Chow-Chow; being selections from a journal kept in India, Egypt, and Syria

Front matter

G H 0 W-G HOW. .Al. CHOW-CHOW; BEING SELECTIONS FROM A JOURNAL KEPT IN INDIA, EGYPT, AND SYRIA. BT THE VISCOUNTESS FALKLAND. " And in his brain ———he hath strange places cramm'd With observation, the -which he vents In mangled forms." — As Ton Like It. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: HUEST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, IS, GREAT MARLB0R0U GH STREET. 1857. [The right of Translation of this Work is reterved,] CHAKLES BBVAN AITO SOS, PRINTERS, CHAPEL STREET, OUOSVKNOR SaUABE.

Preface

. It is necessary to say a few words in explanation of the title of this book. The Pedlers ' in India (there called Bohras) carry their wares from village to village in boxes and baskets ; among the latter, there is always one called the Chow-Chow basket, in which there is every variety of merchandize. The word Chow-Chow means "Odds and Ends," and in offering my Chow-Chow basket to the public, I venture to hope that something, however trifling, may be found in it, suited to the taste of everyone. 1 The word throughout this work should be spelt ' Pedl_r.' CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Chapter I

Morning Eeception — Contrast between Small-talk in India and North America — Drive in the Native Town of Bombay — Variety of People in Bazaar — Shops — Flying Foxes — Esplanade — Jains at Bombay — Byculla Church — Punkas — Small Seats — Lady in a Difficulty — Toddy Palms — ' Griffins ' — Hot Nights in Bombay in May — • Launch of a Ship — Byculla School — Matrimonial Arrangement for Girls — Yearly Examination of Children — Ruse Defeated — Amusing Incident ... 1 — 27 CHAPTER n. Bombay — Air not Cooler — Temporary Bungalows — ' Pucka ' Bungalows — Scene from Verandah — Table Servants — Meeting with a Priest — Hindoo Religion — Sacred Trees and Objects of Adoration — Numerous Festivals in India 28—45

Chapter III

The Fort of Bombay — Town-Hall — Jamsetjee Hospital — Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy — Elphinstone College — Few Public Amusements — Races — Malabar Hill — Snake- Charmers — Dust Storm — Burning the Dead — The Ranee's Funeral — Funeral of the Raja of Sattara 46 —

Chapter IV

Bombay — Malabar Hill — Temples of Silence — Parsee Mode of Burial — The Parsees — Zoroaster — Darius' Horse — Religion of the Parsees — Dress — Walkeshwur — Legend —Salsette 78—89

Chapter V

Bombay — The Cold Season — The East Wind — Balls, Dinners, Etiquette — Arrival of Young Ladies — ' Three Hundred a Year, Dead or Alive' — The Harbour — Beautiful Scenery — Evening Drives — Conversation — Mahim Woods — Village of Mahim — Toddy Drawers — Matoonga — Guinea Worm — The Return Home from the Drive 90—108

Chapter VI

Bombay — The Cave of Elephanta — Moonlight Nights in India — Gorahbunder — Bassein — Hooli Fete — The Deewali 109—131

Chapter VII

Leave Bombay for the Hills — Account of Palkee Bearers — Mahabaleshwur — Delightful Climate — Syhadree Hills — Legend — Wild Animals — Snakes — Sunsets — Views — Wild Scenery — Number of Attendants on Children 132—153 CHAPTER VHL The Hills — The Gowlees — The Village and Temples of Mahabaleshwur — Legend — Pertabguhr — Widows of the Late Raja of Sattara — Their Visit to the Governor — Visits to the Widows and a Brahmin Lady — Dinner Sent by Her — Mohurrum 154 — 182

Chapter IX

Leave the Hills for the Deccan — Heavy Rains — Journey to Waee — Beautiful Scenery — Travellers' Bungalows — Sight-Seeing at Waee — Legends — Dom — Visit to the Widow of Nana Furnawees — Legend — Enormous Banyan Tree — Monkeys — Visit to Rastia ... 183 — CONTENTS. IX

Chapter X

The Deccan — Rainy Season — The Peishwa — Dapoorie — ■ Major Ford — Garden at Dapoorie — Snakes — White Ants — Insects — Tameness of Birds and Squirrels — Ball at Dapoorie — Emirs of Scinde — Blister Flies — Durbar 214—234

