A particular elephant, which was pointed out to me, had been in the habit, as often as it passed a confectioner's stand, to receive from the keeper of the stand, in the very heart of the bazaar, a parcel of sweetmeats. The owner of the beast becoming aware of the custom gave the elephant's keeper money, and desired him not to restrict his charge in his recreation, but to pay for what the elephant got regularly once a week. The mohut, a dishonest man, kept the money to himself, in consequence of which the confectioner, who began to grow tired of feeding such a customer on credit, applied to him for payment; it was refused, and the confectioner, as a matter of course, protested that he would disburse no more sweetmeats. Well, it came to pass once upon a time, that the elephant arrived as usual in front of the stall; he held out his trunk, offered his accustomed salutation by grunting, yet received nothing. On the contrary, the baker loaded the mohut with abuse, and he and his gigantic charge by-and-by passed on; they proceeded to the tank, whither they were going to water, and the elephant drank as usual. They then returned--but the elephant would stop again in front of the stall, and the confectioner again assailed him and his driver with the language of reproach. A summary punishment awaited him. The elephant, pointing his trunk with great accuracy, let fly among the pastry and sugar-plums before him such a shower of dirty water as soon reduced the whole to a state of absolute dissolution. As was to be expected, the confectioner complained to the owner of the beast, upon which all the facts of the case became known, and the poor artiste having been remunerated for all the losses which he had sustained, a fresh mohut was found to take care of his customer.

Nothing could exceed, on very many accounts, the degree of interest which attached to the remainder of our voyage after we quitted Dinapore. The farther we penetrated into the heart of the country the more were we struck with the peculiarity of the scenery and the strangeness, at least to us, of the customs of those who inhabited it. Beautiful villages lay here and there along the river's bank, all of them clustering round their own pagodas; and each having its baths, its oratories, and terraces by which the inhabitants approached to cast upon the sacred stream their votive offerings. The consequence was, that as often as we looked towards the shore we beheld little groups of both sexes at their devotions, while the very bows of our vessel were garlanded with the innumerable bouquets which, tossed in at places higher up, came floating down the stream to meet us. I have counted scores of these rich garlands, throughout which the queenly lotus always shone conspicuous, bespangling the surface of the water at the same time. Nor could I repress a feeling, almost of involuntary reverence, for the sort of religion, wild and extravagant as it is, which led its votaries to do honour to the Deity by so simple yet so elegant a custom.

In making a voyage up the Ganges you invariably bring-to at nightfall. The native boatmen have, indeed, no idea that it is possible to hold their course in the dark, and as their provisions, simple though they be, require cooking, it is at night that the process is invariably gone through. A very striking scene it consequently is after your cables are made fast, and under the trees, that grow to the water's edge, dozens of fires are lighted. Woe, however, to the European who approaches too near to these fires while the rice that is required for the evening meal may be undergoing the necessary preparation. If he disregard the shouts and signals of the natives, they throw both rice and their cooking utensils in the fire, and then, for the amount of remuneration, the transgressor is entirely at their mercy, for let the claim be what it may the officer is sure to allow it. But it was not the boatman's meal alone which was dressed at this hour. Our own native cooks chose the same season, as indeed necessity required, wherein to make ready for our use the rations of each morrow; and once the circumstance of their doing so was productive of a little adventure which was long after spoken of among us with much interest.

The case was this. We brought up one evening, as usual, and made first our boat to the roots of a large tree that grew close to the water's edge. We then landed, as our invariable custom was, and watched the cooks first light the fires, and then get the provisions in order for dressing. But instead of going on with that very necessary operation, they all, with one accord, fell upon their knees, and lifting up their hands, began, in a monotonous sort of howl, to pour out their prayers to the moon. At first we were astonished, then we became irritated; but by-and-by, on looking up, we saw that an eclipse had begun. It was in vain that some of us urged these devotees to leave the moon to herself, and to dress our supper. So long as the shadow was on the moon's disc, they remained on their knees, praying earnestly; and when at length she shone forth again in her glory, they rose, clapped their hands, and shouted vehemently. It was a striking sight that of these naked, yet robust men, all offering up their adorations to one of the host of heaven: neither was the issue less remarkable. They dressed our meal readily enough, which we consumed, and then went on board to sleep. But they spent the whole of the night in singing and dancing, as the best mode of expressing their joy at the moon's deliverance from her enemy.

Among other strange sights which greeted us while prosecuting that upward voyage, I must not forget to notice the alligators which lay among the shine on the river's bank, like so many logs of trees, and rolled themselves into the water only when we approached them. I had never seen the monster before, and was in consequence a good deal alarmed by him, especially after I had listened to sundry tales of his great ferocity and exceeding strength, both by land and water. But the only practical effect produced by this commencement of our acquaintance, was to put a stop to the evening baths, in which we had heretofore indulged. One of the brutes was wounded by Captain Elliot, of the 11th, and after a fierce struggle, secured by a party of natives; and a closer acquaintance with his huge jaws and sharp teeth, had no tendency, it must be confessed, to reconcile us to their proportions.

