CHAPTER FORTY TWO.
First Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears; Though, for the noise of drums and timbrels loud, Their children's cries unheard. MILTON.
Once more the _Aspasia_ flew upon the wings of the northern gale tosecure her country's dominion over far-distant seas; and many an anxiouseye, that dwelt upon the receding shore, and many an aching heart, thatfelt itself severed from home and its endearments, did she carry away inher rapid flight. Some there were to whom the painful reflectionpresented itself--"Shall I e'er behold those cherished shores again?"This, however, was but a transitory feeling, soon chased away by Hope,who delights to throw her sunny beams on the distance, while she leavesthe foreground to the dark reality of life. All felt deeply, but therewas none whose mental sufferings could be compared with those ofSeymour.
Captain M--- opened his sealed orders, and found that he was directed toproceed forthwith to the East Indies. He had been prepared for this, byindirect hints given to him by the First Lord of the Admiralty. Thereis nothing so tedious as making a passage, and, of all others, that tothe East Indies is the most disagreeable, especially at the time ofwhich we are writing, when Sir H. Popham had not added the Cape of GoodHope to the colonial grandeur of the country,--so that, in fact, therewas no resting-place for the wanderer, tired with the unvarying monotonyof sky and water. We shall, therefore, content ourselves with stating,that at the end of three months His Majesty's ship _Aspasia_ dropped heranchor in Kedgeree Roads, and the captain of the same pilot schooner,who had taken charge of her off the Sand-heads, was put in requisitionto convey Captain M--- and his despatches up to Calcutta. Courtenay,Macallan, and Seymour, were invited to be of the party; and the nextmorning they shifted on board the pilot schooner, and commenced theascent of the magnificent and rapid Hoogly.
The pilot captain, who, like all those who ply in this dangerous andintricate navigation, had been brought up to it from his youth, was atall gaunt personage, of about fifty years of age, and familiar in hismanner. Whether he had found some difficulty in keeping in check thepassengers from the Indiamen, whom he had been in the habit of taking upto Calcutta (whose spirits were, in all probability, rather buoyant upontheir first release from the confinement of a tedious passage), orwhether from a disposition naturally afraid of encroachment, he wasincessantly informing you that "he was captain of his own ship."Although in all other parts he was polite, yet upon this he paid norespect to persons, as the governor-general and his staff, much to theiramusement, and occasionally to their annoyance, found to be the case,when they ascended the river under his charge.
"Happy to see you on board, Captain M---. Hope you will make yourselfcomfortable, and call for everything you want. Boy, take this trunkdown into the state cabin. Happy to see you, gentlemen, and beg youwill consider yourselves quite at home--at the same time beg to observethat I'm `_Captain of my own ship_.'"
"So you ought to be," replied Captain M---, smiling, "if your ship wasno larger than a nutshell. I'm captain of _my_ own ship, I can assureyou."
"Very glad we agree upon that point, Captain M---. Young gentleman,"continued he, addressing himself to Courtenay, "you'll oblige me by notcoming to an anchor on my hen-coops. If you wish to sit down, you cancall for a chair."
"Rather annoying," muttered Courtenay, who did not much like beingcalled "young gentleman."
"A chair for the young gentleman," continued the captain of theschooner. "Starboard a little, Mr Jones,--there is rather too muchcable out, till the tide makes stronger. I presume you are not used to_kedging_, captain. It's a very pretty thing, as you will acknowledge.Starboard yet. Give her the helm quick, Mr Thompson. Why, sir, do youknow that I was once very nearly on shore on the tail of this very bank,because a young lady, who was going up to Calcutta, would take the helm?The mate could not prevent her--she refused to let it go; and, when Icommanded her, told me, with a laugh, that she could steer as well as Icould. I was obliged to prove to her, in rather an unpleasant manner,that I was captain of my own ship."
"Why, you did not flog her, did you, captain?"
"Why, no, not exactly that; but I was obliged to jerk the wheel round soquick, that I sprained both her wrists before she had time to let it go.It very near produced a mutiny. The girl fainted, or pretended to doso, and all the gentlemen passengers were in high wrath--littlethinking, the fools, that I had saved their lives by what they called mybarbarity. However, I told them, as soon as the danger was over, that Iwas captain of my own ship. Sweet pretty girl too, she was. We werewithin an inch of the bank, the tide running like a sluice, and shouldhave turned the turtle the moment that we had struck. Such a thing ascarrying politeness too far. If I had not twisted the wheel out of herhands as I did, in two minutes more the alligators would have dividedher pretty carcase, and all the rest of us to boot. No occasion forthat, Captain M---. There's plenty of black fellows for them floatingup and down all day long, as you will see."
