Sketcher.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7737, 7 May 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Sketcher.

HORKOKS OF THE FAMISE IN INDIA. A MILLION I'EOM.E I'EUISIJ. ■ Mere disastrous to India than any similar period in this century was t'us ■ inltor half of 1878 and the early months . ; of 1879, for it was in thiß period that %here raged so fearful a famine that "many huge districts were entirely depopulated, while others were so crippled ' -"by death and disease that their recovery ■ "Will be a matter of years. Wot only was ..aputh India assailed with this disease, V "Tjut even the fertile valleys' of the Juma, I;he uplands of the north-west provinces, ihd the hill-sides of the Himalayas. The •'. -periods -of famine are not rare occur- :\ *enceß in India. Bengal and Lower '•penpal have been repeatedly scourged, Trot the distress in these provlnoes has never been of so severe a nature as that > qf the great famine. In Bengal trans- ' ijortation is easy. It has railroad facili- ■ •ties, its noble rivers, penetrating into the " -vets heart of the jungle, flow through "i gigantic cities, whose marts can be sup- ••.■'• -olied with rice from Burmah and China. •'But it is otherwise in the benighted : iweaidenoy, where in 1878-79 th.re were feeble transportation arwng menU Its : only large river, the Godavi-ry, has Us ', «!dnrse through a country where the '. distress was but slight, consequently the food supplies had to be imported either - itv sea and nnladen in the most danger- .- - ous roadstead in the world, whose surf • '•• is the terror of the traveller and the delight of the artist; or by a railroad . '-whose chief duty lay in getting blocked • -when under any extra pressure, and by : v 'the clumsy dandi, a two-wheeled con- ■••' trivance; drawn by slow but patient ox \\ ' tearijir. r ßowhile -the i Government • wsb \ .■■ straining its every department by inquiry vvto meet the evil, while the. railroad - . stations were blockaded with grain-laden ■.bars, and steam coasters were dropping -. ; : bag/of rice into the Madras roadstead, • ' inßtead of depositing it on shore, millions ■ ''of men, women and children were dying ♦hat most horrible of deaths -slow star- ' 'ration. ' • • '' ,i v', ■ ' Atf INEFFICIENT GOVERNMENT. Although Sir Lepel Griffin, erstwhile Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, has declared in English periodicals that he •would as' lief live;in Russia as in the ' United States, it must be admitted that, perhaps with the exception of Russia, there existed no more despotic or.feeble " Government that did that wbicKjt&s in ; India under the Vi«eroyßUy"-«r Lorj| ". Lytton. Liite the Russian 'Czar, I«B "" i tytton^efrised to believe when it «HP • to hi? interest In'vain tne ■ , • papers referred to Simla as the Capua of • India. •'■■' While towns, villages, and 1 >• hamlets were being polluted by the nn- • buried dead, Lord Lytton and his senile ' conrt were luxnriatina: in the healthful air"ot Simla, giving performances of ',' " Pinafore," into which representation every man with a graceful figure and a '.v note of song was impressed, while the ladies of India,- under the immoral in- .:•'. flaencCofihegifted Yueroy, established : a brief reign of contempt against social i. ■ ordinances, which drew upon them the ..; eoatfaingiirebnka of Dr. Außtin,. v the3 >, correspondent of the London Timcswtio !' -jeferred'tb Simla society as fy'JMfywt; : sore" and ;the.laaies aa^'-soiled/floves. • There' were. h6wever, (good l . men;>nd 1 true in „the jYiceregal Council ,' who' dei tested this Pooling and fiddling, and 1 importaned Lord Lyttpu to succour the '■■ famishing people of Madras. Finally, the 1 Government of, Madras informed the '' Viceroy .that it was. at. the end of its i tether and if prompt assistance was not rendered South' lndia wouW-not have a ■. 80U.1 loft to tell the tale; ; 'V ' ' BELIEF HEASUBBS*. ' '■"■ . Then, began another- tale- of .'-haste,' hurry, and incapacity. Relief measures •'"•' ' we'reprdposedand rejected, rejected and A proposed; 1 The bombastic Sir Eichard •' Temple, Governor of Bombay, beoame a 7 gbrtof confidential adviser to the Govern--1 • • went. wWehso exasperated the Governor ■••• oii Madras, the. Duke of Buckingham, ■••.■ th,ftt,matterß were brought to a standstill, '" -' Wliil© l^ the ■ gentlemen were quarrelling '■••'' aVoiitf infriDgements and > presumption. • ••/ It'was, hPWey er > "solved -that, famine ■ ./camps sbonid'be located in the distressed '■' centres, that those unable to work should 1 be" fed! and for thoseiable to labor^ work V was 'to be provided by the authorities. ■ THen 'carae.the 'harvest, of the bamah, • ' the : middleman of Nb/th India, who '■ brings np the grain. In the most reek- .. less manner were these, purchases made, j >'•' Exorbitant prices were asked aud paid, v tillttie rlbaal Governmentß founa them|, selves bankrupt, and were^administered a severe snubbing by the Viceroy, and a grain rate was -fixed ; money was bor- ■'■' rowed from' native money-lenders at a * ruinous rate of interest, and the game or famine relief- was pursued with vigor. 