My Year in an Indian Fort

Preface

. IN the following pages I have nothing to tell of Eastern magnificence. In the works of God, rather than in those of man, lies the in terest to be found in the somewhat primitive part of the Western Deccan where, for the tune being, my lot was cast. Tempered by the sea breeze, its climate is the most equable and de lightful in all India. Its high table-lands are fertile and well timbered, its protecting ghats afford mountain scenery of the -wildest and most beautiful description, aud it is very rich in its fauna and flora. The charms of nature are scattered around with a beneficent hand, and its strange and ancient people were to me a fertile source of interest. Such were the attractions which combined with the fulness of my family life to make up the happiness that I experienced during •' My Year in an Indian Fort." Belgaum Fort, July, 1876. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Chapter I

Voyage to Bombay — The Hindoo — Unpromising Commencement of the Voyage — Three days in Torbay — Sunday on Board — Across the Bay of Biscay — The Sierra of Cintra — Gibraltar Passed — The Mediterranean — Algiers — Carthage — Tunis — Pantalaria — Port Said — Perilous Position of the Arabia — A Day on Shore — Land of the Pharaohs — The Suez Canal — Pilgrims — Ismalia 1

Chapter II

Chateau Eugenie — Suez — The Wells of Moses — The Red Sea — Remarkable Coral Reefs — Island of Perim — Novel Postman — Aden — Arabian Dhowd — Signal of Distress — Sea-beggars — Socotra — Flying Fish — Arrival at Bombay — The Esplanade Hotel — Pamphlets — First Aspect of Bombay — Equipages — Parsee Women —Polo— The Native Town .... CONTENTS. VIII CHAPTER HI. Hindoo Women — Arabian Beauties — Rites of Betrothal — Funeral Procession — English Chambermaids in India — Flower-market — Jain Establishments for Superannuated Animals — Drive to Malabar Point — A Brahman Village — The Esplanade — Island and Temples of Elephanta — Description of one of the Temples — The Three-faced God — Sculptured Figures— Rock Temples — Curious Ants' Nest — Western Ghats . . 49

Chapter IV

Journey to Belgaum — Railway Travelling — Dyeing in India — Wild Scenery — Incline of the Bhor Ghat — Overpowering Heat — Sanitarium for Soldiers — The Mahratta Mountains — Peculiar Features of the Indian Landscape — View of the Concan — Indian Legend — Karli — Death of Captain Stewart — Camp of Exercise — Founder of the Mahratta Kingdom — Itinerant Merchants — Evening in the Public Gardens — A Drive by Night — Poonah — Murder of Narazan Rao 72

Chapter V

Travelling Arrangements in India — The Southern Cross — The Travellers' Bungalow — Fakirs — Noble Banyan- Tree — Fishing in India — The Singadari — Orthography of Indian Proper Names — Climate of Western India — Ascent of the Kamski Ghat — The Magellanic Clouds — Crossing the Koo-i-nor — Arrival at Sattara — Ruins of the Fort — Labyrinths and Dungeons — Palace of the Rajah CONTENTS. IX

Chapter VI

Re-engagement of an Old Servant — The Old Palace — Relics of Sevaji — Tale of Indian Treachery — The Combat with Claws — Junction of the Krishna and the Zena — The Parsee Tower of Silence — Religious Ideas and Symbols of the Hindoos — Festival in Honour of Shiva — Hindoo Sects — Turbans — The Savi — Condition of Hindoo Women — Ornaments — Returning from the Fair — Sattara Monkeys — A Jaina Temple— The Burning Ghat ... 122 CHAPTER VH. The Seven-Starred Fort — A Moment of Peril — Extensive Cemetery — Hindoo Superstition — Fine Idgar — Arrival at Kolhopur — The Rajah — Government School — Death of a Young Rajah at Florence — The Gates of Kolhopur — The Rajah's Palace — An Amusing Carriage-load— An Irate Colonel — Accident to our Carriage — Nipani — Cruelty of the Desay — Soutguttee — Arrival at our Indian Home 119 CHAPTER VIH.

