Travels and adventures of an Officer's Wife in India, China and New Zealand

Preface

. The composition of this book occupied a voyage from China to England. Notes from my journal furnished the matter, my husband dictating while I wrote. Thus the contents came to be coloured by the peculiar character of his mind, and this preface was rendered ne cessary; for I cannot allow the work to go forth without this explanation. Profes sional subjects are touched on, which many of my readers will see could not have ema nated from me. Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Muter used the opportunity of stating opinions he strongly held, and which he thought might be useful ; but he would be sorry they should vi

PREFACE.

. be published under the shelter of a lady's name. The original MS. was rambling and diffuse, having been commenced in the middle, and con tinued towards either end. Indeed it was in a very crude and incomplete state on our arrival in England. During our voyage to New Zealand it assumed its present form ; and the chapters on that colony were added on the way from Dunedin to Calcutta. At first the work was a subject of amusement, and furnished pleasant occupation for our time at sea. It was not, however, till it assumed some shape and consistency, that I en tertained even the idea of publishing it ; though my friends urged me to do so, on the plea that I had ample material, and that the adventures would be of interest to my country women, as they portrayed the experiences of an officer's wife in the various countries visited by her. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Chapter I

Infantry Barracks at Meerut — Outbreak of Native Troops — I take Refuge at the Quarter Guard — Morning after the Mutiny — The Cantonment — The 60th Rifles paraded for Church — Military Proceedings against the Rebels — Conduct of the Sepoys — Incendiarism and Slaughter — Designs of the Mutineers — False Confidence in Native Troops — Their value overrated .... 1 CHAPTER n. Feelings of the European Community after the Outbreak — Perils of Exposure to the Climate — Could Better Arrangements have been made for quelling the Mutiny? — British Residents at Meerut take Refuge in the Infantry and Artillery Lines — The Surrounding Country at Night — Murder and Pillage — Terrible Rumours — Fugitives from Delhi — Orders of the Commander-in-Chief — Martial Law Proclaimed — Punishment — British Force engaged with Mutineers — English Officers Killed . . . .25 CONTENTS.

VIII CHAPTER IH. Expected Attack on Meerut— Defensive Preparations- Warlike Rumours— My Khansumah and Ayah— Native Servants— Nunkin India — Beneficial Use of the Seventy-ninth Psalm — Massacre at Cawnpore — Effects of the Mutiny — Siege of Delhi — English Prestige— News of the Capture of Delhi reaches Meerut .... 41

CHAPTER IV.

Military Arrangements after the Fall of Delhi — Appearance of the City — The Palace — Fountains — The Peacock Throne — Scene of the Struggle — House of Sir Theophilus Metcalfe — The Cashmere Gate — The Chandnee Chowk — Effects of the War . . .56

CHAPTER V.

Our Residence in the Captured City— Provisions — The English Mail — Want of Enterprise of the Gwalior Contingent — Search for Treasure — Concealment — Thirteen Waggons laden with Spoil — Jewelry and Precious Stones Captured — Miniatures — The Great Mogul a Prisoner — His Family — Commission for the Trial of Native Prisoners of Rank — Their Fate — Major Hodson— Conduct of the Royal Captives — The Jumma Musjid . 77

CHAPTER VI.

Return to Meerut — Convalescent Depots — Entrance into Rohilcund of the Roorkee Field Force — The Base of the Himalayas enclosed by the Ganges — General Jones's Force — Crossing the Ford — Mistakes of the Sepoys — They are attacked by the Advancing Column in the Centre of CONTENTS. IX the Terai — Flight of the Nawab — -Attack on the Enemy's Position before Mooradabad, and their Defeat — Khan Ba hadour Khan — Relief of Shahjehanpore — Sir Colin Campbell — Tremendous Heat . . . . . .97 CHAPTER . TI. Tragedies at Shahjehanpore — Indian Travelling in Hot Weather — Intermittent Fever — Rewarding on Compulsion — Valour of the Seikhs — Entrance into the Punjab — Region of Hills — A Change for the Better . .114 CHAPTER Vin. A Bungalow in the Hills — Sanatorium at Murree — Firing Cannon at a Target — Mountainous Scenery — Military Command of the Station — Expensive Necessaries — Effects of a Damp Cloud — Attack of Malignant Cholera — Sir John Lawrence endeavours to check the Pestilence — Value of Sanatoriums— Attempts at Amusement — Winter on the Mountains — Last Days at Murree . .124

CHAPTER IX.

