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O'er Oceans and Continents
WITH THE SETTING SUN
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BY
FISCAR MARISON
SECOND SERIES
PROM MANILA TO SINGAPORE, RANGOON, CALCUTTA,
BENARES, BOMBAY, GOA, CAIRO AND
PALESTINE
t i Published by th* Author
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CHICAGO
AUTHOR'S EDITION
A
COPYRIGHT, 1906
BY GEO. J. BLATTER
All Rights Reserved
M. A. DONOHUE * CO.
PEINTEE9, BINDERS,
PUBLISHERS, CHICAGO
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elic Authur.
CHICAOO. FEBRUARY. 1908.
CONTENTS OF SERIES II
PAGI
PREFACE i
EN ROUTE TO SINGAPORE , 3
YOHORE AND BURMAH ..... 15
AN EXCURSION TO THONZE AND NATIVE LIFE 31
SOME ACQUAINTANCES AND SOME DELAYS . 41
CALCUTTA, THE HIMALAYAS AND DARJEELING 53
THE GLEAMING SNOWS OF EVEREST . . 65
ON THE BRAHMAPUTRA 75
STREET LIFE IN CALCUTTA ... 83
AT THE CRADLE OE INDIAN BUDDHISM. . 91
THE SACRED GANGES AND THE BURNING GHAT 101
CAWNPORR, AGRA AND THE TAJ MAHAL . 112
DELHI ....... 122
BEAUTIFUL BOMBAY 130
FORT BASSEIN AND THE KENNERY CAVES . 139
FAMINE REFUGEES IN BOMBAY . . . 147
" His TOMB SHALL BE GLORIOUS" . . 156
ADIEU TO INDIA ...... 167
THE RED SEA AND SUEZ .... 177
ALONG THE SUEZ CANAL . . , . 184
THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX .... 191
LEAVING EGYPT FOR PALESTINE . aoi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
WASHING ELEPHANTS ON THE BRAHMA-
PUTRA ...... Frontispiece
ON THE PALITANA AND FILIPINO BAND . 6
AT WANETCHAUNG AND FAMINE REFUGEES . 38
ON THE BRAHMAPUTRA . . . 60
CHAPEL, DACCA DIOCESE .... 80
HINDOO DRY GOODS EMPORIUM ... 88
GRAIN SELLERS, BENGAL .... 92
A HINDOO FRUIT STORE, BENARES . . 104
NIRWANA'S STAIRS, BENARES, AND MOSLEMS
OF INDIA . . . . . . 108
GRINDING FLOUR . . . . .116
MALAY WATER CARRIER .... 126
BARI BUNDER, BOMBAY .... 132
POONA STREET SCENE AND CAVE TEMPLE . 152
SUEZ ........ 182
SCHOOL IN CAIRO 188
AT THE PYRAMIDS . ... 196
CAIRO AND THE CITADEL MOSQUE . . 202
THE BLESSED VIRGIN'S REST, CAIRO . . 206
PREFACE.
The cordial reception met by the " First Series ' ' of
"O'er Oceans and Continents," and frequent requests for
a continuance of the narrative, have finally prevailed
upon the author to publish this " Second Series. ' ' While
the first contained an account of the journey from
Chicago to Manila, the second describes the incidents
of the journey from Manila to Palestine.
Though the author is sincerely thankful for past or
future kindness shown to him in regard to these books,
he begs to state, that he is not looking for private financial
gain. The proceeds are intended to defray the publica-
tion of an English translation of " Ciudad de Dios, ' ' a
most remarkable Spanish work peculiarly suited to our
times. It is an extensive work, detailing in a wonderful
and authoritative manner the life of the ever-Blessed
Virgin Mary. If ever human words or writings have
succeeded in placing before the mind of man the
heavenly charms and beauties of undefiled woman-
hood, " Ciudad de Dios " has done it. Should not
such praise resound also in English, the language of
half the world?
At the same time the English translation can be pub-
lished only at considerable cost, for which there is no
hope of immediate financial returns.
i
PREFACE.
The proceeds of " D'er Oceans and Continents" will
be applied toward the publication of " Ciudad de Dios "
in English.
Therefore, kind reader, for once let the end justify the
means, and let the purpose for which this book is pub-
lished cover up a multitude of its deficiencies. This is
the humble request of THE AUTHOR.
February 1906.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE SLEEPING WAVES TO SINGAPORE MOTLEY
CROWDS JARRING STRIFE UNEXPECTED MEET-
ING AN EASTERN PARADISE.
The Palitana, an English steamer, on which we had
embarked at Manila for Singapore, moved steadily along
over the glassy, sunlit ocean. She was of huge dimen-
sions, and different parts of her deck were portioned off
for four different kinds of passengers. The stern was oc-
cupied by a few first-class, the middle with its promenade
deck and cabins by the second-class, while the lower
deck between these two was reserved for the third-class
passengers, who were mostly Filipinos. The forward
part, nearly one third of the whole vessel, had no upper
deck, and this portion was thickly crowded by fourth-
class passengers, a motley assemblage of ragged and
half-naked Chinese, Malays, Japanese, Hindoos, Cin-
galese, Burmese, Laskars, and other natives of Asia
and Oceanica. The Asiatics are great travelers, and
always manage to carry along with them what seems
their whole possession. Pell-mell, their bundles of bed-
ding, ragged clothes, articles of food, rude musical
instruments, arms, rough chests, faggots of wood, and
other worthless baggage littered the deck, while all
available space between these articles swarmed with
3
OE'R OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
men, women, and children in boundless confusion.
So crowded was the deck, that whole groups found no
deck- room to stand, but lay stretched out upon such of
the baggage as in any way permitted it.
Among the Filipinos in the third class were a number
of musicians, who regaled us every day with fine selec-
tions of music. They seemed a very well-behaved set of
people, and I made it a point to converse with them
during the five days of our voyage. They professed
themselves well satisfied with American rule. For a
long time they refused to play the Aguinaldo march,
preferring to play American tunes. When I finally pre-
vailed in my request, I found the march a rather
tame and melancholy piece of music.
The sea continued calm during the whole of our voy-
age, and seasickness kept aloof from our ship. The deep
blue of the waters in these regions is something remark-
able, and the sun's rays are reflected in dazzling white-
ness from the frothy foam churned up by the swift
course of the vessel on the placid bosom of the fathom-
less deep. At night the waters gleam with livid phos-
phorescence, lighting up the dark sides of the hull and
creating scenes of weird beauty in the glittering starlight.
During these nights we slept on the open decks, for the
cabins were far too stuffy for us. It is in such hours
that sometimes thoughts of the distant home come
upon the traveler. Here, lying on the open deck, the
eye could sweep the starlit vault and take in at one
4
QUIET FANCIES.
glance myriads of those brilliant beacons of heaven;
while all around, in limitless expanse, slept the ocean
waves, silently supporting the brooding gloom of night.
Mingled with the steady throb of the giant piston-rod
in the bowels of the ship and the tremorous churn of
the screw-blades astern, comes, maybe, the cheery laugh
of some passenger on the upper decks, or the guttural
growl of the motley throngs in the fore part of the vessel,
or perhaps some mournful note of their rude instruments.
And when, later at night, all sounds of human life
are hushed and the ear catches the tittering laugh of
even the smallest bubble along the vessel's sides, what
strange fancies seize upon the traveler! or, as he is
thus borne over the fathomless waters, many thou-
sand miles from his wonted scenes, though still beneath
the same vast dome of glittering stars, what memories of
things, read, heard, and experienced, do not crowd upon
his mind! It is the vastness of God's world, and his
own insignificance as an individual, that fill the mind
with wonder and astonishment.
But hark! what sounds of jarring strife and fierce
cries of anguish suddenly break the night's stillness ? At
first only the strident clamor of two or three voices
rend the night air, but soon the discord spreads. As I
hasten forward to the railing and look down on the for-
ward deck, the dim starlight reveals the vast throng of
swarthy natives in the first stages of mutinous con-
fusion. Near the bow of the vessel, where the flick-
5
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
ering flames of a few faggots of wood on the open
hearth shot out unsteady light, (for the natives are
allowed to cook their rice on deck), two or three Mo-
hammedans were struggling with as many Laskars, shout-
ing forth imprecations, while some women and children
were screaming. Two stalwart opponents clutched each
other's throats, and the flashing of murderous steel blades
marked the motions of their right hands as they sought
the life-blood or warded off the deadly counter-thrusts.
It seemed as if instant death of the combatants must be
the result, as they sought to throw each other over the
heaps of baggage and prostrate human forms around
the narrow open space. In a few moments the whole
deck was alive. Men hastening forward, women and
children arising from their sleep, the thickening cluster
of combatants, made the deck appear a pandemonium
at rampage, which threatened the vessel with destruction.
But the fracas had roused the officers and crew to
action. The electric lights were turned on. A flashlight
suddenly shot out its glare, revealing the swarthy and ex-
cited faces of that tattered and ragged throng, and the
flashing of impassioned eyes. Captain Scott shouted his
hurried commands to the mate and the crew, who pres-
ently invaded the battle-ground, recklessly leaping over
the littered deck and pushing aside the unwary throngs
of men, women, and children. Without ceremony they
opened a way through the struggling crowd, and, deal-
ing out thumps and kicks right and left, separated the
6
FIERCE STRIFE.
ring-leaders. Just as the masterful commands and sting-
ing whip of the menagerie trainer silence the roaring and
snarling beasts of a circus and reduce them to sinister
and growling subjection, so the determined assault of the
crew cowed the angry mob of contestants. The ring-
leaders were bound and taken to another part of the
vessel, while a few of the crew, well armed, patrolled the
deck to enforce peace for the rest of the night.
For reasons pointed out in a former volume, we
had taken passage in second cabins, and met with
some original characters on board. There were a few
skippers, who had just sold their schooners at Manila,
where, after the war with the United States, there was
a great demand for all sorts of vessels. They must have
made very satisfactory deals, for all of them felt quite
jolly. But I am afraid their jolliness was to some extent
due to the solace lustily drawn from certain jugs and
bottles in their cabins. At table they were a noisy trio,
one of them shouting out his orders to the waiters as if on
deck of his own vessel in a storm. He was careful, how-
ever, about using profane words, after I had objected to
the use of them in my presence. I make it a practice to
enter my protests in such cases, and I do not remember
of having met with ill-usage even from the worst kind of
characters. A man who allows much profanity within
his hearing can hardly be said to have proper respect
for himself; while a judicious protest, entered against
the abuse of the name of God or holy things, is not only
7
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
a couragous and gentlemanly act, but will often compel
others to be respectful in their subsequent behavior.
There were also a few Russians in second class, who
were very amusing in their self-sufficiency. All day long
they seemed to be planning and scheming as to what they
would do with a few thousand dollars, which they had
saved up as hotel-keepers in one of the new railroad
towns in Manchuria. If they are as persistent and in-
considerate in grasping at business chances as they were
in securing for themselves the shadiest and most com-
fortable places on deck and in the dining-room, they
probably have tripled their earnings by this time. I
wonder whether such people are able ever to look upon
the vastness of the ocean or of the firmament, or the
magnificence of nature, without calculations of selfish
gain.
One of the first-class passengers got up a raffle on the
number of miles the vessel would make in the next
twenty-four hours. As I understood it, twenty-five
numbers, as near as possible to the record of miles made
by the steamer the day before, were written on slips of
paper. These slips were sold for a dollar apiece and
assigned to each one, according as the lot decided.
Even on this voyage it became evident, that Mr. M. and
I had the advantage of our former traveling companions,
who had refused to follow my advice in regard to the
side-trip to Manila. Instead of using their round-trip
tickets, which necessitated a return to Hongkong and
8
SIGHTING SINGAPORE.
two thousand miles of useless ocean passage, I wanted
them to take passage directly from Manila. They
refused, fearing to depart from the beaten track and
also on account of the expense. As a matter of fact,
Mr. M. and I, by ignoring our round-trip tickets, gained
in point of time, expense, and diversity of scenes visited
and of experiences enjoyed. Well, " Suus cuique mos. "
The distance from Manila to Singapore is 1,386 miles.
On the day and night before we sighted Singapore, we
passed many islands dotting the vast ocean, among them
the large islands of Bintang and Sumatra, which are
Dutch territory not far south of the island of Singapore.
On the fifth day, in the morning at eight o'clock, when yet
ten miles from the city, signals at the top of a mast were
hoisted on a hill behind the city, showing that the Palitana
was noticed and her signals understood. It is the only
port where I saw such signals made. The pilot came
aboard when we were yet a considerable distance out,
and he was so careful in piloting the vessel through the
channels between the numerous islands, that it was half-
past ten before the Palitana swung alongside of its pier.
The landing-place of vessels is near the ship-yards, more
than a mile distant from the city of Singapore. No
sooner had we landed than a horde of gharry-men,
swarthy Malays, drivers of one-horse carriages, sur-
rounded us, fighting for the privilege of bringing us to
the city. But on the way we soon viewed again the more
familiar sight of the rickshaw-men scurrying in all direc-
9
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
tions over the well-paved streets. Their rickshaws are
of larger size than the Japanese jinrikishas, and are
mostly drawn by Chinese coolies. In the distance the
bright-colored buildings of the city reflected the intense
light of the tropical sun. The buildings in the business
portion of Singapore are very substantial structures,
with large porches or verandas running along their
fronts and very often all around the buildings. All was
life and animation in the streets. Singapore is the meet-
ing-place of all nations of the earth, for it is the midway
station for the shipping between the Orient and the
Occident.
We took rooms in the Adelphi Hotel, a large, rambling
structure with an interior court, a beautiful garden, and
large, open hallways. We had scarcely settled there,
when we met S. and H., two of our former traveling com-
panions on the Gaelic, at the entrance of the hotel.
They had arrived with B. and V. H. only an hour before
from Hongkong, so that our original party would again
have been complete, if M. and I would have consented to
use our through-tickets on the Oriental and Occidental
steamer for Calcutta. But as we had fared so well in
planning our own route from Hongkong, I could not
make up my mind to join them ; we would have a much
more interesting and direct route by visiting Burmah.
The O. and O. boats sail to the southern point of the
Indian continent and then transfer their passengers on
inferior vessels to Calcutta in the north, making an un-
10
COOLIES.
necessary sea-voyage of about two thousand miles.
This M. and I proposed to avoid.
After dinner we concluded to visit the most notable
sight around Singapore, the Botanical Gardens. The
riskshaws here are large enough to accommodate two
persons. But neither the vehicle nor its human locomo-
tive power is so picturesque as the Japanese jinrikishas.
However, we hired one of them and asked a waiter
to direct the coolie on his way. We had scarcely
turned a few squares, when our coolie stopped and
stupidly waited for further directions. He had evidently
either failed to understand or completely forgotten
where to go. A Japanese would have easily solved
the difficulty by asking information from a passer-by.
On the way out to the Botanical Gardens, as we had
been told, is the Catholic Cathedral. At haphazard, I
therefore pointed out to the coolie at each turn of the
street what direction to take, arriving at length at the
Catholic bishop's residence. Here we found Rev. B. and
V., and a hospitable welcome.
Having no time to lose, however, we soon left, taking
care to have one of the fathers give particular instructions
to our coolie. Just as everywhere in their colonies, the
English maintain fine roads, leading through all parts of
the island of Singapore. Here it is of finely crushed red
stone, overarched by magnificent trees, under the shade of
which we bowled along to the Botanical Gardens in our
rickshaw. Directing our coolie to wait for us at the monu-
ii
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
mental entrance, we roamed through the grounds afoot.
Here one finds all the wonders of a tropical vegetation;
winding paths skirt ponds and streams, the tall palms vie
with the spreading mangoes, interspersed with thousands
of other kinds of trees and shrubberies, casting grateful
shade and forming exquisite vistas of wood and lawn.
Beds of many-colored flowers and blossoming vines lend
loveliness and fragrance to the scene, while shady nooks
invite to cool repose. Leaving the park at the farther
end, we skirted it along a road that led through a majestic
forest. Here, borne on the back of a prancing steed, we
met a native Mohammedan of the richer class, who looked
down from under his huge turban upon the rest of the
world with unutterable scorn. He was followed afoot
by two richly dressed servants, who crossed their arms
over their breast whenever they feared he would turn
around. Is it not a strange effect of pride, that it swells
like a toad at the sight of those whom it considers inferior,
while true nobility will immediately inspire with a correct
estimate of one's self on encountering those that are or
seem to be superior ? I have seen overbearing people
load grossly with insult the lowly, while, on the other
hand, I have seen the sincere and true unconsciously
assume a noble and dignified bearing in the presence
of those above them. The swollen pride and the cringing
cowardice of this worthy trio is a good illustration of
the effect of the half-heathenish Mohammedanism of In-
dia. But, reader, why moralize ? Let us again board our
12
THE CHINESE.
rickshaw, and flit back through the checkered shade to
Singapore.
Coming nearer to town, a Chinese procession with
gorgeous banners and floaters passed noisily through the
streets. Half a dozen of men carried a huge paper
dragon aloft, mingling their shouts and acclamations
with the sound of timbrels, drums, and tamtams, while
a long line of carriages full of richly dressed Chinese
brought up the rear. This turn-out was probably a part
of their New Year celebration, which had been going on
now for two weeks. The Chinese form a considerable
part of the native population here, and we saw some of
their fine residences along the road. Give the Chinese
but half a chance, and they will, by their industry and
dogged perseverance, soon outstrip others in the race for
wealth. The Chinese converts to the Catholic faith in
Singapore form a large parish, which is entirely self-sup-
porting. This means a good deal in the Orient, where
pecuniary help to the converts is the rule rather than the
exception. The Chinese, once converted to the faith, are
stanch and practical Catholics, as well here as in China.
CHAPTER II.
YOHORE AND ITS GAMBLING RESORTS OFF FOR
BURMAH PLYING THROUGH THE MALACCA STRAITS
DREAMY VOYAGE GAUDAMA'S GILDED SHRINES.
After some rest we spent a few hours of the afternoon
and the evening in the native quarters. Of course, in a
city entirely controlled by the English, strict regulations
with regard to cleanliness and order are enforced. Hence
the dwellings and the streets of the native settlement
present an appearance like that of the by-streets of
European cities. In Singapore the Malays and Hindoos
are pretty well crowded by the all-prevailing Chinese, who
set up their stores and shops everywhere. Till late
at night the Chinaman sits under his flaring torchlight,
waiting for straggling customers, while the dusky crowds
of Asiatics surge up and down the streets, each intent
on his own small business or pleasure. At one of the
Chinese tailor-shops we ordered some white duck suits,
which the Chinese tailor agreed to deliver on the follow-
ing afternoon. These suits are quite commonly worn
by the Europeans in the Orient; for they are light and
airy and easily washed. The bustle of the native shops
and the glare of their torchlights, only a few squares
away, enlivened the cool night-air, which we enjoyed on
the veranda of our hotel until a late hour.
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
The next day we intended to make an excursion to
Yohore, across the straits north of the island. This
noted gambling resort is still subject to the sway of a
native Maharaja, though under English tutelage. But
before going we had a lively time with some of the stupid
rickshaw-men while transacting some necessary business
in town. They are of the lower castes, and in slowness
of comprehension not easily equaled. What is readily
understood by your Japanese runner, will be totally
misunderstood by these Malay coolies. The most
provoking feature about them is, that they will invariably
nod assent to every word or sign of yours. Assured
that your directions have been understood and will
now be executed, you lean back in your rickshaw-seat
and let your man start out at a headlong trot. But
soon he comes to a sudden stop, looks around very
much puzzled at not seeing you get out, though you have
not the faintest desire of doing business at that place. A
new explanation ensues; again the same performance.
The coolie whom we had hired this morning managed to
bring us half-way to the wharf, then back to the signal
station, and in zigzag course through dozens of streets
until we found the bank and the livery-stables. He
would probably never have arrived at the latter, if we had
not requested an Englishman on a bicycle to enlighten
his dense understanding. This he did in a thorough
manner by simply accompanying the rickshaw to the
livery-office.
16
To YOHORE.
We hired a gharry with the stipulation, that we were to
be back in time for embarking on the Nowshera for
Rangoon. It was a pleasant drive, past fine residences,
along country roads, well paved, under high, overarching
shade-trees, skirted by stretches of primeval jungles,
which were now and then interrupted by plantations of
cocoa, pineapple, banana, and sugar-cane. The planta-
tions are inclosed by a sort of dwarf bamboo, which is
woven together as it grows up, and makes a neat and
durable fence. At a half-way station, which was one
of the plantations along the road, our bony gray was
relieved by a sorrel; but, no doubt, a measure of oats,
which he had been expecting for some weeks, would have
suited that sorrel much better than an excursion to
Yohore.
Our road terminated at a little settlement of natives on
the banks of the strait of Singapore. Yohore is about
a mile and a half across the strait, which here looks like a
broad river. Coolies with their sampans surrounded us
offering to bring us over to Yohore. Their sampans are
rude boats, more clumsy than those of Japan and China,
constructed of rough unpainted planks and propelled by
long poles with a round disk attached to their lower end.
The oarsman stands in the rear of the boat and every
stroke of the oars necessitates a full swing forward of body
and arms. Our coolie tried to make us understand that
he would overtake a boat far ahead of us, in spite of the
unfavorable wind. He was as good as his word, or
17
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
rather, his gestures, for he brought us to our destination
half an hour in advance of his rival.
Through the luxurious trees on the hill to our left
gleamed the palace of the Maharaja and the noted
gambling resort. As our time was limited, we contented
ourselves with a rickshaw tour through the town on the
right,which seemed entirely in the hands of the Chinese,
and to consists only of cheap gambling dens and opium
joints. Entering one of the former, we were stared at by
the crowds, who were willing to forego the pleasure of
dice-casting at least a few minutes, in order to get a look
at such unusual callers. Scores of Chinese sat behind
rude tables stacked with Mexican dollars and copper
coins, ready to fleece any one that should offer. When-
ever we stopped to take a closer look at the proceed-
ings, the loiterers would crowd around, expecting, no
no doubt, to see us engage in the game and break the
banks. But they got small satisfaction, for we had very
little time, and were not anxious to take the risk of being
sunk on our way across the strait by a load of copper coins.
The streets present nothing of the liveliness of the Orient:
there is an air of concealment about the place, and the few
people to be met with seem all to be waiting listlessly for
some turn of fortune to come unawares. I wondered
where energy enough could ever be found in this neighbor-
hood to build up the great stone wall, which forms the pier
a mile and a half long, or to keep the roadways in such
fine condition. There are also the remnants of a canal,
18
ORIENTAL DELAYS.
which seems to give access to the interior of the country.
No doubt, most of these improvements are due to their
English protectors across the straits.
We had made the mistake of giving our boatman his
pay and some extra fees on leaving the sampan. So, in-
stead of being at his post to bring us back, he was nowhere
to be seen. This delay and another, which was occa-
sioned by our Hindoo driver on the other shore, nearly
proved fatal to our embarkment on the Nowshera. This
good man had unhitched his horse, turned it out for pas-
ture, and had sought some shady nook to take a siesta.
One of the village urchins found him a half mile away and
roused him out of his slumber. The most annoying
features of Oriental life for Europeans is the necessity of
keeping so many servants who will do nothing, unless re-
peatedly instructed and continually watched. For each
household a host of servants is required, on account of the
difference of caste ; each servant will do just one certain
kind , of work suited to his caste and under no circum-
stances can he be induced to do the work of another,
especially of a lower caste. One good European servant
is worth any dozen of them, that you may select.
A drizzling rain had begun to fall during our return
from Yohore. The driver was provokingly slow, and we
were under great apprehension of missing our steamer.
But there was no help for it, especially as the horse was al-
most exhausted before we could get to the half-way station.
Nevertheless we obtained the duck suits, which cost us only
19
J
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
two dollars a suit, and finished our errands in time to reach
the Nowshera. The hotel-keeper wanted to charge us full
amount for one extra day, because we arrived one hour
later than we expected. I understand, that some of the
hotels set a certain hour and charge a full day's board for
the least fraction of a day, on which you leave your baggage
over time. Of course, the hour is selected in such a way,
that as many travelers as possible will, in the natural
course of events, overlapse the time.
I must not omit a few remarks about the natives of
Singapore. There is quite a mixture of different national-
ities; for this seaport is the gathering and transfer point of
almost all the Oriental shipping. The natives are Malays
from the peninsula, but there is a large sprinkling of Hin-
doos, Chinese, and Cingalese. The natives are almost
black, but have regular and pleasant features, stately bear-
ing and more intelligence than the ordinary Chinese cool-
ies. We saw hardly any women on the streets, for the
Mohammedans prevail, and the Mohammedan women
are supposed to stay at home. The natives mostly wear
a white strip of muslin, which they wind around their mid-
dle in different fashions, but generally one of the ends
covers also the upper part of the body, while the other end
hangs down from the loins. A strip of cotton cloth is
wound around their heads for a turban. Many of them,
however, wear no headgear, but allow their long shaggy
hair to fall down in thick curls to the neck; The
ubiquitous Chinaman does business for the natives and
20
QUIET VOYAGE.
gets the cash. The gharries are driven by Hindoos.
Small, neat-looking ponies are used here to draw the
carriages, while the heavier wagons are drawn by the
drab-colored Hindoo cows or oxen with flabby necks
and of very gentle disposition. The yoke is a straight
beam simply laid across the necks of the team and sup-
porting a clumsy tongue. The driver walks between the
cart and the oxen, and seems very gentle in his treat-
ment of the beasts.
Swinging out from her pier, the Nowshera soon passed
between northern Sumatra with its range of islands,
and the mainland of the Malay Peninsula, forming the
Strait of Malacca. The sun had again broken through
rain-clouds and gleamed on the distant hilltops and on the
ripples of the calm blue ocean.
Our only fellow-passenger in the first cabin on the
Nowshera was a wealthy Chinese merchant, who kept him-
self very much aloof during the whole voyage. We found
it very strange that these English steamers do not carry
deck-chairs, such as we had found on the Gaelic.
The steamship companies evidently need some of the
American competition to make them think a little more of
the comfort of their passengers.
The five days of ocean-voyage to Rangoon were
among the most quiet and dreamy of our whole tour
around the globe. The Chinese merchant we saw only
two or three times during the whole voyage; the one
or two officers at meals seemed to avoid conversation.
21
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
There were hardly any natives on the lower decks;
we ourselves lounged about all day under the awning of
the stern. The vessel plowed steadily along, while over the
sunny ocean the distant land now and then appeared on
each side. Our captain had some queer notions about the
United States, which he had picked up from passengers,
and which he timidly expressed during our meals. For
instance, he seemed to be under the impression, that all
administration of justice in the United States was by
Lynch law and nobody could be tried any other way. I
was loath to give vent to my total disapproval of the Boer
war in the presence of the captain, for he was entirely con-
vinced of the justice of it, and was yet so careful to keep
out of any dispute on the subject-^.
On the evening of the fourth day a light-ship loomed
up on the placid surface of the water in the west, and fre-
quent soundings were taken, showing that we were in the
regions of the shallows. The steamer made a wide curve
to the right from this point, so that we could trace its rip-
pled course, on the calm blue waters behind us for several
miles. The waters were so intensely blue that they seemed
colored with indigo : a bucketful drawn up, however, is as
clear and limpid as purest spring water. The next morn-
ing we found ourselves anchored far up the mouth of the
great Irawaddy River, several miles from Rangoon. The
outrushing tide had swung the head of the steamer ocean-
ward, and the vast yellow floods that thundered on be-
ween the widespread banks, kept tugging at the crunching
22
AT RANGOON.
anchor-chains until nine o'clock. Then the tide returned,
the high banks on each side seeming to sink into the floods
of the rising water, and our vessel slowly swung around
to proceed up the river. At one o'clock the steeples of
Rangoon appeared in view, and above them all towered the
golden conoid spire of the renowned Buddhist temple
of Gaudama. Yet it was four o'clock, before the
immense hawser had fastened our boat definitely to the
jetty. In the meanwhile, crowds of natives filled the
wharf, eager to be hired for unloading the steamer.
Many of them, more enterprising, climbed up the high bul-
warks, in order to secure employment. Soon the steamer
was a pandemonium of shouting officers, excited sailors,
and screaming natives, for the great cargo stored away
in its dark holds was to be cleared over night.
We, however, tried to escape from the turmoil on the
wharf to take a stroll in the city. Rangoon is compara-
tively new, and is laid out in broad streets lined with shade-
trees. The buildings are of the usual kind in colonial
towns: arched structures of brick, veneered with mortar
mostly painted yellow, and very often consisting of four or
five stories. The remnants of the old native town are less
pretentious, consisting, to a great extent, of rude bamboo
huts with thatched roofs. Chinese shops and those of the
Tamils, Hindoos, Mussulmans, Jews, and Armenians are
found all over the city. They are more or less dingy dens,
where the small stock of commodities is exposed for sale.
The Burmese themselves are not energetic enough, it
23
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
seems, to compete in business with these foreigners. Since
the English have taken possession of Burmah, Rangoon
is having quite a boom, and no doubt those petty mer-
chants will be able to retire to their own country with a
competence in a few years, no less than their English
brothers.
One of the gharry-drivers, after the usual trouble to
make ourselves understood, finally landed us at the parish
house of the Catholic cathedral. Here we were invited
to stay by the hospitable pastor, Fr. Luce; but as it was
yet early, we asked him to instruct the driver to bring us
to the great pagoda of Gaudama, the gilded spire of which
we had seen at a great distance before reaching Rangoon.
This collection of temples, large and small, is situated on
a high hill overlooking the city. At the entrance to the
temple grounds stand two huge dragons fifty feet high
and painted white and red. From this entrance a passage-
way, resting on stone pillars, flanked on both sides by
Chinese booths, leads upward. By means of small
flights of stairs, at intervals of a dozen yards or there-
abouts, this arched passageway ascends a hill, some four
hundred feet high.
The naked feet of countless millions, that had used
these stairs in the course of many centuries, had worn the
stone flags hollow in the center, and so smooth that great
care was necessary in order not to slip. Little light was
admitted between the colonnade on each side, and beg-
gars swarmed galore around the petty booths that lined
24
A MAZE OF TEMPLES.
the way. As we issued into the wilderness of temples on
the spacious plateau of the hill, we beheld the great gilt
spire of the principal temple rising far above the other
structures into the evening sky, and the last rays of the
sun, reflected from its golden sides, cast a mellow light
upon the wonderful groups of shrines scattered around.
The main pagoda is built in the shape of a tower fully
three hundred feet high. Its base is some one hundred
and twenty-five feet square, but at the height of fifty or
sixty feet it assumes a conical shape, curving upward in
the middle and tapering into the blue sky like a golden
and solid Eiffel tower.
No less wonderful are the numerous shrines and tem-
ples round about it. Here is truly Oriental splendor,
scattered in weird profusion inside and outside of the
buildings. " As we issued from the head of the stairs,
we heard monotonous incantations, in the style of our
litanies, proceeding from one of the glittering temples in
front of us. The front part of the temple formed a
sort of open colonnade whereas the gorgeous altars and
separate shrines in the darker recesses of the rear were
illumined by hundreds of burning wax candles. Behind
these a mysterious gloom prevailed, from which mufSed
drums and jingling bells resounded. The ceiling and
the pillars sparkled in gold and mosaic ornamentations.
