CHAPTER XIII.

Steamers on the Ganges--Native Pilots--Course of the River--Mr. Sims proposes Shields to the Banks--Shoals--Tributary Streams--Rapids--The Jumna--Mirzapore--Benares--Trimbuckjee Danglia--Chunar--Sultanpore.

THERE is a regular steam communication between Calcutta and Allahabad; but as the steamers proceed no further than that city, it may not be out of place to give the reader a few words on Steam Navigation, at least so far as the Ganges is concerned. Until steamers were introduced, the only way of proceeding by water from Calcutta to Allahabad, and the intermediate stations, was by boats, the largest of which are called budgerows and pinnaces. About twenty years ago, the East India Company ordered four steamers to be built for the navigation of the Ganges, much against the advice of many, who urged the impossibility of using steam in consequence of the shifting sands. They were accordingly built in England, and shipped in pieces to Calcutta, where they were put together by able engineers. For many years these government boats were the only steamers seen on the Ganges; but latterly two Companies have been started, the one called "the India General Steam Navigation Company," established in 1844, and the other, "the Ganges Company." The control of the government steamers is under the judicious management of Captain J.H. Johnston, R.N. The number of boats on the Ganges belonging to government alone, is as follows:--ten steamers, three accommodation, three cargo, and two troop-boats. On an average, one steamer leaves Calcutta every ten or fourteen days, having an accommodation-boat, or sometimes one or two cargo or troop-boats, in tow. This is a striking and novel sight. Every one is aware that a ship at sea will take another in tow, which is effected by the ship to be towed sending out hawsers; but in very bad weather they disengage themselves by casting off the towing-hawsers. Besides these hawsers for joining one with the other, there is a plank of wood, twenty-five feet in length, a foot in width, and six inches in thickness, placed between two short masts, one at the bow of the accommodation, cargo or troop-boat, the other at the stern of the steamer, to each of which it is bound by chains. This plank serves as a mutual convenience to the crews of the two vessels, without its being requisite to lower a boat; besides, if it were not for this more solid material, accidents would frequently happen by the vessel in tow running foul of her leader; whereas, as it is, should the steamer touch ground unexpectedly, the other sheers quietly alongside.

The steamers are of iron, and (I am now speaking only of those belonging to government) are fitted up with two engines of thirty horse power each, and carry sail. The fires are never wholly extinguished, for although the steamers anchor at sunset, yet they are again under steam at the first dawn of day. The fares and prices of the two Companies correspond exactly with those of the government; the charges for the whole trip from Calcutta to Allahabad, being for a first-class cabin, 300 rupees, for a second, 250, and for a third, 200. The charges for the downward passage are only two-thirds those of the upward.

The hours for meals are generally, breakfast at nine, luncheon twelve, dinner four, and tea seven. Anything required between meals, is charged extra. For supplying these, each passenger pays the Commander three rupees per diem. Wines, spirits, etc., are extra, and charged for according to the consumption.

The boats of the two private Companies are differently constructed from those of the Government; for, like the steamers on the American rivers, the steam and accommodation centre in one boat, but some of them, have one or two cargo-boats in tow. The Ganges boats, it is said, draw too much water. The Company's boats draw three feet, and their steamers three-and-a-quarter feet each. Hindoo servants, who are forbidden by caste to cook on board, are landed every evening, if practicable, as soon as the steamer casts anchor. From the Mahomedan servants, one of whom is allowed to each passenger, without cost for the trip, the Commander receives a quarter of a rupee a-day, which each has to pay for his food.

A native pilot is taken on board every twenty or twenty-five miles; he is responsible in some measure, that the vessel does not touch the bottom, or run upon a sand-bank. The poor men, who receive only a scanty pittance for this trouble, are extremely careful; and it is very rare indeed, for any serious accident or interruption to occur. The steamers have a commander, a mate, and about twenty Lascars, or native sailors, and the other boats about the same number. The cabins are generally light and airy, though many of them abound with mosquitoes, cockroaches and ants, and not unfrequently with rats. The dining-room is spacious, being the whole width of the vessel, and would be very comfortable if a punkah could be introduced. The cabins contain no furniture save a bedstead, so that the traveller is required to furnish it with a mattress, table, chair, chillumchee or wash-stand, and mosquito curtains.