1 Thousands of centals were poured into , >' Madras,' and rotted or werg^stolen. Then] the intelligent : Ma'dras Government sag--EMted thaVEoropean officers be sent to , '• tho presidency to organise the distribu- .' 'tion ,of the grain 'and money. Again , xvwg Lytton showed his inability. The ! Department of 'the North- wesc was •ordered to send every available man •B6utlr. Their expenses were to be paid, ' alto that of a horse, servant, and entire , : tempequipment, The officers were to ' ,' receive 25 percent, increase .of their pay, Aaod/J!5 cents a, mile for every mile they travelled, whin on.duty. . ■ ■ MORBITANE CHAHpES. 1 The arerage Indian oflioial, especially when yonng, !; i« utterly devoid of conseienoe,and many ayoungfellowdeclared • ■ kis f in'»bUHy ta:mo»r« under 500 to 1,000 rupees,, which was paid, without » murnjnr- 'He 'was also furnished wJth an «der on the Bombay, or Madras presia«£ioies for money "if required. Many a ear-hearted fellow started south with 1 many i brand j.bottle, and between the brandy and the famine fever there was no final nettling. The writer was in Naini Tal. ia the Himalayan, pn sick leave when he was furnished wfth a • commbnd to report at Jooty, in Bombay I Presidency, made famons by Lord Mscaulay's wonderful description of its fortress and rock, for orders. At Bare- ' illy at the foot of the hills, he fell in " with several otberß bound on similar duty and all liberaHy supplied with money. In fact, an F.O, (f*mine officer) was a prize to the liquor dealers and hotels. Hera there seemed to.bei much distress, and as we looked at the scrawny bodies of tho wretohed natives who were picking up the gram which ~h*A fallen from the oars on to the track the remark was nsa«le ; "By jove! we ought to be famining it beta.' AU throngh the north-west was distress ; ' throagh tha central provinces the paople seemed even more unhappy ; through Bombay the condition wos even worse, 1 but when we reaelierl Mrdras there broke in upon n* the horrors of hunger. • From the windows of our carriage we could see villages without a human being, and there upon tba ground lay stretched the dying and the dead, afld we had to 'close the windows to shut o»t the polluted air. Men, women, and cJxi.dten, horses, dogs, cows, jackals, lay dead together. Above was a pitiless blue sky without speck or Flemish. On earth was a parched ground, wells without water, river beds dty. the huge lakes without moisture. Of Mutation th9re was not a green thing, and for nigh three years bad it so been, until all the surplus grata was gono and there was nothing to dobutiie down and die. A OAMP OP PAUPERS. ' ANW being delayed a week at Jtfoty;

whero at the Government expense I livod sumptuously, I was ordered to Madras, where I-did not fara so well, but was finally ordered to Tiutieverly, the most southern Spate in all India. From thence I was sentrtoOotipadarain, where the Collector had established it huge 'camp, ana where 10,000 to 12,000 paupers were being fed. The village of Ootipadaram aits on a huge treeless plain, whnbiplain in better years raised j vast ainount)> of grain, aud the village wus Uiu most thriving of that district. But now its rich Brahmins were dead. Used to a life of ease and plenty, they had been the first to sucenmb to want and privation, and there in their houses with their hands clasped across their knels, or writhing on the floor in agony, they had gasped out their breath calling on God for succour. Women who were onoe beautiful lay dead with their children in their arms, and on the putrid bodies — on the grim skeletons — lay golden anklets, bracelets, earrings, and the fine j»ol<len platter which adorns the wealthy Brahmin " woman's head. Jewels fit ' for crowned heads lay scattered about — jewels which had been refu ;d,and througii all this gloom and misory stalked the professional beggar, poking and prying to find something with which to stay the gnawing at his vitals. A OARNINAL OF DEATH. There were thousandsof human beings busy ranking the camp, and very little food. But the grain was coming, coming, as fast as oxen could drag it, and the many hungry people 1 , elated with hope, struggled bravely aguinst death. In all that vast and starving crowd there was no murmur. Onoe or twice an importunate woman would catch my leg and ask- whether it were true that the grain was coming. . No ■ shudder _ of horrorelectrified their frames when thrice i ai-h day the carta laden with dead would pass from out of the camp and dump the bodies in' the long trenches. At iast the grain train came. Every pauper ontside the camp wbb driven in and securely locked up, within the fence. The grain wae unloaded — but the food ihi'V so' anxiously waatcd to eat was daiii»d many a one. Tie slrain in many instances was too great. The joy was too violent, and in aigbt of plenty they di-d. After the arrival of tbpk-gfa'D 'lie camp whs organised, and twodaily doles wfra made— one in tho moininaand one in the evening. One dole consisted