The Rifle in Cashmere: a narrative of shooting expeditions in Ladak, Cashmere, Punjaub, etc.; with advice on travelling, shooting, and stalking; to which are added notes on army reform and Indian politics ... With two illustrations

Preface

The best apology I can make for venturing on the domain of authorship is a belief that in the course of my sporting adventures I acquired practical experience which may be useful to my fellow-country men seeking sport in Cashmere. I make no pretence whatever to literary style ; laying down the rifle to take up the pen is to me so great a change, that if my book " misses fire," I shall be as little surprised as at my failures in the field on my first day " out." I must beg literary critics to bear in mind that the book is written by a sportsman for the perusal of actual or intending sportsmen, and that hints and notes which may seem excessively technical and detailed may be of real use on the Hills. Having served in the army for five years, and

PREFACE.

. VI always as a civilian taken a lively interest in that great national force, I have jotted down very roughly — but in good faith — some thoughts on Army Reform ; and if they provoke searching criticism, or set some able writer thinking on these points, I shall have served my purpose. I do not affect to speak ex cathedrd, nor does my five years' service give me any great advantage over civilian writers ; but as all classes now discuss military topics, I offer my little contribution on the subject in the hope it may prove useful. 40, Berkeley Square, May, 1862. CONTENTS. PAET I. Chapter I. PACE Join at Windsor— Gibraltar— Shooting there— Bull-fights— Officers' Guards — Home again — Nenagh — Curragh Camp — Military Camps — Dublin — Ordered to India — The Austria — Captain Hetman — Overland — The Regiment turns Cavalry — Land at Kurrachee . . .1 Chapter II.

Up the Indus — Mean Meer — Indian Hospitality — First Shot and Miss — Rawul Pindee — Captain Colby — Nowshera — Suicide in a hurry — Hindustani — Khagan — Driving Ibex — Snipe Shooting — Parsees — Tent Pegs — Khagan again — The Syads — Flukes at Game — Bear Shooting— Charged — Staring Match with Bruin — Vent Holes — Return to Peshawur . . . . . . .8 Chapter III. Thirteen Bullets to kill a Bear — Ravine Deer Shooting — Nowshera — Holloway's Ointment — Chuplees, and how to wear them — Ouriar — Mumarras — Attock — My last Guard — Lady Canning — Indus Tunnel — Shooting in the Punjaub, &c. — I sell out . . . . . CONTENTS. PAGE 35 :,4 7G P A E T II. Chapter I. Hill and Plain Shooting — Sport in Cashmere — Cashmere Servants — Cashmere Shikaree — Snake spoils a Stalk — Start for Ladak — A Bobbery Bear — Puljaur, a Ladak Shikaree — A Deity in my Bedroom — Old "Woman and Burrel — Chang Chenmoo — Rarified Air — Wild Yak — Antelope — Horses — Malik begins to Cheat — Ovis Ammon Shooting — Malik cheats again — Bad news — Shooting like Ostriches .......

Chapter II. Malik tried and sentenced — Supplies, and how to get them — Shikaree murdered — Shooting when standing up — A Bear with an Ear for Music — Wild Dogs — Going to skin a Bear alive — Rifles always ready — Truth and pain — Lose a Bear — Kill a Bear while at Breakfast — Bears, and all about them : Size, Habits, Anecdotes, &c. &c. Chapter III. Bolt from a Bear — Excited Shikarees — Going to " hal lal " — Love while in pain — Sultan Shikaree — Shikarees — First Ibex and Markhoor — Return to Nowshera . . ' . Chapter IV. Cashmere— Shooting in the Winter— Burra Singh — Game not so knowing in the Spring— Misses, and how to avoid them— Snakes in the Breakfast Dishes — Catching young Bears Large Bear— Markhoor Shooting— Scarcity of Game this CONTENTS. IX PAGE Season — Markhoor come to my Luncheon — Sold by Sepoys — Natives and Patience — Loose Bullets — Enfield Rifle — Game at a Distance — Fleas — After Ibex — Shooting — A Stupid Stag — Bears, Stags, Ibex, &c. — Catch an Ibex by the Tail — Stupid Mistake — Doe comes to Lunch — Blunt Knife costs me a Stag's Head . . . .82 Chapter V. Accused of Murder — Burra Singh Shooting — Vultures — Ferocious Bear — Tenacity of Life in a Bear — Large She-bear — Cholera at Mean Meer — Man wounded by a black Bear — Farewell to Shooting . . . .100 Chapter VI.