Belgaum — Records and Traditions of the Fort — Stormed by Mohammed Shah — Mahmoud Gavan — Ismael Khan Shah — Khoossan Toork — Sevaji — Changes of Name and Fortune — Besieged by a Force under General Monro — Garrison at the Time of the Mutiny — Execution of the Chief of Nargund— Description of the Fort — The English Church — The Station Library — Favourite Spots — Architecture of the Jaina Temples . X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX.

Sect of the Jains — Their Opinions — Jaina Saints — Architecture of the Jain Temples — Sena Rajah — Legends — Decoration of the Hall — Ornaments in Sculpture — Shrines — Spacious Dome — Dedication Plate — The Sacred Cell — The Second Temple — English Indifference to the Antiquities of the Country — The Musjid Safa — Concealed Treasure — Curious Relic — Memorials of the Past 200

CHAPTER X.

Trees in the Fort — Consecration of Trees — The Banyan- Tree — A Patriarch of the Forest — Peepul-Trees — The India-Rubber Tree — Ficus Glomerata — Strange Peculiarity of Plants — Lofty Cotton-Tree — The Jamun — The Champai — The Cocoa-Nut Palm — The Soap-Nut Tree — Sandal- Wood Tree — Acacia Arabica, or Babool of India — The Golden Mhune — Eucalypti 220

CHAPTER XL

Our Bungalow — Building in India — Anglo-Indian Words — Beautiful Floral Display — Tameness of Bird and Beast — Buffaloes — Our Establishment of Servants — Butler and Cook— The Puttah Wallee— The Malee, or Head-Gardener — Frequent Demands for Holidays — Want of Privacy — Pretended Christians — Expenses of the Table — Grafting of Mangoes — Provisions, Fruit, and Wine 235

CHAPTER XII.

Difficulties of Driving — Red Dust — Venerable Groves — Temples and Dharam Saliis — The Dheer's Well — The CONTENTS. XI Old Edgar — Churches and Chapels — Refuges for Lepers — The Jack-tree — Jungle Creepers — Drives about the Camp — Uses of the Acacia-tree — The Commissariat Lines — Intelligent Elephants — Cultivation of Cotton — Camping Parties — Fashionable Resort — Scene at the Band Stand — Dogs INIilitary and Civilian — Jam bottee 266 CHAPTER XIH. Mosque — The N;ig, or Cobra Tank — Shiirpur — Popu lation — Jew ell ers — Curiosities — Sacred Stones — An cient Pedigrees — Thugs — Garden Parties — Travelling Merchants — Men from the Cannara Jungles — Plants and Tame Animals brought for sale — Conjurers and Snake-charmers — Indian Jugglers puzzled — A Charm against Violence — Mahomedan Burying-places — Amusements of the Soldiers — Native Troops — My First Christmas in India . . . . MY YEAR IN AN INDIAN FORT.

Chapter I

Voyage to Bombay — The Hindoo — Unpromising Commencement of the Voyage — Three days in Torbay — Sunday on Board — Across the Bay of Biscay — The Sierra of Cintra — Gibraltar Passed — The Mediterranean — Algiers — Carthage — Tunis — Pantalaria — Port Said — Perilous Position of the Arabia — A Day on Shore — Land of the Pharaohs — The Suez Canal — Pilgrims — Ismalia. A START for a far-distant country must, even under the most favourable circumstances, be accompanied by some emotions of sadness. There was certainly nothing exhilarating in our departure for India. Up at daybreak on a foggy January morning, a hurried breakfast, a crush into the family omnibus, a tedious delay in a narrow street where gas-pipes were being laid down, a tramp through long lanes lined by bales and boxes, a climb up a greasy ladder, and we stood upon the dirt-begrimed deck of the Hindoo^ VOL. I. B a steamer of four hundred horse-power, bound for Bombay.

Our first impulse was to count heads, and these, consisting, in addition to M. and myself, of three children, three nurses, two Irish setters, a terrier, and two goats, were happily found all right. Our next step was to descend aud see what our cabins were like, and having satisfied our curiosity on this point, we felt ourselves at leisure to mount to the upper deck, and survey the scene presented by the various groups as sembled below, our companions to be for the next five weeks. All had a subdued manner, and some looked just slightly cross, as I have no doubt we also did ; but the appearance of all improved under more favourable circumstances, and we trusted that our visages also lighted up. The scene upon the lower deck, and alongside on the crowded wharf, was dismal; poverty aud squalor, dirt and disorder, reigned supreme.

