Birds of Passage Read online

  Birds of Passage

  Henrietta Clive’s Travels in South India 1798–1801

  Edited by

  NANCY K SHIELDS

  Contents

  Title Page

  Acknowledgements

  Glossary

  Dramatis Personae

  Map

  Introduction

  Prelude: ‘A Bird of Passage’

  1798

  Aboard the Dover Castle

  The Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

  Fort St George, Madras, India

  1799

  War with Tipu Sultan, ‘Tiger of Mysore’

  Miserable in Madras

  1800

  Travelling the Great Horn

  Arcot: March 12th–14th

  Vellore: March 15th–17th

  Crossing the ghauts: March 17th–30th

  Ryacottah: March 31st to May 15th

  Bangalore: May 18th to July 13th

  Seringapatam: August 6th–10th

  Mysore: August 11th–14th

  Travelling through the Guzelhutty Pass into Coimbatoor Country: August 14th to September 8th

  Trichinopoly: September 9th–16th

  Tanjore: September 20th–22nd

  Tranquebar: September 29th to October 1st

  Coromandel Coast to Madras: October 2nd–14th

  1801

  Aboard the Castle Eden

  Vizagapatam, India

  Simon’s Bay: The Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

  St Helena, British Colony

  England

  Coming Home

  A Brief Bibliography

  Copyright

  Acknowledgements

  Birds of Passage is not a long book, but it has been a long time en route. Easily tempted, as I’ve been wont to be, I’ve meandered down other roads in other countries (Tibet, the Gobi Desert, Bolivia) pursuing other projects, travelling elsewhere as the opportunity has arisen. Henrietta might well have wished for a speedier resolution to our journey. Be that as it may, we have arrived and here she is. Along our way, I have benefited from the help and advice of many people.

  In particular, I am grateful to the Seventh Earl of Powis [George William Herbert, 1925–1993] who gave me access to Henrietta’s India papers while they were still at home at Marrington Hall, Chirbury.

  My profound thanks go to Pat Kattenhorn, Prints Room Librarian in the old India Office Library, for surprising me with Lady Charlotte Florentia Clive’s journal, an extraordinary document with watercolours, presumably copies after those of Anna Tonelli.

  I want to acknowledge my gratitude to Mr Peter Rosselli who so generously responded to my request to publish passages, pen and ink sketches and watercolours from Lady Charlotte Florentia Clive’s journal.

  I am indebted to R. Guy Powell for his gracious help in answering my questions about the descent of Lady Charlotte Florentia Clive’s journal as well as providing information about the family background of Signora Anna Tonelli.

  To Anne Buddle, Registrar, Victoria & Albert Museum, I offer my grateful thanks for the exhibit Tigers Round the Throne: the Court of Tipu Sultan (1750–1799), Zamana Gallery London, 1990, an experience that enriched my interest in Henrietta while expanding my knowledge about Tipu Sultan’s world.

  I want to express my appreciation to the British Library whose librarians have assisted me in many ways over the years. In particular, I thank Jean Wooler and Chris Lee.

  At the National Library of Wales, where Henrietta’s papers now reside, I wish to thank Glyn Parry, Head of Archival Data Section, for his kind help.

  Many thanks to the National Trust Powis Castle curators, Emma Marshall and Margaret Gray, who gave me the opportunity to see the original watercolours painted by Signora Anna Tonelli during her 1800 journey in India. And thanks to Rafela Fitzhugh for information concerning the descent of the Tonelli watercolours to her family.

  Thanks go as well to Professor Kathy Holcomb, who helped me learn how to decipher Henrietta’s sometimes difficult-to-read eighteenth-century handwriting.

  I want to thank my brother, John, at whose suggestion I went to Welshpool to see the Clive exhibition at Powis Castle in the first place, and my niece, Nancy, who at age seven, accompanied me to Aberystwyth from West Texas. Deemed too young to sit in the National Library of Wales reading room, she sat and read her books in the hallway while I got on with my endeavours. I am, as well, gratified by my nephew Will Tom’s continuous support of whatever I might be involved with.

