STOEMS AND SUNSHINE OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE, STOKMS AND SUNSHINE OF A SOLDIER'S LIFE LT-GENERAL COLIN MACKENZIE, C.B. 1825-1881 FERENDUM ET SPERANDUM VOL. II. EDINBUKGH: DAVID DOUGLAS 1884 [A II rights reserved. ] Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh. CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. MARRIAGE - AND TOUES. (1843-46.) " I could not love thee dear so much Loved I not honour more." LOVELACE. Arrival Marriage Carlyle Mr. Elphinstone Avitabile Appeal Lord Ellenborough's recall Visits Landseer Wolff "Bread- albane" Witches "Handling" Free Church Dr. Chalmers Becomes a Presbyterian Hamburg Ishak Menahem Man- oeuvres in Prussia Orlich Bliicher Court dinners General von Gerlach Unbelief Clothes-funeral Prince of Prussia Life in Dresden Caste Eeligion in Germany Milking the lioness Grant of 6000 rupees Death of Mrs. Mackenzie, senior Broad- foot's death ........ Pages 1-21 CHAPTER XXIII. INDIA AGAIN - RAISES REGIMENT. (1847-49.) Dr. Duff Society in Calcutta Letter from Akbar General von Gagern Command of 4th Sikhs Benares Count Goertz Hos- pitality Lodiana Raising the Regiment Delhi magazine Afghan exiles " Make a good supper" Jacob's death Mission- aries Boorish Europeans Jezailchis A fatiha Wives Death VOL. ii. a VI CONTENTS. of Akbar Letter from Shah Muhammad Aminullah smothered Reading the Gospels Strict, yet friendly "My affair, not yours" Regiment quarrels Volunteers Subsequent behaviour of 4th Sikhs Lord Dalhousie Governor-General's camp Chil- lianwala Zeal for others Guzerat Consultations with the Governor - General Recommended for C. B. Peshawar John Lawrence Simla Henry Lawrence Hodgson Famine Ap- pointed Brigadier Sir C. 'Napier Lahore Amritsur Parting with regiment and friends Delhi Voyage Bombay Pages 22-50 CHAPTEE XXIV. ELICHPUR. (1850-52.) "It's better to hear the lark sing than the mouse squeak." Old Douglas Proverb. Mulkapur pillaged Native authorities India a continent Elichpur Chikalda Life in the jungle Strict morality Anarchy Prisoners Aga Muhammad Berar fever State of country ' ' Perhaps you may die " March to Bombay Dr. M. Mitchell's description of him Return Abuses Preaching My illness Contingent in arrears Rohillas Gallant Rajput JMian harp Orderly killed Parting Ibrahim's friendship Havelock Bible Society Lady Falkland Lord F. Fitzclarence Highland sol- diers Command at Aurangabad A convert Elichpur Young widower Mr. Munger Distress of troops Anxiety Kabul medal -Lord Dalhousie Wounded coolie 5th Cavalry General Fraser ........ 51-74 CHAPTER XXV. ANNEXATION OP BERAR. (1853.) Colonel Low Chronic anarchy Two sides to the question Makes Revenue Survey Marches to Umrauti Rebellious Governor Heat Advances Clagett Brigadier Mayne Camp life Sani- CONTENTS. Vll tary measures The Governor-General's boast Best arrangements Parsimony Treatment of theNawab of Elichpur Books Pic- turesque scene Mercies Death of Rubee Love for animals Punishment of death Kindness Pay Mackeson's assassination Wheler Preaching the Gospel Chikalda A wounded pet Warlike longings Striving against sin . . Pages 75-96 CHAPTER XXVI. CAPTURING KOHILLAS BOLARUM. (1854-55.) Leaving Elichpur Two converts Drunken Sepoys Active orderly Rohillas out Attack on Colonel B and family Camp at Sirpur Dutch deputies Takes prisoners Bolarum ' ' Not kafirs " Donald Mackinnon Extortion Atrocities " Screwing the people" Nizam Salar Jung Reading Neal's Puritans Joy cannot be expressed Bereavement Working together Eve's parrot Rubee Ball cartridges Woman worship Friends "Man and beast" Self-command Will not wear medal My return General Eraser Air of command Journey to Bolarum -Mesmerism Fete at Salar Jung's Arabs . . 97-113 CHAPTER XXVII. THE BOLARUM MUTINY. (Sept. 1853.) The Muharram Nizam's cavalry Murder of Major Davies Usual orders Mistake corrected Signs of mutiny concealed Mutineers stopped Attack on Brigadier On all Christians Wounds dressed 3d Rissallah 3d Infantry False reports -Mr. Bushby False alarm True friends Faithful servants A curl Musalman opinion Extreme danger Faith Evidence refused Resumes command Captain S. Orr Resident denies mutiny Opinion of troops Great suffering Change of opinion "He won't die" "Bibi" Residency Lord Dalhousie's order Its mis- takes Injustice to native officers Maimed for life Outram Donald Stewart Loyalty of 3d Infantry Effect of order 114-148 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII. HOME THE GREAT MUTINY. (1856-57.) Sir W. Gomm Venice Prague Teplitz Silesia Operation Levee News of the Mutiny Praetorian guards Centralization Pay Lord Palmerston Gives up furlough J. S. Mill Paris The Hindustan Moslim prayer Essence of Islam Rebellion Not obligatory Oppression Pasha's hospitality Missionary's views on the Mutiny Pottinger's letter Defeat at Arrah Havelock's death Lady Canning Lord Canning's unpopularity "Chris- tians" Bishop Wilson Concealments Deceit Panic Sunday Arming the wounded Isolation of Calcutta Heroism Storm of Delhi Mackenzie's letter Tragedies Mismanagement H. M.'s 37th Invalids Pages 149-172 CHAPTER XXIX. EPISODES OF THE GREAT MUTINY. (1857-58.) 4th Sikhs at Filor Lodiana G. Ricketts and Hasan Khan 4th at Delhi "Rubbish" Lieut. Alexander Taylor "Will you do it?" Ladies from Lucknow Highlanders The second relief Afghan servants Mutilations H.M. 's letters A coffin for- gotten Colonel Wheler Hearsey rebuked Sepoy converts Mr. Colvin Officers blamed John Lawrence denies rebellion Ignorance of Government Bengalis unwarlike Warnings The three fishes Educating the rich Suggestions adopted Governor- General's Agent Refutation of fanaticism . . . 173-188 CHAPTER XXX. MURSHEDABAD. (1858.) Sir G. R. Clerk How to Govern India Captain Layard Mission- aries Berhampore Durbar "About her property" "Astern Christian" Visit to the Begums Afghan servants Gallant Kotwal An Afrit Old-fashioned dinner Hatred to Christians CONTENTS. IX Renegades The fortunate abode Sorning Colonel A. Cotton The river Old Residency Isabella Gray Hastings' first wife How you load a rifle "A pin and a pistol" Installation of the Nawab Begum Fever Lady Canning Annexation of Oudh Fever The Behra Unmannerly officers A lady's portrait Female slavery Leases of girls Kidnapping Neglect of Naval Brigade Pages 189-209 CHAPTER XXXI. CALCUTTA. (November 1858.) " Avec un langage si pur, une si grande recherche dans nos habits, des moeurs si cultivees, de si belles lois et un visage blanc, nous sommes barbares pour quelques peuples." LA BRUYERE. Voyage to Calcutta Ghat murders Police Sherishtadar's opinion "Your pleasure, Madam ?" Empress of India Active charity Christian education Brahman on education " You're a woman " British unpopular Planters Mackenzie's courtesy and fearless- ness Death of Captain Mackinnon Tiger party Bibi Quick- sand Shiahs and Sunis Evidence of ladies The Nazim's mother Cheating a widow Visit to the Viceroy A lady disarms a Sepoy Magazine at Delhi The great shoe question The ball Courtesy Neglect of Europeans The Nazim restive Gets his salute Guilt of King of Delhi European and Sikh troops How the mutineers treated the people "Yield to circumstances" Afghans on music Landing elephants 210-228 CHAPTER XXXII. THE WHITE MUTINY. (1859-60.) Two classes in Army Irish chaplain Objections of soldiers Ber- hampore 5th Dumpies Colonel Kenneth D. Mackenzie Sir James Outram The Muharram Orders and counter orders Bishop Cotton End of the Dumpies Chronic misfortune of India Diwan goes with Governor-General Satka ! Rhinoceros Hasan Khan . . 229-241 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXIII. MURSHEDABAD POLITICAL STORMS. (1859-60.) Nazims Grievances The murder case Appeal to Governor-General's Agent Rough narrative Confidential Mr. Edmonstone's opinion Outram "Cheating the Nazim " Mr. Beadon becomes secre- tary Governor-General wrathy Jugget Seth Intemperate Let- ter Sympathy of Council Official report burked Much to be said Peace and comfort Burial-ground of Nazims Slackness of discipline Idle hands Regimental pets Sir Hugh Rose Murderous attack Visit to Calcutta Mr. Wilson Sir B. Frere Two deaths State visit Sacrifice Nazim's illness Summary discipline Severe illness of the Governor - General's Agent's Female slavery Slaves demand freedom Immorality of Bengal Indigo riots Boat race Tiger party Sickness among the troops Quinine refused Curious encyclical Tiger of nineteenth century Pages 242-263 CHAPTER XXXIV. INTRIGUES. (January 1861.) A Lieutenant-Colonel Subpoenaed to Calcutta Visits the prisoners European and Eastern princes Madras armyproud of him Nawab Nazim insults Diwan Apologises Affronts Governor-General's Agent Dismisses Diwan Letter from Colonel Mackenzie Artil- lery school Rule for intercourse with native chiefs Mr. Mon- triou sent up Captain Layard's description Governor-General's change of front Removes Governor -General's Agent Nawab Nazim's regret Colonel Durand and Sir B. Frere Mackenzie's unselfishness Superintendent of Army Clothing Stay at Seram- pore Howrah Lord Canning leaves Some traits of his character Lord Elgin Nazim's proceedings Beadon's attacks Macken- zie vindicated Na"zim repents and apologises . . 264-278 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XXXV. SUPERINTENDENT ARMY CLOTHING. (1862-65.) " It is by privation, not unfrequently by disaster, that God qualifies souls for the highest ends." KER'S Sermons, p. 167. Superintendent's work Reforms Major Rothney Unhealthy office Christmas at Serampore Jagganat Lord Dalhousie's offering "Lucky gold" Nazim's complaint of his education Fear of female education Leave Calcutta Archduchess Charlotte An Italian patriot Austrian officers Milan chaplain Signor Turino Italian feeling No reverence St. Anne's five tongues Am- brosian rite Mackenzie speaks in Italian Church Turin Corpus Domini The King and his peasants Home Dangerous illness Return to India Sir John Lawrence not liked by natives Mackenzie's appointment abolished Cyclone Port of Mutlah Bhutan We are military Wahabi trials "A rogue" Behar Lai Singh on ryots and planters Mr. Hugh Fraser Muhammad Hasan Khan on the Gospel Atta on misery of the people Humanity Serampore Titaghar Go to Madras Captain Grant of Africa Takes furlough Pages 279-300 CHAPTER XXXVI. (1866.) " For us, our resting was not won as yet, For other shores our windy sails were set." Journey home Society in Egypt Palgrave Arab story Poisoning Bedowins not Musalmans Fanaticism Sir Hudson Lowe Sicily Garibaldi Palermo mission Priests not received Naples Kissing hands No lazzaroni Baron Bach Rattazzi Pompeii Wounds Letter - paper Massacre at Barletta Pisa Curta- tone Florence Drs. Revel and de Sanctis War Con- scripts Want of cash Monastery Monsummano Cure Charity organisation C.B. Fighting for others Abyssinia Madras, 1868 The Nilgiris Commands not offered Letter from J. S. Mill Not fit for the plains "Breaking bread" Caste among converts Bangalore Parade Christian minors Xll CONTENTS. and betrothed converts Invariable coolness Memorial against Supercession Major-General Illness Lord Mayo's murder Bishop Gell Colonel Haughton Thomas, R.A. Religious liberty for soldiers Leave Bangalore and India Home Pages 301-323 CHAPTEK XXXVII. HOME. (1873-81.) ' Etre avec les gens qu'on aime, cela sufflt ; rever, leur parler, ne leur parler point, penser a eux penser a des choses plus indifferentes mais auprfes d'eux, tout " ' il." LA BKUYJSJRE. Herbert Edwardes Visits Bibi Helpfulness Dr. M. Mitchell's letter Banda and Kerwee prize Vivisection No party spirit Letters against attack on Afghanistan Brutality of officer Cavagnari's death Dr. Liddon Homburg Religion in Ger- many Music Calw Boll Paris Frost-bite Dusseldorf Pictures Hanover A blind king Dresden Teplitz "De- fenestration " Marshal Mb'ltke Count Piickler Breslau Conversions . . . 324-345 CHAPTER XXXVIII. (1881.) Severe Illness Nuremberg Innspruck Verona Pallanza General Cadorna Italian Army Mission at Intra Milan Monstrous Picture Venice Free Italian Church Brenner Pass Trent Musical festival Officers' prayer meeting Constant prayer Longing to depart Last days ..... 346-360 APPENDIX . . - 361 INDEX 367 LIEUT. -GENERAL COLIN MACKENZIE, C.B. CHAPTEK XXII. MARRIAGE AND TOURS. (1843-46.) THE news of the outbreak at Kabul in November, reached England only in the following March. Nothing beyond the bare fact of Burnes' murder was known until Lady Sale's letter brought further intelligence of it. One paragraph, said : "Mackenzie defended the fort he was in until his ammunition was expended, and then cut his way in. Has three wounds." Then nothing more was heard for weeks. Terrible as are the shocks conveyed by telegrams, they are at least better than wearing suspense. But now Mackenzie was free. He reached England some time in June, and came to Malvern, where Admiral and Mrs. Douglas with their two daughters were staying, in July. Four years had elapsed; he was at liberty "to speak;" and he spoke to such good purpose that they became engaged on the 25th July while on a visit to his sister, Mrs. King King. Admiral Douglas was at this time eighty-six. He had gone to sea at eleven, and for forty years had never been on shore for three months at a time. He had married at the termination of his active career as Commander-in-Chief of the West Indian and North American Station, and still VOL. II. B COLIN MACKENZIE. retained a remarkable amount of health and vigour together with all the large-heartedness and warm affections which had distinguished him through life. He had long been very anxious that his eldest daughter should marry, but had left her quite free to refuse. He had always liked Mackenzie, and had been greatly interested in his doings in Afghanistan, expressing an emphatic opinion that " Colin Mackenzie was a fine fellow ; " and when informed of the state of the case he consented at once, and told his daughter " she could not have chosen any man he thought so highly of," and that " he never saw one he would so willingly give her to." It is characteristic of Mackenzie's earnest character that just after their engagement we find this entry in the journal of his betrothed : " Colin asked me if I liked to look forward to the end, to death, and the world beyond ; and we agreed that the prospect of eternity enhanced infinitely present happiness. "We like to remember that this is but a little bit of our life, and by familiar- ising ourselves with the view of death we learn to enjoy every- thing more richly from the happy prospect beyond, and to dread the dark and narrow passage to it far less. When he remarked that some would think this a strange topic for him to entertain me with, I could not help feeling that no other conversation could have given me the same deep pleasure or endeared him to me half so much." The wedding took place at St. George's, Hanover Square, on the 21st November 1843; Lieutenant Haughton, now nearly recovered, being one of the six "best men" who accompanied the bridegroom. A cousin of the bride, Pat- rick M. Stewart, long M.P. for Eenfrewshire, still remem- bered with affection by many, and one of the best of speakers, chose to enlighten the company on " The Romance of Real Life," of which this was the result, and paid a COLIN MA CKENZIE. graceful compliment to the two "Heroes of Afghanistan" present. On returning to civilised life the captives had with regret shaved their beards, for the Crimean war had not yet revived the custom of wearing them ; but Mackenzie and Macgregor retained the moustache, though that manly ornament was then almost unknown in England. The newly-married pair soon took up their quarters in London at the house of Mrs. Carpenter, Mackenzie's sister, which she had offered them. Then followed a winter of much fatigue and excitement. Although they went to no evening parties, yet they dined out on an average three times a week. Almost all the officers returning from Afghanistan were constantly at their house, sometimes with exciting stories, sometimes with serious