A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of India

THE MOHURRUN – POSITION OF CUTTACK

From the 1st to the 11th of February is the Mohammedan festival of the Mohurrun, which is a grand scene. Every night drums beat, and dancing and merrymaking are kept up among the men only, as the Mohammedan women are kept in seclusion. In the compound the other day I saw about a dozen men, one of them thumping away on the horrible native drum called a "tomtom." Two others held by heavy chains a tall sepoy (this word means a native soldier, and ought to be spelt "sepahi"), who was covered all over with a dress of calico, fitting tight to the skin – so much so that at first I thought he was naked. The calico was painted in alternate stripes of red and yellow, and he had two little yellow horns. I imagine it must have been intended to represent the devil conquered and chained by Mohammed. He made a number of antics, and ended, as all these people do, in begging for a few pice; I gave him three annas. The station of Cuttack is situated on a small island formed by the confluence of two rivers; during the hot weather this island becomes a peninsula joined to the main land by a narrow neck of sand. The advantage of this insular position is that, whilst we abound in alligators, we are free from bears and tigers, neither have we so many pariah-dogs as there were about Midnapore. The opposite bank swarms with tigers, and with a small telescope we can sometimes see them coming down to drink by moonlight. On the opposite bank, all round the island, except to the south, rise the rugged hills which dropped from Vishna's fingers. There is one great comfort here: the sea is about fifty miles from us, in a straight line towards the south, and every evening, at about five o'clock, a deliciously cool sea-breeze sets in from that direction. About seven it becomes quite gusty, and continues to blow until about one in the morning. It is necessary to have lived in such a climate as this to know how truly luxurious such evenings are after the intense heat of the day, which is now rapidly increasing; the thermometer in the shade is about 82° or 84°, and this is only the beginning of February.

FORT OF CUTTACK

A walk round the compound early in the morning is quite delightful. On each tree are three or four of the beautiful little striped squirrels, whilst in the branches are many paroquets, parrots, &c. All about on the ground are numbers of a bird of a bright green, with a red breast and head, about the size of a love-bird, and very much like it, except that the beak is straight and rather long, and from the centre of the tail project two long straight feathers of a reddish green. There is also the beautiful mango-bird with its bright yellow plumage and its glossy black head. Occasionally may be seen an alligator lying asleep, with his head and shoulders on the bank and the rest of his body in the water, while a lung-bird has just alighted on his head and twitters to its mate by the side of the tank. They are about the size of the amadavad, but shaped like the swallow, and their plumage is alternately a glossy black or a deep crimson, according as the sun shines on it. Then there is the India-rubber tree, and skulls bleached in the sun. I saw one with its little teeth in the front that had not yet pierced the gums: they are the second teeth, and the skull, which is very small, must have belonged to a mere child. The house belongs to Government, and there are therefore three wells in the compound; but the water is not good. The plan for watering this large orchard and garden is as follows: – From the edge of the wall to the cistern is a wooden trough, into which the water is thrown as it is drawn from the well. By this means the cistern is filled. A brick gutter runs from the cistern and separates it into so many branches; round each bed and every here and there are little openings which let the water run out on the bed. Suppose they only want to water one, they just take up a little earth in a spade and stop up the other branches of the gutter. Whenever it crosses a path, it is carried underneath by means of a small drain. The muller takes two long bamboos, having at one end a heavy weight and at the other a large gomlah suspended by a cord. One muller pulls one cord downward to make the gomlah reach the water, the other fills the gomlah, and, letting go the cord at the other end of the bamboo, draws it up. This work proceeds with great rapidity, and so the cistern gets filled and the garden watered. At a very short distance from our garden stand the remains of a fort. When the English took Cuttack this fort was garrisoned by the Mahrattas. They, however, soon gave it up. The angles of the bastion were rectangles, which prevents it being so strong as if they had been obtuse angles, for then the balls would have had a tendency to glance off; but its great strength consists in the ditch, which is about a hundred or a hundred and fifty yards wide, with the perpendicular side faced with bricks, full of water and swarming with alligators. The water is most foul and offensive, but the medical men say that, if they were to empty and drain it, it would make for many months a most fearful pestilence. The natives have offered us 30,000l. to be allowed to drain it, because they say there is a vast quantity of treasure in it.

