Journal of a residence in India, etc

Preface

. A hough India has certainly been visited by a greater number of intelligent Englishmen than any other foreign country, and has been the subject of innumerable publications, it is remarkable that there is no work in our language containing such a popular and comprehensive view of its scenery and monuments, and of the manners and habits of its natives and resident colonists, as we are commonly furnished with by travellers in countries incomparably less deserving of notice. The chief reason of this probably is, that few people go to this remote region as mere idle or philosophical observers ; and that, of the multitude of well-educated individuals who pass the best part of their days in it, the greater part are too constantly occupied with the cares and duties of their respeclive vocations as statesmen, soldiers, or traders, to pay much attention to what is merely curious or interesting to a contemplative spectator.

Having for the most part, too, the prospect of a long residence, they rarely think, on their first ar rival, of recording or digesting the impressions which they receive from the spectacle that is spread before them, and wait so long to mature and extend their information, that the interest of no* b

PREFACE.

. VI velty is lost, and the scene becomes too familiar to seem any longer worth the trouble of a careful delineation. The fact ac cordingly is, that almost all our modern publications on the sub ject of India, are entirely occupied with its political and military history, — details and suggestions upon ils trade and commercial resources, — and occasionally with discussions upon the more re condite parts of its literary or mythological antiquities. Notwith standing the great number of these books, therefore, and the un questionable excellence of many of them, there still seemed to be room for a more popular work on the subject of this great coun try, — a work which, without entangling its readers in the thorny walk of politics or commercial speculation, should bring before them much of what strikes the eye and the mind of an observant stranger, — and addressing itself rather to the general reader than to those who are professionally connected with the regions it de scribes, should perform the same humble but useful office as to India, which tolerably well written books of travels have done as to most ofthe other countries ofthe world.

This purpose it has been suggested to the writer of the following pages might be accomplished in some degree by their publi cation, — and it is with these, and with no higher pretensions, that they are now offered to the Public. They were really and truly written, nearly as they now appear, for the amusement of an intimate friend, and without the remotest view to the destiny they have now to encounter, having been prepared for publica tion merely by the omission of such private details and triflino anecdotes of individuals as could not with propriety be obtruded on the world. The writer is afraid that she secretly means this statement to be received as a kind of apology for some of their imperfections. But the truth is, that she is extremely doubtful whe-

PREFACE.

. VII tiler she could have made the work much belter bv digesting it with more labour. Its merit, if it have any, must consist iri the fidelity andjiveliness of a transcript, from new impressions, — and this she has found it would have been in great danger of losing, if she had ventured to change the character of her original sketch, by attempting (perhaps after all not very successfully), to reduce its redundancies or to strengthen its colouring. In one particular she is sensible that the changes she has made in her original manuscript, have both lessened its authority and tasked her self-denial; she alludes to the obligation she has im posed upon herself, of suppressing the names of those individuals to whom she has been so greatly indebted both for kindness and information, but whom she does not think herself entitled to bring before the Public without their express permission.

She may be allowed, however, to mention, that at Bombay, at Ma dras, and at Calcutta, she had the good fortune to be acquaint ed with many individuals distinguished for oriental learning and research, and that in their society she had opportunities of ac quiring much information with regard to the civil and religious habits and opinions of the natives, which she must otherwise have sought in vain. How far she has availed herself of these advantages the Public must now judge; all she pretends to is the merit of a correct description of the scenery of the country, and, as far as her powers and opportunities permitted, a faithful de lineation of the manners of the inhabitants. It may be proper to add, that she went to India early in 1 809, and the first months of her residence in that country were spent in Bom bay, which, besides its importance as the third British presidency in India, is interesting from its neighbourhood to some ofthe most an cient and magnificent monuments of Hindoo art. Of these the cave

PREFACE.

