OF THE PAROXYSMS OF FEVERS.
OF THE PAROXYSMS OF FEVERS.
OF THE PAROXYSMS OF FEVERS.
‘In Bengal, there is no reason to doubt that the human frame is affected by the influence connected with the relative situations of the sun and moon. In certain states of health and vigor, this influence has not power to shew itself by any obvious effects; and, in such cases, its existence is often not acknowledged. But, in certain states of debility and disease, it is able to manifest itself by excitingfebrile paroxysms; and the propensity, or aptitude, of the constitution to be affected with febrile paroxysms in such cases, may be denominatedthe paroxysmal disposition.’
OF PERFECT TYPES.
OF PERFECT TYPES.
OF PERFECT TYPES.
‘Febrile paroxysms universally discover a tendency to appear, and to disappear, in coincidence with those positions of the sun and moon that regulate the rising and falling of the tides. The diurnal and nocturnal encrease of sol-lunar power acting on constitutions, in which the propensity of the paroxysmal disposition is complete and perfect, produces paroxysms every twelve hours, in coincidence with the periods of the tides; and constitute types which, on account of this regular coincide, I denominate perfect.’
OF IMPERFECT TYPES.
OF IMPERFECT TYPES.
OF IMPERFECT TYPES.
‘The diurnal and nocturnal encrease of sol-lunar power acting on constitutions in whichthe propensity to paroxysm is incomplete, or imperfect, has power only to produce paroxysms in coincidence with every second, third, or fourth, period of the tides, or others, more remote; constitutingtypes, which, on account of this irregular coincidence, I have calledimperfect.’
Doctor Balfour states, in a note, that, ‘In several cases of the plague, recorded by Dr. Patrick Russell, the febrile paroxysms returned obviously every four hours, in coincidence with the periods of the tides; and his predecessor and relation, the author of ’The Natural History of Aleppo,‘ asserts positively, that the generality of the fevers there, and, indeed, in almost all acute cases, are subject to exacerbations once or twice in twenty-four hours.’
In Cordiner’s Description of Ceylon, I find the following passage:—‘Medical men have discovered this swelling’ (viz. theelephantiasis) ‘to be an effect of fever,which returns on the patients monthly.’ (Vol. I. page 182.)
The natives, generally in the first instance, have recourse to thebit-nobenorkala-neemuk, (i.e.black-salt,) a solution of which, though certainly very disgusting, on account of its taste, strongly reminding us of the scent of gun washings, or of rotten eggs, proves an excellent cathartic, and, if duly persisted in, rarely fails to rid the patient of an immense quantity ofbile. That being effected, a strong decoction ofcherrettah, a root about the size of slender birch twigs, but of a redder color, and possessing some of the properties of Peruvian bark, is frequently taken. But, the best medicine in the catalogue of Indian simples certainly is thelotah, orkaut-kullaigee, which is the kernel taken from the pod of a creeping kind of cow-itch. This kernel is extremely bitter, and possesses all the virtues of the bark; but with this advantage, that, in lieu of binding, it commonly proves very mildly aperient when taken to the amount of two or three nuts daily. I have often given it, with great success, during the paroxysms of an ague; having previously cleared the stomach and intestines by suitable means, such as ipecacuanha and calomel.
That we are absolutely in a state of ignorance regarding the medical properties of various plants, highly appreciated by the natives, cannot be denied; we must not, however, yield an implicit belief to the many marvellous stories related throughout Hindostan, of the extraordinary cures performed by their aid: many disproofs of such fables are publicly extant, and teach us to view the objects so highly extolled through the medium of aminifyingglass; thereby to reduce their virtues to the proper standard of estimation. So fully was that learned, and zealous president of the AsiaticSociety, Sir William Jones, impressed with an opinion of our overlooking many of the most valuable of nature’s vegetable productions, that, shortly after the formation of that excellent institution, he expressed a wish, an earnest one, indeed, for early framing a code of the botany of Hindostan in particular; and, in a short address to the society, urged, that a ‘Treatise on the Plants of India’ should be diligently and carefully drawn up. In that address, Sir William says, ‘Some hundreds of plants which are yet imperfectly known to European botanists, and, with the virtues of which we are wholly unacquainted, grow wild on the plains, and in the forests, of India. The ‘Amarcosh,’ an excellent vocabulary of the Sanscrit language, contains, in one chapter, the names of about three hundred medicinal vegetables; the ‘Medini’ may comprize as many more; and the ‘Dravyabidana,’ or, ‘Dictionary of Natural Productions,’ includes, I believe, a far greater number; the properties of which are distinctly related in medical tracts of approved authority.’
Here I must beg leave to enter my protest against the too ready acceptance of what the books above quoted may tender to our medical repositories; and that for the following reason; namely, although the natives may be sufficiently acquainted with certain properties of certain plants, yet, owing to a total ignorance of pathology,phisiology, nosology, and especially of the circulation of the blood, and of chemistry as applicable to analysis and synthesis, it is utterly impossible they should be able to act except by rote, and according to their ideas of specifics; whereby the virtues of the medicines in question are supposed to be applicable to all the stages, not only of the same, but of various diseases, totally opposite in their natures. It surely cannot require to be pointed out, how uncertain the results must be under such circumstances, even when each simple is administered separately, and with a patient attention to its operation: but, when we take into account the known fact, that, on most occasions where the nativeHuckeems, orHakeems, prescribe, they rely greatly upon compounds of herbs and minerals; each having its virtues recorded in some popular distich, to dispute which would be considered an open avowal of consummate ignorance; I say, under such circumstances, we may fairly, and, in duty to ourselves should, hesitate to receive information from so impure a source. It is not my intention to depreciate the merits of many simples in use among the natives: I argue against their competency to estimate them; but, at the same time, entertain no doubt that their several books may lead us to the greatest advantages, by giving hints, which, being properly, butguardedly followed up, should enrich our catalogue of valuable remedies. This cannot be done in a few days, nor even in a few years: whenever it may be effected, I doubt not that the memory of that president, whose life was devoted to the service, not only of his existing fellow-creatures, but of posterity also, will be duly venerated. The Botanic Gardens established at the several Presidencies, under the care of medical gentlemen, duly qualified, offer the means of putting much assertion to the tests of chemistry, and of time: the former have not, as yet, been properly resorted to, and the latter has not run its due course, to enable the philosophical world to decide with precision.
