Volume 2 — CONTENTS OF VOL. II. (continued 7)

At page 473, of the Asiatic Researches, we have the following passage. ‘Both the gypsies, and the nuts, are generally a wandering race of beings, seldom having a fixed habitation. They have each a language peculiar to themselves. That of the gypsies is, undoubtedly, a specimen of Hindostanee, and so is that of the nuts. In Europe, it answers all the purposes of concealment. Here, a conversion of its syllables becomes necessary.’ (i.e. in India.)

‘The gypsies have their king; the nuts their nardar-boutah; they are equally formed into companies, and their peculiar employments are exactly similar; viz. dancing, singing, music, palmistry, quackery, dancers of monkeys, bears, and snakes. The two latter professions, from local causes, are peculiar to the nuts. They are both considered as thieves; at least, that division of the nuts whose manners come nearest those of the gypsies. In matters of religion they appear equally indifferent; we know that neither the gypsies, nor the budeea-nuts, are very choice on that particular; and, though I have not obtained any satisfactory proof of their eating human flesh, I do not find it easy to divest my mind of suspicions on this head. Indeed, one would think the stomach that could receive, without nausea, a piece of putrid jackal, could 415not well retain any qualms in the selection of animal food.’

Colonel Richardson furnishes a number of words in use among the gypsies, which correspond immediately with others in the language of the nuts. I offer a few, which appear to me best adapted to the illustration of this point; observing, that the orthography used by the author, though perfectly correct, would not prove satisfactory to a person unversed in the Oriental pronunciation of the vowels. As a remedy, or rather an aid, absolutely necessary towards giving the European reader a perfect conception of the due intonations, I have, in this, followed my ordinary plan of spelling the Hindostanee words, in such manner as should enable a person totally ignorant of that language to pronounce them with propriety.

GYPSEY WORDS. HINDOSTANEE SYNONYMES. ENGLISH TRANSLAT.

Apra Ooper Above

Bebee Beebee Aunt, or lady

Pownee Pawnee Water

Devus Dewus Day

Rattee Raut Night

Can Caun Ear

Dad Dada Grandfather

Valashtee Belaist Finger

Mutchee Mutchee Fish

Gur G’hur House

Shing Sing Horn

Ballow Baul Hair

416 Shunalee Soonaie Hearing

Liecaw Leckap Writing

Dai Dhye Nurse

Mass Mass Food

Tod Dood Milk

Boot Bote Much

Nack Nauk Nose

Booro-panee Burrah-paunee Great water

Doriove Derriow River

Lolo Loll Red

Booro-chairee Burra-choory Great knife

Roop Roopah Silver

Saup Saump Snake

Dicken Deckna To see

Loon Noon Salt

Jaw Jow Go

Kali-coe Kul-ko Yesterday

Tschor Choor Thief

Dori Doory String

Rajah Rajah A lord

Ranee Rannee Princess

Raz Raj Principality

Banduk Baundook Musket

Jammadar Jemmadar An officer

Gour Gor Grave

Mul Mool Wine

Dur Door Jar

Jungustri Angootee Ring

Paka Punk Wing

Schut Kuttah Sour

Ker G’hur House

Sapa Savon Soap

Menghna Maungna To want

Pi Pee Drink

Metchana Putchana To know

417 Me-dikaka My-deckata I saw

Chabben Chabna To eat

Tober Tobula An axe

Starrie Sitara Star

Rashee Rishee Priest

Bocolee Bookap Hungry

Por Poor Full

Geecoa Jee-oo-ka Life, living.

The foregoing will suffice to give much insight into the affinity spoken of; especially when it is considered that the gypsey words are chiefly taken from Grellman’s Vocabulary, wherein we are to make considerable allowances for German intonation, especially regarding the vowel u, and the dipthong oo, as in dur, and door; and for dori, and doory; the slight differences between which, so far as is connected with orthography, would probably disappear if the words were spoken by a German gypsey, and a nut, respectively. Add to this, that the natives of India use the letters L, and N, rather promiscuously: thus, they say either leel, or neel, (for blue); the capital of Oude is as often called Nucklow, as Lucknow, and the word noon, (salt,) is very commonly pronounced loon; as in the gypsey language.

If it is considered that the foregoing comparison did not take place at a time when Colonel Richardson had the opportunity to examine closely into the particulars, by having access to 418European gypsies, whose familiar conversation, when explained, might have furnished numberless instances of accordance, which, from his accurate knowledge of the Hindostanee language, might ever have been such as to enable him to understand a gypsey colloquy; we must admit that strong probabilities exist, as to the nuts and the gypsies being branches from the same stock. Colonel Richardson observes, very properly, ‘Should any real Hindostanee scholars ever investigate this matter on the spot in Europe, their evidence and observations will probably settle the matter effectually, one way or other, for ever.’ He likewise remarks, that ‘Grellman, from a want of knowledge of the Hindostanee, lost many opportunities of producing the proper word, in comparison with the gypsey one’—and again, he forcibly remarks, that ‘It is not the accidental coincidence of a few words, but the whole vocabulary he (Grellman) produces, differs not so much from the common Hindostanee, as provincial dialects of the same country usually do from each other.’

That cast, or tribe, of nuts, known by the name of bauzeegurs, generally affect to follow the Mahomedan faith, but the purneah peeries, or budeea tribe, follow either that, or the doctrines of Brahma, just as may suit their purposes, or their locality. Either sect have so very few religious ceremonies, as to render it 419doubtful whether they profess more than may serve to screen them from the imputation of atheism; a charge which would sink them even lower in the estimation of every inhabitant of Asia. They inter their relations in a very slovenly manner, and may often be found lying drunk about the grave: their marriage forms are extremely simple, the bride and bridegroom mutually mark each other’s faces with red ochre, after which, they lock their little fingers together, and avow their union: the ceremony is usually concluded by a sacrifice to the muddled deity, in which all bear their parts with great eagerness, and devotion!

It is a rule among the nuts never to go to law, nor to submit their differences to any arbitrators, except of their own profession: owing to the extreme jealousy of the men, and the frequent excesses of both sexes in the use of gaunjah, and other intoxicating draughts, such differences are by no means rare, and contribute partly to the support of their rulers, who receive a fourth part of whatever is earned, or perhaps begged, borrowed, or stolen, by the several sets which ramble over the country, according to their own fancies, or as they may be ordered.

Such regular debauchery, added to the violent exercise undergone during their early years, reduce the period of life among these people to a very short compass. Few live beyond the age 420of forty, and by far the larger portion fail of attaining their thirtieth year; the women generally fall victims after having borne four or five children.

With respect to dancing, which is a part of the duties of a female nut, much encomium cannot be justly bestowed: their style of performance is vulgar, and they generally study that kind of lewd display, which renders their performances too indelicate to be described. Tumbling head-over-heels, walking upon their hands, Catherine-wheel, &c., &c.; all come within the display afforded for a trifling gratuity!

The traveller will sometimes be visited by sets of nautch-girls, who either reside in some of the principal towns, and make a point of offering their services towards the amusement of gentlemen traversing the country; or who are itinerants, that pick up a livelihood by rambling about, chiefly among the villages inhabited by Mahomedans, whose dispositions are more prompt than those of the Hindus to receive gratification from voluptuous exhibitions. Besides, the latter are generally more penurious, and are so rigidly tied down, both by tenet, and by the vigilance of their neighbours, as to have but little scope for indulgence in those sensualities, which the followers of the Prophet, who anxiously look forward to the enjoyment of the houris, are less scrupulous to conceal.

421The greater part of the individuals composing the taffah, or set of female dancers, are either attached by family connections, such as marriage with the oostauds and surmaunjahs, who are the instructors and musicians; or they are slaves obtained by purchase during times of scarcity: some, indeed, are kidnapped when very young, on account of their promising features; these rarely are able to give any account of their parentage, and do not always know the districts in which they were born.

Whatever may be their origin, or their connection, the dancers, who are likewise vocal performers, are entirely subservient to some person, whether male or female, who is considered the proprietor of the set, and on whose application to any court of law, or to any soubah, or person in power, any run-away is immediately pursued, and restored to the taffah; whether the obligation be peremptory, such as in the case of a baundy, or actual slave; or merely implied, as in the case of a paulah, or person preserved from famine, &c., and reared in the capacity of a menial.

The Mahomedan law barely recognizes actual slavery, but makes a great distinction in favor of those who purchase, or thus adopt, children that would otherwise, in all probability, perish from want. The latter are considered to be the property of the patron, until arrived at their full 422growth, which is understood to be about the age of eighteen; but this affords easy evitation to such proprietors of taffahs as feel an interest in the detention of any particular girls under their authority.

To say the truth, very little cause of complaint seems to exist on such occasions: the girls are usually well cloathed, and well fed; they are rarely limitted in regard to paramours, and, on the whole, experience as much comfort as their habits, and those envious traits ever to be seen among persons of the same profession, admit. Where these taffahs are found in the vicinity of our camps, and stations, whether civil or military, it is common to see the dancers attach themselves to some particular European gentlemen, of whose friendship they make much boast: the profits of such a speculation cannot be wholly reserved by any one of the party; they are supposed to be surrendered, without diminution, to the proprietor, for the general benefit of the set.

