PHŬLŬ-HŬRĒĒ.
A figure of Kālee, exactly similar to the one purchased at Benares, and attired in the same manner, I saw worshipped at Prāg under the name of Phŭlŭ-hŭrēē (she who receives much fruit). She is worshipped at the total wane of the moon, in the month Jyoishthŭ—or any other month, at the pleasure of the worshipper. Her offerings are fruits especially. Animals are sacrificed in her honour, and Jack-fruit and mangoes are presented to her in that particular month.
The day after the worship the people carried the goddess in state down to the river Jumna, and sank her in its deep waters: the procession was accompanied by the discordant music of tom-toms, &c., and all the rabble of Kydgunge. The image, about three feet in height, dressed and painted, was borne on a sort of platform.
The goddess is represented as a black female with four arms, standing on the breast of Shivŭ. In one hand she carries a scymitar; in two others the heads of giants, which she holds by the hair; and the fourth hand supports giants’ heads.
“She wears two dead bodies for ear-rings, and a necklace of skulls. Her tongue hangs down to her chin. The heads of giants are hung as a girdle around her loins, and her jet black hair falls to her heels. Having drunk the blood of the giants she slew, her eyebrows are bloody, and the blood is falling in a stream down her breast. Her eyes are red, like those of a drunkard. She stands with one leg on the breast of her husband Shivŭ, and rests the other on his thigh.”
Men are pointed out amongst other animals as a proper sacrifice to Kālee: the blood of a tiger pleases her for 100 years; the blood of a lion, a reindeer, or a man, for 1000 years. By the sacrifice of three men she is pleased for 100,000 years.
Kālee had a contest with the giant Ravŭna, which lasted ten years; having conquered him, she became mad with joy, and her dancing shook the earth to its centre. To restore the peace of the world, Shivŭ, her husband, threw himself amongst the dead bodies at her feet. She continued her dancing, and trampled upon him. When she discovered her husband she stood still, horror-struck and ashamed, and threw out her tongue to an uncommon length. By this means Shivŭ stopped her frantic dancing, and saved the universe. When the Hindoo women are shocked or ashamed at anything, they put out their tongues as a mode of expressing their feelings. Nor is this practice confined to the women of the East alone, it is common amongst the lower orders of the English.
18th.—Āghā Meer, the ex-minister of Oude, has come over. His train consisted of fifty-six elephants, covered with crimson clothing deeply embroidered with gold, and forty gārees (carts) filled with gold mohurs and rupees.
His zenāna came over some days ago, consisting of nearly 400 palanquins; how much I should like to pay the ladies a visit, and see if there are any remarkably handsome women amongst them!
19th.—Mr. M⸺ rode my Arab Mootee on the course last night; how beautiful he looked! not Mr. M⸺, but the horse; there was not a man who did not turn to admire him; nor was there a horse that might compare with my Pearl of the Desert.
In consequence of the number of troop horses with the artillery and regiments of cavalry at this station, riding is almost dangerous, especially in the early morning, when the horses are out for exercise. You sometimes see a vicious native horse,—a man-eater, as they call him,—walking with his eyes bandaged, and led by two natives, one on each side his head; every now and then, a beast of this description will turn restive, rear and fight with his fore-feet, and shout out lustily; when such animals break away from their attendants, they attack other horses, and become very dangerous. Some gentlemen at the station allow their sā’īses to carry hog-spears to defend them from loose horses. To-day, whilst our horses were out in the early morning for exercise, a troop horse, that had broken loose, attacked our English-imported grey mare; she galloped off, he pursued her, and the men could not secure him before he had bitten her severely on the neck in several places, and had cut her leg. I shall make my sā’īs carry a bamboo in future, lest my Arab Trelawny should be attacked whilst I am on his back.
20th.—In the evening I went with Mr. A⸺ to Sirsya Ghāt; whilst we were sketching the mut’hs (Hindoo temples), about fifty women came down, two by two, to the ghāt. After having burnt the corpse of a Hindoo by the side of the Ganges, they came in procession, to lament, bathe, and put on clean garments; one woman walked in front, reciting a monotonous chant, in which the others every now and then joined in chorus, beating their breasts and foreheads in time to the monotonous singing.
