Six years in India; or, Sketches of India and its people, as seen by a lady missionary

Introduction

The vast peninsula of Hindoostan is located near the center of the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bounded on the north by the Himalaya Mountains, on the east by Burmah and the Bay of Bengal, on the south by the Indian Ocean, on the west by the Arabian sea, Afghanistan, and Beloochistan.

The name Hindoostan signifies literally the place, that is the country, of the Hindoos, stan simply signifying place or locality. In like manner Afghanistan signifies the country of the Afghans.

Hindoostan is a magnificent country. Its vast area of one and a half millions of square miles contains every variety of scenery and climate. There are long ranges of lofty mountains, some of which are of immense height and covered with perpetual snows ; and large rivers, which irrigate extensive valleys and plains. On these prairie-like plains snows never fall. During the entire year they are clothed with verdure.

No fences or walls divide the land into farms. In the center of each section or township of from two to six hundred acres, stands a village where the farmers live, and from which they go out and till their small fields.

Probably the chief reason of this practice is the tenure on which the lands are held, which precludes the ownership of the farms by the farmers. The lands are all held by the British government, except some small states which native nobles are allowed to retain on condition of fealty to the Queen of England. They are leased in townships by the government to Zamindars, who sub-lease them in small parcels to the farmers. Consequently, the country is dotted with large cities and multitudinous villages.

The houses of the poorer classes are built of sun-dried brick and are thatched with straw ; but the nobles and native gentry have dwellings of kiln-dried brick, ornamented with arched verandahs and frescoed ceilings. They are generally, however, entirely destitute of glass, doors, and windows, and, except in the case of the houses of those who have something of an English education, they are wholly without chairs, and tables, and the other articles of furniture which we deem so indispensable. A few brass dishes, a kettle or two, an iron plate on which to bake their chappattees, or graham bread, one or two hookahs or pipes, two or three light bedsteads (charpoys) covered with woven cords, constitute the usual array of household goods.

The people usually build their houses in quadrangular form, with a wide entrance to a courtyard in the center of the building. In this courtyard there are usually a well and a few shade trees, and there they usually sit and smoke their hookahs, and sometimes sleep and take their meals. In the older cities, like Lucknow, Delhi, Agra, etc., there are noble structures — temples, mausoleums, and palaces — the remains of past grandeur, power, and oppression. \

The population of the country is reckoned at about two hundred millions.

"But little is known of the first inhabitants of the country. The Bheels of Central India, the Gonds of ISTerbudda, and some of the tribes of the Himalayas, are supposed to be their descendants.

" The next settlers were the Hindoos, who are of the Indo-Germanic family. Bodies of this people went off to the west from Central Asia, and settled in Europe. The Germans and English are descendants of this great shepherd race. Other bands passed into the plains of the

Indus and gradually subdued the tribes of Scythian descent, and spread themselves over the whole country."

The Hindoos are well formed and athletic, with regular features and oval faces like Europeans. In some sections of the country, where they subsist largely upon rice, they are weaker and more effeminate.

The history of India is divided into three parts : the Hindoo, Mohammedan, and Christian. The history of the Hindoo period is extremely vague. We have no reliable information concerning the dynasties that rose and fell. It is clear, however, from memorials that remain, and upon which we can rely, that civilization and literature of a certain kind flourished in ages long since past. The people made important discoveries in several branches of science, particularly in mathematics and astronomy.

The Hindoos invented the decimal system of notation. Many centuries ago they made discoveries in algebra and geometry that were not known in Europe until the last century.

In astronomy they ascertained the courses of eclipses, and constructed tables for calculating them, and some of their sages discovered the diurnal revolution of the earth, and calculated its diameter with considerable precision.

All the subtleties of logic and the refinements

INTBOEXJCTIOST. 9

of grammar are to be met with in Sanscrit works. In the copious poetic literature of India the niceties and varieties of meter are as numerous as in that of ancient Greece.

It should be remembered that the Hindoos acquired their knowledge by their genius, while the present nations of Europe are largely indebted for theirs to the ancient Greeks and Eomans.

