Theological Bookseller, \ 
 
 ican Tract Society House, / 
 
 /b. 142 J^assau-street, ^ 
 
 NEW-YORK. 5 
 
 fc>wt»«iM*?: ^ ^ j MM n r >t -—i*— —M^^^^- 
 
 ^ 
 
 .\< 
 
 .^/^;3 
 
 Socirts 
 
 OF 
 
 ZNQuiR-sr ON nnsszosrs 
 
 AND ^ 
 
 THE STATE OF RELIGION. 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Snelf, *VA4-A..,. 
 
 Book, M,_, V.<-S* 
 
NARRATIVE 
 
 OF A 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH THE 
 UPPER PROVINCES OF INDIA, 
 
 FROM 
 
 CAXaCUTTA TO BOinBAlT; 1824-1825. 
 
 (WITH NOTES UPON CEYLON,) 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY TO 
 
 MADRAS AND THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES, 1826, 
 
 AND 
 
 LETTERS WRITTEN IN INDIA. 
 
 BY THi: LATE 
 
 RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D. D. 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. II. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 CAREY, LEA & CAREY, — CHESNUT STREET. 
 
 SOLD, IN NEW YORK, BT G. & C. CAUVILI, IN UOSTON, l\Y 
 
 3ICNR0E & FRANCIS. 
 
 1829, 
 
^ 
 
« 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 JYEPOOR TO AJMERE. 
 
 Climate — Government — City — Palace — Durbar — Presents 
 from the Rannee — Revenues — Umeer — Lake — Great Pa- 
 lace ai)d Fort — Death of the Soubahdar — Departure from 
 Jyepoor — Manners of the Rajpoots — Children of the Sun — 
 Salt Lake— Opium — Nuptial Procession — Message of the 
 Rannee ----------3 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 AJMERE TO NEEMUCH. 
 
 Ajmere — Remarkable Fortress — Mussulman place of Pil- 
 grimage — ILncampment of Brinjarrees — Nusseerabad — 
 Bhats and Charuus — Captain Todd — Booiees — Bheel man- 
 ner of fishing — Biieels — Ranah of Oodeypoor — Chittore— 
 Anecdote of Rannee — Marble Tower — Night Blindness 25 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 NEEMUCH TO BARODA. 
 
 Neemuch — Character of Rajpoots and Bheels — Good effects 
 of British rule — Boras — Confirmation — Pertaubghur — 
 Manner of collecting Opium — Heat, and parched state of 
 the Country — Festival of the Hoolee — Bheel Huts — Palace 
 of Banswarra — Murder of Female Infants — Visit from the 
 Rawul — Jain Temple — -Sham-fight of Bheels — Visit from 
 the Raja of Barreah — Dreadful Famine — Brinjarrees - 54 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 BARODA TO BOMBAY. 
 
 Entrance into Baroda — Namdar Khan — -Cantonment — - 
 Church — Character of the Guicwar — Consecration of the 
 Church — Visit to the (inicwar — Visits from Natives — Guic- 
 war returns the Visit — Departure from Baroda — Crossing 
 the Mhye — Kholees — Swaamee Narain — Hot Winds — In- 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 • terview with Swaamee Narain — Arrival at Kairah — Insalu- 
 brity of Climate— Jain Temple — Departure from Kairah — 
 Dirficuky in crossing the Mhye — Broach — Banyan Tree on 
 an Island in the Nerbudda — Surat — Embarkation — Arri- 
 val at Bombay ----..__ 95 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 Island of Elephanta — Salsette — Gora bunder — Bassein — Cave 
 — Temple of Kennery — Pariel — Oran Oatang — Journey to 
 Poonah — Gh us — Cave at Carlee — Poonan — Conquest and 
 Government of the Deckan — Consecration of the Church 
 at Titnnah — Mr. Elphinstone— Description of the Island of 
 Bombay — Departure ----_-- 133 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 Journal of a Tour in Ceylon -.-«-. 172 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 CALCUTTA TO SADRAS. 
 
 Voyage — In'alid Officers and Soldiers from Rangoon— Cata- 
 marans — /ladras — Schools — Native Christians — Visit to 
 Pri.ice \/eem Khan — Sir Thomas Munro — St. Thomas's 
 Mount — Maha-Balipoor-^Sadras - - - , - 20a 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 To the Right Hon. Charles W. Williams Wynn, October 
 
 29, 1823 223 
 
 To the same, December 1, 1823 228 
 
 To Miss Dod, December 15, 1823 231 
 
 To the Very lev. the Dean of St. Asaph, Dec. 16, 1823 233 
 To R. J. Wilmot Horton, I^.sq. December, 1823 - - 237 
 
 To John Thornton, Esq. January 9, 1824 - - - - 241 
 To the Honou-ahle Mrs. Douglas, January 10, 1824 - - 243 
 
 To Mrs. Heber, January 25, 1824 248 
 
 To tiie Very Uev. the Dean of St. Asaj)h, January 27, 1824 249 
 To Sir Robert H. English, Bart. January 27, 1824 - - 255 
 To the Rev. E. T. S. Hornby, Februarv 5, 1824 - - 256 
 
 To Miss Dod, Frbruary 26, 1824 -' - - - - 258 
 
 To the Right Hon. Charles W. Williams Wynn, May 27, 
 
 1824 260 
 
 To Mrs. R. Hebcr, June 28, 1824 262 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 to the Same, July 10, 1824 263 
 
 To the Right Hon. Charles W. Williams Wynn, July 13, 
 1824 - - - - - - " - -- 264 
 
 To Mrs. R. Heber, July 16, 1824 266 
 
 To the Same, July 18, 1824 267 
 
 To the Same, July 19, 1824 269 
 
 To the Same, July 21, 1824 270 
 
 To Miss Stowe, July, 1824 271 
 
 To Mrs. R. Heber; July 28, 1824 273 
 
 To Lieutenant Colonel Alexander, &c. &c. &c, September 
 
 24, 1824 - - 274 
 
 To Mrs. R. Heber, September 29, 1824 - - - - 274 
 
 To the Reverend C. Cholmondeley, and Mrs. Cholmonde- 
 lev, October 19, 1824 ------- 275 
 
 To Mrs. R. Heber, December 1, 1824 - - - - 279 
 
 To the Same, December 10, 1824 280 
 
 To the Same, January 22, 1825 281 
 
 To the Same, January 28, 1825 282 
 
 To the Same, Febiniary 18, 1825 283 
 
 To the Right Hon. Charles W. Williams Wynn, March 1, 
 
 1825 285 
 
 To Mrs. R. Heber, March 13, 1825 - - - - - 290 
 To R, J. Wilmot Horton, Esq. March 1, 1825 - - - 291 
 
 To the Same, May 10, 1825 - 305 
 
 To John Thornton, Esq. May 12, 1825 - - - - 307 
 
 To the Right Honourable Lord Grenville, June 1, 1825 313 
 
 To the Honourable Mrs. Douglas, June 7, 1825 - - - 316 
 To the Reverend J, J. Blunt, June 10, 1825 - - - 317 
 
 To Mrs. Heber, September 27, 1825 321 
 
 To the Reverend John Mavor, Vicar of Shawbury, in Shrop- 
 shire, September- 28, 1825 323 
 
 To Richard Heber, Esq. December 15, 1825 - - - 325 
 To the Right Hon. Lord GrenvHIe, D( ct mber 24, 1825 - 328 
 To the Reverend Deocar Schmidt, December 23, 1825 - 329 
 To Mrs. R. Heber, February 5, 1826 . . - _ 331 
 
 To His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, February 15, 
 
 1826 332 
 
 To Mrs. R. Heber, Februarv 27, 1826 - - - - 344 
 
 To the Same, March 7, 1826 546 
 
 To the Same, March 16, 1826 347 
 
 To the Right Honourable C. W. Williams Wynn, March 
 
 21, 1826 348 
 
 To the Reverend Charles Shipley, March 28, 1826 - - 353 
 To R. J. Wilmot Horton, Esq. April 1, 1826 - _ . 354 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Circular of Mar Ignatius Georgius, Patriarch of Antioch, to 
 the British Authorities in India, recommending to their pro- 
 tection his Envoy, M;^r Atlianasius ----- 361 
 
 To Mar Athanasius, December, 1825 362 
 
6 CONTENTS. ! 
 
 Letter from Father Abraham of Jerusalem, (an Envoy sent 
 with visitorial Powers, by the Armenian Patriarch ot Ara- 
 rat, to the Eastern Churches of that Nation in India,) to 
 Mar Athanasius; sent with Bishop Heber's Syriac Letter, 
 by the hands of Mr. Doran. January 6, 1826 - - 36S 
 
 The second Letter to Mar Athanasius, March 22, 1826 - 3(8 
 Letter to Mar Philoxenus, March 27, 1826 - - - 370 
 
 Copy of a Letter from the Reverend Thomas Robinson to 
 
 Mar Ignatius Georgius, Patriarch of Antioch, 1826 372 
 
 Extracts from a Letter to the Reverend WilHam Roy, Se- 
 cretary to the Madras Diocesan Committee of the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel, October 19, 1826 373 
 
 Index _-...- 38$ 
 
 Glossary - - - - - - -- - -401 
 
NARRATIVE 
 
 OF 
 
 A JOURNEY, <^^» 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 JYEPOOR TO AJMERE. 
 
 OLIMATE— GOVERNMENT CITY — 'PALACE— DURBAR— PRESENTS 
 
 FROM THE RANNEE REVENUES—- UMEER LAKE GREAT 
 
 PALACE AND FORT DEATH OF THE SOUBAHDAR DEPARTURE 
 
 FROM JYEPOOR MANNERS OF THE RAJPOOTS CHILDREN 
 
 OF THE SUN ^SALT LAKE— OPIUM NUPTIAL PROCESSION 
 
 MESSAGE FROM THE RANNEE. 
 
 The climate of Jyepoor is described as less disagreeable than 
 I should have expected. The rains are never heavy, the cold 
 months are bracing and healthy, and the hot winds, though 
 fierce during the day, generally cease at night. The court and 
 territory are in a very distracted state. The Rannee's new 
 minister is hated by a majority of her subjects, and her au- 
 thority, in consequence, is very uncertain through the great- 
 est part of her possessions.- The people into whose hands she 
 had thrown herself, hate and fear the English, and a great pro- 
 portion of her " Thakoors," or nobles, shut up in their moun- 
 tain castles, pay no tribute, obey no commands, and declare 
 that they will obey none till the young Raja, now a child of 
 six years old, is placed on the musnud, and surrounded by a 
 council such as they can confide in. Though, therefore, the 
 Rannee has, in the present instance, carried her point with our 
 government, and obtained its concurrence to a ministry of her 
 own choice, there is little probability of matters going on 
 smoothly much longer between us, or even if the British were 
 out of the case, of the present people being long able to hold 
 the reins of government. Colonel Raper said that he could 
 easily believe that it was want of power which made her va- 
 keel fail in procuring us supplies, and in compelling the atten- 
 dance of the horsemen, and he regretted to say that he did 
 not know where to look for more serviceable troops, or a bet- 
 ter proveditore. He advised me, therefore, to take on Skin- 
 
 VOL. II.— 1. 
 
4 JYEPOOR. 
 
 ner's horse to Nusseerabad, as mj best dependance in case of 
 need. Of any serious necessity for them there was, thank 
 Heaven, very little likelihood, inasmuch as, however unruly 
 the country, they are all in awe of the numerous cantonment 
 of Nusseerabad, nor was my present escort unequal to protect 
 us from any ordinary plunderers. 
 
 January 29.— This morning Colonel Raper took me to see 
 the city and palace, as well as to present me in durbar. The 
 city is a very remarkable and striking one. Being all the work 
 of one sovereign, Jye Singh, it is on a regular plan, with one 
 very wide street crossed at right angles by three others, with 
 a square in the centre of the town which serves as a market- 
 place. The houses are generally two stories high, but some 
 three and four, with ornamented windows and balconies, and 
 many of them finely carved. They are interspersed with some 
 handsome temples in the same style with those of Benares, and 
 in the centre of the town, and adjoining the palace, is a very 
 noble tower or minaret of, I should suppose, 200 feet high. 
 The town is tolerably clean, but a great part of the houses are 
 in a state of decay. Still, however, it has a population of 60,- 
 000 souls. The palace, with its gardens, occupies about one- 
 sixth part of the city. It presents to the streets an extremely 
 high front of seven or eight stories, diminishing in the centre 
 to something like a pediment, and flanked by two towers of 
 equal height topped with open cupolas. Within are two spa- 
 cious courts, and many smaller ones, surrounded by cloisters 
 of stone pillars, except in the verandas leading to the princi- 
 pal rooms, which are of marble. The gardens, which I was 
 first taken to see, are extensive, and, in their way, extremely 
 beautiful, full of fountains, cypresses, palm-trees, and flower- 
 ing shrubs, with a succession of terraces and alcoves, none of 
 them, singly taken, in good taste, but altogether extremely 
 rich and striking. Two very large and handsome tanks ter- 
 minate the grounds towards the north. The garden is sur- 
 rounded by a high embattled wall, having a terrace at the top 
 like that of Chester, and beneath it a common passage, (as one 
 of the ministers of state, who accompanied us, told me,) for 
 the Zennana to walk in. I was introduced to some of these 
 ministers, or "sirdars," during my progress through the pa- 
 lace, under their several official names of "• Mouchtar," 
 " Bukshee," &c. &c. Most of them were tall, good-looking 
 men, in very handsome and becoming dresses. The whole es- 
 tablishment of the palace and gardens seemed well kept up, 
 considerably better than that of Lucknow, and every thing 
 much exceeded my expectation except the military show, 
 which was absolutely nothing. There were two or three police 
 men in the gate of the city, and four or five, (I do not think 
 
PALACE AT JYEPOOR. 5 
 
 there were more,) lounging fellows with shields slung over 
 their shoulders, and lances Ijing near them, in difterent parts 
 of the out-buildings. I was surprised at so poor a muster among 
 the warlike and turbulent Rajpoots, but recollected that in a 
 country where every citizen and cultivator is a soldier, on or- 
 dinary occasions every soldier will be a cultivator or citizen. 
 The Resident's suwarrs, and my own five men, together with 
 a little guard of seven orderly sepoys, who, as usual on state 
 occasions, followed me, and as many of my servants who chose 
 to see the sight, were permitted without scruple to attend us 
 through all the garden, and most of the lower apartments of 
 the palace, till, on ascending to an upper story, those who 
 had swords, or other arms, were requested either to stay be- 
 low or to surrender their weapons. The ascents throughout 
 the palace are not by stairs, but by inclined planes, of very 
 easy slope, and certainly less fatiguing than the European 
 style. The passages are all narrow and mean, and the object 
 in the whole building seems more to surprise by the number, 
 the intricacy, and detail of the rooms and courts, than by any 
 apartments of large size and magnificent proportions. A great 
 part of the windows are glazed with small panes of stained or 
 plain glass, in latticed frames of white marble. The stained 
 glass was said to be from Venice. These upper rooms, which 
 are in fact a part of the Zennana, have their floors chiefly co- 
 vered with stufted white cotton quilts, over which, in certain 
 places, sitringees are placed, and, in the more costly rooms, 
 small Persian carpets. There are very strong wooden doors 
 in diff*erent parts of the building, whose hinges and locks are 
 as rude as those of a prison, but the suites of apartments them- 
 selves are only divided by large striped curtains hung over the 
 arched doorways. The ceilings are generally low, and the 
 rooms dark and closer both the walls and ceilings are, how- 
 ever, splendidly carved and painted, and some of the former 
 are entirely composed of small looking-glasses, in fantastic 
 frames of chunam mixed with talc, which have the appearance 
 of silver till closely examined. The subjects of the paintings 
 are almost entirely mythological, and their style of colouring, 
 their attitudes, and the general gloomy silence and intricacy 
 of the place, reminded me frequently of Belzoni's model of 
 the Egyptian tomb. 
 
 After a long suite of these strange rooms, we were taken 
 into a very striking and beautiful apartment, where breakfast 
 was prepared for us. It was a small pavilion with arches on 
 either side, opening into two small cloistered courts, the one 
 filled by a beautiful cold bath about thirty feet square, the 
 other by a little flower garden, divided, parterre wise, 
 with narrow winding paths of white marble, with a jet d'eau 
 
6 PALACE AT JYEPOOR- 
 
 in every winding, to the number, I should think, of fifteen or 
 twenty, which remained playing all the while we were at 
 breakfast. Nothing could be prettier or more refreshing than 
 the sight and sound of these tiny fountains, though I did not 
 think the effect improved, when all at once several of the 
 principal ones began to throw up water tinged v/ith some yel- 
 low dye. It was evidently much admired by the natives, and 
 reminded me of " the golden water," which, together with 
 '' the talking bird" and the "• singing tree," cost the princess 
 in the Arabian tale, so many labours to obtain. For our break- 
 fast. Colonel Raper had sent the usual requisites, but the 
 '' Maha-Rannee," or " Majee," (lady mother) as she is also 
 called, sent us some specimens of Hindoo cookery, abundant 
 in ghee, spice, and sugar, but without the garlic which forms 
 80 essential a part of Mussulman luxury. I tasted one of the 
 messes, which was of rice, raisins, and some green sweet- 
 meat, strongly scented with rose-water, and seasoned with 
 cinnamon, and thought it very good. The others were, 
 apparently, kid or mutton, minced small with rice, and covered 
 with a very rich brown sauce," "a thing to dream of, not to 
 tell," and which .if eaten at night one should scarcely fail to 
 dream of. 
 
 After breakfast, and till the hour of durbar arrived, we 
 visited more of the buildings. In passing along the garden 
 wall, I ought to have observed before, we were shown five or 
 six elephants in training for a fight. Each was separately 
 kept in a small paved court, with a little litter, but very dirty. 
 They were all what is called "must," that is, fed on stimu- 
 lating substances to make them furious,and all showed in their 
 eyes, their gaping mouths, and the constant motion of their 
 trunks, signs of fever and restlessness. Their mohouts seemed 
 to approach them with great caution, and on hearing a step 
 they turned round as far as their chains would allow, and 
 lashed fiercely w^ith their trunks. I was moved and disgust- 
 ed at the sight of so noble creatures thus maddened and dis- 
 eased by the absurd cruelty of man, in order that they might 
 for his diversion inflict fresh pain and injuries on each other. 
 Two of them were very large, and all sleek and corpulent. 
 
 The other apartments through which we were conducted 
 nearly resembled those we had seen before breakfast. We 
 had, however, a noble panoramic view of the town from the 
 top of the palace. Indeed I have seen few places of which 
 a finer panorama might be made. From thence we returned 
 to a lower court, in the centre of which, raised by a few 
 steps, is a noble open pavilion, with marble pillars richly 
 carved, rather inferior in size, but in other respects fully 
 equal to the hall of audience in the castle of Delhi. The inte- 
 
COURT OF JYEPOOR. 7 
 
 tior contains an oblong vaulted hall, surrounded by a very 
 spacious verandah, and its pavement covered with sitringees and 
 carpets, where we found all the ministers whom I have already 
 mentioned, and some others, seated in a semicircle. They 
 rose to receive us, and the "Mouchtar," or prime minister, 
 introduced to me those whom I had not yet met. Among 
 these were the ''Gooroo," or spiritual adviser of the Rannee, 
 a man extremely blamed for all the outrageous and absurd 
 conduct whicli she has pursued, and a very remarkable per- 
 son, at whom Colonel Raper looked with some surprise, and 
 whom he afterwards said he had never seen or heard of before. 
 He was apparently a Mussulman, a very tall, hard-featured 
 man, with a dark and gloomy expression of face, which made 
 me think of Captain Rolando in Gil Bias. His name I did not 
 perfectly hear, but in conversation they called him the Nawab. 
 He was armed with a sword, shield, and dagger, all splendid 
 in their way; his clothes were handsome but plain, and his 
 whole figure and equipment made me set him down, I believe 
 correctly, as a Patan mercenary leader, for whom these trou- 
 blesome times had obtained employment. The Mouchtar I 
 had now a better opportunity of observing than before. He is 
 a shortish man, but very stoutly built, with what I thought a 
 good countenance, and frank rough manners. 
 
 A very formal old gentleman, the marshal of the palace, 
 now got us all to our seats. Colonel Raper in the middle, 
 myself at his right hand, and the minister and the Nawab be- 
 vond me; the rest were arranged on the left and behind us. 
 \Ve sat cross-legged on the carpet, there being no chairs, and 
 kept our hats on; I was mortified to find that the Rannee 
 never appeared even behind the Purdah, though we were told 
 she was looking through a latticed window at some distance 
 in front. The usual questions of howl liked Jyepoor, whither 
 I was going, and. when 1 left Calcutta, followed. The Na- 
 wab talked a good deal, and seemed to be doing his best to 
 make a favourable impression on the Resident. I doubt 
 whether he succeeded. For my own part, the idea of Cap- 
 tain Rolando faded away, and was replaced by that of the 
 bold Alsatian Captain Culpepper. Some dancing-girls came 
 in, whose performances diftered in no respect from those 
 which I had seen at Bullumghur. Some very common look- 
 ing shawls, a turban, necklace, &c. were now brought in as 
 presents from the Rannee to me, which were followed by two 
 horses and an elephant, of which she also requested my ac- 
 ceptance. I looked round on Colonel Raper in some embar- 
 rassment, which he relieved by telling me that all was done 
 according to rule, and that I should not be much the richer nor 
 the Rannee the poorer for what passed that day. I, of course, 
 
 1* 
 
S COURT OF JYEPOOR 
 
 however, expressed my thanks to the Mouchtar, in as good 
 Hindoostanee as I was able. Mutual wishes were expressed 
 lor health, happiness, and a continuance of friendship between 
 the Company and the Court of Jyepoor, and after embracing 
 ail the ministers a second time, we took our leave, mounted 
 our elephants, and returned to the Residency, the Rannee's 
 presents going in procession before us. Of these presents, it 
 appeai'ed that the elephant was lame, and so vicious that few 
 people ventured to go near him. One of the horses was a 
 very pretty black, but he also turned out as lame as a cat, 
 while the other horse was in poor condition, and at least, as 
 my people declared, thirty years old. Colonel Raper said, 
 however, that these animals would do more than cover the 
 fees which it would be proper to pay the Rannee's servants, 
 and which the Company, according to the usual practice, would 
 discharge for me. In fact, the native powers understand 
 perfectly well that presents of any great value are, on these 
 occasions, thrown away. They have it published in the 
 "Acbars," or native newspapers, that such or such a distin- 
 guished personage came to pay his respects at the Court of 
 Jyepoor, and that the Rannee testified her pleasure at his ar- 
 rival, by the gift of an elephant, tv/o beautiful horses, and two 
 trays of ornaments and shawls, and thus the ends are answer- 
 ed of making known the rank of the visitant, of setting forth 
 the Rannee's liberality, and above all, of hinting to her sub- 
 jects and neighbours the good terms she is on with the British 
 Government. But all these objects they are, of course, glad 
 to obtain at as slight an expense as possible. 
 
 In the course of tjiis day, I had a good deal of conversation 
 with Colonel Raper on the history and intrigues of this little 
 court, the splendour of which has surprised me; but which, in 
 its morals and political vvisdom, appears to be on a level not 
 much higher than that of Abyssinia. 
 
 The Rajas of Jyepoor were for a long time the most wealthy 
 and powerful of all the Rajpoot states. Their territory is still 
 the largest, and their revenue used to be reckoned at a crore of 
 rupees, (at the present rate of exchange, less than a million 
 pounds sterling,) annually. They were generally on pretty 
 good terms with the Emperors of Delhi, and though nominally 
 vassals, they always preserved a state of real independence 
 of their authority. The Maharatta conquests blighted all their 
 prosperity; the Raja was so much weakened as to lose all au- 
 thority over his own Thakoors, twenty or thirty lacks was the 
 whole amount of his revenue, and this was growing less under 
 the almost annual scourge of the Pindarries, of Jeswunt Row 
 Holcar, and, above all, of his General Ameer Khan. Even 
 before the conquest of Lord Hastings, the late Raja of Jye- 
 
COURT OF JYEPOOR. 9 
 
 poor had, as it is said, shown great anxiety to obtain the 
 protection of Britain, but from the jarring members of which 
 his state is composed, it was one of the last which in any regu- 
 lar way acceded to the confederacy, the Thakoors keeping 
 close in their castles like feudal chiefs, alike averse to any in- 
 terference either of our government or their own, and chiefly 
 occupied in making war on each other, leading plundering 
 parties into the neighbouring states, and picking the bones 
 which more potent devourers left behind. The principality 
 was, in fact, in a state of anarchy as wretched and as bloody 
 as Circassia at the present day, or England in the time of 
 Ivanhoe, with the additional misery that foreign invaders were 
 added to domestic feudal tyrants. This anarchy has never yet 
 been completely put a stop to in the remoter provinces, but 
 it had in the greater part of the kingdom been materially 
 abated by British arms and influence. The country had be- 
 come safe to travel through, the peasants slept in their beds in 
 peace, the Thakoors began to come to court again and pay 
 their tribute, and the revenue had greatly improved, when the 
 Raja died, five or six years ago, leaving no son, but one of his 
 wives pregnant and near the time of her delivery. This at 
 least was said., though many of the Thakoors declared it was 
 an impositioa. A child, however, was produced, and its re- 
 puted mother became regent, chiefly by the influence of a man 
 of high rank and respectable character, who is generally known 
 by his he"editary title of '' Rawul," and who possessed in a 
 great degree the confidence of the English government. He 
 became Minister under the Regent, and the improvement of 
 the country continued progressive. He, however, paid his 
 nominal mistress but little deference, and she soon forgot the 
 protection which he had afforded to herself and her son. Nor 
 v/as this all. The Rawul had the misfortune to find out an 
 intrigue between one of the Rannees and an adventurer from 
 Rohilcund who filled some post about the palace. He banish- 
 ed the paramour, and the lady never forgave him, but has ever 
 since been urging the Ma-jee to the most violent measures 
 against him, in which she has been backed^by the Gooroo, a 
 very profligate Brahmin, who has always used his influence 
 with the Ma-jee to bad purposes. Two years ago an attempt 
 w as made to get rid of the Rawul and bring in the present 
 minister, a Thakoor of extremely bad character, who had been 
 very recently in open rebellion, and had stood a siege against 
 a British force. Against his appointment, however, the British 
 government strongly remonstrated. The Rawul was main- 
 tained in his place, and his opponent banished, till the evil 
 reports which prevailed last year in all these provinces respect- 
 ing the situation of our empire, encouraged the Rannee to ven- 
 
10 JYEPOOft. 
 
 ture on the object which she had at heart. Her first step was to 
 attack, with an armed force, the house of the Rawul in Jjepoor, 
 and he verjnarrowly escaped with his life to the Residency. She 
 then got together a considerable number of troops, put the city 
 in a state of defence, and assumed so martial an air, that Colo- 
 nel Raper, with his small force of sepoys, his wife and childen, 
 and his friend the Rawul, found it necessary to retreat from 
 the Residency to a position near Bancrote, about nine miles 
 from Jyepoor. The Ma-jee seemed fully bent on carrying 
 matters to the utmost length; she invited over her favourite, 
 then living at Agra, and treated with much contempt the pro- 
 posal made her by the Resident, that she should be at liberty 
 to name any minister but that one who was so personally ob- 
 noxious. She found, however, that her force was less than 
 she probably expected. The majority of the Thakoors were 
 not so fond either of her or the new minister as to run any 
 risk for either: many were personally attached to the Rawul, 
 and had they been encouraged, would have joined Colonel 
 Raper's camp. The ill reports from Calcutta died away, and 
 none of the neighbouring Rajpoot principalities appeared in- 
 clined to side with her, while the occupation of Mhow by the 
 Bombay troops, placed a considerable addition of force at Sir 
 David Ochterlony's disposal, and old Ameer Khan, who, 
 though shorn of his ancient power, still occupies a considera- 
 ble jaghire south of Neemuch, made an eager offer of his ser- 
 vices to the British government to invade a country with which, 
 as the hoary ruffian truly said, " he was v/ell acquainted!*' 
 Colonel Raper accordingly ditl not think that she either could 
 or would have continued to hold out; but Sir David Ochter- 
 lony, probably in consequence of directions from Calcutta, 
 thought it best to give up all the points in dispute, rather than 
 run the risk of a new war in Western and Central India. The 
 Rawul retired to his estates and castles, and the Rannee, with 
 her new minister, is permitted to try and govern the country, 
 a task which she will probably soon be found unequal to, the ia- 
 vourite being, though a man of cou rage, of no character or talent, 
 and the Rannee as ignorant and passionate as a child. She is now 
 about thirty years old, of humble extraction, was not the prin- 
 cipal wife of the late Raja, and had no children in the former 
 years of her marriage. Under such circumstances it is pro- 
 bable, that a short time ago a civil war would have arisen in 
 Jyepoor, and it is certain that in such an event the Maharattas 
 would not have been slow to take further advantage of their 
 troubles. The chance now is, that the British will be called 
 on to mediate between the parties; but before this takes place, 
 some further mischief may be looked for. During the late 
 scenes of intrigue and confusion, the Rannee's confidential 
 
JYErOOR. 11 
 
 Gooroo made a journey to Agra and Delhi, and Colonel Raper 
 has ascertained that he drew large sums from his mistress, 
 with the avowed object of bribing the principal servants of the 
 Company to favour her wishes. It is most probable. Colonel 
 Raper thinks, that this crafty Brahmin put all the money into 
 Tiis own pocket j but from what I have heard of the practices 
 of the moonshees of public men, I cannot help suspecting that 
 some of it, at least, has redounded to their advantage. At all 
 events, it is painful to find that the natives of this country 
 continue to think us venal. 
 
 January 30. — I read prayers and preached at the Resi- 
 dency, and christened Colonel Raper's little girl. 
 
 January 31. — I went this morning with Colonel Raper and 
 Dr. Simpson, the Residency Surgeon, who, with Mrs. Raper, 
 are the only European residents in Jyepoor, to Umeer, the an- 
 cient capital of this principality, till Jye Singh built the pre- 
 sent city in the plain. We passed through the principal streets 
 of Jyepoor, being joined at the palace gate by two of the min- 
 isters whom I had met there the Saturday before, and one of 
 whom was Killedar of the place which we were going to visit. 
 The Rajpoots are not such showy figures on horseback as the 
 Mussulmans, or even the Jats ; these men rode well, however, 
 and had fine horses, which, with their long red shawls, sabres, 
 and flowing robes, as well as their numerous attandants, made 
 up a striking picture. 
 
 We passed together through the opposite gate of the city, 
 the uniformity of which throughout is very striking. My com- 
 panions told me that it was laid out in quarters, or wards, ac- 
 cording to the rules of the Sbaster ; one being for the Tha- 
 koors, another for tlie Brahmins, a third for the ordinary Raj- 
 poots, a fourth for the caste of Kayts, or writers, a fitth for 
 the Bunyans, or traders, and a sixth for the Gaowalas, or cow- 
 keepers, while the seventh is occupied by the palace. After 
 leaving the city we proceeded by a wide sandy road, through 
 a succession of gardens and garden-houses, some of the latter 
 of which are very handsome, to the banks of a large lake, 
 covered with water-fowl, and with a small island in the midst, 
 on which were the ruins of a palace. The mere supplies the 
 stream which we had passed in our way up the ghat ; it has on 
 this side every appearance of being a natural sheet of water ; 
 its banks are more woody and wild than any thing which I had 
 seen since I left Kemaoon, and the steep and rugged road by 
 which we ascended the hill beyond it, contributed to raise my 
 expectation of a beautiful view from the top. 
 
 This road led us through an ancient gateway in an embat- 
 tled and turretted wall, which connected the two hills, like 
 that which I described on the other side of Jyepoor, and within 
 
12 UMEER. 
 
 we found a street like that also, of temples and old buildings 
 of the same character, one of which was pointed out to me as 
 a shrine, whither the young Raja is carried weekly, to pay his 
 devotions, and another as the house where he puts up his 
 horses, and reposes on such occasions. Beyond was a still 
 steeper ascent to a second gate, which introduced us to a very 
 wild and romantic valley, with a small lake at the bottom, — 
 the crests of the hills on either side crowned with walls and 
 towers, their lower parts all rock and wood interspered with 
 ruined buildings, in front, and on the margin of the lake, & 
 small ruinous town, overgrown with trees, and intermingled 
 with towers and temples, and over it, but a little to the left 
 hand, a noble old fortified palace, connected by a long line of 
 wall and tower, with a very large castle on the highest part of 
 the hill. We now descended the ghat by a similar road to that 
 which had conducted us thither, among some fine old trees, 
 fragments of rock, and thickets of thorny underwood, till we 
 reached the town, which almost entirely consisted of temples, 
 and had few inhabitants but grim and ghastly Yogis, with their 
 hair in elf-knots, and their faces covered with chalk, sitting 
 naked, and hideous, like so many ghoules, amid the tombs and 
 ruined houses. A narrow, winding street, led us through these 
 abodes of superstition, under a dark shade of peepul-trees, till 
 we found ourselves on another steep ascent, paved with gra- 
 nite, and leading to the palace. We wound along the face of 
 the hill, through, I think, three gothic gateways, alighted in a 
 large moss-grown quadrangle, surrounded by what seemed to 
 be barracks and stables, and followed our guides up a broad and 
 long flight of steps, through another richly ornamented gate- 
 way, into the interior courts of the building, which contain one 
 very noble hall of audience, a pretty little garden with foun- 
 tains, and a long succession of passages, cloisters, alcoves, and 
 small and intricate apartments, many of them extremely beau- 
 tiful, and enjoyingfrom theirwindows, balconies and terraces, 
 one of the most striking prospects which can be conceived. 
 The carving in stone and marble, and the inlaid flowers and 
 ornaments in some of these apartments, are equal to those of 
 Delhi and Agra, and only surpassed by the beauties of the 
 Tage-mahal. My companions, none ofwhom had visited Umeer 
 before, all declared that, as a whole, it was superior to the castle 
 of Delhi. For myself, I have seen many royal palaces, con- 
 taining larger and more stately rooms, — many, the architecture 
 of which was in a purer taste, and some which have covered a 
 
 greater extent of ground, (though in this if the fortress on the 
 ill be included, Umeer will rank, I think, above Windsor,) — 
 but for varied and picturesque effect, for richness of carving, 
 for wild beauty of situation, for the number and romantic sin- 
 
PALACE, CASTLE AND TEMPLE. 13 
 
 gularitj of the apartments, and the strangeness of finding such 
 a building, in such a place and country, 1 am able to compare 
 nothing with Umeer ; and this, too, was the work of Jye Singh! 
 The ornaments are in the same style, though in a better taste, 
 than those of his palace at Jyepoor, and the size and number 
 of the apartments are also similar. A greater use has been 
 made of stained glass here, or else, from the inaccessible height 
 of the window, the glass has remained in better preservation. 
 The building is in good repair, but has a solitary and deserted 
 aspect ; and as our guide, with his bunch of keys, unlocked one 
 iron-clenched door after another, and led us over terraces, and 
 up towers, down steep, dark, sloping passages, and through a 
 long succession of little silent courts, and dim vaulted cham- 
 bers, seen only through coloured glass and made more gorgeous- 
 ly gloomy by their carving, gilding, and mirrors, the idea of 
 an enchanted castle occurred, I believe, to us all ; and I could 
 not help thinking what magnificent use Ariosto or Sir Walter 
 Scott would have made of such a building. After all we saw 
 only part of it. Higher up the hill was another grim-looking 
 ward, with few external windows, but three or four elegantly 
 carved kiosks projecting from its roof, and a few cypresses 
 peeping over its walls, which they said was the Zennana, and 
 not allowed to be seen ; and above this again, but communica- 
 ting by a succession of gates and turrets, was the castle which 
 I have mentioned, grimmer and darker still, with high towers 
 and machicollated battlements, with a very few ornamented 
 windows, many narrow loop-holes, and one tall minaret rising 
 above the whole cluster. The interior of this, of course was 
 not shown : indeed, it is what the government of Jyepoor con- 
 siders as their last resource. The public treasure used to be 
 laid up here; and here, it is said, are many state prisoners, 
 whose number is likely to be increased if the present rule con- 
 tinues. 
 
 On returning to the stable-yard, our conductor asked us if 
 we wished to see the temple? I answered, of course, "any 
 thing more that was to be seen;" and he turned short and led 
 us some little distance up the citadel, then through a dark low 
 arch into a small court, where, to my surprise, the first object 
 which met my eyes was a pool of blood on the pavement, by 
 which a naked man stood with a bloody sword in his hand. 
 The scenes through which we had passed were so romantic, 
 that my fancy had almost been wound up to expect an adven- 
 ture, and I felt, I confess, for an instant my hand instinctively 
 clench more firmly a heavy liindoostanee whip I had with me, 
 the butt end of which would, as a last resource, have been no 
 despicable weapon. The guide, however, at the same instant. 
 
14 PRIVATE EXECUTIGiV. 
 
 cautioned me against treading in the blood, and told me that 
 a goat was sacrificed here every morning. In fact, a second 
 glance showed me the headless body of the poor animal lying 
 before the steps of a small shrine, apparently of Kali. The 
 Brahmin was officiating and tinkling his bell, but it was plain 
 to see, from the embarrassment of our guide, that we had in- 
 truded at an unlucky moment, and we therefore merely cast 
 our eyes round the court, without going nearer to the altar and 
 its mysteries. The guide told us in our way back, that the 
 tradition was that, in ancient times, a man was sacrificed here 
 every day: that the custom had been laid aside till Jye Singh 
 had a frightful dream, in which the destroying power appeared 
 to him, and asked him why her image was suffered to be dry? 
 The Raja, afraid to disobey, and reluctant to fulfil the requi- 
 sition to its ancient extent of horror, took counsel and substi- 
 tuted a goat for the human victim, with which the 
 
 Dark goddess of the azure flood. 
 
 Whose robes are wet with infant tears, 
 Scull-chaplet wearer, whom the blood 
 
 Of man delights three thousand years, 
 
 was graciously pleased to be contented. 
 
 We were now taken down the hill, outside the fortifica- 
 tions, to some baths and summer-houses on the banks of the 
 lake, which I should have thought pretty if they had not been 
 much inferior to what I had already seen, and we crossed the 
 lake by a narrow bridge, from the further end of which I made 
 an attempt to sketch the view. Here our horses met us, and 
 we returned home all highly gratified, and myself not a little 
 surprised that a place so curious and interesting should be so 
 little known, not merely in Europe but in India. 
 
 In the course of our homeward ride. Colonel Raper told me 
 that he had had unpleasant news from the palace. The Rannee, 
 the night before, without trial, or without so much as assign- 
 ing a reason, murdered one of her female attendants, — a wo- 
 man who bore a fair character, was possessed of considerable 
 wealth, and believed, till lately, to stand high in her mis- 
 tress's confidence and good graces. Her wealth was supposed 
 to be her only crime. A great alarm had in consequence been 
 excited in the zennana and in the city, and eight other wo- 
 men, chiefly wives and concubines of the late Raja, believed 
 themselves also marked out for destruction. This atrocity 
 had been perpetrated by the Rannee's own order, and in her 
 presence, but Colonel Raper said if the Mouchtar had been him- 
 self any thing but a mere ruffian, he would never allow such 
 
DEATH OF THE SOUBAHDAR. 15 
 
 practices to go on, nor would such an order have been exe- 
 cuted had he been a likely person to resent it. 
 
 With this story on my mind, it was with any thing rather 
 than a pleasurable sensation, that I received in the course of 
 the morning a present of fruit, sweetmeats, and flowers, with 
 the Ma-jee's best wishes for my safe journey, her assurance 
 that her people had arranged every thing for my comfort on 
 the road, and her hope that our friendship might long con- 
 tinue! I sent back my grateful acknowledgments, which 
 was no more than her due, for the kindness and hospitality 
 she had shown me, and an assurance of my prayers, though 1 
 did not add, for her amendment. I found to-day that her at- 
 tentions had not been confined to me personally, but that she 
 had sent an excellent dinner of sweetmeats, ghee, rice, kid, 
 flour, and other Hindoostanee dainties, sufficient, as they 
 told me, for 100 men, to be divided amongst my servants and 
 escort. 
 
 I had intended to proceed the first stage, which is only 
 eight miles this afternoon, but was prevented by seven of my 
 bearers taking fright at the reports they heard of the country 
 to the south-west, and running off this morning. Seven more 
 were pressed by government order, to go with me as far as 
 Nusseerabad, and I told them that, notwithstanding the 
 manner in which their services were compelled, I should give 
 them the usual pay for the journey. I now hoped at all 
 events to get away on Tuesday the 1st of February, but was 
 again prevented by a very dismal and unexpected accident. 
 A little before five in the morning, the servants came to me 
 for directions and to say that the good careful old soubahdar 
 was very ill and unable to leave his tent. I immediately put 
 on my clothes and went down to the camp, in my way to 
 which they told me that he had been taken unwell at night, 
 and that Dr. Smith had given him medicine. They had none 
 of them, however, seen him since. I therefore wakened Dr. 
 Smith to ask him what was the matter, and was informed that 
 his illness was slight, and that he would be able to set olf 
 at his usual time. I thought it best to go to his tent, and ask 
 him how he was, to which he answered that he felt well, I 
 told him, however, that he had better remain quiet, and that 
 his tent and bed might perfectly well go on in the course 
 of the day. He answered in his usual manner, " Ucha, 
 ghureeb-purwar," and I left him to see the camels loaded, 
 and to give directions about the manner in which I wished 
 the tents to be pitched at our next stage. Shortly after 
 seeing that there was some bustle in packing near his tent, 
 I went up to bid the people make less noise, on which they 
 told me they were acting by his orders, and that he had got 
 
 Vol. II.— 2 
 
16 DEATH OP THE SOFBAHDAH. 
 
 up and gone to the other side of the camp, leaving direction!? 
 to have his poney saddled. I was vt^alking away to finish 
 my own dressing when a man came running to say that the 
 soubahdar was dying. As he was returning to his tent he 
 had fallen down, and I found him in the arms of two of his 
 men, apparently in a swoon, but making a faint moaning 
 noise. I made them loosen the cloth which Mas wrapped 
 round his head and throat, and bid them sprinkle his face 
 with water, while I ran for Dr. Smith, who had been already 
 alarmed and came immediately. He opened a vein, and, with 
 much humane patience, continued to try different remedies 
 while any chance remained 5 but no blood flowed, and no sign 
 of life could be detected from the time of his coming up, ex- 
 cept a feeble flutter at the heart which soon ceased. He was 
 at an advanced age, at least for an Indian, though apparently 
 hale and robust. I felt it a comfort that I had not urged him 
 to any exertion, and that in fact I had endeavoured to per- 
 suade him to lie still till he was quite well. But I was ne- 
 cessarily much shocked by the sudden end of one who had 
 travelled with me so far, and whose conduct had, in every 
 instance given me satisfaction. I really felt a kindness for 
 him, founded not only on his quiet pleasing manners, but his 
 attention to his duty and the confidence which I could always 
 place on his word. And it was my intention to recommend 
 him for promotion as earnestly as I could to his Colonel. 
 Nor, while writing this, can I recollect without a real pang 
 his calm countenance and grey hairs, as he sate in his tent 
 door telling his beads in an afternoon, or walked with me, as 
 he seldom failed to do, through the villages on an evening, 
 with his own silver-hilted sabre under his arm, his loose cotton 
 mantle folded round him, and his golden necklace and Raj- 
 poot string just visible above it. Nobody knew him to be ill 
 during the preceding day till just before bed-time. He had 
 been with Abdullah and Cashiram to the city, to see a pair of 
 shawls of which I meant to make him a present on our arrival 
 atNusseerabad, that being the usual or, at least, the most grati- 
 fying return which a sepoy oflicer can receive, and had been ex- 
 tremely delighted with the knowledge of my intention. He 
 was of Rajpoot caste, and his name was Jye Singh, two cir- 
 cumstances which made a strong impression on the minds of 
 his comrades, who said *' it was a strange thing that he had just 
 happened to die in Jye Singh's city, and on his return after so 
 many years absence toRajpootana." He left two sons, and 
 a woman who was really his wife and universally so considered, 
 but who being of an inferior caste could not be regularly joined 
 to him by the Brahminical rites, — a circumstance which I re- 
 joiced to hear, as it put the burning herself out of the ques- 
 
BUGGEROO. 17 
 
 tion. He had left her and his boys at Seetapoor, but expect- 
 ed to meet them atNusseerabad. Alas! how nearly had he ar- 
 rived at the place where he looked forwards to a reunion with 
 those whom he loved ! His body was burnt in the course of 
 the day, and I had an inventory made of his goods. This is the 
 second death, and the fourth separation from illness which I 
 have had to regret since the commencement of my journey. 
 
 The death of the poor soubahdar led to the question whether 
 there would be still time to send on the baggage. All the 
 Mussulmans pressed our immediate departure, while the Hin- 
 doos begged that they might be allowed to stay, at least, till 
 sunset. The reasons urged on both sides were very charac- 
 teristic. The former pleading that the j^lace \va.s ''unlucky," 
 and that it was best to get out of it as soon as possible^ the 
 other that the day was unlucky, not only from the melancholy 
 omen which had already occurred, but from its being Tuesday, 
 which the votaries of Brama regard as unpropitious for the 
 commencement of any enterprise. I determined on remaining, 
 not only as, in my opinion, more decent and respectful to the 
 memory of a good and aged officer, but because the things being 
 already packed up and ready to put on the camels, it would be 
 easy to send them off at midnight, and run the two first stages 
 towards Nusseerabad into one. I ordered therefore the men 
 to unload their camels, many of whom had received their bur- 
 thensj and my determination to remain was welcomed with the 
 kindest hospitality by Colonel liaper, and with much joy by the 
 Hindoo part of the establishment. During my stay at Jyepoor, 
 Dr. Smith amputated the hand of the poor Brahmin, who had 
 followed us from Mowah, and he was left in the care of the 
 residency surgeon. 
 
 February 2. — We set off at half-past five this morning; Co- 
 lonel Raper went with me on his elephant as far as Ban- 
 croty, and I thence rode the remaining ten miles to Buggeroo, 
 which I found rather a pretty place, surrounded with groves 
 of the tara-palm, a rare sight in these inhospitable plains. Yet 
 a great part of the soil whicli I went over m the course of the 
 day, is not bad, and the water is every where near the surface. 
 1 asked one of my attendants why there was no cultivation.^ 
 and he ascribed it first, to theeftects of the former troubles, 
 during which no man dared plough; secondly, to the late 
 drought, which had put a stop to all improvements which had 
 since been commenced. I got this information through an in- 
 terpeter, for I had discovered before that the language of the 
 Rajpoots is extremely different from the Hindoostanee. It is, 
 I apprehend, much nearer the Sanscrit, but even in the words 
 which are common to them and their neighbours, their thick 
 pronunciation, making the " s" into i^ sh," or " dj," makes 
 
IS RAJPOOT CAVALRY— ROBBERS. 
 
 it very difficult for one who is not a proficient to catch their 
 meaning. 
 
 The events of the morning proved that Colonel Raper's re- 
 monstrance on the previous misconduct of the vakeel and su- 
 warrs had produced its proper effect. The escort now sent with 
 me were very attentive to their duty, and evidently picked 
 men; indeed I have seldom seen finer or taller young fellows 
 than the most of them were. Their horses and arms likewise 
 were good, and in good order, but their clothes extremely 
 ragged and dirty, and their wild riding, their noisy whooping 
 and hallooing, and the air of perfect equality with which they 
 were disposed to treat us, were remarkably contrasted with 
 the profound respect, the soldierly calmness, and handsome 
 equipments of Skinner's cavaliers. I was indeed prepared to 
 expect a much greater simplicity and homeliness of manner in 
 the Rajpoots and tribes of Central India, than in those who 
 had been subjects of the Mogul empire, and even at the court 
 of Jyepoor, I was struck with the absence of that sort of polish 
 which had been apparent at Lucknow and Delhi. The Hindoos 
 seem every where, when left to themselves, and under their 
 own sovereigns, a people of simple tastes and tempers, inclin- 
 ed to frugality, and indiiferent to show and form. The sub- 
 jects of even the greatest Maharatta prince, sit down without 
 scruple in his presence, and no trace is to be found in their 
 conversation of those adulatory terms which the Mussulmans 
 introduced into the northern and eastern provinces. Europeans 
 too are very little known here, and I heard the children continu- 
 ally calling out to us as we passed through the villages, '' Ferin- 
 gee, ue Feringeel" It was whimsical, however, and in appa- 
 rent contrast with this plainness of speech, that the term 
 " Maharaja," or Sovereign, is applied by them to almost every 
 superior. " Salam Maharaja 1" was addressed to me ten or 
 twelve times in the day by passengers whom I met on the road, 
 and my escort, though riding side by side with us, and laugh- 
 ing heartily at our inefficient attempts to make them under- 
 stand us, never spoke to me without this title. 
 
 During the afternoon an alarm reached us of robbers in our 
 morrow's march. Some tradesmen coming to Jyepoor the day 
 before had been plundered, and, as was said, some of them 
 killed, and the country people, and travellers in general, were 
 afraid to pursue the usual road. The number of these marau- 
 ders was so variously stated, that nothing could be ascertain- 
 ed, varying from one hundred to ten or twelve. We prepared 
 ourselves for meeting them. The breakfast tent and dark- 
 horses were sent on, together with double the usual detachment 
 of sepoys, and all the Rannee's suwarrs, amounting to a dozen, 
 who, wild and unsoldieriy as was their appearance, were yet 
 
MOITZ ABAD. 1 9 
 
 very likely to behave well in case of need. Thirty sepoys 
 formed our main body, and five our rear-guard, while I direct- 
 ed Skinner's men to remain with Dr. Smith and me, and ar- 
 ranged so as to keep our parties within a moderate distance of 
 each other. Our whole numbers were likewise prepared for 
 action, the sepoys ordered to be primed and loaded, and the 
 horsemen to have lighted matches. Abdullah, with much gra- 
 vity, brought my own pistols, observing that this was a coun- 
 try where all who possessed arms should carry them. I had, 
 however, very little fear that any of these warlike preparations 
 would end in bloodshed, and was indeed chiefly induced to 
 make them from the conviction that the robbers, if there were 
 any in the neighbourhood, were well informed of all our move- 
 ments, and that they would be little disposed to attack us 
 when they knew we were on our guard. Meanwhile I was 
 surprised to find how the number of the camp followers had 
 increased. Dr. Smith saw in the course of the evening two 
 men fighting with their fists, an unusual sight in India, and on 
 inquiring into the cause, was informed that they were pilgrims 
 going to Ajmere, who had taken advantage of the protection 
 afforded by our caravan, and had followed it with their wives 
 and families all the way from Meerut. And now at least a 
 dozen, I had nearly said twenty, country people, women and 
 children came up, who had been detained on the road by fear 
 of the plunderers, and hoped to get past safely in my train. 
 In this hope they were not disappointed. 
 
 Next morning, February the 3d, we performed our march 
 in much peace, through a very wild and desolate country, 
 overgrown with brush-wood and long grass, but on these ac- 
 counts less dismal to the eye- than the tracts of naked sterili- 
 ty which we had lately traversed. We passed two ruined 
 forts, round one was still a village, and adjoining to it a large 
 encampment of gypsies. 
 
 I endeavoured to learn some particulars of the recent fray, 
 but did not succeed in any considerable degree. It seemed 
 agreed that a good deal of money and silver ornaments had been 
 taken from the traders, that these last made no resistance, but 
 that, notwithstanding, several of them were beaten as well as 
 stripped, but it was not true that any had been killed. The 
 robbery had taken place between these two villages in the wild 
 country which I have mentioned, but who the assailants were, 
 how many, and whence they came, nobody seemed to know. 
 
 After a ride of seven coss, we arrived at Mouzabad, another 
 rather large town, with a ruined wall, a mosque, some good gar- 
 dens, and several temples. The largest of these was called by 
 the Rannee's suwarr, *' Bunyan ka Mandur," the Trader's 
 Temple, belonging to the sect of Jains of whom I gave an account 
 
 2* 
 
20 THAKOORS- 
 
 from Benares, and who are numerous in all the west of India, 
 where they nearlj engross the internal traffic of the country. 
 This building was externally richly carved, and appeared, like 
 that which I had seen at Benares, to contain several apartments; 
 but we were not permitted to see the inside, though the suwarrs, 
 without scruple, took us into the court, and up to the terraced 
 roof, walking with their shoes on, in high contempt, (as became 
 the Rajpoot "children of the sun,") both of the tradesmen and 
 their deity. I have no doubt that they would, at a word speak- 
 ing, have made a way for us to the very sanctuary; but as the 
 Jains seemed evidently in pain, and anxious that we should go 
 no further, I thought it both uncivil and inhuman to press the 
 point. A small but richly carved dome rises in the centre of this 
 building, and beyond this again, and, as I conceive, immediately 
 over the image of Painnath, three high pyramids of carved 
 stone are raised like those of the principal temples in Benares. 
 
 February 4. — From Mouzabad we went to Hirsowlee, six 
 coss, over a country little different from what we had traversed 
 since Jyepoor, equally level, equally ill cultivated and ill inha- 
 bited. Being on my elephant the first part of the way, I saw to 
 my rigiit hand at the distance of seven or eight miles, a large 
 piece of water which I supposed to be a part of the celebrated 
 salt lake of Sambur, which supplies all northern and western 
 Hindostan with that necessary. I could not positively ascertain 
 the fact, however, at the time, because 1 had no natives of the 
 country near me, being attended by Skinner's suwarrs. I asked 
 the Rannee's people when we came up with them, but could 
 only learn that they had not seen it, which on horseback they 
 certainly could not do, and that it lay several coss out of our 
 way. Our own course w as evidently not a direct one, and 1 as- 
 certained the cause to be that the Rannee's people were obliged 
 to take us to those places only where there were crown lands, 
 or where the Thakoors were disposed to respect her authority. 
 Of these gentry we had met several within these few days, ge- 
 nerally seated in covered carts drawn by white oxen with gilt 
 horns, and escorted by men armed with matchlocks and sabres. 
 They saluted us courteously as we passed, but did not show 
 any desire to enter into conversation. 
 
 We had to-day also a proof, which I did not expect, that the 
 government of Jyepoor was not quite without an army, since we 
 met three sepoys who said they were in the Rannee's pay, and 
 that there were three battalions of them. They were in scarlet 
 uniforms, so exactly like those of the Company's army, that I 
 should have had no doubt, had they not told us the contrary, that 
 they really belonged to it. One of the suwarrs spoke very un- 
 favourably of the Rannee's service. His pay, he said, was only 
 four rupees and a half per month, and even this pittance was 
 
NUPTIAL PROCESSION. 21 
 
 often several months in arrear. He made shift, he said, to sup- 
 port himself, but his wife and children at home were starving. 
 Dr. Smith asked him if he should have preferred the Company's 
 service, to which he replied that it was a very good service, the 
 best in India, but that he could not endure the strictness of the 
 discipline, and above all the corporal punishment. None of his 
 race, lie said, could endure a blow. He who spoke this was a 
 Patau from Rohilcund, but most of our other men were Rajpoots, 
 distinguished by their strings and their badges of gilt metal, a sun 
 and a man on horseback, which they wore round their necks in 
 memory oftheir great ancestor, the ''radiant Surya, " or Apollo. 
 
 Dr. Smith, in the course of the day, gave these poor fellows 
 what they considered a great treat, that is, a lump of Malwah 
 opium. All the Rajpoots indulge in this practice, and many to a 
 great excess, but as the remainder of their food is so simple, and 
 they touch no other stimulant of any kind, it of course does them 
 less harm than Europeans. Our Rajpoot escorthad now got into 
 so high good humour with us, that nothing could surpass their 
 attention and attendance, and though their style of attention was 
 very different from the polished and profound respect of the Hin- 
 doostanees, it had so much apparent cordiality in it that I began 
 to be much pleased with them. They reminded me of the Tcher- 
 noymorsky Cossacks. They are certainly a fine looking people, 
 and their complexion the fairest that I have seen in India. 
 
 We walked at night about the town, which has a mud wall 
 and fortress, with a very deep ditch. The bazar is large, but 
 the principal object worth seeing is, as usual, the Jain temple. 
 We were amused by the sight of a splendid nuptial procession, 
 on account of the betrothal of the son of a neighbouring Raja 
 to the daughter of a Thakoor.. The little boy passed on an ele- 
 phant, with a long array of kettle drums, trumpets, and stand- 
 ards before him, as well as a very handsome palanqueen, in 
 which two brothers, still younger than himself, were conveyed. 
 In his passage through the streets of the town, fire-works were 
 let off at intervals, and all the roofs of the houses, as well as 
 the ramparts of the fort, were covered with spectators. The 
 towns-people were very civil in securing us a good place, and 
 seemed pleased with the interest which I felt in the show, and 
 with my wishing the little bridegroom ''good luck." They 
 told me that he was to be taken for that evening to the house 
 of his new father-in-law, where the ceremony of affiancing 
 took place, but that he and tlie little girl were to remain for 
 some years with their respective parents, when the second and 
 real marriage would be celebrated. 
 
 In the evening I took leave of the vakeel, who, before he 
 went, delivered a long message from the Rannee, expressive 
 of her earnest desire that I would stand her friend with go- 
 
3s KANNEE OP JYEPOOR. 
 
 yernment, and in which she sought to justify herself for her 
 conduct in removing the Rawul, and employing the present 
 minister. She was anxious that I should take charge of a let- 
 ter from herself to Lord Amherst, and her messenger dwelt 
 much on her great desire to have peace, and on the frauds and 
 peculations of which, as she should be able to prove, the Rawul 
 had been guilty. I told the vakeel that the Maharannee might 
 depend on it, that the British government had not the least 
 desire, so long as she lived in peace, and governed her sub- 
 jects mildly and justly, to diminish her authority, or lessen her 
 son's territory. That I did not think such a letter as she 
 wished me to take charge of could be of any use to her, as it 
 was the custom of British governors to settle all matters of state 
 in *' Sudder," (council^) and before Lord Amherst could read 
 her letter, it must be translated, and by thus becoming public 
 might do her injury, as giving offence to Sir David Ochterlony 
 and Colonel Raper. That she might depend on having any 
 paper which she chose to send through these two officers duly 
 laid before government^ and that she had better draw up as 
 strong a memorial as she could for that purpose. But in return 
 for the civilities which I had received from her, and the confi- 
 dence she had reposed in me, I begged leave to offer two pieces 
 of advice: First, I had heard that she had laid out a great deal 
 of money among different sahibs and their servants, in order 
 to gain their friendship and interest. I assured her that she 
 was imposed on if she did so 5 that the probability w^as that the 
 sahibs knew nothing of the matter, and that she w as only en- 
 riching their monshees^ but that, above all, there was no sahib 
 at Agra, Delhi, or elsewhere, except Colonel Raper and Sir 
 David Ochterlony, whose friendship and interest could be of 
 any use to her. Secondly, I observed, that I had been inform- 
 ed she had ordered one of her female attendants to be put to 
 death without a regular trial, and that others v/ere in fear of 
 their lives. I earnestly urged the vakeel to tell her that there 
 was nothing which could do her so much harm as these rash 
 and violent proceedings, since there was nothing which shocked 
 the English so much. That if her servants did any thing worthy 
 of death, it was good to bring them to open trial according to 
 the Hindoo law, and before the usual magistrates^ and that it 
 was desirable at this time to prevent slanderous reports, that 
 whenever sentence of death was lawfully pronounced, her 
 Mooktar should state the circumstances of the case to the Re- 
 sident. I was then asked if, when I returned to Calcutta, I 
 would allow her vakeel there to visit me, and consult me about 
 her affairs; to which I answered, that I should be always glad 
 to hear of her prosperity; and I said also, that when I next wrote 
 4o Lord Amherst, I would inform him of the kindness and at- 
 
BANDURSINDREE KISHENGHUR. 23 
 
 tention with which she had treated me. I concluded with again 
 advising her to place confidence in Sir D. Ochterlony and Co- 
 lonel Raper, and to do her utmost to secure their favourable 
 opinions. Having thus sent her the best advice I could, I gave 
 the vakeel his present and certificate of good behaviour. I had 
 been so much dissatisfied with him in the former part of the 
 march that, I believe, he had very faint expectations of either 
 one or the others so that nothing could be more profound than 
 his bows and professions of service in taking leave. 
 
 February 5.— <The horsemen attended me next morning as 
 far as Bandursindree, a small and poor town in the little prin- 
 cipality of Kishenghur, where we found some servants whom 
 Mr. Moore, the Resident at Ajmere, had sent to receive me, 
 and the jemautdar of the village, who said he had orders from 
 the Raja to provide every thing for me. — From Bandursindree 
 to Kishenghur was, I found, not more than eight miles, and as 
 we had only come a very short stage this day, and as time was 
 precious with me, I made arrangements for proceeding to Kis- 
 henghur on the Sunday. Had I been able to obtain good informa- 
 tion of the road, I should have gone through, this day, the 
 whole distance from Hirsowlee. I here dismissed my Jyepoor 
 bearers, having received a powerful reinforcement from govern- 
 ment, through the kindness of Captain Burns, head of the com- 
 missarat of Nusseerabad, who, having heard of the desertion 
 of my people at Jyepoor, forwarded twenty men to meet me. 
 At Nusseerabad no ordinary bearers are to be hired, but the 
 commissarat keep forty or fifty in their pay for government 
 service; and the letter's which government had written con- 
 cerning me, directed them to supply me with every assistance 
 and comfort in their power. - 
 
 February 6.— From Bandursindree we went between four 
 and five coss to Kishenghur. The country, half way, con- 
 tinued open and barren. Afterwards, without ceasing to be 
 barren, it was a good deal covered by thorny trees; and at 
 length we ascended a rugged chain of granite hills, which 
 brought us to Kishenghur, with its walls of solid and substan- 
 tial masonry, its castle on the mountain top, and its gardens 
 fenced with hedges of prickly pear, — the whole something like 
 Jyepoor in miniature. — The tents were pitched in a stony and 
 ilusty plain, but in rather a pretty situation without the walls, 
 and enjoying a view of the Raja's palace, a large but rudely 
 built fort on the banks of a fine pool of water, with a margin 
 of green corn-fields, and aback-ground of bare and rugged 
 hills. We found nothing ready, either for ourselves or for 
 our animals. The people, though civil, would furnish no sup- 
 plies without the Raja's orders, and he had married a new 
 wife the day before, and nobody dared> to apply to him. The 
 
24 KISHENGHUR. 
 
 promises of payment brought, however, a scanty supply, and 
 soon afterwards, about ten o'clock, a message came from the 
 Raja in Divan, with his order to supply whatever was want- 
 ed, and an enquiry whether I wished him to cf#ll on me. I 
 returned for answer that I had no design to give him that trou- 
 ble, and that I intended to call on him at any time in the af- 
 ternoon that suited him, adding that it was not my custom to 
 go out in the heat of the day, and that I was obliged to leave 
 Kishenghur early in the morning. The messenger said he 
 would bring me word immediately, but never returned, a cir- 
 cumstance which the servants ascribed to the Raja's having 
 by this time dosed himself with opium. The result saved me 
 some trouble, and was only remarkable as being inconsistent 
 with the modesty and civility of the first message. The Raja 
 was described to me as a young man of twenty -five or twenty- 
 six, of a dissipated character; his territory is small and barren, 
 but his expenses must be very trifling, except so far as his 
 many relations, for all his clan consider themselves as his 
 kinsmen, are burdensome to him. At night he sent me some 
 guides for our next day's journey, and some coolies, whom i 
 did not want; but, to my surprise, did not send an escort, 
 which I had asked for the horses, who were to be sent on half- 
 way; he, however, alterwards thought better of it, since when 
 we set out, a dozen horsemen presented themselves, but too 
 late to be of any service. The corn in the neighbourhood of 
 Kishenghur, I was sorry to see a good deal blighted, as if 
 with frost after rain. We had had no rain which could have 
 done mischief, and this was the first blight which I had seen 
 in Kajpootana, The soil is very barren, but water is found 
 every where, so that with industry and good fortune plenty 
 may be obtained. On these light soils blight is, I believe, 
 always most fatal* 
 
25 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 AJMERE TO NEEMUCH. 
 
 AJMERE REMARKABLE FORTRESS MUSSULMAN PLACE OF PIL- 
 GRIMAGE—ENCAMPMENT OF BRINJARREES NUSSEERABAD 
 
 — BHATS AND CHARUNS— CAPTAIN TODD— BOOLES BHEEL 
 
 MANNER OF FISHING BHEELS— RANAH OF OODEYPOOR 
 
 OHITTORE ANECDOTE OF RANNEE— MARBLE TOWER- 
 NIGHT BLINDNESS. 
 
 February 7. — We marched to Ajmere, about seventeen 
 miles. The country M'as as barren as ever, but more hilly, 
 and saved from a wearisome uniformity by clusters of thorny 
 trees and thickets of the cactus. Among these we found a 
 considerable number of camels grazing, and were passed by 
 some irregular troops and some sepoys in red, and pretty 
 nearly equipped like those in the company's service, who 
 said they belonged to the Maharaja Sindia. What they could 
 be doing here now that he had ceded all his territories in this 
 neighbourhood, and within a hundred miles of it, I could not 
 conjecture. Dr. Smith, who put the question, had forgotten 
 this fact or would have asked them where they were going, 
 and I, having supposed that they belonged to the company's 
 service,'had ridden on before, and did not hear the question or 
 reply. They were all infantry^ the irregulars had matchlocks, 
 swords and shields; the regulars only differed from our troops 
 as having, which our men frequently carry when on a journey, 
 sabres in addition to their musquets and bayonets. The cactus 
 or prickly pear grows very strong on these barren hills. Dr. 
 Clarke in his travels through the Holy Land speaks of it as 
 likely in certain latitudes to afford an impenetrable fortifica- 
 tion, and I now asked Dr. Smith if it were ever used in the 
 *' bound hedge" of an Indian town. He answered that it was 
 found very easy to cut down either with axe or sabre ; and 
 that nothing answered so well as a thick plantation of bam- 
 boos, which, though not prickly, are impenetrable, and can 
 be neither burnt nor cut down without great loss of time and 
 risque from the fire of the besieged. The union of the two, 
 as in the fortification of Marapoor, which I have previously 
 mentioned, would seem the best. 
 
 I was disappointed in the first view of Ajmere, which I had 
 expected to find a large city, but which is only a well-built, 
 
26 AJMERE. 
 
 moderate-sized town, on the slope of a high hill, or what really 
 deserves the name of mountain. The buildings are chiefly 
 whitewashed, and the surrounding rocks have some thorny 
 trees and brushwood on them, which hide their barrenness, 
 and make a good back-ground to the little ruinous Mosques 
 and Mussulman tombs, which are scattered round the circuit 
 of this holy city. Above, on the mountain top, is a very re- 
 markable fortress called Taraghur, nearly two miles in circuit, 
 but, from its irregular shape and surface not capable of con- 
 taining more than 1200 men. It is, however, a magnificent 
 place of arms in many respects. The rock is, in most parts 
 quite inaccessible; it has an abundant supply of good water, 
 in all seasons, from tanks and cisterns cut in the live rock. 
 There are bomb-proofs to a vast extent, and store-houses like 
 wells, where corn, ghee, &c. used to be kept, and, with very 
 little improvement from European skill, it might easily be 
 made a second Gibraltar. It is, however, no part of the policy 
 of the British Government in India to rely on fortresses, and 
 the works are now fast going to decay. 
 
 The main attraction of Ajmere in the eyes of its Mussul- 
 man visitors, is the tomb of Shekh Kajah Mowud Deen, a cele- 
 brated saint, whosp miracles are renowned all over India. 
 The Emperor Acbar, great and wise man as he was, and sus- 
 pected of placing little faith in the doctrines of Islam, made 
 nevertheless a pilgrimage on foot to this place to implore, at 
 the saint's tomb, the blessing of male oftspring. The crowd of 
 pilgrims who met us, or whom we overtook during the last 
 three or four days, showed how much the shrine is still in 
 fashion; and in Malwah it is not uncommon for pilgrims who 
 have been at the Ajmere Durgah to set up a brick or a stone 
 taken from the sanctuary, near their dwelling, and to be- 
 come saints themselves, and have pilgrimages made to them 
 in consequence of such a possession. 
 
 Nor are they Mussulmans alone who reverence this tomb. 
 The Sindia family, while masters of Ajmere, were magnifi- 
 cent benefactors to its shrine, and my own sirdar and the 
 goomashta Cashiram were quite as anxious to come hither as 
 if it had been to one of their own holy places. I regret that I 
 could not see it, but we were encamped at some distance from 
 the city, and it blew all day long a dry north-wester which 
 filled the air in such a manner with dust as to make going about 
 extremely painful. I sate waiting in my tent in the hope that 
 it might abate towards evening; but it only became bearable 
 as it grew dusk, and the account which 1 heard of the tomb 
 from Mr. Moore was not such as to lead me to incur any great 
 inconvenience in order to visit it. My servants described it 
 as of white marble, with a great deal of golden and silver or- 
 
AJMERE NUSSEERABAD. 27 
 
 Tiament; but Mr. Moore said, that though rich, it was neither 
 finely carved nor of any particular curiosity. 
 
 The Emperors of Delhi showed favour in many ways to Aj- 
 mere, but in none more than in a noble fresh-water lake which 
 they made just above the city, by damming up the gorge of an 
 extensive valley, and conveying different small rills into it. 
 The result is a fine sheet of water now four miles, and during 
 the rains six miles in circumference, sufficient in industrious 
 hands to give fertility to all the neighbourhood. As it is, it af- 
 fords the means of irrigation to a large district on its banks, 
 supplies abundance of excellent water to the citizens of Ajmere, 
 is full of fish, and would, if there were any boats, be an ex- 
 cellent place for sailing. 
 
 Mr. Moore lives in a small house fitted up out of a summer- 
 house erected by Shah Jehanguire on the very ''bund" or dam 
 of this lake, and with its waters beatinsrao-ainstthe basement. 
 The building is prettily carved and lined with white marble, 
 but a much meaner edifice would, in such a situation, be de- 
 lightful. There is no flood-gate in the bund, nor does any 
 water escape that way ; whatever is superfluous being divert- 
 ed right hand and left and employed in agriculture. 
 
 Three coss west of Ajmere is a celebrated Hindoo temple 
 named Pokur, which, from the remoteness of its situation from 
 the more populous parts of Hindostan, is an object of much in- 
 terest and curiosity with people from the east and the Deccan. 
 
 My tent was very nearly blown over in the hurricane of to- 
 day, and every thing in it filled with sand, from my bed to my 
 book boxes and inkstand. But though longer in duration, 
 the storm was not greater in violence than some which I have 
 seen in Calcutta. 
 
 February 8. — We proceeded to Nusseerabad, fourteen very 
 iong miles, over a sandy and rocky plain, bordered on each side 
 by mountains which would have been picturesque had they had 
 a less bleak and barren fore-ground. The hills are now much 
 improved in size ; the little dells and stony plains between 
 their ranges are inhabited by a race of people called Mhairs, 
 nominal Mussulmans, but paying no real regard to religion of 
 any kind, and robbers by profession. Brigadier Knox told me 
 that he had on first coming into this district a good deal of trou- 
 ble with them. Sindia had never been able to tame them; and 
 our troops found much difficulty in following them into their 
 mountain fastnesses. They were brought at length to ask for 
 an audience of the General, and like the Puharrees of Rajma- 
 hal, whom they seem greatly to resemble, were easily concili- 
 ated on their being promised protection from their lowland 
 neighbours, and obtaining an immunity of their lands from tri- 
 bute. A corps of light troops hasbeert raised among them to 
 
 Vol. II.— -3. 
 
28 NUSSEERABAD. 
 
 their delight, and they have been both brave and faithful under 
 British officers. Brigadier Knox apprehends them to be of the 
 same race with the Bheels and the other inhabitants of the 
 mountainous parts of India. 
 
 We passed a large encampment of "Brinjarrees," or carriers 
 of grain, a singular wandering race, who pass their whole time 
 in transporting this article from one part of the country to an- 
 other, seldom on their own account, but as agents for more 
 "wealthy dealers. They move about in large bodies with, their 
 wives, children, dogs, and loaded bullocks. The men are all 
 armed as a protection against petty thieves. From the sove- 
 reigns and armies of Hindostan they have no apprehensions. 
 Even contending armies allow them to pass and repass safely, 
 rever taking their goods without purchase, or even preventing 
 them if they choose from victualling their enemy's camp. 
 Both sides wisely agree to respect and encourage a branch of 
 industry, the interruption of which might be attended with 
 fatal consequences to both. How well would it be if a similar 
 liberal feeling prevailed between the belligerents of Europe ; 
 and how much is our piratical system of warfare put to shame 
 in this respect by the practice of those whom we call barbarians ! 
 
 Nusseerabad is a pleasanter place than, from all the bad re- 
 ports I had heard of it, 1 had expected. The cantonments are 
 very regular and convenient, the streets of noble width, and 
 there are a sufficientnumber of stunted parkinsonias about the 
 gardens to save the view from that utter nakedness which is 
 usually seen in Rajpootana. Many wells and two or three large 
 tanks have been constructed since the English fixed here, but 
 most of the water is brackish. Garden vegetables thrive w'ell, 
 though the soil is light and the rock is very near the surface, 
 and I have no doubt that thepeepul and many other trees would 
 succeed if planted sulBciently thick in the first instance. They 
 would be a great accession to the place, not only for beauty but 
 for shade, for shelter from the bitter winds, and diminishing 
 the quantity of dust which is the chief plague of the station. 
 In contradiction to all I had been previously told, I find that 
 Nusseerabad is, even now, perhaps the healthiest station in In- 
 dia ; and the climate is pleasant at all times except during 
 the hot winds. The rains in this parched land are welcom- 
 ed as refreshing, and seldom are sufficiently steady to keep 
 people at home a whole day together. The force stationed 
 here is considerable, and 1 found a more numerous society 
 than I expected in so remote a spot, and which had been re- 
 presented to me in such gloomy colours. Fruit-trees will not 
 grow here, but they have abundant supplies from Pokur, the 
 place of pilgrimage which I have just mentioned, and which 
 is renowned for its gardens and vineyards. The grapes are 
 
CASTLE OF JOUDPOOR. 29 
 
 by far the best and largest in India, and equal to those of 
 Shiraz. Sindia still retains a house and garden at Pokur; so 
 that it is probable his troops, whom we met the other day, 
 were going to do duty there. The sanctity of the place is re- 
 nowned all over India, but of its beauty and fertility I had 
 never heard before. The country indeed of Rajpootana, as I 
 was now given to understand, does not increase in sterility in 
 proportion to its approach to the western desert. Captain 
 Sandys, the Quarter Master General of the district, had tra- 
 velled considerably beyond Joudpoor ; and he described the 
 whole province of Marwar as better soil and in a better state 
 of cultivation than either Jyepoor, Ajmere, or Meywar (the 
 south-western tract including Oodeypoor and Neemuch.) Mar- 
 war, indeed, escaped better during the troubles, as being far- 
 ther otF from the Pindarrees. The wells are very deep, and 
 agriculture therefore expensive. The villages, however, were 
 in a good state, the corn looking well and covering a large 
 surface, and the cotton the finest he had ever seen. The oxen 
 and sheep, also, give evidence of the goodness of their pas- 
 ture, being the largest and most highly prized in all this part 
 of India. A pair of good Marwar bullocks, fit for drawing a 
 native carriage and trained to trot, will be reckoned cheap at 
 from 150 to 200 rupees, and those in Sind are still dearer. 
 
 The castle of Joudpoor, in which the Raja resides, Captain 
 Sandys described as extremely magnificent^ and a drawing 
 which he showed me fully confirmed his statement. It is as 
 large as Windsor, less strikingly situated, and of more simple 
 and solid architecture, but in many respects fully equal to its 
 rival. It is strange to find such buildings in such a country. 
 In England I should hardly -be believed, if I said that a petty 
 Raja, in the neigbourhood of the salt desert, had a palace lit- 
 tle less or less magnificent than Windsor. 
 
 During my stay at Nusseerabad, I was the guest of Briga- 
 dier Knox, the oldest cavalry officer now in India, and who 
 has not seen England since he was a boy. His house had as 
 yet been the only place for divine service, but was not nearly 
 large enough for the station. There is a ball-room of sufficient 
 size, but objections had been made to using this as a Church 
 also, which I soon obviated, and the place was directed to be 
 got ready for Sunday. On the Saturday preceding I held a 
 Confirmation, when I administered the rite to 27 people, the 
 good old Brigadier at their head. On Sunday I had a congre- 
 gation of about 120, of whom 32 staid for the Sacrament. 
 This was an interesting sight in a land where 15 years ago 
 very few Christians had ever penetrated. 
 
 Timber is excessively dear, and all articles of wooden fur- 
 niture proportionably scarce. When ladies and gentlemen 
 
30 NUSSEERABAD ^BUNAEE. 
 
 go out to dinner parties, they send their own chairs, as well 
 as their own plates, Icnives, and forks, a custom borrowed 
 from the camp, and very sensible and convenient. At church 
 also every bwly was to bring their own chairsj but as the sol 
 diers had very few of them any thing like a seat, I begged 
 that the ladies and gentlemen would send what supply they 
 could spare for their use. A curious muster was accordingly 
 made of all the chairs in the cantonment, but there were still 
 more people than seats. The good nature with which my re- 
 quest v.'as met pleased me extremely. 
 
 European articles are, as might be expected, very dear. The 
 shops are kept by a Greek and two Parsees from Bombay, 
 They had in their list all the usual items of a Calcutta ware- 
 house. English cotton cloths, both white and printed, are to 
 be met with commonly in wear among the people of the coun- 
 try; and may, I learned to my surprise, be bought best and 
 cheapest, as well as all kinds of hardware, crockery, writing- 
 desks, &c. at Pallee, a large town and celebrated mart in 
 Marwar on the edge of the desert, several days journey west 
 of Joudpoor, where, till very lately, no European was Known 
 to have penetrated. 
 
 I here exchanged my escort of sepoys, I believe, with mu- 
 tual regret. They, as their commander, Colonel Thomas, told 
 me, made a formal application to go on with me to my journey's 
 endj and I, on hearing this, expressed the same desire. They 
 were, however, wanted in their regiment after this long ab- 
 sence; and the more so because, without them, that regiment, 
 in consequence of the numbers which had been distributed on 
 different services, was almost a skeleton. 
 
 February 14. — I had intended to leave Nusseerabad to-day, 
 but my course was arrested by the painful news of the illness 
 of my poor baby. My first impression was to set out imme- 
 diately, by the way of Saugor, for the Ganges; but reflecting 
 that at Neemuch I should receive further intelligence, and be 
 better able to decide as to the propriety of returning, I resolved 
 to go on; Captain Fagan, the Post-master, having very kindly 
 ordered one of the servants of his offtce to go with me, who 
 was empowered to open and examine any Dak packets which 
 might pass us. 
 
 Accordingly, on February 1 5th, I quitted Nusseerabad, a 
 place which I found so much pleasanter than it had been de- 
 scribed to me, tjjat I have, perhaps, thought too favourably of 
 it. Its inhabitants, however, certainly spoke well of it; and 
 of them I have every reason to think and speak highly. I have 
 not, in all India, met with a better informed, a more unaffect- 
 ed and hospitable society. We marched 19 miles to Bunaee, 
 a good-sized town, situated at the foot of one of the ranges ol" 
 
DEEOLEA DABLA 31 
 
 mountains seen from Nusseerabad, with a little old castle on 
 an adjoining rock, and a good many spreading trees round its 
 base, which in this country are a very unusual and valuable 
 ornament. The people of the place begged that we would not 
 deface these trees by cutting them for our elephants and ca- 
 mels. A great part of the trade of their town, they said, de- 
 pended on them, inasmuch as a religious fair was held annu- 
 ally under their shade. This was just over, and we had met 
 during our march a number of people returning from it. Of 
 course I complied with a wish so natural, and purchased in 
 consequence 300 little bundles of maize straw, as food for the 
 three elephants. 
 
 The Greek shopkeeper of Nusseerabad, a Mr. Athanass, a 
 very decent man, rode after me to this place to ask my bless- 
 ing, being the only Christian bishop whom he had seen since 
 he had left Smyrna. He said he usually attended the worship 
 of the Church of England, but had been ill on the morning of 
 last Sunday. He had been sixteen years in India, had a bro- 
 ther, also a shopkeeper, at Meerut, and their family, he said, 
 for two or three generations, had come out to make little com- 
 petencies in the East, and had returned to spend the evening 
 of their lives in their native country. He was very anxious 
 to hear news from Greece, and I felt sorry that I had nothing 
 good to tell him. I prevailed on him to eat some cold meat 
 and drink some claret, but he would not sit down in the same 
 room with me. Dr. Smith and I were lodged in an empty 
 bungalow, one of several constructed along this road for the con- 
 venience of Sir David Ochterlony, but which all travellers may 
 make use of. They are sorry buildings of stone, thatched, 
 with no furniture, nor any better doors and windows than 
 pieces of matting; they, however, save the trouble of pitching 
 tents, and answer every purpose for which they were intended. 
 
 The Raja, or Thakoor of the place, who resides in the little 
 fort already mentioned, is a child, and his mother sent to al- 
 lege his tender age as a reason for his not calling on me. In 
 the town, where we walked in the evening, are two very ele- 
 gant light temples. 
 
 February 16. — We went to Deeolea, six coss. It is a small 
 shabby town, with a mud rampart and a ruinous castle. The 
 soil apparently improves as we go south, but the country is 
 sadly burnt up, and bare of every thing but thorny trees, which 
 are pretty thickly scattered in some places. 
 
 February 17. — We proceeded seven coss to Dabla, a poor 
 town like the last, at which w^e entered on the territories of the 
 Ranah of Oodeypoor, and were met by one of the servants of 
 Captain Cobbe, British Resident at that court, who had pre- 
 pared every thing necessary for me. 'I found here another 
 
32 ZALIM SINGH BHATS. 
 
 letter from home, with a more favourable account of the infanf ? 
 but a bad account of my eldest girl. Now, however, I mu&t 
 proceed to Neemuch. 
 
 All this country is strangely desolate; yet the number of 
 tombs and ruins which we passed proved that it had been well 
 inhabited at no very distant period. Oodeypoor was, indeed, 
 the district which suffered most from the Pindarrees, and 
 from two of the chieftains who had the greatest influence with 
 those horrible robbers, Bappoo Sindia, a cousin of the Maha 
 Raja, and Jumsheed Khan. The only district which escaped 
 was the territory of Kotah, then administered, during the 
 Ranah's minority, by the Regent Zalim Singh, of whose cha- 
 racter and many virtues an interesting account may be found 
 in Sir John Malcolm's "Central India," and who by firmness, 
 personal popularity, and the able employment of very limited 
 means, made his little country a sort of Eden amid the sur- 
 rounding misery, and his court to be renowned as an asylum 
 for the exiled and unfortunate from every neighbouring prin- 
 cipality. He died a few years ago, loved by his own subjects 
 and reverenced even by the worst and most lawless of his 
 neighbours. During the time of Colonel Monson's disastrous 
 expedition and retreat through tiiese provinces, Zalim Singh 
 otFered to open his gates to his distressed army, and protect 
 them during the wliole rainy season, provided Monson would 
 guarantee to him the British protection against the subsequent 
 vengeance of Jeswunt Row Holcar. But he was incurable 
 in his feelings of dislike and distrust towards all the natives 
 of Hindostan. He would not so much as confide in the valour 
 and loyalty of his own sepoys, far less in that of a stranger; 
 and he had, perhaps, no authority for promising the alliance 
 of his government to any native power so distant as Zalim 
 Singh was from the then frontier of the Company. The gene- 
 rous offer of the Regent was, however, very properly remem- 
 bered and rewarded when the British became paramount in 
 Rajpootana. 
 
 A ''Bhat" or Bard came to ask a gratuity. I desired him 
 first to give a specimen of his art, on which he repeated some 
 lines of so pure Hindoo, that I could make out little or nothing 
 except ''Bhadrinath," "Duccun," and other words expressive 
 of immense extent, and of the different parts of the compass; 
 the poetry was in praise of the vast conquests of the British. 
 He only repeated a very few lines, and seemed unwilling to go 
 on, on which one of the bystanders, a Dilk peon, reproached 
 him for his idleness, and rattled off* twenty lines of the same 
 language in high style and with much animation, as a sort of 
 challenge to an Amoeb^ean contest. He spoke so rapidly that 
 I caught even less of his meaning than of the bard's before, 
 
BHATS. 33 
 
 but the measure struck me as very nearly approaching to the 
 hexameter. The bard rejoined with considerable vehemence, 
 and I perceived that like the corresponding contests of the 
 shepherds in Theocritus and Virgil, the present trial of skill 
 would soon degenerate into a scolding match, and therefore 
 dismissed both parties, (according to the good old custom of 
 Daphnis and other similar arbiters,) giving each a small 
 gratuity. 
 
 The Bhats are a sacred order all through Rajpootana. Their 
 race was especially created by Mahadeo for the purpose of 
 guarding his sacred bull; but they lost this honourable office 
 through their cowardice. The god had a pet lion also, and as the 
 favourite animals were kept in the same apartment, the bull was 
 eaten almost every day, in spite of all the noise which the Bhats 
 could make, greatly to the grief of Siva, and to the increase of 
 his trouble, since he had to create a new bull in the room of 
 every one which fell a victim to the ferocity of his companion. 
 Under these circumstances the deity formed a new race of men, 
 theCharuns, of equal piety and tuneful powers, but more cou- 
 rageous than the Bhats, and made them the wardens of his me- 
 nagerie. The Bhats, however, still retained their functions of 
 singing the praises of gods and heroes, and, as the liereditary 
 guardians of history and pedigree, are held in higher estimation 
 than even the brahmins themselves, among the haughty and fierce 
 nobles of Rajpootana. In the yet wilder districts to the south- 
 west, tlie more warlike Gharun, however, take their place in po- 
 pular reverence. A few years back it was usual for merchants 
 or travellers going through Malwah and Guzerat to hire a Cha- 
 run to protect them, and the sanctity of his name was generally 
 sufficient. If robbers appeared, he stepped forwards ^v'aving his 
 long white garments, and denouncing, in verse, infamy and dis- 
 grace on all who should injure travellers under the protection of 
 the holy minstrel of Siva. If this failed he stabbed himself with 
 his dagger, generally in the left arm, declaring that his blood was 
 on their heads; and, if all failed, he was bound in honour to stab 
 himself to the heart, a catastrophe of which there -was little dan- 
 ger, since the violent death of such a person was enough to de- 
 vote the NVhole land to barrenness, and all who occasioned it to 
 an everlasting abode in Padalon. 
 
 The Bhats protect nobody; but to kill or beat one of them 
 would be regarded as very disgraceful and ill-omened; and pre- 
 suming on this immunity, and on the importance attached to that 
 sort of renown which it confers, they are said often to extort mo- 
 ney from their wealthy neighbours by promises of spreading 
 their great name, and threats ofmaking them infamous, and even 
 of blasting their prospects. A wealthy merchant in Indoresome 
 years since, had a quarrel with one of these men, who made a 
 
34 CAPTAIN TODD. 
 
 clay image which he called after the merchant's name, and daily 
 in the bazar and in the different temples addressed it with bitter 
 and reproachful language, intermixed with the most frightful 
 curses which an angry poet could invent. There was no redress, 
 and the merchant, though a man of great power and influence at 
 court, was advised to bribe him into silence^ this he refused to 
 do, and the matter went on for several months, till a number of 
 the merchant's friends subscribed a considerable sum, of which, 
 with much submission and joining hands, they intreated the 
 Bhat to accept. " Alas !" was his answer, " why was not this 
 done before? Had I been conciliated in time, your friend might 
 yet have prospered. But now, though I shall be silent hence- 
 forth, I have already said too much against him, and when did 
 the imprecations of a bard, so long persisted in, fall to the ground 
 unaccomplished?" The merchant, as it happened, was really 
 overtaken by some severe calamities, and the popular faith in 
 the powers of the minstrel character, is now more than ever con- 
 firmed. 
 
 I find that the European complexion and dress are greater 
 objects of curiosity here than I should have expected; of both 
 they see many specimens in officers travelling through the coun- 
 try, and their own tint is so much lighter than that of the people 
 of Bengal, that my habituated eyes have ceased almost to con- 
 sider them as different from Europeans. I can perceive, how- 
 ever, in the crowds of women and children who come out to see 
 us, that Dr. Smith and I are lions of the first magnitude; and an 
 instance which happened this day shows that we are reckoned 
 formidable lions too. A girl of abouttwelve years old, whom we 
 met in our walk round the town, stopped short, and exclaimed 
 in a voice almost amounting to a cry, "Alas mighty sir, ('' ma- 
 haraja,") do not hurt me! I am a poor girl, and have been car- 
 rying bread to my father." What she expected me to do to her 
 I cannot tell, but I have never before been addressed in terms 
 so suitable to an Ogre. 
 
 All the provinces of Meywar were, for a considerable time 
 after their connexion with the British government, under the ad- 
 ministration of Captain Todd, whose name appears to be held in 
 a degree of affection and respect by all the upper and middling 
 classes of society, highly honourable to him, and sufficient to 
 rescue these poor people from the often repeated charge of ingra- 
 titude. Here, and our subsequent stages, we were continually 
 asked by the cutwals, &c. after "Todd Sahib," whether his 
 health was better since he returned to England, and whether 
 there was any chance of their seeing him again? On being told 
 it was not likely, they all expressed much regret, saying, that 
 the country had never known quiet till he came among them, 
 and that every body, whether rich or poor, except thieves and 
 
MERCHANTS OF BICCANERE. 35 
 
 Pindarrees, loved him. He, in fact, Dr. Smith told me, loved 
 the people of this country, and understood their language and 
 manners in a very unusual degree. He was on terms of close 
 friendship with Zalim Singh of Kotah, and has left a name there 
 as honourable as in Oodeypoor. His misfortune was that, in 
 consequence of his favouring the native princes so much, the 
 government of Calcutta were led to suspect him of corruption, 
 and consequently to narrow his powers and associate other 
 officers with him in his trust, till he was disgusted and resign- 
 ed his place. They are now I believe, well satisfied that their 
 suspicions were groundless. Captain Todd is strenuously vin- 
 dicated from the charge by all the officers with whom I have 
 conversed, and some of whom have had abundant means of 
 knowing what the natives themselves thought of him. 
 
 There is a castle at Dabla, but much dilapidated. The Tha- 
 koor, its owner, is in disgrace, and has sought refuge at Kotah, 
 where he now resides in exile; the supplies were consequently 
 scanty and dear, and the elephants had to go a long way before 
 any trees could be found for their forage. What was worse still, 
 a good deal of altercation and recrimination occurred, as to the 
 question whether the money which I paid found its way to the 
 poor peasants. Abdullah said, the cutwal of the place had com- 
 plained to him of its having been intercepted by the sepoys, but 
 the cutwal has, in my presence, and in answer to my questions, 
 declared that all had been received. On the other hand, Abdul- 
 lah had been accused, by some of the sepoys, of frequent extor- 
 tion during our journey. So difficult is it to find out the real state 
 of the case among people in whose eyes a lie is not disgraceful, 
 and, if an offence, a very venial one ! A good many of the trades- 
 men and merchants of this neighbourhood are natives of Bicca- 
 nere, a celebrated city in the desert, and generally return when 
 they have made a little money to end their days in that place, — a 
 remarkable instance of the love of country, inasmuch as it stands 
 in one of the most inhospitable regions of the earth, with an ocean 
 of sand on every side, and all the drinkable water in the place is 
 monopolized and sold out by the government. Aboo, respect- 
 ing which I asked several questions, lies, as I was told, forty 
 coss directly west of Oodeypoor, in a very wild and thinly in- 
 habited country. On every account, I apprehend, I have done 
 well in not going there in this season of drought and scarcity. 
 
 February 18. — From Dabla to Bunaira is about 16 miles; the 
 country rather improves, at least it is not so naked, though the 
 timber is little better than thorny bushes. Bunaira is a large 
 walled town, prettily situated in the midst of gardens and fields, 
 at the foot of a range of craggy and slirubby hills, on one of which 
 is a very fine castle, larger than that of Carnarvon, and in good 
 repair. The Raja, who resides in it, came out to meet me at the 
 
36 BUNAIRA. 
 
 head of a considerable cavalcade; he was splendidly dressed, 
 with a very glittering turban, a shield slung on his back, and a 
 remarkably elegant sword and dagger in his sash. His horse was 
 led by two grooms tolerably well-clothed; the attire of his silver- 
 stiek and standard bearers, and other servants, was not in very 
 good repair, and his own cane was carried by a naked boy of 
 about fourteen. He was an elderly man, and had lost many of 
 his teeth, which made it very difficult for me to understand him. 
 This does not seem an usual infirmity in India, but the Raja's 
 red eyes and eager emaciated countenance sufficiently proved 
 him to be an opium-eater. On our first meeting we endeavoured 
 to embrace, but our horses threw themselves into such offensive 
 attitudes, and showed such unequivocal signs of hostile inten- 
 tions, that we could o-nlj touch each other's hands. I know not 
 how Cabul's courage rates, buthe looked as if he would have torn 
 both the Raja and his horse into shreds. When our steeds were 
 a little pacified, we rode abreast a short distance, and began a 
 conversation. It is, fortunately, the custom in this part of the 
 world for persons of very high rank to converse only through the 
 medium of a confidential servant, and I gladly made use of this 
 etiquette, using the dak jemautdar, whose Hindoostanee I un- 
 derstood pretty well, as the channel of communication with the 
 muttering old Rajpoot. The effect, however, of this procedure 
 was abundantly ludicrous. *' Tell the Raja Sahib that I am hap- 
 py to meet him, and hope he is in good health;" thus rendered: 
 " The Lord Sahib decrees that he is happy to see your worship, 
 and hopes you are in good health. " " Tell the Lord Sahib that 
 I am in very good health, thanks to his arrival and provision, 
 and that I hope he is well :" rendered, '' The Raja Sahib makes 
 representation that he is very well, thanks to Huzzoor's ar- 
 rival," &c. In this way we talked on various subjects in our 
 way to the bungalow, which stands in a grove of scattered 
 trees and shrubs, at a little distance from the city gate. We 
 passed the dam of what had been a noble pool, of probably 150 
 acres, but now quite dry, as was, the Raja said, another of 
 equal size on the other side of the town. 
 
 We passed also the first field of white poppies which I had 
 seen, a sign of our approach to the opium district. The bunga- 
 low commands a very striking view of the Raja's fortress; on 
 arriving there we alighted and embraced in a most affectionate 
 sort, after which I conducted him in and seated him at my 
 right hand. A little more common-place conversation followed, 
 and he took his leave. Soon after he sent a considerable pre- 
 sent of sweetmeats, which I ordered to be divided among the 
 servants and soldiers. The bungalow looked very desolate, and 
 I took the precaution of having my mosquito-net put up as a 
 security from the scorpions, which, in such buildings, some- 
 
BHEELWARA. 37 
 
 times drop from the thatch, and slept at night very com- 
 fortably. 
 
 In the evening we walked to a neighbouring hill, where we 
 had another view of the castle and town; the former, we were 
 told, had stood a siege from Zalim Singh of Kotah, who erected 
 his batteries on the hill where we now were, but from whence 
 his balls could not have reached the ramparts, and Ameer Khan 
 had ravaged the neighbourhood without attempting the castle. 
 It would doubtless be a place of considerable strength even 
 against an European army, unless they bombarded it, since 
 there are no neighbouring heights which command it, and the 
 rocky nature of the soil would make it very difficult and labo- 
 rious to open trenches. But shells would, probably, soon com- 
 pel a native garrison to surrender. A good deal of cotton 
 grows round the city, and some wheat and barley, with several 
 palm-trees, and the whole scene was interesting and roman- 
 tic. Ruined tombs and mosques were scattered over the hills 
 to a considerable distance. 
 
 February 19. — From Bunairato Bheelwara is ten miles; the 
 road for about four miles wound very agreeably through hills 
 and scattered jungles. Afterwards we entered a plain, greener 
 and better cultivated than we had seen any extent of country 
 for many days; the cattle all showed this change, and notwith- 
 standing the drought had extended hither also, were in a plight 
 which even in England would not have been called actual star- 
 vation. At about seven miles we passed Sanganeer, a large 
 town and celebrated fortress, with a good rampart, bastions 
 of better construction than most I have seen, a glacis and ditch 
 which showed signs of having been a wet one. The walls of 
 the town were, however, much dilapidated, and we were told 
 it had been sacked by Ameer Khan. Here I was met by the 
 Khamdar or judge of Bhularia, with a message of welcome 
 from the Ranah of Oodeypoor : he was a very clean and respect- 
 able old man, with a numerous attendance of ragged match- 
 lock men. 
 
 Bheelwara is a large town without any splendid buildings, 
 but with a number of neat houses, four long bazars, and a 
 greater appearance of trade, industry, and moderate but widely 
 diffused wealth and comfort than I had seen since I left Delhi. 
 Tlie streets were full of hackeries laden with corn and flour, 
 the shops stored with all kinds of woollen, felt, cotton, and 
 hardware goods, and the neatness of their workmanship in iron 
 far surpassed what I should have expected to see. Here too, 
 every body was full of Captain Todd-s praise. The place had 
 been entirely ruined by Jumsheed Khan and deserted by all 
 its inhabitants, when Captain Todd persuaded the Ranah to 
 adopt measures for encouraging the owners of land to return, 
 
38 BOOLEES. 
 
 and foreign merchants to settle; he himself drew up a code of 
 regulations for them, obtained them an immunity from taxes 
 for a certain number of years, and sent them patterns of differ- 
 ent articles of English manufacture for their imitation. He also 
 gave money liberally to the beautifying their town. In short, as 
 one of the merchants who called on me said, " it ought to be 
 called Todd-gunge, but there is no need, for we shall never 
 forget him." Such praise as this from people who had no fur- 
 ther hopes of seeing or receiving any benefit from him, is in- 
 deed of sterling value. 
 
 Though the country improves, the people, I think, are a 
 smaller race than those to the north, and certainly fall very 
 far short of the Hindoostanee sepoys. 
 
 February 20, Sunday.— We were again obliged to go a short 
 stage this day, in order that I might have, which is absolutely 
 necessary, two entire days at Neemuch. I tried different ways 
 of arranging the journey so as to secure our Sunday's rest, but 
 it would not do. We began our march with a very melancholy 
 omen. One of the Raja's soldiers, or chokeydars, for the name 
 of soldier they hardly merited, who had been sent from the 
 town to take charge of the remainder of the grass which my 
 suwarrs had left, sate down on the parapet of a deep and broad 
 well or ''boolee," with a wide flight of steps down to the 
 water's edge. Here he either fell asleep or was seized with a 
 fitj at all events, he rolled over, fell at least forty feet on the 
 stone staircase, and was dashed to pieces. He had no wife, 
 but left two children, one a boy in service, the other a little 
 girl of eight years old. Her uncle brought this child to me in 
 consequence of my inquiries and the interest which I took in 
 the business; the poor little thing seemed hardly to understand 
 what had happened, except that something dismal had befallen 
 her father; and her blubbered cheeks, her great black eyes, 
 which were fixed on me between fear and astonishment, and 
 her friendless state affected me much. I gave her money 
 enough to burn the dead body and leave her something over 
 for her own immediate maintenance, and recommended her to 
 the care of her uncle, who confessed himself to be her natural 
 guardian. 
 
 These boolees are singular contrivances, and some of them 
 extremely handsome and striking; they are very deep square 
 pits, about fifteen or twenty feet across, lined with hewn stone, 
 and sometimes sixty or seventy feet deep. At the top is a pul- 
 ley, as in a common well, by which water is drawn from the 
 bottom by oxen, but on one side is a long and broad flight of 
 stone steps to the water's edge, and with its approach, some- 
 times ornamented with pillars and a kind of portico. The steps 
 are used both by people who desire to wash themselves, and hv 
 
UMMEERGHUR. 39 
 
 those who have not rope enough to reach the water from the 
 surface, and the effect in going down is often very striking. 
 Thej are generally full of pigeons, which build their nests in 
 crannies of the walls. 
 
 Our road was through a country chiefly covered with open 
 jungle to Uinmeerghur, distant nine miles. A little short of 
 this place we passed the river Bunass, now a dry channel with 
 the exception of a narrow stream of beautiful and rapid water 
 in its centre. It flows eastward, and falls into the Jumna. In 
 the rainy season it is a very great river, and the suwarrs told 
 us they had never seen it so dry before. There is another 
 river of the same name beyond the hills of Aboo and Palhan- 
 poor, which falls into the Runn to the west of Guzerat, a cir- 
 cumstance which has led Arrowsmith into some great errors, 
 in supposing these streams to rise out of the same lake and 
 flow different ways. 
 
 Ummeerghur is a good sized town, in the centre of which 
 are three very pretty temples ranged in a line, and built on an 
 uniform plan, with a tomb on their right hand, where repose 
 the ashes of a rich merchant, their founder. A considerable 
 manufactory of chintz seemed going on, and the place bore 
 the marks of apparent prosperity. Above it, on a high rock, 
 stands a castle, which was conquered last year for the Ranah 
 from a rebellious Thakoor. The Ranah, with 3000 men had 
 besieged it three months before he asked for the help of Bri- 
 tish troops. Finding, however, that he made no progress, he 
 applied to the Brigadier at Neemuch, and two battalions and 
 a few mortars settled the affair in little more than one day. 
 This was told me by the Khamdar of the town, and confirm- 
 ed with a sort of exultation by the jemautdar of a troop of irre- 
 gular cavalry, who, as his corps is under a British officer, and 
 he himself had served in our army against Asseerghur, seemed 
 to pique himself on being a British, not an Oodeypoor soldier. 
 The Khamdar, together with the " Potail," or Zemindar of 
 the neighbouring district, (who is here an officer strictly here- 
 ditary, and answering to the Lord of a Manor in England,) 
 called on me, attended by a number of men with rusty match- 
 locks, swords and shields. The Khamdar spoke very intelligi- 
 ble Hindoostanee, and I thought him a sensible man. The 
 potail had the appearance of a venerable old farmer. The 
 whole party, attendants and all, entered the bungalow in the 
 unceremonious manner which Sir John)Malcolm ascribes to the 
 natives generally of Central India, and seated themselves on 
 the ground in a half circle round me, resting their hands on 
 their shields. My servants were a good deal scandalized at 
 this rustic plainness, but there was evidently no offence in- 
 tended. On the contrary, nothing could exceed the attention 
 
 Vol. II.— 4. 
 
40 BHEELS. 
 
 which they paid us during the day. Fuel and grass were fur- 
 nished on the most liberal scale, and they sent a stock of very 
 fine fish, enough to dine our whole camp, while all payment 
 was steadily refused, except that I was, with some difficulty, 
 allowed to give three rupees to the fishermen who had worked 
 for us the greatest part of the morning. Of the fish, indeed, 
 they were glad to dispose as soon as possible in any way which 
 might offer. They were the inhabitants of a large pool close 
 to the castle hill, which appeared, in the rains to cover about 
 eighty acres, being then supplied from the Bunass river. It 
 usually retained its water all the year, but this cruel season 
 had already brought it very low, and in a month more they 
 calculated that it v/ould be quite dry. Accordingly all hands 
 were now at work to catch the fish while they were yet alive, 
 and people from the whole country round about had assem- 
 bled either for this purpose, or to purchase them, a very large 
 " rooee" being to be had for a single pice. Captain Gerard, 
 an engineer officer who met me here, went to see the chace, 
 and said it was very curious. The fish were pursued in the 
 shallow muddy water with sticks, spears, and hands in all 
 directions, but there was little execution done till four Bheels, 
 in the service of the Oodeypoor government made their ap- 
 pearance. The rabble were then driven away, and these sava- 
 ges with their bows and arrows, made in a few hours that 
 havoc among the fish which produced such plenty in the 
 camp, singling out the largest, and striking them with as 
 much certainty as if they had been sheep in a fold. The ma- 
 gistrates offered to renew the sport for my diversion in the 
 evening, but being Sunday, I did not choose it. I saw the 
 fishermen, however, who were the first of their nation I had 
 met with; middle-sized slender men, very dark, with frames 
 which promised hardness and agility more than much muscu- 
 lar strength. They were bare-headed and quite naked except 
 a small belt of coarse cloth round the loins, in which they car- 
 ried their knives. Their bows were of split bamboos, very sim- 
 ply made, but strong and elastic, more so I think, than those 
 ofa buffalo horn which are generally used in Hindostan. They 
 w ere about four feet six inches long, and formed like those of 
 Europe. The arrows were also of bamboo, with an iron head 
 coarsely made, and a long single barb. Those intended for 
 striking fish had this head so contrived as to slip off from the 
 shaft when the fish was struck, but to remain connected with 
 it by a long line on the principle of the harpoon. The shaft in 
 consequence remained as a float on the water, and not only 
 contributed to weary out the animal, but showed his pursuer 
 which way he fled and thus enabled him to seize it. 
 
 We have not yet passed any Bheel villages, but I am told 
 
CAPTAIN GERARD. 41 
 
 that we are getting into their neighbourhood: Bheelwara, 
 indeed, thougTi now inhabited by Hindoo and Mussulman 
 traders, should seem, in its name, to retain the mark of its 
 original population. — During the period which is emphatical- 
 ly called by all the people of this country " the years of trou- 
 ble,'' these savages were one among the many scourges which 
 laid waste the helds, and made travelling a desperate adven- 
 ture. The revival of the Rajpoot governments, and the better 
 system of police which English influence has introduced 
 among them, together with the aid which they receive on all 
 serious occasions from the garrisons of Mhow and Neemuch, 
 have put a stop in a great degree to these depredations; and 
 the judicious measures of firmness and conciliation pursued 
 towards tlie Bheel chiefs, who have had lands granted them 
 tax-free, in order to bring them into regular habits, and have 
 been many of them enrolled, like the Puharrees andMhars, in 
 local corps for the defence of the roads, have gone far to make 
 the savages themselves sensible of their true interests, and the 
 kind intentions of the English towards them. Still, however, 
 there are occasional excesses, though they are chiefly indulged 
 in against the Hindoos. A few months since, one of the bazars 
 at Neemuch was attacked and plundered by a body of the hill 
 people, who succeeded in getting off with their booty, before 
 the troops in the neighbouring cantonment could overtake 
 them. And there are, doubtless, even in the plains, many 
 who still sigh after their late anarchy, and exclaim, amid the 
 comforts of a peaceable government, 
 
 *• Give us our wildness and our woods. 
 Our huts and caves again !" 
 
 The son of Mr. Palmer, Chaplain of Nusseerabad, a clever 
 boy, who speaks the native languages very fluently, while tra- 
 velling lately with his father and mother in their way from 
 Mhow, observed some Bheels looking earnestly at a large 
 drove of laden bullocks which were drinking in a ford of the 
 Bunass. He asked one of the men if the bullocks belonged to 
 him.^ "No," was the reply, '* but a good part of them would 
 have been ours if it were not for your Sahib Log, who will let 
 nobody thrive but yourselves!" 
 
 Captain Gerard I found under a very modest exterior, a 
 man of great science and information; he was one of the per- 
 sons most concerned in the measurement and exploring of the 
 Himalaya mountains, had been in Ladak, and repeatedly be- 
 yond the Chinese frontier, though repelled each time, after 
 penetrating a few miles, by the Tartar cavalry. He had him- 
 self ascended to the height of 19,600 feet, or 400 higher than 
 Humboldt had ever climbed amid the' Andes, and the latter 
 
42 GUNGROWR. 
 
 part of his ascent, for about two miles, was on an inclined 
 plane of 42, a nearer approach to the perpendicular, than 
 Humboldt conceived it possible to climb for any distance to- 
 gether. Nothing, he said, could exceed the care with which 
 Major Hodgson, Mr. Frazer and himself, had ascertained the 
 altitude of the hills. Each of the accessible peaks had been 
 measured by repeated and scrupulous experiments with the 
 barometer, corrected by careful trigonometrical measurement, 
 checked by astronomical observations. The inaccessible 
 heights had been found by trigonometry, on bases of considera- 
 ble extent, and with the help of the best and highest priced 
 instruments. The altitud^es, therefore, of the hills, and the 
 general geography of the provinces on the British side of the 
 frontier, he regarded as about as well settled as human means 
 could do it, and far better than the same objects have been ob- 
 tained in most countries of Europe. The line at which vege- 
 tation ends, he stated to be about 13,000 feet. The moun- 
 tains of Kemaoon, he said, are considerably more accessible 
 and less rockv than those which lie north of Sabathoo, where 
 the scenery is more sublimely terrible than can be described. 
 Yet Nundi Devi, and the other highest peaks lie nearer to 
 Almorah than to Sabathoo, and the scenery of both these situa- 
 tions falls short of the upper parts of the valley of the Alaca- 
 nandra which flows between them. The more I hear of these 
 glorious hills, the more do I long to see them again, and ex- 
 plore them further. But my journeys never can or ought to 
 be mere tours of pleasure, and the erection of a new Church, 
 the location of a new Chaplain, and twenty other similarmat- 
 ters, may compel me to a course extremely contrary to what 
 I could desire if I were master of my own time. 
 
 Captain Gerard had been emploj^ed some time in surveying 
 and mapping this part of India, and was now for his health re- 
 turning to the hills, having had a severe fever at Neemuch. 
 He spoke of Jyepoor as the least hospitable and most unruly 
 of all the Rajpoot and Maharatta principalities, and seemed 
 rather to wonder that I had got through it so well, and met 
 with so much general civility. 
 
 In the evening we walked to see the fort on the hill, which, 
 though it looks extensive and showy from without, is within 
 neither large nor interesting. The only object of curiosity, is 
 a very deep well, the water of which is drawn up by a wheel 
 turned by bullocks, but which, preposterously enough, is pla- 
 ced just without the main wall of the castle. 
 
 February 21.— From Ummeerghur to Gungrowr, is a dis- 
 tance often miles, the latter half through a jungle of bushes 
 and stunted trees, but with a very tolerable road, though not 
 easy to find, on account of the number of tracks winding in 
 
GUNGROWR. 43 
 
 every direction through the coppice. Gungrowr is a small 
 town with a castle, perched on a rock at the foot of a range of 
 woody hills. It had been described to me as only remarkable 
 for the predatory habits of its people. Of these I had no op- 
 portunity of judging; to us they were very civil, and the bill 
 for expenses brought in by the chief of the place was very 
 moderate. But the situation I thought the most beautiful 1 
 had seen since leaving the mountains. Our tents were pitched 
 in a plain traversed by a small brook, which even now, was 
 not dry, and bordered by a wood of some of the largest man- 
 goe, saul, peepul, and banyan trees which I ever saw, except 
 at Ruderpoor, above which rose the hills with their rock, 
 brush-wood, and ruinous towers; and in spite of this burning 
 season, the ground was so good and the brook so abundant, that 
 there was a very tolerable turf, a thing which I had not seen, I 
 might almost say, since I left Bengal! I had a delightful walk 
 in the wood as soon as the day grew cool. In spite of the ill- 
 reputation of the neighbourhood I left my train behind, and 
 could often almost fancy myself at dear Hodnet. I believe this 
 place did me real good, at least I felt better hope and heart after 
 a half-hour's stroll, when I was joined by Dr. Smitli, who 
 agreed with me that, but for a few scattered palm-trees, the 
 scene would have been entirely English, It would, he said, 
 have been Scottish, but for the great size of the timber, which 
 indeed I have seldom, if ever, seen equalled in our own 
 country. 
 
 I asked the duffildar of the irregular horse if there were many 
 groves as fine as these on our way to Neemuch, and was glad to 
 hear that the country would become more and more woody and 
 verdant as we advanced. The jemautdar from Ummeerghur 
 made his appearance again to-day. He had, indeed, promised to 
 go with me as far as Chittore, but now apologized on the plea 
 that news had arrived of a band of robbers having made their 
 appearance near Bheelwara, the inhabitants of which place had 
 sent to ask his assistance. He did not know the strength of the 
 banditti, but said that with the ten men whom he had with him, 
 he should not be afraid of charging fifty Bheels. I asked him 
 if it were true that the people of Gungrowr bore so ill a cha- 
 racter. " The same," he said, '* as all the people in the neigh- 
 bourhood; all had been thieves, and all would be so again if 
 they dared. Bheels or Rajpoots, there was little difterence." 
 He was himself a Mussulman, a short, but very strong-built 
 man, with a cheerful countenance, and a good deal of energy 
 of manner. He said there were 100 horse stationed in differ- 
 ent parts of this district under a tusseeldar and himself, to 
 keep the peace. They had at first some troublesome work, 
 
 but now things were reasonably quiet.' 
 
 4* 
 
44 DR. GIBB RANAH OF OODEYPOOR. 
 
 I had another countryman with me to-day, Dr. Gibb, late 
 inspecting surgeon of this district, and just appointed a mem- 
 ber of the Military Board, to take his seat in which he was now 
 marching towards Calcutta. He is a cheerful, well-informed 
 old gentleman, and gave me a good deal of additional know- 
 ledge respecting Central and Western India. The Mussulman 
 jaghiredars, Ghuttbor Khan, Ameer Klian, and a few others, 
 make better sovereigns than the Hindoo princes. Though re- 
 morseless robbers, so far as they dare, to all their neighbours, 
 they manage their ryuts better, are themselves better educated, 
 and men of better sense than the generality of Rajas or Ra- 
 nahs, and are sufficiently aware of their own interest to know 
 that if they ruin the peasantry they will themselves be losers. 
 Ameer Khan, like the saintly Woggarwolf in Miss Baillie's 
 *'Ethwald," now that he can no longer carry fire and sword 
 from Bhopal to Joudpoor, is grown devout in his old age, 
 dresses in sackcloth and ragged apparel, tells his beads, and 
 reads his Koran continually, and is surrounded by Faquirs. 
 He is extremely rich, but his army, except a few household 
 troops, he was obliged by Lord Hastings to dismiss. To pre- 
 vent the evil of turning such a horde of desperate men loose 
 on the country, all who chose it were taken into the Compa- 
 ny's service. But Ameer Khan would still have found, had 
 his services against Jyepoor been accepted by government, no 
 scarcity of ruffians and vagabonds to join the banner of so re- 
 nowned a leader, and would in a few weeks have been again 
 the old Patan General, the neighing of whose horses was heard 
 from Gurmukteser Ghat to the hill of Aboo. 
 
 The Ranah of Oodeypoor has a large extent of territory, and, 
 in ordinary years, a singularly fertile one, were these people 
 to cultivate it. But he was quite ruined and beggared by Ba- 
 poo Sindia and Jumsheed Khan. Half his revenues at least 
 are mortgaged to shroffs and money-lenders, and his people 
 are pitiably racked, in order to pay the exorbitant interest of 
 his debts. It has been the misfortune of his family to have 
 been the oldest and purest in India; to be descended in a right 
 line from the Sun without any debasing mixture, having re- 
 sisted all attempts of the Emperors of Delhi to effect an inter- 
 marriage of the houses, and reckoning, I believe, in their pe- 
 digree, one or two Avatars of the Diety. In consequence they 
 have been generally half mad with pride, perpetually marry- 
 ing among themselves, fond of show and magnificence beyond 
 their means, oi- the usual custom of Hindoo sovereigns, and 
 very remarkably deficient in knowledge and intelligence* The 
 present Ranah adds to all these advantages a great fondness 
 for opium. In consequence the revenue is collected in the 
 most oppressive, ind dissipated in the most absurd manner, 
 
CHITTORE. 45 
 
 and except in the large towns which have obtained, more or 
 less, the protection of the British Resident, the country, Dr. 
 Gibb said, has profited infinitely less than either Malwah or 
 the rest of the Meywar, by the peace which it has enjoyed 
 since the destruction of the Pindarrees. Yet, in comparison 
 with Jyepoor, the country is plentiful and thriving. Corn is 
 cheap, and the number of beggars less than I have seen on this 
 side of Delhi. And when the very unfavourable season is 
 taken into consideration, I really think that present appear- 
 ances may be well accounted for, without supposing any great 
 oppression on the part of their government. 
 
 The late Thakoor Bulwer Singh, who was shot, with his two 
 eldest sons, about two months ago in an affair with our troops 
 at Bondee, was considered as the ablest man in this part of 
 India. He was as restless, however, as he was active and dar- 
 ing, the untameable enemy of the British power, and the per- 
 son who chiefiy encouraged the Rannee of Jyepoor to brave 
 that power. His mine, fortunately, exploded too soon. Con- 
 scious of his own intrigues, he refused to give any explanation 
 of his conduct to the Resident of Kotah, fortified himself in 
 his house, and fired on four companies of sepoys who, by a for- 
 tunate chance for the government, happened then to march 
 through the country. Finding himself unprepared to stand a 
 siege, he sallied out with about twenty men, among whom 
 were his sons, and all three fell in the attempt to cut through 
 the soldiers. His youngest son, a boy, has been allowed to 
 inherit his jaghire. 
 
 The weather is growing warm, though as yet, by no means 
 oppressive. I must expect some heat, however, before I reach 
 Baroda. 
 
 February 22. — From Gungrowr to Chittore is between twelve 
 and thirteen miles, a wild but interesting road winding 
 through woods at the foot of some fine rocky hills. The situa- 
 tion of Chittore is conspicuous from a considerable distance by 
 the high rock on which the fortress stands, and which, from 
 its scarped sides, and the buildings scatteretl along its crest, 
 sufficiently denote its nature, even before the precise forms of 
 the buildings themselves are distinguishable. There is a bun- 
 galow for travellers near the Bunass, but in a situation with- 
 out shade, and too far from the city to answer my purpose. 
 The tents were therefore sent on half a mile farther, to a small 
 stony plain close to the town gates, and we followed them 
 through a ford of the river, which in this place still runs with 
 a considerable stream of very bright and beautiful water. On 
 our left hand were the ruins of a long, lofty, and handsome 
 bridge of eight gothic arches, and one semicircular one in the 
 centre, with a ruined tower and gateway at each end. The ford 
 
46 CASTLE AT CHITTORE. 
 
 was deep, with a sharp gravelly bottom, the road leading to it 
 both ways extremely broken and stony. Our encamping 
 ground was near the bazar, and close to a fine bowlee, but had 
 no other advantages, being rocky and strewed with rubbish 
 and fragments of buildings, with only a single tree. It was 
 made, too, more uncomfortable by the neighbourhood of a poor 
 mad woman, who had taken up her abode under a little shed 
 just long enough and high enough to shelter her as she lay on 
 her back, covered with a ragged cloth, and raving and lament- 
 ing, as we were told, and as I had good reason to believe, 
 night and day. I gave her a little relief, as many others in 
 the camp did, but she went on in the same tone, and with the 
 same fluency. Dr. Smith offered to supply her with opium if 
 she ever took it, but she answered '' No," and went on as be- 
 fore, or rather worse. At last a sepoy said he would break 
 her head if she did not hold her tongue, which quieted her for 
 a few minutes when she broke out again. He did not, how- 
 ever, put his threat into execution, nor do I believe he ever 
 intended to do so: on the contrary, all the people called her a 
 "Moonee," or inspired person, and treated her, if not with 
 respect, at least with forbearance. 
 
 The Khamdar of the town, a very well-mannered man, in a 
 splendid dress, called on me, and offered to conduct me to see 
 the castle, which was a great favour, as it is a thing of which 
 they are very jealous, and which probably not ten Europeans 
 had seen out of all the number who have visited and lived in 
 India. I proposed accompanying him at four in the evening, 
 but he begged it might not be later than three, and that we 
 would come on horseback, since it v/as, he said, nearly two 
 coss to the top of the hill. We accordingly joined the Tha- 
 koor in the market-place of the little old city, where he was 
 already mounted and ready to accompany us. Chittore was 
 once the capital of this principality, and is still what would be 
 called in England a tolerably large market-town, with a good 
 many pagodas, and a meanly built, but apparently, busy bazar. 
 The population seem chiefly weavers and dealers in grain. 
 The fortress rises immediately above the town, and extends for 
 a considerable distance to the right and left of it. The rock, 
 where not naturally precipitous, has been scarped by art all 
 round the summit to the height of from 80 to 120 feet, and is 
 surmounted by a rude wall with semicircular bastions, enclos- 
 ing, as our guide the Thakoor assured us, a circuit of six coss, 
 or twelve miles. Of course it does not contain an area pro- 
 portionate to this circumference, since the form is extremely 
 irregular, and the ridge of the hill in many places narrow. 
 But the length I can easily believe to be above two coss, and 
 the measurement of the wall is, probably, not much exaggera- 
 
GASTLE AT CHITTORE. 47 
 
 ted. The approach is by a zig-zag road, of very easy slope, 
 but stony and in bad repair, passing under six gateways with 
 traverses and rude out-works, before we arrive at the main en- 
 trance of the castle. The whole face of the hill, except the 
 precipice, is covered with trees and brushwood, and the ap- 
 proach is therefore very picturesque and interesting. It is 
 certainly, however, not two coss in gradual ascent, though it 
 may perhaps be not far short of one. In advance of the castle 
 gate is an out-work, or barbican, with a colonnade internally 
 of octagonal pillars and carved imposts, supporting a flat ter- 
 race, and with a hall in the interior, which our guide pointed 
 out to us as resembling the hall of audience at Delhi! If he 
 had said the Emperor's stable, he would have been nearer the 
 truth, but I did not think it necessary to contradict him. The 
 gateway itself is very lofty and striking with a good deal of 
 carving, in the genuine style of ancient Hindoo architecture, 
 with no Mussulman intermixture, and more nearly resembling 
 the Egyptain than any thing I have seen since my arrival in 
 this country. On entering we first passed through a small 
 street of very ancient and singular temples, then through a 
 narrow and mean bazar, then, and so long as day -light lasted, 
 through a succession of most extraordinary and interesting 
 buildings, chiefly ruinous, but some still in good repair. The 
 temples were the most numerous, none of them large, but se- 
 veral extremely solemn and beautiful. There were two or 
 three little old palaces, chiefly remarkable for the profusion of 
 carving bestowed on rooms of very small dimensions, and 
 arranged with no more regard to convenience than a common 
 prison. One of these, which is seated on a rock in the midst 
 of a large pool, was pointed out as the residence of a very 
 beautiful Rannee, whose fame induced the Emperor Acbar to 
 demand her in marriage, and, on her father's refusal, to lay 
 siege to Chittore, like another Agramant, in order to win the 
 hand of this eastern Angelica. After a long siege he succeed- 
 ed in undermining a part of the wall, on which the princess in 
 question persuaded all her countrywomen in the garrison to 
 retire with her and her children into this palace, where they 
 were, at their own desire, suffocated with the smoke of fuel 
 heaped up in the lower apartments, only two remaining alive. 
 The garrison then sallied out on the enemy, and all died fight- 
 ing desperately, neither giving nor accepting quarter. The 
 two female survivors of the carnage were found by Acbar, and 
 given in marriage to two of his officers. I give this story as 
 I heard it from the Thakoor Myte Motee Ram. With the ex- 
 ception of the romantic cause assigned for Acbar's invasion of 
 Oodeypoor, it is indeed "an ower true tale," the horrible cir- 
 cumstances of which may be found in I)ow's History of Hin- 
 
48 CASTLE AT CHITTORE. 
 
 dostan. It is extremely probable that there may have been 
 some one high-spirited princess who urged her companions to 
 submit cheerfully to slaughter, rather than to the wretched lot 
 of female captives; but it is certain that all the women and 
 children were slaughtered nearly in the manner described, 
 which, in the blood-stained history of India, was of no uncom- 
 mon occurrence, and known by the technical name of '' Joar," 
 being an act of devotion to Kali, to which men had recourse 
 in the last extremity. 
 
 The palace on the lake has, however, no appearance of hav- 
 ing suffered by fire, though the ruins of a long range of apart- 
 ments to the north of the lake may very probably have been 
 the scene of this sacrifice, and in this, perhaps, I may have 
 misunderstood my informant. Just above, and on the crest of 
 the hill, as if connected with this event, stands the largest 
 temple in the fort dedicated to the destroying powers, with the 
 trident of Siva in front, and within, lighted by some lamps in 
 its furthest dark recess, a frightful figure of the blood-drink- 
 ing goddess, with her lion, her many hands full of weapons, 
 and her chaplet of skulls. A tyger's skin was stretched before 
 her, and the pavement was stained with the blood of sacrifices 
 from one end to the other. On one side, on a red cloth, sate 
 three brahmins, the principal of whom, a very handsome man 
 of about 35, was blind, and seemed to be treated by the other 
 twoj^nd by all the bystanders, with great deference. On my 
 entering the temple, which is very beautiful, I gave a rupee 
 to the brahmin next me, who, with a -very humble obeisance 
 laid it at the foot of his superior, telling him at the same time 
 that it was the gift of a " belattee Raja." He took no notice, 
 however, of either it or me, merely raising his calm melan- 
 choly face and sightless eyes at the sound of my voice, and 
 again turning them towards the shrine, while he kept telling 
 the beads of his rosary. A large peepul grows in the court of 
 the temple, and there are many others scattered on different 
 parts of the hill. In this and all the other temples, I was much 
 struck with the admirable masonry and judicious construction of 
 the domes which covered them, as well as v/ith the very solemn 
 effect produced by the style of architecture. A Gothic or Gre- 
 cian building of the same size would merely have been beau- 
 tiful, but these, small as they are, are awful, the reason of 
 which may be found in the low and massive proportion of 
 their pillows, in the strong shadow thrown by their projecting 
 cornices and unpierced domes, in the long flights of steps lead- 
 ing to them, which give a consequence to structures of very 
 moderate dimensions, and in the character of their ornaments, 
 which consist either of mythological bas-reliefs, on a very mi- 
 nute scale, so as to make the buildings on which they are found 
 
TEMPLE OP SIVA AT CHITTORE. 49 
 
 seem larger, or in an endless repetition and continuation of a 
 few very simple forms, so as to give the idea of a sort of in- 
 finity. The general construction of all these buildings is the 
 same, a small court-yard, a portico, a square open build- 
 ing supported by pillars and surmounted by a dome, and be- 
 hind this a close square shrine, surmounted by an ornament- 
 ed pyramid. One and one only, of the buildings on the hill 
 struck me as a Mussulman erection, and on enquiring who 
 built it, I was told it really was the work of Azeem Ushan, 
 son of Aurengzebe, who also was fortunate enough to take 
 Chittore, and who called this building ''Futteh Muhul,'' 
 (Victory Hall.) It i§ singular that such a trophy should have 
 been allowed to stand when the Hindoos recovered the place. 
 Though uninhabited and falling to decay, it is still tolerably 
 entire. 
 
 There are, besides the pool which I have already noticed, 
 many beautiful pools, cisterns, and wells, in different parts of 
 this extraordinary hill, amounting, as we were assured, to 84, 
 of which, however, in the present singularly dry season, only 
 twelve have water. One of these last, cut in the solid rock, 
 and fed by a beautiful spring with a little temple over it, is a 
 most picturesque and romantic spot. It has high rocks on three 
 sides, crowned with temples and trees; on the fourth are some 
 old buildings, also of a religious character, erected on the 
 edge of the precipice which surrounds the castle, a long flight 
 of rock-hewn steps leads down to the surface of the water, 
 and the whole place breathes coolness, seclusion and solem- 
 nity. Below the edge of the precipice, and with their foliage 
 just rising above it, grow two or three plantains of a very large 
 size, which were pointed out to me as great curiosities. The 
 Khamdar assured me that they' were three hundred years old, 
 and that they every year produced excellent fruit, though, as 
 he truly said, there could be very little earth on the ledge 
 where they were rooted. They probably derive moisture from 
 the water filtering through the rampart, which here forms a 
 dam to the pool. For their great age I only have his authority. 
 The most extraordinary buildings in Chittore are two mina- 
 rets or tower temples, dedicated to Siva. The smaller of these 
 we only saw from a distance, and were told it was now ruinous; 
 the largest, which resembles it in form, is a square tower nine 
 stories high, of white marble most elaboratel}^ carved, sur- 
 mounted by a cupola, and the two highest stories projecting, 
 balcony-wise, beyond those beneath them, so that it stands on 
 its smaller end. There is a steep and narrow but safe stair- 
 case of marble within, conducting to seven small, and two 
 large apartments, all richly and delicately carved with mytho- 
 logical figures, of which the most conspicuous and frequently 
 
50 TEMPLE OP SIVA AT CHITTORE. 
 
 repeated are, Siva embracing Parvati, and Siva in his charac- 
 ter of destroyer, with a monstrous Cobra di Capello in each 
 hand. Our guides said that the building was 500 years old, 
 but from its beautiful state of preservation, I should not sup- 
 pose it half that age. It is, so far as I could judge by the eye, 
 about 110 or 120 feet high. The view from the top is very 
 extensive, but at the present season of the year, there is so 
 much dust and glare that a distant prospect cannot be seen to 
 advantage in this part of India. 
 
