The track is meter gauge, three feet six inches, and the railway

coaches, of two compartments, are small, each compartment

accommodating six persons, 12 in all. The South African system--the

best in the world--of providing free sleeping berths for passengers,

has been adopted by the Uganda Railway Company. Four berths are

provided in each compartment, but no bedding is furnished. Breakfast

costs 32 cents, and luncheon and dinner 50 cents. Railway fare is only

two cents a mile, and the speed 14 miles an hour.

"Dak bungalow" proved a new building term to us, and another was the

"godown." The dak bungalow serves the purpose of a hotel and is

located at stations. These were built by the railway company for the

convenience of passengers living in isolated places who used a certain

station when traveling. The bungalow, which may be used one night free

of charge, is provided with spring beds, but no bedding. The godown is

a freight shed--any building where goods or cargo are stored is called

a godown. Both terms are Asiatic. It would be a risky undertaking to

start through some parts of that country at night, as many sections

are infested with wild beasts. The agents at the stations were

Indians.

We were traveling over a section of country that had not been

refreshed with rain for months. The soil being reddish, passengers'

clothes resembled those worn by workers in a red brickyard.

Conversations that had taken place between travelers during the voyage

along the East Coast, of big game being seen within easy view of the

railway in these parts, which swayed me from my original route at

Zanzibar, were foremost in my mind at this point. Skeptical of

feasting the eye on herds of zebra, gazelle, wildebeeste, even

giraffe, and other game, my doubts were dispelled when a passenger

remarked:

"This is Makindu, where nature's zoo starts." "Do you think the game

will be close enough to see from the train?" "They're on the veld all

the time--see the zebra to the right?" he replied. Turning quickly in

that direction, there they were, a solid foreground of striped beasts,

not more than half a mile off the railway. The marvelous sight of

thousands of zebra within easy view extended to the horizon. "You'll

always find zebras huddled closely together," he interestingly went

on, "as they have an eternal fear of lions, who are partial to zebra

flesh," he explained. "The hardest animal in Africa to tame is the

zebra," he continued. "This animal can be ridden, and is sometimes

attached to a light vehicle, but it cannot be trusted. The fear of

lions has for ages been so firmly bred in the bone of this attractive

beast that, no matter how kindly handled, its wildness is always

evident.

"Giraffes are generally seen browsing in the brush," kept on my

companion. "They're sometimes called camelopards, owing to being

spotted like a leopard and having a long neck like a camel. See!" he

exclaimed, pointing, "there's five of them and a calf." One could

scarcely believe his own eyes. Sure enough, there stood five

long-necked, brown and white spotted, stubby-horned, slant-backed

giraffes and a calf, standing in brush lower than their bodies, 100

feet from the railway track. As the train was passing they turned

around and ambled clumsily further into the brush.

"All that game you see to the right are hartebeeste and gazelles," my

companion went on. "Keep watching to the left, though, as we may see

more giraffes, for that stretch of brush will soon be passed, when

there'll be no more chance to see that big game. He's a browser, you

know, not a grazer. There are two more--a nice pair!" he added. Sure

as you're born, there stood two noble giraffes. Like the group of five

with a calf, they turned and hobbled further into the undergrowth.

"We're about out of the brush now, so I don't think we'll see more of

them," he said. What I had already seen amply offset the $15 exchange

charged me at the Zanzibar bank.

Simba was the name of a station as we entered the game fields; the

meaning of the word "simba" is lion in the native tongue. More than a

score of persons were killed by the king of beasts at this place, it

is said, while building the railroad.

"Those smaller animals you see together yonder are a pack of hyena,"

continued my traveling mate. "There are more zebra to the left. The

animals further along are blue wildebeeste (gnu), larger than the

South African breed. See the ostrich?" (pointing). There they were,

big black and white birds, with wings flopping, running over the

plains, not a fence within hundreds of miles--as wild as wild could

be.

"We may see a lion before we reach Nairobi; I've seen them on several

occasions while traveling over this stretch of country," he added. A

lion did not show himself, but, as my companion said, they are

frequently seen prowling over the treeless plains from the railroad.

For over a hundred miles the traveler looks out upon great herds of

game feeding on both sides of the railway track. Gazelles have become

so tame that they sometimes keep grazing as the train passes by; and

the hartebeeste, or kongonie, much larger than the gazelle, with a

wedge-shaped head and an outline of body resembling the giraffe, is

nearly as numerous as the clean-cut, nimble gazelle. The wildebeeste

is seen feeding and swishing his tail as contentedly as a cow in a

pasture. Ostriches and zebras are on their native heath. Tigers, and

other game also, may be seen while traveling through this most

interesting stretch of country.

These plains, like an American prairie, are free of timber; and as far

as the eye can see, from 50 feet off the railway track--to the

horizon, in fact,--from Makindu to Nairobi, over a hundred miles, the

eye feasts on a sportsman's paradise.

We reached Nairobi 23 hours after leaving Mombasa, 327 miles

separating the chief port and the capital. What a terrible mixture of

blacks was congregated on the platform and about the railway station!

They were as numerous and black as flies around a barrel of molasses

on a hot day. We were certainly in Darkest Africa. The ricksha is the

hack of Nairobi. One starts for his hotel, with a native in the shafts

and another pushing, a jingle-jangle taking place all the while. The

pullers, while less fantastic and grotesque than their Zulu brothers

in Durban, still have distinctiveness, namely, in wearing small bells

about ankles and arms; the tinkle from these is constantly heard about

the streets. For some distance from the station one is drawn along a

level road, bordered with eucalyptus trees, to the business center.

Wood and iron buildings--corrugated iron--are mostly used in both

dwelling houses and business places. There is no paving on the

streets, no sidewalks, nothing inviting, about the capital of the

British-East Africa Protectorate; but there is no grass growing on the

streets, every one seemingly infused with a "boom" spirit. One finds,

however, in this place a good, stone-built post office, a stone-built

Treasury building, and structures of the same material under course of

construction.

Nairobi was the blackest town visited. Though considerable building

was being done, a white man--such as carpenter, mason, plasterer or

bricklayer--was not seen engaged at that class of work, all labor

being done by Indians; most of the contractors also were Indians. The

wages paid these blacks are from $1 to $1.25 a day. Natives carrying

the hod, or bucket, rather, are paid from 6 to 12 cents a day.

Mention was made in Leg Four of Suva, Fiji, having a daily newspaper,

by reason of two tri-weeklies appearing on alternate days. In Nairobi,

however, two daily newspapers appear on six mornings of the week, and

besides these there are also weekly and monthly publications issued.

Together with local news, brief cable dispatches are printed, enough

to keep one in touch with important events taking place over the

world. Even linotype machines are found in that sparsely settled,

out-of-the-way place. The Indian here, as everywhere, when he gets a

foothold, has the printing trade killed in so far as a white man

getting good wages is concerned. He sets type after a fashion for $15

to $18 a month.

In order that the reader may draw an accurate conclusion as to the

meaning of the term "Darkest Africa," Nairobi, with only 1,200 whites,

has the largest European population of any city north of Salisbury and

Bulawayo (Rhodesia) as far as Cairo, (Egypt), or in the full length of

Africa to the west and northwest.

The negro is not the horse of Nairobi. While few horses are seen,

native oxen, with humps on their shoulders almost as large as a

dromedary's, lumber through the streets yoked to wagons loaded with

merchandise.

As the Zulu language is the key to the tribal dialects of South

Africa, the Kiswahili language is likewise the key to the many native

dialects in this section of Africa. The word "Wa" is plural in the

Kiswahili language, and is prefixed to the name of a person or a

tribe; "M" prefixed means man or individual; "U," in the same way,

means place or locality, and "Ki" prefixed indicates the language. As

an example, the Masai tribe would be Wamasai, Mmasai would be a Masai

man, Umasai would be Masailand, and Kimasai would mean the Masai

dialect or language.

Professor Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, an exponent of the philosophy of

clothes, held that a majority of the people of the world devoted too

much attention to the matter of unnecessary dress, a failing that

militated against their moral and spiritual welfare. The men of this

tribe, gaunt and gawky, wear nothing but a sort of shirt--a piece of

cloth, with a hole in the center large enough to admit a head through,

secured by neither string, band, nor suspenders. The original color of

the shirt might once have been a mongrel brown, similar to unbleached

muslin, but, as the Wakikuyu observe few wash days, the "garment" is

usually many shades darker. Shoes and head covering, like the

breeches, are also tabooed.

The Wakikuyu was the worst native tribe we had seen. The men looked

half-starved, and it was tiresome to see them work. Excavation was

being made for the foundation of a building, the dirt being carried

out in small pans; sometimes these would not contain more than a

cupful of earth. When coming up the incline from the excavation to the

street their gait was that of a crippled snail. They receive from 6 to

12 cents a day, and possibly may earn it.

The women of the Wakikuyu tribe, on the other hand, are hard workers.

They till the land, and raise flocks of goats, sheep, and cattle. They

wear more clothing than the men, their principal covering being a

tanned sheep or goat skin that has been soaked with grease. Dust and

dirt coming in contact with the greased skin naturally give the

garment an untidy appearance. What seems a cruel fashion among the

women of this tribe is the mutilation of their ears. The lobes are

slit, and thick chunks of sugar-cane, bamboo, calabashes, or other

round articles, from the size of a thread spool to the circumference

of a teacup, are pressed through. The plug and "ear bands" resemble an

elastic band a quarter of an inch in width placed around a drinking

glass. The plug is short, from two to three inches in length. These

are forced between the "ear bands" so snugly that they will not fall

out while the wearer is moving about. The woman wearing the largest

plug is the best dressed, according to Wakikuyu fashion, and is envied

by those of her sisters whose ear-lobes will not accommodate the

larger "ornament." In many instances the punctured lobe is so extended

that it becomes a loop, the ends of which sometimes rest on the

shoulders. When not in use, so to speak, the ear loop is hung up on

the top of the ear and seems to be secured by a knot made in that

extended and flexible member. She carries her babe inside her goatskin

covering in front, and a heavy basket of wood, potatoes, or other

things on her back. A strap passes across her forehead, the ends

secured to the basket. The great weights carried in the baskets make

in time an indentation in the forehead the width of the strap.

A native of that tribe would prefer to be killed rather than touch

anything dead--even a rat. If one of their number should suddenly die

in the hut, every one would immediately move out and leave the dead

member behind. Before taking final leave of the old home, however,

time is taken to dig a hole under the side of the hut large enough to

admit either a jackal or hyena, when the body would be left to be

devoured by these beasts later. The Mkikuyu, though, in order to

retain his abode, takes care that few deaths take place in the hut.

When a member of a family becomes sick he is taken out of and led some

distance away from the home and laid on the ground. Those accompanying

the sick native may, with a short stick or wood, the ends resting in

two crotches made of four shorter pieces held by a grass band, lay his

head on the native "pillow," close to a lone thorn bush, with a short

piece of goatskin covering the body. If the negro recovers he is taken

back to the hut. While thus holding vigil on the veld, a vulture may

be seen soaring above where the native is lying, with others appearing

to view in the distance, and in the background the forms of jackals

and the outline of slinking hyenas may also be apparent, for these

vultures and beasts seem to know, not alone through instinct, but from

former similar settings, that the body of the native, when life has

left it, will not be put underground nor be removed by the

superstitious tribesmen.

