Oriental Scenes, Dramatic Sketches and Tales/Notes to the Oriental Scenes
NOTES
TO THE
ORIENTAL SCENES.
NOTES, &c.
A SCENE IN THE DOAAB.
Those persons who have traversed the Doaab, or the neighbouring district of Bundelkhund, or who have navigated the Jumna which separates these provinces of Upper India, will acknowledge the fidelity of the foregoing description, fortresses in the last stage of decay being as plentiful as the ruined villages of which we read in the Persian tale. Amid the almost numberless incursions of the Moosaulmauns from the adjacent countries into Hindostan, many very gallant exploits remain untold, and others have obtained so slight a record, that we are left to guess at the extent of the invaders' conquests by the mouldering wrecks of temples and fortified places which are scattered over the face of the country.
"Its scorching breath the hot wind pours."
The Upper Provinces of Hindostan are subjected to the annual visitation of hot winds, which, during the months of April, May, and June, blow incessantly throughout the day. None save those who have experienced it can form any idea of the heat, which is like that of a furnace. Europeans contrive to keep the interior of their houses cool by thick mats called tatties, made of khuskhus, the root of a fragrant grass, which being kept constantly wetted, mitigate the burning heat of the air as it passes through. The wind generally blows from the westward, and the tatties are fitted into the doors or windows toward that point: they are of comparatively little use when the gale veers to the east, as it then becomes damp as well as hot.
THE BRAMIN.
During a voyage up the Ganges as high as Allahabad, I was particularly attracted by the extreme beauty of the Pagodas which diversify the scenery on the river's banks. As it is the custom for boats to moor close to the shore at sunset, I had frequent opportunities of visiting these Hindoo temples, usually the dwelling place of a Bramin, who derives a frugal existence from the offerings of grain or money left upon the altar by the pious. The flowers which, plaited into wreaths and rosaries, decorate the shrines and enamel the pavement, spring in rich luxuriance amid the vast variety of forest trees which clothe every eminence; and upon our expressing our admiration of their beauty, were pressed upon our acceptance with the utmost courtesy. These Mhuts, or Pagodas, are surrounded by an immense number of animals, who, living in complete security, are perfectly tame and domesticated. The slaughter of a bird or quadruped under the protection of a Bramin, would arouse a whole village to avenge the wrong.
"While his peculiar care the mournful bird."
Chak savak, Brhamanee duck. The Hindoos imagine that for some transgression committed in the human body, the souls of the offending persons are condemned to animate these animals, who are compelled to part at sunset; the male and female flying on different sides of the river, each imagining that the other has voluntarily forsaken the nest, and inviting the supposed wanderer's return with lamentable cries. The Bramins, compassionating the melancholy condition of these birds, hold them sacred, and will not allow them to be molested within the precincts of their jurisdiction.
THE TAAJE MAHAL.
It would be useless to attempt a prose description of the superb edifice reared by the Emperor Shah Jehan, in honour of his most beloved wife Moom Taza Mhal. It is said that on the death-bed of the beautiful and idolized partner of his splendour, the imperial mourner promised to erect a monument to the expiring object of his affections, which should be as unrivalled in magnificence, as the charms and virtues which had distinguished her above the rest of her sex; and, faithful to his vow, engaged the most celebrated artists from the western world to superintend the work. It is erected in a spacious garden washed by the Jumna, in the close vicinity of the city of Agra, and formed of the most precious materials, the outside being of white marble, and the interior inlaid with an infinite variety of gems, opals, agates, turquoise, &c. &c. no less than fifty different kinds of cornelian being employed in the production of one carnation. The gates, which are lofty archways, crowned with cupolas, approach in beauty and splendour to the Taaje Mahal itself; the name interpreted signifies "tomb" and "palace," and conveys in two words the best idea that can be given of a building, of which there is no prototype in the known world.
THE DYING HINDOO.
There are few things more shocking to European eyes than the publicity of death-bed scenes in India, and the apathetical indifference displayed by the Hindoos while attending the expiring moments of their nearest relatives or friends. Frequently, only a few yards from a crowded ghaut thronged by the inhabitants of some neighbouring village, who are laughing, singing, and following their ordinary occupations with the utmost gaiety, a dying person may be seen stretched upon a charpoy (bedstead) close to the river's brink, surrounded by a groupe of three or four individuals, who look upon the sufferer without the slightest appearance of interest. As soon as the breath has left the body, the corse is thrown into the river, death being often precipitated by stuffing the mouth and nostrils with mud. Strangers, attracted by some superb lotus floating down the stream, are disgusted by the sight of a dead body rapidly descending with the tide, the ghastly head appearing above the surface of the water. Every Hindoo is anxious to draw his last sigh on the banks of the Ganges, or some equally sacred stream flowing into its holy waters; the relatives therefore of expiring persons fulfil the last offices of humanity in the manner most desirable to them, by bringing a dying friend to the edge of the river, and consigning the body, when the vital spark has fled, to the hallowed stream. Like the Moosaulmauns, the followers of Brahma are all predestinarians, and make up their minds as easily to the endurance of any inevitable misfortune: wherefore, however strong their affection may be to the living, few, if any, ever think of grieving for the dead.
