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FROM THE BLACK SEA

THROUGH

Persia and India

BY
EDWIN LORD WEEKS

ILLUSTRATED BT TBE AUTHOR

NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1896

PEEFACE

These preliminary lines of explanation are only to show
why this journey was undertaken at such an unfortunate
moment, and that there was some underlying method in
its apparent madness. When the route was first mapped
out, it was our intention to follow the line of the Trans-
Caspian Kailway to Samarcand, and thence to Herat, and
through Afghanistan to India. But the political situation
and the civil war in Afghanistan rendering such a trip
hazardous, we decided to take the trans-Persian direction,
and to enter Persia near Meshed.
As Mr. Theodore Child's well-known work on Eussia
had made him favorably known in official circles, the
Eussian government had kindly offered us every facility
in passing through its territory. With the permission
from the War Department to visit Central Asia came an
urgent telegram from the American legation at St. Pe
tersburg, advising us not to go on account of the cholera,
which, after devastating Meshed, had left Persia and in
vaded the Eussian provinces. We were then leaving for
Constantinople by the Gamboge, and finding that she
would not proceed to Batoum, by reason of quarantine,
we were again forced to change our route. This time we
elected to follow the old caravan road from Trebizond, on

Vill PREFACE
the Black Sea, to Tabreez, through the mountains of Kur
distan, that country of indefinite boundaries.
In short, there was no other route left open to us ; we
must either turn back, or, setting our faces forward, head
straight for the Persian "frontier, five hundred miles away,
and we decided to go on.
Edwin Lord Weeks.

CONTENTS

PAGE
BY CARAVAN FROM TREBIZOND TO TABREEZ  1
FROM TABREEZ TO ISPAHAN  44
FROM ISPAHAN TO KURRACHEE  92
LAHORE AND THE PUNJAUB .  147
A PAINTER'S IMPRESSIONS OF RAJPOOTANA  195
OUDEYPORE, THE CITY OF THE SUNRISE  249
NOTES ON INDIAN ART  306
HINDOO AND MOSLEM  346
RECENT IMPRESSIONS OF ANGLO-INDIAN LIFE  391

ILLUSTBATIONS

PAGE
EDWIN LORD WEEKS (Photogravure)  Frontispiece
CAMEL CARAVAN BY MOONLIGHT  3
IN THE TEA GARDEN  5
ACCIDENT JUST BEFORE BAIBOURT .  11
INTERIOR OF CAFE AT BAIBOURT  13
CAMEL'S HEAD AND TRAPPINGS  '  17
WATERING HORSES ON THE EUPHRATES — NOONDAY  21
ENTERING TAYA PASS .  25
IRRIGATION CANAL AND ARMENIAN GIRL  . . 27
MOUNT ARARAT  . 28
KURDISH SHEPHERD   . . 31
PERSIAN GUARD  33
A CHOLERA INCIDENT NEAR KHOI . . .  38
EARLY MORNING  SHORE OF LAKE URUMIYAH  41
PERSIAN MOTHER AND CHILD . .  45
INTERIOR OF BAZAAR AT TABREEZ .  51
LOADING THE PACK-HORSES — SUNRISE .  53
HADJI THE CHAVADAR AND HIS ARAB STEED  56
OUR TENT AT NIGHT ....  58
PACKING BAGGAGE BEFORE SUNRISE  63
THE SHAH'S HIGHWAY . . . .  66
GRAIN MARKET, TEHERAN  70
THE BOULEVARD DES AMBASSADEURS, TEHERAN  • 72
PEOPLE WE MEET BY THE WAY  75
THE BATHING-TANK OF THE CARAVANSARY  LATE AFTERNOON  77
SILVER DOOR OF THE COLLEGE OF ISPAHAN .  81
PUL-I-KHAJU BRIDGE, ISPAHAN   85
ENTRANCE TO THE GRAND BAZAAR AT ISPAHAN  87
THEODORE CHILD   90

ILLUSTRATIONS

ON THE " CHEHAR BAGH," ISPAHAN . . .
LOWERING LUGGAGE FROM THE HOUSE-TOP AT DAWN
QUARANTINE GUARD AT DEHGADU
MOSQUE DOOR AT SHIRAZ .
CARAVANSARY AT SHIRAZ .
GARDEN AT SHIRAZ  SUNSET . .
CARAVANSARY OF MIAN-KOTAL . .
THE PASS OF THE DAUGHTER .
UNDER THE AWNINGS . . .
BOATS SEEN FROM THE DECK .
HORSES ON DECK .
ON THE BEACH AT LINGAH
BLACK SIRENS OF MUSCAT . ....
MUSCAT FROM THE HOUSE-TOPS  SUNSET . .
GATE OF THE MOSQUE VAZIR KHAN
PUNJAUBI INFANTRY.
GOING TO THE REVIEW . .
A LAHORE STREET — MORNING . .
AN OPEN-AIR RESTAURANT, LAHORE . .
CARVED BALCONIES ....
MINARET OF THE MOSQUE VAZIR KHAN ....
TAILOR'S APPRENTICE, LAHORE . . .
TAILOR SHOP, LAHORE 
DYER'S SHOP .... ... . .
COURT OF THE MOSQUE VAZIR KHAN .
STEPS OF THE MOSQUE VAZIR KHAN . . .
ENTRANCE TO THE GOLDEN TEMPLE OF AMRITSAR
FLOWER-SELLERS IN THE GOLDEN TEMPLE . .
SCHOOL OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE . .
WATCHING THE TRAIN ... .
PALACE WINDOWS, JODHPORE ....
CASTLE OF THE RAJAHS OF JODHPORE . . .
FIRST-CLASS COMPARTMENT ON THE ROAD TO BIKANIR
THIRD-CLASS PASSENGERS
AT A WAY STATION NEAR BIKANIR . . .
PALACE OF THE RAJAH OF BIKANIR
MARKET-PLACE, BIKANIR
STREET IN BIKANIR .
FEEDING THE SACRED PIGEONS, JEYPORE
CHEETAH AND KEEPER, JEYPORE . .
ELEPHANT'S HEAD, JEYPORE .

PAGE 95 98
103111 115
117 120123130
134 137
139141144151 155159163170 173
176 178179182184187189191193
201205213
221 225 228
231233236239
241
243

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGK
COURT OF THE PALACE OF AMBER, JEYPORE . . .... 245
PALACE OF THE MAHARAJAH OF GWALIOR, SCINDIA . . . . . 247
MAIL-CARRIER AND GUARD   251
STEPS OF THE TEMPLE . . . .  256
STREET AND PAINTED HOUSES . . . .  '. 258
CASTLE OF THE RAN AS OF OUDEYPORE . ... . . 261
CASTLE AND PALACE FROM ACROSS THE LAKE . .... 263
A TILED WINDOW IN THE PALACE . . . 265
THE MARBLE STEPS  PICHOLA LAKK . . ... 269
ISLAND OF JUG NAVAS . . ...... 272
ELEPHANTS DRINKING, PICHOLA LAKE . . . 275
ON THE ISLAND OF JUG MUNDER ... ... ... 279
JUG MUNDER  THE LANDING . . . . .281
BOY DECORATING IDOL WITH FLOWERS ... . . 283
IN THE BAZAAR, OUDEYPORE  .  285
RAI META PANNA LAL, PRIME-MINISTER  . 287
FATEH LAL MEHTA, OF OUDEYPORE, IN COURT DRESS ... . . 291
THE MAHARANA . . ... .... . . 293
JUGGLER WITH TRAINED MONKEYS  ... 299
FRIEZE OF ELEPHANTS AT CHITOR . . . . . . . 303
UPPER GALLERIES OF HINDOO HOUSE OF CARVED AND PAINTED WOOD . . 308
WINDOW IN THE PALACE OF AMBER, SHOWING MARBLE LATTICE AND INLAID
GLASS DECORATION  . . 311
DOORWAY OF THE MOSQUE OF PURANA KELA, NEAR DELHI . 314
GATEWAY OF MOSQUE, FUTTEHPORE-SIKRI . . . . . 315
SHAH JEHAN . .... . . . ... . . 317
THE TAJ MAHAL . .  .  319
THE TAJ MAHAL, FROM ACROSS THE JUMNA . . .  321
THE JUMNA MUSJID, DELHI ... ...  . . 325
WINDOWS IN OLD DELHI  .... . ... 328
TEAK-WOOD DOORWAY, AHMEDABAD ...  331
WINDOW OF QUEEN'S MOSQUE, AHMEDABAD ... . 333
SCULPTURE AROUND THE DOORWAY OF A TEMPLE, MUTTRA (MODERN) . . 334
STONE BRACKETS AT MUTTRA  . . 335
VISTA IN THE NEW ART MUSEUM, LAHORE . . ... . . 337
CARVED WOOD BRACKET AND CAPITAL, BOMBAY . . . . . 339
BALCONY OF THE PALACE OF THE SETHS, AJMEER . . . . ... 340
IN THE COURT OF THE PALACE OF THE SETHS, AJMEER . . . 343
HINDOOS AT A VILLAGE WELL . .  . . 349
THE MULLA  ....  353
HINDOO AND MOSLEM BARBERS  . . . 355

xn ILLUSTRATIONS PAGK
HINDOO WOMEN, SUBURBS OF BOMBAY  35"
SNAKE-CHARMER   361
BKLOOCHEE    364
AFGHAN .  365
PUBLIC LETTER-WRITER, LAHORE  369
FAKIR, TWILIGHT .  372
A FAKIR, BENARES . . . ... ...  375
YOUNG NAUTCH GIRL . .  ... 378
FAKIRS AT BENARES. . . .  . . . 381
FEAST OF GANESHA, BENARES . .  . . 384
NAUTCH DANCER   387
THE FORT, BOMBAY, FROM MALABAR HILL  . . . 392
CHOTA HAZRI . . ....  . . 394
THE CHUPRASSI ....  397
PUNKAH WALLAH  . . 399
SUNSET FROM MY WINDOW  401
THE KHANSAMAH  405
THE GARDEN-PARTY — SUNSET   409
UNDER THE PUNKAH OF THE YACHT CLUB ....  415
THE POLO-MATCH, FROM THE MESS-TENT .  423
MODERN FIRE-WORSHIPPERS .  427
MARKETING, SAHARANPORE . .  ... 431
THE TEMPTERS  4.35

EKOM THE BLACK SEA
THEOUGH PERSIA AND INDIA

BY CAKAVAN FROM TREBLZOND TO TABREEZ
Trebisond, July 22, 1892. — A blue bay, calm and peace
ful, lies before us as we look out from under the awnings
of the Camboge, and the city, a compact mass of white and
yellow masonry, rises in terraces along the shore. An
amphitheatre of barren hills encircles the bay. We are
rowed to the custom-house ; and Artemis, the Armenian
dragoman, whom we had engaged at Constantinople, has
been instructed to save us trouble at any expense. An
ancient Turk, who has been detailed to burrow into our
bags and boxes, mercifully ignores the fire-arms and cart
ridges, but pounces at once on Murray's hand-books for
Bengal and the Punjaub, and Adams's Cable Codex, which
he scrutinizes severely. The printed page in an unknown
language is considered by the Ottoman official to be
fraught with peril to the peace of all true believers.
These suspicious volumes are detained for the examina
tion of the censor, but were kindly returned to ns on the
following day, duly indorsed on their fly - leaves, to the
effect that nothing detrimental to the religion of Moham
med had been found.
At last we are allowed to pass through the ponderous
inner gate, and joyfully follow the porters carrying our
baggage, who are struggling up the roughly paved street
towards the little hotel. This hotel is kept by Greeks ;
and the vine-shaded stoop, reached by a steep flight of
steps on each side, is not uninviting.

2 A CENTRE OF TRAFFIC
Trebizond is a city of some thirty thousand inhabitants.
Persia begins here, practically if not politically, and the
road from Trebizond, through Erzeroum, to Tabreez, or
Tauris, the largest city in Persia, is undoubtedly the oldest
caravan route in the world. All the merchandise from the
north of Persia to western Europe and England passes
over it, and the return traffic is equally important. The
time of transit is rather uncertain. We were told in
Tabreez that it often took three months from Persia to
the Black Sea by camel caravans, which usually travel by
night, and rest during the day. When they reach a grassy
nook, or fertile hollow high among the hills, the beasts are
unloaded and turned out to pasture, while the drivers
light their camp-fires and brazen samovars under roughly
extemporized shelters of rugs and hempen mats, erected
among the square bales of merchandise packed at Tabreez
or Teheran.
The main bazaar of Trebizond, which is interesting on
account of the variety of its products from the East and
the far West, has one long artery partly roofed over, and
some narrower parallel veins of commerce straggling up
and down the hill ; it is particularly rich in the embroid
ered bags and saddlery and the roughly picturesque mule
trappings of Asia Minor and Kurdistan. Here, too, are
weapons of every description, from the silver-hilted pistols
and swords left by the Kurdish cavaliers, to the latest
Martini and Winchester rifles. The genuine Smith &
Wesson revolver is not rare, but more frequently still is
the clever imitation made in Russian workshops
In the centre of the town is a small park-like enclosure,
much frequented by resident Persians as a tea-garden, and
nothing stronger than effervescent lemonade is sold there.
Near by are several great caravansaries with court-yards
where the " arabas " and other quaint vehicles f " the

CAMEL CARAVAN BY MOONLIGHT

4 A MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE
interior are put up. A winding road bordered by pleas-j
ant gardens and cemeteries with venerable black cypresses
leads to the hills high above the bay. Down this road
come the Kurdish horsemen and the long camel trains led
by flat-faced and ruddy Tartar drivers, their sunburnt
cheeks shaded by shaggy peaked caps of camel's-hair or
sheepskin. The leading camel, always a majestic brute, ;
carries his head proudly aloft, decorated with a ponderous J
mass of colored tassels and jingling bells.
A favorite resort in the late afternoon is a little Persian
tea-garden by the road-side, looking down on the harbor
and the distant town. The view is like a vignette, framed
by trellises with vine leaves and the drooping fronds of
the weeping-willow. Pink rhododendrons and white-
flowering shrubs are set in moss-covered pots and boxes.
A rude projecting balcony, higher up, over the shrubbery,
is frequented by Turks, whose turbaned heads cut like
black silhouettes against the pale orange of the evening
sky. Only tea is served here, and the waiters are two
Persian boys, who bring it in small glass cups, together
with burning coals in metal trays, for the kalyans and
cigarettes of the loungers at the little round tables. A
row of distant and slender cypresses of inky blackness is
pencilled against the sky.
July 23d. — The strange little table d'hote at the hotel
is filled at the dinner hour by a company of Levantines
and Greeks. All wear the fez. My neighbor, a burly
sunburnt man, is relating in French a recent adventure
among the mountains beyond Erzeroum. He was sleep
ing at night in a hut, when five armed Kurds entered
through the window, bound him hand and foot and car
ried off his money, clothing, and other belongings. Al
though this narrative is addressed to a young Greek at tlie
end of the table, it is not lost on the two strangers who

IN THE TEA-GARDEN

had planned this cam
paign at the Cafe
Americain, and matured
it definitely in the up
roar of the Casino. It
is needless to say that
the Kurds were not tak
en into account. They look blankly at each other, and
think of the rouleaux of napoleons, of sovereigns, and the
precious packages of five-pound notes and roubles which
they hope to carry safely through Kurdistan and over the
Persian border. The victim of this midnight aggression
proves to be an English subject in the employ of the Otto
man tobacco monopoly, which fact may have had some
thing to do with his misfortune. When he finds that we
have the same mother-tongue, he offers us much frank
and sound advice, urging us particularly not to sleep in
tents beyond Erzeroum. As he usually passed the night
in village huts or in road-side " khans," he had invented

6 OUR SLEEPING-TENT
an insect-proof sleeping-tent, constructed of white muslin,
shaped like a long cube, at least three yards in length and
two in height. When in use, this tent is suspended from
the ceiling or walls by a cord at each corner, so that the
bottom lies upon the floor. The entrance is a round hole
at one end, with a long sleeve-like funnel, through which
he who would sleep in peace wriggles in, letting the
sleeve drop behind him. It is an admirable invention,
and we order a pair of them.
With the advice and assistance of the consular drago
man we lay in a stock of liquors and canned provisions
for emergencies. Two means of conveyance are open to
us from Trebizond to Erzeroum — either a train of pack-
horses and mules, or an araba, which will carry all our
baggage, and in which our dragoman and cook can sleep.
We decide upon the latter, but we should have lost less
time had we taken pack-horses.
An araba, it should be explained, is a great lumber
ing tented wagon, much lighter than it appears to be, and
not unlike an American " prairie schooner." The best
arabas are built in Eussia. The cart has four wheels,
but no springs ; the sides slope inward from above, and
the tail projects backward beyond the hooped tent which
covers the forward part. The four horses are harnessed
abreast to a single long pole. This vehicle seems at first
sight to be rudely and clumsily constructed, but upon
examination it will be found that the toughest wood and
the best iron and steel only are employed. This cart will
stand any amount of rough usage, and the threatening
perils through which ours passed unscathed are almost
beyond belief. It is not easy to give the faintest notion
of the roads, if roads they can be called, over which our
arabas labored with ever-increasing vicissitudes and as
we approached the soaring passes near the boundary of

PERSIAN ARABAS 7
Persia they rolled and thundered over the rocks, straining
and pitching like ships in foul weather. Let the reader
imagine a heavy array wagon, laden with baggage and
men, dragged by four horses over the higher passes of the
Alps — not over macadamized roads, such as the Simplon,
but over mule tracks like the Grimsel Pass, and sometimes
as high as the Dent-du-Midi — and then over sections of
road partly destroyed by landslides and heavy rains, and
down the slippery banks of rivers or the beds of mountain
torrents. Imagine these passes of six, seven, or nine thou
sand feet in height to occur not once or twice only, but
day after day and week after week, through the wilder
ness of mountains south of Ararat and along the borders
of Kurdistan. We once rode a hundred yards in the
araba down the bed of a river, and the sensation was
like that of being tossed in a blanket. It is hardly neces
sary to say, then, that our luggage suffered far more from
the endless grating and grinding of each package against
its neighbor than if it had been packed on horses. We
had brought our saddles from Paris, and secured fairly
good horses for ourselves. The staff consists of Artemis,
the dragoman ; Diamante, the cook, a native of Trebizond ;
the driver of the araba, a crusty and superstitious old
Persian ; and a younger man, part owner of the horses,
with one or two supernumeraries.
As soon as our various chests, packages, and the tents
are placed in the wagon the rear is filled up and fenced
in with the musty old pack-saddles of the horses, to be
used on their return journey. After all our later expe
riences of pack-saddles I can remember none that were
as malodorous as this first instalment, and we could not
but pity the dapper dragoman who was compelled by
perverse fate to leave the flesh-pots of Pera and eat,
drink, and sleep in this tainted atmosphere.

8 A SPECIMEN ROAD
Everything is ready at last, passports are covered with
numerous visas in Turkish and Persian, and our stock of
provisions stowed in the cart. The driver cracks his
whip, and the procession winds slowly up the hill in the
noonday heat. There had been heavy rains a few days
before, and the roads were reported to be in bad con
dition. Two hours from Trebizond we reach a stretch of
deep mire. The men go on in front to reconnoitre, and
conclude to drive ahead ; the horses sink deeper as they
advance, the mud reaches their girths, and the wagon
wheels are buried to the hubs. Blows and kicks avail noth
ing, and the poor animals soon cease to struggle. Then
the baggage is taken out and carried to a place of safety,
and some laborers are found who dig out a passage with
their shovels. A mule train coming in the opposite di
rection is even in a worse plight ; one heavily laden don
key is only kept from sinking out of sight by his broad
pack - saddle ; an old worn - out horse, after hopelessly
floundering close to the bank where the mud is deepest,
resigns himself to his fate, tormented on one hand by
showers of blows and kicks, and on the other by clouds
of flies which settle on his face, the only visible portion.
But all are rescued after heroic efforts, and a few hours
further on this scene is partly repeated, but we extricate
ourselves with less difficulty.
Djevizlik, July 24-th. — A small neat village, with a
long main street lined by houses with widely projecting
eaves, a cafe or two, and a small khan or rest-house.
All day we follow the road, now dry and dusty, along
the side of a deep valley, far above the stream, which we
cross by a bridge at daybreak. We look down on highly
cultivated slopes, sunny vineyards, and up to the forest-
clad heights on either side. The clustered white houses
of the villages, and the tin-roofed bell-towers of Arme-

A COUNTRY DANCE 9
nian churches and convents, sparkling in the sunlight,
recall in a measure the Val d'Aosta, and the Val Sava-
ranche. TascKkewpreu, July 25th. — Here we halt for the night,
quite in the heart of this Turkish Switzerland. Mounting
a rickety wooden staircase from the road, we unpack our
belongings in the small but clean guest-room of the
khan. From a raised platform built against the rail
ing of the veranda we watch the arrival of the other
four arabas and the unloading of their freight of home
ward-bound Persians as they draw up in the street below.
These travellers settle themselves on the green turf,
along the whitewashed wall of a low house adjoining
the khan, and spread out all their paraphernalia of rugs
and blankets, samovars, and copper pots. Wreaths of
mist which have been accumulating in the valley below
now settle among the pine-clad slopes above us, and a
gray twilight envelops all. Fires flash out along the
street ; there is a sound of sizzling and frying, with the
attendant odors. The horses are picturesquely grouped
in circles around the hempen trays attached to the poles
of the wagons, in which their barley is supplied. After
the culinary functions are over, the drivers and some of
the pilgrims organize a sort of country dance. All stand
in a row, one or two of them sing a monotonous chant,
agitating their handkerchiefs, while the rest beat time
with their feet. Several of the spectators seated along
the stone wall which borders the road are roughly but
good-naturedly dragged up and made to take part in the
performance. July 26th. — Our road still ascends through magnificent
forests with towering beeches, poplars, and evergreens.
Streams of water cross the road, and there is a dense and
tangled growth in the deep ravines below. Sometimes

10 MID-DAY REST
we are blockaded by trains of little ox -carts carrying
timber. The wooden trucks of these carts when in mo
tion keep up a monotonous shrieking and groaning which
can be heard a mile away. Squads of Turkish infantry
occasionally pass, on their way to the interior. At a turn
of the road the forest ceases, and we come at once upon
a country of ochre-tinted, glaring hills, sparsely dotted
with stunted evergreen shrubs. We halt at mid-day on a
high, bare ridge. A fresh breeze blows straight in our
faces from the line of snow -streaked ridges a day's jour
ney beyond us. Henceforward these snow-spotted heights
are always in sight, but never by any chance do we
reach them. The landscape is severe and monotonous,
but there is variety within its monotony. We descend
steep hill-sides shaded by scattered pines. The sun burns
fiercely ; at times a boisterous wind envelops us in
clouds of dust ; this is almost a relief, as it helps us to
resist the ever -increasing drowsiness. There are places
where the yellow cliffs behind us reflect an overpowering
glare, and we ride through a stratum of heated air like
the breath of a furnace. Yet the pocket - thermometer
held on the saddle seldom shows more than 105° Falir.,
save in these exceptional spots. The nights at this eleva- !
tion are almost invariably fresh and cool.
Erqui, July 27th. — To-day an accident nearly led to
the utter wrecking of the araba and its contents, and
one of the horses is so badly injured that we shall have to
replace him at the next town. We enter a series of deep
and narrow ravines, with walls of no great height, but
rocky and savage in character. The road, narrow and
rudely built, passes in one place under an overhanging
cliff on the left, and some fifteen feet below on the other
side, lies the channel of a torrent. There is not room for
the four horses to past abreast, and scarcely room for the

"'V>„

breadth of the araba, but
the men urge their beasts on,
with shouts and blows. The
outermost horse falls over
the ledge, and hangs sus
pended by the bit and one or
two straps which have not
parted, vainly struggling to
find a foothold on the slid
ing soil. The road caves in
and crumbles away under the feet of the second horse, and
he, too, is dragged down. Then the men in the cart throw
their weight on the inner side, which restores its balance,
and cutting loose the fallen horse, manage to rescue the

ACCIDENT JUST BEFORE BAIBOURT

12 A TYPICAL CARAVANSARY
second. The poor brute which fell first is badly cut and
bruised. Baibourt, July 28th. — We enter this city in a whirl
wind of yellow dust. A steep and tawny ridge of rock
rises above it, bearing like a crest the irregular broken
walls and flanking towers of an ancient citadel, presuma
bly of Byzantine origin. Following in the wake of the
Persian arabas, we reach the lofty entrance of a greats
caravansary. The carts are driven under the arch into a
dark and foul-smelling stable. A steep and narrow stair
way takes us to an upper guest-room of the khan. Here
we find high clay platforms on three sides, divided by
low railings into sleeping compartments, carpeted with
straw matting, suggestively dingy; a clay fireplace occu
pies one end, but our cooking is done outside in the passage.
Half-way down the dark and unswept stairs a door opens
into the common guest-room and cafe combined. Our
fellow-travellers have grouped themselves picturesquely
on the wide platforms. The drivers and muleteers are
mending their multicolored rags, and the great brass
samovars are steaming over the fireplaces. The picture
has the rich and bituminous tone of a Teniers, but the
high, peaked fur caps are more suggestive of Eussia or
Siberia than of Holland. As Baibourt is a garrison town,
a Turkish gendarme soon makes his appearance, and
hangs about while our baggage is being unpacked. When
we go out to see the town he is our guide, and in one of
the covered bazaars, roofed with sticks, tattered patches
of awning, cobwebs, and filthy straw mats, we come to
a cafe with a ram -shackle wooden gallery, which we
reach by means of a tottering stairway. From this
elevated station we look down on the market-place and
the moving crowd through a haze of dust and flying
straw, which partially veils the view of the yellow ridges.

INTERIOR OF CAFE AT BAIBOURT

14 VOICES OF THE NIGHT
above. Two more police officers of higher rank saunter
in and partake of our coffee and cigarettes. They ask
many questions of our dragoman, and looking at our hand-
cameras, insinuate, but with perfect courtesy, that these
forbidden weapons are not to be used here. This official
warning comes too late, however, for the gallery and the
two officers themselves already figure among our souve
nirs of Baibourt. Here let me add that we never had
reason to complain of rudeness on the part of these func
tionaries, but they gave us a deal of trouble, nevertheless.
I was not prepossessed by our quarters for the night at
the khan, and ordered my sleeping-tent to be hung up on
the trembling wooden balcony which jutted over the sta
ble door. Half the town assembled in the street below
to look up at my preparations for retirement. My camp-
bed was first taken inside and unfolded, and as the candle
within made a huge transparency of the tent, the elabo
rate gymnastics shadowed upon the walls must have been
vastly entertaining, judging from the deep murmurs and
grunts of satisfaction. The night was far from peaceful,
however. The noise and uproar of the bazaar continued
till a late hour ; two fleas had found an entrance some
where, and Keating's powder had no terrors for them.
The effluvium of the stable below rose through the cracks
in the floor ; an injured puppy lamented plaintively all
through the night, and there were catcalls, and occasion
ally the ear-piercing howls of a pack of street dogs hunt
ing down an intruder to the death. Eising above all, the
long-drawn groans and shrill shrieks of distant ox-carts.
When my candle was extinguished I could see that my
neighbor, a shop-keeper opposite, was also a sufferer from
insomnia; he had lit his lamp, and crooned to himself
with the wailing cadences of his race. When the morn
ing light appeared we felt that many more such nights

SULPHUR SPRINGS 15
would be sorely , trying, and we inwardly resolved to
keep to the tent and the open country in future, come
what might. The debatable border-land of Kurdistan is
still some days distant.
Ilidja, July 31st. — A straight and dusty road over a
plain leads to this village, which is famous for its warm
sulphur springs, with bathing establishments, frequented
by the upper ten of Erzeroum. These springs ooze from
the ground and spread out into marshy pools in the centre
of the village. Erzeroum is visible high up on the flank
of a range of mountains, a white speck near the patches
of snow.
Erzeroum, August 1st. — The gateway of this fortified
stronghold is protected by a moat and drawbridge, and
earth-works apparently of modern construction. There
are sentries on the ramparts above. The first impression
of the town is not seductive. Low stone huts, with their
supply of winter fuel — cakes of dried dung — stacked in
black pyramids about the doors, uneven paths where the
dust lies deep, or rises in clouds to mingle with the pun
gent smoke of the morning fires. Far above, on our
right as we enter, rises a desolate range of moutains, and
the rare patches of snow descend nearly to the level of
the town. On the left, to the eastward, rises a hill with
a battery on its summit, which commands the approaches
on all sides. As we draw near to the heart of the city
we pass the place of slaughter, environed by gory mire,
where the carcasses of slain animals are suspended on
poles and scaffoldings. There are many well- stocked
European shops with supplies of all kinds, and the ba
zaars where old saddlery, weapons, and rugs are sold are
uncommonly rich in bric-a-brac, which is not for us, how
ever, with our long route to the Persian Gulf stretching
before us. We are taken to a high four-storied build-

16 PERSIAN RED-TAPE
ing, with a billiard-room and cafe under Persian manage
ment at the top. The place is not repulsive outwardly,
but it proves to be a noisome den within, and there is
no other shelter available at present. We had a brief
interview with the chief of the custom-house, who al
lowed us, under protest, to have our luggage unloaded
at the hotel. He seems to have repented his leniency,
however, and soon sends a subordinate after us, who in
sists upon prying into our boxes, but with a little diplo
macy he is persuaded to refrain.
Upon arriving at any town, the first step is always
to have our passports examined, and as the consul is
absent, his dragoman undertakes to make the necessary
arrangements. He at once finds something wrong in our
dragoman's passport, which gives him permission to go
as far as Yan only, but not to cross the frontier into
Persia. Now Yan is not on our route, but far to the
southward. This passport was made out at Constanti
nople under consular supervision, and the Consul-General
had been most carefully informed as to our projected:
route. It seems that all Armenians are regarded with
suspicion just now on account of a plot agamst the Turkish
authority, recently discovered, in which many of their
leading men were implicated. On the next morning the
consular dragoman, in order to explain the state of af
fairs, visited the Yali, or military governor,, who, being,
an orthodox Turk of the old school, was rather a diffi
cult man to deal with. In the afternoon we were told
that matters were going on well, and that the Yali had
promised his signature.
August 2d.— In the course of our rambles about the
town this morning we visited the palace of the governor,
a large yellow -washed barrack without interest, and
called upon the chief of police, a tall soldierly man, who

LIMITED HOSPITALITY

17

received us with frank cordiality, and was lavishly hospit
able to the extent of cigarettes and coffee.
Erzeroum was once a Persian capital, and there are still
some remains of that epoch : a mosque with two slender
minarets on either side of a narrow pointed arch ; the
entire structure, although ruinous, is rich with carved
stone-work and brilliant tiles ; and near it stands a ba
silica-like building rather Byzantine in character, as well
as the remains of an old fortress and citadel. There is
a large Persian quarter, where the people sit on little

CAMEL'S HEAD AND TRAPPINGS

18 OFFICIAL VACILLATION
stools along the shady side of the street, with their glass .»{
cups of tea and bubbling kalyans.
This is the first day of the great annual festival of
Hassan and Houssein, which is honored throughout all
Mussulman Asia. A procession with banners, and flagel- 1
lants smiting their bared breasts, passes the hotel. In
the afternoon the consular dragoman appears with an
air of hopeless dejection, and says that the Yali, at the
last moment, had refused to indorse our dragoman's pass
port, and that our new friend the chief of police, who had
discussed our projects with us in his lame but sym- :
pathetic French, had advised him not to sign that docu
ment. The prospects of getting away from Erzeroum
now began to look desperate. It would be next to im
possible to find another interpreter, or indeed any sort
of a substitute. Our unhappy dragoman, who had been
much depressed since his arrival, now showed unmistak
able signs of bodily fear, and begged us tearfully not to
desert him. Even should he succeed in crossing the
frontier with us, he dared not return alone without his
passport, and would be liable ,, to arrest by any Turkish
subaltern, with, a prospect of imprisonment and the chain-
gang. But one alternative seemed open to us, one last
chance. We concluded to demand an interview of the
Yali, through the authority of the consulate in the person
of its dragoman, and should he grant us an audience, to
make the most of our slight official position, and insist on
our dragoman's passport in order that we might arrive at
Teheran, where we were expected by the legation at a
certain date. Our official go-between shook his head
dubiously over this proposition, but promised to do his
best, with the air of one who is about to stake his all on
a forlorn hope. During the interval of suspense we visit
the Persian consul, to have our papers put in order for

CHEERFUL PROSPECTS 19
Persia, and to draw up a contract with the chavadars,*
whom we expect to engage for the journey to Tabreez.
A young Greek merchant, to whom we bring letters of
introduction, receives us in a handsomely decorated tent
behind his house. At the breakfast which follows the
French consul is present, and a few other Europeans drop
in. Nothing can exceed their kindly and sympathetic
interest in our projects, but it is evident that they regard
our plan of reaching Persia by this route as an almost
hopeless wild-goose chase. A company of Persians who
came with us from Trebizond in an araba intend going
on to Tabreez with the same vehicle when we are ready
to start. But our new friends are quite sure that the
road will shrink to a mere goat-path beyond Erzeroum,
and advise us to buy pack-horses or mules. Then some
one suggests Kurds and brigands, and in the vivid remi
niscences which follow we and our plans are almost for
gotten. We both felt rather despondent when we took
leave of our kind entertainers, but were more than ever
anxious to get away from Erzeroum. It was impossible
to work here, as the Yali had sent a message forbidding
us to sketch or photograph on this side of the border.
I could not leave the house for a moment without being
followed by spies, but their occupation was no sinecure, as
they were obliged to keep me in sight, which entailed
endless marching and countermarching for no apparent
object. The hotel where we had encamped was filthy
beyond description, but the upper floor, monopolized
by the Persian billiard-room and tea- counters, seemed
clean by comparison, I had amused myself by making a
sketch of the interior, and contemplated another from the

* The man who has charge of the horses, and is usually part owner of
them, is called the " chavadar."

20 AN IRON-CLAD CONDITION
balcony, which overlooked the low roofs of the town and
the hill beyond with its battery. A friendly Persian who!
sat smoking in the doorway warned me that we were
being watched from below.
August Sd. — His Excellency has condescended to re
ceive us. We are conducted to a long room where he is
seated, cross-legged, upon a divan at the opposite end.
He wears a short gray beard, and is costumed in white.
drill, patent-leather boots, and a fez. On his right are
several officers occupying a row of chairs against the
wall. The trial of this important case takes up at least
an hour. Our advocate, the dragoman of the consulate!
seems to have the gift of persuasive eloquence, judging
from the impassioned fervor of his opening speech, inter
rupted at intervals by the sharp cross-questioning of the
Yali. At last we are told that our dragoman, Artemis,
must present a request for a new passport in the form of
a petition, which he (the Yali) would sign. As a con
dition, we must promise to make no sketches, photo
graphs, or notes on this side of the boundary, and the
zapti, or mounted gendarme, who is deputed to accompany
us to the next etape, has orders to keep an eye on our
movements, and to delegate his authority to the officer
who relieves him. All these pompous restrictions amount
to nothing, and once out of sight of the town we end by
doing exactly as we please.
August kth. — It was with no little sense of relief that
we rode out from the gates of Erzeroum into the open
country, but with a haunting fear that the Yali might
suddenly repent of his generosity.
A few hours' ride takes us to the foot of a bold prom
ontory of rock, capped by the ruins of another Byzantine
fortress. The town, or rather large village, is built along'f
the side. Our tent is pitched near the base, and on the '

WATERING HORSES ON THE EUPHRATES — NOONDAY

22 PICTURESQUE GROUPS
edge of an emerald-green meadow, with many springs and
pools of water. The Persian araba empties its contents
near us. Our friends begin their devotions early the
next morning, as it is the most important day of the
Moharrem. Before sunrise they spread their prayer-
carpets and scarlet coverlets on the dewy turf. The
meadow is dotted with kneeling and standing groups.
Their sombre kaftans and tall black caps of Astrakhan are
sharply relieved against the distant ridges now lighted up
with the first flush of sunrise. Other groups are busy
over the samovars and camp-fires, from which the smoke
ascends in spirals, and the animals are led to water or
grouped around the tented arabas. The Persians want
to take a day's rest in honor of their holiday, but with
the Erzeroum experience fresh in our minds, we are anx
ious to push on, and, after a few hours' delay as a con
cession to our friends, we begin the day's march, and the
other araba follows reluctantly in our wake.
Deli-Baba, August 10th. — The officer on duty who
comes to the tent to inspect our papers is accompanied
by a species of Cossack whom we had seen prowling
about. He is clad in a long-skirted gray frock crossed
by cartridge-belts, and a tall gray lamb's-wool cap, which,
with his blond beard, gives him a decidedly Eussian
appearance. But he proves to be in the Turkish service.
We are within a few hours of the Georgian frontier, and
these fellows wear anything indiscriminately by way of
uniform. August 11th. — We are early in our saddles, as we have
been advised to make all haste over the Taya Pass,
and not to spend the night in the village half-way, near
the summit. Five men were killed there a fortnight ago,
our guard tells us, the same gray-skirted Georgian who
came to the tent last night, and he has been promised '

KURDISH CHARACTERS 23
an extra fee to spur on the drivers of the arabas. One
soon learns to take these " tales of the border " with a
liberal allowance of salt and a certain amount of fatalistic
resignation, yet there is substantial if not reassuring evi
dence that they have some foundation of truth. The road
ascends abruptly into a labyrinth of deep and sombre
ravines, crossing again and again the same torrent, over
shadowed by echoing walls of black rock. At noon we
gallop into a high and treeless valley, and halt in a Kurd
ish village consisting of a few cave-dwellings built like
dens in a rocky hill-side, each with its black pyramid of
winter fuel at the entrance. As there is neither shade
nor shelter we seat ourselves along a stone wall in the full
glare of the sun. In spite of the elevation the heat is
intense. The Kurds who surround us are handsome
stalwart fellows, with their girdles well furnished with
silver - mounted pistols and swords, and they show a
friendly and professional interest in our heavy battery
of Winchesters and Smith & Wesson small -arms. One
scowling beetle-browed giant might figure as a stage cap
tain of the "Forty Thieves." Beyond this village the
ascent of the Taya Pass begins, which is approximately
eight or nine thousand feet above the Black Sea. The
higher slopes above us lose much of their grandeur as we
approach them, and partake of the character of elevated
Swiss pasture - lands, pierced here and there by sharp
ridges of rock, but there are no patches of snow near us,
and only a few are visible on the more distant summits.
A thunder-storm which had been slowly gathering breaks
over us as the wagons begin the ascent, and the dust
which lay deep on the road becomes a gluey paste. The
four horses of our araba struggle frantically under lash
and kicks, but are unable to move the cart ; one horse is
entirely useless. The Persian araba, which has the better

24 A POSITION OF DANGER
team, mounts slowly but surely upward. Ishmael, the
driver, seeing our difficulty, halts a few hundred yards
above us, and unhitching his best horse, leads him down
and attaches him to our wagon, which is then dragged up
to the level of his own. This manoeuvre is repeated until
we reach the summit of the pass, just before twilight.
But the events of the day are not yet over. Although!
the rain has ceased, the road is in a worse condition than
ever, and the descent, of unparalleled steepness, ends in a
gulley. Twilight is deepening, and our halting-place is
far below us. At the bottom of the first hill the road has
been washed away, and the ravine which cuts it in two has
banks six feet in height. Down the first bank the horses
plunge and slide, while the men hang on to the back of
the araba, which is almost perpendicular. The foremost
araba capsized, but it has been righted again and the bag
gage replaced. The extra horse is again attached to our
cart, while all hands take hold of the wheels. Frenzied
by the wild yells and the cracking of whips, the five horses
leap and struggle up the opposite bank. Here the outer
edge of the road has been undermined by the torrent and
washed away. All the men in the Persian araba get out,
and with armfuls of stones and bowlders fall to and piece
out the road. Miracles of apparently reckless driving
were performed, while we waited breathlessly, expecting
the final catastrophe, which seemed inevitable. The pros
pect of being wrecked with all our baggage and valuables
in the wildest part of the Kurdish hills was imminent
enough to disturb the resigned fatalism of a Mussulman.
There are moments when one may reiterate "Kismet" and
" Imshallah," but these talismanic words no longer pro
duce the desired tranquillity of mind. The dramatic in
terest of the situation quite equalled that of a cyclone at
sea. As we descend we enjoy a brief interval of peace.

ENTERING TAYA PASS

26 AMONG THE MOUNTAINEERS
We have leisure to look at the landscape, which seems
far richer and more luxuriant than any we have seen
since leaving the valleys near Trebizond. In the hollows.
of the hills there are marshy pools surrounded by tall
reeds, thickets of tangled vines, and great clusters of flow
ering shrubs varied and brilliant in color. The difficulties
of the road diminish, until at last we reach the stony chan
nel of a mountain stream, which is as a macadamized road
compared with the route above. Down this natural high
way we drive to our destination, and in the gathering
darkness come suddenly into a Kurdish village. A horse-
fair is being held in the market-place, which is crowded
with mountaineers. Our camping-ground is on the edge
of a brawling stream beyond the village, in a sinister hol
low surrounded by desolate bowlder-strewn heights. As
Child suggested, it seemed a fitting background for rob
bery and assassination. Artemis, shaking with chills and
fever, begs to be allowed to sleep in the chief's house in
the village behind, so that he may be under cover. We
are thus left without guide or interpreter, but our ener
getic cook, Tatos,* with whom we could only communi
cate by signs and a sort of Yolapiik composed of frag
ments of Turkish, English, and French, is a host in him
self, and soon settles us comfortably in our tent. He
engages the chief of the village to watch at our tent door,
and the Persian caravan encamps near by. Our minds are
filled with the exciting events of the day, but, lulled by
the monotonous noise of the water, we are just dropping
off to sleep when a long low whistle like a curlew's call
acts like a cold douche on our overstrained nerves. We
listen intently. The call is answered after a short interval

* Tatos had been engaged at Erzeroum to replace his incapable prede
cessor.

KURDS ON GUARD

27

by a similar whistle from the rocky ridge which hems us
in, and this is echoed again from another crag still farther
off. There is no cause for apprehension, however, as it
proves to be only the signal of the chief to the watchers
posted on the surrounding hills. But all through the
night in our waking moments we are vaguely conscious
of his warning whistle at regular intervals, followed by
gradually attenuated responses. In this strange and for
bidding landscape, heard above the noise of the torrent, it
produced a singularly weird and uncanny impression.
Kizildize, August 12th — Mount Ararat. — Since day-

IRRIGATION CANAL AND ARMENIAN GIRL

MOUNT ARARAT

break we have been slow
ly mounting by long zig
zags a pass which seems
to rival in height the
Taya Pass, which we left
behind us but yesterday.
Our map gives it 2350
metres only. Tatos had
taken my horse, while I climbed by the short-cuts, leaving
the caravan toiling slowly on far below. From the high
est point another gorge opens below and beyond us, and
all at once the mighty mass of Ararat rises straight from
the plain, a dazzling snow-capped cone, uplifted by long
purple slopes, flecked with the shadows of high -sailing
summer clouds. By noon we are down in the long valley
which follows the southwestern slope of the great peak.
Here we look for a good halting-place with water, but can
find no trace of a spring. The governor of some little
province, with his servant, had joined us on the road.
Both are armed, and the governor wears one of the high-
peaked white hoods in vogue among travelling Ottoman

AN ALARM 29
officers as a protection against the glare. We were per
suaded to invest in these appendages while at Erzeroum,
and Artemis had ordered a hoop to be inserted in the
front of each hood. His appearance was delightfully gro
tesque, with his short and dumpy figure surmounted by
.this huge and flapping edifice of white linen, not unlike
a New England Shaker bonnet.
We leave the caravan behind, and, accompanied by the
zapti and the governor, who is finely mounted on a pacing
Arab, ride on in quest of water. The governor holds a
hasty conference with the zapti, who dashes suddenly up
a hill-side and peers about from the summit. Wheeling
quickly, he tears downhill, and as he flies past, my horse
bolts and follows him. Wild yells and calls are heard
from the direction in which we last saw the caravan. The
zapti slips a cartridge into his Martini, and we all gallop
on in the direction of the cries, stimulated by the excite
ment of our horses and the exhilaration of the moment.
The mystery is cleared up when we find the wagons hid
den in a fold of the volcanic hills. The guard had seen a
party of five armed horsemen observing us from a hill-top,
and the governor considered the neighborhood unsafe.
Both were anxious to press on to the last frontier station,
where we were to pass the night. Meanwhile our men
had found a spring, and were watering the horses. The
yells which had so alarmed the guard were intended only
to call us back. There is no shelter, and although the
noonday sunshine is slightly veiled by haze, the heat is in
tense. We lie down in a hollow like a rifle-pit, and eat a
hasty but voracious lunch. We are soon mounted again,
and follow in a compact squad behind the wagons through
a strange and ever-changing landscape, past tawny ledges
of rock and clumps of low thorn - trees, crossing fords
where broad sheets of white pebbles frame in the narrow

30 EXPORT DUTIES
water channels, reflecting the indigo-blue of the zenith.
The long, grand slopes of Ararat, leading up to its dazzling
cone of snow, are always on our left, and the lesser sum
mit, bare of snow, now comes into view. Here we have a
little difference with the governor, who would like to strike
across to Bayazid, and take our zapti with him. Before
sundown we reach the station, a fortified camp with a
large custom-house. Here we find a cordon sanitavre,
and caravans from Persia or from the Eussian dominions
are subjected to a quarantine of five days. Great camel
trains dot the plain on the right with their encampments.
The custom-house enclosure is like a large caravansary,
filled with a motley crowd of Kurds, Circassians, and Per
sians. Here our luggage is again overhauled, and the
officials want to have it all unloaded, but they show them
selves amenable to reason, and examine it in the araba.
This function being over, we drive on to our camping-
ground, a narrow sloping plain between two j'ellow and
rocky hills. Here a new cause of annoyance interferes
with our repose, and postpones the hour of " Nirvana."
We had already advanced more money for the araba and
horses than we had engaged to do by the contract, as the
men swore that they had spent their last piastre in buying
fodder for the animals. At this frontier station they were
obliged to pay an export, or rather drawback, duty for the
wagon and horses of several Turkish liras, or pounds, to
the custom-house. This money would be refunded when
they presented the receipt on the return trip. There was
but one course open to us — to pay down the money to the
officers and get the drivers' stamped receipt. Our pass
ports were again vised, for the last time in the Sultan's
dominions. Our camp is well guarded to-night. The
Kurdish chief of the district, bearing on his black Astra
khan cap a gilded badge with the lion and the sun of the

THE APPROACH TO PERSIA

31

Persian Shah, assures us that " he is responsible for our
safety." He is a tall, white-bearded, and soldierly old
man, with the bearing of a prophet or a Schamyl, and we
sleep with a feeling of perfect security.
OvadjiJc, August 14-th.— To-day we are well over the
border. In spite of the warnings of our European friends,
we have slept peacefully during the greater part of our
journey in our tent, unmolested by brigands. Although
most of the Europeans whom we had met thus far seemed
to stand in awe of the Kurds, we left their country with
the impression that they
were not bad fellows.
There are but a few days
more of the mountains, and
then we shall begin to miss
that element of uncertainty
which added a little flavor to
the monotony of the dusty
road, and made us appreci
ate more keenly the value of
life. Another source of joy
for the moment is the fact
that we no longer run the
risk of being detained by
Turkish officials. We are
now approaching Khoi, the
first Persian town of any
size ; but the road has not
begun to improve, as we ex
pected. Here it is a mere
track, easy enough to follow where it lies along a breezy
ridge of high pasture-land, but dangerous again when it
plunges down into the depths of deep gullies beset with all
manner of obstacles. A young Kurdish shepherd joins us

KURDISH SHEPHERD

32 A SAMPLE OF WEATHER
on the road, and plays bucolic airs on a reed pipe. The
prospect of gaining a half-kran * by posing as a model in
duces him to follow us to our halting-place at noon. Here
our men conclude to purchase another horse, and the few
half-maimed and spavined animals which the village can
show are brought forth. After much heated discussion
they select a horse, for which they pay about eight dollars
(in our currency). Knowing that it is useless to apply to
us for more money, they borrow the amount of Ishmael,
the driver of the Persian cart. In the afternoon we begin
another interminable descent, where the ample mule-track,
which was quite sufficient for the arabas, shrinks to an un
certain goat-path. Amid towers of dust, and with much
rattling and shaking, we descend to the first Persian village.
Here the poplars begin; there are melon patches, and
actual houses of mud, with windows and wooden lattices.
The sky is overcast, and the wind, which shakes the tent
walls, is raw and chilly, although it is the middle of
August. August 15th. — Still another pass, with long winding
defiles. The Persian " trooper " who replaces our Turkish
escort is a lamentable, dejected creature, clad in rags,
and mounted on a donkey. He rides sadly behind my
companion, who, with his great height and bulk, girt
about with arms, and his bronzed face, has the air of a
brigand. Our protector, as he rides between the pro
tected, looks like a malefactor in custody. At noon we
are caught in a thunder-storm — a deluge in which, not
withstanding water-proofs, we are well drenched.
As we descend the pass the hot sun comes out, the
clouds roll back, and disclose far below us a long and
* Kran, the Persian coin representing the nominal value of a franc.'
It is worth much less in reality, owing to the amount of alloy.

PKRSIAN GUARD

fertile valley. A blue lake gleams in the middle of the
valley, and we have a premonition that we shall have to
cross it. The road is heavy with mud, and our progress
desperately slow. At last we come to a stand-still on the
heights above a swollen river. After some unsuccessful
attempts to reach the other side, we wait a little until the
water has begun to subside, and then venture into the
stream, which just reaches the bottom of the wagon.
The worst is still before us, and at the beginning of twi
light we reach the flooded meadow we saw from the
pass. It is traversed by ditches and streams, necessitating
many detours in order to reach the village beyond. Here
the ground is like a wet sponge; there is no dry spot
whereon to pitch a tent, and we must perforce, wet and
sodden as we are, pass the night in a mud hut. Artemis,
3

34 ACCOMMODATIONS FOR MAN AND BEAST
chattering with fever, conducts us to the house which he
considers the best in the village. The araba draws up in
a sea of mud, opposite a square hole in a mud wall, within
which there is a fragrant lake of yellow mire. On the
left a door leads into a stable, and in front, across the
yard, is the room which we are to occupy. It is being
swept, while our baggage is carried in, piece by piece.
In order to reach the door we follow along a slippery
bank, sloping on the right into the miry pond, and bor
dered on the other side by a row of deep pits. The room
is low and dark, but with a fairly clean floor, which is
strangely hot, for here the family bread is baked, and the
hot air rises from the furnace below, through a round hole
in the floor. A door opens on one side into the family liv
ing-room and bedroom combined, which is dark and grew-
some, but well populated. On the left, a narrow opening
leads into the sleeping quarters of the four-legged occu
pants of this Noah's ark. A buffalo pokes his long head
into our room, and leaves but little space for us to circu
late among our baggage. While we are still unpacking^*;
the cattle come home from afield, and file through our
bedroom, a long and weary, but orderly procession, into
the buffalo's apartment. There are sheep and goats, kids,
a dejected horse, a cow and two calves, an ungainly buf
falo calf and its mother. As Artemis is now in the
throes of a chill, it strikes us both that the dry, hot air
of this room would be more suitable for him than the
stable effluvia, so he is dosed with quinine and bundled into
bed over the oven. The ridge of greasy mud, with an
abyss on each side, along which we pick our uncertain way
to the stable, recalls, in its dramatic possibilities, the pas
sage of an ice cornice on the " Dent Blanche." In the
stable there is certainly more space and air. A high plat
form of clay, with a fireplace, occupies one corner, and

CHICKENS AND SMALL-POX 35
here the energetic Tatos installs his kitchen ; our camp-
beds, and the dinner - table, covered with a clean white
napkin, are placed as far as possible from the horses'
heels ; a very creditable dinner is then served, beginning
with an omelet which would not disgrace the Cafe
Americain. Eegardless of the squealing and kicking of
our fighting stallions, we sleep well, and so does Artemis,
thanks to our self-sacrifice in giving him the oven. In
the morning we are still damp and somewhat stiff from
yesterday's wetting, but none the worse for it. As we
pack our bags by candlelight, a subdued piping and
clucking comes from a hole in the wall behind my va
lise ; this is the hen - coop, and, excited by the artificial
daylight of the candle, the inmates issue forth, picking
their way daintily over our belongings, as they would
have done over our heads had we slept there. Our host
ess, with a pile of freshly baked flat loaves of bread,
which proves to be the best we have yet had, now comes
in, bearing her youngest on one shoulder. The baby's
face is covered with suspicious looking pimples, but we
can do nothing by way of medical aid — the case is too far
advanced — and we can only regret that vaccination is not
compulsory in Persia.
August 16th, near Khoi. — We had been fondly hop
ing that our chariot would meet with no further trouble,
but after slowly mounting a long series of terraces, anoth
er great mountain gateway opens below us ; as we de
scend we look down on a richly cultivated plain, hemmed
in by still grander mountain ridges, and in the centre of
the plain are the gardens of Khoi. Down steep and
rocky slopes the carts are driven to the river-bed below.
Here one of our friends from the other araba, a Persian
gentleman of fine presence, who had been in a manner
recognized as the chief of their company, takes leave of

36 A PERSIAN HIGHWAY
us, for his garden, filled with a dense growth of poplar
and apricot trees, skirts the bed of the stream. Now the
other araba, some distance ahead of us, breaks down, and
the valiant Ishmael is in sore distress. One of his wheels,
so often patched and tied up with strings, has given out
at last. But our driver, who has been often assisted by
Ishmael, promises to send back one of our wheels on a
donkey when we reach the village. The other araba
will then follow with our wheel to the camping-ground,
and in the morning all hands will fall to and patch up
the old one again. Once over this, the last of the passes
before Tabreez, we have a fresh series of impediments to
progress, and we learn that the passage of a Persian
village is as rich in thrilling and dramatic episodes as the
ascent of a pass, and quite as much to be dreaded. As it
rarely happens that any wheeled vehicle invades this
region, we seldom find a village with a navigable road
traversing it. The road is usually wide enough at the
entrance, so that it is easy to get in, but, alas, how often
we despair of getting out ! The mud-holes and quagmires
which diversify the road on the outskirts are always
passable at this season, but once inside the village, the
road forks and ramifies into a series of narrow lanes
between mud-walled gardens. Down the centre of the
widest lanes there is often a deep and narrow stream
or ditch bordered by poplars or willows, and with
steep clay banks. The space between the ditch and the
crumbling walls of dried mud frequently narrows to a
mere bridle-path. Then comes the mauvais quart
d'heure, the moment of suspense and peril. The wheels
on one side are high up on the bank, on the other stuck
fast in the mire of the ditch. The men hang on to the
upper side of the cart, while the driver showers curses
and blows upon the horses, which are kicking and strug-

THE LAST RITES 37
gling, some on the bank and some below, while all the
village turns out to be " in at the death." Yeiled women
with babies and dirty-faced children, turbaned moullahs,
and old men of fierce and uncompromising aspect, with
shaggy eyebrows and gray beards dyed flaming orange
and scarlet with henna. More than once it seemed as if
the end had come, but somehow, by hook or crook, we
always pulled through, to drive on with bated breath
until we reached the next obstacle. This often took the
form of a narrow bridge with a hole in the middle, some
times half concealed and made into a pitfall by sticks and
straw laid over it. This is the Persian fashion of repair
ing roads.
August 17th. — As we have met no travellers or cara
vans coming from Tabreez, we know nothing of what has
been going on in Persia. There are already rumors of
cholera in some of the villages which we have passed
through. Can it be that after leaving Meshed, where it
began, and spreading northward through the Eussian
provinces to Batoum, it has again returned to Persia 1
My horse shies as we pass a road - side fountain ; two
men are washing a naked corpse, which has a strangely
bluish tint about the temples.
Khoi— A. large walled city, with moat and drawbridge,
sloping walls and battlements of rose-tinted mud. We
ride down a shady but dusty avenue crowded with citi
zens who are looking on at an Armenian religious pro
cession, with priests and banners. We halt for lunch at a
caravansary, just outside the city gate, and, climbing up
to the broad wooden balcony just over the entrance, we
find several of our Persian fellow-travellers, who are
already installed. After a long resistance we have at
length capitulated to the Persian watermelon, and begin
to believe that there is no harm in him. In a country

38

CUCUMBERS AND MELONS

where the brackish water is impossible to drink, the fil
tered and sweetened juice in the heart of a melon seems
to be nature's own substitute ; but our dragoman, who had
become sadly intemperate in the matter of melons and
sliced cucumbers, now began to show the disastrous re
sults of his indulgence. His face, which was round and
ruddy at the outset, had become elongated and haggard,
and his flabby cheeks hung in wrinkled folds. In vain
we physicked him and dosed him with cholera mixture
and quinine ; we invariably caught him the next day after
an indisposition surreptitiously devouring forbidden fruit.
While we are eating on the balcony, during the space of

A CHOLERA INCIDENT NEAR KHOI

ON THE EDGE OF LAKE URUMIYAH 39
an hour or two, thirteen bodies are deposited in the cem
etery across the way. Plainly there must be something
wrong about the, sanitary condition of this place. For a
short distance beyond Khoi we follow a well-made car
riage road shaded by great trees, which ends suddenly at
the bank of a river, and we then strike across the hills
again. Tasouidj, August 18th. — All day we ride across a des
ert plain between ranges of dark volcanic hills. The sun
burns fiercely, and a hot wind blows straight in our faces,
bringing with it strange and nauseous whiffs of sulphur
and heated iron. A far-off horizon of wind-swept water,
of the deepest hue of ultramarine, now appears to the
southward. As we ride on and on, hour after hour,
crossing at times narrow and sunken ravines which de
scend from the hills on our left, necessitating long circuits
in order to find convenient crossing -places, we approach
the great salt lake of Urumiyah. Far-off ranges of moun
tains appear and grow nearer in the amber and rose-
tinted afternoon sky ; beyond the blue of the water,
rocky islets and abrupt cliffs, with ragged serrated out
lines, rise above the opposite shores. Eange beyond
range and islands of fantastic shape seem to melt and
quiver in the haze of light, and beyond them the dark blue
of the ruffled water is drawn sharply against the western
sky. For two days we follow at a distance, and at an
elevation far above its level, the winding contours of this
inland sea, marvellous in the delicate and ethereal beauty
of its coloring, strangely impressive in its sun -steeped
desolation. At noonday, in the heat haze, its color seems
to fade and die softly away into neutral, intangible tones
of opal and pearl, to blaze again into life in a brief glory
of rose and scarlet and violet at sunset.
As we left Diza - i - Khalil, the village where we had

40 SOME GORGEOUS COLOR
passed the night, I turned to enjoy a last glimpse of the
lake, and it was my good -fortune to gaze upon the most
wonderfully impressive morning sky that I have ever be
held. The dark and featureless plain in the foreground
lay under a cloud shadow. It was perfectly calm, and
the distant line of water, environed by hills, reflected the
mellow and amber tones of the western sky. Long deli
cate lines and bars of clouds edged with light were pen
cilled with but slight relief across the clear sky. There
was no patch or spot of positive color, but suggestions of
turquoise-blue and pale emerald-green and of warm rose
seemed to merge one into the other, all enveloped in a
golden haze. There were hints of scarlet on the hills
beyond the water, where the sun shone through cloud
rifts of violet and palest purple in the shadows, but the
charm was in the tone, the " enveloppe," to use an atelier
phrase. August 20th, near M&yun. — To - day we are to reach
Tabreez, which lies somewhere between the dark olive-
tinted line of its surrounding gardens, barely visible at
times from some high point of the plateau. The last
night of the journey, twenty-nine days from Trebizond, is
passed near a small caravansary. There had been much
loss of time on the road, and at twilight there was still no
sign of the caravansary, although both drivers protested
that it was but twenty minutes farther on. One of our men, ;
a filthy and untruthful old reprobate, who had intrigued
at every village to raise the prices of provisions which we
purchased, and whose brain was forever weaving plots tfo
extract from us the balance of the contract-money before
arriving at Tabreez, had been taken ill on the road. It
was impossible to ascertain the nature of his malady.
Some of the men believed it to be cholera, others the
result of excessive indulgence in opium. Meanwhile there

EARLY MORNING  SHORE OF LAKE URUMIYAH

42 MORE TROUBLE
he lay, an unsightly writhing heap of rags on our bag
gage under the canvas of the cart. There was no other
place to stow him, and his compatriots had refused to
take him in at any of the villages along the road, so that
we could only hope most devoutly that his disease was
not contagious. As he seemed to be at the point of
death, and darkness was rapidly coming on, we gave the
order to halt by the road-side. The Persian araba kept
on, deserting us for the first time, and in the morning we
could see that they were right : the caravansary was just
in sight. An irrigation channel of running water passed
the tent. Its banks were steep and muddy, and the water,
decidedly brackish in flavor, was neither clear nor inviting,
but no other water was to be had ; so we filtered enough
to fill the samovar. Even filtered and boiled it was still
nauseous, and we quenched our thirst with the cool juice
of the melon. We had reason to repent of our intemper
ance before morning, and were feeling strangely ill at
ease when we mounted our horses at sunrise. Tabreez
was but two hours farther on. We forded a river crossed
by a bridge which was unsafe for the araba, and were
soon among the outlying villages and gardens. From
this point the custom - house is an hour farther on, and
when we halt in front of it the officials come out and
insist that the araba shall be driven into the court-yard.
This we are inclined to oppose, but Artemis, as usual,
f$ils to show the necessary decision, and while we are
still discussing the matter the driver whips up his horses
and drives through the gate. Once inside, we are in
formed that it is Friday, that the headmen have gone to
the mosque, and that we cannot have our baggage until
the following day. We then decide to find the consul
and appeal to his authority. The European quarter is a
Jong way off, and when we reach it we find only mud

INTO A CHOLERA TRAP 43
walls, dusty hollows strewn with ruins, and streets full of
holes and pitfalls. A few well-built gateways open here
and there into gardens half hidden by brick walls, above
which tower pale green poplars. This quarter seems
even more lifeless and melancholy than the rest of the
town. The consular residence is closed ; so too are the
houses of other Europeans to whom we have letters.
We begin to regret our tent, and the prospect of finding
shelter is not promising. The mid -day sun is getting
hotter, and the dry wind raises clouds of dust.
With a feeling of relief we meet a European standing
at the gate of his house ; he is clad all in white, helmet
and duck suit. He proves to be a young Austrian, and in
a few words of French he explains the mystery of the
situation. The cholera is raging ; there have been many
thousand deaths; and although it is rumored that the
worst is over, and that the numbers have begun to dimin
ish, it is still impossible to obtain any reliable figures.
The large European colony, with the exception of a few
individuals, has left the city, and has taken refuge in the
villages on the slopes of the Sahend Mountains. The
great bazaars, the most extensive and populous in all
Persia, are almost empty, and the few European shops
are closed. This, then, was the reason of the empty
streets and the hurried funeral processions which we had
encountered on the road. Although we had made this
long detour to avoid the infected Eussian provinces, we
have ridden straight into a cholera trap. The life in the
open country has been joyous enough, but in every town
we have had some unpleasant experience, and this bids
fair to cap the climax.