Proceedings against the Mutineers at the Cantonment of Jhelum — A Comfortable House — Visit to the Fort of Moultan — Designs of the Mutineers— Their Excesses — Embark on Board the Steamer Havelock — The Indian Navy — Delicate Fish — Arrival at Kurrachee — The Cantonments ....-••• 142

CHAPTER X.

On Board the Eastern Monarch bound for England— St. Helena and Longwood— Betting — Care of the Indian CONTENTS. X Government for its Invalided Soldiers — The Eastern Monarch in the Channel — Steering for Portsmouth — The Ship on Fire and Laden with Saltpetre — Terrible Scenes — My Escape — Dreadful Conflagration — The Soldiers Saved — The Ship totally destroyed — My Arrival at Portsmouth — Reach London in the Race Week, without Luggage of any kind 160

CHAPTER XL

Embarkation at Liverpool for Canada — The Anglo-Saxon and her Passengers — Fogs off Newfoundland — Icebergs — Quebec and its Scenery — Disappointment — Falls of Montmorenci — Citadel of Quebec and its Garrison- — Steaming to Montreal — Yankee Barber — Kingstown — Arrival at Toronto — Opening of the University — State of the Country — Niagara Falls Station- — Blondin and the Great Cataract — Primeval Forest 183 CHAPTER Xn. Grand Trunk Railway — Impressions of Canada — Return to England — The English Eleven, and the Yankee Twenty-two — Chinese Expedition — On board the White Star — Off Ireland- — The Surgeon-Major and his School — Eclipse of the Sun — Good Ships in a Storm — Moon Blindness — Visit to Anjer — Dutch Formality — Pulo Sapeta . 212

CHAPTER XIII.

Chinese Junks — A Celestial Pilot — Pigeon English — Approach to Hong-Kong — Its Harbour and Shipping — Doctors' Shops — Sampans — Chinese Females — A Marine Portrait Painter — Cooking — Victoria Peak — Character of Hong-Kong CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER XIV.

A Collision in the Harbour — Voyage to the Gulf of Peiho — Difficulties of the Navigation — The Anchorage — A Gale — Perils of Disembarkation — Chinese Defences — Metamorphosed English Soldiers — River blocked up by Ice — Ineffectual Attempts to land — Disappointments — The Meatan Islands — Dangers of the Chinese Coast . 250

CHAPTER XV.

Transport of Troops — Accommodation in Ships selected — Objections to the Admiralty Scheme — Provisions and Liquor — Salt Food — Insufficient Rations for Soldiers on a Voyage — Captains of Transports — Mischief-Makers — Position of a Commanding Officer — The Queen's Regulations — A Dead Lock ...... 265

CHAPTER XVI.

City of Victoria — Government House — Streets and Quays — The Queen's Road — General Hospital — Barracks — Jetty — Temporary Theatre — Chinese Shops and Merchandise — Quaint Sign-boards — Chinese Cruelty — Progress of Victoria — Medley of People and Confusion of Tongues — Buildings and House-rent — Graves — Unhealthiness of the Climate ... . 285

CHAPTER XVII.

Annexation of Kowloon — Military Encampment — Hiring a Cook — Force of the Wind — Lawless People in Hong- Kong — Robberies and Assassinations — Catching a Tartar — Fireworks — Waste of Stores — Health of the Soldiers — A Country Recruit — Our Comprador . . TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES IN INDIA, CHINA, AND NEW ZEALAND. CHAPTEE I. Infantry Barracks at Meerut — Outbreak of Native Troops — I take Refuge at the Quarter Guard — Morning after the Mutiny — The Cantonment — The 60th Rifles paraded for Church — Military Proceedings against the Rebels — Conduct of the Sepoys — Incendiarism and Slaughter — Designs of the Mutineers — False Confidence in Native Troops — Their value overrated. On Sunday, 10th May, 1857, I was at Meerut. The 1st Battalion of the Eoyal Rifles, in which my husband was a Captain, occupied the Infantry Barracks.

