An incident occurred after dinner, which displayed in a strong light the violence of Bluff’s character, especially towards the natives, and his perfect disregard of the feelings of his company.
As the bottles were placed before him by the apdar, or butler, a very respectable-looking bearded Mahomedan, something in their arrangement displeased our host, who, pointing with his forefinger to one of them, exclaimed, “Yee kea ky?” (what is this?)
The unfortunate domestic bent forward his head, though evidently in fear, to scrutinize the damage, when he received a back-handed blow in the mouth from the colonel, which rung through the room, and sent him staggering backwards, minus his turban, which had fallen from the shock.
The man—I shall never forget it—stooped and picked up his turban; replaced it on his noble-looking head—his face was livid from a sense of the insult; he put his hand to his mouth, and looked at it, there was blood upon it.
The company appeared and were disgusted; even Bluff, I thought, seemed ashamed of himself. Well it is that these things are becoming rare!
But enough of the colonel, of whom this sketch may give as good an idea as a more elaborate description. Of such characters there were a few, and but a few, in the Indian army, and it is to be hoped their number is fast diminishing.
CHAPTER XXI.
We remained the following day, and accompanied the colonel, and one or two of his officers, to a grand entertainment, given by the Nawaub of Bengal, at his palace of Moorshedabad, in honour of the festival of the Baira. The whole station had, I believe, received invitations, through the Governor-General’s agent at the court of his highness, and a grand spectacle was expected.
We left Burhampore, in a landau, in the afternoon, and after an agreeable drive through a level and wooded country, partly on the margin of a considerable lake, called the Motee Jheel, reached the city of Moorshedabad, and entering a lofty gateway, found ourselves in the enclosure or domain in which the nawaub’s palace is situated.
This building is a lofty structure, in the European style, on the banks of the river, and bears the name of the Aina Mahl, which, if I am not in error, means the “Palace of Mirrors.”