FROM TABREEZ TO ISPAHAN
I.
The vertical rays of a noonday sun beat down merci
lessly in this deserted by-way of Tabreez, and we were
driven to take refuge in the narrow patch of shadow
under the projecting eaves of a house. While we stood
there our newly -found friend explained the situation,
which we endeavored to grasp, wondering a little at our
own lack of emotion. We were neither of us surprised •
to find cholera the reigning power, but felt that we might
better have gone luxuriously to Samarcand in a saloon
carriage than to have ridden through five hundred miles
of mountains to see a plague-smitten city. " A pretty state
of affairs !" said my companion, as we all strolled along
the shady side in search of shelter of some kind, for
Tabreez cannot boast of a hotel, in the European sense of
the word. After knocking at several doors and finding no
one but the door-keeper, always with the same negative
answer, our new friend invited us into his own house.
Stepping down through a low door in the outer mud-wall,
and crossing a brick -paved court-yard, we reached the
sitting-room. There is a square tank in the middle of the
court, plants in pots are grouped about it, and ranged
along the walls is a row of great jars, the usual acces
saries of a Persian house now, as in the days of Ali Baba;
tall trees cast thin and flickering shadows, for the leaves
are crisped and burned by the dry August winds. A pile

PERSIAN MOTHER AND CHILD

46 A FRIEND IN NEED
of boxes and trunks is visible from the window, stacked
in a corner of the yard ; they are marked with an Eng
lish name, and their owner was one of the latest victims
of the cholera. Meanwhile there is good wine on the
table, and a prospect of something solid as well. Our
host, by inviting us into his house, is acting the part of
an uncommonly good Samaritan, for in these troublous
times he cannot foresee what may happen to the stranger
within his gates. While we are sitting at ease around
the table he takes our dragoman to task for his stupidity
in letting the baggage be driven into the custom-house, as
the Persian officials, it is well understood, have no right
whatever to meddle with personal property. He at once
despatches his own servant to recover it, and to find us
a house, where we can unpack. While sitting at the
table I had begun to feel strangely uncomfortable and
disinclined to take part in the conversation, which had
become more general, as a German friend of our enter
tainer, and one or two Persians, had joined us. An over
powering feeling of drowsiness had taken possession of
me, as well as a return of this morning's symptoms.
Child produces his bottle of " cholera mixture," but, far
from bettering my condition, the effect is immediately
disastrous. It is evident from the expression of watchful
intensity in our host's eyes what is in his mind. He
takes from his pocket two papers containing some white
powder, which he administers at intervals, and then-
shows me into a dark closet, where I can lie down and
be at rest ; sleep, however, is out of the question, for there
is no escape from the swarms of flies, and after a brief
period of tranquillity and comparative darkness, I return
to the room, and take possession of the divan. Listening
dreamily to the hum of voices in French, German, and the
strange Persian tongue, I become conscious of returning

RETURN OF OUR LUGGAGE 47
peace of mind and body, of a blessed sense of perfect
comfort, and when the cool of the evening comes I am
sufficiently recovered to look forward to dinner with
almost the usual interest. I recall these personal reminis
cences, which under ordinary circumstances would have
no importance, with the presumption that it may interest
some one to know how an abortive attack of cholera feels
at the very beginning. While we are dining in the court
yard, the servant returns with the welcome news that the
minions of the custom-house have yielded up their prey,
and that all our baggage has been taken to the house
which he has found for us. Escorted by our German
friends, and lighted by a huge transparent lantern, which
is always carried in front of the belated wayfarer in a
Persian city, we set out for our new quarters, a few doors
off. At the entrance of the narrow lane leading to the
house we are obliged to step over a deep pit, or "khanat,"
to use a Persian term, and, reaching the low door, we
descend a few mossy steps, and cross a small court-yard,
strewn with large and juicy mulberries, which have fallen
from a great tree covering like a roof the whole en
closure. Our bedroom occupies the greater part of the
lower floor, and the walls are panelled off into arched re
cesses, most useful for storing small articles.
August 21st. — My companion seems quite ill ; he com
plains that all his symptoms of yesterday have returned,
accompanied by cramps in the legs. Artemis, also, is in
great misery, and wears a most dejected expression, but
he has already consumed nearly all the slender stock of
remedies at hand, and but' one solitary mustard-plaster
remains. In ready response to our appeal, we are at once
visited by the lady left in charge of the medical depart
ment of the American mission, accompanied by one of
the leading members of that society. They decide that

48 IN HOSPITAL
my friend has cholera, and that Artemis has a milder form
of the same malady. Both patients must be removed at
once to more airy and accessible quarters, and they gener
ously place the mission school-house, now empty and next
door to the dispensary, at our disposal. With their assist
ance we are quickly installed in the new quarters, which
are far more spacious and airy than the little house where
we passed the night. Two great rooms connected by
folding doors occupy the upper floor ; in one of them a
comfortable bed has been made ready for the patient, and
in the other, where the battered desks and benches of the
Armenian school-children have been huddled together at
one end, we bestow the dragoman and the dusty, weather-
beaten camp baggage. Many doors and windows open on
to the flat clay roofs, or terraces, whence the eye com
mands a wide and desolate panorama of mountains— the
far-stretching level of flat roofs, low clay domes in long
ranks marking the course of the bazaars, and the encir
cling heights are all of the same pale reddish hue, cut by
the vertical lines of slender green poplars, and the hills of
the Sahend group on the south are patched with snow.
Straight from these high ridges a cool and bracing wind
blew across the house-tops, tempering the heat of the long
summer days, and rising at times to a gale in the clear
moonlit nights. A line of gaunt and barren desert cliffs
hemmed us in on the east, and at sunset their slopes
burned with vivid orange and vermilion hues. This
was our home for nearly four weeks, while my com
panion, for the first few days hanging between life and
death, gradually recovered his strength. Artemis was
soon on his feet again, and he resigned himself with the
air of a martyr to his new duties as hospital assistant ; he
was soon able to occupy himself with the concoction of
various savory dishes, as Tatos had no time to cook for

A GLOOMY OUTLOOK 49
him, and very little time for sleep. While the epidemic
had been declining in Tabreez, it had broken out in
Teheran, and many were the victims. A number of
Europeans had fallen, members of the telegraph corps, and
of the staff of the " Imperial Bank of Persia." The em
ployes of this latter institution had organized a volunteer
corps of hospital assistants which had been of very great
service. There were rumors, moreover, of an outbreak at
Ispahan and Shiraz. It was then, during the conva
lescence of my companion, that we discussed two alter
native routes which seemed to offer a shorter land
journey to India. The route via Shuster and the Karun
Eiver first suggested itself, but was abandoned when we
found that the steamers which touched at the port were
not to be depended upon.
The caravan road to Bagdad, and thence by steamer
to India down the Tigris, was next considered ; it was too
late in the season to think of going to Mossoul and down
the Tigris by raft, the usual way, and the direct caravan
road had its drawbacks. One gentleman connected with
the mission, who had just returned from that journey,
said that the Turkish officials had confiscated not only
his sermons, but his blank paper ; and another, who had
undertaken a business enterprise, had fallen among Beda-
weens, and they had stripped him of all he possessed.
Moreover, the plague was then holding high carnival at
Bagdad, and the cholera was marching steadily in that
direction. Should one escape these evils, there remained
the well-known scourge of that city, the " Aleppo but
ton," to be taken into consideration — the little abscess
which appears somewhere on the countenance, and leaves
a purple lump shaped like a date stone. We concluded
then to carry out our original plan, and to keep on via
Teheran and Ispahan to Bushire. Our enforced de-
4

50 ARTISTIC EFFECTS
tention at Tabreez was rendered more endurable by
knowing that we could not go to Teheran until the epi
demic was over. Tabreez itself offered but little artistic
interest, although the bazaars, as they filled up once more
with returning life, were as interesting as any we af
terwards encountered. Like all other Persian bazaars,
they are long vaulted corridors solidly built of brick
work or masonry, lined with shops on both sides, and
with domes at regular intervals. At the top of each
lofty dome is a small round opening through which the
sunlight streams in, enlivening the long and sombre per
spective with vertical shafts of dusty light. One felt as
if walking through a gallery of living Eembrandts and
Eiberas, and where a slender beam of light flecked with
motes touched upon a group in front of a shop, or gilded
a pile of oranges in a fruit stall, it was as if an electric
lamp had blazed out in the purple gloom. A high
pointed archway opens here and there into the great
court of a caravansary, and the broad track of light
streams across the bazaar, edging the hurrying figures
with a golden halo. This type of caravansary is not,
however, like those where travellers put up on the road,
but rather a vast storehouse, a court, surrounded by two
tiers of pointed arches or alcoves, the lower one occupied
by shops and shaded by awnings. There is always a
wide tank in the middle, surrounded by poplar and plane
trees. The ground is littered with packages of merchan
dise enveloped in gunny-bags. Long trains of tall camels
chained together blockade the entrance to these enclos
ures, and one is obliged to steer his way among their legs
or dart under the chains in order to enter ; and one must
be always on the alert to avoid the caravans of laden
mules or pack-horses with jingling bells, and droves of
donkeys carrying building material, as well as the cava-

INTERIOR OJ BAZAAR AT TABREEZ

52 AMONG THE BAZAARS
liers who are mounted on superb horses decked with
saddle-cloths of velvet embroidered with gold. Some of
these saddle covers were of finest Persian carpeting, or
of cloth embroidered with applied designs.
There are no fine mosques or remarkable monuments
in Tabreez save the magnificent ruin called the "Blue
Mosque," which is covered with exquisite faience, blue in
its prevailing tone, relieved by dull black and yellow, and
the lofty fragment of a brick citadel called the " Ark."
During the convalescence of my companion I found time
to explore a portion of the bazaars and the surrounding
streets, but never did I succeed in finding a way through
the labyrinth of dusty lanes and gardens to the open des
ert beyond. The streets have but few attractions for the
pedestrian who walks for exercise, although the bazaars,
as they gradually filled up and resumed their normal as
pect, were a never-failing source of interest. But the air
in these vaulted and gloomy aisles is close and heavy in
midsummer, besides being scented with oppressive and
unfamiliar odors, arid it is not easy to avoid contact with
the swift and silent funeral processions. Naturally one
felt drawn towards the open country which lay beyond
the city, but the usual limit of these pilgrimages towards
the source of the invigorating desert wind was the deso
late and sandy cemetery surrounding the city, for here, as
in all Oriental countries, the dead seem to occupy far more
space than the living.
Owing to the constant care and devotion of our friends,
we were soon able to set out again, and while we were
preparing for the next move the European colony began
to flock back from the hills. Had it not been for their
kindly aid we should have been obliged to wrestle with
many more difficulties. Artemis was sent back to Con
stantinople, as a Persian who spoke fairly good French

LOADING THE PACK-HOKSES  SUNRISE

54 OFF AGAIN
had been found to take his place. A new tent was pur
chased, more roomy than the other, and the bazaars were
ransacked for supplies. Although we had been advised to
buy all our animals, we finally shirked the responsibility
by chartering the lot from a chavadar. When the last
load had been adjusted, and we had taken leave of the
friends to whom we felt so deeply indebted, following the
caravan bells through the dusky gloom of the bazaars,
and ploughing over the long sandy avenue beyond, it
was with a certain sense of relief that we climbed the
desert slopes which flanked the Sahend Mountains, and
breathed once more the keen, pure air which blew across
the open wastes. II.
Saidabad, September 15th. — Our camp to-night is on
green turf, near the pebbly shore of a brook fringed by
willows. My first exploit is to get lamed by a kick, while
trying to head off my fugitive steed, who is trotting off
bridleless, to have a roll on the grass with his saddle still
on. The very first performance of our caravan horses,
when we come to the end of the day's march, is to lie
down and roll luxuriously, with their loads on, if possi
ble, and to raise a cyclone of dust. The caravan, as well
as the commissariat department, is on quite a new foot
ing, and much better organized than before. Tatos, the
cook, is still with us, and Abdullah, the new Persian ser
vant, seems capable and trustworthy. We have ten horses
in all — two for our personal use, and eight for the baggage
and men. As the Persians know how to travel in their
own country, we have adopted their fashion of carrying
valises and small trunks, and have invested in two pairs
of long carpet sacks, in which these articles are packed.
Each sack is called a " ma-fresch," and two of them are a

OUR IMPEDIMENTA 55
load for a horse, one being placed on each side of the sad
dle, with the weight carefully adjusted. These recepta
cles are usually made of velvety Persian carpeting, six
feet in length by eighteen inches in depth and width,
shaped like long narrow boxes, with stout leather han
dles at each end, and a multitude of straps and buckles.
In these sacks all the small packages and valises are
placed, water-proof bags with bedding, our iron camp-
bedsteads, stools, tables, and carpets, are laid on the top,
and after being tightly strapped up, they are lifted into
place by the combined efforts of all the men, and corded
on to the bulky pack-saddles of the horses. Provisions,
wine, and cooking utensils are carried in two quaint
chests, made in a Tabreez bazaar, covered with stamped
red leather, and provided with short legs, which prevent
the cords from slipping off. Another chest, made in Par
is, which we meant to leave at Trebizond, is still with us.
The horse which the head chavadar rides is more lightly
loaded than the others, and picturesquely festooned with
bags of fodder and earthen water-jars. Each of these
weather-beaten old horses, with head-stall of fringed
leather, straps and bridle ornamented with shells and blue
beads, and his worn pack-saddle, shredded and patched
with many colors, like a beggar's mantle, is a wonder
fully interesting study of color. Around their necks,
among the many-hued tassels, or from their sides, are
hung bells, and bells within bells. Our march through
Persia was attended by their monotonous but not dis
cordant music. For at night, while we slept in the
tent, the horses, tethered in a long row to a cord outside,
munched steadily at the chopped straw in their nose
bags, and in our " waking moments we were conscious of
the same chimes which we had heard through the day.
Each chavadar, clothed in patched and faded blue, or en-

HADJI THE CHAVADAR AND HIS ARAB STEED

veloped in heavy felt overcoat, to keep off the chill of
early morning, his face burned and tanned to a rich ma
hogany tint, is a type of the most primitive, robust order.
This caravan life has a subtle charm of its own when
one is in perfect health and things go smoothly, and even
when they do not, the minor discomforts of a nomad ex
istence do not weigh heavily on nerves blunted by the open
air and a certain amount of healthy fatigue. When one
journeys by vestibule train or Wagner sleeping-car, the
short space of time between two cities is like an interim,
an entr'acte, during which one's daily routine is suspend
ed, to be resumed again only when he leaves the train at
his destination. But here, where the distances are so vast,

THE DAILY ROUTINE 57
the real existence is on the road, and the brief stay in each
city, full of feverish, agitated movement and unrest, be
comes the interim, and the traveller looks forward to the
calm and pure air of the desert plateau beyond and the
comfort of his tent. The routine of daily life is a little
trying at first, but easily learned ; each twenty-four hours
is divided into four parts— the period of hurry and activ
ity in the early morning, a longer one of comparative tran
quillity on the march, the brief hour of bustle on arriving
at our destination, and then, "nirvana," the dreamless
sleep of the nigh't. At half-past three or at four a.m. it is
time to get up and dress by candlelight, to call for the
" samovar " and hot tea, to see that the men in the kitch
en tent are astir, and that the chavadars are feeding
their horses. Then the small articles are packed, Abdul
lah brings in breakfast, and while we are eating the cha
vadars come in to take out the baggage, the first red light
from the rising sun shines through the transparent walls,
and then the tent itself is pulled down, and we are shiver
ing in the frosty and bracing morning air. Sometimes
breakfast is finished on one'lof the camp-chests while the
table is being packed away. When the last load has
been secured, and the ground, now strewn with egg-shells
and loose straw, has been searched for lost articles, we
mount our horses or walk on ahead. Then comes the
long day of comparative rest ; and when the brief morn
ing chill has passed away, made drowsy by the growing
heat of the sun, we nod and sway in our saddles, lulled by
the monotony of the slow march and the ceaseless tin
kling of the bells. Over deserts of white salt, like new-
fallen snow or frozen sleet, where the horizon swims and
quivers in the mirage, and over plains floored with black
volcanic deposit, we ride on and on, over passes, across
rivers and marshy plains, until it is time to hurry on

58

PREPARATION FOR SLEEP

ahead of the caravan and despatch a hasty lunch on some
shelterless hill-side, or deep in a gully if the wind blows
and, best of all, where there is a brook in which to cool a
bottle of wine. This caravan, unlike the former one, nev
er halts at noon, but keeps on at the same unvarying pace
until its allotted task is done. At last the lengthening
shadows and the sight of the distant mud-walls of the
village where we are to halt warn us that it is time to
spur on with the chavadar to select our camping-ground
before the baggage animals come up. It was usually our
fate to encamp on a ploughed field, and it was no small
piece of work to clear the ground of stones and briers;
often in a high wind it required the combined strength
of all of us to hold the flapping canvas while the pegs
were being driven in, and we were fortunate indeed if
there were no wet sketches lying about when the dust
drove in clouds under the tent. When the cords are well

OUR TENT AT NIGHT

FRIENDLY FELINES 59
secured the baggage is brought in, carpets are spread out,
beds are unfolded, and the ebonite filters are put in work
ing order, so that tea or the refreshing "peg" may be
forthcoming. There is often a leisure hour in which to
jot down impressions of color before Abdullah comes in to
set the table, and after dinner we sit under the canvas
awning which projects above the tent door, and smoke, in
the crimson after-glow, grand and solemn, in this land of
vast horizons.
Turkomanshai, September 17th. — A ruinous caravansary
stands by the road-side, and the tents are put up just be
yond it on the brink of a deep fissure, through which a
narrow stream flows, and the land rises abruptly on the
other side. Deep in the gully there is a spring set about
with stones, and the men lead down the tired horses to
drink. Here, as elsewhere near a village, we are beset
with cats — not that we regard them with antipathy, but
there are really too many cats. They seem to spring
up from the ground, and curl themselves snugly in our
beds. When they have been expelled they make a sem
blance of retreating, but return again to take refuge among
our bags and carpets. At the dinner hour they prowl
about the door of the tent in anticipation of bones, and
pass like illuminated silhouettes across the track of the
lantern light.
Mianeh, September 18th. — This is the home of the re
doubtable insect of which the bite is believed to be fatal
both to men and horses. We were therefore not unwill
ing to favor the popular superstition by encamping at
some distance from the town. We ford a narrow but
deep and rushing brook, and put up the tents in a ploughed
field. A lurid sunset portends rain, and against this som
bre background our camp-followers with their horses and
the group of curious villagers tell with unusual force of

60 MENTAL TELEGRAPHY
color. The men have been winnowing grain, and the
ground is littered with straw and yellow dust. They all
feel a chill in the rising wind, which shakes the tent walls,
and have built fires. While the preparations for dinner
are going on the chavadars are curry-combing the horses
with the curious implement peculiar to this country, which
makes a loud humming sound, like a watchman's rattle.
Serchem, September 19th. — We are still jogging on to
the tune of the caravan bells over the endless desert pla
teaux, following the line of the Indo-European telegraph
poles. We came suddenly upon them after leaving Khoi
and long before reaching Tabreez. Now they stretch
away before and behind us, an endless perspective of trim
iron masts, each with the name of the famous London
firm stamped upon it. By merely touching one of these
poles one feels at once en rapport with London or Paris,
New York, and Bombay. Walking on a mile or more in
advance of the caravan, over a billowy plain, which seems
vaster than the ocean itself, for the reason that we are
always at such an elevation that it is like being on the
roof of the world, whence one can look forth over endless
space, we are approaching a still higher table-land. Far
beyond the plain, tufted with bunches of dry j^ellow herb
age gilded by the setting sun, this great plateau rises
above us at a distance impossible to estimate in the clear
atmosphere; its surface is broken up into little hillocks,
like the waves of a petrified sea, each crest tipped with
scarlet from the glowing west, and each long shadow cor
respondingly violet; and beyond this again rises another
and still higher country of purple mountains, and through
the gaps of their serrated sky-line other and more distant
ranges may be discerned, faint and far away. Looking
into the west as the sun sinks, range after range becomes
visible, each less purple and more enveloped in golden

ZINJAN EXPLORED 61
haze. A wide river valley lay between us and the pla
teau. In the twilight which follows closely upon the
golden after-glow we halted near a village strangely sug
gestive of the African Sahara.
Zinjan, September 24th.— Having arrived early we in
tend taking a day of rest, partly on account of the horses.
A yellow plain reaches to the city walls: several different
roads, like white threads drawn across it, converge at a
point of the wall which is probably the entrance. Be
yond this yellow line of walls rise a few yellow domes,
some dark, spire-like trees, and three bulbous domes of
vivid turquoise blue, which glitter in the sunshine against
the pink and violet hills. We encamp on the gravel plain
well away from the town, but with a view downward
into the river valley over the wealth of green foliage con
fined by low garden walls. Tatos sets out at once for
the bazaar, that he may buy the wherewithal with which
to feast, for we are to cross another desert, and that which
we have just traversed provided but little to satisfy our
Gargantuan appetites, which ill accord with the ascetic
character of the country. Accompanied by Abdullah, I
stroll down to explore the town. From this silent and
glaring desert it is but a few steps into the crowded gloom
of the bazaars, noisy with the strident din of hammers as
we pass through the quarter of the metal-workers, and
into the street of the saddlers, where the shopkeepers stare
silently at us from their cavernous retreats, fringed about
with tasselled and embroidered trappings. We come to a
hoary old mosque, which still retains a little of its ancient
faience. There are chains across the door, as usual, to ex
clude the infidel, but Abdullah, who avers that the moul-
lahs of Zinjan are less fanatical than most of their con
freres, raises the chain for me to enter. Trusting to the
wisdom of this enlightened Persian,! slip through the hal-

62 LOSS OF A STEEL TRUNK
lowed portal, and stroll about under the venerable poplars,
examining the tile- work adorning the cloisters. Our pres
ence seems to occasion not a little consternation, but ap
parently no open hostility, and, our inspection over, we
bow ourselves out of the sacred retreat. It was the first
and only mosque which I entered in Persia, and Abdullah
afterwards said that the moullahs did not at all appreciate
the honor of our visit.
September 25th. — I was suddenly awakened from a last
doze at daybreak by the voice of my companion, Mr. Child,
who stated with shocking' brevity that his steel trunk had
been stolen. Unwilling to believe it, we hunted high and
low, but upon examining the " ma-fresch," where, it had
been left just inside the tent-wall, we discovered that both
leather and carpet had been cut through from the outside.
He himself was aware of the moment when it had been
done, perhaps half an hour earlier; he had heard. the rip
ping sound of the knife, but being half asleep had paid no
attention to it. The camp was a scene of confusion for an
hour or mOre. One of the horses had been cut loose by
robbers, but turned up again a short distance away. • We
had a faint hope, of short duration, however, that the
thief on breaking open the box would not think it worth
while to carry off the clothing which it contained. Of
what use could a dress-suit and a " Feringhi's " wardrobe
be to a Persian tramp? But nothing was found. We
concluded then to send on the caravan, but to stop on
our way through the town and complain to the Governor,
who, it appeared, was also a prince. As we rode up to
the palace gate a company of horsemen were dismount
ing, one of whom was pointed out as the Governor's
deputy. Having heard our statement, he led the way into
the inner court, and went in search of his Excellence*!
After a short delay, a group of officials appeared, follow-

PACKING BAGGAGE BEFORE SUNRISE

ing the dignitary at the head, who, after a courteous salu
tation, sat himself down in a niche of the wall, making
room for us by his side. He seemed greatly concerned,
and after asking many questions, consulted with his fol
lowers, and said that his Highness was now asleep, but
would awaken about noon, when he would probably give
us an audience. We had been under the delusion that we
were talking to the prince himself, and now, greatly dis
gusted by the delay, my companion vowed that he had

64 HUNTING FOR A SITE
far rather lose his clothes than so much valuable time, and
briefly saluting the representatives of power, we mounted
and hurried off to catch up with our men.
Sultanieh, September 26th. — Every traveller who has
left a record of this journey has spoken of the vast extent
of ruins around Sultanieh. M. Jaubert, a Frenchman,
who went on a diplomatic mission to Teheran in 1805,
and returned by this route, says : " The remains of edi
fices and fine monuments which cover the plain, together
with the testimony of history, combine to prove the van
ished splendor of this city, which in the fifteenth century
was the depot of a great trade with India." Curzon also
speaks of it in similar terms.
As we approached it, late in the afternoon, we passed a
summer residence of the Shah, which loomed up like a
domed mosque rising above a fortress ; and beyond it ap
peared a still higher and more ancient dome, with frag
ments of brilliant mosaic still adhering to it. It was twi-
light before- we reached this ruin by a net-work of stony
paths, where the horses stumbled among piles of loose
bricks and broken walls. It was not easy to pick out a
clean piece of ground whereon to pitch the tent, as dark
ness had come on ; there was a cold and benumbing wind,
and our baggage animals were still lagging behind. But
they appeared at last in the obscurity, and in spite of stiff
fingers we unpacked, and were soon comfortably stretched
out on our camp-beds, and looking forward to a late dinner.
After riding across miles of country comparatively clean,
it seemed a strange and annoying fatality that we should
always be obliged to encamp near some filthy village in
order to procure water, or to get to windward of the
cemetery. In the morning, our surroundings, which we could not
see distinctly before, are unusually striking. Close at

A NEW ROAD COMPANY 65
hand, the great crumbling ruin towers above us. It is the
once splendid mausoleum of Shah Khodabendeh, a two-
storied octagonal pile, capped by a dome, and with a slen
der minaret rising from each angle. A great caravan
covers the plain, and the men, shapeless bundles enveloped
in their clumsy felt mantles, are huddled together over
their fires in the misty light of early morning. Our own
men, as they bend over the baggage or rise up like silhou
ettes against the flushed sky, suggest endless combinations
for pictures in a rich and mellow scheme of color.
Kazbin, September 28th. — Here we hope to find a
vehicle of some sort to take us over the hundred miles
of carriage road beginning at Kazbin and ending at
Teheran. But alas for our hopes. There is no carriage
to be had, not even a droschke, and we must still toil on
with the caravan. There are plenty of arabas, but we
know from experience how much speed can be gotten
out of that vehicle, and at the worst we shall not lose
more than two days. The Shah had recently granted a
monopoly to the new road company formed in Yienna,
and while we were still at Tabreez the personnel of the
company arrived, bringing their carriages, diligences, and
live-stock. After a few days for rest and repairs, they
went on to Teheran. In the meantime there is an
interim ; the old service has been suppressed, and the
road is out of repair. The great hotel, charmingly situ
ated in a garden, and looking out into a public square
which is a picture in itself, is empty. The broad, shady
avenue where this hostlery stands is full of life and
movement, and more attractive in aspect than any we
have seen yet. As we go along, Tatos buys some cooked
" kabobs " at a shop, so that we may have a hot breakfast
al fresco while the tent is going up. The kabobs of
Persia, being made from a sort of spiced minced meat

66

NO ILLUSIONS

which is moulded into little cakes and grilled, are un
commonly appetizing when at the best, and quite equal
to Frankfort sausages.
Safar Khojah, September 29th. — The Shah's highway,
considered as an agreeable promenade, or merely as a
necessary avenue of approach to a great capital, cannot
be considered as a shining success. Straight away in
front of us as far as eye can reach, it stretches over a
level plain, and up a slight rise, bounded on one side by

THE SHAH'S HIGHWAY

RELICS OF THE PAST 67
the arrow-straight line of iron telegraph poles. The sky
is slightly overcast; a fierce wind blows in our faces,
bringing dense clouds of dust, which rise at times to a
great height in the distance, often taking the form of
water -spouts, or of towering columns of smoke; once
enveloped in one of these travelling dust-storms, there is
nothing to do but hold .our heads down, and with eyes
tightly shut ride through it, emerging on the other side
white-bearded and powdered like millers. Sometimes we
try to avoid these encounters by riding over the rough
and broken ground on one side. There are many wrecks
by the way of what were once stout ships of the desert,
as well as the last remnants of horses, mules, and donkeys,
lying where they gave up the struggle for life. The only
birds in this drear landscape are the ravens, which hunt
in couples, and fly up from the road croaking hoarsely as
we approach. There is not even a hard bank of earth or
a stone large enough to sit upon when it is time for
lunch, and one can only squat ignominiously in the dust.
The rest-houses and caravansaries along the road are
better organized than usual, and travel certainly seems
to increase as we near the capital. The grand mountain
ranges which have skirted our route are no longer
in sight, but others are appearing in the distance. Be
yond Sukurabad we cross a bridge over a torrent, which
would certainly have been impassable for wheeled vehi
cles, owing to the great holes in the middle ; and while
mounting the hill beyond it we are overtaken and passed
by a squad of cavalry guarding a prisoner. They are
variously uniformed, but well mounted, and most of them
are soldierly, stalwart fellows. Many wear gray Astra
khan caps, and belong to the regiment uniformed as Cos
sacks, which is considered the elite of the Shah's army.
The wretched captive has his jaw bound up in a blood-

68 BANDIT AND GUARD
stained rag, his hands tied behind him, and he manages
with difficulty to balance himself on a donkey. He is a
bandit of some sort, and is being taken to Teheran, where
he will lose his head, or be strung up by the heels, for
Persian justice is summary. Two men not in uniform,
but armed with shot-guns, ride close behind. The offi
cers, as they pass, salute us, and begin a conversation
through Abdullah. An hour later we overtake the whole
party, who have dismounted to eat by a road-side cafe;
the prisoner has been untied, and is fraternizing with the
men ; the officers signal to us to stop and share their re
freshments, but we decline, and hasten on in search of
some deep ravine or fissure where we can enjoy a quiet
lunch sheltered from the boisterous, dust-laden wind.
October 2d. — As we come to the last few miles before
Teheran, the great crescent -like range of the Shimran,
powdered with snow, dominates the landscape. Some
where between us and the great ravines which scar the
slopes, in the midst of a long dark line which is begin
ning to take on the semblance of verdure, lies the city.
We have been on the lookout for Demavend, the mighty
pyramid of snow twenty thousand feet in height, but the
sky is too cloudy in that direction. There is a village in
front of us, not an hour from Teheran, and we halt for
lunch ; a large group of tents surrounding two or three
great blue pavilions lies among the gardens on our left '
A brook crosses the road with several channels of clear,
rippling water, between banks of green turf, and here our
carpets are spread, while a bottle of old Kazbin wine, not
unlike Marsala, is buried in the brook to cool. Near the
cafe by the road-side are two or three antiquated and
cumbersome barouches, which might have been made in
the days of the First Empire ; another carriage is driven
out from a garden gate, with coachman and postilion

A CUSTOMS EXPERT 69
strangely attired in brown liveries, and with long-skirted
frock-coats, recalling the fashions of Louis XY. They
seem to have stepped out from a masquerade into this
strange Asiatic landscape. They, as well as the tents
close by, belong to the Shah, who is on his way to the
capital. We soon overtake our pack-horses,* toiling on in
the now increasing company of other caravans and riders
on horse or camel back, all moving towards the long
green line of gardens.

in
When approaching one of the world-famous cities of
Asia, one has always at least a moment of faint surprise
at finding it so dwarfed by its environment of giant
mountain barriers, often quite hidden until one is close
upon it by some fold of the ground, and so insignificant
a speck in the surrounding desolation. The "Kazbin
Gate," by which we enter, is a modern structure of fanci
ful but inartistic design, decorated with enamelled bricks.
Abdullah, having been a custom-house officer, and know
ing how to deal with his brethren, succeeds admirably in
getting us through the gate without having our baggage
overhauled. We enter a dusty and glaring new quarter,
and turn into a crowded market-place of vast extent, a
labyrinth of booths and stalls, shaded by the most ragged,
many-colored, and fantastically contrived awnings imag
inable. Picking our way through the swarming multi
tude, clothed for the most part in patched and faded rags,
steering the laden horses of our caravan through the jam
of donkeys and ragged, weather-beaten camels, among
piles of vegetables, hanging meat, rubbish heaps, flies,
dust, and debris, we turn into a dark corridor leading to
the bazaars of Teheran. How long we were engaged in

70

IN THE THICK OF IT

slowly threading our way through these interminable and
dimly lighted aisles it would be difficult to estimate.
Progress was necessarily slow by reason of the crush,
which seemed to exceed even that of Tabreez, the con
tinual entanglements with camel and mule trains which
we met on the way, and the disputes with shopkeepers, as
our projecting chests and tent-poles constantly threatened

GRAIN MARKET, TEHERAN

the merchandise hung up in front of their shops. But
every step was full of novelty and charm. We lingered
for a moment in front of a fascinating cook-shop, where
great jars were sunk to the brim in a clay counter,
after the fashion of the wine-shops in Pompeii ; a few old
tiles sparkled like blue and yellow gems, placed irregularly
on the wall, in its bituminous depths. Farther on, a veri-

ORIENTAL STYLE 71
table European shop displayed second-hand furniture
and a brave array of gilded chairs covered with crimson
damask. A passage opened into a great roofed ware
house, glittering with huge crystal chandeliers and quan
tities of cut-glass ware from Yienna. Then we clatter
out into the daylight of an open street, and our horses
shy at the unwonted apparition of a tramway car, such a
horse-car as one meets in the streets of Boston in the
summer-time, with transverse seats, freighted with Per
sians, half hidden by the flapping white curtains. A high
archway decorated with plaques of modern faience repre
senting the mythological heroes of Iran and Persian sol
diers of to-day, leads to the great oblong square known as
the Tup-Meidan, and we pass under it and cross the
square, leaving on our right the richly decorated palace
of the Imperial Bank of Persia. From this point the dif
ferent tramway lines start, and there is a veritable cab
stand, with old and battered fiacres. This square may be
said to typify the modern architectural art of the country,
and without further detail it might be characterized as an
astonishing medley of cheap and showy faience, of tinted
and stuccoed facades of German descent, and of all that
is meretricious, pretentious, and grotesque, recalling, in a
measure, an Oriental background at the Opera Comique,
where the Taj-Mahal, Benares, Cairo, and Constantinople
are huddled together on one canvas. And yet the whole
effect is novel and interesting.
Turning into a long, straight avenue, darkened by over
arching trees, and with European shops on either side, we
ride on in quest of a hotel. This is the " Boulevard des
Ambassadeurs," so called, half in derision, by the foreign
colony. But it is not, however, a misnomer, for here most
of the legations are situated, ending with the imposing
entrance to the British Embassy, and as usual England

THE BOULEVARD DES AMBASSADECRS, TEHERAN

outshines her continental rivals. This street is an amusing
combination of semi-European and Persian life ; the httle
shops have plate-glass windows half filled with a meagre
but varied assortment of under-clothing, kerosene-lamps
and gas-fixtures, hardware, violins, and sheets of music;
there is also a well-furnished barber's shop, with a fine as
sortment of cosmetics, kept by an Armenian hailing from
Stamboul or Pera. There are many high- walled gardens, a
hospital, guard-houses for the municipal police, and little
Persian cafes or tea shops have placed inviting benches in

A KALEIDOSCOPIC TOWN 73
front of their doors, usually filled by loungers with "kal-
yans," or water-pipes. The hotel, when found, does not
seem as home-like as our own tent, and hearing of another
which has just opened, we mount again and follow our
guide. The sky has become dark and gloomy, threaten
ing rain, the " boulevard " is heavy with dust and fallen
leaves, and the autumnal scent in the air draws us in
fancy far from this exotic street and back to the avenues
of Versailles or St. Cloud in chill October. At the new
Telegraph Hotel we find good cheer and a landlord who
takes a personal interest in every detail.
The few days passed in this strange gathering-place of
races left a medley of abiding but somewhat confused im
pressions. As in the changing phases of a dream, the scenes
were rapidly shifted, beginning with the joyous evenings
in which we were so fortunate as to again enjoy the so
ciety of cultured and hospitable Europeans, where the
brilliantly lighted drawing-room, but for its broadside of
ancient Persian windows, exquisitely latticed and filled
in with mosaics of tinted glass, might have, looked out on
the Pare Monceau. Strange scenes flashed past as we
journeyed to remote quarters by the tramway lines
through stifling clouds of dust. On one of these excur
sions my neighbor was an Armenian, whose summer resi
dence was at Bougival, adjoining the premises of Gerome
the painter, and whose son was a student in his atelier
at the Beaux- Arts. A familiar face seen at a gateway
belonged to a Persian youth who had posed for me in
Paris. A busy street through which the tramway passed,
lined with nondescript booths and shops, where cobblers
stitched at piles of old shoes in the open air amid the
nameless litter of a workaday cosmopolitan suburb, looked
strangely familiar to us both. My companion thought he
had seen its like in South America, while I remembered

74 A REAL PARIS1ENNE
similar quarters in Bombay or Lahore, where the advanc
ing tide of English civilization leaves a shore-mark of
" Cheap Jack" shops.
The last afternoon was passed in driving about in a
fiacre, executing last commissions and filling the car
riage with bundles. In the windows of one shop a varied
line of goods was displayed, from artists' materials and
fancy stationery to canned provisions, hosiery, and woollen
under-garments ; and I had a brief encounter with the
voluble little Frenchwoman within, who got the better
of me in a bargain for winter flannels. The imposing
gilt sign of Madame Chose, Modiste, glittered over a shop
across the tramway tracks. In order to fully appreciate
the cost of this exotic luxury of Teheran, one should bear
in mind that all the European furniture and upholstery, ¦¦:
the grand pianos and carriages, the Parisian fashions, and
even the ladies which they adorn, are brought into Persia
by way of Tiflis and the Caspian Sea to Eesht, and trans
ported on beasts of burden over the terrible Kharzan
Pass, so often blocked with snow. A fine drizzle had set
in as we drove back to the hotel along a dreary and un
finished boulevard, where the chill wind and falling leaves
presaged the coming of a winter which we hoped soon
to escape in the summer of India.
October 6th. — We have left Teheran far behind, and
have resumed once more the familiar home life of the
tent. Having passed the last outlying gardens and grave
yards, we enter again the same vast landscape which we
left on the other side, and which stretches endlessly be
fore us. The city, with its hurry and bustle, its dark and
teeming bazaars, seems already but a brief episode in a
long nomadic existence, a dot upon the map. The sketch
which I am trying to finish before sundown is little more

DEMAVEND IN SIGHT

75

than a hasty note descriptive of our present surround
ings—a long, battlemented clay wall ending with a sloping
tower, and the ploughed field in the foreground, are both
of the same tone of old-gold from the sunset ; the field
is traversed by long curving violet shadows cast by the
ridges of dry earth, and the background is closed in by
the purple wall of the " Shimran," shadowed by a mighty
wrack of storm clouds, and freshly powdered with newly
fallen snow. Like a ghost, the pale cone of Demavend

PEOPLE WE MEET BY THE WAY

appears and disappears with the flashes of lightning.
The road from Teheran is a broad avenue leading to the
shrine of Shah Abdul Azim; it is fringed with thickly
planted willows and poplars, and at times one might al
most fancy one's self in Normandy, save for the well-
dressed Persians flocking to the sanctuary, which is but
a suburb of the capital, and a pleasure resort as well.
The illusion is aided by seeing through the trees the
smoke of the train speeding along the only railway in

76 RUGGED RECOLLECTIONS
Persia, which begins at Teheran and ends at the tomb
of this favored saint, six miles from the city. Leaving
behind the gilded dome of the sanctuary and the muddy
streets of the village, we encamped well out in the open
country. October 9th. — A brief statement to the effect that we
had just traversed another desert would justly seem but
monotonous repetition. But this desert is the very quin
tessence of all, and though its like may be seen in the
Sahara and in Colorado, it never fails to impress every
traveller who journeys to Ispahan. It is " a land of des
erts and of pits, a land of drought and the shadow of
death, a land that no man passed through, and where no
man dwells." One forbidding landscape I particularly
remember. We came out from some narrow defile and
halted for a moment to look down over steep and arid
slopes, across a broad and straight river valley, through
which ran a slender blue thread of water, to the long
fortress-like cliffs which upheld the plateau beyond. Tier
above tier, and level-topped, these cliffs rose in successffe
graded terraces one above another, regularly seamed with
vertical fissures like the folds of sculptured drapery,, ex
tending far across the horizon, until their converging lines
seemed to fade and melt into the sky. And again; the
landscape utterly changed in character, when from a deep
and stony gorge we emerged upon water-worn and crum
bling volcanic cliffs, where the then projecting shelves of
rock would scarcely bear one's weight, and so high that
the eye ranged far over a level plain, black and shining
as if floored with coal-dust, to the white glitter of an in
land sea. In spite of the brilliant sun the wind was cold
and piercing, and Hadji, the stout Tatar chavadar, bent
over his saddle as if in pain. When we had at last
reached the village, and had chosen a camping-ground on

IN THE TOILS

77

a narrow and stony garden terrace hardly wide enough
for the tent, Hadji fell on his face and lay motionless on
the ground. He was in a raging fever, and as the cook
was also on the sick-list, we had to struggle with the tent
ourselves in the roaring wind.
KushJc-i- Bahram, October 11th. — We are still short-
handed, and do much of the work ourselves. Hadji is
flushed and burning, and has stretched himself out in a
niche in the wall of the superb caravansary, where we

THE BATHING-TANK OF THE CARAVANSARY— LATE AFTERNOON

18 DESOLATION
dose him with " Cockle's Pills," quinine, and hot tea. By
way of variety, this is a sandy desert which surrounds
us, and adjoining the caravansary a circular tank mirrors
the deep blue of the sky, and on its stone curb tired trav
ellers and muleteers are bathing in the water or stretched
out asleep.
Kum, October 12th. — This last section of the wagon
road from Teheran is in better repair, and passes between
well - irrigated fields, leading up to the golden dome of
Fatima, which rises straight in front, between slender
tiled minarets. Kum is one of the most hallowed spots
in Persia, and its peculiar sanctity as the mausoleum of
many kings has made it a place of pilgrimage, as well as
a last resting-place for pious believers who can afford to
have their bodies brought here after death. But we met
but few of the corpse caravans of malodorous repute, as
they mostly journey by night, fortunately for our shying
horses. Kashan, October 14th. — Another ruined city. Many of
the bazaars through which we passed on our way to the
camping -ground had been long empty and in the last
stages of decay. The road on the other side of the town
is like a deep channel between high banks of clay and
we were at first puzzled by huge mounds, which proved
to be used for storing ice during the summer months.
From the level of the upland, where the tents are placed
on the very brink of a steep bluff, the distant cone of
Demavend is still in sight. Since leaving Teheran the
sky has become cloudless again, and the white pyramid,
nearly one hundred and sixty miles to the northward,
hangs like a cloud in the sky, seemingly detached from
the earth, while the high range of the Shimran, which
nearly masked it at Teheran, although thirteen thousand
feet in height, has dwindled down to a dim gray line.

IN VERDURE CLAD 79
Kuhrud, October 15th.— Filing through a deep valley,
of which one side lies under the grateful shadow of almost
perpendicular cliffs, and climbing a steep, paved causeway
like a Eoman road, we find the valley walled across by
a huge mass of masonry. This is the great dam, or
"Bund," built in the reign of Shah Abbas, who seems
to have been as great a builder as Shah Jehan of India.
It was intended to irrigate the plain of Kashan by means
of sluices. As we turned into this valley we lost sight
of Demavend. Once over the wall, and we descend into a
second and longer valley, resembling in character the high
stony slopes of the Alps below the snow-line. Mounting
still higher, the road commands a view of emerald-green
meadows and inviting gardens far below. Hadji has
already gone on with the servant to choose the ground,
and as we follow, leaving the baggage animals behind,
the walls of bare and splintered rock, which rise steeply
on either side, almost shut out the afternoon sun, while
the road plunges downward, and at once enters a green
twilight of overarching boughs. This is a new and un
expected phase of Persia. The thickly planted orchards of
mulberry and other fruit trees rise in terraces on either hand
quite to the base of the rocky walls. Yenerable walnut-
trees with huge and gnarled trunks stand among the
rocks green with moss and spattered with lichens, and
mountain brooks ripple over the stones.
Tired of being alone, my horse, who has been listening
eagerly for the sound of the. bells, lifts up his voice and
whinnies loudly. This demonstration evokes a chorus of
answering neighs from the other horses far on in the
wood, which sets his mind at rest, and he trots on until
we find them waiting near the village on a piece of bare
ground, under giant walnut-trees. Although the altitude
of this village is given as 7250 feet, the cold at night is

80 STRANGE LANDMARKS
not so great as we expected, owing to the sheltering trees
and the walls of the pass above. The village, a compact
mass of square huts built in ascending terraces, rises
steeply against the rocky cliffs behind.

