Chapter 11 Chapter 11 The Monsoon Changes Direction

Right at 11:00, our group of five returned to the campsite. We all wanted to leave Kanpur as soon as possible, but because we had to replenish the fuel and water for the steel giant, we could not start until the next morning at the earliest. So there was half a day left.I think it would be better to visit Lucknow.But Bonkers did not agree to go to that city, worried that Colonel Moreau would return to an important battlefield that year.He has a point!There were memories that broke his heart again. At noon, I left the steam house and boarded a train from Kanpur to Lucknow.This section of the road is about twenty miles long, and two hours later I arrived at the capital of the Kingdom of Ude.For it, I just want to take a quick look at the flowers - just leave a general impression.

I feel that these buildings in Lucknow, built in the twelfth century during the reign of Muslim emperors, are exactly what I have heard before. A Lyons native named Martin, who had been a private in Larry Tolandal's army, became the King's favorite in 1730.He was the architect and commander-in-chief of those architectural marvels in the capital of the kingdom of Ud.We can even see him as an architect.The lord's official residence, the Kaiser Bagh Palace, was the corporal's imaginary amalgamation of architectural styles.It's bare-bones, with nothing to recommend it inside, but it's certainly grand on the outside, Indian, Chinese, Moorish . . . even European, all rolled into one.In addition, another smaller palace, the Farid al-Bak Palace, was also built by Martan.As for the Imambara Palace, which was designed and built by the first Indian architect Kaifiatura in the twelfth century, located inside the castle, it is the real beautiful building, and the thousand towers stand on the parapet The small bell tower here really adds a lot of style.

Before leaving Lucknow, I plan to definitely visit the Constantine Palace.It was built to commemorate a French corporal and it was called the Palais Marginelle.I would also like to see the Serkenderbagh garden next to it, where the Indian rioters who broke into the tomb of this ordinary French soldier before fleeing the city were killed by the British army. Keep. But Martin was not the only Frenchman to bring glory to Lucknow.An African light-armed junior officer named Dipra was famous for his bravery and skill in combat during the period of the Great Rebellion. Even the Indian rebels offered to let him be their leader, but faced with the promise of prosperity and wealth and All threats were rejected by this honest soldier.He was always loyal to the British, but it was such a brave soldier who finally fell into the hands of the Indian rioters who failed to betray the British. He was killed brutally, "You unfaithful dog, although you You don't want to, but you still fall into our hands." Those Indian soldiers once said.But all they had was his body.

Later, the British army exacted vengeance on the Indian insurgents for these two heroic French soldiers.All the Indian soldiers who broke into and destroyed the tombs of Martan and Dipra were killed by them without mercy. In short, after I had enjoyed the beautiful gardens that surrounded this great city of half a million people like a ribbon of flowers and greenery, I rode an elephant through all its lands. The wide streets and the wonderful Azra Gonah boulevard, and finally, I got on the train and headed back to Kanpur that night. On the morning of the next day, May 31st, we were already on our way.

"The cities of Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow are over at last," cried Captain Audh, "and in these places I feel as unhappy as a blank bullet!" "Yes, it's over, Odd," said Bonkers. "From now on, we'll be heading straight north, to the foothills of the Himalayas." "That's great!" the captain went on, "In India, the most worthwhile places to visit are not these densely populated and urbanized provinces, but those elephants, lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, bears, buffaloes and snakes. A place where freedom lives! You will feel the same way, Mokley, and you will never have any thoughts of the wonders in the valley of the Ganges!"

"With you by my side, I have nothing to worry about, my dear captain," I replied. “But there are still some interesting cities in northwest India like Delhi, Agra, Lahore…,” says Bonkers. "Hey, Bonkers," cried Ord disapprovingly, "you're talking about these poor little towns!" "Poor little towns!" retorted Bonkers, "they're not, Odd, but very nice big cities!" "My dear friend, don't worry!" Bonkers added, turning to me, "we'll let you see those places to your heart's content without interfering with the Captain's plan to go hunting in the countryside."

"We won't miss the moment, Bonkers," replied Ord. "The plan begins today!" Then, his voice became thicker: "Fox?" he called out. The orderly came running quickly. "Here! My captain," he replied. "Fox, get your rifles, carbines, and pistols ready!" "Already prepared." "Then go check out the gunpowder." "Already checked." "Prepare the bullets." "Ready." "Is everything ready?" "Everything is ready." "Prepare everything a little better, if possible!"

