thorns, and as for dresses, some Kifle officers who joined us afterwards de- clared they could easily trace us all the way by the shreds left in the briers, and brought us some scraps to prove their words. We camped one night beside Mukhian, a purely Brahminical village, containing a large 288 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, temple dedicated to the idol Narg (literally a serpent), in whose honour, I suppose, they were blowing horns, and making hideous noises all night. Our presence created an immense sensation, such a sight never having been seen in the village before. Even our Ayah was followed about by people shriek- ing out "Balatee !" (foreigner) till, dreadfully frightened, she took refuge in our tent, from whence nothing could induce her to emerge. The villagers rapidly collected, and were seated in rows on the bank near our tents for the purpose of gazing their fill on the strangers. It was just like a theatre. When the people in the dress circle had satisfied their curiosity they retired to the back, and their seats were instantly filled by others in constant succession till night closed in. In the mean time, however, we had very nearly come to a dreadful dispute with them, for Brahmins are the most idle, insolent, un- manageable people on the face of the earth, and Keith held them in such intense aver- sion, that very little would have made him quarrel with them, which would have been A YEAR IN BENGAL. 289 unwise, considering our position. These men positively refused to give any otta for our Coolies, and when shown the Rajah's permit, only laughed at his authority, saying their village belonged to the god Narg, and they owned no allegiance to any Rajah. This ap- peared in some degree true, as the Teree Rajah, finding it impossible to get any tribute or obedience from the Brahmins, made a merit of necessity, and presented the village to the temple. This was no reason why our Coolies should starve, however. Some of the men had the face to come asking for medicine and advice, while refusing to sell us an ounce of food. Keith declared he would give no medicine save in exchange for flour, and would take it by force. The matter was getting quite serious; the crowd looked hostile and threatening. Keith was ex- amining his rifles, and counting how much assistance he might reckon upon from our men, when fortunately a man from a neigh- bouring village offered to bring flour for the men if he received quinine for himself; and as of course we much preferred being peaceable if VOL. I. u 290 THE TIMELY BETBEAT ; OR, possible, Keith ate his dinner in comfort, and ignored the impertinent crowd without. We had been fortunate hitherto in procuring food for ourselves at the villages, as our salt pro- visions, with the exception of the humps and a tin box of " soft speldings," which were a great stand-by, had proved uneatable after the first day or two. Before we started, we heard dismal tales of gentlemen " very good shots, too" who had found it quite impos- sible to provision their camp; for, starting with the idea of shooting each day's dinner, they were compelled ignominiously to return, having marched sometimes for two days and only seen a " blackbird." I have said little of our dangers and alarms from the perilous paths and steep khuds we were daily carried over, because I wish people to preserve their belief in me as long as possible, and I feel a moral con- viction that were I to detail half we really went through, my readers would throw the book aside with an impatient exclamation of total incredulity. In the first place, there are no roads through these jungles, and A YEAR IN BENGAL. 291 how the men ever found their way is still a miracle to me. When the camp broke up in the morning, one Khit marched first, with a detachment of Coolies carrying the provisioning department. The tents then generally disappeared. Keith was always to be seen with Keniah at his heels, looking for game. (A Chuprassee will always carry a gun, though he may refuse to take a bundle of much lighter weight ; but a gun is an aris- tocratic implement, and conveys no idea of degradation.) "We probably started next, and Keith's solemn, respectable bearer always remained on the ground till every individual article had been packed in the kilters (baskets like creels) and despatched. He himself al- ways walked behind the last Coolie, bring- ing him up to time in the evening. It was astonishing how instantly we lost sight of everybody else. When we scaled a steep hill, we sometimes saw a line of slowly moving black dots wending their way round some point. It was a great relief to our minds when we could discern them, as it was im- possible to help believing sometimes that we u2 292 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, were really lost. Whenever we passed a rivulet, we always looked anxiously for foot- prints, and if we saw a wet mark on a stone, we felt pretty sure it must be one of our men ; but if we discerned a nailed heel in the damp ground, we were instantly relieved, knowing no boot save Keith's could have passed that way. The men often had con- sultations about the road, and guided them- selves by signs unknown to us. Sometimes, after a vigorous controversy, unable to de- cide, they would, with stentorian lungs, shout, ^'Zemindar, which road?" and an invisible voice from some hill near would respond by the single word "Upper," or "Under" a direction which always seemed to satisfy the men, and they hurried on, though how the Zemindar guessed the place we wanted to find is a mystery still. However, we always reached the camp in safety. As for the posi- tion in which the dandee was sometimes placed, here is a sketch, but that can only give one kind of peril, while ours were changing every moment. Often the pole of the dandee was perfectly perpendicular. The A YEAR IN BENGAL. 