IV
Ispahan, October 20th. — Upon the plain which we now
entered there was a number of heavily proportibned
round towers, each with a smaller turret at the top.
These strange landmarks, rising from the dense foliage
of parklike gardens, had the effect of mediaeval fortress
towers, but, unlike the giants of La Mancha, they proved
to be not windmills, but only pigeon -roosts. We were
an hour or more in traversing the girdle of villagesfand
the first bazaars, but we finally reached the heart of the
city, where, passing through an archway under a lofty
palace, we came out at the beginning of a long straight
avenue or boulevard, shaded by several lines of great
trees. Down the centre of this great highway runs a canal,
flanked by slabs of stone, expanding into tanks or ponds
at regular intervals. On all sides stand ruined palaces
and gateways, the remains of former architectural mag
nificence, pathetic souvenirs of the days when Ispahan
was the seat of the most sumptuous court in the world.
But it has never recovered from the successive depreda
tions of Jenghis Khan, of Timour, and, later still, the hor
rors of the Afghan invasion. As late as the seventeenth
century it is said to have had over a million inhabitants.
As we descend the avenue, through the checkered light
and shadow of the towering chenar-trees, we note a richly
decorated fapade crowned with a lofty pillared hall or
"loggia"; the ceiling, which we can see from the street, is
still in good preservation, resembling in its exquisite de-

SILVER DOOR OF THE COLLEGE OF ISPAHAN

82 A THING OF BEAUTY
sign and scintillating color, the silken shawls of Scinde,
in which bits of glass sparkle among rosettes of delicate
embroidery. Euined gateways of elaborate design, still
patched in places with brilliant tiles, or with fragments
of painting adhering to the walls, open into neglected
gardens of rank luxuriance. But the most imposing
monument of this avenue, which was known as the
" Chehar Bagh," is the great Madrasseh i Shah Hussein,
or college for the education of dervishes. The exterior
walls on either side of the lofty portal are relieved by
panels of faience, and the windows are of latticed wood.
The pointed arch of the deep recess in which is the en
trance is decorated with the stalactite forms familiar in
Arabian art. The lower part of this recess is panelled
with white marble, and above with rich and intricate de
signs in tile- work ; the door itself is incrusted with silver
richly wrought. The beautiful dome of shining blue, with
a running design of yellow curving arabesques, has lost
half of its coating of faience, and one of the golden balls
on the top. They are believed by the citizens to be of
solid gold, and the story goes that one of them was stolen
by its guardians and sold to an English tourist. Within
the entrance are fruit-stalls and samovars, where tea is
dispensed to the faithful. I afterwards visited the in
terior, and saw the students poring over their books in
the cloistered niches, or sitting with their kalyans around
the tank under the tall poplars of the court. This great
avenue was once the "Champs Elysees" of Ispahan,
where the rank and fashion of the city flocked on sum
mer evenings, and congregated about the cafes and in
the tea-gardens, some of which still survive. But now,
many of the great trees have been cut down for fire
wood, the stone fountains are broken, and much of the
curbing has disappeared. There are mud -holes and

A FINE BRIDGE 83
ditches in the roadway, and the tanks are morasses
choked with tall reeds, rotting vegetation, and thick
green slime, among which the frogs pipe in ceaseless and
melancholy chorus. Still beautiful in its pathetic and
hopeless decay, no spot in the world could appeal more
touchingly to the imagination, for what is left is sufficient
to show that it was once the perfect flower of Persian art.
At the end of this avenue we cross the river by a
long bridge. Although this is the age of bridge-build
ing, when miracles have been wrought in iron, one must
go to Ispahan to realize that a bridge may be a work of
artistic beauty. Curzon says, " One would hardly ex
pect to have to travel to Persia to see what may in all
probability be termed the stateliest bridge in the world,"
and " its entire length is 388 yards ; the breadth of the
paved roadway is thirty feet." This is the bridge of Ali
Yerdi Khan, and it still triumphs over time and decay, built
as it is of solid masonry, with nearly a hundred pointed
arches supporting an arcaded gallery. The broad boule
vard still continues on the other side, with its broken con
duits, its great shells of ruined palaces, mounting grad
ually the slope of the desert plain towards the tall
purple crag of precipitous and striking outline, which
towers above the landscape as Arthur's Seat rises over
Edinburgh. It was noon and intensely hot as we turned
into the path on tbe left, which borders the river. The
broad and stony but dry bed of the stream was carpeted
for a great distance with the stamped cotton prints,
fresh from the dyers' vats along the banks, which are
now so familiar in our own markets. They are spread
out to dry in the sun, and to the highly colored land
scape they add a foreground of vivid and startling color,
of which rich Venetian red is the key-note. Beyond this
are a distant blue line of water, a fringe of poplars, and the

84 AN IDEAL CAMP
turquoise domes of Ispahan, and over all the profound
blue sky.
Passing the decaying palace of the " Aineh Khaneh,"
we ford the river and halt in a lovely spot, high above the
water and shaded by great trees. Here the tents are
pitched, and, leaving my companion to rest, I set out to
explore the neighborhood.
Before us, across the river, stands the stately Aineh
Khaneh. In front of the main fabric, with its square
mass of yellow stone, pierced by latticed windows,
adorned within and without by tile-work, and by crum
bling and smoke-blackened frescos, projects a lofty pil
lared hall or loggia, open on all sides but one to the wind
and the light. Its flat roof rests upon slender shafts of
cedar, with bases formed of sculptured marble lions.
The ceiling retains much, of its original color and its
glittering decoration of glass mosaic. An army of tents,
the encampment of a Persian general, stands on one side,
above the water, and in the background rise the serrated
and purple crags. Near the palace stands a single tower
ing pine, the only black note in this matchless landscape.
Continuing along the bank, we come to a second stately
bridge, crossed by another long avenue, starting from the
great square in the middle of the city, and finally losing
itself, like the first, among ruins in the desert plain
beyond. This bridge is called the Pul-i-Khaju, and al
though less than half the length of the other, it is, to
my mind, a much more beautiful and decorative feature
in the landscape. Like the first bridge, it is two stories
in height, built on a platform, which descends in a series
of steps to the water on either side ; this substructure is
cut by channels through which the water flows under
each arch. But the original and novel features of this
bridge are its hexagonal towers at each end and in the

PICTURESQUE SURROUNDINGS

85

middle, which give rise to unexpected and picturesque
angles. In these expansions of the upper story are richly
decorated chambers, formerly used as cafes, and the whole
bridge is gay from end to end with colored tiles. The
platform on the east side is still, as in old days, a favor
ite resort and lounging -place in the afternoon. Yeiled
women, wrapped in long blue garments, still look down
from the upper windows on the life below. Men are
bathing on the steps, or sitting with tea-glasses and water-

PUL-I-KHAJU BRIDGE, ISPAHAN

pipes around the cafe at one end, while gayly caparisoned
horsemen clatter over the pavement of the bridge and up
the avenue which leads to the city.
Let us follow them under the battered gateway, which
replaces some former monumental entrance, and we shall
find ourselves in another boulevard, shaded by chenar-trees
and poplars of great height. The border of the canal,
save for the occasional sloughs, answers the purpose of a
sidewalk. The palaces and gateways which formerly

86 ORIENTAL COLOR VALUES
adorned it have been replaced by more modern and paltry
structures, or by long walls. The oldest trees have been
cut down, and a double avenue of ancient rose-trees
beneath them has also disappeared. From the upper end
of this street a series of narrow lanes, passing at one
place under a gate flanked by round towers, leads into
the labyrinth of bazaars, and gradually, as we advance,
the noise and bustle increase till we reach an opening
by which we enter the Meidan, the great open square, or
rather plaza, which is the very centre of the city'slife.
This open space is 560 yards in length by 174 in breadth,
(to use Curzon's figures). Flanked at intervals along the
sides and at both ends by imposing and beautiful archi
tectural fabrics, symmetrically planned with an eye to
cumulative effect, it still remains an enduring monument
of the departed glory of Ispahan.
At one end of this square, or parallelogram rather, and
occupying the central space, stands the great " Mosque of
Lutfullah." The arched portal, at the bottom of which
is the entrance, is in a recess which bows inward hex-
agonally, leaving space for a tank in front. Above this
portal, and set at a different angle, is the higher entrance
of the inner sanctuary ; and the dome, between two slender
minarets, rises above the great pile. The entire building
is covered with mosaic of beautiful faience. Even the sta
lactite-work within the pointed arches is also coated with
tiles. About the entrance are panels of the same lustrous
mosaic, but finer and more elaborate in detail, resembling
in rich and restful harmony of color the ancient prayer-
carpets, where blue and yellow designs are relieved upon
a dull black ground. A low parapet of white marble
fences off the space in front of the entrance. On fete
days, when crowds and processions are passing in and
out, and richly caparisoned horses are grouped in front of

ENTRANCE TO THE GRAND BAZAAR AT ISPAHAN

88 A HARVEST OF FRUIT
the low marble wall, this spot has the charm of a picture,
in which the moving groups of men and horses are out
lined in light against the great blue pile in sombre
shadow. At the opposite end of the place a lofty tiled
gateway, flanked by highly decorated and recessed walls,
opens into the great bazaar. A tank in front reflects
all this splendid color, and the angular and unexpected
masses of shadow cast by the multitude of colored and
faded awnings projecting from the walls, as well as the
crowds about the margin and the shops on each side.
On my first entrance into this square I was accosted in
good English by an Armenian shopkeeper from Julfa,
where the European colony resides, who offered to show
me something of the city. Together we stroll through
the bazaars, entering the sunlit courts of the great cara
vansaries, fascinating in their wealth of color and detail,
back again into the crowded corridors, which are less
gloomy than usual, as the vaulted roofs are often white
washed and adorned with rude painted arabesques, and
sometimes with great mural pictures, representing myth
ological subjects and battle scenes. An all - pervading
odor of ripe fruit fills the air, for it is now the height of
the season, and the fruit-stalls are overflowing with
melons of every size and color, and with piles of mag
nificent muscatel grapes and crimson pomegranates. All
Persia is strewn with melon rinds just now, not only in
the cities, but along the mule tracks in the desert. The
aroma which hangs about the cook-shops gives evidence
that the citizens of Ispahan have a high standard of culi
nary excellence, and the steaming saddles of roast mutton
or lamb, with the outer crust done to a delicious brown,
and daintily cut into fantastic patterns, would grace the
table of any Parisian restaurant. In one of the most
crowded spots, at the intersection of three different thor-

A PERSIAN EXECUTIONER 89
oughfares, under a lofty dome, a group of men are sitting
in front of a number of large trays containing viands of
appetizing and seductive aspect. One has the appearance
of a pudding garnished with jelly and geometric designs
of colored fruits, another seems to be a highly decorated
species of " pilau." We learn that they are the remnants
of some rich man's feast, and are the perquisites of the
chief cook, sent here for sale.
In the long copper bazaar, with its deafening din and
clatter of metal, we come to the door of a crowded and
tumultuous cafe, through which the verdure of a garden
beyond invites repose. While we are waiting for our tea,
a well-dressed Persian, accompanied by one or two fol
lowers, saunters in. He has a rather brutal but good-
natured face, and his long, light overcoat is of the most
fashionable tint. He salutes my guide, who tells me that
he is the chief executioner, the Monsieur Deibler of
Ispahan, and upon our solicitation he seats himself at our
table, and enters into conversation with my guide. In the
course of a light and airy discussion of the popular
methods of " working off " the victims of justice em
ployed in other countries, he evinces a critical apprecia
tion of the neat despatch with which the guillotine does its
work, and is most keenly interested in the process of elec
trocution, the last fairy tale of Western science. But his
face clouds up as he complains that his business has been
" very bad " of late. It frequently happens, to explain
this state of things, that when a criminal has been con
demned, a number of merchants club together and buy
him off by offering a large sum of money to the prince
as a ransom. The released culprit then becomes their
slave for life. On the other hand, when nothing inter
rupts the course of justice, the executioner arrays him
self in crimson garments, and, being a tender-hearted man

90

OFFICIAL BLACKMAIL

in spite of his roughhewn face, he is obliged to fortify
his nerves with strong drink before he can give the fatal
stroke of the sword. He then places the head of his
victim in a tray, and makes the round of the bazaars,
thrusting it into every shop, and, according to custom,
each merchant is obliged to put down a piece of money,
thus swelling his receipts to what is often an important
sum.

THEODORE CHILD

October 25th.— All day the tent has been littered with
bric-a-brac, embroideries, inlaid boxes, metal -work, and
strange little souvenirs, for which we have bargained and
haggled with the itinerant merchants, who bring their
treasures in saddle-bags and on donkeys. They are hang-

A PREMONITION 91
ing about the kitchen tent, and ingratiating themselves
with the servants. No sooner do we dispose of one than
another turns up smiling and salaaming at the tent door.
We are anxious to get away in spite of the open hos
pitality of our kind friends at Julfa, for it is now certain
that this spot is unhealthy, and the nights are becoming
bitterly cold. Although there seems to be not even a
suspicion of dampness in the clear air, for we have care
fully examined the exterior canvas of the tent as well as
the grass around us late at night and before sunrise, and
found everything quite dry, yet there must be some mala
rious influence at work. Each one of us has felt it in a
different way; the servants and muleteers have all had
touches of fever, and the health of my companion has
become strangely affected, so that we are both looking
forward to the purer air of the high ridges which we shall
cross on the way to Shiraz.
Note.— -Mart?, November 2d.— It was here in this rock-bound desert
that Mr. Child felt the first approach of the fatal illness which soon
developed into typhoid fever. In response to ray urgent appeal for
help, addressed to our friends at Julfa, nearly forty miles from our last
camp, and carried by a runner from the village, a medical assistant
was at once sent. Although he rode at full speed for the whole dis
tance, he arrived too late, and my friend died as we were carrying him
by easy stages to Julfa, but, happily, unconscious of suffering.

FROM ISPAHAN TO KURRACHEE

The kindly and sympathetic welcome which I found at
the mission did much to render more endurable the pain
ful circumstances attending my return to Julfa. Had I
brought the cholera itself with me it would have made
no shade of difference in the warmth of my reception^
either by Dr. Bruce* or by the ladies of his household.
Whatever arguments may be brought forward, justly or
unjustly, against the utility of foreign missions in general,
there can be no shadow of doubt as to the beneficent
results of their work in Persia. During the recent epi
demic at Tabreez the Medical Department of the Ameri
can mission, then under the direction of Miss Bradford,
did noble work, and it was to her constant care and un
tiring energy, as well as to the devotion of our Armenian
friend, that two of our party owed their recovery from
Asiatic cholera. And after hearing so many sensational
histories of Kurdish atrocities from Europeans along our
* I feel that I may, without committing any indiscretion, mention
Dr. Bruce by name, since he has been so long identified with Julfa, and
every recent work on Persia has added something to his fame. Curzon
says : " This mission is under the control of the well-known and greatlyv
respected Dr. Bruce, of whom it may be said that he is as good a type
as can anywhere be seen of the nineteenth-century crusader. In an ear
lier age the red cross would have been upon his shoulder, and he would
have been hewing infidels in conflict for the Holy Sepulchre, instead of
translating the Bible and teaching in schools at Julfa."

GOOD SAMARITANS 93.
route, a new light was thrown on that subject when we
met at least two American ladies connected with the
mission who had travelled about among Kurdish villages
regardless of exposure, healing their sick, and striving to
better the condition of their women. Whatever sect they
may belong to, the men and women who have devoted
their lives to this cause have shown themselves to be ab
solutely fearless in the discharge of duty ; their record is
one of self-sacrifice and pluck, and they represent most
worthily the church militant.
Mr. Eabino, the active head of the Imperial Bank of
Persia, says, in a letter from Teheran : "I enclose you-
various letters and reports from the American Presbyte
rian missionaries, for whose courageous and devoted labors
I, an Englishman and a Catholic, can find no words to
express my admiration. Their hospital was positively the
only organization for the help of this terribly visited city."
To supplement his statement it is hardly necessary to add
that these modern Templars have had no incentive in the
shape of pecuniary gain, no stimulus in the guise of social
success, and not even the poor reward of publicity. Their
names will never be inscribed in the Court Gazette of any
local four hundred ; and the press of their own country,
occupied with the conduct and bearing of its social lead
ers, the presence of royalty, and other matters of vital im
portance, has no space to chronicle deeds which, if per
formed by another race and in another age, would have
been held worthy of undying fame.*
* In the same letter Mr. Rabino says : "It may interest your read
ers to learn that Sir Joseph D. Tholozan, K.C.M.G., who has been the
Shah's physician for over thirty years, and a student of cholera for near
ly fifty years (he is a Frenchman, and was formerly an army surgeon),
has, after long reflection and study, come to the conclusion that the real
centre or focus of cholera is not India but Central Asia— i.e., Samarcand

94 MISSION INFLUENCE
Julfa, November 5th.— Julfa is a suburb of Ispahan
distant about three miles from that city. Originally an
Armenian settlement, it is still the headquarters of that
Christian sect, and it is also the residence of the European
colony of Ispahan. Although the Julfa Armenians are
accredited by some travellers with most of the vices ap
pertaining to Christians, and with but few of their virt
ues, yet the faces one meets in the lanes of that leafy
retreat have an intelligent and friendly character which
one does not often encounter in the bazaars of other
cities, and the fact that so many of the villagers speak
excellent English or French shows the influence of the
missions. It was now advisable, for many reasons, to
make an early start for Shiraz. The leading physician
and Bokhara. The epidemic from which we suffered first appeareiait
Meshed ; coming from Afghanistan, it crossed the Caspian to Baku, and
also came to Teheran about the same time. Tabreez received the infec
tion from the Caucasus a few days before ns. There were practically
but two European doctors in town to attend to the community : Dr.
Ooling, C.M.G., of the British Legation, who rode in from the country
almost every day and sometimes at midnight, and Dr. Basil. We of tlie
bank had a hard time of it : of some one hundred persons, including
thirty soldiers, we lost ten (two Europeans). Our young fellows behaved
splendidly, nursing our sick day aud night, attending to them under the,
most painful circumstances, closing their eyes, burying them, aud read
ing the prayers for the dead. One of our staff, a young Parsee, was all
over the town attending natives, for which he received a gold medal
from the Shah and the title of Khan."
Rev. Lewis F. Esselstyn says, in his official report : ' ' Some twenty or
more Europeans died in Teheran. Some independent estimates place tbe
total number of deaths in Teheran at 13,000, while equally good author
ity places the number at 20,000 ; perhaps something between the two
would be nearer right. Following cholera, there was considerable ty
phoid of a mild form and dysentery. Cholera has been very severe;'
Some cases have been fatal in two hours from the start, and many in
twelve. On August 25th [1892] I made the following statement : ' There
have been 5000 deaths in Meshed and 12,000 in Tabreez.' "

t-vY/iukA

ON THE " CHEHAR BAGH," ISPAHAN

96 DISCOMFORTS OF TRAVEL
of Julfa had marked on my pocket -map a number of
villages where cholera had broken out along the " chapar
route." * There were rumors of quarantine — more to be
dreaded, perhaps, than the remote chances of infection.
It had become too cold at night to sleep in the tents,
which were left behind, and we were to "put up" at the
chapar khanehs or at the caravansaries along the road.
In order to avoid the infected villages, and consequently
the danger of quarantine in the desert, it was advisable
to follow a somewhat unfrequented route, which in this
country sometimes entails unexpected adventures. It
would be quite incorrect to convey the impression that a
journey across Persia is attended by any unusual risk or
exposure. In ordinary times, and in the cool, bracing
weather of spring or autumn, few trips could be more
agreeable, and one may carry along an unlimited quantity
of portable comforts. But in this case the circumstances
were exceptional ; the attitude of the people had not been
particularly friendly to Europeans since the fall of the
" tobacco monopoly." Added to this, cold weather was
approaching, and there was some chance of being snowed
up in the passes should one be delayed by quarantine:
And, above all, after the loss of my companion, which had
fallen so heavily upon me, I could not, alone, look forward
with that keen interest and happy anticipation to the Hfe
on the road with which we had set out together, but must
carry with me instead an unending regret that he could
not have lived to reach India, and accomplish what would
have been, beyond a doubt, his crowning work.

* Chapar route, the main line, provided with "chapar khanehs," or
Government post-houses, and with roomy caravansaries for traveller!,
This is also the line of the Indo-European Telegraph, where shelter or
assistance can always be obtained at the stations.

WE START FOR BUSHIRE 97

II
Mayar, November 6th. — The caravan now consisted of
seven animals only, three mules and four horses, not count
ing the donkey which the chavadar brought for his
own personal use. This new chavadar, Hadj Ali, had
contracted to take me to Bushire in twenty -one days, ex
clusive of the brief halt at Shiraz or other delays on the
road. He was not prepossessing, being wall-eyed and of
hang-dog aspect, as well as slovenly and ragged in his
attire. Although he seemed quiet and tractable enough
at Julfa, where the contract was made, it soon appeared
that he was the possessor of a most disagreeable temper.
His ebullitions of wrath may have been due to the circum
stance that he was thwarted in his original design of
being the sole master of this caravan and its movements.
We had been advised long before that when a chavadar
is engaged in this way, he always expects to stop when
and where he likes, and to take rather more time on the
road than he has contracted for. Carapet, a young Arme
nian of good family, who had started with us when we
first left Ispahan, and had shown himself to be thoroughly
trustworthy in any emergency, had also undertaken to
cook, since no one of good repute had presented himself
to perform that function. It is true that a cook who was
anxious to go to Bushire, but whose reputation and ap
pearance had prevented us from engaging him in the first
instance, had hung about till the last moment, and had
then found a place in another caravan going the same
way. Had it been possible, I would have taken another
route rather than traverse the same stretch of country
again. There was no other way, and we pressed on in
order to sleep at Mayar the first night. After passing
i

Marg we had the light of
a full moon for the rest of
the way, and, finding the
chapar station occupied
by the other caravan, we
went on to the great ruin
ous caravansary of Mayar,
near our old camping-
ground. The baggage was
lowering luggage trom the house-top heaped pell - mell on the
ATDAWN stone ledge within the
gateway, and, as it was too
late to think of dinner, we mounted the winding stairway
to a prison-like cell above, swept by the cold night wind
which blew through the narrow embrasures ; but, wrapped
in blankets, we were soon sound asleep.
Kumisheh, November 7th. — The chapar khaneh which
we reach early in the afternoon is worthy of a descrip
tion as a type of its class. A smaller and more cosey
edition of a caravansary, it promises greater comfort.
Around the clay wall of the court- yard is a row of

OUR GUIDE HAS A TEMPER 99
lozenge-shaped openings, where the horses can put their
heads in and reach their fodder ; an enclosed plane leads to
the roof, where two small rooms, opening into each other,
are built over the gateway. In this instance the doors
can be closed, which is unusual, and on the terrace out
side Carapet begins his culinary career, assisted by the
chief functionary of the establishment, whose Astrakhan
cap is decorated with the badge of his office. From the
balcony above the street there is a view over drab-tinted
clay roofs to a steep crag a mile or so beyond, which,
from its color and texture, appears to be fashioned of the
same substance as the town. While Carapet is proceed
ing rather diffidently with his preparations for dinner, as
if doubtful of his success, a long caravan passes through
the street below. It is the same which started just be
fore me from Julfa, and which had occupied the chapar
khaneh at Mayar last night. Behind this caravan rides
Hussein the cook on a donkey. He is the man whom
we had refused to engage when we first left Ispahan, and,
seeing us on the terrace above, he steers his donkey into
the gateway. It seems that he has lost his place with
the other caravan, and, having hired his steed of our
chavadar, he hopes to follow us to Bushire.
Maksud-Beggi, November 8th. — In order not to stop at
Yezdikhast, the first on the list of infected villages, and
marked on the map with two stars, doubly to be avoided, I
had intended to pass by Maksud-Beggi to Aminabad, some
hours farther on, and so get by Yezdikhast on the follow
ing day. But not being as yet on my guard against the
machinations of the new chavadar, he managed by vari
ous delays and pretexts to arrive here rather late in the
day. In the discussion which follows he first exhibits
his unamiable temper. But the chief of the village and
the man in charge of the caravansary, who both seem to

100 SKETCHING UNDER DIFFICULTIES
be of respectable standing, intervene; and as they all
assure us that it would be impossible to reach the next
station before night, we conclude to make the best of it
here. We select a cell a shade less begrimed and sooty
than the majority, and are soon comfortably installed,
while the chief, who has consented to sit for his portrait,
settles himself just outside the door. As a model he
does not prove a success, for his attention is constantly
distracted with counting out copper coins, writing letters
or receipts, and transacting the business of scribe in gen
eral to the community. The other caravan now comes
in, and instead of dining alone, as I had anticipated,?;!
have the joy of sharing their good cheer in a cell which
has been quickly converted into a civilized dining-room
by the magic means of a well-set table, carpets, and gay
hangings which hide the blackened stone, folding arm
chairs placed in front of the blazing fire, and, most impor
tant of all, the charm of congenial society.
Yezdikhast, November 9th. — Hadj Ali smooths matters
over by promising to take a short-cut to Shiraz, by which
we hope to avoid the other cholera villages and the dread
ed quarantine.
The approach to this place is a succession of surprises.
The town, a compact and yellow mass of crowded dwell
ings, appears to rise abruptly, and close at hand above
the level plain which we are crossing. All at once a pro
found ravine opens in front of us, and perched high up
on the summit of the yellow cliffs on the other side are
the houses which we saw from the plain. Descending'
steeply to the pebbly floor of this ravine, which is an
ancient river-bed, we turn to the left and ride along under
the perpendicular ledge. There are filthy pools along the
bottom of it, and black, slimy stains descend the rocky
wall from the rickety wooden balconies and projecting

UNCANNY ARCHITECTURE 101
windows of the town above us. If the people overhead
are dying of cholera, they are surely very quiet about it,
and there is no sign of life at any of the windows. We
come to the chapar khaneh on the other side of the
ravine. It is locked up, and a little farther on the ravine
opens on to a broad river, which we cross by a bridge,
and enter an imposing caravansary of the time of Shah
Abbas.* In this way we avoid entering the town. The river is
bordered on both sides by vertical cliffs, and from the
gate of the caravansary, looking across the bridge, we get
the most striking view of Yezdikhast. The long ledge on
which it stands, is pierced by many caves and openings
along the top, and from a distance it is difficult to make
out just where the town begins, where the caves become
windows and doors. They are accentuated in many
places by jutting windows and crazy-looking balconies
propped by sticks, at a great height above the stream
below. This long rock ends in a thin wedge where the
ravine on the other side enters the river-bed. Separated
at the other end from the main range of cliffs by a spe
cies of drawbridge, it can easily be made as inaccessible
as a vulture's nest perched on a crag, and the dark streaks
which stain the cliffs below heighten the resemblance to a
roosting-place of those scavengers of the desert.
It was at this caravansary that Houssein first became
incorporated into our caravan, in the capacity of cook,
and made his debut with a remarkably successful curry..
Behgadu, November 10th. — Hadj All's chief assistant is
a grotesque, bandy-legged negro, whose buffoonery makes
him the joy of the caravan. When we are on the march,
and he is perched on the top of a pack - mule, crowning.
* Shah Abbas the Great reigned in the seventeenth century.

102 THE CARAVAN JESTER
like a Gothic gargoyle the very apex of the piled-up bag
gage, he sings by the hour, and with more trills and fal
setto quavers than Yvette Guilbert. When he is tired of
singing he tells stories with monkey -like grimaces and
pantomimic action. Nobody understands his dialect, but
all laugh, for his gayety is irresistibly contagious. Then
he falls asleep, and lags behind, swaying violently, till he
is awakened by a fall, from which he always picks him
self up unhurt. At daylight we leave the caravansary,
and crossing a field where peasants are gleaning, follow
along the base-line of the great cliffs which wall in the
valley. Ravens are wheeling and croaking above, and, as
we begin to ascend the cliffs, coveys of partridges rise
whirring from the path. Another table-land, crossed by
a range of bleak hills, stretches before us when we have
mounted the cliffs, and, looking back, the river valley
seems to have sunk out of sight, and Yezdikhast appears
to be on the same unbroken plain. We are at an eleva
tion of nearly seven thousand feet, and the air, tbough
invigorating, is cold and chilly. The only objects of
interest during the long day's march are the glimmering
snow-fields of Kuh Alijuk, another seven thousand feet
above us. We meet no sign of life on the road, but late
in the afternoon we sight a herd of antelopes or gazelles
scampering away in the distance and showing their white
tails. The village of Dehgadu, where we expect to pass
the night, finally appears in the distance, scarcely distin
guishable from the stony hill-side on which it stands.
Outside the walls and near the gate there is a long, yel
low patch dotted with dark figures, from which we infer
that the inhabitants are winnowing their grain. As we
approach, the dark figures begin to run towTards us, agi
tating their arms and implements of labor, and some of
them are shouting. Although it is not usual for Persian

A WARM RECEPTION

103

rustics to take such unnecessary exercise, we pay no at
tention to them, being wrapt in vague speculations as to
what manner of lodging we shall find here. In a mo
ment they have surrounded Carapet, who is riding some
rods in advance, and have begun to belabor his horse with
their wooden pitchforks. My first impulse is to draw a
revolver; and Carapet, in his wrath, slips off the cover of
my rifle and reaches it out for me. Carapet is a boy who

QUARANTINE GUARD AT DEHGADU

might be " quick with the trigger " on slight provocation,
and by the time I have got the thing safely under my
arm our assailants have turned their attention to my
horse, abstaining, however, from attacking our persons.
My situation on this curveting and frightened beast, who
was too tired to run, and had not the nerve to stand still,
began to be somewhat unsafe as well as embarrassing.
It is needless to say that these gentlemen constituted the

104 IN DESPERATE STRAITS
"sanitary committee" of Dehgadu, and that we were
quarantined for having passed by Yezdikhast. Since West
ern civilization has set the example, Europeans have no
right to complain if these people see fit to enact the sorry
farce of quarantine in a village of mud huts. We man
aged, by backing our horses, to keep clear of the crowd
until the arrival of the chief, who explained with formal
politeness that these people were brutes, and had exceed
ed his orders. By this time the baggage animals had
arrived, and the villagers led the way to a barren field
about half a mile from the walls. Here the chief and his
assistants hastily scraped away the straw and debris from
a hole in the ground, uncovering a spring of filthy yellow
water ; and while beasts and men drank copiously, they
brought armfuls of sticks and built a bonfire. During
all this time I had never ceased to threaten and remon
strate, egging on Carapet to put it into forcible and pro
fane Persian, and fortifying my position with the fact
that they had actually attacked the caravan. We swore
that if they did not take us in we should ride across to
Dehbid, on the main road, and wire to the legation at
Teheran. Under ordinary circumstances diplomatic inter
ference would have been tardy and ineffectual, but in this
case I felt confident that our cause would be taken up at
once. Our situation while the issue was pending was not
enviable : there was no other shelter within eight farsakhs
(over thirty miles), we could not find the road at night,
and the hills on this side of the main route were said to
be somewhat unsafe after dark. Added to this, it was
becoming bitterly cold in the waning daylight. We un
loaded the horses, and opened a tin of beef and a bottle
of whiskey. After a brief consultation among themselves,
the chief and some of the others went off to the village to
have another conference, leaving us squatting over the

A CHANGE OF FRONT 105
fire. They presently came back and offered us the free
dom of the town, only begging for a written certificate of
good conduct, and a little whiskey for the chief's father,
who was sick unto death. I chose for my quarters the
room over the town gate; and while the baggage was
being hoisted and dragged up a broken and ruinous stair
way by these knights of the pitchfork, others brought fire
wood and provisions, limited as usual to bread, chickens,
and eggs. Our aggressors now showed themselves as
zealous in promoting our comfort as they had been before
in driving us off, and it was with some little difficulty
that we finally prevailed on them to leave us alone for
the night.
Dehgadu, November 11th, 6 A.M. — All the masculine
part of the population, and some veiled women as well,
have turned out to see the start ; and while we are on the
roof packing the baggage and inciting Hadj Ali to ac
tion, we look down on a long line of upturned faces. The
owners of these faces are propped lazily against the oppo
site wall, watching our every movement, and paying but
slight attention to the discourse of a ragged and paralytic
old fanatic seated on a dungheap, who is alternately
haranguing the crowd and cursing us with uplifted hands.
November 12th. — The long stretch of country which
now lies before us proves to be the most desolate and
cheerless on the road to Shiraz. The only soul we meet
on the way is a ragged, grizzly bearded Kurd, who had
evidently sighted our procession from afar, and was wait
ing for it to come up ; he addresses a loud and plaintive
monologue to us, at the same time pointing to a long line
of beetling cliffs which rose above the path. This oration,
being translated, means that there is a dying man in a hut
somewhere among these heights, and he beseeches us to
go up and see him. This we declined to do, not having

106 NOT INVITING
implicit faith in his statements, and he then begged for
money with which to purchase medicine. As it did not
then occur to me that there was no pharmacy in the
neighborhood, I gave him two " krans," and we left him,
roundly abusing us for not giving him ten.
The lateness of the hour indicates that we must be
approaching the end of the seven long farsakhs (I say
long, because every traveller soon discovers that there
are both long and short farsakhs), and the yellow walls
and castles rising from the plain show that we cannot be
far from the haven promised by Hadj Ali. But all these
architectural wonders are but deserted ruins. A lonely
and isolated pile near the foot of a steep ridge which
seems to bar our farther progress is pointed out as the
caravansary. Carapet has galloped on to see what sort
of quarters Hadj Ali had chosen for us ; by the time I
reach the building Carapet has concluded his inspection,
and returns with an air of hopeless dejection. The car
avansary proves to be but a crumbling shell, tenanted by
a tribe of nomadic Kurds, who are camping out in its
ruins; every cell is occupied by their families. Men,
women, and children, cattle, goats, and chickens, are
huddled promiscuously together in the dirty cells behind
the tattered remnants of black tents which cover the
arched openings, and the air is filled with the choking
fumes of dung fires. One or two caravans are encamped
outside. The only place where we could by any possi
bility sleep is a deminutive cell on the roof, open on three
of its six sides to the wind. This time Hadj Ali had
overstepped the mark ; he had reached the " end of his
tether," and I waited for him to come up, intending to
remonstrate so effectually that he would be more careful
in future. Feeling confident that he was master of the
situation, he received our mild remonstrances with ag-

WE MAKE THE BEST OF IT 107
gressive insolence, and even went to the length of threat
ening Carapet with his stick. This led to the sudden
downfall of Hadj Ali, and although he called loudly
upon his two assistants for help against the infidel, they
paid no attention to his outcries. People who live in
Persia say that there are good chavadars as well as bad
ones, men whom you can intrust with any amount of
property, but we did not have the good-fortune to fall in
with them. Those whom we had, however, were not the
worst of their kind, but they were brutes for the most-
part, possessed of a certain degree only of animal cun
ning. Our situation, for which Hadj Ali was in a measure
responsible, could not be called a dilemma, for there was
no alternative, no other shelter for many miles, only the
little cell on the roof. The appearance of the crowd
which now poured out of every nook and corner of the
ruin was not reassuring, particularly as my baggage
contained considerable coin and plunder of various kinds ;
and the cold was increasing, as the wind blew straight
down from the snow not far above us.
The old beggar who had met us on the road with the
legend of the sick man now came in, having followed
close behind, and he seemed to be one of the head men of
the tribe. The petty pilferings to which our baggage
had been subjected in various places had made it advis
able to engage the chief of the village, or of the caravan
sary, to watch outside the door at night, so we now
selected the most responsible - looking man to mount
guard. As the stairway which led to our eyrie became
a ragged cliff half-way up, the baggage was hoisted on to
i the roof by means of the cords used for tying it on tho
, pack-saddles, and with the aid of all the able-bodied men
: available. When it had been deposited in the cell, and
: the gaps blockaded with boxes and closed up with rugs,

108 AN AMATEUR PRACTITIONER
there was barely space enough for my camp-bed and Cara-
pet's mattress. It was impossible to have a fire there, as
there was no outlet for the smoke. Hussein installed
his kitchen just outside the arch opening into the
stone niche overlooking the court of the caravansary, and
built a fire of brushwood at the threshold. It was now
the turn of the sick and the lame ; my inadequate medi
cine-chest was dug out from its retreat, and I could but
regret having come to this country without having taken
the degree of M.D., and being thoroughly qualified in
practical surgery as well. By way of additional pre
caution, the night was divided into two watches — I was
to take first, and Carapet the second ; but it was a physical
impossibility for that youth to keep awake, and we both
ended by sleeping the sleep of the just till dawn. The
good people gave us no trouble, and we left at the
first red flush of sunrise. Ice had formed during the
night along the margin of the stony brook which flowed
past the gateway.
Asupas, November 13th. — The route to-day descended-
by a steep pass into a warmer zone. The village, seen
from above, appeared to be grouped about a citadel, and
surrounded by trees near the margin of a river. Persia
is the home of illusions, and the citadel proved to be but
a mud house a little higher than the others. In order to
reach the chief's house we descend from our horses at a
low gateway, and after traversing a maze of barn-yards,
and ascending steps to a higher level of flat roofs, whence
we can look down into the other huts of the village,
where the women are working at their looms weaving
" kelims," or striped carpets, we cross by a shaky bridge
of sticks and clay to the chief's house. The baggage is
carried all this distance by porters. A large room, quite
open to the sky at one end and at the adjoining corner,

RIFLE PRACTICE 109
is swept out and placed at our disposal. The chief is a
handsome, genial man of forty or thereabouts, clad, like
the other villagers, in a faded blue blouse. There is but
little prospect of privacy, as both he and the other mem
bers of the family, including the children and the family
dog, a small greyhound wearing a frayed and embroidered
blanket, make continual incursions to ask what we need,
prompted in part by curiosity, and also by genuine hos
pitality. At our appeal he provides blankets and mats to
serve as portieres at the openings. In the morning he
tells us that his men are bringing in a wounded wolf
which had been killing their sheep. The poor brute has
a broken leg, and is dragged reluctantly along by a rope
tied about his muzzle ; knowing that he is doomed to die
by slow torture, I ask permission to finish him with a rifle
ball. Our chief mounts a thin, wiry Arab, takes his Mar
tini, and, preceded by the greyhound bounding in front,
escorts us for an hour or more, pointing out at a pool
near a steep cliff the spot where he had shot a brigand
from some neighboring Kurdish tribe a fortnight before,
and his two comrades had escaped among the rocks.
Mayun, November 15th. — We ascend another wild pass
by steep and winding path, where the dust rises in clouds,
and then down into a series of deep gorges walled in by
great bastions of blue-black slate ; the valleys and hill
sides leading up to the cliffs are dotted with thickets of
tamarisk, and low, thickset thorn bushes. Through the
last valley runs a deep mountain stream beneath a dense
growth of tangled jungle and brakes of tufted canes.
The air is close and heavy under a brooding November
sky. At the unpromising village of Mayun we are re
ceived by the governor of the district and the local chief,
sitting with scribes and servants in a sort of open hall
on carpets and rugs of white felt. In the adjoining room,

110 OUR BODY-GUARD
which has three arched openings, servants are making tea
in a huge samovar, and heaping wood on the fire which
blazes in the chimney. Although I protest against soil
ing their clean white rugs, they place a chair for me in
their midst, and tea is brought in cups of fine porcelain.
Outside, in the dirty enclosure, two superb Arab horses
with fine slender legs are tethered to the wall. One of
them, a dapple-gray, stands on his hind-legs and fights
with the groom, hitting straight out from the shoulder.
Our hosts offer us the adjoining room, which seems rather
too open for the season, and we finally settle down in a
small, black, cavern-like place in the yard. The governor
thinks we must have an escort through the next stretch
of country, to which I demur, knowing that it means
backsheesh, and feeling confident that we are sufficient
in ourselves. As I looked at this governor, it becomes
apparent that a slight change of raiment would make a
" boulevardier " of him, and my opinion is strengthened
when he asks if we can spare him a bottle of cognac. It
dawn he comes to take leave of us. A little fartherfm
we are intercepted by three horsemen, who come on at a
tearing gallop and rein up suddenly in front of us. These
gentlemen are the promised escort, which I hoped the
governor had forgotten ; but "one glance at their array"
is sufficient to show that they are worthy of their hire
and of great artistic value. One of them is the governor's
little son of twelve or thirteen, mounted on a slender and
spirited black horse, like one of the trained "Alezans"
at the Hippodrome. He sits very erect, with an air of
great dignity, and carries a fine double express rifle,
marked with the name of a famous Bond Street firm.
His harness is elaborately decorated with silver-work.
An older man, armed with a Martini rifle and showily got
ten up, rides behind him, and they are followed by a pict-

112 OUR FIRST VIEW OF SHIRAZ
uresque and rakish trooper. Here the stream, which has
become a deep river, swirls and eddies round a willow-
fringed curve under frowning walls of purple slate. On
all sides rise the towering battlements of rock, some
crowned with needle -like pinnacles, others with flat,
table-like summits. We are entertained with more his
tories of brigands, which harmonize with the scenery.
This time two of their villagers were killed in an affray
with Kurds from the neighboring heights. Our escort
were greatly interested, but, I fear, politely incredulous
when told that one " professional " in our country had
made a fortune by holding up express trains, and had
successfully defied the State militia.
Shiraz, November 1.9th. — Most of the famous panora
mas of cities extolled by travellers are said to "burst
upon the eye," and Shiraz proves a shining illustration of
this well-worn expression. As in an artistically arranged
diorama, where one is led on through dark passages to
the dazzling climax, so here, after winding for long hours
through gloomy mountain corridors, between walls of
ever-increasing height, one comes suddenly upon a gap,
a notch, in the seemingly endless series of cliffs. Follow
ing the course of the torrent, the road descends abruptly
to the notch, where the stream is -walled across by a
great dam of masonry, and Shiraz lies far below us in an
emerald-green plain, illuminated for a moment by a long
track of light from the west. The road passes under a
high gateway built against the cliff on one side, com
municating with various arcaded structures higher up
among slender cypresses, recalling the way - side chapels
of Italy. A steep paved causeway littered with bowlders
descends to the plain, where a broad avenue, flanked by
orange gardens and bordered by venerable cypresses,
with a shining blue dome at the end of the vista, leads

VARIEGATED TINTS 113
into the city. Across the plain rise the purple mountain
barriers which lie between Shiraz and the sea. At the
gate I found the negro who had been sent on the day
before with a letter announcing our arrival, and at the
bottom of the hill the two gentlemen who had charita
bly offered entertainment to the men and beasts of this
dusty and weather-beaten procession. A short walk
takes us to the gate in the long garden wall enclosing
our host's residence — a low, bungalow-like structure, with
a, broad white-pillared veranda. A tank in front reflects
the lurid November sunset, the dark cypress spires, and the
white columns, as well as the brilliant masses of autumn
flowers; among them are many-hued chrysanthemums,
.and such late roses as have been spared by the frost.
Men in white flannels are playing in the tennis-courts.
At the dinner which follows the famous wine of Shiraz
is on the table. From the conflicting opinions of differ
ent travellers, I had been led to expect something like a
heavy and cloying liquor, but my verdict would be that
it is more akin to old port, with a suspicion of marsala.

Ill
Shiraz, November 20th. — The most characteristic feat-
nres of this city, which has been in a way the Florence of
Persia, as Ispahan was its Rome, are the old and neg
lected gardens surrounding the decaying pavilions and
garden-houses of its ancient rulers. Persia explains both
Mogul India and Moorish Spain, for in both countries the
landscape-gardening seems to have followed the canons
of Persian taste. Many who have not been in Persia are
familiar with the gardens of the Generalife in Granada,
or, better still, the palace gardens of Agra and Lahore,
where one may find the same stone-curbed canals, bor-

114 A POETICAL LANDSCAPE
dered with flowering shrubs or by avenues of cypresses,
where even the designs of the inlaid tiles and of the
arched colonnades differ from those of Persia only in
some minute details. One of the most attractive of these
old pleasure resorts is situated on the slope of the moun
tain behind the house. Dark masses of foliage rise above
the wall and the gate by which we enter, and just inside
is a great tank, now dry and dusty, which once reflected
the ranks of tall cypresses, together with the successive
terraced platforms, all decorated with mosaic tiles, which
lead up, like long flights of steps, to the principal pavilion
standing high on the hill-side. A stream of water once
fell in rippling cascades over slabs of fretted marble into
this lowest reservoir. But all is now in ruins : the water
courses are dried up ; the supporting walls of the terraces
have crumbled away in many places, leaving only heaps
of bricks, among which gleams here and there the vivid
blue glaze of a tile. One or two slender minarets still
retain their glittering surfaces of porcelain. It may have
been in this very spot that Hafiz borrowed much of the
imagery which gives such color to his verses that they
seem still fresh and living to us moderns. Both he and
the poet Sadi, his great rival in fame, lie buried in gar
den tombs not far off. As Emerson says, "the cedar,
the cypress, the palm, the olive, and fig tree, the birds that
inhabit them, and the garden flowers, are never wanting
in these musky verses, and are always named with effect."
This garden, like those nearer the city, is still the resort
of the fashionable youth of Shiraz, who delight in dis
playing their superb horsemanship on the roads which
lead to it, and one often encounters picnicking parties
of veiled ladies in some secluded nook, where their rugs
are laid on the russet carpet of fallen leaves. There are
always groups of young men looking down from the

116 MARBLE LIONS AND CABBAGES
higher galleries above, over the ruined terraces and the
tree-tops below, and many of them have scrawled their
names in the Persian characters on the mouldering
stucco of the alcoves. They seem to ride out here for
exercise, and to enjoy the view, as their Italian brethren
climb the terraces of San Giusto at Verona. Many of
these young fellows, who probably represent the jeunesse
doree of Shiraz, have an air of greater refinement than
is usual in the northern cities ; their handsome horses are
carefully groomed, and their trappings and saddle-cloths,
often of immaculate white felt stitched in arabesque de
signs, although quiet in effect, are faultlessly correct. JP
In the city there are many picturesque nooks and cor
ners, and a few elaborately built and imposing bazaars.
One cannot convey in words an idea of the beauty, both
in color and "motif," of the crumbling panels of tiled
mosaic which adorn the outer walls of the old " Madras-
seh " and of some of the mosques. The offices of the
Indo-European Telegraph Company occupy a fine old
palace ; the garden in front is entered through an arched
portal, from which a narrow canal, bordered by flagged
walks, leads to the entrance of the building; the garden
er, probably for his own domestic needs, had ornamented
one of these walks by a border of cabbages, with highly
decorative effect. A dado of marble, with lions sculptured
in low relief, runs along the front, above which are old
latticed windows of rich and intricate design. Here let
me say a word in regard to the interior decoration, not
particularly of this palace, although it applies to it as
well, but of several, of which I remember one at Tabreez
occupied by this same company. I refer to the artistic
value of the fireplaces in the general scheme of decora
tion. The low and graceful pointed arch has a sort of
penthouse projection half filling it above, to favor the

GARDEN AT SHIRAZ  SUNSET

escape of smoke, and the panel of wall surrounding it, as
well as the dado on each side, is delicately painted in
arabesque of dark blue and gold. I could think of no
more apt simile than the brilliantly illuminated frontis
piece of an old missal.
The last night of our brief halt at Shiraz was made
memorable by a dinner, at which most of the gentlemen
connected with the telegraph service were guests, and one
of the youngest of them had the gift of song, both grave
and gay, sufficient to move a far larger audience than was
formed by his appreciative colleagues. He had just vol
unteered to fill the vacant post of Dehbid, and this was
the eve of his departure. Dehbid is the highest and cold
est station of the Indo-European line, and the last incum
bent had died from exposure while on duty in the snow.

118 P0TLUCK
My neighbor at the table had been summoned up there in
the depths of winter, and had helped to dig his grave with
his own hands under the drifts. From this it may be
inferred that the lives of these men are not altogether
free from risk and hardship.
Khan-i-Zinian, November 21st. — A change in the ad
ministration of the caravan was effected while the bag
gage was being loaded at Shiraz, and in place of the
negro another man turns up, who is part owner of the
animals. He is a little, weazen-faced old man, wearing a
blue wadded cap, bordered with Astrakhan, and his chin
is decorated with a startling fringe of white and orange
beard, the orange tint being due to the ineffectual appli
cation of the henna dye. Hadj Ali at once takes up the
thread of some former dispute with his coadjutor, who
has a shrill, high-pitched voice of his own, and a manifest
intention to have the last word. The morning sky is
black and threatening when we leave Shiraz and begin the
ascent of the hills ; and as I walk on ahead, out of sound
of the bells, I can still hear the wrangling voices of the
two chavadars. Eain begins to fall, driven in our faces
by a cold wind, as we enter a barren valley among the
hills. High above the dark slopes which rise on all sides
gleams of snow appear through the rifts in the clouds,
The road soon becomes too muddy for walking, and it is
not easy to hold the reins with stiffened fingers. Late
in the afternoon we reach the great caravansary to which
we had been looking forward as a refuge from the wet
and cold, but, to our dismay, every cell is occupied, and
only after a period of long waiting in the sleety rain
Carapet finds a dirty cell, which is nearly filled with bales
of cotton. With great difficulty two men are found to
remove a few of the bags from the top of the pile, and so
make room for the baggage. Under the circumstances

ON TOP OF THE "KOTALS" 119
cleanliness must wait, and without sweeping out the accu
mulated dust of ages wet sticks are brought and a fire is
soon roaring in the chimney. The dust which surrounds
us is forgotten in the joy which follows the successful
process of thawing, and the reaction produced by hot
whiskey accompanied by the appetizing fumes of Hus
sein's curry. Out in the darkness a muleteer is singing
in a full rich voice, and the plaintive cadences of his song
are strangely suggestive of the Malaguenas of Spain.
November 22d. — It is foggy when we leave our quar
ters in the morning, but there is a mellow glow behind
the fog which presages a fine day. A clear sunrise fol
lows, and the passing figures of men and animals are out
lined with orange against the violet mist, which hides all of
the mountains excepting their dazzling white crests, which
tell sharply against the exquisite pale green of the sky.
A long descent into a valley brings us at noon to the
telegraph station of Dasht-i-Arzen, which seems to be
locked up and deserted. Now we climb the first and
highest ridge of the " Kotals," at least the highest point
of our route, which is some 7400 feet above the sea. The
newly made road which we follow to the top winds
through a forest of low and spreading oaks, with con
siderable undergrowth ; the dry brown leaves still cling
to the trees, the sunshine is hot, but the mud in the
road is frozen hard. From the summit a view opens
downward through the branches of the trees over what
may be called, with regard to its climate, tropical Persia.
Long parallel ridges, with some oblique spurs, hide the
gulf, which is really but a few miles distant as the crow
flies. A corner of a lake, half hidden by a shoulder of
rock, lies below us, and the forest which clothes the moun
tain on which we stand begins to look fresh and green
again. In a few hours we shall overtake the summer.

120

THE PASS OF THE OLD WOMAN

Here the famous descent begins known as the " Pass of
the Old Woman," and it is certainly steep. Of course it
is far easier to walk, as the ground is completely covered
with rolling pebbles and bowlders, except where the path
crosses a slope of rock, and there the feet of countless
animals have worn deep furrows in the stone. From a
convenient resting-place, half-wa}r down, there is a bird's-
eye view of the great caravansary of Mian-Kotal, stand
ing on a rocky slope dotted with groups of horses, mules,
and merchandise, and one may look down into the
crowded court-yard within. Here, while strolling about
a few yards from the walls, I came suddenly upon a wolf
trotting carelessly up the hill with his tongue lolling out,
dog-fashion, but he turned and bolted at sight of a Euro
pean costume.

CARAVANSARY OF MIAN-KOTAL

A ROUGH ROAD 121
November 23d. — There is no longer any chill in the
night air. The road downward continues through the
forest, now dense and green, over loose stones and debris,
to the plain, which has a park-like appearance, with scat
tered groups of great trees. In the long ridge parallel
with that which we have just descended there is a gap,
through which we approach another descent called
" Kotal-i-Dokhter," the Pass of the Daughter. Here the
road is paved with great blocks of slippery stone, and
there are in places deep furrows or troughs filled with
mire, which have been cut by the laden animals in their
endeavors to avoid the slippery pavement. I had begun
to think that the height and steepness of these famous
stairways of stone had been exaggerated, when all at
once the narrow causeway turns a sharp angle and
plunges seemingly down a precipice. It is a giddy depth
into which we look down from the low parapet, and be
yond rises with almost perpendicular lines a mighty
black wall of rock. The paved causeway winds down
with short, sharp turns, corkscrew-like, floored with
irregular, pointed, and polished bowlders, on which it is
not easy to walk, with slabs of stone crossing it at inter
vals, after the fashion of Eoman roads. To keep one's
balance without holding on to something is difficult, and
yet Carapet had the "gall" (to use a Western word
adopted in Persia) to ride my horse down to the very
bottom of the descent. Compared to this pass, the
" Gemmi," down which no one is allowed to ride at the
present time, is as an avenue floored with asphalt. But
to those familiar with the glacier passes of the Alps, or
the higher rock peaks, I must admit, at the risk of weak
ening the force of my statement, that this would seem
but an easy promenade. Once down in the valley, under
a sun which burns with ever-increasing force as we de-

122 LIGHT AND BLOOM
scend, the road becomes irksome to the last degree, strewn
with bowlders and pebbles like the bed of a mountain
torrent. Gnarled and ancient rose-trees shade the path
in places, and the stunted thickets are alive with song
birds. We pass the end of the lake which we had seen
from above, leaving on the right some modern bass-reliefs
sculptured on the face of the rocks, and, crossing a marshy
river, we enter upon the plain of Kazerun — a long, nar
row plain of clay, diversified only by a few thicketszof
stunted thorn-bushes, bounded by the two parallel walls
of the Kotals ; that on the south, already in shadow as
we approach Kazerun, is serrated or notched along the
top with strange regularity as far as the eye can follow
it. Vertical fissures, beginning near the top and appar
ently of great depth, descend to the plain. Every one has
seen by the road-side a clay bank cracked and split open
by the sun, and nature seems to have duplicated this proc
ess here on a grander scale. Kazerun, with low red walls
and a fringe of date-palms rising from its gardens, re
sembles an Egyptian village. We are directed to a gar
den villa, and entering an archway under the house we
pass at once from the blinding glare of the road into the
cool green gloom of an orange garden. The trees are
of such size and their foliage is so dense that only a few
slender rays of sunlight filter through and sparkle like
gold coins on the black soil. We are free to camp out
where we will, and select for a dormitory one of the
upper rooms, with a door opening on to the flat roof, com
manding a wide view of the plain. When the windows
are thrown open the leaves almost shut out the sky, and
one might pick the oranges from their stems. Hadj Ali
wanted to take the animals to a caravansary some dis
tance off, but as this place is known to be the Capua of
muleteers, and to have an irresistible seduction for them,

THE PASS OJ' THE DAUGHTER

124 A BIT OF TEMPER
he was first made to promise that at 4 a.m. he would be
on hand. Five o'clock came, but no Hadj Ali. A mes
senger was sent to find him, and then Hussein by way
of emphasis. It was after eight when he finally ap
peared, quite indifferent, and evidently " spoiling " for a
row. His wish was gratified, and this time there was a
prospect that we might finish the journey in peace with
out him ; for, dropping his coil of rope, he started for the
town, shrieking and gesticulating in a perfect frenzy of
rage. He soon thought better of it, however, and, return
ing to his duties, gave us no more trouble, although I
could hear his grumbling voice far behind as he ambled
along on his donkey, venting his discontent meanwhile on
his long-suffering partner.
Kamarij, November 24th. — Here we put up in a great
ruinous house like a fortress. The men being away at the
mosque, negotiations are conducted from a distance with
the women of the household. The baggage is hoisted
up the winding stair to a sort of open terrace, surrounded
on three sides by the fortress-like walls of the house, and
the other looks down into a dirty enclosure or stable-yard.
Of many strange bedrooms which I remember, this is one
of the most unique. A row of doors, none of which will
shut properly, deeply recessed in the thick wall, open onto
this terrace ; there is also a door at one end ; over all
these doors are arched openings, through which the wind
blows. The ceiling of this long, narrow room is also
arched, and, like the wall (that part not occupied by
doors), bears traces of former magnificence in the shape
of stucco mouldings of delicate design ; but all is black
and bituminous with age and smoke. Now the men are
coming back from afternoon prayer, and, followed by all
the male villagers, precipitate themselves up the stairs m
order that they may miss no detail of this " circus." Hus-

WE LEAVE THE HIGHLANDS 125
sein entertains a crowd of them in the adjoining kitchen
when he opens the canteens and begins preparations for
dinner, while a sufficiently large number remain to inspect
my personal belongings, and to study at close quarters the
singular habits of their owner. Some of the doors are
finally closed, and means are devised to stop the other
openings with carpets, so that a little privacy may be ob
tained. Daliki, November 25th. — From Kamarij, after a slight
rise, we descended another 1200 feet in most precipitous
fashion by winding stairways worn in the rock, but
fortunately unpaved, to the plain of Konar Takhteh,
where we arrive in the mid-day heat. It was only too
evident from the subterfuges of Hadj Ali to insure delay
that he had laid his plans to pass the afternoon in slum
ber ; but my intention was to sleep at Daliki, and after a
short halt to rest the animals we move on. I had now
made nearly all the journey from Shiraz, as well as from
Ispahan, on foot, excepting only those portions of the
route which traversed dusty and monotonous levels. In
this way it was easy to gain time by running down the
" short-cuts," and thereby earn the leisure to smoke and
meditate and marvel at the surrounding desolation.
Down the last of the Kotals to Daliki was, if not the
steepest, certainly the hottest and dustiest stage of the
journey. The tea in my felt-covered flask had become
tepid in the sun, and being made with brackish water it
was doubly nauseous, so that the sight and sound of a
roaring blue river racing through the gorges below was
uncommonly welcome. But the river proved mockingly
elusive and difficult of access, as the dusty grooves of the
road followed along the heights, and at times quite away
from the course of the stream. Choked with the limestone
dust and parched with thirst, I can hardly believe in my

126 A CHANGE OF CLIMATE
own good -fortune when the road turns suddenly (
ward through a shady glen to the very margin o
water. It proves to be as salt as the Dead Sea itsel
happily not too salt to bathe in, and from this poi
the heat of the sun is tempered by clouds. Followin
gorge made by the river, over a great paved bridge gui
by a ruinous castle, along high cliffs of blue slate, a
marshes, and winding upward through another ravin
halt in the topmost notch, and look westward into a
set of purple and gold across a vast plain dark with
groves ; long streaks of water behind the thickly pk
stems reflect the orange of the sky. There are no
Kotals, the sea lies beyond, and only a short dei
leads down to Daliki. The landscape surrounding
post-house, which stands amid thickets of low and sp
ing date-palms, watered by rivulets threading an
their stems, seems doubly attractive after the arid
treeless ravines above; and the deep-toned after-g
now fading into twilight, adds the fascination of mys
Here at last it is warm ; we shall burn no more w
and the very sight of quilted coverlets and blankets i
pressive. Borasjun, November 26th. — From Daliki we follow
edge of the plain, and on our left rise the fissured \
of the Kotals. The road is crossed by rivulets w
spread out into miry pools bordered with black
iridescent mud, from which a strange, fetid odor exh
Near the foot of the hills are a few rusty derricks, si
and other appurtenances of the petroleum indui
Carapet has gone on, as he has friends in the camp,
presently I find him seated at table among a grou
Eussian engineers in the chief tent. They had been ]
pecting for oil for three years, but without success. T
are channels of warm water crossing our route from

CREATURE COMFORTS 127
sulphur springs and other mineral sources. Many of the
people we meet on the road are Arabians from the oppo
site coast, wearing wide turbans of some striped material.
The enormous caravansary at Borasjun is certainly the
finest I have seen in Persia. Built within a few years, it
was evidently designed for security, and is a fortress as
well as a hostelry. Within is a splendid suite of* rooms
for the governor or other travelling officials of high rank.
A stone's-throw off is the telegraph station, where I am
again to enjoy the ever-ready hospitality of the " Indo-
Europeans." A telegram from Bushire has just been re
ceived announcing that a Steam-launch will be sent to
Schiff at a few hours' notice. This means that owing to
the forethought and courtesy of the British Eesident, as
well as the kindness of our consular representative, I shall
be spared a journey of twenty miles across a steaming salt
marsh, and so be able to catch the British India steamer
now due at Bushire. The official in charge of the tele
graph house tells me, as we dine by candle-light on the
broad veranda, that this is the hottest station on the line ;
although an Armenian and a native of the country, he
does not speak of its summer climate with pleasure. The
apparatus is in the adjoining room, which is so constructed
that although open to the wind, the sun can never reach
it, and the operator sits in grateful obscurity. But for
nine months the climate is most trying; the mercury often
stands at 120° Fahr. ; the walls of the room are so hot he
can scarcely bear to touch them ; and while at work he
has the floor flooded with water to the depth of several
inches. And yet it is only a few days from Dehbid !
A hard white plain lies beyond Borasjun, and after a
time the serried ranks of date-palms cease, and only a few
plumed sentinels rise here and there among dark clusters
of tamarisk-trees. Since leaving the mountains a new

128 A MUD DESERT
shrub, like a species of gigantic milkweed, has appeared
along the road-side.
Bushire, November 2Tth. — The last vestige of vegetation
disappeared some hours beyond Borasjun, and there was
not even a fringe of grass along the borders of the salt
pools, but still no sign of the sea appeared in front of us.
Within the limits of vision there was nothing but the far-
extending level of dried mud, darkened in places by cloud
shadows. But by way of variety this desert of crusted
mud soon became an equally infinite extent of wet mud.
First crossing a few pools of mire, the horses were soon
splashing along ankle-deep in black slime, and the road
disappeared. We were obliged to hail a passing peasant
to guide us to Schiff. The prospect was not encouraging.
If the influence of the tide was felt so far inland, what was
there to prevent a tidal wave from washing us back to
the hills? But the salt flavor of the breeze showed that
we could not be far from the shore, and soon a line of low
sand-hills tufted with waving grass rose above the horizon ;
and then Schiff itself, only a roofless stone ruin, with a
few masts of boats rising behind it, and a group of fisher
men silhouetted against the sky. The steamer is lying
far out from the beach, as the water is shallow, but the
crew are already on shore and waiting for us. It is but
a few minutes' work to transfer the baggage to a fishing-
boat, while we ourselves get out on the shoulders of the
men. The lateen-sail is hoisted, and, leaving the caravan
to continue round the bay, we run alongside the launch.
Comfortably ensconced among the cushions under the
awning, while the boat is steaming rapidly across a rough
green sea, I have leisure to enjoy the last view of the
Kotals, rising above the horizon behind like a far-reaching
fortress wall ; and there is not a shadow of bitterness or
regret in the reflection that I have no longer any use for

A TASTE OF CIVILIZATION 129
them. Bushire has no harbor, but only an open road
stead, where a few steamers are pitching about in the
rough water ; but it is still the chief port of the south, as
all the freight from India and much of that from Eng
land is carried up into the interior by the road which we
had descended. The high, closely packed houses of the
town, with latticed windows and often with projecting
upper stories, give it something of an Arabic character,
which is borne out by its floating population of gulf
Arabs. There is already a flavor of India in the air,
and at the entrance of the British Eesidency, which stands
on the sea-front, a group of tall and martial-looking Sikhs,
handsomely uniformed, are mounting guard.
The Eesident, on whom I called, had recently been ap
pointed to this post, after a long and distinguished career
in India. The kindness of our representative had pro
vided rooms furnished with every comfort for along stay,
including a cook and servants, and he had made most
accurate guesses as to the nature of my tastes in the
matter of luxuries; indeed, it would be impossible to
imagine hospitality more complete or more gracefully
extended. But the arrival of the steamer next day pre
vented me from imposing too long on his good nature.
The gray, stormy weather which prevailed at Bushire
seemed to strangely affect and almost totally obliterate
the local color of this ultra-Oriental seaport, as if it had
borrowed for a time the climate of Brittany.