"To the chabouta's esplanade."
The chabouta is a raised terrace formed of chunam, a composition of clay so well tempered as to take as fine a polish as marble. From these chaboutas a flight of stone or chunam steps descend into the river, and compose the ghauts or landing places, which are often extremely beautiful, especially when they are shaded by a majestic banian or tamarind tree, and accompanied by a mosque or pagoda, or a series of small white Mhuts.
"Her graceful ghurrah filling there."
The ghurrah is a coarse earthen water-pot of an elegant shape. It appears in Mr. Westmacott's (the celebrated sculptor) marble statue of a Hindoo girl seated, and has been very naturally mistaken for an urn. The attitude of the female figure of the groupe alluded to, is not that of a native of Hindostan.
"Freed from each grovelling trammel glide,
And mingle with its holy springs."
Should the patient who has been dedicated to the sacred river, recover from his malady, he loses caste—none of his tribe will associate with a man rejected by the Ganges.
THE NORTH-WESTER.
The brief but devastating storms, denominated in India North-Westers, are of frequent occurrence during the rainy season, and commit dreadful ravages in the course of their rapid progress, as they sweep over the plains, or lash the waters of the Ganges into temporary madness: they come on suddenly without any previous intimation. The one described took place in the vicinity of Moorshedabad, the residence of the Nizam of Bengal, and it dispersed a splendid flotilla of boats belonging to that prince.
"and fling
O'er Ganges' wave each flowery offering."
The Hoogly is one of the mouths of the Ganges, from which it branches a short distance above Moorshedabad: it is esteemed equally sacred, and every wave brings down the lotus or beautiful white or deep crimson flowers consigned by the natives to its silvery tides in honour of the deity of the stream. At night it is also illuminated by lamps burning in fairy shallops of cocoa-nut shells, from which the Hindoos of either sex read the augury of their future fortunes.
THE RAJAH'S OBSEQUIES.
The city of Benares is esteemed so holy, that the pious suppose it to be a jewel or excrescence, placed on, and not a part of, the world. It is situated on the left bank of the Ganges, and is covered with houses to the water's edge; the buildings being intermixed with trees, and separated at intervals by ghauts or landing places, very handsomely constructed of large stones and descending by flights of broad steps into the water, which in many places is thirty feet below the level of the street. The celebrated minarets are attached to a mosque, erected by the Emperor Aurungzebe upon the ruins of a pagoda, and present a proud trophy of Moosaulmaun conquest. The view of Benares from the river is exceedingly picturesque and imposing, affording numberless subjects for the artist's pencil.
"Where ring-doves make their blissful homes,
And the white bull unfettered roves."
The whole surface of the streets of Benares, together with every roof, verandah and porch, are literally covered with an immense variety of pigeons and doves. In addition to other animals held nearly as sacred, the Brahmanee bulls roam at large in vast numbers, obstructing the narrow avenues, and helping themselves without ceremony to all the eatables exposed in the bazars.
"The ghurrees chime the evening hour."
Time is measured in India by a brass vessel perforated, and placed in a pot containing water: the cup or bason is so constructed as to fill and sink at the expiration of an allotted period, when a person appointed for the purpose strikes the hour on a ghurree or gong.
"Proud only of the triple thread."
A string of three threads passed over the shoulder and under the opposite arm, forms the distinguishing mark of the Bramin caste.
"And with a voice divine she sings."
The last words uttered by the Suttee are supposed to be oracular: they usually relate to the transmigrations which the parting spirit is destined to undergo.
"And eager for prophetic strains
Amid the crowd deep silence reigns."
Mr. Derozio, in his very beautiful and truly Oriental Poem, "The Fakeer of Jungheera," has taken advantage of the license to depart from the beaten track, universally allowed, and has placed a highly poetical and spirited effusion, relating to things of far diviner nature than the transmigrations of the soul into the bodies of animals, in the lips of his heroine. I have followed his example by varying the parting address of Mitala from that of her sister victim, but can make no pretensions to the eloquence and harmony of Mr. Derozio's verse.
"The Persian Satrap and the Tartar Khan
The temples of your Gods shall overthrow."
This prediction relates to the outrages perpetrated by Aurengzebe, mentioned in a foregoing note.
NIGHT ON THE GANGES.
The splendid beauty of the nights in India makes amends for the shortness of the witching hour of twilight. Every feature in the landscape, (and every prospect which the Ganges presents is more or less lovely) is distinctly visible when illuminated by the innumerable stars which come shining forth in a tropic sky.
THE LAND STORM.