The river Ganges is called by the natives "Gunga Jee;" "Gung" signifies _river_, and "Gunga" _the_ river; "Jee" denotes _sir_, _lord_, _master_, _mistress_, and is used as a mark of religious respect, the Ganges being pre-eminently the king of rivers--the sacred river. The Hindoos swear by the waters of the Ganges, as we do on the Testament, or the Mahomedans on the Koran. The Ganges has a very uncertain channel, in consequence of its tortuous course; sometimes dashing across from the right to the left bank, and forming a new bed. To obviate this, various clever plans have been proposed; but I shall now merely allude to that of Mr. Sims, Civil Engineer to the East India Company, who was sent out some time back, to select and survey the district which he should consider suitable for a railroad. The scheme fell into abeyance, but is once more revived. A Board was appointed in England, comprising a committee, secretary, engineer, etc.; two of the official staff arrived in Calcutta in February, 1848, for the purpose of collecting the unpaid capital, and the money is fast coming in. Meantime, the Government has desired Mr. Sims to propose a plan for controlling the freaks and sudden changes of this river, which is at the same time one of the most beneficial in the world. The task is a difficult one, and the expense enormous; however, the first sod has been since turned up, and this is some earnest of its completion.

I collect from the Report, that Mr. Sims proposes to form extensive shields at certain points of the banks. Just as in fencing, we guard right and left where the thrust is expected, so the shields are to be erected on the right and left, according as the river rushes in. Brunel used shields in making the Thames tunnel, but they were above, while Mr. Sims's shields are to be perpendicular to the river, and parallel to the banks. Wherever a shoal may be forming, Mr. Sims proposes to make a diversion by means of a channel, which is to be kept open by bamboos and other material, so as to prevent the sand from filling up the excavations. The expense of the operation is not clearly ascertained; but the cost of each shield is £60,000! Until we know how many of these shields are required, we can have no means of estimating the total outlay.

Major Rowland Hill, late 70th Regt. Bengal Native Infantry, and commanding 4th Irregular Cavalry, when at Sultanpore, Benares, tried the following plan, in 1846. Placing several large boats with their prows facing up the river, he cut through the sand-bank, upon which the force of the current drove away the sand to the right and left of the boats.

There are so many points along the Ganges which demand the attention of the engineer, that nothing short of a careful examination of every hundred yards, on both banks, can solve the problem. Thus, having formed a shield in one locality, who can say where the next may be required? or, again, whether the river driving with full force to a new point, the evil may not break out at another? The natives never thought of such schemes in days of yore. Being a sacred river, the Ganges could do no wrong: if a man lost his boat, it was his destiny (_nuseeb_): the will of God in anger for his sins! Æsop's fables have been translated by a Brahmin; and an Englishman having read, to a Hindoo, the fable of the waggoner's complaint to Jupiter, the man shook his head and laughed.

It would seem possible, that by carefully examining this river during the dry season, from October to April, the channels might be found out. In the Bhauguretty, and smaller Indian rivers, dredging machines are used. The practicability of the plan could be ascertained, and that, too, at no great cost, by buoying off the river, and placing it in sections; this could be done by a native establishment, with some Europeans as supervisors.

The steam-boats often run aground, although they have native pilots, and are frequently not got off for several days. Sometimes, when the river is low, steamers can only reach Sirsah, twenty-six miles below Allahabad.

