Narrative of the Life and Travels of Serjeant B–

May 22.– The government at Madras being informed by our returns that we were in a very bad state of health, sent an order for us to proceed to Sadras, a seaport, for the benefit of our health. At this time we could not muster five hundred effective men in a regiment upwards of a thousand strong; but we were now doomed to still more lamentable misfortunes, for more than three hundred men fell sick the first day's march; chiefly of brain fevers, attended with a dreadful discharge from the bowels, and twelve men belonging to the regiment died the same day: six of whom marched to the ground with their arms and accoutrements. The heat was intense, with scarcely a breath of air, and any that there was, was as hot as if it had issued from a baker's oven. One of our men who had formerly been in the country fourteen years, with the 74th regiment, said that he never recollected of having suffered so much in one day from heat. Many of the men had recourse to throwing water upon themselves, but they could get no relief from this expedient, because it was quite warm; and what added much to their distress, was the utter want of perspiration. My wife also suffered much from a checked perspiration, and I thought of a method that gave her great relief, which was this; I dipped a hand towel in water, and gave it a slight wring, and stood over her while she lay upon the ground, waving it backward and forward; this, from the quick evaporation, cooled her greatly, and gave her considerable relief. My comrades also, to whom I mentioned it, derived similar benefit from this plan. The men who were very bad, were taken into marquees erected on purpose for them; but this expedient, which gave many who were not very ill considerable relief, was of no use to them. All that the surgeon (for we had only one with us) could do for them, was to let blood at the temples, and having filled two large marquees with those who were worst, the rest had to assist one another in their tents the best way they could; but at last the doctor falling ill himself, had recourse to bleeding his own temples by the assistance of a looking-glass, and lay down amongst the rest of the sick men. Thus, being deprived of all medical assistance, and many of the men running about mad, and others dying in the marquees before the Colonel's eyes; he was so overcome by the sight that he could not refrain from tears. The poor unhappy creatures who were attacked with this temporary derangement, had in general some idea that they were not in their own country. One of these runaways being asked where he was going, said, that he was going to Europe; and added, that if he was once there, he would soon be well again. However, when the cool of the evening arrived, a number of the men got considerably better; about mid-day when the men were in such an alarming state, the Colonel had sent off an express to the commandant of Wallajahbad, describing the melancholy situation of the regiment; and we immediately received medical assistance, and more doolies and waggons to carry the sick, with an order to return to our barracks. This was welcome news for us; and we accordingly returned to Wallajahbad the next day, carrying along with us one hundred and fifty sick men who were unable to march.

September 4.– We had prayers read for the first time since we came to this country, by the adjutant, who had fifty pagodas a-month for doing the duty of chaplain. But this was, I think, little short of making a mock of the divine ordinances; for here was truly, "like people, like priest." Oh for an opportunity of hearing a good sermon, from the mouth of a godly minister of Jesus Christ. "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary."

November 4.– My good friend Colonel Stewart left us, in consequence of liberty received from the government, to return to his native country for the benefit of his health; as he had long been labouring under a severe liver complaint. I was truly sorry for his departure, as I thought his loss to me could never be repaired; but I was in this happily mistaken; for he recommended me to the particular notice of Colonel Conran, his successor, who treated me constantly with the greatest kindness; although the men generally formed a very bad opinion of him at first, for he used to take out the triangles to evening parade; and if any of the men were unsteady in the ranks, he tried them by a drum-head court martial, and flogged them upon the spot; but this was not because he delighted in punishment, but to make the regiment steady and attentive, which they were not out of the need of. He was, to give him his due, "a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well."

January 13, 1809.– We left Wallajahbad, in consequence of a route to proceed to Bangalore. This was a very melancholy day for many. We could not avoid thinking of the great number of our comrades whom we left behind; having, in little more than one year, formed a grave-yard of about two hundred men, women, and children! but after we had proceeded on our march four days, we were countermanded, and sent again to Madras.

