Soldiering in sunshine and storm

Front matter

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Chapter First

I THINK it is Captain Mundy who observes that '' any man who will take the trouble of describing, in simple language, the scenes of which he has been a spectator, can afford an instructive and amusing narrative." With a wish to attempt something of this kind, I here give a true and simple account of what befell the 10th Hussars from the time they left their cantonments, Kirkee, Bombay Presidency, East Indies, until they arrived at the seat of war, and from thence returned to England. It is an old saying in the service, that " a soldier would even get tired of Paradise, were he stationed there longer than six months ;" so in acknowledging that I was heartily tired of India, after being there, and at one station only, for upwards of eight years, I trust I shall not be considered particularly dissatisfied. For when we are with the same people continually, hear the same stories over and over again, see the same objects, the same bungalows, the same horse lines over the way; where the hospital is staring at us from one flank, and the riding-school eyeing us from the other, where, on looking rearwards, are to be seen the same patcherie, (married quarters,) the same canteen, and the commencement of the same long road which leads to the graveyard by the river side ; where morning after morning the same call (reveillee) awakes us, and the same ghorrawallah (horse-keeper) comes to carry over our jins, (saddles,) the same jarrawallah (sweeper) opens the windows and cleans out the room, the same hobagee (cook) brings our breakfast, which is always the same — tea, bread and butter — and asks us the same question afterwards, " Ka khana, sahib?" (what for dinner, sir ?) receiving the never- varying reply, " Curry," for he would spoil anything else ; where the same dhobie (washerman) comes for our clothes ; the same iiodgim (barber) daily shaves us ; daily come the same drills and rollcalls ; daily the sun rises about the same time, and pursues his course without even the ghost of a cloud to cast a shadow across the sameness of his path, except in the monsoons, when he disappears, and it is all cloud and no sun — when all is dark, dull, dismal, and dirty, and nothing seen nor heard but thunders and lightnings, and rain which comes pouring and splashing down in exactly the same way for weeks together — when I say, all this is continued day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year for eight years, surely there is some excuse for "a longing after change." All the variation of this monotony lies in the seasons as they follow in their course, for we have in turn four hot, four wet, and four cold months ; there is nothing to interrupt the even tenor of our way ; no unexpected visitor ever drops in among us, unless it may be the cholera, which twice or thrice came to us very unexpectedly, each time decimating the regiment, and carrying off the finest and best of our men.

We certainly had books to read, but how could they be enjoyed with a hot stifling wind passing through the room, scorching all that it touched. There were likewise outdoor games, such as cricket, football, fives, longbullets, &c. ; but to eujoy these properly, one would require to be bred half a salamander, or find it awkwardly warm work running about with the thermometer over 100° in the shade, a practice which, if persisted in, sometimes bore fever and ague as its fruit. And thus, what with one thing and another, we did not fancy ourselves over comfortable, (remember that by ourselves, I mean the rank and file,) with officers it is different, they can go in the hot months to the hills, where they enjoy a climate similar to the south of Europe, or if they get homesick, as some do, they can get two years' leave to England; and even if they take none of these privileges, what with good pay, good quarters, a good mess, a good billiard-table, and racket-court attached, and, with all these good things, horses to ride, and servants to wait on them, an officer's life in India is quite endurable. But far difierent to this is the life of John Private : in his bungalow there is no punkah to cool him, no sofa soft to lie upon, no jilmiU

* INDIA — ANTICIPATION.

(Venetian blinds) to keep out the blazing sun, no tatties, (window-matting,) with natives outside throwing cold water on them, causing the heated air to become delightfully cool, no brandy in hurruff (ice) standing temptingly to his hand, no cfiuprassie, khansaman, or khitmiitgur to answer his call, no purdah (curtain) to his bed, nothing for his comfort ; so that, wanting all these luxuries, or I may call them necessaries in the East, and wearied of all the sameness I have described, is it to be wondered at that we used to look forward, and vidsh and pray for a change, even if it were for the worse, for is not change good and necessary for both body and mind ? Then there were the natives, with whom no one could ever be intimate, or could ever thoroughly understand — their ways, manners, and customs being so entirely different from ours ; they wish for no improvement, they want no change, as their sires from generation to generation did, lived and died, so they wish to do, live and die likewise. Bah ke dustoor (it is the custom) is their reply, if anything is proposed that they think an innovation. The sameness of their country extends to themselves, and seems more fully developed in them. They still plough with a crooked piece of wood, their corn is still ground by hand between two small round stones ; they still live by families of from ten to twenty in small mud hovels of the same description that has existed for centuries, the same kind of matting still serves for their bed, and the same cuTninerhund (waistcloth) for their covering ; they still use cow-dung for fuel, and a carpet for their floor ; their music, if such it can be termed, has undergone no change since the times of Tamerlane ; in short, ** as they were in the days of Noah, so are they now," and so they will continue, example and precept being alike thrown away upon them.

