to whom tribute is due, honour to whom honour. What an affecting picture of the filial and parental character is given by Virgil in the words which he puts in the mouth of Æneas, when describing his escape from the flames of Troy: "I, on my bending back, The welcome load of my dear Father take, 70. A good BEGINNING makes a good ending. death. greater length of time, the blossoms will appear, and the leaves become more dry and harder, and yield the colouring matter in less quantity, and of an inferior quality. After the first gathering, the new branches and leaves may be gathered every five or six weeks, provided the weather is moist, for if cut in a dry season the plant will be destroyed. The plants being cut to within a few inches of the Ray's comment on this is, A good life makes a good ground, are carried by the negroes to the factory, to M. THE CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE OF INDIGO. THE Indigo of commerce, so well known as a beautiful and permanent blue dye, is manufactured from several plants, particularly the Indigofera anil, a large American plant, and the Indigofera tinctoria, a native of China. The Indigofera anil is a small shrub, two or three feet in height, a native of the West Indies and South America, and formerly the finest and most valuable Indigo was brought from Guatimala; but since its manufacture engaged the attention of the British inhabitants of the East Indies, Indigo, superior even to that of Guatimala, has been imported in considerable quantity from that quarter. Indigo is what is called a substantive colour, that is, when in solution it will communicate its colour directly to the substance which is dipped into it, without the intervention of any chemical preparation of the cloth by means of an earthy or metallic basis. Colours that require the mediation of some such basis are called adjective colours. A substance resembling Indigo is said to have been known to the ancients; this is supposed to have been Woad, a blue dye, prepared from the Isatis tinctoria, which resembles Indigo in all its properties, excepting that of brilliancy of colour; it is at present used in the dyeing of blue along with Indigo. The culture and preparation of Indigo was known to the Oriental nations long before it was introduced into Europe. The most detailed account we find of the manufacture of Indigo is in the travels of Labât to the islands of America; and as the process employed at present is the same in most particulars, we shall abridge his description of an Indigo manufactory, and of the culture of the plant. : The Indigo plant requires rather a rich soil, and not too dry; it exhausts the land much, and during its growth must be kept very free from weeds in preparing the ground for the reception of the seed, the hoeing and raking is repeated as many as five different times. Although Indigo is perennial, yet as the young plants yield a greater quantity of the dye than the older, the practice of rearing them every two years from seed is in general followed. Small holes are hoed to receive the seed, two or three inches in depth, and about a foot asunder in every direction, a straight line being carefully preserved. When the hoers have arrived at the end of the field, each of the workmen provides himself with a small bag of seed, and, retracing his steps, places in each of the holes he has made eleven or thirteen seeds, for, in their estimation, any but an odd number would be unlucky. Although any part of the year is proper for sowing the Indigo, it is necessary that the weather should not be dry, for fear of having the seed destroyed by insects, or swept away by the high winds. As soon as the plant is above the earth, the work of weeding commences, and must be pursued unremittingly until the plant is in fit state for cutting, which will be in about two months; if it is allowed to grow for a be soaked. The cisterns intended to contain the Indigo are three in number, generally one above the other, so that the second which is lower than the bottom of the first, can receive the liquor contained in the first, when the small canals at its side are opened, and the third can also in its turn receive the contents of the second. These cisterns are in general formed of solid masonry, well cemented together. The first and largest of these cisterns is usually twenty feet long and twelve or fifteen in width, the depth being three or four feet; this is called the soaking trough. The second is called the battery, or pounding trough; it is about half the size of the first; the third, which is much smaller, is named the settling trough. About eighteen or twenty bundles of the plant are in general sufficient to fill a soaking trough of the size we have mentioned; they are then covered with water, and pieces of wood are laid across to keep the Indigo under. According to the heat of the weather and the