That full surrender is not, however, always made; on the contrary, some contrive to redeem themselves from this species of demi-slavery, by means of sums accumulated in the course of years, and concealed, with extreme solicitude, from the scrutinizing eye of the proprietor. When such a redemption takes place, it is never done overtly, but by the pretended interference 423of some gentleman, or opulent native, who, either from love, or charity, feels disposed to pay the ransom: were the possession of the property to be acknowledged by the anxious female, it would instantly be seized as a droit, and she would probably undergo that severest of Hindostanee punishments, the loss of all her kase, or hair!

It is not uncommon for persons purchasing slaves, or rearing deserted children, to affix the badge of slavery immediately, and to cause it to be worn by the unfortunate being, thus devoted to tyrannical authority during life. This type of dependance consists simply of an iron ring, similar to those on light fetters, which is worn on either of the ankles, generally on the left: there it is rivetted in the usual manner, with the intention of being always seen. To remove the ring, is considered highly criminal on the part of all concerned, and should the slave be thereby enabled to abscond, would subject the abettors to payment of his or her value.

In every part of India the profession of a prostitute is devoid of that stigma annexed to it in Europe: persons following it are protected by law in certain privileges, and their persons are far from being held in abomination, such as we should suppose must be generated towards so impure a character among the moralists of the 424East. This is entirely owing to the profession being hereditary, the same as other sects, and not promiscuous, or arising from vicious propensities, as we see daily the case among us.

It is true the term kusbee is used as a reproach; but that seems rather to refer to such as, like our wantons, degenerate in consequence of their libidinous dispositions, and are not attached to the two great divisions, the meerasseens, and the puttareahs, both of which have claims on the bounty of princes, and to exemptions from certain taxes; though, to make up for such indulgences, the cutwals, and other native officers, under whose authority they may reside, not only demand their attendance, whether to sing, dance, or what not, gratis, but impose upon them heavy assessments, in proportion to their repute and prosperity.

With the view to prevent the encrease of a certain disorder, which proceeds with rapid strides in that hot climate, it is customary to appoint a committee every month, at each great station, for the inspection of such dulcineas as may be resident within the bounds of the cantonments: such as appear to be diseased, are instantly confined to a small hospital, appropriated to their reception: a salutary measure, which doubtless prevents much mischief, and is superior to our Lock Institution, which 425only offers, but does not coerce to, a proper course of medicine.

Such women as, being married, or living under the protection of any person, are found to indulge in variety, are designated chinauls, and are held in far greater disrepute than the professed kusbee, or common prostitute. As predestinarians constantly contradict, by their evasions of danger, the main principle of their creed, so do the good folks of Hindostan deviate widely from their system of ethics on this head; for, although adultery, under any circumstances whatever, is held up as a mortal sin, to be atoned for by death only; nevertheless, we find the males of all ages particularly bent on that kind of gallantry which comes within the letter of the law, and generally produces the contact of two persons whose casts are thereby respectively polluted. In a former part, I explained more fully the deceptions practised by native women retained by European gentlemen; it remains for me to add, that such is the spirit of intrigue prevalent among the people at large, that we may at least conclude the ladies in that quarter to keep pace with the most enlightened of our own population!

When a native, especially a Hindu, of high cast, suspects that his wife is guilty of infidelity, he generally proceeds to repudiate her in the most public manner; but it often happens 426that he is saved that trouble, either by the intervention of her father, brother, &c., who, under pretence of conducting her home, leads the offender to some lone spot, where, with his tulwar, he severs her head from her body, and deliberately leaves both to be devoured by jackals, &c. This office is likewise occasionally performed by the husband himself; who must, however, be careful not to betray his intention, lest a powerful dose, mixed among his takorry, (vegetable curry,) should prevent the completion of his design, or, possibly, cause him to fall a sacrifice to the lover’s resentment.

A very curious instance of this occurred in 1789, wherein a sepoy, of my own company, was principally concerned. He had long been in the good graces of a woman who was married to a sonaar, (goldsmith,) then absent in another part of the country. The lady’s father, who had no other child, on learning the particulars of the intrigue from one of her servants, remonstrated, but in vain. He then determined to sacrifice her, and ordered that she should quit her own home, for the purpose of being conducted to his house, which was in a village some miles distant.

Suspecting his intention, the adultress communicated the circumstance to her lover, who advised her to follow her father, and promised to prevent his doing her any injury. Accordingly, 427she allowed her parent to precede her, as usual, (for no woman ever walks before a man, especially if it be her husband, or any relative,) until they arrived at a small jungle, when, as he was about to draw his tulwar to sauf-kur (literally, ‘to make clean,’ but, in the accepted sense, to kill, or destroy,) her, the lover darted forth, and, at one blow, took off his head.

The lady and her lover were both apprehended, and tried before the zemindary court at Benares, within whose jurisdiction the crime was perpetrated: against the woman nothing could be urged, she was therefore acquitted; the man was convicted, and condemned; but the woman, being next of kin to the deceased, and having the right, according to the law, of pardoning his murderer, instantly gave him her absolution in open court, and, to the great surprize and mortification of the whole court, returned homewards with her paramour, to persevere in the adulterous intercourse.

It was in vain that Marquis Cornwallis, on receipt of the intelligence, used every endeavor to obtain a revision of the proceedings: the Court were inflexible, and the parties could not, legally, be apprehended. His Lordship was, therefore, left without that redress he thought due to the public, and could only cause the sepoy to be dismissed from the Company’s 428service, and to be banished from the Company’s dominions.

Where the law gives so absurd a power, it might be expected that scarce a husband would be safe; but that is not the case; for they, in general, act very decidedly, whenever they are made acquainted with the existence of offences against conjugal propriety. The caution used in conducting an amour is not always very great, but there is, in fact, only one difficulty to be overcome, viz. the obtaining admission to the interior while the husband is absent: that being effected, detection is not very easy, because, the immured state in which women are kept, offers the best screen against the curiosity of prying neighbours.

What with the dark color of the mud walls, the sombre complexion of the people themselves, and the shade commonly cast by heavy foliages, standing in the vicinity of villages in general, as well as by the over-hanging thatches, &c., it is not very easy, even for a neighbour, to ascertain, after night-fall, whether a person, having a cloth on the head, entering the sacred enclosure, be male or female.

About the year 1786, a laughable story was current, regarding a young officer who had a very pretty Hindoo girl in keeping, but who, being of a very salacious disposition, always endeavored to prevail with such young women 429as came to vend fruits, or to sell choories, &c., to be his inmate. One of these daily visitors held out against every temptation, which so roused the youth’s passions, that he resolved to obtain that by force which money could not purchase. The struggle made a terrible discovery; the supposed damsel proving to be a young Portugueze drummer!!!

The ordinary mode of conveyance adopted by the generality of nautch-taffahs, is the common hackery, called a g’horry, which has two wheels, with a square body, as has been already described; in one of these, four or five crowd together, sitting almost back to back, and allowing their legs to hang down on every side. The generality are of very decent behavior, but, when they get a little majoom (a sweatmeat prepared with b’haug) into their noddles, it is not uncommon to see them proceed in high style, singing away in full chorus, and, occasionally, exhibiting specimens of their profession, by attitudes corresponding with the words of songs purely Cyprian!

The baggage, if any, is commonly carried on some hired bullock, or in a hackery; some sets are, however, so opulent, as to be able to keep one or two camels, and to purchase a tolerably good Hindostanee tent, that is, without walls, and supported by two bamboo poles, each about eight or nine feet long.

430The baggage of Europeans is, ordinarily carried on elephants, camels, bullocks, hackeries, or coolies: of late years, a great improvement has been made, by taking off the body of a gig, with its shafts, and substituting a frame, made on such a plan as may serve to contain several trunks and liquor chests below, while a cot, with all the necessary bedding, having over them a painted canvas canopy, covers the whole, and keeps every part compact and dry. Such a conveyance, with a tolerably stout horse, is found to get on far more expeditiously than any of the others.

With respect to elephants, it may be said, that they are either the best, or the worst, carriage: in the low countries, where the soil is often soft for the greater part of the year, the elephant is certainly a most useful animal; his feet being broad, and his power so great as to enable his acting with decision and energy at the moment of difficulty, qualify him, almost exclusively, for the transportation of tents, and heavy baggage, in such parts of the country as remain heavy or swampy during the more settled part of the year.

Though we may suppose, that, previous to the plains of Bengal being cultivated, they were over-ran with elephants, the same as other parts of India, of which that animal is a native, still it should seem, that their principal haunts 431must have been along that hilly wilderness in which they are now found in a gregarious state. It is well known that the elephant thrives best near the sea, that in its vicinity he attains his greatest bulk, and is exempt from various diseases, especially the opthalmia and the dropsy, both of which attack at least four in five of such as are removed to dry soils. This circumstance, as well as the peculiar formation and substance of the foot, appear to render the elephant peculiarly appropriate to the use of such persons as have occasion for carriage-cattle (i.e. cattle that bear burthens) in the lower provinces.

Endued with wonderful sagacity, the elephant will only proceed on soils which bear him up to a certain extent: so soon as he feels a peculiar vibration, that indicates a want of firmness below, he instantly declines further progress, and, turning round, or receding, with more activity than his clumsy form may indicate, hastens to quit the apprehended danger; and, without regard to things or persons, makes the best of his way to terra firma.