IV
Steamer " Occidental," November 29th.— We are leav
ing Bushire, and steaming slowly out into the gulf. Hus
sein and Carapet came down to the pier with me, and
the baggage, increased by a number of small packages

UNDER THE AWNINGS

strapped up in the
great carpet sacks,.
just as it had trav
elled from Tabreez, is
pitched into a lateen-
sailed lugger, or "bug-
galow." Two custom-house officers, two "hamals,"
or porters, some small vagabonds, and a white-bean led
old beggar who trades on his indistinct articulation, <are
all clamoring for more " krans," while the boat waits for .
the mail-bag and the first officer. When this functionary
is on board, sail is hoisted, and we run three miles out to
the steamer under a lowering sky and through rough:;
water. A white Angora cat tied to a bench among the
baggage seems to be in the throes of seasickness. As
we approach the ship, steering through a swarm of boats
and lighters crowded with vociferating Arabs and Per
sians shouting at the mob on deck, who are howling back
at them, we have great difficulty in forcing a way through,
and there seems to be no room on the quarter-deck for
one more passenger, and none on the forward part of the

ASSORTED FREIGHT 131
ship, crowded with a double row of horses. After vain
attempts to reach the gangway on the leeward side, we
drift round the stern into the seething and bumping jam
of boats, and a rope-ladder is let down for us, while the
luggage is hoisted and pushed up the side of the ship and
over the rail. There is not a European on board save
the officers. Canvas screens shut off the small quarter
deck from the forward part monopolized by the horses.
As the exportation of Persian and Arab horses is the
principal business of the gulf ports, and the boats of the
British India line being the only regular steamers on the
coast, their decks are like floating stables. Most of these
horses are landed at Bombay, and transferred to the Arab
stables in the quarter known as Byculla, where they sup
ply the demand for polo ponies and for the cavalry ser
vice. Double awnings and canvas walls make a dim twi
light on the after-deck, crowded, like the rest of the ship,
with Indians, Beloochees, and Arabians. A part of the
deck is taken up by an Indian Nawab, chief of a
frontier stronghold in Beloochistan, and his retainers.
His Highness, a grizzled and weather-beaten old warrior,
and blind of one eye, which is quite hidden by a fold of
his loosely wound turban, draped in a striped mantle, or
"abya," such as one sees in Palestine, is squatting over
his hookah, and one of his hirsute followers is busily en
gaged in keeping the coals aglow in a small furnace from
which the pipes are lighted. The chief's interpreter, a
handsome black-bearded native of Scinde, arrayed in a
stunning coat made from an imitation leopard-skin rug,
now comes forward, and in formal and precise English
explains that the Nawab wishes to know whence I come,
whither I am going, and what is my mission in India.
His Highness is not much wiser than before when these
things are explained to him, but he asks many questions

132 NARCOTICAL TREATMENT
about America, whether the caste system is in vogue
there, and whether it is as large as Britain. . . .
5.30 p.m. — While I am busy in my cabin opening valises
and hand-bags the hubbub and uproar increases among the
boats, which are swinging and bumping together under the
round window ; men are running wildly down the gang
way, and descending by ropes past the open port ; the
screw begins to revolve, the boats and lighters drop astern,
their crews wildly struggling to keep clear of the ship,
and we are off for Kurrachee. Here, on the ship, Persia
ends and India begins, with the Portuguese stewards from
Goa, the Indian cooks, the Nawab on deck with his hir
sute staff, the swinging punkas down in the saloon, and
the perpetual curry. At dinner the captain and the
officers, all young men, fill up the table, and one might
travel far without meeting more genial company; the
captain, an enthusiastic " aquarelliste " and amateur pho
tographer, understands instinctively the necessities of the
artistic vocation, and proves to be a most faithful ally.
While we lie smoking after dinner in deck-chairs on the
only vacant space, which is between two of the cabin
skylights, we are conscious of a persistent and monoto
nous tapping, which at first seems to come from the
machinery, but is traced to the mahogany roof of the
skylight, where the Nawab, enveloped in a pink check
shroud, is peacefully dropping off to sleep. Two of his
attendants are rapping his extended joints, thereby pro
moting slumber : this is the percussion system of massage
treatment practised in Beloochistan, where it has been
known for ages. Verily there is nothing new ; but when
this discovery was proclaimed by the wise heads of Paris
all the world flocked thither to swell their coffers. One
of the Nawab's followers is a pale, sad-faced man, of a dis
tinctly Moorish type, wearing a white rag of a turban

THE IRONY OF FATE 133
wound after the fashion of Tangier, and a pair of dilapi
dated " European shoes." This man has a history. He
was in the service of Yakoob Khan, late Emir of Afghan
istan, and now a state prisoner at Eawal-Pindee (India).
After the political events which led to the downfall of
Yakoob he remained some time in India, but finally re
turned to Cabool disguised as a begging dervish, to see
his wife and child. He was discovered, and sentenced to
be blown from the mouth of a gun. He dug his way out
of prison and escaped to Beloochistan, and here he is
again, a pensioner of the Nawab.
Lingah, December 1st. — The landing at the chief port
of Laristan is not devoid of interest. There is a heavy
surf, and the small harbor or basin has a narrow entrance.
But in the chief officer's boat, which is lowered the mo
ment we come to anchor, one cannot but feel perfectly
safe. We land at a crowded beach, for the bazaar of the
town extends quite to the basin, where a line of quaintly
^uilt boats is drawn up on shore, and the remaining space
to the breakwater is filled with larger vessels — Arab
dhows, or bungalows, like those in which Sindbad the
^Sailor made his historic voyages and discovered strange
.things. Such high - sterned galleys have never sailed in
Western waters since the days of Columbus, and, what is
stranger still, turbaned Arabs are still building these anti
quated but seaworthy vessels on the beach, where ham
mers ring, and there is a smell of rosin and of shark's
oil, with which they smear the timbers. They are the
" plunging boats which beat from Zanzibar," in the Sal-
sette boat-song interpreted by Kipling.
Leaving the low yellow walls of the town and the dark
palm groves behind, and threading a way among the
crowd of Arab sailors and "longshoremen" which throngs
the beach strewn with baskets and vegetable debris, with

BOATS SEEN FROM THE DECK

bags and coils of rope and bundles of bamboo, we reach
the boat, and, waiting for a favorable moment, shoot
through the narrow opening of the breakwater out into
the roaring surf, which is now running high, and but for
the timely aid of our commander, the first officer, we
should have been swamped or washed back on the beach.
Bunder Abbas, December 2d. — A day of rain, of tropical
downpour, and the awnings are weighted with water.
The Nawab and his little court are suffering much dis
comfort. Their charcoal furnace on the quarter-deck can
not be kept alight, and there are no more hot coals for
the " hookahs." All day long we are surrounded by a
crowd of boats and barges. A quaint high -pooped pin
nace, a survival of ancient days, is drifting aimlessly
about, unable to discharge its cargo of eight horses, all
busily eating from their nose -bags, with intervals of

A MYSTERIOUS GAME 135
squealing and fighting. This ship has a high stern cabin
open on all sides, and filled with coffee-bags and nameless
rubbish well water - soaked, like the crew. Late in the
afternoon the sky clears, and a lofty purple range of rocks
becomes visible beyond the town. Long wreaths of vapor
still hang on the lower slopes, and there are momentary
glimpses of snow-topped heights beyond. Other ranges
appear to the east and west, and against the sunset is
outlined the low and craggy island of Ormus, the once
famous mart of Eastern commerce. Eays of orange-tinted
light shine through the openings between the awnings
and their pendent canvas screens. There is a rattle of
dice; his Highness, squatting on a clean straw mat, is
playing a queer little game with some new-comer. In
the middle of his carpet is placed a square-armed cross
made of red cloth, and the arms are divided into squares
by white lines, on which are placed a few little cones of
red and white ivory. The rattling is done with four or
five long boxes of yellow ivory. On either side of the
Nawab squats a line of his long-haired and loose-turbaned
followers, intent on the game. No one seemed able to
explain the object and end of their game, which will re
main forever a mystery. Many new passengers have come
on board, the horses threaten to invade the quarter-deck,
and the Nawab is obliged, in order to maintain the integ
rity of his domain, to place a guard at each end of the
space, with orders to resist all attempts at invasion. Most
of the new-comers are Hindoos and Indians of varied
castes. The cabin next mine has sheltered a constantly
changing population of yellow people. A few hours ago
it was occupied by a semi -European, or Eurasian, with
two Indian servants. He has gone, and among the new
occupants is a rather handsome young Indian girl, with a
baby ; she wears a sort of transparent half-mask of some

136 MEAT AND MUEZZIN
gilded and glittering material, after the fashion of Scinde,
and never shows her face in public. My cabin opens into
the dimly lighted saloon, where the punkas hang mo
tionless over the tables, for the weather has changed
since last night, when the mercury stood at 84° Fahr. in
the captain's cabin on deck. Swarthy Portuguese stew
ards are laying the cloth ; a grim gray twilight . shows
through the ports of the rounded stern, and two shrouded
Mussulmans are saying their prayers on the only vacant
space between the two tables, fenced in by my surplus
baggage. Down the stairway leading to the deck blows
the west wind, laden with a pungent odor of stable, and
with flying straw and chaff. Above, on deck, the crowd
ed horses are all blanketed, and eating comfortably from
their bags ; great haunches of meat hang from the awn
ing-poles overhead. Somewhere in the bow the cry of a
muezzin is heard, and in the clear space astern a groijltofr-
Moslems are praying in unison, while an occasional ted
ray from the stormy sunset gilds the kneeling figures.
At night we leave Bunder Abbas for Jask.
In former days Bunder Abbas was of greater commer
cial importance, but of late other avenues of trade have
been opened up, although it is still the focus of several
caravan routes leading to the interior cities, and through
them to Central Asia and Afghanistan.
Jask, December 3d. — Only a long sandy point is visible
from the deck across the bay, which curves to the left,
following the line of a distant mountain ridge. We cross
the surf, and land on the beach near the group of low
buildings surrounding the telegraph station. The town
itself is seven miles away. As we walk up to the settle
ment the air is hot and close, although there is a light
sea-breeze. A few low bungalows, inhabited by the tel
egraph staff, are grouped about the offices, and there are

AN ELECTRIC SETTLEMENT

137

several plantations of stunted young trees, which do not
appear to thrive in the sandy soil. A number of deserted
bungalows were once occupied by soldiers sent by the
Indian Government, but they are now ruinous, and their
compounds overgrown with weeds. The place looks like
a forsaken cantonment in India, and the bungalows them
selves might have been brought from that country. Jask
owes its present importance to the Indo-European Tel-

HORSES ON DECK

egraph Company. There are two submarine cables, one
of rubber and one of gutta-percha, from Jask to Bushire,
and one cable from Jask to Kurrachee. There is a sta
tion at Charbar, 200 miles from Jask, and another at
Guadur, 112 miles beyond Charbar. From Jask two
land wires run, each a complete circuit, to Kurrachee,
carried by one set of iron poles, made by Siemen. The
cable formerly went from Jask to Guadur, but now goes

138 A PICTURESQUE HARBOR
straight to Kurrachee. There is also a station at Orma-
rah, and one at Sonmeanee, near the Indian frontier, but
now dismantled. Morse's alphabet and recorder are used.
Muscat, December 4th. — Having been sole occupant of
a two -berthed cabin, hardly large enough to hold my
baggage, and littered with wet sketches, it was with
something like dismay that I saw the arrival of a Euro
pean who was to share it with me ; but he proved to be
excellent company, and I was the gainer in the end. He
had been making a scientific invasion of some remote
province, and was now on his way to Simla, in order to
report. The landlocked harbor of Muscat, shut in by dark-
hued and richly colored volcanic crags, rising precipitously
from the purple and glassy water, in which their long re
flections waver, seems almost unreal in its pictorial and
scenic arrangement. Like a vision of Claude Lorraine,
each bold promontory and ragged peak is crowned with a
little castle or watch-tower — a gleaming white or yellow
note in the dark landscape — dark, although flooded with
the warm light of a tropical sunrise; and even at this
early hour the air is hot and steamy. Behind the town,
rises a still higher pinnacle of splintered rock, and a
larger castle of Portuguese origin seems to have climbed
up from the massive white houses below. High up on a
cliff at the entrance are perpetuated in white letters the
names of several famous vessels which have visited the
port, and among them the United States steamship Brook
lyn is conspicuous. The long, square facade of the Sul
tan's palace, with a line of balconied and latticed windows,
or " mousarabies," overlooks the placid basin where his
rusty steam-yachts lie at anchor. The flotilla of caravels
and galleys, resembling those in the battle-scenes by Ve
netian painters in the Doge's palace, which surroundHbe

ON THE BEACH AT I.INGAH

140 AN ORIENTAL DANCE
steamer, is crowded with naked blacks, whose brawny
shoulders glisten in the sunshine.
We descend with infinite care into a narrow and crank
canoe floored with straw matting, and are sculled to the
landing. A black guide offers his services, and we wander
out of the town, passing through the grateful shadow of
a deep gateway, where the soldiers of the Arab guard,
wearing wide, loose turbans of some striped material,
lounge on the benches. Their ponderous matchlocks are
hung on the walls behind them. We have no concerted
plan, and care not which way we turn, for all is new to
us, but hardly changed since the days of great Caliphate
of Bagdad. A sandy road through a suburb of huts
built of canes, palm leaves, and matting leads into a deep
ravine with perpendicular cliffs on each side. There is a
sound of music, and farther on a dance is just beginning.
The floor of this open-air ball-room is like a tennis-cou|||
and the low wall surrounding it is crowded, like the
rising ground beyond, with gay and laughing spectators.
All are Africans or Arabians * — " Sidis " they are called—
and the dancers are mostly women. Many of these
ebony sirens are not uncomely, and look excessively good-
natured. They are richly and daintly costumed; many
wear transparent masks of gold lace like the women of
Scinde, which half conceal their faces, and heavy clink
ing anklets, with other ornaments of gold. The dance
begins like a sort of promenade, accompanied by much
clapping of hands. My shipmate's knowledge of Eastern
tongues enables him to chaff with these ladies, and in
sures a welcome. We are even invited to take partJB
* I have used the term Arabians to denote the inhabitants of the
peninsula of Arabia and its adjoining islands, as the word Arab is 90
often applied to all races from India to Morocco.

FABRIC WEAVERS

141

the festivities. When we return, by another path, to the
city, under the straw awnings of the bustling fruit
market, we stroll through the spice-scented gloom of the
narrow streets shaded by the projecting latticed windows,
and along open arcades where weavers are manipulating
threads of scarlet and gold at their looms, to the little
shop of the postmaster. He is a grave and well-educated
"Baboo" — i.e., Bengali — representing the modern element
of Muscat, and we sit down to have a chat with him.
The ponderous gates to the Sultan's palace across the
street now swing open, and a guard of soldiers preced
ing a group of richly dressed courtiers comes forth. It
would not have surprised us had the Grand Vizier Mes-

BLACK SIKENS OF MUSCAT

142 AN AUDIENCE
rour suddenly stepped into this ninth-century foreground
with a message from the Caliph, and just then our guide
says that the Sultan's brother, who is the centre of the
group, wishes to speak with us. He is under the im
pression that we have come to pay our respects to the
Sultan, and, only too willing to embrace the opportunity,
we send our cards. After a brief delay we are usheref
into the court-yard, accompanied by the postmaster, who
kindly offers his services as interpreter, and mount the
great outer staircase to a long and narrow whitewashed
room. A range of arm-chairs standing on a ledge raised
above the floor extends entirely around the room. Both
of the longer walls are quite taken up by the open
windows, through which blows the soft tropical sea-breeze,
and the glare of intense light reflected from the orange
cliffs which rise just beyond a strip of deep blue water
under the windows of the seaward side fills the room
with a strange glow. The sole ornaments are a few old
European and American clocks. The Sultan enters with
a throng of gray -bearded ministers and a little boy
richly costumed. His Highness seats himself at one end
of the room, and his followers sit down in the long row
of chairs at his left. He is a handsome young fellow,
with a clear cafe au lait complexion and curling black
beard ; quietly dressed, his sole ornament is a gold-
mounted and jewelled dagger. He is a brother of the
Sultan of Zanzibar. This Sultan is a "camera fiend";
he knows all about the Eastman Company, and wants
the address of the best maker in Paris. One of his
dreams is to visit that city, renowned for its hospitality
to Eastern potentates, and from the evident gayety of
his nature one might infer that he would not suffer from
ennui; but he explained that the state of his little king
dom would not permit a long absence at present. Tie

A PROMISCUOUS CROWD 14S
interview was now concluded, and after drinking in pru
dent measure the sweetened liquid proffered in tall glasses,
we took leave of his Highness and went to the British
Eesidency. Here tall Indian servants, with regimental
badges on their turbans, stand at the doorway. The
sea-breeze sweeps through the open rooms, across a
balcony of great depth, furnished also with divans and
arm-chairs. As at the Sultan's palace, the balcony looks
down into the water, which mirrors a great wall of daz
zling and glaring rock, with a castle clinging to its
face, and so near that we can feel the heat thrown back
from its surface. Through a narrow triangular gap the
deep, dark blue of the outer sea is visible. In summer
this place is a furnace, situated as it is almost on the
northern tropic, and even now the temperature recalls
that of Bombay in April. The captain joins us at lunch,
and we all go out to call on our consular representative.
As the tide had ebbed when we reached the captain's
boat, we rode out to it on the backs of the Lascar sailors.
Those who have seen the "barren rocks of Aden"
rise from the glassy bay when there is no wind at sun
set can readily understand how Muscat looked in the
intense color of its setting as we were pulled out to the
ship. The deck now has a decided list to one side with
its increased human and equine freight ; there is no
room to walk without stepping on the outstretched toes
of the reclining multitude or the fingers of children
sprawling among them. What was before open space
is now packed with a dense mass of brown and yellow
humanity, in which every race of India might seem to
be represented. They lie on the benches, on their piles
of bedding, boxes, bundles, and crates, while the inter
stices are closely packed with smaller articles, baskets of
highly scented fruit, guavas and bananas, water-pipes,

MUSCAT EKOM THE HOUSE-TOPS  SUNSET

" chatties," and coffee-pots. A strange and musky odor,
like the smell of a Bombay street, intermingled with
whiffs of smoke from the hookahs, and a faint aroma
of attar of roses, now pervades the ship ; and beautiful
are the effects of light under the awnings and canvas
screens when the afternoon sunshine lies in long patches,
cross-hatched with the violet shadows of the netting, on
the deck, and brown faces alternately reflect the golden
light of the west and the cold blue tones from the water.
Among the new passengers is a young Hindoo from the
Punjaub with his servant; he is a scientist in govern
ment service, and in addition to his own specialty has
found time to become a promising electrician. He has a
round, jovial face, is constantly laughing and displaying
a fine set of teeth, and looks about twenty-five years of
age. His costume of gray frieze is European, and be

A MANY-SIDED HINDOO 145
wears a flat black velvet cap. This gentleman is a wel
come addition to our circle, and without apparent effort
gives a spurt of renewed life to the after-dinner talk.
The little vacant space on the quarter-deck, of which the
captain's chair is the centre, now becomes a sort of
" cenacle " when the lanterns are lighted, and our Hindoo
friend ranges joyously from one topic to another, ex
pressing himself in sonorous and correct English, rolling
his E's, and prefixing each statement with " you see,
sir," which contrasts finely with the Scotch and Irish ac
cent of the others. I think we began with Edison's latest
inventions and what is being done by rival electricians;
but just now he is reading Darwin and Herbert Spencer,
and from these points of departure, in an airy, optimistic,
half -mocking vein, he flutters lightly on like a butterfly
in a garden, through the realms of speculative science :
from Emerson, Carlyle, Professor Fiske, by easy tran
sitions, to Bellamy's socialistic millennium, Buddhism,
Theosophy, Longfellow, and we are let down at last to
the hard present with the Presidential election, Glad
stone, Parnell, Home Eule, and the Chicago exhibition.
Having touched upon Indian art and the Art idea in
general, he became inspired with the beauty of the tropic
night, the wake of fire streaming behind us, and the
" larger constellations burning " overhead. Of course he
cannot be taken as an average example of the way Eng
land is educating India, but the wide -spreading turbans
of that country often shelter active brains. . . .
It was almost with regret that we sighted the low sand
hills of Kurrachee, and steamed up the narrow canal
among the uncouth iron monsters of progress — tower
ing cranes, rattling steam - dredges, and shunting trains
of freight cars. In the deafening uproar from the mob
of Indians and Parsees which now invades the deck it

146 JUST LIKE HOME
is almost impossible to take leave of our friends the
officers. There is a momentary glimpse of the Beloochees,
rallying round their chief, now armed with their guns
and " tulwars," which had been restored to them, and we
descend into a lateen-sailed boat, which takes us to the
iron sheds of the custom-house. We presently emerge,
and are swallowed up in the roaring and struggling
throng of cab-drivers, hitherto kept at a distance by the
clubs of the police.

LAHORE AND THE PUNJAUB

Only a few months ago, when all Paris had flocked
into the streets to welcome the officers of the Eussian
fleet, and on the gala- night when an act from the Roi
de Lahore was given at the Opera, by a coincidence
noted at the time in the columns of the Figaro, the last
Maharajah of Lahore lay dead in his hotel near the
Champs-Elysees. He was the last of the sons of Eunjeet
Singh, and after the death of his father, and when the
Sikh war, followed by repeated uprisings, had ended with
the total defeat of Shir Singh, the power of the Sikhs as
a nation was broken, the Punjaub annexed by the gov
ernment of India, and Lahore ceased to be the capital of
a kingdom. These events took place in 1 849.
The young Maharajah was invited to take up his resi
dence in England as a guest of the nation, and the first
Lieutenant-Governor ruled in his place. Although the
Sikhs gave ample evidence of their prowess at the battle
of Chilianwala and in other engagements, they have since
remained firmly loyal to the British " Eaj," * and it is to
day generally admitted that the suppression of tbe mu
tiny a few years later was mainly owing to their support,
as well as to that of the other Punjaubi regiments. Upon
entering India from the north one is made aware of the
* Vernacular for government.

148 A FINE MILITARY POSITION
importance attached to the maintenance of the frontier
in a permanent state of defence by the predominance of
the military element. The "troopers" now land their
passengers at Kurrachee ; and along the railway to Lahore,
at intervals of a hundred miles, there are " rest stations,"
provided with soldiers' quarters, adjoining the railway
buildings. In the event of the long-looked-for invasion from the
north — now more of a shadowy phantom than ever, since
the success of Sir Mortimer Durancl's mission to the Ameer
of Afghanistan — Lahore, being a rapidly growing railway
centre, would become a most important point of distri
bution and base of supplies. It is only nineteen hours
from Peshawur in front of the Khyber Pass, through
which most of the Moslem conquerors found their way
to the great treasure-house of India, and it has direct
railway communication with Quetta, commanding what
is believed to be the only other practicable entrance.
The railway to Quetta starts from Euk Junction (on
the Northwestern Eailway), and the distance is two hun
dred and eighty-nine miles. Quetta, surrounded by thirty-
eight miles of fortifications, including small detached forts
commanding different positions, and provisioned for an
eight months' siege, is considered as practically impreg
nable. The two or three other passes in this section have
no thoroughfare for artillery, and the Bolan Pass can be
easily defended by a small number of men, as there are
narrow passages between steep walls of limestone where
only three or four can ride abreast. The railway now
goes on to New Chaman, only one hundred miles or so
from Candahar.*
* Latest advices from India state that the Ameer during the recent
negotiations decided to allow the railway to be extended several miles
into his territory beyond New Chaman.

A LUCKY AMEER 149
It was definitely settled during the recent negotiations
at Cabool that the jurisdiction of the Indian government
should include this point.
The ostensible object of Sir Mortimer Durand's mission
was the settlement of certain questions relating to por
tions of the frontier hitherto left undefined, and which
were a fruitful cause of disputes, as well as to promote a
better understanding between the two powers. If one
may judge from the tone of the press, the results of this
conference have given much satisfaction in India, and an
added sense of security, while the Ameer, on his side, may
well congratulate himself on the importance attached to
his friendship. He is also the gainer by six lakhs* of ru
pees, to be added to his annual subsidy of twelve lakhs,
and it has been proposed to decorate him with the Order
of the Bath. It is generally understood, however, that
he did not offer to make any concession in the matter of
railways, and the consideration of this delicate question
was postponed to a more convenient season.
Although the Ameer seems to appreciate the advan
tages which may accrue to him from friendly relations
with the Indian government, he also values his position
as an independent sovereign, and, like the Sultan of Mo
rocco, is not over-anxious to be brought into closer con
tact with powerful neighbors.
With the Ameer as an ally, Afghanistan becomes a
formidable breastwork against any advance from the
north, and he probably realizes that in the event of a
Eussian occupation of India he would not long be able
to maintain his present independent position. Now that
he is reorganizing his army according to Western stand-
* A lakh at the present rate of the rupee is somewhere in the neigh
borhood of $30,000.

150 A FIGHTING RACE
ards of efficiency- — arming it with machine-guns and other
improvements, and has gone deeply into the manufacture
of war material at his extensive factories in Cabool under
European direction* — Afghanistan is becoming a power
to be reckoned with in any case. It is noticeable that
the men who have met and conquered the Afghans in
former days, as well as in recent campaigns, speak with
marked respect of their military prowess. Such average
specimens of these surly hirsute sons of Anak as one
meets in the bazaars of Delhi or Lahore enable one to real
ize that they are excellent fighting material, and they
look as if they might have descended directly from the
primitive men of the stone age. These nomadic Afghans
and Pathans from the hills of the frontier are, for the
most part, peaceable peddlers of " notions," Cabool grapes,
and other fruit, or they are horse-dealers and camehdriv-
ers. Like the Persians, they are lighter in color than any
race of India, but ruddy, deeply sunburnt or tanned, and
begrimed with dust. Their national costume is far from
graceful or elegant, consisting of a mass of dirty-white
cotton drapery, loose, flapping skirts, a well-worn sheep
skin coat, and a dark turban, ealled a koola, which has
once been blue, loosely twisted around a pointed cap cov
ering a fringe of shaggy hair.
Many Afghans, Pathans, and Beloochees now take ser
vice under the English colors, and some regiments are
mainly recruited among these cutthroats of the border
land. These fellows need a lot of training before they
ean be got into proper shape, but it is precisely this ele
ment which gives to the Indian army its peculiar stamp,
its appearance of disciplined, business-like ferocity. The
* Some of the Martinis made at the Cabool factories were recently tried
on the ranges at Peshawur, and, according to the India journals, were
found to be quite satisfactory.

GATE OF THE MOSQUE VAZIR KHAN

152 A MILITARY SPECTACLE
Afghans and Pathans have a reputation for dash and
pluck akin to that of the Irish, although they are said to
lack the steady, staying qualities of the Sikhs. While it
is usual to undervalue the elements of physique and initi
ative in these days of machine-guns and smokeless pow
der, these qualities must ever play a prominent part in
border warfare among the rugged defiles and winding
passes of the northern frontier. These men of the north,
while they can be regarded only as a part of the float
ing population, and are encountered in every large city
of India, are yet numerous enough in the streets of La
hore and Amritsar, or Mooltan, to give a decided tinge to
the character of the crowds. When we analyze these
crowds in detail as they pass through the bazaars, we
shall find that the most pronounced, the most conspicu
ously local types, are the Sikhs. Up to the time of the
annexation they were the ruling class, although far from
being the strongest numerically. Originally a military
race, both by inherited tradition and by natural tendency,
many of them have become cultivators, since the oppor
tunities for active service are few at present, but a large
number of them form the " corps d' elite" of the Punjaub
army, A Sikh regiment on parade is a spectacle which
offers some novel points of difference when contrasted
with the materiel of most European armies with which
the unprofessional observer may be familiar. When first
seen in the distance they present the appearance of a
long scarlet band of uniform thickness, supported by
slender black lines ; as they approach they are seen to be
unusually tall, black - bearded fellows, uniformed in red
tunics, and with great red turbans which increase their
apparent height, while close-fitting black gaiters accentu
ate the thinness of their legs. Whoever has watched the
drill of the Grenadier Guards in London may form an

TYPICAL SOLDIERS 153
idea of the precision which seems to be the standard of
the Sikhs. * They may be, perhaps, a shade more rigid in
their " good form," with an appearance of greater effort,
due to the fact that European discipline is as yet to them
like a strange garment to the wearer. The observer will
not be slow in realizing that he has before him not only
a different race, but a different specie of the human
animal. As in Europe there does not exist at the present
day a strictly military caste, the conscripts who people
the casernes are drawn at haphazard from workshops,
farms, and from the slums of cities, and do not impress
one, save in the case of a few bodies of picked men, as
having any special aptitude for the calling of arms.
These men, tall, sinewy, and athletic, supple and feline in
their movements, are evidently endowed with a peculiar
fitness for their vocation, and look as if littie were needed
to arouse their traditional instincts. In the average regi
ments of the Punjaub no men are taken under five feet
six inches in height and thirty -three inches round the
chest ; in some regiments none under five feet seven ; but
judging from the strapping fellows in the Sikh regiments,
their standard must be still higher. Although the Pa
thans and Sikhs are usually given the first rank for sol
dierly qualities and bearing, the " Goorkhas," of Mongo
lian race, from the hills of Nepal and Assam, are nearly
if not quite as efficient* Being of small and wiry phy
sique, they do not make such an imposing appearance on
parade, but they are fine mountaineers, full of fire and
pluck in action, and at such times, when their innate fe
rocity comes to the surface, their officers often have dif-
* An officer who has held with honor and distinction several of the
highest positions in the service has just added in a note, "I think it is
a toss-up between Goorkhas and Sikhs for the first place, Pathans com
ing third."

154 THE BENGAL ARMY
ficulty in restraining them. What is known as the
" Bengal army," including the old Punjaub frontier force,
comprises sixty -five battalions of infantry, of which the
greater part are Goorkhas, Sikhs, and other Punjaubis,,
two mountain batteries kept for small expeditions (with
mules), and twenty-three regiments of cavalry, of which
nine are " lancers." * Each of these regiments is com-
* Roughly estimated, the Bengal army is constituted as follows :
Cavalry. — Twenty-three regiments, composed of 14 light cavalry, 0f
lancer regiments. Of these 4 only are called Punjaubi cavalry, though
the composition of the rest includes a large number of Punjaubis. Nine
teen regiments with 8 troops each (152), classed thus • Troops
Hindostani Mohammedans from Bengal  28
Punjaubi Mohammedans  26 i
Independent tribes from beyond northwest frontier — i.e., Pa- -;¦
thans  3
Border tribes within British territory (Pathans), Mohamme
dans between the Indus and the Khyber Pass  12
Sikhs (Punjaubis)  39 ».
Dogras (Punjaubis)  12 .
Hindostani Rajpoots  8
Hindoos from Bengal proper.   24
Total  152 •
Infantry, — Sixty-five battalions, of which 16 only are recruited from
Bengal, the Northwest Provinces, and Oude. Nine are pure Sikh
regiments; 13 Goorkha regiments; 27 Punjaubi regiments. These 27
Punjaubi regiments are generally half Hindoo and half Mussulman.
Artillery. — Two mountain batteries with mules.
The term "Punjaubi" as here used includes Pathans (trans-frontier
and eis - frontier), (all Mussulmans), Punjaubi Mohammedans, Sikhs,
Dogras (Hindoos).
The Indian army at present consists of thre.e main forces—the Bengal,
Bombay, and Madras armies. The Bengal army is quartered in Bengal,
Assam, the Northwest Provinces, and the Punjaub, while Quetta, for
some reason, is garrisoned from the Bombay army,
These different divisions have just been made into army corps, all
under one commander-in-chief in India — i.e., the Bengal, Madras, Bom
bay, and Northwest Frontier forces.

156 INEXPENSIVE INFANTRY
manded by English officers — the commandant, two " wing
commanders," four wing officers, of whom two act as
quartermaster and adjutant, and one medical officer.
Next come the native officers — eight "subadars" (rank
ing as captains), eight " jemadars," sixteen buglers, and
eighty others (havildars and naiks), and then the rank
and file, eight hundred sepoys. In the Punjaubi frontier
force nearly all regiments are dressed in mud -colored
kharki drill, blue turbans, blue or kharki knickerbockers,
and white gaiters, while five regiments of Sikhs wear red
coats. The British officers seem to live for the most part
on excellent terms with the native officers, addressing
them always (in the Hindostani equivalent) as Sir, al
though the subadars actually rank below the junior sub
altern. All these men are volunteers or enlisted men,
and the terms of enlistment are peculiar. The period of
the first engagement is three years, after which the sepoy
may claim his discharge if there is no prospects of hos
tilities, and even within that time it is often granted for
adequate reasons. Each sepoy gets seven rupees a month,
with a gradual increase after three years' service and
good conduct. Out of this he has to pay for his own
food, which costs him three and a half rupees per month,
but he receives thirty rupees on enlistment to help pur
chase his uniform, and five rupees annually to keep it up.
He has also two suits a year provided by government,
besides blankets and other articles, and he has also a
chance to make a little money by musketry prizes and in
other small ways, although he does not usually manage
to save much of his pay.
The total annual cost of a native regiment, including
the pay of the British officers, and all other expenses, is
well under two lakhs of rupees, and it may be considered
the cheapest infantry in the world. The " sowar," or

ACCOMPLISHED LINGUISTS 157
native trooper in the cavalry, is rather more of a swell
than the infantry sepoy, since he must be a capitalist be
fore he can serve the " British Raj." He has first to de
posit two hundred rupees towards the purchase of his
horse, and his pay is thirty-one rupees per month, out of
which he has to find everything. Thus the regiment
mounts itself, and none of the horses belong to govern
ment. The position of an ambitious young officer, es
pecially if he be desirous of passing into the staff corps,
entails steady work, for in any case he has to become an
accomplished linguist. As Hindostani only is spoken in
the regiment,' he must pass the " higher standard " in that
language, with written exercises in a character resem
bling the Sanscrit ; " Urdu," which is written in Persian
characters ; and if there are Pathans in his regiment he
is expected to pass an examination in their dialect, as
well as to learn something of the Punjaubi dialect, which,
however, is a " voluntary."
The native officers have either risen from the ranks or
are more rarely commissioned directly from the Viceroy
if sons of deserving men. In the long list of camp-fol
lowers attached to each regiment many peculiar voca
tions are represented, such as sweepers, water-carriers or
" bhisties," a Mohammedan moollah, a Sikh priest, and a
Hindoo priest; also two native schoolmasters, one to
teach English and the other Hindostani. Most of these
enlisted men are farmers, recruited in the country and in
villages, and never in towns; they are allowed to visit
their homes at stated intervals, with free passage by rail,
and in other ways their servitude is rendered compara
tively light ; there are also liberal pension arrangements,
and each regiment has its own reserve. Many of these
regiments, besides the Sikhs and Goorkhas, have achieved
distinction in foreign campaigns, and among others the

158 SOLDIERS' SPORTS
Bengal Lancers, who served in the Egyptian war. We
happened to be on a steamer which was one of the
first to pass through the canal when it was opened to
traffic after the close of hostilities, and while strolling
about in Suez, in the company of an officer of the Madras
army we chanced upon a couple of these troopers. My
companion was; anxious to inform himself as to the part
they took at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, having the glory
of the Indian contingent at heart. He proceeded to
question them in Hindostani, and they answered as if on
the witness-stand. According to their statements^'cor-
roborated afterwards in Bombay, it was they who had
routed and cut down the flying remnants of Arabi
Pasha's army. A few days later, while we still lingered
on at Bombay, in spite of the October heat— for the city
was new to us then, and full of a strange exotic charm—
the troop-ships arrived with all the Indian contingent,
and during the fetes which followed we had the opportu
nity of admiring their agility and skill in lime-cutting,
tent -pegging, and kindred sports. We afterwards met
them larking about fraternally with kilted Highlanders
and G6orkhas, or squatting over the camp-fires in their
company. Whether the " sowar " belongs to the biue- coated cav
alry of the Punjaub, or to the " lancers," in faded blouse
and carelessly wound turban which have seen honorable
service, he is never without a certain wild picturesque
ness, which suggests a not remote relationship to the
Bedouin, and when off duty he falls easily into the elastic
and supple attitudes of his race.
An authority on military matters is said recently to
have favorably compared a Bengal Lancer regiment with
the Lifeguards and other bodies of the finest cavalry in
the world ; while, according to the Times of India, another

160 KEEN COMPETITION
unimpeachable judge, who has- had the best opportunities
of forming an opinion, pronounces any good regiment of
Indian cavalry to be quite equal to the Cossacks of the
Imperial Guard. n
One may reach Lahore by through express from either
of the two great ports of western India, Bombay and Kur
rachee. The journey from Bombay, the most interesting
of the two routes, as it passes through such cities as Ba-
roda, Ahmedabad, Ajemere, Jeypore, and Delhi, can be
made in less than sixty hours, and covers 1328 miles of
railway. On the other hand, the route from Kurrachee,
which is much shorter, being only 821 miles, has only one
important city on the way, Multoon, although one may
stop, as the writer did, at Kotree, and visit Hyderabad
(Scinde) across the Indus. But he will have to leave his
comfortable divan in the railway carriage at 2 a.m., and
finish the night on a lounge in the waiting-room of the
station. Let us suppose, then, that he adopts the latter
plan, having arrived by steamer at Kurrachee. His bag
gage is opened in the great iron sheds at the landing,
where the examination, although rigid as a matter of
form, is lenient enough except in the matter of liquors
and fire-arms.
Just outside the custom-house he will find a long row
of " gharries," of the species known as landau, each pro
vided with a pair of smart and generally well-conditioned
horses. The red-turbaned "gharry wallahs," or drivers*
are even more demonstrative here than elsewhere, for
fares are low and competition keen ; they will come to
blows over his luggage, which is usually awarded to the
victor. As one is driven along the straight and dusty
avenue thronged with bullock carts and wagons conveying

A GROWING TOWN 161
bales of cotton and other merchandise to and from the
docks, he will realize that while Kurrachee is a keen com
mercial rival of Bombay, it still lacks much of the charm
of the older city. Everything in the way of architecture
is as yet new and raw ; the gardens, filled with dense
tropical growth, appear to have been recently planted, for
the cocoanut and other palms are stunted, and many trees
lean away from the sea, as if tired of struggling against
the winds. There are none of the tall and graceful towers
of foliage wThich adorn the coast farther down, for this is
the beginning of the comparatively desert country of
Scinde, and glimpses of pale sand-hills may be seen be
yond the tree-tops. Yet there are flowers everywhere,
and morning-glories twine over the ornamental iron fences
and trim hedge-rows. There is a travellers' bungalow near
the business centre, and a hotel near the railway station
of the cantonment, where guests are lodged in various de
tached and galleried structures provided with doors which
will not shut, as is usually the case in Indian hotels ; but
this is a feature to which the new-comer soon becomes re
signed, and it cannot always be said to imply negligence
on the part of the managers, for the wood of doors and
sashes shrinks with each dry season, and swells again
with the monsoon weather.
After the silence of unprogressive Persia, there was a
sense of companionship in the snorting of the iron horse,
and the rattling and jolting of the long freight-trains,
which were continuously manoeuvring a few rods from the
back doors of this establishment. The stranger in India
will be impressed with the fact, and still more potently
should he have had any recent experience of eastern
Europe and the Turkish Empire, that this government
does not occupy itself in the least with the concerns of
the casual traveller : whatever his nationality may be, he
11

162 FREEDOM FROM RESTRICTIONS
is free to come and go as he likes ; nothing is said about
passports, no printed form is brought to him to be filled
out with his age, profession, etc., and he is not followed
by gensdarmes or haunted by spies; he is not obliged
to register himself at a police station, and he may sketch,
photograph, or do anything in reason. In short,«there
are none of the arbitrary and fussy little restrictions
and annoyances which are the rule elsewhere. There
are certain fortresses in the north, and even at Lahore,
where he may not sketch without permission, which
could probably be obtained without difficulty, as it would
seem in any case that much is left to the common-
sense and discretion of the officials. Aside from the fact
that Kurrachee is a rapidly growing port and a distribu
tive centre, expected by its sanguine citizens to leave
Bombay far behind, there is little to interest the stranggr
beyond its winter climate, which is a shade coolers than
that of Bombay. One does not need an overcoat,|nor a
' ' punka "on the other hand, and , there is no chill at sun
down or in the morning air. Away from the crowded
hive where the native population quarters itself, and which
has much of the teeming and dirty picturesqueness of
similar sites in Bombay, as well as the same close and
musky odors, the European city, if wanting in the archi
tectural magnificence of Bombay, is at least planned^and
laid Out on. the same generous scale as regards; space.
The banks, public buildings, and government, offices are
massive, rectangular, arcaded structures of pale, yellow
stone, each standing alone in a waste of gravel, or plantH
each like a country-house, in its own grounds; but there
are a few streets where the shops stand close together
and elbow each other as in European towns. The new
" Scinde Club " may be taken as an example of the Indian
club-house in general. The spacious lunch-room on the

A LAHORE STREET  MORNING

164 PRELUDES TO PRAYER
first floor may be left open to the sea-breeze or closed by
glass screens, and this apartment opens on a wide terrace.
The reading-room is as solemnly quiet as that of a London
club ; there is a conservatory or fern - house, sleeping-
rooms for members, and everywhere an atmosphere;of
substantial comfort and luxury. In the park which lies
at the end of the fashionable drive, there is a circular plot
of greensward surrounding a tank with an ornamental
iron fountain in the centre ; the edge of the water is de
fined by a border of vivid white and yellow flowers in
pots, which tell forcibly against the dusky thickets of low
cocoa-palms. A well-dressed Mussulman, standing on the
turf near the fountain, had spread his prayer-rug on the
grass, preparatory to his evening devotions, conversing
meanwhile with his two friends, who are lounging on an
iron bench across the gravel walk. He then concentrates
his thoughts on higher things • with the air of rapt seif-
forgetfulness which all Mohammedans command at such
moments, resuming the conversation when the brief func
tion is over.
The writer's time in Kurrachee was largely: taken up
with preparations for the trip inland and with interview
ing English-speaking servants, who came provided with
written characters more or less fraudulent, as any " mun-
shi " can write a first-class recommendation for eight
annas, and Kurrachee is proverbially a bad place to start
from in this respect. We elected to start for Lahore on
the night after the troop-ship Crocodile had arrived and
had disgorged her floating population. There are two sta
tions at Kurrachee, the city and the cantonment, and as
most of the new-comers were lodged in the neighborhood
of the latter station, which was just across the road from
our hotel, it seemed wiser to take our chances at the city
terminus, particularly as the railroad superintendent had

I LOSE MY VALET 165
posted a notice advising that course. Notwithstanding
the confusion and chaos of steamer trunks and porters, we
managed, with the help of my fellow-traveller, who was
going on to Simla, to find an empty compartment, and by
the time the train was taken by storm at the upper sta
tion we were comfortably extended on our divans. This
rush of travel only lasts for a day or two after the arrival
of a trooper or a mail-steamer, and at other times there is
plenty of room in the first-class sections.
The line which runs up to Lahore, communicating with
the south of India by way of Delhi or Ferozapoor, is now
known as the Northwestern Railway (broad gauge), and
follows the line of the Indus River for the greater part of
the way. At Ruk Junction the military road runs north
ward to Quetta and the frontier of Beloochistan, and at
Musserabad another military route, following the Indus to
the northeast, makes a shorter alternative route to Pe-
shawur by way of Rawal-Pindee.
Hyderabad, the principal town of Scinde, lies just across
the Indus from Kotree station, which we reached at 2
a.m. Having concluded to stop over and visit the city, I
got down with my baggage, expecting to find Motee, the
newly engaged servant, on the platform. Not finding him
among the sleepers in the third class, I made myself fairly
comfortable in the waiting-room of the station, trusting
that he had been carried on and would turn up the next
day. The station-master, whose acquaintance I made in
the morning, very kindly took me down to the landing on
his " trolley," or hand-car, and detailed an employe from
the freight-office to accompany me to Hyderabad. Along
the bank of the river, bordered by a dense growth of date-
trees, lay moored the "Indus flotilla," a line of white
double-decked river steamboats. Some of them formerly
ascended the river to Mooltan, but the service has been dis-

166 AN ACCOMPLISHED MERCHANT
continued since the building of the railway. A
steam ferry-boat, crowded with deck passengers, took us
across to the high sandy bank opposite.
Seen from this point, the shelving red bank, dotted with
camels, bullock-carts, and carriages, with venders of fruit
and sweetmeats, the broad yellow flood and the distant
palm-fringed shores, recall in their general features the
environs of the Nile at Ghizeh. Hyderabad itself, only a
short drive from the bank, has but one main thoroughfare,
and its appearance seems to indicate a greater degree of
poverty7 than is usual in towns of similar size and impor
tance. Persia has stretched a long arm across the Indus,
for the pale, rose-tinted mud walls of the houses, the tombs
of the Ameers, high -domed, and walled with porcelain,
and the sloping towers of the citadel would all be in keep
ing with any Persian landscape. There are one or two
excellent schools for natives under government supervision,
which were founded by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. In one
of the little side alleys, where we had been attracted by
the never-failing lure of bric-a-brac, and in an unpreten-;
tious little house, we found a merchant prince who dealt
in marvels of needle-work. He was seated, when we en
tered, against the white wall at the door of an inner
chamber, behind a lofty and most imposing "hubble-
bubble" mounted on a silver stand, after the local fashion.
While his servants unfolded pile after pile of embroideries ;
and curtains, he entertained us with his impressions of the
remote localities whicli he had visited, and talked to us of
London and Madrid, of Paris and Zanzibar, and Cape
Town, and of the store under Shepherd's Hotel, from
which he derived much of his revenue ; but what im
pressed us particularly was a command of French and
Spanish rare among Hindoos.
At Kotree, upon returning to catch the mail-train, Motee

A DREARY LANDSCAPE 167
reappeared in a most penitent frame of mind. His friends
at Kurrachee had given him a magnificent " send-off,"
and at the moment when the train had stopped on the
previous night he was sleeping off the effects of extensive
libations, and had been carried on a few hundred miles.
The compartment which now fell to my lot had a
species of piazza, where we could place a camp-stool and
enjoy the landscape. At sunrise, after a chilly night,
we cross the Indus by an imposing suspension - bridge ;
the stream is both wide and rapid at this point, and in
the middle rises a rocky island crowned with a ruined for
tress, ornamented with panels of blue faience. A broad
metalled road winds along the opposite shore of the river,
under a fringe of tall date-palms, and the town of Roree,
on the other side, rises steeply from the water ; its lofty
balconied houses of red clay and the angularity of its
outline recall the cholera-smitten town of Yezdikhast, on
the way to Shiraz. It is one of those places where one is
tempted to stop and look about ; but to yield to this kind
of temptation is seldom expedient or wise, for the chances
are that should one find a travellers' bungalow, it would
probably be at a distance of several miles from the spot
which attracted him, and destitute of either book or larder.
Beyond Roree we enter upon far - stretching plains
floored with white clay, sprinkled with groups of dusty,
waving tamarisk-trees, with here and there a marsh cov
ered with dense low bushes and thickets of yellow jungle-
grass, with tall plumes bending before the wind, and there
are occasional mud-holes and pools of yellow water. All
is vast, melancholy, and monotonous. At long intervals a
thin cloud of dust indicates a distant road and passing
bullock-carts. Everything in the compartment is covered
with a layer of fine dust, which is blown up from the em
bankment and sifts through the window-sashes. This is

168 A LAND OF DESOLATION
the usual character of the landscape which borders one of
the great rivers like the Sutlej or Indus, and it is not
devoid of a certain sterile grandeur, like the approach to
the sea on some desolate northern coast. First the villages
and cultivated fields cease, and then comes a broad tract
of waste lands, alternately clayey or sandy, dotted with
forlorn and stunted tamarisks, looking as if they had
passed much of their life under water. Then there is
often a wide extent of clay and sand dunes, which has all
the illusion of a desert, with its apparent limitless horizon
and its mirage. Then all at once the ground slopes
abruptly down to a broad river-bed of sand or gravel
under the high trestle-work of the railway, and far below
a few thin blue channels of water seem to lose themselves
in the glaring waste. What at first appeared to be the
opposite bank dotted with low bushes proves to be a long
island, beyond which is another waste of sand and water.
In the season of the monsoon all this territory is often
covered by the yellow rolling flood.

in
It is night when the train runs into the great fortress
like station of Lahore, built with an eye to possible mili
tary necessities ; the arching expanse of glass roof, and the
multitude of gas-jets twinkling dimly in the smoky gloom
aloft, suggest a somewhat reduced edition of Charing Cross
Station; this chance impression is strengthened by the
brilliantly lighted news-stand and book-stall of Wheeler &
Co., well furnished with light literature, from the period of
Ainsworth to the fatalistic Tolstoi, and by the " nickel-in-
the-slot " machines. But there is a note of piquant con
trast in the three tall Indian falconers, with great buzzard
like hawks, nearly as large as eagles, which strugglingly

CABS AND CASTE 169
balance themselves on the shoulders or turbans of their
masters, who stand on the platform environed by porten
tous piles of bedding, and hunt in their clothing for "pice"
to pay the luggage coolies. A few Europeans are pacing
the platform in heavy ulsters. Upon the steps of the
bridge which crosses the tracks to the other side of the
station a party of "Rewari" ladies, with plump brown
arms incased in rings of glittering metal, with swinging
skirts and heavy anklets, richly costumed and pungently
perfumed, are stooping down, intent upon scraping up a
mess of some brown, greasy edible which they had spilt
upon the steps. A railway official in uniform is convers
ing with the mob of third-class native passengers carrying
strange packets of every conceivable shape ; they are con
fined like prisoners behind the cross - bars of a strong
wooden grating, and presently, when the train is ready
the official turnkey will let them loose. So intermingled
are Europe and Asia that it is not easy to determine
which is the discordant note — this underground railway
British book-stall, and the sign of " Bass's Ale," or the
hooded hawks and the brown ladies with the tinkling
anklets. Outside the station carriages are numerous, and
you may go to your hotel shiveringly in an open barouche
labelled " first class," or get into a shigram, which closes
like a coupe, but is labelled " second class," avoid the risk
of a chill, and court the risk of being turned away from
the hotel " for want of room," as every hostelry is crowded
at Christmas-time.
There is no lack of hotels at Lahore, considering the
smallness of the transient population, and, as usual, they
are all situated in the civil station, as the European set
tlement is called. These hotels offer no points of differ
ence in their outward appearance, save their conspicuous
signs, from the bungalows of private citizens, which are

170

SHADED ROADS

planted at intervals along the broad avenues. As the
European suburb is unusually large, these highways,
shaded by tall trees of the tamarisk family, have a rather
wearisome sameness, and this impression of monotony is
partly due to the sombre hues of the foliage. Journey-i
ing along in a shigram, at some distance from the outer
walls of the Indian city, towards the quarter called Anar-
kali, we follow a road bordered by. tall banana-trees. In
the early morning the ground is white with hoar-frost,
and most of the huge leaves which arch over us are
brown and shrivelled ; the dull red rays of the rising sun

AN OPEN-AIR RESTAURANT, LAHORE

ORIENTAL SHOP-KEEPERS 171
slant through the mist or silvery-gray vapor which lies
along the ground. The sight of this tropical but frost
bitten luxuriance does not seem quite in accord with one's
preconceived notions of a climate where there are at least
eight months of hot weather, where the season of burn
ing winds and wet " tatty mats " begins in March, pre
ceded only by few dull and languorous days which
follow the cessation of frost. These rose-tinted rays of
light, the silvery mist behind the fresh green or dull gray
of the leaves, have a strange charm, but there is a sugges
tion of malaria in the damp, raw chill, largely due to the
plentiful irrigation, which turns every field or garden-
patch into a stagnant pool. While the English commu
nity of Lahore, as elsewhere in India, has elected to live
away from the native city, and while the original nucleus
of this settlement was planted, for sanitary and other rea
sons, far from the city walls, it has gradually filled up the
intervening space, so that the usual neutral ground, or no
man's land, has ceased to exist. In the crowded suburb
of Anarkali, which we must traverse in order to reach the
post-office, the bazaars extend out from the city gate to
the European civil lines. This quarter, where the archi
tecture is chiefly Indian, with that yellow and stuccoed
suggestion of Portuguese influence which still survives, is
given over for the most part to " Europe Shops," kept by
English-speaking natives, Eurasians, and occasional Par-
sees. These shopkeepers are mainly clad in what might
be called an adaptation of the European dress to Indian
needs, and in their shops and warehouses everything in the
way of clothing, household articles, jewelry, furniture —
new and second-hand — as well as provisions, wines, and
other luxuries, can be purchased usually at rates as cheap
as in England, for there is close competition. As the
government has not yet resorted to a tobacco monopoly

172 DRUGS AND MEDICINES
(which is a dangerous experiment in Eastern countries),
almost every variety of tobacco and cigarettes may be
found in the show-cases of these shops — Yanity Fair, Old
Judge, as well as Egyptian, and the Kaiser and Hind cig
arettes of Malta. The cheapest, and naturally most popu
lar, cigars are the Trinchinopoly and Manila cheroots,
which are good and remarkably low in price. In every
little " medical hall " kept by an anglicized native there
is always a stock of the standard remedies, such as qui
nine, phenacitine, and antipyrine, put up in convenient
shape, and often these packages bear the label of some
well-known American firm. Fortunately for the health
of a community which supposes itself to be possessed of
common-sense, the sale of these simple remedies is not, as
in Austria and some other Continental nations, restricted
by law, and a physician's order is not necessary for the
purchase of a box of quinine pills.
A significant feature, not only of Lahore, but of every
other large community in India, is the abundance of sec
ond-hand shops crammed with furniture of every descrip
tion, smart and new or broken down and decrepit, which
naturally results from the periodical migrations to which
people connected with the civil or military service are fre
quently subjected. As they are liable to be sent at brief
notice to the remotest parts of the great empire, it is sel
dom worth while to transport all their household effects
with them, at great expense, over thousands of miles of
railway or by camel and bullock trains. Few English
names appear on the signs in this suburb, but "Cheap
Jack" and "Cheap Shop" are considered by the native
merchant to be of lucky omen, and " Europe Shop " still
holds its own in popularity. " Budruddin Hassan " suggests
by association of ideas the trade of the pastry-cook, and
in front of one shop, of which the exact location is not

CARTED BALCONIES

now quite clear to the writer's memory, there is a piece
of very delightful English which reads thus : " All kinds
of Syrup, Jelly, Pickles, and Medicine Selling Company."
Over these shops and lower stories there are often balco
nies of carved wood, such as one sees within the walls,
and they are usually occupied by young ladies of the
nautch -dancing sisterhood, who are keenly alive to the
value of a scarlet or a yellow blossom in their blue-black
hair, but unfortunately some of them do not realize that
the effect of rice-powder on a transparent brown skin is
rather disastrous. The principal street from the city
gate, where great trees and dusty thickets occupy the
space once filled by the moat, and where there is a crowd
of small traders, snake-charmers, fakirs, and showmen
with tents and booths throughout its entire length to the
opposite end, where it merges into the European quarter,

174 GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS
gives one the impression of a sort of Oriental Bowery.
Beyond this there is more space and greensward en
closed by low rails, and the principal post -office,, with
empty mail - vans standing outside. Every morning, be
fore the early mail is distributed to the public, a trooper
in scarlet uniform gallops from the post-office to Gov-'
ernment House with the mail-bag for the inmates. In
this vicinity are situated most of the principal municipal
and government buildings, the Mayo School of Arts in
connection with the Art Museum — and few similar insti
tutions in any country can boast of a finer installation, or
one more in keeping with its main object, the encourage
ment of Indian industrial art. Here are the churches—:
one of which was once the tomb Anarkali, a favorite of
the Emperor Akbar ; and the cathedral, which is Gothic,
like many similar edifices in India, is quite as much at
home in its environment as are the Greek temples of Lon
don. The tomb intended to perpetuate the memory of
Anarkali is not the only instance in Lahore of that thrifty
disposition of the modern Romans to utilize these monu
ments of a more poetic age. Upon one occasion when in
quest of information I was directed to the office of the
railway superintendent, and found him installed in the
tomb of some worthy of Persian ancestry, to judge from
the noble arch incrusted with tiles which rose above the
recess in which his employes were at work ; and there are
several other examples of equally successful adaptations.
The principal English shops and warehouses are not
often situated in buildings constructed especially for com
mercial purposes, but in the ordinary domestic bunga
lows standing alone in neglected compounds ; and as the
bulkier articles, such as trunks, perambulators, or household
furniture, are kept outside on the verandas, one might
fancy that these temples of commerce were all dwelling-

FLOWERS AND FURS 175
houses, and that the inmates were forever on the point of
moving out or of just getting settled.
Government House, the seat of the Lieutenant-Govern
or of the Punjaub, stands in attractive grounds near the
fine park known as the Lawrence Gardens, on the out
skirts of the civil station. The flower-beds and parterres
which adorn the public and private grounds in this neigh
borhood are more luxuriant and varied than the winter
gardens of the Riviera. In the early morning, as well as
at night, they are much frequented by jackals, which show
their appreciation of them by trotting about in couples
through the shrubbery. An open-air fete had been held
in one of these gardens in the afternoon, and when the
last guests had departed, many of them in furs and ulsters,
and while we were standing before the chimney fire with
in, the conversation was interrupted by the howls of a
band of these nocturnal ramblers just outside the doors.

