Narrative of the Life and Travels of Serjeant B–

October 19.– We reached the left bank of the Kistna. This river is larger than the former, and the same boats were carried from the Tamboothera by three coolies, or labourers, to each boat, and we crossed in the manner formerly described. Upon this camp ground, I got (what is called in English) a live grass in the fleshy part of my leg. This grass has much the resemblance of a bear or barley awn, and is furnished with a small barb at the one end, like that of a fish hook; and when it once enters the flesh, there is hardly a possibility of extracting it. It takes its name from the motion it exhibits when laid upon the hand, because it is twisted, and when pulled from the stalk the twist goes out and produces a motion like a hard twisted cord. I have heard many strange stories about this live grass, as of its entering at the one side of the foot or leg, and working its way to the other, and in consequence of its poisonous qualities that many have died thereby. But I shall not affirm these things for truth, as I never saw any such fatal effects produced by it; but this I know, that all I received from the doctor did not cure it; and the wound in the course of a week became quite black, and was attended with a considerable degree of pain, which was probably much aggravated by our severe marches. But when we arrived at Hydrabad, and I was seized with the jungle fever, the leg was totally neglected, I may say, and when I recovered from this disorder, we were quite surprised to find the wound healed. For this I had great reason to be thankful, as I have known instances of death being indirectly produced by still more trifling causes. Some of our men, for example, may be said to have died of the bite of a mosquito, for the bite of that little insect occasioned a grievous itch, and the part being constantly scratched, soon festered and mortified, so that it was necessary to cut off the leg, after which the poor men fevered and died.

I would remark, by the way, that there are a great number of annoyances to the poor soldier in this country, exclusive of hard marching, bad provisions, wet camp ground, and the many bodily afflictions arising from the climate: because upon the march, they are liable to get bitten by serpents, or stung with scorpions and centipedes. And in all the barracks in the country that I have seen, or heard of, they are infested with bugs, in such a degree as often compels the men to take to the barrack square, and to sleep under the canopy of heaven, by which means, while seeking to avoid one evil, they expose themselves to a worse, for the heavy dews during night are almost sure to bring on the flux, the most fatal of all the disorders of this country.

October 23.– Upon this march one of our sepoys was bitten by a green snake. This poor man suffered the most agonizing pain which I suppose is possible for a mortal to endure, but his sufferings were soon terminated in this world, for he expired in a few hours. The green snake is thought to be the most dangerous of all the serpent tribe in this country. I have never known nor ever heard of a person recovering that had been bitten. It takes its name from its green colour, and it generally frequents fertile places, where it is not easily perceived, which makes it still more dangerous. It will not, however, attack any person unless he treads upon it, or approaches very near its young. It is about the length and thickness of a coachman's whip. The influence which the Great Enlivener of animal and vegetable life exercises upon this animal is most remarkable, for while it is exposed to the sun's rays, it seems almost impossible to deprive it totally of life. I had this information from a very intelligent native, who also showed me one that he had been endeavouring to kill, but to no purpose; for after he had bruised the head to pieces, it was still in motion when I saw it, at which time the sun was a little past his meridian, but this glorious luminary had not finished his daily course many minutes when all signs of life and motion completely vanished.

Many of the serpent tribe here are perfectly harmless to man, and may even be tamed so as to act the part of a cat in destroying vermin. The tanks, or ponds, are full of water snakes, which, when bathing, we often amused ourselves with endeavouring to catch, and never received the least injury from any of them. There is a land snake, however, called the Hooded, or spectacle snake, (from the appearance of a pair of spectacles on the back part of the head,) the bite of which is very deadly, but even of these I have seen great numbers tamed, and carried about in baskets through the barracks, by the natives, for a kind of livelihood. No sooner was the basket uncovered, and the owner commenced playing on his simple instrument, than it raised its head and moved it about with all the gestures of a coxcomb possessed of a new suit of clothes and a silver-headed cane; but when the charmer desisted from his playing, the snake generally made a dart at him, which he studiously avoided, and pretended to be very much afraid of, but this was just a pretence for making us wonder, for it could do no harm, being previously deprived of the sting, or rather the bag of poison, which lies within its mouth.

Although serpents generally love music, yet here, as in most other cases, there are exceptions to the general rule; for I am told there is one species, which, instead of being allured by the charms of music, testifies a very remarkable aversion to it; and we need not wonder at this peculiarity, for we know that, generally speaking, all the human species, whether civilized or savage, are fond of music: but we know also that there are many individuals to whom it is rather an annoyance than a pleasure. The serpent I have alluded to is probably the species which the Psalmist had in his eye, when he compared wicked men to it, in respect of their dislike and antipathy to divine truth. It has been said, indeed, that there is a serpent, or adder, to which the Psalmist's comparison literally applies; that it actually covers one ear with its tail, and applies the other close upon the ground, to prevent itself being overcome with the charms of music, so as to run the hazard of being taken and killed. We know certainly, both from Scripture and observation, that the serpent is subtile above all beasts of the field, but this surely is a piece of cunning which is beyond its nature. It is surely much more rational to think that the Psalmist refers entirely to the utter dislike of the charmer and his music, which this serpent is characterized by; and, moreover, we have the words "stoppeth his ears," in Isaiah xxxiii. 15, employed to express the utmost disregard and abhorrence.

