Chapter 16: A Tiger Hunt.
Commodore James was greatly astonished at the easy success which hehad gained. The extraordinary cessation of fire from the sea face, andthe sound of artillery within the walls, had convinced him that amutiny among the garrison must have taken place; but upon entering thefort he was surprised, indeed, at being received with a hearty Englishcheer, from a little body of men on the summit of an interior work.The gate of this was at once thrown open, and Charlie, followed by hisparty, advanced towards the commodore.
"I am Captain Marryat, sir, of the Company's service in Madras; andwas captured three months ago by these pirates. When you attacked theplace, yesterday, I arranged to effect a small diversion; and with theassistance of these five native officers, of my soldier servant, here,and these ten men of the merchant service, we have, I hope, been ableto do so. The native officers disabled the greater portion of theguns, during the night; and when you opened fire this morning weseized this inner work, which is also the magazine, and opened fireupon the rear of the sea defences. By dint of our guns, and of menacesto blow up the place if they assaulted it, we kept them at bay untiltheir flag was hauled down."
"Then, sir," Commodore James said, warmly; "I have to thank you, mostheartily, for the assistance you have given. In fact, it is you whohave captured the fortress. I was by no means prepared to find it sostrong; and, indeed, had come to the conclusion, last night, that theforce at my command was wholly insufficient for its capture.Fortunately, I determined to try the effect of another day's fire.But, had it not been for you, this would assuredly have been asineffectual as the first. You have, indeed, performed a most gallantaction; and I shall have great pleasure in reporting your conduct tothe authorities at home."
The sailors had now landed in considerable force. The garrison weredisarmed, and taken as prisoners on board the ships. Very largequantities of powder were found, stored up, and strong parties at oncebegan to form mines, for the blowing up of the fortifications.
This was a labour of some days. When they were completed and charged,a series of tremendous explosions took place. Many of the bastionswere completely blown to pieces. In others, the walls were shattered.
The prisoners were again landed, and set to work, aided by thesailors. The great stones, which composed the walls, were toppled overthe steep faces of the rock on which the fort stood; and, at the endof a fortnight, the pirate hold of Suwarndrug, which had so long beenthe terror of the Indian Seas, had disappeared.
The fleet returned to Bombay; for it was, evidently, whollyinsufficient to attempt an assault on Gheriah; defended, as that placewould be, by the whole pirate fleet; which had, even without theassistance of its guns, proved itself a match for a squadron doublethe strength of that under the command of Commodore James.
The rejoicings at Bombay were immense, for enormous damage had beeninflicted on the commerce of that place, by this pirate hold, situatedbut eighty miles from the port. Commodore James and his officers werefeted, and Charlie Marryat had his full share of honor; the gallantsailor, everywhere, assigning to him the credit of its capture.
Charlie would now have sailed, at once, for Madras; but theauthorities wished him to remain, as Clive was shortly expected toarrive, with a considerable force, which was destined to act againstthe French at Hyderabad. The influence of Bussy, with the nizam,rendered this important province little better than a Frenchpossession; and the territory of our rivals, upon the seacoast, hadbeen immensely increased by the grant of the five districts, known asthe Northern Sirdars, to Bussy.
It was all that the English could do to hold their own, around Madras;and it was out of the question for them to think of attempting, singlehanded, to dislodge Bussy from Hyderabad. Between the nizam, however,and the Peishwar of the Deccan, there was a longstanding feud; and theCompany had proposed, to this prince, to aid him with a strong Englishforce, in an attack upon Hyderabad.
Colonel Scott had, in the first place, been sent out to command thisexpedition; but when Clive, wearied with two years' life of inactivityin England, applied to be appointed to active service, the directorsat once appointed him governor of Fort Saint David, and obtained forhim the rank of lieutenant colonel in the royal army. They directedhim to sail at once for Bombay, with three companies of the RoyalArtillery, each a hundred strong, and three hundred infantry recruits.Upon his arrival there, he was to give Colonel Scott any assistance herequired. That officer, however, had died before Clive arrived.