Cashmere — Description of the Country— Climate, &c. — Sport and Sportsmen . . . . . .112 Chapter VII, HINTS TO SPORTSMEN LN CASHMERE. Remarks on Sporting Fire-arms — Coolies — Supplies — Tents — What to Drink, &c. — Dress — Medicines — Grass Shoes — Hunting-pole — Markhoor Shooting — Tricks of Kardars — Ibex Shooting — Lazy Plans to kill them — Burra Singh Shooting — Shikarees — Ovis Ammon Shooting — Spectacles — Telescopes — Shikarees and Servants — Stalking Game — Walking on Mountains — Shooting and Stalking — Shikarees 133 Chapter VIII. Remarks on the Choice and Use of Rifles for Killing Game in the Himalayas ...... X CONTENTS. P A E T III. Chapter I. ON ARMY REFORM. PAGE Promotion Systems considered — Education of Officers — Colonels — Married Officers — Captains — Subalterns — Non-commissioned Officers — Soldiers — Reorganization — Slight Sketch of a Plan of Reform in the Army — Recruiting — Pay — Discipline, &c. . 197 Chapter II.

INDIA AND THE ENGLISH. The Mutiny — Bengal European Force — Native Veracity — Native Servants— India for the English . . . 223 DIRECTIONS TO BINDER. Group of many kinds of Horns .... Frontispiece. Group of three kinds To face page

Chapter I

Join at Windsor — Gibraltar — Shooting there — Bull-fights — Officers' Guards — Home again — Nenagh — Curragh Camp — Military Camps — Dublin — Ordered to India — The Austria — Captain Hetman — Overland — The Regiment turns Cavalry — Land at Kurrachee. I joined my gallant regiment at Windsor in July, 1855 ; and, like all the young men of that period, my head was full of fire, forlorn hopes, standards, and fortresses. Joining a regiment is a simple matter. I walked to the barracks, and asked the sentry at the gate to tell me where to find the adjutant. He replied that he might be something or other'd if he knew. So, passing on, I met a corporal, who showed me the way to the orderly room. I found two officers, who gave me a hearty LN CASHMERE. welcome. I was soon at home with my future companions of the sword, and next day began learning the goose-step in the Long Walk.

Nothing particular occurred during our stay at Windsor, and in September we were ordered to Gibraltar. We embarked in the Perseverance, and arrived, after a week's voyage. After seeing the men into barracks, we all rushed off to the hotel for breakfast, where the army of flies, the melted oil called butter, and the ophthalmia of the waiter, made the change of climate perceptible to more senses than one. For the first few days, all the Jews who had furniture to sell were continually dogging us, like detectives. Gibraltar has been described so often that I shall not attempt it, but only indicate briefly how we» passed the time. A pack of foxhounds is kept, but the foxes are not often caught — I believe, generally getting to earth. Those who are fond of shooting ride out to the Two Rivers. At the time I was at " Gib " (as it is invariably called), it was thought good luck to kill a dozen snipe, two hares, and a few quail or duck, in a day's shooting.

I recollect that a large party went battue-shooting for ten days, near Algeciras ; they killed one vulture, and re turned! I went with a friend, for ten days, to a large lake, about thirty miles from Gibraltar, but LIFE AT GIBRALTAR. 3 the rain poured down incessantly, and spoiled our sport; but, in good weather, any number of snipe might be killed there ; woodcock are also to be found. I was indebted for what shooting I got in Spain to a saddler named Montegriffo, whose infor mation is always at the service of sportsmen starting from Gibraltar. I would recommend any one shooting in Spain to carry a revolver concealed under the clothes. An English gentleman was killed near Algeciras, when riding with his sister on the sands near that town, and the murderer was executed while we were at Gibraltar.