 On our return from the fort I found the killadar with a num- 
 ber of people round him, seated on the roof of the colonnade 
 which I have mentioned. I paid him Some compliments in 
 passing on the magnificence and strength of his castle, which 
 he received in a surly manner enough, barely standing up to 
 return my civilities. I suspect that, though compelled by the 
 order of his superiors to admit me, he was not well pleased at 
 seeing Feringees within his castle, and perhaps still less so, 
 that they came by the invitation of another person. We re- 
 turned down the hill by torch-light, greatly pleased with our 
 visit. 
 
 We did not see much of the rampart, but were struck by the 
 very slight appearance of precaution or defence at the gates 
 which we passed. There was only one clumsy piece of can- 
 non visible, and the number of armed men did not altogether 
 amount to sixty. A considerable population resides within 
 the fort, but they seemed all brahmins, weavers, and market- 
 people. If well garrisoned by a British force, the place would, 
 with the addition of some casemates, be very nearly impreg- 
 nable. Its situation is such that to batter it could be of little 
 use, and from its great extent, shells would not occasion much 
 danger to the garrison. But to man its walls, even in the 
 most imperfect manner, would require a moderate army. 
 
 In our Avay back through the town, a man begged of me, 
 saying that he was blind. On my calling him, however, he 
 came forwards so readily to the torches, and saw, I thought, 
 so clearly, that I asked him what he meant by telling me such 
 a lie. He answered that he was night-blind, (''rat unda,") 
 and I not understanding the phrase, and having been a good 
 deal worried during the day with beggars, for the whole fort 
 is a swarm of nothing else, said peevishly "darkness is the 
 time for sleep, not for seeing." The people laughed as at a 
 good thing, but I was much mortified afterwards to find that 
 it was an unfeeling retort. The disease of night-blindness, 
 that is, of requiring the full light of day to see, is very com- 
 mon. Dr. Smith said, among the lower classes in India, and 
 to some professions of men, such as soldiers, very inconve- 
 nient. The sepoys ascribe it to a bad and insufficient food, 
 
SAWA TENURE OP LANDS. 5l 
 
 and it is said to be always most prevalent in a scarcity. It 
 seems to be the same disorder of the eyes with which people 
 are afflicted who live on damaged or inferior rice, in itself a 
 food of very little nourishment, and probably arises from a 
 weakness of the digestive powers. I was grieved to tliink I 
 had insulted a man who might be in distress, but Dr. Smith 
 comforted me by saying that even in respect of night-blind- 
 ness, the man was too alert to be much of a sufferer from the 
 cause which he mentioned. 
 
 February 23.- — From Chittore to Sawa is a stage of ten 
 miles, through a country almost entirely covered with jungle, 
 not close and matted with long grass, but open, of scattered 
 trees and bushes, with a tolerable turf under foot. It abounds, 
 the suwarrs told me, with deer and wild hogs, but has very 
 few tigers. These last, indeed, seem to like long grass and 
 the neighbourhood of water, which is here by no means abun- 
 dant. There are, however, other beasts of prey. A few 
 nights before, a wolf had carried away a fine lamb from our 
 little flock close under the nose of the sentinel, who did not 
 perceive the robber till too late. 
 
 Sawa is a good-sized town, walled, and containing two or 
 three well -looking houses, four handsome pagodas, and two 
 very beautiful boolees. An unusual number of drunken men, 
 four or five, showed themselves in the course of the day; they 
 came in two parties to ask justice against some Brinjarrees, 
 who they said had beaten and robbed tliem. It appeared on 
 cross-examination, that in the Brinjarree encampment spirits 
 were, (in the language of the Calcutta market-book,) *' pro- 
 curable." These men had been there and had got into some 
 quarrel in which they had been- soundly beaten, and very pos- 
 sibly robbed too, though this last seemed doubtful, as they had 
 still their usual Rajpoot ornaments of silver about them, which 
 would, I should think, have gone first. I told them I was not 
 the sovereign of the land, and bade them go to the Khamdar of 
 the town. I had seen very few drunken men in India before, 
 but the time of "Hoolee" is now coming on, which is the 
 Hindoo carnival, and in which the people of Central India 
 more particularly indulge in all kinds of riot and festivity. 
 The sepoys of my guard have begun to assail the women whom 
 they pass on their march with singing and indecent language, 
 a thing seldom practised at other times. This is also the sea- 
 son for pelting each other with red powder, as we have seen 
 practised at Calcutta. 
 
 I have endeavoured, within these few days, to learn tlie 
 tenure of lands, their rent, &c. but found that the tenure dif- 
 fered in no respect from that described by Sir John Malcolm, 
 and that there was no fixed rent but an annual settlement with 
 
 Vol. II.— 5 
 
52 NEEMHAIRA. 
 
 government — a ruinous system, but too common, as it seems, 
 all over India. 
 
 February 24. — From Sawato Neemhaira there are six coss: 
 the first part of the road through jungle again. Indeed the 
 want of people in this part of Meywar is very striking, and 
 the more so because the soil, though stony, is far from bad. 
 Water, however, it is not impossible, may be difl&cult to ob- 
 tain, except at a considerable expense by piercing the rock. The 
 most common tree, or rather bush, in these forests is tlie dhak, 
 with a large broad leaf like a peepul, and a beautiful pink 
 flower which now begins to show itself. 
 
 Neemhaira is a small town, surrounded with a better ram- 
 part and towers than any which I have lately seen, and with 
 a far better cultivation round it of wheat, barley, and poppies. 
 The poppies are very beautiful, the more so indeed from a cir- 
 cumstance which diminishes their value in the opium market, 
 that, namely, they are red, white, and all colours instead of 
 white only. Neemhaira and the district round it, containing 
 '5.75 villages, and yielding a revenue, as I was told by the 
 towns-people, of three lacs, form a part of Ameer Khan's 
 Jaghire, which consists of four or five detached territories, 
 besides the principal one of Tonk, where he himself resides. 
 The income of all together has been variously rated at from 
 ten to twenty-four lacs; fifteen or sixteen may probably be 
 about the amount. This is far more than he ever could have 
 collected honestly during the time of his greatest power, since 
 then he seldom was sure of any part of his territory, except 
 what was actually in the possession of his army, and his great 
 harvest always grew on his neighbour's lands. 
 
 Neemhaira is administered by a Mussulman officer of his, 
 under the title of "moonshee," a very civil and apparently 
 well-informed person. He furnished us liberally, and with- 
 out accepting any remuneration, with fuel, grass, &c. as well 
 as with four goats as a dinner for the people. The encamping 
 ground, however, was bad, the neighbourhoodof the town be- 
 ing so well cultivated that no place remained free, except 
 what was covered with stones and ruins. There is a neat 
 cutcherry with three or four small temples and a little mosque 
 in the town; adjoining to the latter is the tomb of Jumsheed 
 Kiihn, the late Patan chief, who, with Bappoo Sindia, held 
 Oodeypoor in so complete and inhuman subjection. He has 
 been dead, the moonshee told me, these five years. This was 
 his Jaghire till his death. At present it is subject to the po- 
 lice of our government, on account of the following transac- 
 tion : a great robbery having occurred about a year ago in this 
 district, in which some persons, British subjects from Nee- 
 much, were attacked, stripped, and some of them killed, Co- 
 
NEEMHAIRA. 53 
 
 ionel Lumley applied to Ameer Khan for justice or damages. 
 The Nawab answered that he had no sufficient army to enforce 
 his authority over so distant a possession, and that he wished 
 that the English would take the district in farm, pay him a 
 fair rent, and govern it in their own way. This offer was 
 'cccepted. The moonshee, though administering justice in the 
 name of the Nawab, is appointed by Colonel Lumley, and 
 there is a jemautdar with twenty of our horse quartered in the 
 town to secure it and its neighbourhood. This jemautdar, 
 who called on me, is one of the finest old men I have seen, 
 with a grey beard flowing over his breast. He is a mussulman, 
 and as I should have supposed from his tall stature, not of 
 this country, but from the north of Hindostan. There is a 
 very beautiful boolee in the town, built within these few years 
 from a legacy left by a rich merchant. It has a noble stair- 
 case, and a verandah of rich Saracenic arches round the wall 
 about half-way down. The water is now very low, but in the 
 rains it is full nearly to the brim. These fine boolees seemed 
 peculiar to India west of the Jumna, at least I have never met 
 with any like them to the eastward of that river. The prac- 
 tice of having steps down to the edge of the water, as well as 
 corridors and porticos round the wells at certain heights, 
 arises from the religious observances of both Mussulmans and 
 Hindoos, which make washing an inseparable accompaniment 
 of prayer. As works of art and taste, they are eminently 
 beautiful, but they are strangely deficient in any mechanical 
 aids for raising the water. No means are used but the small 
 brazen lotee which every body carries, or at most an earthen 
 jar or skin, the former of which is let down by a long string 
 from the top of one of the galleries, while the other must be 
 carried down to the water's edge and brought up again on the 
 head or back. There is indeed a rude pulley at the top, 
 but this is only used in irrigating the fields, and to bring up 
 the large leathern bucket which is drawn by oxen. 
 
54 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 NEEMUCH TO BARODA. 
 
 3JEEMUCH CHARACTER OF RAJPOOTS AND BHEELS GOOD EF- 
 FECTS OF BRITISH RULE BORAS CONFIRMATION PER- 
 
 TAUBGHUR MANNER OF COLLECTING OPIUM HEAT, AND 
 
 PARCHED STATE OF THE COUNTRY FESTIVAL OF THE HOOLEE 
 
 ■■ — BHEEL HUTS PALACE OF BANSWARRA— MURDER OF FE- 
 MALE INFANTS VISIT FROM THE RAWUL JAIN TEMPLE 
 
 SHAM-FIGHT OF BHEELS VISIT FROM THE RAJA OF BARREAH 
 
 DREADFUL FAMINE BRINJARREES. 
 
 February 25.— From Neemhaira to Neemuch is between 
 seventeen and eighteen miles, over a more open and rather 
 better cultivated country. Neemuch itself differs in no con- 
 spicuous respect from any of the other large cantonments oi" 
 the Bengal army. It is a stationary camp of thatched bunga- 
 lows and other buildings, open on all sides, and surrounded 
 by a fine plain for the performance of military evolutions. The 
 soldiers are employed in building a sort of fort, as a shelter 
 to the women, children, and stores, in time of need. There 
 is a fine house here built by Sir David Ochterlony, and well 
 furnished, but which he has never occupied. These build- 
 ings, with the surrounding slip of Meidan, constitute the en- 
 tire British territory in this neighbourhood; the small town of 
 Neemuch, and most of the surrounding country, belonging to 
 Sindia. The cantonment itself is in fact on his ground, but 
 was sold or ceded by him, though with considerable reluctance, 
 at the last peace. Not even Swabia, or the Palatinate, can 
 offer a more chequered picture of interlaced sovereignties than 
 Meywar, and indeed all Malwah, of which Meywar, in com- 
 mon parlance, is always reckoned a part. In the heart of 
 the territory which on our English maps bears Sindia's colour, 
 are many extensive districts belonging to Holkar, Ameer 
 Khan, the Raja of Kotah, &c. ; and here scarcely any two 
 villages together belong to the same sovereign. Sindia, how- 
 ever, though all this is usually reckoned beyond his boundary, 
 has the lion's share. Never was an arrangement better cal- 
 culated to ensure protection and impunity to robbers, even if 
 there had not been abundance of jungle and inaccessible rocks, 
 inhabited by a race, (the Bheels,) whose avowed profession,, 
 from the remotest antiquity, has been plunder. The presence 
 
NEEMUCH. 55 
 
 of a powerful army in the midst of such a territory, under of- 
 ficers anxious and interested in the maintenance of good or- 
 der, has of course contributed greatly to repress these disor- 
 ders, and must, as I should apprehend, be regarded as a real 
 benefit and blessing to the country by all its peaceable and in- 
 dustrious inhabitants. 
 
 I was very hospitably entertained at Neemuch by Captain 
 Macdonald, political agent for this part of India, and brother 
 to Major Macdonald Kinnier, whose travels in Asia were pub- 
 lished some years ago. He was a long time Aids-de-camp and 
 secretary to Sir John Malcolm. I derived much valuable in- 
 formation from him respecting the route to Bombay, which is 
 all under his control, and which he had himself surveyed and 
 laid down in a new direction, — the route to Saugor, — the in- 
 habitants of this and the neighbouring countries, and their ru- 
 lers. There was no doubt of the route to Saugor, (which, in 
 my anxiety to rejoin my wife and children, I had still a great 
 hankering after,) through Bundelcund and Mirzapoor being 
 perfectly safe and practicable, though I should latterly find 
 the heat very oppressive in marching, and almost intolerable 
 in a palanqueen. Nor, indeed, did it appear that there were 
 means for laying a Dak in that direction, so that I could not 
 hope to arrive on the river till the 20th or 21st of April. As 
 to the facilities of proceeding from Mirzapoor by water, I 
 found too opposite statements; some maintaining that the pas- 
 sage might, by the help of the stream, be made in six weeks; 
 while one ofiicer, who said he had himself performed it, de- 
 clared that it would, from the delay occasioned by the southern 
 monsoon, occupy at least two months or ten weeks, even sup- 
 posing, which was not always to be expected, that the Moor- 
 shedabad river was open, and that I was spared the detour 
 by Chundna and the Sunderbunds, which would make three 
 weeks more. On the whole, unless I determined to go by 
 Dak from Benares to Calcutta, a measure not to be adopted 
 in April or May without real necessity, I found that I should 
 gain but little time by giving up Bombay, while by doing so, 
 the sacrifice of probable usefulness and future convenience 
 which I should make would be very great. I therefore made 
 up my mind, though with a heavy heart, to go on, in the hope 
 that a kind Providence would still continue to watch over 
 those dear objects, to meet whom in safety, after my long ab- 
 sence, was at present my chief earthly wish. I determined, 
 however, on relinquishing my visit to Mhow, because Captain 
 Macdonald assured me both that the earlier in April 1 left 
 the hot country of Guzerat the better, and also that after the 
 middle of that month I should find considerable difficulty in 
 obtaining a passage by sea from Surat t6 Bombay. 
 
 5* 
 
56 CHARACTER OF THE BHEELS. 
 
 The cliaracter of the Rajpoots, and their government, Cap- 
 tain Macdonald represented in unfavourable terms. The 
 people, vi'ho are grievously oppressed, and have been, till very 
 lately, engaged in incessant war, have the vices of slaves added 
 to those of robbers, with no more regard to truth than the na- 
 tives of our own provinces, exceeding them in drunkenness, 
 fondness for opium, and sensuality, while they have a blood- 
 thirstiness from which the great mass of Hindoos are very far 
 removed. Their courage, however, and the gallant efforts 
 they made to defend their territories against the MaharattaSy 
 deserve high praise; and some effects of a favourable nature 
 have been produced among them by the intercourse which they 
 have had with the English. The specimens of our natian 
 which they have hitherto seen, have on the whole, been very 
 favourable. None of the King's regiments have yet been sent 
 here, and few Europeans of any description except officers. 
 They have, therefore, seen little of the drunkenness and vio- 
 lence of temper which have made the natives of our own pro- 
 vinces at once fear and despise a Feringee soldier, and they 
 still, Captaia Macdonald says, admire us more and wonder 
 more at the difference of wisdom, morals, and policy, which 
 they perceive between us and them, than any other people with 
 whom he has had intercourse in India. And he is of opinion 
 that their present state of feeling affords by no means an un- 
 favourable soil for the labours of a missionary. 
 
 The Bheels were regarded both by him and the other officers 
 with whom I conversed, as unquestionably the original inha- 
 bitants of the country, and driven to their present fastnesses 
 and their present miserable way of life by the invasion of those 
 tribes, wherever they ma}^ have come from, who profess the 
 religion of Brahma. This the Rajpoots themselves, in this 
 part of India, virtually allow, it being admitted in the tradi- 
 tional history of most of their principal cities and fortresses, that 
 they were founded by such or such Bheel chiefs, and conquered 
 from them by such or such children of the Sun. Their man- 
 ners are described as resembling, in very many respects, those 
 of the Rajmahal Puharrees. And, thieves and savages as they 
 are, I found that the officers with whom I conversed, thought 
 them on the whole a better race than their conquerors. Their 
 word is more to be depended on, they are of a franker and 
 livelier character, their women are far better treated and en- 
 joy more influence, and though they shed blood without scru- 
 ple in cases of deadly fued, or in the regular way of a foray, 
 they are not vindictive or inhospitable under other circum- 
 stances, and several British officei's have, with perfect safety, 
 gone hunting and tishing into their country, without escort or 
 guide, except what these poor savages themselves cheerfully 
 
CHARACTER OF THE BHEELS. 57 
 
 furnished for a little brandy. This is the more touching, since 
 on this frontier nothing has been done for them, and they have 
 been treated, I now found, with unmingled severity. In the 
 south, where Sir John Malcolm could carry every thing in his 
 own way, he raised a corps out of their number, which he 
 placed under the command of their own chiefs, and subjected 
 to just as much discipline as a wild people were likely to bear, 
 and as was necessary for the nature of the service in which 
 they were to be employed. He also secured them the peace- 
 able possession of a certain portion of their lands which had 
 been depopulated by the Pindarrees, obtaining for them a 
 freedom from taxes for a sufficient number of years to make 
 it worth their while to acquire industrious habits. In short, 
 he proceeded in nearly the same manner, and with full as 
 much success as Cleveland did with the Puharrees. 
 
 In this part of India nothing of the kind has been done ; 
 they have, indeed, had facilities held out to tiiem to enter into 
 our local corps, but these corps are under the same severe dis- 
 cipline and exact drill with the regular regiments, which it is 
 idle to suppose that a savage would endure. Though there is 
 waste land in abundance, no effectual measures have been 
 taken to persuade the princes of the country to allow or in- 
 duce the Bheels to settle in it, and as these poor people them- 
 selves complain, we punish them for robbing while we give them 
 no means of earning their subsistence in an honest way. 
 
 The difficulties, indeed, which the English residents have 
 to encounter in their attempts to improve the condition either 
 of Bheels or Hindoos, are in this country very great. All in- 
 terference in the internal concerns of the petty sovereigns, 
 who are the Company's feudatories, is naturally viewed with 
 a jealous eye by the native rulers themselves, and except in 
 the way of advice or indirect influence, is, in all ordinary cases, 
 discouraged by the supreme government. The Rajas of these 
 states are the most ignorant and degraded of nien, incompe- 
 tent to judge of their own true interests, and uninfluenced by 
 any other motive wliich might induce them to consult the hap- 
 piness of their people. 
 
 The Ranah of Oodeypoor, in addition to the circumstances 
 of his character which I have already detailed, is surrounded 
 and governed by minions of the most hateful description, who 
 drain his treasury, force him to contract new debts, and 
 squeeze his people to the utmost. The heir apparent of Per- 
 taubghur, who had till lately been the efficient sovereign of 
 the country, is now in confinement by order of the English 
 Government, inconsequence of his having committed, in about 
 three years' time, no fewer than six murders with his own 
 hands, or, at least, sanctioned them by his presence. His 
 
58 NATIVE SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 father, the Raja, who was entirely unable to restrain him, but 
 pleaded with many tears for his liberty, is a poor old man, 
 past every thing except a strong affection for his unworthy son, 
 and a spirit of avarice which seems to know no bounds, and 
 will not be convinced that he would increase his revenues, 
 eventually, by allowing his waste lands to be cultivated at 
 easy rents. The Raja of Banswarra is a very young and weak 
 prince, and the Rajas of Lunewarra and Doongerpoor are, in 
 fact, without power to do good ; the territories of the former 
 never having recovered from the cruelty of the Pindarrees, 
 and, consequently, are become jungle from one end to the 
 other, and the poor prince of Doongerpoor being in the hands 
 of a party of rebels who have shut up themselves and him in a 
 strong castle, where they are at this moment besieged by a 
 body of the Bombay army, who, finding themselves unequal 
 to their work, have applied for help to Neemuch. 
 
 In such a state of society, and in a country previously re- 
 tluced by Maharattas and Pindarrees to a state of universal 
 misery, such as no country besides has known, little can be 
 done in the way of advice or influence by young men station- 
 ed at different courts, and obliged to apply for directions to a 
 government 1000 miles off. It is even probable that too fre- 
 quent or too arbitrary interference would defeat its own ends, 
 and that such a close connexion as subsists with Oude, for 
 instance, would, as in that case, by no means add to the hap- 
 piness of the people whom we seek to benefit. But that for 
 these poor Bheels, many advantages might be even now ob- 
 tained, and that it would be a wise as well as a most humane 
 policy to secure them as our allies, in any future struggles in 
 this part of India, I am fully persuaded ; as well as that, had 
 Sir John Malcolm been made governor, as he desired to be, of 
 all Central India, this point, and many others advantageous 
 to the people of the country, would have been, long since, se- 
 cured permanently. No difficulties could be greater than 
 those which he met with in southern Malwah, and yet that 
 country, from a mere wilderness, is now, I am told, a garden. 
 There are, indeed, few such governors as Sir John Malcolm 
 to be found, but any intelligent government established with 
 distinct powers, and the advantages of local information, in 
 the centre of India, would, lam convinced, be a great bless- 
 ing to the country, and a security to our dominion here, so 
 great as hardly to be appreciated. 
 
 Meantime it is satisfactory tofind that, though our influence 
 has not done all the good which might be desired or expected, 
 that which has been done is really considerable. Except from 
 these poor Bheels, and from the few gangs of marauders which 
 still lurk in different parts of the country, that country is now 
 
BRITISH GOVERNMENT BORAS. 59 
 
 at peace, and how slight are these dangers, and how easy to 
 be borne are the oppressions of their native Rajas, in compa- 
 rison with the annual swarm of Pindarree horsemen, who 
 robbed, burned, ravished, enslaved, tortured, and murdered 
 over the whole extent of territory from the Runn to the Bay 
 of Bengal ? While their inroads are remembered, to say no- 
 thing of Jeswunt Row Holkar and Ameer Khan, the coming 
 of tlie English cannot but be considered as a blessing. And 
 I only hope that we may not destroy the sort of reverence and 
 awful regard with which, I believe, our nation is still looked 
 upon here. 
 
 Captain Macdonald agreed with Dr. Gibb in speaking of 
 the Mussulman governors as wiser and better than the Hin- 
 doos; their religion, in fact, is better, and their education is 
 something superior. 3ut it sh@uld seem, by what he says, 
 that Sindia's territories, and Holkar's, are also better go- 
 verned than those of these western princes, whose misfortunes- 
 and long-continued degradation seem to have done any thing 
 but taught them wisdom. Sindia is, himself, a man by no 
 means deficient in talents or good intentions; but his exten- 
 sive and scattered territories have never been under any re- 
 gular system of control, and his Maharatta nobles, though they 
 too are described as a better race than the Rajpoots, are rob- 
 bers almost by profession, and only suppose themselves to 
 thrive when they are living at the expense of their neighbours. 
 Still, from his well-disciplined army and numerous artillery, 
 his government has a stability which secures peace, at least, 
 to the districts under his own eye; and as the Pindarrees 
 feared to provoke him, and even professed to be his subjects, 
 his country has retained its ancient wealth and fertility to a 
 greater degree than most other parts of Central India. The 
 territories of Holkar were as badly off as any, but for their 
 restoration they had the advantages of Sir John Malcolm's 
 advice and commanding influence. The ministers who have 
 ruled the country during the young Raja's minority, are of 
 his choice; the system of administering justice and collecting 
 the revenue, recommended by him, has been preserved, and, 
 by all which I can learn, the beautiful valley of the Nerbud- 
 dah has enjoyed, during the last ten years, a greater degree 
 of peace and prosperity than it perhaps ever did before within 
 the limits of Hindoo history. 
 
 Besides the Rajpoots, Bheels, and Jains, a good many Jats 
 are scattered up and down these provinces, chiefly as culti- 
 vators of the land. There are also more Mussulmans than I 
 expected to find, of whom the majority are of Patan race and 
 of the Sunnite sect. The smaller, but by far the wealthier 
 and more industrious party, are here xalled Boras, — a sect 
 
60 RELIGIOUS TUMULT. 
 
 whose opinions are but imperfectly ascertained. They ap- 
 proach nearest to the Sheeahs, with a tendency towards 
 Sootteism, and are believed by Captain Macdonald to be a 
 remnant of the old sect of Hussunus, or as they are called in 
 European History, " Assassins." They have nothing, how- 
 ever, at present of the sanguinary and warlike temper which 
 distinguished the followers of the " Old Man of the Moun- 
 tain." They are in general very peaceable and orderly mer- 
 chants and tradesmen, and have considerable influence and 
 privileges in most of the cities of Central India, agreeing far 
 better with both Jains and Rajpoots than their fiery Sunnite 
 rivals. Between these last and them, however, blood has 
 been lately shed. A new Sunnite teacher in the city of 
 Mundissore, a few weeks since, thought proper to distinguish 
 himself by a furious attack on the Sheeite heresy from the 
 pulpit, and by exhorting the true believers to cast out such 
 wretches from dwelling among them. In consequence some 
 wealthy Boras were insulted in the bazar by the Patans, and 
 a fray ensued, in which the Boras, peaceable as they gene- 
 rally are, had the advantage. The Sunnite preacher was 
 killed, but his body, was buried by his friends with all the 
 honours of Martyrdom. The fray was again renewed, when 
 the Patans killed several Boras and drove the rest from the 
 place, declaring that they would pursue their advantage in all 
 the neighbouring towns till the accursed were rooted from the 
 earth. It ended in two companies of British sepoys being 
 sent to keep the peace, and in the arresting of one or two 
 ringleaders. Had not a large force been at hand, it is pro- 
 bable that a grand war would have begun between the parties 
 in half the towns of Malwahj so easily is blood shed where 
 all hands are armed and all laws feeble. 
 
 February 26. — I dined with Colonel Lumley, the Com- 
 mandant of the station. 
 
 February 27. — I read prayers and preached in the draw- 
 ing-room of Sir David Ochterlony's house to a congregation 
 of nearly a hundred. I had eight communicants, and, which 
 I did not expect, four applicants for confirmation, among 
 whom was my host, Captain Macdonald. 
 
 February 28. — I sent off* the tents and people at sunrise, 
 but Dr. Smith and I remained till night or rather morning, 
 when we travelled in our palanqueens towards Pertaubghur 
 The weather had been really cold for several days, and this 
 night there was a hard frost, a circumstance which I did not 
 expect at this time of year and in this latitude. We are here, 
 however, in one of the highest parts of Malwah, all of which 
 is considerably elevated above the sea. The height of the 
 plain of Pertaubghur is reckoned at about 1700 feet, an alti- 
 
PERTAUBGHUR DEATH OP A BHEEL GUIDE. 61 
 
 tude, however, hardly sufficient to account for the degree of 
 cold which was felt. For us this was very pleasant and 
 wholesome, but the opium crops and the fruit-trees were sad 
 sufferers. Captain Macdonald sajs, that Malwah suits most 
 European garden-stufi:' well, but potatoes degenerate fast, and 
 are of so small a size, that the natives after, in many in- 
 stances, trying the experiment, have ceased to cultivate them. 
 He had some tolerable ones in his own garden, some fine 
 roses, just come into bloom, and a good show of strawberries 
 not quite ripe. 
 
 March 1. — We arrived at Pertaubghur, a small city, the 
 residence of a petty Raja, with a battalion of sepoys canton- 
 ed in the neighbourhood. The commandant, Major Hamil- 
 ton, showed us much hospitality and kindness, and from him, 
 as being placed in the immediate neighbourhood of the Bheels, 
 I obtained a good deal of the information which I have, in the 
 last few pages, communicated in respect to them. Pertaub- 
 ghur contains little or nothing worth seeing. The country 
 round it is undulating and fertile, with extensive fields of 
 poppies and wheat, and a good many scattered peepul-trees. 
 The groves of fruit-trees seem to have been all ruined by the 
 Pindarrees, and, in spite of its fertility, all beyond the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood of the large towns is jungle. The Raja 
 has the privilege of coining money, grounded, as he pretends, 
 but as seems very doubtful, on a grant of one of the Mogul 
 emperors. He was allowed to retain it when he became feu- 
 datory to the British government, but has so repeatedly 
 abused it by fraudulently altering the standard, that he pro- 
 bably will not be suffered to strike money much longer. Or- 
 naments of gold, silver, and enamel are to be procured here; 
 I saw a necklace and bracelets of gold embossed with the 
 twenty-four avatars of Indian mythology, which were very 
 curious and prettily wrought. 
 
 March 2. — I was joined by nine more horsemen of Captain 
 Smith's local regiment, making the number of my escort 
 eighteen. I had not asked for any increase of guards, but 
 Colonel Lumley told me that my road lay too near the seat 
 of war in Doongurpoor, and through a country at all times so 
 unsettled that he did not like to send me away with a smaller 
 number. Yet the road takes us, comparatively, through a 
 far better country than that which used to be followed, and 
 which led directly through the gorge of the mountains at Gul- 
 liakote into a very dismal wilderness of several day's journey, 
 so much infested by tygers that no travellers could safely 
 move before sunrise. The consequence of a contempt of this 
 precaution Major Hamilton told me in an affecting story. 
 One of his acquaintance, who was marching with a body of troops 
 
62 CHOMPNA. 
 
 between Gulliakote and Luneewarra, called on a Bheel vil- 
 lager to be his guide through the wood very early one morn- 
 ing. The Bheel remonstrated, observing that it was not the 
 custom of the country to march before day-light, and that it 
 was dangerous to do so. The officer supposing this to be the 
 mere pretext of laziness, was positive, and threatened him if 
 he did not go on. The man said nothing more, but took his 
 shield and sword and walked on along the narrow path over- 
 hung with long grass and bamboos. — The officer followed at 
 the head of his men, and had moved slowly half asleep on his 
 saddle for about five miles, when he heard a hideous roar, and 
 saw a very large tyger spring past him so close that he almost 
 brushed his horse. The poor Bheel lifted up his sword and 
 shield, but v/as down in an instant under the animal's 
 paws, who turned round with him in his mouth, growling like 
 a cat over a mouse, and looked the officer in the face. He did 
 what could be done, and with his men attacked the tyger, 
 whom they wounded so severely that he dropped his prey. 
 But the first blow had done its work eiFectually, and the poor 
 man's skull was mashed in such a manner as, literally to be 
 all in pieces. The officer told Major Hamilton that from that 
 day forwards this scene was seldom absent from his dreams, 
 and with the least illness or fever he had always a return of 
 the vision of the tyger, with the unfortunate man in his jaws, 
 whom his imprudence had sacrificed. 
 
 March 3. — We went this morning about seventeen miles to 
 a small and very poor village named Chompna, whither sup- 
 plies had been sent beforehand by tlie Raja of Pertaubghur, 
 who was himself at Deeoleear, a fort at some distance, but from 
 whom we had a civil message. The country is pretty, with a 
 mixture of wood and arable land which is by no means disa- 
 greeable. The trees are either dhak or peepul, but near the 
 villages are a few mangoes now in blossom. The hills are low, 
 but \evy rocky, the valleys and level ground of a rich and 
 deep though light black loam, which under a good government, 
 would soon be a garden. The villagers, however, are among 
 the poorest that I have seen, and reminded me in dress and 
 squalor, though not quite in the outward signs of ill-health, 
 of the wretched inhabitants of the Terrai of Rohilcund. These 
 poor people complained bitterly of the injury done to their pop- 
 piesby the frost which was again severe last night. Their wheat 
 is happily very promising, but it is on the opium that they chiefly 
 depend to pay their rents. The heavy transit duties imposed 
 by the different Rajas on the exportation and importation of 
 corn are very ruinous to agriculture. In Guzeriit the inhabi- 
 tants of this fertile region would, generally, have a ready mar- 
 ket for their wheat, and during this present year it bears a 
 
POPPY GROUNDS AMBERA. 63 
 
 price in the neighbourhood of Baroda treble to what it bears 
 at Pertaubghur, being twentj-seven seer the rupee at the lat- 
 ter place, and at the former, if we are rightly informed, nine 
 the rupee, a difference which, with an open and easy com- 
 munication could not possibly exist unless the intermediate 
 duties were exorbitant. If this is the case, it would be surely, 
 a fair subject of interference on the part of the Company's 
 government, as both Guzerat and Malwah would be gainers bv 
 a free interchange of their commodities. It should seem, how- 
 ever, either that these tolls have been lowered, or that the 
 present high price has of itself been a sufficient stimulus to 
 prompt men to carry corn southwards, inasmuch as, though 
 we had as yet seen none, we met or overtook, in the course of 
 our onward journey, a great many parties of brinjarrees and 
 wagoners, who were either taking corn from Malwah, or 
 were going thither from Guzerat to purchase it. The people, 
 however, complained that even now the profit they should 
 make would, to use their own phrase, *' not be enough to fill 
 their bellies." 
 
 One of Dr. Smith's saeeses died to-day. He was taken so 
 ill in his march to this place as to be unable to proceed. I 
 sent an elephant and some people for him, who found him in- 
 sensible, and he remained so till he expired, soon after his ar- 
 rival. The cholera had showed itself in several instances at Per- 
 taubghur, but this was apparently nothing of the kind. He 
 was a Hindoo, and was burned by his companions in the course 
 of the evening. 
 
 The grain, " dhana," had just been cut before this nipping 
 wind and frost arrived — happily, as the suwarrs told me, or 
 that also must have suffered. 
 
 We met to-day a considerable number of bullocks laden 
 with an intoxicating drug called " Mhowa," a flower, the juice 
 of which they ferment and take in various forms. It grows on 
 a large tree, and drops off about this time of year. The part 
 which they use is the roitnd bulb, or calyx, from which the 
 leaves grow. The colour is a pale pink. These men were 
 bringing their loads from Doongerpoor to Pertaubghur, against 
 the great period of the Hoolee, when all sorts of indulgence 
 and excitation are in request. 
 
 March 4. — We marched seven coss, or about sixteen miles, 
 to Amba Ramba, or, as it is generally called, Ambera. The 
 country during this march becomes more rugged and woody, 
 but is still tolerably well cultivated; and after passing a low 
 but rocky chain of hills, I was glad to see that the people were 
 at work in their poppy-grounds, and that the frost, to all ap- 
 pearance, had not extended far in this direction. The opium 
 IS collected by making two or three superficial incisions in the 
 
 Vol. II.— 6 
 
64 AMBERA. 
 
 seed-vessel of the poppy, whence a milky juice exudes, which 
 is carefully collected. The time of cutting them seems to be 
 as soon as the petals of flower fiiU off, which is about the pre- 
 sent season. Sugar-mills are seen in every village, but no 
 canes are now growing. The crops of barley and wheat are 
 very thin, and the whole country bears marks of drought, 
 though not by any means so decidedly and dismally as Jye- 
 poor. 
 
 Ambera is a large village on the slope of a hill, with a nul- 
 lah not far from it now standing in pools, and some large trees. 
 At some little distance it is enclosed by rocks fringed with 
 wood, and the scene would be beautiful if it were less parch- 
 ed and sun-burnt. The morning had been again cold, but it 
 was very hot during the day. We must now, indeed, expect 
 to be more or less inconvenienced by heat, and may reckon 
 ourselves fortunate in the frosty mornings v/hich have so long 
 favoured us. The people of Ambera were very noisy all day 
 and great part of the night, in the merriment of the Hoolee. 
 In the course of the evening a man came to us who said he 
 was a Charun from Catty war. He had not his distinctive dress 
 on, which I was curious to see. I told him, therefore, to bring 
 his "burra pugree," or large turban, and that he should have 
 a present. He promised to do so, but never returned, .and 
 had, possibly, laid claim to a character which did not belong 
 to him. 
 
 I was to-day talking with Dr. Smith on the remarkably di- 
 minutive stature of the women all over India, a circumstance 
 extending, with very few exceptions, to the female children 
 of Europeans by native mothers? and observed that one could 
 hardly suppose such little creatures to be the mothers or 
 daughters of so tall men as many of the sepoys are. He an- 
 swered, that the women whom we saw in the streets and fields, 
 and those with whom only, under ordinary circumstances, 
 Europeans could form connexions, were of the lowest caste, 
 whose growth was stinted from an early age by poverty and 
 hard labour, and whose husbands and brothers v»'ere also, as I 
 might observe, of a very mean stature. That the sepoys, and 
 respectable natives in general, kept their women out of our 
 way as much as possible; but that he, as a medical man, had 
 frequently had women of the better sort brought to him for 
 advice, whose personal advantages corresponded with those of 
 their husbands, and who were of stature equal to the common 
 run of European females. 
 
 March 5. — About two miles beyMid Ambera, the road de- 
 scends a steep pass overhung with trees, into an extensive fo- 
 rest which we traversed for fifteen miles to Chotee Sirwan, a 
 small station of police sepoys, near which our tents were 
 
BHEEL VILLAGE CHOTEE SIRWAN. 65 
 
 pitched. The tract, however, is not entirely without inhabi- 
 tants. Soon after descending from the ghat we came to a 
 Bheel hut, whose owner we engaged, by tlie promise of a re- 
 ward, to guide us through the jungle, and afterwards passed 
 two or three little hamlets of the same nation, with small 
 patches of cultivation round each. The huts were all of the 
 rudest description, of sticks wattled with long grass, and a 
 thatch of the same, with boughs laid over it to keep it from 
 being blown away. They were crowded close together, as if 
 for mutual protection, but with a small thatched enclosure ad- 
 joining for their cattle. Their fields were also neatly fenced 
 in with boughs, a practice not common in India, but here I 
 suppose necessary to keep off the deer and antelopes from 
 their corn. The soil is poor and stony, and few of the trees 
 of large size. There is, hov/ever, a better supply of water 
 than I expected, none of the nullahs being perfectly dry, even 
 in this thirsty year, but standing in pools, as Bruce describes 
 the rivers in Abyssinia. The whole country, indeed, and what 
 I saw of the people, reminded me of the account which he has 
 given of the Shangalla. All the Bheels whom we saw to-day 
 were small slender men, less broad-shouldered, I think, and 
 with faces less Celtic than the Puliarrees of Rajmahal, nor did 
 I think them quite so dark as these last. They were not so 
 naked as the two whom I met at Ummeerghur, having a coarse 
 and dirty cotton cloth wrapped round the head and shoulders 
 and a sort of plaited petticoat round their loins, of the same 
 material. Two of them had rude sv/ords and shields, the 
 remainder had all bows and arrows resembling those which I 
 had seen before, except that the arrow-heads, not being in- 
 tended for striking fish, were -fixed. The bow-strings were 
 very neatly made of bamboo slips plaited. Their beards and 
 hair were not at all woolly, but thick and dishevelled, and 
 their whole appearance very dirty and ill-fed. They spoke 
 cheerftilly, however, their countenances were open, and the 
 expression of their eyes and lips good tempered. Few of them 
 appeared to know any thing of Hindoostanee. 
 
 At Chotee Sirwan no supplies were to be obtained, except 
 water from a nullah at some distance, and boughs for the ele- 
 phants and camels. Some tradesmen from the Tannah at Nin- 
 nore had brought supplies for sale sufficient for the day, but 
 nothing further^ and I was again, with reluctance, but from 
 sheer necessity, compelled to give orders for continuing our 
 march on the Sunday. The weather was extremely hot dur- 
 ing the greater part of the day, but this is obviously among the 
 most advantageous months for passing the jungle. The long 
 grass is now burnt, or eaten down by the cattle, — the marshes 
 are nearly dry,' — and those prevailing' causes of disease re- 
 
66 FESTIVAL OF HOOLEE. 
 
 moved, which, at other times of the year, make this tract no 
 less deadly than the Terrai. — Even the tygers are less formi- 
 dable now that their covert is so much diminished. The pro- 
 spect, nevertheless, is dismal: nobody can say 
 
 " Merry it is in the good g^een wood!" 
 
 The rocks seem half calcined, the ground is either entirely 
 bare and black, or covered with a withered rustling grass; the 
 leaves which remain on the trees are dry and sapless, crack- 
 ling in the hand like parchment; and the bare scorched boughs 
 of, by far, the greater n.umber give a wintry appearance to the 
 prospect, which is strangely contrasted with the fierce glow 
 of the atmosphere, and a sun which makes the blood boil and 
 the temples throb. A great proportion of the trees are teak, 
 but all of small size. There are some fine peepuls, which re- 
 tain their leaves in the moist dingles by the river side, and the 
 pink blossom of the dhak, and a few scattered acacias, the 
 verdure of which braves even the blast of an Arabian desert, 
 redeem the prospect from the character of unmingled barren- 
 ness. Still it is sufficiently wild and dreary. Abdullah ob- 
 served, and I was struck with the accuracy of the comparison, 
 that the huts, the form of the hills, and the general appear- 
 ance of the country and people, greatly resembled the borders 
 of Circassia and Georgia. 
 
 This being the great day of Hoolee, all my Hindoo servants 
 came to pay their compliments, and bring presents of red pow- 
 der and sugar-plums. The event was rather costly to me, as 
 I was obliged to make presents in return. But it is the '^'dus- 
 toor," and who in India can transgress that unwritten and 
 common law of the land? 
 
 Cashiram and the servants were very full of two adventures 
 which had befallen them in their night's march. The first 
 was, that they heard people for some time running among the 
 bushes near them, as if watching to seize the camels, but that 
 on one man looking out and seeing the sepoys, all appeared to 
 take flight. — The other was that a very large tyger crossed the 
 path a little before day -break, so near that they could not have 
 mistaken any other animal for him, particularly as the moon 
 shone bright. He stopped as if to look at them for a moment, 
 and then passed quietly, or as they said, "civilly" on, as if 
 neither courting nor fearing an encounter. All the suwarrs 
 were very full of the change which had taken place in this 
 countvy. "Five years ago," one of them said, *'a thousand 
 men could hardly have forced their way through these jungles 
 and their inhabitants, how I was safe with sixty." I asked if 
 small parties were.safe.'^ and they answered "by no means^'* 
 
BHEEL BOWMAN. 67 
 
 that " the Bheels were as great robbers and murderers as ever 
 where thej had the power," but that "they were very much 
 afraid of the red coats." I forgot to mention before, that, on 
 our first approaching the Bheel villages, a man ran from the 
 nearest hut to the top of a hill, and gave a shrill shout or 
 scream which we heard repeated from the furthest hamlet in 
 sight, and again from two others which we could not see. I 
 asked the meaning of this, and my suwarrs assured me that 
 these were their signals to give the alarm of our coming, our 
 numbers, and that we had horse with us. By this means they 
 knew at once whether it was adviseable to attack us, to fly, or 
 to remain quiet, while if there were any of them of their num- 
 ber who had particular reasons for avoiding an interview with 
 the troops and magistrates of the low-lands, they had thus fair 
 warning given them to keep out of the way. This sounds like 
 a description of Rob Roy's country, but these poor Bheels are 
 far less formidable enemies than the old Mac Gregors. In the 
 afternoon we walked up to one of the nearest hills, where 
 were some huts of this unfortunate nation. They were all 
 shut up, and an old man who came to meet us, said that they 
 were empty. He himself, and a young man, who was, he said, 
 his nephew, remained alone in the places all the rest were with 
 their cattle in the jungle. 
 
 Dr. Smith, who has an excellent ear, and knows Hindoos- 
 tanee well, was able to converse with these people more readily 
 than any of our party, and said that it was chiefly in accent 
 and tone th^.t their language differed from the dialect usually 
 spoken in Malwah. They speak in a drawling sort of recita- 
 tive, which Dr. Smith imitated, and found them catch his 
 meaning much better than they othervvise could. The old 
 man said. that t'.iey had suffered much from want of rain, that 
 their crops had b :en very scanty, that there was little pasture 
 left for their cattle, and what was worst of all, they expected 
 the pools of the neighbouring nullah to dry up before the end 
 of the hot weather. When that happened, he said with much 
 resignation — " they must go down to Doongerpoor, or some 
 other place where there was water, and do as well as they 
 could.*' Both the men vv^ere evidently in fear, and even trem- 
 bled; they showed an anxiety that we should not go near their 
 huts, and were unwilling to trust themselves with us as far as 
 our tents, though they |)erfectly understood my promise that 
 they should have something to eat. I pressed the young man 
 to shoot one of his arrows at a mark, but he had only two with 
 him, and he looked at us all round as if he feared we wanted 
 to make him part with his means of defence. I succeeded, 
 however, in re-assuring him: he shot at and hit, a tree about 
 100 yards off, and on my praising his skill, let fly his other 
 
 6* 
 
68 BANSWARRA* 
 
 arrow, which went straight enough, but struck the ground near 
 the root. He held his bow and arrow in the English manner, 
 difterentlj from the Hindoostanees, who place the arrow on 
 what we should call the wrong side, and draw the string with 
 the thumb; his arrows were not ill-made, but his bow was 
 what a " British bowman" would call a very light one. The 
 applause which he received, and the security which he now 
 felt, made him familiar. He sat on the ground to show us the 
 manner in which his countrymen shoot from amid the long 
 grass, holding the bow with their feet, and volunteered aiming 
 at different objects, till I told him there was no need of more 
 trials; I asked him what game he usually killed, but appre- 
 hend that he misunderstood me, for he said, with some eager- 
 ness of manner, '* that he only used his bow in self defence." 
 He now was very willing to come to our camp, and his uncle 
 followed him. I gave them three anas between them, for 
 which they were very thankful. One of the suwarrs told me 
 that the guide in the morning expressed much delight and 
 some surprise at my keeping my word with him, in giving 
 him the promised bukshish, a pretty clear proof how these 
 poor people are usually dealt with. 
 
 The police thanna consists of three or four huts, with a small 
 stage elevated on four poles for a sentry to stand on, so like 
 those used by the Cossacks on the Circassian frontier, as to add 
 greatly to the resemblance of scenery discovered by Abdullah. 
 I again, in the course of the evening, longed for my wife to 
 see these things with me; and though, after all, this is a coun- 
 try into which it is not likely that I should by choice take her, 
 yet I know there is much in it which would amuse and in- 
 terest her. 
 
 March 6. — We proceeded this morning about seven miles, 
 through a very wild forest of rock, wood, dingles, and dry 
 ravines to Panchelwas, a small village inhabited by a mixed 
 population of Bheels and Rajpoots, and. mder the government 
 of the Ranah of Banswarra. To this place we were told was 
 a direct road over the hills from Neemuch, which would have 
 saved us at least eight miles, and which, I found on reference 
 to Sir John Malcolm's work, is laid .down in his map of Central 
 India. It is so rugged, however, and so infested by the un- 
 subdued tribes of Bheels, that few travellers, except beggars 
 and pilgrims, go that way. The houses of Panchelwas are 
 built in the same manner with those of the Bheels, but are 
 larger and neater; and there were one or two shops, and the 
 work-yard of a wainwright, which showed our return to some- 
 thing like civilization. The carts here are very strong and 
 low. The wheels have no spokes, but are made of the solid 
 circles of the stem of a large tree, like those of children's 
 
FEMALE INFANTICIDE. 69 
 
 carts in England. They have no axletrees of the kind used in 
 Europe, but the wheels are placed below the carriage, and 
 secured like those of wheelbarrows. 
 
 The country, though still as wild as wild could be, had im- 
 proved both in greenness and beauty during this morning's 
 ride, and, on the other side of Panchelwas, became extremely 
 pretty. We crossed a river, the Mhye, which, notwithstanding 
 its distance from the sea, though shallow, was still broad, antl 
 not stagnant, with rocks on each side crowned with wood and 
 some ruined temples, while the liills were not only greener 
 and better wooded than any we had lately seen, but assumed a 
 certain degree of consequence of size and outline. At last, our 
 path still winding through the wood, but under the shade of 
 taller and wider spreading trees, and over a soil obviously less 
 burnt and barren, we came to a beautiful pool, with some 
 ruined temples, and a stately flight of steps leading to it, over- 
 hung by palms, peepuls, and tamarinds; and beyond it, on the 
 crown of a woody hill, the towers of a large castle. This was 
 the palace of Banswarra, and on advancing a little further the 
 town came in sight at its foot, with its pagodas, ramparts, and 
 orchards. 
 
 I was much surprised to find in such a situation so large 
 and handsome a place, of which I knew nothing before, except 
 as one of those states which have been noted in India for the 
 wildness and poverty of their inhabitants, and for their abo- 
 minable custom of murdering the greater part of their female 
 infants, this cruel and most unnatural sacrifice it has long 
 been the endeavour of the British government to induce its 
 vassals and allies to abandon. Major Walker when resi- 
 dent at Baroda, thought he had succeeded with the greater 
 part of them, but it is believed by most ofticers on this side 
 of the country that the number saved was very small in pro- 
 portion to that of the victims. Unhappily pride, poverty, and 
 avarice are in league with superstition to perpetuate these 
 horrors. It is a disgrace fer a noble family to have a daugh- 
 ter unmarried, and still worse to marry her to a person of in- 
 ferior birth, while they have neither the means nor the incli- 
 nation to pay such portions as a person of their own rank 
 would expect to receive with them. On the other hand, the 
 sacrifice of a child is believed, surely with truth, to be accept- 
 able to '' the evil powers," and the fact is certain that, though 
 the high born Rajpoots have many sons, very few daughters 
 are ever found in their palaces, though it is not easy to prove 
 any particular instance of murder, or to know the way in 
 which the victims are disposed of. The common story of the 
 country, and probably the true one, for it is a point on which, 
 except with the English, no.mystery is likely to be observed, 
 
70 BANSWARRA. 
 
 is that a large vessel of milk is set in the chamber of the lying- 
 in woman, and the infant, if a girl, iiiimediatelj plunged into 
 it. Sir John Malcolm, however, who supposes the practice 
 to be on the decline, was told that a pill of opium was usually 
 given. Through the influence of Major Walker it is certain 
 that many children were spared, and previous to his depar- 
 ture from Guzerat, he received the most affecting compliment 
 which a good man could receive, in being welcomed at the 
 gate of the palace, on some public occasion, by a procession 
 of girls of high rank, wlio owed their lives to him, and who 
 came to kiss his clothes and throw wreaths of flowers over him 
 as their deliverer and second father. Since that time, how- 
 ever, things have gone on very much in the old train, and the 
 answers made by the chiefs to any remonstrances of the Bri- 
 tish officers is, " Pay our daughters' marriage portion and they 
 shall live!" Yet these very men, rather than strike a cow 
 would submit to the crudest martyrdom. Never may my dear 
 wife and daughters forget how much their sex is indebted to 
 Christianity! 
 
 The walls of Banswarra include a large circuit, as much, I 
 should think as those of Chester; but in the one, as well as 
 the other instance, a good deal of space is taken up with gar- 
 dens. There are some handsome temples and an extensive 
 bazar in which I saw a considerable number of Mussulmans. 
 We took up our abode without the walls in a little old palace, 
 with a pretty garden and a large cistern of water, now dry, 
 which has been appropriated by the Rawul to the use of Cap- 
 tain Macdonald. From this house is an advantageous view 
 of the city and palace, the trees are finer, and the view more 
 luxuriant than any thing, Gungrowr always excepted, which 
 we have seen since bur leaving Bhurtpoor. 
 
 The Rawul came to call on me in the afternoon with his 
 Khamdar, and a considerable train of vassals, whom he pre- 
 sented to me as a highland chief would have done the gentle- 
 men of his clan, and describing them in the same manner as the 
 Thakoors of his house. They were mostly good looking stout 
 men, of a rustic but manly figure. The Rawul himself is a 
 small, thin, and effeminate young man, of no prepossessing 
 appearance. He was plainly dressed, except that he had a 
 very handsome sword, a most voluminous red turban, and 
 great gold anklets. His minister was a thin shrewd looking 
 person, with a very squeaking voice, a turban, as was fitting, 
 of inferior dignity to his master's, but with large pearls in his 
 ears. I embraced the Rawul and his minister, and assigned 
 them chairs on my right and left hand. The Thakoors all sat 
 down on the floor with their shields before them in the Raj- 
 poot fashion, and a crowd of servants and people of all de- 
 
RAWUL OF BANSWARRA. 71 
 
 scriptions, among whom, in order to do me honour, nearly half 
 of the sepoy§ of my escort pressed, formed a semicircle of 
 standers by behind them. Abdullah acted, as usual, as mas- 
 ter of the ceremonies and interpreter, neither Dr. Smith nor I 
 being versed in the technical and complimentary language of 
 a court. At length, however, the conversation became more 
 general, and they expressed much curiosity concerning the 
 war in Ava. They had heard of Sir A. Campbell's success, 
 and the capture of 300 pieces of cannon, but were anxious to 
 learn the further progress of the campaign. I talked to them 
 about Sir John Malcolm, of whom they spoke with great re- 
 spect and apparent regard, and expressed great joy on hearing 
 that he was like again to come out to India. They conversed 
 readily enough, more so than I had expected, about Doongur- 
 poor and its war, though, as the Rawul said in answer to my 
 question, if it was not so.^ that its Raja was his kinsman. 
 "And Oodeypoor also.^" said I. His countenance evidently 
 brightened as he answered in the affirmative, as if he derived 
 consequence in his own opinion and that of others, by his re- 
 lationship to so illustrious a house. 
 
 I now thought the visit had been long enough, and ordered 
 pawn and attar to be brought. To my surprise, however, the 
 Rawul kept his seat, called for his " kalean," or Persian pipe, 
 smoked some whifs, and then began talking again. A long 
 whispering conversation ensued between him and his minister, 
 and while I was wondering in what all this would end, he 
 begged my acceptance of a horse, which he said he had brought 
 for me. I was a good deal annoyed, but endeavoured to 
 parry the offer as well as I could. I first pleaded that such 
 things were unnecessary where there was good will, and 
 that I valued the almonds and sugar-plumbs which he had pre- 
 sented on first entering the room, as his gift, as much as an 
 elephant coming from a person of less distinguished family. 
 He bowed and smiled, but said, " If you refuse the horse, 
 how can I believe you like to receive a smaller present.^" I 
 then said I should accept the horse with gratitude, and should 
 be much obliged to the Raja to keep it forme till I returned 
 that way, since in my journey between Bombay and Calcutta, 
 I should go by sea, and be unable to take it with me. " Oh," 
 said the Raja, " w^hen you return I shall have more and finer 
 horses for you, but you must not refuse to take this now." In 
 short I was obliged to yield, anel the horse was brought, a to- 
 lerable grey poney, but old and not in the best condition, 
 though quite as good as one generally meets among the Raj- 
 poot nobles. He now took leave, and I accompanied him to- 
 the gate, the sepoys presenting arms, which seemed to please 
 him much. Knowing however, the poverty, as well as the 
 
72 RAWUL OF BANSWARRA. 
 
 antiquity of his family, I could no bear the idea of taking the 
 horse without making; a return, and after some deliberation, 
 for it was not easy to find any thing I could spare which he 
 would like, I sent him the glass lamp which used to hang in 
 our cabin on board ship, both as a pretty thing in itself, and 
 one which he had unquestionably never seen before, at the 
 same time that it accorded with the habits of his nation, who 
 all burn lamps at night. I sent it by my servants, with an apo- 
 logy for my not returning his visit from my anxiety to proceed 
 on my journey. He returned a very civil message, and if I 
 am to believe the report of my messengers, was well pleased 
 with my present. Its intrinsic value I should guess, was fully 
 equal to that which I had received from him. 
 
 The Rawul said his age was just twenty-on6, and he had 
 been on the musnud since the year 1816. Both he and his 
 minister spoke much of the oppression and cruelty formerly 
 exercised on them by the Maharattas and Pindarrees. They 
 said that ours was a good government for peace, and putting 
 down thieves, but complained of the opium laws, and asked 
 where all the opium went which was monopolized. They 
 listened with much attention to Dr. Smith's account of the 
 Empire of China, and the quantity of opium which was con- 
 sumed there, but were still more interested on his telling 
 them that on my voyage from Bombay to Calcutta, I must 
 pass by Lanca, (the name given to Ceylon in the Hindoo 
 books, and respecting whicli they have many extravagant le- 
 gends.) They would scarcely believe him when he said that 
 it was now under the British government, and that he had been 
 there, and asked eagerly " if the principal city was surround- 
 ed by a wall of solid gold.^^" He answered that this was an old 
 tradition, but that they themselves knew that many things 
 mentioned in old books had not their like on earth now; that 
 Lanca was still a rich countrv, but not so fine as it had been 
 represented, which seemed to satisfy them. 
 
 In the afternoon Dr. Smith strolled out by himself, and 
 had some conversation with a few old men whom he found 
 under the shade of a tree. They seemed well satisfied with 
 the present peaceable times, and answered his questions very 
 readily about the internal politics of the country. The Kham- 
 dar, they said, was a Jain, and seemed to hold him cheap ac- 
 cordingly: with the Rawul they did not seem well pleased. 
 He was twenty-one, they said, and yet not married, a circum- 
 stance always discreditable among the Hindoos, but here par- 
 ticularly so where it is a matter of much difficulty for girls of 
 high blood to obtain suitable matches. We were objects of 
 great curiosity in this place. A crowd was assembled all day 
 before my gate, observing every movement within, and whea 
 
BURODEEA. 73 
 
 I walked iia the evening I had as great a crowd after me as I 
 have seen after a Persian ambassador, or other such outland- 
 ish person, in the streets of London. 
 
 During all the time of Hoolee, drunl^enness is common 
 among the Hindoos, and our bearers had been for some days 
 giving proof of it. To-night, however, they were so noisy 
 after I was in bed, that I sent Abdullah to scold them. He 
 brought back word that there was a dispute between them and 
 some biinyans of the town about payment. On this I ordered 
 all parties to my bed-side in order to judge between them, but 
 by the way the adversaries agreed between themselves, and I 
 heard no more of it. 
 
 March 7. — We went between eleven and twelve miles 
 through a wild but pretty country, to a small village named 
 Burodeea. We were guided by Bheels, and most of the peo- 
 ple we met were of that nation, though the villagers themselves 
 were Rajpoots.. Supplies were scanty and obtained with some 
 difficulty from five or six neighbouring hamlets. The place 
 contains at present twenty-five families; it v/as, twenty years 
 ago, a moderate-sized town, but was ruined by Ram Deen, 
 one of the followers of Jeswunt Row Holkar, and among the 
 worst of the many bad. He is now a pensioner of the British 
 government, having surrendered to them early in the last war, 
 and is living in retirement in Hindostan. 
 
 I was told that no charge would be made for the wood, 
 milk, and grass which had been furnished, and which were all 
 the supplies which we required. I gave, however, a rupee to 
 the Zemindar, or Potail, a very fine young peasant, but who 
 could scarcely speak a word of Hindoostanee. We walked 
 in the evening through some small patches of cultivation, with 
 jungle all round, and a pleasing prospect of high woody hills; 
 there were a great many mhowah-trees, not yet in blossom, 
 though they would be so, we were told, in a fortnight or three 
 weeks. They nearly resemble the oak in size, form of the 
 branches, and colour of the leaves. Of the mhowah and its 
 uses a. good account is given in Sir John Malcolm's Central 
 India. Its flower, besides the intoxicating liquor obtained 
 from it by fermentation, when dried, nearly resembles a small 
 raisin both in appearance and flavour. Its fruit, and the 
 small pistachio nut which grows wild among these hills in 
 great abundance, are the principal food of the wilder tribes of 
 Bheels. The latter are said to be deleterious till roasted, or at 
 all events they contain an oil so astringent as not to be eatable. 
 
 March 8. — A romantic road through a wood containing 
 many fine trees, and displaying a reasonable show of verdure, 
 brought us, about seven miles, to a small but well-built vil- 
 lage named Kalingera. A majority o£ the houses which we 
 
74 KALINGERA JAIN TEMPLE. 
 
 had seen in the territory of Banswarra, (I mean tlie Rajpoot 
 houses, for the Bheel huts are wretched enough,) are extreme- 
 ly well-built and respectable, of large bricks, frequently two 
 stories high, and, with their out-buildings, and in their gene- 
 ral style, possessing much of the exterior of an English farm. 
 Kalingera has also a sort of manor-house, not unlike some of 
 the dismal-looking Zemindarree houses near Barrackpoor, the 
 residence of aThakoor, the hereditary chief of this place and 
 a small district round it. Its most remarkable building, how- 
 ever, is a Jain temple, the largest and handsomest which I 
 had yet seen, and which, being completely deserted, I had a 
 tolerable opportunity to explore throughout. The entrance is 
 under a sort of projecting porch by a flight of steps conduct- 
 ing to an open vestibule, supported by pillars, and covered by 
 a dome. On each side of the entrance are some more steps, 
 leading to an open verandah over the porch. To the right of 
 the vestibule just mentioned is a small court, to its left a 
 square hall, supported by pillars internally, and roofed with 
 flat slabs of stone, laid across stone beams of unusual length, 
 being twelve feet from pillar to pillar. Beyond the vestibule 
 and facing the entrance, I passed by an ascent of three steps 
 into another square hall, also with aflat roof, but dift'ering from 
 the last as being open on the sides, and having a square plat- 
 form, I apprehend intended for an altar, in the midst. To 
 the right and left of this hall were others of the same size, but 
 covered with domes ; and beyond these, to the extreme right 
 and left, were sanctuaries of about twelve feet square, sur- 
 mounted by high ornamented pyramids, v/ith their door-places 
 richly carved, and having, within, small altars like those in 
 Roman Catholic churches, vv'ith vestiges of paintingabove them. 
 In the centre, and immediately opposite to the entrance, a 
 dark vestibule led into a large square room also covered ex- 
 ternally with a pyramid, and having within, in the middle, a 
 sort of altar or throne of marble, on which were placed four 
 idols in a sitting posture, also of marble and not ill carved. 
 On either side of this apartment was a richly carved niche or 
 small alcove, and beyond it, and still opposite to the entrance, 
 another small vestibule led to an inner shrine about twelve feet 
 square, also covered with a pyramid, having an altar at its 
 farthest end, and a bas relief of Parisanth, surrounded by 
 several smaller sitting figures, over it. — The details of this 
 lOom, however, I only saw imperfectly. It had no light but 
 what came through its door after traversing all the preceding 
 apartments. It was very close and noisome, being full of bats 
 which kept flapping against my face, and whose dung covered 
 the floor of both rooms. Though the Thannadar of the village 
 very civilly brought me paper, pen, and ink, he had no tor- 
 
JAIN TEMPLE. 75 
 
 ches, and without them it was neither pleasant nor profitable 
 to remain long in such a place, in a country where it was sure 
 to be a harbour for all unclean and noxious animals. I could, 
 however, by the light which 1 had, see enough to satisfy me 
 that the arrangement of the figures was pretty similar to that 
 which I had seen in the Jain temple at Benares. 
 
 From the dome-roofed apartments to the right and left of 
 the hall which has the altar in it, a double verandah extends, 
 surrounding a court in which the two sanctuaries which I have 
 just described are enclosed ; the verandah to the court being 
 open and supported by pillars. The exterior of one has no 
 opening to the country, but internally has a number of narrow 
 doors corresponding with the intercolumniations of the other. 
 It is also surmounted externally by a succession of small pyra- 
 mids, and on its western side and immediately behind the cen- 
 tral sanctuary, is another chapel of the same kind with this 
 last, covered with a similar pyramid, and approached by a 
 very elegant portico or vestibule of a square form, supported 
 by six pillars and as many pilasters. 
 
 In the further shrine is an altar, and a large painting over 
 it, much defaced, of a colossal head with a beard and flowing 
 locks, and so far as can be judged, a very venerable expres- 
 sion of countenance. This, as well as I can recollect, is dif- 
 ferent from any thing which I saw at Benares, and may per- 
 haps belong to some mystery which they did not think fit to 
 disclose to persons of a difterent religion. The interior of the 
 apartments had but little ornament except the images and bas 
 reliefs which I have mentioned ; the exterior is richly carved, 
 and the pyramids, more particularly, were formed in clusters 
 of little canopies, as usual in the Hindoo buildings of these 
 provinces, but more elaborately wrought than is often seen. 
 On each side of the doors of the different small sanctuaries are 
 figures of men with large staves in their hands, naked except 
 a cloth round the waist, with very bushy hair, and a high 
 cylindrical cap, such as is not now worn in India, but which 
 exactly resembles that seen on the ancient figures at Perse- 
 polis and elsewhere in Persia. The similarity was so striking 
 that Abdullah of his own accord pointed out one of these head- 
 dresses as like that on the monument of JumsheedJum, and 
 the prints which I have seen prove his recollection to be accu- 
 rate. The domes are admirably constructed, and the execu 
 tion of the whole building greatly superior to what I should 
 have expected to find in such a situation. Its splendour of 
 architecture, and its present deserted condition, were account- 
 ed for by the Thannadar from the fact, that Kalingera had 
 been a place of much traffic and the residence of many rich 
 traders of the Jain sect, who were all ruined or driven away 
 
 Vol. II.— 7 
 
76 TAMBRESRA, 
 
 bj the Maharattas, at whose door, indeed, all the misfortunes 
 ot" this country are, with apparent reason, laid. 
 
 The antiquity of the building I had no means of ascertain- 
 ing. It is in too good repair for me to think it very old, and 
 there are no inscriptions on its conspicuous parts,' a Nagree 
 date (1103) is visible on one of the stones in the pavement of 
 the interior verandah, near the south-west corner, but I know 
 not from what era this is reckoned, and the stone, from its 
 situation, is not likely to have been selected to receive the 
 date of the building. It may have been removed from some 
 other edifice. 
 
 From Kalingera is about seven miles more of jungle to Tam- 
 bresra, a village near which our tents were pitched under the 
 shade of some fine trees, and near a cistern which still con- 
 tained a little water. The situation was very beautiful, but 
 made less agreeable than it might have been by an unlucky 
 accident. Our little flock of sheep and goats were resting 
 after their march under a spreading tree, when a monkey, 
 who had come down to steal the shepherd's breakfast, and 
 was driven back by him, in his hurried flight among the 
 branches stumbled on a bee's nest which hung suspended in 
 the air, and not only got himselt well stung, but brought out 
 the whole swarm in fury against the poor unoffending animals 
 beneath. Most of them were severely stung and bleated pi- 
 tifully, but it was curious to observe the different conduct 
 between the sheep and the goats. The former crowded all 
 together, burying their noses in the sand, but with no appa- 
 rent notion of flight or resistance, the latter ran off as fast as 
 they could for shelter among our tents, pressing in for secu- 
 rity as so many dogs would have done. They brought, how- 
 ever, such a swarm of their pursuers adhering to their coats 
 and following them close, that their coming was very little to 
 be desired, and we were forced to refuse them the hospitality 
 which they would otherwise have received. Indeed, as it was, 
 my tent was filled for a short time with bees, and several of 
 the people were stung. We had good reason, however, to 
 be thankful that they were the sheep and goats which were 
 attacked and not the horses; had the latter been the case, the 
 consequence might have been very serious. From what I saw 
 on this occasion I do not think the sting of the common In- 
 dian bee so severe as that of the European. 
 
 In the afternoon the Thakoor of the district, who assumes 
 the title of Raja, came to see me. His residence is atKishul- 
 gur, a little town about three coss from hence, and he has a 
 very small and poor territory of fourteen or fifteen villages^ 
 his name is Gumbeer Singh, a strongly built and handsome 
 young man, though not tall, and with one of the most prepos- 
 
TAMBRESRA. 77 
 
 sessing countenances I have seen for some time. He was a 
 mere rustic, however, and had the further disadvantage of au 
 impediment in his speech, a consciousness of which, appa- 
 rently, made him confused and diffident. His dress w^as 
 plain, and his shield, sword, and large turban his only finery. 
 He was attended by fifteen or twenty armed men, all on foot. 
 I gave him a chair, pawn, and attar, and he in return would 
 not allow his people to receive any thing for a kid and some 
 milk which they had furnished, the value of which indeed was 
 not equal to half a rupee. 
 
 Grain, which at Banswarra had been sixteen seers the 
 rupee, was here nineteen, which I hoped, indicated that 
 things were not so very bad in Guzerat as I had understood, 
 since on the immediate border there was no deterioration. 
 The Thakoor, however, said that there was great dearth there, 
 but that none of the people had, as yet, come to seek refuge 
 in this country. 
 
 During the years of trouble, Malwah (except in tke neigh- 
 bourhood of fortified towns and among tlie most inaccessible 
 mountains) was entirely depopulated. All the villagers here- 
 abouts had emigrated chiefly into Berar, Candeish, and the 
 Deckan, and some had become servants and camp-followers 
 to the British army, till, within the last three or four years, 
 they returned each man to his inheritance on hearing that 
 they might do so in safety. Several instances of this kind, 
 and of the inviolable respect paid in this part of India to the 
 rights of the poorest freeholders thus returning, are mention- 
 ed by Sir John Malcolm. 
 
 We walked in the evening about the village, the situation 
 of which is beautiful; its inhabitants consist of Bheels and low 
 caste Rajpoots, who have a still for arrack, at which several 
 of the encampment, unfortunately, drank but too freely. On 
 the hill above were some noble mhowah trees, and under their 
 shade some scattered Bheel huts, neater and better than any 
 which I had seen. Each was built of bamboos wattled so as 
 to resemble a basket; they had roofs with very projecting 
 eaves, thatched with grass and very neatly lined with the 
 large leaves of the teak-tree. The upper part of each gable 
 end was open for the smoke to pass out. The door was wat- 
 tled and fastened with a bamboo plait and hinges, exactly 
 like the lid of a basket, and the building was enclosed with 
 a fence of tall bamboo poles, stuck about an inch apart, con- 
 nected with cross pieces of the same, and with several plants 
 of the everlasting-pea trailed over it. Within this fence was 
 a small stage elevated on four poles about seven feet from the 
 ground, and covered with a low thatched roof. My people 
 said this was to sleep upon as a security from wild beasts. 
 
78 POLICE OF MALWAH. 
 
 but I have no idea they could be in any danger from them with- 
 in a bamboo fence and in a house of the same material, since 
 it is well known that the tyger, from apprehension of snares, 
 will hardly ever come near this sort of enclosure. It might 
 be used as a sleeping place for the sake of coolness or dry- 
 ness, but as each of these houses seemed to stand in the cen- 
 tre of its own little patch of Indian corn, I should rather ap- 
 prehend it was intended as a post to watch it from. 
 
 One of the Allahabad bearers who had been drunk at Bans- 
 warra on Sunday evening had not yet joined us, and his com- 
 panions expressed considerable uneasiness about him. They 
 did not apprehend that he had as yet come to any harm, but 
 he was, they said, pennyless, and without his clothes in a 
 strange and far distant country. They thought he was proba- 
 bly deterred from following us either by fear of my displea- 
 sure, or by a dread of passing the woods alone, and begged 
 me to make use of my '' great name" to procure, as the best 
 thing which could befal him, his being seized by the police, 
 and brought to me as a prisoner. This was precisely what I 
 thought of doing, so that I was not sorry to close with their 
 intreaties, as, in fact, his absence was by no means convenient 
 to me. I sent, therefore, a description of the man to the cut" 
 wal of Banswarra by four of the police sepoys, who are sta- 
 tioned at different thannas for the protection of the road, and 
 who nearly resemble the sword and shield-men whom we see 
 round Calcutta, except that the police of Malwah have also 
 matchlocks. These men had, at first, frequent affairs with 
 the Bheels, and it was often necessary to call in the aid of re- 
 gular troops. At Cheeta Talao, which is the frontier post of 
 Guzerat, four years ago, a sharp engagement took place be- 
 tween 50 horse and 100 infantry under the orders of Mr. 
 Wellesley, and a large body of Bheels, in which seven horses 
 and five men were killed by arrow-shots. At present matters 
 go on smoothly in this neighbourhood, but last year Captain 
 Cobbe had a long and bloody campaign in the mountains south 
 of Oodeypoor, in which many lives were lost on both sides, 
 but which ended in the miserable Bheels having their fields 
 wasted, their villages burnt, and so many of their people de- 
 stroyed by famine that they were supposed to be completely 
 tamed. Captain Cobbe sent, therefore, a Chobdar with offers 
 of mercy; but so desperate had these wretched tribes become, 
 and so bitter was their hatred of their persecutors, that they 
 cut oft' the messenger's head, and fixed it on a bamboo, where 
 the advancing party found it the next morning, the perpetra- 
 tors of the deed having fled still further into the hills, where 
 it was next to impossible for the lowland troops to pursue 
 them. Since then it is said that Captain Cobbe has succeeded 
 
THE RIVER ANASS CHEETA TALAO. 79 
 
 in engaging one tribe of Bheels to fight against their country- 
 men, but the result of this measure I have not heard, nor can 
 I help thinking that a conciliatory policy has not yet been suf- 
 ficiently tried, and that it is likely to answer better with these 
 poor savages than mere severity. 
 
 March 9. — A march of fourteen miles through a thick fo- 
 rest, only interrupted by a few patches of corn round a Bheel 
 hamlet, with a thanna, named Doonga, about half-way, brought 
 us to the rocky and beautiful banks of the river Anass, the 
 bed of which is as broad as the Dee at Bangor, but which was 
 now standing in pools, with every prospect of being quite dry 
 before the present hot season is over. We here left Malwah 
 and entered Guzerat. On the Guzerat side of the river is a 
 police thanna of two thatched huts, with an elevated stage for 
 a sentry, and. the whole surmounted by a high fence of bamboo 
 poles, after the manner of the Bheels. A little to the north 
 of this, and near the confluence of the Anass and another con- 
 siderable torrent named the Mhysree, our tents were pitched 
 in a situation which only wanted more water to make it the 
 loveliest, as it was the wildest and most romantic, which I 
 had seen since I left Kemaoon. The spot of our encampment 
 was considerably elevated, and presented a small irregular 
 lawn dotted with noble trees of the peepul, mhowah, and toon 
 species: beneath us, on two sides, was a rocky bank with 
 brushwood, below this the two rivers, now, alas! hardly de- 
 serving the name, but, with their rocky and uneven beds, in- 
 tersecting and bordering the clear black pools which yet re- 
 mained in deeper and more shady spots j and, beyond them, 
 hills, rocky and covered with wood, an apparently trackless 
 and boundless wilderness so far as the eye could follow it. In 
 seasons less thirsty than the present this would have been a 
 delightful spot. As it is we were fortunate in not being a week 
 later, since, on asking about our farther route, I found that it 
 was necessary to alter our destined halting-places in many in- 
 stances from absolute want of water, and six or seven days 
 later a caravan like ours would have been reduced to great 
 tlistress, and probably obliged either to make marches which 
 would have materially harassed the cattle, or to return by the 
 way it came, at the risk of losing them all. 
 
 "Cheeta Talao," the name of this place, means Leopard's 
 rock, but we neither saw nor heard of any ferocious animal. 
 Animals of all kinds, indeed, seem strangely scarce in these 
 woods. Had there been many tygers we must, in all proba- 
 bility, have seen them or heard their growls, travelling so 
 much as we have done before day -break, and pitching the tents 
 in such wild and woody places. Nor liave we seen any deer, or 
 game of any description. The tyger, it is well known, re- 
 
 7* 
 
80 CHEETA TALAO* 
 
 quires a great deal of water, and is generally found in Its 
 neighbourhood; but the pools and cool reeds which yet remain 
 in the Anass are sufiicient, I should have supposed, to answer 
 his wants. I am led therefore to suppose that the deer and 
 other game have left the hills on account of the scarcity of 
 forage, and that the tygers and leopards have followed them 
 to the plains. Yet the cattle of the Bheels which we have fal- 
 len in with, though lean, as all the Indian cattle are at this 
 time of year, do not seem famished. 
 
 A few Bheel huts were seen scattered over the surrounding 
 hills in conformity with the practice which seems universal 
 with these people, of fixing their habitations on a rising ground. 
 A good many of their inhabitants assembled on one of the hills 
 to look at the camp, but none came near it; and though Dr. 
 Smith and I, during our evening's walk, fell in with three or 
 four, they all made otF as fast as they could, except one young 
 man, who was, I apprehend, in the service of the police than- 
 nadar, and whom we found with his bow and arrows, watch- 
 ing a small patch of barley, the only cultivation which we saw. 
 Our own supplies were brought partly from Doongra, partly 
 from Jhalloda, distances of six and ten miles, and the horses 
 got no gram till nearly nine o'clock at night. 
 
 Soon after I went to bed an alarm was given by one of the 
 sentries, in consequence of a baboon drawing near his post. 
 The character of the intruder was, however, soon detected by 
 one of the suwarrs, who on the sepoy's repeating his exclama- 
 tion of the broken English, ''who goes 'ere?" said with a 
 laugh, " why do you challenge the lungoor.^ he cannot answer 
 you!" These animals are, some of them, as large as a mo- 
 derate pointer, and when creeping through the bushes might 
 well enough be mistaken for a Bheel, especially as the robbers 
 of this nation generally make their approaches on their hands 
 and feet. 
 
 March 10. — From Cheeta Talao I had intended to go to 
 Leemree, a distance, stated by Captain Macdonald, to be six- 
 teen miles. But on learning that it was customary to stop at 
 Jhalloda, and that it was a large place, I determined on halt- 
 ing there, and the rather since I was told that we could not 
 get to a better place of halting on Saturday than Doodeah. In 
 all this I was misinformed as the event showed, but I had not 
 now first to learn that in countries of this sort, one must often 
 learn one's way by actual experience. From Cheeta Talao 
 our road lay through a deep and close forest, in the lower parts 
 of which, even in the present season, the same thick milky 
 vapour was hovering as that which I saw in the Terrai, and 
 which is called ** essence of owl." We passed one or two 
 places of this kind both yesterday and to-day, than which no 
 
JHAILODA. 81 
 
 litter spots could be conceived, at a proper time of year, to 
 shelter a tyger, or communicate a jungle-fever. Even now 
 they were chilling cold, and the gloom and closeness of the 
 ravines, seen in the moonlight, made them dismally wild and 
 awful. At the end of about nine miles, we crossed the bed of 
 the Mhysree, and went past a thanna named Moorkhousla, 
 and through a country partially cultivated, another mile to 
 Jhalloda. We passed, both yesterday and this morning, ca- 
 ravans of wagons loaded with cocoa-nuts, proceeding from 
 Barado to Malwah, and the northern provinces. They were 
 to bring back mhowa and corn, so that it appears that the pre- 
 sent high prices in Guzerat have actually made it worth 
 while to encounter the heavy transit duties. 
 
 We found also at Jhalloda, a Charun, a very fine athletic- 
 looking man, and apparently a person of some property, who 
 had been on a speculation of the same kind to Indore, whither 
 he had taken a number of horses, and was now returning with 
 about forty bullocks laden with grain, to his own country of 
 Catty warr. When we arrived at Jhalloda, we found him just 
 leaving the ground, where he had bivouacked for the night 
 with his cattle round him, putting on his huge red turban, 
 girding his loins, and hanging on his sword and shield. A ser- 
 vant stood by him with his matchlock, and a saees held his 
 poney, while four or live other retainers, with matchlocks on 
 their shoulders, were beginning to drive oft' the bullocks. 
 Many of the more opulent Charuns practise the trade of horse- 
 dealing, being very much protected in their journies, against 
 every body but Bheels, by the supposed sanctity of their cha- 
 racter. The Cattywarr horses are among the best in all India, 
 equal to those of Cutch in beauty, and much superior in the 
 generosity of their blood, and fineness of their temper, in 
 which they almost equal the Arabs. Some of them are dun, 
 with black tyger-like stripes, and these are the most valued. 
 
 Jhalloda had been described to me as a city, a name which 
 it little deserves. It has a bazar, however, a mosque, a small 
 pagoda, and some good, solidly built brick houses, of a kind 
 such as are not usually seen in the eastern districts of India, 
 being of two stories high, with sloping tiled roofs, and very 
 projecting eaves, which, from the smallness of their windows 
 and other circumstances, put me a good deal in mind of our 
 Shropshire malt-kilns. There is a large and handsome tank, 
 not more than half full of water, but covered with multitudes 
 of teal, the banks of which are shaded by some fine mangoe 
 and ceiba-trees. The crimson blossoms of the last were very 
 beautiful, and both they and the mangoes were full of mon- 
 keys, chiefly of the lungoor kind. 
 
 1 learned to my surprise, that Jhalloda, Godra, and three 
 
82 JHALLODA. 
 
 other small towns in this neighbourhood, with their dependant 
 hamlets and districts, belong to Sindia, who is also feudal su- 
 perior of the Raja of Lunewarra. I was not previously aware 
 that he retained any influence in Guzerat. His own territo- 
 ries here are called the district of Punjmahal, and had been 
 till lately held in Jaghire by one of his relations who oppres- 
 sed the people grievously, but had been just disgraced, as is 
 said, by British influence, and after some ineffectual resistance, 
 seized and carried to Gwalior. The Maharaja's flag striped 
 red and white, is hoisted in the market-place, but the police 
 of the neighbourhood, so far at least as the security of the road 
 is concerned, appears to be vested in a moonshee of Captain 
 Macdonald's, who came to pay his respects, and gave me this 
 information. Grain here as we found from the bunyans who 
 supplied the camp, was 15 seers the rupee, and they said that 
 we should find it dearer as we went on. They spoke of the 
 crop now in the ground as never likely to come up, and said, 
 which certainly agreed with our own observation, that the 
 wheat and barley harvest, which was now beginning, would 
 be dismally scanty. 
 
 A number of Bheels, men and women, came to the camp 
 with bamboos in their hands, and the women with their clothes 
 so scanty and tucked so high as to leave the whole limb nearly 
 bare. They had a drum, a horn, and some other rude min- 
 strelsy, and said they were come to celebrate the Hoolee. 
 They drew up in two parties and had a mock fight, in which 
 at first the females had much the advantage, having very slen- 
 der poles, while the men had only short cudgels, with which 
 they had some difficulty in guarding their heads. At last 
 some of the women began to strike a little too hard, on which 
 their antagonists lost temper and closed with them so fiercely 
 that the poor females were put to the rout in real or pretended 
 terror. They collected a little money in the camp, and then 
 went on to another village. The Hoolee, according to the ortho- 
 dox system, was over, but these games are often prolonged for 
 several days after its conclusion. 
 
 In the evening I was alarmed by violent shrieks from the 
 wife of one of the mohouts and her sister; the husband had 
 been beating them with a large stick, and both were all bloody. 
 I found on examination, that the man had several serious 
 grounds of complaint against them, but I admonished him se- 
 verely for correcting them in such a manner, and threatened 
 him with imprisonment at Baroda if such an offence occurred 
 again. One of the women pretended to be very much hurt in- 
 deed, but she soon grew tired of shamming the insensible, and 
 began to scold and scream away, declaring that she would 
 never enter her husband's house again, a determination from 
 
LEEMREE. 83 
 
 which I had very little doubt she would relent as soon as her 
 passion cooled, and the rather because in this strange land she 
 had neither home nor harbour. 
 
 March 11. — The distance from Jhalloda to Leemree, our 
 stage for tliis day, was little more than six miles, and had I 
 been fully aware of all circumstances, might easily have been 
 included in the yesterday's march. It lies through a wild 
 country, though the jungle is not so close as that which we had 
 lately traversed. One of the suwarr's horses dropt down and 
 died on the road, to the great dismay of the poor rider, who 
 stated that his horse was his chief worldly wealth, and that the 
 allowance made by a sort of regimental fund establishment for 
 such emergencies would not buy him another. If he had lost 
 it in battle, the Company would have given him 200 rupees, 
 but at present he would receive only 150 from a stock-purse 
 which all the irregular regiments keep up to meet casualties. 
 Nor had he any means of procuring, at present, an animal to 
 carry him in his long march. I felt, therefore, glad to be able 
 to give him the Rawul of Banswarra's poney, which, though 
 not tall enough for the ranks, would carry him perfectly well 
 during his march, and the sale of which would afterwards come 
 very handsomely in aid of his new purchase. 
 
 Leemree, or Neemree, for it seems to be pronounced both 
 ways, is a good sized village on the bank of the winding 
 Mhysree, which we here crossed a second timej the water still 
 formed many deep pools in parts of its rocky bed, in which were 
 a good many fish. It was however, as a countryman on the 
 bank assured me, too putrid to be drinkable, and the camp 
 was supplied from some small wells near the town. We over- 
 took some Brinjarrees in this morning's march, carrying corn 
 from the neighbourhood of Indore to Baroda. Soon after we 
 arrived at our ground, a poor woman came to Dr. Smith, and 
 complained that she had been robbed of all her property and 
 beaten by the Bheels near the pass of Doodeah, which lies about 
 half way in the stage which we were to go next morning. She 
 added that, on her remonstrating, the plunderers threatened 
 to take away her two children. A complaint nearly similar 
 was brought to me in my evening's walk by an elderly man, 
 the Potail of the village, who said that he and some other peo- 
 ple had had their wains stopped and plundered and their oxen 
 carried away, and on being reminded that they should have re- 
 course to the officers of the Maharaja, whose subjects they were, 
 replied with some justice, ''Why do you English keep a line of 
 posts through our country, unless you will defend us in passing 
 along the road?" I told tliem to send one of their number with 
 me to Barreeah, where a moonshee of the British Government 
 resides, from whom I would endeavour to obtain justice for 
 
84 REAPING. 
 
 them. Dr. Smith had applicants for surgical aid both yester- 
 day and to-day; the first was a very fine boy, who was brought 
 by his parents with a dislocated shoulder, which had occurred 
 SIX weeks ago. The second was also a boy, who had lost his 
 sight in the small-pox, a case but too plainly hopeless. The 
 poor child seemed very intelligent, but knowing nothing of the 
 blessings of sight, seemed glad when he found that no opera- 
 tion was to be performed on him, but his father shed tears on 
 learning that Dr. Smith could not help him. 
 
 Notwithstanding the scarcity of water which has prevailed 
 here, forage does not seem scarce, and the cattle whom we 
 met in carts, are by no means in a starving condition ; they 
 are not equal to those of Marwar, but they greatly surpass 
 the wretched bullocks of Bengal, and are superior even to the 
 average of Hindostan. — Leemree has a small ruined brick fort 
 and a little bazar, but nothing worthy of notice. For a small 
 distance round the village the ground is cultivated, but all the 
 further prospect is wilderness still. Near our tents many 
 people, both men and women, were employed in cutting a 
 barley -field. They reaped it with very small sickles, gather- 
 ing it not by armsful as in England, but by handsful, cutting 
 each time no more than they could grasp in the left hand ; 
 the crop was very thin and poor, with starveling ears, and 
 wretchedly short straw. I observed that here, as in Europe, 
 gleaning is a privilege of the poor, and that a number of 
 miserable looking women and children followed the reapers, 
 picking Hp what they left I was much grieved to see so sad 
 a prospect for the ensuing year, and even now it is painful to 
 look forwards to the distress to which most of these villages 
 must be liable from the total drying up of their rivers and 
 wells before the first rains can be expected. 
 
 March 12. — We marched between sixteen and seventeen 
 miles through a very wild and beautiful country, and down a 
 long, steep, and rugged descent, carried along the projecting 
 ridge of a hill, with glens on each side. From the top of this 
 Ghat I had expected a fine view of the rich and cultivated 
 country, as it had been described to me, of Guzerat, but was 
 surprised to see a fine prospect indeed, but still of wooded hill 
 and valley, and so far as the eye could reach, no trace of hu- 
 man habitation, except one miserable thatched shed close to 
 us, where a picquet of police sepoys was stationed. As we 
 descended the hill, however, Bheel huts were seen scattered 
 among the trees, and we successively passed a thatched than- 
 nah surrounded with a bamboo fence, a small village chiefly 
 of Bheels, called Doodeah, and after crossing a little river, 
 or rather the dry bed of one, arrived in a beautiful glade sur- 
 
 
JOURNEY TO JERREAS. 85 
 
 rounded with tall trees, in which our tents were pitched, near 
 a part of the river which yet had water. 
 
 In consequence of the alleged misbehaviour of the Bheels in 
 this neighbourhood, I had directed some additional precau- 
 tions to be observed in keeping the caravan together, and the 
 soldiers in readiness for action. We met with no thieves, 
 however, nor was it likely that they v/ould come in the way of 
 such a party. Indeed we found the Brinjarrees travelling the 
 road without any additional precaution ; they, however, are 
 all armed, and such stout fellows that the thieves must be 
 numerous and bold who would have any thing to say to them. 
 The wagoners, likewise, of whom we met another large party, 
 can travel through very wild countries in much security 5 they 
 go in numbers, have mostly swords and shields, and often 
 join their purses to hire an escort of Bheels, who, when trust- 
 ed, are generally both brave and trustworthy. By day we 
 frequently met them proceeding with an advanced and rear 
 guard of these naked bow-men, and at night they dravv^ their 
 wagons into a circle, placing their cattle in the centre, and 
 connecting each ox to his yoke-fellow, and at length to the 
 wain, by iron collars rivetted round their necks, and fastened 
 to an iron chain, which last is locked to the cart-wheel. It is 
 thus extremely difficult to plunder without awaking them ; 
 and in addition to this, where the place is supposed to require 
 it, one of their number stands sentry. Besides cocoa-nuts, we 
 found they were carrying tobacco northwards. 
 
 March 13. — This day"" being Sunday, I was happy to be 
 able to halt, an order which I believe was very acceptable to 
 all the men and animals in the camp, who after our late stony 
 roads, were alike showing symptoms of fatigue. I read pray- 
 ers as usual in the morning, and in consideration of the great- 
 ly advanced price of provisions, which was now a rupee for 
 14 seers of flour, I paid the bunyans for furnishing a seer of 
 flour, or day's meal, to every person in the camp. In the 
 course of the afternoon I had the happiness to receive a packet 
 of letters, forwarded by Mr. Williams, resident at the court 
 of Baroda, containing a favourable account of my wife and 
 children, and letters from my mother and sister. I dreamt 
 of Hodnet all night ! 
 
 March 14. — We were met, almost immediately on our set- 
 ting out this morning, by two suwarrs in the service of the 
 Raja of Barreah, who came to act as guides. We followed 
 them among some romantic woody hills, and through some of 
 the thickest jungle which we have traversed, to a small plain, 
 or more open spot, with a thannah and village, named J erreali, 
 ten miles from Barreah. This is the usual halting-place, but 
 the wells are now insuflicient for so largQ a party as mine, and 
 
86 MAHARATTA ESCORT. 
 
 I therefore had settled to go onto the city, which is five miles 
 further, and not more than two or three out of the direct road. 
 In our way we were met by Captain Macdonald's moonshee, 
 in charge of this part of the road, a mussulman, and native of 
 Allahabad, accompanied by a crowd of very shabby horsemen, 
 among whom he presented one to me as the Khamdar of the 
 Raja of Barreah, and sent on his master's part to meet me. 
 The moonshee was well-mounted and gaily dressed, with 
 sword, dagger, shawl, inlaid trappings, and all the usual in- 
 signia of a Mahomedan gentleman. All the rest, the Khamdar 
 among them, were wrapped up in coarse cotton cloth, on sorry 
 horses, and had, with their long spears, buflalo-hide shields, 
 and bare legs and heels, pretty exactly the appearance of the 
 Abyssinian troops described by Bruce. Several men, naked 
 all but the waistcloth, followed, with matchlocks on their 
 shoulders, and the procession was closed by a number of Bheel 
 archers, differing in no respect from those whom we had seen 
 on the mountains. The only mark of state, and this is Abys- 
 sinian also, was that the ••'nagari,"or great kettle-drum, was 
 carried at their head, and beat with single dubs, from time to 
 time. Here the Rajpoot red turban loses its consequence, the 
 reigning family of Baroda being Maharattas, to which race, 
 apparently, the horsemen whom we met to-day belonged. 
 This will, in a great measure, account for their shabby ap- 
 pearance, the Maharatta pretty generally affecting a soldier- 
 ly plainness, and to despise all show and parade. This, how- 
 ever, is not the only instance in which a neglect of appear- 
 ances seems to exist in Guzerat. The hurkaru who brought 
 Mr. Williams' letter was a mere beggar in his dress, and so 
 dirty as even beggars are seldom seen in Hindostan or Ben- 
 gal. Yet on being asked what situation he held about the Re- 
 sidency, he described himself as a servant in regular pay, and 
 receiving no less than eight rupees a month ! On such wages, 
 and in such a situation, it would go hard indeed with a Hin- 
 doostanee but he would have decent clothing, shoes, a sword 
 with silver or plated hilt, and an embroidered belt. The old 
 man, however, for such he was, was cheerful and intelligent 
 He had brought the letter on foot from Baroda, in two days 
 and a night, — professed to know the straightest roads all over 
 Guzerat, and as the value of his rags did not exceed many 
 pice, and nobody could suspect him of being a government 
 functionary, he was probably one of the best messengers who 
 could be employed in a country so wild, and in so much anar- 
 chy, as this has usually been. 
 
 Barreah stands very prettily in the midst of woody hills. 
 Among the few fruit-trees which are immediately about its 
 gates, I saw some coco-palms, the first which I had seen since 
 
RAJA OP BARREAH. 87 
 
 I left Bengal, and a proof that we were again approaching 
 the sea. 
 
 The Raja, a child of twelve years old, with a cousin a lit- 
 tle older, the Khamdar mentioned before, and a number of 
 ragged attendants, came to see me in the evening. He was 
 carried in a handsome palankeen, had the nigari and neshan 
 of state carried before him, and was himself a pretty little 
 boy, with an intelligent countenance, and neatly dressed, 
 with sword, shield, and dagger, suited to his age, and a large 
 red turban. His name is Prit'hee Lall Singh, and he is a 
 Rajpoot, though those with him were Maharattas or B heels, 
 and he appeared to have few of his own caste either in his 
 court or territory, both which showed marks of much poverty. 
 I received him with military honours, seated him on a chair 
 at my right hand, and placed his cousin on anotJier at my 
 left. These attentions were more intended to please the boy's 
 followers than himself, and as a proper means of keeping up 
 his consequence in their estimation. But though I suppose 
 he was hardly old enough to care about forms, I was amused 
 to see how much the novelty of the sight delighted him, par- 
 ticularly the red coats and muskets of the sepoys, who are 
 rarities in these secluded valleys. He listened, too, with 
 much more interest and animation than is generally displayed 
 by the upper ranks of Hindoos in conversation, to the account 
 wliich Dr. Smith gave him of the cities which I had visited, 
 and of my intended long voyage by sea, and by the way of 
 Lanca to Calcutta. The sea is called by all the natives of 
 Central India '' kala panee," (black water,) and they have 
 the most terrible ideas of it and the countries beyond it. Sir 
 John Malcolm relates, in his account of Malwah, that when 
 Cheetoo, the Pindarree chief, was flying in hopeless misery 
 from the English, he was often advised by his followers to 
 surrender to their mercy. He was possessed, however, by 
 the idea that he should be transported, and this notion was to 
 liim more hideous than death. These men, who all one after 
 another came in and obtained pardon, said that during their 
 Captain's short and miserable sleep, he used continually to 
 murmur, "kalapanee!" '*kala panee!" Thus haunted, he 
 never would yield, till at length all his people, one by one, 
 had forsaken him in the jungle, and a mangled body was 
 found in a tyger's lair, which the sword, the ornamented sad- 
 dle, and a letter-case containing some important papers and 
 a general's commission from the Ex-Raja of Nagpoor, proved 
 to have been once the scourge of Central India! A nearly 
 similar case Dr. Smith said had fallen under his own know- 
 ledge, of a Bheel chief, who, for murder and robbery, was 
 sent to be confined at Allahabad. *He was very anxious 
 
 Vol. II.— 8 
 
OO RAJA OF BARREAH. 
 
 during the march to obtain spirituous liquors, which the offi- 
 cer commanding the escort, out of compassion, frequently 
 supplied him with. When, however, he was drunk, he would 
 never be pacified with the assurance that he was only to be 
 confined at Allahabad, and used to cry and rave about *' kala 
 panee," invoking ** Company Sahib" to be merciful, and kill 
 him, that he might be burned in Hindostan. With such 
 feelings, they may well listen with astonishment to the long 
 voyages which we voluntarily take, and of the strange lands 
 which must lie beyond this frightful barrier. 
 
 The Khamdar told us that Barreah had suffered grievously 
 during the years of trouble; but that their late Raja was a va- 
 liant man, and his little country being strong and easily de- 
 fended, he had never paid tribute either to Maharaja or Pin- 
 darree, unless actually constrained by force, and had always 
 revolted again as soon as the pressure of a present and victo- 
 rious army was withdrawn. The Khamdar's own name, he 
 said, was Nuttoo Baee. — After sitting some little time, an 
 event, of which I had been from the first apprehensive, oc- 
 curred, and I was told by the Khamdar that the Raja had 
 brought a horse, of which he begged my acceptance. I 
 fought it off as long as I could, urging, with great truth, that 
 it would really put me to difficulty, that I could not take it 
 on ship-board, and did not know what I should do with it. 
 The people present, all said it was " namoobaruk, " (un- 
 lucky,) to send me away without a present, and at last the 
 little Raja rose, and joining his hands, said, " Lord Sahib, 
 for my sake take this horse." I was therefore obliged to 
 yield, and was glad to believe that the present I had prepared 
 for him, while I could very well spare it, was handsome, and 
 likely to be useful to him. It consisted of three pieces of 
 English flowered muslin, and a gilt dagger in a red and yel- 
 low velvet sheath, which I stuck in the little fellow's sash, 
 and which appeared to please him greatly. The horse was 
 now brought, and turned out to be really a very pretty Cutch 
 poney, old certainly, and in bad condition, but still equal to 
 some service. 
 
 The Raja now took his leave, and went off with his cousin 
 in the palankeen. The Khamdar, and another man who said 
 he was a shroff, or banker, remained, and took some pains to 
 explain a transaction in which they had been concerned, in 
 regard to certain arrears of the tribute paid by them to the 
 British government. The late Khamdar, now in prison, had 
 detained, they said, for two years back, the balance which he 
 ought to have remitted to Mr. Macdonald, having been en- 
 couraged to do so by a report that the Raja of the Burmans 
 had already taken Calcutta. The sliroff then present had de- 
 
FAMINE IN BARREAH. 89 
 
 tained some part of his effects, but had applied them, if I un- 
 derstood right, to the payment of a debt to himself. He had, 
 liowever, no share in the treasonable or fraudulent part of the 
 transaction. I said that I would speak favourably of them in 
 my letter to Captain Macdonald; and his moonshee after- 
 wards told me, that Captain Macdonald thought highly of 
 this present Khamdar, and had treated him with marked kind- 
 ness and confidence. Both Khamdar and shroff' gave a dismal 
 account of the distress of Barreah, and the neighbouring 
 countries. In the small and barren territory of tlie Raja, 
 containing about 270 villages, a very large proportion were 
 almost without inhabitants; and in the course of our after- 
 noon's walk through the little town, I for the first time, saw 
 some of the horrors of an Indian famine. The town had been, 
 to all appearance, neat and substantially built, but a great 
 many houses were uninhabited, and falling to decay. The 
 cattle which they were driving in from the jungle for the 
 night were mere skeletons, and so weak that they could hard- 
 ly get out of the path. There were few beggars, for it seem- 
 ed as if they had either died off" or gone to some other land; 
 but all the people, even the bunyans, who generally look well 
 fed, were pictures of squalid hunger and wretchedness; and 
 the beggars who happened to fall in my way, alas! I shall 
 never forget them! for I never before could have conceived 
 life to linger in such skeletons. To one of these, an elderly 
 man, naked, except a little rag fastened with a packthread 
 round his waist, 1 gave all the pice I could collect from my 
 own pocket or the servants who were with me; and after all, 
 they, I am sorry to say, amounted to only two or three anas. 
 The man clasped them in- his hands, burst into a ghastly 
 laugh, and ran oft* as if in a hurry to buy food immediately. 
 A little further was a still more dreadful figure, a Bheel, who 
 did not beg, but was in a state of such visible starvation, that 
 I called to him, and bid him go to the.khansaman for some- 
 thing to eat. I followed him to my tents, and found that he 
 had already had some scraps given him by the sweeper. I 
 added to these a shoulder of mutton and a seer of flour, as 
 well as, I am ashamed to say how little money, all of which 
 tlie poor wretch tiied to fold in the rag which he took from 
 his loins. He seemed quite past every thing, and even indif- 
 ferent to what I was doing for him. Some famishing children 
 now came up, a poor man who said he was a butcher, but had 
 no employ, and a black, who described himself as a Mussul- 
 man Fakir, and a native of Masuah in Abyssinia. I gave a 
 few anas to each, reproaching myself all the time for giving 
 80 little, but apprehending that I should shortly have half the 
 population round me, and that if I gave what I felt inclined 
 
90 OKIGIN OF THE NAME GOOLEE. 
 
 to do, I should not leave myself enough for my own expenses 
 to Baroda, as well as for the many similar objects of distress 
 which I might see by the way. 
 
 The misery of this immediate neighbourhood has been ma- 
 terially augmented by superstition. The calamity is want of 
 water, yet there is a fine boolee close to the city, which, even 
 now, is nearly full, but of which no use is made. A man fell 
 into it and was drowned, two years ago, and the people not 
 only desisted from drinking the water themselves, (which for 
 a certain time was not unnatural,) but from giving it their 
 cattle, or irrigating their ground, from it. For want of being 
 stirred it is now, of course, putrid and offensive, but would 
 soon recover if drawn off liberally for the fields, and become 
 again useful both for beast and man. But they would starve, 
 and in fact were starving, rather than incur this fancied pol- 
 lution. The agricultural implements, and every thing else 
 in this country, seem behind those of their Hindoostanee 
 neighbours. The carts and ploughs are ruder and worse con- 
 structed, and their wells have not even the simple machinery, 
 if it deserves the name, for raising the water, which I never 
 saw one without in Upper India, and which is always found 
 in the wildest parts of Malwah, and the valley of the Ner- 
 budda. We were as yet, however, in the jungles, and it 
 would not have been fair to judge of Guzerat in general from 
 the specimen which we now had seen. 
 
 March 16. — From Barreah we went to Damma Ka Boolee^ 
 a cistern in the jungles, constructed by a person named Dam- 
 ma Jee, whose name it bears, by which is a small police 
 thanna. About five miles further we crossed the dry and 
 rocky bed of a river Mhysree, (the second of the name,) on 
 whose banks our tents were pitched, in a romantic situation, 
 near a scattered village. Immediately adjoining the houses, 
 and in some parts of the bed of the river, were marks of a 
 crop having been recently reaped, from fields or rather small 
 gardens, with high bamboo fences. This was almost the only 
 approach to cultivation which we had seen since we entered 
 the territories of Barreah, whose young sovereign, poor little 
 fellow, w^ould indeed have a " noble grist" if mowah-trees 
 were mangoes, and jungle-grass corn. 
 
 The head man of the village said he was a Kholee, the 
 name of a degenerate race of Rajpoots in Guzerat, who, from 
 the low occupations in which they are generally employed, 
 have, (under the corrupt name of Coolee) given a name, pro- 
 bably through the medium of the Portuguese, to bearers of 
 burthens all over India. In Guzerat, they are described in 
 Hamilton's Gazetteer as distinguished by their uncleanness, 
 ferocity and predatory habits, and as giving a great deal of trou- 
 
MULLAOW. 91 
 
 ble to government. This person, however, was of decent 
 manners and appearance. Our supplies of every kind were 
 brought with us from Barreah, so that we had no occasion to 
 give him any trouble, fire-wood being at hand under these dry 
 shrivelled trees for every body who chose to get it. To ob- 
 tain water in sufficient quantity for the camp, it was neces- 
 sary to dig three or four feet in the sand of the river's bed, 
 when water soon rose to the surface. The other inhabitants 
 of the village and neighbourhood were Bheels, but it gave me 
 pleasure to see that these lowland Bheels, (notwithstanding the 
 barrenness of the soil, and the actual distress of the country,) 
 were in seeming better plight than those we had met in the 
 hills, to say nothing of the wretched beggars of Barreah. 
 Their dwellings were larger, they had more ample mantles, 
 that is, the dirty cotton cloth which covered their head and 
 shoulders reached generally to their hips. Many of them had 
 swords and shields, others a small but neatly made hatchet, 
 and one man who was our guide through the wood to-day, and 
 had a blanket of red baize flung over his shoulders, as he 
 trotted along the rugged road before my horse's head, remind- 
 ed me exceedingly of the pictures of a North American Indian. 
 He was one of the servants of the police thanna, so that the 
 Company's pay had probably put him in better plight than 
 most of his neighbours. 
 
 Near this village was the finest banyan tree which I had 
 ever seen, literally a grove rising from a single primary stem, 
 whose massive secondary trunks, with their straightness, 
 orderly arrangement, and evident connexion with the parent 
 stock, give the general effect of a vast vegetable organ. The 
 first impression which I felt when coming under its shade 
 was, '' What a noble place of worship!" 1 was glad to find 
 that it had not been debased, as I expected to find it, by the 
 symbols of idolatry, though some rude earthen figures of ele- 
 phants were set up over a wicket leading to it, but at a little dis- 
 tance. I should exult in such a scene, to collect a Christian 
 congregation. The banks of the Mhysree are steep and rocky, 
 and the granite rock is seen ever^^ where through the country, 
 peeping out, or rising in large insulated masses, above the 
 scanty soil 
 
 March 16. — Another march of about eight miles through 
 jungle as usual, brought us to Aradiah, a poor deserted village, 
 whence through a more open country, we went four and a 
 half more to Mullaow. Both these places belong to Sindia, 
 and the latter has been a large village, but is now almost un- 
 peopled, by the tyranny of Sindia's governor, Puttun-kar, 
 and by this year of famine. We met a herd of eows on en- 
 
 8* 
 
92 FORT POWAGHITR. 
 
 tering the place, mere anatomies, and so weak that when one 
 of them fell in crossing the ruts of the road, she could not 
 rise again. The country is here adapted for rice cultivation, 
 the water for which, in more auspicious years, has been sup- 
 plied from a large artificial tank. This is not now quite dry, 
 but is so low beneath its banks, as to be inapplicable to irri- 
 gation, and the fields, when I saw them were perfectly waste 
 and bare, and their soil the colour and consistency of a sandy 
 turnpike road. Flour was dearer than even at Barreah, being 
 here only eleven seer for the rupee, and there was no gram to 
 be obtained, except the inferior sort, called '' motee," which 
 made two of the horses ill, though it is a common provender in 
 many parts of India. 
 
 I this day unexpectedly found the Raja's little horse very 
 useful, Cabul having unfortunately hurt himself by his endea- 
 vours, when picketted, to get away from an elephant which 
 broke loose and came too near him, and the suwarree elephant, 
 being by the abominable carelessness of the mohout, saddle- 
 galled. The Raja's horse had been described to me as very 
 wild and ill-tempered, but I found that his restiveness had 
 only arisen from the excessively severe bit with which the na- 
 tives ride, and in my bridle he went perfectly well. Like all 
 the horses used by men of rank in India, he would not trot, 
 but had an elastic springy amble, graceful in itself, and agree- 
 able to the rider, but ill calculated for a long stage, since it 
 must knock up the horse much sooner than the usual paces of 
 English travelling. 
 
 We had now apparently left the hills; there was still, how- 
 ever, one very fine insulated mass of rock on our left, with a 
 large fortress on the top, called Powaghur. It belongs to Sin- 
 dia, to whom also belongs the city of Champancer, at its base. 
 I here received letters again from Baroda, brought by two mi- 
 serably ragged and dirty men, who called themselves servants 
 of the Resident! They had not even the common brass lotee 
 for drinking, which few beggars are without in the eastern and 
 northern provinces, but merely a gourd-shell, and in'^iv,...! of 
 the spiked and painted stall" which there every common Dak- 
 messenger carries, had long ragged staves plucked out of some 
 hedge, while their rags were scarcely enough to answer the 
 purposes even of Indian decency. All the people, indeed, 
 whom we see, now that we are arrived in the plains, are in 
 appearance, cleanliness, clothes, and even stature, inferior to 
 those both of Hindostan and Bengal. The language differs 
 much less than I expected, but there are several Arabic words, 
 which no less than the Abyssinian beggar I met at Barreali, 
 remind me that I am drawing near a coast which has been long 
 
MULLAOW TO KUNJERREE. 93 
 
 and inseparably connected, by commerce and other ties, with 
 Arabia and Africa. I saw no coco-trees to-day, but the tara- 
 palms are numerous. 
 
 A great man, a relation of Sindia's, who was on a journey, 
 took up his quarters at Mullaow to-day. His coming was an- 
 nounced by the sound of the nagari, and by a trumpet, so ex- 
 actly resembling that which ushers in Mr. Punch, that I could 
 have thought that he had arrived in person. In the morning, 
 however, when my drum and fife beat the reveille, the band 
 of the Maharatta chieftain tried to imitate them, but with lit- 
 tle success. I did not learn his name, indeed I was very 
 closely occupied with some absurd tracasseries of which I hacl 
 just received accounts, which seem likely to give me a good 
 deal of trouble, respecting some of the good people of my dio- 
 cese in Southern India. It is enough to make one sad, if not 
 angry, to see how many bye-ends, how many personal rival- 
 ries, and how many mutual suspicions of ill intentions are al- 
 lowed to mix even in the noblest of all works, by men who 
 profess to be, and I believe mainly are, actuated by the same 
 motives. Now must 1 speak all these men fair, to prevent 
 their coming to an open schism, and very probably oftend them 
 all, because I cannot, and will not, go so far on either side as 
 its supporters wish me. 
 
 March 18. — From Mullaow to Kunjerree is a march of 
 twelve miles, the greater part still jungle, and the rest seems 
 desolate and abandoned by its cultivators. Yet the soil, in 
 better years, and when water is abundant, seems well calcu- 
 lated for rice; there are many groves of fruit-trees and tara- 
 palms, and a number of small streams, which properly and 
 substantially dammed up, as has been done in Rajpootana and 
 Meywar, might have in a great measure secured these dis- 
 tricts from the miseries of the present year. But every thing 
 seems to show that we are in one of the least improved, as it 
 has been, till very lately, one of the most anarchical and dis- 
 turbed parts of India. We passed a large number of Brin- 
 jarrees who were carrying salt into Malwah, and were to 
 bring back corn. They differed in some respects from their 
 more northern brethren. Most of these last have matchlocks, 
 but the Guzerattees had all bows, (of the Bheel construction, 
 but larger and stronger,) arrows, sword and shield, except one 
 man who had a sword and broad partizan or halbert. Even 
 the children had, many of tliem, bows and arrows suited to 
 their strength, and I saw one young woman equipped in the 
 same manner. The men were very scantily clothed, but fine 
 looking and powerful, though not tall fellows, and the females 
 were the largest and most masculine whom I have yet seen in 
 India. They a little resembled the ww^-women, not of Ar- 
 
94 BOWLUT RAOW. 
 
 racan, but of Shropshire and Staifordshire, in their firm step 
 and erect carriage, and though toasted by the sun to a tho- 
 rough brick-colour, and with much coarseness of feature, were 
 not so black as the Bengalees. Their dress was a roll of red 
 cloth, wrapped round their bodies like the natives of the South 
 Sea Islands, and a red mantilla, like a veil, which covered 
 their heads, shoulders, and breasts, and showed only the lower 
 part of their coarse sinewy arms, except when they raised 
 them to beat the cattle out of their way. They had all brace- 
 lets of red sealing wax, and massive anklets of white metal, 
 like silver^ they had also metal rings in their noses. 
 
 At Kunjeree, which is still in Sindia's limit, I found that 
 the Maharaja, in all this part of his territory, was seldom 
 called by his proper name, Dowlut Raow, but by the Arabic 
 and Mussulman appellation which, singularly enough for a 
 Hindoo, he has assumed within these few years, of " Ali Jah" 
 —-"Exalted of the Lord." The fort of Powaghur was the re- 
 sidence of the late governor, Puttun-kar, whose family are said 
 to be still living there. He himself is gone to Gwalior, but 
 whether actually as prisoner or not we heard different state- 
 ments; the country people said that he was, probably because 
 they hoped so. The brahmins, he also being a brahmin, de- 
 nied it. The present governor of the province, Gungadur Ap- 
 pajee, is residing at Godra. 
 
 We were overtaken this morning by the principal moonshee 
 of the residency, a shrewd Maharatta brahmin, accompanied 
 by two others aides-de-camp to the Guicwar, who had some 
 days been in quest of me with letters, having marched to meet 
 me via Godra, and thus gone as far as Doodeah before they 
 found their mistake. They had with them two of Mr. Wil- 
 liams's chobdars, and two of the Raja's with divers irregular 
 horse, a standard, nagari, and four regular cavalry. There 
 was a good deal of parade, but not equal in grave and orderly 
 magnificence to what I had seen in Hindostan. Still I found 
 that in Guzerat, as well as elsewhere in India, po " jj ^vas at- 
 tended to. I was agitated with delight, not unmixed with 
 painful anxiety, on hearing that my dear wife was probably 
 already at sea on her way to meet me, with one of my little 
 ones, having been compelled, alas! to leave the other in Cal- 
 cutta. 
 
 March 18. — From Kunjerree to Jerrdda is twelve miles, 
 through an open, and, in less unfavourable years, a well cul- 
 tivated country. Even now I saw some fields of flourishing 
 sugar-cane watered from wells, on examining which I foun^, 
 to my surprise, that the water was very near the surface, and 
 that had the people possessed more capital, for industry, I do 
 not suspect them of wanting, they might have, in a great de- 
 
 I 
 
MAHARATTA HORSE. 95 
 
 gree, defied the want of rain. We found Archdeacon Barnes' 
 tent here, and he himself arrived at breakfast time. I had 
 not seen him since he left Oxford, and found him less changed 
 by the lapse of seventeen years, ten of them spent in India, 
 than I expected. In other respects he is scarcely altered at 
 all, having the same cheerful spirits and unaffected manner 
 which he used to have when a young master of arts. From 
 him I learned that Mr. Williams and the Guicwar Raja both 
 meant to come out to meet me the next day, at some little 
 distance from Baroda. 
 
 I walked in the afternoon with him and Dr. Smith, to look 
 at the Maharatta horse, who had accompanied the Raja's 
 vakeel and Mr. Williams's dewan. They were fifty in num- 
 ber, the horses much better, both in size and spirit than those 
 usually ridden by the irregular cavalry of Hindostan, the men 
 inferior in height, good looks and dressy the arms and appoint- 
 ments of both pretty nearly the same; some had spears, most 
 had matchlocks, shields and swords. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 BARODA TO BOMBAY. 
 
 ENTRANCE INTO BARODA— NAMDAR KHAN CANTONMENT- 
 CHURCH — -CHARACTER OF THE GUICWAR CONSECRATION OF 
 
 THE CHURCH VISIT TO THE GUICWAR VISIT FROM NA- 
 TIVES GUICWAR RETURNS THE VISIT—DEPARTURE FROM 
 
 BARODA CROSSING THE MHYE KHOLEES SWAAMEE NA- 
 
 RAIN HOT WINDS INTERVIEW WITH SWAAMEE NARAIN 
 
 ARRIVAL AT KAIRAH INSALUBRITY OF CLIMATE JAIN TEM- 
 PLE DEPARTURE FROM KAIRAH DIFFICULTY IN CROSSING 
 
 THE MYHE BROACH BANIAN-TREE IN AN ISLAND ON THE 
 
 NERBUDDA SURAT EMBARKATION— ARRIVAL AT BOMBAY. 
 
 March 19. — From Jerrdda to Baroda is thirteen miles over 
 a bare and open country, the roads much cut up. Expecting 
 to meet ''great men" we made our march in regular order, 
 the nagari beating and Maharatta standard flying before us, 
 followed by my chobdars and a chobdar of the resident's, who 
 gave the word for marching in a sort of shrill cry. " Chulo 
 Maharatta!" Forward Maharattas! The vakeels and the 
 dewan followed with the chief part of my escort. After 
 marching about eight miles, we were met by a body of horse 
 
96 ENTRANCE INTO BARODA. 
 
 in Persian dresses, under a young officer splendidly mounted 
 on a dapple-gray Arab horse, with the most showy accoutre- 
 ments whicli I had seen in India, and a shield of rhinoceros- 
 hide as transparent as horn, and ornamented with four silver 
 bosses. He announced himself as sent by the Resident to 
 inquire after my health, and advanced in a very graceful 
 manner to embrace me. Foreseeing that I shoukl probably 
 have these sort of ceremonies, I had chosen for the day my 
 little Barreah horse, to whom my servants had given the name 
 of Rawul, who having received his breeding at a native court, 
 understood these ceremonies better, and endured them more 
 patiently than either Cabul or Nedjeed would have done. 
 After this ceremony, and a little more conversation with the 
 dewan, the young officer, who was evidently a dandy of the 
 first brilliancy in his own way, began to ride before me, show- 
 ing off his horse and horsemanship in all the usual manege of 
 the East, curvetting, wheeling, galloping forwards, and stop- 
 ping short. He did all this extremely well, but some of his 
 followers in imitating him were not so skilful or so fortunate, 
 and one of them got a pretty rude fall in crossing some of the 
 deep ruts with which the road was intersected. This gave 
 me a good excuse for desiring them to ride gently, a measure 
 desirable on more accounts than one, since the dust was al- 
 most intolerable. About a mile further, Mr. Williams met 
 us, with several other gentlemen, and an escort of regular 
 troopers, one of whom carried an union-jack before him, a 
 custom which is common, he told me in Guzerat and the 
 Deckan, though not practised, as far as I have seen, in other 
 parts of India. He told me that "his highness" had just left 
 his palace as he passed the gate of the town, and that we 
 should find him without the gates under some trees. We 
 therefore quickened our pace as much as was compatible with 
 the comfort of our attendants on foot, and with the movements 
 of the suwarree elephant, who was, I found, considered as an 
 essential part of the show, and was directed to follow me 
 closely, though with an empty howdah. On the spot desig- 
 nated we found a numerous body of cavalry, camels, whose 
 riders had each a large bundle of rockets, and infantry armed 
 with matchlocks and swords, of whom a large proportion w^re 
 Arabs. These troops made a long lane, at the end of which 
 were seen several elephants, on one of which, equipped with 
 more than u&ual splendour, I was told was the Maharaja. 
 The whole show greatly exceeded my expectations, and sur- 
 passed any thing of the kind which I had seen, particularly 
 as being all Asiatic, without any of the European mixture 
 visible in the ceremonies of the court of Lucknow. We here 
 dismounted and advanced up the lane on foot, when different 
 
BARODA, 97 
 
 successive parties of the principal persons of the city advanced 
 to meet us, beginning with a young man whom Mr. Williams 
 introduced to me as secretary to the Raja and son of the brah- 
 min Vakeel Shastree, whom the Peishwa, Bajee Rao, mur- 
 dered by the advice of Trimbukjee, and thence proceeding 
 through the different gradations of bankers and financial men, 
 military ofiicers, (of whom many were Patans,) according to 
 their rank. Vakeels of foreign states, ministers, ending with 
 the prime minister, (all of whom were brahmins,) the Raja's 
 brother-in-law, his nephew, a little boy of six years old, the 
 Raja's brother, the heir-apparent, a child also of about six, 
 and the Maharaja himself, a short stout-built young man, of 
 twenty-seven years old. The usual forms of introduction 
 and enquiries after health followed, and his highness, after 
 asking when I would come to see him, for which I fixed Mon- 
 day evening, remounted his elephant, and we proceeded dif- 
 ferent ways into the city, which is large and populous, with 
 tolerably wide streets and very high houses, at least for India, 
 chiefly built of wood, which I had not seen for a long time, 
 with tiled sloping roofs, and rows along the streets something 
 like those of Chester. The palace, which is a large shabby 
 building, close to the street, four stories high, with wooden 
 galleries projecting over each other, is quite a specimen of 
 this kind. There are some tolerable pagodas, but no other 
 building which can be admired. The streets are dirty, with 
 many swine running up and down, and no signs of wealth, 
 though, as I was told, there was a good deal of its reality, 
 both among the bankers and principal tradesmen. The Resi- 
 dency is a large ugly house without verandahs, and painted 
 blue, as stuccoed houses sometimes are in England. It was 
 at this time under repair, and Mr. Williams, with his sister, 
 were encamped in a grove of mangoes about a mile from the 
 city 5 our tents were pitched near his. In passing through the 
 city I saw two very fine hunting tigers in silver chains, and 
 a rhinoceros, (the present of Lord Amherst to the Guicwar,) 
 which is so tame as to be ridden by a mohout, quite as patiently 
 as an elephant. There were also some very striking groupes 
 of the native horsemen, who thronged the street like a fair; 
 one of them, a very tall and large man on a powerful horse, 
 was cased completely in chain armour, like the figure repre- 
 senting a crusader at the exhibition of ancient armour in Pail- 
 Mall. He had also a long spear shod with silver, a very large 
 shield of transparent rhinoceros-hide, also with silver-studs, 
 and was altogether a most showy and picturesque cavalier. 
 Many of the others had helmets, vant-braces, gauntlets, &c. 
 but none were so perfectly armed as he was. 
 
 During our ride Mr. Williams introduced to me more par- 
 
98 CANTONMENT AND CHURCH. 
 
 ticularly the officer with the splendid equipment, who came 
 to meet me, by the name Namdar Khan, a native of Persia, 
 and commander of tlie Residency escort. He had been aids- 
 de-camp to Sir John Malcolm during the Pindarree war, and 
 was a man of very distinguished and desperate bravery, though, 
 certainly the greatest coxcomb, as he was also one of the hand- 
 somest young men I ever saw. Nothing could exceed the 
 smartness of his embroidery, the spotless purity of his broad 
 belts, the art with which his eyelids were blackened with an- 
 timony, his short curling beard, whiskers, and single love-lock, 
 polished with rose-oil, or the more military and becoming po- 
 lish of his sword, pistols, and dagger; he held his bridle with 
 his right hand, having lost the other by the bursting of a gun. 
 He had, however, an artificial hand made in Baroda, which, 
 so far as show was concerned, and when covered like the 
 other with a white military glove, did very well, but which 
 enhanced the merit of its wearer's excellent horsemanship, 
 since it must have made the management of his charger more 
 difficult. In his instance, and in that of many other natives 
 of rank who had been introduced to me this morning, I already 
 perceived what I had afterwards abundant opportunity of 
 observing, that they associated with Europeans and were treat- 
 ed by them on much more equality and familiarity than is 
 usual in Hindostan. Some of this may arise from the frank 
 and friendly manner which distinguishes Mr. Williams indi- 
 vidually, as well as the unusual fluency with which he speaks 
 Hindoostanee. But I apprehend that more may be attributed 
 to the lively temper and neglect of forms which are general 
 among the Maharattas themselves, and which are remarkably 
 opposed to the solemn gravity of a Mussulman court, as well 
 as to the long and recent wars in which the Guicwar and the 
 English have been allies, and in which the principal officers 
 of both nations were forced into constant and friendly inter- 
 course. 
 
 In the evening I drove out with Mr. and Miss Williams to 
 see the cantonment and the Church. The former reminded 
 me of one of the villages near London, having a number of 
 small brick houses with trellis, wooden verandahs, sloping 
 tiled roofs, and upper stories, each surrounded by a garden 
 with a high green hedge of the milkbush. The effect is gay and 
 pretty, but 1 doubt whether the style of architecture is so well 
 suited to the climate as the common "up-country" bungalow, 
 with a thatched roof and a deep verandah all over. The Church 
 is a small but convenient and elegant Gothic building, accom- 
 modating about 400 persons extremely well, and raised at an 
 expense of not more than 12,000 Bombay or 10,000 sicca ru- 
 pees. House rent and building seem cheap on this side of 
 
GUICWAR or BARODA. 99 
 
 India, but every thing else excessively dear. The best houses 
 in Bombay may be got for 350 rupees a month, and the best 
 house in Baroda cantonment for 50; on the other hand provi- 
 sions are twice, and wages almost three times the rate usual 
 in the upper provinces; and though fewer servants are kept, 
 the diminution in this respect is not enough to make up the 
 difference. Most of the household servants are Parsees, the 
 greater part of whom speak English. They are of lighter com- 
 plexion than the majority of their eastern neighbours, and in 
 dress, features, and countenance, nearly resemble the Arme- 
 nians. They are good waiters but less respectful, and I think 
 less cleanly tlian their brethren in the east. Instead of " Koee 
 hue," who's there? the way of calling a servant is "boy," a 
 corruption, I believe, of "bhaee,-' brother. 
 
 The Bombay sepoys were long remarkable for their very 
 low stature; at present they have had so many recruits froni 
 Hindostan that the difference is greatly removed, and their 
 grenadier companies have a full proportion of tall men among 
 th^m. Their battalion companies are, indeed, still under-sized. 
 Nor have they, like the regiments in Hindostan, drawn re- 
 cruits from the purer castes alone. Many of their number 
 are Kholees, some are Boras, and no inconsiderable number 
 Jews, of whom a great number is found on the coast of Cat- 
 tywar, Cambay, &c. Their pay and allowances are consider- 
 ably better than those of the Bengal Presidency, and, alto- 
 gether, the taller men among them have more the appearance 
 of English troops than even the tine strapping soldiers of 
 Hindostan. They are said, indeed, to fall far snort of these 
 in sobriety and peaceable temper and obedience to their of- 
 ficers. In bravery they are surpassed by no troops in the 
 world, and this is fortunate, since no army can have a more 
 troublesome country to manage. 
 
 The Guicwar is said to be a man of talent, who governs his 
 states himself, his minister having very little weight with him, 
 and governs them well and vigorously. His error is too great 
 a fondness for money, but as he found the state involved in 
 debt, even this seems excusable. His territory is altogether 
 considerable, both in Cutch, Catty war, and Guzerat, though 
 strangely intersected and cut up by the territories of Britain, 
 Sindia, and several independent Rajas. Those of Lunwarra 
 and Doongurpoor, which used to hold of Sindia, now pay him 
 tribute also, as do the Rajas of Palhanpoor and Cattywar. 
 Still his income, amounting to no less than eighty lacks, or 
 nearly £ 800,000, exceeds greatly any thing which might have 
 been expected from the surface under his rule, and the wild 
 and jungly nature of some parts of it, and can only be account- 
 ed for by the remarkable populatioa and fertility of those dis- 
 
 VoL. II.— 9 
 
100 VISIT TO THE GUICWAR. 
 
 tricts which are really productive. Out of these revenues he 
 has only 3000 irregular horse to pay, his subsidiary force be- 
 ing provided for out of the ceded territory, and he is therefore, 
 probably, in more flourishing circumstances, and possesses 
 more real power than any sovereign of India except Runjeet 
 Singh. Sindia, and perhaps the Raja of Mysore, might have 
 been excepted, but the former, though with three times his 
 extent of territory, has a very imperfect control over the 
 greater part of it, and, indeed, cannot govern his own house: 
 and the latter is, apparently, intent on nothing but amusing 
 himself, and wasting his income on costly follies of state 
 coaches and gimcracks, to which the Guicwar wiselv prefers 
 the manner of living usual with his ancestors. 
 
 On Sunday^ March 20, I consecrated the church, preached, 
 and administered the Sacrament. The chaplain is Mr. Keays, 
 a young man who is well spoken of, and seems to like his si- 
 tuation; he and his family have as ^^et enjoyed good health, 
 though Guzerat is reckoned one of the worst climates in In- 
 dia, being intensely hot the greater part of the year, wi^ a 
 heavy thickness of atmosphere which few people can endure. 
 It is in the same latitude with Calcutta, and seems to be what 
 Bengal would be without the glorious Ganges. 
 
 March 21.— The morning of this day I was busily employed 
 in preparing for the discharge of all my Hindoostanee people, 
 who were impatient to return, together with their elephants 
 and camels. Mr. Williams kindly assured me that all ne- 
 cessary aids of the sort would be forthcoming from the com- 
 missarat. 
 
