A few miles distant from Vellore, and visible from the hills around, lies Arcot (Arucati), the residence of the nominal nabob of the Carnatic, who has long been a pensioner of the British. The population of Arcot are mostly Mahometans, who speak a dialect of Hindustani, and drive a very active trade.
At Vellore we resided in the house of the hospitable Lieut.-Colonel McCally, who, in the absence of the Commandant, did the honours of the Fort to the members of the Novara Expedition. Here we experienced a most cordial reception, and passed a few most delightful hours in the domestic circle of his amiable family. In the evening we made out an excursion to an adjoining eminence, 1400 feet above sea-level, 300 above Vellore, from which there is a commanding view over the town and neighbourhood. Seen from this point, the Fort looked charming, presenting itself to us, surrounded as it is by moats and watercourses, like an island in the foreground. On the top of this hill is the bungalow or country-seat of the collector of revenue, W. A. Sulivan, Esq., where we revelled in the enjoyment of the exquisite natural scenery, and partook of refreshment.
In the evening a number of officers, with their wives, met us at dinner at Lieut.-Colonel McCally's house. The gaieties were prolonged till far in the evening, music and songs alternating with round games and dancing, so that we had hardly composed ourselves to sleep ere we were awakened by the servants, in order to avoid missing the train, which leaves Vellore for Madras at 6.30 a. m. By 11 a. m., we were once more in the chief city of the Carnatic.
The same afternoon the officers of the Novara, and the naturalists of the Expedition, were invited to an Indian fête, which Lord Harris gave every year at this season in his palace at Guindy Park, and to which it was customary to invite the majority of the European residents at Madras, together with their families,—military, civil service, and mercantile community, all being honoured with cards. This festival originated in a children's entertainment, which the governor had been in the habit of giving on the birthday of his son; the latter had long since gone to an English University, but the custom had survived, and the day was equally carefully observed this year also, having been looked forward to for months before by the "white" young folks of Madras. The entertainment still retains the character of a children's party, inasmuch as on the present occasion there were assembled above 250 children of both sexes, varying from 5 to 12 years of age. The total number of guests who, in addition to these, shared in the festivities was probably more than a thousand. The fête began with the performances of some 30 Indian jugglers and acrobats, on a large lawn in the park. These, as may be conceived, had been selected from among the most athletic and skilful. They presented a singularly-picturesque appearance, from the diversities of age, agile boys, athletic young men, slender voluptuous-looking Bayadères, old grey-headed men, and marvellous-looking old hags, with streaming white hair, and dark, piercing, gleaming eyes, recalling in their manners and appearance our own gipsies. All played at once, and performed with the most astonishing precision a succession of breakneck feats, that set the spectator's hair on end. It was a spectacle entirely sui generis, thoroughly Indian in short, to behold these wild-looking brown figures, unawed by the presence they were in, going through their various performances and feats of agility. In front of us knelt an old man who played with a dozen knives, which he kept circling around him with wild yells, apparently without looking at them, till he finally turned them in such a manner that it seemed as though the sharp points of the knives had transfixed his hand. Next youthful acrobats sprang through paper balloons set on fire,—girls in boys' dresses climbed up bamboo poles 100 feet high, in the midst of continual yells,—boys executed on the damp meadow ground the most extraordinary feats of agility and contortions of the limbs, while one old fellow, to the intense astonishment of the assembled children, swallowed swords, as also tow and other combustible matter, whereupon flames presently seemed to issue from his month. These, indeed, are feats of conjuring which have been performed in Europe, usque ad nauseam, but here all was done with such precision and dexterity (each man especially playing entirely con amore, evidently not to impress the spectators, but because he felt a pleasure in it himself), that the whole exhibition left quite a different impression from anything of the sort elsewhere.