In the first volume of the Asiatic Researches, the late Matthew Leslie, Esq. very sensibly observed, that ‘there are in our Indian provinces many animals, and many hundreds of medicinal plants, which have either not been described at all, or, what is worse, ill described, by the naturalists of Europe.’ In this remark there is much truth; but a certain portion of the very extensive meaning of Mr. Leslie, who was, assuredly, a man of considerable abilities, and who had much opportunity for research, will be received with caution, from the consideration of his avowed partiality towards native physicians; who, as I have just stated, are by no means competent to guide us through the mazes ofbotanical research. The state of medicine throughout India, (I mean among the natives,) is not such as to induce the belief that we shall obtain any valuable information among theHuckeems; of whom, full ninety-nine in the hundred are self-taught, as well as self-sufficient. What, then, is to be expected among persons thus practising a profession, to which the old adage of ‘ars longa, vita brevis’ so admirably applies, when we see not even one didactic page to which they can resort; no public institution where knowledge is either bestowed or received; no liberal, enlightened, patron, under whose auspices genius may be enabled to penetrate into the mines of science? This being the fact, shall we refrain from smiling at those of our countrymen who, quitting the aid and guidance of their well-informed medical friends, resort to such quacks, whose reputation they thus unjustly raise among the gaping crowd, and who have the art to propagate the most unbounded reliance on their nostrums? That, here and there, a simple of peculiar efficacy may be in use among such persons, I shall not deny; but must appeal to our more enlightened medical societies, whether, in the hands of an ignorant man, brought up in vanity, and regardless of the minutiæ of physical causes and of physical effects, even the most simple medicine can be safely entrusted? The greatest part of theburlesque is, that these highly renowned physicians, to a man, rely upon proper conjunctions of the planets, lucky hours, &c., not only for the culling, but for the mixing, and administration of their medicines, without regard to those critical moments of which our silly disciples of Hippocrates and Galen are so very watchful!
We must, however, do the natives the justice to allow, that the refrigerating principle lately adopted by some of our leading physicians, owes its origin solely to the ancient practice of theBrahmans, or Hindu priests; of whom the generality affect to be deeply versed in pharmacy. I believe, that, if taken in time, few fevers would be found to degenerate intotyphus, and that very seldom any determination towards the liver from acute cases would occur, were the refrigerating course to be adopted. Often have I known my servants, when attacked with fever, to drink cold water in abundance, and to apply wet cloths to their heads, with great success; the former has generally lowered the pulse considerably, by throwing out a strong perspiration, while the latter has given immediate local relief.
Were it not thatcast(i.e.sect) opposes a formidable barrier to the more extensive practice of European physicians among the natives in general, the native doctors would speedily be consigned to their merited contempt: but suchare the prejudices arising from religious tenets, among the Hindus in particular, that, even when at the last extremity, many would rather die than suffer any medicine prepared, or perhaps of which the liquid part had been barely touched, by one not of their owncast, to enter their mouths! Where such infatuation prevails, ignorance will maintain her empire, until, by the gradual abolition of vulgar errors, the light of science, and of reason, may begin to glimmer among the people at large. It will not suffice, that a few skilful European professors should be seen, and be admired, by a grateful few: that has already happened; but the dread of religious anathema, and of domestic excommunication, are too forcibly opposed to such weak demonstrations. Unhappily, we aimed at a reform, in this particular, at that very point to which it should have had only a remote tendency: we peremptorily attacked the very existence of full a tenth of the whole population, that is, of the Brahmans, or Hindu priests; and we excited, among the people at large, suspicions such as have given scope to our enemies for inculcating, that we are intent on subjecting their minds, as well as their bodies.
From this dilemma, I understand, with pleasure, we are gradually extricating ourselves; by withdrawing those noxious publications, which, in a moment of unguarded zeal, we had allowedour clergy to introduce to the notice of the people of Hindostan. With respect to the motive, that is out of the question: I am not considering the merits of one religion opposed to another, but simply the fact, as it relates to our political connection with the East, and the diffusion of true philosophy over that vast region. Nor am I here censuring the measure in a religious sense; though, on reference to history, and to my own experience of the dispositions of the Hindus, I feel surprized that fanaticism should have been allowed to meddle with a country over which we, in truth, have not an efficient control, and among a race whose tenets are by no means obnoxious to humanity; among whom apostacy is a mortal sin, who disclaim all interference with the doctrines of other sects, and who have most amply proved their title, at least to toleration, if not to protection.
I have said, that we began at the wrong end; and this surely will appear to be the case when the matter is properly understood. In lieu of attacking that which carries with it no offence against ourselves, and instead of endeavoring to force upon them our creed, we should have studied to render the natives acquainted with whatever could tend to their worldly comfort, and to the removal of errors often pregnant with destruction. Let us suppose, for instance, that, in various parts of thecountry, the Company were to establish schools, where youths of every description might be instructed in the mathematics, botany, chemistry, surgery, pharmacy, agriculture, mechanics, &c.; and that valuable premiums should, at certain periods, be presented to such as might merit the distinction. The obvious consequence would be, that, in due time, an infinity of absurdities would vanish, and that, in proportion as science should expand among them, the superior circles would begin to estimate our value as an enlightened people. They would then look up to us as their superiors; in lieu of rating us, as they now do, very low indeed on the scale of degradation. Such a system would not only give an effectual shake to the basis of priest-craft, but cause all the literary stores, and the natural productions of the soil, to be laid open to our examination: then, indeed, our medical men might enjoy a high reputation in every quarter of the East, and the world might be benefitted, both by the correction of many errors, and by the acquisition of most important novelties in medicine, and in the various arts on which commerce is dependant. Then should we have no occasion to goad the Hindus towards Christianity: they would thirst for knowledge, and pant to be rid of those fetters imposed upon their minds by their artful clergy.
I have heard it said ‘the natives have no disposition for the sciences.’ This is imposing a cruel sentence on a hundred millions of people! Allow it to be true; and look back to the state of Britain while under the control, in a certain measure, of the Druids; who are now well ascertained to have been the same, in their days, as the Brahmans of Bengal, &c., are at this time. Who can fail to admire the change? Who could suppose it possible that such a change could have been effected among a people, who, if we are to give credit to Cæsar, and to other authorities, were completely barbarous, and ‘who shewed no disposition for the sciences?’ In opposition to so absurd, and so malicious an assertion, let me state a few facts. When Mr. Reuben Burrow was in India, as head of the mathematical department, he was solicited by several of the natives to instruct them in astronomy, algebra, &c. Unhappily, although possessing pre-eminent talents, Mr. Burrow was not exactly calculated to conciliate the good will, nor to excite the admiration, of persons who did not, like himself, blaze at the spark of science: in fact, he partook greatly of the character of the celebrated Doctor Samuel Johnson, and might be termed ‘a mathematical Hottentot!’
This important deficiency of suavity caused the natives to quit; indeed, it tended to disgust those of his countrymen who, being compelledby their avocations to attend his lectures, were subjected to his caprices and gross manners. However, one native, of mediocre opulence, was not to be scared by what appeared a trifle, when compared with the acquirements he hoped to possess: he bent to the storm, and, by unremitting application, speedily rendered himself competent to converse with Mr. Burrow on his usual topic. In time, the student became a favorite, and was allowed to attend his preceptor when the latter was deputed on a survey of considerable extent, and to measure a degree of latitude in the western districts. Such was the progress made by this native under the auspices of Mr. Burrow, that, in a few years, he qualified himself to instruct others in the ordinary courses of the higher mathematics. What became of him I know not; but apprehend that many others must have derived some little benefit from his learning: unless, indeed, his priests found a pretext for upholding him as unworthy of imitation, and threatened to place all who might consider him to be thus ‘civilized,’ or improved, under the bar of ecclesiastical censure. When I say ‘civilized,’ it is in deference to a British divine, who has been pleased to represent the people of Bengal in such terms as might lead persons who never visited India to set them down for a cruel, barbarous, ignorant, vindictive, senseless, and sanguinary race; whosecivilizationis‘devoutly to be wished.’ How far they merit such a character, may be understood from their forbearing to massacre all the Europeans in India; a work that might be effected by only one in thousands of their population striking the deadly blow!