Sometimes, however, this majestic animal gets bogged, and, notwithstanding his immense strength, becomes completely incapable of self-extrication. On such an occasion, nothing more is necessary than to supply him with abundance of straw, or cut grass, tied in 432bundles; these he forces down with his proboscis, till they are under his feet respectively; and, by their accumulated resistance, afford the means of gradually bearing up, and of raising him to the surface. His egress is ensured by an ample stock of the same materials, together with faggots, &c., thrown before him, in number sufficient to form a kind of path-way, along which the elephant moves with wondrous caution: on such an occasion, he should, like a mule on a mountain, be left to himself, as he will manage with perfect prudence; whereas, if actuated by a mohout, (or driver,) he might be again plunged into difficulty.

The stature of elephants, in general, may be rated between seven and nine feet: the former is the standard at which they are admitted upon the Company’s establishment, at the value of five hundred sicca rupees each (£65). Provided the animals be stout, and competent to carry a proper burthen, such blemishes as would depreciate them considerably among the natives, who entertain many prejudices in this particular, are not considered.

The principal defects, in the eye of a native merchant, are,

1. A broken tail; or a deficiency of the forked hair at its termination. The former arises from the habit the elephants are in, of laying hold of their opponent’s tails with their 433trunks, and of twisting them so, that, occasionally, they are absolutely snapped, or, perhaps, tumefy, and, in the end, sphacelate.

2d. An uneven number of claws to the feet: there should be five on each fore, and four on each hind foot.

3d. Bad tusks; that is, such as are decayed, or, having been broken in contests, cannot be rendered ornamental: an elephant born with only one tooth, or tusk, is highly prized, as being sure to overwhelm its owner with good fortune.

4th. Having a black, or spotted palate; either of which is supposed to be an indication of bad health, as well as of misfortune.

5th. Bad eyes; though sometimes we see very serviceable elephants totally deprived of sight, which travel admirably with burthens, but are unfit for the howdah; these are extremely careful to put their trunks forward as they proceed, whereby they are warned of any hollows, &c. Blind elephants are peculiarly attentive to the words of command given by their drivers.

6th. The want of hair on the forehead, lean jaws, small jagged ears, narrow feet, thin legs, short bodies, and a contracted barrel, or carcase, are all objectionable, and become serious objects of attention in the purchase of this animal. An 434European, not accustomed to view elephants critically, would conclude that little variety, in the above respects, would be found; but there are certainly as many estimable, or agreeable, points in a fine elephant, as in a fine horse; though we rarely look so narrowly into the perfections of the former, on account of being less in the habits of cherishing, or of driving, them in person.

According to the regulations, an elephant ought to be able to carry twenty-five maunds, which is within a twenty-sixth part of being a ton; but, although the several contractors stipulate, without hesitation, that their elephants should be able to carry that weight at all times, not one in a hundred of those in the service, or in the possession of individuals, could bear it even for one day’s ordinary march, which should not exceed eight coss, (sixteen miles,) all beyond that being considered a forced march.

The elephant is furnished with two pads, of which the under one, called a guddaylah, is commonly made of red karwah, stuffed to the thickness of an inch and a half with cotton, and well quilted. The upper pad, called a guddy, is made of tawt, which is a narrow kind of very coarse canvas, and is stuffed very hard with straw to about the thickness of six inches. These are put on, the one over the other, and firmly secured 435to the body by means of stout ropes passing round the whole, as well as under the tail, by way of crupper.

Such a thickness may appear too great; but it is to be considered that an elephant ought, by the contract, to carry either four common marquees, each weighing, when dry, 425lb., and, when wet, 597lb.; or six private tents, each weighing, when dry, 275lb., and, when wet, 426lb. Therefore, when I take the medium at twenty-five maunds, it is but striking a fair balance.

An ordinary elephant requires two servants; namely, a mohout, or driver, who sits upon his back, and guides, by means of a crooked instrument of iron, called a haunkus, aided by words of command, and the application of his toes behind the animal’s ears. The other servant, called a cooly, or grass-cutter, performs all the more menial offices, such as taking the elephant out for charrah, i.e. fodder, of which it can carry as much as will suffice for two, or, if well laden, for three days.

The feet of an elephant require considerable care; they being extremely apt to chafe, and wear away, at the soles, so as to render him completely unserviceable for a time. This generally happens where the soil is dry and harsh, as throughout the upper country, but may be, in a great measure, prevented by paying them 436with astringent applications, so that the skin may be rendered harder, and the foot, in general, somewhat callous.

When an elephant is chafed on the back, the part is usually rubbed with ghee and turmeric, and the pad cushioned so as to raise the spot under which the excoriation may be: if suffered to continue in a state of irritation, the smallest sore will speedily assume a most formidable appearance, owing to the peculiarly cellular formation of an elephant’s flesh.

The mode of catching elephants for the public service is very simple, requiring more perseverance than skill, yet attended with a heavy expence. In those wildernesses near Chittagong, Tipperah, &c., along the eastern boundary, some hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of villagers are assembled, who form a circle around those herds they may find, and gradually frighten them into a kind of trap, called a keddah, of which the entrance is of a crescent form, leading to a large area, properly enclosed by an immense trench, and by large piles well bound together. After a while, the animals are driven, or induced, into a smaller area, from which they are taken into a narrow passage, for the purpose of being secured, and led away to the stands, at which they remain until completely tamed.

It was formerly the practice to break their 437spirit by privations and severity; but, of late years, it has been found preferable to sooth as much as possible; a change which has been attended with the most happy results. So far has this plan succeeded, that many elephants are now better reconciled in one month than they formerly were in four or five; while, at the same time, many inconveniences, especially those severe ligatures, which invariably made desperate sores about the ankles, &c., are almost wholly avoided.

The practice of decoying the large single males, which separate from the herds, and are called sauns, or goondahs, is extremely curious: two or three females are generally sent out for the purpose of inveigling the ferocious males thus ranging about. Such female elephants, which are called k’hoomkies, are highly valuable, especially if they be large, and attached to their mohouts, whom they will protect to the last moment, if accidentally discovered by their intended prize while passing the ropes around his legs. For a particular account of this, which can scarcely be rendered distinct but by the aid of plates, I refer my readers to ‘The Wild Sports of the East,’ published from my designs and memoirs by Mr. Edward Orme, of Bond Street, and Messrs. Black, Parry, and Kingsbury, of Leadenhall Street.

Contrary to the opinion formerly current, it 438has been ascertained that elephants copulate in the same manner as other quadrupeds. This has been certified by Mr. John Corse, the resident Surgeon at Tipperah, who established a breed of elephants at that place; whereby much insight has been obtained regarding the natural history of this noble animal. When Mr. Corse transmitted that account which may be seen in the third volume of the Asiatic Researches, he had not the opportunity of ascertaining the period of gestation, which has since been found to give an average of about twenty-two months.

That less time could not be required, was evident from the incipient portion of that gentleman’s researches; as a female elephant, taken in January, 1788, did not produce her calf, which was thirty-five inches high at his birth, and grew four inches in as many months, until the 16th of October, 1789.

Elephants are invariably measured at the shoulder, and not on the arch of the back, the want of which is to be considered as indicative of age.

Elephants are to be found along the whole extent of frontier, ranging from the Chittagong district, to the very borders of Thibet. They become more scarce, and are, besides, less robust, and of smaller stature, in proportion as they recede from the sea coasts. Those sent yearly, 439by way of compliment, or of tribute, from the Rajah of Napaul, are by no means to be compared with the coomaeeahs, and mooknahs of Tipperah, and Chittagong, whose form and bulk certainly entitle them to superior estimation. Some of these are, occasionally, sold for immense sums to the native princes in the upper parts of Hindostan. Two thousand rupees are held to be but a low price for a male of nine feet in height, provided his teeth are large, even, and of regular curves: sometimes elephants, of extraordinary bulk, and of remarkably fine points, have reached to eight or ten thousand rupees.

The expence of keeping an elephant will vary according to the situation, and to the general services wherein it is employed: in the Dacca district but little expence is incurred, unless hard labour is to be performed, there being abundance of d’hul, (grass,) and of foliage, of which the animal can always obtain an ample supply gratis. There, a mohout rarely receives more than three rupees monthly, and a grass-cutter more than two. I have shewn, in describing the servants necessary to be retained in a gentleman’s suite, that the wages of these menials are generally much higher; which, when added to the average charges for food, chiefly badjra, or millet stems, which must be paid for, and rice, or barley, perhaps to the extent of 30lb. daily, will cause the expence of 440maintaining an elephant in the upper provinces, to amount to full thirty, or thirty-five, rupees per mensem; and that, too, exclusive of the wear and tear of gear of all kinds. On the whole, we may compute that an elephant, well kept, will cost full forty rupees (£5.) monthly. When we consider that, in England, few gentlemen keep their horses for much less, and that an elephant performs so much essential drudgery, indeed, equal to a team of three stout cart horses, also that the value of money in India is not half so great as with us, we may deem the above aggregate to be very moderate: the misfortune is, that an elephant is not, like a horse, promptly or generally useful; and that, owing to the nature of the climate, as well as of the soil, months often elapse before the proprietor of the former may be able to avail himself of the valuable powers of his sable property.

Camels are very generally kept by the officers of the army throughout the upper provinces, that is to say, above the Delta of the Ganges, where the soil is more appropriate to their form, than those muddy, slippery, tracts, in which these animals are extremely subject to fall. When such an accident happens, it is a great chance but the animal is rendered useless; as, owing to the great length of the hind legs, and to the want of any membranes, or muscles, calculated to prevent their easy divergence in diametrically 441opposite directions, the pelvis is extremely apt to split, and the power of extrication, or even of support itself, is entirely lost to this very valuable quadruped.