After this introductory amusement, the children invited were regaled with a refection under an enormous tent. This was for the grown-up guests another source of great amusement. More than 300 children took their seats at a long well-covered table, while their fathers, mothers, governesses, &c., stood behind the benches, and took special care to supply the little watering mouths with a sufficient supply of the many delicacies before them.
A distribution of souvenirs to the various children present succeeded the repast, the various articles being fastened to a gigantic tree under a tent. The tree was profusely hung with elegant paper lamps, and although there were no pine-branches, only palm leaves, the "tout ensemble," bore a strong resemblance to a genuine Christmas tree. Fathers and mothers expressed to us their own feelings of pleasure at beholding the glee of their children, and, indeed, seemed to think this the most entertaining part of the fête. The distribution lasted a considerable time, and many of the children affected to coquette disparagingly with the presents of their neighbours, which these latter held fast with both hands, till at length the whole joyous train were dismissed homewards, thoroughly pleased with the day's proceedings.
After this interlude there were fireworks on the lawn for the grown-up children, which seemed intended to serve merely as a stop-gap to while away the time between the distribution of the presents to the children and the supper, which was laid out in the brilliantly-illuminated dining-room of the palace. The fine band, which a few days previously had so pleased us by its performances during dinner at Guindy Park, drew up on the large lawn fronting the ball-room, and during this interval played a few select pieces with admirable precision. At last, supper was announced by a flourish of trumpets. Despite the spacious proportions of the apartment, the company was too numerous to admit of all sitting down at once. We calculated the number of guests still remaining at at least 500. The ladies supped first, and afterwards the gentlemen—the Governor, Lord Harris, doing the honours in person, in the most courteous and kindly manner. After supper the party proceeded in couples to a splendid ball-room, where dancing speedily began, while over their heads an omnipresent punkah, of rich tapestry-paper, and elegantly adorned with beautiful arabesques, swung to and fro, and kept the half-breathless dancers continually fanned by its currents of air.[106] In spite, however, of this artificial ventilating machine overhead, one must have had an extraordinary love for the dance to find pleasure in a polka or galop at a temperature of 86° of Fahrenheit.
[106] In many English families in India there prevails a sort of punkah mania, so that there is a regular hurricane incessantly blowing over their heads. Undoubtedly these artificial gales are particularly agreeable in apartments where, a large number of persons being assembled, the atmosphere becomes intolerable—as, for instance, courts of justice, churches, hotels, and hospitals. Under such circumstances, they are, indeed, a most valuable contrivance. But their application is entirely overdone; and there are persons who, even while they are sleeping, have a Hindoo servant continually working the punkah, which, under such circumstances, is usually worked from an adjoining room by means of silken cords, so that the motive power is not visible from the apartment, but only the effect felt. Strangers at first find these artificial currents very apt to superinduce headache, until continued residence makes him regard the punkah as a most necessary article of furniture.
Lord Harris had taken measures for ensuring our proceeding direct from his residence in Guindy Park upon the favourite excursion from Madras—that, namely, to the Seven Pagodas. We had accordingly provided ourselves with only what was indispensable in the way of luggage; and towards 1 a. m., we left the ball-room, and proceeded on our way to the renowned Hindoo Temples to the south of Madras. A waggon conveyed us to the Adyar bridge, where a Government boat was in waiting for us, together with some Hindoo servants of the Governor, who were to be our guides to the Seven Pagodas. One of these peons, as they are called in India, named Iritschapa, presented us with a document, in which he was commissioned to place himself at our disposal during the whole period we were absent, and anticipate all our requirements without further authorization, to the best of his ability, so as to ensure our comfort and assist the objects we had in view. The Government boat was supplied with everything that could minister to our comfort, a second boat following us exclusively for the conveyance of our heavy baggage, personal effects, tents, and provisions. Towards 2 a. m., we embarked on the Eastern Coast Canal, which goes as far as Sadras, and by which we reached the Seven Pagodas, called also Mahamalaipuram, the city of the Great or Holy Mountain, at 9 a. m.