. of Elephanta is the most interesting, and perhaps it has been most frequently described. The island of Salsette is also rich in antiquities of the same kind, but it has attracted less notice; and the excavations of Carli, in the Mahratta mountains, are in comparison recently discovered. Curiosity induced her to visit all these places, and, when at the latter, to continue her journey to Poonah, the Mahratta capital. On her return to Bombay, she embarked for Ceylon, where she arrived at Pointe de Galle, and travelled along the coast as far as Negombo; afterwards vi siting Trincomale on the east side of the island on her voyage to Madras. From Madras the writer went to Calcutta, which ter minated her travels in India, as she only returned to the Coro mandel coast to embark for England, in the beginning of 1811 ; where, after touching at the Cape of Good Hope and St Helena, she arrived in the summer of the same year.

With the exception of the town of Poonah and the visit to Cal cutta, the Journal consequently only describes the country and the people immediately on the coast. This perhaps may account in some degree for her character of the natives being more unfa vourable than that of some other writers ; and most certainly she did not go far enough to meet with any of those remnants of the age of gold, — any of those combinations of innocence, benevolence, and voluptuous simplicity, with which the imaginations of some ingenious authors have peopled the cottages of the Hindoos. What she saw certainly suggested the materials of a very oppo site picture ; — and, though aware that, among a people whose laws, whose religion, whose arts, whose habits of reasoning and notions of politeness, all differ from ours, as radically as their language or complexion, it was natural to expect some variation from our standards as to the morals and the charities and decen-

PREFACE.

. IX cies of social life, she must confess that the difference was greater than she found it easy to reconcile to herself, even by these con siderations. In the sketch which she has attempted to exhibit, therefore, of this singular people, she flatters herself that she may have afforded some entertainment, and some matter of useful me ditation even to the reflecting reader ; and ventures to hope that she may perhaps contribute, in some instances, to direct the at tention of those in whose hands so much of their destiny is placed, to the means of improving their moral and intellectual condition, as well as of securing them from political or civil injuries. WORDS USED IN BRITISH INDIA, WHICH OCCUR IN THE FOLLOWING WORK. Bandy, a gig. Bougie, an ornament of the bracelet kind. Bazar, a market, or town or village where there is a market.

Bungalo, a garden-house, or cottage. Bhang, an intoxicating spirit made from hemp-seed. Bunder, a port or pier. Chunam, lime, or the sort of stucco made in India of shell-lime mixed with curdled milk and sugar. Coier, the fibrous husk ofthe coco-nut when steeped and cleaned. Compound, a word signifying the dressed ground immediately round the house. Cummerbund, literally waist-band. Dammar, a resinous substance used as a pitch. Derdjee, tailor. Dhole, a musical instrument. Ghaut, a pass in a mountainous country ; also the name of the great western ridge in India; also a flight of steps leading to a tank or a river. Ghee, butter clarified, and commonly kept in skins. Hamaul, or Hamauljee, a palankeen-bearer. Jamma, a sort of muslin robe reaching to the feet, and very full in the skirt ; it crosses on the breast, and is tied with an uneven number of points.

It is a Mussulman dress, though others wear it. Joys, jewels. Kooli, a porter. This is a very low caste. Massal, or Massalgee, the person who carries and takes care of the light. Mosque, or Musjid, the Mussulman temple. Pagoda, a name which Europeans have given to Hindoo and Chinese temples ; it is also the name ofthe current coin of Madras. WORDS USED IN BRITISH INDIA. Paung, A mixture of shell-lime and betel-nut wrapped in the leaf of an aromatic plant. Punka, a fan of any kind, chiefly used by Europeans to denote a very large fan suspended from the ceiling, and kept in motion by a cord pulled by a servant. Sepoy, properly Sepahi, a word which really signifies soldier, but which, in some places, particularly in Bombay, is given to private servants who guard the house and carry messages, when they are also called peons.

