One
Last Lingering Look At Cashmerian Ground, A Step Over The Side, And
We Were Once More Standing Upon The Territories Of Queen Victoria,
And In The Burning Land Of India - Happily, However, Still Six Days'
Journey From The Plains.
OCTOBER 12.
- Marched up the spur of the Muree Hill to Dewul,
where we found a room in a mud fort converted into a halting-place
for travellers, reached by a series of break-neck ladders, and
looking very much like a cell in a prison, with its two chairs
and clumsy wooden table. Here we found a little amusement in the
arrival of the Chota Sahib, or "small gentleman," - otherwise
the Assistant Civil Commissioner of the district, - to review the
fort and its dependencies. On the first tidings of his approach,
the Thanadar immediately turned out the entire garrison, consisting
of twelve military policemen, called "Burqundaz," or "Flashers of
lightning!" These soon appeared in their full dress of crimson turbans
and yellow tights, and, shouldering their "flint-locks," proceeded to
perform a series of intricate evolutions, by way of practice for the
rapidly-approaching inspection. When the great little man did arrive,
there was, we thought, a good deal of irregularity among the troops,
such as laughing in the ranks and treading on toes, &c. However,
the only point the inspecting officer dwelt upon was the absence of
uniformity in dress, caused by the deficiency of two pairs of yellow
tights among the lightning flashers, otherwise he appeared perfectly
satisfied, and all went off well. After his review he invited himself
to our dinner-party, and honoured our repast with the further addition
of a kid stew. He turned out to be one of the ex-Company's officers,
a subaltern of eighteen years' service, FIFTEEN of which had been
spent away from his regiment on the staff. He was with his corps,
however, when it mutinied, and escaped without much difficulty. The
unfortunate colonel of the regiment, finding that none of his men
would shoot him, had done so with his own hand. He gave it as his
opinion that the cartridges WERE the cause of the mutiny; but allowed
that his regiment was in a bad state of discipline some time before,
and that all the native corps were known to be disaffected years
before the event occurred, both by the officers present and those
absent upon staff employ. Altogether, after the Chota Sahib had
thoroughly discussed both the mutiny and the dinner, we were left
under the impression that there was quite sufficient cause for the
disaffection of the Bengal army without ever arriving at the vexed
question of greased cartridges at all.
OCTOBER 13. - Marched early into the Hill Station of Muree. Not being
yet quite in walking trim, I had pressed a mule into the service,
who carried me in good style as far as the entrance to the town. Here,
however, he seemed suddenly to remember that we had each a character
to support, and, stopping short, he utterly refused to budge another
step. Not being willing even to be led, I finally abandoned him to
his own devices, and walked on to the Commandant's bungalow, where
I found my companion already hospitably received, and comfortably
seated at breakfast, discussing kidneys and beefsteaks, and such like
unwonted delicacies of the Muree season.
After getting somewhat over the novelty and discomfort of being again
in a house with doors and glass windows, and other inconveniences,
we sallied out to inspect the station.
Like its CONFRERES of the Hills - Simla, Kussowlie, &c. Muree was
a prettily-situated little settlement, with houses scattered about
entirely according to the freaks and fancies of the owners, and with
utter disregard of all system whatever. The Mall was a fine one,
and its gaily-dressed frequenters, in jhampans and palkees, &c. were
of the unmistakeable stamp of Anglo India in the Hills. Two or three
of the ladies, however, were bold enough to walk, and looked none
the worse for being divorced from their almost inseparable vehicles,
and unattended by their motley crowd of red, and green, and variegated
bearers.
OCTOBER 14. - Spent a quiet day among the hospitalities of Muree, and
became gradually accustomed to CITY LIFE. Going to church seemed rather
a strange process, and the building itself was but a bad exchange
for the grander temples which we had frequented for so many Sundays.
OCTOBER 15. - Laid our dak by doolie to Lahore, and, with our
hospitable entertainer to guide us, started at five P.M. by a short
cut, to meet our new conveyances.
Reaching the main road, we once more packed ourselves away in our
boxes, and, the sun soon setting his last for us upon the Cashmere
mountains, left us to make our way down to the miserable plains as
fast as the flaring and spluttering light of a couple of pine torches
would allow our bearers to patter along.
From this, until we reach Lahore, we are accompanied by an incessant
shuffle shuffle of naked feet through the dusty road; jabbering and
shouting of blacks, flickering of torches, bumping of patched and
straining doolies against mounds of earth, glimpses of shining naked
bodies, streaming with perspiration, as they flit about, and the whole
enveloped in dense and suffocating clouds of dust, which penetrate
everything and everywhere, and soon become, in fact, a part of one's
living breathing existence; occasionally, outstripping our procession,
a vision passes, like the glimmer of a white strip of linen, a
stick, and a black and polished body, it rushes by like the wind,
and disappears in the gloom of dust and night, and, in a second, her
Majesty's mail has passed us on the road! As we near the plains this
vision undergoes a slight change, and takes the form of an apparition
of two wild horses tearing away with a red and almost body-less cart;
this also goes by like a flash, but gives more notice of its coming,
and our torches, for a second, light up the figure of a wild huntsman,
with red and streaming turban, who sits behind the steeds and blows a
defiant blast at us as he also vanishes into the darkness.
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