Many of the natives are smeared with reddish, greasy clay from head to

foot. The hair, worn long by some, is plastered and shaped to resemble

a turtle, with head jutting out and tail extended. They wear no shoes,

and seldom a hat. One sees the native in British East Africa little

different than he lived a thousand years ago.

Men wearing two soft, broad-brimmed felt hats strikes one as out of

the ordinary. Nairobi is but 80 miles south of the Equator, and heavy

head-covering must be worn to guard against sunstroke. Helmets are

worn by a great many, but the two hats, the top one over the under

one, are worn as commonly as the helmet.

A library is one of the features of the town. An electric light plant

was seen here; also bioscope theaters. One thing Nairobi did not

have--colored postcards that were of any interest. Motor cars spin

about the streets. Food, clothes and living expenses are cheaper in

Nairobi than in South Africa. Hotel accommodation was but $1.60 a day.

Coffee growing is a promising industry of that section of the

Protectorate. A French mission is located a few miles from Nairobi,

and the fathers, some fifteen years ago, experimented with the coffee

bush. It proved a success, and several large plantations have since

been established. An exorbitant price is asked for land in this

district.

Irish potatoes grow in these parts, but not along the coast. The

altitude of Nairobi is 5,000 feet, and, while the sun is hot in the

daytime, the nights are cool.

[Illustration: VIGIL ON THE VELD (top).

BRITISH EAST AFRICA.

"TROLLEY" PUSHERS (bottom).

BEIRA, PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA.

See page 230.]

Most of the big-game hunting parties are equipped in Nairobi. The

guides are about the town every few days, and a lion is guaranteed

to be killed or no charge required. Eight lions were killed not far

from here during our stay. One may stroll a mile from the center of

the town, sit on a hill, and watch herds of gazelle grazing not a half

mile away. The black-and-white monkey comes from this section of

Africa.

"Boy! boy! boy!" is heard from nearly every room in a hotel in the

morning. Everybody has a boy to black his shoes, lace his shoes, put

away his clothes after dusting, get his shaving outfit--the sort of

waiting on that spoils the white man. The hallways of the hotel are

crowded with the guests' black servants. No one thinks of carrying a

valise or bundle of any kind. The "boy" is expected to be in the

hallway morning, noon and night waiting to serve his master.

Mount Kenia, 18,000 feet high, located directly under the Equator and

80 miles from Nairobi, may be seen from the town any clear day; also

Mount Kilimanjaro, 19,000 feet high, about the same distance south of

this place.

The Uganda Railway headquarters is located at Nairobi. Some of the

locomotives used on this road are of American manufacture, easily

distinguishable from English-built engines, for American-built

locomotives are the only ones which carry a bell. The locomotive

engineers are nearly all Indians. The Uganda Railway is a paying

concern, for dividends of 33 per cent. are declared nearly every year.

Passenger fare is reasonable, but freight charges are said to be very

high. It cost $50,000 a mile to build the Uganda Railway, which is 584

miles in length.

The various native tribes have peculiar marks by which they are

distinguished. One tribe may have a certain tooth missing; another the

end of their teeth filed to a sharp point; still another may have

their teeth nicked, like a saw, done with a stone; or by other marks,

easily distinguished.

Horse racing, football, cricket, and other English sports are indulged

in. Saturday afternoon is devoted to recreation, as the Saturday

half-holiday is observed. Government employees form a considerable

proportion of the population.

CHAPTER IV

Nairobi was as far as we intended going when leaving the ship at

Mombasa, but, finding the country so new and interesting, with

traveling and living expenses reasonable, we decided to press on to

the shores of Victoria Nyanza. From Nairobi going westward we rose to

an elevation of 7,000 feet. Among the limbs of the trees, while

traveling over that part of the railway line, can be seen crude, small

barrels made of pieces of wood; these have been put in the trees by

natives to intercept itinerant swarms of bees. The stations and

surroundings were literally covered with blacks--natives and Indians.

With the Mkikuyu woman, in her greased goatskin and plugged ear lobes,

and some of the men covered with the greasy, red clay from head to

foot, with hair fixed to resemble the turtle; with the Indian wearing

his cloth headgear, and the Indian woman with her ankle and wrist

bangles; with no Europeans in sight save as passengers--British-East

Africa to-day offers more of interest, more for native study, than

even interesting South Africa.

At Escarpment a splendid view was afforded, for the railway descends

from a high point down the steep mountainside into what is known as

the Great Meridional Rift, or Rift Valley, a depression in the earth

that is said to extend to Egypt. As the train travels down a woody

mountain, to the left and in front is the Rift Valley and Lake

Naivasha. Traveling along we come to another game preserve, where

gazelles, hartebeestes, wildebeestes, ostriches and zebras are grazing

upon and scampering over the great valley, unaware of the pleasure

their presence affords passengers while traveling through that stretch

of country.

No evidence of habitation is seen from the railway, yet people get

off at stations--only stations--and often persons are seen waiting at

those lonesome spots in that wild land for the train to take them

beyond. The same took place when coming up the coast--passengers got

off and others got on the ship, though no white settlements were in

sight. It is marvelous how white people settle in such untrodden

sections in which to make a living, surrounded as they are on every

side by the wildest and most uncertain phases of life.

Strange-looking berries were served at an eating station, and on

inquiry as to the nature of the fruit, we were informed that an

American had crossed two bushes--a strawberry and a raspberry--and the

result, half-strawberry and half-raspberry, growing in that far-off

land, we were now sampling.

We passed through Masailand, a native preserve, occupied by what was

formerly a troublesome tribe. They live on the plains, and are said to

own a quarter of a million head of cattle. Passing through attractive

mountainous country, from Mau Summit, over 8,000 feet above sea level,

we descended to Kavirondo Valley, a flat country.

Naked natives, free from civilization's binding customs, hoeing corn,

weeding land, and watching sheep and goats, were seen working in the

fields. These were the Wakavirondo, a tribe noted for its

industriousness. They are chiefly engaged in farming and gardening,

and their products are carried to Port Florence to be sold. Some of

them have on a slight covering when they go to town, but it is

discarded a short distance from where they left their produce.

Labor agents engage "boys" of the Wakavirondo tribe to work for a

certain length of time away from their district. Of course, the men

must wear some clothes. Returning in from three to six months, they

have become accustomed to wearing covering and wish to continue doing

so. Like the Maori women, though, the women of this African tribe

insist on maintaining the custom of their ancestors, so the men have

to discard the clothes they had become used to and resume their former

clothesless existence. It is very warm where the Wakavirondo

live--under the Equator.

Port Florence--or Kisumu, as that place is more often called--was now

reached, and before us spread the blue, calm, green-island dotted

water of Victoria Nyanza. We were at the western terminus of the

Uganda Railway--the last railroad piercing Africa in that direction. A

railway station, a dak bungalow--the only place at which to stop--and

perhaps a dozen houses built on raised ground, with good wharves, a

godown and a marketplace, almost completed the "attractions" of Port

Florence. Fever is very bad in Kisumu, and smallpox and bubonic plague

were holding a levee at the time we visited the place. Bubonic plague

is so common here that no one pays much attention to it. Blacks are

taken off with the plague in large numbers, but few Europeans die from

that pestilence.

Trains run but twice a week from Mombasa to Port Florence, and the

lake boats connect with the trains; so if I remained in Kisumu it

would necessarily be for three days, and people die in less than that

time after having been bitten by the bubonic flea. I did not relish

the idea of possibly breathing my last just then, nor at that place.

The blue water was alluring, the green islands bewitching, and in

fancy we caught an echo of a call from Uganda's shore, inviting us to

cross the great African lake and tarry a short while in the land of

the Waganda. So, when the vessel moved from the wharf on her voyage

across Victoria Nyanza, we were among the passengers.

The boats traversing that sheet of water are from 500 to 1,000 tons'

displacement, lighted by electricity and of modern design. Every

available sleeping place was occupied, and the vessel's water-line was

concealed by the weight of her cargo.

A stranger would not know when he had reached the body of the lake, as

the course is through blue-water avenues, bordered with tropical green

islands, for a large part of the journey. The distance across is 175

miles, and 24 hours was taken in making the journey. The boats on

Victoria Nyanza do not travel at night, which accounts for the slow

time. The Equator was crossed and recrossed during the 24-hours'

journey, but the game of "Neptune" was not played. The lake is nearly

4,000 feet above sea-level, 240 miles in length, and its area 26,000

square miles.

Although very fertile, none of the islands was inhabited. For

centuries most of these had been under cultivation, but the

sleeping-sickness plague made such havoc among the natives that the

British government some years ago forced them to the mainland.

Entebbe, on the western shore of Victoria Nyanza, is the Imperial

capital of Uganda, but Kampala, 23 miles north, is the native capital.

The British government officials are located at the former place,

while the native legislature convenes in the latter. Most of the land

of Uganda is owned by natives, but no concessions are granted without

the approval of British officials. If one wishes to buy land, he must

apply for it through the native legislature. Uganda is a rich country,

but little land is under cultivation. Indians and Arabs would quickly

buy large tracts, but they are not wanted there, as no one profits

from Asiatic holdings but Asiatics; besides they would ill-treat the

natives. Uganda was made a British Protectorate in 1894. It has an

area of 300,000 square miles, that of British-East Africa 200,000

square miles. Europeans in the Uganda Protectorate number only about

2,000.

Built on a high point of land, with two blue-water bays on each side

and a wide sweep of Victoria Nyanza spreading out to the horizon;

evergreen landscape beyond the mainland borders of the bays; trees

smothered with vari-colored flowers, and the streets carpeted with a

floral covering which falls from them; bright and pretty-colored birds

enhancing the picture, with their sweet carols "at early morn and dewy

eve;" bulky banana bushes and papaw, or mummy-apple, trees growing at

every turn; the gardens to the homes of the dwellers glowing with

flowers--there, away off in Uganda, on the peninsula overlooking the

great lake, at Entebbe, we found one of the grandest settings of both

land and water scenery the eye could feast on.

This was the first place we observed natives seeking work. When coming

from the wharf to the town, tidy, well-developed Waganda would timidly

approach, holding in their hands a small book or piece of paper. In

the book or on the paper was written their records, good or otherwise,

the wages they had received, and the length of time worked at various

places. The applicant may be a houseboy, cook or land worker. It is

customary, in fact a standard rule, when servants leave employment, to

give them a note, which is their reference. None of them know a letter

of the alphabet, so have no idea of the nature of the writing.

Mention has been made of the uninviting appearance of the Mkikuyu at

Nairobi and the naked Mkavirondo living on the eastern shore of the

lake. Here, over 400 miles west of Nairobi and 175 west of Port

Florence, we found the splendidly-built, tidily-dressed, clean

Waganda. The women of this tribe are almost as well developed as the

Zulu women. The Maganda also carries loads on her head. It is hard to

understand why these natives, so far away from civilization, are so

neatly dressed. The Maganda is a good native.

We were but three miles north of the Equator, at an elevation of 4,000

feet, and the comfortable climate, instead of an almost unbearable one

one would expect to encounter here, is a surprise. In the evening the

air became so cool that the veranda was vacated for a seat inside.