greater or less tenderness of the plants, the process of fermentation takes place sooner or later, sometimes in six hours, and sometimes, though very rarely, not until twenty hours. As the fermentation proceeds, the liquor gradually becomes more opaque, and of a blueish colour, bordering on violet. They then, without meddling with the plants, open the little canals at the bottom of the vat, and allow the liquor, impregnated with the salts and substance of the Indigo, which have been separated by fermentation, to run into the battery or second trough, while the contents of the first vat are laid aside as nearly useless, to give place to a fresh supply. The liquid in the battery is now violently stirred about, or churned, as it were, until the extracted matters begin to separate from the more liquid, and assume a more solid form. The great art of the workmen appears to consist in knowing the exact time when it is proper to leave off agitating the liquid, since, if it is done too soon, the separation is not complete, and if continued too long, it is again distributed through the water. If the proper time has been chosen, the more solid parts will gradually settle at the bottom of the battery, of a consistence like mud, and the water becomes clear. Little holes which have been made at different heights on the sides of the battery are then opened, one after the other, until the water is drawn off nearly to a level with the sediment, which is then allowed to run through the openings in the front, into the last or smallest receptacle; it is there allowed to remain for a short time, when it is placed in pointed cloth bags from fifteen to eighteen inches in length; these are hung up until the remainder of the water has drained off. When this is done it is spread out in boxes three or four feet in length, two feet wide, and about three inches deep; it is then exposed to the air and thoroughly dried. While it is drying, it is essential to the goodness of the dye that it should be carefully preserved from exposure either to the rays of the sun or to the rain. Lime-water or caustic alkali is at present added to the second vat, to promote the precipitation of the Indigo, when it is observed to be distinctly granulated, In Egypt, instead of subjecting the plants to the process of fermentation, they are boiled for the space of three or four hours, and this, it appears, causes the portions of the vegetable which contain the dye to separate, in the same manner as if they had been fermented. The immense use of Indigo in dyeing is at present well understood. As early as the year 1339, the Woad and Indigo dyers were recognised among the Germans as a distinct trade, and were afterwards incorporated by charter with certain dyers from Italy and Flanders, under the name of Art, Woad, and Fine Dyers; but soon after their establishment they excited the jealousy of a more ancient corporation, the Black Dyers, and as Indigo was employed by the former, the Black Dyers exerted themselves so successfully in decrying the use of it, that the Elector of Saxony, listening to their selfish suggestions, was prevailed upon to issue severe prohibitions against those who should employ it in dyeing. In the prohibitory edicts which were passed against it, it is described as a corrosive colour, and fit food only for the devil: these acts were passed between the years 1521 and 1547. In 1831, the quantity of Indigo imported into Great Britain amounted to as much as 7,299,605 lbs. Of this quantity 6,996,063 lbs. were from India, and 149,349 from the British West Indies. But the import of this article in the years 1826-7-8-9, averaged as much as 9,000,000 lbs. The attention of the English was first directed to the cultivation of Indigo in India in 1783. pounds of bran. The whole of this mixture, grounds and all, is put into the vat; six pounds of Indigo ground in water are then put in, and after raking it carefully (stirring it with a rake), the vat is to be covered, a slow fire being kept up round it. Twelve hours after it has been filled, it is to be raked a second time, and so on every twelve hours, until the liquor becomes blue, which happens in about fortyeight hours. If the bath has been well managed, it will then be of a fine green, covered with copperycoloured scales, and a blue scum or flower. When cloth is to be dyed, the bath is stirred about two hours before the immersion of the stuff; and to prevent the latter coming in contact with the sediment at the bottom of the vat, it is supported by a netting stretched upon iron or copper hoops, which are fastened with cords to hoops on the sides of the vat: when wool is to be dyed another netting is placed over it, to keep it under the surface of the bath. By means of this apparatus, the stuff previously wrung out of hot water is introduced into the vat, and kept there a longer or shorter time, according to the