Chapter 7: Slow Boat to Kerala

The voyage from Madras to Cochin took eight days, and I must admit those days were among the most enjoyable I have spent. Of course, any time spent with Mimi is wondrous, but added to that delight were nights spent in tender lovemaking and days spent in peaceful travelling over a calm, azure, sea. Our vessel, the Bengal Star, kept far enough offshore to enjoy pleasant sea breezes rather than the clammy overbearing, debilitating heat of the land.

Bengal Star was a lorcha, or so her captain, Norton Adie, informed me. The vessel was junk rigged but the hull was of European design, originally Portuguese I suspected, although the ship had been constructed in Bombay using teak and mahogany timber. According to Captain Adie junk rig, also known as the Chinese lugsail or sampan rig, is a type of sail in which rigid members, called battens, span the full width of the sail and extend the sail forward of the mast. The advantage of a junk rig is its ease of handling, and resulting ability to be sailed with a minimal crew, together with its relatively low cost of construction.

Captain Norton Adie was a jovial Devonian and hailed from Barnstaple. His crew comprised of six seamen, not enough men to maintain a two watch system and have men on watch twenty-four hours a day. Therefore, as soon as dusk fell Bengal Star would anchor for the night in a secluded bay along the mainland coast or on a small, uninhabited island at sea.

All six crewmen were Muslims, and. I asked Captain Adie was there any particular reason why he did not employ Hindu or Christian Indians.

“Several reasons, Sir Elijah. Hindus believe they lose their caste if they cross an ocean, kali pani as it is known. As you probably know Hindus are divided into several castes. If they lose caste they become an Untouchable, a fate worse than death to a devout Hindu. Muslims are forbidden alcohol and are therefore never drunk. Christians are allowed alcohol and are frequently drunk. Drunken sailors aboard a vessel are a danger to shipping, ipso facto I employ Muslims.” He jerked his thumbed over his shoulder at his crewmen...”These lads are not from Calcutta, which is predominantly Hindu, but from the largely Muslim region of East Bengal. They can all swim like fish as their coastal homeland is frequently flooded, being low lying and visited by cyclones. Not many Indians can swim, so that is also an advantage for me as I don’t lose a crewman if he falls overboard.”

In the parlance of the Honourable East India Company, Captain Adie had ‘gone native’. He had married an Indian woman, become a Hindu, and lived in ‘Indian’ Calcutta rather than ‘British’ Calcutta.

“I have no dealings with John Company and pukka sahibs other than to ship their trade goods along the Coromandel and Malabar Coasts between Calcutta and Bombay, and sometimes to Burma and the Dutch Spice Islands. I am fluent in Bengali, Hindustani, Tamil and Malayalam, besides having a working knowledge of several more languages. I dress in native clothing; eat native food, and other than my complexion I am regarded as no different from my neighbours.” He paused and his brow wrinkled in a frown. “Of course, my children are classified as Eurasians by the British authorities, but I don’t intend them becoming members of that benighted section of the Indian population. They are Hindus, Vaishyas, the same caste as my wife and me.”

“Then you lose caste when crossing the ocean?”

He laughed. “I do not subscribe to the belief, in fact not all Hindus do. I could ask a Hindu seaman if he is prepared to sail across an ocean. He may say he was just to get the job, but when, if, I had to deliver a cargo to Arabia or Burma, would change his mind mid-voyage. I would either have to throw him overboard or turn back. The first would damage my karma and the other would damage my reputation, so I do not take that chance and only employ Moslems.”

I had no idea of the caste system, or how it affected Indian life, but Captain Adie redressed my ignorance. Here follows a synopsis of his exposition.

Brahma is the most important god in the Hindu religion. It was he who created the world and all creatures. The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and the Shudras. At the top of the hierarchy are the Brahmins, (priests, teachers and intellectuals), and are said to have come from Brahma’s head. Next are the Kshatriyas, also called Rajanyas (rulers, administrators and warriors) supposedly from Brahma’s arms. The third level are the Vaishyas (artisans, merchants, tradesmen and farmers), created from Brahma’s thighs. At the bottom are the Shudras, who came from Brahma’s feet, and are labourers and carry out other menial tasks. Outside of the Hindu caste system are the Dalits - or Untouchables, who clean latrines, and sweep the road clear of manure.

On the first day of the voyage we headed south from Madras, standing only a mile or so offshore, but after anchoring overnight in the mouth of a small river the next morning Captain Adie took us out of sight of land and continued south. When I asked him why we were not closer to the mainland he explained.

“I don’t want to get too near to the Froggies of Pondicherry, Sir Elijah. It is not unknown for them to pounce on a ship sailing off their coast, confiscate the cargo and generally behave like the pirates they are.”

“Surely the Governor of Madras Presidency does not allow that to happen?”

“Unfortunately, he don’t have much option. The Royal Navy vessels are all operating in the Bay of Bengal. Since the Governor General of India decided to move the naval squadron based in Colombo to Calcutta the French have been acting so. I expect in time Lord Bentinck will dispatch a frigate to patrol the Pondicherry coast to remind the Frogs who rules in India, but meantime it is best to keep well out to sea.”