Chapter XI

The Deccan — The Deccan Plains before and after the Rains — Villages— Stories — Pilgrimage to Sacred Places — Legend — Beautiful Sunsets in the Rainy Season 235—250

Chapter XIII

The Deccan — Kirkee — the Sungum — View — Gosaeens — Suttee — Sacred Trees — City of Poona — Jain Temple — Garden of Diamonds — Temples of Parbuttee — Ceremony of Datchma — Dinners in the Open Air — Bamboora — Hindoo Festivals 264—291

Chapter XIV

The Deccan — Chinchore — The Living God — His Origin — Visited by Lord Valentia — Account of the God by a European Gentleman — Chakun — Hindoo Village early in the Morning — Luxuriant Vegetation after the Rains — The Fort of Chakun — Fort of Singhur — Tolapoor — Story of Aurungzebe and the Ferryman — Story of Grain Dealer — Native Ferry Boats — Guneskondy — Dance of Crishna and his Wife — Candallah — The Dussera 292—310 CHOW-CHOW

Chapter I. Morning Reception Contrast Between Small-talk In India And North America

DRIVE IN THE NATIVE TOWN OF BOMBAY VARIETY OF PEOPLE IN BAZAAR SHOPS FLYING FOXES ESPLANADE JAINS AT BOMBAY BYCULLA CHURCH PUNKAS SMALL SEATS LAfiY IN A DIFFICULTY TODDY PALMS ' GRIFFINS ' HOT NIGHTS LN BOMBAY IN MAY LAUNCH OF A SHIP BYCULLA SCHOOL MATRIMONIAL ARRANGEMENT FOR GIRLS YEARLY EXAMINATION OF CHILDREN RUSE DEFEATED AMUSING INCIDENT. In the spring of 1848, Lord Falkland was ap pointed governor of Bombay ; and soon after our arrival in India, it became my duty to hold a kind of drawing-room, to receive tbe ladies, wives of tbe civilians, of the military officers in the service of tbe East India Company, and of tbe merchants, resident in the Island of Bombay, and VOL. I. B PREPARATIONS FOR COMPANY. it was decided that this grand event should take place as early as circumstances would allow.

Strange as it may seem, it bad been customary for some years to have these receptions at mid-day, an hour at which the heat of the climate, during the month of May, is almost intolerable. I thought it somewhat odd such a time should have been selected ; however, I obeyed orders, though I made up my mind that it should, if possible, be my first and last morning reception, and that in future I would be ' at home ' in the evening ; for, leaving the heat out of the question, ladies look much better by candle light, and feeling this strongly in my own case, I fancied I might find others to sympathize with me, especially those who were not so young as they had been, and that the change would be popular. This time, however, preparations went on according to the old fashion, unnecessary furniture was removed from the large, and handsome drawing-room, to give more space for the guests, and I was much amused by , whose Hindoostanee made but very little impression on the native servants, for when he meant a table to be taken away, a ' peon,' or footman, seized hold of a chair, and when a sofa had to be removed, a 'hamal' (a man who acts the part of a housemaid in India), A MORNING RECEPTION. 3 would carry off a table ; nevertheless, all the requisite arrangements were at length completed, and at twelve the company began to arrive.

The ladies were dressed in the newest fashions from Europe, and their toilettes were quite en regie. The paleness of their complexions astonished me very much, and gave to many an otherwise pretty face, a washed-out look, like that of a faded miniature on ivory. They sat for a short time, and we ' made conversation ' as well as we could. The gentlemen remained standing, looking as if they wished they had not come, which I own did not surprise me. It may well be imagined that the flow of talk was not lively, for who could be animated and commu nicative after a long drive in India, and in May ! perhaps the hottest month in the year ? Our topics were dusty roads, cool houses, the reviving climate of the Deccan (which seemed, from all accounts, to be a kind of paradise), healthy and unhealthy stations, and the coming Monsoon.