IV
A tramway line, which passes the railway station and
the rows of little tenements built for the employes, runs
on through a long street where the "cheap eating-house"
flourishes, and between the shops of artisans, dyers, and
tinkers, ending at the city gate. This edifice, one of those
stuccoed sulphur-tinted monuments of the Georgian order
which at one time were sown broadcast over the length
and breadth of India, gives access to a narrow winding
street, flanked by tall houses. A great deal of business
and gossip is going on at all hours in this street, and the
little shops are of that universal type which prevails in
all Moslem countries, from the Atlantic to the Great Wall
of China, and which existed in all probability in Pompeii
as in modern Yenice. From a cavernous arch at the end

MINARET OP THE MOSQUE VAZIR KHAN

we emerge into the square facing the mosque of "Vazir
Khan ; like the great place at Ispahan, it contains httle
to remind one of Europe, and the transition from the trim
avenue, the horse-cars, and the red pillar post-boxes at
intervals is strangely abrupt. The mosque is almost purely
Persian, but for the two jutting windows on each side of
the tall and deep recess above the entrance. The entire

PRIVILEGED SQUATTERS 177
front of the gateway is a brilliant mosaic of the kind
known as " kashi-work," and the four massive towers, as
well as the fagade of the inner court, repeat the same
scheme of blue and yellow and faded green. Age has
but mellowed the tone of the whole edifice, and the great
Persian letters of the inscription over the main entrance
are still resplendent in vivid turquoise blue.* The fres
coed walls within the niche, of which the ornamentation
above is less deeply indented than in the Persian ex
amples of similar work, have taken on a rich bituminous
and smoky tone like an old painting ; and the dado above
the square platform on each side of the steps, which is of
marble, once white,- threaded with slender black lines
forming interlaced stars and hexagons, has been toned by
age and the contact of many garments to a golden brown.
The venerable Mussulmans privileged to pass their lives
on the steps and the lounging-place on either side may
be seen there at any time of the day, and after an absence
of several years I recognized the same faces among them.
They constitute a species of club, or rather an Oriental
" Cercle des Decaves," and are seemingly content to sit
and see the world go by without taking a very active
part in its endless movement. When not asleep or other
wise employed they appear to be absorbed in vague
speculations upon the infinite, but, like their European
imitators, are doubtless dreaming of mere material things.
It is their custom to begin the clay with a sort of dress
parade — a minute investigation of their tattered raiment.
Having completed their inspection, they proceed to select
a sunny exposure if in winter, or when the hot winds
blow they retreat into the dim brick-vaulted corridor
* "Remove thy heart from the gardens of the world, aud know that
this building is the true abode of man."
12

178

CHESTERFIELDIAN BEGGARS

provided for their comfort by the munificence of an im
perial Yizir,* and proceed to do nothing. A few of the
elect, whose heads are well thatched with a shock of black
hair, and with faces tanned to the color of burnt sienna,

TAILORS APPRENTICE, LAHORE

have literally gone to the dogs, and grovel in the dust
at some distance from the steps among the canine fre
quenters of the sacred spot ; their unique garment being
of the same color as the ground, they are scarcely dis
tinguishable from it. If they are professional mendi
cants, as they seem to be, they pursue their calling in a
gentle and unobtrusive manner, and without the aggres
sive energy displayed by their brethren of Naples..
There is, in truth, a good deal of life and movement to
be seen from the crumbling steps of Yazir Khan ; there

* Built iu 1684 by the Vizir of Shah Jehan.

STREET SCENES

179

are two domed edifices which may have once been tombs
or fountains, but which now shelter various trades beneath
the rude thatched awnings projecting from their eaves.
Tailors and tailors' apprentices stitch all day at piles of
dilapidated garments in their shadow, and cobblers busy
themselves with heaps of dusty old shoes, and in the
middle of the square there are open - air restaurants,
where great kettles of tinned copper stand upon plat
forms elevated above the ground and surrounded by
rough benches; sooty frying-pans sizzle on little clay
furnaces, and the keepers of these restaurants sit en
throned among their cooking utensils and diligently fight
the swarms of flies with long -handled brushes. In the

TAILOR SHOP, LAHORE

middle of the day the benches are crowded with custom
ers, who have the appearance of being peasants from the
outlying country, or Pathan peddlers ; and most of them
being voluminously swathed in white, they look not a

180 PAGAN TOLERANCE [
little like the patrons of similar places in Morocco. A
great deal of horse-shoeing and veterinary practice is car
ried on in one corner, under a great tree, and there is al
ways a sound of hammering and clashing of metal from
the smoky arches behind. Occasionally two men drag up
a struggling ram to the corner steps of the mosque ; hav
ing seated themselves, they proceed to divest him of his
fleece, and after finishing their work confide their own
heads to the barber, who plies the shears under a straw
awning close by. The great open court of the mosque is
seldom thronged except at noon ; a few school-boys con
their books under the eye of a master in one corner, and
an occasional beggar strolls in, and stretches himself out
to sleep on the pavement among the pigeons. To those
who have been reared in other lands, in the fear of the
stern sacristan and the autocratic Suisse, there is some
thing broadly democratic in the faith of Islam as it is
practised to-day. While in most countries still under Mus
sulman dominion the unbeliever is rigidly excluded from
the mosque,* the humblest of the faithful may find there
a refuge from the weather, sleep in the protecting shadow
of its cloisters, and bathe in the water of the tank. With
out descending again into the square, we may pass through
the long corridor and down the little steps at the end, and
we are in the gayest street of Lahore ; in its display of
carved and weather-beaten wood-work, of balconies and
jutting windows, each house exhibiting the individual taste
and fancy of its designer, it is probably unequalled in any
city of the East. The dark brick wall of the mosque, re
lieved by brilliant panels of unglazed tiles, and pierced by
a window here and there, shadows for some distance the
* The stranger is made welcome lo-day in any of the mosques of In
dia, and there are but few where lie is even expected to don the tradi
tional slippers.

CARVINGS AND COLOR 181
street, which expands beyond into a little square, littered
in the afternoon with the baskets of small hucksters, and
the sunny wall of the house which rises across the way is a
thing to study and to enjoy. Its oriel-windows are delight
fully irregular in size and shape, and the intervening spaces,
from the eaves down to the ragged little shop roofs and
tattered awnings, once gaudily painted with intermingled
combinations of arabesque designs, gods, and animals, have
been toned to a mellow golden hue by the sun ; dilapi
dated cane mats hang at some of the windows, and the
shadow of a great tree flickers on the wall in the afternoon.
A few steps farther on and the wealth of old wood
work becomes fairly prodigal ; the side streets, as well as
this main artery, give one the impression that each house
holder has vied to outdo his neighbor in throwing out
these crowded ranks of beautiful windows, and in cover
ing every inch of wall with decoration and with color.
Where the windows do not project they are made inter
esting by complicated stucco mouldings, by panels of
painted flowers, by courses of glazed red and blue bricks,
and they usually open upon a long wooden balcony, high
enough for one to sit and look down through the inter
stices of the wooden gratings. Even the under sides over
hanging the street, and the brackets, are richly painted,
and often mirrors are inserted in the centres of elaborate
rosettes. Peacocks of tinted stucco perch on the white
domes of the windows, and peacocks of painted wood,
twisted into the shape of brackets, uphold the rows of
great square " moussarabies." At one end of this mar
vellous street there is a perspective of golden domes, and
at the other end tower the lofty minars of Yazir Khan.
Beyond the group of gilded domes, and near the extreme
end of the street, there is a house front most lavishly
decorated by the painters' brush. A corner of the largest

182

A PROFESSIONAL BEAUTY

window was tenanted by a young lady, doubtless a profes
sional beauty in her world, for she certainly had the calm
assurance of bearing characteristic of the order. At cer
tain hours of the day she held a little salon or conversa
zione, languidly keeping her place in the corner, while the
turbaned heads of her guests could be seen leaning back
against the window-sill on the other side. A companion
usually joined her, and sometimes they would both trip

DYER S SHOP

swiftly down the steep stairway to the street, and after
exchanging confidential remarks with their friends the
shopkeepers across the way, which left them in a state of
choking and inarticulate mirth, they would climb into one
of the crazy one-horse vehicles known to the Anglo-In
dians as the "jingling Jimmies," and drive hurriedly off.
On these occasions they appeared in elaborate street cos
tumes, with transparent shawls of delicate tissue worn

FADED SPLENDOR 183
loosely over the long silken tunic, microscopically em
broidered, and the ankle -tight silk trousers, which here
replace the swinging skirts of Rajpootana. The Jumma
Musjid, or Great Mosque, rises beyond an open desert
space near the end of this street. Its four tall minars
of red stone are its most striking feature, and near by is
the imposing domed mausoleum of Ranjeet Singh, and the
entrance of the great fortress enclosing the royal palaces.
Parts of them were built during the reigns of Akbar and
Jehanghir, and other portions completed by Shah Jehan
and Aurungzebe. High up on the red fortress walls
above the moat there are square panels of brilliant tile-
work, with yellow elephants, horsemen, and figures of
warriors and gods on a blue ground. There are beauti
ful things within the walls, as in the deserted palaces of
Agra and Delhi, marble preciously inlaid with flowers of
colored stones, and in the " Shish Mahall " the glittering
Persian mirror-work.
But chapters might be devoted to description which,
after all, would convey to the reader's mind but an inade
quate idea of this decayed splendor. One would have to
go very carefully over the ground to form the vaguest
conception of how the place once looked, as it is so encum
bered with barracks, magazines, and " public works "
buildings, and in the innermost retreats, once sacred to the
emperors, the red-coated British private now smokes his
pipe when not on duty. The old gardens in the neighbor
hood of Lahore, such as " Shalimar," where ancient mango-
trees are still green and vigorous, where the marble ter
races are weather-worn and broken, the canals choked
with weeds, and where only a few mouldering gateways
still retain patches of lustrous "kashi-work," have a
charm which they may have lacked when freshly laid out
in the days of Shah Jehan.

184

A RESTFUL LANDSCAPE

Perhaps the most impressive of all is that which sur
rounds the grand mausoleum at Shah Darrah, beyond the
river Ravi. There are alleys of wild palms, orange and
mango trees, and forgotten corners near the broken walls
where tall yellow canes have sprung up. It would be im
possible to forget the first impression of the lonely mauso
leum, the vast extent of tessellated pavement, overgrown
with dry grass, and the four lofty minars at the corners ;
from the high level of the terrace the landscape, which
stretches away on every side, is empty and objectless, but
bathed in the tranquil afternoon light it gives one the illu
sion of eternal summer. In the short winter the sunny
days are full of glow and color ; as few of the trees lose
their leaves, there is but little to suggest decay, and the
charm of this and of other gems of Indian landscape is
free from that somewhat depressing quality known as sen
timent in painted interpretations of nature.

COURT OP THE MOSQUE TAZ1R KHAN

A POLEMICAL BATTLE-GROUND 185
V
It is seldom that two cities of almost equal size and im
portance, such as Lahore and Amritsar,* are placed so near
together, for the distance between them is but thirty
miles. Amritsar, being the cathedral city of the Sikhs, is
in its way a great religious centre, as well as an important
commercial entrepot. It is a " city of polemics," and is
often chosen as a tilting - ground where wordy tourna
ments take place between the professors of diverse creeds,
where those who have gathered to discuss in a spirit of
calm and temperate investigation the merits of each re
spective faith often end in fierce controversy. Of late
Christians and Moslems have been hurling defiance at
each other, ;md as a sequel to one of these philosophical
debates, the Mussulman controversialist ended by work
ing himself into a frenzy, and threatening his opponent
with dire and endless punishment. Amritsar seems to
have more of the bustle and roar of commerce than La
hore. The narrow streets, darkened by tall brick houses,
made picturesque with ornate windows like those of La
hore, are crowded with heavily laden bullock-carts and
buffalo " teams," blocked with long camel trains,' jammed
with droves of donkeys, and among the hurrying crowds
one discerns a new element in the tall, gaunt men with
Mongolian faces, wrapped in long wadded gowns, and
wearing fur caps and high boots. They abound in certain
" serais," f where they may be seen at prayer on the
broad platform in the middle of the courts, as in the cara
vansaries of Ispahan, or wandering about in the bazaars
with dazed and distracted mien, as if stunned by the din
*The population of Lahore at present is 176,854; Amritsar, 136,766.
f Caravansaries.

186 THE LAKE OF IMMORTALITY
of the city. They are evidently of a different breed from
the stout, squat Mongolians from the hills one meets in
other northern towns, and have probably come from Toor-
kistan ; one connects them instinctively with Central Asia,
because of their samovars and loose-sleeved wadded kaf
tans. At the end of a narrow and crowded lane one comes
suddenly upon an open space, and from the railing at
its edge lies the far-famed Lake of Immortality, en
closed by palace walls and screened by verdure, with the
" Golden Temple " rising from an island in the middle.
But before descending the steps the profane visitor must
halt at the police station, and select a pair of slippers from
the pile provided for the use of strangers. The uniformed
Sikh policeman who is detailed to accompany each visitor
first points out a large sign with parallel columns in
many languages, enumerating at length the things which
one may not do on hallowed ground. The sanctity of the
place could not have been more jealously guarded when
the Sikhs were the ruling power. From the border of the
tank, which lies in the afternoon shadow, the Golden Tem
ple gives one the impression of a glittering jewel, or of
some rare old Byzantine casket wrought in enamel and
studded with gems. Small and compact, glowing with
color and scintillating with light, its mirrored image reach
ing far down into the purple depths of reflected sky, it has
at first sight a glamour of unreality, like an opium vision
of De Quincey, or the " pleasure dome of Kubla Khan.
Two colors predominate, the gold of the upper part and
the clustered domes, and the white marble of its base,
toned and softened by the faint color of its inlaid flowers ;
the curtained doors and windows add flashes of scarlet.
In its environment of deep - toned dusky purple sky and
water it has the intensity of a luminous point or focus of

STEPS OJ' THE MOSQUE TAZIR KHAN

188 THE LAKE OF IMMORTALITY
light, and the dark masses of foliage behind are of great
value in the landscape.
An advanced state of assthetic culture may, it might
be admitted, prove a drawback to complete and unrea
soning enjoyment of this and of similar things in India,
particularly if one is biassed and hampered by precon
ceived notions of what is correct according to the canons
of conventional good taste in matters of classical, or of
Renaissance, or Gothic, art.
The lake is surrounded by a tessellated marble pave
ment, varied in pattern, and shut in from the noise of the
city by white palace walls, with balconies and window-
seats overlooking the water, and by great trees. On one
side there is a wilderness of dark foliage belonging to
distant gardens ; among the trees are a few gleaming
kiosks and domes, and rising above them are three tall
towers, the more distant of which is of massive form,
and decorated with panels of tiles and mosaic. Along
the inlaid pavement of the margin groups of priests,
worshippers, and fakirs of an order peculiar to the Sikh
religion are slowly pacing, and discoursing, let us hope,
of higher things, and not of the " pice " which they have
extracted from their confiding followers. Sometimes we
come upon a priest or pundit seated under a tree or on
a little marble seat at the water's edge and deeply ab
sorbed in a ponderous book. Near the foot of the steps
by which we descend there is usually a school -master
seated on the pavement, surrounded by a circle of small
students. A few artisans who manufacture wooden
spoons, combs, and other souvenirs of the shrine are al
lowed to ply their trades in shady corners around the tank,
and the great baskets of the flower-sellers heaped high
with roses and other flowers, among which great masses
of odorous yellow jasmine predominate, add a note of

ENTRANCE-GATE TO THE GOLDEN TEMPLE
OP AMRITSAR

yellow and orange,
recalling the color of
the temple. These mer
chants are for the most
part busily engaged in
weaving long chains of
the fragrant yellow
blossoms, which are bought by the pilgrims as offerings.
In order to reach the island sanctuary one must pass
through a portal which is in itself a palace, covered, like
the temple, with plates of embossed and gilded copper,
with inlaid marble and painted panels, and through great
doors of silver which give access to the causeway lead
ing to the temple. Here everything is of polished white
marble — the pavement, the low latticed parapets, and
the slender chiselled columns supporting gilded lanterns.
Along this causeway passes continually a throng of wor
shippers and pilgrims, making the journeys on their knees
from shrine to shrine. Within the temple, under a canopy
of crimson velvet and on crimson cushions, sits the priest
reading with monotonous intonations from the sacred

190 AN IMPRESSIVE SERVICE
book, and facing him at a little distance sits a circle of
the devout under the central dome, which is enriched, like
the walls, with faded color and with mosaics. Through
the open doors, partly covered by scarlet portieres, streams
the blue light from the rippling water. Pigeons fly in
and out over the heads of the worshippers, and there is
always a noise of cooing and of wings. When one re
turns by the white causeway bordered by gilded lanterns
through the silver gates to the mainland, he sees before
him another and higher temple, with golden domes, and
from a gallery* in the second story, where behind red cur
tains and awnings there is a glimmer of color and tar
nished, gold, the Granth* is read in the morning to the
accompaniment of strange music played by an orchestra
seated below on the mosaic pavement and in the shadow
of tall trees. At this hour banners are hoisted on tbe two
flag-staffs which rise from the court. There is much which
is impressive in the ritualism of the Sikhs, and it is free
from a certain element of Hindoo worship which strikes
Western observers as being grotesque or barbaric. The
influence of the Greeks in northern India is now believed
to have been both slight and transient, and it would be
going quite beyond the mark and venturing fathomless
depths to attempt the tracing of any connection, how
ever remote, between this open-air school of Sikh phi
losophy and those of Greece. But the more modern race
seems to have inherited the taste of the older one in the
matter of poetic surroundings.
While painting within the precincts of the temple I had
excellent opportunities of studying the ways of the peo
ple. The chief of the temple police, who often accom
panied me and pointed out the things of interest, was a
* The sacred book of the Sikhs.

ONLY A BUST

191

fine type of the martial Sikh — erect and rigid in his bear
ing, with a bristling fan-shaped black beard, and huge
snowy turban, partly concealing his ears. I soon divined
that he had a lingering hope of being handed down to pos
terity on canvas, so I presented him with a sketch of him
self when we parted, by which he was much gratified,
but at the same time somewhat puzzled and perplexed. As
the canvas was small, I was obliged to leave out his hands,

FLOWER-SELLERS IN THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

192 A SAMPLE OF RED TAPE
which, I fear, he considered an unaccountable oversight.
The folding easel and camp-stool, which were at first re
garded with polite curiosity and afterwards with gradual
ly increasing mistrust by the devout promenaders, gave
rise to rather an amusing incident. I noticed that pass
ing couples and groups of priests and fakirs would gaze in
tently at those unusual objects, and then pass on, talking
earnestly together. Two of them finally stopped, and upon
looking up I saw that they were having an animated dis
cussion with my servant, who reluctantly interpreted what
they were saying. It seemed that they had taken excep
tion to the unfortunate camp-stool, for by some law of their
religion nothing of the nature of a chair was allowed
within the enclosure. I at once folded up the camp-
stool, and the maker of wooden combs who was working
close by offered me the box in which he kept his tools
as a substitute, while the gharry wallah went out to the
carriage and brought back the cushions. The two priests
seemed quite satisfied when the letter of the law, if not
its spirit, had been fulfilled, and courteously allowed the
easel to remain when its mysterious mechanism had been
made clear to them. »Some of the fakirs, of an order
peculiar to the place, wore tall pointed caps, bristling
with a war-like panoply of steel blades and sharp-edged
rings, such as formerly encircled the steel casques of the
Sikh warriors, and are now twisted into the red turbans
of the Sikh infantry. Two little girls who stopped to
look on were daintily and elahorately arrayed in holiday
dress, and the elder, nine or ten years old at a venture,
leading her little sister by the hand, wore a turquoise
ring on each of her ten brown toes. All these person
ages, pacing slowly and noiselessly along the tank, with
always the same background of illuminated water, are
like the figures in a decorative frieze, and one cannot but

SCHOOL OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

question whether another shrine exists so happily sur
rounded, and where all discordant elements are more
completely shut out. The impression which one receives
at first, and which remains in one's mind as a lasting
souvenir, is that of a blaze of color and of light, in which
nature has furnished the complementary notes, the purple
of the sky, and of the water ruffled by long wind streaks
of azure, and the dusky green of the foliage, which so
enhance the value of the white and gold and scarlet ;
and at the same time the knowledge that every archi
tectural detail which meets the eye is of costly and pre
cious workmanship does not detract from the charm.
But there is one incongruity, one slightly jarring note,
and that is the obtrusive brick clock -tower which domi
nates the enclosure at the entrance. Built in a style
which might be termed Early New England Gothic, it
must have reminded many an American wanderer of the
fire - engine house in his native village, or the ambitious

13

194 A COMPOSITE FAITH
but inexpensive church-tower of sanded wood. Far from
being intended as a gratuitous insult to' the Sikhs, it was
most probably a generous donation on the part of the
European community, meant to serve as a perpetual ob
ject-lesson in architecture, and as a dignified protest
against barbaric excess of ornament.
The religion of the Sikhs originated about the end of
the fifteenth century, and according to Mr. J. A. Baines,
to whom we are indebted for the admirable census of
India (1891), " was due to the teaching of one of the
most influential sectarian leaders of a quasi - unitarian
revival amongst the lower classes of Brahmanism " ; and
although mainly Brahmanic, the Sikh religion shows
traces of the influence of Islam. Mr. Baines further
says : " The political objects of the Sikh leaders obscured
the doctrinal, and culminated in the establishment of the
kingdom of Runjeet Singh. In the present day peace has
relaxed the bonds of discipline, and the distinction be
tween Sikhs and the rest of the Brahmanic community is
mainly ritualistic. . . . For example, it was found by ex
perience that at the census the only trustworthy method
of distinguishing the creed was to ask if the persons in
question repudiated the services of the barber and the
tobacconist, for the precepts most strictly enforced now
adays are that the hair of the head and face must never
be touched, and that smoking is a habit to be absolutely
avoided." To go deeply into the distinguishing marks of these be
wildering castes and their subdivisions would perplex an
ethnological expert, and the casual amateur is too often
distracted by the sensuous outward beauty of things, to
enter deeply into such questions of abstract analysis.

A PAINTER'S IMPRESSIONS OF RAJPOOTANA

On some maps of India the territory which is entirely
under British rule is tinted red, while those states still
under the sway of native potentates are indicated by a
wash of yellow, and it is at first something of a surprise
to find this tract relatively so large. In the western part
of the empire there is a great triangular space, having
its base along the valley of the Indus, and its apex reach
ing southward to the tropic ; within this space are situ
ated the contiguous dominions of several of these rulers,
and they are the states which show fewest results of Eu
ropean influence. Bikanir lies in the northern part of
this tract, separated from the English strip along the In
dus by the Bikanir Desert ; southward lie Jodhpore and
Jussulmeer, and then Oudeypore ; while to the eastward
are Jeypore, Alwar, Gwalior, Patiala, and manj others ;
the important state of Cashmir lies far to the north ; south
ward, and "well within the tropic, Baroda ; and in the Dec-
can the great state of Hyderabad. These scattered prin
cipalities, and many smaller ones, comprise all that is left
of the " India of the Rajahs," where the feudal age and
its customs still survive to a greater or lesser extent, and
they acknowledge to-day the suzerainty of the Queen-Em
press, as they once did that of the Mogul emperors. The
prince, whatever his title may be — Maharajah, Guicowar,
Nizam, or Rao — governs his kingdom and administers jus-

196 A RESPONSIBLE POSITION
tice much as his fathers did before the advent of the Eng
lish ; the representative of the viceregal government, or
indirectly of the crown, is styled the Political Agent or
Resident, and while his official position might be compared
to that of a foreign minister at a small European court,
it is relatively more important and complicated. He is
in effect the political adviser of the governing prince, and
through him are transmitted the wishes or commands of
the imperial government, which, although they may reach
the prince in the shape of polite suggestions, are not to
be disregarded. In many states the position of this offi
cial personage, this power behind the throne, may appear
to be a sinecure, but it may become, without a moment's
warning, a position of grave responsibility. Upon the
Resident devolves also the duty of looking after his coun
trymen who come within the borders of his jurisdiction.
Not that he is supposed to keep a hotel for globe-trotters,
although he never lacks guests, nor is he officially obliged
to take any notice of strangers ; but he always knows
what Europeans are within his borders, and what they
are doing. While there is no apparent system of "es
pionage," and the stranger, of whatever race or nation, is
free to come and go at will without of necessity coming
in contact with any official whatsoever, there is a pro
vision, and a very clever one, for the entertainment of the
casual stranger, which is sufficient for most emergencies;
It could be made, without any official action being ap
parent, exceedingly difficult for any one considered ob
jectionable, or whose motives were liable to suspicion, to
find a night's lodging or a "square meal" in most native
states. With the exception of Jeypore, I cannot remem
ber any other capital of a native state provided with a
hotel, and the " traveller's bungalow " is usually main
tained by the Rajah, and is often unprovided with cook

EASE AND COMFORT 197
or khansamah. This measure, whether intentional or not,
is cleverly calculated to keep out European tramps or
vagabonds, who do not usually travel accompanied by
cooks and servants, while at the same time any one with
respectable credentials is sure at least of being well re
ceived. These states of Rajpootana do not seem to suffer from
the plethoric excess of population which weighs upon
other districts. Since the government has begun to look
seriously after the material welfare of its subjects, and
has practically abolished war, pestilence, and famine, which
were nature's methods of keeping a just balance hitherto,
the rapid increase of population in other parts has already
become a matter of serious concern, while Rajpootana, and
especially the section northwest of the Rajpootana-Malwa
Railway, is still a sparsely peopled, half desert country.
It is here in these remote states that the ancient prestige
of kingship has most completely escaped the levelling
tendencies of the age, while at the same time the rising
generation of princes are more or less under the influence
of Western ideas. The Indian Rajah of to-day, while po
litically a vassal of- the central government, which guaran
tees to him the autonomy of his state and the continuance
of his dynasty, seems actually to enjoy more personal in
dependence than any European sovereign. The cares of
state do not weigh so heavily upon him, and he has more
time to indulge his personal tastes and to cultivate " fads."
This also means a larger opportunity for culture of a
higher class if he is disposed to avail himself of it, and
there is no reason why he should not begin life as an Eton
school-boy, if it is thought best for him, and take his de
gree at Oxford or elsewhere. A prominent Rajah has
just received the degree of LL.D. at Cambridge, and has
donated a large sum to the university for the purpose of

198 VARIOUS TYPES
founding a scholarship. When he returns to his own
country and becomes the chief of the state, he may re
sume at once the mode of life of his predecessors, and re
main conservative in the matter of religious observances,
immure himself in the impenetrable privacy of his vast
and many-windowed stronghold, overlooking the desert
from the summit of a rock, or he may build himself a new
Italian villa furnished in whatever happens to be the
spirit of the latest London art craze, and cultivate a wider
social world. Thus we may find in these rulers an infi
nite variety of type and character, from the strict conserv
ative who is the most complete existing survival of the
feudal age to the equally picturesque example in whicli
the feudal age is overlaid with a thick and glossy nine
teenth-century varnish. There is the horsy Rajah whose
passion is the turf, who imports English jockeys and
grooms,* and there is the polo-playing Rajah, and the
one who has translated Shakespeare into Hindostanee, as
well as the other whose greatest literary feat was the
translation of the Queen's Journal. There is also the fine
old conservative who has but one wife, and slays his tigers
with his own hand. These little kings' have an easier and
a much more royal life than their less fortunate confreres
in Europe, where the kingly vocation is hedged about
with doubt and uncertainty at present. They are not
troubled as yet with socialists, nihilists, or with dynamite, .
which they regard only as a useful plaything for blowing
up rocks and making a noise. The uncensored free press
of India has little influence over the masses of their sub
jects, for the most part loyal to old traditions, but illit
erate, and those who can read have scant respect for the
* As early as the beginning of the seventeenth century the Emperor
Jehanghis prided himself on his English carriages and horses.

A LIFE WITHOUT RESTRICTION 199
querulous fault-finding of Babu journalists. The modern
Rajah has become a prominent figure everywhere. One
meets him gazing abstractedly at the passing crowd of ras-
taquoueres and tourists from the steps of the Grand Hotel,
and wearing usually a pair of patent-leather shoes with side
elastics, which mar the effect of his otherwise correct at
tire, or sitting in front of a caf e at the absinthe hour when
he is out of business, or giving a dinner at an open-
air restaurant on the Champs-Elysees. We meet him at
Aix-les-Bains or at Homburg, and we hear of him in
London or Long Branch. We have seen him in lavender
and gold turban sitting in a box at the Hippodrome, while
the dashing cortege of Roman princesses drove past in
chariots. He has the privilege, denied to European sov
ereigns, of leading at will a double existence, and when
he leaves his work in India he has Europe for a play
ground. The papers from time to time teem with stories
of his freaks, his fetes, and extravagances. Of the reverse
side of his life, especially from a political standpoint,
those gentlemen of the civil and military service who
have been Residents could tell many tales, which it would
be unwise to repeat here, as they might mar the effect
of the picture. So long as things run smoothly on in his
dominion he has little to fear from any disturbing out
side elements, and in any case the worst which could
happen to him would be a diminution of his salute by one
or two guns.*

* The relative importance of a prince is indicated by the number of
guns in the salute accorded to him by the government.

200 A RAILROAD WITH TWO TRAINS A DAY

II
JODHPORE IN 188?
It is a difficult journey from any quarter to Jodhpore, and cannot
well be undertaken without assistance from the Maharajah, as there is
much sand, which is best crossed by camels. — Murray's Guide to the
Punjaub, ed. 1883.
How to get to Jodhpore, and in the event of our get
ting there should we find any shelter more hospitable
than the cold ground, were questions which we tried in
vain to solve, until we chanced upon a copy of the Eaj-
pootana-Malwa Railway Guide, in the book-stall at Ah-
medabad station. According to that largely circulated
but not always reliable authority, it was merely a matter
of rupees — six and two annas, first class — and the inter
vention of the Rajah would be quite unnecessary, as the
Jodhpore State Railway, starting from Marwar Junction
on the main line, had just been opened.
The second and more momentous question was satis
factorily solved, after having written to the station-
master of Jodhpore, and having received in reply a postal-
card, stating that there was a dak bungalow and a
khansamah. Upon investigation it appeared that this
little railway had two trains a day — one up and the other
down ; and, as elsewhere in India, both of them either
started or arrived at unseasonable hours. We could not
take the mail -train from Ahmedabad without waiting
twelve hours at Marwar Junction, and the only alternative
was to take the " mixed " or slow train, chiefly patronized
by natives of the country, who, as we soon learned, were
all hurrying to avail themselves of the cheap and com
paratively expeditious mode of travel now placed at their

ROADSIDE POPULATION

201

disposal by his Highness, assisted by the great British
Raj. We were obliged, perforce, to follow their ex
ample, pass the night in the train, and get out at the
junction at 5 p.m., there to await the departure of the
Jodhpore train, an hour later. As we rattled on through
the golden green of guava orchards and thick plantations
we saw but little change in the landscape since our first
visit to India, several years previous. But the monkey
population seemed to have largely increased. A correct

fly» i

i^SKf,

mm^m^m^'

WATCHING THE TRAIN

census has not yet been taken, but by - and - by the slow-
moving but thorough British Raj will discover that the
number of these white - bearded and sacred brigands
triples every year, and will consider the necessity of trans
porting some of them beyond the seas in the interests of
the guava culture. We had ample opportunity as the
train went on for the study of this guava culture in its
different phases. In one orchard the trees were full of
the long-tailed marauders ; the patriarchs, often of great

202 MISCHIEVOUS MONKEYS
size and strength, and endowed with supernatural activity,
were ripping off fruit — leaves, branches, and all — with no
gentle hand, and throwing them down for the benefit of
the little ones, while farther on we passed a whole tribe
fleeing before the enraged husbandman, not giving them
selves overmuch trouble, but easily leaving him and his
water-skin out of sight in a few long bounds, and taking
refuge like a flight of locusts in the next orchard. But
they seemed to enjoy life withal, and those that had fin
ished their day's work and earned a little leisure came
down to the embankment and sat in rows to see the train
go by, the big ones looking meditatively down at us
while the children nestled in front.
In the dry chill of a December morning, and in the
dim blue twilight between the waning of the moon and
the first flush of dawn, we found ourselves surrounded by
our baggage on the platform confronting the clustered
white domes of the station at Marwar Junction, which
rose up pale and ghostly in the wan light, looking more
like the sanctuary of a Moslem saint than a railway
junction. Following our " boy " and the baggage coolies,
we crossed the tracks to the opposite platform, where we
could just make out another train. This train was not
yet made up, and the temperature being uncomfortably
low outside we settled ourselves in the station-master's
office, where we beguiled the time with hot tea, and
with watching the Babu ticket -seller doling out third-
class tickets to natives at his little window, a func
tion accompanied by much bullying and browbeating
on his part, and vexation of spirit on theirs. Every piece
of money which he took, after being well tried and rung,
was often as not flung back in the face of the humble
passenger, accompanied by a volley of abuse if he was not
quick enough in getting out his change from the bulky

A TYPICAL RAILROAD 203
hoard of copper "pice" tied up in the end of his turban or
in a fold of the waist-cloth ; and one could not but wonder
at the patience and resignation with which they all re
ceived the insolence of Jack - in - office. When no fault
could be found with the money he threw their tickets at
them, and slammed down their change with such vehe
mence that bits of it rolled off on the floor. At last the
station-master, tall and spectacled, in a flat black velvet cap
and an English sack-coat, from which a quantity of white
cotton drapery escaped and floated loosely about his thin,
bare legs, came out to unlock the door of the compart
ment we were to occupy ; and after installing ourselves as
the train crawled slowly out at sunrise, we began the day
with a substantial " chota hazri " from the store put up
at the Ahmedabad bungalow. For the greater part of
the way the line seemed to have no embankment, and to
consist of a single track laid down in the desert, with the
merest sketch of a road-bed. The country was not a
desert of the sandy sort, but only a waste of gravel, for
the most part treeless, except for rare and scattered thick
ets of gray thorny bushes, or distant clumps of trees in
dicating the position of a village. Where the plain did
not merge into the sky the horizon was a range of low
hills, varied by occasional isolated peaks, with sharp vol
canic outlines, which dwindled as we approached them
into brown, mound-like eminences of no great height. On
the top of every telegraph pole was perched a hawk, a
kite, or a buzzard, always motionless ; and, in truth, the
rate of speed at which the Rajah's train crept slowly over
the sixty-four miles of gravel was not likely to interfere
with their digestive meditations.
When we reached a village, or even a flag-house, with a
collection of mud huts in the background, we made a
lengthy halt, and when the engineer met an acquaintance

204 A JODHPORE SWELL
we came to a stand-still ; and on all these occasions the
gaunt, jackal -faced village dogs trotted alongside for
miles, looking wistfully up for the chance bone or crust of
bread, or they ran on ahead and barked at the engine.
These capricious halts did not, as might be supposed, sub
ject us to the risk of collision, since our train comprised
the company's entire rolling-stock. A dapper little
Thakor or princeling of some sort entered the other com
partment of our carriage at one of the way stations, and
his crowd of retainers got into third-class carriages some
distance off. As he stepped out at every station to issue
orders to his people, we had several opportunities, of ob
serving him. He was a fair type of the Jodhpore swell,
young, with a budding mustache, and hair brought down
in a large glistening curl over each cheek. His small
pink turban, dainty as a lady's breakfast-cap, was cocked
jauntily on one side, and he wore a caftan of striped and
rainbow-tinted silk ; he kindled a fresh cigarette at each
station, and his little air of insolent swagger was quite in
harmony with the rakish set of his turban and his aggres
sive side-locks. It is now a long time since these med
iaeval swashbucklers have had a chance to exercise their
hereditary calling, but a little taste of guerilla warfare
would not come amiss to them. At one of these stations,
where he had sent a servant to look for a clean handker
chief among his luggage, the train had to wait until it
was forthcoming. The conductor, a native having a few
words of English at his command, looked in at the win
dow from time to time, and evidently took a deep interest
in our welfare, for he seemed much concerned when he
learned that we had no acquaintances in Jodhpore, but
felt relieved when I explained that we had notified the
khansamah at the dak bungalow of our coming. Tow
ards noon we sighted a long, steep ridge of rocks with

PALACE WINDOWS, JODHPORE

206 THE EVENT OF THE DAY
scattered white buildings on the top, and others gleaming
among gardens on the plain ; and as we drew nearer we
saw that the white spots on the ridge were part of the
vast pile of architecture erected centuries ago by the
Rajahs of Jodhpore, and placed like an eagle's nest on the
very summit of this inaccessible crag. When we reached
the station, which resembles another saint's tomb with
white domes, it was at once evident that the arrival of
the train was still the event of the day in this hitherto
isolated capital, for a large part of the population had
assembled outside, and was looking eagerly over the
fence — a long line of brown faces, with well-oiled black
locks curling over their ears, with mustaches and beards,
all having the piratical upward tilt affected by the Rajpoot
order. Nearly all were in white, with dashes of red and
gold ; women and children filled up the interstices, and
behind them stretched a plain of glaring red sand, back to
the gray line of battlemented walls which hid the town.
In the faint shadow cast by a few young acacia -trees
which had been recently planted in the sand groups of
fiery little horses were tethered, and slender camels with
the double saddles in vogue here, all decked out with
yellow and scarlet harnesses and saddle-cloths, with
strings of blue beads, charms, and gaudy housings ; there
were also bullock - gharries with tented domes of faded
red, and a large barouche, superannuated and dusty. Two
low square buildings of dark stone like the station, and
likewise painfully new, stood a little farther down the
sandy track leading to the town. One of them was the
bungalow ; and having gathered our belongings, and in
trusted the various packages to baggage-coolies, we hur
ried across to our quarters ; for the glare of noon here,
even in December, makes any shelter seem inviting. The
little prince was driven away in the barouche, surrounded

BUNGALOW ACCOMMODATIONS 207
by a compact mob of men, some running in front and
some behind, all carrying swords and guns. The tall
camels, each with a pair of swaying riders, and the pro
cession of slower-moving bullock -carts, followed in the
rear. We were met on the veranda by a smirking and
salaaming khansamah of a debased Rajpoot type, who
announced, as he lifted the cane mat which hung over
the door, that tiffin was ready.
The bungalow, being brand-new and clean, was not un
inviting, but, as usual, our quarters were not overbur
dened with furniture — two "charpies," or native bed
steads, guiltless of any covering whatever to conceal the
nakedness of the net -work of stout tape on which the
traveller is expected to lay his weary frame ; for he is
still supposed to carry his bedding whenever he goes far
afield into " Mof ussil " districts — to use the current phrase
for whatever is beyond Calcutta and Bombay. In the
middle of the room stood a square table holding the
" tiffin " and two or three chairs. A door at one corner
opened into the bath - room, furnished with a decrepit
wash - stand, a brass basin, and a wooden tub which had
seen service long before the existence of this bungalow :
all bath-rooms which I have seen in India, whether in
private houses (with few exceptions) or in hotels, are of
one uniform pattern. There is a chunar, or cement floor,
and the space where the tub stands is fenced off by a
low parapet of cement, on which a row of round and un
wieldy pots of red clay stand in depressions. They
are too bulky to lift, and exhibit an unpleasant tendency
when molested to slop over on the wrong side and pour
their contents over one's shoes, so that it is safer not
to go near them. From the front veranda (for there was
another veranda, on to which a door opened at the oppo
site end) a landscape of red sand lay before us, bounded

208 SIGHT-SEEING
by the line of gray walls; one or two massive and som-
bre-hued trees rose above the wall, and over all the distant
castle built upon the rock. We were awakened early on
the following morning by the deep and guttural croaking
of the ravens, wrhich strutted about on the veranda or sat
on the door-steps. The ceaseless cawing of the ubiqui
tous crow we were already accustomed to, but the sud
den rasping croak of a raven uttered a few yards from
the sleeper's ear has quite the effect of an alarm-clock.
Having ascertained that there were no carriages to be
had for mere lucre, no Parsee livery - stable, and not a
vehicle of any sort, I left the "mem sahib" on the
veranda, and proceeded on foot to hunt up the Political
Agent, and to take in the town on the way. It was
not a long tramp through the sand to the nearest gate,
and the mystery of the silent gray walls and what might
lay behind them would have stimulated one to far greater
exertion. Within the gateway there was deeper sand, a
few large trees, some ruinous shells of masonry, and rough
stone walls masking the gardens behind. Taking the
most promising of two or three narrow streets which
began at this point, we kept on in the shadow of fortress
like houses, often of red stone,- and sometimes white
washed. The rare balconied windows usually projected
over tall pointed gateways, and through many of them
we entered, first asking of the gate-keeper, or whoever
we happened to encounter inside, permission to look about
the court -yard, and we invariably met with courtesy.
The facades fronting on this outer court are decorated
with the usual wealth of delicate stone tracery, and often
the story above, resting on plain and massive arcades, is
one continuous latticed gallery, projecting well outward,
relieved by ornate little windows at intervals. In one
quarter a few groups of palaces surrounded a large tank.

ARCHITECTURAL LACE-WORK 209
One of them, built of red sandstone of exactly the same
color and value as the sand in front, seemed to me then—
and will always seem, for I have kept a study of it — a
marvellous combination of massive simplicity and grace
ful, but not excessive, decoration. The walls, which rose
directly from the sand of the road, save for a species of
ramp in front, leading up to the high Persian arch of the
entrance, were unrelieved below by a single ornamental
detail, while all the decoration was lavished on the pro
jecting windows above. The great central window over
the gate had the curved cornice* or window-cap char
acteristic of the later Mogul style, the panels were filled
in with beautiful stone lace-work, while on either side
were slender bay-windows of varied forms. Through the
open gate below the green foliage of the garden made a
pleasing note in the expanse of red. The beauty of this
fagade was greatly enhanced by the fantastic shadows
thrown on the flat wall by these various projections.
Beyond this building the road passes under a sulphur-
tinted arch, forming part of a house lavishly sculptured
and frescoed. We had ascertained by inquiry that there
was as yet no " Residency," and that this road led to
the camp where the Political Agent was living in tents.
Presently it led us into what looked like the outskirts of
a country fair or a colossal travelling show. Booths and
tents became thicker on both sides ; there were itinerant
merchants, sweetmeat -sellers, grooms leading blanketed
horses, an elephant or two divested of their gaudy over
coats, and busily tucking away vast quantities of forage ;
a number of riding -camels were tethered in one place,
and pompous chamberlains in scarlet -and -gold liveries
strutted about with tall silver maces. Over the tops of
* Alluded to by Fergusson as the Bengali curved cornice.
u

210 CANVAS COMFORT
the tents a showily decorated and galleried wooden struct
ure, like the grand-stand at a race-course, rose in the back
ground. We were directed to the tent of the Political-
Agent, where I sent in my card by the bearer. Should
one's first initiation into tent life have been in Palestine,
he may remember that it was fairly comfortable; in
Persia, both comfortable and decorative ; but not until he
reaches India will he find its highest development, and
it is within the limits of possibility that he may come to
regard a house, which has always the same outlook from
the windows, and which cannot be folded up and set
down again in a new landscape, as vastly inferior to a
tent. A canvas corridor led into the grateful obscurity
of the inner sanctum, where a double roof kept out the
glare and the heat of the sun.
I found the Agent sitting at a table littered with
books and papers, and although in this instance an intro
duction of some sort would have facilitated matters, our
mission was soon explained. He rode over on the fol
lowing morning to my quarters, while I was sketching in
the town, and in the afternoon one of the Rajah's carriages
came to take us to the castle. The two syces who ran in
front to clear the way had work to do, for Jodhpore streets
were not intended for wheeled vehicles ; and, fortunately
for the Jodhpore world, visitors do not often invade its
narrow bazaars, for all business seemed to be suspended
during our transit, and we felt like apologizing to the
citizens for disturbing the placid current of their daily
life. As there was no pavement even of the most rudi
mentary sort, the wheels sank noiselessly in the deep
sand, and much shouting and brandishing of sticks were
necessary to warn the people of our approach. The
crowds dissolved noiselessly in front, and the various
units of which they were constituted backed up in rows

ROOM FOR THE SAHIB! 211
against walls and doorways or the parapets of water-
tanks, forgetting for a moment their Rajpoot dignity,
their traffic and gossiping, but placing themselves so as to
have a good view of us; the little milk-white bullocks,
humpbacked and sacred as they were, had to be igno-
miniously hustled off on one side, often at great risk to
their slender hind-legs ; droves of donkeys, loaded with
sand or stone or firewood, were driven down side alleys or
up on door-steps ; and sometimes a philanthropic Brahmin
would swoop down in front of the horses, regardless of
peril, to rescue some heedless puppy from the wheels.
Through the dust in front Ave could discern frightened
camels rearing and bucking, and finally bolting off with
their riders, while nothing could induce the buffaloes to
stand their ground and face the onset of the running sy
ces, shouting : " The sahib comes ! — he comes ! he comes !"
We halted in a small open square near a water-tank
surrounded by temples. Here we had to get down, as
the causeway which led up to the castle was too steep
for the carriage. At the beginning of the ascent we
passed under an outer tower guarded by soldiers, between
heavy gates thickly covered with long spikes, and closed
by an enormous bolt fully two feet in length. The road,
becoming steeper as we mounted, was paved with slippery-
slabs of stone, and in many places the sloping ledges had
been smoothed over, leaving a natural pavement. Parties
of dashing cavaliers, arrayed in brocade or fine muslin,
each with his little turban so placed as not to hide the
handiwork of the Rajpoot barber, galloped or trotted past
us, keeping their seats with jaunty ease in spite of the
treacherous stones. At the top of the first rise a tall
yellow gateway spanned the road, showing a patch of
deep blue sky under the arch, and overhung by the jut
ting red windows of the palace. A sharp turn to the

212 SOME CURIOUS GUNS
right brought us to the inner barbican of the citadel and
the entrance of the palace itself; a few old palanquins
and dilapidated elephant-howdahs were piled up on the
ramp in front. Within the shadow of the arch we found
a museum of antiquated fire-arms : matchlocks and shields
were hung on the guard-house walls, and there were curi
ous swivel-guns and mountain-batteries, formerly carried
on the backs of elephants and camels — rows of musket- '
barrels, six or eight in number, strapped down on a thick
plank, so that they might be fired at once, but it must
have taken patience to load them in the face of a charg
ing enemy. From the group of soldiers and retainers
lounging within the recess of the gate -tower, or lying
stretched at ease on charpies, a carelessly dressed fellow,
who seemed nevertheless superior in rank to the others,
came out and offered to do the honors of the palace,
But there was a lurking drollery in his manner, which
seemed to say that he was playing the part of guide main
ly for his own inward entertainment. When we saw him
the next day, blazing with scarlet and gold, riding at
the head of the Rajah's cavalry escort, we congratulated
ourselves on not having offered him backsheesh, which,
however, he would probably have pocketed as part of the
farce. Beyond the gate we came to a battery consisting
of a row of extraordinary pieces of ordnance, which must
have been as old as the Spanish Armada at least; these
guns were fashioned in the likeness of crocodiles, marine
monsters, or crouching tigers, and mounted on dilapidated
and decaying carriages. One or two of them, more con
ventional in form, were of enormous size.
From the edge of the terrace, which was simply a plat
form of the natural rock, and without rail or parapet, we
looked down full four hundred feet, past the white backs
of wheeling vultures, on the flat roofs of Jodhpore, and

214 A SILVER BED
far abroad over the barren plains. Directly below us were
the tanks, two squares of intense blue, reflecting the sky
overheard ; and as we turned back, the great red palace, a
vast collection of grated stone windows, seemed to hang
above us like tiers of ornamental bird-cages. A few steps
led up to an open court, or rather terrace, overlooked on
three sides by the latticed cages. According to report,
some hundred ladies of the late Rajah's household are still
sheltered behind these perforated prison walls, but they
gave no sign of their presence. The pavement was partly
covered by a faded but beautiful old carpet ; and crossing
an elevated marble platform, we entered by a low door
of repousse silver-work the wilderness of courts and clois
ters, of narrow corridors and pillared halls and little bou
doirs, where the delicate stone tracery of the windows/'
softened like a filmy veil the light of the vast canopy of
sky and the far-reaching desert landscape. One long dim
chamber, with two richly furnished beds, was hung, walls
and pillars alike, with old portraits of the emperors and
the kings of Delhi, by native artists. We came out at
last in a small marble court at the top of the palace, which
was partly open to the sky, and which had been a favor
ite sleeping-room of the old Rajah. Mirrors, more or less
tarnished, were fixed in the walls on every side, and sus
pended from the roof by chains hung a swinging bed of
heavy silver, on which were piled the embroidered cush
ions as they were left by the last occupant, but now
frayed and dusty with time and neglect. When we re
turned to the city, through the many gates, down the
slippery causeway, stopping again and again to enjoy the
changing panorama, and found the carriage waiting in the
square among the temples, the sun was already sinking;
and as we drove back through the red sand of the city
the passing figures of people and the tall camels, each

AN IMPOSING MASS 215
with a pair of riders sociably swaying in unison, one be
hind the other, with the same rhythmic and regular move
ment, loomed up through a haze of golden dust, which
shone like an aureole behind their heads ; the silhouettes
of those in the track of the sun were quite enveloped in
the glory of light, while those nearest us and in the shad
ow reflected the pale violet and lilac hues of the eastern
sky. The streets were as free from the noise of traffic
which one is accustomed to associate with a crowded
quarter as the waterways of Venice : our wheels made no
noise as they sank in the sand, there was no sound of
footfalls, so that the voices of the people chaffering, laugh
ing, or disputing were preternaturally clear and distinct ;
and when for a moment these sounds died away, the silent
hurrying figures seen through the haze, mingled with the
pungent aromatic smoke of the brush fires, seemed like
dream-people, intangible and unreal.
The market - place, a vast parallelogram of sand in the
centre of the town, is enclosed by low white arcades, en
tered by four gates, and swarming with life on two or
three days in the week. From this point one has the
most impressive view of the castle. Just beyond the ar
cades rises the steep bare precipice, defended in places by
castellated forts ; the precipice merges into a white wall
of colossal height, partly of masonry and partly the rock
itself; and above the wall rises the castle, like a compact
walled city, with pointed spires of temples, tall battle-
mented towers, and its multitude of red latticed windows.
It looks as impregnable as the Matterhorn, and even a
scaling party of Swiss guides would find work in reaching
the base of the great walls.
The western wall of the city touches a range of scarred
and sombre volcanic rocks, and a rough and stony cara
van track which left the metalled road at this point and

216 WASTED ELOQUENCE
led up into a deep gorge was a favorite resort of ours just
before sunset. When we pushed on to a little pass be
tween gaunt black cliffs like the crater of a volcano, and
could look down through a ragged notch towards tbe set
ting sun, a desert of sand stretched before us, bordered; by
dark ranges of desolate hills ; it was not altogether devoid
of vegetation, for just beyond the opening the road wound
among the stems of stunted and thorny trees, and the
deep-lying hollows were swampy and filled with the wav
ing plumes of tall dry canes. Here we often sat, perched
high up in a nook among the crags, to watch the trains of
pack-horses or laden camels hurrying through the pass so
that they might reach the level road and the gates of the
city before nightfall, which follows so closely on the after
glow. And if we waited on until twilight, and until the
voices of the last belated camel- driver had died away in
the distance, we could sometimes make out far down in the
gulley below the shadowy forms of jackals moving fur
tively among the stones and underbrush, and occasionally
a hyena would come out into the light and utter a pro
longed wail. Once we discovered a vulture's nest placed
on a shelf of rock near the city wall, and while meditating
upon the feasibility of scaling the cliff, in order to have a
look at it, we were approached by a saintly looking per
sonage, probably a priest from the neighboring temple,
who directed a stream of voluble oratory at us, sometimes
rising to vehement exhortation, and again falling to tones
of gentle and persuasive remonstrance. We could not but
admire his elocution ; but having left our factotum and in
terpreter behind, as it was our custom when weary of his
presence, I have never been able to divine the subject of
his discourse — whether it was an impassioned argument
in behalf of the vultures, or whether it was merely a sum
mary of his views in regard to the " Ilbert Bill."

ORIENTAL SPORT 217

III
The society which watches over the welfare of animals
might find work in Jodhpore, if one may place faith in a
story which we heard shortly after leaving that city.
The narrator, a young man who was at the bungalow
during our stay, was detained after our departure by
some business with the Rajah, and he was invited to be
present at some local " sports " peculiar to the country.
Two leopards which had been taken alive were brought
into the arena, where they were held down to the ground
under charpies by a number of coolies. Their claws
were then drawn out with pincers, their teeth extracted
or cut out, and their tails also cut off, after which they
were let loose, and the native gentlemen present then
turned to and clubbed them to death with sticks. Not
having witnessed the spectacle ourselves, we cannot vouch
for the accuracy of this history, but merely repeat it as it
was told to us a few clays later by the gentleman who
had seen the performance. On the morning of our de
parture, and just before going to the station, a long pro
cession passed along the dusty road under the gray walls,
escorting the chief of some neighboring province, who was
on his way to the durbar. His favorite horse, draped
with scarlet cloth, was led at the head of the cavalry es
cort, a squadron of loosely dressed horsemen armed with
swords and lances ; behind were camels and horses carry
ing kettle-drums draped with red cloth ; other retainers
carried scarlet and gold banners, silver fly-brushes, maces,
and other emblems of authority ; and then came a motley
crowd of foot-soldiers armed with rifles. But the Rajah
himself was hidden behind the crimson silk drapery span
gled with silver stars, which was thrown over his palan-

218 A L'ANGLAISE
quin; a long line of tented ox -carts (closely curtained)
followed behind, which probably contained the ladies of
his household. When we reached the railway station the
Rajah of Jodhpore and one of his brothers were on the
platform. His Highness, we were told, was in the habit
of passing much of his royal leisure there when the line
was first opened, and had caused a handsomely furnished
reception-room to be fitted up, whence he could view the
arrival and departure of the trains. On this occasion
both he and his brother were costumed in what their
tailor considered the latest thing in English "sporting
kit," and in which they resembled the travelling Britons
as they appear on the stage of a Parisian theatre. Both
wore shooting - jackets and knickerbockers of very pro
nounced plaids, and the brother carried a dagger stuck in
one of his high boots; great "solar topees"* with veils
twisted around them completed their attire. The Indian,
of whatever rank or caste, never looks his best in a white
helmet, which usually gives him the air of a half-caste but
ler. A few months later we saw him again from the es
trade near the Haymarket, on the occasion of the Queen's
Jubilee. He was seated in a barouche with other princes,
following the Queen's carriage, and somewhere between
the splendid escort of Indian officers behind her Majesty
and the squadron of Lifeguards in the rear. He looked
a different man in his own traditional costume, thickly
jewelled and blazing with diamonds.
* Sun-hats.

