SKETCHES IN INDIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 625, 3 November 1858, Page 3

SKETCHES IN INDIA.

From Russell's Indian letters of March and April we select the following passages :

Destruction of Hindoo Temples.—"We are blowing up the Hindoo temples on the banks of the Ganges, which interfere with tho fire of the guns of the tete-de-pont, and which might give cover to the enemy in case of a renewed attack. It is certain that they now give cover to & nnmber of our bitter enemies—fakeers and Brahmins of wonderful dirt and sancity. I went d,Dwn. tlus evening to see the operations —wliiciT "are conducted by Captain -APLeod, Bengal engineers, and Lieutenant P. Stew-art, Bengal engineers, under the superintendence of Colonel Napier, Bengal engineers—for the destruction of some of these buildings; bufc, owing to the dislike of the workmen to the work, only a small number of the mines were sufficiently advanced for firing, and the task has not yet been completed. The roads near the buildings were lined by haggard wild-eyed men, with filthy clotted looks of hair hanging over their shoulders and strips of dirty cotton round their loins. They contented themselves with scowling at us and I could not help being amused at the indifference with which they saw their horrible little deities examined by the Feringhee, and pulled to pieces by profane fingers. The deities consisted of figures about two feet and a-half in height, each with four heads and four bellies, painted curiosly with red and yellow ochre. They are composed of baked earth plastered upon straw, and the skeleton, on which the rr.ur] is coated, is formed of baniboos. These temples merit a separate description, which I shall give as soon as I have time. We are also engaged in blowing up the assembly rooms and the walls of all the bungalows around the in trench men t.

What the Begum thinks of trs. —The Begum certainly does nofc conceal her apprehensions of the result of our operations, and is vehement with prayers and tears to the chiefs to make one great onslaught upon us ere we complete our batteries. Overcoming her timidity, she appeared in the field on the attack of the 25th, mounted on an elephant, but, as that sagacious animal never remains within range, it is probable she was not a very near spectatress of the fight. On one occasion she astonished the durbar, and almost shamed them out of their senses. In an indignant harangue, with all the fire of Rachel making a grand eov.j) de theatre, she suddenly tore her veil from her face (which is said to be a very handsome one, by the by), and denounced them for their inactivity and for their indifference to the wrongs of their countrywomen. lam told one must be an Asiatic to understand the full force of this demonstration. What the poor lady will do when Sir Colin makes his appearance this morningat Dilkoosha I cannot conjecture. If she could have but seen the troops march thia morningl she would have be.211 anything but comforted. An Ixbohn Animal Democeat.— For days past I hud been disturbed by the gur^l nga and grumbling of the internal waterwoika of two huge camels which I had for the transport of my baggage, aad which-were picketed close to my tent. Tne utile was noyer so .Httia mingjod with t'.ie du-lce as in this instance of the camel. Ho is a horribly nocess try animal, ungainly in his gait, dis;igret,'al>lo in his rfiVpo* sition, misanthropical and dyspeptic), and teetotal in his habit:), sharp and unrelenting in lisa bites, of unaccountable phnnfnsios in bin liking* and JUiilcings, unreasonably suioeniiblo of pres*

«nre and oppression—a sort of inborn animal "democrat, of a querulous and :morose turn of mmd, and possessed of the power, which he -delights to use, of making the most horrible noises with-his throat, Ins jaws, his tongue, and •liis stomach. With loud protestations they submit to monstrous cruelties from their keepers, and bite innocent well-meaning people who are lik«ly to take an interest in them. They will allow without anything more than a ■grunt their leader to tear open their nostrils •with a jerk of the string which is passed through the cartillage; ten to one thej r will spit at you spitefully if you approach to offer them a piece -of bread,. They will march for days, the nos^e -of one fastened to the tail of another in endless aud never seek to escape from bondage; and yet the same creatures will gnash their tushes awfully at an unhappy European who ventures to rub their rugged sides. How--ever, they form an institution of India—possibly a part of the traditional policy—and they must be respected accordingly. _

Sic Colin and his Mtsx.—Very pleasant

-was it to see Sir Colin, as the Highland regiment halted and lay down near their camps, while the ground was being marked out, ride •along, wishing them "good morning," and talking to some of the privates whose names he :knew, asking them how the}- were, or listening "with intense satisfaction depicted on his countenance to the martial skirl of the pipes as the men moved along. The men seem to take all -this as a matter of course on the part of the Coininander-in-Chief, whom they look on as if