Numerous images of Buddha, large and small, stood on
their overarched pedestals. Scores of natives were
kneeling with their faces touching the inlaid pavement of
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
the temple and repeating the solemn incantations of
the litany. Flanking this temple to the right stood num-
erous smaller shrines, some of which looked like tombs.
Behind the iron-grated fronts laughed, grinned, and
frowned the statues of hundreds of idols or Buddhas.
Some of these were artistically carved in marble, others
in wood, some showed the decay of centuries, others,
again, were richly dressed in fine silks and necklaces of
pearl and gold. Most of them were in the traditional
contemplative position of the original Buddha, sitting
cross-legged in tailor fashion. Farther along the main
avenue that circles around the temple grounds, glittered
the richly inlaid pillars of a temple, which was a marvel
of artistic carving in pinkado wood. The carvings on
this and on many other of the smaller temples seemed the
work of fairy hands. So lifelike are the figures of men,
animals, and plants that adorn the walls, cornices, and
roofs of these buildings, that one almost expected these
figures to complete the action in which they were re-
presented, or those leaves and plants to stir to and fro
with the next cool evening breeze that swept along.
Opposite to this last-mentioned temple two huge dragons
with snake-like bodies rear their horrid arms and visage
at least seventy-five feet aloft. On closer examina-
tion they were found to be made of rod-iron or copper
screen-work, with openings of about an inch in diameter.
Within these openings were suspended pieces of pris-
matic and colored glass, jingling as the breeze passed
26
BURMESE PIETY.
through, and reflecting the sun's rays in a thousand
different hues as they swung in their framework. It
would take a long time to describe all the splendid monu-
ments of religious fervor that cover this hill, and the
wonderful ingenuity that is displayed in the variety and
grotesqueness of the ornaments employed. Who will say
that religion is but a vain aberration of the mind, when
from a vague sense of its necessity, implanted in
the human soul, such riches are expended in order to
satisfy its craving ? All over the temple grounds and in-
side the temples could be seen numerous worshipers
kneeling with folded hands and praying aloud. Each
worshiper generally brought along a candle to be burnt
before his favorite statue. At one place a father with his
whole family lay prostrate before an obscure and neg-
lected idol, earnestly repeating a litany.
Though the Burmese, to judge from their features and
the style of their architecture, are undoubtedly a race kin-
dred to the Chinese, they differ considerably in regard to
religion. They do not hold Confucius in such high regard
as the Chinese, and are Buddhists, more than anything
else. A good deal of the sensuality of Indian Buddhism
and Brahmanism is absent from their form of religion.
Their religious code is more simple, and in regard to
family life they are superior.
Down through the covered colonnade we retraced our
steps, several times losing our foothold on the worn-out
and slippery steps in the gathering dusk; the series of
27
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
stairs were more an inclined plane than flights of graded
stairs- On our way back we passed through some of
the fine parks with which the English have embellished
Rangoon. A military band was giving well rendered
selections of music on one of the lawns. But there
seemed to be no enthusiasm either in the players or in
the few scores of English listeners, that had gathered on
the greensward : they seemed all much surprised when I
clapped in applause of their fine performance. On one
of the streets along the wharf, under the glaring torch-
light, a group of Hindoo jugglers was giving exhibi-
tions to an immense crowd of ragged natives. Grunts
of approval from the spectators rewarded their efforts;
but whether there was any more substantial reward, I
could not tell, for no regular fee was charged, nor did I
see any collection taken up.
Arriving at the ship, we were surprised to see that its
huge hulk had sunk with the ebbing tide, and its bul-
warks, which had towered twenty feet above the jetty
when we left, were now almost even with the wharf. A
great roaring flame of gasoline, whirred from the top of a
blast lamp, lighting up the whole neighborhood like a
conflagration. Unseen hands were casting forth a
continuous stream of cocoanuts and other merchan-
dise through the open natches, while outside were
hundreds of ragged natives, hustling carts full of
the cargo to the near-by warehouses. These Orient-
als accompany their work with a continuous shouting
28
NOISY WORKERS.
and singing, for the louder they shout and sing
the more earnestly they are at work. They flagged not
during the whole night, for into our cabins their monot-
onous singing resounded until morning. We had re-
turned to the vessel over night, as we had made no arrange-
ments regarding our baggage. But during the day we had
decided to take passage on the Karagola, aboard of
which we ordered our baggage to be brought before
leaving in the morning. As we shall see, this order was
fortunately disregarded.
29
CHAPTER III.
EXCURSION TO THONZE LABORS OF LOVE NATIVE
LIFE IN MURDEROUS ARRAY A CASSOCKED
NIMROD HUNTER'S LUCK.
Early morning found us again on our way to the
cathedral, for I never missed saying mass during my
travels whenever it was in the least feasible. Upon
inquiry we found, that we could easily make a short
trip into the interior and be back in time for the
departure of the Karagola. Accordingly we were glad
to get an introductory letter to Father Perroy in Thonze,
about 65 miles from Rangoon on the Prome Rail-
road. The British railroads in Burmah and India
are run on the European plan. Second-class coaches
were almost the same as first-class, and they are so
arranged that the seats of the coupes, when let down,
will furnish four fine couches for sleeping at night. The
road is fenced by wire strung on iron posts, which seems
strange in a country covered with forests and jungles; but
this is necessary on account of the ants which would eat
through ordinary posts in one night. Numerous venders
of eatables and other small articles of merchandise, espe-
cially of areca nuts on betel leaves, enliven the stops
of the trains at each station. The railroad runs through
a flat country, which is flooded in the rainy season, making
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
it especially adapted to the cultivation of rice. On both
sides of the railroad most of the valuable teak and pinkado
timber had been cut for some distance inward. Fire had
ravaged great stretches of this country during the dry
season, as it finds a ready nourishment in the parched
jungles. Vast quantities of rice lay piled up in sacks
along the railroad, awaiting shipment; for Burmah is the
greatest rice producing country in the world, and the
principal industry of Rangoon are its rice mills.
We arrived at Thonze at one o'clock at night. Father
Perroy was awaiting us at the station with a gharry. The
town is about a mile from the railroad and contains only
natives. The mission-house, like all the better dwellings,
was built upon high posts and resembled a summer pavil-
ion, constructed of Venetian blinds, that admit the air
but exclude the heat of the sun. The furniture was in
keeping with the poverty of these missionaries. How-
over, the punka, a huge fan fastened to the ceiling, was
not missing, and it was vigorously swung by a native boy
while we were at dinner. Our meal consisted of a generous
roast of water-buffalo and a vegetable stew. When the
heat had moderated towards evening, our host showed
us his compound. On it stood the airy church, with many
chinks and cracks, built of rough teakwood boards; the
incipient normal school for instructing native catechists;
the house and schoolrooms of the orphan boys; another
for the girls, and even a hospital of modest pretensions,
which harbored only one patient at the time. To one
32
A MISSIONARY COMPOUND.
side was a large reservoir for rainwater, which, however,
would soon be dispensed with, as the father had begun
the construction of the only well in town. The natives
were afraid of encountering evil spirits in the well after
it had reached a depth of fifteen feet, and the only way
he could induce them to work at it was by descending
himself and taking a hand in the work. His garden was
stocked with an abundant supply of vegetables, for there
were many hungry mouths to be fed. A new growth of
areca palms gave promise of a good crop of betel nuts.
There was also a granary for the paddy, which is un-
husked rice. Some of the orphan girls were just then
at work husking some of it for immediate use. Their
threshing machine was merely a stone, which the girl
raised by stepping on one end of a lever and allowing
it to fall on a small quantity of the paddy lying on the
hollowed surface of another stone. All these improve-
ments were the fruit of ten years of solitary labor in the
midst of these half-civilized natives. Yet the father, in
his conversation, mentioned many other plans that he
had in view for the future. The contributions from the
natives amount to nothing, for they are too poor. He
works for no salary, and the expenses for his own house-
hold probably must be kept within one hundred dollars
a year. The improvements were possible only by
charitable donations from the outside, and principally by
careful management and by the labor of his own hands.
The converts to the Catholic faith are largely Kareens
33
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
belonging to the Pali race from the north, and more
industrious and thrifty than the Burmese proper. Their
religion is entirely spiritual, having no system of church
government, no idols, no priests, not even any special
place of worship, all of which is so highly developed
among the Burmese. The Kareens adore a supreme
spirit of good and try to propitiate evil spirits. The
Burmese, on the other hand, have a well organized church
government. Their Buddhist ponghees, or monks, are
unmarried; at least they promise to remain celibates for
a certain number of years. They live in community,
practice severe fasts, and enjoy great influence among
the common people. On the streets they are required
to look in an opposite direction whenever they meet a
woman; but the father told me that it is often a source
of amusement to him to see these monks, after having
turned their faces from the women as they pass,
deliberately gazing at their retreating figures from
some corner, or other concealed point. In Thonze
and in Rangoon we saw many of these ponghees walking
the streets in their yellow mantles, which they wear
somewhat like a Roman toga.
Besides the Kareens and the Burmese, many Hindoos
are met with, rivaling the Chinese in business and handi-
craft of all kinds. Their religion is of the grossest kind
of Brahmanism, in many points more immoral than the
heathen cults of the ancient inhabitants of Syria and
Egypt. Many of the Hindoos have their foreheads
34
THONZE.
marked with streaks of white or red paint, and carry
suspended from their necks obscene representations
wrought in gold or silver, in order to commemorate the
shameful practices of Shiva. The towns and villages of
Burmah are under supervision of native chiefs, and each
family is again under supervision of a petty chief or the
head of ten families. They are strictly responsible to
the English commissioner of the district for any in-
fringement of the law. The natives are allowed no fire-
arms, for Burmah is yet under a sort of military rule,
where small insurrections are not infrequent. Because
the natives are forbidden the use of firearms, the wild
beasts are multiplying fast in the outlying districts and
demand many victims during the year.
During a stroll through the town and in the outskirts
we passed a small pagoda, surrounded by some monas-
teries. Grotesque statues of lions guarded each side of
the entrance and rows of other statues lined the dim
interior. To one side of the pagoda, in an open summer-
house, a bevy of Burmese girls and young women were
frolicking about, engaged in some decorative work. The
town consists for the most part of rude huts and some
streets with rows of small shops. The most worthless
things here form important articles of merchandise. The
Chinese, especially, seem to get rich by selling old rubbish.
The main road leading north is kept in fine repair by the
English; otherwise there would be little possibility of travel
as the natives do not care for such improvements. Walk-
35
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
ing a mile or two along this road, in the pleasant evening,
with Father Perroy, we were deferentially saluted by the
natives whom we met. In front of the huts along the road
I frequently saw jars containing drinking water, placed
there by the kind and hospitable natives for passing stran-
gers.
When we again entered the town, the streets were
aglare with the torchlights in front of the shops and stands
of the petty traders. Gambling and good-natured frolic
were going on. After the harvest, the Burmese are
regularly fleeced by the owners of the gambling stands
and by the money lenders. A Burmese will risk all his
earnings at the gambling table, and if he loses, he will
borrow even at 40 per cent from the Chinese money-
lenders, in order to continue his play. On this account
most of the small landholders are hopelessly mortgaged
to the foreign intruders from China and Hindustan.
The Hindoos and Burmese are fond of gold and silver
bracelets on their arms and legs. Some of them also wear
rings through their ears and noses. The little children in
the native settlement near Wanetchaung had these orna-
ments dangling from their bodies, though otherwise with-
out covering. The dress of the Burmese consists mostly
of a white or colored strip of cloth, in all stages of clean-
liness, wound around their middle, leaving as a rule the
rest of their body exposed. The women, however, have
an extra loose piece of cloth thrown crosswise over their
shoulders and covering their breasts.
36
IN NIMROD FASHION.
During the afternoon Father Perroy had unwittingly
showed great interest, when I told him I would like to
scour through some of the jungles on a hunting excursion,
if possible. In his eagerness to please me and to fulfill all
the requirements of hospitality, he at once assured me,
that he himself had great hankerings after the same kind of
sport, and that he could easily accommodate me in that
line. What was more natural for me than to immed-
iately accept this offer ?
He mentioned Wanetchaung, easily reached by the
midnight train, as a likely place for the indulgence in that
kind of sport. Accordingly at midnight the priest's house
presented a strange scene. Father Perroy had aroused
us from brief slumber. Three sleepy orphan boys in their
native dress stood waiting in murderous array armed with
a couple of guns. In the feeble candle light we hunted up
our belongings and then we started out together through
the dark and silent streets of the town toward the railroad
station. We looked much like a band of insurrectionists
slinking through the darkness on some nefarious enter-
prise. Only the missionary appeared somewhat unsports-
manlike, for he came along in his cassock. I began
to suspect that he must have overrated his own penchant
for the noble woodcraft, and the next day I became quite
convinced of the correctness of my surmises, when the
good father told my companion in private, that he never
fired any kind of a gun, and this was his first hunting
expedition. In the second-class coaches we obtained a
37
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
coupe for ourselves, and we continued our interrupted
sleep on the soft couches until we arrived at Wanetchaung
shortly after four o'clock. The native depotmaster and
his wife were Catholic converts, and they readily offered us
places to finish our night's rest in their quarters above
the station rooms.
At break of day we were invited to a breakfast, and
afterwards to partake of the betel nut. This is the nut of
the areca palm, wrapped into a green betel leaf with a little
caraway seed, clove, and lime. It is then ready to be
taken into the mouth and to be slowly dissolved. It
has a stringent taste, but has a cooling effect in hot
weather. The juice that forms in the mouth is blood red,
and, as this juice cannot be swallowed, it must be fre-
quently ejected just like tobacco juice. The use of the
betel nut is universal in these countries, and one of the
disgusting sights everywhere is the red betel juice on
the walks, like the relics of frequent hemorrhage
thrown up along the way. The lips and mouth of the
betel chewer turn intensely red while the teeth become
jet black.
Soon we started out in dread array for the destruction
of whatsoever beast of the forest would have the temerity
to venture across our paths. But it seems our path and
the path of the beasts diverged to a considerable extent,
especially as I could not persuade my companions to leave
the trail that led into the woods toward a settlement of
natives a few miles distant. For want of any larger game
38
IN THE JUNGLES.
I began to shoot at some noisy parrots and other strange
birds in order to get a closer look at their plumage. A
good deal of the larger timber had been cut in the neigh-
borhood of Wanetchaung. But near the little settlement
the jungle became more dense. All at once we stood in
front of a group of native huts. The children, some of
them entirely naked, suddenly ceased their gambols and
stood staring at us. A girl of about fifteen years of age
had just arrived with a waterskin carried by a donkey,
and she began to let it run wastefully into jars, that were
brought around by the natives. Their huts were merely
a framework of bamboo, covered with moss or branches
of trees, to keep off the heat of the sun. Two native
blacksmiths were hammering away at a piece of iron on
a stone for an anvil. Their bellows consisted of two rods
of bamboo with pistons for pumping air into the fire on
the ground. A few pennies given to the children gained
us the confidence of the natives, and Father Perroy asked
them whether any deer had been seen in the neighbor-
hood lately.
As they answered in the affirmative, I parted com-
pany with my fellow-sportsmen and penetrated into
the jungle with two boys, trusting that I would come
out again somewhere in the neighborhood of Wanet-
chaung. The sun had parched the ground, and in
some places fire had devastated the woods, so that there
were many openings. As the sun rose higher, the heat
became intense, but finding' many fresh tracks of deer I
39
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
had no time to think of sunstroke, of which Father Perroy
had warned me, or mind the difficulties of breaking
through the dense undergrowth over the broken ground.
But luck was against me, and after a few hours I had
again begun to shoot at the birds, when suddenly a
deer started from a thicket just ahead of me. My gun
had just been emptied of its charge and the deer bounded
out of sight: I do not know how long I would have fol-
lowed in breathless pursuit, if I had not seen Mr. M.
anxiously heading along the road into the woods, evi-
dently in search of me. As he was almost entirely deaf
I could not attract his attention by mere shouting, so I
had to give up deer hunting in order to prevent him from
making a dangerous and fruitless search. I do not see,
however, what chance he had of finding me in that
jungle, since I had left the road. On arriving at the
station, I found that they had been in great anxiety about
me, thinking that I had lost the way or had been over-
come by the heat. The different birds which I brought
down, were treasured up by the boys for a rare meal.
A refreshing showerbath soon removed the effects of my
ramble in the scorching sun, and we boarded the next
train to Rangoon with many hearty adieus from our rev-
erend and kind Nimrod of the Burmah jungles.
CHAPTER IV.
FORTUNATE DELAYS MISSIONS ETRANGERES AN
AMIABLE HOST SOME BROTHER INFIDELS
RANGOON SIGHTS EMBARKED WITH A CARGO OF
COLONIAL SWELLDOM PRACTICAL HINTS.
Our train made so many stops, that we had small
hope of arriving in time for the steamer Karagola.
More delay was occasioned by the tardiness of our gharry-
driver. In consequence we arrived at the jetty just in
time to see the vast black hull of the Karagola, with its
hundreds of passengers, backing away from the dock
and majestically floating out on the rushing tide. Our
mortification was great, but our missing the boat proved
very advantageous in the end. Our baggage had not
been put aboard, and we found it still on the Nowshera.
Later on we heard that the bubonic plague had broken
out on the steamer which we had missed, and in that way
we happily escaped infection, or at least a long quarantine
on an infected vessel. Strange to say we missed also
the next vessel, and, later on, heard that she had broken
her shafts in mid-ocean.
A sampan brought us with the swift running tide to
the Nowshera, where we secured our baggage, which we
now wished to bring aboard the Matiana, about three
miles down the stream. The difficulty, however, was to
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
get there, as the tide was rushing up at a tremendous rate.
Even the stoutest boatman would be unable to make head-
way against so swift a tide as that of the Irawaddy. But
our Hindoo boatman knew a trick or two; giving his
boat a slanting position, he lustily plied his two long oars
against the tide, and so the sampan was forced to cross to
the other side of the stream, about a mile distant. By
thus manoeuvering we crossed in a straight line to more
quiet waters, on which, after an hour's rowing, we reached
the Matiana. Some queer looking craft we passed on the
the way, large hulks, like canalboats, propelled by a score
of oars thirty feet long. Having stored our baggage
aboard the Matiana, after some objections from the stew-
ard, we now found it easy to return with the tide to the
Park jetty. We roomed in Evershed's hotel, where we
were highly disgusted with the boisterous behavior of
the bar-maids, the rapacious servants, the dirty rooms,
and the slovenly business management. Yet this hos-
telry was among the prominent ones of Rangoon.
Next day, strolling around town after breakfast, we
happened upon a building which looked like a Catholic
church, and we entered what seemed to be the parsonage.
Upon hearing that we hailed from the United States, two
old men with flowing beards immediately invited us to a
seat on the porch and a cooling drink. We very soon
found out, that we had strayed into an Armenian estab-
lishment and that one of the old men was the pastor, the
other a patriarch from Armenia on a missionary tour.
ARMENIAN ZEALOTS.
This latter, when he learned of my being a priest, began
to assail the Catholic church as having woefully dropped
from the original traditions of Christianity, the old
groundless accusation of non-Catholics. True faith, he
said, is found only in the Armenian church. I believe
that he was sincere, and that he had hopes of converting
me then and there to the Armenian faith. At first I
made no answer nor gainsaid any of his talk. But when
I afterward proved to him from his own ritual of the sacra-
ments, that in most of them the form was essentially
changed and that therefore they had hardly any of the
seven sacraments, and not the sacrifice of the Mass as in.
stituted by Christ, peaceful discussion was at an end.
What angered him especially was, that I acknowledged
the supremacy of the Pope and my belief in the propriety
of priestly celibacy. As he was an old man, I tried to
soothe his ruffled feelings before leaving, but not with
any marked success.
At the hotel we were kept waiting two hours before we
could get our charges summed up for the purpose of pay-
ing them. Hotel business must be an annoying way of
making a living in the Orient. A host of dark-skinned
servants moves about, who must be continually superin-
tended and instructed. What would our hotel people
do, if they were obliged to have a separate waiter for
each guest ? And yet in spite of the abundance of ser-
vants, meals will drag on for hours.
Again visiting the cathedral after tiffin, I was invited
43
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
to stay over Sunday and preach at the early mass in Eng-
lish, instead of taking our intended excursion to Pegu.
This invitation I readily accepted and spent the leisure
hours of the evening in a visit to Father Bohn, an
Alsatian, who was in charge of St. Anthony's parish of
about 8,000 Tamils. We found him directing the excava-
tions, which were being made for a large addition to the
old church. He received us somewhat coolly, until I ad-
dressed him in German, telling him that we came all the
way from America. Then he eagerly invited us into
his airy habitation and insisted, that we return and par-
take of a dinner after the services on the next day. That
night, from the fourth story windows of our sleeping-
quarters in the Cathedral residence, we surveyed the
brilliant rows of arc lights along the wharfs over topping
the countless torch and gas lights of the city.
Next morning there was a goodly congrega-
tion of Eurasians at the Sunday services. These
are descendants of mixed Europeans and natives.
They understood English, of course, and listened at-
tentively to what I had to say about the greatness, uni-
versality and divine guidance of the Catholic Church.
At about eleven o'clock we adjourned with two of the
missionaries of the Cathedral parish to Father Bohn's re-
sidence behind St. Anthony's church. Though his in-
come must be scant, he treated us royally, seasoning his
hospitality with the most amiable and gracious friendli-
ness, and making our stay with him a pleasure to be
44
FATHER BOHN.
remembered ever after. He could hardly speak above a
whisper, for he was in the last stages of consumption.
Yet he was attending to all the duties of the large parish,
and his dearest ambition was to get the new addition to
the church finished before the fell disease would take
him off. Two years ago his superiors had sent him to
France in the vain hope of a cure; but finding that
there was no improvement, he wished to return and die
in the midst of his labors though far from friends and
home. Such is the spirit of missionaries in these far-off
countries. During the dinner and the hot hours of the
afternoon, comfortably seated on the porch and sur-
rounded by the shade of the great tropical trees, the
fathers gave us many points of information. Some
articles in use among the Negritos of the Andaman
Isles, which we had passed on our way from Singapore,
were shown us, among them a bow and arrow, which
must have required great strength to handle; also a
woman's dress, which was nothing else than a girdle
made of thin branches and fringed with leaves about a
foot long. This was considerably better than what the
men wear, for they wear nothing. They are said to be
the most savage tribe under the British sway.
Sometimes this tribe is cited by infidels as a proof, that
the belief in a Supreme Being does not exist among all na-
tions. But, as a matter of fact, even in their case, it is not
true, for they believe in evil gods, whom they try to
propitiate. The atheists must indeed be hard up for an
45
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
argument against the existence of a God, when they cite
such instances of unbelief. The Negritos of the An-
damans will, without great reluctance, be given up to
them as examples of intellectual progress and enlighten-
ment. We would suggest, that they emigrate to their
Andaman brethren in the Bengal sea, in order to swell
their diminishing numbers. Adopting Andaman man-
ners and costumes, their outward lives would then per-
haps be more in harmony with the doctrines they profess.
Not content with the proofs of hospitality which he
had given us so far, Father Bohn took us out on a drive
through Rangoon and its great park system. In the
zoological garden, the most interesting object was the
white elephant, which now stood under a roof, chained
by the feet to the platform. His fortunes had taken a
downward course, for instead of being the petted fa-
vorite of the former kings at Mandalay, he now had to
make salutes and genuflections for some miserable ba-
nanas, that the curious reached out to him. There was
a great variety of native deer and frolicking monkeys in
their various enclosures.
We whirled out on the fine boulevards to the munici-
pal parks, where the bonton of the English society were
enjoying their afternoon drive in their costly carriages.
The lagoons and drive-ways are beautifully laid out and
every turn of the road reveals new vistas of lawns and
tropical woods. Credit must be given to the English in
the Orient for the fine roads and public parks in all the
46
NATIVES EMBARKING.
important towns. Of course, the natives derive small
benefit from the parks, though they are not excluded; yet
their social condition hardly fits them for that kind of
luxury. Accordingly we met none of the poorer class of
the native population on these beautiful grounds, though
some gorgeous turn-outs of a few rich Mohammedans,
Hindoos, and Parsees passed us on our way. Many of
the occupants of the richest turn-outs saluted Father
Bohn as they passed, and it seems the Catholic mission-
aries are enjoying the respect of the influential class of
Europeans.
We arose early the next morning to board the Matiana
for Calcutta. Arriving at the jetty of the British India
Steamship Line, at which the steamer was moored, we
found it surrounded by a pandemonium of native passen-
gers, each with bundles of worthless baggage. There
must have been at least four hundred shouting and jost-
ling Burmese, Hindoos, Tamils, Chinese, Thibetans and
Sikhs in different styles of clothing and different stages
of untidiness. A few hundred of Madrasi, or Indian
soldiers, also, with scarcely more order than the rest, and
with an ill-concealed contempt for the civilian vulgar,
pushed and crowded up to the narrow gangplanks.
Each had one or more packages consisting of clothing,
baskets of victuals, bundles of wood, and musical instru-
ments. Everyone shouted and pushed, trying to make
himself understood or using violent means to gain ad-
vantageous ground nearest to the vessel. It was useless
47
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
for us to try to get aboard, before the greater part of
them had disappeared over the bulwarks. When finally
two bridges had been let down, a number of sailors
stood at the upper end dealing out dull resounding
blows on the heads and shoulders of the natives as they
crowded up too eagerly with their baggage. Only for
this restraint, no doubt, a number of them would have
been trodden under foot by the frantic crowds, which
pushed up from behind. Their eagerness to get aboard was
not to be wondered at, since the first, comers would be able
to pick ,out the most sheltered and comfortable places on
deck: not a mean advantage on a voyage which would last
several days. At length some of the boat-officers, seeing
us below, made a clear passage for us, and we were comfort-
ably quartered in first cabin. A tedious delay of seven
hours was caused two miles down the Irawaddy, by the
tardiness of the launch that was to bring the mail from
Rangoon. However, in the afternoon the blue expanse of
the Bengal sea again encompassed us.
The voyage to Calcutta on this steamer was a pleasant
one as far as the weather and the accommodations were
concerned. But for us democratic Americans it was a
dismal failure socially. The snobbishness and exclusive-
ness of the first-class passengers was simply nonsensical.
Yet one could have perhaps read a deeper degradation of
vice on some of the bloated faces of these aristocrats, than
among the motley crowd of six or seven hundred na-
tives huddled together on the open deck below. To what
48
DISGUSTING SNOBBERY.
antics did not these languid men and women demean them-
selves in order to seem to belong to the select ! Some of the
men, after their early morning's trot in loose pajamas on
the flooded deck, would disappear below in order to dress
for breakfast. Later on, both ladies and gentlemen would
lounge on deck, hardly daring to engage in conversation
for fear of committing themselves, and mostly staring at
the clothes the others wore. The half dozen children
were scarcely noticed by their languid mothers and left in
charge of uniformed servants. A change of clothes for tif-
fin, or noon lunch, and an hour's dawdling with the vict-
uals; then some more languishing till six o'clock; the
captains and officers stalking about like martinets, ever
wary lest they talk to any one below their station: such
was the routine during daytime on the sunny Bengal sea.
After six the gong sounded, and then began a gen-
eral rush below in order to dress for dinner. Fully
an hour and very often more, would pass in primp-
ing, and then they came sweeping into the dining
hall, the ladies in decolletfc and with a different
dress every day, the men in vast shirt-fronts, frock-
coats, all sorts of inconvenient cuffs and collars, with
diamonds glittering from several parts of their outfits.
Frock-coats, diamonds, and fine dresses are all right, it
seems to me, on state occasions; but to wear them so osten-
tatiously and for such an ordinary affair as a dinner on
board ship seems to me pitiable insipidity. It could all be
put up with good-humoredly, if they would resort to this
49
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
ostentation in order to make the meals pass more pleas-
antly, but I have always seen it produce just the contrary
effect. Each sits at table daintily, with an occasional blase"
smile and subdued conversation on trivialities. No spon-
taneous, hearty laugh, no genial smile, only glum wariness
and secret fear, lest any one outdo him in glittering show.
Some novelists delight in painting such gatherings of high
society in glowing colors. Of course they can afford to do it :
a glowing imagination is supposed to be the principal stock
in trade of a novel-writer. But the performances of these
people merited rather the name of a refined monkey-show
than an ordinary gathering of reasonable beings for the
purpose of taking daily refreshments on a journey. If
one happened to drop into the bar-room after dinner, some
of these snobs could be seen getting by far the worst of the
costly drinks, which they were ordering.
I spent a great deal of the time of these ocean-trips in
filling out my daily journal; for the notes, which I jotted
down into my vest-pocket memorandum book two or three
times each day, were necessarily very brief. During
this voyage I went among the crowds of natives on
the lower deck several times. They keep up an incessant
shouting, rumbling of tomtoms, jingling of bells, and
noise of other instruments more or less musical. Some-
times the Mohammedans begin to sing and keep it up for
hours. Fierce brawls would arise now and then about the
use of advantageous places on the deck; for all the space
was filled with men, women, and children, most of whom
50
PRACTICAL HINTS.
could not find room enough to stretch in full length among
the human and other baggage littering the floor. Happy
he, who could place his belongings so as to afford him
a convenient couch to rest on. Twice a day water for
drinking and cooking was distributed, and then the scenes
of the embarkment were re-enacted. At one side of the
deck were large fireplaces, where these people could boil
or roast some of their food. However, I think most of
them avoided all exertion of this kind by simply remain-
ing without food during the voyage, or the greater part
of it.
PRACTICAL HINTS. In order to stock up a fair amount of per-
manent information on an extended trip, it is necessary to keep
some kind of a journal. Otherwise, only a confused jumble of
impressions will remain, which will eventually become so distort-
ed, that no particulars will remain in the memory. Even with
the best of memories, one cannot expect to keep the impressions
distinct and separate. There is no time for reflection and com-
parison in the continual change of scenes. The best method is
to jot down a few words on each salient point into a vest-pocket
notebook two or three times a day. It is surprising how much a
few words jotted down on the spot, will suggest, when one after-
wards, in leisure hours, wishes to write a more extended account
or spend an hour in pleasing recollections of the journey. The
great secret of remembering personal experiences seems to lie in
being able to follow them up in the same order, in which they
transpired day after day and hour after hour.
In the hot countries of the Orient white duck suits or kake are
very convenient additions to the wardrobe of the traveler. They
are light and cool besides being durable and respectable. They
soil easily, it is true, but they can be washed over and over again.
For this reason several suits should be procured by having them
made to order by the native tailors at the small outlay of two or
three dollars a suit. Pajamas, or loosely fitting suits of light
cotton flannel, are also a most enjoyable outfit for the night on
board ship. On English vessels the deck is scrubbed every
Si
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
morning with sand and flooded with sea-water from fore to aft.
Those that believe in the salutary effects of cold water, can enjoy
an hour of delightful promenading on the flooded decks in the
cool breezes of the morning.
In China, the Philippines and Singapore, the Mexican silver
dollar is the common currency. The banks will readily furnish
usable money in the different countries at a small rate of
exchange. A traveler should make it a rule to ask the hotel-
keeper at what hour the hotel-day is supposed to begin and end,
and he should give notice of his departure some hours before.
