Description

Small Collections Box 16

Given by Miss McCabe through the good offices of Mrs Birchal.

Papers of Mr J. McCabe, Calcutta 1886-1908.

1. Note by Mr McCabe on ‘A trip to the Himalayas: adventures on the way to Mussoorie (1894)’. Photocopy of typed transcript. This is an account of an incident which took place on a journey from Calcutta to Mussoorie in August 1894. At that time the railway only went as far as Saharanpur and the remainder of the journey to Rajpur at the foot of the Himalayas (some 50 miles) had to be completed by togas or garis (carts). About seven miles of road went through the Mohan Pass which was bounded on one side by mountain torrents and on the other by hills. The summer of 1894 was extremely wet and on the evening that the McCabes travelled through the Pass serious landslides occurred which trapped their gari. After considering the situation, the McCabes decided to leave the gari and carry their three children through the heavy rain to some dak stables about 500 yards away. This proved a wise decision. Although conditions in the stables were unpleasant and there was the constant fear that the structure might be swept away, they did survive the night. Next morning there was no trace of the gari nor of most of their belongings. Cash payments to some local people brought milk, drinking water, chickens and wood.
   Conditions in the stables led the McCabes to decide that morning to walk to Asseroria, about two miles further on at the end of the Mohan Pass. A local man helped carry the children and the remaining luggage. As the road was impassable the journey had to be made through the bed of the river with water reaching the knees. The party arrived after about three hours, scantily attired, faint with hunger and fatigue, and with their feet lacerated and sore. The McCabes felt they had had a providential escape. Mr McCabe hoped that his account of the episode might hasten the construction of the long-talked of line from Calcutta to Dehra Dun or Mussoorie. 4ff
2. Letter from H. McCabe (evidently Mr McCabe’s wife) to Clare Keeler, dated Mussoorie, 8 August 1894. Incomplete photocopy of typescript. This gives a similar account of the journey through the Mohan Pass as that given by Mr McCabe. 4ff.
3.   Typescript note by Miss McCabe ‘Incidents in life in India 1886-1908’. Brief recollections of her mother and father and of the family’s time in India. 2ff.