Upon reaching Bombay, Clive found that events had occurred, in thesouth, which would prevent the intended expedition from taking place.The French government had suddenly recalled Dupleix, the great manwhose talent and statesmanship had sustained their cause. On hisreturn to France, instead of treating him with honor for the work hehad done for them, they even refused to repay him the large sums whichhe had advanced, from his private fortune, to carry on the struggleagainst the English; and Dupleix died in poverty and obscurity.
In his place, the French governor had sent out a man by the name ofGodchen, who was weak and wholly destitute of ability. At the time ofhis arrival the English were hardly pressed, and a strong French fleetand force were expected on the coast. When, however, Mr. Saundersproposed to him a treaty of neutrality between the Indian possessionsof the two powers, he at once accepted it; and thus threw away all theadvantages, which Dupleix had struggled so hard to obtain. The resultof this treaty, however, was that the English were unable to carry outtheir proposed alliance, with the peishwar, against the nizam andBussy.
Upon Clive's arrival, Charlie at once reported himself to him. For atime, however, no active duty was assigned to him, as it was uncertainwhat steps would now be taken. Finally it was resolved that, takingadvantage of the presence of Clive and his troops, and of a squadronwhich had arrived under Admiral Watson, the work commenced byCommodore James should be completed, by the capture of Gheriah and theentire destruction of the pirate power.
The peishwar had already asked them to aid him in his attack uponAngria, and Commodore James was now sent, with the Protector and twoother ships, to reconnoitre Gheriah, which no Englishman then livinghad seen. The natives described it as of enormous strength, and it wasbelieved that it was an Eastern Gibraltar.
Commodore James found the enemy's fleet at anchor in the harbour.Notwithstanding this, he sailed in until within cannon shot, and socompletely were the enemy cowed and demoralized, by the loss ofSuwarndrug, that they did not venture out to attack him.
After ascertaining the position and character of the defences, hereturned, at the end of December, to Bombay; and reported that, whileexceedingly strong, the place was by no means impregnable. TheMahratta army, under the command of Ramajee Punt, marched to blockadethe place on the land side; and on the 11th of February, 1756, thefleet, consisting of four ships of the line, of seventy, sixty-four,sixty, and fifty guns; a frigate of forty-four, and three of twenty; anative ship called a grab, of twelve guns; and five mortar ships,arrived before the place. Besides the seamen, the fleet had on board abattalion of eight hundred Europeans and a thousand Sepoys.
The fortress of Gheriah was situated on a promontory of rock, a mileand a quarter broad; lying about a mile up a large harbour, formingthe mouth of a river. The promontory projects to the southwest, on theright of the harbour on entering; and rises sheer from the water inperpendicular rocks, fifty feet high. On this stood thefortifications. These consisted of two lines of walls, with roundtowers, the inner wall rising several feet above the outer.
The promontory was joined to the land by a sandy slip, beyond whichthe town stood. On this neck of land, between the promontory and thetown, were the docks and slips on which the pirate vessels were builtor repaired; and ten of these, among which was the Derby, which theyhad captured from the Company, lay moored side by side, close by thedocks, when the fleet arrived off the place.
Charlie Marryat had been sent, by Clive, as commissioner with theMahratta army. A party of Mahratta horsemen came down to Bombay toescort
him to Chaule, at which place the Mahratta army were assembledfor their march. He was accompanied by Tim and Hossein, who were ofcourse, like him, on horseback.
A long day's ride took them to their first halting place, a few milesfrom the foot of a splendid range of hills, which rise like a wallfrom the low land, for a vast distance along the coast. At the top ofthese hills--called in India, ghauts--lay the plateau of the Deccan,sloping gradually away to the Ganges, hundreds of miles to the east.
"Are we going to climb up to top of them mountains, your honor?"
"No, Tim, fortunately for our horses. We shall skirt their foot, for ahundred and fifty miles, till we get behind Gheriah."
"You wouldn't think that a horse could climb them," Tim said. "Theylook as steep as the side of a house."