Setting whatever relates to religion apart, and viewing our intercourse with India as a matter merely ofmeumandtuum, it is self-evident, that to whatever extent we may instruct the natives to analyze the produce of their soil, and to present it to us in a marketable shape, so much must Britain be benefitted by the extension of her commerce, and by the possession of a territory whose value would be thereby proportionally raised. This is said with the view to encourage the researches of our medical men; who, from their general knowledge of chemistry, and perhaps of botany, are certainly best qualified to pursue them with national effect. Under the present very limitted establishment of physicians and surgeons, as well as from thepræter nihilbenefits derived from the Botanical Garden, when seen in this point of view, we are not authorized to be very sanguine in our hopes that any important advantages will result in that direction. While the Company can barely afford a surgeon and two assistants to a regiment of 2000 men, it is not to be supposed they could form such establishments of the above description, as mightgive us a thorough command over the mineral and vegetable productions of their territory, or tend to create a spirit of enquiry among the natives.
The want of printed books is, in every country, a great evil; but, in India, is a drawback of great moment. There, all books, all proclamations, (except such as we print at Calcutta, &c.,) all newspapers, &c., &c., are manuscripts. It is not to be imagined how few volumes are to be seen even of this kind. We should suppose that, where provisions, lodging, cloathing, fuel, &c., are so remarkably cheap, learning would become general: the reverse is, however, the case; not one in five hundred can read, or write, even indifferently. There are abundance of little day-schools to which children may be sent at a very trifling expence; but there they learn very little. Generally, a bed of sand serves for paper, and a finger, or a piece of stick, for pen and ink; consequently, no traces of any instruction remain for the future consideration of the pupil. The more affluent, and the more zealous, ordinarily provide their children with a board, about a foot long, and nine or ten inches wide, which, being painted black, and varnished, becomes an admirable tablet, whereon the young folks are enabled to write their lessons with a reed pen; the ink being generally chalk and water. Tothese, though certainly more perfect than the former mode, the same objection exists; namely, that they want stability, and that the lesson is no sooner repeated by rote, and written much in the same manner, than it is forgotten, at least it never again obtrudes on the eye; since, in order to make way for further instruction, it is necessarily expunged.
Thekoits, or scribes, and theláláhs, or accountants, (though the latter often confine their occupations to merely reading or transcribing,) are nearly the same among the lower classes, especially where the Naugry character is in question, that themoonshiesare among the superior orders, who, almost invariably, use the Persian language and character, in all public, as well as in private, matters. So far, indeed, is this carried, that Persian is held to be both the language of the Court, and of the Law.
As those who study the Persian are aided bymoonshies, so are such persons as would acquire the Naugry character necessitated to employkoits, orláláhs, for that purpose. The wages of these may be from two to five rupees per month; but, in some families, the servants contribute to the extent of a few annas, or, eventually, as far as a rupee, in the aggregate; in consideration of whichdouceur, theláláhcommonly writes letters for them to their friends, and explains the answers, &c. Such servants ashave the charge of money to be disbursed on master’s account, commonly take care to be on good terms with thiscullum-burdar(i.e.quill-driver); who, as has been said ofcompadores, generally taxes all items he knows to be overcharged, by a small deduction in his own favor.
Persons of this class often keep little schools, such as have been described, and then are designatedgooroos; a term implying that kind of respect we entertain for pastors in general.
If we contemplate the extreme inattention prevalent throughout Hindostan, respecting literary attainments, and the great cunning practised by the priesthood, in their sedulous endeavors to prevent the natives from receiving the least information regarding philosophy in general, it must appear surprizing that so much has been done by the artizans of Bengal towards the adaptation of their labors to the convenience of the British residents. Our admiration of these people cannot but be heightened, from the circumstance of particular trades being confined to particularcasts, or sects; for though we may, possibly, at first view, consider that to be an advantage, inasmuch as it should seem to perpetuate knowledge in an hereditary line, those who have resided in the East fully know that no such heir-loom ability is to be found: on the other hand, we immediately recognize the bar raised against genius; which, when to be foundwithin thecast, may struggle for ever under some base, forbidding, and loathsome degradation; or, if it should start in another sect, cannot adopt its native intention, but must resign in favor of some other pursuit, perhaps requiring no genius; or, eventually, one of a very different bent. Once a carpenter, always a carpenter; once a swine-herd, always a swine-herd!
The evil effects attendant upon the useful arts in general, from such a system, are certainly great, but by no means to be compared with the degradations, and consequent imbecility, inseparable from the total suppression of every thing tending to excite emulation. When we see an hereditary priesthood, and that, too, by no means remarkable for the paucity of its members, we cannot but picture to ourselves the arrogance thus privileged in the whole of that tribe, and the humiliation which marks the actions, as well as the sentiments, of all who do not stand within the hallowed pale. Such a contrast can exist only while one party can deceive, and while the other deems accusation to be nothing less than blasphemy; therefore we cannot be mistaken regarding the only means of correction: to wit, a knowledge of the world, and of its inhabitants; or what we, in other terms, call learning. Pour but a little of this into the minds of a certain number; satisfy them that morality in Europe, and morality in Asia, are the samething; that ‘whether we do our duties in a black skin, or in a white one,’ matters not; that men were born to aid each other, and not to be made the slaves of party, sect, or color; and, that he who knows most regarding the works of the Creator, is most likely to have a proper sense of his bounty. Convince the natives of India, or of any other nation, that such is the truth, and that you practise, while you teach, the doctrines of Christianity, and nothing will, in the end, be able to stand against so formidable an attack. But if we proceed, as has been too rashly done, to attempt a schism among them by mere declamation, or by means of creeds and parables in which they have no belief, (merely because they know no better,) our object will be either mistaken, or designedly misrepresented; and we shall experience in Asia all those penalties that formerly awaited the avowal of Lutheranism in Europe! In brief; convince the natives that their priests are fools and knaves, and that poverty, disgrace, and even disease, are the consequences of a mistaken bigotry, and the whole country will prostrate itself at your feet!
Waving every other objection, and resting solely on the very inadequate means of instruction afforded by parents to their children, through the medium ofkoits,láláhs, andgooroos, it seems probable that, unless some effectual reformmay take place, the natives of India are likely to remain in darkness,ad infinitum. This is the more to be regretted, when we consider how willing they are to follow such means as may be offered them, provided those means may not oppose established principles, nor be contrary to their ideas of sanctity and benevolence. Nor can we but repine at such infatuations among a race whose intellectual qualities, whatever may be said by ignorant or designing men, are at least on a par with those of Europeans. That they are perverted, will not be denied; but, that they are naturally imperfect, needs little proof indeed! Set some dozens, or scores, of our youths to bellow in unison, (with all theennuiattendant upon monotonous rote,) any particular passages from the Scripture, day after day, and year after year; and, after some seasons, search among them for Newtons, Lockes, Blackstones, and Solons! The result need not be told!
