At First Sight, The Necessity Of Trying To Clear Such
Lonely Roads As We Were Travelling Was Not Altogether Apparent;
But A Slight Acquaintance With The General Principles And Laws Of
Progression Of The National Indian Institution Called A Bullock-Cart,
Or "Beil-Garee," Soon Clears Up The Difficulty.
Built entirely of wood,
and held together by scraps of ropes and cord, a more hopeless-looking
machine cannot exist; and drivers and bullocks alike share in the
general woodenness and impassibility of the structure.
The animals,
too, having probably lost all the better feelings of their nature
in such a service, are appealed to entirely through the medium of
their tails, and the operation occasionally results in the whole
creaking mass being safely deposited in some capacious rut, there to
remain until "the Fates" - assuming, perhaps, the appearance of three
additional bullocks - arrive to draw it out again. Occasionally, too,
the institution comes to a halt for the night, comfortably drawn up
in the centre of the line of traffic, with a delightful disregard
for aught but the present, and an air of supreme contempt for the
most eloquent music of all the ragged coachmen on the Grand Trunk Road.
Every five miles we stopped to change our horse, and miserable
indeed was the raw-boned little animal that made his appearance on
every occasion. Still the pace was kept up in spite of appearances,
and at seven A.M. we reached "Ghoorsahagunge" - more generally known
as GOOSEYGUNGE - sixty miles from Cawnpore, and 197 from Delhi.
Here we slept in peace until eleven o'clock, and awoke from dreams
of Cashmere to the unpleasant realities of a violent dust-storm. The
usual "Khus-khus tatties," or screens of fragrant grass, which are
kept in a continual state of moisture at door and window, and convert
the dust-charged scorching blast into a comparative coolness, were
not forthcoming, and our halt was not a pleasant one by any means:
still our faces were towards the mountains, and the pleasures of hope
enabled us to take our misfortunes with entire philosophy. We started
again about five P.M., when the power of the sun was somewhat abated,
and encountered the usual difficulties with refractory horses at every
change. A start was in no case effected without much management and
exertion. A half-naked black generally attaches himself to each wheel;
the driver, from a post of vantage, belabours the miserable horse with
all his might and main; the Q.M.G. takes a firm hold of the rails on
the roof; and all shouting, grunting, and using bad language together,
away we go at full gallop, if we are in unusual luck, for about 300
yards. Then comes a dead stop: the same operation commences again,
and so on, until the animal is sufficiently far from his last stable
to be able to look forward with some confidence to the one ahead,
and resigns himself to circumstances accordingly. One peculiarity in
this peculiar country we found to be, that in putting our steed-to,
the English custom is reversed.
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