Bull-fights take place occasionally at Algeciras or St. Roque. I went to see one at the former place. It was announced in the placards that the renowned Domenichino Salamandino was to appear. Excepting that he laid hold of the bull's tail when it was looking the other way, he did not perform any astonishing feat. From Gibraltar we expected to go to the Crimea ; but, in lieu thereof, we gave several hundred volunteers to help another regiment going there. (Small thanks we got for it ; not even a captaincy to either of our lieutenants, of whom the three senior had seen service twelve years.) The Chersonese brought us home from Gibraltar, after a very slow passage. To 1--2 THE RLFLE IN CASHMERE. use mild language, the engines were not powerful. We might as well have had an " auxiliary " tooth brush as the screw.

If the wind was with us, we sailed too fast for the screw ; if against us, that well meaning but weak piece of mechanism was not strong enough to propel the ship. We were nearly double the usual time performing the passage. (Soon after we landed in Ireland we saw the ship advertised as " that splendid, powerful," &c. &c.) During the voyage we touched at Lisbon, and went to a grand fete there in the evening. We saw the young King and the Regent — a very tall man, in a tail coat, who seemed to have a great idea of his own importance, and took all the salutes and bows to himself. We landed at Cork, stopped there a few days, and then left for Nenagh. It was shortly after the mutiny of the Tipperary Militia. The row was stopped, I believe, by Colonel Hart, who marched in " looking army lists " at the delinquents.

Nenagh is one of the best of the small stations in Ireland. There is good fishing near here : the trout are not near so shy as those of the Thames, and can be caught with very coarse tackle. From Nenagh we went to the Curragh Camp. I cannot really admit that those great camps are worth the money they cost us. Few officers, except CURRAGH CAMP. the generals and brigadiers, learn anything ; and the commanders of the camps, generally old men, are very unlikely to have a command in a war. "Camps of instruction " sound very well, and are well-meant affairs ; but it would be much better to form a tent camp, as on service, for three months in the year, and build a few wooden houses for lecture-rooms. At present, an officer with his company at a field-day seldom has the slightest idea of what is going on.

All the field-officers ought to have the brigades in turn, and they would thus have an opportunity of learning how to handle troops. A camp for three months, with additional pay for the time, would make the plan popular. Rifle matches and athletic sports would give a little excitement to camp life. At present, nothing is thought of but practising elaborate manœuvres. From the Curragh we went to Dublin, the best quarter in Ireland. But to enjoy the place thoroughly one requires rather liberal pocket-money, besides one's pay. In October, 1857, we sailed from Queenstown in the unfortunate Austria. This vessel was the most unlucky ever built. The good folk of Queenstown cheered us out of harbour, but their good wishes were of no avail ; for after we had gone about seven days on our way, we were caught in a terrific storm, and were so disabled that we had return to Plymouth.

The Austria, in a subsequent voyage, was destroyed by fire. Poor Captain Hetman came in for all the blame. One of the survivors said that he rushed on deck, crying out, " We are lost ; " in fact, cowardice or want of head was imputed to this gentleman ; but those who saw his behaviour that fearful night, when he had the 94th on board, will never believe it. Very likely when he saw the passengers in a panic, and the women fainting and screaming, he may have thought or said the ship was lost ; — and if he fell overboard, it was in all probability by accident. There can be no doubt that if there had been a regiment on board when the fire broke out, the Austria would not have been destroyed. Any one who doubts, ought to read about the Sarah Sands. I do not mean that troops are braver than passengers, but they do what they are told.

