A BENGAL PILOT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 63

A BENGAL PILOT.

RECRUITING IN NEW ZEALAND. A DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS SERVICE. . / Rudyard Kipling happily describes in "From Sea to Sea” perhaps the most interesting- set of-navigator® in existence —the pilots who guide the vessels of every nation up one hundred and miles of one or the most, treacherous rivers known—-the HUghli, that* great ' waterway from Calcutta to the' sea. ;KiplingV description of the Bengal pilot is- worth quoting. He says; —“ln a room at the bottom or the building (the Bengal Pilot Service offices ,< lounge big men, carefully dressed. Now, there is a. type of face which belongs .a)most exclusively to Bengal cavalry officers —majors for choice. . Everybody knows the fc'ronzed, black moustached, clear-, speaking native cavalry officer. He exists unnaturally iii the novel and naturally on the frontier.- These men in the big room have his cast of face so strongly marked that one marvels what officers are doing by the river. ' They .are pilQtsWspme ,o| them draw between two and. thres thousand rupees (between £l3O and £200) a month, ’ arid - they are sometimes responsible for half a million pounds worth of cargo. They certainly are men, and carry themselves as such/’ ; ; It was ndth one of these typical’pilots, Mr J. R. Chase, who is at present visiting the colony, during a twoeyears* furlough, that a representative ,of tho "Times’’ had a chat on the Bengal pilot service in particular and things in geneIn the first place, Mr Chase said, the Bengal pilot service is recruited from the training ships Worcester and Conwa;y .of the Mercantile Marine; Associations The

Worcester is anchored 1 in the Thames and the Conway is at Liverpool. On these vessels a youth is educated in all branches of navigation at a cost of about AIOO a year, two years' training counting as one year’s experience at sea-. When any vacancy occurs in the pilot service the position is offered to the dux of either school for the particular year, provided he can pass the necessary * medical examination, which is a very severe one; and it needs to be, considering the fact that a member of the service, immediately Hie has joined, is entitled to a'life pension in case his health prevents him, continuing the work. There are fifty pilots in the service, and it is estimated that over two million tons of sea-going ships are yearly piloted down the.river. A large staff of surveyors is employed. The bad parts of the river have to be surveyed every day. for the sandy reaches and ,the aAyful quicksands are continually changing, and the pilots on. The ships travelling up and down the river must be .kept well pasted as. to the course. This is done by a . very complete telegraphic system running from Calcutta to Diamond Harbour. The results of the surveyors’ work; the exact state of the river,-and the depth of tv-fetter on-the seve- ; rail- bars are kept posted at both ends, and 4 xfour-or -fiye. times a-day-fresh- particulars ares published.,. . , . When a junior' enters! the. service it is four or five years before, lie becomes a proficient pilot. Then he is allowed to •pilot small vessels—anything under 1600 tons., When a-slup is taken charge of by the.pilot he has entire control, and this is .necessary, for .a Government court-martial is held into the slightest accident. Some " thrilling tales are related bv Mr Chase of the- ships that have been lost in the treacherous waters of the Hughli. In

1892 the Anglia, a. steamer of 5600 tons, was lost in. three seconds. -The channel altered entirely in two dixys.t Tlie vessel struck on the hidden sand bank and capsized at once, drowning sixteen out of seventeen men on the starboard side and leaving four imprisoned in the vessel on the port side, their heads- protruding ont of the small ports. When the tide came in fonr hours afterwards they were drowned like rats in a trap, though every endeavour was made to save them, cold-chisels and hammers being used in vain on the steel side ox the ship. The tide was coming in, but the ebb proved : too‘strong, running at the time about seven miles an hour. •

The "James and Mary shoal' is, Mr Chase says, the most dangerous-part of Hie river, and it was here where the Anglia! was lost. When once a vessel strikes the shoal of quicksand she is beyond--human control and disappears completely, even the tops of ’ the roasts going out o'f sight" within a few days. In 1861 about 150 vessels wer-e lost, owing principally to a disastrous l cyclone which visited the country. The system of pilotage lias now, however, reached snch a state of perfection that the losses are but trivial, compared to the enormous number of ships which are annually guided safely to Diamond Harbour and Calcutta.

Though the work of the Bengal pilot is very responsible, it has its recompenses. Two years* leave is granted at the end of ten years and one year's leave at the end of the next eight. Then three years’ sick leave is allowed, but not more than one at a- time. Special leave is granted when urgent private affairs' d&mand it. A mohth every year is allowed on full pay, but all other leave is only on half' nay. The pilot may retire at the age of 55 on, pension. The “pay** mentioned for "leave*’ time is fixed at a standard rate, for the pilot is remunerated for his work out of the pilotage fees, which are divided between the pilots and the Government, the latter bearing the cost of all up-keep of the service. The position of a- pilot in the Bengal service is surely the most splendid gift the mercantile marine can offer.

Of India and the Indian people Mr Chase can talk most interestingly. His admiration for some of the native regiments is unbounded, and he anticipates New Zealanders will agree with him when the Indian contingent arrives. The Indian's great faith and strong belief in caste renders it necessary for the dominating race to he honoured in that country, and very strict measures are taken to prevent any man or woman of British descent who may he a disgrace _ to his birthplace finding a residence in India. For instance, two small boys,} ■who had stowed away from England, • were caught at their London work of shoeblacking in Calcutta. They were immediately taken in charge and put On board a Homeward bound steamer. It wouldn't do for a Sepoy to have it to say that he had his boots cleaned by an English boy. India only encourages—for the same reason—the best class of British people as citizens. Even the - shipping companies appear to have the same idea, for they charge as much to go from London to India - as is charged from London to New Zealand. - ;

// Speaking of his travels through Australia and New Zealand, Mr Chase says he was greatly struck with the fine hospitality which met him at every turn, especially in this country. But he lias nothing but anathemas for the Customs regulations. The genuine tourist is never considered, he explains, and over things like an uni-' brella or a few cigars he is treated by the officials as if he had been actually caught smuggling them;