| Contents <-Chapter 21 Chapter 23-> |
 Admiralty House, Trincomalee FOR those who do not mind tropical heat Trincomalee is a pleasant resort, and certainly Admiralty House is the place to enjoy it. Designed originally by a ship's carpenter, it is built so as to catch the sea breeze, which sweeps through the spacious rooms with the force of half a gale. A broad flight of steps leads up to the dining and drawing-rooms, and the bedrooms are on each side. On the ground-floor are offices and servants' apartments, and over all a flat roof from which a fine view of the harbour is obtained, and a cool retreat to smoke the post-prandial cigar before turning in. The heat is certainly trying during the day, the thermometer ranging between 90� and 100� in the shade, but is tempered by the sea-breeze in the day and the land-wind at night, otherwise it would be unbearable. There is abundance of sport of all kinds, from an elephant to a snipe, and heavy bags of the latter were made in the marshes at Tamleglan. Personally I never cared to shoot an elephant; especially in Ceylon, where they, as a rule, have no tusks. I failed to see the sport in slaughtering a noble beast, and to have nothing to show for it but his tail, 306 CEYLON. leaving the carcass to rot upon the ground, defiling the air for miles around. A rogue elephant is an awkward customer, and should be killed when possible. To my fancy the best sport with the rifle is "still-hunting " in the woods after spotted deer, which abound all over the low country. Some of the planters keep hounds and hunt the sambur stag on the high lands about Horton Plains: it is a very fine sport, but one has to be young and active to enjoy it, as the hunting is done entirely on foot; no weapon is permitted but the hunting-knife. The deer generally takes to the water and is there killed. The cheetal, or spotted deer, are easily tamed if caught young, but the stag is apt to get savage and dangerous. We had several in a paddock at Trincomalee, and one stag became so vicious that I had his horns cut off : this tamed him for a while, but next year he developed a fine pair, with which he gored two of my native servants, so I shot him. One hears a good deal about snakes in Ceylon, but in three years I only remember to have seen two venomous ones - a big cobra and a tick-palonga. Rat-snakes are common in the marshes, and are ugly-looking customers, but are harmless. Mr Fowler, the Government agent at Nuwara-Eliya (pronounced Newralia), has introduced trout in a stream, at Horton Plains, where they grow to a great size but do not seem to breed. Fish of 5 lb. and 6 lb. weight have been killed with the fly. The golf-links at Nuwara-Eliya are second to none in any part of the world : there is also a nice club and a good hotel; and being situated at an altitude 307 NATIVE PETITIONS of over 6000 feet, the climate is delightful and the scenery beautiful - altogether a charming place. From the Governor, Sir Arthur Havelock, and Lady Havelock we received much kindness and hospitality, both at their lovely cottage in the hills and also at Government House, Colombo; and the planters are a splendid lot of fellows, most hospitable, and sportsmen to a man. It is not surprising, therefore, that we have a very pleasant recollection of that beautiful island and its kind-hearted inhabitants. When the dock now in course of construction is completed, Colombo will become one of the best harbours in the world, as it is now one of the most secure, due to the magnificent breakwater; but even to that some merchant captains take exception, saying it is too narrow between the piers, and the turn too sharp for long ships, as it probably is. There is a curious custom prevailing at Trincomalee, which also obtains at other places in the East - the habit of sending petitions. Whenever a native has a grievance, real or imaginary, he employs a professional letter-writer; who forthwith proceeds to relate the grievance in highflown and preposterous expressions, often of a most amusing character. I used to receive two or three a-week of these productions, generally in the same handwriting, and I append a specimen herewith. I feel sure these writers must keep a stock of ready-made letters to suit all cases, and I daresay some who read this may say that they have seen it, or one like it, before, which is not unlikely, as I had this typed more than five years ago, and sent a copy to the Admiralty and to a few friends at home. 308 CEYLON. NATIVE PETITION. Respectfully sheweth, That your honour's servant is poor man in agricultural behaviour, and much depends on season for staff of life therefore he prays that you will favour upon him and take him into your saintly service that he may have some permanently labour for the support of his soul and his family wherefore he falls on his family's bended knees and implores to you of this merciful consideration to a damnable miserable like your honour's unfortunate petitioner - that your Lordship's honours servant was too much poorly during the last rains and was resuscitated by much medicines which made magnificent excavations in the coffers of your honourable servant, whose means are circumcised by his large family consisting of 5 female women and 3 masculine, the last of which are still taking milk from Mother's chest, and are damnable noiseful through pulmonary catistrophe in their interior abdomen. Besides the above-named an additional birth is through the grace of God very shortly occurring to my beloved wife of bosom who has got baby in womb. That your honour's damnable servant was officiating in several capacities in past generations, but has become too much old for espousing hard labour in this time of his bodily life, but was not drunkard nor thief nor swindler, nor any of this kind, but was always pious and affectionate to his numerous family consisting of the aforesaid 5 female women and 3 males, the last of whom are still milking the parental mother. That your generous honour's Lordship's servant was entreating Magistrate for employment in Municipality to remove filth &c. but was not granted petition. Therefore