India--Its People, Religion, Etc.--The Fertility of the Country--The
Climate--The Dwellings--Punkah--Costumes--Calcutta--Dalhousie
Square--Life in the Streets.
This is India, the wonderful land of the Hindoos. Africa had appeared
strange to us compared with Europe and America; Asia seemed still more
so. The Hindoos have a high and very old civilization, but entirely
different from that of Europe and America. The country is named after
the river Indus. It is hardly equal in area to one-half of the United
States, but contains a population of more than two hundred and
sixty-nine millions, eighty-one millions of whom are Mohammedans, one
hundred and ninety millions Brahmins, two millions Christians, three and
a half millions, Buddhists, Parsees or fire-worshipers, two millions
Sikhs, and the rest are Jews or adherents of unknown religions. Queen
Victoria of England is Empress of India, and the country is ruled in her
name by a viceroy. It is divided into three great presidencies, viz.,
Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, and these are again divided into a number of
districts and native principalities. In order to maintain her supremacy
in India, England keeps an army of about two hundred thousand regulars,
of whom a little over one-third are English and the rest natives; and
beside these there is a large militia and police force. Most of the
native soldiers hail from the mountain districts. The most prominent of
them belong to the Sikhs and Gourkas, two Indian nations. The Sikhs are
tall, stately fellows, in my opinion ideal soldiers for a standing army.
The Gourkas are smaller in stature, but very energetic and hardy; and
both are renowned for their courage and endurance. It is said that a
Gourka soldier would rather fight than eat, while a Sikh takes the
matter more philosophically, and eats first and then fights. All native
regiments are commanded by British officers, and a native seldom
attains the rank of a commanding officer,--not because he is incapable
of performing this duty, but rather because the English do not trust him
implicitly.
[Illustration: SIKH CAVALRY MAN.]
The bulk of the people belong to the Arian race, as we do; with the
exception of the complexion, which is a little darker, their features
are the same as ours. Occasionally a Hindoo may have red hair, but never
blonde hair and blue eyes. Comparing the higher and the lower classes,
the complexion of the former is lighter, and their bodies are better
built and statelier than those of the lower or laboring classes, who
also have a darker skin. The English language is used at the court and
in all official circles, and the men of the higher classes among the
natives speak and read English.
The plain of Bengal, in which Calcutta is situated, is triangular in
form, each side being about one thousand miles in length. It is bounded
by the Bay of Bengal, the Indian ocean, the Bay of Persia, and the
Himalaya mountains. The soil is very rich, and, having been cultivated
for thousands of years, it still produces two or three fair crops a year
without fertilization or proper cultivation. As the Nile in Egypt
deposits a rich sediment over its valley, so does the river Ganges carry
from the mountains a whitish, slimy silt, which it deposits during its
annual overflow in the plains of Bengal. This silt is a great
fertilizer, and thus nature supplies what poor husbandry fails to
provide.
It is not my intention to give a description of India and its wonderful
people, but simply to give some pen pictures of scenes and incidents
which came within the range of my observation and experience during the
year and a half which I stayed there. I shall therefore ask the reader
to follow me on my daily walks of life as well as to some of the fetes
and entertainments where I was a guest, and on my travels through the
wonderful country. I had a chance to come in contact with all classes,
as the rank to which my official position entitled me not only opened
the doors of the palaces and temples to me, but also paved my way to the
humblest houses.
[Illustration: STREET IN CALCUTTA.]
India has over five hundred cities. Of these Calcutta is the largest,
and has a population of about eight hundred thousand. It is called "the
city of palaces," but only certain portions of the city deserve that
name. Owing to the warm climate, the buildings in India, as in all other
warm countries, are low, seldom more than two stories high, and the
walls and roofs are very thick. The building material generally consists
of brick and cement, the roofs being mostly made of the latter. There
are verandas on the sides of the houses, and these, as well as the
windows, are protected by heavy Venetian blinds. In the evening the
doors and windows are thrown open so as to let in the cool night air,
but in the morning they are closely shut, so as to keep as much of it as
possible. Inside there are many contrivances for protecting the people
against the excessive heat. The most important of these is the punkah,
consisting of a wooden framework which is stretched with heavy canvass
and is about two and a half feet wide, and from ten to twenty feet long,
according to the size of the room. It is suspended from the ceiling, and
reaches down to the heads of people sitting on chairs. By means of
pulleys this punkah is kept in an oscillating motion by coolies
stationed in the back of the house or on the back porch, and it creates
such a pleasant breeze that one forgets all about the heat. Every room
or office in the houses of Europeans and Americans has its punkah, and
even the churches have a great number of them during the hot season.
