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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 
 \ * 
 
 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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