A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of India

We had but little hunting; while we were there one of our party killed a beautiful spotted deer. I shot some peacocks and a jungle-cock. Talking of hunting reminds me of an adventure which I must relate. The commissioner is the stoutest man I have seen in India, although my wife did insinuate the other day that I was nearly as big, but I am not.

The other day Mr. D., Lieutenant H., and the commissioner went out hog-hunting. This sport is always performed on horseback with long spears. The beaters soon turned out a magnificent boar. "A boar! a boar!" was the shout, and up galloped the commissioner and plunged the spear into the animal; but, in consequence of his horse swerving, he was unable to withdraw the weapon, and the boar ran off with it sticking into his back. Lieutenant H. now came up; the boar charged him, cut both the fore legs of his horse to the bone with his tusks, and tumbled horse and man over on the ground. In the mean time the commissioner had seized another spear from his syce, when the boar rushed at him. His horse swerved at the moment that he was making a thrust with his spear, and the poor commissioner rolled over on the ground. Fortunately the boar was nearly exhausted, too much so to charge again; but he did what perhaps no boar ever did before, – he seized the commissioner by the coat-tails as he lay on his stomach. Feeling the snout of the beast, he at once expected to be cut, if not killed, by its tremendous tusks.

He sprang upon his feet; the boar kept hold of his tail. The Commissioner faced about; he had neither pistol nor knife, so he commenced pummelling away at the boar's face with his fist. Now imagine the scene – a man of his extraordinary size with his coat-tail held up by an enormous boar; the Commissioner himself turned half round, and having a regular boxing-match with the ferocious brute. D. came up as quickly as he could for laughing, and with one good thrust of his spear put an end to the fight. The charge of the boar is fearful; he cuts right and left with his tusks, and inflicts the most dreadful wounds.

UNCIVIL TREATMENT OF RAJAHS

And now I must mention some circumstances which to me rendered our expedition to Neilghur very unpleasant; they relate to the manner in which our party treated the Rajah. On the morning of our arrival, after our descent from the hills, he came with a party of horsemen to call upon us. We were just sitting down to breakfast, when I observed the cavalcade approaching. I mentioned it, and proposed that, according to Indian politeness, we should go into the verandah of our tent to receive them. But the principal man of our party said, "Oh! bother the fellow, we can't see him now;" and he sent a servant out to tell him so.

In the afternoon the Rajah sent his man, corresponding to our chief gamekeeper in England, to ask when we should like the coolies to beat the jungle, and to say that he would join us in the hunt. We named the time and started accordingly, found the coolies in readiness, and saw the Rajah and his brother coming upon elephants.

Our party began to move on, when I asked, "Will you not wait for the Rajah?" "I should think not," was the reply; "we don't want the beastly niggers with us." And yet these civilized men were glad enough to make use of these beastly niggers' coolies and elephants. I stayed behind and had some talk with them.

The next day the two Rajahs called at the tent; they entered as gentlemen, and made the usual Indian salutation. With the exception of myself, I do not think one of our party even rose from his chair. In the course of conversation we spoke of the badness of the water we got. The Rajah immediately offered to send a man six miles into the hills to fetch some from a mountain stream. In little more than an hour afterwards, one of our party, feeling thirsty, sent a servant to ask the Rajah whether he had not got that water yet. In India, in speaking to a servant, you use the word "toom," which signifies "you." In speaking to a gentleman you say "ab," which means "your honour." One or two of our party made a point of saying "toom" to the Rajah, which was in fact a great insult. The younger brother called upon us. The chief of our party spoke to him on the subject of the disturbances, although it had all been settled by the Commissioner, and gave him a regular blowing up. And now remember that all this was to a gentleman – an Indian it is true, but still a gentleman, with a fine estate, and about 6000l. a-year, from whom we were receiving every kindness, and on whose land we were hunting. Can it be wondered at that the natives do not like us so well as might otherwise be expected?

