'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
When we came back, I went to fetch out G., who never goes out when he
can help it, and took him what I thought a prettier walk than
usual--about half a quarter of a mile of sand ankle deep, to an old
mosque, raised on an elevation of at least eighteen inches--'a
splendiferous creature'--(did you ever read 'Nick of the Woods?' you
sent it out to us, and we do nothing but quote it)--but he thought it
more tiresome than any walk he had taken yet. We found W. and F. there,
just on the same tack, F. thinking it was rather pretty, and W. not
able to guess why he was dragged all through that sand, and wishing
himself at Calcutta. 'Yes,' G. said, 'I am more utterly disgusted, more
wretchedly bored than ever, so now I shall go back to my tent, and wish
for Government House.' In the meanwhile he is becoming a red-faced
_fat-ish_ man, and 'if he aspires to play the leading villain of the
plot, his corpulence will soon unfit him for that rôle.' (See 'The
Heroine.')
Gurmukteser Ghaut, Friday, Feb. 2.
We crossed the Ganges this morning on a bridge of boats, which was very
well constructed, considering the magistrate had not had much notice.
The elephants always go first, and if the boats bear elephants, they
will bear anything. A Mr. F. and two assistants, and a Mr. and Mrs. T.
had come out forty miles to meet us; and it is unfortunate we had not
known it, for I had asked the B.s, D.s, General E., &c., to dinner, and
unless there was another tent pitched, we had room only for three more,
and it puts the aides-de-camp into consternation if any of these
strangers are left out. Mrs. T. wears long thick thread mittens, with
black velvet bracelets over them. She may have great genius, and many
good qualities, but, you know, it is impossible to look for them under
those mittens.
The weather is very changeable in these parts. On Wednesday morning the
thermometer was at 41° and on Thursday at 78°, so we rush from fur
cloaks, and shawls, and stoves, to muslin gowns and fans; and as far as
I am concerned, I do not think it is very wholesome, but it seems to
agree generally with the camp. The children are all rather ailing just
now, and there is a constant demand for our spare palanquin to carry on
a sick child.
Shah Jehanpore, Sunday, Feb. 4.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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