THE UNEXAMPLED LIBERALITY OF THE HOSTS
The Blanche, the elegant white steam-yacht of General Noury, which had
sailed in company with the Guardian-Mother from Aden, and which had
assisted in the rescue of the crew of the Travancore, had come into the
harbor of Bombay, and lay at anchor not half a mile from her consort. The
owner was a Moor of the highest rank, and a Mohammedan; and he had friends
in Bombay, though he had never been there before. He had written to them of
his intended visit, and they had taken possession of him on his arrival.
The general had been invited, with Captain and Mrs. Sharp, to join the
party of her consort in the business of sight-seeing; and Lord Tremlyn and
Sir Modava had united with Captain Ringgold in the invitation. The
commander of the Blanche had visited the party on shore; but he was engaged
in making some changes on board of his ship which required his attention.
The Mohammedan magnates had kept the general very busy, night and day, and
_fêted_ him like a king.
Lord Tremlyn had taken care of the engineers and other people of the
wrecked steam-yacht, and had treated everybody in a subordinate capacity
with princely liberality. He and his Indian associate were both
multi-millionaires, with fortunes inherited from their ancestors and other
relatives; and unitedly they had placed a large sum of money in the hands
of the captains of the two steamers, to be equitably distributed among
their ships' companies. Captain Ringgold remonstrated against this lavish
gift to his own people.
"It is a sailor's duty, and a large part of his religion, to assist those
in peril and distress on the sea, the poor and the rich alike, and I
dislike to have my men rewarded in money for a service of this kind," said
he rather warmly.
"It was the good Father in heaven who sent your ship to our aid when we
were perishing; but he works through human agencies, and I feel it to be a
solemn duty to recognize my obligations to those so providentially sent to
save us," replied his lordship, taking the hand of the commander with much
feeling in his tone and manner. "I shall never cease to be grateful to
Heaven for this interposition in my favor, and that of my companions; for
all of us were in the very jaws of death."
"I can understand your feelings, my Lord; but all my people, as well as
myself, may soon require the same service we have rendered to others, and I
desire to let what we have done be placed to our credit against the
possible debt of the future," added the captain.
"I shall feel better and happier when I have done, in connection with Sir
Modava, what I propose, and I beg you will withdraw your objections,"
persisted the viscount.
They argued the question for some time; but at last the commander yielded
the point. Every seaman, fireman, and waiter received five pounds, and
every officer a larger sum, in proportion to his rank, after the manner in
which prize-money is distributed on board of ships of war. The same
apportionment was made on board of both steamers, and Lord Tremlyn and Sir
Modava were most vigorously cheered by the two ships' companies.
Due notice had been given to Captain Sharp of the intention to sail for
Surat on Tuesday; and on the day before the cabin party of the Blanche,
which included Dr. Henderson, the surgeon of the ship, came to dine with
their friends at the Victoria Hotel. General Noury, who had been taking
leave of his Mussulman hosts, was attended by three of them, who were at
once invited by his lordship to join them at dinner, and the band of the
Blanche had been sent on shore for the occasion.
The general had been taken about the city and its vicinity by his host, and
they were anxious to retain him longer in Bombay. He was on excellent terms
with Lord Tremlyn, who, though a strict Churchman, was not a bigot; and his
connection with the affairs of India had brought him into intimate
association with men of all religions, and there were about thirteen
million Mohammedans in the Punjab.
His lordship renewed his invitation to the general to join the party who
were going across India, and he seemed to be inclined to accept it. His
Mussulman friends declared that he would be most cordially welcomed by all
the people of their faith, especially if attended by such excellent
Christian people; and they appeared to have none of the bigotry so often
found among the followers of the Prophet.
"I don't quite understand your plan, Captain Ringgold," said Captain Sharp.
"You go to Surat, and from there across the country;" for the conductors
had decided not to go to Kurrachee. "But what becomes of the ships?"
"The Guardian-Mother will proceed to Calcutta, as soon as we land, in
charge of Mr. Boulong," replied Captain Ringgold. "We shall join her
there."
The commander of the Blanche shook his head; and after some discussion he
declined to join the tourists, and his wife would not go without him.
Doubtless he had some strong reasons for his decision, though he did not
state them; but probably he had not as much confidence in his first officer
as Captain Ringgold had in Mr. Boulong. The question was settled that the
general should go, and he insisted that Dr. Henderson should go with him;
and with three physicians in the excursion they appeared to be provided for
any emergency.
The dinner was a very merry affair. The band played to the delight of all;
and one of the general's friends declared that they had no such music in
Bombay, to which he replied that he had engaged the best he could find in
Italy. The company retired to the parlor, and the band played on the
veranda for an hour longer. Some of the most distinguished of the civil and
military officers located in the city called at this hour by invitation of
the viscount, to pay their respects to the visitors; and Mrs. Blossom
declared that she was never so "frustrated" in all her life.
"I should like to take my band with me," said General Noury, when the
officials had all departed. "I am very fond of music, and I think it will
afford us all a great deal of pleasure; of course I mean at my own
expense."
"I beg your pardon, General Noury, but it must be at my expense,"
interposed Lord Tremlyn. "I was thinking myself what an addition it would
be to have such excellent music on our way, and I am sure it will add a
great deal to the earnestness of the welcome we shall everywhere receive.
As to the expense, I hope and beg that not another word will be said about
it. The entire party are the guests of Sir Modava and myself."
"I protest"--Captain Ringgold began.
