Memoirs of Meredith Worth [‎2v] (4/12)

4
below was the Kabul River and between the top of the pass and the next
stretch of road were 100 yards of rocky, steep hillside. It was impossible
to turn the car so we had to try to cross or wait to be rescued. J/!y two
servants got out of the car and actually held it up whilst I drove it very
slowly over the 100 yards. We were all very frightened and it ^as some time
before we recovered and were able to continue our journey along another
excellent stretch of road.
One day the austere and venerable looking clerk in Chancery who was
responsible for all Persian translations asked to be allowed to take ten days*
leave on full pay to go to Lahore where his wife was expecting a baby. When I
checked to see whether any leave was due to him I found that he had not been
away from Kabul for 18 months. When I gently brought this fact to his notice
he told me, without a glimmer of a smile, that of course he had a younger
brother. I'4-S leave was duly sanctioned.
After a short spell doing a Settlement survey in the Hazara District
from which it appeared th«d the Government had been defrauded of about of
its revenue for 30 years, I was posted to Baroda as Secretary to the Resident,
Lt-Col Colvin, and as P.A. Gujerat States. The Dewan of Baroda was Sir V.T.
Krishnamachari, a very able administrator and a charming friend. Under him
Baroda was well administered. It was noticeable how clean the town was and
how well kept were the parks and gardens. There was a small cantonment with
a battalion of the Rajputana Rifles, in memory, I suppose, of the Mahratta
wars. Europeans in the station were avidly reading ’The Rains Came* by Louis
Bromfield,who had been staying in Baroda v and who was supposed to have included
the characters of several of the residents in the book.
The Gujerat States were all small with insignificant revenues mostly
appropriated by their Rulers. I remember counting the money in the Treasury -
a Chubb safe - in one small State in the presence of the Ruler and his Chief
Clerk. The safe was found to have 8 annas in excess of the balance in the
account book. This was too much for the clerk who fell off his chair in a
faint. An enquiry subsequently showed that the money in the safe had been
supplied by the local moneylender and that his clerk had miscalculated the
amount.
Another small State, Sachin, had a I,Muslim Ruler with three very
beautiful wives, who were not in purdah. Unfortunately the first wife had no
children so she was sent back to Lahore to produce a second wife. This girl,
equally pretty was also unable to have a child so the first wife was again
sent to Lahore. The third, even prettier wife, was also unable to have a child.
Later I mentioned the sad state of these girls to the dam Saheb of Nawanagar.
He told me to watch the Columns of births and deaths in The Statesman. Sure
enough a notice of the birth of a son and heir to the Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. of Sachin duly
appeared to be followed a month later by a notice of his premature death. The
Nawab’s Virility was thereby vindicated.
Whilst I was in Baroda the Gaekwar died. Before the funeral I had to
accompary the Resident to commiserate with the Maharani and her daughter, who
was, I think, the Maharani of Cooch Behar. As we knew that neither lady was
really distressed by the death of the Gaekwar we were not deceived by their
♦ lamentations especially when the younger Maharani gave me a wink when
thanking us.
The funeral precession in white