Gate. Anting the over , Pekin oj Wall the of Top A STORY OF ACTIVE SERVICE IN FOREIGN LANDS 5 COMPILED FROM LETTERS SENT HOME FROM SOUTH AFRICA, INDIA, AND CHINA, 1856-1882 BY SURGEON-GENERAL A. GRAHAM YOUNG AUTHOR OF ‘CRIMEAN CRACKS’ 2 8 5 8 2 L • A of New York, WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXXXVIII TO THE MEMORY OF MY PARENTS, AND OF MANY FRIENDS AND COMRADES. PREFATORY NOTE. The follovnng Extracts, from Letters sent home from foreign lands, form an extension of a previous Volume, entitled ‘ Crimean Oracles! It may he useful to give the meaning of the latter word. The term “crack,” in the Scottish dialect, has been happily defined as signifying “ a familiar chat, with a human sold in it.” SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. SOUTH AFRICA. PAGE Outward bound, ..... 1 Whales ! Cape Town, .... 4 “ Emigrants from the German Legion,” . 4 A visit from Caffre chiefs, .... 9 Journey inland, . .13 Startling of . news a mutiny in India, . .21 A piscatorial discovery, . .28 Caffre children at school, . .31 Visit . from the Governor, . .40 Our orders for India arrive, . .42 Leave Caffraria, . .47 INDIA. Approach to Calcutta by the river Hughli, . 52 At Benares, ...... 59 A Rajah loyal and true, . .61 Night journey—Dinapore to Arrah, . .65 X CONTENTS. The white mutiny, . .68 “ Pests of the rainy season,” . .69 Rejoin headquarters at Benares, . ... 71 Startling orders, . .72 On the way to China, . .73 CHINA. Expeditionary force leaves Hong Kong for the North, 81 A cyclone, ...... 84 Digging wells—scarcity of fresh water, . 88 The fleet arrives in the Gulf of Pi-chi-li, . 93 First encounter with the enemy at Sinlio, . 96 Battle of Tang Ku, ..... 98 Entreaties from the enemy to negotiate, . .100 Capture of the North, and surrender of the South Taku Forts, . .106 Advance on Tien Tsin, . .109 Flagging diplomacy, . .111 Forward to Pekin, . .113 Chinese treachery—battle of Changkiawan, . 115 Pekin at last, ...... 121 The Emperor’s Summer Palace, . 124 More negotiations—preparations for bombardment, . 130 Release of prisoners, and their statements, . 131 State papers found in the Summer Palace, . 146 Burning of the Palace, . .157 Inside Pekin, ...... 161 Winter-quarters at Tien Tsin, . / 171 An hospital established for poor Chinese, . 175 The “ Temple of Horrors,” .... 183 CONTENTS. XI HOMEWARD BOUND. Homeward bound—another cyclone ! . .194 At St Helena—sad news of the Prince Consort’s death received with dismay and doubt, . 208 The dreadful news confirmed at Cape Verd Islands, . 211 Home ! . 212 A SECOND TOUR OF INDIAN SERVICE. “ Good-bye ” to the old regiment—Bay of Biscay illuminated, ..... 214 Cairo—a knightly steed, . .217 Desert railway to Suez—down the Red Sea, . 219 Guardian angels—scarcity of ice at Calcutta, . 222 Reappointed to my old regiment, . 225 In a Calcutta boarding-house—native servants, . 227 Land at Madras, ..... 230 Public breakfast at Government House, . 234 A cool (?) summer. Visit Ootacamund, . 237 Aborigines of the Nilgherries, . 243 Madras Club, ...... 249 Change of station—a farewell ball, . 250 From Bangalore to Bellary, .... 251 An unbidden guest, . .257 Marauders, ...... 259 “ Clothed in a little brief authority,” . 263 On the way to Aden, ..... 266 Some plagues of Egypt, and others, . 278 Great anxiety felt for the Prince of Wales, . 282 Homeward bound ! . 282 Xll CONTENTS. MY THIRD AND LAST TOUR OF INDIAN SERVICE. Sudden orders to embark for India on a third tour of service, ...... 287 Arrive at Bombay—railway travelling in India, . 291 “ A modern Wandering Jew,” . 295 A curious geological feature, .... 297 A gastronomic oracle, ..... 299 Further experiences, ..... 301 Indian servants, ..... 303 The monsoon breaks, ..... 304 A first visit to Delhi, ..... 306 Artists at work, ..... 309 Agra and the Taj Mahal, .... 314 Native manufactures—mosaics, . .317 Rough travel, . .319 IN THE HIMALAYAS. An anxious week in the Himalayas, . 321 A mountain hotel, ..... 325 A lonely Christmas, ..... 328 Struck down, ...... 330 Farewell to India, ..... 331 ILLUSTRATIONS. TOP OF THE WALL OF PEKIN, OVER THE anting gate, . Frontispiece. ARRAH HOUSE, LOWER BENGAL, . To fttCC page 66 HONG KONG WASHERWOMEN, . ti 80 OUTSIDE THE WALL OF TIEN TSIN. BRICKS DRYING IN THE SUN, . n 110 VEDETTE OF “FANE’s HORSE,” . it 136 WATER-CARRIER, . n 180 II. M. FRIGATE SIMOOM IN A CYCLONE, OCTOBER 1861, .... ti 196 MY QUARTERS AND OFFICERS’ MESS-HOUSE, FORT GEORGE, MADRAS 234 of New York. A STORY OF ACTIVE SERVICE. SOUTH AFRICA. Dawn on the 9th November 1856 shed its shim- mering light on the deck of the East Indiaman Wanata, as she left Gravesend for South Africa, whither I am now bound, to join the 2d battalion of the 60th Royal Rifles, at present stationed in British Caffraria. Far from the gorgeous pageant of the Lord Mayor’s show, and the booming noise of the anni- versary royal salutes for the birthday celebration of the Prince of Wales, in comparative tranquillity we glide down the English Channel, with a fair wind that fills our canvas wings, and bears us gently onward to the broad bosom of the Atlantic. A ! 