by Fanny Parkes
April – We heard, with sorrow, the death of Bishop Heber, from my sister at Cuddalore, whose house he had just quitted for Trichinopoly; after preaching twice in one day, he went into a bath and was there found dead. It was supposed that bathing, after the fatigue he had undergone, sent the blood to the head and occasioned apoplexy.
May 18th – Killed a scorpion in my bathing-room, a good fat old fellow; prepared him with arsenical soap, and added him to the collection of curiosities in my museum.
My Italian master praises me for application: he says, the heat is killing him, and complains greatly of the want of rain. When I told him we had had a little during the last two days, he replied, ‘You are the favoured of God in Chowringhee, we have had none in Calcutta.’ The natives suffer dreadfully. Cholera and the heat are carrying off three and sometimes five hundred a day.
An eclipse has produced a change in the weather, and the sickness has ceased in the bazaars.
August – A gloom has been thrown over Calcutta; and Lord Amherst’s family are in the deepest affliction, caused by the death of Captain Amherst which took place a short time ago. His lordship, his son, and his nephew were seized with fever at the same time; Captain Amherst’s became typhus, and carried him off. The family have proceeded up the country. All those who have the pleasure of their acquaintance sympathise most deeply in their affliction; they are much respected.
October 18th – My husband having received an acting appointment at Allahabad, we prepared to quit Calcutta. The distance by the river being eight hundred miles, and by land five hundred, we determined to march up stage by stage, sending the heavy baggage by water.
On quitting the Presidency, a great part of our furniture, horses, etc. were sold. I had refused Rs 2,000 for my beautiful Arab; but determined, as economy was the order of the day, to fix his price at Rs 2,500. The pair of greys, Atlas and Mercury, carriage-horses, sold for Rs 2,200, Rs 300 less than they cost; they, as well as Scamp, were too valuable to march up the country. This will give you some idea of the price of good horses in Calcutta. One morning a note was sent, which I opened (having received instructions to that effect), requesting to know if the grey Arab was for sale. I answered it, and mentioned the price. The gentleman enclosed the amount, Rs 2,500, about £250, in a note to me, requesting me to keep and ride the horse during the remainder of my stay in Calcutta, and on my departure to send him to his stables. For this charming proof of Indian politesse, I returned thanks, but declined the offer. I felt so sorry to part with my beautiful horse, I could not bear the sight of him when he was no longer my own: it was my own act; my husband blamed me for having sold a creature in which I took so much delight, and was not satisfied until he had replaced him by a milk-white Arab, with a silken mane and long tail. Mootee, the name of my new acquisition, was very gay at first, not comprehending the petticoat, but on becoming used to it carried me most agreeably. A fine Scotch terrier was given me to bear me company on the journey, but he was stolen from us ere we quitted Calcutta.
A Bengali Woman
The people in Calcutta abused the Upper Provinces so much, we felt little inclination to quit the city, although we had applied for an appointment in the mofussil. Imagining the march would be very fatiguing, I went on board several pinnaces; they did not please me; then I crossed the river to see the first dāk bungalow, and brought back a good account.
November 22nd – We quitted Calcutta, crossed the river to the bungalow, on the New Road, stayed there one day to muster our forces, and commenced our journey the next.
Our marching establishment consisted of two good mares for the Stanhope, two fine saddle Arabs for ourselves, two ponies, and nine hackeries, which contained supplies and clothes, also a number of goats, and two Arabs, which we had taken charge of for a friend. We travelled by the Grand Military road, riding the first part of the stage, and finishing it in the buggy.