business, such as the vin- dication of the dead or absent, or the redress of injustice to survivors. Mackenzie was enthusiastically received at an India House dinner, and at the anniversary of the Highland Society; but he steadily refused to be made a lion of, and declined the most flattering invitations from strangers, even when conveyed by Lord Auckland. But there were numerous acquaintances he could not avoid forming, many of which (especially with the family of General Elphin- stone) ripened into friendship. Two were specially in- teresting, one with Mr. Babbage, the other with Mr. and Mrs. Carlyle. Both of us observed with pain the wrong impression produced on the public mind by the publi- cation of Carlyle's Reminiscences. The idea given of that warm-hearted genial friend is quite contrary to the truth. The morbid outpourings of a heartbroken man have been laid bare to those who knew him not, who never saw the humorous expression which took the bitterness out of some exaggerated sketch of a man or his doings, and who did COLIN MACKENZIE. not know how faithful he was in friendship, how simple, pleasant, and kind in social intercourse. Mrs. Allan Cunninghame said that no words could express the kind- ness of the Carlyles, when she lost her eldest son Joe. Many delightful evenings were spent with him and his clever wife. I being then slightly deaf, Carlyle would come and sit by me and repeat anything I did not happen to hear, and the impression of sharpness was given rather by Mrs. Carlyle than by her husband. When we called in Cheyne Row twelve years later we were as warmly received as if they had parted from us the day before. Even after Carlyle had lost his beloved wife he came in to see his old friends, and, sad and broken as he was, showed much of his former warmth. On one occasion Carlyle dined with us to meet Mount- stuart Elphinstone, and it was interesting to note how two men of such different antecedents fraternised on the spot, each recognising the noble qualities of the other. Carlyle spoke the broadest Annandale dialect and was very blunt in manner. His laugh was quite infectious, it was such a genial roar. He had no faith in phrenology said "two bottles may be the same shape, but ye canna tell whether they hold brandy or small beer " but affirmed that a long head invariably indicated talent. Burns had the longest head he ever saw. When his coffin was opened Carlyle put his own hat on the bare skull it would just go on. He said decidedly that Dr. Johnson had done far more good by his writings than Coleridge, that the former had made a vast change for the better in English literature. Coleridge, he said, was "the maist we-e-erisome mortal possible to hear, he went on and on and you never could make out what he would be at he just considered you a pail, into which he poured out his ideas, and no matter what you said, he continued pouring away. He was a weak man, could not give up opium till he hired a man to prevent him COLIN MACKENZIE. from taking it. A weak man is not fit for the service ; he should just leave the ranks ; he's not fit for the world." He added that he felt inclined to say to Coleridge, "Eh mon, tell us what you do mean." Mr. Elphinstone told Carlyle the story of Mahmud of Ghazni paying the famous poet Ferdusi, for the labour of thirty years in writing the Shah Nameh, with a sack full of coppers. Carlyle expressed vehement contempt, laughed heartily at his own wrath, and then asked "Is this Ferdusi dead 1 ?" Another very interesting dinner-party was in honour of General Avit- abile, who had suddenly arrived in London. No less than five languages were spoken at table. Avitabile related the mutiny at Peshawar to me, and two ladies at the other end of the table declared that they heard ucddere and ammazzare (kill and slay) at every second word. My husband had long before this fully regained his spirits, and used to say : " I feel quite a boy again. I feel like Job in his latter days." He had of course appealed to the Home Authorities for redress in regard to his pay and allowances, but it is very unusual to obtain redress against a Governor-General, and the President of the Board of Control (Lord Eipon), " out of delicacy to Lord Ellenborough" referred the matter back to him ! with what result may be imagined. All the late captives were naturally opposed to Lord Ellenborough. On some one saying he ought to be im- peached, Mr. Haughton replied : " If he were impeached, I would buy a new hat for the occasion." One of the ladies cried: "And I a new bonnet." Mr. Haughton rejoined in his deliberate way : "I would give alms to the poor." Lord Ellenborough had become more and more regardless of the Court of Directors. He would not even give them the customary appellation of " Honourable Masters," neither would he behave as their Governor-General. Their dissatis- COLIN MACKENZIE. faction with him came to a climax in April, but the opposi- tion of the Board of Control prevented them from recalling him. It so happened that among our warmest friends were Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Lindsay and Lady Jane Hamilton, who was staying with them. One Sunday (21st April) the Duke of Wellington paid a visit to his old friend Lady Jane, and gave both her and Mr. Lindsay clearly to understand that he agreed with them in their condemnation of Lord Ellenborough. Mr. Lindsay went the next day to the India House, related this conversation, told the twenty-two directors present that he did not think the Duke was one who would not avow in public what he had said in private, and the whole twenty-three signed the letter recalling Lord Ellenborough on the spot. Mr. Lindsay came home much pleased and much excited, was taken ill that evening, and died in his sleep. When some days after, Sir Robert Peel briefly announced the Governor-General's recall, the Duke openly disapproved of it ! However, the deed was done. On learning it Lord Ellenborough was furious, left Govern- ment House at once, and went to one belonging to the Nawab Nizam at Alipur. However, after a few days, he was persuaded to return, so as not to make a scandal. The news gave lively satisfaction to the other members of his Government. Mr. Cameron wrote to Mackenzie (13th July 1844) : " I never drew up any document with more alacrity than the notification for the Gazette that the Government being vacant had devolved upon the member in Council next in rank. Lord E. did not come into Council, and I did not see him for two days after. He was then in apparently good spirits, and said in his wild way : ' Do you know why they did not send Hardinge here as Commander-in-Chief ? ' 'No,' said I, 'I do not.' 'Because,' replied he, ' it was thought that when he and I got together no one could tell where we should go to ! ' " COLIN MACKENZIE. In June 1844 we began a delightful round of visits among relations and friends, chiefly in Scotland, which did more than anything else to restore his shattered health. He had also become a convert to homoeopathy, to which he faithfully adhered ever after. Among our visits was a charming one to Culhorn, a long stay at Crossmount, near Loch Rannoch, and a most interesting one at Taymouth. Landseer and Lord C E arrived at Taymouth during our stay. The former was very amusing and full of anecdote. He told of the well-known Lady Holland say- ing that she " did not know how she would have got over Lord Holland's death if that dear boy Edgar " (a stalwart page) " had not read Tom Jones to her." Colin described how Dr. Wolff had rushed at him and kissed him on first meeting, and then related the martyrdom of Stoddart and Conolly, and Wolff's steadfastness when threatened with death by the tyrant of Bokhara. Lord C said with a languid drawl : " Why shouldn't he turn Musalman ? " The answer was prompt : " Because he believes the words of our Saviour, ' he that denieth me before men him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven;' and although Wolff is an eccentric and odd man, yet I do not think he would save his life in this world to lose his soul in the next." Her Majesty and the Prince had paid their first visit to Taymouth the year before, and it was still so difficult for people in those parts to realise that any one could be greater than "Breadalbane," that a toll -keeper said to Menzies of Chesthill, " It was weel dune o' Breadalbane to countenance the Queen and she sae far frae her ain hame." A good deal of superstition still lingered in the High- lands. A boatman on the Tummel told us that there were still some witches farther north. A young lady replied she had heard there was one in Glenlyon. " She ought to be 8 COLIN MACKENZIE. burned up at once," was the energetic rejoinder. Colonel Macdonald of related that he, in common with others of the Macdonalds, is believed by the people to have the power of curing diseases by " handling." A man lately came to him whose thumb had been cut off, hoping that Colonel Macdonald could make it grow on again. When my husband " came home " (to use the pathetic idiom of our exiles in India) he was naturally wholly ignor- ant of the merits of the Free Church controversy, and rather disinclined to a body commonly accused of wishing to estab- lish clerical supremacy. The press and the English nation in general do not distinguish between the supremacy of the Church over the State claimed by Eome, and the supremacy of the Church over her own members in spiritual things. The Parliament and people of England, like Bishop Kyle, to this day see no other alternative than the supremacy of Church over State, or of State over Church. They have wholly lost sight of the fact that the Lord has set up a kingdom on earth of which He alone is the King and Head, of which the subjects are those who obey the truth, and in which the Bible is the only law ; that this kingdom is as distinct from civil government, also established by God, now as it was in the days of Paul and Nero ; that in all civil matters we are subject to Csesar, but in all spiritual and church matters to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. I had imbibed these doctrines of the Church of Scotland firmly before the Disruption, but, finding he knew nothing of the merits of the case, I let the subject alone, feeling sure he would change his views when he came to understand the question. I had not long to wait. During our stay in Ayrshire he accompanied his host to an ordination in the Established Church, and was greatly pained and disgusted at the levity and even coarseness of the conversation at the ordination dinner. He began to think there might be good COLIN MACKENZIE. reasons for leaving such a body. Subsequently, at Grange- rnuir, Lady William Douglas lent him Baptist Noel's pam- phlet on the question, which satisfied his mind. The preaching of Mr. Wood at Elie and intercourse with Dr. Burns of Toronto, and a large party of Free Church minis- ters at Taymouth, determined him to join the Free Church, of which he was ever after a warm adherent. In England men have left the Established Church because they dissented from some part of her formularies. In Scot- land every secession has been for the sake of closer adher- ence to the standards and principles of the Church. The strongest bees swarmed into a new hive, and ever and anon there has been a fresh revival of zeal, and the process has been repeated. At the disruption the Church, as a body, disestablished herself. In 1844, therefore, after losing her best men and every one of her missionaries, the Establish- ment was at its worst. But since then faithful men have been growing up within her borders, and if they hold fast the aid standards of the Church, the most earnest and devout among them, will probably " come out," unless the Establishment ceases to exist. At that time party spirit still ran very high. Masters dismissed faithful servants and even tenants who joined the Free Church, and sites for building were generally refused, causing great hardship both to ministers and people. We came across several instances of this sort of persecution, which roused Mackenzie's generous indignation. For instance, opposite the Inn at Thornhill (Dumfriesshire), where almost all had joined the Free Church, there was a pulpit of wood very like a pigeon-house, used by the Free Church ministers, as the owner of the land refused a site for building. The maid was asked what the people did when it rained, as the benches were wholly without shelter. She said : " Oh, they just sit on and put up their umbrellas." In another case a 10 COLIN MACKENZIE. most excellent minister, felt keenly the pang of leaving his beautiful manse, though he had resolved to join the Free Church. His wife, took a small house while he was at the Assembly, and had the shop and back room thrown into one. One end was the minister's study, the dining-table was in the middle, and at the other end the piano and sofa. They had no servant except a woman, who came in part of the day to do the roughest work. Only two peers joined the Free Church, and it was looked upon almost as a loss of caste to do so. A lady summed up her objections to it by saying it was "very vul- gar and very expensive." But neither entreaty nor sarcasm could move Colin Mackenzie when his mind was made up, and he attended the ministry of Dr. Beith at Stirling in spite of both. In Edinburgh a kind introduction from Lord Breadal- bane brought us the great pleasure of Dr. Chalmers' ac- quaintance. My husband attended none but Free Churches, save the English Chapel of his dear friend the Eev. D. T. K. Drummond, who was in full sympathy with them. On his return to India he greatly enjoyed the ministry of John Macdonald and the friendship of Dr. Duff, Dr. Ewart, Dr. Mackay in Calcutta. Although now a decided Presbyterian, he still admired the English Liturgy, but his liking for it diminished, and latterly he never attended it, if he had any alternative. He would occasionally communicate in the Church of England, but he always refused to be present at the baptismal service, because he did not believe that " the child is regenerate" as soon as it is baptized; but held strongly that man could only give " the outward sign," and that " the invisible grace " was the gift of the Holy Spirit direct to the soul of the believer. Two things in that eight months' tour were very strik- ing. We only heard one bad sermon, and only met one COLIN MA CKENZIE. 1 1 maid-servant who had not an intelligent apprehension of the question between the Free Church and the Establish- ment, surely characteristic facts of the state of Scotland. My husband always deeply lamented the schism between the upper and lower classes in Scotland, caused by the gentlemen becoming Episcopalians. This division is a new thing in Scottish history, and unhappily it is every day widening. In August 1845 we took our two elder daughters l with a governess via Hamburg to Dresden, where we were joined by a very dear old friend, Mrs. Edwards, her son, and daughter, with whom we had the happiness of spending a year. On board the steamer were two fine -looking Jews, master and servant, from Bokhara. They were both exceedingly ill, and my husband doctored them and wrapped them up in his cloaks, for which, when they recovered, they rewarded him by a good deal of information, assuring him that the people of Bokhara would have hailed a British force as deliverers. At the end of September he took me to Berlin that he might be present at the manoeuvres of the Prussian army. General von Gerlach, to whom Chevalier Bunsen had given him a letter, being absent in Pomerania, com- mended him to the care of Captain Leopold von Orlich, well known for his interesting Travels in India. Captain von Orlich got quarters and a horse for him at a place four German miles from Berlin, where the troops were. He was obliged to leave me at the hotel, as, had I gone on horseback, so unprecedented a sight might have caused a fit of apoplexy to more than one old officer, for at that time ladies did not ride in Prussia. On arriving at Jiihnsdorf he was most kindly wel- comed by a benevolent old gentleman, who turned out to 1 By his first marriage. 