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    MR. OLIPHANT'S POLITICAL TRAVELS.

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    but fatalism , and desirous of nothing but rapine and political chaos , and for such a state of affairs an active and potent remedy was needed . " We have no disposition now to repeat the dreadful tale , but , as in this book there are some striking passages of original description , we shall depart from our general rule , and venture to bring one or two before the eye of our readers . Mr . Lowe has not , for instance * forgotten to describe the beauties and peculiarities of the . scenery though which the troops had to march . This he does with skill and knowledge . Take the following description of morning : —

    " We entered the foot of the ghaut , about 3 a . m .,-when the fire " flies flitted about in thousands , and the stars abore shone brilliantly " As we ascended morning broke over our heads , while it seemed night in the depths below us . Gradually nature seemed to awake from her sleep , and then all was emerald and velvety , and subdued in the dis ^ tance like the softest misty pencillings of Turner ' s happiest pieces . The giant trees of the forest were clustered together in the valleys and on the hill ' s side like tufts of embossed velvets , lightening and darkening with every gleam of coming day ; here and there trees of varied blossom formed stalwart supports for fantastic creepers revelling in wild profusion ; while on the decayed trunks of others , gorgeous parasites had made their homes ; yonder a . tiny cataract poured its crj'stal drops , to bound from rock to rock to the peaceful valley traveller

    hope , and vigour , were blown into . atoms , and their existence scattered upon the . winds , like breath . " Our author complains , too , of the ridiculous uniform imposed on the troops . "We cannot , "_ he says , ' " be surprised at the excessive mortality of British troops in India , when we reflect that they have had to combat the fearful effects-of . a tropical climate , from year to year , trussed up in uniforms only suited to England or the polar regions . " Readers-who arc pleased with narratives of camp life , and incidents of danger and death , will find in this book ample materials to awaken wonder , excite imagination , or fill the heart with terror and wild sympathy . Of the writer ' s power to animate his descriptions with an ardent spirit of realization , there can be no doubt . He is too a conscientious though partial moralist ; an exclusive patriot , mindful of no cause but his country's .

    below ; here was an embowered well for the thirsty , shaded by mango trees drooping with golden fruit , near which the birds sang as sweetly as though they lived on honey ^ dew and breathed an air untainted by earth . The very grass seemed to live in luxury , and smile as Aurora passed over , and a ? cloud after cloud dissolved ? and the bright sunbeams stole over the hill ' s tops , the arborescent grasses and distant trees seemed burnished with silver and gold , as they waved in the wind . As the sun warmed the valleys below , every object seemed to exist in sweetest harmony— -so peaceful , pure ^ and happy . But what pen cariipourtray nature ? Here all was beauty , majesty , and peace . Jfo cottage , no herd , no happy children , no woodman ' s distant-sounding axe , no village spire , no church bell to call to the altar of the Creator of all ! no , nothing but silent grandeur- —the everlasting bills mutely pointing heavenward . "

    The reader has seen that the aiithor had to apologize for ou military doings amidst these sublime scenes , on the score o f ¦ ¦ " necessity—the tyrant ' s plea . " the excuse , however , detracts not from the terrors that = he describes . Vengeance , winch he calls justice , is either- inhuman or preterhuman . The heart of , the benevolent naturally repudiates such ghastly exhibitions . Life in India , as it then was , presented , to the mind of the observer an image of one " standing on the yerge of a volcanic crater , the sides of which were fast crumbling-away from his feet , while -the boiling lava was ready to erupt and Consume , him . " tJrider such circumstances fear , rather than conscience , would guide his actions . It was the morning of the 27 th September . Service at church was just over . A salute from the heavy guns of the fort was fired . Startled attention questioned the " wherefore ? " It was in honour of the capture of Dellii . " This famous stronghold was again in our keeping . It had fallen by assault some thirteen" days before . This news was known in the native bazaar , two or three days prior to the official annoixiicement , when twenty-one guns poured forth their loud voices on the still air of a bright sabbath morn , proclaiming .. ' . theglorious achievement of General Wilson ' s army . Z hesitate . not to say , that every soul felt grateful for what tms noble army had endured and effected . A burden seemed at once to be lifted" . from , the heavily oppressed hearts of the British , and nbw they could breathe more freely , and again exult , as of old , in their prowess . " This incident serves to fix the date of the ti'ansactions . The author proceeds in his vehement and graphic manner to present the most interesting details within his knowledge of the stirring scene ; Casualties and crimes , groups of animals and men , panoramas of beauty and grandeur , and excited life , dreadful tales of burning villages , consumed amid a din of voices , volleys of musketry rattling , and screams and howlings of dogs—these form the substance of his glittering pages . Gayer arid merrier incidents are sometimes found ,

    but these , by contrast . only serve to enhance the gloom of the narrative . There is also many a picture of battles , and of the field after battle , and some horrors by which the campaign was disfigured , to which we may not oven allude . Ono featuro , however , the author notes as worthy of attention , that " during these troublous times , the peasant and agriculturist continued their ordinary labour as though nothing in the world was afoot of greater moment than the Beed they were sowing , or the crop they were reaping . " " One of the most marvellous things is the wuy in which women jmd children spring up with an army . A force may march out for the field with only , perhaps , a slight sprinkling of native women with them , such as milkwomon or Jiorsokecpcra' wives ; but , , ere long , more and more womon and children appear ; and , by and by , on either flank of the force , there is a britrudo of women riding

    tattoos astride , and chattering like parrots all the timo . The milkwomen are wonderful boings , they not only march with tho force , cari ^ ingfTOilk-upon-thoir hands (^^ to supply the won aa they go , but alter camp is pitched , their voices are heard evorywhero crying out dondh for tno whole day long . One woman generally attaches herself to a particular corps , u « d thus ench corps is supplied with milk . Although tho women undergo considerable fatigue , they seem to thrive on the occupation . " JJogH also increase in numbers on tho nuircli . The mutineers , for Borne thno , would not believe that Delhi had fullon , and they still continued an insane rcsi * tn » cc . They wore duy » of tribulation imd uncertainty . Accidents were perpetually occurring . Guns would frequently oxplotfo . " 1 " ono moment thono men , who were marching cheerfully along in the plcntsimt hour of sunriHe , full of life , and