Though we generally attach the term ‘camel’ to that species of the camelus found in India, where great numbers are bred by persons who make a very large profit from their labors, the animal under consideration, having but one hump, or bunch, on its back, should, properly, be called a ‘dromedary.’ Whatever may be the true designation, the utility of the animal in a climate, and on a soil, to which it is so admirably suited by nature, is indisputable; but, with regard to its powers, as described by naturalists, or by travellers, I must beg leave to enter a partial dissent.

I have now before me a very respectable publication, wherein it is said, that ‘a camel will carry a weight of 1,200lb., and will perform a journey of three hundred leagues in eight days.’ Now, my own experience convinces me very fully that few camels will carry more than eight maunds, when making, on an average, stages of from fourteen, to sixteen, or, at the very utmost, twenty miles within the day, for two months; allowing a weekly halt.

So sensible are the Government of India of the inability of a camel to perform any thing like the service above described, that, in all their contracts, 442in which it must have been seen they take care so to proportion the burthens, that none but the choicest of cattle could move under them, it is especially detailed that such camels as may be admitted upon the Company’s establishment of carriage-cattle, should be rated in the proportion of three camels to one elephant; which, in other words, assigns to each a burthen composed of two private tents, the weight of each, when dry, being 275lb., and, when wet, 426lb.; including poles, pins, mallets, bags, &c.

Taking the medium as a standard, i.e. one wet, and one dry tent, the average burthen would be only 701lb., which will be found a greater load than any camels, setting apart perhaps one or two of extraordinary powers, which have come within my observation, could carry in a proper manner, so as to answer general purposes, when marching with a regiment.

The value of a camel varies according to size, form, age, condition, and disposition: supposing all those points to be mediocrity, from eighty, to a hundred and twenty, rupees may be taken as a standard; observing, that, where no military movement is in question, the prices are often lower, and that, in cases of emergency, they have been known to rise even so high as to four, five, and six, hundred rupees: but such, fortunately, is very rarely the case.

443Most gentlemen keep two or three camels, for the purpose of carrying their tent, liquors, and cot. If on a moderate scale, two will generally prove competent to the work, but if the tent be large, the liquors and linen abundant, and the cot extensive, or on a heavy construction, a third camel will be necessary. In fact, I know not of worse policy, than that we too often see adopted, of burthening an animal with as much as it can stand under. When the moment of difficulty comes, as it rarely fails to do, infinite vexation, and an enormous encrease of expence, invariably follow. Hence, it will be found advisable, though the primary expence may be encreased, and the subsequent monthly charges be a trifle greater, always to retain three, in preference to two camels; unless the intended burthens be very compact, and not subject to accumulate a great addition of weight in wet weather.

The difference shewn to exist between tents, when wet, and when dry, according to the Company’s standard, ascertained by actual experiments, should prove a guide to all persons about to proceed on a march, so to proportion the loads imposed on their cattle as not to endanger their total failure. It should never be forgotten, that excoriations, however trivial in the first instance, speedily rankle into wounds, not simply painful, but generally trenching deeply on the immediate 444powers, as well as on the condition, of those useful dumb animals, which submit to the last moment to the will of their heedless employers.

Camels, as well as elephants, lie down, so as to bring their stomachs to the ground, while receiving or discharging their burthens. At such moments, the former are extremely irritable; snarling, and watching the opportunity for biting. To say the best of these animals, they are never to be trusted, their dispositions being, for the most part, sanguinary and treacherous, although they are not carnivorous, being fed chiefly on gram, and chaff of various kinds: a camel, like the bull-dog, rarely lets go his hold.

The expence of maintaining a camel may be averaged at about four or five rupees monthly, exclusive of its portion of the surwan’s (i.e. the driver’s) wages: the large crook saddle, with its jolah, or canvas trappings, and its saleetah, or canvas sheet made of tawt, for the purpose of lading tents, and especially for bringing in chaff, may be averaged, for wear and tear, at about a rupee monthly. From this it will be seen, that if a surwan, attending three camels, should receive six rupees for pay, and that each of the camels should cost six more, the whole expence, amounting to twenty-four rupees per mensem, would fall far short of that incurred by one elephant.

The advantages attendant upon an elephant, are, that the load is all carried compact and 445entire; that he can travel in swampy districts, where no other animal could proceed at all; and that he is serviceable to ride upon, and to join in the line to beat hogs, and other game, out of heavy covers. On the other hand, a camel will travel on those dry soils which destroy an elephant’s feet, without sustaining the smallest injury; he is more patient under heat, and the absence both of fodder and of water; his prime cost is considerably less; his maintenance cheaper; and, where a division of carriage becomes necessary, one camel may be sent off, while the others are retained. But camels rarely thrive if exposed during the rains; hence, it is customary to build sheds for their reception during that season: this, however, is done at a very trifling expence, and might, doubtless, be dispensed with altogether, at least in the upper provinces, if young animals were to be purchased that had never been so domesticated. Few gentlemen retain their camels while serving near the Presidency, where fodder is at a most enormous price, and where the mange commonly attacks within a few weeks after arrival.

The heavy, awkward, and apparently slow, gait of the camel, generally induces to a belief that its rate of travelling is disadvantageous, inasmuch as it may denote inability to keeping up with the generality of elephants. This, however, 446is a great mistake, for it is very common to see the latter, when in the least over-burthened, or when the weather is hot, or the road sandy, very late in arriving at their destination; whereas, the camel, under an appropriate load, will move on at a regular pace, generally making a distance of seven feet, as I have repeatedly ascertained, from the centre of that spot whence it lifts a foot, to where it again sets it down: few elephants do so much; they walk quicker, but their strides are rarely so extensive.

The propensity of a camel to stale, so soon as eased of his burthen, renders it indispensably necessary to drive him to a distance so soon as the tent is off his back; otherwise, the urinous stench attached to the spot would render it very unpleasant, or, rather, insupportable. The native chemists extract large quantities of ammonia from those stands where camels have been kept for many weeks.

The greatest inconvenience attached to a camel is his utter inability to swim across a river, such as any other animal would consider no impediment. It is true, that, occasionally, camels may have been seen to swim for a few yards, but, in general, they turn upon the side, and, unless instantly rescued, would infallibly be drowned. Perhaps this arises from the general roundness of their bodies, which are very easily acted upon by the super-incumbent weight of the neck and 447head, that become levers, not sufficiently opposed by their almost fleshless limbs. Some camels enter with readiness into ferry-boats, even of the rudest construction, while others require to be urged by the display of fire in their rear, or even by the actual cautery! When once on board, they are generally quiet, but do not seem to entertain such a dread of their insulated situation as horses do.

In this particular, the elephant has a most decided superiority: he enters the water with alacrity, and, guided by the mohout, who preserves his seat on the animal’s neck, until the latter may, by way of frolic, descend to walk on the bottom, keeping, at the same time, the end of his proboscis above water, makes his way to the opposite bank, though perhaps a mile distant. If there be occasional shallows, whereon he can refresh himself, two or three miles are passed with equal facility.

In their wild state, elephants cross very large rivers in herds; the young ones swimming by the sides of their mothers, which, occasionally, support their gigantic calves by means of their trunks, either passed under the body, or slightly hooked in with the young one’s proboscis. When domesticated, elephants lose much of their natural energy in every instance; and, in lieu of viewing a tiger without fear, gradually become so timid, as to be dreadfully agitated at 448the sight, or smell, even of a dead one: hence, in tiger-hunting, those elephants which are more recently taken from the keddahs, provided they be sufficiently trained to be safe in other respects, are usually best suited to the sport, and afford their riders a better chance of success.

Those who cannot afford, or who consider it unnecessary, to retain either an elephant, or camels, usually purchase, or hire, bullocks, when about to march to any station not very remote. Some, indeed, prefer them altogether; but, after having given them more than one trial, both from necessity, and from the persuasions of others, my mind is made up to the full conviction, that, although rarely costing more than sixteen or twenty rupees each, (that is, from forty to fifty shillings,) they are the most tardy, the most troublesome, and the most expensive, of all the beasts of burthen in question!

Knowing, from dear-bought experience, that a bullock which can carry five maunds is a rara avis of its kind, I was much surprized to find, in Mr. Colebrooke’s little treatise on the Husbandry of Bengal, an assertion, that the enormous ‘load of 500lb. of cotton is generally carried from Nagpore to Mirzapore, a distance which, by the shortest route, exceeds four hundred miles, in journies of eight or ten miles 449daily.’ That some remarkably fine cattle are bred in the Nagpore district is well known; but I should have greatly doubted, under any other than the highly respectable authority alluded to, whether it would be possible to select, in all Bengal, a sufficient number of bullocks, bred in the country, to carry on the extensive trade between Nagpore and Mirzapore, under the circumstance of carrying 500lb. as an ordinary load.

I have possessed very fine bullocks, such as could not, generally, be obtained for less than a hundred rupees the pair, and I have had occasion to rely on their services; but found, that, whenever they were laden beyond four maunds, (320lb.,) they became restive, and required many extra hours to perform a march of twelve or fourteen miles, even on excellent roads, and when in far better plight than mahajuny (trading) bullocks are commonly seen.

But let us refer to the regulations of the Company respecting cattle to be admitted upon their establishment; we shall there find, that one Mirzapore bullock nearly equals three of them. ‘The standard of cattle to be retained for, or received into, the service, is not to be less than fifty inches for the draft-bullocks, and forty-eight inches for the carriage-bullocks. Each carriage-bullock shall be competent to 450carry a burthen of one hundred and eighty pounds weight, exclusive of his pad.’