The invasion of the country by the Mohammedans crushed the spirit of inquiry and improvement among the people, and the Hindoo mind has for centuries lain dormant. The Mohammedans invaded the land about A.D. 1000. The history of their supremacy is made up largely of war and oppression. Thousands of Hindoos were carried into captivity. During their reign, life, property, and honor were not secure. As a native writer says, u the effect of their government on the country resembled that of a scorching blast upon a plant." Their reign extended until the battle of Plassey, in 1737, from which time British power in the East takes its date.

The English government in India is a great blessing to the people. The Mohammedans would doubtless rejoice if they could regain their former sway, and they have at times laid schemes to that end ; but their successive failures have given them the impression that

10 USTTEODUCTION.

the British power is sustained by G-od and cannot be overthrown. Some of their most learned moulvais now say that the Christian religion must spread over all the world, consequently the world must be governed by those who will not hinder its progress.

Protestant missions were commenced in 1706, by Schwartz and others, and were encouraged by the King of Denmark, who had previously formed trading settlements in various places in India. Those missionaries, however, failed of achieving great results, by allowing heathen customs to intermingle with the Christian observances of their converts.

The British government for many years made no effort to introduce Christianity, and even forbade missionaries to settle in the country ; and when at the close of the eighteenth century Carey, and Thomas, and others of the English Baptists, sought to establish a mission, they were compelled to seek an asylum at the Danish settlement of Serampore, on the banks of the Hooghly, fifteen miles above Calcutta.

" The Marquis of "Wellesley gave encouragement to devout missionaries of every Christian persuasion ; but during the administrations of Lord Minto and the Marquis of Hastings there was direct opposition to the ministers of the cross, who were obliged to proceed from England to the United States, and sail in an American vessel to their destination. " Some were not permitted to land on British ground, others were obliged to re-embark. Ships were refused port entrance if they had missionaries on board as they were deemed more dangerous than the plague, or the invasion of a French army.

" The governor of Serampore, when desired by the Calcutta authorities to expel Drs. Carey, Marshman, and others, nobly replied, they might compel him to pull down the flag of the Danish king, but he would not refuse a refuge and a home to those whose sole object was the temporal and spiritual welfare of their fellowbeings.

" Despite the most powerful official discountenance, the missionary cause ultimately triumphed. The Church of England became an effective auxiliary. Calcutta in 1814 was made the see of a bishop, under Dr. Middleton ; and his amiable successor, Bishop Heber, removed many prejudices, and paved the way for a general recognition of the necessity and duty of affording to the people of India the means of becoming acquainted with the precepts of Christianity.

"The thin edge of the wedge being thus fairly inserted in the stronghold of idolatry, the force of truth drove it home ; point by point,

12 INTEODUCTION.

step by step, the government was fairly beaten from positions which became untenable.

" It was tardily admitted that some missionaries were good men, and did not intend nor desire to overthrow the dominion of England in the East ; next it was acknowledged that they had a direct and immediate interest in upholding the authorities, as the most effectual security for the prosecution of their pious labors. " Soon the government ceased to dismiss civil and military servants because they had become Christians ; then came the public avowal of their faith by many of the Europeans in India, and the open celebration of its rites.

" When this vantage ground was gained, other triumphs necessarily followed. " The Scriptures, which the British and Foreign Bible Society, and also the Baptists, had been engaged in translating and printing, were now freely distributed. " Toleration was no longer conceded to Hindooism and other idolatries only : it was extended to Christianity ; and the principle was urged boldly that the state should renounce all countenance in the shameful orgies of Juggernaut and other pagan abominations ; that the car of this idol and its obscene priests should cease to be annually decorated with scarlet cloth and tinsel, specially provided by the East India Company ; and that the troops, English and Mohammedan, should no longer have their feelings outraged by being compelled to do honor to disgusting rites which were a mockery to the true and living God."*

The missionary cause, thus " tolerated," extended and widened from year to year, until in 1862 there were in Hindoostan 519 foreign missionaries, 140 native catechists, and 153,816 native Christians.

There were 70,709 boys and 19,997 girls in mission schools. Since the Mohammedan's lawless reign, the Hindoos of high caste have kept their wives and daughters closely secluded ; and this custom, with the Mohammedan plan of keeping their females closely confined in zenanas? forms a very great barrier in obtaining access to women of the higher classes ; nevertheless these obstacles are yielding to the persevering efforts of Christians, and the prejudices of the natives in regard to female education are fast vanishing.