MEDIAEVAL COSTUMES 219

IV
BIKANIR IN 1893
At the Colonial Exhibition in London some years ago
there was a collection of large photographs which looked
as if they might have been taken in the days of Saladin.
One of them represented a group of warriors in shirts of
chain -mail and steel bascinets, mounted on camels, and
armed with lances, drawn up in line in front of a vast
palace standing alone in a plain of sand. Theyr proved
upon inquiry to have been taken at Bikanir, a place which
no one seemed to know anything about, except that it
was the capital of an ancient Rajpoot state, in the midst
of a waterless desert, very far from anything else, and dif
ficult of access. Just before my arrival in India last year
the Jodhpore State Railway had been extended to Bika
nir, and through trains had been put on, running from
Marwar Junction to Bikanir in twenty-seven hours, more
or less. Haying ascertained that the necessary bungalow
existed, and could be occupied " by order of the Regency
Council," I decided to avail myself of an opportunity
which might not come twice.
At night, Marwar Junction, January 15, 1893. — A
crowd of squatting figures, most of them in dirty white
raiment, are grouped around the flaring torches of sweet
meat-venders and others who sell " chupatties," hot and
greasy, or ladle out a thick white paste from iron pots. An
occasional sharp cry of anguish escapes from an inquisi
tive pariah dog who has pushed his investigations too far.
Near by there is a covered waiting-place for third-class
passengers, where they all squat or recline, closely huddled

220 TICKETS!
together, men, women, and babies, behind the stone arches
of the open arcade, lighted by two dim lanterns. Just
before the arrival of the mail-train a short, portly Babu,
with pen behind his ear, stations himself at the gate, ticket-
punch in hand. The gate-posts are iron rails stuck in
the ground, and the barrier is constructed of two telegraph
wires strung from post to post. A fierce rush takes place
when the gate is opened. But the entrance is only wide
enough for one to pass at a time, and the Babu, like brave
Horatius, holds his own against the tide until the arrival
of two black-bearded policemen armed with rattans. On
comes the struggling horde of third-class passengers, those
behind pushing the foremost into the breach where only
one may pass, a sea of swarthy faces with glittering eyes
which stand out in the circle of light from the lantern in
startling relief against the blackness of the night. Many
of these faces have an almost tragic intensity of expres
sion — there are momentary gleams of rage, despair, anxi
ety, fatalistic resignation. All of these people are loaded
down with burdens ; some carry huge bundles of bedding,
guns, and sabres, others brandish umbrellas ; rounded arms
sheathed to the shoulder in lacquer bracelets protrude
here and there from the seething mass; babies are tightly
held and shrouded behind embroidered shawls. But the
Babu spares neither age, sex, nor caste, neither the orange-
clothed fakir with painted face nor the women weighed
down with bundles, babies, and brazen pots, and while
they fumble for their tickets the policemen rain blows
with their canes on the shoulders of the pushing mob be
hind. Many faces express positive fear, and one patient
old man, who has been thrust back again and again, is
pushed forward into the opening by the pressure from be
hind, but is forced to bide his time while the Babu puts
on his turban, which had fallen off in the fray. He repre-

FIRST-CLASS COMPARTMENT ON THE ROAD TO BIKANIR

222 ON THE ROAD TO BIKANIR
sents the government with official severity, and when
once the gate is closed in the faces of those who are un
provided with tickets, or who have lost them, protesta
tions and despairing gestures are vain, no explanations are
listened to, and the Babu saunters off serenely to the plat
form, where the steady jingle of the electric bell announces
the approach of the train.

The Jodhpore and Bikanir mail left at the usual early
hour. I was fortunate enough to find an empty com
partment, and, in fact, there was no other European on
the train. The life along the road had lost nothing of
its primitive character. At " Metra Road " some belated
passengers mounted on camels were hurrying to catch the
train along the sandy track which led from the distant
village. They were perched high upon the double-seated
saddles of the country, and each pair of riders clung
fraternally to each other as they bobbed up and down,
keeping time to the bone-breaking strides of their camels.
While the master, wearing the jaunty little Jodhpore
turban above his well-oiled locks, sat in front, the servant
took the back seat, holding aloft in one hand the family
" hookah." At the station the camels knelt down, bub
bling and moaning, while their riders descended and hur
ried in to buy their tickets. Here the guard telegraphed
to Jodhpore, that tiffin might be ready on our arrival;
for should one neglect to take this precaution he would
probably find nothing to eat but oranges and fat " chupat-
ties," and to drink, only coffee-colored water poured from
goat-skins. Everywhere in India, and more particularly
in these native states, people are in the habit of carrying
about with them considerable live-stock of various kinds.

MISCELLANEOUS FREIGHT 223
To be more specific, I refer to the mammals and birds
trained to assist in the capture of game ; and as a natural
consequence the railway hand-books abound with curi
ous information and rules interesting to the naturalist.
"Sheep, pigs, goats, calves, if sent singly, small tame
deer, etc., and tiger, panther, and cheetah cubs in cages,
and which are so young as to be harmless, if carried by
passenger trains, are charged at double the dog rates for
each animal. . . . Cats, ferrets, mongooses, monkeys, and
rabbits, secured with a collar and chain, are chargeable
as dogs." *
Prudent natives, when shifting their quarters during
the snake season, frequently take along the family mon
goose as a precautionary measure. For those unfamiliar
with this unprepossessing but harmless little beast it may
be here remarked that he belongs to the ichneumon
caste, and as his vocation is the killing of snakes, he is
everywhere a welcome visitor. He looks something like
an undersized otter, is quick and spasmodic in his move
ments, and is often found under the bed in a long-vacant
dak bungalow, whence he suddenly scuttles away as the
door is opened, and disappears with a whisk of his tail in
the chimney-place or down the nearest hole.
At one station four coolies passed along the platform
carrying aloft a charpie, on which reposed a cheetah,
chained and blindfolded. When we first caught sight of
him he was sitting up like a cat, with his ears lying flat
against his head, wearing the sulky and injured look
which all felines have under adverse circumstances. A
* " Camels and elephants are not booked except under special ar
rangements." Another item refers to "cremated sacred relics" (Alla
habad Pioneer). " Human ashes in dust-tight cases, fifth class, or ditto
securely packed in air-tight cases, by passenger train, at full passenger
rates; but when accompanying passengers, at luggage rates."

224 A LITTLE MODERNITY
few passengers who got off before we reached Jodhpore
were provided with falcons and hawks, some of them so
large and bulky as to be rather unwieldy ; and while these
passengers fumbled for their tickets, the birds sat on their
shoulders, or balanced themselves on their voluminous
turbans. The train reached Jodhpore at noon, and made
p long halt. In the little restaurant tiffin for one was
ready on the table, and for the sum of one rupee was un
commonly liberal in quantity. Ham and eggs, chops, and
a broiled chicken were the principal items which were
inscribed on the unvarying bill of fare framed and hung
on the wall. The environs of the station were hardly
recognizable, so great had been the change in six years.
Where all had been sand before there were now dense
gardens, and the dark and glossy green foliage tempered
the rawness of the new stone houses which had sprung
up on every side. Had it not been for the distant castle
and the desert ridge, one might have fancied one's self in
some new suburban town of the far West. From this
point on, the line is new, and after leaving the station we
passed close to the modern palace of the Rajah, built of
dark red stone, with numerous white cupolas, and covering
a great extent of ground.
While the train waited at Jodhpore a portly and con
sequential personage entered the compartment, attended
as far as the door by a youth in a crimson frock-coat
ornamented with black velvet collar and cuffs and brass
buttons, and wearing yellow plaid breeches and a scarlet
turban. The personage wore gold rings on his toes as
well as in his ears, and he was followed by several retain
ers, who spread out his bedding on the opposite divan, and
after making him comfortable they all left for their own
compartments. Either from curiosity, or from a desire to be agreeable

THIRD-CLASS PASSENGERS

226 CASTE -MARKS
—for the Indian who has not travelled much in English-
speaking countries still considers it a mark of courtesy to
show an interest in his fellow-man — my vis-a-vis proceed
ed to open a conversation. Motee, who had been installed
on the platform, was called in to interpret, and, having
explained my object in visiting Bikanir to my fellow-
traveller, he announced himself to be a member of the
Regency Council of that state. Now there is one thing
in which the Indian caste system is more fortunate than
ours. He who is born to the purple wears his birthright
emblazoned on his forehead in the shape of a caste-mark.
He has besides a distinguishing costume, and moreover
his face shows the hereditary stamp of his race, so that
there is no mistaking any one of baser origin for a mem
ber of that limited but august order. Either his dress or
his caste-mark are equivalent to the legend sometimes
seen on the patent-medicine bottles, " To imitate this is
felony," and indeed it would be felony of the deepest
dye, unpardonable in this world or the next, to infringe
on the Rajpoot patent of nobility. During our journey to
Bikanir the councillor frequently partook of food, strange
homoeopathic little messes of yellow paste, pomegranate
seeds, and sliced cucumbers in small glass dishes, while he
gossiped with his "bearer," who served them on a tray at
his feet. When time hung heavy on his hands he would
get up and change some article of clothing, and late in
the afternoon his servants brought him an entire outfit,
assisting him first to pull off his thin under-vest, showing
an expanse of glossy brown skin. They then proceeded
to wind him up in a long piece of warm-tinted white mus
lin of delicate, filmy texture, and bordered with red. This
function, like exercise, seemed to renew his appetite, and
he had another " go " at the little glass dishes. A sliding-
door at one end of the compartment opened on to a nar-

RACING WITH THE TRAIN 227
row platform with a leather seat at each end, which could
be opened across the platform or shut down against the
rail when not in use. Prior to the advent of my fellow-
traveller I had occupied the time either with writing in
side, or had fourid absorbing interest in the pages of the
Tragic Muse* in the intervals of studying the landscape
from the platform seat. As there was room enough for
both of us outside, we now studied it together ; what he
thought of it I know not. It certainly was monotonous,
and grim enough it would have seemed under any other
heaven than the soft winter sky of India ; and although far
from being a desert at this season, it must look parched
and burned up indeed when the hot winds sweep across it in
the spring-time, and every spot of green has disappeared.
In the long, dry stretches of jungle -grass herds of an
telopes or gazelles were browsing, seldom showing any
fear at the approach of the train, and lifting up their
heads to look, or racing along for a few rods, springing
clear of the grass at each bound, and pausing in wonder,
with their slender ears at right angles, when they began
to lose ground. At sundown the train waited for a time
at a small station in what appeared to be open country,
for no town or village was visible in any direction. Two
women and a little girl got down and sat in the sand near
the platform, while their male attendant packed up their
voluminous bedding and bundles, together with pots, ket
tles, and swords. Both ladies were young and richly cos
tumed, judging from the bits of embroidery, jewelry, and
innumerable bangles which were revealed when for a
moment they drew aside the transparent shawls with
which they veiled their faces. Their persistence in keep-
* The railway book-stall at Ajmeer is. quite up to date as regards re
cent literature, and our own popular authors, together with Kipling and
Tolstoi", seem to be the favorites.

AT A WAY STATION NEAR BIKANIR

ing their faces covered, and their small hands and feet
showed that they belonged to a higher caste than the man.
The demure little girl was so laden with ornaments that
she looked like a jewelled idol. When everything had
been packed, and the bundles of bedding placed on a low
two-wheeled cart drawn by milk-white bullocks, they all
mounted and drove away into the open country towards
the red western sky.
We were to arrive at Bikanir in the small hours of the
early morning, and as the January nights are cold at this
latitude,* I had told Motee not to let them rout me up
before 8 a.m.
But little of the city can be seen from the station— only
the massive outer walls and gateways, and the outline ofa
strangely shaped, almost pyramidal gray tower.

* Bikanir lies on the twenty-eighth parallel north latitude.

MOTEE IN A NEW ROLE 229
At Bikanir. — A foot-path through sand and low scrub
led to the bungalow. It was liberally, not to say palatial-
ly, furnished in comparison with the average Indian hotel.
A number of glass doors opened from the veranda into a
large common room, and there were glass doors on the
three other sides. The state seemed to have furnished its
guest-house as if to attract a class of visitors accustomed
to lavish profusion in the matter of tables and chairs, but
who expected nothing to eat, for there was neither cook
nor khansamah. Drawn up sociably in front of the fire
place were two roomy lounges, and an ornamental cau-
seuse occupied the centre of the room. A varied assort
ment of arm-chairs and tables was scattered about ; the
tall, gaudily colored cut-glass lamps, the table service, and
plated silver all looked as if ordered without regard to
expense, while the two sleeping-rooms also contained a
superabundance of furniture. I had neglected to provide
myself with letters, having decided to make the trip only
at the last moment, and if Motee had not unexpectedly
proclaimed his skill as a cook, I should have been obliged to
wire down to Jodhpore for something to eat, or appeal to
the Resident. He, however, kindly offered me a letter to
the chief of the Regency Council, actually the head of the
state during the minority of the Rajah, who was still a
school-boy at Ajmeer. The great fortress and palace of
Bikanir bring to mind the Arab proverb concerning " the
prince who builds a palace and ruins a city," for, as is
frequently the case in Rajpootana, its magnitude is out of
all proportion to the size of the city grouped about it.
Although placed on the same level as the town, and with
out the advantages of an elevated position, like the castles
of Jodhpore and Gwalior, it is still an imposing and mag
nificent pile. Surrounded by massive sloping walls, with
embrasures for cannon, and entered by a drawbridge cross-

230 A COURTEOUS OFFICIAL
ing a wide moat, and guarded by sentinels, who present
arms as the carriage rattles over it into the gate between
two round flanking towers, it looks quite fit to sustain
a siege. Over the entrance rises a tall clock -tower,
and beyond are gates within gates, opening into narrow
courts, some of them with whitened walls, and others dis
playing great frescoes of tiger-hunts or triumphal proces
sions. At the last gate two life-sized elephants carved in
stone and gaudily painted, each with his mahout astride
of his neck, stood facing each other ; they resembled on
a larger scale the painted toys sold in Bombay shops.
Towering many stories above the court -yard rose the
fagade of the palace, with endless tiers of latticed galleries
Shaded by faded red curtains. Hundreds of vultures and
crows circled above, or lighted on the pinnacles and domes
which broke the regularity of the sky-line. The highest
point of all was a sloping pyramidal roof of blue glazed
tiles. Passing through still another gate, we found the
chief in his office, protected by a sign with the legend
" No Admittance." He was a perfect type of the veteran
statesman ; his English was unimpeachable ; but what I
remember most vividly at the present moment was a cer
tain charm of manner peculiar to the cultured Oriental
When I asked him about his camel cavalry, he rang a
little electric bell and sent off a servant, who presently
reappeared with some superb photographs representing
the whole regiment drawn up in the desert, but in place
of the steel veiled and armored bandits were stalwart
troopers uniformed and turbaned like her Majesty's Sikhs.
He presented me with a hand-book to Bikanir written by
himself in English, and, accompanied by a custodian, we
set out on a tour of the palace. It is highly improbable
that any European has ever seen the whole of a Bajah's
palace, unless it be one that is uninhabited, but the number

PALACE OF THE RAJAH OP BIKANIR

232 BEDS AND BRIC-A-BRAC
of apartments shown are sufficiently bewildering to leave
only the most confused impressions, and of this palace in
particular I retain a distinct recollection of only two or
three rooms. There were several janitors, each having
charge of a series of apartments opening on a court—for
the most part venerable old men decorated with huge yel
low caste-marks on their foreheads, and each carried, de
pending from a ring at his girdle, a great bunch of long
steel slips curiously notched, with which he opened succes
sive doors quite as if he were performing a religious cere
mony of great solemnity. Opening on to the highest ter
race of all there were two salons or sleeping-rooms, for
there were beds in both, which were curiously interesting
on account of the piquant blending of Eastern art with the
products of Western taste. Both rooms were lighted from
a narrow exterior gallery, which seemed almost to overhang
the boundless red desert, and the sunshine which filtered
through stained glass, filling the interstices of the lattice
work, fell on the minutely painted walls of the gallery
and inlaid ivory doors of the inner room. Flowery but
faded European carpets covered the floors within, and the
furniture, mahogany and brass and rose-colored damask,
had the stamp of the First Empire. In one corner stood
a bedstead with silver legs of Indian design ; but what
gave to the place its peculiar cachet was its collection of
exotic curiosities grouped on the tables, and carefully pro
tected by glass globes. There was a ship under full sail
tossing on a stormy sea of green glass, a swallow em
balmed among gilt flowers, and a leathery and hairless
stuffed cat playing on a harp. There was also an abun
dance of clocks, one of the familiar Connecticut brand
with pointed apex, but with one of its pinnacles missing,
and another clock placed in the broad stomach of a
very jovial sailor.

SHOP STUFF

233

In the new section of the palace the court-yard just
above the great outer keep is still unfinished, and the
arcades, richly sculptured in relief, although certainly not
Indian in design, are strangely original and not unpleas
ing. We entered from this court the new series of apart
ments which had been furnished apparently by a London
upholsterer. New and smart furniture in unimpeachable
London taste filled the great drawing-room, and there
were hanging -shelves and etageres which might have
come from Maple's. A large photograph of the Queen-
Empress was displayed on a table, and the carpets alone
had a taint of the East. They were made in the Bikanir
jail, woven from ancient Persian designs, following the
original models with absolute fidelity both in color and
pattern, and were shaped to fit each nook and recessed

MARKET-PLACE, BIKANIR

234 ALL SORTS
window. The vast palace-yard, beyond the elephant gate,
seemed to be the centre of life, and was never quiet at any
hour of the day. Groups of servants, soldiers, and retain
ers were continually passing in and out, while here and
there a little knot of men, liveried in scarlet and yellow
or in white, squatted on their heels around the bubbling
hookah, and each group formed the nucleus of a changing
crowd ; for all appeared to have abundance of leisure, and
each loiterer stopped to gossip a moment as he passed
through the court. At times there was a wild outburst
of barking from the swarm of pariah dogs and puppies in
all stages of growth which were scattered about the
place ; countless pigeons, kites, buzzards, crows, and vul
tures were ceaselessly whirling about, or settling on the
projecting cornices of the palace, and filling the air with
the noise of their wings, their shrill screams, and never-
ending clamor. Just before noon a burst of barbaric
music was added by way of interlude to this intermittent
concert, preceded by a prolonged and ear-piercing blow
ing of horns and trumpets ; towards sunset a service of
some kind was celebrated by the orange-robed priests of
the little temple, accompanied by a harmonious and dis
tant chanting of boyish voices. Three great elephants
drawn up in line awaited us on our return to the bungalow,
and the scarlet of their robes burned like a flame against
the green foliage. They had been trained to raise their
trunks and bellow forth a most effective salute.
The streets of the town — and particularly the ornate
little houses carved in red sandstone — while they have
a general resemblance to those of Jodhpore, have yet a
distinct local character. It would seem as if the citizens
had built their houses of sand, and had caused the desert
to bloom, as it were, into this florid efflorescence of deli
cate arabesques and fanciful sculptured ornaments, for all

STREET IN BIKANIR

236 WALL PAINTINGS
is of the same color and texture as the sand of the streets.
An equally strange and persistent impression remained
that the houses of this remote capital had a certain affin
ity with our own, as if some appreciative native had re
cently visited America and had brought back with him
the idea of the artistic little homes of Boston or Philadel
phia, and had been particularly struck with the deeply
recessed front door and the steps leading up to it. Upon
this fundamental idea he had engrafted the elaborate
surface decoration of Hindoo artisans, and had thrown
out his b^y-windows on the story above.
'. Although many of them may be of ancient date, a still
greater number have been recently built, and indicate a
certain degree of financial prosperity ; and yet, as at
Qiideypore, there seem to be few if any manufactures,
and but little commerce with the world beyond the sands.
Vacant wall spaces, as elsewhere, are often stuccoed and
made interesting by frescoes representing the usual ram
pant elephants and tiger-hunts. One frequently recurring
theme, which shows, in spite of what the Rajpoot nobility
may secretly believe, that we are all of the same Aryan
stock, represents a sort of Noah's ark riding on a stormy
sea of the deepest indigo ; on the hurricane-deck are stiff
ly seated a company of. Bikanir gentlemen, complacently
looking down at the unfortunate beings of lower castes
who are vainly struggling with the waves. The people
have a way of keeping what at first sight appear to be
their dining-tables in front of their houses or in the mid
dle of the street when not in use, and congregating there
on for purposes of social intercourse and for playing lit
tle games which resemble chess. These tables, or rather
lounging places — which also serve as refuges for street
dogs in the heat of the day, who shelter themselves in
their shadow — are solidly supported on turned legs like

CORRUGATED WARE 237
pillars, and are capable of holding up a number of peo
ple ; they are substantial enough to resist the onsets of
galloping heifers, which use the street as a play-ground,
and are not to be kicked over by every passing stray
camel. The " corrugated iron age " has already dawned upon
this city, remote as it is from all centres of culture. One
or two little kiosks of this cheap but inconceivably ugly
material have already made their appearance in the pal
ace-grounds, and foreshadow in a sadly prophetic way
the architectural future of India. But as yet they have
not begun to cover the verandas of whole bazaars with
corrugated iron roofing, as at Alwar and Delhi. Every
cheap reproduction of conventional ornamental forms
which can be cast in metal and multiplied to infinity
has a baleful fascination for the average native mind,
always quick to seize, upon any new evidence of prog
ress. These isolated signs of Western influence are rare,
however, and as one follows the narrow foot-path along
the battlemented walls of the city there is nothing to
arrest the eye in all the expanse of sand which sur
rounds it, and which seems as limitless as the Sahara
itself. VI
Jeypore is, of all others, the city which is shown to
strangers as an example of prosperous native rule. It
has two hotels, a college, a church (which, according to
Murray, is an architectural gem), a hospital, a school of
arts, and a " Medical Hall," which, in the vernacular, is
the title applied by the ambitious native apothecary to
his place of business. The hotel to which we were con
signed was so far from the city that, rather than wait for
a carriage, we set ont on foot to discover it for ourselves.

238 FASHIONS IN BEARDS
In the red haze of the winter morning the shrouded
figures, closely shawled and wrapped in wadded coverlets,
hurrying along the sandy road under the continuous arch
of trees, appeared to feel the cold keenly, and so many.pf
them had their jaws bound up in handkerchiefs that we
could not but ask if neuralgic toothache had taken an
epidemic form in Jeypore; another delusion was dis
pelled when we were informed that it was only their
way of training their beards to branch out horizontally
in the Rajpoot manner, for we had, in our ignorance, as
cribed this local fashion to some physiological peculiarity
of the race.
There was a hut by the road-side where two or three
lynxes dwelt in the company of their keeper ; these ani
mals were being educated for hunting purposes, and one
of them, apparently recovering from an indisposition, was
lying, wrapped in a wadded blanket, on a bed in front of
the door, and when we returned, in the heat of the day, his
keeper was fanning him with tender solicitude.
The main avenues of Jeypore cross each other at right
angles, forming at their intersections large and impos
ing squares, where are fountains or tanks. Around these
centres temples and palaces are grouped, and the broad
avenues seem to vanish in perspective. Inasmuch as the
idea still prevails on the Continent that all this country is
quite on a par with the Congo Valley, it is interesting to
know that these boulevards, well kept and lighted at night,
existed a hundred years before such avenues were dreamed
of in Europe. Upon a closer inspection of the regular and
continuous facades which line them, houses, temples, and
palaces alike look strangely thin and unstable, like the
work of a scene - painter, and when a door is opened or
shut one almost expects to see the whole fabric shake and
quiver, or to see it rolled back to disclose something more

FEEDING THE SACRED PIGEONS, JETPORE

wonderful behind. This appearance of unreality is due
to the fact that the fronts of all these edifices are roughly
stuccoed and washed with a pale pink tone, on which are
rudely frescoed white lines and uncertain arabesques, and
they have, to a degree, the effect of carelessly painted can
vas. But they are, notwithstanding, built of stone, and
often mask really beautiful doorways and court-yards of

240 ZOOLOGICAL TOWN
white marble. An hour or so before sunset all this quar
ter is crowded with idlers ; with itinerant merchants and
hucksters, who display their wares on the ground or in lit
tle booths under the great trees ; with daintily barbered
and immaculate court nobles, and others who pass in car
riages followed by mounted dragoons; great elephants
robed in scarlet, each with a clanging bell hanging on one
side to warn the riders of timid horses, pass slowly through
the crowd ; and well-groomed white or piebald horses, their
necks maintained at the requisite curve by an embroidered
scarf in lieu of check-rein, are also walked out for exercise.;
Here, too, may be seen lynxes and blindfolded cheetahs*
taking the air, and held in leash by their keepers ; and at
times myriads of pigeons, which are daily fed by the fakirs
and maintained at the public expense, cover the grouijf
like a blue carpet, or rise up with a deafening whir of
wings. One thinks at once of the pigeons of St. Mark's,;!
but their numbers are far greater. One of the most afe
tractive resorts of Jeypore is the great public garden; con
taining an aviary and a handsome modern palace or two,
which, as a piece of artistic landscape-gardening, would b6
remarkable in any city. When we drove out from the
town to visit the ancient capital and palace of Amber, de
serted by Jey Singh in 1728 for the more modern town
of Jeypore, our way lay through a suburb of ruined and
mouldering palaces, tombs, and garden-houses, half hid
den among great trees and thickets of rank undergrowth,
where colonies of peacocks strutted along the weed-grown
and blackened walls, and added their harsh screams to the
shrill cries of the countless green parrots.
At a point of the road where it became too steep for
the carriage we found an elephant waiting for us, and the
*The hunting-leopard of Tudia.

AN ILLUSION

241

slow majesty of his progress upward through a wild and
rocky landscape seemed to aid and give a touch of reality
to the impression that we were leaving the present and
going backward into the past. Few landscapes in India
are more striking than the spot where one first comes in
sight of the palace, rising against a barren ridge, and re
peated in every detail in the glassy lake below, which is

CHEETAH AND KEEPER, JEYPORE

242 THE AMBER PALACE
bordered by gardens with terraces and kiosks of red stone.
The deserted city, lying along the gorge at the foot of the
cliffs, does not give one so much the impression of a once
populous capital that has been abandoned forever as of a
place where the people had fallen asleep, and one would
not be at all surprised to see them pour out from the
house doors in the "painted streets" and throng the
empty bazaars and temple courts, or to hear again the
din of metal-workers in the silent shops. But the palace,
to wrhich we mount by a narrow and winding path hewn
in the rock, is still occupied from time to time as a royal
residerrce, and is guarded by a few retainers, and as we
ascend we meet some of them, armed with swords and
leather bucklers. The upper or grand court -yard of
Amber combines such wealth of artistic decoration, and
is placed in such a marvellous setting of landscape, that
one instinctively wonders whether such combinations,
which occur so often in India, can be due to happy acci
dent, or whether the builders had cunningly taken advan
tage of every favoring circumstance of nature. To admit
the latter hypothesis would be to acknowledge once and
forever their artistic supremacy, and it is easier to main
tain that they " builded better than they knew." The
great gateways of the palace, elaborately painted with con
ventional designs, relieved by white marble and plaques
of alabaster inlaid with symbolic figures in enamel and
gold, and lightened by panels and transparent screens of
red stone, showing the blue of the sky behind, has tbe
rich tone of a faded cashmere shawl. As we stand in
front of it an open, many-pillared hall rises on our left,
with heavy sculptured brackets adorning the capitals.
This entire edifice is covered with white chunar, which
has been scraped away from one column, revealing the
highly polished porphyry beneath. When one stands

A FRIENDLY SONGSTER

243

at the parapet near by and looks down, the eye ranges
over the lower court -yard just below, over the white
walls and crenellated towers of the outer keep, to the lit
tle lake sleeping at the bottom of the ravine, and across it
to the wooded and rocky range of hills ; and through a
gap in these hills other ranges appear, and beyond them
the cloud -flecked
rolling uplands
and the summer
clouds. Many
birds are flitting
in and out through
the arcades, pig
eons are cooing,
and the flocks of
sleek green par
rots keep up a con
tinual screaming
and bickering.
There was a table
in the centre of
the pillared hall,
where we were
accustomed to
lunch among these
feathered intrud
ers. The most per
sistently familiar
of all was a small songster resembling a nightingale, which
sat quietly on the back of a chair, and when encouraged by
our tranquillity would walk about the table and help him
self to the crumbs. In the innermost court, in the shadow
of a white marble pavilion shaded by red curtains, one or
two men and boys armed with bows dozed through the

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ELEPHANT S HEAD, JEYPORE

244 TETHERED WITH A STRING
heat of the day, and in their waking moments exercised
their calling of firing ineffectual arrows at the screaming
parrots on the mango-trees. Down in the lower court just
below the parapet was tethered the old elephant who had
transported us up here on his capacious back, and who
seemed to bore himself in spite of the beauty of his sur
roundings. His keeper had led him into a small yard en
closed by rough walls, and after taking off his howdah and
coverings, had lain down to doze in a shady corner. Before
going to sleep he had prudently tied a cord around the
elephant's fore-foot, and had attached the other end to a
peg between his own feet ; the cord was probably intend
ed as a slight moral restraint. The great brute was quiet
enough for a time, rocking gently from side to side, and
at last, from sheer want of occupation, he began to scrape
together with his trunk and one ponderous fore -foot a
quantity of loose, dry grass, until he had collected a mouth
ful ; when the supply at hand was exhausted he began to
feel in the crevices of the wall with the tip of his trunk
to see if perchance anything eatable had been left there ;
discovering a small earthen pot, he carefully investigated
the interior, but smashed it against the wall in disgust at
finding it empty. Overcome with ennui at last, he
moved slowly and stealthily towards the exit, keeping one
eye on his master, and taking great care not to awaken
him ; but the sleeper was roused by the gradual slipping
of the cord over his foot, and his charge, like a great
baby, was led back in disgrace and soundly chastised with
a broomstick. His last resource was to shoot showers of
dust and gravel over his back, so that it took his keeper a
full half-hour to sweep him clean.
Amber, with its garden courts, its fountains and rills
of clear water rippling through channels of inlaid marble,
its secluded chambers and halls adorned with gilding and

COURT OP THE PALACE OP AMBER, JEYPORE

246 A STRIKING LANDMARK
Persian mirror-work, or with panels of white marble on
which are sculptured the rose and the lotus, the doors of
sandal wood and ivory, the vignettes of lovely mountain
landscape seen through the lace-work of the window-lat
tices, and, above all, the sentiment of repose, and remote
ness from the work-a-day world of coal and iron, seems
a perfect parallel to the Alhambra, and completely em
bodies the Arabian idea of a kingly retreat.

VII
Our impressions of the marvels of Rajpootana would be
incomplete withput at least a brief reference to Gwalior
and the fortress of Scindia. Shattered, ruinous, and rapid
ly falling into decay, it still remains a striking landmark,
and a unique monument even in India — unique, for al
though there is something in the bizarre forms of its
architecture akin to the early Persian palaces at Per
sepolis and elsewhere, as well as to the later edifices in
Toorkistan, it bears the stamp of complete originality, as
if its builders had been allowed to work out their own
conception unhindered. I refer more specifically to the
older portion, called the palace of Man Mandi.* Its long
line of round sloping towers, capped with broad-rimmed
cupolas, overtops the rocky ridge which rises straight from
the plain, and the- whole facade, within and without, is

*Fergusson says: " Of those buildings which so excited the admiration
of the Emperor Baber, probably little now remains. The Moslems added
to the palaces of the Hindoos, and spared their temples and the statues
of the Jains. "We have ruthlessly set to work to destroy whatever in
terferes with our convenience, and during the few years we have oc
cupied the fort have probably done more to disfigure its beauties and
obliterate its memories than was caused by the Moslems during the cen
turies they possessed or occupied it."

PALACE OF THE MAHARAJAH OP GWALIOR,
SCINDIA

decorated with bands
and panels of brilliant
enamelled bricks, blue
and green and vivid yel
low, varied with courses
of sculptured stone- work.
When the Emperor Baba
saw it in 1537, the domes
were covered with gilded
copper, and the whole
vast fabric must then
have been a blaze of col
or. One amusing feature is a band or ribbon of rich blue
faience extending entirely round the facade, on which is
a line of yellow ducks ; at one point only, wThere a mon
key is chasing one of them, the movements of these
ducks depart a little from the conventionalized stiff
ness of the others. Within the fortress walls are tem
ples of earlier date, and there are two exquisite little
courts in the palace, so original in design that it would
puzzle an architect to classify them ; and just outside the
western gate are colossal statues of gods wrought in the
face of the yellow cliff, like those at Abou-Simbel. This

248 MODERN AND ANTIQUE TRAPS
fortress has long been the stronghold of the Mahratta
rulers of the line of Scindia, and at the time of the Mu
tiny was occupied by the English, who have recently re
stored it to its original owners. Each race has left traces
of its occupancy, and during the English regime many
modern improvements were effected ; ruinous palaces were
fitted up as mess-rooms and officers' quarters, and as Cun
ningham says, "a lot of antiquarian rubbish was cleared
away to make a parade-ground."
The ancient city of Gwalior lies at the foot of the hill,
but the new town, where the modern palace is situated, is
some distance away — nearly an hour's drive, in fact, over
circuitous roads. Near the palace are several walled and
arcaded enclosures of great extent, where hundreds of
horses are kept, belonging to the Maharajah, who is still
a minor; and in a similar place are the royal carriages.
Nothing could give a better idea of the scale on which
such establishments are maintained than the number and
variety of these equipages, many of them built by noted
London or Paris firms. There are broughams or coupes,
landaus, dog -carts, traps of all sorts, mail - phaetons and
mail-coaches, victorias and double-seated " beach-wagons,"
and, to complete the catalogue, a regulation Paris omni
bus, with " imperiale."
A royal household, in order to keep up to the times,
must include every article of luxury appertaining to Euro
pean royalty, as well as the whole antique " kit " and pict
uresque lumber, palanquins, howdahs, and state chariots,
which have come down to it from ancient days.

OUDEYPOEE, THE CITY OF THE SUNRISE
I
The little station at Chitor, asleep in the noonday
glare, seemed more akin to a caravansary in the desert
than to the noisy and bustling railway centres farther up
the line. Only the station-master, whom it is correct to
address as baboo, whether he may have any right to that
title or not, and whose brown, spectacled visage was sur
mounted by a black velvet cap, the telegraph clerk, clad
in a long white cotton garment, and the sepoy on guard
at the freight-house, were present at our arrival. Across
the railway track, which still rang with the reverbera
tion of the departed train, arose, some distance away, a
long wooded and bushy ridge, crowned with the level line
of gray walls and towers of Chitor, the ancient capital of
Meywar. The slender silhouettes of the two towers of Vic
tory, which alone rose above the level sky-line, were so far
off that one could only divine their exquisite sculpture by
the irregularity of their outlines.
From the platform of the station only three other
buildings were visible in all the vast and undulating half-
desert landscape which stretches away westward to the
line of purple hills in the direction of Oudeypore, seventy-
two miles away. I had expected to find a letter or tele
gram from that city, with some information as to means
of conveyance, not having then learned that telegrams or
other messages had to be sent by " dak post," or by special

250 A COMPLIMENTARY CONVEYANCE
runners, in the absence of either telegraph or railway con
necting the Rajpootana-Malwa line with the remote cap
ital. The baboo in charge of the station said that nothing
had been received ; and having directed Motee to find
some coolies and follow on with the luggage convoy, I
wandered off along the sandy track in the direction of
the dak bungalow, the last of the three buildings seen
from the platform. Although it was the middle of Jan
uary, the noonday sun, slightly veiled by haze, and with
the addition of the reflected glare from the sandy and
weedy waste about us, already began to be somewhat op
pressive. The question of transport was speedily solved by
meeting half-way to the bungalow an old and battered
victoria, with a pair of brisk horses, a turbaned driver,
and " syce." Upon the arrival of Motee with the coolies
they deposited the luggage by the road - side, and we
plunged at once into an animated discussion with the
driver as to the price and other preliminaries, for, as I
had supposed, the conveyance belonged to the Maharana
of Oudeypore. Just as we had come to an understanding
about the price, the opportune arrival of the postmaster
with a telegram (brought by a runner), to the effect that
the carriage had been sent for us, and that there was
nothing to pay, settled the matter at once. An elabo
rate " tiffin " is not to be had in a dak bungalow at short
notice, and we were only too glad to find the usual bill
of fare, " sudden death " (which title refers to the un
timely end of the chicken which had been alive when
we reached the house), bread, potatoes, and jam, with
whiskey and tepid soda. When the horses had been fed,
and the baggage piled into the vehicle and corded to
gether, leaving barely space on the back seat to accom
modate the writer and the tiffin basket, we drove briskly

A MAIL-CARRIER

251

off in the teeth of a strong south wind and in the glare of
the afternoon sun, over rolling uplands, towards the hazy
line of far-off hills. There were spots of rich cultivation
at intervals, with clumps of wild date-palms, and dense,
wide-spreading banyans, sheltering the rare villages and
way - side shrines ; ei
ther a tank or a pool
of water at these oases
invariably reflected a
patch of amber-tinted
western sky beyond the
dark trees. At each
village we changed
horses, which gave one
an opportunity of walk
ing on in advance — al
ways a relief after the
cramped confinement
of the carriage.
Groups of camels
which were browsing
among the sparse un
dergrowth by the road
side ambled clumsily away at our approach, and we often
met whole families of villagers toiling along the dusty
track in tented bullock-carts.
Somewhere along the road the mail-carrier, that mediae
val ancestor of the modern postman, met us on his way
from Oudeypore. He carried his small letter- bag sus
pended from a lacquered stick, on the end of which hung
a little cluster of bells, and he was preceded by his pro
tector, a wiry youth, armed with a drawn scimitar. There
is but little danger, however, to be feared on this road,
most of the tigers having been slain by the royal sports-

MAIL-CARRIER AND GUARD

252 A CHILLY RIDE
men, and there are no brigands, so that one may travel
alone more safely here than in Europe, and the scimitar
is only an emblem of authority.
When the burning after-glow had deepened into twi
light, it became impossible to resist the feeling of drowsi
ness engendered by the strong dry wind and the monoto
nous movement of the carriage, in spite of the increasing
chill of the night air.
At midnight 1 was awakened, either by the cold or by
the sudden cessation of motion. Behind the carriage the
men, wrapped in their frieze ulsters, such as are worn by
the sepoy infantry, were squatting over a blazing fire of
dry leaves, which quickly smouldered as the supply was
exhausted, and again flashed up fitfully with each armful
of the damp, earthy-smelling fuel, suddenly revealing the
grotesque sculpture and pillared porticoes of a little group
of half-ruined temples. It was quite cold — 40° Fahr. at
least. We reached at last a gap in a line of hills, which
might have been of any height in the darkness, and halted
at a towering gateway. The huge doors, which swung
open, moved by invisible warders, were studded with long
iron spikes and hooks, which have survived from the days
when fortress gates wrere so protected as a defence against
the battering power of mailed elephants. On either side
of flanking towers high crenellated walls climbed the hills
and disappeared in the gloom. There were still nine miles
before us, but the thickening trees and temple spires
showed that we were nearing the capital, and finally we
drew up at the dak bungalow, and with noise and clamor
aroused the sleeping khansamah.

THE APPROACH TO A RESIDENCY 253

II

Oudeypore.— Even the first impression is agreeable, and
has a fresh charm after the monotonous levels of the Pun
jaub, which lie far enough to the north to have the chill,
at least, of a Northern November. From the bungalow
the ground slopes down on either side into a valley ringed
about with bushy hills. Rounded tree -tops cut off the
view here and there, and little temples or shrines, some
black and weather-stained, others gleaming white, nestle
in their shadows. Upon arriving in a native state, one's
first proceeding is always to call on the Resident, and it
is but a short walk from the bungalow to the Residency.
From the entrance, guarded by an armed sentinel, the
driveway winds upward among flower beds, and through
checkered light and shadow, to a white house which stands
on a low hill. The tall columns of the portico give it
something of the character of an Italian villa, but the
white domes of the little pavilions, or " chatris," which
flank the terrace add the local color of India : the ve
randas, half hidden by striped "dhurries" and awnings,
are partly covered, like the hexagonal pavilions, with great
masses of violet - purple bougainvilleas. From the long
drawing-room, which traverses the house, a matchless vista
is seen through the open glass doors at either end : through
one the sunshine streams in over the gay parterres of
flowers which deck the terrace ; and beyond the other
door, which opens on to a veranda, answering the purpose
of a conservatory, there is a delightful confusion of light
and color, of polished white columns, seen through a tangle
of trailing vines and broad glistening leaves of fan-palms, of
scarlet and violet and orange blooms, of patches of sunlit
lawn and great trees, and then the towering white castel-

254 A GUEST OF THE STATE
lated palace of the Maharana, a mile away. On all sides
the view is bounded by the circle of lovely wooded hills,
steeped in sunshine, which shut in this happy valley from
the busy world, and shut out the telegraph, the railway,
and the automatic distributor.
Although I had intended to take up my quarters per
manently in the bungalow, it seemed like a bit of quite
superfluous self-denial to decline the cordial hospitality of
the Resident, which was meant to be accepted ; and indeed
my resolution to lead a life of hermit - like seclusion, a
prospect which looked far less seductive from this point
of view, was easily broken. At Oudeypore, as at many
other capitals of native states, everything seems to be the
property of the reigning prince : there is not a carriage
for hire, nor a boat on the lake ; and if one only desires to
stay a day or two in the travellers' bungalow, he must,
as a matter of form, ask permission of the state, which
will be granted only through the Resident. But as the
hospitality of the state is willingly extended to visitors
armed with proper credentials, there is usually no dif
ficulty about obtaining conveyances and a place to sleep
in. One of the first evidences that the authorities were
hospitably inclined was the arrival of a smart victoria,
with driver and syce in scarlet liveries, all to be kept
at the Residency during the length of my stay.
Oudeypore is a white city. Not only the pavilions,
kiosks, and arcades which rise from the shores of the
lake, but the lower walls of the great palace, the island
palaces, and the town itself, are positively dazzling with
whitewash. A fellow-countryman whom I met on the road, whose
name is everywhere known as an authority on Indian art,
said that he had been greatly disappointed in Oudeypore,
mainly because the whitewasher's brush had given it the

FORM AND COLOR 255
semblance of a whited sepulchre. With all deference to
his taste and judgment, I found the prevailing color to be
rather agreeable than otherwise, and to have an enhanced
value from its setting of dark foliage, so often relieved by
brilliant masses of flowering vines.
The whitewash is not used in order to hide baseness of
material, for most of the architecture is solidly built of
the dark red sandstone of the country, purely Hindoo in
style, abounding in colonnades with dentilated arches,
and with richly sculptured brackets upholding the hor
izontal eaves : white, with its luminous reflections and
cool shadows, is far more restful to the eye than the dull
brick color of the stone beneath.
The warmer tone of marble, where it appears in the
upper parts of the palace and in the inner courts of the
island pleasure-houses, gains in value from its rarity. In
going through the town for the first time one cannot fail
to be impressed by its bright and generally attractive
aspect. A drawbridge across the moat gives access to
the great gateway studded with spikes ; beyond this is a
court -yard surrounded by high walls and guarded by
soldiers. Here we enter the broad sandy road which
leads us to the main bazaar. The continuous rows of
shops are sheltered behind wide verandas and in the
shadow of projecting eaves, which are supported by
square Hindoo columns, shaped like the more ancient
columns in the temple of Chitor, and by sculptured
brackets or consoles. Behind these colonnades there is
an ever-changing play of reflected light, and the patches
of crude or half-effaced painting on the inner walls have
an added value from the warm white which prevails.
Even the costumes of the men are of the universal tone,
varied by the scarlet and gold lace of turbans, and the
costumes of the court retainers, while the embroidered

256

WHITEWASHED ELEPHANTS

shawls and skirts of the women are of every imaginable
hue, so that these brilliant flashes of color in the passing
crowd, together with the gaudy dyes displayed around
the shop doors, toned by the luminous obscurity of the
shadow, all unite in producing an impression at once
sparkling, joyous, and festal. A long flight of steps leads
up to the door of a temple, which is guarded by two ele
phants with uplifted trunks, carved in stone, and posted
one on each side. From this elevated perch they seem
to be saluting the living elephants as they pass in the
street below, and, like the temple, they too are white
washed. There is another
temple farther on, where
the sculptured friezes of
fighting elephants, proba
bly reproductions of those
at Chitor, retain the nat
ural tawny color of the
stone. The busiest
corner of the bazaar

STEPS OF THE TEMPLE

NATIVE ART 257
is at the intersection of another long street with this
main artery, and here stands a modern clock-tower of
¦striking and orjginal design, and quite in harmony with
the architecture around it. Instead of keeping straight
on to the trifolia gateway and the precincts of the pal
ace, if we turn to the right, where the street ascends a
slight rise, we shall enter a quarter of handsome houses,
many of which belong to court retainers. There is not
much exterior ornament about them, save for the pro
jecting brackets and latticed windows, which are not
as delicately wrought as in many other cities of Raj
pootana, but the broad spaces of blank white wall are
decorated with great mural paintings, wherein elephants,
with much vigor of action, and prancing camels, some
of which seem to be throwing their heads upward as if
to incommode their riders, are depicted as large as life.
The Hindoo artist is not quite as happy in rendering the
action of the horse ; and as to his anatomy, there seems
to be a tacit agreement that much of it is to be left to
the imagination.
When I first saw these frescoes, or, rather, similar ones
in other cities, they seemed grotesque and barbaric, al
though not lacking in a certain amount of decorative
force. Whether these examples were really better, or
whether, since it has become the fashion to borrow the
ideas of the early. Primitives and to express them in a
manner more primitive still as to technique, we have
learned to accept many things in art which we could not
have understood before, it would be somewhat difficult to
determine. But of one thing I am certain, that these
decorations impressed me as being much less eccentric
than at first, the drawing of the prancing elephants and
supercilious camels less exaggerated, and the tigers as
more seriously fierce: the crude yellow of these tigera

STREET AND PAINTED H0USE9

seemed actually to harmonize with the great washes of
raw blue and violet on the elephants. It may be that
while these artists have worked steadily on in the same
way for ages, we have just begun to. appreciate the value
of simplicity, and one may easily believe that, with judi
cious initiation into the mysteries of the artistic "cuisine'
of to-day, many of these village Giottos might find them
selves quite "in the movement."

A "TRIFOLIA" 25ff

III
The great white palace, which is the key-note and the
dominant feature of the landscape, and wThich so fasci
nates the eye when first seen in the morning light rising
above the tree-tops against the background of mountains,
gains in interest as we approach it. There is so much of
it that the eye cannot grasp it all at once, but is first
bewildered by its vast extent, and then confused by the
multitude of interesting details, and not until one has
seen it from the lake or from one of the island palaces
can he form an idea of the mass as a whole. From the
landward side and from the city the most imposing
approach is through the first gate at the end of the long
bazaar, where one enters the outer precincts and stands in
front of the " trifolia," or triple - arched gateway, which
is in itself a noble structure, placed high upon rising
ground, commanding the entrance to the long terrace in
front of the castle walls, and crowned by open and deli
cately fashioned cupolas, connected with each other by a
white wall or curtain of transparent stone lattice-work.
Above this gateway soars the great white fabric, airy, un
real, and fantastic as a dream, stretching away in a seem
ingly endless perspective of latticed cupolas, domes, tur
rets, and jutting oriel-windows, rising tier above tier, at
a dizzy height from the ground. A single dark tree
spreads its branches above the walls of the topmost court,
at the very apex of the pile.*
* Fergusson, in his History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, says
of this palace: "It has not unfrequently been compared with the castle
at "Windsor, and not inaptly, for both in outline and extent it is not un
like that palace, though differing wonderfully in detail and in situation.

260 A GLASS APARTMENT
Seen in the morning light, with the sunshine slanting
obliquely across the dazzling white of the lower walls,and
accentuating the balconied windows, while it leaves the
trifolia gateway and whole masses of the palace tin
shadow — a shadow full of mellow reflections and the azure
of the sky — -it has the coloring of a great cumulus cloud,
and seems hardly more material.
It was not by this gate, however, that we entered the
palace for the first time, but we followed the carriage
drive at the very opposite end, passing under the round
gray towers of the new wing, not yet finished, and which
will probably embody in its interior decoration the choic
est examples of South Kensington and Chippendale art.
By this route, which winds past the towers by a sort
of ascending ramp, we enter a narrow garden, where the
glass globes of electric lamps rise among the flowerbeds
and low shrubbery. Here stands a detached white build
ing, like a modern bungalow of superior architecture, with
broad, open doors. The first apartment is a sleeping-
room of generous dimensions, which is furnished entirely
with glass and crystal ; the furniture, tables, arm-chap,
mantel ornaments, even the bed itself and the "punka"
frames, as well as the great chandeliers and lustres,>re
all of glittering cut glass. A long dining-room opens out
of this first chamber ; one end of it, used as a billiard-
room, has a bay-windowed recess overlooking the garden.

In this latter respect the Eastern has the advantage of the Western pal
ace, as it stands on the verge of an extensive lake, surrounded by hills of
great beauty of outline, and in the lake are two island palaces, the Jug
Navas and Jug Munder, whicli are more beautiful in their class than
any similar objects I know of elsewhere. It would be difficult to find
any scene where art and nature are so happily blended together jand
produce so fairy-like an effect. Certainly nothing I know of so modem'
a date equals it."

CASTLE OF THE RANAS OF OUDEYPORE

262 A LOVELY PROSPECT
Some full-length portraits hang on the walls, among
which is one of the late Maharana, by the English painter
Prinsep. On the floor above are suites of sleeping-rooms,
furnished according to the latest English ideas of comfort.
But the most charming feature of this palace is tbe little
marble belvedere perched on the low garden wall over
looking the lake. From the principal entrance it is hardly
more than a step across the gravelled walk and the prim
flower beds to the little, pavilion with slender and frag
ile arches of white marble upholding the canopy. Two
hundred feet below, at a rough estimate, lies the blue
lake, fringed with green, surrounded by gardens, the palm-
tufted islands, each with its gleaming white palace, and
always the same horizon of lonely hills.
We reached the more distant and ancient part of the
palace, which is so impressive when seen from the trifolia
gate, after a short drive along the connecting walls and
towers, from the great terrace on the landward side. This
long expanse of gravel, often used as a parade-ground,
with a line of arcaded structures for the stabling of
horses and elephants, standing on its extreme verge above
the town, is built upon tiers of arches, resting on the
rocky ridge below.
Beyond the gateway by which we enter this wing of
the palace we reach a small court-yard by a few steps up
ward, and are confronted by a huge and portentous image
of Yishnu, enshrined in a niche, and daubed with red
paint; bedecked with yellow flowers, but stern and ag
gressive of aspect, he watches over this part of the palace
as if to repel the invasion of latter-day Philistines. A
strange old figure, which might claim kinship with the
image in the niche, comes hobbling out to meet us; his
forehead is decorated with a brush-mark of yellow paint,
he has a long white mustache, faded yellow garments,

A VETERAN

263

and carries a curved "tulwar." His general make-up
gave him the aspect of a fakir of some sort, but he proved
to be a superannuated captain of the palace guards, and
the janitor of this particular quarter. A few steps higher
we come to another court, with a dark hall on one side,
entered from an open gallery with low eaves upheld by
sculptured consoles. In this hall the dead Ranas are laid
in state. The steep and narrow stairways, the angular,
winding, and dimly lighted passages of solid masonry,

CASTLE AND PALACE FROM ACROSS THE LAKE

264 A PEACOCK COURT
faced with polished " chunar," * dingy with age and use,
which lead us from one marvel to another, seem strangely
out of keeping with the grandeur of a palace, where one
would expect to find at least one monumental staircase,
But the young Rajpoot who is guiding us through the laby
rinth is well up in the history of his country, and explains
that this structure, like most others of the same epoch, is
so built for defence against possible invasion. For most
of these narrow stairs and dark winding passages will
admit only one at a time, and the invaders must per
force enter in single file. By one of the passages we
came to a balcony overlooking a court-yard where " dur
bars" are sometimes held. Red awnings roof in the
court below, and the dim light which pervades the place
filters through a range of latticed windows on the same
level as the balcony where we stand. In the centre of
this line of windows and latticed arches a marvellous pro
jecting oriel of blue glass overhangs the court ; the slender
columns supporting the canopy, and the brackets or con
soles which uphold the entire structure, and which are
shaped like peacocks, are all of glass and crystal, vivid
ultramarine blue and pale green in their prevailing tints.
Descending to the level pf the court-yard we find at each
end an arcaded recess, each with a fountain set in the
wall. These two fountains are alike : a shell-shaped basin
projects from the wall, above which stands in the arched
recess a gorgeous blue and green peacock, pre-Raphaelite
in fidelity of color and design, and of the same glittering
crystal as the balcony above. When we ascend again to
the line of the upper balconies we continue on through a
long range of small chambers, each commanding by its
* Chunar is a sort of cement or stucco of fine texture, and capable
of such a high degree of polish that it is often used as a substitute for
marble.

A TILED WINDOW IN THE PALACE

projecting bay-window a view of the terrace below and a
vast sweep of landscape, the snow-white domes and flat
terraces and temple spires among green tree-tops of the
city which sleeps beneath us, and on all sides the far-
reaching horizon of faint purple hills. One of these bal
conies within and without, as well as the little chamber
to which it gives light, is covered with old Dutch tiles,
in which blue prevails. Seen from the terrace below,
this blue window makes a pleasing note of color in
the endless expanse of white. Another room is walled

266 A SUMMER BED
with dull glass in long straight slabs, in horizontal, ver
tical, and zigzag, zebra-like bands ; on the walls are little
portraits of old monarchs and men of state, painted on
rice paper, and resembling in delicacy of design and color
ing the work of the older Japanese painters. Beyond
this long range of apartments, of which no two are alike,
we come to a marble court-yard open to the sky, and not
unlike that at Secundra, where the tomb of Akbar is
placed. A small garden in the centre is enclosed by a
low lattice of white marble, and a solitary cocoanut-palm,
which can be seen from all the surrounding country, rears
its golden plumes high above the palace walls. The
marble here is tawny with age. From this court opens a
summer sleeping-room of the Maharana, which is truly
original; it is a large square hall, of which the only
visible material is marble. A row of columns separates
it from the court, and the other three sides, save for the
supporting piers or columns, have transparent walls of
that delicate stone tracery peculiar to India. In the cen
tre there is a tank of water, and from the tank rises a
sort of island platform, with low trellis-work around it,
and slender columns supporting a dome. This is the bed
where royalty sometimes sleeps on hot summer nights, in
the spring-time, or in " monsoon weather," when kept in
town by pressure of affairs. The island couch and the
bridge connecting it with the mainland or floor, as well
as the broad expanse of pavement, are of the same polished
white marble. Perched on the very summit of the castle,
every chance breeze must draw through it from the outer
court, or through the latticed walls. From the balconies
one may look directly down on the broad backs of ele
phants chained to a low wall, and busily engaged in pow
dering themselves with dust. Here the elephant fights
take place, and the great brutes are made to charge at

HIS WEIGHT IN GOLD 267
each other from opposite sides of the wall. In one of the
preceding courts there is a curious example of glass inlay.
On either side of a very small window the wall is deco
rated with life-sized figures in groups, and trees resem
bling the weeping-willows worked by our grandmothers in
the funereal "samplers" of their day. The figures are
clothed in a nondescript fantastic costume, between the
Kajpoot costume and the fashion of European dress in the
days of the First Empire, and the subjects seem to be
episodes of courtship conducted in a highly jovial and
eccentric manner.
From the upper windows a series of curious structures
is visible, standing in a row along the wall near the
trifolia gate. They consist of carved Hindoo arches
supported by stone columns, and from the apex of each
arch hangs a gigantic pair of scales. They are called
"torans," and were built by successive Maharanas, who
were in the habit of weighing themselves on the day of
their accession to the throne, or upon other festal occa
sions, against their weight in gold, in rupees, or in other
valuables, and the plunder was afterwards distributed
among the priests and the inferior castes.
As one seldom has the opportunity of" seeing this cere
mony performed, we cannot do better than to give the
account in the Journal of Sir Thomas Roe, the first Eng
lish ambassador to the court of the " Great Mogul," early
in the seventeenth century. He saw the Emperor Jehan-
ghir " weighed in the balance," and seems to have found
the spectacle amusing :
" The first of September was the King's birth-day and
the solemnity of his weighing to which I went, and was
carryed into a very large and beautiful garden, the square
within all water, on the sides flowers and trees, in the
midst a Pinacle, where was prepared the scales, being

268 ALEXANDER AND SOCRATES
hung in large tresseles, and a crosse beame plated on with
gold thinne : the scales of masse gold, the borders set with
small stones, Rubies and Turkey,* the scales of gold large
and masse but strengthened with silke cords."
Then follows a detailed description of the gorgeous
raiment and jewelry of his Mogul Majesty, and then:
" Suddenly hee entered into the scales, sate like a woman
on his legges and there was put in against him, many
bagges to fit his weight which were changed six times,
and they say was silver, and that I understood his weight
to be nine thousand Rupias, which are almost one thou
sand pound sterling: after with gold and jewels and
precious stones, but I saw none, it being in bagges might
be Pibbles."
This was doubtless all very fine indeed ; but after con
templating the Rajpoots and their indisputable " claims of
long descent," one cannot but look upon those Mogul
emperors as a set of upstarts and parvenus who would
have found it difficult to trace their descent even to the
days of the Crusades, and upon their gaudy splendor as
mere vulgar ostentation.
. . . The goal of one of our pilgrimages to the town was
the state school' situated in this quarter. It seemed to
be an event for both masters and pupils, for one of the
company was a statesman whose temporary retirement
was just then the chief topic of the London press; but of
this I was not aware at the moment. An amusing episode
for this impromptu school committee was a dialogue in
English between two Hindoo youngsters of eleven or
twelve, in which one represented Alexander the Great
and the other personified Socrates. They were watched
with breathless solicitude, and egged on, when their en-
* Turquoise.