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    npHE author of "Patriots and Fillibusters ' commences Ins work I by remarking " that one of the most important and interesting episodes of the Russian war , though it attracted comparatively little attention at the time , was the destruction , by British ships , of the Russian forts upon the Circassian shore of the Black Sea . " Those statesmen who had made it their business to keep ait eye upon tho policy and progress of Russia in the East , " saw in this event an available pretext for cheeking the designs of the formidable and aggressive power with which we were then at war ; while to the traveller an opportunity was thus afforded , which juight never again occur , of exploring scenes hitherto unvisited by any European . " Mr . Oliphant considers the treaty of peace by which

    we concluded the great Crimean war as premature , and that by it we have thrown away all the political advantages which might have been derived from , a further display-of hostilities . These hostilities , he says , moreover , " so far from definitel y and finally settling the much-vexed Eastern question , out of which they sprang , have only stirred the turbid waters of that very noxious pool * and laid the foundations for those fresh complications which are destined before long to trouble the peace of Europe . " He does not , however , consider it at present expedient to expatiate largely upon the state of Eastern politics , and he therefore proposes to entertain the reader with a short account of that " littleknown . Caucasian chain , which has sp long presented an insurmountable barrier to Russian aggression , upon Persia and Turkey , and a verv inconvenient political obstacle / ' '

    After a * few rejections Upon the inordinate ambition of Russia , which "has already subjugated nearly the whole of the Eastern Caucasus , and which must ultimately lead , either to the extermination , or conquest of the ten- tribes which still retain their independence , the author proceeds to enlighten us upon the political position of Abkhasia , a Russian frontier province , situated between , Mingrelia and the yet uncouquercd Caucasian tribes . The population of this conntry is partly ilahomedan , partly Christian ; its capital town is Soueliauni-Ivaleh , in Svhieh latter place a large Russian force lias been . for many years permanently stationod . The Czar had hoped , with the ¦ powerful co-operation of Prince Michael , eventually to subdue the whole of those wild mountaineers , who had hitherto so successfully resisted all endeavours to wrest from .-them their first and UCarly-prized pmrngnt '

    iYufreedom . This anticipation , however , does not seem to have been realised up to the commencement of the late war . " Notwithstanding tho exertions of Prince Michael in favour of Kussia , the greater portion of his subjects could not be induced to relinquish that independence which ho ( perhaps compelled by the force ' -of circumstances ) had already 'forfeited . Secure in their mountain strongholds , they bade defiance to the Imperial troops , who dared not penetrate beyond a few miles into the interior . ' AVishin" - to penotrate further into the interior than had hitherto

    been attempted by any Europeans , bur travellers experienced innumerable obstacles from tho distrustful character of the natives , who . incapable of comprehending the pure motives which actuate a party of gentlemen making an exploratory tour through their wild mountain passes , suspect them of harbouring secret and ulterior designs against their peace and independence ^ They , howhowevor , notwithstanding the difficulties thus thrown in the wjvy of their expedition , make considerable progress ;—and further on wo have tho following interesting account of the Circassian language : —

    " Circassian itself is tho most impracticable dinloot that wo unfortxinato tmvellora attempted to acquire . It consists of sounds which bear a greater resemblance to a sucocssion of sneezes and coughe than to words . It is not a written langiuigo j there ia , consequently , no alp habet , grammar , or mochunicnl nssistanco to , tho tjro , who lms to trust entirely to ear ; and then—howovor correct tlint organ may bo— - it requires long pruotiou boibro it cntehos tho peculiar intonation . I attempted to make a vocabulary j but no allocation of our own lottora could form tho faintest approximation to tho words they wore intended to express . ... Thoro aro said to bo thirty dillbrent lang uages in -tlio-CaucuauaJi , „ , _„ . __ . _ , The mitlior " tlion gives us a soTn ' ewhsvt . ludicvouH descrip tion of a Cirousslun lmveni , tho pi'o ]) rietor of whicli l » o savs " wiw ]) ul > li «' spirited cnougli to turn out for his inspection . " Tho following > rt part of the account ho fjfivcN ot'it : — " At first they kept at n vt'spocti'ul' distnncu , ' and iiltovcd imnienscly aunoiig thomsclves , mid got iichind . one another with u grout aflbctaiiou of coyness . When , however , they nuw that ]> rcscnts wove to bo obtained by ncurov advances they crept forward , sending 1 tho litflo cliilthvn on as

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    750 / The Saturday ^ Analyst and Leader . £ Atjg . . 25 , 1 & 60

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    * Patriot * «) itt FilUnmlei's ; < n \ Jnetilciiln of PuUtltnl ami i :. ri > hl' «( ovy Ti \ u \ l > Uy Lnurouco Ulli > lmMt . "W . l » lftOk \ voo ( hin « l Shuh .

    Mr. Oliphant's Political Travels.

    MR . OLIPHANT'S POLITICAL TRAVELS .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 25, 1860, page 750, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2362/page/6/