Our own mission was commenced in 1856 by Rev. ¥m. Butler, who settled in the city of Bareilly, Rohilcund. Our field of labor extends over a good part of the valley north of the Ganges, and embraces the provinces of Oude and Rohilcund, and part of the contiguous sub- Himalayan Range. It is nearly four hundred

* See " British Possessions in Asia," by R. Montgomery Martin, Esq.

miles in length and seventy-five in breadth, with a population of about thirteen millions.

Until our mission was established this part of the country had been entirely neglected, so that we have had to meet the prejudices of the people and the discouragements incident to the work in full force ; but God has graciously given us even thus early many tokens of his favor.

In February, 1865, we had 26 native preachers and catechists, 209 native Christians, and 208 orphan children, wholly in our charge. We had 15 stations, 10 chapels, and 1,231 scholars in our mission schools.

The work is now opening in every direction. People of all classes are willing and anxious to be taught secular knowledge, and for the sake of this will receive religious instruction. Even the "purdah" is withdrawn to admit female missionaries to the charmed precincts of the zenana.

We can ask no more of them ; the rest must be accomplished by the Spirit of God and the faithfulness of the Church. Let the Church then continue to send out the missionaries of Jesus, and not fail to speed their efforts for the salvation of men by her prayers.

It is not a service of ease and luxury, and if any make it such they are unfit for their responsible position. It is a work for which cultivated, earnest, self-denying, consistent, humble, and industrious men and women are needed. There ought to be many such in the Church, willing to devote themselves to this work. Let them be sent forth and heartily and prayerfully sustained.

It is not because of any supposed literary merit in these letters that they have been prepared for publication, but in the hope that they might ' give some" items of information in regard to a people of whom but little is known, but toward whom, at the present time, the attention of the Christian world is directed. If they shall in any degree contribute to increase the interest felt in the missionary work, they will not have been written in vain.

I have not aimed to give in them an historical sketch of our mission, but merely to relate our own every day experience, thinking that I could thus best give a correct idea of our work in India, and if at times they seem dry and uninteresting they are no less matter-of-fact.

Missionaries do not always live on the mountain top, full of hope and enthusiasm; they are often buffeted, depressed, and anxious, like those in the work at home. So also with their work : it is not all prose, but neither is it all poetry ; and in order to carry it on successfully, a calm, steadfast reliance upon God is indispensable.

It is a glorious work ! It is a blessed privilege to go to the regions beyond, to be pioneers in the work of evangelization ; but those that go need to be girt with the " armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left."

E. J. Humphrey.

Letter I

Sailing from Boston — Atlantic Ocean — Services on board Ship — South American Coast — Off the Cape of Good Hope — Storms — Bay of Bengal — Danger off Sandheads — Pilot — Terrible News — Natives of India — Hooghley River — Calcutta Page 23

Letter II

First Impressions of Calcutta — First Dinner on Shore — Native Servants — Punkahs — Curry — Housekeeping — Studying the Language — A Native Christian — Dr. Duff — Mr. Poorie — Palanquins — Buksheesh — The Mutiny — The Climate. . . 39

LETTER HI.

Calcutta — Its Early History — Public Buildings — Botanical Gardens — New Tear — An Ayah — Mr. Lacroix — Visit at Examination of a Native School — State of the Country —

Preparations to leave Calcutta 48

18 CONTENTS.

Letter IV

Leaving Calcutta — Mr. Parry — Manner of Traveling — Vin&hya Hills — Hindoo Legend — Progress up the Gountry — Impressions of Benares — Mr. Heinig . Page 58

Letter V

Departure from Benares — Arrival at Allahabad — Separation there — Our Visit with Mr. Munnis and Family — Indian Bailway — Traveling by Horse Dak — Cawnpore — Agra- — Taj- Mahal — Port — Journey to Meerut 65

Letter VI

Departure from Meerut — Saharunpore — Deyrah Doon — Rajpore — Himalayas — Hill Vehicle — Hill Journey — April Pools — Acquisitions — Snowy Range — Rope Bridge — Teeree — Visit at the Rajah's Court — Scenery — Arrival at NyneeTal T5

LETTER VIE.