The men were parading for church, and Captain M. had left me to accompany them. VOL. I. I; THE OUTBREAK. The sun was sinking in a blaze of fiery heat, that rose hazy and glowing from the baked plain. I waited at the door of the church, expecting every moment to hear the sound of a gay march, which so strangely heralds the approach of a body of soldiers to Divine worship — but I listened in vain. A dull sound, very different from that I expected, came over the stillness of nature around like a distant waterfall ; but I little heeded the holiday making in the bazaars — holiday-making, as I then thought it, though it was the commencement of Saturnalia destined to take a place in history, and to revolutionize the great empire which we had founded in the East. A gentleman accosted me. " You need not wait, Mrs. M. Do not be alarmed, but an out break has taken place, requiring the presence of the troops, and there will be no service this evening.

The sun had set as I turned towards home, and was quickly followed by the dusk, which leaves so little space in this region between the glare of day and the darkness of night. I faced in the di rection of the Native lines, and, in terror and amazement, beheld the horizon on fire, as if the ALARM OF NATIVE SERVANTS. whole cantonment were in flames. Entering the broad road that leads to the bazaar, I saw it was crowded with men. Two of the European Artillery were hurrying up, pursued by a throng of natives hurling every missile they could get at the wounded and un armed Englishmen. So intent were they on this occupation, that I was allowed to pass uninjured into a road leading to my home. The servants were assembled in a flutter of alarm, the Ivhan sumah at their head. He declared he could not be responsible for any property, and bringing the silver in use he returned it to my charge.

At the same time he advised me to conceal myself ; a pro posal which, from the indignant refusal on my face, he saw I regarded as an insult- To conceal myself in my own home, in the lines held by a regiment that had reckoned up a century of renown! And from what. That was the question. Was the native army in revolt? Had the threatened storm come so soon, and was the instrument, so carefully sharpened by our Government, at its own throat? The distant noise now rolled up, a Babel of voices nearly drowning the ceaseless rattle of B THE QUARTER GUARD. musketry; and, above all, came the heavy tramp of an English battalion on the march, which can be distinguished at once from the movement of any other body by one accustomed to the sound. The interview with my servants was interrupted by a sergeant sent by my husband, with directions for me to proceed to the Quarter Guard.

He told me that the native force had broken into revolt, that they were shooting down every European they could meet, and that the English troops were moving on the bazaars. With drawn swords, the Chokedhar and the Khansumah escorted me to the place indi cated, where I found many fugitives already as sembled. The scene at the Quarter Guard was not calculated to strengthen my fortitude. Fearful rumours were rapidly circulated, and as rapidly followed by others still more dreadful, and I was glad to accept a room close by, kindly offered to me by the wife of a pay-sergeant. Every moment added to the noise ; and through the roar of countless voices came the boom of heavy guns : one, two, three — then silence ; and these dread messengers of good and evil tidings ceased for that night. A NIGHT IN THE VERANDAH. ■ i In the midst of the confusion a stranger presented himself with his family, directed by my husband to join me.

His house, situated near the bazaar, had, with all its contents, been burnt to the ground, and the family had most nar rowly escaped. The servants had concealed them under boughs of trees in the garden, from whence they witnessed the destruction of their property and heard the savage demands made by the armed ruffians for the discovery of their retreat. When nearly everyhope was gone, the place had been cleared by a party of the Rifles, and they were sent under escort to our house, whence they were direct ed to the Quarter Guard. Before midnight the troops reached the Mall, where they bivouacked, throwiug a chain of sentries around the European lines ; and as I could then do so in safety, I returned to the house, accompanied by the fugitives. All that night I walked in the verandah, watching the flames as they sprang up from the burning houses.

I could see in the new fires the progress of the incendiaries, who sometimes approached, as I thought, perilously near our lines. The weary night ended, the last flames died out ere MORNING AFTER THE MUTINY. the rising sun reddened the sky, and I retired to rest with the impression of an event stamped on my mind that no time can erase. The sun rose on a scene changed in a manner words cannot describe. It was not only that he had sunk on a peaceful parade for church, and rose on blackened ruins and murdered Christians; he had also sunk on good and kindly feelings, and now rose on the wildest storm of man's passions. It was mid-day turned to black night — a picture of peace changed by magic to one of war. We felt intuitively that it was a great revolution — a cyclone that had merely its centre at Meerut, destined to sweep, with a violence that would startle the world, over the length and the breadth of the land.

