CHAPTER XIV.
RESIDENCE AT CAWNPORE.
1830.—The iron-shod lāthī—Coins of Sekunder al Sāni—Hindostanī Song—The
first Thermantidote—Dāk to Cawnpore—The Barkandāz—The Station
Sand-storm—Indian method of washing the hair—Pukka houses and bungalows—The
Ayha's revenge—Horses poisoned—The Isle of France—The
visionary old man—Influence of women in India—Gambling—Eating the air—The
Ayha's trowsers—Darzees—Refuge of the distressed—Signet-rings—The
Durwān—Ganges water—Small-pox—Grass-cutters—Beauty of a night
in India—Forgery—Qui hy?—Winged ants and bugs—The moon—A set-to—Revenge
of a sā'īs—Soldiers in hospital—Arrak—The Chārpāī—A new
servant—Unpopularity of the Governor-general.
1830, March.—The natives use a very dangerous weapon, which they have been forbidden by the Government to carry. I took one as a curiosity, which had been seized on a man in a fight in a village. It is a very heavy lāthī, a solid male bamboo, five feet five inches long, headed with iron in a most formidable manner. The man was brought before the judge for murder, and this lāthī was the weapon with which two men were supposed to have lost their lives. There are six jagged semicircular irons at the top, each two inches in length, one in height; and it is shod with iron bands sixteen inches deep from the top; diameter of the iron ornament on the top, six inches. Sticks headed with brass put on in the same fashion, are often carried by the native servants for protection when returning to their homes at night[1].
- ↑ See the plate entitled "The Thug's Dice," in which fig. 2 represents the lāthī.
