'Up the Country': Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India — John Shaqi
'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
'Mine is not exactly that,' G. said; 'indeed I call it Foully Palace, it
is so very squalid-looking.' He was sitting in my tent in the evening,
and when the purdahs are all down, all the outlets to the tents are so
alike that he could not find which _crevice_ led to his abode; and he
said at last, 'Well! it is a hard case; they talk of the luxury in which
the Governor-General travels, but I cannot even find a covered passage
from Misery Hall to Foully Palace.'
This morning we are on the opposite bank of the river to Allahabad,
almost a mile from it. It will take three days to pass the whole camp.
Most of the horses and the body-guard are gone to-day, and have got
safely over. The elephants swim for themselves, but all the camels,
which amount now to about 850, have to be passed in boats: there are
hundreds of horses and bullocks, and 12,000 people.
I am sure it would have done Mrs. Trimmer's heart good to see them all
on the beach this evening. I thought of her print of the Israelites
crossing the Red Sea--a skimpy representation, but it was the first idea
we had of that event. The picture at Stafford House enlarged my notions,
and now I think I have come to the real thing, and indeed am a Red Sea
Israelite myself.
Allahabad, Dec. 2.
We crossed the river at seven yesterday morning. The Ganges and Jumna
join each other here, and this junction makes the water so uncommonly
precious and sacred, that Hindus come here from all parts of the country
on pilgrimage. The rich Hindus at a great distance buy the water, and we
met strings of pilgrims yesterday carrying jars of it, with which they
will travel farther south than Calcutta.
We were met at the ghaut by a large collection of residents. I hate a
great station, and Allahabad has a very modern, uninteresting, sandy
look about it.
Foully Palace looked particularly unhappy this morning. G.'s furniture,
somehow, was deluged, and his whole stock of comfort amounted to one
cane chair and a table, and he called us all in to see his eastern
luxury. I handsomely offered to lend him the armchair Mr. D. gave me,
and which is so continually my companion, 'my goods, my chattels, my
household stuff,' that I had no doubt it was in 'Misery Hall.' I told
my little ameer to give it to the Lord Sahib, but he told me afterwards,
'Ladyship's chair in river too, but me find arm-chair in other tent, and
me put Lord Sahib in it.' I think I see him fixing G. in his chair. Mine
is quite safe, I am happy to say.
In the afternoon G. and I, and a Mr. B., rather a clever man, went to
see some tombs about three miles off. You know the sort of people who
have tombs worth seeing--'Shah Houssein,' or 'Nour Jehan,' or words to
that effect.
However, the tombs were there, and F. and I stayed there sketching till
it was quite dusk, and kept the carriage, and G. and Mr. B. and Captain
M. rode home such a roundabout way that dinner was cold before they got
back.
Monday, Dec. 4.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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