Laurence Oliphant - A Journey to Katmandu

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A JOURNEY TO KATMANDU
(THE CAPITAL OF NEPAUL),
WITH
THE CAMP OF JUNG BAHADOOR;
INCLUDING
A SKETCH OF THE NEPAULESE AMBASSADOR AT HOME.

BY LAURENCE OLIPHANT.

LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1852.

TO
SIR ANTHONY OLIPHANT, C.B.,
CHIEF JUSTICE OF CEYLON,
THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE INSCRIBED BY
HIS AFFECTIONATE SON,
THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

The interest which was manifested in the Nepaulese Embassy during the
short residence of Jung Bahadoor in England leads me to hope that a
description of the romantic country and independent Court which he came
to represent, as well as some account of his own previous eventful
career, may not be unacceptable to the English public--more especially as
no work upon Nepaul has been published in this country, that I am aware
of, since Dr. Hamilton's, which appeared about the year 1819.

Through the kindness and friendship of the Nepaulese Ambassador, I was
enabled to visit Katmandu under most favourable circumstances; and during
the journey thither in his company I had abundant opportunity of
obtaining much interesting information, and of gaining an insight into
the character of the people, and their mode of every-day life, for which
a residence in camp was peculiarly favourable.

In the Terai I was fortunate enough to witness the Nepaulese mode of
elephant-catching, so totally unlike that of any other country, while the
grand scale on which our hunting party was organised was equally novel.

I therefore venture to submit this volume to the public, in the hope that
the novelty of a portion of the matter contained in it will in some
degree compensate for its manifold defects.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. Arrival of Jung Bahadoor in Ceylon--Voyage to Calcutta--Rifle
practice on board the _Atalanta_--Rifle-shooting--Colonel Dhere Shum
Shere--A journey along the Grand Trunk Road of Bengal--The experimental
railway--The explosion at Benares.

CHAPTER II. Benares--Cashmere Mull's house--The Chouk--The Bisheshwan
temple, and Maido Rai Minar--The Ambassador in Benares--A Rajah's
visit--The marriage of Jung Bahadoor--Review of the Nepaul rifle
regiment--Benares college.

CHAPTER III. Jaunpore--A shooting-party--Scenes in camp and on the
march--A Nepaulese dinner--Ghazipore--The Company's stud--Indian
roads--Passage of the Gograh--Jung Bahadoor's mode of despatching an
alligator.

CHAPTER IV. A picnic on the Nepaul frontier--A boar-hunt--The Terai and
its resources--Our shooting quarters--Incidents of sport--A
tiger-hunt--The great elephant exhibition of 1851--Camp Bechiacor.

CHAPTER V. March to Hetowra--Cross the Cheriagotty Hills--Scenes of the
war of 1815-16--Preparations for a wild-elephant hunt--The herd in full
cry--A breakneck country--Furious charges of wild elephants--The lost
child--Return to camp.

CHAPTER VI. March to Bhimphede--National defences--The Cheesapany
pass--Lovely scenery--Night adventure--The watch-fire--Reception at
camp--Arrival at Katmandu.

CHAPTER VII. The British residency--Houses at the temple of
Pusputnath--Unprepossessing appearance of the Newar population--Their
dress and characteristic features--Ghorkas--Temple of Pusputnath--View
from the hill above it--The temple of Bhood--Worshippers from Thibet and
Chinese Tartary--Their singular and disgusting appearance--Striking scene
in the grand square of the city of Katmandu.

CHAPTER VIII. The temple of Sumboonath--View from the platform of the
temple--The valley of Nepaul and its resources--Tradition respecting
it--Entrance of the Prime Minister into Katmandu--The two kings--A
brilliant reception.

CHAPTER IX. Sketch of the career of his Excellency General Jung
Bahadoor, Prime Minister of Nepaul.

CHAPTER X. The titles of his Excellency General Jung Bahadoor
Coomaranagee in England--Extraordinary notions of the British public on
Indian affairs--Jung Bahadoor's conciliatory policy--Our unsuccessful
attempt to penetrate beyond the permitted boundaries--Dangerous position
of the Prime Minister--His philanthropic designs--Great opposition on the
part of Durbar--Native punishments--A Nepaulese chief-justice--Jung's
popularity with the peasantry and army.

CHAPTER XI. The temple of Balajee--The old Newar capital--The houses and
temples of Patn--View from the city gates--Nepaulese festivals--The
Newars skilful artisans--The arsenal--The magazine and cannon-foundry.