In recommending to those of my readers who may be intent upon acquiring a knowledge of the language, (by which I mean not only the Bengallee, and the Hindui, both of which may be considered vernacular, but the Persian also,) to purchase such translations as may be extant of the works of Indian authors, I am far from being partial to their contents, and disclaim the idea of affording any thing more than exercise in translationwhen I do so; for there appears to me a great disposition to trifle, or to the hyperbole, in all I have ever seen. By means of such translations, the originals may be more readily understood, whereby the study may be rendered both brief and pleasing; provided proper attention be paid to all material points, and that, in reading the translation, the student does not indulge in the erroneous opinion that he is making himself master of the original. Almost every book written in the East is the production of some court sycophant: a few have resulted from the labors of men who, being disposed to meditation, have committed their reveries to paper; and, a very small portion have displayed such scintillations of ability, as leave us to regret they were either not better educated, so as to enlighten their countrymen, or that they were not born in those parts of the world where their talents might have been fostered, and duly appreciated. With regard to ethics, numbers have amused themselves, to all appearance, more from ostentation than from ‘being virtuous over-much.’ The facility with which scraps from the Koran, (i.e.the Bible of the Mahomedans,) may be set forth in glowing terms, in a language rich in expression, has, no doubt, induced many a very tolerable lay-man to annoy his neighbours, by the repetition of page after page of the most tiresome tautologies,whereon his fame has been built: of this description abundance exist, all alike unworthy of review.
I have always thought the poets of India to be particularly happy in those little tales which convey a moral, though a very worldly one, under some alluring allegory. From this, however, I exempt the celebratedHeetopades, translated by Mr. Wilkins. This, by general consent, is allowed to be the store from whencePilpay’s Fableshave been taken; but the original can never appear in competition with their offspring; for, while the latter are interesting, and afford a very rich treat, by their apt application to the affairs of life, the former are heavy, dull, tedious, and of a most motley character; the subject is generally forced, and spun out into all the varieties garrulity could invent!
The Asiatic student may find, in the several works of Gilchrist, Baillie, F. Gladwin, Sir. W. Jones, Sir William Ousely, Richardson, and Wilkins, abundance of instruction in the several languages most current in Hindostan; the Asiatic Researches will give him a considerable insight into a number of interesting and important matters relating to the natural history of the East, the manners, and the climate under consideration; while, by means of Colebrooke’s Digest of the Hindu Laws, and Rousseau’sDictionary of Mahomedan Law, he may become very generally acquainted with that important branch of knowledge. With respect to the politics of the country, they have been so much canvassed, that various treatises on that topic are to be had: unfortunately, all are either devoted to partial considerations, or written to serve a party!
In almost every country, whereof the inhabitants are either considered by their neighbours, or deem themselves to be, civilized, the records of the state, the several libraries, whether scholastic, traditionary, scientific, or amusing only, are open to the inspection of persons of all nations; and, above all, the sacred institutions are subject to visitation, and even to research. In India, no such recreation or benefit is ever afforded to the inquisitive traveller, who may remain, for years, within a stone’s-throw of what, to him, would appear an invaluable treasure, without his being able to obtain the smallest indulgence in aid of his pursuits. Whatever may be the complaints against our continental neighbours on the score of persecution, we must give them credit for the most ample toleration of the million of visitors who intrude on their several cabinets, libraries, &c.; some, from the most laudable motives, others, actuated by the mere desire of seeing all that is to be seen, without, in the least, regarding thosepoints by which the philosophic eye is naturally attracted. Though so heavy a charge lies against the Hindus, on account of their strict rejection of our countrymen, in general, when application has been made for information on particular points, it must be allowed, that they doubtless have, in a few instances, been more explicit, and furnished information on particular topics, which, to us, has proved extremely interesting.
In truth, we have no exclusive right of complaint; for all nations, and all sects, except their own, have been equally subject to denial; or, when indulged, have been compelled to perform some ceremonies obnoxious to their faith, or to their persons. Whether this be absolutely necessary, or has been devised solely with the intention of deterring the curious, may not be difficult to determine; thus much we know, that, in order to obtain admission to a knowledge of certain forms, or to the perusal of certain records, various operations, amounting nearly to apostacy, though no recantation be made, must be performed.
There is room to doubt whether any true accounts of the antiquity of the Seek College at Benares, and of the migrations of the Hindus from the countries bordering on Palestine, actually exists: many persons, of considerable talents, and of great erudition, are disposed totreat the whole of what has been delivered to us, with so much solemnity, by thePundits, or learned Brahmans, as a deception, intended to ridicule our curiosity, and to repress, or at least to divert, it from the true course. Circumstances may be adduced in support of this hypothesis; and we cannot but regard the manner in which thePunditsarrogate to themselves the whole knowledge of their history, which is carefully concealed from a large portion even of the Brahmans, as a circumstantial proof of our having been designedly led astray, both by a fictitious record, and by a well concerted fable, invented for the occasion: this may be aptly compared to the whale and the tub. Fortunately, no material point appears to rest on the antiquity, or otherwise, of the Hindu mythology, or the records of the Seeks, regarding the origin of that people; though it would perhaps be found, that their true exposition might tend to afford many proofs in favor of the mission of our Saviour.
When the immense extent of territory we hold in India is considered, and, that perhaps no country in the world offers greater facilities, not only for literary correspondence, but for the researches of naturalists, the conveyance of gross articles, and the manufacture of raw materials, which every where abound, we cannot but lament the want of such institutions as mightenable us to turn such important advantages to the immediate benefit of Great Britain, on the most unbounded scale. We are absolutely ignorant of a million of facts now included, either directly, or by affinity, in our endless catalogue of desiderata, which need not remain in that disgraceful list, provided due means were taken to correct our errors, and to extend our resources. During the dry season, or at least for four months in the year, scarce a part of the country opposes the progress of a traveller; unless through those immense wildernesses already described. It may, on the whole, be said, that one half the country is passable at all seasons by land; though the progress will doubtless be slow, and difficult, during the heavy falls of rain. Intercourse is never at a stand. Thedawk, or post, proceeds at all seasons; and is rarely more than two days longer on its way from Calcutta to the upper provinces, than at the favorable time of the year. Bridges and ferries are found on all the great roads; whereby regiments have occasionally marched on emergency with such despatch, as could scarcely have been exceeded even during the hot season.
The communication with Europe, overland, has been established, during peaceable times, for full twenty years; but it was not until about twelve years ago, that the public have been permittedto avail themselves of so essential a means of correspondence at fixed rates, and under particular regulations. Prior to that period, the Company used to receive, and to despatch, packets overland, in which occasional indulgences were granted to favored individuals. I abstract this from the very old custom of sending intelligence, on sudden occasions, by the despatch of some confidential person to or from India. The utility of some permanent and certain conveyance for letters from a quarter daily becoming more opulent, and more important, cannot be doubted; were it only for the purpose of transmitting bills of exchange payable after sight, the notices of bankruptcies, the information of intended consignments, the state of the markets, &c., such a systematic communication must be invaluable to the several merchants. To the Government it is of the highest importance! Many complain of the heavy rates of postage overland, and others of the severe restrictions; but such complaints are ill founded: the expence of the posts is very heavy, and it is indispensably necessary for Government to hold a severe check over whatever intercourse might lead to mischief.
The tables of postage, and ofbangycarriage, contained in the Directory, will enable the reader to judge how far the charges are from being exorbitant: he will not fail to recollect,that the sums paid in Britain are very trifling, owing to the immense intercourse subsisting between the several parts of the kingdom, far beyond what exists in any part of India. Bath is the same distance from London that the cantonments of Berhampore are from Calcutta, viz. 106 miles: the former pays 8d. postage, the latter 4 annas, which is about the same sum: the other charges are considerably cheaper; viz. Allahabad, which is full five hundred miles from Calcutta, pays only 7 annas (about 13½d.); but this is on the great road, while the other is scarcely to be considered a thoroughfare, compared with what it was before the new road was cut through the Ramghur district to Chunar.