Less than 150 white persons live in Entebbe, but with the Arabs,

Indians, and many natives, the population reaches 20,000. Were

government employees to leave, very few Europeans would be left in the

capital.

This was one place in which the moving picture was not to be seen, and

one is getting pretty well out of the world, so to speak, when he has

out-trod the sphere of that common means of amusement. But there was a

phonograph, owned by an Indian, who lived across the road from where I

slept. Indian music is weird with a vengeance. The scale is cast in

high C, and the flats and sharps and other "harmonics" that went with

the music seemed to be like a clashing of rasps, files and grating

iron. At 2 o'clock in the morning the "tormentor" was started, and its

weird notes unmercifully pierced the equatorial air until daylight.

The police sometimes stopped the music for a couple of nights, but it

was soon heard again. I became well known at the police station

through lodging complaints against the owner of that infamous

phonograph.

The wharf at the lake was piled high with merchandise and cotton

bales. Some of the imports were to be moved into the interior as far

as the Belgian Congo. The means of conveyance was the heads of

natives--porters, as they are called. From 300 to 600 porters, all

looking half-starved, assembled in front of a shipping agent's office

and waited for orders to start on the trip. Horses cannot live in

Uganda, so natives take the horses' place. Sixty pounds is the

standard load for a porter to carry. The goods are packed and shipped

in quantities conforming to that weight, when it is possible to do so.

The articles carried may be grubhoes, chairs, a box containing canned

vegetables or food, a bed spring, bedding, a table, five-gallon cans

of oil--anything in the nature of food, clothing, or household

furnishings. When the article exceeds 60 pounds, two, three, and even

four porters, with bamboo poles, are assigned to the load. The small

army of porters--the African freight train--start, with a stick in

their hand and 60 pounds of freight on their heads. The destination is

Toro, 200 miles further into Africa. White men are in charge of the

"freight train." Each porter takes with him a portion of rice or

cornmeal. His meat is furnished by the white men in charge, who carry

rifles, and by that means game is shot en route. Thirty days is the

time required to travel the 200 miles, and for carrying 60 pounds of

goods that distance a porter receives $3. A new "freight train" will

take up the goods at Toro and advance the cargo further into the wild

country. Certain packs of natives will not go further than the

sub-stopping place, as natives beyond are generally hostile to tribes

stopping at that point. In that way traders living in remote parts are

supplied with goods.

We were right in the heart of the sleeping-sickness zone. It has been

estimated that 300,000 natives have been swept away by this strange

and fatal disease. Remains of huts and other mute evidences of tribal

existence at certain parts of the lake districts indicate the wiping

out of whole tribes by this pestilence, which accounts for the British

government forcing the natives from the lake islands to live on the

mainland. Some of these ejected natives try to return to their old

home, and it was said to be a pathetic sight when they were forced to

change their abode. The islands are infested with the fly whose bite

injects the death virus. A strip of territory two miles from the shore

of the lake is prohibited ground, and legal punishment is provided for

any one found over the fly-infested lines.

Sleeping sickness is caused from a bite of the tsetse fly. It is as

large as a horse-fly, and when it bites a victim it usually draws

blood. The poison injected infects the blood, and is thought to be

extracted from crocodiles by the fly while resting on that beast. It

may be weeks, and even months, before the poison affects the victim.

Anyway, mopiness will become noticeable, then drowsiness, accompanied

by loss of appetite; then an overpowering desire to sleep overtakes

the victim. All the time he is becoming emaciated from lack of food.

This condition continues for months in some instances, and there are

cases where victims have moped and drowsed for years. Some of the

deaths are very painful, while others apparently die in their sleep.

Three flies, with Latin names, carry the sleeping sickness virus--the

Glossina palpalis, the Glossina morsitans, and the Glossina fusca.

They are generally termed "morsitans," "palpalis" and "fusca." The

most advanced medical scientists may be found in this part of the

world trying to find out something definite about the virus and

devising means for its eradication, but are as yet in the dark

concerning how to combat the suffering and fatalities that follow in

the wake of this strange disease. Sleeping sickness is prevalent in

some parts of Rhodesia, Central Africa and in other interior sections

of the Dark Continent.

The means employed to eradicate the fly is by cutting the brush from

the shore of the lake. A fly will not remain in the sun long, so when

the brush has been cut and a fly's resting place, the shade, is

removed, he leaves the brush-barren district and seeks shady fields.

A grass--lemon grass, it is called--with a leaf a quarter of an inch

wide, which grows to two feet high, is often planted on the land from

which the brush has been cleared. The grass has an oily, lemon taste,

which the tsetse fly does not fancy, and he leaves the cleared

section.

In the early days Stanley and those that came later to these parts

crossed the lake in canoes, rowed by natives. That was a dangerous

undertaking, as the lake then, as to-day, was inhabited by hippopotami

and crocodiles. As stated in Leg Two, the "hippo" will not harm a

person in the water, but he may overturn a boat that attempts to ride

over him, when the crocodile would devour those cast overboard.

Most of the wild animals in that part of the world are protected from

hunters by government laws, but the hippopotamus and the crocodile are

left to the mercy of any who wish to kill them. The big water-cows are

very destructive to growing grain and vegetables. They come out at

night to forage, when they destroy gardens, corn fields and grain.

These animals travel a mile or more from the shore for food. The only

time when a "hippo" will attack a person is if the latter should be

between the water and the beast.

Coffee and rubber plantations have been laid out and promise large

returns in the future. The natives raise a great deal of cotton, and

cotton gins are located at many of the lake ports. So much cotton is

produced that the lake boats cannot keep the wharves and godowns from

being overloaded.

Three years' growth is required before the rubber tree is tapped.

Several diagonal circles are cut in the bark. A piece of wood, with

sharp nails, similar to a hair comb, is pressed against the tender

bark. White sap then oozes from the tree and runs down a gutter cut in

the bark. At the end of the gutter a tin spout connects, down which

the latex runs into a tin cup on the ground. An ounce of sap is

produced from a tapping. A tree is tapped every day for a month, then

allowed to rest for a month. Sap will run from a tree but half an hour

a day. Natives gather the cups from each tree, emptying each ounce in

a larger vessel. The latex collected is put in tanks five feet long

and six inches wide. The next day the sap is taken out, when it will

have become a white strip, like a piece of fat pork. The slab or sheet

of raw rubber is next put through a press twice, which squeezes out

water and impurities. The sheet of raw rubber remains unbroken, and

its thickness is reduced to a quarter of an inch. It is then rolled

together, like belting, put into a drying place, where it remains for

a month, after which it is shipped North for refining. Before tapping

a tree the bark is cleansed with a carbolic acid wash. The sap is

white as milk, and sticky, and remains that color until refined. An

average of one pound of rubber a month from a tree is a good yield,

and the price ranges from $2 to $3 a pound in the raw state. The trees

will produce sap for about ten years, and are from two to eight inches

in diameter. Some rubber plantations contain hundreds of thousands of

trees, and from 200 to 1,000 natives are employed. The wages paid

latex gatherers in Uganda are from $1 to $1.50 a month.

At the market place little cleaning-up was necessary, as vultures pick

meat blocks and keep the floors white after the day's business.

A good botanical garden that any city of half a million population

would be proud of is found in Entebbe. Often groups of monkeys may be

seen jumping from limb to limb and from tree to tree in the garden,

each following the same route that the first one traveled.

Missions and missionaries are quite numerous in that section of

Africa, almost every religious denomination being represented.

A ricksha is the usual means of traveling. When going from place to

place, three natives are assigned to a ricksha, two pushing, with one

between the shafts. These have bells tied around their ankles, and

they sing from the time they start until they have reached the end of

their stage. Each team runs about five miles, when three fresh pullers

take charge of the vehicle; then the passenger will again spin along

the road at a speed of five miles an hour, cheered by the tunes of the

natives.

"Safari" is a word much used in the Protectorates. When one camps out,

or goes on a country journey, he will be on "safari." Often a man's

standing is gauged by the number of natives that accompany him. In the

eyes of the natives the man with the largest safari is the bigger man.

For that reason a vain man will have a larger force of natives serving

him than would be necessary were his position not gauged on that

basis. In that and in other ways white men become slaves to the

caprice of native opinion.

Natives living in that part of Uganda are ant-eaters. The white ant,

another African scourge, builds, unseen, large chocolate-colored

mounds of dirt, some of them eight feet in height and from six to

eight feet across the base. After reaching a certain age wings grow on

the ants, when they emerge from the hill. The natives, aware of the

time the exodus is to take place, build a frame of sticks over the

cone of the mound, over which is placed a bark cloth. The cone is

covered down the sides to a place below which the ants will not break

through the dirt. Between the bottom of the upright frame sticks and

the mound will be placed a banana leaf, the center pressed down,

forming a trench. The ants, on emerging from the mound, fly upward,

when they strike the cloth covering and drop into the banana leaf

trench. Once their flight is interrupted they cannot fly again. An

hour's time is consumed while migrating from the mound--from the time

the ants begin to come out until all have left their old home--during

which the natives are busy eating the insects that creep out between

the leaf cracks. They gather these by the wings, which are an inch in

length, and put the live ants into their mouths, wings and all. The

swarm of ants is later scooped from the trench, put into baskets made

of leaves, taken to the hut, where the wings are plucked, and are then

put into a pan and fried. In keeping with the secret and interesting

nature of that insect, they do not begin to leave the mound before

sunset, and often not until dark. Also, in keeping with the generosity

of the Mganda, a member of this tribe, holding a number of ants by

their wings in one hand and putting these in his mouth--having an

equal number in the other hand--offered to share the winged delicacies

with his white spectator.

A variety of grass, from 6 to 12 feet high, called elephant grass,

grows in that country. Some ivory hunters have met their death owing

to wounded elephants secreting themselves in the tall reeds. A hunter

would naturally follow the tracks of the great beast, though, being

close to his quarry, he could not see him; but the elephant could see

the hunter. Before he could protect himself or escape, the powerful

trunk would come down on the hunter and deal him a death blow. Ivory

from the tusks of the female elephant is the better grade. Ivory

smuggling is said to be practiced in that part of the world, as opium

smuggling is in some parts of America. While the tusks of some

elephants weigh 25 pounds, the average is 15 pounds. Export and import

duty on ivory is very high, which accounts for alleged smuggling in

that product. Elephants take 30 years to attain their full growth.

The two most dangerous animals in Africa are the buffalo and the

rhinoceros. Most animals will run from man, but a buffalo may be just

inside tall grass or a brush thicket, unseen, when he will charge a

hunter. The rhinoceros is almost blind, but what he lacks in sight is

made up for by his keen scent. As soon as he scents anything he wishes

to impale on his horn, he starts in the direction from which he got

his lead. When closely pursued by a "rhino," the hunter will stand

still until the big beast is immediately in front; then he will

side-step. A man can turn much quicker than a "rhino," and in that way

one has a chance to get away, or to keep dodging the animal until help

comes.

Plural marriage is the custom with these natives, but a wife in Uganda

is one-half cheaper than in Zululand, from four to six head of cattle

being the standard price of a helpmate.

Bananas and sweet potatoes grow very bountifully, and these two

vegetables comprise the principal food of the natives. The banana is

boiled when green and eaten. The soil is rich and a chocolate color.