I heard Mrs. could not come to the reception, as she was suffering from a coup de vent, occasioned by her sleeping with her window open when the wind was in the east ; of one gentleman just recovering from the Scinde fever, and of another individual, who B ■1 AN EVENING DRIVE. was still weak from the effects of a jungle fever. How could I help thinking of the person who, on my arrival in India, had said to me, when speaking of the climate, and of the sudden illnesses to which Europeans are liable, " Ah ! alive to-day — dead to morrow !" When I left England for India, I had not long returned from North America, where the conversation about the weather for the greater part of the year was of a very cool nature, the subjects being icebergs, sleighing, good stoves, double windows, and the ' Barber,' so called, from the effect pro duced by a vapour that rises from the harbour of Halifax, in intense cold, combined with a wind, that in the winter shaves, or rather flays everybody's face in a most unmerciful manner.

This contrast in the conversational topics of the two countries was striking enough. In due course of time, the company dropped off, the ladies remarking that they should meet the sea breeze as they drove homewards ; and I thought that they did, indeed, deserve some recompense for all the fatigue and heat they had endured with so much patience and amiability. The same evening we drove through the native town and bazaar of Bombay. Here I was quite THE NATIVE TOWN OF BOMBAY. 5 bewildered with the novelty of the scene around me — too much so, indeed — as we passed rather quickly through the streets, to note separately the endless variety of groups and pictures that pre sented themselves, in all directions ; still, I saw a great deal. A bridal-party first drew my attention. The young bride rode d califourchon on a miserable pony ; and behind her, on the same animal, sat the bridegroom.

They both wore gilt-paper crowns ; and down their faces hung many strips of tinsel, and coloured beads, completely concealing their features ; relations and friends on foot, and men beating the ' tom-tom ' (native drum) and playing on musical instruments, both followed and preceded the happy couple. The street from that part of the bazaar which is called the 'Bendy Bazaar,' to the esplanade, is crowded from sunrise to nine o'clock at night ; and, as the people walk generally in the middle of the streets, the coachmen and ' gorah-wallahs ' x (running footmen), who attend the carriages of Europeans and wealthy natives, are constantly calling out to the pedestrians to get out of the way. The most interesting part of the native town begins at the horse-bazaar ; where, in the cool of 1 Literally, horse-fellows.

A JAIN TEMPLE. the evening, the picturesquely-clothed Persian and Arab horse-dealers sit in the open air, sipping coffee and smoking with their friends. All is much ' Europeanized ' in Bombay, to use an Anglo- Indian expression ; and these men, instead of squatting on the ground, sit on old chairs and stools. Proceeding onwards, the scene becomes more animated, and one is constantly looking to the right and left, fearing to miss some new and curious sight. Many of the houses are lofty, and the ornaments outside carved in wood. Presently, we pass what I am told is a Jain temple, and I strain my eyes to look inside, but only see the pillars and external ornaments, painted red and green, and I wonder who the Jains can be ? Some are pointed out, wearing very high turbans, passing in and out of the building.

I learn they are a sect of Boud dhists, and long to know all about them ; but there is no time for hearing more just now. A Brahmin priest passes, he is turbanless, his hair floating in the breeze, his white robes falling in ample folds around him ; in one hand he holds a copper drink ing vessel ; in the other, a few sacred flowers — an offering to some god in a temple close by. To the right is a Musjid, or Mussulman temple, into which the followers of the prophet are crowding for their HINDOO WOMEN. 7 evening devotions. Near us is a Fakir, or religious (Mussulman) fanatic, with a long beard, calling out to passers-by for alms ; close to him stands a Hindoo saint who has devoted himself by a vow to a life of begging, meditation, and idleness ; his face and matted hair are besmeared with ashes, as also his body, on which he has as little covering as may be.

I have scarcely time to look at this unpleasant specimen of humanity, when I see a group of women, with their heavy anklets, ' making a tinkling with their feet,' x their sarees 2 folded over their heads and persons, and carrying little chubby children on their shoulders, or astride on their hips ; and now these are lost to sight, a fresh group appears, consisting of Hindoo women of various castes, clothed in jackets and sarees of divers colours, and wearing ' the chains and the bracelets,' 'the ear-ring,' 'the rings and the nose-rings.'3 I must not forget the toe-rings, which are thick and heavy, and must cause, I should think, some pain and inconvenience to the wearers. On their heads 1 Isaiah hi. 16. 2 The name of the mantle or veil worn by the Hindoo women ; one end forms a very voluminous kind of skirt or petticoat; the other end is then drawn over the head and shoulders, somewhat in the style or form of a Maltese Faldetta. 3 Isaiah iii. 19—21.

