LEAVES FROM AN INDIAN DIARY.

Evening Star, Issue 7484, 31 March 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

LEAVES FROM AN INDIAN DIARY.

No. XXVIII. The extension of railways has so completely clone away with palanquin travelling that I may as well put down how it used to be done. When I first went to India the only way of getting about the country .was either to march with tents or travel in a palanquin carried by relays of bearers. The first innovation on palanquins were "equirotals" i.e., palanquins on four large wheels, which the bearers could drag along the metalled roads, but which of course were useless for going across country. The next step was a truck, upon which palanquins were lashed, and which were dragged along the frequented routes by relays of ponies. These, again, were succeeded by " palkee-gharrics, whioh are still In use where railwayp have not been constructed. In some parts of India these "palkeegharries," or palanquin carriages, are drawn by camels ; in others by ponies. The longest palanquin journey I ever made was from Calcutta through Benares, Allahabad, Cawnpore, and Meerut to Kurnal, about 1,000 miles. I got over the ground at about eighty miles a day ; but, being boxed up, and principally on my back, for twelve days, was rather trying and monotonous. I had one little excitement on that journey, for as I passed Shcrgotty in the early morning the men dropped me and bolted. Looking through the half-opened doors I saw a tiger, about twenty yards off, at the side of the road. I got my pistols from under my pillow, but I scarcely dared to move. My intention was to blaze into his face should he come sniffing round the palanquin. He probably had had his fill, for he went away without paying any attention to me, and after a little time the men 1 returned and carried me on my way. Along frequented routes, such as the Grand Trunk road, the arrangements for a palanquin journey were simple enough. You engaged a " sir-burhae," or fore-runner, who took your money, and, starting two or three days ahead of you, paid down to the head man at each stage the amount due for the number of bearers, etc., you required. In this way he would cover about sixty miles a day, and if your journey was a long one, and he could not do it all, he would engage another to take up the running, so that by the time you came up it would be all square and ready for you. The pay of a sir-burhae was Gd a stage going and 3d a stage return hire ; yet you would entrust him with L2O, L3O, or Lso—a sum that if he chose to walk off with it would to him be a mine of wealth. But though I have travelled a good deal in this way, I cannot recall a single instance where I have been done. Of course, here and there I have found an odd man short from sickness, etc., but his confreres have always done the work and carried me through the stage. A palanquin costs from L 6 to LlO, and after your sir-burhae had got a good start, according to the distance you had to go, you packed it with your bedding, got your sword alongside you, pistols under your pillow, a few odds and ends—such as string, hammer, nails, some biscuits, a few books, etc.—on the shelf at the foot. Your clothes were packed in boxes, each box to weigh about 401bs, and to be carried in pairs on a bamboo, as we see Chinamen going about here. For your palanquin you required eight bearersfour and four in turns; also, one man for each pair of boxes and a torch-bearer with oil in his vessel to feed the torch. After saying good-bye to your friends you got into your palanquin and away you went at a run. The great art in carrying smoothly was never to put two feet down simultaneously, but separately. Thus the two front ment stepped alternately 1, 3, 2, 4 in a regular run, and the men behind in the same way. At the end of the stage of about twelve miles the men would waken you up saying "Saheb! Saheb! the old bearers want bakshish " ; and if you gave them Gd to Jbe divided amongst the lot they were quite contented, and would pass you on to the new set with a good character, as a gentleman who gave a present. A threat to withhold bakshish was generally sufficient to make them careful and hasten their speed. Along the main lines of route the Government erected staging bungalows at convenient distances, so that after a night's travel you could stop and get simple food, such as fowls' eggs, curry and rice, unleavened cakes, etc., at fixed rates announced on the notice board hung up in the centre room; and for tho use of the bungalow you paid one rupee per diem. On your arrival at the bungalow the cook in charge of the place would hasten forward, and, making a profound salaam, ask what your lordship would like to eat. The question was generally met by an inquiry on your part as to what you could have. The answer would be : " Whatever you like to order"; but it usually ended by your getting grilled fowl one day and fowl grilled the next, with a similar change in the cooking of your eggs. One thing yoa could always dopend upon getting good—viz., a cup of coffee, prepared without any elaborate apparatus : roasted in an iron pot, pounded on a stone, boiled in a copper saucepan, and strained through a bit of cloth ; but it was fresh, with all the aroma in it, and without the chicory and horse beans. As soon as your order for breakfast was given an exciting chase would commence after one of the roosters of the fowl-yard. The Indian domestic fowl was generally a long-legged creature, something like a Maori hen, so he used to give a good run, several times round the house and up and down the garden ; and even then tho running fowl would only succumb to foul running and superior numbers. The sport used to be awfully unfair, but il faut vivre, and without the fowl you would fare badly. Whilst the cook was preparing your food you could bathe and dress, and after your meal you could either rest during the heat of the day or go on again at once. Before leaving, a book was brought to you, in which you were expected to enter your name and address, times of arrival and departure, amount paid for the house, and in the remarks column state whether you were satisfied, or had any complaint to make. Many a curious entry in solid prose, or gushing rhyme, have I read in these books. Along unfrequented routes, where relays of men could not be got at short stages, the usual plan was to get sixteen or twenty bearers who would carry you fifty or sixty miles at a stretch to the nearest large town on the way, where you would have to get a new lot. It is wonderful what these men can carry. They are slight and small. So far as mere brute strength is concerned, one European is equal to several of them put together; but they have the knack of carrying. On one occasion, out riding across country, a friend who was with me got a bad fall. He was about eighteen stone, and not only had his arm broken, but was badly shaken. At a neighboring village I managed to get a doolie find three bearers, but a fourth man was not to be had, so I had to put my shoulder to the pole for about three miles, and I can only say I never felt such a duffer in my life. I could only stagger along slowly, whilst tho three slight Hindoos made nothing of it, and were as fresh as daisies when I was utterly exhausted,