The Rajah, I suppose, finding me more civil than the others, gave me a great mark of honour. He took me on his own elephant, while he acted as mahout, and whenever any roughness occurred on the ground he turned to warn me of it. I own that I did not enjoy the honour much. The elephant was covered with a crimson cloth, so that there were no ropes to hold by. The only way in which I could manage was to sit astride. It was really most painful, and I almost doubted whether I should ever be able to get my legs together again. I had two brace of pistols with me. The Rajah appeared very much pleased with them, and, to make up for the rudeness of our party, I gave him one of the pair. He was delighted, and I was sadly laughed at for giving anything to a nigger. His palace is a fine white building on the side of one of the hills.

Cuttack, July 4, 1844

SALT-MANUFACTURE

I have mentioned the manner in which Europeans are apt to alienate the affections of the natives; I will now give you an instance of the way in which the Government seek to conciliate them. It must be remembered that salt is a Government monopoly, that is, no person is allowed to prepare or sell it except by the appointment of Government. The cost to them is about eight annas, or one shilling, per maund of eighty pounds; they sell it for four rupees, or eight shillings, for the same quantity; and yet so necessary is it to the natives, that, if any man does not buy the usual quantity of Government, which is, I believe, about half a seer, or one pound, a-month, for each individual, he is brought by the police before a magistrate and sent to gaol, on the presumption that, as he does not purchase salt, he must smuggle it.

Now the salt-manufacturers receive a portion of their pay beforehand, and the remainder when the salt is ready. They belong mostly to the poorest classes, and their mode of working is very simple, merely collecting the sea-water, and then suffering it to evaporate in the sun. When they receive the first portion of their pay, they are told how much they will receive per maund, for the price varies slightly in different years. Last year they were promised a certain sum; I am not exactly sure how much, but say eight annas per maund; and when they came to the salt-agent for their money, they found that an order had arrived from Government reducing the promised pay to six and a half annas per maund. Of course they were excessively angry, and utterly astonished; for one strong idea with the natives is, that an Englishman will never tell an untruth. I happened to be present at the time; it occurred at Pooree, in the neighbourhood of which are some of the principal salt-works, if I may use so dignified a term.

The proper course for these poor people to have taken would have been, to have brought an action against Government for breach of contract; but this they could not possibly afford. However, the magistrates of Pooree sent a strong remonstrance to Government, and the consequence was, that they authorized the salt-agent this year to renew the contracts at the higher price, much to the delight of the poor salt-manufacturers, who still lost a part of the promised price of last year; yet it is scarcely to be credited that, before the time for the second payment arrived, another order was sent down, reducing the price as they did last year, and thus again defrauding the poor wretches of part of their small pittance, for defrauding it is in the truest sense of the word. All these things are managed by four or five men, who compose what is called the Salt Board.6 I may mention that the salt-workers have been sadly disturbed this year by the number of tigers. The natives sometimes keep the claws of those which they are so fortunate as to kill, to make charms to keep off mischief.

RELIGION OF THE BRAHMINS – JUGGERNAT'H

And now I must describe Juggernat'h. To the temple are attached about four thousand priests and servants. Of these one set are called Pundahs. In the autumn of every year they start on a journey through India, preaching in every town and village the advantages of a pilgrimage to Juggernat'h; after which they conduct to Pooree large bodies of pilgrims for the Rath Justra, or Car Festival, which takes place in May or June – the precise time depends on the moon, as does the time of our Easter. This is the principal festival, and the number of devotees varies from about 80,000 to 150,000. About five years ago there were present, on one occasion, not less than 250,000; but that numerous meeting was owing to some peculiar sanctity which is supposed to be diffused once in 200 years. But I ought to have commenced with some account of Juggernat'h himself. He represents the ninth incarnation of Vishnoo. I have often wondered whether the Hindu religion may not, in some portions, be taken remotely from the Christian. One name of Vishnoo is Chrishna; one appellation of Juggernat'h is Sri Teo. This Teo, as Chrishna, became incarnate whilst very young; he was sought after by a king to put him to death. Many children were killed, but he was removed from place to place in safety. He was born amongst the shepherds. The Hindus look for a tenth incarnation, when he shall unite all the world in one religion, and himself reign over them. I believe I am correct in giving these as points of faith amongst the Brahmins; and when we consider that the Hindu religion was probably established long after St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew had visited India, it certainly seems allowable to suppose that some portion of the Christian teaching became mingled with the doctrines of the Hindus. There is one objection to this supposition, namely, that Vishnoo is represented to have lived a very wicked and immoral life while on earth.