293 DANDEE IN DIFFICULTIES. two men below seemed unable to do more than support it, and could not attempt to move on, while your knees are bruised and your ankles nearly rubbed off by the rocks, and you cling to the pole till your arms are strained, and your shoulders ache so at night, 294 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, that you believe rheumatism would be a joke to it. It requires some practice and self- possession to preserve your balance and sit perfectly still, especially when, struggling up some steep crag, you hear the front man, after frantically clutching at the grass and stones near, faintly ejaculating, " Dandee tout ghia" (all broken or gone), and a breathless Coolie from behind scrambles up to aid him. Keith sometimes used to watch our transit over some particularly dangerous bit, and then say he would not sit quietly in a dandee as we did for a hundred thousand pounds, to be carried over places where a single false step would have sent us down a khud, con- sisting of a yard or two of dry, smooth grass, just sufficient to give you a good impetus for the cheerful leap of about two miles, ending, of course, in total annihilation at the bottom. But we had tried at first the plan of getting out whenever it looked dangerous, and found we might as well make up our minds to go on foot the whole way, as the dangerous parts were endless; and what with the nervous shrinking from possible upsets, and the amount of balance required, a dandee is A YEAR IN BENGAL. 295 by no means perfect rest, and we were gene- rally quite tired out at the end of the day, even when we sat resignedly through every- thing, except those extra bad points where the men put us down, saying it was impos- sible to proceed. Then we had to scramble up, armed with a stick, and assisted by one of the men who always took great care of us. Every one knows how slippery the fallen spines of fir-trees are, and we had to pass under forests of them, which was always a nervous time for us, as no steadiness of foot could always save the men from slipping. Then the rivers we had to ford were a real trial of courage. The men had a great and natural objection to getting wet, and, leaving their slippers at the side, would jump from one round wet stone to another, jerking us violently, while the rushing, roaring water beneath was suggestive of anything but pleasing thoughts. The bridges, if there were any, consisted of a single plank, which, vibrating considerably in the middle, pre- sented after all but a choice of difficulties. We determined to rest over Sunday at the village of Bhargee, and as we arrived 296 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, tolerably early the night before, Nora and I went on an exploring expedition into the village, which was a rather large and un- commonly dirty one. As usual, it looked entirely deserted; but seeing we appeared quiet, unoffending people, the inhabitants began to reappear, and we got some sketch- ing subjects such hideous old women ! Keith declares, when men grow old they look like gnarled and knotted oaks, but old women become more dreadful every year. No wonder, when he has been accustomed to Puharrie (hill) women, their angular, skinny arms, with the elbow-joints so sharply de- fined, the tangled grey hair flying like twisted snakes about their frightful wrinkled faces, and a filthy mat of ragged covering. Really Macbeth's witches were respectable old ladies compared to these hags. The villages are full of women and children : you rarely see any men. They are out with the cattle, the only labour they condescend to under- take at home. All the agricultural work is done by women. These hills are far more populous than I expected. You everywhere see little clusters A YEAR IN BENGAL. 297 of huts, dignified by the name of a village, dotted over the hill-sides long, low build- ings, with overhanging roofs, which are covered with very thick, unwieldy slates (found in plenty all over the hills), of no particular shape. The slate is of such bad quality it will not break up into the thin, neat squares we are accustomed to see. They are, however, generally hidden from view by a luxuriant crop of gourds, or cucumbers, hanging in profuse masses, and giving the hut, at a distance, a great resem- blance to the vine-clad cottages of Italy. They do not indulge in the number of doors and windows that we think necessary, but content themselves with one aperture, which serves both for light and egress. On this they expend great attention, however, often carving the posts, and having two or three pretty little wooden Byzantine arches and pillars, all on exactly the same pattern, de- signed, no doubt, in old times by some cunning workman, and scrupulously copied to this day by their descendants. I saw, however, in two or three villages, wonderful exceptions to this rule ; sometimes the groups 298 THE TIMELY RETREAT , OR, round these doorways were refreshing to an artist's soul. But it was only when we camped near a village that we could see much of the people. As we approached, warning would be given that strangers were coming, and we found that nearly all the inhabitants had hidden themselves; the men skulking for fear of being pressed to work, the women being locked up lest we should see them : our turbans and hats probably made them believe us all " Sahibs." Sometimes, on approaching, we would hear a shrill feminine voice, in a very high key, loudly protesting against being shut up, and pro- claiming her right to see all that passed a kind of embryo lecture on " woman's rights," which, however, gained her not the slightest amelioration. All through the hills that strange custom is prevalent of allowing each woman to have several husbands, so opposed to the usual habit of Eastern nations; but, as the Pu- harries always kill two-thirds of their female infants, I suppose there is not a wife apiece for the men. When this territory lapses to Government, as it will probably soon do A YEAR IN BENGAL. 