A Journey to Katmandu | Page 2

to the Minister's brothers--Dexterity of Colonel Dhere Shum
Shere--Scenes for lovers of the Fancy--Adieu to Nepaul--The view
from the summit of the Chandernagiri pass--The scenery of
Nepaul--The pass of Bhimphede--Night quarters.

CHAPTER XV.
A dilemma at Bisoleah--Ignominious exit from the Nepaul
dominions--The resources and capabilities of Nepaul--Articles of
import from Thibet and Chinese Tartary--A vision of the future.

CHAPTER XVI.
Journey to Lucknow--Nocturnal disasters--View of the
Himalayas--Wild-beast fights--Banquet given by the King of
Oudh--Grand display of fireworks--Our return to cantonments.

CHAPTER XVII.
A Lucknow Derby-day--Sights of the city--Grand Trunk Road to
Delhi--Delhi--The Coutub--Agra--The fort and Taj--The ruins of
Futtehpore Secreh--A loquacious cicerone--A visit to the fort of
Gwalior--The Mahratta Durbar--Tiger-shooting on foot.

CHAPTER XVIII.
The carnival at Indore--Extraordinary scene in the palace of the
Holkar--A night at the caves of Ajunta--The caves of Ellora and
fortress of Doulatabad--The merits of a palkee--Reflections on the
journey from Agra to Bombay--Adieu to India.
[Map of Nepaul: map.jpg]


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_.
Towards the close of the year 1850 a considerable sensation was
created in the usually quiet town of Colombo by the arrival in Ceylon
of His Excellency General Jung Bahadoor, the Nepaulese Ambassador,
on his return to Nepaul, bearing the letter of the Queen of England to
the Rajah of that country.
The accounts which had preceded him of the magnificence of the
jewels with which his person was generally adorned, had raised
expectations amongst the natives which were doomed to
disappointment: intelligence had been received by Jung of the death of
the Queen of Nepaul, and the whole Embassy was in deep mourning, so
that their appearance on landing created no little astonishment, clad, as
they all were, in spotless white, excepting their shoes, which were of
black cloth--leather not being allowed to form part of the Nepaulese
mourning costume.

His Excellency had a careworn expression of countenance, which
might have been caused either by the dissipation attendant upon the
gaieties of his visit to London, by grief for his deceased Queen, or by
sea-sickness during his recent stormy passage across the Gulf of
Manaar. He had been visiting sundry Hindoo shrines, and it was for the
purpose of worshipping at the temple of Ramiseram, which is situate on
the island of that name, in the Gulf of Manaar, forming part of Adam's
Bridge, that he touched at Colombo. Here I was fortunate enough to
make his acquaintance, and, attracted by his glowing description of
sport in Nepaul, accepted an invitation to accompany him to that
country, in order to judge of it for myself.
So good an opportunity is indeed rarely afforded to a European of
visiting Nepaul, and of inspecting the internal economy of its
semi-barbarous Court. I soon found that Jung Bahadoor excelled no
less as a travelling companion than he had done as Premier and
Ambassador.
As doubts had arisen and some misapprehension had prevailed in
England as to his position in his own country, I was anxious to
ascertain what was his real rank and how he would be received there. It
was reported that he had risked his temporal welfare by quitting his
country, while, in order that his eternal welfare should in no way be
compromised by this bold and novel proceeding, he had obtained an
express reservation to be made in his favour at Benares, overcoming,
by means of considerable presents, the scruples of a rapacious and not
very conscientious priesthood.
The ostensible object of the mission had reference, as far as I could
learn, to a portion of the Terai (a district lying upon the northern
frontier of British India) which formerly belonged to Nepaul, and
which was annexed by the Indian Government after the war of 1815-16;
but it is probable that other motives than any so purely patriotic
actuated the Prime Minister. His observant and inquiring mind had long
regarded the British power in India with wonder and
admiration--sentiments almost unknown amongst the apathetic
Orientals, who, for the most part, have become too much accustomed to

the English to look upon them with the same feelings as are entertained
towards them by the hardy and almost savage race inhabiting the wild
valleys of the Himalayas.
But besides the wish to gratify his curiosity, there existed yet another
incentive which induced him to undertake this expedition. The
precarious nature of his high position in Nepaul urged on him the good
policy, if not the necessity, of a visit to England, for he doubtless felt,
and with good reason, that the Native Durbar would be inclined to
respect a man who had been honoured with an interview with the
Queen of so