Their mode of building is as follows:—One day, perhaps, you will perceive a single pinnacle of an ants' nest. You go and see it one day, and you find it slightly raised, but curved, like a headstone. So it increases daily until it reaches the size I have described. It is like a man building a house—as if he made a little closet with a roof on it, and then went inside and stayed there, while the closet swelled and swelled until it became a perfect house. At the foot of these ant-hills are a number of large black ants on the watch for any straggling white ants, which they kill and eat. These creatures abound in all our houses, and run about the floors: they are about an inch in length, and bite, but do not sting.
[January 3.]
MODE OF TRAVELLING.
I ought to give you some account of our voyage to this place. We quitted Midnapore, after a hard week's packing, at nine o'clock on Tuesday evening, December 27th. On the Monday we went to dine and sleep at the house of the Captain of Engineers, because our own was in such a condition from packing; and after dinner on Tuesday at nine o'clock we entered our horrible palanquin. I flatter myself that most of the people at Midnapore were very sorry when we left. We had sixteen men to carry us, two mussalchees, or men who carry mussals (torches made of long strips of cotton bound tightly together and dipped in oil), and two banghy-bearers, to carry each two tin boxes with our clothes in them.
We soon got clear of the station of Midnapore, and then the scene became most wild and romantic—a narrow road, bounded on each side by an interminable jungle, or plain covered with low bushes so thickly matted together as to afford only passage to the deadly cobra, the snarling jackal, and the ravenous tiger. On the road our own palanquins, one a hundred yards in front of the other, carried by black men with merely a cloth round their loins, the red glaring torches showing the others who ran swiftly by their side, the banghy-bearers trying to keep up with us, and all keeping up a loud monotonous sing-song tune, which was varied occasionally by the shrill cry of the jackal, the grinning snarl of the hyæna, or in the distance the deeper roar of the tiger in search of his prey—and yet in the midst of all this we both slept well, awakened only occasionally by the plashing of the men through the fords of the river or the stopping at a village to change bearers.
JELASORE.
In the latter case we were not detained an instant, the fresh relays being in attendance with as much patience and regularity as if they were horses waiting for a coach. Thus we travelled on without interruption until we reached Danton, called Dantoon. This was about nine o'clock in the morning. At this place there is a dâk-bungalow—that is, a bungalow, or thatched house, built by Government for the accommodation of travellers. In Turkey it would be called a caravanserai. Here there is a man with fire and water, but the traveller brings his own provisions, wine, tea, bread, &c., in his palanquin, though he can generally get eggs. We stayed here about two hours, and had some tea, eggs, and biscuits, and no one who has not experienced it can have any idea of the comfort of a short rest after a night of dâk travelling. Although you lie down in the palanquin, yet every limb gets cramped, and the incessant jolting is most painful to the bones, even of one so fat as I am, and I have increased sadly in bulk since I came to India. Off we started again a little before eleven, and at about one we reached the house of an Indigo-planter at Jelasore. I never saw him before, but he received us most hospitably. His wife was rejoiced to see us—she had not seen a European lady for seventeen months, for their nearest neighbours live at a distance of forty miles, or about twelve hours' journey. Here we spent a most agreeable day, delighted with everything. In the evening I took a walk with our kind host to see an old fort.
It must have been once very strong, and was probably built by the Mahrattas as a depôt for plunder when they overran this part of the country. In the inner court is a three-domed building, resembling, except in ornament, a mosque. The walls are several feet thick, built of hard stone strongly clamped together with iron. High up in the interior of the centre dome are four niches, which I hope to explore on some future occasion. The inner enclosure is surrounded by a strong stone wall and a deep moat now dry. Beyond this is a level space of a few yards in width, and then again, in another part of the wall, there are signs of a narrow sallyport, and opposite to this, between the trenches, as if it might have been reached by a drawbridge, is a very high mound of earth. Over the sallyport there has evidently been a strong tower, and above the central entrance into the interior building is a stone with an inscription. It appears very perfect, but no one can read it; it is neither Ooriah, Hindustanee, Sanscrit, nor Persian. I have called this a Mahratta fort, because that is the general opinion amongst Europeans. I myself doubt it, and from its age and appearance think it much more likely that it was erected by the Moguls when they first invaded the country; how I wished, as I stood there, that I could have seen it as it was in former ages, with its garrison, and its horsemen, and its despotic governor. The next time I go I shall provide myself with some paper covered with charcoal, and try to take an impression of the inscription. We were in some fear, during our examination, lest we should be interrupted by the natives, as they have very recently got the idea that it was once inhabited by one of their gods, and therefore consider it a sacred place. I fancied, as well as the darkness would allow me to see, that far back in one of the niches I could dimly perceive a coloured statue of a female. Before we went to see this ruin my kind host took me into his garden to show me the India-rubber tree. We scraped the bark with a piece of rough glass, and a white sticky juice oozed out; this we took between our fingers and squeezed until it became a sort of brown gluey substance. In this state it is used by the native hunters as birdlime. After being exposed to the air for some time it gradually hardens and becomes what we call India-rubber. A large part of this garden was planted with arrow-root.
ATTACK BY A TIGER.