"I will do it." "The thirty-eighth tiger will be on your honor list soon, Fox!" "Thirty-eighth!" the orderly said loudly, with a flash of light in his eyes, "I want to prepare a small explosive bomb with infinite power for it, so that it can die without saying a word!" "Go, Fox, go!" Fox gave a military salute, turned and went out, and dived into the ammunition depot. Our itinerary for the second period has been decided in this way—unless something unexpected happens, we will not change it arbitrarily. Our route was to follow the course of the Ganges to the northwest for about seventy-five kilometers; then turned due north, between a small tributary of the Ganges and another large tributary, the Gutme River. .In this way, we avoid crossing the rivers that flow on the left and right, and after passing through the western part of the kingdom of Ud and Roirkhand, we will plunge obliquely into the Nepalese mountains at Biswan.

The itinerary was carefully determined by Bonkers after considering every aspect of the trip.If coal is not easy to find in the northern part of the Indian peninsula, firewood is never a worry.As for our iron behemoth, he is free to drive along these well-kept roads, through the most beautiful forests of the Indian peninsula. I was still about eighty kilometers away from Biswan.According to the plan, the train will move slowly—it will take six days to cover the distance.Not only would we be able to stop and admire the sights, but the hunters who came to hunt would have time to complete their feat.Captain Ord, Fox the orderly, and Gumi who volunteered to join the hunting team can wander freely in the wild, and the steel giant will automatically calculate the walking speed.Although I am an inexperienced hunter, this does not prevent me from going out with them to hunt for prey.

Colonel Moreau seemed less repulsive now that our travels had entered a new phase.Leaving the urban jungle of the Ganges Valley and returning to the embrace of forests and plains, I think he is a little more easy-going than before.In this environment, he seems to have rediscovered the tranquility of Calcutta.But can he forget the fact that the mobile home he is riding in is heading towards northern India, which has an irresistible fascination for him?In any case, his conversations between meals and lunch breaks seemed much more lively than before, and often continued into the wonderful evenings that we were still able to enjoy in the hot season.As for Mark Real, since his visit to the well in Kanpur, he looked much more gloomy than before.Could it be that Bibby Garr had rekindled his vengeance?

