Storia do Mogor 264: Of the Dogs of Hindustan.
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 264
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- English
Of the Dogs of Hindustan.
264.1
As I have spoken of these animals [the deer], I do not wish to omit some remarks on the thefts committed by the dogs of India. As a rule, they live on thefts made in the villages and saraes, where there are a number of them, and they look in a miserable condition. Usually cooking is done in sight of the passers-by. Seeing anyone a little inattentive, the dog takes what there is in the man's very presence. If the pot is on the fire, and he gets a moment's chance, he knocks it on to the ground with his nose and carries off the contents. At night they work hard at their tricks, wandering among the travellers when they are asleep, and finding the place by scent, they pull from under the pillows the food made ready for the next day's breakfast. This is done with more dexterity than can be imagined. If perchance a traveller hits the dog, he suppresses any cry for fear that the other people in the enclosure may collect and beat him still more. But when he finds himself outside the enclosure and quite safe, he then begins to howl.
264.2
I have seen that many Europeans newly arrived in India, and thus without experience, have lost knives, forks, and spoons of silver tied up in cloths along with cheese, meat, or bread, a dog having carried them off. It is experience that turns a man into a master-hand. Yet for all my experience of these thieves, I did not fail myself to be taken in. Carrying with me a bag of sugar to refresh myself during the season of great heat, I hung it up in the middle of the room, which, as usual in saraes, had no door. I fancied it was secure there, the place being somewhat lofty. My artfulness was of no avail, for when day dawned I found the bag torn and empty, and the ground showed signs of having been licked by dogs. When these animals find themselves at such feasts and occasions, you may be certain there is no fighting, so as not to be heard. Another case happened to me in a village. To make my food secure, I placed it within a basket fastened by a lock, which I had placed quite close to me. In all confidence I went to sleep and took my rest, but when morning came the basket was not to be seen. I supposed some thief had been there and carried it off. On making a diligent search, I found the basket outside the village all torn to pieces. There was no food, but the other contents were intact.
264.3
The inquiring reader will wonder, and ask how a dog could carry off a basket. But on such occasions many unite together, and, without leaving a trace, raise the load into the air, and getting it to a place of security, eat amicably all that is to be found. A similar case happened to some Armenian merchants. They were in a village on Easter Eve, and at night were cooking some mutton and some fowls in a large cauldron, which they left upon the fire. Then they went to sleep, and next morning they could not find the cauldron. By diligent search they found the cauldron in an orchard outside the village, where it had been carried by dogs. The dogs of a place called Burjamguel (? Bhagwan-golah), in the neighbourhood of Bengal, and near the river Ganges, are very famous in this respect. When Hindu travellers arrive at the place, they go to the river bank, they draw a circle on the ground, and within it with their own hands cook their food. While they are busy with this process, a number of dogs collect, placing themselves at a distance one from the other, seated on the ground as if waiting for some food to be thrown to them. When all is ready, and the food placed in the dishes, the Hindu waits for it to cool. The dogs know by the smell that the table is laid. Two of them rise from their post and simulate a fight, while the other dogs that had been scattered about run up to take part, and raise a great noise.
264.4
During this fictitious fight they draw nearer and nearer until they can reach the food. On reaching the spot the fight is dropped, and they consume the food most amicably, while the Hindu has to get out of the way for fear of being bitten. Thus his labour is entirely thrown away, seeing that the dogs have trodden within the circle already referred to. For if a stranger touches that place or the man's body, any food present there becomes impure, according to the precepts of his religion. If the dogs fail to get hold of food, and there be any lighted lamp, they blow it out and lick it until it is empty. If this cannot be got, they carry off the traveller's shoes. Ordinarily it is found that they take that of the left foot. It is impossible to know the attraction they have in this matter. I will finish with these thieves by recounting an instance that happened in the Mogul country at a village near [153] a mountain. It is not far from the jungles of Manddo (Mandu).
264.5
A traveller arrived at this place, and rested in the village. Next morning he missed a bundle containing the best of what he had. He noticed before the door where he had slept some footprints of dogs. He took up the trace, and, following these marks, went on till he got to the foot of the mountain. He noticed that caught in the thorns were pieces of torn cloth, and he continued by this route, and with great difficulty guiding himself by the marks left, he arrived at the highest point, where he found a large and very ancient temple partly in ruins. He saw there some dogs and many destroyed bundles. Along with his own things lay torn silk cloth, calico all in pieces, much coin in gold and silver, chains, jewels, rings, pearls, and precious stones. The complainant said that they had been stolen by the dogs, and that no one knew it. Profiting by the occasion, in complete silence he gathered up the best of the valuables, and set out for his home. Thus things go in this world ; one man collects with the sweat of his brow, and others eat without having laboured, and he to whom God wishes to give never fails in resources.
264.6
A traveller left a sarae, and a dog followed for a journey of three days, showing himself most faithful. On arriving at the other sarae, where he meant to rest, he noticed that the dogs of that place did not interfere with the dog that had followed him. It was well received by them, and they approached with their accustomed marks of politeness, smelling it and wagging their tails just as if they were old friends. The traveller went off to sleep, and below his pillow he put some food, relying upon his faithful dog, who was on sentry at the door. In the midst of his deepest sleep a dog caught him by the foot, and he hurriedly raised his head to drive it away. His faithful companion, already posted at his bed-head, laid hold of the bundle containing the food, and in all haste carried it off. Next morning he found his companion had disappeared, and the politeness displayed to him by the other dogs on entering the sarae had not been done in vain. Many times such dogs have followed me, and took their leave by carrying something off.