  Special thanks go to Dr Ravi Kapur of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, and Dr Mala Kapur of the National Institute of Mental Health, Bangalore, for their kind hospitality and friendship.

  My particular thanks to Doris Lessing, with whom I have shared many conversations on many topics, including Henrietta, and who generously let me use her downstairs flat on numerous occasions over the years.

  I am grateful to Jane Slattery, stage designer, who has provided me with a London couch to sleep on as the need arose, and who continually enquired about Henrietta.

  Mention must be made of two free spirits who have figured prominently in my life: Richard Cahill (1924–1998), seafaring captain, and Dr Milton Miller (1927–2005). Each truly believed that one day I would publish Henrietta’s journey as part of my own travels.

  I am beholden to Jacqueline Bowker, friend of many years, who urged me on, saying, ‘Try Eland for a publisher.’

  I am much obliged to Calvin McGowan, rancher, who, concerned at how long Henrietta has been collecting dust, enthusiastically encouraged me to apply a cowboy axiom and, ‘Move her out’.

  My deepest gratitude goes to another long-time friend, Charles Stewart Robertson, ‘gentleman scholar’, eighteenth-century specialist and retired Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Brunswick, Saint John, who has affectionately challenged me with his continuing and generous enthusiasm for Henrietta.

  And finally, special thanks go to Barnaby Rogerson, whose free spirit was willing to accept this rather curious travel book at Eland, and Rose Baring, whose meticulous concern with the manuscript has polished it.

  And now, I give you, Henrietta, alone but strong on her own feet.

  Glossary

  All the words in the glossary are italicised in the text:

  bandy a small cart

  begum a lady

  betel the leaf of the piper betel that is chewed with arecanut and chunam staining the lips and teeth red

  Brahmin a member of the Hindu priestly caste

  bubris stylised tiger stripe pattern that decorated many of Tipu Sultan’s possessions

  caffers black tribes of south Africa

  chintz printed, painted and dyed cotton

  chita a cheetah used for hunting

  choultry halls used for public business or by travellers as a resting place

  chunam a polished lime plaster made from seashells

  darbish muslin thin semi-transparent fabric

  diwan (dewan) prime minister or the vizier in charge of administrative finances

  doolies (dhoolies) covered litter

  dragoon armed cavalryman

  droog fort

  dubash (dobashe) interpreter

  durbar audience hall

  dussera a nine-night or ten-day festival in October at the close of the wet season

  fakeer (faker, fakir) Muslim ascetic

  ghauts the mountain ranges parallel to the Eastern and Western coasts that lead from the table lands above to the coasts below

  havildar a Sepoy non-commissioned officer, corresponding to a sergeant

  howdah a framed seat usually with no canopy carried by an elephant; sometimes made of silver

  ’imam (i’man) the prayer leader of a mosque />
  jamadar native footman, head of the running footmen

  kincob gold brocade

  knaut an enclosure used by a prince to surround an encampment of wives

  lascar a sailor

  looties plunderers

  lunghi a type of sarong worn by men

  Maharajah (Rajah) King

  Mahratta a famous Hindu warrior class

  masoollah the surf boat of capacious size, formed of planks lashed together with coir-twine and used on the Coromandel Coast

  munshi private secretary or language teacher

  musnud (masnad) the cushions and bolsters that make up the throne of an Indian ruler

  Musulman Muslim

  nabob English corruption of the Hindustani nawab, in England a term of derision

  nautch a traditional Indian dance performed by women

  nawab Muslim title of rank

  nayres (nahir) a military caste of the Malabar coast

  nullah (nalla) a water-course, not necessarily dry though this is frequently indicated

  ottah (otter) usually ‘attar of roses’, a perfume made from the oil in rose petals

  padshaw an emperor, the king

  pagoda temple

  palanquin a box litter for travelling in, with a pole projecting before and behind, which is borne on the shoulders of four or six men

  pandal a shed

  pettah a town adjacent to a fortress

  pilow (pilau) a Muslim dish of meat or fowl boiled along with rice and spices

  polygar (polygaress) feudal chiefs (male and female) with predatory habits, who considered themselves independent, occupying more or less wild tracts in the Madras Presidency