As regards their conversion to the Christian religion, the money expended on missions in India is, in my opinion, thrown away, or nearly so, and would, I am positive, be more usefully employed, if expended in trying to convert the heathen in our own larp^e cities. One thino;, however, highly creditable to the Indian missions, is, that there is no rivalry whatever between the ministers of different sects, — Church of England, Church of Scotland, Established and Free, Baptists, Methodists, and Americans; — all work harmoniously together. And why should not this be the case all over the world, as all wish to reach the same goal, although the roads to it may vary a little ? Missionaries in India have apparently discovered at last that there is but little chance of converting adults, so they have opened children's schools in all the principal villages, and in every city, where the Scriptures are daily read and explained to the native children, yet, although the attendance is numerous, the results are far from encouraging. Certainly, I have heard of whole villages in the Carnatic being converted, and, probably, people in Mysore may hear of whole villages in the Deccan turning Christian. But, for my own part, I can conscientiously assert, that during my sojourn of eight years in India, I never saw eight converts ; and the only resemblance to them were those who, having committed some serious crime, had thereby lost caste. Such as these take to our religion, as a refuge for the destitute, and appropriate the name of

Christians. So perfectly is this known and understood, that the Bishop of Bombay would not take into his employ a native who would urge the fact of his being a Christian as a recommendation. The Eev. Mr Kennedy of Poonah, a really good man and true Christian, for years made it his duty to live among the natives, and by assimilating himself, as it were, to them, eating what they ate, drinking what they drank, and even making some of their customs his, endeavoured to lead them to the true faith, but even then, I regret to say, failed. He, however, still perseveres, in the hope that the seed thus sown will ultimately bring forth fruit. To his exhortations and readings from the Scriptures, they certainly would listen attentively, but only with the attention they would give to a pleasant story or fable that was intended to amuse them. The Hindoo is a mixture of cunning and simj^licity, with the latter, I think, predominating. You can never make him believe nor understand anything he has not seen. Common things, that are plain and feasible to us, are utterly beyond his comprehension ; and no explanation short of what the eye can see, and the ear hear, will convince or satisfy him. A Hindoo, who has not seen a steamer or a railway, can never, from any description, form an idea of a vessel being propelled without sails against wind and tide, or of a carriage being put and kept in motion without the assistance of buffaloes or horses ; talk to him and try to explain about steam power and its uses, and he only comes to the conclusion that you are either a liar or a fool, or both. I remember the occasion of the first locomotive running from Bombay to Panwell, a distance of about twenty miles, the carriages were all crammed with natives who had come and taken their seats, with the firm conviction in their minds that the carriages would never start. When they actually felt them moving, and heard the engine pufiing and snorting, they began to feel uneasy, a tremor ran through them, and a half belief crept into their minds that the devil had got them in hand ; so being already startled, it required very little more to move them, and when the shrill shriek of the whistle was heard, it acted upon them like an electric shock, — they instantly jumped headlong out, over one another, through the doors and windows, any way out into the open air and on to solid ground, where the whole assembly dispersed to the four winds of heaven, whilst turbans and slippers, beetle-nut and chinam boxes, strewed the ground. After the panic had abated, what a spree it was to see them looking each for his own things ! Some with two pairs of slippers and no turban, others with two turbans and an odd slipper, not their own, and such shouting and screaming, the air resounding with the cries, '' Mardoo-ba-a-a T' " Gunnoo-ha-a-a !" " Rowgeeba-a-a I "

