Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 1.djvu/187

 n B. i. FEB. 26, mo.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

179

They howled owt with one accord at the European officer, imploring mercy, and affirming they were guilty of nothing deserving instant death. The Deputy Commissioner turned back to the palace, and there, sure enough, he found a good-sized block and an accomplished headsman in attend- ance, and all in readiness for immediate execution. When the old chief was remonstrated with, he urged, * Why not, Lord of the World ? 1 have plenty of them. No ? But you told me that the Great-Man wanted these skulls, and how else could I possibly get them ? ' These Gondhs were fortunately respited, to the old chief's disgust." Nevertheless a fine collection was made, in duplicate. The " Great Man's" portion, however, came to grief, for on arrival in England in his absence, the case was opened, and the contents, being regarded as human remains, were buried in a suburban cemetery.

When work was slack in the Central Provinces, the Viceroy would summon Col. Carnac to Simla, and the sudden change to a cool climate was pleasant, and specially so were the houses. Instead of the huge, whitewashed, rambling, habitations down below, the Simla houses were mostly compact and cosy. "The situation is explained to perfection by Sir Charles Dilke" ('Greater Britain,' vol. ii. p. 247), in which he Avrote of the delight of finding himself in a house in the hills, and in which he says : " Here I am in a real room, and not in a section of a street with a bed in it.''

The book abounds with good stories, but one other must suffice. Col. Carnac's regiment was in out to read the service: "The regiment was p;iraded, the weather was very hot, heavy and trying, and many men very weak and sick. The Colonel said to the fussy little chaplain, ' Please do not give any sermon. All will have to be < .utside, and the service will alone be tiring.' The little man intimated something to the effect that these were matters that appertained to his conscience, and did not admit of dictation. When a sufficiently long morning service had been got through, the little gentleman coughed, approached tin- big drum, and produced a bulky MS., evidently .i long sermon. The voice of the Colonel suddenly rang out in the silence : '-Cheshires ! Attention!! Right about face ! 1 ! Quick march ! ! ! ! ' and tli- little gentleman was left alone in the plain with the corporal who had acted as clerk, the big drum, and his big sermon."
 * i cholera camp, and one Sunday a chaplain came

On thei>i>ml of March, 1894, Col. Carnac landed
 * \\ .Marseilles, having bidden a final farewell to

Inula. These memories are so attractive that in n-.-uling th-m one is apt to forget the services rendered hy Col. Carnac, they are so modestly told.

The author had no sooner been appointed Assistant Magistrate of Midnapore than a great dacoity case was given him, with the result that not only the poor Gondhs who had committed the robbery, but also the rich liquor-sellers, the receivers, \\ere convicted and transported. After two years in office he was made Secretary to the Income Tax Commission. The appointment ol so young a man did not pass without comment, and he had the. pleasure of reading about " a young civilian who, not having yet passed the >nd Department Examination, is still in official swaddling-clothes." The Government of

India, however, so appreciated his work that he was selected to officiate as Under-Secretary in the Home Department, with charge of the Foreign Department's Office, during the Viceroy's absence up country. On Sir Richard Temple's appoint- ment as Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces he offered Col. Carnac the post of assistant secretary. Temple was much pleased with him, and, anxious to forward his interests,, obtained his appointment as Settlement Officer of the Wurdah and Chandah districts. This was followed by his appointment as Cotton Com- missioner. His services to the cotton industry were recognized on his visit to England in 1872 by a dinner at the Manchester Town Hall, and the Cotton Supply Association awarded him a Gold Medal.

In addition to all these pursuits, Col. Carnac took seriously to volunteering, raised a battalion of Rifles and two corps of Light Horse, and set to work to enrol every European and Eurasian in India in a scheme for national defence. But what will appeal to readers of ' N. & Q.' more than all is his work in Indian archeology, in recog- nition of which he has been elected to innumerable foreign Societies of Antiquaries, besides being a Fellow of our own.

Col. Carnac was married while in India to Marion, the eldest daughter of General Sir Henry Durand, and he records that she has been his " valued companion for upwards of forty years, and is my aid and kindly critic in pre- paring these memories." We cordially wish that our old contributor and his wife may long enjoy the pleasures of their home in Switzerland. The book contains two portraits, those of the Colonel and his wife, to whom " the most valued of all my memories " is dedicated.

Dudley Hardy, R.I., R.M.S., by A. E. Johnson, is one of Messrs. Black's series of " Brush, Pen and Pencil," which is proffered as " some record of the work of the leading men amongst con- temporary artists."

Mr. Hardy is best known, perhaps, as a designer of posters (though he was by no means the first artist of repute to apply his talents in that way),, and a recorder of the airs, graces, and dress of the up-to-date woman bent on pleasure. The fifty- six examples of his work here reproduced are fair specimens of his lively and attractive work, and are mainly concerned with English life, though the artist has also a reputation for Eastern scenes and studies of French peasant life. There is a delightful series of small sketches taking off the heroes and heroines of fashionable opera.

The illustrations give us a general impression of gaiety and brightness, but we cannot say that Mr. Johnson's text is adequate. He spends a great many words on extended commonplaces which would apply to many other artists as well as his subject. He remarks on p. 49 : " It is difficult to bring to a conclusion remarks which seem scarcely to have begun." We agree, but if within the space assigned to him, he could not say anything, or tell us what precisely is the artistic quality which distinguishes Mr. Hardy from other artists, he might as well have left the pictures to speak for themselves ; he says as much, also on p. 49. This sort of " appreciation " is, \ve believe, popular, but serious admirers of the artist must surely find it disappointing.