In most cases an understanding should also be reached in regard
to charges, as I suppose that no one likes to be fleeced. At the
time of departure the hotel-keeper has the advantage of his
guest, as he need not worry about missing the train or the boat.
Have your baggage brought down from your room to the hotel
office before the next hotel-day begins, as otherwise you will
probably be charged an extra day, though you spend it in
another city or hundreds of miles away.
CHAPTER V.
CALCUTTA UNDER TORCHLIGHT PERSISTANT BEGGARS
UP THE GULCHES OF THE HIMALAYAS DAR-
JEELING.
On the morning of the fourth day the lowlands border-
ing the Hoogley, one of the estuaries of the sacred Ganges
river, came to view on both sides of the vessel. Calcutta
is some twelve miles up the Hoogley, but the passage of
this short distance proved a tedious and lengthy affair.
It was the first time, they said, that such a large steamer
as the Matiana had ventured up so far. The bottom of
the river is continually shifting, and the steamer came to
long halts on the sandbanks. Already in the forenoon we
passed numerous factories and large establishments along
the banks of the river; but it was two o'clock before the
vessel found its way to the landing, and five o'clock before
it was moored to its jetty. A runner of the Hotel de Paris
had climbed over the bulwarks three hours before and sin-
gled us out for customers of that establishment. Three
hours is a good long while to resist the importunities of a
drummer, and proved too much for us. We did not have
strength enough left to prevent his gathering in our bag-
gage and throwing it on a carriage. However, agreeing
with the driver on the charges for the ride, the drummer
and another native piled into the carriage with ourselves.
S3
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
All of them tried to make our ride as pleasant as
possible and we were not unwilling to enter into the humor
of the situation. Of course they might bring us into some
banditti's cave, or dump us into the Hoogley, after having
plundered us; for it was now quite dark, and they said
Calcutta was three miles off. But then that would have
been too much like some of the encounters read in novels,
and novelists must resort to their imagination for most of
their dangerous scrapes. At present it was worth while
to see how far their naive appropriation of us would go. I
was pretty sure it all meant only an additional claim for
bakshish. We were willing to let them take the risk of
their getting any, though we had made up our minds to
set a limit to their demands, when the time came. They
took us along the Eden race course and Eden park to the
Esplanade, which was brilliantly lighted up by electric
lights. Before going to the Paris hotel, we passed the
Jesuit church, facing on the Esplanade, and inquired
about this much lauded Hotel de Paris. The very Rev.
Vicar General, Father Marchal, who resides there, received
us kindly, and, in regard to our intended stopping-place,
laughingly intimated, that there was not much choice
between that and most of the hotels in the city.
Our self-constituted guardians landed us in front of
the hotel and each received his fee according to strict
agreement beforehand, together with a moderate tip.
But each one demanded extras: the driver because he
had made good time, the hotel runner because he had
54
PERSISTENT BEGGARS.
shown us so good a place, and the lackey because he had
given us the pleasure of his company. I considered it
as part of the pleasantry to refuse: it would heighten the
humor of the situation, if we showed that we also had a
little of our own ways in dealing with them, as they had
theirs with us. The howl which they set up, when we
turned around and disappeared in the entrance of the hotel
was part of the comedy. The hotel porter acted his part
admirably by simply driving them away.
The dusky comedians, however, had seized the spirit
of the play, and when we came out after supper to take a
stroll through the streets, there they were, all ready to
continue for another act. They followed us up renewing
their beggary, and with them were a half dozen others,
who offered themselves as guides to various questionable
places of amusement. One particularly intrusive raga-
muffin insisted on the special attractions of his resort,
until I actually caught him by the neck and threatened to
administer a sound kick to convince him that we were
not hankering after any of their services. Even with that
they would not yet be convinced, but kept following us
for a while with their clamors.
In the flaring torchlights of the open Hindoo shops the
streets presented a scene full of animation. No sooner
would we come into the glare of the lights, than the dark
forms of shopkeepers would spring up and follow us, try-
ing to induce us in broken English to examine their small
stock of canes, gaudy caps, handkerchiefs and the like.
55
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
Sometimes we had a half dozen buzzing around us like
gadflies. After being thus dogged about for a few
hours, we got the best of them by re-entering our hotel,
where they would have been summarily dealt with if
they ventured to intrude.
We were not much pleased with our hotel quarters.
Adjoining the dining room was an open bar where
female barkeepers, in suggestive dress, painted and
powdered, kept a crowd of Englishmen around them,
drinking and singing, laughing and joking with them
very freely, in order to draw the silver from their pockets.
The foolish dupes were already far gone in drink, and
long after we had retired to the sleeping quarters in the
annex, we heard their lolling and shouting in the small
hours of the night. Most of the hotels have these bar
and barmaid attachments in Calcutta.
Next morning we left a part of our baggage in our
handbags with Cook's agency for shipment to London;
mine I never saw more. When I called for it in London
it had not turned up, nor was it ever traced. Calcutta is
a city of about 800,000 inhabitants and the residence of
the Viceroy. The streets in the European and business
parts are mostly grand thoroughfares. The large modern
buildings have somewhat less of the peculiar English
colonial style about them than those of other cities in
India. Much attention is paid to the paving and beauti-
fying of the streets and of the parks and driveways. The
northern half, and by far the most populous portion of
56
CALCUTTA.
Calcutta is occupied by the natives. There, of course,
narrow streets, with rows upon rows of small shops, are
the rule. Incredible activity prevails in these quarters,
and one must wonder where this stream of humanity
does find its lodgings. The houses are small and scarcely
fit for human habitation. Horse-cars run through some
of the most crowded streets. These latter are so narrow
that the passengers could reach the goods exposed in the
open shops from the cars. They move along little faster
than a walk, as they must pick their way through the
throngs of people.
A dark-skinned Malay, in white turban and cotton
sheet around his middle, had been shadowing us since
last night, and without ceremony took his seat aside of the
driver whenever we engaged a carriage. Now and then
he would offer to assist us or busy himself in seeming to
give instructions to our driver. Whenever we alighted
he stood on the pavement, waiting for us, or following us
on our business calls. We had not taken much notice of
him, but we asked Father Marchal, in passing, to find out
for us what he wanted. The mystery was soon cleared up
for he informed us laughingly : " He has established him-
self as your servant and bodyguard and will ask for his
wages when you leave town. ' ' We hastened to get rid of
such a useless hanger-on by paying him a small sum and
intimating that his self-imposed task was not acceptable.
In the afternoon we pushed our way through the
throngs at the Sealdah railroad station in order to board
57
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
a train for Darjeeling in the Himalaya mountains. For
the first thirty or forty miles the train passes through a
well cultivated country, where picturesque villages are
nestled under high palm trees. Beyond that, to the
mountains, is a treeless prairie, which no doubt is to a
great extent under water in the rainy season. On this
account it is well adapted to the cultivation of rice. In
the morning we arrived at Siliguri at the foot of the
mountains.
Instead of rice plantations tea and coffee plantations
are now seen and cover the rising hill-slopes on both
sides of the railroad. A train of diminutive cars stood
ready in Siliguri to take us over a narrow gauge
8,000 feet up into the mountains. The cars were not
more than ten or twelve feet long, and the locomotives
seemed like toy engines. The mountains rise abruptly
from the plain, so that it seems impossible for a train of
cars to find a passage. But the two little engines soon
began to puff bravely upward into the mountain gorges,
which from the distance had not been visible. The grade
is mostly as much as one foot to twelve, and in some places
one to ten. The curves are so short, that longer cars
would be entirely impracticable. The road through
these mountains is indeed a remarkable engineering feat.
The Union Pacific, the Colorado Midland, and the Rio
Grande rise to a much higher altitude in the Rocky
mountains on tracks of the ordinary gage. But the
Rocky mountains do not rise so abruptly as the
58
ZIGZAG ROADS.
mountain spurs of the Himalaya. These tapering peaks
necessitate some remarkably narrow loops, some of them
not over 300 feet in diameter. In several places the cars
cross and recross their path several times, so that from
the car windows stretches of the iron road can be seen in
many curves and complete loops along the mountain
ridges hundreds of feet below. The zigzaging of the
road was well illustrated at Dindaria, 3,800 feet altitude,
where a score of native children ran alongside of the slowly
climbing train, clamoring for pennies. Suddenly they
disappeared behind a ridge, but when the train had made
a spurt of about five miles at a faster rate, there the whole
crowd of them appeared again with the same clamors.
We at first wondered at their marvelous running, until
we saw that they had merely climbed a hill and thus
headed off the train. How these little urchins shouted
in exuberant glee, when we threw them a few paras, and
how they scrambled all in a heap to pick them up ! On
two places the grade would have been too steep for any
kind of a loop. Here the engineers had resorted to a
series of straight runs, where the train is switched back-
ward and forward up the mountain wall. I doubt, how-
ever, whether any American engineer or railroad manage-
ment would be satisfied with such a makeshift, for the
switching to and fro took up much time. At Mahamuddy
or Big River, a magnificent view of the meeting of the
two great rivers that form the Brahmaputra, deep down
in a vast plain, broke upon our view.
59
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
At Kurseong, where we had lunch, the elevation is
7,464 feet. Here Father Naish, a Jesuit, boarded the train,
seemingly on the lookout for some students returning
from a vacation. At Ghoom, which is the highest point
of the road, 8,800 feet above the sea, he showed us the
witch of Ghoom, an old woman past her hundredth year
and always on hand to collect pennies from the passengers.
In her outward appearance she does full justice to her
name, in which she takes a great deal of pride. I caught
a snapshot of her as she linked her arm in that of my
bachelor companion, and many times afterward that good
man had to stand a bantering joke on the woman he had
at last found. From Ghoom the train descended several
hundred feet to Darjeeling, seven miles off. The road
winds gracefully down the mountain sides, following the
gulches near the summits. During last September heavy
rains had caused many landslides in this neighborhood.
Many portions of the road had been washed away or
buried beneath earth and stones. Repairs had not been
finished up to this time ( in March ), so the train could
not quite proceed to its terminal station in Darjeeling.
All passengers were obliged to walk or ride with their
baggage two miles to town. One of the noisy carriers
took charge of our small satchels and brought us to the
Russel villa. Far above in the vault of heaven hazy mists
had gathered over the vast mountain regions in the direction
of Mount Everest and the Kinchinchinja range. Below
us, on the projecting ledges and in the furrowed ravines
60
ON THE BRAHMAPUTRA
DARJEELING.
of the steep mountain side, hung in scattered groups the
houses and public buildings of Darjeeling. So steep wag
this town-site, that one almost expected it every moment
to break loose and slide down bodily to the immense
depth of the valley below. Darjeeling is comparatively
a new town, the great summer resort of Bengal and east-
ern provinces of India. The greater part of it consists
of hotels and summer villas for the accommodation of
the strangers that stay during the hot weather. There is
no native quarter, though many natives from the sur-
rounding country daily gather to do business in the
market-place.
After a slight repast, we strolled along the fine resi-
dences behind the Episcopal church up to the highest
point of the mountain on which Darjeeling is built. This
is called Observatory hill, and rises to quite a height on
the northern outskirts of the city. From this eminence
one surveys the vast abysses of the surrounding valleys,
the bottoms of which are lost to view in the immense depths
below. This summit must have been a noted place of
worship in former times. Even now several altars were
remaining and a number of natives were performing their
prayers and religious rites toward the setting sun. The
trees on the summit were hung with hundreds of vari-
colored cloths and streamers, whereby the Nepalese try
to propitiate the malicious spirits. These Nepalese
mountaineers are more strongly built, of a lighter com-
plexion, but also less handsome than the people on the
61
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
plains. I thought they bore a great resemblance to the
American Indians. The women do most of the hard
work. We met many of them carrying heavy loads sus-
pended by a band, which runs around their foreheads
and passes under the load on their backs. They are but
scantily clad, some of the children not all. They seem
of a proud and independent spirit, bearing English rule
with suppressed ill will. We met no Nepalese beggars,
though their poverty must be great.
From our elevated position we distinguished the
Catholic cathedral and the Bishop's residence among the
straggling houses of the town far below us. Thither we
went, as I wanted to celebrate mass on the next day, Sun-
day. But for some reason or other, Father Naish, the
Jesuit, who was in charge during the absence of the Bishop
received my request rather coldly, but could not well
refuse after I had shown him the necessary legitimate
documents.
At our lodgings we were the only guests. Mine host
and his family were staunch Calvinists, and they seemed
ill at ease to have a Catholic priest sitting at the same
table with them. Their behavior was very formal and
circumstantial. But a few times during our stay, when
some of their relatives had increased the dinner party,
they began to discuss religious topics in a very tentative
manner. I held my peace, until they began to make the
most absurd statements concerning the practices of
Catholic nuns in the orphanages. One of the wise-
62
OUR CALVTNIST HOSTS.
acres maintained, that the sisters ordinarily baptize the
children in their charge by sprinkling holy water over
them. They were surprised to hear from me, that
sisters had no right to baptize any children under their
charge, except in danger of death; and that sprinkling
holy water over the children at night or in the morning
was not baptizing.
CHAPTER VI.
To TIGER MOUNT THE GLEAMING SNOWS 01
EVEREST AND KINCHINCHINJA RUSSEL VILLA
ZIGZAGGING DOWN TO THE PLAINS.
All visitors to Darjeeling anxiously scan the heavens
every day to see, whether there will be any chance of get-
ting a clearer view of Mount Everest and the wonderful
Kinchinchinja range in the north. Vast clouds of vapor
generally hide these mountains from view, even in the
clearest weather. So it often happens, that visitors must
depart from Darjeeling after a stay of many weeks without
having seen the summits of the Himalayas. But we were
more fortunate. The next day was an ideal Sunday,
and, as we climbed up to the villa after the morning
services in the cathedral, the intensely white tips of the
Himalaya range gleamed down from the blue vault of the
northern firmament. We at once resolved to make our
previously discussed excursion to Senchal and Tiger
mountain. These are eight miles off, and from their tops
the most favorable view of the whole range can be had.
Even before we had entirely left Darjeeling, the vastness
of this mountain scenery was dimly revealed to us. The
morning sun, rising over the dark walls of mountains in
the northeast, lent its own dazzling brightness to that
barrier of snowclad peaks, forming a scene never to
65
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
be effaced from the mind 's imagery. Between us and
the distant peaks, as we first sighted them from the high
ledge on which we stood, lay a vast sea of mist, which
rose up almost to a level of our vantage ground and
covered the valleys and the lower mountains of the sixty
miles of intervening region. Only here and there a few
higher cones rose mysteriously, forming landmarks in
the misty sea.
Encouraged by this magnificent glimpse, we walked
briskly onward in the fresh morning, past sunny pro-
jections and shady recesses of the mountain-side, hoping
that the clear weather would last until we could reach
Tiger hill. After climbing over the mountain ridge
east of Darjeeling, the British cantonment came into
full view. On the mountain plateau some of the British
soldiers in their red uniforms were drilling, while others
were moving about patrolling the enclosures. We were
not particularly pleased to see groups of natives along the
road to Ghoom and in the neighborhood of Darjeeling
busily engaged in building or repairing the roads on the
Lord's day. The roads in these mountains are nearly all
footpaths or bridlepaths, cut into the steep mountain-
sides and winding upward and downward in every direc-
tion. As the mountains are very steep, a great many
abutments in the frequent ravines are a necessity. These
are built mostly of stones, that support the narrow ledge
of the pathway. Women work at these roads as well as
men; in fact, the women carry the heavy stones and
66
GHOOM.
sacks of earth, while the men do the laying. We would
have been much more satisfied to see them enjoying their
Sunday rest. As we walked along the sunny side of the
mountain, its towering cliffs rose at our elbow to the
right, while the bottomless abyss yawned to our left.
Deep down in the valleys could be distinguished here
and there the huts of the natives, so engulfed in their
abysses, that one wonders how the inhabitants will ever
find their way up into the sunlight.
The market of Ghoom, which is nothing else than
the principal street of the village, was crowded with
natives, who were moving or lounging about the primitive
shops on both sides. From here the road winds sharply
up through beautiful woods to the top of Senchal and the
still higher Tiger mountain. On the plateau of Mount
Senchal were numerous pillars of stone masonry, which
at first we took to be ruins of old temples. But they were
only the remains of the British garrison buildings, that
formerly occupied this ground before it was moved to
Darjeeling.
Ghoom was formerly the headquarters of the English
invading army; but being found unhealthy on account
of its exposure on the mountain-height, it was removed
to Darjeeling. The immense barracks, on account of
exposure to wind and rain in these climates, are now
crumbling into ruin. A bungalow, or lodging house, on
the summit of Mount Senchal showed little signs of use,
for the summer visitors to Darjeeling were only beginning
67
. O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
to arrive. In a small hut behind it, a native woman was
crouching over an open fire, which smouldered between
two stones. She was cooking rice and passively per-
mitted our intrusion. Probably she knew, that the thick
smoke would soon drive us away, without any waste of
words on her part. After a climb of two or more miles,
we reached the summit of Tiger mount, which, except
where the narrow ridge connects it with Senchal, is sur-
rounded on all sides by deep abysses and affords a mag-
nificent view.
The sight that burst upon us beggars description.
Some hundred feet below the place on which we stood,
the vast ocean of mist still brooded. It hid the deep abysses
and the lower mountain tops all the way up to the heaven-
piercing mountain chains in the north. There, in the
distance to the left, like an aspiring cone of burnished
silver, gleamed the snowy heights of Everest in the
forenoon sunlight, while from it the rows of lower
peaks, forming the great Kinchinchinja range, stretched
away to the sunny east, a dazzling wall of crystal,
rising to the blue vault of heaven.
Everest is 29,002 feet above sea-level, and is separated
from the Kinchinchinja or Butan range by a gigantic gap.
From its top we could faintly trace a dark streak, which
was no doubt the shaded portion of a great chasm, dis-
appearing in the misty mountain regions at its base. The
blue heavens showed in the immense gap between
Everest and Kinchinchinja to the right. The clear,
68
MT. EVEREST.
cut lines and sheer ascent of Kinchinchinja then again
shut out heaven's blue, and rising up to a height of 28,1 76
feet, it leads the succession of snow-clad monsters toward
the right, a gleaming causeway from the earth to the
eastern heavens. Although we were sixty miles south,
yet the broken ridges, the sweeping plateaus of eternal
snow, the abyssmal precipices of these mountains were
faintly outlined on the resplendent walls, while peak
upon peak flashed back their zigzag contours like
streaks of lightning, where they met the sunlight's golden
glory and the ethereal blue of the sky.
The vastness of this mountain-scenery is overawing,
and the dazzling splendor reflected from their everlasting
snowfields is like a revelation of celestial light. Man
sinks into involuntary silence, acknowledging his littleness,
when such magnificence of God's creation flashes on his
gaze even at many miles' distance. Human foot has never
trod, nor will ever tread, those gleaming summits. In
solitary splendor they reach into unapproachable
heights, where not even the soaring flight of the eagle
or the vulture dares venture. Fleecy clouds hover over
these mountain-tops, hiding them from human gaze most
of the time. Even on such a clear day as we were favored
with, the changing clouds often blended with the snows
of the broken peaks.
Not less grandly awful were the immediate surround-
ings. For the world around seemed as if visited by a
vast flood of mist, above which only the dark mountain-
69
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
tops of the nearer ranges peered like islands, forming
landmarks to the great white mountain barrier in
the north. At our feet the mysterious depths of the
surrounding valleys yawned, so that it seemed as if a
few steps would plunge us into unknown abysses many
miles down. The houses of Darjeeling gleamed in the
noonday sun on the mountain-top just above the insidious
mist, while nearer to our right lay the dwindling huts of
Ghoom. As the noon hour progressed, vast white
clouds gradually began to envelop the top of Mount
Everest and the Kinchinchinja range, reminding us how
fortunate we had been in obtaining even a passing
glance at the grandest mountain-scenery in the world.
In our descent from the woody mountain the freshness
of the morning had given way to the noonday heat, and
we arrived just too late to take the train from Ghoom to
Darjeeling. The only resource left was to walk the
seven miles, and we chose the western side of the moun-
tain ridge on which Darjeeling is built. About two
miles from town we fell in with a certain Mr. Grunt,
who, with another student, was just finishing his studies
for the secular priesthood in the Jesuit seminary at
Darjeeling. These two will be the first secular priests in
the diocese of Calcutta. There are few secular priests in
India, for the missions are all in the hands of the religious
orders. The fathers of the Missions Etrangeres, of all
the priests I met in the eastern countries, seem to me to
come nearest to the real ideals of missionary laborers,
7o
RUSSEL VILLA.
Though tired of our jaunt of sixteen miles, we went
down to the cathedral to attend evening service at about
half past five o'clock. There was a large attendance,
mostly Europeans and Eurasians, the greater part of
whom must have been non-Catholics. Not far from
the church, on the market place, the native buyers and
sellers swarmed, winding up their day's business.
Most of the petty dealers have their heaps of merchandise
spread on mats at any convenient corner or spot, while
they themselves are squatting near, awaiting customers.
As the sun sank behind the mountains, they gathered
together their wares in great bundles and walked away.
Coolies with brooms of splintered bamboo invaded
the large area from all sides and began to sweep the
grounds, enveloping those that still remained in
dense clouds of dust. Our host of Russel villa observed
the Sabbath in strict Puritan style, allowing no sort of
game, and retiring early. This was not an unwelcome
arrangement for us after our strenuous mountain climb-
ing. Shortly after supper our Protestant hosts were
thrown into a flurry by the appearance of the Jesuit
priest, Father Naish, in propria persona. Happily for
them, he did not stay longer than a few minutes and
made no attempt to ensnare them in any of his popish
plots. He merely brought us a notice from the post
office, that the spectacle frames, ordered in Calcutta, had
arrived and were held until called for. To their
surprise he bade them good evening, just like any other
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
chance visitor, and left without seeming even to desire
special intercourse with them. But then who knows
what were really his designs ? These Jesuits are so deep,
don't you know.
We could not resist the desire to enjoy some more of
the grand scenery afforded by the magnificent mountains
round about. Early morning found us therefore cheerily
climbing around the northwestern spur of the mountain
on which Darjeeling is built. After leaving the fine
villas along the smooth carriage road behind us, our
way led us through breezy forests on the mountain-side
at the brink of the encircling abyss, to the Jesuit college
of St. Joseph. It is built on a spur of the mountain,
which has been leveled so as to form a. spacious plateau.
Below it yawns the dark green valley; above it, as seen
from the road, seem to hang the vast snows of the
Kinchinchinja range, half buried in the dazzling clouds.
Like a fairy vision the graceful buildings of the college
thus lay at a distance, between the mysterious dark green
of the valleys below and the brilliant white of the snow
and cloud-capped mountains in the ethereal blue of the
skies. It must be an ideal place for students in India.
The road, which we chose for our return to Russel villa,
had been completely washed away along many stretches.
Very often we had to scramble on hands and feet, up
and down the steep sides, catching hold of roots and
projecting rocks, in order not to tumble thousands of
feet down the sheer inclines to the bottom of the abysses.
72
CIRCLING DOWNWARD.
Where the path was still intact, it led, in winding courses,
now into the shady gulches, then out over some exposed
cliff, affording immense views of towering mountains
and fathomless valleys round about. How sorry were
we that we must even to-day leave such romantic scenery
and exchange the cool mountain breezes for the sultry
heat of the plains. But, like in the journey of life, on-
ward we must, since only a certain space of fleeting
time is allotted for this our journey as well as for life's
earthly pilgrimage.
As the pigmy train wound in and out of the gulches
of Darjeeling to Ghoom station, the grand Himalayas
came several times into full view, though some of their
tops were hidden by passing clouds. Then having
left Ghoom behind, down we rumbled, rather more
slowly than we came up (for there are timid engineers
at the levers of these engines in the Himalayas): the
same short curves, crossing and recrossing the tracks
over the maze of loops encircling the mountain tops.
At Mahamuddy the view was more extensive and clear
than on Saturday last; vastly the river bottoms spread
out far beneath. No doubt all these sandy streaks are
raging seas in the rainy season. The train here makes
a semicircular sweep of fifty miles skirting the mountain-
ridge. Along the whole distance the vast amphitheatre
of bottom lands spreads out in the depths below to the
opposing mountain walls in the dim distance. The
zigzag switching of Dindaria was visible in the distant
73
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
curve of the ridge ahead. On the verge of the mountain
country, miles and miles of tea and coffee plantations
stretched out to the right and left. At setting of the sun
we were again on the sultry plains of Siliguri, rapidly
leaving the towering mountains behind us.
The ground was parched and cracked with drought.
Not so in the rainy season, for then the greater part
of these vast plains are flooded. At Jerapur, near
the foot of the mountains, rainfall during the year has
reached 500 inches: 140 is very ordinary; instances
of 30 inches of rain in 24 hours have occurred. As we
rolled along the moonlit plains, the whole reg : on
seemed afire with the gleam of myriads of lightning bugs.
They sported in countless hosts around the solitary
bushes and trees, above the dried-out grasses and
over the stagnant pools of water along the road.
Sunrise revealed to us the vast floods of the Brahmaputra
rolling by on their eager journey from the Himalayas
to the Bengal sea
74
CHAPTER VTI.
ON THE BRAHMAPUTRA WEIRD Music NARANGUIA
IN A DACCA BUNGALOW SAUCY CROWS.
On account of some misunderstanding, we missed
the fast train to Calcutta, and therefore were obliged to
to take a slow train. This entailed also a long delay in
Calcutta in waiting for the night train to Dacca, whither
we had concluded to make our next excursion. Bishop
Hurth, formerly stationed at Notre Dame University,
Indiana, now resided there, and we had with us letters of
introduction from Dr. Fitte of that institution.
Nine o'clock found us again on the train, rolling
through the bright moonlight to Poradaha station and
Goalundo ghat, where we were to board a river steamer
for Naranguia.
Accordingly in the morning, we were on board the
Condor, steaming downward with the current of the
Brahmaputra. So wide is this river, that not unfrequently
the opposite banks are hardly in sight. Islands several
miles long and white gleaming sandbanks often divide
the rushing water, and the boat made many detours to
find the deeper channels or to land and take up passengers
and goods. The natives seem to be great travelers.
Railroads and steamers are generally crowded with native
passengers, who, of course, ride third or fourth class.
7?
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
There were always a few hundred of them on board the
Condor during the day, for though many would disem-
bark at the different ghats, an equal number would come
aboard. As a mere plank was thrown out from the edge
of the low deck on to the sandy bank, several of the natives
fell into the water with their bundles while boarding
or leaving the steamer.
The deck hands are mostly Laskars, a noisy crowd,
requiring continual supervision. They handled their
brother natives, who took passage on the steamer, with
little consideration, and even among themselves and with
the petty native officers on board, they often fell to wran-
gling. The captain and the higher English officers hold
themselves aloof from intercourse with the natives as much
as possible. Their imperious commands are promptly
obeyed, and no one dares to show any sign of disrespect.
The most intelligent and well-favored of the natives
in India are the natives of Bengal and the Tamils, hail-
ing from the southern part of India. Many of the former
are well educated and hold positions in large business
concerns and in the government. Muslin forms by far
the greater part of native garments. As regards color, a
dull gray is easily -in the lead of all others. It is pro-
duced by the oldest and most widespread method of
dyeing in all countries: namely by keeping soap and
clean water at a distance. The ordinary way of
dressing for men and women is to pass an oblong
sheet of muslin around the middle and then between
76
WEIRD MINSTRELSY.
the legs, so as to cover both thighs. The lower limbs
are mostly bare. One end of the sheet is often used
to throw over one or both shoulders. Women as a rule
have an extra piece of cloth to cover their breast and a
kind of large shawl to throw over their heads.
The rear part of the upper deck of the Condor was
portioned off for the native passengers. A motley
crowd was lazily lying around on deck, conversing in
groups or silently smoking their pipes. A native minstrel
tried to draw forth the unwilling pennies from the pockets
of his hearers by such screeching and monotonous sounds
as his primitive fiddle and bow could produce. It was
an odd shaped instrument, carved out of a single piece of
jackwood and all battered from age and wear. It was
fitted with three silk strings, tuned a fifth apart. Scrap-
ing over these strings with a short horsehair bow, he
elicited a woebegone minor accompaniment to a song
concerning the love of a certain Krishna and Radica.
A circle of listeners would now and then fall in with the
refrain of a verse in equally doleful tones. Curious to
know more about the minstrel and his music, I jumped
over the barrier and joined the group. The song was
not without some affecting passages, as his native listen-
ers sometimes clapped their hands and joined in the
chorus with great spirit. The minstrel however seemed
to thrive little on his art, for he looked the picture of
poverty. His grey hair dangled in disheveled locks from
his neck, and his face seemed pinched with hunger.
77
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
The melody was almost a continual repetition of the
following:
Jj
It was a gala performance for him today neverthe-
less, for instead of the miserable paras to the value
of half a cent, which he had expected to draw out
of the reluctant pockets of his native audience, he was
gladdened by the two shining rupees of silver which I
thought I ought to pay for the entertainment. One of
the better informed listeners began to talk in broken
English about their religion. It seems that many of those
that come in contact with Europeans have exchanged
their Buddhism or Brahmanism for a sort of atheism.
The native boats on the rivers of India are a com-
bination of the Chinese and Japanese junks. A peculiar-
ity about them is, that they seem more bulky in the bow
than in the stern. On the Brahmaputra boats large flaps,
like the fins of a fish, were attached to the rear end, serv-
ing as rudders. Others had the rudder between two
tail projections at the stern. The boats were propelled
either by ragged sails on bamboo poles, or by oars twenty
feet long, and terminating in round shields for paddles.
These rugged boats were frequently encountered during
78
DACCA.
the day. Late in the afternoon we arrived in Naranguia,
the terminus of the Dacca railroad. We had to wait
an hour for our train, which afforded us a chance of in-
specting the factories at Naranguia.
Though there was an attempt at beautifying the sur-
roundings of the town by parks and driveways, the long
rows of miserable board shanties gave Naranguia the ap-
pearance of great poverty and drudgery. I thought there
was in the faces of the natives that inhabited them some-
thing peculiarly low and sinister. The sans-souci and cheer-
fulness of Indian poverty was entirely wanting. At the doors
of some of the huts the women were sitting on the ground,
grinding rice between two stones. The Chinese shop
keeper and the opium den are in evidence along the streets
The country between Naranguia and Dacca is more
densely populated than other parts of India. It must
have been suffering greatly from drought, as the ground
seemed literally burnt to a crust. Nearer to Dacca,
however, the country was more like a continued garden,
and Dacca itself is shaded by innumerable fine and lofty
trees. Before presenting ourselves at the residence of
Bishop Hurth, we put up at the Dagh bungalow. These are
inns, maintained by the English goverment in those places,
where there are no hotels conducted by private enterprise.
We were all alone in the bungalow, well enough served
by the natives in charge. Bordering the bungalow to the
left were several large colleges for native students under
charge of the government. The Catholic cathedral,
79
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
which is of modest dimensions, and the schools and con-
vents of the sisters lay beyond. We were received by
the Frs. Buries and Kiefer, the resident priests, with not a
little surprise, for nothing was less to be expected than
visitors from the neighborhood of Notre Dame Univer-
sity in such a distant and out-of-the-way town as Dacca.