February 3.– We took the duty of the garrison from the 30th regiment, which marched out, and we occupied their barrack. Not long after we came here, I was visited with a severe fever. I now found a kind friend in Colonel Conran; for he paid great attention to me during my illness; sending me fowl, wines, sugar, and even fruits, which he thought would be beneficial in my disorder. He even came in person frequently to see me, and ordered the Doctor to attend me in my own room, which he appointed for me himself; and, by the blessing of God upon the use of means, I recovered in about three weeks. While we lay in Madras, there arose a disturbance among the Company's troops; and it being reported that they intended to attack the fort, the artillery were ordered to provide a sufficient quantity of ammunition for their reception, which was distributed proportionally to each gun; but it was never required, for they were wiser than to make such a foolish attempt. The insurrection in the high country, however, getting rather serious, an order was issued for an army to be formed to suppress it. This mutinous spirit was said to have been excited by the Governor taking away the staff situations of a number of the Company's officers, in different forts through the country, making one do the duty of two, and sending the other to his regiment in his former situation. For instance, in many of these forts there were (what is called) a fort-adjutant and a quarter-master of the fort: now, one of these had to do the duty of both, for which he received no more than his former pay. The sepoys (native soldiers) were not in much better humour; for they were dissatisfied because they did not receive the pay of European soldiers, saying, that as they did the same duty, and were exposed to the same hardships, they were entitled to the same allowances. On the other hand, the government stated, that European soldiers had removed from their own country, and should therefore be distinguished from natives of this country, who besides could live much cheaper. However, this statement did not satisfy them; and from less to more, they proceeded so far as to take some of the forts into their own possession, and were headed by Company's officers of the dissatisfied party. Things could not remain long in this state of confusion; and to compel the mutineers to desist from their purpose of destroying all order amongst the forces, an army was formed at three different stations, to proceed to the high country in various directions. Our Colonel being a man of great military skill, was appointed to command the centre division of the army, which was formed at St. Thomas's Mount, seven miles from Madras, upon the 8th day of August, 1809. This division of the army consisted of ten pieces of artillery, two regiments of horse, the Royal Scots, 66th and 89th Europeans, two hundred pioneers, and the 8th and 20th regiments of native infantry.

An order was also issued by our commanding officer for all the heavy baggage, women, and boys, to be left at Madras. This was sorrowful news for the married people, and my wife was much grieved to hear them, particularly as I was then but weakly, and not very able to encounter the hardships to which I would thus be exposed. She was therefore eager to go with the regiment, that she might know the worst of it. I tried all I could to dissuade her from going, but in vain; and, in short, she being a stout healthy woman, and having no children to incommode us, she was permitted to go, to my great benefit, as well as her satisfaction; for truly, had it not been for her, it would have fared but badly with me upon the march, as I will afterwards make appear.

CHAPTER VI

August 27.– We entered the territories of the Poligars. At this pass we were met by three of the Company's revenue collectors flying for shelter to our army, having been robbed of all their wealth by a party of the rebels. We here see the dreadful condition of a country, where all laws, divine and human, are put at defiance. We received a visit from the Nabob of this district of country, who is tributary to our government, accompanied with all his retinue. He himself, and suite, were mounted on elephants, upon the back of which was placed a square tower, covered with crimson velvet; but the greater part of his guards were upon horseback, and those of them who were upon foot carried a kind of pike twelve feet long, which they manage with great dexterity. When they wish to strike an object, they place the one end of the pike upon the right arm, and after giving it a powerful throw, they immediately pull it back by a coil of rope which is held in their left hand, the one end of which rope is of course fastened to the pike. This country is very mountainous, and abounds with tigers and wild boars, (particularly the latter;) but there is a species of dog here that is a mortal enemy to the wild boar; and but for these useful creatures, the natives would often run great dangers from their bold and ferocious attacks. Our officers killed one at this camp-ground, which I saw: it was nearly equal in size to one of our middle-sized hogs, but apparently much more active, with terrible tusks.

September 21.– For this some time past we have been marching through woods, and jungles, and by impassable roads, until our pioneers made them passable, by cutting trees, and covering them with sods, so that there might be a passage for the guns and bandies4; and it was very seldom that we could get any victuals to buy for money; because, as we advanced, the natives left their villages, and retired to the hills, carrying all their cattle and effects with them, not being quite sure whether we were friends or foes.

September 22.– The place we arrived at this day is called Gutta, where there is a very large garrison, built upon the top of an immense rock, somewhat resembling that of Edinburgh Castle, but much higher. It was formerly one of Tippoo's towers of refuge; and was taken by the British with great difficulty. We halted here until we should get a reinforcement from Bombay, which was ordered to join us before we marched any farther. We were accordingly joined by his Majesty's 34th and 86th regiments, and also the 3d, 6th, and 9th regiments of native infantry, together with a large park of artillery from the island of Ceylon.

We now presented to the eye a very formidable appearance; and, humanly speaking, it would have taken a considerable force to have opposed our progress, being in all ten thousand King's and Company's troops. The followers of the army in this country are generally about four to one; so that, in all, we must have been in number about fifty thousand, white and black. Those who follow the army for a living, are washermen, (for it is the men, and not the women, who wash the clothes in this country,) barbers, cooly-boys, (that is, bearers of burdens, cooks' assistants, officers' under servants, &c.) dooly-bearers, horse-keepers, grass-cutters, officers' butlers, dubashes, and mati-boys, palanquin-bearers, lascars, for pitching the officers' tents, hospital-dressers, elephant-keepers, bandy-men, camel and bullock drivers, and bazaar people, who sold articles, such as rice cakes, spices, eggs, fowls, butcher meat, butter, &c. when they were to be obtained; but this was very frequently not the case, as I have before hinted; and in this case we were obliged to confine ourselves to our regimental allowances, which was very poor living for such laborious work.

