From Cork to Dublin
During my visit to Cork, I learned that Lord Cornwallis (late Governor of India), who was the representative of the King in this island, having quelled the rebellion which had…
From: 1814 C.E. To: 1814 C.E.
Location: Cork, Ireland; Dublin, Ireland
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From The Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan, 1814.
From Cork to Dublin
During my visit to Cork, I learned that Lord Cornwallis (late Governor of India), who was the representative of the King in this island, having quelled the rebellion which had disturbed this country for several years, was settled in Dublin.
As this city was only three days journey from Cork, and it had always been my intention, after seeing England, to pay my respects to his lordship, it now occurred to me, that it would be better, as chance had thrown me in his vicinity, to anticipate my intentions, and to take this opportunity of waiting on him. I was further induced to this determination by the beauty of the country, and from having learnt that two ships had lately been lost in the English Channel.
I therefore resolved to quit the ship at this place, and, after first visiting Dublin, proceed thence to London. Having communicated my intentions to my friend, Captain Richardson, he resolved to accompany me: we therefore left our heavy luggage and servants on board the ship, and, having landed with a small trunk of clothes, again set out for Cork. This time we proceeded by water, in an open boat, and took up our lodgings at the hotel where we had formerly dined.
On the day after our arrival, we were agreeably surprised by a visit from Captain Baker, an old friend of Captain Richardson, and a gentleman with whom I had formed an acquaintance in Rohilcund, during the war with Ghoolam Mohammed Khan. He had heard of our arrival, and came to see us. After the usual inquiries respecting our health, &c. he insisted that we should accompany him to his house, which was situated a few miles in the country; to which we agreed, and were most hospitably entertained. I was delighted with the beauty of his park and gardens, and the regularity and good arrangement of all his, apartments and offices.
I was particularly pleased with his cook-room, it being the first regular kitchen I had seen: the dressers for holding china, the racks for depositing the dishes after they were washed, the pipes of cold and boilers of hot water, which, merely by turning a cock, were supplied in any quantity that could be required, with the machinery for roasting meat, which was turned by smoke, all excited my admiration. At Cove I saw a spit for roasting meat turned by a dog. The poor animal was put into a hollow wheel, and, being impatient at his confinement, endeavoured to clamber up the wheel: by this exertion he gave the machine a rotatory motion, which was communicated by a chain to the spit, and thus regularly turned every part of the meat towards the fire. I was told that the dog had been thus employed, for two or three hours every day, for fifteen years.
Captain Baker informed me that he had purchased this estate, which was situated on the bank of the river, and only four miles from Cork, for 20,000 rupees (£.2,500). Part of it was arable land, some of it meadow, and the rest, except the garden, was laid out in pasture for sheep and cows. He told me that it supplied him with more corn, straw, and hay, than he could use, also with abundance of milk, fruit, potatoes, and other vegetables; that he reared his own sheep and poultry; and was only obliged to go to market for beef, groceries, and wine: in short, he lived on this little estate with more comfort and plenty than an English gentleman could in India upon an annual income of a lac of rupees (£. 12,500).
This gentleman's family consisted, in all, of twelve persons, two of whom were his nieces. One of these ladies, was witty and agreeable; the other handsome, but reserved. Several of the young men of Cork had made them offers of marriage; but they were so impressed with their own powerful attractions, that they were difficult to please, and would not yield their liberty to any of their admirers. These ladies, during dinner, honoured me with the most marked attention; and as I had never before experienced, so much courtesy from beauties, I was lost in admiration.
After dinner these angels made tea for us; and one of them having asked me if it was sweet enough, I replied, that, having been made by such hands, it could not but be sweet. On hearing this, all the company laughed, and my fair one blushed like a rose of Damascus.
Another remarkable person in this family was named Deen Mohammed. He was a native of Moorshedabad in Bengal, and had been brought up from his childhood by an elder brother of Captain Baker's, who, on his return to Europe, brought this lad with him, and sent him to school in Cork, to learn to read and write English.
At the school he became acquainted with a pretty girl, the daughter of respectable parents, and persuaded her to elope with him. They went to another town, where they were married, and then returned to Cork. They had several fine children; and he has published a book, giving some account of himself, and of the customs of India.
On the 8th of December, having previously engaged places for Dublin, at the rate of three guineas each, we set out in the mail coach. As this carriage has the privilege of conveying the letters from the post-office, and the roads were not yet quite secure, we were escorted by three dragoons, who were regularly relieved whenever we stopped to change horses. For the above reason we also stopped during the night. On this road we found ample supplies of every thing requisite. We breakfasted the first day at a small newly built town, called Fermoy, and dined and slept at Clonmell.
The people of the inns, on hearing the sound of the coachman's horn, had everything prepared, so that there was never the smallest, delay. We however could not either eat or sleep comfortably for the hurry of the coachman, who threatened, if we were not ready on the blowing of his horn, that he would leave us behind; in which case we should not only have lost our passage, but probably our luggage, and at all events have been separated from our companions.
The second day we breakfasted at Kilkenny: this city is celebrated throughout Ireland for the purity of its air, the fineness of its water, the healthiness of its situation, and the beauty and urbanity of its inhabitants.
I was so delighted with the transient view I had of it, that I would not sit down, to breakfast, but, having taken a piece of bread in my hand, walked to the river: this I found came rolling down a verdant hill at some distance, but was in its progress interrupted by a fall, which added much to the beauty of the scenery. On the opposite side of the river, the ground was laid out in gardens and orchards, resembling a terrestrial paradise; in short, I am at a loss for words to express the delight I felt on beholding this charming place. During the night, we slept at the town of Carlow, and on the following evening entered Dublin.
This three days' journey was through a hilly country, so that we were constantly ascending and descending; we did not however meet with any very steep mountains. The villages in this country much resemble those of India. The roofs of the houses are thatched with straw, and bound down with osiers; but in some instances they are covered with sods, which have the grass growing out of them a span high. Few villages contain, more than a dozen houses.
The poverty of the peasants, or common people, in this country, is such, that the peasants of India are rich when compared to them. This poverty arises from two causes; first, the high price of provisions; and, secondly, the quantity of clothes and fuel requisite to keep them warm in so cold a climate. Notwithstanding the sharp stones over which they are obliged to travel, and the excessive cold of the climate, they never wear a shoe, but during the whole year go about with bare legs and bare arms; in consequence of which, these parts of them are as red as the feet of a Hindoo woman who has been embellishing herself with Mendee (the leaves of the Sphaeranthus Indicus).
I was informed, that many of these people never taste meat during their lives, but subsist entirely upon potatoes; and that, in the farm-houses, the goats, pigs, dogs, men, women, and children, lie all together. Whilst on our journey, the boys frequently ran for miles with the coach, in hopes of obtaining a piece of bread.Notwithstanding the poverty of the peasants, the country is well cultivated, and very fertile; it produces great quantities of wheat, barley, peas, turnips, and, above all, potatoes. Rice, both of Bengal and America, is procurable everywhere, though at a high price. Wherever I dined, a plate of this grain was always boiled, and brought to table for my exclusive use; my host and his other guests contenting themselves with bread and vegetables. The horses and cows are fed during winter, while the ground is covered with snow, on dry grass and grain, and the sheep on turnips.
Here is found a kind of earth, called Turf, which is unfit for tillage, but makes tolerable fuel: it is however not equal to the other kind of fuel used in these countries, called Coal, which is a species of black stone, dug out of mines, and affords a great heat. Turf is nevertheless better than the composition of cow dung, used by the poor in India.
Khan, Mirza Abu Taleb. Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1814.
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