No European, Mussulman, or low-caste Hindu is admitted into the temple; we can, therefore, only speak on hearsay of what goes on inside. The idol itself is renewed every twelve years; it consists of a mere block of sacred wood, in the centre of which is said to be concealed a fragment of the original idol, which was fashioned by Vishnoo himself. The features and all the external parts are formed of a mixture of mud and cowdung painted. Every morning the idol undergoes his ablutions; but as the cowdung and paint would not stand the washing, the priests adopt a very ingenious plan – they hold a mirror in front of the image, and wash his reflection. Every evening he is put to bed; but as the idol is very unwieldy, they place the bedstead in front of him; on that they lay a small image, lock the door, and leave him to come down himself, if he can.

Offerings are made to him, by pilgrims and others, of rice, money, jewels, elephants, &c.; the Rajah of Knoudah and the priests being his joint treasurers. About twelve days before the Rath Justra, Juggernat'h goes to bathe; whilst doing so, he is supposed to be bitten by a snake, which causes him to be sick until the day of the festival. During his illness the priests take off his paint and cowdung, and give quite a new coat; so that at the end of the time he appears quite healthy and strong.

On the grand day the three cars, which, I should say, were fifty or sixty feet in height, are brought to the gate of the temple; the idols are then taken out by the priests – Juggernat'h having golden arms and diamond eyes for that one day – and by means of pulleys are hauled up and placed in their respective carriages; to these enormous ropes are attached, and the assembled thousands, with loud shouts, proceed to drag the idols to Juggernat'h's country-house, a small temple at about a mile distant. This occupies several days, and the idols, having rusticated for some time, are brought back to their regular station. The Hindus believe that every person who aids in dragging the cars receives pardon for all his past sins; every pilgrim who dies within five miles of Pooree will be greatly blessed in his next life; and every person who swims out to sea, so far as to see the top of the temple from the surface of the water, secures great blessings in another life for himself, his father and mother, his grandparents, and the three next generations descended from himself! This last experiment, however, is very rarely tried; there are too many sharks to make it pleasant. One man was drowned last year in attempting it. As to the people throwing themselves under the wheels of the car, that I believe to be altogether a European invention. Some occasionally fall accidentally, and are thus killed; but I imagine that self-immolation in this way neither is nor ever was at all a common thing.

I have very little doubt that great wickedness prevails within the temple. In two cases, lately, it is known that murder has been committed there; yet we, who have held the country so long, are not allowed to enter the building. It is said that if we attempted it we should be driven from the district; this I do not believe. Some years ago the priests declared that the god would not leave his country-house until all the English were driven from the province. The officer commanding at Cuttack directly sent word that, if the idol was not brought back on the usual day, he would come and blow both it and the temple to pieces. Juggernat'h immediately came to his senses, and was back in his temple one day before his regular time.

During the period the pilgrims remain at Pooree they are not allowed to eat anything but what has been offered to the idol, and that they have to buy at a very high price from the priests. This food is often very bad, and from that, combined with other causes, the cholera makes sad ravages amongst these poor people.

