Ranching, Sport and Travel | Page 7

a pride in the well-cultivated
appearance of the garden in his charge; but how can one be proud if the

weeds overtop the bushes? It may be appropriate here to note that
eighty-five per cent. of the twenty-four hours' growth of plants occurs
between 12 p.m. and 6 a.m.; during the noon hours the apparent growth
almost entirely ceases.
Garden coolies are generally Hindoos and are imported from far-off
districts. The local peasantry of Bengal are mostly Mohammedans and
do not work on tea-gardens, except on such jobs as cutting jungle,
building, etc. They speak a somewhat different tongue, so that we had
to understand Bengali as well as Hindustani. I may mention here that as
Hindoos regard an egg as defiling, and Mohammedans despise an eater
of pork, our love for ham and eggs alienates us from both these classes;
what beasts we must be! The Hindoos and the Bengal Mussulmans are
characterized by cringing servility, open insolence, or rude indifference.
Contrast with this the Burmese agreeableness and affability, or the
bearing of the Rajput and the Sikh. In those days the natives cringed
before the Sahib Log much more than they do now. Then all had to put
their umbrellas down on passing a sahib, and all had to leave the
side-walk on the white man's approach; not that the law compelled
them to do so, it was simply a custom enforced by their masters, in the
large cities as well as in the mofussil.
We thought it advisable at all costs to keep the coolies in a proper state
of subjection. Thus, when on a certain occasion a coolie of mine raised
his kodalie (hoe) to strike me I had to give him a very severe thrashing.
Another time a man appeared somewhat insolent in his talk to me and I
unfortunately hit him a blow on the body, from the effects of which he
died next day. Some of these people suffer from enlarged spleens and
even a slight jar on that part of their anatomy may prove fatal.
A few more notes. Among the Sontals in Bengal the snake stone, found
within the head of the Adjutant-bird, is applied to a snake bite exactly
in the same way and with the same supposed results as the Texas
madstone, an accretion found, it is said, in the system of a white stag.
Many natives of India die from purely imaginary snake bites.
In Oude there have been many instances verified, or at least impossible
of contradiction, of so-called wolf-children, infants stolen by wolves

and suckled by them, that go on all fours, eat only raw meat, and, of
course, speak no language.
The Nagas, a hill tribe and not very desirable neighbours, practise the
refined custom of starving a dog, then supplying it with an enormous
feed of rice; and when the stomach is properly distended, killing it, the
half-digested mess forming the bonne-bouche of the tribal feast.
Snake stories are always effective. I have none to tell. My bungalow
roof, the thatch, was at all times infested by snakes, some quite large.
At night one frequently heard them gliding between the bamboos and
grass, chasing mice, beetles, or perhaps lizards, and sometimes falling
on the top of the mosquito bar, or even on the dinner-table; but these
were probably harmless creatures, as most snakes are. The cobra was
not common in Cachar. It may be said here that a snake's mouth opens
crossways as well as vertically, and each side has the power of working
independently, the teeth being re-curved backwards. Prey once in the
jaws cannot escape, and the snake itself can only dispose of it in one
way--downwards.
At Scottpore I employed an elephant for certain work, such as hauling
heavy posts out of the jungle. Sometimes his "little Mary" would
trouble him, when a dose of castor oil would be effectively
administered. Unfortunately, he misbehaved, ran amok, and tried to kill
his mahout, and so that hatthi (elephant) had to be disposed of.
When clearing jungle for a tea-garden the workmen sometimes come
on a certain species of tree, of which they are in great dread. They
cannot be induced to cut it down and so the tree remains. Such a one
stood opposite my bungalow, a stately, handsome monarch of the forest.
It was a sacred, or rather a haunted tree, but as its shade was injurious
to tea-plant growth I was determined to have it destroyed. None of my
people would touch it; so I sent over to a neighbour and explained the
facts to him, requesting him to send over a gang of his men to do the
deed. I was to see that they had no communication with my own people.
Well, his men came and were put to work