save by violence. It bears a Sanscrit inscription recording the history of Rajah Dhara, who erected it A.D. 317, and "who obtained by his own arm an undivided sovereignty on earth for a long period"; and it also bears other inscriptions. It is said that the aspect of the Kootub on a clear starlit night is exceedingly beautiful. It has then a weird, unearthly appearance, its white top shining out, as it seems, in the sky; while the shadows in the mass of buildings around it, and especially in the court of the great arches, add to its impressiveness. But we have here in this vast waste, extending over fortyfive square miles, a monument of oft-repeated spoliation and reckless cruelty which makes us ashamed of human nature, and which is especially calculated to give us a horror of aggressive warfare. These ruins show that it has no respect for the highest productions of genius, for the tenderest associations of inheritance and home, for the rights of industry, or for the common brotherhood of mankind; that all must perish before an insatiable ambition, which, after all, when a few generations have passed, leave but the empty shadow of a name! But we return to Camp. * WE ARE ORDERED TO MARCH TO MEERUT! at that age capable of forging a bar of iron larger than any that have been forged even in Europe up to a very late date, and not frequently even now. As we find them, however, a few centuries afterwards, using bars as long as this bât in roofing the porch of the temple at Kanaruc, we must now believe that they were much more familiar with the use of this metal than they afterwards became. It is almost equally startling to find that, after an exposure to wind and rain for fourteen centuries, it is unrusted, and the capital and inscription are as clear and as sharp now as when put up fourteen centuries ago. "As the inscription informs us, the pillar was dedicated to Vishnu; there is little doubt that it originally supported a figure of Garuda on the summit, which the Mahommedans of course removed; but the real object of its erection was as a pillar of victory to record the 'defeat of the Balinkas, near the seven mouths of the Sindhu,' or Indus. It is, to say the least of it, a curious coincidence, that eight centuries afterwards men from that same Bactrian country should have erected a Jaya Stambha ten times as tall as this one, in the same courtyard, to celebrate their victory over the descendants of those Hindoos who so long before had expelled their ancestors from the country. To my mind,' says Mr. V. Balls, 'the most wonderful sight there is the great iron pillar of the Kuttub.'"-Fergusson. CHAPTER XII. MEERUT. O MEERUT! The country between Delhi and Meerut is rich and well cultivated, but the people appear to be generally poor, owing to the prevailing system of land tenure, whereby (it would seem) the proprietors take about a third of the gross produce for themselves, and the Government two-ninths, leaving only four-ninths for the cultivator. Of old it appears to have abounded with groves; now, not a grove or an avenue is to be seen anywhere, and but a few fine isolated trees. "I asked the people of the cause," says Sleeman," and was told by the old men of the village that they remembered well when the Sikh chiefs who now bask under the sunshine of our protection used to come over in bodies of ten or twelve thousand horse each, and plunder and lay waste with fire and sword, at every returning harvest, the fine country which I now saw covered with rich sheets of cultivation, and which they had rendered a desolate waste." As it was but thirty miles from Delhi to Meerut, we soon reached it. MEERUT, which is situated in the centre of the Doab (between the Ganges and the Jumna) is a very ancient place, dating as far back as the time of the Buddhist Emperor Asoka (250 years B.C.). In A.D. 1193 it was taken by Kootub-ud-Deen, the builder of the Kootub-Minar at Delhi. It was a fortified town when Tamerlane invaded India, and after he had subdued Delhi came hither (1399 A.D.). That cruel tyrant was told that the people had determined to Here formerly stood one of those metal pillars erected by King Asoka, which it is said was removed hence to Delhi by the Emperor Feroze Shah. defend themselves, saying that Turmachurn Khan, who invaded India at the head of a similar body of Tartars a century before, had been unable to take the place; which so incensed him that he resolved himself to do so, and, having succeeded, skinned alive the Hindoo men found in it, and distributed their wives and children as slaves among his soldiers. Meerut was regarded as a depopulated and ruined town in 1805, about which time it was selected as a site for a great military station required near Delhi (the centre of Mahommedan power in India), yet not in its immediate neighbourhood, as we were under treaty not to have European troops there. The military establishment consists of a major-general commanding the division, a brigadier commanding the station, one or two regiments of European cavalry, and one or two of European infantry, some artillery (horse and foot), and a large body of native soldiers.* The Station is the largest, healthiest, and most social, and by consequence is considered the most agreeable Station on the Bengal side of India.† The * It will be remembered that it was at Meerut that, after various symptoms of disaffection at Barrackpore, Umballa, Lucknow, and elsewhere, the spirit of rebellion broke into a desolating flame on May 10th, 1857. The troopers of the 3rd Native Cavalry, some men of which corps had the previous day been sentenced to imprisonment for insubordination, rose in mutiny, burst open the gaol, set free their comrades, shot down their officers when they came forth to see the cause of the uproar, and, joined by the Sepoys and all the rabble and scum of the populace, murdered every European they could lay hands on, set fire to the barracks and bungalows, and, after spreading destruction far and wide, were allowed, by lamentable incompetence on the part of the aged and feeble-minded officer in command of the Station, to proceed to Delhi, to stir up there the smouldering fires of Mahommedan hatred and rebellion, and aid the conspiracy already hatched there under the discrowned Mogul emperor. To this lamentable incompetence, and our general want of preparedness, all our subsequent calamities may be traced. The news of the outbreak was telegraphed to Delhi, and nothing more was done that night. The mutinous Sepoys reached Delhi. The next morning the Mahommedans of Delhi rose, and the Great