12 COLIN MA CKENZIE. be Baron Knesebeck, who was hospitably giving quarters to about seventy officers, who were stowed away five or six in a room. All received the stranger with the frank cor- diality of soldiers, and admired his skill in shaving himself with cold water and without a looking-glass by fixing his eyes on a nail. Among others, he was greatly pleased with Ratibor Count Wrschowitz, of a very old Bohemian family, whom he described as saying his prayers lying flat in bed with his hands joined, like an ancient knight on a monu- ment. The next morning the good old Baron superintended their breakfast, bringing in sweet cakes with his own hands. On the ground Orlich presented the stranger to the Prince of Prussia, 1 who, on the Bang's arrival, commanded an A.D.C. to present him to His Majesty. The King was most gracious to both the English officers present, and dur- ing the manoeuvres came up to talk to them with as much frankness as any gentleman doing the honours to his friends. He was surprised at my husband's youthful appearance, and said : " What ! are you a captain already ? " All the princes were most amiable, simple, and courteous, as were all the officers, without exception. According to the good German fashion, every officer and soldier salutes every other, so that my husband declared that his hand never left the peak of his shako. He had been provided with a troop horse who reared straight up and would not stand still a moment. The manoeuvres were very interesting, and he could only detect one serious blunder, viz. that the attacking party left a regiment of cavalry drawn up in front of their adver- sary's battery, and this was immediately pointed out by the King. He spent three days at Jiihnsdorf, and Baron Knesebeck showed him an arm-chair, the only piece of furniture left to him when the French plundered his house. Riding out early next morning my husband heard a 1 The present grand old Emperor. COLIN MACKENZIE. 13 friendly voice behind him say : " Good morning, Captain Mackenzie, how are you ? " " Very well, thank you, Sir, how are you ? " and turning, found that his friend was the Prince of Prussia ! The King greeted him in the same kindly way, besides coming up to speak to him afterwards. He dined with the Prince of Prussia, and when he took leave of Baron von dem Knesebeck, the good old man with tears in his eyes kissed him on both cheeks, and said he could not express the pleasure he had had in making his acquaintance, and that although they might not meet again in this world, he trusted that they would hereafter, adding : "I shall probably go first, and I will bespeak you a logis." Finding that he would be invited to accompany the King to the Opera and to sup with him afterwards, he begged Captain von Orlich to prevent the invitation, as he would be obliged to decline it, and asked him to tell His Majesty that he never went to any theatre, which Orlich promised to do. He and . Captain von Orlich formed a great attachment to one another. The latter was a small man with a most intelligent expression and eagle eye, very ambitious, but ambitious of distinguishing himself, and not merely of being distinguished. He told us many interesting things. He had a sister who died young. In 1815 she was esteemed the most beautiful girl in Berlin. When old Bliicher returned from Paris he went up to her at a grand ball and said : " You are betrothed to such a distinguished officer, and you are such a beautiful lady, that I must dance with you." Bliicher's two grandsons, not having passed the exami- nation necessary before becoming officers, he went in great wrath to the King, whom he had the privilege of seeing at all times, and said : " Sire, my two grandsons have not passed their examination, and they are not to become officers ! I have examined them, and they know a great deal more 1 4 COLIN MA CKENZIE. than I do, and yet I am Your Majesty's Field Marshal ! " The King comforted him and promised that they should receive their commissions. On the 25th there was a very interesting sham fight. Twelve thousand were to force their way, in spite of an imaginary enemy, to the gates of Berlin. They carried the village of Mariendorf, and then advanced in close column, three deep, instead of our " thin red line. " He never saw men march so steadily and well, yet one-third of them were only raised ten months ago. They drill three hours a day. The march past at the close was most beautiful, and, even in charging, the cavalry preserved the line perfectly. The only things with which fault could be found were the long traces between the artillery wheelers and leaders, the weakness of the cavalry horses, and the practice of keeping the bayonet always fixed, which fatigues the soldier, unsteadies his aim, renders him liable to wound himself, and is of no use, as it is the affair of a moment to "fix bayonets." My husband was invited on the field to dine with His Majesty. The dinner at the palace was in the magnificent ball-room, of white marble decorated with silver. About 200 were present, but no ladies except the princesses and their suite. Captains Mackenzie and St. Clair were about to take their places at the centre table, which was in little request, when the Grand Chamberlain came to conduct them to seats nearly opposite the King. The soldiers on duty were some of the handsomest men in the army, and instead of pages the royal family were attended by cadets. The young Princess of the Netherlands amused herself with feeding one of them, a very little fellow, with bonbons, which his comrades endeavoured to pillage from him, and one, not satisfied with eating a sweetmeat, licked his kid glove as a finale. A magnificent band played during dinner. The King then rose, and in the most hearty manner pro- COLIN MA CKENZIE. 1 5 posed the health of his uncle, Prince Henry, now at Rome, and, having tossed off a bumper in his honour, he gave 'The Army and its Generalissimo the Prince of Prussia.' Many of the guards were veteran soldiers with three or four orders and medals, for whom all the old officers had either a little joke or a kindly bow. The court dinner -hour was four o'clock, so that the guests were at home again before seven. The invitations were conveyed verbally by a courteous official, who carried a list of the proposed guests. Directly on returning from Pomerania General von Gerlach came to call. It was a very interesting visit. The General was a truly Christian man, for many years Adjutant, or, as we should say, Aide-de-camp or Equerry to Frederic William IV. when Crown Prince. It was his duty to accompany his royal master to the theatre, but he would never go farther than the door, where he made his bow. Frederick William III. was devoted to the drama, but his son took little interest in it, and only cared for some Greek plays, which he caused to be reproduced and which put every one else to sleep. On the other hand, when on some State occasion His Majesty attended a ballet, he invariably slept all the time. General von Gerlach pro- nounced the theatre "une chose abominable." He made many inquiries as to the state of religion in England, and said Eonge, the founder of the Lichtfreunde, was a mere Socinian. Prediger von Gerlach, the General's brother, is the only minister in Berlin who preaches against the theatre, and who refuses to remarry divorced persons. The present king made an attempt to secure the better observation of the Sabbath, and made people shut up their shops, and it was his intention to decrease the facilities for divorce. Infidelity is very common. An English officer in the Prussian service told us he did not think there was a man 16 C OLIN MA CKENZIE. in his regiment who read the Bible otherwise than as a common book. We of course visited Potsdam, and saw the metal sarcophagus in which Frederick the Great is " beigesetzt," as the Germans aptly express this mode of disposing of the body above ground. Napoleon visited it, and, laying his hand on it, said : " S'il 6tait vivant je ne serais pas id." Only one-fourth of the garrison can attend public worship at a time. This garrison church was lately the scene of a ludicrous ceremony. The Emperors Alexander and Francis and the late King of Prussia wished to be buried together to commemorate the "Holy Alliance ;" but as this could not be done, their three uniforms were actually interred together with much ceremony last year at Potsdam. The late King himself designed the coffin for his clothes, and the funeral took place on Sunday, after church, all the garrison being under arms ! It was of these three Sovereigns that the Court Circular recorded that, having ascended a hill, the " Allerhochsten Herrschaften beteten zum Hochsten " the Most Highest (Sovereigns) prayed to the "Most High!" There was another very agreeable dinner-party at the Prince of Prussia's. The Princess is a very charming person, with perfect manners, not the least condescending, but full of quiet dignity and kindness. She spoke to every one. The Prince of Prussia asked Colonel Clunie if he had been in the war in Afghanistan, and on his replying that he had not been so fortunate, His Eoyal Highness answered, " Ah, c'^tait une campagne pleine de malheurs, et d'honneur" turning towards my husband with a bow. This dinner was also exclusively military, no ladies being present save the Princess and two of her maids of honour. When the two officers took leave, the Prince shook hands with them, and told Colin he hoped to see him again in Berlin. COLIN MA CKENZIE. 1 7 The German officers were much better informed about the East than people in England. Indeed the King com- plained to a friend of ours that he never could get any information about India from English gentlemen, remarking emphatically : " Something will surely happen one day which will compel them to inform themselves about India." The Empress of Russia was at this time wasting away with a mortal disease. A lady related to me that she had just been standing in the hall of the palace when the Empress was carried in from her carriage on a chair. She was very simply dressed with a little cap, and accompanied by her daughter, the Grand Duchess Olga. The poor Empress visited all the rooms those where she herself had played as a child, and that where her father died. She touched the sheets of the bed, stroked them, and murmured, " Mein Vater ! Mein guter Vater /" and then, thinking, no doubt, of her approaching separation from her children, she cried : " Meine Kinder ! Meine armen Kinder /" and so went away, weeping bitterly, her head hanging down, her face hidden in her handkerchief, and her beautiful daughter weeping by her side. After a gratifying visit marked by the greatest kind- ness and courtesy from all quarters, we returned to Dresden and spent a quiet, pleasant winter almost entirely in German society, their hours and habits being so different from those of the English that it was hardly possible .to see much of both. There was great simplicity of manners and dress. The usual way of entertaining was at seven o'clock tea, to which Baroness Tiimpling, the Mistress of the Eobes, and the only lady who was "Excellency" in her own right, used to come in a sedan, while Baroness Lasperg, a Princess of Holstein, came on foot with a servant after her the only preparation for receiving Her Highness being a shilling VOL. n. c 18 COLIN MACKENZIE. cake ! Another pleasant acquaintance was General Frederici, the Commander-in-Chief of the Saxon Army, whose presence at tea caused the rapid flight of every officer to put on full uniform. Almost the only intimate friends we made among our countrymen were two who became very dear to us Mr. and Lady Lucy Grant of Kilgraston. He thought it advisable not to be presented at Court, as that would have involved attendance at balls which we both desired to avoid. At that time etiquette was still so rigid in Hanover and other parts of Germany that the aristocracy were divided by the most rigid line of demarcation from all who were not noble. At Court balls in Hanover every one was placed according to military rank, the Generals and their wives at the top of the room, the Lieutenants and Ensigns at the bottom ; but at Dresden one had the great advantage of being able to mix with artists, and we derived great enjoyment from the acquaintance of Retsch, Dahl, Vogel, Professor Grahl, and others. Among many other charming German acquaintances, Baroness von der Decken, and her daughters became the dearest of friends. Religion in Saxony was at a very low ebb. The chief Saxon minister, Ammon, considered preaching " an affair of police," i.e. he preached because Government paid him for doing so. He was bound to preach certain views, but he was not bound to believe them. He was a thorough Rationalist, and his family, if not himself, frequented the theatre on Sunday evenings. No one considered the Lord's Day as " holy to the Lord," even theoretically. The Gospel was nowhere preached save by Director Graul of the Missionary Institution, a High Lutheran, and his colleague, Dr. Trautman, and they were only allowed to hold meetings and to preach once a month, strangers being excluded from the prayer meetings at the Institution. This was a recent enactment of the police at the instigation of COLIN MA CKENZIE. 1 9 the ministers of Dresden. The people had more faith than the pastors, and the most pious adhered to the Mora- vian Church. 1 President von Gerlach said to us : "Germany is so torn by religious discussions on points of vital im- portance, such as the Divinity of our Lord, original sin, and salvation by grace, that the religious differences in Scotland and England appear to us trifling in comparison. Here the contest is between Deism, Infidelity, and Chris- tianity." He reckoned that in Magdeburg one-half were Deists, and as the Church of Rome is zealous in supporting the Divinity of our Redeemer and other primary Christian doctrines, those who desire something better than Deism are apt to take that Church for the only champion of Evangelical truth. It was therefore astonishing to our German friends to find an officer who openly confessed his faith, expounded the Scriptures morning and evening to his family, and spoke boldly of the way of salvation, and on some it made a lasting impression. Eight months passed in this quiet happy life. We kept early hours. Breakfast was of coffee or cocoa, for tea cost nine shillings per lb., and good Russian tea twenty. 2 Dinner was followed by long walks or excur- sions in the beautiful neighbourhood, skating, and German lessons, in which my husband always desired to know the reason of every rule and the meaning of every syllable. He was much amused at finding that August the Strong was by his father's directions fed with the milk of a lioness " loffelweise " (spoon- wise), to the great indignation of his 1 At present (thirty-five years later) the case is reversed. Unbelief now pervades the nation, while the pastors have in good measure returned to the faith, though as yet with but little influence on the masses. 2 Although I was a very inexperienced housekeeper, our monthly household expenses for eight persons and two servants were only 17 : 10s., exclusive of rent and wages. 