2 A STORY OF ACTIVE SERVICE. There is not much to record of an uneventful voyage made in mid-ocean, between the mighty continents of Africa and America, save the occa- sional appearance of some of the common marvels of the sea, such as flying-fish, porpoises, nautili, and the beautifully variegated mass of algae in the Sargasso Sea, along the border of which we sailed. What a field for histological research is here Besides the huge aggregation of fuci, the innumer- able inhabitants of this floating world are full of interest. On this occasion the pursuit of scientific investigation has to be subordinated to mercantile interests, and mine has been restricted to dipping a ship’s bucket, attached to a long cord, over the side, and allowing it to sink as far as it would. Drawing it slowly on board after dusk, what a magnificent sight met my enraptured gaze ! The water in the bucket was crowded with phosphor- escent sparks, of sizes varying from a pin’s point to a mustard-seed, all the tiny sparks twinkling- like the stars overhead, and revolving each in its own orbit—exeentric, certainly, but very lovely to behold. Suddenly there was a flutter and trem- ulous commotion in the sparkling throng, when there appeared, rising to the surface, a monster in the shape of an infant hermit-crab—body the SOUTH AFRICA. 3 diameter of a split pea—clothed in a shell that he had evidently annexed, as it was about six sizes too large, and gave him the appearance of a small child in his grandfather’s coat. My friend the hermit was speedily fished up in a tumbler, where he remained as an object of lively interest for several days, until a ruthless saloon waiter emptied the contents, anchorite and all, as waste water. After an almost unprecedented voyage, for safety and celerity, we cast anchor in Table Bay on the 29th of December. The coast of Brazil was the first land we saw, and that was after twenty-eight days’ sailing over a boundless expanse of blue water. In the “ doldrums ”—the zone of calms and light variable winds—we had some good boat- ing, while our floating home lay in a dead calm, like “a painted ship upon a painted ocean.” One day the captain saw what he declared to be a school of whales, about two miles off. Two boats were lowered away, plentifully supplied with har- poons and lines, and, with good crews on board, we soon drew near the group of monsters, basking in the sun. Before we got within range we dis- covered that the school was of manatees, not of whales, though resembling them somewhat when seen from a distance, and they quietly disappeared 4 A STORY OF ACTIVE SERVICE. from view on our trying to make their nearer ac- quaintance. Our long and hot pull only resulted in the discomfiture of the skipper, when we re- ported that his “ whales ” were not veritable cetacea?. The medical officer in charge of the ship, an as- sistant surgeon of the East India Company’s service, has been very ill with dysentery, but is now con- valescent, though at one time I thought we should lose him. It was so far fortunate that I was one of the passengers, as there was no other medical aid available. Cape Town, in the present year of grace (1857), is not a desirable residence. The principal hotel is a wretched caravanserai, chiefly constructed of wood, with badly fitting doors and windows that rattle with every breeze. For the last three days a strong gale from the south-east has been blowing, and the dust, mingled with hard pebbles, has been insufferable. It is bad in the house, but in the streets it is too painful to encounter. I am thank- ful to get away. We embark to-morrow (3d Jan- uary) for East London in the Sultana, which takes some 600 of the German Legion, with a complement of officers and their families, to settle on grants of land in British Caffraria. These legionaries are some of those who were invited by SOUTH AFRICA. 5 the British Government to take an active part in the Crimean war, but they were not embodied in time to join the army before Sevastopol, and many of them accepted the offer to become military settlers in South Africa, rather than return to their fatherland. I was told by one of the officers that, some time previous to this decision in favour of emigration, one of their own staff officers had been sent to explore the country, and he had re- turned to England with such a glowing account of vineyards and orange -groves as sufficed to stir even the Teutonic mind to its depths.