Everything seemed to have a leaden hue, and a stifling smoke-laden atmosphere enveloped all. My memory dwells but on one bright speck, the cheerful scarlet of a petticoat worn by a woman who was waving a tearful adieu to her friends. The ship was by no means ready for sailing. She had only been in dock thirteen days, and VOTAGE TO BO. 1EAT. 3 the bedding was damp. In my cabin I found a broken cart and ninepins, belonging doubtless to its former juvenile occupant. To make mat ters still more deplorable, the weather, after we had started, was almost as bad as it could be. We made scarcely any way. The captain passed two very anxious nights on deck, and the narrow vessel — only thirty-eight feet wide by four hundred long, built to pass through the Suez Canal — rolled terribly. The ornamental part of the upper deck was carried away by the violence of the sea, and the berths being all more or less wet, we were very miserable, added to which I had a private grievance of my own.

Dogs not being allowed in the saloon, my poor Bustle was ruthlessly ordered off to Mr. Needles, the butcher, under whose care he was placed. How I used to struggle over the wave-washed deck to feed him, and impart a little comfort to my desolate favourite, no one but a lover of dogs can imagine. The poor creature I really believe would have died, had not the captain allowed him to come below, in order to enjoy the sport of hunting the rats which infested our cabins, impudently eating our biscuits, and nib bling holes in our clothes. It was not long before Mr. Bustle became quite a favourite with the good-natured passengers, B who called him Monsieur Tourneur, and other pet names. We lay three days in Torbay, into which a number of other ships ran for shelter, among them a fine P. and 0. steamer, also bound for Bombay.

Having sailed a day in advance of the Hindoo, she had been roughly handled by the waves, and was obliged to put back. With the exception of the captain, no one went on shore, and be paid two shillings for a boat to take him there and back. Owing to the stormy condition of the sea, he had to choose the right moment to jump in, and after wards told us that he reckoned the distance be tween the top of the wave and the trough of the sea to be at least twelve feet. The sight of the elements at war, the flashes of lightning and the peals of thunder, were most exciting. When the white squalls came on, a small part of the sea would be suddenly covered with foam, a torrent of rain would pour down upon the spot, and, as it spread, gradually obscure land, sea, and sky, leaving us in all but complete darkness.

Torbay, I understand, is very dangerous when the wind blows from the west. Captain Cousins (our captain) told us that once when, with forty seven other ships, he had to run in for safety, the wind suddenly veered round in the night, and all the vessels, with the exception of two, SUNDAT ON BOARD. 5 were either stranded or more or less injured. In spite of the gales, Sunday brought with it a young clergyman from Torquay to conduct divine service, and all assembled in the long saloon to take part in the religious duty. After wards one Sunday on board was precisely like another. The ladies assembled in fresh toilettes. The gentlemen did their little best to imitate them, with crisp white cuffs and collars, and dandy neck-ties ; but it was really a pretty sight to see the Hindoo sailors muster in their stainless cotton dresses, bound round the waist by crimson silk sashes.

At ten o'clock precisely two very handsome copper-coloured Bengalese dived into a cup board, brought forth a number of Bibles and prayer-books, and began to rig up the reading desk. First they produced two very large chess-boards, then a couple of bed-pillows were fetched from below, after which the union-jack was carefully spread over the erection, which was further secured by a long thick rope coiled around it. The service commenced with the regulation hymn, including the verse, " I have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep," and everyone knows the beautiful air to which those words are set, ending with the refrain, " Oh ! hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the sea." Always touching, this hymn was doubly so when one glanced up whilst singing it, and looked around upon the solitary expanse of ocean.

No land, no ships in sight, no human aid to help us in distress. In such circumstances the whole service was felt to be doubly impres sive. We rolled through the Bay of Biscay without seeing anything of the coast we knew so well, and kept clear of Cape St. Vincent, from whence the ship usually telegraphs to her owners. As we pitched and staggered on in the dark night, it was awful to think of the depth of the sea beneath. When at seventy miles distance from Cape St. Vincent soundings were taken by H.M.S. Challenger, a depth of two thousand five hundred fathoms was found — nearly three miles. The first land we sighted was the great headland at the mouth of the Tagus, the Sierra of Cintra, as the Portuguese call it. Here we felt a sensible change in the temperature, and having suffered much from cold in the early portion of our voyage, the increased warmth was now the more delightful.

