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Article INDEPENDENT GRA^ND LOD GE FOR YICTOBIA, ← Page 3 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Independent Gra^Nd Lod Ge For Yictobia,
works * & c , displayed unmistakeably the recent visitation of " grim visaged war " along the road from Kurnaul to Umballa , all was quiet and peaceful as formerly , though two soldiers of the 60 th Royal Rifles , lately proceeding by the same route northwards with a body of invalids ^ strayed , I was told , into a neighbouring village , and were there murdered . The new and magnificent church at Umballa , as
yet unfinished , had been appointed as a rallying place for non-fighting residents , in case of any attack on the station ; and cannon were still mounted on the earthworks surrounding the compound . Beyond Jullundur the peaceful aspect of the country to Umritsur , and thence to Lahore— -the well cultivated fields , excellent roads , good police arrangements , and substantial buildings—could not but forcibly
impress the traveller with the zeal and ability of the administrative officers . On reaching Lahore I found that the most desirable method of proceeding to Mooltan would be by light military bullock carts , trains of which were then fortunately ' being daily despatched to convey a number of English troops who had recently arrived by steamers at Mooltan , to the Punjaub stations . My companions , a
lady and gentleman , with myself , secured four carts for ourselves and luggage through the kindness of Captain Wroughton the commissariat officer j and we journeyed for more than four days through the barren and miserably dirty region from Lahore to ... Mooltan . At Googavra we beheld in the ruined d & k bungalow , then under repair , significant symptoms of the outbreak in that neighbourhood during Sept ., 1857 . Happily , however , we met with no molestation on the road ; and reached Mooltan on the 16 th of February , half choked
with dust , but safe and hearty . Much has been said in abuse of Mooltan , as a miserably hot and unhealthy station ^ but , independently of the fact , that kind old friends in my host and hostess perhaps induced me to view the place with a favourable eye , the residents themselves not only struck me as being anything but sickly , but as fond of the station in very many cases . The roads are good though somewhat dusty , and the houses , principally built of mud , neat and
commodious . One building , however—the temporary church ( for I trust that the epithet may prove a just b \ ie )—is a wretched mud hovel , certainly inferior to three fourths of the stables , according to my own experience , in England . Very fortunately for my rapid progress to Singapore one of the Indus flotilla steamers was notified to start on the day which followed my arrival at Mooltan .
I accordingly embarked on the JUth oi February , and tound a number of old friends as my fellow passengers ; several , alas ! in the garb of widows , through the recent rebellion . All the cabins being occupied by ladies , the gentlemen of course were obliged to live on . the deck of the steamer and adjoining flat , night and day , except at meal times . The whole of the country down from Mooltan to the mouth of the Indus is most uninteresting , and the genius of heat and barrenness especially appears to have fixed his residence at Sukkur ; although' the position of the fort ( Roree ) in the centre oi 3 * 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Independent Gra^Nd Lod Ge For Yictobia,
works * & c , displayed unmistakeably the recent visitation of " grim visaged war " along the road from Kurnaul to Umballa , all was quiet and peaceful as formerly , though two soldiers of the 60 th Royal Rifles , lately proceeding by the same route northwards with a body of invalids ^ strayed , I was told , into a neighbouring village , and were there murdered . The new and magnificent church at Umballa , as
yet unfinished , had been appointed as a rallying place for non-fighting residents , in case of any attack on the station ; and cannon were still mounted on the earthworks surrounding the compound . Beyond Jullundur the peaceful aspect of the country to Umritsur , and thence to Lahore— -the well cultivated fields , excellent roads , good police arrangements , and substantial buildings—could not but forcibly
impress the traveller with the zeal and ability of the administrative officers . On reaching Lahore I found that the most desirable method of proceeding to Mooltan would be by light military bullock carts , trains of which were then fortunately ' being daily despatched to convey a number of English troops who had recently arrived by steamers at Mooltan , to the Punjaub stations . My companions , a
lady and gentleman , with myself , secured four carts for ourselves and luggage through the kindness of Captain Wroughton the commissariat officer j and we journeyed for more than four days through the barren and miserably dirty region from Lahore to ... Mooltan . At Googavra we beheld in the ruined d & k bungalow , then under repair , significant symptoms of the outbreak in that neighbourhood during Sept ., 1857 . Happily , however , we met with no molestation on the road ; and reached Mooltan on the 16 th of February , half choked
with dust , but safe and hearty . Much has been said in abuse of Mooltan , as a miserably hot and unhealthy station ^ but , independently of the fact , that kind old friends in my host and hostess perhaps induced me to view the place with a favourable eye , the residents themselves not only struck me as being anything but sickly , but as fond of the station in very many cases . The roads are good though somewhat dusty , and the houses , principally built of mud , neat and
commodious . One building , however—the temporary church ( for I trust that the epithet may prove a just b \ ie )—is a wretched mud hovel , certainly inferior to three fourths of the stables , according to my own experience , in England . Very fortunately for my rapid progress to Singapore one of the Indus flotilla steamers was notified to start on the day which followed my arrival at Mooltan .
I accordingly embarked on the JUth oi February , and tound a number of old friends as my fellow passengers ; several , alas ! in the garb of widows , through the recent rebellion . All the cabins being occupied by ladies , the gentlemen of course were obliged to live on . the deck of the steamer and adjoining flat , night and day , except at meal times . The whole of the country down from Mooltan to the mouth of the Indus is most uninteresting , and the genius of heat and barrenness especially appears to have fixed his residence at Sukkur ; although' the position of the fort ( Roree ) in the centre oi 3 * 2