September 29.– We were ordered to move forward. Our mode of marching was the following: – If our journey was long, we generally marched about three o'clock A.M., that we might have it over before the heat of the day; and we were allowed just half an hour to put on our clothes, strike our tents, and place them on the elephants, one of which was appointed to each company; and in that space of time our bandies had to be packed, and the army ready to march, – so you may see that we were not idle. We had mutton and rice twice a-day. The rice was carried upon bullocks, and the sheep driven along with us, and killed when we came to the ground which we were appointed to occupy for a night. We were sometimes nine hours upon the march, although we frequently did not travel above sixteen miles in the course of that time; and this you need not wonder at, for our roads (when we had any) were miserably bad and narrow, being generally confined by jungles on both sides, so that, with such a numerous body, moving forward frequently only two men deep, it was impossible for us to travel otherwise than at a very slow and interrupted pace; yet, although we were thus long upon our journey, we were sometimes two or three hours at our camp ground before we got our breakfast. But this hard marching, (I call it hard, for it was much worse than if we had been moving at an ordinary pace,) I say, this hard marching, and long abstinence, cut off great numbers of men; for we left them upon the road almost daily, both white and black.

I now experienced the great benefit of having a healthy active woman for the partner of my toils; for she used to go on before the regiment along with the cooks, and by the time the army was up, she would have gathered sticks, and found water for the tea-kettle, so that as soon as the elephants (who followed in the rear of the army) appeared with the tents, and ours was pitched, she would have our breakfast ready. It was my province to forage for rice cakes when I could get them to buy, which I did generally the night before, carrying them along with me, with some sugar and a bowl, tied up in my straw hat; and often, often have we sat down upon the ground, as contented in these circumstances, and much more so, than many of your European epicures with all their luxuries. Hunger and contentment made it sweet; for, as the Spirit of God by Solomon says, "Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than a house full of sacrifices with strife." There was just one thing that somewhat abated our relish for these comforts, and that was, to see the rest of the poor fellows in the tent hungry, as well as fatigued, while we could do very little for such a number. We always travelled bare-footed, as it would have been impossible for us to have procured shoes upon a march of this kind, travelling through so much water and sand alternately; for wherever there was any cultivation, the rice fields being for the most of the year flooded with water, the roads near them were generally rendered an absolute puddle. I may observe here, that travelling in this country is more severe in some respects for fair people than for those of a dark complexion; at least I have often had my face, feet, and even hands, blistered as if they had been scalded with boiling water; while I never saw any of our men of a dark complexion suffer in the same manner; and this accounts perhaps in no small degree, for fair people not retaining the impression of a warm climate so deeply as persons who are darker; for when these blisters disappear, the skin underneath is always renewed, and consequently continues fairer than if it had been exposed to the sun for a great length of time. At this time we had no knowledge where we were going, but, like Abraham, we went we knew not whither; for our Colonel, as I stated before, having the command of this division of the army, received his orders daily by the Tapaals (letter-carriers) from the Madras government.

October 1.– We fell in with a fine stream in the neighbourhood of some immense rocks, piled one above another in such a manner, that had it not been for their prodigious weight and size, I would have been tempted to believe they had been placed there by the hand of art. I am not at all surprised, that persons who live in such a temperate climate as ours, do not see the full force or beauty of many of the figures in the sacred volume; but were they to travel a few hundred miles in this country, they probably would not read their Bibles with such cold indifference; and, although even the figures of Scripture may fall short of the truth they are intended to convey, yet their appropriateness is often much greater than is generally conceived.

Were a reader of the Bible to see a company of way-worn travellers, whose feet were roasted with the burning sand of the desert, the sweat streaming from their bodies, and their features distorted with thirst and fatigue, running to those rocks and waters for cooling and refreshment, would he not then discover a sufficient illustration, both of the strength and sublimity at least, of the second clause in that passage of the prophet Isaiah, "A man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." – And I am sure the traveller himself must be destitute of all moral taste or natural sensibility, or rather, in more appropriate language, "the things of the Spirit of God must be foolishness unto him," if he does not perceive the full force of this passage. I can say it from my repeated experience, that I have been so exhausted by heat, fatigue, and thirst, as to be hardly able to crawl along on the march, even with all the natural spirit I could muster; but after having had an opportunity of resting for a short season in the cleft or shadow of a large rock, and receiving a mouthful of refreshing water, I have gone forward more invigorated, than if I had partaken of the choicest dainties of India. Oh! that the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ were as much valued by my precious and immortal soul, as the waters and rocks of the desert have been by my poor exhausted bodily frame! Oh, how precious indeed would he then be! I might then say with truth, that "he is the chiefest amongst ten thousand, and altogether lovely."

