THE

Morabian Church Miscellany.

NO. XI.

NOVEMBER, 1854.

VOL. V.

NARRATIVE of the VOYAGE and JOURNEY of the BRN. PAGELL and HEIDE from CALCUTTA to KOTGHUR, in the HIMMALAYA MOUNTAINS.*

(From the Missions-Blatt.)

In our last letters we mentioned, that we purposed setting out for Benares on December 12th. The boats for such a voyage, which occupies several weeks, are well adapted to meet the requirements of the country and the climate. Ours had two cabins, the larger of which was twelve feet square, the smaller nine. Mr. Rebsch's boat was considerably larger, but both had the same number of persons to navigate them, viz, ten to row, and one to steer. Our friends recommended to us a Hindoo servant, John William, whom we engaged, principally for the purpose of assisting us in. the language. He wos born at Delhi, and had frequently undertaken similar journeys with Europeans. In his youth he had been baptized, yet he seemed to have experienced but little of the pow er of the gospel. Shortly before setting out, one of the boatmen came to beg for some money, in order to sacrifice to his gods, and obtain their help on the voyage. Mr. Rebsch told him, that this would be quite opposed to our religious principles; but that we would intreat the true God, to grant us his assistance: if he himself behaved well, he should, however, receive a present on arriving at Benares. With this promise he went away quite satisfied. The first day's sail up the noble stream of the Hoogly delighted us; we kept close to the bank, which is adorned with the most lovely and luxuriant vegetation. In consequence of the ebbing

* The Editor makes no apology for inserting this Journal with but little abridgment, though somewhat exceeding the ordinary limits. It will be found to contain a variety of interesting particulars relative to countries and people, with whose character and circumstances, the members of our own Church were formerly more familiar than they have probably been, since the abandonment of our Mission in Bengal, more than half a century ago.

of the tide, on the first evening, we were obliged to make an early halt. Being close to a Hindoo village, we went ashore, in order to see the houses and gardens ;-naked children were rolling about in the sand on the road; but on our addressing them in English, they scampered off.

On the 18th, we came out of the Hoogly into the Matapanga, another branch of the Ganges, the banks of which are less inhabited. This river is narrow, studded with islands and sand-banks, but at the same time very rapid. A fleet of forty-five large boats, conveying 1200 native soldiers to the seat of war in Burmah, met us, and made it necessary for us to lie by, in order to escape the danger of collision. In the evening, we were struck with the howling of the jackals, who frequent the river sides, in quest of prey. We were likewise surprised to hear this evening, as well as at other times during our journey, the ringing of bells at sunset, which proceeded from the idol temples. This is to signify, that their chief idol, Machadeus, which has been standing on its table during the day, is being laid to rest in a boy, by the priests; in the morning he is awakened by a loud cry. Our boatmen being hindoos, whose superstition does not allow of their cooking upon the water, we were obliged to lie by for an hour each day, that they might prepare their meals on shore. The other boat meanwhile continued its course, being manned by Mussulmen, who have no such scruples about cooking. As our boat was much smaller, we were always able to make up for our loss of time. The Mussulmen seemed very religious. Every evening at sunset, one of the men, who were drawing the boat, staid behind, kneeled down and per formed his devotions with great apparent reverence. The same was done by those who remained in the boat, where the captain generally offered up the prayer. How sad to think, that it was not a bending of the knee to our crucified Redeemer!

We

On the 21st of December, we left the tributary, and entered the Ganges, which is about two and-half miles broad at that place. The boatmen immediately poured some of the water over the prows of the boat. We were surprised to find the banks desert, and without vegetation. The water being very low, we almost daily ran aground on sand-banks, from which it was not always easy to get off. Many boats of merchandise are lost by this means. saw a number of them, the crews of which stood on the bank, looking quite dejected, and watching over their cargoes. Where the water is deeper, we frequently overtook other boats proceeding up the stream, on which occasions there was generally a great deal of squabbling among the different crews. Once, in conse sequence of such a quarrel, we had to go before the magistrate of the nearest village, who took down our address, etc. He was a fine stout Hindoo. There is apparently more traffic on the Ganges than on any of our German rivers. We found it at times almost

covered with boats of larger or smaller size belonging to the na tives; these are very curiously and awkwardly built, and the sails sometimes so torn, that they can be of very little use. The inhabitants of the Hindoo and Bengalese villages generally appeared very shy, more especially the women and children. This is less surprising with regard to the former, inasmuch as the Hindoo notions of female modesty require, that a female should veil herself, and as far as possible shun any strange man. The females of the lower castes, however, are far from evincing such modesty. Every day, as the sun rises higher and higher, and the warmth increases, the people who live along the banks of the river bathe in it, and worship the waters of this to them so sacred stream, with all kinds of ceremonies, which are often performed with great expense by the rich. You may frequently see a sort of scaffolding erected in the midst of the mud near the bank, covered with fine carpet, on which some Brahmin or rich Hindoo is seated, surrounded by all manner of vessels for sacrificing, and by a quantity of flowers, and at his back a number of servants, who wait upon him. Whilst engaged in their devotions, they do not fail to grat ify their curiosity, by looking about them in every direction. Persons of all ages and sexes bathe together in the river; the more modest plunge their children under the water, in spite of their loud screams. The corpses, which almost daily were carried past us by the stream, or were lying along the bank, presented the most frightful appearance. One evening, when walking along the shore, we passed a dead body, the greater portion of which had been devoured by dogs. On another occasion we saw forty-five vultures busy devouring a corpse. There is a countless number of dogs throughout the whole of India, but more especially along the Ganges, which live almost entirely on human flesh. They be long nearly all to one species, resembling the greyhound, wander about the country, without having any master, and frequently con tend with the jackals and vultures for the prey which they may happen to have found. Often you may see the vultures sitte ing upon a corpse, which is floating down the stream, and tearing it to pieces.. It is well for the country, that so many animals exist, which feed upon the decaying bodies, as otherwise the atmosphere would become quite infected. The Hindoo turns away his eyes in silence from such scenes, whilst the Mussulmen, who al ways inter their dead in a proper manner, testify their disgust by their gesticulations. It is scarcely credible what a number of places we passed along the banks, which were completely strewn with human skulls and bones. One morning I counted nine skulls within a narrow space, around which the rest of the bones lay scattered about. Truly, India is a land full of dead men's bones, and waits to be re-animated by the Spirit of the Lord!