ORIGIN OF THE MOHURRUN

I have just learned the origin of the Mohurrun. It is a festival, or rather commemoration of the death of Hussein and Houssein, the sons of Ali, Mohammed's nephew. These two were pursued towards the desert by their enemies; they took shelter in a well, and a spider immediately wove a web across the top. Their enemies came up, and, seeing the web, thought that Houssein and Hussein could not be in the well. However, one of them looking down observed a number of lizards all hastening up the sides, so then they thought there must be some one at the bottom who frightened the lizards, and, searching, they got up the two brothers and killed them. It is to commemorate this fact that they have instituted the festival of the Mohurrun, and in consequence the Mohammedans all reverence the spider, while they kill the lizard.

The fort here is of great extent, comprising, I should think, at least 100 acres. The walls have been demolished, and a great portion of the interior is now occupied by a botanical garden and a racket-court.

The winds have risen to-day with tumultuous fury, as though they had been long confined and in one fearful moment had burst their prison-house. There is something very grand, though awful, in these furious tempest-bursts within the tropics. A few minutes back not a leaf rustled; now the trees are waving to and fro, small branches are whirled into the air, and leaves and rubbish are carried far away by the revolving eddies of almost a hurricane. I could scarcely see the river through the volumes of sand which are tossing about mixed with the spray.

Monday, February 13, 1843

I am going to cross the river into the jungle in a day or two, with two other gentlemen. Our object is to plan a new village for some native Christians. We each take a gun and a brace of pistols, and have no doubt that we shall bring home some venison. We shall also look out as we go along for two tigers, which have recently committed terrible depredations about Condah, whither we are going. The other day they carried off two men.

Gold-dust is mixed with the sand of the river, but the quantity is very small, and is therefore not considered worth the trouble and expense of collecting.

Cuttack, March 4, 1843

One of my servants came to me this morning, and told me that there was a boa-constrictor in the garden. I immediately desired all the men to take long bamboos, and we sallied forth to attack the monster. By the time we got to the place, however, he had retreated into his hole in the ground; we had therefore to dig him out, and as soon as he appeared all the men struck him with their bamboos until they killed him. It proved not to be a boa, but a yellow snake about seven feet long, and was not venomous. We killed it, however, lest it might endanger the poultry-yard.

EXCURSION TO CHOGGA

On Wednesday the 15th of February we started on our trip – myself and Mr. L., a missionary: Captain W. was not able to accompany us on account of the parade, but was to join us in the evening. On Tuesday afternoon we got our guns in readiness, and sent off some camp furniture, viz. a bedstead, table, &c., which fold up so as to be easily portable. My bed, food, clothes, &c., were carried by two men, each of whom was to receive two annas, that is three pence, a-day. Chogga, and not Condah, is the name of the place to which we were going, and it would be impossible to obtain anything there to eat except what we shot ourselves.