Nynee Tal — Nynee Davee — Mount Chenar — Daily Routine — Girls' School — Boys' School — Mrs. Parsons — Blunders — Orphan Boys 91

LETTER VIDE.

Rainy Season — Laying Corner-stone of First Mission Chapel — Removal of two Families to Lucknow — Eurasian Moonshee and Wife — Mr. H. begins to Preach in Hindoostanee — Laughable Mistake. , , 103

CONTENTS. 19

LETTER IX.

Journey to Moradabad — Garden — Bazar Preaching — Call from the Sikhs — Yisit at their Villages — Mission House pro tern. — Mr. H. goes to Bareilly — Removal there — Servants — Cashmere Kotee— Native Assistants — Hindoo Festivals.. .Page 114

LETTER X.

Acquaintances in Bareilly — Orphan Boys and the Tiger — Effect produced by Bazar Preaching — School — Inquirers — Rumors in regard to the Mission — Zahoor-ul-Huqq — Hot Season — Dust Storm — Fruit . . 128

LETTER XL

Rainy Season — Its Accompaniments — Beetles — Reptiles, etc. — Masih Buksh — Arrival of Missionaries — Journey to Lucknow — Items in regard to the City — Annual Meeting No. 1 — Return to Bareilly — Death of Mr. Downey 143

LETTER XII.

Visit with Friends — Arrival of Mrs. Downey — Hindoo Festival — Arrival of Dr. Butler and Family — Commence Itinerating — A Peep behind the Purdah — Journey to Budaon — Lieut. Governor — Nawab of Rampore — Robbery — Budaon to be a Mission Station — Baptisms — - Removal 152

LETTER X3H.

Epitome of the Hindoo Religion — Natal, Marriage, and Funeral Ceremonies — Seasons — Products of the Country 163

20 CONTENTS.

LETTER XIV.

Missionary Work in Budaon — Girls' School — Itineratings — Hot Season — Tattees — Small Pox — Journey to Nynee Tal — Sickness in the Mission — Death of Jesse R. Pierce — Return to Budaon Page 182

LETTER XV.

Unusual Heat — Drought — Famine — Strange Vagaries of Hindooism — Service of the Church of England — Anglo- Vernacular School — School for Boys of the Sweeper Caste — Illness — A Friend in Need — Convalescence — Hindoo Fair — Cold Season — Famine Orphans — Christmas Observances — Annual Meeting — Removal to Bareilly 193

LETTER XVI.

Startling News from Home — Girls' School — Arrangement of Native Work in Bareilly — Effect of Preaching — Inquirer — His Persecutions — Conversion — Narrowly escapes Martyrdom

— Liberality of English Residents — Building — Heavy Rains

— Wesleypore Colony — Removal to Shahjehanpore 207

LETTER XVn.

Marriage of Mr. Thoburn to Mrs. Downey — Translating Hymns — Mr. Ulman — Reminiscences of the Mutiny in Shahjehanpore — Luckimpore — Mrs. Pierce — Dr. Kareem Buksh — Baptisms — Persecution of Native Christians — Visit to some Native Women — Journey to Nynee Tal — Illness — Return Home — Death of Mrs. Jackson — Death of Mrs. Thoburn — Journey to Bareilly — Death of Mrs. Pierce 220

CONTENTS. 21

LETTER XVHI.

Moradabad — Native Christians — Dr. Mullens — Journey to Lahore — Girls' School — Annual Meeting — Arrangement of "Work — Effect of Preaching — Boys' School — Translations — Preparations to return Home — Meela — Interesting Aspect of Native Work — Zahoor-ul-Huqq — Umbeeka Churn.. .Page 240

LETTER XIX.

Parting with Native Christians — Journey to Calcutta — Screw Steamer Golden Fleece — Madras — Illness — Cape of Good ' Hope — Equator — Fright — Land's End — England — Ireland — Atlantic — New York.

Appendix ...„ 284 llIttstratijirM,

PAGE

Printing Office at Baeeillt 2

An Indian River 35

Mission Premises at Ntnee Tal 90

Native Christians of Nynee Tal 109

Mission Premises at Bareilly 142

Mission Premises at Budaon 183

Mission Premises at Shahjehanpore 223

Cemetery at Nynee Tal 249

SIX YEARS IN INDIA.