Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan, with Sketches of Anglo-Indian Society, Volume 2W.H. Allen and Company, 1835 - India |
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acquainted afford Aga Meer Agra Allahabad amongst amusement Anglo-Indian animals appear Asiatic attended bamboos bazaars beautiful belonging Bengal birds British Buckra Buckra Eade bungalow Calcutta camels canopy Cawnpore celebrated ceremony cloth court Delhi delight Dhull display Doorga elephants English entertained esteemed Etawah European exceedingly favour festival flowers frequently Ganges gardens gold Goomtee ground guests Hindoo Hindostan honour horses Hossein hot winds houses howdah India inhabitants Jumna jungles king of Oude ladies less Lucknow magnificent Mahommedan mahouts marble ment Mohurrum Monghyr monkey Moslem native neighbourhood neighbouring night numerous occasion officers ornaments palace palanquins pariah dog party period Persian cats persons picturesque plague of Egypt plain pomp present racter rendered residents rich river rupees scarcely scene season seen servants Sheah shew silver sion spectacle splendid splendour station strange taxees tiger tion tomb trees Upper Provinces usually verandah whole wild young
Popular passages
Page 199 - India, afl'ord a secure asylum from actual contact with invaders, the many-legged and many-winged host, which give so lively an idea of the plagues of Egypt. The couch occupies the centre of the floor, and is elevated to a considerable height from the ground ; the...
Page 52 - The private life of Governor Charnock ' (we are told by Miss Roberts) 'presents a romantic incident not very uncommon at the period in which he flourished. Abolishing the rite of Suttee, in a more summary manner than has been considered politic by his successors, he, struck by the charms of a young Hindoo female about to be sacrificed for the eternal welfare of her husband, directed his guards to rescue the unwilling victim from the pile. They obeyed, and conveying the widow, who happened to be exceedingly...
Page 197 - ... introduction of cloths, snakes and other agreeable visitants often dropped from the bamboos upon the persons of those who might be reposing beneath ; but although, where there are no dogs or cats to keep the lower story clear of intruders, the dwellers of the upper regions will seek the ground floor of their own accord, they cannot so easily descend as heretofore. Notwithstanding the intervention of the cotton canopy, however, there is quite sufficient annoyance without a closer acquaintance...
Page 250 - European readers, who generally associate it with uninhabited forests and almost impenetrable thickets, whereas all the desert and uncultivated parts of India, whether covered with wood or merely suffered to run to waste, are styled jungles ; and jungle-wallah is a term indiscriminately applied to a wild cat, or to a gentleman who has been quartered for a considerable period in some desolate part of the country. Persons who are attached to very small stations in remote places, or who reside in solitary...
Page 15 - Nothing,' (Miss Roberts observes,) ' save acts of folly and ignorance on the part of new legislators, deeply versed in theories, and bent upon making experiments at any expense, could threaten the destruction of British power in the East ; but a change of masters may effect a great deal, and the present generation may very possibly be enlightened upon the subject of mismanagement by the loss of iiindostan.
Page 198 - In these wild solitudes individuals of the insect race perform the part of nocturnal disturbers with great vigour and animation. At nightfall a concert usually commences, in which the treble is sustained by crickets, gifted with lungs far exceeding in power those of the European hearth, while the bass is croaked forth by innumerable toads. The bugle-horns of the mosquitos are drowned in the dissonance, and the gurgling accompaniment of the musk rats is scarcely to be distinguished.
Page 160 - ... intermingled with gold, and filled with a splendid company glittering in gems and tissues. Blue lights, so artfully disposed as not to be visible, while they clothe the whole pageant with their unearthly gleams, render every adjacent object distinct, and as the blaze of ten thousand rockets bursts forth, palaces, mosques, and temples seem to rise majestically during the brief illumination.
Page 190 - ... the poem dedicated to this portion of the history of the events of Kurbelah, and such numerous rehearsals of Hossein's dying scene, that it is night before the commencement of the interment. Devout Mussulmans walk, on these occasions, with their heads and their feet bare, beating their breasts, and tearing their hair, and throwing ashes over their persons with all the vehemence of the most frantic grief; but many content themselves with a less inconvenient display of sorrow, leaving to hired...
Page 95 - ... house contains a troop of children, who, though not strictly confined to the nursery, seldom quit it except when in their best dresses and best behaviours, and who, when seen in any other part of the house, may be considered in the light of guests. It is otherwise in India. Traces of the baba...
Page 290 - ... cypresses, whose rich foliage is beautifully mirrored in marble basins, fed with water from numerous sparkling fountains, the Taaje arises, gleaming like a fairy palace. It is wholly composed of polished marble of the whitest hue, and if there be any faults in the architecture, they are lost in the splendor of the material, which conveys the idea of something even more brilliant than marble, mother-o'-pearl, or glistening spar. No description can do justice to this shining edifice, which seems...