They assembled on the steps of the ghāt. Each woman wore a white chudda (in shape like a sheet), which was wrapped so closely around her that it covered her body and head entirely, the eyes alone being visible. Standing on the steps of the ghāt, they renewed their lament; beating their breasts, foreheads, and limbs, and chanting their lament all the time; then they all sat down, and beat their knees with their hands in time to the dirge; afterwards, they descended into the river to bathe and change their clothes; such an assortment of ugly limbs I never beheld! A native woman thinks no more of displaying her form as high as the knee, or some inches above it, than we do of showing our faces. This being rather too great an exhibition, I proposed to my companion to proceed a little further, that the lovely damsels might bathe undisturbed.
25th.—I have been more disgusted to-day than I can express: the cause is too truly Indian not to have a place in my journal; I fancied I saw the corpse of a European floating down the Ganges just now, but, on looking through the telescope, I beheld the most disgusting object imaginable.
When a rich Hindoo dies, his body is burned, and the ashes are thrown into the Ganges; when a poor man is burned, they will not go to the expense of wood sufficient to consume the body. The corpse I saw floating down had been put on a pile, covered with ghee (clarified butter), and fire enough had been allowed just to take off all the skin from the body and head, giving it a white appearance; any thing so ghastly and horrible as the limbs from the effect of the fire was never beheld, and it floated almost entirely out of the water, whilst the crows that were perched upon it tore the eyes out. In some parts, where the stream forms a little bay, numbers of these dreadful objects are collected together by the eddy, and render the air pestiferous, until a strong current carries them onwards. The poorer Hindoos think they have paid all due honour to their relatives when they have thus skinned them on the funeral pile, and thrown them, like dead dogs, into the Ganges.
The Musulmāns bury their dead—generally under the shade of trees, and erect tombs to their memory, which they keep in repair; they burn lights upon the graves every Thursday (Jumarāt), and adorn the tomb with flowers.
27th.—As we floated down the stream this evening, I observed the first ghāt was lighted up, and looked very brilliant, with hundreds of little lamps; the Dāndees said, it was not on account of any particular festival, but merely the merchant, to whom the ghāt and temple belonged, offering lamps to Gunga-jee.
Nov. 8th.—My husband received an order to return to Allahabad; this gave us much satisfaction.
17th.—Mr. S⸺, of the Civil Service, told me to-day, speaking of the Thugs, “It is about a year ago that Major H⸺, the assistant to the agent for the Governor-general, had a narrow escape from a Thug. He was sleeping in his tent at Powergong, a place between Saugor and Dinapore, when a Thug entered, and put a noose over his head! The gentleman stirred, and his nightcap prevented the noose slipping over his face; he awoke, the Thug fled, leaving the noose in the tent, nor were they able to secure him.”
Mr. S⸺ tells me he has seen, on the Nurbudda, numerous images in stone of Bhawānī, and that they are very beautiful, she being one of the most beautiful of the Hindoo idols! I have requested him to send me an image, or a picture of the goddess, as the likenesses I have seen are any thing but agreeable. He has been looking over my cabinet of curiosities, and promises to send me some turquoise he procured at the turquoise mines in Persia, as specimens of really good stones. He tells me, at those mines you purchase the stones just as they come from the beds at two rupees eight ānās a sēr, about five shillings for two pounds’ weight of turquoise!
I gave him a rough emerald, one of five that I purchased of a native, who found them in the Soane river, and brought them to the door for sale.
Another fire has taken place in the fort at Allahabad, and sulphur, valued at two lacs of rupees, melted by the heat, ran over the square like lava; fortunately the fire did not reach the powder magazine. This is the second attempt that has been made within the space of a few weeks to burn the fort; the discharged natives who used to work at the powder mills are supposed to be the persons who kindled the fires.
