The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-14 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

My Wanderings. Being travels in the East. By
John Gadsby.
It is now some time since we noticed favourably
Mr. Gadsßy.4-book of--travels on its own intrinsic
merits; and we are glad to learn that a new edition
is announced, which cannot fail to add to his exten•
sive and well-deserved popularity.

Central India during the Rebellion of igs7 and
1858. By Thomas Lowe, M.R.C.S.E., L.A.C.
Longman. -
The Indian campaign is now 4 matter of history.
While yet the subject:was new, books and narratives
in endless variety poured forth, each and all con-
taining tales of sorrow and accounts of thrilling in-
terest, and the newspaper correspondents kept up
a disjointed and critical history of the doings of the
various British .columns engaged in steadily regain-
ing our Indian empire. But although the achieve-
ments of many of our gallant battalions have been
expatiated upon by several authors, it appears that
the successful and glorious doings of Generals Sir H.
Rose and Sir C. Stuart have been unchronieled. It
is for this reason that the author, who, as medical
officer to the corpfi of Madras Sappers and Miners,
accompanied the troops throughout the entire cam-
paign, was induced; at the suggestion of his friends,
to publish the present volume. His narrative
commences on board the transport Hibernia, which
bore a company of the Madras Sappers and Miners
back to their own presidency from the Persian
frontier, enjoying in anticipation the joys of
furlough, and a reunion with their fa-
milies, all which fairy castles were rudely
dashed away, when the pilot coming on board an-
nounced the astounding intelligence of the Bengal
mutiny. The corps were at once ordered up country
to the scene of action, Mr. Lowe accompanying
them as their surgeon and historian. How well he
performed the former is shown by his description
of events, which took place under the enemy's
fire, or within the walls of cities at the time
disputing possession with the troops, and which
bear testimony of his presence to relieve the
wounded. How the latter—the perusal of his nar-
rative will bear witness. There is nothing far-
fetched or overdrawn. The author has undertaker
to write a history of the army under Sir Hugh Rose
and Sir C. Stuart during its campaign in Central
India, from his:personal observation there, and there-
fore no mention is made of the other portions of the
British force. The pages are relieved at intervals
from the matter-of-fact details of marches and coun-
ter marches,by the author's observations on the state
of the country, and amusing little contretemps
experienced at the crossing of rivers, where obsti-
nate horses and bullocks would swim half way
over and then return, to the infinite discomfort of
their drivers, and on the principle that " who drives
fat cattle should himself be fat." Mr. Lowe,
being attached to the Engineers, takes an
interest in bridges, roads, &c., which he de-
scribes for the benefit of his readers. He has
taken great interest in studying and exa-
mining the old ruins and cities met with in the
line of march. At the city of Arungabaehv_paid
a visit to the ruin of former greatness.
After :the terrible scene of the morning parade, I
strolled into the town of Arungabad, and afterwards paid a
visit to the very beautiful Taj in its vicinity. The city,
once extensive and beautiful, and still renowned, presents
a truly marked picture of desolation, poverty, and fallen
greatness. Like most large Hindu towps, little remains
now to interest the sight seer, while there is much to dis-
gust and hasten his departure. Squalid poverty sits
squatted in rags beneath many a time. worn, elaborately-
carved portico, through-which the proud and gaudy Mus-
selman once strode ; houses once inhabited by the wealthy
Mahrattahs, are now fallen to ruin, their ornamental
carvings alone remaining to show where opulence once
dwelt ; mounds of ashes and filth lie in every street; chil-
dren scream at your presence, and astonished adults peer
out of their miserable abodes upon you with lustreless
eyes, while the Pariah dogs start from heaps of ashes, howl-
ing as they disappear among the gullies and huts of their
owners. And- this is the city that once boasted of a college,
that once gloried in a palace of immense size and of a
monarch's presence, that once was surrounded by walls
some seven miles in circumference, with its many gates I
Little remains now of the ruined wall and its gateways,
still less of the palace of the great Aurungzebe. The
Pariah dog now barks in the sun by day, and the jackall
prowls by night upon the very spot where this monarch's
throne once stood. But there still remains in melancholy
sadness a beautiful memorial of this ruler's splendour and
taste—the Taj, or shrine built to tho memory of Aurung-
zebe's daughter. This stately tomb, like all other beau-
tiful works of ancient grandeur, is fast falling to decay
* * *