270 A BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE
thusiasm seemed to flag, by the English teacher, a tur
baned Mussulman, to whom we were afterwards intro
duced by Mr. Fateh Lai, who had been his pupil. A class
of young men from fifteen to twenty were well up in the
higher mathematics, and the visiting committee wisely
abstained from any very searching examination. In the
primary section below, a class of little Hindoo girls had
already commenced their English grammar. I may here
note, what I have remarked elsewhere in India, the un
expected and sometimes startling precocity of the young
in matters intellectual.
As we leave this quarter the street descends a steep
hill between tall houses, and at the bottom we come to
another three-arched gateway, which is an extension of a
palace belonging to some branch of the reigning family.
Above the arches a long latticed gallery connects the
structure with the main body of the palace. All this
upper portion is ornamented with frescoed designs, and in
places with an inlay of blue glass, having the effect of
tiles. Passing under the arches, we emerge from the
shadow into a dazzle of light; from the broad platform
of old and yellow marble, well polished by the constant
friction of bare feet, a few low steps lead down to the blue
waters of the Pinchola Lake. On one side a white wall
ending in a little temple cuts off the view ; the dancing
reflection of the sun in the water is thrown up in long rip
pling waves of light into the shadow of the eaves. The
view down the lake on the other side is unsurpassed in
India. A long perspective of white palaces, with many
domes and oriel-windows, with solid masses of dark foliage
rising from the water here and there, reaches to the great
supporting walls of the Rana's castle, and at this point the
lake opens out into greater width ; its horizon of gardens
and hills beyond is interrupted only by the fantastic sil-

ARTISTIC GROUPS 271
houettes of the island palaces, which seem to float between
water and sky ; it is as if the elusive mirages which we
had so often seen on our way across the white salt deserts
of Persia, and which had always melted into thin air, had
at last become materialized here. As we stand on the
steps and look across the water in front of us, which is
like a narrow river at this point, we see other temples
among dark trees, all in the shadow, and there are also
little garden pavilions, with steps descending to the water,
and sometimes with graceful arcaded galleries overhang
ing it. Just now the platform behind us and the steps are
crowded with women and young girls, babies and chil
dren, all either bathing or washing their brazen water-
jars, chattering, gossiping, laughing, or lying about in the
genial afternoon sunshine of January, and not at all in a
hurry to finish their work or to go home. Under and
through the white arches an endless throng of these grace
fully draped, swaying figures, in scarlet, in crimson and
dull gold, in faded reds and warm blues, carrying on
their heads the great vases of glittering metal, is continu
ally passing to and from the wet and glistening steps.
The golden afternoon haze is beginning to soften the white
of the walls, but to-morrow morning, when this side is in
shadow, we shall see exactly the same mellow glow oh
the opposite side, and the difference between morning and
afternoon is quite too intangible to express with any
painter's medium. A boat with a numerous crew is wait
ing at the landing, and, having settled ourselves comfort
ably among the cushions, we are pushed off from the shore,
and steer for the island of " Jug Navas," which is the
nearest of the larger islands, and seems to be the more
material. Just as we leave the steps an elephant emerges
slowly from the gloom of the arch and comes down to
the water ; his " mahout" has no need to guide him with

272

A. CAUTIOUS ANIMAL

heel or prong ; he knows well where the water is, and
when he reaches the steps, he first puts one foot cautiously
down and tries the lower step, and then solidly plants the
other fore-foot with equal deliberation. He has taken the
same precaution many times before, and will not fail to do
so the next time. Having assured himself of his present
safety, he proceeds to suck up the water through his long,
flexible filter. As the boat moves down the lake towards
the islands, the glow and power of the white light thrown
back from the vast and towering expanse of blank wall
from which the Rana's palace soars upward against the
deep blue of the sky, and from the white city at its side,
is almost too much for the eyes. All this white, streaked
in places with the golden green of the hanging terraced
gardens, and the scarlet and multicolored figures on the
steps, and the drinking elephants, are mirrored below, and

.--•<-&.

ISLAND OF JUG NAVAS

ARTIFICIAL WATER 273
until the prow cuts the glassy surface it seems at times
like passing over a white cloud.

IV
The low wall of an island kiosk hides a garden court,
and as the boat glides past the open door we see for a
moment the glossy foliage of the orange-trees and the tes
sellated pavement, strewn with little glass lamps which are
used to illuminate the islands during the great festival of
the " Holi." A few more strokes of the oars and we pass
into the shadow of the island palace of " Jug Navas," a
shadow broken by long shafts of sunlight which slant
through the low arches of the arcade, and through open
balconied windows overhanging the water.* Through
these openings, and between the interstices of the intricate
vine-like lattices, there are glimpses of tangled foliage
touched with golden light, where the sun pierces the green
transparency of banana leaves or the drooping fronds of
cocoanut-trees, and high above all rises a slender-stemmed
fan-palm. A few of the window lattices are filled in with
stained glass, and across them are etched the flickering
shadows of long leaves, which sway and shiver with every
breath of wind. The domes which rise above the outer
walls are tipped with great pear-shaped knobs of crystal
or of emerald-green glass which flash like jewels against
the dark foliage. Even should one succeed in describing,
like a guide-book, and in the natural order and sequence,
the different nooks and corners of this miniature labyrinth,
he would fail in giving the truest impression of a place
*The Pichola Lake is artificial, like the three other lakes in the neigh
borhood. The " Jassamund " or Dehbor Lake, some miles away, is the
largest artificial lake in the world, being twelve miles in length by nine
in breadth. is

274 TRANQUIL DELIGHTS
which seems designed intentionally to confuse and bewil
der the visitor, and which owes one of its chief charms to
the element of the unexpected. It was evidently not in
tended to be imposing or grandiose in its architectural ef
fect, but it certainly impresses one as a delightful medley
of cooLand dimly lighted retreats, opening suddenly on to
terraces or into bright gardens, watered by tortuous chan
nels confined by low parapets of chunar, with great
central tanks choked with lotus leaves ; and of dark wind
ing passages and steep and narrow stairways, whence one
emerges out of the gloom, after knocking his knees Jan
the steps or his head against the roof, into the blinding
outer light with some new vista before him. As a hot-
weather retreat, no more perfect spot could be imagined,
and the exquisite little vignettes of calm lake and moun
tain seen through the arched windows, framed by long,
swaying palm leaves, together with the subdued, monoto
nous lapping of the water against the walls, and the dry
rustling of the great leaves, all combine to create an at
mosphere of repose, of tranquil and indolent forgetfulness.
One of the most inviting little nooks is an oblong bathing-
tank, surrounded by white chunar walls with marble ar
cades, and quite open to the sky. We enter at one end
upon a narrow platform, and in the centre of it rises a
steep inclined plane of highly polished white marble, edged
by a narrow border of inlaid blue glass ; the top of this
slope is reached by a narrow stairway, and from this ele
vated station the amber-hued fair bathers were wont to
slide down into the water, doubtless with the same chorus
of shrieks which is heard from the " montagnes russes,"
or Switchback Railway, when the fete at Neuilly is in
progress. At the opposite end of the tank a low open
work parapet of marble fences off a portion of the plat
form, probably reserved for royalty. Upon either side a

276 EFFECTIVE GLASS-WORK
series of arches opens into the cool halls, with various little
cushioned retreats beyond. Here again arabesque borders
of dull blue or green glass, inlaid in the marble, accentu
ate the outlines of the arches and relieve the squareness
of the supporting columns. I have never seen elsewhere
in India glass used in this way, and it is quite as effective
as the inlay of more costly materials in the northern pal
aces. From the wall of one of the rooms projects a
curved shallow basin, which forms the base of a niche, or
namented with glass mosaic, and it is so contrived that it
may perform the office of a bath, or at least provide a
cool place to sit in of a hot afternoon. There is little
other furniture but a few brocaded arm-chairs and sofas
ranged against the wall, and heavy portieres shut out the
light of the court. Another little detail seemed quite pe
culiar to this palace : the high white walls which shut in
the tank from the other buildings have spear-head battle
ments along the top, and the interstices between them are
filled with stained glass. A small room, which is en
tered from a higher level, is unique and decidedly artistic
in its decoration. Two narrow spaces on each side of a
door are filled by portraits frescoed on the walls — one of
them is a seated life-size portrait of the late Maharana, and
the other may have represented the queen or some favor
ite of the day. These royalties are depicted with the fair
est of English complexions, but they would have been far
more decorative with their own golden - brown skins, no
darker in reality than the tint of a sun-burnt European.
This delicate bit of flattery shows that the concessions
which insure the prosperity of the fashionable portrait-
painter elsewhere are expected here as well. Both of
these pictures are drawn with much skill and delicacy of
handling, and are quite in the spirit Of Japanese art.
Upon another high and narrow panel there is a hunting

PANEL PAINTINGS 277
scene, or, rather, what seems to be at first several differ
ent hunting scenes, but which, after careful study, resolve
themselves into different phases of one. All these inci
dents are represented as taking place upon a common
background— a perpendicular rocky cliff or face of a moun
tain, with thin trees or low scrub growing in places. In
the uppermost scene the prince, standing in front of his re
tainers, is taking aim at a tiger ; in the second, just below,
the tiger is wounded, and gets his final coup de grace; in
the third he has rolled down into a gully ; and in the final
scene he is being carried off on a sort of improvised stretch
er by the " shikarries," and the whole cavalcade follows
behind. The landscape is all very vast, and the figures
are very small and delicate in execution ; and as a work of
art it is exceedingly naive, and is quite serious in inten
tion. Another companion panel is quite in the same vain,
and the background is a similar vertical and rocky land
scape. In this series his Highness is firing at glass balls
thrown up by his attendants, after the fashion of Buffalo
Bill. I do not remember the date of the fresco, and it
may be that the late Maharana invented this pastime.
Even the shattering and bursting of the glass bulbs, filled
with red powder, is successfully achieved by the artist.
But there is one note which is slightly out of harmony
with the rest of the decoration. The door by which we
entered being closed, we see that on each side there is a
vertical range of square panels, and that each . of these
panels frames a colored chromo taken from the Christ
mas Graphic, or from some German periodical, represent
ing beautiful damsels, blonde and brunette; and they
have been varnished, so that they are like the pictures
produced by that once fashionable but now defunct art
called " Grecian painting."
The European note which we find here and there in

278 A MARBLE COUCH
Eastern palaces is usually discordant, but it is quite possi
ble that the intelligent traveller from. Japan may be oc
casionally shocked by crudities which are thought to rep
resent the art of his country in Western homes. The
small boudoir decorated with these paintings opens from
a larger sleeping-room sometimes used by the Maharana;
the light from the water below the windows is thrown up
through the closed Venetian blinds, and reflected on the
walls and ceiling. The furniture is evidently designed and
carved by native artisans after European models, and the
most striking feature of the room is an enormous mirror,
with a frame of carved black wood, reaching from the
ceiling nearly to the floor ; it is, in reality, a door which
when opened discloses a small room two feet higher than
the sleeping-room, and in its marble floor there are rows
of little star-shaped orifices which send up jets of water
upon the pressure of a spring. This is another device
against the hot spring-time, when a wet marble is more
inviting than the dry, hot linen or silk of a couch. This
island of Jug Navas has its modern palace, with rooms
which recall the Trianon at Versailles, with Empire furni
ture, maps, and pictures on the walls, and a well-light
ed drawing-room overlooking the lake and the gardens.
With this exception most of the little palaces in this
island were built during the reign of the Maharana
Jugat Singh II. in the last century, and the whole island,
according to Rousselet, covers a surface of one hundred
and sixty "ares anglais."*
The larger island of Jug Munder presents the most
fascinating silhouette when seen either from the public
gardens, along the shore beyond the new wing of the
great palace, or from the lake at sunset. It is not easy to
* An are is about 11.96 square yards.

BEAUTY AND GRACE

279

find words in which to
express either its beauty
of color or its grace of
outline, for it embodies
more completely than any
landscape I have yet seen
that intangible charm of
the tropics. Modern art
has done much to show
that things ugly in them
selves and phases of nat
ure which are sombre and
almost colorless can be

ON THE ISLAND OF JUG MUNDER

280 A BOUQUET OF PALMS
made beautiful and appealing through art, but it is still
questionable. whether the means which are sufficient to
express the one can also interpret the other. Meanwhile
it is enough to be in it and of it, and to enjoy without
striving hopelessly to render the unattainable.
At sunset when the water, unbroken by a single ripple,
repeats the glow of the sky, the island is the one dark note
in all the expanse of pale rose, save for the purple range
of hills on the mainland beyond. Over the low line of
arches and domes and white garden walls, which repeat
the cool azure tint of the sky above, rise the dusky and
massive crowns of ancient mango and banyan trees, and
high above them towers a fringe of graceful fan-palms
and cocoanuts. But few of the slender stems are straight,
and the others lean across them at various angles. From
the landing-place they rise up in a compact bouquet, and
from any point of view they are picturesque and alto
gether satisfactory. On one side of the landing-place there
is a long row of stone elephants with upraised trunks which
stand with the feet in the water. When we enter the
open gate we find ourselves in a long court, and the palace,
which with its dependencies occupies the greater part of
the island, rises on our right. It is architecturally more
imposing than any structure on the other island, and the
tawny yellow hue of its domes and upper stories contrasts
pleasantly with the white below.
The great oblong court above which rises this simple
and stately fagade would make an ideal raise en scene
for some Eastern drama by Sardou. To qualify it as
theatrical might seem disparaging, and yet one cannot
see it without thinking of the theatre, or, rather, of the
opera, and longing to see it peopled with a crowd of
courtiers and attendants, and a glittering ballet of Nautch
girls. Close to the water-gate there is a low platform, a

JUG MUNDER — THE LANDING

throne, and a domed canopy above it, all of white marble.
A long checkered expanse of pavement extends in front
of us as we stand there, flanked on the right by the
palace, on the left by huge old trees, and the lofty palms
which we saw from the water. They rise from thickets
of banana leaves which hide the lake. At the opposite
end, near the entrance of the palace, there is a broad tank
near which stand several kiosks, one of which is of del
icately sculptured black marble. The legend runs that
this palace was built by the Rana Koroun as a refuge
for Shah Jehan, who had mutinied against his father,
the Mogul Emperor Jehanghir, and had sought shelter
at the Rajpoot court of Oudeypore. To use the words of
Rousselet, "the interior is decorated with mosaics of
jasper, agate, and onyx," and in one of the halls there is
a low throne or platform, supported by caryatides, and
hewn from a single block of green serpentine. Mr. Fateh

282 A MASS OF COLOR
Lai, who was one of the party when I first saw this
palace, said, that there is good authority for the belief
that here Shah Jehan first conceived the idea of the
precious mosaic with which his architects decorated the
matchless Taj-Mahal and many of the imperial palaces
erected during his reign. Here also were sheltered the
English refugees from the garrisons of Neemuch and In-
dore during the mutiny of 1857. When I made my last
visit to the island in order to finish a sketch, my wish to see
it as a spectacular background was realized, although the
performance did not take place in the great inner court.
On one side of the landing there is an extensive area of
pavement, one corner of which is filled by a group of
great trees and a tangled thicket of bananas, separated
from the platform by a low stone lattice ; a temple-like
edifice, with sculptured columns supporting a low flat roof,
stands on the extreme verge, and between the columns
there is a view of the shining water and the wooded
hills beyond. One of the great state barges, with high
bow and poop, like the old Greek galleys, was anchored
at the steps, surrounded by a fleet of small craft, and the
passengers — a crowd of holiday-making women and chil
dren from the great palace across the water, accompanied
by their male attendants and servants — were all seated on
the pavement. A long shaft of sunlight streamed through
the open gateway of a garden behind, falling upon the
sitting groups, kindling into vivid scarlet the prevailing
reds of their costumes, touching the flashing ornaments
and the rare spots of white, until it resembled nothing so
much as a glowing parterre of geraniums. When, by a
common impulse, they all rose and moved towards the
boats, there was an indescribable tumult of color, which
seemed to culminate when the great barges floated slowly
out, crowded with their scarlet and crimson freight, all

A REAL FAIRY-LAND

283

in the shadow of the tall trees, into the long white re
flections, shot across with azure and violet from the sky,
and beyond rose the palace walls and hanging gardens of
the white city. Something like this combination was
attempted at the opera in Paris, when Zamora was given
nine years ago, and it all seemed fairy -like, ideal, and alto
gether very superior to anything in this matter-of-fact
world, so near the
grimy suburbs of
Levallois-Perret and Asnieres — but
I had not then
seen the island of
Jug Munder. A
prolonged sojourn
at Oudeypore,
where the emo
tional element
seems to survive
only in the world
of color, might be
come monotonous
in the course of
time, merely from
the absence of
anything ugly and
" nhilistine" bv E0T DEC0RATING ID0L WITH flowers
way of contrast.
As yet no "hustlers" have disturbed the peace of the
white city, sleeping in the hollow of its hills; no tall
chimneys arise from the shore of the lake, and there
is a total dearth of saw-mills, lumber-yards, and other
evidences of commercial activity ; no one seems to manu
facture anything, and these placid heathen are still pain-

284 TWO TWILIGHTS
fully ignorant in regard to socialism, dynamite bombs,
and epidemics.
It might, then, become tedious to follow always the
same routine : to leave the island, as we did, at sunset; to
look back at the fringe of tufted palms fading into the
dull red of the sky; to glide along under the palace walls;
to land always at the same water-worn marble steps, and
drive back in the twilight through the crowded bazaar
and the bowers of tropical foliage in the park. But
when one wearies of so much repetition a telegram to
Bombay will insure a cabin on one of the new fast boats,
and within eighteen days one may enjoy the wet winter
twilight on the boulevards, under the gas - jets and a
dripping umbrella ; find the same men in their accustomed
corners at the Salle d' Armes, the same crowd of idlers
passing in and out of the Cafe" de la Paix, and hear again,
as of old, the hoarse cries of the news venders: "Ee-
sultats complets des courses !" Possibly his surroundings
may gain in value with the souvenir of Oudeypore as a
foil.

No better spot could be found than this city in which to
observe the ways of high-caste native life. As I remem
ber the resplendent personages who came to make brief
visits of ceremony or to pay their respects to some passing
notability of official or diplomatic rank, the glittering
bravery of their attire and the elaborate trappings of
their horses, the inimitable twist of their blue-back beards,
and the deferential grace of their " salaams," carefully
graded to the correct degree, the melancholy truth is
borne in upon me that the " dude " of Western descent is;
after all, but a crude and unfinished production — in fact,
he is " not in it at all." The term Western, used in this

A NOTEWORTHY TOILET

285

connection, and from the standpoint of Rajpootana, is
sweepingly comprehensive. When arrayed in his court
dress, and mounted on his horse caparisoned with corre
sponding splendor, the Rajpoot noble is at his best, and in
the full glare of sunlight he is decorative to a dazzling
degree. One toilet which I had the opportunity of
studying in detail might have furnished sufficient inspira
tion to Worth for an entire series of fresh " creations."
The scheme of color, as a whole, might be termed a
" symphony " in white, relieved by color sparingly used,
and by the sparkle of gems. The wearer of this costume,
who appeared thus attired on state occasions only, was a

IN THE BAZAR, OUDEYPORE

286 GORGEOUS ADORNMENTS
young man of twenty, and sat his horse like a white statue.
A long-skirted tunic or frock of white muslin, close-fitting
white trousers, and a rose-colored turban with a broad
band of gold lace and tall flashing plume of dark heron
feathers and gold filagree were the salient points. Other
accessories were the sword-belt, crossing his breast and
encircling his waist, of dark green velvet, richly worked
with unalloyed gold, and thickly studded with emeralds,
rubies, and brilliants ; a transparent yellow shield of
rhinoceros hide, with knobs of black and gold enamel ; a
sash of stiff gold lace, with a crimson thread running
through the gold; bracelets of the dainty workmanship
known as Jeypore enamel thickly jewelled, which he
wore on, his wrists and arms; and there were strings of
dull, uncut stones about his neck. The skirts of his tunic
were pleated with many folds, and stood stiffly out, like
the skirts of a " premiere danseuse " in the ballet ; and
when he mounted his horse a servant on each side held
them so that they might not be crushed. Four valets
had charge of this costume, and it took them some little
time to array their master. The trappings of the horse
were scarcely less elaborate ; his neck was covered on one
side with silver plates, and his mane, which hung on the
other side, was braided, and lengthened by black fringes
relieved by silver ornaments. White yaks' tails hung
from beneath the embroidered saddle cover on both sides ;
and his head, encased in a headstall of white enamelled
leather and silver, topped with tall aigrettes, was tied
down by an embroidered scarf in order to give his neck
the requisite curve. The idea of the pendant yaks' tails
is an old one, and they probably served in the first in
stance as fly- brushes, being always in motion with the
movements of the horse ; but increased in number, they
serve the double purpose of helping the decorative effect

THE ASSYRIAN TYPE

287

and keeping the rider's skirts from being soiled. The
every-day dress of this gentleman was far more quiet in
tone ; but he seldom appeared twice in the same turban,
which was of quite a different shape from that worn with
the state costume, being
small and closely folded,
and it constantly varied in
color. • One of the most striking
and characteristic faces be
longed to an officer of high
rank who called at the
Eesidency in the company
of the Maharana's brother,
and it may be described as
typifying, like a composite
photograph, the higher
Eajpoot race. This face,
when seen in profile, close
ly resembled the type of
the Assyrian warriors and
courtiers on the bass-reliefs rai meta panna lal, prime-minister
of Nineveh : there was the
same straight line of the forehead and nose, and the long,
narrow eye, with full projecting eyeball, which appears in
the bass-reliefs to be either out of drawing, or to be greatly
conventionalized, but which probably rendered the lead
ing race characteristics with a certain degree of accuracy.
This modern prototype of the Assyrian wore his jet-black
beard horizontally trained to follow the upward twist of his
curled mustaches, and his tunic or caftan, of purple silk em
broidered with a palm-leaf design in dull gold, fitted him
so tightly as to accentuate the rotundity of his person,
as he was, to draw it mildly, inclined to fulness of habit.

288 A MIXED COSTUME
Another representative of the same exclusive order,
whom I chanced to meet just as he was taking his leave,
being on his way to join the Maharana's hunting-partyj
had quite the same profile, and a still more pronounced
upward curl of beard and mustache. He was the ruler
of a neighboring state, and a dark jewelled turban was
his only mark of rank. His elephant was waiting on the
gravelled walk, and as his master descended the steps
the great beast knelt for him to mount. These " mash
ers " of ancient lineage do not shine with the same splen
dor in European dress. In this respect they are not as apt
as the Japanese — which, however, is not much to their dis
credit — and two centuries of contact with the best Eng
lish models have not taught them to wear their costume
successfully. There is a sort of " compromise," a sport
ing costume, in which the English element is limited to a
tweed jacket or blouse, and which is rather effective.
Could we look back a few centuries, not to go further
than the Norman conquest, to a time when but few
families of the governing race had emerged from ob
scurity, and when the Plantagenets were still parvenus,
we should undoubtedly find this long-eyed, black-bearded
gentry living in much the same fashion as to-day, and
wearing the same elaborate and glittering costumes,
which, if we may judge by the old paintings and por
traits which have come down to us, have not changed in
any essential particular since the days of Tamerlane.
The Mogul emperors, who were descended from that
conqueror of kings, much as they would have liked to
exterminate the whole Rajpoot race, seem to have adopted
their costume with but slight modifications. Sir Thomas
Roe describes at great length the costume of his Majesty
on the occasion of a " durbar :" " On his head he wore
a rich Turbant, with a plume of home (heron) tops, not

FREE FROM CARE 289
many but long ; ... his coat of cloath of Gold, without
sleeves, upon a fine semian as thin as Laune."
We find them to-day living in much the same fashion
as in the days of Sir Thomas Roe ; going out to hunt
with trains of vassals — " shikar coolies " is the correct term
now — or sleeping away the long, hot hours of the day in
the wind-swept upper retreats of their lofty palaces ; but
with this difference : that in those days their periods of
luxurious idleness were relieved by periods of fierce war
fare, of hard riding, and cattle - lifting border forays.
Now that these dissipations are no longer to be had, and
a paternal government relieves them of the necessity of
staying at home to guard their, territories from the en
croachments of jealous neighbors, they may, by way of
contrast and compensation, pack their trunks with Eng
lish outfits and sail for Brindisi. Laying aside the dress
and the ways of their caste for a time, they may aston
ish the idlers at Vichy or Homburg with fetes which
will be described at length in the Oil Bias, become the
lions of a London season, or, if their appetite for social
distinction craves newer fields, even Newport will not
close its doors to them. Notwithstanding the bejewelled
daintiness of their attire, which might seem to imply a
certain degree of effeminacy, many of them are experts
with a boar spear or an express rifle. The present Ma
harana is said to be an adept in the slaying of tigers.
Throughout his dominions they are preserved for his own
sport, and he frequently exposes himself to considerable
personal risk, having determined apparently to leave very
few for his successor. The royal emblem of Oudeypore
is the Rising Sun, and its rulers have always styled them
selves " children of the sun," as they claim descent from
the great luminary himself. Says Rousselet in his Inde
des Rajahs : " If we compare the antiquity and the illus-

290 GENEALOGICAL PRIDE
trious origin of the dynasties which have reigned or
which still have sway over the different states of Rajas-
than with the most celebrated dynasties of Europe, it is
easy to see that the superiority remains incontestably with
the Rajpoots. Already the masters of a great empire in
tbe first centuries of our era, we see them still reigning
over vast and rich provinces, in the midst of cities em
bellished with superb monuments, even in the time when
a few half-civilized tribes in the West elected their first
chiefs. The powerful Jehanghir, the Mogul Emperor,
was, like Cassar, a commentator, but upon the history of
the' Sesodias. The supreme arbiter over twenty -two
satrapies of India enlarges with pride upon the treaty
which he made with the Rana. He thanked Heaven
for having reserved for him the success which neither
his immortal ancestor Baber, the founder of the Mogul
dynasty, nor Houmayun could obtain, and which his
father, the illustrious Akbar himself, had only partially
achieved. The poorest Rajpoot of our day, thanks to
the genealogy of his clan, may trace his origin back to
the point from which it separates from the principal
trunk, and beyond that to the common beginning, which,
according to the most authentic traditions, goes back at
least fifteen centuries. And with what pride he points.
out that his order, is unstained by any misalliance with
the Moguls !" Mr. Fateh Lai Mehta, the young son of
the Prime Minister or "Dewan," who has written a
guide-book in English to Oudeypore,* says : " The ruling
chief is considered to be the direct representative of
Rahma, from whom was descended Kanaksen, who was
the founder of the Oudeypore family, about 144 a.i>. . . -

* Hand-book of Meywar, and Guide to Its Principal Objects of Interest.
By Fateh Lai Mehta. Bombay : Times of India Press.

VERY EXCLUSIVE

291

No state in India made a more courageous or more pro
longed resistance to the Mahommedans than Oudeypore.
It is the boast of the family that they never gave a
daughter in marriage to any of the Mahommedan em
perors. They belong to the Sesodia sect of the great
Gehlot clan, often called the nobles of the Rajpoots."
The present Maharana is entitled Maharana Dhiraz,
Maharana Sahib Shree — Fateh Sing ji Bahadur, G.C.S.I.
He is given a salute of nineteen guns, " but the late

FATEH LAL MEHTA, OF OUDEYPORE, IN COURT DRESS

292 REAL BLUE BLOOD
ruler," says Mr. Fateh Lai, " was entitled to a personal
salute of twenty-one guns." Like other Indian princes,
he has a standing army, but it is not at present on a war
footing, and does not therefore represent the available
strength of his province. It is divided into four parts:
one Regular, one Irregular, an Orderly (or personal)
Guard, and the City Police. The regulars only num
ber about seven hundred men at present, and are uni
formed, drilled, and equipped like the English troops.
The irregulars are nearly three thousand in number,
including six hundred cavalry. The guard has about five
hundred men, and the police four hundred and forty,
which seems amply sufficient for a city of 50,000 inhabi
tants.* The lesser chiefs and rajahs perform feudal service,
quite as it wTas done in Europe during the Middle Ages,
sending in their horsemen and soldiers to the district
headquarters. Should any sceptic have private doubts
as to the authenticity of their descent from the sun, or
even from the god Rahma, to come down to later days,
the " hoary antiquity " of the race, in comparison with
anything west of Suez, is beyond dispute, and one would
have to go a long way back at least in order to find the
"ancestor in shirt sleeves," or the grandfather who was
forced by stress of circumstances to found his line in a
penal colony. If in this age of social scepticism it be
conceded that a privileged and gilt-edged order has any
raison d'etre, where could we find another as genuine,
and, withal, as picturesque ? According to our own stand
ards, the Rajpoot caste may well lay claim to the suprem
acy. It is not only in the matter of clothes that the

* The most reliable authority states that the Maharana's troops num
ber about 5000 infantry and 1200 cavalry, with six pieces of artillery.

A LOTUS-EATER

293

gommeux of this order is pre-eminent, for he excels all
other rivals in the art of doing nothing gracefully, an art
which is a part of his rightful inheritance; and there is no
trace in him of the nervous unrest and hurry, which have
been handed down,
together with the
wealth, of the more
energetic ancestor to
his descendants. It
will be a matter of
regret from more
than one point of
view when these
last representatives
of feudality shall
have become utterly
and hopelessly mod
ernized ; when, in
their ambition to be
abreast of the times,
in this latter end of
the century, they
shall have put aside
their hereditary manner of life, with the pomp and state
which can nowhere be studied to better advantage than
here in Oudeypore.
Under a more despotic tutelage than that of the vice
regal government, all these things, their prerogatives,
as well as their outward emblems of rank, would prob
ably have been long since swept away. While the
present regime lasts they will continue to be in a meas
ure the arbiters of their own destinies, but abundant
evidence is not wanting to show that their conservatism
in these matters of externals is being slowly and insid-

THE MAHARANA

294 UP TO DATE
iously undermined; that many of them now prefer the
modern luxury of their renaissance or rococo villas, fur
nished and upholstered by some firm on the Boulevard
des Capucines, to the steep winding passages and latticed
"miradors" of the moated palace, and the dashing tan
dem to the lacquered palanquin or gilded howdah of
the traditional elephant. Nowhere in the world does
there exist a more progressive country than the "New
India," or one where existing conditions change more
rapidly. Already these little feudal states are being
hemmed in and surrounded on all sides by its advanc
ing lines ; some of them are already kindled into action,
and it is but a question of time with the others.*

VI
Dr. John Fryer, who visited India in the year 1672,
described the wonderful things which he saw in a man
ner often inflated and verbose, but sometimes graphic
and quite to the point, as in the description of an
elephant :
"... Alighting from our Palenkeens, they loosed one
which was Fourteen Feet high, and the Black, clawing
his Poll with an Iron Engine, he stooped down for him
to get up, and being upon his back, guided him as he
lifted. His Body is a symetrical Deformity (if I may so
say) ; the Hanches and Quarters clapt together seem so
many heaps; his neck short, slapping ears like Scates, little
Eyed, a broad Face, from which drops his Proboscis or
* Oudeypore, as well as other states of Rajpootana, after having
long suffered from the tyranny of the Mogul Empire, fell a prey to
the Mahrattas, and was only saved from utter ruin and extinction by
the protection of the British Government, which was extended to it in
the early part of this century.

MY MODEL 295
Trunk, thrusting it out, or shriveling it in as he choses;
through its hollow he sucks his Liquor, and with two Fin
gers, as it were, reaches his Fodder, shaking off the dirt
against his Thigh, or Vermin, such as mice, which he ab
hors, he brings it under to his mouth, from whence proceed
two huge Tusks of Ivory for Defence, not mastication, for
which he is supplied within with others ; his Tail is curt ;
he shuffles an end a great Pace, moving all the Joints of
his Legs, though the Motion of his Hinder-Legs imitate
Human Progression, having a Patella or Knee-Pan afore,
not articulated behind as other four-footed Beasts are.
When he stands, his legs appear so many columns, scol
loped at bottom, being flat-hoof'd." The learned doctor's
description of the elephant's gait is inimitable.
Early one morning the servants at the Residency were
all excited by the arrival of one of the Maharana's ele
phants arrayed in his gala dress ; he was rolling along
at a " Great Pace, moving all the Joints of his Legs," and
looking, as he proceeded, very much foreshortened, up the
gravel walk, like a great golden idol. He was followed
by his footmen and valets to the number of a dozen, who
were likewise resplendent in immaculate white muslin,
and they all carried flags of gold tissue. There was a
momentary hitch in his stately progress, as the horizontal
branches of a tree interfered with his top hamper, and
presently he came to a standstill at the foot of the steps,
holding out his hand, like a mere circus elephant, for
saccharine backsheesh of some kind. This was the
elephant which had been promised as a model, and he
was conducted to a grass plot behind the house, where the
white wall of the terrace made a good background.
I have never yet met with an elephant who posed
well or willingly ; he is forever turning, twisting, and
shifting his weight, first on one foot, then on the other.

296 IN HOLIDAY ATTIRE
Then he spreads his legs apart or sways from side to
side, industriously foraging meanwhile in the dirt with
his trunk, sidling up a little nearer to watch one's pro
ceedings out of the corner of his little eye, and at this
moment it is wise to move farther off. Then he turns
his back entirely, and is only to be brought into posi
tion again by repeated digs with the " Iron Engine,"
which, I take it, means the mahout's steel prod. This
elephant wore a magnificent robe of dark velvet, thickly
incrusted with embroidery of gold bullion, and fringed
with silk tassels ; a small carpet more delicately em
broidered with the same material hung from each side of
the howdah ; he wore a head-cover or frontispiece of dark
green silk nearly black, starred with gold, and on the
very top of his head sat two little burnished lions
crested with glittering plumes ; two long pendants of
black and gold tinsel hung from the brazen tips of his
tusks, and two others hung behind his ears. The double-
seated howdah or chariot on his back was carved and
sculptured with arabesques framing bass-reliefs of mytho
logical divinities, all burnished, gilded, and glittering, like
the chains which crossed his forehead, or ornaments
which hung about his neck, and the bracelets of bells
around his ankles kept up a continual jingle with his
restless movements. Even the mahout who sat on his
head was sumptuously attired, and as a last touch of
coquetterie a shawl of green and gold silk tissue was
thrown negligently over the railing of the howdah.
But however lavishly the elephant's overcoat may be
adorned with tinsel and gold and jewels, his tailors have
never thought it worth while to cover up the unseemly,
disreputable, and ill-fitting pair of trousers which nature
has given him. When he shuffles away and shows the
nether side of his continuations of greasy leather, they

A SUBTERFUGE 297
are seen to be worn, creased, and baggy at the knees, and
altogether out of keeping with the splendor above and
in front. On the second morning, when my model came
for a final seance, he was accompanied by the chief
of the elephant stables, a man of authoritative and hir
sute aspect, and I was not surprised to hear, knowing a
little of the intricate workings of the Hindoo mind, that
the elephant had shown symptoms of lameness, and was
quite unable to stand. One of his ponderous fore-feet,
in fact, was carefully tied up in a piece of canvas, and
I could not for a moment doubt that this driver had
become heartily tired of sitting up there in the sun and
trying to keep his charge in the same position.
The Oriental mind seems to consider the function of
painting as a highly concentrated and summary means of
producing photographs, and when the sitter, whether
man or beast, has posed for full ten minutes, he begins
to fidget at the protracted delay. It was the custom in
old days for these royal elephants to wear armor, and
to carry their masters into battle. One of these capar
isons, which is still preserved, consists of a head -piece
and quilted robe, thickly covered with steel scales over
lapping each other like the scales of a fish. Dr. John
Fryer saw a regiment of war elephants equipped in this
manner. Another way in which the court elephant was
utilized, now happily done away with, was to make him
the executioner of criminals. The unlucky wight con
demned to the " punishment of the elephant," having first
been bound hand and foot, was attached by a long chain
to his hind leg, and the elephant was then driven through
the streets of the town ; when the culprit survived this
ordeal his head was laid on a block, and the elephant
put his fore-foot gently down on it. It must have been
this performance to which Sir Thomas Roe refers when

298 A WALK TO CHITOR
describing the emperor's method of administering justice :
" On Tuesday at the Jarrneo [which was a window at
which he showed himself to the people] he sits in judg
ment, never refusing the poorest man's complaint, when
he hears with patience both parts, and sometimes sees,-
with too much delight in blood, the execution done by
his elephants. Illi mernere, sed quid tu ut adesses f"

VII
In order to visit Chitor it is customary to petition for
an elephant to cover the short distance between the dak
bungalow near the railway station and the great hill fort;
But as the elephant is exasperatingly slow, and the dis
tance is short, the writer preferred to walk. In the per
fect weather physical exertion of any sort was a luxury,
and particularly after the lazy life of Oudeypore. The
only drawback to one's perfect peace of mind was the
reflection that many people in India have a belief that
this exercise derogates from the dignity of a European,
and natives cannot yet understand why one should walk
when he can by any possibility ride.
As we set out in the morning an elephant passes us,
ploughing majestically through the low bushes, but we do
not want him, and we shall arrive at the summit of the
ridge by a short-cut much sooner, although Motee casts
longing glances at his comfortable back. There is one
wide river to cross, spanned by a stately but dilapidated
bridge, which begins far inland, and there is also a shorter
way by which we cross the shallow river-bed on stepping-
stones. On the road beyond we pass an itinerant juggler
with a couple of trained monkeys ; he had halted by the
stone parapet, and was endeavoring to teach his unwilling
pupils some new trick. Near the road-side there is a col-

SCULPTURED FRIEZES

299

lection of black tents, which are peopled with other vaga
bond gypsies with other trained monkeys.
And then we straggle up through the main bazaar of a
little town at the very foot of the steep wooded bluff ; and
here begins the rocky path, which we follow, to the great
discomfort of Motee, until it intercepts the paved causeway
leading up to the gates of Chitor. There are several gate
ways before we reach, after many angular turns, the great
portal at the summit, called the " Ram Pol " ; it is en
riched with sculpture, and long processional friezes of
horses and elephants
are wrought along the
base of the round
towers and the stone
platforms on either
side. Here there is a
guard of the Maha
rana's soldiers uni
formed in yellow "kar-
kie drill." Beyond
this gate there is a lit
tle village among the
trees and debris of
temples, and then we
enter at once, by paths
overgrown with jun
gle and briers, the
precinct of the desert
ed capital.
By a route which ascends sharply on the right we reach
the ruins of the Rana's palace ; although only the roofless
walls have been left standing, and nothing remains of the
original pile but a hollow shell, one may still form a fairly
just idea of its former extent. Several tiers of square

JUGGLER WITH TRAINED MONKEYS

300 HINDOO ARCHITECTURE
projecting bay-windows rise one above the other, each
window having two columns supporting its roof ; and
they are almost the exact counterparts of the windows in
the mosques of Ahmedabed, built of the same tawny
stone, and having similar designs in the narrow courses or
bands of ornamental stone-work which relieve the plain
wall surfaces. There are no curves in this early (or late)
Hindoo architecture ; everything is square and angular, but
at the same time it is far from being heavy in its general
effect. The great horizontal limbs of ancient trees pro
trude through the windows and reach over the upper battle
ments. Although this edifice is known as the palace of
the Rana Khoumbou, he is now believed to have added
only a few portions.*
One of the most interesting groups of temples stands
almost on the extreme verge of the high ridge, whence one
may look far away over the cloud-flecked plains towards
the distant hills of Oudeypore. One feels that the storms
of many monsoons have beaten directly upon them, for
the trees on the bluff are low and twisted by the wind,
and the walls which face the west, with the interstices of
the sculpture, are inky black, while the friezes of statu
ettes in high relief gleam like yellow ivory against black
velvet. In some places one has to force his way through
a tangle of briers and undergrowth to get a nearer view
of them. As in all Hindoo work of that epoch, the human
figure is more or less conventionalized, but in one temple,
the finest of this group, nature is interpreted with less
formality and with greater realism of detail. These long
friezes of statuettes which girdle the exterior walls for the
most part represent dancing " bayaderes " or " Nautch
girls," turning and twisting, and gracefully writhing in
* The date of its erection, according to Fergusson, is 1468-78 a.d.

ICONOCLASTS 301
postures which could hardly be rivalled by the profes
sional contortionists of to-day, and they triumphantly
show that not a phase of the " serpentine dance," that
latest revival of the choregraphic art, was unknown to
them. Some of these ladies, costumed like the Nautch
girls of to-day, when they beguile the native amateur with
dance and song, seem to be making merry at the expense
of the spectator, and might well have exasperated the
sombre " moollahs " of Akbar's day. At all events, they
convey in a subtle way the vivid impression that the
faith of the Hindoos was not morbidly ascetic.
Although the Mussulman iconoclasts labored conscien
tiously with hammer and chisel, and left not a single
figure undefaced, the joyous dancers would not have fared
much better had the conquerors been Puritans of Crom
well's time ; indeed they might yet fare still worse should
the government of India, like the artistic centres of some
modern states, see fit to maintain a salaried fanatic,
licensed to make war on all art in which nature is repre
sented " undraped."
The great Tower of Victory, which is the principal
landmark of Chitor, stands near these temples, but farther
back from the bluff. It appears to have suffered but little
from time and fanaticism, and it is still beautiful and
complete as a work of art. The nine stories which make
up its height are covered within, as well as on the outside,
with sculptured figures, and square bay-windows project
just enough from each story to diversify the outline ; an
open gallery with colonnade supports the modern dome at
the summit. This tower was erected to commemorate
the victory of the Rana Khoumbou over Mahmud, Sultan
of M^lwa, in 1439, and according to Ferguson " it is a
pillar of victory, like that of Trajan at Rome, but in in
finitely better taste as an architectural object than the

302 THE OLD STORY
Roman example." If I remember rightly, Fergusson says
somewhere that " the high-caste Hindoo is almost incapa
ble of bad taste." The lesser tower is of greater, antiq
uity, having been erected in the ninth century, and is more
picturesque and irregular in outline, while its black and
weather-worn exterior, stained with the rich tones of old
iron, offers a striking contrast to the ruddy color of its
neighbor. Near the great tower there are steps, broken,
irregular, and in places overgrown with weeds, leading
down to the deep and sunless pool called the " Cow's
Mouth," where the few remaining sculptures hewn in its
rocky walls are half concealed by rank and dripping vege
tation. Somewhere down in its weird depths, in darkness
and slime, there once existed an entrance to great subterr
ranean galleries now walled up. It was here . in -these
hidden chambers, according to tradition, that -the women
escaped bondage -by voluntary cremation at the first capt
ure and sack of the city.*
The annals of Chitor teem with picturesque and dra
matic incidents, with heroic resistance and useless sacrifice,
with savage barbarity and slaughter.
. According to authentic records, it has been taken and
sacked "three and a half times";. the half refers to the
first siege by tha Emperor Alah-ou-din in the thirteenth
century; and this siege resembles in. some features the
Trojan war, as the pretext for the war was the beauty
of the Regent's wife, a Cinghalese princess. By strata
gem and treachery the Regent himself was captured and
held as a hostage, to be exchanged only for the person of
his princess. In order to save the princess and rescue the
Regent at the same time, the Rajpoots resorted to a trick

* According to the most authentic historians, the founder of Meywar
state was Bappa Rawal, who settled at Chitor in 728 a.d.- - -

AN ORIENTAL TRICK

303

which quite paralleled the episode of the wooden horse.
The princess consented to sacrifice her liberty in exchange
for that of her husband, but on condition that she might
bring with her as far as the Tartar lines her companions
of the zenana and the household servants. This condi
tion being granted, on the following morning seven hun
dred litters and palanquins came down the hill .in the
train of the princess, but their closely drawn curtains con
cealed not the ladies of the zenana, but the elite of the
Rajpoot chivalry. In the confusion of the battle which

11/ I 1 \ ' ¦% 4 ^m ih f ,-¦<, >/,/*¦¦¦- fi ¦ WM>.,

FRIEZE OF ELEPHANTS AT CHITOR

followed, the Regent escaped, but his followers were
killed to a man, and Alah-ou-din was so discouraged by
his own losses that he raised . the siege and retired. He
returned again some years later,, and this time, after a
siege of more than twelve years, he captured the city,
which he proceeded to pillage and destroy after slaugh
tering the inhabitants.
In 1537 it was again taken by the Sultan of Guzerat,
who destroyed the fortifications with cannon, and blew up
the walls and bastions with mines, the defenders having

304 A DESERTED CITY
remained true to their conservative principles, which led
them to despise such modern inventions. No sooner had
the city been rebuilt than it was again invested by Akbar,
and destroyed for the last time. It was then that Udey
Sing, the Maharana of Meywar, took refuge among the
distant hills and founded the living capital, Oudeypore.
Since that day Chitor has remained, and probably will
remain forever, deserted. Its titular goddess has with
drawn her protection ; no Rana has since set foot within
its walls, and the ruined city is still believed to be under
a spell. It is not, however, entirely devoid of life ; women
and children pass from time to time along the paths
which lead past the temples and through the scrub to the
little village near the principal gate. Some of these paths
still preserve something of their original character, and
show that they were once important thoroughfares, so
that it is easy in imagination to reconstruct and people
the bazaars as they once existed. On the side of the hill
opposite the Ram Pol gate and the village there is anoth
er great gateway, from which an exceedingly steep and
slippery paved causeway descends into a wild valley over
grown with jungle, and here one may always meet groups
of women laboring up the hill with great loads of brush
wood and fagots. Among the temples which surround
the Cow's Mouth there are still priests, reputed of great
sanctity, who perform the customary rites in their tem
ples, and issue forth at the appearance of a stranger,
as avid of backsheesh as any of their brotherhood else
where.* * One of the strangest and most tragic incidents in the history of this
state occurred about the beginning of the present century, when the
beautiful daughter of the Rana was sought in marriage by the princes
of Jodhpore and Jeypore. In order to put an end to the ruinous wars
which ensued in consequence of their rivalry, the girl was poisoned by

PAST NUMBERS 305
During the two or three days which I spent at Chitor
a strong dry wind blew from the cloudless west, stirring
the long tufts of yellow grass, which waved on the high
ledges of the temples and on their shattered pyramids,
and made working difficult in any exposed situation. Not
withstanding the ruined and desert character of this open
hill-top, its solitude is far from being depressing ; open on
all sides to the sky, flooded with light and swept by the
wind, there is a charm about the place which may be due
in part to the festal spirit of its decoration, but much of
it is owing to the feeling that one has of being high up,
and to the glorious panorama of hill and plain which lies
spread out below us on all sides.*
At sunset we left the deserted city, wThere only the
mutilated bayaderes seem still to live and perpetuate th.e
spirit of past revelry, and descended the hill towards the
railway, where the mail-train was to take us to Bombay,
and so back to the nineteenth century, and the city which
best represents the fin de siecle. We crossed the old bridge,
meeting a long procession of laborers returning through
the fading after-glow to the village at the foot of the hill ;
and as we looked back the long gray walls of Chitor stood
grandly up against the sky.
her father, and the curses which were uttered by the fakirs against the
reigning family have since been fulfilled to the letter.
* It should be mentioned that these hills are inhabited by three abo
riginal tribes having no affinity whatever with either Rajpoots or Mus
sulmans. Of these, Bheels are the most numerous. They were formerly
brigands and cattle lifters, and still carry bows and arrows.

NOTES ON INDIAN ART
I
It is only within the last few decades that the govern
ment of India has realized the importance of preserving
the national monuments from decay, and of restoring
those which have suffered from neglect and vandalism.
Although it will always remain a matter for regret
that so many have been swept away, much of this appar
ently wilful destruction was caused by what at the time
were considered military necessities, as in the fortresses
of Agra, Delhi, Lahore, and Gwalior, and a great deal of
it may be pardoned when the peculiarly difficult circum
stances with which the conquerors had to contend in
early days are taken into account. It should be remem
bered, also, that the present widely extended state of
artistic culture among English-speaking races is of com
paratively recent growth, and it would be somewhat diffi
cult to prove that prior to this new awakening they had
reached as high a level in assthetic matters as the con
quered races of India. Some future chronicler may
assert, and not without reason, that the present rulers of
India have contributed but few monuments equal in
artistic value to those which they destroyed. It is use
less to dwell now on the havoc wrought by the rude con
querors who came in the service of "John Company,"
who subdued the warlike races of India one by one by
superior organization and by sterner qualities, and who

VANDALISM 307
made the amende honorable by substituting a responsible
government for the despotic and capricious sway of the
Moguls and their successors — a government which seems
to have taken upon itself the heroic task of preparing
these widely differing races for self-government. In
those early days of conquest and plunder, when horses
were stabled in memorial tombs and in palaces, audience-
halls converted into powder-magazines, barracks, or offices
of district magnates, sculptured colonnades roughly board
ed up and pierced by windows, panels and screens of ex
quisite fret-work in sandstone or marble plastered with
thick layers of stucco and whitewashed, whatever could
be altered and adapted to the temporary use of the con
querors was spared, and whatever stood in the way of
improvements was ruthlessly torn down. In many cases
articles of intrinsic value, such as the linings of marble
baths, were dug up and carried away, just as Nadir Shah
•carried off the Peacock throne of the emperors to Teheran.
The grand gateway of one of the most imposing monu
ments of Shah Jehan's reign, the Jumma Musjid of Agra,
was pulled down during the mutiny, and a wide expanse
of railway tracks, the approach to the station, now ex
tends up to the walls.
But a volume might be filled with these evidences of
¦early vandalism, which English architects and archaeolo
gists have deplored in unsparing terms. It now remains
to consider what has been left and to make the most of
it. Ample reparation is being made to-day for the ruin
and mutilation wrought during the iron age of English
-rule. Vast sums — relatively vast when we consider the
financial difficulties Avith which the government of India
has had to struggle — are being spent by this government,
aided by the native rulers, to prop up and restore the
decaying monuments which have been considered worthy

308

INTELLIGENT RESTORATION

of restoration. How costly
ahd laborious these restora
tions are, as in the case of the
Taj-Mahal, no one can judge
without some knowledge of
the materials employed and
the processes involved. While
in Persia we find that the
splendid monuments of its
former glory have been aban
doned to picturesque but lam
entable decay, and the public
buildings now erected have
little if anything of the ancient
spirit, in India, on the con
trary, the native architects
and artisans are still doing
admirable work, not inferior
in respect to artistic detail
and finish to the work of past
centuries. The repairs and
restorations carried out by
them, under intelligent super
vision, have the advantage of being done by artisans of the
same race as the original builders, who inherit the same
traditional methods, and are not, as in the case of the res
torations of the Alhambra and other Moorish remains
in Spain, wrought by men of an alien race having little
sympathy with those who designed them. Some years ago,
while repairs were in progress on certain portions of the
palace within the " Fort " at Agra, the workmen engaged
in cutting out the little stars, hexagons, or flowers of
stone, for the precious inlay of the marble walls, sat or
squatted on the pavement, each with a tool like a little

UPPER GALLERIES OF HINDOO HOUSE
OP CARVED AND PAINTED WOOD

SKILLED ARTISANS 309
bow, but with a fine wire in lieu of bowstring, which he
moistened continually in an earthen chatty of water
placed by his side. These primitive craftsmen, nude to
the waist, bending over their work as they patiently sawed
out, polished, and fitted each stone in its place with the
care and precision of jewellers, must have resembled
their ancestors who built the palaces centuries ago, and
who, doubtless, worked with the same tools; for each
trade or craft is hereditary, and certain families perpet
uate from generation to generation the mysteries and
science of their calling. Among the groups of artisans
who seem to be living over again a scene from the
golden age of Mogul art, there were some engaged in
chiselling thin slabs of white marble into the lacelike
screens which fill the windows ; the pattern, accurately
drawn on paper, was pasted on one side of the slab,
and the interstices cut through, after which they were
smoothed over and polished.
These laborers appear to have inherited the deftness
and skill of their ancestors, and if they are no longer em
ployed in rearing great fabrics like those of the Mogul
age, it is only because such structures have no longer any
raison d'etre, and also because they expect to be paid
nowadays in current coin, and not with promises.
In the various departments of decorative art, such as
the ornamentation of flat wall surfaces with painted de
signs or mosaic tiles, or with sculptured reliefs often hav
ing original and fanciful " motifs," we shall find no less
latent vitality than in the province of purely constructive
art, as the many public buildings, gateways, and other
memorials, recently erected, bear eloquent testimony. The
wood-carvers particularly have lost none of their tradi
tional skill, the many industries in metal work, enamel-
' ling, lacquer work, jewelry, and embroidery still flourish,

310 INGENIOUS NATIVES
and there seems no reason for supposing that these arti
sans are less capable than those of past ages. And, in
deed, if one may include other departments of a more
utilitarian nature, in which the natural imitative genius of
the people has found an outlet, they are the worthy suc
cessors of the clever Hindoos described by Terry in 1665,
who says, " They are also excellent at limning, and will
copy out any picture they see, to the life. . . . The truth
is, that the natives of that monarchy are the best apes for
imitation in the world, so full of ingenuity, that they will
make any new thing by pattern, how hard soever it
seems to be done ; and therefore it is no marvel if the
natives there make shoes, boots, clothes, linen, bands and
cuffs of our English fashion, which are all of them very
much different from their fashions and habits, and yet
make them all exceedingly neat." It is amusing to find
that to-day the native is competing successfully with the
Englishman in the manufacture of artistic furniture of
the Chippendale order, but made from indigenous woods,
and even underselling him, as one may realize by walk
ing through the show-rooms of the Parsee and Mussul
man furniture dealers of Bombay inhabiting the crowded
streets near the Crawford market ; he will also find that
this competition extends to boots and shoes and other ar
ticles of wearing apparel, as in Terry's time, when it must
have had far less encouragement. Bird wood, in his Man
ual of the Industrial Arts of India, laments the deteriora
tion of the hand-made art of India, by forced competition
with the machine-made imitations of Europe, which com
pels the native artisan to produce an inferior class of
work, and which restricts him at the same time in his
choice of models. But already the tide has begun to turn
the other way, and the increasing interest in decorative
art has led to the protection and encouragement of these

WINDOVT IN THE PALACE OF AMEER, SHOWING MARBLE LATTICE AND INLAID GLASS
' DECORATION

SI 2 COMPOSITE STYLES
various local industries by the new art schools of the em
pire. It may be that this view of the matter is too san
guine, and it may not as yet be supported by sufiicient
data. But certainly the influence of these schools, some
of which are admirably officered and equipped, is far-
reaching, and cannot fail in time to produce the hoped-
for results. n
Setting aside the few scattered remains of the Buddhist
period, which have more archaeological than aesthetic in
terest, the existing monuments may be roughly divided
into those which are entirely Hindoo in spirit, and which
have been sub-divided into the Dra vidian, Jaina, and other
styles, those which were erected during the early period
of the Mussulman conquest, showing a mixture of Mo
hammedan and Hindoo art, and those of the Mogul
period, in which' the Persian taste is everywhere appar
ent, with scarcely a trace of Hindoo influence. Still
another class might be made of the more modern palaces
and other edifices, decorated exteriorly with ornate win
dows, which were ever sparingly used by Persian build
ers; there are also traces of Arabic descent in many
of these buildings, so that they constitute a style purely
local. In a brief reference to so vast a field, it can only
be stated that the most noteworthy monuments of exclu
sively Hindoo taste are to be found among the temples
of southern and central India, as at Vellore, Peroor, and
Madura, not to mention the sculptured caves and rock-
cut temples of A junta, Ellore, and Elephanta, all of an
earlier epoch. Some reference has been made in a
former article to the sculptures of Chitor, and those at
Mount Abu might be cited as representing the high-
water mark of Hindoo artists in marble. These temples,

NOTEWORTHY STRUCTURES 313
erected between the eleventh and the fourteenth centu
ries, most picturesquely placed in a landscape of surpass
ing beauty, give little idea, when seen from without, of
the marvels of sculpture within their gray and mossy
walls. The series of cells on either side of the long en
closure of one of these temples, each preceded by a little
portico consisting of a dome supported by columns, con
tain the choicest and most marvellous work of Hindoo
sculptors. The skilled and patient labor which lined
these domes with figures of gods, with flowers and leaves
and wonderful pendants, hanging, as it were, from their
centres, is little short of miraculous, and suggests the in
genious use of ivory by Chinese artisans.
No less marvellously wrought are the columns with
sculptured " struts," in lieu of arches, which support the
domes. hi
In beginning what can only be a desultory and incom
plete notice of the principal monuments of Mussulman
art, which are scattered through the north of India, with
occasional centres farther south, as at Jawanpore or Bija-
pore, one naturally reverts to the early period of Mo
hammedan domination. Here we find traces of Moorish
as well as of Persian influence, and the occasional curious
and interesting blending of these northern styles with
Hindoo elements, as in the province of Guzerat. This
ground has been thoroughly studied by such experts
and specialists as Cunningham and Fergusson, and the
latest treatises show an increasing respect and admira
tion for works which combine such wonderfully deco
rative qualities with dignity and often with sound taste.
A remarkable and rare use of the Moorish horseshoe
arch occurs in the building known as the gateway of

314:

MOSAICS

Alah-ou-din at old Delhi, erected about 1310. This is
regarded as the most ornate example of Pathan work,
and is particularly interesting from the fact that, al
though the general arrangement of the decorated sur
faces surrounding each of the arches (all four sides of
the edifice being alike, and each having a door in the
middle, with two windows on each side) is similar to that
of many other Mussulman buildings, resembling in some
respects the entrances of the mosque at Cordova, many
of the ornamental details and patterns are purely Hindoo,
and of course peculiar to India. The mosque at Purana
Kela, near Delhi, is cited as one of the finest examples of
the Pathan period. The dark red stone, nearly crimson
in places, which
is the prevailing
material, is re
lieved by bands of
marble surround-
ing the great cen
tral arch, and the
interior of the
niche or recessed
doorway is curi
ously decorated
with mosaic,
which in the mar
ble panels is in
laid with geomet
rical patterns of
black and red
stone, leaving
only lines of white
DOORWAY OF THE MOSQUE OF PURANA KELA, DeiW een LUB g
near delhi ures. The ad-

FUTURE RESTING-PLACES

315

joining arcnes on
each side are of
red stone without
inlay, thus con
trasting by their
simplicity with the
central arch, while
the two exterior
openings on each
side are of plain
gray granite. The
whole edifice,
while grand and
somewhat severe
in effect, shows a
harmonious diver
sity of color. The
noble group of
monuments, some
of them strangely
original, including
the remains at the
deserted capital of
Futtehpore- Sikri,
which were built during the reign of Akbar, are among
the most interesting in all India.
The Mogul emperors were wise enough to realize that
if they did not build their own mausoleums they stood
but little chance of being buried with fitting magnifi
cence, and took a serious pleasure in rearing these stately
sepulchres. That at Secundra is like a city in itself,
placed at the end of a vast parklike garden ; and there
is nothing funereal in its character or surroundings, for
these monarchs had the pleasant Eastern fashion of look-

GATEWAT OF MOSQUE, FUTTEHPORE-SIKRI

316 ARTISTIC STONE WORK
ing cheerfully forward to the inevitable, and made use of
their mausoleums while they lived as pleasure - houses,
and the surrounding gardens as appropriate places for al
fresco entertainments. It was a poetic inspiration on the
part of Akbar to have placed his tomb out in the sun
shine and in the middle of the wide marble court, with
only the blue vault of heaven over it, and tho Koh-i-noor
flashing like a starjxpm the top of the little marble col
umn at the head. Fergusson does not mention the Koh-
i-noor, nor the little column four feet high, said to have
been covered with gold ; but it still stands there, with
the empty socket on the top, and it was, at all events, a
unique and pleasing idea. Few deserted cities are more
impressive than Futtehpore - Sikri, and the splendid gate
way of the mosque which towers to the height of one
hundred and fifty feet above the ground, dwarfing every
structure within the walls, is a landmark for all the
neighboring country. Every building which has in any
measure escaped the ravages of time is of the same red
sandstone, and the only exception is the white marble
tomb of Selim Chisti which stands in the court-yard of
the mosque. Such miracles of delicate tracery and such
fantastically twisted brackets were surely never before
wrought from unyielding marble ; and as the sculptured
cells in the temples of Mount Abu represent the highest
attainment of Hindoo art in this direction, so the tomb of
Selim Chisti may stand as an example of what ingenious
Mussulman architects may accomplish within the range
of purely geometrical design, circumscribed as they are
by the limitations of their creed.
The most unique of all the little structures standing in
the neighborhood, or on the near margin of the tank in the
vast court enclosed by the palace walls, is the one com
monly called the sultana's kiosk, and lovingly designed as

AN IMPRESSIVE GATEWAY

317

the boudoir of an imperial favorite. We know little to
day of the jewel which it sheltered, but one may at least
hope that it was Avorthy of such a casket. The red stone
is peculiarly deep and rich in quality of color, and as every
inch of it is carved and fretted it resembles closely a
Japanese bibelot of vermilion lacquer.
The " House of Beerbul's daughter " and all the others,
of which no two are alike, show a similar exuberance of
fancy so that no one of these fortunate sultanas had rea
son to be jealous of a rival's installation, since all were
equally well lodged. Nothing at
Futtehpore-Sikri is more impressive
than the view of the walls and the
strange outlines of the structures
towering above them, when one
leaves, at sunset, the gateway on the-
north where stand the two great
elephants of stone with interlinked
trunks, and descending the steep
pathway encumbered with fallen
fragments, reaches the isolated tow
er bristling with elephants' tusks.
Here he may look back to the de
serted capital, or forward to the western glow, beyond
the crumbling ruins of the last and outermost wall where
the great vultures and adjutant storks balance themselves
on the broken battlements.