This was the only place in our tour of Africa where pretty birds were

seen and also were heard singing. Birds in South Africa seldom sing.

Parrots are on their native heath here.

The sun in that part of the world shines 12 hours a day the year

round.

Automobiles, motor trucks, motorcycles and bicycles may be seen

spinning along good roads.

My time had been overstayed in Entebbe, so we took our departure for

Kampala, the native capital. The lake stopping-place is called Port

Bell. Seven miles from the little port is located Kampala, the ancient

capital of Uganda, and that distance is traveled in a government motor

car. Rubber trees and banana groves line the roadway for the distance.

About 75,000 natives live in Kampala, but the huts are so scattered

and buried under banana bushes that one would not think there were

one-third that number. It is another Rome, so far as hills are

concerned. The government buildings are seen on one hill, the King's

house and Ministers' houses on another, and a monastery and a mission

stand on other hills. Four hundred Europeans comprise the population.

Our next landing from Kampala was Jinja, another port of Victoria

Nyanza, and the most interesting of the lake stops, as we had reached

the outlet of that body of water, Ripon Falls, where one looks at the

starting point of the historical river Nile, the magnet that figured

largely in my giving way to the witchery of the foreground when

standing on the shore of the lake at Kisumu some weeks before.

J. H. Speke, an Englishman, in 1858, discovered Victoria Nyanza, but

its outlet, hidden by green banks on each side, was not reached until

four years later, on his second visit to that section of Africa. He

named that neck of water Napoleon Gulf. Speke was the first to reveal

the source of the river Nile, which had long been sought by the

Egyptians, who had for ages been in the dark concerning the

fountain-head of the river that meant so much to them in providing

water to grow crops--their life, in fact. When it is recalled that

rain has not fallen for thousands of years in some sections of the

African continent through which the Nile flows, it is little wonder

that the Egyptians were eager to learn of the river's source.

Ripon Falls, named by Speke after the president of the geographical

society that financed his explorations, is located a mile from Jinja,

and is only 12 feet high and 400 feet wide, but when that plunge has

been taken the water becomes the river Nile. From Ripon Falls to

Albert Nyanza the river is known as the Victoria Nile. On, on it flows

through countries inhabited by savage tribes--by elephants,

rhinoceroses, lions and hippopotami--through lakes and great swamps;

still on and on through the Soudan, and even further northward, where

it is halted for a time by the great Assouan Dam. It next passes

through the desert to Alexandria, Egypt, where it becomes lost in the

salted ocean, nearly 4,000 miles from its source.

Until a few years ago visitors to Ripon Falls were forbidden to go

close to the section where the water makes its plunge from Victoria

Nyanza to the River Nile, as the brush growing on both sides was

infested with tsetse flies. The brush was finally cleared and lemon

grass planted. One is not quite safe from being bitten even now, as on

the opposite side the brush is dense, and the distance across the

river would be none too far for a fly to journey. No one enters that

brush unless their hands are covered, and face and neck protected with

a heavy veil, to thwart any attack by that winged messenger of death.

From Jinja a railroad, the only one in Uganda, extends northward 59

miles.

Returning by boat to Port Florence, then by train over the mountains

to Nairobi, we again feasted our eyes on big game while traveling

through the great preserve; next through the Taru Desert, where the

leafless trees grow; and finally we rumbled over the trestle spanning

the water channel separating Mombasa Island from the mainland.

LEG SIX

CHAPTER I

We now take final leave of Africa, the land of fever and fascination,

and start for India. The boat from which I disembarked at Mombasa

weeks before had sailed to Bombay, returned to Africa, and was now

again on her voyage to the Pearl of the Orient. Only two Europeans

were traveling second-class--the only white passengers aboard--the

others being black. We had been at sea but a few hours when the

captain invited us to quarters in the first-class section without

additional charge. Seldom are passengers favored with such kindness.

The ship headed for the Island of Mahé, the largest of the Seychelles

group.

Before leaving Mombasa passengers had to be vaccinated, as smallpox

had broken out in that place. The port doctor snagged my arm with an

inoculation needle in three different places, giving as a reason for

doing so that he was sure none of them would "take." Later, it became

painfully evident his opinion could not be depended upon in a matter

of that nature, as three flaming-like eyes appeared on my arm--all

three vaccinations had "taken."

A ship may enter the port of Bombay, India, though bubonic plague and

smallpox is ravaging the passengers, but if what is known as a jigger

is found on the feet or hands of a passenger a vessel would be

quarantined for eight days. The jigger is a small insect that crawls

under the toenail, deposits eggs if allowed to remain, and then dies;

its eggs, however, cause a sore, which spreads over feet and legs, and

the hands and body eventually become scaly, somewhat like eczema.

African natives are very clever at digging out the jigger. The ship's

doctor examines every toe and hand of passengers booked for India. He

places a box on deck, when, one at a time, each passenger puts first

one foot on the box, when the doctor inspects each toe, and then the

other, for jigger indications. Several days are devoted to this

examination.

"A complete quarantine" was the order of the port doctor when we

reached Port Victoria, on the island of Mahé, Seychelles group, the

Mombasa clearance papers announcing smallpox prevalent in the African

town.

The coco-de-mer--a double cocoanut--is perhaps one of the strangest

products in the world; only in the Seychelles group will the nut grow,

and there on but two islands. After the shuck has been removed the

double nut is found, black as ebony. A striking feature of the

coco-de-mer is its resemblance to the torso of a black person. The

tree on which it grows is like the cocoanut palm, and the nut is used

for decorating homes and clubs. The palm grows in sexes, male and

female, only the female tree bearing.

This group is composed of 29 islands, with an area of 153 square

miles, and is located in the Western Indian Ocean about a thousand

miles east of Zanzibar. The French settled these in 1742, which

remained their territory for 50 years, when England added them to her

possessions. The 30,000 inhabitants of the islands speak the French

tongue. Unlike most sections of Africa, the climate here is healthful,

the group being often referred to as the Garden of Eden. Cocoa oil and

vanilla are the principal exports; tea, coffee, banana, cocoanut and

other tropical growths also flourish. The natives are yellow in color,

but not negroid. American five-gallon oil tins are in evidence in that

isolated "oasis" of the world.

We traveled northwest from Seychelles, when we recrossed the equator,

leaving behind the towering palms of Rio; the circling albatross and

pretty Cape pigeons, the whales, flambeau trees, Zulu ricksha pullers,

gold and diamond mines, Victoria Falls, and shapely mountains of South

Africa; Australia, New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands; the

interesting East Coast of Africa and Zanzibar; leafless trees, game

preserves, green-island dotted Victoria Nyanza, nimble monkeys

disporting in treetops, ant-eating natives, pretty birds, Ripon Falls,

the tsetse fly--mindful only of the interesting and fascinating--and,

lastly, the Southern Cross, as we say a final good-by to the attractive

Southland and the kind people living in that division of the world.

"The anchor rattles down on stranger shores." We had stopped at

Morumgoa, Portuguese-India, where most of the black passengers left

the ship. Goa is the name of this Portuguese colony, which embraces an

area of 1,500 square miles, and has been ruled by Portugal since the

fifteenth century. Half a million Portuguese subjects live in Goa, and

from that place comes the Goanese. They consider themselves Europeans,

dress like Europeans, but are as black as an Indian. Stewards on

passenger steamships in the East are generally Goanese, as they make

better servants than Indians. The passengers were returning from

Africa, where they had earned from $20 to $30 a month, very good wages

for them. They had saved enough in Africa to live in ease at home for

a long time, and would send friends across the Indian Ocean to take

their places.

Another day's travel within sight of the Indian shore, and we sailed

into the east bay of Bombay harbor, when a splendid panorama--the city

on our left, the bay in front, and green hills and islands to the

right--spread out before us. We had reached Asia--Leg Six.

The Parsi (a Persian) is the financial power in Bombay, coming to

India a long time ago, when his empire was destroyed by the

Mohammedans. Persecuted by Indians for centuries, his progress is

entirely due to the protection he has received under England's strong

arm. Bombay has been an English possession for 300 years.

The Parsi is lighter in color than the Indian, dresses differently,

thinks he is better than the native, will not eat food prepared by

others, and does not marry outside his own race. A majority of Parsis

wear spectacles--possibly one of the results of tribal intermarriage.

One is surprised, on visiting this Parsi stronghold, at the splendid

buildings, rising bulky and high, about the city. The streets in the

business section are good and the walks in fair condition. A good

system of stone and cement docks impresses the visitor. Ships are so

numerous at this port that some of the vessels have to remain in

harbor for days, and even weeks, before docking room is available. A

large dry dock was under course of construction at this time, and

other important improvements were in evidence all along the water

front.

Trucking is done by oxen; horses are never seen drawing heavy loads.

The Bombay truck is a two-wheeled cart, thousands of these, loaded

with cotton bales and various merchandise, slowly moving about the

city all the while. When drivers wish to speed their oxen they twist

their tails. From this method of forcing the animals, the pronounced

corrugated nature of their tails suggests that the joints had been

wrenched apart numerous times.

Bombay cotton mills number about a hundred and furnish employment for

over 200,000. Indian cotton is not so good as that grown in the United

States, and for this reason hundreds of thousands of bales are

imported from America each year to mix with the native product. Cotton

is worn mainly by the natives, and, as the Indian woman has a weakness

for colors, groups of these make a picturesque showing.

Indian women work side by side with men and receive the same wages.

The work engaged in may be carrying earth from an excavation, loading

dirt into carts, shoveling coal, or lifting bales of cotton. These are

known as coolies, and no distinction is made between male and female,

English rule has given some workers in India a short day, but others

work 10 and 12 hours. The wages paid coolies in Bombay are from six to

eight cents a day. A woman may be carrying material to masons working

on a wall of a building and her babe be sleeping behind a pile of

bricks. When the child requires its mother's attention the hod-carrier

walks over to the infant, remains a short while, then leaves, loads

her basket with brick, lifts it to her head, and starts up the ladder

with the material.

Thousands of people in Bombay sleep on the sidewalk at night. They

completely cover their head and face, placing a piece of old cloth

under them--if so fortunate as to have something of that sort--lie

down, and sleep until morning. One wonders they do not die of

suffocation.

Usually the temperature is cooler at night than by day, but such is

not the case in Bombay, the weather being hotter at night during the

summer season than in the daytime, when a breeze generally blows, and

ceases at sundown. Then perspiration seems just to boil out of one's

body. Bombay being built on an island, with water on all sides, one

would naturally think air would be noticeably stirring at night, but

instead the bays at this time of year are usually as calm as a mill

pond. We reached this country the end of September, and for three

weeks following the weather would not permit of even a sheet covering

at night. The weather is indeed hot in India.

The monsoons, or rains, begin the latter end of May, and continue

until the first of September. The rain comes in showers, the sun

shining between, when steam continually rises from the ground. White

women go to the mountains before the monsoons, on account of the

trying nature of the weather, and also after the monsoons have ceased.

The weather in India is very depressing to white women.

Were one to walk about with bare arms on a cloudy day they would

become blistered. If one walked ten feet without head covering, he

would be apt to fall from sunstroke as quickly as if felled by a blow.