CHAPTER VII

November 3.– We marched past Hydrabad, the capital of the prince of Nizam's dominions, and pitched our camp at Secundrabad, which is six miles distant, where there are barracks for European troops, which at this time were occupied by his Majesty's 33d regiment. The country being now tolerably quiet, a general order came for our regiment to take the duty of Secundrabad, and the other regiments were appointed also to different stations: so the 33d marched out to our camp ground, and we took possession of their barracks, after a march of three months, halting days included. But though our march was now over, its sad effects were not over; for a great proportion of our men were seized with what is called the jungle fever. This fever some say is occasioned by an unwholesome moisture exhaled by the sun out of the jungles or bushes through which we had marched; others, that it is totally owing to the excessive fatigues, and want of proper nourishment, to which the soldiers were exposed in this country; but as I am no student of physic, I cannot say what the real causes were, but this I know from experience, that its effects were very deplorable; for I also was seized with it at this time, and was despaired of by the doctor. It is attended with great pain in the head and excessive vomiting, insomuch that a person looking upon one labouring under this disorder would be apt to think he could not live many minutes. My wife had a great deal of fatigue with me while ill of this fever, which lasted about a fortnight; but, by the blessing of God on the use of means, and particularly by the singular care and attention of this most valuable partner in all my troubles, I recovered. Had I been sent to the hospital, and received no better attendance than it was possible for the men to obtain there, I would in all probability have shared their fate.

While we lay here, some of our men were bitten by a mad dog, two of whom died shortly after; but the doctors took rather a strange method with the third. A corporal was ordered to attend him from morning to night, and to carry him out to the fields and villages to amuse his mind, and to give him as much liquor as would keep him always in a kind of intoxicated state. Now, whether it was the effect of the liquor in preventing his mind from dwelling upon his dangerous situation, or whether the operation of the liquor destroyed the effect of the bite, or (what is as likely perhaps) that the poison had not been sufficiently strong in his body to produce fatal consequences, I will not attempt to determine; but I know he got perfectly well, and returned to his duty, and I never heard of him afterwards having any symptoms of hydrophobia.

The provisions here were much better than in any place where we had yet been stationed; but there was sad work with liquor, – there being a village not far distant where was to be had abundance of paria arrack5, which the soldiers mixed with the juice of the toddy tree. This composition had most terrible effects on our men; it made them almost, if not altogether, mad. The village being at some distance from the barracks, the liquor had time to operate, and they came home like men out of the tombs. The consequence was, that we were flogging daily. Our drum-major dying here, the duty of counting the lashes devolved on me – and a disagreeable duty truly it was. This may appear a severe method of discipline, but it is absolutely necessary for keeping good order in the army.

While we lay at Secundrabad, one of my fifers died, of the name of Wilkins. This young lad came out with Colonel Conran in Wallajahbad, and was given me by the Colonel, to teach him the fife, with the worst of characters. The Colonel, moreover, told me that at any time when he misbehaved, I was not to vex myself with him, but just to order one of the drummers to flog him well with a cat. However, the young lad's behaviour was not at all what I might have expected from this very unfavourable character; for after my wife had put to rights his shirts, trowsers, and other clothes that had been served out to him on board ship, and which were much too large for him, and gave him a slovenly and dirty appearance upon parade – I say, after this was done for him, and he got some instructions how to keep himself trig and clean – I had not a finer boy in my corps; and this piece of voluntary attention on the part of my wife the poor fellow never could forget. Whatever he could give her, or do for her, he seemed to think all too little for her kindness; and to me he was every thing that was tractable and attentive. But the reason of my mentioning this boy more than any other of my acquaintance who died at this time, is, upon the account of the singular regard he shewed for his Bible, and the extraordinary circumstances by which it seems to have been excited; which I hope my reader will not find fault with me for particularly noticing.

One day, about the commencement of his fatal disorder, which was a flux, he was at the common place for the men, and our drum-major, and another young man of the name of Gardiner, happened to be there at the same time. These two fell into a strange and fearful discourse respecting their trouble, and the likely termination of it. Says the drum-major to Gardiner, "You are bad of the flux too, I see." To which Gardiner replied, "D – d bad, drum-major." "Well, so am I, and we will both die, and go to h – ll, but you will die first; and, remember, you are to come and meet me half way."