NUMEROUS DEATHS – EVIL OMEN

At the festival that is just past it is calculated that there were about 130,000 pilgrims. The cholera this year was very mild; but not less than 650 died at Pooree, or between that place and Cuttack. Their bodies are generally thrown out to be devoured by the dogs, vultures, and jackals. One Sunday morning, in coming home from church, we found that three bodies had been thrown out in front of our house; two of them were rapidly disappearing in the jaws of these animals, the other was tossing about in the surf. However, I sent to the magistrate, and he had them removed and burnt. A vast proportion of the pilgrims are widows. In India a widow is not permitted to marry again, but must be supported by her late husband's relations; and it is said that many of those poor women are sent down to Pooree in hope of getting rid of them, and no doubt this purpose frequently succeeds. And to support this system our Government pays 6000l. a-year; equal to the salaries of ten chaplains of our Church. This year an event occurred which the Hindus consider to be very ominous of evil. As they were bringing the god out, one of the chief priests was seized with cholera, and was sick all over the idol. The necessary purifications occupied so long a time, that the procession was not able to start that day.

I have just had a sad misfortune: all my cloth clothes, cloaks, &c., with two or three dozen shirts, flannels, waistcoats, drawers, &c. &c. – in short, everything but what was in actual use – were put away in a large chest. Whilst we were at Pooree my stupid man never once looked at them. When I returned I wanted something out of the chest, opened it, and found that every individual thing had been almost entirely destroyed by white ants – coats, shirts, flannels, were eaten through in all directions; and I think there was, at least, 50l. worth destroyed. I have fined my man two months' pay for his carelessness; but, as that is only 22s., it is a very poor consolation to me.

Cuttack, August 10, 1844

BRINDABUND MONKEYS

The weather is now most fearfully oppressive; not so much from the actual heat, for the thermometer is seldom above 86° or 87°, but from a dense mass of cloud, which at the height of a few hundred feet encloses us, as it were, day and night in one vast steamy vapour-bath. The last two or three months are actually the most trying that I have felt in India.

I forget whether I have described the Brindabund monkeys. I have now a pair of them. I do not remember ever to have seen them in England. They are covered all over with long, thick, black hair; but round the face, extending from temple to temple, is a very broad, thick frill of white or rather light grey: the tail is of a middling length, the snout very short, and the animal himself remarkably docile and intelligent. Those that I have are not yet a year old, and I should say the body is about a foot in length. When on their hind legs they stand nearly two feet.

I have mine in the verandah just outside my study door, and they are so full of fun that I often sit for a long time watching them. One runs a little way up the lattice, then the other makes a spring after him, and up they both go as fast as they can. Presently the lower one catches hold of the upper one's tail, and brings him down to the bottom; then he makes a jump and gets away into his kennel and sits at the door, whilst the other wanders round and round, trying to find some place where he can get in without being observed; in doing this he carelessly turns his back, when out jumps the other and catches hold of his tail or his hind leg, and drags him round and round their cage. I should tell you that the cage is the end of the verandah at the back of my house; two sides of it are wall, and the other two are lattice. It is about ten feet square, twelve feet high at one end, and eighteen or twenty at the other.

When they are frightened they sit upright on the floor, with their arms clasped round each other; and if I take one of them out tied by a string, they both scream the whole time until they are brought together again, and then they rush into each other's arms. These two monkeys are very much admired by the Europeans at Cuttack, who have given them the name of "the gentlemen monkeys," because, from the great length of their hair, they look as if they were dressed, besides being quiet and docile. They are almost as rare here as in England. They are of the most sacred race of monkeys in the eyes of the Hindus; and indeed the only objection I have to them is, that I am afraid some of my servants make poojah to them, that is, worship them, and prostrate themselves before them, and make offerings of rice to them.

We have a great improvement in the use of our finger-glasses over those in England. One man waits behind every person at each meal, even at tea, and as soon as the meal is over he brings his master or mistress a finger-glass filled with water, with two or three leaves of verbenum, or bay, or sweet-smelling lime, for the persons to squeeze between their fingers. In a hot climate like India this is very pleasant and refreshing.