Bombay, the fourth city of the British Empire, has a population of a

million, 15,000 of whom are said to be Europeans, but it is doubtful

if there be that number of full-blooded whites in the city. Of this

population, it would be interesting to know what percentage wear

shoes. Some Parsis do so, others wear sandals; but no Hindus or

Mohammedans wear shoes, and but a small minority are seen with

sandals. These are worn only while walking, for it is the custom to

leave their sandals outside the entrance of a building or home and

enter in bare feet. No matter where they may be, the sandals are

discarded at all times when they are not actually walking, and when

sitting down their feet are partly concealed under them.

Hindus and Mohammedans do not eat pork, as they consider the meat

unclean; neither is beef eaten by Hindus. This is the reason why beef

sells for five cents a pound. A cow is considered a sacred animal by

the Hindu, and therefore not to be eaten. A shoemaker or saddler, or

any one working with leather, is of very low caste, according to Hindu

social rating.

In the Five Towers of Silence, located on Malabar Hill, the Parsi dead

are disposed of, the method employed being one of the strangest

customs practiced. A long, stone stairway leads to where the bodies

are placed on an iron grating, which takes four men to carry it. Here

are five cylinders, of three compartments each, 276 feet around and 25

feet high, resembling a circular gridiron, with a depression toward

the center. Under the depressed portion of the cylinder is a well.

Bodies are laid on the grating naked--adult males on the outside

compartment, women on the center, and children near the well.

Bald-headed vultures being numerous in the trees growing about the

Towers, half an hour after a corpse has been placed on the gridiron

every particle of flesh will be stripped from the bones by these

vultures. The skeleton remains on the grating, exposed to sun and

wind, until it has become dry; then the body-carriers, with tongs,

remove the bones into the well. This method of disposing of bodies,

instead of by cremation, is due to the Parsis regarding fire as too

sacred to be polluted by burning the dead, and water and earth are

equally revered. The bones and dust going into the same well is in

keeping with one of the tenets of their religion--namely, that rich

and poor must meet in death. The Parsis are followers of Zoroaster,

who is said to have brought sacred fire from heaven, which is still

kept burning in consecrated spots, while some of the temples are built

over subterranean furnaces.

[Illustration: BHISTI (Water-Carrier).

INDIA.

See page 293.]

[Illustration: PARSI.

BOMBAY, INDIA.

See page 271.]

The Parsi has a marked weakness for seeing his name engraved on brass

plates or shields or cut in polished granite. In order that this whim

be gratified, he donates large sums of money to worthy benefactions.

Their wealth and power may be inferred when it is stated that the

control of the city of Bombay is in the hands of 80,000 out of a

population of a million. The poor are well looked after, and a high

standard of morality is their boast. The adoption of European

customs becomes more noticeable from year to year. The children of

that race attend the public schools.

One style of hat or cap worn by the Parsi is of pasteboard, covered

with dotted white and red silk cloth, in the shape of a horse's hoof.

In the center of the cap a conical piece of the frame points upward,

but not so high as the top of the "hoof." That feature of the cap

suggests the frog in the horse's foot. No rim, string or tassel goes

with this odd headgear. Occasionally a small feather may be seen at

one side. Another hat having a high crown, is made of cloth, without a

rim, save for what might be called a cuff around the bottom. His

"coat" is a long, loose garment reaching to the knees. The Parsi

horse-hoof hat, with adornment, will yet be well known beyond the

borders of India and Persia, for milliners will induce their customers

to adopt that style of headdress.

The city is well provided with parks. On the west side is a large

strip of land, on which English sports, including polo games, are

common; this park is used also for other forms of recreation. Music is

provided in this part of the city every evening. In another section is

located Victoria Gardens, a very pretty place, containing a good

museum and a creditable zoo. Music is furnished in these grounds

several times a week.

An interesting type of the varied nationalities of Bombay is the

fisherwomen, who carry their catch in a basket on their heads. They

are a different race to the Hindu or Parsi, dress differently, wear no

head covering, and a sort of skirt they wear stops at the knees, the

center being caught up by a piece of cloth brought between and

fastened in front, giving the skirt a baggy, trouser-like appearance;

from their knees down their legs are bare, including the feet. While

their occupation would suggest untidiness, yet no people in the world

are superior, in neatness of step and admirable carriage, to the

Bombay fisherwomen.

It may be of interest to note that Bombay "duck," appearing on menus

in the Far East, is really fish caught in the Arabian Sea, which,

after being dried, is shipped to many parts of the world.

Bombay curry and rice is another food seen on menus in cities a long

distance from the place whose name it bears. A gherkin is always eaten

with this, the chief food of India. Curry and rice is seen on menus

all over the country, and it is well for one to acquire a taste for it

while in India, as it is said to be good, and there is always plenty

of it.

"Lac" is used in India to denote large amounts, as a "thousand" is

used in our country. There is a much larger difference in the amount,

however, as a lac is 100,000. Five lacs of rupees, or three lacs of

cotton bales, is the way the term is used.

A garrywaller is a cabdriver, but "garry" is the general term used

when speaking of that class. The term "waller" is used in the place of

the word "smith" in the United States. It would be tinwaller for a

tinsmith, woodwaller for a cabinetmaker, saddlewaller for a saddler,

and so on.

Cab fare is cheap in Bombay. The charge for the first hour is 25 to 30

cents, and 16 to 20 cents an hour after the first. Short trips cost

from 10 to 16 cents. One engaging a "garry" should know the exact fare

before starting, for a driver may demand double the regular fare when

the journey is finished. The cab horses are a hungry-looking lot--like

those of Paris, France.

Jewelry and copper wallers form a considerable proportion of skilled

workers. Copper cups and vases are much used in connection with

religious customs, and Indian women will starve themselves to save

money to buy silver ornaments. As many as six or eight ankle, wrist,

and arm bangles are worn by these women, besides heavy pieces of

jewelry depending from the ears, and flat ornaments covering the

mouth. These last are attached to a pin that has been pierced through

the nose. Mothers even have bangles on the arms and ankles of their

babies.

An Indian woman's dress is often composed of but one piece of

cloth--cotton or silk, as the case may be. On the amount of money a

woman has at her disposal depends the bulk of the dress she wears. The

strips of material are sometimes 20 feet in length; they are caught up

by deft hands and made into a full fold, a half fold, or a V-shaped

hook design, until a covering of what seems an inch of cloth is around

the figure, worked out in shapes and designs to suit her fancy. None

of the women wear shoes or hats, the head covering being made of the

bolt of cloth composing her dress. The brighter the color of the

material the better she is pleased.

Several English daily newspapers are published in Bombay; the leading

one sells at six cents a copy. Employed in that particular office are

1,100 persons, and out of that large force were only nine Europeans

working in the mechanical departments, these directing the work of the

several divisions. Here were linotype machines and other modern

appliances that mark the advancement which has taken place in the

printing industry during the past 25 years. The "aristocratic" workers

of that office were the linotype operators, their wages varying from

$14 to $18 a month--big salaries for India. A typist or linotype

operator would not hold a job long in America were he to bump down and

up the keys of these machines with but one hand; yet that is the way

the Indian linotype operator manipulates a keyboard. Unlike coolies'

hours, the working day in a publishing house is but eight hours. The

wages of other Indian skilled mechanics in that office ran from $3 to

$8 a month.

Modern machinery in any branch of industry in India, however, is often

run at a loss. In a large publishing house a modern paper-folding

machine had been installed at considerable expense. After the machine

had been in operation for several weeks it occurred to the management

there was little, if any, financial gain noticed by the results. When

the original cost, wear and tear and ultimate replacement had been

figured out, the figures proved that the work could be done 600 per

cent. cheaper by hand. The folding machine was immediately abandoned

and the work again done by boys receiving from 4 to 6 cents a day.

The Bombay policeman's hat is yellow in color and resembles a thick

pancake, with a firm rim. He carries a club, and a small stick is

another symbol of authority. He wears sandals, and is not officious.

If he be on a day assignment, his time on duty is eight hours. The

night policeman has much shorter hours--two hours on and two hours

off. This unusual practice is maintained owing to an officer being

very apt to go to sleep while on duty. Mention has been made of the

weather being hotter at night than in the daytime, which may explain

the night policeman's tendency to become sleepy. These protectors of

the law receive $3.25 a month.

Electric street railways run to every part of the city, but few

Europeans ride in them. Not long since a white person seen riding on a

street car would be thought little of, but social restrictions in this

respect have relaxed to a noticeable degree. Formerly Europeans were

expected to maintain their position by riding in a carriage. Street

railway fare is cheaper in Bombay than in Sydney, Australia--from 2 to

3 cents for a long ride. The city is lighted by gas, but it does not

reflect much credit on the lighting department.

Every European living in India must be identified with the local

militia. It matters not whether one be a Britisher, a German, a

Frenchman, or an American--all white male residents must be instructed

in the use of arms. It is the fear of native uprisings that demand the

training of each European, to be able to give the best account of his

ability if confronted by hordes of blacks intent on the most cruel

forms of massacre. A large garrison of British soldiers is stationed

in Bombay, and even a larger number at Poona, 100 miles east.

The food is nearly the same variety as one gets in other parts of the

world. One would expect to come across different vegetables, but, with

a few exceptions, potatoes, beans, peas, tomatoes, onions and pumpkins

rule the day. One does not fare so well with eggs, however, as these

are one-third less in size than European or American eggs. The Indian

breed of chickens have long legs and a wide breast, so there is more

white meat than dark to the Indian fowl.

Elephanta Caves, located seven miles from Bombay, on the opposite

shore of the eastern bay, is one of the attractions of that city.

Caves of this character are numerous in Southern India, and most of

them are worth a visit. The caves are underground temples, and the

sculpture, as seen in the gods carved out of solid rock; pulpits,

shrines, and images symbolic of their faith, speak well for the

people's skill in that art. The roofs of these caves are supported by

large stone columns. Nothing has been overlooked to make these large

underground places of worship emblematic of their religion, no work or

expense having been too great to bring about that end. Elephanta and

other wonderful subterranean temples bespeak the Buddhist faith. They

were chiseled out in the eighth century. Thousands of Buddhists visit

and worship in the caves to-day. The Caves of Ellora, however, are the

greatest and most notable.

One would not expect to find away off in Bombay the prettiest railroad

station, perhaps, in the world; yet Victoria Station, the western

terminus of the Great India Peninsula Railroad, in architectural

beauty, will withstand critical examination. The style is Italian

Gothic, with Oriental designs. The building is elaborately ornamented

with sculpture and surrounded by a large central dome. The station was

built in 1888, and cost $1,500,000. We know of a number of larger

railroad stations, but have seen none to compare with its rich

architectural appearance. Though Victoria Station is the prettiest

structure in Bombay, other splendid buildings would surprise a visitor

on his visit to the Parsi city.

A flat or an apartment for Europeans costs $30 a month. Office rent is

nearly as high in Bombay as it is in New York.

Good hotel accommodation can be had from $2 to $3 a day. Usually a

room is composed of three "compartments"--a sitting room, dressing

room, and bath room, but no running water. Hot water for the bath is

brought in copper kettles and emptied into a wooden tub. It requires

three Indians to look after a room--a room "boy," bath "boy," and

"sweeper." The room "boy" is of higher caste than the bath "boy," and

the bath "boy" of higher caste than the "sweeper"; neither will do

work out of their caste position. Ceilings are high, and many hotels

are lighted by electricity. At sundown the room "boy" sees that the

bed is enclosed with mosquito netting, supported on a frame. Most of

the beds are of iron, with modern springs.