On the tenth day after leaving England we skirted GIBRALTAR. the coast of Morocco, and were near enough to perceive the serried tails of the Great Atlas range. None of its higher peaks, which are eternally covered with snow, were visible. The great mountain range extends in an oblique direction, far inland, and as the morning sun lit up the bold swelling hills, they looked very imposing. Towards evening we had on our right the perpendicular white cliff of Trafalgar Bay ; and in the distance was the rock of Ceuta, in the centre of a bay which we appeared to be entering. " The Rock" was hidden from our view by a long range of nearer hill. As the ship had no time to call at Gibraltar, we passed it late at night, when unfortunately there was no moon. We saw the lighthouse at the point, but that was all.

" Gib " is by no means given to illuminations, although its love of obscurity is not so great as it was supposed to be by a Russian gentleman with whom we had once voyaged from Malaga to Gibraltar. He was one of those happy individuals who place implicit faith in their guide-book, and the one he possessed informed him that the garrison being in constant fear of a surprise, all the houses Avere painted black, and that every light was extinguished at nine o'clock. Algeciras, that paradise of nurserymen, where half the hyacinths and tulip-bulbs which supply Europe are grown, having nothing to defend but her gardens, lay curved along the shore a brilliant line of light. It was pleasant to exchange the grey waters of the Atlantic for the Mediterranean. It would have been still more agreeable had its blue waves treated us less rudely.

Many a familiar face at the breakfast-table disappeared, but M. and I succeeded, after a struggle, iu mount ing to the upper deck, being anxious to catch sight of our old friends, the mountains of Granada, the snowy peaks of the Sierra Ne vada. How we longed for wings to fly over them, to find rest in the green Veda at their feet. We kept close to the monotonous rock-bound coast of Oran, and when the darkness of another night had fallen, we surged past the light house, and caught sight of the twinkling lamps of Algiers, and thought of the days when we had searched its strand for shells, and pieces of marble and tesselated pavement on the shore of Cape Matifou. The next day we passed the high mountains of Kabylia, and caught sight of craggy Fort Napoleon, which looks down upon a hundred ISLAND OF PANTALARIA. 9 villages, the inhabitants of which still make the rude herb-stained pottery of their Phœnician ancestors, and work iu silver varied forms of the cross, sole relic of the Christianity which they professed under the Romans.* The shore became flat before the Tunisian frontier was reached.

From the sea there is little to see that reminds us of the bygone glories of Carthage, though the ruins of the re constructed city, in indestructible masses, still fringe the shore, her columns still strow the strand, and her noble aqueduct, arch after arch, an almost unbroken line, still stretches for fifty miles along the plain. Through a good glass we could just perceive the church which the French have built upon the spot where their sainted Louis expired. The hills above Tunis, famous in story, were dimly visible, and then we lost sight of land, until the Island of Pan talaria, formerly belonging to the King of Sicily, and used as a penal settlement, came into view. An old brick fort stood upon the beach. The town is large, and the flat-roofed houses, paint- * Among some pottery which I once bought in Kabylia, was a small jug of peculiar shape.

It was coloured with dingy red and yellow, and adorned with slanting lines of black, which crossed one another. It precisely resembled the jug found by Captain Warren, under the temple at Jerusalem, an engraving of which may be seen in his work. ed white, rose in gradation, like steps, against the side of the mountain, an extinct volcano. In spite of its isolated position the place had a cheerful air, and the public garden, placed in the old crater, appeared to be a charming spot. AVhat a splendid sea view it must have com manded ! Pantalaria owes its present pros perity to its vineyards. It exports large quantities of white and red marsala. The island now belongs to the King of Italy. Though there was now but an infant moon, the nights Avere made beautiful by the luminous appear ance of the waves.