CHAPTER XII. Kindness of the Mahila Sahib--His motive--Drawing-room
ornaments--Visit to the palace of Jung Bahadoor--A trophy of the London
season--Grand Durbar at the reading of the Queen of England's
letter--Dress of the officers--Review of troops--Dancing boys.

CHAPTER XIII. Distinguishing features of the races of Nepaul--The
Ghorkas--Maintenance of the Nepaul army--Bheem Singh's monument--A feast
at the Minister's--We bid him adieu--Ascent of the Sheopoori--Magnificent
view of the Himalayas from its summit.

CHAPTER XIV. A visit to the Minister's brothers--Dexterity of Colonel
Dhere Shum Shere--Scenes for lovers of the Fancy--Adieu to Nepaul--The
view from the summit of the Chandernagiri pass--The scenery of Nepaul--The
pass of Bhimphede--Night quarters.

CHAPTER XV. A dilemma at Bisoleah--Ignominious exit from the Nepaul
dominions--The resources and capabilities of Nepaul--Articles of import
from Thibet and Chinese Tartary--A vision of the future.

CHAPTER XVI. Journey to Lucknow--Nocturnal disasters--View of the
Himalayas--Wild-beast fights--Banquet given by the King of Oudh--Grand
display of fireworks--Our return to cantonments.

CHAPTER XVII. A Lucknow Derby-day--Sights of the city--Grand Trunk Road
to Delhi--Delhi--The Coutub--Agra--The fort and Taj--The ruins of
Futtehpore Secreh--A loquacious cicerone--A visit to the fort of
Gwalior--The Mahratta Durbar--Tiger-shooting on foot.

CHAPTER XVIII. The carnival at Indore--Extraordinary scene in the palace
of the Holkar--A night at the caves of Ajunta--The caves of Ellora and
fortress of Doulatabad--The merits of a palkee--Reflections on the
journey from Agra to Bombay--Adieu to India.

[Map of Nepaul: map.jpg]

CHAPTER I.

_Arrival of Jung Bahadoor in Ceylon--Voyage to Calcutta--Rifle practice
on board the_ Atalanta--_Rifle-shooting--Colonel Dhere Shum Shere--A
journey along the Grand Trunk Road of Bengal--The experimental
railway--The explosion at Benares_.

Towards the close of the year 1850 a considerable sensation was created
in the usually quiet town of Colombo by the arrival in Ceylon of His
Excellency General Jung Bahadoor, the Nepaulese Ambassador, on his return
to Nepaul, bearing the letter of the Queen of England to the Rajah of
that country.

The accounts which had preceded him of the magnificence of the jewels
with which his person was generally adorned, had raised expectations
amongst the natives which were doomed to disappointment: intelligence had
been received by Jung of the death of the Queen of Nepaul, and the whole
Embassy was in deep mourning, so that their appearance on landing created
no little astonishment, clad, as they all were, in spotless white,
excepting their shoes, which were of black cloth--leather not being
allowed to form part of the Nepaulese mourning costume.

His Excellency had a careworn expression of countenance, which might have
been caused either by the dissipation attendant upon the gaieties of his
visit to London, by grief for his deceased Queen, or by sea-sickness
during his recent stormy passage across the Gulf of Manaar. He had been
visiting sundry Hindoo shrines, and it was for the purpose of worshipping
at the temple of Ramiseram, which is situate on the island of that name,
in the Gulf of Manaar, forming part of Adam's Bridge, that he touched at
Colombo. Here I was fortunate enough to make his acquaintance, and,
attracted by his glowing description of sport in Nepaul, accepted an
invitation to accompany him to that country, in order to judge of it for
myself.

So good an opportunity is indeed rarely afforded to a European of
visiting Nepaul, and of inspecting the internal economy of its
semi-barbarous Court. I soon found that Jung Bahadoor excelled no less
as a travelling companion than he had done as Premier and Ambassador.

As doubts had arisen and some misapprehension had prevailed in England as
to his position in his own country, I was anxious to ascertain what was
his real rank and how he would be received there. It was reported that
he had risked his temporal welfare by quitting his country, while, in
order that his eternal welfare should in no way be compromised by this
bold and novel proceeding, he had obtained an express reservation to be
made in his favour at Benares, overcoming, by means of considerable
presents, the scruples of a rapacious and not very conscientious
priesthood.