"In many places they are, Tim, but you see there are breaks in them.At some points, either from the force of streams, or from the weather,the rocks have crumbled away; and the great slopes, which everywhereextend halfway up, reach the top. Zigzag paths are cut in these, whichcan be travelled by horses and pack animals.
"There must be quantities of game," Charlie said to the leader of theescort, "on the mountain sides."
"Quantities?" the Mahratta said. "Tigers and bears swarm there, andare such a scourge that there are no villages within miles of the footof the hills. Even on the plateau above, the villages are few andscarce near the edge, so great is the damage done by wild beasts.
"But that is not all. There are numerous bands of Dacoits, who set theauthority of the peishwar at defiance, plunder travellers andmerchants going up and down, make raids into the Deccan, and plunderthe low land nearly up to the gates of Bombay. Numerous expeditionshave been sent against them, but the Dacoits know every foot of thehills. They have numerous, impregnable strongholds on the rocks; whichyou can see rising sheer up hundreds of feet, from among the woods onthe slopes; and can, if pressed, shift their quarters, and move fiftymiles away among the trees, while the troops are, in vain, searchingfor them."
"I suppose there is no chance of their attacking us," Charlie said.
"The Dacoit never fights if he can help it, and then only when driveninto a corner, or when there appears a chance of very large plunder.He will always leave a strong party of armed men, from whom nothingbut hard blows is to be got, in peace."
The journey occupied five days, and was most enjoyable. The officer ofthe escort, as the peishwar's agent, would have requisitionedprovisions at each of the villages; but Charlie insisted, under onepretence or another, on buying a couple of sheep or kids at eachhalting place, for the use of his own party and the escort. For a fewcopper coins an abundant supply of fruit and vegetables wasobtainable; and as, each night, they spread their rugs under the shadeof some overhanging tree, and smoked their pipes lazily after the veryexcellent meal which Hossein always prepared, Charlie and Tim agreedthat they had spent no pleasanter time in India than that occupied bytheir journey.
Charlie was received with much honor by Ramajee Punt, and was assigneda gorgeous tent, next to his own.
"People in England, Mister Charles," said Tim that evening, "turn uptheir noses at the thought of living in tents, but what do they knowof them? The military tent is an uncomfortable thing, and as for thegipsy tent, a dacent pig wouldn't look at it. Now this is like apalace, with its carpet under foot, and its sides covered with silkhangings, and its furniture fit for a palace. Father Murphy wouldn'tbelieve me, if I told him about it on oath. If this is making war, yerhonor, I shall be in no hurry for pace."
The Mahratta force took up its position, beleaguering the town on theland side, some weeks before the arrival of the fleet; CommodoreJames, with his two ships, blockading it at sea. There was little todo, and Charlie accepted with eagerness an offer of Ramajee Punt, thatthey should go out for two or three days' tiger hunting, at the footof the hills.
"Well, Mr. Charles," Tim said, when he heard of the intention, "if youwant to go tiger hunting, Tim Kelly is not the boy to stay behind. Butshure, yer honor, if the creeturs will lave ye alone, why should youmeddle with them? I saw one in a cage at Arcot, and it's a baste Ishouldn't wish to see on a lone road on a dark night. It had a way ofwagging its tail that made you feel uncomfortable like, to the sole ofyer boots; and after looking at me for some time, the baste opened itsmouth, and gave a roar that shook the whole establishment. It's abaste safer to let alone than to meddle with."
"But we shall be up on the top of an elephant. We shall be safe enoughthere, you know."
"Maybe, yer honor," Tim said doubtfully; "but I mind me that, when Iwas a boy, me and my brother Peter was throwing sods at an old tomcatof my mother's, who had stolen our dinners, and it ran up a wall tenfeet high. Well, yer honor, the tiger is as big as a hundred tomcats,and by the same token he ought to be able to run up a wall--"
"A thousand feet high, Tim? He can't do that. Indeed, I questionwhether he could run up much higher than a cat.
"We are to start this evening, and shall be there by midnight. Theelephants have gone on ahead."
At sunset the party started. It consisted of Ramajee Punt, one of hisfavourite officers, and a score of soldiers. An officer had alreadygone on, to enlist the services of the men of two or three villages asbeaters. A small but comfortable tent had been erected for the party,and supper prepared.
