Zaban-i-urdu, the eourt language.
Zdmin, guarantee.
Zamiindar, landlord.
Zanana, or zenana, female apartments,
feminine, effeminate.
Zul-jana, the horse of Husain, i. e. the
winged wolf.
Zunnar, the Brahmanical thread.
WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM.
CHAPTER I.
DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND.
1822, April Flying Visit to Switzerland The good Ship 'Marchioness of
Ely' H. M. 16th Lancers Porto Santo Fellow-Passengers Isle of Palma
Divine Service The Band Quadrilles The first Shark Bristol Water
Skip-jacks Prickly heat Crossing the Line Amusements on Board A
Blue Shark Sucking-Fish Bonito Santa Trinidada and Martin Vas Rocks
The Albatross Thoughts of Home A Calm Shooting Season on the
Ocean Three Days of Battue Whale-Shooting A deep Calm Scarcity
of Water Anchored at Carnicobar.
In April, 1822, Monsieur mon mari took me to Switzerland.
For the first time, I quitted England. How beautiful was the
Valley of Chamouni ! how delightful our expedition on the
La Plegere ! The guides pronounced it too early in the year to
attempt the ascent of Mont Blanc. We quitted the valley
with regret, and returned to Geneva : but our plans were
frustrated, and our hopes disappointed ; for, on reaching the
hotel, we found a letter requiring our instant return to England.
The ' Marchioness of Ely,' in which we had taken our passage to
Bengal, was reported to be ready to sail in a few days : no time
was to be lost ; we started immediately, travelled night and day
incessantly, and arrived, greatly harassed, in town. The illness
brought on by the over-fatigue of that journey never quitted
me for years. The vessel, however, was merely preparing for her
departure, and did not sail until long after.
Happily the pain of separation from the beloved home of my
VOL. I. ^ B
2 WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM.
childhood was broken by the necessity of exertion in preparation
for the voyage.
June \3th. We went to Gravesend, to see the ship: it was
scarcely possible to enter our destined abode, the larboard stern
cabin ; so full was it to overflowing boxes of clothes, hampers of
soda water, crates of china and glass a marvellous confusion !
After a time the hampers and boxes were carried below, the
furniture cleated and lashed, and some sort of order was
established.
We had carefully selected a ship that was not to carry troops :
we now found the 'Ely' had been taken up to convey four troops
of H. M. 1 6th Lancers; the remainder of the regiment was to sail
in the ' General Hewitt.' Some of our fellow-passengers were on
board on the same errand as ourselves.
June \8th. We had lingered with our friends, and had de-
ferred the sad farewell until the last moment : half uncertain if
we should be in time to catch the ship in the Downs, we posted
to Deal, took refuge at the ' Three Kings,' and had the satisfac-
tion of watching the 'Marchioness of Ely,' and the 'Winchelsea'
her companion, as they bore down. At 1 1 p.m. we went on board,
and sailed the next day. There was such a glorious confusion
on deck, that those who were novices in military and naval
affairs might deem, as they gazed around, it could never sub-
side into any thing approaching order. Every one, however,
was saying it would be very different when the ship was at sea ;
of which, indeed, there was little doubt, for to go on as we
were would have been impossible. Off the Isle of Wight the
pilot left us to our captain's guidance ; the breeze was favour-
able; we were sailing so smoothly, there was scarcely any
motion. The last farewell tears dropped as I passed the
Needles and the coast of Hampshire, whilst memory recalled
the happy days I had spent there, and in the Forest, the beau-
tiful Forest !
Such thoughts and feelings it was necessary to. throw aside.
I joined the party in the cuddy, scrutinized the strange faces,
and retired to my cabin, with as solitary a feeling as if my
husband and I had been exiles for ever.
THE VOYAGE. 3
The voyage began prosperously; I was satisfied with the
captain, with my cabin, with my servant, and happy with my
lord and master.
We regretted we had taken our passage in a ship full of
troops, and anticipated we should be debarred taking exercise
on the quarter-deck, and enjoying ourselves with walk and talk
during the fine moonlight nights. In the ' Ely ' it appeared as
if it would be impossible ; were you to attempt it, you would be
sure to blunder over some sleeping Lancer. However, the band
was on board some small consolation ; and as the society was
large, there was more chance of entertainment.