The damage done by these fires is much greater than the saving which has arisen to Government from cutting the pay of the men, or from dismissing them; so much for economy!
18th.—To-day, our Mug cook died suddenly after a short illness; the corpse will be burned, and the ashes thrown into the Ganges; the man came from Ava. The Mugs are reckoned better cooks than the Musulmāns. He was an excellent artiste and a good servant; we shall replace him with difficulty. He professed himself a Hindoo, and during their festivals would give money, and worship according to their fashion.
During the Muharrum he called himself a follower of the prophet; he gave forty rupees to assist in building a Taziya, performed all the ceremonies peculiar to the faithful, and was allowed to be considered a Musulmān for the time; at the conclusion, when the Taziya was thrown into the river, he became a Mug again.
22nd.—With a westerly wind, and the thermometer at 65°, we Indians find it very cold, the contrast to the hot winds is so great. I have worn a shawl all the morning, and to-night, for the first time this year, we have begun fires; and have had the horse-shoe table placed in front of the fire-place, that we may enjoy the warmth during dinner-time. The room looks so cheerful, it puts me into good humour and good spirits; I feel so English, without lassitude, so strong and well. My husband has just sallied out in his great coat to take a very long walk; and the little terrier is lying under the table, watching a musk rat, which has taken refuge in a hole under the grate.
26th.—I have just heard of an occurrence at Lucnow, which is in true native style. The Nawāb Hukeem Mehndee Ali Khan, the present minister, poisoned the King of Oude’s ear against one of his people by declaring that the man betrayed some state secrets and intrigues; the king accordingly, without judge or jury, ordered the man’s head to be fixed, and a heavy weight to be fastened on his tongue until the tongue should be so wrenched from the roots that it should ever after hang out of his mouth. This brutal punishment was inflicted some two or three months ago, and the poor creature’s life has been preserved by pouring liquids down his throat, as, of course, he is unable to eat at present. They have now discovered the man is innocent! but what does it avail him? His accuser, the Nawāb Hukeem Mehndee, is rich; money is power. The king is displeased with the minister, I understand, for his misrepresentations; he is also on bad terms with the resident,—they do not speak.
Any lady having a horror of the plagues of Egypt would not admire what is going on at this moment; several lizards are peering about, as they hang on the window frames, with their bright round eyes; a great fat frog or toad, I know not which, is jumping across the floor, under the dinner-table; and a wild cat from the jungles, having come in, has made her exit through the window, breaking a pane of glass; a musk-rat is squeaking in the next room, I must go and prevent the little terrier from catching it: I do not like to see the dog foam at the mouth, which she always does after killing this sort of rat.
Dec. 1st.—A marriage has taken place this day, between the widow of the Mug cook, a low caste Hindoo, old and ugly, and one of our khidmātgars, a Mahommedān. On account of her caste the man cannot eat with her without pollution; therefore, having taken her to a mosque, and the kurān having been read before her, she declares herself a convert. The musulmān servants have dined with her; she is now a follower of the prophet. They are very fond of making converts, but the Hindoos never attempt to convert any one; in fact, they will not admit converts to their faith, nor will they embrace any other religion; here and there a woman becomes a musulmāne, on her marriage with a man of that faith.
5th.—To-day’s news is, that the Governor-general met the 3rd cavalry at Allahabad, on their march from Cawnpore to Benares. His lordship reviewed the regiment, and asked the officers to dinner; an invitation they all refused. This annoyed his lordship very much, being the first display of resentment manifested towards him on his march by the army, and he ordered them to dine with him on pain of forfeiting their rank, pay, and allowances, pending a reference to the Court of Directors. Of course the officers obeyed the order; they were obliged to do so: what an agreeable party the Governor-general must have had, with guests whom he had forced to partake of the feast!
Dec. 11th.—I went to the races at sunrise: the first race was between two beautiful Arabs; Sultan looked so handsome at starting, and shot ahead of the other, keeping him in the rear until he very nearly gained the stand at the end of the three miles; of a sudden his speed relaxed, the other horse came up, and passed the post just before him. Sultan looked wild; the jockey dismounted; the horse fell, regained his feet three times, reared with pain, and, falling again, died in the space of a minute.