The native shikari, or sportsman of the neighbourhood, had brought inthe news that tigers were plentiful; and that one of unusual size hadbeen committing great depredations; and had, only the day before,carried off a bullock into the thickets, a mile from the spot at whichthey were encamped.
"The saints preserve us!" Tim said, when he heard the news; "a cat bigenough to carry off a mouse in her mouth as big as a bullock."
"It seems almost impossible, Tim, but it is a fact that tigers cancarry in their mouths full-sized bullocks, for considerable distances,and that they can kill them with one stroke of their paw. However,they are not as formidable as you would imagine, as you will see,tomorrow."
In the morning the elephants were brought out. Charlie took his placein the front of a howdah, with Tim behind him. Three rifles wereplaced in the seat, and these Tim was to hand to his master, as hedischarged them. Ramajee Punt and his officer were also mounted onelephants, and the party started for their destination.
"It's as bad as being at sea, Mr. Charles," Tim said.
"It does roll about, Tim. You must let your body go with the motion,just as on board ship. You will soon get accustomed to it."
On reaching the spot, which was a narrow valley, with steep sidesrunning up into the hill, the elephants came to a stand. The mouth ofthe valley was some fifty yards wide, and the animal might break fromthe trees at any point. The ground was covered with high, coarsegrass.
Ramajee Punt placed himself in the centre, assigning to Charlie theposition on his right, telling him that it was the best post, as itwas on this side the tiger had been seen to enter. Soon after they hadtaken their places, a tremendous clamour arose near the head of thevalley. Drums were beaten, horns blown, and scores of men joined in,with shouts and howls.
"What on arth are they up to, Mr. Charles?"
"They are driving the tiger this way, Tim. Now, sit quiet and keep asharp lookout, and be ready to hand me a rifle, the instant I havefired."
The noise increased, and was plainly approaching. The elephantfidgeted uneasily.
"That baste has more sinse than we have," said Tim; "and would be off,if that little black chap, astraddle of his neck, didn't keep onpatting his head."
Presently, the mahout pointed silently to the bushes ahead, andCharlie caught sight, for a moment, of some yellow fur. Apparently thetiger had heard or scented the elephants, for it again turned and madeup the valley. Presently a redoubled yelling, with the firing of guns,showed that it had been seen by the beaters. Ramajee Punt held up hishand to Charlie, as a signal that next time the tiger might beexpected.
Suddenly there was a movement among the bushes. A tiger sprang out,about halfwa
y between Charlie's elephant and that of Ramajee Punt. Itpaused for a moment, on seeing them; and then, as it was about tospring forward, two balls struck it. It sprang a short distance,however, and then fell, rolling over and over. One ball had broken aforeleg, the other had struck it on the head. Another ball fromRamajee Punt struck it, as it rolled over and over, and it layimmovable.
"Why didn't you hand me the next rifle, Tim?" Charlie said sharply.
"It went clane out of my head, altogether. To think now, and you kiltit in a moment. The tiger is a poor baste, anyhow. I've seen a catmake ten times as strong a fight for its life.
"Holy Moses!"
The last exclamation was called from Tim's lips by a sudden jerk. Ahuge tiger, far larger than that which had fallen, had sprung up fromthe brushwood and leaped upon the elephant. With one forepaw hegrasped the howdah, with the other clung to the elephant's shoulder,an inch or two only behind the leg of the mahout.
Charlie snatched the rifle from Tim's hand, and thrust the muzzle intothe tiger's mouth, just as the elephant swerved round with suddenfright and pain. At the same moment the weight of the tiger on thehowdah caused the girths to give way; and Charlie, Tim and the tigerfell together on the ground. Charlie had pulled his trigger, just ashe felt himself going; and at the same moment he heard the crack ofRamajee Punt's rifle.
The instant they touched the ground, Tim and Charlie cast themselvesover and over, two or three times; and then leaped to their feet,Charlie grasping his rifle, to make the best defence he could if thetiger sprang upon him. The creature lay, however, immovable.