20 COLIN MACKENZIE. mother, who complained to her father, Frederick III. of Denmark, that " they had nourished her dear child with wild beasts' milk, and thus sinned against God and her Royal Stock" As the family circle were discussing the question whether this could possibly have had the effect of making the child so wonderfully strong, my husband inclin- ing to the affirmative, I could not help saying : "I should like to know how they milked the lioness" a practical difficulty which put a stop to speculations. After supper and family worship, when the children went to bed, he read aloud during the winter nearly the whole of Calvin's Institutes, while we worked, and the evening was wound up with music. He had a very fine mellow voice, and learned a great number of Soldaten Lieder. He had no training, but a perfect ear and exquisite sensibility to good music, a. luxury in which Dresden abounded. In 1846 the Court of Directors partially paid their debts by a grant to him of 6000 rupees " in testimony of their sense of your distinguished conduct and services dur- ing the disasters in Afghanistan and the subsequent mili- tary operations, and of the important aid rendered by you both to your fellow-captives and to Government;" but even then the refusal of his proper pay and allowances left him deeply in debt. 1 In the midst of this peaceful domestic life we received the intelligence of the almost sudden death of his mother at the age of eighty on 8th February 1846. On the pre- vious Thursday she appeared in perfect health, and con- versed with Mr. Beamish, who often visited her. She was taken ill that afternoon, but was not thought to be in dan- ger till Saturday morning, when she became apparently insensible, noticing no one, until Mr. Beamish, after pray- 1 The same sum was also granted to Captain G. St. P. Lawrence. COLIN MACKENZIE. 21 ing by her bedside, took her hand and entreated her to tell him if she were firmly trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. The hand that seemed lifeless returned his energetic clasp, and with a radiant expression she answered firmly " I am I " She breathed her last about eight that evening, the news of her illness only reaching us after all was over, as letters from London then took nine days. On this followed the loss of his brother in affection George Broadfoot, who fell at Ferozshahar. He came in deadly pale and said : " Very sad news from India Broadfoot has fallen, General Sale, M'Caskill, Colonel Taylor of the 9th, D'Arcy Todd." 1 He felt this unexpected blow so deeply that for the time it injured his health. Towards the close of this year it became necessary to return to India. Leaving the children in Germany we spent five most happy weeks with my dear parents at Wimbledon preparing for the voyage. Then came one of those terrible partings which are almost as bad as death. I never saw my beloved father or aunt again. 1 Broadfoot's body was not found for two days. He was buried at Firozpur on Christmas Day, the Governor - General, Commander- in - Chief, and all, following. CHAPTEE XXIII. INDIA AGAIN RAISES REGIMENT. (1847-49.) AFTER a comfortable voyage under the kindest of com- manders, Captain Henning, R.N., we met with an affectionate reception from our brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Cameron. During his stay in Calcutta nothing inter- ested my husband so much as Dr. Duff and his mission. It was a wonderful thing to see a thousand young Hindus receiving a more thoroughly Christian education than they could have got in Europe, every branch of instruction being saturated with Christian truth and Christian principles. Dr. Duff, with his great powers of eloquence, persuasion, and administration, might have taken the foremost place as a statesman, but he was devoted heart and soul to mission work, and a very interesting knot of highly-educated young converts had now gathered round him. It was impossible to know this great missionary without entertaining the warmest esteem and affection for him, and he fully recipro- cated the feelings of his soldier friend. His single-hearted and able Rajput convert Behari Lai Singh also became our life-long friend. Society in Calcutta was still of the old Indian type : there was an amount of show and lavish expenditure which ceased after the Mutiny. The dress of the ladies was gor- COLIN MACKENZIE. 23 geous ; sixty servants were to be found in one house ; and to a new-comer the strict etiquette and even the wearisome " bara khanas," or great dinner-parties, were amusing. One of the first greetings Captain Mackenzie received was a letter from Akbar Khan affectionately reproaching him for his neglect of the duties of friendship in not giving him news of his welfare. As it was from an enemy he of course communicated this epistle to Government, who did not wish him to answer it. General von Gagern, Governor of the Netherlands India, came to Calcutta on his way home, with his very gentlemanly A.D.C., Baron d'Aerssens. Mr. Cameron being extremely occupied in preparing the Indian Code, it fell to Captain Mackenzie to escort the strangers to the different places of interest, and it was with deep regret we heard of the General's assassination two years after while in the act of addressing the insurgents at Baden. He fell a victim to the ambition of his brother, the President of the Diet at Frankfurt, and to his own noble and chivalrous character. My husband's absence from India during three years and a half, though necessary for his health and pro- ductive of much enjoyment, was very prejudicial to his advancement in the political line. When he returned every post was filled up. Lord Hardinge, being about to try the experiment of raising four Sikh regiments, offered him the command of the 4th with an expression of regret that he had nothing better to give him. We therefore proceeded up the country by Dak, i.e. in palanquins, taking seven days to reach Benares, where we stayed for ten days with Major Carpenter, who was in charge of several deposed princes, among them the Rajas of Kurg, Satara, and Vizianagram. We had a very amusing visit to the Satara Raja and his ladies, the Raja leading me about by the wrist as if I had been a naughty child. Here, too, another friendship was 24 COLIN MACKENZIE. formed (as was usually the case when we fell in with a German gentleman). This was with a most intelligent cultivated young man, Karl Count Goertz, who was travel- ling to see the world before settling in life. His society was as congenial as that of two French Legitimists, Comte de B and Comte N , was the reverse. The first of these two was very gentlemanly in manner, but the other excited the indignation of the young unmarried ladies by impertinent attentions, and both of them the grave dis- pleasure of the men, Count Goertz included, by the coarse- ness of their conversation, whenever the ladies were out of earshot. We had also delightful visits to Mr. Parry Woodcock at Allahabad, Mr. and Mrs. Edmonstone at Agra, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Eoberts, all of them perfect strangers, who received us with such open-hearted warmth as to make us feel towards them as to old friends. The hospitality itself was then a necessity as there were no hotels of any kind, so that one stranger thought nothing of announcing to another the arrival of a whole party whom he himself had never seen, but the kindness shown was of course due to the character of the host. At last Lodiana, then one of the ugliest stations in the country, was reached on the 26th February. It lies in the midst of an immense sandy plain on the Satlej, then the N.W. frontier of India, and had been partly burned and all the trees destroyed the year before by the Sikhs. So terrible an idea was formed of this out-station, that both in Calcutta and Benares friends seriously entreated my hus- band not to expose me to the hardships of living there. I however said I had come to India to stay with my husband, though I quite believed that the " mud houses " we were going to live in were something like the mud huts in the bazar ! We found ourselves, however, the occupants of as comfortable a house of mud bricks as could be wished, one of COLIN MACKENZIE. 25 four which stood in the compound of the American Presby- terian Mission. There two happy years were spent in constant intercourse with the three mission families, the Janviers, Newtons, and Eudolphs, many of whom have been called to go " up higher," while the others are still devoting themselves to the service of the Lord. Captain Mackenzie's work in raising and drilling the 4th Regiment Frontier Brigade, was so engrossing, that neither of us went into any society. Rising at gun-fire, i.e. early dawn, often before 4 A.M., he was every morning on parade, having only two officers, a second in command, and an adjutant. He was for some time very unlucky in his adjutant, who could not spell, wrote " wich," " campane," and so forth, and was quite incapable of drafting a letter or even copying one. A great deal of work thus fell on me ; I had to write from dictation, keep the accounts of the regiment, and do many other things that the adjutant should have done. I used to go every morning to parade either on an elephant or horseback to bring back my husband. Then we sat in the shade for chota hazari (little breakfast), that most sociable of Indian institutions, when intimate friends drop in for tea or sour curds, and chat until the heat drives every one into the house. Then followed a nap and a bath, prayers, and breakfast, during which, or even before it, came visits from Afghan friends, especially Hasan Khan, who to the satisfaction of all parties was living in comfort at Lodiana, which contained a large colony of Afghan exiles. Then followed inspection of men offering to enlist, among whom appeared one day a batch of Mahwaris, who are all professional thieves, but who seemed in no wise disconcerted at the laughter with which their proposal was greeted. Next appeared the Havildar - Major (Native Sergeant-Major) in his clean white garments with the regimental books, and the Quartermaster-Sergeant and the 26 COLIN MACKENZIE. writer (a very clever Turk) to do the work of the office. This was particularly heavy, because as the Governor- General chose to keep the Sikh regiments under himself, giving orders through the military secretary, all the military departments thwarted them in every possible way, ignored them, knew nothing about them, cut their pay, and would do nothing for them. A commandant does not get his full pay until his men are armed. The Ordnance Department sent Captain Mackenzie wretched old muskets which he stoutly refused to receive, demanded a committee who pronounced them "only fit to be broken up," and succeeded in obtaining serviceable arms just six months after he had indented for them, of course losing a considerable part of his pay while waiting for them. He said at the time : " The magazine at Lodiana is almost totally denuded of everything it ought to have. The nearest magazine is that at Delhi, 200 miles distant, situated in the heart of the city, in the midst of a fanatical Muhammadan population three miles from the cantonments, with a slender guard, thus being open to a surprise by any daring ad- venturer or sudden outbreak." These words were almost prophetic, for we did lose the magazine at Delhi in '57 and the loss nearly cost us India. Numbers of other soldiers saw the danger, but our Government always neglects the most ordinary precautions. During office hours native officers and men, came with complaints and requests. Then followed afternoon parade, when Captain Mackenzie again drilled them himself, so that it was sometimes six in the evening before he had time either to rest or bathe. The house was always open, and its master was always accessible to the multitude of Afghans, who came either to see him or to request his help, and, owing to the trust they placed in him, I as his wife was welcomed by all their families, being the only Euro- COLIN MACKENZIE. 27 pean lady they had ever seen. Some even came to see me, which was a still greater mark of confidence. The Afghan women are fair and often very handsome, full of spirit and intelligence, though of course uneducated. They have of late (1882) begun to learn from Zenana Missionaries. Setting aside the injustice of invading Afghanistan because we were afraid of Eussia, of devastating whole districts, destroying their fruit-trees (a thing expressly for- bidden in Scripture) and their crops, their only means of subsistence because they would not submit to a sovereign whom we had set over them, the miseries inflicted by our interference on those whom we professed to support ought not to be forgotten. It was sad to see men of rank and property reduced to absolute want. In one case a father and son (nearly connected with Shah Shujah) never paid a visit together because they had only one choga (cloak) between them. Another man of rank was obliged to sell even his sword for food. An old retainer of Shah Shujah said sadly : "I live upon fasting, and the day when a little pulse is cooked in my house is a feast." One little trait of my husband's quick sympathy may be given. Driving home one evening after dark he saw by the firelight a poor man and boy turning a little spit with a very scanty portion of kabob upon it for their supper. He sent his horse-keeper back with half a rupee, bidding him tell the man to make a good supper but to say nothing else. The sais accordingly ran back, thrust the money into his hand, and cried : " Make a good supper." "Achha !" (good) cried the poor man, with his eyes and mouth wide open ; but before he could say another word the sais had vanished into the dark night, leaving him in doubt whether it was a Djinn or no. My husband turned to me and said : " I remember, when in captivity, watching a young Afghan eating kabobs which he had roasted on his ramrod. I sup- 28 COLIN MACKENZIE. pose I looked at him hungrily, for he bit off one end with his fine white teeth and thrust the other into my hand, saying : ' Eat and welcome ' I was very glad of it." In June we had the grief of losing our faithful servant Jacob, who was carried off by a week's fever, during most of which he was unconscious. Hasan Khan was greatly grieved and said : " Read to him out of your book ; it will do him good read to him." My husband explained that he had been repeating passages of Scripture to him. Jacob kept tight hold of his dear master's hand, and, when asked if his faith were strong in Christ, squeezed it and nodded. He strove to say something to a Hindustani horse- keeper who had been with him in Afghanistan, pointing to his heart and then to heaven, as if he wished to exhort him to believe in the Lord. Mackenzie asked the man if he understood what Jacob meant. " Oh yes," said he ; " this is what he has been saying to me for many days." He had been unwearied in speaking of the Gospel to all the servants and every one within his reach, and all were attached to him from his kindness and helpfulness. By his last letters he evidently thought his time on earth might be short. He wrote : "I myself looking to Jesus, where is my resting- place that is to say my sweet grave." To us it was the loss of a dear friend. His cheerful, loving service and sympathy could never be replaced. Four artillery sergeants volunteered to carry the coffin, and many Afghans were present in the chapel. One man of rank arrived, counting his beads and repeating some sort of prayers for the dead. He sat with his fingers in his ears while the missionary read the 15th chapter of Corinthians, but remarked afterwards to Hasan Khan that there was "not much difference between us and them!" He saw clearly that we were not idolaters. My husband constantly recommended the Gospel to all COLIN MACKENZIE. 