July 1st. Porto Santo looked beautiful, its head enveloped
in clouds. The rocky island rises boldly out of the sea; its
mountains are very picturesque. The sight of land and white
chateaux was quite charming.
I now began to recover from the maladie de mer, and to
regain my usual good spirits. Creatures of habit, we soon
grew accustomed to the small space. The stern cabin, twelve
feet by ten, at first sight appeared most extremely inconvenient ;
but now it seemed to have enlarged itself, and we were more
comfortable. Still sleep would scarcely visit me, until a
swinging cot was procured. From that time I slept calmly and
quietly, whatever pranks the old ' Ely ' might choose to play.
The comfort or discomfort of a voyage greatly depends upon
your fellow-passengers. In this respect we were most fortu-
nate ; one-half the officers of the 1 6th Lancers were in the
'Ely.' The old 16th to me were friends; my father, who had
been many years in the regiment, was forced to quit it, in con-
sequence of a severe wound he received in action in the Pays
Bas, under the command of the Duke of York. My uncle had
commanded the gallant regiment in Spain, and other relatives
had also been many years with the regiment. Chance had
thrown us amongst friends.
Perhaps no friendships are stronger than those formed on
board ship, where the tempers and dispositions are so much set
forth in their true colours.
July 4th. We passed the Isle of Palma ; it looked beautiful,
b2
4 WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM.
rising abruptly from the sea; the trees appeared fine and
numerous. We are in the trade winds, going generally about
eight knots an hour; the evenings are delicious; little or no
dew falls so far from land ; in the evening we sit on deck, and
enjoy the breeze. The moon is reflected so beautifully on the
waves, the nights are so warm, the air so pure, the climate so
agreeable, I could willingly turn canary bird, and take up my
residence in this latitude.
Sometimes quadrilles are danced by the light of the moon ;
sometimes by the glare of half-a-dozen lanterns. There is little
or no motion in the vessel j no events occur ; yes let me not
forget a little boy fell into the pea-soup and got a ducking;
luckily for him, it was nearly cold. "The misfortunes of the
stable fall on the head of the monkey 1 ." The deck presents
a curious assemblage: Lancers at extension exercise, women
working, sailors hauling, children at school, ladies reading or
talking in groups altogether an amusing scene.
On Sundays Divine service is performed; the psalms are
sung in very good style, accompanied by the Lancer band.
The weather is hot; the thermometer 79 in our cabin, 81 in
the cuddy, which at dinner-time contains six-and-thirty people.
To-day a shark was caught ; it was attended by three pilot fish,
which, they say, guide the shark to its prey. These small fish
are very pretty, and striped like zebras. The shark vras hooked
and dragged up by the stern windows ; he struggled manfully,
but was soon despatched.
A little flying-fish flew into one of the ports to escape the
pursuit of a larger fish ; it was small and curious, but not so
pretty as one would imagine. Two large fins spread out on its
sides, like wings. It was a novelty to most of the passengers.
July 22nd. What a strange, bustling life ! This is baggage-
day ; all the trunks are on deck such a confusion ! I am
suffering from maladie de mer ; the wind is contrary ; we tack
and veer most tiresomely; the ship pitches; we cling about
like cats, and are at our wits' end, striving to endure our miseries
with patience.
1 Oriental Proverbs, No. 9.
SKIP-JACK. 5
The Bristol water is invaluable, the ship water very black,
and it smells vilely. I knew not before the value of good
water ; and, were it not for the shower bath, should be apt to
wish myself where Truth is at the bottom of a well.
Yesterday such a noise arose on deck, it brought me to the
scene of action in a minute : " Come here ! come here ! look !
look ! There they go, like a pack of hounds in full cry !" I
did come, and I did look ; and there were some hundred of
skip-jacks leaping out of the water, and following each other
with great rapidity across the head of the ship. When many
fish leaped up together, there was such laughing, shouting,
pointing, and gazing, from four hundred full-grown people,
it was absurd to see how much amusement the poor fish
occasioned. I looked alternately at the fish and the people,
and laughed at both.
A kind of rash teases me ; in these latitudes they call it
prickly heat, vow you cannot be healthy withoiit it, and affirm
that every one ought to be glad to have it. So am not I.
