



Produced by Steve Klynsma, Suzanne Shell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)









    LIFE IN AN
    INDIAN OUTPOST

[Illustration]





    BOOKS OF TRAVEL

    Demy 8vo. Cloth Bindings. All fully Illustrated

    THROUGH INDIA AND BURMA
      WITH PEN AND BRUSH
      By A. HUGH FISHER. 15s. net

    ALONE IN WEST AFRICA
      By MARY GAUNT. 15s. net

    CHINA REVOLUTIONISED
      By J. S. THOMPSON. 12s. 6d. net

    NEW ZEALAND
      By Dr MAX HERZ. 12s. 6d. net

    THE DIARY OF A SOLDIER OF
      FORTUNE
      By STANLEY PORTAL HYATT. 12s. 6d. net

    OFF THE MAIN TRACK
      By STANLEY PORTAL HYATT. 12s. 6d. net

    WITH THE LOST LEGION IN
      NEW ZEALAND
      By Colonel G. HAMILTON-BROWNE
        ("Maori Browne"). 12s. 6d. net

    A LOST LEGIONARY IN SOUTH
      AFRICA
      By Colonel G. HAMILTON-BROWNE
        ("Maori Browne"). 12s 6d.

    MY BOHEMIAN DAYS IN PARIS
      By JULIUS M. PRICE. 10s. 6d. net

    WITH GUN AND GUIDE IN
      N.B. COLUMBIA
      By T. MARTINDALE. 10s. 6d. net

    SIAM
      By PIERRE LOTI. 7s. 6d. net


[Illustration: AFTER THE PROCLAMATION PARADE.]




    LIFE IN AN
    INDIAN OUTPOST

    BY

    MAJOR GORDON CASSERLY

    (INDIAN ARMY)

    AUTHOR OF
    "THE LAND OF THE BOXERS; OR CHINA UNDER THE ALLIES"; ETC.

    ILLUSTRATED

    LONDON
    T. WERNER LAURIE LTD.
    CLIFFORD'S INN






    CONTENTS

    CHAPTER I

    A FRONTIER POST
                                                                     PAGE
        Our first view of the Himalayas--Across India in a troop
            train--A scattered regiment--An elephant-haunted
            railway--Kinchinjunga--The great Terai
            Jungle--Rajabhatkawa--In the days of Warren
            Hastings--Hillmen--Roving Chinese--We arrive at Buxa
            Road--Relieved officers--An undesirable outpost--March
            through the forest--The hills--A mountain road--Lovely
            scenery--Buxa Duar--A lonely Station--The labours of an
            Indian Army officer--Varied work--The frontier of
            Bhutan--A gate of India--A Himalayan paradise--The
            fort--Intrusive monkeys--The cantonment--The Picquet
            Towers--The bazaar--The cemetery--Forgotten
            graves--Tragedies of loneliness--From Bhutan to the sea     1


    CHAPTER II

    LIFE ON OUTPOST

        The daily routine--Drill in the Indian Army--Hindustani--A
            lingua franca--The divers tongues of India--The sepoys'
            lodging--Their ablutions--An Indian's fare--An Indian
            regiment--Rajput customs--The hospital--The doctor at
            work--Queer patients--A vicious bear--The Officers'
            Mess--Plain diet--Water--The simple life--A bachelor's
            establishment--A faithful Indian--Fighting the
            trusts--Transport in the hills--My bungalow--Amusements
            in Buxa--Dull days--Asirgarh--A lonely
            outpost--Poisoning a General--A storied
            fortress--Soldier ghosts--A spectral officer--The
            tragedy of isolation--A daring panther--A day on an
            elephant--Sport in the jungle--_Gooral_ stalking in the
            hills--Strange pets--A friendly deer--A terrified
            visitor--A walking menagerie--Elephants tame and
            wild--Their training--Their caution--Their rate of
            speed--Fondness for water--Quickly reconciled to
            captivity--Snakes--A narrow escape--A king-cobra; the
            hamadryad--Hindu worship of the cobra--General Sir
            Hamilton Bower--An adventurous career--E. F.
            Knight--The General's inspection                           19


    CHAPTER III

    THE BORDERLAND OF BHUTAN

        The races along our North-East Border--Tibet--The
            Mahatmas--Nepal---Bhutan--Its geography--Its
            founder--Its Government--Religious rule--Analogy
            between Bhutan and old Japan--_Penlops_ and
            _Daimios_--The Tongsa _Penlop_--Reincarnation of the
            Shaptung Rimpoche--China's claim to Bhutan--Capture of
            the Maharajah of Cooch Behar--Bogle's mission--Raids
            and outrages--The Bhutan War of 1864-5--The Duars--The
            annual subsidy--Bhutan to-day--Religion--An impoverished
            land--Bridges--Soldiers in Bhutan--Thefeudal
            system--Administration of justice--Tyranny of
            officials--The Bhuttias--Ugly women--Our neighbours in
            Buxa--A Bhuttia festival--Archery--A banquet--A
            dance--A Scotch half-caste