[CHAPTER XXVI.]
SIGHTS AND SCENES IN CALCUTTA.
RIVER SCENE BELOW CALCUTTA.
Several miles below Calcutta the river widens into Garden Reach, an expanse of water that is comparatively straight, and where both banks of the stream are so richly clad in tropical verdure as to suggest the name of garden to the early-comers. The first buildings of importance are the structures composing the palace of the King of Oude; they are on the east bank of the river, and the buildings and the walls that surround them are of a dazzling whiteness, which the captain of the steamer said was not at all indicative of the purity within the palace. One of the boys asked who the King of Oude was, and why he lived there; Doctor Bronson undertook an explanation, which was supplemented by a few words from the captain.
"At the time of the Mutiny, in 1857," said the Doctor, "the King of Oude—one of the richest provinces of India—joined the revolt and took part in the war. Lucknow was his capital and residence, and after the war he was deposed from his throne and ordered to live in Calcutta, where he could be immediately under the eye of the governor-general. He has no power whatever at present, but the Government gives him an allowance of $600,000 a year, and allows him to spend it as he pleases inside the white walls that you are looking at. He rarely goes outside, and then only for a drive along the roads that are least frequented by the English. He has an undying hatred for the English, and will not admit them to his palace: once in a while he invites an American or other foreigner to pay him a visit, but these occasions are not numerous. He is not allowed to return to Lucknow under any pretence whatever, and he cannot go more than a mile from his palace without permission of the governor."
"And I don't think," said the captain, "that, apart from the curiosity of seeing an Eastern king, you would care to visit him. He is a brutal-looking fellow, speaks no English, and is apt to be rude even to the visitors he invites to his palace. His habits of life are not of the best character, and some strange stories are told about him: he is very much married, as he can count his wives by the dozen, and he spends much of his time among his wild beasts, of which he has a very fine assortment. He is particularly fond of snakes, and his collection of those reptiles is said to be the finest in all India, and to contain the largest serpents. It has been rumored that when his wives did not please him he caused them to be fed to the snakes and wild beasts, but the story is not likely to be true. Although his palace is his own, and he can live about as he chooses, it is probable that the Government would interfere and put a stop to any amusement of this sort."