November 30th – I now write from Bancoorah, some hundred miles from the Presidency. Thus far we have proceeded into the bowels of the mofussilvery much to our satisfaction. The change of air, and change of scene, have wrought wonders in us both. My husband has never felt so well in health or so désennuyé since he left England. I am as strong as a Diana Vernon, and ride my eight or ten miles before breakfast without fatigue. We have still some four hundred miles to march; but the country is to improve daily, and when we arrive at the hills, I hear we are to be carried back, in imagination, to the highlands of Scotland. I have never been there; n’importe, I can fancy as well as others. We rejoiced in having passed Bengal Proper, the first one hundred miles; the country was extremely flat, and, for the greater part, under water, said water being stagnant: the road was raised of mud, high enough to keep it above the swamp; a disagreeable road on a flyaway horse like my new purchase; low, marshy fields of paddy (rice) were on either side: sometimes we came to a bridge, surrounded by water, so that instead of being able to cross it, you had to ford the nālā (stream) lower down. No marvel, Calcutta is unhealthy, and that fevers prevail there; the wind flowing over these marshes must be charged with malaria.
Bancoorah has a bad name. It is remarkable that almost all the horses that are any time at the station go weak in the loins.
December 2nd – We reached Rogonautpoor, a very pretty spot, where there are some peculiar hills. Here we found Sir A. B— and his daughters; we accompanied them in a ramble over the hills in the evening. Sir A. took his sipahī guard with him, having heard the hills were infested with bears, but we found none.
At Chass, quail and partridge, snipe and pigeons were abundant. I generally accompanied my husband on his sporting expeditions in the evening, either on foot or on a pony, and enjoyed it very much.
At Hazāree Bāgh I became possessed of the first pellet bow I had seen, and found it difficult to use. We travelled from bungalow to bungalow. They are built by government, and are all on the same plan; at each a khidmatgar and a bearer are in attendance. At Khutkumsandy we were on the hills. Partridges were in plenty by the nālā.
At one of the stages the bearer of the dāk bungalow stole a large silver spoon off the breakfast-table. Happening, from his defending himself with great vehemence, to suspect him of the theft, we sent for the police, to whom he confessed he had hidden the spoon in the thatch of his own house. They carried him on a prisoner.
The country from this place, through Ranachitty to Dunghye, is most beautiful; fine hills, from the tops of which you have a noble and extensive view. Sometimes I was reminded of my own dear forest, which in parts it much resembles. The weak Calcutta bullocks finding it hard work, we were obliged to hire six more hackeries. We rode the whole of this stage. The road was too bad, and the hills too steep, for the buggy; but as it was nearly shaded the whole distance by high trees, the heat of the sun did not affect us. Tigers are found in this pass; and when Mootee my Arab snorted, and drew back apparently alarmed, I expected a sortie from the jungle. At this stage a horse ran away in a buggy, alarmed by a bear sleeping in the road.
At the Dunghye bungalow some travellers had been extremely poetical:
Dunghye! Dunghye! With hills so high,
A sorry place art thou;
Thou boasts not e’en a blade of grass,
Enough to feed an hungry ass,
Or e’en a half-starved cow.
Nevertheless, we saw fine jungle and grass in plenty on every side, and were told partridge and jungle fowl were abundant.
En route were several parties of fakīrs, who said they were going to Jaganāth. These rascals had some capital tattoos with them. Several of these men had one withered arm raised straight, with the long nails growing through the back of the hand. These people are said to be great thieves; and when any of them were encamped near us on the march, we directed the chaukidārs (watchmen) to keep a good look out, on our horses as well as our chattels. The adage says of the fakīr, ‘Externally he is a saint, but internally a devil’.
At Sherghāttee we delivered the stealer of the spoon over
to the magistrate. In the evening I went out with the gentlemen on an elephant; they had some sport with their guns.
At Baroon we bought some uncut Soane pebbles, which turned out remarkably good when cut and polished. We rode across the Soane river, which was three miles in breadth, and had two large sandbanks in the middle of the stream. Wading through the water was most troublesome work on horseback. Twice we were obliged to put the horses into boats, they struggled, and kicked, and gave so much trouble. The Arab, Rajah, jumped fairly out of the boat into the stream. The mares worked hard getting the buggy across the deep sand; they went into and came out of the boats very steadily.
