Narrative of a Voyage to India; of a Shipwreck on board the Lady Castlereagh Part 3

After remaining two days, I proceeded on my route; and on the following day arrived at Wadoor, a distance of fourteen miles, across a long succession of hills, the roads over which are very rugged and covered with stones; Wadoor lies in a valley, at the foot of a large mountain, and is hardly perceivable from the top.

On the 20th December, we travelled along a beautiful and finely cultivated country, the produce of which is cholum and paddy, which grows in great quant.i.ties; the inhabitants are very civil, and princ.i.p.ally Moor men. On the 25th December, 1821, I arrived at Nagpore, and on the same evening was seized with the Nagpore fever, which is always accompanied by fits of the ague. The fever is supposed to originate from the excessive heats of the day, and the extreme cold of the night.

I endeavoured as much as possible that my ill state of health should not keep me from my employment, but attended to it very a.s.siduously; which I persevered in till the 27th of March, when the doctor informed me, that I had better leave the Presidency or I should endanger my life, as the hot winds generally set in in the middle of April, which frequently prove very dangerous to European invalids.

On the 2nd of April, after having previously obtained my pa.s.sport and a guard of twelve Seapoys, I proceeded on my route, and towards evening arrived at Tukea, where, owing to my ill state of health, I was compelled to stop two days.

On the 12th I arrived at Ouronty, which is S. W. by W. of Nagpore, about 100 miles. The town is very large, and is surrounded by a brick wall; the houses are built of brick, and are generally three stories high. The inhabitants are Mussulmen. In the afternoon I went to the palace of the Rajah, (Rajah ram.) His palace outside is very dirty, owing to his guard making fires against the walls for cooking. On my desiring to see the Rajah, I was conducted through a long dreary pa.s.sage, with the walls, to all appearance, covered with grease and filth, at the end of which is a large court-yard, which has a very different appearance, the Rajah's apartments being all round; at the end were six Peons waiting to conduct me to his highness, with silver staves, about eleven feet long, with a device of Mahomet on the top; on my introduction to the Rajah's apartment, he was sitting cross-legged with his hooker; at my entrance he arose and made three salams in token of respect to the British nation. After questioning me where I was going to, and my reasons for so doing, he presented me with two camel-hair shawls, by placing them across my shoulder; then taking his leave.

On the following day, I proceeded on my route, and on the 20th arrived at Luckenwarry; where there is good encampment and water, and the natives are princ.i.p.ally Hindoos. Early on the following morning we began to cross the Luckenwarry Ghaut; the roads were steep and not above ten feet wide, and on each side a vacuity of about 250 feet deep. The light in the lantern being extinguished, and the moon being obscured, my horse, had it not been for the horse-keeper, would have precipitated me to the bottom; I instantly dismounted, and the horse-keeper led him till he was clear of the Ghaut. On the centre is a large gate, which stands about forty feet high, and which, during the war, had withstood a three months' siege.

Pa.s.sing through the jungle between the villages of Currone and Chickly, we were greatly surprised at seeing a large party on camels; we hailed them and enquired who they were, but we could not by any means obtain an answer; when finding they persisted in their obstinacy, the Naigues suspected them of belonging to the party of Sheik Dullah, a noted robber who had already committed many depredations in that neighbourhood, and on our desiring them to move to the left of us if they were friends, they made a sudden halt; the sepoys then drew up in a line, and the followers began to guard their baggage, but when they saw our number, they went off to the left of us, grumbling.

On the 24th, we arrived at Jaulnah. It bears W. by S., of Nagpore, distant 180 miles. On the following day, after I had taken sufficient rest, I presented my pa.s.sport to the Adjutant-General, and delivered up the guard, having previously obtained another. Jaulnah is a large town, surrounded by a brick wall, about twenty feet in height; the houses are generally of brick, and from three to four stories; the inhabitants are princ.i.p.ally Hindoos, interspersed with Persians and Mussulmen. The cantonment is the head quarters of the British army on this side the Deccan.--Jaulnah has a civil and military government.

After staying two days, I proceeded on my route, and on the 19th of May I arrived at Poonah. It bears S. S. E. of Bombay, and is in the territories of the Peishwa: it is about forty miles distant from Bombay. I took up my residence with a friend, commander of the Sebundaries; during my route, I pa.s.sed through Armigabad, Amednagur, and Seroor; which is the residence of Europeans, and has detachments of different regiments quartered at each town: their houses are in general of brick and stone, their religion is Hindoo.