With the exception of such parts as may be infested by tigers, the post seldom or never fails of arriving within an hour of its appointed time; except, as has been observed, when the waters are out; in which case, many circuitous roads must be followed, whereby the way is considerably lengthened in the aggregate. Taking the average, a hundred miles per day may be run over by thedawk, or post, in fair weather. Each mail-bag is conveyed by anhirkarah, (or runner,) who is attended by one or twodoog-doogy-wallahs, or drummers, who keep up a kind of ‘long-roll,’ as they pass any suspicious place. Ordinarily, twomosaulchees, or link-bearers, accompany eachdawk; and, wheretigers are known to commit depredations, one or twoteerin-dauzes, or archers, are supplied, under the intention of protecting the party. But such puny aid is of no avail; for the onset of the tiger is too sudden, and too discomfiting, to allow any effort of consequence to be timously adopted: the very act of seizure is a death-blow, from which I never heard of any recovery; provided the unhappy victim were not so particularly situated as to prevent it from decidedly taking effect.
Here it may be needful to explain, that a tiger invariably strikes his prey with the fore paw, in so forcible a manner as often to fracture the skull; which, generally, is the object aimed at: many oxen have had their cheek bones shivered by the contusion. It sometimes happens, that the marks of one or two claws are to be seen, but they are generallyen passant, and by no means the result of primary intention. The wrist of a tiger being often nearly two feet in circumference, may give some idea of the violence with which thecoup de gracefalls on the head of a human being! Themosauls, orflambeaux, are intended to intimidate the tigers, as are also thedoog-doogies, but experience has shewn that, when hungry, tigers are not to be restrained by any such device: indeed, instances have occurred of themosaulcheesthemselvesbeing carried off. It would, nevertheless, be presumptuous to judge from such partial data, that many tigers are not deterred by the noise and fire accompanying the letter-carriers; on the contrary, there should rather seem a probability, that many young tigers, or such grown ones as may not be hungry, nor be attended by cubs, are frequently intimidated from those attacks they would make but for these precautions. A residence of two years at Hazary-Bang, the station for a battalion in the Ramghur district, enabled me to form a fair estimate of the dangers to which thedawk, and travellers in general, were subject. During some seasons, the roads were scarcely to be considered passable; day after day, for nearly a fortnight in succession, some of thedawkpeople were carried off, either at Goomeah, Kannachitty, Katcumsandy, or Dungaie; four passes in that country, all famous for the exploits of these enemies to the human race!
So few valuables are ever sent by the post, that thieves never attempt any depredations on the letter-bags.Hoondiés(i.e.banker’s drafts) would be of no use whatever to them; and as bank notes are not in general currency, no object is held out for enterprize of that description. Nor do thedawk-bangies, or parcel-dawks, offer any substantial inducement; for, even if any plate, or watches, or trinkets, were to be sent bysuch a conveyance, the want of a market, and the impossibility of confiding in any village jeweller, would render the act both hazardous and unavailing. Hence, thedawkgenerally proceeds in perfect safety, throughout every part of the country; while thebangiesmaybe considered equally secure; except, indeed, in some parts of the dominions of the Nabob Vizier of Oude, where a lawless uncontrolled banditti subject every passenger to contribution: this evil is fortunately on the decline, in consequence of our having assumed the reins of government.
It has frequently been asked why, in a country so completely under our control, we did not establish mails, similar to those in use throughout England. Before this can be effected, an immense revolution must take place, not only in the minds of the natives, but in the features of the country. At present, there appears no desire on the part of the inhabitants to communicate by land, farther than may be necessary for the purpose of attendinghauts, (markets,)maylahs, (fairs,) or for the resort to certain places of worship, &c. For such purposes, a pedestrian trip suffices; or, at the utmost, a poney, worth only a few shillings, is either borrowed or hired. The contact of variouscasts, or sects, being considered a pollution, it is not to be supposed that a Hindu would like to be pent up, for hourstogether, with a Mahomedan, who makes no scruple of killing and eating a cow: or that the Mussulman would, in his turn, feel comfortable under similar circumstances, with a Britishkaufur, (unbeliever,) who, besides his condemnation of the prophet, makes no scruple of devouring ham and bacon wholesale! Admitting that all parties should be agreed to associate within the body of a stage-coach, still there would not exist intercourse sufficient to support the expences, in a quarter where horses are so dear, and where the necessary repairs could not, in case of accident, be promptly effected. Then, again, the roads must be suitably made, at an enormous expence, and be afterwards supported by heavy disbursements, or by a contribution of labor on the part of the land-holders, by no means agreeable to their feelings. All this may, in time, pass under a complete metamorphosis: the produce of the country will be more generally estimable; the people will relax greatly from the vigorous attention now paid to religious tenets; and, as their prejudices may give way to their true interests, will extend their speculations without fear or restriction. Those who may then inhabit India, will see roads, mails, and inns; whereas, at present, there are only pathways and runners, but no inns. There are, to be sure,seraiesandchoultries, for the accommodation of travellers, but these are mostly goingfast to decay; and, at the best, can be viewed only as shelter for men and cattle; goods being usually left exposed to the weather. Thebytearens, or female cooks, who ply, in more than one capacity, at such places, and who, on receiving money before-hand, buy and cook such victuals as may be ordered, or the place may afford, cannot be considered otherwise than as menials, and not to be classed with our inn-keepers; no, nor even with the poorest village retailer, ‘Lysunst to del in T, Koffy, and Tibaky!’
There is, however, a wide field for practical improvement; as may be fully understood from the following statement. Thedawkrarely travels at a less expence than twenty-five rupees per month, for each stage of eight miles (four cosses) on the average. This sum is absorbed by amoonshyat eachchokey, or relief at the end of a stage, who pretends to be very scrupulous in regard to ascertaining that all the parcels are right, but who, as I have repeatedly witnessed, is more intent on receiving little presents ofottah, (meal,) spices, &c., sent to him from the neighbouring villages, in return for letters conveyed by thedawk-hirkarahs, who are sometimes laden pretty heavily with such contributions. I speak from what I have been an eye-witness to repeatedly; as to hear-say, much more might be asserted. It appears to me that theabove sum would carry on the system with double the speed, and double the efficiency. In lieu of sending off four, five, and six, men with thedawks, let a horseman convey the bags for about twelve miles, on an allowance of fifteen rupees per month for man and horse; and, during the rainy season, when the roads are deep, let a fresh horse be allowed for the several returns, instead of causing the same man and horse to return with thecounter-dawks. On the above allowance a very good steed might be kept, the celerity of thedawkwould be greatly encreased, and there would be no occasion formoonshies, except at suchchokiesas might be upon diverging roads, where it would be necessary to have the proper parcels sorted out, and delivered to the variousbranch-dawks.
