At six o'clock in the evening the sun was just setting as we three sahibs returned from our day's shooting. The magistrate is just washing his hands in a chillumchee, or brass basin, at the door of the tent. In the front-ground, on two chairs, are seated the doctor and myself; the former is having his long leather gaiters or overalls pulled off. I have one foot in a chillumchee of warm water, the other resting on the black knee of one of my servants, who is shampooing and cracking each joint of the toes. Now he has done that, wiped the foot dry, put on the shoe, and is squeezing or kneading each muscle in the calf of the leg. No one but those who have experienced it can have any idea what a luxury this is when you are very tired!
Behind us stands a long-bearded turbaned khitmutgar, with sherry and glasses. Our guns are leaning against the side of the tent, our horses are picketed to a tree close by, and the grooms are busily rubbing them down. A hundred or a hundred and fifty black natives are separating into groups according to their castes, and are lighting fires all around in order to cook their dinners. Behind the servants' tent is a fire of charcoal, over which a black man is turning a hare, some partridges, a peacock, and several other results of our day's sport. Close by is another fire of wood crackling and sparkling, on which are stew-pans with salmon, oysters, &c. &c., which have come from England.
It grows late: the moon rises over the hills; the fires blaze up in all directions; I see the swarthy natives moving around them, and hear them chattering or singing their low monotonous song; everything looks wild; I begin to indulge in all sorts of reveries—when a man approaches with his hands clasped together, and, bending low before me, says "Cana meg" (dinner-table). The peacock takes the place of the reverie; visions of the partridges and oysters flit across my mind; and I run to help in demolishing a most substantial and well-earned meal. I then go to my palkee. The howling of the jackals does not awake me, I am too well used to it; but at last, about two o'clock in the morning, I was aroused by a sort of sniffing and a scratch at the door. I guessed at once what it was, and debated for an instant whether I should open it a little and try the effect of my pistols, or call out so as to rouse my companions, or lie still and leave him to himself. I determined on the latter; as, supposing I had not killed him, my visitor might have come into my palanquin and killed me before I could get assistance. I therefore lay quietly with a pistol in my hand; and I felt much happier when I heard the bear at last trot off.
[Barripore, January 16, 1844.]
THE NEILGHUR HILLS.
On Friday morning the magistrate and myself determined to ascend one of the Neilghur hills. The doctor did not think it worth the fatigue, and therefore shot partridges and wild-ducks for our breakfasts. We started from our tents at about half-past five in the morning. For about four miles our road lay through jungle, similar to that I have already described.
As we emerged from this the effect was most extraordinary. We had been suffering much from heat, and the sudden exclamation of both of us was, "Oh, how very cold!" A chilling blast came down from the hills, which entirely altered the temperature of the air; and, moreover, the place where we now were can very rarely, if ever, be reached by the sun. These causes produce a most singular effect upon the vegetation. Behind us was a dense jungle of bamboos, brambles, cacti, &c., through which it was most difficult to force a passage. In front of us for nearly a mile—that is, extending to the foot of the hills—the appearance was altogether different: not a bamboo nor a cactus, not a bramble, scarcely even a thorn; the turf perfectly smooth; the only plants a sort of laurel and a species of wild-apple; and no two plants growing within four feet of each other. It was like a wilderness or a shrubbery in a gentleman's park. We found several marks of bears and also of elephants; and the natives were rather unwilling to proceed. However, we led the way, with our guns in our hands, and soon arrived at the foot of the hill. It rose very suddenly, and in many places we had to climb for several feet up the face of a smooth black rock, similar to that which I have already mentioned.
We had no adventures beyond a tumble or two, but it was a most fatiguing work; and the instant we reached the top we threw ourselves down and called for a cigar and a glass of beer. This hill, which is much the lowest of the whole range, is not, I suppose, more than five hundred feet in height: it rises to a peak, the extreme top being about six feet in diameter. Here we fired off our guns as a signal to the doctor, and then commenced our descent.
At the bottom we were very glad to mount our horses and ride back to the tent. It was a very clear morning, and you can hardly imagine the wild magnificence of the scene from the top. Behind us lay the thick jungle through which we had passed, with Balasore in the distance, and the sea forming the background; in front, a wilderness of brushwood, extending as far as the eye could reach; to the right was a winding river, bordered by the graceful bamboo, with native villages and patches of rice-fields on its banks; whilst to the left, from the midst of the thickets, rose abruptly the other hills, towering to the height of several thousand feet. All these ranges belong to tributary rajahs, and are not the property of the English. We were delighted with our excursion, and it has led to the proposal of another, which we hope to accomplish, with the addition to our party of the doctor and the master-attendant, as soon as I return from Cuttack.