'Up the Country': Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of IndiaEden, Emily
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'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
This will be more a letter than a Journal, as I have skipped more than a
fortnight, partly because I have been obliged to give all my little
leisure to drawing for the fancy fair, and then, that I have had ten
days of the same ague I had in the plains, from the same
reason--constant rain and fog. It is a tiresome complaint while it
lasts, from the violence of the headache and pains in the bones, but I
do not think it does one much real harm, at least not up here. It
stopped only four days ago, and I feel quite well again. We are very
quiet just now. Rains and fogs the whole day, till towards five o'clock,
when it kindly holds up to allow us to go out for an hour and a half,
and then it kindly rains again so as to prevent anybody coming to
dinner. G. and I went yesterday to show F. a beautiful new walk we had
discovered; that is, we call it a walk, though there is nothing to walk
upon but a goat-path, but it leads to a beautiful hill which stands bolt
upright by itself, looking down on various little villages in the
valleys. The first time we went, the jonpaunees contrived to carry me
most part of the way, but this time what little path there had been was
washed away, and we had to walk with sticks in one hand and to cling to
the rocks with the other, and the jonpaunees crept along just under the
path to catch us if we slipped. I never saw anything so beautiful as it
was, the ground so green with all sorts of ferns, and covered with iris
and mountain geraniums, and such an amphitheatre of mountains all round,
with great white clouds in the valleys, just as if the mountains had let
their gowns slip off their shoulders. Our Bengalee servants, who turn
out in great numbers when we walk, evidently thought it a service of
great danger, particularly when one of my boys slipped down a little
waterfall, and looked, as G. said, in his red and gold, like a large
goldfish floundering about in the pool below. My old jemadar came and
gave me a regular scolding this morning, which he had evidently got up
with great care in his choicest English. 'Soobratta tell me, my lord and
my two ladies take very dangerous walk, so I just ask of ladyship's
favour to ask my lord not to order any more such walk. Ladyship not
strong constitution' (that is a long word they have picked up from the
native doctor, who always tells me so), 'and what for she walk when she
can be carried, and why go on bad road? I see our bheestie's
(water-carrier) cow last week tumble down hill, and she roll over and
over till she come _kill_ at the bottom, and if ladyship see that, she
never go dangerous walk again.' He walked off quite satisfied with
himself and his oratory, and I own, I think the roll and 'come kill' of
the bheestie's cow is pathetic and conclusive.
Tuesday, August 6.
I have had such a piece of _shawl_ luck; everybody's mind gets a shawl
twist in India, you must understand; and moreover we are all making up
our packets for England now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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