The Hindoos are divided into four tribes, first the Brahmin; second, the Khatry; third, the Bhyse; fourth, the Sooders; all these have their distinct sects, and cannot intermingle with each other; but for some offences they are expelled their sects, which is the highest punishment they can suffer. In this manner a kind of fifth sect, called Pariah, is formed of the dregs of the people, who are employed only in the meanest capacity. There is a kind of division which pervades the four sects indiscriminately; which is taken from the worship of their G.o.ds VISHNOU and SHEEVAH; the worshippers of the former being named Vishnou bukht, and of the latter, Sheevah bukht.

Of these four sects the Brahmins have the superiority, and all the laws show such a partiality towards them, as cannot but induce us to suppose that they have had the princ.i.p.al hand in framing them. They are not allowed the privilege of sovereignty; but are solely kept for the instruction of the people. They are alone allowed to read the Veda or Sacred Books. The Khatries or sect next in dignity, being only allowed to hear them read, while the other two read the Satras, or commentaries upon them; but the poor Chandalas are not allowed to enter their temple, or to be present at any religious ceremony.

In point of precedence, the Brahmins claim a superiority even to princes, the latter being chosen of Khatry or second sect. In fact the Brahmin claims every privilege, and the inferior sects give place to him; the Hindoos are allowed to eat no flesh nor to shed blood. Their food is rice and dholl, and other vegetables, dressed with ghee (dholl is a kind of split pea, ghee, a kind of b.u.t.ter, melted and refined to make it capable of being kept a long time) and seasoned with ginger and other spices. The food which they most esteem is milk, as coming from the cow; an animal for which they have the most extravagant veneration, insomuch that it is enacted in the code of Gentoo laws, that any one who exacts labour from a bullock that is hungry or thirsty, or shall oblige him to labour when fatigued, is liable to be fined by the magistrates.

The Hindoos are remarkable for their ingenuity in all kinds of handicraft; but their utensils are simple and in many respects inconvenient, so that incredible labour and patience are necessary, for the accomplishment of any work; and for this the Hindoos are remarkable. The religion of the Hindoos is contained in certain books, called Vedas; and, though now involved in superst.i.tion, seems to have been originally pure, inculcating the belief of an Eternal Being, possessed of every divine perfection. Their subordinate deities, Brahma, Vishnou, and Sheevah, are only representatives of the wisdom, goodness, and power of the supreme G.o.d Brahma; whom they call the principles of Truth, the spirit of Wisdom, and the Supreme Being; so that it is probable that all their idols were at first only designed to represent these attributes: they believe in ten Avators, or incarnation of the Deity, nine of which have taken place for the punishment of tyrants, or removing some great natural calamity; and the tenth is to take place at the dissolution of the universe. Several of the Avators inculcate the transmigration of souls, and the ninth of them, which forbids the sacrifices of animals, gave rise to the religion of Gauda Boodma, or Fo.

Their deities are extremely numerous, and are generally supposed to have first originated in Italy and Greece.

After stopping six days, I proceeded to Bombay, and on the 30th of May I arrived there. After delivering my pa.s.sport, I made application for a ship for England, and was some time before I could get one; and the great expense I incurred in living at a tavern, made me entirely pennyless, so that I was forced to dispose of the shawls which I had presented me by the Rajah of Omrouty, and for which I received three hundred rupees each. But before I was finally settled, I had not above ten rupees left.

Bombay is an island of Hindostan, on the west coast of the Deccan, seven miles in length, and about twenty-one miles in circ.u.mference; the ground is barren, and good water scarce; it was formerly considered very unhealthy, but by draining the swamps and bogs the air is much improved; the inhabitants are of several nations and very numerous, but are princ.i.p.ally Persians.

The religion of the Persians is, generally, Paganism, directed princ.i.p.ally by the priests of magi, men of strict austere life, forbidding the use of either ornament or gold; making the ground their bed, and herbs their food. Their whole time is spent in offering to the G.o.ds the prayers and sacrifices of the people, as they only might be heard.