Now, it is well known the Company employ excellent cattle, and take care to have justice done them; as, indeed, they are fully entitled to expect, when they allow no less than thirty sicca rupees for each bullock purchased on their account; especially, as any distance beyond sixteen miles, or when laden for more than nine hours within the twenty-four, or when carrying more than 180lb., come under the denomination of a forced march, and subject the Company to all risks.

I should rather apprehend that an error has crept into Mr. Colebrooke’s otherwise most accurate calculations, owing to a cutcha-maund of five paseeries, (of 10lb. each,) being in general use in that part of the country. Five of these maunds, of 50lb. each, make a tungy, which is the common load for cattle carrying iron, and other dead weights. Therefore, if we estimate the general burthen to be in cutcha (i.e. small) maunds, we shall find the result to be nearer the ordinary result, than when we take 500lb. for the amount of a load. It is a well-known truth, that a private tent, with its poles, pins, mallets, and bags, is an ample load for any bullock, even in its dry state, and that, when wet, it must be a choice animal that is competent to bear it for even a very few miles.

451In some of the very stony parts, it is usual to shoe the bullocks, the same as is practised in many parts of England; but, in general, that is not found necessary. The saddles and pads must be properly attended to, and the loads should be well strapped on; otherwise, owing to the skittishness of the cattle in India, and their disposition to lie down, very frequently, in a day’s journey, considerable injury must be sustained, by such articles of lading as may be subject to breakage, from such a practice.

However great a drawback such a propensity may appear, it is found, that liquors may be safely trusted to be conveyed by bullocks; but, in order to ensure the bottles from breaking, it is found necessary to pack every one of them separate, wrapping round it a small loose band, of that soft kind of hemp known by the name of paut, and stitching the several rounds together in the same manner as Florence oil flasks, &c., are enveloped by small bands of fine straw.

The paut, above mentioned, is grown in every part of the country, but chiefly in Bengal, where it attains to a considerable diameter, perhaps an inch and a half in diameter, and often grows eleven or twelve feet high. About three years ago, I presented a specimen of paut to the Bath Society, measuring more than ten feet in length: it was the remainder of a quantity in 452which I had packed some bottles when quitting Bengal, and had never been so much as put to the hackle.

Nothing is so effectual as this material towards preserving bottles from fracture; when properly wolded, they may either be packed in boxes, &c., without any addition of straw, &c., or they may be advantageously put into strong bags of tawt, and thus, with seeming negligence, be carried on either side the bullock. I have several times adopted this mode, and found it by far the safest, as well as the least expensive, and best suited to the animal. By it, the necessity for boxes was obviated, and a good bullock could easily carry five dozens of wine for any length of time, and for any number of miles, a regiment would commonly march.

When tents are carried on oxen, it is necessary to divide the load as equally as may be practicable; observing, that those which have to carry the two flies, ought not to be encumbered with mallets, pins, &c., as it is a great desideratum to make sure, as much as practicable, that the flies, the pole, and a certain portion of pins, together with a mallet or two, should arrive early; it being of less consequence if the bullocks bearing the walls, satrinjes, &c., be somewhat later; since the main part of the operation of pitching the tent, consisting of raising the flies, may be performed, and shelter 453afforded, without the walls, &c., being present.

Although a very large stout bullock may, here and there, be found capable of carrying a pair of cloaths-trunks, with a small cot above them, such must not be generally expected. The trunks will, if properly constructed, sit close, as they do on a camel; but the cot will assuredly swag, so as to cause great unsteadiness of gait, and subject the animal to chafe under the pad: besides, the disposition of most bullocks is such, as by no means to warrant the lading them with any article subject to great injury from a fall.

I have already said the bullock is the worst kind of carriage used in the army, but for draught it is essentially serviceable; in fact, without this animal, I know not how the service could proceed in India. A great deal, however, depends on breed; and no less on due feeding and proper exercise. Only certain parts of the country, such as the Purneah and Sircar-Sarun districts, are found to produce oxen of a standard and frame suited to the ordnance department; in which, on the Bengal Establishment alone, full five thousand head of cattle are employed, exclusive of a large establishment of elephants and camels, allotted to the conveyance of camp equipage.

The proportion of bullocks allowed for the 454draught of field-pieces of various calibres, with which they are expected to keep pace with the ordinary rate at which troops march, are as follow:—

To a 24 Pounder 24 Bullocks.

18 Ditto 18 Ditto.

12 Ditto 12 Ditto.

6 Ditto 6 Ditto.

3 Ditto 4 Ditto.

8 Inch Howitzer 14 Ditto.

5½ Ditto 10 Ditto.

4⅖ Ditto 6 Ditto.

Artificer’s Cart 10 Ditto.

Tumbrel 6 Ditto.

It may surprize those who are personally unacquainted with India, to learn that horses are very little employed in carriages. I have already shewn, that, with the exception of the r’hunts let out for hire about Calcutta, of which some are drawn by one, or by two tattoos, all the vehicles in use among the natives, and all the laborious part of whatever may relate to building, trade, and agriculture, are consigned to oxen; of which the prices are, in some places, so low, that a small pair, fit to be worked at a well in a gentleman’s garden, may usually be had for about ten rupees (i.e. 25s.); while the generality of husbandmen rarely pay more than six rupees (15s.) for a pair, such as are adequate to the very insignificant tillage bestowed on the soil.

455The indigenous breed of horses, if Bengal can boast of any such, is remarkably small, hardy, and vicious: to me, however, it has ever been a doubt, whether this breed, called tattoos, be not a degenerate race from some supply obtained, at a very remote date, from Durbungah, and the districts ranging under the northerly frontier. That breed, generally distinguished by the appellation of serissahs, is again questionable, and may, in all probability, be traced to the tazees, bred in the Maharrattah country, and in every part of the Punjab.

Considering the great strength and perseverance of tattoos in general, it is rather surprizing that they are not put to more purposes, than merely serving to carry a load on a march, or to convey some infirm, or rather affluent, traveller, when moving from one part to another. As few castrations take place among the males, and the sexes are allowed to intermix without restraint, the species would multiply rapidly, were it not that little care is taken of the pregnant mares, and less of the progeny; which usually has to shift for itself, and to cut its own grass wherever a scanty meal may be obtainable. If a selection were made of the tattoos, male and female, fitted for breeding from, there might be established a supply of cattle, far more useful to the peasant, than those miserably defective oxen which, in spite of the professed 456veneration of all Hindus towards those sacred animals, are often kept toiling at the plough until nature interposes in behalf of the worn-out deity, and compels the reluctant peasant to allow the hour of dissolution to pass on in peace.

The Company, with a view to obtain a certain, regular, and efficient, supply of horses for their cavalry regiments, have, for about seventeen years past, maintained an establishment for breeding from select mares in North Bahar: the liberality with which this has been supported, and the admirable selection made of persons for the management of every branch, should give the most favorable result; especially as the spot chosen for its site is peculiarly eligible in point of grazing.

But it does not appear that the expected benefits have been produced. I recollect seeing a splendid calculation, made about the year 1794, which went so far as to demonstrate, that, by the end of the twelfth year, full fifteen hundred horses would annually be supplied from the stud. Seeing that an agency still exists for the purchase of cavalry horses, and knowing that the whole strength of the light regiments of cavalry do not exceed six thousand horses, even including the body-guard, we may reasonably conclude, that the stud is by no means competent to furnish one-fourth of that number within the year!

457The tattoos of Bengal rarely grow to the height of twelve hands; they are slight limbed, and cat-hammed; but carry immense burthens during a day’s march, and are no sooner turned off, having their fore-feet tethered, than a general war seems to be proclaimed among all of the tribe that may be within sight or hearing. Kicking, biting, and gallantry, are the order of the day; and woe betide the incautious wight who should, at such a time, approach within reach of their heels!

Few tattoos ever have the bursautty; a peculiar breaking out about the legs, (by no means resembling the grease,) to which horses, in general, are extremely subject throughout the low countries; especially if their standing be not remarkably dry, and exercise given in proportion to their allowance of gram; which is a species of pulse, growing on a low plant of the tare kind, and commonly sold at about a rupee per maund.

Of this gram, a horse will eat from three to six seers, (of 2lb. each,) according to his size or appetite; half in the morning, and half at night. When high fed, and but little rode, the most valuable horses, in particular, become victims to the bursautty; which, though it disappears in the spring and summer, invariably returns, generally, too, with encreased force, during every rainy season. As yet, no cure has been discovered 458for this ruinous disease, though numbers of gentlemen, of eminent abilities, have devoted their attention towards its eradication: its abatement has, in some instances, been effected; but, notwithstanding the utmost skill and perseverance, the blotches have returned, in sufficient force to satisfy all medical men, that no decided mode of treatment, and no general specific, has, hitherto, been established.

The exemption of tattoos, for the most part, from so formidable a distemper, seems to indicate their peculiar fitness for the climate: it matters not whether nature first planted them on the soil, or whether, by long continuance, they have become habituated to it, so completely as to defy that virulence with which the climate attacks strange animals. Wandering among all the puddles and jungles at every season; and subsisting on the remains of temporary verdure; ultimately, indeed, browsing, or devouring, the withered remains of long grass; these useful animals contract no disease, save what may be engendered by such absolute scarcity as would go nigh to starve a donkey!