The ostensible object of the mission had reference, as far as I could
learn, to a portion of the Terai (a district lying upon the northern
frontier of British India) which formerly belonged to Nepaul, and which
was annexed by the Indian Government after the war of 1815-16; but it is
probable that other motives than any so purely patriotic actuated the
Prime Minister. His observant and inquiring mind had long regarded the
British power in India with wonder and admiration--sentiments almost
unknown amongst the apathetic Orientals, who, for the most part, have
become too much accustomed to the English to look upon them with the same
feelings as are entertained towards them by the hardy and almost savage
race inhabiting the wild valleys of the Himalayas.

But besides the wish to gratify his curiosity, there existed yet another
incentive which induced him to undertake this expedition. The precarious
nature of his high position in Nepaul urged on him the good policy, if
not the necessity, of a visit to England, for he doubtless felt, and with
good reason, that the Native Durbar would be inclined to respect a man
who had been honoured with an interview with the Queen of so mighty a
nation, and had had opportunities of securing the support of her
government, should he ever be driven to seek its aid.

* * * * *

The _Atalanta_, one of the oldest steam frigates in the Indian navy, had
been placed at the disposal of His Excellency, and, upon the evening of
the 9th of December 1850, was lying in the Colombo Roads, getting up her
steam as speedily as possible, while I was uneasily perambulating the
wooden jetty, which is all the little harbour can boast in the shape of a
pier, endeavouring to induce some apathetic boatmen to row me over the
bar, a pull of three miles, against a stiff breeze. It was bright
moonlight, and the fire from the funnel of the old ship seemed rushing
out more fast and furious in proportion as the boatmen became more drowsy
and immovable; finally they protested that it was an unheard-of
proceeding for anybody to wish to go on board ship on such a night at
such an hour, and insinuated that all verbal or pecuniary persuasions
would be alike unavailing. It is very evident that Colombo boatmen are a
thriving community; still they seem a timid race, for upon my having
recourse to threats containing fearful allusions, which there was not the
remotest possibility of my being able to carry into execution, a
wonderful revolution was effected in the feelings of the sleepers around
me; they forthwith began to unwind themselves from the linen wrappers in
which natives always swathe themselves at night like so many hydropathic
patients, and, converting their recent sheets into turbans and
waistcloths, they got with many grumblings into a tub-like boat, just as
the smoke from the steamer was becoming ominously black. Their eyes once
open, the men went to work in good earnest, and an hour afterwards I had
the satisfaction of walking the deck of the _Atalanta_, which was going
at her utmost speed, some seven knots an hour.

In the morning we were off Point de Galle, and put in there for General
Jung Bahadoor, who, with some of his suite, had made the journey thither
by land.

All the world make voyages now-a-days; and nobody thinks of describing a
voyage to India any more than he would an excursion on the Thames, unless
he is shipwrecked, or the vessel he is in is burnt and he escapes in an
open boat, or has some such exciting incident to relate. We were
_unfortunate_ in these respects, but in our passengers we found much to
interest and amuse us; and as everything regarding the Nepaulese
Ambassador is received with interest in England, a description of the
proceedings of one day, as a sample of the ten we spent on board the
_Atalanta_, may not be altogether uninteresting.

Time never seemed to hang heavy on the hands of the Minister Sahib, for
that was his more ordinary appellation; rifle practice was a daily
occupation with him, and usually lasted two hours. Surrounded by those
of his suite in whose peculiar department was the charge of the
magnificent battery he had on board, he used to take up his station on
the poop, and the crack of the rifle was almost invariably followed by an
exclamation of delight from some of his attendants, as the bottle,
bobbing far astern, was sunk for ever, or the three strung, one below the
other, from the end of the fore-yard-arm, were shattered by three
successive bullets in almost the same number of seconds. Pistol practice
succeeded that of the rifle, and the ace of hearts at 15 paces was a mark
he rarely missed.

Then the dogs were to be trained, and in a very peculiar manner; a kid
was dragged along the deck before the noses of two handsome stag hounds,
who, little suspecting that a huge hunting-whip was concealed in the
folds of their master's dress, were unable to resist so tempting a victim
and invariably made a rush upon it, a proceeding which brought down upon
them the heavy thong of the Minister Sahib's whip in the most remorseless
manner. That task accomplished to his satisfaction, and not being able
to think of anything else wherewith to amuse himself, it would occur to
him that his horse, having thrown out a splint from standing so long,
ought to be physicked. He was accordingly made to swallow a quantity of
raw brandy! It was useless to suggest any other mode of treatment,
either of horse or dogs. The General laughed at my ignorance, and
challenged me to a game of backgammon. Occasionally gymnastics or
jumping were the order of the day, and he was so lithe and active that
few could compete with him at either.