 In the evening we went in all the state which we could 
 muster, to pay our visit to the Guicwar, who received us, 
 with the usual Eastern forms, in a long narrow room, ap- 
 proached by a very mean and steep staircase. The hall it- 
 self was hung with red cloth, adorned with a great number 
 of paltry English prints, lamps, and wall-shades, and with a 
 small fountain in the centre. At the upper end were cush- 
 ions piled on the ground as his highness's musnud, with ciiairs 
 placed in a row on his left hand for the Resident and his 
 party. The evening went off in the usual form, with Nach 
 girls, Persian musicians, &c. and the only things particularly 
 worthy of notice were, that his highness went through the 
 form of giving the Resident and myself a private audience in 
 liis own study, a little hot room up sundry pair of stairs, with 
 a raised sofa, a punkah, and other articles of European com- 
 fort, as well as two large mirrors, a print of Bonaparte, and 
 another of the Duke of Wellington. He there showed me a 
 musical snuff-box, with a little bird, in which he seemed to 
 take much pride, and an imperfect but handsome copy of the 
 
COURT OF BARODA. 101 
 
 Shah Nameh, of which he desired me to accept. The rest of 
 our conversation consisted of inquiries after the Governor 
 General, the war, the distance from Calcutta, and other such 
 princely topics, till a reasonable time for our consultation 
 having elapsed, we returned down stairs again. The next 
 thing that struck me was the manner in which the heir appa- 
 rent, the little boy before mentioned, made his appearance in 
 the durbar, announced by nearly the same acclamations as 
 his father, and salaming, as he advanced, to the persons of 
 rank, with almost equal grace, and more than equal gravity. 
 After bending very low, and touching the ground before his 
 father's seat, he welit up to Mr. Williams with the appear- 
 ance of great pleasure, climbed upon his knee, and asked him 
 for a pencil and paper with which he began to scribble much 
 like my own dear little girl. The third circumstance I re- 
 marked was the general, unconstrained, and even lively con- 
 versation which was carried on between the Raja, his cour- 
 tiers, and Mr. Williams, who talked about their respective 
 hunting feats, the merits of their elephants, &c. much as mu- 
 tatis mutandis, a party in England might have done. The 
 Raja was anxious to know whether I had observed his rhino- 
 ceros, and his hunting tygers, and offered to show me a day's 
 sport with the last, or to bait an elephant for me, a cruel 
 amusement which is here not uncommon. He had a long 
 rallying dispute with one of the Thakoors as to an elephant 
 which, the Raja said, the Thakoor had promised to give him 
 for this sport; and I do not think he understood my motives 
 for declining to be present at it. A Mussulman, however, 
 who sat near him, seemed pleased by my refusal, said it was 
 " very good," and asked me if any of the English clergy at- 
 tended such sports. I said it was a maxim with most of us 
 to do no harm to any creature needlessly; which was, he said, 
 the doctrine of their learned men also. Mr. Williams told 
 me that this sort of conversation, which was very little dis- 
 turbed by the most strenuous eftbrts which the poor singers 
 and dancing-girls could make to attract attention, was cha- 
 racteristic of a Maharatta durbar, and that he had known the 
 most serious business carried on by fits and starts in the 
 midst of all this seeming levity. At last, about eight o'clock, 
 the Raja told us that he would keep us from our dinner no 
 longer; and the usual presents were brought in, which were, 
 however, much more valuable than any which I had seen, and 
 evidently of a kind, very few of which were in the compass of 
 my redeeming from the company. About nine we got back 
 to dinner, hungry enough, and a little tired, but for my own 
 part both amused and interested. 
 
 The Raja offered to return my visit next day; but, knowing 
 
102 VISIT OF THE NOBLES. 
 
 that Tuesday is, in the estimation of all Hindoos, unlucky, I 
 named Wednesday in preference, telling him my reason. 
 He answered very politely, that he should account every day 
 lucky in which he had the opportunity of cultivating my ac- 
 quaintance, but was evidently well pleased. He had already, 
 out of civility, and in consequence of being informed that I 
 received no visits on Sunday, waved one prejudice in my fa- 
 vour: since the day on which I ai'rived, being the last day of 
 their month, was one on which he usually never stirred from 
 home. 
 
 I forgot to mention that before breakfast this morning I 
 rode to see a tomb in the neighbourhood of tolerable Mussul- 
 man architecture, but much dilapidated, and really not worth 
 dismounting for. Its apparent estimation in tlie eyes of the 
 inhabitants of Baroda, gave me but an humble idea of the 
 ruins of Ahmedabad. 
 
 March 22. — I was busy all day writing, and have notliing 
 particular to record, except that the hot wind had now set in 
 very decidedly, and was oppressive, though in my own tent, 
 and by the help of tatties, I escaped better than most people. 
 A tent, overshadowed as mine fortunately is by thick trees, 
 is an excellent house for such weather, and better than any 
 rooms in the small house, which, during the day time, Mr. 
 and Miss Williams occupy. But the English of this Presi- 
 dency do not seem to manage the hot weather so well as those 
 of Bengal and Hindostan. 
 
 March 23. — Several of the principal Thakoors of the court, 
 as well as some Patau military chiefs, and some wealthy 
 shroffs of the city, sent messages to Mr. Williams to express 
 a desire to call on me, and become better acquainted than 
 was possible at a public durbar. This was a sort of interest, 
 Mr. Williams said, which he had never known them show 
 before; and he therefore proposed that I should give up the 
 morning to see native company, good-naturedly promising to 
 stay with me, both to introduce my visitors, and to help my 
 imperfect knowledge of the language. — About twenty persons 
 called, comprising the greater part of those to whom I had 
 been introduced the day of my arrival. Three of them were 
 very young men, or rather boys, the sons of the late minister, 
 Shastree, who, as I have already stated, was assassinated at 
 Poonah by the suggestion of Trimbukjee. The youngest, a 
 very fine and interesting lad, was learning English, which he 
 spoke very well and with but little foreign accent. I asked 
 jiim what English work he studied, and he answered, " I am 
 reading the book of Elegant extracts." His tutor is a Parsee.. 
 Some little time since he had picked up, Mr. AVilliams said, 
 a New Testament, and read it with delight j till his Brahmin 
 
VISIT OF THE NOBLES. 103 
 
 Gooroo, finding the nature of the book, took it from him. 
 This is the first instance of such jealousy which has fallen in 
 my way, and for this, I suspect that the insinuations of the 
 Parsee tutor, (all of whose nation are very suspicious about 
 Christianity,) were rather to blame than the prejudices of the 
 simple Hindoo. I hope to send him another book from Bom- 
 bay, which may offend prejudice less, and yet may eventually, 
 by God's blessing, be of some use to him. 
 
 There were two or three Patans, who asked many questions 
 about the present state of Rohilcund, and listened with great 
 interest to the account which I gave them of the improve- 
 ments making and intended to be made atBareilly, the repair 
 of Hafez Rehmut's tomb, and the appropriation of the town 
 duties to these and other local purposes. One of these men, 
 who holds a high military command, but whose name has es- 
 caped me, was a relation to the tusseldarof Futtehgunge, and 
 a very well bred and sensible man. He came earliest, and 
 sate longest, and, from his pure Hindoostanee, I understood 
 him the best of the whole party. He, and another of his coun- 
 trymen gave me very affectionate embraces at parting, saying, 
 " Do not forget Rohilcuntl and Guzerat." Fond as they seem- 
 ed of the former country, they did not appear to have any in- 
 tention of returning thither. A Cuttywar Raja asked much 
 about Meru and Badrinath, and meandered on, at some length, 
 about Indra's Heaven which lay beyond them, I did not un- 
 derstand much of his story, which was at length cut short by 
 some contemptuous ejaculations of his Mussulman neighbour 
 from Rohilcund, who said that he remembered the hills very 
 well, but that all this was nonsense. Mr. Williams observed 
 that the Lord Sahib had also seen "Kaf," "Aye," said the 
 Mussulman, *' those are famous hills! There is the Mount 
 Al Judi (Ararat) and the Ark of HuzrutNoah (St. Noah) may 
 be seen there to this day. There are also Hajiuge and Majiuge 
 (Gog and Magog)." I told him that I had seen Kaf, but had not 
 been so far as Mount Ararat; though I believe that the **burra 
 Sahib" (Mr. Williams) had seen it, which he confirmed, hav- 
 ing been in Persia with Sir John Malcolm; but that I had 
 seen Kaf from Russia, which lay on the other side. Another 
 Mussulman here expressed a surprise, which was both natu- 
 ral and showed his intelligence. ''Did you see it in this jour- 
 ney.^ I though that both Kaf and Russia were a very great 
 distance from any part of Hindostan." I explained to him, 
 of course, where my former travels. had been, and found that 
 he was well acquainted with the names both of Russia and 
 Ustumboul, which last he explained of his own accord, to be 
 *' Cunstuntinoopla," though he did not seem to know much 
 about their relative situations. This.was a young man, whom. 
 
 9* 
 
104 VISIT OP THE RAJA. 
 
 the other called ''Nawab," but whose name I could not 
 catch. He asked after *' Duke Wellington," and said that 
 his father had been well known to him during the war in the 
 Deckan. Mr. Williams asked the Cuttywar llaja some ques- 
 tions respecting a new sect of Hindoos which had arisen in 
 his neighbourhood, and which he told me at the same time in 
 English, that this Raja had attempted to put down by force of 
 arms, but had not been allowed to do so. He answered in ra- 
 ther a fretful tone that " there were too many of them," and 
 in reply to a question, what their religion was? — that *'they 
 had no religion at all, but a hatred of their superiors, and of 
 all lawful authority." I asked this orthodox old gentleman if 
 he could give me any information about the vagabond pilgrims 
 whom I met near Gurmukteser, and who described themselves 
 as coming from the neighbourhood of Ahmedebad. He said 
 that by my account of them they were not true Hindoos: but 
 that there were many wild people in the district who profess- 
 ed a sort of Hindooism. Those whom I encountered were 
 probably pilgrims; and if I had drawn a line in the sand 
 across their path, they would have been obliged to go round 
 one of its extremities, not daring to step over it. I asked if 
 the character which they bore of being '* Thugs," was deserv- 
 ed.^ He seemed never to have heard of the name, which was, 
 however, perfectly understood by the Patans. I conclude, 
 therefore, that the practice is not so common in these pro- 
 vinces as it is said to be further North. 
 
 About sun -set the Raja came in state, and was received 
 accordingly by Mr. Williams in a very large dinner tent, 
 where nearly the same forms took place (mutatis mutandis) 
 as occurred during my visit to him. The little boy was put 
 on my knee to-day, partly, I believe, as a compliment, and 
 partly to give the Guicwar an opportunity of talking over 
 some private business with Mr. Williams, (as I afterwards 
 learned,) whom he informed in a low voice, that he had 
 a daughter a year older than this little boy whom, conse- 
 quently, it was high time he should bestow in marriage 5 
 that he had an excellent match for her in the son of a Raja in 
 the Deckan, but that he had no money to pay the necessary 
 expenses; and hoped, therefore, that the government would 
 join him in a security for five lacs of rupees, in order that he 
 might obtain them at more reasonable interest than he could 
 otherwise hope to do. Mr. Williams, in the same voice, told 
 him that the government he much feared, would never con- 
 sent to such a measure ; on which the Raja came down in his 
 request to four and even three lacs, his wish to obtain which 
 last sum, Mr. Williams promised to transmit to government. 
 This, Mr. Williams afterwards told me, is a specimen of the 
 
VISIT OP THE RAJA. 105 
 
 way in which important business was often introduced and dis- 
 cussed in the midst of crowds and ceremonial parties. On 
 my observing that the wish to obtain money did not tally with 
 all which I heard of the Raja's wealth and covetousness, he 
 answered that, the Raja always distinguished his personal sav- 
 ings from the national property 5 that he expected his daugh- 
 ter to be portioned out by the state 5 but that if he could get 
 sufficient security, he was able and likely, under a borrowed 
 name, himself to lend the money. While this conversation 
 was going on, I was doing my best to entertain my little friend, 
 to whom, in addition to the present destined for him on ac- 
 count of the company, I gave a huge native coloured drawing 
 on vellum, of the Howa Mahil at Jyepoor, with which he seem- 
 ed greatly pleased, and which, by the explanation of the dif- 
 ferent objects which it contained, afforded more conversation 
 than it would have been otherwise easy for me to keep up with 
 him, though he was really a lively and forward boy. He was 
 fond of riding both horses and elephants, but the "Sircar," 
 sovereign, (meaning his father) had not yet taken him out 
 hunting. He had begun to read and write in Maharatta, but 
 in no other language, and was fonder of drawing pictures than 
 letters, the same word, "likna," being used both for draw- 
 ing and writing. His father, who engaged as he was on the 
 other side, contrived very dexterously to bestow all necessary 
 attention on me, bid him ask me about my journey, but I 
 do not think he knew any of the names of places which I men- 
 tioned, except, perhaps, Calcutta and Delhi. All the rest 
 of the world was, in his vocabulary, *'Belattee." 
 
 There was a good deal of Persian singing and instrumental 
 music, the character of which does not seem a want of har- 
 mony, but dullness and languor. The airs were sung sotto 
 voce ; the instruments, chiefly guitars, were low-toned and 
 struck in a monotonous manner 5 and the effect intended to be 
 produced seemed rather repose and luxurious languor, than 
 any more ardent or animated feeling. One man, a native of 
 Lucknow, had a good natural voice, and two of the women 
 sang prettily. The tunes had first parts only. The Nach 
 women were, as usual, ugly, huddled up in huge bundles of 
 red petticoats ; and their exhibition as dull and insipid to an 
 European taste, as could well be conceived. In fact, nobody 
 in the room seemed to pay them any attention, all being en- 
 gaged in conversation, though in an under voice, and only with 
 their near neighbours. About eight, the Raja went away, and 
 we sate down to dinner, but not till I had discovered that the 
 greater part of the camels which the Raja had promised to lend 
 me for my journey, had not yet arrived, and that it would be 
 impossible for me to send off, as I had intended, my baggage 
 
106 MOUNTAIN RAVINES. 
 
 and servants that night. I now regretted that I had dismiss- 
 ed the Hindoostanee elephants and camels, but there was no 
 use in repining. 
 
 March 25. — This morning Dr. Smith and I were up at four 
 o'clock, and, with a good deal of exertion, succeeded in as- 
 sembling the camels and bearers, and fairly setting our ser- 
 vants on their way. We ourselves, remained till the evening, 
 and then set off* to join the camp. Archdeacon Barnes accom- 
 panied me and Mr. Williams and several other gentlemen 
 rode out with me three or four miles to a boolee, at which I 
 found, to my surprise, that in addition to the four Bombay 
 troopers whom he had sent me, before we were joined by Bap- 
 poojee Maharatta (his Dewan) with six silver sticks and spear- 
 men, and above fifty Guicwar horse, with their standard and 
 nigari. I pleaded that these were really unnecessary, consi- 
 dering the numerous guard of sepoys, fifty men, whom I had 
 sent on with the baggage. He answered, however, that though 
 less might in Hindostan, here these outward forms were both 
 desirable and necessary ! To this I could say nothing, and 
 proceeded on my march ; though I could not help thinking that 
 since the days of Thomas a Becket or Cardinal Wolsey, an 
 English Bishop had seldom been so formidably attended. 
 From Mr. Williams I had received in every respect very 
 gratifying attention and kindness j and it ^yas a great satisfac- 
 tion to me to know that he intended to visit Bombay at the 
 same time with myself, and that my dear wife also would 
 know and like him. 
 
 Our road for about eiglit miles lay over a highly cultivated 
 country, with many round-topped trees and high green hedges; 
 the villages, v/hich were numerous, were all more in the Eu- 
 ropean than the Indian style ; and, to complete the likeness, 
 had large stacks of hay in their neighbourhood piled up and 
 thatched like those in England. The custom of keeping hay 
 as fodder does not exist in any other part of India which I 
 have seen, but is here universal. As day closed we left the 
 open country, and entered some extremely deep and narrow 
 ravines with sides of crumbling earth, the convexity of which 
 was evidently the work of the waters of the monsoon in their 
 annual course to the Mhye. The summits of these steep banks 
 were overgrown with brushwood; nor could a more favoura- 
 ble place be desired to favour the spring of a tiger, or the 
 arrows of an ambushed band of robbers. Our numbers, our 
 noise, and the torches which some of the servants carried dur- 
 ing this part of our journey, were enough, I should conceive, 
 to keep either description of ferocious animals at a distance. 
 Both kinds, however, are very abundant along the banks of 
 Mhye and its neighbourhood j passengers had been very re- 
 
FORDING THE MHYE. 107 
 
 cently stopped and plundered here by Bheels^ and two months 
 ago a tjger had carried off a man from a numerous convoy of 
 artillery on its march to Kairah. On the whole, as one of the 
 party observed, *' on a road like this, and in such a country, 
 too many guards were better than too few." After about four 
 miles and a half of this kind of road, we arrived on the banks of 
 the Mhye, high, precipitous, and woody, with a broad bright 
 stream, in spite of all the recent drought, wandering in a still 
 wider bed of gravel and sand. Here too I found that the 
 watchful kindness of Mr. Williams had provided for us, in 
 giving notice of my coming to the Collector of the Kairah dis- 
 trict, who had sent some fishermen acquainted with the ford, 
 and a body of Bheels in the pay of the police, to assist us in 
 crossing, and guide us to the encampment, which was about 
 three miles further at a village named Wasnud. 
 
 Nothing could be more picturesque than this "passage of 
 the Granicus." The moon was sufficiently bright to show the 
 wild and woodland character of the landscape, and the bright- 
 ness and ripple of the water, without overpowering the eft'ect 
 of the torches as they issued from the wood, and the other 
 torches which our guides carried, and which shone on groupes 
 of men, horses, and camels, as wild and singular as were ever 
 assembled in the fancy of a Salvator Rosa. I thought of 
 Walter Scott's account of the salmon fishing; but this show 
 exceeded that as much as the naked limbs, plaited elf-locks, 
 and loose mantles of the Bheels, with their bows, arrows, and 
 swords, the polished helmets of our regular troopers, the broad, 
 brocaded, swallow-tailed banner of the Guicwar, and flie rude 
 but gorgeous chivalry of his cavaliers on long-tailed horses 
 and in long cotton caftans, their shields behind their backs, 
 their battle-axes pendent from their saddle-bows, and long 
 spears or harquebuzes with lighted matches over their shoul- 
 ders, surpassed the most picturesque assortment of hodden 
 gray, blue bonnets, and fish-spears. The water, though broad, 
 was no where deep. It ran, however, with a brisker stream 
 than from having seen its exhausted condition nearer to its 
 source I had expected. But on this side of Cheeta Talao it 
 receives many other mountain-streams; and some of these, it 
 is reasonable to suppose, have escaped better in the general 
 drought, and saved the credit of their suzerain before his ap- 
 pearance in the court of Neptune. 
 
 We arrived at Wasnud heartily tired both man and beast; 
 the heat of the day had been intense, and our evening march 
 had led us through places where no breeze blew; my little 
 Arab horse Nedjeed, as soon as he saw the comfortable bed 
 of straw provided for him, sunk down on it like a dog, and 
 was asleep before the saddle was well oflf his back. The Bheels 
 
108 BHEEL WATCHMEN. 
 
 were to be our watchmen as well as guides; and their shrill 
 calls from one to the other were heard all night. We were 
 told not to be surprised at this choice, since these poor thieves 
 are, when trusted, the trustiest of men, and of all sentries the 
 most wakeful and indefatigable. They and the Kholees, a 
 race almost equally wild, are uniformly preferred in Guzerat 
 for the service of the police, and as durwans to gentlemen's 
 houses and gardens. All such persons are here called sepoys, 
 and with more accuracy than the regular troops, inasmuch as 
 their weapons are still really the bow and arrow, " sip," 
 whence the Asiatic soldier derives his appellation. 
 
 March 25. — We resumed our march at the usual hour, and 
 went, through a well-cultivated, enclosed, and prettily wooded 
 country, eleven miles to Emaad, a small village with a large 
 tank not quite dry. In our way we were met by twenty of 
 the Chuprassees, or, to use the language of the country, the 
 sepoys, of the collector Mr. Williamson, all of the Kholee 
 caste, rather short, but broad-set and muscular men, with a 
 harshness, not to say ferocity, in the countenances of many 
 of them which remarkably differed from the singularly mild 
 and calm physiognomy usually met with in the other side of 
 India. They were well and smartly dressed in green and 
 scarlet kirtles, with black turbans, had every man his small 
 round buckler and sheaf of arrows at his back, his sword and 
 dagger by his side, and long bow in his hand, and excepting 
 in their dusky complexions, were no bad representatives of 
 Robin Hood and his sturdy yeomen. About half-way we were 
 overtaken by Mr. Williamson himself, who rode with us to 
 our camp, as did also Captain Ovans, who was encamped near 
 and employed in taking a survey of the country. This gen- 
 tleman brought with him some specimens of his maps, which 
 are extremely minute, extending to the smallest details usu- 
 ally expressed in the survey of a gentleman's property in 
 England, with a copious field book, and a particular statement 
 of the average number of farms, tanks, hills, orchards, &c. in 
 each townland. The execution of the maps is very neat, and 
 their drawing said to be wonderfully accurate, though the 
 mapping, measurement, and angles are, as well as the draw- 
 ing, by native assistants. All which Captain Ovans seems to 
 do is generally to superintend their operations, to give them 
 instructions in cases of difficulty, to notice any error which he 
 may discover in their calculations, and to cover with ink and 
 finish for the inspection of government the maps which they 
 delineate in pencil. Their neatness, delicacy, and patience 
 in the use of the different instruments and the pencil, he spoke 
 of as really extraordinary; and he was no less satisfied with 
 their intelligence, acuteness, and readiness in the acquisition 
 
INHABITANTS OF GUZERAT. 109 
 
 of the necessary degree of mathematical science. From these 
 gentlemen I gleaned several interesting facts about the inhabi- 
 tants of this country. 
 
 Its wilder parts are pretty generally occupied by the Bheels, 
 concerning whom I am able to add little to what I said before. 
 The other and more settled inhabitants are either Mussul- 
 mans, of whom the number is but small 5 Hindoo bunyans; 
 Rajpoots of a degenerate description, and chiefly occupied in 
 cultivating the soil 5 Maharattas, who are not by any means 
 numerous except in and about the Guicwar's courts and Kho- 
 lees, or, as they are pretty generally called. Coolies. These 
 last form perhaps two-thirds of the population, and are con- 
 sidered by public men in Guzerat as the original inhabitants 
 of the country, a character which, I know not why, they re- 
 fuse to the Bheels, who here, as in Malwah, seem to have the 
 best title to it. I suspect, indeed, myself, that the Coolies, 
 are only civilized Bheels, who have laid aside some of the 
 wild habits of their ancestors, and who have learned, more 
 particularly, to conform in certain respects, such as abstinence 
 from beef, &c. to their Hindoo neighbours. They themselves 
 pretend to be descended from the Rajpoots, but this is a claim 
 continually made by wild and warlike tribes all over India, 
 and it is made more particularly, by the Puharree villagers at 
 the foot of Rajmahal who have embraced the Hindoo religion; 
 and that the Coolies themselves do not believe their claim, is 
 apparent from the fact that they neither wear the silver badge, 
 nor the red turban. Be this as it may, they are acknowledged 
 by the Hindoos as their kindred, which the Bheels never are: 
 and though their claim of being children of the sun is not 
 allowed by the Rajpoots who live among them, there have 
 been instances in which intermarriages have taken place be- 
 tween Maharattas of high rank and the families of some of 
 their most powerful chieftains. 
 
 Their ostensible and, indeed, their chief employment, is 
 afi;riculture, and they are said to be often industrious farmers 
 and labourers, and, while kindly treated, to pay their rent to 
 j^overnment as well, at least, as their Rajpoot neighbours. 
 They live, however, under their own Thakoors, whose au- 
 thority alone they willingly acknowledge, and pay little re- 
 spect to the laws, unless when it suits their interest, or they 
 are constrained by the presence of an armed force. In other 
 lespects they are one of the most turbulent and predatory 
 tribes in India, and with the Bheels, make our tenure of 
 (juzerat more disturbed, and the maintenance of our authority 
 more expensive there, than in any other district of the East- 
 ern empire. The cutcherries, and even the dwelling-houses 
 of the civil servants of the company, are uniformly placed 
 
110 CHARACTER AND DRESS OP THE COOLIES. 
 
 within, instead of without, the cities and towns, a custom 
 ruinous to health and comfort, but accounted a necessary 
 precaution against the desperate attacks to which they might 
 otherwise be liable. The magistrates and collectors have a 
 larger force of armed men in their employ than any others of 
 the same rank whom I have met with; and the regular troops, 
 and even the European cavalry are continually called out 
 against them. Yet in no country are the roads so insecure, — 
 in none are forays and plundering excursions of every kind 
 more frequent; or a greater proportion of, what would be 
 called in Europe, the gentry and landed proprietors, addicted 
 to acts of violence and bloodshed. In these plundering parties 
 they often display a very desperate courage; and it is to their 
 honour, that, rude and lawless as they are, they do not appa- 
 rently delight in blood for its own sake, and neither mutilate, 
 torture, nor burn the subjects of their cupidity or revenge, 
 like the far worse " decoits" of Bengal and Ireland. 
 
 They are hardy, stout men, particularly those of the Cat- 
 tywar and Cutch districts. Their usual dress is a petticoat 
 round the waist, like that of the Bheels, and a cotton cloth 
 wrapped round their heads and shoulders, which, when they 
 wish to be smart, they gather up into a very large white tur- 
 ban. In cold weather, or when drest, they add a quilted 
 cotton kirtle, or *'lebada," over which they wear a shirt of 
 mail, with vant-braces and gauntlets, and never consider 
 themselves as fit to go abroad without a sword, buckler, bow 
 and arrows, to which their horsemen add a long spear and 
 battle-axe. The cotton lebada is generally stained and iron- 
 moulded by the mail shirt, and, as might be expected, these 
 marks, being tokens of their martial occupation, are reckoned 
 honourable, insomuch that their young warriors often counter- 
 feit them with oil or soot, and do their best to get rid as soon 
 as possible of the burgher-like whiteness of a new dress. This 
 is said to be the real origin of the story told by Hamilton, that 
 the Coolies despise and revile all cleanly and decent clothing 
 as base and effeminate. In other respects they are fond of 
 finery; their shields are often very handsome, with silver 
 bosses, and composed of rhinoceros hide; their battle-axes 
 richly inlaid, and their spears surrounded with many succes- 
 sive rings of silver. Their.bows are like those of the Bheels, 
 but stronger, and in better order; and their arrows are carried 
 in a quiver of red and embroidered leather. In their ma- 
 rauding expeditions they often use great secrecy, collecting 
 in the night at the will of some popular chieftain, communi- 
 cated generally by the circulation of a certain token, known 
 only to those concerned, like the fiery cross of the Scottish 
 highlanders. They frequently leave their families in complete 
 
SWAAMEE NARAIN. Ill 
 
 ignorance as to wliere or why they are going; and the only 
 way in which, sliould one of their number fall in battle, the 
 survivors communicate his loss to his widow or parents, is by 
 throwing before his door some sprigs of the peepul, plucked 
 and disposed in a particular form. 
 
 On other occasions, however, their opposition to law has 
 been sufficiently open and daring. The districts of Cutch 
 and Cattywar have ever been, more or less in a state of re- 
 bellion; and neither the regency of the former state, nor the 
 Guicwar, as feudal sovereign of the latter, nor the English 
 government in the districts adjoining to both, which are under 
 their control, have ever got through a year without one or 
 more sieges of different forts and fastnesses. 
 
 Some good had been done, Mr. Williamson said, among 
 many of these wild people, by the preaching and popularity of 
 the Hindoo reformer, Swaamee Narain, who had been men- 
 tioned to me at Baroda. His morality was said to be far better 
 than any which could be learned from the vShaster. He preach- 
 ed a great degree of purity, forbidding his disciples so much as 
 to look on any wonian whom they passed. He condemned 
 theft and bloodshed; and those villages and districts which had 
 received him, from being among the worst, were now among 
 the best and most orderly in the provinces. Nor was this all, 
 insomuch as he was said to have destroyed the yoke of caste, 
 — to have preached one God, and, in short, to have made so 
 considerable approaches to the truth, that I could not but hope 
 he might be an appointed instrument to prepare the way for 
 the gospel. 
 
 While I was listening with much interest to Mr. William- 
 son's account of this man, six persons came to the tent, four 
 in the dress of peasants orbunyans; one, a young man with a 
 large white turban, and the quilted lebada of a Coolie, but 
 clean and decent; with a handsome sword and shield, and 
 other marks of rustic wealth; and the sixth, an old Mussul- 
 man, with a white beard, and pretty much the appearance, 
 dress, and manner of an ancient serving-man. After offering 
 some sugar and sweetmeats, as their nuzzur, and as usual, 
 sitting down on the ground, one of the peasants began to my 
 exceeding surprise and delight, "Pundit Swaamee Narain, 
 sends his salaam," and proceeded to say that the person whom 
 I so much desired to see was in the neighbourhood, and asked 
 permission to call on me next day. I, of course, returned a 
 favourable answer, and stated with truth, that I greatly desir- 
 ed his acquaintance, and had heard much good of him. I asked 
 if they were his disciples, and was answered in the affirma- 
 tive. The first spokesman told me, that the young man now in 
 company, was the eldest son of a Coolie Thakoor, whose fathei* 
 Vol, II.— 10 
 
113 ADAWLUT COURTS. 
 
 was one ot the Pundit's great friends, that he himself was a 
 Rajpoot and Ryut, that the old man in green was a Mussul- 
 man sepoy in the Thakoor's service, and sent to attend on his 
 young master. He added, that though of different castes, 
 they were all disciples of Swaamee Narain, and taught to re- 
 gard each other as brethren. Tliey concluded by asking me 
 when I was to go next day, and appointed in their teacner's 
 name, that he would visit me at Nerriad in the forenoon: they 
 then took their leave, I having first embraced the Thakoor, 
 and sent my salaam both to his father and his Gooroo. 
 
 On asking Mr. Williamson about the state of knowledge in 
 this province, and the facility which it afforded for establishing 
 schools, he said, that there were large schools in most of the 
 principal towns, where the children of the bunyans learnt 
 writing, reading, accounts, and such portions of the national 
 religion as their caste is allowed to receive. But there was no 
 gratuitous instruction j and the Ryuts from poverty, and the 
 Coolie Thakoors from indifference, very seldom, if ever, sent 
 their children. They had no objection, however, except that 
 of expense; and he did not doubt that if government, or any 
 religious society would institute schools, they would be at- 
 tended with thankfulness and punctuality. 
 
 I asked him if the government were popular: he did not 
 think that it was particularly otherwise, and ascribed the va- 
 rious tumults and rising of the Guzerattees to their famines, 
 which frequently reduced whole families and villages to the 
 state of '' broken men," and to their long previous habits of 
 misrule and anarchy, rather than to any political grievances. 
 The valuation of their lands, he said, was moderate; it was 
 only from year to year, but in a country where the crops 
 were so precarious, a longer settlement was not desired 
 by the people themselves. Even according to the present 
 system, government were often compelled to make great 
 abatements, and, on most occasions, had shown themselves 
 indulgent masters. 
 
 The greatest evil of the land here, as elsewhere in India, 
 is the system of the Adawlut Courts, their elaborate and in- 
 tricate machinery, their intolerable and expensive delays, and 
 the severity of their debtor and creditor laws. Even in the 
 Adawlut, however, a very essential improvement had been in- 
 troduced by Mr. Elphinstone in discarding the Persian lan- 
 guage, and appointing all proceedings to be in that of Guze- 
 rat. Still there remained many evils, and in a land so eaten 
 up by poverty on the one hand, and usury on the other, the 
 most calamitous results continually followed, and the most 
 bitter indignation was often excited by the judgments, eject- 
 ments, and other acts of the court, which though intended 
 only to do justice between man and man, yet frequently de- 
 
NERRIAD. 113 
 
 populated villages, undid ancient families, pulled down men's 
 hereditary and long possessed houses over their heads, and 
 made the judges hated and feared by the great body of the 
 people, as practising severities in the recovery of private 
 debts, which none of the native governors, however otherwise 
 oppressive either ventured to do, or thought of doing. One 
 good effect has indeed followed, that by making debt more 
 easy to recover, the rate of interest has been lessened. But 
 this is a poor compensation for the evils of a system which, 
 to pay a debt, no matter how contracted, strips the weaver of 
 his loom, the husbandman of his plough, and pulls the roof 
 from the castle of the feudal chieftain, and which, when a 
 village is once abandoned by its inhabitants in a time of fa- 
 mine, makes it next to impossible for those inhabitants, who 
 are all more or less in debt, to return, in better times, to their 
 houses and lands again. 
 
 The hot wind blew fiercely all the day, and, though it ceas- 
 ed at night, was followed by a calm more close and oppres- 
 sive still. I had certainly no conception that any where in 
 India the month of March could otFer such a furnace-like cli- 
 mate. The servants complained of it, and hoped that I should 
 not stay long in this province; if I did they were sure that we 
 should all die: and in truth their apprehensions seemed not 
 altogether unreasonable. Here, indeed, I was far, very far, 
 from regretting that my wife and children were not with me 5 
 and I rejoiced, on the other hand, that as Guzerat was some 
 time or other to be visited, I was now getting over the most 
 remote, most expensive, and certainly not the most interest- 
 ing or most healthy part of my Diocese, in the only visitation 
 journey, (I hope,) during which I am likely to be separated 
 from them. 
 
 The fertility of Guzerat, in favourable years, is great, par- 
 ticularly in sugar and tobacco; and the revenue of the Collec- 
 torate at Kairah is said to exceed, at such times, 37 lacs, an 
 enormous sum for so small a district, but from which many 
 deductions must be made on account of the strangely frequent 
 droughts to which all this part of India is liable, and the very 
 large police and military establishments which its disordered 
 state, and the martial habits of the people require. 
 
 March 26. — We marched to Nerriad, a large and well-built 
 town, containing, as its Cutwal told me, about 15,000 people. 
 The neighbourhood is very highly cultivated, and full of groves 
 of fruit-trees, and large tanks. Of the latter, the greater 
 number are, unhappily now dry. We were lodged, by Mr. 
 Williamson's order, in his cutcherry, a part of which is used 
 fgr the occasional reception of himself and his friends. It 
 consists of an enclosure surrounded by a high wall and build- 
 
114 VISIT FROM SWAAMEE NARAIN. 
 
 ings of various descriptions in the heart of the town, and cal- 
 culated to hold and shelter, conveniently, a considerable num- 
 ber of horses and people. The bungalow itself, as it is call- 
 ed, is a tall, long, shallow building, containing on the ground- 
 floor two dark and close apartments, with a staircase between 
 them, and above, two more, full of windows, without veran- 
 dahs or any other means of shutting out the sun or hot wind, 
 and so near the tiled roof that nothing could well be hotter in 
 weather like the present, and we much regretted that we had 
 not adhered to our old system of pitching the tents, with tat- 
 ties, outside the town. The heat was great all day, and even 
 before the sun was up. 
 
 About eleven o'clock I had the expected visit from Swaamee 
 Narain, to my interview with whom I had looked forward with 
 an anxiety and eagerness which, if he had known it, would, 
 perhaps, have flattered him. He came in a somewhat differ- 
 ent style from all which I expected, having with him near 200 
 horsemen, mostly well-armed with matchlocks and swords, 
 and several of them with coats of mail and spears. Besides 
 them he had a large rabble on foot, with bows and arrows, 
 and when I considered that I had myself an escort of more 
 than fifty horse and fifty musquets and bayonets, I could not 
 help smiling; though my sensations were in some degree pain- 
 ful and humiliating, at the idea of two religious teachers meet- 
 ing at the head of little armies, and filling the city which was 
 the scene of their interview, with the rattling of quivers, the 
 clash of shields, and the tramp of the war-horse. Had our 
 troops been opposed to each other, mine, though less numer- 
 ous, would have been, doubtless, far more effective from the 
 superiority of arms and discipline. But, in moral grandeur, 
 what a difference was there between his troop and mine. 
 Mine neither knew me, nor cared for me; they escorted me 
 faithfully, and would have defended me bravely, because they 
 were ordered by their superiors to do so, and as they would 
 have done for any other stranger of sufficient worldly rank to 
 make such an attendance usual. The guards of Swaamee 
 Narain were his own disciples and enthusiastic admirers, 
 men who had voluntarily repaired to hear his lessons, who 
 now took a pride in doing him honour, and who would cheer- 
 fully fight to the last drop of blood rather than suffer a fringe 
 of his garment to be handled roughly. In the parish of Hod- 
 iiet, there were once, perhaps, a few honest countrymen who 
 felt something like this for me; but how long a time must 
 elapse before any Christian Teacher in India can hope to be 
 thus loved and honoured! Yet surely tliere is some encour- 
 agement to patient labour which a Christian Minister may de- 
 rive from" the success of such men as these in India, — inasmuch 
 
VISIT PROM SWAAMEE NARAIN. 115 
 
 as where others can succeed in obtaining a favourable hearing 
 for doctrines, in many respects, at variance with the general 
 and received system of Hindooism, — the time may surely be 
 expected, through God's blessing, when our endeavours also, 
 may receive their fruit, and our hitherto almost barren Church 
 may " keep house, and be a joyful mother of children." 
 
 The armed men who attended Swaamee Narain were under 
 the authority, as it appeared, of a venerable old man, of large 
 stature, with a long gray beard and most voluminous turban, 
 the father of the young Thakoor who had called on me the day 
 before. He came into the room first, and, after the usual em- 
 brace, introduced the holy man himself, who was a middle- 
 sized, thin, and plain-looking person, about my own age, with 
 a mild and diffident expression of countenance, but nothing 
 about him indicative of any extraordinary talent. I seated 
 him on a chair at my right hand^ and offered two more to the 
 Thakoor and his son, of which, however, they did not avail 
 themselves without first placing their hands under the feet of 
 their spiritual guide, and then pressing them reverently to 
 their foreheads Others of the principal disciples, to the num- 
 ber of twenty or thirty, seated themselves on the ground, and 
 several of my own Mussulman servants, who seemed much 
 interested in what was going on, thrust in their faces at the 
 door, or ranged themselves behind me. After the usual mu- 
 tual compliments, 1 said that I had heard much good of him, 
 and the good doctrine which he preached among the poor 
 people of Guzerat, and that I greatly desired his acquaintance; 
 that I regretted that I knew Hindoostanee so imperfectly, but 
 that I should be very glad, so far as my knowledge of the 
 language allowed, and by the interpretation of friends, to learn 
 what he believed on religious matters, and to tell him what I 
 myself believed, and that if he would come and see me at 
 Kairah, where we should have more leisure, I would have a 
 tent pitched for him, and treat him like a brother. I said this 
 because I was very earnestly desirous of getting him a copy 
 of the Scriptures, of which I had none with me, in the Nagree 
 character, and persuading liim to read them; and because I 
 had some further hopes of inducing him to go with me to Bom- 
 bay, where I hoped that by conciliatory treatment, and the 
 conversations to which I might introduce him with the Church 
 Missionary Society established in that neighbourhood, I might 
 do him more good than I could otherwise liope to do. 
 
 I saw that both he, and still more, his disciples, were highly 
 pleased by the invitation which I gave him, but he said, in re- 
 ply,' that his life was one of very little leisure, that he had 
 5000 disciples now attending on his preaching in the neigh- 
 bouring villages, and nearly 50,000 in different parts of Gu- 
 
 10* 
 
116 DOCTRINE OF SWAAMEE NARAIN. 
 
 xerki, that a great number of these were to assemble together 
 in the course of next week, on occasion of his brother's son 
 coming of age to receive the braliminical string, but that if I 
 staid long enough in the neighbourhood to allow him to get 
 this engagement over, he would gladly come again to see me. 
 *'In the mean time," I said, ^Miave you any objection to 
 communicate some part of your doctrine now?" It was evi- 
 dently^ what he came to do, and his disciples very visibly ex- 
 ulted in the opportunity of his, perhaps, converting me. He 
 began, indeed, well, professing to believe in one only God, 
 the Maker of all things in heaven and earth, who filled all 
 space, upheld and governed all things, and more particularly 
 dwelt in the hearts of those who diligently sought him; but he 
 alarmed me by calling the God whom he worshipped Krishna^ 
 and by saying that he had come down to earth in ancient 
 times, had been put to death by wicked men through magic, 
 and that since his time many false revelations had been pre- 
 tended, and many false divinities set up. This declaration, I 
 say alarmed me, because notwithstanding the traits of resem- 
 blance which it bore to the history of our Lord; traits, which 
 are in fact to be found in the midst of all the uncleanness and 
 folly^ in the popular legends respecting Krishna, I did not like 
 the introduction of a name so connected with many obscene 
 and monstrous follies. I observed, therefore, that I always 
 had supposed, that Hindoos called the God and Father of all, 
 not Krishna, but Brihm, and I wished, therefore, to know 
 whether his God was Brihm, or somebody distinct from him? 
 Tlie name of Brihm appeared to cause great sensation among 
 his disciples, of whom some whispered with each other, and 
 one or two nodded and smiled, as if to say, '' that is the very 
 name." The pundit also smiled and bowed, and with the air 
 of a man who is giving instruction to a willing and promising 
 pupil, said, " a true word it is that there is only one God, 
 who is above all and in all things, and by whom all things are. 
 Many names there may be, and have been given to him who 
 is and is the same, but whom we also, as well as the other 
 Hindoos call Brihm. But there is a spirit in whom God is 
 more especially, and who cometh from God, and is with God, 
 and is likewise God, who hath made known to men the will 
 of the God and Father of all, whom we call Krishna, and 
 worship as God's image, and believe to be the same as the sun 
 * Surya. ' " 
 
 I now thought a fair opportunity was given me, and said, 
 with rather more fluency than I had hoped to do, ''0 piindit, 
 it is a true saying, and to be received of all men, that God is 
 every where, that there is no other besides him, that he dwells 
 in the heart and prompts every good thought and word." 
 
DOCTRINE OF SWAAMEE NARAIN. 117 
 
 ''Ullah Acbar," said one of the Mussulmans. "It is also 
 true, as you have well said, that it is by his Word, whom we 
 call his Son, who is with the Father, and in whom the Father 
 dwells, that the invisible God has made himself and his will 
 known to mankind. " Here one of the Mussulmans left the 
 room; perceiving which, and being anxious to keep the re- 
 mainder a little longer, I said, addressing the old Mussulman 
 sepoy who came with the Thakoor, " you, sir, know what I 
 mean, for you know what Mohammed has written of Jesus the 
 Son of Mary, that he was the breath of God and born of a vir- 
 gin. But is not the breath of a man, the son of his mouth? Is 
 not the word of a man his breath reduced to form and produced 
 by him? When, therefore, we say that Jesus, son of Mary, 
 is the Son of God, we mean that he is his word, his breath, 
 proceeding from him and one with him from all eternity. But 
 we cannot believe," I returned to the pundit, ''that the sun 
 which we see in the sky, can be either God, or that Word 
 who is one with him, since the sun rises and sets, is some- 
 times on this side of the world, and sometimes on that. But 
 God is every where at once, and fills all things." The pundit 
 replied, if I understood him right, that the sun is not God, 
 but even as God for brightness and glory. But he said that 
 their belief was, that there had been many avatars of God in 
 difterent lands, one to the Christians, another to the Mussul- 
 Qians, another to the Hindoos in time past, adding something 
 like a hint, that another avatar of Krishna, or the Sun, had 
 taken place in himself. I answered, '' Pundit-jee! God has 
 spoken in many ways and at many times by Prophets; but it 
 is hard to believe tliat a single avatar might not be sufficient 
 for the whole world. But on this and many other points, we 
 may, if it please God, talk hereafter." I then asked if he 
 could read the Persian character, and on his answering in the 
 negative, I expressed my concern that I had no copies of our 
 sacred books with me in the Nagree, but said that^if he would 
 accept a volume or two, by way of keeping me in his remem- 
 brance, I would send them to him either from Kairah or Bora- 
 bay. I then asked in what way he and his followers worship- 
 ped God, and finding that the question seemed to perplex 
 Mm, I made Abdullah read the Lord's Prayer in Hindoosta- 
 nee to show what I meant, and as a specimen of what we re- 
 peated daily. I found, however, that he supposed me to ask 
 in what form they worshipped God, and he therefore unrolled 
 a large picture in glaring colours, of a naked man with rays pro- 
 ceeding from his face like the sun, and two women fanning him, 
 the man white, the women black. I asked him how that could be 
 the God who filled every thing and was every where. He an- 
 swered that it was not.Qod himself, but the picture or form in 
 
118 DEPARTtTRE OP SWAAMEE NARAIN. 
 
 which God dwelt in his heart: I told him as well as I could, 
 ^or to saj the truth, my fluency had begun to fail,) what 
 (Christians and Mussulmans thought as to the worship of ima- 
 ges, but did not decline receiving some paltry little prints of 
 his divinity in various attitudes, which I said I should value 
 as keepsakes. I asked about castes, to which he answered, 
 that he did not regard the subject as of much importance, but 
 that he wished not to give offence; that people might eat se- 
 parately or together in this world, but that above *'oopur,'* 
 pointing to heaven, those distinctions would cease, where we 
 should be all " ek ekheejat," (one like another. ) A little fur- 
 ther conversation of no great consequence followed, which was 
 ended by my giving attar and pawn to the pundit, the two Tha- 
 koors, and some of the other more distinguished disciples 
 whom he pointed out to me. We mutually took down each 
 others names in writing. I again pressed him to let me see 
 him once more before I left the country, which he promised if 
 possible, and we bade adieu with much mutual good-will, and 
 a promise of praying for each other, which, by God's help I 
 mean to keep. On the whole it was plain that his advances to- 
 wards truth had not yet been so great as I had been told, but it 
 was also apparent that he had obtained a great power over a 
 wild people, which he used at present to a good purpose; and 
 though I feared to alarm him by beginning too rashly, I could 
 not but earnestly desire further means and opportunity of put- 
 ting him in a yet better way than he was now pursuing; but I 
 thought from all which I saw, that it would be to no advan- 
 tage to ask him to accompany me to Bombay. 
 
 In the evening Dr. Barnes and I proceeded eleven miles 
 more in our palanqueens to Kairah, bearers having been'sent 
 from that place to meet us. There is no regular system of 
 d&,khere, nor, (that I can learn,) in any part of this Presidency. 
 Bearers, or *' hamauls," as they call them by an Arabic word, 
 are hired at the different large towns either by the trip or by 
 the day; and if relays are required, they must be sent out from 
 some of these towns on purpose. The expense is very great 
 in comparison with the rate of travelling in other parts of India. 
 My journey of eleven miles cost me fifteen Baroda rupees, qf 
 twenty -five shillings, and that without carrying a single article 
 of clothes, or any thing save my writing-desk and pistols. 
 The night v/as but little cooler than the day had been, and the 
 road very dusty. It was moon-light, however, and I could 
 therefore observe that the country was of the same highly cul- 
 tivated, strongly enclosed, woody, and English character 
 which we had seen the whole way on this side of the Mhye. 
 
 About ten o'clock we reached Kairah, and were conducted 
 to the bungalow of Mr. Goode the Clergyman, who received 
 
Kairah. 119 
 
 us very hospitably, and had prepared a bed forme in an empty 
 bungalow separated from his only by a small field. Both these 
 were very neat and even pretty dwellings, but constructed 
 with much less regard to the climate than is usual on the other 
 side of India. Here the windows are generally small and 
 without glass, so as neither to admit any great body of air 
 when it is cool, nor to exclude the hot windj they have low 
 ceilings too, and are roofed with tiles, on which the sun beats 
 with great power. Nor are the verandahs so well constructed, 
 in my opinon, as those of Hindostan. The servants are either 
 Parsees or Portuguese, and the English language is much 
 more generally understood and spoken among them than in 
 the northern and eastern provinces. From Saturday the 26th 
 of March to Monday the 4th of April I remained at Kairah, 
 during which time I received great civility and kindness from 
 Mr. Goode the Chaplain, Major Sale of the 4th light dra- 
 goons, at this time commanding officer, and the other gentle- 
 men of the station. On Sunday I consecrated the Church, 
 which is a large and solid but clumsy building, lately finished. 
 On Wednesday I confirmed about 70 persons, and on Friday 
 and Sunday, (Good Friday and Easter day,) I preached. On 
 Saturday, before evening service, I consecrated the burial- 
 ground, and in the course of that day visited the regimental 
 school, the station library, and hospital. 
 
 The cantonment of Kairah stands about a mile and a half 
 from a small city of the same name, with a river between 
 them, crossed by a considerable wooden bridge, but now in 
 most places fordable. It is extensive, and, I think, well laid 
 out, with good barracks and an excellent hospital, which haa 
 only the defect of being built round a square, — a plan which 
 robs one-half the range, of all benefit from the breeze. By 
 this form, however, it is more conveniently and easily guarded 5 
 and the patients are secluded from any injurious intercourse 
 with their comrades, as well as from access to spirituous liquors. 
 To the prevention of this latter danger even while the men 
 are in health, a greater, or at least, a more successful atten- 
 tion seems to be paid in this cantonment than in any other 
 which I have visited. No dram-shop is allowed within its 
 bounds, and the only one which is tolerated, even in the neigh- 
 bourhood, is under so good control, that no great degree of 
 drunkenness appeared to exist among the European soldiers, 
 who are, indeed, some of the most respectable looking and 
 orderly men I have seen in India, and of whom, on the whole, 
 Mr. Goode has, according to his own statement, a very in- 
 teresting and attentive congregation. 
 
 The regimental school is in very good order. There are, 
 indeed, few children, the greater numl^er having been carried 
 
120 KAIRAH. 
 
 off bj a grievous sickness which prevailed amongst them last 
 year. But there are about forty adult soldiers, who either 
 naving never learned, or forgotten their reading and writing, 
 arehere instructed both in these and in arithmetic. I examined 
 these men, and was much pleased with the progress whicli 
 they had made, and with the account which I reeeived of their 
 diligence. 
 
 The station library is a very good room, with a small apart- 
 ment adjoining for a non-commissioned ofl&cer, who has the 
 care of the books which are made up from two difterent sources, 
 the one being a lending library containing the works usually 
 furnished by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; 
 the other a larger, more miscellaneous, and far more expen- 
 sive collection, furnished by the East India Company, and 
 containing, among others, Paley's Natural Theology, Gold- 
 smith's Animated Nature, Pinkerton's Geography, a good 
 Atlas, the Indian histories of Ormeand Wilks, and the novels 
 of the author of Waverley. The books published by the 
 Christian Knowledge Society are circulated in the manner 
 usually practised in the lending libraries of that institution, 
 and bear marks, not of ill usage, but of being well read, and 
 perhaps by no very delicate hands. The Company's books 
 are not to be taken away from the room in which they are de- 
 posited, a late regulation to that effect having been passed by 
 the commander-in-chief. Sir Charles Colville. I regret thia 
 restriction, because I am convinced that, in this climate, the 
 utility of the library will be much impaired by it, since men 
 will not read when they can amuse themselves in the open air, 
 nor when the sun is high will they, nor ought they, to walk 
 some distance to a library. I can, indeed, easily believe, that 
 while books were taken by the men to their quarters, some 
 •would be occasionally damaged, but it is surely better that 
 this should happen occasionally, rather than that the reason- 
 able and decent use of the books should be impeded, and 
 the munificence of government, in a great degree rendered 
 vain. 
 
 But even an occasional and restricted access to works such 
 as I have described, is doubtless a very valuable privilege; 
 and, altogether, I have seen no Indian station, (Meerut ex- 
 cepted,) from which I have derived so much comfort and 
 pleasure as from Kairah. The worst is its extreme unheal thi- 
 ness; besides the burning heat, under which all Guzerat suf- 
 fers, and in which it is more unfavourably circumstanced than 
 any other province in India, there is something in the nature 
 of the soil, which, like the Terrai, though not in so fatal a 
 degree, affects mankind, particularly Europeans, with fever^ 
 ague, and the other complaints of tropical climates. The 
 
KAIRAH- 121 
 
 havoc among the Europedti troops during the hot months, and, 
 still more, during the rains, is dreadful; and even my Hin- 
 doostanees and Bengalees were many of them afiected in a, 
 way which reminded me much of *'the Belt of Death;" one 
 was taken ill after another, and, though all recovered, all 
 were so thoroughly alarmed, that I never witnessed more ala- 
 crity displayed by them than when I gave orders to prepare 
 for marching. Archdeacon Barnes and I felt nothing like 
 indisposition. Here, as in the Terrai, the servants ascribed 
 their illness to the badness of the water. The majority of the 
 wells are certainly brackish, but there is one very fine one of 
 excellent quality at the Military hospital, to which I appre- 
 hend they would, by using my name, have had free access. 
 I am myself inclined to impute the unhealthiness of the sta- 
 tion to the quantity of saltpetre in the soil, a circumstance 
 in which this district appears to resemble lower Bengal. At 
 the same time, it should seem that the spot on which the can- 
 tonment stands is peculiarly unfortunate, since the neighbour- 
 ing city, and even the artillery lines, though only separated 
 from the rest by a river, are reckoned much more healthy. 
 
 The city of Kairah is a large and tolerably neat town, sur- 
 rounded by a lofty stone wall, with semicircular bastions, in 
 good repair, and sufficient to keep off either nightly robbers, 
 or parties of irregular cavalry. To sudden attacks of both 
 kinds, notwithstanding the vicinity of the cantonments, it 
 would otherwise still be, (as it has been in times past,) ex- 
 posed. The streets within, though narrow, are clean, and 
 the houses solid and lofty, with sloping tiled roofs, and a good 
 deal of carving exhibited on the wood-work of their gable- 
 ends and verandahs. Near the centre of the town are a large 
 Jain temple and school; the former consisting of many small 
 apartments up and down stairs, and even under ground, with 
 a good deal of gaudy ornament, and some very beautiful carv- 
 ing in a dark wood like oak. In one of the upper rooms is 
 a piece of mechanism something like those moving clock-work 
 groupes of kings, armies, gods, and goddesses which are oc- 
 casionally carried about our own country by Italians and 
 Frenchmen, in which sundry divinities dance and salaam, with 
 a sort of musical accompaniment. These figures are made 
 chiefly of the same black wood which I have described. 
 What they last showed us was a cellar below ground, ap- 
 proached by a very narrow passage, and containing, on an 
 altar of the usual construction, the four statues of sitting 
 men, which are the most frequent and peculiar objects of Jain 
 idolatry. They are of white marble, but had, (as seems to 
 have been the case with many of the images of ancient Greece,) 
 their eyes of silver, which gleamed in a very dismal and ghostly 
 
122 KAIRAH. 
 
 roanner in the light of a solitary lamp which was burninji: be- 
 fore them, aided by a yet dimmer ray which penetrated from 
 above through two narrov/ apertures, like flues, in the vault- 
 ing. We were very civilly conducted over the whole build- 
 ing by one of the junior priests, the senior pundit of the place 
 remaining as if absorbed in heavenly things, immovable and 
 silent during the whole of our stay. While I was in the 
 temple a good many worshippers entered, chiefly women, 
 each of whom, first touching one of the bells which hung 
 from the roof, bent to the ground before one or other of the 
 idols, depositing, in some instances, flowers, or sugar-candy 
 before it. There seemed no reluctance to admit me and Mr. 
 Williams, the judge and magistrate, who accompanied me, 
 to any part of the building; but the priests drove back, with- 
 out any ceremony, such of our attendants as wished to fol- 
 low us. 
 
 Near this temple is the Adawlut, a handsome building, 
 with pillars in the Grecian style, having its attic story raised 
 high above the town, and containing very convenient apart- 
 ments for the Judge and his family. Separated by a narrow 
 street is the prison, a large and strong building, which was, 
 nevertheless, nearly forced eight or ten years ago, by a mob 
 of Coolies who had determined to release one of their associ- 
 ates, who was in confinement. Mr. Ironside, the senior 
 Judge, nearly lost his life on that occasion. 
 
 During the Saturday before we left Kairah, one of my ser- 
 vants was severely stung by a scorpion. He caught and 
 killed the animal, and brought it to Dr. Smith, who, however, 
 did not apply it to the wound, regarding it as a superstitious 
 remedy which he has never known do any good. Nothing, 
 indeed, according to his experience, is really serviceable ex- 
 cept patience, and a lotion of vinegar and water; and the last 
 rather as occupying the patient's attention, than from any di- 
 rect eflicacy to relieve the pain. This is v^ry severe, and 
 continues six or eight hours; after which it generally goes 
 away by degrees. ' It very seldom, if ever, happens that the 
 injury is of more lasting consequences; but, during this time, 
 Dr. Smith has seen strong and courageous men crying like 
 children, from the extremity of their anguish. The bite of 
 the centipede he considers as worse than that of the scorpion, 
 and a very large insect of that kind was killed during Divine 
 Service on Saturday, creeping up the shoe of one of the sol- 
 diers. The beginning of the hot weather, and the first ten 
 days of the rainy season, are the times at which venomous 
 animals are most active and troublesome all over India; nor, 
 in spite of these two cases, have I any reason to suppose that 
 they are more numerous in Guzerat than elsewhere. 
 
PETITION OF SWAARIEE NARAIN. 123 
 
 In different parts of this province particularly near the 
 town of Kuppurgunge, are found numbers of cornelians and 
 other pebbles, particularly of the kind called in England 
 "mocha stones," whicli the shopkeepers of Cambay cut, po- 
 lish, and set very neatly. The cornelians are always roasted 
 in a strong fire before any thing is done to them; nor is it 
 known, till this has taken place, whether they are worth any 
 thing or no. The silversmiths of Cutch and Cattyroar em- 
 boss very neatly, by filling the cup, watch-case, box, or other 
 vessel with gum-lack, and punching it in, to the figure re- 
 quired, with a small chisel. Major Sale showed me a watch- 
 case and small tankard, very prettily ornamented in this 
 manner, with flowers, elephants, and difterent birds and 
 animals. 
 
 On April the 4th, Easter Monday, we left Kairah for Deh- 
 wan, a village seven coss distant. Our road was through a 
 well-cultivated country, with strong and high green hedges, 
 a fine show of hedge-row timber, and sandy lanes, so narrow, 
 that on meeting a string of hackeries we were obliged to break 
 a gap into a field, in order to let them pass us. We met on 
 the way about fifteen or sixteen miserable, half-naked, and 
 half-starved emigrants, from Cattywar, who said they had 
 lingered there till most of their cattle were dead, and they 
 themselves and their children nearly so; nor did they now 
 know where to go to find a happier country. 
 
 At Dehwan we found a handsome pagoda, with a convent 
 attached to it, embosomed in tall trees, and were met by the 
 Maharatta manager of Pitland, a man of some consequence, 
 who had the title of '' Eaee." 
 
 I forgot to mention in its proper place, that during my con- 
 tinuance in Kairah, I received a petition from Swaamee Na- 
 rain, which, unfortunately, marked but too clearly the small- 
 ness of his advances beyond the usual limits of Hindooism. 
 It was written in very good English, but signed by him in 
 Nagree, and was brought to me by two of the persons wbom 1 
 had seen among his disciples. Its purport was to request my 
 influence with government to obtain an endowment for a tem- 
 ple which he was building to Luckshmee Narain, the goddess of 
 plenty, and also for a hospital and place of reception, which 
 he wished to institute in the same neighbourhood, for pilgrims 
 and poor travellers. I was at some pains to explain to these 
 people that I was only a traveller, and with no authority in 
 the government, and that, as being a Christian, I could not 
 attempt any thing which v/as to encourage the worship of 
 images. I told them, however, that I would convey their 
 petition to Mr. Elphinstone, so far as regarded the alms-house 
 and relief of poor travellers, and that J would report, as I was 
 
 Vol. II.— 11 
 
124 PITLAND. 
 
 bound to do, the good account which I heard from all quar- 
 ters of the system of morals preached by Swaamee Narain, and 
 acted on by his disciples. From Mr. Ironside, who knows 
 him well, and who speaks very favourably of him, I found 
 that when expostulated with on the worship of images, the 
 pundit often expressed his conviction of their vanity, but 
 pleaded that he feared to offend the prejudices of the people 
 too suddenly, and that for ignorant and carnal minds, such 
 outward aids to devotion were necessary. These opinions are, 
 indeed no more than some Christians of the Romish Church 
 express^ but since I have heard them, I confess I have 
 thought less favourably of his simplicity and honesty of cha- 
 racter, and have entertained fewer hopes of being able to ren- 
 der him any spiritual service. Still, as loosening prejudices, his 
 ministry may, by God's mercy, be useful to his countrymen. 
 
 The day was intensely hot, and notwithstanding the abun- 
 dance of trees in Guzerat, they are never disposed in groves 
 so as to furnish a convenient shelter for a camp. Ours was in 
 the middle of a ploughed field; and though, during a part of 
 the day, the breeze was strong enough to admit of tatties, the 
 burden of the sun in the afternoon was more than the awnings 
 of our canvas habitations could resist, and fell heavy on us. 
 We had reason to be thankful that there were only ten more 
 days before we should arrive in Surat. Had we taken the lon- 
 ger round by Mhow, we must have expected to feel the cli- 
 mate severely. 
 
 I have had several occasions within the few last days to ob- 
 serve that the English on this side of India call the Hindoos 
 " Gentoos," a name which, though commonly used for them 
 in Europe, I never heard in Bengal or Hindostan. I cannot 
 learn that it is taken from any Indian dialect; and the Guze- 
 ratteeprofessorsof the religion of Brahma call themselves, here 
 as elsewhere *' Hindooee." I suspect it is only a corruption 
 of the Portuguese jargon " Gentao," a Gentile, and may rank 
 witbthe compound " Campao" of Bengal. 
 
 April 5. — This morning we proceeded, eight coss, to Pit- 
 land, where we found Archdeacon Barnes just arrived, he 
 having come by dak during the night from Kairah. Pitland 
 is a large town, with a good stone rampart, and, with the dis- 
 trict around it, belongs to the Guicwar Raja. The environs 
 are fertile and shady, with noble banyan trees, and several 
 large tanks, and there are a good many temples. The popula- 
 tion is of about 15,000 people. 
 
 The Khamdar, Kooseah Baee, the same who met me yester- 
 day, again received me with much civility at the entrance of 
 the town, and conducted me to the encampment. He also 
 expressed his hope that I would let him show me the curiosi- 
 
* BEGGARS. 125 
 
 ties of his town, in the cool of the evening, to which I assent- 
 ed, more out of civility than from an expectation of finding 
 any thing worth notice. He seemed pleased, and soon after 
 sent a very plentiful dinner for the servants and every body 
 in the camp, amounting, altogether, to no fewer than 350 per- 
 sons. He said that he sent this by the Maharaja's order, and 
 because this was the last of his towns that I should visit. In 
 the evening too, when we prepared merely for a ride round 
 the town, we found that we were expected to go in much 
 pomp to the fort and see fireworks there. I was annoyed at 
 being thus ensnared into a visit, but could not civilly draw 
 back, and w^as accordingly received with a salute from the 
 ramparts, and underwent the penance of sitting in a sort of 
 unfinished pavilion in solemn durbar a good hour, while some 
 Roman candles and rockets were let off. The fort is large, but 
 old, and in bad repair; its garrison seemed to consist of about 
 20 or 25 sepoys, dressed in red, with caps like those of the 
 King of Oude's troops. Nothing was ever devised more ridi- 
 culously ugly than this head dress, but the men were cleanly 
 dressed and accoutred, and presented arms with much smart- 
 ness. The ceremony concluded by his giving me and my 
 friends some shawls, and my returning the compliment by a 
 similar present, the means of making which had been kindly 
 and considerately supplied me by Mr. Williams. 
 
 An unusual number of beggars were assembled at this sta- 
 tion, some of whom, however, professed to have come from a 
 distance from having heard my "name." Among them were 
 two natives of Cabul who repeated Persian poetry, and a very 
 holy yogi, his naked and emaciated body covered over with 
 white powder, and an iron implement, like a flesh-hook, in 
 his hand, which is frequently carried by devotees in this part 
 of India, but the meaning of which I forgot to inquire. There 
 were divers miserable painted females, who also said that they 
 came from far to offer their services and salutations to "huz- 
 zoor;" and, lastly, there were half-a-dozen or more half-starv- 
 ed and more than half-naked figures, who had children at their 
 breasts and in their hands, and who had no other claim on my 
 attention than the strongest of all, "ah. Lord Sahib, our ba- 
 bies are dying of hunger!" On the whole, however, the num- 
 ber of beggars in every part of Guzerat has been less than I 
 expected to find it in a year so unpropitious, and, certainly, 
 not more, taking one day with another, than any man who 
 should travel slowly, and with some degree of state and pub- 
 licity through England might find in its market-towns and vil- 
 lages. My march, I can easily perceive, attracts considera- 
 ble notice. The people of the towns and villages all throng 
 to the road-side, the hedges and windows to look at us, and I 
 
126 GAUIMA. 
 
 have consented to be a little longer on the road, and a good 
 deal more dusted than I otlierwise might be, rather than seem 
 to underrate the marks of distinction which the Raja has as- 
 signed me, or to disappoint tl\e towns-people of their show. 
 We therefore go on in good order and in marching time the 
 Avhole way, with the tawdry banner of the Guicwar floating before 
 us, the Nagari beating on our approach to a town, and Cabul 
 decked out in full oriental costume, with the bridle and sad- 
 dle which were given me at Baroda. Well it is for these poor 
 peasants that the Maharatta banner and kettle-drum are now 
 to them no more than objects of curiosity and amusement. 
 Ten years ago there were few parts of India where such a sight 
 and sound would not have been a sign of flight and tears; the 
 villagers instead of crowding to see us, would have come out 
 indeed, but with their hands clasped, kissing the dust, and 
 throwing down before the invader all their wives' silver orna- 
 ments, with bitter entreaties that the generous conqueror 
 would condescend to take all they had and do them no further 
 injury; and accounting themselves but too happy if those 
 prayers were heard, so that their houses were left unburnt, 
 and their wives and daughters inviolate ! War is, doubtless, 
 a dreadful evil every where, but war, as it is carried on in 
 these countries, appears to have liorrors which an European 
 soldier can scarcely form an idea of. 
 
 Jipril 6.— We proceeded about seventeen miles to Gauima, 
 a village near which we were to cross the sands at the mouth 
 of the Mhye, and v/hich would save us almost a day's march 
 in our journey to Broach. The country though still, general- 
 ly speaking, well cultivated, was less fertile and more woody 
 and wild than that we had lately passed: the trees, however, 
 were all of the same round-topped character, and I was con- 
 tinually reminded of some of the green lanes round Hodnet. 
 
 We found our tents pitched on a small eminence, enjoying 
 a delightful cool breeze, which sufficiently indicated the 
 neighbourhood of an arm of the sea. The estuary, however, 
 of the Mliye was not visible, being shut out from us by inter- 
 vening jungle, though beyond this last, a blue and distant line 
 of woods appeared, obviously showing that a wide valley of 
 some kind intervened. As we had received our accounts of 
 this place, and its perfect practicability for the passage of horses, 
 carriages, and camels, from a gentleman high in office and long 
 experienced in this part of the country, we had none of us the 
 smallest doubt but that the ford would be an easy one; and I 
 was much surprised and disappointed to learn from the Potail 
 of the village, who came to call on me, that during spring 
 tides the water was deep enough, even at ebb, to drown a 
 camel; that the ferry-boat was only calculated for foot-pas- 
 
PASSAGE OF THE MYHE. 127 
 
 sengers; and that, hearing of our approach, he had sent the 
 day before to warn us that the ford was impracticable, though, 
 unfortunately, his message did not appear to have arrived in 
 Pitland time enough to stop us. The river was, he said, a 
 coss and a half wide, of which, when the tide was out, about 
 a third was occupied by water, and the rest was all mud and 
 muscle-banks. Many Sahibs had passed that way, but, he 
 thought, always in boats, and certainly not at spring-tide I 
 The nearest place where, in his judgment, camels could pass, 
 was Ometa, nine coss to the north, and a very little to the 
 south of Fusilpoor where w^e crossed the river before. This 
 was very provoking to us all, and I much regretted that I had 
 allowed myself to be dissuaded from a plan which I had once 
 entertained of going to Cambay, and getting a passage there, 
 in some of the country boats, to Tunkaria Bunder, a road near 
 Broach, where we might be met by the little vessel which the 
 government had placed at my disposal. From Cambay, in- 
 deed, we were now only a day's march, but without previous 
 notice no vessel could be got there; and no plan appeared 
 practicable of gaining my point, so far as Broach was concern- 
 ed, which was to reach that city by Sunday, unless we could 
 by some means or other get over this formidable frith. Dr. 
 Smith kindly volunteered to go down in Archdeacon Barnes' 
 palanqueen to reconnoitre, and have some conversation with 
 the ferrymen. The account which he brought back was suffi- 
 ciently unfavourable, and entirely corresponded with that of 
 the Potail. The boat, however, he said, was a large and good 
 one, and two other boats might be obtained, so that he pro- 
 posed that we ourselves, and our baggage, should pass here, 
 and that the horses and unloaded camels should make a forced 
 march by Ometa to join us on the other side. It at once, how- 
 ever, occurred to me, that the horses, at least, might with 
 proper management swim over; and Bappoor Maharatta, on 
 being consulted, said that, unloaded, he thought the camels 
 might get through also, if they took the very lowest ebb, and 
 did their work in the day time; accordingly we sent to hire a 
 sufficient number of carts to carry our goods down to the wa- 
 ter's edge, since over the slippery ouse of the river no loaded 
 camel could pass, and a similar number were engaged to meet 
 us on the other side of the channel from the village of Dopkah. 
 We also summoned two small ferry-boats from Dehwan and 
 a village between us and Ometa, to assist in passing us over, 
 and sent off this evening as many of our things as we could 
 spare with the khansaman, a havildar, and fourteen sepoys, to 
 the water's edge, in the hope that they might get over by the 
 night's tide, and leave the morning's ebb free for the passage 
 of the animals. 
 
 11* 
 
128 DOPKAH. 
 
 The boats, however, were not ready 5 and nlext morning, 
 April 7, when I went to the scene of action a little before five, 
 I found the embarkation going on slowly, though tolerably 
 prosperously. The breakfast-things and a few chairs had pass- 
 ed over, and the carts were employed in conveying the tents 
 and other goods slowly over the deep ouse to the channel. 
 The ebb was now pretty nearly at its lowest. From high-water 
 mark, where the bank was steep, woody, and intersected by 
 several narrow and deep ravines, was rather less than a mile 
 of wet muddy sand and sludge, with streams of salt water in 
 different parts, about as high as a man's v/aist. Then follow- 
 ed, perhaps, half-a-mile of water, where we saw the boats wait- 
 ing for us. We got into the smallest boats from our horses' 
 backs, and taking off their saddles, led one to each side ; the 
 saeeses, who were with us in the boat, holding the halters. 
 Four horses more were in the same manner fastened, two on 
 a side, to the large boat, which was under the care of Abdul- 
 lah ; and we thus proceeded prosperously, though our poor 
 steeds were grievously frightened when they felt themselves 
 out of their depth. We ourselves were a little dismayed on 
 finding, as we drew near the opposite beach, that the stream 
 flowed close under its deep side, and that the ghat for landing 
 was very crumbling, abrupt, and difficult for every animal but 
 man. It is very clear, indeed, that under such circumstances 
 as the present, no horses had ever passed at this place before; 
 but ours were all unincumbered, and of good courage; and 
 when let loose, with the land in sight, scrambled up happily 
 without receiving any damage. The Company's cavalry fol- 
 lowed in the same way that we had done, and then the Maha- 
 rattas. I had directed these to stay to the last, but there was 
 no keeping them back ; and, as the tide by this time was flow- 
 ing again, the camels were obliged to wait till the afternoon, 
 when they also passed, though with some difficulty, yet safely. 
 
 The village of Dopkah, where we remained for the day, is 
 about two miles from the shore, the interval being wild and 
 jungly, and I had here again occasion to observe, what had 
 struck me repeatedly before, that not only palms of every kind 
 are rare in Guzerat, but that bamboos are never seen either in 
 jungles or cultivated grounds. What peculiarity it is of soil or 
 of climate, which deprives this district of two of the most useful 
 and ornamental plants which India produces, I cannot guess. 
 
 Dopkah is a small village, prettily situated, belonging to 
 the Maharaja. It is completely out of any usually frequent- 
 ed road, and I had the mortification of finding that our com- 
 ing with so numerous a party occasioned not only surprise, 
 but alarm and distress ; the Potail shed many tears, anticipa- 
 ting a complete destruction to his remaining stock of hay, a 
 
POTAILS OP GUZERAT. 129 
 
 loss which no pecuniary payment could, in such a year as this, 
 make up to him. I pitied him and his villagers heartily, and 
 gave directions that all the neighbouring hamlets should be 
 laid under contribution, so that each would only have to fur- 
 nish a little, and none need be quite stripped. Bappoo Ma- 
 haratta offered to pay all demands for boats, hackeries, coolies, 
 &c. ', but having some doubt how far the peasants were safe in 
 his hands, I said that I wished to see them all myself. I had, 
 in consequence, assembled before my tent a most wild and 
 extraordinary group of four village Potails, twenty -four boat- 
 men, twenty-seven carters, and fifty coolies, who were so well 
 pleased at receiving any thing, that when I had distributed 
 among them the payments to which I thought them fully en- 
 titled, they actually testified their content by acclamation. It 
 was, indeed, an expensive day's work, but did not, after all, 
 amount to more than about 37 rupees ; a sum which, in Eng- 
 land would be thought little enough for the trajet of such a 
 party as ours over such a frith. 
 
 The Potails of Guzerat are very inferior in dress, manners, 
 and general appearance, to the Zemindars of Hindostan. Their 
 manner, however though less polished, is more independent ; 
 and here, as in Central India, instead of standing with joined 
 hands in the presence of a superior they immediatly sit down, 
 even if they do not advance to embrace him. Almost all of 
 them, as well as their ryuts, and indeed all the inhabitants of 
 the country, are armed, some with bows and arrows, and all, 
 or nearly all, with sabres. Their dress is generally ragged 
 and dirty, and they seem to pay less attention to personal 
 cleanliness than any Hindoos whom I have met with. Some 
 of the peasants who were assembled were tall stout men, but 
 the average were considerably under the middle size. 
 
 The day was hot, and we had, unfortunately, neither shade 
 nor breeze. I left two sepoys at this village sick, with one 
 convalescent to take care of them. The distance from hence 
 to Baroda is only about eighteen miles, and I thought it most 
 humane to take them no further from their homes, since Dr. 
 Smith hoped that, with the help of a single day's rest, they 
 would be well able to return thither. The convalescent man 
 was very unwilling to leave our party, but it was necessary 
 to be positive with him. 
 
 Some complaints were brought by the country people against 
 the sepoys, for bullying and maltreating themj and I was com- 
 pelled to send a sharp reprimand to the jemautdar for not 
 keeping his men in more order. I do not remember any com- 
 plaints of the sort occurring against the Hindoostanee sepoys, 
 (luring the whole course of my journey; but lam not sure 
 whether they are really better behaved, or whether these Gu- 
 
130 SAKRA — TEKARIA. 
 
 zerattee peasants may be more quick in resenting, and less 
 patient under injuries, than our subjeets in the northern pro- 
 vinces. I own that I suspect the former to be the case ; yet 
 in exterior, smartness of drill, and obedience to officers, no- 
 thing can exceed the little Bombay sepoy. They are, how- 
 ever, evidently a more lively and thoughtless, and I think a 
 more irascible and less sober race than their Hindoostanee 
 brethren ; and such men, with arms in their hands, are apt to 
 be rash and peremptory. 
 
 April 8. — We continued our journey to a village called 
 Sakra, on the banks of the same small river, (the Dhandur,) 
 which flows by Baroda. The distance was about fourteen 
 miles, the greater part of which was over a black soil, with 
 many deep cracks, chiefly cultivated in cotton, and, apparent- 
 ly, of inferior fertility to the red sandy soil which we had 
 found every where north-west of the Mhye. At Sakra we met 
 > a large party of poor Cattywar emigrants, who had formed 
 themselves, (as they said,) out of pure want, into a society of 
 religious beggars and jugglers, with the usual equipments of 
 beads, peacocks' feathers, tame snakes, and music. I observ- 
 ed to some of them that they were strong, able-bodied men, 
 and might work ; to which they answered, ''How can we work 
 when God gives no rain ?" I asked whither they were going, 
 and a poor woman replied "a begging." They were very 
 thankful for a trifling charity which 1 gave to their chief, whom 
 they called their ''Khaleefa," (Caliph) a title which I had 
 not heard before in India. Here, however, it is one of many 
 circumstances which marks our approach to the Arabian Gulph. 
 The price of flour at present was about three anas the seer, 
 or three half-pence per pound English, which even in England 
 would be thought a grievous rate, how much more in a land 
 where there is so little money stirring, and where the prices 
 of labour are so much lower than in England ! 
 
 April 9. — We went thirteen miles more to a village called 
 Tekaria, where we re-entered the Company's territory. The 
 country still, and, indeed, all the way to Broach, was chiefly 
 cultivated with cotton, the roads very bad and worn into deep 
 ruts, the trees less tall, spreading, and numerous than we had 
 been accustomed to see. 
 
 Mr. Boyd, the Collector of Broach, kindly sent two revenue 
 officers, a tussildar, and an inferior functionary, w^ith some 
 suwarrs to act as guides, and to procure us the usual supplies. 
 The tussildar and his assistant were old men of the Mahom- 
 medan sect of Boras, and, whether justly so or no, seemed 
 regarded as usurers and oppressors by tlie people under their 
 care. The Boras in generel are unpopular, and held in the 
 same estimation for parsimony that the Jews are in England. 
 
BROACH. 131 
 
 Abdullah said, translating the expressions of some of the com- 
 mon people, concerning them, that tlrey were " an abominable 
 nation." 
 
 April 10. — This day we reached Broach, a large ruinous 
 city on the northern bank of the Nerbudda. We were hos- 
 pitably entertained in the house of Mr. Corsellis, the commer- 
 cial agent. His dwelling, as usual in this Presidency, is in 
 the middle of the town, but on an elevated terrace within the 
 ramparts of the old fort, and commanding an extensive view 
 of the river, which is a noble sheet of water of, I should guess, 
 two miles across even at ebb tide. It is very shallow, how- 
 ever, except at flood, and even then admits no vessels beyond 
 the bar at Tunkaria Bunde larger than a moderate-sized ligh- 
 ter. The boats wliich navigate it are rigged with large lateen 
 sails, instead of square or lug, another peculiarity in which the 
 habits of this side of India approach those of the Levant and 
 the Arabian sea, rather than those of Bengal. Broach, by the 
 help of these boats, drives on a considerable trade in cotton 
 which it sends down to Bombay. It is now, however, a poor 
 and dilapidated place, and also reckoned very hot and un- 
 wholesome. For its heat I can answer, though Mr. Corsellis, 
 having been a good deal in Calcutta with Lord Wellesley, 
 keeps his house far cooler than is usually done on this side of 
 India ; and it is, I understand, remarked in Malwah, though 
 I cannot give any probable reason for the difference, that the 
 black soil, such as we have lately been traversing, is more un- 
 healthy than the redder kinds. Broach has a small but neat 
 room within the enclosure of the Judges' cutcherry, fitted up 
 and furnished as a Church, in which I preached and adminis- 
 tered the Sacrament to about twelve persons. The whole con- 
 gregation consisted of about twenty. Mr. Jeffries, the Chap- 
 lain of Surat, comes over hither once a month, and was now 
 Mr. Corsellis's guest. 
 
 We dined early, and in the afternoon enjoyed, though al- 
 most 40 miles from the open sea, a fine south-west sea- 
 breeze, which came up with the flood-tide and cooled the air 
 very pleasantly. This seems one of the few favourable cir- 
 cumstances in the climate of the place, and even this is not 
 always to be counted on. In fact, by all which I had as yet 
 learned of the climate of the Bombay Presidency, and hy all 
 which I had seen of the pale complexions and premature signs 
 of old age which distinguish the civil and military servants of 
 the Company in Guzerat, from those in the upper provinces 
 of Bengal, and even in Calcutta itself, I was led to conclude 
 that, though Bombay itself might enjoy, as they all assured 
 me it did, an agreeable temperature during many months in 
 the year, there was no part of India, so generally unfriendly 
 
132 HOSPITAL FOR ANIMALS, &C. 
 
 to European health as Guzerat, and, with the single excep- 
 tion of Poonah, the otl>er continental dependencies of this 
 Presidency. Nor do its inhabitants seem to take advantage, 
 as they might do, of the few alleviations and remedies of heat 
 which are recurred to by the English on the other side of 
 Indian I have seen several houses without punkahs. Their 
 tatties are ill made and ill managed; their roofs, instead of 
 pucka or thatch, are composed of thin and ill made tiles 
 which are scarcely any defence against the sun. The Eu- 
 ropean comforts and luxuries which their shops supply, are 
 said to be both dearer and worse than those of Calcutta, and 
 though they all complain, with apparent reason, of the high 
 price and inferior quality of provisions and labour, they are 
 unacquainted with the comfortable and economical arrange- 
 ments which enable the military officers of the different sta- 
 tions of the Bengal establishment to keep flocks, slaughter 
 bullocks, and import wine, &c. in common. 
 
 At Broach is one of those remarkable institutions which 
 have made a good deal of noise in Europe as instances of 
 Hindoo benevolence to inferior anim*als. I mean hospitals 
 for sick and infirm beasts, birds, and insects. I was not 
 able to visit it, but Mr. Corsellis described it as a very dirty 
 and neglected place, which though it has considerable endow- 
 ments in land, only serves to enrich the brahmins who manage 
 it. They have really animals of several different kinds there, 
 not only those which are accounted sacred by the Hindoos, as 
 monkeys, peacocks, &c. but horses, dogs, and cats, and they 
 have also, in little boxes, an assortment of lice and fleas. It 
 is not true, however, that they feed those pensioners on the 
 flesh of beggars hired for the purpose. The brahmins say 
 that insects, as well as the other inmates of their infirmary, 
 are fed with vegetables only, such as rice, &c. How the in- 
 sects thrive I did not hear, but the old horses and dogs, nay, 
 the peacocks and apes, are allowed to starve, and the only 
 creatures said to be in any tolerable plight are some milch 
 cows, which may be kept from other motives than charity. 
 
 Another curiosity in this neighbourhood is the celebrated 
 bur or banyan tree, called Kuveer Bur, from a saint who is 
 said to have planted it. It stands on, and entirely covers an 
 island of the Nerbudda about twelve miles above Broach. Of 
 this tree, which has been renowned ever since the first coming 
 of the Portuguese to India, which is celebrated by our early 
 voyagers and by Milton, and which the natives tell us, boast- 
 ed a shade sufficient!}^ broad to shelter 10,000 horse, a consi- 
 derable part has been washed away with the soil on which it 
 stood, within these few years, by the freshes of the river, but 
 enough remains, as I was assured, to make it one of the no- 
 
KIM CHOWKEE SERAI, 133 
 
 blest groves in the world, and well worthy of all the admira- 
 tion which it has received. This I would gladly have seen, 
 but I had too many motives to urge me on to Bombay to al- 
 low of my sacriiicing, as I apprehended I must have done, 
 two days for the purpose of going and returning. Had I 
 known all the difficulties of the usual ferry at Broach, I should 
 have been tempted to march my camp round by a ford near 
 this famous tree^ but this, like most other matters respecting 
 Indian travelling, I had to learn by experience. 
 
 ^pril 11.— This day we crossed the Nerbudda, a task at- 
 tended with considerable expense, and great delay and dif- 
 ficulty, but, happily, without harm to man or beast. There 
 was only one horse-boat properly provided with a platform, 
 and that of small dimensions, only fit to carry four horses at 
 most, while the going and returning took up at least an hour. 
 The camels were therefore, to be packed in the common boats 
 used on the river, which were indeed large and stout enough, 
 but such as they were very unwilling to enter, and were 
 forced in with great labour and difficulty, as well as much 
 beating and violence to the poor animal sj we got over, how- 
 ever, soon after dark in the evening, and slept at a small vil- 
 lage named Oklaisir about four miles and a half from the 
 southern bank. We crossed over, ourselves, in a stout boat, 
 called here a bundur boat, I suppose from " bundur," a har- 
 bour, with two masts and two lateen sails, which was lent us 
 by our kind host, Mr. Corsellis. 
 
 April 12. — We rode to Kim Chowkee, about sixteen miles, 
 through a wilder country than we had lately seen, with a 
 good deal of jungle and some herds of deer; at Kim Chowkee 
 is a large Serai, called here *^Durrumsallah," which is kept 
 in good repair, having a picquet of sepoys to protect passen- 
 gers from robbers; and, in one angle of the building, a 
 roomy but hot and ill-contrived bungalow for European tra- 
 vellers. We found here, (that is, in the low corridores and 
 verandahs of the building,) a considerable crowd of Borah in- 
 habitants of Surat, who had come out thus far to meet the 
 MouUah of their sect, whose usual residence is in the city, 
 but who had now been on a spiritual journey into Malwah, 
 where he had narrowly escaped death in the quarrel between 
 his sect and the Patans at Mundissore. The Patans, indeed, 
 had declared, in revenge for the death of their own preacher, 
 whose slaughter I have already mentioned, that the Moullah 
 should never return to Surat alive, and the news of his near 
 approach, and of his being on the safe side of the Nerbudda 
 had called out an enthusiasm in his people, such as the sober 
 and money-making Borahs seem to be not often suscepti- 
 ble of. 
 
134 SURAT. 
 
 The men whom me met here to-day were grave, wealthy- 
 looking burghers, travelling in covered carts, drawn, each ot 
 them, by two of the large and handsome Guzerattee oxen, 
 and ornamented and equipped in a style which made them by 
 no means inconvenient or inelegant vehicles. One which 
 was destined to receive the Moullah on his arrival, w^as a sort 
 of miniature coach or palanqueen carriage shaped like a coach, 
 with Venetian blinds, and very handsomely painted dark 
 green. The oxen had all bells round their necks, and the 
 harness of many was plated with massive silver ornaments. 
 The Moullah did not arrive so soon as he was expected, 
 otherwise the Serai would have oftered the spectacle of a cu- 
 rious mixture of creeds; as it was, we had Mussulmans of 
 three different sects, (Omar, Ali, and Hussun,) Hindoos of al- 
 most every caste from brahmins to sweepers, clivers worship- 
 pers of lire, several Portuguese Roman Catholics, an English 
 Bishop and Archdeacon with one lay-member of their sect, a 
 Scottish Presbyterian, and two poor Greeks from Trebizond, 
 who were on a begging journey to redeem their families from 
 slavery. The whole number of lodgers in and about the Serai, 
 probably, did not fall short of 500 persons. What an admi- 
 rable scene for Eastern romance would such an inn as this 
 aflford ! 
 
 Jipril 13.— From Kim Chowkee to the river Taptee is al- 
 most fourteen miles, through a country still wild, and ill-cul- 
 tivated, though, apparently, not unfruitful. The district is 
 one of those recently acquired by the Company from the 
 ruins of the Peishwah's empire; and it struck me that its ne- 
 glected state was indicative of internal misgovernment; but I 
 afterwards learned, that this apparent desolation does not ex- 
 tend far from the road-side, and that, in point of fact, the 
 Collectorship is a very productive one. The banks of the 
 Taptee are prettily edged with gardens, and here, at length, 
 the coco-nut tree re-appeared. The tide was out, and we 
 passed the stream by fording; on the other bank we were met 
 by Mr. Homer, the Senior Judge of the Adawlut, a very cle- 
 ver and agreeable man, who had kindly asked us to his house, 
 and had now brought carriages to meet us. 
 
 From the river-side to the gates of Surat are four miles and 
 a half, through gardens and a deep sandy lane; thence we 
 drove through the city, nearly two miles, to Mr. Homer's 
 house, where we found spacious, but very hot, apartments 
 provided for us. Surat, or as the natives pronounce it, Soo- 
 rut, (beauty,) is a very large and ugly city, with narrow wind- 
 ing streets, and high houses of timber-frames filled up with 
 bricks, the upper stories projecting over each other. The 
 wall is entire and in good repair, with semicircular bastions 
 
SURAT. 1 35 
 
 and battlements like those of the Kremlin. Its destruction, 
 or abandonment to ruin, has been more than once talked of; 
 but the feeling of security which the natives derive from 
 such a rampart, and the superior facilities which it atfords to 
 the maintenance of a good police, and the collection of the 
 town duties, have, with good reason, preponderated in favour 
 of supporting it. The circuit of the city is about six miles in 
 a semicircle, of which the river Taptee or Tapee forms the 
 chord; near the centre of this chord, and washed by the river, 
 stands a small castle, with round bastions, glacis, and cover- 
 ed way, in which a few sepoys and European artillerymen 
 are stationed, and which is distinguished by the singularity 
 of two flagstaves, on one of which is displayed an union-jack, 
 on the other a plain red flag, the ancient ensign of the Empe- 
 rors of Delhi. This arrangement was adopted, I believe, in 
 courtesy, at the time when the East India Company conquer- 
 ed the fort from the Nawab of Surat, and has never since 
 been discontinued, though the Nawab like the Emperor him- 
 self, is now only a pensioner on the bounty or justice of the 
 Government. In the neighbourhood of this fort are most of 
 the English houses, of a good size, and surrounded by exten- 
 sive compounds, but not well contrived to resist heat, and ar- 
 ranged with a strange neglect both of tatties and punkahs. 
 Without the walls are a French factory, containing some 
 handsome and convenient buildings, but now quite deserted 
 by their proper owners, and occupied by dift'erent English 
 oflicers who pay a rent to some country -born people, who pre- 
 tend to have an interest in them, and a Dutch factory, also 
 empty, the chief of which is only waiting the orders of his 
 Government to surrender this, like the other Dutch settle- 
 ments, to the English. The French factory had been re- 
 stored to that nation at the peace, and a governor and several 
 officers came to take possession. The diseases, however, of 
 the climate attacked them with unusual severity. The go- 
 vernor died, and his suite was so thinned that the few survi- 
 vors returned to the Isle of Bourbon, whence nobody has been 
 sent to supply their place. 
 
 The trade of Surat, indeed, is now of very trifling- conse- 
 quence, consisting of little but raw cotton, which is shipped 
 in boats for Bombay. All the manufactured goods of the 
 country, are undersold by the English, except kincob and 
 shawls, for which there is very little demand; a dismal decay 
 has consequently taken place in the circumstances of the na- 
 tive merchants; and an instance fell under my knowledge in 
 ■which an ancient Mussulman family, formerly of great wealth 
 and magnificence, were attempting to dispose of their library, 
 a very valuable one, for subsistence; There is a small cou- 
 
 VoL. II.— 12 
 
136 SURAT. 
 
 gregation of Armenians in a state of decay and general po- 
 verty; but the most thriving people are the Borahs, (who drive 
 a trade all through this part of India as bunyans and money- 
 lenders,) and the Parsees. These last are proprietors of half 
 the houses in Surat, and seem to thrive where nobody else 
 but the Borahs can glean even a scanty maintenance. The 
 boats which lie in Surat river are of thirty or forty tons, half- 
 decked, with two masts and two very large lateen sails: ves- 
 sels of greater draught must lie about fifteen miles off, below 
 the bar at the mouth of the Taptee, but except the ketches in 
 the Company's service, few larger vessels ever come here. 
 The English society is unusually numerous and agreeable, as 
 this city is the station not only of a considerable military 
 force, but of a Collector, a Board of Custom, a Circuit Court, 
 and the Sudder Adawlut for the whole Presidency of Bom- 
 bay, which for the greater conveniency of the people, and on 
 account of its central situation, Mr. Elphinstone has wisely 
 removed hither. There is a very neat and convenient Church, 
 which I consecrated on Sunday, April 17th, as well as an ex- 
 tensive and picturesque burial ground, full of large butruinous 
 tombs of the former servants of the Company: most of these 
 are from 120 to 180 years old, and in the Mussulman style of 
 architecture, with large apartments surmounted by vaults, and 
 containing within two or three tombs, exactly like those of 
 the Mahometans, except that the bodies lie East and West, 
 instead of North and South. The largest of these buildings 
 is that in memory of Sir George Oxenden, one of the earliest 
 Governors of British India, at the time when British India 
 comprised little more than the factory at this place, and the 
 then almost desolate island of Bombay. He could harldly at 
 that time have even dreamed how great a territory his coun- 
 trymen would possess in India; yet I must say that the size 
 and solidity of his sepulchre is not unworthy that of one of the 
 first founders of an empire. 
 
 I neither saw nor could hear of any distinguished Mussul- 
 man or Hindoo building in Surat. The Nawab's residence is 
 modern, but not particularly handsome; he has no territory, 
 but a pension of a lack and a half per annum. He sent me 
 some civil messages, but did not call. He is said to be a young 
 man, much addicted to low company, and who shuts himself 
 up even from the most respectable families of his own sect. I 
 received civil messages, and offers of visits from the Borah 
 MouUah, — the Mogul Cazi, and other learned Mussulmans, 
 but excused myself, being, in fact, fully occupied and a good 
 deal oppressed by the heat which almost equalled that in 
 Kairah, and exceeded any thing which I had felt in other parts 
 of the country. On the whole, Surat, except in its society. 
 
EMBARKATION. 137 
 
 which is no where excelled in British India, appears to me an 
 uninteresting and unpleasant city, and, in beauty of situa- 
 tion, inferior even to Broach. 
 
 The Education Society of Bombay have a school here, where 
 a considerable number of Parsee, Mussulman, and Hindoo 
 boys are instructed in writing, reading, arithmetic and Eno*- 
 lish. They read the scriptures as a text book, without objec- 
 tion, and their progress seemed highly creditable. Some of 
 the boys were of good families. The schoolmaster is an old 
 soldier, but the chief conductor of the school is Mr. Jeffries 
 the chaplain. 
 
 April 17. — We left Surat in a large lateen-sailed boat with 
 twelve rowers, for the mouth of the Taptee, where the Vigi- 
 lant Company's ketch was waiting to receive us. The bar at 
 the mouth of the river is broad, and sometimes said to be for- 
 midable to boats. When we passed there was a considerable 
 swell, but the surf by no means high or dangerous. The Vi- 
 gilant we found a vessel of about sixty tons, very neat and 
 clean, with a good cuddy, and two small cabins partitioned 
 from it^ she carried six little carronades, and had a crew of 
 twenty men; twelve sepoys, who form a part of its establish- 
 ment, had been removed, to make room for us, on board the 
 two country boats which received our luggage and horses. 
 The Serang was a Mussulman, a decent and intelligent man, 
 and the crew, though not very nimble or alert in their move- 
 ments, were, to all appearance, steady, and tolerably ac- 
 quainted with their business. In other respects the bark was 
 a bad one; a heavy sailer, rolling and pitching severely, and a 
 bad sea-boat, having the scuppers of her deck so low in the 
 water that on shipping a sea the crew had no resource but 
 baleing. The wind, which had been for some time unfavoura- 
 ble, blew almost a gale from the S. W. and we remained at 
 anchor the whole of the day, tossing and pitching very un- 
 comfortably. 
 
 Early next morning we dropped down with the tide for a 
 few miles; and, the wind drawing round a little more to the 
 north as the sun rose, we made a pretty good run to the paral- 
 lel of Damaun, a Portuguese settlement at the foot of some 
 high hills, and thence to within sight of the yet higher range of 
 *' St. John." We ran on through the night. 
 
 At breakfast on Wednesday the 19th, we passed the moun- 
 tains of Bassein, exhibiting, besides some meaner elevations, 
 one very high hill of a table form, and another not quite so 
 elevated, rising in a conical peak. Thence we coasted the 
 islands of Salsette and Bombay, both rocky, and in some parts 
 considerably elevated, but with the high mountains of the Con- 
 can seen rising behind both. Though at a considerable dis- 
 
138 ARRIVAL AT BOMBAY. 
 
 tance from the shore, we passed a vast number of bamboos, 
 planted as fishing-stakes, and a fleet of boats, which, like all 
 others which I have seen on this coast, had large lateen sails. 
 Thej were extremely picturesque 5 and though, apparently, 
 not very manageable, made their way fast through the water : 
 they could not tack, but wore with great celerity and accu- 
 racy ; and, though their gunwales were often scarcely above 
 the water, impressed me with the idea of their being good sea- 
 boats, and good sailers. Their style of rigging difters from 
 that of the Mediterranean, in that they have seldom more than 
 two masts, of which the hinder is much the smallest. They 
 have also a bowsprit, and their sails, instead of being a right- 
 angled triangle, have the foremost angle cut off, so as to bring 
 them nearer the principle of a lug-sail. They are very white, 
 being, I believe, made of cotton. As the sun set we saw the 
 Bombay light-house, and, about midnight, anchored in the 
 mouth of the harbour. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 ISLAND OF ELEPHANTA SALSETTE-— GORA-BUNDER BASSEIIC 
 
 CAVE TEMPLE OF KENNERY PAREIL GRAN OUTANG— 
 
 JOURNEY TO POONAH GHATS-— CAVE AT CARLEE POONAH 
 
 CONQUEST AND GOVERNMENT OF THE DECKAN CONSECRA- 
 TION OF THE CHURCH AT TANNAHi — MR. ELPHINSTONE DES- 
 CRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF BOMBAY DEPARTURE. 
 
 April 25.— My dear wife and elder girl arrived at Bombay 
 after a tedious and distressing voyage, both from weather and 
 sickness. As the journal kept by the former gives a just idea 
 of the principal things which we saw in Bombay and its neigh- 
 bourhood, I shall merely make a few observations on some of 
 the more striking objects and occurrences. 
 
 On the 28th was my visitation, (a confirmation of about 120 
 children had occurred a few days before,) attended by the 
 Archdeacon, (Dr. Barnes,) six chaplains and one missionary, 
 being all within a reasonable distance of Bombay. 
 
 On May 5th the foundation of a Free School, on the same 
 plan with that of Calcutta, was laid. The ceremony was 
 numerously attended, and the institution, which has been for 
 some time in activity, though in a hired and inconvenient 
 building, appears very flourishing, and likely to be productive 
 of great good. The plan and elevation of the intended schools.. 
 
ISLAND OF ELEPHANTA. 139 
 
 by Lieutenant Jervis of the Engineers, I think a very elegant 
 and judicious one. 
 
 On the 8th we went to see Elephanta, of which my wife has 
 given an account in her journal,* and of which a more regular 
 description is needless after aU which Mr. Erskine and others 
 have written on it. I will only observe that the Island of 
 Elephanta, or Shapooree, is larger and more beautiful than I 
 expected, containing, I should suppose, upwards of a thousand 
 aci'es, a good deal of which is in tillage, with a hamlet of tole- 
 rable size, but the major partis very beautiful wood and rock, 
 being a double-pointed hill, rising from the sea to some height. 
 The stone elephant, from which the usual Portuguese name of 
 the Island is derived, stands in a field about a quarter of a 
 mile to the right of the usual landing-place. It is about three 
 times as big as life, rudely sculptured, and very much dila- 
 pidated by the weather. The animal on its back, which Mr. 
 Erskine supposes to be a tiger, has no longer any distinguish- 
 able shape. From the landing-place, a steep and narrow path, 
 but practicable for palanqueens, leads up the hill, winding 
 prettily through woods and on the brinks of precipices, so 
 as very much to remind me of Hawkstone. About half a mile 
 up is the first cave, which is a sort of portico supported by 
 two pillars and two pilasters, and seeming as if intended for 
 the entrance to a rock temple which has not been proceeded 
 in. A quarter of a mile further, and two-thirds of the ascent 
 up the higher of the two hills, is the great cavern, in a magni- 
 ficent situation, and deserving all the praise which has been 
 lavished on it. For its details I again refer to Mr. Erskine, 
 merely noticing that, though my expectations were highly 
 raised, the reality much exceeded them, and that both the 
 
 * The principal cave is of considerable extent, excavated out of the 
 solid rock, and the roof supported by pillars, now in a state of decay, 
 carved out in the same manner, and handsomely ornamented. The dif- 
 ferent shrines which contain the emblems of Hindoo worship are placed 
 on either side, and, generally, their entrances are g-uarded by colossal 
 bas-relief figures, whilst on the walls are sculptured figures of Siva and 
 his wife Parvati, the former in one compartment with a chaplet of skulls 
 round his neck, and with eight hands, bearing liis usual attributes of the 
 Cobra de Capello, also of colossal size, and some of the avatars of Vishnu, 
 and other mythological fables of their religion. Even now the whole is 
 sadly defaced, and though an European serjeant has been for some 
 years appointed to preserve it from injury by man, the climate does its 
 work of devastation slowly but surely, and it appears probable that at 
 no very distant period little will remain to show what this temple had 
 been in the days of its glory. The view from the mouth of the cavern 
 is very beautiful. Although we were out during the hottest hours of 
 the day, in one of the worst months, we never were much oppressed 
 by the heat. In Bengal such an excursion could not have been con- 
 templated. — Extract from Editor's JournaL 
 
 12* 
 
140 ISLAND OF ELEPHANT A. 
 
 dimensions, the proportions, and the sculpture, seemed tome 
 to be of a more noble character, and a more elegant execution, 
 than I had been led to suppose. Even the statues are execut- 
 ed with great spirit, and are some of them of no common beau- 
 ty, considering their dilapidated condition and the coarseness 
 of their material. 
 
 At the upper end of the principal cave, which is in the 
 form of a cross, and exceedingly resembles the plan of an an- 
 cient basilica, is an enormous bust with three faces, reaching^ 
 from the pavement to the ceiling of the temple. It has gene- 
 rally been supposed, and is so even by Mr. Erskine, a repre- 
 sentation of the Trimurti, or Hindoo Trinity, Brahma, Vish- 
 nu, and Siva. But more recent discoveries have ascertained 
 that Siva himself, to whose worship and adventures most of 
 the other ornaments of the cave refer, is sometimes repre- 
 sented with three faces, so that the temple is evidently one 
 to the popular deity of the modern Hindoos alone. Nor could 
 I help remarking, that the style of ornament, and proportion& 
 of the pillars, the dress of the figures, and all the other cir- 
 cumstances of the place, are such as may be seen at this day 
 in every temple of Central India, and among all those Indian 
 nations where the fashions of the Mussulmans have made but 
 little progress. Those travellers who fancied the contrary, 
 had seen little of India but Bombay. From these circum- 
 stances, then, nothing can be learned as to the antiquity of 
 this wonderful cavern, and I am myself disposed, for several 
 reasons, to think that this is not very remote. 
 
 The rock out of which the temple is carved, is by no means 
 calculated to resist, for any great length of time, the ravages 
 of the weather. It evidently suffers much from the annual 
 rains; a great number of the pillars, (nearly one-third of the 
 whole,) have been undermined by the accumulation of water 
 in the cavern, and the capitals of some, and part of the shafts 
 of others, remain suspended from the top like huge stalactites, 
 the bases having completely mouldered away. These ravages 
 are said to have greatly increased in the memory of persons 
 now resident in Bombay, though for many years back the 
 cave has been protected from wanton depredation, and though 
 the sculptures, rather than the pillars, would probably have 
 suffered from that vulgar love of knick-knacks and specimens 
 which prevails among the English, more than most nations of 
 the world. 
 
 A similar rapidity of decomposition has occurred in the 
 elephant already spoken of, which, when Niebuhr saw it, was, 
 by his account, far more perfect than it now is. But if thirty 
 or forty years can have produced such changes in this cele- 
 brated temple, it is hardly reasonable to suppose that any 
 
EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 141 
 
 part of it is so old as is sometimes apprehended. It has been 
 urged, as a ground for this apprehension, that the Hindoos of 
 the present day pay no reverence to this temple, or its images. 
 This is not altogether true, since I myself noticed very recent 
 marks of red paint on one of the lingams, and flowers are no- 
 toriously offered up here by the people of the island. It is, 
 however, certainly not a famous place among the Hindoos. 
 No pilgrims come hither from a distance, nor are there any 
 brahmins stationary at the shrine. But this proves nothing 
 as to its antiquity, inasmuch as the celebrity of a place of 
 worship, with them, depends on many circumstances quite 
 distinct from the size and majesty of the building. Its founder 
 may have died before he had completed his work, in which 
 case nobody would go on with it. He may have failed in con- 
 ciliating the brahminsj or, supposing it once to have been a 
 place of eminence, which is a mere gratis assumption, since 
 ■we have neither inscription, history, or legend to guide us,-— 
 it is impossible to say when or how it may have been dese- 
 crated, whether by the first Mussulman invaders, or by the 
 Portuguese in the sixteenth centur3\ From the supposed ne- 
 glect of the natives, therefore, nothing can be concluded, in- 
 asmuch as, from the exact similarity of mythology between 
 these sculptures, and the idols of the present day, it is plain 
 that this neglect does not arise from any change of customs. 
 It has been urged, that the size and majesty of the excavation 
 compel us to suppose that it must have been made by some 
 powerful Hindoo sovereign, and, consequently, before the 
 first Mussulman invasion. This would be no very appalling 
 antiquity; but, even for this, there is no certain ground. The 
 expense and labour of the undertaking are really by no means 
 so enormous as might be fancied. The whole cavern is a 
 mere trifle in point of extent, when compared with the great 
 salt-mine at North wich; and there are now, and always have 
 been. Rajas, and wealthy merchants in India, who, though 
 not enjoying the rank of independent sovereigns, are not une- 
 qual to the task of hewing a huge stone quarry into a cathe- 
 dral. On the whole, in the perfect absence of any inscrip- 
 tion or tradition which might guide us, we may assign to 
 Elephanta any date we please. It may be as old as the 
 Parthenon, or it may be as modern as Henry Vllth's chapel. 
 But though the truth probably lies between the two, I am cer- 
 tainly not disposed to assign to it any great degree of antiquity. 
 We accompanied the governor and a large party on a tour 
 through Salsette on the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th.* This is 
 
 •An excursion to Salsette to see the cave, temple of Kennery, toge- 
 ther with some interesting places on the island, had for some time been 
 
142 EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 
 
 a very beautiful island, united with the smaller one of Bombay 
 by a causeway, built in the time of governor Duncan, a work 
 
 in contemplation, and we set out on the 25th to join Mr. Elphinstone 
 and a larg-e party at Toolsey. On leaving Matoonga, an artillery can- 
 tonment about the centre of the island, the country became interest- 
 ing as well from its novelty as from its increased beauty. The road lay 
 principally through a valley formed by hills of a moderate height, covered 
 wherever the rocks allowed of its growth, with underwood to their sum- 
 mits, while the valleys were planted with groves of mangoes and palms, 
 with some fine timber trees. A very shallow arm of the sea divides 
 Bombay from Salsette, and on an eminence commanding it is a fort, 
 apparently of some strength, built originally as a defence against the 
 Maharattas, and still inhabited by an European officer with a small 
 guard; the islands are now connected by a causeway. The mountains 
 in Salsette are considerably higher than those of Bombay, but covered 
 with thicker jungle, while the valleys are more shut in, and conse- 
 quently less healthy. We saw but few traces of inhabitants during a 
 drive of eight miles, passing but one small village consisting of a most 
 miserable collection of huts. 
 
 At Vear we left our carriages, and proceeded on horseback and in 
 palanqueens through the jungle to Toolsey, the pkce of our encamp- 
 ment. This lovely spot is surrounded by mountains of considerable 
 height, forming a small wooded amphitheatre, in the centre of which 
 grows a fine banyan-tree. Here our tents were pitched, and I never 
 saw a more beautiful scene than it afforded. The brilliant colours and 
 varieties of dress on innumerable servants, the horses bivouacked under 
 the trees with each its attendant saees, the bullocks, carts, hackeries, 
 and natives of all descriptions in crowds, the fires prepared for cook- 
 ing, the wliite tents pitched in the jungle, together with the groupes 
 formed by the different parties on their arrival, altogether formed a 
 coup d'ceil which I can never forget, and which can be only seen in a 
 tropical climate. 
 
 Our tent was pitched close to a tyger-trap, then unset ; there are a 
 good many tigers in the island, and one was killed a short time previ- 
 ous to our amval. This was the first night I had ever slept under can- 
 vass, and but for the heat, which was intense, I could not have wished 
 for more comfortable quarters ; but Toolsey, from its peculiar situation, 
 is reckoned one of the hottest places in India. 
 
 Early the next morning the Bishop and I mounted our horses, and 
 took an exploring ride among tlie rocks and woods ; some rain had fal- 
 len in the night, which had cooled and refreshed the air. The morning 
 was delightful, a number of singing-birds, among whose notes I could 
 distinguish those of the nightingale and thrush, were performing a 
 beautiful concert, while the jungle-fowl were crowing merrily all around, 
 and monkeys, the first which I had seen in their natural state, were 
 sporting with their young ones among the trees ; I enjoyed the ride ex- 
 ceedingly, and left the rocks with regret, though, from the sun being 
 clouded over, we had been already enabled to stay out till eight 
 o'clock. 
 
 After breakfast, at which meal we all assembled in the public tent, 
 some Cashmerian singers, with one Nachman, dressedin female clothes, 
 amused us with their songs and national dances. Some of their tunes 
 were very pretty, and the dancing was more energetic than any which 
 I had seen in Calcutta, and generally accompanied the singing; at the 
 
EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 143 
 
 of great convenience to the natives, who bring vegetables to 
 the Bombay market, but so narrow, and with so inconvenient 
 
 end of each verse the performer made a pirouette, and squatted down, 
 forming- with his clothes what, in our counties, is called a Cheshire- 
 cheese. 
 
 At four o'clock in the evening we set out, some on horse-back, and 
 some in palanqueens, to the caves with which the hill is literally per- 
 forated It was late before we returned. Our path wound along- 
 
 the sides of the rocks, and was hardly wide enough in places for a 
 palanqueen to pass. The effect of so large a party proceeding in single 
 file, with torches, occasionally appearing and disappearing, among the 
 rocks and woods, with a bright Indian moon shining over-head, was 
 picturesque and beautiful in the highest degree. I happened to be 
 the last, and had a full view of the procession, which extended for 
 nearly half a mile. In northern latitudes one can form no idea of the 
 brilliancy of the moon, nor of the beauty of a night such as this, ren- 
 dered more enjoyable from the respite which it affords from the heat 
 of the day. 
 
 April 25. — We left our tents early the next morning, Mrs. Macdonald 
 and I, with most of the gentlemen of the party, on horseback, to pro- 
 ceed to Tanna, a town with a fort, on the eastern coast of the island. 
 From thence to Salsette we went in a bunder boat, and there embarked 
 on board the Governor's yacht, where we found breakfast prepared, and 
 sailed for about seven miles through scenery of a very remarkable cha- 
 racter. The islands between which we passed lie so close to each 
 other, that I could scarcely believe myself on the sea. On one side the 
 prospect is bounded by the magnificent Ghats, with their fantastic ba- 
 Baltic summits, and the islands are occasionally adorned with ruins of 
 Portuguese churches and convents. In one of these, Gorabunder, 
 situated on a steep eminence, and guarded by a fort, we dined and 
 slept. 
 
 Jpril 28. — We embarked after breakfast in the yacht to go to Bas- 
 sein, formerly a fortified Portuguese town, in Arungabad, which was 
 taken by the Maharattas about the middle of the last century, and since 
 ceded to the English. When we arrived under its walls, we found ouy 
 palanqueens were not come ; and, as the water-gate was shut, we set 
 off to walk to the opposite side. We walked for nearly two miles, ex- 
 posed to the noon-day sun, tl\e heat increased by the reflection from 
 the white walls, with the sand, ankle-deep, so hot as to be painful to 
 our feet, while to the bare-footed natives it was absolutely insupporta- 
 ble, and they fairly ran off. 
 
 I do not tliink the ruins themselves repaid us for the trouble we had 
 taken to see them, as, with the exception of a pagoda, with the sacred 
 bull well carved at its entrance, they were all in the style of conven- 
 tual architecture common in tlie early part of the seventeenth century ; 
 but I was much struck, on entering the massive and well-guarded gate, 
 with the scene of utter desolation which presented itself; it reminded 
 me of some story of enchantment which I had read in my childhood, 
 and I could almost have expected to see the shades of its original inha- 
 bitants flitting about among the jungle, which now grows in melan- 
 choly luxuriance in the courts and areas of churches, convents, and 
 houses. We none of us suffered from the fatigue and heat, another con- 
 vincing proof of the innoxious effects of the sjin here as compared with 
 Bengal. On our return to Gorabunder, we found all things ready fo» 
 
144 EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 
 
 an angle in its course, that many Europeans object to pass it 
 in carriages. We went over, however, without scruple, as 
 there is, under ordinary circumstances, no real danger. Some 
 persons maintain that the construction of this causeway has 
 done harm to the upper part of the harbour by diminishing its 
 back-water. The thing is certainly possible, but I could not 
 find any naval men who ascribed much weight to it. 
 
 Beyond, the woody hills of Salsette rise very majestically; 
 and the road which winds at their feet round the island, offers 
 many points of view of uncommon beauty and interest. These 
 roads are equal to the best in Europe, and are now receiving 
 an additional improvement by the adoption, though but an 
 incomplete and misunderstood one, of M' Adam's system. In 
 other respects the country is strangely unimproved, having no 
 towns except Tannah and Gorabunder, (the first of which is 
 indeed a neat and flourishing place, — the other not much bet- 
 ter than a poor village,) very little cultivation except the tara- 
 palm and coco-nut, which grow almost spontaneously amid 
 the jungle, and displaying in the cottages of its peasantry a 
 degree of poverty and rudeness which I had seen no where in 
 India except among the Bheels. Notwithstanding, indeed, 
 its vicinity to the seat of government, no small proportion of 
 its inhabitants are at this day in a state as wild as the wildest 
 Bheels, and their customs and manners as little known as 
 those of the Goonds in Central India. These are the burners 
 of charcoal, an occupation exercised by a peculiar caste, who 
 dwell entirely in the woods, have neither intermarriage nor 
 intercourse with the Hindoo inhabitants of the plain, and bring 
 down their loads of charcoal to particular spots, whence it is 
 carried away by these last, who deposit in its place a payment 
 settled by custom, of rice, clothing, and iron tools. This is 
 the account given me by Mr. Elphinstone, the governor of Bom- 
 bay, who has made several attempts to become better acquaint- 
 ed with this unfortunate tribe, but has only very imperfectly 
 succeeded, owing to their excessive shyness, and the contempt 
 in which they are held by their Hindoo neighbours. I have 
 felt much anxiety to learn more, under an idea, that among 
 such a race as these, the establishment of schools, and a mis- 
 sionary, would, at least, meet with no opposition. But I have 
 been unsuccessful in my inquiries, and where Mr. Elphin- 
 stone, with his extraordinary talents and great opportunities 
 had learned so little, I was not likely to succeed better. 
 
 This neglected and uncivilized state of Salsette is the more 
 
 our journey to Bombay, where we arrived late at night, much interest- 
 ed and gratified by all we had seen and done. — Extract from the Editor's 
 Journal. 
 
EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 145 
 
 remarkable, not only because the neighbourhood of Bombay, 
 and the excessive price of provisions there, would seem to lead 
 to the cultivation of every inch of ground, but because the 
 numerous ruins of handsome churches and houses remaining 
 from the old Portuguese settlements, prove, no less than the 
 accounts of the island by Fryer and Delia Valle, that, in their 
 time, and under their government, a very different face of 
 things was presented. The original ruin of the country, would, 
 no doubt, naturally follow its conquest from the Portuguese 
 by the Maharattas. But, as thirty years and upwards have 
 passed since the Maharattas ceded it to us, it seems strange 
 that a country which, as Mr. Elphinstone assured me, is 
 neither sterile nor unwholesome, should remain so little im- 
 proved. The population, however, poor as it is, and chiefly 
 occupied in fishing, amounts to 50,000, a number which might 
 be trebled if cultivation were extended at any thing like the 
 rate which it has been done in Bengal. But Salsette seems 
 a spot where, of all others, European colonization v/ould be 
 most harmless and beneficial. It has, however, been attempted 
 in two instances only, and, to be successful, seems to require 
 a more advantageous and permanent tenure than the Com- 
 pany have yet been induced to grant of their lands, and, per- 
 haps, a freer trade in sugar than the present colonial system 
 of England allows to her eastern empire. 
 
 Tannah is chiefly inhabited by Roman Catholic Christians, 
 either converted Hindoos or Portuguese, who have become as 
 black as the natives, and assumed all their habits. It has, 
 also, a considerable cantonment of British troops, a collector 
 and magistrate, for whose use a very neat Church was build- 
 ing when I first visited it. There is a small but regular for- 
 tress, from which during the late Maharatta war, Trimbuckgee 
 escaped in the manner I have elsewhere related. Tannah, as 
 I afterwards learned from a Parsee innkeeper at Panwellee, 
 is also famous for its breed of hogs, and the manner in which 
 its Portuguese inhabitants cure bacon. It receives a monthly 
 visit from the Chaplain stationed at Matoonga, the head-quar- 
 ters of the artillery in the island of Bombay. 
 
 At Gorabunder is a small but handsome building, nearly in 
 the form of a church, with a nave leading to a circular chancel, 
 covered with a high cupola, and surrounded by a verandah. 
 The whole is arched with stone, and very solidly built. It is 
 generally regarded as having been a Portuguese Church, but 
 has not been used as such in the memory of man, and differs 
 from most other churches, in having its entrance at the East 
 instead of the West end. It is now used as an occasional resi- 
 dence for the Governor and his friends, and is, in fact, a very 
 
146 EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 
 
 cool and convenient house for this climate and commands a 
 magnificent view. 
 
 About fifteen miles from Gorabunder, on the main land, is 
 the city of Bassein, once a celebrated colony of the Portu- 
 guese, taken from them by tlie Maharattas, and lost by them 
 to the English. It is of considerable size, and surrounded by 
 a regular fortification of rampart and bastions, but without a 
 glacis, which, from the marshy nature of the surrounding 
 country, was, perhaps, thought needless. There is a small 
 guard stationed in one of the gates, under an English con- 
 ductor of ordnance, and the place is kept locked up, but is 
 within perfectly uninhabited, and containing nothing but a 
 single small pagoda in good repair, and a melancholy display 
 of ruined houses and Churches. Of the latter there are no 
 fewer than seven, some of considerable size, but all of mean 
 architecture, though they are striking from the lofty propor- 
 tions usual in Roman Catholic places of worship, and from 
 the singularity of Christian and European ruins in India. 
 The largest of these churches, I was assured by a Maharatta 
 of rank, a protege of Mr. Elphinstone's, who accompanied us, 
 was built by a man who had made a large fortune by selling 
 slippers. It contains no inscription, that I could see, to con- 
 firm or invalidate this testimony, nor any date whatever, but 
 one on a monument to a certain Donna Maria de Souza, of 
 1606. 
 
 The Portuguese Churches in this place and Salsette, are all 
 in a paltry style enough, of Grecian mixed with Gothic, in 
 Bassein they have tower steeples without spires, in Salsette 
 the small arched pediment to hang the bell which is usual in 
 Wales. Their roofs, where they remain, are very steep and 
 covered with tiles, and one of those in Bassein, which appears 
 to have belonged to a house of Jesuits, has the remains of a 
 handsome coved ceiling of teak, carved and gilded. They are 
 melancholy objects to look at, but they are monuments, never- 
 theless, of departed greatness, of a love of splendour far supe- 
 rior to the anxiety for amassing money by which other nations 
 have been chiefly actuated, and of a zeal for God which, if not 
 according to knowledge, was a zeal still, and a sincere one. It 
 was painful to me, at the time, to think, how few relics, if 
 the English were now expelled from India, would be left be- 
 hind of their religion, their power, or their civil and military 
 magnificence. Yet on this side of India there is really more 
 zesd and liberality displayed in the improvement of the coun- 
 try, the construction of roads and public buildings, the conci- 
 liation of the natives and their education, than I have jet seen 
 in Bengal. Mr. Elphinstone is evidently anxious to do all in 
 his power to effect these objects. 
 
BUDDHIST TEMPLE. 147 
 
 The principal curiosities of Salsette, and those which were 
 uiir main object in this little tour, are the cave temples of 
 Kennerj. These are, certainly, in every way remarkable 
 from their number, their beautiful situation, their elaborate 
 carving, and their marked connexion with Buddha and his re- 
 ligion. The caves are scattered over two sides of a high 
 rocky hill, at many difterent elevations, and of various sizes 
 and forms. Most of them appear to have been places of habi- 
 tation for monks or hermits. One very beautiful apartment 
 of a square form, its walls covered with sculpture, and sur- 
 rounded internally by a broad stone bench, is called "the 
 durbar," but I should rather guess had been a school. Many 
 have deep and well-carved cisterns attached to them, which, 
 even in this dry season, were well supplied with water. The 
 largest and most remarkable of all is a Buddhist temple, of 
 great beauty and majesty, and which even in its present state 
 would make a very stately and convenient place of Christian 
 worship. It is entered through a line and lofty portico, hav- 
 ing on its front, but a little to the left hand, a high detached 
 octagonal pillar, surmounted by three lions seated back to 
 back. On the east side of the portico is a colossal statue of 
 Buddha, with his hands raised in the attitude of benediction, 
 and the screen which separates the vestibule from the temple 
 is covered immediately above the dodo, with a row of male 
 and female figures nearly naked, but not indecent, and carved 
 with considerable, spirit, which apparently represent dancers. 
 In the centre is a large door, and above it, three windows 
 contained in a semicircular arch, so like those which are seen 
 over the entrance of Italian churches, that I fully supposed 
 them to be an addition to the original plan by the Portuguese, 
 who are said, I know not on what ground, to have used this 
 cave as a Church, till I found a similar and still more striking 
 window of the same kind in the great cave of Carlee. Within, 
 the apartment is, I should conceive, fifty feet long by twenty, 
 an oblong square terminated by a semicircle, and surrounded 
 on every side but that of the entrance, with a colonnade of octa- 
 gonal pillars. Of these the twelve on each side nearest the en- 
 trance are ornamented with carved bases and capitals, in the 
 style usual in Indian temples. The rest are unfinished. 
 
 In the centre of the semicircle, and wdth a free walk all 
 round it, is a mass of rock left solid, but carved externally like 
 a dome, and so as to bear a strong general likeness to our Sa- 
 viour's sepulchre, as it is now chiseled away and enclosed in 
 St Helena's Church at Jerusalem. On the top of the dome is 
 a sort of spreading ornament like the capital of a column. It 
 is, apparently, intended to support something, and I w^as af- 
 terwards told at Carlee. where such an ornament, but of greater 
 Vol. II.— 13 
 
143 BUDDHIST TEMPLES. 
 
 size, is also found, that a large gilt umbrella used to spring 
 from it. This solid dome appears to be the usual symbol ot 
 Buddhist adoration, and, with its umbrella ornament, may be 
 traced in the Shoo-Madoo of Pegu, and other more remote 
 structures of the same faith. Though it is different in its 
 form and style of ornament from the lingam, I cannot help 
 thinking it has been originally intended to represent the same 
 popular object of that almost universal idolatry, which Scrip- 
 ture, with good reason, describes as "uncleanness and abomi- 
 nation." 
 
 The ceiling of this cave is arched semicircularly, and orna- 
 mented in a very singular manner, with slender ribs of teak- 
 wood of the same curve with the roof, and disposed as if they 
 were supporting it, which, however, it does not require, nor 
 are they strong enough to answer the purpose. Their use 
 may have been to hang lamps or flowers from in solemn re- 
 joicings. My companions in this visit, who showed themselves 
 a little jealous of the antiquity of these remains, and of my 
 inclination to detract from it, would have had me suppose that 
 these two were additions by the Portuguese. But there are 
 similar ribs at Carlee where the Portuguese never were. They 
 cannot be very old, and though they certainly may have been 
 added or renewed since the building was first constructed, 
 they must, at all events, refer to a time when it and the forms 
 of its worship were held in honour. The question will remain, 
 how late or how early the Buddhists ceased to be rich and 
 powerful in Western India.^ or when, if ever, the followers of 
 the Brahminical creed were likely to pay honour to Buddhist 
 symbols of the Deity? 
 
 The latter question is at variance with all usual opinions as 
 to the difference between these sects and the animosity which 
 has ever prevailed betwixt them. But I have been very forci- 
 bly struck by the apparent identity of the Buddhist chattah 
 and the Brahminical lingam. The very name of the great 
 temple of Ava, "Shoo-Madoo," " Golden Maha-Deo," seems 
 to imply a greater approximation than is generally supposed, 
 and above all, a few weeks afterwards, I found the cave of 
 Carlee in the keeping of Brahmins, and honoured by them 
 as a temple of Maha-Deo. All this seems to prove that we 
 know very little indeed of the religious history of India, that 
 little or no credit can be given to the accounts contained in 
 the Brahminical writings, and that these accounts, even if true, 
 may refer to, comparatively, a small part of India, while what- 
 ever is the date of these illustrious caverns, (and Kennery I 
 really should guess to be older than Elephanta,) no stress can 
 be laid either way on their identity or discrepancy with the 
 modern superstition of the country, or the alleged neglect 
 
EXCURSION TO SALSETTE. 149 
 
 of the natives. On one of the pillars of the portico of the 
 great cave at Kennery is an inscription in a character differ- 
 ent both from theNagree and the popular running hand which, 
 more than Nagree, prevails with the Maharattas. 
 
 There are many similar instances in different parts of India 
 of inscriptions in characters now unintelligible; nor will any 
 one who knows how exceedingly incurious the Brahmins are 
 on all such subjects, wonder that they are not able to assist 
 Europeans in decyphering them. But it would be a very use- 
 ful, and by no means a difficult task, to collect copies of some 
 of the most remarkable, and com.pare them with each other; 
 since we should thus, at least, ascertain whether one or many 
 characters prevailed in India before the use of the present al- 
 phabets; and, in the first case, from the knowledge of the date 
 of some few buildings, where this character is found, be able 
 to guess that of others whose history is unknown. The in- 
 scription of Pertaubghur, that on the column of Firoze Shah 
 at Delhi, and on the similar column at Koottab-sahib might 
 thus be collated, with, probably, many others as yet unknown 
 to me, and the result might tell something more than we yet 
 know respecting the antiquities of this great and interesting 
 country. 
 
 In Mr. Elphinstone's party on this occasion was a French 
 officer, the chevalier Rienzi, (a descendant of the celebrated 
 tribune, the friend of Petrarch,) who was just arrived from a 
 journey through a considerable part of Egypt and Abyssinia. 
 I was anxious to know what degree of likeness and what com- 
 parative merit he discovered between these caves and those of 
 Thebes, &c. He said that the likeness between Kennery and 
 the Egyptian caves was very slight and general, and in point 
 of beauty very greatly preferred these last. He had not, 
 however, seen Elephanta. 
 
 There is a very fine view from the brow of the cliff above 
 Kennery, of which my wife made an accurate drawing. We 
 saw many monkeys in the woods, and some beautiful lizards, 
 with a bright red crest like that of a cock. I also thought I 
 heard partridges calling. Tygers are found in these woods, 
 but seldom attack people where there are many together, or 
 between sunrise and sunset. 
 
 The heat was very great during this excursion, but we had 
 sufficient proof either that the sun, at its greatest strength, is 
 not so dangerous here as in Bengal, or else that more precau- 
 tions are commonly used against it in Calcutta than is abso- 
 lutely necessary. On the morning of the 27th, not only all 
 the men in the party, but my wife and Mrs. Macdonald rode 
 from our encampment to Tannah, seven or ei^ht miles, at a 
 brisk pace, and along a dusty and unslieltered road, without 
 
150 BUNGALOWS. 
 
 any inconvenience that I heard of: and at Bassein on the 28th, 
 at the hottest part of the day and the year, we were all of us 
 walking about around the town and amid the ruins for nearly 
 two hours without even umbrellas. It is possible that in Ben- 
 gal people are sometimes needlessly afraid of the sun. But 
 there really should seem to be something in the refraction of 
 the soil, the abundance of moisture, or some similar cause, 
 which renders the heat in Bengal, though not more intense, 
 yet, to use an expression of an old Indian, more venomous 
 than in most other parts of India. 
 
 There are cave temples of the same kind with those of Ken- 
 nery, but smaller and less interesting, at Mompezier and 
 Ambowlee. We passed these places in our return, but. we 
 had, as it unfortunately happened, no time to stop, being 
 obliged to return home for the ensuing Sunday. Having seen 
 the best, we felt, indeed, no great anxiety to give ourselves 
 any inconvenient troubles about the worse. We returned to 
 Bombay by the ferry of Mahim, a large and very populous 
 though meanly built town, overhung by a profusion of palm- 
 trees. 
 