"Nana Saib," he said to me one day, "he's not dead, sir, he's not dead! They can't have killed him for us!" The first day passed without incident, with very little to note.Captain Ord and Fox both found nothing.This is a pity, and very strange, and we suspect that the appearance of the iron giant has scared the brown-haired beasts of the plain away.Moreover, the jungles we passed were indeed places where tigers and other beasts often appeared.But I didn't come across a single one.The two hunters still kept a distance of one to two miles from the convoy, tirelessly hunting for prey.And, at Mr. Palazard's request, they had to take Blake and Vann with them, in order to hunt some game for the table.When the orderly told our black head chef about tigers, cheetahs, or other inedible animals, he would always be rude, shrug his shoulders, and say unhappily: "Are these things edible?" That night, our convoy stopped in a tall banyan forest.Night was as silent as day.Still can't hear the roar of the brown-haired beast.Our steel behemoth had already rested on the ground without saying a word, its thunderous roar could no longer be heard, and the bonfire at the bivouac had been extinguished. Eyes electrified, turning them into two bright locomotive headlights.But still nothing! It was still the same situation on June 1st and 2nd.Much to our disappointment. "My Kingdom of Ude has changed!" Captain Ode said more than once, "It was transported to Europe! There are not as many tigers here as there are in the Echos Flatland!" "Dear Ord," Colonel Moreau comforted, "maybe because people have over-hunted this place in recent years, so the animals have migrated to live elsewhere in groups. But you don't have to be disappointed, When our convoy arrives at the foot of the mountains in Nepal, you will surely enjoy hunting.” "That's the only way to think about it, my colonel," replied Ord, nodding his head, "or we'll have to remelt the bullets into lead pellets again!" June 3rd was the hottest day we have ever experienced.If it weren't for the cover of the big trees on the side of the road, I think we would have been roasted to death in the mobile house long ago.The thermometer showed that the indoor temperature was as high as 47°C, and there was not a breath of wind in the air.With such a high temperature and such a hot weather, those ferocious beasts would probably not leave their lairs to wander outside, not necessarily at night. The next day, June 4th, as the sun rose, the horizons on both sides appeared hazy for the first time.We had the privilege of beholding one of the wonders of nature which in some parts of India is called a mirage or a castle in the air, and in others a mirage. What unfolded before our eyes was not a wide sparkling water, but a continuous hill covered with castles, which is really the most wonderful castle in the world, like the highlands on both sides of the Rhine and the German city built on it. old castle.In an instant, we were deeply fascinated. These buildings not only can be traced back to the Romanesque art era in ancient Europe, but also have the medieval style of five or six hundred years ago. Although this natural landscape is amazingly short, it left us with a real feeling.Therefore, in my opinion, this giant steel monster full of modern machinery is more different from the eleventh century building before me than it is roaming freely in the country of Vishnu and Brahman. The city appears even more out of sync. "Thank you, Goddess of Nature!" Captain Ord sighed, "After seeing so many mosques and pagodas with spiers and domes, what unfolded before my eyes was an ancient feudal city and its Romanesque brotherhood." A unique architectural marvel!" "What a poet our Odd is this morning!" replied Bonkers. "Didn't he swallow a ballad before lunch?" "Bonkers, you can laugh at me, make fun of me, and satirize me all you want!" Ord retorted, "but open your eyes! Those things have changed beyond recognition! The bushes have become trees, and the hills have become trees. Gaoshan, and..." "If there were cats, wouldn't they be tigers, Odd?" "Ah! Bonkers! That's not certain! . . . It's over!" cried Captain Odd. "My old Rhine castle has collapsed, the city has disappeared, and we are back in the reality of the Kingdom of Udd." , or this place where even brown-haired beasts don’t want to live in!” The sun just rising on the eastern horizon destroyed the illusion of refracted light.The imaginary towns collapse like cards as the hills become plains. "Okay, now that the illusion has disappeared," Bonkers said, "Captain Ord's poetry is also finished, my friends, do you want to know what the symptoms of this natural phenomenon are?" "Engineer, tell me!" shouted the captain. "It's about to change," Bonkers replied, "and the beginning of June is when the seasons change. The turning monsoons will bring us our annual rainy season." "Dear Bunkers," I said, "we're well covered, aren't we? Well, let the rain come! Even the rain is better than the heat . . . " "You will be satisfied, my friend," replied Bonkers. "I think it will rain this day, and in a little while we shall see dark clouds appearing in the south-west sky!" Bonkers was right.In the evening, the sky in the west began to become foggy, as usual, which indicates that the monsoon will start from this night.Like the giant sheepskin bag filled with hurricanes and thunderstorms by the god Eorl, the charged mist rushed from the Indian Ocean to the entire Indian peninsula. There were a series of other oddities on the day which would not have surprised an Englishman who had lived in India.On the road we drove, the dust was rolled into a persistent spiral, constantly rotating.The moving wheels, although not fast,--the wheels of the locomotive plus the wheels of the two carriages behind--would certainly stir up dust from the ground, but it could not be done with such violence.It appears to be a mass of fur that has been waved by a running electric machine.The road at this moment can be compared to a giant battery that stores electricity for several days.Moreover, the dust was a very strange yellow color, and every particle was dazzlingly bright.For a while our train was running almost in flames—a fire without heat very different in color and light from St. Elm's fire. Stoll told us he had seen a train pass between two similar rows of glowing dust, and Bonkers confirmed what the mechanic had said.Standing high in the turret with the giant