While smoking his evening pipe he used to talk with delight of his visit
to Europe, looking back with regret on the gaieties of the English and
French capitals, and recounting with admiration the wonders of
civilization he had seen in those cities. He was loudest in his praise
of England. This may have arisen from a wish to gratify his auditory,
and it certainly had that effect. He had not thought it necessary,
however, to perfect himself in the language of either country beyond a
few of what he considered the more important phrases. His stock
consisted chiefly of--How do you do?--Very well, thank you--Will you sit
down?--You are very pretty--which pithy sentences he used to rattle out
with great volubility, fortunately not making an indiscriminate use of
them.

But my particular friend was the youngest of his two fat brothers, whose
merits, alas! were unknown in England, the more elevated position of the
Minister Sahib monopolizing all the attention of the lion-loving public.
Colonel Dhere Shum Shere, such was his name, was the most jovial, light-
hearted, and thoroughly unselfish being imaginable, brave as a lion, as
recent events in Nepaul have proved, always anxious to please, and full
of amusing conversation, which, however, from my limited knowledge of
Hindostanee, I was unable fully to appreciate.

It is considered a breach of hospitality to make invidious remarks
affecting the character of the mansion in which you are a guest; but
although my recollections of the _Atalanta_ are most agreeable in
reference to the kindness of the officers, I must say she was a most
indisputable tub; and if there is an individual who deserves to be turned
slowly before the fire in her engine-room, so as to be kept in a state of
perpetual blister, it is the Parsee contractor who furnished the
provisions, for so meagre was the supply that we could barely satisfy the
cravings of hunger.

On the morning of the tenth day after leaving Ceylon we came in sight of
the city of palaces, and, sweeping up its magnificent river, soon after
anchored amidst a host of other shipping.

Of Calcutta I need say nothing; Chouringhee Road is almost as well known
in these days of quick communication as Piccadilly; this is not quite the
case with towns in the interior: if it is easy to get to Calcutta, it is
not so easy to get beyond, and the means of locomotion by which the
traveller makes the journey to Benares are of the most original nature.

The morning of New Year's Day found me comfortably ensconced in a roomy
carriage, built almost upon the model of an English stage-coach, in
which, with my fellow-traveller, I had passed the night, and which was
being dragged along at the rate of about four miles an hour by ten
coolies, harnessed to it in what the well-meaning philanthropist of
Exeter Hall would call a most barbarous way.

The road along which we were travelling in this extraordinary manner was
not, as might be expected, impassable for horses; on the contrary, it was
an excellent macadamized and perfectly level road, denominated the Great
Trunk Road of Bengal.

The country through which this road led us was flat, stale, but not
unprofitable, since on either side were paddy-fields extending _ad
infinitum_, studded here and there with clumps of palms.

The climate was delightful, and the morning air tempted us to uncoil
ourselves from our night-wrappers, and take a brisk walk in the dust;
after which we mounted the coach-box, and devised sundry practical
methods for accelerating our team, who however were equally ingenious in
contriving to save themselves fatigue.

The mid-day sun at last ridded them of their tormentors, and we once more
betook ourselves to our comfortable beds in the interior of the
conveyance, there to moralize over the barbarism of a man, calling
himself an enlightened Englishman, in employing men instead of horses to
drag along two of his fellow-countrymen, who showed themselves even more
dead to every feeling of humanity by the way in which they urged on their
unfortunate fellow-creatures. These coolies were certainly very well
paid, and need not have been so employed had they not chosen--for they
had all applied for their several appointments--but then the ignominy of
the thing!

And so we rolled lazily along, hoping to reach Benares some time within
the next fortnight. Before dark we passed through Burdwan, where a few
Bengal civilians vegetate on large salaries, to do the work of the rajah,
who is still more highly paid not to interfere. He lives magnificently
in his palace, and they live magnificently in theirs. We arrived at a
small rest-house at night, where we had the satisfaction of eating a fowl
in cutlets an hour after it had been enjoying the sweets of life.

There is a considerable amount of enjoyment in suddenly coming to hills
after you have for a long time seen nothing but flat country--in first
toiling up one and then bowling down the other side, at the imminent
peril of the coolies' necks--in seeing streams when you have seen nothing
but wells--in coming amidst wood and water and diversified scenery, when
every mile that you have travelled for a week past has been the same as
the last. Such were our feelings as we woke at daylight one morning in
the midst of the Rajmahal hills.