I would here remark, by the way, that there are many things in Scripture that were cleared up to me in this country, which before were quite unintelligible, and that circumstance rendered me so careless in reading my Bible. I shall mention one or two, which may suffice: – for instance, our Saviour says, "No man putteth new wine into old bottles, if otherwise, the bottles burst and the wine is spilled; but men put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." Now, I was wont to think that old bottles were not worse than new ones, if they were properly cleansed; but, when I saw the bottles of the east, made of the skins of animals sewed together, and of various sizes, I formed another opinion; for I saw that after these leathern bottles were in use for some time, the seams were very apt to give way, and our Saviour's words would be realized.

Another expression which puzzled me was this, "No man seweth a piece of new cloth upon an old garment, else the new piece that filled it up, taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse." – With regard to this, I thought I had seen the tailor, when I was with my grandfather, making a very good job of an old coat, by mending it with new cloth; but when I saw the thin cotton garments of India, worn to a cob-web, I was then satisfied that he would be a clever artist indeed, that could sew a piece of new cotton cloth, however fine, to a spider's web, without tearing it in pieces.

Once more, and I shall have done; the apostle says, in the thirteenth of First Corinthians, "Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: " Now, I could not perceive the fitness of this figure, as people use a glass, or glasses, to enable them to see better; but when I saw the glass of the east, (and I suppose in the country and age of the apostle it was similar,) I say, when I saw the glass here, made of paste from rice-flour, blown and fired, my opinion was entirely changed, as it is quite dim, and full of white scales; so that, if persons look through it, they observe objects as the blind man did, mentioned in the gospel, who, when his sight was only in part restored, said that he saw "men like trees walking." I could bring forward many other passages, but I give you these as specimens; and, to deal plainly with you, my dear reader, I must tell you that I was very little short of a Deist before the Lord brought me here; because, as I could not see how this and the other thing could be, I in a manner rejected them as false, or at least gave myself very little concern about them; but when such things as these were made out to me, I then perceived that it was in consequence of the blindness of my mind, and not from the want of truth and evidence in the Bible, that I was not able to understand such difficulties; and, by the blessing of God, I gradually conceived a greater and a greater liking for that best of books, which alone points out to sinful men the way of salvation.

October 12.– We encamped this day at a place called Canool. This is a beautiful country, and abounds with woods and water, the river Tamboothera running close by the town. We had here a visit of the Nabob of Canool, with an equipage nearly resembling that of the Nabob of the Poligar country, formerly described. While we were upon the banks of this river, the artillery from Ceylon, his Majesty's 66th and 89th regiments left us, on account of a general order received to that effect. As the rebels had given up Seringapatam and other forts which they had in possession, when they heard of such a powerful army coming against them; and Colonel Bell, with a number of other European officers of different ranks in the Company's service were taken into custody, and sent prisoners to Madras; this business, therefore, terminated much more favourably than was expected; for the 25th light dragoons was, I may say, the only European regiment that suffered any thing by powder and shot; but although there were comparatively few lives lost in this way, yet during the march a great number indeed, both white and black, went to their long homes. I dare say it, from my own observation and inquiry, that there is an average of ten men who die from the fatigues and disorders incident to this country, to one that dies by the fate of war.

October 16.– We crossed the river Tamboothera in what may be with justice termed basket boats. These boats were made by strong twigs interwoven with each other, and covered externally with buffalo hides. They were of a circular form, and managed by short flat paddles, and without any helm; each boat containing 12 or 14 men with their firelocks and knapsacks. Our baggage and bandies were also carried over in them, but the cattle of every kind were obliged to swim. It was truly amusing to see the elephants and bullocks get across, for the elephants being driven to the side of the river, entered and swam over, holding up their trunks all the while for the sake of air; but there was one of them that would not take the water in spite of all the efforts the keepers could use, and at last they compelled him, by bringing out two lusty ones of his kindred tribe, who, at the command of their drivers, fairly pushed him into the water by main force with their heads. The bullocks were led two and two by their driver, who went before them lying upon a plank previously tied to his body, holding a rope which was fastened at each end to the horns of his cattle; one man thereby moving himself and leading his bullocks by the motion of his feet. We were two days in getting ourselves, with the baggage and cattle, across this river, and we pitched upon the right bank for one night.