Unfortunately Bishop Hurth was absent on business in
Chittagong, and as our letter of introduction was di-
rected to him personally, we did not wish to encroach
on the hospitality of the two fathers, though they were
solicitous about it. We returned to the bungalow and
concluded to leave with the morning train. For our
time was limited and, though we missed the pleasure of
seeing the bishop, we considered ourselves well repaid
by visiting such unfrequented parts of India.
It was a beautiful moonlit night. After our supper
we sat for a long time out on the veranda roof inhaling
the perfume-laden breezes that stirred the dark foliage of
the trees and shrubs. Night's calm had settled on the
town and the silvery moonlight twinkled through the
branches and leaves, tracing their shadows on the smooth
macadam walks. Early in the morning we were awakened
by the vociferous songs of thousands of birds that sported
among the trees. The fresh breezes ushered in the
first rays of the rising sun. It was one of the most de-
lightful of spring mornings. Having paid a short visit to
the fathers, we hastened to catch the train on our way
back to Naranguia. By some misunderstanding we
80
SWARMING CROWS.
were not informed of the return of Bishop Hurth, nor
had he opened our letter, when he arrived at midnight.
The bishop afterward sent a letter to Agra, expressing
his regret at the untoward circumstances, which pre-
vented an interview.
The return trip up the Brahmaputra from Naranguia
to Goalundo lasted till seven in the evening. For diver-
sion we passed some of our time in feeding the crows
that are met with all over India in great numbers. Not
the shy, thievish crow of our country, but a bold, blink-
ing, saucy robber of a bird. They are not entirely black,
but have a dark grey streak around the neck. Flocks
of them would follow the steamer up the river, keenly
watching for any crumbs falling on deck or any where
along the course of the boat. They came quite close to
the cabin window, noisily hovering about and darting at
the food we threw out. Nearer and nearer to us we laid
the bits of food, until at last they would take the particles
out of our hands. Occasionally during the day a hawk
wheeled about among the noisy crows in close, swift
circles; then, alert and hovering for a moment on flutter-
ing wings, it would dart with lightning swiftness and
unerring aim to snatch the larger pieces from their midst,
before the falling crumbs would reach the lower deck
or the water. I hung out a little piece of meat on a silk
thread to tempt the crows. With cunning look they eyed
it, perched on the projections around, but not one
could be induced to seize the coveted bait. They cared
81
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
not for stringed gifts. These birds are the scavengers
of those hot climates. No native would ever think of
hurting them, which probably accounts for their tameness.
There was a continual embarking and disembarking
of native passengers. Usually at the approach of the
steamer to a halting place a picturesque band of dark
forms stood on the edge of the crumbling banks, mutely
gazing at the steamer and its passengers, or trying to
sell fruits or other eatables. At one time a half dozen
of stalwart Bathans, Mussulmen from the hill-country,
scowling and haughty, stalked aboard and took their
seats on deck. The other natives as a rule are kindly
and cheerfully disposed people, ready to do a service
but of course equally ready to receive a bakshish. How-
ever that is easily explained by their poverty. We arrived
in Goalundo ghat in the moonlight, and with a young
Englishman took a stroll through the town during the
three hours before train time. The houses here are
built of bamboo frames and matting, which can easily
be taken apart and moved to higher ground as soon as
the flood rises over the bottom lands. In other places
the houses of the natives are reared of mud or clay,
which dries in the sun and is generally whitewashed.
Immense quantities of fish were stacked up along the
beach and a lively trade in that kind of commodity was
going on as we arrived. We were glad to accept some
of the coverings of our young acquaintance on the train
as we rumbled through the chilly night to Calcutta.
82
CHAPTER VIII.
STREET LIFE OF CALCUTTA A UNIQUE CHRISTIAN
GRUESOME DEATH SCENES. FLAGGING THE PLAGUE.
PRACTICAL HINTS.
Early morning found us again at Calcutta and at
services in Sacred Heart church. We were informed
by Very Rev. Fr. Marchal, that our former fellow travelers
had called during our trip to Darjeeling. They were
much disgusted at their long detour and at the delay in
Colombo, though Ceylon itself was interesting enough.
We had been seeing a good deal of the country while
they were sweltering on the sultry ocean. We had
arrived almost a week before them in Calcutta by boldly
cutting loose from the routine of the through tickets.
They spent only a few hours in Calcutta and were obliged
to rush on the fast trains across the continent of India
in order not to miss their steamer in Bombay.
For a while we lounged about "the strand on the banks
of the Hoogley. The patient Hindoo cows attached to
the rude drays were standing listlessly chewing their cud
in the noonday sun. Some of the natives were busy
loading or unloading the scows and native junks; more
of them were lounging about in the shade or stood about
in groups engaged in listless conversation. Scores of
natives were disporting in the shallow water near the
83
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
river bank: some bathing, entirely stripped of their
clothes, others plunging into the river, clothes and all,
and some of them washing and rinsing part of their
apparel in the yellow floods. The street car took us
along the river bank to Eden park. It was almost
devoid of visitors, for even in the shade of the
wide spreading banyan trees and under the breezy foli-
age of sycamores, teaks and camphor trees, the heat was
intense. Beautiful vistas of woodland and meadows
vary with the many-colored flowerbeds, the kiosks,
summer-houses and Burmese temples, which latter have
been transported bodily to this park as a curiosity.
Returning, we rode the full length of the mule tramway
to the opposite end of the city along the banks of the
river. The shops and dwellings of the natives in these
parts are tumbledown huts, built of odd pieces of wood
or of clay. The whole interior of the shops is open to
view; the bare ground forms the floor, and the huts
can give only the most primitive night-shelter for the
teeming population in the native quarters. The streets
are always crowded. Red color was smeared on the
doors and posts of the houses, or in fact anywhere, and
the white sheets worn by the Hindoos were almost with-
out exception stained with ochre of carmine red, which
was for sale in most of the shops and was in great demand.
On inquiry, we found that this red color was used as be-
ing symbolical of the incestuous relations of Siva with
Parvarti, the wife of Brahma. In memory of their
84
QUEER CHRISTIANITY.
adultery, a feast of several days is celebrated and the red
dust is daubed in every place according to the fancy of
the natives. Even their horses and cows, their carts
and the harness, and the merchandise show the red colors.
Some of the natives seem literally to have rolled them-
selves in the red pigment, and curious sights they were,
as they walked along in their quondam white clothes,
on which the sweat or the rain had formed irregular
streaks of red from head to foot.
Near the terminus of the car line rose a large Hindoo
temple, which we were very desirous of inspecting. The
doorkeeper however, would on no account give us ad-
mission at the front entrance, where we applied. An
Englishman, who happened to pass just then, advised
us to try the private entrance in the rear. There our
rapping soon brought a burly native to the door, who
spoke English tolerably well. He claimed to be the head
keeper of the temple and we tried to persuade him to let
us enter by offering him a considerable compensation.
He would not yield, however, for, he said, the ceremonies
of Parvarti were in progress and would last till Saturday.
No white man could be admitted. Growing confidential,
he told us that he was a disciple of Dr. Knox, the Presby-
terian missionary here, and a member of the Presbyterian
church. On asking him how it was that he should be
head keeper of a heathen temple and at the same time
claim to be a Christian, he laughingly answered, that he
was anxious to learn the English language. By simply
85
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
professing to be a Christian he could get all the advantages
of a thorough English schooling without payment, and
there are many other advantages connected with being
an adherent of the Protestant religion. He saw no
impropriety in assuming the name of a Christian and
at the same time retain a lucrative position as keeper of
a Hindoo temple. Why not humor the good missionaries
and profess Christianity, since the advantages of being
deemed a Christian and of remaining a heathen could be
so well combined?
On our way to this part of the city we had noticed
four men carrying a corpse on a bamboo frame. Only
a white sheet covered the ghastly burden and a few
mourners followed behind. Unheeded by the swarming
crowds they wended their way to Nimtolla, or burning,
gaht, whither we ourselves were bound. The bad smell
of burning flesh was noticeable from afar, and easily
directed us in our search.
Entering through some hall- ways, we came upon an
open court, surrounded by high stone walls. The entrance
and hall-ways were littered with corpses covered with
white sheets. Of all kinds were these corpses, young
and old, men and women. Groups of natives stood
around in silence. Tn the open court ten or twelve
large cordwood piles were blazing, the thin blue smoke
curling up in the sunshine. Presently we distinguished
among the crackling embers the limbs of more or less
consumed human bodies. Where the woodpiles had
86
NIMTOLLA GHAT.
already burned down, only charred hands or feet or the
larger bones could yet be seen, but in the more recent
piles, the entire naked forms, bound and pressed together
with ropes so as to require less space, were distinguishable.
As the fire began to lick the cramped limbs, and con-
tracted the muscles, it seemed as if the corpses had re-
turned to life and were about to leap from the dreadful
destruction. A horde of almost naked coolies were run-
ning about, stirring up the fires and poking the unburned
limbs deeper into the fire, or piling up the glowing embers
for a more speedy holocaust. At the farther end, where
we mixed with the stoical onlookers, the naked savages
were just building a new pyre. A cramped corpse was
laid face upward on a layer of wood and then covered up
with two or three rows of additional faggots. Under
the wood pile was a cavity filled with dry rushes and
brushwood. Shrieking, the coolies began to run around
the funeral pyre, waving flaming torches in their hands.
With one final fiendish yell, they set fire to the tinder
below and the flames began to crackle upward to the
lifeless corpse. The relatives of the dead stood mutely
by to witness the ceremony. The ashes of the cremated
corpses are thrown into the adjoining river to float down-
ward and meet the departed soul.
Presently the corpse, which we had seen carried
through the streets, arrived inside the inclosure. Impelled
by curiosity, I lifted the white sheet from one end of
the bier and met the glassy open stare of a dead woman.
87
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
The features were horribly distorted and the natural
dark-brown of her countenance had yielded to the ghastly
pallor of death. The carriers nodded assent when I
asked, whether she had died of the bubonic plague.
That seemed a minor circumstance here, for about four
hundred inhabitants of Calcutta were then dying of that
dread disease every day.
All corpses of Hindoos are disposed of at the burning
gahts. What a sight full of despair and ghastly de-
struction are these death scenes, unrelieved by that hope
of resurrection or a better life, which is so characteristic
of the Christian burial ! And there be wiseacres, who
love to prate about the grand doctrines inculcated by
Buddhism ! Let them see India and the life of the
Hindoos. The English government dares not interfere
in the practice of burning the bodies and casting the
ashes into the river. The prejudices of the natives for
their religious rites prevent many other sanitary measures,
that would certainly help to diminish the fearful mortality
of the plague. The English, very wisely, are careful not
to interfere in the religious practices of their Indian
subjects.
We boarded a tram for Chitpore district in the north-
eastern end of the city. Miles and miles of streets we
passed, where the mule-cars could hardly squeeze
through the thronging crowds of people. In the different
districts through which we passed an entire square of
houses was almost hidden beneath countless flags, ban-
88
CHITPORE.
ners and streamers of all colors and sizes. The in-
habitants of these districts hoped by this means to pro-
pitiate the evil spirits of the plague. The shops are for
the most part open, so that people passing by need not
enter to purchase. The floor of the shop is raised about
three feet and the merchandise lies directly within grasp
of the passers-by. Generally the shop is not more than
five or six feet deep nor more than ten feet long. The
shopkeeper sits all day cramped up amid or behind his
wares, watching for prospective purchasers among the
passing crowds. I always wondered, how, with such
a multitude of bazaars and shops, the owners can eke out
a living.
We returned to the Jesuit church in the evening, after
supper. The church is in basilican style of brick and
surrounded by a fine garden of tropical plants. It was
brilliantly lit up by gas and quite a large congregation
filled the pews for evening devotions. We bade good-bye
to Father Marchal and took a carriage for Howrah,
another quarter of Calcutta on the west bank of the
Hoogley river. Here are the stations of the great trunk-
lines of railroads, that traverse the northern and south-
ern provinces of the Indian continent. The railroads
of India are all managed by the government, or at least
heavily subsidized, in order to encourage the building of
new roads. They are run much on the European plan,
only there is less formality in the handling of passengers
at the stations and on the trains. Nicely accommodated
89
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
in first-class coupes, we rolled on through the night over
the flat country from Calcutta to Bankipur, making the
distance of four hundred miles in eight or nine hours.
PRACTICAL HINTS. Our experience in our selection of routes
so far bears out the assertion, that much more can be seen and
much more liberty is enjoyed in traveling without through tickets.
This kind of tickets is sold over the highways of travel, where
accommodations are plentiful. But they are limited as regards
time and the choice of the routes. This limitation will interfere
with desirable side-trips, which are often the most interesting part
of a long journey. Those that care not so much for the convenience
of first class travel can easily make up the extra outlay of money
in making use of second or third class passage, especially as a cer-
tain amount of hardship during travel is even necessary to make
it interesting. As regards the plague and other epidemics in
Oriental countries, it is hardly necessary to worry about them,
except in so far as they might entail the delay of quarantine. The
habits of white men are such as to make the danger of infection
very remote. Many travelers carry a large assortment of drugs
with them: a few quinine capsules and laxative pills will ordi-
narily suffice. A bottle of cordial is often very desirable on the
train in order to counteract the evil effects of a sudden change of
temperature. The first care on arriving in a country is to become
familiar with the value of the money used; a good supply of small
change for petty services and local fares should be at once procured
and always kept on hand. At the end of a long journey it will be
found that a considerable saving will have resulted therefrom.
CHAPTER IX.
BANKIPUR HOSPITALITY A SLY ARMY OFFICER
AT THE CRADLE OF INDIAN BUDDHISM SAYA'S
BO-TREE.
From Bankipur we intended to make an excursion
to Gaya, in the neighborhood of which is reported to
be the cradle of Buddhism in India. We arrived in Bank-
ipur quite early and I started out to find the Catholic
church. The European residences of Bankipur were
spread out over spacious grounds, intersected by beau-
tiful shaded avenues. I must have walked fully two
miles from the station before I reached the Episcopal
church, whose gothic spires overtopped the great shade
trees and the fine parsonage near it. A half of a mile
farther on is the native quarter and in its midst the
modest church and school building of the Catholic es
tablishment. It is a notable fact, that the Episcopal
churches in the British colonies are located in the best
portions of the European quarters of the cities, whereas
we find the Catholic churches " in medias res " among
the native population. The Episcopal parsonage and
church is generally a fine mansion, where the ministers
live at ease on a large income. This is furnished either
by the government or by the generous contributions of
the missionary societies at home. The Episcopal min-
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
isters in English colonies must, of course, not mingle too
freely with the " niggers," as Rev. Austin, the military
chaplain, whom we met today, called the natives. The
Catholic missionaries generally live in poor quarters in
the midst of the native settlement, on a salary which
anywhere would be deemed a mere pittance.
Father Louis, a Capuchin from Germany, was just
about to vest for mass when I arrived. It was Saint
Patrick's day and a large congregation was already wait-
ing in the church. When Father Louis understood the
purpose of my visit, he readily yielded his place to me,
and I sang high mass in honor of Saint Patrick in his
stead. I was somewhat amused, when, after having
shown him my credentials from Chicago, he said: " Oh
yes, Chicago; the Jesuits have that mission, have they
not?" He was evidently under the impression that,
as in heathen countries, the Jesuits and other religious
orders had parceled out the different provinces of the
United States among themselves. He was greatly sur-
prised to hear that there were over four hundred secular
priests in Chicago and only a few Jesuits. No doubt
he mentally scored a point against the Jesuits in
Chicago for their remissness, or perhaps he re-ad-
justed his estimate of Chicago, and concluded that,
after all, it cannot be numbered among the heathen
cities.
He seemed very anxious to detain me, or at least to
secure my return after we should have made our excur-
GRAIN SELLERS, BENGAL
A SLY QUESTIONER.
sion to Gaya. I could not promise either with any cer-
tainty, not having the train schedules.
On my return to the station I was surprised to find
my companion talking to a well-dressed, well-fed, and
somewhat pompous-looking individual, who entered our
compartment of the car and readily began a conver-
sation also with me. He thought that England should,
as soon as possible, annihilate every one of the rebellious
burghers of South Africa. What do the Americans think
about the Boer War? Unjust? Why, you don't say!
Do they think it unjust? He had been to the United
States and to the Bermudas; met some fine people there;
had been " chawmed."
Is it possible that I should be a Catholic priest ? In-
deed, he was pleased to meet art American priest. How
often do priests get a vacation in America ? None to
speak of ? Why he would not know what to think, if he
did not get at least two months in summer. All ministers
expected it in India. Salaries? Ah! but they seem to be
poorly paid in the United States.
Wasn't it unfortunate that the Pope had decided
against the validity of Anglican Orders ? It would have
been so " chawming " to have the Catholic priests and
the Anglican ministers united and form one whole.
(About the charms of this union I had serious doubts,
for I began to perceive, that my glib fellow-passenger,
in spite of this incognito, which he so anxiously tried to
preserve, was even one of these Anglican ministers).
93
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
" But confound those pesky dissenting and other, espe-
cially American, preachers!" he continued, " they are
such a bother to the English government here in India.
They demand so many privileges and are always asking
the government to help them out of their scrapes."
Why, you don't say, are the Catholics in the United
States so numerous? But don't you admire Chinique
as a smart man? No? An apostate Catholic priest?
What about the Lynch law: is it a fact, that it is not legal-
ized by the authorities ? It is not a real law then ? Is
it true, that a Catholic priest is not allowed to receive
females as visitors in his house, or to be seen talking to
them in church? So they are allowed to converse with
them on parish affairs ? But as regards social intercourse,
he had seen a Catholic priest at Dinapore playing at lawn
tennis with ladies: what did I think of that? Saw it
with his own eyes. Oh yes, it was in public. No, he
could not, of course, say that there was any harm in it.
Are confessions heard only in church and not in the
house ? Had not known of this before. Really, it seems
that the English ministers can take much more liberty
in intercourse with ladies, than the Catholic priest. He
had not believed, that so many restrictions were imposed
upon the priest in this regard by the Catholic church.
He certainly admired the charity of the Catholic mission-
aries in India to the famine and plague stricken natives.
In this style he spouted forth questions, surmises,
and opinions, while we rattled along in the dusty train
94
UNMASKED.
to Gaya. He had until then been highly pleased with
himself in being able to pump out a Catholic priest, with-
out revealing his own calling and position; for he had
introduced himself merely as Mr. Austin. But he over-
reached himself before we arrived at Gaya. He wanted
to know my full name and address, which I readily gave
him. I was waiting for just such a chance, as he had
tried to evade giving his own full name, I now asked for
it in a direct manner Mr. Austin of Dinapore, P. G.,
Bruce Austin. " You are connected with the army, are
you not ?" " Yes, to be sure, how could you ever guess
that?" " And you are the army chaplain at Dinapore,
are you not?" Well, he never thought any one would
ever find him out. He felt quite crestfallen and some-
what confused, when I told him that I had perceived
his intention of trying to get all sorts of opinions out of
me under cover of his incognito, and that I rather enjoyed
this chance of giving them without the restraint which an
open introduction would have imposed upon me.
Gaya is a large town, altogether native. We repaired
to the dagh bungalow to get some refreshments, but they
were of an indifferent kind and slow in coming. Then
our gharry took us along the dusty road seven miles to
Bogaya, where the Buddha-tree and one of the oldest
temples of India are venerated by the natives. We had
told the driver, that our time was limited, and that he
would get extra pay, if he would make the afternoon
train for our return to Bankipur. I was soon sorry of
95
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
having urged him onward, for though the road was none
of the best, and the sun burned down with noon-day
fierceness, his ill-fed ponies were urged onward without
mercy, so that they were soon completely fagged out.
We drove at first through at least a mile of streets of the
town. The houses were constructed of clay and some
of them had a coat of whitewash. They were mostly
low huts, covered with thatched roofs. Many of the
huts were plastered all over with lumps of dung; for
the natives pick up the excrement that falls from the
draft animals and fling it up against the walls of their
houses, in order that it may dry and afterward serve
for fuel.
Along the country road stood many vaulted tombs
with cupolas. Laborers in the fields were drawing water
from the wells by means of buckets attached to long
beams balanced over a post. The water was poured
from the buckets into irrigating ditches, that traversed
the parched fields. Our road led along the flat sandy
bottom of a dried-out river. The tall palms near and
far, the rows of camels passing along the widespreading
sands of the river-bed, the Bedouin-like natives driving
them along, made us imagine that we were near an Afri-
can desert and traversing one of the oases of the Sahara.
The palm-trees along the road were nearly all tapped
and had earthen vessels attached near the incisions, in
order to catch the oozing sap, which is a delicious bev-
erage after it has fermented.
96
IN MYSTERIOUS HALLS.
From afar the towers and walls of the ancient temples
now began to appear through the open wood. At the
monastery gate stood a number of natives, who were all
eager to show us the remarkable monuments, of which
the place boasts. One of them brought us to the inside
of a spacious, but neglected garden, at the farther end
of which rose a large building like a monastery or col-
lege. As he could not speak English, we could do no-
thing but follow his guidance up a dark and narrow
stairway, expecting to see the principal Mahmudi of In-
dia, who according to previously obtained information,
has his residence here. He finally stopped in a long
narrow room, full of ancient furniture, but seemingly not
occupied by anyone. Our eager guide stood in the midst
of it, gesticulating and pouring out a flood of words.
We did not listen with an attention quite wrapt. This
might have been the room which the original Buddha,
Prince Saya himself, had occupied, after his long session
under the Bo-tree outside, or it might have been the
apartment reserved for the great Mahmudi, who was con-
cealed in some other part of the monastery. But his
flights of oratory were decidedly uninteresting to us,
since he used a language not a word of which we under-
stood. We expected to be bi ought into the presence of
the Mahmudi himself, but it dawned upon us at last
that the jabbering Hindoo was ony asking extra bak-
shish at every turn. I have not to this day found out
who the great Mahmudi was, and why the Hindoo
97
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
brought us up into a dark hall and into the suspicious-
looking interior of that many-storied building.
Across the road rose, like a huge, clumsy tower, the
old temple of Bo-Gaya. It was surrounded by extensive
gardens and a large sacred pond. The temple and
ground are connected with the origin of Buddhism in
India and date back more than 2,500 years. In this
neighborhood Prince Saya spent six years in lonely cogi-
tation, seated under a tree. Here he hatched out that
monstrous fraud, Buddhism, six hundred years before
Christ. After-generations set up his images everywhere
among the teeming nations of India, so that now he is
worshipped as a god, seated in cross-legged contemplation
in myriads of shrines all over the Orient. Buddhism
is nothing but the scrapings from the philosophies of Ori-
ental nations, badly mixed up with some of the revealed
truths of the Bible and the ravings of Novatians, Illumi-
nati and other sects, condemmed long ago by the Catholic
church. It has the advantage over modern Spiritism
and the so-called Christian Science, in so far as it is much
older and perhaps more reasonable.
The temple is built in the form of a four-cornered
tower. Grotesque images of animals and gods, carved
from the dark red rocks, frown down from the four sides.
The temple has been lately restored by the English, as
one of the curiosities worthy of preservation. The in-
terior contains many images in the different stories, be-
sides the great one of Prince Saya, the original Buddha,
98
BO-GAYA.
in the lowest story. To the left lies the sacred pool,
which is about three-hundred feet square and can
be approached by wide stone stairs, leading down to
the water on all four sides. A number of natives were
even then performing the sacred ablutions in the brackish
water. A large area surrounds the temple and the pool
is covered with open porticoes and gardens. Behind
the temple is shown the sacred Bo-tree, beneath the
ancestor of which Prince Saya is said to have sat brooding
for six years. On a granite flagstone the imprints of
two huge feet are believed to be the impressions left by
Buddha, as he passed by after his long meditation. If
the rest of his body corresponded to his feet, no wonder
they would make an impression wherever he trod.
Not much edified by these remnants of heathen
superstition, we departed in our gharry. Arriving at the
station, we were surprised to find that the owner of the
conveyance angrily demanded about three times the fare
stipulated. The natives are great walkers, and they
generally have well-shaped limbs. An earthen water
bottle dangles from their side, just as in Syria and
Palestine. Thus they always have a cool drink at
hand; for the wind, striking the moisture that exudes
through the unglazed earthenware, has the effect of keep-
ing the contents cool in the hottest weather. We were
glad to accept the urgent hospitality of Father Louis
in Bankipur, when we arrived at his church at night-
fall. He was anxious to detain us until Monday, the
99
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
feast of Saint Joseph, when he expected to see several
other priests of his district at his house. I was sorry,
however, that I could not accept his invitation. No
less urgent were the German sisters in their requests
of another kind; like our sisters at home, they let no
occasion slip for advancing their charitable undertakings.
In the course of the evening we subscribed for an orphan-
age, which they intended to erect for the native children.
The Father assigned the best part of his parsonage
for our use during the night, and it is needless to
mention, that we enjoyed our brief stay with the good
missionary.
100
CHAPTER X.
AT THE SACRED GANGES Cows' AND BULLS' ELY-
SIUM SAVAGE HORDES or PRIESTS MONKEY CULT
ALERT SHOPK?:EPERS NIRWANA'S WATERS
THE BURNING GHAT.
A hearty good-bye and good wishes from both sides,
and we were again on the train rolling over the flat coun-
try to the banks of the Ganges and to old Benares, the
sacred. At Chauda the passengers on the train had
to undergo a quarantine examination. This examin-
ation is a mere formality for the white passengers, but the
natives in the third and fourth class must undergo a
close scrutiny. A number of coaches lay side-tracked
here, because they had been used by some passengers
infected by the bubonic plague. At noon we crossed
the fine iron bridge over the river Ganges, that flowed
majestically onward beneath the battlemented towers
and gilded domes of ancient Benares in the distance.
Arriving at that city we were immediately taken in tow
by Khoda Bux, the guide, who showed us the signatures
of Rev. B. and V. H. of a few days before. He offered
to conduct us around for two rupees, but these we found
afterward to mean six or seven, not counting those which
Khoda tried to draw out of our pockets through the
wily shopkeepers. We stopped first at Clark's Hotel
101
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
for dinner. Here we met the stout planter and his ad-
venturous looking female, who had made themselves
quite noticeable on the Matiana. A cloud seemed to
hang between them now, for their amorous familiarity
had lapsed into a distant and moody silence. Hunting
for the Catholic church, we found instead of it a young
Portuguese priest from Goa, who was on a visit, staying
with his brother. We were hospitably invited to re-
turn in the evening and take dinner in the house. Khoda
Bux then took us to see the sights of Benares. He was
no better than the rest of his tribe: hurrying us through
really interesting sights in order to have more time
to linger in the shops, where he expected percentage on
our purchases.
Through narrow, winding streets we plowed our way
among the surging crowds to the Golden temple, so
called, because of the profuse gilding of its walls. Odor
of sandalwood filled the air; incredible noise and bustle
prevailed in the narrow courts between the complex of
buildings. A vicious black bull stood in the middle of
an inclosure, while the patient Hindoo cows were chew-
ing their cud in the rich stalls around. Only the heathen
priests were allowed within the inclosure and they were
.valking about with great show of attention to the ani-
mals. Before we got to this part of the temple, a horde
of savage natives, for the most part naked or clad in
filthy rags, rushed at us from the narrow passages, sur-
rounding us with eager clamors and soliciting the privi-
IC2
A Cows' PARADISE.
lege of conducting us around. They all claimed to be
priests of the temple. One of them, taller and more
ragged than the rest, ruthlessly elbowed the others aside,
claiming that he \vas the head-priest over four hundred
and therefore more qualified to act as our guide, than
all the others. In spite of our protests and those of
Khoda Bux, he preceded us on our way around, gestic-
ulating and shouting at us the few words of English
in his vocabulary. When we tried to enter the
enclosure of the bull, he and others rushed up horrified,
preventing us to set foot within. No wonder the bull
looked vicious: the company of such a horde of savages
which he must endure, would sour the life of any respect-
able bull, not even taking his sacred character into con-
sideration. Before we left the temple-ground, the sav-
age head-priest vigorously demanded ten rupees for his
services. I was for giving him not a para; but Khoda
said it would be dangerous to refuse bakshish entirely,
for they made a show of violence. I yielded to the ex-
tent of one rupee for all of us.
As soon as Khoda could liberate us from the swarm
of beggars, he began to expatiate upon the renowned
brass works to be seen in Benares. Of course he bent
his way to the quarters of the city where they are to
be seen. What we saw, fully justified the renown which
Benares bears in this respect. The exquisite and artistic
tracing is executed by thousands of native brass workers
at merely nominal wages. The prices which the wily
103
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
shop-keepers get for the artistic products vary according
to the gullibility of the visiting customers. The mer-
chant and the guide generally unite their efforts in order
to draw the highest amounts possible from the pockets
of the customers. The less inclination for purchasing
they find in their victims, the lower will that amount
finally be. Khoda had little success in the brass line
with us: brass was not what we stood in particular need
of. After a few weeks of intercourse with the brazen-
faced shopkeepers of the Orient, we had acquired brass
ourselves, though of a different kind. He vainly tried
something softer and more insinuating, and brought us
to the silk embroidery shops. The gold and silver em-
broidery which was shown us here was wonderfully
artistic, and it seems Khoda really tried to bring prices
down to the lowest level. But even that failed of its
intended effect: we did not invest very heavily.
The bazaars of India are interesting places for the
visiting strangers. Native life is exhibited in those nar-
row, crowded streets in all its phases. There they sit
on the platform behind their wares, those keen-eyed
merchants, watching for prospective purchasers in the
passing crowds. A European in the street immediately
electrifies a whole neighborhood. Every one of his
motions is watched. Let him take but a step in the di-
rection of a shop, or cast a mere casual glance at the goods
displayed; let him but listen with half an ear to the solici-
tations of the scores of shopkeepers in the vicinity, and
104
MONKEY-SHOW.
up they will jump, snatch an article from their stand,
surround him, pursue him, dodge around by the dozen
and flourish their articles before his eyes. Lower and
lower falls their price, with loud protestations of its
ridiculous lowness, until the distracted passer-by finds
himself encumbered with some article more or less use-
less, and more or less dearly bought, considering the
trouble of carrying it with him on the long journey. We
see no Chinese here; the Hindoos, their match in business,
supplant them and outdo them in their specialty of getting
what they can, even if the profits are next to nothing.
Khoda Bux, not finding much gain in tarrying about
the shops, and fearing to lose an extra bakshish if he
did not yield to our demand for other sights, pro-
ceeded to the celebrated Monkey temple. As we
approached, we saw the grinning beasts in great number
cutting their monkey-shines. One involuntarily begins
to ask, whether they are not grinning in sheer contempt
of the foolish bipeds that set them up as sacred objects.
But there is something behind this monkey-show which
is more obscene than the antics of these disgusting ani-
mals. Khoda Bux threw them some sweets, which he
had bought for that purpose. The same was done by
all the natives before they entered. Khoda was no
heathen, but a Mohammedan. He professed great con-
tempt for the practices of the Hindoo religion, neverthe-
less he conformed to some-of them, in order not to incur
the hatred of the priests. The half-clad priests of the
105
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
Monkey temple went about distributing flowers and
throwing chaplets of daisies around the necks of those
that had entered, gathering bakshish at the same time.