It was a good hour before they were all satisfied, and longer still ere they could be induced to resume their places ; but at last they were all again seated and quiet and fairly started, and then their amazement was at its height, for they found themselves whirled along at a speed which to them was quite as incomprehensible as it was wonderful. They reached their destination in about half an hour ; but before the train could be properly stopped, out they rushed wildly ; and then the cries of " Wa-wa ! kakhooh!" (bravo! beautiful!) which they showered upon the ^re-shigram (engine) were tremendous, from the force and expression with which they were uttered. Their surprise was complete, and the steam-engine claimed the greater victory over their prejudices because of their former unbelief; so they jabbered and chattered as only they can jabber and chatter when all are talkers and none are listeners. They were even more at a loss in trying to understand what the telegraph wires and poles were for ; and the use of these, I fear, but few of them will ever be made to understand for years to come ; it was completely beyond their depth, and they puzzled and puzzled themselves over it until their heads grew giddy. They might daily be seen, standing by twenties, watching the wires for hours, in the vain expectation of seeing the messages pass along in the shape of a cogit or chit, (note ;) and as they could never detect this, they came at last to the conclusion that these were only forwarded by night ; nor would they believe aught else when assured to the contrary, saying that " it was altogether nonsense to suppose that a man in Poonah could communicate in a second of time with another in Bombay."

One of the muccadums (chiefs) of horse interested himself greatly about the telegraph, but could only be made to understand it so far as this, that the wire was the means of communication ; to try to explain it to him any further was only to perplex him more ; so in his own way he determined secretly to fathom the mystery. He had a son, an intelligent little fellow, and he set him to work out the problem ; so, one morning, giving the boy food for the day, he sent him oflf with directions to go into some quiet spot in the jungle, place himself underneath the telegraph wires, and watch them carefully until night, noticing all that passed up or down them. Day after day the boy was sent on this mission, and night after night he returned with the same story, — that he had seen nothing. At length, one day, while looking at the long thin line overhead, and probably tired of his useless watch, he, I suppose, fell asleep, and then he dreamt that he saw a " tora bhuda adimi," (very little old man,) with a gray beard and a red coat, and having a bag over bis shoulder, running like lightning along the wires to Bombay. He ran home and told this to the muccadum his father, who believed it, and came the following day to me quite full of his discovery, and in great glee at having at last satisfied himself as to how the European sahibs talked to each other when a hundred miles apart !

I shall say but little about caste, that great bar to civilisation in India, only mentioning that this pride goes far beyond the Hindoos ; it extends from the lowest to the most exalted European in the land. Eor the civil service looks down upon the military, the Queen's service upon the Company's,* and all three upon civilian tradesmen. Wherever you go this is found to be the case, — the colonel's lady taking precedence of the major's, the major's of the captain's, and the captain's of all the subalterns' ; and as you descend the ladder the feeling of superiority

* These are supposed to be one now; Lut still there is between them he wide gulf of purchase and non-purchase.

over any whose income is inferior seems to increase. The next step is among the warrant rank, such as apothecaries, commissariat-conductors, and with these may be classed auctioneers, tailors, and saddlers, who fancy gentility to consist in a two-horse shigram, with black coachman to match. Next come assistant-apothecaries, subconductors, and such like, who, with "the pride that apes humility," scorn coaches and horses, and consider a palanquin to be the thing. There is yet another class a step lower, composed of bazaar sergeants, provost ditto, ditto on the road and tank departments, with a sprinkling of clerks belonging to the adjutant and quartermastergeneral's departments. These last envy every one who appears to be better off than themselves, talk large about their family and connexions, hint obscurely that if they only chose to use their influence, how damaging it would be to those above them, are always expecting a fortune to be left to them, and always threatening to ruin the state by leaving the service, — a threat which they are far too wise ever to carry into execution. In one respect, however, all these parties seem to agree, which is in living not only up to their income, but far beyond it. Everybody appears to be of necessity in debt ; and there seems to be a respectability about that in India which is not observable in other parts of the world. The consequence is, that a sojourn in Bombay Castle for debt is so little out of the common that no notice is taken of it beyond its appearing in general orders that Captain Rupee has got two months' leave to the Presidency on " urgent private affairs."