"Pardon me, my dear Captain; you are all our guests, and protests are
entirely out of order," interposed Lord Tremlyn.
It was a very pleasant and friendly dispute that followed, and his lordship
had carried his point at the close of it. The commander had been to the
landlord, and asked for his bill; but the worthy Parsee informed him that
it had already been paid. He had remonstrated with the hosts; but they had
been inflexible. It was finally decided that nothing more should be said
about expense; for his lordship declared that it was a very disagreeable
subject to him. The captain believed that he was entirely sincere; and
though he had never encountered such extreme liberality before, he gave up
the point.
"You can tie your purse-strings with a hard knot, Uncle Moses, for you will
not have occasion to undo them again for a month," said Captain Ringgold.
"I don't quite like it."
"I don't know that I wonder at the generosity of our hosts," replied the
trustee, as he put his fat arm around the neck of Louis, who stood next to
him. "If this young man had been in the situation of Lord Tremlyn and Sir
Modava when you picked them up, I am very sure I should not have grumbled
if I had been called upon to disburse a sum equal to what this trip will
cost them, if they, or any one, had picked him up. There are two sides to
this question, Captain."
"Then you fight on the other side, though you hold the purse-strings," said
the commander.
"Would I give a hundred thousand dollars for saving Sir Louis's life? His
mother would give ten times that sum, and all the rest of the young man's
fortune. That is a matter about which we must not be mean; and the other
side take that view of it. I quite agree that not another word ought to be
said about expense," responded Uncle Moses, giving the young millionaire
another hug.
"Uncle Moses is not a bit like the miser that could not afford a candle at
his death-bed in the night," added Louis. "If they had done as much for us
as we have for them, I should be glad to take them all around the world,
and pay for an Italian band of music all the way."
"That's right, Sir Louis! Do as you would be done by," chuckled the
trustee.
"It just occurs to me, Captain Sharp," said the commander of the
Guardian-Mother, as the former was about to leave, "that there is no reason
for your going to Surat, for we can take the general, Dr. Henderson, and
the band along with us. You have a voyage of two thousand miles before
you."
"Which I can make in seven or eight days without hurrying," replied the
captain of the Blanche. "I could get to Calcutta before you do if I sailed
two weeks hence."
"Just as you please."
But General Noury seemed to like the idea of getting on board of the
Guardian-Mother even for a day, and adopted the suggestion of Captain
Ringgold.
"There is next to nothing to be seen at Surat, and we shall go from there
immediately to Baroda, on our way to Lahore," interposed Lord Tremlyn. "The
Maharajah of Gwalior is an old friend of Sir Modava, and I am well
acquainted with him. I have no doubt we shall be very hospitably treated
there, and that you will be introduced to many things that will interest
you. If Captain Sharp desires to see some Indian sports, he can go with us
to Baroda, stay a week, and then return to his ship here by railway."
"I like that idea, as my wife wishes to see a little more of India on
shore, though she does not wish to take the long journey you are to make,"
added Captain Sharp.
This plan was accepted, and the party separated. The next morning the
carriages conveyed them to the Apollo Bunder, and at seven o'clock the
Guardian-Mother was under way. The band was playing on the promenade, and
the party were taking their last view of Bombay and its surroundings.
Captain Sharp and his wife were on board. The three doctors formed a trio
by themselves, and were discussing jungle fever, which existed in the low
lands beyond Byculla.
The sea outside was smooth; and at four o'clock in the afternoon the
steamer was among the Malacca shoals, in the Gulf of Cambay, with a pilot
on board. She soon entered the Tapti River, fifteen miles from its mouth.
The band had scattered after the noonday concert, and the party took the
chairs in Conference Hall.
"I suppose you wish to know something about the places you visit, ladies
and gentlemen," said Lord Tremlyn, rising before them, and bowing at the
applause with which he was heartily greeted. "This is Surat, a hundred and
sixty miles north of Bombay, on the Tapti River, which you may spell with a
double _e_ at the end if you prefer. It has a population of a hundred
and ten thousand. It extends about a mile along this river, with the
government buildings in the centre.
"The streets are well paved, and the houses are packed very closely
together. There are four very handsome Mohammedan mosques here, so our
friend the general will have a place to go to on our Friday." The Mussulman
bowed, and gave the speaker one of his prettiest smiles. "The Parsees, of
whom a few families own half the place, are prominent in business, as in
Bombay; and they supply the most skilful mechanics, the liveliest clerks,
and the quickest boys in the schools. They have two fire-temples here. The
Hindus, especially the Buniahs and the Jains, are as prominent as in
Bombay. The city was founded before 1512; for then it was burned by the
Portuguese, who did it again eighteen years later.
"It had a very extensive commerce in its earlier years, and flourished on
its cotton trade during the American war. In 1811 it had a population of
two hundred and fifty thousand; but five and thirty years later it had less
than one-third of that; but has gained somewhat up to the present time.
Nearly a hundred years ago it was the most populous city of India. But I do
not propose to exhaust the subject, and now you may see for yourselves."
His lordship and the Hindu gentleman, since their liberality had been
whispered through the ship, were exceedingly popular, and both were warmly
applauded whenever they opened their mouths. The party found enough to
occupy their attention till the ship came to anchor, with its brass band in
full blast, off the public buildings. A steam-launch came off for the
passengers; for the hosts had written to every place they were to visit,
and carriages were in readiness for them when they landed.
They rode over the town after a collation at a clubhouse, and saw all that
was to be seen. They were quartered for the night at private residences,
and there was almost a struggle to know who should receive them.