 Reference Base  The oriental annual, or scenes in India. omprising twenty... |
|
Caunter, H.; Daniell, W., 1835. The oriental annual, or scenes in India. omprising twenty-five engravings from original drawings by William Daniell, vol. 2. London, Bull and Churton, pp. i-vi, 1-263
|
|
|
|
| |
| Location: |
Asia - South Asia - India |
| Subject: |
Distribution |
| Species: |
Asian Rhino Species |
 |
|
SINGULAR TEMPLE. THE RHINOCEROS. SERIN AGUR.
Upon quitting Hurdwar, as I have stated in the conclusion of the former volume, we proceeded towards the mountains. A short distance from that venerated spot where ablutions in the Ganges are considered so especially efficacious to spiritual purgation, there is a remarkable banyan tree. It is consecrated to the worship of the Hindoo godhead, and its sanctuary is constantly visited by devout pilgrims from the neighbouring countries. The stem, of vast circumference, is surrounded by a terrace. It is hollowed out into a chamber of considerable dimensions, which has been converted into a temple by the pious zeal of the devotees who visit it daily, merely entering on one side and passing out at the other, where they pay tribute, after the manner of all true believers, in the current mintage of the land ; by which they acquire a mystical purification. Being aliens from the privileged stock, we were not allowed to enter the adytum of this forest sanctuary, lest we should desecrate its hallowed mysteries and thus neutralize the potential efficacy with which the presiding deity is supposed to have endowed it. Immediately beyond are several small temples devoted to the mysteries of Hindoo superstition ; and as the population in this neighbourhood is chiefly composed of the poorer and more ignorant classes which are invariably the dupes of their priests, the services of their temples here exhibit all the absurdities of idolatry without any of its less revolting features. This is evidently a place of more than ordinary sanctity. There is an air of solemnity, almost of solitariness about it that renders it unusually imposing, bounded as it appears to be by the neighbouring mountains which project their huge shadows over it. The ministering Bramins relate strange stories of this marvellous tree, to them an object at once of profit and of superstition, assigning to it an existence anterior to the deluge ; and they enumerate a greater number of souls as having been saved by passing through it than the world has contained since the period of that awful visitation. There is nothing remarkable in the upper growth of the tree, which does not cover so large a space as some others on the banks of the Ganges ; and though the trunk is tolerably vigorous and has the remnant of a long life apparently yet before it, still does it exhibit evident symptoms of having passed the vigour of its time. The withering grasp of decay has already fixed upon it. We entered the mountains by the Coadu war ghaut, meeting several travellers, who gave us the rather discouraging information that the snow had begun to fall before they left Serinagur, where it was our intention to make our final halt. As we advanced, the sky appeared to be tinged with a deep dingy red, and, upon suddenly emerging from a narrow glen, to our astonishment the distant mountains seemed to be in a blaze. The fire swept up their sides to the extent of several miles, undulating like the agitated waves of the ocean when reddened by the slanting beams of the setting sun. It was like an ignited sea, exhibiting an effect at once new and fearful. This striking phenomenon is not by any means uncommon and is accounted for by the larger bamboos, as they are swayed by the wind, emitting fire from their hard glossy stems through the violence of their friction, and thus spreading destruction through the mountain forests. These are so extensive that the fire continues to burn for many days together, and is often as suddenly extinguished as it is ignited by those mighty deluges of rain, so common in mountainous countries, where the water pours from the clouds in confluent masses resembling small cataracts, and in a few moments arrests the progress of a still more formidable element. No one can form a conception of the violence of the torrents which occasionally fall on these mountains, from anything that has been witnessed in the more temperate latitudes of the opposite hemisphere. Here indeed, when they do fall, to use the sublime imagery of the Jewish lawgiver, " the windows of heaven appear to be opened/’ It is scarcely possible for man or beast to stand against the impetuosity of their descent. Every living thing seeks the shelter of the forests where immense trees. the growth of ages, afford but an imperfect protection.
