Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

I forgot to mention in their proper places the things which I saw while at Furreedpoor. One was a specimen of the native fox, running near Mr. Warner's house, and so little afraid that one might almost have laid hold of him. He was a beautiful little animal, not much larger than a hare, of a more silky fir and squirrel-like tail, than the English reynard, and is rather serviceable than otherwise, inasmuch as though he sometimes catches small birds, his chief food is of field-mice and white ants. Another circumstance was, that my boat was visited by a blind beggar, (a young countryman,) with his wife, a fine young woman, her features not very delicate, but her person remarkably well made, and the tallest female whom I have seen in India. I gave them alms, and when she thrust out her hand to receive them, she displayed massive silver bracelets, worth, I should think, at least 25 or 30 shillings. Yet these were beggars; and to judge from their scanty and wretched clothing in all other respects, I doubt not objects of pity. But for this poor woman to sell her bracelets, was a thing which probably never would occur to her as possible, except under urgent and hopeless hunger. She had also rings on her ankles, which, indeed, drew my attention to her sex, for her height made me at first suppose her to be a young man, and her dress, which was a coarse sackcloth mantle, might have belonged either to male or female. Her manner was extremely modest; she never let go her husband's hand, and was evidently annoyed by the sort of notice she attracted from the boatmen and my servants. The old blind man led by a little boy, whom we saw on the Chundnah, made his appearance also at Furreedpoor, a proof of his wandering habits. The existence of these beggars, as it implies that they obtain some relief, may seem to exculpate the mass of Hindoos from the charge of general inhumanity and selfishness, so often brought against them. At the same time, in a country where there is no legal provision for distress, it is almost needless to observe, that in cases of blindness, leprosy, lameness, and helpless old age, to give to beggars as we have the means, is an obligation of justice as well as charity.

July 29.-Our course the early part of to-day was chiefly along the north-east bank, and in part through a succession of "aits," beds of reeds, and overflowed ground cultivated with rice. The weather pleasant, and not very different from an English summer day. Indeed, I have as yet seen nothing to make me lose the opinion that the rains in India are by no means an unpleasant season. Several circumstances reminded me painfully of poor Stowe. At about half past nine we passed what he and I had, in our previous passage, taken for a clump of tall trees; but which, now that I saw it nearer, appeared to be a single but very majestic banian. I looked in vain for the islet where we passed our

[blocks in formation]

evening, (his last evening of health and high spirits,) and where he waded after the wild ducks into the marsh, which so unhappily affected him. The increasing flood had now covered it; but I recognised the village where we passed our first night in what we called, in merriment, " India beyond the Ganges;" where we saw the dwarf, and the "lodge in the garden of cucumbers ;" while, standing out a little, to avail ourselves of the wind in the next reach, we grounded on a part of the same line of marshy islets which we had traversed on foot a few weeks before. 1 could not help feeling that now I had nobody to compare my impressions with; none whose attention I might call to singular or impressive objects,-that I was, indeed, a lonely wanderer! Such thoughts are, however, useless, and perhaps they are hardly innocent; with a great object before me, with Providence for my guide, and with the power of a constant correspondence with a beloved wife, I have no right to regard myself as solitary or forsaken. But having nobody to talk to will probably swell the size of my journal.

The country improved very much in the course of the morning, and the number of fishing-boats was really extraordinary; most of them had their sails spread between two bamboos, one on each gunwale, as common in the South Seas; and the groupes, both of boats and fishermen, skimming past the beautifully wooded bank, afforded subjects for painting such as I should have delighted, had I possessed the necessary talent, to transfer to paper.

About half past one, and when we were not far from the stream which diverges from the Pudda, between Pulna and Radanuggur, Mohammed, in excessive carelessness or ignorance, contrived to lose his way, by going directly north, round a large island in the middle of the river, and consequently in a channel leading back again towards Jaffiergunge. We soon found that we had the stream with instead of against us, and asking some fishermen, learned the mistake. We had scarcely, I think, gone a mile wrong, when we attempted to return; but having both wind and stream against us, and very bad towing ground, it took up the whole afternoon, till past six, to get out of the scrape again, and to moor in the main stream, by some marshy ground, so completely drenched with water, that my bearers were unable to find a place to dress their victuals. This loss of half a day's fine wind was excessively provoking. The delay, however, gave time for the servants' boats to join us, which must else have been completely distanced. We passed, this evening, the first crocodile 1 have seen. It was swimming leisurely, pretty close to our boat, but I could distinguish little but what looked like a heavy log of wood, drifting down the stream. The people, however, called out, "Coomer! Coomer!" and my servants, being Calcutta

[blocks in formation]

people, seemed interested and curious to see it. Abdullah said it was rather a large one, but that I should see enough to tire me by the time we got to Rajmahâl.

After all, our progress during this half day was not inconsiderable; and I began to entertain better hopes of a timely arrival in the Upper Provinces than I had for some days ventured to

cherish.