Perhaps the framework of English rule would go down before the tempest, and if so, what fate was reserved for us? I propose to give a slight sketch of the cantonment, that the event I have to record may be the better understood. Meerut stands in the centre of the Doab, or terri tory between the rivers Ganges and Jumna. The country from the ranges of the Himalayah, for hundreds of miles towards Central India, is an THE CANTONMENT. unvaried plain. The station is one of the oldest in India, and in years gone by was held by a division of troops so large as almost to be termed an army. Then it was a frontier post, but as the frontier advanced, so advanced the troops, leaving behind vast ranges of barracks, rows of bungalows, shops, roads, trees, and all the civilization that time and a great expenditure can alone produce.

The barracks of the English troops occupied a line of great extent, fronting a noble parade-ground cleared from every impediment to the movement of men. The head-quarters of the Bengal Artillery were on the right ; the Rifles in the infantry barracks were in the centre; and the Sixth Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers) in the Cavalry barracks on the left. The military stations in India are on the plan of a camp. The lines occupied by the men face to the clear and open country ; next come the hospital, cook-houses, gymnasia, canteens, and other buildings ; and then the houses of the officers. To the rear of these, in Meerut, ran a magnificent road termed the Mall, and behind that the space was filled up by numerous houses and bazaars. The only inclosed buildings were the Dum-Dum and the THE NATIVE LINES.

General Hospital ; the former behind the Artillery, containing stores for that branch of the service; and the latter in rear of the Infantry. A wide space separated the Artillery and Infantry from the Cavalry, who occupied a long range of hand some barracks just completed. The Native lines faced to the left of those held by the English troops, commencing about a mile or so to their rear. They were very extensive, having been built for seven battalions. The long rows of bungalows for the officers of these bat talions were separated from the chief, or Suddur, bazaar only by a street. I need scarcely add that each bungalow stands in a garden called a com pound. This bazaar, in 1857, had more preten sions to be termed a city than many of the most populous towns of India. If lines were drawn at right angles from the right of the European and from the left of the Native barracks to the rear, at the point where they met, the square would be complete; and all that space, containing many thousands of acres, was crowded with the residences of civil and military func tionaries, eitizens, public buildings, aud bazaars.

The whole was shaded by the foliage of well- CHURCH PARADE. grown trees, and intersected with numerous and beautifully constructed roads. The walled city that gives its name to the station lies a short way behind the Suddur Bazaar. The great cantonment was built with no more regard to defence than Cheltenham or Man chester. Our maxim was that we must beat our enemy in the open field, or wherever he might be entrenched, or cease to rule in India. Armies had gone forth from Meerut to conquer provinces — no one dreamt that the time would come when we should there tremble for our lives. One of the ob jects for which this spot was selected, was to over awe the Imperial city of Delhi, distant about thirty-five miles, by a good road. It was not imagined that the turn of events would reverse this order, and that the period would arrive when the Imperial city would overawe the military sta tion.

The Rifles had assembled on the parade ground. The men were standing in groups, ready to fall in on the sound of the bugle, and the officers were scattered in httle knots, when suddenly a stream of soldiers poured tumultuously towards their bar rack-rooms. THE SEPOYS IN MUTINY. " What is the matter ?" was the general excla mation. " The Sepoys are in mutiny ! " was the answer. Without orders the parade was changed. They had been waiting without arms for Divine service — they now came forth armed and accoutred for action. The convalescent, the excused, those going on pass — all rushed into the ranks ; and the colonel, who attended to march the men to church, found the soldiers in column of route, ready to en gage an enemy. Thus, the first move made in one of England's most momentous wars was by the private soldiers, who seemed to have a keen appre ciation of the crisis and of the work before them.