Rebellion was in full swing. "The author of "Four Years' Service in India," who followed our steps in 1846, found even Meerut, however, hard to bear for the multitude of insects. "When the hot season set in, we were tormented to death (as it were) with bugs: they were in our cots by thousands. Very seldom could we sleep upon our cots at night. We would take our bed, and lay it upon the ground in the open air. This was the only way we could get a bit of rest.' He adds, with apparently great exasperation : "When the day approached, the heat would be so excessive, that no one dared venture out for fear of being struck by the sun. We had several killed by it, and in the barracks we were so hot that it was complete torture to be there. The sweat would come through everything we had barracks which are a series of long thatched buildings, with verandahs—and the white bungalows of the officers, stand on a wide plain, four or five miles in extent, one of the principal features of which is a noble Church, with a lofty and handsome spire. The cemetery-for, alas! everywhere in India the graveyard is close at hand-is a large one. Here lie the remains of General Gillespie,* distinguished by a lofty pillar, which bears a brief record of his deeds. It was Gillespie who suppressed the Mutiny at Vellore, which, originating in the rashness of certain martinets who interfered unnecessarily with the habits of the sepoys, threatened to shake to its very basis our Indian dominion. It was he who battled with the Dutch at Java (when died the memorable JOHN LEYDEN,"A distant and a deadly shore Has Leyden's cold remains "),- and, after fighting his way into the heart of Nepaul, fell in the assault of Kalunga.† Let us pause to drop a tear on this tomb. What thousands upon us; in fact, we could have nothing on but a thin pair of drawers, with no shirt; and the millions of fleas that would be continually tormenting us would be sufficient to drive men mad. When getting our victuals our plates were black all over with the flies. We were obliged to eat with one hand and buffet them away with the other. I have often heard our men curse their God; and they would get as much money as they could, and then go and get so drunk they could not speak. They would often say that was the only way they could have peace: but I could not see any pleasure in such a way. I have seen men die in this state, and others drown themselves or shoot themselves, whilst a number lose their senses and die raving mad." This is very dreadful, and far beyond our own experience or observation, which, after all, has shown life in India to be tolerable, though trying, to the sober man. DRINK IS THE SOLDIERS' Curse. * "I do not know that a greater compliment has ever been paid to the British character," says Mr. Knighton, "than was paid by the Ghoorkas of Nepaul when we were fighting against them at Kalunga. They showed their perfect trust in British honour by soliciting and obtaining medical aid for their wounded, even when the batteries were playing on both sides. One poor fellow whose jaw had been shattered by a shell came into the British lines, waving his hands as a signal that he had something to say. He was received kindly, and it soon appeared that he gave himself up to his enemies, knowing that they would give him medical assistance in his great need; and he was not deceived. It was by moral victories of this kind that the Indian Empire was won, rather than by force of arms." +"A famous regimental pet in days gone by was Black Bob,' a horse which belonged to the 8th King's Royal Irish Light Dragoons-now Hussars. Black Bob was foaled at the Cape, and he became the favourite charger of Rollo Gillespie, Colonel of the Royal Irish.' The heroic Gillespie fell at Kalunga (1814), and after that affair Black Bob was put up for auction, of the brave have fallen in laying the foundation of our glorious Empire! Yet, though they have fallen, they live. "They fell devoted, but undying; The very gales their names seem sighing; Rolls, mingled with their fame, for ever." It would appear, however, that Meerut is occasionally subject to the same violent storms that visit Cawnpore. Mrs. Sherwood, whose husband was stationed here, says: "I first observed the appearance of a heavy squall rising in the northwest, and being acquainted with its portents I ran to the house, and saw that every window, door, and shutter was closed. This being done, I held the principal door in my hand to admit some air; but prepared to close it should the wind come on with fury. The appearance of the approaching 'with his saddle and housings still spotted with the blood of his gallant master.' Gillespie was greatly beloved by the Royal Irish, and they determined not to let his charger go out of the regiment. The upset price was three hundred guineas, and an officer of the 25th Light Dragoons bid four hundred guineas; but the Irish troopers subscribed five hundred guineas amongst themselves, and so Black Bob became their property. Black Bob always marched at the head of the regiment, and could distinguish the trumpets of the 8th from those of any other corps. It is said that he was particularly partial to the air 'Garryowen,' always pricking his ears when the band struck up the national tune. At length, when the 8th were ordered home, circumstances rendered it imperative that their pet' should be sold, and Black Bob was bought by a civilian at Cawnpore, to whom the Irish troopers returned half the purchase-money on his solemnly undertaking that the old horse should pass the remainder of his days in comfort. But poor Bob had only been three days in his new quarters when he heard the trumpets of the 8th as the regiment marched off at daybreak to embark for Calcutta. At the well-known sound the old horse became frantic, and made every effort to escape from his stable; until, worn out with his exertions and well-nigh strangled, he sank down exhausted. As days passed by, and Bob saw no more the familiar uniforms and heard no more the trumpets nor the voices of his old comrades, he began to pine away, refusing his corn and any other food that was offered him; so his owner had him turned out into a paddock. But the moment he was free, Black Bob jumped the bamboo fence, and galloped off to the cantonments of the European cavalry. Making for the parade-ground, the old horse trotted up whinnying to the saluting point, and on the spot where he had so often taken post with Rollo Gillespie on his back, watching the squadrons of the Royal Irish defile past, Black Bob fell down and died."-Art Journal. |