On our arrival at Sahseram, a native gentleman, Shāh Kubbeeroo-deen Ahmud, called upon us. At tiffin-time he sent us some ready-dressed native dishes; I was much surprised at it, but the natives told me it was his usual custom. In the evening, some fireworks, sent by the same gentleman, were displayed, particularly for my amusement. The town is very ancient, and there are numerous remains of former magnificence rapidly falling into decay. The tombs are well worth a visit.
December 23rd – We arrived at Nobutpoor, a very pretty place. The bungalow is on a high bank, just above the Curamnassa river. To the right you have a view of a suspension-bridge, built of bamboo and rope; on the left is a satiground, to me a most interesting sight. I had heard a great deal regarding satis in Calcutta, but had never seen one; here was a spot to which it was customary to bring the widows to be burned alive, on the banks of the Curamnassa, a river considered holy by the Hindus.
In the sketch I took of the place are seven sati mounds, raised of earth, one of which is kept in good repair, and there are several more in the mango tope to the left. The people said no sati had taken place there for twenty years, but that the family who owned the large mound kept it in repair, and were very proud of the glory reflected on their house by one of the females having become sati. A fine stone bridge had been begun some years before by a Mahratta lady, but was never finished; the remains are in the river. The touch of its waters is a dire misfortune to an Hindu; they carefully cross the suspension-bridge.
The next stage took us to the Mogul Serai; and, some rain having fallen, we felt the difference between the cold of the up-country and the fogs of Calcutta.
December 25th – Arrived at Benares; and here, again, crossing the Ganges was a great difficulty. The Arab, Rajah, was so extremely violent in the boat that we were obliged to swim him over. At length we reached the house of a friend in the civil service, and were well pleased to rest from our labours. Rising and being on horseback by four o’clock daily, is hard work when continued for a month.
My husband, finding it necessary to reach Allahabad by December 30th, left me at Benares to discharge the Calcutta hackeries, to get others, and to continue my journey. During my stay, our friend took me into the holy city, and showed me a great deal of what was most remarkable. Long as I had lived in Calcutta, I had seen very little of native life or the forms of pooja. The most holy city of Benares is the high place of superstition. I went into a Hindu temple in which pooja was being performed, and thought the organ of gullibility must be very strongly developed in the Hindus.
It was the early morning, and before the people went to their daily avocations, they came to perform worship before the idols. Each man brought a little vessel of brass, containing oil, another containing boiled rice, another Ganges’ water and freshly-gathered flowers. Each worshipper, on coming into the temple, poured his offering on the head of the idol, and laid the flowers before it; prayed with his face to the earth, then struck a small bell three times, and departed. The Hindu women follow the same custom.
There were numerous uncouth idols in the temple. A black bull and a white bull, both carved in stone, attracted many worshippers; whilst two living bulls stood by the side, who were regarded as most holy, and fed with flowers.
If an Hindu wishes to perform an act of devotion, he purchases a young bull without blemish, and presents him to the Brāhmans, who stamp a particular mark upon him; he is then turned loose, as a Brāhmani bull, and allowed to roam at pleasure. To kill this animal would be sacrilege. When they get savage they become very dangerous. The Brahmani bulls roam at pleasure through the bazaars, taking a feed whenever they encounter a grain shop.
We ascended the minarets, and looked down upon the city and the Ganges. Young men prefer ascending them at early dawn, having then a chance of seeing the females of some zenāna, who often sleep on the flat roof of the house, which is surrounded by a high wall. From the height of the minarets you overlook the walls. I thought of Hadji Baba and the unfortunate Zeenab, whom he first saw spreading tobacco on the roof to dry. The shops of the kimkhwāb and turban manufacturers, as also of those who prepare the silver and gold wire used in the fabric of the brocade worked in gold and silver flowers, are well worth visiting.
Beetle wings are procurable at Benares, and are used there for ornamenting kimkhwāb and native dresses. In Calcutta and Madras, they embroider gowns for European ladies with three wings, edged with gold; the effect is beautiful. The wings are cheap at Benares, expensive at other places.