In a passenger-ship every one looks after himself or his wife. We remained at Plymouth some time, and then sailed ;■ but had only got about 700 miles, when the engines broke, so we had to return again. We were now ordered to go overland, and set OVERLAND TO KURRACHEE. sail in the Abeona. We (the officers) were much crowded ; and when the general came on board, we showed him the berths. He only said, "Hum, ha, very nice;" quite forgetting we were nine in one cabin ! From Alexandria we went by rail to within thirty miles of Suez. Donkeys were obtained, and I suppose we were one of the first regiments ever mounted on that animal. We were told to mount our men " by sections." We landed at Kurrachee January 14th, 1858.

Chapter II

Up the Indus — Mean Meer — Indian Hospitality — First Shot and Miss — Rawul Pindee — Captain Colby — Nuwshera — Suicide in a hurry — Hindustani — Khagan — Driving Ibex — Snipe Shooting — Parsees — Tent Pegs — Khagan again — The Syads — Flukes at Game — Bear Shooting — Charged — Staring Match with Bruin — Vent Holes — Return to Peshawur. After seeing the men into barracks, we all went in search of lodgings. Some one proposed " the dawk bungalow." Not knowing at the time what a dawk bungalow was, I declined going there, as it sounded so like a Spanish inn and assassinations ; I went to the hotel instead. Near Kurrachee there are plenty of quail and duck, and a few ravine deer ; and I also heard of good shooting at Hub Nuddee, but had no time to try. From here we were sent to Moultan, en route to Rawul Pindee.

Hardly any of us had got any native servants, and at that time they were difficult to get at Kurrachee. Just as we started, a friend sent me a fellow named Lul Khan, but said he would not come under sixteen rupees a month. I took him on condition that he PUNJAUB. 9 did both bearer and kitmughur's work. Sixteen rupees is too much to give a native servant ; how ever, this man remained with me two years, and I dare say did not cheat me more than others. Ducks, hares, and partridges, were plentiful on our route till we got to Kotree. It is slow work up the Indus to Moultan ; the river being very strong and shallow, every now and then the steamer sticks in the sand. Chess was our chief amusement ; but just when you thought you had got your opponent in a fix, the steamer would give a bump and upset the board.

At Moultan I looked at my battery; the cases were all warped, having been placed near the engine fires. From here we went by bullock train to Lahore. I and another started with five men; our cart was five feet eight, and my com panion six feet one ! Black partridges, deer, and pig, seemed to abound all along our road. The cantonment of Mean Meer is a hot, dusty station, and is noted for the ravages made by cholera. It is said that many years ago the dead bodies of natives who had died from that disease might be counted here by hundreds. When the station was being made, the authorities were told, by the old soldiers of Runjeet Singh, that they were building our soldiers' graves; and the words proved true, as the crowded graveyard here plainly testifies. Here we all got horses and tents— the former very dear and bad.

When the regiment marched, I was left behind to bring on the baggage. Many of the camels ran away, and I did not get off till noon. I first tasted Indian hospitality on this day — a com missariat sergeant asking me in to an excellent breakfast. I do not think one meets with so much good-fellowship anywhere as in India. If a stranger is passing through a station, some resident is sure to get hold of him, give him " a tub " and a dinner, and send him on to a friend at the next station. I found this everywhere in India, whether on leave or on duty. At a place called Kurrian, near Jhelum, I fired my first rifle shot at game in India. I heard that ravine deer were to be found, and though it was intensely hot, I went after them. I got within thirty yards of one in the evening, missed " like a man," and returned to my camp quite unhappy.

I dare say Rawul Pindee is an average specimen of an Indian station. It has a church, a racket-court, a race-course, and a coffee-shop. If you want to keep in good health in India, play rackets ; but they don't play " rubbers " here, and you have to retire after each game, which is unsatisfactory work. SHOOTING NEAR PINDEE. 11 From here I went after a tiger, for the first and last time. The commissioner told us a tiger had killed a bullock about ten miles from the station; so off we went to the village. As we came with purwannahs, the people thought they must do something for us, so they lugged us up a great hill. We soon saw they were deceiving us ; no tiger appeared, and we returned to Pindee as wise as we came. There is a good snipe jheel near Pindee, and plenty of quail. There are also a few ravine deer.