299 seeing the Eajali is ninety, and has no son infanticide will be much checked if not altogether stopped. Every day's march now gave us nearer and more exquisite glimpses of the eternal snowy range. I believe any one who has travelled thus far, and only once seen a sunrise on the snows, would acknowledge the trouble of his journey out and home had been repaid a thousandfold. You can never be wearied of gazing on the scene. Those snowy peaks gleam out with dazzling purity alike through the cold blue light of early morning, or bathed in the bright rosy blush of the setting sun; and high above, piled in fantastic confusion, rise the many-tinted palaces of cloudland, and you are looking at this wondrous panorama through a vista of luxuriant tropical trees, and seated on a carpet of the rarest exotic ferns, and of these ferns, at Mussoorie, we were told we could find three hundred different species ; but after having with some trouble collected about fifty, we were inclined to feel dubious about the others. Now, I should not be astonished at being told we might find 300 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, three thousand. Every day the Coolies ruth- lessly trod down beds of delicate maiden- hair and gold and silver ferns that would have made the fortune of a London gar- dener. When the Rifle officers joined us at Bhargee, serious fears were raised of the commissariat department standing such a drain on its powers; it was therefore con- sidered the safest plan to act on the mutual principle, and dine with each other alter- nately, to see that neither party took unfair advantage of the other, by consuming more than their proper share. The first night this arrangement was carried out, Nora and I doffed our jungle attire, and appeared in modern black silks, with some of the sweet wild clematis in our hair. Our camp was about a stone's throw from our friends', and when the repast was ready, Mr. Hamilton, the head of their party, came with lighted torches and a train of Coolies to guide us safely over the inequalities of the road, one of the gentlemen remaining at home to re- ceive us in state. And very picturesque was A YEAR IN BENGAL. 301 the scene. The numerous camp-fires, each with their allotted number of Coolies, smok- ing, chatting, and cooking their food, while the white tents shone with many a ray of bright moonlight, let in through the tangled branches of the forest, the whole shut in with a dark band of solemn, silent hills, and canopied with the deep blue vault of heaven and its myriads of shining stars. It was rather different to any dinner party I have ever witnessed. The dining-room was a square tent, just large enough to hold the table with us six in number seated round on various impromptu seats. A port- manteau on end was a valuable resting- place; one had an inverted basket, with a pillow on it to raise it sufficiently. The tent was lined with crimson and dark blue, the sides artistically arranged with guns, rifles, shooting-belts, powder-horns, and a little vivandiere's keg, which had done good service in the Crimea. Fancy quoting Longfellow and Shakspeare while eating tahir (wild goat) steaks and roast shikaw (hill partridges) ! Mr. Hamilton had such 302 THE TIMELY EETEEAT ; OK, a classical taste that he could not think of reading any secular author, save Shakspeare, in the jungle; so of course we naturally had numerous references to " Cymbeline" and "King Lear," while Nora and I, not having such expansive minds, preferred Tennyson and Longfellow. Then the next day's shoot- ing having been arranged by the gentlemen, at a gothic hour as Londoners would have thought, but very late for the jungles and tired hunters, we wended our homeward way escorted by our hosts, and greeted by uproarious demonstrations on the part of the dogs. Many a merry evening have we thus passed, to be marked with one of the few white stones of our life's pilgrimage. Bhargee abounds with snakes. Keith killed one outside our tent, and showed us its poison-fangs ; indeed, scarcely a day passed without some of our party encounter- ing and despatching one of these venomous reptiles. Next day our camp only moved to Mainde, a distance of three miles, to give the gentlemen an opportunity of devoting their energies entirely to shooting; and each A YEAR IN BENGAL. 