It is not always that the people on board boats, laying at ghauts, will turn out to pass the ghoon; on which occasions, words are rarely of much avail. I always found that a pellet-bow, which sends clay-balls to about a hundred yards distance with considerable force, produced an instantaneous effect; the first shot rattling against the matted sides of a vessel’s interior, rarely failing to cause wondrous activity on the part of her crew; though, now and then, it has been necessary to repeat the operation, before the desired effect could be produced.
I strongly recommend to all gentlemen travelling by water, that they insist on the manjies of their several boats carrying a small flag, of some obvious distinction, at their mast-heads: this prevents them from lying to, and concealing their vessels amidst a forest of masts, as they are very apt to do, when intent upon a clandestine trading voyage. Besides, as in the course of a day’s tracking, and especially when sailing, it is very common for a budjrow to get many miles a-head, such a device then becomes a guide as to the propriety of coming to for the night, or, intermediately, for dinner, &c.
The number of miles which can be run over in the course of a day in a budjrow, will necessarily vary according to circumstances, guided by the quantity of water in the river, the direction and force of the wind, and the competency of the crew. I cannot do better, in this place, than offer the words of Major Rennell. At page 360 of his Memoirs, he says, ‘From the beginning of November, to the middle, or latter end of May, the usual rate of going with the stream, is forty miles in a day of twelve hours; and, during the rest of the year, from fifty to seventy miles. The current is strongest while the waters of the inundation are draining off; which happens, in part, in August and September.’
In a former part, I remarked that the rivers generally rise a few inches in May; which is to be attributed to the melting of the snow on those hills where the Ganges and Barampooter have their source. Both those rivers, which have their rise at the base, but on opposite sides, of the same mountain, and, after separating to full twelve hundred miles asunder, unite, and form that immense volume of water called the Megna, receive a supply from the same quarter, and at the same time: we cannot, however, expect the force of their currents to be encreased much before the rains are fairly set in, which may be, generally, about the 10th of June, when their waters do, indeed, roll impetuously; so much, that many a boat has proceeded from Patna to Monghyr, a distance of one hundred measured miles by land, and full one hundred and twenty by water, between day-break and sun-set.
Major Rennell adds, ‘Seventeen to twenty miles a day, according to the ground, and the number of impediments, is the greatest distance that a large budjrow can be towed against the stream, during the fair season; and, to accomplish this, the boat must be drawn through the water, at the rate of four miles and a half per hour, for twelve hours. When the waters are high, a greater progress will be made, notwithstanding the encreased velocity of the current; because, the filling of the river-bed gives many opportunities of cutting off angles and turnings; and, sometimes, even large windings, by going through creeks. As the wind, at this season, blows upwards,’ (i.e. against the current,) ‘in most of the rivers, opportunities of using the sail frequently occur.’
It must not be supposed, from the foregoing, that the boat actually makes a progress of four miles and a half within the hour: far from it, the dandies rarely walk more than two miles in that time, but the velocity of the current being taken into account, would shew, that, if a log were to be heaved, the difference between the log and the boat’s advance would give the result alluded to by the Major, whose general correctness cannot be too much admired.
In using the sail, infinite changes take place; sometimes it is full, then again close-hauled, and, perhaps, ultimately, lowered on a sudden, according as the course of the river may change; and this some twenty or thirty times within the day. But when the reaches lie tolerably fair, that opportunity offers, as sometimes happens for a whole day together, and that the wind is brisk in favor, a budjrow will run off from four to six miles within the hour. The river is often so low as to render the navigation very tedious, even under all the above favorable circumstances, by forcing the manjy to abide by the strong deep waters, and to wind in among the sands, which cause the channel to change its direction very frequently.
During the rains, and especially in the cold months, travelling by water is extremely pleasant with the stream; but, whatever facilities may be afforded, in any shape, I cannot say that any trip upwards, at whatever season, afforded me the smallest gratification. What with tracking, getting aground, remaining long among eddies, in which human carcases were floating in all the various stages of putrefaction, the dust flying, &c., &c., nothing but ennui, or impatience, can reasonably be expected.
Here and there a walk may be taken; but he who ventures ashore must be watchful to embark before the budjrow may be obliged to put far out for the purpose of passing some endless shallow; otherwise, he may have to walk under a vertical sun, through bushes, or over ploughed, or muddy, lands, and among ravines, for many an hour, before the opportunity many offer for getting on board: to crown the whole, he may, perhaps, come to some nullah, or small stream, over which no conveyance is to be had, either by bridge or boat!
My zeal for bringing home a few birds, or a hare, has often decoyed me into scrapes of this kind, and caused me to utter many an imprecation against the river, for winding, the manjy, for going on, and my own folly, for subjecting myself to such unpleasant circumstances. I must freely confess, that, in this respect, ‘experience did not give wisdom;’ for, after full a thousand and one such disappointments, I felt, at the last, just as eager as ever, to silence such chuckores (a species of grouse) as had the insolence to crow within my hearing!