McKay Adventures

		The Adventures of Ian McKay

Following is the fictitious history of the eponymous Major McKay. As part of researching the character of Ian McKay, James Mathews has woven these tales from a variety of historical sources; the major events referenced in the stories did take place, but minor details and the fact of Ian McKay's existence are works of fiction.

The
Adventures of Ian McKay
Royal Engineer
Parts I-IV

Part I

Upon my graduation from school, and when all the celebration hoopla had settled down, I realized that I faced the decision of exactly what I wanted to do with my new found knowledge. I had always been keen on "taking the colors" upon my completion of school, but I found that the closer that I approached the date of my graduation, the more that my father, a career military officer himself, cooled to the idea. I found out later that this was his way of requiring me to "think my way through the problem." I had always been interested in geography and mapping and had done some work with a local surveyor. I had done quite a bit of reading in school on geography and map-making and I had read much of my fathers extensive library on the same subjects. At this time he was a retired light Colonel of Royal Engineers and the desire to follow after my father in the service was strong upon me. In these years, much attention was being given to improvements in India to enable that country to grow a larger portion of the food that she needed to feed her population. As a large part of this effort, new irrigation canals were planned for areas in India on a large scale and in particular in the state of Bengal, in Northern India, where there were some magnificent historic public canal works that had been designed and built centuries before the coming of the British Raj and which were still in operation to some degree, but many years of total neglect had taken their toll. The Viceroy of India had convinced Queen Victoria and the sitting government that the repair and extensions of this existing canal system within the state of Bengal would be most beneficial to India as a whole as well as the tremendous advantage to the local farmers. These works were to be rebuilt with an eye to improving commerce and crop production in the north of India and I was very eager to be a part of this new effort as soon as I heard of it. One of my military options was the Indian Army. Since the Engineering establishments of the Indian Army and the Royal Army are totally separate, it took a leap of some faith to bridge that gap. My father had gathered quite a lot of information for me, but was steadfast against "advising me" on what action I should take.

He did, however, encourage me to seek out experienced officers, peers, and relatives and discuss with my intended actions so that I received a great deal of advice and information. As a result I found that the information was much more useful than the advice, and my father's interest in me and his methods were fully justified. At long last looking at the many options and opportunities I settled upon the Royal Bengal Engineers.

In preparation for this new canal project, the Royal Bengal Army was seeking a few young engineers to swell their numbers and were accepting applications for their Corps. I was one of the first to apply and be accepted and after my initial decision, my father was of great assistance to me, actually clearing away much of the "pukka-sahib" paper work. I passed out of the Engineering Officer's Course at Addiscombe in the upper one/fourth of the class, thus assuring my choice of duty. This was a most happy circumstance as you will see, and set the stage for my first glimpse of service life in a military expedition rather than a construction site. Also at this time there were many rumors flying about in Great Britain, that the Viceroy of India had been instructed by the Queen to make some show of force against the mountain tribes in Afghanistan who were trying to discourage the Royal Indian Army from moving through the mountains of Northern India to the City of Kabul.

Part II

At this time of my life, it was much more exciting to contemplate the honors of war, rather than the satisfaction of building canals. Anyway, not much else was going on throughout the Empire to excite a young subaltern, and so the decision was made and in short order my kit was completed, and I found myself on board ship bound for India. I will pass over the memory of that miserable trip to the sub-continent, by way of East India Merchantman, except to say that it was interminable, boring and at times dangerous due to the rise of piracy in those Eastern Seas through which we were required to pass. Twice during the passage, the crew stood to their guns against would-be pirates, but both times the villains sheered off in the face of our superior fire power.

There may be better countries for a soldier to serve in than India, but I have not seen them. You will have heard of the talk of the heat and flies and filth and the natives and the diseases; the first three you must got accustomed to, the fifth you must avoid--which can be done with a little common sense--and as for the natives, when you got to know them they were anxious to please, and with a little effort could be trained into good laborers, or with some education even into fair soldiers. They held to their beliefs of course, and could be pushed too far, as the Great Mutiny showed, but for the most part I became very pleased with my posting and began to look forward to the move up-country. I liked them better than the Irish and their language adapted itself better to English, surprisingly, than did Gaelic. While I never got to be as proficient with the dialects as some of our Politicals, I managed after a fashion, and never had much trouble in making myself understood. Actually, dealing with the Indian men is a great deal like dealing with a woman. If you take some time, are patient and understanding of the poor creature's shortcomings and short-term moods, almost anything can be done with them.

If all of the above was meant to be in the way of drawbacks, pray consider the other side. In India there was and is power--the power of the white men over the black and power is a fine goal to work for. Then there was ease, and time for any amount of sport, and good company. If you were fairly well off and well connected, as I was, there was the social life of the best folk who clustered about the Governor-General, There was opportunity here too, and fortunes to be made if you knew where to look. Many officers of the Royal Bengal Engineers rose to great honor and wealth during their service in India.