The Cawnpore races have been unfortunate; two years ago, a jockey was thrown, and broke his neck on the spot. Last year, the favourite Arab broke his hind leg and was shot: this year, Sultan has been killed, and two other horses have gone lame.
13th.—I accompanied some ladies to the riding-school of the 11th dragoons, and, being much pleased, requested to be allowed to take lessons with them; afterwards, riding there during those hours that the school was unoccupied by the dragoons, formed one of our greatest amusements. As for the corporal, the rough-rider of the 11th dragoons who attends in the riding-school, his affections are quite divided between my horse Trelawny and myself; I heard him say the other day, speaking of the former, “I like that little chap, he looks so innicent.”
My sā’īs cannot accomplish putting me on my horse after the English fashion; therefore, he kneels down on one knee, holding the horse in his left hand, and the stirrup in the right; I step from his knee to the stirrup, and take my seat on the saddle; rather a good method, and one of his own invention.
Christmas Day.—The house is gaily decorated with plantain trees, roses, and chaplets of gaudy flowers, but no holly; we miss the holly and misletoe of an English Christmas. The servants are all coming in with their offerings,—trays of apples, grapes, kishmish, walnuts, sugar, almonds in the shell, oranges, &c. The saddler, who is also a servant, has brought five trays in honour of kishmish (Christmas); these presents are rather expensive to the receiver, who returns kishmish bakhshish (Christmas boxes) in rupees; the apples au naturel, brought down at this time of the year by the Arab merchants from Cabul, are rather insipid, yet the sight is very grateful to the eye; they are large, fine, and of a roseate hue. The grapes, which are in small round boxes, are picked off the bunch, and placed in layers of cotton. The dates are excellent. Kishmish are small raisins without stones, which have an agreeable acidity; they are known in England as sultana raisins. These Arab merchants bring pattū, pushmeena, cashmere gloves and socks, curiously illuminated old Persian books, swords and daggers, saleb misree, and Persian cats, saffron, and various other incongruous articles, which are all laden on camels, which they bring in strings, in large numbers. The men are fine, hardy, picturesque looking personages, independent in their bearing; and some of the younger ones have a colour on their cheeks like the bright red on their apples. Their complexions are much fairer than any I have seen in India.
CHAPTER XVII.
SCENES IN OUDE.
New Year’s Day—Meeting of the King of Oude and the Governor-General—Visit of Lord William Bentinck to Lucnow—A Native Christian—Elephant, Tiger, Buffalo, and Bear Fights—Constantia—Beautiful Buildings—Departure of the Governor-General—The Padshāh Bāgh—The Royal Hummām—The King’s Stables—The Party at the Residency—Dil-Kushā—Zoffani’s Picture—Doves released from Captivity—The Menagerie—A Zenāna Garden—Letter of Introduction to the Begams at Delhi—Gardner’s Horse—The Sorrows of the Begam.
1831. Jan. 1st.—New Year’s Day was celebrated with all due honour at home, the party separating at 4, A.M.; punch à la Romaine and fine ices making men forget the lapse of time. The people here are ice-making mad; I flatter myself I understand the mystery of icefication better than any one in India.
5th.—The view from our verandah is remarkably good; the King of Oude, Ghazee-ood-Deen Hyder, has pitched his tent on the opposite side of the Ganges, and has constructed a bridge of boats across the river. In attendance upon him, they say, there are 2000 elephants, camels, and men in proportionate number; the sides of the river swarm with troops, animals, and tents.
Early on the morning of the 6th, the Governor-general, Lord William Bentinck, arrived at Cawnpore; and her Ladyship received the station. We paid our devoirs; and, in conversation with Lady William on the subject of the zenāna of the King of Oude, I excited her curiosity so much by my account of Tajmahŭl, that I feel convinced she will pay her a visit on her arrival at Lucnow.