The gardens, the walks, the water, the stone-works, and
the extensive wall surrounding all afar off, all in reckless
beauty and decay, impress one. with no mean idea of the
wealth, the exquisite taste, and the largeness of mind that
once belonged to the ancestors of this wretched people. A
short distance off is a triangle of j ungle-clad hills, rosy and
purple, and from their heights flows the stream that yet
supplies the basins and fountains of, the Taj with water,
bubbling as it runs in mockery through the silent ruins.
Though this beautiful memorial of love, a fitting monu-
ment of Aurungzobe's greatness and splendour, has out-
lasted his palace and kingdom, it is fast crumbling away
beneath the feet of time. Wo go to Nineveh for their hide-
ous stone bulls, and to Greece for their marble gods, and
we build a palace to exalt them—is it not almost to wor-
ship I—yet do we allow the bijoux of our own empire to
pass into oblivion and dust I As I sat there pondering over
such thoughts, an old Mussulman came into the verandah,
spread his mat, and commenced smoking his hookah as
calmly and abstractedly as though no other person was
near him. He puffed away for some time without once
noticing me, then quietly putting his pipe on one side,
asked me if I had seen the Taj. I had, and I spoke of it
in great praise. He simply bowed his head and stroked
his beard. He then said, " God is good," and recom-
menced smoking more vehemently. Having claimed him-
self again, he said " Look 1 Kings die, dynasties change,
the poor cry, the dead are disturbed, and their tombs
tumble upon them I Allah is great and Mehemet is his
prophet I These are sad days I" At this instant the
sound of the bugle from camp broke upon the stillness.
Ho looked up in a most imploring way, again stroked
his beard, and consoled himself with his pipe. I offered
him a rupee, but he said, " No ; I am an old man ; I don't
want money, I want only to die in peace. The air of this
place is very pure, and I come every day to smoke and
pray."
The capture of the fortress of Dhar was the first
success of thilforce,and after explaining the various
vicissitudes of the siege, the placing of batteries,
and other details relating to the capture of the place
and the search for treasure and plunder, the
author conducts the reader to the presence of the
infant Rajah of Dhar.
Long before the Rajah made his appearance the Dewan
(Chancellor of the Exchequer) came in. He was a middle-
aged man, and dressed from head to foot in spotless white
cloth. His head was well formed, he had lost the sight of
one eye by cataract, his features were of a heavy Mah-
rattah stamp, and he wore silver spectacles. He appeared
to me to be a compound of Hindu profundity and cunning:
He was very quiet in manner and polite, and seemed in a
very nervous state. He talked a good deal about political
matters, seemed very anxious to entertain me in every pos-
sible way, expatiated on the long continued friendly rela-
tions of the State with the Government, and on the fine
character of the late Rajah, whose likeness, admirably exe-
cuted by Carpenter, he took out of a case to show me. He
dusted the glass very carefully, and then contemplated the
picture in a profound meditation. A tear stole into his
eye and over his cheek as he gazed upon it. The days
had indeed changed 1 The departed Rajah had built the
room wa then sat in, and evidently had done much to con-
fer an air of elegance and grace upon it, though now it
was in a sad condition.
If I say it was filthy I should convey but a faint idea of
its state, for it seemed not only so, but in beggarly negli-
gence, too. English couches, and Parisian time -pieces,
and tarnished mirrors, and elegantly-made chairs, and
bureaus, and tables, and handsome carpets, huddled to-
gether in heaps, all covered with dust, lay here and there
in sublime disorder and incipient ruin. One or two gaudy
coloured prints hung in frames from the walls, and over
them the spider had spun his web. Not a clock told the
hour of day, for they were all neglected and placed out of
the perpendicular, and the glass shades covering them had
acquired quite a hoary cap of dust.
After an interview with the Rajah, an infant of
some 10 or 11 years of age, and of a dull and sleepy
disposition, the visitor departed, having been shown
out by the uncle of the Rajah, who behaved most
courteously. The author remarks that he has no-
thing to say of the merits or demerits politically of
the case, but that it would appear that the ad-
visers of his Highness acted in some very unwise
manner, if we are to judge by the bearing of the
Governor-General's political agent towards them,
for in a day or two after his visit the Old Dewan
was sent a prisoner to Mhow. - The writer does
justice to the bravery of the enemy, while he exe-
crates their barbarity, which is, after all,
however atrocious it must seem to all
Christian nations, but the barbarous cus-
tom of the people handed down to them from
the remotest ages of antiquity ; and although
justly punished with the utmost severity, is better
accounted for when looked upon in this light :
In chronicling the events of war it is scarcely just to
recount the deeds of bravery performed by the conquering
host alone. However vile our eneneyernay be, or however
just the plea of warfare carried on to extermination against
them one ought not to shrink from paying tribute to the
brave, though they b 9 our foe. In the Rohillah one en-
counters an implacable antagonist. His life, his position,
his faith, lead him to look upon death with cold and die,
nitied indifference. He is a fatalist, and thus life or death
are to him as one. It fate wills that he dies in the heat of
battle, death has but unloaded him of his burden at his
ourney's end, that he may enjoy the best of rest—eternal
luxury and sleepy beatitude.
To relate one little incident will suffice to show how
these men face death and die upon the battle-field.
In this encounter with the enemy and the Mahidnor
Contingent, Dr. Orr, of the Hyderabad Contingent, came
up with one of the Rohillahs who was dressed in a very
- a
superior manner. He was a fine fellow, and perhaps
leader. He was requested to surrender,' this he refused
to
do ; he was then told that unless he did so, death would
assuredly be his portion. At this he scoffed and boldly defied
deadlyt e o ccesrntfloi
scto, mwb
ha ti
c. h Th
eh emn
aernfsuul el
yd thema isnttrauigngedl e foruplifeon f
0' n
t
till the cold sharp spear of his antagonist
aon piercedised
wither h i
breast ; be then fell upon the field, cast a
isnr look
acrossof a
hsitsi 11
eyes;un vanaqhudi s hd
edd spiritw i
without
Rohillah affects to despise death—hisoautnthias foe,gro stnhriewir_h.hies
m
tkat to die thus is to enter at once •
blest,. where every sensual pleasurein willto t h e faithh
es 1 of the
him in undying s
in arms, imbued with a pompous sunny ripeness. Cradled in war, nurtured
ys
metediun teaches
out
faithrfor time and eternity, 13and d •
proud by nature, aring
lay 114/At) it ;19 nu* 4 g
sense of their all-saving
Q QUIV A 4Nr99 type