Having said this much about India, I will now relate the causes of our leaving the country. I have alreadymentioned how heartily tired we all were of the East ; and now it was with a great deal of satisfaction that we heard of hostilities having broken out between Kussia and Turkey, and that England and France were inclined to join the latter, because out of this we hoped that our long-desired change might be realised. On the outbreak of the Crimean war there could be no greater anxiety shewn in any part of the world to know what was doing than that which was felt by the European community of India. The arrival of the mail from home is at all times a matter of the highest importance abroad, but this interest was shewn in a much greater degree at the period I speak of. Days before the arrival of the bi-monthly bags aU the conversation was relative to the anticipated news ; and as the time grew gradually nearer when the boat must come, the excitement visibly increased, and prevailed to an extent to which that at home could only bear a modified resemblance. At the middle and end of each month there was a point to which all eyes were directed. This was a lighthouse situated some few miles from Bombay, from whence the approach of the boat could be telegraphed ; and the telegraph on these occasions set the whole town in a ferment. Down on the beach might be seen officials from Government offices awaiting despatches, members of the press waiting for news, merchants looking for intelligence and for lists of the latest prices, and members of both services expecting letters from home, from those who, though far away, were yet near and dear to them. All are collected, anxiously waiting ; and yet, whatever their wants, hopes, or wishes might be, the first inquiry of the first person capable of answering is, " What is doing in the Crimea?" Before the anchor is dropped, the ship is surrounded on all sides by boats of every description and size, from the yacht of the port-admiral to the dingee of the bottle-wallah. The first things looked to and sent ashore are the mammoth-sized bags containing the mails, which are transferred to light carts and forwarded to the post-office with all speed, and there immediately sorted out for town ^and country delivery. Meanwhile the editors of the daily and weekly papers are busy with their extras, containing an epitome of the news received, which are forwarded as soon as published to the subscribers in town, and to out-stations which the electric telegraph has not yet encircled with its slight but powerful cords. There the news is seized upon by eager readers, who, as they gather tidings of what is going on in Europe, look at the small extra with kindly eyes, justly considering it a little link of that long chain which, stretching over land and sea, desert and fruitful plain, calm and stormy waters, connects them with home, though many thousand miles away.

After our troops had landed at Varna, and the Russians retired from Silistria, great things were expected from the allies ; every mail was concluded to bring the news of some signal defeat of the enemy; but mail succeeded mail, and the wished-for intelligence did not arrive. At last came tidings of the sailing of the expedition to the Crimea, of the landing at Old Fort, and of the battle of the Alma. I think, nay, I am certain, that there was no class of Her Majesty's subjects who rejoiced more at this victory than the soldiers. Always on the day when a mail was due, our regimental library would be crowded, awaiting the arrival of the Poonah Observers extra, and the noise and hubbub made on its coming contrasted •favourably with the silence and attention paid by all when one would get on the table and " Horse Guards " or read it aloud to all assembled. Then there would probably be another meeting next day, when the newspaper being published, all the particulars were there in full, and then such discussions would sometimes ensue, relative to those high in authority, and their sayings and doings ; it would have caused some of the generals to stare had they heard their actions so freely canvassed, this tribunal giving honour only when it was due, and, on the contrary, if censure was considered as deserved, it was awarded freely, and at times in a style more plain and forcible than either graceful or eloquent. But with all this, one feeling was predominant in all alike, one wish prevailed over everything else, and that was an earnest desire that it might have been our good fortune to be at home when hostilities commenced, so that we could have gone with our comrades there, to share the dangers and honours of the campaign, instead of being inactively situated as we were. And then some would hope that, being short of cavalry at home, one or two regiments might be withdrawn from India, although even the most sanguine never imagined that even if this should prove the case, it would affect us ; for, taking our turn, every cavalry regiment in the three

Presidencies was before us for home service. And so time passed on, events followed each other in rapid succession, everything appeared to move but the 10th Hussars, and they were at a standstill.

I think it was somewhere about the 5th of July 1854 that an interesting, cricket match was being played between two elevens of the regiment, and had just reached a very nice point of the game, — one side had been in and made a good score ; the other side was now in, having but two wickets to go down, and wanting only eight runs to tie; a number of spectators were upon the ground watching the game most intently. At this moment up came our colonel at a gallop, and, riding straight between the wickets, shouted out, " Stop the play ; " then, waving a despatch which he held in his hand over his head, he announced to his astonished audience that we were under orders for the Crimea ! There was a pause — a pause of surprise mingled with delight, — and then a cheer burst forth, which for a moment was confined to those immediately around, and therefore comparatively low, but quickly extending to the hearers and lookers-on, was in less time than it takes me to relate, caught up by all, and cheer after cheer resounded over the parade-ground. The joyful news soon spread to the barrack-rooms, and the whole of the cantonments were quickly in an uproar ; as to the cricket match, that was forgotten on the instant ; the very thing which but a few minutes before was considered of the utmost importance, was now deemed not worthy of a thought ; bats, balls, and wickets were sent flying ; and then there was such shouting, laughing, and shaking hands among us, while in the centre of all sat our gallant and energetic little colonel on his horse, himself looking the most delighted of the happy crowd. All the talk now was, when should we start? and what we had previously been most anxious to hear, we were now afraid would really happen, which was, that the allies, by gaining a succession of victories, would terminate the war before we had time to reach them, and as it was only a letter of Keadiness which had been received, the look-out now was for the Route, v/hich should despatch us at once. As a preparatory measure, we were reviewed by His Excellency the Commander-in-chief, the late * Lord Frederick ritzclarence, who was pleased to compliment our colonel very highly on the discipline and efficiency of his regiment, and, when expressing his regret at losing us from his command, said that he felt happy, nay, overjoyed, to think that we should have the opportunity soon of distinguishing ourselves, and, after exhorting us all to do our duty faithfully, concluded with, "Wherever you go, my good wishes and prayers for your welfare will follow." He then called upon us to give three cheers for Her Majesty — a call, to which we responded most loyally, with three times three. Whoever has spent a few years abroad will be aware that when troops have been for any length of time on one sta-