There were a good many carts passing with coal from the Burdwan
coal-mines; moreover, we saw sticks, and from the top of each fluttered a
little white flag, suggestive of a railway, whereby our present mode of
conveyance would be knocked on the head, and all the poor coolies who
were pushing us along would be put out of employ. Notwithstanding the
disastrous results which must accrue, a railway is really contemplated;
but I have heard doubts thrown out as to the present line being the best
that could be obtained. It is urged that it has to contend against water
carriage--that, with the exception of the Burdwan mines, the coal of
which is of an inferior quality, there is no mineral produce--that
immense tracts of country through which it passes are totally
uncultivated, and from a want of water will in all probability remain
so--and it has been calculated that, even if the whole traffic at present
passing along the great trunk road of Bengal was to become quadrupled,
and if all the Bengal civilians were to travel up and down every day, and
various rajahs to take express trains once a week, it would not pay: all
these things being considered, were it not that its merits and demerits
have been maturely considered by wiser, or at least better-informed men
than the passing travellers, one might have been inclined to think that
those who expressed doubts regarding its success had some good foundation
for them.

However, it is better to have a railway on a doubtful line than none at
all; the shareholders are guaranteed 5 per cent., and the Government is
rich and can afford to pay them. So let us wish success to the
experimental railway, and hope that the means of transport may soon be
more expeditious than they are at present.

It will doubtless open out the resources of the country, though I cannot
but think, for many reasons, that it would have been more judicious to
have made the line from Allahabad to Delhi the commencement of the
railway system in this part of India, instead of leaving it for a
continuation of the line that is now being made.

The bridges we passed over are all on the suspension principle, and do
credit to the government; the rivers are difficult to bridge in any other
way, as the rains flood them to such an extent that arches will not
remain standing for any length of time. It took us two hours to cross
the Soan, which we forded or ferried according as the streams between the
sand-banks were deep or shallow. This large river is at times flooded to
so great an extent that it is one of the most serious obstructions to the
railway.

It was not until the morning of the seventh day after leaving Calcutta
that we found ourselves on the banks of the Ganges. The Holy City loomed
large in the grey dawn of morning, with its tapering minarets barely
discernible above it, looking like elongated ghosts.

We were ferried across in a boat of antique construction, better suited
for any other purpose than the one to which it was applied, and landed in
the midst of the ruins caused by the dreadful explosion of gun-powder
that had taken place the previous year: it had occasioned a fearful
destruction of property and loss of life, and many hairbreadth escapes
were recounted to us. We were told, indeed, that two children, after
being buried for five days, were dug out alive; two officers were blown
out of the window of an hotel, one of whom was uninjured, the other was
only wounded by a splinter, whilst the Kitmutgar, who was drawing a cork
close to them at the time, was killed on the spot.

In the course of an hour after leaving this scene of desolation we
reached the hospitable mansion which was destined to be our home during
our short stay in Benares.

CHAPTER II.

_Benares--Cashmere Mull's House--The Chouk--The Bisheshwan Temple, and
Maido Rai Minar--Jung Bahadoor in Benares--A Rajah's visit--The marriage
of Jung Bahadoor--Review of the Nepaul Rifle Regiment--Benares College_.

Whatever may be said of the large salaries of the Bengal civilians, they
certainly deserve great credit for the praiseworthy employment of their
wealth; and making amends as it were for the backwardness of India as
regards hotels, they supply their places to the friendless traveller, in
a way which our frigid friends at home might imitate with advantage. I
look back upon my stay in Benares with the greatest pleasure, and shall
long remember the kindness I there experienced.

There is much to be seen in the Holy City, and the means of locomotion
which I should recommend the sight-seer to adopt are Tom Johns, or chairs
swung upon poles, with or without hoods, as the case may be. Upon
arriving at the Chouk or Market-place, we hired two of these conveyances
and started to see the residence of Cashmere Mull. But first I must make
an attempt, however unsuccessful, to describe the Chouk: it is a large
square, studded with raised oblong platforms without walls, the roofs
being supported by fluted Ionic columns. The Police Court, in which a
Native magistrate presides, forms one side of the square. On the
platforms sit the vendors of shawls, skull-caps, toys, shells,
sugar-cane, and various other commodities; but to enumerate the
extraordinary diversity of goods exposed for sale, or to describe the
Babel of tongues which confound the visitor as he wanders through the
motley crowd, would be impossible.

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