A SOLDIER'S ADVENTURE IN INDIA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1508, 24 January 1901, Page 59

A SOLDIER'S ADVENTURE IN INDIA.

Many years ago, my regiment • was marching from Dinapore to Bareilly, East Indies. For some reason unknown to us, we - diverged from the recognised route after leaving Lucknow, striking northward towards the Nepalese Terai, a district wlncli has, not been visited by British troops since the Mutiny. ■ Day alter day, our route lav* through a district abounding in- game of every description, winch caused -us to be particularly on the alert at night, in order to frustrate the inquisitiveness of our four-footec’ neighbours. Despite our alertness, a few snakes would endeavour to acquire a sleeping partnership with the inhospitable Term lilies; wno generally executed these intruders with promptness and despatch. As several of our camp-followers nad been bitten—two of them with fatal reside—the Colonel issued an order, that when anyone was bitten, he should instantly repair to the hospital marquee to have the wounded attended to; and not. as is the custom with so many of the natives, make an effort tc prevent the virus from spreading through the system. v We had at this time a Maltese in A Company, named Savona.; but .who was generally known as “Soapy Joe. ' Although but a short time in the regiment, he had displayed great skill and ingenuity in the mechanical “arts, on one occasion rendering great service to tne regimental Jpaymaster by pipkiug the lock of the treasury chest, when that popular officer had lost the key. 'The Regimental “Coffee-wallah” who accompanied .us on this march was a fat Pea-see, named Lai Khanjee, who used to sleep with his two bearers in tne "coffee-shop," as the large refreshment tent was called. One sultry Sunday night, Lai Khanjee retired to rest with his cash-box under his pillow; his bare feet resting in close proximity to the wall.of the tent. About midnight, ‘“Soapy Joe” issued forth from the lines, and squirmed! through the long grass towards the “coffee-shop.” After carefully reconnoitring the place, lie proceeded to cut a slit, in the tent near the “coffee-wal-lah’s" feet. Away he crept towards the brazier, in which the charcoal embers remained, and inserted the points of two darning-needles affixed to a stick among''the glowing embers.. As soon as the needles were red hot, he quickly returned to the tent, and, locating, the “wallah’s” bare feet, gave a. jab with tile needles, at the same time hissing in iae indescribable manner common to the cobra. The Parsee woke up with a start, and hearing the hissing, concluded he had been bitten by a cobra. With a bloodcurdling yell of “Cobra! cobra!” he bounded forth, and made a bee-line for the. hospital, his affrighted bearers following in his wake. Quickly and quietly Joe emerged from his retreat, lifted the cash-box, and made for the lines by taking a wide detour. On the arrival of the terrified man at the hospital, the doctor applied a ligature, and treated the wound to spirits of ammonia ad lib, with such success that Lnl Khanjee was sufficiently recovered to return to his “coffee-shop” at daybreak, only to realise that his cash-box had been extracted by “some person or persons unknown.” The history or the affair leaked out a few years later, when, meeting Joe — who had left the army and settled down in Alexandria—near Caracalla ’Ban, he related the whole adventure, which, on being told to his former comrades, caused infinite amusement. —C.T.0.C., in “Sheffield Telegraph