29 about him his men, his servants, and his Afghan friends. With several of the latter he used often to read the Scrip- tures in Persian, and, when the frequent remark was made, "The Sahibs do not live according to their book," it was a comfort to be able to reply, "Some do the missionaries do," and to receive the invariable acknowledgment: "Ah! yes, they do." The Afghan princes showed their respect for the character of the missionaries and their native converts, by taking them into their own houses for protection during the Sikh invasion in 1845 and afterwards during the Mutiny of 1857. It was painful to meet many instances of gross incivility on the part of Europeans, even such as were gentlemen by position, towards both natives and Afghans. All over India want of courtesy is considered a proof of low birth and low breeding. A poor coolie at Delhi was heard to remark to another, concerning a civilian who had just driven by: "He is no gentleman; he never returns a salam!" The Nizam ud Doulah, a brother-in-law of Shah Shu j ah and a man of great dignity and perfect manners, said of the English authorities at Lodiana : " I never go near any of these people, for they don't know how to behave ! " Captain Mackenzie was one morning with the Deputy-Commissioner (a captain in the army) when Murteza Shah came in to speak about some business. Sayad Murteza Shah was quite a gentleman and very courteous, and to him our cap- tives in Afghanistan were mainly indebted for their release. The Deputy-Commissioner would hardly listen to a word he had to say, leant back in his chair, repeating, " I can't do anything, I can't do anything," and at last cried imperiously, " Jao !" (Be off!), on which Murteza Shah did go, without even a salam. Captain Mackenzie hastily followed his old friend, made him get into his buggy, and drove him home. The Sayad remarked: "What a vulgar tyrannical man!" 30 COLIN MACKENZIE. Murteza Shah had not long returned from a mission to Ka- bul, where he was the means of recovering about a hundred children of Sepoys and camp-followers who had perished on the retreat, and among them a European boy. One of these orphans, a girl, had lost both feet from frost-bites. My husband and Mr. Janvier carried her to the Ameri- can Orphanage, and the former had a little sledge on wheels made, on which her young companions dragged her merrily about. Two men in our regiment had escaped from slavery less than two years before. One was just above Istalif when we stormed it, and said the mountains were then full of our prisoners, many of whom were sent off to Balkh as slaves. He declared that there were some English among them. Had our troops only been allowed to stay a few days longer they would all have been brought in ; but Lord Ellenborough's vehement injunctions to retreat prevented this. On another occasion Murteza Shah, on his way to visit an officer in camp, met a European who asked him what book he had in his hand, and, when it was handed to him, struck Murteza Shah with a bar of iron on the leg so that the blood gushed out. Again, a young Afghan gentleman on horseback took refuge in an officer's compound while an elephant passed by. The owner rushed out shouting, " Jao ! Jao !" and flung a stone at him. Our friend said : "Not knowing whether he was drunk or only ignorant, I took no notice." He added : "I know you arid several other gentlemen, so I am aware that you are not all alike ; but such acts make unlearned people detest the British name." Lord Ellenborough had promised that, as a reward for their heroic fidelity, Ferris' and Broadfoot's Jezailchis should be for ever retained in our service. There ought to be some record of Government promises, for notwithstanding this they were disbanded, some of them immediately, others COLIN MACKENZIE. 31 when Lord Hardinge, in a sanguine mood, reduced the strength of the army after the Sikh campaign. One hun- dred and twenty of these men were sent to Captain Mac- kenzie to provide for, and, speaking of the injustice of dis- banding them, one of them plucked off his cap, and thrusting his bald head under my husband's very moustache, showed a tremendous scar the whole length of his skull, crying : "Do you think I took that on my head for nothing?" Another, whom he himself had cut down for mutiny, in the fort of Nishan Khan, seeing that his old leader did not immediately recognise him, turned up his sleeve and dis- played the cut he had given him as a sort of love-token between them. He returned a short time after, having demanded his discharge from the regiment into which Mackenzie had got him, because he had not been promoted immediately. Captain Mackenzie slapped his cheek, told him he was an ass, and then took him by the shoulders and nearly shook his head off, all of which this sturdy Afghan, with battle-axe in hand, took most meekly. When we heard of the death of my dear father the Afghans all showed the greatest sympathy. A huge burly native officer of cavalry, Atta Muhammad, who was after- wards slain in seizing Major Mackeson's murderer, came to express his sorrow. Placing his hands together like an open book he said: "Let us have a,fatiha (prayer) for her." My husband put his hands in the same position and Atta Muhammad, with his eyes full of tears, prayed that the Most High would bless and comfort me, and that the bless- ing of Jesus the Messiah might come upon me. The Afghan women came and wept, and Hasan Khan admon- ished my husband " Comfort her, comfort her ! " And yet these very men, so capable of strong attachment and sympathy, in general think nothing of the death of a wife. When in Afghanistan Captain Mackenzie was several 32 COLIN MACKENZIE. times asked "Are you married ?" "No, my wife isdead."- " We hear you are very sorry when your wives die ; did you weep ? " " Yes, I did." Whereupon they were struck dumb with astonishment that any one should feel the death of a wife so strongly. "Why should you grieve 1 ?" say they, "there are plenty of others." This is only one among many proofs that every violation of the laws of God brings its own punishment. Polygamy has destroyed family life and family affection. Soon after we arrived at Lodiana, news came from Afghanistan of the death of Akbar Khan. It is said that when he ceased to be a Ghazi he took to drinking. On his death, his father-in-law Muhammad Shah Khan, carried off his property to the amount, the Afghans say, of seven lacs, but the Amir Dost Muhammad, having razed Muhammad Shah Khan's fort of Badiabad (the same in which the captives were imprisoned), he was obliged to fly to the Hindu Kush mountains and take refuge among the kdfirs, who are thought to be the descendants of Alexander the Great's army. From thence he wrote to Captain Mackenzie reminding him of their former friendship, and asking if it continued. The letter was brought by a Sayad, to whom he had given a token whereby he might judge of Mackenzie's disposition towards him. The Sayad began: "Muhammad Shah Khan says to you, 'When you were in peril of life by the fort of Mahmud Khan how did I act 1 ' " My husband answered : " When the sword was raised to strike me he put his arm round my neck and took the cut on his own shoulder." Then the Sayad knew that he might deliver the letter. Captain Mackenzie replied that he would always acknowledge him as a friend, and sent him two Persian Testaments for himself and his brother. Some time after a poor-looking man, rosary in hand, with a most intelligent wily expression, came down with a second letter, which COLIN MACKENZIE. 33 he drew from the binding of a small book. He then sat down on the floor counting his beads, but quietly noting everything that was said or done. In this letter Muham- mad Shah Khan and his brother declared themselves ready to obey the slightest nod of the British Government, but Government wisely would have nothing to say to them. A most gentlemanly old Afghan, Sirfraz Khan, brother of that "malignant and turbaned" old paralytic Aminullah Khan, related that the Amir, Dost Muhammad, having mar- ried a daughter of Aminullah, had then murdered him with his own hands, smothering him with a pillow ! Such was the end of Aminullah. An Afghan gentleman was with Captain Mackenzie one evening when he was sending medicine to a little girl ill with fever. He mentioned that the poor child often came to the house, adding : " And now perhaps she may die." " God forbid that she should die," cried he, " you are going to have prayers, pray for the child ; " and then turning to him he said suddenly : "I wish you knew what is in my heart towards you. It is great friendship. I see here purity of life ; " and then he expressed a hope that even though not Muhammadan he might be saved, saying, in a kind of soliloquy : " I have a strong hope that there may be a place for you in Paradise." My husband took the oppor- tunity of explaining to him the grounds on which he hoped for salvation, namely, the blood of Christ alone. They used often to read the Scriptures together, and though the Musalman constantly capped a passage with some absurd legend from the Kuran, yet when they came to the part where the Jews cried " Crucify him ! crucify him ! " he could not forbear bursting out with a most emphatic exclamation of " Kambacht ! " (wretches), and as he went on he uttered constantly an Arabic invocation, signifying why are such crimes permitted ! VOL. II. D 34 COLIN MACKENZIE. Though as Commandant, Captain Mackenzie was ex- tremely strict in punishing real offences, he was at the same time most friendly in his intercourse with his men. He would never countenance any act of idolatry or false worship, but took pains to explain to them why he could neither be present nor lend carpets, far less the colours of the regiment, for any of their religious festivals. He said he was a Chris- tian because he believed there was no other way of salva- tion ; that he never interfered with any man's worship, but, that as he looked upon idolatry as a great sin, he would be acting contrary to his conscience if he took any part in it. They always seemed quite to understand. He would lend carpets for marriages, and would take me to see their wrestling matches and sword-play, when I was sure to be drenched with rose water (from the same motive which made Jacob call the Queen "he") "out of respect." He spoke quite freely to his native officers and men, just as he did to Europeans, confessing his own faith, appealing to their reason as to the folly of idolatry, and all in so friendly a manner as never to give offence. One day he was telling his Havildar-Major about Ceylon, which the Hindus believe to be inhabited by demons. He said to him : " I often eat grief on your account and that of your countrymen whom I see worshipping idols; for there is but one God, who alone should be worshipped." The Havildar answered : " True, there is but one God." " Is it not lamentable, then, that men should bow down to images which they themselves make of wood and stone?" "And mud," interjected the Havildar-Major. "Your worthless Brahmans tell you these fables for their own profit and not for your good."- " True," said he, " they do it for their own profit ; for the other day when we gave a little feast to our brethren of the 1 1th, they came among us and extracted fifteen rupees from us, and then told us all the gods were pleased;" COLIN MACKENZIE. 35 and the Havildar- Major finished with a little scornful laugh that spoke volumes. Captain Mackenzie's tact was unfailing. A Havildar (native sergeant) and party sent out to apprehend deserters, were by some extraordinary mistake on the part of the civil authorities at Firozpur seized and put in prison, five deserters being allowed to escape. Justly indignant at this, Captain Mackenzie sent word to his men to remain in prison until he could effect their release with honour. But the civil authorities, finding they had got into a scrape, were far from imitating the magistrates of Philippi, but thrust the Havildar and his men out. They came back boiling over with indignation, and the non-commissioned officer, a very fine Sikh, cast off his turban to express the depth of the degradation to which he had been subjected. Had he been condoled with, he would have been an aggrieved man for life, but his commandant told him impatiently to put on his turban, for the matter did not concern him at all. " It is my affair," said he, " it is my honour that is involved ; " so they went to their lines apparently quite convinced that that was the proper view of the matter. In August 1848 a serious quarrel took place between the Sikhs and Afghans of the regiment, and the latter rushed off to our house late at night, bringing with them a Mullah, whose beard had been pulled by the irreverent Sikhs. My husband bade them go to sleep without speaking a word good or bad, to any man. Next morning, after a long drill from 4 to 6 A.M., he sent for the Sikh priest, gave the word to march, and led the regiment out five miles across country through great pools of water in one of which a fat native officer stuck, and had to be pulled out by two Sepoys made them charge at the " double " for a quarter of a mile, brought them back over rough sandy ground at nine o'clock, thoroughly tired out ; drilled them again for 36 COLIN MACKENZIE. more than two hours in the afternoon, besides roll-calls every three hours, and finished by issuing an order (read at ten successive roll-calls) telling them that "the State required eight hundred soldiers, and not eight hundred Mullahs, Pandits, or Granthis, and that any one who insulted or attacked another on account of his religion, whether he were Christian, Musalman, Hindu, or Sikh, was guilty of a high military offence, and would be punished accord- ingly." There never was any quarrelling again. The men built their own huts and even made their own bricks. Captain Mackenzie planted rows of trees between the lines, and gave them all his own vegetable seeds from England to make gardens. He delayed swearing in the regiment for many months, so that he could dismiss any man without trouble, and being a Deputy-Magistrate he could try and punish offences. It was eight months before the regimental pay was adjusted, during which time the Commandant had to make advances to them on his own responsibility from money procured from the Treasury, to the amount of ten thousand pounds. He succeeded in forming a splendid regiment. Not one of the non-commissioned officers was under six feet. They were as "good to look at as to go." After the tragical assassination at Multan in May 1848 of Mr. Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson, two of those many young lives full of promise which have been treacherously cut short in India, and Chutter Sing's subsequent outbreak, the whole regiment volunteered for service against him, to the great gratification of their Commandant. Unluckily a Bengal civilian was acting Kesident in the absence of Colonel Henry Lawrence, and far from taking advantage of this gallant offer, he merely observed that he " was much amused by it ! " Some months later, gallant old Lord Gough passed through Lodiana, and my husband rode out to COLIN MACKENZIE. 