"They throw all their dead into the river, do they not?"
"All, sir. This is a continuation of the sacred river, the Ganges, andthey believe that it insures their going to heaven. Have you never beenin India before?"
"Never."
"Nor these three gentlemen?"
"Neither of them."
"Oh, then," cried the captain, his face brightening up at theintelligence, as it gave him an opportunity of amusing his passengers;"then, perhaps, you would not object to my explaining things to you aswe go along?"
"On the contrary, we shall feel much indebted to you."
"Observe," said the captain, looking round as if to find an object todecide him where to begin--"do you see that body floating down the riverwith the crow perched upon it, and that black thing flush with thewater's edge which nears it so fast--that's the head of an alligator; heis in chase of it."
The party directed their attention to the object; the alligator, whichhad the appearance of a piece of black wood floating down the stream,closed with the body: his upper jaw rose clear out of the water, anddescended upon his prey, with which he immediately disappeared under themuddy water.
"By the Lord, Mr Crow, but you'd a narrow chance then," observed thecaptain; "you may thank your stars that you did not lose your life aswell as your breakfast. Don't you think so, young gentleman?" continuedthe captain, addressing Courtenay.
"I think," observed Courtenay, "that Mr Crow was not exactly captain ofhis own ship."
"Very true, sir. That point of land which we are just shutting in,Captain M---, is the end of Saugor Island, famous for Bengal tigers, andmore famous once for the sacrifice of children. You have heard of it?"
"I have heard of it; but if you have ever witnessed the scene, I shallbe obliged by your narration."
"I did once, Captain M---, but nothing would ever induce me to witnessit again. I am very glad that government has put a stop to it by force.You are aware that the custom arose from the natives attempting toavert any present or anticipated calamity, by devoting a child topropitiate the deity. On a certain day they all assembled in boats,with their victims, attended by their priests and music, and decoratedwith flowers. The gaiety of the procession would have induced you toimagine that it was some joyous festival, instead of a scene ofsuperstition and of blood. It would almost have appeared as if thealligators and sharks were aware of the exact time and place, from thenumbers that were collected at the spot where the immolation took place.My blood curdles now when I think of it. The cries of the natives, theshouting and encouraging of the priests, the deafening noise of thetom-toms, mixed with the piercing harsh music of the country, thehurling and tossing of the poor little infants into the water, and thesplashing and contention of the ravenous creatures as they tore themlimb from limb, within a few feet of their unnatural parents--the wholesea tinged with blood, and strewed with flowers! The very remembranceis sickening to me.
"One circumstance occurred, more horrid than all the rest. A woman had
devoted her child--but she had the feelings of a mother, which were notto be controlled by the blindest superstition. From time to time shehad postponed the fulfilment of the vow, until the child had grown intoa woman--for she was thirteen years old, which in this country is themarriageable age. Misfortune came on, and the husband was told by thepriests that the deity was offended, and that the daughter must besacrificed, or he would not be appeased. She was a beautiful creaturefor a native, and was to have been married about the very time that shewas now to be sacrificed. I see her now--she was dark in complexion, asthey all are, but her features were beautifully small and regular, andher form was perfect symmetry. They took off the gold ornaments withwhich she was decorated, and, in their avarice, removed her garments, asshe implored and entreated on her knees in vain. The boat that she wasin was closer to the shore than the others, and in shallow water. Theyforced her over the gunwale--she alighted on her feet, the water beingup to her middle, and, by a miracle, escaped, before a shark oralligator could reach her, and gained the beach. I thought that she wassaved, and felt more happy than if I had received a lakh of rupees. Butno--they landed from the boats, and pushed her into the water with longpoles, while she screamed for pity. A large alligator swam up to her,and she fell senseless with fright, just before he received her in hisjaws. So I don't think the poor creature suffered much after that,although the agony of anticipation must have been worse than thereality. That one instance affected me more than the scores of infantsthat were sacrificed to Moloch."
Distressing as the narrative was, there was a novelty and interest init, and a degree of feeling unexpectedly shown by the captain of thepilot vessel that raised him in the opinion of Captain M---, who becameanxious to obtain further information.
"They consider the river as sacred--do you imagine that they considerthe alligators to be so?"
