We
Were Not Long, Therefore, In Making Our Arrangements For Escaping From
Allahabad, With The Prospect Before Us Of Exchanging
The discomforts
of another hot season in the plains, for the pleasures of a sojourn in
the far-famed valley
Of Cashmere, and a tramp through the mountains of
the Himalayas - the mountains, whose very name breathes of comfort and
consolation to the parched up dweller in the plains. The mountains of
"the abode of snow!"
Our expeditionary force consisted at starting of but one besides the
brother officer above alluded to - the F. of the following pages
- and myself. This was my Hindoo bearer, Mr. Rajoo, whose duty
it was to make all the necessary arrangements for our transport
and general welfare, and upon whose shoulders devolved the entire
management of our affairs. He acted to the expedition in the capacity
of quartermaster-general, adjutant-general, commissary-general,
and paymaster to the forces; and, as he will figure largely in the
following pages, under the title of the "Q.M.G.," and comes, moreover,
under the head of "a naturally dark subject," a few words devoted to
his especial description and illumination may not be out of place.
With the highest admiration for England, and a respect for the
Englishman, which extended to the very lining of their pockets,
Mr. Rajoo possessed, together with many of the faults of his race,
a certain humour, and an amount of energy most unusual among the
family of the mild Hindoo. He had, moreover, travelled much with
various masters, in what are, in his own country, deemed "far lands;"
and having been wounded before Delhi, he had become among the rest of
his people an authority, and to the Englishman in India an invaluable
medium for their coercion and general management.
To us he proved a most efficient incumbent of the several offices
we selected him to fill. His administration no doubt did display an
occasional weakness; and his conduct as paymaster to the forces was
decidedly open to animadversion; for, in this capacity, he seemed to
be under the impression that payments, like charity, began at home,
and he also laboured under a constitutional and hereditary infirmity,
which prevented him in small matters from discerning any difference
between MEUM and TUUM.
Having been employed collectively, however, it would be unfair to judge
of his performances in detail; and from his satisfactory management
of the expedition, occasionally under such trying circumstances as a
break-down in the land transport, or an utter failure in his tobacco
supply, we had every reason to be satisfied with our choice. The
latter misfortune was the only one which really interfered at any time
with his efficiency, or upset his equanimity, and it unfortunately
occurred always at the most inopportune seasons, and at a time when
he was undergoing his greatest hardships.
As long as the supply lasted, the mysterious gurglings of his "Hubble
Bubble," or cocoa-nut water-pipe, might be heard at almost any hour of
the day or night. "Hubble bubble, toil and trouble," was the natural
order of his existence; and when in some peculiarly uncivilised region
of our wanderings, the compound of dirt, sugar, and tobacco, in which
his soul delighted, was not forthcoming, he and his pipe seemed at
once to lose their vitality, and to become useless together. The
temporary separation which ensued, being in its way a MENSA ET THORO,
was a source of trouble and inconvenience to all concerned, and we had,
more than once, cause to regret not having given the tobacco question
that forethought and consideration to which it would be well entitled
by any one undertaking a similar expedition.
Overlooking these weaknesses, Mr. Rajoo's character was beyond
reproach, and for the particular work he had to perform, his
combination of efficiency, portability, and rascality, rendered him
in every respect "the right man in the right place."
Such was our "head of affairs," and such the small force he had at
first to provide for. As we passed out of India, and got further from
regions of comparative civilisation, his cares increased: cellar,
kitchen, larder, farm-yard, tents, &c. had then to accompany our
wandering steps, and the expedition gradually increased in size,
until it attained its maximum of nearly forty. From this it again as
gradually decreased, and as one by one our retainers disappeared, it
dwindled in dimensions until it finally reached its original limited
proportions, and then "we three met again," once more upon the plains
of India.
All our necessary preparations having been completed, and a sacrifice
of three precious weeks having been duly offered to the inexorable
genius who presides over public correspondence, we reduced our
impedimenta to the smallest possible compass, and with about a
hundred pounds to commence life with, all in two shilling pieces,
that being the only available coin of the realm in this our second
century of British administration, we took our departure by railway for
Cawnpore. Here we found ourselves located and hospitably entertained in
the house in which our unfortunate fellow-countrywomen were confined
on their recapture from the river by the Nana Sahib, one of the few
mementos of the mutiny still left standing at Cawnpore.
Next day we laid our dak for Simla, and about six o'clock in
the evening, with the Q.M.G. on the roof, and ourselves and our
possessions stowed away in the innumerable holes and corners of
the rude wooden construction called a "Dak garee," or post coach,
we took our departure. After a few mishaps with our steed, involving
the necessity of getting out to shove behind, we entered upon the
Grand Trunk Road, and with a refreshing sense of freedom and relief,
soon left Cawnpore in all its native dust and dreariness behind us.
The Pleasures of the Plains.
MAY 21, 1860. - Being fairly under weigh, our first attention was
directed towards the machine which was to be, in a great measure, our
home for many days to come.
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