Having beaten about the line for a fortnight, with a con-
trary wind, at length we entertained hopes of crossing it, and
letters were received on board from Neptune and Amphitrite,
requesting to be supplied with clothes, having lost their own in
a gale of wind.
July 30th. Neptune and his lady came on board to acquaint
the captain they would visit him in form the next day. The
captain wished the god good night, when instantly the deck was
deluged with showers of water from the main-top, while a
flaming tar-barrel was thrown overboard, in which Neptune
was supposed to have vanished in flame and water.
July 3\st. At 9 a.m. the private soldiers who were not to be
shaved were stationed on the poop with their wives ; on the
quarter-deck the officers and ladies awaited the arrival of the
ocean-god. First in procession marched the band, playing
" God save the King;" several grotesque figures followed ; then
came the car of Neptune a gun-carriage with such a creature
for a coachman ! The carriage was drawn by six half-naked
seamen, painted to represent Tritons, who were chained to the
vehicle. We beheld the monarch and his bride, seated in the
6 WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM.
car, with a lovely girl, whom he called his tender offspring.
These ladies were represented by the most brawny, muscular,
ugly and powerful fellows in the ship ; the letters requesting
female attire having procured an abundance of finery. The
boatswain's mate, a powerful man, naked to the waist, with
a pasteboard crown upon his head and his speaking-trumpet in
his hand, who represented Neptune, descended from his car,
and offered the captain two fowls as tropical birds, and a salted
fish on the end of a trident, lamenting that the late boisterous
weather had prevented his bringing any fresh. A doctor, a
barber with a notched razor, a sea-bear and its keeper, closed
the procession.
Re-ascending the car, they took their station in front of the
poop, and a rope was drawn across the deck to represent the
line. Neptune then summoned the colonel-commandant of
the Lancers to his presence, who informed him he had before
entered his dominions. The major was then conducted, by a
fellow calling himself a constable, to the foot of the car : he
went up, expecting to be shaved, but the sea god desired him to
present his wife to Amphitrite. After the introduction they
were both dismissed.
My husband and myself were then summoned : he pleaded
having crossed the line before. Neptune said that would not
avail, as his lady had entered the small latitudes for the first
time. After a laughable discussion, of to be shaved or not to
be shaved, we were allowed to retire. The remainder of the
passengers were summoned in turn. The sentence of shaving
was passed upon all who had not crossed the line, but not
carried into execution on the officers of the ship. The crew
were shaved and ducked in form, and in all good humour. Tn
the mean time the fire-engine drenched every body on deck, and
the officers and passengers amused themselves for hours
throwing water over each other from buckets. Imagine four
hundred people ducking one another, and you may have some
idea of the frolic. In the evening the sailors danced, sang,
recited verses, and spliced the main brace 2 , until very late,
' Drank grog.
and the day ended as jovially as it began. Several times they
charmed us with an appropriate song, roared at the utmost
pitch of their stentorian lungs, to the tune of "There's na
luck about the house."
" We'll lather away, and shave away,
And lather away so fine,
We always have a shaving day
Whenever we cross the line."
With sorrow I confess to having forgotten the remainder of
the ditty, which ended
" There's nothing half so sweet in life
As crossing of the line."
" Rule Britannia," with a subscription for the ruler of the
seas, was the finale, leaving every one perfectly satisfied with
his portion of salt water. It was agreed the rites and
ceremonies had never been better performed or with greater
good humour.
Colonel Luard's beautiful and faithful sketches have since
been presented to the public. Watching his ready pencil, as it
portrayed the passing scene, was one of the pleasures of the
'Ely;' and I feel greatly obliged to him for having given me
permission to add copies of some of his original sketches to
my journal.
Neptune was accompanied on board by a flying-fish that came
in at one of the ports, perhaps to escape from an albicore : a
lucky omen. The gentlemen amuse themselves with firing at
the albatross, as they fly round and round the vessel ; as yet, no
damage has been done the great birds shake their thick
plumage, and laugh at the shot.