The people of one easte burn their dead. We once witnessed

this ceremony from a little distance. The head of the corpse, which is brought down to the river-side on a bier, is first shaved. Then the body is smeared with butter, a large piece of which, about 12lbs. in weight, is placed on the lower limbs to assist combustion. The body is then lifted upon a pile of wood, which is set on fire, whilst a number of Hindoos walk round it, uttering a mournful dirge. the relatives and friends of the deceased are seated on the ground at some little distance, looking on without any apparent signs of sorrow, and passing the tobacco pipe from mouth to mouth.

On the 25th of Decmber, we again entered a tributary of the Ganges, which subsequently joined the same stream, and thus enabled us to cut off an angle. The banks were here beautiful and well wooded, some parts of them being haunted by the Bengal tiger, which is an object of great terror to the inhabitants. The female servant of Mr. Rebsch and several of the boatmen quarrelled with the captain for taking this dangerous road. The greater was therefore our anxiety on one occasion, when br. Pagell set off about four in the afternoon, in company with the cook, to a village, which lies in the midst of a thick grove of bamboo trees, and did not return till late. They had mistaken their road in returning, and proceeded a considerable distance down the stream before they perceived their error. At Christmas and the close of the year, we were in spirit with our brethren at home, and the Lord did not leave us without a Christmas and New year's blessing; while we dedicated ourselves anew with body and soul to Him, who hath done so great things for us His unworthy servants.

On the 7th of January, we reached the frontier town of Bengal, Bhagrlpore. The Church Missionary Society has a station a few miles distant from it. Dr. Drose, the Missionary, kindly sent his palanquin for us, and we spent some very happy days with him. On Sunday, we heard a sermon in Hindoostanee, after which a couple were married. In the afternoon, we attended the schools, where the children do not sit on benches, but squat on the floor on mats. We afterwards visited some of the dwellings of the Christian Hindoos. We found them very simply furnished, but neat and clean. The females distinguished themselves to advantage from the heathen women, by their friendly salutation and cheerful demeanor. Mr. and Mrs. Rebsch's child, which had been born during our voyage, was baptized here. On the 21st, we passed Patna, and enjoyed from our boat the lovely view of the town, which stretches out four or five miles in length, and is adorned with handsome temples and Mohammedan mosques. On the following day, we reached the Mission station, Dinapore, where we spent three days with the Baptist Missionary Mr. Price. On the 30th, we spent a day of great refreshment at the Mission-station, Buxar, in company of the Missionary Ziehman, who had been

sent out by Gossner. On the 3rd of February, we passed an idol temple at Ghazeepore, quite close to the Ganges. Already at a distance, we heard a most dismal sort of music proceeding from its neighborhood. Whole companies of Hindoos were either going or coming for the purpose of sacrificing. The last ten or twelve days before we reached Benares, the heat was very oppressive. The wind was almost always contrary, and the sails could not be used; the boats had, consequently, to be drawn by the men, who had hard work. Sometimes they had to wade for hours up to the middle in water. They were glad when evening came, and they were able to squat down on the ground in a circle and eat their rice, which they did with their fingers, a spoon seeming too troublesome. On the 7th of February, after a voyage of fifty-seven days, we at length reached Benares, a large city esteemed sacred by the Hindoos.

As Mr. Rebsch had been enabled to inform the Baptist Missionary Heinig (a German by birth) of our intended arrival, the lat ter kindly invited us to take up our quarters with him, and sent his conveyance to fetch us from the river. Br. Heide had been taken ill on the journey, and was in an extremely exhausted state, so that a medical man had to be sent for immediately. The Lord. blessed the means employed, and in a fortnight's time he was convalescent. The kind doctor would accept no remuneration for his trouble, being a warm friend of the Missionary work, and in the habit of attending the Missionaries at Benares without charge. May the Lord reward him for the love which he shewed towards us! We were much delighted to make the acquaintance of two other dear German missionaries, Leupold and Fuchs. The former possessed a number of the Brethren's publications, and we held a meeting for singing hymns in our usual way, with all the Germans who chose to attend it.

On the 17th, we took leave of our dear fellow travellers, Mr. and Mrs. Rebsch, who set out upon their further journey to Jubbelpoor, which they expected to reach in about twenty days. We had been nearly seven months in company of these dear Christian friends, and received great kindness at their hands, for which we pray our gracious Lord to reward them out of the fulness of his grace. We now hired two conveyances for our further journey to Meerut, a distance of 250 miles. These vehicles are two-wheeled cars, drawn by three oxen. A roof of bamboo and palm-leaves is constructed over them to serve as a protection against the sun's rays. A hole is left just above the wheel, through which you creep into the vehicle. These equipages exactly resemble the shepherd's huts, which one finds on the fields in Pomerania. On the 21st, we left the house of our dear friend Mr. Heinig, and turning our backs upon Benares, set out upon our further journey, in the Lord's name. We should have had much pleasure