Women's Travel Writings in India 1777–1854 by Éadaoin Agnew

Author:Éadaoin Agnew [Agnew, Éadaoin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781315472911
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2020-02-18T00:00:00+00:00

LETTER THE FOURTEENTH.

December 15th.

WE are just returned from our long-promised visit to Penny-Whistle, after a very amusing excursion, though, if I had known what an undertaking the journey would be, I should never have attempted it, or rather A—never would have consented to it, however urgent my curiosity might have made me. However, we are safe at home again, and the journey has done us nothing but good. When the time came for us to start, according to appointment, A—said he thought it would be scarcely worth the trouble, and that we should be “more quiet and comfortable at home”—such a thorough John Bull!206—but I made him go, as I wished to “see a little of life.” The people had told us that the distance was fifteen miles; so we expected that, starting at half-past five in the afternoon, we should arrive about ten o’clock, in time for a good night’s rest. But it turned out to be thirty miles, and no road; we had to grope our way over cotton-fields, a pouring rain during almost all the night coming down in such torrents that I could not hear the bearers’ song, pitch-dark, and the ground almost all the way knee-deep in water. We were twelve hours splashing and wading through the mud, and “plenty tired” when we arrived. But a palanquin is much less fatiguing than a carriage, and an hour’s sleep and a good breakfast soon set us to rights.

When we arrived at Dratcharrum,207 the Rajah’s town, we were taken to a choultry,208,* which he had prepared and ornamented with bits of old carpet for our first reception. I could not imagine why we did not go to his house at once, according to his invitation; but I found afterwards that he had arranged our going first to the choultry, in order that he might send for us in state to his mud palace. All his principal people came to pay their compliments, and he sent us a very good breakfast; and when we had eaten it, his Gomashta (a sort of secretary, at least more like that than anything else) came to say that all things were ready for our removal. I expected something of a row at starting, but I was quite unprepared for the uproar he had provided for us. As soon as our palanquins were taken into the street, a gang of musicians started up to play before us with all their might; a sort of performance much like an imitation of one of Rossini’s most noisy overtures209 played by bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies, penny trumpets and kettle-drums, all out of tune. Then came banners, swords, flags, and silver sticks; then heralds to proclaim our titles, but we could not make out what they were; and then dancing-girls. A—looked rather coy at being, as he said, “made such a fool of;” but when the dancing-girls began their antics, ankle-deep in the mud, the whole turn-out was so excessively absurd, that mortal gravity could stand it no longer, and he was obliged to resign himself to his fate, and laugh and be happy like me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.