VOL. I. B 4 t PICTURESQUE CROWDS. 8 they bear large copper water-pots, and they walk with a stately and measured step, though the crowd presses on them, some not even holding the vessels with one hand. Next comes a hackery, or peasant's cart, drawn by two pretty little Indian bullocks, with rings through their noses, through which a cord is drawn, which serves the purpose of a bridle. In the vehicle are several native women, returning from a fete, with flowers in their black hair; then a European carriage, painted light blue, and elaborately mounted in silver, in which a fat native gentleman is sitting, rushes furiously past, driven by a Parsee coachman. On all sides, jostling and passing each other, are seen — Persian dyers ; Bannian shop-keepers ; Chi nese with long tails ; Arab horse-dealers ; Abyssinian youths, servants of the latter ; Bohras (pedlars) ; toddy-drawers, carrying large vessels on their heads ; Armenian priests, with flowing robes and beards ; Jews in long tunics and mantles, their dress, half Persian, half Moorish ; Portuguese, small, under-sized men, clad in scanty short trousers, white jackets, and frequently wearing white linen caps.

Then we meet the Parsee priest, all in white from top to toe, except his dark face and black beard ; Hindoo, Mussulman, and Portuguese nurses, or at- INDIAN TRADESMEN. 9 tendants on European children and ladies, mingle in the crowd, and everywhere I see something new to look at every moment. What bits to sketch ! what effects here ! what colouring there ! At times the crowd is broken into by the gorahwallahs belonging to the carriage of a ' burrah bibi' (great lady), wife of a European sahib, (' high up ') in the military or civil service of the honour able company. I have as yet said nothing of the shops, where the sellers sit squatting and waiting for purchasers. In the East, it is usual for all the members of a trade to live in the same vicinity, and thus we find a row of many shops here, all tenanted by coppersmiths, there by cutters of stones, by vendors of gold and silver ornaments, of wearing apparel for the natives, each having their proper locale — a custom we read of among the ancient Jews ; for ' Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison,' and that ' they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street.' l Amidst such a variety of novel sights it is impossible to note all.

There are sellers of flowers for weddings — of flowers for offerings at temples ; shops where rice, split-peas, salt, oil, 1 Jeremiah xxxvii. 21. FLYING FOXES. vinegar, ghee or clarified butter, made from the milk of the buffalo, betel-nuts, pawn-leaves, and fruits are retailed ; besides confectioners, dealers in snuff and tobacco, or copper vessels for household use among the natives, and lamps, some of which are very curious, an 1 indeed classical in form. Here and there the foliage of palms, and other trees, particularly that ofthe pipul, mingles with the houses. From the branches of the last-named tree hang clusters of flying foxes, head downwards, apparently by one leg : these animals are in a dor mant state from sunrise to sunset, at which time they show signs of life, and commence their noc turnal wanderings.

They have the wings, body, and legs of the bat, and the head of a fox most exquisitely and delicately formed, resembling that of the quadruped alike in colour, shape, and fur. The body is generally about a foot long, and the wings, when extended, from three to four feet between the extremities. By day, when seen sus pended from the pipul, they look like very large cotelettes a la maintenon attached to the frailest boughs ; but while flying, in the dusk of the even ing, they have the appearance of crows of a large size. Their flight is heavy, and apparently slow, as if they were never quite awake. MUSIC IN THE DARK. 11 The variety of colour exhibited in the turbans and costumes of the natives astonishes a European. The dresses of the men (at least of those who do wear clothes) are frequently white, but the turbans are of all colours, and the forms various — the reds are particularly fine; indeed, all the dyes are beautiful.