One will not be in this city long before the large number of black

crows, with steel gray backs, flying about comes under observation. At

daylight their presence is forcibly brought home, the medley of "caws"

coming from these Indian scavengers preventing further sleep of a

newcomer.

America was prominently represented here in a sewing-machine office, a

cash register office, and the ever-present American five-gallon oil

can.

The native quarters is a black and busy place. Bombay is perhaps more

cosmopolitan than other Indian cities. Here are seen the Arab, Afghan,

Zanzibar negro, Persian, Beluchi, Chinaman, Japanese, Malay, and

representatives of other countries and other sections of India.

Bright-colored clothes appear occasionally, but the denizens of the

native quarters are more naked than dressed. The bazaars are located

here--the brass workers, coppersmiths, and jewelers; and here

everything native-made may be purchased. Candy makers are among the

"wallers" of India, and the smell from these shops and the native

cooking-places--well, if one were blind, and at all used to Indian

life, he would know he were in the bazaar by the odors.

India is the home of the rupee. As stated earlier, its value is 32

cents in United States money. Then there is the half rupee, 16 cents;

the anna, two cents; the pice, one-half a cent, and the pie, one-sixth

of a cent. Millions of people in India have never had a rupee in their

hands, being more familiar with the pice and pie coins and cowrie

shells, the latter being legal currency in some parts of India. The

value of cowrie shells varies from 80 to 85 to the pie, or 500 to the

American cent.

European data in connection with Bombay and southwestern India is

taken from the year 1498, when Vasco da Gama, the daring Portuguese

explorer, sailed around Cape of Good Hope to Calicut. Portugal then

assumed control of this section for twelve years, when it was wrested

from her, again coming into her possession twenty-four years later.

In 1608 England appeared on the scene, and in 1661 Bombay was ceded to

Britain as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza. A few years

later the East India Company established itself here, and it has

remained a British possession ever since.

CHAPTER II

Our next move was by rail to Baroda, 248 miles north of Bombay. The

railroad coach was of the compartment type, but wide, the road gauge

being 5¼ feet. Fare in India is cheap, first-class being three cents a

mile, second-class a cent and a half a mile for short journeys and a

cent and a quarter for 300 miles or more, and third-class fare

one-sixth of a cent, or a pie, a mile. To learn what heavy passenger

travel is one must go to India and note the jammed condition of the

third-class cars. Natives seemed to travel on railway trains to show

their friends they had money to spend on luxuries. At certain towns a

sub-station is located near the regular station, where third-class

passengers cook their food and sleep until the train arrives. If they

oversleep, it matters little, as they camp out until the next train

stops. Some of the coaches are equipped with shower baths and

luxuriously furnished; all of the through trains are lighted by

electricity and provided with electric fans. To add to the comfort of

passengers, ice is carried to cool the drinks. The schedule time of

some trains is 40 miles an hour. Coaches are provided with free

sleeping berths, as in South Africa.

My compartment companion was a sepoy (soldier) and a Mohammedan, who

had seen 24 years' military service, and spoke fairly good English. He

had laid in a supply of food before leaving Bombay, and, when eating

small cakes, offered to share them with his European traveling

companion; next a cigar was proffered, and, not being a smoker, this

kindness was also declined. Indians are vain concerning scented water,

and this sepoy had saturated himself so thoroughly with lavender or

rose-water that the compartment smelled like a perfume factory. He

next offered fragrant water to put on my handkerchief, but I did not

take kindly to his taste. He carried two pillows, and was disposed to

divide these with his companion. Some interesting facts concerning

Mohammedan customs were gathered from him during the journey, and when

Baroda was reached the sepoy asked, apologetically, if his presence

had been objectionable. In answer, he was handed a picture of one of

the high buildings in New York City.

One-third of the area of India is composed of what are termed native

States, the State of Baroda being among these. The Gaekwar of Baroda

rules over 2,000,000 subjects, and is reputed to be the second

wealthiest man in India. The richest native ruler is the Nizam of the

State of Hyderabad (Deccan).

A much better appearance was offered by the Gaekwar's subjects than by

the natives seen in Bombay. Baroda has a population of 100,000, and a

street-car line is among the city's attractions, the cars being drawn

by horses. Away from the bazaar, or business center, Baroda is

provided with good streets, with trees growing on each side. A

creditable park is located near the city, the grounds containing a

museum, an art gallery, and a zoo.

A visit was made to the palace, in which is included the legislative

halls. We had been through palaces in Europe, but the Gaekwar's bed

was the most costly seen anywhere. It is of solid silver, the posts

being two inches in diameter, and everything else connected with this

democratic ruler's bed was fully in keeping with the silver frame.

Electric fans are placed throughout the palace; while mosaic-tiled

floors, mahogany furniture, most expensive rugs, and drapings were

also seen about this Indian ruler's dwelling-place. The palace is

surrounded by attractive grounds.

Native rulers may govern their States, but England really holds the

reins of power. The ruler of the State of Mysore, for instance, had

his domain taken from him, but it was afterwards returned. That will

serve as an indication of what is likely to take place if a maharaja

opposes England's idea of how to conduct her dependencies. The Gaekwar

himself was scotched by the British whip for turning the wrong way in

the presence of the King of England at the Durbar held in Delhi

several years since. Previously the Gaekwar's standing had been

recognized by a royal salute of 21 guns, and seven of these were cut

off. He now receives but a 14-gun salute for his unfortunate turn at

the Durbar.

Dak bungalows take the place of hotels in the smaller cities of India,

but even these are absent in remote towns. In order that European

visitors to Baroda may not be put to any inconvenience concerning

accommodation the Gaekwar has built a special hotel, called the Rest

House. Financially it is a loss, but the Gaekwar is too big-hearted to

allow his European friends to undergo any discomfort while staying at

his capital.

Large monkeys, two feet high, inhabit the trees here. They are sacred

animals to the Hindu, and, although destroying garden and flower

plants, no Hindu would venture even to strike one of the tricky

animals. If one of them was killed by a European, that person,

probably, would not get out of the place alive.

The next stop was at Ahmedabad, where some of the best temple and

mosque architecture in India is to be seen. The city has a quarter of

a million inhabitants, and is noted for its goldsmiths, jewelers,

ivory carvers, lacquer workers, cotton-cloth factories, calico

printing, gold and silver lace, and other industries that require high

skill.

Feeding-places for birds--boxes on posts--ornamented with carving and

sometimes brightly painted, naturally arouse the curiosity of visitors

to Ahmedabad. A sect of the Hindu faith in this city is known as the

Jains; they erected the feeding-places and supply food for the birds.

This Buddhist sect believes all inorganic matter has a soul, and that

a man's soul may pass into stone; but it is their concern for animal

life, more than their other beliefs, that interests. They will not

kill an animal, bird or insect. To maintain life in flies, bedbugs,

mosquitoes, fowl, dogs, and monkeys is a strict tenet of their

religion; they also believe bodily penance is necessary to salvation.

This sect numbers a million and a half.

The Jain temple--Hathi Singh Temple--is one of the prettiest church

buildings we have seen. Though it has not the imposing appearance of

the Cathedral of Milan, Italy, a view of the Jain temple of Ahmedabad

will long remain in one's mind. The church, built of white marble,

surmounted by 53 domes, will bring to mind, as a poor illustration,

the handsomely ornamented Christmas or wedding cakes seen in bakers'

windows. Woolen slippers must be worn on entering. The interior is in

keeping with the richness of the exterior. The gods in the temple

where the Jains worship seem to be made of gold, although they may be

of brass; they are two feet high, and some are ornamented with what

looks like precious stones.

In a mosque of that city there is a marble window, with delicate

tracery on stone of stems and branches. This beautiful craftsmanship

is in every detail equal to what one would expect if the same design

was worked by a deft hand lace-worker. The window is six or seven feet

across, and of the same height. The tracery was executed nearly 300

hundred years ago. Formerly there were two, but one was removed from

the mosque and taken to London, and is now in the British Museum.

In all the larger centers of India a garrison, or cantonment, is

located just outside the city, some of them composed largely of native

soldiers, with European officers in charge. Europeans living in these

centers occupy homes near the cantonments.

Ahmedabad streets are well shaded, and some of the houses, though none

too tidy in appearance, are beautifully ornamented on the outside with

wood carving. Beggars are numerous. A wall, in some sections 40 feet

high, with 12 entrances, surrounds the old city. A good park is

another feature, and the old wells are an example of art in a high

degree in the past. The necessity for these wells will be understood

when it is stated that rain does not fall from the termination of the

monsoons until rain is again due, a period of eight months; but the

sacred tamarind trees do not die. All the cities of India put one in

mind of a rosy apple rotten in the center: the outskirts are

beautified with nice parks, good roads, and shady trees, but the

inside is always spoiled by a dirty, bad-smelling bazaar.

Packs of big monkeys and homeless dogs--pariah dogs, they are

called--stand on the roads in the suburbs until a horse almost steps

on them. They are waiting for the Jains to come with food. The pariah

dog is generally mangy, scaly, starved, and half mad when he is not

actually snapping. Though a menace to human life, if a European were

to kill one it might lead to an uprising in India. The mortality from

rabies is appalling.

Lizards were seen sliding about the walls, crickets were piping from

the corners, and frogs were hopping about the floor of the room I

occupied in Ahmedabad. No one of this sect will kill a lizard, as he

is a house scavenger--puts in all his time catching flies and

mosquitoes. The lizard is evidently not a Jain.

A 24-hour ride was ahead of us before Agra could be reached. The

country passed through was as level as a table, with patches of rice

growing on each side of the railway track. Now and again an irrigation

trench is seen, and trees in cultivated fields, while often separated

by considerable space, give the landscape a timbered appearance. Four

poles, from eight to ten feet above the ground, may be seen standing

in fields where grain is growing, on top of which a shaky platform has

been built. An Indian is assigned to this "look-out," to protect the

growing and ripening crops from invasions of destructive fowl and

animals. Rice will grow only in from three to twelve inches of water.

If the monsoons be limited, there will not be enough water to grow the

rice, and the dreaded famine results. Though the monsoons had been

good, the people looked half starved; so we have no desire to travel

through India in a famine year. The Indian plough is perhaps an

improvement on what was in use 5,000 years ago, as it has a pointed

iron bolt in a stick of wood, but in the murky past the point of the

plough might have been wood. Oxen, with big humps on their shoulders,

draw the stick and bolt, and two Indians--generally a woman and a

man--seem to be required to work the device. A long pole sticking in

the air, with half a dozen to a dozen Indians around--each woman with

a baby astraddle her hip--is scaled by two or three men, a cloth no

larger than a pocket handkerchief about their loins, the top of the

pole bending to the ground as the men approach the end of it. A sort

of bucket--generally of earthenware, but sometimes an American

five-gallon tin oil can--is seen appearing on the surface with water

dripping from it. This is the windmill of India. When the monsoons

fail them, this is their only hope of getting water from the wells to

nourish the rice "paddies," and it is borne on the head for long

distances for the purpose of maintaining life.