of rice and chile water, an 3 after the first day's food the mortality in the c»mp was frightful. It rose to over 1,000 , a-day. I The p»upera were ranged in long lines, flfea'ch was furnished with a platter into Bwhich was thrown tho rice, and then sprinkled with cbile-water. ' Ere the hand could convey the food to the month, the espeotant ea'er wbnld bo dead; others whilst gulping, down their food would be seized with convulsions ; some who had finished their rioe would linger an hour or so, their stomachs swollen to an incredible size, and' die, 'raving maniacs; and some would dish their heads against the ground' delirious from joy. In every horrid shape stood death -rdeath in every revolting an 4 hideous form." . \ rrjßLia wobks. ) j The public works started for the relief of famine pauperß were simply use- ,' fril' to contractors as money - makiog ventures. Of their utility to the (Joy ernment every one in the Tinnevell, district doubted. A-huge reßervoir was Was made under the Bupeaihtendenoy of tie Publio Works Department, but it was playing at work. Frauds were being perpetrated on every side; the Tehsliders, or native collectors, began to purloin rice, the worthless native dootors put in huge supply lists where port wine, brandy, sago, and arrowroot conspicuously figured ; but neither the aolitude of the Hospital Department, the potency of the brandy, or the strengthening influence of arrowroot and sage could keep alive a people who were practically dead. At one .time it seemed| that no human endeavour could keep the district from entire depopulation. The food supply was gradually diminishing, and orders were being frequently reoeived to keep the • dole down. The distress was spreading to other taluks, and it appeared that the Government would soon be called upon to feed the entire native population of India, and therefore it was necessary to curtail the supply This measure again increased the mortality, and the death rate stood Higher than «ver. Virulent diseases broke oat, email-pox raged furiously, the hospital attendants opened the hospital pan,B and fl^d ; 'the sore-covered patients invaded the. o amp, got out of the inclo«ureV and. spread the disease to a frighti(x\ 'tk.tpai.JVos near a month there wae a total l'aoic of order. - THE JATAMSI'B BBMEK. In vain' the- European officials attempted to restore courage and discipline. ; "It is the fate of God that these people shoatd perish," would the Tehsildar remark. 1 - "Save yourself, Swami. You cannot kght God. The only thing that wjll ressore pourrge is rain. If God would send us but 'one shower, then shall we be Bared." It was useless to insist that providence lay in effort. " Swamj, our hands are tied. God alone can assist us. Will rain be present at our last appeal V The Tehslidar made this requoat in a strangely agitated manner. He was a Vishnuite Brahmin, a very learned man, an efficient officer, and imbued with heresy. I asked bim what the appeal was to be. He took a chair, and said, " Two years ago I told the collector we should have a fomine. Once in every ten years there ia famine. 1889 90 there will be another one wone than this. It is the law of the land. The Brahmin Vießts told the people to save their grain; §ome have done so. Their ■words oanje truo j no rain fell. But yet they hoped. J&ln, sajd fibey, will fall next year. Again the s/a&son passed, and sot a drop of rain did Go 4 send #s. Then came this year, and daily we have watched, daily we have prayed for rain. Our rivers, one by one, ran dry, our tanks became waterless, our wells bavo all disappeared. Thirst is not the only torture we suffer. Bat in the teaiple there js a spring whose watess are fys£ dying. To-night at sundown wo shall take the water that is left and mako a libation to the offended God. Will you come ! It will strengthen art help tho peopla." COMING Ofi ME BAfU. ! Asjtbe aun sank that night, the priests bearing a jar of the precious water, escorted by a hungry, sore-affict'ed throng to beat of a drnmb and tinkle of cymbal, made the libation. " 'Well," Tehslidar said, " and what if yet so rajn — and your last water gone !" " The rein jy»H oome, Bwami," was his calm reply. "We felt it yesterday morning." The Tehdiilar apoko out bnt too Ipuly : for a few days afterwards the ' heavens Jjroke in delage, and tho country was .flooded. From the Tiunevelly district I wos sont'lo tueshevary Hills, in Central Madras, to organise relief njeaaurss j frotn tbonc.e to the North- ' west, where the djsfrpss was very acute. , Thus for two years and o- half I was ■ in the most distressed portions of India. I That the Indian Government wail in , some measure to blame for its apathy jn not eorly recognising the distress | there cjn be no doubt, but praiue must ' bo accorded £o the individual officers 1 for their endeavours frj do their duty . Homo estimate can be forced of the ! prevalence of tbo distress when it is stated that the province of Mysore lost I i jpwr J 7 OOp,OOU o|f people. Perhaps no

I other country would have done betler upper similar circumstances. '