156 ARMENIAN ARCHBISHOP. ment) for my own dinner, others with a special recommen dation for my sick friend. All the return I could make, and it was one which I heartily pray God in his goodness may make useful, was the present of my Hindoostanee prayerbook, which, being splendidly bound, and containing much which a Mussulman would not dislike, I cast "like bread on the waters," though I fear on a stormy sea, and one turbid with gross indulgences and prejudices. Poor old man! I should rejoice to learn that he had sometimes looked into its pages. This he voluntarily promised to do in his last visit, and as we were alone, we had a good deal of talk about politics and other things, in the course of which he desired I would sometimes write to him. He then said, "I am not going to offer you a valuable present, but only trifles which are here common, but which in Europe would be curiosities. This muslin I do hope you will offer in my name to your lady, and instead of your present stick, now that you are lame, (I had not quite recovered the effects of the sun on my legs,) that you will walk with my cane." Of the former I am no judge, the latter is very pretty, of a solid piece of ivory, beautifully carved. It is too fine for me to walk with, but I shall always value it. I was received and dismissed on this, as on the former occasion, with presented arms. I went from the palace to the house of Meer Israf Ali, the chief Mussulman gentleman in this district. He is said by Mr. Master to have been both extravagant and unfortunate, and therefore to, be now a good deal encumbered. But his landed property still amounts to above 300,000 begahs, and his family is one of the best (as a private family) in India. He was himself absent at one of his other houses. But his two eldest sons had been very civil, and had expressed a hope that I would return their visit. Besides which, I was not sorry to see the inside of this sort of building. Meer Israf Ali's house is built round a court-yard, and looks very much like a dismantled convent, occupied by a corps of Uhlans. There are abundance of fine horses, crowds of shabby looking servants, in showy but neglected liveries, and on the whole a singular mixture of finery and carelessness. The two young men, and a relation, as they said he was, who seemed to act as their preceptor and as their father's man of business, received me with some surprise, and were in truth marvellously dirty, and unfit to see company. They were, however, apparently flattered and pleased, and showed their good manners in offering no apologies, but leading me up a very mean stair-case into their usual sitting rooms, which were both better in themselves, and far better furnished than I expected from the appearance of things below. After the VISIT TO MEER ISRAF ALI. 157 few first compliments, I had recourse to Abdullah's interpretation, and they talked very naturally and rather volubly about the fine sport their father would show me the next time I came into the country, he having noble covers for tigers, leopards, and even wild elephants. At last out came a wish for silver sticks! Their father, they said, was not in the habit of asking favours from Government, but it was a shame that the baboos of Calcutta should obtain badges of nobility, while true Seyuds, descendants of the prophets, whose ancestors had never known what trade was, but had won with their swords from the idolaters the lands for which they now paid taxes to the Company, should be overlooked. I could promise them no help here, and reminded them that an old family was always respected, whether it had silver sticks or no, and that an upstart was only laughed at for decorations which deceived nobody. "Yes," said the younger, "but our ancestors used to have silver sticks, and we have got them in the house at this day.' I said if they could prove that, I thought that Government would be favourable to their request, but advised them to consult Mr. Master, who was their father's intimate friend. We then parted, after their bringing pawn and rose water in a very antique and elegantly carved bottle, which might really have belonged to those days when their ancestors smote the idolaters. Mr. Master afterwards said, that if the Meer himself had been at home, I never should have been plagued with such topics; that he was a thorough gentleman, and a proud one, who wished for the silver sticks, but would never have asked the interest of a stranger. The young men called afterwards to see me to my boat, and brought me some toys for my children, and a travelling cap often worn by Mussulmans in this district. CHAPTER VIII. DACCA TO FURREEDPOOR. INUNDATION-GUN-BOAT ATTACKED-MUSSULMAN FAKIR FURREEDPOOR-SYSTEM OF ROBBERY-DOMESTIC HABITS OF HINDOOS-EXTRACT FROM CALENDAR. HAVING preserved these hasty recollections of the past week, I return to my journey. Being anxious to prevent Miss Stowe, who I feared had, VOL. I. 14 on hearing of her poor brother's illness, set out from Calcutta to join him, from coming to Dacca, I did not take the direct northern course by the great jeels, but sailed eastward across the Delaserry river and a wide tract of flooded country, which offered a strange and dreary spectacle, from the manner in which the wretched villages were huddled together, on little mounds of earth, just raised above the level of the inundation, while all the rest was covered with five or six feet water. I thought of Gray's picture of the Egyptian Delta, whose peasants "On their frail boats to neighbouring cities glide, But these villages do any thing but glitter. At length we passed them all, and entered what might be called a sea of reeds. It was, in fact, a vast jeel or marsh, whose tall rushes rise above the surface of the water, having depth enough for a very large vessel. We sailed briskly on, rustling like a greyhound in a field of corn: while in one place where the reeds were thickest, and I tried the depth with an oar, there was, I should guess, at least ten fect water, besides whatever else there might be of quagmire. After this we entered a nullah, with rice only partially flooded, and a succession of woods and villages, till at six we halted for the night, in a very pleasant spot, near a large village, named Nawab Gunge. I should have enjoyed my little walk, if my recollections would have allowed me. July 23.