Sherbet, a drink little different from lemonade; it is often perfumed. Tat, a sort of light mat. It principally comes from Tatta on the Indus, but many other kinds of mats are now called Tats. The real Tat is chiefly used as a Purdeh, Veil, or Blind. Tary Toddy, the juice procured from most kinds of palm-trees by tapping. Tope, a grove. It is also a gun. Tank, a reservoir for water. Tomtom, a kind of drum. Vin, a musical instrument not unlike a guitar. Zenaar, a consecrated thread worn over one shoulder by the high castes, DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES, Ibrahim , a Malay Moonshee, to face the Title Temple to Maha Deo in Bombay . ? Page I Banian Tree • . . _ . . . 7 Figures in Cave at Elephanta - . . - - 55 Inside of Carli Cave - . . - - . 64, Outside of Carli Cave - • . . - - 65 Temporary Bridge, &c. at Barbarcen . . . ». gg Great Cave at Canary . • . . - - 1 1 7 Government-House, Calcutta . . . » - 137 Fort.

William . - - 1 . . 153 Tapass of Arjoou . - . . . „ 159 TeerofArjoon . . . _ _ igi Five Hadums - . . . . 103 Indian Cairns . . . . . • - 168 Castle and Parade at Cape-Town - - . J 74 St James's Town, St Helena . . . . 18i (XXXA'rM/i'/t,s<i/ C 4{<m^LIXt./k SHORT RESIDENCE IN INDIA. Bombay, May 28, 1809. My Dear Friend, In compliance with your parting request, that during my ab sence from England I would make notes and journals for you of whatever appeared to me worthy of remark, either as curious in itself, or as differing from the customs, manners, and habits of Europe, I shall endeavour faithfully to describe whatever I see, and carefully to report whatever I learn, for your amusement, warning you that I mean to paint from the life, and to adhere to the sober colouring of nature. After a voyage from England of twenty weeks, we landed here on the 26th of this month, in a thick fog, which presaged the coming on of the rainy-season in this part of India.

On the new bunder, or pier, we found palankeens waiting to convey us from the shore. These palankeens are litters, in which one may either lie down or sit upright, with windows and sliding doors : the modern ones are little carriages, without wheels ; those anciently used were of a different form, A and consisted ofa bed or sofa, over which was an arch just high enough to admit of sitting upright ; it was decorated with gold or silver bells and fringes, and had a curtain to draw occasionally over the whole. The palankeen-bearers are here called hamauls (a word signifying carrier) ; they for the most part wear nothing but a turban, and a cloth wrapped round the loins, a degree of nakedness which does not shock one, owing to the dark colour of the skin, which, as it is unusual to European eyes, has the effect of dress.

These people come chiefly from the Mahratta country, and are of the coombee or agricultural caste. Their wa ges are seven or eight rupees a month ; they are a hardy race, and, if trusted, honest, but otherwise they consider theft inno cent, if not meritorious. Leaving the bunder we crossed the esplanade, which presented a gay and interesting scene, being crowded with people in car riages, on horseback, and on foot. A painter might have stu died all the varieties of attitude and motion in the picturesque figures of the koolies employed in washing at their appropriate tanks or wells, which are numerous on the esplanade, each tank being surrounded by broad stones, where groupes of men and women are continually employed in beating the linen, while the better sort of native women, in their graceful costume, remind ing one of antique sculptures, are employed in drawing, fillino-. or carrying water from the neighbouring wells.

The Hindoo women wear a short boddice with half sleeves, which fastens be hind, and is generally made of coloured brocade. The shalie or sarie, a long piece of coloured silk or cotton, is wrapped round the waist in form of a petticoat, which leaves part of one leg bare, while the other is covered to the ancle with long and graceful folds, gathered up in front, so as to leave one end of the shalie to BombayA] RESIDENCE IN INDIA. 3 cross the breast, and form a drapery, which is sometimes thrown over the head as a veil. The Mussulman and Parsee women have nearly the same clolhing, in addition to which they wear long loose trowsers. The hair is drawn back from the face, where the roots are often stained red, and fastened in a knot behind. The hands and feet of the native women are in general delicately shaped, and are covered with rings and bangles or bracelets, which sometimes conceal the arm as far as the elbow, and the leg as far as the calf.