  Ranee (Maharannie) a Hindu queen

  sayres local and arbitrary charges levied by zemindars with a show of authority on all goods passing through their estates

  sepoy a native soldier disciplined and dressed in European style

  shroff bankers, money-changers

  soubadar the chief native officer of a company of sepoys, a captain

  tappal express mail carried by camel

  tonjon a sort of sedan or portable chair carried like a palanquin by a single pole and four bearers

  zemindar (jemidar) landholder or local ruler who pays revenues to the government directly

  zenana the apartments of a palace in which the women are secluded

  Honourable Miss Harriet Clive

  Honourable Miss Charlotte Clive

  Dramatis Personae

  The Players

  HENRIETTA, LADY HENRIETTA ANTONIA CLIVE (1758–1830)

  Henrietta, a feisty, independent and spirited traveller, was a Herbert of the ‘princely Powys’, daughter of Lord Henry Arthur Herbert of Chirbury, first Earl of Powis (second creation) and wife of Lord Edward Clive, the eldest son of Lord Robert Clive (Clive of India). From 1798–1801, she lived and travelled in South India. In 1804, she and her husband were created Earl and Countess of Powis by royal decree, the Earldom having become extinct on the death of Henrietta’s brother in 1801.

  LORD EDWARD CLIVE (1754–1839)

  Whereas his father, ‘Clive of India’, had great charisma, Lord Edward Clive, although a good man, had little. When appointed Governor of Madras by the East India Company in 1797, he had no previous government experience but grew into the job during his India tenure (1798–1803). He was much appreciated for establishing higher pay for the Indians serving in the British military.

  HARRY, HARRIET ANTONIA CLIVE (1786–1835)

  Harry, the elder and more conventional Clive daughter was twelve years old when she travelled with her parents to South India. Less is known of her as her journal, if she kept one, is not available. From her letters I think she was also rather lively. She became an accomplished harpist and later married Sir Watkins Williams Wyn.

  CHARLY, CHARLOTTE FLORENTIA CLIVE (1787–1866)

  Charly, who at the beginning of her travels to India was eleven years old, was a lively, sparkly personality, who was curious about everything – whether counting the steps of Mount St Thomas in Madras, mastering the flag codes at sea or attending a Hussein Hassan festival. Throughout her travels to, within and from India, she kept a journal. She excelled in languages and learned ‘Hindustani’, ‘Moors’ and Italian during her India sojourn. After marrying the Duke of Northumberland and becoming mistress of the castles, she published Castles of Alnwich and Warkworth, illustrated with her own watercolours and dedicated to her mother. She went on to become governess (1830–9) to Princess, later Queen, Victoria, the future Empress of India. She must have been a tactful woman to get on with her Highness’s overbearing mother.

  SIGNORA ANNA TONELLI (1763–1846)

  Artist and governess to the Clive daughters

  Anna Tonelli was the daughter of Florentine miniaturist, Nistri. She married a violinist whose family name, Tonelli, is associated with musicians in and around Florence and in Parma, Modena and Carpi to the north. In 1794–7 she exhibited her paintings (portraits, watercolours and pastels) in London’s Royal Academy of Arts, a rare distinction for a woman artist and a foreigner. While in India she recorded her travels by watercolour sketches of scenes and people. Among her India paintings was a rendition of Tipu Sultan on his golden throne, for which she received advice from his munshi after the fall of Seringapatam. She also painted portraits of other dignitaries, such as the Maharajah of Tanjore, Sarabhoji, and the Maharajah of Mysore, Krishna Wodeyar. A number of her India paintings illustrate Charly’s journal. After accompanying Henrietta and the girls back to England in 1801, she returned home to Florence to join her children in 1802.