 The bungalows on the esplanade of Bombay are all tempo- 
 rary buildings, and removed as soon as the rains begin to 
 fall.* We were, accordingly, driven from ours on Satur- 
 
 * At the commencement of the hot season, those Europeans who 
 are obliged by business, or other circumstances, to have their princi- 
 pal residences within the fort, erect bungalows on the adjoining espla- 
 nade, which are, many of them, remarkably elegant buildings, but 
 quite unfit to resist the violence of the monsoon. On its approach their 
 inhabitants return into the fort, the bungalows are taken down and 
 preserved for another year, and their place is, in a very short time, oc- 
 cupied by a sheet of water. The esplanade is on the sea beach, with 
 the black town at its furthest end, amidst a grove of coco-trees. This 
 town stretches across the whole end of the island, and makes the com- 
 munication between the fort and the interior unple^asant, from the heat 
 and dust of its narrow streets. The houses within the fort are of a 
 singular construction, and quite unlike any in the East of India, being 
 generally of three or four stories high, with wooden verandahs, sup- 
 ported by wooden pillars, projecting one above another; — these pillars, 
 as well as the fronts of the verandahs, are often very beautifidly carved, 
 but the streets are so naiTOW that it is impossible to have a complete 
 view of them. The prospect from some parts of the fort is extremely 
 beautiful, looking across the bay, over islands, many of them covered 
 with wood, to tlie Ghats, which form a magnificent back-ground to the 
 picture. A great number of Parsees live within the walls; they are a 
 frugal and industrious race, who po'ssess a considerable part of the is- 
 land, and are partners in almost all the commercial houses, as well as 
 great ship-builders and ship-owners. The *'Lowjee Family," a large 
 vessel of 1,000 tons, in which I came from Calcutta, belongs to a fami- 
 ly of that name, whose head has an excellent house near Pareil. In 
 our early and late rides Ihave been interested in observing these men 
 
GOVERNMENT RESIDENCIES. 151 
 
 day the 4th of June, and most hospitably received as guests 
 by Mr. Elphinstone in the government house at Pareil. 
 
 There are three government residencies in the island of 
 Bombay. The one within the walls of the fort, though large 
 and convenient, is little used except for holding councils, 
 public durbars, and the dispatch of business. It is a spa- 
 cious dismal-looking building, like many of the other large 
 houses in Bombay, looking like a stadthaus in a German free 
 city. At Malabar point, about eight miles from the town, is 
 a very pretty cottage, in a beautiful situation on a rocky and 
 woody promontory, and actually washed by the sea-spray, 
 where Mr. Elphinstone chiefly resides during the hot wea- 
 
 on the shore, with their faces turned towards the East or West, wor- 
 shipping- the rising and setting- sun, frequently standing- within the 
 surg-e, their hands joined, and praying aloud with much apparent de- 
 votion, though, to my astonishment, I was assured, in a language unin- 
 telligible to themselves; others are to be seen prostrate on the ground, 
 devoutly rubbing their noses and foreheads in the sand; they worship 
 the four elements, but give the pre-eminence to fire. Their principal 
 temple is in the centre of the black town, where the everlasting fire is 
 preserved by the priests. I never observed their women at prayer, 
 but they are hourly to be seen mixed with Hindoos and Mussulmans, 
 in crowds surrounding the wells on the esplanade, (which Mr. Elphin- 
 stone had sunk at the commencement of the drought, but which in this 
 severe scarcity hardly supply tlie population with water,) and scram- 
 bling for their turn to fill the pitcher and the skin. In this respect 
 there is a remarkable difference between the customs of the Bombay 
 women and those of their Bengalee sisterhood, who are seldom seen 
 drawing water for any purposes. The principal Parsee burial-ground 
 is on an eminence near the coast. I met a funeral procession in one of 
 my rides, just on the point of ascending it, which had a singular effect 
 among the trees and jungle; the, body was laid on a bier, covered with 
 a white cloth, and carried by six men clothed in long white gai'ments, 
 and closely veiled; it was preceded and followed by a number of per- 
 sons in the same costume, walking two and two, each pair linked to- 
 gether with a white handkerchief. They object to any Europeans ap- 
 proaching their burial-ground; indeed, in former times, Mr. Elphinstone 
 told me, a Giaour found within their precincts was liable to be expel- 
 led the island. But a friend of ours, who contrived to gain access to it, 
 gave me the following description of one of them. A deep well, of 
 very large diameter, is sunk in the hill, the sides are built round near 
 the surface, and partitioned into three different receptacles, for men, 
 women, and children; on ledges within these partitions the bodies are 
 placed, and left exposed to the vultures, who are always hovering im 
 the neighbourhood, while the friends anxiously wait at some distance 
 to ascertain which eye is first torn out, inferring from thence whether 
 the souls are happy or miserable. When the flesh is consumed, the 
 bones are thrown down the well, into which subterranean passages 
 lead, for the purpose of removing them when it becomes too fuU. 
 The Christian Church-yard, the Mussulman burial-ground, the place 
 where the Hindoos burn their dead, and the Parsee vault, are all within 
 a short distance of each other. — Extract from Editor's Journal. 
 
 13* 
 
153 SUMATRA APE. 
 
 ther.* The third and principal is Pareil, about six miles 
 from Bombay, at a short distance from the eastern shore of 
 the island. The interior of the house is very handsome, hav- 
 ing a fine staircase, and two noble rooms, one over the other, 
 of 75 or 80 feet long, very handsomely furnished. The lower 
 of these, which is the dining-room, is said to have been an old 
 and desecrated church belonging to a Jesuit college, which 
 had fallen into the hands of a Parsee from whom it was pur- 
 chased by government about sixty years ago. 
 
 Behind the house is a moderate-sized, old-fashioned garden, 
 in which, (it may be sometime or other interesting to recollect,) 
 is planted a slip of the willow which grows on Buonaparte's 
 grave. Adjoining is a small paddock, or rather yard, full of 
 different kinds of deer, who are fed, like sheep, by hand, and 
 another little yard containing some wild animals, of which the 
 most interesting are a noble wild ass from Cutch, and a very 
 singular ape from Sumatra. The former is about as high as 
 a well-grown galloway, a beautiful animal, admirably formed 
 for fleetness and power, apparently very gentle and very fond 
 of horses, and by no means disliked by them, in which respect 
 the asses of India differ from all others of which I have heard j 
 the same fact has been told me of the wild ass in Rajppotana. 
 No attempt has, however, been made to break him in for 
 riding, and it is, doubtless, now too late. Mr. Elphinstone 
 said that he had never heard of any thing of the sort being 
 tried by the natives, though they are much in the habit of 
 mounting different animals, such as stags, &c. 
 
 The ape is a very curious animal, answering, so far as I can 
 recollect, exactly to the account given of the ''pigmy," or 
 small ouran outang, brought from Africa to Europe about the 
 beginning of the last century, of whose habits, exterior, and 
 dissection after death, a particular account is given in the old 
 French Compendium called " Le Spectacle de la Nature." 
 
 * From Mr. Elphlnstone's house there is a magnificent view of the 
 town and harbour; and at the extremity of this promontory, in a part 
 of the rock which it is difficult to approach, are the remains of a pa- 
 goda, and a hole, famous as a place of resort for Hindoo devotees, who 
 believe that on entering it they are purified from all their sins, and 
 come out regenerate. The western side of the promontory is consi- 
 dered as one of the healthiest situations in Bombay, and there are se- 
 veral European houses on the beach; there is also a beautiful village, 
 almost solely inhabited by Brahmins, with a very fine tank in its centre, 
 and some magnificent flights of steps leading to the water. These peo- 
 ple seem to enjoy the beau ideal of Hindoo luxury, occupied only in 
 the ceremonies of their religion, and passing the rest of their lives in 
 silent contemplation, as they would themselves assert, but, as I should 
 rather express it, in sleeping and smoking. — Extract from Editor's 
 Journal. 
 
MAHIM. 153 
 
 It is a female, and apparently young, about three feet high, 
 and very strong, stands erect with ease and as if naturally, 
 but in walking or running soon recurs to the use of all four 
 hands or feet. It has a very large head and prominent belly, 
 has but little hair on its body, and a flat and broad face. Its 
 arms are longer than the human proportion, but, in other re- 
 spects, strikingly like the human arm, and as well as the legs 
 furnished with calves, or whatever else, in the case of arms, 
 those swelling muscles may be termed. It is of a gentle and 
 lazy disposition, fond of its keeper and quiet with every body 
 except when teazedj when made to climb a tree, ascends no 
 higher than it is urged to go, and when turned loose in the 
 most distant part of the garden makes no use of its liberty 
 except to run as fast as its four legs will carry it to its cage 
 again. The natives make a marked distinction between this 
 animal and their usual large baboon, calling it not '* lungoor," 
 but '* junglee admee," " wild man." They evidently regard 
 it as a great curiosity, and, I apprehend, it owes something of 
 its corpulency to their presents of fruit.* 
 
 * About half a mile from the house, and following-, on one side, the 
 course of the sea, is a very extensive wood, principally of coco-trees, 
 through which the road runs for about three miles, to the town and 
 ferry of Mahim. This wood is tliickly inhabited by a people of all re- 
 iigions? but the Portugiiese Christians, who perfectly resemble the 
 natives in dress and appearance, seem to be the most numerous; and 
 the circumstances of there being here the ruins of a College, as well 
 as a church, with the Priest's house attached to it, would prove it to 
 have been the principal settlement on the island. There are also seve- 
 ral Hindoo and Mussulman mosques and pagodas. The wood is so 
 intersected by roads and paths, with but few objects to serve as land- 
 marks, that a stranger would have much difficulty in finding his way 
 out of the labyrinth of trees and huts. 
 
 The town of Mahim is ill-built, but it has a fort, a Catholic church, 
 and other monuments of former prosperity. The priests are, for the 
 most part, educated at Goa, and Mr. Elphinstone says, are, occasion- 
 ally, well-informed men. The adjoining ferry we crossed on our return 
 from the excursion to Salsette? a causeway is built half-way over the 
 frith, from whence a raft conveys carriages and passengers to Mahim. 
 We had, on that occasion, a curious specimen of the perfect apathy 
 and helplessness of the natives, which is worth notice. There were 
 five carriages to cross the ferry, each of which required above half-an- 
 hour for transportation. When the tide is in, the causeway is quite 
 overflowed; a circumstance of which we were not aware and allowed 
 ourselves to be driven to its extremity, thereto wait while the carriages 
 that preceded us were ferried over. The coachman and horse-keep- 
 ers, (by which name the saees is known here,) unharnessed the horses, 
 took the pole out of the carriage, and then sat down with perfect un- 
 concern to wait their turn for embarking. We walked for some time 
 up and down the causeway, till we became aware that our space was 
 much contracted, and that the road behind us was, in parts, covered 
 with water. We questioned the servants, (natives of the island,} but. 
 
154 MONSOON. 
 
 The monsoon, which began with violence, was interrupted 
 by above a fortnight's dry weather, to the great alarm of the 
 natives, who having had two years of drought, now began to 
 fear a third, and a consequent famine with all its full extent 
 of horrors. Several inauspicious prophecies, (most popular 
 prophecies are of evil,) were propagated, with the pretended 
 facts " that two years drought had never occurred in India 
 except they were followed by a thirds" that '' the same winds 
 were said by the Arab traders to prevail in the Red Sea this 
 year as had prevailed the two last, and as always prevailed 
 there when the monsoon failed in this country." At length 
 the clouds again thickened, and the rain came on with heavy 
 gales and in abundant quantities, so that the intermission 
 which had occurred was reckoned highly advantageous, in 
 having given more time to the peasants to get their rice sown 
 and transplanted. The rain I thought heavier and more con- 
 tinuous than anything which I had seen in Calcutta, but unac- 
 companied by the violent north-westers, and terrific thunder 
 and lightning which prevail at this season in Bengal. Here, 
 as there, a great change for the better takes place in the tem- 
 perature of the air^ and heavy as the rains are, few days occur 
 in which one may not enjoy a ride either early in the morning, 
 or in the afternoon. The frogs are as large, as numerous, and 
 as noisy here as in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. 
 
 Though I had heard much of the extreme humidity of the 
 climate of Bombay, I do not think that my experience justified 
 this character; or that our papers, books, or steel, either 
 moulded or rusted so fast as in Bengal. The soil is, indeed, 
 rocky and shallow; and though the rice-grounds here, as else- 
 where, are mere washes during the whole seed time, I do not 
 think the water either spreads so widely, or lies so long as in 
 the neighbourhood of the Ganges. 
 
 June 9,7. — I set out to-day, accompanied by Archdeacon 
 
 they were as ig-norantas ourselves of the height to which the tide usu- 
 ally rose, and seemed quite indifferent on the subject. We now began 
 to think our situation rather precarious, and determined on returning- 
 while it was in our power, instead of waiting for the raft. But this was 
 not the work of a moment, as the width of the causeway only allowed 
 of the carriage being turned by men, and by the time it was accom- 
 plished, and the horses harnessed, the water had risen as high as the 
 doors. The scene was beautiful and wild; it was night, the glorious 
 moon and stars shining over-head, and reflected with brilliancy in the 
 still waters, in the middle of which we appeared to stand, without any 
 visible means of escape. A canoe, just large enough to hold us, at 
 this moment came up, and we were rowed with extraordinary swiftness 
 to shore, leaving the carriage to follow, which it did in perfect safety. 
 If the night had been stormy our situation might have been one of dan- 
 ger. — Extract from Editor's Journal, 
 
JOURNEY TO THE DECKAN. 155 
 
 Barnes, on a journey into the Deckan. Having sent off our 
 horses and servants the preceding morning, we embarked in a 
 small boat with lateen sails, and stood across the arm of the 
 sea which divides Bombay from the continent. We went N. E. 
 with a fine breeze, a distance of 20 or 22 miles, passing But- 
 cher's Island and Elephanta to our left, and in about four 
 hours arrived in a small river on which stands the town of 
 Panwellee. Its bed is much choked with rocks; and, bein^ 
 a little too early for the tide, we were delayed and found 
 some difficulty in our progress, and were at length obliged to 
 go on shore in a small canoe, the narrowest which I had yet 
 seen, and cut out of a single tree. This landed us on a pretty 
 good stone pier, beyond which we found a small-sized coun- 
 try town, with a pagoda, a handsome tomb of a Mussulman 
 saint, and a pretty quiet view of surrounding hills and woods. 
 We found a comfortable bungalow, built and kept up by go- 
 vernment, for the accommodation of travellers, and two 
 taverns, one kept by a Portuguese, the other by a Parsee, the 
 latter of whom, at a very short notice, procured us a dinner, 
 at least as well got up, as cleanly and as good, as could have 
 been expected at a country inn in England. 
 
 After dinner we set out in palanqueens, in heavy rain, 
 which lasted all night, and went twelve miles to Chowkee, 
 where we found another government bungalow, and another 
 decent Parsee tavern, at the latter of which we remained 
 some hours, while our bearers rested, so as to enable them to 
 carry us on the next stage. No such thing as a regular Dak 
 establishment, (such as in Bengal enables travellers to find at 
 a short notice, and a moderate expense bearers ready placed 
 in all the villages where there are post-offices,) exists in this 
 part of India. Bearers are only procured in large towns; and 
 in order to obtain their services at intervening stations, they 
 must be brought from these towns at considerable expense, 
 and often from a considerable distance. In consequence it 
 becomes a necessary part of economy to engage one set of 
 bearers to go as far as they can, and enable them to do so by 
 halts of this kind, which the institution of bungalows renders 
 much less inconvenient than it would be in the north. The 
 Parsee tavern-keeper of Chowkee furnished us with tea, and 
 sofas, which serve very well as beds on occasion. 
 
 At two o'clock in the morning we again set off, and, after 
 some delay and difficulty in fording rivers, arrived about six 
 at a very pretty village named Capoolee, with a fine tank, and 
 temple of Maha-Deo, built by the celebrated Maharatta minis- 
 ter Nana Furnaveez. The road all the way was excellent, 
 made at a great expense, more than sufficiently wide, and well 
 raised above the low swampy level of the Concan. The jour- 
 
156 ASCENT OP THE GHATS. 
 
 ney was to me, however sufficiently unpleasant. I cannot 
 sleep in a palanqueen, the rain beat in through the front blinds, 
 which could never be perfectly closed, and through the side- 
 doors, which I was obliged to open occasionally for want of 
 air; and the wearisome darkness of the night, and the dismal 
 grunting of my bearers, who as a matter of custom, rather 
 than from any inability to bear their burthen, trot on with 
 much the same sort of noise, but deeper and more plaintive, 
 which the paviors make in England — made me renew an old 
 resolution, to have, in future, as little to do with palanqueens 
 as possible, at least in the night time. 
 
 From Capoolee, though it was still raining, I walked up 
 the Bhor Ghat four miles and half, to Candaulah, the road 
 still broad and good, but the ascent very steep, so much so, 
 indeed that a loaded carriage, or even a palanqueen with any 
 body in it, could with difficulty be forced along it. In fact, 
 everyone either walks or rides up the hills, and all merchan- 
 dise is conveyed on bullocks or horses. The ascent might, I 
 think have been rendered by an able engineer, much more 
 easy. But to have carried a road over these hills at all, con- 
 sidering how short a time they have been in our power, i» 
 highly creditable to the Bombay government; and the road, as 
 it now stands, and with all its inconveniencies, is probably 
 sufficient for the intercourse which either is, or is likely to 
 be, between the Concan and the Deckan. 
 
 The views offered from different parts of this ascent are very 
 beautiful, and much reminded me of some parts of the Yale of 
 Corwen. The mountains are nearly the same height, (from 2000 
 to 3000 feet above the level of the sea,) with the average of 
 Welsh mountains; and the freshness and verdure which clothes 
 them during the rains, as well as the fleecy clouds continually 
 sweeping over them, increased their likeness to the green dells 
 and moist climate of Gwyneth. In one respect, and only one, 
 the Ghats have the advantage, — their precipices are higher, and 
 the outline of the hills consequently bolder. That outline in- 
 deed, is remarkable, consisting, in by far the majority of in- 
 stances, of a plane table summit, or else a long horizontal ridge, 
 supported by sides as steep and regular as if artificial 1 3"^ scraped, 
 with natural terraces at uncertain heights, each with its own 
 precipice, affording a striking specimen of what is called the 
 trap formation. There is a good deal of forest timber on the 
 sides of these hills, and the gorges of the valleys are thickly 
 wooded. The trees, however, are not, singly taken, of any 
 great size, either here or in the Deckan, or in Bombay, a cir- 
 cumstance in which these countries seem remarkably contrast- 
 ed with Guzerat, and the greater part of northern India. 
 
 Near Candaulah is a waterfall, which flows all the year, and 
 
WATERFALL AT CANDAULAH. 157 
 
 at this season is very full and beautiful. It falls in three or four 
 successive descents down one of the highest precipices I ever 
 saw, not less, I should apprehend, than 1200 feet, into a valley 
 of very awful depth and gloom, down which its stream winds 
 to join the sea, nearly opposite to Tannah, under the name of 
 the Callianee river. On a knoll above this waterfall, and close 
 to the great precipice, Mr. Elphinstone has a small house, 
 where he passes a part of each cold season. I saw it only from 
 a distance, but should suppose it to be a delightful residence. 
 
 Candaulah is a poor village, but with a tolerable bazar, and, 
 besides the government bungalow for travellers, which is mean 
 and ill-contrived, has a tavern kept by a Portuguese, consisting 
 of one waste room, like a barn, with an inscription in broken 
 English over the door, announcing that "at the Hotel of the 
 Santa Anunciation, all nexeary victuals may he pr quired.''^ 
 
 In ascending the Ghats to Candaulah, I was met by six armed 
 horsemen, part of an escort obligingly sent me by Mr. Chapliii, 
 the commissioner in the Deckan. This is now more a mark of 
 respect, and calculated to conciliate the respect of the natives, 
 than a measure of any real necessity on this road . The popu- 
 lation, however, of these mountains used, at no long time ago, 
 to be frequently troublesome and dangerous to passengers, and 
 still, sometimes indulge in their old habits towards native tra- 
 vellers, though with Europeans they seldom if ever venture to 
 meddle. They are of the same caste and family of people with 
 the Coolies of Guzerat, and call themselves by that name. 
 They are, however, less tall and robust than those hardy bar- 
 barians, and seem a link between them and the Bheels. The 
 Bheels themselves are not found farther south than the neigh- 
 bourhood of Damaun; and on the hills which overhang the 
 southern Concan, a tribe of nearly similar habits but different 
 language, the Canars, takes the place of the Coolies. The 
 plain country, both of the Concans and the more elevated level 
 of the Deckan, is inhabited by Maharattas, a peaceable and in- 
 dustrious race, among whom there should seem to be fewer re- 
 markable crimes against society than, with a similar popula- 
 tion, is found in most parts of India. The horsemen who were 
 sent to me were natives of Hindostan, in the service of the po- 
 lice. They had been originally in Colonel Skinner's corps, 
 wore its uniform, and appeared much delighted to find that I 
 knew all about their old commander, and had been, myself, at 
 Delhi. 
 
 The cottages both in the Concan and in the Deckan are small 
 and mean, with steep thatched roofs, and very low side walls of 
 loose stones, and there is a general appearance of poverty both 
 in the dress and farming-implements of the people. Their cattle 
 however, are of a larger and better breed than those of Bengal; 
 
158 CAVERN AT CARLEE- 
 
 and notwithstanding the long drought, -sv ere, when I saw them; 
 in better case than I could have expected. 
 
 In the afternoon of this day, (the 28th, ) I rode on horseback, 
 accompanied hj Dr. Barnes, the stage between Candaulah and 
 Carlee, divei;ging from the road about a mile to visit the cele- 
 brated cavern which takes its name from this last place, and 
 which is hewn on the face of a precipice about two-thirds up 
 the side of a steep hill, rising with a very scraped and regular 
 talus, to the height of, probably, 800 feet above the plain. The 
 excavations consist, besides the principal temple, of many 
 smaller apartments and galleries, in two stories, some of them 
 ornamented with great beauty, and evidently intended, like 
 those at Kennery, for the lodging of monks or hermits. The 
 temple itself is on the same general plan as that of Kennery, 
 but half as large again, and far finer and richer. It is ap- 
 proached by a steep and narrow path, winding up the side of 
 the hill, among trees and brushwood, and fragments of rock. 
 This brought us to a mean and ruinous temple of Siva, which 
 serves as a sort of gateway to the cave; a similar small build- 
 ing stands on the right hand of its portico, and we were im- 
 mediately surrounded by some naked and idle brahmin boys, 
 who, with an old woman of the same caste, called themselves 
 the keepers of the sanctuary, and offered their services to show 
 its wonders, and tell its history. I asked them who was its 
 founder, and they answered, " King Pandoo," who is, indeed, 
 as Mr. Elphinstone afterwards told me, the reputed architect 
 of all these cave temples, and in general, like our Arthur, of 
 all ancient monuments whose real history is unknown. King 
 Pandoo and his four brethren are the principal heroes of the 
 celebrated Hindoo romance of the Mahabharat, and the apparent 
 identity of his name with that of the " Pandion" of whose ter- 
 ritories in India the Greeks heard so much, is too remarkable 
 to be passed unnoticed. 
 
 The approach to the temple is, like that at Kennery, under 
 a noble arch, filled up with a sort of portico screen, in two 
 stories of three intercolumniations below, and five above. In 
 tho- front, but a little to the left, is the same kind of pillar as 
 is seen at Kennery, though of larger dimensions, surmounted 
 by three lions back to back. Within the portico, to the right 
 and left, are three colossal figures, in alto relievo, of ele- 
 phants, their faces looking towards the person who arrives in 
 the portico, and their heads, tusks, and trunks, very boldly 
 projecting from the wall. On each of them is a mohoutvery 
 well carved, and a howdah with tw^o persons seated in it. 
 The internal screen, on each side of the door, is covered, as 
 at Kennery, with alto relievos, very bold and somewliat 
 larger than life, of naked male and female figures. I asked 
 
CARLEE. 159 
 
 our young guides what deities these represented, and was 
 surprised to hear from them in answer, " These are not Gods, 
 one God is sufficient; these are viragees," (^religious enthu- 
 siasts or attendants on tiie Deity.) On asking, however, if 
 their God was the same whom they worshipped in the little 
 temple before the steps, and if he w^ere Maha-Deo, they an- 
 swered in the affirmative, so that their Deism merely extend- 
 ed to paying worship to a single idol only. There is, cer- 
 tainly, however, no image either of Buddha or any other 
 mythological personage about this cavern, nor any visible 
 object of devotion, except the mystic chattah, or umbrella, 
 already mentioned at Kennery. 
 
 The details of the cave within having been already more 
 than once published, and as, in its general arrangement, it 
 closely answers to Kennery, I will only observe, that both in 
 dimensions and execution it is much nobler and more elabo- 
 ratej and that the capitals of the columns, (all of them at 
 least which are not hidden by the chattah at the East end,) 
 are very singular and beautiful. Each consists of a large 
 cap, like a bell, finely carved, and surmounted by two ele- 
 phants with their trunks entwined, and each carrying two 
 male and one female figure, which our guides again told us 
 were viragees. 
 
 The timber ribs which decorate the roof, whatever their 
 use may have been, are very perfect, and have a good effect 
 in the perspective of the interior, which is all extremely clean 
 and in good repair, and would be, in fact, a very noble tem- 
 ple for any religion. On one side an old and faded dhoolie, 
 with tattered and dirty curtains, fringes, and other marks of 
 ancient splendour, was suspended. Our guides said it was 
 the god's palanqueen, and was carried out on solemn occa- 
 sions. I saw nothing in it now, and there was no image 
 which could be put into it, so that I suppose it performs its 
 procession empty. On asking where their " Deo" was, they 
 pointed to some red paint on the front of the chattah. 
 
 On returning to our horses, we found the brahmin of the 
 next village, who called himself a pundit, and said he had 
 come on purpose to explain to me all the antiquities and mys- 
 teries of the " Dewal," or temple, but the evening was shut- 
 ting in too fast to admit of our scrambling half a mile up a 
 steep cliff, to examine the cave over again; and, therefore, 
 declining his civility, we rode across the plain to the village 
 of Carlee, where our palanqueens were awaiting us. This 
 plain is an unpromising mixture of rock and marsh, and 
 even less cultivated than its unfavourable soil might lead one 
 to expect, considering it must always have been well off for 
 water. Like all the Deckan which I have seen it is very 
 
 Vol. II.— 14 
 
160 POONAH. 
 
 bare of trees, and reminded me a good deal of some parts of 
 Rajpootana, particularly the neighbourhood of Nusseerabad. 
 The road just finished by government is excellent and there 
 is a bridge of, I think, thirteen arches, over some swampy 
 ground near this place, of extremely solid and judicious, 
 though simple architecture. 
 
 I had another comfortless night's journey in my palanqueen, 
 suftering a good deal from sleeplessness, and alternate tits of 
 shivering and heat. We reached Mr. Chaplin's bungalow in 
 Poonah cantonment, about four o'clock in the morning of the 
 29th, and I hoped that some hour's repose in an excellent 
 bed, would set me up again. I was mistaken, however, for 
 in the following night I was attacked by dysentery, of which 
 all these had, I suppose been the previous symptoms, and 
 which kept me pretty closely confined during great part of 
 my stay in Poonah. I was happy in being sufficiently reco- 
 vered on Saturday, to administer confirmation to about forty 
 persons, chiefly officers and privates of His Majesty's 20th 
 regiment, and on Sunday to consecrate the Church, and 
 preach a sermon to a numerous congregation. Mr. Chaplin, 
 also, drove me one day round the cantonment, and on Mon- 
 day I went on horseback to see the city and the Peishwah's 
 palace. 
 
 The city of Poonah stands in the centre of a very exten- 
 sive plain elevated somewhere about 2000 feet above tlie sea, 
 and surrounded by hills, of the trap formation, and with the 
 singularly scarped forms peculiar to that style of mountain, 
 from 1500 to 2000 feet higher still. Many of these used, 
 under the Maharatta government, to be crowned by hill-forts, 
 for which their form remarkably qualifies them, but by far the 
 greater part of which have been destroyed and abandoned as 
 useless, or worse than useless, in a campaign on the Euro- 
 pean system. It requires, indeed, no trifling victory of rea- 
 son and courage over imagination, to anticipate the easy cap- 
 ture of a line of towers and lofty walls, well furnished with 
 cannon, and crowning the summits of hills high and steep by 
 nature and art. But a little experience shows that fastnesses 
 of this kind, the more inaccessible they are from the plain, 
 are, under ordinary circumstances, the less valuable, as de- 
 pots, as commanding great roads, or as facilitating the pro- 
 gress or manoeuvres of a defensive army. Even separately 
 taken, and as places of refuge, it may be soon discovered that 
 the most steep and rugged mountains, in the ravines with 
 which they abound, aiford frequently very advantageous and 
 secure avenues, by which an attacking force may approacli 
 their walls completely covered from their artillery, while the 
 effects of bombardment on a rocky soil are very serious and 
 
POONAH. 161 
 
 terrible to a native army. Accordingly, these sky-threaten- 
 ing fortresses were found, .in the late war, to fall successively, 
 and in far less time than could be expected, before the Bri- 
 tish and Sepoy armies, while, even with all the imperfections 
 of military architecture in India, (defects which are, of course, 
 more conspicuous in a site where all is artificial,) the cities 
 of Belgaum and Bhurtpoor, seated on plains, but enclosing 
 large areas, and partly defended by tanks, are those which 
 have opposed the most formidable obstacles to our arms in 
 this country. Still, there are some hill -forts which are so 
 excellent in their kind, that no government can act wisely in 
 slighting them, and it is to be hoped that the British will not 
 forget, in the case of Taraghur, KuUinghur, Asseerghur, and 
 a few others, how valuable, in the event of their arms sus- 
 taining a reverse, these noble rocks may become to a retreat- 
 ing force, and how great their strength is likely to be when in 
 the hands of European officers. 
 
 The plain of Poonah is very bare of trees, and though there 
 are some gardens immediately around the city, yet as both 
 these and the city itself lie in a small hollow on the banks ot 
 the river Moola, they are not sufficiently conspicuous to in- 
 terrupt the general character of nakedness in the picture, any 
 more than the few young trees and ornamental shrubs with 
 which the bungalows of the cantonment are intermingled. 
 The principal and most pleasing feature, is a small insulated 
 hill immediately over the town, with a temple of the goddess 
 Parvati on its summit, and a large tank which, when I saw it, 
 was nearly dry, at its base. 
 
 All the grass-land round this tank, and generally through 
 the Deckan, swarms with a small land-crab, which burrows in 
 the ground, and runs with considerable swiftness, even v/hen 
 encumbered with a bundle of food almost as big as itself. This 
 food is grass, or the green stalks of rice, and it is amusing to 
 see them, sitting as it were upright, to cut their hay v/ith 
 their sharp pincers, then waddling oft' with the sheaf to their 
 holes as quickly as their sidelong pace will carry them. 
 
 The city of Poonah is far from handsome, and of no great 
 apparent size, though to my surprise, I was assured that it 
 still contains 100,000 people. It is without walls or fort, very 
 irregularly built and paved, with mean bazars, deep ruinous 
 streets, interspersed with peepul-trees, &c. many small, but 
 no large or striking pagodas, and as few traces as can well be 
 conceived of its having been so lately the residence of a power- 
 ful sovereign. The palace is large, and contains a handsome 
 quadrangle surrounded by cloisters of carved wooden pillars, 
 but is, externally, of mean appearance, and the same observa- 
 tion will apply to other smaller residencies of the Peishwa, 
 
162 CANTONMENT OF POONAH. 
 
 which, whimsically enough, are distinguished by the names 
 of the days of the week — "Monday's Palace, Tuesday's Pa- 
 lace," &c. The principal building is used at present, on its 
 ground-floor, as the prison for the town and district; on the 
 floor immediately above is a dispensary, and a large audience 
 chamber, resembling that at Baroda, which is fitted up with 
 beds as an infirmary for the natives, while higher still, a long 
 gallery is used as an insane hospital. Both these places, 
 though, when I saw them, rather crowded, were clean and 
 well kept, and in the latter particularly, the unfortunate pa- 
 tients were so clean, quiet, well-fed, and comfortably clothed, 
 as to do very great credit to Dr. Ducat, the station surgeon, 
 particularly as my visit was not prepared for or expected. 
 The madness of most of the patients seemed of a quiet and 
 idiotic character. One man only was pointed out to me as 
 sometimes violent, and dangerous from his great strength. 
 He was a sepoy, a very powerful and handsome man, who at 
 this time, however, was walking up and down without chains, 
 very civil, and apparently composed and tranquil. Another, 
 with a countenance strongly denoting despondency, seemed 
 to have contracted a friendship with a spaniel belonging to one 
 of the attendants, which sate on his bed, and round which he 
 kept his arms folded. Dr. Ducat asked me afterwards, if I 
 had noticed the very peculiar conformation of these patients' 
 skulls. I did not observe it, and therefore can only say from 
 his word, that there was any singularity. 
 
 The cantonment of Poonah is on an elevated situation, a 
 little to the westward of the city, and in its geneml appear- 
 ance and locality reminded me of that of Nusseerabad. Here, 
 as there, the horses are picketted in the open air all the year 
 round, an arrangement which is said to answer extre-jnely well 
 not only for cheapness and convenience, but for the health 
 and serviceable state of the animals. The streets are wide, 
 and the whole encampment, I thought, well arranged and 
 handsome; there is a good station-library for the soldiers, an- 
 other, supported by subscription, for the officers, and the regi- 
 mental schools I was told by Archdeacon Barnes, (for I was 
 too unwell to keep the appointment which I had made to visit 
 them,) are in excellent order. The Church is spacious and 
 convenient, but in bad architectural taste, and made still uglier 
 externally, by being covered with dingy blue wash picked out 
 with white. Mr. Robinson, the Chaplain, appears to draw 
 very numerous and attentive congregations both in the morn- 
 ings and evenings; the latter particularly, which is a volun- 
 tary attendance, showed as many soldiers nearly as the 
 morning's parade, and there appeared good reason to think, 
 not only that the talents and zeal of their able and amiable 
 
GOVERNMENT OF THE DECKAN. 163 
 
 Minister produced the effect to be anticipated, but that he was 
 well supported by the example and influence of Sir Charles 
 Colville and others in authority. I was so fortunate as to 
 prevail on Sir Charles Colville to rescind his order, restrict- 
 ing the soldiers from carrying the books of the station-library 
 with them to their quarters, and trust that an essential good 
 may thus be produced both to this and all the other canton- 
 ments of the Bombay army. And on the whole, though the 
 state of my health prevented my either seeing or doing so 
 much at Poonah as I had hoped to do, and, under other cir- 
 cumstances, might have done, 1 trust that the journey was 
 not altogether useless to myself and others. 
 
 During the hours that illness confined me to my room, 1 
 had the advantage of reading the reports on the state of the 
 Deckan by Mr. Elphinstone and Mr. Chaplin, with a conside- 
 rable volume of MS. documents, and was thus enabled, better 
 than I otherwise should have been, to acquire a knowledge of 
 this new and important conquest. The country conquered 
 from the Maharattas, with the exception of the principality of 
 Saltara and some other smaller territories which still remain 
 under their native sovereigns, is divided into several large dis- 
 tricts, each under the management of a single officer, generally 
 a military man, with the title of Collector, but exercising also 
 the functions of Judge of Circuit and Magistrate, while over 
 all these is the chief Commissioner, resident at Poonah, and 
 having a Collector under him for that province, so as to be at 
 liberty to attend to all the ditt'erent districts, and bound to 
 make an annual circuit through the greater part of them. 
 
 This simplicity of administration seems well suited to the 
 circumstances or the country and the people, and two other 
 very great though incidental good effects arise from it, inas- 
 much as 1st, there is a greater number of subordinate but re- 
 spectable and profitable situations open to the natives, than 
 can be the case under the system followed in Bengal; and se- 
 condly, the abuses which seem inseparable from the regular 
 Adawlut courts of justice have not been introduced here, but 
 offences are tried and questions of property decided, in the 
 first instance, by native punchaets or juries assembled in the 
 villages, and under the authority of the Potail or hereditary vil- 
 lage chief, or in graver and more difficult cases, by native 
 Pundits stationed with handsome salaries at Poonah and other 
 great towns, whose decisions may be confirmed or revised by 
 , the chief commissioner. The advantages of this institution 
 seem greatj it is true, indeed, that many complaints are made 
 of the listlessness, negligence and delays of the native jurors 
 or arbitrators, (for the punchaet system resembles the latter 
 of these characters rather than the former,) but still the delay 
 
 14* 
 
164 THE DECKAN. 
 
 is apparently, less than occurs under the Adawliit in our old 
 provinces, while the reputation of the court, so far as integrity 
 goes, is far better than that of the other. Eventually, too, 
 these institutions thus preserved and strengthened may be of 
 the greatest possible advantage to the country by increasing 
 public spirit, creating public opinion, and paving the way to 
 the obtainment and profitable use of further political privi- 
 leges. 
 
 The whole of the Deckan had, for some years back, suffered 
 greatly by drought and a consequent scarcity, which, in the 
 eastern districts, amounted at this time to absolute famine, 
 "with its dreadful attendant evils of pestilence and the weaken- 
 ing of all moral ties. These calamities were not so much felt in 
 the neighbourhood and to the west of Poonahj and, everywhere, 
 making due allowance for them, the country seemed to thrive 
 under its present system of government. The burdens of the 
 peasantry are said to be decidedly less in amount, and collect- 
 ed in a less oppressive manner, than under the old monarchy. 
 The English name is, therefore, popular with all but those who 
 are inevitably great losers by our coming,— the courtiers of the 
 Peishwa, such of the trades as lived by the splendour of his 
 court, and, probably, though this docs not appear, of the 
 Brahmins. The great body of the Maharatta people are a very 
 peaceable and simple peasantry, of frugal habits, and gentle 
 dispositions; there seems to be no district in India, of equal 
 extent and population, where so few crimes are committed, 
 and of the robberies and murders which really occur, the 
 greatest part by far are the work of the Bheels, who, on these 
 mountains as well as in Central India, maintain a precarious 
 and sanguinary independence, and are found less accessible 
 to such means of conciliation as have yet been tried with them, 
 than any of their more northern kindred. 
 
 The existence of private property in the soil seems generally 
 admitted through these provinces, and, as I am assured, through 
 the southern parts of the peninsula. ThePotails, or head-men 
 of the village, are hereditary ; the same is the case with the 
 barber, watchman, brahmin, &c. of each community, each of 
 whom is endowed with his little glebe of land. The relation 
 between the Rjut and the Potail 1 could not clearly learn, but 
 it seemed plain that the latter cculd not at will displace the 
 fornVer from his farm, and that in the event of his not paying 
 the fees due to himself or the crown, he has no remedy but in 
 a legal process. The share taken by government appears to 
 be high, at least one-tifth, and this is settled by an annual 
 valuation. Government express themselves very desirous to 
 bring about a permanent settlement, but say that till they 
 have more knowledge as to the land itself, and its real pro- 
 
THE DECKAN. 165 
 
 prietors, they should run a risk of doing greater injustice, and 
 occasioning greater evils than any which they can reasonably 
 apprehend under the present system. 
 
 The Deckan in its general character is a barren country, 
 and the population evidently falls short of the average of Eu- 
 rope. In Europe there is no country of which it reminds me 
 so much as Hungary, a region of which the fertility is general- 
 ly overrated. Like Hungary great part of the Deckan might 
 seem well adapted for vines, and it would be wise in govern- 
 ment to encourage their cultivation, if it were only to obtain a 
 better beverage for their troops than the vile brandy which 
 they now give them daily. 
 
 The Raja of Saltara is described as a well disposed young 
 man of good understanding, whose system of government, 
 though he is now quite out of leading strings, is still happily 
 influenced by the instruction and example which he received 
 in his early youth from the then resident. Captain Grant. His 
 country is peaceable, orderly, and as prosperous as can be ex- 
 pected under the calamitous dispensations of Providence, 
 which have afflicted it as well as its neighbours. The Raja 
 himself is said to be so ardent a professed lover of peace as 
 almost to bring his sincerity into question, never failing to 
 express wonder and horror at the conduct of all the more mar- 
 tial or quarrelsome sovereigns of India. The other petty sove- 
 reigns are supposed not to differ from the average of Hindoo 
 governors. They are all poor and disposed to be turbulent, 
 and it has been always one of the most delicate and necessary 
 duties of the Commissioners of the Deckan to avoid giving 
 them offence, and to interfere with them only just enough to 
 preserve the general peace. 
 
 The climate of the Deckan is highly praised during the rainy 
 and cool seasons, and the hot winds are of no long duration. 
 Its openness and height above the sea may be expected to ren- 
 der it salubrious. Candeish has been so much ruined during 
 the years of trouble that a great part of it is jungle, with its 
 usual plagues of Bheels, wild beasts, and fevers. The con- 
 cans are fertile, but, generally speaking, hot and unhealthy. 
 Severndroog, however, and its neighbouring station of Dapoo- 
 lie, in the southern concan, being on an elevated part of the 
 coast, enjoy a fine breeze, and have been fixed on as the site 
 of a convalescent hospital for tlie European garrison of Bombay. 
 
 July 5. — Dr. Barnes and I left Poonah, as before, in our 
 palanqueens, except that I rode through the city and for a few 
 miles on our road, till the sun grew too hot. We passed the 
 river by a deep ford immediately beyond the town, we our- 
 selves in a boat and the horses swam over 5 and arrived at- 
 Candaulah, where we fclept. The rain here was almost in- 
 
166 CANDAULAH. 
 
 cessant, and seemed to have driven under the shelter of the 
 post bungalow many animals which usually avoid the neigh- 
 bourhood of man. We were on our guard against scorpions 
 and centipedes, of which the tavern keeper told us that he had 
 killed many within the last few days, but I was a little star- 
 tled, while passing through a low door-way, to feel something 
 unusual on my shoulder, and on turning my face round, to see 
 the head of a snake pointed towards my cheek. I shook him 
 off, and he was killed by a servant. He was a small green 
 one, mottled with a few black spots ; some of those who saw 
 him declared him to be very venomous, others denied it, and 
 it unluckily did not occur to me to examine his fangs. What- 
 ever were his powers of mischief, I had good reason to be 
 thankful to Providence that he did not bite me; for, besides the 
 necessity, under the uncertainty of his poisonous nature, of 
 using painful remedies, I should have had to bear many hours 
 suspense between life and death. 
 
 I rode down the Ghats, the scenery of which I thought even 
 more beautiful than I did when I ascended. The foliage struck 
 me more, and I was particularly pleased with a species of palm, 
 resembling the sago-tree, which seems the hardiest of its genus 
 and is certainly one of the most beautiful. Its leaf is narrow- 
 er than most other kinds, so as to give the branches at some 
 distance something of the air of a weeping-willow, but it has 
 also a splendid ornament in a pendent cluster of what I sup- 
 pose to be seed-vessels, hanging like an enormous ear of corn, 
 among the boughs. All the torrents, most of which had been 
 dry when I passed before, were now full, and every chasm in 
 the steep side of the mountains offered the prospect of a cas- 
 cade. I saw here ten at one view. 
 
 I left my horse at Chowke, where we breakfasted, and had 
 the good fortune to meet an agreeable young man of the name 
 of Babington, many members of whose family 1 knew in Eng- 
 land. Inns are, in every part of the world, the favourite scenes 
 for romances, and the unexpected interviews in which romances 
 abound; but I have often thought that a serai, or post-house in 
 India, would have particular advantages in this way, both from 
 the wild and romantic character of the places in which they 
 stand, and the strange selection from all the liberal profes- 
 sions and half the respectable families in England, who may 
 be, without improbability, supposed occasionally to meet un- 
 der circumstances where to avoid each other would, even if it 
 were wished, be altogether impossible. 
 
 We dined and slept at Panwellee, where we found a bundur 
 boat and two cotton boats waiting our arrival; the boisterous 
 south wind would not allow of our going direct to Bombay; 
 
RETURN TO BOMBAY. 167 
 
 and the serang said the tide would not serve for our sailing 
 round bj Tannah before four o'clock the next morning. 
 
 The evening we employed in walking about the little town, 
 where I found some Mussulmans who spoke a little Hindoos- 
 tanee, and a Parsee who spoke very good English. I also 
 found some officers of one of the East India Company's ships, 
 waiting with one of the boats of the vessel for the arrival of 
 their captain from Poonah. They told me of the very stormy 
 weather which had occurred since my leaving Bombay, during 
 which a brig of war in the service of the Imam of Muscat had 
 been cast away, and one of the English vessels which had left 
 the port at the time of my departure, had been driven back in 
 great peril and distress. The Arab captain of the Imam's 
 brig I had met at breakfast with Mr. Elphinstone, and was 
 sincerely sorry for his misfortune. Both he and his crew were 
 providentially saved. He was a keen, lively little man, who 
 spoke English well, and apparently affected English manners, 
 though I saw no traces about him of that coarseness and 
 swearing which too many of the people of this country sup- 
 pose to be characteristic of Englishmen. He had taken much 
 pains with himself, and bore the reputation of a very tolera- 
 ble sailor. The misfortune which had now overtaken him 
 was not attributed to ignorance, or any thing but the unusual 
 violence of the weather. It was likely, however, to be verj 
 injurious to his success in life, not only from, the actual loss 
 of his own property on board the ship, but from the prejudice 
 felt by Mussulmans against trusting those who have once 
 shown themselves unlucky. 
 
 At the appointed hour in the morning of the 7th we em- 
 barked on the Panwellee river, with a strong adverse gale, and 
 heavy showers. The tide carried us down to the mouth of 
 the river, and considerably favoured our egress. We had, 
 however, a severe struggle after entering into the northern 
 branch of the Bombay harbour, got wet through and through, 
 and our boat filled so fast with the seas which broke over us, 
 that two of the crew were continually engaged in baleing. 
 This continued till, after many short tacks, we cleared the 
 point which divides the branch in which we were tossing from 
 the strait leading to Tannah. Along this last we went with 
 a fair wind, and arrived safe at Tannah, from whence I re- 
 turned to Pareil. 
 
 On the Saturday following, [July 10,) I went to Mr. Bail- 
 lie's, the senior Judge at Tannah, to be ready to celebrate 
 tlie consecration of the new church there the next day. The 
 church, though small, is extremely elegant and convenient. 
 The architect, Capt. Tate, in order to secure the most advan- 
 tageous view of tlie building, externally, with reference to 
 
168 BOMBAY. 
 
 the situation, and at the same time to observe the ancient ec- 
 clesiastical custom of placing the altar eastward, has con- 
 trived the chancel, a semicircle, on one side, like a little 
 transept, the pulpit being in a corresponding semicircle oppo- 
 site. The arrangement is extremely convenient, and the ef- 
 fect very pleasing. * 
 
 Monday morning I returned to Pareil. 
 
 The remainder of my stay in Bombay was disagreeably and 
 laboriously occupied in examining into the conduct and cha- 
 racter of one of the Chaplains, a man of talent and eloquence, 
 and with high pretensions to austere piety. The inquiry 
 ended very unsatisfactorily; grievous charges were brought 
 against him, and his manner of conducting his defence did 
 his own character much disservice; still, as nothing of any 
 great consequence was actually proved against him, I only 
 wrote him a letter expressive of my feelings, but which was 
 calculated to induce his brethren to hope the best concerning 
 him, and not to conduct themselves towards him in a manner 
 which would drive him from society, and cut off his chance of 
 amendment, if guilty. This I did the day of my departure, 
 and I trust I acted tor the best. 
 
 My miscellaneous observations on Bombay have been de- 
 ferred so long, that they will probably be very imperfect. 
 The island,! as well as most of those in its neighbourhood, is 
 
 • The principal Protestaftt chufch \n Bombay is within the Fort; it 
 is a large and handsome building", with some tolerably g-ood monu- 
 ments; there is also a small temporary chapel at Matoong-a, and a 
 church, which the Bishop consecrated, has recently been built in the 
 island of Colabah, where there are considerable cantonments. There 
 is likewise a Presbyterian place of worship within the Fort. A regu- 
 lar weekly service has just been established on board one of the largest 
 ships, for the time being, in the harbour, to accommodate those offi- 
 cers and men whose duties prevent their attending church. The first 
 day the experiment was made, the Bishop preached on board the 
 "Windsor Castle. Mr. Mainwaring the officiating chaplain in the church 
 of Colabah, has also undertaken this harbour duty. Several Portu- 
 guese and Armenian churches, two or three synagogues, and many 
 mosques and pagodas are scattered about in various parts of the is- 
 land. — Extract from Editor's Journal. 
 
 t The island of Colabah is situated at the entrance of the harbour, 
 and is connected with that of Bombay by a pier, which is, however 
 overflowed at high-water. Adjoining this pier are the docks, which 
 are large, and, I believe, the only considerable ones in India, where 
 the tides do not often rise high enough to admit of their construction. 
 Cotton is the principal article of export, great quantities of which come 
 from the north-west of India, and I have frequently been interested in 
 seeing the immense bales lying on the piers, and the ingenious screw 
 with which an astonishing quantity is pressed into the canvass bags. 
 Bombay is the port from whence almost all the trade of the west and 
 north is shipped for China and England; there are several ships build* 
 
BOMBAY. 169 
 
 apparently little more than a cluster of small detached rocks, 
 which have been joined together by the gradual progress of 
 coral reefs, aided by sand thrown up by the sea, and covered 
 with the vegetable mould occasioned by the falling leaves of 
 the sea-loving coco. The interior consists of a long but nar- 
 row tract of low ground, which has evidently been, in the 
 first instance, a salt lagoon, gradually filled up by the pro- 
 gress which I have mentioned, and from which the high tides 
 are still excluded only by artificial embankments. This tract 
 is a perfect marsh during the rainy season, and in a state of 
 high rice cultivation. The higher ground is mere rock and 
 sand, but covered with coco and toddy-palms where they can 
 grow.^ There is scarcely any open or grass-land in the is- 
 land, except the esplanade before the fort, and the exercising 
 ground at Matoonga, which last is the head-quarters of the 
 artillery. The fort, or rather the fortified town, has many 
 large and handsome houses, but few European residents, 
 being hot, close built, with narrow streets, projecting upper 
 stories and rows, in the style which is common all over this 
 side of India, and of which the old houses in Chester give a 
 sufiiciently exact idea. 
 
 The Bombay houses are, externally, less beautiful than those 
 of Calcutta, having no pillared verandahs, and being disfigur- 
 ed by huge and high pitched roofs of red tiles. They are, ge- 
 nerally speaking, however, larger, and on the whole better 
 adapted to the climate. 
 
 ing- in the slips, and the whole place has the appearance of being a 
 flourishing- commercial sea-port. 
 
 Pearls and turquoises are broug-ht from the Persian gtilph in great 
 numbers, some of which are very- valuable, and fine cornelians and 
 agates also come from Surat. — Extract from Editor's Journal. 
 
 • The sea abounds in excellent fish. The bumbelow, very much 
 resembling- an eel in shape, is considered one of the best, and g-reat 
 quantities are annually dried for the Calcutta market: it appeared to 
 me little better than a tasteless mass of jelly, and very inferior to most 
 of the other kinds. Larg-e sea-snakes are seen in numbers swimming 
 on the surface of the water: and I was assured, that on the Malabar 
 coast the sailors always know when they are within sounding's by the 
 appearance of these animals. Buffaloes are very common in the is- 
 land, but their beef is not reckoned good, and their^milk is poorer than 
 that of the cow. There are no beasts of prey, excepting a few hyae- 
 nas, which are seldom met with ; nor are there many poisonous snakes 
 or insects to be seen. The great variety and fine plumage of the 
 smaller birds struck me very forcibly; and some of their notes, espe- 
 cially that of the nightingale, are very beautiful. The poultry is al- 
 most all brought from the coast, as well as most kinds of vegetables: 
 indeed the island itself is much too small to feed its population; and, 
 save onions, mangoes, the sweet potatoe, rice, dhal, and a few other 
 kinds ot grain, it produces little but the varieties of the palm-tribes. — 
 Extract from Editor'' s Journal. 
 
170 DEPARTURE FROM BOMBAY MR. ELPHINSTONE. 
 
 We took our final leave of Bombay on the 15th of August, 
 and embarked in the Discovery, commanded by Captain 
 Brucks, of the Company's Marine. Mr. Elphinstone asked 
 all the principal civil and military servants of the Company 
 to breatfast on the occasion, in the government-house in the 
 fort^ many of them accompanied us to the water's edge, and 
 others went on board with us, among whom was Mr. Meriton, 
 the superintendant of Marine, known by the desperate valour 
 which he displayed on several occasions while commanding 
 different East India ships. Mr. Robinson of Poonah, and Dr. 
 Smith, accompanied me as chaplain and medical attendant. 
 
 Although we had long looked forward with eagerness to the 
 moment when I should be at liberty to resume a journey which 
 was to take us to Calcutta, and to unite us all once more to- 
 gether, we could not leave Bombay without regret. There 
 were some persons whom we were sincerely pained to part 
 with there. We had met with much and marked kindness 
 and hospitality, we had enjoyed the society of several men of 
 distinguished talent, and all my views for the regulation and 
 advantage of the Clergy, and for the gradual advancement of 
 Christianity, had met with a support beyond my hopes, and 
 unequalled in any other part of India. 
 
 I had found old acquaintances in Sir Edward West and Sir 
 Charles Chambers, and an old and valuable friend, (as well 
 as a sincerely attached and cordial one,) in Archdeacon Barnes. 
 Above all, however, I had enjoyed in the unremitting kind- 
 ness, the splendid hospitality, and agreeable conversation of 
 Mr. Elphinstone, the greatest pleasure of the kind which I 
 have ever enjoyed either in India or Europe. 
 
 Mr. Elphinstone is, in every respect, an extraordinary man, 
 possessing great activity of body and mind, remarkable talent 
 for, and application to public business, a love of literature, and 
 a degree of almost universal information, such as I have met 
 with in no other person similarly situated, and manners and 
 conversation of the most amiable and interesting character. 
 While he has seen more of India and the adjoining countries 
 than any man now living, and has been engaged in active po- 
 litical and sometimes military duties since the age of eigiiteen, 
 he has found time not only to cultivate the languages of Hin- 
 dostan and Persia, but to preserve and extend his acquaint- 
 ance with the Greek an<l Latin classics, with the Frencli and 
 Italian, with all the elder and more distinguished English 
 writers, and with the current and popular literature of the day, 
 both in poetry, history, politics, and political economy. \N'ith 
 these remarkable accomplishments, and notwithstanding a tem- 
 perance amounting to rigid abstinence, he is fond of society, 
 and it is a common subject of surprise with his friends, at what 
 
MK. ELPHINSTONE. 171 
 
 hours of the day or night he finds time for the acquisition of 
 knowledge. His policy, so far as India is concerned, appear- 
 ed to me peculiarly wise and liberal, and he is evidently at- 
 tached to, and thinks well of the country and its inhabitants. 
 His public measures, in their general tendency, evince a steady 
 wish to improve their present condition. No government iii 
 India pays so much attention to schools and public institutions 
 for education. In none are the taxes lighter, and in the ad- 
 ministration of justice to the natives in their own languages, 
 in the establishment of punchaets, in the degree in which he 
 employs the natives in official stations, and the countenance 
 and familiarity which he extends to all the natives of rank who 
 approach him, he seems to have reduced to practice, almost 
 all the reforms which had struck me as most required in the 
 system of government pursued in those provinces of our Eastern 
 Empire which I had previously visited. His popularity, (thougli 
 to such a feeling there may be individual exceptions,) appears 
 little less remarkable tlian his talents and acquirements, and 
 I was struck by the remark I once heard, that" all other pub- 
 lic men had their enemies and their friends, their admirers, 
 and their aspersors, but that of Mr. Elphinstone, every body 
 spoke highly." Of his munificence, for his liberality amounts 
 to this, I had heard much, and knew some instances myself. 
 
 With regard to the free press, I was curious to know the 
 motives or apprehensions which induced Mr. Elphinstone to 
 be so decidedly opposed to it in this country. In discussing 
 the topic he was always open and candid, acknowledged that 
 the dangers ascribed to a free press in India had been exagge- 
 rated, — but spoke of the exceeding inconvenience, and even 
 danger which arose from the disunion and dissension which 
 political discussion produced among the European officers at 
 the ditierent stations, the embarrassment occasioned to govern- 
 ment by the exposure and canvass of all their measures by the 
 Lentuli and Gracchi of a newspaper, and his preference of 
 decided and vigorous, to half measures, where any restrictive 
 measures at all were necessary. I confess that his opinion 
 and experience are the strongest presumptions which I have 
 yet met with in favour of the censorship, 
 
 A charge has been brought against Mr. Elphinstone by the 
 indiscreet zeal of an amiable, but not well-judging man, the 
 *' field officer of cavalry," who published his Indian travels, 
 that " he is devoid of religion, and blinded to all spiritual 
 truth." I can only say that I saw no reason to think so. On 
 the contrary, after this character which I had read of him, I 
 was most agreeably surprised to find that his conduct and con- 
 versation, so far as I could learn, had been always moral and 
 decorous, that he was regular inliis attendance on public wor- 
 
 VoL. II.— 15 
 
172 MR. ELPHINSTONE. 
 
 ship, and not only well-informed on religious topics, but well 
 pleased and forward to discuss them; that his views appeared 
 to me, on all essential subjects, doctrinally correct, and his 
 feelings serious and reverential 5 and that he was not only in- 
 clined to do, but actually did more for the encouragement of 
 Christianity, and the suppression or diminution of suttees, 
 than any other Indian Governor has ventured on. That he 
 may have differed in some respects from the peculiar views of 
 the author in question, I can easily believe, though he could 
 hardly know himself in what this difference consisted, since I 
 am assured, that he had taken his opinion at second hand, and 
 not from any thing which Mr. Elphinstone had either said or 
 done. But I have been unable to refrain from giving this slight 
 and imperfect account of the character of Mr. Elphinstone, as 
 it appeared to me, since I should be sorry to have it thought 
 that one of the ablest and most amiable men I ever met with, 
 were either a profligate or an unbeliever. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 25th of August^ we cast anchor 
 outside the harbour of Galle, but the directions given in the 
 government chart for anchoring during this monsoon, proved 
 so incorrect, that when the pilot came on board he found the 
 vessel in a very dangerous situation, lying so close upon rocks, 
 that, as the wind was blowing hard he could not venture to 
 weigh anchor, lest she should drive on them; he was obliged, 
 therefore, to warp her off", which occupied the whole of the 
 morning, a miserable one to me, for the sea ran very high, and 
 the ship tossed and rolled unceasingly. Mr. Glenie, the senior 
 Colonial Chaplain; Mr. Layard, the Judge of Galle; Mr. Mayor, 
 one of the Church Missionaries, and the Master Attendant of 
 Galle, came on board to meet us; and, about three o'clock, the 
 vessel was got safe into harbour. The fort fired a salute, which 
 the Discovery returned, and we were met on the pier by the 
 principal inhabitants of the place, the regiment stationed there, 
 and a band of spearmen and lascarines. The pier was covered 
 M ith white cloth, and we passed between two files of soldiers 
 to the place where palanqueens, &c. were waiting; in which, 
 preceded by native music, a constant attendant on all proces- 
 sions, we went two miles tothe cutcherry, where we were in- 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 173 
 
 vited, and most kindly and hospitably entertained, by Mr. 
 Sansoni, the collector of the district. 
 
 Point de Galle is situated at nearly the southern extremity 
 of Ceylon, and its harbour is very spacious and beautiful, being 
 formed in part by rocks, over which the sea foams and dashes 
 in a glorious manner; it has not more than two or three ships, 
 and a few small craft, within it at present. One of the former 
 is an Arab which left Calcutta for Bombay, a few days before 
 I sailed, early in March; out of pure cowardice the captain 
 put in here, where he has remained ever since, and will not 
 move till the strength of the monsoon is over. Homeward 
 bound ships occasionally touch at this port, and one East In- 
 diaman regularly comes every year to carry oft* the cinnamon, 
 prepared for exportation. 
 
 Avery few English and Dutch families form the society of 
 the.place, and they reside principally within the fort; the "pet- 
 tah," or native town, is extensive, and the houses neat. At 
 present it has a very gay appearance, from being ornamented 
 in the Cingalese manner, in honour of the Bishop's arrival, 
 with palm-branches, flowers, and fruits, in which kind of de- 
 coration the natives are very ingenious, and which gives the 
 whole village the appearance of a jubilee. Mr. Sansoni's is a 
 lower-roomed house, but very spacious and comfortable, com- 
 manding a view of the harbour. He is an Italian by birth, but 
 is become quite Anglicised by a long residence in the island. 
 
 The Cingalese on the coast differ very much from any Indians 
 I have yet seen, and their language, also, is different; they 
 wear no turban, or other kind of covering, on the head, but turn 
 up their long black hair with large tortoise-shell combs; the 
 Coolies, and labouring classes have merely the waistcloth, as in 
 Bengal; but the ''Moodeliers," or native magistrates, head- 
 men as they are generally called, wear a strange mixture of 
 the Portuguese and native dress, but handsome, from the gold 
 with which it is covered. The Moodelier of Galle, and all his 
 family, are Christians; he is a most respectable man, in face and 
 figure resembling Louis XVIII. to whom his sons also bear a 
 strong likeness: the old man wears a handsome gold medal, 
 given him for meritorious conduct. 
 
 August 26.^ — The heat is said to be never very oppressive at 
 Galle, being constantly tempered by sea-breezes, and by fre- 
 quent rain; the total absence of punkahs, indeed, proves the 
 climate to be moderate. The fort was built by the Dutch, and 
 is a good deal out of repair. We dined to-day at Mr. Layard's, 
 who has an excellent house within its walls ; we went in our 
 palanqueens, and instead of the lanterns to which we had been 
 accustomed in Calcutta and Bombay, were preceded by men 
 carrying long palm-branches on lire; tke appearance of these 
 
174 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 natural torches was picturesque, and their smell not unplea- 
 sant; but the sparks and flakes of fire which they scattered 
 about were verj disagreeable, and frequently were blown into 
 my palanqueen, to the great danger of my muslin dress: they 
 are never used Avithin tlie fort. 
 
 August 9>7. — Our original plan of going from hence to Bad- 
 dagame, a Church-missionary station, about thirteen miles from 
 Galle, where there is a church to be consecrated, has been frus- 
 trated by the heavy rains which have lately fallen, and which 
 have swollen the river so much as to make the journey im- 
 practicable; we therefore decided on remaining over Sunday 
 here, and we sent oft' the greatest part of our servants, bag- 
 gage, &c. to Colombo, a distance of seventy-two miles. 
 
 The Bishop was occupied all the morning in ecclesiastical 
 affairs. There is neither Chaplain nor resident Church-mis- 
 sionary here, but Mr. Mayor and Mr. Ward occasionally come 
 from Baddagame to do the duty, and the former remained here 
 a month previous to our arrival, to prepare the young people 
 for confirmation. The Wesleyan Society has a Missionary, 
 who sometimes does duty in the church. Mrs. Gisborne has 
 a school about a mile from the cutcherry, of which we hear an 
 excellent report: she is at present at Colombo, but when we 
 return to embark for Calcutta we hope to visit it with her. 
 
 August 28.— -The Bishop confirmed about thirty persons^ 
 of whom the greater proportion were natives; some of the 
 Moodelier's family were among the number, but the rest were 
 principally scholars from Mrs. Gisborne's school. He after- 
 wards preached. The church was built by the Dutch, and, 
 according to their custom, is without a communion table, and 
 for the most part open. It is kept neatly, but it is a good 
 deal out of repair. The native part of the congregation was 
 numerous, and paid great attention to the ceremony, though 
 many were there out of curiosity alone. Mr. Robinson preached 
 in the evening. 
 
 August 29. — This morning, at three o'clock, we were 
 roused by beat of drum, to prepare for our march to Colombo; 
 we formed a long cavalcade of palanqueens and gigs, preceded 
 by an escort of spearmen, and the noisy inharmonious music 
 I mentioned before, and attended by some of Mr. Sansoni's 
 lascarines, who answer in some respects to our peons in Cal- 
 cutta; they wear rather a pretty uniform of white, red, and 
 black, and a conical red cap, with an upright white feather in it. 
 Instead of the chattah used with us, these men carry large 
 fans, made of the talipot-palm, which is peculiar to Ceylon, 
 from six to nine feet in length, over the heads of Europeans 
 and rich natives, to guard them from the sun. The road was 
 decorated the whole way as for a festival, with long strips of 
 
JOURNAL OP A TOUR IN CEYLON. 175 
 
 palm-branches hung upon strings on either side, and where- 
 ever we stopt, we found the ground spread with white cloth, 
 and awnings erected, beautifully decorated with flowers and 
 fruits, and festooned witli palm-branches. These remnants 
 of the ancient custom mentioned in the Bible, of strewing the 
 road with palm-branches and garments, are curious and in- 
 teresting. 
 
 At day-break we crossed the first river in a boat with a 
 decorated awning, and at the end of twenty miles, which was 
 ■accomplished by the same set of bearers by ten o'clock, we 
 arrived at one of the rest-houses, where we breakfasted, and 
 remained* during the heat of the day. These are built and 
 kept up by government, for the accommodation of travellers, 
 and are bungalows, merely consisting of three or four unfur- 
 nished rooms, with, possibly, some cane bedsteads, on which 
 the palanqueen mattrasses are placed; here, as in India, every 
 individual article wanted in marching, is carried with one, 
 save tents, which on this line of road are supplied by these 
 houses. The name of this place is Amblegodde; it is situated 
 on a height commanding an extensive view of the sea, having 
 a bold shore on either side, with two or three small fishing 
 harbours, or rather creeks. 
 
 In a small bungalow, close to the sea, we found a splendid 
 breakfast prepared for us by the Moodelier of Galle. We 
 were met here by a set of dancers with grotesque masks, in 
 dresses very much resembling those worn by the Otaheitan 
 dancers, as represented in the prints of Captain Cook's voyages. 
 When it grew cool we again set out, still carried by the same 
 bearers, there being no means of laying a dak here as in Ben- 
 gal; these men, like the Madras bearers, make a sort of groan- 
 ing noise every step they take, which is to a stranger very 
 unpleasant; they go through all the sounds of the vowels al- 
 ternately, hi, ho, hu, — he, hi, hu, and so on. Our road had 
 hitherto lain through a continued wood of palm-trees, which 
 from its uniformity would have been tedious, but for the 
 flowering shrubs and underwood with which the ground was 
 covered, and for the immediate neighbourhood of the sea 
 breaking beautifully over large insulated masses of coral rock: 
 the coast, as well as the country for some miles inland, is 
 generally flat, and intersected by rivers and arms, (or rather 
 indents,) of the sea. The population appears to consist ex- 
 clusively of fishermen, and the houses bear a greater appear- 
 ance of comfort than is usually seen in fishing villages in India. 
 Sixteen miles further brought us to Ben Totte, where we dined 
 and slept. This rest-house is on the estuary of a broad river, 
 but close to the sea, and the scenery about it is extremely 
 beautiful. We had just time before ni^ht closed in to take 
 
 15* 
 
176 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CETLON^ 
 
 some sketches of this lovely spot; but it was extremely diffi- 
 cult to make any thing like an accurate representation of its 
 ^enery. Each river has its rest-house on either side, which 
 would seem to have been built before the regular ferries were 
 established, when passengers had to wait, perhaps, many days 
 for the floods to subside, which here are as sudden as they are 
 frequent. "With a little contrivance we managed to pass the 
 night very comfortably either in palanqueens, or on their ma- 
 trasses placed on cane bedsteads. In this climate, in places 
 ■where there are no mosquitoes, which happily is the case in 
 this monsoon, very little preparation is required for a night's 
 lodging. Emily makes a capital traveller, and really enjoys 
 it as much as any of the party : a palanqueen is indeed by far 
 the least fatiguing way in which a child can tj-avel. 
 
 August 30. — At four this morning wx were roused by the 
 reveille. Mr. Sansoni here took his leave, having very kindly 
 accompanied us to the end of his district, to see that we wanted 
 no comfort or accommodation: the Galle escort also left us, 
 and we were met by spearmen, &c. &c. from Colombo; having 
 crossed the river in a highly ornamented boat, we proceeded 
 twelve miles along a road made more interesting by the mix- 
 ture of timber-trees with the palm. The bread-fruit tree I 
 here saw for the first time, growing to an immense size, and 
 with gigantic leaves, shaped like those of the fig-tree; the 
 Jamba, or rose-apple, strewing the ground with its beautiful 
 scarlet flowers; the banyan, and the cotton-tree with many 
 others, whose names I did not know. 
 
 The wild pine-apple grows in abundance; it is a shrub not 
 of any great size, which throws out its branches into all kinds 
 of fantastic shapes, bearing a fruit resembling a pine-apple, 
 but pendant and without a crown; it is said to be poisonous; 
 another shrub with a small leaf, whose name I forget, is va- 
 lued by the natives on account of its emetic properties; the 
 end of each twig is crowned by two white leaves, out of which 
 a small and ugly flower springs. 
 
 Of flowers the Gloriosa superba and the Amaryllis are the 
 most beautiful and grow in profusion; many others which I 
 had been accustomed to see in hot-houses at home, weak and 
 stunted, here grow in splendid luxuriance; in places the trees 
 appeared to stand on a carpet of flowers. 
 
 At Caltura is a small fort built to defend the passage of the 
 river in former times, and now occasionally inhabited by Mr. 
 Rodney, one of the members of government, on a hill which 
 commands an extensive view of the sea with a tine river run- 
 ning at its foot, now, like all the others, much swollen with 
 the rain. Mr. Rodney drove us in his carriage from hence to 
 Paltura, where after crossing a fourth river, we were met by 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 177 
 
 Sir Edward Barnes's carriage, drawn bj four beautiful Eng- 
 lish horses, which took us, with a fresh relay through the fort 
 at Colombo, where the usual salute was fired, to St. Sebastian. 
 Here we found a most comfortable house, provided and fur- 
 nished by government, on the borders of a large lake, but 
 commanding a fine open view of the sea. This was the resi- 
 dence of the late Archdeacon Twistleton, whose death we have 
 heard much lamented; itis reckoned oneot thehealthiest spots 
 in the island, always enjoying a fine breeze from the sea. In 
 the evening we dined at the " king's house," that being the 
 name given to the residence of the governor in this colony. 
 We were most kindly received by Sir Edward and Lady 
 Barnes, and met a small and agreeable party, but I was much 
 tired, and glad to go home early. The house is a bad one, in 
 the centre of the fort, but every thing is conducted on a 
 handsome and liberal scale by the Governor. 
 
 August 31. — Our morning was, as usual on a first arrival, 
 taken up by visits; in the afternoon we drove in Sir E. Barnes's 
 sociable through the far-famed cinnamon gardens, which cover 
 upwards of 17,000 acres of land on the coast, the largest of 
 which are near Colombo. The plant thrives best in a poor sandy 
 soil in a damp atmosphere; it grows wild in the woods to the 
 size of a large apple-tree, but when cultivated is never allowed 
 to grow more than ten or twelve feet in height, each plant 
 standing separate. The leaf is something like that of the 
 laurel in shape, but of a lighter colour; when it first shoots out 
 it is red, and changes gradually to green. It is now out ot blos- 
 som, but I am told that the flower is white, and appears when 
 in full bk)ssom to cover the garden. After hearing so much 
 of the spicy gales from this island, I was much disappointed 
 at not being able to discover any scent, at least, from the 
 plants, in passing through the gardens; there is a very fra- 
 grant smelling flower growing under them, which at first led 
 us into a belief that we smelt the cinnamon, but we were soon 
 undeceived. On pulling oft* a leaf or a twig you perceive the 
 spicy odour very strongly, but I was surprised to hear that 
 the flower has little or none. As cinnamon forms the only 
 considerable export of Ceylon, it is of course preserved with 
 great care; by the old Dutch law the penalty for cutting a 
 branch was no less than the loss of a hand; at present a tine 
 expiates the same off*ence. The neighbourhood of Colombo is 
 particularly favourable to its growth, being well sheltered, 
 with a high equable temperature; and as showers fall very fre- 
 quently, though a whole day's heavy rain is uncommon, the 
 ground is never parched. 
 
 The pearl fisliery was at one time very productive, but 
 some years ago it entirely failed, and tljough it has lately been 
 
178 JOURNAL OP A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 resumed, the success has been small. Ceylon, partly from its 
 superabundant fertility, which will scarcely allow of the 
 growth of foreign plants, and partly from the indolence of the 
 natives, is a very poor colonyj the potatoe will not thrive at 
 all, and it is only at Candy, a town about seventy miles in 
 the interior, that any kind of European vegetable comes to per- 
 fection. The Governor has a basket full sent down every 
 morning from his garden there; the bread-fruit is the best 
 substitute for potatoes I have met with, but even this is ex- 
 tremely inferior. A plant, something between the turnip and 
 the cabbage, called " nolkol," is good, but it is not indigenous, 
 having been originally imported from the Cape. 
 
 I heard a gentleman say, with reference to the indolence of 
 the natives, "give a man a coco-tree, and he will do nothing 
 for his livelihood; he sleeps under its shade, or perhaps builds 
 a hut of its branches, eats its nuts as they fall, drinks its juice, 
 and smokes his life away." Out of a numerous population, 
 a small proportion are labourers; the system of forced labour, 
 which we found established by the Dutch, still exists in some 
 degree, and a man can hardly be expected to pay much at- 
 tention to the culture of his field, when he is liable at any mo- 
 ment to be taken oft' to public works; in his own district he re- 
 ceives no payment for road making, but when removed to a 
 distance he has three fanams, or three half-pence per day. 
 The people are, however, lightly taxed, and the general aspect 
 of their houses would indicate more comfort and attention to 
 appearances than all I had heard of them had led me to expect. 
 
 There is one custom here which I have not seen elsewhere, 
 which struck me as remarkably humane; at certain distances 
 along the road large pots of water, with ladles attached to 
 them, are placed for the use of travellers, and I have fre- 
 quently seen one of my bearers take a draught with great 
 eagerness, and then run to join his comrades at my palanqueen. 
 
 We dined again at the king's house, and met nearly all the 
 European society of the place. The colour of the natives ex- 
 cepted, every thing wears a more English aspect than we have 
 been accustomed to in India, (the residents made a distinction 
 between the island and the continent, not allowing the former 
 to be India.) Where coachmen are kept, they are invariably 
 Europeans, who do not appear to suffer from the sun; the Cin- 
 galese have not the slightest idea of driving, and know very 
 little about a horse, and the "horse-keeper," as the saees is 
 here called, as well as in Bombay, is invariably from tlie coast. 
 Those persons who have not European coachmen have the 
 horses of their palanqueen-carriages and "bandies," or gigs, 
 led by these men, and the pace at which they run is surpris- 
 ing. Gigs and hackeries all go here by the generic name of 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 179 
 
 bandy. The Calcutta caranchie, and the Bombay shigrum po, 
 are alike unknown. The regiment doing duty in the fort is 
 European, and the white sentries assist materially in giving 
 the place an European look. 
 
 September 1.— -The Bishop held his Visitation, which was 
 attended by all the colonial Chaplains and Church-Missiona- 
 ries in the island, the latter of whom were assembled at Cotta 
 for their annual meeting, with the exception of Mr. Mayor, 
 who was detained at Baddagame by a severe fever, caught on 
 his W3.y down to meet us at Galle. 1 think there are few sights 
 more impressive than that of a Bishop addressing his clergy 
 from the altar; and on this occasion it was rendered peculiarly 
 interesting by there being two regularly ordained native priests 
 among the number, Mr. de Sarum, and Christian David, both 
 Colonial Chaplains; the former has had an English education, 
 and was entered, I believe, at Cambridge; he married a young 
 woman, who came out with him, and who shows her good taste 
 and good judgment in living on the best terms with his family, 
 who are very respectable people, of the first rank in the island. 
 The clergy dined with us in the evening. 
 
 Septeinber 2. — We were again all morning engaged with 
 visitors. In the evening, Lady Barnes having lent me her fine 
 English horse, we rode through a considerable part of the gar- 
 dens. These are so extensive, and the roads cut through them 
 so precisely alike, that we completely lost our way, and did 
 not get home till late. There is neither horse, carriage, pa- 
 lanqueen or bearer to be hired; but we do not feel the wanty 
 between the exertions used by our friends, Mr. Glenie, now 
 the acting archdeacon, and Mr. Layard, recently appointed 
 collector of this district, to procure us bearers in travelling, 
 and the liberality with which Sir Edward Barnes allows us 
 the use of his horses, carriages, and body-guard. He has a 
 magnificent stud of English horses; they look well, but are apt 
 to die of inflammatory attacks: he lost one very fine one while 
 we were in the island. There are none reared in Ceylon, but 
 those in general use come from the islands in the neighbour- 
 hood of Jaffna, which afford the best pasture both for horses 
 and cattle. The former are under the superintendance of an 
 officer and when old enough are disposed of by government. 
 Those I have seen are pretty, but slight; the oxen too are 
 small; but beef is the most plentiful as well as the best meat 
 in Ceylon. 
 
 Mr. Walbeoffe, the manager of the cinnamon gardens, good- 
 naturedly sent some of the cinnamon peelers to our bunga- 
 lows, that we might see the way in which the spice is prepar- 
 ed. They brought with them branches of about three feet in 
 length, of which they scraped off" the rough bark with knives, 
 
180 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 and then with a peculiar-shaped instrument, stripped off the 
 inner rind in long slips; these are tied up in bundles and put 
 to dry in the sun, and the wood is sold for fuel. In the re- 
 gular preparation, however, the outer bark is not scraped off; 
 but the process of fermentation which the strips undergo when 
 tied up in large quantities, removes the coarse parts. The 
 peelers are called ''chaliers;" they are a distinct caste, whose 
 origin is uncertain, though they are generally supposed to be 
 descended from a tribe of weavers, who settled iir Ceylon, 
 from the Continent, about six hundred years ago; in the inte- 
 rior they now pursue their original occupation, but those in 
 the maratime provinces are exclusively employed in peeling 
 cinnamon. They earn a great deal of money during the sea- 
 son; but their caste is considered very low, and it would be a 
 degradation for any other to follow the same business. 
 
 September 3. — This morning we went to the king's house, 
 where we spent a couple of hours very agreeably. The Bishop 
 has been much engaged since our arrival in prei)aring a plan, 
 which he discussed to-day with Sir E. Barnes, for restoring 
 the schools, and the system of religious instruction which we 
 found established by the Dutch, and of uniting it more closely 
 with the Church of England. At a very small annual expense, 
 this plan would, he thinks, be the means of spreading, not 
 merely a nominal, but real Christianity through the island. 
 There is also another object which he has, if possible, still more 
 at heart, which is giving the native "proponents," or cate- 
 chists, such facilities for education as would gradually fit them 
 for admittance into holy orders, and make them the ground- 
 work of a parochial clergy ; — he has been much pleased by the 
 anxiety which they show for the improvement of their scholars, 
 but they have not the means of acquiring knowledge sufficient 
 to enable them to teach others, and are many of them ill in- 
 formed, though very good men. Books are scarce in Cinga- 
 lese and Tamul, and he is anxious to prevail on some of the 
 colonial clergy to translate a few of the more popular works 
 into these languages. In these and in various other sugges- 
 tions which he has made to both chaplains and missionaries, 
 he has, almost universally, met with the readiest concurrence; 
 and he has often expressed to me the extreme gratification 
 which he has derived since we have been here, from witness- 
 ing the exemplary conduct of the whole Church Establishment, 
 and the readiness with which they have entered into his views. 
 While he was conversing on these subjects with the Governor, 
 Lady Barnes took me to see her museum, and I was much 
 interested in looking over her collection of shells and other 
 Ceylon curiosities. 
 
 /Sept. 3, — The Bishop preached this morning at St. Tho» 
 
JOURNAL or A TOUR IN CEYLON. 181 
 
 mas'S ; the church was very full, and as it has no punkas, the 
 heat was great. It is a remarkable ugly inconvenient build- 
 ing ; indeed, it was not originally intended as a church by the 
 Dutch, and the colony is too poor to build another. There is 
 a mural tablet in it to Bishop Middleton, who was here at two 
 different periods. 
 
 Sept. 4. — All morning, as usual, the Bishop was occupied 
 in discussing ecclesiastical matters with Mr. Robinson and Mr. 
 Glenie, and I returned a few visits. In the evening we rode 
 through the fort, and the principal streets of Colombo, as well 
 as through the Pettah, or native town. The fort is on a penin- 
 sula, projecting into the sea, and is very extensive, surround- 
 ed with a broad deep ditch; near the glacis is the end of a 
 large lake, which extends some miles into the interior, and 
 which might, in case of necessity, be easily connected with the 
 sea, so as completely to insulate the fort. In the middle of 
 this lake is an island, called by the Dutch ''Slave Island;" 
 there are several pretty houses on it, and a regiment of sepoys 
 is now stationed there ; the town is handsome, and nearly 
 divided into four parts by two broad streets ; there are many 
 Dutch houses, which may be distinguished from those of the 
 English by their glass windows, instead of Venetians, for the 
 Dutch seem to shut up their houses at all seasons ; they have 
 large verandahs to the south. The Pettah is very extensive 
 and populous; the inhabitants, it is said, amount to between 
 50 and 60,000, of a very mixed race. We passed the Dutch 
 and Portuguese churches, both pretty buildings, especially the 
 former ; the latter is dedicated to the Mater Dolorosa. The 
 houses of the Europeans without the town are very beautiful- 
 ly situated, especially those near the sea ; they are all, with 
 one or two exceptions, lower-roomed houses, and built on the 
 same plan as those of Bombay, having the same disadvantage 
 of projecting low-roofed verandahs, which keep out the air. 
 The floors are almost universally of brick, very unsightly, and 
 disagreeable from the dust which they occasion ; but this 
 is unavoidable in an island where no chunam is made but by 
 a most expensive process, from shells, and where the white 
 ants immediately destroy timber. There seems to be little 
 traffic carried on except in cinnamon and pepper ; the coir 
 rope is made in great quantities ; indeed, the coco-nut tree, 
 in its various productions of arrack, oil, &c. &c. seems to be 
 the principal support of the natives. No muslins are manu- 
 factured, and only the common strong coarse cloth, woven 
 ^ by the natives, is wove in the island. Of this I had a good 
 deal given me by some of the Malay inhabitants. 
 
 September 6, — Earlv this morning the Bishop went to Cotta, 
 a church missionary station, about six, miles from Colombo. 
 
182 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 Mr. Lambrick, whom I remember tutor, some years ago, in 
 Lord Combermere's family, is at present sole missionary there, 
 and performs the important duties of the station in a most ex- 
 emplary manner; the number of inhabitants in the district is 
 very great; there are eight schools in the village, containing 
 near 200 children, of whom a few are girls, besides several in 
 the adjoining hamlets ; and he has two services every Sunday 
 in English and Cingalese, as well as occasional weekly duty 
 in the schools ; there is no church. 
 
 The society sent out a press a few years ago, which is now 
 in active use. Several Cingalese grammars and vocabularies, 
 and some tracts, have been printed in it, and Mr. Lambrick 
 is now engaged in a translation of the Old Testament and the 
 Gospels, part of which is printed. The language is not well 
 suited to the dignity and simplicity of the Bible, as it is bur- 
 dened with honorary affixes, used as well in the Buddhist re- 
 ligious books, as in the common intercourse of the natives with 
 their superiors, and which have hitherto been admitted into 
 our translations of the Scriptures. Such a word as " AVahan- 
 seghede" affixed to the names of the Divine Persons, is cer- 
 tainly very cumbersome; and Mr. Lambrick is anxious to be 
 allowed to discontinue their common use in a revision of the 
 translation of the Scriptures, in which he has been invited to 
 join by the Colombo Auxiliary Bible Society. 
 
 While the Bishop was at Cotta, Mr. Lambrick read him an 
 address in the name of all the missionaries, in which, besides 
 giving him an account of their respective stations, they asked 
 his advice on several important points, of which the principal 
 related to prayer meetings at each other's houses, and to the 
 baptism of native children. He answered these questions 
 generally at the time, and afterwards wrote them a letter, in 
 which he entered more at length on the different subjects pro- 
 posed. * 
 
 Colombo, Sept. 13, 1825. 
 
 * My Reverend Brethren, 
 
 Having- been consulted by you, and the other Clerg-y of this Arch- 
 deaconry, on the propriety of engaging with missionaries of other reh- 
 gious sects, in solemn conference on topics connected with your work 
 among" the heathen, such as are now statedly holden at Jaffna, and at 
 this place, I have first to express my thankfulness to God for the 
 brotherly and tolerant spirit which, since my arrival in the island, I 
 have noticed among those, who, with less or greater diff'erences of 
 opinions, and discrepancies of doctrine and discipline, abundantly to 
 be deplored, yet hold, as I am persuaded, the same faith in the cross, 
 and shall be found, as I trust, in the last day, on the same Rock of Sal- 
 vation. Nor am I less thankful to the Giver of all good things, for the 
 affectionate and orderly spirit which I find in you, my brethren, and 
 which has led you, voluntarily, to submit a question in which your 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 183 
 
 On his return liome he told me he had been particularly 
 gratified with all vvhicii he had seen that morning. The sta- 
 tion has been scarcely three years established. 
 
 hearts, as I have I'eason to believe, are much engaged, to the counsel 
 of your Ordinary. May God continue and increase this mutual confi- 
 dence between us, and conduct it, and all things else, to His glory, 
 and our salvation 1 
 
 The meeting in question has been described to me as a conference 
 of ministers and missionai'ies, in a certain district, held in each other's 
 house in rotation, attended by the ministers or missionaries themselves, 
 their wives and families, and occasionally by devout laymen from their 
 vicinity. These meetings are described as beginning and ending with 
 prayer, led, indifferently, by ministers of different sects, or by their 
 lay friends, but not by the females, and as broken by hymns, in which 
 all present join. The remainder of the time is occupied by a friendly 
 iT\eal together, — in the comparison, by the missionaries, of the different 
 encouragements and obstacles which they meet with among the hea- 
 then, and in discussion of the best means by which their common work 
 can be forwarded. It appears that this practice commenced at Jafiha, 
 under cu'cumstances which made it very desirable for the missionaries 
 of the English Church, not only to live on friendly and courteous terms 
 with the missionai'ies sent from America, but to profit by the experi- 
 ence and example of these missionaries in their manner of addressing 
 the heathen. And it appears, also, that these conferences have been 
 strictly private and domestic, and that there has been no interchange 
 or confusion of the public or appropriate functions of the Christian 
 ministry, between yourselves and the friends who, unhappily, differ 
 from you in points of Church discipline. Under such circumstances it 
 is probable, that, by God's blessing, many advantages may have arisen 
 to you all from these conferences; and, without inquiring whether these 
 advantages might have been, in the first instance, attainable, in a man- 
 ner less hable to inconvenience or misrepresentation, I am happy that 
 I do not think it necessary to advise their cessation, now they are esta- 
 blished, and that your dereliction of them might greatl}^ interrupt the 
 -charitable terms on which you now live with your neighbours. 
 
 There are, however, some senous dangers to which such meetings 
 are liable, against which it is my duty to caution you, aird by avoiding 
 which you may keep your intercoui'se with your fellow-labourers, as 
 now, always harmless and unblamed. The first of these is the risk of 
 levelling, in the eyes of others, and even in your own, the peculiar 
 •claims to attention on the part of men, and the peculiar hopes of grace 
 and blessing from the Most High, which, as we believe, are possessed 
 by the holders of an apostolic commission over those whose calls to the 
 ministry is less regular, though their labours are no less sincere. God 
 forbid, my brethren, that I should teach you to think on this account 
 highly of yourselves! Far otherwise. This sense of the advantages 
 ' which we enjoy should humble us to the dust, when we bethink us 
 I who we are, and what we ought to be, who have received the Spirit 
 of God by the dispensation of a long line of saints and martyrs, — who 
 -«re called to follow the steps of Ridley, Hooper, Latimer, Rowland 
 Taylor, and Henry Martyn; and who are, by the external dispensation, 
 at least, of Providence, the inheritors of that grace which fell on St. 
 Paul. But, humbly, yea meanly, as wc are bound to think of ourselves, 
 Vol, 11.—] 6 
 
184 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 September 11. — The Bishop preached at St. Thomas's on 
 behalf of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, but 
 
 we must not appear to undervalue our apostolic bond of union; and the 
 more so here in India, inasmuch as it is the great link which binds us 
 to the ancient Syrian Church, and one pi'incipal means whereby we 
 hope, with the blessing of our Master, to efFect its gi'adual reformation. 
 The neglect, or abandonment, or apparent abandonment, of this prin- 
 ciple, is the first danger which I apprehend to be incidental to such 
 meetings as I have described. To guard against it, an additional care 
 and caution will be desirable, in your steady adherence, wherever this 
 is practicable, to the external cerennonies and canonical observations 
 of our Church; and, without estranging yourselves from your dissent- 
 ing friends, by cultivating a yet closer union with those who are, pro- 
 perly speaking, your brother clergy. With this view I would recommend 
 not only the measures which I have lately suggested, of frequent meet- 
 ings of the clergy of this Archdeaconry for the purposes of mutual 
 counsel and comfort, but a readiness on your part, who are Mission- 
 aries, to ofHciate, whenever you are invited, and can do it without 
 neglect of your peculiar functions, in the churches of the colony, and 
 in rendering assistance to the Chaplains. By this occasional attention, 
 (for, for many reasons I would have it occasional only,) to the spiritual 
 wants of your own countrymen, several important ends will be obtained; 
 you will yourselves derive advantage from keeping up the habit of 
 English composition and public speaking; you will endear yourselves 
 to your brethren and countrymen by the services which you will render 
 them, and above all, you will identify yourselves in the eyes of all men 
 with the Established Church, and distinguish yourselves from those 
 other preachers whom that Church cannot consistently recognize. 
 
 Another precaution which occurs to me as desirable against the risk 
 to which I have alluded, is that it be perfectly understood that the 
 meetings are for the discussion of such topics only, as belong to your 
 distinct functions as missionaries to the heathen. For this reason I 
 would recommend that the meetings be confined to missionaries only, 
 with their families, and such devout laymen, (for I am unwilling to 
 damp, or seem to discountenance, their laudable zeal,) who have al- 
 ready joined themselves to your number. The other Clergy of the 
 Archdeaconry will find, I conceive, a sufficient bond of union and 
 source of mutual comfort and advice in the clerical meeting. There are 
 other inconveniencies and improprieties incidental to what are usually 
 called prayer-meetings, which have led to their rejection by the great 
 majority of the Church of England, and among the rest, by some ex- 
 cellent men, whom the conduct pursued by those with whom their 
 chief intimacy lay, would have natm-ally inclined to favour them. I 
 mean, among others, the late Mr. Scott of Aston Sandford, and the 
 late Mr. Robinson of St. Mary's, Leicester. Such is the practice re- 
 probated by the Apostle, of a number of persons coming together, 
 with each his psalm, his prayer, his exhortation; the eifect of which is, 
 not only, often confusion, but what is worse than confusion, self-con- 
 ceit and rivalry, each labouring to excel his brother in the choice of 
 his expressions and the outward earnestness of his address — and the 
 bad effects of emulation mixing with actions, in wdiich of all others, 
 humility and forgetfulness of self are necessary. Such, too, is that 
 warmth of feeling and language, derived rather from imitation than 
 
JOURNAL OP A TOUR IN CEYLON. 185 
 
 more particularly with reference to the Bishop's College at 
 Calcutta; previous to this he went to hear the Tamul ser- 
 
 conviction, which under the circumstances which I have mentioned, 
 are apt to degenerate into enthusiastic excitement or irreverent famili- 
 arity. 
 
 And thoug'h it is only due both to yourselves, my brethren, and to 
 your dissenting fellow-labourers, to state that all wliich I have seen or 
 heard of you sets me at ease on these subjects, so far as you are con- 
 cerned, yet it will be well for you to take care, lest by setting- an example 
 of such an institution in your own persons, you encourage less instruct- 
 ed individuals among the laity to adopt a practice which, in their case, 
 has almost always, I believe, been injurious. It is on this account, 
 cliiefly, that with no feelings of disrespect or suspicion towards tlie ex- 
 cellent laymen wlio, as I understand, have joined your society, I would 
 recommend, if my counsel has any weight, (and I offer it as my counsel 
 only,) that, though there is no impropriety in their taking their turns in. 
 reading the Scriptures, and mingling in the discussions which arise on 
 the subjects connected with your conference, they would abstain fromi 
 leading the society in prayer, except when the meeting is held in one 
 of their own houses, and when, as master of the family, they may con- 
 sistently offer up what will then be \he\T family devotion. 
 
 I would, lastly, recommend to you earnestly, that both your discus- 
 sions and your prayers, have as their leading object, the success of mis- 
 sions, and the means whereby missions may, with God's blessing, be 
 rendered successful; and that you would deviate as little as possible 
 into other fields of ecclesiastical enquiry. 
 
 With these precautions, I trust that unmingled good may, through 
 His blessing who is the God of peace and order, emanate from your re- 
 ligious conferences. 
 
 With reference to the employment of laymen to officiate in your con- 
 .gregation, I would say that where a missionary is as yet unable to read 
 prayers, or preach in the language of his hearers, he may unquestion- 
 ably employ a native assistant to do both, provided the prayers are those 
 of our Church, and the discourse a translation fi'om his own dictation or 
 writing. The use of interpreters is not only sanctioned by the necessity 
 of the case, but by the express authority of Scripture and Ecclesiasti- 
 cal History. And even where this necessity has not existed, but where 
 any convenience has been obtained either by priest or people, it has 
 been always the custom of the Church to admit lay-catechists, (under 
 the direction of the Minister,) to read the Scriptures, to give out Psalms, 
 to repeat the Creeds, and even when any convenience results from it, 
 the Litany down to the Lord's Prayer, and the following Collects which 
 the Rubric assigns to the Priest. It is hardly necessary to observe, that, 
 both in this and the preceding case, the Absolution must not be read, 
 nor must the Sacraments be administered, by any but the regularly or- 
 dained Minister. 
 
 To your questions respecting Baptism, I reply, 
 1st, We are not, as I conceive, allowed to baptize the infant child of 
 heathen parents when there is reason to fear that such child will be 
 brought up in heathenism. 
 
 2nd, We may not even baptize the infant child of heathen parents on 
 the promise of such parents to procure for it a Christian education, un- 
 less security of some kind is actually given fqr its adoption, and re- 
 
1S6 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 vice in the Portuguese church, and I accompanied him, be- 
 tween the English services, to the Cingalese church, in both 
 
 moval ft'om its parents' coiTupt example, by its sponsor, or some other 
 Christian. 
 
 3rd, We may, I apprehend, baptize the children of a Christian father 
 by a heathen mother, thoug-h they are living tog-ether unmarried, pro- 
 vided the father declai-es his intention of g-iving- his child a Christian 
 education, and there are sufficient sponsors to add their promises to 
 that of the parent. My reason for this decision is, that, as no professed 
 Christian, however wicked his life, is beyond the outward means of 
 grace, and the Lord may, for all we know, have still merciful purposes 
 concerning" him, so we cannot for the father's sin exclude the child 
 from that promise which is made to the children, and the children's 
 children of behevers. But where the mother is Christian, and not the 
 father, it is doubtful whether she may have sufficient property in, or 
 authority over her child, to ensure it a Christian bring-ing" up. Nor is 
 it a point on which the promise of a heathen father can be received as 
 sufficient; its actual adoption, therefore, by some Christian friend or 
 sponsor, must in this last case be stipulated for. 
 
 4th, The same principle appears to apply to cases when one only of 
 a married couple is a professing Christian; though here some latitude 
 of discretion may be allowed, in eases of danger of death, of extreme 
 mental solicitude, of known good character on the believing mother's 
 side, and the known probability that may exist, that her wishes, and 
 the endeavours of the sponsors, will not be frustrated in her infant's • 
 education. 
 
 5th, The case of nominal Christians notoriously addicted to heathen 
 practices must depend, in part, on the nature and extent uf the evil, 
 and still more on the character and sufficiency of the sponsors. Mere 
 idolatrous or superstitious habits in the parents, if not attended with 
 open apostacy, cannot exclude the infant when properly vouched for 
 from another quarter. The parent, however blinded and sinful, has- 
 not lost the external privileges of Christianity, and the infant cannot 
 be deprived of a privilege which the parent has not forfeited. 
 
 6th, The same rule will apply yet more strongly to Christians of whom 
 we know no further harm, than their ignorance and neglect of public 
 worship. 
 
 7th, It will have been already seen that we have no right to refuse 
 baptism to children actually adopted by Christians, provided those or 
 other Christians become their securities. 
 
 8th, With regard to tlie case of children thus adopted when past the 
 age of six yeai's, and on the marks of conversion which may then be re- 
 quired in them, it appears that at this age a child who has not from its 
 earliest infancy, enjoyed a Christian education can seldom know much 
 of Christianity. Such may be admitted as infants, with proper spon- 
 sors, and it may very often be desirable thus to admit them. It is not 
 easy to fix an age at which infancy ceases, which must depend on in- 
 tellect, opportunity, and many other considerations. In " subjects ca- 
 pace," conversion is doubtless required; and where capacity may be J 
 soon expected, it is generally desirable to wait. But in cases of sick- 1 
 ness, or where any good or charitable end is answered by the immedi- 
 ate baptism of such children, and where, as before, sufficient securities 
 are present, it appears that we are not warranted in denying them God's 
 ordinance. 
 
JOURNAL or A TOUR IN CEYLON. 187 
 
 which he pronounced the benediction in the respective lan- 
 guages. The Dutch church, in which the Cingalese service is 
 performed, is very handsome internally as well as externally. 
 The language is not a pleasant one; it is read in a recitative tone, 
 and the use of the affixes which I have mentioned, added to its 
 being in itself a voluminous language, made the service ex- 
 tremely long. The congregation wa's not numerous: for some 
 reason, the church had been shut up for a few weeks, and the 
 notice given was too short to allow of a larger number being 
 assembled. It was composed principally of the Moodeliers of 
 Colombo, the children of a small school, some of the lower 
 classes, and four or five very pretty girls, evidently of good 
 families. Their dress in shape resembled that worn by the 
 Portuguese Christians in Calcutta; but the petticoat and loose 
 body were made of the finest muslin and silk, trimmed with 
 lace, while their long black hair was turned up a la Grecque, 
 and fastened with gold ornaments. The Ayahs who attended 
 them had ornaments of similar shapes, but made of silver or 
 tortoise-shell. These girls amused themselves, during the 
 
 9th, The church of IJome, though grievously corrupted, is never- 
 theless a part of the visible church of Christ; we may not therefore re- 
 pel the children of such parents from baptism, if they are vouched for 
 by their sponsors in tlie words of our service; whicli it may be noticed 
 are wisely so framed as to contain nothing but those points on which 
 all Christians are engaged. The direction at the end to teach our church 
 Catechism, is a counsel from us to the sponsors, no engagement entered 
 into by them. It follows, that we are not to refuse baptism to the 
 children of Roman Catholic parents, with sufficient Protestant spon- 
 sors; I even doubt whether we are at liberty even with sponsors of their 
 parents' sect. 
 
 But in all these questions I cannot-forbear observing, that we may re- 
 mark the wisdom of that primitive institution, (which our Church has 
 wisely retained,) of godfathers and godmothers, as affording away of 
 receiving into the flock of Christ, those children for whose education 
 their own parents cannot satisfactorily answer. An ignorant or immoral 
 father may be himself, for the present irreclaimable; but we may al- 
 ways insist that the sureties whom he adduces should be competently 
 informed, and of a life not openly immoral. And though the decay of 
 I discipline in our own country has gi'ievously impaired the value of such 
 sponsors, yet a missionary among the heathen both may and ought in 
 this respect to exercise a sound discretion, both examining with mild- 
 ness, informing with patience, and with firmness and temper deciding 
 on the knowledge, faith, and holiness of those who themselves under- 
 take to be the guides of the blind, and to sow the seeds of knowledge, 
 holiness, and faith in the hearts of the young candidates for salvation. 
 
 That God, my reverend brethren, may increase and strengthen you 
 in these and all other gifts of his Spirit through his Son, and that both 
 here and hereafter his blessings may largely follow your labours, is the 
 prayer of 
 
 Your affectionate Friend and Servant, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 16* 
 
188 JOtTRNAL OF A TOUIl IN CEYLON. 
 
 greater part of the service, bj playing with their rings, and 
 beckoning to their attendants either to talk to them, to re- 
 arrange some part of their dress or to pick up their rings when 
 they fell, quite unchecked by a respectable old governante who 
 was with them, and who, as well as the rest of the congrega- 
 tion appeared very devout and attentive. 
 
 September 12.— The Bishop attended a meeting in Colom- 
 bo for the purpose of establishing a new committee of the So- 
 ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel; and we afterwards 
 dined at the king's house. Mr. Glenie has very kindly given 
 us the use of a pretty little open carriage of his ow^n inven- 
 tion, in which we make many excursions; we have also the 
 daily use of the Governor's saddle-horses, and Emily has a 
 quiet poney for her riding. 
 
 September 12. — The Bishop held a confirmation, which was 
 very numerously attended both by natives and Europeans; un- 
 fortunately, I was too unwell to attend it, or to join the clergy 
 who dined with us afterwards; but he was much pleased with 
 the number, appearance, and behaviour of the candidates; the 
 Malay girls in their long flowing white veils, formed a parti- 
 cularly interesting groupe, and they all seemed much im- 
 pressed with the ceremony. 
 
 September 14. — We set out at four o'clock this morning on 
 an excursion to Candy, leaving Emily, by Dr. Farrel's advice, 
 at St. Sebastian, (the name of our bungalow,) the country 
 through which we were to travel being at all times of the year 
 rather unfavourable to delicate constitutions. Sir Edward 
 Barnes drove the Bishop in his bandy, Mr. Robinson and I 
 went in a palanqueen carriage, and we were accompanied by 
 Captains Hamilton and Dawson, the Governor's aids-de-camp, 
 Messrs. Glenie, Wilmot and Layard, either in bandies or on 
 horseback. About five miles from Colombo we crossed a 
 bridge of boats over the river, which is herQ of some width; 
 this bridge, as well as the various rest-houses and the whole 
 line of road, was ornamented with palm branches, fruit, 
 flowers, &c. in the same manner as I have before described. 
 The country, for about twenty-five miles is flat and cultivat- 
 ed, but the parts immediately adjoining the road are covered 
 with a mass of trees and shrubs, through which we could only 
 have an occasional view; the richness of the verdure, the va- 
 riety of foliage, and the brilliancy of flowers, however, amply 
 made up for the want of a more extensive prospect. At a rest- 
 house called Vean-godde, we breakfasted,— -it is an upper- 
 roomed bungalow, with a deep verandah all round, and though 
 merely composed of palm-branches and leaves, very sufficient- 
 ly durable. Smaller bungalows were built round it for the ac- 
 commodation of single men. Here, for the first time since I 
 left England, I saw honey in the comb; it is found in the 
 
JOURNAL or A TOUR IN CEYLON. 189 
 
 forest in great abundance, and is made by a small black bee. 
 The Moodelier of this district, Don Solomon Dias Benderlee, 
 had exercised his ingenuity in ornamenting the large bungalow, 
 as well as in erecting a square of four arches in the road 
 before it, in a more elaborate manner tlian usual. The effect 
 was really beautiful. The Bishop and I made some sketches, 
 and as we wished to have a distant view of the place, a shed 
 was actually built for us, and a road cut through the jungle to 
 it in less than half an hour. The celerity with which tliese 
 palm buildings are erected is quite extraordinary; for our 
 present purpose, it was merely a roof of leaves on four posts; 
 but it is the custom in travelling to give notice to the different 
 Moodeliers, whose business it is to have bungalows built, 
 which answer extremely well for a temporary lodging, though 
 of course in the rains they soon fall to pieces, so cheap is la- 
 bour in this island, and so ingenious are the natives in such 
 kinds of work. On leaving Vean-godde the country rises 
 gradually, and becomes more and more beautiful every mile; 
 the hills in the interior are steep and lofty, and covered with 
 verdure to their very summits. I more than once fmcied they 
 were crowned with ruins, from the singular effect produced 
 by parasitical plants, which grow in the wildest luxuriance, 
 flinging their branches from one tree to another, each of which 
 they in turn destroy, till they form themselves into the shapes 
 of arches, towers, and ruins of all kind; several of these 
 creepers had, I observed, stretched a solitary branch a dis- 
 tance of about a hundred yards, which had grown to the size 
 of a man's body, and assumed the appearance of twisted cords, 
 but although near the ground, was quite unsupported in its 
 progress from the stem of one tree to its neighbour. These 
 plants add so much to the beauty of the scenery, that one 
 easily forgives the destruction they occasion. From the midst 
 of this verdure, large masses of rock are occasionally pro- 
 jected; but it is quite impossible to describe the scenery. I 
 was occasionally reminded of the opening into the vale of 
 Llangollen, and the new road at Wynnstay; and I hardly 
 knew to which to give the preference. Here, indeed, we miss 
 the Dee, though there is a small river now barely visible, 
 which during the rains increases to a considerable size, and 
 foams and tumbles over its rocky bed; but the extent of the 
 sam© kind of country is much greater; the hills are higher, 
 and the magnificence of the trees, and general beauty of the 
 foliage and flowers, far surpass anything in my native land. 
 I looked in vain for a wild elephant; these animals are driven 
 by the approach of man further into the interior, and seldom 
 appear, except at night, when it is reckoned dangerous to 
 travel without an escort and lights. Formerly there was an 
 
190 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 elephant hunt every year, when numbers were taken and pur- 
 chased for purposes of state by the petty Rajas in western and 
 central Indian but since their power has ceased, the demand 
 for them no longer exists, and their numbers increase so much 
 as to be very destructive to the rice fields. Elephant shooting 
 is a favourite amusement with the European inhabitants, and 
 a good shot will bring one down with a single iron bullet. It 
 is however, dangerous to fire with one barrel only loaded, as 
 should the animal be wounded it turns upon its pursuerj and, 
 unless assistance is at hand, the consequences are generally 
 fatal. In one instance of the sort, however, after the poor 
 man had been tossed to some distance by the elephant's trunk, 
 and had actually felt the pressure of its knee upon his body,^ 
 some unknown cause induced it to change its mind, and it 
 walked oif leaving the man but little hurt. An acquaintance 
 of ours saved his life under similar circumstances, by dodging 
 from one tree to another, till he was v/ithin reach of help, his 
 own native servants, though with weapons in their hands, hav- 
 ing ran away on seeing his danger. A herd is seldom formi- 
 dable unless attacked; but it is very dangerous to fall in with 
 an old male animal, living by himself. There are very few used 
 in the island either for military purposes, or for riding, the 
 expense of keeping them is so great; they are small, but are 
 reckoned stronger and more hardy than those on the Continent, 
 and are generally better tempered. The Cingalese, indeed, 
 aftect to say that their superiority is acknowledged by all other 
 elephants, who salaam to them as they pass. 
 
 The new road from Colombo to Candy has been recently 
 opened by Sir E. Barnes, and indeed is not yet quite complet- 
 ed. It is a noble work, and has been executed with immense 
 labour, as well from the nature of the country, as the almost 
 impenetrable jungle through which it passes. Captain Daw- 
 son was three months in tracing the line, and frequently gave 
 up the work in despair ; — he had often to creep along the beds 
 of torrents, to enable him to make any progress through the 
 mass of underwood with which the mountains are covered. The 
 country is very unhealthy, and during the greater part of the 
 year it is reckoned unsafe even to travel through it. Before 
 the road was opened, it was a work of six or seven days to go 
 from Colombo to Candy ; it may now be done with ease, hav- 
 ing relays of horses, in one, and the danger of sleeping by the 
 way is avoided. The old road lay through the seven Corles, 
 a distance of eighty-five miles, through a tract more open, but 
 far more unhealthy. It is singular that it is not where the 
 jungle is thickest that malaria most prevails, but the banks of 
 rivers running swift and clear over a rocky bottom, are more 
 liable to fever than any other places. In a valley, near the 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 191 
 
 road side, I saw a Cobra Guana ; it is an animal of the lizard 
 kind, with a very long tail, so closely resembling an alligator, 
 that I at first mistook it for one, and was surprised to see a 
 herd of buffaloes grazing peacefully round it. It is perfectly 
 harmless, but if attacked will give a man a severe blow with 
 its tail. Sir Edward Barnes told me that its flesh is reckon- 
 ed a delicacy in the West Indies. 
 
 At Warakapole, about half way from Colombo, we were 
 met by a very extraordinary personage, the second Adigar of 
 Candy, followed by a numerous retinue, and preceded by one 
 man carrying a crooked silver rod, and by another with a long 
 whip, which he cracked at times with great vehemence : this 
 is considered a mark of dignity among the Candians. There 
 are two " Adigars,"or ministers, the first of whom is entitled 
 to have nine, and the second seven, of these whips cracked 
 before him whenever he goes out ; but since our conquest of 
 their province their dignity has diminished, and they can no 
 longer afford so many noisy attributes of rank. This man was 
 very handsomely dressed, but his costume certainly the most 
 extraordinary I ever saw ; his turban, for here men begin to 
 cover their heads, was richly ornamented with gold, intended 
 to resemble a crown, but far more like an old toilette pin- 
 cushion, a white muslin body, with immense sleeves, like 
 wings, ornamented with gold buttons, a drapery of gold-flow- 
 ered muslin, abroad gold band round his waist, and, as rank 
 is here marked by the quantity as well as quality of their dress, 
 he wore the finest muslin, swelled out round the hips by six or se- 
 ven topettees, put on one above the other, which increased them 
 to an immense circumference, while his hands were covered 
 with rings of rubies, set in a circle of more than two inches 
 in diameter. Sir Edward Barnes and the Bishop got out to 
 meet him, and shook him by both hands, and the former then 
 brought him to me for the same ceremony. He was carried 
 in a dhoolie, richly ornamented, and followed us to Ootian 
 Candy, where we dined and slept. 
 
 For the latter part of the way we had to ascend a steep 
 hill amid mountain scenery of great magnificence; the rocks 
 on the summits of the highest had all the appearance of for- 
 tresses, and the deception was, in one instance, singularly 
 heightened by the circumstance of one of the creepers 1 men- 
 tioned having thrown itself across a chasm just below the 
 walls of the imaginary fortress, like a drawbridge. The 
 valleys between the hills are cultivated with rice; and indeed 
 it is in these mountainous regions, I am told, that the great- 
 est quantity is grown, on account of the facilities they afford 
 for irrigation. The fields in which it is sown are dammed 
 up, and form a succession of terraces, the plant in each, per^ 
 
192 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 haps, being in a different stage of growth. Sometimes the 
 water is conveyed for a mile or two along the side of a moun- 
 tain, and it is let off from one terrace to another, as the state 
 of the grain requires it. The verdure of the young rice is 
 particularly fine, and the fields are really a beautiful sight 
 when surrounded by and contrasted with the magnificent 
 mountain scenery. The island, however, does not produce 
 rice enough for its own consumption, and a good deal is an- 
 nually imported from Bengal. 
 
 I have observed that all the bridges on this road which are 
 finished, are covered over, and furnished with benches, form- 
 ing a kind of serai for the foot passenger; a most humane plan 
 in such a country as this. 
 
 At Ootian Candy we found several bungalows just builtj 
 that allotted to us consisted of three good-sized rooms, ve- 
 randahed all round, but the night was hot, and we got little 
 sleep. 
 
 September 15. — The carriages and horses having been sent 
 on to cross the river on rafts, we followed at a very early 
 hour in palanqueens, and after passing it, mounted our horses 
 to ride up a long and steep pass. The road, which must 
 have been constructed with immense labour, winds up the 
 side of a mountain covered with thick jungle and magnificent 
 forest trees; among the latter, the ebony-tree, the iron and 
 the thief-trees were pointed out to usj the former with a tall, 
 black, slender stem spotted with white; the iron-tree black 
 and hard, as its name denotes; and the last, rising with a 
 straight white stem to a great height, singularly contrasted 
 with the deep verdure round it; it bears no branches till the 
 very top, when it throws out a few irregular stag-shaped 
 boughs. A great deal of the furniture in Ceylon is made of 
 ebony, as well as of the calamander tree, a few of which were 
 pointed out to us, but which is become scarce from the im- 
 provident use formerly made of it. The thief-tree is good for 
 nothing but fuel. There were many other varieties, but their 
 native names have escaped my memory. These woods swarm 
 with monkeys of every sort, which we saw and heard in all 
 directions. A small black monkey, a larger one, with a white 
 face, and a very small and pretty w^hite one, are the most 
 common. 
 
 From this part of the road, Adam's Peak, lying to the east, 
 is visible; it is the highest mountain in Ceylon, about 800O 
 feet above the level of the sea, and has seldom been ascend- 
 ed, not so much from its height as from the difficulty of the 
 latter part of the ascent, which is quite perpendicular; two 
 ladies, hov/ever, have been among the few adventurers, and 
 got up by means of chains and pullies. The Mussulmans 
 
\ JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 193 
 
 have a tradition that Adam, when driven out of Paradise, 
 alighted upon the Peak, and a mark, which bears a resem- 
 blance to a human foot, is supposed to be the impression 
 made by him while expiating his crime, by standing on one 
 foot till his sins were forgiven. 
 
 About two-thirds of the way up this pass, called Kadooga- 
 narvon, v/e breakfasted in a spot of singular and romantic 
 beauty, of which I endeavoured to convey some idea in a 
 sketch, but it is scenery to which only a very good oil-paint- 
 ing can do justice. We were here met by other Candians, 
 of inferior rank to the Adigar, as denoted by their inferior 
 number of petticoats, but with the same sort of costume; one 
 named Looko Banda was on horseback, and accompanied us 
 the remaining part of the way; he was quite an eastern dandy, 
 rode well, and was, evidently, proud of his horsemanship, 
 but his flowing garments were ill adapted for riding. In the 
 days of the Kings of Candy, horses were an appendage to roy- 
 alty, and none were found in their territories save in the royal 
 stables. After breakfast we remounted, and proceeded to 
 the top of the pass, from whence the view towards Candy was 
 superb; but the sun had now been for some hours above the 
 horizon, and we were glad to get into the shelter of our 
 carriages. Three miles farther we again crossed a river in 
 boats; the scenery in this valley had lost much of its magnifi- 
 cent character, but it was very pretty, dry, comparatively 
 free from jungle, and cultivated, the river running over a 
 bed of rock, and yet it is one of the most deadly spots in the 
 neighbourhood during the unhealthy season. Near this place 
 are the botanical gardens, which we hope to see on our return. 
 On the opposite bank we were met by the first Adigar in great 
 splendour, preceded by the -silver rod, two men cracking 
 their whips, and followed by a suwarree of elephants, music 
 and dancers; one of the elephants was kept at a distance, 
 being mad, at they termed it, meaning that he would imme- 
 diately attack his companions if suffered to come near them. 
 A distance of three miles brought us to Candy, surrounded 
 by woody hills, some two thousand feet high. The town is 
 larger than I expected, the streets broad and handsome, though 
 at present only formed by native houses. On this occasion 
 they were lined with plantain-trees, bearing fruit, and deco- 
 rated with flags and flowers, which gave the town a very gay 
 appearance. We were met at its entrance by the principal 
 European inhabitants, and drove up to a small cluster of bun- 
 galows, dignified by the name of the " Pavilion," being the re- 
 sidence of the Governor. The principal of these buildings is 
 a remarkable pretty room of a circular form, connected with 
 the others by covered walks, now beautifully decorated with 
 
194 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. .' 
 
 flowers of various sorts, especially that of the areka, a sweet- 
 scented palm. — We were here introduced to the officers of the 
 station, and then went to the house of Mr. Sawers, the col- 
 lector of the district, who had asked us to be his guests dur- 
 ing our stay in Candy. 
 
 The town of Candy is reckoned healthy, as well as the coun- 
 try for about a mile around ; beyond which the Europeans sel- 
 dom extend their drives 5 the river Malavigonga almost sur- 
 rounds it: and the malaria, as I have before observed, is pe- 
 culiarly felt on the shores of rivers. I should think, however, 
 that the great changes in the temperature must be unfriendly 
 to many constitutions^ and, indeed, I have since been told that 
 pulmonary complaints are frequent. After an extremely hot 
 day, the night was so cold as to make a good blanket, and 
 sleeping with closed windows, very desirable, and even then 
 I awoke chilly. The house we were in, a lower-roomed one, 
 stands at the foot of a hill covered with jungle, in v.hich I 
 heard parrots, monkeys, and jungle fowl; it also abounds with 
 the smaller beasts of prey, and Mr. Sawers told me, that the 
 night before our arrival, he was awoke by some animal scratch- 
 ing at his door, which he supposed was a dog, but the track 
 through his garden in the morning proved it to have been a 
 ■•' cheta," or small leopard. The royal tyger is not found in 
 the island, but bears, leopards, hyaenas, jackalls, and tyger- 
 cats, are numerous, besides elks, wild hogs, buftaloes, deer, 
 &c. &c. ; and near Jaffna, at the northern extremity, a large 
 baboon is very common and fearless. An acquaintance of ours 
 having, on one occasion, shot at a young one, the mother came 
 boldly up and wrested the gun out of his hand without doing 
 him any injury. The ouran-outang is unknown. 
 
 September 16.-— We were visited by all the European socie- 
 ty of the city, and by many of the Candian chiefs in their ex- 
 traordinary state dresses ; a drawing given me by Looko 
 Banda, and done by himself, showing a good deal of uncul- 
 tivated genius, represents them in three different costumes, 
 but even in the undress, preserving the same enormous cir- 
 cumference of hip, as on state occasions. The Bishop had a 
 deputation of the Bhuddist priests to wait upon him^ of vari- 
 ous ages, and all dressed in long yellow robes, their sacred 
 colour, with the right arm and shoulder bare, and their heads 
 and eyebrows closely shaven. Not long ago, these holy men 
 would not enter a room with a woman, or even look at her if 
 they met by accident : now, however, they are not so scrupu- 
 lous ; and although the elder of the party, who seemed the 
 principal, never turned his eyes towards me, his followers 
 looked at me over the round fan, which they all carried, with 
 much curiosity. The Bishop, by means of an interpreter, held 
 
i^OURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON* i 95 
 
 a long conversation with them, and ascertained that they were 
 of the same sect with the Jains, whose temples he had fre- 
 quently visited in various parts of India, and which he had al- 
 %vays suspected, though the latter had denied their identity. 
 The senior priest read, or rather chanted a few lines out of one of 
 their sacred books ; in sound it is rather a pleasing language, 
 but almost all their principal words end in a burden of hum, 
 hum, hum, musical certainly, but excessively tedious. 
 
 I have been much interested by an account I have just heard 
 of a tribe of wild men, called the "Veddahs," or hunters, who 
 live in the recesses of the forests ; they are found in various 
 parts, but are most numerous in the district of Vedahratte, 
 from whence they derive their name, on the south-east side, 
 towards Trincomalee ; there are, it seems, two tribes of these 
 people, the village and the forest Veddah, but they profess to 
 hold no intercourse with each other. Those of the forest live 
 entirely by the chase and on fruits, and never cultivate the 
 ground^ they have no habitations, but usually sleep under the 
 trees, and, when alarmed, climb them for safety ; they use 
 bows and arrows, and steal up close to their game before they 
 shoot ; they track the animal, if only wounded, by its blood, 
 till they come sufficiently near to take him a second time. 
 As the forests abound with deer, &c., they live well, and 
 some of caste will occasionally come down into the villages to 
 barter their game for rice, iron, and cloth ; their language is 
 a dialect of the Cingalese ; they believe in evil spirits, but 
 have no notion of a God, or of a state of future rewards and 
 punishments, and consider it a matter of perfect indiff'erence 
 whether they do evil or good. The Village Veddahs have 
 many traits in common with their more savage brethren, but 
 they live in huts, and cultivate the ground, though they also 
 seek their principal subsistence in the forests. In themselves 
 they are a peaceable tribe, never commencing, but easily pre- 
 vailed on to join in any insurrection, and during the Candian 
 sovereignty, were frequently employed as mercenary troops 
 in commotions in the interior. Sir Edward Barnes made an 
 attempt to civilize the wilder tribe, by having some of them 
 brought down into the plains, giving them food, clothes, &c. ; 
 he also gave prizes for the best shot among them v ith a bow 
 and arrow, but they seldom hit the mark even at a moderate 
 distance ; their custom of stealing close upon their prey before 
 they shoot will account for this. Although these men liked 
 their treatment so much as to be unwilling to return to their 
 forests, no further good seems to have followed from the ex- 
 periment. 
 
 We took a very beautiful ride this evening, setting out by 
 the borders of a small lake near the centre of the town, which 
 
 Vol. II.— 17 
 
196 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 is said in a great measure to occasion its salubrity; it was 
 formed out of a morass by the last king. A quarter of an 
 hour's ride brought us to one of the most magnificent and 
 striking views which I ever beheld; an immense amphitheatre 
 lay before us, of which the boundaries were lofty mountains 
 01 every form, covered more than half way to their summits 
 with foliage; Doomberra Peak, (its native name is Hoonisgi- 
 rikandy,) about 6000 feet high, lay partly buried in clouds; 
 the plain beneath us was like the most cultivated park sce- 
 nery, with the river running over rocks through its centre; 
 the only thing wanted to complete the picture, and which the 
 eye sought in vain, was a vestige of human life; nothing but 
 an occasional Hindoo temple was to be seen, in places M^here 
 noblemen's seats might well have stood. Native huts there 
 doubtless were; for, besides that the Candian district is po- 
 pulous, the coco-palm, of which a few clumps were seen, 
 pointed them out; villages are universally marked by these 
 trees, which are not, elsewhere, common in the province, but 
 till one is close upon them, the huts are not to be distinguish- 
 ed from the surrounding jungle, so that the whole country 
 looked like a glorious desert. The banks of the river, along 
 which we rode some distance, are here, as elsewhere, the 
 most productive of fever; it is called the "Candian fever," 
 and appears to be an intermittent, which arrives at its height 
 on the eleventh day, and like all others of the sort in a tropi- 
 cal climate, is liable to return at any period. Beyond the 
 mountains, the country is even said to be more baneful and 
 dangerous to travel through; but, from the want of roads lit- 
 tle intercourse is kept up further in the interior. We return- 
 ed home long after the sun had set, which here is speedily 
 followed by darkness, our road illuminated by myriads of fire- 
 flies, larger and more brilliant than any which I have before 
 seen in India; accustomed as I have now been for two years 
 to these insects, I could not avoid a momentary start as they 
 lit upon me, so perfectly do they resemble sparks of fire. 
 The air, after very great heat, had cooled so rapidly, as to 
 make me glad to button up my habit, but it was very delight- 
 ful, and I have not often enjoyed a ride more. 
 
 We dined in the king's palace with Mr. and Mrs. Down- 
 ing; this is a very long low building, at the extremity of the 
 town, painted white, with stone gateways; its front extending 
 nearly 200 yards; a hexagonal building of two stories termi- 
 nates it at one end, in which we were received; the rooms 
 we saw are small and low, with curious grotesque figures 
 carved on the walls. Here the monarch used to show him- 
 self in state to his people, with a w4fe on either hand, for 
 though the Candian females of rank have seldom been seen by 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 197 
 
 Europeans, they were not before the conquest kept in seclu- 
 sion. At the other end o*f the palace are the women's apart- 
 ments. 
 
 The horrible practice of female infanticide still prevails in 
 some districts in the island; in the last general census taken 
 in 1821, the number of males exceeded bj 20,000 that of fe- 
 males; in one district there were to every hundred men but 
 fifty-live women, and in those parts where the numbers were 
 equal, the population was almost exclusively Mussulman. 
 The strange custom of one woman having two, or even more, 
 husbands, and the consequent difficulty of marrying their 
 daughters, in a country where to live single is disgraceful, 
 seem to be the causes of this unnatural custom. An astrolo- 
 ger is consulted on the birth of a female child, and if he pro- 
 nounces her to have been born under evil auspices, she is ex- 
 posed alive in the woods, to be destroyed by beasts of prey 
 or by ants, generally, I was happy to hear, without the con- 
 sent of the mother. 
 
 September 17. — We visited this morning some of the Buddh- 
 ist temples; the principal one, which contains the recumbent 
 figure of Buddh, is a square building, with sixteen pillars of 
 masonry supporting the roof. The figure is of a colossal size, 
 about thirty feet long, cut out of the rock, and there are se- 
 veral small figures placed round it, some in the common atti- 
 tude of sitting with the legs crossed, others standing; many 
 of them are painted a bright yellow, and the ceiling and walls 
 are also of the most glaring colours; strong smelling flowers 
 were, as usual, ranged as an offering before the image, and 
 in the same row with the smaller ones were placed two bells, 
 the sacred symbol, covered up. with great care. Although the 
 priests touched them with reverence, they showed no reluc- 
 tance to uncover them for our gratification. 
 
 Adjoining this is a smaller temple, enclosing another image 
 of Buddh, in the sitting posture, of human proportions, and 
 carved with considerable skill; the countenance is pleasing, 
 with some resemblance to the Cingalese. Many images sur- 
 round him in relief; one is of Siva, with four arms and his 
 usual attributes of the lotus and the cobra de capello; some 
 crocodiles surrounding the figure of Buddh would seem to 
 prove a connexion between his worship and the Egyptian ido- 
 latry. The Cingalese colour the statues of their gods, and 
 give a pupil to the eye, which last ceremony is supposed to 
 confer a superior degree of holiness, and is done with much 
 mystery and solemnity. Some smaller figures of Buddh are 
 very neatly executed in brass and copper; indeed the na- 
 tives seem to have a remarkable talent for carving, con- 
 
198 JOURNAL OF A TOUfi IN CEYLON. 
 
 sidering how very few their opportunities of improvement 
 ean be. 
 
 In another temple we were shown, with extraordinary reve- 
 i^nce, some relics of bone taken out of Raja Singh's tomb at 
 the time of our occupation of Candy, when all the royal tombs 
 were broken open, and gold and jewels of considerable value 
 found. Tlie cemetery immediately adjoins this temple; the 
 tombs are of stone, meanly enough sculptured, and much in- 
 jured by the violence used in forcing them open; the Kings' 
 and Queens' stand on opposite sides, and there is little to re- 
 commend the spot except some noble peepul-trees overhang- 
 ing the tombs, which prove the royal family to have been Hin- 
 doos. The temples in Candy are very numerous, as they were 
 considered indispensable appendages to great men's houses; 
 lights are kept burning in the greater number, and the heat, 
 added to the strong perfume of the flowers makes it very un- 
 ])leasant to remain in them for more than a few minutes. The 
 famous one containing the tooth of Buddh we had not time to 
 visit, but we were shown a fac-similie of the precious relic, 
 more like a wild beast's tusk than a human tooth; it is kept 
 in a golden case, set with precious stones, and this is en- 
 closed within four others, all of gold and increasing in size, 
 and all studded with jewels; no relic was ever more sumptu- 
 ously enshrined, or more devoutly worshipped. When we 
 obtained possession of it, the Candians submitted quietly to 
 our rule, believing that its owners have an undisputed title 
 to their crown. 
 
 Adjoining the lake, in the centre of the town, is a Buddhist 
 college, where forty priests live under strict discipline, chiefly 
 occupied in religious duties and in teaching; their houses are 
 of the best sort in Candy, of one story, with clay walls and 
 tiled. Two temples and a large room for their meetings are 
 within the enclosure of the monastery, the roof of the latter 
 of which is supported by immense pillars, each of a single 
 stone, near twenty feet high. From within these walls, which 
 are close to Mr. Sawer's house, the sounds of the tom-tom 
 and gongs beat in honour of the idol, are perpetually heard. 
 
 But to return to our morning's excursion: from the cemetery 
 we visited the new Mission-school, just erected, on a hill im- 
 mediately opposite to it, under the care of Mr. Browning, the 
 only Missionary at present here; the Bishop heard the chil- 
 dren read and repeat their lessons in English, Malabar and 
 Cingalese; he was exceedingly pleased with their progress, 
 and with the establishment altogether; it was indeed, an inte- 
 resting sight; the children looked happy, anxious to say their 
 lessons, and very proud when they received commendation* 
 
JOURNAL OP A TOUR IN CEYLON. 199 
 
 There was one little boy who particularly attracted my at- 
 tention by the eager way in which, after the Bishop had exa- 
 mined him, he brought his book to me. I could only under- 
 stand the English, but this he read fluently, and appeared to 
 understand. The situation of the school is well chosen, and 
 very beautiful 5 and the whole establishment the Bishop consi- 
 dered as well conducted, and of great promise. There are 
 two other schools altogether containing from 85 to 90 chil- 
 dren, which I was too much tired to accompany the Bishop to 
 visit: he spoke favourably of both. 
 