The poor lad came into our room, much alarmed, and told us the woful story; but he was much more so when they both died, and in the order predicted by the drum-major; but whether they went to hell, or whether the one met the other half-way, is not my business to determine; but this I say, from the infallible word of the Lord, "that the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all they that forget God." The trouble both of mind and body of this boy still increasing, his love for his Bible increased with it; for he was fully persuaded, that his Bible alone could tell him how to avoid that dreadful place of which his fears had been awakened, and likewise point out to him how he could be happy after death. A day or two before he died, I went to the hospital, to inquire how he was. I found him drawing near the close of life; but his complaints were not so much of his pain as of his being deprived of all means of reading the Bible, on account of the dimness of his sight, in consequence of his trouble. His comrade being permitted to be with him for some days before his death, I proposed that he should read to him sometimes; but at these words, Wilkins burst into tears, and being asked the reason, said, that it was because his comrade had never learned to read that blessed book. He still continued to get worse, until he died; but he would never part with his Bible, (although he returned to me Mr. Boston's Fourfold State, which I had lent him,) but kept it under his pillow, or hugged it in his bosom until he expired.

A few months after we came to Secundrabad, an order came for four companies of our regiment to proceed to Masulipatam, to do the duty of that place, and, amongst these was my good hospital friend, Alexander Chevis, for the which I was very sorry; but in a few months afterwards we received a route for the same place, to embark for foreign service, as every departure from India, for any island or country under the British government is called.

There is just one circumstance, which I will mention before I take my leave of this place, which appears fully as important to myself as any thing I have seen or experienced since I came to it; and it is this: – I had frequently been in heaviness, through manifold temptations, in consequence of my remaining ignorance, and corresponding want of faith, since my blessed affliction in the Prince of Wales's Island, and particularly after my kind instructor A. C. left the regiment with his company for Masulipatam, for I then lost him who had formerly "comforted me in all my tribulations, with that comfort wherewith he himself had been comforted of God;" but here I again found, as I had often formerly done, the loving kindness of the Lord, in a gracious providence, for he provided relief for me from a quarter whence I could have very little expected it, as I shall now relate: —

There was a person in the regiment, of the name of Serjeant Gray, with whom I had hitherto a very slender acquaintance. He was a married man, and I had never seen any thing but what led me to believe that he and his wife were what are generally called very decent, well-behaved people; though, whether they were at all concerned about religion or not, was a matter I was entirely ignorant of; but one day, when I was in a very melancholy mood, I thought I would go over to their barrack-room, and get a little social converse with them, to cheer me, which I accordingly did, and found only Mrs. Gray at home, industriously engaged in sewing. After having made inquiry for each other's welfare, I said it was a pity that there was no such thing as getting any good books, when a person had a little spare time, to improve his mind. She said it was, but immediately added, that she had at present the loan of what she thought a very excellent book, belonging to one of the men. I, somewhat eagerly, expressed a desire to see it, which she instantly complied with; but how was my astonishment excited, when I found it to be a book that my grandfather highly respected, and expressed his esteem for it by saying, that if he was condemned to spend the remainder of his earthly pilgrimage in an uninhabited island, like the Apostle John, and had it in his power to choose a few books to take along with him, the next he would select after his Bible, would be Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. In the circumstances in which I was at that moment placed, I need scarcely give the Christian reader any unnecessary information, in saying, that "I rejoiced like one who had found great spoil." I then made so free with Mrs. Gray as to ask her to which of the men it belonged, and if she would let me have it for a day or two, that I might peruse it? She said I was very welcome to do that, and also told me who was the proprietor; but if I went to see her with a heavy heart, I returned home with a light one, for I was so overjoyed that I hardly knew that my weak limbs had a body to support. I had heard, as I have already said, that there was such a book existing, but I had never inquired after it when I could have made it my own, nor ever had seen it until this happy hour; and little could I have expected to find it in this wilderness, where, alas! there were no refreshing waters to satisfy the longing desires of a thirsty soul; and this book, I think, of all other human compositions I have yet known, was best adapted to my condition; neither is it necessary to add, that I read it over again and again, until I had almost the whole substance of those parts of it by heart which more immediately corresponded with the present state of my mind, and with my former experience. I must be plain enough to say, that I did not desire to keep this book altogether to myself, but wished also that others might derive benefit from its contents; but this I will also state, that I thought I would be a man possessed of great wealth if I could call it my own. I therefore inquired at the person to whom it belonged if he was disposed to part with it, and if so, that I would give him whatever price he would ask. He said that I was welcome to have it for sixteen finams, (about three shillings.) I therefore closed with him immediately for that small sum. I was now blessed with ample means of instruction, and I would indulge a hope that I was not only made wiser by it, but I trust also better, by the blessing of God upon my search after truth, and that it has not been to me the savour of death unto death, but the savour of life unto life. I shall add no more at present respecting this excellent work, as I shall have occasion to speak of it again.