I must remind the reader, that the first rise of the river is caused by the melting of the snows in the Himalaya mountains during the warm weather, before the rainy season sets in, and that the rains afterwards keep it up to the high-water mark, until the month of October. The fall of rain in Assam, south-east of Calcutta, has been 240 inches in a year. At Bombay, up to the middle of August, 1849, it was eighty-six or eighty-seven inches; which is about the same quantity that falls in Calcutta during the whole of the rainy season.

I must not omit to mention, that some years since, an attempt was made to get a steamer up to Ghurrumkteesur Ghât, on the Ganges, about thirty miles from Meerut. But it proved a failure, for the Ganges from Allahabad to Cawnpore is shoaly, and above the latter place more so than below it, in addition to which hinderance, there was not a sufficient depth of water. By dint of great exertions, Captain Templeton did get the steamer up to Cawnpore; but he first took the precaution to unlade it. The steamers carry freight, as well as the cargo-boats; they are also more capable of enduring bad weather, yet during the rains of 1849, a gale blew so violently that the steamer turned aside, nearly to her opposite gunwale. In the month of August, the river is so rapid opposite Dinapore, that the steamers lose ground, or fall below their starting-point, even in crossing from one side of the river to the other. They go down the river at the rate of twelve or fourteen miles an hour.

There are many rivers that fall into the Ganges below Allahabad. The Ganges, I may remark, rises at Gangoutrie, in the Himalayas, that enormous chain of snow-capped mountains, which extends from Cabool along the north of Hindoostan to China. It flows for more than 1,200 miles through rich fields to the Bay of Bengal, which it enters by a delta of about sixteen miles in extent. In its course, it receives eleven tributary streams, none of which is smaller than the Thames. Below Allahabad, there are on the left bank, the Goomtee, Birnah, Koosee, Dewah, or Gograh, and the Great and Little Gundruk. On the right, at and below Allahabad, the rivers Jumna and Sone, all of which, except the latter, which rises near to the Nerbudda in the Deccan, flow from the Himalaya mountains. As there is no large stream which falls into the Ganges above Allahabad, it will easily be understood, that its greatest width and depth must be below that place.

The next attempt was to steam up the Jumna, but meeting with a shoal at Kulna, the steamer could proceed no further. The rocks which formerly existed in this river, were blasted by the late Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Taylor, of the Engineers.

The question naturally arises, why the same remedy could not be applied as at Gottenburg, in Sweden, where rapids have been passed by making a canal outside; and why, in India, canals are never resorted to for out-flanking an impediment in a river? This, however, is an enquiry to which no satisfactory reply has ever yet been given.

The Nerbudda[97] offers similar difficulties, having rocks and rapids interspersed at intervals, in quick succession. It has a course of 750 miles, rising at Omercote, and emptying itself below Baroda into the sea. Attempts have been made to navigate the Nerbudda, from the centre downwards, where there are no rocks.

Having referred to Gottenburg, I will quote a passage from the Travels of the late Bishop James, of Calcutta[98]:--

"For the purpose of avoiding the falls or cataracts that for many ages obstructed the communications of the country, a navigable canal had been excavated in the solid rock of granite, which being near two English miles in length, and carried to a depth, in one part, of 150 feet, was a scheme that few minds would have originated, and still fewer even have ventured to put into execution. The great undertaking was completed, after six years' labour, in the year 1830; and it already pays, as we were informed, an interest of 42,000 rix-dollars per annum, upon a capital of 358,988 rix-dollars, originally expended: a return amounting to nearly 12 per cent., and sufficient to afford the most unequivocal testimony both of its success and of its great public utility."

This stupendous work was undertaken by a private Company unaided by the Government. It was necessary to float the timber down the river in order to save the great expense of land carriage. It is true that in the American rivers they contrive to stop the boats short of the rapids, unlade, and then re-ship the goods; but the Swedish plan is preferable. As a commercial speculation, where, the interest of money as in Sweden is two and two-and-a-half per cent., it was a great result. The river Jumna abounds in shoals at certain places, but small canals overcome such impediments; for instance, near Kulna. As the railroad will, probably, not reach that portion of India for many years to come, the Jumna would transport goods thither. The course is estimated at 780 miles. It is fordable at times at Agra, and I believe also at Delhi. It is time, however, that I should resume my narrative.