The favourite game is pitch-and-toss for dollars. Boxing is
another method of spending time. Chess and backgammon-
boards are in high request ; when the evenings are not calm
enough for a quadrille or a waltz on deck, the passengers retire
to the cuddy, to whist or blind hookey, and dollars are brought
to table in cases that formerly contained Gamble's most excellent
portable soup ! On the very general introduction of caoutchouc
g WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM.
into every department of the arts and sciences, some of the
principal ship-builders proposed to form the keels of their
vessels of indian-rubber, but abandoned the project apprehending
the entire effacement of the equinoctial line.
Aug. 1st. Caught a bonito and a sea-scorpion; the latter
was of a beautiful purple colour, the under part white : also a
nautilus and a blue shark ; in the latter were four-and-twenty
young ones. The shark measured seven feet ; its young
from twelve to fourteen inches. The colour of the back was
blue, of the belly white ; several sucking-fish were upon the
monster, of which some were lost in hauling him on board :
one of those caught measured nine inches and a half; it stuck
firmly to my hand in an instant.
Our amusements concluded with viewing an eclipse of the
moon.
A stiff" gale split the mainsail and blew the foretop and
mizentop sails to pieces : no further damage was sustained. I
enjoyed the sight of the fine waves that tossed the vessel as if
she were a cockle-shell.
We caught two Cape pigeons, very beautiful birds ; the
moment they were brought on deck they suffered extremely from
maladie de mer !
Aug. l\th. During Divine service we came in sight of
San Trinidada and Martin Vas Rocks ; the former distant
twelve miles, the latter thirty.
Aug. \6th. Lat. 27 S., long. 19 W. The annexed litho-
graph is from an original drawing of Colonel Luard's, and the
following extract from his " Views in India :"
" This drawing represents the numerous birds that constantly
follow ships from lat. 27 S. to lat. 40 S., constantly hovering
about the ship, and picking up anything eatable which may be
thrown overboard. The pintado, or Cape pigeon, a very pretty
bird, black and white striped all over, is the most numerous.
They fly backwards and forwards across the ship's wake, in such
numbers and so carelessly, that they are frequently caught by en-
tangling their wings in lines thrown over the stern of the ship
to catch the albatross. This immense bird is also portrayed in
SHOOTING SEASON.
the drawing, whose astonishing power, fierceness, and fleetness,
render him formidable amongst the feathered tribe of these
regions. There is an instance on record of a man having
fallen overboard from a ship-of-war, when a noble-minded mid-
shipman instantly jumped overboard, and, from his power as a
swimmer, would probably have rescued the sailor from a watery
grave, had not an albatross passing at the moment stooped upon
the generous youth, and struck him upon the head : he sank to
rise no more ! Both he and the sailor were drowned."
Aug. 23rd. There is a ship alongside ! a ship bound for
England ! it speaks of home and the beloved ones, and although
I am as happy as possible, my heart still turns to those who
have heretofore been all and everything to me, with a warmth
of affection at once delightful and very painful.
Aug. 27th. Lat. 32 9' S., long. 4 25' E. A dead calm !
give me any day a storm and a half in preference ! It was so
miserable a long heavy swell, without a ripple on the waves ;
the ship rolled from side to side without advancing one inch ;
she groaned in all her timbers : the old ' Marchioness ' ap-
peared to suffer and be as miserable as myself. The calm con-
tinued the next day, and the rolling also ; the captain kindly
allowed the jolly-boat to be lowered, in which some of the
Lancers and my husband went out shooting.
This day, the 28th of August, was the commencement of the
shooting season : game was in abundance, and they sought it over
the long heavy swell of the glasslike and unrippled sea. The
sportsmen returned with forty head of game : in this number
was an albatross, measuring nine feet from the tip of one wing
to that of the other ; a Cape hen, a sea-swallow, with several
pintado and other birds.
When the boat returned, it brought good fortune ; the wind
instantly sprang up, and we went on our way rejoicing. This
day a whale was seen at a distance ; if it had approached the
vessel, a captain of the Lancers had prepared a Congreve rocket
for its acceptance.
Sept. 1st. We spoke a Dutchman off the Cape, looking in a
very pitiable condition : the same gale which had damaged
her overtook us, and blew heavily and disagreeably for three
days. The weather was very cold and wet, and we felt disap-
pointed at not touching at the Cape.
Sept. \0th. Lat. 36 43' S., Ion. 45 3V W., ther. 64.