264.7
Equally I do not like to pass on without a mention of the cunning of certain birds, that in the Mogul country are called colong (kuling). They arrive in the month of September from the lands of Tartary and the mountains of Kashmir to feed in the regions of Hindustan. Then in the month of March, when the hot season begins in the Mogul country, they return whence they came. They are of the size of a turkey-cock or cock of India, of ashen colour, legs two spans in length, the neck of three spans, the beak 5 inches long. Usually they arrive in flocks of over five hundred, and they descend upon the fields or marshes. They live upon grain, and not upon shell-fish. When in repose they stand all close together, the head under the wing, and one foot raised. Four of them at some little distance from the resting-place march back and fore as sentinels, equally by day as by night. The hunter gets near with great difficulty, the sentinels being very vigilant. On the least suspicion, one of them, stretching out its neck, cries in a low voice, while the other sentries reply in the same way. By great care the hunter arrives closer, when, suspicion being further aroused, they cry again, a little louder than the first time. In the same manner the others reply, and increase their efforts to discover what is wrong. When they perceive there is some danger they cry aloud, so that all the flock awakes, and with a long run they make off with loud cries.
264.8
The Mogul kings have issued decrees that no one may hunt them [the kuling] for a distance of twelve leagues from the cities of Agrah, Dihli, and Lahor, the only places excepted being gardens in which pigeons and turtle-doves may be caught. To carry out this decree there are watchmen. For the distance named the kuling is preserved for the royal person, that he may with ease hunt these cranes by birds of prey ; and although they are so large, they [? the kuling] are yet very tasty. Also [155] in the Mogul country they hunt them in another way. There is a kind of animal like a large cat called xagox (Shāgosh)—that is, 'Royal Ear.' Their colour is grey, and their ears larger than those of the cat, having at the tips some rather long hairs, black in colour. This animal is released a long way off, where it can see these birds. It then works its way rapidly, crouching first here, then there, as a cat does, and hiding its body until it is within the distance required for its spring. It then makes a rush, and the frightened bird makes an attempt to fly. In the meanwhile the lynx has made its bound and seizes its prey. When the huntsmen see the other birds take to flight, they know that their prey is safely caught. In this way they take them alive. It seems to me that these birds [the killing] are cranes (gros), because they cry in the same manner.
264.9
In the year one thousand six hundred and eighty-six, seven days after my arrival at Madras, Governor William Guiford (Gyfford) sent for me, and informed me that the governors and officials of the Mogul king in the Bengal province had been illtreating his [the English] factors. They hindered them from exercising the privileges conceded to them by the Mogul kings. For two years he had made efforts to bring his grievances before the king, and had spent much money, yet had been unable to impart to the king in person the damage they were doing to him. On this account they had begun a war against the governor of Hūglī.
264.10
He prayed me to find some means by which King Aurangzeb should take notice of the oppression inflicted on them by his officials. I wrote a letter to one of the king's eunuchs, a very familiar friend of mine, called Necruz (Nekroz)—that is, 'Fortunate Day.' In it I informed him with great politeness of the troubles suffered by the English nation within His Majesty's dominions, including many necessary particulars. I prayed him as a favour to deliver this letter to the king, and he, out of his great friendship for me, and aware also that His Majesty himself knew who I was, delivered the letter with confidence when the king was among his women. Having read it, the king put it in his pocket, then went out into the 'Am-Khass (the audience-hall) and began to hold audience. After hearing several complaints brought before him by his officials, he drew the letter from his pocket and began to read it again, shaking his head meanwhile. Then he said aloud : ' It is true that the English are in the right, and the fault lies with my officials.' The persons present were much agitated.
264.11
He turned his face in the direction of Mahabat Khan, and asked him if there was at the court any agent of the English. He answered that there was not. The king ordered him to write to the governor of Madras that he forgave the temerity displayed by the English in plundering the town of Hugli, and on their side they must excuse the troubles caused to them by his officials. The governor should send to court persons properly empowered, and he might be assured of acquiring new favour.
264.12
During this going to and fro the war in Bengal went on. By the time the answer arrived Governor Gyfford was already out of office, and there governed in his place Alexandre Hayel. The latter, on seeing the good-will shown by the king, was very pleased, but was unable to send off any representative at once, because he had to report to the general, who lived in the island of Bombajm (Bombay), at a great distance from Madras. The officials at the court, finding that no agent appeared in time, and being aggrieved at what the king had said in audience, so managed affairs that they forced the king into investing the fortress of Bombahim (Bombay). That place was so closely pressed that it very nearly fell into the hands of the Mogul. Finally, the [English] general was obliged to send an envoy to the court. Great expenditure was incurred before he obtained entry in the manner that everybody obtains ; and he received his leave to depart when an order to raise the investment of Bombay had been issued. The English undertook to send orders to withdraw their fleet from Bengal. If these efforts had only been made at the proper time, there would not have been so much expense or damage, for from a single neglect flow many evils [155].