steel beast on its back, through the porthole, I carefully observed this strange phenomenon that lasted for a quarter of an hour and spread for five or six kilometers.The bare pavement was shrouded in a cloud of dust, baked to a white-hot state by the direct sunlight.At this moment, it seemed to me that the temperature of the atmosphere was higher than that of the furnace in the locomotive.It was unbearable, and when I finally felt a slight cool breeze from the flapping ceiling fan blades, I almost suffocated. At about seven o'clock in the evening, the steam room ended the day's trip.Bonkers had chosen for rest a clearing among a grove of tall and beautiful banyans that seemed to stretch endlessly in northern India.A peaceful forest path leads through the banyan forest, along which we can easily and comfortably travel the next day under the tall canopy. Banyan trees are called giants of Indian flora, true grandparents and heads of plant families surrounded by their own children and their children's children.These descendants absorb the nutrients of the same stem, but are completely separated from the main stem, grow straight up, and finally merge with the parent's branch and leaf at a high place.Like chicks hiding under their mother's wings, they are sheltered under the thick leaves from the wind, sun and rain.These centuries-old forests thus present a very peculiar landscape.The old trees support a huge canopy like solitary pillars, and the young banyan trees support the branches of the old trees, and they will grow into new solitary pillars that are exactly the same as the old trees at a certain age. This evening, the arrangements in all aspects were more thorough than usual.Bonkers said that if the next day was as hot as this day, we would extend our bivouac until dark. Colonel Moreau wished he could spend more time in this leafy, quiet and beautiful forest.And we almost all agree with him.Some because they really want to take a break, others because they can't forget to encounter an animal here that deserves a shot from a good hand like Anderson or Gerald.Of course we know who this latter group of people really are. "Fox, Gummie, it's only seven o'clock!" Captain Ord reduced them. "Let's go for a walk in the forest before dark! - Mokley, will you go with us?" "My dear Ord," said Bonkers ahead of me, "you'd better not leave the camp. The weather is really bad. If the storm comes, you may have a hard time getting back here. If we stay here tomorrow If you don't start at the same place, you can go..." "Tomorrow, it will be daytime," Captain Ord replied, "Time is of the essence when it comes to adventure!" "I know this, Odd, but tonight is really worrying. If you insist on going out, remember not to go too far. Otherwise, in an hour, it will be so dark that you can't see your fingers. It's hard to get back to camp." "Don't worry, Bonkers. It's not yet seven o'clock, and I'll ask the colonel for ten o'clock leave." "Go, my dear Odd," replied Mr. Edward Morrow, "but don't forget what Bonkers told you." "Yes, Colonel." So Captain Ord, Fox, and Gumi left the camp with their high-performance carbine shotguns, and quickly disappeared into the banyan forest on the right side of the road. I was exhausted from a hot day so I stayed in the steam room instead of traveling with them. But on Bonkers' orders, the fire in the steam oven was not completely extinguished, but was suppressed deep in the hearth to maintain a pressure of one or two atmospheres in the furnace.Engineers want to be prepared so that they can cope with the unexpected. At this time, Stoll and Karut were busy replenishing fuel and storing water.A brook ran on the left side of the road, just enough to make up for the needed water, and the woods next to it provided enough firewood to fill the tender.Mr. Palazard was as busy as every day. While clearing the dinner table for this day, he began to think about the menu for the next day. The sky is not dark yet.Colonel Morrow, Bonkers, Sergeant Mark Rael, and I went for a walk by the creek.The still suffocating air was slightly cooled by the clear and transparent stream.The sun hadn't set yet.Through the gaps between the leaves, we can see the large clouds gathering little by little in the sky, which are dyed the color of blue ink by the sunlight.These thick, heavy and dense dark clouds seem to have their own motors, no matter how strong the wind is, it is impossible to blow them. We chatted by the stream until about eight o'clock.From time to time Bonkers got up and walked to the glade not a quarter of a mile from the bivouac to get a wider view.But when he came back, he shook his head apprehensively. For the last time, we went with him to check the weather.At this time, the banyan forest was very dark.Standing in the clearing among the trees, I could see a broad plain extending westward to the foot of almost continuous hills, which were now blurred and indistinct with dark clouds. The world was eerily quiet.The towering banyan leaves were completely motionless.This is not Nature in sleep, as poets so often sing; it is the heavy sleep of a sick man.There seemed to be some kind of pressure in the air.I guess the best analogy is a steam boiler full of steam ready to explode from too much pressure. An explosion is imminent. In fact, already high in the sky were dark clouds brewing a storm, a sight usually seen in plain areas, with huge curved silhouettes appearing very stiff.They seem to be constantly expanding, merging into larger clouds, but always in a group.Obviously, they will soon dissolve into a single dark cloud of increasing density.Because those small additional dark clouds have already collided, pushed, bitten and disappeared into a fuzzy ball under the effect of some kind of attraction. At about 8:30, a zigzag lightning bolt with a length of 2,500 to 3,000 meters pierced the dark cloud. Sixty-five minutes later we heard the first thunderclap.The rumbling thunder continued for about fifteen minutes.Only lightning like that could have brought such terrible thunder. "Twenty-one kilometers," said Bonkers, looking at his watch, "that's about as far as thunder can be heard. When a storm strikes, it comes when it comes. Let's not wait. Go back, my friends. " "What about Captain Ord?" Sergeant Mark Rael asked. "He'll go back when he hears the thunder," Bonkers replied. "I hope he does." Five minutes later we were back at camp and sat on the balcony in front of the living room.