At noon on the 20th of May, 1846, my servants with the baggage left Berrill's Hotel in a boat for the steamer "Megna," at Sirsah, the water being too low to permit the steamer to proceed higher, than within twenty-six miles of Allahabad, which, as I have before observed, is frequently the case. I left the hotel about 3 P.M., in company with the Commander of the "Soorma," accommodation boat, and reached that vessel in tow of the "Megna," about 9 P.M., at Sirsah. Before leaving the hotel I paid the Commander of the "Soorma" 217 rupees, 10 annas, _i.e._ 166 rupees, 10 annas, for a cabin to Calcutta; and 51 rupees for seventeen days' messing; being 3 rupees per diem, exclusive of wines, beer, and other extras: or £21 15_s._

On the 23rd, at about 3 P.M., we anchored off Mirzapore, nearly ninety miles from Allahabad. It is one of the largest inland trading towns in Hindoostan, and the great mart for cotton. It is noted for its manufacture of carpets, somewhat resembling those of Turkey, and used all over India. I bought a very handsome bedside carpet, entirely made of wool, and as soft as velvet, for only six shillings. Silk is imported into Mirzapore from Bengal, and despatched to the west of India for sale, particularly among the Maharattas, and the central parts of Hindoostan. There are also fabrics of cotton manufacture, plantations of indigo, etc.

The town has many handsome European houses and native dwellings, with clusters of Hindoo temples, crowding the right bank of the Ganges, on which it stands. The appearance from the river is very imposing. Close to the main ghât stand two temples, the top of one of which is most elaborately and beautifully carved. On the other side of the river, which is here not very broad, stands the elegant residence of the Rajah of Benares.

As the steamers stop here to take in coal, as well as to land and receive passengers and goods, I took a stroll on shore. A traveller intending to visit Bombay and the west of India, should take the steamer as far as Mirzapore; this is better than going to Allahabad, which lies too far north; besides which, the navigation is not so pleasant, in consequence, as I have before observed of the shoaly state of the river between Mirzapore and Allahabad.

Mirzapore may be termed central between Allahabad and Benares, the distance from the former, by land, being forty-four miles, and from the latter, thirty-three miles, but situated on the left bank of the Ganges. There are six civilians at this station, and, at the time of which I am writing, a wing of the Shekawattee Battalion--an irregular Infantry corps--was quartered here and at Juanpore, on the opposite side of the river. The Church Missionary Society have a church and chapel here. A beautiful and magnificent Chowk, or Square, was in course of construction; and on my return, in September, 1849, when proceeding up the river, in the India General Steam Navigation Company's steamer, "General Macleod," I had the pleasure of seeing it completely finished. On this latter occasion, I again visited this bustling and thriving place, in company with my friend and fellow-countyman, Lord Frederick Montagu, at this time an officer in the 24th Foot. And here I may be permitted to render a tribute of thanks to Mr. Lord, a resident of Mirzapore, for the sumptuous hospitality with which he received his lordship and myself, both of us having been entire strangers to him previously.

The country around is pretty, and the officers' bungalows are most pleasantly situated on the bank of the river, in the midst of large compounds, or gardens, which are not exuberant with vegetation. The population of Mirzapore is between 70,000 and 80,000, the people are particularly industrious and active, and have great commercial enterprise. On leaving Mirzapore, on Sunday, the 24th, we mustered six in number, at the cuddy table, namely, Mrs. Lushington, Mr. T.A. Lushington, civil service, since deceased, Mrs. Swayne, widow of Major Swayne, killed during the rebellion at Cabool, in 1842, Captain G.R. Siddons, 1st Bengal Light Cavalry, Mr. W.R. Baillie, of the Bengal Secretariat, and myself.