in our pictures of the battle-field, or a foe by no means
despicable in single combat.
I have seen him rush into the jaws of death as boldly as
though the shackles of " age, ache, penury, and im-
prisonment" had just been loosed, and a career as free
and boundless as the wild horses' were before him. Nor
can we wonder at this, for Mahomet tells them in his
Koran, " the sword is the key of heaven and hell. A drop
of blood shed in the cause of God, or ono night spent in
arms, is of more avail than two months in fasting and
prayer. Whoever falls in battle, his sons are forgiven;
at the day of judgment his wounos shall be resplendent as
vermilion; and odorous as musk ; and the loss of his limbs
shall be replaced by the wings of angels and cherubim l"
It is curious to observe that the bulk of an Indian
army is composed of hangers-on or followers, the
regular troops forming the minority. Among
these the women and children are very numerous,
in fact the author doctor, though he cannot ac-
count for the extraordinary and rapid increase of
this commodity, remarks that, " A force may
march out for the field with only a slight sprink-
ling of native women with them, such as the wives
of horsekeepers, milk-women, &c., &c., but e'er
long more and more women and children appear,
and by and bye on either flank of the force there
is a brigade of women riding tattoos astride, and
chattering like pthots." The milk-women are
extraordinary beings, they supply the troops with
milk obtained, how or from what source, it is
impossible to explain. Lieut. Dickens, of the 31st
Bengal, N. 1., on being interrogated as to the rea-
son of the loyalty of that,regiment, remarked to
the author, " that the only reason he could give
was the fact that the officers perhaps under-
stood their men better than others," and
went on to state that notwithstanding the
many temptations held out to them and
the taunts of mutinous agents, they had be-
haved as well as meh could be expected to do. He
was an excellent linguist, and appeared to be tho-
roughly acquainted with the native character, and
the native officers appreciated his. The several
actions in which Sir Hugh Rose was engaged are
well and minutely described, until the successful
termination of that eventful campaign which re-
sulted in the subjugation of Central India. Mr.
Lowe's book will be none the less acceptable that
it appears after the first blush of Indian literature
has subsided. It has now an open field, and we
wish it success.

EXTRAORDINARY _RELATIONSHIP.

MARSHAL M'MAHON'S AUNT.

An extraordinary relationship is announced to
the curious in genealogies through the particularly,
flowery Address accompanying the presentation of
the Irish Sword to Marshal M'Mtalon, Duke of
Magenta—namely, that Imperial Francb herself is
Marshal M‘Mahon's Aunt!

In the midst of a flood of similar eloquence the
Address goes on to.observe :—" To-day Irelandpro-
claims with the just pride of a mother that you, the
heroic descendant of one of her greate3t monarchs,
have added a new brilliancy to the glory of our
nation, on the smoking towers of the Malakaff, and
on the ever-memorable plains of Magenta." . :
And a little further on in the Address it is added—
"lreland is, then, proud to recognise in you the
valiant chief of Irish blood, whose military genius
has maintained unstained the flag of victorious
France—that noble nation, the sister of our own."
Q. E. D. Ireland being the mother of Marshal
M'Mahon, and France the sister of lreland—France
must be, can't help being, Marshal M'Mahon's
-dun&