मेरा आजीवन कारावास / माझी जन्मठेप (स्वातंत्र्यवीर सावरकर - काले पानी का ऐतिहासिक संस्मरण)

CHAPTER VII We reach Andamans Our steamer had entered the port of the Andamans and her anchor was cast with ringing chain into its waters. She had stopped, and boats and officers' launches were seen gathering around her to remove the prisoners. We had to wait for a long time before we were let down into the boats. I cast a glance around me to survey the place where I was to pass the rest of my life. My fellow- prisoners, who had been there before me, and, occasionally, some sepoys explained to me the topography of the Island. There was the Ras Island, the head-quarters of the chief Commissioner of the Andamans. The island ornamented the sea like a palace built in the land of the fairies. It was, indeed, small in size compared with other islands. But it was so picturesque and compact that it could not fall to ravish the mind of even a prisoner in chains like me. On the other side of the Island, the foreshore of the sea was fringed by a long line of coconut trees waving their crests in the gentle breeze overhead. Beyond, one observed clusters of mango trees, betel- nut trees, and papal trees. On the wharf were crowds of people filling the whole atmosphere with their humming voices. Higher up and just on one end of the climb, we saw a stately building in perfect seclusion and enclosed within circular walls and shaded by a thick grove of coconut trees All round it were gardens of coconut, betel-nut and plantain trees. They stood there like royal menials waving their fans and holding their umbrella over the head of this "grand monarque." The building, with its perfect calm, struck us as the mansion of a happy, solitude-loving rich man or the manse of a retired clergyman. We Inquired of our neighbours, and a sepoy told us that it was the very "Silver Jail" of Barrie Baba. The guards on board the steamer had referred to that name more than once to rebuke the unruly prisoners in their charge. And the sepoys were not mistaken in their belief that its mere mention was enough to strike terror into their hearts. The man, who told us the name, kindly added that, as we were presently going to that place, he need say no more about Barrie Baba and his residence. We were let down the boat one after another in a lane, and each one carried his bedding on his head and the pot and pan in his hand. Landing on the pier, other prisoners were at once marched in a line up the steep climb, under the strict escort of regulars and warders from the prison beyond. I, alone, was kept waiting on the wharf, and in charge of European Officers. Thus segregated from the rest, I sat there, and it suddenly struck me that the Islands were so located in the Bay of Bengal that they constituted the bastion in the naval fortification of India from the East. As such they had an abiding importance in the future defence of our country. The eastern Islands of Andaman and Nicobar are gateways into the Bay of Bengal. If they were not to come under the control of India and if they were not properly guarded and fortified, any foe from the East can easily launch a naval attack and knock straightaway at the door of Calcutta. But under her control they can be turned into a formidable naval base for the defence of India from the East. It can then be equipped with