As the food, lodging, and dress of the lower class of natives cost very little, it is common to see both the men and women adorned with massy rings and chains of gold and silver, round their necks, arms, waists, and legs, and the toes and fingers decked with fine filigree rings, while the ears and nose are hung with pearls or precious stones. The vanity of parents sometimes leads them to dress their children, even while infants, in this manner, which affords a temptation, not always resisted, to murder these helpless creatures for the sake of their ornaments ox joys. The custom of laying out the whole, or at least the greater part of their wealth, in ornaments for the per son, has probably arisen among the natives of India from the miserable state of society for so many ages. Where the people were daily exposed to the ravages of barbarous armies, it was natural to endeavour to keep their little wealth in that form in which it could with most ease be conveyed out of the reach of plunderers : for this purpose, jewels were certainly the best adapt ed ; and though the necessity for the practice has in a great mea sure ceased, custom, which has perhaps more influence in India than in any other country, continues it.

On entering the Black Town, which is built in a coco-nut wood, I could not help remarking the amazing populousness of this small island ; the streets appear so crowded with men, women, and children, that it seems impossible for the quiet bullock hackrays, or native carriages, to get along without doing mischief; much less the furiously driving coaches of the rich natives, who pride themselves upon the speed of their horses, which are more remarkable for beauty and for swiftness than for strength. I was informed that Bombay contains upwards of two hundred thousand inhabitants. The Europeans are as nothing in this number, the Parsees from six to eight thousand, the Mussulmans nearly the same number, and the remainder are Portuguese and Hindoos, with the exception of about three or four thousand Jews, who long passed in Bombay for a sect of Mahometans, governed by a magistrate called the cazy of Israel ; they willingly eat and converse with the Mussulmans.

A number of them are embodied among the marine sepoys, but most of them are low traders. The dwellings of the rich natives are surrounded by virandas, equally necessary to guard against the intemperate heat of the sun and the monsoon rains ; they are generally painted in flowers and leaves of a green or red colour; those of the Hindoos have usually some of the fables of their mythology represented on their walls. The houses are necessarily of great extent, because, if a man has twenty sons, they all continue to live under the same roof even when married ; and uncles, brothers, sons, and grandsons, remain together till the increase of numbers actually forces a part of the family to seek a new dwelling. The lower classes content themselves with small huts, mostly of clay, and roofed with cadjan, a mat made of the leaves of the Palmyra, or coco-nut tree, plaited together.

Some of these huts are so small, that they only admit of a man's sitting upright in them, and barely shelter his feet when he lies down. sub9 by A. LOJutaXble <t to. Edinb uijh Junei.i&i2- There is usually a small garden round each house, containing a few herbs and vegetables, a plantain tree, and a coco-nut or two. The coco-nut is the true riches of a native Indian. The fruit forms a chief article of food during several months in the year, and from it the oil for the lamp is expressed, after being dried in the sun. The fibrous covering of the nut is steeped, and becomes like hemp, though more harsh ; it is then called coier, and is us ed for making cordage of all kinds. The tarry, or toddy, (which is a juice procured from the tree, by making an incision in the bark near the top, or cutting off one of the lower leaves, and ap plying an earthen pot to the aperture in the bark,) when distil led, furnishes arrack ; that which flows in the night is the sweetest, and, drunk before sunrise, it is very wholesome.