intended depth of colour. After being taken out it is wrung above the dyeing vessel and exposed to the air, when the green colour which it had imbibed from the bath is instantly changed into a blue, by the absorption of the oxygen of the atmosphere. In a rich bath it is difficult to give a uniform colour to light blues: the best method of obtaining such shades is to use vats already exhausted, and which are beginning to grow cold. Another preparation of Indigo for the purpose of dyeing blue is obtained by dissolving the Indigo in sulphuric acid; this, when diluted with water, is used in dyeing what is called Saxon-blue. A vat in which Indigo is employed without Woad is called an Indigo vat. The vessel used in preparing it is a copper, which, being of a conical shape, leaves between it and the surrounding brick-work at the bottom, sufficient space for containing the fire. Into this copper are poured about forty buckets of water, in which have been boiled six pounds of salt of tartar, or potash, twelve ounces of madder, and six PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PART®, LONDON: JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PRICE SIXPENCE. No 194. 11, 1835. JULY PRICE ONE PENNY. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. FORT OF THE CHALEES SATOON, ALLAHABAD, E. I. VOL. VIL EAST INDIA STATIONS. No. VI. ALLAHABAD. THE city of Allahabad, which is the capital of a province of Hindostan bearing the same name, is distant from Calcutta 470 miles. It is situated at the juncture of the two grand rivers of India,-the Ganges and the Jumna, occupying the extreme point of the DOAB, as that fertile district is named which lies between those two mighty streams. It holds a middle rank amongst European stations in the Mofussil, being many degrees in advance of the slenderly garrisoned cantonments of the jungles, yet very inferior to the larger depôts, such as Cawnpore*. This city owed its name of Allahabad, or "the Abode of God," as well as what consequence it once possessed, to the Mussulman conquerors of India. Akbar himself made it a favourite place of residence, and built there a noble fortress, the Chalees Satoon, which was, in former days, of unequalled beauty. With the exception, however, of this building,-a mosque, entitled the Jumna Musjeed, several tombs remarkable for the elegance of their structure, and a garden and serai, which was the property of one of the emperors, Sultan Khosroo, the city does not display those remains of magnificence, which might have been expected in a place thus favoured with the presence of royalty. It in fact retains few other vestiges of the Moghul conquest; and its Mussulman inhabitants being limited in numbers, and of little importance as regards their talent, rank, or wealth, it has obtained among the neighbouring nations, the contemptuous name of Faheerabad, or Beggars' Abode." Of the buildings just mentioned, the principal object of curiosity is the Chalees Satoon, which stands on the extremity of the point of land stretching into the waters of the rivers Ganges and Jumna, whose broad currents are united beneath its walls. Though injured in its appearance by the alterations necessary to transform an ancient Moghul castle into a modern fortification, it still retains somewhat of its Oriental and feudal air; rising in majestic grandeur from the river, whence it may be espied at a very considerable distance. "Its lofty towers have been pruned down into bastions and cavaliers, and its high stone rampart topped with turf parapets, and obscured by a green sloping glacis." There are low posterns leading to the glacis facing the river, but the principal entrance of the fort of Allahabad is landward, and is not to be paralleled in magnificence by any building intended for a similar purpose. A noble arched hall, in the gothic style, surmounted by a dome, surrounded by arcades and galleries, and enriched with besques of gold and flowers," appears beyond the ample portal, an entrance worthy of the finest citadel in the world. " ara From a balcony, elevated nearly to the summit of a tower, on which the windows of one of the chambers open, a prospect of singular beauty is obtained. The spectator looks down upon a grove of mango-trees, flanking a fine esplanade, and peopled with innumerable ring-necked parroquets, which, as the sun glances upon their vivid plumage, dart backwards and forwards amidst the branches like corruscations of emerald light. Above, upon pediment and pinnacle, other bright wanderers of the air erect their crests, and plume their wings, or take their upward flight into fields of gold. Along the thickly-wooded shores of Allahabad bank, buildings of various degrees of interest are interspersed on the small islands which raise their See Saturday Magazine Vol. II., p. 217. sandy platforms above the surface of the river, huge alligators bask; and the