N. Francis Xavier ,Part XII, (Continued from last week)
Col. Cadell was a happy man that morning. There were many reasons for that.
The first was a letter confirming his promotion as Lt. Colonel.
Before coming to Port Blair as Chief Commissioner he was Political Agent 1st Class in the Princely State of Kota, drawing a salary of 1,500 rupees per month.
The letter just received showed his salary as 2,166 rupees 10 annas and 8 pice. That included the special pay for his VC. He was the highest paid officer in Port Blair. Even the Senior Medical Officer, usually next to him in seniority, got only 600 rupees.
With a salary like this he could save a lot of money. He hoped he would get the next promotion to full colonel also. His desire was to buy a good estate in his native Edinburg and settle down there after retirement.
The next was a letter from the Hazaribagh Jail. It was a prison meant for ‘white convicts’. All British convicts who committed serious crimes in India were kept there due to its salubrious climate. Many were murderers.
Cadell had written a letter to the Jail Superintendent to find out if there was a convict who could play the Church Organ well, and had some knowledge of music. His desire was to have someone play the new Church Organ he got from England for the Church on Ross Island. The new church badly needed an Organist and choir-master. Attendance at church was compulsory for all officers and Christians, including convicts.
The letter informed Cadell that John Barrow, a convict in Hazaribaghgaol, was being transferred to Port Blair on ticket-of-leave. He was a good organist and conductor.
‘Now I can have a proper Sunday service, with organ music and a trained chorus’, Cadell thought.
The third was the arrival of a consignment of carbines andrevolvers. He had written asking for the replacement of the old smooth bore cavalry pistols issued to the police. He explained how unsuitable the weapons were for use by foot soldiers. They were muzzle loading, percussion type with swivel rammers of 8 to 10 inches length. His suggestion had been accepted and a consignment of brand new revolvers were on the way. But, more important was the sanction for 733 Schneider carbines with 1000 rounds for each weapon.
‘This would put some fear into the minds of convicts who plan escapes or mischief’, Cadell thought.
The fourth letter announced that convicts will be sent from Assam to raise a tea plantation at Port Blair. Capt. Wimberley, his deputy was always of the opinion that tea could be grown in Andamans. He had already experimented with many varieties he brought from a visit to Ceylon. Now there’ll be no shortage of tea, his favourite drink. He would have his own, home-grown ‘cuppa’.
There was another letter about the lease of Coco Island by one Mr. Sherlock Hare of London. Hare wanted to take the island on long lease in order to harvest the coconuts and take them to Burma for processing. He offered to buy the steamer Constance for 5000 rupees. He seemed to be a powerful man with connections in London.
Coco Island had been a source of much tension for the Chief Commissioners of Andaman Islands. It was closer to Burma, but under the jurisdiction of the Andaman Chief Commissioner. A lighthouse had come up on it. But it was more important because of its strategic location. However, it was not possible to maintain a military station there. Traders occasionally stopped there for collecting coconuts, without paying any revenue. Now Sherlock Hare offered 10,000 rupees a year as lease amount. This would increase his revenue collections.
As Cadell closed the dak file a man came with a packet. It contained copies of ‘History of Port Blair’, a book written in Urdu by one convict JafarThanesri. Thanesri was one of the Ambala convicts, as they were known in Port Blair. A very learned man with pleasing manners, he was convicted in the Ambala Conspiracy, an attempt to overthrow British power in India by a religious group known as ‘Wahabis’.
Cadell was much impressed by the learning and manners of JafarThanesri. He was given a good job with freedom of movement within Port Blair.
When Thanesri expressed a desire to write a book on Port Blair he was given permission. The book has now been printed.
Within a few months of his arrival in the Islands he could do so much. He would transform these islands by the time his tenure ends. With these thoughts Cadell rose up from his table to meet the officers in the conference hall on the ground floor.
A uniformed orderly opened the door to Cadell’s office on the ground floor. A polished teak table gleamed in its center. A writing pad and a pen stand with other implements like an ivory paper knife and paper weights were neatly placed on it.
On the wall behind the chair was a portrait of Victoria, the Empress of India. One wall of the room was lined with book shelves. Before the table were four plain chairs. A stuffed sofa was placed at the other end of the room. Two men with hand-held punkhas stood on either side of the chair. An orderly silently moved back the throne-line chair, upholstered in red leather and embossed with the royal coat of arms.
But Cadell did not sit. As he moved towards the side door leading to the conference room it silently opened. Officers stood up as he walked to another ornate chair at the head of the table and sat down.
Officers in immaculate uniforms sat in chairs on either side of the table. Punkhas, pulled by invisible punkha pullers swayed gently, creating a light breeze.
“Gentlemen, please take your seats”, Cadell said in a jovial voice. “I have some good news to announce, I have received my promotion orders just now”.
Congratulations poured in from the officers present.
‘I have more good news but before that I want the status report on the escapees. Captain Birch, I hope you too have some good news for me’, Cadell said, turning towards Birch, the senior most officer present there.
‘Sir, I have really some good news’, announced Birch, always ready to please the CC. I just received news via semagraph that the fugitive boat had been sighted in the vicinity of Great Coco Island. A lookout in the crow’s nest of the SS Charlotte which was sailing in the nearby waters spotted the boat. But due to stormy weather she could not give pursuit, being a sail ship. She flashed a message picked up by a passing ship and relayed to us.
‘That’s indeed good news, we’ll get them soon now. We have an offer for a lease of Coco Island. Let us go there on an inspection visit. But I have been asked to submit a report on the high mortality rate last year. This is urgent. Where is the SMO?’.
‘Sir, Dr. Reid is on leave, and Dr. Morton had been dismissed from service due to misconduct. We have here the Third Medical Officer Dr. Rajendra Chandra Mittra’, Birch said.
‘Well, Dr. Mittra, what measures are you taking?’,Cadell asked.
‘Sir, I have started administering Cinchona alkaloid to all sick convicts. This new medicine is supposed to be effective against Malaria’, DrMittra replied.
Please send me report on that. This meeting is now dismissed. Capt. Birch, Mr. Portman and Mr.Homfray, please meet me in my chamber’, Cadell said, as he rose from his chair (to be continued)…..
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