CHAPTER VIII

We left Secundrabad on the 11th February, 1811, and proceeded, by forced marches, to Masulipatam, where I had not long been when I was again thrown into a very disordered state, in consequence of the hot winds, being so ill with my breathing that my wife was under the necessity of fanning me during two whole days. After I recovered, there being some of my fifers in the hospital, I went in one day to see how they were getting on; and, to my great astonishment, as I entered the hospital, whom did I see there but my dear friend Alexander Chevis, lying like a skeleton in one of the cots. I looked at him for some time before I could believe my own eyes; and scarcely being yet sure, I said to him, "Sandy, is this you?" He answered in the affirmative. After having inquired into all particulars, and conversed a little with him, I immediately went home and described to my wife the situation of this good man; and we set about concerting measures that might in some degree mitigate his distresses, – for he was at this time far gone in the complaint under which I laboured, when he was "God's hand" in comforting and instructing me; and truly I saw here a divine call, as well as the call of a grateful heart, considering what he had done for me in Prince of Wales's Island.

Whenever my duty would permit, I was consequently in the hospital, reading and conversing with him; and on the two Sabbaths that he lived after this, I remained with him nearly the whole day; but my attendance on him was richly rewarded, for I learned more from this dying saint of what is really worth learning, than I had done all my life before.

A few nights before he died, he expressed a desire that I should bring my wife, and Serjeant Gray with his wife, who had formerly been friendly to him, that he might have the satisfaction of seeing us altogether before he departed, the which I did; and he had saved some of his daily allowance of wine, that we might all drink before him, and appear comfortable. When we were all seated, and had ate and drank together, he expressed himself in nearly the following words: – "My dear friends, although I may never again see you in this world, I wish that the keeper of Israel may keep you from falling before the many temptations to which you are exposed, and bless you, and preserve to his heavenly kingdom; and, although in all probability we shall never behold each other in the face, while here, I pray that the Lord may seal you among his treasures, and make you his, in the day when he maketh up his jewels."

When I went next morning to inquire how he had rested, he told me he had been very much pained, and appeared to be going very fast. I spent as much of the day with him as my duty would permit, and when I went at night with his drop of punch, which we used to make for him, and which he preferred to the hospital wine, I found him somewhat easier; but he said to me, he felt he had but a very short time to live; so I took an affectionate farewell of him, but in the morning he was still living. He told me he had been much worse during the night, and had suffered great pain, and added, "that he had a desire to depart from a sinful heart, a wicked world, and a loathsome disease, and to be with Christ, where holiness dwells, where sin shall never enter, and where the inhabitants shall no more say, I am sick." So the Lord granted his petition, for he died that evening. "Lord enable me to live the life, that I may die the death, of the righteous, and that my last end may be like his!"

We remained in Masulipatam about four months, and I was very glad to hear when the route came for us to leave it; for it was not only intolerably hot, but when it blew, we were like to be suffocated with clouds of sand; and it was the worst place for provisions we had yet seen. The butcher meat was so very bad that we had it only once within our door all that time. But I would have been happy indeed had this march been to embark for Europe; for the regiment was getting daily more and more profligate and abominable! Here the papists laid a plot for destroying the protestants, but it was detected, and the ringleaders punished; and here, too, the men were shooting themselves, or one another, whenever the freak took them.

We had a young fellow of the name of Courtney, who shot two men with one ball in the open barrack room! one of them was a man belonging to the regiment, and the other a black man, who was in the barrack selling cloth for a livelihood. The white man had been impeaching Courtney with stealing something from him, which the other flatly denied, though falsely, (at least he was a noted thief,) and threatened to make him repent it; and in the course of a little time afterward, he took down his firelock, and pretended to be spunging her out, no one ever in the least suspecting him to be putting in a ball-cartridge out of his pouch; so he levelled her for the person whom he had just been threatening, and sent the contents through his body, and they lodged also in that of the black man. Both of them died in a very short time. He was immediately taken into confinement, and in a short time was sent to Madras, where he was tried, convicted, and executed. But, to show the hardened character of this faithful servant of Satan, I may mention, that one of the soldiers asked him, before he left the regiment, "if he was not sorry for what he had done?" to which he replied, "that what he was most sorry for was, that he could not get an hour's fowling in the barracks before he went away!" What think you of this in a youth of nineteen years of age! I doubt not but it will strike the mind of the reader at once, what a contrast there was between him and my dear deceased friend just now mentioned; but the "tares and the wheat must grow together until the harvest," when an eternal separation shall take place; for those of similar dispositions shall then come together, never, never more to be separated! Oh! comforting to think that there shall not be one sinner in the vast congregation of the righteous. For the righteous who have here the image of God partially restored, shall then "shine as the sun" in the kingdom of their father.