opposite shore of Bundelkund, rising in towering cliffs, crowned with pagodas, on the remnants of hill-forts, forms a noble background beautifully outlined against the clear blue sky. The Jumna Musjeed, or principal mosque, is still in good repair, but very little frequented. It stands in an advantageous situation on the banks of the Jumna, adjoining the city on one side, and on the other, an esplanade before the glacis, planted with trees like that of Calcutta. It is a solid and stately building, but without much ornament. The finest things in Allahabad are Sultan Khosroo's serai and garden. The former of these is a noble quadrangle, entered by four fine Gothic gateways, and surrounded, within an embattled wall, by a range of cloisters, under which is such accommodation as is usually provided for travellers in an Indian hostel or caravanserai. The whole is, however, now in a most deplorable state of dilapidation. The garden adjoining, which is planted with fine old mango-trees, is also in a most neglected condition. Three tombs, erected in this garden according to the fine taste displayed by the Mohammedans, in the selection of the site of their mausoleums, have, from the extraordinary solidity of their construction, escaped the destroying hand of time. They were raised to the memory of two princes, and a princess of the imperial family. Chaste, magnificent, and solemn,-rich, but not florid or gaudy, they are peculiarly adapted for the purpose to which they have been dedicated. Splendid terraces, forming stately platforms, which like those of the mausoleums of Agra† are furnished with several apartments below, form the basement story. The central chamber in each contains a stone sarcophagus, in which the mortal remains of the dead are deposited. Above, and occupying the middle of each platform, a circular, dome-crowned hall, finely proportioned, and profusely ornamented with rich sculpturing, delights the gazer's eye; and in these palace-like tombs, which are now the sole survivors of the splendour of the once-mighty sovereigns of Allahabad, the mind cannot fail to be sensibly impressed with one of the great traits in the Moslem character,-its reverence for the dead. The tombs of Hindostan have proved the most lasting memorials of the wealth and taste of its Moghul conquerors. Whilst fort and palace have crumbled away, or lost their original designs in modern alterations and adaptations, these have remained unchanged, to awaken in the mind a high admiration for the taste and skill of former days, which their architectural beauties display. The religious creeds, both of Moslem and Hindoo, exhort the rich to plant groves, dig wells, and build public edifices, acts of charity essential to the comfort of a people living in a country where water, shade, and the shelter of a roof, are blessings of incalculable value. The letter of this injunction is strictly regarded by many of the wealthy classes, but its spirit is sadly neglected. Immense sums are lavished upon new buildings, by means of which the founder hopes to transmit his name to posterity; but these, if not, completed in his lifetime, will be left to fall into premature ruin, the heir choosing rather to commence a fresh work for himself than either to finish an old one, or to repair the works of others, however elegant in themselves or useful to the public. The banks of the Jumna here present many noble ghauts, which are not now available as landingplaces, in consequence of the lower steps having given way, and separated themselves from the upper ↑ See Saturday Magazine Vol. III., p. 74. flights. A trifling repair, commenced in time, would have prevented the mischief, and though, even now, not too late to avert the impending ruin, the steps, one by one, are allowed to drop away, until the encroaching water must, in time, swallow up the whole. "Allahabad," remarks Bishop Heber, " may, however, revive to some greater prosperity, from the increase of the civil establishment attached to it. It is now the permanent winter station of the Sudder Mofussil Commission, a body of judges, whose office is the same with regard to these provinces as that of the Sudder Dewannee Udawlut for the eastern parts of the empire. The necessity for such a special court had become very great; the remoteness of the Sudder Dewannee had made appeals to it almost impossible." The degree of confidence in the justice of their rulers, with which the officers of this court have inspired the natives, is said to be very great. They make circuits during all the travelling months of the year, generally pitching their tents near towns, and holding their courts under trees, an arrangement so agreeable to Indian prejudices, that one of these judges said it was, in his opinion, one main source of their usefulness, inasmuch as an Indian of an humbler class is really under constraint and fear in a