"I rather think that they do, sir, although I only judge from what Ihave seen, as I have read nothing about it. At all events, the presenceof an alligator will not prevent them from performing a customary dutyof their religion, which is, bathing in the sacred river. The peoplecome down to bathe at the different ghauts, and if an alligator takesone of them down, it will not prevent the others from returning the nextmorning, even if one was to be taken away each succeeding day. I ratherthink that, in the discharge of a sacred duty, they consider allaccidents of this kind as according to the will of the deity, and a sortof passport to heaven. A party of murderous villains turned thisfeeling of their countrymen to good account at a ghaut up the country.The natives had bathed there for centuries without any accident onrecord, when, one day, a woman disappeared under the water from amongstthe rest, and every day for many weeks the same untoward circumstanceoccurred. It was supposed to be an alligator, but it was afterwardsascertained that this party of thieves had concealed themselves in thejungle on the opposite side of the river, which at that part was deep,but not very wide, and had a rope with a hook to it extended under waterto the ghaut, where the people bathed. Some of the gang mingled withthe bathers, and slipping down under water, made the rope fast to thelegs of one of the women, who was immediately hauled under the water byhis comrades, concealed on the opposite side. You may be wondering whythe rascals took so much trouble: but, sir, the women of this country,especially those of high caste, and who are rich, wear massive goldbangles upon their arms and legs, besides ornaments of great value onother parts of their person, and they never take them off when theybathe, as they are fastened on so as not to be removed. It was from theobservation that this supposed alligator was very nice in his eating, ashe invariably took away a Brachmany or a Rajahpoot girl, that the plotwas discovered. We are now abreast of the Diamond Harbour, a sad,unhealthy place, I can assure you. Port a little, Mr Jones--give fiveor six fathoms more cable; we drag too fast. This is a very dangerouscorner that we are turning now. When we are about eight miles above weshall bring up, and go to dinner. I beg your pardon, young gentleman,but I'll thank you to leave the compasses alone. You'll excuse me, butI command this vessel."
The pilot schooner rounded the point in safety, and in less than an hourbrought up abreast of a large village. The captain stated that beforedinner was over the tide would be too slack to go further on, and thathe should remain there during the ebb, and not weigh till early the nextmorning. If, therefore, Captain M--- and the gentlemen felt inclined totake a stroll after dinner, a boat was at their service.
This was gladly assented to, and when dinner was over, the captain ofthe schooner ordered the boat to be manned, and, at the request ofCaptain M---, accompanied them on shore. On their landing, the flockingtogether of the inhabitants, and the noise of the music, announced thatsomething more than usual was going on. On inquiry, the pilot captaininformed them that the rajah of the village, who had ascended the riverto perform his vows at some distant shrine, had not returned at the timethat he was expected, and that the natives were afraid that someaccident had occurred, and were in consequence propitiating the deity.
"You will now have an opportunity of beholding a very uncommon sight,which is the propitiatory dance to Shivu. There is no occasion forhurrying on so fast, young gentleman," continued the captain toCourtenay; "they will continue it till midnight."
"How excessively annoying that `captain of his own ship' is," observedCourtenay to Macallan. "`Young gentleman!' As if he could not see myepaulet."
"And yet there is nothing particularly to be affronted about. You_have_ a very youthful appearance, and surely you are not displeased atbeing called a gentleman."
"Why, no; but that is the reason why I am annoyed, because I cannot takeit up."
The party soon arrived at the site of the performance, which was on asmall arena at the foot of a pagoda. The pagoda, which was not large,was evidently of very ancient date, and the carvings in bas-relief,which were continued round on its sides, representing processions inhonour of the deity, were of a description much superior to the generalexecution of the Hindoos. The summit had bowed to time; perishable arthad yielded to eternal nature--a small tree, of the acacia species, hadusurped its place, and, as it waved its graceful bows to the breeze,appeared like a youthful queen reigning over and protecting the variousshrubs and plants which luxuriated in the different crevices of thebuilding. The dance was performed by about fifteen men, who wereperfectly naked, their long hair falling below their waists. They wentthrough a variety of rapid and strange evolutions, with a remarkabledegree of precision, throwing about their hands and arms, and distortingtheir bodies, even to their fingers, in a dexterous and almost terrificmanner. Sometimes they would suddenly form a circle, and, with asimultaneous jerk of their heads, throw their long hair, so that theends would for a moment all meet together in the centre; at other times,rolling their heads upon their shoulders with such astonishing velocity,that the eye was dazzled as they flew round and round, their hairradiating and diverging like the thrumbings of a mop, when trundled bysome strong-limbed housemaid. Their motions were regulated by thetom-toms, while an old Brahmin, with a ragged white beard, sat perchedover the door of the pagoda, and, with a small piece of bamboo, struckupon the palm of his left hand, as he presided over the whole ceremony.After a few minutes of violent exertion, he gave the signal to stop, andthe performers, reeking with perspiration from every pore, bound uptheir wet hair over their foreheads, and made room for another set, whorepeated the same evolutions.
"Is this religion?" inquired Seymour of Macallan, with someastonishment.