The people are _Gentiles_; as to their religion, they worship the sun and moon, and various heavenly bodies, from whom they suppose they derive every blessing of light and warmth; and every morning they gather themselves round the beech and present their morning oblations, by pouring into the sea quant.i.ties of milk and odoriferous flowers, and prostrating themselves with their faces to the earth, as a mark of adoration to their rising deity (the sun.) Besides other G.o.ds which the Gentiles worship, they are great idolaters of fire, which they offer sacrifices to in time of peace, and carry it with them, as their tutelar deity in time of war. Their adoration is so great, that the first candle they see lighted, let it be in whose place it will, they immediately stop and repeat a prayer. In their habitation they never put it out after it is once lighted.

Besides the town of Bombay, which is about a mile in length, with mean houses (a few only excepted), there is a capacious harbour or bay, reckoned the finest haven in the east, where all ships may find security from the inclemency of the different seasons. After remaining here for the s.p.a.ce of three months, I was engaged as captain's clerk on board the Hon. Company's Ship Marquis of Huntly. We sailed from hence July 25, 1820, and arrived at the new anchorage in nineteen days' sail; soon after I went up to Calcutta on duty for the ship.

Calcutta, or _Fort William_, the emporium of Bengal, and princ.i.p.al seat of India, is situated on the western side of the Hoogely river, at about ninety-six miles from its mouth, which is navigable up to the town for large ships. This extensive and beautiful town is supposed to contain between four and five hundred thousand inhabitants. The houses are variously built, some of brick, others of mud and cow-dung, and a great number with bamboos (a large kind of reed or cane) and mats. The bamboos are placed as stakes in the ground, and crossed with others in different ways, so as to enable them to make the matting fast, when for the roofing they lay them one upon the other, when a large family lie in that small compa.s.s of about six feet square, which makes a very motley appearance. The mixture of European and Asiatic manners observed in Calcutta is wonderful; coaches, phaetons, hackeries, two-wheeled carriages drawn by bullocks, palanquins carried by the natives, and the pa.s.sing ceremonies of Hindoos, and the different appearance of the faquirs, form a diversified and curious appearance.

The European houses have, many of them, the appearance of palaces or temples, and the inhabitants are very hospitable.

After the cargo was sent on board I returned to the ship, but on our pa.s.sage down the river we were compelled to lie out in the river, owing to the great boar, as it is called; it is a quick overflowing of the water, which rises in a great body and with such violence that it breaks down all before it. It arises from the narrowness of the river, and the force which it makes from the sea; in the course of two minutes it rises to the height of four or five feet.

Lying in one of the creeks till the tide was turned, I was greatly alarmed by the men getting into the boat in great disorder and telling me that it was a crocodile which I had for a long time observed, and mistaken for the hull of a tree. A crocodile is an amphibious voracious animal, in shape resembling a lizard. It is covered with very hard scales, which cannot but with difficulty be pierced, except under the belly, where the skin is tender. It has a wide throat, with several rows of teeth, sharp and separated, which enter one another.

On my arrival on board every thing was in confusion, as we expected to sail in a few days.

SECTION IX.

THE AUTHOR'S DEPARTURE FROM CALCUTTA, AND ARRIVAL AT CHINA--AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR RELIGION, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS, AND OF HIS BEING ROBBED ON DANES' ISLAND--THE AUTHOR'S DEPARTURE FROM CHINA AND ARRIVAL AT ANJURE POINT--THE CUSTOMS AND MANNERS OF THE MALAYS--DEPARTURE THEREFROM, AND ARRIVAL AT ST. HELENA--DESCRIPTION OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON'S TOMB AND HOUSES--DEPARTURE FROM ST. HELENA, AND ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND.

We sailed from Bengal in company with the Hon. Company's Ship Dunira, October 19th, 1820, with a fine breeze, and arrived at Pulo Penang, or Prince of Wales's Island, on the 6th of November. The houses have a n.o.ble appearance, and are built after the form of those in Calcutta.

The inhabitants are princ.i.p.ally Malays; of them I shall speak more hereafter. After having received on board a quant.i.ty of rattan, as private trade for the captain, we made sail and arrived at Macao, on January 26th, 1821, after a long and tedious voyage.

Macao, a town of China, in the province of Canton, is seated in an inland at the entrance of the river Tae. The Portuguese have been in possession of the town and harbour since the early part of the seventeenth century. The houses are low and built after the European manner; the Portuguese are properly a mixed breed, having been married to Asiatic women. Here is a Portuguese Governor as well as a Chinese Mandarin. The former nation pays a great tribute to choose their own magistrates. The city is defended by three forts, built upon eminences; and the works are good and well planted with artillery.