your generous lordship will give to me some easy work in the department or something of this sort. For which act of kindness your noble lordship's poor servant, will as in duty bound pray for your longevity and procreativeness. I have the honour &c. 309 BOMBAY From Trinco we used generally to go to Calcutta and Rangoon, timing our visit so as to spend Christmas in the Hooghly, the cool season at Calcutta. The station is so large, extending from the Red Sea to Burma, and from the head of the Persian Gulf to the southward of Madagascar, it takes the Admiral all his time to complete the round in twelve months, so we were only able to visit each place three times during the three years allotted to the command of the station. At Bombay one's time is fully occupied with inspections, and the Indian marine, though under the immediate direction of the officer especially appointed, is also closely associated with the navy. This service, second only to the Royal Navy, attained a high state of efficiency under the able superintendence of Captain (now Admiral) Sir John Hext, and is not likely to deteriorate under the present director, Captain Goodridge, R.N. The climate of Bombay can hardly be said to be an agreeable one, being hot, moist, and clammy; but there is a very nice society there, principally military and mercantile, and three excellent clubs, the yacht club being the great attraction of an evening when the band plays on the lawn. At Calcutta, where the Boadicea and her consorts moored alongside the Bund, our time was fully occupied with social and official functions, and enjoying the hospitality for which the capital is so famous. At Government House the popular Viceroy and Lady Lansdowne lavished hospitality on a princely scale, and not only to officials of exalted rank but to the humbler classes, as I will presently show. In the beautiful park at Barrackpore there are several 310 CEYLON. ornamental ponds or tanks in which fish of fabulous size were said to exist, so I asked and obtained permission of his Excellency to bring a party of bluejackets and haul the seine. On the day appointed I proceeded to the place with fifty men from the squadron and several officers, intending to make a picnic of it. What was our surprise to find a most sumptuous repast prepared for us under the shade of a banyan-tree, and another, even a more substantial one, for the men near by. This included roast-beef, plum-pudding, turkeys, hams, beer ad lib., and cigars, and even finger-glasses and napkins, to which poor Jack was unaccustomed. Behind every two or three guests stood a gorgeous native servant in the viceregal livery. The gallant tars did ample justice to the Viceroy's kind hospitality, though a bit shy of the napkins, finger-glasses, and splendid plate; and I overheard one say to the other, " I suppose, Bill, this is what they call a `dejeunez on the foresheet"' ! (a la fourchette). His Excellency's health having been drunk with great enthusiasm, we proceeded to business. We had brought with us three seines in case one was not sufficient. The Boadicea's, being the largest, was stretched across the lower end of one of the ponds and hauled from end to end; but, to our astonishment and disgust, not a fish was seen. We then spliced a second net to the bottom of the first, and weighted it with shot, &c., and backed it up with the third, and then proceeded as before. We had not got far when an enormous fish, fully 50 lb. in weight, jumped the net and escaped, followed by others. The excitement now became great; half the men were in the water holding up the seine, beating the 311 CARNATION CARP water, and yelling at the top of their voices to frighten the fish. My coxswain, Glover, was standing up in a small dingey superintending operations, and shouting out orders to the people on the bank, mostly contradicting each other, as he had partaken freely of the banquet. The net was being slowly drawn to land, and it was evident that some large fish were enclosed; the uproar was terrific. Suddenly a huge fish made a desperate leap, cleared the net, and hitting Glover in the stomach, knocked him overboard, capsizing the dingey, which turned over on the top of him. He presently reappeared covered with slime and his mouth full of mud, which, however, did not prevent him using terrible language. Eventually the seine, containing the boat, the coxswain, some cartloads of mud, and several enormous fish, was dragged ashore. These fish, called carnation carp, live to a great age, and attain as much as 70 and 80 lb. Amongst our capture were two of 50 lb. each and several smaller; also fresh-water crayfish, and other varieties of every shape and colour. The carp had skins as tough as leather and scales as big as a rupee ; they are said to be coarse eating, but the blue-jackets relished them. We had another haul in the Government grounds at Calcutta, and captured some more of these sacred monsters; but I fear we did damage to the beautiful water-lilies (Victoria regia), though we did our best to avoid them. During our stay at Calcutta, I made an expedition with the ladies to Darjeeling, and we were fortunate enough to have a splendid view of the Himalayas on the second morning, a treat denied to many who go there with that object. I do not consider that photographs do justice to this magnificent panorama. I  Hauling the Seine at Barrackpore 312 CEYLON. may be wrong, but it always appears to me that photography exaggerates the foreground and minimises the distant objects, and the photographs that I have seen give no idea of the height of the Himalayas as seen from Darjeeling. From Calcutta we went to the Andaman Islands, the convict settlement of India, where it will be remembered Lord Mayo was assassinated, and the life of the last Governor, Colonel Horsford, was attempted. Many of the convicts are dangerous characters, and being reckless and weary of life, are ready to go for any "Burra-Sahib" that may visit the place, so it is not safe to roam about the island without a guard, especially after dark. One day we rode to a native village to witness a corroboree, which