Of course I knew little or nothing of all this when we dropped anchor in the Hooghly, off Calcutta and I looked at the red muddy river banks, sweated in the boiling sun, and smelt the stink of unwashed India and wished I was in hell rather than here. As I said previously, it had been a miserable four months voyage on board the crowded and sweltering Indiaman, with no amusement of any kind and I was prepared to find my new world no better. At that moment, my feelings about my great decision were very negative, and had I been given a choice, would have exchanged my hard-won commission and all my other valuables for the clean sweet air of the Scottish highlands.

Part III

The Honorable East India Company (or John Company as it was known) at this time drew it's artillery, engineering and infantry officers from the Addiscombe training establishment which I had just completed. I will pass over that tour of schooling for now, just saying that it was a tour of some difficulty. I had applied myself fully to the course that was set up for the young engineers, because of the suggestions of both my father and many of his service friends, indicated that this was an effort that would pay off in the years to come. I was now graduated at the top of my class and therefore only bright stars awaited, or so I thought.

The course at Addiscombe included all of the following:

--Practical Geometry and Mathematics (particularly applied to the raising and transporting of heavy weights, the art of surveying and leveling, with their application to the conveying of water or draining morasses);

--The Science of Fortification in all it's parts, with the manner of attacking and defending places, as likewise the use, conduct and direction of mines;

--Rudiments of Military Architecture, particularly the method of making plans, elevations and sections of powder magazines, guard rooms, barracks, store houses and other buildings that may be necessary to fortified towns;

--The Theory of Artillery, viz. the doctrine of projectiles, so as to apply the same to gunnery, the principles on which several pieces of ordnance and their carriages are constructed, and the methods of forming exact draughts of the same, according to the tables used by the office of ordnance; likewise the names, U39S and dimensions of all other engines and implements of war;

--Mathematics and the principles of arithmetic, algebra, the elements of geometry, the mensuration of superficies and solids, plane trigonometry, the elements of conic sections, and the theory of perspective, as also geography and use of the globes; --Methods of sketching ground, the taking of views, the drawing of Civil architecture, and the practice of the perspective; --Perfection in writing and qualification in arithmetic as far as the rule of three;

--Thorough grounding in Latin and French;

--Cube Roots and Quadratic Equations;

--Caesar's Commentaries, Ovid and Sallust

--Larger and more difficult landscapes colored;

--Use of the lever, pulley, wheel, wedge and screw along with the laws of Motion and Resistance, Projectiles and Fluxions;

--A Dancing Master was also provided to insure the cadets entered the world as gentlemen.

At long last I had passed out of that school and now looked ahead to my new career. As I previously stated, I was to be posted North to the Royal Bengal Engineers, after my schooling, but army inefficiency kept me in Calcutta for several weeks, dangling my heels, so to speak, before the appropriate orders came through, but by then other courses of action had taken effect, as you will see.

Part IV

At first I messed at the Fort with the artillery officers, and although I was treated well, I was considered a Johnny Newcome and my comments about the dinner meals raised a storm among the gentlemen. I was not too complimentary about the food served. It was a kind of "stew" called Curry, redolent with strange eastern spices, but hiding, and not very well, the disgusting flavors of old meat and grease. Yet to be fair, I found that their mess was no worse than any other in India and better than some. The enlisted men's messes were indescribable, and I wondered how they survived such dreadful food in such a climate. The answer was that they did not, many of them at least. I was determined, however, that I would be better off looking after myself, so I went to the Fort guardroom, found a native who spoke English passably well and went out to find a house.

The company did not believe in maintaining houses for transients and visitors. These people were expected to find hospitality with British residents or pay for their own lodgings. I found a small house, not far from the Fort, a pleasant place with a little garden of shrubs an a verandah with screens. My native had rounded up a cook, butler, groom and a half dozen other servants that he assured me that I needed. These people were to be hired for virtually nothing. I gave a very serious talk to the cook and the others about the preparation of food and with cleanliness, and with my black native acting as the head of the household, we settled into the place with my establishment. The staff paid heed to my comments, after I impressed them with my seriousness a time or two with a walking cane and my native kept them at it. The cook as it turned out was a good one and my native whose name was "TIMBU-BRODAHUR-SINHALI" kept the house running very well.

So, this was how I spent my time in Calcutta, my nights in my own bungalow, my evenings at one of the military messes, or someone's house and my days riding, shooting, hunting or simply wandering around the town itself. I became quite well known to the natives since I could speak with them, unlike the vast majority of officers in British or East India Company service at the time. It was during this period that I learned a great deal about India and began to appreciate many of the benefits earlier mentioned.

Advance to Part V

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