 In the evening we accompanied the Governor to the tunnel 
 which he had recently had cut through a hill of a considerable 
 height, over which the road was formerly carried from the 
 ferry into Candy. Its length is nearly 500 feet, with suffi- 
 cient height and width to admit of carriages passing through 
 it. From thence we descended to the river through most 
 beautiful scenery. It really is melancholy to see so lovely a 
 country rendered almost uninhabitable during the greatest 
 part of the year, in some places even to the natives, by the 
 pestilential malaria. We passed the ruins of a small village, 
 which an engineer officer told me was last year entirely dis- 
 peopled by fever. He had built it for the accommodation of 
 a gang of workmen, who were employed in erecting a bridge: 
 and on his return, after a very short absence, found it a de- 
 sert, all its inhabitants having either died, or fled to preserve 
 their lives. Most of the workmen employed by government 
 here are Caff'res. The first generation appear to stand the 
 climate well, but their children are very liable to pulmonary 
 affections. From the river we ascended by a pathway barely 
 four feet wide, which led us a distance of two miles round the 
 sid« of a hill till we emerged again on the great road leading to 
 Colombo. This path is cut through a thick jungle, with the 
 river running through the valley, which is here very narrow, 
 at a consitlerable depth below us. It was extremely beautiful, 
 but the passing through so thick a mass of foliage affected me 
 towards the end of the ride with a feeling of sickness and suf- 
 focation, vv'hich gave me a very good notion of what the coun- 
 try must be during the unhealtliy season. Repassing tlie tun- 
 nel. Sir Edward Barnes made the CaffVes set up a yell, which 
 reverberating against its roof and sides, had a most savage 
 wild effect. Again we were lit home by fire-flies, and I saw a 
 solitary glow-worm, of a size and brilliancy far exceeding 
 those of England: they are not common in India. 
 
 We met a large party at the Pavilion in the evening. The 
 Candian market is miserably supplied ; poultry is nearly all 
 imported from Goa and Cochin; sheep soon rot and die off in 
 the luxuriant pasture; and beef, though in most places reckon- 
 
200 JOURNAL OF A TOITR IN CEYLON, 
 
 ed fine, is not always good here. The woods supply them witfl 
 venison and game of all sorts, but the former is seldom fat. 
 In the Governor's garden a few English vegetables are brought 
 to some perfection, but, generally speaking, even here they 
 succeed ill } and the top of the coco-palm is the only good in- 
 digenous one I have seen, and as this is very costly, the tree 
 being killed by cutting it off, it of course is not common. 
 
 We have seen a few of the Talypot palms, but not in blos- 
 som ; the circumference of a single leaf, of which the fans I 
 mentioned are made, is often from twenty-five to thirty feet. 
 A branch of the blossom was brought to me; it resembles that 
 of the palm tribe in general, and is curious merely from the 
 circumstance of the tree never flowering till it is fifty years old, 
 and immediately after dying. 
 
 September 18, Sunday. — Early this morning the Bishop 
 held a confirmation ; there were seven native candidates, and 
 twenty Europeans ', and he afterwards preached at the usual 
 time of morning service. There is no church, but the Hall of 
 Audience, where the Kingsof Candy held their courts, is used 
 as such ; it is a long room, of which the wooden pillars, hav- 
 ing the lotus carved on their capitals, are the only ornamen- 
 tal parts remaining. It was a most interesting and aftecting 
 sight, to see Christian worship performed, and a Christian bi- 
 shop blessing his congregation, a part of which was native, in 
 the very spot where the most horrid cruelties were exercised 
 not more than ten years ago. How little could such an event 
 at that time have been contemplated ! Evening service was 
 performed here for the first time, and by the Bishop's desire, 
 it is to be continued. Mr. Perring, the colonial Chaplain, 
 preached. The mission has been established about six years. 
 
 After church, I rode with Sir Edward Barnes to the spot 
 where the massacre of two hundred Europeans took place, im- 
 mediately before the final conquest of Candy. Major Davies, 
 the officer commanding the corps, had on evacuating the town, 
 a measure in itself. Sir Edward Barnes said, improper and 
 unnecessary, stipulated that the men should be allowed to 
 cross the country in safety to Trincomalee, and that the king 
 should provide them with boats to pass the river. On arriv- 
 ing at its borders, iiowever, no boats were to be seen, and it 
 was then further insisted on, that the soldiers should lay down 
 their arms. To this condition Major Davies was infatuated 
 enough to consent, although their previous conduct had given 
 him ample reason to suspect the good faith of government. 
 The result was such as might have been anticipated ; the men, 
 with the exception of two, who escaped wounded to Trinco- 
 malee, were all massacred. Major Davies's life was spared, from 
 a kind of honourable feeling, as being the individual with 
 
JOURNAL or A TOUR IN CEYLON. 201 
 
 whom the treaty had been made ; but he spent the remainder 
 of his life at Candy, unnoticed by the Europeans, and, at last, 
 adopted the dress and habits of the natives. A half-caste son 
 of his still lives in the place, supported by a small pension 
 from government. A large flat stone, elevated on lesser ones, 
 was shown me as the place whence the king beheld the massa- 
 cre 5 and a tree on the spot where the negociation was held, 
 still bears the name of "Major Davies's tree." 
 
 On going to the pavilion in the evening to dinner, we found 
 a large bear, that had just been caught in the north of the 
 island, fastened before the door ; it was black, with a long 
 whitish snout, but it was too dark to examine it very minute- 
 ly; and as it was merely confined by a rope to a bush, which 
 bent with the struggles it made to get loose, and roared and 
 barked in a furious manner, I was not anxious to become more 
 closely acquainted with it. 
 
 Our acquaintance, Looko Banda, generally accompanied us 
 on our evening rides ; he was very anxious to introduce his 
 wives and daughters to me, and I was quite as much so to see 
 them ; but my time had been so constantly occupied from the 
 moment of my arrival, that I was obliged to leave Candy with- 
 out visiting them. Our departure took place early in the morn- 
 ing of the 19th. We rode to the Botanical Gardens, the moun- 
 tains to the east affording shelter from the sun for some hours 
 after he is risen. I saw some very curious plants, among 
 others the Annatto shrub, which stains the finger a bright yel- 
 low on bruising it, and is used as a dye by the natives ; a 
 species of air plant, which has no root, nor any visible means 
 of obtaining nourishment, and requires to be merely suspended 
 in the open air, sheltered from the sun : when planted, or fre- 
 quently watered, it dies. The specimen I saw had a small 
 brown sweet-scented blossom, and looked quite healthy. 
 These gardens are only in their infancy, but very flourishing. 
 The death of their superintendant, Mr. Moon, has for the pre- 
 sent, put a stop to the improvement ; the situation is beauti- 
 ful, but being near the river, is not healthy. At Ootian Can- 
 dy we again slept, and riding to Ballypore, breakfasted at 
 Veangodde, and arrived at St. Sebastian's, in a heavy storm 
 of thunder and rain, about five o'clock in the evening of the 
 20th. We had the happiness of finding Emily perfectly well, 
 and of receiving good accounts of Harriet. We both of us 
 enjoyed the excursion extremely, and only wished for time to 
 have seen more of the beauties of this lovely island. 
 
 I was much struck with the almost total absence of small 
 birds in the interior. It is supposed that serpents, with which 
 the island abounds, destroy the eggs : some destructive agent 
 of this kind there must be, in a place'peculiarly adapted for 
 
202 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 their increase ; and this, certainly, seems the most obvious. I 
 saw parrots of various sorts, pigeons, cranes, and heard jun- 
 gle-fowls and pheasants. Pea-fowls abound in the interior, 
 and the honey -bird, which points out where the bees have built 
 their combs, is found here. There are only four snakes ascer- 
 tained to be poisonous ; the Cobra de Capello is the most com- 
 mon, but its bite is not so certainly fatal as that of the Tic 
 Polonga, which destroys life in a few minutes. These are 
 fortunately scarce: experiments have been frequently made on 
 the subtlety of its poison j the first bite will kill a fowl in less 
 than a minute, but frequent repetitions seem to destroy its 
 force, and very considerable provocation is required to make 
 the animal bite, as if it was sensible its power of injury wa» 
 weakened, or even quite lost. I had a specimen given me by 
 an ofiicer at a small station between Ootian Candy and Kadoo- 
 garnarvon pass ; it was a young one, and had not attained the 
 ordinary size of between four and five feet. Its head was near- 
 ly triangular, the back of it gray, and under the throat a 
 light yellow. The back was regularly spotted with brown, 
 and the tail short and tapering. It is at all times indolent, 
 and will not attack unless it is irritated. The Boa Constric- 
 tor is occasionally found of the enormous length of thirty feet. 
 The bite is not poisonous, but its size renders it extremely 
 formidable, though the stories of its attacking so large an 
 animal as a buffalo, or even a cheta, seem quite untrue : it 
 preys upon goats, fowls, and the smaller game. Alligators, 
 of a very large size, are numerous in the rivers. The flying 
 leech, which I never heard of before, is very common in the 
 jungles in the interior; and the native troops, on their march 
 to Candy, suffered very severely from their bites, occasional- 
 ly even to the loss of life or limb : their legs were covered with 
 them, and streamed with blood. I saw one of these animals 
 on a horse's leg ; it is much smaller than the common leech 5 
 the largest is, when at rest, not more than half an inch long, 
 and may be extended till it becomes as thin as a fine string. 
 The smaller ones are very minute ; they possess the power of 
 springing, by means of a filament, to a considerable distance, 
 and are very annoying to cattle and horses. There are also 
 large black scorpions, lizards, cameleons, &c. &c. and an as- 
 tonishing variety of insects, with which we are, as yet, but 
 imperfectly acquainted. The most curious of these are the 
 leaf-insects, which assume the shape, size, and general appear- 
 ance of the leaf on which they feed so exactly, that it is only 
 on examination one become aware of their real character. 1 
 saw several, but the most extraordinary was one M'hich lived 
 on a thorny plant, the body of which resembled a stick, and 
 was covered with thorns, like a shrub. I have had several of 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 203 
 
 these given me ; together with a black scorpion, and some 
 other insects in spirits, which I hope some day or other to 
 take home, and I have also collected and dried as many flowers 
 as came within my reach. 
 
 The precious stones, for which Ceylon is famous, are reckon- 
 ed less valuable than those of the western continent. The 
 emerald is, perhaps, the only one not found in the island 5 the 
 amethyst is the most common; and on the old road to Candy, 
 through the seven corles, large pieces are often struck out by 
 horses' hoofs, but they are seldom found without a flaw. The 
 cat's-eye and the sapphire, when of a large size, are beautiful 
 and very valuable: the topaz, ruby, tormaline, diamond, and 
 various others are also found in most abundance in the dis- 
 trict of Matura. A kind friend has procured me specimens 
 of all in their rough state, which I consider a valuable acqui- 
 sition. The cinnamon-stone is, I believe, peculiar to Ceylon, 
 and is probably so called from its colour resembling that of 
 the cinnamon leaf on its first appearance. The natives set 
 them with great neatness, and with means apparently very 
 inadequate to the work. The fruits seem to me very much 
 the same as those of India, with the addition of the mangos- 
 teen, but this is now out of season. 
 
 September 23. — We left Colombo* early this morning in 
 
 • The following address from the acting Archdeacon and clergy of Co- 
 lombo, was sent to the bishop previous to his leaving Colombo. 
 To the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Calcutta. 
 
 May it please your Lordship, 
 
 We, the acting Archdeacon and Clergy of this archdeaconry, ac- 
 knowledge with thankfulness the benefits we have received from your 
 Lordsliip's visitation of this part of your diocese. We ascribe it to the 
 Father of lights, from whom every good and every perfect gift cometh, 
 that your Lordship has been made his chosen instrument, as we trust, 
 for promoting the spiritual benefit, as well of the clergy over whom 
 he has appointed you overseer, as of all orders of men who have come 
 within the sphere of your Lordship's influence. 
 
 We feel it necessary, my Lord, to restrain the full utterance of our 
 feelings on this occasion, but we must beg to be allowed to express 
 our ardent hopes that your devoted piety, your unwearied zeal, your 
 judicious counsels, and your most conciliatory kindness, may have pro- 
 duced in us desu'es, not ineffectual, to press forward ourselves also in 
 our holy vocation. 
 
 The encouragement we have unitedly derived from your Lordship's 
 presence among us, tends greatly to strengthen our hands. In the 
 consciousness that by the gracious providence of our heavenly Father, 
 we have collectively and individually the same wise and affectionate 
 counsellor, and in recognizing this tie that connects us with your Lord- 
 ship, we feel more than ever that we are fellow-labourers together, 
 peculiarly called upon to bear one another's burdens, and to provoke 
 one another to love and to good works. 
 
 In conclusion, my Lord, we pray that the great Shepherd and Bishop 
 
204 JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 the Governor's carriage, having bid adieu the preceding even- 
 ing to him and Ladj Barnes, which we did with much regret, 
 for we have received great and invariable kindness from both; 
 indeed, the hospitality which we have met with from the so- 
 ciety of Colombo in general has been very gratifying; and we 
 look forward with pleasure to a renewal of our visit, which 
 we hope to effect for a short period next year, if the season 
 should be favourable for a voyage to Jaffna, which the Bishop 
 purposes visiting from the coast. 
 
 At Paltura we again were driven by Mr. Rodney to Caltura, 
 where, in a very pretty bungalow, belonging to Mr. Layard, 
 commanding a beautiful view of the river and the sea, we 
 breakfasted. The rivers in Ceylon are very seldom naviga- 
 ble far inland; during the dry season there is not a sufficient 
 depth of water, and in the rains they rise so rapidly from the 
 mountain torrents, that it is dangerous to venture on them. 
 On those near Colombo, we were told that some hundred flat- 
 bottomed boats were moored for the purpose of fishing, in 
 which large families resided, who had no other dwellings; all 
 the rivers and lakes, as well as the sea, abound with fish. We 
 spent some hours very agreeably with Mr. Layard, eat our tiffin 
 with Mr. and Mrs. Rodney, and then proceeded to Ben Totte, 
 where we again passed the night. 
 
 September 24. — Long before day-break we were on our way 
 to Baddagame. At Amblangodde we breakfasted, and at Ken- 
 nery left the main road, and wound through very narrow paths, 
 and over broken bridges, scarcely passable even to a palan- 
 queen, across a flat swampy country, till we arrived at the first 
 river which we had crossed on leaving Galle, but some miles 
 higher up. The country then improved into great beauty, and at 
 the end of about two miles we came within sight of a church on 
 the summit of a hill, with the house of one of the missionaries, 
 Mr. Mayor, immediately adjoining it, and that of Mr. Ward 
 on another eminence close to it, forming altogether a land- 
 
 of our souls, may stiff more riclily endow you with His heavenly grace, 
 strengthening- you for the gi'eat work to which He has caff ed you, pro- 
 longing your vahiable life for the good of His church and people, and 
 at length, having honoured you as His servant to gather into His fold 
 great numbers from among these eastern nations, may give you, toge- 
 ther with them, an abundant entrance into His heavenly kingdom. 
 
 James AI. S. Glenie, Acting Archdeacon. 
 
 H. Gartstin, Colonial Chaplain. 
 
 A. Armouii, Colonial Chaplain. 
 
 J. H. D. Sahum, Colonial Chaplain. 
 
 Samuel Lambrick, Church Missionary. 
 
 Joseph Knight, Church Missionary. 
 
 C. David, Colonial Chaplain. 
 Colombo, September 22nd, 1825. 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 205 
 
 scape of singular and interesting beauty. We ascended by 
 a steep road to Mr. Mayor's, where we found the families of 
 the two missionaries, and some of our friends from Galle, 
 awaiting our arrival. At the foot of this hill, the river we had 
 recently crossed winds through what has the appearance of a 
 richly dressed lawn, while all around rise mountains, one above 
 the other to a considerable height, and in an endless variety 
 of shape. On our right was the church, a very pretty build- 
 ing, and behind us stood Mr. Ward's house. The whole scene 
 was peculiarly interesting. Here we found two very young 
 men, with their wives and children, separated from all Euro- 
 pean society by many miles of country impassable, save in 
 two directions, even to palanqueens, devoting themselves en- 
 tirely to the service of their Maker, in spreading his religion 
 among the heathen, and in the education of their families. 
 The two families indeed seem to form but one household, liv- 
 ing together in Christian fellowship, and with no other object 
 but to serve their God, and do their duty to their neighbour. 
 I have seldom been more gratified, I may say affected, than by 
 this sight. I am aware how strong a prejudice there exists in 
 many quarters to missions in general, but I felt that if one of 
 their strongest opponents could have witnessed what I then 
 did, and could have informed himself of the real good that is 
 doing, (not here alone, but by the other missionaries in the 
 island,) by the silent, judicious, and unwearied labours of these 
 good men, his opposition must have ceased. Mr. Mayor, who 
 is son to our neighbour at Shawbury, was originally brought 
 up in the medical line, and passed a very good examination; 
 his surgical and medical knowledge are invaluable to himself 
 and his neighbours, so far removed as they are from all assist- 
 ance; and even during the short time we were his guests, we 
 found their use in a sudden attack our little girl had, brought 
 on by fatigue and over-exertion. 
 
 September 9.5, Sunday. — The Bishop consecrated the church 
 and afterwards the burial-ground this morning: almost all the 
 European residents from Galle, and a great number of natives 
 were assembled to witness the ceremony; and I think, the pe- 
 culiar circumstances under which it was performed, must have 
 rendered it highly interesting to the greater part of the con- 
 gregation; at least, if I may judge of their feelings by my cwn. 
 The Bishop preached and in the afternoon confirmed thirteen 
 persons, all of whom, save three, were Cingalese; making, to- 
 gether with five who had been previously confirmed at Galle, 
 fifteen recently converted natives in this mission, four of whom 
 received the sacrament. 
 
 In the evening the Bishop examined some of the scholars, and 
 heard them read and construe a chapter rn the New Testament 
 
306 JOURNAL or A TOUR IN CEYLON. 
 
 from English into Cingalese. This station has been establish- 
 ed six years, and if the lives of the missionaries are spared, 
 there is every reasonable hope, with God's blessing, of its being 
 productive of extensive good. 
 
 September 26.-— We left Baddagame in palanqueens, along 
 the banks of the river, which was too much swollen by heavy 
 rains, lately fallen, to admit of our going in boats; indeed the 
 tract was in some parts covered with water, so deep that it 
 nearly entered my palanqueen, and was very fatiguing to the 
 poor bearers. In the afternoon we arrived at Galle, and re- 
 sumed our former apartments at Mr. Sansoni's. 
 
 In the expectation of being able to sail to-morrow, the 
 Bishop set off immediately to visit Mrs. Gisborne's school. 
 My poor little girl was still suffering under the eftects of her 
 recent attack at Baddagame, which prevented my accompany- 
 ing him; this I very much regretted, when, on his return, he 
 gave me an account of the establishment, which had pleased 
 him very much, and which reflected great credit on Mrs. 
 Gisborne's good sense and good management. 
 
 We were detained two days at Galle by unfavourable 
 winds, for it is impossible to leave the harbour unless it blows 
 from a particular quarter. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 29th we re-embarked, our party 
 being augmented by a son of Mr. Layard's, and one of Cap- 
 tain Driburgh's, (the Commandant at Galle,) the latter of 
 whom was on his way to Bishop's College, as one of the new 
 students. 
 
 Our visit to Ceylon has afforded us very great pleasure and 
 interest, from its agreeable society, the beauty of its scenery, 
 its curiosities, and, far above all, from the religious state of 
 the native inhabitants. I have heard it said, that the number 
 of Christians on the 'coast, and amongst our settlements, do 
 not fall far short of half a million; very many of these, un- 
 doubtedly, are merely nominally such, who have no objection 
 to attend our church, and even would, if they were allowed, 
 partake without scruple in her rites; and then, perhaps, the 
 same evening, offer a propitiatory sacrifice to the devil I Still, 
 the number of real Christians is very considerable; the con- 
 gregations in the native churches are good; and the numbers 
 who came for confirmation, (none were, of course, admitted, 
 of whose fitness their Ministers were not well convinced,) 
 was extremely gratifying. I think the Bishop confirmed above 
 300, 
 
 The Church Missionary Society has four stations, — Nellore, 
 Baddagame, Cotta, and Candy, supplied at present with but 
 six Missionaries: were its funds sufficient, there would, per- 
 haps, be no limits to which its beneficial effects might not ex- 
 
JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN CEYLON. 207 
 
 tend 5 but the island is too poor to do much for itself, and 
 must mainly depend on its friends at home for assistance. 
 Caste exists in considerable force, but it is, perhaps, more 
 political than religious caste. That of the Chaliers I have 
 already mentioned; there is another, yet lower, called '' Rho- 
 ders," whose tribe was originally degraded for eating beef; 
 their women are fortune-tellers; a large proportion of the Cin- 
 galese are, however, on an equality in this respect, and have 
 no objection to following any liberal profession. At Candy, 
 the population is scrupulously divided into castes, which in- 
 clude all the different ranks and professions; but there is one 
 caste quite excluded from all intercourse with their country- 
 men. The name I have forgotten, but I was told that they 
 lived in the deepest misery, from which no good behaviour on 
 their part could raise them. On meeting a Candian of any 
 rank, they are forced to pay him the same reverence that this 
 last would do to his king. 
 
 The worship of Buddh is the prevailing religion in Candy 
 as well as in other parts of the island, and there are also 
 among the Candians some nominal Christians, who use his 
 doctrines as a charm against evil spirits; this -province has, 
 however, been for too short a time under Christian government, 
 to expect any very considerable effects from our intercourse 
 with its natives. 
 
 The Candians are a much handsomer and finer race than 
 the Cingalese, the latter of whom are short and slightly made, 
 with countenances a good deal resembling the images of Buddh. 
 In our journey to Candy I was much pleased with the readi- 
 ness and zeal with which the men used to push the carriages 
 up the steep hills, or hold them back in their descent. On 
 the coast there is a great mixture of inhabitants, descendants 
 of the Dutch and Portuguese as well as Malays, and many 
 others from the coast. There are Mussulmans and Hindoos 
 in all parts, but no great proportion of the latter. 
 
 The climate on the south and south-west coast is particu- 
 larly fine for a tropical country, the thermometer at Colombo 
 ranges from 75° to 86° or 87°, seldom exceeding the latter, 
 though so near the line. This is partly to be attributed to the 
 constant sea-breezes, and partly to its sharing in the winds 
 and rains of the two monsoons which blow at different periods 
 on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. It is not generally 
 injurious to European constitutions either there or to the nortli; 
 and I have seen several individuals, apparently in the enjoy- 
 ment of health, though without colour, who have never been 
 out of the island. Last year Ceylon suffered from sickness, 
 in common with all India, very severely, which only ceased 
 
 Vol. II 18 
 
208 JOURNAL OP A TOUR IN CEYLON* 
 
 when the rains set in, they having been preceded by an unu- 
 sual drought. 
 
 Sir Edward Barnes interests himself much in the improve- 
 ment of the natives; the roads which he is making must con- 
 tribute essentially to their prosperity and comfort, and he is 
 attempting to introduce among them the system of entail; at 
 present property is subdivided into the minutest portions, 
 even to the coco-tree, the 154th part of one of which I have 
 seen advertised for sale. While this custom, with that of 
 forced labour, lasts, the island must be poor; in fact, glorious 
 as it is by nature, it has as yet had very few of the advantages 
 of civilization. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 CALCUTTA TO SADRAS. 
 
 voyage invalid officers and soldiers from rangoon- 
 catamarans madras— schools native christians 
 
 visit to prince azeem khan sir thomas munro st. 
 
 Thomas's mount — maha-bali-poor — sadras. 
 
 January 30, 1826. — I again left with a heavy heart, my 
 dear wife and children, for the visitation of Madras, and the 
 south of India. I was accompanied by my Chaplain, Mr. 
 Robinson, and went down by boat to Fultah, a village about 
 25 miles from Calcutta, where is a good tavern kept by a 
 Dutch native of Chinsurah. The village is large and popu- 
 lous, the greater part of the people are engaged either in 
 rearing stock for the ships at Diamond Harbour, or in making 
 straw hats, and other trifling articles, for strangers passing 
 up and down the river. The surrounding country is like all 
 the rest of lower Bengal, green, perfectly level, overflowed 
 annually by the river, and distributed in rice-fields, scatter- 
 ed in patches amid almost interminable groves of fruit-trees 
 and palms. We found it much cooler than Calcutta, and 
 less infested with musquitos; but during the greater part of 
 the year both this place and all the country round Diamond 
 Harbour, and thence towards the sea, is intensely unwhole- 
 some. Were it otherwise, this would be a good place for u 
 missionary, and has been thought of for that purpose. The 
 population of the whole neighbourhood appears to swarm like 
 an ant-hill, but they are all cottagers; no traces of even mo- 
 
VOYAGE TO MADRAS. 209 
 
 derate wealth appear among them, though their dwellings are 
 clean, and their poverty, to a person acquainted with the few 
 and simple wants of this climate, does not seem abject. Per- 
 haps they do not fare the worse for having the majority of 
 their Zemindars non-resident. 
 
 February 2. — Having received our summons the preceding 
 evening, and the wind now blowing pleasantlj^ from the north, 
 we proceeded down the noble Ganges, which is here, I should 
 apprehend, eight miles at least in breadth, following the ship 
 to a creek called Barakatallah, a little below Calpee, and di- 
 verging from the Ganges into the Sunderbunds. 
 
 While anchored at Saugor point, on the 4th, the steam-ves- 
 sel, Enterprise, passed us, with despatches from Frome, and 
 bringing the unwelcome intelligence, though somewhat re- 
 lieved by the news of a victory, that hostilities had recom- 
 menced with the Burmese. 
 
 Sunday^ February 5.— -We proceeded to the Sandheads, 
 and dismissed the pilot. I was glad to learn from him that a 
 poor man, who had once taken us up the river, and got mise- 
 rably drunk on that occasion, had been greatly impressed by 
 some good advice I had given him, and had since remained a 
 water-drinker, I wish my good counsels were always equally 
 successful ! 
 
 Our voyage to Madras was tedious, and not over-pleasantj 
 we had a steady, and, for this season, a most unusual south- 
 west wind, from the time the pilot left us, down to February 
 25, when we with difficulty reached the roads. The Busso- 
 rah Merchant had a very fine and orderly crew of British' 
 seamen, without a single Lascar. There were also- thirty 
 miserable invalid soldiers, with some women and children, 
 going back, with broken health and depraved habits, either to 
 England, or, which seemed most probable with many of them, 
 to die at sea. These poor people were, apparently attentive 
 to what Mr. Robinson and I read and prayed, and we took 
 it by turns to visit them once a day. We were not, however, 
 able to flatter ourselves that the impression made was at all 
 deep, and the women, in particular, seemed incorrigible in 
 their drunkenness, though one of them, who was actually and 
 hopelessly dying from this cause, was a fluent talker on reli- 
 gious matters, and had been, she told us, religiously educa- 
 ted, and, while in England, a constant member of Mr. Row- 
 land Hill's congregation. 
 
 Nothing can be more foolish, or in its effects more perni-. 
 cious, than the manner in wliich spirits are distributed to Eu- 
 ropean troops in India. Early every morning a pint of fiery, 
 coarse, undiluted rum is given to every man, and half that 
 quaatity to every woman^ this, the greater part of the new- 
 
210 VOYAGE TO MADRAS. 
 
 comers abhor in the first instance, or would, at all events, if 
 left to themselves, mix with water. The ridicule of their 
 seasoned companions, however, deters them from doing so, 
 and a habit of the worst kind of intemperance is acquired in 
 a few weeks, more fatal to the anny than the swords of the 
 Jats, or the climate of the Burmese. If half the quantity of 
 spirits, well watered, were given at a more seasonable hour, 
 and to compensate for the loss of the rest, a cup of strong 
 coffee allowed to each man every morning, the men would be 
 quite as well pleased, and both their bodies and souls pre- 
 served from many dreadful evils. Colonel Williams, of the 
 " Queen's Own," whom we met at Bombay, has tried this 
 experiment with much success, and it might, with a little re- 
 solution, be universal throughout the army. 
 
 The younger sailors were, many of them, very attentive 
 and devout, when we visited the soldiers. On Sundays, in- 
 deed, all the crew were decent and orderly in their attend- 
 ance on Divine Service, and the passengers, though a set little 
 less motley than the crew, evinced much readiness to join 
 in family prayer every evening. There was much grievous 
 distress on board. Two officers from Rangoon and Arracan, 
 both gentlemanly young men, the one wasted by fever to a 
 living skeleton, without use of his legs or arms, carried up 
 and down the ladder to and from table, his eyes almost glaz- 
 ed, and his voice feeble and hollow,— -the other, who was par- 
 ticularly intelligent and good-tempered, and had the traces of 
 much strength and manly beauty, was covered from head to 
 foot with ulcers, some of which reached quite to his bones. 
 Both these, as well as a third, who was killing himself with 
 dram-drinking, were going home for their health, though the 
 surgeon of the ship expressed great fears that all three would 
 share the fate of a poor baby who died on board, and find 
 their graves before they reached Europe. 
 
 Two of the female passengers were also objects of conside- 
 rable pity; the first being a young widow, whose husband, a 
 small indigo planter, had failed in business and destroyed 
 himself, and who was now going home with her child, to live 
 on the charity of some poor relations. The other, a wretched 
 crazy girl also in an humble rank of life, who had fallen in 
 love with a man in a more elevated situation, and who had 
 since hardly spoken at all, but continued crying all day long. 
 
 On the whole, what I saw and heard on board the Bussorah 
 Merchant, was not calculated to make my voyage one of 
 pleasure, even if I had felt less keenly my separation at Cal- 
 cutta. It was a comfort to me, however, with regard to this, 
 that the officers on board, who were all well acquainted with 
 Madras and the south of India, coincided in opinion with what 
 
CATAMARANS. 211 
 
 we had been previously told, that it would be highly impro- 
 per for either women or children to travel there at this season 
 of the year. 
 
 Our first view of the coast of Goromandel was of some low 
 craggy hills near Pulicat, at some little distance inland. 
 Madras itself is on a level beach, having these hills eight or ten 
 miles to the north, and the insulated rock of St. Thomas about 
 the same distance southward. The buildings and fort towards 
 the sea are handsome, though not large, and grievously defi- 
 cient in shade; the view, however, from the roads, and on 
 landing, is very pretty. 
 
 The masuli-boats, (which first word is merely a corruption of 
 **muchli," fish,) have been often described, and, except that 
 they are sewed together with coco-nut twine, instead of being 
 fastened with nails, they very much resemble the high deep 
 charcoal boats, which are frequently seen on the Ganges. The 
 catamarans, however, I found I had no idea of till I saw them. 
 They are each composed of three coco-tree logs, lashed toge- 
 ther, and big enough to carry one, or at most, two persons. 
 In one of these a small sail is fixed, like those used in Ceylon, 
 and the navigator steers with a little paddle; the float itself is 
 almost entirely sunk in the water, so that the effect is very 
 singular of a sail sweeping along the surface with a man be- 
 hind it, and apparently nothing to support them. Those who 
 have no sails are consequently invisible, and the men have 
 the appearance of treading water, and performing evolutions 
 with a racket. In very rough weather the men lash themselves 
 to their little rafts, but in ordinary seas they seem, though fre- 
 quently washed off, to regard such accidents as mere trifles, 
 being naked all but a wax-clotb cap, in which they keep any 
 letters they may have to convey to ships in the roads, and all 
 swimming like fish. Their only danger is from sharks, which 
 are said to abound. These cannot hurt them while on their 
 floats, but woe be to them if they catch them while separated 
 from that defence. Yet even then, the case is not quite hope- 
 less, since the shark can only attack them from below; and a 
 rapid dive, if not in very deep water will sometimes save 
 them. I have met an Englishman who thus escaped from a 
 shark which had pursued him for some distance. He was 
 cruelly wounded, and almost dashed to pieces on the rocky 
 bottom against which the surf threw him; but the shark dared 
 not follow, and a few strokes more placed him in safety. 
 
 The contrary wind which had so long delayed us, ensured 
 us a peaceable landing, as it blew directly off shore, and the 
 surf was consequently much less than it often is, or than I 
 had heard it described. It was less than we had seen it in 
 the shore of Ceylon, not merely at Galle, but at Barbareen, 
 
 18* 
 
212 
 
 MADRAS. 
 
 and on the beach near Colombo^ still it m^ouUI^ I think, have 
 staved the strongest ship's boat: but in boats adapted to the 
 service it had nothing formidable. 
 
 We were received on the beach by Captain Grant, the mas- 
 ter attendant, Mr. Gwatkin, the second commissioner of ma- 
 rine, and Mr. Roy, the senior chaplin; and soon after joined 
 by the town-major. Colonel Taylor, who conducted us to a 
 most comfortable house which government had provided for 
 my accommodation. 
 
 The time which I passed in Madras was so much occupied 
 in getting through a great accumulation of professional duties, 
 as well as in receiving and paying visits, that I had no time 
 to keep a journal. I was pleased with my clergy, and found 
 myself on the most friendly terms with them. The governor 
 and principal civil and military functionaries were more than 
 civil and hospitable; they were most kind and considerate in 
 doing every thing which could contribute to my comfort either 
 in Madras or in the preparations for my journey. I confirm- 
 ed 478 persons in St. George's Church; and about 120 more 
 at Poonamallee, a station about sixteen miles oif. My visita- 
 tion was attended by the Archdeacon and fifteen clergymen, 
 including the Church Missionaries and those of the Society for 
 Promoting Christian Knowledge. These last being Lutherans, 
 though episcopally ordained in Denmark, Bishop Middleton 
 thought himself precluded from acknowledging as Clergymen, 
 forbade them to preach in any but their own Churches, and 
 would not admit the young Tamulians, whom they had pre- 
 pared, for confirmation. In consequence, I had only a small 
 number of candidates from that nation, and those prepared by 
 the Church Missionaries, but Dr. Rottler said, that by my re- 
 turn to Madras, they should have, probably, 150 ready to at- 
 tend me. 
 
 The principal church in Madras, St. George's, is very beau- 
 tiful, and the chunam, particularly, of the inside, has an effect 
 little less striking than the finest marble. The small old 
 Church in the fort, (St. Mary's,) has some good monuments, 
 particularly one erected to the memory of the Missionary 
 Schwartz, by the East India Company, and the Scottish Church, 
 though of a singular and injudicious form for the purpose of 
 hearing, is a very large and stately building, fitted up with 
 much elegance. Here, as elsewhere in India, I found the 
 Scots Clergy extremely well disposed to be on friendly terms 
 with those of England. Mr. I.awrie, the junior minister, was, 
 I think, one of my most constant auditors in the different 
 Churches v/here I preached. 
 
 The other buildings of Madras offer nothing very remarka- 
 ble J the houses all stand in large compounds, scattered over 
 
MADRAS. 213 
 
 a very great extent of ground, though not quite so widely se- 
 parated as at Bombay. There are not many upper-roomed 
 nouses among them, nor have I seen any of three stories. The 
 soil is, happily, so dry, that people may safely live and sleep 
 on the ground floor. I do not think that in size of rooms they 
 quite equal those either of Calcutta or Bombayj but they are 
 more elegant, and, to my mind, pleasanter than the majority 
 of either. The compounds are all shaded with trees and di- 
 vided by hedges of bamboo, or prickly pear; against these 
 hedges several objections have lately been made, on the ground 
 that they intercept the breeze, and contribute to fevers. I 
 know not whether this charge has any foundation, but, if re- 
 moved, they would greatly disfigure the place; and in this arid 
 climate, where no grass can be preserved more than a few 
 weeks after the rains, would increase to an almost intolerable 
 degree, a glare from the sandy and rocky soil, which I already 
 found very oppressive and painful. 
 
 Government-house is handsome, but falls short of Pareil in 
 convenience, and the splendour of the principal apartments. 
 There is, indeed, one enormous banqueting-house, detached 
 from the rest and built at a great expense, but in vile taste, 
 and which can be neither filled nor lighted to any advantage. 
 It contains some bad paintings of Coote, Cornwallis, Mea- 
 dows, and other military heroes, and one of considerable me- 
 rit, of Sir Robert Strange, all fast going to decay in the moist 
 sea-breeze, and none of them, except the last, deserving of a 
 longer life. 
 
 There are some noble charities here; the military school for 
 male and female orphans, where Dr. Bell first introduced his 
 system, is superior to any thing in Calcutta, except the upper 
 schools at Kidderpoor. " The orphan asylums in the Black 
 Town, though much smaller, put the management of the Cal- 
 cutta free-school to shame; and at Vepery is the finest Gothic 
 Church, and the best establishment of native schools, both 
 male and female, which I have yet seen in India. The native 
 Christians are numerous and increasing, but are, unfortunate- 
 ly, a good deal divided about castes, respecting which I have 
 to make some regulations, which I have deferred till I have 
 seen the missions in the soutlu The majority of the Mission- 
 aries complain of Christian David as intriguing and tracassier; 
 I myself am not easily shaken in my good opinion of him, and 
 I find good old Dr. Rottler thinks with me. I have, how- 
 ever, obtained the appointment of a select committee of the 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, to enquire into 
 the real nature of the claims of caste still subsisting, and to 
 report to me at my return, which, with my own enquiries, 
 may, perhaps, land us nearer the truth* I find there is a vast 
 
814 MADRAS. 
 
 deal to do connected with the southern missions, and have had 
 many intricate and important points referred to me, both by 
 the committee. Dr. Rottler, and Mr. Haubroe. My journey I 
 foresee will not be a party of pleasure, but I rejoice that I 
 have not delayed it any longer. 
 
 I also received very uncomfortable accounts of the new Sy- 
 rian Archbishop in Travancore, who was in open war with 
 the English Missionaries and the two metropolitans who had 
 till now supported them. On the whole I had abundant reason 
 to pray heartily for health, discretion, and firmness, since in 
 no part of India had I found so much expected from me. 
 
 The Armenians in Madras are numerous, and some of them 
 wealthy. Mr. Sam, the principal of them, is a very sensible 
 and well-informed man, a great traveller, like most of his na- 
 tion, and who, more than most of his nation, has mixed and 
 still mixes in good European society. He told me some curi- 
 ous particulars concerning his country, partly on his own au- 
 thority, partly as interpreter to Mar Simeon, a dignified ec- 
 clesiastic from a convent near Erivan, whom I met with at 
 Bombay, and who now again called on me. At Bombay they 
 had called him Bishop, but I nowfoundthathe was only Epis- 
 copal Commissary from the Archbishop of Shirauz. I thought 
 him now, as I had previously done at Bombay, a plain, mo- 
 dest man, very grateful for attention, but far less well-inform- 
 ed and interesting than Mar Abraham of Jerusalem. He told 
 rae what I was glad to learn, that the Russians governed their 
 new conquests on the side of Georgia very well and justly, 
 and that the poor oppressed Christians of Armenia earnestly 
 prayed that they also might become the subjects of the Empe- 
 ror, instead of Persia and Turkey. He too, as well as Mar 
 Abraham and the Archbishop Athanasius, expressed a desire 
 to attend the English Church service, and accordingly came 
 the day on which I administered confirmation. 
 
 On the whole I cannot but hope that many good effects may 
 arise from this approximation in courtesy, &c. of the Eastern 
 Churches to our ownj when they find that we desire no domi- 
 nion over them, they may gradually be led to imitate us. But 
 it is painful to see how slight causes, as in the case of Atha- 
 nasius, may endanger this alliance. 
 
 During my stay at Madras, I paid a visit to the Prince 
 Azeem Khan, uncle and guardian to the Nawab of the Car- 
 natic, who is an infant. All my clergy accompanied me in 
 their gowns, and we were received with as much state as this 
 little court could muster, but which need not be described, as 
 it did not vary from that of other Mussulman princes, and 
 reminded me very much of Dacca on a larger scale. I was 
 chiefly struck with the great number of " Ullemah," learned 
 
MADRAS. 215 
 
 men, or at least persons in the white dress of Mussulman Ul- 
 lemah, whom we found there. 
 
 While I was conversing, to the best of my power, with the 
 Prince, Mr. Robinson was talking with some of these, who 
 asked many curious questions about our Clergy, whether all 
 those whom they saw had come with me from Calcutta, whe- 
 ther our Clergy could marry, whether I was married, and 
 whether I was appointed to my office by the Company or the 
 King. I rose, visibly, in their estimation by being told the 
 latter, but they expressed their astonishment that I wore no 
 beard, observing, with much truth, that our learned men lost 
 much dignity and authority by the effeminate custom of shav- 
 ing. They also asked if I was the head of all the English 
 Church; and on being told that I was the head in India, but 
 that there was another Clergyman in England superior to me; 
 the question was then again asked, '' and does not he wear a 
 beard?" Near the place where I sate a discussion arose, 
 whether my office answered to any among the Mussulmans, 
 and it was at length determined that I was precisely what 
 they term " Moostahid." 
 
 This was one of my last performances in Madras, where, 
 indeed, I was almost worn out, having preached, (reckoning 
 charge and confirmation addresses,) eleven times in little 
 more than a fortnight, besides presiding at a large meeting of 
 the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, visiting six 
 schools, giving too large dinner parties, and receiving and 
 paying visits innumerable. Had I also had to make the ar- 
 rangements for my journey, I should have been quite tired 
 out; but here Mr. Robinson and Colonel Taylor left me little 
 to do. 
 
 The Madras servants I had heard highly praised, but I think 
 beyond their merits; they are not by any means so cleanly as 
 those of Bengal, nor do I think them so intelligent. The 
 English which they speak is so imperfect, that it is sometimes 
 worse than nothing; and few of them know any thing of Hin- 
 doostanee. In honesty both seem pretty much on a par; the 
 expenses of Madras very far exceed those of Calcutta, except 
 house rent, which is much less. 
 
 It was very pleasant to hear Sir Charles Gray so universally 
 spoken of with respect and atFection; and though I had not 
 the same personal interest in his praise, it was interesting to 
 find only one voice about Sir Thomas Munro, whose talents, 
 steadiness, and justice, seemed admitted by every body; he 
 is a fine, dignified old soldier, with a very strong and original 
 understanding, and a solid practical judgment; he is excel- 
 lently adapted for the situation which he holds; and his popu- 
 larity is, perhaps, the more honourable to him, because nii 
 
216 MADRAS. 
 
 manners, though unaffected and simple, are reserved and 
 grave, at least on a first acquaintance. 
 
 The climate of Madras 1 found decidedly hotter at this 
 season than the March which I spent in Calcutta^ the nights, 
 however, were cool, and it should be noticed that people 
 spoke of the season as unusually sultry, and complained of 
 the great want of rain. What I saw, therefore, was not to be 
 taken as a fair specimen of Madras heat and aridity. 
 
 Mr. Robinson and I left Madras on the afternoon of Mon- 
 day, the 13th, having sent on our baggage, horses, and ser- 
 vants on the preceding Saturday, under the care of Captain 
 Harkness, the officer commanding my escort. We went in 
 a carriage to the military station of St. Thomas's Mount, 
 eight miles from Madras, intending in our way, to visit the 
 spot marked out by tradition as the place w^here the Apostle 
 St. Thomas was martyred. Unfortunately the " little mount," 
 as this is called, (being a small rocky knoll with a Roman 
 Catholic Church on it, close to Marmalong bridge in the 
 suburb of Meilapoor,) is so insignificant, and so much nearer 
 Madras that we had been given to understand, that it did not 
 attract our attention till too late. That it is really the place 
 I see no good reason for doubting; there is as fair historical 
 evidence as the case requires, that St. Thomas preached the 
 Gospel in India, and was martyred at a placed named Millia- 
 poor or Meilapoor. The eastern Christians, whom the Por- 
 tuguese found in India, all agreed in marking out this as the 
 spot, and in saying that the bones, originally buried here, had 
 been carried away as relics to Syria. They, and even the 
 surrounding heathen, appear to have always venerated the 
 spot, as these last still do, and to have offered gifts here 
 on the supposed anniversary of his martyrdom. And as the 
 story contains nothing improbable, from beginning to end, 
 (except a trumpery fabrication of some relics found here by 
 the Portuguese monks about a century and a half ago,) so it 
 is not easy to account for the origin of such a story among 
 men of different religions, unless there were some foundation 
 for it. 
 
 I know it has been sometimes fancied that the person who 
 planted Christianity in India, was a Nestorian Bishop named 
 Thomas, not St. Thomas the Apostle, but this rests, abso- 
 lutely, on no foundation but a supposition, equally gratuitous 
 and contrary to all early ecclesiastical history, that none of 
 the Apostles except St. Paul went far from Judea. To this it is 
 enough to answer that we have no reason why they should wo^ 
 have done so; or why^ while St. Paul went, (or intended to 
 go,) to the shores of the furthest west, St. Thomas should not 
 have been equally laborious and enterprising in an opposite 
 
ST. Thomas's mount. 217 
 
 direction. But that all the apostles, except the two St. James's, 
 did really go forth to preach the Gospel in different parts of 
 the world, as it was, a priori, to be expected, so that they did 
 so we have the authority of Eusebius and the old Martyrolo- 
 gies, which is, at least, as good as the doubts of a later age, 
 and which would be reckoned conclusive if the question re- 
 lated to any point of civil history. Nor must it be forgotten, 
 that there were Jews settled in India at a very early period, 
 to convert whom v^^ould naturally induce an apostle to think 
 of coming hither; that the passage, either from the Persian 
 Gulph or the Red Sea is neither long nor difficult, and was 
 then extremely common; and that it may be, therefore, as 
 readily believed that St. Thomas was slain at Meilapoor, as 
 that St Paul w^as beheaded at Rome, or that Leonidas fell at 
 Thermopylae; Under these feelings I left the spot behind 
 with regret, and shall visit it if I return to Madras, with a 
 reverent, though I hope, not a superstitious interest and cu- 
 riosity- 
 
 The larger mount, as it is called, of St. Thomas, is a much 
 more striking spot, being an insulated cliff" of granite, with an 
 old Church on the summit, the property of those Armenians 
 who are united to the Church of Rome. It is also dedicated 
 to St. Thomas, but, (what greatly proves the authenticity of 
 its rival,) none of the sects of Christians or Hindoos consider 
 it as having been in any remarkable manner graced by his 
 presence or burial. It is a picturesque little building, and 
 commands a fine view. We went up to it with Mr. Hallo- 
 well, the Chaplain of the station at its foot which is Ihe prin- 
 cipal cantonment for artillery belonging to the Madras army. 
 
 Government are building a handsome Church here in a very 
 advantageous situation, immediately at the foot of the mount, 
 and with some noble trees round it. The foundation is now 
 laid, and, w^hen finished, it will have its chancel westward 
 instead of eastward, a peculiarity which I found many per- 
 sons were offended at, but which I did not think worth alter- 
 ing, inasmuch as this method of placing the building suited 
 best in point of effect and convenience. There is no canon 
 that I know of for placing Churches with the altars eastward; 
 and though this custom is, certainly, most ancient and usual, 
 there have been many remarkable exceptions to it from the 
 Cathedral of Antioch, built in the age immediately succeeding 
 the Apostles, down to St. Peter's in Rome, which has also its 
 sanctuary westward. 
 
 The cantonment is very beautifully placed, with a noble 
 parade-ground planted with fine trees, and its rocky back 
 
 f round and other circumstances give it a great advantage over 
 >um Dum. It is also reckoned one of the most wholesome 
 
218 SCENERY ON THE COAST OF COROMANDEL, 
 
 spots in the south of India, being considerably elevated above 
 the sea, and enjoying the breeze in much perfection. 
 
 After drinking tea with Mr. and Mrs. Hallowell, we got 
 into our palanqueens, accompanied by Mr. Doran, one of the 
 Church Missionaries, who is to be placed at Cotyam, in Tra- 
 vancore, and who had been before with me in Calcutta. I 
 asked him to join my party in this journey, both as it was a 
 great advantage and convenience to him, and as it gave me 
 the opportunity ofgroundinghim thoroughly in my views with 
 regard to the management to be observed with the Syrian 
 Churches, among whom he would have to labour. Govern- 
 ment kindly supplied him with the loan of a tent in the cha- 
 racter of my second Chaplain, and I look forwards to no in- 
 convenience but rather pleasure from his society. He is a 
 young Irishman, educated at Trinity College, an extremely 
 good scholar, and of a modest and gentle character and man- 
 ners; who is, however, a mere child in all matters of prudence 
 and worldly management, and if he had got into proper hands 
 on first coming to India, would have been likely to fall into 
 enthusiasm. As it is, I heartily hope that he will be a valu- 
 able accession to the Church in this country. 
 
 We travelled all night, a practice which I am not fond of, 
 but which circumstances rendered desirable, and, exactly at 
 day -break, reached the rocky beach below the seven pagodas, 
 and where the surf, according to the Hindoos, rolls and roars 
 over *'the city of the great Bali.*' One very old temple of 
 Vishnu stands immediately on the brink, and amid the dash 
 of the spray, and there are really some small remains of ar- 
 chitecture, among which a tall pillar, supposed by some to be 
 a lingam, is conspicuous, which rise from amid the waves, and 
 give a proof that, in this particular spot, (as at Madras,) the 
 sea has encroached on the land, though in most other parts of 
 the Coromandel coast it seems rather receding than advancing. 
 There are also many rocks rising through the white breakers, 
 which the fancy of the brahmins points out as ruins, and the 
 noise of the surf, the dark shadov/ of the remaining building, 
 the narrow slip of dark smooth sand, the sky just reddening 
 into dawn and lending its tints to the sea, together with the 
 remarkable desolation of the surrounding scenery, were well 
 calculated to make one remember with interest the descrip- 
 tion in Kehama, and to fancy that one saw the beautiful form 
 of Kailyal in her white mantle pacing sadly along the shore, 
 and watching till her father and lover should emerge from the 
 breakers. In two points the picture only fails; the caverns 
 in which she was to lodge at night are, at least, a mile from 
 high-water mark, and in this climate it is at noon-day only, 
 not as a bed-chamber, that a cavern will be preferred to the 
 
CITr OF MAHA-BALI-POOR. 219 
 
 open air. I made a sketch of the scenej but it is one of those 
 which is nothing except in the hand of a painter. 
 
 The case is otherwise with the real city of Maha-Bali-poor, 
 whose ruins stand among the cliffs at the distance of a short 
 half mile inland. This has really been a place of considera- 
 ble importance as a metropolis of the ancient kings of the race 
 of Pandion, and its rocks, which within themselves are pretty 
 and picturesque, are carved out into porticos, temples, bas- 
 reliefs, &c. on a much smaller scale, indeed, than Elephanta 
 or Kennery, but some of them very beautifully executed. 
 They dift'er from those of the north and west of India, (which 
 are almost all dedicated to Siva or Kali,) in being in honour 
 of Vishnu, whose dift'erent avatars are repeated over and over 
 in the various temples, while I only saw the solitary lingam, 
 if it be one, which I have mentioned, in the sea, and one un- 
 finished cave which struck me as intended for a temple of the 
 destroying power. 
 
 Many of the bas-reliefs are of great spirit and beauty; there 
 is one of an elephant with two young ones strikingly execut- 
 ed; and tlie general merit of the work is superior to that of 
 Elephanta, though the size is extremely inferior. I had heard 
 much of the lions which are introduced in different parts of 
 the series, and the execution of which was said to be more re- 
 markable because no lions are known to exist in the south of In- 
 dia. But I apprehend that the critics who have thus praised 
 them have taken their idea of a lion from those noble animals 
 which hang over inn-doors in England, and which, it must be 
 owned, the lions of Maha-Bali-poor very remarkably resemble; 
 they are, in fact, precisely such animals as an artist, who had 
 never seen one, would form from description. 
 
 Notwithstanding the supposed connexion of these ruins 
 with the great Bali, I only saw one bas-relief which has re- 
 ference to his story, and which has considerable merit. It 
 represents Bali seated on his throne, and apparently shrink- 
 ing in terror at the moment when Vishnu, dismissing his dis- 
 guise of a brahmin dwarf under which he had asked "the king 
 of the three worlds" to grant him three paces of his kingdom, 
 appears in his celestial and gigantic form, striding from earth 
 to heaven, and ''wielding all weapons in his countless hands," 
 over the head of the unfortunate Raja, who, giant as he him- 
 self is said to have been, is represented as a mere Lillyputian 
 in the presence of "the preserving deity." These ruins cover 
 a great space; a few small houses inhabited by brahmins are 
 scattered amongst them, and there is one large and handsome 
 temple of Vishnu of later date and in pretty good repair, the 
 priests of which chiefly live by showing the ruins. One of 
 them acted as our Cicerone, and seemed the only person in 
 
 Vol. II.— 19 
 
220 SADRAS. 
 
 the place who spoke Hindoostanee. Two boys preceded U9 
 with a pipe and a small pair of cymbals, and their appearance 
 among these sculptures was very picturesque and appropriate. 
 
 After about two hours spent in Maha-Bali-poor, or, as the 
 Tamul pronunciation makes it, Mavellipooram, we again got 
 into our palanqueens, and went on to Sadras, a spot about a 
 mile beyond, where our tents and servants were expecting us, 
 and where we found our companions, Captain Harkness and 
 Dr. Hyne. 
 
 Sadras is a large but poor-looking town, once a Dutch set- 
 tlement, and still containing many families of decayed burgh- 
 ers, like those of Ceylon, the melancholy relics of a ruined 
 factory. Some of them have little pensions from the charity 
 of the British government, and there is a Dutch missionary, 
 a very poor and modest, and apparently, a good man, who 
 lives among them, does duty in Dutch and Portuguese, and 
 has a little school for both Christian and Heathen children. 
 His salary is paid by a religious society in the Netherlands. 
 A small old pagoda is in the entrance of the town, whose prin- 
 cipal inmates, the presiding brahmin and the dancing-girU 
 followed me to my tent. This was the first specimen whicli 
 I had seen of the southern Bayadere, who differ considerably 
 from the nach girls of northern India, being all in the service 
 of different temples, for which they are purchased young and 
 brought up with a degree of care which is seldom bestowed 
 on the females of India of any other class. This care not 
 only extends to dancing and singing, and the other allurements 
 of their miserable profession, but to reading and writing. 
 Their dress is lighter than the bundles of red cloth which swad- 
 dle the figurante of Hindostan, and their dancing is said to 
 be more indecent, but their general appearance and manner 
 seemed to me far from immodest, and their air even more re- 
 spectable than the generality of the lower classes of India. 
 The poor girl whom I saw at Sadras, making allowance for the 
 difference of costume and complexion, might have passed for 
 a smart, but modest, English maid-servant. The money which 
 they acquire in the practice of their profession is hallowed to 
 their wicked gods, whose ministers are said to turn them out 
 w^ithout remorse, or with a very scanty provision, when age or 
 sickness renders them unfit for their occupation. Most of 
 them, however, die young. Surely the more one sees of this 
 hideous idolatry, the more one must abhor it, and bless God for 
 having taught us better. I had heard that the bayaderes were 
 regarded with respect among the other classes of Hindoos, as 
 servants of the gods, and that, after a few years' service, they 
 often married respectably. But, though I made several en- 
 quiries, I cannot find that this is the case; their name is a 
 
BAYADERES. 221 
 
 common term of reproach among the women of the country, 
 nor could any man of decent caste marry one cf their number. 
 Yet the gods are honoured who receive such sacrifices ! I have 
 always looked on these poor creatures with no common feel- 
 ings of sorrow and pity. 
 
 Our little camp was on the sea-shore, about two miles be- 
 yond the town of Sadras, and I found abundant reason to ac- 
 knowledge the liberal kindness of government in the number 
 and excellence of the tents, camels, and elephants, which they 
 had provided for me. 
 
 March 15. — We set out this morning at half past three, 
 and rode over a very sandy, but rather pretty country, much 
 resembling the coast of Ceylon, being covered with coco and 
 palmyra-trees, and intersected with several streams. 
 
eORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 
 
 Barrackpoar, October 29th, , 1823. 
 My DEAR Wynn, 
 
 The first quiet morning which I have had since my arrival 
 in India, I cannot employ more agreeably than in writing to 
 those dear and kind friends, the recollection of whom I feel 
 binding me still more strongly to England, the farther I am 
 removed from it 
 
 The first sight of India has little which can please even 
 those who have been three months at sea. The coast is so flat 
 as only to be distinguished, when very near it, by the tall 
 coco-trees which surround the villages; and Juggernauth, 
 which is a conspicuous sea-mark, shows merely three dingy 
 conical domes, like glass-houses. The view of Saugor is still 
 worse, being made up of marshes and thick brushwood, on the 
 same level line of shore, and conveying at once the idea, 
 which it well deserves, of tygers, serpents and fevers. Dur- 
 ing the night of our anchoring under its lee, however, few of 
 us went to bed without reluctance, since, besides the interest 
 which men feel in looking on land at all, after so long an ab- 
 sence, I never saw such magnificent sheet-lightning in my 
 life as played over it all night. When coupled with the un- 
 healthy and dangerous character of the place, and the super- 
 stitions connected with it as the favourite abode of Kali, it was 
 impossible to watch the broad, red, ominous light, which 
 flickered without more intermission than just served to 
 heighten its contrast with darkness, and not to think of 
 Southey's Padalon; and it luckily happened that ''Kehama" 
 was on board, and that many of the party, at my recommen- 
 dation, had become familiar with it during the voyage. By 
 the way, what a vast deal of foolish prejudice exists about 
 Southey and his writings. Of the party on board some had 
 been taught to think him a Jacobin, some an UltraTory, some a 
 Methodist, some an enemy to all religion, and some a mad- 
 man. None had read a line of his works, but all were inclin- 
 ed to criticise him, and yet all, when they really tried the 
 formidable volume, were delighted both with the man and the 
 poetry. Nor is he the only poet for whom I succeeded in ob- 
 taining some justice. I repeated at different times some parts 
 of the *' Ancient Mariner," without telling whose it was, and 
 
 19* 
 
224 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 had the pleasure to find that its descriptions of natural objects 
 in tropical countries, were recognised by the officers, and 
 more experienced passengers, as extremely vivid, and scarcely 
 exaggerated. The chief-mate, a very hard-headed Scotsman, 
 a grandson of Lord Monboddo's, was peculiarly struck, and 
 downright affected, with the shrinking of the planks of the 
 devoted ship when becalmed under the line, tlie stagnation 
 and rolling of the deep, and the diminished size, and terrible 
 splendour of the noon-day sun, right over the mast-head, '' in 
 a hot and copper sky." He foretold that we should see some- 
 thing like this when the Grenville came to anchor in the 
 Hooghly; and verily he fabled not. The day after our arrival 
 off Saugor the sun was indeed a thing of terror, and almost in- 
 tolerable; and the torrent, carrying down trees, sugar-canes 
 and corpses past us every five minutes, and boiling as it met 
 the tide stream, like milled chocolate, with its low banks of 
 jungle, or of bare sand, was as little promising to a new 
 comer as could well be conceived. Of these different objects, 
 the corpses, as you are aware, are a part of the filthy super- 
 stition of the country, which throws the dead, half-roasted 
 over a scanty fire, into the sacred river; and such objects must 
 always be expected and perceived by more senses than one. 
 The others though also usual at the termination of the rains, 
 were this year particularly abundant, from the great height to 
 which the river had risen, and the consequent desolation 
 which it had brought on the lower plantations and villages. 
 
 We arrived in Fort William on the evening of the 10th. 
 The impression made by the appearance of the European 
 houses which we passed in Garden-reach, by our own apart- 
 ments, by the crowd of servants, the style of the carriages 
 and horses sent to meet us, and almost all the other circum- 
 stances which met our eyes, was that of the extreme similarity 
 of every thing to Russia, making allowance only for the black 
 instead of the white faces, and the difference of climate, 
 though even in Russia, during summer, it is necessary to 
 guard against intense heat. This impression w'as afterward* 
 rather confirmed than weakened. The size of the houses, 
 their whiteness and Palladian porticos, the loftiness of the 
 rooms, and the scanty furniture, — the unbounded hospitality 
 and apparent love of display, all reminded me of Petersburgh 
 and Moscow; to which the manner in which the European 
 houses are scattered, with few regular streets, but each with 
 its separate court-yard and gate-way, and often intermixed 
 with miserable huts, still more contributed. 
 
 I caught myself several times mixing Russian with mj 
 newly acquired Hindoostanee, talking of rubles instead of 
 rupees, and bidding the attendants come and go in what they 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 22S 
 
 of course, mistook for English, but which was Sclavonic. I 
 was surprised to find how little English is understood bj them; 
 out of upwards of forty servants, there are only two who have 
 the least smattering of it, and they know a few of the com- 
 monest words, without the power of putting together or un- 
 derstanding a sentence. The sircar, indeed, is a well-edu- 
 cated man; but of him we see comparatively little, so that we 
 have abundant opportunity and necessity for the acquisition 
 of the native languages. After a manner, indeed, every body 
 speaks them, but we find, (I must say,) our previous instruc- 
 tions in grammar from Gilchrist extremely valuable, both as 
 facilitating our progress, and as guarding us from many ridi- 
 culous equivoques and blunders into which other griffins 
 fall 
 
 My situation here is extremely pleasant, as pleasant as it 
 can be at a distance from such friends as those whom I have 
 left behind, and I have a field of usefulness before me, so vast 
 that my only fear is lest I should lose my way in it. The at- 
 tention and the kindness of the diiferent members of govern- 
 ment, and the hospitality of the society of Calcutta, have 
 been every thing we could wish and more. The arrears of 
 business which I have to go through, though great, and some 
 of a vexatious nature, are such as I see my way through. My 
 own health, and those of my wife and child, have rather im- 
 proved than otherwise since our landing, and the climate, now 
 that we have lofty rooms and means of taking exercise at pro- 
 per times of the aay, is any thing but intolerable 
 
 Of what are called in England " the luxuries of the east," 
 I cannot give a very exalted description; all the fruits now in 
 season are inferior to those of England. The oranges, though 
 pleasant, are small and acid; the plantain is but an indiiBTerent 
 mellow pear; the shaddock has no merit but juicyness and a 
 slight bitter taste which is reckoned good in fevers, and the 
 euava is an almost equal mixture of raspberry jam and garlic. 
 Nor are our artificial luxuries more remarkable than our na- 
 tural. They are in fact, only inventions, (judicious and ele- 
 gant certainly,) to get rid of real and severe inconveniences, 
 while all those circumstances in which an Englishman mainly 
 places his ideas of comfort or splendour, such as horses, car- 
 riages, glass, furniture, &c. are, in Calcutta, generally paltry 
 and extravagantly dear. In fact, as my shipmate Colonel Pen- 
 nington truly told me, " the real luxuries of India, when we 
 can get them, are cold water and cold air. " But though the luxu- 
 ry and splendour are less, the society is better than I expected. 
 The state in which the high officers of government appear, 
 and the sort of deference paid to them iu society, are great 
 
226 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 and said to be necessary in conformity with native ideas, and 
 the example set by the first conquerors, who took their tone 
 from the Mussulmans whom they supplanted. All members 
 of council and others, down to the rank of puisne judges in- 
 clusive, are preceded by two men with silver-sticks, and two 
 others with heavy silver maces, and they have in society some 
 queer regulations, which forbid any person to quit a party 
 
 before the lady or gentleman of most rank rises to take leave. 
 
 •* * * * * * * 
 
 There are some circumstances in Calcutta dwellings which 
 at first surprise and annoy a stranger. The lofty rooms swarm 
 with cockroaches and insects; sparrows and other birds fly in 
 and out all day, and as soon as the candles are lighted, large bats 
 flutter on their indented wings, like Horace's cura, round our 
 laqueata tecta, if this name could be applied to roofs without 
 any ceiling at all, where the beams are left naked and visi- 
 ble, lest the depredations of the white ant should not be seen 
 
 in time. 
 
 * * * * * , * * 
 
 On the whole, however, you will judge from my description 
 that I have abundant reason to be satisfied with my present 
 comforts and my future prospects, and that in the field which 
 seems open to me for extensive usefulness and active employ- 
 ment, 1 have more and more reason to be obliged to the friend 
 who has placed me here. 
 
 The country round Calcutta is a perfect flat, intersected by 
 pools and canals, natural and artificial, teeming with popula- 
 tion like an ant-hill, and covered with one vast shade of fruit 
 trees, not of low growth like those of England, but, generally 
 speaking, very lofty and majestic. To me it has great inte- 
 rest; indeed such a scene as I have described, with the addi- 
 tion of a majestic river, may be monotonous but cannot be ugly. 
 
 Barrackpoor, the governor's country house, is really a beau- 
 tiful place, and would be thought so in any country. It has 
 what is here unexampled, a park of about 150 acres of fine 
 turf, with spreading scattered trees, of a character so Euro- 
 pean, that if I had not been on an elephant, and had not from 
 time to time seen a tall coco-tree towering above all the rest, 
 I could have fancied myself on the banks of the Thames in- 
 stead of the Ganges. It is hence that I date my letter, hav- 
 ing been asked to pass two days here. Our invitation was for 
 a considerably longer period, but it is as yet with difficulty 
 
 that I can get away even for a few hours from Calcutta. 
 
 * * * * * ■* * 
 
 Of the religious state of India I have little as yet to say. I 
 have bestowed the archdeaconry, much to my satisfaction, on 
 
CORRESPONDENCE* 227 
 
 the senior resident chaplain, Mr. Corrie, who is extremely 
 popular in the place, and one of the most amiable and gentle- 
 manly men in manners and temper I ever met with. 
 
 sfv vfr ^ -iC JJc y^ ^t 
 
 In the schools which have been lately established in this part 
 of the empire, of which there are at present nine established 
 by the Church Missionary, and eleven by the Christian Know- 
 ledge Societies, some very unexpected facts have occurred. 
 As all direct attempts to convert the children are disclaimed, 
 the parents send them without scruple. But it is no less 
 strange than true, that there is no objection made to the use of 
 the Old and New Testament as a class book; that so long as 
 the teachers do not urge them to eat what will make them lose 
 their caste, or to be baptized, or to curse their country's gods, 
 they readily consent to every thing else, and not only Mus- 
 sulmans but Brahmins stand by with perfect coolness, and 
 listen sometimes with apparent interest and pleasure, while 
 the scholars, by the road side, are reading the stories of the 
 creation and of Jesus Christ. Whether the children them- 
 selves may imbibe Christianity by such means, or whether 
 they may suffer these truths to pass from their minds, as we 
 allow the mythology which we learn at school to pass from 
 ours, some further time is yet required to show, but this, at 
 least, I understand has been ascertained, that a more favour- 
 able opinion, both of us and our religion, has been, apparent- 
 ly, felt of late by many of those who have thus been made ac- 
 quainted with its leading truths, and that some have been 
 heard to say, that they did not know till now that the English 
 had " a caste or a shaster." You may imagine with what feel- 
 ings I have entered the huts vyhere these schools are held, on 
 seeing a hundred poor little children seated on the ground, 
 writing their letters in sand, or their copies on banana leaves, 
 coming out one after another to reacV the history of the good 
 Samaritan, or of Joseph, proud of showing their knowledge, 
 and many of them able to give a very good account of their 
 studies. 
 
 I have been even more gratified at seeing the confidence and 
 respect evidently shown by the elder villagers towards the 
 clergy who superintend these schools. I yesterday saw a man 
 follow a German missionary, to request that he would look at 
 his little boy's copy; and Mr. Hawtayne, the secretary to the 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, seems as well 
 known and received in the vicinity of his schools, as any Eng- 
 lish clergyman in his parish. 
 
 I have not as yet received any visits from the wealthy natives, 
 though some of them have made inquiries through my sircar, 
 whether such visits would be agreeable, to me, to which I, of 
 
'^ftS CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 course, answered, ** extremely so." Their progress in the 
 imitation of our habits is very apparent, though still the dif- 
 ference is great. None of them adopt our dress, (indeed their 
 own is so much more graceful, and so much better adapted to 
 the climate, that they would act very absurdly in doing so.) 
 But their houses are adorned with verandahs and Corinthian 
 pillars; they have very handsome carriages, often built in Eng- 
 land; they speak tolerable English, and they show a consider- 
 able liking for European society, where, (which unfortunately 
 is not always the case,) they are encouraged or permitted to 
 frequent it on terms of any thing like equality. Few of them, 
 however, will eat with us; and this opposes a bar to familiar 
 intercourse, which must, even more than fashion and John 
 Bullism, keep them at a distance. 
 
 They are described, especially the Hindoos, as not ill-af- 
 fected to a government under which they thrive, and are al- 
 lowed to enjoy the fruits of their industry, while many of them 
 still recollect the cruelties and exactions of their former rulers. 
 
 This is, I feel, an unreasonable letter. But I know your 
 friendship will not be indifferent to details in which I am so 
 much interested; and I have not been sorry, while the novelty 
 yet remained, to communicate to you my first impressions of a 
 country, in all respects so unlike our own, and yet so import- 
 ant to an Englishman. Lord Hastings appears to have been 
 very popular here, and to have done much good. The roads 
 which he made in different parts of Calcutta and its neighbour- 
 hood, his splendour, and his extreme courtesy, made him likea 
 both by natives and Europeans. 
 
 Adieu, dear Wynn. Present our mutual best regards to 
 Mrs. Williams Wynn and young folk, and believe me ever. 
 Your obliged and affectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 
 
 Fort- William, December 1, 1823. 
 My Dear Wynn, 
 
 'ff vjf '^ ■5!? -^ -^ -^ 
 
 I hope you will, ere this reaches you, have received a long 
 letter from Barrackpoor, giving an account of my first im- 
 pressions of India. By all which I have yet seen, I do not 
 think they were too favourable. The climate, since I wrote, 
 has very materially improved, and is now scarcely hotter, 
 and to the full as pleasant as our finest August weather. The 
 mornings and evenings are particularly agreeable; and the 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 229 
 
 sun, during the day-time, though still too hot to admit of tak- 
 ing exercise, is any thing but oppressive to those who are sit- 
 ting still under a roof, or driving in a carriage. The only 
 plague, and a sore plague too, are the musquitos. 
 
 * * * * * * -i^ 
 
 I am constantly, and sometimes intensely-occupied, inso- 
 much that I have as yet had no time whatever for my usual 
 literary pursuits, and scarcely any for the study of Hindoos- 
 tanee and Persian, or the composition of sermons, of which 
 last, unluckily, owing to a mistake, my main stock was sent 
 by another ship which has not yet arrived, so that I have more 
 trouble in this way than I expected, or than is very consistent 
 with my other duties. 
 
 Since my last letter, I have become acquainted with some 
 of the wealthy natives, of whom I spoke, and we are just 
 returned from passing the evening at one of their country 
 houses. This is more like an Italian villa, than what one 
 should have expected as the residence of Baboo Hurree Mo- 
 hun Thakoor. Nor are his carriages, the furniture of his 
 house, or the style of his conversation, of a character less de- 
 cidedly European. He is a fine old man who speaks English 
 well, is well informed on most topics of general discussion, 
 and talks with the appearance of much familiarity on Frank- 
 lin, chemistry, natural philosophy, &c. His family is brah- 
 minical and of singular purity of decent; but about 400 years 
 ago, during the Mahonmiedan invasion of India, one of his 
 ancestors having become polluted by the conquerors intruding 
 into his Zennanah, the race is conceived to have lost claim to 
 the knotted cord, and the more rigid brahmins will not eat 
 with them. Being, however, one ot the principal landholders 
 in Bengal, and of a family so ancient, they still enjoy to a 
 great degree the veneration of the common people, which the 
 present head of the house appears to value, — since I can 
 hardly reconcile in any other manner his philosophical stu- 
 dies and imitation of many European habits, with the daily 
 and austere devotion which he is said to practice towards the 
 Ganges, (in which he bathes three times every twenty-four 
 hours,) and his veneration for all the other duties of his an- 
 cestors. He is now said, however, to be aiming at the dig- 
 nity of Raja, a title which at present bears pretty nearly the 
 same estimation here as a peerage in England, and is confer- 
 red by government in almost the same manner. 
 
 The house is surrounded by an extensive garden, laid out 
 in formal parterres of roses, intersected by straight walks, 
 with some fine trees, and a chain of tanks, fountains, and 
 summer houses, not ill adapted to a climate where air, water, 
 and sweet smells, are almost the only, natural objects which 
 
230 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 can be relished during the greater part of the year. The 
 whole is little less Italian than the facade of his house, but 
 on mj mentioning this similarity, he observed that the taste 
 for such things was brought into India by the Mussulmans. 
 There are alsy swings, whirligigs, and other amusements for 
 the females of his family, but the strangest was a sort of 
 *'Montagne Russe" of masonry, very steep, and covered 
 with plaster, down which he said the ladies used to slide. Of 
 these females, however, we saw none, — indeed they were all 
 sta^ang at his town-house in Calcutta. He himself received 
 us at the head of a whole tribe of relations and descendants 
 on a handsome flight of steps, in a splendid shawl, by way of 
 mantle, with a large rosary of coral set in gold, leaning on an 
 ebony crutch with a gold head. Of his grandsons, four very 
 pretty boys, two were dressed like English children of the 
 same age, but the round hat, jacket, and trowsers, by no 
 means suited their dusky skins so well as the splendid bro- 
 cade caftans and turbans covered with diamonds, which the 
 two elder wore. On the whole, both Emily and I have been 
 greatly interested with the family, both now and during our 
 previous interviews. We have several other eastern acquaint- 
 ance, but none of equal talent, though several learned Mool- 
 lahs, and one Persian doctor, of considerable reputed sanc- 
 tity, have called on me. The Raja of Calcutta, and one of 
 the sons of Tippoo Sult§n, do not choose, I am told, to call 
 till I have left the fort, since they are not permitted to bring 
 their silver sticks, led-horses, carriages, and armed attend- 
 ants within the ramparts. In all this, nothing strikes me 
 more than the apparent indifference of these men to the mea- 
 sures employed for extending Christianity, and rendering it 
 more conspicuous in Hindoostan. They seem to think it 
 only right and decent that the conquering nation should have 
 its hierarchy and establishment on a handsome scale, and to 
 regard with something little short of approbation, the means 
 we take for instructing the children of the poor. One of their 
 men of rank has absolutely promised to found a college at 
 Burdwan, with one of our missionaries at its head, and where 
 little children should be clothed and educated under his care. 
 All this is very short indeed of embracing Christianity them- 
 selves, but it proves how completely those feelings are gone 
 by, in Bengal at least, which made even the presence of a 
 single missionary the occasion of tumult and alarm. I only 
 hope that no imprudence, or over-forwardness on our part, 
 
 will revive these angry feelings. 
 
 **■*■« 
 
 Believe me, dear Charles, 
 
 Ever your obliged friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
CCMlRESPONDENCEv 231 
 
 TO MISS DOD, 
 
 Calcutta, Dec. 15, 1825. 
 
 I have been very busy, busier indeed than I ever was be- 
 fore, except during the Oxford election^ * * 
 
 ■)^ ****** 
 
 The country, the society, and, at this season of tlie year, the 
 climate are all very agreeable, and there are several amiable 
 and excellent people here, w^ho have shown us much and cor- 
 dial kindness, and whose friendship would, in any country, 
 be a valuable privilege. Of the country we have as yet seen 
 little, except in one voyage up the river, and in the vicinity 
 of Calcutta. But all Bengal is described to us as like those 
 parts which we have seen, a vast alluvial plain, intersected 
 by the innumerable arms of the Ganges, overflowed once a 
 year, but now covered with fields of rice, divided by groves 
 of tall fruit-trees, with villages under their shelter swarming 
 with a population beyond any thing which Europe can show, 
 and scarcely to be j)aralleled in China. Calcutta, when seen 
 from the south, on which side it is built round two sides of a 
 great open plain, with th« Ganges on the west, is a very noble 
 city, with tall and stately houses ornamented with Grecian 
 pillars, and each, for the most part, surrounded by a little 
 apology for a garden. The churches are not large, but very 
 neat and even elegant buildings, and the government house 
 is, to say the least of it, a more showy palace than London 
 has to produce. These are, however, the fi^ont lines ; behind 
 them ranges the native town, deep, black and dingy, with 
 narrow crooked streets, huts of earth baked in the sun, or of 
 twisted bamboos, interspersed here and there with ruinous 
 brick bazars, pools of dirty water, coco-trees, and little gar- 
 dens, and a few very large, very fine, and generally very dir- 
 ty houses of Grecian architecture, the residence of wealthy 
 natives. There are some mosques of pretty architecture, and 
 very neatly kept, and some pagodas, but mostly ruinous and 
 decayed, the religion of the people being chiefly conspicuous 
 in their worship of the Ganges, and in some ugly painted 
 wooden or plaster idols, with all manner of heads and arms, 
 which are set up in different parts of the city. Fill up this 
 outline with a crowd of people in the streets, beyond any 
 thing to be seen even in London, some dressed in tawdry silks 
 and brocades, more in white cotton garments, and most of all 
 black and naked, except a scanty covering round the waist, 
 besides figures of religious mendicants with no clothing but 
 their long hair and beards in elf locks, their faces painted 
 white or yellow, their beads in one ghastly lean hand, and the 
 other stretched out like a bird's claw to receive donations } 
 Vol. IL— 20 
 
232 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 marriage processions, with the bride in a covered chair, and 
 the bridegroom on horseback, so swathed round with garlands 
 as hardly to be seen; tradesmen sitting on the ground in the 
 midst of their different commodities, and old men, lookers on, 
 perched naked as monkeys on the flat roofs of the houses ; 
 carts drawn by oxen and driven by wild-looking men with 
 thick sticks, so unmercifully used as to undeceive perfect- 
 ly all our notions of brahminical humanity ; attendants with 
 silver maces, pressing through the crowd before the carriage 
 of some great man or other ; no women seen except of the 
 lowest class, and even these with heavy silver ornaments on 
 their dusky arms and ankles ; while coaches, covered up close 
 with red cloth, are seen conveying the inmates of the neigh- 
 bouring seraglios to take what is called "the air;" a constant 
 creaking of cart-wheels, which are never greased in India, a 
 constant clamour of voices, and an almost constant thumping 
 and jingling of drums, cymbals, &c. in honour of some of their 
 deities ; and add to this all a villainous smell of garlic, rancid 
 coco-nut oil, sour butter, and stagnant ditches, and you will 
 understand the sounds, sights, and smells of what is called 
 the " Black Town" of Calcutta. The singularity of this spec- 
 tacle is best and least offensively enjoyed on a noble quay 
 which Lord Hastings built along the shore of the river, where 
 the vessels of all forms and sizes, Arab, Indian, Malay, Ame- 
 rican, English, the crowds of brahmins and other Hindoos 
 washing, and saying their prayers ; the lighted tapers which, 
 towards sun-set, they throw in, and the broad bright stream 
 which sweeps them by, guiltless of their impiety and uncon- 
 scious of their homage, afford a scene such as no European and 
 few Asiatic cities can at all parallel in interest and singularity. 
 
 * * * * * * v^ 
 
 Great state, of a certain kind, is still kept up, not only by 
 the governor-general, (who has most of the usual appendages 
 of a sovereign, such as body-guards, gold-sticks, spearmen, 
 peacocks' plumes, state carriages, state barge, and elephants,) 
 but by all the principal persons in authority. You would laugh 
 to see me carried by four men in a palanqueen, two more fol- 
 lowing as a relay, two silver maces carried before me, and an- 
 other man with a huge painted umbrella at my side ; or to see 
 Emily returning from a party, with the aforesaid silver maces, 
 or sometimes four of them behind her carriage, a groom at 
 each horse's head, and four men running before with glass 
 lanthorns. Yet our establishment is as modest and humble 
 
 as the habits of the place will allow. 
 
 * * # * * * * 
 
 After all, this state has nothing very dazzling in it; a crowd 
 of half-naked followers is no splendid show, and the horses, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 233 
 
 the equipages, and the furniture of Calcutta, are all as far from 
 magnificent as any that I am acquainted with. Our way of 
 life in other respects is sensible and suited to the climate. 
 The general custom is to rise at six in the cold season, and at 
 half-past four in the morning during the hot weather, and to 
 take exercise on horseback till the sun is hot, then follow a 
 cold bath, prayers, and breakfast. This last is a sort of public 
 meal, when my clergy and other friends drop in, after which 
 I am generally engaged in business till two, when we either 
 dine, or eat our tiffin; we then go out again at five or six, till 
 darkness drives us. home to dress for dinner, or pass a tran- 
 quil evening. Our rooms are large and lofty, with very little 
 furniture; the beds have no drapery but a musquito net, and 
 now the climate is so cool as even to require a blanket. 
 
 We have excellent turf for galloping and excellent roads 
 for driving on the great plain of which I have spoken. But 
 there is no necessity for confining ourselves to it, the roads 
 round Calcutta as soon as its boundary is passed, wind through 
 beautiful villages overhung with the finest and most picturesque 
 foliage the world can show, of the banyan, the palm, the tama- 
 rind, and more beautiful perhaps than all, the bamboo. Some- 
 times the glade opens to plains covered, at this time, with 
 the rice harvest, or to a sight of the broad bright river with 
 its ships and woody shores; sometimes it contracts into little 
 winding tracks, through fruit-trees, gardens, and cottages; the 
 gardens fenced in with hedges of aloe and pine-apple; the 
 cottages neater than those of Calcutta, and mostly of mats and 
 white wicker-work, with thatched roofs and cane verandahs, 
 with gourds trailing over them, and t}ie broad tall plantains 
 clustering round them. Adieu. 
 
 Yours most faithfully, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE VERY REVEREND THE DEAN OF ST. ASAPH. 
 
 Fort-William^ December 16, 1823. 
 My DEAR Sir, 
 
 Long before this reaches you, you will, I trust, have receiv- 
 ed the news of our safe arrival in India, and Emily's account 
 of our first impressions of the country, the people, and Cal- 
 cutta. These impressions were, and still continue favourable. 
 
 The climate at this time of year far surpasses my expecta- 
 tions, and indeed if it would always continue as it is now, 
 would be, perhaps, the finest in the world. And I find the field 
 of useful exertion before me so great, and the probability of 
 
234 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 doing good so encouraging, that if Providence blesses us with 
 health, I have no doubt of being as happy here as we could be 
 any where at such a distance from our dear and excellent 
 friends. Emily and I have, thank God, remained perfectly 
 well through our changes of climate. Some days ago I should 
 
 have had a bad report to make of our dear little girl. 
 
 * * * * * ^t « 
 
 During the last week she has been almost quite herself 
 again, but her mother has so much confidence in the sea air, 
 and a change of air of any kind is said to be, in this country, 
 so desirable for convalescents, that she has determined to take 
 her down till the end of the month to the Sand-heads at the 
 mouth of the river, — for which purpose Lord Amherst has kind- 
 ly placed one of the pilot schooners at her disposal, and, what 
 is of still more consequence, has authorized Mr. Shaw, the as- 
 sistant surgeon of the Fort tp accompany and remain with her 
 till her return. 
 
 * * •* ;it Jji * * 
 
 At the present time this is a very fine and interesting coun- 
 try, and contains the capability and the probability of improve- 
 ment to a degree far exceeding any thing which I had antici- 
 pated. In Bengal, indeed, as you are aware, there is no 
 mountain, nor so much as a single hill, and the prospect has 
 no other beauty but what arises from water, wood, and a richly 
 cultivated plain, inhabited by a population exceeding all which 
 I know in Europe, and apparently falling little short of all 
 which we read of in China. Yet these circumstances, joined 
 to the apparent simplicity of the people, their singular customs 
 and architecture, the beauty and clearness of the sky, and the 
 richness and majesty of the vegetable creation, make our rides 
 and drives here very interesting, particularly those which are 
 taken on horseback through glade and copse and hamlet, and 
 rice-fields, under the shadow of banyans, bamboos, tamarinds, 
 and cocos. It is in the course of these rides that I generally 
 visit the village schools, which are now numerous and flour- 
 ishing under the care of the Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge, and the Church Missionary Society; of the insti- 
 tution and success of which I had a very inatlequate notion 
 before I arrived in India, and which I believe are but little 
 known even at the present moment in England. Hearing all 
 I had heard of the prejudices of the Hindoos and Mussulmans, 
 I certainly did not at all expect to find that the common peo- 
 ple would not only without objection, but with the greatest 
 thankfulness, send their children to schools on Bell's system; 
 and they seem to be fully sensible of the advantages confer- 
 red by writing, arithmetic, and, above all, by a knowledge of 
 English. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 235 
 
 There are now in Calcutta, and the surrounding villages, 
 twenty boys' schools, containing from 60 to 120 each^ and 
 twenty-three girls' each of twenty -five or thirty. The latter 
 are under the management of a very clever young woman, 
 who came out under the patronage of the Lancasterian School 
 Society, but, in consequence of their having pledged them- 
 selves to allow no Scripture lessons in their schools, and her 
 preferring the system pursued by the Church of England, they 
 withdrew her salary, and she must have left the country, had 
 she not been fortunately taken up by the Church Missionary 
 Society, one of whose missionaries she has since married. 
 This branch of education, is, however, now about to be put 
 on a different footing. Some of the Hindoos objected to men 
 at all interfering in the girls' schools, or even that the school 
 should be in the same building where men reside. We are, 
 therefore, going to build a separate house for the school, 
 which, with all the female schools established, or to be esta- 
 blished in India, is to be managed by a committee of ladies. 
 Lady Amherst has taken the office of patroness, and Emily, 
 with several other ladies in Calcutta, are to form a commit- 
 tee. I have no doubt that things will go on prosperously if 
 we can only get funds sufficient for the demand on us. The 
 difficulties of Mrs. Wilson's undertaking, and the wonders 
 she has brought about, will be better understood when I men- 
 tion, that two years ago, no single native female in Bengal 
 could either write, read, or sew, that the notion of teaching 
 them these things, or of sending them to schools where they 
 ran the risk of mixing with, and touching those of different 
 castes, was, at first, regarded in about the same light as it 
 would be in England to send a girl to learn tumbling and 
 rope-dancing at Sadler's Wells, and that even those who 
 were most anxious for the improvement of the natives, and 
 knew most of India, spoke of her as undertaking impossibili- 
 ties. Mrs. Wilson's first care was to get a pretty good know- 
 ledge both of Hindoostanee and the vulgar Bengalee^ her 
 next, to circulate her proposals in these languages, urging on 
 parents the advantages which their daughters would derive 
 from her instructions, as servants, mothers, and mistresses 
 of families, promising a strict regard to caste, and urging 
 that, whether they became Christians or no, it would do 
 them no harm to become acquainted with the European 
 shaster, and the rules of conduct which Europeans professed to 
 follow towards each other. She went about a good deal her- 
 self among the wealthy native families, persuaded some of the 
 leading Goroos, or religious teachers, to honour her school 
 with their presence and inspectioji, and all now goes on 
 
 20* 
 
2'S6 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 smoothly. Rliadacant Deb, one of the wealthiest natives in 
 Calcutta, and regarded as the most austere and orthodox of 
 the worshippers of the Ganges, bade, some time since, her 
 pupils go on and prosper j and added, that '' if thej practised 
 the Sermon on the Mount as well as they repeated it, he 
 would choose all the handmaids for his daughters, and his 
 wives, from the English school." I do not say, nor do I sup- 
 pose, that any large proportion of these children will become 
 Christians. Even if they were to offer it now, we should tell 
 them, '"Wait till you are of age, and get your father's leave:" 
 and it is likely that many, on leaving school, will leave many 
 of their good impressions behind them. But it is certain, that^. 
 whether they become Christians or no, they may be great 
 gainers by what they learn; and it is probable that some, at 
 least, in the present generation, and probably far more among 
 their children, will be led to compare our system with their 
 own, and seriously, and in a real zeal for their own salvation, 
 to adopt the truth. In the mean time, I am assured that the 
 pains now taken have materially increased the popularity of 
 the English in Bengal. The peasants cannot help perceiving 
 that the persons who mix with them for these purposes, have 
 their worldly as well, as spiritual interest at heart. The 
 children like the rewards, the clothing, and the praise which 
 they receive; and in districts M'here, I am assured, three 
 years ago, at the sight of an European they all ran away 
 screaming to hide themselves, the clergymen and missiona- 
 ries engaged in the superintendance of these little establish- 
 ments are now as well known and as well received as an 
 English pastor in his parish. Our chief hindrances are some 
 deistical brahmins, who have left their old religion, and de- 
 sire to found a sect of their own, and some of those who are 
 professedly engaged in the same work with ourselves, the 
 Dissenters. These last are, indeed, very civil, and aftiect to 
 rejoice at our success; bat they, some how or other, cannot 
 help interfering, and setting up rival schools close to ours; 
 and they apparently find it easier to draw off" our pupils, than 
 to look out for fresh and more distant fields of exertion and 
 enterprize. 
 
 '^ vp Vy '^ ^ "JP '^ 
 
 My principal labour here is in the multitude of letters from 
 the Archdeacons, the Chaplains, the charitable Institutions, 
 the Supreme Government, and the inferior governments of 
 Madras and Bombay, which I have constantjy to read and 
 answer. Besides my official Secretary, I am obliged to keep 
 a native Amanuensis, and as every thing connected with 
 Churches, Chaplains, Missionaries, and Schoolmasters, passes 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 237 
 
 through my hands, or is referred to me by government, be- 
 sides my being visitor of Bishop's College, and agent to the 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, I tind myself daily 
 in a sort of business in which I have much to learn, and in 
 ■which I certainly take no great pleasure. I have this morn- 
 ing, for instance, and yesterday evening, had to answer four 
 letters about the rate of exchange between Calcutta and Eng- 
 land, and the expediency of drawing bills on the latter to pay 
 the College debts ; and I have just finished reading a long 
 sheet of queries from the secretary to government, respecting 
 some ecclesiastical buildings, their expense, workmanship, &c. 
 which will take some time and many previous enquiries to an- 
 swer properly. All tliis will, however, I doubt not, be- 
 come familiar to me by degrees ^ and I only regret it now, be- 
 cause it completely hinders the composition of my sermons, 
 and very materially retards my acquisition of the Oriental 
 languages. On the political state and prospects of India, as 
 they at present appear to me, I hope to write another letter. 
 It is an extensive and not uninteresting subject, and one, which 
 I think is not generally understood in Europe. 
 
 December 17. 
 I rejoice to send a good account of both my Emilies, whom 
 I accompanied some way down the river yesterday, and left 
 very comfortably accomjiiodated. 
 
 * * *- *- :»f » 1^ 
 
 This letter will go by the purser of the Grenville, who is 
 not yet set off. Captain Manning went yesterday, having 
 taken charge of Emily and her little girl as far as the Sand- 
 heads; they are to be very little on shore, but are to cruize 
 about the roads during the day, and return at night to anchor. 
 Believe me, my dear Sir, 
 
 Ever your obliged and affectionate 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO R. J. WILMOT HORTON, ESq. 
 
 Calcutta, December, 1823. 
 My Dear Wilmot, 
 
 The speed of our voyage in the Grenville, by landing us in 
 India some weeks before the time at which we might have 
 been expected to arrive there, has been productive of one un- 
 comfortable effect, by making us appear so much the longer 
 without letters from England. Only one Liverpool vessel has 
 since arrived, which was not of a date previous to the time of 
 our own sailing, and she brought papers only a very few days 
 
238 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 more recent than ours. Reports, however, have from time to 
 time been raised, of vessels supposed from Europe, seen work- 
 ing up towards Saugor; and you may well conceive the eager- 
 ness with which we have, on such occasions, anticipated the 
 arrival of those bundles of information and kind wishes which 
 form the delight of an English post-day, and to us, on the 
 Ganges, would be, I cannot say how interesting. The Gren- 
 ville, however, is now about to sail again, and I take advan- 
 tage of her return to remind those valued friends who may, 
 possibly, not yet have written to us, how much their corres- 
 pondence allays the pain of absence. 
 
 This is a fine country, and, at this time of the year, a very 
 fine climate. We have, indeed no mountains, not even an 
 elevation so high as the mount in Kensington Gardens, which 
 I recollect the more, because in them was my last ramble with 
 yourself and Hay. We have no springs, no running streams 
 except the Ganges, and we have not much of open, plain and 
 dry turf. But we have wood and water in abundance; the 
 former of the noblest description of foliage which I have ever 
 seen, both in form, verdure, variety, and depth of shadow. I 
 had no idea of the beauty and majesty of an Indian wood : the 
 coloured prints which I had seen in England being as unlike 
 the sober richness of the reality as the bloom of Mrs. Salmon's 
 
 wax-work goddesses to Mrs. . Nor, to those who 
 
 like wandering about an immense conservatory, or who are 
 pleased and interested with cane-work cottages, littlegardens 
 of plantains and pine-apples, and the sight of a very poor but 
 simple, and by no means inelegant, race of peasants, are there 
 prettier rides than those afforded by the lanes and hedge- rows 
 round Calcutta. The mornings, from five to eight, are now 
 equal to the pleasantest time of year in England ; then follow 
 about eight hours, during which a man does well to remain in 
 the house, but which, under such circumstances, are not too 
 hot either for comfort or any kind of mental exertion; and from 
 four to dark it is again about the temperature of our sum- 
 mer evening. This is, indeed the best time of the year. Of 
 the rains and the hot winds every body speaks with very 
 alarming eloquence; and I apprehend that, during their con- 
 tinuance, a bare existence is all that any man can hope for. 
 We had some little of these last on our first arrival, but not 
 sufficient to prevent our morning and evening airings. They 
 were, however, sufficiently potent to induce us to believe all 
 which had been told us of the necessity of cool clothing, cool 
 diet, and quietness. 
 
 Of the people of this country, and the manner in which they 
 are governed, I have, as yet, hardly seen enough to form in 
 opinion. 1 have seen enough, however, to find that the cus- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 239 
 
 toms, the habits, and prejudices of the former are much mis- 
 understood in England. We have all heard, for instance, of 
 the humanity of the Hindoos towards brute creatures, their 
 horror of animal food, &c. ; and you may be, perhaps, as much 
 surprized as I was, to find that those who can afford it are 
 hardly less carnivorous than ourselves^ that even the purest 
 brahmins are allowed to eat mutton and venison; that fish is 
 permitted to many castes, and pork to many others: and that, 
 though they consider it as a grievous crime to kill a cow or 
 bullock for the purpose of eating, yet they treat their draft 
 oxen, no less than their horses, with a degree of barbarous 
 severity which would turn an English hackney-coachman sick. 
 Nor have their religious prejudices, and the unchangeableness 
 of their habits, been less exaggerated. Some of the best-in- 
 formed of their nation, with whom I have conversed, assure 
 me that half their most remarkable customs of civil and do- 
 mestic life are borrowed from their Mahommedan conquerors^ 
 and at present there is an obvious and increasing disposition 
 to imitate the English in every thing, which has already led 
 to very remarkable changes, and will, probably, to still more 
 important. The wealthy natives now all affect to have their 
 houses decorated with Corinthian pillars, and filled with Eng- 
 lisli furniture. They drive the best horses and most dashing 
 carriages in Calcutta. Many of them speak English fluently, 
 and are tolerably read in English literature; and the chil- 
 dren of one of our friends I saw one day dressed in jackets and 
 trovvsers, with round hats, shoes and stockings. In the Ben- 
 galee newspapers, of wluch there are two or three, politics are 
 canvassed with a bias as I am told, inclining to whiggism, 
 and one of their leading men gave a great dinner, not long 
 since, in honour of the Spanish revolution. Among the lower 
 orders the same feeling shows itself more beneficially, in a 
 growing neglect of caste, — in not merely a willingness, but an 
 anxiety, to send their children to our schools, and a desire to 
 learn and speak English, which, if properly encouraged, might, 
 I verily believe, in fifty years time, make our language what 
 the Oordoo, or court and camp language of the country, (the 
 Hindoostanee,) is at present. And though instances of actual 
 conversion to Christianity are, as yet, very uncommon, yet 
 tlie number of children, both male and female, who are now 
 receiving a sort of Christian education, reading the new Tes- 
 tament, repeating the Lord's Prayer and Commandments, 
 and all with the consent, or at least without the censure, of 
 their parents or spiritual guides, have increased, during the 
 last two years, to an amount which astonishes the old Euro- 
 pean Residents, who were used to tremble at the name of a 
 missionary, and shrink from the common duties of Christiani- 
 
240 ' CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 ty, lest they should give offence to their heathen neighbours. 
 So far from that being a consequence of the zeal which has 
 been lately shown, many of the Brahmins themselves express 
 admiration of the morality of the Gospel, and profess to enter- 
 tain a better opinion of the English since they have found that 
 they too have a religion and a Shaster. All that seems neces- 
 sary for the best ettects to follow is, to let things take their 
 course, to make the missionaries discreet, to keep the govern- 
 ment as it now is, strictly neuter, and to place our confidence 
 in a general diffusion of knowledge, and in making ourselves 
 really useful to the temporal as well as spiritual interests of 
 the people among whom we live. In all these points there is, 
 indeed, great room for improvement. I do not by any means 
 assent to the pictures of depravity and general worthlessness 
 which some have drawn of the Hindoos. They are decidedly, 
 by nature, a mild, pleasing, and intelligent race; sober, par- 
 simonious, and, where an object is held out to them, most 
 industrious and persevering. But the magistrates and lawyers 
 all agree, that in no country are lying and perjury so common, 
 and so little regarded. Notwithstanding the apparent mild- 
 ness of their manners, the criminal calendar is generally as 
 full as in Ireland, with gang-robberies, setting fire to build- 
 ings, stacks, &c. &c. ; and the number of children who are 
 decoyed aside and murdered for the sake of their ornaments. 
 Lord Amherst assures me, is dreadful. Yet in all these points 
 a gradual amelioration is said to be perceptible; and I am 
 assured that there is no ground whatever for the assertion, 
 that the people are become less innocent or prosperous under 
 British administration. In Bengal, at least in this neighbour- 
 hood, I am assured by the missionaries, who, as speaking the 
 language, and associating with the lower classes, are by far 
 the best judges, that the English government is popular. They 
 are in fact, lightly taxed, (though that taxation is clumsily 
 arranged, and liable to considerable abuse, from the extortions 
 of the native Aiimeens and Chokeydars;) they have no mili- 
 tary conscription, or forced services; they live in great secu- 
 rity from the march of armies, &c. and, above all, they some 
 of them recollect in their own country, and all of them may 
 hear or witness in the case of their neighbours in Oude and 
 the Birman empire, how very differently all these things are 
 managed under the Hindoo and Mahommedan sovereignties. 
 One very wise and liberal measure of government has 
 been, the appropriation of all the internal transit duties to 
 the construction of roads and bridges; and the improvement 
 of the towns where they are levied. A more popular, however, 
 and I believe better policy, would have been to remit those 
 duties altogether. They are precisely the things in which 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 241 
 
 the Chokeydars, and other underlings are most fraudulent and 
 oppressive. Twice as much is extorted by these fellows from 
 the poor country people as they are authorized to receive, and 
 of what is authorized, only a moderate part finds its way into 
 the Company's coffers. Under such circumstances it might, 
 perhaps, be better to remove all restraints from internal inter- 
 course and traffic, 'to make the people industrious and prosper- 
 ous, and to be assured that improvements would follow by 
 degrees, in proportion as they became necessary or desirable. 
 LordCornwallis's famous settlement of the Zemindary rents in 
 Bengal, is often severely censured here, as not sufficiently 
 protecting the ryuts, and depriving the government of all ad- 
 vantage from the improvements of the territory. They who 
 reason thus, have apparently forgotten that, without some such 
 settlement, those improvements would never have taken place 
 at all: that almost every Zemindary which is brought to the 
 hammer, (and they are pretty numerous,) is divided and sub- 
 divided, each successive sale among smaller proprietors, and 
 that the progress is manifestly going on to a minute division of 
 the soil among the actual cultivators, andsubjectto noother bur- 
 dens than a fixed and very moderate quit rent, a state of things 
 by no means undesirable in a nation, and which only needs to 
 be corrected in its possible excess by a law of primogeniture, 
 and by encouraging, instead of forbidding, the purchase of 
 lands by the English. On the desirableness of this last mea- 
 sure, as the most probable means of improving the country, 
 and attaching the peasantry to our government,— I find, in 
 Calcutta, little diflfererice of opinion. All the restriction which 
 seems necessary is, that the collectors of the Company's taxes 
 shall not be allowed to purchase lands within the limits of 
 their districts; and if the same law were extended to their 
 Hindoo and Mussulman deputies, a considerable source of op- 
 pression, which now exists, would be dried up or greatly mi- 
 tigated. 
 
 TO JOHN THORNTON, ESQ. 
 
 Tittyghury January 9, 1824. 
 My dear Thornton, 
 
 ******* 
 I do not think, indeed, that the direct duties of this diocese, 
 bating the visitations, are more than a man may do with a mo- 
 derate share of diligence. . » 
 
 They are such, however, as I must do all for myself, since 
 
242 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 though I keep a native scribe at work from nine till four daily, 
 he can only be trusted to copy what I write, while it is neces- 
 sary for me to obtain and keep copies of all the official cor- 
 respondence in which I am a partyj besides M^iich, an inter- 
 course with chaplains, missionaries and religious societies, is 
 in India, all carried on by letter, and what in England would be 
 settled in a few minutes by personal communication, is here 
 the subject of long arguments, explanations, and rejoinders in 
 writing. I at first therefore, had occasion to work pretty hard, 
 and am now so fortunate as to be completely rid of all arrears 
 of business, and to find myself equal to the daily calls of my 
 correspondents, without so completely sacrificing all other 
 studies, as I was for some time compelled to do. Still I am 
 without books, and what has been still more inconvenient, 
 without sermons, so that I have been latterly obliged to com- 
 pose often two, and sometimes three a week, amid greater dis- 
 tractions, and with fewer opportunities of study or reference 
 than 1 ever before had to complain of. I continue well, how- 
 ever, thank God! and have abundant reason at present to be 
 hopeful and contented in my situation, where I meet with 
 much attention and kindness, and where the apparent field of 
 usefulness is so great that, while I deeply feel my own insuf- 
 ficiency, I am more and more impressed with the undeserved 
 
 goodness of God in calling me to such a situation. 
 
 *• * * * ■* * * 
 
 To the affairs of the Church Missionary society I have paid 
 considerable attention, and have great reason to be satisfied 
 with the manner in which they are conducted, as well as per- 
 sonally with the committee, and all the Missionaries whom 1 
 have seen. I have, as you are perhaps aware, obtained their 
 adoption of some changes in the constitution of the society, 
 qualified, I hope, to put us on a more stable and popular foot- 
 ing, and to obtain for us both at home and in India a greater 
 notoriety and usefulness. 
 
 Pray tell Mr. Parry that all which I have seen in India 
 justifies his praises of it. It is a fine and most interesting 
 country. The European society is agreeable, hospitable, 
 and well-informedj there are many excellent people in Cal- 
 cutta. 
 
 But, alas! new friends cannot be like old, new lands cannot 
 be like home! And while I should be the most thankless of 
 men not to be contented and happy here, I cannot help often 
 wishing for a sight of the hill above Hodnet, or the new 
 fence which I left you and Mrs. Thornton contriving at 
 Clapham. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 243 
 
 No orders have yet come out from government respecting 
 
 a residence for me 
 
 Dr. Wallich has lent us his house at Tittyghur, between Cal- 
 cutta and Barrackpoor, a delightful place, which apparently 
 agrees with our little girl perfectly. The fort, from close- 
 ness, and other reasons connected with closeness, is said to 
 be often injurious to young and delicate persons^ but without 
 its rampart we would fain flatter ourselves even children 
 may enjoy good health in this country, and some years at 
 least may elapse before we are compelled to send ours to 
 
 England 
 
 May God hear our prayers, and those, which it is one of my 
 chief comforts to believe, are oiFered up for us by our dear 
 friends in England. God Almighty bless you. 
 
 Ever your affectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 It was my intention till lately to set out by land for the 
 upper provinces as soon as Emily was able to travel, and to 
 stay at Ghazeepoor, a little on this side Benares, during the 
 hot winds. In this expedition Archdeacon Corrie promised 
 to accompany me, but a reconsideration of all which I am 
 doing, and have to do at Calcutta, has convinced me that I can- 
 not be spared before the rains, when also I hope for Mr. Cor- 
 rie's company. The want of episcopal visitation, confirma- 
 tion, &c. in all those vast districts, is said to be great. 
 
 TO THE HONOURABLE MRS. DOUGLAS. 
 
 Tittyghur, January 10, 1824. 
 
 Wherever the Ganges is, there is beauty; and even those 
 who are most sensible to the beauties of English scenery, 
 may allow that while the peepul, the teak, and the other 
 large round-topped trees will bear no disadvantageous compa- 
 rison with our oaks, elms, and limes; the mangoe and tama- 
 rind greatly surpass in beauty our walnut and cherry-trees; 
 and we have nothing at all answerable to the banyan, the 
 bamboo, the different species of palms, or the plantains, 
 aloes, cactus, and ananas, by which the cottages are sur- 
 rounded. . . . The plains between these groves are all 
 cultivated with rice, and have, at this time of the year, pret- 
 ty much the appearance of an English stubble. When we 
 first arrived, the rice was like our corn in spring; but as the 
 ground dried, and the crop ripened, it assumed a more au- 
 
 VoL. IL— 21 
 
244 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 tumnal appearance, though never so bright and golden as our 
 wheat. 
 
 Of the fruits of India we had formed high expectations; the 
 mangoe, which is the most celebrated, has not been in season 
 since our arrival; but the rest, such of them at least as are 
 peculiar to the country, have much disappointed us. The 
 oranges are, I think, the best; but they are not better than 
 what are sent to London from the Mediterranean and the 
 western isles. I will make an exception in favour of the 
 coco-nut when unripe, at which time its milk is very refresh- 
 ing, and far better than we get it in England. Nor are many 
 of the native vegetables agreeable to an English palate; though 
 any body may easily get reconciled to yams, brinjals, and 
 sweet potatoes. At this time of year, however, most Euro- 
 pean vegetables are brought to market in abundance, and very 
 good, though cultivated for the consumption of Europeans 
 only, the natives liking none of them but potatoes, which, 
 though they have only known them during the last few years, 
 are likely soon to rank as a supplementary staff' of life, with 
 rice and plantains. The peasants near Patna already grow 
 them to a considerable extent; but they never can become the 
 exclusive crop here, inasmuch as the moist rice-grounds do 
 not suit their growth, which will therefore be confined to the 
 sandy and drier soils, where rice cannot grow, and where 
 such a vegetable maybe of unmixed utility; while such a sup- 
 plementary crop, in case of the rice failing, may prevent many 
 a famine, and diminish one strong point of the similarity 
 which now exists between the Indian and Irish peasantry, 
 their reliance on a single article of food, and the almost inli- 
 nite division and subdivision of their farms, which here, as in 
 Ireland, is a fertile source of poverty and wretchedness. 
 
 On the whole they are a lively, intelligent, and interesting 
 people: of the upper classes, a very considerable proportion 
 learn our language, read our books and our newspapers, and 
 show a desire to court our society; the peasants are anxious 
 to learn English, and though, certainly, very few of them 
 have as yet embraced Christianity, I do not think their reluc- 
 tance is more than might have been expected in any country, 
 where a system so entirely different from that previously pro- 
 fessed, was oiFered, and offered by those of whom as their 
 conquerors, they may well entertain considerable jealousy. 
 Their own religion is, indeed, a horrible one; far more so 
 than I had conceived; it gives them no moral precepts; it en- 
 courages them in vice by the style of its ceremonies, and the 
 character given of its deities; and by the institution of caste, 
 it hardens their hearts against each other to a degree which 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 245 
 
 is often most revolting. A traveller falls down sick in the 
 streets of a village, (I am mentioning a fact which happened 
 ten days ago,) nobody knows what caste he is of, therefore 
 nobody goes near him lest they should become polluted; he 
 wastes to death before the eyes of a whole community, unless 
 the jackalls take courage from his helpless state to finish him 
 a little sooner, and, perhaps, as happened in the case to which 
 I alluded, the children are allowed to pelt him with stones 
 and mud. The man of whom I am speaking was found in 
 this state and taken care of by a passing European, but if he 
 had died, his skeleton would have lain in the streets till the 
 vultures carried it away, or the magistrates ordered it to be 
 thrown into the river. 
 
 A friend of mine, some months ago, found a miserable 
 wretch, a groom out of employ, who had crept, sick of a dy- 
 sentery, into his court-yard. He had there remained in a 
 corner on the pavement two days and nights. Perhaps twenty 
 servants had been eating their meals daily within six yards of 
 him, yet none had relieved him, none had so much as carried 
 him into the shelter of one of the out-houses, nor had any taken 
 the trouble to tell their master. When reproved for this, their 
 answer was, "he was not our kinsman;" "Whose business 
 was it?" " How did we know that the Sahib would like to be 
 troubled?" I do not say that these are every day instances* 
 I hope and believe not; nor would I be understood as denying 
 that alms are, to religious mendicants, given to a great amount 
 in Bengal, or that several of the wealthy inhabitants, in what 
 they consider good works, such as constructing public, tanks, 
 making roads to places of pilgrimage, building pagodas and 
 ghats, are liberal. I only mention these instances because 
 none of those who heard them seemed to think them unusual 
 or extraordinary; because in a Christian country I think they 
 could not have happened, and because they naturally arise 
 from the genius of the national religion, which, by the distinc- 
 tion which it establishes, makes men worse than indiiferentto 
 each other. Accordingly, many of the crimes whicli fall under 
 the cognizance of the magistrate, and many of the ancient and 
 sanctified customs of the Hindoos, are marked with great 
 cruelty. The Decoits, or gangs of robbers, who are common 
 all over the country, though they seldom attack Europeans, 
 continually torture to force the peasants to bring out their lit- 
 tle treasures. 
 
 * « * * * * i^ 
 
 I need say nothing of the burning of widows, but it is not 
 so generally known that persons now alive remember human 
 sacrifices in the holy places near Calcutta; and that a very 
 respectable man of my acquaintance, himself by accident and 
 
246 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 without the means of interfering, witnessed one of a boy of 
 fourteen or fifteen, in which nothing was so terrible as the 
 perfect indifference with which the tears, prayers, and caresses 
 even, which the poor victim lavished on his murderers, were 
 regarded. After this it is hardly worth while to go on to show 
 that crimes of rapine, and violence, and theft are very com- 
 mon, or that the tendency to lying is such that, (as one of the 
 judges here observed,) " in a court of justice they cannot even 
 tell a true story without spoiling it." But what I would 
 chiefly urge is, that for all these horrors their system of reli- 
 gion is mainly answerable, inasmuch as whatever moral lessons 
 their sacred books contain, and they are very few, are shut up 
 from the mass of the people, while the direct tendency of their 
 institutions is to evil. The national temper is decidedly good, 
 gentle, and kind^ they are sober, industrious, affectionate to 
 their relations, generally speaking faithful to their masters, 
 easily attached by kindness and confidence, and in the case 
 of the military oath, are of admirable obedience, courage, and 
 fidelity in life and death. But their morality does not extend 
 beyond the reach of positive obligations; and where these do 
 not exist, they are oppressive, cruel, treacherous, and every 
 thing that is bad. We have heard much in England of their 
 humanity to animals, I can only say that I have seen no to- 
 kens of it in Calcutta. 
 
 Their high reputation in such matters has arisen, I am as- 
 sured, from exaggerated statements of particular instances, 
 such as may happen in any country, of overstrained tender- 
 ness for animal life, and from the fact that certain sacred ani- 
 mals, such as the bulls dedicated to Brahma, are really treated 
 with as much tenderness and consideration as if they were 
 Brahmins themselves. As yet, it remains to be seen how far 
 the schools may produce a change for the better. I am in- 
 clined to hope every thing from them, particularly from those 
 which Mrs. Wilson has, under the auspices of the Church 
 Missionaries, set on foot for females, but I am sure that a peo- 
 ple such as I have described, with so many amiable traits of 
 character, and so great natural quickness and intelligence, 
 ought to be assisted and encouraged as far as we possibly can 
 in the disposition which they now evince, in this part of the 
 country at least, to acquire a knowledge of our language and 
 laws, and to imitate our habits and examples. By all which 
 I have learned they now really believe we wish them well, 
 and are desirous of their improvement; and there are many 
 points, (that of the burning widows is one,) in which a change 
 for the better is taking place in the public mind, which, if we 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 247 
 
 are not in too great a hurry, will probably, ere long, break 
 clown the observance of, at least, one horror. Do not suppose 
 that I am prejudiced against the Hindoos. In my personal 
 intercourse with them I have seen much to be pleased with, 
 and all which I hear and believe as to what they might be with 
 a better creed, makes me the more earnest in stating the hor- 
 rors for which their present creed, as I think, is answerable. 
 This is an unmerciful letter, but I hope and believe that I 
 shall not have wearied you. Both Emily and I often think and 
 talk of you, and recall to mind, with deep and affectionate in- 
 terest, our parting on the quarter-deck of the Grenville, with 
 
 you and your brothers. 
 
 « * * * * * * 
 
 We more and more feel how much we have relinquished in 
 leaving such friends behindj but I do not, and I hope Emily 
 does not repent of our undertaking. So long as we are bless- 
 ed with health, and of this, with due care, I entertain at pre- 
 sent few apprehensions, we have, indeed, abundant reason for 
 content and thankfulness around us, and where there is so much 
 to be learned and to be done, life cannot well hang heavy on 
 the hands of 
 
 Dear Harriet, 
 
 Ever your affectionate Cousin, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 I believe I have said nothing of the Mahommedans, who are 
 about as numerous here as the Protestants are in Ireland. They 
 are in personal appearance a finer race than the Hindoos j they 
 are also more universally educated, and on the whole I think 
 a better people, inasmuch as their faith is better. They are 
 haughty and irascible, hostile to the English as to those who 
 have supplanted them in their sovereignty over the country, 
 and notoriously oppressive and avaricious in their dealings with 
 their idolatrous countrymen wherever they are yet in authority. 
 They are, or are supposed to be, more honest, and to each other 
 they are not uncharitable; but they are, I fear, less likely at pre- 
 sent than the Hindoos to embrace Christianity, though some of 
 them read our scriptures; and I have heard one or two speak 
 of Christians as of nearly the same religion with themselves. 
 They have, however, contracted in this country many super- 
 stitions of castes and images, for which their western brethren, 
 the Turks and Arabs, are ready to excommunicate them; and, 
 what is more strange, many of them, equally in opposition to 
 their own religion and tliat of the Hindoos, are exceeding 
 drunkards. 
 
 21* . 
 
248 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 TO MRS. HEBER. 
 
 Tittyghur, Janum-y 25, 1824, 
 My dearest Mother, 
 
 Our former packets will, I trust, before this time, have com- 
 municated to you the intelligence of our safe arrival, and of 
 
 our subsequent proceedings. 
 
 ******* 
 
 ******* 
 
 Calcutta is a very striking place, but it so much resembles 
 Petersburg, though on a less splendid scale, that I can hardly 
 help fancying myself sometimes in Russia. The architecture 
 of the principal houses is the same, with Italian porticos, and 
 all whitewashed or stuccoed, and the width and straightness 
 of the principal streets, the want of pavement, the forms of the 
 peasants' carts, and the crowds of foot-passengers in every 
 street, as well as the multitude of servants, the want of fur- 
 niture in the houses, and above all, the great dinner-parties 
 which are one distinguishing feature of the place, are all Mus- 
 covite. 
 
 * * « * * * * 
 
 The public here is very liberal, but the calls on charity are 
 continual, and the number of five and ten pound subscriptions 
 which are required of a man every month, for inundations, 
 officers' widows, &c. &c. are such as surprize an Englishman 
 on his first arrival, though he cannot but be pleased at the spi- 
 rit which it evinces 
 
 I am happy to set you at ease about pirates. There were, 
 as you have been rightly informed, four or five years ago, a 
 good many Arab pirates in the Bombay seas, but none that I 
 have heard of ever ventured into the Bay of Bengal, and even 
 those who did exist are said to have been completely driven 
 from the sea by the expedition which was sent some time back 
 from Bombay against the Arabs of the Persian gulf. But with 
 these seas I shall have little concern, since my journeys in that 
 quarter will be chiefly by land. Those which I have to per- 
 form in this part of India will be mostly by the Ganges, on which 
 sculking thieves are sometimes met with, but no robbers bold 
 enough to attack European boats. I should have much pre- 
 ferred marching by land the whole way, as we at first proposed, 
 but I found it impossible to leave Calcutta before the weather 
 would have become too hot for such a journey. At the com- 
 mencement of the rains we shall set out, and boat it all the 
 way to Cawnpoor. The boats are like houses, and as comfort- 
 able as such things well can be; but our progress by this me- 
 thod, will be very tedious and wearisome, compared with the 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 249 
 
 amusement of a land journey with our tents and elephants. We 
 shall, however, escape the rains, which is reckoned the only 
 unhealthy season in Bengal, when every road is a puddle, and 
 every field a marsh, and every river a sea, and when a hot sun, 
 playing on a vast surface of water and decayed vegetables, is 
 regarded as the cause of almost all the diseases which are not 
 brought on by intemperance and carelessness. 
 
 »lc y^ 'Jp if: v^ "^ i^ 
 
 ******* 
 
 My morning rides are very pleasant ', my horse is a nice, 
 quiet, good-tempered little Arab, who is so fearless that he 
 goes, without starting, close to an elephant, and so gentle and 
 docile, that he eats bread out of my hand, and has almost as 
 much attachment and coaxing ways as a dog. This seems the 
 usual character of the Arab horse, who, (to judge from those I 
 have seen in this country, ) is not the fiery dashing animal I 
 had supposed, but with more rationality about him, and more 
 apparent confidence in his rider, than the generality of English 
 horses. The latter, however, bear the highest price here, 
 from their superior size, and power of going through more 
 work. The Indian horses are seldom good, and always ill- 
 tempered and vicious ; and it is the necessity of getting foreign 
 horses which makes the expense so great as you have heard, 
 while after all, in this climate, four horses will not do so much 
 work as a pair in England. 
 
 Believe me, dearest Mother, 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 I rejoice to hear that Mr. Puller is coming out as Chief 
 Justice. He is a kind and worthy man, and will, I think, be 
 very popular here, as well as be an agreeable and friendly 
 neighbour to us. 
 
 TO THE VERY REV. THE DEAN OF ST. ASAPH. 
 
 January 27 y 1824. 
 My dear sir, 
 
 In my last letter I promised you that this should be a political 
 one. I know not, after all, now that I am sitting down to the 
 task, that I have been able to acquire any information which 
 will be new to you, or that I am as yet qualified to speak other- 
 wise than with great hesitation as to the real state even of a 
 small part of this great empire. Frpm all external enemies, 
 British India, (now comprehending either directly or indirect- 
 
250 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 ly three-fourths of the whole vast peninsula,) appeared till late- 
 ly, secure. The Maharattas are completely conquered and 
 heart-broken; the kings of Oude and Hydrabad only hold their 
 places at our will and pleasure 5 and their subjects desire no- 
 thing so much as that we should take the government of both 
 countries into our own hands, while Russia is regarded as so 
 distant a danger, that, during the latter years of Lord Hast- 
 ings' government, and in fact to the present moment, the 
 army of India has been allowed to melt away, and is now, as 
 I am assured, perhaps the least numerous establishment, (in 
 comparison with the population, extent, and revenues of tne 
 countries whence it is raised and supported,) that any civiliz- 
 ed empire in the world can show. It seems, however, that 
 war with a new, and by no means a despicable enemy, is now 
 inevitable, and has indeed already begun. The Kingof Ava, 
 whose territories under the name of the ''Birman empire," 
 you will see marked in all the recent maps, has been long 
 playing the same Buonapartean game in what is called "In- 
 dia beyond the Ganges," (though in fact removed many hun- 
 dred miles from that river,) which we have been playing in 
 Hindoostan. His dominions had, till now, been separated from 
 ours by a line of mountains and forests, which prevented al- 
 most all intercourse either peaceable or hostile ; but by the 
 recent conquest of the country of Assam and some other moun- 
 tain Rajas, he has pushed himself into the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of Bengal and has begun to hold a language about 
 frontiers, neutral grounds, and ancient claims of the ''golden 
 empire," which the English in India are quite unaccustomed 
 to hear, and which it would be still more inconvenient to ad- 
 mit for a single moment. I believe, indeed, his actual demands 
 are limited to a little swampy island, no more worth lighting 
 for than that which was the cause of Fortinbras's armament* 
 But this island, such as it is, has been in the hands of the Com- 
 pany, and the soubahdars of Bengal before them, time out of 
 mind, and is also clearly on the western side of the main stream 
 of the little river which divides the empires. Nor is this all, 
 since in the course of the discussion some menaces have been 
 held out, that the "golden empire" has further demands which 
 the great moderation of its sovereign only induces liim to re- 
 frain from pressing, and that all Bengal as far as Calcutta and 
 Moorshedabad ought to be ceded to him. Lord Amherst, who, 
 as well as the directors at home, is sufficiently anxious for peace, 
 expected, however, that firmly and civilly saying no, would 
 have been sufficient, (together with placing a small garrison on 
 the disputed island, which has, after all, been again withdrawn 
 on account of the pestiferous air,) to preserve matters on their 
 former footing of grumbling and uneasy tranquillity. He has, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE* 251 
 
 however, been disappointed, since he heard yesterday that two 
 Birman corps had advanced into the neutral ground of Ca- 
 shar, one of which had been in consequence attacked by a 
 small body of sepoys stationed on our frontier, and defeated 
 with some loss, but after a resistance which shows that our 
 new enemies are in every thing but arms and discipline far 
 from despicable, and decidedly superior in courage and bodily 
 strength to the generality of those to whom we have been as 
 yet opposed in India. It is indeed possible, though barely so, 
 that this first experience of bayonets and disciplined troops, 
 may not have been of a nature to increase their desire for fur- 
 ther communication of the kind. But more likely, the check 
 has been too slight to produce such an effect on troops who are 
 found to be brave and hardy, and a King who has been en- 
 gaged in a long course of conquest, and has never met with 
 his match till now. Should the war go on, it is some com- 
 fort to believe that we have right on our side. Yet it is a griev- 
 ous matter that blood should be shed, and all the other horrors 
 of an Asiatic war incurred to an extent which cannot be'"cal- 
 culated, for a spot of ground so unhealthy, that neither English 
 nor Birmans can live on it, and by two governments, each of 
 whom has more territory than it can well manage. The East 
 India Company, however, and their servants and subjects have 
 reason to be thankful that the " Golden Sword" slept in its 
 scabbard while Lord Hastings was engaged with the whole 
 forces of the empire, against the Pindarrees, Maharattas, and 
 Nepaulese, since an inroad of the warlike barbarians wouM 
 then have caused well-founded alarm to Chittagong, at least if 
 not to Decca and even Calcutta. The truth, however, is, that 
 the Birmans were then occupied in the preliminary subjuga- 
 tion of Assam. With such a war impending, you will natu- 
 rally ask, how far the British government can count on the 
 ailections of its own subjects. This is a question which it 
 is not very easy to answer. Any thing like our European no- 
 tions of loyalty or patriotism, I fancy, is out of the case. In- 
 deed, from the frequent ciianges of masters, to which all 
 India has been long exposed, I doubt, from all which I have 
 heard, whether the idea exists among them, any otherwise than 
 that the native soldiers are, for the most part, admirably faith- 
 ful to the government, (whatever it may be,) which they have 
 engaged to serve, so long as that government performs its sti- 
 pulations to them; and that if a country under a bad and 
 oppressive government is attacked, the invader's camp 
 would be better supplied with provisions than if the pea- 
 sants supposed that they would be losers by his success. 
 The idea of guerillas rising to oppose a foreign enemy would 
 never enter into the head of a Hindoo, or if any such bodies 
 of men were formed, they would be as professed plunderers, 
 
252 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 equally formidable to all parties, or as mercenaries, ready to 
 accept pay from any who might entertain them. But among 
 the sepoys, nobody seems to apprehend a breach of faith, and, 
 from all which I have been able to learn, the peasantry and 
 merchants are extremely well content with us, and prefer our 
 government very much to that of any existing Asiatic sove-- 
 reign. The great increase of population in Bengal and Ba- 
 her, the number of emigrants which come thither from all parts 
 of India, the extent of fresh ground annually brought into cul- 
 tivation, and the ostentation of wealth and luxury among the 
 people, which under the native princes no one, (except the im- 
 mediate servants of government,) ventures to show, seem still 
 more convincing proofs that they are, on the whole, wisely 
 and equitably governed. The country, (as far as 1 have yet 
 seen, and every body tells me it is the same through all Ben- 
 gal,) is divided into estates generally of a considerable size, 
 called ''Zemindarries,"from "Zemindar," a landholder, held 
 immediately of government, on payment of a rate which was 
 fixed by Lord Cornwallis, and does not increase with any fresh 
 improvement or inclosure. These lands may be sold or divided 
 by the proprietors, remaining subject to the tax, but cannot be 
 touched by the government so long as the tax is paid. The 
 great Zemindars generally live in Calcutta, or the other cities, 
 where some of them have very splendid palaces, underletting 
 their territories to dewans or stewards, answering to what the 
 Scots call tacksmen, who, as well as the smaller landholders, 
 generally occupy dingy brick buildings, wdth scarcely any 
 windows, and looking a little like deserted manor-houses in 
 England. Placed in the middle of the villages, (whose bam- 
 boo huts seem far cooler and cleaner dw^ellings,) they are over- 
 hung with a dark and tangled shade of fruit-trees, and sur- 
 rounded by stables, cow-houses, threshing-floor, circular gran- 
 aries raised on posts, and the usual litter of a dirty and ill- 
 managed farm; but the persons who reside in them are often 
 really very wealthy, and when we meet them on horseback on 
 a gala-day, with their trains of servants, their splendid shawls, 
 and gold and silver trappings, might almost meet the European 
 notion of an eastern Raja. Under them the land is divided 
 into a multitude of small tenements, of which the cultivators 
 are said to be often racked very high, though they are none of 
 them attached to the soil, but may change, if aggrieved, to any 
 landlord who is likely to use them better. Round the villages 
 there are large orchards of mangoes, coco-nuts, and plantains, 
 together with many small crofts enclosed with fences of aloes, 
 prickly pear, and sometimes pine-apples, and cultivated with 
 hemp, cotton, sugar-canes, mustard, gram, and of late years, 
 with potatoes and some other kinds of European vegetables. 
 All beyond this is rice, cultivated in large open fields annually 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 253 
 
 overflowed by the Ganges, or the many canals which are drawn 
 from it, and divided into little portions, or quillets, not laid 
 out like our corn-fields in ridge and furrow, but on a flat sur- 
 face, the soil being returned to its place after the crop is dib- 
 bled in, and intersected by small ledges of earth, both to mark 
 property and to retain the water a sufiicient time on the surface. 
 There is no pasture-ground. The cattle, sheep, and goats are 
 allowed, during the day, to pick up what they can find in the 
 orchards, stubbles, and fallows, and along the road sides, but 
 at night are always fetched up and fed with gram. No ma- 
 nure is employed, the dung being carefully collected for fuel; 
 (except what little is used by the devout to rub their faces and 
 bodies with,) nor, with an occasional fallow, (and this is, I un- 
 derstand, but seldom,) is any other manure required than 
 what the bountiful river affords. I have not yet seen them at 
 plough, but am told that their instruments are the rudest that 
 can be conceived; and, indeed their cattle are generally too 
 small and weak to drag any tackle which is not extremely 
 light and simple; yet their crops are magnificent, and the soil, 
 though much of it has been in constant cultivation beyond the 
 reach of history, continues of matchless fertility. No where, 
 perhaps, in the world, is food attained in so much abundance, 
 and with apparently, so little labour. Few peasants work 
 more than five or six hours in the day, and half their days are 
 Hindoo festivals, when they will not work at all. 
 
