They Brought Field-Pieces On Shore With Them,
Which, According To My Poor Judgment, Were Admirably Worked.
These
parades were the more interesting, in consequence of the expected war
with China, a war in which the sailors of the Wellesley will, no
doubt, be actively engaged.
I had also an opportunity of witnessing from the deck of that vessel,
when accompanying the Governor's party on board, the manoeuvring of
the ship's boats while landing a force. The mock fight was carried on
with great spirit, and the most beautiful effect; the flashing from
the guns in the bows of the boats and the musketry, amid the exquisite
blue smoke issuing from the smaller species of artillery, producing
fire-works which, in my opinion, could not be excelled by any of the
most elaborate construction. The features of the landscape, no doubt,
assisted to heighten the effect of the scene - a back-ground of lovely
purple islands - a sea, like glass, calmly, brightly, beautifully
blue - and the flotilla of boats, grouped as a painter would group
them, and carrying on a running fire, which added much to the
animation of their evolutions, the smoke occasionally enveloping the
whole in vapour, and then showing the eager forms of men, as it rolled
off in silvery clouds towards the distant hills.
As I gazed upon this armament, and upon the palm-woods that fringed
the shore, I could not help calling to mind the lawless doings of the
buccaneers of old, and the terror spread through towns and villages
by the appearance of a fleet of boats, manned by resolute crews, and
armed with the most deadly weapons of destruction. The sight realized
also the descriptions given in modern novels of the capture of towns,
and I could easily imagine the great excitement which would lead
daring men to the execution of deeds, almost incredible to those who
have never felt their spirits stirred and their arms nerved by danger,
close, imminent, and only to be mastered by the mightiest efforts.
When any tamasha, as the natives call it, is going on upon the
Esplanade, near the beach, they add very considerably to the effect of
the scene, by grouping themselves upon the bales of cotton, piled near
the wharf for exportation: those often appear to be a mass of human
beings, so thickly are they covered with eager gazers. Upon the
occasion of the departure of Sir Henry Fane to England, there appeared
to be a general turn-out of the whole of Bombay, and the effect was
impressive and striking. The road down to the Bunder, or place of
embarkation, was lined with soldiers, the bands of the different
regiments playing while the cortege passed. All the ladies made
their appearance in open carriages, while the gentlemen mounted on
horseback, and joined the cavalcade. A large party of native gentlemen
assembled on foot at the Bunder, for the purpose of showing a last
mark of respect to a distinguished officer, about to leave the country
for ever.
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