From The Westminster Review.
ROUSSELET'S TRAVELS IN INDIA.[1]
Of the work named at the head of this article, not the smallest attraction to the English reader will be found in the interesting description given by M. Rousselet of his sojourn at native courts, and in countries under native rule recently visited under very different circumstances, by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. Apart from this, however, M. Rousselet's work is of much value as the best existing popular description of the large portion of India through which he travelled. The eager and general attention with which the prince's movements have been followed renders very opportune the publication of valuable information which the newspaper reports, however admirable, do not supply. Colonel Buckle's translation has been in some quarters criticised with severity for which we cannot find sufficient grounds. It is certainly not perfect, but its imperfections are trifling, as they are not calculated to convey, in any appreciable degree, impressions other than those which the original is intended to convey. The present is, however, a very costly edition, and it may be hoped that one cheaper, and more portable, will shortly be forthcoming. M. Rousselet's description of his reception by, and his communications with, many of the native chiefs who have occupied prominent places in the pageants and ceremonies connected with the royal visit is well worth perusal. The prince saw comparatively little of those chiefs as M. Rousselet saw them, in their own homes. There was necessarily much monotony in the royal progress, consisting, as it for the most part did, of state entries, addresses, levées, formal visits, reviews, and balls, which must be, Mullatis mutandis, one very much like the other. This has been complained of in India, but without sufficient reason, or consideration of the unavoidable difficulties in the way of other arrangements. M. Rousselet was very differently situated; his choice was unfettered, and he exercised it, as we think, wisely. He was "comparatively indifferent to the India of railways, hotels, and telegraphs," but bent on seeing "the courts and countries ruled by native princes, great and small, of all ranks and all creeds." In these countries he spent several years, and lost no opportunity of studying "the architectural monuments, religious beliefs and symbols dating back to earliest history, works of art and systems of civilization and progress." He has placed before the public the result of these studies in a style admirably calculated to fix attention. We recognize throughout the advantage of the French traveller's having brought "a fresh mind and independent ideas to bear on his subject, free from any preconceived bias or prejudice." The exceeding fidelity of his picture can be thoroughly apparent only to those who have been in India; they will assuredly endorse the editor's opinion, that all who are "already familiar with the subjects of this work will find pleasure: in recalling to memory the scenes and objects so well described, while the reader, who has no personal acquaintance with a country as yet scarcely touched by railways, or even metalled roads, may, by the aid of a multitude of excellent illustrations, accompany the lively French traveller, in imagination, on his Indian journey. The engravings speak for themselves, and will probably give a better idea of what there is to see in the native states of India, than has ever been given before."
M. Rousselet left France on the 20th June 1864, embarking at Marseilles on board the English steamer "Vectis" for Alexandria. Suez was reached by railway, and there he found the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer "Malta," from which he landed at Bombay on the 8th July, the latter part of the voyage from Suez having been, owing to the prevalence of the south-west monsoon, anything but enjoyable. On board the "Malta," however, everything had been done to make the time pass agreeably, and M. Rousselet's spirits were high when he reached Bombay; but the landing was effected under depressing conditions of heavy trop-
- ↑ India and its Native Princes: Travels in Central India and in the Presidencies of Bombay and Bengal. by Louis Rousselet. Carefully revised and edited by Lieut.-Col. Buckle. Containing 317 illustrations and six maps. London: Chapman & Hall 1876.