Travelling in apalanquinbydawk, (i.e.post,) is effected much in the same manner as the despatch of thedawks. Bearers are stationed at the several stages, for the purpose of relief; each station, in general, supplying eight bearers, and abangy, in all nine men, together with one or twomosaulchiesfor night stages. The expence of travelling in this manner will depend greatly on the distance: if only a short journey is to be made, such as may be compassed within eight or ten hours, nothing more is needful than to send on a set, or two, of bearers, who then receive their daily hire of four annas (8d.) each,while out from home; or, if there should exist the means of so doing, ahirkarah, (or messenger,) may be despatched to collect bearers at the several stages. In this manner, the relays may be properly supplied, and the cost will not amount to more than a rupee for three miles; equal to ten-pence a mile; whereas, in the ordinary mode of having bearers laid by the post-master, each mile will cost full one rupee, (i.e.2s.6d.,) besides various little disbursements by way ofbuxees, or presents, to every set of bearers in the journey: these may be fairly estimated at two rupees for every set, or relief, which, if the distances run by each should average ten miles, will be about twenty rupees (£2. 10s.) for every hundred miles. The ordinary rate of this kind of conveyance may be rated at four miles per hour during the cold season, three and a half during the hot season, and from two to three during the rains, provided the waters are not much out: otherwise, no estimate can be formed. The above includes stops.
The establishment ofdawk-bangiesfor the conveyance of parcels, at rates in proportion to their weights respectively, has produced considerable convenience to those who reside at a distance from the Presidency. Until this plan was adopted, few could send small articles, such as trinkets, &c., to the Presidency, butunder favor of some individual who might perchance be travelling thither, and who might possibly be some months on the way: the same inconvenience attended the return; so that it was not uncommon for a gentleman whose watch required inspection, to be four or five months deprived of its use. This is now done away, and a watch, &c. may be sent from Cawnpore to Calcutta, there undergo repair, and be returned with ease, in the course of a month, or less.
The same kind of convenience is, of course, afforded regarding books, and all other articles too bulky, or too heavy, to proceed by thedawk, but not of sufficient importance to induce the employment of a boat, or of abangy, to convey them: nor, indeed, could a single bearer travel with abangymore than twenty miles within the twenty-four hours; so that he would be full a month in going from Calcutta to Cawnpore; whereas, thedawk-bangiestravel by relays of bearers, therefore can almost keep up with thedawk-hirkarahs, who carry the mail-bags suspended at the end of a stick over their shoulders.
The communication by water between Calcutta and the several subordinate stations, whether civil or military, is much resorted to; during the rainy season in particular. At that time, few are inaccessible to craft of some description, though but for a while: those immense falls ofrain which cause the ravines to fill, and every little creek to become navigable for boats of ten or fifteen tons, swell the Ganges, and the other great rivers, to an astonishing height; causing them to run with awful velocity. The rivers generally rise in May, but a few inches only, in June, they often approach the summits of their banks, between which they fluctuate, rising and falling until the great swell, which takes place in August. Sometimes the river rises twice, sometimes thrice, or, even four times, during the season; but, in general, one ample inundation serves all the purposes of agriculture, provided the rains do not afterwards abate too suddenly in September, before the rice is cut. When such an untimely cessation takes place, it is attended with great mortality: the immense expanse of slime, suddenly exposed to the influence of the sun, then on the equinoctial, throws forth the most destructive miasma, whereby epidemics, of the most dangerous description, are propagated.
The swelling of the great rivers is a matter of great uncertainty; sometimes they rise very early, before the quantity of rain that falls in the lower provinces could lead to the expectation of their doing so: when this is the case, it is not uncommon to see the Cossimbazar river, commonly called theBaugrutty, nearly dry at night, and full twenty feet, or more, deep thenext morning. In other seasons the waters are very tardy; a matter of serious moment to the husbandman, who is naturally anxious to plant his crop of rice in due time, so that it may be securely attached to the soil before the great inundation comes on. The growth of the rice stalk is certainly one of the most curious proofs of nature’s adaptation of that plant to the situation in which it is cultivated; namely, in the water: it will not thrive unless the stem be immersed for several inches; and, owing to the formation of its stalk, which draws out like the concentric tubes of a pocket telescope, it can put forth many feet in the course of a few hours, so as, apparently, to grow as fast as the water may rise, and to keep its pannicle from being overflowed. It is by no means rare for the rice stalks to shoot forth from five to six feet during the twenty-four hours: I haveseenit do much more!
In parts subject to the regular annual inundation, all the villages are built on rising grounds: many stand on artificial mounds, formed by excavations around their bases, so that they are surrounded nearly by moats, in which theirdingies, or small boats, are immersed during the dry season, and affording admirable refreshment to their buffaloes during the summer heats. But it sometimes happens, that the waters rise to so great a height as to endanger even these elevatedvillages; some of which are then completely inundated. To avoid this, most of the houses are built upon piles, or stakes, thereby to raise their floors from four to six feet above the ground, and open enough to permit the waters to pass through with freedom. In the dry time of the year, the cattle are occasionally kept within the areas thus enclosed under the floors; but, while the inundation is at its height, so as to insulate a village completely, all the live stock are kept in boats moored around it, where they are fed by a species of thedoob, ordoop-grass, dragged up from the bottom of the waters by means of split bamboos, made to serve as forks: but for so providential a supply, the cattle must be led scores of miles to some part of the country, whose elevation exempts it from inundation.
The mention of a country being so completely under water, cannot but cause considerable surprize. The fact is, however, too well known to be disputed. Even at Berhampore, which is not considered within the ordinary verge of inundation, it is common to see boats of great burthen, perhaps fifty tons, sailing over the plains, as through a boundless sea. As to the country lying between the mouth of the Jellinghy and the debouchures of the Ganges, that is always overflowed for full three months, perhaps to the average depth of ten or twelve feet. I have sailed over it full a hundred miles by the compass;aided, indeed, by some remarkable villages, mosques, banks, &c., well known to the boatmen, who, probably from their earliest days, had traversed the same expanse during every rainy season.
Were it not for the water being strongly colored, and the strength of the current, it would not be easy in many places to distinguish the great rivers which are crossed in steering through this fresh-water ocean: the water of the inundation is generally of a bluish tinge, derived from the quantity of vegetable matter at the bottom, of which a certain quantity decays, and partially taints the fluid. A large portion is concealed by thed’haun, (or rice,) which rises above its surface. This, in the first instance, bears the appearance of a long grass, of a rich green, rising above the surface, so as to be mistaken at a little distance forterra firma: gradually, the pannicles shoot forth, of a pale-dun color, turning, as they ripen, to a deep dun, or light clay.
The grains of rice, which are called by Europeans ‘paddy,’ retain the name ofd’haunso long as in their coats; as we often see a few grains among the rice imported to us: these coats are peculiarly harsh to the feel, and are fluted longitudinally, so that no water can lodge upon them. Each grain is fastened to a short stalk, joining to a main stem, and furnishing a very pleasing bunch of grain, not verydissimilar to an ear of oats, but far richer, both in color, and in quantity. Rice has no husk or chaff; therefore is easily separated from the straw, which is eaten by cattle when no other provender can be had, and makes excellent litter, it being very long and soft. Where the inundation prevails, the straw is of little use: the grain being cut in boats, and the straw settling at the bottom as the waters subside; thereby adding to the natural fertility of the soil. In the more elevated parts, the straw is cut the same as in therubbee, or corn crops, and bundled for domestic purposes: there, its length rarely exceeds two feet, whereas, among the inundations, it is often seen from fifteen to eighteen feet in length. The head, or pannicle, generally bears from a hundred and fifty, to three hundred, grains of rice.