The next breed of horses, in point of strength and hardiness, is the tanian, a small kind, obviously distinct from all the other breeds of India, and peculiar to the Thibet and Bootan countries, that lie at the back of our eastern and northern frontier, all the way from Assam to 459Sirinagur: allowing for the intervention of the Nepaul Rajah’s dominions. These horses are, with few exceptions, piebald; though a few are seen entirely of one color. The breed may be characterized in a few words, viz. that they are remarkably stout, hog-maned, have short bushy tails, very short necks, and large heads.

The Bootan merchants, who come down yearly with various articles of manufacture, such as mats, cloths, &c., of a very peculiar kind, by no means displeasing in their patterns, commonly lade their goods upon tanians, which they dispose of ultimately for a small sum, perhaps from twenty-five to sixty rupees each; reserving, however, a few, whereon to transport the British woollens, and other articles they obtain from the produce of their sales.

Great numbers of the natives of Bengal, who are in good circumstances, or are obliged to attend daily at particular offices, &c., ride on tanians; which, though not to be termed quiet, are far more so than tattoos in general. These good folks abominate a trot, as being uneasy and heating; and not one of them would so far demean himself as to be seen gallopping! This has given rise to the general adoption of that unnatural, but very easy, pace called the ‘amble,’ in which a horse moves the fore and hinder feet of the same side at one time. It is singular, that this mode of going should be so 460pleasant in a horse, when, in the elephant, whose natural mode of gait it is, there should result from it the only inconvenience with which the motion of that animal is attended.

Tanians rarely exceed thirteen hands in height, but their powers are wonderfully great; they are capable of enduring great fatigue, and, though by no means sightly in a chariot, will perform journies equal to what might be expected from larger animals. In general, they are rather fiery, but, by gentle usage, shew sufficient coolness and temper for most purposes. Like most mountain-bred horses, they are sure-footed, and, when left to themselves, pick the best road with great circumspection; proceeding at an easy pace, which they will keep up for many hours. I know not of any breed better qualified for drawing a light small chaise, where great speed is not wanted; but figure must be out of the question.

The Serissah, or Durbungah-tazee, derives its name from the places where great numbers are bred. These horses are generally of a light make, and, when young, promise to turn out well; but, as they approach their full standard, lose many good points, and, for the most part, become rather vicious. They are, however, extremely serviceable as hacks, and generally make good hog-hunters: occasionally, valuable horses are found among them; and it is to be 461hoped, that, as the Company’s stalions are let out at low rates, to cover such good mares as may be tendered at their stud, there will soon be effected an immense improvement in the general stock of North Bahar.

This, in fact, seems to be one of the prominent features in the establishment of the stud, and promises to become very conspicuously successful; though it is to be lamented, that the native breeders, owing to a want of liberal ideas, and of expanded views, are too apt to adopt that narrow policy, which prompts to the doing that badly for sixpence, which may be well done for a penny more! Time will probably overcome such an absurd system, and convince them that the payment of a few rupees, or the subscribing to certain regulations, adopted for the general improvement of property, so far from being detrimental, are the surest means of obtaining a substantial profit, in the most speedy manner.

There are annual fairs, called maylahs, in various parts of the country, where the horses of this breed (i.e. serissahs,) are exhibited in immense numbers. The greater part of them are exposed annually at Buxar, and are purchased by the natives, either for their own use, or for re-sale in various parts. It is curious, but true, that, some years ago, a great number of horses that had been taken from Durbungah 462into the Maharrattah country, were purchased there for the supply of the Company’s regiments. Formerly, the immense body of cavalry paid by the Nabob Vizier of Oude, used to be mounted by horses from North Bahar, but, since that worthless gang have been sent ‘to the right about,’ the demand created by that establishment has been almost wholly done away. Still, however, the prices have not, so far as I can learn, fallen: they probably are upheld by our encreased strength of cavalry regiments.

The price of a serissah is not to be easily defined; a very large portion of them sell for less than one hundred, while some reach as high as six hundred, rupees: at a medium, we may affix a hundred and fifty rupees at a fair standard, if the purchase be made at a fair, but, if second-hand, from a horse-dealer, from fifty to a hundred per cent, may be added. I have known very handsome sets, of four and six, purchased at Buxar, averaging fifteen hands and a half, that were purchased for about two hundred rupees each, and re-sold, to friends, for five and six hundred, a few weeks after!

The horses in highest estimation are chiefly imported from the Punjab, and from Persia, by regular dealers, who come down to our north-west frontier annually, after the rains, accompanied by many camels, generally of an excellent 463breed, which, besides conveying the tents, &c., of the party, bear heavy burthens of shawls, dried fruits, and, occasionally, cats of the most beautiful description. Such gentlemen as wish for horses of great strength, ordinarily purchase toorkies; which, being extremely stout, and phlegmatic, answer well for persons of great weight, and of timid disposition.

The Persian horses have generally a finer shoulder, and attain a better standard, than the toorky, which rarely measures fifteen hands, and, in general, may be about fourteen: both kinds are remarkable for heavy, lob-ears, and are always well advanced in years before they are brought for sale. Even under that great drawback, they commonly sell for eight hundred, or a thousand, rupees, and, when of a handsome color, well formed, and of a good size, will produce from fifteen hundred, to three thousand, rupees.

The jungle-tazee, which is bred in the Punjab, or Seik country, is, in general, handsome, and spirited. These come at an earlier age, as does the majennis, which is bred in the same quarter, and is usually the offspring of a jungle-tazee horse, with a Persian or toorky mare; or vice versâ. Both these kinds may be rated as rising to full fifteen hands; and their prices are usually on a par with the toorky.

It is highly necessary, when purchasing of a 464native dealer, to look very accurately into every matter relating to soundness, and quietness. Those gentry are admirable jockies, and commonly administer such doses of opium to their vicious cattle, as cause them for a while to appear pre-eminently passive; a circumstance easily detected, by insisting on the animal being left under charge of the purchaser’s own syce, (i.e. groom,) for a day or two, before the money is paid.

When making bargains with European gentlemen, the whole of the transactions are generally overt, and free from disguise, but, when native is opposed to native, the affair is conducted with much assumed mystery. A cloth is laid over the knees of the seller and purchaser, as they squat vis a vis on the ground close together; the hookah is introduced, and resorted to, whenever any little difference takes place: at other times, the parties have each one hand, generally the right, under the cloth, when, by means of pressures on the palms, which denote hundreds, and of the fingers, which denote, in their due order, 20, 40, 60, and 80, speedily understand each other very fully. This affectation is carried to such an extent, that I have seen nearly a whole day passed in keeping up the farce, though afterwards it was divulged to me, as a great secret, that the bargain had been made during the first five minutes; but 465the seller was desirous to uphold a character for being very tenacious of the sum originally demanded!

Almost every light-colored horse, such as a grey, or a dun, has its tail stained for many inches near the tip with mindy, (i.e. hinna,) as used by the ladies of Hindostan: generally, a ring of the same is added about two inches above, and of about two inches in depth. On account of the inconvenience and heat attendant upon the retention of full manes, which are considered indispensable towards the beauty of a horse, it is usual to braid them with silk, or thread ties, of various colors, chiefly red, or yellow: the practice certainly has the intended effect, but causes a large portion of the mane to fall off. The hair of the tail is never cut by a native, and but rarely by an European; on account of the millions of gad-flies, which, but for such a defence, would irritate the animal greatly, and occasion him to fall off, both from his condition, and his food.

The stables for horses should be amply spacious, and covered with thatch, in preference to tiles, which throw too great heat into the interior. The head-ropes, which commonly branch out from the head-stall in different directions angularly forward, ought to be substantial, and rather long than limitted. The heel-ropes ought to be full twenty feet in length, 466and kept a little off the ground, by a small bar, or prop, to prevent their being rotted by the wet. One end of each heel-rope is furnished with a loop of rather thinner and softer rope, plaited flat, so as not to injure the pastern, round which it loops on. But for such preventives, the syces dare not rub down their cattle; which would, besides, fight desperately, unless thus restrained.

Stalls of plank are by no means suited to the climate, nor would they offer any defence against the horses of India, very few of which are castrated. The best, but, at the same time, very insufficient, device, is the placing of swinging bars between the horses severally; even these are no restraint, further than limitting a horse in case he should get loose; a circumstance instantly announced by the tremendous uproar occasioned by such an accident, which but rarely occurs.

On account of the extreme danger to which horses are subjected by the frequency of fires, it is advisable that every stable, especially if thatched, should have a range of water-pots placed along the ridge. These should always be kept full of water, to be at the disposal of men sent up to sprinkle the thatch, and to extinguish whatever flakes may fall upon it; but, in case the thatch itself should accidentally take fire, before any person can mount to distribute 467the water, then the pots should be broken, by means of clods, poles, or whatever means may offer under such emergency.

The horse-dealers from the Punjab, and from Persia, may be said to lay the Company’s provinces under annual contribution; since it is ascertained, that, one year with another, they take back bills, cash, or goods, (generally the former,) to the full amount of four lacs of rupees (£50,000). For this they deliver from five to six hundred horses, of which nine in ten are aged, some dried fruits, Persian cats, and shawls, the whole intrinsic value of which, or at least the prime cost and duties payable on the way, cannot exceed one-fourth of that sum. In truth, the duties, which are rigorously exacted by various petty princes, &c., through whose territories they must pass, form the greater portion even of that share of the booty. Yet do the venerable dealers in horse-flesh always plead poverty, and that they have made so very bad a trip, that, on their return home, their affairs must go to ruin: however, they make a shift to come down, year after year, though buying and selling to so much loss!