INDIAN MARRIAGES

When a man in India, I mean a European gentleman, wants a wife, he says to his friend, "I should like to get married." "Well," says he, "why don't you?" and forthwith he applies for leave of absence for a month. A month consists of thirty days, of which, say five are occupied in his journey to Calcutta, and another five on his journey back, leaving him just twenty days in which to make his selection, get introduced, make himself agreeable, propose, court, and be married. A nice prospect he has for future happiness. But there is one curious result in this sort of marriage, and a result, too, which spreads among other people also. After a few years the wife loses her health and is ordered to England. The husband cannot afford to go with her, but he allows her about half his salary. At the end of two or three years, or whatever time may have been fixed, he writes to his wife to make arrangements for her return to India; and I have known two instances in which the husband was obliged to stop the allowance in order to compel the wife to return.

I have often wished to have some peacocks in my compound, but every one told me that they would fly away; however, I found that those who had tried to keep them had obtained the young birds from the jungle. I thought I would try another plan, and therefore I got some eggs and set them under a hen. I have three young ones coming on nicely, perfectly tame, and which, I think, will look very well among the trees in front of my house. Two are peacocks, the other a peahen.

Cuttack, September 14, 1844

A NIGHT'S REST

My wife and I were sitting, after tea, playing at backgammon and enjoying the cool breeze that came through the open Venetians, when suddenly it began to rain. In an instant the room swarmed with insects of all sorts. There was the beautiful large green mantis; and, as we were watching his almost human motions, a grasshopper and a large brown cricket flew against my face, while a great cockroach, full three inches long, came on my wife's neck, and began running about her head and face and dress; the flying-ant, which emits a most nauseous effluvia; and the flying-bug, black, and about the size of an English one, which, if you crush him, will make your fingers smell most dreadfully for many hours; – and with these our clothes were covered, and we were obliged to keep brushing them away from our faces, but with very gentle handling; and then came two or three hornets, which sent Mrs. Acland to bed to get under the mosquito-curtains, where none of these horrid creatures can get at her. I sat up trying to read, but buzz came a mosquito on the side of my face, up went my hand a tremendous slap on the cheek to kill the tormentor, and buzz he went on again. Then I felt something big burying itself in my hair, and then came buzz on the other side, and then all around.

Presently, with a loud hum, a great rhinoceros-beetle dashed into my face. I now began to take some of the animals out of my hair; and the first that I touched was a flying-bug: the stench was dreadful. I rushed out of the room, brushing the horrible creatures from my hair with both hands. I nearly fell over a toad on which I trod, and reached my bed-room to find eighteen or twenty great toads croaking in different parts of the room, and five large bats were whirling round and round the bed. Having washed my hands in eau-de-cologne, I quickly undressed and fell asleep.

In the course of the night a troop of jackals surrounded the house, and by their frightful yells soon drove away all idea of rest; and then, about four o'clock, as we were just dozing off again, comes the roll of the drum and the loud voice of the trumpet, the tramp of the soldiers, the firing, and all the bustle of the parade; and, as soon as that is over, comes the changing guard, and the "shoulder harrm," and the "quick marrch," near our house; and so we got up.

THE BATH

Then comes the bath, the greatest luxury of the day (the water just cooler than the air), into which I get with a book, lie there an hour reading, get out and partly dress, and then admit my man to wash my feet in cold water, and to shampoo me and brush my hair, whilst another brings me a cup of delicious coffee or a glass of sherbet; and then breakfast, with an enormous fan swinging to and fro over our heads; and the heat, and the discomfort, and languor till five o'clock, agreeably diversified only by a bottle of beer cooled with saltpetre and water; and then a drive, and tea, and mosquitoes again, and so on.

Cuttack, October 13, 1844

THE DOCTOR

I had to make a five days' journey at the worst season of the year to marry a couple, and I returned with a bad cough, which became more violent after the cold had left me. I am very weak, so that I walk like an old man. The doctors here are paid by the Government for attending all persons in the service. The Company also find medicines, but not the bottles, which sometimes leads to curious circumstances. The other day I wanted some medicine, and sent to the doctor for it; presently my man brought me back a black-draught in an old eau-de-cologne bottle, with a roll of paper by way of cork, and a request that I would return the bottle, as it was the only one he had.