was got up for our benefit, when the usual barbaric antics were gone through to the accompaniment of tom-toms. Men and women in nature's garb danced round, singing a monotonous chant and clapping their hands in time. Some of the girls were decidedly pretty, though black as a coal. The belles wore a girdle of leaves, forming a kind of bustle - it could hardly be called a "dress-improver" - which hung down behind and fastened round the waist. At the Governor's garden-party the men gave an exhibition of their skill with bow and arrow, shooting at dummies. On this occasion the black ladies were provided with sacks, with holes for their legs, giving them a very comical appearance. During our stay the cricketers of the squadron played against a local team, during which the Governor's band, composed of murderers, played appropriate selections of music, such as "I stood on the bridge at midnight ; " "Melt me by moonlight alone; " "Will he come? " " I wait for thee ; " " It may be four years, but it can't be  The Himalayas from Darjeeling 313 THE ANDAMANS for ever;" " Oh Willie, we have missed you!" &c., and winding up with "Home, sweet Home "' I have reason to remember our visit to the Andamans, for I lost the top of my thumb there, bitten off by a parrot-fish. The brute came to the surface after some torpedo experiments, shamming death; I incautiously put my thumb in his mouth, when the creature's jaws shut with a horrid snap, taking off the flesh of my thumb to the bone. Our surgeon dressed the wound, which healed up without any worse consequences than a callousness of the extremity owing to the nerves being lacerated. My coxswain picked up the portion of the thumb, and following me down into the cabin, asked what he should do with it. I told him to give it to a panther cub we had on board, the beast having already shown a partiality for human flesh. The origin of the natives of the Andamans is obscure : it is believed that they came originally from the Malay Peninsula. They are small in stature, very dark in colour, and are, as a rule, quiet and inoffensive, though some tribes in the interior are not to be trusted. The race is dying out, as usually happens, before the march of civilisation and its attendant evils. The Nicobar Islands, to the south of the Andaman group, are inhabited by a set of treacherous savages addicted to cannibalism. Leaving Port Blair, we stood across to the mainland and anchored off Rangoon, where we spent a most enjoyable time, visiting Mandalay and other places; but having to return to India, we were too hurried to properly appreciate that interesting and beautiful country, and it was with regret that we took our departure and sailed for Madras. The Bay of Bengal is during the prevalence of the 314 CEYLON north-east monsoon as calm as a lake, and after a few days' pleasant sailing we moored inside the breakwater at Madras, with stern cables to the shore. During our stay here we were most hospitably entertained by Lord Wenlock, the Governor, at Gindy, his country residence, some seven miles out from the city. We were here introduced for the first time to that graceful Indian antelope the black buck. A herd of these animals was kept in the park at Gindy, where they had run wild and had increased so much it became necessary to thin them; so we had permission to shoot six, which his lordship kindly distributed to the sailors of the squadron. The club-house is probably the finest in India, and we were invited to a magnificent ball there during our stay. Whilst at Calcutta I heard of a place near Colimere Point, on the south coast of India, where black buck were to be found, but it was said to be a difficult place to get at and the landing dangerous. Being desirous of visiting this place, I left the Boadicea to go on to Trincomalee, and proceeded in a smaller vessel to Negapatam, where we engaged a pilot and a local craft with a native crew familiar with the coast. Having anchored off the place, we transferred ourselves and our belongings to the surf-boat and stood in for the shore. By this time it was quite dark, and the prospect was not encouraging. Heavy rollers were breaking all round us and threatening to come aboard. Presently the rotten old craft bumped on the bar, and things looked bad; but the boatmen jumped overboard and pushed her over the bar into deep water, and soon afterwards ran her, on the beach. Having landed, we made our way across 315 SPORT AT COLIMERE POINT a marsh to a deserted bungalow, where we made ourselves as comfortable as we could for the night, sleeping in some straw we found there, and serenaded by jackals through the night. Next morning, after an early breakfast, we shouldered our rifles and spread out over the plain, which was sparsely covered with low scrub, backed on the land side with jungle and forest trees. We had not gone far when herds of black buck could be seen galloping across the open, and firing became general along the line. The antelope allowed us to approach to about 200 yards, when they moved off in graceful bounds. As most of the shots were at 150 to 200 yards, a good many were missed; but we managed to bag twelve fine bucks, three of which fell to my rifle, before we returned to the bungalow. We also saw a few partridges, hares, foxes, and jackals. The latter made night hideous with their melancholy howls, and they stole some of the meat. The next morning we re-embarked and returned to Trincomalee. A year later I again visited this place, when we had the same experience landing in the surf; but this time it was daylight, and we found a safe anchorage to leeward of the point. We had some very pretty stalking and bagged twenty-five antelopes, which were divided between some villagers and the ship's company. After my return from this expedition I received a letter from the district collector informing me that I had been poaching on a rajah's preserve, and was therefore liable to a fine of 500 rupees and six months' imprisonment ? I regret that the exigencies of the service prevented me from again paying a visit to this interesting and most sporting place. ^ back to top ^ |