Very few people drink water in India, as in most rivers it is polluted

by dead bodies, is used by "dobeys" (washermen), and in other ways

made unfit to drink, all of which causes typhoid fever. For this

reason much whisky, also soda water, is drunk. Soda water on trains

sells at four cents a bottle to a second-class passenger and eight

cents to a first-class passenger. In this country one pays according

to his position for any and everything he buys.

Stations are not announced in India, and noticing "Agra" on a board,

in large letters, that place being a Mecca for travelers, we fell in

line with custom and left the train.

The chief attraction of Agra is the Taj Mahal, the greatest tomb ever

erected to the memory of a woman, and this in a country where women

are looked upon as merely servants of men. The monument was erected by

Shah Jahan, Emperor of Delhi, to one of his wives, Mumtaz Mahal, "the

pride of the palace," as she was termed. Work began on the monument in

1630, which was completed in 1652, 22 years being required to finish

the grand pile of marble. The sum of money expended on its erection

was $10,000,000.

The grounds in which the tomb stands are entered by an imposing gate

that would be a creditable monument in itself to any great personage.

When inside, the visitor is confronted with a beautiful garden. A

marble walk, in black and white, leads to the noted monument at the

other end, on the bank of the Jumna River, where it rises in striking

beauty, its stately marble dome, marble walls, and marble minarets

demonstrating the grandeur in architecture for which the Taj Mahal is

famed. The marble platform on which the tomb stands is 313 feet

square, and the top of the dome rises to a height of 213 feet. At each

corner of the tomb is a minaret of white marble, 137 feet high,

delineated by black lines. Some parts of the tomb are inlaid with

precious stones. Trellis work also plays a conspicuous part in this

magnificent monument.

The fort of Agra, built of red sandstone and nearly 70 feet high, with

a circumference of a mile, contains some magnificent buildings of the

Moguls, although portions have been demolished. It was behind these

walls 6,000 Britishers took refuge during the Mutiny of 1857. The

walls of the fort and the buildings were erected between 1550 and

1640. Shah Jahan, the Emperor of Delhi, who built the Taj Mahal, also

erected the greater number of fine buildings here within the great

sandstone walls. Among the material used in the erection of the

palaces is white marble with blue and gray veins worked in with black

marble, and white marble inlaid with mosaic and valuable stones, rich

reliefs enhancing the design. As in Nero's day, there was an enclosure

built, in which wild beasts tore each other to pieces for the

amusement of the Mogul. Artificial flowers, made of valuable red gems,

inlaid in white marble; marble lattice work, treble marble domes,

marble fountains, walls embossed with gold--practically all

marble--beautified with red sandstone pillars and splendid vistas,

with green parrakeets flitting about the surroundings all the day, may

also be seen in this grand scheme of architecture. Such elegance, and

the vast amount of money spent in erecting these handsome buildings,

contrasted strongly with the dirty, squalid living quarters of the

poor, low-caste Indian, certainly indicates a striking disregard of

their interests.

Here one finds a creditable park, good driveways, shade trees and

large lawns in front of Europeans' homes. These dwellings are

bungalows, one storied, high roofed, with wide verandas, and often

covered with grass or reeds. The kitchen is not inside, but a building

in the rear is used for that purpose. Nearly every one owns a horse

and trap of some sort, and there is a stable included in the

buildings. A fence generally surrounds the grounds, and the inclosure

is called a "compound."

Agra has a population of 200,000, and the articles manufactured are

gold and silver embroidery, carving in soapstone and imitation of old

inlay work on white marble.

The Mohammedan place of worship is a mosque, and the Hindu place of

worship is a temple.

A Mohammedan may have four wives, besides concubine slaves. The

celebration of a Mohammedan marriage costs the father of the

bridegroom about $150, which is used to buy presents for the bride and

to furnish a feast for friends. Any prospective father-in-law

attempting to shave that sum would be thought little of by the

bridegroom's acquaintances. Mohammedans bury their dead, but use no

coffin. They place the corpse on the bottom of the grave, build over a

frame, which is covered with timber, cloth or stone, and then fill in

earth. Prayers are offered five times a day--at sunset, nightfall,

daybreak, noon, and afternoon. All work is abandoned at time for

prayers. Mohammedan priests use their voices to summon worshipers to

prayers, because Jews and Christians use bells and trumpets for the

same purpose. Mohammedans believe in a resurrection, heaven, and hell,

but also believe there is a separate heaven for women. The Koran

forbids the drinking of wine or eating of pork. This sect wash their

hands, mouth, and nose before eating or praying. Mohammed, the prophet

of Allah, was born in Mecca, Arabia, 570 A. D., his father being a

poor merchant. Sixty-three million of the population of India are

Mohammedans, and the Mogul dynasties prevailed from the fourteenth to

the sixteenth centuries.

Unlike Mohammed and the mountain, if one does not go to the Indian

bazaar the bazaar is brought to him. On a visitor leaving his room,

there will be spread before his door on the wide veranda silk shawls,

silk dress goods, and souvenirs of the place; also waiting are snake

charmers, jugglers, photographers, "dobeys," tailors, shoemakers,

barbers, guides, hackmen, fellows offering themselves as servants--all

making salaams--speaking in a low voice, but persistently following

their business instincts. One never finds himself at a loss for some

one to do whatever he wants done. An Indian may not be within sight or

sound, yet if one should make his wants known, the man he requires

will immediately appear as if having come out of the ground. It is

said that no secret can be kept from the native--he seems to have the

power of extracting any treasured thought from the mind of a European.

Since leaving Bombay we had not seen a sidewalk.

We now head northward for Delhi, the country continuing flat, with the

same scenes, save for a deer appearing from grain fields on several

occasions as the train rolled along. Every time the train stopped a

native approached a coach that contained high-class Indians or

Europeans. He was a "boy" servant, waiting to learn if his master

needed his services. Nearly every one traveling in India takes a "boy"

with him, as it gives a person a better standing with both natives and

Europeans. The wages for these servants range from $5 to $7 a month.

If one rides first-class, the servant rides free in the third-class

cars. His duties are to wait incessantly on his employer, look after

the baggage, and act as interpreter for a European who cannot speak

the native language. When in a city the "boy" is no expense to his

master, as he provides himself with both food and lodging.

Delhi, the old walled capital of the Moguls, is under course of

rebuilding for the ninth time in its history. Calcutta was the capital

of India until 1911, when the seat of government was changed to Delhi.

Seven years was the time allotted in which to build the government

offices. Owing to the prevalence of malarial fever, and the intense

heat of the plains, two capitals are maintained. Delhi is the official

city for five winter months of the year, and Simla, in the Himalayas

to the north, the summer capital for seven months. In one of the

burnings and sackings of this city, in 1756, Nadir Shah carried away

with him treasure amounting in value to half a billion of dollars,

including the Koh-i-Noor diamond. For a distance of six to eight miles

south of the city, pillars, earth depressions, and crumbled walls

attest the onetime greatness of the new capital. Delhi was founded by

the Aryans more than a thousand years before the Christian era, but

modern history dates from the year 1200. This city became British

territory in 1803, and a quarter of a million people live within its

lines.

The financial year of married Europeans in India is nearer eighteen

months than twelve. Owing to one's business, a city home must be

maintained, and another, in addition, in the hills--as the mountains

of India are termed--for the wife and children, for six months of the

year, thus supporting a city home twelve and a mountain home six

months. The heat of the plains is so trying to European women and

children during the summer that they must go to a cooler climate.

Seldom are white children over 10 years of age seen; they are

generally taken to Europe at that age to receive schooling and to

acquire a sound constitution, thus burdening the husband with more

expense. Few Europeans become wealthy in India.

From eight to twelve servants are required for a European's household.

The servant custom is maintained, even though there is only a Sahib

and Memsahib in a family, and one finds what seems a surplus of

servants about each home. In addition to the head servant, there is a

cook and dishwasher; the husband and wife each have their separate

"boy"; also a gardener, and the "sice," who looks after the horse; a

servant to cut grass for the horse, that not being the work of a

"sice"; a water-carrier, and a night watchman, or "chokeedar." Each

child in a household would have a nurse. The wages of these servants

range from $2.50 to $5 a month. One Indian will not do the work of

another--he will do only certain things he was engaged to do. One

often hears of tyranny of labor unions in America, but the system in

vogue in India of getting work places labor unions in the United

States in the light of philanthropists by comparison.

An acquaintance who had been many years in India told of his traveling

by stage through a district inhabited by highwaymen. The friend he had

left assured him he need have no fear of danger, as one of the gang of

outlaws would be on the seat with the driver. While passing through

the highwaymen's lair the vehicle was stopped by the bandits a number

of times on plunder bent, when the member of the gang who had been

engaged to accompany the vehicle would say the word, and travelers

were allowed to proceed. That is another way Indians have of getting

work.

It would be hard to find more attractive surroundings to any city than

the section of Delhi north of the walls. Parks, good roads, monuments,

and shade trees are in evidence. Among the interesting features of

Delhi is the monument to John Nicholson, the Mutiny hero. It is a fine

shaft of red granite, with a bronze bust of the great soldier. The

inscription, striking in its simplicity, is: "John Nicholson." Four

thousand brave white men were lost in the siege of that city.

Shah Jahan, the Mogul Emperor who built most of the rich buildings in

the Agra Fort and palace, and also the Taj Mahal, built the Mogul Fort

and Palace in Delhi between the years 1638-48. He was every inch a

king, so far as spending money lavishly goes, as another building in

the Fort, 90 by 60 feet, built wholly of white marble, was inlaid with

precious stones, and the ceiling was of silver. One flooring a

building with $20 gold pieces in Shah Jahan's day evidently would be

looked upon as a cheap imitator. The great value of some of these

buildings is still in evidence, several being preserved; but

despoilers, during the mutiny, ruined much of the beauty of the palace

which Nadir Shah left after he had carried away the Koh-i-Noor diamond

and half a billion dollars in treasure. Some of these palaces are used

to-day as messrooms and for other purposes by British troops.

Some of the splendid mosques here swarm with beggars. If a guide takes

a visitor to these he is allowed to go no further than the entrance.

At some of the churches shoes must be taken off in order to enter, and

at all of them the shoes must be covered, generally with canvas

slippers. Money has to be given to the fellow who puts on and ties the

slippers. The first usher takes the visitor to one portion of the

church, and when he has reached the end of his territory another usher

takes his place. At these boundary lines a fee is expected. When one

reaches the outside he has paid six fees, and even there he comes in

contact with sundry professional beggars. The guide, in the meantime,

must be paid, and the garrywaller as well. But such fees in India are

not heavy, and hack fare is only from 15 to 30 cents an hour.

A prayer offered in a mosque is equal to 500 offered elsewhere, and

one prayer offered at Mecca is equal to 100,000 in other sections.

The Kutab Minar, one of the grandest monuments in the world--a tower

of victory--is located seven miles from Delhi--where the capital once

stood. It is another of those wonderful works of the Moguls. Its

height is nearly 350 feet, and the width of the tower at its zenith is

nine feet. The diameter of the base is 47 feet, and it tapers

perfectly from that measurement to the top. The first three stories

are of red sandstone, with semi-circular and angular flutings. The

noble monument has five stories, the two upper ones being faced with

white marble. Balconies are built at the base of each story of the

tower, from which a good view may be had.