Such were my impressions on my first drive through the native town of Bombay, and, after all, I saw very little compared with what there was to see. After leaving the native town, we drove to the esplanade, which is near the fort of Bombay. The band was about to play, and the fashionable world just arriving in carriages or on horseback, and many •European children on ponies, or in small carriages drawn by native servants. It was nearly dark when we reached this ' prado,' and as there is scarcely any twilight in the tropics, we sat for halfan-hour in the dark, with our faces turned to the western breeze. The only lights were those for the musicians, who were playing from notes, and the lamps of the numerous carriages. The ladies remained in their britzkas, and the gentlemen flitted about from carriage to carriage, paying their devoirs to the fair occupants, who were just recovering from the unusual and overpowering heat of the day.

THE JAINS. The children were led by their attendants round and round the band-stand, which I thought would give the little things a decided taste, or dislike, for music in future years. We returned home by the native town again ; it was still animated — marriage festivities were going on, many of the houses were gaily lighted, discordant musical instruments were heard in all directions ; some shops were still open, and from their ceilings hung heavy brass lamps, throwing a dim light on dusky Hindoos, enveloped in large white cloths, their heads just peering over baskets piled up with rice and all kinds of grain ; while over our heads passed the flying-foxes with their lazy and mysterious flight. The Jains, of : whom I have spoken as a sect of Bouddhists, are spread all over India, and many of their doctrines and ceremonies resemble those of the Brahmins ; but the Jain, though he burns the dead, does not make offerings to them, when the rite, called Shraddhu, is performed, for he says, " Of what use is it to pour oil into the lamp, after the wick is burnt to ashes."

The Hindoos believe that the soul of the dead must remain in purgatory for a certain time, that the performance of Shraddhu releases it after a given period, and that THEIR RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES. 13 by means of gifts to the Brahmin priests in the name of the deceased, it is translated to heaven. Shraddhu means literally, ' firm faith,' and is a ceremony that reminds one of the Eoman Catholic masses for the repose of the soul of the dead. The Jains bear a very strong resemblance to the Bouddhists in their religious doctrines ; they believe that there is a God, but affirm that he can be known only by such as become absorbed in his essence ; that, therefore, a person knowing God, ceases to possess identity ; that hence, it Is absurd for a human being to pretend to know him. The moment you discover him, your identity ceases.

They deny that God was ever incarnated, and, like the Bouddhists, believe that men, by their virtuous conduct, became omniscient, and may thus be con sidered infallible. They hold, that since the be ginning of time, only twenty-four such superior beings have appeared for the reformation of man kind ; these they style the ' Tirthankar.' Their priests, the Jatis, not only never put anything to death, but never eat anything that has had life. The Jains resemble the Hindoos, in having caste, which the Bouddhist's have not. In the My sur and the south of India, the Jains admit also certain of the Hindoo deities into the courts of their THE JAINS. temples, which is never done, as I can learn, either in Bombay, the Mahratta country, Guzerat, or Marwad, in all of which places there are numbers of Jains."1 The Jains are easily recognized by their lofty turbans, and by the sectarian mark on their fore heads — a straight line of sandal-wood powder, drawn from the roots of the hair to the junction of the nose with the forehead.

When they pray they cover their mouths with a cloth, lest they should swallow any insect, and gently brush the place where they intend to sit, lest they should crush one. When they find a stray bird, or animal, they take the greatest care of it. Ward, in his work on the literature and mythology of the Hindoos, says, that the Jains carry this principle so far, that " they cannot allow that any crime justifies the taking away of life ; hence they, like the Bouddhists, consider kings, as the administrators of justice, the greatest of sinners." On the Sunday, I went to the church at Byculla. It is certainly very unlike a church in England. There are large windows with Venetian 1 Mr. Erskine's account of the Cave Temple of Elephanta. ■Bombay Literary Transactions:, vol. i. THE CHURCH AT BYCULLA. 15 blinds, well suited to the climate.

Outside the church, close to the walls, and at equal distances from each other, stood several natives. What could they be standing there for ? curiosity, per haps, had attracted them to see the ' Governor Sahib ' attend his place of worship. I soon dis covered the reason of their presence. They were to pull the punkas,1 which were inside the church. The cords attached to these huge fans, which are suspended from the ceiling, being run through a hole in the wall, they are easily set in motion, as soon as the congregation begins to arrive. There were separate punkas for the, clergyman in the reading-desk, and for the preacher in the pulpit. These gigantic fans are indispensable in a church in India, and prevent flies and mosquitoes from annoy ing one during divine service. The pews are very narrow, and I was astonished to find arm-chairs instead of what are called ' seats,' and thought it odd to sit in an arm-chair at church, nothing doubt- 1 The punka is a frame of wood about twelve feet long, three or four feet wide, and two inches thick, covered with canvass, and suspended by ropes from the top of the room.