Once clear of Pondicherry territory Bengal Star moved closer to the mainland, and that night we anchored in a small bay which Captain Adie assured me was in Madras territory. Next morning Bengal Star sailed due east, and I asked Adie why the change of course.

“I have a cargo to pick up on Delft Island which is in Ceylon waters, near to the Jaffna peninsula,” he said with an embarrassed, or perhaps guilty, expression on his face.

That afternoon we reached the island and anchored in an inlet. Adie and one of the crewmen unshipped the ship’s skiff to go ashore. I asked if I could accompany him as I felt like stretching my legs. He gave me a look I could not decipher, a mixture of several emotions; guilt, alarm, suspicion.

“That will depend, Sir Elijah.”

“On what, Captain?”

“Whether you are merely a private individual taking passage on my vessel, or working for the authorities in Madras.”

“Why would you imagine I am working for the authorities in Madras?”

“I know you have been staying in the Governor’s residence...”

“Because Sir Frederick and I are both members of the Order of the Bath, and both fought at Waterloo. He invited me to stay at the residence as a matter of courtesy. I am on a private visit to India and assure you I have no connection with any government body.” I could speak with conviction as I was no longer the leader of the British Museum’s Expedition to Egypt.

Adie relaxed and smiled. “In that case you are welcome to join me. Bring along your wife if she would like a run ashore.”

Mimi was eager to explore, and brought her sketch pad. Captain Adie and a Muslim crewman rowed us ashore to a shelving beach, where Said, the Muslim crewman, remained with the boat while Captain Adie led us off along a dusty track through a grove of banana trees. I glimpsed what looked to be a church steeple to our right.

“Is that a Christian church, Captain?”

“Aye, that’s the church of St Lourance, derelict now of course. The few inhabitants of this island are all Hindu Tamils. The Dutch built the...”

“Dutch! Of course, Delft is a Dutch town,” I said. “The Dutch were here in Ceylon?”

“Yes, they kicked out the Portuguese and named the eight islands in the Jaffna archipelago after towns in the Netherlands. The ruins of a Dutch fort, that church, and some stables, prove they were here in Delft, and the wild ponies that roam the island are also thanks to our Cloggy friends. They were in Ceylon long before we came along and turfed them off the island. Of course, they are also in Java and Sumatra. We tried damned hard to get those islands off them and failed.”

After about an hour of walking we came to an area where the soil had been eroded and the underlying limestone and coral stone could be seen. Captain Adie stopped and pointed to a peculiar shaped indentation in the rock.

“The Giant’s Footprint,” he said.

It did look like a footprint; easily a yard long. I suspect it was just a fault in the bedrock but I could see how superstitious people would think that a giant had made the impression. Mimi made a quick sketch of the ‘footprint’ while Captain Adie stepped a measured thirty paces due east from the ‘Giant’s Footprint’. He stopped at a pile of coral and delved underneath before withdrawing a canvas package.

“Ceylon is famous for sapphires, as you probably know as I see your wife wears a remarkably fine specimen,” Adie said.

Mimi smiled and fingered her sapphire pendant.”Yes, it is a beautiful gem and is my dearest possession, other than my husband and children of course.”

“I can see you have a great regard for the magnificent jewel, “ Adie said, “but Ceylon’s pearls are also in great demand in Europe. Sinhalese, the non-Tamil inhabitants of Ceylon, can dive deeper into the sea than any other race. They harvest the biggest and most perfect pearls from depths of twenty fathoms!”

I thought that an impossible depth to dive; one hundred and twenty feet – surely a drunken sailor’s tale?

Adie saw my disbelief and smiled. “I thought the same, Sir Elijah, when first hearing the tale, but believe me, it is true.” He held up the canvas package. “The pearls in here have probably cost the divers who found them their lives. Although the divers can reach incredible depths their health suffers, and as a result, they do not make old bones. John Company makes a deal of money in taxing pearls and sapphires for export but only pay a pittance to the divers and miners who produce the gems. These pearls have not been taxed, and the divers will get more for their efforts than were they passed through John Company’s greedy hands. I take the gems to a contact in Cochin and eventually they end up in Europe.”

“Yes, Captain, I became aware of the trade when I came across The Sisterhood in Italy.”

He stared at me in amazement. “You know of the Sisterhood?”

I explained how I encountered a group of the Sisterhood in the wild Calabrian Mountains of Italy, and conveyed a package of gemstones from them to a Jewish jeweller in Naples.

Norton Adie let out a sigh of relief. “If the Sisterhood trusted you to deliver the stones then I know you are pukka. This package is destined for a Jewish jeweller in Cochin who will pass it along their network. I assume it too will end up in Naples.”

“I doubt a grouip of the Sisterhood are based here on Delft, Captain? Although the island is remote they like to be well secluded, preferably in a mountainous region, and I see nothing higher than the church tower on this island.”