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Article PENCILLINGS EROM THE SKETCH-BOOK OE A MA... ← Page 7 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Pencillings Erom The Sketch-Book Oe A Ma...
Having b ^ en led into the fo rt , where our arrival was registered at the town-major ' s office , and visited that of the adjutant-general , known best among the palanquin-bearers at Madras by the title of
" Conway ' s Office" from the distinguished cavalry officer of that name , many years the head of that department , we presented our certificates of admission to the service , given us in England , and were whisked away , in vehicles not unlike the old English postchaise , across the Esplanade , the roads being bordered with evergreen trees , which at this period of the year bore an abundance of fine
trumpetshaped yellow nowers . We soon reached the cadets quarters , where we were forthwith ushered into the presence of the superintending officer , a captain in the Madras army . The first thing we had to do was to sign our names , with what object I never understood—some one facetiously observed , it might possibly be done to show that writing" had not been neglected in our
education . Boards on the wall , with orders for the guidance of the cadets , were pointed out to our attention , and for the present we were left to the enjoyment of our own society , and that of some other jolly fellows who had preceded us some weeks from England . Ample leisure had we to review our past experiences , nor did we feel our position less agreeable at hearing that we were forthwith , according " to the custom of war in like cases , ' to receive a month ' s pay in advance !
The cadets' quarters , at the time I write of , were situate about a mile and a half from the fort , on the road to Poonamallee , the Queen ' s Begimental Depot here , as Chatham is at home : they were large , airy , and pleasant , but now were undergoing partial repair , and consequently we found , on arrival in the compound , or area on which they were built , tents pitched ready for our accommodation ,
so that on the first night of our being ashore in India we slept in a miniature camp . We were , however , lucky enough to have the benefit of a spacious hall in which to take meals , very desirable at this season of the year , when the great heat at Madras commences , increasing rapidly till July . The grounds round the house were several acres in extent , surrounded by a prickly pear hedge , a very
common mode of defining the boundaries of Indian compounds . The word compound is derived , I believe , from the Portuguese w ord campana , signifying " a plain . " Here it is applied to any space of ground belonging to a building , whether it be a garden , or simply an inclosed field . There was a neat flower-garden at the quarters , and a somewhat arid-looking lawn , but the eye found a relief from the glare of the white walls by resting on the flowering and odoriferous
shrubs dotted about - , and in the back-ground wore clumps of the deep green-leafed mangoa , and lighter-coloured cocoanut-trees , on which the lizards love to gambol , the former presenting a thick and umbrageous shelter from the sun , and neither being at any time destitute of foliage . Many houses at Madras boast of very pretty gardens , especially the mansions of the opulent ; these are beautifully kept , abounding with exotics , and all indigenous productions in the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Pencillings Erom The Sketch-Book Oe A Ma...
Having b ^ en led into the fo rt , where our arrival was registered at the town-major ' s office , and visited that of the adjutant-general , known best among the palanquin-bearers at Madras by the title of
" Conway ' s Office" from the distinguished cavalry officer of that name , many years the head of that department , we presented our certificates of admission to the service , given us in England , and were whisked away , in vehicles not unlike the old English postchaise , across the Esplanade , the roads being bordered with evergreen trees , which at this period of the year bore an abundance of fine
trumpetshaped yellow nowers . We soon reached the cadets quarters , where we were forthwith ushered into the presence of the superintending officer , a captain in the Madras army . The first thing we had to do was to sign our names , with what object I never understood—some one facetiously observed , it might possibly be done to show that writing" had not been neglected in our
education . Boards on the wall , with orders for the guidance of the cadets , were pointed out to our attention , and for the present we were left to the enjoyment of our own society , and that of some other jolly fellows who had preceded us some weeks from England . Ample leisure had we to review our past experiences , nor did we feel our position less agreeable at hearing that we were forthwith , according " to the custom of war in like cases , ' to receive a month ' s pay in advance !
The cadets' quarters , at the time I write of , were situate about a mile and a half from the fort , on the road to Poonamallee , the Queen ' s Begimental Depot here , as Chatham is at home : they were large , airy , and pleasant , but now were undergoing partial repair , and consequently we found , on arrival in the compound , or area on which they were built , tents pitched ready for our accommodation ,
so that on the first night of our being ashore in India we slept in a miniature camp . We were , however , lucky enough to have the benefit of a spacious hall in which to take meals , very desirable at this season of the year , when the great heat at Madras commences , increasing rapidly till July . The grounds round the house were several acres in extent , surrounded by a prickly pear hedge , a very
common mode of defining the boundaries of Indian compounds . The word compound is derived , I believe , from the Portuguese w ord campana , signifying " a plain . " Here it is applied to any space of ground belonging to a building , whether it be a garden , or simply an inclosed field . There was a neat flower-garden at the quarters , and a somewhat arid-looking lawn , but the eye found a relief from the glare of the white walls by resting on the flowering and odoriferous
shrubs dotted about - , and in the back-ground wore clumps of the deep green-leafed mangoa , and lighter-coloured cocoanut-trees , on which the lizards love to gambol , the former presenting a thick and umbrageous shelter from the sun , and neither being at any time destitute of foliage . Many houses at Madras boast of very pretty gardens , especially the mansions of the opulent ; these are beautifully kept , abounding with exotics , and all indigenous productions in the