Two modes of clearing rice from the shell are in use; the one performed by the very simple process of scalding, which occasions the rice to swell, and to burst the shell, so that the latter is removed with very little trouble; the other is, by putting thed’hauninto an immense wooden mortar, called anookly, and beating it by the application of two or more beetles, calledmoosuls, of about four feet in length, by three inches in diameter, shod at the bottom with iron ferules, and thinned towards their centres, so as to be grasped by the women; each alternatelyimpelling one, in nearly a perpendicular direction, among thed’haunin theookly. After the shells have been duly separated, the rice, now calledchoul, is separated, by winnowing either in a strong draught of air, or by means of a kind of scoop, made of fine wicker-work, called asoop, wherewith the native women can most dexterously separate different kinds of corn, and effectually remove all rubbish. The coat of rice is peculiarly harsh, and not much relished by cattle: I have seen it mixed with dung for fuel with excellent effect.
The natives, in general, make little distinction between the rice separated by scalding, which is calledoosnah, and that dressed by theookly, which is calledurwah; but some of the more fastidious prefer one or the other, according to particular prejudices handed down in their families, or supposed to appertain to their respective sects. I think the scalded rice generally deficient in flavor; the grains are larger, and less compact; the beaten rice certainly boils with rather more difficulty, but appears whiter, and drier. The scalded rice does not immediately separate from the coat, but is usually submitted to the operation of a machine composed of a stout beam, nearly equipoised by means of a thorough-pin, on a fork, of wood also, fixed in the ground.
It is inconceivable what quantities of rice, ofa coarse reddish cast, but peculiarly sweet, and large grained, are prepared, about Backergunge, near the debouchure of the Megna, for exportation. In that quarter fuel is cheap, and water conveyance every where at hand; so that the immense crops raised in the inundated districts find a ready sale. The average return from abigahof 1600 square yards, of threebigahsto our statute acre, sown with about twenty-five seers ofd’haun, may be taken at nine maunds. The price of the grain, when cleared of its coat, may be from thirty to forty seers of fine rice, and from sixty even toa hundred and twenty seers(i.e.three maunds) of coarse, commonly called ‘cargo-rice.’ But the demand always regulates the value; especially when great consignments are forwarded to the coast of Coromandel.
Large quantities of rice are usually cleared by contract, the operator receiving the grain at the door of thegolah, or warehouse, where he sets up his cauldron and machines, and returning twenty-five seers of clean rice for every maund (forty seers) delivered to him; he finding the fuel, and reserving the husks. In a country where labor is so very cheap, it is not so very necessary to have recourse to mechanical devices for the purpose of diminishing the expence of such operations; yet it occurs to me, that, were tide wheels to be used at Backergunge and elsewhere, or a floating mill, like that mooredbetween Blackfriars’ and London Bridge, to be made out of some condemned hulk, an immense advantage would be gained in regard to time. By the proper adaptation of machinery, whereby the rice might be hoisted in, or lowered down, either by the force of water, or of steam, and the beetles be properly worked, the grain might certainly be prepared for market in less time, and infinitely less charge forcoolyhire, in landing, loading, &c.: should this hint be well received by any speculating European, it might tend to lower the prices of rice at those times, when, either from want of laborers, or from the expediency of shipping off with as little delay as possible, the saving of a few days might prove an object of importance. At all events, the work might be done more regularly, more frugally, and more independently, than by manual process.
The rice grown in the low countries by no means equals that produced in the uplands, where it is cultivated with great care, and subjected to many vicissitudes in regard to the state of moisture in which its roots are retained. In many parts of the most hilly districtsd’haunis to be seen in every little narrow valley, winding among the bases of those stupendous eminences from which the torrents of rain supply a superabundant flow of moisture at one time, while, at others, only the little rills proceeding from boggysprings seem to feed the artificial pools in which the growing plants are kept in a state of semi-immersion, by means of small embankments made of mud. In every instance thed’haunis to be kept duly watered; else it withers, and becomes unproductive. In order to preserve the water as much as possible, the bed, or level, nearest to the springs, is raised as high as can be afforded, and its exterior border banked up, to about a foot and a half, with soil: the next level may be from a foot to a yard lower, and receives the overflow; which is again passed on to the next lower bed; and thus, in succession, for perhaps a mile or more; the ends of the beds requiring no embankment, on account of the land rising on either side. Such situations afford a certain crop in ordinary seasons; and, if the rains should fail, the dews falling on the adjacent hills, generally covered with jungle of some kind, ordinarily afford moisture enough to keep up the springs, thus causing sufficient dampness to prevent the rice from perishing, before some ample showers may again float the whole of the irrigated cultivation. Rice thus produced is commonly small in grain, rather long and wiry, but remarkably white, and admirably suited to the table. The natives, though they admire its appearance, are not partial to it; they generally preferring the larger-bodied grain, with a reddish inner rind, which does not readily separate, whennew, from the rice: this kind, as I have before expressed, is assuredly the sweetest, and is, on that account, preferred by those who distil arrack.
Remoteness from the sea air is said to be the reason why the up-country rice possesses less saccharine matter than that grown near the sea-coast, and among the inundation; but this appears an erroneous judgment. There is, no doubt, a great encrease of saccharine matter in plants (of the same genus) cultivated on spots well manured: now, few, if any, of the places devoted to the cultivation of rice in the upper country, receive much aid from manure; nor are they, in general, subject to the reception of nutritious particles, such as are either floated down, or are engendered and deposited by, the inundation, which may be viewed as the grand depôt of whatever can enrich the soil. When we look to the large tracts of plain, not subject to such an immense flow of feculous moisture, but seeming merely as reservoirs for the retention of local rains, we shall then see, that the superior sweetness of the rice produced about Backergunge, Dacca, Hajygunge, Luricool, Mahomedpore, Comercolly, Jessore, &c., is to be attributed solely to the superior fatness of the soil, on which the most luxuriant crops of cotton, and of esculents, are raised during the dry season. When the soil is fresh turned up for the second crop, it is generallyvery offensive, and, doubtless, by no means favorable to the health of the cultivators, who, at that season, (commonly in November, December, and January,) are subjected to very obstinate agues.
Rice is very subject to the weevil, which often multiplies among it so fast, as to threaten destruction to the whole depôt. The natives have recourse to a very simple preventive; viz. by placing one or two live cray-fish within the heap: their effluvia quickly expel the predatory tribe. Here we have a question for naturalists and philosophers; a question pregnant with interest to the agricultural world, namely, ‘Whether there is any particular, and what, property in a live cray-fish, that produces this effect upon insects under such circumstances?’ Whatever may be the cause, the effect is well known; therefore the enquiry is so far forwarded as to furnish data, or at least hints, respecting those results which might be expected both from marine productions, and from other living bodies. The inhabitants of the lower provinces are chiefly Hindus; therefore, owing to religious tenets, by which they are led to consider almost every animal as unclean, few experiments could be expected to take place among them; otherwise, we might probably have found that any living animal, such as a rat, a frog, &c., if confined in a small box, andplaced within a heap of rice infested by weevils, would produce a similar effect. Rice is by no means subject to this species of depredation when in the coat, that is, in the state calledd’haun, but the natives are averse to retaining it in that form, because the grains shrink considerably, and, when beat out for sale, do not occupy so much space as when exposed to the air. Hence, it is an object with the rice-merchants to dispose of their crops before the month of March, unless the markets may be so glutted as to cause that grain to sell, as it has in some years done, at such low prices as could not fail to ruin the farmer. It has been known so cheap as seven and eight maunds (equal to seven cwt.) for a rupee! When this happens, such merchants as have the command of money rarely fail to make immense fortunes. Many have been known to possess four or five lacs of maunds!