Bright sparks illuminated the prow of the vessel, flickered up the ropes, and lit up its track with millions of tiny lanterns ; and balls of light came dancing along with the foam, borne past the sides of the ship by the seething waters.* Ships generally call at Malta, but we did not approach it, although the second-class passen gers were short of water, and had to drink that which had been condensed, and even it was dealt out sparingly, as every gallon so prepared costs eightpence. With the captain it was a * It is the Medusa tribe who have the faculty of shedding light in the highest degree, and it is thought probable that fish which go beyond the depth to which the light of the sun penetrates the sea, are endowed with this faculty. PORT SAID. 11 consideration both of time and money, the port dues at Malta being exceedingly heavy.

All were on the alert when Port Said was sighted. We caught sight first of the tall white light house, which stands at the extremity of a long spit of sand ; then of the breakwater, made of huge blocks of concrete, piled up, and black with shaggy sea-weed ; and then of the low shore, with the wooden railway-station, the post-office, long grey lines of sheds, and stretch ing out at the back, the town, with straight streets crossing one another with odious regu larity. One row of huts was pointed out as having been built by English soldiers, the place having served as a depot for some of our troops during the Crimea war. Such, with the burning sky above and the dazzling sand around, was Port Said. Before the process of coaliug commenced, we had to cover up all our effects. The fine black dust is wonderfully penetrating, and it was weeks before the three friends, Grouse, and Drake, and Bustle, were entirely rid of the shining particles.

The passengers made up little parties for the shore, and M. was appealed to for hints as to where to go and what to see. M. was considered a great authority, quite equal to the task of writing a guide-book for Port Said. Only seven weeks previously, the Arabia, a Rubertino steamer, on which M. was a passenger, had come to grief in the Mediterranean, two days from land. She broke her screw one night, when the gales were frightful, and was in great danger. A brig was faintly seen bearing right down upon her. The Italian steward explained the situation to M., the only one who understood and spoke that language, and requested him to rouse his companions ; and when the passengers rushed on deck, a collision between the vessels appeared to be inevitable. The brig was on the top of the waves, with her bowsprit over the deck of the Arabia, which lay in the trough of the sea, when a mighty billow broke in and parted them.

The unknown vessel herself, probably disabled, drifted away, carrying with her part of the rigging of the Arabia. The steamer sent up rockets as signals for assistance, and at last got towed back into Port Said. For ten days did poor M., who was in a fever of anxiety to get home, pace the sands, and torment the agents, in order to know when the ship would be able to sail. At last, tired out, she and eight of her companions in misfortune agreed to take the first steamer which would forward them. It proved to be the Mesopo tamia, a little vessel of eight hundred tons, PORT SAiD. 13 bound from the Persian Gulf to Marseilles. In spite of heavy gales, she landed them safely in France. Curiously enough, Captain Cousins knew the Mesopotamia and her captain ; he de clared that it was a fine boat ; he and its com mander were friends, and had served together for some years on board the unfortunate Cos patrick.

Port Said has a considerable but ever-changing reputation. It is an evil place, full of billiard rooms, gaming-houses, and low drinking booths, where a man must look to his safety after dark. All the French officials who are able to do so live at Ismlilia. It so happened that I and an other lady were for the first hour alone together after landing, and found it so unpleasant that we were on the point of returning to our boat, when by good luck we fell in with some of our friends. In the middle of the town there is a melancholy pleasure-ground, withscorched grass, and shrivelled shrubs covered with dust. Being a French settlement, the most prominent object is, of course, the Hotel Restaurant and Cafe de Paris, a great, rambling, buffwashed building. From this centre radiate several streets, with wooden houses and colonnades, underneath which are the shops.

The most prudent of us ran wild amongst their contents, eating very dear cakes, which we did not want, and buying expensive boxes of pink and white hearts' de light, which we knew would be like so much bird-lime in our mouths. The Chinese and Japan wares were really good, and not dear. We treated ourselves to several small articles, along with a pair of japanned vases, which we designed for lamps, and made a mental note to the effect that we should be well furnished with such articles if we ever visited the place again. The streets were thronged with disreputable looking people ; the Europeans were chiefly French, aud surely there is on earth no vaga bond like a French vagabond. He is the sort of individual who would rob you with a dibon naire air, and take off his hat whilst stealing your purse.