Another calm, and another battue : the gentlemen returned from
the watery plain with great eclat, bringing seven albatross, thirty
pintados, a Cape hen, and two garnets. One of the albatross,
which was stuffed for me, measured fifty-three inches from head
to tail, and nine feet ten inches across the wings.
Sept. 20th. In the evening we passed St. Paul's and Amster-
dam, but the haziness of the weather prevented our seeing them.
This, the most southerly point of our voyage, was also the coldest.
The cold was really painful.
Sept. 23. A school ' of twenty or thirty whales passed near
the ship ; it was almost a calm ; they were constantly on the
surface, frolicking and spouting away. They were, the sailors
said, of the spermaceti order, which are smaller in size, and do
not spout so high as the larger race. I was disappointed.
Two of the officers of the Lancers rowed within ten yards of a
large whale, and fired a Congreve rocket into its body; the
whale gave a spring and dived instantly. The rocket would
explode in a few seconds and kill him : a good prize for the first
ship that falls in with the floating carcase. They fired at
another, but the rocket exploded under water and came up
smoking to the surface. The boat returned safely to the ship,
but it was rather a nervous affair.
Sept. 25th. Another calm allowed of more shooting, and
great was the slaughter of sea game. I must make an extract
from Colonel Luard's work, speaking of a battle that took place
on the 10th : " The Cape hen was a large fierce black bird, and
only having its wing broken, tried to bite every person's legs in
the boat. When she was placed on the ship's quarter-deck, a
small terrier belonging to one of the officers attacked her, and
they fought for some time with uncertain advantage ; the bloody
streams from the dog proving the severity of the bird's bite :
at last the terrier seized his adversary by the throat, when the
battle and the bird's life ended together. In lat. 4 13' S., long.
1 A technical term used in the whale fishery.
A CALM.
the thermometer in the sun standing at 130, and
in the shade 97, two small birds, in every respect resembling
the English swallow, came about the ship. One of them was
caught, and died ; the other (probably in hopes of rejoining its
companion) remained with the ship fourteen or fifteen days,
frequently coming into the cabins and roosting there during the
night. It was at last missing ; and, not being an aquatic bird,
perhaps met a watery death."
During the time of the battue on the third day, three sharks
were astern ; we caught one that had a young one by her side.
When opened on deck, a family of twenty-four were found, each
about twelve or fourteen inches long; the mother measured seven
feet. The shark is said to swallow its young when in peril, and
to disgorge them when the danger has passed. The curious
birds and fish we see relieve the tedium of the voyage.
We now looked impatiently for the end of our passage, and
counted the days like schoolboys expecting their vacation. It
was amusing to hear the various plans the different people on
board intended to pursue on landing all too English by far for
the climate to which they were bound.
The birds were numerous south of the tropics ; we saw few
within them. The flying-fish are never found beyond the tropics.
Oct. llth.La.t. 4 2<Y S., long. 93 11' E. The heat was
very great; the vertical sun poured down its sickening rays,
the thermometer in the shade of the coolest cabin 86 ; not a
breath of air ; we felt severely the sudden change of temperature.
The sails flapped against the mast, and we only made progress
seventeen knots in the twenty-four hours ! Thus passed eleven
days the shower bath kept us alive, and our health was better
than when we quitted England. M. mon mari, who was study-
ing Persian, began to teach me Hindostanee, which afforded me
much pleasure.
In spite of the calm there was gaiety on board ; the band played
delightfully, our fellow-passengers were agreeable, and the calm
evenings allowed of quadrilles and waltzing on the deck, which
was lighted up with lanterns and decorated with flags.
Zenana of the King of Oude Regiment of Females The Favourite Wife
The English Begam The Princess of Delhi, the Begam par excellence
Colonel Gardner Mirza Suliman Sheko and his fifty-two Children The
forty Princesses Mootee, the Pearl of the Desert Hunting Season at Papam-
how Jackals and Foxes A Suttee at Prag Report of a Suttee An ill-
starred Horse.
Oct. 1828. A letter just received from a lady, a friend of mine,
at Lucnow, is so amusing and so novel, I must make an
extract :
" The other day, (Oct. 18th,) was the anniversary of the King
of Oude's coronation ; and I went to see the ceremony, one I
had never witnessed before, and with which I was much gratified.
