Chapter 9 Chapter Nine Allahabad

The road from Benares to Allahabad is about 130 kilometers long, sandwiched between the railway and the river, and almost always runs along the right bank of the Ganges.Stoll got some briquettes from somewhere and filled the tender truck to the brim, and our elephants had a supply of food for several days.It has been scoured carefully from head to toe—with an iron-toothed comb, I would have said—so it is as clean as if it had just been driven out of the workshop, and it is ready to go.Perhaps it wasn't pedaling anxiously, but a few jolts from the wheels certainly showed that there was enough steam pressure in his tin lungs.

On the morning of the twenty-fourth our train resumed its journey at a speed of about three or four miles an hour. The night was uneventful, and we did not see the Bengali again. Here I would like to mention a little bit about the daily work and rest plan during the journey, including the time for getting up, going to bed, three meals in the morning, afternoon and evening, and lunch break, all of which are strictly implemented like in the army.Daily life in the steam room is as orderly as in a Kolkata bungalow.Although the scenery in front of us is constantly changing, the environment we live in is always the same.Like the passengers who sailed across the Atlantic, we have fully adapted to this new life--and we are not always closed in the same sea like them, so our life must be better than theirs. colorful.

At eleven o'clock this morning, we saw a strange Mongolian mausoleum on the plain, which was built to commemorate the two saints of Islamic countries, Qassem Soliman and his son.Half an hour later, I saw the tall Junar Fort again. The picturesque city wall surrounds a 150-foot-high rock on the bank of the Ganges, which is almost perpendicular to the ground, and no one dares to climb it. It is one of the largest castles located in the Ganges Valley. The terrain is extremely dangerous, and it can save a lot of gunpowder and shells when resisting enemy attacks.In fact, any raiding party attempting to climb the wall would be smashed to pieces by a rain of stones thrown from above, and the stones on the ramparts were laid out for this purpose.But we didn't have to stop specifically to visit the castle.

At the foot of the castle sits its namesake city, with beautiful houses set amidst lush greenery. In Benares we have seen several shrines that have been revered as gods, considered by the Hindus to be the holiest places in the world.If you count carefully, you will find that there are hundreds of such distinctive places in the land of peninsular India.Junar Castle is one of them. In this castle, there is a marble slab on which a certain god is said to take a nap every day.Of course, this fairy is invisible to the naked eye.So we don't have to bother to see him before we stop. In the evening, the Iron Behemoth stopped near Mirzapur and prepared to spend the night there.The city is not only built with a large number of temples, but also built some factories and a cotton shipping dock, which is rich in cotton.One day it will develop into a bustling commercial metropolis.

The next day, May 25th, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, we crossed the Tonsa River, which was less than a foot deep at this time.At five we crossed again where the great branch railway from Bombay to Calcutta joins the main line.At about the point where the Yamuna River empties into the Ganges, we admire the magnificent elevated railway, with sixteen sixty-foot piers dipping into this beautiful Ganges tributary.Then, we crossed the pontoon bridge connecting the left and right banks of the Ganges with a length of one kilometer.In the evening, we finally settled in a suburb of Allahabad.

On the twenty-sixth we were, of course, to make a good visit to the important city of Allahabad, the junction of the main railroads of the Indian peninsula.Surrounded by the Yamuna and Ganges rivers, it has a superior terrain with fertile and fertile soil. Allahabad has unique natural conditions to become the capital of British India, the ruling center of the government and the seat of the Governor's Palace.It's not out of the question if there are still cyclones in Calcutta.In fact, some smart people have guessed and foreseen this possibility.Allahabad is at the heart of the vast land of India, as Paris is at the heart of France.Although London, unlike them, is not in the center of the United Kingdom, does it not also have the obvious advantages of Paris over other cities in France compared with other large cities in Britain, such as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham?

"Are we heading straight north from here?" I asked Bunkers. "Yes, at least almost straight north. Allahabad is the western limit of our first stage of travel," replied Bonkers. "Forget it! The metropolis is really good, but the wide plains and the dense jungle are better! If we continue to walk along the railway like this, we will run to the railway sooner or later. Ordinary trains! It’s too big to be useful!” Captain Ord made a fuss. "Don't worry, Odd, that won't happen," the engineer reassured him. "We'll be in your favorite area soon."