It is generally hung over the dining-table, and is drawn and let go again, so as to agitate the air, by a servant standing at one side of the room. — Ward's History, Literature, fye, of the Hindoos. A PAINFUL POSITION. 16 ing, however, that I should become accustomed to this, as well as to many other strange things in my new abiding-place. The pews are so contracted, and the doors so unnecessarily small, that a large woman, with her own breadth, and eight breadths of silk besides, must find it difficult to enter one of them. I heard of a lady, the folds of whose gown were so ample, that on one occasion, after having, with difficulty, succeeded in settling herself in the pew at the commencement of the service, she found, on its conclusion, her stiff dress so entangled in the arms of the chair, that she could not move ; and there the poor thing remained, per fectly helpless, her position becoming every moment more embarrassing, till a kind neighbour came to her assistance, and extricated her from her painful predicament.

When the offertory was read, a person came round, as usual, with a plate to receive the offerings of the congregation. Those who did not give money at the moment were presented with a slip of paper and a pencil, and wrote their address, and the amount of their donation, in order that it might afterwards be paid at their residence. It struck me as a somewhat strange proceeding ; but it has this advantage, that no one in a certain position in society can escape giving something. MARRIAGES OF THE NATIVES. 17 There are so many things to observe during the day, and all so new, that, in addition to my usual occupations, I can scarcely find time to ask, " Why is this, and for what is that ? — what is the name of that tree, or plant, or flower ? — what is toddy, and where does toddy come from?" In reply to my question, I learn it is a juice extracted from the different species of the palm tribe, and is converted into arrack, of which great quantities are sold in the bazaar.

I have alluded to the marriage festivities I saw going on late in the evening, when we returned through the native town from our drive. The marriage expenses of all classes of natives are very great. It is very rarelv that the two families are so much on an equality as to make each side equally anxious for the union. Some times, and in particular tribes and castes, it is the wife who is difficult to obtain, and then the friends of the bridegroom must pay high sums to the bride's family to induce them to give their consent. More frequently, and in most tribes and castes, to get a husband is the greater difficulty, and then the family of the lady has to pay, directly or in directly. ' Something here, as in Europe, is gene rally done to screen the real character of the transvol. I. c THE COOLIN BRAMINS. 18 action, and to avoid the reproach of ' buying ' or ' selling ' a wife or husband, with which the parties would be taunted if the transaction were placed in its real light.

There is one tribe in Bengal, the Coolin (literally, ' well born,' ' men of good family ') Bramins, who are in such request as husbands, that the parents of Bramin girls of lower degree give enormous sums to obtain a Coolin Bramin husband for their child. Some Coolins have fifty such wives, some of whom they have never seen. When the abuse of paying for a good match becomes as obvious as in this case, something may be done — and I hear something is in contemplation by the Legislative Council — to check the evil. The providing clothes and jewels for the young people is another expense. A man earning ten or twelve shillings a month, will sometimes give his daughter clothes, gold and silver ornaments, and copper cooking-pots, to the value of six or eight pounds, and other classes in proportion.

Of course, the parents often get hopelessly in debt to effect this, and so far the custom is mis chievous ; but ' there is something to show ' for the money, and the young pair are to some extent the better for their parents' want of sense. GRIFFINS AND MOSQUITOES. 19 Then the fees to Bramins, the eating, drinking, largess-giving, dancing, tom-toming, piping, &c, form a great source of marriage expenses. The Avhole of the caste of both parties living in the neighbourhood expect to be invited as a matter of course, and the parvenu millionaire, or the broken down man of good family, generally keeps open house for some days. Among old families, as in Rajpootana, something has been done in a few localities, by a sort of common agreement among the heads of the oldest and most influential families, to limit the expenses of marriages ; but it is less easy to cure the folly among the millionaires of the large towns, who ought to be wiser, but who are the great offenders in this respect.