These forests, which cover the bases of the hills, are filled with all kinds of game, especially pea-fowl, and it is a beautiful sight to behold those splendid birds come at sunrise from the deep recesses of the woods, as they do in large flocks, and completely cover the valleys. The wild elephant is found in the lower regions of the mountains, and so is the rhinoceros, though less frequently. Of the latter animal we were fortunate enough to obtain a view, which is by no means a usual thing, as it is not gregarious like the elephant, and therefore much more rarely met with. We had turned the angle of a hill that abutted upon a narrow stream, when, on the opposite side of the rivulet, we saw a fine male rhinoceros; it was standing near the edge of the water with its head slightly bent, as if it had been just slaking its thirst in the cooling stream. It stood, apparently with great composure, about two hundred yards above us, in an open vista of the wood. Mr. Daniell, under the protection of a lofty intervening bank, was able to approach sufficiently near to make a perfect sketch of it ; after which, upon a gun being fired, it deliberately walked off into the jungle. It did not appear in the least intimidated at the sight of our party, which remained at some distance, nor at all excited by the discharge of the 'gun. There are two species of this animal, the bicornis and the unicornis ; the latter supposed to be the unicorn of scripture. The former is, I believe, peculiar to Africa: it is never known in India, where the one-horned rhinoceros alone is found. Its size is onlyinferior to that of the elephant, although it is considerably smaller. Its bulk, however, is greater in proportion to its height, and, from its superior courage and activity, it is a much more formidable creature. Its head resembles that of a pig, and it has two small dull eyes which give it an appearance at once stupid and intractable. Its length, not including the tail, is from eleven, to twelve feet, and the circumference of its body about the same ; though it is said sometimes to exceed this standard. It occasionally attains to the height of seven feet, and is amazingly strong, while its skin is so hard and thick as to be generally impervious to a musket ball. The hide is curiously divided into sections, and the different divisions are adapted with such exquisite precision as to have the appearance, at a short distance, of a beautiful coat of mail. It is extremely rough, and offers so complete a resistance to the touch, as not to yield in the slightest degree to the strongest pressure. The only vulnerable parts are the belly, the eyes, and near the ears. This animal is of very sequestered habits ; it traverses the most impenetrable jungles alone and is the terror of every creature with which it comes in contact, although it seldom attacks unless provoked by aggression. The horn upon its nose, which is thick and pointed, curves upwards towards the forehead, forming an acute angle with the bone of the snout, and projecting from it about thirty inches. It is a most fearful weapon ; so much so, that even the colossal elephant has been occasionally laid prostrate by a well directed stroke from the armed head of this terrible adversary. The horn does not adhere to the bone, but when the animal is in its ordinary state, stands loose between the nostrils ; the moment, however, that the rhinoceros is excited to resistance by the approach or attack of a foe, the muscular tension is so great that the horn instantly becomes immovably fixed, and he is able to dart it into the trunk of a tree to the depth of several inches. The upper lip of this animal is of great length and remarkably pliant, acting like a short proboscis, by which he grasps the roots of trees and other esculent substances, and it is capable of contraction or expansion as circumstances may require. “ With this lip,” says Bruce, “ and the assistance of his tongue, he pulls down the upper branches which have most leaves, and these he devours first. Having stripped the tree of its branches, he does not directly abandon it, but, placing his snout as low in the trunk as he finds his horn will enter, he rips up the body of the tree and reduces it to thin pieces like so many laths ; and when he has thus prepared it, he embraces as much as he can of it in his monstrous jaws and twists it round with as much ease as an ox would do a root of celery.” The female generally produces only a single young one at a birth, which attains to a full state of maturity in about fifteen years. The rhinoceros is of a savage disposition and seems to exist merely to gratify a voracious appetite. When excited, it displays paroxysms of fury which render it highly dangerous for any one to approach. As it is of a temper much less mild than the elephant, it is far more formidable when exasperated, on account of its greater activity and more desperate ferocity. The voraciousness of this creature is extraordinary : it will consume as much as an elephant. A young one, only two years old, sent from Bengal in 1739, cost a thousand pounds sterling for food, including the expenses of its passage. Before we entered the pass of the mountains which separates them from the plains, we were obliged to obtain permission from the Rajah of Serinagur to visit his capital. This permission was readily granted, though it caused some delay, as the formalities even of a petty Rajah’s court are invariably more numerous than agreeable ; we nevertheless contrived to spend the intervening time pleasantly enough in the valleys through which our route lay to the Coaduwar Ghaut. The Rajah sent an escort with two hirkarrahs* to conduct us from this place, where the mountains began to close in upon our path, exhibiting to our view that grandeur of form and majesty of aspect for which this mighty range is so preeminently distinguished. At this pass, upon the summit of a tabular hill which is ascended by steps cut in the rock, is built a small neat village, flanked by a strong barrier and gateway. The walls on either side the portal are very massy and the entrance narrow. The valley by which the hill is immediately bounded is protected towards the plains by a rapid stream, which taking a circular direction nearly encloses it on two sides, rushing down into the lower valleys with a din and turbulence peculiar to mountain torrents. The gate of the village was guarded by a small detachment of the Rajah’s troops, and on passing under its low arch we entered the territory of Serinagur. This village is quite deserted during the rainy season, when the ghaut is rendered altogether impassable and becomes the abode of tigers, leopards, bears, hyenas, and other beasts of prey, which retire into the jungles as soon as clearer skies and a more genial temperature invite the return of man. Here the vakeel/' 5 ' sent by the Rajah, procured for us the necessary number of diggeries and sillenies — the former to bear our palankeens, the latter to carry our baggage ; he was exceedingly civil and showed every disposition to diminish the difficulties which invariably arise to impede the progress of the mountain traveller. In these mountains especially there is generally a reluctance in the natives to contribute to the accommodation of a stranger, and it is no easy matter, at any time, to obtain porters to transport his baggage. They are for the most part a very indolent race, although accustomed to encounter the severities of want and to undergo occasionally the most difficult and arduous labours.
|
|
|
File available
details
Original text on this topic: