12^1
SMOK ING WO L V E S FROM T H E Î R E A R T HS .
In ihe y e a r 1 7 8 0 T wa s wi tnes s to a very interes t ing scene at a vi l lage
culled (^¡¿ilnh, aboiil. foiirLccn miles f rom Al l a i i abad, nn ihc Cawnp o r e road. I
M-as aLtachcd lo a eorps tlien proc e eding lo lha l s lal ion, and liad hea rd in the
eniirse ol' the morning of Uvo children having been taken llie ni ght before f rom
Ihe lown of Na b o b Gi inge , s i tuate aboi i l I wo miles f rom Quoihih. T h e
vi l lager s s t ated, lliat. tbe wolves wliieh had commiUed ihe depr eda t ions , and
which gr ievons ly infested tliat neigl i ! )onrbood, ha rboured in an exlens ive burrow,
on the edg e of a l a rge ravine, not more than a ([uarler o f a mile f rom our
c amp. T b e ollicers, on be a r ing wha t hail happened, a g r e ed lo repa i r lo ihe s p o t
ami di g up the e a r t h s ; but on its be ing observed how l abor ious and tedious
siicb a 'proc e s s woid.l b e ; and indeed, tba l iiiosl of ihe wolves would p r o b a b l y
» r e s o l v ed Lo smoke them. T h e Jt-mmmUir, or super ior , of the
scape.
vi l lage, wa s sent: for. and he ol lercd lo provide every neces sary i aterial , if wc
would do our ende avour s to ext i rpa t e bis obnoxious ne i ghbour s . Ac c o rding l y
we repai red to tbe spot , wi th every des t ruct ive we apon we could collect, and
a c compani ed by a 1-Javildar of one of tbe Na b o b ' s Nu j e e b bat tal ions , whom we
found to be more of an Eu r o p e an, lhan a mitive, in his ideas . T h i s mân, I should
observe, entered inio our service ; and be ing a f t e rwa rds promot ed lo the r ank
of or nat ive commande r of a c ompany , di s t ingui shed himsel f on ma n y
occasions.
Ev e r y thing be ing r e ady, the proces s be g an in the mos t orde r ly manner , and
in a shor t time the me aning s of tlie wolves we r e rlistincily heard. As the idea of
smoking tbe bur rows wa s new lo us, we ditl not adopt those precaut ions whi ch
we a f t e rwa rds had recour se to, as be ing neces s a ry to complete succes s . We
incons idcralelv left the suporhcial ape r tur e s open, instead of pa r t ly clos ing them
so as lo del ay, if no I totally obs l ruc l , the p a s s a g e of the wolves . T b i s caused us
lo be t aken s omewha t by surpr i se, and enabl ed tbe first wol f to e s c ape . T h e
er ror \vas, however , speedi ly cor recled by f ixing our spe a r s obl ique ly acros s the
ape r ture s , so that Ave had notice of any a p p r o a c h ; when a per son wi th
a gun immedi a tely shot tlie wol f whi le s t r u g g l ing to pas s . Thr e e full g r own
wolves we r e killed in ihis ma n n e r ; one of them, indeed, g o t awa y for a b o u t
fifty ya rds , but be ing very languiil wa s eas i ly spe a r ed, and as he wa s making
bis way down the ravine, received a shot whi ch compl e t e ly di spa t ched him. As
soon as our operat ion, which lasted near an hour , wa s over, the vi l l ager s turned
out by counnon consent, and d u g up the b u r r ows . Ma n y more wolves , old
and y o ung , were found lying de ad, to the g r e a t j o y of all par t ies . B u t it is
impos s ibl e to descr ibe tbe emot ions of the c rowd a s , in ihe cour se of di g g ing , the
bones of chi ldren were founil scat tered in the bur rows , occas ional ly int e rmixed
wi th the l i l l lc ornament s of gold, silver, and other met a l s , that had been worn b y
them. No t h i n g can equal the effect produc ed b y thei r recogni t ion amo n g the se^
voral pa r ent s and other relatives of the lost infant s . I of ten thought it a subj e c t
wo r thy of a ma s t e r ' s pencil ! 1 am conf ident I spe ak within bounds in s t a t ing,
tha t the a g g r e g a t e we i ght of the t r inket s mus t have been at leas t ten pounds .