At four o'clock on Wednesday morning Mr. L. came to my house, and we took some coffee, eggs, and toast, and then set off, my companion on a tall white horse and I on a little native pony, both of us dressed entirely in white. I had with me a bearer, a kitmajar, and a syce. Mr. L. had also a bearer, a cooly, and a syce, with several coolies carrying provisions. The syces were only to accompany us as far as the river, and then take the horses back; the others carried our guns, pistols, powder, hunting knives, which are very necessary both to kill everything that is wounded, and also to defend ourselves if thrown down by an elk, tiger, &c. It was necessary that we should cross the river about ten miles from my house, so off we trotted followed by our train. Everything was perfectly still, the moon just setting, and a cold damp fog hanging over the whole island. For the first half-mile we got along very well. We had then to turn into the bed of the river, now dwindled to a narrow stream. Our course lay over a deep bed of loose sand something like that at Weston-super-Mare, only much worse, our horses' feet sinking at every step five or six inches; the poor animals could not move quicker than a trot. As the moon set, and the fog closed around us, the scene became one of utter desolation: the narrow pathway, if you can call it a pathway, winding so as to avoid the deeper sands and quicksands, did not permit us riding two abreast. Far ahead, magnified by the mist, I could just see the tall figure of Mr. L. and his white steed; behind I could hear a low chattering, and now and then one of the black servants would emerge from the fog and then vanish again as suddenly as he had appeared. From time to time arose a shrill cry from some one who had wandered from the path, answered as shrilly by the other men. As the fog thickened everything disappeared. The path was barely discernible, and I almost wished myself at home. However I trusted to the sagacity of my sure-footed little pony, and he carried me safely over the sand-hills and through the hollows for about three-quarters of an hour, when I heard a shout in front, announcing that Mr. L. had reached the water. I soon came up with him. We waited till our servants joined us, then dismounted, gave our horses to the syces with orders to be at the same place at six o'clock on Thursday evening, and embarked in a large boat, which, to render it water-tight, or rather to keep it afloat, was filled up to the seat with bushes and brambles trodden into a compact mass.

The boatmen told us that two nights before, as three carts were going along the path to Chogga, a tiger had sprung out and carried off the man in the centre cart, and that a few days earlier two men had been carried away from the village itself. The other side of the river is a steep bank without sand, and by the time we reached it the day was just breaking, of which, to tell the truth, I was by no means sorry.

SPORTING

On the bank we found the coolies whom we had sent forward the evening before, and who had waited there for us, being afraid to proceed through the jungle until they had the protection of the sahibs. There we took our guns, &c., into our own hands, girded on our belts, in which were thrust our long hunting knives or daggers and our pistols, letting our servants carry our powder-flasks, shot-belts, &c. This is done in order to be able to load with greater rapidity, the servant holding the shot, wad, cap, &c., in readiness. He also carries a heavy ramrod with a round knob at the top, as the drawing the ramrod from the gun, returning it, and hammering away with it at the powder, which you must do on account of its lightness, might frequently cause delay that might be fatal. Most people, for the sake of safety, use double-barrelled guns; mine was, however, only single, but the barrel was long enough for two.

At last off we started along the regular path to Chogga. The change was most extraordinary; the fog had already cleared away; we were walking along a narrow winding path cut through the jungle. On each side of us extended as far as the eye could reach a vast plain covered with laurels and shrubs of a bright green, interspersed here and there with large flowers of a brilliant crimson or scarlet, and more rarely with trees of a stunted growth, on which numbers of little tiny doves were cooing their greeting to the sun. The bushes, which we call low jungle, grow to four or five feet in height, and so thickly that it is impossible to pass through them, except where a path has been cut, or where a natural glade or opening occurs. We walked on looking out anxiously for some opening, as we knew we should find nothing worth firing at in the open plain. Suddenly, on turning an angle in the path, we saw at the distance of about a quarter of a mile on the right a clear space with a few large trees in it. Amid the branches sat fifteen or twenty pea-fowl, and on the open glade were as many more feeding. Shortly afterwards we came to a smaller one, which enabled us to separate, so that we might approach the pea-fowl in different directions; however we could not get within shot, which we much regretted.

But I own I was not quite so eager in pushing through the jungle as I should have been the next day; it was quite novel to me, and I could not help thinking every now and then of the dreaded cobra or the scarcely less dreaded tiger. Indeed, of the last I had a fearful reminder before I rejoined Mr. L.

In a small space of clear ground I came suddenly upon the skeleton of a man, evidently lately killed, for much of the flesh was still adhering to the bones. Probably it was the poor driver of whom we had heard. I had quite lost sight of Mr. L., but presently heard him shout from some distance behind me. I made my way towards him, and soon reached a small paddy-field (rice-field). Here was a small bull of a very dark colour, who did not seem at all pleased with our intrusion: he looked at us for a minute, and then came galloping towards us, shaking his head and tail in his anger. My two servants called out that it was a wild cow, and crouched down behind me. I felt a little nervous, but faced the animal, and drew a pistol from my belt; however, as he came near, I saw a small piece of cord fastened to one of his horns, and therefore knew it was not an "unner" or wild cow. I desired the men to shout, and myself did the same, running towards the animal and waving my hat. He stopped a moment hesitating, and then, as I rushed forward, he threw up his tail in the air and scampered off, very much to my relief.