303 one taking a Bhargee guide, set off in high spirits, and returned in the evening tho- roughly tired and rather disgusted, with a very scanty supply of Manaul pheasants ex- cellent birds in their way, but not realising the visions of deer and tahir with which they had started. Keith had discovered the track of an enormous bear, whose footprints he, as well as the guide, at first took to be those of a human being; but as Mr. Ogilvie and himself had determined to reserve them- selves for the pursuit of tahir alone, he was afraid of alarming them by firing at anything else, and so let Bruin escape. They had seen some tahir, but not near enough to kill any. These animals are very wild, and, when once startled, will travel perhaps fifty miles with- out stopping ; so it is useless to look for them two days in the same place. All agreed that no day's deer-stalking at home was anything like so fatiguing as the exertions they had made with so little visible results. When you hit a bird, most likely it falls a mile down some khud, and by the time you reach the spot it is nowhere to be seen ; so you have 304 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, to climb the opposite side, and when you arrive at the summit, after an hour's weary toil, find you are apparently about a stone's throw from your first position. The Coolies manage to scramble up, carry- ing a heavy gun, where the gentlemen de- clared, had they been obliged to hold a gun, it must have been with their eyelids, that being the only muscle unoccupied. Nora and I spent the day in searching for sketches, and having scrambled down to a mountain torrent, discovered the ground strewed with walnuts, of which, with the assistance of our faithful attendant, the red-haired Coolie, we collected a number, which were produced with great pride at dessert. But, alas ! we found, though looking exactly like English nuts outside, these deceitful things had then: lining membrane made of wood inside the shells, so it was nearly impossible to get any- thing to eat out of them. Of course no one had any crackers, but stones were plentiful, and after several fingers had been grazed, and thumbs had narrow escapes of crushing, we gave up the fruitless attempt in despair, A YEAR IN BENGAL. 305 and were compelled to acknowledge our day's hunting had been as unsuccessful as our neighbours'. Most people have remarked what a calm- ing effect a distant line of blue hills has on the mind; they are so fair, so pure, so pas- sionless. The same feeling, in a much greater degree, is caused by nearing the snowy range. Nothing on earth can give you so solemn an impression of eternity. Those lofty white peaks rearing themselves so majestically into the sky, their extraordinary stillness and purity, their immense size, which crushes and overwhelms you, above all, their sub- lime superiority to all around, must lift your thoughts necessarily from earthly to heavenly things, from time to eternity. I would not envy that (educated) man who could wander over these hills without feeling himself humbled in mind, less worldly in spirit, more childlike in heart, without owning, whatever his outward creed, that his soul was lifted nearer to his God. I say "educated" man, because the miserable inhabitants of these regions, having eyes, see not. VOL. i. x 306 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, One of our camping-grounds Taal was as exquisite a combination of scenery as can well be conceived ; a piece of undulating table-land, with two small lakes, and clumps of trees ready laid out for a park ; and such a view of snow ! When these hills become civilised, what a site for a mansion would this be. Only fancy the first shooting-box somebody builds there, eleven thousand feet above the sea ! I could not sleep all night from the cold. In the morning we always woke to crisp hoar-frost, and the first hour's march .was with blue hands and aching feet. No amount of clothing seemed to make any difference. How mad people at home would think you if you slept in tents during a frost. Another day's march brought us through thickets of wild raspberries and most slippery beds of wild strawberries to the lovely valley of Mahrgong, the spot where Keith deter- mined to remain a few days. Our friends had preceded us, and we saw their white tents about a quarter of a mile off. We were about one day's march from the snows, and in about an hour from hence you leave A YEAR IN BENGAL. 307 all vegetation behind; and yet this valley was full of enormous trees and tropical exotics, flourishing with all the beauty of Ceylon. It gave one almost a painful feel- ing of solitude to see gigantic patriarchs of the forest lying uprooted just where they had been flung by some violent storm, and where they must have lain untouched for years, as young trees had grown up, and were bending over the prostrate trunks ; while from their mouldering hearts wild roses had sprung, and sweet forest flowers were blossoming gaily around. The first day at Mahrgong, all the Coolies from both camps were marshalled in long files, and detachments told off" to "beat" down all the neighbouring khuds; and all day long the startled solitudes' rang with hideous cries and the sharp click of rifles, and the astonished echoes repeated to us in varying tones their horror at the in- trusion. At length, however, they grew fainter and fainter, and we were left to all the luxury of unbroken rest and dreamy meditations. Now we could appreciate and 308 THE TIMELY RETREAT J OR, fully enjoy the books we had brought with us, and wander in spirit with Amyas Leigh and his lion-hearted band through those mysterious primeval forests of the New World, whose tropical, luxuriance has been so wondrously shadowed forth to us by Kingsley's matchless pen; or follow the weary steps of the sorrowing Evangeline, in quest of her lost love, through the pathless prairies, the tangled and trackless woods of the Far- West. The love that lured her on was an earthly one, and long years of toil and disappointment alone taught her to raise her thoughts from earth to heaven. And are not we all searching with unsatisfied hearts for some object it may be for health, amusement, riches, but all for happiness, the mystical myth that ever eludes our grasp as surely as did Gabriel the path of the wandering Acadian maiden, fortunate if per- chance it may be found, when this fleeting world is fast fading from our ken? And after a hard day's toil, is it not sweet to lie back amidst the wavy grass and shadowy fern and listen to the voice of the mountain stream, till we deem we hear the dreamy A YEAR IN BENGAL. 