EXPLOITS - OF A · LION SHOOTING PARTY OF ENGLISH GENTLEMEN, AT BARODA, 26th JUNE, 1816. A REPORT was brought by a cultivator about eight o'clock yesterday morning, of two large tigers having taken up their abode the preceding night in a garden, within a mile of the west extremity of the town. The gentlemen of the residency after a hasty breakfast, anxiously prepared rifles, fuzees, aud musquets, and attended by ten Sepoys of the Resident's cort, went forth in search of the animals. The place in which they were said to have taken shelter was covered by bushes of the mogri flower plant extremely thick, and standing about four feet high, with narrow pathways, occasionally intersected by hedges of the prickly milk bush, and low and thick ramifications of the aloe tree. The party beat about the jungle (for it had this appearance, rather than that of a garden, when by great good fortune it had a glimpse of one of the animals making off with some rapidity. It was first taken for a large grown calf, a misconception very natural, as the sequel will shew, and as by the report of the morning, the party expected to meet with tigers. The appearance of the animal, however, gave a stimulus to the exertions of the gentlemen, who moved forward in the low jungle, surveying every bush, and expecting each instant to hear a tremendous roar, or perhaps to encounter the savage attacks of the animals. Little more search brought the two beasts in full view, when one of them started off, receiving a ball from a gentleman in the side. It went rapidly past two others of the party, and was wounded by a single shot in the flank. These wounds appeared to have produced no decided effect, and a quarter of an hour had elapsed before it was again discovered crouching in a thick plantation of aloe trees. It was here that a few Sepoys and one of the gentlemen advancing within eight paces, brought the beast prostrate on the ground; when for the first time considering the indistinct view obtained in the low jungle, during the pursuit, it was found that instead of tigers the objects of the chace were lions of considerable size! Some danger attended the death of this animal, (which was a lioness) as the other party were diametrically opposite to the aloe plantation when the volley was fired into it. The balls whistled over their heads and around them, but happily without bad consequences to any body. The success which attended the first hunt, redoubled exertion, and with great management the party scoured the bushes in search of the lioness's companion. Some time passed and a great deal of laborious exertion, before the animal was traced by his footsteps to one of the high hedges which intersected the garden. The party approached within eight yards, when by previous concert, two gentlemen and two Sepoys fired, independently, with effect. The animal moved off immediately on the other side of the hedge, and in ten minutes more, he was discovered laying under another hedge, groaning with rage and pain. Some pieces were instantly fired, which exasperating him, he rushed out, and nobly charged his assailants, his tail being curled over his back. In his advance, he was saluted with great coolness with séveral balls from all the gentlemen, and a few Sepoys of the party who had come up; and though within a few yards of the object of his attack, he suddenly turned off, (it is supposed on account of being severely wounded) and sprung upon a Sepoy, detached to the right, with whom he grappled, and afterwards by the violence of the exertion fell to the ground, beyond him. It was at this moment that the party gallantly, and for the humane purpose of saving a fellow-creature, rushed forward, and with the bayonet and swords put an end to the monster. The Sepoy was wounded in the left shoulder, but it was hoped that there is no danger of his losing his life. The complete success of the day was justly calculated to excite many pleasing reflections; but after all was concluded, it appeared that a countryman, who attended at a distance unarmed, and for his own curiosity, was wounded in the thigh by a ball. This accident has of course damped the pleasure of the sport, though it is but just to remark, that before the party entered into the garden, entreaties were used to the curious bystanders to induce them to keep away from the scene of action, and many were sent off by main force, who afterwards returned in defiance of every remonstrance. The animal last killed was a lion, not quite full grown, but strong and powerful in his make; the lioness was in the same proportion. On being brought to the Residency and inspected, these animals were sent to his Highness Futteh Sing at his own request. The appearance of tigers in the immediate vicinity of Baroda is not common; two only having strayed from the ravines of the river Myhie to the enclosures round the town, within the last fifteen years, but lions have never been seen. Indeed the existence of this species in Iudia has been questioned, though since satisfactorily established. It is conjectured that the lions killed yesterday, had wandered out of the deep defiles of the Myhie, about twelve miles from Baroda, in the night which was unusually dark, and attended throughout in the neighbourhood of that river with torrents of rain. It was fortunate that their retreat was immediately discovered, or from the number of people now employed in cultivation around this populous town, some would in all probability have fallen victims to their voracity. NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO COCHIN CHINA, IN 1778, Ir may not be improper, before I attempt a description of the few occurrences of this voyage, to preface it with an account of the circumstances which led to the undertaking, the reason urged for the prosecution of it, and the advantages expected to be derived from it. Having stated these leading points, I shall proceed with a brief and faithful detail of the transactions in which I was engaged, from the time of my arrival on the coast of Cochin China to that of my leaving it; interspersing and concluding it with some observations on the country, its inhabitants, and produce. Desultory and incomplete as these observations will of necessity be, I offer them with the atmost diffidence, and trust they will be received with candour. The interval in which I had to make them was short; curiosity was attended with many personal dangers. Those which I have experienced I regret not, and only wish they may be productive of real benefit to that respectable society, of which I am proud of being a servant. The few political events taken notice of, I derived from a source on which they had made an im pression too deep for me to doubt their. authenticity. The family of the relato had often marked them with his blood; he, it is not improbable, may mark them with his own. In the month of February 1778, two Mandarines of Cochin China were brought to Calcutta in a country ship, called the Rumbold, the novelty of this circumstance excited the curiosity of the whole settlement. It was reported to the Governor General by Messrs. Crofts and Killican. These gentlemen, who, I believe, were either the entire owners of the vessel, or partly concerned in it, likewise acquainted him that their visiting Bengal was accidental, and had happened in the following manner: the Rumbold being destined on a voyage to China, her owners, in consequence of some very favourable' accounts of Cochin China, had directed the commander to touch on that coast in his way back. He went to the bay of Turon, and during his stay there application was made to him by Senhor Loreiro, a Jesuit missionary, who had resided in the country between thirty and forty years, for a passage for himself to Bengal, and for two mandarines of distinction, related Mandarine, it is now generally known, is a Portuguese word, derived from the word Mandar, to command. It is totally unknown amongst the Chinese, Cochin Chinese, aud Tonquinese. The word used by each of these nations for a person in authority is Quan. to the royal family, as far as Donai, the most southern province, whither the king had retired on account of an invasion of the northern provinces by the Tonquienese, and a rebellion which had broken out in several of the midland ones. The commander having heard that Senhor Loreiro was highly esteemed by the natives, and behaved with great humanity to the officers and crew of the Admiral Pocock Indiaman, when driven into Turon Bay by stress of weather, in the year 1764, complied with his request in both instances. He soon after weighed anchor, intending to land the mandarines, agreeable to their request, at Donai, but a strong current, and a violent gale coming on, forced the ship so far to the southward of that province, that he was unable to make it, and obliged to bring all his passengers to Bengal. The following morning the Mandarines and Senhor Loreiro were introduced to the Governor General, by whom they were received with the greatest attention and humanity. The Cochin Chinese were assured of his protection, and comforted with those expressions of good will necessary to remove the apprehensions of a few defenceless and alarmed individuals, unacquainted with our customs and dispositions; and to impress them with a favourable opinion of the people they were come amongst. They were accommodated with a house, servants, and other necessaries; shewn every thing curious in the settlement, and in general treated in such a manner, that the time they passed amongst us proved highly agreeable to them. The Mandarines remained in Bengal till the middle of April. In the interim, Messrs. Crofts and Killican had equipped a small vessel of between seventy and eighty tons burthen, to carry them back, Some days before the time fixed for their departure, I was requested by Mr. Crofts to suggest to the Governor General how acceptable