Mr. L. now came up, and we proceeded on our road. Presently one of the men who was a little in advance stopped and pointed to a tree at a little distance. Mr. L. primed his gun and fired, and down dropped a fine hen. Wild hens abound in the jungles, and are excellent eating, possessing a slight flavour of game.

Soon after we came to a spot of ground where we beheld a number of quails. I fired and killed two. Again we went on, but met with no further adventure until we came to Chogga. The last mile and a half of our journey lay through paddy-fields with the stubble still on them. The heat was intense, and by the time we reached our destination I was thoroughly tired.

Chogga is a small native village surrounded by jungle, standing about seven or eight miles from the river. It does not belong to the English, but is in the territory of one of our tributary rajahs. Mr. L. has a bungalow there, if such it can be called, consisting as it does of a single room about sixteen feet square, built of mud, and thatched with rice-straw. He has made many converts here, and is about to erect a Christian village about his own bungalow, which is half a mile from Chogga itself, and well situated on a small spot of rising ground. The appearance and manner of these wild, naked, yet Christian savages, was to me deeply interesting.

As soon as we arrived, a number of natives, both men and women, crowded about us. Many of them were Christians, though in dress they adhered to their old habits. Mr. L. at once took off everything but his trowsers, and after some hesitation I did the same. After this we had breakfast and then lay down on our camp beds and rested for two or three hours. About one I felt hungry, so went out and shot a few doves, which abound on every tree.

SPORTING

About half-past three we collected as many men as possible and went out to beat the jungle, through which Mr. L. and myself worked our way until we came to a small open space. There one of us posted himself; the other went on until he found another similar spot, where he also stationed himself. As soon as the shikarree who was with us saw where we were ready, he stole out of the jungle and placed the twenty-five men in a large semicircle, our positions being the centre, and the radius about half a mile. As soon as they were all stationed, at a signal they began to roar and groan and make the most frightful noises, beating the bushes with their long bamboos, and pushing through the jungle towards the open space where we were placed. This was in a high jungle, and really the scene on such an occasion is most exciting. You stand on a small space of fifteen or twenty yards in diameter, bounded on every side by lofty trees and thick underwood, your gun in your hand, your man behind you holding the next charge in readiness. In every quarter the shrieks and yells of the beaters are heard; presently there is a whirr in the air, and a peacock flies through the open space above your head. Bang goes the gun, off runs one of the men to pick up the bird; load again! quick! hark! What a rush in the bushes! There it comes! An elk or stag, shot but not killed; and a man rushes out and cuts the animal's throat.

An alarm of "Tiger!" was now given, but it proved false, as nothing but a wild cat darted over the glade. Shouts again rend the air, and a magnificent red peacock, with a deep green tail and neck of gold, flies over our heads, his long tail streaming behind him, and the brown hen at his side. The opening above our heads was small, and an immediate fire was necessary: I fired and missed him. The beaters now approached nearer and nearer, shouting, and their dark forms soon became visible gliding one by one out of the jungle. Nothing more was to be found there; we accordingly moved on, and presently were beckoned to by the shikarree. He pressed his finger to his lips and whispered "Choop! choop!" and, pointing down a narrow opening in the jungle, showed us a large leopard, beautifully spotted, lying apparently asleep. While loading our guns the animal awoke, and was stealing off just as we fired and hit him, though he contrived to crawl off. The next day, however, we found the body, as the arrow was poisoned. The skin is valuable. The shikarree, who proudly bore off the body, would suffer no one to assist him; but that same man would not carry home the merest trifle from the bazaar, but must be followed by a coolie.

Captain W. soon met us, and we returned home to dinner, after which we sallied out by moonlight to seek some deer, but were unsuccessful.

CONVERTS AND "INQUIRERS."