 Rent is higher than I expected to find it; in this neighbour- 
 hood six rupees, about twelve shillings the English acre, 
 seems an usual rate, which is a great sum among the Hin- 
 doos, and also when compared with the cheapness of provi- 
 sions and labour, about sixpence being as much as a working 
 man can earn, even as a porter, and three-pence being the 
 pay of a labourer in husbandry, while ordinary rice is, at an 
 average, less than a half-penny for the weight of two pounds 
 English. In consequence I do not apprehend that the pea- 
 santry are ill off*, though, of course, they cannot live luxuri- 
 ously. Fish swarm in every part of the river, and in every 
 tank and ditch. During the wet months they may be scooped 
 up with a hand-net in every field, and procured, at all times, 
 at the expense of a crooked nail and a little plantain thread. 
 They, therefore, next to rice and plantains, constitute the 
 main food of the country. Animal food all the lower castes 
 of Hindoos eat whenever they can get it, beef and veal only 
 excepted; but, save fish, this is not often in their power. 
 Except food, in such a climate their wants are of course but 
 few. Very little clothing serves, and even this is more worn 
 from decency than necessity. They have no furniture, ex- 
 cept a cane bedstead or two, and some earthen or copper 
 
254 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 pots; but they have a full allowance of silver ornaments, coral 
 beads, &c., which even the lowest ranks wear to a considera- 
 ble value, and which seem to imply that they are not ill off 
 for the necessaries of life, when such superfluities are within 
 their reach. I have not yet been able to learn the exact 
 amount of the land-tax paid to government. The other taxes 
 are on cotton, mustard-oil, charcoal, and, in general, the dif- 
 ferent articles brought to market, except rice and fruit; they 
 are not high, at least they would not be thought so in Europe; 
 and of the whole thus collected, one half is laid out in mak- 
 ing and repairing roads, bridges, tanks, canals, and other 
 public works. The Company have a monopoly of salt and 
 opium, the former being only made at the public works, 
 the latter grown on the public domains. The former is, how- 
 ever, sold at a rate which, in England, we should think low, 
 about four shillings the bushel; and the latter is chiefly for 
 exportation. Justice is, as you are aware, administered in 
 Calcutta by the Supreme Court, according to English law, 
 but elsewhere by local judges appointed by the Company, 
 from whom an appeal lies to a separate court at Calcutta, call- 
 ed the Sudder Dewanne, which is guided by the Hindoo and 
 Mussulman code, drawn up by Sir W. Jones. Of the Eng- 
 lish criminal law, those Hindoos with whom I have conversed 
 speak highly, and think it a great security to live in Calcutta 
 where this prevails. Thelocal judges, (who are all English,) 
 are often very popular, and in general the people seem to al- 
 low that justice is honestly administered; and my informants 
 have spoken of the advantages possessed in these respects by 
 the Company's subjects over those of Oude, or their own for- 
 mer condition under the Mussulmans. In these points I 
 liave drawn my information partly from a few of the wealthy 
 natives, who occasionally visit me, partly from my own ser- 
 vants, whom I have encouraged to speak on such subjects, in 
 some small degree from what I have picked up in my rides and 
 walks round this place, and still more, from the different mis- 
 sionaries who mix with the lower classes, and speak their lan- 
 guage more fluently than most Europeans besides. Perhaps, 
 as I myself improve in the language, I may find that I have 
 been in some points misinformed or mistaken, but I think the 
 accounts which I have had seem not unlikely to be correct, 
 and their result is decidedly favourable both as to the general 
 condition of this country, and the spirit in which it is govern- 
 ed With regard to the questions which have lately 
 
 occupied a good deal of the public attention, the free press, 
 and the power of sending back Europeans to England at plea- 
 sure, so far as these bear on the condition of the natives, and 
 the probable tranquillity of the country, I have more to say 
 
CORRESPONBENCEt 255 
 
 than I have now time for. On the whole, I think it still de- 
 sirable that, in this country, the newspapers should be li- 
 censed by government, though from the increased interest 
 which the Hindoos and Mussulmans take in politics, and the 
 evident fermentation which, either for good or evil, is going 
 on in the public mind, I do not think the measure can be long 
 continued. But the power of deportation is, I am convinced, 
 essential to the public peace. Many of the adventurers who 
 come hither from Europe, are the greatest profligates the sun 
 ever saw; men whom nothing but despotism can manage, and 
 who, unless they were really under a despotic rule, would 
 insult, beat, and plunder the natives without shame or pity. 
 Even now many instances occur of insult and misconduct, 
 for which the prospect of immediate embarkation for Europe 
 is the most effectual precaution or remedy. It is in fact the 
 only control which the Company possesses over the tradesmen 
 and ship-builders in Calcutta, and the indigo planters up the 
 country. 
 
 Believe me, dear Sir, 
 
 Ever your obliged and affectionate, 
 
 R. Calcutta. 
 Titty ghur, Jan. 27, 1824. 
 
 TO SIR ROBERT H. INGLIS, BART. 
 
 Tittyghur, January 27, 1824. 
 My dear Inglis, 
 
 I have not now time to write more than a few lines, yet I 
 
 think you will not be sorry to hear of our well-doing. 
 
 * * * * *. * * 
 
 Out of the fort and streets of Calcutta, which are, and al- 
 ways must be, "black holes," the climate of India is, at this 
 season, really delightful, and scarcely to be equalled, I think, 
 by any which Europe can offer. But alas, the time is again 
 drawing near when we must descend from Meru Mountain, 
 to dwell, for four months, at least, *' with a fire in our heart, 
 and a fire in our brain," for such the approaching hot season is 
 represented to be. I am, however, well content with my si- 
 tuation, and almost all its circumstances: and though the 
 good to be done must be, for the most part, of a very silent 
 kind, and one whose fruits may not be apparent, till the pre- 
 sent race of husbandmen, and, possibly, many after them, 
 shall be gone to rest, yet any man may count himself highly 
 honoured in being thought worthy to labour here, however ob- 
 scurely. A good deal of my attention^ during my short resi- 
 
 VoL. II.— 22 
 
256 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 (lence, has been paid to the difterent sects of Oriental Chris- 
 tians, particularly the Greeks and Armenians, of whom a 
 greater number than I had expected reside both in Calcutta 
 and Decca, and of whom many solitary individuals are scatter- 
 ed all over the East. I find their clergy well pleased by being 
 noticed 5 and not unwilling to borrow books, &c. and trust 
 that eventually, some more extensive good may be done by 
 these means. 
 
 Dear Inglis, 
 
 Ever your obliged and faithful friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE REV. E. T. S. HORNBY. 
 
 February 5, 1824. 
 My dear Friend, 
 
 ■)f: * * -* -* * * 
 
 -SJ * * '^ * * « 
 
 Among the clergy I have several well-informed and amia- 
 ble men, who are sincerely zealous in their calling, and 
 active in the improvement both of their own countrymen 
 and the heathen. We are, however, sadly too few for the 
 work before us. Of the small number of Chaplains which 
 the Company supplies, nearly half are absent on furlough 
 for ill health, and the few missionaries are quite unequal 
 to supply the vacancies thus occasioned in many import- 
 ant stations, even if it were possible or desirable to with- 
 draw them from their appropriate sphere of action, and, more 
 particularly from the management of those schools which are, 
 of all others, the most likely means to open the eyes, and ame- 
 liorate the worldly and spiritual condition of the vast multi- 
 tudes who are now not merely willing to receive, but absolute- 
 ly courting instruction. It is in fact, the want of means on 
 the part of the teachers, and not any of that invincible repug- 
 nance so often supposed to exist on the part of the Hindoos, 
 ^vhich, in my opinion, must make the progress of the Gospel 
 slow in India. Those who think otherwise have, I suspect, 
 either never really desired the improvement w hich they affect 
 to regard as impossible, or by raising their expectations, in 
 the first instance, too high, have been the cause of their own 
 disappointment. We cannot work miracles, and it is idle to 
 suppose that thirty or forty Missionaries, (for this is, perhaps, 
 the full number, including all Protestant sects throughout all 
 India,) can have in ten or a dozen years, (for a longer time 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 257 
 
 has scarcely occurred since the work was set about in good 
 earnest,) so much as conveyed the name of the Gospel to 
 more than a very small part of a nation containing 100,000,000 
 inhabitants, and scattered over a country of 1,500,000 square 
 miles. It is no less idle to expect that any nation, or any great 
 numbers in a nation, will change the ancient system of faith 
 at once, or otherwise than by very slow degrees, and with 
 a great reluctance, a reluctance not likely to be lessened 
 when the new creed is offered them by a race of foreign con- 
 querors, speaking their language for the most part very im- 
 perfectly. But we have found, in spite of these obstacles, 
 that some Hindoos and Mussulmans of respectable rank and 
 considerable acquirements, (few, indeed in number, but 
 enough to show that the thing is not impossible,) have, from mo- 
 tives the most obviously disinterested, (since nothing is to be 
 got by turning Christian but the ill-will of their old friends, 
 and, in most instances hitherto, the suspicion and discounte- 
 nance of their new rulers,) embraced and adhered to Chris- 
 tianity. It is obvious even to a careless observer, that in Ben- 
 gal at least, the wealthier natives are imitating the English in 
 very many particulars in dress, buildings, and domestic econo- 
 my, and that a change, either for evil or good, of a most exten- 
 sive and remarkable nature is fermenting in the native mind; 
 and I am convinced from the success of the experiment so far 
 as it has yet been tried, that nothing but the want of means 
 prevents the introduction of schools, like those now supported 
 in the neighbourhood of Calcutta and at Burdwan, by the 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the Church 
 Missionary Society, in every village of Bengal, not only with 
 the concurrence, but with the gratitude of the natives. 
 
 Meantime you must not suppose that the cares of a preacher 
 of the Gospel can apply to the heathen only^ a very numerous 
 population of nominal Christians is rising round us, the chil- 
 dren of European fathers and native women, who have been, 
 till lately, shamefully neglected, but who show a readiness to 
 receive instruction, and a zeal, generally speaking, for the faith 
 and the Church establishment of the parent country, whidi 
 should make that country blush for the scanty aids which she 
 has hitherto afforded them. From these a considerable pro- 
 portion of my congregations in Calcutta are made up, and of 
 these 235 young persons whom I confirmed there the day be- 
 fore yesterday chiefly consisted. All these are circumstances 
 which may well encourage a man to exert himself. 
 
 * * * * .'^ ^'^ ¥■■ 
 
25S 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Adieu, dear Hornby; let me hope sometimes to hear from 
 you, and believe me, 
 
 Ever you affectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MISS TODD. 
 
 Tittyghur, February 26), 1824. 
 
 Such, my dear Charlotte, is a fair sample of the appearance 
 and condition of some forty millions of peasantry subject to 
 British rule; very poor, as their appearance sufficiently indi- 
 cates, at least in those points where an Englishman places his 
 ideas of comfort and prosperity. Yet not so poor, and not by 
 any means so rude and wild as their scanty dress and simple 
 habitations would at first lead an Englishman to imagine. The 
 silver ornaments which the young woman wears, on her ankles, 
 arms, forehead, and in her nose, joined to the similar decora- 
 tions on her children's arms would more than buy all the 
 clothes and finery of the smartest servant-girl in England,— 
 and the men are, in all probability, well taught in reading and 
 writing, after their own manner, while the little boy, perhaps, 
 is one of my scholars, and could cast an account and repeat 
 the Lord's Prayer with any child of the same age in England. 
 The plant which overshadows the cow and goat is a bamboo, 
 the tall palm in the distance is a coco, that which hangs over 
 the old mother of the family is a plantain, and the creeper on 
 the thatched cottage a beautiful fast growing gourd, of the very- 
 kind I could fancy which obtained so fast hold on Jonah's 
 affections. The style of carrying the child astride on one hip, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 259 
 
 the manner in which the water-pot is balanced, and the red 
 paint, a mark of caste, as well as the diminutive size and high 
 hump of the cow, what we usually see here; and though the 
 groupe itself is from fancy, all the different objects are as 
 faithful representations of nature as my skill enabled me to 
 make. The sketch may give you some little idea of the scenes 
 we meet with in our morning rides. 
 
 At present I am not aware that I have much news to tell 
 you, or that I have many circumstances to add to the de- 
 scription of Bengal which I have already furnished. Our 
 lives for the last six weeks have been passed in great general 
 retirement, 
 
 but so much and so many things are to be done, that I am 
 often completely tired out before the day is ended, and yet 
 have to regret many omissions. One considerable source of 
 labour has been the number of sermons I have had to com- 
 pose. 
 
 * * * * * » 3tt 
 
 There is so grievous a want of Chaplains on the Bengal es- 
 tablishment, that both the Archdeacon and myself are obliged 
 to preach quite as often, and sometimes oftener, in the Sun- 
 day, than I ever did at Hodnet. 
 
 ******* 
 
 The country is now splendidly beautiful. The tall timber 
 trees which delighted us with their shade and verdure when 
 we landed, are now many of them covered with splendid 
 flowers, literally hot-house flowering shrubs, thirty or forty 
 feet- high, and the fragrance of a drive through the park at 
 Barrackpoor, is answerable to the dimensions of this Brob- 
 dignag parterre. Some of the trees, and those large ones 
 too, lose their leaves entirely at this season, throwing out 
 large crimson and yellow flowers in their place. 
 
 Believe me ever your faithful and affectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 02* 
 
260 CORRESPOXDENCS. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WTNN^ 
 
 Calcutta, May 27, 1824. 
 My dear Wynn, 
 
 I have two most kind and interesting letters to thank yo^ 
 for. 
 
 Ht * * * « ;(^ « 
 
 I have now, alas! to announce the death of the poor chief jus- 
 tice, who, after a week's struggle with one of the country- 
 fevers, but too common at this time of year, breathed his last 
 yesterday morning, at a little after four, having enjoyed his 
 office in India exactly, even to a day, the same time, six 
 weeks, which his predecessor did. For the last thirty-six 
 hours he had been, generally speaking, delirious, having from 
 the beginning exhibited symptoms of a tendency of blood to the 
 head^ but down to that time I had seen him every day, and 
 though he was much reduced, had few apprehensions that the 
 disorder would take so malignant a turn. He was buried 
 yesterday evening, (for in this climate no lying-in -state is 
 ever thought of,) with the usual military honours, and attend- 
 ed to his grave by a more than the usual show of the military 
 functionaries of Calcutta. I read the service, and all the 
 Clergy attended. He had already become a great and gene- 
 ral favourite, both with Europeans and natives, from his cor- 
 dial and friendly manners, the sensible and unaffected way 
 in which he had commenced his judicial functions, and, (with 
 the natives more particularly,) from the pains he, like poor 
 Biosset, was taking to learn the language. Lady Puller has 
 borne up admirably; her boy has been a great comfort to her, 
 and has evinced, in his whole conduct, a very amiable and 
 aftectionate disposition, and a self-command, judgment, and 
 
 discrimination beyond his years. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 She has determined, and I think wisely, to return by the same 
 vessel, the Paget, which brought them out! The contrast will, 
 indeed, be very painful, between her situation now, and what 
 it was then, but both she and her husband were much pleased 
 with the conduct of the Paget's captain, (Geary,) and she will 
 probably find herself less forlorn with him than among total 
 strangers. We asked them to our house, and they had a si- 
 milar invitation from Lord Amherst, but they have preferred 
 remaining during the short time which they spend in India 
 in the government house in Fort William in which they had 
 succeeded us. Poor Puller was unfortunate in arriving at 
 the worst season of the year, and a season which, everybody 
 says, has been peculiarly hot and unwholesome. Some days, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 2&1 
 
 indeed, during this month have been almost deserving the 
 name of ''terrible." Bj shutting all the windows close, by 
 darkening the room to the lowest ebb of visibility, and sitting 
 as lightly dressed as possible under the constant ventilation 
 of a punkah, one got through the morning pretty well, and I 
 found no want of disposition or ability either to write or study. 
 But if a window or a door was opened, the stream of hot air 
 came in, without the least exaggeration, like what you may 
 have felt at the mouth of a blast furnace. Had our kind- 
 hearted friend arrived in a more favourable season he might 
 perhaps liave been spared to us. But these thoughts are worse 
 than idle. 
 
 The air has been within these few days greatly cooled by 
 some pretty strong north-westers, with their usual accompani- 
 ments of thunder, (and such thunder !) lightning, and rain. 
 One of these storms, I regret to say, has blown down a large 
 range of brick stabling at Benares, and killed several men 
 and many horses. But at Calcutta they have done no harm 
 that I have heard of, while their reviving effects on man, beast, 
 bird, and vegetable, have really been little less than magical. 
 These showers are now, indeed, becoming more frequent and 
 attended with less wind, and an early setting-in of the rain is 
 predicted, of which I hope to take advantage for my voyage 
 up the country. My journey, alas I will not be so pleasant as 
 I anticipated, since, on the concurrent representations of all 
 our medical advisers, my wife and children remain behind^ 
 
 and we shall be separated for half a year at least. 
 
 *■ * * * * * -^^ 
 
 Dacca will be the first place I shall visit ; there is a church 
 to consecrate there ; a good many candidates for confirmation^ 
 and some Greek Christians with whom I wish to get on the 
 same amicable terms as I am with their countrymen at Cal- 
 cutta. Nor am I insensible to the desire of seeing one of the 
 most ancient and singular cities of India, and of obtaining a 
 nearer view of the Sunderbunds, the main stream of the Gan- 
 ges, and the yet mightier Megna. 
 
 I held my first visitation this morning at six o'clock, to 
 avoid the heat of the day. We had the first fruits of the Gen- 
 tile Church in India, in the person of Christian David, a black 
 catechist in Ceylon, and a pupil of the celebrated Schwartz, 
 whom, at the desire of Sir Edward Barnes, I admitted to Dea- 
 con's orders. The poor man, who had journeyed to Calcutta, 
 via Madras, to obtain them, is really a very clever, and at the 
 same time a most simple and artless creature. He knows no 
 Latin, but speaks English, Tamul, Cingalese, and Portuguese 
 fluently, and passed a good, though a very Indian and charac- 
 teristic examination. He is to dine with me to-day to meet 
 
262 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 the Company's Chaplains and Church of England Mission- 
 aries, as usual on visitation day, and the business being in some 
 degree the triumph of the episcopal cause in the east, I have 
 also asked the Protopapas of the Greeks, the Archimandrite 
 of the Armenians, v^^ith certain of their subordinate monks 
 from mount Sinai and Nakitchavan. It will be an odd party, 
 but the fact is that I have been sometimes tempted to flatter 
 myself with the hopes of effectually "reconciling" them. At 
 least 1 think it not impossible for the Church of England to 
 acquire a sort of influence over their minds, separated as they 
 are by a vast interval from their own ecclesiastical superiors, 
 which may enable us to do them much good, and to convey 
 much valuable instruction to them, which they otherwise would 
 be very slow to receive from us. 
 
 Adieu, dear Wynn, 
 Believe me everyour obliged and aftectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 God bless you once more ! In proportion as friends drop 
 off, those who are left become doubly dear. I have mourned 
 for poor Puller sincerely, but what should I do for you } 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 On the Chundnahj June 28, 1824. 
 My dear Love, 
 
 We are still in this labyrinth of rivers, and likely to be 
 several days yet before we reach Dacca. Mr. Master, how- 
 ever, has kindly forwarded your packets to me, and I write 
 back by his dak -boat, which, being small and light, will be 
 there on Wednesday. Thank you for your interesting letter. 
 I never recollect seeing your hand-writing with more or so 
 much delight as now, since it arrived quite unexpectedly, and 
 I had no hopes of hearing of you before the end of the week. 
 
 The stream of all these rivers, or nearly all, has been against 
 us ; and we had in one place a bar of sand to cut through, 
 which has made our journey very tedious, though through a 
 country, generally speaking, as beautiful as groves and mea- 
 dows can make it. You will, I hope, ere this, have received 
 my second packet of Journal ; the third I will send from Dacca. 
 We are both, I think, gaining health fast. 
 
 * ifr * * * * * 
 
 If you and my dear children were with me, I should enjoy 
 this way of life much. Our weather has been, generally, good, 
 and all has gone on well. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 263 
 
 This course has, certainly, been a long one; but I am, on 
 the whole, not sorry that I preferred it. It has shown me a 
 part of Bengal not usually traversed by Europeans, and de- 
 cidedly, I think, the most beautiful. We have had, indeed, 
 no more adventures like our ''audience" at Sibnibashi, but I 
 have some things to send which I trust will amuse you, and 
 I have had opportunities of making four large drawings. 
 Your affectionate husband, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Dacca, July 10, 1824. 
 
 Poor Stowe has had a very severe recurrence of dysentery. 
 He complained of it in some degree on Saturday, so that I left 
 him wind-bound in the pinnace, rather than expose him to the 
 chance of a wetting by taking him on in the jolly-boat to Dacca, 
 an expedient to which I myself resorted on that day, in order 
 to be in time for church on Sunday. On Sunday evening he 
 arrived, but so ill that we had some difficulty in getting him 
 
 out of his Cabin to Mr. Master's house. 
 
 *****■»» 
 
 I am quite well, except that my shins, which I could not 
 help exposing to the heat of the sun in the little boat, were 
 both burnt in the same way as if I had been sitting before a 
 great fire. 
 
 Dr. Todd, the principal surgeon in the station has consider- 
 ed Stowe as in some danger, but to-day his opinion is more 
 favourable. Pray tell his sister, (though I hope it is almost 
 needless,) that he has and shall have, from me, as great at- 
 tention and tenderness as a brother can show. . . . I sit 
 in his room as much as I can, with my books and writing, I 
 read to him when he is able to attend, and we converse from 
 time to time, while he has more liking for the tea, egg-wine, 
 
 &c. which I make for him, than for what his nurse prepares. 
 
 ******* 
 
 I have had the confirmation this morning; about twenty- 
 nine persons attended, all adults. 
 
 Assure Miss Stowe that her brother shall, in no case, be hur- 
 ried; and that I will not leave Dacca till he can accompany 
 me; or should so long a journey be thought too much for him, 
 till he is actually out of all danger, and able to return to Cal- 
 cutta with safety and propriety. 
 
 Adieu'! 
 
 Reginald Calcutta* 
 
264 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN, 
 
 Dacca, July 13, 1824. 
 My DEAR Wynn, 
 
 I sent, a few days since, an official letter to Mr. Courtenaj, 
 announcing the intention of Archdeacon Barnes to resign as 
 soon as his ten years are expired, and his hope that he may 
 be permitted to receive his pension from the date of such re- 
 signation. By all which I hear of him in India, he is well 
 deserving of any favour which ministers may be able to show 
 him. 
 
 •T^ -^ Vj* yF 'jf ^ ^ 
 
 Should the friend who now addresses you sink to his last 
 sleep by some jungle side, I have often thought, (your kind- 
 ness encourages me to take this liberty,) that few men would 
 be better qualified, from experience, and good sense, and good 
 character, to give satisfaction to the clergy and governments 
 of India. If I am spared to see him, which I hope to do in 
 
 February next, I may, perhaps, give you more information. 
 
 * * * * -j^ * *• 
 
 You will have learned, from a former letter, my intention 
 of setting out on a visitation of Bengal, Bombay, and possibly 
 Ceylon, and the date of my present will show you that I am 
 
 already advanced some little way in my journey. 
 
 * -* * * * * * 
 
 Two-thirds of the vast area of Dacca are filled with ruins, 
 some quite desolate and overgrown with jungle, others yet 
 occupied by Mussulman chieftains, the descendants of the fol- 
 lowers of Shah Jehanguire, and all of the *' Lions of war," 
 "Prudent and valiant Lords," "Pillars of the Council," 
 "Swords of Battle," and whatever other names of Cawn, 
 Emir, or Omrah the court of Delhi dispensed in the time of its 
 greatness. These are to me a new study. I had seen abun- 
 dance of Hindoo Baboos, and some few Rajas in Calcutta. 
 But of the 300,000 inhabitants who yet roost like bats in these 
 old buildings, or rear their huts amid their desolate gardens, 
 three-fourths are still Mussulmans, and the few English, and 
 Armenian, and Greek Christians who are found here, are not 
 altogether more than sixty or eighty persons, who live more 
 with the natives, and form less of an exclusive society, than 
 is the case in most parts of British India. All the Mussul- 
 mans of rank whom I have yet seen, in their comparatively 
 fair complexions, their graceful and dignified demeanour, 
 particularly on horseback, their showy dresses, the martial 
 curl of their whiskers, and the crowd, bustle, and ostentation 
 of their followers, far outshine any Hindoos^ but the Calcutta 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 26$ 
 
 Baboos leave them behind toto coelo, in the elegance of their 
 carriages, the beauty of their diamond rings, their Corinthian 
 verandahs, and the other outward signs of thriving and luxury. 
 Yet even amon^ these Mahommedans, who have, of course, 
 less reason to lilke us than any other inhabitants of India, there 
 is a strong and growing disposition to learn the English lan- 
 guage, and to adopt, by degrees, very many of the Englisli 
 customs and fashions. 
 
 The most whimsical instance of imitation, is, perhaps, that of 
 Mirza Ishraf Ali, a Zemindar of 100,000 acres, and with a 
 house like a ruinous convent, who in his English notes, signs 
 his hereditary title of " Kureem Cawn Bahadur" in its ini- 
 tials, K. C. B. 
 
 Many of the younger Mussulmans of rank, who have no hope 
 of advancement either in the army or the state, sooner or later 
 sink into sots, or kindle into deceits and rebels. As a remedy 
 for this evil, I have heard the propriety suggested of raising 
 corps of cavalry of the same description, but of smaller num- 
 bers than those of Skinner and Baddeley, which might be com- 
 manded by the natives of highest rank, but kept in the Com- 
 pany's pay, and assimilated, as much as possible, to the rest 
 of the army. They might easily, it was said, be stationed so 
 as not to be dangerous, and at the same time to render regu- 
 lar troops disposable for other purposes. The idea somewhat 
 resembles tl)at of Forbes, before the year 1745, for raising 
 Highland regiments, and perhaps it may be true that the best 
 way to make men loyal, is to make them respectable and com- 
 fortable, while to keep them employed is most likely to keep 
 them out of mischief. They are not, however, the great men 
 only, who are inclined to copy the English; a desire of learn- 
 ing our language is almost universal even here, and in these 
 waste bazars and sheds, where I should never have expected 
 any thing of the kind, the dressing-boxes, writing-cases, cutlery, 
 chintzes, pistols, and fowling-pieces, engravings, and other 
 English goods, or imitations of English, which are seen, evince 
 how fond of them the middling and humbler classes have be- 
 come. Here, too, a knowledge of the Christian Scriptures, in 
 spite of the Abbe Dubois, is rapidly increasing. A Baptist 
 missionary has established a circle of 26 day schools, con- 
 taining^ more than 1000 boys, who all read the New Testament 
 as their daily task, without any objection being made, and had 
 the Church of England Societies a missionary at present to 
 spare, he might in a month double the ijumber. Of all these. 
 
266 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 indeed, few will be directly converted, but these examples, as 
 well as my own experience, (and I think I am now able to 
 form an opinion,) convince me that the Hindoostanee version, 
 at least, is neither unintelligible nor contemptible. If Chris- 
 tian David, indeed, is to be believed, and I believe him to be 
 a very honest man, nothing can exceed Dubois's mendacity and 
 ignorance, even with regard to Malabar and Coromandel. But 
 of these countries I trust to know more hereafter. 
 
 I have staid longer in Dacca than I intended, owing to the 
 sad and severe illness of my poor friend Stowe, who two days 
 before we arrived, imprudently exposed himself to the two 
 worst poisons of the climate, by wading through a marsh while 
 the sun was yet high. He has been twelve days ill, and is yet 
 in a very precarious state. His illness, indeed, prevented me 
 from writing some days ago, but he is now asleep, and I have 
 fled to England, shall I say.^ or to Wales.^ for it is Llangedwin 
 in which my fancy always contemplates you with most pleasure. 
 Wherever you are, Heaven bless you all, and may you some- 
 times think of one, who though now actually in " India be- 
 yond the Ganges," is, and ever must be. 
 Dear Wynn, 
 
 Your obliged and affectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Dacca, JuUj 16, 1824. 
 My DEAR Love, 
 
 All I can say to day is, that the two surgeons do not think 
 matters worse. . . I have prayed with poor Stowe 
 every day, at his request, since his illness began ^ indeed, we 
 had always read the Psalms and Lessons together on board 
 our boat. On Sunday, by his own anxious wish, he received 
 the Sacrament. He is now quite calm, and resigned to God's 
 will, which must, of itself, be a favourable circumstance for 
 his bodily restoration. 
 
 July 17th. 
 You must prepare poor Miss Stowe for the worst, if that can 
 be called the worst, which will be to her brother, I hope and 
 believe, a gate of everlasting happiness. He is yet in the full 
 possession of his intellects, and so strong, considering all he 
 has gone through, that I have been persuaded with difficulty 
 to cease to hope. ... I shall feel his loss very 
 deeply. I do think if he lives, with his good talents, good 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 267 
 
 intentions, and tlie additional motives which a recollection of 
 the approach of death, and gratitude for his deliverance, may 
 give him, he will be a most valuable servant of God in India* 
 Nor is it a trifling circumstance of com- 
 fort tome, that, if he lives, I shall think that my nursing, and 
 his unbounded confidence in me, will have been, under God, 
 the chief means of tranquillizing his mind, supporting his 
 strength, and saving him. 
 
 God bless you, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Daccttt July 18, 1824 
 My dear Wife, 
 
 All is over! My poor friend was released a little after 
 twelve last night. The light-headedness which in dysentery, 
 I find is always a fatal symptom, encreased during the day, 
 though he continued to know me, and to do and take what- 
 ever 1 desired him; between nine and ten, he had a severe re- 
 turn of spasm, after which he sunk into a tranquil doze till he 
 passed off without a groan. I grieve to find by your letter 
 that his sister is set out hither; surely there will yet be time 
 to bring her back again, and spare her some of the horrors of 
 a journey made in doubtful hope, and a return in solitude and 
 misery. 
 
 I greatly regret that anything in my letters gave encourage- 
 ment to her to set off. But I have all along clung, even against 
 hope, to the hope of his recovery. 
 
 On the 14th and 15th, he altered much for the worse, and 
 it was on the evening of the latter day that he was first con- 
 vinced his end was drawing near, and begged me to be with 
 him when the hour came. You will not doubt that I kept my 
 promise, though he was not conscious of my presence. As he 
 was fully sensible of the approach of death, so he was ad- 
 mirably prepared for it. From the very beginning of our jour- 
 ney, we had prayed and read the Scriptures together daily; 
 on the last Sunday which we saw, we had received the sacra- 
 ment together; I trust I shall never forget the deep contrition 
 and humility, the earnest prayer, or the earnest faith in the 
 mercies of Christ, with which he commended himself to God. 
 On Thursday he had an awful mental stru<»;gle, but confessed 
 his sins, and cried for mercy to Jesus Clirist with a siniplicitv, 
 contrition and humility which I shall never forget, and I trust 
 always be the better for. By degrees liis fears became less, 
 
 V6l. II.— 23 
 
268 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 his faith stronger, and his hope more lively; and he told me 
 at many different times in the following thirty-six hours, that 
 God's goodness was making the passage more and more easy 
 to him, and that he felt more and more that Christ had died 
 for sinners. When his strength was gradually wearing away, 
 he said, "If I lose sight of the Cross, though but for a mo- 
 ment, I am ready to despair; but my blessed Lord makes his 
 mercy and his power more and more plain to me." The lau- 
 danum, which was given to him in the course of Friday night, 
 conjured up some evil dreams, of which he complained a good 
 deal; being very much worn out myself, I had gone to lie 
 down for an hour or two, leaving him asleep under the care 
 of one of his surgeons. He wakened, however, soon after, and 
 called earnestly for me, and when I came threw his arms round 
 my neck, and begged me not to leave him. After we had 
 prayed a little together, he said, " My head is sadly confused 
 witii this horrid drug, but I now recollect all which you told 
 me, and which I myself experienced yesterday, of God's good- 
 ness in his Son. Do not let them give me any more, for it 
 prevents my praying to God as I could wish to do." He 
 spoke very often, of his '' poor, poor sister," and said, *' God, 
 who is so good to a sinner like me, will not forget her." He 
 asked, which you will not doubt I promised for us both, that 
 w^e would be a sister and a brother to her. He said, not long 
 before his light-headed ncss came on, on Saturday morning, 
 *' Tell Mrs. Heber that I think of her, and pray for her in this 
 hour." After his hallucination commenced, he rambled very 
 much about our voyage, but whenever I spoke to him, it re- 
 called him for the moment, and he listened and said Amen, 
 to some of the Church prayers for the dying. ''It is very 
 strange," he once said, "every thing changes round me. I 
 cannot make out where I am, or Avhat has happened, but your 
 face I always see near me, and I recollect what you have 
 been saying. " The last articulate words he uttered were 
 about his sister. Even in this incoherence, it was comfortable 
 to find that no gloomy ideas intruded, that he kept up some 
 shadow of his hope in God, even w4ien his intellect was most 
 clouded, and that his last day of life was certainly, on the whole, 
 not a day of suffering. After death, his countenance was 
 singularly calm and beautiful, and not like a corpse so much 
 as a statue. I myself closed his eyes. 
 
 One lesson has been very deeply imprinted in my heart by 
 these few days. If this man's innocent and useful life, (for I 
 have no reason to doubt thatthe greater part of his life has been 
 botli innocent and useful,) offered so many painful recollec- 
 tions, and called forth such deep contrition, when in the hour 
 of death he came to examine everv instance of omission or 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 269 
 
 transgression, how careful must we be to improve every hour 
 and every opportunity of grace, and so to remember God 
 while we live, that we may not be afraid to think on him when 
 dyin«-l And above all, how blessed and necessary is the blood 
 of Christ to us all, which was poor Stowe's only and effectual 
 
 comfort. 
 
 ******* 
 
 God bless you, dear love, in your approaching voyage. 
 How delighted I should be to meet you at Boglipoor. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Dacctty July 19, 1824o 
 Dearest Wife, 
 
 Poor Stowe was buried yesterday in the cemetery which I 
 had consecrated just a week before. All the gentlemen of the 
 station, as well as the military officers, attended unsolicited, 
 and his body was borne to the grave by a detachment of Eu- 
 ropean artillerymen, who, though it was the custom on such 
 occasions for the coffin to be carried, when out of the city, by 
 native bearers, refused to allow any persons but themselves 
 " to touch the gentleman. " Mr. Parish read the service, and 
 I went as chief mourner. Sincerely as I have mourned, and 
 do mourn him continually, the moment perhaps at which I 
 felt his loss most keenly was on my return to this house. I 
 had always after airings, or other short absences, been accus- 
 tomed to run up immediately-to his room to ask about his me- 
 dicines and his nourishment, to find if he had wanted any 
 thing during my absence, and to tell him what I had seen and 
 heard. And now, as I went up stairs, I felt most painfully 
 that the object of my solicitude was gone, and that there was 
 nobody now to derive comfort or help from my coming, or 
 whose eyes would faintly sparkle as I opened the door. I felt 
 my heart sick, and inclined to accuse myself, as usual, of not 
 having valued my poor friend sufficiently while I had him, 
 and of having paid during the vo^^age too little attention to 
 the state of his health; yet, from the hour I knew he was se- 
 riously ill, thank God 1 I can find nothing of wilful neglect to 
 reproach myself with, though some things I might have done 
 better, if I had not myself been in some respects unwell, and 
 if I had not been constantly occupied with business and cor- 
 respondence. But I hope I did what I could during the few 
 last days, and when his danger was told me, I gave up every 
 thing to him, and neither read nor wrote, nor paid or received 
 
270 CORRESPONDENCE. ' 
 
 visits, nor even went out of his room for a moment, except for 
 very short and hurried meals. 
 
 It will be long before I forget the guilelessness of his na- 
 ture, the interest which he felt and expressed in all the beau- 
 tiful and sequestered scenery which we passed through, his 
 anxiety to be useful to me in any way whixh I could point out 
 to him, (he was indeed very useful,*) and above all the unaf- 
 fected pleasure which he took in discussing religious subjects, 
 his diligence in studying the Bible, and the fearless humanity 
 with which he examined the case, and administered to the 
 wants of nine poor Hindoos, the crew of a salt-barge, whom, 
 as I mentioned in my Journal, we found lying sick together 
 of a jungle fever, unable to leave the place where they lay, 
 and unaided by the neighbouring villages. I then little thought 
 how soon he in his turn would require the aid he gave so cheer- 
 fully. 
 
 I have been to-day settling his affairs, and looking over his 
 papers. I yet hope to hear by to-morrow's post that you 
 have been able to prevent his sister's wretched voyage. Adieu, 
 the post is going out. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Dacca, Julij 21, 1824. 
 
 I have been sadly disappointed at not hearing from you to- 
 day, but the cause has been explained by the increase of the 
 
 inundation and the consequent delays of the Dak I 
 
 have, I believe, lost little by these three days' delay, as the 
 wind has been contrary, and I, to say the truth, have had so 
 severe a boil on the cap of my knee, that I am hardly fit to 
 undertake a journey. I have had it coming on some time, 
 and not being able to rest it, and irritating it still more by 
 want of sleep, it had become very painful indeed, and at this 
 moment keeps me a close prisoner. The boat will be a good 
 place for my convalescence^ but in the mean time I have been 
 better here. 
 
 Mr. Todd has absolutely refused to receive any fee for his 
 attendance upon poor Stowe; his conduct has throughout been 
 admirable. He seldom failed to call four and sometimes five 
 times a day. He latterly always sate with Stowe during the 
 times that 1 was forced to leave him, and he and Mr. Patter- 
 son, by turns, sate up the greater part of the three last nights, 
 to watch any turn which might be taken advantage of. . . 
 Indeed it may be a melancholy comfort to Miss Stowe to know 
 
CORRESPONDENCEc 271 
 
 how much interest her brother's youth, recent arrival in India, 
 and, perhaps, the manner in which his medical attendants 
 spoke of him, excited in the whole station. Every day pre- 
 sents of fruits, jellies, things which were thought good for him, 
 and books supposed to be likely to illustrate his case or amuse 
 him, came from one quarter or another, not only from the Eu- 
 ropeans, but from the Nawab and Mirza Israf Ali, while, to 
 Mr. Master's brotherly kindness, I am more indebted than I 
 can say. 
 
 And thus ends my visit to Dacca! a place which, more than 
 most others in India, I was anxious to visit; my visit to which 
 was opposed by obstacles so numerous, and at which I have 
 passed, perhaps, the most melancholy and forlorn three weeks 
 I ever remember. God's will be done! I have acted, as I 
 thought for the best, and I now go on, though alone and sor- 
 rowful, with an entire trust in His Providence and goodness. 
 To think that I may, perhaps, in three weeks more, meet my 
 beloved wife and children, is itself enough to give me courage. 
 
 This letter is a sad scrawl, but most of it has been written 
 on the bed. I send you another curiosity which arrived to- 
 day from two Armenian Bishops of Ecmiazin, at the foot of 
 Mount Ararat, and Jerusalem ! What ideas such names would 
 have excited in England ! 
 
 Adieu, dear Love! 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MISS STOWE. 
 
 FurreedpooTt July^ 1824. 
 With a heavy heart, my dear Miss Stowe, I send you the 
 enclosed keys. How to offer you consolation in your present 
 grief, I knew not; for by my own deep sense of the loss of an 
 excellent friend, I know how much heavier is your burden. 
 Yet even the many amiable qualities of your dear brother, 
 joined with that deep Christian humility and reliance on his 
 Saviour which he evinced in his illness, Avhile they make our 
 loss the heavier, should lead us to recollect that the loss is 
 ours only; that, prepared as he was to die, it was his unspeak- 
 able gain to be removed from a world in which he had many 
 sorrows; and above all, that your separation from him will 
 only be for a time, and until He. who has hidden him from 
 your eyes shall restore you to his society in a happy and eter- 
 nal state of existence. Separation of one kind or another is, 
 indeed, one of the most frequent trials to which affectionate 
 
 23* 
 
272 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 hearts are exposed. And if you can only regard your brother 
 as removed for his own advantage to a distant country, you 
 will find, perhaps, some of that misery alleviated under which 
 you now are suffering. Had you remained in England when 
 he came out hither, you would have been, for a time, divided 
 no less effectually than you are now. The difference of hear- 
 ing from him is almost all, and though you now have not that 
 comfort, yet even without hearing from him, you may be well 
 persuaded, (which there you could not always have been,) that 
 he is well and happy^ and above all, you may be persuaded, 
 as your dear brother was most fully in his time of severest 
 suffering, that God never smites his children in vain, or out 
 of cruelty. His severest stripes are intended to heal, and he 
 has doubtless some wise and gracious purpose both for your 
 poor Martin and for you, in thus taking him from your side, 
 and leaving you in this world, with Himself as your sole 
 guardian. 
 
 A mighty and most merciful protector be sure He is, and 
 one who always then deals most kindly with us when we are 
 constrained to cast our cares on Him alone, and are most sen- 
 sible of our utter helplessness. This was your brother's com- 
 fort| it should be yours; and thus may both he and you have 
 occasion for unspeakable joy hereafter, if the mysterious dis- 
 pensation which has deprived you of your brother^ serves to 
 bring you to a closer and more constant communion with your 
 God. Meantime, in my wife and myself, you have friends, 
 even in this remote land, who are anxious, as far as we have 
 the power, to supply your brother's place, and whose best ser- 
 vices you may command as freely as his whom you have lost. 
 
 So long as you choose to remain with us, we will be, to our 
 power, a sister and a brother to you. And it may be worth 
 your consideration, whether in your present state of health 
 and spirits, a journey, in my wife's society, will not be better 
 for you than a dreary voyage home. But this is a point on 
 which you must decide for yourself; I would scarcely venture 
 to advise, far less dictate, where I am only anxious to serve. 
 In my dear Emily you will already have had a most affection- 
 ate and sensible counsellor. 
 
 And now farewell! God support, bless and comfort you! 
 Such as my prayers are, you have them fervently and sincere- 
 ly offered. But you have better and holier prayers than mine. 
 That the spirits in Paradise pray for those whom they have 
 left behind, I cannot doubt, since I cannot suppose tliat they 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 273 
 
 cease to love us there 5 and your dear brother is thus still em- 
 ployed in your service, and still recommending you to a 
 Throne of Mercy, to the all sufficient and promised help of 
 that God who is the Father of the fatherless, and of that bless- 
 ed Son who hath assured us that '• they who mourn shall be 
 comforted!" 
 
 One more consideration I cannot help addressing to you ^ 
 though it belongs to a subject wrapt up in impenetrable dark- 
 ness. A little before your poor brother ceased to speak at all, 
 and after his mind had been for some time wandering, he 
 asked me in a half whisper, " Shall I see my sister to-night?" 
 1 could not help answering, though in a difterent sense, per- 
 haps, from that in which he meant the question, that I thought 
 it possible. I know not, (indeed who can know?) whether 
 the spirits of the just are ever permitted to hover over those 
 whom they have loved most tenderly^ but if such permission 
 be given, and who can say it is impossible? then it must 
 greatly increase your brother's present happiness, and greatly 
 diminish that painful sense of separation which even the souls 
 of the righteous may be supposed to feel, if he sees you re- 
 signed, patient, hopeful, trusting on that same cross which 
 was his refuge in the hour of dread, and that good Provi- 
 dence to whose care he fervently and faithfully committed 
 you. 
 
 Believe me, dear Miss Stowe, 
 Your faithful and affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Furreedpoor^ July 28, 1824. 
 
 Alas! alas! my beloved wife, what have you not gone 
 through? Your letter of July 24, has just reached me from 
 Dacca. God's will be done in all things! Your joining me is 
 out of the question. But I need not tell you to spare no ex- 
 pense of sea-voyage, or any other measure, which may tend 
 to restore or preserve our dear children or yourself, so soon as 
 such a measure may appear desirable for any of you. 
 
 On these points I leave you in 
 confidence to the advice of Dr. Abel and ^Ir. Shaw. For 
 the success of their counsels I humbly hope in the mercy of 
 God, who hasin this heavy visitation preserved us from still 
 more bitter sorrow. 
 
 I am at this moment strangely tempted to come to you. But 
 I feaff it mio;htbe a compromise of my duty and a distrust of 
 
274 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 God I I feel most grateful indeed to him for the preservation 
 of our invaluable treasures. I pray God to bless Lady Am- 
 herst, and all who are dear to her, and to show kindness ten- 
 fold to her children, for all the kindness she has shown ours. 
 I am going on immediately with a heavy heart indeed, but 
 with trust in His mercies. Farewell ! 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ALEXANDER, &t. &C. &C. 
 
 Mahahad, Sept. 24, 1824. 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 Many thanks for your kind and friendly letter, as well as 
 for the enclosed paper. I am sincerely sorry that you have 
 had so much trouble about it, and that from our friend the 
 Archdeacon and myself not knowing exactly each other's 
 proceedings, an ignorance arising from the illness which kept 
 him while at Chunar so nearly close a prisoner, we were at 
 the same time taking measures which had a tendency to clash 
 with each other. 
 
 t: ***** * 
 
 It is, however, of the less consequence, since circumstances 
 have come to my knowledge which make me think it, at the 
 present moment, inexpedient to address government on the 
 subject of the Chunar Church, and that the object which we 
 have all of us in view, will be, in some degree, obtained by 
 another method. 
 
 I cannot close my letter without renewing my acknowledg- 
 ments for the very agreeable days which I have spent in 
 your house and in your society; and assuring you that I shall 
 long remember with deep interest some passages in our 
 conversation, and in the letters which you showed me. That 
 God may bless you and yours in all things, is the earnest 
 wish of 
 
 Dear Colonel, 
 
 Ever your sincere friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta* 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Allahabad, Sept. 29, 1824. ^ 
 Your letter, and enclosed note, have just reached me at this 
 place, where we have been thus long detained for want of tents. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 275 
 
 Alas! my love, how have you been tried! Comfortable as 
 your last note is, I dare not yet hope that I shall see my lovely 
 little Harriet again in this world, for I know the insidious na- 
 ture of the disease. But I shall not return. I have, I feel, 
 duties to fulfil here, and, as you truly say, before I could ar- 
 rive, her doom must be sealed, and your burst of grief, in case 
 of the worst, must have subsided into a calmer sorrow. God 
 support and comfort you ! I am well, and I trust I shall be en- 
 abled to be patient and resigned. 
 
 * * * » « # « 
 
 There are rumours of wars in this part of the world, and 
 people talk of armies and invasions from the Seiks, Nepal, 
 and Nagpoor. I am not very credulous of such reports, but 
 I mention them to show you that I am aware of them, and will 
 not run into needless danger. God bless you; trust in Him, 
 and pray for His help for your poor babies, and your affec- 
 tionate husband, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE REV C. CHOLMONDELEY AND MRS. CHOLMONDELEY. 
 
 Rahmatgunge, between Cawnpore and Lucknow, Oct. 19, 1824. 
 My DEAR Charles and Mary, 
 
 I write to both in one letter, because from the rambling na- 
 ture of the life which I have been for some time leading, and 
 still more from the number of business letters which I am 
 obliged to attend to, I have far less time than I could wish to 
 thank my friends at home for the kind and interesting packets 
 which I receive from them. Of those packets, I can assure 
 you none has given Emily and myself more pleasure than 
 Charles's account of the birth of your little boy. 
 
 ******** 
 ******* 
 
 My journey has hitherto lain through three, if not four, very 
 distinct tracts of country and people; of the former I endea- 
 voured to give you some idea in my letters from Calcutta, 
 and I do not think that my first impressions have been altered. 
 Bengal, of which I have now seen by far the greatest part, is 
 all pretty nearly the same mass of luxuriant vegetation, fields 
 of rice, indigo, and sugar, growing in and out of the water. 
 
 'P "^ '^ ''P" ?i* >!^ ?|* 
 
 Bengal is not included within the bounds of Hindostan, 
 and the term Bengalee is used to express any thing which is 
 
276 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 roguish and cowardly; such as they are, however, I am far 
 from disliking them; ..... and I still 
 am inclined to think some parts of the country the most beau- 
 tiful, I am sure it is the most fertile, and to an European the 
 most novel and exotic district M^hich I have yet seen in India. 
 But if you wish to obtain an idea of the people or country of 
 Bengal, I know not where I can refer you better than to the 
 large prints of Cook's third voyage; the expression of counte- 
 nance is remarkably similar to that which his draftsman has 
 given to the Otaheitans. 
 
 I ought not to omit, that the language of Bengal, which is 
 quite different from Hindoostanee, is soft and liquid. The 
 common people are all fond of singing, and some of the airs 
 which I used to hear from the boatmen and children in the 
 villages, reminded me of the Scotch melodies. I heard more 
 than once "My boy Tammy," and " Here's a health to those 
 far away," during some of those twilight walks, after my boat 
 was moored, which wanted only society to make them de- 
 lightful, when amid the scent and glow of night-blowing 
 flowers, the soft whisper of waving palms, and the warbling 
 of the nightingale, watching the innumerable fire-flies like 
 airy glow-worms, floating, rising, and sinking, in the gloom 
 of the bamboo woods, and gazing on the mighty river with 
 the unclouded breadth of a tropical moon on its surface, I felt 
 in my heart it is good to be here. 
 
 As we approach the frontiers of Bahar, these beauties dis- 
 appear, and are replaced by two or three days' sail of hide- 
 ously ugly, bare, treeless level country, till some blue hills 
 are seen, and a very pretty and wooded tract succeeds with 
 high hills little cultivated, but peopled by a singular and in- 
 teresting race, the Welch of India. 
 
 I have now taken measures for placing an ordained mis- 
 sionary of the Church of England among them, and hope to 
 be the means, by God's blessing, of gradually extending a 
 chain of schools through the whole district, some parts of 
 which are, however, unfortunately very unhealthy. I had 
 myself not much opportunity, nor indeed much power of con- 
 versing with any of them; but I have since had the happiness 
 of hearing that one old soubahdar said that he and his men 
 had a desire to learn more of my religion because I was not 
 proud; there certainly seem fewer obstacles to conversion 
 here than in any part of this country which I have ever seen 
 or heard of. 
 
 On leaving the hills of the Jungleterry district, the flat 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 277 
 
 country of Bahar and Allahabad, as far as Benares, shows a 
 vast extent of fertile, cultivated, and populous soil. 
 
 The whole scene, in short, is changed from Polynesia to the 
 more western parts of Asia and the east of Europe, and I 
 could fancy myself in Persia, Syria, or Turkey, to which the 
 increasing number of Mussulmans, though still the minority, 
 the minarets, and the less dark complexion of the people, 
 much contribute. 
 
 But though this difference exists between Bengal and Ba- 
 har, Bahar itself, I shortly afterwards found, was in many re- 
 spects different from the Dooab, and still more from the do- 
 minion of the King of Oude, in which I now am. Almost 
 immediately on leaving Allahabad, I was struck with the ap- 
 pearance of the men, as tall and muscular as the largest stature 
 of Europeans, and with the fields of wheat, as almost the only 
 cultivation — 
 
 V?£" VjT >ff "-Tt * ^ 
 
 I was tempted too to exclaim, 
 
 Bellum, o terra hospita, portas: 
 Bello armantur equi ; bellum hsec armenta minantur. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Since that time, my life has been that of a Tartar chief, 
 rather than an English clergyman. I rise by three in the 
 morning, and am on horseback by four, for the sake of getting 
 the march over, and our tents comfortably pitched before the 
 heat of the day. 
 
 * *' * ;if * * * 
 
 I have then a few hours to myself till dinner-time, at four, 
 after which we generally stroll about, read prayers, and send 
 every body to bed at eight o'clock, to be ready for the next 
 day's march. 
 
 I have as yet said nothing of my professional labours, 
 (though in this respect I may say I have not been idle, ) very 
 few Sundays have elapsed, since I left Calcutta, in which I 
 have not been able to collect a Christian congregation, and not 
 many on which I have not been requested to administer the 
 sacrament. I have already confirmed above 300 persons, be- 
 sides those I confirmed before I set out; and I have found, 
 almost every where, a great and growing anxiety on the part 
 of the English families which are scattered through this vast 
 extent of country, both to obtain a more regular and stated 
 performance of Divine Service, than, in the present paucity 
 of Chaplains and Missionaries, can be afforded to them. I have 
 
278 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 found, too, abundant reason to believe that the standard of 
 morals and religion is rising much higher among them than it 
 used to be, and that the Church of England, her ceremonies, 
 and clergy, are daily gaining popularity. We are not here an 
 old establishment, acting chiefly on the defensive; we are a 
 rising and popular sect, and among the candidates for con- 
 firmation, many of whom were grown up, and some advanced 
 in life, there were many who had been brought up among 
 Dissenters or the Church of Scotland, and who confessed that 
 a few years back, they should never have thought it possible 
 for them to seek the benediction of a Bishop. 
 
 With regard to the conversion of the natives, a beginning has 
 been made, and though it is a beginning only, I think it a very 
 promising one. I do not only mean that wherever our schools 
 are established they gladly send their children tolhem, though 
 this alone would be a subject of great thankfulness to God, 
 but of direct conversion, the number is as great as could well 
 be expected, considering that it is only within the last five 
 years that any ordained English Missionary has been in the 
 presidency of Bengal, and that before that time nothing was 
 even attempted by any members of our Church, except Mr. 
 Martyn and Mr. Corrie. Of the candidates for confirmation, 
 whom I mentioned above, eighty were converted heathens, 
 and there were many whose distant residences made it impos- 
 sible for them to attend, and many more who were desirous 
 to obtain the rite, whom then- pastors did not think as yet 
 sufficiently instructed. 
 
 Great part of our Liturgy has been translated, and well 
 translated too, into Hindoostanee, and I thought it fortunate 
 that the Confirmation Service as well as the Communion is 
 found in the present compendium. The language is grave 
 and sonorous, and as its turn of expression, like that of all 
 other eastern tongues, is scriptural, it suits extremely well 
 the majestic simplicity of our Prayer-Book. With all this 
 employment, and all these hopes before me, you will easily 
 believe I am not idle, and cannot be unhappy. Yet you will 
 not, I am sure, suspect me of forgetting all I have left behindj 
 and there are many little circumstances of almost daily oc- 
 currence which give occasion to very sadly pleasing recollec- 
 tions. 
 
 * * " * * * * 
 
 On another occasion while we were sitting at the tent door 
 under the shade of a noble peepul-tree, looking out with some 
 anxiety over the wide sultry plain for the rear of our caravan, 
 Lushington called out, as the long necks reared themselve* 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 279 
 
 amid some brushwood, "the camels are coming, oho!'" I 
 believe he thought from my silence that I did not understand 
 the allusion, but in fact I could not answer. He had sent me 
 to Moreton drawing-room and my dear Mary's piano-forte, 
 and I was, I believe, a long time in getting back to the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Ganges and Jumna. I have written a very 
 long letter, but I do not think I shall have tired either of you. 
 I meant to have enclosed one to my mother, but I have really 
 no time now, and will write to her at a more advanced stage 
 of my journey, and when I have something more to say. I 
 knew you would show her this letter; giving my best love t(» 
 her and to Heber. I can hardly say how often and how much 
 I long to see you all, and how constantly you are all in my 
 thoughts and prayers. 
 
 Adieu, dear Charles and Mary, 
 
 Ever vour affectionate brother, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Almorah^ Dec. 1, 1824. 
 
 Your letter of the 10th November has just reached me, 
 having been sent from Delhi. I trust, that long ere this, you 
 will have been convinced, by my Journal, that though there 
 is a certain degree of irritability in the native mind in the 
 northern and western provinces of Hindostan, there is nothing 
 like revolt, and that I am running no sort of danger. To set 
 your mind, however, more at ease, I have had a conversation 
 
 with , who, though not insensible to the fact that 
 
 there are fewer troops than is advisable in these provinces, 
 (if troops were to be had,) does not feel any apprehension of 
 mischief occurring at present. Had any of the great native 
 powers been prepared to strike, they would have been on horse- 
 back before now, and as soon as possible after the rains. And 
 though there may be, here and there, a refractory Zemindar 
 on the frontier, no general or formidable rising can be now. 
 looked for, unless, which God forbid, some great disaster shall 
 happen to our arms in the east. Rajpootana is said to be again 
 quiet, and the transfer of Mhow to the Bombay army, by 
 nearly doubling Sir David Ochterlony's disposable force, will 
 enable him probably to keep it so. 
 
 I am not going near the district where Mr. Shore wa« 
 wounded, and tnat too is said to be now again tranquil. Ro- 
 hilcund is as quiet as it is ever likely to be, and of that dis- 
 
 Vol. IL— 24 
 
280 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 trict I have only a very few short marches to traverse, and 
 in its quietest part ; nor, so far as I can learn, am I at all an 
 unpopular person there, or likely to be molested, even if some 
 partial mischief should occur. Believe me, I will be prudent, 
 and incur no needless danger. God bless and keep you for 
 ever! 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 BoiipooTy Rohilcundt Dec. 10, 1824. 
 Dearest Emily, 
 
 I send you two good packets of Journal, by which you will 
 see I have had a very interesting journey through Keraaoon. 
 My visit to Almorah has, I hope, not been useless, or one 
 which I ought to regret, notwithstanding the delay it has oc- 
 casioned me. The reasons which led me to go there, (which 
 indeed, as you are aware, has always been a part of my plan,) 
 you will see detailed in my Journal. I have learned some facts 
 which, if my life is spared, may open a door for sending mis- 
 sionaries and copies of the Scriptures into Tartary, and even 
 China. I have also ascertained, from actual experience, that 
 if our next arrival in the north of India falls at the proper sea- 
 son, neither the fatigue nor the inconveniences, though cer- 
 tainly neither of them are trifling, need deter you from 
 enjoying the pleasure which I have received, and which, had 
 you been with me, would have been greatly increased. 
 
 For children and women-servants there is no mode of con- 
 veyance but small hammocks, slung on a bamboo, and each 
 carried by two men, whilst you would have to encounter the 
 actual bodily fatigue of sitting on a pony up and down steep 
 hills for three or four hours together. Still these difficultied 
 are not much greater than are encountered by travellers in 
 Norway, and the remoter parts of Scotland. 
 
 * * * -:<f * * 
 
 I have at last received your letters, directed to Meerut, 
 and that of Dr. Abel. They contain a very blended tissue of 
 evil and good, for which I hardly know whether to lament or 
 be grateful. 
 
 * * n ih * * * 
 
 The letters you enclose from home have also excited very 
 painful feelings. 
 
 Nor am I able to contemplate without great concern and anx- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 281 
 
 iety, my poor mother at her time of life, seeking out a new 
 residence. God I hope will support and strengthen her natu- 
 ral cheerful spirits and activity of mind. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 In order to show you that I conceal nothing from you, I 
 add, that a letter from Mr. Halhed, just received, apologizes 
 for not being. able to receive me at his house, in consequence 
 of his being obliged to march against a small body of armed 
 plunderers near the forest. Such little tumults are, as I have 
 told you, not unfrequent in Rohilcund; but this is several 
 days' march out of my way, and even were it not, my escort 
 is too strong to encourage them to meddle with me. I mention 
 it lest you should be alarmed by hearing any thing of it from 
 other quarters, and because such matters are, at Calcutta, of- 
 ten exaggerated. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Mowahf fJyepoor Territory ^ J Jan. 22, 1825. 
 My DEAREST Emily, 
 
 I take the opportunity of the return of Mr. Mac Sweyn's 
 suwarrs to Agra, to send you my Journal, as continued down 
 to this morning. My next letter must be from Jyepoor, where, 
 if it please God, I hope to arrive on the 28th. If you sail to 
 Bombay, that will be the last letter which you are likely to 
 receive from me during your stay in Bengal. 
 
 I was very sorry to hear of poor . . . 's death, and 
 cannot help thinking that the confined air of her quarters in the 
 fort, added to her own regret for the foolish step she had taken 
 in leaving you, hastened it. I now much regret that I did not, 
 as I once thought of doing, call on her, in one of my morning 
 rides, to bid her good-bye before I left Calcutta; she would 
 have taken it kindly, but I was in a hurry, and not over well- 
 pleased with her at the time. 
 
 I have just received a letter from Colonel Raper, the Resi- 
 dent at the Rannee's court, who sent me an additional escort 
 of cavalry for my passage through the Jyepoor territory. I 
 had, previously., no apprehensions, but you will be glad to hear 
 that I am well guarded. The Rannee is now again on perfect 
 good terms with the English. Sir David Ochterlony is resid- 
 ing in the palace with her, and she has sent a vakeel, and a 
 guard of twenty-five horsemen, to guide and guard me through 
 her dominions. She has, in fact, carried most of her points 
 
282 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 with government, which, in these troublesome times, had, 
 probably, no desire to make new enemies. All is, at present, 
 quiet in these partsj and with the exception of the strange ap- 
 pearance of 2500 horse, no man knows whence, at Calpee, 
 who plundered the city, and even ventured to exchange some 
 shots with the garrison in the fort, all has been so for several 
 months past. Any more serious mischief to which that may 
 liave been intended as a prelude, will probably be prevented 
 by the news of our successes at Rangoon. 
 
 I am quite well, and if you were with me, should be quite 
 happy. As it is, I enjoy very much this sort of wild travel- 
 ling, and the spectacle of a people in a very simple state of 
 society. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 JyepooTi January 28, 1825. 
 
 * • ■-» 'Tf: * * * 
 
 I have written to you so lately, that I should hardly have 
 sent you another packet; if it were not under the idea that 
 unless I make haste, I shall hardly catch you before your em- 
 barkation for Bombay, should that event, as I continue to hope 
 it may, take place. I hope, please God, to send an account of 
 my further progress, to meet you, should you arrive there be- 
 fore me; but should such a letter not immediately make its 
 appearance, do not anticipate any evil, since in the line of 
 load which I am most likely to follow in my march from Nus- 
 seerabad, I am not certain that any dak exists, except a very 
 
 circuitous one. 
 
 * • * * * * * 
 
 I little thought, when fancying the possible trials which we 
 might have to go through in India, that the sea was ever to 
 roll between you, our babies, and me! But go wherever you 
 will, you are in the hands of a good God. I know you will 
 not tempt his goodness unnecessarily by going in an improper 
 vessel, (an Arab I positively prohibit,) or at an improper sea- 
 son; and the air of Calcutta, to which I have already trusted 
 you so long, is, in my opinion, an element full as dangerous 
 as that to w^iich I am now trusting you. And I hope that the 
 Great Protector under whose care we are now running our se- 
 parate course, will not only, if he sees it good for us, bring us 
 safely and happily together in a few months more, but that 
 through His mercy, this may be our last separation, of any 
 length, on this side the grave! 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 283 
 
 An answer to this letter may have a chance of reaching me 
 either at Mhow or Ahmedabad. 1 am not able to determine, 
 till I reach Nusseerabad, which of these two routes it will be 
 best for me to pursue. The first had been always contem- 
 plated by me, but since the Bengal army has been withdrawn, 
 and replaced by fresh troops from Poonah, I do not know that 
 I am likely to have much to do there; and by taking the more 
 western road by Oodeypoor, Aboo, Palampoor, &c., I get, as 
 I am told, a better road, visit a new and large station of the 
 Bombay army at Deesa, and see some fine ruins at Aboo- 
 Above all, Mhow will lie very well in the road which I pro- 
 pose to take with you in a future visitation, when the chance 
 IS, there will be more to do there than there is now. However. 
 I hope to receive letters at Nusseerabad which will enable me 
 to determine what is best: it will be usefulness, not curiosity, 
 which will guide me A letter to each of these places, Mhow 
 and Ahmedabad, will be almost sure to reach me, and would be 
 
 a great comfort to me. 
 
 ****** * 
 
 Do you know, dearest, that I sometimes think we should 
 be more useful, and happier, if Cawnpoor or Benares, not 
 Calcutta, were our home. My visitations would be made 
 with far more convenience, the expense of house-rent would 
 be less to the Company, and our own expenses of living 
 would be reduced very considerably. The air, even of Cawn- 
 poor, is, I apprehend, better than that of Bengal, and that of 
 Benares decidedly so. The greater part of my business with 
 government may be done as well by letters as personal inter- 
 views; and, if the Archdeacon of Calcutta were resident 
 there, it seems more natural that the Bishop of India should 
 remain in the centre of his diocese. The only objection is the 
 great number of Christians in Calcutta, and the consequent 
 probability that my preaching is more useful there than it 
 would be any where else. We may talk these points over 
 when we meet. 
 
 God bless you and your dear children ! 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Bheelwarra, Meywar^ February 18, 1825. 
 Dearest Love, 
 
 I have just, thank God, received your letter of February 
 1st, and am truly rejoiced at the favourable account which it 
 gives of both our treasures. 
 
 24* 
 
^84 cohrespondence. 
 
 You say nothing of yourself, and I cannot help being uneasy 
 lest your anxiety should do you harm. God forgive me! I 
 often regret that I left you/ Yet I hojie and trust that He 
 will take care of you, and I know that it is He only on whose 
 care all must depend, wliether I am present or absent. It is 
 this only, and the feeling that I have the opportunity of doing 
 Him service where I am going, which keeps me yet in sus- 
 pense about turning back to you. He knows how gladly, (if 
 I thought myself justified in doing it, now that all preparations 
 have been made in Bombay to receive me,) I should set my 
 face eastward. I thought yesterday morning, when the drum 
 beat for our march, of poor Tom Tough in Dibdin's ballad: — 
 
 *' The worst time of all was when the little ones were sickly. 
 
 And if they'd live or die the doctor did not know. 
 
 The word was given to weig-h so sudden and so quickly, 
 
 I thought my heart would break as I sung out, Yo heave oh!" 
 
 Yet if good news continues, I shall, like poor Tom Tough^ 
 persevere. 
 
 Sometimes I would fain flatter myself that the children may 
 still get so well before the end of this month, as to justify 
 your sailing for Bombay. My own opinion is, I confess, that 
 change of air, and sea air above all, is what they want, and 
 that you will risk less by being removed from your present 
 excellent advice, than by remaining in that cruel climate 
 during the rainy season. 
 
 Had your own health been such as to enable or justify you 
 in coming with me in the first instance, and our children had 
 accompanied you, I am often tempted to think they would 
 both have remained well. But God only knows what is best 
 for us; and while we act for the best and trust in Him, there 
 can be no ground for self-reproach. We both then did, un- 
 doubtedly, what we thought our duty, and it is possible that 
 my present notions of the climate of Bengal are too unfa- 
 vourable. Surely, however, we have no reason to think well 
 of it! 
 
 Adieu, dearest, God bless and protect you ! — Direct to me 
 at Mhow, if I do not go there your letters will be forwarded. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 285 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 
 
 Fertaubghur, Malwa/i, March 1, 1825. 
 
 My dear Wynn, 
 
 * * » * » ^- 
 
 In Hindostan, which name is confined by the natives to 
 Upper India only, and more particularly to that part of it 
 which was within the usual limits of the Mogul Empire, and 
 is now subject to the Company, there are few natural curiosi- 
 ties, and the distinguished works of architecture, are chiefly 
 confined to the great cities and their vicinity. They are, how- 
 ever, far superior to all which I had expected, and very dif- 
 ferent from the idea generally formed of them in Europe. I had 
 heard much of the airy and gaudy style of Oriental architecture, 
 a notion, I apprehend, taken from that of China only, since so- 
 lidity, solemnity, and a richness of ornament, so v/ell managed 
 as not to interfere with solemnity, are the characteristics of 
 all the ancient buildings which I have met with in this coun- 
 try. I recollect no corresponding parts of Windsor at all 
 equal to the entrance of the castle of Delhi and its marble 
 hall of audience, and even Delhi falls very short of Agra in 
 situation, in majesty of outline, in size, and the costliness and 
 
 beauty of its apartments. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 They are not the Mussulmans only who have surprised me. 
 At Benares, indeed, the Hindoo works are all small, but in 
 the wild countries which I am now traversing, and where the 
 Hindoos have been pretty much left to themselves, there are 
 two palaces, Umeer and Jyepoor, surpassing all which I have 
 seen of the Kremlin, or heard of the Alhambra; a third Joud- 
 poor, which I have not seen, is said to be equal to either, and 
 the Jain Temples of Aboo, on the verge of the Western de- 
 sert, are said to rank above them all. 
 
 Of the people, so far as their natural character is concern- 
 ed, I have been led to form, on the whole, a very favourable 
 opinion. They have, unhappily, many of the vices arising 
 from slavery, from an unsettled state of society, and immoral 
 and erroneous systems of religion. But they are men of high 
 and gallant courage; courteous, intelligent, and most eager 
 after knowledge and improvement, with a remarkable aptitude 
 for the abstract sciences, geometry, astronomy, &c. and for 
 the imitative arts, painting and sculpture. They are sober, 
 industrious, dutiful to their parents, aiid affectionate to their 
 
286 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 children, of tempers almost uniformly gentle and patient, and 
 more easily affected by kindness and attention to their wants 
 and feelings than almost any men whom I have met with. 
 Their faults seem to arise from the hateful superstitions to 
 which they are subject, and the unfavourable state of society 
 in which they are placed. But if it should please God to 
 make any considerable portion of them Christians, they would, 
 I can well believe, put the best of European Christians to 
 shame. They are the sepoys and irregular horse of whom I 
 chiefly speak, for of these it is I have happened to see most, 
 having taken all opportunities of conversing with my escort, 
 and having, for several weeks together, had scarcely any body 
 else to converse with. I find, however, that my opinion of 
 both these classes of men is that of all the officers in the Com- 
 pany's service to whom I have named the subject; and, so far 
 as my experience reaches, which certainly is not great, I have 
 no reason to suppose that the classes whom I have mentioned, 
 are not a fair average specimen of the other inhabitants of the 
 country. 
 
 The English in the upper provinces are, of course, thinly 
 scattered, in proportion either to the multitude of the heathen, 
 or the extent of territory. They are, however, more numer- 
 ous than I expected, though there are very few, indeed, who 
 are not in the civil or military employ of government. The 
 indigo planters are chiefly confined to Bengal, and I have no 
 wish that their number should increase in India. They are 
 always quarrelling with, and oppressing tlie natives, and have 
 done much in those districts where they abound, to sink the 
 English character in native eyes. Indeed the general conduct 
 of the lower order of Europeans in India is such as to show 
 
 the absurdity of the system of free colonization which W 
 
 is mad about. 
 
 To return, however, to the English society in the upper 
 provinces. It is of course composed of nearly the same ele- 
 ments with that of Calcutta, the officers who take their turns 
 of duty here, being most of them at different times called by 
 business or promotion to the Presidency. Each of the civil 
 stations forms a little society within itself, composed of the 
 Judge, the Collector, the Registrar, the Station Surgeon, and 
 Postmaster. The military stations are strictly camps, com- 
 posed of huts for the men, with thatched cottages for the offi- 
 cers, ranged in regular lines, with a hospital, and sometimes, 
 though too seldom, a Church and chaplain. 
 
 Neither the civil nor military officers have much intercourse 
 with the natives, though between officers and magistrates of a 
 certain rank, and the natives of distinction, there is generally 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 287 
 
 an occasional interchange of visits and civilities. Society, 
 both civil and military, is less formal up the country than at 
 Calcutta, and this plainness and cordiality of manners in- 
 creases as we approach the northern and western frontier, 
 where every thing still remains, as they themselves call it, 
 ** Camp Fashion." 
 
 ■J[r '-T^ i|r ■* sfr J(f 
 
 I dined not long since with a Brigadier-General, where the 
 feast consisted of boiled beef, roast mutton, boiled mutton, 
 hashed mutton, mutton chops, and mutton broth. A man, 
 however, would be very fastidious who would quarrel with 
 such fare as this, accompanied as it was with perfect good 
 manners, and extremely amusing and interesting conversation. 
 The civilians live in more style, and appear in public with a 
 train of attendants on horseback and foot. 
 
 Hi * * * # * 
 
 Yet even with this, there is plainness and freedom from re- 
 straint, which they appear to lose when they come in sight of 
 Government House, and which makes me apprehend that a 
 life in Hindostan proper, is far happier, as well as more 
 wholesome for body and mind, than on the banks of the Hoogh- 
 ly. Of course, among these different functionaries there is 
 an abundant difference of character and talent; but the im- 
 pression made on my mind is favourable, on the whole, to 
 their diligence and good intentions; nor can there be more 
 useful or amiable characters than some of the elder servants 
 of the Company, who, eschewing Calcutta altogether, have 
 devoted themselves for many years to the advantage of the 
 land in which their lot is thrown, and are looked up to, 
 throughout considerable districts, with a degree of respectful 
 attachment which it is not easy to believe counterfeited. Mr. 
 Brooke, of Benares, is precisely a character of this descrip- 
 tion. Mr. Hawkins, of Bareilly, and Mr. Traill, the Judge 
 of Almorah, are others, and Sir David Ochterlony would have 
 been an example still more conspicuous, were it not for the 
 injurious confidence which he is said to place in his servants. 
 But though I fully believe the influence of Britain to have 
 been honestly employed for the benefit of India, and to have 
 really produced great good to the country and its inhabitants, 
 I have not been led to believe that our government is gene- 
 rally popular, or advancing towards popularity. It is, perhaps, 
 impossible that we should be so in any great degree; yet I 
 really think there are some causes of discontent, which it is 
 in our power, and which it is our duty to remove or diminish. 
 One of these is the distance and haughtiness with which a very 
 large proportion of the civil and military servants of the Com- 
 pany treat the upper and middling class of natives. Against 
 
288 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 their mixing much with us in society there are certainly many 
 hindrances, though even their objection to eating with us 
 might, so far as the Mussulmans are concerned, I think, be 
 conquered by any popular man in the upper provinces, who 
 made the attempt in a right way. But there are some of our 
 amusements, such as private theatrical entertainments, and 
 the sports of the field, in which they would be delighted to 
 share, and invitations to which would be regarded by them as 
 extremely flattering, if they were not, perhaps with some rea- 
 son, voted bores, and treated accordingly. The French, under 
 Perron and Des Boignes, who in more serious matters left a 
 very bad name behind them, had, in this particular, a great 
 advantage over us, and the easy and friendly intercourse in 
 which they lived with natives of rank, is still often regretted 
 in Agra and the Dooab. This is not all, however. The fool- 
 ish pride of the English absolutely leads them to set at nought 
 the injunctions of their own government. The Tusseeldars, 
 for instance, or principal active officers of revenue, ought, by 
 an order of council, to have chairs always offered them in the 
 presence of their European superiors, and the same, by the 
 standing orders of the army, should be done to the Soubah- 
 dars. Yet there are hardly six collectors in India who observe 
 the former etiquette; and the latter, which was fifteen years 
 never omitted in the army, is now completely in disuse. At 
 the same time, the regulations of which I speak are known to 
 every Tusseeldar and Soubahdar in India, and they feel them- 
 selves aggrieved every time these civilities are neglected; men 
 of old families are kept out of their former situation by this 
 and other similar slights, and all the natives endeavour to in- 
 demnify themselves for these omissions on our part, by many 
 little pieces of rudeness, of which I have heard Europeans 
 
 complain, as daily increasing among them. 
 
 * * * * ■* * 
 
 In almost every part of my journey, I have found the minds 
 of the Europeans more favourably disposed to religion than I 
 expected, and anxious, in a degree proportioned to their pau- 
 city, to avail themselves of every opportunity which offered, 
 for attending the rites of the Church. The native Christians 
 of the Roman Catholic persuasion amount, I am told, to some 
 thousands, and do not bear a good character. Those who are 
 members of the Church of England in this Presidency, have 
 chiefly been converted by Archdeacon Corrie, and by his dis- 
 ciples, Bowley, Abdul Musseeh, and Anund Musseeh, and 
 by Mr. Fisher of Meerut. Their number does not exceed, at 
 most, five hundred adults, who are chiefly at the stations of 
 Benares, Chunar, Buxar, Meerut, and Agra, a large propor- 
 tion being the wives of European soldiers. Even the number 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 289 
 
 IS greater than might have been expected, when we consider 
 how few years have passed since Mr. Corrie first came into the 
 country. He was cotemporary with Martyn, and before their 
 time nothing was attempted here by the Church of England. 
 I have made many inquiries, but cannot find that any jealou- 
 sy on this head exists at present among the natives. Corrie, 
 indeed, himself, from his pleasing manners, his candid method 
 of conversing with them on religious topics, his perfect know- 
 ledge of Hindoostanee, and his acquaintance with the topics 
 most discussed among their own learned men, is a great fa- 
 vourite among the pundits of Benares, and the syuds and other 
 learned Mussulmans at Agra, who seem to like conversing 
 with him even where they differ most in their opinion. This 
 good man with his wife and children, went with me as far as 
 Lucknow, and he has since gone to pass the hot weather in 
 the Dhoon, his health being, 1 grieve to say, in a very preca- 
 rious condition. At the same time I lost the society of a very 
 agreeable fellow-traveller, the son of Mr. Lushington of the 
 
 Treasury My journey from thence to 
 
 Delhi was, generally speaking, made alone; but I had then a 
 medical man assigned to me by General Reynell. The want 
 of such a person I had felt severely, both in the case of poor 
 Stowe, and afterwards during my own illness, and when I had 
 
 four men in my camp ill of jungle fever. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Mr. Adam, in spite of all which has been said and written, 
 is, and uniformly has been one of the most popular men in 
 India. He is, perhaps, the only public man in whom, in any 
 great degree, both Europeans and natives have confidence; 
 and his absence from Calcutta during the early part of the 
 war, and his present determination, which has just reached 
 these provinces, to return to Europe, have been regarded bj 
 all, without exception, whom 1 have heard speak on the sub- 
 ject, as the heaviest calamities w^hich could have befallen Bri- 
 tish India. I was Mr. Adam's guest for a few days at AI- 
 moroh, and greatly pleased both with his manners and con- 
 versation; but he was then weak both in health and spirits, 
 and my opinion of him has been formed rather from what I 
 
 heard, than what I have myself known of him. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 The character which Malcolm has leftbehind him in Western 
 and Central India is really extraordinary.- As political agent, 
 he had many difficulties to contend with, of which the jealousy 
 entertained of him, as a Madras officer, by the Bengal army, 
 is not the least. But during his stay he seems to have con- 
 ciliated all classes of Europeans in a manner which hardly 
 
290 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 any other man could have done, while the native cliiefs whom 
 I nave seen, asked after him with an anxiety and regard which 
 I could not think counterfeited, inasmuch as they did not pre- 
 tend any thing equal to it when speaking of other great men 
 
 I have, I fear, wearied you, and have been infinitely longer 
 than I myself anticipated; but I know how deep an interest 
 you take in all which relates to this country, and, except these 
 long despatches, and my daily prayers for you and yours, I 
 have now no opportunity of showing how sincerely I am. 
 Dear Wynn, 
 
 Your obliged and affectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. ttEBER. 
 
 Doodeah, Chizeratf March loth, 1825. 
 Your letter of the 9th February has just been forwarded to 
 me from Baroda. I need not say how great a comfort it was 
 to me to hear from you again in the midst of these wilds, and 
 when for a week to come, I hardly flattered myself with that 
 expectation. It is of four days later date than your last, and 
 thank God the accounts continue favourable. 
 
 '/TS nS 'f^ 'T^ <F flt 
 
 I am and have been in perfect health, and have performed my 
 journey through all which was considered the adventu- 
 rous part of the road, very peaceably and quietly. Nothing 
 can be wilder or more savage than these jungles, but they 
 contain many spots of great romantic beauty, though the 
 mountains are certainly mere playthings after Himalaya. The 
 various tribes of the countries through which I have passed 
 interested me extremely; their language, the circumstances 
 of tlieir habitation, dress, and armour, their pastoral and ag- 
 ricultural way of life, their women grinding at the mill, their 
 cakes baked on the coals, their corn trodden out by oxen, 
 their maidens passing to the well, their travellers lodging in 
 the streets, their tents, their camels, their shields, spears, 
 and coats of mail; their Mussulmans with a religion closely 
 copied from that of Moses, their Hindoo tribes worshipping 
 the same abominations with the same rites as the ancient Ca- 
 naanites; their false prophets swarming in every city, and 
 foretelling good or evil as it suits the political views of their 
 employersjtheirjudges sitting in the gate, and their wild Bheels 
 and Khoolies dwelling like the ancient Amorites in holes and 
 clefts of the rocks, and coming down with sword and bow to 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 29l 
 
 watch the motions, or attack the baggage of the traveller, 
 transported me back three thousand years, and I felt myself 
 a contemporary of Joshua or Samuel! 
 
 I have a large packet of journal for you, which I shall keep 
 till I hear from you again, lest you should, after all, have 
 sailed from Calcutta. 
 
 God bless you, dearest! 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 My Dear Wilmot, 
 
 Barreahj fChizeratfJ March, 1824. 
 
 I have now, since the middle of last June, pretty nearly 
 seen the eastern, northern, and western extremities of British. 
 India, having been to Dacca and Almorah, and having now 
 arrived within a few days' march of Ahmedabad, visiting by 
 the way several of the most important, independent, or tribu- 
 tary principalities. 
 
 Of the way of performing this long journey, I was myself 
 very imperfectly informed before I began it, and even then it 
 was long before I could believe how vast and cumbersome an 
 apparatus of attendance and supplies of every kind was neces- 
 sary to travel in any degree of comfort or security. On the 
 river indeed, so long as that lasted, one's progress is easy and 
 pleasant, (bating a little heat and a few storms,) carried on by 
 a strong south-eastern breeze, in a very roomy and comforta- 
 ble boat, against the stream of a majestic body of water; but 
 it is after leaving the Ganges for the land-journey that, if not 
 " the tug," yet no small part of the apparatus, proventus et 
 commeatus, of " war" commences. 
 
 It has been my wish on many accounts to travel without 
 unnecessary display; my tents, equipments, and number of 
 servants, are all on the smallest scale which comfort or pro-, 
 priety would admit of; they all fall short of what are usually- 
 taken by the Collectors of districts, and in comparison with 
 what the Commander in Chief had the year before last, I have 
 found people disposed to cry out at them as quite insufficient. 
 Nor have I asked for a single soldier or trooper beyond what 
 the commanding officers of districts have themselves offered as 
 necessary and suitable; yet for myself and Dr. Smith, the 
 united numbers amount to three elephants, above twenty 
 camels, five horses, besides poneys for our principal servants, 
 twenty-six servants, twenty-six bearers of burthens, fifteen 
 clashees to pitch and remove tents, elephant and camel drivers, 
 
 Vol. II.— 25 
 
292 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 I believe thirteen, and since we have left the Company's ter- 
 ritories and entered Rajpootana, a guard of eighteen irregular 
 horse, and forty -five sepoys on foot. Nor is this all; for there 
 is a number of petty tradesmen and other poor people whose 
 road is tlie same as ours, and who have asked permission to 
 encamp near us, and travel under our protection; so that 
 yesterday, when I found it expedient, on account of the scar- 
 city which prevails in tliese provinces, to order an allowance of 
 flour, by way of Sunday dinner, to every person in the camp, 
 the number of heads returned was 165. With all these for- 
 midable numbers, you must not, however, suppose that any 
 exorbitant luxury reigns in my tent; our fare is, in fact, as 
 homely as any two farmers in England sit down to; and if it 
 be sometimes exuberant, the fault must be laid on a country 
 where we must take a whole sheep or kid, if we would have 
 animal food at all, and where neither sheep nor kid will, 
 when killed, remain eatable more than a day or two. The truth 
 is, tliat where people carry every thing with them, bed, tent, 
 furniture, wine, beer and crockery, for six months together, 
 no small quantity of beasts of burden may well be supposed 
 necessary; and in countries such as those which I have now 
 been traversing, where every man is armed, where every third 
 or fourth man a few years since, was a thief by profession, and 
 where, in spite of English influence and supremacy, the fo- 
 rests, mountains, and multitudes of petty sovereignties, af- 
 ford all possible scope for the practical application of "SVords- 
 vvortli's " good old rule," you may believe me that it is nei- 
 ther pomp nor cowardice which has thus fenced your friend 
 in with spears, shields and bayonets. After all, though this 
 way of life has much that is monotonous and wearisome, 
 though it grievously dissipates time and thought, and though 
 it is almost incompatible with the pursuits in which I have 
 been accustomed to find most pleasure, it is by no means the 
 worst part of an Indian existence. It is a great point in this 
 climate to be actually compelled to rise, day after day, before 
 the dawn, and to ride from twelve to eighteen miles before 
 breakfast. It is a still greater to have been saved a residence 
 in Calcutta during the sultry months, and to have actually 
 seen and felt frost, ice and snow, on the summits of Kemaoon, 
 and under the shadow, of the Himalaya. And though the 
 greater part of the Company's own provinces, except Ke- 
 maoon, are by no means abundant in objects of natural beauty 
 or curiosity, the prospect offering little else than an uniform 
 plain of slovenly cultivation, yet in the character and manners 
 of the people there is much which may be studied with inte- 
 rest and amusement, and in the yet remaining specimen of 
 Oriental pomp at Lucknow, in the decayed, but most striking 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 293 
 
 aiid romantic magnificence of Delhi, and in the Taje-Mahal 
 of Agra, (doubtless one of the most beautiful buildings in the 
 world,) there is almost enough, even of themselves, to make 
 it worth a man's while to cross the Atlantic and Indian oceans. 
 
 Since then I have been in countries of a wilder character, 
 comparatively seldom trodden by Europeans, exempt during the 
 greater part of their history from the Mussulman yoke, and re- 
 taining, accordingly, a great deal of the simplicityof early Hin- 
 doo manners, without much of that solemn and pompous uni- 
 formity which the conquests of the house of Timur seem to have 
 impressed on all classes of their subjects. Yet here there is 
 much which is interesting and curious. The people, who are 
 admirably described, (though I think in too favourable colours,) 
 by Malcolm in his Central India, are certainly a lively, ani- 
 mated and warlike race of men, though chiefly from their 
 wretched government, and partly from their still more wretch- 
 ed religion, there is hardly any vice either of slaves or rob-, 
 bers to which they do not seem addicted. Yet such a state of 
 society is, at least, curious, and resembles more the picture of 
 Abyssinia, as given by Bruce, than that of any other country 
 which I have seen or read of; while here too, there are many 
 wild and woody scenes, which, though they want the glorious 
 glaciers and peaks of the Himalaya, do not fall short in natural 
 beauty of some of the loveliest glens which we went through, 
 ten years ago, in North Wales; and some very remarkable 
 ruins, which, though greatly inferior as works of art to the 
 Mussulman remains in Hindostan proper, are yet more curious 
 than them, as being more ditFerent from any thing which an 
 European is accustomed to see or read of. 
 
 One fact, indeed, during this journey has been impressed 
 on my mind very forcibly, that the character and situation of 
 the natives of these great countries are exceedingly little 
 known, and in many instances grossly misrepresented, not 
 only by the English public in general, but by a great propor- 
 tion of those also who, though they have been in India, have 
 taken their views of its population, manners and productions 
 from Calcutta, or at most from Bengal. I had always heard, and 
 fully believed till I came to India, that it was a grievous crime, 
 in the opinion of the brahmins, to eat the flesh or shed the blood 
 of any living creature whatever. I have now myself seen brah- 
 mins of the highest caste cutoff the heads of goats as a sacrifice 
 to Doorga; and I know from the testimony of brahmins, as well as 
 from other sources, that not onlv hecatombs of animals are of- 
 ten off*ered in this manner, as a most meritorious act, (a Raja, 
 about twenty-five years back, offered, sixty thousand in one 
 fortnight,) but that any person, brahmins not excepted, eats 
 
294 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 readily of the flesh of whatever has been offered up to one of 
 their divinities, while among almost all the other castes, mut- 
 ton, pork, venison, fish, any thing but beef and fowls, are con- 
 sumed as readily as in Europe. Again, I had heard all my life 
 of the gentle and timid Hindoos, patient under injuries, ser- 
 vile to their superiors, &c. Now, this is, doubtless, to a cer- 
 tain extent, true of the Bengalese, (who, by tlie way, are never 
 reckoned among the nations of Hindostan, by those who speak 
 the language of that country,) and there are a great many 
 people in Calcutta who maintain that all the natives of India 
 are alike. But even in Bengal, gentle as the exterior manners 
 of the people are, there are large districts close to Calcutta, 
 where the work of carding, burning, ravishing, murder, and 
 robbery goes on as systematically, and in nearly the same 
 manner, as in the worst part of Ireland, and on entering Hin- 
 dostan, properly so called, which, in the estimation of the 
 natives, reaches from the Rajmahal hills to Agra, and from the 
 mountains of Kemaoon to Bundelcund, I was struck and sur- 
 prised to find a people equal in stature and strength to the 
 average of European nations, despising rice and rice-eaters^ 
 feeding on wheat and barley-bread, exhibiting in their appear- 
 ance, conversation, and habits of life, a grave, proud and de- 
 cidedly a martial character, accustomed universally to the use 
 of arms and athletic exercises from their cradles, and prefer- 
 ring, very greatly, military service to any other means of liveli- 
 hood. This part of their character, but in a ruder and wilder 
 form, and debased by much alloy of treachery and violence, 
 is conspicuous in the smaller and less good-looking inhabitants 
 of Rajpootana and Malvvah; while the mountains and woods, 
 wherever they occur, show specimens of a race entirely differ- 
 ent from all these, and in a state of society scarcely elevated 
 above the savages of New Holland or New Zealand; and the 
 inhabitants, I am assured, of the Deckan, and of the Presi- 
 dencies of Madras and Bombay, are as difterent from those 
 which I have seen, and from each other, as the French and 
 Portuguese from the Greeks, Germans, or Poles,; so idle is it 
 to ascribe uniformity of character to the inhabitants of a coun- 
 try so extensive, and subdivided by so many almost impassable 
 tracts of mountain and jungle; and so little do the majority of 
 those whom I have seen, deserve the gentle and imbecile cha- 
 racter often assigned to them. Another instance of this want, 
 of information, which at the time of my arrival excited much 
 talk in Bengal, was the assertion made in Parliament, I forget 
 by whom, that " there was little or no sugar cultivated in In- 
 dia, and that the sugar mostly used there came from Sumatra 
 and Java." Now this even the cockneys of Calcutta must 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 295 
 
 have known to be wrong, and I can answer for myself, that m 
 the whole range of Calcutta, from Dacca to Delhi, and thence 
 through the greater part of Rajpootana and Malwah, the raising 
 of sugar is as usual a part of husbandry, as turnips and potatoes 
 in England; and that they prepare it in every form, except 
 the loaf, which is usually met with in Europe. This, however, 
 is not the most material point in which the state of arts and 
 society in India has been underrated. I met not long since 
 with a speech by a leading member of the Scotch General As- 
 sembly, declaring his *' conviction that the truths of Christi- 
 anity could not be received by men in so rude a state as the 
 East Indians; and that it was necessary to give them first a re- 
 lish for the habits and comforts of civilized life before they 
 could embrace the truths of the Gospel." The same slang, 
 (for it is nothing more,) I have seen repeated in divers pamph- 
 lets, and even heard it in conversations at Calcutta. Yet, 
 though it is certainly true that the lower classes of Indians 
 are miserably poor, and that there are many extensive districts 
 where, both among low and high, the laws are very little 
 obeyed, and there is a great deal of robbery, oppression, and 
 even ferocity, I know no part of the population except the 
 mountain tribes already mentioned, who can, with any pro- 
 priety of language, be called uncivilized. 
 
 Of the unpropitious circumstances which I have mentioned, 
 the former arises from a population continually pressing on 
 the utmost limits of subsistence, and which is thus kept up, 
 not by any dislike or indifference to a better diet, or more 
 ample clothing, or more numei ous ornaments than now usually 
 fall to the peasant's share, (for, on the contrary, if he has the 
 means he is fonder of external show and a respectable appear- 
 ance, than those of his rank in many nations of Europe,) but 
 by the foolish superslition, which Christianity only is likely 
 to remove, which makes a parent regard it as unpropitious to 
 allow his son to remain unmarried, and which couples together 
 children of twelve or fourteen 3^ears of age. The second has 
 its origin in the long-continued misfortunes and intestine wars 
 of India, which are as yet too recent, (even when their causes 
 have ceased to exist,) for the agitation which they occasioned 
 to have entirely sunk into a calm. But to say that the Hin- 
 doos or Mussulmans are deficient in any essential feature of 
 a civilized people, is an assertion which I can scarcely sup- 
 pose to be made by any who have lived with them. Their 
 manners are, at least, as pleasing and courteous as those in 
 the corresponding stations of life among ourselves: their houses 
 are larger, and, according to their wants and climate, to the 
 full as convenient as ours; their architecture is at least as 
 elegant, and though the worthv Scotch divines may doubtless 
 
 25* 
 
296 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 wish their labourers to be chid in *' hodden gray," and their gen- 
 try and merchants to M'ear powder and mottled stockings, like 
 
 worthy Mr. and the other elders of his kirk-session, 
 
 I really do not think that they would gain either in cleanli- 
 ness, elegance, or comfort, by exchanging a white cotton robe 
 for the completest suits of dittos. Nor is it true that in the 
 mechanic arts they are inferior to the general run of European 
 nations. Where they fall short of us, (which is chiefly in 
 agricultural implements and the mechanics of common life,) 
 they are not, so far as I have understood of Italy and the south 
 of France, surpassed in any great degree by the people of 
 those countries. Their goldsmiths and weavers produce as 
 beautiful fiibrics as our own, and it is so far from true that they 
 are obstinately wedded to their old patterns, that they show 
 an anxiety to imitate our models, and do imitate them very 
 successfully. The ships built by native artists at Bombay are 
 notoriously as good as any which sail from London or Liver- 
 pool. The carriages and gigs which they supply at Calcutta 
 are as handsome, though not as durable, as tliose of Long 
 Acre. In the little town of Monghyr, 300 miles from Cal- 
 cutta, I had pistols, double-barrelled guns, and different pieces 
 of cabinet-work brought down to my boat for sale, which in 
 outward form, (for I know no further,) nobody but perhaps 
 
 Mr. could detect to be of Hindoo origin j and at Delhi, 
 
 in the shop of a wealthy native jeweller, I found broaches, 
 ear-rings, snuff-boxes, &c. of the latest models, (so far as I am 
 a judge,) and ornamented with French devices and mottos. 
 
 The fact is, that there is a degree of intercourse maintained 
 between this country and Europe, and a degree of information, 
 existing among the people as to what passes there, which, 
 considering how many of them neither speak nor read English, 
 implies other channels of communication besides those which 
 we supply, and respecting which I have been able as yet to 
 obtain very little information. Among the presents sent last 
 year to the Supreme Government, by the little state of Ladak, 
 in Chinese Tartary, some large sheets of gilt leather, stamped 
 with the Russian eagle, were the most conspicuous. A tra- 
 veller, who calls himself a Transylvanian, but who is shrewdly 
 suspected of being a Russian spy, was, when I w^as in Ke- 
 maoon, arrested by the commandant of our fortresses among 
 the Himalaya mountains, and after all our pains to exclude 
 foreigners from the service of the native princes, two cheva- 
 liers of the legion of honour were found, about twelve months 
 ago, and are still employed in casting cannon and drilling sol- 
 diers for the Seik Raja, Runjeet Singh. This you w411 say 
 is no more than we should be prepared to expect, but' you 
 probably would not suppose, (what I believe is little, if at 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 297 
 
 all, known in Russia itself,) that there is an ancient and still 
 frequented place of Hindoo pilgrimage, not many miles from 
 Moscow, or that the secretary of the Calcutta Bible Society 
 received, ten months ago, an application, (by whom translated 
 I do not know, but in very tolerable English,) from some 
 priests on the shore of the Caspian sea, requesting a grant of 
 Arminian Bibles. After this you will be the less surprised to 
 learn that the leading events in the late wars in Europe, (par- 
 ticularly Buonaparte's victories,) were often known, or at 
 least rumoured, among the native merchants in Calcutta be- 
 fore government received any accounts from England, or that 
 the suicide of an English minister, (with the mistake, indeed, 
 of its being Lord Liverpool instead of the Marquis of Lon- 
 donderry,) had become a topic of conversation in the '' burrah 
 bazar," (the native exchange,) for a fortnight before the ar- 
 rival of any intelligence by the usual channels. 
 
 With subjects thus inquisitive, and with opportunities of 
 information, it is apparent how little sense there is in the doc- 
 trine that we must keep the natives of Hindostan in ignorance, 
 if we would continue to govern them. The fact is, that they 
 know enough already to do us a great deal of mischief if they 
 should find it their interest to make the trial. They are in a 
 fair way, by degrees, to acquire still more knowledge for 
 themselves; and the question is, whether it is not the part of 
 wisdom, as well as duty, to superintend and promote their 
 education while it is yet in our power, and to supply them with 
 such knowledge as will be at once most harmless to ourselves 
 and most useful to them. 
 
 In this work, the most important part is to give them a bet- 
 ter religion. Knowing how strongly I feel on this subject, 
 you will not be surprised at my placing it foremost. But even 
 if Christianity were out of the question, and if when I had 
 wheeled away the rubbish of the old pagodas, I had nothing; 
 better than simple Deism to erect in their stead, I should still 
 feel some of the anxiety which now urges me. It is necessary 
 to see idolatry, to be fully sensible of its mischievous effects 
 on the human mind. But of all idolatries which I have ever 
 read or heard of, the religion of the Hindoos, in which 1 had 
 taken some pains to inform myself, really appears to me the 
 worst, both in the degrading notions which it gives of the 
 Deity; in the endless round of its burdensome ceremonies, 
 which occupy the time and distract the thoughts, without either 
 instructing or interesting its votaries; in the filthy acts of un- 
 cleanness and cruelty, not only permitted, but enjoined, and 
 inseparably interwoven with those ceremonies; in the system 
 of castes, a system which tends, more than any thing else the 
 Devil has yet invented, to destroy the feelings of general be- 
 
29S CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 iievolence, and to make nine-tenths of mankind the hopeless 
 slaves of the remainder^ and in the total absence of any po- 
 pular system of morals, or any single lesson which the people 
 at large ever hear, to live virtuously and do good to each 
 other. I do not say, indeed, that there are not some scatter- 
 ed lessons of this kind to be found in their ancient books; but 
 those books are neither accessible to the people at large, nor 
 are these last permitted to read them; and in general all the 
 sins that a sudra is taught to fear are, killing a cow, oftend- 
 ing a brahmin, or neglecting one of the many frivolous rites 
 by which their deities are supposed to be conciliated. Accord- 
 ingly, though the general sobriety of the Hindoos, (a virtue 
 which they possess in common with most inhabitants of warm 
 climates,) affords a very great facility to the maintenance of 
 public order and decorum, 1 really never have met with a race 
 of men whose standard of morality is so low, who feel so lit- 
 tle apparent shame on being detected in a falsehood, or so 
 little interest in the sufferings of a neighbour, not being of 
 their own caste or family; whose ordinary and familiar con- 
 versation is so licentious; or, in the wilder and more lawless 
 districts, who shed blood with so little repugnance. The good 
 <|ualities which there are among them, (and thank God there 
 is a great deal of good among them still,) are, in no instance 
 that I am aware of, connected with, or arising out of, their 
 religion, since it is in no instance to good deeds or virtuous 
 habits in life that the future rewards in vvhich they believe are 
 promised. Their bravery, their fidelity to their employers, 
 their temperance, and, (wherever they are found,) their hu- 
 manity, and gentleness of disposition, appear to arise exclu- 
 sively from a natural happy temperament, from an honoura- 
 ble pride in their own renown, and the renown of their ances- 
 tors; and from the goodness of God, who seems unwilling that 
 his image should be entirely defaced even in the midst of the 
 grossest error. The Mussulmans have a far better creed, 
 and though they seldom either like the English or are liked 
 by them, I am inclined to think are, on the whole, a better 
 people. Yet even with them, the forms of their worship have 
 a natural tendency to make men hypocrites, and the over- 
 weening contempt with vvhich they are inspired for all the 
 world beside, the degradation of their women by the system 
 of polygamy, and the detestable crimes, which, owing to this 
 degradation, are almost universal, are such as, even if I had 
 no ulterior hope, would make me anxious to attract them to a 
 better or more harmless system. 
 
 In this work, thank God, in those parts of India which I 
 have visited, a beginning has been made, and a degree of suc- 
 cess obtained, at least commensurate to the few years during 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 299 
 
 uhich our Missionaries have laboured^ and it is still going on 
 in tlie best and safest way, as the work of private persons 
 alone, and although not forbidden, in no degree encouraged 
 by government. In the mean time, and as an useful auxiliary to 
 the Missionaries, the establishment of elementary schools for 
 the lower classes and for females, is going on to a very great 
 extent, and might be carried to any conceivable extent to 
 which our pecuniary means would carry us. Nor is there 
 any measure from which I anticipate more speedy benefit than 
 the elevation of the rising generation of females to their natu- 
 ral rank in society, and giving them, (which is all that, in 
 any of our schools, we as yet venture to give,) the lessons of 
 general morality extracted from the Gospel, without any di- 
 rect religious instruction. These schools, such of them at 
 least as I have any concern with, are carried on vi^ithout any 
 help from government. Government has, however, been very 
 liberal in its grants, both to a Society for National Education, 
 and in the institution and support of two Colleges of Hindoo 
 students of riper age, the one at Benares, the other at Calcut- 
 ta. But I do not think any of these Institutions, in the v/ay 
 after which they are at present conducted, likely to do much 
 good. In the elementary schools supported by the former, 
 through a very causeless and ridiculous fear of giving offence 
 to the natives, they have forbidden the use of the Scriptures 
 or any extracts from them, though the moral lessons of the 
 Gospel are read by all Hindoos who can get hold of them, 
 ■without scruple, and with much attention; and though their 
 exclusion is tantamount to excluding all moral instruction 
 from their schools, the Hindoo sacred writings having nothing 
 of the kind, and, if they had, being shut up from the majo- 
 rity of the people by the double fence of a dead language, and 
 an actual prohibition to read them, as too holy for common 
 eyes or ears. The defects of the latter will appear, when I 
 liave told you that the actual state of Hindoo and Mussulman 
 literature, mutatis mutandis, very nearly resembles what the 
 literature of Europe was before the time of Galileo, Coperni- 
 cus, and Bacon. The Mussulmans take their logic from Aris- 
 totle, filtered through many successive translations and com- 
 mentaries; and their metaphysical system is professedly derived 
 from Plato, ("Filatoun.") The Hindoos have systems not very 
 dissimilar from these, though, I am told, of greater length, 
 and more intricacy; but the studies jn which they spend most 
 of their time, are the actjuisition of the Sanscrit, and the end- 
 less refinements of its grammar, prosody, and poetry. Both 
 have the same Natural Philosophy, which is also that of Aris- 
 totle in Zoology and Botany, and Ptolemy in Astronomy, for 
 which the Hindoos have forsaken their more ancient notions 
 
300 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 of the seven seas, the six earths, and the flat base of Padalon, 
 supported on the back of a tortoise. By the science which 
 they now possess, they are some of them able to foretell an 
 eclipse, or compose an almanac 5 and many of them derive 
 some little pecuniary advantage from pretensions to judicial 
 astrology. In medicine and chemistry they are just sufficiently 
 advanced to talk of substances being moist, dry, hot, &c. in 
 the third or fourth degree; to dissuade from letting blood, or 
 physicing, on a Tuesday, or under a particular aspect of the 
 heavens, and to be eager in their pursuit of the philosopher's 
 stone, and the elixir of immortality. 
 
 The task of enlightening the studious youth of such a na- 
 tion would seem to be a tolerably straight-forward one. But 
 though, for the college in Calcutta, (not Bishop's College, re- 
 member, but the Vidalaya, or Hindoo College,) an expensive 
 set of instruments has been sent out, and it seems intended 
 that the natural sciences should be studied there, the mana- 
 gers of the present institution take care that their boys should 
 have as little time as possible for such pursuits, by requiring 
 from them all, without exception, a laborious study of San- 
 scrit, and all the useless, and worse than useless, literature 
 of their ancestors. A good deal of this has been charged, 
 (and in some little degree charged with justice,) against 
 the exclusive attention paid to Greek and logic, till lately, in 
 Oxford. But in Oxford we have never been guilty, (since a 
 better system was known in the world at large,) of teaching 
 the physics of Aristotle, however we may have paid an exces- 
 sive attention to his metaphysics and dialectics. 
 
 In Benares, however, I found in the institution supported 
 by government, a professor lecturing on astronomy, after the 
 system of Ptolemy and Albunazar, while one of the most for- 
 ward boys was at the pains of casting my horoscope; and the 
 majority of the school were toiling at Sanscrit grammar. And 
 yet the day before, in the same holy city, I had visited another 
 college, founded lately by a wealthy Hindoo banker, and en- 
 trusted by him to the management of the Church Missionary 
 Society, in which, besides a grammatical knowledge of the 
 Hindoostanee language, as well as Persian and Arabic, the 
 senior boys could pass a good examination in English gram- 
 mar, in Hume's History of England, Joyce's Scientific Dia- 
 logues, the use of the globes, and the principal facts and 
 moral precepts of the Gospel, most of them writing beautifully 
 in the Persian, and very tolerably in the English character, 
 and excelling most boys I have met with in the accuracy and 
 readiness of Sieir arithmetic. The English officer who is now in 
 charge of the Benares Vidalaya, is a clever and candiil young 
 man, and under him I look forward to much improvement. . 
 
CCKRHESPONDENCE. 301 
 
 . . Ram Mohun Roj, a learned native, who has sometimes 
 been called, though I fear without reason, a Christian, remon- 
 strated against this system last year, in a paper which he sent 
 me to be put into Lord Amherst's hands, and which, for its 
 good English, good sense, and forcible arguments, is a real 
 curiosity, as coming from an Asiatic. I have not since been 
 in Calcutta, and know not whether any improvement has oc- 
 curred in consequence. But from the unbounded attachment 
 to Sanscrit literature displayed by some of those who chiefly 
 manage those affairs, I have no great expectation of the kind. 
 Of the value of the acquirements which so much is sacrificed 
 to retain, I can only judge from translations, and they cer- 
 tainly do not seem to me worth picking out of the rubbish 
 under which they were sinking. Some of the poetry of the 
 Mahabarah I am told is good, and 1 think a good deal of the 
 Ramayuna pretty. But no work has yet been produced which 
 even pretends to be authentic history. No useful discoveries 
 in science are, I believe, so much as expected, and I have no 
 great sympathy with those students who value a worthless 
 tract, merely because it calls itself old, or a language which 
 teaches nothing, for the sake of its copiousness and intricacy. 
 If I were to run wild after Oriental learning, I should cer- 
 tainly follow that of the Mussulmans, whose histories seem 
 really very much like those of Europe, and whose poetry, so 
 far as I am yet able to judge, has hardly had justice done to 
 it in the ultra flowery translations which have appeared in the 
 West. But after all, I will own my main quarrel with the 
 institutions which I have noticed, is their needless and syste- 
 matic exclusion of the Gospels, since they not only do less 
 good than they might have done, but are actually, in my 
 opinion, productive of serious harm, by awakening the dor- 
 mant jealousy of the native against the schools which pursue 
 a dift'erent system. 
 
 During my long journey through the northern half of this 
 vast country, I have paid all the attention I could spare to a 
 topic on which Schlegel bitterly reproves the English for their 
 inattention to, the architectural antiquities of Hindostan. I 
 had myself heard much of these before I set out, and had met 
 with many persons both in Europe and at Calcutta, (where 
 nothing of the kind exists,) who spoke of the present natives 
 of India as a degenerate race, whose inability to rear such 
 splendid piles was a proof that these last belong to a remote 
 antiquity. I have seen, however, enough to convince me, 
 both that the Indian masons and architecl;s of the present day 
 only want patrons sufficiently wealthy, on sufficiently zealous, 
 to do all which their ancestors have clone: and that there are 
 very few structures here which can, on any satisfactory 
 
302 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 grounds, be referred to a date so earlj as the greater part of 
 our own cathedrals. Often in upper Hindostan, and still 
 more frequently in Rajpootana and Malwah, I have met with 
 new and unfinished shrines, cisterns, and ghats, as beautifully 
 carved, and as well proportioned as the best of those of an 
 earlier date. And though there are many buildings and ruins 
 which exhibit a most venerable appearance, there are several 
 causes in this country which produce this appearance prema- 
 turely. In the first instance, we ourselves have a complex 
 impression made on us by the sight of edifices so distant from 
 our own country, and so unlike whatever we have seen there. 
 We multiply, as it were, the geographical and moral distance 
 into the chronological, and can hardly persuade ourselves 
 that we are contemporaries with an object so far removed in 
 every other respect. Besides this, hov/ever, the finest ma- 
 sonry in these climates is sorely tried by the alternate influ- 
 ence of a pulverizing sun, and a continued three months' 
 rain. The wild fig-tree, (peepul or ficus religiosa,) which no 
 Hindoo can root out, or even lop without a deadly sin, soon 
 sows its seeds, and fixes its roots in the joints of the arching, 
 and being of rapid growth at the same time, in a very few 
 years increases its picturesque and antique appearance, and 
 secures its eventual destruction; lastly, no man in this coun- 
 try repairs or completes what his father has begun, preferring 
 to begin something else, by which his own name may be le- 
 membered. Accordingly, in Dacca, are many fine ruins, 
 which at first impressed me with a great idea of their age. 
 Yet Dacca is a modern city, founded, or at least raised from 
 insignificance under Slmh Jehanguire in A. D. 1G08: and the 
 tradition of the place is that these fine buildings were erected 
 by European architects in the service of the then governor. 
 At Benares, the principal temple has an appearance so vene- 
 rable, that one might suppose it to have stood unaltered ever 
 since the Greta Yug, and that Menu and Capilahad perform- 
 ed austerities within its precincts. Yet it is historically cer- 
 tain that all the Hindoo temples of consequence in Benares 
 M'ere pulled down by Aurungzebe, the contemporary of 
 Charles the Second, and that the present structure mustliave 
 been raised since that time. The observatories of Benares, 
 Delhi, and Jyepoor, I heard spoken of in the carelessness of 
 conversation, not only as extremely curious in themselves, 
 (which they certainly are,) but as monuments of the ancient 
 science of the Hindoos. All three, however, are known to 
 be the work of the Raja Jye Singh, who died in 1742. 
 
 A remote antiquity is, with better reason, claimed for some 
 idols of black stone, and elegant columns of the same mate- 
 rial, which have been collected in different parts of the dis- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 30S 
 
 tricts of Rhotas, Bulnem, &c. These belong to the religion 
 of a sect, (the Buddhists,) of which no remains are now found 
 in those provinces. But I have myself seen images exactly 
 similar in the newly-erected temples of the Jains, a sect of 
 the Buddhists, still wealthy and numerous in Guzerat, Raj- 
 pootana, and Malvvah; and in a country where there is lite- 
 rally no history, it is impossible to say how long since or how 
 lately they may have lost their ground in the more eastern 
 parts of Gundwana. In the wilds which I have lately been 
 traversing, at Chittore Ghur more particularly, there are some 
 very beautiful buildings, of which the date was obviously as- 
 signed at random, and which might be 500 or 1000, or 150 
 years old, for all their present guardians know about the mat- 
 ter. But it must always be borne in mind, that 1000 years 
 are as easily said as 10, and that in the mouth of a Cicerone 
 they are sometimes thought to sound rather better The 
 oldest things which I have seen, of which the date could be 
 at all ascertained, are some detached blocks of marble, with 
 inscriptions, but of no appalling remoteness j and two re- 
 markable pillars of black mixed metal, in a Patan fort, near 
 Delhi, ancl at Cuttab-minar, in the same neighbourhood; both 
 covered with inscriptions which nobody can now read, but 
 both mentioned in Mussulman history as in their present si- 
 tuation, at the time when the *' believers" conquered Delhi, 
 about A. D. 1000. But what is this to the date of the Par- 
 thenon.^ or how little can these trifling relics bear comparison 
 with the works of Greece and Egypt.^ Ellora and Elephanta 
 I have not yet seen; 1 can believe all which is said of their 
 size and magnificence; but they are without date or inscrip- 
 tion; they are, I understand, not mentioned, even inciden- 
 tally, in any Sanscrit manuscript. Their images, &c. are the 
 same with those now worshipped in every part of India, and 
 there have been many Rajas and wealthy individuals in every 
 age of Indian history, who have possessed the means of carv- 
 ing a huge stone quarry into a cathedral. To our cathedrals, 
 after all, they are, I understand, very inferior in size. All 
 which can be known is, that Elephanta must probably have 
 been begun, (whether it was ever finished seems very doubt- 
 ful,) before the arrival of the Portuguese at Bombay; and that 
 Ellora may reasonably be concluded to have been erected in 
 a time of peace, under a Hindoo prince, and therefore either 
 before the first Afghan conquest, or, subsequently, during the 
 recovered independence of that part of Candeish and the 
 Deckan. This is no great matter certainly, and it may be 
 older; but all I say is, that we have no jeason to conclude it 
 is so, and the impression on my mind decidedly accords with 
 Mill, that the Hindoos, after all, though they have doubt- 
 VoL. II.--26 
 
304 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 lessly existed from very great antiquity, as an industrious 
 and civilized people, had made no great progress in the arts, 
 and took all their notions of magnificence from the models 
 furnished by their Mahommedan conquerors. 
 
 We are now engaged, as you are aware, in a very expen- 
 sive and tedious war in countries whither the Mahommedans 
 were never able to penetrate. This tediousness, together with 
 the partial reverses which the armies have sustained, has given 
 rise to all manner of evil reports among the people of Hin- 
 dostan, and to a great deal of grumbling and discontent 
 among the English. After all, I cannot myself perceive that 
 there is any body to blame. Every body cried out for war in 
 the first instance, as necessary to the honour of the govern- 
 ment, and murmured greatly against Lord Amherst for not 
 being more ready than he was to commence it. Of the coun- 
 try which we were to invade no intelligence could be obtained; 
 and in fact our armies have had little to contend with, except 
 a most impracticable and unknown country. It is unfortunate, 
 however, that after a year and a half of war we should, except 
 in point of dear-bought experience, be no further advanced 
 than at the beginning, and there are very serious grounds for 
 apprehending that if any great calamity occurred in the East, 
 a storm would follow on our north-western and western fron- 
 tier, which, with our present means, it would be by no means 
 easy to allay. Something, however, has been gained; if we 
 can do little harm to the Birmans, it is evident from their 
 conduct in the field, that beyond their own jungles they can 
 do still less harm to us. And the inhabitants of Calcutta, who, 
 about this time of year were asking leave to send their pro- 
 perty into the citadel, and packing oiF their wives and chil- 
 dren across the river, will hardly again look forward to see- 
 ing their war boats on the salt-water lake, or the golden um- 
 brellas of their chiefs erected on the top of St. John's Cathe- 
 dral. I was then thought little better than a madman for ven- 
 turing to Dacca. Now the members of government are called 
 all manner of names because their troops have found unex- 
 pected difficulty in marching to Ummerapoora. 
 
 For me there are very many ingredients of happiness; much 
 to be seen, much to be learned, and much, I almost fear too 
 much, to be done or attempted. 1 have been hitherto so fortu- 
 nate as to be on the best possible terms with the government, 
 and on very friendly terms with nine out often of my few 
 clergy; and in my present journey I have, I hope, been the 
 means of doing some good both to them and their congregations. 
 Indeed, my journey has been perfectly professional; and 
 though I certainly did not shut my eyes or ears by the way, 
 I have been at no place which was not either a scene of duty, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 305 
 
 or in the direct and natural way to one. And every where 1 
 am bound to say, I have met with great kindness and atten- 
 tion from the local magistrates, down to the European sol- 
 diers, and from the Rajas and Kings down to the poor native 
 Christians. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO R. J. WILMOT HORTON, ESQ. 
 
 Bombay y May 10, 1825. 
 
 *• * * * «• * * 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 The recent invasion of Cutch, by some of the wild people 
 of the Sindian provinces, which at one time menaced serious 
 consequences, has now subsided, and was probably, only an 
 effect of the dismal distress, from drought and famine, under 
 which all those miserable and turbulent countries are now 
 suff*ering. But the attention of all India is fixed on the siege of 
 Bhurtpoor, in Rajpootana, on the event of which, far more 
 than on any thing which may happen in the Birman empire, 
 the renown of the British arms, and the permanency of the 
 British Empire in Asia must depend. The J^ts are the finest 
 people in bodily advantages and apparent martial spirit whom 
 I have seen in India, arid their country one of the most fertile 
 and best cultivated. Having once beaten off Lord Lake from 
 their city, they have ever since not only regarded themselves 
 as invincible, but have been so esteemed by the greater part 
 of the Maharattas, Rajpoots, &c. who have always held up 
 their example as the rallying point and main encouragement 
 to resistance, insomuch that, even when I was passing through 
 Malwah, "gallantee shows," like those carried about by the 
 Savoyards, were exhibited at the fairs and in the towns of that 
 wild district, which displayed among other patriotic and po- 
 pular scenes, the red-coats driven back in dismay from the 
 ramparts, and the victorious Jats pursuing them sabre in hand. 
 
 Their fortress, too, has really all the advantages which can 
 arise from an excellent situation, an imposing profile, a deep 
 and wide ditch, a good show of cannon, and a very numerous 
 and hardy garrison, while the means which Sir D. Ocliterlony 
 has been able to collect against it, though really far more con- 
 siderable than could, under all circumstances, have been ex- 
 pected, are described, in a letter from General Reynell, as 
 very barely adequate to all which they have to do; while the 
 present intensely hot season is a circumstance greatly unfa- 
 vourable. Still I do not find that any of my military acquaint- 
 
306 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 ance despond. On the contrary, they all appear to rejoice at 
 the opportunity offered for effacing the former very injurious 
 impression which had been made by Lord Lake's failure, 
 tirough they admit that, should our army fail again, few events 
 would go so near to fulfil the shouts of the mob a few months 
 back in the streets of Delhi, — ''Company ka raj ko guia!" 
 *' The rule of the Company is at an end !" Meantime, heartily 
 as I desire the success of our arms, and the more so because 
 the cause, I believe, is really a just one, I am very sorry for 
 the Jats themselves, with whose rough independent manner I 
 was much pleased, and who showed me all possible civilities and 
 hospitality in passing through their country. One strange fea- 
 ture in the case is, that the war and siege have been commenced 
 by Sir D. Ochterlony on his own sole authority, and without 
 any communication with the Supreme Government! I believe 
 he was fully justified by the urgency of the casej but this is 
 one among many proofs which have fallen under my notice, 
 how impossible it is to govern these remote provinces from 
 Calcutta, and how desirable it is to establish a separate Pre- 
 sidency for Northern and Central India, either at Agra, Mee- 
 rut, or, perhaps, Saugor. 
 
 In the midst of these troubles, and of those other smaller 
 blood-lettings which are pretty constantly going on in one part 
 or other of this vast country, I have had much reason to be 
 thankful for my own peaceable progress through districts where, 
 a very few weeks sooner or later, I should have met with ob- 
 stacles far beyond the reach of that little military array which 
 I described in my last letter. 1 passed Bhurtpoor a month 
 before the war began, and Jyepoor little more than a month 
 after the revolution which had taken place there was tolerably 
 settled. A similar good fortune attended me with regard to 
 a rebellion in Doongurpoor, and a very sanguinary quarrel 
 between two rival Mussulman sects, at Mundipoor; while, in 
 crossing the jungles between Malwah and Guzerat, had I been 
 ten days later, I should have found the road literally impas- 
 sable, through the exhaustion of the wells in the present 
 drought, and the almost total drying up of the Myhe and its 
 tributary sti^ams. As it was, I suffered from nothing but 
 heat, which, in Guzerat I found very intense, the thermome- 
 ter frequently standing at 109° in my tent. My medical com- 
 panion, and most of my servants, had fevers. 1 myself wea- 
 thered the march very tolerably, though I certainly was not 
 sorry to find myself "once more upon the waters, yet once 
 more," at Surat. From that city I embarked on the 18th of 
 April for Bombay, a pleasant three days' passage. This is a 
 very beautiful little island, though now sadly burnt up. As 
 a town and place of residence it cannot compare with Calcutta, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 307 
 
 though in climate, at this season, it is superior. Its main ad- 
 vantage, however, is the society of Mr. Elphinstone, one of 
 the ablest and most gentlemanly men I have ever known, and 
 possessing a degree of popularity and personal influence,, as 
 well as an intimate knowledge of every person and thing with- 
 in the government, which I never saw before, except, per- 
 haps, in the Duke of Richelieu, at Odessa. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO JOHN THORNTON, ESQ. 
 
 Bombay^ May 12, 1825. 
 I have owed you a letter so long that I feel now, like other 
 tardy debtors, almost ashamed to pay it. My silence, how- 
 ever, has not been occasioned by my having ceased, I may say 
 even for a day, to recollect and love you, but from various 
 causes, arising out of the way of life in which I have been en- 
 gaged, which have left me little time to attend to the episto- 
 lary duties of friendship. 
 
 During the whole of my residence in this country, and more 
 than ever since, in the course of this long journey, I have 
 been enabled to see and hear a good deal of the advantages 
 and disadvantages of an Indian life, your boys have been very 
 frequently in my mind, and my general impression has cer- 
 tainly been that, though, except under very unusual circum- 
 stances, great wealth is now no longer to be looked for in 
 India, and though the dangers of the climate are, I think, ra- 
 ther underrated than otherwise in Europe, the service still is 
 one of the best within an Englishman's reach, as affording to 
 every young man of talent, industry, and good character, a 
 field of honourable and useful exertion, and a prospect of mo- 
 derate competency, without any greater risk of health and 
 life than, with such views before him, and with a reliance on 
 God's good providence, a Christian is fully justified in en- 
 counterino;. One great and grievous evil, — the long and al- 
 most hopeless separation from country and friends, is now 
 greatly abated by the plan said to be adopted by the Court of 
 Directors, which not only secures to their civil servants a 
 pension after a certain length of residence in India, but al- 
 lows likewise of a furlough after a portion of that time is ex- 
 pired. And I need hardly, I trust, say, that during the time 
 which your sons must be separated from you, I hope they will 
 
 26* 
 
308 CORRESPONDENCE* 
 
 always look on me as their uncle, and that it will be a pride 
 and pleasure to my wife and myself, to supply, as far as we 
 can supply, the place of Mrs. Thornton and yourself to them. 
 With regard to the moral and religious dangers of India, I 
 am not justified in concealing from you that they are still 
 many and great. I do not, indeed, think that the tempta- 
 tions to gross immorality are more numerous here than else- 
 where. Drunkenness is almost unknown in good society, and 
 its effects on the health are so rapid and terrible, and it is re- 
 garded with so much dislike and disgust by the majority of 
 those by whose influence public opinion is guided, that there 
 is little reason to apprehend its ever becoming fashionable. 
 And connexion with native women, though sadly common 
 among the elder officers of the army, is, so far as I can learn, 
 among the younger servants, either civil or military, at pre- 
 sent by no means a fashionable vice. It is the same, with 
 gambling, the turf, and other similar pursuits: they are not 
 followed by many, and those who do follow them are, I think, 
 regarded by the young men themselves as more or less raffs. 
 The dangers of India seem to me to be in Calcutta,— osten- 
 tatious expense and continued dissipation; and in the remoter 
 stations still more than in Calcutta, a forgetfulness and disuse 
 of the external means of grace and godliness. A greater 
 danger than either of these has been very common, but is now, 
 I am told, less frequent or less prominent than it used to be; 
 I mean, an unbelief in, and denial of, Christianity. Of this 
 last it was not likely that I should myself see many instances, 
 but that it is sometimes to be met with I have learned from a 
 very amiable young man, who had heard some specious and 
 mischievous arguments during the course of his residence, 
 which had disquieted him a good deal, and of which I am hap- 
 py to believe that I succeeded in effacing the impression. But 
 these dangers, great as they are, are certainly not peculiar to 
 India. They will be found more or less every where, where 
 young persons are left to themselves, as all young men must 
 be in a great degree, at an early age. And there are by God's 
 mercy, some countervailing circumstances which make me 
 think both that India is, in these respects, less dangerous now 
 than it was, and which may afford a reasonable hope to a 
 Christian parent that a youth well-grounded in his principles 
 will pass unharmed through the trial. In the first place, a 
 boy who desires to live a wise and Christian life, however he 
 may be endangered by bad example and bad advice, will at 
 least not find himself alone in his good resolutions. He will 
 almost every where throughout India find others of his own 
 age to countenance him, both in the civil and military services, 
 and many of these men too highly esteemed for talents and 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 309 
 
 expectations to admit of the cause which they support being 
 depressed or generally unpopular. I have met, to my very 
 great comfort and satisfaction, with many of these good young 
 men, more, (as might be expected from their greater number,) 
 in the military than the civil service, but enough in both to 
 give a reasonable hope that if your sons come out such as I 
 hope to see them, they will find many like-minded with them- 
 selves, and no want of friends of the best and most valuable 
 description. 
 
 Another great blessing, and one which must contribute 
 greatly to continue and increase the advantage which I have 
 just mentioned, is that, I think, the greater part of the young 
 married women who make up in the Mofussil stations almost 
 the only female society, and who exert, as may be expected, 
 a very important influence over, not their husbands only, but 
 their husbands' friends and guests, are domestic, well-disposed, 
 and religious. Married for the most part very early, thrown 
 by the circumstances of the climate, and by the active and 
 continual employments in which the men are engaged, very 
 much on themselves, and to seek amusement in reading or 
 with their children, they are, even in Calcutta, more gene- 
 rally domestic, retired, and quiet than might have been ex- 
 pected, and in the country stations, where their seclusion. is 
 necessarily greater, they most of them appeared to me to have 
 thought more, and to have less reluctance to converse on re- 
 ligion than the generality of females in England. 
 
 Another favourable circumstance to the maintenance and 
 increase of Christian principles in India, is the character of the 
 great majority of the clergy now amongst us. In this respect 
 a very happy change has taken place within the last few years. 
 
 Out of twenty-six resident clergymen of the Church of Eng- 
 land on the Bengal establishment, with the greater number of 
 whom I am personally acquainted, I find none whose lives 
 are tainted with the suspicion of immorality, none who are 
 habitually careless in the discharge of their duty, and except 
 
 one unfortunate case hardly any thing 
 
 has occurred to give me pain during my visitation; while 
 there are really some among them whose names would rank 
 high for talent, temper, zeal, soundness of doctrine, and holi- 
 ness of life, in the best and brightest periods of ecclesiastical 
 history. Such an one is my excellent friend Corrie, whose 
 character, much as I valued and loved him before, I only 
 learned to understand and appreciate fully during my journey 
 through Hindostan, from tracing in almost every part of it 
 
310 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 the effects of his labours, and the honour in which his name is 
 held both by Christians, Hindoos, and Mussulmans. 
 
 '•^ '^ ^ '-K "-^ V 
 
 This is, however, a parenthesis. I am now speaking of the 
 means of religious improvement afforded to a young man in 
 India, and I am very thankful to be able to say, that though 
 we are still most lamentably short of hands, for one and thirty 
 chaplains is a very bare complement, and it will seldom hap- 
 pen that more than one-half of those will be resident and ef- 
 fective at the same time; still, if a young man can get the op- 
 portunity of hearing a sermon in Bengal, the chance is that he 
 will hear what will do him good. Nor is this all; if a young man 
 is actually religious, I know few countries where he runs so 
 little risk of having his religion embittered by religious con- 
 troversy. Except in Calcutta itself, and its neighbourhood, 
 there is actually no sect worth naming, except the Church of 
 England. . . . All the Scotch who are worth having, 
 when out of Calcutta come to church with us, and many offi- 
 cers of that nation have been confirmed by me, as an indica- 
 tion of their purpose to join us entirely. And though there 
 are some hot-headed zealots of the two parties within the 
 Church, whom I have some difficulty in keeping from occa- 
 sional quarrels, few countries can be found in which the feuds 
 between Calvinists and Arminians are at present heard less 
 of than in India. All the members of the Church are, in fact, 
 busy, and there are so many, and so important objects at 
 which all must labour, that we have neither time nor hands to 
 spare for calling names and throwing dirt in each other's faces. 
 
 Under all these circumstances, with the advantage of a good 
 education in England, and with those continued and prevail- 
 ing prayers with which you and their mother will follow them 
 wherever they go, I certainly see no reason to dissuade you 
 from trusting your boys in this other world, for such it doubt- 
 less may be called, when compared with the scenery, habits, 
 and circumstances of Europe. Heaven grant that both in a 
 worldly and heavenly view, the experiment may be a happy one! 
 Thus far I had written six weeks ago, and soon after my 
 arrival within the bounds of the Bombay Presidency. I had 
 then no immediate opportunity of sending my letter. I have 
 been since so much engaged, that I have, from week to week, 
 been induced to defer putting the finishing stroke to it. What 
 follows must be chiefly on business. I hope the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society received long since, my acknowledgments of 
 their continued and splendid munificence to Bishop's College. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 311 
 
 It is my hope as soon as I return to Calcutta to carry into ef- 
 fect their wishes, in founding one scholarship, at least to bear 
 their name, and to hold the same place in the establishment 
 with those of the other Societies, and to increase the numbers 
 in succeeding years to any amount they may wish, and the 
 limits of the building may suffice for. In the first instance I 
 have been led to apply their bounty to the completion of the 
 College buildings, more particularly the chapel, where it will 
 be acknowledged by an inscription, and for which the bare 
 funds of the institution were perfectly insufficient. Indeed, 
 we are still exceedingly poor. The expense, both of building 
 and of the monthly bills, has far exceeded every calculation 
 which Bishop Middleton had made; and though the diet, &c. 
 both of students and missionaries, is conducted on a scale of 
 the utmost frugality consistent with health and decency, all 
 our means would be insufficient, if it were not for the hopes 
 which I am endeavouring to realize, of a general collection 
 and subscription in the different Presidencies of India. In 
 every thing but money the College goes on as well as an infant 
 establishment can do. The principal is really indefatigable, 
 and the five youths who are now under his care are spoken of 
 by him as most promising, and in terms not only of approba- 
 tion, but aifection. 
 