In selling horses, it is customary to describe their several casts, the same as those of the people of India; thus, an auctioneer advertises a toorky, or a majennis ‘of high cast,’ to be sold on such a day. The term may, however, be considered 468as rather technical, and at least as arbitrary in its meaning, as when our British knights of the hammer puff off some hovel, crammed into a corner, where no one would have dreamt of seeing an edifice, as ‘a capital mansion, undeniably situated!’ It must, at the same time, be acknowledged, that Asiatic advertisements do not require to be so cautiously accepted, cum grano salis, as those catch-penny notices, which not only attract the eye directly, but are literally supported by insidious puffs interspersed among the news of the day.

The extravagant price to which all articles of horse furniture have at times risen in India, operated as a considerable injury to the European manufacturer, who rarely makes much profit on goods intended for exportation. Within the last thirty years, numbers of persons, both European and native, have established themselves as saddlers and harness-makers. At first they were not much encouraged, owing to a belief very generally prevalent, that leather tanned in India was inferior to that exported from this country.

That objection did not stand its ground; for it was soon ascertained that the bark of the baubool (mimoza) was at least equal to that of the oak; and that the leather prepared therewith by several Europeans, who had constructed tan-pits, on a large scale, was both equal to, and 469full fifty per cent. cheaper than, what the ships conveyed to India. Thenceforward, all the leather-work of the carriages built in India, some of which might vie with any to be seen in Europe, was done with country hides. Shoe-makers, both European and native, resorted to the same means of supply, and offered both boots and shoes of the best prepared leather, the want of which had, for a long time, caused the very neat shoes made for about a shilling the pair, by the latter class, to be held in little estimation.

Saddlers and harness-makers have appeared, whose labors have proved eminently valuable; their materials, and their work, being alike excellent. I must here be understood to confine my approbation to the articles manufactured from leather tanned in a regular manner, and not that paltry brown-paper-like rubbish manufactured in pots and pans by indigent natives, who often work up a skin within the third or fourth day after its being stripped from some starved sheep, or goat; but which leather may always be distinguished by a narrow streak of white, that is, of raw hide, remaining in the middle of its thickness.

Saddles made of such crude materials, but in every other respect by no means to be condemned, may be had at Monghyr, where also bits and bridles are made with singular neatness, 470for about ten rupees (25 shillings); but those of superior materials, and made under the inspection of an European, will cost full as much, or perhaps more, then the sums ordinarily paid in London for saddles, &c., of prime quality, and high finish.

The climate is extremely adverse to the tanner, inasmuch as there is great difficulty in obtaining an ample stock of raw hides; owing to the consumption of beef and mutton being confined to the European, and to the Mahomedan parts of the population; and to the great difficulty of conveying the skins to the pits before incipient fermentation may become obvious, and disqualify them for the purpose.

That leather might, with great advantage to both countries, be sent from India to Europe, cannot be doubted: the great difficulty would be to furnish such a quantity as might render the trade an object. According to the present high prices, it would almost be worth while to buy cattle in India, for the purpose of sending their hides and tallow to market in England. As to the benefits to arise to the state, they are too obvious to require pointing out.

A person who might have quitted India about thirty years ago, when the generality of articles of almost every description in use among Europeans, were sent from England; and when only one or two European tailors were to be seen 471in all Bengal; when, also, a news-paper was scarcely in existence, would now, on landing in that country, be astonished at the improvements made in various branches of manufacture: he would contemplate the advance made in the mechanical arts as the certain fore-runner of independence; and he would view the columns of the several news-papers published at Calcutta, in all fourteen, (besides magazines, &c.,) whose columns teem with advertisements on a large scale: these he would view as the paramount results of great enterprize, founded upon extensive capitals, and backed by an almost unlimitted credit.

The news-papers are generally published once or twice weekly, at about a rupee each; most days of the week bring forth two papers, in which the price of advertising is generally eight annas, (i.e. half a rupee, or 15d.,) for each line: as the type is rather large, the expence of advertisements must, in some great houses, prove a conspicuous item among the disbursements.

In this particular, the Hindostanee, or rather the Persian, news-papers are miserably deficient; as, indeed, they are in whatever should be the contents of a publication devoted to the important purposes of mercantile, or of political, intelligence. Far from containing a single advertisement, or from communicating any matter relative to the arts, these bulletins, for I 472can call them nothing better, are penned by persons about the several native courts, according to the whim of a sycophant, or to the mere tattle in the suburbs of a city; nay, they are often manufactured hundreds of miles from the places whence they are supposed to emanate, and contain accounts of battles and sieges, capitulations and defeats, halts and marches, known to the fabricators only; who, in whatever relates to invention, contradiction, and re-contradiction, absolutely surpass those industrious wights that supply our British news-mongers with paragraphs of the highest importance, accidents, murders, &c., &c., at the cheap rate of ten shillings per dozen!

There being no presses in use among the natives, every communication, whether private or public, must be manuscript; hence, the profession of scribe is, in some places, no bad livelihood; especially at Delhi, which, being the ancient seat of government, and the immediate residence of a nominal king, commonly called ‘The Great Mogul,’ supplies every quarter of India with Akbars, (i.e. news-papers,) written in the Persian language and character, on long narrow slips of a paper manufactured in India, either from bamboos, reeds, or cotton-wool. These slips are rolled up to about an inch in width, and, being enclosed in a small cover pasted together, are despatched, with the shew 473of great importance, to the several quarters of Hindostan, under the pompous idea of their being every where in high estimation.

The only paper published by authority in Bengal, is the Calcutta Gazette, which is usually replete with advertisements for the sale of lands, printed in English, Persian, and Bengalese: as to news, or useful essays, &c., it is uncommonly sterile. Private advertisements in this paper are extravagantly dear, in consequence of the obligation imposed on all collectors, &c., to take it in; whereby one copy at least is received at every civil station, however small.

The advertisements for the sale of lands, above alluded to, have sprung from the adoption of what is called the Mocurrery system, which originated with Mr. Thomas Law, formerly collector of Bahar, and now settled in America. That plan certainly wore a very specious appearance; because it purported to be a perpetual adjustment of the rents, which were before subject to augmentation, and held out to the land-holders the comforting assurance of being considered on a footing with proprietors in fee-simple, so long as they should pay the rents as settled by the Mocurrery agreement.

While the plan was in agitation, and under the consideration of Marquis Cornwallis, by whom it was adopted, the Board of Revenue, to which it was, pro forma, submitted, made 474several very sensible and cogent remarks, which, however, had not the effect of causing it to be abandoned. Time has fully justified the objections stated by that Board, at which the present Lord Teignmouth, then Mr. Shore, presided; and we find, after many years of experiment, that, without reaping the smallest advantage themselves, the Company appear bound to perpetuate a resignation of their rights as proprietors of the soil, and of their interests as a body rationally entitled to derive an augmentation of rent, in proportion as the produce of the soil may become more valuable, and more abundant.

This discussion has led me to the consideration of a most important topic; viz. the Revenue of Bengal, of which, and its manner of collection, I shall endeavor to give a summary; first presenting my readers with a copy of the Mocurrery, or permanent system.

BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL.

Proclamation.

To the Zemindars, Independent Talookdars, and other actual Proprietors of Land, paying Revenue to Government, in the Provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa.

ARTICLE I.

In the original regulations for the decennial settlement of the Public Revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, passed for these provinces respectively, on the 18th day of September, 1789, the 25th day of November, 1789, and the 10th 475day of February, 1790, it was notified to the proprietors of land with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement might be concluded, that the jumma assessed upon their lands under those regulations, would be continued after the expiration of the ten years, and remain unalterable for ever, provided such continuance should meet with the approbation of the Honorable Court of Directors for the affairs of the East India Company, and not otherwise.

ARTICLE II.

The Marquis Cornwallis, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Governor-General in Council, now notifies to all Zemindars, Talookdars, and other actual proprietors of land, paying revenue to Government, in the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, that he has been empowered by the Honorable Court of Directors, for the affairs of the East India Company, to declare the jumma which has been, or may be, assessed upon their lands, under the regulations above mentioned, FIXED FOR EVER.

ARTICLE III.

The Governor-General in Council accordingly declares to the Zemindars, &c., with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement has been concluded under the regulations above mentioned, that, at the expiration of the term of the settlement, no alteration will be made in the assessment which they have respectively engaged to pay; but that they, and their heirs, and lawful successors, will be allowed to hold their estates at such an assessment, FOR EVER.

ARTICLE IV.

The lands of some Zemindars, &c., having been held k’has,^[A] or let in farm, in consequence of their refusing to pay the assessment required of them, under the regulations 476above mentioned, the Governor-General in Council now notifies to the Zemindars, &c., whose lands are held k’has, that they shall be restored to the management of their lands, upon their agreeing to the payment of the assessment, which has been, or may be, required of them, in conformity to the regulations above mentioned, and that no alteration shall hereafter be made in that assessment, but that they, and their heirs, and lawful successors, shall be permitted to hold their respective estates at such an assessment FOR EVER: and he declares to the Zemindars, &c., whose lands have been let in farm, that they shall not regain possession of their lands before the expiration of the period for which they have been farmed, (unless the farmers shall voluntarily consent to make over to them the remaining term of their lease, and the Governor-General in Council shall approve of the transfer,) but, that, at the expiration of that period, upon their agreeing to the payment of the assessment which may be required of them, they shall be re-instated, and that no alteration shall afterwards be made in the assessment; but that they, and their heirs, and lawful successors, shall be allowed to hold their respective estates at such an assessment FOR EVER.