I was carried in a tanjan through Benares. In many parts, in the narrow streets, I could touch the houses on both sides of the street with my hands. The houses are from six to seven storeys high.
In one of these narrow passages it is not agreeable to meet a Brahmani bull. Four armed men, barkandāzes, ran on before the tanjan to clear the road. I procured a number of the brazen vessels that are used in pooja. On my return we will have it in grand style; the baby shall represent the idol, and we will pour oil and flowers over his curly head.
The cattle live on the ground-floor; and to enter a gay Hindu house, you must first pass through a place filled with cows and calves; then you encounter a heavy door, the entrance to a narrow, dark passage; and after ascending a flight of steps, you arrive at the inhabited part of the house, which is painted with all sorts of curious devices. I visited one of these houses; it was furnished, but uninhabited.
The contents of the thirteen small hackeries were stowed away upon four of the large hackeries of Benares, which started on their march with the buggy and horses. For myself, a dāk was hired. Our friend drove me the first stage, and then put me into my palanquin. I overtook the hackeries, and could not resist getting out and looking into the horses’ tents. There they were, warm and comfortable, well littered down, with their sā’ises asleep at their sides; much more comfortable than myself during the coldness of the night, in the pālkee. The bearers broke open one of my bahangīs, and stole some articles.
I reached Rāj Ghāt early, and crossed the river. The fort, with its long line of ramparts washed by the river, and the beauty of a dhrumsālā, or Hindu almshouse, on the opposite bank, under one of the arches of which was an enormous image of Ganesh, greatly attracted my attention. I watched the worshippers for some time, and promised myself to return and sketch it.
The carriage of a friend was in waiting at this spot, and took me to Papamhow, where I rejoined my husband. Notwithstanding the difficulties, which according to report we expected, we made good progress, and arrived at Allahabad on the 1st of January, after a very pleasant trip. Indeed, this short time we agreed was the most approaching to delightful that we had passed in India; the constant change of scenery, and the country very beautiful in some parts, with the daily exercise, kept us all, horses included, in high health and spirits. We travelled at the rate of about fifteen miles a day, making use of the staging bungalows that have been erected for the accommodation of travellers, as far as Benares; thence we travelled by dāk to Prāg, the distance being only ninety miles. So much for our journey which, considering our inexperience, I think we performed with much credit to ourselves.
A friend received us at Papamhow with the utmost kindness, housed and fed us, and assisted us in arranging our new residence which, by the by, has one great beauty, that of being rent free: no small consideration where the expense of an
unfurnished house is equal to that of a small income in England. Said house is very prettily situated on the banks of the Jumna, a little beyond the Fort. We like our new situation, and do not regret the gaiety of the City of Palaces; indeed, it now appears to me most wonderful how we could have remained there so long: in climate there is no comparison, and as to expense, if we can but commence the good work of economy, we may return on furlough ere long.
The peaceful termination of the war with Ava was one of the happy events of this year.
CHAPTER VIII
LIFE IN THE MOFUSSIL
PLANT A TREE, DIG A WELL, WRITE A BOOK AND GO TO HEAVEN
JANUARY 1827 – It is usual in India for those newly arrived to call upon the resident families of the station; the gentleman makes his call, which is returned by the resident and his family; after which the lady returns the visit with her husband. An invitation is then received to a dinner-party given in honour of the strangers, the lady being always handed to dinner by the host, and made the queen of the day, whether or not entitled to it by rank.
Our début in the mofussil was at the house of the judge, where we met almost all the station, and were much pleased that destiny had brought us to Prāg. Prāg was named Allahabad when the old Hindu city was conquered by the Mahomedans. We were very fortunate in bringing up our horses and baggage uninjured, and in not having been robbed en route. Lord Amherst has lost two horses, and his aide-de-camp three: guards are stationed around the Governor-General’s horse-tents and baggage night and day, nevertheless native robbers have carried off those five animals. His lordship is at present at Lucknow.