"he was their property, and they hail his return to them just as they would the restoration of something they valued—their rifles, for instance —on the eve of a battle. " It's jist glad I'm to •see his face the morn," and "" Eh, Jamie, bnt -its weel he's lookin :" " He's for fechtin' the --day, he's so pleasant like;" and many such re--marks rise from the ranks as he passes. The Exiled Mutikeeks.—l have received •some intelligence from the Andamans. The 300 "Sepoys sent there were located on the two islands in Port Blair, and ordered.to begin building. One man refused to work, and was shot. Another committed suicide rather than descend to manual labour. A third informed his comrades that if thejl" would follow him he would .■show them a neck of laud leading into Behar; '32 agreed, escaped to the chief island, and were :pursued in vain. At last one man came back, covered with ticks and starving. He said the natives had attacked them, and that they were living on roots. The man looked wretched to the last degree, but 30 more followed his ex-

ample. Their escape is no injury to any one. They cannot get away, and if they kill the -savages, or the savages kill them, the world can spare- either without much compunction. The -natives are cv il to a degree, appearing to have ■decl-.ived war against the human race. ! Sir WiLxiAii Peel.—April 27. —The electric telegraph lias carried its brief announcement . of the sad news we heard this morning to England some days before the letter I am now wri- j ting- can reach-you. But I can add no details j to that brief statement of the event which must I cause such grief to every English heart. The ! death of Sir William Peel at an}- time would be j a national loff. Despite the theory that there 1 is no such thing a? a necessary man, I believe ! that at this particular juncture his death is a i national calamity, and it is one for which I see ' no reparation. Hi.-, gallant comrades in the noble profession which was the joy of his life will be the readiest to admit that the foremost naval officer of the day lies in the grave, which ■contains his body. It is not merely of personal gallantry I speak, although in his career he astonished brave men by glorious recklessness of Tiis own life wherever the smallest benefit to the service was to he gained by braving danger, or of the contempt of death lie exhibited wherever and whenever by example he could encourage his men to greater emulation oC his own calm •courage, but I allude more to the largeness -.of conception, the mastery of detail, the great professional zeal, the consummate skill, the ingenuity and incessant activity of acquisition in all that related to navalquestionsand tactics, and the shrewd watchfulness with which he regarded every matter affecting the condition of our fleet and the efficiency of the service, which he justly regarded as the noblest development of the power and might of England. In the march from Lucknow to Cawnpore he was carried down in a dooly or litter, as he was unable to ride owing to his wound, but he could limp about, and, just ere we entered Cawnpore, he was able to walk a little, when we halted, with--out the aid of his stick. Morning after morning, as our litters were laid flown beside each other, "he talked to me of the various news which 'Came to us from home, and I well remember the light which was in his eye as he said speaking of the division Gn the Conspiracy Bill "I am delighted at it, not from any sympathy with these rascally assassins who 'flock t< England, or from any feeling against Franc or the' 4 Emperor, 'whose orders I wear, bu "because, my instinct tells me, as its instinc told the House, that "it was the right thinj for an Euylish Parliament to do, reason or n reason. We io.nst never take a step in tha direction., even.if one came from the dead t toll us to do so." It was, probably, in tha litter he contracted the fearful malady wine! cost him his life; for if I am not misinformed it was obtained by him from the hospital a Lucknow, where several case* of smallpo ■ opmmsd before we left. On the day after hi nrrivnl sit. Caivnporu lie was seized with sick ne.-'s, vomiting, and feverish ness, from which h recovered, but the symptoms of smallpox wei •so<«» exltibilw!. and whon-T.mentioned the new ihafc he hiul il to Dr. Clifford, who had been on «f his nticndajit-i. thf hiti.pr said he feared ■would go hard with Sir William, owing to.h

iritability of constitution, and to the debility arising from his wound. Ifc was one dny's inarch from Futteghur that I hoard of his illness, and on my arrival I telegraphed to the Rev. Mr. Moore, the chaplain at Cawnpore, to know how he was. Next day I received the rewly, " Sir William is doing as favourable as could be expected in a case of bad confluent smallpox." This morning, on the line of march, we heard he was no raoi'e—it flew from mouth to mouth. Sir Colin Campbell showed the grief which was felt by every officer in the force. Over and over again, all this morning, " Peel dead I What a loss to us. It will be long ere the service see two such as Adrian Hope and Peel !" mingled with expressions of regret and sorrow. I can add nothing now to this brief allusion, but I trust you will receive from others nearer to him when he died some account of the causes of his illness and the manner of his death.