On the 24th of May, at eight o'clock in the evening, we anchored off Benares, forty-nine miles from Mirzapore, having passed Chunar at about two o'clock. Chunar was acquired by the East India Company in 1775, along with the Zumindary of Benares. The fort is erected on a freestone rock several hundred feet in height, and is built of red Chunar-stone (limestone), and fortified after the Indian manner, with walls and towers. It is of considerable strength, and lies on the right bank of the Ganges, which runs close under the very walls and bastions of the fort, thus rendering it secure against the attacks of any native army. On the left, or opposite bank, the water is not very deep. The troops in the garrison are two Companies of European Artillery Invalids, and two of European Infantry Invalids, one European Veteran Company, and a detachment of the Shekawattee Battalion. It also contains a military magazine, which supplies Benares and the other adjacent stations with ammunition, arms, stores, etc. It was formerly used as a kind of state prison, and amongst the names of the compulsory inmates were Trimbuckjee Danglia, a fearful murderer, and the treacherous minister of the ex-Peishwah; and also Hadjee Khan Kakur, who was instrumental in Dost Mahomed's escape, soon after the fall of Ghuznee and Cabool.

There is much treachery in the character of some of the high Hindoos; but the most infamous scheme to destroy an adversary was executed by Sevajee, the founder of the Maharatta Empire. He invited a certain Nawab, under the pretext that he had some urgent and friendly business with him, and requested him to give him a meeting unaccompanied by his suite, or any other person, stipulating that he himself would also be unattended. The Nawab agreed to the proposition. He arrived at the place of rendezvous, at the time appointed. He came unattended, and saw no person but Sevajee, who immediately went up and embraced him with the ardour of a friend; but he had iron claws about his arms. He clasped the Nawab and held him so tight that he could not resist, and then drawing his dagger, stabbed him to the heart. But Sevajee himself did not long go unpunished, for soon after he was seized by the emperor of Delhi and thrown into prison. Cunning and crafty, he determined on a plan of escape. He pretended to become very charitable, and daily gave away large baskets filled with food and sweetmeats. At length he bribed a man to personate him, and having made him lie down in his bed, he crept into one of the baskets, which was accordingly lowered from the window; thus he effected his escape from Delhi, and reached the Deccan or South of India in safety.

The cantonments for invalids at Chunar, are situated outside the fort. The houses are all built of stone, and are generally two stories high; the residence belonging to the stone-cutter, which stands near the crowded cemetry, is a handsome structure. This last resting-place for the dead, is situated on the slope of the hill, which is crowned by the fort; the white monuments contrasting forcibly with the red stone fortress. The Major-General commanding the Division used to reside in the fort, up to the early part of this century, and in 1807, the chaplain, the Rev. Daniel Corrie, afterwards Archdeacon of Calcutta, and lately Bishop of Madras, lived here. There is now a resident chaplain, and some missionaries.

The fortress, as I observed above, fell into the power of the English, in 1775. They had been repulsed in an attempt to assault it by night, but it surrendered shortly after, without a siege. It was formerly a place of great importance, but Allahabad being more north, has superseded it as a military depôt.

In the hills near Chunar, which run parallel to the right bank of the Ganges, and are clothed with heath and brushwood, are to be found some of the largest snakes in India; many of them, it is said, being eighteen feet in length and half the thickness of a man's thigh, but they are not venomous like the cobra de capella, and the short, thin, green snake. The difference between the bite of the snake and the sting of a scorpion, is contained in the following Oriental distich:--

"He that's bitten by a serpent sleeps: But he that's bitten by a scorpion weeps."

Sultanpore, about four miles from Chunar, is prettily situated; a regiment of Native Cavalry was formerly stationed here.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 97: "Narmada," Sanscrit, "rendering soft," Colebrooke, Wilks, etc.]

[Footnote 98: See Appendix XXI.]