As in Italy, holidays are numerous in India, and no work is done on a

holiday. It is on these occasions that the curtain is raised and a

broader insight of the people is obtained. Were one to collect all the

brightest colored cloth manufactured, and specially arrange these to

give the most gorgeous effect, the kaleidoscope would not surpass what

is seen in Delhi--in all India, in fact--in raiment worn by the people

on holiday occasions.

I stood on the Chandi Chauk, the principal street of Delhi, while a

holiday procession passed. It took many hours--days, on certain

occasions--for the hundreds of thousands of people from that section

to squeeze their way through the street, and every coping, balcony,

roof and window above the street contained as many human beings as the

space would admit, all dressed in gaudy cloth. High-caste Indians,

dressed in silks and velvets, rode in handsome carriages, drawn, in

some instances, by snow-white horses; lower-caste citizens rode in

traps, with seating space on the sides, and drawn by donkeys and oxen;

throngs of barefooted, serious-faced natives mingled among these,

walking; further down the emblazoned street could be seen a brown head

appearing above the people, oxen and horses--a camel, between high

shafts, drawing a high-wheeled wagon, the occupants being concealed by

a large closed box, like a van; this contained Mohammedan women.

Hundreds of low palanquins, their dark curtains extending from the

roof down the four sides, borne on poles, between which were two men

at each end, flitted in and out of the narrow streets; these also

contained Mohammedan women. The big Afghan, or Kabuli, with his baggy

apparel and full beard, also mingled in the procession. Taboots, a

fantastic design of mosque and pagoda, the framework made of poles and

covered with bright-colored paper, lavishly decorated with tinsel and

gaudy ornaments, passed by, drawn by devotees of the Moslem faith.

Blare, grotesqueness, weird music from strange instruments, together

with the air of melancholy, induced by the beating of the Oriental

tomtoms--all very strange indeed. Holidays often last a week, and some

even extend to ten days.

Army officers relate interesting stories of that country. For nearly a

century elephants had been used to move army transports. The food of

the elephants was large cakes made of wheat, and a dozen was a meal.

The mahout, or cook, might take a portion of the flour from the

apportioned quantity and keep it for his own use. Before eating the

cakes, the elephant lifted this food on his trunk; if the cakes were

short of his regular portion, he would set the food down and would not

touch it. A white officer, inspecting the animals at feeding-time,

seeing that the elephant did not look sick, would weigh the food, and

in every instance the scales verified the elephant's refusing to eat

because he had been cheated.

[Illustration: TYPES OF INDIAN SOLDIERS.

THE SIKH.

THE GOORKHA.

See page 311.]

Indian women often cooked the cakes for elephants in a mud fireplace,

and the big beast would sidle to where his food was being prepared.

The basket for the woman's baby to rest in was made of twigs, and a

bent bamboo pole served as a handle to the Indian "cradle." The Indian

mother would slip the handle over the elephant's trunk, and the

to-and-fro motion of the beast would rock, or lull, the baby to sleep

while the mother cooked the elephant's meal.

House rent in Delhi is higher than in New York City. The rents were

increased a hundred per cent. when it was decided to remove the

capital from Calcutta.

A number of European stores were found in the capital. Drug stores do

the best business in India, as well as in Africa.

CHAPTER III

We did not go farther north at this time, but traveled easterly to

Aligarh. A college is located here, some 1,200 students being in

attendance. This seat of education was erected and is maintained by a

wealthy Indian. It is non-sectarian, and Mohammed, Hindu, Jain and all

other sects take advantage of the liberality of the benefactor.

Strange as it may seem, the educators are Europeans, and the language

of the institution is English.

An American mission is located several miles from Aligarh, and the

Europeans living in that city and district get their bread from the

mission. Few people take kindly to eating bread made by Indians, as

they have so many skin and constitutional diseases and untidy habits

that one does not know what ailment he may contract from eating

native-made bread. A creamery is located near the city also, owned by

a Swede. Like the bread, Europeans prefer European-made butter, and as

a result there seems room for another white-conducted creamery.

Living in this section is a remnant of a former wild tribe, who

existed from plundering and were being hunted by the authorities most

of the time. The Salvation Army obtained permission to use an old fort

as a mission, and most of these highwaymen have found peace within its

walls, being industriously engaged in weaving silk. This section of

India is termed the Doab.

All white men in India own an evening-dress suit, generally worn at

dinner in their own homes.

Every one carries a lantern at night. Snakes are so numerous and so

poisonous that one's life is in danger. Some of the Indian snakes are

small, are very dangerous at night, and their bite is almost certain

death. The fatality from bubonic plague, cholera, typhoid fever and

rabies is appalling, yet it is said more people die from snakebite in

India during the year than from any other single cause.

The most commendable feature of India that came under observation was

the free service of the bhisti (bee-ste), or water-carrier. Men

engaged in that occupation have a guild, or union, and the rules of

the organization forbid them making a charge for water. The carrier's

water-bag is made of leather, in the shape of an inverted pig, and

contains from six to eight gallons. A strap is tied to both the hind

and front of the pig-shaped bag, which stretches across his right

shoulder, the bag being on the left side. A stopper is placed in the

mouth of the bag, which the carrier holds with his left hand. A cloth

is worn about the loins, and his legs are bare to the ground. He

usually wears a shirt, with short sleeves, and his head is covered

with a bulky piece of cloth wound round and round. Most of the bhistis

are bent forward and lean to the left, which is accounted for by their

carrying the bag on that side. He is a poor man, but will serve water

to either man or beast in need. He is generally found about railway

stations and other places where large numbers of people congregate.

Thirsty children may be seen running to the bhisti, with empty cups in

their hands, for water, when he withdraws the stopper, places the

spout above the cup, and releases the thumb of his left hand at the

mouth of the bag, filling it. The happy child drinks and walks away. A

mother, with a water vessel in her hand, calls him, when he pauses

until the woman catches up with him, and then supplies her need. The

Indian mother might leave with him a pie (one-sixth of a cent). As

stated earlier, rain does not fall in India at certain seasons of the

year for periods of from five to nine months, and water is water

during most of that time. Should the water-carrier pass an ox, a goat,

a dog, or a horse--anything in need of water--he at once eases his

thumb on the spout of the bag and relieves the suffering. He might

call at a compound with his bag full, and the master of the bungalow

would direct him to sprinkle the parched garden. After doing so he

walks away unless called to receive pay. The bhisti, in short,

practices what Red Cross societies aim to accomplish, and what

churches profess to do. He is the one star that shines brightly

through the dark, traditional sky of India--a messenger of life in a

land of suffering and death.

Clay cups, saucers, plates, bowls, and buckets are made in the college

city, the smaller vessels containing oil, with a cloth dip added.

Cities are aflame with these on certain holidays, and from remote

sections millions of clay-saucer lights burn throughout the populous

country.

Garlands are placed about the neck of guests when invited to partake

of an Indian's hospitality, these often extending to the waist. They

are made from flowers, leaves, paper, cloth, and on occasions are

composed of gold lace, and even more expensive material.

No hotel or dak bungalow was found here; but on visiting places

without these conveniences, even if one be a stranger, some European

will extend an invitation to stop at his home. European hospitality is

another bright light that shines in this dark country.

Wherever a few Europeans are found, a little English church has been

erected, and a bell will be heard ringing every Sunday morning.

Cawnpore was the next stop. The first thing that attracted attention

was dust, which seemed six inches deep, quite a cloud arising from it.

When we left Bombay, sidewalks and paved streets were left behind.

This city has a population of 200,000. It is a leather manufacturing

place, and cotton mills are also quite numerous. We visited Cawnpore

chiefly to see the historical Massacre Well.

Cow fat on cartridges, a desecration of the Hindu religion--the cow

being a sacred animal to the people of that faith--was the fuse that

ignited the mutiny bomb in 1857. Uprisings by native troops had taken

place at intervals for ninety years previous, during which the domains

of rulers had been taken from them, higher pay for the sepoys refused,

and pensions to the deposed rulers' heirs cut off, the army being

composed in a large degree of high-caste natives.

Nana Sahib, heir to a ruler who had once been head of the Mahrattas,

was among those who did not succeed to the pension his adopted parent

received, $400,000 a year. At that time 40,000 British soldiers were

in India and 240,000 Indians, drilled in warfare by British officers.

At Cawnpore there were but 200 British soldiers, 30 officers and 3,000

sepoys. On June 6 General Wheeler, who was in charge of the British

troops, was warned to expect an attack--the siege had begun. The

ground was so hard that good trenches could not be built, and the dirt

was so dry it would not pack. Nine hundred, the majority women and

children, took shelter in the crude trenches. Nana's forces were well

armed, and a murderous fire came from the enemy. The barracks of the

besieged comprised two buildings, one of which had a thatched roof,

and the well from which they got their water was exposed to the

enemy's fire. The thatched roof was set on fire and burned, and the

occupants were daily exposed to a sun varying from 120 to 140 degrees.

Deaths were taking place every day, and bodies were buried in another

well close to the barracks. An armistice was finally agreed to after a

20-day siege, during which 250 out of the 900 died.

The terms of the armistice were that the British should leave their

guns and treasure behind, and that Nana Sahib would see them,

unmolested, to the river, where boats would be ready to take them down

the Ganges to safety. Four hundred and fifty were left, and the boats

were beached on bars of mud in the river. Instead of being towed down

stream, a murderous fire of grapeshot and musketry opened on all

sides. The boats were covered with thatched roofs, and, these taking

fire, many of the deceived survivors were suffocated by the smoke of

the burning grass. Following, the sepoys jumped into the water and

butchered others of the party. At last the Nana's heart temporarily

softened, and he ordered that no more women should be killed, and

about 125 women and children, wounded and half drowned, were then

taken to Cawnpore. The men on the boats were murdered.

In two weeks' time General Havelock had reached Cawnpore with 2,000

soldiers. A week later an engagement took place, in which the Nana

suffered a crushing defeat, and at a second engagement the mutineers

were again defeated. The Nana, learning that Havelock would soon be

reinforced, ordered the captives to be killed. The few men who were

among the women and children were brought out and put to death in the

Nana's presence. A party of sepoys were then ordered to shoot the

women and children in the building in which they had been placed, but

the soldiers fired at the ceiling of the room. The Nana, being in a

rage at his men refusing to shoot the white women, ordered a party of

butchers to put an end to the captives, and a short time after

entering the house his orders had been carried out. Next morning all

the bodies were thrown in an adjoining well--since that time termed

the Massacre Well. This took place on July 15, 1857.

In the center of a beautiful garden a mound covers the well into which

the bodies of the 125 women and children were thrown. On the mound is

a memorial in the form of an octagonal Gothic screen, in the center of

which, on the actual well, is a white marble figure of the Angel of

the Resurrection, with arms across her breast, as if resigned to the

Almighty will, each hand holding a palm, the emblem of peace. Over the

arch is inscribed, "These are they which came out of great

tribulation." Indians, except park workers, are not allowed in the

Memorial Gardens. If they were, some of them might be taken to

hospitals from time to time, we fear, as Europeans feel bitter after

having visited the Massacre Well.