309 chant of the pale-eyed lotus-eater for ever murmuring on, " Rest, we will not wander more"? The day's shooting ended in Keith's bring- ing a tahir into camp a slate-coloured animal, about as large as a donkey, with a long, thin neck, not at all resembling our ideas of a civilised goat to the immense delight of all the Coolies; for though we pronounced the steaks bitter and tough, they considered them as great luxuries. The tahir is almost the only wild animal with fat on it, and fat of some kind seems a necessary of life to a native. Of course our Zouave was most actively assisting in the skinning of the tahir. Mr. Hamilton asked us how we liked the haunch of saumbre (large deer) venison that man had got for us. "We knew nothing about any venison. Mr. Hamilton said they had wanted the haunch for themselves, but were assured by. our. Zouave it was already bought for his Sahib. Now it appeared clear the man had taken it for himself, and Keith considered it his duty to call him to account for obtaining provisions under false pretences. 310 THE TIMELY RETREAT ; OR, We were sorry to think our light-hearted Zouave's spirits should receive such a check as we knew a reprimand from the Sahib would infallibly be; but fortunately, on in- quiry, it was found the man had given the native who shot the deer seven annas for the haunch, which, all things considered, was a fair remuneration. Consequently, the only harm he had done was telling the story to secure it. But as it would be utterly hope- less to make any native believe deception to be a crime, Keith thought he had better ignore the whole subject. We had a gay dinner party that evening, talking over the escapes and adventures of the day, and our Khits surpassed themselves in the dinner, which was most recherche for the jungle : first, tahir soup, followed by two little legs of boiled lamb, with caper sauce: I could not at first understand why the dish looked peculiar, till I remembered one generally sees a quarter of lamb, not a pair of legs ; roast chickens (the hill fowls are just as much superior to ours as the moorghies of the plains are inferior; no A YEAR IN BENGAL. 311 alderman can command such a luxury as a fat hill chicken) ; for vegetables we had tiny hill potatoes, something bigger than marbles; and guignon, the roots of the white arum, which look just like Jerusalem artichokes, with not so much flavour. Roast shikaw and red currant dumplings formed our second course. We had taken out some bottled fruit, which was a great stand- by. -The hills at that season offered no dessert; nevertheless, I feel sure our ban- quet (especially the lamb) will long rank in the remembrance of those present far above the most brilliant success of any Parisian artiste. The Puharrie men, who watched their herds of cattle from some very pic- turesque choppers (thatched huts) in the neighbourhood, solemnly declared all the calves must inevitably die, as the " Sahib logue" had drunk up all the milk meant for their sustenance. Game continuing very scarce, after the third day the gentlemen got wearied, and determined to move their camps, our friends going towards Teree to pay a visit to the 312 THE TIMELY RETREAT; OR, old Rajah, and we, retracing our steps towards Landour. This scarcity of game, always complained of by sportsmen, arises first from the endless feeding-grounds the wild animals have to roam over ; and then, when the first snows fall, and they are driven down defenceless from the high ranges, the villagers construct a high hedge, sometimes many miles in length, with the only openings filled by snares ; so, when the flocks of deer, &c., find this obstacle to their progress, they rush into the snares and pit- falls, and hundreds fall an easy prey to the villagers, only a remnant escaping for next year. The tents were struck and we turned our steps steadily homewards, with many a long, lingering look at the eternal snows we were leaving behind us, and silence and solitude fell once more over the lovely valley of Mahrgong, where the ashes of our camp-fires were the only traces left of our temporary home in the wilderness. The ashes were all we left behind, but what vivid pictures of loveliness, what endless food for day-dreams did we not carry away ! A YEAK IN BENGAL. 313 It is pleasant, in our peaceful English home, to shut our eyes and think of the Imperial Hills, in all their solitary splendour and savage beauty. I know that day by day the sun lights up those, grand old mountain-tops, and its rosy rays fade slowly from their rugged peaks, and that night by night do those long solemn shadows steal silently up the hill-sides, and wrap the glorious old pines in their dark embrace ; the feathery ferns still rear the marvellous tracery of their fragile foliage beneath the protecting shade of those primeval woods, while the wild winds of heaven still sweep their sad and mournful dirge from the shadowy boughs of those forest trees. END OF VOL. I. VOL. I. 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