"Bonkers, shall we bypass Lucknow and drive directly to the border with China?" "I think we'd better avoid this city, especially Kanpur, where there are so many painful memories for Colonel Moreau." "You're right," I interjected, "we should never go there!" "Bonkers," asked Captain Ord, "didn't you hear anything about Nana Saib during your visit to Benares?" "No," replied the engineer, "perhaps the Governor of Bombay has been duped more than once, and Nana never showed himself in Bombay." "It's very possible," the captain agreed with Bonkers' deduction. "Otherwise, the remaining party of the rebels would have boasted about him a long time ago!"

"Anyway," added Bonkers, "I want to get out of this Ganges valley as soon as possible, where so many disasters have happened during the Indian insurrection, from Allahabad to Kanpur. One has survived. More care should be taken not to mention Nana Saib himself, nor the city, in the presence of Colonel Moreau! Let him do as he pleases." Next day, as usual, Bonkers offered to accompany me on my excursion to Allahabad.It might take three days to travel through the three-part city.But although it is also revered as a holy place, it is not as distinctive as Benares. For India Town, there is nothing special worth mentioning.The general feeling is a low residential area divided by narrow streets, with beautiful tamarind trees planted everywhere.

Englishtown and the barracks are similarly unremarkable.Neat boulevards, rich residential areas, wide squares, all the necessary conditions for a country's capital are here. The entire city is located on a large plain, bounded by the Yamuna River to the north and the Ganges River to the south.People named this plain "Plain of Grace", because Indian princes and nobles always come here from time to time to give generously.Mr. Lutley once quoted a passage in his book "Living in Yonantsan", "It is more praiseworthy to give a coin in this place than to give a hundred thousand elsewhere."