Rice is the most common article of food among the natives, whether Hindus or Mussulmans, throughout the lower provinces, where it is to be found in far greater abundance than corn of any description. The inhabitants of the upper provinces, where wheat and barley are cultivated to such an extent as to be sold in the retail for about a rupee and a quarter, and a rupee, respectively, subsist chiefly on the meals of those grains; which, being well kneaded with water, are made intochow-patties, orbannocks, are bakedat the commonchoolahs, and are both palatable and nourishing. The natives hold an opinion that rice is very injurious to the sight; but, I believe, whatever injury may arise from its use proceeds entirely from eating it too hot, and in such quantities at one meal, generally about sun-set, as can scarcely fail to injure the stomach. Barley-meal is considered, and with great justice, to be very nourishing, but heating; therefore most of those who preferottah(meal) to rice, use that made from wheat. Large quantities of rice are carried upwards, towards the Nabob Vizier’s dominions, where it sells to great advantage; while, on the other hand, immense consignments of corn, chiefly wheat, barley, andr’hur, are made from those parts towards the lower districts; where they are consumed by all classes of persons. While theBaugrutty, (i.e.the Cossimbazar river,) and theJellinghy, both of which branch from the Ganges, and, uniting at Nuddeah, form the Hoogly, which passes Calcutta, are open, boats of all kinds proceed that way; but chiefly through the former channel, on which Moorshadabad, Berhampore, Cossimbazar, and Jungypore, are situate. This is the shortest line of communication by water between the Presidency and the upper provinces; but, unfortunately, it is open only for about six months in the year; it rarely having water before the middle of June, andbeing commonly reduced to a very low ebb by the middle of December; though, in some years, it remains navigable for small boats for a month or six weeks longer. It may, indeed, be passed in such all the year through, provided they be dragged over the shallows, which, often for a mile or more, oppose the progress of whatever may draw more than a few inches of water: in such case, the bottom of a boat should be good, otherwise she may be strained by the immense exertions of perhaps fifty men, who, ranging along either side, and dragging by means of ropes, as well as by pushing and lifting behind, force her along the shallows, and thus pass her over all the more prominent obstacles. I have, more than once, had a very smallpulwar-budjrownavigated, if I may so call it, down theBaugrutty, from Mohanahpore, at the mouth of that river, as far as Berhampore; which, by land, is full forty miles, and, by water, cannot be less than seventy. But there are so many bars, or shoals, between Berhampore and Augah-Deep, about thirty-five miles by land, lower down, as to render that part absolutely impassable, except when the river has an average depth of two feet, or two feet and a half.
During the dry months, the whole of the commodities transmitted from the upper provinces to the Presidency, with the exception of some few articles of small compass, which may belanded at Bagwangolah, and proceed to Augah-Deep overland, are sent down the Ganges for the purpose of proceeding through theSoonderbunds. This highly interesting, but difficult navigation, reaches from the Megna to Calcutta, near to which a canal offers to adventurers a safe and easy communication between the Hoogly and the Salt-Water Lake, which lies at the back of Calcutta. The generality of trading and passage vessels proceed by this cut, paying a moderate toll, either on the tonnage of the former, or the number of oars of the latter. But the salt vessels despatched from Joynaghur, &c., with the produce of the different pans in that quarter, commonly take the lower passages nearChingree-Cauly, andCulpee, which are by far the most dangerous, though rather more direct.
TheSoonderbunds, orSunderbunds, consist of an immense wilderness, full fifty miles in depth, and in length about a hundred and eighty miles. This wilderness, which borders the coast to the water’s edge, forming a strong natural barrier in that quarter, occupies the whole of what is called the Delta of the Ganges; every where intersected by great rivers, and innumerable creeks, in which the tides are so intermixed, that a pilot is absolutely necessary, both to thread the intricacies of the passage, and to point out at what particular parts the currents will, at certain times, be favorable in proceeding either to the eastwardor to the westward. In many places there is scarcely breadth for the passing of a single boat, and even then the boughs of the immense trees, and of the subordinate jungle, frequently are found so to hang over, as nearly to debar the progress of ordinary trading vessels. Fortunately, these narrow creeks are short, or, at least, have in various parts such little bays as enable boats to pass: one or two are, however, so limitted throughout in point of width, as to render it expedient that musquets should be discharged before a boat proceeds, in order that others may not enter at the opposite end of the narrow: but for such a precaution, one of them would be compelled to put back. The water being brackish, or rather absolutely salt, throughout theSunderbunds, it is necessary for all who navigate this passage, to take a good stock; calculating for at least a fortnight’s service. Even the villages, which here and there are to be found on the banks of the great rivers, are sometimes supplied from a great distance; especially during the dry season, when the tides are very powerful.
The regular trading vessels, which pass through the Sunderbunds, perhaps every month, or two, are usually provided with very largenauds, orgounlahs, made in the form of a rather flat turnep, of a black earth which bakes very hard. Casks are never used in India for water; all the shipsin the country trade have one or more tanks made ofteakwood, rendered perfectly water tight, and containing from twenty to fifty butts. The water is thus carried in a small compass, and remains sweet much longer than when in casks. Even if no other reason could be assigned, it must be obvious, that, in a tank, the surface of wood necessary to contain fifty butts of water, will not exceed six hundred and fifty square feet; whereas, each of the fifty butts would present a surface of more than forty feet, whence the whole must amount to two thousand square feet.
Where a ship is navigated by lascars, many rules and ceremonies are adopted for the preservation of the water from impure contact. When native troops are on board, only particular persons are allowed to lay it in, or to serve it out, and even under such precaution, many of the more fastidious shew great aversion to using the tank water; often undergoing great sufferings, both from hunger and from thirst, rather than drink of it, or even taste of viands prepared therewith. But this prejudice has, of late years, subsided considerably, in consequence of the frequent occasions the British government have had to send native troops on distant expeditions by sea.
Casks would certainly prove obnoxious to servants, and others, proceeding through theSoonderbunds, owing to a general opinion among them, that we convey spirits, meat, &c., in such vessels; which, having been once used for such a purpose, could never be viewed by them as receptacles for beverage, without disgust and execration.
The town of Calcutta is supplied with firewood by persons who resort to the woods, about twenty-five miles from Calcutta, where they cut the smaller kinds ofserress,jarrool,soondry,g’hob, &c., into junks about four feet in length, which are rived into two or four pieces, according to their diameter, and carried to market, where such billets are usually retailed at from twelve to fourteen rupees per hundred maunds, delivered at the door. This is the only kind of fuel used in the kitchens of Europeans, and forms the supply of nine-tenths of the native population also: the remainder use theguttiesmade of dung.