"That is a difficult question to answer in a few words. We must hopethat it will be acceptable as such, for its votaries are, at least,sincere."
"Oh! no one can deny the _warmth_ of their devotion," observedCourtenay, drily.
The extreme heat and effluvia from the crowds of natives, who witnessedthe performance, forced Captain M--- and his companions unwillingly toabandon a scene so novel to an European. At the proposal of theirconductor, they agreed to continue their walk to the outskirts of thevil
lage.
"I have often been ashore at this village," said the captain, "for theymake the small mats here which are much in request at Calcutta, and Ihave frequent commissions for them. I can show you a novelty, if youwish, but I warn you that it will not be a very agreeable sight. Thenullah that runs up here, frequently leaves the dead bodies on the bank.It is now half-ebb, and if you wish to be introduced to vultures andjackals, I can show you plenty. But prepare yourself for a disgustingsight, for these animals do not congregate without a cause."
"To prey on the dead bodies, I presume?" replied Captain M---; "but as Ihave never seen these animals in their wild state, my curiosity bearsdown any anticipation of disgust. Let me not, however, influence thosewho do not feel inclined to encounter it."
"After witnessing that dance," observed Courtenay, taking a pinch ofsnuff, "I am fully prepared for _any supper_--it is impossible to bemore disgusting."
Macallan and Seymour having expressed a wish to proceed, the pilotcaptain led the way, observing--"These animals are very necessary in theclimates to which they are indigenous: they do the duty on shore whichthe alligators do in the water--that of public scavengers. The numberof bodies that are launched into the Ganges is incredible. If a Hindoois sick, he is brought down to the banks by his relatives, and if hedoes not recover, is thrown into the river. It is said, indeed, that ifthey are known to have money, their relatives do not wait till naturetires with their own exertions, but stop their mouths with clay, toprevent the possibility of recovery. There is a strong eddy round thispoint, and the bodies are swept into the nullah, and lie dry at theebb."
"What do you call a nullah?" inquired Seymour.
"A nullah means a creek."
"I was so stupidly proud that I did not like to ask; but as Seymour hadset the example," added Courtenay, "pray what is a ghaut?"
"A landing-place. See, there are some vultures perched upon that tree,"continued the pilot captain, as they ascended the bank of the nullah.As soon as they arrived at the top they perceived, to their horror,seven or eight bodies lying in the mud, surrounded by vultures andjackals, who, indiscriminately mingled together, were devouring them.
As they approached, the jackals retreated, looking repeatedly back, andsometimes facing round to the party, as if to inquire why they disturbedthem in their repast. The vultures, on the contrary, did not attempt tomove, until Macallan approached to within a few feet, and then those whocould retired a few yards, or took their stations on the low branches ofa tree close by, where others, who were already satiated, were sittingwith drooping wings waiting for a return of appetite to recommence theirbanquet; others were so gorged, that they could not walk away. Withtheir wings trailing in the mud, and their beaks separated, as ifgasping for breath, their brilliant eye dulled from repletion--therethey remained, emitting an effluvium so offensive that the numerousskeletons, and the mingled remains of mortality, were pleasing comparedto such disgusting specimens of _living_ corruption.
The party viewed the scene for a minute or two without speaking, andthen turned away by common consent, and did not break silence until theyhad left it far behind.
"I begin to think," said Courtenay, taking out his box, "that even asavage may occasionally have an excuse for taking snuff. Did you ever,in your whole life, come in contact with such a stench? Positively ithas impregnated my snuff. There's a strong twang of the vulture in it,"continued he, emptying the contents of the box upon the ground. "Nowthat's what I consider cursedly annoying."
"We have, indeed, both seen and heard enough for one day," observedCaptain M---, as they entered the boat. "Many thanks to you, Mr ---,for your attention to our wishes."
"Not at all, Captain M---. I am only sorry that my sights have not beenas agreeable as they are novel; but when you arrive at Calcutta, youwill find novelty combined with pleasure."
After three days, which appeared to have fled with extra rapidity, fromthe constant amusement derived from the anecdotes and informationimparted by the pilot captain, they sailed up Garden Reach with a finebreeze; and the city of palaces, the only one that deserves its name,burst, in all its splendour, upon their sight.
But I am not about to describe it: reader, do not be alarmed. It is notin my province as a novel-writer, and I make it a rule, never tointerfere with anybody else, if I can avoid it. Captain Hall, who hasalready _done_ North and South America, and Loo Choo, will, I have nodoubt, be here by-and-bye, taking Africa in his way: and as I can makeup my three volumes of fiction without trespassing upon his matter offact, I refer you to his work when it appears, for a description of thisgorgeous monument of rapine, this painted sepulchre of crime.