a small present from him would be to the Mandarines. This I took the first convenient opportunity of doing, and he was not only pleased to acquiesce in it, but also signified his intention of sending something handsome to their king, and desired that I would consult Messrs. Crofts and Killican upon the articles proper, and bring him a list of them. While we were adjusting this matter our conversation naturally turned upon Cochin China; in the course of it those gentlemen expatiated on the advantages which might accrue to Bengal and to the Com pany, if a commercial intercourse were opened with that country; énumérated the several valuable commodities it produced, and expressed their wishes that the present favourable occasion might not be neglected of forming a connection with the government of it. Ever possessed with a spirit of enterprise, and allured by the hopes of distinguishing myself, I declared that I would readily undertake the voyage if the supreme council should think it proper to send me in a public capacity. Some subsequent conversations I had with these gentlemen, their communicating to me some papers relative to the country, with the accounts given by the commander of the Rumbold, and assurances of the Mandarines, all conspired to stimulate me to the undertaking. At length, I made the proposal to the Governor General, requesting that he would be pleased to take some opportunity of speaking to Messrs. Crofts and Killican on the subject. The representations made to the Gover nor General and other gentlemen of the Supreme Council, had the effect I then earnestly desired; and the Amazon, a small snow belonging to the Company was ordered to be made ready for the better accommodation of the Mandarines. The companions of my voyage were Mr. Bayard, a gentleman of my own standing in the Company's service, who was induced to accompany me from motives of friendship, and a curiosity to see the country; Mr. Totty, a surgeon; Captain Maclennan, master of the Amazon; and Captain Hutton, master of the Jenny. The end proposed by my appointment, was the establishment of a commercial intercourse between the Company's settlements in India and Cochin China, and the attainment of such privileges and advantages to our vessels importing thither, as we might find the government disposed to grant. The benefits hoped for from the traffic, were the extension of the sales of the commodities of Europe and India to that country, and the importations of its valuable productions in return. One incitement, added to the motive of humanity, for sending the Mandarines home in a more creditable manner J than first intended, was to frustrate the intrigues Mr. Chevalier, the French chief at Chandanagore, had begun to set on foot with them, through Padre Loreiro, who had retired to that settlement; and Mr. Moniz, a Portuguese merchant, who had also accompanied them from Cochin China. Having thus explained the inducements to this voyage, I shall proceed agreeably to what I promised, to a detail of the transactions in the prosecution of it. The Amazon having fallen down to Bridge, I embarked the 16th of April with the principal of the two mandarines, and five or six of his attendants. The other by his own desire, went on board the little vessel first prepared for them both. She sailed a few days before, and was to rejoin us in the Straits of Malacca, and to accompany us during the voyage. On board were put small quantities of goods (as specimens of the commodities of Europe and India,) in order to form a judg ment of what would answer in the country we were bound to. Bad weather and the want of a sloop did not permit us to dismiss our pilot until the 29th, when we were obliged to send him on shore at Ballasore. Exactly a month after this, we anchored at Malacca, and sailed from thence, the 2d of June for Tringano, a Malay port on the other side of the peninsula, we reached it the 12th following, here Mr. Hutton, and the commander of our little consort informed me of the death of the mandarine his passenger, which happened a few days after leaving Malacca. This accident gave me a good deal of concern, as he was a sensible, steady, well behaved man, and I relied much on him for assistance amongst his countrymen we found at this place thirty or forty natives of Cochin-China, whose vessel had been driven off their own coast, and wrecked near Tringano. Agreeably to the policy of the Malays, they were become the slaves, and their effects the property of the Rajah, they gave our mandarine some information relative to the state of his country, posterior to his leaving it, but, as he acquainted me, indistinct, and little to his satisfaction, I endeavoured to procure the release of some of these poor people, and was not a little surprised at a seeming backwardness in them to accept it. During our stay here, I was spoken to by the king's brother (the king being absent) concerning the Company's establishing a factory there; and I heard on my return to Malacca that there had been a letter (making the offer) written to the Supreme Council. This complaisance arises from the king's apprehensions of a hostile visit from the king at Rio, and from a desire of extending his territories by means of the Company's assistance; if it were thought worth while to settle in any part of the peninsula of Malay, a more eligible situation might be found. Some months in the year this is a dangerous lee shore, and inaccessible to shipping. For my own part, I do not think that establishments are to be made amongst the Malays by us, with any great prospect of advantage, or a sufficient degree of security.