But the greatest treat was a visit to the begam's afterwards,
when the whole of the wives, aunts, cousins, &c, were assembled
in state to receive us.
"The old begam (the king's mother), was the great lady, of
course, and in her palace were we received ; the others being
considered her guests, as well as ourselves. It was a most
amusing sight, as I had never witnessed the interior of a zenana
before, and so many women assembled at once I had never
beheld. I suppose from first to last we saw some thousands.
Women-bearers carried our tanjans ; a regiment of female gold
1 Oriental Proverbs, No. 22.
SS WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM.
and silver-sticks, dressed in male costume, were drawn up before
the entrance ; and those men, chiefly Africans, who were em-
ployed inside the zenana (and there were abundance of these
frightful creatures), were all of the same class as the celebrated
VeUuti. The old begam was without jewels or ornaments, like-
wise a very pretty and favourite wife of the late king, their state
of widowhood precluding their wearing them. But the present
king's wives were most superbly dressed, and looked like crea-
tures of the Arabian tales. Indeed, one was so beautiful, that I
could think of nothing but Lalla Rookh in her bridal attire.
" I never saw any one so lovely, either black or white. Her
features were perfect ; and such eyes and eyelashes I never
beheld before. She is the favourite queen at present, and has
only been married a month or two : her age about fourteen ;
and such a little creature, with the smallest hands and feet, and
the most timid, modest look imaginable. You would have been
charmed with her, she was so graceful and fawn-like. Her
dress was of gold and scarlet brocade, and her hair was literally
strewed with pearls, which hung down upon her neck in long
single strings, terminating in large pearls, which mixed with and
hung as low as her hair, which was curled on each side her
head in long ringlets, like Charles the Second's beauties.
" On her forehead she wore a small gold circlet, from which
depended (and hung half-way down her forehead) large pear-
shaped pearls, interspersed with emeralds. The pearls were of
this size and form, /\ and had a very becoming effect,
close upon the / \ forehead, between the eyes. Above
this was a paradise / ] plume, from which strings of pearls
were carried over I J the head, as we turn our hair.
" I fear you will not understand me. Her ear-rings were
immense gold-rings, with pearls and emeralds suspended all
round in long strings, the pearls increasing in size. She had a
nose -ring also, with large round pearls and emeralds ; and her
necklaces, &c, were too numerous to be described. She wore
long sleeves, open at the elbow ; and her dress was a full petti-
coat, some dozen yards wide, with a tight body attached, and
only open at the throat. She had several persons to bear her
ZENANA OF THE KING OF OUDE. 89
train when she walked ; and her women stood behind her couch
to arrange her head-dress, when in moving her pearls got
entangled in the immense dopatta of scarlet and gold she had
thrown around her. How I wished for you when we were
seated ! you would have been delighted with the whole scene.
This beautiful creature is the envy of all the other wives, and
the favourite, at present, of the king and his mother, both of
whom have given her titles the king's is after the favourite
wife of one of the celebrated kings of Delhi, 'Tajmahul,' and
Nourmahul herself could not have been more lovely.
"The other newly-made queen is nearly European, but not a
whit fairer than Tajmahul. She is, in my opinion, plain, but is
considered by the native ladies very handsome ; and she was the
king's favourite until he saw Tajmahul.
" She was more splendidly dressed than even Tajmahul; her
head-dress was a coronet of diamonds, with a fine crescent and
plume of the same. She is the daughter of an European mer-
chant, and is accomplished for an inhabitant of a zenana, as she
writes and speaks Persian fluently, as well as Hindostani, and it
is said she is teaching the king English; though, when we
spoke to her in English, she said she had forgotten it, and could
not reply. She was, I fancy, afraid of the old begam, as she
evidently understood us ; and when asked if she liked being in
the zenana, she shook her head and looked quite melancholy.
Jealousy of the new favourite, however, appeared the cause of
her discontent, as, though they sat on the same couch, they
never addressed each other. And now you must be as tired of
the begams, as I am of writing about them.
" The mother of the king's children, Mulka Zumanee, did
not visit us at the old queen's, but we went to see her at her
own palace : she is, after all, the person of the most political
consequence, being the mother of the heir-apparent ; and she
has great power over her royal husband, whose ears she boxes
occasionally. Happily the gentlemen in the Civil Service have too much
employment to admit of their devoting their time to gambling.