The leaves cover the houses, and two of them plaited together form a light basket-work cloak, which the peasants wear in the rainy season while transplanting the rice. When no longer capable of yield ing fruit or tarry, the wood makes excellent water-pipes and joists and beams for houses. The Palmyra, another tree of the family of palms, here called the brab, furnishes the best leaves for thatching, and the dead ones serve for fuel. The trunk is applied to the same purposes as that of the coco-nut, and is said to resist the attacks of the white ant. The brab grows on hills and stony places. The coco requires a low sandy soil, and much water. In the outskirts of the Black Town we saw the fields already flooded for the rice ; they are ploughed in this state. The plough consists of a piece of crooked stick, or two straight pieces joined, so as to form an obtuse angle; it is sometimes shod with iron but most frequently not; it is drawn by an ox or a cow, or sometimes both.

The buffaloes make good draught cattle, and are commonly used for drawing water ; the other cattle are of the kind which has a hump on the shoulders ; they are used by the natives to draw carriages called hackrays, to which they are only fastened by a beam, which is at the end of the pole, and lies across their necks ; they use no traces. As there is but one tavern in Bombay, and as that is by no means fit for the reception of ladies, the hospitality of the Bri tish inhabitants is always exercised towards new-comers, till they can provide a place of residence for themselves. We have the good fortune to be under the hospitable roof of Sir James and Lady Mackintosh, at Tarala, about three miles from the fort and town of Bombay. Sir James possesses the best library that ever doubled the Cape.

It is arranged in a large room like the cell of a temple, surrounded with a viranda inclosed by Venetian shutters, which admit and exclude the light and air at pleasure. As the apartment is at the top of the house, which is built on an eminence, it commands on all sides charming views ; in short, it combines all the agremens that one can look for in a place of studious retirement, and we feel its value doubly from having been so long confined to the cabin of a frigate. August 10th. — The rainy season, which began in the middle of May, still continues, but we have sometimes intervals of several days of dry fine weather, so that we have been able to visit most of the villages within the island of Bombay. The first walk we took was to Mazagong, a dirty Portuguese village, putting in its claim to Christianity, chiefly from the immense number of pigs kept there.

It is beautifully situated on the shore between two hills, on one of which is Mazagong house, a leading mark into the harbour. It is interesting to the admirers of sentimental writ ings, as the house from which Sterne's Eliza eloped, and perhaps may call forth the raptures of some future pensive traveller, as the sight of Anjengo does that of the Abb6 Raynal, when he re members " that it is the birth-place of Eliza." Mazagong has, however, more solid claims to attention ; it has an excellent dock for small ships, and is adorned with two tolerably handsome Ro mish churches ; but its celebrity in the East is owing to its man goes, which are certainly the best fruit I ever tasted. The parent tree, from which all those of this species have been grafted, is ho noured during the fruit season by a guard of sepoys ; and in the reign of Shah Jehan, couriers were stationed between Dehli and the Mahratta coast, to secure an abundant and fresh supply of mangoes for the royal table.

Our next excursion was to Sion, nine miles from the fort of Bombay, and at the opposite extremity of the island. We drove through a country like an English park, where I first saw the banian, or Indian fig-tree. It is a large spreading tree, from the branches of which long fibres descend to the ground, and there taking root become new trunks, and thus spread over a very great space *. The banian is sacred, and is usually to be found near the Pagodas, as the Europeans call the Hindoo temples. I have seen the natives walk round it in token of respect, with their hands joined, and their eyes fixed on the ground ; they also sprinkle it with red and yellow dust, and strew flowers before it ; and it is common to see at its root stones sculptured with the figures of some of the minor Hindoo gods.

Sion Fort is on the top of a small conical hill ; it commands the passage from Bombay to the * See the Plate. In the histories of Alexander's expedition to India, it is mentioned that the natives bent down the branches of the trees, which then took root and grew again. Is not _u- J _ u u ■ Ihis a description of the banian tree r neighbouring island of Salsette, and was of importance while the Mahrattas possessed that island, but it now only serves to beauti fy the scene. It is manned with a few invalids, and commanded by General Macpherson, a Highlander, who was in the battle of Culloden, on the losing side, and who, at the age of forty, came lo Bombay as a cadet in the Company's army. He retains so strong a recollection of his early years, that when the Culloden, with Sir Edward Pellew's flag, was in Bombay harbour, no en treaties could prevail on him to go on board of her, — he always shook his head, and said, he had had enough of Culloden.