At a

July 30.-We still suffered this morning from Mohammed's ignorance, which had completely embayed us in the curve of the northern shore, so that to get round the point between us and the Pulna reach occupied nearly half a day's grievous labour, up to their breasts in water, to the poor boatmen. About half-past five we arrived at the mouth of the Comercolly; the wind had now in a considerable degree died away; it was still, however, enough to carry our boats in a full west course by my compass, across the opening of the Comercolly, (which is about as wide at this season as the Thames at Vauxhall,) and some small distance along the right bank of the main river, where we brought to on the margin of a fine dry pasture of fiorin grass, one of the airiest and best stations which we have had during the voyage. short distance was a collection of very poor huts, with a herd of cattle round them. I walked to them, and found a complete dairy, or rather perhaps, grazier's establishment, for they had not many milch cows. They were the herds of the village, united under the common care of two or three men "gaowale," (cowmen) who kept them in these and similar pastures, this being a celebrated grazing country. The calves and young stock were penned up in two circular enclosures of bamboo and thorns, and the cows and oxen lay quietly ruminating on the outside. I saw no dogs, nor did the herdsmen (for there were no females among them) seem to have any weapons or means of defence against wild beasts, a sufficient proof that they are not numerous here. The men, however, seem to be prepared for, and accustomed to watching in the open air, having a greater wrap of turban round the head and neck, and longer and warmer mantles than are usual in Bengal. They are a caste by themselves, tall, robust men, many with long beards, and all wilder looking than the majority of their countrymen. I was reminded of Crim Tartary, but missed the long spear, the huge dogs, the high-mettled horses and covered carts of those noble shepherds. These men were very civil, and regretted they had no milk for me, as they only took a very little from each cow once a day, the remainder going to the calf. One old man, however, brought up some milk which he was boiling for his own supper, and willingly sold half of it for a couple of pice, my own goats now supplying me with little. The evening was very fine, and though the night was too dusky

[blocks in formation]

for me to walk far, I strolled backwards and forwards, enjoying the delightful elasticity of the dry turf, the fresh breeze of the river, and the fragrant breath of the cows till near ten o'clock. A great many small boats still continued to glide along the stream, as if engaged in nightly fishing, and the dash of their paddles, and the blowing of the porpoises, were almost the only sounds which broke the general stillness. Altogether it was an evening to enjoy and to be thankful for, and a scene which I left with regret.

July 31.-About half an hour after we set out, and while we were close to the shore, we passed by a number of extremely small and mean huts, patched up in a temporary way with boughs and rushes. I asked Mohammed what they were, and he answered "they were people from the upper kingdom." Abdullah said

they were a sort of gipsies, who lived by fishing. Some of them came out of their booths as we passed, a race that no man can mistake, meet them where he may, though they are, as might be expected from their latitude and their exposure to the climate, far blacker here than in England, or even than the usual race of Bengalees are. They are the same tall, fine-limbed, bony, slender people, with the same large, black, brilliant eyes, lowering forehead, and long hair curled at the extremities, which we meet on a common in England. I saw only one woman, and her figure was marked by the same characters. In height she would have made two of the usual females of this country, and she stepped out with the stride and firmness of a Meg Merrilies. Of the gipsey cast of her features I could not, however, judge, since, though half naked, she threw a ragged and dirty veil over her face as soon as she saw us. This trait belongs to the upper provinces. In Bengal a woman of her rank would not have thought concealment necessary. There were no boats immediately near them, but a little further we overtook several filled with the same sort of people. The river was here much narrower than it had been for the last day or two, being, as I suspect, divided by islands. Many birds of the crane and stork species were feeding, and there were two at some distance which I thought were pelicans. But if they were, they were smaller than those of Russia, and had more brown on their wings. We passed several stacks of millet, just gathered and piled up, with a small stage and shed erected in the middle for a watch-house. This is the season I was informed for reaping millet; they thrash it out with oxen and a small roller. I also observed some maize, of which I have frequently seen the ears at table, plain boiled, and eaten with salt and butter, like artichokes. The rice along the banks was growing very tall, green, and beautiful; this is the first crop, and to be cut next month as soon as the water has

APE-SURDAH.

reached it; the rice is reckoned most valuable and wholesome which remains the longest dry.

At a neighbouring village I saw an ape in a state of liberty, but as tame as possible, the favourite, perhaps the deity, certainly the sacred animal of the villagers. He was sitting in a little bush as we stopped, (to allow the servant's boats to come up,) and on smelling dinner, I suppose, for my meal was getting ready, waddled gravely down to the water's edge. He was about the size of a large spaniel, enormously fat, covered with long silky hair, generally of a rusty colour, but on his breast a fine shot blue, and about his buttocks and thighs gradually waving into a deep orange; he had no tail, or one so short that the hair concealed it; he went on all fours only. I gave him some toast, and my sirdar-bearer (a Hindoo) sent him a leaf full of rice. I suspect he was often in the habit of receiving doles at this spot, which is the usual place for standing across a deep bay of the river, and I certainly To ascend have never yet seen a human Fakir in so good case.

a tree must be to a hermit of his size a work of considerable trouble, but I suppose he does so at night for security, otherwise he would be a magnificent booty for the jackalls.

We now stood across the bay, passed through another nullah, and then again stood over a wide extent of marsh, of which the long rushes still appeared above the water. Porpoises continued to rise, which, considering the distance from the sea, is what I should not have expected.

The extent of water here really surprised me; we stood northwest by north, and to the west and east I could not, from my cabin-windows, see any land. We anchored on a sandy islet partly covered with reeds, partly with the remains of a crop of indigo, which a herd of cattle were eating down.

August 1.-Our wind unhappily failed us in a part of the river where we might have derived the most essential service from it, and the greater part of the day we were towed. I feel much regret at occasioning these poor men to labour on a Sunday, but even if I lost a day, that day would not be spent by them in any devotional exercises, and to lose one in my present journey, and at this time of the year, might hazard all my hope of that journey tending to God's service. Soon after we set out this morning we found the river divided by a large island, and ascended the northern branch, the southern leading towards Jellinghy. About one o'clock we emerged into the broad stream, and continued our progress as far as within two miles of Surdah. The country on this side is very populous, well cultivated, and as beautiful as verdure, shade, water, and the splendid variety of Indian shrubs and trees, can make it.

VOL. I.-22

« PreviousContinue »