-We commenced our journey this morning with unusual alertness, but ere long it was interrupted. A sudden turn of the river exposed us, about twelve at noon, to so strong a contrary wind, that after a few trials the men declared they could not proceed, and begged leave to get their dinner, in the hope that the breeze might moderate. I was not sorry for this delay, as I hoped to receive information from Dacca which might set me at liberty to go directly northward, but letters arrived which to my great sorrow established the fact that Miss Stowe was on her way to Dacca, and made it adviseable for me to push on to meet her as fast as possible. I put, therefore, into immediate force the magic of my own silver sticks, and the potent talisman of brass which adorned the girdle of the Chuprassee whom Mr. Master had ordered to accompany me to Hajygunge, and sent to the jemautdar* of the nearest village a requisition for twenty *This appellation is variously given to a house-servant, the chief man of a village, and to an officer in the army, of a rank corresponding to a lieutenant.-ED. GUN-BOAT ATTACKED. 159 men to drag my boats, with the information at the same time, that the service would not be, as I fear it often is in this country, gratuitous. No sooner, however, were the messengers seen approaching, than half the village, fearing that it was some Government duty which was required, were seen running away to hide themselves, and it was not till the jemautdar had gone round to explain matters to some of their wives, that any tolerable workmen made their appearance. At last the prescribed number arrived, and we began moving with tolerable rapidity, and continued advancing prosperously till nine o'clock at night, when the twenty men were extremely well satisfied with two rupees among them! and willingly promised to attend next morning, so cheap is labour in this part of India. An event has occurred on the Matabunga since we traversed it, which shows the low state of morality among the peasants of India, and how soon and how surely a sudden temptation will transform the most peaceable into banditti. A large boat attached to the gunboats which arrived the other day at Dacca from Calcutta, loaded with ammunition, got aground pretty near the same place where we had the bank cut through. The country people were called in to assist in getting her off, very likely from the same village whose inhabitants we found so diligent and serviceable. The ammunition, however, was packed in cases resembling those in which treasure is usually conveyed in this country, and in consequence as is supposed of this mistake, the boat being by the accident separated from the fleet, was attacked the following night by (as is said) near three hundred people, armed with spears, bamboos, hoes, and whatever else a tumultuary insurrection usually resorts to. They were repulsed by the sepoys with difficulty, and not till several had been shot. The affair made a great noise in Dacca, nothing of the kind having been heard of for many years in that neighbourhood. A commission had gone to the spot to inquire into the case, and one of the small neighbouring Zemindars was said to be in custody. Natives, Mr. Master said, are often pillaged, and travel always in more or less danger. But Decoits seldom venture on a European boat, and still more rarely on a vessel in the Company's service, and guarded by soldiers. In the course of our halt this day a singular and painfully interesting character presented himself in the person of a Mussulman Fakir, a very elegantly formed and handsome young man, of good manners, and speaking good Hindoostanee, but with insanity strongly marked in his eye and forehead. He was very nearly naked, had a white handkerchief tied as an ornament round his left arm, a bright yellow rag hanging loosely over the other, a little cornelian ornament set in silver round his neck, a large chaplet of black beads, and a little wooden cup in his hand. He asked my leave to sit down on the bank to watch what we were doing, and said it gave his heart pleasure to see Englishmen; that he was a great traveller, had been in Bombay, Cabul, &c., and wanted to see all the world, wherein he was bound to wander as long as it lasted. I offered him alms, but he refused, saying, he never took money,-that he had his meal that day, and wanted nothing. He sate talking wildly with the servants a little longer, when I again told Abdullah to ask him if I could do any thing for him; he jumped up, laughing, said, "No pice!" then made a low obeisance, and ran off, singing, "La Illah ul Allah!" His manner and appearance nearly answered to the idea of the Arab Mejnoun, when he ran wild for Leila. July 24.-I met yesterday evening with a severe disappointment. I had left Dacca cheered with the hope that my wife, who had expressed great anxiety to accompany me in the event of Stowe's illness terminating fatally, would be able to join me with our children at Boglipoor; but I received a letter from her, forwarded by Mr. Master, which made me see that this would be impossible. This news, added to the uncomfortable state of my mind and feelings, kept me awake great part of the night, and I arose ill and unrefreshed. The labourers were after their time, and the wind being moderate, we set off without them. They overtook us, however, in two boats, in about three miles, and were of very material use in helping us on to the junction of this stream with the great Ganges. Just before we arrived at this point I saw two pinnaces in the offing. In the hope that one might prove to be Miss Stowe's, I immediately brought to, and sent off a letter to prepare her for the sad tidings of her brother's death; but the boats belonged to another party. We now proceeded again with the tow-line: the wind was strongly against us, the stream in which we were running almost full south, but the additional coolies did wonders for us. Including the crew, there were no less than twentyeight men at the rope of my pinnace, and eight to each of the other boats. About half-past one we reached the place where our stream rejoined the Ganges, which lay before us with its vast expanse of water. The woods near Hajygunge and Furreed poor lay like a long dark outline on the horizon, at the distance of about twelve miles, six miles being, I should guess, pretty nearly the width of the river. I here dismissed the country peo |