“ah 
1808.J 
the neighbourhood, and a native of their 
' ewn village the principal hero.’ 
On my arrival at our resting-place for 
the night, Pwent out with my gun for 
half an hour, while my dinner was pre- 
paring; on my return, I observed a 
large kite perched on a tree on the bank 
of the river, not far from my boat, I 
‘advanced that way with an intention of 
firing at it, when an old man approached 
in a supplicating posture, and requested 
in very submissive terms that I would not 
take away the life of so sacred a bird. 
The distance had prevented my distin- 
guishing it to be a Braminah kite, a bird 
which I well knew was an object of par- 
ticular veneration to the Hindus; but the 
address of the old man assuring me’ of 
the fact, I immediately desisted from the 
attempt, and returned to my boat. Shortly 
after, one of my servants came and in- 
formed’ me that a villager had brought 
mea present. I ordered him to be ad- 
mitted, and found that it was the old 
man, who, in return for my attention to 
his reauest respecting the kite, had 
brought me a little offering of fruit’ and 
milk. {was much pleased with this in- 
stance of respect in the old peasant, and 
itshews how easy it is to conciliate the 
natives by conforming a little to their 
prejudices; had Ishot the bird, I could 
have made no use of it, and should have 
departed with the curses and execrations 
of all the Hindus who witnessed the ac- 
tion; but by a forbearance which could 
not be called a sacrifice, | acquired their 
applause and gratitude. Some of my 
readers who.are conversant with India, 
will probably smile at my ascribing gra- 
_titude to a Hinda, as it has often been 
asserted that it is a feeling which none 
of the race are capable of being impres- 
‘sed with; that’ even their language has 
not a word expressive of \that divine 
emanation of the soul. The latter part 
of this assertion I leave to the investiga- 
tion of that learned aud ingenious orien- 
tal scholar Mr. Gilchrist, but that a Hin- 
du possesses sentiments of gratitude or 
something very similar in its nature and 
effect, the foregoing little anecdote suf- 
ficiently proves. 
The general appearance of the country 
through which I passed this day was very 
favourable, the population great, and the 
¢éultivation in high order. A few miles from 
“Culna, Lobserved a considerable rum-dis- 
tillery belonging to a gentleman of Cal- 
eutta. The native superintendent shewed 
me the whole process, and extolled his 
liquor as being superior to any *other 
produced in Bengal, This might be, and 
Narrative of a recent Tour in India. 
203 
the distillation at the same time of a bad 
guality; for itis a well known fact that 
no good rum has yet been produced in 
India, although no country possesses 
more capability in thisrespect; the canes 
are remarkably fine and the sugar may 
be made as good as the best West India, 
yet the spirit extracted is but poor sickly 
unpalatable stuf. To what cause can 
this inferiority be ascribed? The fault is 
evidently neither in the soil, the climate, 
nor the materials; it must therefore be 
in the manufacturers: these in general 
are much more solicitous about the 
quantity than the quality of their spirit; 
and as most of them carry on the busi- 
ness with borrowed capitals, the high in- 
terest of twelve per cent. renders quick 
returns absolutely necessary; the rum 
is therefore disposed of and consumed 
before it has acquired strength and fla~ 
vour from age. In the West Indies the 
management of the still is entrusted to 
an intelligent European, who watches 
over it and marks its progressive stages 
with care and attention: the state of the 
atmosphere is particularly attended toy 
and*the coolest time of day chosen to 
‘draw it off; for excessive heat not only 
destroys the purest spirit, but gives the 
remainder a very unpleasant taste. In 
Bengal the superintendence is given to 
an ignorant native, uhacquainted with 
the matter he is employed upon, further 
than that he must produce a certain 
quantity of liquor; he goes on, therefore 
in the old prescribed way, which to him 
is as fixed as the laws of the Medes and 
Persians, quite regardless of occasional 
circumstances, which frequently occur 
and render a deviation absolutely neces- 
sary. The middle of the day is his fa- 
vorite time of drawing the still, when 
the heat is so intense as to render it im- 
possible to keep the spirit sufficiently 
cool with a worm and refrigeratory; the 
essential oil is therefore brought up with 
the spirit and water, aryl passing through 
a hot worm, communicates that disa- 
greenble burnt flavor which chemists 
term ‘empyreumatic, and- which so eas 
sily distinguishes Bengal from West In- 
dia rum, The natives distil a liquor in 
earthen pots, which they emphaticall 
call doastee,* and in regard to them it 
well deserves the appellation from the 
great profits they derive; but the effect 
on the consumers, who.are generally low 
Europeans, entitles it to the more ap- 
propriate name of dushmunuee.t It-con- 
—————$—— 
* Friendship. 
+ Enmity. 
7 
tains 
