'Up the Country': Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of IndiaEden, Emily
History
'Up the Country': Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India
Eden, Emily
Eden, Emily, 1797-1869 -- Correspondence; India -- Description and travel
Runjeet still ill. Dr. D. has seen him twice, and says, if he were a
common patient, he would be well in a day or two; but they are all
rather alarmed about him as it is. He never will take any medicine
whatever. Dr. D. says he has a little glass closet in a corner of his
palace with a common charpoy to lie on, and no other furniture whatever,
and hardly room for any. The fakeer was in attendance, and two or three
of his coolies sitting on the ground at the door--the old man was
asleep with all his clothes on. When he awoke, they washed his hands and
feet, and then called Dr. D. in. He thought his voice very indistinct,
and I fancy the danger is another stroke of palsy--he had one some years
ago. However, he is not much worse than half the camp. This is a very
aguish place, and three of the aides-de-camp are laid up with fever and
ague. Nine officers of the escort stayed the communion to-day, which is
a great many for so _un_religious a country as India. It is not
_ir_religious, but people live without seeing a clergyman or a church
till they forget all about them.
Wednesday, Dec. 26.
Runjeet has been extremely curious about our Sundays and Christmas-days,
and, ill as he was, sent for Mr. Y. to-day, to explain to him what it
meant. Mr. Y. took with him translations of the Lord's Prayer, the Ten
Commandments, and the prayer for the Governor-General. Almost all the
commandments must have been a puzzle to Runjeet's code, from the not
worshipping graven images down to not coveting his neighbour's goods. He
was very much interested, Mr. Y. said, and his fakeer and Dhian Singh
asked a great many questions--the old man seemed very ill.
P., F., and I went to sketch some ruins about two miles off. There is a
troop of Akalees close by, an alarming class of people, who make it a
rule never to live on anything they have not gained by plunder or force.
They have occasionally set fire to whole villages, and Runjeet even
cannot control them, so he has incorporated some of them with his
guards, but they wear their own dark blue dresses, with _quoits_ of
steel hanging all over them, which they fling at anybody and everybody.
The other day, at the review of Runjeet's own guards, a small troop of
these Akalees marched past with the others, but all Runjeet's sirdars
gathered round him as they went by, and some of the Akalees abused them,
and others called out to G. that they were going down to take Calcutta.
They were very quiet with us to-day, but in the morning they had been
very violent against Captain X. and Captain P. They are very
picturesque.
Friday, Dec. 28.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account