Life in an Indian Outpost

A FRONTIER POST PAGE Our first view of the Himalayas--Across India in a troop train--A scattered regiment--An elephant-haunted railway--Kinchinjunga--The great Terai Jungle--Rajabhatkawa--In the days of Warren Hastings--Hillmen--Roving Chinese--We arrive at Buxa Road--Relieved officers--An undesirable outpost--March through the forest--The hills--A mountain road--Lovely scenery--Buxa Duar--A lonely Station--The labours of an Indian Army officer--Varied work--The frontier of Bhutan--A gate of India--A Himalayan paradise--The fort--Intrusive monkeys--The cantonment--The Picquet Towers--The bazaar--The cemetery--Forgotten graves--Tragedies of loneliness--From Bhutan to the sea 1

CHAPTER II

LIFE ON OUTPOST

The daily routine--Drill in the Indian Army--Hindustani--A lingua franca--The divers tongues of India--The sepoys' lodging--Their ablutions--An Indian's fare--An Indian regiment--Rajput customs--The hospital--The doctor at work--Queer patients--A vicious bear--The Officers' Mess--Plain diet--Water--The simple life--A bachelor's establishment--A faithful Indian--Fighting the trusts--Transport in the hills--My bungalow--Amusements in Buxa--Dull days--Asirgarh--A lonely outpost--Poisoning a General--A storied fortress--Soldier ghosts--A spectral officer--The tragedy of isolation--A daring panther--A day on an elephant--Sport in the jungle--Gooral stalking in the hills--Strange pets--A friendly deer--A terrified visitor--A walking menagerie--Elephants tame and wild--Their training--Their caution--Their rate of speed--Fondness for water--Quickly reconciled to captivity--Snakes--A narrow escape--A king-cobra; the hamadryad--Hindu worship of the cobra--General Sir Hamilton Bower--An adventurous career--E. F. Knight--The General's inspection 19

CHAPTER III

THE BORDERLAND OF BHUTAN

The races along our North-East Border--Tibet--The Mahatmas--Nepal---Bhutan--Its geography--Its founder--Its Government--Religious rule--Analogy between Bhutan and old Japan--Penlops and Daimios--The Tongsa Penlop--Reincarnation of the Shaptung Rimpoche--China's claim to Bhutan--Capture of the Maharajah of Cooch Behar--Bogle's mission--Raids and outrages--The Bhutan War of 1864-5--The Duars--The annual subsidy--Bhutan to-day--Religion--An impoverished land--Bridges--Soldiers in Bhutan--Thefeudal system--Administration of justice--Tyranny of officials--The Bhuttias--Ugly women--Our neighbours in Buxa--A Bhuttia festival--Archery--A banquet--A dance--A Scotch half-caste--Chunabatti--Nature of the borderland--Disappearing rivers--The Terai--Tea gardens--A planter's life--The club--Wild beasts in the path--The Indian planters--Misplaced sympathy--The tea industry--Profits and losses--Planters' salaries--Their daily life--Bhuttia raids on tea gardens--Fearless planters--An unequal fight 45

CHAPTER IV

A DURBAR IN BUXA

Notice of the Political Officer's approaching visit--A Durbar--The Bhutan Agent and the interpreter--Arrival of the Deb Zimpun--An official call--Exchange of presents--Bhutanese fruit--A return call--Native liquor--A welcome gift--The Bhutanese musicians--Entertaining the Envoy--A thirsty Lama--A rifle match--An awkward official request--My refusal--The Deb Zimpun removes to Chunabatti--Arrival of the treasure--The Political Officer comes--His retinue--The Durbar--The Guard of Honour--The visitors--The Envoy comes in state--Bhutanese courtesies--The spectators--The payment of the subsidy--Lunch in Mess--Entertaining a difficult guest--The official dinner--An archery match--Sikh quoits--Field firing--Bhutanese impressed--Blackmail--British subjects captured--Their release--Tashi's case--Justice in Bhutan--Tyranny of officials--Tashi refuses to quit Buxa--The next payment of the subsidy--The treaty--Misguided humanitarians 64

CHAPTER V

IN THE JUNGLE

An Indian jungle--The trees--Creepers--Orchids--The undergrowth--On an elephant in the jungle--Forcing a passage--Wild bees--Red ants--A lost river--A sambhur hind--Spiders--Jungle fowl--A stag--Hallal--Wounded beasts--A halt--Skinning the stag--Ticks--Butcher apprentices--Natural rope--Water in the air--Pani bel--Trail of wild elephants--Their habits--An impudent monkey--An adventure with a rogue elephant--Fire lines--Wild dogs--A giant squirrel--The barking deer--A good bag--Spotted deer--Protective colouring--Dangerous beasts--Natives' dread of bears--A bison calf--The fascination of the forest--The generous jungle--Wild vegetables--Natural products--A home in the trees--Forest Lodge the First--Destroyed by a wild elephant--Its successor--A luncheon-party in the air--The salt lick--Discovery of a coal mine--A monkey's parliament--The jungle by night 83