One of these fellows threw a wreath of flowers also around
our necks, in order to make us worthy of treading on the
temple ground. We of course tore it off, thinking where
monkeys could cut their capers we could at least walk
without wreaths, in spite of the bakshish-hunting,
heathen priests. A crowd of people kept poXiring through
the gates of the inclosure and streamed toward the por-
tals of a not very large temple opposite. Khoda informed
us that the wife of a rajah had just arrived, in order to
go through some ceremony in honor of Parvarti. Both
he and the priests prevented us from entering one of
the side doors, saying, that no outsider would ever be
allowed to witness of the ceremony. That did not inter-
fere, however, with the brazen demands of the priest
for bakshish. Khoda afterwards brought us to the
other side of the temple, where we saw the image of the
goddess, but on account of the press of the people around
it, we could not see in what the ceremony did consist.
Khoda would only faintly indicate the nature of the per-
formance, without going into particulars. That this
temple, and the ceremonies connected with it, were very
popular, was sufficiently evidenced by the festive throngs
scattered about the ground.
On my journey, and before, I have sometimes heard
the assertion, that Christianity is nothing else than the
106
SILLY ASSERTIONS.
modification of Brahmanism or Buddhism, and derives
its institution from the great Oriental nations. The
ceremonies of the Catholic church especially, are com-
pared with the ceremonies of these oriental religions.
But the outward showing of religion is something
which is partly left to human ingenuity and inven-
tion. It is founded on the common basis of human
reason. What wonder, that the philosophic religions of
the Orient should adopt certain outward ceremonies,
which resemble those of the Catholic church ? All the
outward show of the true church is intended to demon-
strate the mysteries hidden beneath. But to ascribe to
the ceremonies of the Catholic church such a low origin
as Buddhism or Brahmanism is the height of silly pre-
varication. There is a certain similarity in a few minor
ceremonies of these monstrous abberration and the cere-
monies of the true church, because the former are alto-
gether human institutions, aping the good and the reason-
able, possessed in divine plentitude by the Catholic
church. Obscenity dons the robe of sanctity and of rea-
sonableness, and the most shameful practices parade in
the garb of religious observances: hence superficial minds
are deceived. The few moral precepts, which heathenism
professes, are necessary deductions of the natural
law and cannot be evaded; but this same natural law
is also an integral part of the doctrines of the true church :
hence some similarity in minor and outward points,
but vast difference in spirit and in essence.
107
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
- Among the most beautiful sights of Benares are the
banks of the Ganges. The right bank rises one hundred
to one hundred and fifty feet from the water, and is
fringed with old palaces and castles, temples and monas-
teries, with many an oriental turret and to>ver. Khoda
hired a huge tub of a boat with four oarsmen to take us
from the Monkey temple back to the other end of the
city, a distance of over two miles. Slowly we moved
up stream, seated on rickety stools on a sort of upper
deck. The evening sun glittered from gilded turrets
and grated windows of the towering buildings on the
bluffs, while behind and above the clear-cut outlines of
eaves and battlements, rose the mellow-tinted blue
of the heavenly vault. In ever varied shape and style
of architecture these numerous buildings passed in view,
as we slowly glided up the deep blue bosom of the Ganges.
These banks and bluffs are the most sacred and blissful
shore of Nirwana, whither tend the longings of the rajah
and the pariah, the wealthy merchant and the beggar,
the priest and the monk. Here the wealthy build their
palaces, here the poor seek the rude huts or the shelter
of over-hanging eave or narrow cleft of the rock, in order
to die within sight of the sacred river. The pilgrimage
to Benares' river-bluffs and a bath in the calm flowing
stream, is the height of the ambition of the natives
throughout India. The right bank of the river is lined
with stone walls, rising up either straight or in tiers.
Some of the palaces and temples rest upon this wall for
1 08
CREMATION HORRORS.
a foundation. Among the most remarkable buildings
along the shore are those of the rajah of Madras, and the
great Mohammedan mosque with its many slender tur-
rets and minarets. In India the mosques of Allah stand
often side by side with the temples of Buddha. The
vast temple of the pilgrims rears its crumbling walls like
a fortification at the head of the wide-sweeping stairs
into the air. On these stone stairs hundred thousands
often hasten down from the portals of the temple in times
of pilgrimage in order to plunge into the waters of the
Ganges at sunrise. Even now, as dusk was falling, the
dark forms of the Hindoos were making their solemn
ablutions in the sacred floods, throwing water over their
heads and toward the departed sun, or dipping it up with
their hands to drink.
It was already dark when we halted opposite the burn-
ing ghat of Benares. Even from afar the odor of burning
flesh was carried toward us on the gentle zephyr, and
the rippling waters of the stream was streaked by the
lurid glare of five or six funeral pyres half way up the
lofty embankment. Our tublike boat approached quite
close up to the banks, so that we could distinguish the
dark forms of the mourners encircling the fires and the
demonlike stokers moving about. High into the dusky
air the crackling flames leaped up as they stirred the
crumbling embers or rearranged the charred bodies.
From one dying funeral pile protruded an unscathed
head still adhering to the glowing skeleton in the midst of
109
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
the flames; the bulging eyes starting from their sockets
as if in mute and nameless agony. Presently two of the
firemen seized a heavy pole and with one fell thrust
crushed the dark skull to pieces. The scattered brain
fell hissing on the embers. The dull thuds of the
poking fiends raised a spray of sparks and for a
moment cast a lurid glare over the faces of the spectators
in the dark background. In the water, immediately be-
tween us and the fires, were seen the indistinct forms
of more bodies, stripped of their clothes in order
to be washed before their destruction by fire. The
ashes of the thousands that are burned, are thrown into
the stream to be carried to Nirwana. Only a short dis-
tance down the stream is the great bathing place of the
pilgrims where thousands drink of the water thus mixed
with the ashes of their dead.
We left the boat and climbed up the high banks past
the gruesome funeral fires and entered the veriest maze
of narrow streets and lanes, lighted by the smoking oil
lamps and torches of the dingy, dusky shops. After re-
ceiving his pay Khoda insisted on leaving us, merely
giving necessary directions to our gharry -driver. The
latter lost his way, for the ride seemed to come to no end.
But he finally brought us past the post-office, where we
received a telegram from Cook's office in Calcutta, to the
effect that there would be no steamer berth at our ser-
vice in Bombay on the ^ist of March. From the post-
office the driver easily found the house of Dr. Saldanda,
1 10
ON TO LUCKNOW.
where we dined in pursuance of this morning's invitation.
Though we were late, we were very kindly entertained.
A few hours later found us comfortably settled in a first
class coupfc, speeding through the night over the flat
country from Benares to Lucknow.
HI
CHAPTER XI.
REMNANTS OF THE SEPOY WAR CAWNPORE : ITS
WAR MEMORIALS AGRA THE TAJ MAHAL.
We arrived next morning in time to say mass in the
Capuchin church at Lucknow. Father Bartholomew
afterwards invited us to breakfast and procured Barna-
bas, the son of the sacristan, for us as a guide. This
young man conducted us to the ruined residence of
General Lawrence, the scene of the great conflict in
the Sepoy war of 1857-8. Before the English occupation,
the building had been the palace of the rajah. Though
it is built only of brick and clay mortar, the thick
walls of the ruins will no doubt last for centuries.
Everywhere is seen the devastating work of the
cannon. In the cellar or basement of the fortresslike
building the women and children of the English
residents dragged aivay 86 weary days, while the
men defended the entrances above. Many died of the
hardships endured and of wounds received. Beautiful
parks surround the ruins, for the English do not stint
their money (nor that of the conquered natives), when it
comes to perpetuating the memory of those that died in
their wars of conquest.
Our next visit was to the grand mausoleum of Sad
Delican. The entrance is through a grand colonade of
112
REMINDERS OF WAR.
brown sandstone. A magnificent sweep of marble
stairs leads up to the portico and into the great audience
room and ball room of the former rulers. In the midst
of the audience hall stands the silver tomb of Delican and
his wife. Behind it also the pulpit of like material for
reading the Koran in public. The carving and the enam-
eling on these is exquisitely artistic. But even they
are surpassed in this regard by the decorations on the
tomb of Mahomet, which stands in the same hall and is
an exact reproduction of that in Mecca. In keeping with
the richness of these tombs, are all the decorations in the
great halls of the mausoleum. We climbed up through
the winding stairs to the gallery fifty feet above the marble
floors of the ballroom, where the Mohammedan ladies
sat as witnesses of the festivities below, unseen by the gay
throngs in the hall. How many a Mahommedan beauty
has sat behind the exquisite trellis work in the high bal-
ustrade, filled with longings to join in the festivities,
which were forbidden them by the harsh rules of their
religion! Another remarkable mausoleum, the Imam-
bara Ashal Dohla,is situated across the river Goomta
and preserves the memory of the minister of Sad Delican.
In several respects these mausoleums contain workman-
ship unequalled by the great monuments of Europe.
Barnabas, our young Christian guide, offered to ac-
company us to Bombay at a salary of one rupee a day.
We accepted his services as far as Agra. After passing
through the crowded native quarters and getting a scant
"3
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
and dear lunch for dinner, we boarded the train for Cawn-
pore. The heat was oppressive. Riding on a train is
scarcely the most comfortable way of spending the noon
hours in India. Yet the ride was not of long duration,
for Cawnpore is only 42 miles from Lucknow. Directly
from the depot we drove to the residence of Fr. Ludovicus,
a Capuchin, who tends to the wants of the Catholics
hereabouts. A vicious bullpup rushed out of the house
in a rage, trying to appropriate as much of our lower
anatomy as would come handy, before the fathers could
call a halt. But fortunately a cane in the father's hands
persuaded the vicious beast to desist and we saved our
limbs for further use. We were earnestly pressed to
make a stay, which however we could not do. It seems
the true church is everywhere in India making satisfac-
tory progress. The want of priests, however, is badly
felt. If the missionaries, who almost all belong to relig-
ious orders, could only succeed in training up secular
priests, it seems to me that the church would spread much
faster.
A fine gothic church was erected in Cawnpore in mem-
ory of those who perished in the great insurrection of
1858. Beautiful colored windows diffuse a mellow light
between the marble columns and through the chancel
and body of the church. Along both sides above the
wains-scot ing, memorial tablets with the names of the
Englishmen that perished in the revolt, stand in prominent
view. In fact, that seems to be the principal object of
114
SEPOY HORRORS.
the church. Around it are laid out beautiful flowerbeds,
drives and parkways. At a distance is another division
of the park, in the centre of which is the splendid monu-
ment of the Sorrowing Angel. We entered the park,
conversing with each other in an ordinary tone of voice.
Soon a couple of policemen rushed upon us, and in hor-
rified whispers told us, that no loud speaking was per-
mitted, for the ground was sacred. The monument is
built of marble, forming an octagonal colonade above a
spacious platform. In the middle is the opening of the
deep well, above which the statue of a large angel spreads
its wings. In this well were found the bodies of the wo-
men and children of the English residents after the in-
surgents had been expelled from Cawnpore. The be-
sieged had surrendered on condition of safe passage to
Allahabad, but were ignominiously slaughtered here and
some of them, yet alive, were thrown into this well.
While the English portion of Indian cities is always
widely spread out and beautified by costly parks, the
native quarters present the usual crowded and squalid
conditions of the Orient. Cawnpore forms no exception
to this rule. As we were not allowed to enter the na-
tive temple, we returned to the hotel for a much-
needed rest.
During the last six weeks we had had very little time
to rest ourselves, for our sight seeing and travel took
up all our time. On the hotel table were lying copies
of Bowie's missionary publications and we met them
"5
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
also in other places of the Orient: proving that the im-
postor, who poses as Elias III, was not losing much for
want of distant enterprise.
Reaching the depot at nine o'clock we found all the
first-class coupes occupied. However, the conductor,
with many apologies, assigned us places in second class,
which were just as comfortable. Early in the morning
we had to change cars at Twundla for Fort Agra. There
Father Hilarius O. C. afforded me a chance of saying
mass, after which we rested until two o'clock. During
the journey I wrote very few letters for want of time;
but I did not neglect to send frequent short messages on
postal cards to friends at home, which served almost
the same purpse.
The most noteworthy building of Agra, and of India,
is the Taj Mahal, or the tomb of Mahal, the wife of
Shah Jehan. No wife ever received a more splendid
token of affection from her husband, than the wife of
this Mohammedan ruler two hundred years ago. It
does seem strange, that a Mohammedan should so dis-
tinguish himself since women are but a plaything
in the hands of Mohammedan husbands, and very often
the mere slaves of his passions. The Taj is built inside
of a vast inclosure, not unlike a fort, on the banks of the
Jumna, about two miles from the city. The imposing
entrance and the serried colonades, peering through the
encircling shade trees inside of the park, form a magni-
ficent surrounding for the Taj. As one issues through
116
TAJ MAHAL.
the imposing portals of the colonade into the gardens
and lets his eyes sweep over the artistic flowerbeds, the
spouting fountains and basins, the low clusters of shrub-
bery, an entrancing vision of purest white, rising in the
background, soon fixes upon itself the attention of the
visitor and draws him on to examine more closely the
magic structure on its vast platform at the farther
end of the enclosure. The park is fully one half mile
long and one quarter of a mile wide. A balustrated plat-
form, fifteen feet high, slightly overlooks the shubbery
and the fountains in front of it. It extends over the
whole width of the rear of the garden and from its four
corners aspire tall and slender minarets, while the great
Taj, like an emanation from fairy land, arises from its
centre. So symmetrical in all its parts is it, that the be-
holder forms no adequate notion of its size, but finds all
his thoughts immediately taken up by its wonderful
beauty.
The lower portion of the Taj, a perfect square of
about two hundred feet, rises some thirty feet like one
solid mass of marble of dazzling white, from the platform.
The joints of the marble blocks are almost invisible, even
at close inspection, and only a few delicate tracings break
the smooth surface of this lower story. On this square
rest the octagonal walls of the upper portion, abounding
in exquisite carving and tracery, which set off the doors
and lattice work of the Moorish arches and panels, the
turrets and minarets on each of the eight sides of the
117
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
superstructure. Above all these, encompassing the edges
of these eight sides in a wide circular sweep, the polished
cupola majestically overtops the bewildering maze of
arches, cornice-work, flanking minarets and turrets,
vaulting its snowy sphere to the blue sky. The whole
edifice is built entirely of purest Jaipur marble, the only
other material being the precious stones used for mosaic
work both inside and outside its walls.
After beholding the beauty and perfection of detail
on the outside, we were well entitled to wonder, whether
we would meet corresponding perfection on the inside of
the building. And we were not disappointed. Enter-
ing the great Moorish portal on the side facing the gar-
dens, we were received into a spacious hall, which spread
away before us, while at both ends and in front of us
the magnificent stairways led on to other apartments
both above and beneath the one we had entered. In
the centre stood two sarcophagi, also of white marble,
but inlaid all around with a profusion of most precious
stones, making them look like vast gems of many-
colored hues. These are the resting-places of Shah
Jehan and his wife. There was no other furniture in
this or in any of the other halls; but the walls, the ceilings,
the banisters, cornices, entablatures, friezes, and lattice
windows presented a maze of precious mosaic-work and
carving, that made the dead marble seem a thing of life.
Many times as we retraced our way through the gar-
den and the road back to the city, we turned back our
AKBAR FORT.
lingering gaze upon the peerless outlines of the Taj.
The grand cupola rises over two hundred feet into the
sky, dominating the surrounding country and watching
over the river Jumna, that broadly sweeps, in many a
winding, past the walls of the edifice. From afar the
great white cupola is visible in the sunlight ; but when
the silver sheen of the moon falls over the dome and
minarets, the Taj seems a vision of enchantment, which
one fears might disappear at the lightest breath: such
is the fairy gracefulness of its tracery and architecture.
After all, the so-called civilized nations need not call
themselves the sole proprietors of art and munificence,
nor is the nineteenth century unrivalled in the grandeur
of its monumental structures. There is nothing new
under the sun, as Solomon says.
From the Taj Mahal we drove to the fort of Akbar
within the confines of the city. From the outside at
least, it makes a formidable impression on the beholder:
walls forty feet high, parapets and bastions, towers and
turrets frowning down upon the passerby. But when
we had entered the immense arched gate, we saw that
the huge wall was only of brick loosely laid in clay. It
would stand no parley with the wide-mouthed engines
of destruction of modern times. The fort was tenanted
by a British garrison.
From there our way led us along the banks of the river
past the dwellings of Hindoo monkey priests and over a
pontoon bridge to the memorial tombs of the viziers of
119
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
former times. This building, though not so large as the
Taj Mahal and "of a different style of architecture, is
likewise an exquisite creation in marble. Inside of it
are the resting-places of the former grandees.
The streets of the town swarmed with natives, many
of whom must be desperately poor. The famine is
driving the natives toward the cities for relief. There are
large tracts in different parts of India where the rice
crop was a total failure. The country which we had
passed from Benares showed evident signs of great
drought and the destitute condition of the fields easily
explained the poverty of the natives. Everywhere they
crowded around the stations in the hope of some assist-
ance from the passengers. They seem, however, to take
famine and its woes a good deal as a matter of course.
It is nothing unusual in India. Whenever the rainfall
is notably less than normal, a famine will make its ap-
pearance. The great staple is rice, and that will not
grow, unless the country is flooded during the rainy sea-
son. Moreover the land is in possession of the great
land owners, mostly English, who will not store up the
product for home consumption, but export it in order
to obtain greater prices.
At hotel Metropole we met our acquaintances of the
Gaelic, Messrs. Fortescue, King and party. Mr. King
kindly offered us his berth on the Carthage, which was
to leave Bombay for Sue/, on the 3ist of March. We
concluded to discharge Barnabas Marceline, giving him
120
RAILROADS IN INDIA.
his fare to Lucknow and paying him liberally for his
services. For those that desire a servant, who can at
the same time take the place of a guide, I would recom-
mend that young man.
At the depot we found, that the train for Delphi was late
and crowded. An Englishman and his lady monopolized
the coupe, so that naturally we did not much enjoy the
ride during this night. But it passed like many another
night: there is no retarding the march of time, whether
we are enjoying ourselves or not. The train service is
tolerably good and the attendants are polite, more so than
in some parts of Europe, and by far more so, than the
conductors on American railroads. The snobbishness
of our conductors is entirely absent from their Indian
confreres: they seem to be under the impression there,
that a conductor does not own the road, together with
the life and limbs, and the body and soul of the pass-
engers. Still, the management as a whole would hardly
do for the land of the star spangled banner. The fastest
trains do not make over 30 miles an hour. Tickets are
bought before entering the cars and are collected at the
end of the ride as you pass out through a gate. If you
have none at that time you simply buy one then. Very
often our tickets were not inspected during the course
of the whole run, nor were the coupons detached at the
proper stations.
121
CHAPTER XII.
DELHI JEHAN FORT AND THE PEARL MOSQUE
FAIRY PALACE OF OLD MOGUL KINGS GAUNT
FAMINE SUFFERERS AHMEDABAD BY STORM
PRACTICAL HINTS.
The train arrived in Delhi at 4:30 A. M. After
sunrise one of the gharry-men pressed his services on
us to bring us to the modest chapel of the Capuchin
father, who tends to the spiritual needs of the Catholic
soldiers in the cantonment. The poor nag could hard-
ly drag the vehicle for want of food and stopped several
times on the short way to the chapel. The good father
on hearing that our time was limited, quickly prepared
the altar for mass and would not let us depart without a
collation afterward. He told us that there were a good
many Irish soldiers in the cantonment here. His salary,
however, was a mere pittance and his small dwelling
gave evidence of great poverty. He had a pet in the
shape of a beautiful angora cat, which rubbed its soft
fur against our feet, while we sat at table. It was a
sworn enemy to all snakes and had in a short time cleared
the whole neighborhood of these pests. Our gharry-
man expected to be engaged for our drive through the
city, but when we told him to give his nag some feed first,
he wanted to double his charges for the morning drive.
122
SPLENDORS OF THE PAST.
In another carriage we then drove to the fort of Shah
Jehan, built in 1633 much in the same style and of the
same material as the one we had seen at Agra. The
most notable sight within is the marble palace of the
former ruler. It runs along one side of the fort about
two hundred feet and is divided into two wings by an
open portico. Just as the Taj, it is of the finest Jaipur
marble, white as snow and inlaid with precious stones.
The right wing contains the public audience hall, where
formerly stood the famous Peacock throne, said to have
cost $30,000,000. This throne, together with the great
Kohinoor diamond, was part of the plunder which
Nadir Shah took with him, when in 1739 he wrested
Delhi from the Mogul kings, who had reigned here since
their renowned ancestor, Tamerlane. A canal of limpid
water formerly ran through this hall and across the floor
of the portico to the harem and dwelling of the kings.
There it furnished hot and cold water for fountains and
for the baths connected with the harem. What a time
these old Mahommedans must have had in their lux-
urious dwellings, where they whiled away the hot after-
noons and evenings surrounded by the beauties of their
harems ! Only their buildings are left, not another ves-
tige of their power. In the construction of this magnifi-
cent palace nothing was used except the finest polished
marble and the still more precious stones, gathered from
half the surface of the earth and here inlaid into the walls
and pillars of their dwellings. Inside the walls of the
123
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
fort is also the Pearl mosque, another gem of Moorish
architecture. In front of it is a large open court, paved
with marble and surrounded by an open colonade. On
the floor of the mosque spaces are marked off in mosaic
for each worshipper. The only furniture in Mohammedan
mosques is the mihrab, a niche in the wall and sometimes
a pulpit for public reading of the Koran. These are
always in such a position that the audience faces in the
direction of Mecca.
Nowbat, the guide, whom we had met in the Pearl
mosque, now conducted us to the Jumna Musjid, the
largest mosque in all India. It is within the city, rises
in the rear of an immense platform and is flanked right
and left by beautiful pillared arcades. On the four corners
minarets tower aloft at least three hundred feet.
The whole is built of red sandstone trimmed with white
marble keystones and quoins in Moorish style. It was
built by the son and successor of Shah Jehan. On the
floor were again the separate squares marked off for each
worshipper. Otherwise the interior presented the usual
bareness and one is apt to ask, what is the real purpose
of all these costly pillars, cornices and arches in Moham-
medan mosques. The small niche, or mihrab, in front,
hardly seems important or suggestive enough for such
costly architecture. On the side facing the fort is the
Friday portal, which was never opened except when the
Shah paid his official visits to the mosque on Fridays.
It is hardly ever opened now. The English governor,
124
DELHI.
however, has several times claimed the privilege of en-
tering through it, in order to impress the natives with
the fact that he is now the successor of their former rulers.
From the top of one of the minarets we could survey
the whole city of Delhi and the immediate surroundings.
We proceeded to the ridge about two miles outside
of the city, where the gallant stand was made by the
English against the Sepoys in 1858. The inevitable
memorial tower there commemorates the names of those
who distinguished themselves in the bombardment and
recapture of the city from the hands of the mutinous
garrison of native soldiers. Near it stands a granite pillar;
said to be 300x3 years old. It looks battered enough to
be that old, but one is easily deceived about the age of
ruins in those countries. Nowbat skillfully launched
us into the shops of some of the silversmiths at the
noted Chadni Chunk Bazaar. The work was wonder-
fully artistic and beautiful; we did not, however, invest.
In another shop we were shown the most delicate em-
brodiery at ridiculously low prices; but we did not wish
to be troubled with carrying such goods around the
world. I took the address of Kandjimull Rugh,Wandae
and Company, for possible orders in church vestment?.
After taking tiffin (for so the noonday meal is called
in English colonies), we boarded the narrow gauge to
Jeypore and Ahmedabad. During the afternoon we
traversed a barren, burnt country, with scarcely a sign
of vegetation, except a few stunted locust trees and rugged
125
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
cactus hedges along the sides of the railroad tracks.
At some of the way-stations we saw the sacred peacocks
kept in enclosures by the natives. A few strings of
camels crossed over the parched plains in the distance.
Gaunt famine appeared in the pinched faces of the natives
that crowded up to the depot enclosures in the hope of
getting alms from the passengers. They were not al-
lowed to approach the trains, but they made mute ap-
peals for aid through the picket fences around the stations.
During the whole night, and until noon of the follow-
ing day, we continued to travel through the arid alluvial
sand waste for five hundred miles. There was no river
on our way, only dried-out torrent courses. But where-
ever the natives had succeeded in finding well-water for
irrigating a small plot of ground, a green oasis had sprung
up and luxurious vegetation covered the ground. In
the middle of the day, distant hills began to break the
monotonous landscape. The rocky mountain waste of
Abu came to view and Abu peak reared its rocky cliffs
and promontories into the air on our right. Not even
in the mountain gorges was there any vegetation to be
be seen, through we could distinguish a few trees around
the famous monastery of Mount Abu, as the train made
a wide sweep around its base. An occasional monkey
gamboled over the rocks or climbed up the telegraph
poles, stupidly gaping at the passing train. The gaunt
figures of the famine sufferers were more frequent to-
day than yesterday.
126
MALAY WATER-CARRIER
"JELAH! JELAH!"
When we reached Kotel at 5 135 P. M., the rocky wastes
had disappeared and the country was again a flat plain,
containing fields of rice, grain and other products. A
little farther on, a small fort loomed up to our left, the
chimneys of mills and factories rose into the evening
sky, and soon we rumbled into the great station of
Ahmedabad. Here we had to wait for the broad gauge
railway train to Bombay and we concluded to make use
of the time at our disposal for a drive into the city.
Leaving our satchels in the care of a Hindoo we stepped
out among the crowd of jehus. Like furies they pounced
upon us, offering to bring us anywhere. One of them
understood our wishes sooner than the rest and we
accepted his offer. With a triumphant whoop he climbed
his seat and lustily cracking his whip, he made his horse
gallop through the whole crowd of gharry-men toward
the city. As we had promised bakshish for quick ser-
vice, we were in his eyes the sole owners of all the streets
of Ahmedabad and he drove on with a continuous
warning yell to man, woman and beast to keep out of
the way.
The shops and streets of Ahmedabad are superior in
appearance to those of other cities we had met in India.
There must be few white people here, for we saw none
on the streets. We passed through three great gates
of the three walls that encircle the town. Following a
crowd of people into a mosque, we saw hundreds of
proud Mohammedans kneeling on the stone flags of the
127
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
court, facing in the direction of the mihrab and the pulpit.
On our return the driver of the gharry kept up a ceaseless
shout of " Jelah, Jelah," and a lusty cracking of his
whip. Many an angry look was cast at him and at us
from the scurrying natives in the street, as they tried to
dodge the unswerving horse and carriage. Two na-
tive policemen tried to interfere, one mounted on horse-
back, the other on foot. But our gharry-man was not
to be imposed upon by any minions of public order,
when he had two white men behind him, that would
give him bakshish and back him up against the whole
native police of Ahmedabad. Without deigning to
slacken the gallop of his horse, he angrily pointed at
us behind him saying, that the great sahibs must make
the train ; let the native rabble give way. He lashed his
steed into a lively gallop, shouting and cracking
his whip so much the louder. The guardians of the
streets bowed to the unanswerable argument. So taken
up was he with the importance of his commission and
with the bright hope of bakshish, that he shouted his
warnings to people far ahead or to any straggler a
half block down the side streets.
The train master allotted a separate coupe" to us and
we were soon bowling away towards Bombay through
the moonlit night at a much faster rate than on the narrow
gauge in the afternoon. We passed over a more pic-
turesque and fruitful country than that encountered
hitherto across the continent. The signs of drought
128
PRACTICAL HINTS.
and famine gradually vanished and tropical vegetation
again covered the hillsides. However, the soft couches
of the coupe* after the day's fatigues were an invitation
to a night's rest, which we did not long resist.
PRACTICAL HINTS. The best time for travel in India and in
the southern Oriental countries are the months of November,
December, January and February. During those months one
avoids both the annual rainy season and the torrid heats. It will
be advisable however, to take an extra blanket along as there are
cool nights and no arrangements for heating, at least not adequate
ones. Those that are anxious to stock their minds with useful
and pleasant information must be ready to endure the hardships
and fatigue of sight-seeing. In fact, the interest in travel will
soon disappear in those who are disinclined to exertion. They
will begin to hasten past the most remarkable scenes and
while away the hours in the hotels. Another good means to keep
up the interest is to take daily notes, even though this may
at times be very irksome.
I2 9
CHAPTER XIII.
BOMBAY'S BEAUTEOUS ENVIRONS A QUIET SAIL
THE PARSEES TOWER OF SILENCE.
In the fresh morning air of Friday, March 23, we
found ourselves speeding through the palmgroves and
the wooded hills of the island of Salsete. Soon the manu-
facturing districts of Dadar, a suburb of Bombay, flitted
by and we rumbled past the several large stations of the
city to the southern extremity of the last of the small
islands, on which Bombay is built. The site of Bom-
bay includes several of these islands, which are arti-
ficially joined to each other by filling in, and form a long
peninsula. Bombay is therefore surrounded by water
on three sides. The young man, who had traveled
with us on the Condor, had recommended to us the Eng-
lish Hotel, where we accordingly put up. It was managed
by Parsees and we were well and cheaply accommodated
during our stay. Seeing that we preferred fish and eggs
on Friday, they very readily acceded to our wish and
offered to do so at any other time we should desire.
The public and private buildings, which we noticed
at our first stroll, were the finest we had yet seen in the
Orient. They are all substantially built of pressed brick
or hewn stone, profusely embellished with architectural
ornaments. Only the numerous dark-skinned people
130
SAIL AT SUNRISE.
on the thoroughfares reminded us, that we were not
yet in one of large cities of Europe. Beautiful parks,
driveways, and private gardens vary the vistas of
tasteful structures along the busy streets. The houses
and stores of the better class of natives are almost modern
and are kept clean and in repairs. The pavement is
diligently swept and sprinkled each day. One is at a
loss to account for the prevalence of the plague in such
a well-kept city, unless one wishes to ascribe it to the
influx and presence of so many natives from the differ-
ent famine districts of India.
As it was too early to do any business at Cook's, we
decided on a boat-ride out into the beautiful bay. A
horde of boatmen immediately surrounded us as we ap-
proached Victoria bunder. Each sought to drag us to
his boat and loudly extolled the fine sailing qualities of
his particular craft. The most persistent won the day
and bore us triumphantly down to the wharf. A fresh
morning breeze bellied the white sail and wafted us
gently outward on the placid sea, just as old Sol began
to peep over the Ocean's vault. Within the landlocked
bay verdant islands peered over the water and in three
different directions military fortifications frowned from
the island hills. On every side vessels and smaller
boats, with and without sails, dotted the waters. Our
boatman was an Arab and he had a young Malay, all
in rags, as a helper. They got out a dish of shrimps of
which, uncooked, they made their morning meal. The
131
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
boat did not belong to them, but to an Englishman to
whom they were to deliver a stipulated sum every week.
The ordinary earnings of these boatmen amounted to
eight rupees a week, that is about $2.75. Three rupees
a week was the magnificant salary paid to his helper.
