A Journey to Katmandu

Journey to Katmandu, A

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Oliphant
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Title: A Journey to Katmandu (the Capital of Napaul), with The Camp
of Jung Bahadoor; including A Sketch of the Nepaulese Ambassador at
Home
Author: Laurence Oliphant

Release Date: July 6, 2005 [eBook #16226]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOURNEY
TO KATMANDU***

Transcribed from the 1852 John Murray edition by Les Bowler.

A JOURNEY TO KATMANDU (THE CAPITAL OF NEPAUL),
WITH THE CAMP OF JUNG BAHADOOR; INCLUDING A
SKETCH OF THE NEPAULESE AMBASSADOR AT HOME.

BY LAURENCE OLIPHANT.
LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1852.
TO SIR ANTHONY OLIPHANT, C.B., CHIEF JUSTICE OF
CEYLON, THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE INSCRIBED BY HIS
AFFECTIONATE SON, THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.
The interest which was manifested in the Nepaulese Embassy during
the short residence of Jung Bahadoor in England leads me to hope that
a description of the romantic country and independent Court which he
came to represent, as well as some account of his own previous
eventful career, may not be unacceptable to the English public--more
especially as no work upon Nepaul has been published in this country,
that I am aware of, since Dr. Hamilton's, which appeared about the year
1819.
Through the kindness and friendship of the Nepaulese Ambassador, I
was enabled to visit Katmandu under most favourable circumstances;
and during the journey thither in his company I had abundant
opportunity of obtaining much interesting information, and of gaining
an insight into the character of the people, and their mode of every-day
life, for which a residence in camp was peculiarly favourable.
In the Terai I was fortunate enough to witness the Nepaulese mode of
elephant-catching, so totally unlike that of any other country, while the
grand scale on which our hunting party was organised was equally
novel.
I therefore venture to submit this volume to the public, in the hope that
the novelty of a portion of the matter contained in it will in some
degree compensate for its manifold defects.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
Arrival of Jung Bahadoor in Ceylon--Voyage to Calcutta--Rifle
practice on board the _Atalanta_--Rifle-shooting--Colonel Dhere Shum
Shere--A journey along the Grand Trunk Road of Bengal--The
experimental railway--The explosion at Benares.

CHAPTER II.
Benares--Cashmere Mull's house--The Chouk--The Bisheshwan temple,
and Maido Rai Minar--The Ambassador in Benares--A Rajah's
visit--The marriage of Jung Bahadoor--Review of the Nepaul rifle
regiment--Benares college.

CHAPTER III.
Jaunpore--A shooting-party--Scenes in camp and on the march--A
Nepaulese dinner--Ghazipore--The Company's stud--Indian
roads--Passage of the Gograh--Jung Bahadoor's mode of despatching
an alligator.

CHAPTER IV.
A picnic on the Nepaul frontier--A boar-hunt--The Terai and its
resources--Our shooting quarters--Incidents of sport--A tiger-hunt--The
great elephant exhibition of 1851--Camp Bechiacor.

CHAPTER V.
March to Hetowra--Cross the Cheriagotty Hills--Scenes of the war of
1815-16--Preparations for a wild-elephant hunt--The herd in full cry--A
breakneck country--Furious charges of wild elephants--The lost
child--Return to camp.

CHAPTER VI.
March to Bhimphede--National defences--The Cheesapany
pass--Lovely scenery--Night adventure--The watch-fire--Reception at
camp--Arrival at Katmandu.

CHAPTER VII.
The British residency--Houses at the temple of
Pusputnath--Unprepossessing appearance of the Newar
population--Their dress and characteristic features--Ghorkas--Temple
of Pusputnath--View from the hill above it--The temple of
Bhood--Worshippers from Thibet and Chinese Tartary--Their singular
and disgusting appearance--Striking scene in the grand square of the
city of Katmandu.

CHAPTER VIII.
The temple of Sumboonath--View from the platform of the
temple--The valley of Nepaul and its resources--Tradition respecting
it--Entrance of the Prime Minister into Katmandu--The two kings--A
brilliant reception.

CHAPTER IX.
Sketch of the career of his Excellency General Jung Bahadoor, Prime
Minister of Nepaul.

CHAPTER X.
The titles of his Excellency General Jung Bahadoor Coomaranagee in
England--Extraordinary notions of the British public on Indian
affairs--Jung Bahadoor's conciliatory policy--Our unsuccessful attempt
to penetrate beyond the permitted boundaries--Dangerous position of
the Prime Minister--His philanthropic designs--Great opposition on the
part of Durbar--Native punishments--A Nepaulese chief-justice--Jung's
popularity with the peasantry and army.

CHAPTER XI.
The temple of Balajee--The old Newar capital--The houses and temples
of Patn--View from the city gates--Nepaulese festivals--The Newars
skilful artisans--The arsenal--The magazine and cannon-foundry.

CHAPTER XII.
Kindness of the Mahila Sahib--His motive--Drawing-room
ornaments--Visit to the palace of Jung Bahadoor--A trophy of the
London season--Grand Durbar at the reading of the Queen of England's
letter--Dress of the officers--Review of troops--Dancing boys.

CHAPTER XIII.

Distinguishing features of the races of Nepaul--The
Ghorkas--Maintenance of the Nepaul army--Bheem Singh's
monument--A feast at the Minister's--We bid him adieu--Ascent of the
Sheopoori--Magnificent view of the Himalayas from its summit.

CHAPTER XIV.
A visit