On the 29th we anch.o.r.ed off the second bar, and found lying here the Hon. Company's Ship Canning, and two or three other Company's ships; on the 30th weighed and made sail, but there not being water enough, removed back to our old station. On the following day we crossed Whampo. After the cargo was discharged I went up to Canton.

Canton is a large and populous city, situated in one of the first rivers in the empire. It is the capital of the province of Quan-tong, and the centre of the European trade in that country. The streets are long and straight, paved with flag stones, and adorned with lofty arches. The houses are remarkably neat, but consist only of one story, and they have no windows to the streets. The covered market place is full of shops. The inhabitants are estimated at about 1,000,000; many of whom reside in barks, which touch one another, form a kind of floating city, and are so arranged as to form streets. Each bark lodges a family and their grand children, who have no other dwelling.

At break of day all the people who inhabit them depart to fish or to cultivate their rice.

The frugal and laborious manner in which the great live, the little attention which is paid to the vain and ridiculous prejudice of marrying below rank; the ancient policy of giving distinction to men and not to families, by attaching n.o.bility only to employments and talents, without suffering it to be hereditary; and the decorum observed in public, are admirable traits in the Chinese character.

There is little distinction in the dress of men and women; rank and dignity are only distinguished by the ornaments they wear, and they dare not presume to wear any thing without proper authority, without being severely chastised for it. Their dress in general consists of a long vest, which reaches to the ground, one part of it, on the left side, folds over the other, and is fastened to the right by four or five small gold or silver b.u.t.tons placed at a little distance from one another. The sleeves are wide towards the shoulder, and grow narrow towards the wrist--they terminate in the form of a horse-shoe--round their middle they wear a large girdle of silk, the ends of which hang down to their knees; from this girdle is suspended a sheath, containing a knife, and over all they wear a loose jacket down to the middle, with loose short sleeves, generally lined with fur, and under all they wear a kind of net to prevent it from chafing. The general colour of these dresses is black or blue.

Their religion is idolatry, their princ.i.p.al idol is _Fong Chon_, and they are very superst.i.tious, believing in magic and invocation of spirits, and the art of foretelling events by divination.

While receiving our cargo on board, a Chinaman belonging to one of the craft, stole a box of tea, but, by the exertion of our officers, the culprit was taken and immediately sent on sh.o.r.e to Dane's Island to the mandarine. He was found guilty of the crime, and his punishment three dozen blows with the bastinado. The instrument of correction, called pan-tsee, is a bamboo a little flattened, broad at the bottom, and polished at the upper extremity, in order to manage it more easily with the hand.

The culprit, after the mandarin has given the signal for punishment, is seized and stretched out with his belly flat on the ground, his breeches are pulled down to his heels, and on the mandarine throwing down a stick, of which he has a number by him, one of the officers in attendance uses the pan-tsee, and gives him five severe blows, which are succeeded by several others till the number is complete. When it is over, the criminal must throw himself on his knees, incline his body three times to the earth, and thank his judge for the trouble he has taken in his correction.

The mandarins are of two cla.s.ses, viz.; those of letters, and the inferior sort are styled mandarins of arms. The latter cla.s.s do not enjoy the same consideration as the former.

The Chinese in general are much addicted to commit depredations on the pockets, or, in fact, on any unguarded property. After all our cargo was received on board, I went in company with two midshipmen, Mr.

C---- and Mr. R----, on Dane's Island. After we landed some Chinese came and decoyed us to their village, which was at the back of a number of hills and out of sight of the shipping, under a promise that they would let us have some of their country fruit, such as they sent us on board. The length of time that some of them were absent, and the sun going down fast, made us rather doubt the sincerity of their intentions; those that were with us begged that we would stop till the sun was down, but we began to be afraid of our lives. When the men saw that we were determined to wait no longer, they gave a dreadful whoop, which was answered by others stationed on the hills; they immediately seized hold of us and rifled our pockets.