No wonder they were looking for bakshish, poor fellows.
We had intended to visit the Elephanta caves, which
are on an island about seven miles out in the bay. How-
ever as there was no breeze, we ordered our boatman
to return to the nearest landing, in order to arrange for
our departure on the O. and O. steamboat on March
3 1 st. Even then we had to wait a long time at Cook's
office, before the clerks made their appearance. When
they finally straggled in, I found among other letters,
one from Mr. Neidlinger, Cook's agent in Chicago.
He had simply sent back to me the blank application
for a passport, instead of the passport itself, as agreed.
The passports were urgently needed for entering Pales-
tine and traveling in the Turkish dominions. Mr.
Lee, the American consul here, gave me Some hope of
my being able to obtain passports from Consul General
Long in Cairo. The other letters from friends at home
were most pleasant communications, assuring me that
all was well- To crown my disappointment, Cook's
agent flatly refused to return the coupons, which I had
sent to him through the agent at Calcutta, although their
their return was made a special stipulation. He knew
probably, that with the coupons untouched, I would have
FAMINE REFUGEES.
been able to enforce a refund, if I now chose to take
passage on the boat of some other company.
Walking through the streets of Bombay during our
stay there, especially in the morning, we often had to
guard against stepping on the hands or feet, or stumbling
over the prostrate forms of natives, bivouacking on the
streets. Whole families, only half-clad in their rags
and with woebegone features, would thus pass the night
without any shelter on the hard flags of the sidewalk.
They flock into Bombay from the famine districts to
find assistance for themselves and their children. But
I am afraid they hardly improve their sad lot. The
city is trying to keep them out, but with little success.
They do not seem to beg much, probably because they
meet with few able and willing to help. Their emaciated
faces and their stoical endurance are depressing to the
passerby. Immense flocks of tame pigeons, joyously
cooing and playfully fluttering about in one of the large
squares, sleek and well-fed, were a sad contrast to the
miserable human forms, that were lying and sitting
around, trying to warm their chilled limbs in the sun-
shine.
The afternoon of the first day we consumed in seek-
ing to find a more congenial passage to Suez, than what,
very likely, the one provided for by our coupons would
prove to be. The fare on the Triester Lloyds and on
the Italian Rubattino, the other competing lines, was
much cheaper and promised to be more pleasant than
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
on the English boats, of which we had become heartily
tired. Besides, second class passage would have been
a welcome variation. However, we were handicapped
by our round trip tickets previously delivered into the
hands of Cook's agency in Hongkong and Calcatta, forc-
ing us to abide with the O. and O. steamer, the Carthage.
After nightfall we hunted up the nearest Catholic
church and found the Fort chapel, in the business section
of Bombay. Here was the residence of Archbishop
Dahlhoff and two priests, Frs. Gretler and Hutmacher,
all belonging to the Jesuit order. As we came after nine
o'clock, we caused somewhat of a disturbance in the
modest establishment. But we were treated kindly both
then and a few times afterwards, when I said mass there.
While I read mass in the chapel next morning, a whole
row of pews was occupied by members of the young
ladies' sodality, Europeans and Eurasians, neatly dressed
in white and blue and wearing their veils. They were a
pretty sight, as they devoutly recited the office of the
Immaculate Conception.
Strolling up town, we visited the imposing University
buildings, surrounded by well-kept parks. From the
tower of its library, over two hundred feet high, we could
survey the whole city and its environs. A succession of
islands stretches about 15 miles southwest into the sea.
On the last two or three, Bombay is built. From the
tower northward, a few miles distant, the woody heights
of Malabar hills rise out of the sea. It is the fine resi-
134
BURIAL BIRDS.
dence portion of the Parsees. On one of the hills
rose the Tower of Silence, looking much like the gas
reservoir of a large city. The top of these towers is
covered by a grating. On this grating the Parsees expose
the bodies of their dead. Vultures gather and perch on
on the wall around and begin to tear the flesh from the
corpse, as soon as the mourners leave. The skeleton
remains for a time exposed to the air, until it falls,
bone by bone, through the grating on the ground below,
awaiting the general resurrection. The Parsees are of
the belief, that is is impious to contaminate the bowels of
the earth by consigning the corpse to the grave, or to
pollute the sacred fire, which they worship, by burning
the body. The voracious vultures easily and willingly
solve all their difficulties by tearing the obnoxious corpses
to pieces.
In the immediate neighborhood of the University tower,
on which we stood, are grouped the University buildings,
all in fine gothic style and peering above the beautiful
shade trees. Not less splendid are the business blocks
and some public buildings rising above the ordinary
structures. The Bari Bunder R. R. station, not far
from our hotel, yields in size and magnificence to none in
America or Europe. To the east the wide bay spreads
out dotted with many islands. On the south and west
stretched away the limitless Indian ocean.
One meets a great many Parsees on the streets. They
seem to be a well-to-do and influential part of the popula-
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
tion in Bombay. The men wear a peculiar sort of cap,
something in the shape of a fedora hat without the rim.
I was told by a Parsee, that this cap is worn in fidelity to
a promise made by the Parsees, who fled to Guzerat
from the Mohammedan persecution in Persia. The
prince of Guzerat allowed them to settle in his territory
on condition, that they and their descendants wear this
peculiarly shaped hat. The Parsees we met were always
polite and obliging. They are shrewd and successful
business men. On inquiring about their religion, I was
told by several of them, that they do not adore the sun or
the fire, though they have the name of fire-worshippers.
They count the sun and the fire among their holy things,
because in their estimation they are the most potent
manifestations of God's power and holiness. I am, how-
ever, constrained to say, that I suspected these shrewd
persons of trimming their religious tenets somewhat, in
order to make them less objectionable to Christian ears.
They are very devout and are often seen on the streets
and in other public places engaged with a prayerbook.
The Parsees hold education in high esteem and are
earnest frequenters of schools and libraries. They take
good care of their poor and have a large charitable fund
in reserve. But there are few really poor among them.
In their dress the men differ little from Europeans, except
in the headgear. The women look very pretty in their
light, graceful clothing. An oblong square piece of silk
cloth is thrown over their heads and falls in graceful
136
PARSEES.
folds over the loose waist and picturesque skirt, giving
them a madonna-like appearance. Their faces are
uncovered and they walk freely with their husbands in
the streets, which is not common with the rest of the
natives. Yet they are modest in their behavior. It
may be, that some share of the good impression, which
these Parsees make on the casual beholder, is due to the
natural shrewdness of these people, by which they studi-
ously avoid giving any offense. We heard some people
remark, that they love more the outward show of virtue,
than the practice of it for its own sake. But what I
observed with my own eyes would not justify such
assumption. A young Parsee, whom we happened to
ask for directions in one of our strolls and whose name
was Munchershaw D. Nasi Kwala of Greaves, Cotton
and Co., readily acceded to our request and even offered
to accompany us on our sight-seeing in Bombay.
I said mass on the third day in St. Xavier's Jesuit
college. It is a large complex of buildings, affording all
modern conveniences, except elevators. In the public
chapel a large number of people had gathered. I did
not return to the college during our stay in Bombay, and
so I cannot say much about it. Sunday is well kept in
English colonial towns and even the natives seem to
consider it a holiday. In the large commons, which
we had to pass on our way from the college to our hotel,
there was an encampment of several hundreds of natives,
who had taken refuge in the city from the famine. They
137
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
seemed altogether destitute and slept upon the bare
ground during the night. No provision for food or
shelter was visible. The trees of the common alone
afforded them somewhat of a protection against sun and
rain. The men, women and children were sitting or
lying on the faded grass of the park-lawn and presented
a woebegone sight.
138
CHAPTER XIV.
PORTUGUESE REMNANTS FORT BASSEIN BORILI
AND THE KENNERY CAVES RELICS OF OBSCENE
PAGANISM.
For the same day we had planned an excursion to
Bassein and its forts, and to the Kennery caves. The
train passes through the same country, that we had
already seen on Friday morning coming from Ahmedabad.
Along the west coast of India there are many traces of
the original conquests of the Portuguese. One of them
is Bassein fort, about twenty miles from Bombay, and
three miles from the railroad. Three hundred years
ago, the Portuguese erected a fort in this place and settled
in the nighborhood, just as they had done in many other
places along the coast. Even now in many dioceses
of India there are two Catholic bishops: a Portu-
guese and a French or German. They exercise in-
dependent jurisdiction in the same territory, and
there is a certain amount of friction between the
Portuguese and the other Catholics on account of this
abnormal state of church government.
At the railroad station we hired a native cart in order to
bring us to Bassein. The road is but indifferently pass-
able. But we were diverted during our inconvenient and
jolting ride on the cart by the novel sights on the way.
J39
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
Groups of native men and women, poorly clad and only
half at that, passed us on the way, some of them carrying
heavy bundles balanced on their heads. It seems, that
also here the females must do the hard and menial work,
for the heavy burdens were carried mostly by them.
They are ill-favored specimens of natives, of diminutive
stature and neglected in their appearance. Their clothes
were but rags, wrapped around their bodies and cer-
tainly had not touched clean water for a long time.
In the village of Babri, a mile and a half from the
station, we unexpectedly came upon a Catholic church.
At this parsonage we found a Portuguese priest, at least
such he appeared to be, to judge from his features, though
his complexion was as dark as that of the natives. This
darkness of complexion I had occasion to notice very
often in the descendants of Portuguese in the Orient.
Some of them are even darker than the Malays them-
selves. The priest at this place said he had in his parish
about 2000 Catholics and that he was under jurisdiction
of the archbishop of Goa. He gave his name as Rev.
R. H. Barreto, wara (dean) of Babri, and he seemed
offended at my taking him to be a native. His income
from the town of Babri must have been scant, for his
house was poorly furnished and his cassock looked as if
it had done service for the new ones, that had failed to
turn up in the last twenty years. There were clouds of
suspicion on his brow even after I had shown him my
celebret; but he offered us a glass of wine, when he had
140
PORTUGUESE RUINS.
sufficiently comprehended what we told him in Latin, the
only language that offered some chance of communica-
tion with him.
Not far from the church, before entering the town of
Babri, the ruins of a once famous heathen temple are
seen along the road. A large pond, such as often adjoins
native temples, is still accessible on its four sides by the
stairs descending to the brackish pool. The road to the
fort of Bassein leads directly through the long-stretched
bazaar of Babri and was filled with the swarming natives.
About a mile farther on, the primitive native cart which
we were using brought us to the frowning bastions and
towers of the old fort. The granite walls are thirty feet
high all around and on the west side are lapped by the
ocean waves. They enclose a half square mile of ground
along the seashore and neither time nor exposure had
robbed the fort of its appearance of unlimited resistance to
the invader. But usefulness had long ago departed and it
now stands as a ruin, to tell of the power of the first Europ-
ean invaders of India. As we walked along the top of the
rugged walls, how easy it was to conjure up in imagina-
tion the forms of Portuguese adventurers, manning the
port holes, scanning the blue ocean, filling the crumbling
barracks below with noisy revelry, lording it over the
natives of the surrounding country; or the stately officers,
living in luxury in their quarters, or the cowled monk
within the walls of the ruined convent, saying mass or
chanting the office! The roofless church still showed,
141
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
that the Portuguese united religion with their conquests.
Many a goodly fort the Portuguese erected in their palmy
days on these shores; now all their power and influence
has vanished. So will, no doubt, the gnawing tooth of
time undermine the present power of England. It will
be but a just punishment for the rapacity and selfish-
ness which she tries to conceal under the cloak of
civilization.
Returning to the station on the same cart, we were
quickly brought to Borili on the way back to Bombay.
Some four miles from this village, in a neglected wilder-
ness are the cave temples of Kennery. We hired the
only conveyance that could be had: an oxcart on two
wheels without springs. Up and down hill, over a rocky
trail and through wild forests, where towering palms
vied with other leafy giants, we pursued our way in the
sultry afternoon toward some rocky mountains east of
the station. Half the time we trudged along on foot,
rather than endure the rough-and-tumble ride in the
small cart. Under the low arched canvas cover we could
not sit upright, but were constrained to lie on our backs,
our feet dangling out of the cart behind. The native
driver urged on his two Hindoo cows from his precarious
seat on the tongue between the two animals. India
looks pleasant and civilized enough to the tourists, who
stop in European hotels of the large cities. But let them
spend some time in the villages or on the by-roads and in
the jungles off the beaten track, and they will see how
142
ROCK-HEWN TEMPLES.
far back, after all, these people are as yet in the amenities
of civilized life.
The temple caves are situated halfway up the rocky
declivities of a mountain. There was no sign of habita-
tion to be seen in the neighborhood. Long ago the city,
which no doubt gave occasion for constructing such
remarkable temples, has disappeared. The territory
around is of volcanic origin and the footsteps of the visitor
sound hollow, proving that the ground is honeycombed
with cavities. Not a soul was visible when we arrived,
though we had met a few natives cutting bamboo on the
road. At a distance of about a half a mile from the caves,
our cart driver gave us to understand that we must walk
the rest of the distance, as there was no road up the
mountain. Though we could see the dark opening of
the cave temples on the brow of the mountain, no trail or
path leading up to them was visible. While searching
for a path, a native suddenly stepped out of the bushes,
making signs, that he would be our guide. He was as
perfect a specimen of the human form as I had yet seen
anywhere. The only clothing he wore was a lap of cloth
in front suspended from a cord around his hips and pass-
ing between his legs. His skin was darker than is usual
among the Malays, as he was a Hindoo. But one rarely
sees such well shaped and well proportioned limbs, such
graceful carriage, such a combination of strength and
agility, as were noticeable in this son of the wilderness.
As he preceded us up the rugged mountain trail the sun-
US
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
light, that fell upon his slender dark form, revealed a won-
derful pliancy and graceful adaptation of the muscles to
the exertion of climbing the hill. At his side a murderous
looking knife dangled from the cord around his hips.
No doubt he would he a dangerous antagonist, if at this
moment he chose to turn around and throw himself on
us for an attack. But he was altogether peaceful and
even very considerate in calling our attention to danger-
ous places on the way.
As we reached the openings of the caves, or rather the
portals of the temples, a beautiful view of land and sea
lay beneath us. In the far distance to the south some of
the steeples of Bombay peered over the hazy horizon.
The first cave we reached is the interior of a complete
Hindoo temple, hollowed out from the rock. A spacious
atrium forms the entrance, where on both sides the huge
carvings of ancient gods stand out as guardians. Beyond
this, in the darker interior, two rows of huge pillars, part
of the native rock, aspire to the vaulted arch above.
They are crowned with capitals and support the semi-
circular vaults of the middle and the two side naves.
There is, of course no window, only the light which enters
by the door penetrates with diminishing power to the
rear, leaving the background almost in darkness. But
after our eyes had become somewhat used to the gloom,
we saw the huge obscene image connected with the re-
ligious beliefs and practices of the natives. It rose about
thirty feet, carved from the solid rock of the mountain.
144
DESERTED CELLS.
Around this spot, no doubt, in former times obscene
rites and sacrifices disgraced the bowels of the earth,
though now centuries of neglect had put a stop to these
practices. The sides and vaults of the cavern temples
were adorned throughout their length with grotesque
carvings.
Steps hewn into the sides of the mountain led away
from the temple in all directions to the dwellings, con-
vents and assembly halls of the priests, who had attended
to the services. These apartments also were cut into the
mountain sides and showed equal skill in carving and
desire for ornament. Ancient reservoirs still held the
water that sickered through the crevices of the rocks and
numberless openings led from the large assembly halls to
lesser cells and chambers farther into the bowels of the
mountain.
Our nimble guide accompanied us and showed
us the more hidden chambers. He received the
money, that we gave him in return for his services, with
the air of a prince, though his poverty must have been
great. With many a quip and joke about our odd mode
of travel we jolted back over the wild trail on our oxcart.
We arrived just in time to take the train at Borili back to
Bombay. There we spent the rest of the evening in the
immediate neighborhood of our hotel. All the streets
round about were full of life. Flickering torchlights of
the native Hindoo and Chinese helped to dispel the dark-
ness from the wide streets and from the great square
US
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
in front of the Bari Bunder near our hotel. The laugh-
ing and chatting of the passersby, the bartering at the
gaudy booths, the jingling of the horse-cars and rattling
of cabs, contrasted strangely with the stoic resignation
of the natives, that crouched along the walks with
famine and poverty written in their faces.
146
CHAPTER XV.
ELEPHANTA AND ITS CAVE TEMPLES FAMINE REFU-
GEES IN BOMBAY Ax POONA WITH THE JESUITS
THROUGH SCORCHED TABLE-LANDS.
Next day early found us in a rowboat with three oars-
men, riding over the bosom of the bay to the Elephanta
caves. The wind and waves were in our favor, yet the
distance to the island caves was greater than we had
calculated. The easy-going Hindoos soon lagged in their
exertions at the oars. The sun was beginning to shoot
down meridian rays and the cool breezes of the morning
subsided. We had discarded most of our light duck
suits and improvised an awning as protection against the
noonday heat. However, smoking our cigars and banter-
ing away the drowsy flight of time, we enjoyed the vistas
of islands and blue waters and of the widespread city,
sinking more and more to the level of the horizon. In
the north the rugged shore rose boldly out from the sea
while the outlines of the barracks and forts on some of
the islands to the south contrasted with the lively green
of the other islands scattered in profusion to the east.
Men-of-war were ominously brooding on the waters near
to the city. A clumsy Arab or Morisco sailboat, with high
poop and square, ribbed and tattered sails, moved slowly
along, like a vision from the scenes of a thousand years
147
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
ago. Every now and then our swarthy boatmen amused
us by trying to make us understand what super-human
exertions they were making in order to hasten our passage.
But their hints at bakshish were much more enduring
than their spurts at the oars.
The stone landing at the foot of Elephanta hill is
directly connected with the stairs, that lead to the cave
temples, about half way up the mountain. Crowds of
natives immediately surrounded us to offer flowers,
strange seeds, walking-sticks cut from the bushes, or in
fact anything, in order to get bakshish. Palanquin-
carriers almost forced us into their uncouth chairs in
order to carry us up to the entrance of the caves. We
preferred to walk. The grounds round about are fenced
by some enterprising land owner and you are expected
to pay entrance fee. You are also expected to pay the
guide, who takes you in charge around the cave. These
caves are of the same kind as those at Kennery, being
similarly cut into the side of the rocky mountain. But
the carvings inside are more varied and artistic and they
are better preserved. The ceiling in this temple is not
arched, but forms a flat surface, richly carved, divided
into square panels and supported by ornamented pillars.
In the centre of the background in the main temple the
image-group of the Hindoo trinity stands forth from the
rock. Brahma, the creator, is represented as holding a
pomegranate, Vishnu, the preserver, as bearing a lotus
flower in his hand, and Siva, the destroyer, with a cobra
148
ELEPHANTA.
snake wound round his four arms. In a recess of the
cave to the right is represented the lustful prevarication
of Siva with Parvarti, in grotesque figures. In a
separate group in another portion of the temple, Parvarti
is seen as half woman, half man, with one breast.
Around the walls, which form many recesses in the half-
gloom, other groups of carvings commemorate the heroic
deeds of the Hindoo gods. In the rear is shown the sacrifice
of a child to the gods. All the images are skillfully cut
out of the native rock of which the mountain is formed,
with many minor images and adornments in between.
A separate cave temple adjoins the larger one and
contains representations of the seven virgins of Siva. Here
also stands the so-called holy thing of Hindooism,
being the same obscene image as that which we had seen
in Kennery cave. The guide would not enter upon any
explanation, but passed it lightly over, being no doubt
instructed to that effect by the owners of the grounds.
Some of the huge round pillars, and also some of the
images, seemed to have been violently broken. The
guide said that the Portuguese wantonly pointed the
cannon of their men-of-war into the mouth of the cave
temple and bombarded the place. These sturdy old
rovers of the sea, in their zeal for the true faith, had a
summary way of dealing with outward vestiges of heath-
enism ; nor did they for a moment consider, that senti-
mental tourists and wisely prating archeologists would
condemn them as vandals. The caves are about 1300
149
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
years old. A bustling flunky tried to electrify the sur-
roundings at the refreshment stand and monopolize the
attention of those in charge, by announcing the approach
of " her ladyship " and companion. This pompous
blusterer probably exceeded the orders or wishes of " her
ladyship," whoever she was.
Again a crowd of children surrounded us as we came
to the landing place. Some of them readily jumped into
the water after some pennies, that we threw them: a
wetting mattered little to them, for they were almost
naked. On the way back the wind and waves were
against us and the boatmen had to work hard at their
oars. The beauty of the scenery was now obscured by
haziness and we were rocked to sleep by the motion of
the boat. Once or twice a boisterous wave dashed over
the sides and awakened us by a sudden drenching. How-
ever we landed in safety in spite of the unruly waves.
From the long-stretched pier we wended our way
through some narrow lanes toward the street cars. The
natives here live much like Europeans, in small houses
built of brick. We came upon a Portuguese church, the
oldest in Bombay. Though the church seemed well
furnished, the same could not be said of the parish house,
which was nearly bare of all furniture. It was tenanted
by three swarthy priests, all of them Portuguese;
the youngest of them, however, spoke French very
well. He happened just then to come in from attendance
on a man stricken by the plague. Their parishoners are
150
HARROWING POVERTY.
mostly descendants of the old Portuguese, much mixed up
with native blood. In fact I thought there must be
much more native than Portuguese blood in these priests,
as they were so dark-complexioned. They receive very
small salaries; stipends are only one rupee, fees for
baptisms, two rupees, and I rather suspect that very
often they do not get even those.
On the way back to the hotel a few coppers, which we
distributed among some woebegone beggars, soon drew a
score of others. They opened their eyes in wonder at our
unexpected offer; for evidently they were not accustomed
to expect any liberality of that kind on the street. That
probably accounts for their despairing looks, unaccom-
panied by any spoken request to the passers-by. We had
intended to start on our trip to Goa this afternoon, but
our boat-ride had lasted too long. The next best thing
to do was to take the night train to Poona and proceed
next day on our way to Goa. We had ordered two gray
suits of clothes at a native tailoring firm in the down-town
district, as the white duck suits soiled too quickly. To
our disgust the orders had not been attended to. Mun-
cher Shaw, the young Parsee, readily promised to urge
the tailors to have the suits ready for the 31 St., the date
of our departure for Aden. With him we visited the Par-
see library, a costly modern structure, which was founded
entirely by one rich Parsee of Bombay. It contains a
full library equipment and the reading rooms were
crowded with studious Parsees. One of the most muni-
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
cficent of the Parsees is Jeejeebhoy, the founder of the
Jeejeebhoy Institute. It was easy to while away a few
agreeable hours in the lively streets of Bombay until
train time. Later on we were speeding through the
night to the important town of Poona, about three hun-
dred miles south of Bombay.
The night's ride gave us a good shaking up, as the
seats were hard and narrow. But one generally gets to
his destination on a train, convenience or no convenience,
if one does not jump off or if the train does not jump the
tracks. In the early part of the night the train had
climbed several thousand feet to the high plateau of the
Poona mountain district. The morning sun revealed to
us a monotonous plain, much parched for want of rain.
Around Poona, where we arrived about eight o'clock,
the country is a little more undulating. We directed the
gharry-driver to bring us to the Catholic St. Patrick's
cathedral, where the Jesuit bishop Beiderlinden resides.
At first his secretary, father Frenkamp, received my
request to be allowed to say mass with marked distrust.
Later, however, we were hospitably entertained. We
always managed to make a return for hospitality shown,
but naturally, on such occasions, one cannot offer it
beforehand.
Having said mass and partaken of a slight breakfast,
we accompanied the secretary on some of his parish
visits in his phaeton. He afterwards extended the drive,
so as to show us the town of Poona. One of the largest
152
POONA.
cantonments of English soldiers is located here and the
Cathedral church supplies the religious wants of the num-
erous Catholic soldiers in the cantonment. The Protestant
Episcopal church is a fine structure surrounded by beauti-
ful gardens. These parishes of the established church
of course are subsidized by the English government.
Poona is infected by a more than usually hateful and
malicious set of Brahmans, who are bitter enemies of the
Catholic church and her priests. Their doctrines are
to a great extent devil worship. Numerous temples
line the ways to the old town of Poona. They are not
large, but of a peculiar style of architecture. The pyra-
mid towers of other parts of India assume here the shape
of a grotesque piling of cupolas one upon the other, while
the outside of the temples is painted in bright colors and
the figures of the gods and godesses are particularly
hideous.
Poona was the ancient capital of the Peishwa kings,
ruling over a sturdy and warlike race, which qualities
are easily read from the faces of the present inhabitants.
Since 1817 the Poona district has been subjected to
English sway and is a military centre. Many of the
well-to-do Bombay people come to Poona in order to
escape the heat during the summer months.
In the centre of the town a fine modern building in the
form of a star affords all the conveniences of a splendid
market. The stalls of the venders are arranged in syste-
matic order and are kept very clean. The variety of
153
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
green vegetables and fruits is a novel sight in a town of
mostly native population. I traded off a few annas for
some specimens of the ancient Peishwa money, which are
irregular pieces of brass and copper, marked with rude
letters.
On the way back we passed the Portuguese church,
which is not under jurisdiction of the Jesuit bishop.
Father Frenkamp seized the occasion to exchange a few
words of greeting with his Portuguese neighbors, but he
was rather distantly received. The Jesuits conduct a
large school in the native district and the fathers and
brothers, that we met there, were all Germans. We had
a very pleasant chat with Bishop Beiderlinden at dinner.
The rest of the afternoon we whiled away partly in a
siesta, partly in the soldiers' clubroom behind the parish
house. A number of the soldiers came straggling in
while we played at billiards. They had about them a
good deal of the reserve of the English, so that not much
was said on either side.
After bidding a hearty good-bye to our kind host, we
boarded the train for Goa. As our train rushed across
the country the evening sunshine slanted over dreary
wastes or occasional villages of rude huts. When dark-
ness gradually stole over the land, we took what uneasy
sleep we were able to get on the seats of our coupe*. In
these elevated plateau regions the nights are cool and
we sorely felt the want of sufficient covering. During
the next day, until after noontime, we passed through a
154
To GOA.
dreary waste of burnt-out hills and valleys. It seemed
as if there had not been any rain for a generation. The
remaining vestiges of grass and other vegetation, and
even the ground, had assumed the appearance of a district
scorched by prairie-fire. The hideous desolation of the
country had been followed by gaunt famine, of which we
only too often were reminded by the haggard faces of the
natives around the stations. At some places a piteous
wailing of the beggars arose as the train stopped. Our
train was making but slow progress on account of
tedious and inexplicable stops. At four o'clock in the
afternoon the country assumed a more cheerful aspect.
The train entered Goa territory at Castle rock. We
would certainly have been held in quarantine at Collun,
if it had not been for the timely warning of Melle Castro,
a friendly railroad official of Goa, who told us, that unless
we would take some precaution we would be held at
least 24 hours. This would have been fatal to our
embarkation on the Carthage. We therefore joined his
company and the company of some Portuguese priests,
with whom he was traveling. He took care to explain
circumstances to the sanitary officers, and so we were
allowed to pass.
155
CHAPTER XVI.
NARROW ESCAPES TROPICAL SPLENDOR MORMUGAO
AND PANJIM WATCHED BY THE POLICE " His
TOMB SHALL BE GLORIOUS " MASS UNDER DIFFI-
CULTIES.
The small territory of Goa is certainly the garden of
India. Not a sign of famine or drought was to be seen
within it, but mountain, hill and valley are clothed in
deepest verdure of tropical vegetation. After passing
through the arid famine districts, it was refreshing to
view again the palm groves, the fertile valleys, the wind-
ing stream and the gushing spring. The railroad leads
directly up into a mountain pass along the side of a
rocky spur. Having reached a great elevation it con-
tinues along the summit, shooting into dark-mouthed
tunnels, where the abrupt spurs jut out, and curving
around the adjoining gulches of the mountains. Peace-
fully in the evening sun, far below us, lay the vast and
pleasant valley, stretching out toward the blue ocean.
Its green fields and luxuriant groves were watered by
silvery streams. Suddenly, as the train dashed around
a sharp cliff, the white foam of a cascade caught our eye.
Headlong the gleaming water fell over the red rocks high
above, forming ledge upon ledge of dazzling spray in the
sunlight as is struck the terraced cliffs, until it disap-
peared in the impenetrable foliage of the abyss below.
156
KIND FELLOW-TRAVELERS.
Only for the kindness of the Portuguese priest, F. H.
Franco, who was on a visit to his native Goa from the
college in Mylapore, Madras, and in whose company we
had successfully escaped quarantine, we would that night
have been stranded this side of Goa as moneyless beggars.
We were completely at our rope's end with our native
money, and there was no chance of drawing any until
we should reach Goa. He told us that we would be
carried by the cars only as far as Pegaum. From there
we would have to take passage on a steamer across Mor-
mugao bay. Though the amount required for passage
was small, yet we would very likely have had great
difficulty in procuring free passage or passage on credit.
When I told him about our predicament, he readily
promised to advance the amount necessary, though he
said there would probably be no chance of again meeting
him in Goa. But he said we could pay the amount to
one of his companions. Fr. Franco is president of St.
Thomas college near Mylapore, which he said is reputed
to be the place where the apostle St. Thomas was mar-
tyred.
The inhabitants of Goa have an unbounded faith in
the power of St. Francis Xavier and his tomb is held in
deep veneration. Castro Melle was especially enthu-
siastic in his praises of the saint. He asserted, owing to
his intercession, famine never approached Goa, no matter
how prevalent it may be in other parts of India. He was
present at the opening of the tomb seven years ago.
157
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
With his own eyes he had seen a man born blind suddenly
recover his sight, and a Protestant lady, who had been
carried to the church at her earnest entreaties, was
entirely cured of paralysis of many years' standing.
These two miracles,he said, he had witnessed personally;
many other miracles are known to him through the testi-
mony of friends.
It was already dark when the train arrived at Mor-
mugao harbor. There was little management and much
confusion among the passengers before they were safely
embarked on the rocking ferryboat. To my surprise I
found the boat under English management; but I did
not wonder afterwards, when I saw what Rip Van Win-
kles these Portuguese are.
Scarcely had the ferry left the sheltering bend of the
shore, when she began to be tossed about like a cockle-
shell. There were few that did not show signs of sea-
sickness. It is eight miles across the Mormugao bay
to Panjim, but the ferry had been a full hour under way
before she rubbed up against the shaky landing of Pan-
jim or New Goa. It was too dark to distinguish much
along the shore, for the few dim lights revealed only
some low buildings, which seemed small shops, or ware-
houses in a crumbling condition. One of the priests
showed us to a rickety hotel with the high sounding name
of Hotel of India. It looked to be more like a disused
dwelling house of bygone centuries. A boy who knew
a few English words appeared at the door and conducted
158
DREAMLAND.
us to the padrone. This gentleman seemed to care very
little how affairs were getting along in his establishment,
as long as he could expect a slender stream of perquisites.
