CONJIVERAM. 33 



making grimaces at me from an abutment of the edifice, 

 when my arm was touched by my attendant, and on looking 

 round I observed a troop of horror-struck Brahmins ad- 

 vancing towards me in threatening attitudes. 



Fortunately the peacock was concealed in a game-bag, 

 which my servant carried, and I beat a quick retreat to 

 my tents, which were hard by, where, by an apology on the 

 plea of " youth and inexperience," made by my head-servant 

 for me, and the timely present of a few rupees to be spent as 

 a peace-offering to their offended gods, I got out of the 

 scrape. 



The pea-fowl and monkeys were both sacred, and regarded 

 with religious veneration ; the latter particularly so, being one 

 of the incarnations of Yishnu. 



I proceeded to Yellore, which, as everybody knows, is a 

 walled fort, surrounded by a wide and deep moat, full of 

 alligators, once belonging to Tippoo Sahib, and famous for 

 the mutiny that took place there on the 10th July, 1806.* 



* "Whilst I am recording these souvenirs of my early days a terrible 

 revolution, or rather mutiny, after so many years of quiet and confidence, 

 is absolutely taking place in India ; and this portion of our Eastern history 

 seems to have escaped the observation of the many commentators and 

 theorists as to the present or remote causes of the lamentable catastrophe. 

 It seems to me that many circumstances attendant upon the present 

 outbreak precisely coincide with those that preceded the mutiny at Vellore 

 in 1806, and prove, not only the extreme susceptibility of the native 

 character in all matters connected with their religion or caste, but also 

 the danger of leaving at large, or out of the immediate surveillance of the 

 British Government, any of the immediate descendants or relations of 

 deposed or conquered sovereigns. It is a pleasing task, also, to recal to 

 the minds of our present rulers the courage, promptitude, energy, and 

 resolution that were displayed on that occasion, and which were, no 

 doubt, the means of averting evils and consequences exactly similar to 

 those that have occurred in our Bengal Presidency. An admirable and 

 concise description of this event is contained in Routledge's edition of 

 Macfarlane's History of British India, from page 337 to 343. 