Ammunition was distributed, and a company was despatched to the Treasury. The Native guard, in charge of a Native officer, had turned out with their arms in their hands, and seemed irresolute as to their course, when this company came up at the double, and halted before them. The guard was disarmed, the records and treasure saved, and the incendiaries checked in that quarter. All the guards, save those over the quarters of the European forces, are given by the Native In- ESCAPE OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER. fantry. Even in the lines of regiments, Native sentries mount over the Quartermaster's stores. When the ammunition was sent for, the Native guard was seen sneaking away. So rapidly had the Sixtieth got under arms, that they could with ease have captured all the natives on duty in their hnes, but neither the officers nor the men had a notion of the length to which the mutiny had pro ceeded, and they waited impatiently for orders to act.

In the meantime, the surprise was so complete, that the Chief Commissioner became aware of his danger only when men were yelling in tens of thou sands around his house, and he was roused from his security to trust his own life and his wife's into the hands of his servants, who safely carried them through that night of danger. The General es caped by a back way, and the Brigadier rode at full speed from his home with the bullets of his own guard whistling past his head. Probably this officer, whose good fortune it was to strike the fatal blow at Delhi, never more nearly met his fate. While the chiefs were concealing themselves, or riding for their lives, the bazaars were in the hands SCENE OF TERROR. of myriads of Goojurs* and badhmashes,t who had assembled from the surrounding country to assist in the extermination of the English, and to sack the cantonment.

The Brigadier rode up, and the battalion moved at once on the bazaar. It was joined by a battery of artillery and some troops of cavalry. Fearing to entangle this small force among the dense masses that filled the streets, and a Native force stronger than his own, the General passed to the right and formed on the parade-ground in front of the Native lines. The sun had set, and the moon had not yet lit up the scene. The illumination before him, rising out of the thick blackness around, was one of awful grandeur. For more than a mile three rows of thatched bungalows -were on fire, and the spaces between seemed filled with a legion of fiends. As __> the skirmishers drew close, mounted Sowars with drawn sabres were seen riding furiously about in the light of the conflagration ; but the troops ap proached in darkness, and it was not till the Enfield bullet, in its deadly flight, passed close by that the * A plundering Gipsy tribe. t Rogues and vagabonds in the city.

CONDUCT OF THE SEPOYS. mutineers knew their danger. Drawing rapidly to their left, the loud hum told the Brigadier they were congregating on his right. Some guns were unlimbered, and the multitude was dispersed with three rounds of grape. This was the last ever seen of the Native army of Bengal in the lines of Meerut. The troops passed through the bazaars, driving the Goojurs from the gardens of the houses. In the streets not a human being was to be seen, though half an hour before they were filled with the pre datory tribes for which in former years this neigh bourhood was notorious. A few mangled victims were taken from the ditches, and the force bivouacked on the Mall, throwing a chain of sentries around their lines. So continuous was the musketry in the bazaars, that it sounded as if a great action were going on ; and amidst the cries of the frantic Goojurs, and the blaze of the houses in flames around, I venture to say that few slept that night within miles of the circle of Meerut.

The conduct of the Sepoys, in avoiding the battle here offered, damped the ardour of their Meerut partisans. They had boasted everywhere REMAINS OF THE MURDERED. I that they were more than a match for the European garrison ; yet they fled, scarcely firing a shot not discharged at an unarmed man. At dawn the Brigade again marched on the native lines, seeking out the enemy, whose course was not yet known ; but at that time the Sowars were riding into the city of Delhi. Far over the clear and level parade-ground a crowd of Goojurs hung like a cloud, and a similar body could be traced during the day in the neighbourhood of the European lines. For some time these men waited the evacuation of Meerut, or the destruction of the English, for on this they seem with confidence to have calculated. They were soon to learn the nature of the champion they had backed, and that those who intend to prey on British spoil must act with courage, and nerve every sinew for the enterprise.

From amidst the yet smoking ruins of the houses, from the streets, and from ditches, the remains of the murdered were taken ; and with horror the officers saw the mangled bodies, scarcely to be distinguished, of ladies they knew well, lying naked in the street, and hacked with sabres. The soldiers picked up their comrades. The men spoke little — there was no outburst of feeling, CHARACTER OF THE OUTBREAK. 15 though in their hearts was seared the memory of this scene. Though I shrink from details, yet a sketch is necessary — for the horrible . character of the outbreak is not fully understood in England. Frequently I have been asked if the reported murders and escapes were true, and even if any foundation existed for such reports ! In the first instance, as usual, the nation exaggerated the crimes of the rebellion, and ended, in the reaction sure to follow, by disbelieving plain and true state ments.