The personnel of the India hotel consisted of this easy-
going landlord, whom we saw only once more, when we
settled our accounts, the aforesaid lad and another
youngster, who made a prodigious noise with the dishes
after meals in some dark room to the rear upstairs. We
were the only guests. I suppose there are other hotels
in Goa, but in our strolls through town next day we
certainly found no exterior signs of astonishing enterprise
in the hotel line. The whole Portuguese settlement
seems to have gone asleep two hundred years ago and to
be still dozing on, gratuitously fed by the exuberant soil
and fanned by the cool breezes of the sea, that sweep
through the magnificent palm groves. The part in
which we had landed is called New Goa, but it must
have remained " new " for a long time, to judge
from the houses and public buildings it contains.
They would make up a very respectable old tinier of a
town in America. But for the present we crowded back
all these thoughts in our eagerness to get something for
the interior man.
We were almost surprised, when in a moderately short
time the youngster brought us a substantial meal and a
bottle of fiery wine, to both of which we did ample jus-
tice. Afterwards, a short walk along the wharf, (if you
wish to call the street running along the water's edge a
159
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
wharf), was not conducive toward keeping us awake
very long. Most of the people were already in bed,
though it was not yet nine o'clock. The electric light
of the English ferryboat cast a flood of light on its imme-
diate surroundings, whereas farther on a lonely lantern
flickered in front of a house here or there. As far as
business was concerned or the pursuits of nightly pleasure
seekers, it made little difference: darkness would just as
well answer; neither business nor pleasure seemed
potent enough to stir the inhabitants. We, too, returned
to seek retirement. Before we did so, however, we sent
the black-eyed youngster to procure a carriage for our
early morning trip to the tomb of St. Francis Xavier in
old Goa. He returned, assuring us that a carriage
would certainly be in readiness at an early hour. Then
we retired to our primitive beds, sleeping the sleep of
tired travelers in spite of the sultry weather.
Blissfully ignorant of what these people understand
by an early hour, we arose at five o'clock and were ready
for our drive at six. In vain we looked out of the window
up and down the absolutely quiet street for the promised
vehicle. Not a sign of life from man or beast. But yes,
after the sun had risen already high over the verdant
mountains, and was glaring into the silent streets, we
see a form slowly moving around the nearest corner of
the street. Is it possible that they have need of a police-
man in this dreamland? He looks drowsily up to our
window and begins to stare in wonder: people already
1 60
MISTRUSTED.
dressed, talking quite loudly, looking out of the window,
and not yet seven o'clock ? It must be a discovery to
him, which can well bear farther investigation. He turns
to pace up and down on the opposite side of the street.
And now he hears a carriage coming toward the hotel :
what can it all mean? As if petrified with amazement
he stands not ten steps a way in order to unravel the
mystery of such early commotion. He watches our
every move, as we hasten out of the door and start on
our way. We must have figured largely in his reports
at police-headquarters that day.
No one is allowed to say mass on the tomb of Saint
Francis without special permission from the ordinary of
the diocese. Passing the great white church, located on a
hill and surrounded by beautiful gardens, we had to
leave the carriage and climb up through some narrow
lanes paved with cobble-stones, to reach the vicar gen-
eral's house. On our way we met a few scurvy dogs and
some skinny pigs, that seemed heartily ashamed of being
up so early. The Vicar-general certainly did not live in
the best quarters of the town, we thought. But he was
astir, as we saw on entering the ground floor of his dwell-
ing. The room was almost bare of furniture and the floor
consisted of the beaten ground. The reverend gentleman
was sitting in old worn-out slippers without coat or vest,
on one of the rickety chairs, talking to a man of still
darker complexion than himself. He looked at me and
at the celebret with a puzzled air, as if he could not for
161
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
the world make out what connection I and that paper
had with himself. He returned the paper to me after
a short pause without taking the trouble to examine
the document and told me to show it to the presidio of the
convent, where I wanted to celebrate. What else was
there for me to do, than to proceed on the way to old Goa
and take my chances?
The road to old Goa must be a remnant of the times,
when the Goese were still agoing, at least easily. It is a
fine drive, five miles long, between two strong walls, one
to shut off the waters of the sea and the other to keep
back the high waters of the lowlands in the rainy season.
Seats were arranged at intervals as resting places for
foot passengers. On each side of the road the wall rose
a few feet higher than the road: a good thing for any
driver that wanted to go to sleep on the way: he had the
assurance that his horses or oxen would at least not
dump him into the sea. The fresh morning sunshine
rested on the landscape to the right and on the blue
expanse of the ocean to the left. White walls of churches
gleamed from the hilltops or through the palm-groves in
the valleys. Ahead of us the straggling houses of old
Goa, the tops of some ruins and the renaissance steeples
of the larger churches began to appear. There is only
one street in old Goa. It winds along the base of a hill
and the few old shops, one or two wine taverns and the
huts in peaceful decay, gave the impression of dreamy
decline and yet not of neglect. It is hard to believe, that
162
DREAMY DECLINE.
this little straggling village once rang with the shout of
the Portuguese adventurers, saw the glittering pageant of
Portuguese governors and their retainers, or ever was
the centre, from which the Portuguese sway extended for
thousands of miles along the coasts of India, Ceylon, the
islands of the Pacific and even to the coasts of China.
There must be about ten magnificient churches in this
little town, which hardly exceeds the size of a hamlet.
And besides there are numerous ruins of other churches
in the neighborhood. The archbishop of Goa holds
independent sway over about 800 priests, a great number
of whom reside here. No doubt Goa must have formerly
been a large city, for the largest and most splendid
churches are at quite a distance from the cluster of houses
at the foot of the hill. The church which contains the
tomb of St. Francis, is that of St. Monica, or Bom Jesu,
as the Portuguese call it. It is not the largest nor the
most magnificent. The great convent of St. Monica is
connected with it. The renaissance, mixed with certain
features of architecture peculiar to the Spanish and
Portuguese colonies, is the style of this and the other
churches of Goa. Most conspicuous among the orna-
ments of the church of Bom Jesu, is the great high altar,
one splendid mass of gilded woodcarving rising to the
apsis of the sanctuary and filling out the whole back-
ground. In the side chapel, which contains the remains
of St. Francis, is also a magnificently gilded altar.
Above the mensa of this altar rests the great silver casket,
163
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
wherein his body is enclosed. It is richly carved and
bedecked with jewels. When we entered the church,
only one old priest was saying mass at the rear of this
altar. The sacristan did not understand, or did not
want to understand my request, but at last referred me
to the presidio of the convent. A boy conducted us
through a court and vast corridors. A number of stone
cutters were employed in the corridors replacing a stair-
way. It struck us as strange, that any repairs should be
going on in this sleepy neighborhood.
A swarthy Portuguese came out of a room in the second
floor and eyed us suspiciously. It took him a long while
to read the celebret and what I said to him in Latin he
did not seem to understand. However, he told the boy
to conduct me to another great church across a wide
meadow. Their distrust was getting to be more than
amusing. They probably could not understand, why I
had not appeared before them in a cassock, if I wanted
to say mass. I followed the boy into the sacristy of the
other church. This sacristy was richly decorated and
large enough to form a good sized church by itself. The
paintings and carvings alone must have cost a fortune.
A score of mostly gray-haired canons, or bishops, (for all
I knew,) were either getting ready for, or just absolving
the morning service. At any rate our appearance among
them caused quite a stir. Here my celebret went from
hand to hand, each scrutinizing it and making comments
until it reached a dignified and particularly aged-looking
164
SIGHT-SEEING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
man. He argued with the others and finally told me in
Latin, that I certainly could say mass anywhere, as the
papers were quite clear. He sent the boy back with me
to the presidio of St. Monica's. But I had had enough
of him and tried to coax the sacristan to get things ready
for the celebration of mass. As he hesitated, I began to
vest, but unfortunately I needed his services, at least in
order to procure wine. He went upstairs and no doubt
argued the whole matter over again with the presidio,
letting me wait a long time. Persistance carried the day,
for he came at last and served my mass at the tomb of
St. Francis. Of course a great deal of the devotion, which
I had expected to feel in celebration at this renowned
shrine, was lost on account of the previous annoyances.
But nevertheless, I considered myself fortunate in pro-
curing this privilege, even with difficulty.
There was no hotel nor restaurant of any kind in this
neighborhood, and I felt in no mood to trouble any one
connected with the church for a breakfast. So we drove
off immediately to visit the other places of interest. A
bevy of persistent beggars stood at the church doors:
they probably would have gotten a more generous alms
if I had not been treated with so much distrust. The
driver took us first to the former habitation and the
favorite chapel of St. Francis. The well, which was dug
by St. Francis himself, and which is considered miraculous
by the natives, is so wide, that stairs had been built to
the bottom, fifty feet down. But the well and its
165
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
surroundings are allowed to go to ruin. Farther along
the road we came upon another beautiful church and
extensive convent. The church is surmounted by a fine
cupola. The convent occupies one side of a large garden
and it contains the apartments and much of the furniture
once used by the great explorer, Vasco da Gama. Here
he resided as governor of Goa, 400 years ago. At every
turn new churches and convents could be seen peeping
from behind trees or towers and cupolas overtopping the
palms. The pure white of the walls contrasted pleas-
antly with the deep green of the foliage.
But I am afraid we were not in a fit state of mind to
appreciate fully the beauties of the scenery and the
magnificence of the building which we visited. An
empty stomach is apt to keep enthusiasm well within
ordinary bounds, even on extraordinary occasions. I
wondered much at the number and size of these churches
built a mile or more away from the village, all the inhabit-
ants of which would not fill even one of the larger side-
chapels. Yet they probably were much too small to
contain the thousands that flocked to this paradise on
feast days in former times. The houses and the people
around the churches' have long since disappeared.
These churches are only vestiges of the former splendor
and the numerous priests, that are established in them
to the present day, no doubt are living on the rich endow-
ments of former times.
1 66
CHAPTER XVH.
MAKING THE MOST OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE IN
SLEEPY HOLLOW MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES
SKIRTING THE MALABAR COAST LEAVING INDIA
PRACTICAL HINTS.
Looking for some kind of tavern or hotel, we returned
to the straggling cluster of houses of old Goa. Through
the open door of one of them we saw a few men sitting
around a table. On entering and asking for something
to eat or drink, a stout, swarthy host came from the dark
background and appeared to understand our wants.
But as to fulfilling them, he seemed in a quandary. His
house was no doubt considered as the great emporium
of saleable articles in this mouldering town; for the
dingy room was scantily stored with the most ordinary
articles of household use, lying about in ancient dust and
scattered through the dark corners or on rickety shelves
and tables. What an old curiosity shop it was! And
yet the owner seemed perfectly contented. After diverse
questions in Portuguese, imperfectly understood just
like our answers and signs, he brought forth from the
gloomy room in the rear a dusty bottle and poured out a
dark liquid, which proved to be but indifferent wine.
Not a bite of bread was forthcoming, only a crust of dried-
out cheese. However, that was somewhat of a beginning
167
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
in the line of eatables and our hopes were again on the
rise. Vainly, nevertheless: we had to postpone our
breakfast until we should again arrive at India hotel.
It had become absolutely necessary to procure some
Indian or Portuguese money, as the small amount which
we had borrowed from the hotel keeper last night was
fearfully on the wane. There is a bank in New Goa,
which we found hidden away somewhere in a by -street.
It had a counting room upstairs, in which the counting
seemed to bear but a subordinate part. One man sat
before a large ledger with a dreamy air, another was idling
away his time behind a partition or railing in the other
half of the room. Our letters of credit were turned this
way and that; the endorsements of the large banks in
Hongkong, Calcutta, Singapore, Bombay had no charm
for them. My circular notes of Cook and Company?
Conundrums. The American Express coupons ? Never
heard of them. I hauled out an American Eagle:
" Ah, oro Americano! " The jewelers are sometimes very
anxious to get " oro Americano," on account of its fine-
ness. It woke them up sufficiently to offer its value in
rupees or francs with a discount of 25 per cent. But then
they must go over to the jeweler to have it weighed. We
were too patriotically business-like to have the most
beautiful and the most reliable gold coin in the world
undergo such a process of weighing and such a deprecia-
tion. Come what may, we trusted to luck and the intrin-
sic value of" oro Americano " to carry us out of this and
1 68
BANKING IN GOA.
any other predicaments. We left these Goese bankers
at their EASE and did the GOING ourselves, though as it
afterwards turned out, not at our ease.
But the protests of the inner man in the meanwhile
became more and more imperious. So we went to the
hotel and sat down to our dinner in willful forgetfulness
of what might be our lot as moneyless gold, and bank-
draft owners in this sleepy old town. Perhaps we could
yet find and wake up some dreaming jeweler by the
clinking of the American eagles before night. Or may
be our jolly host had more appreciation for the good
round pieces than the befuddled bankers. So we
cleaned up everything on the cracked plates and platters
of the India hotel and, like consummate and conscience-
less deadbeats, laid down for a well deserved siesta.
When the heat of the sun had somewhat lessened, we
took a stroll along the old breakwater and then through
the town, past the market, always in a kind of surprise, that
there should be any houses or any kind of life at all in
this dreamland. On the market there were a few sellers,
fewer buyers and many empty stalls. On the outskirts
we came to some soldiers' barracks under magnificent
palmtrees. Whether there were any soldiers sleeping
within, we could not find out; at any rate, though the
buildings are neatly kept, they gave forth no sign of activ-
ity. How magnificently those cocoa-palms waved above
in the gentle zephyr! Farther on there stood a few native
huts under the trees, where the granite road leads over the
169
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
canal bridge. The center of the fine stone bridge was
flanked by two monuments with the names of old govern-
ors chiselled in their base. Seats invited to take a rest
and to enjoy the beautiful view out upon the blue ocean.
In the convent garden to the right some nuns, dressed in
black gowns and great white hoods, were quietly taking
a walk. After some time two or three officers, dressed
in dark-green and gold-bordered uniforms, Were coming
up the road with their wives or sweethearts, proving that
sometimes the inmates of the barracks are awake in spite
of all appearances to the contrary.
Bordering the canal, immediately before coming to the
bridge, a wide enclosure was strewn with great heaps of
cocoanut. Workmen were breaking them up in order
to let the white pulp dry in the sun. Great quantities of
the pulp lay around and the foreman gave us to under-
stand, that it is thus shipped to the mills for extracting
the oil. Returning by another route from our stroll, we
saw some very neat residences, but the few streets
remained quiet and only here and there a business house
could be seen. The only signs of sociability, that we
could see, were two men, sitting in front of what must have
been a cafe*, taking some of the cooling drinks.
We had exchanged a five dollar gold piece during the
day at considerable loss. But when we came to settle
our hotel bills, we were two rupees short. I asked the
hotelkeeper to let that little amount stand, until I should
have a chance to send it to him by mail. He would not
170
ROUGH AWAKENING.
hear of that proposition, and yet he did not wish to accept
of any of the American gold pieces at a reasonable dis-
count, convincing us that, when it comes to settlement
of money matters, even the Portuguese wake up. It
was only after I threatened to leave at any rate, that he
sent the boy over to the jeweler and finally agreed to
more favorable terms.
We had to be off, if we wished to be certain of catching
the Carthage for Suez on the 3ist of March. My com-
panion seemed somewhat broken up by the hardships of
our strenuous travel in the last six weeks. I regretted
this so much the more, as we would probably find scant
accomodations on the Shanara, which was even now
taking her cargo preparatory to her voyage to Bombay.
She was only a ferry boat with open decks. At eleven
o'clock she bore away from the dimly lighted wharf into
the dark waters of the sea.
The Shanara was intended only for native travel, with
open deck, no berths, no cabins, no meals for passengers.
They were supposed to bring their own accomodations
with them. As she rocked through the damp atmosphere
out upon the unruly waves, we made up our minds that
we would have to rough it for the next forty hours.
Like a fiend the little imp of a boat began to sway and
splurge on the ocean swell. Some poet said, that the
ship moves over the sea like a thing instinct with life:
she was instinct not only with one life, but with that of a
thousand bucking bronchos gone on a rampage. If she
171
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
did not throw us all off into the sea, she did the next
thing to it: she made us throw up (beg pardon of the
readers). We soon came to the conclusion, that if there
was any nook on the boat which afforded shelter from
the spray and wind above deck, we must make an effort
to get into it by fair means or foul. I went below and
found one of the officers, who promised to sneak us into
his own berth on payment of a certain price. As he said
there was a strict rule aboard not to allow any passengers
in those quarters, I made at least one berth secure, trust-
Ing to find a chance to get another for my companion
after a while, or if not, to smuggle him down in order to
bunk with me. However, he spoilt that little game. He
came a few minutes afterwards and began to suspect me,
of having left him to his fate above, while I had sought
a snug shelter below. As he was very hard of hearing, I
did not dare to explain at length. But even the few words
of explanation, though of no avail to dispel his suspicions,
were sufficient to bring around the steward. The result
was, that we came very near losing our shelter. How-
ever, on payment of about three times the price at first
demanded, we were suffered to remain.
As the morning sun rose again over the mountain
plateau of India, it revealed the shady sides of the bold
promontories of the Malabar coast to our right. The
vessel in her course followed the coast line more or less
closely.
Sometimes the walls of an old Portuguese fort could
172
ON AN OX-CART.
be seen looking grimly down from the cliffs into
the sea. They were crumbling to pieces, though form-
erly they no doubt were considered impregnable. A
few cannonballs from modern cruisers, at several miles
distance, would soon level them to the ground. At
some places our vessel came to a halt in order to wait
for a boat full of native passengers, that struggled
through the surf to reach its sides. In the afternoon
our steamer gracefully swung around a battlemented
headland into a small sized harbor. On the farther
side of the fort a native town straggled along the curve
of the bay and up the parched hills behind. It was
lucky that we had taken along at least some provisions
from Goa, as we would have been at loss where to pro-
cure any on the way. I tried to fight off seasickness by
writing at my journal most of the time. Near us sat a
trio of swarthy Arab merchants, who were chatting
together all day, seemingly in the best of spirits. One
of them was very anxious to buy an American eagle to
use as an ornament. But he soon drew out of the bar-
gain, when I told him that its value was sixty-three
rupees. So the day passed and the night stole away in
spite of our discomfort, until we arrived at the Carnac
bunder in Bombay at about four o'clock in the morning.
Carnac bunder is a long distance from the business
part of Bombay. All was yet dark and the long bunder
was lighted only by a few dim lamps. When we came to
the entrance some carriages were waiting, but as we were
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
not in a hurry, they were gone before we thought of hiring
one of them. However, after we had walked through
some dark streets for a while, the jingling bells of an
oxcart sounded through the twilight and we hired it to
ride up town. These carts are rude boxes on two wheels,
drawn by oxen and covered with muslin, which is
stretched over semicircular hoops arching over the box.
A rough seat is arranged for the passengers under this
cover. The driver sits on the wagon tongue outside,
urging on his patient beasts by a cord fastened to their
necks or horns. The natives make much use of this
kind of conveyance. In a roundabout way we found
our way jingling through the quiet dusk of the morning
to the English Hotel. Although it took over an hour,
we were too early for the porter of the hotel, who ad-
mitted us only after much hammering at the door.
The tailors at the Grand Hotel had our suits ready
according to agreement. They were well made, though
they cost only 32 rupees ($10.00). Of course they
were not very clerical, as they were of a gray color
and of sackcoat style. But I had learnt to disregard
these mere conventionalities and looked rather for con-
venience and service. On the way to Ballard bunder,
we passed through the Crawford market, the largest
I met anywhere for produce of all kinds. Before being
allowed to embark, all the passengers had to undergo a
health examination, which, exceptionally, was not a
mere formality, such as we are accustomed to at quar-
174
ADIEU TO INDIA.
antine points. The assembly on the tug, that was to
bring us out to the Carthage, gave us a taste of the un-
congenial society with whom we would have to spend
our time during the voyage. The snobbish aristocrats
would certainly not be the most agreeable traveling com-
panions. At two o'clock all were aboard, the anchor
was weighed and the great steamer made a wide sweep
around the sunny roofs and tall towers of Bombay out
into the vast blue deep.
Just a few general remarks about India, before it
is altogether out of sight. Its history dates back to
the most remote ages. Long before the countries of
Europe were even inhabited , the country of the Hindoos
was far advanced in civilization. The vestiges of
Hindoo advancement in the sciences, in architecture,
in systematic goverment date back to remote periods.
India is a vast peninsula, 1,900 miles long and 1,700
miles wide, teeming with population. The adherents
of the old Hindoo religion are by far the most numerous,
though there are some Buddhists, especially in Burmah,
and some fifty millions of Mohammedans. The abor-
igines were probably of the Mongolian family, but
these were later on absorbed by the Aryan races that
spread out eastward from the plains of Babylon and the
mountains of Persia. The Portuguese were the first
Europeans that invaded the country. They have now
yielded supremacy to the English. Until 1857 the East
India company controlled the goverment of such pro-
175
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
vinces, as they had been able to annex ; since then, how-
ever, England has taken more direct charge. In many
provinces the native princes or rajahs have been left in
nominal power and England does not interfere very
much in native customs or religions. Each native ruler
is under tutelage of an Englishman, who is called a
Resident. The European contingent of the army
numbers about 75,000, the native portion 215,000,
officered, of course, by the English. Railroads intersect
India in all directions and they are mostly under govern-
ment management or generously subsidized.
PRACTICAL HINTS. When traveling in the Orient an English
helmet, which is made of white duck and a thick lining of crok,
will be found very satisfactory for outdoor wear. The hot rays
of the sun are dangerous to most white men, unless their effects
are guarded against by some light and thick covering for the head.
These helmets are so shaped, that the most sensitive parts are
protected and yet kept cool by the circulating air. Those that
buy mementoes and curios, even only at the most interesting points
of their journey, will soon find their baggage getting very cumber-
some. It becomes necessary to ship a portion of their baggage
ahead of them. The best place to send them to is England,
especially for Americans, as they will be able to repack before
leaving for America. The facilities for shipment to London are
numerous in all the ports, but it is advisable to have them insured,
as they are liable to be lost or stolen on the long route homeward.
I 7 6
CHAPTER XVIII.
ON THE ARABIAN SEA AND INDIAN OCEAN ADEN
AND BAB EL MANDEB THE RED SEA GAY
LIFE ABOARD SHIP AN UNFROCKED CLERIC.
The Carthage was crowded with people in both
first and second cabin. We had our berths in the first
cabin and we found our surmisings as to the quality of
the company fully verified. The majority were people,
who in their affluence think nothing more important
in life than to observe any amount of formality in daily
intercourse. The meals are of course first class in
every respect. But the formality of it all spoils the
enjoyment. Until we got to Aden, meals were about
as cheerful a proceeding as a first class funeral. This
was especially true of dinner, for which these people
make great efforts to show off their manners and their
dress. What prodigiously solemn faces they did carry
down to the dining room, together with their silks,
embroidery, jewels and acres of white shirt fronts. I
hardly blame them for their solemn faces: most of the
participants in this tragedic farce showed, by indubitable
signs, that they consider it all absurd and a torture,
but dare not refuse a rdle in it for fear of being ostracised.
Otherwise we had a very quiet and pleasant voyage.
No storm or high wind disturbed the tranquility of the
177
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
blue waters. Most of the time I sat under the canvas
of the rear deck, busy writing at my journal. During
the five days, which were consumed in the voyage from
Bombay to Aden, the passengers lounged about deck
morosely whiling away the time. On April the 5th we
were nearing Aden. At noon the rugged cliffs and
bare mountain islands of the Arabian peninsula dimly
hove in sight toward the west. But we sailed past
these mountains, which proved to be only some islands.
Rounding them, Aden was discovered lying at the foot
of the distant granite hills in the bright sunshine. No land-
ing was allowed on account of the plague. Here we were
to be transshipped to the O. and O. steamship Britannia,
which was due here from Australia and on which we were
to make our passage up the Red sea through the Suez
canal to Brindisi. Aden is not a large town: the prin-
cipal buildings visible were the long-stretched barracks
for the English soldiers. They were built on the slope
of the rugged mountain, flanked by clusters of houses
on each side.
The Britannia was already anchored in the shallow
water a quarter of a mile from our boat awaiting our
arrival. The quarantine flag fluttered from its mast-
head, indicating, that she also would not allow passengers
to land at Aden. The Carthage kept manoeuvering
about for anchorage, plowing up the sand of the shallow
ocean-bed. The passengers of both boats were crowd-
ing the railings, anxious to see the proceedings. It was
178
"I DIVE, OHA!"
an interesting scene, lit up by the bright afternoon sun:
the blue expanse of the Indian ocean stretching away to
the south; the sandy shores of Abyssinia, forming a
dim yellow streak down the southwest; a collection of
desert island cliffs and the red promontories of Arabia
hemming in the view to the east and north. A northerly
breeze chopped the glittering waters into whitecaps,
that caused the smaller boats, launches and lighters to
rock on the unruly brine.
Four or five boats, filled with curly-haired negroes,
were hovering around our vessel, bobbing up and down
on the choppy sea. Nimbly their dark inmates paddled
around the high hulk of the steamer, with upturned
faces on sharp lookout for the dropping coins. While
paddling, they filled the air with their shouts for bakshish
and "I dive, oha " sung in chorus and in rythmic
measure. If any of the amused passengers dropped a
coin into the sea, their froglike chorus suddenly ceased
and out of the boat they jumped into the waves after the
slowly sinking coins. Beneath the clear surface very
often there ensued a scramble for the money before it
was out of sight. The successful one would quickly
emerge, followed by the rest. Triumphantly he held
the captured coin over the water, while swimming along
and shaking the brine from his wooly head. And again
they intoned their chorus"! dive, oha," showing the
white of their eyes and shining rows of teeth.
All the passengers of the Carthage were transferred
179
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
to the Britannia and some of the Britannia's were taken
aboard the Carthage, for she was to return to Bombay
immediately. This consumed nearly the whole of the
afternoon. Besides the bakshish-divers, there were a
number of other natives in boats, who were trying to
sell curios to the passengers while transshipping. I
bought a pair of springbock antlers for a shilling. We
obtained berths in the same room with Mr. King, who
had been our fellow passenger on the Gaelic from San
Francisco. In the evening the Britannia, with its teem-
ing load of passengers, rounded the Arabian prom-
ontories and entered the dangerous passes of Babel
Mandeb, the gates of the Red Sea. Next morning we
were still in the narrow straits between Arabia and
Africa, heading northward. On both sides rugged and
barren mountains reared their cragged sides from the
blue waters. Peculiar white streaks ran down the moun-
tainsides on the left of us. They looked much like snow,
but they are the salt deposits of the vapours, that are
carried up from the sea by the winds. In between the
mountains, stretches of sandy plains gleamed in the sun-
shine on both sides of the straits.
Among the second-class passengers a shaggy, long-
haired individual made himself conspicuous by loud
talking and disputing, stalking up and down the hur-
ricane deck, reading from a prayerbook or .from a Bible.
He was reported to be an Episcopalian minister, who
had been divorced from his wife and had been excom-
180
GAY AUSTRALIANS.
municated by the church authorities in Australia for
insubordination and heresy. I doubt whether all the
accusations brought against him were true, but he soon
became the laughing stock of the vessel. He had a
wonderful flow of language and seemed to be well
informed on many subjects. However, I thought him
somewhat deranged in mind and not fit for any argument
on religion or any other subject.
Intercourse among the passengers was put on a much
better footing since the more democratic Australians
formed such a considerable part of the ship's company.
The snobbish passengers of the Carthage were now in
the minority and their reserve and formality at a dis-
count. One could go down to meals with some sort of en-
joyment. Still, even with this improvement, the sociability
or good-feeling among the passengers was far from
comparing favorably with that, which we all enjoyed so
much on board the Gaelic from San Francisco to Hong
Kong. Some of the Australians in first cabin had ar-
ranged a fancy dress ball for Saturday night. Accordingly
the promenade deck was gayly illuminated and half of the
first-class cabin passengers appeared in all sorts of odd
costumes, some of them very rich and costly. There
was dancing, and music, and much merrymaking. One
of the young wags had fixed himself up in imitation of
of Clarke, the eccentric Episcopalian minister before
mentioned. He strutted about with a long coat and a
shaggy wig of curly hair and a placard attached to his
181
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
back " Not wanted on voyage, " such as is usually put
on that part of one's baggage, which is not wanted in the
cabin and therefore stowed away in the freightroom.
I thought they were a little hard on the minister. They
certainly had a good time on that Saturday night, danc-
ing and singing, laughing and joking, as the great steamer
plowed its way undisturbed over the dark waters of the
Red Sea.
Frequently on the passage up the historic sea the
shores of Africa and Arabia came into distant view.
Occasionally we encountered a steamer or a sailboat. As
the eye sweeps over the waters of this huge inland sea a
reddish tint seems to hover over the deep blue. This
peculiarity probably accounts for the name of the Red
Sea. It may be that this impression is caused by the
ruddy color of the shores and of the islands, which rise
out of the water. The voyage consumed nearly four
days. The rocky coasts began to narrow toward each
other and we hove in sight of Suez in the forenoon.
Until now we were as yet uncertain whether we would be
allowed to land at any other place except Brindisi with-
out going through a quarantine. This morning, however,
news came from the officers, that passengers could land
at Suez without undergoing quarantine.
We decided at once to land at Suez and make our
way to Cairo and Palestine as best we might. The
Britannia had anchored at about a mile from the entrance
to the great canal and the straggling houses and the
182
Ax SUEZ.
government buildings were lying pleasantly in the sun-
shine before us. All the passengers were assembled in
the dining room and had to pass in review before the
Egyptian doctors. There was no hitch in the procession
as there had been none in the score of other like inspec-
tions that we had till now undergone on our journey.
'83
CHAPTER XIX.
SUEZ STREET - LIFE BAKSHISH - HUNTERS ALONG
THE CANAL ISMAILIA WELL MET CAIRO AT
NIGHT.
Then those that wanted to stop off at Suez descended
to the clumsy boat, that was to take them and their bag-
gage to the wharf. A tattered sail was raised and the
swarthy boatmen plied their oars. There were only a
dozen or so of passengers that had left the Britannia and
were now waving adieu to their acquaintances, that
crowded the bulwarks.
Having arrived on shore we were detained for about
two hours by quarantine formalities, which I thought
were extremely nonsensical. Our soiled clothes were
gathered into bags and placed into a disinfecting oven,
which ceremony cost us two shillings a person. Then
we were lazily towed in our clumsy boat some miles
farther along the shallow shores, at an expense of a few
more shillings. Egyptian officials minutely inquired
into our names, business, destination, and the hotel at
which we intended to stop. I for one, answered at
random to the foolish inquisition and by the time these
ignorant Egyptians had scrawled our answers on their
records, misunderstanding nearly everything that we
said, they must have been much less enlightened about
184
HUNGRY PORTERS,
ourselves and fortunes than they were before they
began. Of course the main object of all these vexations
was always bakshish. Fees were to be paid for every-
thing and to everybody connected with this so-called
quarantine establishment of the Khedive. Cook's agency
and the carriers in their employ, showed an exasperat-
ing zeal in imitating their example. Most of the pas-
sengers made violent protests against some of these
demands. A horde of hungry porters fell over our bag-
gage in order to carry it to the train, which was ready to
start for Ismailia and Cairo in a few hours. In the
meanwhile we fell victims to a dragoman, who offered to
show us the native settlement of Suez, which was hidden
behind the government buildings.