7th.—We were invited to breakfast with the Governor-general, with whom the King of Oude was to breakfast in state. We rode to the tents—but let me commence the narrative from the dawn of day. Long before sunrise the guns and drums in the king’s encampment announced that all were in preparation to cross the bridge of boats. About 7 A.M. an enormous train of elephants, camels, and troops crossed over, brilliantly decorated, and proceeded to the camp of the Governor-general. We then cantered off—I on the Bokhara grey, who became very impetuous; but, although surrounded with elephants, camels, galloping horses, and guns firing, I never lost my courage for an instant: nevertheless, I will play no such game again, it is too hazardous.
Lord William met the king half-way, and having been invited to enter the royal howdah, he took his seat on the king’s elephant, and they proceeded together to the breakfast-tent through a street of dragoons, infantry, &c. Lady William, with all her visitors assembled around her, was in the tent awaiting the entrance of the great people; on their arrival, after the usual embracings and forms were over, we proceeded to breakfast.
The whole scene was one of extreme beauty. The magnificent dresses of the natives, the superb elephants, covered with crimson velvet embroidered with gold, the English troops, the happy faces, and the brilliant day, rendered it delightful.
After breakfast Lord William received all visitors who asked for a private audience in a separate tent: my husband made his sālām, and requested permission to visit Lucnow in his Lordship’s train; having received a kind affirmative, we returned home.
8th.—The Governor-general returned the king’s visit, and, crossing the bridge of boats, breakfasted with his majesty on the territories of Oude.
10th.—Lady William gave a ball to the station.
11th.—His lordship was invited to dinner—and dined with the eleventh dragoons, he being their colonel; the next day the Governor-general’s party commenced their march to Lucnow, the king having quitted the day before.
18th.—Having sent on our camels and tents beforehand, we started for Lucnow, intending to drive the whole distance in one day, for which purpose we had laid eight buggy horses on the road, the distance being only fifty-five miles.
Going over the sandy bed of the Ganges, the horse being unable to drag the Stanhope, we mounted an elephant, which took us some miles; being obliged to return the elephant, we got into a native cart drawn by bullocks, and so arrived at the spot where the second horse was laid. But the horses found it almost impossible to get through the sand, the country had been so much cut up from the multitudes that had crossed and recrossed it. In consequence night overtook us in the middle of Oude without a tent or food, and a dark night in prospect; whilst debating where to find shelter, we espied a tent in the distance, which proved to be an empty one belonging to a friend of ours, and there we took up our quarters.
A boy came forward, and saying, “I Christian,” offered to procure a chicken and give us a curry, which we ate off red earthen dishes, with two bits of bamboo as a knife and fork, after the style of chop-sticks. I must not forget to mention, that after our repast, Christian came forward and repeated the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer in Hindostanee; he repeated them like a parrot, but, judging from his answers when questioned, did not appear at all to comprehend his newly-acquired religion.
The sutrāengī, the cotton carpet of the tent, served to defend us from the cold during the night; and the next morning we recommenced our journey, but did not reach Lucnow in time to join the dinner-party at the Residency, to which we were invited to meet Lady William Bentinck.
Our camels, tents, and horses had gone on in advance. On our arrival, I found the camel that carried my trunks had fallen down in crossing part of the river, and both my finery and my journal were soaked in the stream; much damage was done to the wardrobe—and, as for the journal, it was quite mouldy and almost illegible: for the benefit of distressed damsels in a similar predicament, I give a receipt to restore the colour of faded writing, to which I had recourse with good success on this occasion[63].
18th.—The Governor-general breakfasted with the king. The whole party quitted the Residency on elephants most beautifully clothed, and were met half-way by his majesty. The scene was magnificent. The elephants, the camels, the crowds of picturesque natives, the horsemen, and the English troops, formed a tout ensemble that was quite inspiring. The Governor-general got into the king’s howdah, and proceeded to the palace, where breakfast was laid in a fine service of gold and silver. After breakfast we proceeded to a verandah to see various fights, and, having taken our seats, the order was given to commence the tamāshā.