The next morning, rising at four, after a cup of coffee we sallied into the jungle again, but obtained nothing but a few fowls. Captain W. now left us on his return home, and after breakfast a number of native Christians assembled, as this was the morning appointed for talking to them. They all squatted down on the floor, the men on one side and the women on the other. Mr. L., who is thoroughly conversant with the Oorial language, now entered into conversation with them, asking them questions and hearing all they had to say. They appear to have a very good knowledge of true religion, and to be very earnest and sincere. It was most interesting to see them all sitting so quietly with their eyes fixed on Mr. L.'s face, never attempting to interrupt either him or one another, but speaking one at a time in a low reverent tone of voice. When asked a question they would pause a moment or two in deep thought before they answered. After a little time one or two inquirers came in, that is, men who are not yet converted, but are inquiring about Christianity, or arguing concerning it and comparing it with their own religion. These sat down and behaved themselves in the same decorous manner as the actual Christians. Mr. L. very judiciously encouraged the converts to argue with the inquirers, and it was most pleasing to observe the perfect mildness and the restrained gestures of both parties when talking on so holy a subject, every eye fixed upon the two disputants, and when a pause occurred some other convert gently putting in a word in support of the holy truth.

Inquirer. "You say God gave you the Bible, I say God gave us the Shasters. The religion that is good for the white man is not good for the black. God is good, and has given us each a religion proper to ourselves. I say your religion is good and comes from God; why will you not say the same of our Shasters?"

Convert. "God gave white men the Bible because he is very good, and he told them to go and teach it to every one, because he wishes every one to be good and happy, and to go to the happy country of heaven when they die; but the Shasters do not come from God."

I. "How do you know that?"

C. "Listen, brother. Brummah (God) is good, is he not?"

I. "Yes."

C. "Should not you like to go to Brummah?"

I. "Yes."

C. "Do not the Shasters of your religion teach you so?"

I. "Ha! you are very sly. No; but our religion is good for us now. By and bye Vishnoo will come again, and then he will perhaps give us a Bible."

C. "Why not take the Christian Bible and Christian Brummah now?"

I. "Then I should lose my caste, my wife will leave me, my children will go away, my brother will not smoke with me, my hut will be empty, and the Brahmins will curse me."

C. "If the Brahmins curse you, God is stronger than they are, and he will bless you; if your wife and children run away, Jesus will make you happy in heaven; if your brother will not smoke with you, the great God will give you his peace."

I. "Well, I will see. Lend me the book; I will read it and show it to the Brahmins. How soon shall you be here again, sahib?"

Mr. L. "In about ten days."

I. "Good: I will see you again."

This is a mere epitome of the conversation, but may furnish some idea of the mode of argument pursued. Whenever the convert brought forward a good argument, or came to a convincing point, it was curious to see the countenance of the Christians. They had been watching their champion with the greatest interest, looking more like dark statues than human beings, so perfectly still did they sit, except when a mother pressed her infant to her bosom to keep it quiet. Suddenly, as they saw the drift of what was said more clearly, their white eyes would dance amid their dark skins, and one or two of them would smile and utter gently the emphatic word "Ha!" (yes).

A nice-looking young woman brought her baby to show it. It was only two months old, and had not yet been baptized. Poor woman! I won her heart completely by taking it from her and kissing it. Mr. L. seemed a little surprised at my doing so, but both the mother and her husband were delighted. She asked me to name her child. Mr. L. wished it to be a scriptural name. I accordingly gave it the first that came into my head, which was "Benjamin." It was interesting to watch the mother's face as I named the child, she had apparently never heard the name before, and there was much amusement amongst them, all trying to pronounce it; they could not quite manage it, but, as the mother carried the little one out, several of the men patted its cheek and smiled, and said very slowly Bend-za-min. There were to have been four adults baptized on this day, but one of them came in the morning and said that his wife declared she would not live with a Christian, that she had taken her children and all his fortune, consisting of one rupee and two pice, and had gone away to her brother's house. Mr. L. advised the man to go and reason with her, which he did, and we afterwards heard that she had returned with him on condition that he would not become a Christian.