* Alas ! little did any of us then think that he who thus addressed us, and seemed so strong and hearty, would be overtaken by the still stronger hand of death in a few short weeks. Peace be to his memory ! for he was a true soldier himself, and a soldiei-'s true friend. In him the British army lost one of its best generals, and the troops in the Bombay Presidency a commander who looked after their interests, as a father would after the welfare of his children.

tion, they acquire a practice of making themselves as comfortable as circumstances will admit of, at least so far as the furnishing and decorating of their bungalows is concerned ; and when a shift comes, these articles of use and ornament, which have been accumulated at great expense and trouble, have to be disposed of for almost whatever price the dealers choose to give. Consequently, as we were not at all behind other regiments in the interior decorations of our bungalows, the route — or rather the hint to march — proved a regular windfall to the horrees, (native dealers.) Many will recollect Old Isaac and Shakalana, and the harvest they reaped out of the regiment at this time. These two were in the lines, bargaining nearly as soon as the colonel had made the matter public ; and there they were, day after day, carting off loads of furniture : what they made, only they themselves could tell ; but, as a rule, they never gave more than about the twentieth part of its value for anything ; however, few thought of the sacrifice ; everything else vras forgotten in the all-absorbing topic of the march. But the route did not come, it was apparently as far off as ever, and days and weeks elapsed without any other intimation arriving, which, as may easily be imagined, caused an uneasy feeling to generate among us ; some (the grumblers) had all along said that " We should never go ; " and, as " hope deferred maketh the heart sick," we grew very uncomfortable during this suspense. At length a letter did arrive, but it was a countermand, or at least as good as one, for it notified that the 10th Hussars should not be required that year. So all our castles in the air fell,

INDIA — ANTICIPATION. J 7

" and like the baseless fabric of a vision, left not a rack behind," not even a plank to cling to. Most of us being now vrithout hope henceforth despaired ; and in all Her Majesty's service there was not such another grumbling, dissatisfied, disappointed, disagreeable lot as the 10th Hussars. Those who had been the most sanguine, now felt the calamity most; some declared that there had never been any order ; that it was only a dream of the coloners ; and a few (the croakers) exclaimed triumphantly, "Ah^ it 's just what we expected all along," hugging themselves with the idea of their particular foresight and wisdom. So everything relapsed into the old way ; those who had -been called in off detachment, now returned ; the borrees sold back the articles they had so lately purchased, in most cases being content with a profit of about four hundred per cent. ; and we all sat down quietly again, with the belief that we should have to spend about eight years more in the country. But there was one in the regiment who would not give up the idea, who declared in defiance of the last order, in the face of everybody's opinion, in spite of the Bombay Times and the Poonah Observer; against the world as it were, he alone stood out and said that we should go : this was our colonel, and he was right. The disastrous and unfortunate charge of Balaklava brought down the scale in our favour with a thump, for simultaneously with the news of that mismanaged affair came to us the order for the 10th Hussars and 12th Lancers to proceed overland to the seat of war. There was no mistake this time; the Route had come, and we were to start as soon as the ships destined to convey us could be got ready ; this caused a delay of about a month, as one of them had only just been launched. The name of this vessel was the Punjaub, sister to the Meanee, and built for an East India Company's steam-frigate ; she had therefore to be jury-rigged, and being without engines, there was the more room for horses.