On March 25th we sailed down to Macao, and on the following day we took our departure, and on the 24th of April arrived at Anjier point, and is a settlement belonging to the Dutch; it lies to the east of Batavia. The houses are generally built of bamboo; the inhabitants are of various casts, Pagans, Mahometans, and Chinese. The barbarism of the Batta Tribes is horrible, for they kill and eat their criminals or prisoners of war, or even sacrifice their own relations when aged and infirm, not so much with a view to gratify their appet.i.tes, as to perform a pious ceremony. Thus, when a man becomes infirm and weary of the world, he is said to invite his own children to eat him when salt and limes are cheapest. He then ascends a tree, round which his friends and offspring a.s.semble, and as they shake the tree they join in a funeral dirge, the import of which is, the season is come, the fruit is ripe, and it must descend. The victim descends, and those that are nearest deprive him of life, and devour his remains in a solemn banquet.

In a few days we made sail. We arrived at St. Helena, on the 10th of July, 1821. This island is situated in the South Atlantic Ocean, its circ.u.mference is about twenty miles, and at a distance it has the appearance of a large rock rising out of the sea. On rounding the island it has a very romantic appearance; the town lying in a valley presents to the eye a beautiful chain of scenery. It has some very high mountains, particularly one called Diana's Peak, which is covered with wood to the very summit. There are other hills also, which bear a volcanic appearance, and some have huge rocks of lava, and a kind of half-vitrified flags. James Town is erected in a valley at the bottom of a bay, between two steep dreary mountains, and has from the shipping a n.o.ble appearance.

Accommodations are tolerably good, and the inhabitants, generally speaking, are very hospitable. Their villas are pleasantly situated, and have a fine view of the sea; the whole face of the country is really romantic; the hills are immensely high, and the valleys very narrow; and in many of them there are a few houses, which give the whole island a very picturesque appearance.

After obtaining a pa.s.sport from the Adjutant-General, I went over a long succession of hills to see the habitations of the late Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The roads were very difficult to ascend, and particularly rugged. The remains of this great and ill.u.s.trious personage are buried in a deep valley, about three miles from James town, and about two miles from his late residence at Longwood, under the peaceful shade of three weeping willows, and which also, (as in respect to his dust,) lend a solemn air of reverential darkness to the memorable _well_, from which, during his pilgrimages, he was wont to receive his refreshing draughts.

No stately monument marks the spot; no polished alabaster, or the mimicry of sculptured marble marks his grave: the real excellency of the patriot is written on the minds of his countrymen; it will be remembered with applause as long as the nation subsists, without this artificial expedient to perpetuate it.

Let the poor pa.s.s by his grave, and thankfully acknowledge, there lies the man who gloriously fought for his country and his subjects, to free them from the galling yoke of tyranny and oppression: no tablets are written to mark his actions, but those which are written in the heart of his subjects.

The depth of his tomb is about twenty feet, and his coffin rests upon two pedestals, ten feet high. His body is enclosed in four coffins, first lead, second deal, third mahogany, and fourth marble. What is very remarkable is, that part of his tomb is made of the flag-stones of his new house, taken out of one of the kitchens. After viewing the tomb of the man who was the most brilliant meteor in the political world, I proceeded up to Longwood, to take a view of the habitation in which he died.

After presenting my pa.s.sport I had permission to inspect the premises: the officer took great pains in shewing me the very spot on which he quitted his troubles and persecutions, when he kindly left me to make what sort of reflections I thought proper. The darkness of the room gave it a very solemn appearance, and suited the mind to contemplate upon this late extraordinary character;--but a short period past he was the terror of the world, and now, alas! what is he? He is laid low in the tomb, unregretted and unpitied by his merciless enemies. A gleam of light through the cas.e.m.e.nts reflected a dead glimmer through the gloomy mansion. The _most ill.u.s.trious_ have claimed the _tomb_ for their last retreat; rooms of state are resigned! the sceptre has ceased to wield, and sumptuous banquets are neglected for no other ornament than the winding sheet! "Where is the star that blazed upon his breast, or the coronet that glittered round his temples?" Alas!

they are resigned and given over, through the power of the tyrant hand of death.

I have often walked between the impending promontory's craggy cliff; I have sometimes trod the vast s.p.a.ces of the lonely desert, and penetrated the inmost recesses of the dreary cavern; but never beheld Nature lowering with so dreadful a form; never felt impressions of such awe striking cold on my heart, as under this roof; every thing seemed to partic.i.p.ate in grief for their deceased lord. The rooms were very dirty and much neglected. The plants in his late garden seemed to droop their heads in sorrow for the loss of the hand that reared them.

I next proceeded to the palace which had been sent from England, and really it would have reflected honour on the British nation, and no sovereign in the world need wish for a more magnificent one, had it been placed in a more healthy part of the island.