Gooral are to be found on the adjacent hills, but not very numerous. Tigers are to be found here, but they are not numerous ; the ground is also rather difficult, and they wander about more than they do down country — at least, so I was told. It was near Pindee that Captain Colby, 98th, was killed by a tiger. I believe he thought that the tiger was dead, and approached it too soon after it was shot. He was celebrated as a rifle shot; and, if report speaks true, he would astonish the folks at Wimbledon were he alive now. Our regiment was very strong in officers when we arrived at Pindee, so bungalow rents were raised. I and another paid sixty rupees a month for a hovel not worth twenty rupees at another station. We lost a good many men here from fever. We remained here nine months, and then marched for Peshawur.

Our left wing halted at Nowshera, and on one fine morning the Cabul river overflowed its banks and washed away the whole station except the barracks. Nowshera is about the most useless, dreary, hot, disagreeable station in India. The morning of the flood a baboo, who had been defraud ing Government for some time, got in a fright that he would be found out, so he cut his throat. An hour afterwards the flood washed away all proofs of his defalcations. Peshawur is a very nice station for several months in the year. I dare say I should have thought it much nicer if the old general who commanded while we were there had not harassed the troops quite so much with continual field-days. About this time, numbers took to learning; Hin dustani, on account of the order just then published. The vernacular ought to be known by every officer in the country.

It is not only most useful, but often absolutely necessary, especially to a sportsman ; for it is only by constant inquiry that you can obtain any accurate information about game. Once, in Khagan, I was returning to my tent after a hard day's work, when I heard one of the shikarees say to the other in Hindustani, " I see a bear." The other man replied, "Never mind; the sahib is tired; so NATIVE SPORTSMEN. 13 am I. Keep silent, and let us get home." I returned and killed the bear — the largest I shot during that trip — thanks to knowing a little Hindustani. After stopping a short time here, I went on six weeks' leave to Khagan with a friend. Few Europeans had gone up there before, and we heard wonderful accounts of the game to be got there. The commissioner of Huzara gave us every infor mation, and sent a guard with us : this was in December.

We went up Khagan, but soon returned, having got no sport. One day we saw a battue after ibex, conducted by the Khagan chiefs. They surrounded a hill with their retainers, and drove a flock of ibex. They only killed one, a fine male. All the sepoys fired into the flock. A bullet happened to lame one. About fifty more shots were fired at him, and he received two more balls. Then he fell down a ravine, where the dogs were let loose at him, and the noble brute was finally killed by a blow from the blunt end of a hatchet. I went home, feeling as if I had just witnessed a murder. A battue for pheasants is bad enough, but driving ibex is like sacrilege. Returning to Peshawur, we passed through the Puckli Valley, a once-noted place for black par tridges, now nearly all gone. The Punjaub is about the hottest part of India for some months; but then you get much cooler weather in the winter than in other places.

Like most places in the Punjaub, Peshawur is blessed with quantities of sand-flies and white ants. There is little shooting here, except snipe. The best jheel I shot over was near the Cabul river, about nine miles from barracks. For snipe-shooting it is best to send a tent to your jheel, and ride out early, and arrive there about an hour after sunrise. Shoot till eleven, and eat snipe till three, and then shoot till dark. It is best to wear neutral tint spectacles on a sunny day, but you should buy them yourself in London. They should be barely darker than the daylight. They do not interfere with your shooting in the least, as, when firing a gun, the eye looks over the glass. In the summer of 1859 I got two months' leave, and started for Khagan again. I got all my supplies from Cowasjee, a pleasant old Parsee at Peshawur.

Parsees generally have at hand anything you require; but their prices are excessively high, and they charge the same price for articles they have had for years in their shops as they do for articles fresh from England. I recollect paying two rupees for a bottle of essence of ginger, though the label on KHAGAN CHIEFS. 15 the bottle contained a portrait of King William IV. I was unable to obtain any good rifle powder. The coarse powder is bought up before it gets to Peshawur ; but for hill shooting fine powder is good enough. I bought for eight rupees a second-hand tent, which lasted me three years — one of the best bargains I ever made. Iron pegs ought always to be used on a shooting trip ; wooden ones are not worth carrying, especially on rocky ground, where they soon split up. The iron pegs will last for ever.