At the foot of the little hill of Sion is a causeway, or vellard, which was built by Mr Duncan, the present governor, across a small arm of the sea, which separates Bombay and Salsette. It is well constructed of stone, and has a draw-bridge in the middle, but it is too narrow for carriages to go along with safety in bad weather; however, it is of great advantage to the farmers and gardeners who bring in the daily supplies of provisions to the Bombay market. The vellard was begun A. D. 1797, and finish ed in 1805, at the expence of 50,575 rupees, as I learnt from an inscription over a small house at the end next Bombay, where a guard is kept to prevent the introduction of contraband articles from Salsette, which, though under the English government, is still subject to the Mahratta regulations with regard to taxes.

From Sion we went to Mahaim, passing in the way several ne glected Portuguese churches, Mussulman tombs, and Hindoo temples, but nothing very interesting till we reached the coco-nut wood near the village, where there are two beautiful temples, with large tanks surrounded by trees. These tanks are the great luxu ries of the natives ; one sees people bathing in them from morn ing till night, all ages and sexes together ; but they wear as much clothing in the water as out of it. There is at Mahaim a Pir's kubber, or Mussulman saint's lomb, with a fine mosque attached to it, both under the guardianship of a Mahometan family of the Sooni sect*. The Portuguese church at Mahaim is close to the sea, and is surrounded by trees. Attached to it there is a college for native Catholic priests ; but those who pretend to learn ing, usually study at Goa, where they learn to speak barbarous Latin, and have the advantage of occasionally seeing priests from Europe.

A small premium is given at the church for every native child who is baptized, consequently a number of Hindoo women present their offspring for that purpose, who never think farther of Christianity. From Mahaim a good causeway leads to Parell, the governor's country house, which was formerly a Jesuits' college. It is said that the holy fathers employed their penitents in the construction of this work. August 15th. — A longer continuance of fine weather than is usual during the rainy months, tempted us yesterday to go to Malabar Point, at the south-west extremity of the island, formerly a place of singular sanctity, and where a number of pilgrims still annually resort. We left our carriage at the foot of the hill, and ascended a long flight of irregular steps to the top. Near the summit there are a multitude of small temples, and a few Bramins' houses, whose inhabitants generally beg from the passengers and strangers whom business or curiosity lead to the hill.

After walking * The Soonis and the Sheeas are the two Mahomedan sects most prevalent in India. The Soonis are the most numerous on this side of the peninsula - they are divided into Hunafis and Shafeis. B nearly two miles through gardens, or rather fields of vegetables, we came to a small bungalo, or garden-house, at the point of the hill, from which there is, I think, the finest view I ever saw. The whole island lay to the north and east, beautifully green with the young rice, varied with hills and woods, and only separated from Salsette and the Mahratta shore by narrow arms of the sea, while the bay and harbour to the south, scattered with beautiful woody islands, reflected the grand monsoon clouds, which, as they rolled along, now hid and now discovered the majestic forms ofthe ghauts on the main-land.

Within a few yards of the bungalo is a ruined temple ; from what remains, it must have been a fine specimen of Hindoo architecture; almost every stone is curiously carved with groupes of figures, animals, and other ornaments. Tradition says that the Portugueze, in their zeal for con version, pointed cannon against this temple, and destroyed it with its gods ; its widely scattered remains seem lo countenance the report. Close to the ruin there is a cleft in a rock, so narrow, that one would wonder how a child could get through it, never theless, there are multitudes of pilgrims who annually come to force themselves through, as a certain method of getting rid of their sins. Half a mile from the old temple I saw a most beautiful village, entirely inhabited by Bramins. In the centre is a large tank, on the banks of which are some fine trees and high pyramidical pillars, which are lighted up on festivals.