From March till October the punkahs are kept in motion all night over
the beds of those who can afford the luxury of four "punkah walla"
(pullers); for it always takes two pullers for each punkah in the
day-time, and two others at night to relieve each other every hour or
two. Servants' wages are very low in India, and as the punkah walla
belongs to the lowest grade of servants his wages are only five rupees
($2.50) a month, and he must board himself as do all other servants.
The clothing which people wear also adds largely to their comfort. The
cooley, or common laborer, wears a long piece of cloth wrapped around
his waist and tucked up so as to resemble a short pair of drawers, and a
head gear somewhat resembling a turban; the breast, back, and upper
limbs being entirely naked. Both men and women of the better class of
natives have loose falling robes of jute, silk or cotton. Europeans
generally dress in white linen trousers and jackets, and it is only
toward evening when taking a drive near the public parks, or at night
while attending parties and receptions, that etiquette compells them to
put on the black dress suit. What strikes the newcomer most on his first
arrival in India is perhaps the great number of people that he meets and
sees. The cities are veritable bee-hives of moving crowds of people, and
the bazaars, shops, and dwellings resemble honey-combs, with their many
subdivisions, giving each man or group of men the smallest possible
space.
[Illustration: TYPES OF THE LOWEST CASTE.]
Sitting in my comfortable easy chair with my eyes closed, thinking of
the past, I now see a picture of a spot in Calcutta called "Dalhousie
Square," where I loved to walk in the cool evening shades. I wish I were
an artist and could paint the picture on canvas for my readers; but
since I am not I will try to describe it with the pen. Dalhousie square
is about twice the size of our ordinary city parks; it is laid out in
walks, flower beds and grass plots, and planted with flowers, shrubs and
trees of almost every imaginable kind; it is a perfect gem of a little
park. It is surrounded by a high iron railing, with gates at the four
corners, which are open in the day time. On one side of the park are the
new government office buildings, while the other sides are lined with
ordinary business houses, separated from the park by wide streets. The
principal one of these streets leads from the viceroy's palace up to the
native part of the city, and is generally frequented by a great number
of fine carriages, hacks, palanquin bearers, horsemen, and thousands of
pedestrians.
At one corner is a hack stand, with hacks just like our own; but instead
of our American hackdriver we find the native Jehu, or coachman, who,
while waiting for a customer, sits perched on the seat with his feet
drawn up under his body, engaged with needle and thread in sewing a
garment for himself or his wife, perhaps, or occupying himself with a
piece of embroidery or fine crochet work.
In front of yonder fine office building is seated a Durwan (doorkeeper),
who is a Brahmin or priest. He sits at that door or gate all day long,
and sleeps in front of it at night on his little bed, which resembles a
camp cot. Early in the morning he takes up his bed and walks with it to
the rear, where stands a little cookhouse in which he prepares his food
for the day, consisting chiefly of boiled rice and vegetables. Just now
he is reading aloud, and with a singing voice, from the Shastras (the
Hindoo Bible) to a crowd of listeners, who eagerly and reverently seize
on every word from the holy writings. Just behind me on a green spot in
the park a dozen or more Mohammedans lie prostrate, their foreheads
touching the ground, repeating their prayers; and if it happens to be at
the setting of the sun hundreds of people are seen in the streets,
shops, hotel corridors, or wherever they happen to be, turning their
faces toward the holy city Mecca, reverently kneeling and saying their
evening prayers.
Here on the side-walk, close by me, sits a money-changer and broker. He
has a box filled with coins of almost every kind and description; he
buys and sells gold and silver of other countries, such as are not
current in Calcutta, loans money on jewelry and other valuables, and
does a general banking business on a very small scale. There comes a
peddler,--more of them. Now they are crowding in by the hundred, selling
canes, parasols, embroideries, watches, jewelry, and trinkets of every
description, following the foot passengers, running beside the carriages
going at full speed, sticking their goods through the windows and
imploring the occupants to buy.