* At Tringano they purchase annually two hundred chests of opium, some white goods, and a small quantity of iron and copper, with a few other articles of little note; for which they give in exchange pepper, gold dust, and tin. The latter article is not the produce of the place, but carried thither by Malay and Buggis Prows. Our stay at Tringano being prolonged a day or two, that we might furnish ourselves with a good store of refreshments, as we expected but scanty supplies in Cochin-China; we did not weigh anchor till the 17th. The 20th we came in sight of Pullo Ubi, the next night we anchored close to it; and the following day found ourselves in the latitude of 8° 35′ north, which must have been nearly the latitude of the Point of Cambodia, as it then bore west of us. It is laid down by our geographers and hydrographers ten or fifteen miles more to the northward. Pullo Ubi is a small island, seen from a great distance, and situated exactly on the eastern extremity of the Gulph of Siam. My intention in taking this route, was, that we might have an opportunity of coasting the southern shore of Cambodia, which is but little known; of entering the western branch of the great river, which separates that country from Cochin China, where I expected certain accounts of the state of the country, and of procuring au interview with the king, who was said to be in Donai, the southmost province. (To be continued.) It is only a few years since the Presidency of Fort St. George attempted a settlement at Achem, under the conduct of the Hon. Edward Moncton, but were obliged to withdraw it. After finishing the Sha Numa, the celebrated Epic "Poem, or rather, poetical History of the Persians. [Firdousi's expectations from the Sultan, by whose orders he had written the Sha Nama, were sanguine, and his confidence in the powers of his own genius, and in the merits of his work, corre sponds with the proud assurance of true genius in every age and nation, and bears no mean comparison with Horace's celebrated ode on the eternity of his own poetry, or Ovid's prophetical conclu sion of his immortal Metamorphoses. The result also proves that Firdousi's confidence in the powers of his poesy was not unfounded, though his reliance on the gratitude or munificence of man, was disappointed.] I'VE sung the annals of departed times, Of ages long forgot in modern rhymes, And traced the lights of deep recondite lore, And all the chronicles of days of yore; And now that age my sickly frame has worn, This darling task shall yield its rich return, Shall yield me honours and unmatched re[crown. Grandeur, and pomp, and riches, and a nown, The deeds of 'olden time forgotten lay, Were obsolete, and long obscured from day; I've blazoned them anew in lofty verse, Which every generation shall rehearse: Thus have I reared a fabric proud and high, Which shall both flood and storm for e'er defy; [won, Th' applauses of the great and good I've, Aud baser tongues my honour'd name, shall shun. 'Tis true, my youth-the pride of all my days, Has passed in building these exalted lays; But long as time his onward course pursues, The sons of science shall these strains peruse; [they read, The wise and learn'd shall bless me as And praise the monarch who the task de[reign brow creed Great monarch of the world, whose soveAlone shall bear a regal crown below,And he, Firdousi, listens to the songPour then-pour all thy raptur'd soul along, Yes! sacred Poesy's exalted strains Are more than glittering gems or rich do mains: I've sung the deeds of ages long gone by, In strains which never shall forgotten die, Which shall be sung on earth's remotest shore, Long after thou, Firdousi, art no more. INSCRIPTION ON A HOOKAH, Dug up from the Ruins of an ancient building in the heart of the Sunderbunds, and translated from the Bengali with poetical licence, by a gentleman of the Bengal civil service. HAPPY mortal he that knows, Hast thou, when thy heart did burn, Thou, with visage full of woe, Art thou left to weep and moan, Friend to either grave or gay, Dullness has in me a prize, Youthful love can I inspire Life is but a long disease, TO HIS MISTRESS, THE mole upon thy neck display'd, Gives to its charms a double power; 'Tis like the dusky bee when laid Drunken on the lily flower... ུ ་ 1 |