 I will only add, that the more which I see of India, the more 
 I am convinced that its conversion will be best accomplished 
 by the agency of natives of the country, and that we have al- 
 ready almost reached the moment when it will be no longer de- 
 sirable to incur the great expense of sending out Missionaries 
 from Europe. 
 
 I really hope that a little energy and prudence only are ne- 
 cessary, with God's blessing, to make your society a far more 
 efficient source of light and health to India, than it has yet 
 been; and for our augmented endeavours there is great and 
 blessed encouragement in the good which has already been 
 done. I was not able to visit Burdwan; but in the stations 
 which I did visit, I had the happiness of confirming and ad- 
 ministering the Sacrament to above two hundred native con- 
 verts, all so far as I could learn, well-informed in their reli- 
 gion; and all, so far as I could judge, actuated by a devotional 
 spirit, the meekest, the most intense, and touching which in 
 any body of people I ever witnessed. Nor was the promise 
 held out by the children, the schools, and the individuals scat- 
 tered through the country, whom I met from time to time, but 
 who could not be collected to receive confirmation, less de- 
 
312 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 liffhtful to me. Surely there is no inconsiderable progress, 
 wnen we take into consideration the few years that the Church 
 of England has made any attempt to spread her doctrines in 
 the north of India. 
 
 I have now about half finished the visitation of my diocese, 
 a task which has employed me above ten months of almost con- 
 stant travelling, during which I have seldom slept under any 
 roof but that of my tent, or in the cabin of my boat, and have 
 traversed, I should guess not much less than three thousand 
 miles either by water or on horseback. During all this time I 
 have been greatly favoured in the general health and protection 
 which God has extended to me, in His help under a sharp fever, 
 when I was far removed from all medical aid, and without any 
 friend or countryman near me; in being preserved from infec- 
 tion in districts where several of my people fell dangerously 
 ill, and from wars and violence in those parts of Central India, 
 where tranquillity can never long be counted on. 
 
 I passed Bhurtpoor about a month before, and Jyepoor a 
 month after, disturbances which would have, probably, put an 
 effectual stop to my progress; and a similar good fortune at- 
 tended me in the neighbourhoods of Mundissore and Doongur- 
 poor, as well as in Guzerat, all which districts have been more 
 or less disturbed and dangerous. In almost every instance I 
 met with hospitality and kindness not only from my own coun- 
 trymen, but from the native princes; and I have reason to 
 hope that I have made myself not unacceptable either to Chris- 
 tians or heathens. Meantime I have found much to interest 
 and delight me during my long journey. I thought much of 
 you and of my long ramble with you, as I stood on the cedar- 
 tufted mountains of Kemaoon, 8000 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and with the range of Himalaya 25,800 feet high, within 
 forty miles distance. I thought of you again, and wished 
 much for you, while visiting the noble marble palace of Delhi 
 and Agra; and while I was comparing, in recollection, my 
 Rajpoot and Maharatta escorts, with our Cossac friends in the 
 Cuban. By the way, '^Cosak" is the common word for a 
 predatory horseman all through Northern and Central India. 
 Still however, with all these qualifications of curiosity, I have 
 had many things to keep me from forgetting the peculiar and 
 appropriate object of my journey, as you will believe v/hen I 
 mention that though many of my Sundays were of course, ne- 
 cessarily passed in wildernesses remote from European or 
 Christian Society, yet I have found occasion and opportunity 
 to preach above fifty times since I left Calcutta. And though 
 I have certainly not shut my eyes to the different objects of in* 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 313 
 
 terest and beauty near which my route carried me, I can truly 
 say that I have never gone out of my way in pursuit of such 
 objects, and have been no where where I had not professional 
 duties to perform, or which was not in the direct road to some 
 scene of such duties. After all, in looking back at the vast 
 and promising field which I have passed, my heart is ready to 
 sink when I recollect how much more I might have done, and 
 how many things I have omitted, or hurried over. Another 
 time, if I am spared to perform the same journey again, I shall 
 know better how to arrange my plans, and Heaven grant that 
 I may be more diligent in carrying them into effect! My wife 
 
 and little Emily came hither by sea ten days ago. 
 
 * * * * ^ * 
 
 We are to remain here till after the first fall of rain. Then 
 I purpose to march to Poonah, and after returning hither 
 to sail to Calcutta, taking Cannanore, Cochin, the Syrian 
 Churches, and Ceylon in my way. I trust to be at home again 
 by the beginning of the cool weather. Madras, and the re- 
 mainder of India, Bangalore, Hydrabad, and Nagpoor, I must 
 reserve to another year. I have much to do in all these places, 
 but I cannot without inconvenience to the whole diocese, be 
 so long absent from Calcutta as would be necessary for me to 
 visit all India in a single journey. 
 Dear Thornton, 
 
 Ever your obliged and affectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD GRENVILLE. 
 
 Bombay, June 1, 1825, 
 My Lord, 
 
 I beg your Lordship to accept my best thanks for your oblig- 
 ing letter, as well as for the valuable and interesting present 
 which it announces. The latter is, I trust, awaiting my arri- 
 val at Calcutta, the former reached me a few weeks since on 
 my arrival within the bounds of this government. It will, on 
 every account, give me most sincere pleasure to find myself able 
 in the slightest degree to contribute to the completeness of your 
 Lordship's collection of plants, and I have written to Mr, 
 Traill, a gentleman who holds the chief civil employment in 
 Kemaoon, and who is more intimately acquainted than most 
 persons whom I know with the forests and glaciers of the 
 Himalaya, requesting him to send down* to Calcutta, with the 
 precautions your Lordship suggests, some acorns of the 
 mountain Ilex, and some cones of all the different species ot 
 
314 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 pine which he can obtain within the limits of his jurisdiction, 
 the soil, climate, and productions of which differ, as I under- 
 stand, in no material respect from those of the other and un- 
 conquered provinces of the Nypalese monarchy. A visit which 
 I paid to those glorious mountains in November and Decem- 
 ber last, was unfortunately too much limited by the short time 
 at my disposal, and by the advanced season, to admit of my 
 penetrating far into their recesses, nor am I so fortunate as to 
 be able to examine their productions with the eye of a botan- 
 ist. But though the woods are very noble, and the general 
 scenery possesses a degree of magnificence such as I had never 
 before either seen, or, (1 may say,) imagined, the species of pine 
 which I was able to distinguish were not numerous. The most 
 common is a tall and stately, but brittle fir, in its general 
 character not unlike the Scottish, but with a more branching 
 head, which in some degree resembles that of the Italian pine. 
 Another, and of less frequent occurrence, is a splendid tree 
 with gigantic arms and dark narrow leaves, which is account- 
 ed sacred, and chiefly seen in the neighbourhood of ancient 
 Hindoo temples, and which struck my unscientific eye as very 
 nearly resembling the cedar of Lebanon. But these I found 
 flourishing at near 9000 feet above the level of the sea, and 
 where the frost was as severe at night as is usually met with 
 at the same season in England. But between this, which was 
 the greatest height that I climbed, and the limit of perpetual 
 snow, there is doubtless ample space for many other species of 
 plants, to some of which a Dropmore winter must be a season 
 of vernal mildness. The ilex, which was the only species of 
 oak I saw, grows to a great size on the sides of the secondary 
 range, mingled with the walnut, the crab, the small black 
 cherry, and a truly European underwood of blackthorn, bram- 
 bles, raspberries, dog-roses, and very tall and formidable net- 
 tles, whose stings excited much astonishment and some alarm 
 in my Hindoostanee followers, while I know not whetlier the 
 feelings which the scenery suggested to me were more painful 
 or pleasing, so completely was I often carried back to some 
 parts of Shropshire and Montgomeryshire. I am not ashamed 
 to say that the tears were more than once in my eyes, as I 
 rode through thickets, the very air of which breathed Eng- 
 land, and by streams and little mountain lakes, as cold, as 
 black, as clear and noisy, as if they had issued from Snowdon, 
 though the spell was dissolved from time to time by the sight 
 of mountains such as Europe has not to show, and by the oc- 
 casional glimpses of the still lower vallies, dark with the exu- 
 berant foliage of an Indian wood, and abounding in the usual 
 eastern accompaniments of monkeys, gigantic snakes, and 
 malignant vapours. These monkeys and snakes are found but 
 
CORRESFONDENCE* 315 
 
 a little way up the hills, while on the other hand, the chamois 
 is not seen below the highest peaks of the secondary range, 
 and the yak, or Tibet cow, pines away when removed from 
 the neighbourhood of its native glaciers. But there are other 
 animals, to whom heat and cold seem matters of great indif- 
 ference. The bear, the wolf, and the hyaena abound wherever 
 there is food and covert, and the tyger is found of undiminish- 
 ed size and ferocity, from the lowest level of the Terrai, or 
 marshy forest, at the foot of the hills, up to the edge of the 
 ice, and, I believe, even beyond the passes, into Chinese Tar- 
 tary. 
 
 * * * * * sf 
 
 Your Lordship will readily believe that I was not inatten- 
 tive to the question which was much debated at the time of 
 my leaving Europe, respecting the real height of these cele- 
 brated hills. I conversed on the subject with several of the of- 
 ficers concerned in the survey, who are men of undoubted ta- 
 lent and science. Their measurements,' they all assured me, 
 were taken with high-priced instruments, on repeated trials, 
 and with a careful comparison of their respective operations, 
 sharpened, indeed, by a natural jealousy of the extraordinary 
 results to which those operations conducted them. For many 
 of the highest peaks they had extremely favourable bases, and 
 I can have no doubt, therefore, that their published tables may 
 be depended on, and that Nundi Devi, (which I feel some ex- 
 ultation in saying is completely within the limits of the 
 British empire,) is really somewhere about 25,800 feet above 
 the sea. Budrintith, Kedernath, and the three-fold peak 
 above Gangoutree, are all considerably lower, though the 
 Brahmins are very unwilling to allow that these last are not 
 the highest of all. Some of the sepoys who form my escort 
 were of this caste, and I shall not easily forget the enthusias- 
 tic delight which they expressed on first obtaining a view of 
 Meru. I am willing to hope that your Lordship may not be 
 uninterested in these few and imperfect memoranda of the 
 most remarkable and celebrated natural objects which India 
 
 has to offer. 
 
 ***** ;jf 
 
 With the most sincere good wishes for the health and pros- 
 perity of your Lordship and your house, 
 I remain, my Lord, 
 
 With much esteem and respect. 
 Your Lordship's obliged and faithful humble servant, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 Vol. II 27 
 
316 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 TO THE HONOURABLE MRS. DOUGLASS. 
 
 Bombay, June 7, 1825. 
 
 * * * « * =)j 
 
 I have, both for myself and mine, many mercies for which 
 to be thankful, both for my own general good health and per- 
 sonal safety, in countries not the most friendly to the human 
 constitution, and where the safeguard of laws is little known; 
 in my recovery from one sharp fit of fever, of a kind which, 
 though new in India, ran through almost all the Presidency of 
 Bengal, during the latter part of the last rains; and still more, 
 in the recovery and restoration of my wife and children, in 
 repeated attacks of fever, as well as for their safety under the 
 less frequent and more romantic peril of their immediate neigh- 
 bourhood to a conspiracy, a battle, and what might have been 
 a massacre. From Emily herself you will probably have heard 
 the details of the extraordinary and calamitous events at 
 Barraekpoor, of which she was an ear, and almost an eye- 
 witness. 
 
 For myself, I have every reason to think that India agrees 
 with me; and, though I do not pretend to be without occa- 
 sional regrets, and fits of home-sickness, I continue to like the 
 country and the people, and to find the climate not intolerable. 
 The months of April and May are, indeed, very and painfully 
 oppressive, and those of September and the early part of Oc- 
 tober little less so. But the rainy months, though annoying 
 and wearisome, are, for the most part, tolerably cool, and the 
 winter months, from November to the middle of March, afford 
 as agreeable a climate as any country can boast of. The coun- 
 try, of course, varies much in scenery and productions on so 
 wide a surface as I have now traversed; and though India, 
 speaking of it generally, can hardly be spoken of as a pic- 
 turesque region, and though its general fertility and wealth 
 have also been greatly overrated, it contains many tracts of 
 wild and original beauty, many very agreeable expanses of 
 highly peopled and highly cultivated lands, many noble rivers, 
 some unequalled mountains, and many works of ancient art, 
 which may be fairly compared with, and perhaps even pre- 
 ferred to the most celebrated structures in Europe. 
 
 The different nations which I have seen in India, (for it is a 
 great mistake to suppose that all India is peopled by a single 
 race, or that there is not as great disparity between the inha- 
 bitants of Guzerat, Bengal, the Dooab, and the Deckan, both 
 in language, manners, and physiognomy, as between any four 
 nations in Europe,) have of course, in a greater or less de- 
 gree, the vices which must be expected to attend on arbitrary 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 317 
 
 government, a demoralising and absurd religion, and, (in all 
 the independent states, and in some of the districts which are 
 partially subject to the British,) a laxity of law, and an almost 
 universal prevalence of intestine feuds and habits of plunder. 
 Their general character, however, has much which is extreme- 
 ly pleasing to me: they are brave, courteous, intelligent, and 
 most eager after knowledge and improvement, with a remark- 
 able talent for the sciences of geometry, astronomy, &c., as 
 well as for the arts of painting and sculpture. In all these 
 points they have had great difficulties to struggle with, both 
 from the want of models, instruments, and elementary instruc- 
 tion; the indisposition, or rather the horror, entertained, till 
 lately, by many among their European masters for giving them, 
 instruction of any kind, and now, from the real difficulty 
 which exists of translating works of science into languages 
 which have no corresponding terms. More has been done, and 
 more successfully, to obviate these evils in the Presidency of 
 Bombay than in any part of India which I have yet visited, 
 through the wise and liberal policy of Mr. Elphinstone; to 
 whom this side of the Peninsula is also indebted for some very 
 important and efficient improvements in the administration of 
 justi«e, and who, both in amiable temper and manners, exten- 
 sive and various information, acute good sense, energy, and 
 application to business, is one of the most extraordinary men, 
 as he is quite the most popular Governor, that I have fallen 
 
 in with. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Believe me. 
 
 Ever your affectionate friend and cousin, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE REVEREND J. J. BLUNT. 
 
 Bombay^ June 10, 1825. 
 I am ashamed to recollect how long it is since I wrote to 
 you, but you will excuse me when you are aware of the many 
 circumstances which must prevent my ever becoming a good 
 correspondent. I do not, indeed, think that in the regular 
 and ordinary functions of my diocese, there is more or even 
 so much to be done as in any of the more extensive bishoprics 
 of England; the small number of the clergy must prevent this 
 being the case. But on the other hand, every thing which is 
 done must be done by myself, both in its spirit and its details, 
 and partly owing to the manner in which we are scattered, 
 
318 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 and partly to the general habit of the country, all must be done 
 in writing. Questions, which in England would not occupy more 
 than iive minutes' conversation, may here sometimes call for 
 a letter of six or eight pages^ and as nothing, or almost nothing 
 which concerns the interests or duties of the Clergy, can be 
 settled without a reference to government, I have, in fact, 
 at least two sets of letters to write and receive in every im- 
 portant matter which comes before me. As Visitor of Bishop's 
 College, I receive almost every week six or seven sheets of 
 close writing on the subject. I am called on to give an 
 opinion on the architecture, expense, and details of every 
 church which is built, or proposed to be built, in India; every 
 application for salary of either clerk, sexton, schoolmaster, or 
 bell-ringer, must pass through my hands, and be recommended 
 in a letter to government. I am literally the conductor of all 
 the missions in the three Presidencies 5 and, what is most se- 
 rious of all, I am obliged to act in almost every thing from 
 my own single judgment, and on my own single responsi- 
 bility, without any more experienced person to consult, or 
 any precedent to guide me. I have, besides, not only the In- 
 dian clergy and the Indian government to correspond with, but 
 the religious Societies at houie, whose agent I am, and to whom 
 I must send occasional letters, the composition of each of 
 which occupies me many days: while in the scarcity of clergy 
 which is, and must be felt here, I feel myself bound to preach, 
 in some one or other of the churches or stations, no less fre- 
 quently than when I was in England. 
 
 All this, when one is stationary at Calcutta, may be done^ 
 indeed, without difficulty; but my journeys threw me sadly 
 into arrears; and you may easily believe, therefore, not only 
 that I am obliged to let slip many opportunities of writing to 
 my friends at home, but that my leisure for study amounts to 
 little or nothing, and that even the native languages, in which 
 it has been my earnest desire to perfect myself, I am com- 
 pelled to acquire very slowly, and by conversation more than 
 by reading. With all this, however, in spite of the many dis- 
 advantages of climate and banishment, I am bound to confess 
 that I like both my employments and my present country. 
 The work is as much as I can do, and more than, I fear, I can 
 do well; but a great deal of it is of a very interesting nature, 
 and India itself I find so full of natural beauties and relics of 
 ancient art, and there are so many curious topics of enquiry 
 or speculation connected with the history and character of its 
 inhabitants, their future fortunes, and the policy of Great 
 Britain concerning them, that in every ride which I have taken, 
 and in every wilderness in which ray tent has been pitched, I 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 31& 
 
 have as yet found enough to keep my mind from sinking into 
 the languor and apathy which have been regarded as natural 
 to a tropical climate. 
 
 To my preservation thus far from such a result, a tendency 
 to which I certainly see in many of my friends, it is probable 
 that the frequent change of scene, and the necessity of daily 
 bodily exercise, and even fatigue, to which I have been for 
 the last ten months habituated, have much contributed. In- 
 deed Sir John Malcolm foretold that I should be highly pleased 
 with my first visitation, though he warned me also that I 
 should find it an inexpressibly wearisome duty to march over 
 the same immense extent of ground, visiting the same places 
 a second and a third time. Of this, however, I am content 
 to run the risk, and I look forwards to my future journeys 
 with any thing but a gloomy anticipation, since I hope that in 
 
 tliem I shall be accompanied by my wife and children. 
 
 ******* 
 
 ****** * 
 
 During a great part of the year the climate is sufficiently 
 disagreeable j it is by no means pleasant to be kept a close 
 prisoner in the house from soon after sunrise to a little before 
 sunset, at the peril of a fever, or of a stroke of the sun, if one 
 ventures to brave his terrors. It is a poor comfort to a per- 
 son suffering, as I am at this moment, under what is called 
 prickly-heat, exactly resembling the application of red-hot nee- 
 dles to different parts of the body and limbs, to be told that this 
 is a sign of health, and that while it continues, he is not likely 
 to have the cholera morbus. Nor is it comfortable at night, 
 during the rainy season, to have the option between utter 
 sleeplessness, if you choose to shut the window, and having 
 one's bed, and every thing in the room, soaked through by the 
 storm beating in if you think fit to leave it open. Nor can 
 any comparison be formed between the degrees of fatigue oc- 
 casioned by clerical duties in England and India, when I come 
 out of the pulpit, as was the case but yesterday, w4th my 
 lawn sleeves as if they had been soaked in water. All these 
 are easy to be borne so long as Providence gives health and 
 strength, and many of them are only confined to particular 
 seasons^ and in all seasons considerable difference exists in 
 different parts of India. The northern stations are, I think, 
 most favoured, enjoying a longer continuance of cool weather, 
 an air at all times drier and more elastic, and, except during 
 the hot winds, by no means uncongenial to an English consti- 
 tution. I have been greatly struck with the difference in mus- 
 cle, complexion and apparent strengths between persons sta- 
 tioned in the upper provinces and those resident in Calcutta 
 or Bombay. Yet so impartial is death in his visits, and so 
 
 27* 
 
320 CORRESPONDENCE.. 
 
 much may prudence and good management effect towards ob- 
 viating natural inconveniences, that it is not found that on the 
 whole there is greater mortality among the European inhabi- 
 tants of these last-named cities^ than among those of Delhi, 
 Meerut and Bareilly. 
 ^ Of the people of this country I gave you, if I recollect 
 
 right, a tolerably long account in my last letter. 
 
 * * * * * * » 
 
 Their anxiety after improvement is exceedingly great, and 
 the steps which are now taking, particularly by the govern- 
 ment of Bombay, to translate useful books, especially mathe- 
 matical and philosophical, into their languages, is likely I 
 hope, to produce effects even beyond the civil and secular im- 
 provements, which is their more immediate object. The la- 
 bours of our missionaries in those parts of India which I have 
 seen, have not as yet produced any great or striking show of 
 converts, but they have undoubtedly been as successful as. 
 could fairly be expected, considering the short time which has 
 elapsed since the attention of the English Church was called 
 to this new harvest. In the south, the number of native Chris^ 
 tians, even without reckoningthe Syrian and Romish churches, 
 is great, and has been stated to me, on the best authority, as 
 between 40,000 and 50,000. And I have myself set on foot 
 a new mission among the Puharrees, whose different ramifica- 
 tions extend from Rajmahal on the Ganges, through all Cen- 
 tral India to the Deckan and the Arabian sea, which already 
 wears a promising appearance, and from which I anticipate, 
 perhaps too sanguinely, very great advantage. 
 
 Many thanks for the interesting details which you have sent 
 me of your own pursuits, and of our beloved little flock at 
 HodneL 1 rejoice that you have become acquainted with my 
 excellent and kind-hearted uncle and aunt, whom nobody can 
 know without loving and valuing. Your accounts of the poor 
 old people, have carried me back very forcibly, (I hardly 
 know whether painfully or agreeably,) to some of the happiest 
 days of my life, though I have never had reason to complain 
 of a want of happiness, and you will much oblige me by re- 
 membering me most kindly to some of my best known parish- 
 ioners. May I also request of you to take charge of ten 
 pounds, to distribute next Christmas among any of the inha- 
 bitants who need it most. 
 
 Believe me, dear Blunt, 
 
 Ever your sincere friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 Mrs. Heber desires me to send you her kind regards and 
 good wishes. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 321 
 
 TO MRS. HEBER.' 
 
 . Foijit de Galle, Sept. 27, 1825, 
 Dearest Mother, 
 
 I write from a small port near the southern extremity of 
 Ceylon, where we are waiting for a fair wind, in order to em- 
 bark for Calcutta, and where I am happy to steal the first few 
 moments of leisure which have occurred to me for some time, 
 to tell you thatweare all three well, that we have received good 
 accounts of our dear little Harriet, and that we are thus far 
 prosperously advanced in our voyage to rejoin her. We left 
 Bombay, where I had been detained much longer than I ex- 
 pected, on the 15th of last month, and had a favourable voy- 
 age to this island, of which we have now seen a considerable 
 portion. All which we have seen is extremely beautiful, with 
 great variety of mountain, rock, and valley, covered from the 
 hill-tops down to the sea with unchanging verdure, and though 
 so much nearer the Line, enjoying a cooler and more agreea- 
 ble temperature than either Bombay or Calcutta. Here I have 
 been more than ever reminded of the prints and descriptions 
 in Cook's voyages. The whole coast of the island is marked 
 by the same features, a high white surf dashing against coral 
 rocks, which, by the way, though they sound very romantic- 
 ally, differ little in appearance from sand-stone; a thick grove 
 of coco-trees, plantains, and bread fruit, thrusting their roots 
 into the very shingles of the beach, and hanging their boughs 
 over the spray; low thatched cottages scattered among the 
 trees, and narrow canoes, each cut out of the trunk of a sin- 
 gle tree, with an out-rigger to keep it steady, and a sail ex- 
 actly like that used in Otaheite. The people, too, who differ 
 both in language and appearance from those of Hindostan, are 
 still more like the South Sea islanders, having neither turban 
 nor cap, but their long black hair fastened in a knot behind, 
 with a large tortoise-shell comb, and seldom any clothing but 
 a cotton cloth round their waist, to which the higher ranks 
 add an old-fashioned blue coat, with gold or silver lace, and 
 a belt and hanger to match, a fashion which they apparently 
 received from their Dutch conquerors, and which has a very 
 whimsical appearance. The Candians, who inhabit the in- 
 terior of the island, and whose country, as you know, was 
 conquered by the English about ten years ago, wear a more 
 showy dress, and one more uniformly Oriental. They are now 
 all tolerably reconciled to our government, as well as the Cin- 
 galese, or inhabitants of the sea-coast, and their chiefs are ra- 
 *pidly acquiring a knowledge of our language and imitatinff 
 our customs. We went up witli the governor. Sir Edward 
 
322 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Barnes, who, as well as lady Barnes, have shown us much at- 
 tention and kindness, to Candy, where I preached, adminis- 
 tered the Sacrament, and confirmed twenty-six young people 
 in the audience-hall of the late King of Candy, which now 
 serves as a Church. Here, twelve years ago, this man, who j 
 was a dreadful tyrant, and lost his throne in consequence of ' 
 a large party of his subjects applying to General Brownrigge 
 for protection, used, as we were told, to sit in state to see those 
 whom he had condemned trodden to death, and tortured by 
 elephants trained for the purpose. Here he actually compelled 
 by torments, the wife of one of his prime ministers, whom ho 
 suspected of plotting against him, to bruise with her own hands 
 two of her children to death with a pestle and large mortar, before 
 he put her to death also; and here at that time no Englishman . J 
 or Christian could have appeared' except as a slave, or at the 1 
 risk of being murdered with every circumstance of cruelty. 1 
 And now in this very place an English governor and an Eng- 
 lish congregation, besides many converted natives of the island, 
 were sitting peaceably to hear an English Bishop preach! 
 Christianity has made perhaps a greater progress in this island 
 than in all India besides. The Dutch, while they governed 
 the country, took great pains to spread it, and the black 
 preachers whom they left behind, and who are still paid by 
 the English government, show a very great reverence for our 
 Common Prayer, which is translated into their language, and 
 a strong desire to be admitted Members of the Church of Eng- ^ 
 land. One excellent man, named Christian David, I ordain- J 
 ed last year in Calcutta, and there are several more in train- I 
 ing. There are also some very meritorious missionaries in the 
 island. One of them is the son of our neighbour, Mr. Mayor, 
 of Shawbury, who, together with another Shropsliire man, Mr. 
 Ward, has got together a very respectable congregation of 
 natives, as well as a large school, and built a pretty church, 
 which I consecrated last Sunday, in one of the wildest and 
 most beautiful situations I ever saw. The effects of these ex- 
 ertions have been very happy, both among the Roman Catho- 
 lic descendants of the Portuguese, and the heathen. I have 
 confirmed, since I came into the island, 360 persons, of whom 
 only sixty were English, and in the great Church at Colombo, 
 .1 pronounced the blessing in four different languages, English, 
 Portuguese, Cingalese, and Tamul. 
 
 Those who are still heathen, are professedly worshippers of 
 Buddh,* but by far the greater part reverence nothing except 
 
 • The Moodelier of Candy, G. P. G. ^e Sanim, gave the Bishop a 
 Sermon in the Pali langnag-e and Cingalese character, said to have been 
 written by Buddli himself, being one of 17,575 he preached in his way 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 323 
 
 the Devil, to whom they offer sacrifices by night, that he may 
 do them no harm. Many of the nominal Christians are in- 
 fected with the same superstition, and are therefore not ac- 
 knowledged by our missionaries, otherwise instead of 300 to 
 be confirmed, I might have had several thousand candidates. 
 Many thanks for the kind trouble you took to get subscriptions 
 for the female schools at Calcutta. I hope we shall be able 
 to raise nearly money enough for them in India. On the whole 
 I rejoice to believe that in very many parts of this great coun- 
 try, " the fields are white already to harvest," and it is a cir- 
 cumstance of great comfort to me, that in all the good which 
 is done, the Church of England seems to take the lead, that 
 our Liturgy has been translated into the five languages most 
 used in these parts of the world, and that all Christian sects 
 in the East seem more and more disposed to hold it in reve- 
 rence. Still little, very little is done in comparison with all 
 which is to do. 
 
 Ever your affectionate son, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE REV. JOHN MAYOR, VICAR OF SHAWBURY, IN SHROP- 
 SHIRE. 
 
 Galle, Septemh&r 28, 1825. 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 I seize a few moments of the first leisure which I have had 
 for a long time, while waiting a change of wind to enable our 
 ship to leave this harbour for Calcutta, to give you some ac- 
 count of those most dear to you in this island. I arrived at 
 this port five weeks ago, in visiting the differeut parts of my 
 great diocese; and had tiie pleasure to be greeted, among those 
 who first came off to our vessel, by your son Robert, looking 
 stout and well, and very little altered from what he was when 
 I last saw him in England. He remained on board the greater 
 part of the day; but the fatigue which we had all to undergo, 
 before we got on shore, the sea being stormy, and our vessel 
 in a bad situation, unfortunately brought on an attack of fever, 
 which prevented his accompanying us, as was his first inten- 
 tion, to Colombo. His disorder since has completely left 
 him. 
 
 Mrs. Heber and I had the pleasure, on our return from the 
 north, of passing the best part of three days with him and Mrs. 
 
 between Rajmahanoora and Nalundranoora, concerning the state of ab- 
 sorption into the Deity. Ed. 
 
3^4 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Mayor, in their romantic abode at Baddagame; where we also 
 found his colleague, Mr. Ward, with his wife and family, in 
 perfect health and contented cheerfulness. I consecrated their 
 Church, which is really an extraordinary building, consider- 
 ing the place in which, and the circumstances under which it 
 has been erected j and I had also the happiness of administer- 
 ing Confirmation and the Lord's Supper to a small but pro- 
 mising band of their converts and usual hearers; and I can 
 truly say, both for my wife and myself, that we have never 
 paid a visit which has interested and impressed us more agree- 
 ably, from the good sense, good taste, and right feeling, the 
 concord, zeal, and orderly and industrious piety which ap- 
 peared to pervade both families and every part of their esta- 
 blishment. Both of them are, in fact, all which you or I could 
 wish them — active, zealous, well-informed, and orderly 
 Clergymen — devoted to the instruction and help of their 
 Heathen neighbours — both enjoying a favourable report, I 
 think I may say without exception, from the Governor, public 
 functionaries, and, in general, from all the English in the Co- 
 lony whom I have heard speak of them. 
 
 The cause of Christianity is, I hope, going on well here. 
 There is, among the Cingalese and Tamul population, a very 
 large proportion of nominal Christians; who, although unhap- 
 pily they are only nominal, because their fathers were so be- 
 fore them, or because the profession is creditable, and though 
 too many of them still pay their superstitious homage to 
 Buddha and to the Evil Principle, have, notwithstanding, 
 fewer external difficulties to contend with, in embracing the 
 true faith, than fall to the share of the poor Hindoos. Among 
 these, and in part among the professed Pagans, I am rejoiced 
 to find that conversions are going on, if not very rapidly, yet 
 steadily; and that the rising generation afford excellent hope* 
 of repaying richly, and even in our own time, the labours of 
 the good men who have given up parents, and friends, and 
 country in their service. I have had myself the pleasure of 
 confirming in this place. Candy, and Colombo, three hundred 
 natives of the island — Portuguese, (that is, descendants of 
 Portuguese,) Cingalese, and Malabarians: besides which, had 
 I been able to go to Jaffna, for which the season has too far 
 advanced, I am assured that I should have had at least one 
 hundred candidates more. In the great cliurch at Colombo, 
 I had to pronounce the blessing in four different languages. 
 Surely this should eucourao-e our best hopes and best exer- 
 tions, and should fill us with gratitude to God, who has al- 
 ready made, *' the fields white unto the harvest." 
 
 It gave me much pleasure to hear from your son of your pro- 
 longed good health, and that of your family. The signal for 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 325 
 
 sailing is given, and I have only time to add my best wishes 
 to them, and to beg you to tell our common friends in Shrop- 
 shire, that I often, very often, think of them. I and mine, 
 thank God, are perfectly well. 
 
 Dear Sir, ever truly yours, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO RICHARD HEBER, ESQ. 
 
 Calcutta^ December 15, 1825. 
 My DEAR Brother, 
 
 Your kind letter, which I received in the last month, soon 
 after my return from Ceylon, gave me very sincere pleasure. 
 
 I have, indeed, been a very bad correspondent, and I fear 
 that both my private friends, and the different public bodies 
 with which I am connected, have all alike some cause to com- 
 plain of me. With regard to these last, however, and more 
 particularly the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 
 I really did not suppose that they desired to hear from me, 
 unless 1 had something worth communicating, connected with 
 them or their committees, or their missions in England; and 
 as I have not yet visited Madras, where only they have any 
 establishments particularly worth speaking of, I had not, till 
 since my return to Calcutta, any adequate motive for trou- 
 bling them, or taking up a portion of my own time, which I 
 could very ill spare. If, however, they suppose that because 
 I have not written them long letters, I have neglected their 
 interest here, or that I have paid more attention to any other 
 ! religious society, except that for the Propagation of the Gos- 
 \ pel, to whom I had a great deal to say, they are most exceed- 
 \ ingly mistaken. Their agents and missionaries here, I am 
 convinced, will bear me witness, that I have worked as hard 
 in their cause, and been as importunate in soliciting subscrip- 
 tions for them, as any body could be; and in consequence of 
 the ill state of their funds, my own subscriptions and dona- 
 tions, (besides the share they have had of the sum entrusted 
 to me by the Parent Society,) more than double those which 
 I, at first, thought it necessary to bestow. As to writing let- 
 ters, it should be borne in mind, that in India all business is 
 
 transacted by writing. 
 
 * * *■ * " *• * 
 
 v|t ^' '^ ^ vf: '^ 
 
 But I have no wish to plague you any further with my vin- 
 
326 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 dication. You, I am sure, will acquit me of intentional di8- 
 respect towards any body, particularly a society which has 
 done so much good to the best of all causes. 
 
 The aftairs of the sister Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel have occupied a good deal of my time and thoughts. 
 Bishop's College, besides costing two or three times as much i 
 in its building as it was at first calculated it would, has turned ' 
 out so expensive in the monthly bills and necessary keep of its 
 inmates, that all the resources I found were quite inadequate 
 to finish the chapel, build the printing-house, or do more than 
 keep the wolf from the door. Nor would they have sufiiced 
 even for this last object, had it not been for the munificent 
 supplies which for these three years we have received from the 
 Church Missionary Society, and for the large subscriptions 
 and benefactions which we have, within the last eight months, 
 obtained from ditferent parts of India. For the present, the 
 institution is doing very well, and I have great reason to be 
 pleased with the manner in which it is conducted by Mv. Mill, 
 the principal, who is one of the best and ablest, as he is de- 
 cidedly the most learned man in India. J 
 
 * *- . * * * * * 
 
 Archdeacon Barnes is every way a great loss; sensible, un- 
 affected, and friendly, exceedingly well acquainted with the 
 business and interests of the Church in his Archdeaconry, and 
 popular with all ranks of people there. Should any thing 
 happen to me, there is nobody whom I should so gladly look 
 to as my successor; but if he has to v/ait for the expiration of 
 my term, he will probably think twice, even if the situation 
 were ottered him, before, at fifty years old, he again goes out 
 to India. In spite, however, of these labours and drawbacks, 
 and in spite of the far heavier and more painful circumstance 
 of separation from home, and my oldest and dearest friends, 
 I should be extremely ungrateful if I did not speak well of 
 India, and acknowledge myself happy in my present situation. 
 
 The circumstance which I have felt most painfully, was my 
 long separation from my wife and children; a measure, how- 
 ever, which my subsequent experience of some of the coun- 
 tries which I had to pass through, sufficiently showed to have 
 been no unnecessary sacrifice. In Madras, whither I am go- 
 ing the latter end of next month, I yet hope that they may ac- 
 company me, but am not certain, as it must depend on infor- 
 mation which I am collecting. Mrs. Middleton made the 
 journey, and though I am compelled to go at a later period of 
 the season, and in hotter weather, I have no doubt that Emily 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 327 
 
 might go with perfect safety. But for the children 1 am not 
 without apprehensions. At all events, my separation from 
 them will, I trust, be far shorter than the lastj nor, though I 
 hear much of the beauty of the south of Malabar, and look 
 forward with great interest to seeing the Syrian Christians, 
 can I think that Emily will lose so much of glorious prospect 
 and romantic manners, as she did by not accompanying me 
 up the crags of Almorah, and among the wild and warlike 
 tribes of Malwah. Bombay and Ceylon we saw together, and 
 she, as well as I, was greatly delighted with both, particularly 
 the natural beauties of the latter. The former was rendered 
 particularly interesting to us from the renewal of my old ac- 
 quaintance with Archdeacon Barnes, and from the terms of 
 intimacy on which we lived M'ith Mr. Elphinstone, the most 
 remarkable man in India for talents, acquirements, unde- 
 viating good nature and flow of conversation. We were his 
 guests for almost three months, and I found something fresh 
 to admire or like in him every day. Everybody in India does 
 him justice, as an excellent man of business, ia, "grand hom- 
 me d'etat de guerre," a conqueror and a legislator. 
 
 % it If: if: a % * 
 
 Ceylon is a noble island in all natural riches, but I have 
 seldom seen a country for which man has done so little. The 
 present governor. Sir Edward Barnes, is an able and active 
 man, whose measures seem to have been well-directed for the 
 interest of the people, and he has certainly done much for 
 
 Ceylon. 
 
 » * * * . * * * 
 
 Emily and I have gained much in our Calcutta society by 
 the appointments of Sir Charles Grey and Lord Combermere. 
 Grey is looking extremely well, and very little altered from 
 what he was in England; he is very popular here; so is also 
 Lord Combermere, from his constant accessibility, and close 
 attention to business, as well as by his good-natured and cor- 
 dial manners. He is now, I apprehend, engaged in the siege 
 of Bhurtpoor, unless the usurper of that little state has sub- 
 mitted without coming to blows. If the war really goes on, 
 and the city falls. Lord Combermere will add greatly to his 
 own reputation and that of the English name, inasmuch as 
 Bhurtpoor is the only fortress, and the Jats the only people in 
 j India, who boast that they have never been subdued either by 
 Ithe Mogul emperors or the English, having, as you are aware, 
 beaten off Lord Lake with great loss, in many successive 
 campaigns. I did not see the city, except at a distance, but 
 passed through the country, and was Very hospitably and 
 civilly treated. I thought them a very fine military race, and 
 their territory one of the best governed in the north. 
 
 Vol. IL— 28 
 
 I 
 
228 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 The army under Lord Combermere is considerable, amount- 
 ing to near 25,000 men, with a fine train of artillery^ there 
 
 are only, however, about 3000 of these Europeans 
 
 Should he fail, it is unhappily but too true, that all northern 
 and western India, every man who owns a sword, and can 
 buy or steal a horse, from the Sutlege to the Nerbudda, will 
 be up against us, less from disliking us than in the hope of 
 booty. And still more unfortunately, it is not easy to say 
 where another army can be found to meet them, now that 
 Bombay is fully occupied on the side of Sindia, and all ^he 
 strength of British India in Ava. From Ava and Arracan the 
 news continues to be bad; it is but too certain that our army 
 is melting away with sickness, to which natives and Euro- 
 peans appear equally liable; and there are various rumours as 
 usual in Calcutta yet more gloomy. 
 
 "With Emily's best love and good wishes, and my own daily 
 prayers for your happiness, and if it pleases God, our pros- 
 perous meeting again, believe me, dear Heber, 
 Ever your affectionate brother, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 The steam-boat, long promised, is at length arrived, after 
 nearly a four months' passage. People say this is very well 
 for a beginning, but unless she quickens her pace, most of us 
 will, I think, prefer the old conveyances. We often wish it 
 were possible for you to pay us a visit here. If you were not 
 fully engaged, India is really well worth seeing. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD GRENVILLE. 
 
 Calcutta, Dec. 24, 1825. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I have much pleasure in being enabled to forward to your 
 Lordship, by the H. C. S. Minerva, what will I hope turn 
 out a good collection of the finest Alpine plants in India, to- 
 gether with a few others, which, though not strictly coming 
 under this description, my amiable and able friend Dr. Wal- 
 lich, begs leave to add to the list, on account of their beauty 
 and rarity. I am bound at the same time to express my grati- 
 tude to your Lordship for the very beautiful poems which I 
 found in Calcutta, on my return from my visitation. The pri- 
 vilege of reading and possessing compositions so classical 
 would be valuable any where, but no where I think so much 
 as in India, where, though there is really a great deal of ta- 
 lent and information of different kinds, there are compara- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 329 
 
 tively few who have acquired or retained any taste for Greek 
 and Roman literature. 
 
 Of public news, India at this moment affords but little, 
 though much of the most serious importance may be expected 
 every hour. Lord Combermere is besieging Bhurtpoor, with 
 good hopes of succeeding, and of thus wiping off the sort of 
 stain which the successful resistance of the Jats on a former 
 occasion is considered as having left on the British arms. 
 I remain witli much respect and regard, 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your Lordship's faithful and obliged servant, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE REVEREND DEOCAR SCHMIDT. 
 
 [In answer to his letter on the re-ordination of Lutheran Ministers.] 
 
 Calcutta, December 23d, 1825. 
 Reverend and dear Sir, 
 
 The great press of business with which I have had to con- 
 tend ever since my arrival in Calcutta, has prevented my re- 
 plying to your letter of the 1st of November, till after the 
 event occurred from which you wished to dissuade me. I can 
 assure you, however, that though your arguments have re- 
 mained unanswered, they have been carefully weighed by me, 
 and that, though I have concluded by acting difierently, I 
 think highly of the talent which suggested them. 
 
 I have neither time nor inclination to enter into a contro- 
 versy connected with some of the most important and difficult 
 questions in the whole field of polemic divinity. I only wish 
 to convince you that I have not been inattentive to your let- 
 ter, and to set you right on some points on which you appear 
 to have misunderstood me in our last conversation. You sup- 
 pose that I generally admit ordination by Presbyters without 
 a Bishop to be valid. I do not admit this. All I said is, that 
 when a Christian nation has, by unfortunate circumstances, 
 lost its apostolical succession of Bishops, the continuance of 
 Ministers being a thing absolutely needful and essential, 
 those good men are not to be censured who perpetuate it by 
 the best means in their power. And were I to return to Ger- 
 many, I would again, as before, humbly and thankfully avail 
 myself of the preaching and sacramental ordinances of the Lu- 
 theran evangelical church, not doubting that they are a true 
 church of Christ, and that the Spirit of God is with them, as, 
 I trust, he is with us also. 
 
330 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 But, though an imperfect'ordination may, doubtless, be ac- 
 cepted by our Lord and common Master, and though a church, 
 under circumstances such as I have described, may remain a 
 true church still, it does not follow that, where this supposed 
 dehciency may be supplied, it may not be adviseable for a 
 Minister of the Gospel either to seek for fresh orders himself, 
 or to counsel others to do so. And this may be more espe- 
 cially adviseable whefe his, or their, ministerial utility is 
 likely to be much augmented by a closer union with a church 
 under, (what I conceive to be,) the ancient discipline. We, 
 (that is, the members of our church,) have no right or incli- 
 nation to judge other national churches. But our own flocks 
 have a sacred right to be well satisfied as to the Divine xom- 
 mission of those whom other spiritual rulers set over them. 
 Even where the smallest doubt exists of the perfection of th^ 
 orders received, and their conformity with apostolical practice, 
 it may be a part of Christian prudence to choose the safer 
 side. And even where this doubt is not felt by ourselves, yet, 
 if its existence in others impedes our usefulness, we have the 
 highest possible warrant, in the case of St. Paul and Timo- 
 thy, for condescending, even in a more material point, to the 
 ftiilings and prejudices of our brethren. Accordingly, if a 
 preacher ordained in the method practised in Germany, fore- 
 sees a marked advantage to Christ's cause in a closer alliance 
 with his Episcopalian bretiu-en, I see not that he dishonours 
 his previous commission by seeking our prayers and blessing, 
 in the form which ive think most conformable to God's will. 
 And the humility is, surely, any thing but blameable, which 
 stoops, for a time, to even an inferior degree and inferior du- 
 ties than those which he has already exercised. 
 
 For I see no weight in the argument that holy orders can- 
 not be repeated without profanation. In the first place, it is 
 a matter of doubt whether the first orders were valid or no, 
 and, in the very fact of fresh orders being given without a 
 formal renunciation of the former, it is plain that the fresh 
 orders are tacitly '•'* sub conditione." But, secondly, there is 
 nothing, as I conceive, in the nature of ordination which 
 makes it profane to repeat it on just grounds, or reasonable 
 scruple on the part of the church or its rulers. Ordination 
 stands on a different ground from baptism. It is not a new 
 creation^, but a solemn devotion of a man to a particular office, 
 accompanied by prayer, and, as we believe, an accession of 
 the Holy Spirit. But though a man can be only once regene- 
 rate, he may be often renewed and quickened by the Holy 
 Ghost, and there is no reason, a priori, why he should not 
 receive an outioard ordination, (as he certainly may receive 
 an inward call,) to a new sphere of action in the church, as 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. . 331 
 
 well as to a new office in it. I do not say that this has ever 
 been the practice of the church, though I still think that some- 
 thing very analogous to it may be found in Acts xiii. But I 
 say this to show the difference between the two cases of re- 
 baptizing and re-ordaining, and that the same risk of profa- 
 nation does not attach to the last as, I admit, does in every 
 doubtful case to the former. 
 
 Accordingly, I need not remind you that the great body of 
 ancient Christians allowed the validity of baptism, (the mat- 
 ter and words being correct,) whether conferred by heretics, 
 schismatics, or laymen. But though the ancient church never 
 re-baptized, they most certainly re-ordained in the case of the 
 Meletian and Novatian Clergy, as appears from Theodoret, 
 Eccles. Hist. 1. i. ix. and Cone. Nicen. can. 8. 
 
 Still 1 have no right or desire to judge devout and learned 
 divines of another national church. If they come to sojourn 
 among us, satisfied with the commission which they have re- 
 ceived, or if they desire our help in their efforts to convert the 
 heathen, I gladly meet them as Christians and fellow-labour- 
 ers. I rejoice sincerely that Christ is made known so widely 
 through their means. 1 gladly admit them, (as I should desire 
 myself to be admitted in Germany or Holland,) to the com- 
 munion of our church, and to all that interchange of good-will 
 and good offices, (as in the case of the Missionary societies 
 of our church,) which is essential to our carrying on the Gos- 
 pel work in concert. But I am not inconsistent with these 
 feelings if I think that the difference between us, though it 
 should not interrupt our communion, is in itself a misfortune 
 to be remedied. Nor do I feel the less love and reverence 
 for their character and talents, when I earnestly wish them to 
 become in all points like ourselves, except those sins of infir- 
 mity of which I am mournfully conscious. 
 I remain, dear Sir,. 
 Your sincere friend and servant in Christ, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS, R. HEBER. 
 
 SandheadSy February 5thy 1826. 
 I get this letter ready to send by the pilot, who expects to 
 be able to leave us in the course of the morning. We have a 
 beautiful day and a favourable breeze*. The strenuous mea- 
 sures which government took to secure my horse a passage 
 have proved abortive. They were very kindly meant, and I 
 have reason to believe that I have to thank for them the zeal 
 
 28^ 
 
332 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 of Mr. Lushington, who appears to have taken a good deal of 
 trouble on the subject. I am now quite well. I cannot help 
 thinking that both my illness and yours proceeded in part from 
 the agitation of this second sad parting. 1 should have been 
 unworthy of you could I have left you without a severe pang. 
 We are both of us however in God's hands; and as it is not to 
 please ourselves that we are now separated, I have hope in 
 Ilim that He will bring us together again in happiness, and 
 our separation will be much shorter than the last! 
 
 (iod bless you, 
 
 Reginald Calcutia. 
 
 1 enclose a letter to the Bishop of Oxford, concerning the 
 books intended for All Souls library, which I will thank you 
 to send by the Grenville, as well as the package. 
 
 Our cuddy party is, in a good degree made up of sick offi- 
 cers returning to Europe, miserable spectacles, alas! from 
 Prome and Arracan. I, at first, expected a dull and uninstruc- 
 Tive party, but, as usual, I found persons from whom I could 
 learn a great deal. One officer was one of the first explorers 
 of the Macquarrie river in New South Wales, is exces- 
 sively fond of natural history, and has corresponded with Sir 
 Joseph Banks and Humboldt; another of our passengers, a 
 young civilian, has visited many parts of Kemaoon which 1 
 have not seen, and flatters himself that he has had a sight of a 
 real unicorn I 
 
 One of the poor invalids below has died, and there are some 
 others very weak and ill, but who will, I trust, recover 
 strength as we get out to sea. Mr. Robinson and I take it 
 by turns to read prayers to them, and find both them and the 
 ship's company very attentive. I have also found the cuddy 
 party not only willing but anxious that I should read evening 
 j)rayers as on board the Grenville and Discovery. 
 
 TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 
 
 On hoard the Basswah Merchant t Bay of Bengal^ February 15, 1826. 
 My Lord, "^ 
 
 ]t seems my fate to be able to address your Grace from on 
 board ship only. I am now again engaged in my visitation, 
 and hope by God's blessing, during the next five or six months, 
 to complete the circuit of the southern stations of the presi- 
 dency of Madras, and the Syro-Malobaric Churches in Tra- 
 vancore, besides, if the state of the Monsoon allows, paying a 
 short visit to Ceylon. 1 trust again to have the honour oi writing 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 333 
 
 to your Grace before the conclusion of my journey, but the 
 immediate cause of my present letter is to request your direc- 
 tions and assistance in enabling^ the Indian clergy to marry, 
 under certain circumstances, without the canonical prelimi- 
 naries of banns or license. The custom was for the civil ser- 
 vants of the Company to obtain the permission of the gover- 
 nor, and for the soldiers to produce a similar written license 
 from, their commanding officers, while the few who did not fall 
 under the one or the other of these descriptions were only re- 
 quired, I believe, to give a written assurance to the clergy- 
 man that they knew of no impediment to their legal union. 
 
 For several years back, however, in all marriages of civili- 
 ans of rank, or of commissioned officers, and, generally, where- 
 ever there was wealth on either side, the supreme courts of 
 judicature of Calcutta and Madias, and the Governor of Bom- 
 bay, have taken on themselves to issue marriage licenses. 
 Their power to do this is very generally questioned, and 
 seems to rest on a very unsound foundation, while the fees 
 demanded by their officials are complained of as a heavy 
 grievance. iStill the measure, though at first opposed by the 
 Clergy, has been at length generally acquiesced in,* and Bishop 
 Middleton, as I understood, made an ineftectual appeal to the 
 Board of Control, to get the prerogative transferred from the 
 Court of Judicature to the Bishop and his Surrogates. 
 
 He issued, however, a letter to his clergy, shortly after his 
 arrival, enjoining a more careful adherence than they had 
 formerly shown to the regular hours of solemnizing marriages, 
 and forbidding them strictly to perform the ceremony with- 
 out either banns, or a license from the usual authorities. And, 
 in consequence of this order, the Reverend Mr. Goode, chap- 
 lain at Poonah, having refused to marry a soldier who w^as 
 under marching orders, and who could not remain in canton- 
 ments a sufficient time for the publication of banns, had a long 
 and angry correspondence with Major-General Sir Lionel 
 Smith, which was referred to me a short time before I left 
 Calcutta to embark on my present voyage. 
 
 In comparing the Major-General's arguments with the facts 
 which he states, and those whicii have come to my knowledge 
 from other quarters, it certainly does appear that the grievance 
 complained of is neither ima;^inary nor trifling. A soldier 
 may be, and often is, ordered to march, at a very few days 
 notice, to distances, where a woman, not being his wife, can- 
 not follow or accompany him, while months, and even years 
 may elapse without his being stationary for three weeks to- 
 gether in a place where there is a resident diaplain. 
 
 There are also many stations at M'hich detachments of sol- 
 diers are fixed, which a chaplain only visits alternate months. 
 
334 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 or sometimes four Sundays in the year. Indeed it has been 
 only within the last two years, by the great exertion of Arch- 
 deacon Barnes in Bombay, and by my own influence with the 
 Supreme government, that even this kind of occasional and 
 itinerant service has been provided for. But, at sueh places 
 as these, it is plain that banns are impossible or nugatory, 
 while, setting aside the fact that the Indian price of a license 
 is quite beyond the means of a soldier, it does not appear that 
 persons in his situation of life, or such females as he is likely 
 to marry, are of that " state or quality," to which by canon 
 ci. the granting of a marriage license is restricted. 
 
 It must also be born in mind, that these restrictions press 
 with more severity on soldiers and the usual dependants on 
 a camp, than on any other persons of the same rank in life. 
 Their courtships are, in this country, proverbially short; and 
 it is necessary that they should be so, since the number of 
 Christian females from whom they can choose is very small, 
 while the miseries and dangers to M'hich an unprotected woman 
 is liable in India, are such as to make it highly desirable that 
 widows and female orphans should remain as short a time un- 
 married as possible. Nor is it possible to become acquainted 
 with the temptations, and almost inevitable ruin of body and 
 soul to which an European soldier, without a wife, is exposed 
 in India, without feeling the propriety of throwing as few ob- 
 stacles as possible in the way of lawful marriage. 
 
 It is a galling circumstance, too, that these restrictions only 
 apply to members of the Church of England, and those places 
 which have the residence or occasional visits of a clergyman. 
 The parties have only to go over to the Church of Rome, and 
 the priest will unite them without trouble, and at the shortest 
 notice. Where there is no chaplain within a certain distance, 
 the commanding oflicer does the same. And in the Residen- 
 cies, where there are ministers of the Scottish Church, I have 
 myself known a person, who though of that nation, had for 
 several years attended our worship without scruple, who be- 
 thought himself of his paternal creed out of pure good hus- 
 bandry, and because his approaching marriage could be cele- 
 brated with less expense and delay than it could be according 
 to the rules of the Church of England. Nor are the Clergy 
 of the two rival communions at all backward to contrast their 
 liberty in these particulars, with the expensive and burden- 
 some restrictions to which the members of our Church are 
 subjected. 
 
 The consequence is, as I have stated to your Grace, that, 
 so far as soldiers are concerned, the canons and Bishop Mid- 
 dleton's injunctions have, in most parts of India, remained a 
 dead letter. The chaplains have, nearly without exception, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 335 
 
 gone on in their former course of marrying soldiers and camp- 
 followers on the simple certificate of the officers commanding 
 the regiments to which they belong. They plead in excuse 
 for this conduct, that a similar liberty is used by all his* Ma- 
 jesty's military chaplains, when on foreign service^ that the 
 marriage-act does not extend to India, and the canons are 
 inapplicable, while an attempt to enforce them would embroil 
 tliem with the military officers, on whose good-will depends 
 all their comfort, and much of their usefulness, at the same 
 time, that it would act as a direct encouragement to vice, and 
 produce much inconvenience and misery to many helpless in- 
 dividuals. 
 
 Your Grace will have already perceived that I regard their 
 case as a strong one, and I trust that I shall not be thought to 
 have gone too far in my compliance to the necessities of the 
 country in the following rules, which I have forwarded through 
 the Archdeacon for the provisional guidance of the Clergy, 
 till your Grace's further directions could be obtained, for 
 which I at the same time stated my purpose of applying. 
 
 The first rule permits Chaplains tq "celebrate the marriages 
 of military persons, soldiers, female followers of the camp, 
 sutlers, and others subject to martial law, under the rank of 
 commissioned officers, without banns or license, and by vir- 
 tue of a written permission signed by the commanding officer 
 of the station, garrison, or detachment, to which such soldier 
 or military person belongs." The second provides that "such 
 permission must be presented to the officiating clergyman at 
 least two days before the celebration of the marriage, unless, 
 for some urgent cause, he may see fit to be satisfied with a 
 shorter notice." The third directs the clergyman, "if any 
 doubts arise as to the propriety of the connexion, to make in- 
 quiry without delay, both personally from the parties, and 
 otherwise; and should it appear to him that any lawful impe- 
 diment exists, to suspend the ceremony till further satisfac- 
 tion, reporting the same immediately to the Commanding 
 Officer, and if need be, to the Archdeacon and the Bishop." 
 
 Your Grace will observe that I have directed the Clergy to 
 receive the certificate of permission not, (as now,) from the 
 Commanding Officers of regiments, but from the commandant 
 of the station, garrison, or detachment. My reason is, that 
 this last is the usual person whom the chaplain has to consult, 
 and from whom he receives communications connected with 
 the military part of his fiock, and that I have found it desire- 
 able that, so far as can be done, all other military officers should 
 be prevented from interfering on any ground with the chaplain 
 in the performance of his duties. And it is also probable that 
 in any difficulty which may arise as to the marriage of a sol- 
 
336 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 dier, the Commandant of the station will be more free from 
 undue bias, and more open to the chaplain's objections. I 
 have also thought it necessary to assign some period for the 
 previous notice in order to give the chaplain time for seeing 
 the parties, and making any enquiries which may be neces- 
 sary. 
 
 With the same view of publicity I have suggested to his 
 Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief, the propriety of having 
 the names of all soldiers or military persons, intending to mar- 
 ry, inserted in the orderly-book of their regiment or detach- 
 ment, and read at the head of companies, at least four days be- 
 fore the celebration of the ceremony. That the permission to 
 marry shall proceed from the otticer commanding the regiment 
 or detachment, in the first instance, and having received the 
 signature of the ofl&cer commanding the station, &c. be for- 
 warded by him to the chaplain, and that both these officers be 
 especially desired to make due enquiries as to the fitness of the 
 union, and, more particularly, their age, condition, &c. 
 
 The measure which I have yet ventured on relates to mili- 
 tary persons only beneath the rank of officers, inasmuch as 
 the inconveniences whicK they suffered were the greatest, and 
 they were the only description of persons from whom I had a 
 direct complaint^ while I was sensible that any thing which 
 should extend further would be likely to produce a jealousy 
 in the supreme courts, and might possibly, (from its conse- 
 quences with property, inheritance, &c.) lead to consequen- 
 ces wliich I was myself unable to foresee. 
 
 Your Grace will not fail, however, to observe, that there 
 are many subaltern officers to whom the payment of so high 
 license fees may be very inconvenient, while the publication 
 of their banns is liable to the same difficulties as those of the 
 soldier. And there are very many persons in India, engaged 
 in civil or commercial pursuits, in whose case the publication 
 of banns is quite nugatory, while their means and rank in life 
 are by no means such as to make a license procurable or even 
 proper. 
 
 There are many thousand families of what are called the 
 'Mialf caste," or *' country -born," scattered up and down In- 
 dia, engaged in the cultivation of indigo, or employed in the 
 different studs, farms, silk manufactories, &c. which the go- 
 vernment have established in their territories. A Christian 
 of this description maybe resident, (where there are many 
 such,) in an humble sphere of life at Etawah, or Mynpooree, 
 in the Dooab. If he desires to marry a female of his own de- 
 gree, he must now, if the canons be complied with, go to keep 
 a residence at Agra, where the nearest chaplain resides, a dis- 
 tance of seventy miles from his home and property, in order 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 337 
 
 that his banns may be published. Now, not to mention that 
 such an absence from home would be ruinous, perhaps, in more 
 ways than one, to both the parties, it is plain that the publi- 
 cation of banns so far from his own neighbourhood, and in a 
 place where his face, and perhaps his name, is unknown, could 
 answer no good purpose. On the other hand, if he prefers 
 a license, he must get two householders in Calcutta, a city 
 which he has never seen, and from which he is distant eight 
 hundred miles, to make oath, and enter into a bond, that he and 
 his intended wife are of full age, and that there is no impedi- 
 ment to their union, and he is to pay high fees for an instru- 
 ment, the issuers of which can know nothing of him or his con- 
 nexions. 
 
 Accordingly, a man thus situated, either goes to the nearest 
 station for merely the day of marriage, having the banns pub- 
 lished in his absence, and pro forma, or watches the opportu- 
 nity of some Chaplain passing through his neighbourhood, in 
 which case he endeavours, generally with success, to persuade 
 him to marry him without either banns or license, though ne- 
 ver, (as I am assured,) without enquiry; or he has recourse to 
 some of the neighbouring Priests, who ask no questions at all, 
 or to the lay Magistrates, among whom there are many who 
 feel a great reluctance, and some who display a very unfortu- 
 nate facility in undertaking not only this, but other ecclesi- 
 astical functions. 
 
 I once was inclined to suggest as a remedy for these mis- 
 chiefs, the appointment of a sufficient number of Surrogates. 
 To this, however, there are, in the present state of India, 
 many objections. If these Surrogates were appointed by the 
 Bishop, the legality of their licenses would be hotly contested 
 by the Supreme Court, a contest in which Bishop Middleton 
 was by no means encouraged to embark, and which would very 
 possibly lead to a painful and mischievous disunion between 
 the Bishop and his Majesty's judges. If the Supreme Court 
 had the appointment, 1 really do not know who they could get 
 to serve the office. The magistrates, who are civil servants 
 of the Company, I feel almost persuaded would not; inasmuch 
 as great jealousy exists between the King's courts and the 
 Adawlut, and the Indian civilians dislike nothing so much as 
 being drawn, by any means, into contact with English law 
 and English attorneys. I myself should not wish the Clergy 
 to receive commissions from an authority which I am inclined 
 to think an usurpation, and I should be still more unwilling to 
 transfer to them any part of the odium which belongs to the 
 stamp duty, and fees of marriage licenses. At the same time 
 your grace will observe, that the creation of Surrogates would 
 not meet the evil, inasmuch as a large portion of those per- 
 
338 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 sons who cannot have recourse to banns, are equally precluded 
 by poverty, from obtaining a license. 
 
 Nor if the whole system of Surrogates were carried into its 
 fullest extent would any thing be really gained in point of 
 security against improper marriages. No end would be gained 
 by making some of the Clergy Surrogates, since, scattered as 
 tney are over a vast extent of country, the applicant for a li- 
 cense would neither know where to go, nor be materially re- 
 lieved by such a provision. If «//.were invested with this 
 character, it would be merely to recognise in each of them the 
 exercise of a discretion which each now exercises, and which 
 may be just as well exercised without the imposition of an 
 expensive tax and a fee; or, if this character were given to the 
 magistrates, it would only be to remove this discretion from 
 the Clergy to a description of persons who, respectable as 
 many of them are, are by no means so well qualified to exer- 
 cise it. 
 
 Accordingly, I would respectfully submit to your Grace, 
 that in all cases where the parties desiring to be married are 
 natives of India, or British subjects holding no rank in the 
 service either of his Majesty or the honourable East India 
 Company, and where their place of residence is thirty miles 
 and upwards from any of the three Presidencies, the chaplain 
 or officiating clergyman may dispense with banns or license 
 on receiving a written declaration, signed by the parties them- 
 selves, and by two neighbouring Christian householders, that 
 they are of age, and that there is nolegal impediment to their 
 union, or, if either is under age, then a similar declaration 
 from their parents or guardians. These documents to be 
 countersigned by the magistrate or magistrates of the district 
 or districts to which they respectively belong, with the decla- 
 ration that he has no reason to doubt the truth of the accom- 
 panying statement. The document to be transmitted to tlie 
 clergyman at least twenty days before the celebration of the 
 marriage, and the clergyman to be enjoined to use the same 
 precautions in case of suspicion as before prescribed in mili- 
 tary marriages. 
 
 Such an arrangement, as it would leave to the Supreme 
 Court their present hold over all the more wealthy and digni- 
 fied part of the population of these countries, would, I con- 
 ceive, meet with no opposition from them. It would relieve 
 the Clergy from the heavy alternative under which they now 
 labour, of either refusing marriage where no Christian objec- 
 tion exists, or incurring a suspension of three years, (if indeed 
 the canons are of force in India,) and it would do much to- 
 wards extending and confirming the popularity, the influence, 
 and consequently the usefulness of the English Church in these 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 339 
 
 vast countries. On these grounds, and speaking the general 
 sentiments of the Indian Clergy, I beg leave to express their 
 earnest hope, as well as my own, that your Grace will afford 
 us such relief as you may think proper, together with direc- 
 tions for our future guidance. I will only add my hope that 
 the canons in question, being simply ecclesiastical, and never 
 having received the sanction of parliament, it will not be be- 
 yond your Grace's power to authorize our omitting observ- 
 ances which, useful and proper as they may be at home, are 
 by no means calculated for the state of society in these colo- 
 nies. 
 
 The other provisions of canonical hours, of marrying in 
 church, when there is one within a reasonable distance, 
 &c. may remain as they are now fixed. They used formerlv 
 to be much neglected in India, but they are now universally 
 recognised, and have many obvious advantages, without anv 
 material inconvenience. 
 
 Since the despatch of my last letter to your Grace till my 
 embarkation twelve days ago, I have been resident in Calcutta, 
 where I had the satisfaction of setting on foot a district com- 
 mittee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, cor- 
 responding to those in Bombay and Ceylon, and of collecting 
 for the immediate use of Bishop's college, and eventually for 
 the support of its schools and missions, a very seasonable sup- 
 ply of about 15,000 s. rupees, which will, I hope, receive 
 considerable additions from the other stations of the Presi- 
 dency when their respective chaplains shall have received and 
 acted on the letters which I sent them. The new society re- 
 ceived a cordial support from the Commander in chief, the 
 Chief Justice and Judges, the members of council, and most 
 of the chief functionaries of government both civil and mili- 
 tary. Lord Amhei'St alone, I regret to say, though he wished 
 us every success, felt himself precluded by the line of policy 
 which he had undertaken to adopt before his arrival here, from 
 giving us the same countenance which Mr. Elphinstone and 
 Sir E. Barnes have done. It yet remains to be seen what 
 success will attend us at Madras. 
 
 In consequence of this supply, together with that previously 
 received from Bombay, and the further helps hoped for from 
 England, the college council, now complete by the arrival of 
 the two professors, having been encouraged to go on with the 
 internal fitting up of the chapel, and the erection of the print- 
 ing-house. They are still, however, going on from hand to 
 mouth, and obliged to anticipate their resources with a hardi- 
 ness which necessity only justifies. The utility and success 
 of the institution is becoming every day more apparent. I 
 wish that the statutes had held out greater encouragement to 
 
 Vol. II.— 29 
 
340 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 private benefactors and non-foundation students, or that some 
 greater latitude were allowed in these respects to the college 
 council and the visitor. However, there is a power reserved 
 of altering and adding to them by the society at home, and 
 the necessary expansion will, I have no doubt, eventually take 
 place. At present, I think, and the Principal is now of the 
 same opinion, that their jmblication in India, (which was ap- 
 parently contemplated,) would rather do harm than good. Of 
 the new Professors" I have as yet seen little. For Principal 
 Mill my respect and esteem increase the more I know of him. 
 
 I have filled up the Archdeaconry of Bombay, vacant by 
 the resignation of my valued friend Dr. G. Barnes, with the 
 Rev. Mr. Hawtayne, formerly domestic chaplain to Bishop 
 Middleton. 
 
 I was not so fortunate as to find St. Peter's Church in Fort 
 William, or the Bengalee Chapel, of which I wrote in my last 
 letter to your Grace, in a sufficiently advanced state to admit 
 of consecration. I had the satisfaction, however, of preaching 
 in a Church which, though not newly built, was newly appro- 
 priated to the forms of our episcopal ritual in the late Dutch 
 colony of Chinsurah, thirty miles from Calcutta, which I had 
 induced government to place at my disposal, and to which I 
 had assigned as Pastor the Rev. Mr. Morton, one of the mis- 
 sionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. 
 The building is not large, but elegant, and I found a numer- 
 ous and attentive congregation, of which the Dutch portion 
 had been long accustomed to the English language, and ac- 
 quiesced with much seeming good will in the introduction of 
 our Liturgy and the appearance of a pair of lawn sleeves. 
 The facility with which their objections were overcome, I im- 
 pute partly to the sound sense and good temper of Principal 
 Mill, whom I had charged, (while on my visitation,) with the 
 management of the affair^ partly to the great preponderance 
 of English, who, even before the colony was transferred to 
 us, had already settled there; and in a great degree also to 
 the amiable and Christian spirit displayed by the Rev. M. La 
 Croix, a Dutch missionary who had previously occupied the 
 Church, (there being no other chaplain,) who professed him- 
 self not sorry to relinquish a situation in which his imperfect 
 knowledge of English was a disadvantage to him for the un- 
 divided application of his time and talents to the natives, and 
 has since been himself a regular attendant on Mr. Morton's 
 ministry. To our Church the point was one of much import- 
 ance. As a missionary station Chinsurah is very valuable. 
 The congregation, already numerous, is likely to increase 
 greatly, and to receive a greater and greater proportion of our 
 countrymen, and had the moment of the transfer been let slip. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 341 
 
 there were many of the sectaries who would eagerly have of- 
 fered their services to government, and were likely enough to 
 have fixed themselves there permanently. I mention this to 
 your Grace, because one of my Clergy, whom it is not neces- 
 sary to name, thought fit to reilect severely on my conduct in 
 removing Mr. Morton fromthesuperintendanceof the schools 
 supported in the neighbourhood of Calcutta by the Society for 
 Promoting Christian Knowledge. 
 
 During my residence in Calcutta I held an ordination of 
 Deacons, and another of Deacons and Priests, both attended 
 witli circumstances with which your Grace should be informed, 
 and which 1 trust will not be uninteresting to you. The sub- 
 jects of both were missionaries in the employ of the Church 
 Missionary Society. Three of them, (Mr. Reichardt, a na» 
 tive of Germany, and a young man of very respectable attain- 
 ments both in the classics, divinity, and Hebrew, Mr. Bow- 
 ley, the son of an European, but born in this country, in the 
 language of which he is a proficient, and Abdul Musseeh, a 
 venerable old man, a native of Lucknow, and an elegant Per- 
 sian and Hindoostanee scholar,) had some years ago received 
 Lutheran ordination, and officiated as Ministers of the Gos- 
 pel. They had for some time, however, been anxious to ob- 
 tain what they regarded as a more apostolic commission, and 
 Mr. Bowley and Abdul Musseeh had been confirmed in their 
 views by some conversation which I had with them at Chunar 
 and Agra in my journey through Northern Hindostan. Mr. 
 Reichardt appeared to have very carefully studied the subject, 
 and they had none of them any discoverable motives for their 
 wish but such as reflected honour both on themselves and the 
 Church of England. 
 
 With this persuasion, and in consideration of the office 
 which they had already filled as preachers of the Gospel, as 
 well as the great distance which Abdul Musseeh and Mr. Bow- 
 ley had travelled, the former little less than 800 miles, to re- 
 ceive the sacred rite, I used the same freedom which I had 
 done in the case of Christian David, in ordaining them Priests 
 as well as Deacons, with the intervention of a month only be- 
 tween the ceremonies. Abdul Musseeh not understanding 
 English, the service was translated into Hindoostanee by 
 Archdeacon Corrie, under the able revision of Principal Mill 
 and my chaplain, Mr. Robinson. Abdul Musseeh read the 
 Gospel in that language, and greatly impressed us all, both in 
 that and his answers, with his deep apparent emotion, his fine 
 voice and elegant pronunciation, as well as his majestic coun- 
 tenance and long whire beard. 
 
 He has since returned to his flock at Agra, where he has a 
 little Christian parish of twenty or thirty families, besides 
 
342 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 many hundred occasional hearers in the neighbouring cities 
 and villages. I also admitted to Deacon's orders, a well-de- 
 serving and well-educated young man, named Adiington, a 
 catechist likewise in the employ of the Church Missionary* 
 Society, on whom I hope to confer the Priesthood next' au- 
 tumn. By that time the Rev. Mr. Wimberly, (one of the 
 Company's chaplains, but as yet a Deacon only,) will be also 
 qualified to become a candidate. 
 
 I believe I mentioned to your Grace in my last letter the 
 sort of amicable intercourse which I had maintained with dif- 
 ferent sects of Oriental Christians, and particularly with some 
 Bishops of the Armenian church. One of these whom I had 
 previously met at Dacca, Mar Abraham, a suffragan depend- 
 ant on the Patriarch of Jerusalem, was much with me, and 
 still more, I think, at Bishop's college, during my late resi- 
 dence at Calcutta. He, like the Syrian Metropolitan, attend- 
 ed service in the cathedral, and 1 was happy to be able on 
 different occasions to treat him with respect and hospitality. 
 His sect, (I need not inform your Grace,) is Monophysite, 
 and the Liturgy of his Church grievously crowded with super- 
 stitious observances, approaching to those of the Roman ritual. 
 They disclaim, however, earnestly, the Pope and some of the 
 distinguished tenets of Popery, and both my friend Mar Abra- 
 ham, and some others of his nation, express a great admira- 
 tion of our Liturgy, and a desire, (which I think claims all 
 the encouragement in our power,) to draw near us, and learn 
 from us. One of their nation, named George Avdal, has 
 offered his services to Bishop's College, to translate our 
 Liturgy into Armenian, to which may be prefixed, if God 
 gives me health and leisure to finish it, a short account which 
 I am drawing up of the foundation, reformation, and history 
 of the English church, which, I am led to believe, may do us 
 great service among the eastern Christians, and may be ad- 
 vantageously circulated, not only in Armenian, but the other 
 languages of Asia. And if Mr. Avdal does his work well, I 
 think of employing him still further in rendering into that 
 language some of the Homilies of St. Chrysostom, and of such 
 other Fathers,as the eastern Church hold in most honour, but 
 of whom, except by name, they know nothing. By such 
 means, duly persevered in, and practised with meekness, and 
 without the appearance of dictation or superiority, it may be 
 hoped, under the Divine Blessing, that some of the grosser 
 ignorance may be removed, and some of the more crying 
 abuses reformed, which have for many centuries, overspread 
 the most ancient and illustrious sects of Christianity. Bishop 
 Abraham complained, with much feeling, that almost all the 
 books of devotion or instruction which the Armenian nation 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 34S 
 
 possess, are printed at Venice, and in many instances inicv' 
 polated there; and he seemed extremely well disposed to re- 
 commend to his Patriarch a plan which I suggested, of obtain- 
 ing such works in future from the press of Bishop's College. 
 It is my purpose to write on this, and other similar subjects, 
 to the Societies for the Propagation of the Gospel, and pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge, and I trust that we shall have 
 some assistance from them in carrying these measures into 
 execution. 
 
 Bishop Abraham evinced, on leaving Calcutta, his confi- 
 dence in myself and Principal Mill in a yet more remarkable 
 manner, in committing to my care, for education at Bishop's 
 College, a very pleasing young man, a Deacon of his church, 
 and related to himself, who had attended him from Palestine. 
 He said that the Armenian church felt the want of a more li- 
 beral education than they could usually obtain for their clergy; 
 that, in particular, a knowledge of the English language and 
 literature Would be very valuable to them, and that this young 
 man, who, having good talents, and powerful interest, was 
 likely to be called eventually, to a conspicuous station in the 
 Church of Jerusalem, was exceedingly anxious to learn any 
 thing which we might have to teach. He professed a willing- 
 ness to pay, to the best of his power, towards the expense of 
 his remaining with us, but, well knowing his poverty, I told 
 him that was needless. I have accordingly arranged with 
 the Principal and College Council, to receive " Mesrop Da- 
 vid" on the same terms of inmate and guest on which Chris- 
 tian David, the Tamul clergyman, was received on a former 
 occasion. They agreed with me that it was an opportunity 
 not to be lost, of improving and extending the influence of our 
 Church among his countrymen, and should the Society for 
 Promoting Christianity in Foreign Parts object to his being 
 supported at the college expense, I will most cheerfully take 
 it on myself. 
 
 From Ceylon I have heard actually nothing which can be 
 regarded as authentic, since I last addressed your Grace, and 
 the continued silence of the acting Archdeacon, the non-ap- 
 pearance of the Tamul and Cingalese teachers expected by 
 the college, and the unpleasant reports which have reached 
 me from other quarters, are calculated to give me much dis- 
 quietude respecting the success of the plans on which I had 
 built so much, and which I detailed to your Grace, I fear, 
 with too much exultation. 
 
 At Bombay one of the chaplains, whose conduct and cha- 
 racter have, on many previous occasions, given me great un- 
 easiness, has been attending a conference of American Inde- 
 pendent Missionaries, and receiving the sacrament at their 
 
 29* 
 
344 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 hands. Admonition from me I have no reason to suppose 
 does him any good, and I have found to my surprise, no pro- 
 vision for the punishment of this open and daring schism in 
 any of the canons, nor in any of the few books on ecclesiasti- 
 cal law which are within my reach. May I request your 
 Grace at your leisure, to favour me with your opinion and in- 
 structions on the subject? 
 
 * -* * * * » * 
 
 I remain, my dear Lord, 
 
 with much respect and regard. 
 Your Grace's much obliged and faithful 
 Servant and Suffragan, 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 I forgot to mention to your Grace that I have heard of the 
 arrival of the Syrian Metropolitan, Mar Athanasius, in Tra- 
 vancore, but that I do not yet know whether his claims have 
 been recognised by the Malayalim Church. 1 wrote him, some 
 time ago, a long letter, which was translated for me into Sy- 
 riac by my friends Principal Mill and Mr. Robinson, and 
 Mar Abraham added one from himself, which, as coming from 
 an Asiatic and Monophysite, is likely, I hope, to have much 
 weight with him. In it he encouraged him to place confidence 
 in the friendly disposition of the English Church, and caution- 
 ed him, very earnestly, against the arts and encroachments of 
 the See of Rome and its Clergy. 
 
 TO MRS. HEBER. 
 
 Madras, February, 27, 1826. 
 Dearest Love, 
 
 I have been so much hurried with business, that I have only- 
 just time to save the dak. I am very well, and established in 
 a very comfortable and handsome house which government 
 have taken for me. We had, on the whole, an unpleasant, as 
 well as a tedious passage. The ship is a fine one, and well 
 manned, and the living on board abundant and comfortable; 
 but she was so much out of trim, owing to the bad arrange- 
 ment of her cargo, that she could carry very little sail, and 
 leant over on one side so strangely, that, had bad weather 
 come on, it would have fared hardly with us. The captain is 
 altering the arrangements, and I hope, for the sake of all con- 
 cerned, that this may prove sufficient, though, as the ship is 
 also leaky, 1 have some doubts. We had much sickness on 
 board; one poor man died of cholera, and was committed to 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 345 
 
 the sea a few hours before I came on board. A woman I left 
 not likely to linger more than a day or two, and for some days 
 back had been insensible or nearly so, the victim of long ha- 
 bits of drunkenness, and unhappily not at all disposed to pro- 
 fit by the advice and prayers of Mr. Robinson and myself. 
 From most of the other invalids, however, and from the sai- 
 lors, we meet with great attention and gratitude. A poor little 
 baby died while we were on board, and I buried it, the first 
 funeral at sea which I have seen. I thought of Southey's 
 ** Oliver Newman," when the coffin's plunge was heard. 
 
 The mother was one of the ladies on board, a Mrs. S. wife 
 of a merchant in Calcutta, going home with her infant, on ac- 
 count of her own ill health: her distress was very grievous and 
 affecting, particularly to one who was himself a father and a 
 husband. Though almost broken-hearted, she showed a Chris- 
 tian temper, prayed for resignation very earnestly and hum- 
 bly, and was, I think, remarkably supported by God in her 
 own utter weakness and helplessness, both during lier child's 
 sufferings, which were very severe, and after his death. In 
 the former case, she begged me earnestly to come and pray 
 for him, which of course I did, and did my best to comfort 
 her afterwards. It has ended in my asking her to occupy a 
 room in this house during the two or three days that the ves- 
 sel's cargo is shifting, when no sick person could, with toler- 
 able comfort remain on board, and she was not able to get a 
 lodging on shore. 
 
 Of the other passengers, one, a Lieutenant Kenny, is a 
 pleasing and gentlemanly man, going home in a miserable 
 state, covered with ulcers from head to foot, the effect of the 
 Arracan fever. I asked him also on shore, but he could not 
 
 bear going through the surf, or even being moved into the boat. 
 
 * * ^ * * * * 
 
 The surf, when I landed, was very moderate to what I expect- 
 ed to see, though it would liave swamped any boat but those 
 built on purpose. I breakfasted this morning with Sir T. 
 Munro; he was very kind, and expressed regret that the want 
 of accommodation in the government house, prevented his 
 asking me there during my stay. In the course of my conver- 
 sation with him, I saw many marks of strong and original ta- 
 lent. I hope to commence my journey on the 13th. It will be 
 very hot; but Sir Thomas Munro tells me, that if I avoid the 
 Monsoon on the Travancore coast, I may perform it safely and 
 with tolerable comfort. Be assured, dearest love, I will take 
 care of myself, and run no needless risks. 
 
 Your affectionate 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
346 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Madras, March 7, 1825. 
 My dearest Wife, 
 
 I enclose you a letter from poor Mrs. S., my late fellow- 
 passenger, which I received the da}'^ after she left this house. 
 The case she tells is a painful and interesting one, but one 
 which I cannot assist, so far as I can perceive; and there are 
 others who have far stronger claims on me, than a deserving 
 young man, of whose wife I know very little, and of himself 
 still legs. Nevertheless, when I read this account of patient 
 and honourable exertion, battling hard with adversity, I could 
 not help feeling very strongly my own unworthiness, and how 
 deep a thankfulness I owe to God, whose mercy has thus far 
 protected me, and those most dear to me, from the state of 
 dependance, privation, and anxiety in which so many men, 
 my superiors in many respects, are doomed to languish. 
 Heaven grant that 1 may hereafter make a better use of its 
 blessings! 
 
 I was much pleased to bear that my dear wife had been 
 busy in the girls' school. You will, I fear, have a great deal 
 of trouble there; but I am sure you will not grudge it. I have 
 been seeing the two large schools, the Male and Female Or- 
 phan Asylum, in which Dr. Bell first displayed his talents for 
 education. The former is very flourishing, under the inspec- 
 tion of the senior chaplain, Mr. Roy, and both in the progress 
 and health of the boys is superior to the free school of Cal- 
 cutta. The latter is but ill-conducted under a country born 
 female, the widow of a missionary, who, though a worthy sort 
 of woman, has not talent or energy for her situation. I have 
 also seen a magnificent display of native schools and native 
 converts at Vepery, under the care of two Danes, (Dr. Rot- 
 tier and Dr. Haubroe,) sent out by the Society for Promoting 
 Christian Knowledge. The girls here read better, and hem 
 quite as weM as those under Mrs. Wilson's care. They are 
 chiefly managed by Mrs. Haubroe, a young Dane of Tranque- 
 bar, who seems an excellent person. 
 
 I hold my confirmation to morrow, and am promised 500 
 candidates, of whom about 150 will be Tamul; my visitation 
 is on Friday. 
 
 The chaplains here are a remarkably good and gentlemanly 
 set, and I am greatly impressed with reverence for the worthy 
 old missionary Dr. Rottler. The weather is very hot, as hot, 
 they say, as it is likely to be here; but I am extremely well. 
 Nobody could be kinder or more considerate than both Sir 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 347 
 
 Thomas Munro and Mr. Hill have shown themselves. They 
 have assigned me a most comfortable set of tents, — assigned 
 me, (what you will be glad to hear,) a surgeon, Mr. Hyne, 
 the deputy assay-master, said to be a very clever and agreea- 
 ble man, and a young officer. Captain Harkness, by way of 
 guide, and to command the escort, who knows the language 
 and country of Travancore well, besides lending me two sad- 
 dle horses, and a small stock of plate, my own being, as they 
 tell me, insufficient for the numbers of which my party will 
 now consist. All this consideration is so much the kinder in 
 Sir Thomas Munro, because he is now much occupied with do- 
 mestic distress. Lady Munro being about to return to England 
 with one of her children, who is ill. Lady Munro is a very 
 lovely woman, and of remarkably pleasing manners^ every 
 body here seems to regret most honestly her going away, say- 
 ing that her whole conduct has been made up of good manners, 
 good heart, and sound solid judgment. I do not know that 
 higher praise could be given to a '' Lady Governess." 
 
 I set out on Monday, the 13th, via Trichinopoly, &c., to 
 Travancore. I nhall, I am told, find it very hot, but with care, 
 shall run no risk in point of health. There are some beautiful 
 churches here, the other buildings are less handsome than I 
 expected 5 the country less green than Bengal, and the climate, 
 at this season at least, considerably warmer. Much as I feel 
 your absence, I cannot repent of having left you behind. No 
 accommodations are to be obtained in the Neelghurry hills, 
 and to take children, at this season, through Travancore, 
 
 every body tells me would be madness. 
 
 * * * *' -*■ * * 
 
 Poor Dr. Smith !. I was shocked to hear of his death, and 
 grieve for his poor widow. Yes, dearest, I am sure you will 
 show her all kindness. Adieu, dear, dear love! God bless 
 you and our babes. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO MRS. R. HEBER. 
 
 Camp near Mumbura, fone day's march from Fondicherry,J 
 March 16, 1826. 
 
 I have had little or no time to keep a journal, but was de- 
 termined to make a beginning and now send it to you. I am 
 very well, and am travelling comfortably through a pretty 
 country, in which almost every thing reininds me of Ceylon, 
 (I mean its sea coast.) I have excellent tents and horses, and 
 like my fellow travellers very well. Sir T. Munro has written 
 
348 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 to all the collectors on the road, to assist me in every way, 
 (as was done by the government of Bengal on my former tour,) 
 and has himself taken great pains to settle every thing for me 
 beforehand. Captain Harkness, the commander of the escort, 
 says he has even directions, in case Mr. Hyne should fall ill, 
 to joress the first surgeon or assistant-surgeon whom he may 
 find, to accompany me as far as may be necessary. The 
 weather is about as hot as it was in our excursion through Sal- 
 sette with Mr. Elphinstone. Love to my dear little Emily, 
 and kiss her and her sister for their affectionate father. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE C. W. WILLIAMS WYNN. 
 
 Camp near Chillumhrum, fCamatic,J March 21, 1826, 
 My DEAR Wynn, 
 
 » * » » » » * 
 
 There were, indeed, several reasons which rendered my 
 presence here extremely desirable, and some which, as bein^ 
 characteristic of the country, may not be uninteresting to you. 
 You are aware of the very considerable number, (I believe 
 about 40,000,) of Protestant Christians in different parts of 
 this Presidency, the spiritual children of Schwartz and his 
 successors, and all now in union with the Church of England. 
 These people, however. Christians as they are, have preserved 
 very many of their ancient usages, particularly with regard to 
 caste, which, both here and in Ceylon, is preserved with a 
 fierceness of prejudice which I have rarely witnessed in Ben- 
 gal, and which divides almost as perfectly a Soodra from a 
 Pariah Christian, as it did the same individuals while wor- 
 shippers of Vishnu and Siva. The old school of missionaries * 
 tolerated all this as a merely civil question of pedigree and * 
 worldly distinction, and in the hope that, as their converts 
 became more enlightened, such distinctions would die away. 
 This effect has not followed 5 but on the other hand, some of 
 the younger missionaries, both Germans and English, have 
 not only warmly preached against caste, but in the manage- 
 ment of their schools, and the arrangement of their congrega- 
 tions, have thwarted it as much as possible. They have even 
 done more; having interfered with many ancient forms which 
 are used by these people in their marriage ceremonies and do- 
 mestic festivities, and which they conceive to be Pagan, while 
 one of them has gone so far as by way of punishment, to com- 
 pel a school-boy of high caste to drink water from the cup of a 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 349 
 
 Pariah. A long complaint of these transactions, written in 
 very good English, and with a long row of signatures, was 
 sent to me bj the Vepery congregation some time ago, and I 
 have now many similar statements from different persons and 
 congregations of the South. The difficulty will be to ascer- 
 tain how far the feeling of caste is really civil and not reli- 
 gious, and how far the other practices objected to are really 
 immoral or idolatrous. On these topics I am now busily mak- 
 ing inquiry, and hope, in the course of my journey, to come 
 at the truth so nearly as to prevent at least any gross scandal, 
 without entrenching materially on what I conceive the natu- 
 ral liberty of the new convert, to live in all indifferent things 
 in the manner which he himself prefers, and which his 
 ancestors have preferred before him. Both parties have evi- 
 dently been to blame, and both, I have reason to hope, have 
 already receded something in their pretensions. The high- 
 caste Indians, for instance, had made one most abominable 
 claim to have a separate cup for the Sacrament. And the 
 Missionaries appear to me to have displayed a scarcely less 
 blameable contempt of the feeling of their flocks, and a sour 
 and narrow hatred of every thing like gaiety and amusement, 
 when displayed under any other forms than those to which 
 they Iiad been tliemselves accustomed. A certain crown of 
 flowers, used in marriages, has been denounced to me as a 
 device of Satan. 
 
 * * •;(^ . * * *■ * 
 
 And a gentleman has just written to complain that the Danish 
 Government of Tranquebar will not allow him to excommu- 
 nicate some young persons for wearing masks, and acting, as 
 it appears, in a Christmas mummery, or, at least, in some 
 private rustic theatricals. If this be heathenish, heaven help 
 the wicked ! But I hope you will not suspect that I shall lend 
 any countenance to this kind of ecclesiastical tyranny, or con- 
 sent to men's consciences being burdened with restrictions so 
 foreign to the cheerful spirit of the Gospel. The Protestants, 
 however, are not the only people whose diff*erences I have to 
 compose. The Malayalim, or Syro-jacobite Churches in Tra- 
 vancore, are also in a flame^ and I am, as it appears, to be 
 their umpire. 
 
 You are aware that the intercourse of these churches with 
 the Patriarchs of Antioch, had, for many years back, been in- 
 terrupted, partly by the violent measures pursued by the Por- 
 tuguese, and the intrigues of the missionaries sent out by the 
 Propagandists, and still more by the poverty of the Christians 
 of Travancore, which disabled them frjom sending messen- 
 gers so far, or paying the expenses of a foreign Metropolitan. 
 Accordingly, for about lifty years, the jacobite bishops of 
 
350 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Travancore have been all people of the country, and have suc- 
 ceeded each other by a sort of domestic nomination, each pre- 
 late soon after his accession to the See, ordaining a coadjutor, 
 " cum spe successionis." The present Metropolitan is named 
 Philoxenus, and his coadjutor, who for several years past has 
 transacted most of the business of the diocese, is named Dio- 
 nysius; both of them, the former particularly, men of high cha- 
 racter, both for piety and that sort of learning which is to be 
 expected in an eastern monk. Last year, however, the pub- 
 lications respecting these people in Europe, which, by the 
 way, are said to be marked, (Buchanan's more particularly,) 
 with scandalous exaggeration, appear to have become known 
 in Syria, and to have attracted the notice of the Patriarch to 
 this remote portion of his flock, and two Syrian monks, named 
 Athanasius and Abraham, with the titles of Metropolitan and 
 *' Ramban," or Archdeacon, arrived at Bombay whilst I was 
 there, on their way to the Malayalim Churches, and with re- 
 gular appointments from the Patriarch, " sitting in tlie seat 
 of Simon Cephas, w^hich is at Antioch." As it has always 
 been my endeavour to 'conciliate and befriend the eastern 
 Christians who find their way into India, both I and Arch- 
 deacon Barnes showed them all the respect and kindness in 
 our power, and we were on as good terms as people could be 
 who had no common language, the strangers speaking only 
 Arabic, and all our communication being filtered through an 
 interpreter. 
 
 They attended Church, unasked, and received the Sacra- 
 ment at my hands; on which occasion I placed the Metropo- 
 litan in my own chair, and we embraced in a most brotherly 
 manner at the church door after service. 1 was not without some 
 fears as to the manner in which the new and old Metropoli- 
 tans might adjust their claims, but thought myself bound to 
 furnish Athanasius with a small viaticum for the rest of his 
 journey, and with letters of reconjmendation to the English 
 missionaries established at AUepee and Cotyam, at the same 
 time that I advertised them, by a post letter, of the visitor 
 they had to expect, and gave Athanasius my best advice as to 
 the moderation with which it would become him, under actual 
 circumstances, to advance his claims. 
 
 The missionaries I enjoined most earnestly to take no part, 
 if they could possibly avoid it, in any disputes which might 
 arise, and to recognise implicitly, with all due marks of respect 
 and confidence whichever Patriarch the majority of the Ma- 
 layalim Churches might receive. How far either party has 
 adhered to my counsels, I, as jet, hardly know. The mis- 
 sionaries assert that Athanasius, and, still more, his Ramban, 
 have been mere firebrands in the country, that they have ex- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 351 
 
 t:ommunicaled both Metropolitan and Coadjutor, and threat- 
 ened them with personal violence; have annulled the orders 
 which they had conferred, dissolved marriages, altered the 
 interior of churches, and listened to no advice but that of a 
 certain disaffected *'Malpan," or Doctor, who was disap- 
 pointed some years ago in his hope of being named Coadjutor 
 instead of Dionjsius. On the other hand, Athanasius has 
 written to complain bitterly of the reception which he has met 
 with from the Metropolitans, (whom he admits, indeed, " that 
 for their lies and sorceries he has cursed from his own mouth, 
 and the mouth of the lioly Patriarch, and the mouth of the 
 Prince of the Apostles, Simon Cephas," &c.) as well as from 
 ^* the English Priests, of whom thou spakest unto me, and the 
 man which is the ruler of the land, even Travancore," mean- 
 ing, I suppose, either the Rannee's minister, or the English 
 Resident. At the same time complaint has been made to me 
 from other quarters that the missionaries, though extremely 
 well-meaning and correct men, have really been too much in- 
 fluenced by their natural friendship for the rival Metropolitaa 
 Philoxenus, and I am the more led to apprehend that something 
 of this kind has occurred, from the decided tone which the 
 Resident and Rannee have assumed, forbidding Athanasius 
 to exercise his functions, though acknowledged, (as I am as- 
 sured,) by the great majority of the people, and threatening to 
 send him from the country. This last measure I have got 
 suspended, at least till I can myself try my hand at compos- 
 ing the difference, or at ascertaining the real wishes of the 
 Malayalim Church, which is ,meanwhile in a perfect flame, 
 but which has expressed, I understand, a general desire that 
 the English Bishop should settle the question. 
 
 The way in which I propose to do it is by assembling a ge- 
 neral Synod of their Clergy, in wliich the claims of the rival 
 Metropolitans and the customs of their Church shall be openly 
 discussed, and the votes given by ballot. Vexatious and un- 
 fortunate as the occasion of such an assembly will be, it will 
 be to myself extremely interesting and curious, since by no 
 other means could I have hoped to become so intimately ac- 
 quainted with this most ancient and interesting Church, which, 
 corrupt as it is in doctrine, and plunged in lamentable igno- 
 rance, appears to preserve a closer resemblance in its forms 
 and circumstances of society, than any other now in existence, 
 to the Christian world in the third and fourth century after 
 our Saviour. Meantime I am visiting the principal civil and 
 military stations by nearly the same course which Bishop 
 Middleton followed in the year 1816, hoping to reach Tra- 
 vancore early in May, and to return to Madras bv the tract 
 
 Vol. II.— 30 
 
352 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 which he did not visit, of Mysore, Bungalore, and Arcot. 
 The country, as far as I have yet advanced, is, (though not 
 generally fertile, and almost universally flat,) as beautiful as 
 palms, and spreading trees, and diligent cultivation can make 
 it, and the ancient Hindoo temples, though inferior in taste 
 to the magnificent Mussulman buildings of which I sent you 
 a description from the north-west of India, are in size, pic- 
 turesque effect, and richness of carving, far above any thing 
 which I had expected to meet with. Here, at Chillumbrum, 
 (a town halfway between Cuddalore and Tanjore,) is a tem- 
 ple of Siva, covering with its quadrangles, its cloisters, its 
 ''hall of eleven hundred columns," and the other buildings 
 which surround its sanctuary, a space of ground, I am per- 
 suaded, more than equal to Christ Church, with an establish- 
 ment, if its abbot speaks the truth, (who, by the way, strange 
 as it may seem, is himself of a low caste,) of no fewer than 
 300 Brahmins. The place, however, which though of compa- 
 ratively insignificant size, has interested me most from the 
 association with which it is connected, is Mahabalipoorum, 
 "the city of the great Bali," with its ruins lashed by the surf, 
 and the romance of its submarine palaces. 
 
 » * * * J^ ifr 
 
 I hope some day to find time for a more elaborate and in- 
 telligible view. But, indeed, I do not eat the bread of idle- 
 ness in this country. Since my arrival at Madras, little more than 
 three weeks ago, I have preached eleven times, (including my 
 visitation charge,) have held four public and one private con- 
 firmation, visited five schools, attended one public meeting, 
 travelled sixty miles in a palanqueen, and 140 on horseback, 
 besides a pretty voluminous correspondence with government, 
 different missionaries and chaplains, and my Syrian brother 
 Mar Athanasius. And the thermometer this day stands at 
 ninety-eight in the shade. However I continue, thank God, 
 on the whole, to enjoy as good health as I ever did in Eng- 
 land. Busy as I am, my business is mostly of a kind which 
 I like, and which accords with my previous studies. The 
 country, the objects, and the people round me, are all of a 
 kind to stimulate and repay curiosity more than most others 
 in the worldj and though there are, alas! many moments in 
 the day, (more particularly now that I am separated from my 
 wife and children,) in which I feel my exile painfully, I should 
 be very ungrateful indeed if I did not own myself happy. 
 Heaven grant that I may not be useless! When at Calcutta 
 you have added much to my comfort by sending Grey there, 
 who, I rejoice to say, is as popular as he deserves to be. It 
 happens now, remarkably, that all the three chief justices were 
 my contemporaries at Oxford, and that I have always been on 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 353 
 
 terms of friendly intercourse with all, though Grey was the 
 only one with whom I was intimate. 
 
 v^ >^ vir ^ ^ ^ 
 
 * 
 
 Lord Combermere, during his stay in Calcutta, was a great 
 accession to our circle, and I really believe you could have 
 found no person better suited to play the very difficult and 
 important task which was placed in his hands, from his good 
 sense, his readiness in despatch of business, and his accessi- 
 bility, which had gone far to gain him the good will of the 
 Company's army, even before his success at Bhurtpoor; . . 
 . . . He appears at present to enjoy a higher reputation 
 than any Commander in Chief since Lord Cornwallis, or any 
 
 officer who has appeared in India, except Sir A. Wellesley. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 It is really strange how much importance has been attached 
 to the fortress of Bhurtpoor. Even in the Carnatic, Sir Tho- 
 mas Munro tells me, that the native princes would not be- 
 lieve that it ever could be taken, or that the Jats were not 
 destined to be the rallying point of India, as they certainly 
 are, by the little which I saw of them, among its finest races. 
 I regret now I did not visit Bhurtpoor. I was within one 
 march, and corresponded with the Raja, but was too anxious 
 to reach Jyepoor, to accept his invitation. 
 
 Sir T. Munro is a man of very considerable talent, and is- 
 universally respected and esteemed by all whom I have yet 
 heard speak of him; individually, I have received much kind- 
 ness from him. 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 TO THE REV. CHARLES SHIPLEY. 
 
 Tanjore, March 28, 1826. 
 My dear Charles, 
 
 ;k iff -f^ '^ '■^ fi 
 
 I am again, alas, separated for several months from my dear 
 wife and children, having been obliged to undertake the visita- 
 tion of southern India, in a season when it is dangerous for 
 any but the robust and hardy to travel. The heat is indeed 
 already considerable, and must be, ere many weeks are over, 
 much greater. I sun well, however, and am very closely and 
 interestingly occupied in the visitation of the missions under 
 the patronage of the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, the success of which, since the time of the excellent 
 Schwartz, has been far greater than is generally known or 
 supposed in Europe. On Easter-day I confirmed seventy, 
 
354 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 and administered the sacrament to nearly 200 natives, and in 
 the evening, \vhen the service was in Tamul, I pronounced 
 the benediction in that language on above ISOO. The differ- 
 ence of numbers will be easily accounted for; since, in the 
 former instance, few attended but those who understood a lit- 
 tle English, the rest having attended the ministry of one of 
 the missionaries early in the morning. This, however, is only 
 in the city of Tanjore. There are scattered congregations, to 
 the number of many thousand Protestant Christians, in all the 
 neighbouring cities and villages; and the wicker-bound graves, 
 each distinguished by a little cross of cane, of the poor people 
 by the road side, are enough to tell even the most careless 
 traveller, that the country is, in a great measure, Christian. 
 The missions, however, are in a state which requires much 
 help and restoration; their funds, which were considerable, 
 have been sadly dilapidated since the time of Schwartz, by 
 the pious men, (but quite ignorant of the world,) who have 
 succeeded him, and though 1 find great piety and good-will, I 
 could wish a little more energy in their proceedings at present. 
 I heartily wish I could stay here a month or six weeks, 
 every hour of which time might be usefully and profitably em- 
 ployed. My time, however, is very limited, and I must press 
 on to Travancore before the south-west monsoon shall have 
 made travelling on the Malabar coast impossible. 
 
 * iv * * * * ^ 
 
 Thence, I hope, after visting Calicut and Cannanore, to 
 return by Seringapatam to Madras, and thence to Calcutta. 
 Believe me ever your's affectionately, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 
 TO R. WILMOT HORTON, ESQ. 
 
 Trichinopolyy April 1, 1826^ 
 My dear Wilmot, 
 
 « » « « * ex 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 I have been passing the last four days in the society of a 
 Hindoo Prince, the Rajah of Tanjore, who quotes Fourcroy, 
 Lavoisier, Linnaeus, and Buffon fluently, has formed a more 
 accurate judgment of the poetical merits of Shaks])eare than 
 that so felicitously expressed by Lord Byron, and has actu- 
 ally emitted English poetry very superior indeed to Rous- 
 seau's epitaph on Shenstone, at the same time that he is much 
 respected by the English officers in his neighbourhood as a real 
 good judge of a horse, and a cool, bold, and deadly shot at a 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 355 
 
 tyger. The truth is that he is an extraordinary man, who 
 naving in early youth received such an education as old 
 Schwartz, the celebrated missionary, could give him, has ever 
 since continued, in the midst of many disadvantages, to pre- 
 serve his taste for, and extend his knowledge of European 
 literature, while he has never neglected the active exercises 
 and frank soldierly bearing which become the descendant of 
 the old Maharatta conquerors, and by which only, in the pre- 
 sent state of things, he has it in his power to gratify the preju- 
 dices of his people, and prolong his popularity among them. 
 Had he lived in the days of Hyder, he would have been a for- 
 midable ally or enemy, for he is, by the testimony of all his 
 neighbourhood, frugal, bold, popular, and insinuating. At 
 present, with less power than an English nobleman, he holds 
 his head high, and appears contented, and the print of Buona- 
 parte, which hangs in his library, is so neutralized by that of 
 Lord Hastings in full costume, that it can do no harm to any 
 
 body To finish the portrait of Maha Raja 
 
 Sarbojee, I should tell you that he is a strong-built and very 
 handsome middle-aged man, with eyes and nose like a fine 
 hawk, and very bushy gray mustachios, generally splendidly 
 dressed, but with no effeminacy of ornament, and looking and 
 talking more like a favourable specimen of a French general 
 officer, than any other object of comparison which occurs to 
 me. His son. Raja Sewajee, (so named after their great an- 
 cestor,) is a pale, sickly-looking lad of seventeen, who also 
 speaks English but imperfectly, and on whose account his fa- 
 ther lamented, with much apparent concern, the impossibility 
 which he found of obtaining any tolerable instruction in Tan- 
 jore. I was moved at this, and offered to take him in my 
 present tour, and afterwards to Calcutta, where he might have 
 apartments in my house, and be introduced into good English 
 society 5 at the same time that I would superintend his studies, 
 and procure for him the best masters which India affords. The 
 father and son, in different ways, the one catching at the idea 
 with great eagerness, the other as if he were afraid to say all 
 he wished, seemed both very well pleased with the proposal. 
 Both, however, on consulting together, expressed a doubt of 
 the mother's concurrence, and accordingly, next day, I had a 
 very civil message through the Resident, that the Rannee had 
 already lost two sons, that this survivor was a sickly boy, that 
 she was sure he would not come back alive, and it would kill 
 her to part with him, but that all the family joined in grati- 
 tude, &c. So poor Sewajee must chew betel and sit in the 
 zennanah, and pursue the other amusetnents of the common 
 race of Hindoo Princes, till he is gathered to those heroic 
 forms who, girded with long swords, with hawks on their 
 
 30* 
 
356 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 wrists, and garments like those of the king of spades, (whose por- 
 trait painter, as 1 guess, lias been retained bjthis family,) adorn 
 the principal room in the palace. Sarbojee, the father, has 
 not trusted his own immortality to records like these. He has 
 put up a colossal marble statue of himself, by Flaxman, in one 
 of his halls of audience, and his figure is introduced on the 
 monument, also by Flaxman, which he has raised in the Mis- 
 sion Church to the memory of his tutor Schwartz, as grasping 
 the hand of the dying saint, and receiving his blessing.* 
 
 Of Schwartz and his fifty years' labour among the heathens, 
 the extraordinary influence and popularity which he acquired, 
 both with Mussulmans, Hindoos, and contending European 
 governments, I need give j^ou no account, except that my 
 idea of him has been raised since I came into the south of In- 
 dia. 1 used to suspect that with many admirable qualities, 
 there was too great a mixture of intrigue in his character; that 
 he was too much of a political prophet, and that the venera- 
 tion which the heathen paid and still pay him, and which in- 
 deed almost regards him as a superior being, putting crowns 
 and burning lights before his statue, was purchased by some 
 unwarrantable compromise with their prejudices. I find 1 
 was quite mistaken. He was really one of the most active 
 and fearless, as he was one, of the most successful missionaries 
 
 * The Rev. Mr. Robinson being desirous to see also the Christian con- 
 gregation at Kanandagoody, fifteen miles from Tanjore, and his High- 
 ness the Maha Raja's Chatteram, went to that place on the 15th April. 
 He was much pleased to see a large congregation assembled, and after 
 morning prayers, he gave a kind address to the Christians, animating them 
 to be thankful to God for his great mercies showed to them. The cliapel 
 at this place is a decent thatched building. It is also used as a school. 
 Fifty poor children of the Christians ai'e here supported by the bounty 
 of his Highness, but instructed at the expense of the mission. The 
 houses of the catechist and schoolmaster, which are also thatched, 
 are built near the chapel. From Kanandagoody he went to his High- 
 ness's Chatteram, which is a Hindoo charitable institution, established 
 by the present Maha Raja of Tanjore, not merely for the maintenance 
 of.brahmins, but for the poor of every description. This charitable in- . 
 stitution has saved many hundreds from perishing when a severe famine 
 and the cholera prevailed some years ago in the Ramuad, Shevagunga, 
 and Madura districts. A circumstance that renders this institution wor- 
 thy of notice is, that there is a charity school attached to it, in which 
 children are instructed in the Tamul, Gentoo, JMaharatta, Sanscrit, Per- 
 sian, and English languages; to this must be added the Christian cha- 
 rity school at Kanandagoody, above mentioned. There are also two 
 hospitals attached to the charitable institution, one for men and one for 
 ■women suffering from sickness. A beautiful bungalow is also erected 
 over the Chatteram for the accommodation of gentlemen and other Eu- 
 ropeans going to the southward or corning from thence. — Extract from 
 a letter from the Rev. J. C. KvhL'Jf. Ed. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 357 
 
 who have appeared since the Apostles. To say that he was 
 disinterested in regard to money, is nothing; he was perfectly 
 careless of power, and renown never seemed to affect him, 
 even so far as to induce even an outward show of humility. 
 His temper was perfectly simple, open, and cheerful, and in 
 his political negociations, (employments which he never sought 
 for, but which fell in his way,) he never pretended to impar- 
 tiality, but acted as the avowed, though, certainly the suc- 
 cessful and judicious agent of the orphan prince entrusted to 
 his care, and from attempting whose conversion to Christianity 
 lie seems to have abstained from a feeling of honour. His 
 other converts were between six and seven thousand, besides 
 those which his predecessors and companions in the cause had 
 brought over. 
 
 The number is gradually, increasing, and there are now in 
 the south of India about 200 Protestant congregations, the 
 numbers of which have been sometimes vaguely stated at 
 40,000. I doubt whether they reach 15,000, but even this, 
 all things considered, is a great number. The Roman Catho- 
 lics are considerably more numerous, but belong to a lower 
 caste of Indian, for even these Christians retain many preju- 
 dices of caste, and in point of knowledge and morality, are 
 said to be extremely inferior. This inferiority, as injuring 
 the general character of the religion, is alleged to have occa- 
 sioned the very unfavourable eye with which all native Chris- 
 tians have been regarded in the Madras government. If they 
 have not actually been persecuted, they have been '' disqua- 
 lified," totidem verbis^ from holding any place or appointment, 
 whether civil or military, under the Company's government; 
 and that in districts where, while the native princes remained 
 in power. Christians were employed without scruple. Nor 
 is this the worst; many peasants have been beaten, by autho- 
 rity of the English magistrates for refusing, on a religious ac- 
 count, to assist in drawing the chariots of the idols on festival 
 days; and it is only the present Collector of Tanjore who has 
 withheld the assistance of the secular arm from the brahmins 
 on these occasions. The con-ecjuetice is, the brahmins, being 
 limited to voluntary votaries, have now often very hard work 
 to speed the ponderous wheels of Kali and Siva through the 
 deep lanes of this fertile country. This is, however, still the 
 most favoured land of brahminism, and the temples are larger 
 and more beautiful than any which I have seen in Northern 
 India; they are also decidedly older, but as to their very re- 
 mote age, I am still incredulous. 
 
 You will have heard, perhaps, from your brother, that I had 
 the pleasure of meeting him in Ceylon. That country might 
 be one of the happiest, as it is one of the loveliest spots in the 
 
358 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 universe, if some of the old Dutch laws were done away, 
 among which, in mj judgment, the chief are the monopoly of 
 cinnamon, and the compulsory labour of the peasants on the 
 high roads, and in other species of corvees. The Candian 
 provinces, where neither of these exist, seemed to me the most 
 
 prosperous parts of the country. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 You will perceive from the date and tenor of my letter, 
 that I am again on my visitation tour j again too, I am grieved 
 to say, separated from my family. Circumstances had de- 
 tained me so late at Calcutta, that the cool season was quite 
 spent, and it would have been tempting Heaven to take them 
 with me, in such a journey, at this time of the year. It is 
 indeed intensely hot, often from 98 to 100 in the shades but 
 I could not defer it to another year, and. I, thank God, con- 
 tinue quite well, though some of my companions have suffered, 
 and I have been compelled to leave my surgeon behind, sick 
 at Tanjore.* My chaplain I feared, yesterday, must have 
 remained there also, but he has now rallied. I am compelled 
 to pass on, in order to get to Travancore, where I have much 
 curious discussion before me with the Syrian Christians, be- 
 fore the monsoon renders that country impassable. This I 
 hope to accomplish, but, meantime, the hot winds are growing 
 very oppressive, and must be much worse than they are be- 
 fore I reach Quilon. The hospitality, however, of Europeans 
 in India, assures me of house-room at all the principal sta- 
 tions, so that there are not, I think, above 200 miles over 
 
 which we must trust to the shelter of tents alone. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Ever your obliged and affectionate friend, 
 
 Reginald Calcutta. 
 
 In the last letter which the Editor received from the Bi- 
 shop is the following passage, in closing the volume with which 
 she feels that she discharges a duty equally to him and to 
 those whose claims, if he had been spared, he would himself have 
 brought forward in a more formal and more eflScient manner. 
 
 ** Will it be believed, that while the Raja kept his domi- 
 nions, Christians were eligible to all the different offices of 
 state, while now, there is an order of government against their 
 
 * Mr. Hyne died of an abscess in the liver the 4th of April. — Ed. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 359 
 
 being admitted to any employment!* Surely we are, in mat- 
 ters of religion, the most lukewarm and cowardly people on 
 the face of the earth. I mean to make this, and some other 
 things which I have seen, a matter of formal representation 
 to ail the three governments of India, and to the Board of 
 Control." 
 
 * Extract from the Regulations of the Madras Government. 
 
 1816. 
 Para 6. — The Zillah judges shall recommend to the Provincial 
 Courts the persons whom they may deem fit for the ofRce of District 
 Moonsif; but no person shall be authorised to officiate as a District 
 Jloonsif, without the previous sanction of the Provincial Court, nor un- 
 less he he of the Hindoo or Mahommedan persuasion. True extract, D> 
 M.— Ed. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 CIRCULAR OF MAR IGNATIUS GEORGIUS, PATRIARCH OF AN- 
 TIOCH, TO THE BRITISH AUTHORITIES IN INDIA, RECOMMEND- 
 ING TO THEIR PROTECTION HIS ENVOY, MAR ATHANASIUS. 
 
 TO THE CHIEFS OF THE BRITISH NATION IN HINDOSTAN. 
 
 * 
 
 From the humble Ignatius Georgius the 4th, bj the mercy 
 of Almighty God, Patriarch of the throne of Antake, (Antioch,) 
 the apostolic, the holy, over the Syrians and Jacobites of 
 Derah Zefran, and the rest of the Nast. 
 
 Salutation to the most holy God, the Creator of bodies and 
 the releaser of souls; may this prayer be received for my dear 
 and fortunate friends the chiefs of the countries of Hindostan, 
 the pure, the friends of God; may the blessings of the Al- 
 mighty be bestowed on them, and their families, and descend- 
 ants, and on those who are united with them, through the me- 
 diation of our Lady the pure Mary, and the whole army of 
 martyrs, and the saints. Amen ! 
 
 Further, the cause of writing these lines of friendship and 
 blessing is, in the first place to enquire after your affairs, and 
 to acquaint you that I am constantly thinking of you, more- 
 over we have sent to wait on you our fortunate children, viz. 
 Matran Abadool Museeha, and the Casis Ishaac, and Casis 
 Abdulahud, and Casis Bushara, deputed to our Syrian Jaco- 
 bite children who are with you, and are beneath the shadow of 
 God, and the shadow of your power, for the completion of 
 several affairs which are wanting. Now, our request of your 
 magnanimity is, that on their arrival in your presence you 
 
362 APPENDIX. 
 
 may be pleased to cast a favourable eye on them, and recom- 
 mend them to the care and attention of the chiefs of whatever 
 places they may visit, or wherever they may dwell, for they 
 are my children, and are unacquainted with tlie customs of 
 that country, (India.) And, be it known also, that what be- 
 longs to you belongs to us, what delights us delights you, and 
 that which grieves us you are not approving. And, praise be 
 to God, the zeal or assistance in matters of religion of your 
 exalted nation, the British, is famous in all parts, more espe- 
 cially with respect to our tribe of vSyrians, and this has been 
 the case from times of old, but particularly of late our mutual 
 friendship has been increased. We beseech God that this may 
 last between us until the last day. For these reasons, it is 
 not necessary that we should appeal more at length to you, as 
 your wisdom does not require a detailed explanation. What- 
 ever protection and support you may be pleased to extend to 
 my children is to be carried to the account of my weakness; 
 and that which you have vouchsafed for my w^eakness will be 
 taken into account by our Lord Jesus the Mighty, who will 
 reward you on my behalf with innumerable blessings of vast 
 and double measure, and we request His grace and favour that 
 He may favour you constantly with His holy blessings, and 
 may protect you from all trials both ghostly and bodily, and 
 may uphold you, and make easy your affairs, and grant you 
 your desires, and break the force of your enemies. May your 
 souls be strengthened. May your children be protected, and 
 may He open the gates of mercy for you, and may He increase 
 His favour and blessings, and His gifts on all of you, and may 
 He grant you favour and prosperity in both worlds, peace in 
 this world and life everlasting. 
 
 Favour me always with news of your condition, and do not 
 reprehend us for not having entered your name; the reason is 
 that no correspondence has, as yet, passed between us, (we 
 therefore know it not.) This letter was proper to be written 
 on account of your friendship, after giving you our blessings. 
 
 [Written 29th Tisreen2d, A. D. 1823. Rubeeoosani 1239, 
 Hejree.] 
 
 TO MAR ATHANASIUS. 
 
 [As translated into Syriac by Messrs. Robinson and Mill.] 
 
 Calcutta, December, 1824. 
 To the excellent and learned father Mar Athanasius, Bi- 
 shop and Metropolitan of all the Churches of Christ in India, 
 
APPENDIX. 36S 
 
 which walk after the rule of the Syrians, Mar Reginald, by 
 the grace of God, Bishop of Calcutta; grace, mercy, and 
 peace, from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 I have earnestly desired, beloved brother in the Lord, to 
 hear that the Lord hath prospered thy journey from Bombay, 
 and that thou farest well, and art in good health in the land 
 of Malabar. (I hope that they have rejoiced at thy com- 
 ing even as they rejoiced at the coming of Mar Basilius, 
 Mar Gregorius, and Mar Johannes.)* And my prayer to 
 God for thee is, that even as He led Patriarch Abra- 
 ham from his country, and from the midst of his kindred, 
 through faith, to a strange and distant land, He may even 
 thus guide, protect and prosper thee, and give thee health and 
 grace, and every good gift, and increase unto thee the love of 
 thy flock, and that the fruits of the spirit may be multiplied 
 to thee from them; as it is written, '* Commit thy way unto 
 the Lord, and trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." 
 
 Especially I have been desirous to hear from thee of the good 
 estate of our brethren, the faithful in Malabar, the Bishops, 
 presbyters, and deacons; and also of my own children in 
 Christ, the English presbyters who sojourn among you at 
 Cattaijam: may God reward you according to your kindness 
 towards them, and may the brotherly affection between you 
 and them be daily increased and strengthened! 
 
 Furthermore, I make known to thy friendship that the de- 
 sire of my heart, and my prayer to the Lord, is, that the holy 
 name of Jesus may be yet further known among all nations; 
 and also, that all that love the Lord may love one another, to 
 the intent that they which are without may behold the unity 
 and peace that is among you, and glorify God in the day of 
 visitation. Like as was the desire of heart and prayer to God 
 of the blessed Thomas Middleton, who fed the Church of 
 Christ in this Episcopate before me, whose memory is blessed 
 amono; the saints of Christ, whether thev be of the familv of 
 England or of India; but they are not two families, but one, 
 which is named after the name of the Lord Jesus, who sitteth 
 at the right hand of God, in whom all nations, tribes and lan- 
 guages are united, and shall be glorified together. 
 
 I also pray thee to write me word of the health of thyself 
 and all that are with thee, likewise of the health of my own 
 children, the presbyters of England, and what is their conver- 
 sation among you. 
 
 • The last Syrian Bishops, (before Mar Athanasius in 1825,) wha 
 went to rule the Church in Malabar, in 1751; itll the Metropolitans after 
 them, (called Mar Dionysius, or Cyrillus, or Philoxenus severally,) 
 being Indian Bisliops of their ordiiining". 
 
 Vol. IL—Sl 
 
364 APPENDIX. 
 
 Furthermore, I hope, if the Lord will, to pass to the cities 
 of Madras, Tanjore, and Trichinopoly, visiting the churches 
 there that are subject to me. And I desire, with God's plea- 
 sure to pass on thence to salute thee, mj brother, and the 
 churches under thee, that I may be filled with joy while I be- 
 hold your order, and am a participator with you in prayers. 
 And if there be any thing more which I have not written, it 
 may be told when I come to thee, for, (the daughter of the 
 voice* is better than the son of the ink 5 and,) it is a good time 
 when a man speaketh face to face with his friend. 
 
 This letter is sent unto thee by the hand of a learned and 
 faithful English presbyter, John Doran, one of the presbyters 
 from before me, who proposeth, if thou givest leave, to so- 
 journ in Cottayam, even as the presbyters Benjamin Bayley, 
 Joseph Fenn, and Henry Baker, have sojourned until now 
 with license of the godly Bishops of the Church of Malabar to 
 teach learning and piety to all who thirst after instruction, 
 doing good, and giving no cause of otfence. And I beseech 
 thee, brother, for my sake, and the sake of the Gospel of 
 Christ, that thou wouldst receive him as a son and as a faithful 
 servant of our Lord, who is alone, with the Holy Ghost, most 
 high in the glory of God the Father^ to Him, therefore, be all 
 honour and dominion for ever. Amen. 
 
 Moreover, I entreat thee brother, tobeware of the emissaries 
 of the Bishop of Rome, whose hands have been dipped in the 
 blood of the Saints, from whose tyranny our church in Eng- 
 land hath been long freed by the blessing of God, and we 
 hope to continue in that freedom for ever; of whom are the 
 Metropolitans of Goa, the Bishop of Cranganor, and he at 
 Verapoli, who have, in time past, done the Indian Church 
 much evil. (I pray that those of thy churches in Malabart 
 who are yet subject to these men may arouse themselves, and 
 be delivered from their hands.) Howbeit the Lord desireth 
 not the death of a sinner, but His mercies are over all His 
 works, and he is found of them that sought him not. 
 
 Our brother Mar Abraham, a Bishop of the Armenian nation, 
 who is sent from his Patriarch at Jerusalem, (may God rescue 
 his holy city from the hands of the Ishmaelites,) salutes thee. 
 He also brings a letter which was sent by his hand to thee, 
 from the Syrian Patriarch at Jerusalem, and has not found 
 means, hitherto, of forwarding it to thee at Malabar, and has 
 therefore requested me to send it now to thee. All the Church 
 
 * " The daughter of the voice," in Syrian, means no more than a 
 word. It is a very unusual expression for it. 
 
 f i. e. All churches of the Syro-Chaldaic ritual, one half of which are 
 under the Romish yoke imposed by the Synod of Diamper. 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 of Christ that is here salute thee. Salute in my name thy 
 brethren Mar Dionjsius, and Mar Philoxenus,* with the 
 presbyters and deacons. (William Mill, and Thomas Ro- 
 binson, presbyters, that write this epistle, in the Lord salute 
 you.) 
 
 The blessing of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be with 
 you evermore. Amen. 
 
 (Signed) Reginald, Bishop. 
 
 fBy the help of God let this letter go to the region of 
 Written \ Travancore, to the city of Cottayam, and let it be 
 also in <^ delivered into the hands of the grave and venera- 
 Tamul ble Bishop Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan of the 
 
 I Church of Malabar. 
 
 LETTER FROM FATHER ABRAHAM OF JERUSALEM, (an ENVOY 
 SENT WITH VISITORIAL POWERS, BY THE ARMENIAN PATRI- 
 ARCH OF ARARAT TO THE EASTERN CHURCHES OF THAT NA- 
 TION IN INDIA,) TO MAR ATHANASIUS 5 SENT WITH BISHOP 
 HEBEr's SYRIAC letter, BY THE HANDS OF MR. DORAN- 
 
 Jan. 6, 1826. 
 
 Abraham, a servant of Jesus Christ, from the holy see of 
 Jerusalem, (appointed Bishop and Nuncio, on a spiritual vi- 
 sitation to the churches of the Armenian nation in the East 
 Indies,) unto our beloved brother in the Lord, the Right 
 Rev. Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan of the Assyrian nation 
 on the cbast of Malabar, and to all the communicators in the 
 true religion of Jesus Christ, and to all the beloved brethren 
 attached to the church, sendeth greeting: — 
 
 Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, the 
 Most High; and from our blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the inspirer Holy Ghost! 
 
 I had the gratification to understand from our most beloved 
 brother in the Lord, the Right Rev. Reginald, the Lord Bi- 
 shop of the diocese of India, (over the Christians of the Esta- 
 blished Church of England,) the good ministry, and adherence 
 to the charge committed unto you by your superior, in being 
 overseer to the flock of God, for whose redemption's sake Je- 
 sus died. This hath afforded me the greatest pleasure, and I 
 always render my thanks to God for his grace, which is given 
 
 • The Ex-metropolitan, who resigned the chair to the last Mar Dior 
 nysius, and now lives in voluntary retirement at Codangalongery, or 
 Anhur in the North. 
 
356 APPENDIX, 
 
 to good Christian ministry by Jesus Christ. Permit me to re- 
 mind you, ye brethren in the Lord, that according to Scrip- 
 ture the last days I see are come, when many false prophets 
 and false Christs were to have risen, who dissemble in sheep's 
 clothing, but in reality are wolves; such as some of the fol- 
 lowers of the Roman Catholic Church are, who try to find 
 access unto the flocks, (embodied in the Church of Christ,) 
 by the unity of faith and brotherly love, (through the triumph 
 of the gospel,) and are bent upon scattering and driving them 
 deep into the pit of Satanical transgressions by superstition 
 and idolatry; and for the sake of personal ostentation among 
 men, they endeavour to bereave and deprive the true believers 
 from the glory of God; wherefore, be ye upon your guards, 
 and watch, as the skilful shepherd, which thou art represented,, 
 according to the Deaten tract of the heavenly good Shepherd; 
 feed and watch with vigilance over the flock of Christ even at 
 the cost of blood. The more especially, I say, for the unity 
 of faith and doctrine handed down from your ancestors, in 
 union with the orthodox Church of Armenia, of which you are 
 members, and the Head of us all is Christ blessed for ever- 
 more. 
 
 It is rejoicing to observe, that we are in expectation, ac- 
 cording to the word of the Lord, to witness the end of the 
 heathens, which seems to be near at hand through the propa- 
 gation of the Gospel. It is gratifying for me to observe that 
 the most part of India is blossomed with the light and culti- 
 vation of the diffusion of scripture, through the indefatigable 
 labours of our beloved brother in God, the most pious and true 
 preacher of the word of God, our amiable friend the Lord Bi- 
 shop of Calcutta. Moreover, his impartial intercourse with 
 our Church, and his friendly reception of us in the English 
 Church, has gladdened us beyond the power of the auxiliary, 
 pen and ink, to convey fully my humble sentiments on tliis 
 subject. It is truly rejoicing to see Christianity thus strength- 
 ened without any distinction to sects and nations; brotherly 
 love working together; one Christian with another; wherefore 
 it behoves me to hail, that the day of salvation and the accept- 
 able time is now visible in our age. I avail myself, in so rea- 
 sonable a time, to remind you, our beloved brother in the 
 Lord, of the ministry thou hast received from God, through 
 the grace of the precious Cross: minister thou the word of life 
 unto the believers, as well as the unbelievers and heathens, at 
 the station where your ministry extends, that thou mayest be 
 enabled to rescue the lost from the jaws of Antichrist. It is 
 the bitterness of times that needs the sweetness of the Holy 
 Scripture to be diffused, that the fruits may prove acceptable 
 to the Almighty. 
 
j^jrrsuiM JJXA.' 
 
 Be it known to our worthy brother in the Lord, that, dur- 
 ing the usual course of my communication with the Holy See 
 of Jerusalem, I had the honour of receiving a letter of blessing 
 and loving-kindness from the Right Revered Father in God, 
 the Archbishop of the Assyrian Church, at the Holy Land, to 
 your address, which would have afforded me the greatest 
 source of pleasure to hand over to you personallj^, and to par- 
 take, myself, of the pleasure of your brotherly kindness, and 
 to witness your good ministry of the Church and the congre- 
 gation committed to your charge, of which I have heard so 
 nappy an account from our friend and brother, the Lord Bi- 
 shop of Calcutta; but unfortunately it did not prosper so; for 
 the ship on board of which I was a passenger, did not touch 
 on the coast. However a very favourable opportunity occur- 
 red, since our brother, the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, during 
 his conversation, mentioned to me, that he was on the point 
 of forwarding you an epistle in the Syriac language. I avail 
 myself of that opportunity to deliver to him the letter to your 
 address, (above alluded to,) to be enclosed in it at the same 
 time, and am much obliged for the brotherly love that he has 
 done so, and trust to God it will reach you in safety. 
 
 I had written these few lines in the Armenian language; but 
 thinking perhaps none of my nation might happen to be there, 
 to convey my brotherly love and greeting to you; and none of 
 my handful nation here understanding the Syriac language to 
 translate it, I have therefore got it transcribed into English, a 
 language generally understood all over India; and I hope you 
 will find some one of the station to read it to you. 
 
 I have prepared myself to go on board an Egyptian vessel, 
 named Alib Rohonang, towards the Holy Land; should it 
 please God to prosper that the vessel should touch at Allepee, 
 (as I am given to understand,) I promise myself the pleasure 
 to send information thence to you and the brethren of the 
 Church, and to fulfil my heart's desire. 
 
 Our brother, the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, joins me in greet- 
 ing you and the brethren of the Gospel of Christ. Both the 
 Armenian and English Churches of Calcutta salute your 
 Church. All the brethren of both our Churches greet you, and 
 greet ye one another with a holy kiss. May health and long 
 life attend your holy ministry; and the grace and pgace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the Communion 
 of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. 
 