house, particularly if furnished in the European manner, and can neither attend to what is told him, nor tell his own story so well as in the open air, and amidst those objects from which all his enjoyments are drawn. At Allahabad, however, where their permanent abodes are, these judges have a court-house, though a very humble one, thatched, and inconvenient. The military cantonments of Allahabad are beautifully picturesque, having a greater diversity of hill and dale than is usually to be found upon the plains of India, and being finely wooded in every direction. The drives are numerous, and there is one leading along the walls of the cemetery, which derives a melancholy interest from the recollections of those who sleep within. India has not unjustly been entitled "Scotland's churchyard;" the Caledonian tenants of the tombs certainly outnumber those of the sister islands, and those of Allahabad have their full proportion of veterans and youths from the green hills and clear streams of North Britain. The gravestones and mausoleums erected in Anglo-Indian burial-grounds are peculiar to the country, and are generally more heavy and ungraceful than the monuments of European churchyards. There are, however, some exceptions; and a broken column at Allahabad, raised over the resting-place of a Fitzclarence, forms a classic and appropriate memorial of a young man of good promise cut down in the vigour of his youth. He has left behind him something better,-a name linked with gracious deeds. The situation of the city is said to be healthy; but either from its proximity to the two rivers, or the quantity of wood which gives the surrounding country so luxuriant and park-like an appearance, it is more humid than any other place in the Doab, and is stated to possess a peculiar climate of its own, the hot winds being considerably mitigated, and rain falling at seasons when other parts of the country are dry. The gardens are in consequence very productive. But to the Christian reader, the most interesting consideration should be, the melancholy state of Allahabad as respects its religious character. The city, we are told, is almost wholly given up to idolatry, and has ever been celebrated for the pilgrimage of Hindoos, who are attracted to a spot blessed, as they think it, by the junction of two sacred rivers. On this account it is esteemed holy by all casts, who annually repair in crowds to bathe themselves in the In former and more barbarous times, the junction of the Jumna and the Ganges was the scene of those fearful human sacrifices which were not more savage than absurd, in a religion professing so much humanity towards the brute creation. A youth and a maiden representing two of the favourite deities of the Hindoos, after having received divine honours from the crowd following their triumphal cars, were flung into the sacred waters, and supposed by the ignorant multitude to be borne upon the holy stream to the paradise of the blessed. Figures of clay are now substituted for the human performers. Another of these horrible spectacles used to be exhibited at the commemoration of the triumph of Ráma and his ally, Hunaman, attended by an army of monkeys, over the giant Ravana. The unfortunate beings, selected to represent the principal characters, were, at the end of the festival, no longer visible to mortal eyes. The people were taught to imagine that they had been absorbed into the divine essence, and claimed by the deities whom they had represented: a process of which the officiating priests knew the secret. Poison was said to be mixed up with the sweetmeats presented at the termination of the feast, and the unhappy group, brought from a distance, and unseen except during the short period of their performances, were by many supposed to have been the deities themselves, descending to assist at the celebration. The ceremony, as appears from a very amusing account given of it in his Journal, by Bishop Heber, as seen by him during his visitation of Allahabad, is now nothing more than a ludicrous exhibition. The Moghuls have the credit of being the first opposers of these shocking rites; and the Christian governors of the land have insisted upon their total abolition. The praiseworthy example set in the Company's territories, has been likewise followed in the independent states, and, consequently, human sacrifices have become rare in India. These are, indeed, gratifying considerations as far as they go. For thus we see the beneficial effects which Christianity extends to those who come in contact with it, even though they do not themselves receive it; but, oh, how much remains to be done! How melancholy is the scene which the millions of India present to the reflecting mind! How many cities every where present themselves, full of inhabitants, like Allahabad, almost wholly given to idolatry! And, what is even worse, with very little 194-2 |