We bad not many d a y s ma rch left , b u t such wa s the effecl our enterpr ize
had made on our minds , thai we <laily enqui r ed for wolves ' ea r ths on a r r iving
at our new e n c ampme n t ; and though we did not a lwa y s he a r of any sufficient
ly near lo wa r r ant our unde r t a k ing their de s t ruc l ion, Ave had the sat isfaction
lo smoke two other bur rows Avitb compl e t e succes s . Ou r f ame ran before
us , and Ave had va r ious invitations lo as s i s t on s imi lar oc c a s ions ; but. ihe pl a c e s
Avere too r emot e for us to a cqui e s c e wi th the ent reat ies which were made .
We found our friend the Nujeeb an ent e rpr i s ing felloAv, and thai a pe r f e c t
rel iance Avas to be pl a c ed on bis coolnes s and int repidi ty. He had a ma t chlock,
SAvord, shield, and boAV and a r rows ; in the exer c i se of all whi ch he Avas
tolerably e x p e r t ; Avilh the lat ter in pa r t i cul a r . He s l r u c k ihe Avolf that e s c aped,
us at Qiioi/a/i Avilh an a r row, not, hoAvever, so as to kill bim. T h e Nitjeebs, a r e
usua l ly clothed in blue ves t s and d r a p e r s ; they furni sh their OAVU a rms and
ammuni t ion, and their di scipl ine is ve ry cont empt ible. T h e y ansAvcr AVCII
enough for ga r r i son duly, but cannot s tand the cha r g e of c ava l ry, having no
bayone t s , and their a rms be ing total ly unlit for p r omp t exe cut ion. In fact ,
a l though Ave see l a r g e bodi e s of men maintained in ihe service of the nat ive
poAA'ers, little is to be a [ )prehended unde r their pr e s ent sys t em. T h e N a b o b
Vizier of Ou d e had until very lately an hos t of I roops of variou.s descr ipt ions ,
b u t mos t of them organized in imitation of the Hono u r a b l e Comp a n y ' s s epoy
ba l t a l ions . T h e Br i t i sh mode of di scipl ine wa s also mimi ckcd in a mos t
ludi c rous s tyle, whi le the a rms , &c . compl e t ed the bur l e sque to the hi ghe s t
pos s ibl e fini.'»!!. 1 have seen them on actua l service in such a s tate, lhat, l ike
F a l s t a l F s celebrated ncAV levies, they seemed to be absolut ely, " food for
p owd e r . " Such as had baj 'onet s , had no locks : lho.se Avho had hamme r s to
thei r locks, had not cocks : a t leas t if ihcy had, the flints Avcre Avanliog. T o
compl e t e the business, fcAv had ammu n i t i o n ; and such c a r t r idg e s a s we r e amo n g
them, had b v d a m p and lime, been so compl e t e ly int^orporaled Avilh the wooden
p o u ch blocks , that a l lhough to one wh o did not e x amine ihcm closely, the
p a p e r tops indicated a sufficient s t a le of pr e s e rva t ion, ye t when touched they
c ame off, leaving tin; concreted p owde r and ball a pe r f e c t fixture ! A ba l l a l i ou
of the Niijoehs, though their sys t em be ap] ) a rent ly less r e gul a r , ha v ing no
colour s , drums , &c . Avould Avith ea se cut to a t oms half a dozen of these mock
r egiment s . No t only tbe nat ives in the l i o n o u r a b l e Comp a n y ' s service r idicule
such p a g e ant r y and pr ide as is di spl ayed amo n g the buttalions in the service ol'
the Vi z i e r , but even the Nujeobs t reat them Avith sovereign cont empt ; l aughing ,
a s all mus t do who are a cqua int ed wi lh the .subject, at the idle a t t empt Lo
a r r ive a t any tolerable ]iroficiency in Eu r o p e a n di scipl ine under nat ive officers.
Ex p e r i e n c e proves , lha t it is only unde r the superint-cndance of Eu r o p e ans ,
the nat ives can ever be trained wi th eíTect. We c annot have a more complete
demons t ra t ion of this lhan by a reference to the t roops in the service of native
p owe r s ; pa r t i cul a r ly of S c inde ah, Avbose a rmy wa s cer t a i idy, in many respect s ,
supe r ior to any, e x c e p t ing the Br i l i sh I roops . T h e y we r e officered jn-inci|)ally
by Eu r o p e ans , and pr a c t i s ed much of our t a c t i c s ; but the guidanc e and aid of
an enl ightened gove rnment wa s wa n t i n g ; whos e l ibe r a l i ty should pi'omote
Ifl