37 see his friends in camp. He had often said that he had volunteered quite enough, and did not intend doing so any more ; but he had no sooner got into camp than all his philosophy and love of peace evaporated. He assailed the Adjutant-General and Quartermaster-General with requests to employ him as a volunteer, offering to do anything they liked without pay, when he fell in with his own Adjutant, Lieutenant Rothney, who had come out on the very same errand. Captain Mackenzie was filled with indignation at the very thought of losing his invaluable Adjutant, who in his turn was dismayed at the idea of losing his Com- mandant ! After this he gave me a promise that when he wished to volunteer he would tell me beforehand, and I assured him I would not oppose his wish, and to this compact we both adhered. He always impressed upon his men that a soldier was a gentleman, and therefore should be foremost in doing whatever had to be done, and how thoroughly he succeeded in imbuing his regiment with his own high spirit was seen when they afterwards volunteered for Burmah, marching down the country in the midst of the rains. Lord Dalhousie wrote to him on this occasion (13th September 1852) : "Your Singhs are behaving beautifully, coming down wading rivers tip to their necks, and carrying plump Captain B in his palki through on their heads, all readiness and good humour, and I hear with one hundred supernumeraries ! " It was still more evident in the way they fought during that campaign. As soon as Mackenzie, who was then commanding a division in the Dekkan, heard that his men were about to engage the enemy, he volunteered to join and serve as a subaltern under Captain Armstrong, who had succeeded him in command of the regiment, for the sake of leading his beloved corps the first time it went 38 COLIN MACKENZIE. into action. Lord Dalhousie wrote again to congratulate him on their conduct. But, above all, the metal they were made of was seen when in 1857, under Major Eothney, 1 they saved Lodiana by threshing the Jalandar mutineers, and by the way they fought at Delhi. In December 1848 the Governor -General came up to Lodiana, and soon sent Mr. Elliot, the Political Secretary, to ask Captain Mackenzie, who was now one of the very few surviving officers acquainted with the Pan jab and Afghanistan, to come to him. During an interview of two hours he was much struck with the great talent and tact displayed by Lord Dalhousie, who seized instinctively upon every point worth considering. Early in January he was again summoned to the Governor-General's camp at Makku, near Firozpur, posting horses and riding the seventy miles at a stretch. He was hospitably received by Captain W. Mayne, commanding the Bodyguard, and went out coursing jackals the evening of his arrival. He wrote : "Being well mounted, I entered with glee into the sport, and suddenly found myself laying in the dogs at a neck-or-nothing pace over very queeracious ground, and also instructing my brother sportsmen in certain n^steries connected with woodcraft. " 13th January. Last night had a famous gallop across this huge plain, but this morning I refused to go out to hunt with and his officers because they swore so much. At breakfast they were more careful, and I earnestly hope it may please God, even through my weak instrumentality, to convince them of the sin of so detestable a practice. I am trying to persuade some of them to join me in public worship to-morrow. Strange that Lord Dalhousie has neither chaplain nor public worship of any kind on the 1 His former Adjutant, then in command of the 4th Sikh Light Infantry. COLIN MACKENZIE. 39 Sabbath. . . . About five attended, and there was much less swearing. I think my freely expressed opinions have told a little. More than one has said he wished I could remain among them, frankly acknowledging the iniquity of his ways. One said : ' I know you are right, and that if I were to die this instant I should go to hell ! ' " So careful was he to do nothing which might be a bad example, that he even refrained from writing to his wife on the Sabbath he was in camp. During the eight days he spent there he had many interviews with the Governor-General, and after the fatal battle of Chillianwala, Lord Dalhousie sent for him, and, with eyes full of tears, showed him the terrible list of killed and wounded. Four hundred of H.M.'s 24th were left stark and stiff on the field, and the next day thirteen of their officers lay dead in the mess-tent. The 30th Native Infantry behaved most gallantly, seized and spiked ten guns, with great loss, only one of their officers out of the seventeen who went into action was untouched. The 56th Native Infantry, who behaved nobly, were almost destroyed. Mr. Courtenay, the Governor-General's Private Secre- tary, wrote to Captain Mackenzie : " Sir H. Lawrence and Lord Gifford came in from the Com- mander-in- Chief s camp, and have given us very clear accounts of the affair of the 1 8th (Chillianwala). The only conclusion I can arrive at is, that the Sikhs in every sense of the word licked . us ; and, if their cavalry had only gone on, must have routed us and taken the Commander-in-Chief s staff prisoners. Our own people were quite prepared for it, nor do they seem to know why it was not done. But providentially the fellows stopped, seeming bewildered by the success of their charge, and, without provocation, fled in confusion. There was at one time a body of three thousand Sikh, horsemen on the open plain, to our right flank, unsupported in any way, who came and went with- out a single horse or man being sent at them." 40 COLIN MA CKENZIE. My husband wrote : " Lack of sarks will drive me home, as I have given two of my flannel shirts and drawers to a poor young officer ill of smallpox." During this stay in the Governor-General's camp he was constantly employed in advocating the claims of others, among them those of General Ventura, whose property had been most unjustly confiscated. His letters are full of such passages as : "Fought Ventura's battle, and completely enlisted Courtenay in his favour, not so Elliot." " I have put matters right for E by speaking to the Governor- General. I have got Elliot to put down R and C for political employment." He urged, unfortunately in vain, the claims of Prince Shahpur to an increase of his miserable pension, espoused the cause of a young Armenian lady who had been married and deserted by an English officer, and suc- ceeded in obtaining full pay for life for as many of his Jezailchis as still survived, with an extra amount for those who had lost limbs from frost-bites. All the Afghans found a friend and protector in him ; he was never weary of recounting the services they had rendered to us, or in endeavouring to procure employment for those who were in need. Never was there a more zealous friend. The number of letters he wrote, of cases he stated, of memorials he drew up for other people, would have done credit to an active solicitor, and he expended his interest as freely as his time on behalf of others. 1 After Chillianwala, Lord Dalhousie found it necessary to use the curb most strongly, and to give peremptory orders to the impulsive old Chief to wait for the force 1 As a lad at Madras he told the Commander-in-Chief that his friend George Broadfoot was far fitter for an appointment than him- self, to which His Excellency kindly replied that one need not prevent the other. COLIN MACKENZIE. 41 from Multan, and to use his guns when he did engage the enemy. The Commander-in-Chief's camp was kept in constant expectation of an attack from the Sikhs, who occupied a strong position at Eussul, about four miles distant, when lo ! one fine morning the enemy had vanished, and for some days nobody knew which way they had gone or where they were. Our blunders and our inactivity made the Sikhs careless, the Multan force arrived, and at Guzerat, our splendid artillery being allowed fair-play for three hours, we gained a complete victory on the 21st February. After we had set the Amir Dost Muhammad free in 1843, he had regained supreme power in Afghanistan, and now took advantage of our difficulties with the Sikhs to proclaim a Jehad (religious war) against us, which caused many Afghans in our service (as at Attok) to leave, though with much regret at doing so. Two of his sons and a body of Durani horse having fought against us at Guzerat, where they were routed by the Sind horse, the Private Secretary consulted Captain Mackenzie " confidentially " as to the utility or expediency of inducing the Khaiberis to obstruct their return, and what would be the best mode of operating. Prince Shahpur applied to be allowed to go to Afghan- istan, either with or without British assistance. Muhammad Shah Khan had made him great offers of support, and he enclosed two of these letters, but the Governor -General wisely determined not to interfere beyond our own frontier. Captain Mackenzie had seen so much of the misery of the people under Sikh rule, that he had all along strongly advocated the annexation of the Panjab, both on this account and as the only way of putting a stop to the out- breaks of the Sikh soldiery. There was no settled govern- ment, and no probability of any; the soldiery had it all 42 COLIN MACKENZIE. their own way, to the great detriment of the peaceable inhabitants. The Sikhs are a very small body, but they were all military fanatics, with an exorbitant notion of their own prowess. Sir Henry Hardinge had refrained from annexation after the Satlej Campaign in 1846, and had given the Sikhs another chance of governing the Panjab, by appointing a Council of Regency, with Sir Henry Lawrence at the head, during the minority of the little Maharaja Dhulip Sing. But the Sikh soldiery were not to be controlled. There is every reason to suppose that Mulraj was drawn into a con- test with the British against his intention. But, now that we had been forced to overthrow the nominal Government of the Panjab, it became a question whether we should set it up again. John Lawrence was strongly in favour of annexa- tion, but his brother Henry was vehemently opposed to it, and wrote to the Governor-General : " I did think it unjust, I now think it impolitic," and at first refused to carry it out. Colin Mackenzie considered that the Governor-General showed considerable magnanimity in persuading Henry Lawrence to retain his post, but they never worked com- fortably together. Lord Dalhousie always undervalued his opinion both of men and measures, and was not sorry to remove Sir Henry from the Panjab before he himself left India. It was soon known that the Governor-General had taken Colin Mackenzie into his counsels, and it was very amusing to watch the dexterity with which he parried every attempt to discover what was about to be done, baffling all inquiries by the most absurd answers. After the victory of Guzerat Sir Henry Elliot exhorted Mackenzie to bring forward his claims, assuring him of the Governor-General's support. Lord Dalhousie recommended him for Brevet and the C.B., but the want of the Afghan medal proved a bar to honours. COLIN MACKENZIE. 43 The two military secretaries, Colonel Stuart and Colonel Benson, now strongly advised Lord Dalhousie to secure the friendship of the Afghans by restoring the province of Peshawar, which had been wrested from them by Ran jit Singh. Sir Henry Elliot was greatly opposed to this, and wrote to Mackenzie to come immediately to camp. He rode out to Firozpur, where the Governor-General now was, and meeting some of the wounded, comforted them as far as he could with his sandwiches and cheroots. The Governor-General sent for him on his arrival, and asked his candid opinion. During a prolonged conversation he proved, to Lord Dalhousie's satisfaction, that the Indus, a fordable river at times, was no boundary at all, and that our only strong and thoroughly defensible frontier was the one we already held. To give up Peshawar would be to place the Afghans inside the gate of India, instead of keeping them outside. The Governor - General acknow- ledged his obligations to his adviser by following his advice, and by offering him his choice of appointments in the Pan jab, which he declined, supposing that it would be purely civil and financial work, expressing his preference for military or political employment. On this occasion he met John Lawrence for the first time. That great public servant was decidedly unsophisticated in his manners. On being sum- moned to take his place at the dinner-table opposite to the Governor - General, he replied : " I'm going to sit here, I want to have a jaw with Mackenzie." 19th March 1849. He describes his visit to George Broadfoot's tomb. " Poor old Sale lies close to him, and you may imagine my thoughts. We do indeed labour for the things that perish in the using, neglecting that which alone endures for ever. May God grant us both grace to have our treasure in Heaven, so that at whatever hour we may be called, we may be found safe in Jesus." 44 COLIN MACKENZIE. He rode back the eighty miles to Lodiana without stopping, in order to spend his birthday with his wife. The following May he took me up, for change of air, to Simla, where he spent a considerable portion of the next six months. The presence of the Governor -General and Commander-in-Chief with about four hundred officers and their families, made it the gayest place in India. As there were no wheel-carriages, every one rode or went in a sort of sedan-chair called &jhappan. After more than two years' hard work, this holiday in the society of many friends, especially Mrs. George Lawrence and that lovable hero Major Hope Grant and his young wife, with excursions in magnificent scenery, a delightful climate, and exquisite music, were sources of great refreshment and enjoyment. The soldierly figure of the kindly, gallant old Chief, Lord Gough, was a prominent one at Simla ; and his successor, Sir Charles Napier, won all hearts by his perfect simplicity of demeanour, his straightforward candour in bluntly ac- knowledging an error, his warmth of heart, and his original and interesting conversation. No wonder his staff almost adored him. Henry Lawrence and his admirable wife came for a short time. The former was not happy about Panjab affairs, and had many conferences with Colin Mackenzie, who en- deavoured to persuade him that it was far better the Governor-General's measures should be carried out by him, who had the welfare of the country so strongly a't heart, than by any other. In these conversations Lawrence's beard was a great sufferer. It was long and scanty, and after tugging at it, he would turn the ends between his teeth and gnaw them reflectively. Colonel J. S. Hodgson, commanding one of the four Sikh regiments, had also a grievance against the Governor-General. So much did he take it to heart, that he resigned. Colin Mackenzie could COLIN MACKENZIE. 45 not endure the idea of such an officer being lost to the army, and exerted all his powers of persuasion to induce Lord Dalhousie to allow Colonel Hodgson to withdraw his resignation. Having succeeded with infinite difficulty, he found it no less hard to persuade the indomitable Com- mandant himself, but at last he prevailed, and Colonel Hodgson afterwards expressed his gratitude to him, and distinguished himself brilliantly in command of the Frontier Brigade. While at Simla we received from our friends at Lodiana accounts of one of those famines so common in India, of which no one ever hears and of which no notice is taken. Mrs. Newton of the American Presbyterian Mission wrote : " August. " We have had fine rains lately, but there is great distress among the poor. We undertook two weeks ago to employ at eight pice (one penny) a day all women and men who came beg- ging, and would work in removing the sand which had accumu- lated. Our numbers have increased daily, and our means not being large, we reduced their pittance to six pice, thus securing the work to ouly the extreme poor. Still, as the news of getting employment spread, the numbers continued to increase. At this time more than three hundred miserable, half-starved, half-naked men, women, and children are in the compound filling holes and levelling sandhills, being paid in cowries, and it is piteous to see the poor women with a child on the hip and a basket of sand hurrying with their load, so eager for the cowries. We have thirty in the poor-house too much reduced to work. We cannot let the poor creatures perish, nor can we alone feed them much longer, so to-day we have sent out a statement of the case. Many of the people are from the villages, their cattle are dead, and they are unable to cultivate their ground both for that reason and for want of seed. At night they sleep on the damp ground without shelter or covering." Of course a subscription was raised for them, but this 46 COLIN MACKENZIE. misery constantly recurs in most parts of India, except where irrigation works have been carried out, as in the Rajaman- dry district. Lord Dalhousie always showed Mackenzie marked friendship, and shortly before leaving the hills offered him the command of the Elichpur Division as Brigadier of the 1st class. He said in his minute : " I know no officer whose claims . . . are superior to those of Captain Colin Mackenzie. . . . The gallantry, ability, and endurance displayed by him in the events which occurred at the time of the rising at Kabul are amply recorded, and in connection with the subsequent events of that period entitle him to a higher reward at the hands of the Government of India than the command of a local corps in the Satlej Provinces." 1 This was very gratifying. It was a fine appointment of about 2000 rupees a month, but involved a very long and expensive journey. There was also an order against officers marching through the Central Provinces to the Dekkan (South) during the unhealthy season after the rains. We could not, therefore, start immediately, though like everybody else we returned to the plains at the end of October. There we had the pleasure of again meeting Sir Charles Napier when his camp came to Lodiana in November. There was a degree of affectionate intimacy rarely equalled between him and the members of his " military family," all of whom were devoted to their chief. When his baby grand -daughter appeared in the morning she was kissed and petted by the 1 In a private letter to General Fraser the Governor-General wrote, 22d October 1849 : " I have been glad of this opportunity of acknow- ledging the services in some degree compensating the losses of a gallant officer in your army, Captain Colin Mackenzie. I am sorry to lose him from his present command, but it was due to him in justice to promote him when I could." Captain Mackenzie had also been much gratified by a letter from Sir Charles Napier, 5th October 1849, saying : " You have well earned promotion and the Companionship of the Bath. " COLIN MACKENZIE. 47 whole Staff as if they had all been her brothers or uncles. It was very amusing to hear the lamentations of the Heads of Department at being deprived of two immense double- poled tents apiece and reduced to captain's tents, which are quite large enough for either use or comfort. The Com- mander-in-Chief had hitherto paraded the country more like a satrap than a soldier, with an enormous train of servants and baggage-cattle. Sir Charles Napier was determined to reduce this cumbrous magnificence out of regard both to the public purse and to military efficiency, and loud were the wailings of the injured dignitaries. 1 Before leaving the north-west my husband was anxious to show me Lahore, where the little Maharaja Dhulip Sing was still treated as a sovereign, though his kingdom had been annexed. My cousin, Captain James Douglas, 60th Rifles, a model Christian officer, who was to us as a brother, came from Peshawar to meet us. I was the first lady he had seen for eighteen months. This ten days' visit to Lahore was full of interest. There was a Grand Installation of the Bath, when Sir Charles Napier warmly greeted his old antagonist Amir Shir Muhammad of Sind, who was placed near him, but would have nothing to say to the Sikh chief Tej Sing, who is said to have held back his troops from attacking us at Sobraon. " Tej Sing ! I won't sit by him ; he's a traitor ! " Then came an inspection of the splendid treasury with Sir Charles Napier, a drive to the beautiful gardens of Shalimar with Mr. Montgomery, visits to the tombs of the Emperor Jehangir and of the Lion of the Pan- jab, Ranjit Singh, and a charming expedition to Amritsur, the sacred capital of the Sikhs, with its gold temple in the midst of a white marble tank. The city was still full of 1 One reason subsequently alleged for a Commander -in -Chief not taking the field during the great Mutiny, was the impossibility of find- ing carriage for his office and records. 48 COLIN MACKENZIE. those fighting devotees the Akalis, dressed in dark blue cotton with pointed turbans, in which steel chains and sharp- edged quoits ar.e intertwined. Herbert Edwardes was at Lahore fresh from gathering laurels at Multan, and also Captain Hodson, two very different men of very different principles, though of equal gallantry. On our return to Lodiana parting with the regiment and our dear friends made Christmas a sad one. At his final parade Captain Mackenzie addressed every company in both Persian and Hindustani, twenty-three speeches in all. The men showed extraordinary regret, and after more than thirty years those still in the regiment speak of him with the greatest affection. " Ah, Sahib, that was a man" said one to a young officer. Dr. Duff happened to reach Lodiana just at this time, and his quick sympathy was aroused by the mutual attach- ment of the men and their Commandant. Shahzadah Shah- pur took leave of his friend with tears in his eyes. Hasan > Khan squeezed him in his arms and sobbed. We were obliged to go round by Calcutta to meet a young daughter recovering from consumption and two young cousins, her companions. At Delhi we enjoyed a delightful visit to Sir Theophilus Metcalfe in his beautiful houses there and at the Kutab, and had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Eiley in his proper position as a commissioned officer. Some interesting visits were paid to the old King of Delhi, and portraits taken of his favourite wife and son Jewan Bakht afterwards so notorious during the Mutiny. The retrospect of those ten days is bathed in sunshine, so full were they of interest and enjoyment, yet within seven years the kind host was dead, the beautiful houses plundered and ruined, the old King and his family in captivity in Kangoon. The corpses of three of his sons had lain in front of the mosk after 11,000 of our men COLIN MACKENZIE. 49 had taken Delhi by storm, paying for every step with the blood of a hero. Here Nicholson fell, tended by Neville Chamberlain, and comforted in his last hours by telegrams full of God's Word from Herbert Edwardes at Peshawar. After a delightful visit to Agra and to Fattihpur Sikri, the Versailles of the East, we met with an affectionate welcome from the James Mackenzies in Calcutta, where we found our three young travellers. A pleasant visit was followed by a pleasant voyage round India to Bombay. Captain Dawson of the Arab ship Sulemdni and his wife were most agreeable companions, who seemed to be walking humbly with God, and it was a great grief to hear six months afterwards that they had gone down with the ship off Madras. The voyage, including a visit to Colombo, was a perfect pleasure-trip. The wind was so light that we were almost always in sight of land, and thus saw the romantic Western Ghats, but it took six weeks before we entered the harbour of Bombay (beautiful as the Bay of Naples), at the end of March. Mr. Grey, the head of a great firm, received us all most hospitably ; the house was at Breach Candy, some miles from Bombay. It consisted of two or three detached bungalows connected by covered passages and surrounded by wide matted verandahs, fenced by ornamental shrubs. There is something exceedingly soporific in the soft sea breeze which specially affects strangers, so that at a large party I once saw a lady asleep in every window when the gentlemen rejoined us after dinner, and we were assured that an officer on first landing slept for more than thirty hours, after which he was as wide awake as other people. We had the great pleasure of becoming acquainted with Dr. and Mrs. Wilson, Mr. Nesbit, and Mr. and Mrs. Murray Mitchell, of the Free Church Mission. These excellent VOL. II. E 50 COLIN MACKENZIE. men were all remarkable linguists, vernacular preaching and missionary tours forming a great part of their work. It was a very great satisfaction to find Mulla Ibrahim settled in Bombay. His noble brother Musa had died some time before, fully acknowledging the Lord Jesus as the true Messiah. Sad to say, his son has been made a Musalman at Meshed. Ibrahim was extraordinarily hand- some, as fair as an Englishman, as were several of the Jewish ladies. It was astonishing to see how far the Arab Jews surpass those of Europe in personal appearance. The varied population, Arabs, Jews, Parsis, Biluchis, Mahrattas, etc., etc., the beauty of the island and adjacent scenery, the wonderful caves of Elephanta and Salsette combine to make Bombay far better worth seeing than Calcutta or Madras. There have been converts from all these tribes, and very remarkable and efficient converts they have been. CHAPTER XXIV. ELICHPUR. (1850-1852.) WHEN we left Bombay on the 8th April, the season was so far advanced that it became necessary to hurry on- wards with double gangs of bearers, making one march in the morning and another in the evening. Crossing the Grodavari, we entered the Nizam's territory on the 14th, and henceforward had no more roads. The journey was entirely cross country, and a guide had to be taken at each village, even the cavalry escort being ignorant of the way. Though with very little baggage our retinue consisted of upwards of 120 persons. We stayed one night at Ajanta with a young married lady (whose husband was absent), in the native house where the Duke slept after the battle of Assye. It was a sad and lonely life for her, as there were no other Europeans within many miles, and her husband was never able to be at home in the day. The country was so infested with tigers that one had been killed in the bathroom of the house. We soon came upon other signs of the absence of civilisation, law, and order. The Eajputs of the country, being greatly oppressed by the Musalmans, had risen in arms, and being joined by Afghans, Arabs, and the hordes of masterless men who infest the land, in hopes of being hired to fight and especially to plunder, together with three hundred Sikhs, they burned and pillaged 52 COLIN MACKENZIE. the town of Mulkapur to the amount of upwards of two lacs of rupees. All this had been foreseen and reported to the Eesident at Haidrabad, without whose positive 'order the Brigadiers could do nothing ; but the foreseen outbreak was allowed to take place, the city was ruined, and, when all was over, a large force was sent into the field to "shut the stable-door " and sit down before it. We found Mulkapur completely deserted, so that when my palki was placed on the ground it roused a leopard, the sole occupant of the spot, the ravines about it being full of dead bodies. For fourteen marches there were no houses, and as we carried no tents the different Nawabs and other native authorities pitched tents and sent trays of native dinners (some of which were very nice) at each halting-place. The heat was sometimes 101 under canvas, and beyond that degree it did not much signify what it was, as one could not feel any hotter. It was impossible to keep awake even over the lightest literature, so that with more or less struggle all resigned themselves to slumber until sunset brought some degree of coolness and restored animation. Some of the Nawabs who politely came to pay their respects to the Brigadier, were fine old Patans who had seen much service. The chief men of each place used to come on horseback attended by their sons and retainers, forming a gay and picturesque procession. The Patels or village headmen also came, generally with some complaint. We had long known the marked difference in character, habits, appearance, and language between the inhabitants of Bengal and those of Behar, and between both, and the Rajput, the Panjabi, the Kashmiri, the Sikh, and the Afghan ; but we now came in contact with totally different races. The small, sober, hardy Mahrattas, the fair intelligent Parsis, the simple hill tribes of Gonds and others, and great numbers of our old friends the Afghans under the appel- COLIN MACKENZIE. 53 lation of Patans. People often forget that India is not a country but a continent, and that upwards of one hundred and thirty languages are spoken within its borders. Elichpur was at length reached on the 24th April. It is in the great valley of Berar, the richest black cotton soil in India, full of luxuriant vegetation, with the picturesque and varied outline of the Satpura range about twenty miles distant. The house and garden were large and commodious. A worthy conductor of artillery wrote : " I most humbly beg leave to inform you that the heat is insufferable ; " and as this exactly expressed the fact, a speedy move was speedily made to Chikalda, the neighbouring hill-station, close to the famous fort of Gawilghar, taken by General Stevenson and the Duke in 1803. The bungalow at Chikalda con- sisted at first of only three rooms, but the delightful climate and scenery made up for any deficiency of house accommo- dation. It was a wild jungle life, to visit one's neighbours was impossible except by daylight, owing to the abund- ance of wild beasts. A panther carried off a small dog close to the sentry ; a tiger walked in the dusk between my husband and me and two young ladies, who were in front of us ; and when most of the officers returned to Elichpur at the beginning of the rains, a bear took up his quarters in the verandah of an empty house near us. Another bear used to come at night to eat the fruit of a magnificent banyan at the back of the bungalow. My husband would rouse me up, place a spare three-ounce rifle in my hands, and stealthily advance to get a shot at the intruder, while I in a muslin dressing-gown sat on the steps, laughing under my breath at the oddness of the situation. The shadows were so deep and the moonbeams so deceitful, that although he often got a shot at the bear, the bear never seemed the worse for it, and may have fed on that Ficus Indicus for years after. A tiger lurked on the path from the plains, 54 COLIN MACKENZIE. and at night the stampede of a herd of buffaloes was often heard when they were let out of their pen to drive off " Mr. Fluffy," as the tigers were familiarly called. My husband was often out shooting with his gallant little Eajput hunts- man, both by day and by night. Sometimes they stalked the magnificent bison, sometimes the sambhar or elk, some- times the boar, and often brought home the jungle bakri or wild sheep. He used to take out a man with basket and spade on these hunting expeditions and bring home the most lovely orchids, pink and white lilies, and other flowers. Nothing can be imagined more beautiful than the jungle. It was full of magnificent flowering trees and creepers, and extended seventy miles northwards to the Vindya range. Everything grew like Jack's bean-stalk. Geraniums and heliotropes became large bushes, climbing roses shot forth eighteen feet in one season, orange and fig trees bore fruit the third year. In our Elichpur garden there was a magnificent grove of orange and citron trees of various kinds. One of the former bore upwards of two thousand oranges in one year, all of which came to perfection. My husband had a great love and extraordinary fascination for animals, and in this wild place we were surrounded by pets of every kind. Besides his beloved Arab " Rubee," there was a coal black Rampur greyhound, one of a breed said never to have been tamed by a European, who followed me like a shadow, and would let no one approach me after dark without a terrific growl; a young sambhar or elk who chewed muslin flounces to pap, and gnawed off the corners of the chairs : a chikor, or hill partridge, the size of an ordinary hen, the boldest bird known, who pecked everybody impartially in the most unprovoked manner, drawing blood at each stroke, but took a strange fancy for me, he would lie on my lap letting himself be stroked like a cat, and would sit on my shoulder when I walked COLIN MACKENZIE. 55 in the garden. We had tame birds of all kinds, especially Hira and Bibi, two parakeets, full of quaint and sweet little tricks. Hira would climb up inside the leg of her dear master's trousers, squeeze herself out at the waistband, un- buckle his stock and fling it on the ground, lay eggs in his jack-boot as he sat writing, and yawned to excess whenever he whistled "A Sprig of Shillelah." Bibi was his faithful little companion for more than twenty-five years, and used to recognise with a shout of joy, not only his step, but that of his horse, and when in London his knock at the door. There was also a lovely little baby antelope, who stamped to be taken up in one's arms, would turn faithful old "Monty" (a wire-haired Dandy Dinmont) out of his place under my chair, lie down on it, and comfort him by licking his nose. With all these paradisiacal pleasures, with long rides to explore the country, for no carriage could be used, and with gardening and other improvements out of doors, and a good piano and books within, the time passed pleasantly, even when there was a deluge of rain. Besides public worship on Sunday, my husband had a weekly meeting at his own house for reading the Scriptures and prayer, at which he read many of Bonar's Kelso Tracts. The Brigadier was extremely strict as to the morality of his officers. He would have no intercourse, except officially, with those who were known to be leading immoral lives, and yet he treated them exactly as he did his friends in all matters of leave and other indulgences. More than one afterwards confessed he had been right, and became strongly attached to him. Another acknowledged that the Brigadier's refusal to associate with him was a real kindness, and was very grateful for his attentions and visits during a severe illness. Several fights had taken place in the neighbourhood of Elichpur, and all sorts of atrocities committed on the defenceless villagers. The flames of their burning houses 56 COLIN MACKENZIE. could be seen from cantonments, while the Brigadiers were strictly forbidden to interfere ! But the news of an im- pending attack on the Nawab induced my husband to return to Elichpur at the end of August, that he might at least be on the spot. A poor Afghan woman came to beg for some assistance as she was almost starved, her husband, with about a score of others, having been kept in prison nearly two years on suspicion of being concerned in some of the chronic dis- turbances of the country. Finding that this was true, he made them petition the Nizam's Government, and forwarded their appeals, and the consequence was, they were tried and all of them released. Against some there was not even a charge. Of course it is more convenient to make a show of zeal by arresting respectable old Pandits and other innocent people, than to meddle with members of powerful gangs. At this time a Kazilbash gentleman, 1 Aga Muham- mad, was living with us. He had formerly held a con- fidential situation about the person of Fattih Jung, Shah Shujah's son and successor. When this prince was obliged to surrender the Bala Hissar to Akbar Khan, the latter broke faith and imprisoned him. His death was determined on for the following day, when Aga Muhammad contrived his escape, letting him down over the wall by tying their turbans together. He hid Fattih Jung in the house of his aunt, a woman of noble character, raised all the money he could for him, and got him safe into General Pollock's camp. When our army evacuated Afghanistan, Aga Muhammad fled to Lodiana a ruined man. About three years after, his wife managed to join him, and when we were about to leave Lodiana, the Aga expressed his inten- tion of accompanying us. "I have no one but you," he said, and as he was a man of tried gallantry, most amiable 1 Lit. "red head," i.e. an Afghan of Persian descent. COLIN MACKENZIE. 57 disposition, gentlemanly demeanour, and a good Persian scholar, my husband put him in charge of his servants and baggage on their march to the Dekkan. He then acted as a sort of major-domo, and, being an agreeable companion, he used to hunt with the Brigadier, and as he was much in his company, they constantly read the Scriptures together in Persian. But all the luxuriant beauty and fertility of Berar was accompanied, as is so often the case in India, by deadly malaria. Nine of our servants were ill at once ; the Aga was laid up for weeks ; and my husband, having gone up to Chikalda, where I had been nursing a lady ill with fever, went down on foot into one of the gullies after sunset with another officer in pursuit of a tiger. He was attacked by a virulent jungle or typhus fever, and was in great danger. From the 21st to the 29th October were days of anguish never to be forgotten. Warburg's Fever Tincture was the means of bringing out copious perspiration and checking the disease. He was ordered to the Cape for eighteen months, the staff- surgeon stating that " this officer has a strong aversion to legitimate treatment, but pins his faith to homoeopathy ! He is extremely nervous, every feeling is suffering." Just as he was beginning to recover, the number of Kohillas in the district so greatly increased that the Nawab of Elichpur found himself obliged to entertain seven hundred of these lawless adventurers, who raged about the city, committing all manner of excesses. The Nawab could not afford to maintain them, and did not dare to discharge them. As an outbreak was probable, the Brigadier, though still so weak that he could hardly write, offered to give up his sick leave, if General Fraser thought his presence desir- able, adding : " Should the troops take the field, I feel sure that I should be able to do my duty." The comment made by a friend was : " Just like that fellow Colin ! " 58 COLIN MACKENZIE. There was a little shrine, something like a kennel, close to our house at Elichpur, where a lamp was burned at night before the idol. As this was on his own land, he ordered it to be removed. When we returned to Elichpur after his illness, the gardener came and entreated him to allow the idol to be replaced and propitiated with a light. He said : "You see you have been very ill, and perhaps you may die ! " But of course his master remained firm in his refusal. He left for Bombay on the 5th December in a palanquin, and regained strength so rapidly that in a week he went out shooting after the morning's march. Our route lay through a lovely country, though much of the land had recently been left uncultivated. The nights were very mild, but the days hot, and to avoid the sun it was necessary to mount at 4 A.M., and even earlier. There is no such thing as the gray dawn in the Dekkan, it is all gold and rose- coloured. When we reached Bombay, he was congratulated by every one on looking so well. This being the cold season, we were able to see more of Bombay than on our former visit. The sight of its riches, and above all, of the arsenal, elicited from an Afghan servant the enthusiastic exclamation : "What a glorious place for a chappao ! " (foray). Commodore Lushington took us to Elephanta, and had the caves lit with blue lights, which produced a most weird effect. Dr. and Mrs. Wilson, and Hosmasdji Pestonji, one of the first Parsi converts, escorted me to the still more interesting Buddhist caves of Salsette. But the society of the missionaries was in itself our greatest pleasure. Dr. Murray Mitchell thus recalls this visit : " Colin Mackenzie was not a man to be forgotten by any one who ever came in contact with him. . . . What my wife and I deeply felt was the very hearty interest he took in missionary work. It was then the day of small things in India. We were struggling with overwhelming difficulties, which friends in COLIN MACKENZIE. 59 Europe could hardly understand, and which drew forth from most of our countrymen in India only the sneering remark that modern missions were a failure. The Brigadier believed in missions, in the imperative duty to carry them on, and also in their ultimate success. He gave them his fullest and warmest sympathy. He was a most hearty friend, both of the missionaries and of the converts, and when I was lately in Bombay (1882) I heard the warmest expressions of regard for the memory of General Mackenzie, and it was evident that none of our Bombay friends who had come in contact with him could ever possibly forget him. It was his true, deep interest in mission work that first drew our hearts to him. But I do not require to remind you that he had the power to charm, almost to fascinate, in conversation. His narratives about Afghanistan, his captivity, his many 'hairbreadth 'scapes,' were most thrilling. His power of description, his power of expres- sion, were most remarkable. A friend once said to me : 'Colin Mackenzie is a born orator.' The fittest word was never wanting, and it always fell into the fittest place. How much we wished that those vivid portraitures, those word-pictures, could be preserved ! Scarcely less remark- able was his acquaintance with English literature. I often wondered how a man who had lived such a stirring life as a soldier, had been able to read and to recollect so much of the choicest books. All the things I have mentioned made him a delightful companion; but we soon saw that even these were not his noblest characteristics. The absolute truthfulness, the utter sincerity of his mind, appeared in every word he spoke. So did his instant and stern rejec- tion of every suggestion that deviated by a hair's-breadth from the straight line of duty or of honour. With him the question was not what was expedient, but what was right. 'Fiat justitia, ruat ccelum,' might have been his motto. 60 COLIN MACKENZIE. He often reminded me of the character we ascribe to Crom- well's Ironsides, but I might say more, he had much of the spirit of the martyr in him ; he would at all hazards obey the Lord's command, and vindicate His cause; and if he could do so only at a tremendous cost, then he rejoiced to make the sacrifice. His moral courage equalled his physical courage, and each rose to the measure of heroic." The Aga's illness had been very severe, he thought he should die. One night on the march down he went out into the open air and prayed to the Lord Jesus to heal him. When he told his friend this, he added : " He heard me, for you see here I am." He expressed an earnest wish to be further instructed in the faith of Christ ; my husband therefore left him and his wife in Bombay with Dr. Wilson and Mr. Murray Mitchell. My husband having completely recovered his health, gave up his sick leave, and after an absence of three months, spent chiefly at Bombay, we returned to Elichpur on the 15th of March, and as usual spent the hot weather at Chikalda the Brigadier riding down to cantonments whenever business required ; but so insecure was the city of Elichpur that we never once set foot inside it. On one of these temporary absences he wrote : " It is incredible how abuses creep in slily. Men always think me soft at first, because I do not annoy them as some senior officers do, so that in the case of coarse natures I am obliged to bite to convince them that I have teeth. I am trying to obtain justice for the poor old Patel (headman of a village) of Dhokulkera." As there was no chaplain, the Brigadier or his staff officer was expected not only to conduct public worship, but even to baptize, marry, and bury. Major Mackenzie was asked to perform the marriage ceremony for a bride of only thirteen. He flatly refused to sanction so monstrous a deed, and the family were there- COLIN MACKENZIE. 61 fore obliged to delay the ceremony for a year or so. He mentions reading in church Chalmers's sermon " Heaven a Character, not a Locality," which seemed to be appreciated by some who would not have been expected to do so, but who probably had never heard such a sermon in their lives." He was at all times a first-rate reader, with great force and emphasis, and some people complained that " the Brigadier preached the sermons instead of reading them." Certainly nothing could be less formal or humdrum than his elocution. At Christmas 1851 we had the pleasure of welcoming my mother and sister, whom I had persuaded to come to India instead of going straight to the Holy Land. But before they arrived I had already been attacked by the same Berar fever which had so nearly proved fatal to my husband. Less violent in my case, it was much more pertinacious returned at every full moon, and at last every other day. I was ordered to Europe as the only chance of life. This was in April ; but it was impossible to move during the fierce heat of the hot season or the combined heat and damp of the monsoon. The black cotton soil of Berar becomes liquid mud ; and as there were no houses on the way, there was no alternative but to wait until November, hoping I should hold out till then. The Contingent was now six months in arrears of pay. The men had to borrow at ruinous interest to keep body and soul together, and the Brigadier repeatedly urged upon the Supreme Government the justice of paying this interest for them. In July he was obliged to start suddenly for canton- ments on account of a band of Rohillas who, being cheated of their pay, were pillaging the country, children being- seized and held for ransom. The Thug Department had a list of three hundred to four hundred Dacoits, but entire 62 COLIN MA CKENZIE. villages were in league with them, and turned out to rescue those who were arrested ! The Nawab of Kidpur, a place twenty-five miles distant, fled to cantonments to ask for succour. The Brigadier directed him to return, if attacked to resist stoutly, and if overmatched to apply for help and he would be succoured in a few hours. The Rohillas, how- ever, thought better of it and drew off. Our own carts were attacked near Jalna, the drivers robbed of everything, and one of them wounded ; but the banditti considered it more prudent not to detain the carts, as they contained nothing they could carry off. The Governor of Umrauti 1 and the Commandant of the native garrison, a gallant Rajput named Bhowani Sing, came to blows. The latter threw himself, with a small party, into the Travellers' Bungalow, blocked up the door, and fortified himself by hollowing out the floor, so that his little child, his horse, and his men were safe, even when they brought artillery against him. After a most gallant defence for about three days, until the house was reduced to a heap of ruins, he managed to escape into cantonments, where the Brigadier gave him refuge on parole, and afterwards sent an escort with him to Haidrabad to secure him from being murdered on the way. He was a thin, wiry man, with deep set eyes, aquiline nose, and a most melancholy, determined expres- sion. He died not long after. Though my husband was brimming over with fun and humour he was excessively sensitive to emotion, passionately fond of music and poetry, for which he had an astonishing memory. He wrote to me about this time : " Please screw up the strings of our ^Eolian harp ; its sounds transport me into the azure fields above to mingle with that company of whom we hope hereafter to form a joyful group. 1 The chief commercial city of the country. COLIN MA CKENZIE. 63 ' In air the trembling music floats, And on the winds triumphant swell the notes, So soft, though high, so loud, and yet so clear, E'en listening angels lean from Heaven to hear. ' That description belongs to a higher class of melody than the ecstatic trills, wild flights, and mournful soul-stricken cadences of the harp of the viewless winds ; but I love with all my heart the sounds which first awoke pure and high fancies in my boyish heart. I cannot tell you the effect an JMian harp still has on me." During his absence I had a severe shock. A Brahman orderly who always attended me asked leave to go out shooting, was seized by a tiger, and though not severely injured died the second day after in spite of all we could do. My husband returned, gave him stimulants, and endea- voured to cheer him ; but the poor man said : " My heart is gone from me." The doctor said he had seen numerous cases of high-caste natives who eat little or no meat dying from injuries from which a European would easily recover, and yet their powers of endurance are far greater. This brought on my fever every other day, but at last November arrived. Warburg's Tincture chec