As Regarded The Ganges Canal, They
Were Of Opinion That, With Due Attention To Drainage, Improvement Rather
Than Injury To The General Health Might Be Expected To Follow The
Introduction Of Canal Irrigation."[34] In An Unpublished Note Written
About 1889, Yule Records His Ultimate Opinion As Follows:
"At this day,
and after the large experience afforded by the Ganges Canal, I feel sure
that a verdict
So favourable to the sanitary results of canal irrigation
would not be given." Still the fact remains that the Ganges Canal has been
the source of unspeakable blessings to an immense population.
The Second Sikh War saw Yule again with the army in the field, and on 13th
Jan. 1849, he was present at the dismal 'Victory' of Chillianwallah, of
which his most vivid recollection seemed to be the sudden apparition of
Henry Lawrence, fresh from London, but still clad in the legendary Afghan
cloak.
On the conclusion of the Punjab campaign, Yule, whose health had suffered,
took furlough and went home to his wife. For the next three years they
resided chiefly in Scotland, though paying occasional visits to the
Continent, and about 1850 Yule bought a house in Edinburgh. There he wrote
"The African Squadron vindicated" (a pamphlet which was afterwards
re-published in French), translated Schiller's Kampf mit dem Drachen into
English verse, delivered Lectures on Fortification at the, now long
defunct, Scottish Naval and Military Academy, wrote on Tibet for his friend
Blackwood's Magazine, attended the 1850 Edinburgh Meeting of the British
Association, wrote his excellent lines, "On the Loss of the Birkenhead,"
and commenced his first serious study of Marco Polo (by whose wondrous
tale, however, he had already been captivated as a boy in his father's
library - in Marsden's edition probably). But the most noteworthy literary
result of these happy years was that really fascinating volume, entitled
Fortification for Officers of the Army and Students of Military History,
a work that has remained unique of its kind. This was published by
Blackwood in 1851, and seven years later received the honour of
(unauthorised) translation into French. Yule also occupied himself a good
deal at this time with the practice of photography, a pursuit to which he
never after reverted.
In the spring of 1852, Yule made an interesting little semi-professional
tour in company with a brother officer, his accomplished friend, Major R.
B. Smith. Beginning with Kelso, "the only one of the Teviotdale Abbeys
which I had not as yet seen," they made their way leisurely through the
north of England, examining with impartial care abbeys and cathedrals,
factories, brick-yards, foundries, timber-yards, docks, and railway works.
On this occasion Yule, contrary to his custom, kept a journal, and a few
excerpts may be given here, as affording some notion of his casual talk to
those who did not know him.
At Berwick-on-Tweed he notes the old ramparts of the town: "These, erected
in Elizabeth's time, are interesting as being, I believe, the only
existing sample in England of the bastioned system of the 16th century....
The outline of the works seems perfect enough, though both earth and stone
work are in great disrepair.
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