The Christian God may not be able to bring money to the poor, but his selfless devotion can inspire more faith in my mind. Here I would like to make a brief statement about the Allahabad Fort which is still worth visiting.It is located in the west of the "Enhui Plain", and the wall made of red sandstone is very eye-catching. According to the local people, the shells fired from the top of the wall can "amputate" the two rivers below.In the middle of the castle there is a palace, which used to be the favorite villa of Sultan Akbar, and is now used as an arsenal. A magnificent stone fence thirty-six feet high, topped with a lion,--not far away is a small temple, although it is also regarded as one of the holiest places in the world, but even the gate of the castle is closed. Indians who are not allowed to enter cannot worship this holy place at all: these are the main tourist attractions in the castle. Bonkers told me that Allahabad Fort also has myths and legends about rebuilding the Solomon Temple in Jerusalem just like the Bible story. Legend has it that when the Sultan wanted to build the Allahabad Fort, the stones used to build the fort seemed extremely unruly.The walls that had just been repaired immediately fell down.People then prayed to God for enlightenment.As at any time, the oracle still states that a person must be willing to sacrifice himself to exorcise evil spirits.An Indian volunteered for the job, he was sacrificed and the castle was repaired at last.The Indian's name was Brog, so the city was later called Brog-Allahabad. Bonkers then took me to the prestigious Kusnu Gardens, and it certainly lived up to its name.The tamarind trees planted there are undoubtedly the most beautiful in the world, and in the shade are several Islamic tombs, one of which is the Mausoleum of Kusnu Sultan, after whom the gardens are named.On one wall of white marble was clearly the print of a large hand.People proudly pointed it out to us, and this kind of pride is exactly what we didn't have before Geya's fairy footprints. Of course, it is not a footprint left by a god, but a palm print left by Mahomey's little nephew, an ordinary mortal. During the uprising of 1857, Allahabad, like other cities in the Ganges valley, was bloodbathed.Battles between the Royal Army and the Indian insurgents at the training ground at Benares brought more local troops to the ranks of the insurrection, notably that of the Sixth Regiment of the Bengal Army.They first killed eight instructors; but they were quickly counterattacked by several European artillery companies composed of disabled Shunar soldiers. In the end, the Indian rioters had to surrender. The riots in the barracks area were even more severe.The Indian soldiers revolted one after another, released the prisoners in the prison, robbed the dock warehouses, and set fire to the houses of the Europeans.In the meantime, Colonel Rael, who had just quelled the insurrection at Benares, hastened to Allahabad with his troops, plus a hundred shooters from the Madras Legion.He rebuilt the pontoon bridge, captured the suburbs occupied by the insurgents on June 18, dismissed the members of the provisional government formed by a Muslim, and re-emerged as ruler. During this visit in Allahabad, Bonkers and I kept a careful watch to see if we were being followed as we had been in Benares.But today, we found nothing suspicious. "Anyway," said the engineer to me, "you must always be on the lookout! Colonel Moreau is too famous among the natives of this province!" At six o'clock in the evening, we rushed back to the steam room for dinner.Mr. Edward Morrow, who had been away from the camp for an hour or two, was already sitting in the house waiting for us.As for Captain Ord, who went to visit some old comrades in the military barracks in the city, he arrived almost at the same time as us. I noticed that Colonel Moreau seemed not sad than usual, but more anxious.I seem to feel that in his eyes burns a fire that has been drowned by tears for a long time!I asked Bonkers if he, too, had noticed the Colonel's strange expression. "You're right," replied Bonkers. "There's something odd about it! What's going on?" "Ask Mark Rael?" I said. "Yes, Mark Rael may know..." So the engineer got up and left the living room, and went to the room where the sergeant lived. But the sergeant was not in the house. "Where's Mark Real?" Bonkers asked Gumi, who was serving us. "He's not at the bivouac," Gumi replied. "When did you leave?" "Colonel Moreau let him go about an hour ago." "Don't you know where he went?" "I don't know, Mr. Banks, and I don't know what he's been up to." "Hasn't anything happened during the time we've been away?" "No." Bonkers walked back, told me that the sergeant was out and no one knew why, and repeated: "I don't know exactly what happened, but something must have happened! Wait and see." Dinner begins.Usually, Colonel Moreau chatted with us at mealtimes.He loved hearing about our tours and was interested in anything we did during the day.I was always careful not to mention anything that reminded him of the Indian Army riots, and to avoid even touching on it.I think he's aware of it; but does he care about my reservations?And when the conversation comes to Benares or Allahabad, cities that have been embroiled in riots, my conscious reservations are nowhere more evident. So at dinner this day, I kept worrying about having to talk about Allahabad.But this worry is purely superfluous.He asked neither Bonkers nor me about the day's excursion.He was silent all through dinner.And he seemed increasingly anxious.From time to time he looked towards the road leading to the Allahabad barracks, and I even felt that several times he almost wanted to get up from the table to take a closer look.Mr. Edward Morrow must have been anxiously awaiting the return of Sergeant Mark Real. The mood of the dinner was sombre.Captain Ord questioned Bonkers with his eyes, wanting