If you ask a native " Where is your master gone ?" if the
gentleman be from home, you are sure to receive the answer
" Howa khana-ke-waste " (to eat the air) ; this chamelion-like
propensity of eating the air is always the object during the
early morning ride and the evening drive.
Our servants at present only amount to fifty-four, and I find
it quite difficult enough to keep them in order ; they quarrel
amongst themselves, and when they become quite outrageous,
they demand their discharge.
My ay ha and the abdar had a laughable quarrel. She was
making herself a pair of Europe chintz pajamas (trousers) such
as they usually wear, made very full round the body, and quite
tight from the knee to the ancle.
Musulmane women never wear a petticoat when amongst
themselves ; it is the badge of servitude, and put on to please
European ladies ;
the moment an ayha gets into her own house,
she takes off her full petticoat and the large white mantle
(chadar) that covers her head and the upper part of her body,
and walks about in the curiously shaped trousers I have de-
scribed, with a sort of loose jacket of muslin over the upper
part, beneath which is the angiya.
The ayha was sitting on her charpiil (native bed) working
away with great eagerness, when her friend the abdar advised
her to make the trousers full to the ankle ; and she came to me
to give warning to quit my service, vowing revenge upon the
abdar, because nach women wear trousers of that description.
The old abdar, Sheik-jee, was sitting down very quietly making
chapaties (flour-cakes), and smoking his narjil (cocoa-nut
shell hooqii) at intervals, enjoying the ayha's anger, until she
stood up, and, screaming with passion, gave him giilee (abuse) ;
he then flew into a rage, and I had some trouble to restore
peace and quietness. Natives seldom, indeed hardly ever, come
to blows, but they will go on for hours abusing each other in
the grossest language, screaming out their words from passion.
A darzee (tailor) is an Indian luxury : they work beautifully
as strongly and finely as the French milliners ; they have
great patience because they are paid by the month, and not by
the piece. In Calcutta I found my tailors great thieves knives,
scissors, seals they would steal anything. One man carried
off a present I had just received, a necklace and bracelets of a
very curious pattern, and a box full of polished pebbles, in sets,
from the Soane river.
Bishop Heber, who did not understand native character,
and possessed much simplicity, was surprised when the up-
country natives thus addressed him :
" Defender of the poor,
peace be unto you ! Refuge of the distressed, salamut ' !
and imagined it was from respect to his holy office.
I was playing
with the son of the judge, a little fellow of two years old ;
the child offered to shake hands, and presented his left hand
his native attendant, shocked at what he considered an insult,
desired him to give the right hand ;
the child did so, when the
chaprasi cried out with great pleasure, " Well done ! well done !
Refuge of the distressed ! defender of the poor !"
Ram Din, the man mentioned in Chapter XL, was a Raj-
put sipahl in the Company's service, from which, after twelve
years' service, he obtained his discharge ; he was in many
engagements. In Calcutta the man came to us, and, making
salam, presented his chitthls (written vouchers of conduct),
saying; "Refuge of the distressed, having heard of your great
name, I am present to offer my services ; I have served the
Company faithfully twelve years, I will serve you faithfully."
He was a fine native, about six feet high or upwards ; he lived
with us many years, and had always charge of the boats or the
tents when we moved about the country.
A native is very fond of wearing a plain silver ring on the
little finger, with a stone on the top, on which is engraved his
own name, and sometimes that of the god he particularly wor-
ships, if the man be an Hindoo. They usually stamp any
petition they may have to send to any gentleman with it, by
putting HindostanI ink on the seal, wetting the paper, and
pressing the seal down upon it 1 .
On the signet-ring of the Rajput above mentioned w 7 as "Ram
Din Mahadeo." The engraver invariably puts the date of the
year on the corner of the stone, unless it be expressly forbidden.
Engraved on the ruby of a signet-ring, brought to me from
Persia, was "Allah, Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hussen, Hossein
THE DURWAN.
What happy wretches the natives are ! A man who gets two
annas a day (fourpence), can find himself in food, clothing,
house, silver finery for his person, and support his wife and
children also. My ayha in Calcutta, who received eleven
rupees a month, refused any longer to dine with her dear friend
the durwan, because, as she expressed it, he was so extravagant