They should be made with a ring through the top, and constantly counted ; or they will be stolen, especially on the hills, where iron is much valued. My friend the commissioner of Huzara was just now being relieved by a successor as hospitable as himself. He gave me a guard, and I got to Khagan about May 1st. The three chief syads were — Univer Shah, a tall man, like an ogre, with an awful voice ; Mergui Shah, afflicted with a great goitre; and Zamin Shah, who dyed his beard a different colour every day, and had murdered his brother to get his property. The syads gave me two men to show me game — Jemalli and Elam. I waited some days till a Mahomedan festival was over, and then started to commence my first hunt after game on the hills. Ibex, bears (brown and black), and musk deer, are the game to be found in Khagan.

The ibex are rather difficult to be got here, and your sport depends entirely on the quantity of snow that may fall. May is the best month for ibex in Cashmere ; but for Khagan, June is better, the mountains here being higher, and the country generally more difficult to hunt over. Supplies are not easily obtained here, and the syads do not like showing sport, as they have no desire to encourage visitors or travellers coming there. They all assured me that there was too much snow on the hills, and that it would be impossible to get to the nearest ibex ground till some of the snow had melted. I tried to find a way for myself, but did not succeed, and so resolved to go after bears instead. I got my first shot at a bear on the 6th. We went up a hill, and just when we got to the top of it, my shikarees displaced a large piece of snow, in avoiding which I got into such an awkward position that I could not move in any direction.

They let down their pugarees, and pulled me up. The wind changed, and the bear ran; however, I made "a fluke," and hit him running, a long way off. We then tracked him after several hours, over snow, to a cave. We returned next morning and found him dead. (If a bear takes to a cave, leave him there, CHARGED BY BRULN. 17 and return next day and put dogs in. It is only foolhardy to go in yourself.) My next shot on the 13th was also a piece of pure luck. A musk deer jumped up and bounded down the snow. I killed it with a snap shot — two trees were almost in a line between me and the deer, and about three inches apart as I stood. Soovee, the man who was carrying my spare rifle, literally stared at me open-mouthed; but I think I astonished myself the most. Musk deer are not worth shooting, unless you are a professional, and send the pods to be sold.

On the 10th, I killed a bear ; and in firing at him was obliged to stand on the toe of my left leg ! Jemalli holding up my right, and, with my left arm round a piece of rock, the fingers just supporting the rifle. The bear was lying asleep, and there was no other way to get a clear view of his body. On the 20th, I had a narrow escape: I shot at a bear asleep on a ledge of rock, and hit him in the neck ; the next barrel missed him, and he charged full tilt. I turned for my spare rifle, and found Jemalli clubbing it over his head, and im ploring me to get behind him. I just had time to wrench it out of his hand and fire into the bear, now almost at my feet. The bear swerved, and fell over the rocks. It was a small bear, and very old. I had no idea that the ledge of the rock did not run round : of course, Bruin was not going to sit still and be shot at.

Next day I came on a bear lying asleep. I had my fourteen-bore rifle in my hand, the locks of which were out of order. I fired, and both the barrels exploded together, missing the bear. He got up and came a few steps towards me, and was now not five yards off. Jemalli, who was so plucky yesterday, ran off, leaving me to face Bruin with an empty rifle. The bear stood winking at me, and cocking his head on one side. I stood still, hoping to jump aside if he charged, and staring him full in the face. How it would have ended I know not; but luckily Jemalli, in his panic, fell down a ditch, and managed to explode my other rifle. The bear turned round at the report and went slowly off. One day I fired at a bear near this place, about thirty yards off. The rifle I fired was lent me by a friend. Previously, I had always used my own, but I thought I would try his for a change.