This is Friday, and on Sunday night I start for Calcutta to spend a month with our friends; there I shall have plenty of occupation for the mind, and shall, I hope, get rid entirely of the oppression under which I have recently suffered.
SPORTING.
Fancy yourself standing with me on that little rising ground, near the foot of that large hill: it is near Bunool, on the banks of the Chelka Lake. Keep out of sight behind that bush. Hark! there are the beaters climbing the rocks on the opposite side of the hill. There are 400 extended along the whole side, and every tenth man has a drum or trumpet. Some of them have guns, curious native matchlocks; others have swords or spears; and every one has a thick bamboo about eight feet long. Listen! they are beginning to beat. As they force their way through the jungle they strike the bushes with their sticks, and from one end of the lake to the other resound the most unearthly noises. The horrid yells of the natives, the screaming of the trumpets, the constant beating of the tom-toms and drums—you can hardly imagine such horrid discord. See: there is Mr. G. hiding himself behind that clump of trees a quarter of a mile off. Hold your gun ready, you cannot tell what may rush out of the jungle. Don't show yourself. Listen again to those yells. They must nearly have reached the top of the hill. Hush! there is a rustling in those bushes close to you. What is it? Keep close, but up with your gun. Here it comes! Bah! don't fire at that; it is only a civet-cat. What a beautiful animal it is, with its grey sides, and tail striped with that glossy black. But the skin is of no use; the stench from it is so exceedingly powerful that you could not possibly bear it in the house. Look out! there's another rush! Here it comes! a pig! no; what can it be? Why, it's a porcupine. Don't fire. Here, you messenger, catch it. Fancy the man's look of dismay when ordered to catch a porcupine. However, another of my men jumped up and stabbed the animal with his sword.
Oh, what a clash in the jungle at the top of the hill! See! that must be some large animal coming down. Don't let him see you; peep through that bush. How he plunges through the jungle! He has stopped: look now! he leaves the beaters behind him, but he suspects danger in front. You can see his head by the side of that tree, just below that high rock. He is standing still and gazing at us. What a splendid pair of antlers! He must be one of the largest sambres (Indian elk) I ever saw. I am afraid he is hardly within shot; however, I'll try. He is down; the ball struck him just in the centre of his forehead, and one of my men rushes forward to despatch him with his sword.
But look there! Mr. G. is running as fast as he can, and all his men running too. What can be the matter? Quick! see! there is an enormous bear pursuing them. Here, give me my gun; make haste. Look! G. has stumbled, and is rolling head over heels down the hill. Bang! I hit him! See, he turns back. G. shot the female, and was immediately attacked by the male, whilst his gun was not loaded, for he foolishly had but one. We got the body of the female, and brought it to our tents in triumph. It was a black bear, measuring five feet seven inches in length, and its teeth quite worn out.
[Cuttack, April 2, 1845.]
The Government of India orders me to go from Cuttack to Midnapore and back again four times a-year, to Balasore and back twice a-year, and to Pooree and back four times a-year. The distance from Cuttack to Midnapore is one hundred and eighty miles, from Cuttack to Balasore one hundred and three miles, and from Cuttack to Pooree forty-nine miles. I travel about forty-seven miles a-day on the average. The Government allows me twelve annas and two pice per mile for travelling expenses; it costs me four annas and two pice—an anna being one-sixteenth part of a rupee, and a pice one-fourth part of an anna.
SPORTING.
I must now mention some of my adventures in the jungle. One day we went with a native Rajah to hunt antelopes. Suppose the shore of the Chelka Lake on one side and the sea on the other, with a strip of sand between them rather more than a mile wide. The antelopes live entirely on the sandy plain, and feed on the scanty plants which grow among the sand. Across this flat a net about seven feet in height and a mile long was staked, and 100 men were stationed along it as guards. About 500 men were then sent out with a similar net about a mile and a half in length, which they stretched at perhaps five miles from the other. These 500 men then walked slowly towards the first net, carrying the other in front of them, and driving lots of antelopes before them. When they came within a mile of the first net they staked the second, and there were perhaps fifty or sixty antelopes enclosed in a space of about a mile square. Mr. G., the Rajah, and myself, went inside with our guns. It was barbarous sport. In two days we killed fifteen, which our servants ate most gladly. But the interesting thing was to see twenty or thirty bound, one after the other, over the net and the men's heads, giving tremendous leaps; the black men striking at them with their swords and spears, and cowering to avoid their sharp-cutting hoofs, and all hallooing and jabbering, and swearing; whilst every now and then the crack of one of our guns would be heard, and the whizz of the bullet as it passed near.