"It is dead, Tim," Charlie exclaimed. "You needn't be afraid."
"And no wonder, yer honor, when I pitched, head first, smack onto hisstomach. It would have killed a horse."
"It might have done, Tim, but I don't think it would have killed atiger. Look there."
Charlie's gun had gone off at the moment when the howdah turned round,and had nearly blown off a portion of the tiger's head; while, almostat the same instant, the ball of Ramajee Punt had struck it in theback, breaking the spine. Death had, fortunately for Tim, beeninstantaneous.
The tiger last killed was the great male which had done so muchdamage; the first, a female. The natives tied the legs together,placed long bamboos between them, and carried the animals off, intriumph, to the camp. The elephant on which Charlie had ridden ransome distance, before the mahout could stop him. He was, indeed, soterrified by the onslaught of the tiger, that it was not consideredadvisable to endeavour to get him to face another, that day. RamajeePunt, therefore, invited Charlie to take his seat with him, on hiselephant, an arrangement which greatly satisfied Tim, whose serviceswere soon dispensed with.
"I'd rather walk on my own feet, Mister Charles, than ride any more onthose great bastes. They're uncomfortable, anyhow. It's a long way tofall, if the saddle goes round; and next time one might not find atiger handy, to light on."
Two more tigers were killed that afternoon and, well pleased with hisday's sport, Charlie returned to the hunting camp.
The next day, Hossein begged that he might be allowed to accompanyCharlie in Tim's place; and as the Irishman was perfectly willing tosurrender it, the change was agreed upon. The march was a longer onethan it had been, on the previous morning. A notorious man-eatingtiger was known to have taken up his abode, in a large patch ofjungle, at the foot of an almost perpendicular wall of rock, about tenmiles from the place where the camp was pitched. The patch of junglestood upon a steep terrace, whose slopes were formed of boulders, thepatch being some fifty or sixty yards long and thirty deep.
"It is a nasty place," Ramajee Punt said, "to get him from. Thebeaters cannot get behind to drive him out, and the jungle is toothick to penetrate."
"How do you intend to proceed?" Charlie asked.
"We will send a party to the top of the hill, and they will throw downcrackers. We have brought some rockets, too, which we will send infrom the other side. We will take our places, on our elephants, at thefoot of the terrace."
The three elephants took their posts, at the foot of the bouldercovered rise. As soon as they had done so, the men at the top of therock began to throw down numbers of lighted crackers; while, fromeither side, parties sent rockets whizzing into the jungle.
For some time the tiger showed no signs of his presence, and Charliebegan to doubt whether he could be really there. The shikaris,however, declared that he was certainly in the jungle. He had, on theday before, carried off a woman from a neighbouring village; and hadbeen traced to the jungle, round which a watch had been kept allnight.
Suddenly, uttering a mighty roar, the tiger bounded from the jungle,and stood at the edge of the terrace. Startled at his suddenappearance, the elephants recoiled, shaking the aim of their riders.Three shots were, however, fired almost at the same moment; and thetiger, with another roar, bounded back into the jungle.
"I think," the rajah said, "that he is badly hit. Listen to hisroarings."
The tiger, for a time, roared loudly at intervals. Then the soundsbecame lower and less frequent, and at last ceased altogether. In vaindid the natives above shower down crackers. In vain were the rocketsdischarged into the jungle. An hour passed, since he had last beenheard.
"I expect that he's dead," Charlie said.
"I think so, too," Ramajee Punt replied; "but one can never becertain. Let us draw off a little, and take our luncheon. After that,we can try the fireworks again. If he will not move, then we mustleave him."
"But surely," Charlie said, "we might go in and see whether he's deador not."
"A wounded tiger is a terrible foe," the Ramajee answered. "Betterleave him alone."
Charlie, however, was anxious to get the skin to send home, with thoseof the others he had shot, to his mother and sisters. It might be verylong before he had an opportunity of joining in another tiger hunt;and he resolved that, if the tiger gave no signs of life when thebombardment of the jungle with fireworks recommenced, he would go inand look for his body.