The Poem thus entitled is an attempt to describe a storm which took place at the breaking up of the hot winds in 1829 in the Doaab. It was the most awful and magnificent sight I ever witnessed: the whole earth seemed to be torn up into billows, as the vast clouds of dust, brought from the great desert, came rolling onwards, spreading darkness as they approached. The tempest lasted about an hour from its commencement, and I shall never forget the joyful sensation which I experienced when the tatties were removed, and we hastened into the verandah and breathed cool air, instead of the streams of gas which had been flowing outside the house for the last three months. Our two Persian cats actually rolled themselves in the wet, and walked through the puddles with the utmost complacency, and all the other animals seemed to derive new life from the refreshing change in the atmosphere.
THE MOOSALMAUN'S GRAVE.
"He asks not who the precious boon bequeathed."
I have been shewn in Bengal several temples whose founders were equally venerated by Hindoos and Moosaulmauns: the latter, who are natives of this province, are however esteemed a degenerate race, corrupted by the example of the idolaters around them. Still the tanks and wells by whomsoever dug (and the followers of both creeds are alike enjoined by the precepts of their religion to bequeath these, and similar benefits to posterity) are the indiscriminate resort of the true believers and the disciples of Brahma. In general some Hindoo Priest or Moosaulmaun Fakeer is established in the temples, which are usually built by the side of a Ghaut or Tank, deriving a frugal subsistence from the bounty of travellers and devotees, who leave a portion of grain or a small piece of money for his use. The shade of a grove of trees and the shelter of a Serai, whether planted or erected by Moosaulmaun or Hindoo, must be equally prized and frequented by both.
NOUR JUFFEIR KHAN.
There is scarcely an eminence on the Bundelkhund bank of the Jumna, between Allahabad and Etawah, the limit of my voyage, that does not present the remains of some fortified place. The country is supposed to be one of the strongest in the world, every hill being table land, and from the great height and steepness of all, forming natural fortresses. The excessive loneliness of the river, excepting in the close vicinity of Chilla Tarah Ghaut, and a few other populous places, affords a strong contrast to the gaiety of the passing scene on the Ganges: the number of wild animals to be seen feeding in apparent security on the shores of the Jumna, give also a savage air to the landscape. The ravines on either side are the dwelling places of hyenas, wolves, and other beasts of prey, while porcupines perambulate the sands, alligators bask upon the mud, and clouds of birds are to be seen in every direction.
"And wandering o'er the teeming plain
White with the cotton's bursting pod."
The country on both sides of the Jumna abounds in cotton, sugar canes, millet and other kinds of grain in a rude state of cultivation; shrubs covered with the nut which produces castor-oil spring spontaneously, and furnish food for lamps as well as the medicine so much prized in Europe. The indigo, which grows wild in the Doaab, is esteemed of as fine a quality as that which in other places is produced by the utmost care and attention of the planter.
"And truly 'twas a gallant sight
When issued forth the hunter train.
It is scarcely possible to imagine any thing more picturesque than an Indian cavalcade, which presents a promiscuous throng, comprehending as many pedestrians as equestrians, clad in the most gaudy colours, and glittering with silver and gold and burnished steel. The people on foot frequently surpass the riders in numbers, each horseman being attended by a dismounted Syce or groom, who, when there is a vast multitude of persons assembled, carries a spear to prevent the collision of other chargers: added to these syces are vast numbers of attendants of various descriptions, who swell the trains of the great men of the party, and they contrive to keep up with their mounted companions throughout the day's journey or sport. The variety of animals which are put into requisition on these occasions, adds considerably to the singularity and gaiety of the scene—the stately elephant, with its housings of scarlet and gold, its gilded howdah, surmounted by a glittering chattah, (umbrella) and its silver bells—the less dignified camel, with its head nodding high in the air, a strange kind of saddle on its arched back, whereon perchance two men are perched, and a jingling necklace decorating its long neck—while every kind of steed, from the noble Arab to the shaggy tattoo or native pony, figures off in the groupe, some of the former with their tails dyed of bright scarlet, their saddles inlaid with gold, their bridles and stirrups of silver, bearing riders attired in rich gold brocade, sparkling with gems, and gleaming with the many coloured shawls of Cashmere.
"Or speeding to the lovely haunts
The Nyl Ghau loves."
The Nyl Ghau is an inhabitant of these districts, which abound in antelopes, deer, and every kind of game.
"While others bear
Encaged the spotted leopards, taught."
Cheetahs, or hunting leopards, are still trained to the chase in Hindostan: vast numbers are kept at Bhurtpore, and at the courts of other native princes, for this purpose. Hawking is still more common: even the Rajahs, who, being Hindoos, are forbidden by their religion to shed blood, enjoy the sport with falcons taught to take the prey alive.
"Fresh from the Jumna's sandy bed
The gushing water- melons shed."
The sands of the Jumna are famous for their water-melons. Citrons, shaddocks, oranges, mangos, pomegranates, plantains, custard apples, &c. &c. are the productions of the gardens; and preserved fruits of all kinds, Pistachio nuts, fresh apples and grapes, are brought with more costly articles of merchandize by the wandering traders of Thibet, who traffic down the country as far as Benares and Patna.