Onwards and onwards we went, the river narrowing slightly as we drew nearer to its source, and a novelty of some kind or other greeting us at every stage. One day we passed a huge rock, which rises upright out of the centre of the stream, and which the violence of the current has, in the course of ages, well nigh cut in twain. It is surmounted by a hut, in which dwells a Fakir, one of that class, half-mendicant, half-enthusiast, with which all parts of India abound, and whose habits are now familiar to every well-read person. How they levy contributions of rice and bread from door to door, I need not therefore tell, neither is it worth while to describe their voluntary penances--their years of torture as they stand motionless, never sitting or lying down to rest, and often holding one or both arms in the air; their horrid exhibitions on the swing, when a rusty hook is driven through the skin of the back, and themselves are whirled round, shouting and apparently triumphant, for half an hour at a time. These matters are set forth so much at length in all manner of publications, that even this hasty allusion to them might well have been spared. But it is one thing to read of exhibitions so strange, and quite another to witness them; the subject may be stale to all the world besides, but it has still some interest for me.

While we were in the act of passing this rock, a numerous fleet of boats appeared in the offing, which as they approached, were seen to contain the relics of the 21st Dragoons. These men were on the passage to Calcutta, and a more miserable set of scarecrows it has never been my misfortune to behold. Climate and disease appeared to have made sad havoc with the whole of them. They were yellow and fleshless; and a hasty attempt to open with them some conversation in passing, showed that their tempers not less than their animal moisture, had been dried up by the suns of India. For example, having fixed my eye upon a gaunt and currie-coloured serjeant, I hailed him, and proceeded to ask whether Cawnpore was a nice place, and things cheap there. "You'll find out all that for yourself," was his reply, as he turned upon me a ghastly look, "when Jack Morbus (meaning the cholera,) has brought down your buffalo hide to regulation pattern." There was something irresistibly comical in the expression of the speaker's countenance, as well as in the cankered and crabbed answer which he vouchsafed to a civil question. So we burst into a hearty laugh, and thus the two regiments passed one another.

In due time we reached Benares, the sacred city of the Hindoos, and were fortunate enough to arrive at a season when some great religious ceremony was going forward. The river was in consequence covered with votive garlands, and multitudes of both sexes were refreshing at once soul and body in the sacred stream. We did not bring-to, however, till we came opposite Ramghur--a place of some note in this part of India, and the residence of a Raja; and there, according to custom, so soon as the boats were moored, I, with several more belonging to the detachment, landed.

There was something peculiarly delicious in these moonlight walks, as well because of the exquisite balminess of the air, as that they led us through fields of flowering cotton or luxuriant indigo, the bursting pods of which strew the pathways, and send forth a strong, yet not an overpowering, odour as you crush them under foot. On this night, however, our rambling propensities brought us into a situation of some danger, I verily believe, and certainly well calculated to alarm. I and my comrade were traversing a cotton plantation, when, looking to the right, we beheld a drove of black buffaloes feeding, by whom we were no sooner perceived than they tossed their heads into the air, and made a rush towards us. There was nothing for it but to take to our heels, so we ran as fast as our legs would carry us, till we reached a quickset hedge, through which, at some cost both to skin and garments, we managed to squeeze. We were thus saved from the buffaloes; but on advancing towards the entrance of the village, our horror may be conceived when we found ourselves suddenly within twenty yards of what we mistook for a tiger. The beast was lying on a sort of bamboo cot, and seemed to be asleep, on which I pulled my comrade by the sleeve, and we quietly but rapidly retreated. Our consternation, however, was almost immediately changed into pure wonder: we saw some natives approach the beast, pat him on the head, and walk on; and being thus encouraged, we drew near in like manner, and saluted the object of our terror. It was not a tiger, but a chita, or hunting leopard; nevertheless, he did not seem to acknowledge our acquaintance so freely as he had done that of the Hindoos; for he opened his eyes with an expression so suspicious that we were heartily glad to leave him to his own reflections. We accordingly pushed on to the Raja's palace, which we found to be a large brick building, surrounded by iron rails, and having gazed with wonder at the quantity of confectioners' shops that abutted upon it, we turned our faces back again towards the boats. A considerable detour carried us wide of the buffaloes, and we reached our sleeping berths in peace.