  The Madras Players

  COLONEL ARTHUR WELLESLEY (1769–1852)

  Colonel Wellesley was one of three Wellesley brothers in India during the final campaign (1799) against Tipu Sultan. His elder brother, Lord Mornington, was Governor General of India; his younger brother, Henry, was secretary to the Governor General. Colonel Wellesley, of His Majesty’s 33rd Regiment of Foot, assumed command and restored order at Seringapatam after the defeat of Tipu Sultan. He was appointed Governor of Mysore and Chief Political and Military Officer in the Deccan and Southern Maratha Country. Colonel Wellesley would use the techniques learned in India in his victory against Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in 1815, which led to his being made Duke of Wellington.

  LORD RICHARD COLLEY MORNINGTON (1760–1842)

  Lord Mornington, Eton and Oxford educated, and Governor General of India, left no stone unturned to succeed in the execution of the defeat of Tipu Sultan. He moved from his Calcutta headquarters to Madras, judging it to be a better command position for the war. As a precaution, for the duration of the war, he assumed the power and authority of the Governor of Madras in Council.

  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GEORGE HARRIS (1746–1829)

  British Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of South India

  General Harris led the battle of Seringapatam. Almost immediately following the victory he was replaced by his junior officer, Colonel Arthur Wellesley. He organised Tipu Sultan’s funeral with all honours. General Harris later received the Barony of Seringapatam and Mysore, E. Indies and of Belmont, Kent.

  Off stage, but significant

  TIPU SAHIB (1750–1799) Sultan of the South Indian State of Mysore

  Tipu Sultan, the ‘Tiger of Mysore’, was an irascible, cultivated and brave South Indian potentate. His animosity to the British invaders was as ferocious and unpredictable as that of a tiger. Indeed, his possessions were marked with emblems of the tiger, in particular, bubris, tiger stripes. He was an intellectual whose library contained over 2,000 volumes dealing with many topics including Sufism, cosmology, jurisprudence, mathematics and astronomy. In a painting depicting him as he led his troops to victory in 1780 at the Battle of Pollilur, he is dressed in splendid bubris, a large emerald dangling from his turban, riding in a silver howdah on the back of an elephant and holding a rose in his hand. He was killed by the British on May 4th 1799 at the battle of his isla
nd kingdom, Seringapatam. For Henrietta, in many ways, he seemed the very personification of the East.

  GENERAL NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (1769–1821)

  Bonaparte’s ambitions were to advance through Egypt and to conquer the land route to India in order to assist Tipu Sultan against the English in India. The brilliant, mercurial Bonaparte was defeated by Lord Horatio Nelson at Aboukir Bay, Egypt, August 1st 1798, putting paid to these plans. In 1804 he became Napoleon I, Emperor of France.

  LORD ROBERT ‘CLIVE OF INDIA’ (1725–1774), Baron of Plassey

  As a result of his wild and daring escapades, Lord Robert Clive secured India for the British. He acquired great wealth from his India adventures and triumphs. For Henrietta, he remained a living presence. She and his granddaughters sought out places where he had been: the church in Madras where he married Margaret Maskelyn, daughter of the Astronomer Royal, and the scenes of his victories at Vellore, Arcot and Trichinopoly.

  GEORGE EDWARD HENRY ARTHUR HERBERT (1755–1801),

  2nd Earl of Powis

  ‘My dearest brother’ was Henrietta’s confidant and the recipient of her most private musings in her letters from India. The Earl of Powis, educated at Eton, was left in charge of the schooling of her sons, his nephews, Edward (aged thirteen) and Robert (aged nine), while the Clives were in India. The Earl of Powis had extravagant tastes and indulged in high living. He died in January 1801 while Henrietta was still in India, leaving his estate saddled with huge debts, partly because of the monetary problems of his parents. Henrietta’s first son, Edward, became heir to his uncle and received by royal licence the name and arms of Herbert in lieu of Clive in 1806.

  LADY FRANCES DOUGLAS (1750–1817)

  Lady Douglas was Henrietta’s trusted friend and correspondent. The letters that Henrietta wrote to her were fashioned to emphasise the Eastern aspects of her journey, as well as to give an account of her India experiences.