A Journey to Katmandu (the Capital of Napaul), with the Camp of Jung Bahadoor: Including a Sketch of the Nepaulese Ambassador at Home — John Shaqi
A Journey to Katmandu (the Capital of Napaul), with the Camp of Jung Bahadoor: Including a Sketch of the Nepaulese Ambassador at HomeOliphant, Laurence
History
A Journey to Katmandu (the Capital of Napaul), with the Camp of Jung Bahadoor: Including a Sketch of the Nepaulese Ambassador at Home
Oliphant, Laurence
Nepal -- Description and travel
Threading our way on our wary elephant through nearly 5000 of these
singular-looking beings, all heavily loaded with the appurtenances of the
camp, we soon overtook the cortege of the Minister and his brothers,
which consisted of three or four carriages dragged along by coolies, over
a road which, in many places, must have severely tried the carriage
springs, as well as nearly dislocated the joints of Jung's "beautiful
little Missis," whom I saw peeping out of one of the windows. The rest
of this motley crowd, with which we were destined to march for the next
three weeks, was made up of Nepaul gentlemen in various capacities, who
cantered past on spirited little horses, or squatted cross-legged in the
clumsy, oddly constructed "Ecce," a sort of native gig; besides these,
there were merchants and peddlers, who followed the camp as a matter of
speculation. Amidst an indiscriminate horde, our elephant jogged lazily
along, generally surrounded by eight or ten others, with whom we marched
for company's sake. We usually arrived at the mango tope destined to be
our camping-ground about ten o'clock in the morning, and lounged away the
heat of the day in tents; towards the afternoon Jung generally went out
with his gun or rifle, shooting with the former at parrots at ten yards
distance, and with the latter at bottles at a hundred. There was not
much attraction for the sportsman throughout the whole line of march, and
I only bagged a few couple of snipe, partridges, wild-duck, and quail.
Our dinner was always supplied from Jung's own carpet, for he does not
use a table, and it was with no little curiosity that at the end of the
first day's march I looked forward to the productions of a Nepaul
cuisine. We had not forgotten to provide ourselves with a sufficient
_stand-by_ in case it should not prove altogether palatable. Towards
evening an enormous dish, containing rice enough to have satisfied the
whole of the gallant rifle corps, was brought into our tent, closely
followed by about 20 little cups formed of leaves, one inside the other,
each containing about a thimbleful of some exquisite condiment; also
three or four saucers containing some cold gravy, of unpleasant colour,
in which floated about six minute particles of meat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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