To such a result tended the accounts of men who saw the retribution — but not the provo cation ; who beheld the cringing figure and clasped hands of the wretch mercilessly consigned to the gallows — but not the yelling fiend, with dripping sword and hands red with blood, mutilating the bodies of those who had never injured him. I will take the first house, which became a true type of what numbers throughout India were destined to become; and one spot of road-side, which furnished but a poor sample of many more horrible scenes. Near the gaol stood a neat brick chunammed bungalow. This gaol held the Sowars, whose SURPRISED BY THE MUTINEERS. sentence of imprisonment had precipitated the revolt. It was situated behind the lines of their corps, and the first act of the Third Cavalry, who led the outbreak, was to release their comrades and the other convicts in confinement.

It was Sunday evening, and I believe a few friends had assembled in this house. They must have been surrounded, and every hope of escape lost, before even a conception of what was impend ing had entered their minds. The conclusions Captain M. formed were from what he saw. It seemed that they had fled to then bed and bath-rooms, seeking any hiding place in their desperate extremity. Attempts had been made to burn down the bun galow, which were defeated by the nature of its materials, and the volumes of smoke had only blackened the walls and the ceilings, as if to throw a pall over the tragic acts the fire refused to obliterate, leaving the place a charnel-house, black with crime. The doors and windowframes had been torn from their positions, the furniture was gone, the matting in shreds, and trampled by a thousand feet, the plaster soiled and broken.

INCENDIARISM AND SLAUGHTER. 17 Following in the flight of the inmates, a bedroom was entered, where a pile in the centre at tracted attention, requiring an inspection to under stand what it was. Charred ends of chairs and tables were mixed with burnt ends of limbs and fragments of garments ! The proceedings, of which the proofs lay here, were difficult to realize, and took some time to comprehend. Men and women dying from sword cut wounds must have been heaped upon their own broken furniture, till the vestiges left by the fire applied to the pile did not even tell the number of the victims. The walls were dark with smoke — the floor stained with blood — and the air tainted with the smell. It was easy to trace the rush of desperate men into the small adjoining apartments, where their bodies lay just as they had furnished subjects for the brave swords of the rabble to hack at and to hew.

However sad may be the look of a soldier on the field after an action, there is no horror in the gaze on the dead who fell fairly with arms in their hands, and the excitement of battle in their hearts. But it shocks even the sternest to see men murdered by their bedsides, and still more to see women. Before the frenzy of excess that sug- VOL. I. C ONPROVOKED MASSACRES. gested and carried out the funeral pile, the soldier stood aghast ; and an impression was produced per haps never afterwards erased. A little way from this spot two riflemen of my husband's company lay on the road, in such a state that none save their own comrades could recog nize them. On the evening preceding the mutiny they had received an advance of pay with a fur lough, and were bound to the hills in a government bullock van, when they w-ere attacked by the mob, the first in this attack being their driver.

The body of a lady lay in a ditch on the other side of a slight embankment, so disfigured by wounds as to be with difficulty recognised. A track was discernible along the duct of the road from the bazaar to the place, shewing clearly she had been dragged over the ground, and thrown where she lay. The corpse of another murdered woman was in the same ditch, a little beyond. But why follow these details — why wonder that our country people cannot comprehend the full barbarity of these unprovoked massacres, when those who saw them recall the scenes more as a dream than as a reality — an enduring impression left by a hideous vision? This bazaar was only PLAN OF THE MUTINY. 19 three or four hours in the hands of the mutineers ; and as my mind wanders from cantonment to can tonment that fell wholly into their possession, a shifting scene of horror goes by, which I know only faintly portrays the facts- It was probable that the mutiny would begin at a station held by European troops, from the fact that these only had the commanders who had the power to coerce ; and so it proved, for it was in the attempt to punish the mutinous conduct of the 3rd Cavalry that the revolt was precipitated. blow much we owe to this precipitation, may be best con jectured by considering the plan said to have been proposed by the Sepoys.