There was to be a masked ball in the town that evening, and the exteriors of many shops were decorated with masks aud dominos, tall clannish hats, and highly-glazed calico costumes of every shape and colour. In the middle of one street stalked an all but un draped madman, who was endeavouring to hold three umbrellas over his head — an object of derision to the low Europeans, but of venera tion to the natives. As is usually the case in such places, we were unmercifully tormented PORT SA'iD. 15 by beggars and little boys, and had the inevit able quarrel with our boatmen before returning on board. When our company were again assembled, we compared notes as to what we had seen and done ; some, not having had enough of the sea, had taken a steam-launch, and had examined the breakwater and the light-house.

Our friends, the M. A s, had visited the ceme tery, in order to see the grave of a young friend, an officer, who had died of fever in this wretched hole. They were quite dejected with the dirt and neglect which they had found. " My dear," said the Colonel to his wife, " if I die at Port Said, bury me in the sea. That, at least, will be a clean grave." Dick's goat had died, I fear, of cold and exposure (Dick was the adored baby), and from Port Said M. took the opportunity of telegraphing to Suez for another. Coaling went on all night, but at eleven in the morning we steamed off, in spite ofthe absence of three passengers, whom the warning guns had failed to bring back from too protracted wander ings on the shore. We got quite excited in thinking how they would contrive to catch the vessel, for we soon perceived that a boat was slowly toiling after us, making so little way that its occupants were obliged to change it for another, in which, with some difficulty, they succeeded in reaching the Hindoo, which did not stop one moment to take them up.

It was somewhat awkward for the ladies, one of whom was stout ; but at last they reached the deck, with tempers slightly ruffled ; and they were certainly received in a very unsympathising manner. The captain explained that it was impossible for him to wait a moment after the ship was ready to start, especially as another vessel, one of the Ducal line, was anxious to get before him, and it was desirable to have the way as clear as possible. He had once been detained six days in the canal, in consequence of ships in advance having stuck. It was delightful to sit down in a shady corner and watch the landscape, as the plains over which the Israelites had wandered lay extended before me. The land of the Pharaohs was a dead flat, bounded only by the distant horizon. To the left lay a stony desert, but to the right spread the shallow waters of Lake Menzaleh, the abiding place of innumerable wild-fowl.

Ducks, with feathers that shone like silver, floated about in thousands ; knots of peli cans, fishing for their noonday meal ; red-billed cranes, standing on one leg, profoundly occupied in regarding their reflection in the water. The THE SUEZ CANAL. 17 air was also tenanted. The brilliant scarlet plumage of the flamingos flashed in the sun shine as they wheeled about in the cloudless sky ; and stiff-legged storks skimmed along in wedge-shaped battalions, led by some crafty traveller, who had flapped his wings over many a land. Who knows ? — he might have supped upon the banks of Father Nile, dozed the night away upon the great pyramid, and the morrow's noon might see him hovering over the highlands of Abyssinia. The mirage is often seen to great advantage from this part of the canal, but on the present occasion the weather was unfavour able to any striking display of the phenomenon.

Occasionally we imagined that there was a tree or an island, where their existence was impossible ; and there was [sometimes a deceptive mingling of sand, hill, and cloud — but that was all. There were fourteen ships before us, and two or three were in our rear. The regulation speed is four and a half miles an hour. Under certain circumstances the mail boats are allowed to pass ahead. The etiquette of the canal is strictly enforced, and in narrow or winding places — for the line taken is far from straight — there are sidings into which ships can enter and allow others to go ahead ; and at the frequent VOL. I. C stations, which are also telegraph-offices, signals are run up for the instruction of the pilot. The signals for stopping were very simple ; two or three cocoa-nuts strung on a rope, or two gourds and a small flag.

These stations, which are long and low, are built of wood, and their rustic porches were covered with creepers. It was pleasant to see such pretty home-like places, each with its patch of garden and grassy banks, little green oases in the sandy desert. Occasionally we saw a colourless village, built of mudand straw; and little naked children would run down to peep at us, and scamper off again. Now and then a tall, dark man, draped in an ample burnous of striped black and white flannel, with a formidable bludgeon in his hand, would pass along on the raised footpath, accompanied, possibly, by wife or daughter, huddled up on the back of a camel — simple scenes, which were pleasant to behold. The first large steamer which we met was packed with pilgrims bound from Jeddo to Alexandria. The crowd on her decks was great, and there were groups and figures so remarkable that they fixed them selves in our memory.