The streets presented a lively Oriental scene, though
on a small scale: shops full of trumpery for the native
purchasers, open sheds for those that wanted to have
a smoke of tobacco or opium, peddlers of sweetened
orange water, bawling out at the top of their voice and
letting cupfuls of it out of one leg of a pigskin, the tur-
baned men and the muffled women in their wide breeches,
the ass-drivers with their dogged animals, urging them
along by prodding and twisting their tails. In a crum-
bling mosque there were a few Mohammedans, squatting
on their knees and making many bows and gestures
toward the Mihrab and Mecca. At the entrance of the
mosque were several jets of running water, at which the
devout Mohammedans are supposed to make their
185
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
ablutions before starting their devotions: a very sen-
sible prescription of their prophet Mohomet, as most of
these people would probably never wash themselves
otherwise. Finally the dragoman dragged us into an
Italian restaurant for dinner. He was not slow to order
a good one for himself and did the greater share of the
eating. Dogs and cats gathered around us, while we sat
at our meals, and they were not less expectant of good
fare than the dragoman. At his advice we hired a car-
riage to see the gardens outside of town; but it was
only a makeshift of the dragoman, to induce us to spend
some money in a wine and ale-shop surrounded by a few
trees. The whole country around Suez is a sandy desert
and only irrigation will enable any vegetation to spring
or live. In the distance behind the garden the great
locks of the canal were visible. On the way back an
Egyptian funeral passed us: four men were carrying
the corpse on a bier to a cemetery on the outskirts of
town. The principal wife and the four concubines of the
deceased followed in silence behind the bier. They were
entirely covered by black mantles and had blue ribbons
tied around the head. Ahead of the corpse a crowd of
shouting, wailing, cymbaling and tomtoming men moved
along, while a bevy of wailing women followed in the
rear of the wives of the defunct.
After a stay of two hours, we boarded the train and
we were jogged along over the sandwaste parallel to
the Suez canal, to Ismailia. Soon we overtook the
1 86
ALONG THE CANAL.
Britannia, which was slowly crawling up the canal like
a huge black monster of the desert. No ship is allowed
to go faster than three or four miles an hour and there
are many delays at the slips in waiting for ships coming
in the opposite direction. Very often, also, vessels are
detained by running foul of sandbanks when making a
short turn. From the train they look like hugh phantoms,
wafted over the sands, for one seldom gets a glimpse of
the canal itself. The passengers of the Britannia were
on the watch for us and they waved us a greeting
over the sand dunes. With the exception of Ismailia,
which is a railroad junction, the whole stretch between
Suez and Port Said is a dreary sand waste with an occa-
sional lagoon of shallow water.
At Ismailia we had to change cars for Cairo: not an
agreeable proceeding, when one hundred greedy car-
riers fall over yourself and baggage, almost tearing it and
themselves to pieces in the eager effort to earn the few
pennies for carrying it. Some more wretched cars, more
sandy plains, more unaccountable delays and reit-
erated inspection of your railroad tickets by Egyptian
trainmen, who wear a miniature railroad train and a
halfmoon on their coat lapels. But also these things
come to an end, even in Oriental countries, and you
arrive at your destination in spite of delays and vexations.
It was night, however, before we reached Cairo. We
were surprised to hear no noise in the fine station and
to find no carriers swooping down upon us. But our
187
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
surprise was premature: as soon as we set our foot on
the street, they came down upon us and our hand-bags
like a horde of savages. For a time our satchels wan-
dered from hand to hand, for each one of the runners,
cabmen and porters tried to secure hold of our grips, in
order to enforce his importunate solicitations by actual
possession. But Korf's Bayrischer Hof carried the day
with us: we could expect to find something to quench
the thirst as well as to satisfy the appetite there; at
least so the name led us to surmise. There surely
Gambrinus would smile on the dusty and parched trav-
elers, who had in vain sought his nut-brown gifts since
they had left Manila in the antipodes.
With a triumphant hurrah the cabman and a drago-
man captured our baggage from a previous robber,
flung it into the carriage and shoved us onto the seats.
Then, shouting and cracking the whip, they set the
horses a galloping over the great square past the electric
lights and plunged into some dark streets, trying to
head off one or two other cabs that had gotten the start
of them. Luckily we were not dashed to pieces, but
emerged again into well lighted and busy thoroughfares
and suddenly halted in front of Korf's hotel. Sure
enough, there out of the doors comes an individual with
rotund form and face, the very picture of smiling King
Gambrinus or his brother, addressing us in German and
holding out both his hands in order to welcome us. I
don't know which seemed to please him more: our
1 88
SCHOOL IX CAIRO
ESCAPED!
being able to talk with him in German or our being
Americans. Probably in the estimation of this jovial
host, these two qualities go far to make up the ideal
guests-. Let no one be afraid to suspect us of not order-
ing immediately some of the delicate lunch and the other
delicious things served there. The jolly hotel-keeper
sat with us and joined us, as we rewarded ourselves with
the foaming Hofbrau for escaping a parched hemisphere,
English snobs, Khedivial customs and quarantines,
wolfish carriers and breakdown trains.
The funny dragoman, who in his Oriental costume,
looked like a near relative of the mummies, had followed
us from the station and penetrated to the room, which
our blooming host had shown us. I told him we had
devoured, hanged, drowned and precipitated into the
mountain abysses all the dragomen we had met in the
Orient, and cautioned him to let us alone, if he did not
wish to meet a similar fate. But he merely answered by
sepulchral grin and kept on descanting on the wonder-
ful sights he would show us at half rates. His persistance
won the day and we engaged him for the next morning.
He offered to show us around for an hour or two before
retiring for the night. Cairo is a city of more cos-
mopolitan character than perhaps any on earth, Con-
stantinople not excepted. In the gay season, which
was just coming to an end, people from all nations flock
to Cairo, bent either on business or pleasure, especially
pleasure. A good deal of it, I suspect, is of the for-
189
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
bidden kind. I asked the dragoman to show me the
nearest Catholic church, as I wanted to make arrange-
ments for the morning. But he was in no hurry and pro-
bably took my request for a joke; with Cairo dragomen
churches do not figure in the list of attractions. There
is no want of solicitation to forbidden pleasures. Early
next morning I went in search of the church, which had
been pointed out to us from afar last night. I did not
find it readily, as it is almost hidden behind high houses
at the end of a narrow lane. Its walls were merely a
continuation of the surrounding tenement houses. The
priest in charge received me very kindly and readily con-
sented to my saying mass.
190
CHAPTER XX.
SKIRMISHING FOR A PASSPORT Ax THE PYRAMIDS
POSING AS THE RENOWNED HAKIM ALEMAN PEER-
ING INTO ANCIENT TOMBS.
It had been my ambition to celebrate Holy Week in
Jerusalem and accordingly I was anxious to procure
my passport as soon as possible. We soon found, that
if we trusted any part of the management of this busi-
ness to an agency, we would certainly be disappointed.
I fully made up my mind to be there and attempt
the entrance into Palestine at all hazards, whether I
could get a passport or not. Cook's people told me,
that it would be impossible to get a passport within
less than ten days and that it would be equally impos-
sible to enter Palestine without it. Their agent in Chica-
go had failed to attend to this passport as agreed, and
here in Cairo they made it their business to detain us
contrary to our wishes. The American consul was more
accommodating: on the next day he made out my
American passport on presenting evidence that we were
American citizens. But he told me that it would be
hard to get the vise or signature of the Turkish consul
on account of the Ramadan feast.
The people were out in gala style, music and pro-
cessions to the graves of their dead were now the order
191
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
of the day. No Turkish official would take the trouble
to sign a passport for a giaour during the holidays. I
made up my mind to defy the Sultan and his horde of
lazy, bakshish-hunting officials; if I could not get his
laggard, feasting representative in Cairo to attach his
barbaric signature to my American passport, I would
invade his territory without it.
More at ease, we hired a driver to bring us out to the
pyramids, about four miles from the city. The Orient-
als are all merciless drivers, but the hope of bakshish
was an extra incentive to our driver for urging on his
horses. We quickly passed through the residence por-
tion of Cairo, over the bridge across the Nile. The
river was studded with barques and darksailed dahabiehs,
that were moored in clusters along the bridge piers and
the river banks, or were slowly moving on the bosom of
the majestic river. Beyond the river our carriage
skimmed along the well-kept pike beneath the shade of
magnificent acacias and afterwards between the green
wheat fields, where three crops are reaped every year.
We were ascending the gentle slopes, to the sand-plateau
of the desert. At its edge the great pyramids reared
their triangular sides to the sky. Behind us, as we
gradually climbed higher, lay the magnificently curving
river, and the great city, studded with palaces and many
a minaretted mosque. Behind it all, across the river
the rocky heights, which so many centuries ago furnished
the materials for the pyramids, hemmed in the view.
192
IN THE TOILS OF A SYNDICATE.
Before reaching the vicinity of the pyramids, the pictur-
esque ruins of a Bedouin village dotted the greensward.
The proud sons of the desert could be seen stalking in
their white burnouses under the crumbling walls, which
they still used as abodes.
In the distance before us a group of about thirty per-
sons were just scrambling down the sides of the pyramid
of Cheops. They looked no larger than rabbits leap-
ing from rock to rock. As most of them were dressed
in white, making a lively contrast with the dark gray
rocks, we thought they were mostly ladies, but soon
found out that the greater number of them were guides
in their white burnouses. They were making a great
ado about their work of conducting the tourists safely
down the steep sides of the pyramid.
We were accordingly not a little disgusted to find,
that these ancient monuments are now in the hands of
speculators, who have erected a ticket office near by and
force the tourists to engage three guides apiece, who are
to bring them safely up to the summit and through the
interior. They pretend that great danger is connected
with the ascent to the top and that thievish outsiders
are apt to take advantage of the traveler, when once
he is on top. I could not for the life of me see any great
danger or difficulty in climbing up the sloping sides,
since the huge blocks of stone form a sort of stairs. As
for the advantage, that the other natives will take of the
tourists, what is the difference to him, whether he is rob-
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
bed by a money-grabbing syndicate or by the bakshish
loving Arab? I prefer the latter mode. As we bought
tickets a horde of the Arabs came rushing from the base
of the pyramid, each claiming us as his prize. The
uniformed ticket vender, without consulting us, selected
six of them, three for each of us to guide us up the
pyramid. I protested and said, that we needed no
accompaniment. But he would not even compromise
for any less number. There must be three, he said:
one at each hand to pull up and one behind to shove.
How foolish it all seemed: a pair of sound limbs and
good lungs would bring any one to the top without out-
side help.
As we could not get rid of our six Arabs, a grim humor
took possession of me and I resolved, if possible, to get
our money's worth of fun out of the superfluous retinue.
They began in a broken jargon of English and French to
magnify the dangers of the ascent. Ridicule only made
them more earnest in their exaggerations. Two of them
wanted to seize me by the hand, when we came to the
rough terraces of the crumbling rock, while the third one
pretended to show the way, as if the worn trails of the
tourists were not in full sight. But refusing their help, I
had them winded before we were half way up and they
urged us to take a rest in a recess of the broken side.
They were not in a hurry to resume the ascent. One
of them tried to assure me, that he was a doctor, espe-
cially appointed by the government in case of accident
194
GRIM HUMOR.
But he said no more when I told him, that I, on my part
was a renowned Hakim Allemand and it would not much
matter if he broke every bone in his body, while I was
around. He had hauled out a small bag and said it con-
tained, besides the medicine, old coins dug from the
secret chambers under the pyramid. They were very
rare and of great value: an Englishman had given him
$25.00 for the smallest of them. I offered him a piastre
(five cents) and after some indignant protestations, got
one and he was anxious to sell the whole bag of them for
a few additional piastres.
But what an astounding work of the pigmy man these
pyramids are: we must have looked like ants crawling
over a mountain. Huge blocks of stone, piled one upon
the other, in ever diminishing squares, from one of four
hundred feet, to one of ten feet across at a height of 450
feet from the present level of the sands! By sheer weight
of the skillfully placed rocks they have held together for
over three thousand years, so that even now the pyramid
seems a solid mountain of rock. Originally the surfaces
were covered with polished granite, which formed a
smooth incline from the bottom to the top. This out-
ward covering has, however, entirely disappeared, having
been used for other buildings in Cairo or having slid
down to the bottom as de'bris. The tiers of rocks are
now exposed and form irregular steps from three to six
feet high.
As we reached the dizzy heights of the last layer of
195
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
rocks the people at the base looked like dwarfs creeping
around on the sands. The vast undulating plains of the
Sahara stretch westward as far as the eye could reach,
while eastward the valley of the Nile sweeps from north
to south, a magnificent pathway for the vast stream as it
seeks the ocean. To the south the equally renowned
pyramids of Memphis can be distinctly seen on clear
days. Our eyes, sweeping past sunny Cairo across the
Nile valley, met the rocky bluffs ten miles away, shutting
off the horizon. How could the great blocks of stones,
on which we were then standing, ever have been brought
across the valley and the stream without modern machin-
ery? And yet they were small in comparison with those
found on the sphinx and in some of the excavated temples
at the foot of the pyramids.
At a short distance from the Cheops, on the top of
which we stood, three other pyramids somewhat smaller
arose. Between them, the Sphinx reared its battered
face out of the sands. From our place of vantage the
woman's head and crouching lion's body of the Sphinx,
though 130 feet long, seemed no larger than some mastiff
lying at the foot of the pyramid. What tyrannical power
these ancient monarchs must have wielded, to compel
hundred thousands of their subjects to pile up such
mountains of rocks over their intended resting-place !
We had some more fun with the pretended guides,
while resting on the summit and climbing down the sides
of the pyramid. But they took it all in good part; of
196
CHEOPS AND SPHINX.
course in the hope of so much the greater bakshish.
These white-robed Bedouins, that conduct large parties,
are certainly a curious sight as they seemingly creep down
the rough sides, now turning this way and that, zigzag-
ing to right and left, stooping for a leap or straightening
out to assist some tourist. They conduct the parties
along a worn-out trail, but it seemed to me that the
pyramids could be climbed in many other places. Gen-
erally tourists consider the exertion of climbing to the top
sufficiently tiresome and they neglect entering into the
interior. Some of them even content themselves with a
survey of the pyramids from below. But we wanted to
see also the interior, especially as we had guides as targets
for indulging our humor.
There is a small opening on one side of the Cheops,
which is the only entrance into the vast stone pile. So,
down we crept on hands and feet, making the dark cavern
resound with joke and laughter. At first the passage
descends about fifty feet. The rock is very slippery and
the notches, which must have formerly served as a kind
of stairs, are almost completely worn away. Soon the
passage becomes still narrower and then leads upward.
Only the fickle light of the candle chases the thick dark-
ness from our immediate surroundings, leaving the
cavernous passage above us still in brooding blackness.
Up still we crawl, now and then warned to climb
around some dark pit and to guard against ramming
our heads against projecting rocks above us. The air is
197
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
suffocating and the perspiration drops from our faces, as
we reach a sort of offset, where one passage leads into
the Queen's chamber straight onward, another above our
heads, leads still farther upward into the King's chamber.
Grasping some projections in the rocks, we climb into
this second passage and ascend until we must be far above
the middle height of the pyramid.
Here, out of breath, we entered into a large square
room. The flickering candle vainly battled against the
centuries of darkness, that have blackened the chiseled
rocks of the smooth walls. A huge sarcophagus, rifled
of its mummy and of its precious contents, was the only
object in the room. So these Egyptian kings failed in
their purpose after all: the greed and curiosity of suc-
ceeding generations have found out their dried-up
remains, though they had been buried beneath a moun-
tain of solid rock. Our voices, in thousand muffled
echoes, resounded like the rumbling of thunder over
their rifled tombs, where they had thought it impossible
for any human being to penetrate.
Vain calculation of the great ones of the earth! While
the lowest slave mouldered away in peace in his ignoble
grave, the remains of these kings, snatched from their
tombs, are now the hideous objects of vain curiosity to
thousands and thousands of laughing, chattering and
light-headed visitors in the museums of half the world.
We descended again to the ledge of the dark passage
and visited also the Queen's chamber. This is much
198
ANCIENT TOMBS.
smaller and absolutely bare, as probably both the tomb
and its contents stand in some museum. The descent
on the slippery stones of the passage is rather more diffi-
cult than the ascent. Our guides, ever intent on an
extra bakshish, lighted some bengal fire, which for a
moment flashed its brilliant blue light far up and down
the mysterious passages. One of them climbed down
into one of the pits and we could then faintly hear him
chipping fragments of rocks from the tomb of an infant
king. His voice sounded as from the bowels of the earth.
Of course he wanted to sell us some of the fragments.
As the good natured humbugs had afforded us much
merriment we did not stint our bakshish, though we had
paid for their services as guides, when buying our tickets.
On the back of a camel we were carried around the
Sphinx, which rears its scarred woman's face one hun-
dred and fifty feet above the debris and sand around it.
In fact all the monuments in this neighborhood are buried
about a hundred feet beneath the sand and waste, which
has gathered at their base during the centuries of their
existence. Adjoining the Sphinx is its great temple,
half excavated some years ago, but fast disappearing
again under the sand eddies. As we returned on our
camel-back excursion a young Bedouin joined us and
offered to climb to the top of the pyramid of Cheops and
come back in ten minutes, for a shilling. As it had
taken us half an hour, we scarce would believe it. But
no sooner had I promised the shilling, than he doffed his
199
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
mantle into the hands of the camel-driver and nimbly
began to leap from rock to rock along the corner nearest
to us, and after reaching the top, descended along the
other corner of the same side. He returned in nine and
a half minutes; but he" was pale as death and terror
shone in his eyes. He had met a snake half way which
these Arabs take for a sure omen of death within a
year. As we were again bowling down the slope to the
city in our carriage, we regaled ourselves with the lunch,
that had been provided for us by the genial hotel-keeper.
Of course we supplemented it later on at the hotel with
sundry other good things.
200
CHAPTER XXI.
IN KHEDIVIAL STRONGHOLDS SCOWLING MERCHANTS
NIGHT SCENES MATARIEH PAST SAND LA-
GOONS OVER THE RIPPLING WAVES TO PALESTINE.
Afterwards we went by street-car to the fort of Saladin
Jussuf, the citadel of which is uoo years old. The way
to the fort leads up a hill to a high and wide portal in the
frowning walls of the fortress. High watch-towers
guard the corners of the battlemented walls. Under the
gateway a few shabby Egyptian soldiers stood on guard
and the fort itself is garrisoned by the Khedive's soldiers,
but is officered by the English. On an eminence within
the fort rises the beautiful mosque of Mehemet Ali. Its
facades are covered with pure alabaster from top to
bottom; but the winds and weather of only ninety years
have almost worn away the artistic carvings on the soft
material. On the farther side of this mosque, there is a
grand platform, fenced in by a marble balustrade. As
it is on the summit of a high hill, we could survey the
whole of Cairo with its thousands of minarets, the Nile
sweeping through the sea of houses and the great pyra-
mids on the opposite bluffs.
Retracing our footsteps to the older portions of the
fort, we found it almost deserted and the grass growing
on the pavements. Some of the buildings date back to
201
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
the time of Omar and the moslem conqueror Amru in the
seventh century. Brightly the afternoon sun played on
the dismantled walls, where tufts of enterprising shrub-
bery were now growing from the fissures. In this part
of the fort is also the old well of Yussuf , overtopped by
an ancient tower. It antedates even the coming of the
moslems into Egypt which was in the year 640. The
opening of a well shaft yawns within the tower and a spiral
path winds around the shaft to the bottom. Halfway
down we came upon the frame work of a huge turbine,
which was built over the abyss furnishing the water and
from which slaves formerly had to carry it up the spiral
pathway. As we looked down over the edges, the dim
reflection of the water assured us that the well was at
least not bottomless. In the sides along the spiral path
recesses were hewn that resembled burying places.
Certainly a strange location for a mouldering corpse.
On one of the grass-grown streets of the old fort we
met a blind beggar, seemingly the only Turk left on a
spot where multitudes had stood and probably fought
in olden times. He began to ask for alms from afar, as
he heard our approaching footsteps; but he was one of the
few moslems, that thought it worth while to say a word
of thanks for the alms we gave him. All the bakshish
hunters and beggars of moslem faith grasp the preferred
alms as a matter of course and with a mien, as if they
suddenly regretted, that they had asked in such pityful
and urgent terms. They do not seem to expect anything
202
CAIRO STREETS.
from their own countrymen, but let a giaour only come
within hailing distance and they will immediately be on
the alert to fleece him. Not a word of thanks will
escape their lips in return.
Coming back to the gate, we were closely scrutinized
by the guard; whatever they had on their mind, they
said nothing, but merely prevented us from entering a
large building nearby, which seemed to be an arsenal.
At the foot of the hill on which the fort is built, in a very
lively quarter of the town, is the mosque begun by the
Khedive in honor of his mother. Its architecture is
peculiar, in so far as it is an attempt at uniting the Greek
with the Moorish style. It was never finished, for want
of funds. Cairo is fast becoming one of the great modern
cities. Everywhere on the streets are the encroaching
signs of European improvements and European manners :
cafe's and beer gardens, filled with well dressed people,
show windows of European business houses, street-cars,
cabs and carriages, streets crowded with Europeans.
All this must have been absent before the English occu-
pations.
Not far from the fort are the old bazaars of Cairo.
They seem to have been formerly long rows of shops,
over which roofs have now been built in order to cover
the narrow streets between them. Here most of the
peculiar ways of the Orient have been preserved. Each
dusky merchant tires not to expose to the view of the
passers-by as much of his merchandise as he can in front
203
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
of his small stall. He himself, hovers around his cher-
ished stock, always on the alert for any customer. Woe
to the pocketbook of any stranger who is of a curious or
prying disposition and has the time and inclination to
examine the goods: he will not so easily ecsape their elo-
quent solicitations and will surely part with some of his
good money for useless trumpery and spurious antiques.
The bazaars were quite interesting even to us, who had
seen so many on our trip. I am afraid though, that
we left some enemies behind in those bazaars of old
Cairo. The merchants must have noted us for hard-
hearted giaours since no eloquence of theirs drew even a
piastre. Two swarthy Arabs at least, gave unequiv-
ocal signs of their anger. We stopped to examine the
curious old weapons and trinkets with which their stall
abounded. The two shop-keepers at once rushed forth
and began to praise the antiquity and the artistic work-
manship of their swords, daggers, helmets, pistols and of
the collection of antique jewlery and brassworks. But
their smirking friendliness grew into an angry scowl,
when we moved on without having made a purchase.
They shouted abuse after us in their disappointment and
no doubt would have run us through with some of their
old sabres, if they had dared. There are certain quarters
of these bazaars and of old Cairo, where moslem fanati-
cism may become dangerous to the Christian that passes
through. A good many of the shops in the bazaars were
closed on account of the Beiram feast.
204
CAIRO BAZAARS.
Behind the bazaars are the Jewish quarters, full of
dirt, ragged children and slovenly men and women, who
looked askance at strangers, as if they were not used to
seeing any. An old man, who was warden of a syna-
gogue, did not hesitate to show us all the secrets of his
temple. In front, we were surprised to see something
like a high-altar. In the top part of it were several doors,
which he opened. Curiously enough we saw the recesses
filled with many fine vestments and vessels, which looked
much like those in Catholic churches. We returned in
a roundabout way to the more modern portion of the
city.
As evening fell, music resounded from every direction
and the pleasure-seeking people gathered around the
cafes and saloons, sitting out in front of them under the
porches, or at tables grouped on the walks. Following
their example ourselves, we could observe at leisure the
animated scenes. The principal streets were brilliantly
illuminated by electric lights. The sounds of all the
European languages mingled with the more unfamiliar
Turkish or Arabic around us.. Busily the waiters were
gliding to and fro in their white aprons. All the estab-
lishments of any pretension had some kind of musical
attraction and the strains of different kinds of music
reached the ear on all sides. Peddlers with all sorts of
small merchandise plied their trade among the patrons
of the cafes and other establishments. Several of them
came also into the Baierischer Hof, whither we had
205
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
retired later on, and where we sat for a while conversing
with mine host of the rotund face and the hearty manners.
He generally presided at the table d'hote in regular
old style and enlivened the fare with conversation; the
guests were mostly Germans, but among them was a
belated bridal couple from Russia, who had all sorts of
adventures to relate about Constantinople.
Our stay in Cairo was necessarily short, as we intended
to invade the Turkish territory at Jaffa, pass or no pass,
on Wednesday or Thursday. We should otherwise have
visited Alexandria and made a short tour up the Nile.
Rising early next morning we hailed a passing carriage,
in order to drive out to Matarieh. Tradition mentions
Matarieh as the place where the holy family resided for
a time during their stay in Egypt. We passed many
ruins on the way out. The road leads through the out-
skirts of the city across a fertile plain to the extensive
gardens of the Khedive. In a separate enclosure of these
gardens, the tree and the well, where the blessed Mother
and Child rested, are venerated by both Christians and
moslems. The tree which afforded shade to the holy
exiles from Palestine, is large and irregular in shape. It
bears upon it on all sides the marks of vandal visitors.
The lower limbs bave been stripped of their leaves and
twigs and the trunk has been robbed of its bark, so that I
wondered, how it could still be alive. The lower part of
the trunk is forked into two branches and is oddly bent,
so as to form a seat, on which no doubt our Blessed Lady
206
MATARIEH.
rested with the little Infant. A few steps from the tree,
the fountain, which welled forth from the earth at her
bidding, still gushes out and irrigates the surrounding
gardens. The Khedive has erected a stone enclosure
over its opening in order to regulate the flow of water.
Adjoining is a garden with a fine chapel in honor of the
Virgin Mother, which was given in charge of the Jesuits
by the Khedive. I was sorry I had already broken
fast, and so could not celebrate mass on a spot so in-
timately connected with the trials of the two most blessed
persons in history.
Some rods farther along the main road, where a
blindfolded water-buffalo was slowly turning a creak-
ing water-wheel, stands a towering obelisk. It is one
of the oldest in existence, being over four thousand years
old. The vast monolith of granite retains its polish
almost throughout its entire length; only on one side
in the middle some few pieces have peeled off. On each
of its four sides carved hieroglyphics give solitary mes-
sage of the buried past. Images of animals form the
greater portion of the inscriptions. Fully ten feet of
soil and debris had collected since the obelisk had been
erected, for we had to descend a stairs in the excava-
tions around it, in order to reach the rock foundations
upon which it rests. A half mile off the road is the
ostrich farm, which guides and guide-books make much
of, but which we did not think worth while visiting.
Lustily our driver plied his whip in order to make
207
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
sure of the extra bakshish promised him. These Orien-
tals are pashas, when they hold the reins of their horses:
being the mere slaves of despotic rulers, they enjoy the
luxury of playing the despot toward their animals in
their turn. However, we got back to Cairo so much
the sooner on that account. It was necessary to see
the American consul-general, arrange for our departure
to Port Said and attend to other minor business, before
leaving on the noon train. The charges for our stay
at Korff's hotel were very reasonable and the accommo-
dations are as good as could be desired in any place.
In order to reach Port Said by rail it was necessary to
go back to Ismailia and there take the railroad along the
Suez canal. We had to be satisfied with the same kind
of clumsy cars, as those which had brought us here from
Ismailia ; but from there to Port Said the accommodation
and the train service are much better. Almost during
the whole stretch to Port Said the Suez canal is in sight on
the right hand. The sandy wastes, as far as the eye
could reach, are streaked with the blue waters of lagoons
and the canal itself widens out in several places into a
kind of inland sea. On that account, though it connects
two salt seas, this canal is. to a great extent a sweetwater
canal, being fed by the lagoons. As the sun sank in the
west, the beautiful sunset scene of Laguna di Bay in
Luzon was almost reproduced. The carmine of the
flaky clouds, mingling with the greenish-blue stretches of
of the western sky and gradually darkening toward the
208
ON THE THALIA.
east, formed, for our delight, a magnificent dissolving
view, as if to enhance the departure of old Sol from his
diurnal course. In the gathering dusk immense flocks of
white pelicans would occasionally take wing from the
bosom of the quiet lagoons and, settling again in some
other quarter, would disturb the placid reflection of the
western skies on the lagoons. On arriving at Port Said,
boatmen rushed upon us from the dark like a set of
demons to seize our baggage and hurry us along with it
to the dusky hulk of the Austrian Lloyd, the Thalia,
which swung at anchor in the harbor and stood ready
for departure to Jaffa.
After much running and confusion on board, the pas-
sengers at length found their berths, we among the rest.
There was little of the formality of English boats. Sup-
per was plentiful. We found aboard six Canadian
secular priests and two Franciscan friars from Paraguay.
We were greatly surprised to see the shaggy and eccentric
Clarke, who had made himself so noticeable on the Brit-
annia, again our fellow passenger and in intimate con-
versation with one of the Canadian priests. The latter
seemed much taken in with him and was in lively con-
versation with him at supper. The whole afterdeck of
the steamer was littered with baggage and passengers of
the third class. They seemed to be a gleaning from all
nations and climes. Some of them soon gave generous
tribute to Neptune and the mingling of men, women and
children on their uneasy couches, improvised on pieces
209
O'ER OCEANS AND CONTINENTS.
of baggage, was somewhat of a distressing sight on
European water. For a long time after the Thalia had
begun to leap over the brisk, curling waves of the Medi-
terranean in the hazy moonlight, I stayed on deck, pre-
ferring one of the benches to the crowded quarters of the
cabins.
We were now only a short distance from the wished-for
goal, that had principally attracted us over three fourths
of the earth's surface. To-morrow our eyes would
behold the Holy Land, the centre and the birthplace of all
important history. How many pilgrims through the
centuries had preceded us ! How many had counted it
a privilege to die for the possession of the land sanctified
by the Saviour ! How many would count it as the
supreme privilege of their lives to visit the sacred scenes !
What are the monuments and the scenes of other coun-
tries in comparison to those of the land selected by God
for his chosen people and as the theatre of the grandest
drama of the universe: the life and death of the Savior,
the resurrection, the sending of the Holy Ghost, the sub-
lime life of the Virgin Mother and the founding of the
church of God.
PRACTICAL HINTS. Any one making an extended trip in
foreign lands should obtain a passport of his own country. It will
be very useful in case of accident or trouble with the authorities.
The Turk and the Russian are yet so far back in civilization
as to require a passport from the strangers, who honor them with
a visit. For entering Turkey, it is necessary to have a special
teskere, or identification, from one of the Turkish consuls residing
210
PRACTICAL HINTS.
outside of Turkey. When one has a passport from his own coun-
try the teskere is merely a stamp and signature on the back of it.
Without a home passport it must be a regular Turkish passport
and will cost much more than the simple vise or endorsement of
the consul on the American passport. This teskere must be
signed by the authorities every time you leave a town after a stay
of even only a few hours. It is especially necessary in every
coast town at which you wish to land.
End of the II. Series.
I. Series. Chicago San Francisco Hawaiians Japan
China Manila.
II. Series. As above.
III. Series. Jerusalem Palestine in Bedouin Garb Syria
and Islands of the Mediterranean Constantinople
Through Turkey Greece Corfu Naples.
IV. Series. Rome Through Northern Italy Austria
Oberammergau Germany Switzerland The Rhine
Paris London New York Home Through Can-
ada to Chicago
211
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