 Pray for me, that I may be enabled to prosecute my course 
 to the Holy City of Jerusalem. 
 
 The salutation and prayer of me, Abraham, with mine own 
 hand. 
 
 Calcutta, 
 
 31* 
 
3G8 APPENDIX. 
 
 IHE SECOND LETTER TO MAR ATHANASIUS. 
 
 March 22, 1826. 
 
 To the honoured among Bishops, Mar Athanasius, Metro- 
 politan of the Churches of India which follow the Syrian con- 
 fession, my dear brother in the Lord Jesus, Reginald, bj Ds- 
 Tine permission, Bishop of Calcutta, wisheth health, peace, 
 and increase of prosperity in this world and the world to come. 
 Amen! 
 
 This second letter I write unto thee, my Brother beloved in 
 the Lord, to let thee know, that by God's mercy I have reach- 
 ed the country of Madras, whither thy letter, which arrived 
 in Calcutta after my departure thence, hath been sent after 
 me. I was comforted to learn thy safe arrival and good health 
 among the churches of thy people; yet I have much grief and 
 heaviness of heart to hear that the enemy hath sown trouble 
 between thee and our brethren Philoxenus and Dionysiu&, 
 which in time past had guided and governed the churches of 
 Travaneore in their desolation, when no tidings came from 
 Antioch for many years, and the people of the Lord, (but for 
 them whom God raised up to feed his flock,) had been scat- 
 tered on the mountains as sheep having no shepherd. Let this, 
 my brother, incline thine heart to show them favour, and may 
 the good spirit of God move them to render thee all worthy 
 honour and obedience, both for thine own sake, and his that 
 sent thee ! 
 
 Furthermore, I have spoken concerning thy business to the 
 Most Excellent Governor of the English nation, which is in 
 thecity of Madras, who had heard divers things reported against 
 thee; to whom I said, '•'Athanasius is my brother, and while 
 he sojourned in Bombay, appeared himself in all things blame- 
 less, and of a truth, he brought letters with him from the ho- 
 noured Father in Christ, the patriarch of Antioch; perhaps the 
 things are not true which are reported; why then should he be 
 sent away from the land.^ And now, behold, I go southward, 
 even to Trichinopoly and Quilon; it may be that 1 shall recon- 
 cile him to his brethren. I pray thee write thus much to the 
 queen of Travaneore, and the deputy that dwelleth in Quilon;" 
 and the governor has written as I desired. Wherefore, my 
 honoured brother, when I come into your borders, as by the 
 grace of God, I hope in forty days to come hither; my desire 
 is to be allowed to be a maker of peace between you, not as 
 having authority, for I am a stranger in your Church, neither 
 desire to rule over any but my own people: not as having wis- 
 dom, for I would gladly learn of you in things pertaining to 
 the truth, but as your brother in the Lord, and the servant of 
 
APPENDIX. 369 
 
 the Churches of Christ; and as desiring, like Mordecai, to 
 speak peace to all the children of God, and to saj unto jou 
 that strive together, as Moses said unto the Israelites, ** Sirs, 
 ye are brethren, why do ye wrong one to another?" But my 
 council is, that all the Malpans and Catanars of the Church, 
 also thou thyself, and the brethren Philoxenus and Dionysius, 
 should come together to meet me in one place, evenatCotym, 
 and testify unto me concerning the customs of the Church, 
 and all things belonging to the same; and that all men may 
 speak their mind freely and without fear, I will bring with 
 me learned men, who speak both Arabic and the language of 
 the Malayalim, (but who are not of the number of priests sent 
 heretofore for the college of Cotym,) and I can hear both 
 what is said, and what thou desirest to speak unto me in se- 
 cret; and whereas there are some which say that Philoxenus 
 is no Bishop, and some which say that he was consecrated by 
 laying on of hands and the Holy Ghost, even as thou wert, 
 this thing may be enquired of at the mouth of many witnesses, 
 and the will of the Church be made known w^homthey choose 
 to obey. And in the mean time, my Brother, forasmuch as it 
 hath been said of thee, ' he is a violent man, and seeketh to 
 change times and hours;' let me pray thee to be patient, if in 
 the days of darkness and trouble any thing have been done 
 amiss, awaiting the time that thy power shall be strengthened, 
 and the Lord shall cause all thy ways to prosper. But I speak 
 as unto the wise. Thou knowest that the priests of the high 
 places were not at once cut ofl'from Israel; how much less those 
 whom a Bishop hath ordained, though in the absence and with- 
 out leave from Antioch. Likewise, in the days of King Da- 
 vid, Zadok and Abiathar, were both high priests in the Ta- 
 bernacle, though the true priest, having Urimand Thummim, 
 was Abiathar, son of Abimilek, only; and thus it may be that 
 the anointing shall be on thy head, and the government shall 
 be on thy shoulders, and yet the place of honour next thee 
 may be given to them that kept the flock before thy coming. 
 (But of these things we may discourse together when there is 
 opportunity. ) And further, if any man have wronged thee, 
 speak to me thereof without fear; am I not thy brother? even 
 if he be of my own people, as far as I have power, he shall 
 not go without correction. Salute the Bishops Dionysius and 
 Philoxenus in my name. I call them Bishops, forasmuch as 
 they have been so reported unto me by divers sure tokens, and 
 I trust they may be found Bishops indeed. Salute the Rab- 
 ban Isaac, thy fellow traveller and mine, whom I met at Bom- 
 bay. Satute the Malpans and Catanars. The priests, Tho- 
 mas Robinson and Jonn Doran, (concerning whom I wrote 
 unto thee,) salute you. Verily John was sick at Madras, 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 wherefore my letter was not hastened on. Nevertheless, he 
 is now restored, by God's blessing, and is with me on my 
 journey. 
 
 The abuna Mar Simeon, the Armenian, who was with us at 
 Bombay, and who has been now again with me at Madras, sa- 
 lutes you. Grace and peace be with you all, from God and 
 our Lord Jesus! 
 
 If thou hast any thing to write, let thy letter be sent unto 
 me, in the city of Palamcottah. 
 
 Written in the land of Coromandel, nigh unto the city of 
 Alumbura. 
 
 (vSigned) Reginald, Bishop. 
 
 LETTER TO MAR PHILOXENUS. 
 
 Sent March 27, 1826. 
 
 To the honoured among Bishops, Philoxenus, raised up of 
 God to be a guide and shepherd to the Churches of India 
 which hold the Syrian confession, Reginald, by Divine per- 
 mission, Bishop of Calcutta, wisheth health, grace, and much 
 prosperity from God and our Lord Jesus. 
 
 I have heard from many witnesses, my brother beloved in 
 the Lord, of the works which thou hast wrought, and thy deep 
 tribulation, and labour of love which hath been shown towards 
 the Church of Christ among the Malayalims, at a time when 
 no tidings came from the Church which is at Antioch, and 
 there were manv dangers and much sorrow without and with- 
 in, on the right hand and on the left, from the idolatrous peo- 
 ple and the false brethren. Likewise how thou hast made 
 choice of a wise and holy man, even the brother Dionysius, to 
 judge the people in thy room, and to teach them the pure and 
 certain doctrine of the Lord, and that thou hast sealed him to 
 the work by the laying on of hands, to the intent that the 
 grace which was given thee might not perish, but that after 
 thy decease, a witness of the truth might not be wanting in 
 Israel, until the time that the Lord of the vineyard shall re- 
 turn to reckon with his servants. 
 
 Which thing also was made known to the blessed Father in 
 God, Thomas Middleton, who before my weakness came 
 hither, was Bishop of Calcutta and the Churches of the English 
 in India, who beneld also your order and the grace of God 
 which was among you, and was glad, and spake thereof unto 
 all the chief of our nation. Insomuch that in the land of Fe- 
 ringistan, which is Chittim, and Ashkenaz, and Gomer, the 
 glory of the Lord was made known, not there only, but in 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 Britain also, which is our own land; where the blessed Apostle 
 Paul, after he had been in Spain, in times past preached the 
 Gospel, even as the Apostle Thomas did with you, whose 
 memory is at this day blessed among the Churches of India. 
 
 For which cause also, the holy Father in Christ, the Patri- 
 arch of Antioch, having heard of your love and the truth and 
 patience of your brethren, sent our brother Athanasius to carry 
 his letters to you, and to testify unto you all the things which 
 were in his heart as a faithful Bishop and Evangelist; at whose 
 coming, when I heard the same in Bombay, my heart greatly 
 rejoiced, hoping that, by communication with him, yourself 
 and your flock might be the more established in faith, and that 
 love might increase more exceedingly with all knowledge. 
 Whence then is it my brethren, that there are wars and en- 
 vyings among you? God is a God of peace, not of division; 
 a God of order, not of disorder; and by all these things the 
 name of Christ is blasphemed among the Gentile, and the souls 
 of many shall be turned into perilous heresies; such as are taught 
 by the priests of the Bishop of Rome, which are in Cranganore 
 and Verapoli, from whom, in time past, great sorrow hath arisen 
 to this people. Let me intreat you then, my brethren, on 
 Christ's behalf, that you be reconciled one to another, in ho- 
 nour preferring one another, and each desirous to take the 
 lowest room, to the end that ye may reap an exceeding weight 
 of glory hereafter. And forasmuch as the people are divided, 
 and this man is of Philoxenus, and that foUoweth after Atha- 
 nasius, my counsel is that the multitude must needs come 
 together, and that the priests of the order of Aaron and the 
 holy Levites, which are the deacons, be called into one place 
 to declare openly, according to the knowledge given unto 
 them, what hath been the custom of your fathers, and whom 
 they will obey as their Bishop and faithful Shepherd. Like 
 as it is written, "if thou hast anything against thy brother, 
 tell it unto the Church, and he that will not hear the Church, 
 let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." At 
 which time, I also, if it seemeth good unto your discretion, 
 will be present with you in Cotym, not as a ruler, for I am a 
 stranger among you, nor as a judge, for who am I that I should 
 judge any but mine own people.^ but as a brother in Christ, 
 and a faithful witness of that which shall be determined, and 
 who may plead the cause of your nation with the Queen of 
 Travancore, and with the most excellent Governor whom the 
 Kin^ of England hath set over his cities in India. And foras- 
 much as it is slanderously reported of thee that thou art no 
 Bishop indeed, let this thing be also inquired into at the mouth 
 of two or three witnesses, and let not thy heart be troubled in 
 that I have known our brother Athanasius in Bombay 5 for I 
 
372 APPENDIX. 
 
 have purposed, by God's grace, to know no man after the 
 flesh, but to walk in these things according to the will of God, 
 and the tradition of the Churches, and to speak peace, if it 
 may be so, to both of you, (are ye not both brothers?) and to 
 acknowledge him, if difference must be made, whom your 
 people shall freely choose to rule over them; and within forty 
 days I trust to be strengthened to come unto you. 
 
 Brethren, pray for me! Salute our brother. Bishop Diony- 
 sius, in my name, salute the brethren which are with you, the 
 Malpans, Catanars, and Deacons, with all others of the Church. 
 Salute our brother Athanasius. God grant that ye may be at 
 unity with each other. The brethren which are with me, 
 even Thomas Robinson, (which was in time past known unto 
 the Bishop Dionysius,) and John Doran salute you. 
 
 Grace, mercy, and peace, be with you and in the Israel of 
 God I Amen. 
 
 COPY OF A LETTER FROM THE REV. THOMAS ROBINSON TO MAR 
 IGNATIUS GEORGIUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH. 
 
 1826, 
 The presbyter, Thomas Robinson, Ramban to the blessed 
 Mar Reginald, bishop of the English churches in India, sendeth 
 greeting and reverence. 
 
 I am not worthy to write unto thy Eminence, forasmuch as 
 thy order in the Church of our Lord Jesus is the highest, and 
 mine the most humble, yet since God has thought me worthy 
 to serve his honoured and blessed servant. Mar Reginald, the 
 Bishop of ourX^Jhurch in India, I pray thee to receive my words 
 as the words of him who was my master and my brother. The 
 rather is it my duty to write to thee, because there v/ere many 
 things which were in his heart to say unto thee, and he was 
 meditating a letter of peace to thee at the very time when the 
 Great Master of all, the Chief Shepherd, called him to his 
 eternal reward. With thy permission, therefore, I will relate 
 to thy wisdom what things he had already done towards thy 
 churches in India, and what was farther in his mind to do. It 
 is not unknown to thee, most reverend Father, from the infor- 
 mation of the reverend Legate and Metropolitan of thy churches 
 in Malabar, Mar Athanasius, that he met our blessed father, 
 Mar Reginald, at Bombay soon after Pentecost, in the last 
 year, (1825,) and, as one bishop with another, partook of the 
 holy mysteries with him at the altar of the English church de- 
 dicated to St. Thomas in that city. Mar Reginald shoAved 
 great affection to Mar Athanasius in return for his love to him, 
 
APPENDIX. 373 
 
 and gave him letters to several persons of distinction among 
 the English in this country, commending him to them as Me- 
 tropolitan and Supreme Bisliop of the Syrian Churches in 
 India. After that time he saw his face no more, but he always 
 remembered the brotherly intercourse that was between themi 
 and when he wrote an account of his diocese to the most re- 
 verend and excellent MarCarolus, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 and Metropolitan of all the churches of the English nation, he 
 made mention therein of Mar Athanasius, and his mission 
 from your Eminence, and how, by his means, an end would 
 be put to the irregularities that had heretofore prevailed in the 
 church of the Apostle Thomas at Malabar. Also, when an 
 English priest, Johannes Doran by name, came to him at Cal- 
 cutta five months after, desiring to proceed to Malabar, our 
 blessed Father gave him a letter to Mar Athanasius, request- 
 ing him to allow him permission to reside among his people, 
 and to receive him as a son for his own sake. This letter I 
 have now at length the satisfaction of sending to the care of 
 your Eminency, and I will now relate from what cause, and 
 in what manner, it was most unfortunately detained so long 
 from the hands of Mar Athanasius, for our blessed Father most 
 earnestly desired it should be delivered without delay, since 
 it would, in all probability, have prevented his departure from 
 the country, and healed the disorders and schisms that now 
 so wretchedly divide your Church in India. 
 
 When the priest Johannes Doran, had gone from Calcutta 
 to Madras on his way to the country of Malabar, he heard, 
 for the first time, that there were dissensions between the In- 
 dian Bishops and the Metropolitan from Antioch, and being a 
 stranger, he was advised by some persons that he should avoid 
 taking any part in such controversies, even such as might 
 seem just to him. Therefore, and on account of his health, 
 he remained at Madras for two months, till the end of the 
 month of February in this year, when Mar Reginald arrived 
 there on his visitation to the southern part of his diocese. It 
 gave him great grief to find that Johannes had delayed his 
 progress, although he had given him letters to Mar Athana- 
 sius, as the head of those churches, in which also he had in- 
 cluded another letter written by Abrahim Abuna, a legate from 
 the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, to Mar Athanasius. As 
 soon as he obtained these letters again from the hands of Jo- 
 hannes, on the 4th day of March, he sent them to Travancore, 
 to be delivered into the Metropolitan's hands. He also sent 
 answers to letters he had received from that land, in which 
 he exhorted all who were subject to his authority, to reverence 
 the ancient canons and usages of the Syrian Church, and to 
 know him as the rightful head and Metropolitan of the faith- 
 
374 APPENDIX. 
 
 ful Indians in Malabar, who had been received as such, agree- 
 ably to your Eminency's letters, in a general convocation of 
 the Church summoned at Cotym on December 29th, 1825, by 
 the Bishop Mar Philoxenus. He also expressly and earnestly 
 desired all these his children not to interpose the authority of 
 the heathen government in Travancore, as defining any thing 
 in tlie affairs of the Church, but to suffer all things to continue 
 as they were from the old time, even since the heathen princes 
 gave the Syrian churches of Malabar independent privileges, 
 the people choosing their ecclesiastical governors according to 
 the rites and usages which they held from the day of the 
 blessed Apostle St. Thomas to this time, the government al- 
 lowing their elections, and receiving those they elected, while 
 they thus rendered to Caesar the things which were Caesar's, 
 and to God the things which were God's. And forasmuch as 
 it had been reported to Mar Reginald, that Mar Athanasius 
 had acted violently in the Church, depriving those that had 
 been formerly accounted bishops, and despising the authority 
 of the rulers of the land, our blessed father was very careful 
 to inquire into this matter, that he might represent it truly 
 to all the deputies of the governors of the English in that land. 
 In the meantime, the letter of Mar Athanasius to him, written 
 one month before, which had been ignorantly sent to Calcutta, 
 was given to him at Madras, and to this letter he sent an an- 
 swer in the Syriac language on the 22d of March, which also 
 I now enclose to your Eminency, wherein he assured him of 
 his unaltered friendship, exhorted him to mildness and for- 
 bearance till he should come, and, with his permission and 
 good will, mediate between him and those in Travancore who 
 supported the Indian Bishops, assuring him also that he would 
 not leave unpunished those who behaved unjustly or unkindly 
 to him in any way. And Mar Reginald acted even as he had 
 wrote, and he obtained a promise from the excellent Governor 
 of the English at Madras, that he would confirm whatever ap- 
 pointment he thought good respecting the peace of the Church 
 in Malabar. And your Excellency will see, by his letters to 
 both sides, that he intended that Mar Athanasius should be 
 acknowledged as Metropolitan by all those who had power, 
 and that the Indian bishops, when it should be seen they were 
 truly such, should receive honour and maintenance as his suf- 
 fragans. 
 
 In this belief and intention he wrote also a letter of friend- 
 ship and brotherly love to Mar Philoxenus, as one Bishop to 
 another, exhorting him to receive Athanasius, as sent by your 
 Eminency, to rule them. I send a copy of that letter to your 
 Eminency. I beg your Eminency's wise and careful attention 
 to this account, and of the truth of it I myself am witness, for I 
 
wrote with my own hand the two letters to Mar Athanasius, 
 and have been near to our blessed father as his Ramban and 
 Secretary during all these transactions. Your wisdom will 
 judge from this, with what grief and surprise Mar Reginald 
 heard the events that took place at the same time at Travan- 
 core. These events there is no need that I relate, as your 
 Eminency has heard them clearly from Mar Athanasius him- 
 self; but the thing which gives most grief to the hearts of all 
 who love the memory and rejoiced in the plans of our late 
 blessed father in Christ, is that his two letters to Mar Atha- 
 nasius were not received. The first letter which, as I have 
 mentioned, was sent on the 4th of March, must have arrived at 
 Travancore either on the same day Mar Athanasius was ar- 
 rested by the Divan, and banished the country, or at least the 
 day after; yet the letter was not sent after him to Cochin, 
 where he remained many days. Nor was it told to Mar Re- 
 ginald that his letter had not been delivered till many days 
 after it had arrived at Travancore, and this news not coming 
 to the Bishop till after Easter at Tanjore, no remedy was found 
 for the evil, much less was the second letter delivered, which 
 was written, as I have mentioned, twenty days later than the 
 other. But as soon as Mar Reginald heard, as he did in the 
 Passion-week, that the Metropolitan had been arrested by or- 
 der of the heathen Government, he immediately wrote a let- 
 ter to the British Deputy in Travancore, Colonel Newall, who 
 was then living at some distance in the mountains of the north. 
 In that letter he supplicated him to stop all these proceedings 
 against Mar Athanasius, to wait for his coming before he 
 listened to any accusation against the person bearino- the com- 
 mission of your Eminency, and recognised in that character, 
 as he had no doubt he soon would be, by all of the faithful in 
 Malabar. He reminded him moreover how infamous it would 
 be to the English nation, if we should admit, in any degree, 
 the accursed practices which we all condemn in the disciples 
 of the corrupt Church of Rome, in their conduct towards the 
 Legates from Syria, who came to the ancient churches, which 
 Divine Providence had now placed under our civil government 
 and protection. Our blessed Father Mar Reginald, lived not 
 long after the writing of that excellent letter. It was his mind 
 to have followed it up by a letter to your Eminency, and by 
 other acts calculated to ensure the peace of your Church at 
 Malabar, when it pleased his heavenly Father to call him 
 to himself. The letter was, however, received by Colonel 
 Newall, who immediately sent orders to the Divan of Travan- 
 core, to stay all farther proceedings against Mar Athanasius, 
 and to authorize his return to the country. That letter ar- 
 riving after the death of Mar Reginald, 'was opened and read 
 Vol. II.— 32 
 
376 APPENDIX, 
 
 by me. But, alas! the news had already arrived from Travan- 
 core, that Mar Athanasius had already sailed from Cochiiiy 
 and consequently, that these orders of the Resident came too 
 late. It would ill become me, most reverend Father to obtrude 
 any counsel of mine upon your Eminency, in an affair where 
 the peace of your Church is so nearly concerned. Suffer me, 
 however, to give you what are not mine, but the ideas of my 
 honoured Father in the Lord, whose nearest wish after the 
 prosperity of his own children, and the extension of the Gospel 
 of the Lord by their means, was to preserve the integrity of 
 the Church, subjected to your Eminency's rule in the land of 
 Malabar. It appeared, then, to Mar Reginald, from very 
 strict and accurate inquiries made into the truth of the cir- 
 cumstances, not only from those resident in Cotym, but from 
 others also, that when the last prelates, (on whom be the peace 
 of God,) came from Syria to Malabar, Mar Gregorius of Jeru- 
 salem, Mar Basilius Maphiran, and Mar Johannes, they en- 
 countered the like opposition from the ambition of the In- 
 dian Bishop, Mar Thona, and his nephew, that Mar Atha- 
 nasius has to encounter from the ignorance and prejudice 
 of those opposed to him. Nevertheless, as disciples of 
 Him who was lowly and meek in heart, and who by His own 
 mouth, and that of His holy apostles, lias taught us not to 
 render evil for evil, but to overcome evil with good, they, after 
 more than eighteen years quarrelling, procured the younger 
 Indian Bishop to be submissive to their will, and, (Mar Basi- 
 lius being dead,) Mar Gregorius consecrated him, and honour- 
 ed him with the title of Metropolitan, by the name of Diony- 
 sius. All this is not unknown to your Eminency, but besides 
 this, it is also true that there was a young Indian Priest, who 
 during all these troubles and contentions, remained faithful 
 to the just cause of the Syrian Prelates from Antioch. Him, 
 therefore, during these troubles. Mar Basilius had consecra- 
 ted Bishop, by the name of Cyrillus. And it is said also, 
 though with what truth I know not certainly, that when Mar 
 Gregorius had given the title of Metropolitan to Dionysius, 
 and when Mar Dionysius afterwards refused to give him the 
 maintenance he agreed to give, then Mar Gregorius gave the 
 same title of Metropolitan to the aforesaid Cyrillus. How- 
 ever this may be, as to his dignity of Metropolitan, or what- 
 ever ridit this may have conferred upon him, it is the confes- 
 sion of all in Malabar, of every party, that he was truly a 
 Bishop by tlie consecration of Mar Basilius. That Cyrillus, as 
 is sufficiently attested, consecrated another Priest before his 
 death, A. D. 1805, by the name of Philoxenus, who again, in 
 1812, consecrated in the same manner, him who now lives 
 and is called Mar Philoxenus. Now, though the title of Me- 
 
axxxx;4X'<ix'xjv« 
 
 tropolitan is wrongly assumed by that Prelate, and the others 
 whom he has consecrated, and ignorantly allowed them by the 
 heathen governors of the land, it will not be doubtful to your 
 Eminency that they are real Bishops, though there were not 
 the number of Prelates present at the consecration which the 
 holy canons ordinarily require. But in a barbarous land, 
 where Bishops are very few, where intercourse with the see 
 of Antioch was interrupted and difficult, it may seem perhaps 
 to your Eminency, as it did to Mar Reginald, that it were 
 better for a Bishop before his death to provide successors for 
 himself, provided the real form of ordination be duly observed, 
 than that the Church should be left entirely destitute of Bi- 
 shops. More especially, when at the demise of the true Me- 
 tropolitan, more than twelve years ago, there was no provision 
 for the continuance of lawful pastors among the people of Ma- 
 labar, unless the other successions fi'om Mar Basilius were 
 admitted as true, which continued from Cyrillus to those who 
 are now in Malabar. It was therefore in our blessed Father's 
 mind to intreat your Eminency, and also his right reverend 
 brother Mar Athanasius, to lay aside all prejudices from the 
 reports of ambitious men in India, who often decry in their 
 brethren those things which they only desire for themselves, 
 and that you would consult in these matters what is conducive 
 to the peace, security, and welfare of the Church, not indeed 
 giving place, even for an hour, to those prejudiced or wicked 
 brethren who pretend to set up the right of the heathen ma- 
 gistrates to name Church Governors, against that of the See of 
 Antioch, but not denying even to the gainsaying and the pre- 
 judiced, that character which is allowed them by the nation if 
 it should appear on due examination and trial by the faithful, 
 the priests, and doctors of Malabar, that the character of Bi- 
 shop does of right belong to them. By these mild means, and 
 by inviting a fair and impartial trial of all doubtful matters, 
 the peace and order of the Church will be best promoted. Our 
 brethren and fathers of the English Church all look with the 
 greatest interest and affection on the state of the Church of the 
 Apostle St. Thomas, in Malabar, all desire earnestly to see it 
 in peace and prosperity, and its connexion with Syria unim- 
 paired, and they all will hear with sorrow of the violent remo- 
 val of your Legate from this country. I am now engaged, as 
 it is my bounden duty, in giving an account of these transac- 
 tions, with the whole of the wishes of our blessed Father con- 
 cerning them, to our venerable Father and Lord Mar Carolus, 
 Primate of England. 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 Thomas Robinsok, 
 Priest and Ramban of Mar Reginald the Blessed. 
 
378 APPENDIX. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER TO THE REVEREND WILLIAM ROY, 
 SECRETARY TO THE MADRAS DIOCESAN COMMITTEE OF THE 
 SOCIETY FOR THE PROTAGATION OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Tanj&re, October 19, 1826. 
 
 ■■*;- * * * * * 
 
 Our dear Father, the late revered Bishop Heber, arrived 
 here early on the 25th of March, and on the day following^ 
 which was Easter Sunday, he preached at the Mission Church 
 in the Little Fort a most impressive sermon on Rev. i. 8. '*! 
 am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for 
 evermore." The powerful truths that proved the glory of the 
 Saviour, and the most aftecting arguments to prevail on every 
 one to trust in Him, and to love and honour Him, made a 
 deep impression on the hearts of the hearers. His Lordship 
 then administered the Holy Sacrament to thirty persons of the 
 English, and fifty-seven ol the Tamul congregation. A great 
 part of our native congregation, who understood English at- 
 tended the divine service, and although they could not have 
 understood every particular of the learned, yet very awaken- 
 ing sermon of his Lordship's, being, however, much affected 
 by it, after divine service they unanimously prayed his Lord- 
 ship to grant them a copy of the same; most condescendingly 
 he told them that he would send them a copy of it with some 
 alterations, that they might be able to understand it better. 
 We greatly lament that this kind promise cannot now be ac- 
 complished ! 
 
 After divine service, his Lordship also signified his inten- 
 tion of seeing the Tamul congregation in the evening, and 
 appointed the day following for the confirmation of the Eng- 
 lish and Tamul young people who were presented to him 
 after Church. In the evening Divine Service was performed 
 in Tamul at the Mission Church in the Little Fort. It com- 
 menced at half-past six. The Church was illuminated by the 
 kindness of our Resident, Captain Fyfe. The Liturgy was 
 read by the Rev. Mr. Bahrenbruck, and Nullatambi, native 
 priests. The Rev. Dr. Csemmerer preached on St. John, xi. 
 25. After the conclusion of the sermon, his Lordship pro- 
 nounced the blessing in Tamul from the altar, correct and 
 distinct, to the great surprise and joy of the whole native con- 
 gregation. 
 
 On Easter Monday, in the forenoon, after the reading of 
 the service, tv/elve young persons of the English, and fifty of 
 the native congregation, were confirmed by his Lordship, the 
 former in the English and the latter in the Tamul language. 
 The correctness with which his Lordship pronounced every 
 
APPENDIX. 379 
 
 word in Tamul, was not only striking, l)ut will be always re- 
 membered by our native Christians as a proof of the apostolic 
 spirit which was in him, a proof of his fervent zeal and bene- 
 volent disposition to promote the eternal welfare, not only of 
 Europeans, but also of the poor natives. 
 
 In the evening, after the sermon, his Lordship delivered a 
 most aftecting address from the altar, to the missionaries and 
 the native priests who were present, animating them to zeal 
 and diligence in the discharge of their important work, under 
 all trials and difficulties, according to the example of the holy 
 apostle and of Schwartz, the founder of this, and of the Tri- 
 chinopoly mission. The address was delivered near the re- 
 mains of the venerable Schwartz, and thereby rendered more 
 affecting to every one present. It was delivered extempore. 
 It seems his Lordship had no thought of delivering this address 
 when he entered the chapel, and the thought struck him only 
 at the sight of the number of missionaries and native priests 
 whom he saw before him. Although it was delivered with 
 remarkable plainness, yet every word of it came with power, 
 and went tlirough the heart. Oh how glad would I be if I had 
 a copy of that excellent address ! May a merciful God help 
 us by his Holy Spirit, that we may always remember and do 
 what has been told us by our dear Father! 
 
 On the three following days his Lordship spent a great part 
 of the forenoon and afternoon in inquiring into the various 
 concerns of the Tanjore and Tinnevelly missions, gave neces- 
 sary directions to the missionaries to be observed by them for 
 the good of those missions, and had the kindness to signify to 
 them those directions in a letter written with his own hand, 
 on Friday the 31st of March, the day he left Tanjore for Tri- 
 chinopoljT^. Petitions were also presented to his Lordship by 
 native priests, catechists, and poor. He received them with 
 great condescension, granted the relief solicited for, and pro- 
 mised to do what could not have been done immediately. 
 Two of the native teachers at this place were presented to his 
 Lordship as fit subjects for being ordained and were approved 
 of by him. 
 
 The Rev. G. Sperschneider, who had been lately on a visit 
 to the mission at Trichinopoly, having made mention, among 
 other particulars, about eleven young people there who wished 
 to be confirmed, I set out for that place in order to present 
 them to his Lordship for confirmation, and arrived on the 2d 
 of April with the Rev. Mr. Schreyvogel. We attended divine 
 service at St. John's, and had the happiness of hearing another 
 very impressive sermon preached by his Lordship on 1 John 
 v. 6, 7. His Lordship then let me know, by his chaplain, 
 that as the English and Tamul confirmations could not couve- 
 
 32* 
 
380 APPENDIX. 
 
 niently be performed at the same time, he was purposed to 
 confirm the young people of the Tamul congregation, early 
 the following morning, at the Mission Church in the Fort In 
 the evening his Lordship confirmed about seventy persons of 
 St. John's parish^ and delivered afterwards from the pulpit a 
 most affectionate address to the young people in particular 
 who were confirmed, to be faithful to their sacred engagements, 
 and to watchfulness and prayer. 
 
 Agreeably to his Lordship's desire, the Tamul congrega- 
 tion assembled very early on Monday morning the 3d of April, 
 at the Mission Church in the Fort. His Lordship arrived at 
 sunrise, and after the reading of usual prayers, he confirmed 
 in Tamul eleven young persons of the Ti ichinopoly mission. 
 The service was solemn and affecting, and I sincerely hope 
 that every one of those who were confirmed by the hands of 
 our late dear Father, were deeply impressed with a lively sense 
 of the solemn act performed by them. The service was con- 
 cluded by the blessing pronounced by his Lordship in Tamul. 
 
 After service his Lordship took a view of the Mission 
 Church, and expressed his regret at the decayed state it was 
 in, and the distress of the mission, adding that, after delibe- 
 ration, he would communicate his thoughts for the repair of 
 the Church, and the good of the Trichinopoly mission; he also 
 took a view of the English and Tamul schools, and the mis- 
 sionary's house, which are all built near the Church. A great 
 part of the Tamul congregation being still present, his Lord- 
 ship exhorted them to be Christians not only in name, but in 
 reality, to shine as lights before the heathen among whom they 
 lived. He promised to send them soon a missionary, and 
 wished that God would pour down his blessings upon them. 
 He then very kindly took leave of me, and returned to the 
 house of Mr. Bird, Circuit Judge. Little did I think that 
 that was the last farewell — and never to see him again in this 
 world. 
 
 Three hours had nearly elapsed since his Lordship left the 
 Church when a rumour was spread in the Fort that his Lord- 
 ship had been taken dead out of the bath in which he went 
 after his return from the Fort. The first notice was brought 
 to me by one of the catechists, who came running out of breath 
 and delivered the mournful news with bitter cries and lamen- 
 tations. I could give no credit to the melancholy report, till 
 it was confirmed by note from the Rev. Mr. Wright, which 
 informed me that our dear Father was no more an inhabitant 
 of this world. 
 
 In the afternoon I called on Mr. Robinson; we shed our 
 tears over the smiling countenance of our late dear departed 
 Father, and comforted ourselves with the thoughts of a better 
 
APPENDIX. 381 
 
 world, where there will be no sorrow, and where all tears 
 will be wiped away. It is mournful, indeed, to reflect upon 
 the sudden and abrupt manner in which our dear Father was 
 removed from our eyes, when we were admiring the Grace of 
 God that appeared in him. To himself, however, death was 
 gain. He died like a good servant of his Lord, who found 
 him engaged in his proper work. But our loss by his depar- 
 ture seems irreparable. We have lost a Father, and this is a 
 loss which God can alone make up. May He graciously grant 
 that we may not be wholly disappointed! 
 
 Early the following morning I attended the funeral of our 
 late reverend Father, which was conducted with all the ho- 
 nours due to his blessed remains. It was a mournful and 
 afflicting scene, indeed, which I have not witnessed since the 
 death ot the venerable Schwartz. 
 
 On the 9th of April I preached to the Tamul congregation, 
 and exhorted the Christians to consider the late mournful 
 event as a warning from God to repent, and to show their gra- 
 titude to God by a holy life. After the Tamul service I at- 
 tended Divine Service at St. John's, and heard the excellent 
 sermon preached by the Rev. T. Robinson, in memory of our 
 late Father. It impressed on our minds, not only that esteem 
 and veneration due to the memory of our late beloved Bishop, 
 but awakened us also to endeavour that we may be approved 
 
 of the Lord when he shall be pleased to call us away. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 I am, with great respect. 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 Your very obedient humble servant, 
 
 J. C. KoHLHOFr. 
 
IJVDEX. 
 
 ABRAHAM MAR, ii. 342-3. 
 
 Abdullah, i. 106; made Jemaut- 
 dar; makes pummels for mules, 
 399. 
 
 Abdul Musseeh, a convert, i. 
 487; ordained, 488; his death, ib. 
 
 Abel, Dr. Clark, i. 63. 
 
 Ablution, i. 58, 
 
 Ahoo town, ii. 35. 
 
 AcBAR, tomb of, i. 486; his palace, 
 487; makes pilgrimage to Ajmere, 
 ii. 26. 
 
 AcLAND, Sir Thomas Dyke, i. 315. 
 
 Adamsonia tree, i. 70. 
 
 Adam, Mr. John, i. 398; meets the 
 Bishop, 416; his character, ii. 
 292-4. 
 
 Adam's peak, ii. 192; tradition, ib. 
 
 Adawlut courts, ii. 112; at Kairah, 
 118; beseiged, ib. 
 
 ^gra, judge of, sends escort, i. 480; 
 ruins of, 486; court of justice, 
 487. 
 
 Ajmere town, ii. 25. 
 
 Allahabad, i. 290; buildings, 291; 
 confirmation, 292. 
 
 Alligators, i. QS; again, 190; again, 
 ii. 202. 
 
 Allypoor village, i. 58. 
 
 Alexander, Colonel, i. 269; 
 drives the Bishop to a tomb, 
 273; compares outward marks of 
 devotion, ib.; Letter, to 275. 
 
 Almorah city, reasons for visiting 
 it, i. 376; preparations for journey 
 to, 398; approach to, 411; de- 
 scription of, 416; Divine Service, 
 417; hopes respecting Missiona- 
 ries, ii. 280. 
 
 Ambera village, ii. 63. 
 
 Amblegodde, bungalow, ii. 175; 
 again, 204. 
 
 Anibowlee village, ii. 150. 
 
 Ameer Khan, his character, i. 
 511; again 515; horrors inflicted 
 by, 520; oflfers to invade Jye- 
 
 poor. ii. 10; turns Saint, 43-4. 
 
 Amroah town, i. 446. 
 
 Amrut Row, i. 253; inquires con- 
 cerning Christianity, 265. 
 
 Amherst, Lord, introduction to, 
 i. 56; his letter to the king of 
 Oude, 327; anxious for peace, ii. 
 250. 
 
 Amherst, Lady, kindness of, ii. 
 274. 
 
 Anass river, ii. 79. 
 
 Animal food not forbidden, i. 45. 
 
 Ant-hills, i. 182. 
 
 Antioch, patriarch of, ii. 349. 
 
 Anund Musseeh, i. 301. 
 
 Ape, sacred, i. 172. 
 
 Aqueduct at Lucknow, 458. 
 
 Arab ships, i. 46; brig shipwreck- 
 ed, ii. 167. 
 
 Architecture, Oriental, ii. 285; 
 antiquities of, 301; modern, 302. 
 
 Ariosto, ii. 13. 
 
 Armenians in Dacca, i. 146; visit of 
 archbishop, 155; in Madras, ii. 
 214. 
 
 Ass from Cape of Good Hope, i. 
 62; from Cutch, ii. 152. 
 
 Assam, custom in, i. 516. 
 
 Athanass, Mr., follows the Bi- 
 shop, ii. 31. 
 
 Ava, king of, ii. 250; his demands, 
 ib.; war with, 251. 
 
 AvDAL, Mr. Armenian, ii. 342. 
 
 AuRUNGZEBE, mosquc of, i. 261. 
 
 Azeem Khan, visit to prince, ii. 
 214. 
 
 Athanasius. Mar, ii. 344. 
 
 B. 
 
 Babington, Mr. C. R. ii. 166. 
 Baboon alarms sentry, ii. 80; in 
 
 Ceylon, 192. 
 Baboos, houses of, i. 56. 
 Baddagame, ii. 174; again 204; 
 
 confirmation 205; departure from, 
 
 206; account, 324. 
 Bahar, people of, i. 114; ugly 
 
384 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 country, ii. 276; differs from the 
 Dooab, 277. 
 
 Baillie, Mr. Evan Hamilton, at 
 Tannah, ii. 167. 
 
 Bali, city of, the great, ii. 218; bas- 
 reliefs, 219. 
 
 Bamboos, best in a dry soil, i. 191. 
 
 Bandursindree town, ii. 23. 
 
 Bankes, Mr. W. J., i. 328. 
 
 Jiankipoor, i. 218; opium ware- 
 houses, ib. 
 
 Banks of the river falling, i. 131. 
 
 Banswarra, palace of, ii. 74; Ra- 
 wul calls on the bishop, 75; de- 
 scription, 76; exchange of pre- 
 sents, 77. 
 
 Banyan-tree, ii. 91. one on the Ner- 
 budda, 132. 
 
 Baptist missionaries, i. 81; minister 
 at Dacca, 147. at Monghyr, 207; 
 again, ii. 265. 
 
 Bareilly town, i. 373; professional 
 duties, ib.; female convert, ib. 
 Barley-reaping, ii. 84, 
 
 Barnes, Sir Edward, ii. 177; din- 
 ner with, ib.; lends his horses, 
 179; makes new roads, 190; and 
 tunnel, 199. 
 
 Barnes, Lady, "kindness from ii. 
 204; again, 321. 
 
 BARiras, archdeacon, meets the Bi- 
 shop, ii. 95; accompanies him, 
 106 to Poonah, 154; proposes to 
 resign, 264; character, 326* 
 
 Baroda, march towards, ii. 95; 
 Guicwar of, meets the bishop, 
 96; his character, 99; bishop vi- 
 sits him, 100; visit returned, 104; 
 town and residency, 97; church, 
 98: escort increased, 106. 
 
 Barrackpoor, i. 60; again 73; again, 
 ii. 223; mutiny at, 316. 
 
 Barreah, Rajah of, sends kamdar 
 and guides, ii. 85; visits the bi- 
 shop, 87; presents a horse, 88; 
 town, 89; famine, ib.; misery, ib.; 
 superstition of inhabitants, 90. 
 
 Barodeah village, ii. 73. 
 
 Bassein, pass by, ii. 137; ruins, 
 143; again, 146. 
 
 Bats, large, i. 49; vampire, 65; 
 bats, ii. 226. 
 
 Bayaderes, ii. 220. . 
 
 Bears, i. 62; in Himalaya, 419; in 
 Ceylon, ii. 201. 
 
 Bearers, desert, ii. 15; one missing, 
 78; noise they make, 156. 
 
 Beemthal, i. 402; excursion to lake, 
 403. 
 
 Beggars, i. 126; mode of begging, 
 120; blind, 168; caste of, 181; 
 distribution of money to, 336. 
 
 Begumabad, i. 455. 
 
 Begum Sumroo, history cf, i. 452; 
 written to by the bishop, 455. 
 
 Begum of Delhi, presents from, i. 
 477. 
 
 Belagary, village, i. 436. 
 
 Belgaram, i. 353. 
 
 Belt of Death, i. 377. 
 
 Benares, Raja of, visits from, i.265. 
 
 Benares, town, i. 251; bulls and 
 beggars, 257; baboo's house, 253; 
 pagoda, 245; not many converts 
 at, 264; quarrel between, 284; 
 house tax, 286; " dhurna," ib.; 
 popularity of governors, 289; 
 stables blown down, ii. 261; pro- 
 posal to live at, 283. 
 
 Bengal, not part of Hindoostan i. 
 184; flat, ib.; language, ii. 276; 
 natives fond of singing, ib.; culti- 
 vation of land, 252. 
 
 Bengal, vessels described, i. 51; 
 again, 102; servants, account of 
 the bishop's journey, 486. 
 
 Ben Totte, ii. 175; again, 204. 
 
 Bhadrinath, i. 388; pilgrimage to, 
 411; height, 415; temple at, 434. 
 
 Bhat, poetry of, ii. 32; account of, 
 ib. 
 
 Bheels, their mode of catching fish, 
 ii. 39 and 40; bows, 40; depreda- 
 tions, 41; original inhabitants of 
 Rajpootana, 56; corps raised by 
 Sir John Malcolm, 56; described, 
 65; robbers, 67; hut, 67; signals, 
 ib.; suffer from drought, 67; 
 guides, 73; huts, 77; mock battle 
 between, 82; plunder, and beat a 
 woman, 82; anecdote of chief, 
 87; guides across the Mhye, 107; 
 watchmen, 108. 
 
 Bheelwarra, town, ii. 37; robbers 
 near, 43. 
 
 Bhooieas, tribe of, i. 415, horses, 420. 
 
 Bhurtpoor, Raja of, i. 475; rampart 
 of, visible, 495; sends Vakeel and 
 letter, 498; government descri- 
 bed, 99; bishop returns answer, 
 506; siege of, ii. 305, 329. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 385 
 
 BiccanerCy town, ii. 35. 
 
 JBindrabund, holy place, i. 481; 
 servant and escort go to, ib. 
 Birds of Paradise, 132. 
 
 Birds, small, ii. 169; in Kemaoon, i. 
 419. 
 
 Birman Empire ^ ii. 250; war with, 
 303. 
 
 Birth of the bishop's youngest 
 daughter, i. 83. 
 
 Bishop's College, i. 71; designs with 
 reference to, ii. 310; affairs of, 
 318; again, 326; committees in 
 support of, 343. 
 
 Buss, Rev. Philip, i. 440. 
 
 Blunt, Rev. J. J., letter to, ii. 317. 
 
 Boa constrictor in Kemaoon, i. 447; 
 in Ceylon, ii, 202. 
 
 Botanical garden, i. 69; at Ceylon, 
 ii. 201. 
 
 BogUpoor, i. 202. 
 
 Bogwangala, i. 176; Nach girls, ib. 
 
 Boitpoor town, i. 437. 
 
 Bombay, arrival at, ii. 138; profes- 
 sional duties, ib.; esplanade, 150; 
 government houses, 151; obser- 
 vations, 168; departure from, 
 170. 
 
 Bootees, described, i. 518; again, ii. 
 38; again, 52; again, 87. 
 
 Boras, sect of, ii. 59; quarrel with 
 Sunnites, 60; unpopular, 130; 
 quarrel with Patans, 133; thrive 
 in Surat, 136. 
 
 Bore in the ganges, i. 82. 
 
 BouLDERSON, Mr., i. 378; accom- 
 panies the Bishop, 379; charac-' 
 ter, 403. 
 
 BowLY, Mr. re-ordained, ii. 341. 
 
 BoYD, Mr. Broach, sends guides, ii. 
 130. 
 
 Brahmins, predict inundation, i. 47; 
 some Decoits, 163; village of, 
 205; tired of their ceremonies, 
 295; one with tumour on his 
 wrist, 511; he accompanies the 
 Bishop to Jyepoor, 519; amputa- 
 tion of his hand, ii. 17; they sa- 
 crifice animals, 293. 
 
 Brahminy bulls, i. 123. 
 
 Jirahniiny Kerar, i. 478. 
 
 Bread described, i. 370. 
 
 Bread-fruit tree, ii. 176. 
 
 Brinjarries^ encampment of, ii. 28; 
 their treatment from native ar- 
 mies, ib.; meet them with escort 
 
 of Bheels, 85; carrying corn, 93; 
 their woman, ib. 
 
 British influence favourable to In- 
 dia, ii. 287; Government not gen- 
 erally popular, ib.; reasons why, 
 ib.; compared with the French, 
 288. 
 
 Broach, unhealthy, ii, 130. 
 
 Bronze tint, effect of, i. 42, 43. 
 
 Brooke, Mr. Wm. Augustus, Be- 
 nares, i. 247. 
 
 Browning, Rev. Mr., Candy, ii. 
 198. 
 
 Brow^nrigge, Gen. ii. 322. 
 
 BucKLAND, Dr., i. 420. 
 
 Buddh, sermon by, ii. 322. 
 
 Buddhist priests, visit from, ii. 194; 
 temples, 197. 
 
 Buffaloes in S. Bengal, i. 48; white 
 one, 437; in Bombay, ii. 169. 
 
 Buggeroo, village, ii. 17. 
 
 Bugs, flying, i. 116. 
 
 Buildings soon decay, i. 109. 
 
 Bullumghur, Raja of, i. 469; in- 
 vitation from, 475; bishop visits, 
 ib. Nach girls, 476; sends escort, 
 477. 
 
 Balwar Singh, his history, ii. 45 
 
 Bunaee town, ii. 30; fair at, 30, 31; 
 Raja of, 31. 
 
 Bunaira, town, ii. 35; Raja of, 
 meets the bishop, ib.; conversa- 
 tion with, 36. 
 
 Bunass river, ii. 39; again, 45. 
 
 Bunder boat, ii. 133. 
 
 Bunyhiinya village, i. 117. 
 
 Butcher's island, ii. 154. 
 
 Bussorah Merchant, crew of, ii, 
 209; invalids, ib.; again, 332. 
 
 Butter at Decoleah, i. 514. 
 
 Buxar, i. 229; fort, ib.; natives at- 
 tending service, 230; schools, ib. 
 
 Cabul, horse, i. 433. 455. 
 
 Cactus used as fortifications, ii. 25; 
 with bamboos, ib. 
 
 Cadampoor village, i. 117, 
 
 Caffres in Ceylon, ii. 199. 
 
 Calcutta, approach to, i. 52; fort, 
 53; cathedral, 56; quay 59, again, 
 ii. 233; confirmation, i. 83; shops 
 and bazars, 94; free-school, 6S; 
 departure from, 101; situation, 
 134; again, ii. 204; state used. 
 
386 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 225; country round, ib.; city, 
 232; again, 235; climate, 238; 
 alarm in, 304. 
 
 Callianee river, ii. 157. 
 
 Calisunker, Gossant, i. 250. 
 
 Calpee, afifair at, i. 483; again, ii. 
 282. 
 
 Caltura, ii. 176; again, 204. 
 
 Camel, cruelty to, i. 308; used by 
 couriers, 323;''driver left sick at 
 Moradabad, 439; returns, 497. 
 
 Campbell, Mr. Archibald, at 
 Shajihanpoor, i. 363. 
 
 Candaulah waterfall, ii. 156; vil- 
 lage, ib.; again, 166. 
 
 Candy i excursion to, ii. 188; 2d 
 Adigar, 191; 1st Adigar, 193; 
 town, 194; chiefs, ib. fever, 196; 
 palace, ib.; tombs, 198; tunnel, 
 199; people, 321; cruelty of king, 
 322. 
 
 Canterbury, Archbishop, let- 
 ter to, ii. 332, 
 
 Capital punishments, i. 61. 
 
 Capolee village, ii. 155. 
 
 Caramnasa river, i. 87; again, 233. 
 
 Caravan described, i. 296; com- 
 plaints, 302. 
 
 Carey, Dr., Serampoor, i. 81. 
 
 Carlee cave, ii. 158; bridge, 160. 
 
 Carriages, native, i. 53. 
 
 Casherpoor, place of pilgrimage, i. 
 434. 
 
 Cashi divinity, i. 435. 
 
 Caste, ii. 207; miseries of, 297; 
 quarrels about, in the south among 
 Christians, 257. 
 
 Catamaran, ii. 210-11. 
 
 Catechumen, i. 443. 
 
 Catteywar silversmiths, ii. 123 ; em- 
 igrants from, 130. 
 
 Cattle abundant in Bahar, i. 194; 
 swimming, 214. 
 
 Cavendish, Hon. Richard, at Del- 
 hi, i. 478. 
 
 Catimpoor, i. 318; proposal to live 
 at, ii. 283. 
 
 Cedars m Kemaoon, i. 418. 
 
 Central India, 4th presidency in, 
 ii. 58; inhabitants of, 293. 
 
 Cesare, Padre Giulio, i. 219, 
 220. 
 
 Ceylon, population, ii. 206; reli- 
 gion, ib.; rivers, 204; account of, 
 321; again, 357. 
 
 Chaliers Caste, ii. 180. 
 
 Chalmer, Mr. Wm. Andrew, at 
 Boglipoor, i. 186; character, 199. 
 
 Chambers, Sir C. ii. 170. 
 
 Chamberlayne, Mr., Baptist 
 Missionary, i. 421. 
 
 Chamois in Himalaya, i. 419, 420. 
 
 Chandernagore, i. 77; again, 102. 
 
 Chaplains, inquiry into conduct of, 
 ii. 168; limited number of, 256: 
 rules for their direction, 338. 
 
 Chaplin, Mr. Wm. sends escort, 
 ii. 157; receives the Bishop at 
 Poonah, 160. 
 
 Charcoal-burners, ii. 143. 
 
 Charuns, history of, ii. 33; customs, 
 ib.; one a dealer in horses, 81. 
 
 Cheetao, Pindarree Chief, anec- 
 dote of, ii. 87. 
 
 Cheeta Talao station, ii. 80. 
 
 Chillumbrum, temple in, ii, 352. 
 
 Cheta in Ceylon, ii. 193. 
 
 Child-stealing, i. 164. 
 
 Chilkeah, i. 433. 
 
 Chinese frontier, i. 415. 
 
 Chitpoor, i. 58; Nawab of, 90. 
 
 Chittagong, account of, i. 146. 
 
 Chittore town, ii. 43; mad woman, 
 ib.; castle, 46; palace in a lake, 
 48; anecdote of a Rannee, 47; 
 temple, 49; pools and cisterns, 
 49; population, 50. 
 
 Chinsiira made a Missionary sta- 
 tion, ii. 340. 
 
 Chitturia, i. 200. 
 
 Cholera Morbus, i. 45; again, ii. 
 63. 
 
 Cholmondeley, Rev. Charles and 
 Mrs. letter to, ii. 275. 
 
 Choice Sirwan station, ii. 64; heat, 
 65. 
 
 Chowbee Serai, i. 306; extortions 
 of soldiers, 307. 
 
 Chompna village, ii. 62; misery of 
 inhabitants, ib. 
 
 Chunar, i. 268; fort and stone cy- 
 linders, 270; dungeon, 272; inva- 
 lid station, 274; church, ii. 274. 
 
 Chundna river, i. 134. 
 
 Chiiprah, i. 226; Hindoo ascetic, 
 227; floating-shops, 227; request 
 of servants, 228. 
 
 Churruck pooja described, i. 95. 
 
 Church of England gaining popu- 
 larity, ii. 278; her Liturgy, ib. ; 
 Missionary Society, meeting of, 
 i. 58 J ii. 239. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 387 
 
 Churches, Portuguese, ii. 146. 
 
 Christening oi" the bishop's young- 
 est daujihier, i 99. 
 
 Christian David ordained, i 
 100; complaint against, ii. 213; 
 account of, 261. 
 
 Christians, a few scattered among 
 the mountains, i. 440; in Delhi 
 and Agra, 489; in Lucknow, 353; 
 in the Siutn, ii. 320; nominal in 
 Ceylon, 324; increasing in the 
 south ol" India, 353. 
 
 Christmas-boxes, i. 78. 
 
 Chow 'V oka Devi, i. 428. 
 
 Chowkee, ii. 155; again, 166. 
 
 Chowringhe, i. 55. 
 
 Chowsa town, i 233. 
 
 Cingalese, indolence of, ii. 173; or- 
 nament roads and bungalows, 
 173. 
 
 Cinnamon gardens, ii. 177. 
 
 Circular road, i. 58. 
 
 •Civet cat, i. 82. 
 
 Civil servants' char.icters, ii. 286, 
 
 Clergy, introduction to, i. 54; char- 
 acter of, ii. 309. 
 
 C1.KVK1.A.ND, Mr., i. 188; monu- 
 ment to, 194; his school and 
 corps, 196. 
 
 Climate, influence of, on complex- 
 ions, i. 78 
 
 CoBBE, Capt. engaged with Bheels, 
 ii. 78. 
 
 Cobra de Capello, i 63; ii. 202. 
 
 Cobra Gnana, ii 191. 
 
 Coco-palms described, i. 44; not 
 found north of Jeliinghey, 175; 
 reappear, ii. 86; caravan laden 
 with nuts, 81. 
 
 Colabah island, ii. 168; pier, ib 
 
 Colgony, i- 194 
 
 College, Roman Catholic, ii. 153 
 
 Colombo, arrival at, ii. 177; visita- 
 tion, 179; town, 181; churches, 
 ib; address fiom clergy of, to the 
 Bishop, 203. 
 
 Colombo, tomb of Mr , i. 153. 
 
 CoLQUHouN, Sir Robart, i. 417; ac- 
 companies the Bishop to Chilkeah 
 423—433; his opinion of Tandah, 
 432. 
 
 CoLQUHOUN, Lady, i. 417 — 429. 
 
 C0LV1L1.E. Sir Charles, ii 112. 163 
 
 CoMBF.RMKUE, Lord, ii. 327-8. 353. 
 
 CoMBERTviEHE, Abbey, i. 48. 
 
 ComercoUy river, i. 170, 
 Vol. II. 
 
 Concan, tribes on the, ii. 157, 
 
 Colonization, laws against, i. 234. 
 
 Constantia palace, i. 330. 
 
 Constajitinople, gate of, i. 332. 
 
 Converts, ii. 288. 
 
 Coosenhs tribe, i. 297. 
 
 Coolies, or Kholies, ii. 112. 
 
 Coolies, difficulty in obtaining, i 
 423. 
 
 Coss Minars. i. 474. 
 
 Co'sRiE, Archdeacon, meets the 
 Bishop, i. 45; accompanies him 
 on his visitation, 101; his business 
 at Boglipoor, 188: vocabulary, 
 199; receives ? letter from a 
 Brahmin, 204; established mission 
 school at Benares, 255; favourite 
 with the natives, ii. 289. 
 
 Corpulency admired, i. 88. 
 
 Cornelians, ii. 123. 
 
 CoRNwALLis's, Lord, settlement, 
 i. 208; monument, .230. 
 
 Corn, dutie.s on, ii. 62. 
 
 Cossypcor, village, i. 58. 
 
 Cororaandel coast, ii. 211. 
 
 Cotta.^ missionary station, ii. 181. 
 
 Cotton from Dacca, i. 145; in Bom- 
 bay, ii. 168; cotton-grass, i. 234. 
 j Crab, land, ii. 161. 
 I Crocodile first seen, i. 170; large 
 ' one, 212. 
 
 CuivLiFFE, Colonel, i. 328. 
 
 CUPREEM I'.iUfcSEEH. COHVert, 1. 
 
 230. 
 Currahftomh of Oamaul Shek, j. 300. 
 Curruckpoor hills, i. 202; height, 
 
 204; talc found on, 205. 
 Cutch horses, i. 358; ass, ii. 152; 
 
 invasion of, ii. 305. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dabla town, ii. 31; castle, 35; al- 
 tercation at, ib. 
 
 Dak journey, i. 243; to Kairah, ii. 
 118; no regolar dak, ib.; again, 
 155. 
 
 Dacca, extent of, i. 143.; course of 
 the river changed, 145; ruins, ib.; 
 castle, 142; professional duties, 
 153; prisons, ib ; lunatic a.sylum, 
 154; women embroider, 164; de- 
 scribed, ii. 264. 
 
 Dacca, Nawab of, visits the Bishop, 
 i. 170; charactei. 152; kindness, 
 155; farewell visit to, ib. 
 33 
 
388 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dandees, i. 128; desertion of, 210; 
 one drowned, 215. 
 
 Dante, i. 44. 
 
 JDapoolie village, ii. 165. 
 
 Datura Stramonium, i. 136. 
 
 Davib, Mr. John, i. 127; indigo 
 factor. 
 
 Davis; Major, ii. 200; his tree, 201; 
 Cylon. 
 
 Dawson, Captain, ii. 188; lays the 
 line of road, 190 
 
 Debtors, allowance to, i. 154. 
 
 Decoits, attack of, i. 159; story ex- 
 aggerated, 162. 
 
 Deckan, population of, ii. 156; 
 country 157; government of, 16.3; 
 drought, 164; population, 65; cli- 
 mate, ib. 
 
 Deeolea, town, ii. 31. 
 
 Deer, i 502; again, 507. 
 
 Dehwan, village, ii. 123. 
 
 Delhi, buildings, aqueduct, Hu- 
 maioon's tomb, i 457; old city, 
 460; shawl manufactory, 462; 
 palace, 463; hall of audience, 
 467; confirmation at, 473; de- 
 parture from, 474; government, 
 478; pillar of black metal, ii. ?03. 
 
 Delhi, Emperor of, i. 464; -presen- 
 tation to him, 464-5; present;? ex- 
 changed, 465-6; his history, 471; 
 made a tank at Jljmere, ii. 37. 
 
 Delhi, Empress of, sends presents, 
 i. 470. 
 
 Deosa, i. 516; fair at, ib. 
 
 Devotees, i. 103. 
 
 Dhak tree, ii. 52. 
 
 Dhoon, valley of, i. 452. 
 
 Dhotana village, i. 479. 
 
 Diamond harbour, i. 45-6. 
 
 DiBPiN quoted, ii. 284. 
 
 Digah farm, i 225. 
 
 Diha, i. 281 ; search for village, 282; 
 meet with brahmin watchmen, ib. 
 
 Dikhalee village, i. 432. 
 
 Dil Koushar palace, i. 329; park, 
 ib. 
 
 Diocess, duties of, ii. 241. 
 
 Discovery ship, ii. 170. 
 
 DoD, Miss, letters to, ii. 231-2 32. 
 
 Dogs, i. 126; wild, 421. 
 
 Dokpqh village, ii 128; Bishop pays 
 boatmen, 129. 
 
 Dooab. decay in, i. 277; bad roads 
 in, 298 
 
 Doobee village, i, 514, 
 
 Doodeah village, ii. 84. 
 
 Doonga village, ii. 79. 
 
 Dooniberra peak, ii. 196. 
 
 Don an, Rev. J., accompanies the 
 Bishop, ii. 218. 
 
 Douglas, Hon. Mrs., letters to, ii. 
 243. 316. 
 
 Dow Arab, i. 47. 
 
 Drought, ii. 84; again, 92. 
 
 Ducat, Dr. Charles, Poonah, ii 
 162. 
 
 Dum Dum, i. 65; church consecra- 
 ted, 66. 
 
 Durbar, i, 85; at Jyepoor, ii. 5-6. 
 
 Dwarf, i. 136. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eagles, formidable, i. 419; supposed 
 to be a Condor, 452; the " rok'" 
 of Sindbad, 452 
 
 East India Company, liberality of, 
 Preface, i. 416. 
 
 Elephants at Barrackpoor, i. 60; not 
 allowed near Calmtta, 61; com- 
 mand their drivers have over 
 them, ib.; bathing, 144; abound 
 at Dacca, 148; starved, 322; 
 sagacity, 392; manner of killing 
 tigers, 354; traJJiing for fight, ii. 
 6; baiting, 101; shooting, 110; 
 anecdotes of, ib.; used for tortur- 
 ing, 522. 
 
 Elephanta island, ii. 139; antiquity 
 of, ib. 
 
 Elliott, Mr. Charles, receives the 
 Bishop at Delhi, i. 457; presents 
 him to the Emperor. 463; his be- 
 haviour to the Emperor, 472. 
 
 Elliott, Mr. Charles B., i. 456. 
 
 Elpkinstcnk, Hon. M., account 
 of charcoal-burners, ii. 144; his 
 bungr.1o-w, 157; gives farewell 
 breakfast to the Bishop, 107; his 
 character, 170-1-2; again. 307. 
 
 English Government, conduct of, 
 to Niussulmans, i. 90; in Central 
 India, ii. 58: in Qiizarai, 112. 
 
 Escort under Hindoo soubahdar, i. 
 350; affected by cold, 516. 
 
 " Essence of owl," i. 385. 
 
 Europeans regarded as curiosities in 
 Oodeyj'Cor, ii. 34; speech of a 
 girl, ib. 
 
 Exaggeration great among Hindoos, 
 i. 192, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 389 
 
 ^^ Expectants," annoyance of, i. 
 504; one described, ib. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fagaiv, Captain Janies JVusseera- 
 bad, ii. 30. 
 
 Fakirs on the river, i. 120; insane, 
 263. roasting himself, 497. 
 
 Falsitication, proneness of natives 
 ■ to, i 162. 
 
 Famine, ii. 130. 
 
 Female native schools, i. 71. 
 
 Field, Captain, Buxar, i, 228. 
 
 Fiorin grass, i. 170. 
 
 Fair in Kemaooriy i. 418; again, ii. 
 314. 
 
 Fires in the jungle by friction, i. 447. 
 
 Fireworks, i. 80. 
 
 Fire-flies, ii. 196—199. 
 
 Firoze's walking-atick, i. 460. 
 
 Fisher, Rev. Henry, i. 451; his 
 son, ib. ; another son, 452; his con- 
 verts, 454. 
 
 Fishermen, caste of, i. 45, 
 
 Fish-traps on the Ganges, i. 175; 
 mode of catciung, 432; at Umeer- 
 ghw, ii. 40; abound in India, 253. 
 
 Flowers in Ceylon, ii. 175. 
 
 FoRDE, Mr. Arthur Nicholas, i. 
 440-1. 
 
 Fort iniliam, ii. 224. 
 
 Fox, small, i. 168. 
 
 Fraxcklin, Lieut. -Colonel Wm., 
 acquirements, i. 198; visits the 
 cave at Putter Gotta, 202; his 
 Palibothra, ib. 
 
 Fraser, Rev William, chaplain, 
 Benares, i. 248. 
 
 Fraser, Capt. measures the Hima- 
 laya, ii. 42. 
 
 Free press, ii. 254. 
 
 Freemasons, i. 93. 
 
 French colonel, history of a, i. 489. 
 
 French, character Of, i. 490. facto- 
 ry at Surut, ii. 135 ; manners, 
 288. 
 
 Frogs, large, i. 100. 
 
 Frost, effects of, ii. 24. 
 
 Fruit-trees, groves of signs of pros- 
 perity, i. 443. 
 
 Fruit, boat with, i. 42. 
 
 Funeral piles, i. 80. 
 
 Furrah, town, i. 483. 
 
 Furreedabad, town, i. 474. 
 
 Furreedpoor in Mohilcund, i. 372; 
 enjoyments of travelling, 872. 
 
 Furreedpoor, i. 167, town. 
 Ftittehgunge, i. 368, viilage. 
 Futteehj^oor Sicri, approach to, i. 
 
 493: ruins, 494: palace, ib.; lake, 
 
 495. 
 Fulta village, i. 48: again, ii. 203. 
 j Futteehpoor town, i. 310; beggars, 
 
 311. 
 Futwah town, i. 217 ; grinding 
 
 corn, ib. 
 Fyze Musseeth, convert, i. 301; 
 
 his conversation with a Hindoo, 
 
 303. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gallows-tree at Almorah, i. 413. 
 
 Ganges water used for washing 
 iciois, i. 108; lirst view of, 134; 
 width of, 139; noise, ib ; Hintloo 
 geography of, 183; width, 203: 
 called Puddah near Furreedpoor, 
 167 ; width in Kernaoon, 447; 
 inundation of, 124. 
 
 Gang robbery, i. 162. 
 
 Gaol calendar, i. 164. 
 
 Gaoivala, i. 117; again, 170; caste 
 of, lb. 
 
 Garden Reach, 1. 52; again, ii. 222. 
 
 Gaughiir Mount, height of, i. 428; 
 pass the neck, 405. 
 
 Gaiiima, village, ii. 126. 
 
 Gaziodeennuggur , i. 456; town. 
 
 Gentoos, Hindoos called, ii. 124. 
 
 Gerard, Captain, ii. 40; his cha- 
 racter, 41 ; his measurement of 
 the Himalaya, ib. 
 
 Ghats, ascent of, ii. 156; beauty of, 
 166. 
 
 Ghdzecpoor, i. 234; Nawab's pa- 
 lace, ib.; plan for new church, 
 236; eastern and western Gothic 
 compared, 237; palace, ib.; rose 
 gardens and altar, 2^9. 
 
 Ghee, consumption of, i. 45; a lux- 
 ury, 17. 
 
 Ghorkhas, i. 413; government of, 
 414; visit from their Vakeel, 421; 
 history of a boy, 431. 
 
 Ghosts drinking, i. 134. 
 
 Ghnncaf, i. 419; province, 
 
 Ghyal at Jiarrackpoor, i. 61. 
 
 GiBB, Mr. his account of Western 
 and Central India, ii. 43-4. 
 
 GisBORNE, Mrs., her school, ii. 
 206. . 
 
390 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gipseys, i. 114; again, 171; their 
 eastern name, 203; description, 
 ib.; eiicampment of, ii. 19. 
 
 Glenie, Rev. J. M. acting Arch- 
 deacon, ii 172; lends his carriage 
 188; accompanies the Bishop to 
 Candy, ib. 
 
 Goa, priests at, ii. 153. 
 
 Goldfinches in Kemaoon, i. 419. 
 
 GooDE, Rev. Ambrose, receives 
 the liishop. ii. 118. 
 
 Gooiun described, i. 125. 
 
 Goomty, ferry of river, i. 246; scene 
 in village, ib. 
 
 Goonh, a deer, i. 376. 
 
 Gooroos, i. 5S. 
 
 Gorabundar, ii. 143; church, 145. 
 
 Gossain, i. 192; another, 278. 
 
 Goiir, ruins of, 184 
 
 Gourmaii Singh, Rajah vi-^its the 
 Bishop, i. 388; his history, 389; 
 joins tiger-hunts, 391.' 
 
 Govcinnienl-house, Calcutta, i. 48; 
 members of, their attention and 
 kindness, ii. 225; at Bombay, 
 151 ; at JIadras, 213. 
 
 Gra>iam, Captain, i. 195; his po- 
 pularity, 196. 
 
 Granary i. 219; political discussion 
 ib. 
 
 Grant, Captain, at Delhi, i. 450; 
 again, 464. 
 
 Grant, Captain, in the Decan, ii. 165 
 
 Grant Captain James Ludovick, at 
 Madras, ii. 212. 
 
 Greeks at Dacca, i. 146. 
 
 Granville, Lord, letters to, ii. 313. 
 328. 
 
 Gresley, Lieutenant Fraacis, i. 161. 
 
 Gret , Sir Charles, ii. 215; again, ii. 
 327; again, ii. 352. 
 
 Gros^enor, l-.arl, his seat, i. 333. 
 
 Giijrowlie, village, i. 444. 
 
 Gzmgrowr, town, ii. 42; its woods, 
 ii. 42-3. 
 
 Gi'zn/tf, dearth in, ii. 77; entrance 
 into, 79; parade in 94; climate of 
 100 ; inhabitants of, J 09 ; state 
 of knowledge in, 112; fertility 
 and revenue, 113; uuhealthiness 
 of, 120; no groves in, 124; intense 
 heat, ib.; march excites curiositv 
 in, 125. 
 Gltofparah, village, i. 141. 
 
 Gv.atkin, Mr. John, at Madras, ii. 
 212. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hafez Remut Khan, anecdote of, i< 
 369. 
 
 Haif-castepopulation, increase of, i. 
 64; again, ii. 257. 
 
 Hal bed, Mr. Nathaniel J. at Mora- 
 dabad, i. 440. 
 
 Haliowell, Rev. J. JIadras, ii. 217. 
 
 Hamilton, Captain, Culombo, ii. 188. 
 
 Hastmgs, Marquis, revival of Pu^ 
 harree school, i. 195; reforms 
 their corps, ib.; visits their coun- 
 try, 197i conduct vo the emperor 
 of Delhi, 264; again 471 ; removes 
 marble bath, 487; portrait of. 
 334; memorial to 341; popularity, 
 ii 228; his roads, ib. 
 
 Hastmgs, <X arren, conduct to the 
 emperor of Delhi, i. 264; his po» 
 pularity, 289 
 
 Hatchment, nindoo, i. 78. 
 
 Hats like umbrellas, i. 131. 
 
 Haruewicke, Major Gen. Thomas, 
 his house and Xviuseum, i. 64*5. 
 
 Harknes.s, Captain Henry, com- 
 mands escort at • adras ii. 216. 
 
 Haubroe, Mrs. ii. 346. 
 
 Havi.lbagk, i. 417-18; character of 
 inhabitants, 418; vegetation, ib.; 
 lines for sepoys, 417 
 
 Hawkins, Mr. i-rancif, 'AiBarcilly, 
 i. 373; long residence in India, 
 374 ; account of Rohiilas, ib.; 
 country house, 376. 
 
 Hawtayne, Hev. J oE&ciates at St, 
 Javiesi^s, and converts a Hindoo, 
 i. 66: attends the Bishop to 
 schools, 72. 
 
 Hay, ifobert William, ii. 238. 
 
 Heat, ii 260; again, 352. 
 
 Heber, Mrs. Letters from the Bi- 
 shop to his mother, ii. 248: 321. 
 
 Heber, Mr., Letter from the Bi- 
 shop to his brother, ii. 325. 
 
 Hecatombs of animals otFered, ii. 
 293. 
 
 Herbert, Captain James Dowling, i. 
 417: again, i. 436. 
 
 Hill, Hon. 1)., Madras, attention of, 
 ii 347. 
 
 Hi}! forts, ii. 161. 
 
 Hills, I'hape, of, i. 515. 
 
 Hilsa fish, i. 129; again, 130. 
 
 HUleh and the Hrz ul jYi.'hrovz, I 
 183. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 391 
 
 Himalaya, first view of, i. 381; 
 again, 382; passage of the nearest 
 range, 340; last view of 429; vi- 
 sible ivom Meerut, 451; way of 
 travelling in ii. 316; described, 
 347. 
 
 Hindoo dead bodies, i. 42; their 
 treatment of cattle, 52; character 
 of, 58-9; mode of eating, 108; 
 character, 224; patients, 137; hos- 
 pital lor animals, ii. 182; eat flesli, 
 239; character, 240; system of as- 
 tronomy, 299; feelings towards 
 Government, i. 314. 
 
 Hindoo idols, i. 73; pagoda on Ma- 
 labar ^oiuX, ii. 48. 
 
 Hindoo creditor, charactor of, i. 155. 
 
 Hindoo's reasons for remaining at 
 JyepooVf ii. 16. 
 
 Hindoostanee pentateuch, i, 93; li- 
 turgy, 348. 
 
 Hindooism prevalent in Agra and 
 Delhi, i. 480. 
 
 Hindostan, commencement of, i. 
 190, character of the people, 193. 
 
 Hodgson, Major, measures Hima- 
 laya, ii. 42. 
 
 Home's, Mr. pictures, i. 33©; ac- 
 count of, ib. 
 
 Hood, Hon. Lady, [Mrs. Stuart 
 Mackenzie,] i. 337. 
 
 Hooghly river, current of, i. 46. 
 
 Iloolee, festival of, ii. 51; Qgain, 63; 
 again, 66, 73. 83. 
 
 Ho/at, town, i. 479. 
 
 Hot winds, \i. 102; again, 112. 
 
 Hornby, Rev. E. T. S., Letter to,' 
 ii. 256 
 
 Horse, of stiaw, i. 137; purchase of, 
 293; horse dealers, ib.; for ser- 
 vants, ib., lies down, 308; Arab 
 horses, ii. 249. 
 
 Horton, Right Hon, R. J. Wilmot, 
 preface, vii. Letters to, ii. 237. 
 294 305. 354. 
 
 Household servants, i. 54; establish- 
 ment tor child, 55; character of, 
 59. 
 
 Howrah, \. 58. 
 
 Humaioon, tomb of, i. 458-459. 
 
 Human sacrifice, i. 165; again, ii. 
 240. 
 
 Huniman, tlie monkey general, i. 
 295. 
 
 Hurgila, account of, i. 55. 
 
 Hurricane at Ajmere, ii. 27. 
 
 Hurry Mohun Thakoor, ii. 229; his 
 villa, ib. 
 
 Hutchinson, Captain, i. 451; Cal- 
 cutta. 
 
 Hyaena tamed, i. 420. 
 
 Hyde, Mr., i. 328. 
 
 Hymns, the Bishop's sung, i. 451. 
 
 Hyne, Dr George, appointed physi- 
 cian, ii. 220. 347. 
 
 Jackall, cries described, i. 51; act 
 as scavengers, 55; Hmdoos wash 
 in the blood, 75; fearless, 190; 
 noise, 203. 
 
 Jain temple, i. 259; sectaries, ib.; 
 temple, ii. 19; one deserted, 74-5; 
 at Kairah, 121. 
 
 Jalap plant, i. 162. 
 
 Janghuirabad, i. 278. 
 
 Jats, claim the affix of Singh, i. 481; 
 woman, 504; zealous Hindoos, 
 505; courageous, 509; in Raj- 
 pootana, ii. 59; described, 306. 
 
 Java ponies, i. 266. 
 
 Jaffi-er Gunge, i, 140; agam 167. 
 
 Ice, first seen, i. 406; manner of 
 making, 441. 
 
 Idolatry, effects on the mind, ii. 297; 
 of Hindoos the worst, ib. 
 
 Idols near Calcutta, i. 89; one going 
 to Bindrnbund, 512; custom of 
 throwing them into the Ganges, 
 517. 
 
 Jehanguire, tomb of, i. 461. 
 
 Jerrdda village, ii. 93. 
 
 Jervis, Lieutenant, Bombay, ii. 139. 
 
 Jewellery of natives, i. 168. 
 
 Jeyt, village, i. 4rf0. 
 
 Iguana, large, i. 138. 
 
 Jhalloda, ci y, ii. 81. 
 
 Illness, i. 352; of children, 166. 
 
 Imam, visit of, i. 305; history, ib. 
 
 Lnambara, i. 332. 
 
 Imperial-tree, i. 438. 
 
 India, ric!\ness or", i. 277; prepara- 
 tions for travelling in Western, i. 
 490; natives civilized, ii. 295; in- 
 tercourse with Europe, ii. 296; 
 receive early intelligence, 299; 
 reasons for and against living in, 
 ii. 307-8; chmate, 316; again, 320; 
 different nations in, 316. 
 33*. 
 
392 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Jameses, Saint, Church, consecra- 
 ted, i. 65. 
 
 Indian death-watch, i. 124. 
 
 Indigo, planters of, i. 117, at ention 
 of two, 118; woiks visited, li9, 
 works; ib. rent of ground, 125, 
 works, 127; planters, ii. 286. 
 
 Indore merchant, anecdote of, ii- 33. 
 
 Indraput, i. 460. 
 
 Infanticide, fe^'.ale, ii. 69; again, 
 197. 
 
 Inglis, Sir Robert Harry, Pref. vii. 
 letter to, ii. 255. 
 
 Intended lour in the south, ii. 351. 
 
 Inundation, near Dacca, i. 158: 
 effects of, 182. 
 
 Joudpoor castle, ii. 29. 
 
 Journey detailed, ii. 291. 
 
 Jowrah, the Eagmahal chiei, i. 195. 
 
 Irrigation by wells, i. 501. 
 
 Irving, Rev. John, i. 486: kindness 
 of, 489 
 
 Irving, Mrs. kindness of, i. 491. 
 
 Islurnubab to^'-n, i. 146. 
 
 Juggernauth^ ii. 223 
 
 Jumna rivt >•, v. ater bad, i. 475; des- 
 cribed, 485. again, 489. 
 
 Jiimna M'usjeed, i. 457; described, 
 463: again, 486. 
 
 Jujnshecd, i. 435. 
 
 Jungle-grass, hi-ight of, i. 141, poultry, 
 427. 
 
 Jungleterry district, i. 205. 
 
 Junma Osiiu e, fr-stival of, i. 215. 
 
 JsyepGor, c'.>rit?j>ai'ative security of, i. 
 508; couiitry inffiior to Rajpoo- 
 tana, 513; raarcii t.i, 515; b<-si<r ged 
 l)y Ameer Kliau, 520; clini!»te, ii. 
 3; Inwn and paitict, 5-6; history of 
 cciurl, 9; city dt scribed. 11. 
 
 jyepoor, liannee of, sends escort, i. 
 508; ber conduct in the Hesidenl, 
 ib. bv4inv>our of her Vakeel, 513; 
 presents from, ii. 8. violent con- 
 duci 9; btr Gooroo, 10; murders 
 her aiu lulcfMt, 1 4; her service 
 disliked, 20; sends message 21; ad- 
 vice given ii> tise Bishdj), 21-2. 
 
 Jye Singh buiit Jyepoor, ii. 11; and 
 Umeer, 12. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kadoogarnarvon. irass, ii. 193. 
 Kairah t"wn, ii. 118; cburcb conse- 
 
 ci ai'd. 119, school and libraries, ii. 
 
 119-20. 
 Kali, festival of, i, 74; description of, 
 
 192. 
 
 Kalingera village, ii. 73. 
 Keys, Rev. Rob. Young, ii. 100, 
 Kede^viuth in Himalaya, i. 382; 
 
 beigbl. 4l4. 
 Kedgeree, i. 43; pots used as floats 
 
 for palanquins, 321. 
 " Kebama'' quoted, i. 188: again, ii. 
 
 218. 
 Kemaoon, i-n'eparations for journey 
 
 to, i. 377; subject to earthquakes, 
 
 416; bare of wood, 418; population, 
 
 4l9j Raja of, ib.; fire by friction in, 
 ^447. 
 Kennery caves, ii. 147; view from, 
 
 149. 
 Kennery jn Ceylon, ii. 204. 
 Kerowlie, Tbannadar of, i. 493; his 
 
 certificate from Lord Lake, ib. 
 Khanivu village, i. 496. 
 Khasyas, i. 397; encampment of, ib.; 
 
 peasantry 402; caste, 404; mode of 
 
 Ciirrjing burthens, 423; poverty, 
 
 420. 
 Kliizr, oft' ring to, u 134. 
 Kholie, or Coolie, ii, 90. sepoys, 108; 
 
 history of, 109; character, 110. 
 Kidderpoor suburb, i. 52. 
 KiBlas, turf-buiit, i. 1.^7. 
 KhnJOIiO-co/cce, ji. 133- 
 King's house, Ceylofi, ii. 177. 
 Kiahenghur town, ii. 23; difficulties 
 
 at, ib.; cliaracter of Raja, 24. 
 Kiii<;lu's Mr. R, D, swrii;eon at Bar- 
 
 eily, opinion of jungle fever, i. 379. 
 Knox, Brigadier .\!ex. at JVnsseera- 
 
 bad, his account of the Mhairs, ii. 
 
 27; confirmation, 29 
 Kuudtzon family, i. 76. 
 Koosilla rivei', i. 417; suspension 
 
 bridge, ib. nieniioned again, 428. 
 Kootiib sahib, i 468. 
 Kr.'ftinj;, Colonel, governor of Se- 
 
 raoipoor, i. 76. 
 KtlleanpGor, i . 387; malaria fever, 
 
 ib. 
 Kulleaiipoor, stormy journey to i. 
 
 312. 
 
 Labour, cheapness of, 159. J 
 
 Ladak, i. 415; people of, 459; pre- \ 
 sents from to Knjjjand, ii. 296. 
 
 Lake, Lord, his behaviour to Em- 
 peror of Delhi i. 472. 477; his de- 
 feat at Bhnrtpoor. 327. 
 
 Lalljee, painter, i. 255. 
 
 Lambrick, Rev. Samuel, Ceylon^ ii. 
 182. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 393 
 
 Lancdt native name for Ceylon, ii. 
 87. 
 
 Lancasterian system, i. G8. 
 
 L'^u-'-lords anti tenants, i. 89. 
 
 Liindseer, Mr. John, engraving by, 
 i. 155 
 
 Language, eastern words transplan- 
 ted into English, i. 78. 
 
 Latteen saiis, ii. l;38. 
 
 Layard, Mr, Charles, ii. 172; his 
 brt- akl'ast, 204^ his son accompanies 
 the Bishop of Calcutta, 208. 
 
 Leat-insecfs, ii. 20S. 
 
 Lebada described, i. 438. 
 
 Lee, Mr. Dacca, i. 147. 
 
 Leeches, flying, ii. 208 
 
 Leechees described, i. 100. 
 
 Leemree village, ii. 83. 
 
 Lent k'Clures, i, 91. 
 
 Lepers, misery of, i. 482. 
 
 Leprosy comnmn, i. 69: on boatmen 
 on the river and at JMadras, i. 120. 
 
 Leverets brou,H,ht, i. 300. 
 
 Leycester, Mr. William, i. 440. 
 
 Lsyden's " Scenes oflnfancy," i. 477. 
 
 Linghara worship, i. 192. 
 
 Lions in Kemaoon, i. 380; none in the 
 south ot India, ii. 219. 
 
 Lizards, ii. 149. 
 
 Lockitt, Captain, Luckiio-w, i. 347. 
 
 •' Lodge in a garden ot cucumbers," 
 i. 137; again, i. 1 69. 
 
 Longevity i-are, i, .361. 
 
 Looko Banda, Candian, ii. 193. 
 
 Lorrinite in " Kehama," i. 438. 
 
 Lowther, Mr. Robert, Jiundiske/ir, 
 i. 454 
 
 Lucka freet'y district, i. 279. 
 
 lAicknoio, entrance into, i. 324; resi- 
 dent's house, 326, influenza, 327; 
 menagerie, 329; civility of peo[)!e, 
 331; palace lor widows, 333; popu- 
 lation; 347. 
 
 Lumley, Lieut. Colonel Jas. K. ii. CO; 
 increases the escorts, 61. 
 
 Lushington, Mr. Jas. Steph.en, i. 210; 
 accompanies the Bishop, i. 296; re- 
 main^at Luckiioxv, 349; rtjnins at 
 Delfii,'i:58: i>reseMted t'> the Empe- 
 ror, 463. returns to lAicknow, 495* 
 
 Luxuries ot the east described, ii 19. 
 
 Lynxes at Barrackpoor, i.G2;iu Hi- 
 malaya, 407. 
 
 M. 
 
 ^Iflcdonald, captain, ii. 55; proposed 
 route to liombay, ib.; liis Moon- 
 shee, 85. 8G. 
 
 Mac Clintock, Mr., i. 57. 
 
 Macleod, Mr. Norman, at BenaTes, 
 
 kindness of, i. 242. 
 Mac Mahon, Lady, i. 328. 
 Mad woman at. Chi (tore, ii. 46. 
 Madras, view of, ii. 210: landing, 
 211; professional duties, 12; houses, 
 213; servants, 215; climate, ib.; de- 
 parture from, ib.; clergy and 
 schools, 213; Government-house, 
 ib. 
 Jitaha-bali poor, ruins and templejof, 
 ii. 219. 
 
 Maharattas, plaiiiness of, ii. 18; op- 
 pression of, 72, affect plainness in 
 dress, 86; horse, 59; banner and 
 kettle-drum, 126. 
 
 Jlfahim, town, ii. 150; wood and fer- 
 ry, 153. 
 
 Mahommedans, character of, ii. 247; 
 religion, 297-8. 
 
 Mainwaring, Rev. E., liombay, ii. 
 1 68. 
 
 JMalabar-point, ii. 151. 
 
 Malcolm, Sir John, character of, i. 
 502; arrangements at Jdahoah, 
 514; his Central India, ii. 32. 39. 
 51; his liistoi-y of a Maharatta play, 
 i. 519; raises corps of Bljeels, ii. 57; 
 character as Governor, 58; at 
 Eans'ivarra, 9- 
 
 Maldivian boats, i. 43; again, 51. 
 
 Alallaoon vilhige, i. 352. 
 
 Alulwah, European vegetables in, ii. 
 60; dialect in, 67; police of, 78. 
 
 Mangoes, described, i. 100; trees; 
 430. 
 
 Mansbach, Mv. \ 76. 
 
 Man watching his cucumbers, 279. 
 
 Mandar, ruins, i. 202. 
 
 Marichitieel tree, i. 51. 
 
 Manning, Captain William, i. 51; 
 leaves the Bishop, 73; character, 
 ib. and ii. 237 
 
 Manners of the people, i. 437; shy, 
 ib. clamours for justice, 438; look 
 to the Englisk for help, 448; in- 
 stance of good feeling, 449. 
 
 Mar Simeon, ii. 214. 
 
 Mar Abraham, ii. 214; again, 343. 
 
 Mar Athanasius, ii. 214; again, 350. 
 his quarrels; ib. 
 
 Marriage procession, i, .92; another, 
 503; another, ii. 21. 
 
 Marmots, i. 420. 
 
 Marshman, Dr. i. 81; opinion of 
 Suttee.s, ib. 
 
 Martin, General Claude, i. 330; his 
 tomb, ib. 
 
394 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Marwar, ii. 29; bullocks, ib. 
 
 Massacre at Candy, ii. 200, 
 
 Master, Mr. Gilbert, C. of Dacca, 
 message from, i, 142; his kind- 
 ness, ib.; attention to the Nawab, 
 147; popularity, 162; his kindness 
 again, ii. 271. 
 
 Masuli boat, ii. 2l0. 
 
 Matoonga, cantonment, ii. 142. 
 chapel, 167. 
 
 Matabunga river, i. 105; rapids, 
 *121, 122. 
 
 MattacollyrwGv, i. 128, town, 130. 
 
 Maungunga town, i. 512. 
 
 Maunpuor town. i. 512. 
 
 Mayor, Rev. R. ii. 172; his station, 
 205: Baddagame again, 328. 
 
 Mayor, llev. John, letter to, ii. 
 323 
 
 Meade, Captain, Meerut, i. 453. 
 
 jyfeagunge fort, i. 352. 
 
 Mecazenas, Rev. J. i. 84. 
 
 Medical skill, the Bishop's asked, i. 
 445; again, 448; for horses, 448. 
 
 Meer Israf Ali, i. 156; visit to ib. 
 attention of, ii. 271. 
 
 Meerut church, i. 451; climate, ib.; 
 school and hospital, 453; native 
 congregation, ib. 
 
 Meilapoor , suburb of, ii. 216. 
 
 Men fighting, ii. 18. 
 
 Meriton, Mr Henry, Superintend- 
 ent of Marine, Bombay, ii. 170. 
 
 Meru mount, i. 382; described, 
 410; height, 414. 
 
 Metcalfe, Sir Charles, his conduct 
 to the Emperor of Delhi, i. 472. 
 
 Mewatlees tribe, i. 483. 
 
 Mtyuiar, want of rain in, ii. 51. 
 
 Mhair tribe, i. 27; corps raised, ib. 
 
 Mhowa-tree, ii. 73; iermented 
 juict;, 63. 
 
 JHhye river, ii. 68; passage of, 106; 
 estuary of, 126; passage of, ib. 
 
 Myhsrie river, fi. 79; again, S3; 
 another of the same name, 90. 
 
 Middleton, Bishop, i 71; tablet to, 
 ii. 181; issues letter to Clergy, 
 332; travels in the south, 351. 
 
 Milk-maids dancing, i. 480. 
 
 Mill, Rev W. Principal of Bishop's 
 College meets the Bishop, i. 45; 
 endeavours to converse with a 
 Brahmin; 44; his character, ii. 
 340. 
 
 Mill for rice, i. 50. 
 
 Millet, thrashed, i. 172. 
 
 Milman, Rev. H. H. i. 371. 
 
 Minarets, none in Calcutta, i. 95, 
 
 Mission school at Candy, ii. 198; 
 Cotta, 181; at Baddagame, 205; 
 address to and answer from the 
 Bishop, 182, 187. 
 
 Missionary church at Mirzapoor, 
 i. 57. 
 
 Missionary stations, ii. 206. 
 
 Mitford, Mr. i. 153. 
 
 Mocha stones, ii. 123. 
 
 jtlohanna river, i. 128; again, 183. 
 
 Mohout beats his wife, ii. 82. 
 
 Mohunpoora village, i. 518; diffi- 
 culty in procuring forage, 518. 
 
 Mompezier caves, ii. 150. 
 
 Monghyr, i. 305; fort, 206; cutlery, 
 ib. Zemindarries, 208. 
 
 Monkeys, i. 329; disturb bees' nest, 
 ii, 75. 
 
 Monson, Colonel, his retreat, ii. 32. 
 
 " Montagnes Russes" of mason- 
 ry, ii. 230. 
 
 Monsoon, ii. 154. 
 
 Mongomerie, Captain, Rajmahah 
 1. 195. 
 
 Moodeliers, ii. 173. 
 
 Moorcroft, Mr. i. 415. 
 
 Moore, Hon R. F. sends servants, 
 ii. 22; his house, Ajmere, 27. 
 
 Moradabad, i. 439; hospital, 441. 
 
 Moreton, ii. 279. 
 
 Morier, Mr. James, visits Secun- 
 dria, 193. 
 
 Morris, Rev. Church missionary, i. 
 255. 
 
 Morrison, Colonel, i. 224. 
 Mountain ravines, ii. 106. 
 Mosiquito curtains, i. 46. 
 Motee Musjeed, i. 486. 
 JMouzabad lown, ii. 19. 
 Mullberi)-tiet^, dwarf, i. 122. 
 Muliaisiia, i. 444. 
 
 Aiullaoiv village, (irougiit at, ii, 81. 
 Mundiserai, i. 308, rain at" ib. 
 Munro, Sir rhomas, li. 215; kind- 
 ness, 
 Munro, Lady, ii. ;347. 
 Mustard-seed, i. 116. 
 
 Musselnians, prejudices of, 47, men- 
 dicants, 136; Ihtir religion mi.xing 
 with their actions, 173; legend of 
 saint, 189; tomb, ib; influence of 
 their Imams and MouUahs, 163; 
 encounter with suwarr, 358; their 
 
INDEX. 
 
 395 
 
 governox'S better than Hindoo go- 
 vernors, ii. 59; their rea'sons tor 
 leiiving Jyei^oor, 16; their l>reju- 
 dice, 167; described, 258; their re- 
 ligion, 297-8. 
 
 J\hittra town, i. 481; officers shoot- 
 ing monkeys^ 481; church service, 
 lb. 
 
 INIynas, nests of, i. 107. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nach described, i. 66; girls, ii. lOlj 
 
 again, 107; man, 142. 
 Nacoda of 4rab ship, \. 59. 
 Nagari tirst iieard, ii. 86. 
 Namdar Khun, ii. 98. 
 Native Schools of (he Society for 
 Promoting CUnstian Kno-.v ledge, 
 i. 72: .female schools, ii. 70-1; 
 free-school, 67, female schools, ii. 
 235. . 
 Natives, their timidity, i. 88; their 
 confi'ience in Europeans, yi; in- 
 troduced at phe Bishop's party, ib. 
 their familiarity with Europeans, 
 125; instances of their charity 20i; 
 their idaas of the Bishop of Cal- 
 cutta, 263; not jealous of his arri- 
 rival, ib- averse from British rule, 
 254; cwtiverts, 454; sovereigns, ii. 
 58; houses, 227; imitate the Eng- 
 lish, 228; again. 239; approve of 
 English schools, ib. anecdotes of, 
 344. 
 Native removed from his regiment 
 
 for conversion, i. 454. 
 Navigation of river betv^een Cal- 
 cutta and Ducca, i. 119; simple, 
 on the Ganges, 139. , 
 
 Nawa3 GujiGE, village, i. 158. 
 Nawal. Singh, i. '622. 
 Neave, Mr John, at Shahjehan- 
 
 j)oor, 1. 362. 
 Nedjeed, horse, i. 421, 443. 
 Neehijhaus, i. 330. 
 JVeel^kurry hills, ii. 347. 
 Neem-tree, i. 51. 
 
 JVeenihaira town, ii. 51; govern- 
 ment, 52, 53. 
 JVeemuck cantonment, ii. 54; con- 
 
 firmation, 60. 
 yJVerbuJda river, passage of, ii. 132; 
 J\''crriad town, ii. 113; heat at, 114; 
 Nestorian Christians, i. 377. 
 NicoL, Rev Dr. Alex., translator 
 
 of dialogue, i. 162. 
 Night-march, and recollections, i. 
 308. 
 
 Night-blindness, ii. 50. 
 
 JVinevah., tomb of Yunua, (Jonas,) 
 i. 183. 
 
 A'tzum-ul-deen, i. 461. 
 
 Nook, Mxjsseeah, convert, i. 440. , 
 
 NoRTHMORE, Rev. Thos. Welby, 
 at Dinapoor, i. 224. 
 
 North- westers, ii. 261. 
 
 JVundidevi, in Himilaya, i. 405; 
 height, 414; etfect of sunset, 
 425; smoke from it, 436; query, 
 volcanic ? ib. 
 
 JVusseerahad, i. 503; bearers re- 
 fuse to go further, 491 ; described, 
 ii. 28; confirmation, 29; departure 
 from and society of, 30. 
 
 Nutmeg-tref, i. 69. 
 
 Nuzzur prUented, i. 323. 
 
 O- 
 
 Oak, in botanic gardens, i. 70. 
 Observatory, Hindoo, i. 258. 
 OcHTERLONV, the late Sir David, 
 behaviour to Emperor of Delhi, 
 i. 472; agent to Governor-Gene- 
 ral, 501; his camp, ib.; his Moon- 
 shee, 502; hisjiouse at JVeemuchr, 
 ii. 60; accedes to the Rannee's de- 
 mands, 10; commences war in 
 Rajpootana, 305; meets the bi- 
 shop, i. 518; his history, 519. 
 Oifenders sentenced to labour, i. 
 
 61. 
 Okeden"," Mr. Parry, Moradatad, 
 
 i. 444; calls on the bishop, 442. 
 Okul-doonga, village, i 429. cli- 
 mate, 430; huts for travellers, ib. 
 " Oliver Newman," Southey's 
 
 Poem of, ii. 345. 
 Onnaw, village, i. 320. 
 Oodeypoor, district ii. 31; suffers 
 from Pindarries, 32; history of, 
 44. 
 OoTiANCANDV,ii. 191; bungalow, 
 
 ib. 
 Opium, manner of collecting, ii. 
 
 03. 
 Order of the Madras government 
 with reference to native Chris- 
 tians, ii. 357; again, 358. 
 Orphan female school, i. 64. 
 Otters kept like dogs, i. 130; used 
 
 for fishing, 132. 
 Oiide, King of, sends escort, i- 
 320; , sends ins ofl&cer, 323; 
 
396 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 houses, 329; palace, 333; mini- 
 ster, 326; bishop breakfasts witii, 
 333; conversation, 335; his 
 crown, ib.; described, ib.; go- 
 vernment order respecting pre- 
 sents, ib.; breakfasts with the J^e- 
 sident, 338; attends his marriage, 
 ib.; character of, 340. 
 
 Oude, character of people, i. 332; 
 government of, 340, 343; popu- 
 lation, 341, armed peasantry, ib. 
 
 Oudunpoor, i. 361; beggar, 361; 
 conversation with merchant, 362. 
 
 OvANs, Captain Charles, his maps, 
 ii. 108. 
 
 OusELEY, Sir Gore, i. 173; visits 
 Secundria, 193. • 
 
 PageTj Rev. Mr., tomb of, i. 153. 
 Paget, Sir Edward, his conduct to 
 
 the Emperor of Delhi, i. 472. 
 Paglapwl, near Dacca, i. 155. 
 Palanqueens, prices of, i. 56. 
 Pallet, town, ii. 30. 
 Palmer and Co., their indigo 
 
 works, i. 128. 
 Palmer Mr., conversation with 
 
 Bheels. ii. 41. 
 Pattura, h 176, 204. 
 Palms re-appear, ii. 85. 
 Palmyra tree, i. 50. 
 Panchway, i. 44. 
 Panchelwas, village, ii. 68. carts 
 
 described, ib. 
 Panwellet, ii. 155 — 166; river, ib. 
 Parish, Hev. Wm. Dacca, i. 145. 
 Parian dog, i. 413. 424. 
 Pareil, government house at, ii. 
 
 150; garden, 152. 
 Parry, the late Mr. Edward, ii. 
 
 242. 
 Parsees thrive at Sural, ii. 136; 
 
 their worship, 150; their burial 
 
 ground, 151. 
 Parsons, Rev. .Joseph, i. 54. 
 Patna, i. 218; gardens, ib; hacke- 
 ries, 222; no burial ground, ib. 
 Paton's route, i. 443. 
 Peacocks, wild, i. 376; again, 502; 
 
 peculiarity of ib. 
 Pearls, ii. 169; fishery, 177. 
 Peasantry aimed, 229; described,ib. 
 Peepul-tree, i. 513. 
 Peerpointee, tomb of Mussulman 
 
 saint, i. 189; cave, 190. 
 
 Pelissier, Monsieur, Governor of 
 
 Chundervajore, i. 79. 
 Penny, Colonel, rrieets the bishop, 
 
 Muttra, i. 481. 
 Penrhyn, Mr. E. i. 75. 
 Perjui/y common, i. 165. 
 Persain .Secretary attends Durhav, 
 
 \. 85; his duties, 91. 
 Pertaulighur, city, ii. 61; cold and 
 
 frosi, lb. 
 Peshaiver, village, i. 497. 
 Pharsali, village, i. 501. 
 PigeOiis, i. 501. 
 Pilgritns to ihe Ganges, i. 370; to 
 
 Mecca, 371; another, 409; to Aj- 
 
 m.'re, ii. 26; join the caravan, 18. 
 Pillibheet, rice, i. 430. 
 Pindarries, incursions of, 508; de- 
 
 pi edations, 515; oppression, ii. 72. 
 Pinf -apples, wild, u. 176. 
 Pirpies, Arab, ii. 248. 
 Pit land, town, ii. 124; visit from 
 
 Kamdar, ib.; presents exchang- 
 ed, 125. 
 Plaintain, i. 42. 
 Poet, native, i. 69. 
 Poetry, i. 177, 179. 
 Point de galle, ii. 172; climate, 
 
 173; confirmation, 174; departure 
 
 •from, lb ; return to and embarka- 
 
 cion from, 206. 
 Pckur, Hindoo temple, ii: 27. 
 Pf litical state of India, ii. 249. 
 Ponies, sagacity of, 424; break 
 
 loose, 513. 
 Poor, collection for, i. 71. 
 Poonah, ii. 160; country, 161; city, 
 
 161^, illness at, 160; departure 
 
 trom, 165. 
 Pcofiah, Peishwah of, ii. 161. 
 Poppies first seen, ii. 36; again, ii. 
 
 ?2. 61; injured by frost, ii. 62. 
 Porjjoises, i. 171; again, i. 172. 
 Portuguese in Calcutta, i. 67; 
 
 •churches, ib.; complexion, i. 79. 
 Potatoes in Bengal, i. 47. 
 Precious stones, ii. 203. 
 Pre'idency separated, ii. 306. 
 Propaganda Society, i. 104 
 Protection afFoided the bishop in 
 
 his long journeys, ii. 312. 
 Provisions, dearness of, ii. 85. 
 Pritny, village, i. 424. 
 Pudda one name of the Ganges, 
 
 i. 167. 
 Puharrees, i. 187; school, 195; no 
 
INDEX. 
 
 397 
 
 castes, 196; features, ib.; charac- 
 ter, 198; resemble the Welch, 
 199: religion, ib.: festivals, ib.: 
 vaccination, 201: oath, climate, 
 202: unprejudiced, ib.: mentioned 
 again, 415. 
 
 Puller, Sir Christopher, his death, 
 i. 98: again, ii. 260: character, 
 ib. 
 
 Puller, Lady, returns home, ii. 260. 
 
 Pundit at Kemaoon, i 421 : his dis- 
 course on astronomy and Geogra- 
 phy, ib. 
 
 Funt Ka Peepul, i. 428. 
 
 R. 
 
 Radha, burden of a song, i. 118. 
 
 Rahoo, a large fish, i. 116. 
 
 Rain, providential, i. 314. again, 
 456. 
 
 RajmahalhWls, i. 182; again, 184; 
 town 185: sort of Tyrol, 196; de- 
 scribed, 202. 
 
 Rajpootana distressed, ii. 55. 
 
 Rajpoots, i. 45; use the affix of 
 Singh, 481 ; boy wishes to accom- 
 pany the bishop 400: chief, 512; 
 their character, ii. 5?; good horse- 
 men, n ; their strings and medals, 
 20; described, 21. 
 
 Rama and Seeta, festival of, i. 394. 
 
 Hamghvr, i 407; peopie described, 
 ib.; idolatry, and religious beg- 
 gars, 408; quarrel W'th Goornash- 
 ta, ib. 
 
 i?aw?g/wr village, i. .511; entrance 
 to the castle refused, ib. 
 
 Rampoir, i 442. 
 
 Raper Colonel F. V 509; leaves 
 Jyepoor, ii 11 ; attends the bishop 
 to Faneraiy, 17. 
 
 Rats, i. 421. 
 
 Receipt for horses, i. 367. 
 
 Reynell, General, i. 454; assigns 
 siygeon to the bishop, ib. 
 
 Reichardt, Rev. re-ordained, ii 
 341. 
 
 Religion in Ceylon, ii. 206. 
 
 Reynell, Major James, maps, i. 
 108; discrepancies, 114. 129. 
 149. 174. 
 
 Rhadicant Deb, i. 12; his opinion 
 of female schools, ii. 236. 
 
 Rhr.naghat. i. 107. 
 
 Rhinoceroses, i. 329; again, ii. 97. 
 
 Rhoders, ii. 207. 
 
 Ribband-men in Ireland, i. 163; 
 
 Rice not nourishing, i. 47; the most 
 valuable, 172; inferior, 178; in 
 Okul Doonga, 430 
 
 Rich, the late Claudius James, i. 
 328. 
 
 RiENZE, Chevalier, ii 149. 
 
 RiCKETTs, Mr, Mordaunt, resident 
 at Lucknow, i. 319; message 
 from; 323; introduces the bishop 
 to the King of Oude, \. 334. acts 
 as chaplain, 348. 
 
 Rivers in Ceylon, ii. 204; families 
 on them, ib. 
 
 Robbery, increase of, i. 163; alarm 
 of, ii 18; preparations against, ib. 
 
 Robertson Lieutenant Colonel 
 Thomas, presents a memorial, i. 
 275; the bishop's answer, Chli- 
 nar, ib, 
 
 Robinson, Rev. Thomas, at 
 Pnonah, ii. 162; accompanies the 
 bishop to Ceylon, 170: to Mad- 
 ras, 208; reads with the bishop 
 to the sick in the * Bussorah Mer- 
 chant," 332. 
 
 Rodney, Honourable John, in Cey- 
 Ion, ii. 176; again, 204. 
 
 Rohilcund, conquest of, i. 363; tu- 
 mults in, ii 279. 281. 
 
 Rohillas under British government, 
 i. 364; insurgents, ib.; anecdote 
 of chief, ib.; soil and climate, 365. 
 
 Roman Catholics, number and char- 
 acter of, ii. 288; again, 357. 
 
 RoMER, Mr. ii. 1.34. 
 
 Rooh, fish described, i. 231- 
 
 RoTTLER, Rev. Dr ii. 213. 846. 
 
 Roy, Rev. Wm., senior chaplain at 
 Madras, ii. 212 
 
 Ruderpoor, i. 393; misery, 395; 
 visit from magistrate, i. ib. ; an- 
 nual conflagration, i. 396. 
 
 Rvperra village, i. 132. 
 
 Rushes, long, i. 114. 
 
 Sddras town, ii. 220. 
 
 Saees, death of, ii. 63. 
 
 Sago-palm, i. 70. 
 
 Sali-'^a village, ii. 130. 
 
 Salmon, Capt , i. 324.; his suwars, 
 
 324: escorts the bishop through 
 
 Luckuow, 351. 
 
398 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Salsette, coast of, ii. 137; island, 
 142. 
 
 Salt-water lake, i. 57. 
 
 Saltpetre, i. 83; monopoly of salt, ii. 
 254. 
 
 Saltara. Rajah of, ii. 165. 
 
 Sam, Mr., Armenian, ii. 214. 
 
 Sambvr, salt lake of, ii. 20. 
 
 Sandheads the bisliop proceeds to, ii. 
 209. 
 
 Sandys, Capt. Fred. Hervey, ii. 29. 
 
 Sandee, i. 347; dangerous for travel- 
 leis, ib. 
 
 Sanscrit taught in Hindoo colleges, 
 ii. 300. 
 
 Sansoni, Mr. n. 173; accompanies tlie 
 bishop, ^04; returns home, 206. 
 
 Smigar, island of, j. 41; again, ii. 223. 
 lightning at, ib. 
 
 Sntva town, ii. 50: drunken men, ib 
 
 Salvers, Mr., receives the bishop at 
 Ca7idy, ii. 193. 
 
 Schwartz, rnissio.iary, ii. 348; his la- 
 bours and character, 355; guardian 
 to the Tinja of Tgnjore, ib.; monu- 
 ment to. 356. 
 
 Scorpions,i.276; bite, ii. 122; again. 202 
 
 Scott, Mr., i. 439; Scott Sir'W. 325; 
 again, ii. 13. 
 
 Sea snakes, ii. 169; horror of sea, 87. 
 
 Secmidra, i. 435. 
 
 Secrole, i. 248; chapel, 249; case of 
 native convert, ib. mission-school, 
 250. 
 
 Seeia Coom^ i. 205. 
 
 Seidpoor, i, 244. 
 
 Seiks, i 492. 
 
 SeU-immolation by drowning, i.261. 
 
 Sepoy regiments recruited from Ba- 
 har^ i. 88. 
 
 Sepoy's scruples about caste, i. 14^ 
 gratitude of, 353; desertion of one, 
 SCO; sickness, ib. carelessness. >88 
 Volunteer to go to AJmoy^ak, 400; 
 two accompany the bishop, 403; 
 hardiness, 425; like children, 426; 
 one sick at Moradabad, 439; one 
 killed, ii. 38: his children, ib.; two 
 ill; 129 derivation of the word, 
 108. 
 
 Serai described, i. 311; lodgers in, 
 described, ii. 134. 
 
 Serampoor, i. 60; described, 76. 
 
 Serpent, ii. 166. 
 
 Shaddock, described, i. 42. 
 
 Shahjehanpoor, frontier of Onde, i. 
 362; described, ib.; common name, 
 449. 
 
 Shakespeare, M. C. his rope bridges, 
 
 i. 86— S; at Be7iarest and for the 
 
 Caramnasa. 
 Shark, escape from, ii. 211. 
 Shaw, Colonel, i. 197. 
 Shawl-goat, i. 420. 
 Sheeshghur, Raja of, visits the 
 
 Bishop, i. 383; drought, 381: 
 
 Nach women, 382. 
 Shipley, Very Rev. Dean, letters to, 
 
 ii. 233. 249. 
 Shipley, Rev. Charles, letter to, ii. 
 
 353." 
 Shore, Hon. F. J., bravery of, i. 375. 
 Sibnibashf'y i. IDS: ruins, pagoda, 
 
 and palace, 108-109: the bishop 
 
 visits Raja Omichund. i. 110-111. 
 Sick servant, i. 309: carriedby wo- 
 men, .310. 
 Sidigully, i. 188. 
 Sikh travelling, i. 408. 
 Sikre^ Casirn Ali Khan, Nawab of, 
 
 i. 477. 
 
 Simms, Mr., Moradahad, i. 440. 
 
 Simpson, Mrs., her school, i 230. 
 
 Sindia, i. 512; dii JVeemuch, ii 52; 
 his sepoys, 25: benefactor to 
 tomb at Jljmere, 26: at Pokur, 
 27: his towns in Chizerat, 78. 
 
 Singhi Raja, relics of at Cajidy, ii. 
 198. 
 
 Sircar described, i. 54. 
 
 Siva, temple to, at Chittore, ii, 47: 
 minarets, 49. 
 
 Skinner, Col. cavalry, i. 456: gives 
 money for a church, jb. his es- 
 cort accompany the bishop to 
 JVusseerahad, ii. 4. 18 : his horse- 
 men, 157. 
 
 Slavery illegal, i. 59: Slave Island, 
 ii. 181. 
 
 Smith from Yorkshire, i. 307, 
 
 Smith, Dr H., appointed the Bish- 
 op, i. 455: gives opium to sepoys, 
 ii. 20: his death, 347. 
 
 Snake in the cabin, i. 230: account 
 of one, ib. 
 
 Society in the upper provincft, ii, 
 28.5. 
 
 Solomon, Shekb, tomb of, i. 49.S 
 
 Sooty, or Moorshedabad river, i. 
 181. 
 
 Soubahdar goes to Bindrobtmd, i. 
 481 : his attention, 509; illness and 
 death, ii. 75. 
 
 Southern India, accounts from, ii. 
 93. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 399 
 
 Southey, his Padalon, i. 44: croco- 
 dile island, 138: his "Oliver 
 Newman," ii. 345. 
 
 Spinning wheels, i. 436. 
 
 Spirits, bad effects of, on troops, ii. 
 209. 
 
 Squirrel, Indian, i. 75: flying, 420. 
 
 Storm on the river, i. 104. 
 
 Stowe, Rev. Martin, arrival, i. 95: 
 accompanies the Bishop, 101; 
 wades in a marsh, 139: illness, j 
 142; his death, 152: again men- | 
 tioned, ii. 266: burial, 26*9 : inter- 
 est excited by, 270: reflections on 
 his death, 271. 
 
 Stowe, Miss, letter to, ii. 271. 
 
 Student in the Vindalaya, i. 266. 
 
 Street preaching condemned, i. 265. 
 
 Sudder Adawlut, i. bQ'.Dewannee, 
 ii. 254. 
 
 Sugar cane, plantations of, i. 51: 
 mill at Boitpoor, i. 438: sugar, 
 443: canes and mills, 510; mills, 
 ii. 63; extensive cultivation of, 
 294: assertion made in Parlia- 
 ment, ib. 
 
 Suicide, i. 241. 
 
 Sumeru mountain, i. 415. 
 
 Sumatra ape, ii. 152. 
 
 Sunday regarded by the Hindoos, i. 
 431. 
 
 Sunderbunds, i. 44; termination of, 
 57. 
 
 Sunnite sect, ii. 59; quarrel with 
 Boras, ii. 60. 
 
 Sunn hemp, i. 124. 
 
 Supta Sati translated, i. 94. 
 
 Supreme Court, ii. 254. 
 
 Sural city, ii. 134: society, 135: 
 church consecrated, ib ; school, 
 137. 
 
 Suromonuggur, dispute at, i. 357; 
 fortress, 340; trout stream, 351. 
 
 Suspension bridge, i. 417. 
 
 Suttee described, i. 80; difference 
 of opinion, 81, 82, described, 
 240: not common in Delhi, 479 
 
 Suwarrs levy "black mail," i. 374. 
 
 Swinging described, i. 98. 
 
 Tage Mahal, i. 488: again, ii. 293. 
 
 Talipot palm, ii. 174. 
 
 Tamarind tree, native opinion of, 
 
 i. 356. 
 Tambresra, village, ii. 76; visit 
 
 from the Raja, ib. 
 Vol. II. 
 
 j Tandah, i. 382 . 386 : description of, 
 
 I 397. 
 Tanjore, Rajah of, ii. 354: the 
 bishop offers to take his son, 355; 
 his support of Christian schools, 
 356; a pupil of Schwartz, ib. 
 
 Tanks, i. 47 
 
 Tunnah, town, ii. 144; consecra- 
 tion of church, 167. 
 
 Taptee river, ii. 134. 
 
 Tara-palm planting, i. 215. 
 
 Taxes, local, i. 142; appropriation, 
 li. 240. 
 
 Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel, H. G- 
 A. Madras, ii. 212. 
 
 Tea plant m Kemaoon, i. 430. 
 
 Tkignmouth, Lord, i. 114. 
 
 Tekaria, village, ii. 130. 
 
 Temple in a tree, 1. 192. 
 
 Temple neacJyepoor, i. 521; in Cey- 
 Ion, ii. 198. 
 
 Terrai, unhealthy season in, i. 384; 
 wild animals leave it, 385; ap- 
 proach to the forests, ib.; "es- 
 sence of owl," ib. inhabitants, ib,,; 
 unhealthiness, 439. 
 
 TerriaguUy, pass of, i. 206. 
 
 Thakoors in carts drawn by oxen, 
 ii. 20. 
 
 Thibit, bishop of, i. 6Q. 
 
 Thief in the tent, i. 579. 
 
 Thomas St., Mount, ii. 216; Apos- 
 tle martyred there, ib. 
 
 Thomason, Mrs , i. 64. 
 
 Thornton, Mr. John, letters to, ii. 
 
 ' 241. 307. 
 
 Thread of caste, i. 45; of brahmins, 
 48. 14.^. 
 
 Thrush in Kemaoon, i. 419. 
 
 Tliugs described, i. 450. 
 
 Tic Polonga, ii. 202. 
 
 Tighree, i. 445; celebrated hunting 
 ground, 446. 
 
 TUlhier, village, i. 366. 
 
 Tingypoor, village, i. 194. 
 
 Tlperah, i. 150. 
 
 Tltybania, village, i. 125. 
 
 Titty-ghur house, i. 80. 
 
 Tobacco, i. 369. 
 
 Todd, Mr. David, Dacca, his con- 
 duct, ii. 270. 
 
 Todd, Capt. beloved by natives, ii. 
 34; at Kotah 35; at Bheehvara,Z7. 
 
 Toglikabad, ruins of, i. 475. 
 
 Tolly^s nullah, i. 57. 
 
 Toon tree, i. 127; dye from, 428, 
 426. ' 
 34 
 
400 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tooheyy in Salsetie, described, ii. 
 142. 
 
 Traill, Mr. George William, at 
 Almorah, serids his pony, i. 398; 
 meets the bishop, 413; loves and 
 is beloved by natives. 423, 447. 
 
 Tiavellinoj, manner of, ii. 291. 
 
 Tkimbuk-Jee, described, i. 270; 
 escape from Tannah, 485; ii. 145. 
 
 Travancore, accounts from, ii. 214. 
 
 Trout in ITemaoon, i. 399; at Ram- 
 ghur, 407. 
 
 Turquoises, ii. 169. 
 
 Tusseeldar drawn by bullocks, i. 
 484. 
 
 Tylepoor village, i. 442. 
 
 Tygers in Kemaoon, \ 380; pea- 
 santry fight them, 380; hunt, 390, 
 392, 393; at the Himalaya gla- 
 ciers, 420; tamed, 446; near 
 Luneewarra, ii. 61; kills a Bheel, 
 ib.; hunting, 97; abound, 107; one 
 crosses the path, 66. 
 
 Tynybania village, i. 133. 
 
 Tytler, Dr. Monghyr, i. 211. 
 
 U. 
 
 l/meer, excursion to, ii. 11; palace, 
 12. 
 
 Umeerghur, town, ii. 39; manufac- 
 ture, ib.; besieged, ib. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valley of Death, i. 396. 
 Vanrenen, General, Bareilly, i. 373. 
 Veangodde, -Ceylon, ii. 188. 201. 
 l^era, village, ii 142 
 Veddahss^ tribe in Ceylsti, ii. 195. 
 Vepery, church at, ii. 213. 
 Vidalaya, college, i. 261. 
 Vignetl^e described, ii. 258. 
 Vigilant, ketch, embarcation on, ii. 
 
 137. 
 Village described, i. 48; another, 
 
 49; round Calcutta, ii. 252. 
 Viragies, college of, i. 507. 
 Vishnu, incarnation of, i. 137; 
 
 temple, ii 218. 
 Vishvagesa, defilement of, i. 257; 
 
 sacred well, 258. 
 Visitation, ii. 318. 
 Vultures, i. 193. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wade, Captain, Lucknow, i. 464. 
 Walker, Major, Baroda, ii. 68; pro- 
 Cession of girls to thank him, ib. 
 
 Walbeoffe, Mr. Colombo^ sends 
 cinnamon peelers, ii. 179. 
 
 Wallich, Mr., his character, i. 73; 
 again, 80; ii. 243; again, 328. 
 
 Warakapole, station, ii. 191. 
 
 Ward, Rev. Mr., Baddagame, ii. 
 204; again, 322. 
 
 Warner, Mr. Edward Lee, Furreed- 
 poor, house and garden, i. 162; 
 Gaol calendar, 164; library, 162. 
 
 Wars, horrors of native, ii. 126. 
 
 Wasps, i. 276. 
 
 Watchmen to frighten birds, i. 193. 
 
 Water-pump, i 129; bad, supposed 
 to cause fever, 388; mill, 404. 
 
 Wells, mode of sinking, i. 497. 
 
 Weaving, i 437. 
 
 West, Sir Edward, ii. 170. 
 
 Wheat brought into Rohilcund, i 
 370. 
 
 Wicker-bound graves, ii. 354. 
 
 Wild dogs, i. 421. 
 
 Williams, Mr., Moradahad, i. 440, 
 
 Williams, Mr., Delhi, 458. 
 
 Williams, Mr. James, Baroda^ 
 meets the bishop, ii. 96; intro- 
 duces native officers, 97; kind- 
 ness, 106; accompanies the bi- 
 shop out of Baroda, ib.; his hur- 
 karu, 85. 
 
 Williams, Miss, ii. 98. 
 
 Williamson, Mr. Thomas, Kaira?t, 
 meets the bishop, ii. 108; account 
 of the Bheels, 109. 
 
 Willow from Buonaparte's grave. 
 ii. 152. 
 
 Wilmot, Mr., Colombo, ii. 188. 
 
 Wilson, Mrs. i. 71; again, ii. 235. 
 
 Woman bathing, i. 214. 
 
 Women of short stature, ii. 64. 
 
 Wuerh, town, i. 504; suburbs, ib.: 
 city, 506. 
 
 Wynn, Right, Hon. Charles W. 
 Williams, Dedication, preface,, 
 iii. letters to, ii. 223. 228. 256 
 260. 285. 848. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yak, or Thibet cow, i. 415. 420. 
 
 Yogi, imitation of by Dandee, i. 13T; 
 tames a tyger, 445; hermitage, 
 448; at Umeer, ii. 12; another, 
 125. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zalim Singh, character ii. 32; offer 
 
 to Colonel Monson, ib. 
 Zemindars, i. 89; visit of one, i. 304 
 Zemindarries, ii. 252, 
 
GLOSSARY. 
 
 ABDAR, water cooler. 
 
 Acbar, native newspaper. 
 
 Adigar, minister. 
 
 Admee, man. 
 
 Ap, your honour. 
 
 Avatar, incarnation. 
 
 Aumeen, collector of revenue. 
 
 Aya, maid, or nurse. 
 
 Baboo, Hindoo title, answering to 
 our esquire. 
 
 Bandy, gig or cart. 
 
 Bangle, bracelet. 
 
 Begah, land measure, diflfering all 
 over India. 
 
 Begum, princess. 
 
 Belathee, foreign. 
 
 Bhat, bard. 
 
 Bheestie, water carrier. 
 
 Bholiah, row-boat, covered over at 
 one end. 
 
 Boolee, large well. 
 
 Boosa, camel's food. 
 
 Brinjarries, carriers of grain. 
 
 Bucher, young one. 
 
 Budgerow, large cabined boat. 
 
 Buksbish, present. 
 
 Bullum, spear. 
 
 Burkandaz, inferior police officer. 
 
 Burra, great. 
 
 Bundur, harbour. 
 
 Bungalow, a cottage, made of bam- 
 boo and mats with very project- 
 ing thatched roof. 
 
 Bunyan, trader. 
 
 Cazi, Mussulman judge. 
 
 Caranchie, native carriage. 
 
 Charun, bard. 
 
 Chattah, umbrella. 
 
 Chopdar, bearer of silver mace. 
 
 Chokey. chair, gaol, or toll-house. 
 
 Chokeydar, watchman. 
 
 Chopper, thatched roof. 
 
 Chota, little. 
 
 Choultry, Hindoo name for a resting 
 place for travellers. 
 
 Chudda, sheet, or veil. 
 
 Chumar, leather-dresser. 
 
 Chunam, lime. 
 
 Chuprassie, police guard. 
 
 Chowry, whisk, for driving off flies. 
 
 Clashee, tent-pitcher or manager of 
 sails. 
 
 Cofilah, caravan. 
 
 Coir, coco-nut fibre. 
 
 Colly, creek. 
 
 Coolie, porter. 
 
 Coomer, crocodile. 
 
 Coss, about two miles. 
 
 Cummerbund, sash. 
 
 Culwal, magistrate. 
 
 Dak, post. 
 
 Dandee, boatment. 
 
 Daroga, superintendent. 
 
 Decoit, river pirate. 
 
 Dewan, a prime minister, and soDie- 
 times an agent. 
 
 Dewul, temple, 
 
 Dhoolie, litter. 
 
 Dhurna, mourning. 
 
 Dooab, a tract of country betweer^ 
 two rivers. 
 
 Duffuldar, officer. 
 
 Dustoor, custom. 
 
 Durbar, a court where a levee is 
 held. 
 
 Durwan, gate keeper. 
 
 Fakir, religious mendicant. 
 
 Ferinjee, European. 
 
 Firman, royal order. 
 
 Foujdar, commander. 
 
 Gaowala, cow-man. 
 
 Ghat, in the east, a landing place; 
 in the west and south, a pass of 
 a mountain, or a range of moun- 
 tains. 
 
 Ghee, rancid butter. 
 
 Ghureele purndar, poor man's pro- 
 vider. 
 
 Gool, small channel. 
 
 Goomashta, agent or master. 
 
 Gossain, Hindoo hermit. 
 
 Gram, a kind of vetch. 
 
 Guicwar, sovereign. 
 
 Hackery, native cart.. 
 
 Hagie, saint. 
 
 Hamaul, bearer. 
 
 Hanjar, Persian scymitar. 
 
 Havildar, officer in the army. 
 
 Hooka, pipe. 
 
 Hat'hee, elephant. 
 
 Koolee, a famous Hindoo festival to- 
 commemorate the beginning of a. 
 new yeer ; it is held in the vernal 
 equinox. 
 
 Hovvdah, seat on an elephant. 
 
 Hurkiiru. messenger. 
 
 Hurrumzadu, rascal. 
 
 Muz'ior, your presence. 
 
 JaL;hire, estate assigned by Goveru- 
 ment. 
 
 Jugliiredar, person holding a jaghire. 
 
 .leel, swamp, or ytiallow lake. 
 
 Jeinautdar. officer in the army, head 
 man oT a village, or house servant. 
 
 Jin, saddle. 
 
402 
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 Juldee, quick. 
 
 Jungle, thicket. 
 
 Kalean, Persian pipe. 
 
 Kamdar, governor. 
 
 Kayt, writer. 
 
 Khansaman, steward. 
 
 Khelat, honorary dress. 
 
 Khitinutgar, footman. 
 
 Kibla, the pniut where Mussulmans 
 
 turn to pruy. 
 Killedar. governor of a fort. 
 Kincob, brocade. 
 Lac, one hundred thousand. 
 Lebada, cloak. 
 Log, people. 
 Lugana, to make fast. 
 Lungoor, baboon. 
 MaUk, master. 
 Maharaja, great king. 
 Manjee, steersman. 
 Marabout, holy man. 
 Meidan, plani. 
 Messaia, mess. 
 Mobarak, lucky. 
 Mohout, elephant-driver. 
 Mohur, a gold coin worth sixteen 
 
 rupees in Bengal. 
 Meodelier, naiive magistrate, 
 Moonshee, teacher. 
 
 Moonee, inspired [jerson. 
 
 Moullah Mahometan priest. 
 
 Muktar, chamberlain or prime-minis- 
 ter. 
 
 Musnud, throne. 
 
 Mussaul, torcli. 
 
 Mussaulchie, torch-bearer. 
 
 ]Mut, obelisk. 
 
 Alutwala, dnmkard. 
 
 Naick, corpiiral. 
 
 Nacoda, captain of a vessel. 
 
 J^agari, great keltle-drutn. 
 
 Nullah, brook, or small branch of a 
 river. 
 
 Nuddee, streamlet. 
 
 Nuzzur, offering. 
 
 Paddy, rice iu the husk. 
 
 Pagoda, Hindoo place of worship. 
 
 Palkee, palanqaeen. 
 
 Panchway, passage-boat. 
 
 Pawn, the imi ofthc areca palm lime, 
 and spice, wrapped in a betel leaf, 
 and chewed by the natives. 
 
 PeetH, siring. 
 
 Peishwa, suvereign. 
 
 Perguiuiah, the largest division of 
 land in a zeinindaiy. 
 
 Peon, messenger. 
 
 Petarrah, wicker basket. 
 
 Ptttah, naiive town near a fort. 
 I'ice, copper coin. 
 
 Potall head man of a Tilla^Ci 
 
 Pooja, worship. 
 
 Poor, town. 
 
 Pucca, brick. 
 
 Pulwar, large boat. 
 
 Punchaet,jury of five men. 
 
 Put»ka, large wooden board suspen- 
 ded from the ceiling, and waved to 
 and fi'o by ropes : also a fan. 
 
 Puranas, Indian mythological poems. 
 
 Purwannu, Government order. 
 
 Rais, master of a vessel. 
 
 Ranne, Hindoo princess. 
 
 Routee, small tent. 
 
 Rnksut, dismissal. 
 
 Rutt, car. 
 
 Ryut, peasant. 
 
 Sahib, lord. 
 
 Saees, groom. 
 
 Sarbann, camel-driver. 
 
 Seer, weight of about two poimds. 
 
 Sherabdar, butler. 
 
 Serai, Mussulman place of rest for 
 
 travellers. 
 Seraiig, master of a vessel. 
 Singh, lion. 
 
 Sircar, governor, also a head servant. 
 Sitringee, tent carpet. 
 Sirdar, head man or minister. 
 Soodra, a Hindoo caste, composed 
 of cultivators, mechanics, and ar- 
 tisans. 
 Sotaburdar, bearer of the silver- 
 stick. 
 Sudder Adawlat, court of justice. 
 Sudder Dewannee, court of justice, 
 
 Suwarree, retinue. 
 
 Suvvarrs, horse-soldiers. 
 
 Soubahdar, officer of the highest 
 rank in the army. 
 
 Tank, artificial pond. 
 
 Tanna, police-officer. 
 
 Tattee, mat made of cuscos-grass 
 
 Tattoo, pony. 
 
 Thakoor, lord or baron. 
 
 Thannadar, officer. 
 
 Tindal, tent-pitcher. 
 
 Tope, clump of trees. 
 
 Ton ion, chair with a head, 
 
 Tu^seldar, tacksman. 
 
 Vakel, envoy. 
 
 Vedas, Hindoo Scriptures. 
 
 Veddahs, hunters, 
 
 Viragies, religious mendicants. 
 
 Yogi, religious mendicant. 
 
 Zemindar, holder of a Zemindarry. 
 
 Zemindarry, province. 
 
DS412.H44V.2 
 
 Narrative of a journey through the upper 
 
 "^1012 00023 2225