Going around to the more quiet side of the square, I find a professional
writer squatted on the side-walk. He has a bundle of dry palm leaves,
and a customer of the lowest Hindoo classes stands before him stating
what message he wishes to send to his wife and relatives in the country.
With a sharp steel instrument the writer inscribes some strange Bengal
letters on the palm leaf, folds it up into a little package which is
sent by a traveling neighbor, or, perhaps, by a swift messenger, to the
dear one in the humble cottage which stands somewhere out on the plain
among the rice fields.
A little further on sits a native barber, also on the side-walk.[5]
Instead of a barber's chair he has a common-sized brick. The man who is
to be shaved squats down opposite the barber; if the customer is the
shorter of the two the brick is put under his feet, but if he is taller
the barber puts the brick under his own feet, in order that they may be
on a perfect level before the operation begins. A Hindoo barber not
only shaves and cuts the hair, but also cleans the nails and ears and
does other toilet work.
[Footnote 5: The Hindoos never sit as we do, but squat on the ground and
rest the weight of the body on the heels.]
[Illustration: HINDOO BARBER.]
There I see two stately men walking arm in arm; they have fine cut, very
regular features, and beautiful black hair and beard; their intelligent
looks and easy carriage command attention; they wear japanned shoes,
snow white trousers, long white linen coats buttoned close to the chin,
and high black hats without brim. They are Parsees, descendants of the
ancient Persians and fire-worshipers, and probably merchants and men of
wealth. And there again I see a group of Asiatic Jews in skull caps and
long gowns,--keen, thoughtful and intelligent, without the slightest
change in manners, costumes, or features since the days of the Jews of
nineteen hundred years ago.
In the crowded street I suddenly hear a shout, and see two men running
with staffs in their hands, hallooing: "Stand aside, get out of the way,
you fellows! The Prince of Travancore is coming! Clear the road, get out
of the way!" Close on the heels of the runners is a magnificent carriage
drawn by four Arabian steeds. By the side of the driver sits a
trumpeter, who occasionally blows in a long horn to make known that the
great personage is coming. Inside is the prince, and behind the carriage
are four mounted soldiers, his body guard.
Just coming in sight around a street corner, turning up one of the
native streets, is a long line of ox-carts. They are loaded with cotton,
jute, hides, indigo, or other native products. They are very light, and
are drawn by a pair of Hindoo oxen no larger than a two-year-old heifer
of our cattle, but with fine limbs and a high hump over the shoulders.
They are yoked far apart, about the same way as in Sweden; but the
coolie driver sits close behind them and guides them by a twist of the
tail with his hand. Several palanquin-bearers are passing the square.
The palanquin is a long covered box attached to a long pole and carried
by four men, two at each end of the pole, which rests on their
shoulders. Inside the palanquin is perhaps a Hindoo merchant going to a
bazaar, or a couple of students going to the university, or maybe the
wife of some well-to-do native merchant on the way to the home of her
parents.
[Illustration: INDIGO CART.]
The trees in the park are all full of flowers, like the tulip tree and
the chestnut in bloom. Innumerable birds of gay colors flutter among the
branches of the trees, and on the roofs of the highest houses we
discover a couple of the so-called adjutant birds, a species of stork,
which stand like sentinels on guard watching the thousands of ravens
that hover over the city ready to dive for any garbage that may be
thrown out into the street or alley. Formerly, these were the only
scavengers in the cities of India. A dozen coolies who are almost naked
are seen running among the carriages sprinkling water on the streets
from goat skins, to keep the dust down.
There comes a family procession of the lower class with a basket of
bananas and wreaths of flowers going to the river Ganges to offer
sacrifices and enjoy an evening bath in the open river. Early every
morning thousands upon thousands may be seen in the streets bent on a
similar errand. Men from Cashmere, Afghanistan, China, Arabia, Thibet,
etc., are seen in the throng, dressed in their native costumes. It is a
strange and beautiful picture to look at for a little while. I have
described only a small portion of it, for fear of tiring the reader.
[Illustration: HINDOO MERCHANTS.]