to know what was going on, but Bonkers didn't know any more than he did. When supper was over, Colonel Moreau, instead of staying for a short rest, as was his usual custom, descended the balcony steps, went a few steps further up the road, cast a last glance into the distance, and turned to come and say to us: "Bonkers, Ord and you, Mokley, would you like to accompany me to the barracks?" We left the table at once, and followed the silent, plodding Colonel. After more than a hundred steps, Mr. Edward Morrow stopped in front of a wooden post on the right side of the road, with a notice posted on it. "Read the words," he said. It was the notice that offered a reward for Nana Saib's head more than two months ago and announced that he had appeared in the Mumbai area. Bonkers and Ord couldn't hide their frustration.Until then, neither in Calcutta nor on the road, they had kept the notice from the colonel's eyes.But their good intentions were ruined in the end! "Bonkers," said Mr. Edward Morrow, taking the engineer by the hand, "do you know this notice?" Bonkers didn't answer. "Two months ago you knew that Nana Saib had been denounced in Bombay," continued the colonel, "but you told me nothing!" Bonkers has remained silent, not knowing what to say. "That's right, my Colonel," said Captain Ord loudly to relieve Bonkers, "yes, we already know, but why tell you? Who can guarantee that what this notice says is true, and What's the use of reminding you of those painful memories?" "Bonkers," said Colonel Moreau loudly, with a distorted face, "it seems that you have forgotten that it is I, and no one else, who should do justice to this man! You know, the reason I Agreed to leave Calcutta because this trip will bring me back to the North of India, because I never believed that Nana Saib is dead, because I never forget the duty of justice! With you When I travel, I have only one mind and only one hope! In order to achieve my goal as soon as possible, I have to try my luck in the trip and ask God for help! I did it right! God directed me to this notice! You should not go to the north to find Nana Saib, you should go to the south! All right! Then I will go to the south!" Our hunches did not deceive us!Exactly what he said!This private purpose, or rather this deep-rooted idea, still haunted the Colonel more strongly than ever.He just told us everything. "Moro," said Bonkers, knowing at last what he had to say to the colonel, "the reason I didn't tell you anything is that I don't personally believe that Nana Saib ever showed up in the Bombay area. You must know that the authorities have admitted the falsehood more than once. Moreover, this notice is dated March 6th, and after that, there is no new clue to confirm the news that the big man once appeared." After hearing what the engineer said, Colonel Moreau didn't say anything immediately, and looked at the road again before saying: "My friends, I will find out the truth. Mark Rael went to Allahabad with a letter to the Governor. After a while, I will know whether Nana Saib is really in the west That province has reappeared, is he still in that place or has disappeared again." "What will you do, Morrow, if he was indeed seen there, and the information is unmistakable?" asked Bunkers, taking the colonel's hand. "I will go at once!" replied Mr. Edward Moreau, "and I will go wherever my duty calls me, for the sake of high justice!" "Moreau, have you made up your mind?" "Yes, Bonkers, it's all decided. Go on with your travels after I'm gone, my friends. . . . By this evening I'm on the train for Bombay." "Well, but you can't go alone!" replied the engineer. "Stay with us and we'll go with you, Moreau!" "Yes! Yes! My Colonel!" Captain Ord said loudly, "We won't let you go alone! Well, we won't hunt the brown beasts! Go and hunt the bad guys!" "Colonel Moreau," I joined the speaker, "you must agree to let me stay with the Captain and your friends!" "Yes, Mokley, we will all leave Allahabad tonight..." "It's useless!" said a low voice. We turned around to find Sergeant Mark Real standing in front of us with a newspaper in his hand. "Colonel, take a look," he said. "This is what the governor asked me to give you." Mr. Edward Morrow read: "Governor's Proclamation of Mumbai District The proclamation of the 6th of March concerning Dangdu Pont chieftains should be considered null and void. Yesterday, Nana Saib's army was attacked in the Sotpura hills where they were hiding , Nana Saib himself was killed in the battle. At present, his identity has been confirmed by the residents of Kanpur and Lucknow. We all know that Nana Saib, in order to confirm his death, He mutilated his left finger and held a fake funeral. The Kingdom of India no longer has to worry about this cruel boss continuing to cause harm to the people. His crimes have been paid for in blood." Colonel Moreau read the newspaper in a low voice, and the newspaper slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. None of us said a word.Nana Saib's death has finally become an irrefutable fact this time, and it frees us from worrying about the future. After a moment of silence, Colonel Moreau covered his eyes with his hands, as if to make himself forget those painful memories.Then he asked: "When shall we leave Allahabad?" "Tomorrow, at dawn," replied the engineer. "Bonkers," continued Colonel Moreau, "can we stop at Kanpur?" "do you want?……" "Yes, Bonkers, I want to... I want to watch it again... Kanpur one last time!" "We'll be there in two days!" replied the engineer simply. "And then?..." Colonel Moreau asked again. "And then? . . . " replied Bonkers, "we're traveling to North India!" "Yes!...Go north! Go north!..." The Colonel's voice was touching. It appears that Mr Edward Morrow still has misgivings about the latest fighting between Nana Saib and British Government forces.He still doesn't believe in this certain thing, is he a bit too stubborn? Everything will come to light.