Tommy Atkins in India.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 914, 6 September 1889, Page 10

Tommy Atkins in India.

Colburn’s United Service Magazine. The native cannot understand the soldier’s high spirits. He himself moves in one calm dignified groove, which makes him disin. dined to laugh and incapable of appreciating ■anything funny or comical. WRat with the soldier’s whooping and shouting as he clings 4o the neck of his steed in hi 3 mad gallop, and his otherwise comical appearance, there is really some justification for the native’s opinion of his sanity. Sometimes a soldier goes out into the oountry for another purpose. Dressed in a dirty-brown suit, the better to prevent himself f’-om being seen, with any nondescript cap or hat on, but generally a thing made of pith, which is in shape like a gigantic hollo wed-out mushroom, thoroughly protectiug his face and neck from the sun, and with his legs bound with flannel bandages to protect them from the thorns, he sallies forth with his gun on shoulder and his dog by his side, in search of game, for which he will have to tramp soma miles. Sometimes he becomes ambitious of meeting with larger game, when be takes a thirty, forty, or fifty mile trip by train, and get out at some lonely road-side station, where thick bush and cover is plentiful and convenient ; here he will obtain a goodly bag. He puts his game to other uses besides eating, for he is sometimes clever at preserving the heads and horns of deer, stuffing birds, and preserving skins, all of which he will sell, and’ exppnd the proceeds in ammunition and other shooting requisites. At a moderate distance from the cantonment game is sometimes plentiful, and includes antelope, nylghye, sambhur. deer, hyena 3, leopards, jungle cats, hares, partridges, grouse, quail, snipe, wild geese, ducks, teal, and other water fowl. •It is related of a soldier stationed at Nowgong, Central India, a few years ago, that he actually walked up to a sleeping tiger, which he and his comrade accidentally came acroas, and blew its brains out with nothing but a charge of slugs. It is needless to point out the danger and foolhardiness of an act like this, for if the animal had not been killed right off, the man would probably have been torn to pieces. Snakes abound during the monsoons everywhere, and the cobradi-capello and karait are exceedingly dangerous. I never knew or heard of anyone escaping a bite of the former except once, and this was an officer of the Ist Goorkha Regiment, stationed at Dhurumsala, who was bitten in the finger, and who with his own hands blew the finger off with hie gun, and so saved his life. T&e cobra may always be readily recognised from its dark colour, and the fact of its having a hood, which its spreads out when aroused. It will rarely attack unless one goes near it. The karait is perhaps even more dangerous, from its power of getting over the ground more quickly. Snakes are by no means common about the barrackß, as the soldiers and they are deadly enemies. Many stories have been written about snake charmers’ power of charming snakes, and enticing them out of their holes ; but 1 firmly believe that snakes cannot be charmed out of their holes. I give the two following experiments as reasons for my belief. Two snake charmers came and tendered their services. After performing some tricks withtheir own tame snakes, I asked one of them to catch a snake thatl knew was somewhere In my garden. He began droning on his instrument, 1 following close to his heels. He played for some time ; at last, turning round sharp, he directed my attention to a certain spit, and th.en turned round in quite another direction and, as quick as lighting, dragged forth a snake. I was perfectly astounded and thought him very clever, and I blamed myself for not looking in the right direction, and for having misunderstood him as I thought ; but on examining the ground I could see no hole, nor any place where the snake could have hidden itself. However, I rewarded him, and he went away. A few days after another charmer came, bub he was older and less active. I asked him to attract another snake, if there should be one about. He answered me it was very probable there was, and he at once commenced droning on his instrument; but without taking the trouble to put me off the scent he almost at once bent down on a clear piece of ground, on which no snake could possibly have lain and not been seen, and palled forth a snake, which I saw him dexterously withdraw in a coil from the folds of his waist-cloth. I now became convinced that the firsbease was also a clever piece of deception.' The,so-called snake charmers frequently came round the barracks to exhibit their snakes, whose fangs have no doubt been drawn, and this enables fche charmers to handle them with such impunity. The stings of scorpions, the bites of the tarantula spider, and of centipedes are very severe.

However, balancing the evils against the good, I think the soldier's life in India compares favourably with hi? service at home. In India his pay is more, inasmuch as he can buy more with it, so long as he buys country produce and not English. The scenery around him is every varying, and often picturesque and interesting ; and, finally, if the climate does not happen to agree with him, he haa the consolation of knowing he need not endure it very long.