From Ramghur we proceeded to Allahabad--the Holy City, or City of God--beside which the Jumna pours its waters into the Ganges, both, at the point of junction, possessing a character, of great sanctity. Here stands the tomb of the good and gallant Marquis Cornwallis; here, too, is an ancient fort, within the walls of which there used to be one of those sacred columns which the Hindoos adore, which was indeed standing when we reached the place, but has since been thrown down. It was here, after having the boats dragged with infinite difficulty over a long succession of shallows, that for the first time we encountered a tornado in the power of its might, from the overwhelming violence of which our frail craft escaped only through the foresight of the crews in mooring them after they had been fairly run on shore. I shall never forget the terrible effect of that whirlwind, which, had it endured another hour, must have shaken the whole country into chaos. The loftiest and strongest trees either bent before it like reeds or snapped asunder, and were then tossed into the air; while the clouds of dust and sand which it swept along its course, blinded our vision, and seriously incommoded our respiration. Happily for us and for all that lay within its influence, it did not continue more than half an hour, though for more than twice that space we could follow its onward progress, as it swept away from us in a straight line, carrying devastation and terror over a large extent of country.

We had a good many deaths during the passage, which lasted in all three months, and we buried our dead in deep graves which we dug along the river's edge. We might have saved ourselves the trouble. Our right wing, which preceded us a little way, had suffered in like manner, and they also deposited the remains of their comrades where the earth could cover them; but their graves, when we reached them, were all tenantless; the wolves and jackalls had dug the bodies up, and the scattered fragments of military clothing with which the sides of the different pits were covered, showed that the wild beasts had not left their lifeless owners to the tedious process of natural decay.

On the 28th of October, 1819, we arrived at the place of our destination, and disembarking at an early hour next morning, were marched forthwith into barracks. We found them extremely commodious and comfortable; and as great care had been taken to put them in order for our reception, we counted, not without reason, on spending our time here with much satisfaction; for Cawnpore contains a large garrison, and is besides the residence of many persons of distinction, of gentlemen in the civil service of the Company, of merchants and others, and these have provided for themselves every accessory to enjoyment, not forgetting either a handsome assembly-room or a neat theatre. But it was not so much about these things as with reference to the horses which the 21st had left for our use, that my curiosity was excited. I accordingly embraced the first opportunity of visiting, along with a volunteer from that regiment, the stables ; and, sure enough, the spectacle that met us there was strange enough. It was feeding-time when we entered, and the horses,--all of them entire,--kept up such a screaming and pawing with their fore-feet upon the floor, that I could have fancied myself, not in a cavalry stable, but in a den of wild beasts. Neither, on inquiring into the characters of the individual chargers, was the impression produced by the first general survey effaced. One was a furious kicker,--another would tear to pieces any one on whom it could lay hold, and had actually bitten two men to death,--a third was accustomed to dance on his hind legs for ten minutes on a stretch, and to lash out with his fore feet as if he had been a trained boxer, --a fourth took fits of sullenness, and standing stock-still would strike with his heels right and left, so as to throw an entire squadron into confusion. In a word, a set of brutes more vicious was represented never to have come together, and it is but fair to add that on first mounting we so found them. But a few sharp field-days, with a little stinting of corn, gradually tamed them. Several men received hurts, from bites, kicks, and falls,--many were run away with, till horse and rider became accustomed to each other,--but in the end we proved ourselves their masters. And then a very hardy, if not a very fleet, species of cattle we found them.

We reached Cawnpore at the most agreeable season of the year; and up to the month of March had little to complain of. To be sure the volunteers from the 21st, who joined our ranks, proved to be, as such persons usually are, troublesome, and in several instances not very worthy characters. Still we got along pretty well till the hot winds began to blow, and then restrictions to which it was judged expedient to subject us brought the true tempers of our seasoned comrades to the test. They murmured against the regulations of the regiment. They thwarted and interrupted the non-commissioned officers in the discharge of their duty, and took at last to stoning them as often as they visited the barracks after dark. The colonel would not suffer this; so he called them all together, and assured them that the very first who should be detected in an act of insubordination would find cause to repent it. There needed no more to make these bad men desperate. They laid the blame chiefly on one Corporal Irwin,--and they swore among themselves that they would have their revenge.

Corporal Irwin might be a little sharp; but he was a just man in the execution of his duty: nor did he ever exact from others more than he was always ready to perform himself. For this he became a marked man; and one evening, after giving out the orders for the morrow, a scoundrel of the name of Hislop fired at him from behind a pillar, and desperately wounded him near the shoulder. The corporal fell, and the assassin endeavoured to escape; but he was instantly seized. For we,--the old hands of the 11th,--were much attached both to our regiment, considered as a body, and to the officers and non-commissioned officers belonging to it; and finding the turn which affairs had taken among these strangers, we were determined that they should be taught that they would receive no countenance from us. The corporal being carried to the hospital there lost his arm. He did not, however, die,--at least, not immediately,--but his constitution received such a shock, that after undergoing the amputation there was not vigour enough in him to accomplish a rally. He lingered several months, and then expired. With respect again to Hislop, his fate was sealed. Being put into double irons, he was handed over to the care of the principal jailer in the place; and having been in due time tried and found guilty of an attempt to murder, he was condemned to death. He was hanged, as he deserved to be, in the sight of the assembled garrison.