ARTICLE V.

In the event of the proprietary right in lands that are, or may, become the property of Government, being transferred to individuals, such individuals, and their heirs, and lawful successors, shall be permitted to hold the lands, at the assessment at which they maybe transferred, FOR EVER.

ARTICLE VI.

It is well known to the Zemindars, &c., as well as to the inhabitants of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, in general, that, from the earliest times to the present period, the public assessment upon the lands has never been fixed; but, that, according to established rule and custom, the rulers of these provinces have, from time to time, demanded an encrease of 477assessment from the proprietors of land; and, that, for the purpose of obtaining this encrease, not only frequent investigations have been made, to ascertain the actual produce of their estates, but that it has been the practice to deprive them of the management of their lands, and either to let them in farm, or to appoint officers on the part of Government, to collect the assessments immediately from the Ryots. The Honorable Court of Directors, considering these usages and measures to be detrimental to the prosperity of the country, have, with a view to promote the future ease and happiness of the people, authorized the foregoing declaration; and the Zemindars, independent Talookdars, and other actual proprietors of land, with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement has been made, or may be concluded, are to consider these orders, fixing the amount of the assessments, as IRREVOCABLE, and not liable to alteration by any persons whom the Court of Directors may hereafter appoint to the administration of their affairs in this country.

The Governor-General in Council trusts that the proprietors of lands, sensible of the benefits conferred upon them, by the public assessments being fixed FOR EVER, will exert themselves in the cultivation of their lands, under the certainty that they will enjoy exclusively the fruits of their own good management and industry, and that no demand will ever be made upon them, their heirs, or successors, by the present, or any future, Government, for an augmentation of the public assessment, in consequence of the improvement of their respective estates.

To discharge the revenues at the stipulated periods, without delay or evasion, and to conduct themselves with good faith and moderation towards their dependant Talookdars, and Ryots, are duties at all times indispensably required from the proprietors of land; and a strict observance of those duties is now, more than ever, incumbent upon them, in return for the benefits which they themselves will derive from the orders now issued.

478The Governor-General in Council therefore expects that the proprietors of land will not only act in this manner themselves, towards their dependant Talookdars, but also enjoin the strictest adherence to the same principles, in the persons whom they may appoint to collect the rents for them. He further expects they will regularly discharge the revenue in all seasons, and he accordingly notifies to them, that, in future, no claims, or applications, for suspensions, or remissions, on account of drought, inundation, or other calamity of season, will be attended to; but, that, in the event of any Zemindar, &c., with, or on behalf of, whom a settlement has been made, or may be concluded, on his or her heirs, or successors, failing in the punctual discharge of the public revenue, which has been, or may be, assessed upon their lands, under the above-mentioned regulations, a sale of the whole of the lands of the defaulter, or such portion of them as may be sufficient to make good the means, will positively and invariably take place.

ARTICLE VII.

To prevent any misconstruction of the foregoing Articles, the Governor-General in Council thinks it necessary to make the following declarations to the Zemindars, &c.

First. It being the duty of the ruling power to protect all classes of people, and more particularly those who, from situation, are most helpless, the Governor-General in Council will, whenever he may deem it proper, enact such regulations as he may think necessary for the protection and welfare of the dependant Talookdars, Ryots, and other cultivators of the soil; and no Zemindar, &c. shall be entitled, on this account, to make any objection to the discharge of the fixed assessment which they have respectively agreed to pay.

Second. The Governor-General in Council having, on the 28th day of July, 1790, directed the Sayer Collections to be abolished, a full compensation was granted to the proprietors 479of land, for the loss of revenue sustained by them in consequence of that abolition; and he now declares, that, if he should hereafter think it proper to re-establish the Sayer Collections, or any other internal duties, and to appoint officers on the part of Government to collect them, no proprietor of land will be admitted to any participation thereof, or be entitled to make any claim for remissions on that account.

Third. The Governor-General in Council will impose such assessments as he may deem equitable, on all lands at present alienated, and paying no public revenue, which have been, or may be, proved to be held under illegal, or invalid titles. The assessment so imposed will belong to Government, and no proprietor of land will be entitled to any part of it.

Fourth. The jumma of those Zemindars, &c., which is declared fixed, in the foregoing articles, is to be considered unconnected with, and exclusive of, any allowances which have been made to them in the adjustment of their jumma for keeping up tannahs, or police-establishments, and also of the produce of any lands which they may have been permitted to appropriate for the same purpose: and the Governor-General in Council reserves to himself the option of resuming the whole, or part, of such allowances, or produce of such lands, according as he may think proper, in consequence of his having exonerated the proprietors of land from the charge of keeping the peace, and appointed officers, on the part of Government, to superintend the police of the country.

The Governor-General in Council, however, declares that the allowances, or the produce of lands, which may be so resumed, will be appropriated to no other purpose but that of defraying the expence of the police, and that instructions will be sent to the collectors not to add such allowance, nor the produce of such lands, to the jumma of the proprietors of land, but to collect the amount from them separately.

480Fifth. Nothing contained in this Proclamation shall be construed to render the lands of the several descriptions of disqualified proprietors, specified in the first article of the regulations, regarding disqualified land-holders, passed on the 15th day of July, 1791, liable to sale for any arrears which may accrue on the fixed jumma that has been, or may be, assessed upon their lands under the above mentioned regulations for the decennial settlement, provided that such arrears have accrued, or may accrue, during the time that they have been, or may be, dispossessed of the management of their lands under the said regulations of July the 15th, 1791.

It is to be understood, however, that, whenever all, or any, of the descriptions of disqualified land-holders specified in the first article of the last mentioned regulations, shall be permitted to assume, or to retain, the management of their lands, in consequence of the ground of their disqualification no longer existing, or of the Governor-General in Council dispensing with, altering, or abolishing, those regulations, the lands of such proprietors will be held responsible for the payment of the fixed jumma that has been, or may be, assessed thereon, from the time that the management may devolve upon them, in the same manner as the lands of all actual proprietors of land who are declared qualified for the management of their estates; and also of all actual proprietors who are unqualified for such management, by natural, or other, disabilities, but do not come within the description of unqualified land-holders specified in the first article of the regulations of July the 15th, 1791, are, and will be, held answerable for any arrears that are, or may become, due from them on the fixed jumma, which they, or any persons on their behalf, have engaged, or may engage, to pay under the above mentioned regulations, for the decennial settlement.

481ARTICLE VIII.

That no doubt may be entertained whether proprietors of land are entitled, under the existing regulations, to dispose of their estates, without the previous sanction of Government, the Governor-General in Council notifies to the Zemindars, &c., that they are privileged to transfer to whomsoever they may think proper, by sale, gift, or otherwise, their proprietary rights in the whole, or any portion, of their respective estates, without applying to Government for its sanction to the transfer; and, that all such transfers will be held valid, provided they be conformable to the Mahomedan, or to the Hindu, Laws, [according as the religious persuasions of the parties to each transaction may render the validity of it determinable by the former, or the latter, code,] and that they be not repugnant to any regulations now in force, which may have been passed by the British administration, or to any regulations that they may enact hereafter.^[B]

ARTICLE IX.

From the limitation of the public demand upon the lands, the net income, and, consequently, the value (independent of encrease obtainable by improvements) of any landed property, for the assessments on which a distinct engagement has been, or may be, entered into between Government and the proprietor, or that may be separately assessed, although included in one engagement with other estates belonging to the same proprietor, and which may be offered for public or private sale entire, will always be ascertainable by a comparison of the amount of the fixed jumma assessed upon it, (which, agreeably to the foregoing 482declarations, is to remain unalterable FOR EVER, to whomsoever the property may be transferred,) with the whole of its produce, allowing for the charges of management.

But it is also essential, that a notification should be made of the principles upon which the fixed assessment charged upon any such estate will be apportioned on the several divisions of it, in the event of the whole of it being transferred, by public or private sale, or otherwise, in two or more lots, or of a portion of it being transferred, in one, or two, or more lots, or of its being joint property, and a division of it being made amongst the proprietors; otherwise, from the want of a declared rule for estimating the proportion of the fixed jumma, with which the several shares would be chargeable in such cases, the real value of each share would be uncertain, and, consequently, the benefits expected to result, from fixing the public assessment upon the lands, would be but partially obtained.

The Governor-General in Council has, accordingly, prescribed the following rules for apportioning the fixed assessment in the several cases above mentioned; but, as Government might sustain a considerable loss of revenue by disproportionate lots of the assessment, were the apportioning of it, in any of the cases above specified, left to the proprietors, he requires, that all such transfers, or divisions, as may be made by the private act of the parties themselves, be notified to the collector of the revenue of that zillah in which the lands may be situated, or to such other officer as Government may, in future, prescribe, in order that the fixed jumma assessed upon the whole estate maybe apportioned on the several shares, in the manner hereafter directed; and that the names of the proprietors of each share, and the jumma charged thereon, may be entered upon the public registers; and that separate engagements, for the payment of the jumma assessed upon each share, may be executed by the proprietors, who will thenceforward be considered as actual proprietors of land.