Dan to Beersheba: Work and Travel in Four Continents (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

Excerpt from Dan to Beersheba: Work and Travel in Four Continents

After their Continental trip my father and mother returned to London where my sister Helen was born; and as soon as she was Old enough to travel they went to Scotland and chose a good school for their elder children before returning to India. It seemed to my father that the time had come when Misses Agnes and Janet, now big and handsome girls - Agnes real beauty - ought to be turned into young ladies and given a polite education. The school selected was the Misses H.' s of Glasgow, both then and later a fashionable seminary.

While their children were absorbed in their own little griefs and pleasures the parents were going through a most trying time. They got back to India in January, 1845, and almost immediately the Sikh war broke out, and the 43rd, which my father had rejoined, went Once more to the front. With this regiment and with the 23rd he was through several engage ments. At Ferozeshah the Sikhs were attacking, and here the heroic George Broadfoot was killed. My father's horse was shot under him, and he lost a button Off his tunic and had a bullet through his helmet; but then as ever, he escaped with out a wound, being said by his comrades to bear a charmed life. Victory wavered from one side to another, and the vic tors lost one-seventh of their numbers and were too exhausted to prevent the Sikhs from crossing the Sutlej and preparing for fresh operations. It was a critical moment in Indian his tory. The victory of Aliwal followed, and then, on February 10, Sobraon.

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Dan to Beersheba: Work and Travel in Four Continents

My great-grandfather, Hugh Colquhoun, lived on a small estate called Underwood, near Stirling. He was a prosperous man and married into a good mercantile family, his wife being Elizabeth Semple. At the time when all Britain was shaking with fear of invasion from "Boney," he raised a troop of regulars for home service, called, in the fashion of the day, "Fencibles." One of his grandsons afterwards carried on the tea business in Glasgow, which was the source of the family fortunes, under the name of Semple and Co. Elizabeth Semple was granddaughter of Donald Govan of Cameron and Bonhill, who is reputed to be the original of the old Admiral in "Humphrey Clinker." The Smolletts had at one time got possession of one of the Colquhoun estates, and Donald Govan's own place at Bonhill passed into their hands; so the connection between the families was undoubtedly close - more close than friendly! In fact, a feud existed between the Colquhouns and the Smolletts to such an extent that my father incurred the wrath of the head of the clan on one occasion by voting for a Mr. Smollett who was the Conservative candidate for Parliament. My father did not agree with Mr. Smollett's politics, but declared obstinately that he was the "best man," and the best man knew most about India, so he should vote for him! I suspect that he did so very largely to demonstrate his independence of clan ties or the influence of his chief, Sir James, for, although the latter was his good friend, my father would not brook any idea of the patronage or feudal feeling which is the kernel of the clan system.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.