SHAH JKHAN
From an old portrait

IV

In the portraits and miniatures of Shah Jehan which
have survived, he is usually represented in the act of in
haling the fragrance of a moss rose, or toying with a but
tonhole bouquet, and he has quite the air of an aesthetic

318 ORIENTAL ART
poseur. He showed great interest in the portraits brought
over by the English Ambassador, but preferred the work
of his own painters, and boasted that some of them could
so copy these pictures, probably miniatures, that it would
be impossible to distinguish the copy from the original.
Those which found favor in his eyes were doubtless paint
ed with water-colors on ivory, and this art has survived
to the present day : " for indeed in that art of limning his
painters worke miracles ; the other being in oyle, he liked
not." Here and there, in India, one chances unexpectedly
upon a bit of old work, which has. qualities sufficient to
show that the artist had something in common with the
early Dutch and Flemish painters, not only in technique,
but in subject and other attributes of genre painting.
Somewhere in the labyrinth of winding lanes, cul-de-sacs,
and tall old houses between Vazir Khan's mosque, at La
hore, and what might be called the exterior boulevard on
the north, there is a forsaken, ruinous, and dusty old pal
ace tenanted by the retainers of some exiled Rajah ; at all
events there is some half-forgotten history attached to it.
On the upper terrace of this palace, whence one has a fine
view of the richly colored minars of- Vazir Khan, which
rose, as we saw them, against a stormy sky, there was a lit
tle square room or " mirador," decorated with mural paint
ings, occupying the panels between doors and windows ;
there was a hunting-scene, with a prince riding out from
the palace, holding a falcon on his wrist. The details
of costume, embroideries, and weapons were executed with
quaint precision and fidelity. Another represented the
prince having an interview with a fair lady in a prim old
garden. The lady was certainly meant to be beautiful, and
the garden, with its shrubbery and the details of pave
ment or kiosk, was treated with a certain formal realism,
as if painted on the spot, reminding one not a little of Jan

V

iMrf

THE TAJ MAHAL

320 ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION
Van Eyck, and the analysis of an English critic, of his
early method of beginning on a whitened panel, always
preserving the original outline, and gradually glazing the
shadows, and leaving the high lights. During my last
visit we tried again to find the house, but only succeeded
in finding another which recalled it in many features, with
nearly the same view of the minars from the roof, but
there was no mirador and no trace of paintings. But
painting, after all, in this country has only a subordinate
place relatively to architecture, in which the genius of Ind
ian artists found its most fitting expression and achieved
its highest triumphs. If Shah Jehan had left no other
memorial of his reign than the " Taj," he would still be
entitled to the gratitude of posterity, and to an exalted
rank among kingly builders. In the chorus of praise, of
poetry, and sentiment, which the first sight of Taj Mahal
never fails to inspire, I remember but one dissentient
voice, and that was a written comment in the visitors'
book to the effect that the writer, a patriotic citizen of
Allahabad, considered it inferior to certain monuments in
his own city, and " not worth the journey from Allahabad
in order to see it." The force of one's first impression of
any world - renowned chef-d'oeuvre is often weakened by
unfavorable circumstances or by its environment, and, in
the case of a painting or statue often placed in a badly
lighted gallery, some effort is necessary at times in order
to adjust one's mind to the conditions. But in the case
of the Taj the builders have cunningly done all that be
forehand, nothing unsightly is left to mar the impression,
and when one has emerged from the gloom of the great
portal which gives access to the garden, two lines of black
cypress spires lead the eye straight to the majestic dome
which rises white and dazzling at the end of the vista, and
which is repeated in the still water of the long canal.

The setting is
worthy of the
*f^i, and on ei
ther hand, be
yond the dark
cypresses, the the taj mahal, from across the jumna
garden, of match
less luxuriance, is a very carnival of color. From the
stately entrance gate of red stone and white marble, and
the garden walls, ornamented with kiosks and domes in
which every battlement is inlaid with a marble fleur-de-lis,
to the beautiful pendent mosques enhancing the brilliancy
ofthe Taj by their variegated color, the same perfection of
finish reigns throughout, and one longs almost unconscious
ly for some blemish, some harsher note to connect it with
the outer world, and stamp it with reality. As one enters

322 A MASTERPIECE
the little alcove among piles of pointed shoes of strange
and varied make, left by native pilgrims at the threshold,
and turns to mount the steps leading to the upper terrace
through the recessed marble, as transparently luminous as
a crevasse in the ice of a glacier, he is met by ragged lit
tle pages, who proceed to whisk the dust from his shoes,
so that he may not leave it on the immaculate pavement
above. Seen from across the Jumna it rises like a summer cloud
against the clear sky, and its inverted image trembles in
the deep blue of the water. There is no blackness in tbe
shadows on the sunlit faces, and even under the deeply
recessed arches the color is luminous and opalescent,
while on the shadowed side ft borrows the cool reflected
tones of the sky, and is as full of transparent tints and
hues of mother-of-pearl as the lining of a shell. Fergus-
son is the recognized authority on Indian architecture,
and in his comments on the Taj his too evident admi
ration is tempered, and his reputation as a classical critic
saved, by placing it on a lower level than the master
pieces of Greek art, while he pronounces it to be un
equalled in its class.* When one attempts to paint or
draw even a small portion of it he will grow to under
stand that beneath its apparent simplicity, which is so
managed that no detail interferes with the unity and
*"The Parthenon belongs, it is true, to a higher class of art, its
sculptures raising it into the region of the most intellectual brancb of
phonetic art; but, on the other hand, the exquisite inlay of precious stones
at the Taj is so aesthetically beautiful as in a merely architectural esti
mate almost to bring it on a level with the Grecian masterpiece;" and
again he writes, "Though their value consequently may be nearly the
same, their forms are so essentially different that they hardly look like
productions of the same art. ... Its beauty may not be of the highest
class, but in its class it is unsurpassed."— Fergusson, History of Archi
tecture.

BEAUTY AND STRENGTH 323
force of the impression, there is yet a vast deal of com
plexity and thorough constructive science. But all these
unpleasant but necessary elements are so artfully subor
dinated, that one carries away only the memory of its
sensuous charm of color and outline, and is not disturbed
by the underlying basis of mathematics. From the ter
race behind the Taj, overlooking the Jumna, the view
extends beyond a bend of the river to the fortress walls
of Agra, topped by the white domes and gilded roof of
the palace and the adjacent mosques. Beautiful at a
distance, they lose little by a closer inspection. The for
tress is entered by the usual mediaeval drawbridge and
dark vaulted entrance guarded by tall, red-coated Sikhs.
Beyond these outer defences, an ascending ramp, flanked
by high walls commanding the road on every side, is
admirably planned to resist a sudden attack, and this
causeway curves upward to the arched gate between two
majestic towers. It must have been nearly or quite im
pregnable against the cannon of Akbar's time, and should
a storming column have succeeded in forcing the outer
gate, and mounting the steep ascent, with two turns at
right angles, swept on all sides by a concentrated fire
from above, it would have suffered at least an unpleasant
moment of suspense when forced to halt at the foot of
this titanic portal as at the base of a precipice. Not
withstanding its formidable appearance, it deserves to be
considered as a work of art from the noble proportions of
the two octagonal towers and their ornamentation of in
laid marble. While there is always an element of the
quaintly exotic, and, to our eyes, barbaric, in most Hindoo
work, which necessitates some familiarity with it before
we can fully enjoy its aesthetic qualities, in the great
monuments of the Mogul epoch so grand and simple in
proportion, and at the same time so wonderfully elabor-

324 A RIVER VIEW
ate, we recognize certain architectural principles already
familiar to us. This is particularly evident in the great
citadels which enclose the imperial palaces, and which,
while planned like the feudal strongholds of Europe, and
with quite as much military science, have been made
more interesting by their external decoration. The walls
and gateways of the Agra fortress were built by Akbar,
the red stone palace within resembling in style some of
the palaces in his deserted capital at Futtehpore. Sikri
was built by his son Jehanghdr, and the beautiful marble
palaces, kiosks, pavilions, and mosques were the work
of Shah Jehan. Throughout the entire series of stately
palaces constructed during the reign of this monarch runs
a vein of ultra-assthetic refinement, showing an evident
desire to make the most of natural advantages, and a
poetic sense of what is beautiful and fitting, and which
could only be content with the best. What could be
more satisfactory and complete than the lovely open
pavilion crowning one of the red stone towers of the for
tress at a great .beight from the ground, with bracketed
marble columns supporting the eaves, inlaid like the Taj,
and opening directly into an open marble court with
fountains. There is a charming view of the Taj rising
beyond a bend of the river from the pavilion, and the
little court behind communicates by a latticed passage
with the gallery reserved for the ladies of the Zenana,
overlooking the great entrance court where the emperor
was accustomed to receive foreign embassies.
But in order to arrive at a fair understanding of what .
was accomplished in decorative architecture during the
reign of Shah Jehan one must take into consideration
the other monuments of Agra, having begun with the
Taj and the palace. The " Moti Musjid," or Pearl Mosque,
which is seemingly restful from its appearance of extreme

SUNLIGHT AND SHADOWS

325

simplicity, artfully conceals beneath this exterior a great
deal of studied proportion and elaborate detail. The
broad court, when one enters it on a bright day, has the
blinding dazzle of a snow-field, for nothing meets the eye
but marble and the deep blue sky. Nothing could ex
ceed the delicacy of color and subtle gradations of tint
when the eye penetrates from the outer glare into the
depths of shadow behind the arches. But, as in the Taj,
there is no darkness in this shadow, and the details of
the innermost wall are clearly visible from across the
court. A short distance from the fortress rise the three
great domes of the Jumna Musjid or chief Mosque of
Agra, decorated with zigzag bands of white and red stone.
This also is of Shah Jehan's reign. When we pass on to
Delhi, his chief capital, we are confronted by another
series of imposing buildings, the great fortress, and the
remains of the palaces within its enclosures, the great
mosque, the largest and most stately pile, as a whole,
among Mohammedan religious edifices. And farther on,
at Lahore, we find still another capital and another series

THE JUMNA MUSJID, DELHI

326 ARTISTIC MONUMENTS
of palaces and mosques. In the hill fortress of Gwalior
there is yet another palace of Shah Jehan, but a small
one, only three hundred and twenty feet in length,
perched, as usual, on the very verge of an " embattled
steep." Many other pleasure-houses might be added to
the list, for this monarch seems to have taken pleasure in
distributing himself over a vast extent of territory. An
approximate idea of the prodigious number of artistic
monuments for which northern India is indebted to his
splendid extravagance may be gained by supposing that
Louis XIV., for instance, after constructing Versailles
and its dependencies, had built the Louvre, Luxembourg,
and other edifices of Paris, the work of different archi
tectural epochs, had then built himself another capital
at London, with citadels, palaces, cathedrals, and still
another at Brussels, and linked them all together by a
chain of smaller palaces and occasional retreats. Had
not death interrupted his ambition, he would have built
a pendant to the Taj across the Jumna, and thrown a
marble bridge over the river between them.
The most perfect surviving example of this epoch,
which ranks with the Taj as a piece of unparalleled but
charming extravagance, is the part of the Palace at Delhi
called the Dewan-i-Khas, and the adjoining apartments,.
all that remains, in fact, of what was once the most exten
sive and sumptuous palace in the world. According to
the only existing plan it was more than double the size of
the Escurial, or, indeed, of any other palace in Europe.*"
It would be useless to refer again to the vandalism which
destroyed it, as this has already been the cause of suffi
cient repentance. The verses in Persian characters, ex
tolling its charms with the customary extravagance of
* Mogul Art, Fergusson.

XS±!JKj\JJ.\£l.X±\JiM *}%'(

Oriental poets, do not exceed the truth. There is not a
square yard, either of column, arch, or ceiling, which is left
unadorned with precious mosaics and gilding. In some
instances one has a feeling of disappointment at first see
ing this far-famed jeweller's decoration applied on such ex
tensive scale. When viewed from a distance these deli
cate arabesques and flowerlike petals seem to soften and
temper the blankness of the marble, and when closely ex
amined with a hand-glass they become interesting again
from their wonderful delicacy ; but when seen from a short
distance they appear formal in design and crude in color,
like the stamped patterns on chintz. In the Delhi palace
the incrustation of gilding, which relieves in places the
bluish or opal-tinted tones of the marble, seems to harmo
nize and enhance the brighter colors of the mosaic, with its
frequently recurring flowers of agate and red carnelian.
The sun-steeped landscape seen from the windows, with
the distant Jumna, here a narrower stream than at Agra,
in its repose and vast breadth, is a perfect foil to the lavish
magnificence within. The charm of these Indian palaces
may be partly due to the fact that nowhere is nature shut
out, and one has no feeling of confinement, as in the pal
aces of Europe ; wherever the eye wanders, across the cool
marble of the pavement, to the light between the col
umns, or through the lace-work of the windows, there is
always a prospect of flowers and tree-tops, of blue water,
or a hazy rim of encircling hills.
The ceiling of the Dewan-i-Khas, said to have been orig
inally of silver, has been recently restored, though not of
course to its former magnificence ; but at present it seems
somewhat garish in color when contrasted. with the time-
chastened decorations below. The walls and gateways of
the citadel enclosing this group of palaces are built in a
style of corresponding magnificence, but somewhat more

328

IMPRESSIVE ELEGANCE

^^iP^mmm

WINDOWS IN OLD DELHI

severe in character, and are
still in good repair, with the
exception of the Cashmere
Gate and bastion, the scene
of one of the most heroic
incidents of modern historv.
A short distance from the
walls stands the Jumma Mus
jid, which, although some
what lacking internally in
the good taste and harmony
of color and arrangement
wrhich characterize most
buildings of the epoch, is un
rivalled in grandeur of line
and in external effect. At
sunset, when seen from the eastern side, a violet silhouette
against the glow of the sky, nothing could exceed its ele
gance of outline, and it has almost the illusion of a whole
city, with its long array of domes, cupolas, spires, and
finials, its level line of arcaded cloisters, through which
the light pierces, giving to the vast pile an air of lightness
and grace, and, dominating all, the two tall minars and
great balloon-shaped marble domes.
Much of the merit of the Agra and Delhi mosaics was
formerly attributed to Austin de Bordeaux and other
Europeans in the service of Shah Jehan ; but few patterns
have been found, however, which can be referred directly
to European inspiration, and it is everywhere apparent that
the Moguls availed themselves of the mechanical skill and
ingenuity of these Western artificers in working out their
own designs, for instances are rare in Italy of workman
ship so delicate in execution and at the same time so thor
oughly subordinate to the general scheme of the architect.

A NEW TYPE 329

V
One is usually more or less prepared for what awaits
him at Delhi and Agra, but when we were advised to stop
on the way north and see Ahmedabad for the first time,
we did not expect to have the satisfaction of discovering
for ourselves, as it were, a new type of city, and of becom
ing accustomed to a new phase of Indian art. The guide
books and other works which we had studied before leav
ing Europe made but little mention of this city, and we
knew next to nothing of the marvels of wood -carving
with which its streets are lined, and its ornate little mosques
all built alike of orange-hued sandstone, differing only in
their degree of elaboration ; the most striking feature of
these mosques is their curious blending of modern and
Hindoo art, or, more explicitly speaking, the way in which
the plans of Moslem builders have been wrought out and
embellished by artisans of Hindoo or Jaina race. In this
case the marriage of these two elements has been a happy
one, for the architectural results are often remarkable for
elegance of form and sculptured detail, and resemble
nothing else in the world.
While driving about in the town with the vague hope
of finding some fragments of this seductive wood-work, we
came suddenly upon a signboard in front of an old house
bearing the name in plain English of a New York associa
tion of decorative artists. Plere we found many of the
most skilful workers of the province engaged on Ameri
can orders, such as chimney-pieces, sideboards, sculptured
beams, and panels. This establishment had been recently
inaugurated by Mr. Lockwood de Forrest, who has since
accomplished so much in popularizing Indian art, and at
that time Anglo-Indian art had scarcely awakened to the

330 PAINTED CARVINGS
fact that these things were even worthy of consideration
even from an artistic or a commercial point of view.
Mention was made in a former article of the general ar
rangement of these Ahmedabad houses, also common in
other cities of Guzerat and in Bombay. The leading feat
ures may be again noted as being the deeply recessed
lower story forming a veranda, and the w^ooden pillars
with elaborately wrought consols supporting the upper
stories or balconies ; the whole facade is often covered
with a wealth of carving, painted with tints which are
rather gaudy when new, but which are exquisitely beauti
ful when half effaced and weather-worn. The heads of
elephants and spirited horses, figures of dancing girls,
nymphs, and the gods of the Hindoo pantheon are min
gled with floral scroll-work, or more conventional ara
besques. The doors of these houses, although massive and
heavy, both in appearance and in actual weight, are often
exceedingly interesting and of great artistic beauty.
Archaeologists and others who have written on Indian
art have made little mention of the domestic and street
architecture of the country, or have dismissed the subject
with a few words, confining their field of observation to
the public edifices. One of the very first to appreciate
this phase of indigenous art was a well-known English
architect, who caused a series of large photographs to be
made of houses, windows, doors, and ornamented panels
for the South Kensington Museum, and it is through his
endeavors that a thoroughly illustrative collection has been
made there. Although he has lived to see his labors ap
preciated, he had great difficulty at the outset in creating
an interest, owing to the conservatism of certain directors
or others in authority, who recognized only the art of
Greece and Rome, stigmatizing everything in India as
" Alhambra Rot." Far from discriminating intelligently

A "NOTION" SHOP

331

between the different schools, or even between the good
and the bad, they wished to know nothing about it, con
sidering from their classical standpoint that it could have
no interest for the world at large.
In contrast to this somewhat intolerant spirit, one
meets now and then intelligent natives of India who ap
pear to have discovered for themselves the intrinsic worth
of these things at a time when most Europeans were still
indifferent to them. There used to be a large " Europe
Shop" in Ahmedabad, resembling in the character and
variety of its merchandise an American country store,
which was kept by an elderly Parsee, and I once had
occasion to replace
some missing article
from his extensive
stock. The old gen
tleman, with white
mustache and the
mutton - chop whis
kers affected by Par-
sees of the old school,
wearing the regula
tion tall black cap
and white drills, was
tilted back in his
chair, giving orders to
half-caste clerks and
paying little atten
tion to the rare cus
tomers. Some ques
tion of mine in regard
to the antiquities of
the neighborhood
seemed to arouse his teak-wood doorway, ahmedabad

332 A TRANSITION
interest, and after diving and rummaging among a pile of
old boxes he came out triumphantly with a neatly bound
little volume, a monograph in English, describing the prin
cipal buildings of mark, and illustrated by photogravures.
He had not only written the book, but had made the pho
tographs, having first tried to draw the subjects and finding
his skill insufficient ; and he had also travelled over a large
part of India for the sole purpose of enjoying and study
ing its architectural beauties. I do not cite this as being
at all an exceptional case, since he belonged to a race re
markable for keen intelligence, and among which culture
is often associated with wealth. No transition more
abrupt and entire could be imagined than that from
Ahmedabad to Ajmere. It is not that one city could be
considered as exclusively Hindoo and the other as Moham
medan, for the former city was in its prime the capital of
a flourishing sultanate and held an incredible number of
mosques, while the other was at one time a favorite seat
of the Mogul Emperors ; but in Ahmedabad the decora
tive art of the Hindoos, a more cultivated race than their
conquerors, was able to hold its own, and there is no trace
in the carved house fronts of Arabic influence, and but
little even in the mosques, which were profusely sculptured
in the Jaina style ; there are few if any of the dentilated
arches which abound in Rajputana, and a white wall is a
rarity among the richly colored but somewhat sombre-
toned houses which line the streets. Should one go di
rectly from this city to Ajmere the difference will seem
as striking, for instance, as that which exists between
Amsterdam and Capri, and would seem to be the work of
a widely different race. Here everything is white, there
is no carved wood, and the street architecture resembles
that of the neighboring cities of Rajputana, of which
Ajmere was once an important capital. Most of the

BRIGHTNESS AND GAYETY

333

town is more or less modern, and while its white aspect
recalls in a measure the appearance of a Moorish city,
nothing could offer more contrast to the blank walls of
the Moors than the brightness and gayety of its bazaars,

:;.,"„?;,^, <®&.

»ifi^fjfjpp^MJ>?N'^iu»-i .

*•%-

window of queen's mosque, ahmedabad
made attractive by innumerable arched windows, balco
nies, and colored awnings. At Lahore and Amritsar we
are confronted with another type, the outcome of a differ
ent art instinct. The tall wooden houses, as elaborately
carved and decorated as those of Guzerat, flisplay many
of the geometrical patterns used by the western Arabs,
and at Multan and in Scinde Persian influence begins to

334

ART SCHOOLS

appear, and many other variations exist in which these
leading elements are combined in different proportions.

VI
A lingering doubt still exists as to the possibility of
completing or even beginning an art education outside of
Europe, and a travelled American was recently heard to
ask whether it were yet practicable in the United States.
It might furnish such doubters with food for reflection,
could they visit one or two of the art schools of India, and
see with what success the experiment of initiating the
native into the mysteries of the painter's craft, from a
European stand-point, has been crowned thus far. In the
life-class at the School of Arts in Bombay, we found the
students working in various mediums, from a costumed
model, one of the characteristic street types of the bazaar.
Hindoo and Moslem, irrespective of class distinctions, met
on neutral ground, and the
class itself would have made
an interesting subject for a
painter. Some of the work
ers wore the conventional
dress of their race or order,
and others the semi -Euro
pean garb now prevalent.
There was a fair sprinkling
of scarlet turbans and black
velvet caps, and a young
Parsee girl, clothed in the
classical, clinging draperyr
of her race, was making
SCULPTURE AROUND THE DOORWAY OF A Wh&t W0UM be Considered
temple, muttra (modern) anywhere a very pretty

AN ARTISAN WORKSHOP

335

ebauche in black and white. The director of this institu
tion, Mr. Griffiths, is an artist of rare ability, and to him
is due the credit of inaugurating a school of industrial art,
with the object of improving the quality and raising the
standard of these various Indian handicrafts, and which is
now one of the most interesting features of this institution.
Like most innovators, he at first found difficulty in securing
the co-operation of the government in developing his plan,
and it was not until he had
obtained the interest and
practical assistance of Lord
Reay that the matter was
brought to a successful
issue. This section of the
School of Arts is now
called the " Reay " art
workshops, and it was
opened in 1891 with a staff
of eighty artisans. The
long building where these
ateliers are located, built in
unpretending and economi
cal fashion, resembles a
weaving - shed, but is well
lighted, and quite sufficient
for the modest needs of
the workers ; the rooms have earthen floors, and only one,
where finished products are exhibited, has any pretensions
to decorative effect. Instruction is given in gold and sil
ver chasing, enamelling on metals, engraving and repousse
work, wood-carving, ornamental copper and brass work,
and iron work ; also carpet-weaving. Each workshop is
presided over by a master craftsman, assisted by a num
ber of apprentices. The system of apprenticeship has

stone brackets at muttra

336 ORNAMENTAL IRON-WORK
been found necessary in order that the students may not
be enticed away by the prospect of higher wages, before
their course of study is completed. If they are found,
after a probationary period of several months, to have the
requisite qualifications, they are formally apprenticed for
three years, and receive five rupees a month for the first
year, seven for the second, and ten for the third. Much
attention is being given to ornamental metal-work, such
as iron window gratings and balustrades, and the efforts
thus directed will, it is hoped, result in domestic iron-work
of a more artistic character than is found in the more
modern native houses of Bombay, and more on a par with
that which still survives in Ahmedabad and other older
cities, which have not yet begun to substitute the cheaper
machine-made work of Europe. The ornamental metal-
work of the great Victoria Terminus * at Bombay was
made at the School of Arts, and far more cheaply than it
could have been imported from Europe. This station is
one of the most imposing modern buildings in India, and
although somewhat florid in its external ornamentation,
is agreeable and harmonious in effect, as well as sumptu
ous in material and finish. In the department of wood-
carving at the Reay workshops there are many examples
of the application of elaborate decorative designs to art
furniture, screens, punkah frames, and other household
articles ; and the workmen are encouraged to employ their
own tools, rather than those imported from Europe, so
that when they leave the school they may be better able
to turn their hands to any work which may come in their
way, without being dependent on foreign aids. In an
other room a few carpets were being woven on vertical
frames, from fragments of ancient Persian carpets of great
*The station of the Great Indian Peninsula Railroad.

ECONOMICAL MANAGEMENT

337

beauty, and these models were followed far more care
fully, both in design and quality of color, than in the more
extensive workshops of the north, whether located in
government jails or in private factories, from which the
great warehouses of London and Paris are supplied. The
metal work produced here impressed me as being more
artistic than that
which is usually
offered to the cas
ual tourist in the
shops, or by itin-.
erant venders,
particularly those
partially enam
elled or engraved.
A most praise
worthy feature of
this institution is
the economical
way in which
such results are
obtained, as if
every rupee had
been laid out to
the best advan
tage. The Mayo
School of Arts at
Lahore is one of
the most thriving
and practically
useful endow
ments of this
kind to be found
anywhere. 22

I HI-'
f. r'WTY

80«SBS8Hi

i

VISTA IN THE NEW ART MUSEUM, LAHORE

338 A PROGRESSIVE TOWN
In the minds of the majority of people Lahore, like
Thule, belongs to the fantastic realm of opera, and when
ever the name comes up, the practical man at once men
tally consigns it to the vague limbo of theatrical geogra
phy. Remote from the sea, and within a day's journey of
the treacherous Afghan, travellers with round-the-world
Cook's tickets seldom include it in their itineraries. In
spite of this crushing indifference of the world in general,
Lahore has gone bravely on, and built for itself an Ecole
des Beaux Arts and an Art Museum, in both of which it
has dared to be original, and which deserve to be more
widely known as models in their way. In place of the
customary renaissance palace or Greek temple, we find an
edifice which seems to embody in its internal architecture
and adornment the principles which govern the conduct
of the school — the encouragement and amelioration of na
tive art. This institution was first proposed in 1873-74 as
a memorial to Lord Mayo, the former viceroy, and it was
then decided that it should have a distinctly Oriental
character. Mr. J. Lockwood Kipling was induced to go
to Lahore, in order to take charge of the new undertak
ing, in 1875. Mr. Kipling's fitness for the task, and his
success in bringing it to completion, was owing as much
to his previous training and professional experience in
various directions as to his keen appreciation of the
Indian art in generation, for it has usually been conceded
that a good "all-round man" has the advantage of a
specialist in such an undertaking. He had previously
identified himself with what might be termed the new
art movement in Bombay by his work on the stately se
ries of municipal and government buildings — the Veneto-
Gothic palaces in the new quarter, which offer such a
grateful contrast to the stuccoed and yellow - washed
classical temples of an earlier date, many of which, un-

A PRAISEWORTHY EFFORT

339

fortunately, still survive. There were many obstacles in
his way at the outset, as well as deeply rooted prejudice
to counteract, and much study of the ground was neces
sary before he could carry out the very obvious and sim
ple notion that, since India is heir to a distinctive and
naturally descended style
of art, some effort should
be made to preserve it, and
to collect and perpetuate
its best traditions. To con
tinue in his own words, he
" was hampered by two or
three influences : first, the
excellent English adminis
trators, who had never seri
ously thought about art at
all, but who expected the
latest kind of European im
provements on the subject ;
and, secondly, the natives
themselves, who were very
reluctant to believe that it
was worth while to study
and draw buildings which they had been indifferent to all
their lives ; they also expected something brand-new from
England." After some tentative experiments, he estab
lished a nucleus of students and craftsmen from which the
school grew to its present importance. Since Mr. Kipling's
retirement the school has been under the direction of Mr.
F. H. Andrews, and the work is being carried on quite in
accordance with the views of its founders. All the assist
ant masters with the exception of Mr. David are natives of
the Punjaub, and the course of study comprises modelling
and moulding in plaster, architecture and wood-carving,

CARVED WOOD BRACKET AND CAPITAL,
BOMBAY

340

SKILLED WORKMANSHIP

engineering, geometry, mensuration, drawing, and design.
There are no fees for instruction, and the students are
further encouraged by various stipends and scholarships.
Some of the more advanced students have already been
sent out to introduce the system into the schools of the
northwest provinces. An annual art exhibition is held
here, and artisans from remote parts of the province send
in their contributions.
At the epoch of my visit to Lahore, in 1893, the last
exhibition had just been closed, but many of the unsold
articles still remained in the show-rooms, and I was par
ticularly impressed by the beautiful reproductions and
fac-similes of carved doorways and oriel windows in dark
wood, or in fragrant " deodar " (a light-colored Himalay
an cedar), which were of
fered at prices incredibly
low. There were also mar
vellous screens with frames
inlaid with ivory or brass,
and deodar panels filled in
with delicate geometrical
lattice-work almost micro
scopic in minuteness of de
tail. Nothing of inferior
quality seemed to have
found a place here, and the
examples of ivory inlaying,
lacquer and metal work
were all of excellent and
thorough workmanship. It
was one of the founder's
chief objects to furnish
provincial artisans, who
have no shops or studios,

BALCONY OF THE PALACE OF THE SETHS,
AJMEER

INHERITED TALENT 341
and no way of reaching the public, with a place to show
their works, and thus to " link up the bazaar with the
school." But in spite of his efforts and those of his
successor, the greater part of the students look to gov
ernment service rather than to handicrafts for a fut
ure. The best of them are generally sons of carpen
ters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, and the like, who have
an hereditary aptitude for design, which men of other
castes do not possess. As an instance of the way in
which the materials at hand were utilized, Mr. Kipling
found that under the apparent hap -hazard method of
working which Indian wood -carvers follow, there was a
definite system of teaching, and the boys in the shops
improved their spare moments by copying certain set
patterns. These models were collected and carefully cod
ified, and some of the fine old examples of wood-work
of the best period, called " Akbari," being of the time of
Akbar, were added to them, and all were found to be of
great use in elementary teaching. In this way also the
details of the fresco - painting in the mosque of Vazir
Khan were utilized as a copy-book, but at the same time
the students were made to exercise their inventive facul
ties in attempting original designs, and to develop their
inborn instinct for harmony of color, in which, when left
to themselves, they seldom go wrong. Instances of the
application of this latent but hitherto untrained talent to
practical uses have already begun to multiply, and the su
perb decoration of the Queen's new banqueting - hall at
Osborne by Bhai Khan Singh (an assistant master) shows
what can be accomplished under such favorable condi
tions. In the atelier of sculpture at the school were ex
amples of unfinished but promising work, and among the
studies from life, hung on the walls of the painting -class,
are a few heads of Sikhs and other local types, notably

342 CLEVER PORTRAITURE
those by Munshi Sher Muhammad, now an instructor, to
whose ability and taste much of the decorative work in
the new art museum is also clue. These heads are painted
in a straightforward and vigorous wayr which would have
commanded respect in any Paris atelier ten years ago.
If these clever exotics have not yet caught on to the most
recent fashion of expressing the " soul of things " by a
more emblematic mode of treatment — the theory of val
uation, in short — and, ignorant of the joyous reaction
which has taken place, are still struggling to render what
their eyes see, it is only because the last art-wave set in
motion by the pioneers of the new movement has turned
its course westward, leaving them still groping for more
light. In the museum adjoining the school are several exam
ples of early Hindoo sculpture showing unmistakable evi
dence of Greek influence, and it would be easy to believe
that their authors had labored in the shadow of the
Acropolis. The Jeypore School of Arts is up to the pres
ent moment the only one which flourishes in a native
state, and although much of the work produced there
seems to aim rather at achieving commercial excellence
than at improving the character of industrial art, some of
its pupils have distinguished themselves by good architect
ural and decorative work. The results of the growing in
terest in local art are everywhere apparent, not only in
the larger cities which might be called relatively art cen
tres, such as Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, or Lahore, but in
many of the smaller cities as well. In the town of Mut
tra alone there are several noteworthy public buildings,.
like the " Hardinge Gate," giving access to one of the
principal bazaars, of noble proportions, and built of the
pale clay -colored stone of the country, which is admirable
material for the delicate and sharply-cut work of Hindoo

¦v.-.-.- ;

sculptors. There is also
a small museum on the
outskirts of the city,
which, although not im
posing in size, is remark
able for its exquisite
workmanship. Wher
ever a blank outer wall
occurs, it has been made
interesting down to the
ground, by dividing the
lower spaces into arched
panels and by carving
on these centres masses
of fruit or flowers,
vigorously treated, and
with only a slight de
gree of conventionaliza-

IN THE COURT OF THE PALACE OF THE
SETHS, AJMEER

344 THE PALACE OF THE SETHS
tion. These, examples, were others lacking in Muttra,
would show conclusively that there is some vitality left
in Hindoo art. At Jeypore there is a fine modern pal
ace in the park, and one at Baroda recently built, with
a large hall adorned with balconies of ancient carved
woodwork. The Palace of the Seths at Ajmeer is one of
the most attractive modern instances of elaborate decora
tion to be found anywhere, and Rousselet mentions it in
terms of praise. The fagade of this palace, fronting one
of the principal streets, is completely covered by tiers of
projecting windows of varying design in which white al
ternates with brown stone, all remarkable for breadth and
at the same time delicacy of treatment, and the whole pile
is wonderfully light and airy in effect, while the principal
court-yard within has some admirable oriel windows, and
the intervening wall spaces show much originality in their
decoration. While many of the pupils of these Art Acad
emies have shown incontestable evidence of ability, and in
some cases a striking talent for portraiture, it is question
able whether they should be encouraged to engage in a
career which does not at present offer any very alluring
prospect of success, either artistic or commercial. There
seem, on the other hand, to be far greater possibilities in
store for them in those fields of decorative and ornament
al art in which they are at present almost unrivalled:
there may yet be a decade or two during which we may
hope to see other palaces and public buildings erected of
the fantastic and graceful architecture which admits of
such varied combinations, before the growth of the utili
tarian spirit and the exigencies of commerce shall have
supplanted them all by blocks of stone and sheds of
corrugated iron. It is even possible, as an Englishman
has written, that some future municipal engineer may find
it necessary to widen the streets of Lahore and set them

CHEAP AND UGLY 345
straight with a plumb-line. Nothing can check the steady
growth of these improvements ; they have come to stay,
and their triumphant excuse for being ugly is that they
are cheap.

HINDOO AND MOSLEM

From the earliest period of which any historic record
has survived, when the Vedic literature first took shape,
through the following ages which saw the rise and fall of
Buddhism, the final triumph of the Brahmanic faith and
the successive Mahommedan invasions, down to the pres
ent day, India has been the battle-ground of antagonis
tic creeds. The first followers of the Prophet found a
country which had long enjoyed an advanced stage of
civilization and culture, but which, divided into many
states and harassed by internecine dissensions, was unable
to oppose an effectual barrier to their progress. When
the flood of Mussulman conquest, stamping out on its
way the worshippers of fire and pouring down through
the passes on the north, had spread over the Punjaub, a
dynasty of Mohammedan kings succeeded the Hindoo
monarchs of Delhi, and prepared the ground in a manner
for the formation of the great Mogul Empire. From the
writings and memoirs of Bernier, Sir Thomas Roe, and
other early travellers, and aided by the study and in
spection of the numerous existing remains and monu
ments of that epoch, we may form some idea of its pomp
and luxury', unparalleled in modern times, and recalling
in many features the splendor of the ancient monarchies
of the Euphrates valley. This last great period of Mus
sulman ascendency, beginning with the reign of the

IN THE DESTROYER'S HANDS 347
Emperor Baber, the so-called founder of the Empire of
the Moguls, the contemporary of Suleyman the Magnifi
cent and Francois L, and extending into the following
century when Shah Abbas reigned at Ispahan, and Euro
pean travellers returning from Persia told marvellous
tales of its sumptuous court, culminated in the reign of
Shah Jehan at Delhi and Agra. Previous to the founda
tion of this empire, the occasional inroads of the Moguls
are stated by Elphinstone to have been "the greatest
calamity that had fallen on mankind since the deluge, as
they had no religion to teach, no seeds of improvements
to sow, nor did they offer an alternative of conversion
or tribute." One invasion followed another from Genghis
Khan to Tamerlane, until the advent of Baber, the first
of the Tartar monarchs, who began his reign in 1526.
He is now believed to have been " the most admirable,
though not the most powerful, prince that ever reigned
in Asia." With great administrative capacity, he was at
the same time a soldier and an athlete, a scholar and a
poet. With Shah Jehan, the Mogul power may be said to
have reached its climax ; after Aurungzebe the decadence
began, and the invasion of the Persian conqueror Nadir
Shah gave it a blow from which it never recovered. Then
followed the rise of the Sikh confederacy and the ascen
dency of the Mahrattas.
During all this time, nothing approaching a complete
fusion of the two races, a blending of the Hindoo and
Moslem elements, has taken place, but in many respects
the ways and customs of each have been more or less
modified by the intimacy and contact of daily life, so that
it is not always easy to distinguish the one from the other
by any outward sign. Even in the matter of religious
observances, the lines of demarcation have been some-

348 A QUESTION OF FAITH
what softened, and, to quote from Mr. Baines * and the
illustrations which he gives, "in many instances where
the two forms of faith exist more or less in numerical
equality side by side, the Brahman officiates at all family
ceremonial ; and as it has been put by a local writer, the
convert to Islam observes the feasts of both religions and
the fasts of neither." This state of thought is very much
like that described by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu as
existing among the Macedonian Arnauts of her time, who,
living between Christians and Mohammedans, and " not
being skilled in controversy, declare that they are utterly
unable to judge which religion is the best ; but to be cer
tain of not rejecting the truth, they very prudently follow
both. They go to the mosque on Friday and to the
church on Sunday, saying for their excuse that at the day
of judgment they are sure of protection from the trae
Prophet, but which that is they are not able to deter
mine in this world." Compare with this the following
experience in the present generation as having occurred in
the eastern plains of the Punjaub : "A traveller entering
a rest-house in a Mussulman village found the headman
refreshing the idol with a new coat of oil, whilst a Brah
man read holy texts alongside. The pair seemed rather
ashamed at being caught in the act ; but on being pressed,
explained that their mulla (priest) had lately visited them,
and, being extremely angry on seeing the idol, had made
them bury it in the sand. But now the mulla had gone,
they were afraid of the possible consequences, and were
endeavoring to console the god for his rough treatment."
The scientific and ethnological side of the caste ques
tion has been exhaustively treated, but a stranger, even
after he had digested the mass of erudition which has
* J. A. Baines, Census Commissioner for India, 1891.

HINDOOS AT A VILLAGE WELL

350 CASTE MARKS
accumulated on this subject, would still find difficulty
in distinguishing one subdivision from another, and even,
in many instances, in discriminating between Hindoos
and Mohammedans. On the other hand, there is such a
marked difference between certain of the main divisions,
whether religious or racial, as between a Baboo and a
Rajput or a Sikh, a Bania from Ahmedabad and a Mah
ratta, that after having once noted their principal char
acteristics one is in no danger of forgetting them for-
evermore. Certainly no races of Europe can show such
marked divergence of type as those of Hindostan. Then
there is always the " caste mark," which is or should be
daily painted on the forehead of every self-respecting
Hindoo, and this mayr take the form of a dab of red paint,
a circle or an ellipse, a slender crescent, or a round dot of
gold, and the foreheads of certain holy men are decorated
with white stripes. The " grande cordon " of the Brah
man which elevates him above all lower castes is the
white thread passing over his right shoulder, and which
is as much a mark of distinction as the rosette of some
European order in contrast with the rank and file wearing
a simple knot of ribbon, or the lower orders who have
no such distinguishing mark. And there is also another
way of distinguishing the members of some of the more
prominent castes, and that is by the form of their tur
bans, and in some cases by slight variations of costume,
such as the coats or jackets fitted tightly around the
chest with a curve flap, which in the case of Hindoos
is fastened on the right side, and with Moslems on the
left. The inexhaustible variety of shape and color among
the turbans and caps is a striking element in the pictu
resqueness of Indian street life, and one which gives to
the streets of Bombay the vivacity of an endless carnival.
For in other eastern countries all headgear is fashioned

FASHIONS IN HATS 351
more or less after one or two prescribed models. Among
the Mahrattas alone there are several startling variations,
and the turban, if one may call it so, worn by the nobles
and grandees is shaped like a double-ended canoe, with
some resemblance also to a cocked hat adorned with
a gold-lace cockade, and the rakish Mahratta fashion of
wearing it seems to embody something of the character
of this once dashing race of freebooters who raided
India for so many years. To attempt the most inadequate
description of these varied fashions, or to portray, them
by a series of illustrations, would take the space of more
than one article ; and the stranger can hardly pass a day
in any of the great centres without seeing at least one or
two turbans of unfamiliar forms, and, as for their color,
the tints in the most liberally assorted box of pastels
would convey but a feeble notion of the infinitude of
gradations which they display. These distinguishing
marks of caste have invaded even the more democratic
province of Islam, and certain fashions in which the Mus
sulman turban is worn are quite as distinctive as are the
Hindoo head-coverings.
In Ahmedabad we first noticed a curiously plaited white
turban built around a skullcap of delicate and subdued
tints — a number of men wearing these turbans and long
"kaftans" of white linen were coming out of a house
where a great festival had been given, a dinner of a hun
dred covers. We found it impossible to procure one of
these turbans in Ahmedabad, as they were worn only by
a certain order of Mussulmans in or near Bombay, and
upon arriving in that city we at once set out on a quest
among the turban-makers shops. The special fabricant of
this peculiar style of head-dress, when we found him,
proved to be a little weazen-faced Moslem who sat perched
in a window looking out into the bazaar, and from the

352 A SINECURE
" gharry " we watched the opening of negotiations by the
servant who represented us. But he was unfortunately
only a low-caste Hindoo, and his advances were received
with disdain by the arrogant Moslem hatter, who refused
to enter into any financial transaction with him whatever ;
but we finally obtained the coveted turban through the
friendly offices of Hadj Mohammed, a Mussulman who
kept an outfitter's shop under our hotel. Among the
usages of the purely Mussulman community we recog
nize much which is already familiar to us in other Eastern
countries, and quite as much which is strictly local, and
there exists also the still more interesting borderland
where the two great creeds seem to have reached the
point of mutual tolerance, if not of ultimate fusion. Every
shrine or place of pilgrimage held in honor by the disci
ples of the Prophet, and nearly every unfrequented or
abandoned mosque, is usually confided to the guardian
ship of an ancient Mussulman, often a relic by descent of
some heroic ancestor, who camps out with his family in a
secluded corner of its cloisters. Here he leads a peaceful
and ruminative existence, passing the long hot afternoon
in a shady corner under the spreading branches of an an
cient fig-tree or " peepul," droning aloud from the Koran
to his pupils, with an occasional pull at his bubbling water-
pipe by way of interlude, or a brief nap on his straw car
pet. And while the venerable mulla slumbers, the mon
keys or " langurs " let themselves cautiously down from
the branches overhead and investigate the frugal contents
of his larder, or gambol about the tank, while the swarms
of green parrots keep up a riotous clamor among the leaves
overhead. Ranking below the village menials in the grad
uated series of castes come the gypsies of India, who oc
cupy pretty much the same position in the social scale
that they do in other countries, while they follow similar

354 A BARBER'S PARADISE
callings. In point of numbers, and in relative promineuce
as compared with other castes, they are hardly important
enough to be mentioned at all except for the vagueness
and mystery surrounding their origin.* Many of them
are tinkers, jugglers, and sorcerers, and although I have
never seen it stated that snake-charming was among their
vocations, a party of swarthy wizards who entertained us
with a basketful of cobras at Ahmedabad had all the sali
ent features of their confreres on the Albaicin at Gra
nada. The village barber and his wife have a position
above that of many other castes, owing to the variety and
importance of their social functions. Hindoos alone have
many different ways of wearing the hair, and we found
amusement and edification at Saharunpoor in watching
a row of these barbers seated on the ground, with their
cases of tools beside them, as they operated on the heads
of their constantly changing clientele. Both Hindoos and
Moslems are alike charitable to their poorer brethren,
particularly to those who are bound by religious vows to
lead a life of mendicity. The Mussulman khamsanah at
a dak bungalow treasures up what is left of wasteful
Christian dinners, and distributes it to his needy co-re
ligionists on Fridays when they assemble in force. Many
and various were the races represented in these gather
ings at Amritsar, notably those of northern descent, long
haired Beloochees, Afghans, and other waifs from over
the border, all eager to profit by this semi-official bounty7.
One can hardly live a day in India without assimilating
some new fact bearing upon the endless sub-divisions and
* Some years ago, at a dance given by a band of Andalusian gypsies,
I noticed their marked resemblance to low-caste Hindoos not only in feat
ure but in the quality of tlieir skin and hair, and a Spanish acquaint
ance seemed firmly convinced of their Indian origin. This is also the
theory of Mr. Baines, who finds many arguments to support it.

356 A HINDOO CRITIC
infinitesimal gradations of caste, and as in the literary,
artistic, and social worlds of other hemispheres, the prin
cipal divisions which would seem at first sight to the un
initiated outsider to consist of pretty much the same sort
of people, are found, when attentively examined, to ex
hibit unexpected divergences, and to be composed of hos
tile units all animated by a common tendency to cluster
together, to form nuclei, and then to subdivide again.

n
The Hindoo globe-trotter takes delight, not altogether
free from a spark of malice, in pointing out the beam in
the eyes of other Aryan brothers which has been thought
to exist only in his own. " You too have caste," said one
of the Hindoos at the Chicago Fair, " but your caste is
founded on money alone." In a recent book about Eng
land and the English, written by a Hindoo, the author
who had heard Englishmen talk about the baneful effects
of caste in India as if they had none in England, says, "A
poor man there is a Sudra;* and a rich man, a lord, a
peer, a Brahman, a born legislator, statesman, and every
thing else." And yet upon the whole he is a "friendly
critic," as the Times of India reviewer assures us, who
found much to admire in British institutions. With the
spread of education among subordinate castes, the su
premacy of the Brahman, and the exclusive monopoly in
matters intellectual which he formerly enjoyed, are rap
idly waning. The class which seems to have made the
most capital out of the new order of things is the some
what loosely defined but widely distributed portion of the
Hindoo population known as Bengalis or Baboos. When
* The lowest and most degraded caste.

SIMPLE COSTUMES

357

they are conservative enough to cling to the primitive
costume of their forefathers, which was evidently not
designed to foster the vice of vanity among its wearers,
there is little difficulty in distinguishing them from other
subjects of the Queen-Empress. These orthodox Baboos
wear nothing on their heads to cover their close-cropped
shocks of black hair, although they usually carry a white
cotton umbrella ; their principal garment is a long piece

HINDOO WOMEN, SUBURBS OF BOMBAY

358 A QUESTION OF STYLE
of white drapery called a " dhotee," leaving their arms
and legs bare, and worn something after the fashion of a
Roman toga. Other characteristic features of their cos
tume are the low patent-leather shoes, and white socks,
which have a tendency to hang down, leaving visible large
surfaces of fat, brown shanks, as these people are inclined
to be of full and portly habit. Gold-rimmed spectacles
often add a touch of modern " actuality " to this some
what archaic costume.
There is a prevalent belief among the more progressive
members of this class that a European costume, or, what
is more common, a sort of compromise between the dress
of the undisguised Baboo and the Englishman, is the first
step in the direction of worldly success. As a recent critic
remarks, " In as small a matter as getting off a tram-car,
I have repeatedly observed that Baboos in coats and trou
sers risk their lives in a flying leap, while others in dhotee
and bare feet insist on the car stopping before they trust
their precious persons to the ground." Whatever may be
his dress he runs no risk of being mistaken for a member
of any of the military castes, and in case of war it would
probably never occur to the ruling powers to raise an
army from among this industrious and prolific section of
the community. But in a country where everything has
been specialized from the very beginning, no one seems to
respect this class the less, on account of its pacific disposi
tion. And yet some of their severest critics may be found
among their own order. One of their pundits with an his
toric name lately remarked, " You can no more make a
gentleman out of a Bengali than carve a fine image out
of rotten wood." He and others believe that the Bengali
has little stability or force of character, and that new in
stitutions or movements which, originate among them fail
to inspire any marked degree of public confidence unless

ENGLISH AS SHE IS WROTE 359
propped up by the support of some European element,
however slight. And as a general thing the Bengali will
rely more on the word of an Englishman than on that of
his fellow-countrymen. But on the other hand it cannot
be denied that these people represent much of the brain
and intelligence of native India. They edit papers and
are born agitators, criticising the policy of the govern
ment, and saying whatever it pleases them to think upon
political matters in their societies, as well as in their jour
nals, for they are usually endowed with the gift of volu
bility and rapid utterance, and freely express their minds
in " high-falutin' " and more or less Shakespearian English.
With the steady progress of modern ideas and education
the examples of Baboo English, which once delighted
Anglo-Indian readers, are becoming rarer, and we may
never have another book equal to the well-known biog
raphy of Onoocool Chunder Mookerjee.* A gentleman

* The writer cannot do better than quote the opening lines of this re
markable work for the instruction of those not familiar with the author's
style : " The Memoir of the late Hon'ble Justice Onoocool Chunder
MookerjSe. Let me hold my Penna after a few months, to write the
memoir of the individual above-named : but quid agis ? if any one put
me such a query, I will be utterly thrown into a great jeopardy and
hurley-burley, and say — a fool of myself 1 As a spider spins web for its
own destruction, or as when the clown who was busy in digging a grave
for 'Ophelia,' was asked by Hamlet, 'Whos grave's this Sirrah ?' said,
' Mine Sir,' so in writing one's memoir I am as if to dig my own grave
in it. To write one's memoir, or to write in such a way as the literary
public may fall in love with, is a task difficult in the extreme, especially
of such a man as the late Hon'ble Justice Mookerjee. He was no poet
that I may put some such writing in print, full of poetical thoughts,
which the public did not see, or recite some such stirring events, as in
duced him to write into measured lines some such subjects, which the
public are already in possession of and thereby please them."
An official while in town left a pony in charge of a native subor
dinate, from whom it escaped. The native explained the matter in a

360 HINDOO ADAPTABILITY
who has been for many years connected with the man
agement of one of the northern railways does not think
that they are actually supplanting Europeans, but that on
the contrary they are often elbowed out by " poor whites,"
a class which formerly did not exist, the sons of Euro
peans, or " Eurasians," for the most part laborers and me
chanics, when they can find employment. On the other
hand, fewer Europeans now fill the posts of station-mas
ters, engine-drivers, or guards, and natives trained for the
work are rapidly replacing them. Natives, particularly
of the Baboo class, now hold a larger number of official
appointments than was formerly the case in accordance
with recent official decisions. My informant thinks that
they are excellently organized for office and routine work,
though not reliable in case of emergencies, and personally
he would rather employ amative for any post worth under
100 rupees a month than a European, as he can procure a
better stamp of man in a native at that price. But these
adaptive and versatile Hindoos are rapidly crowding out
Europeans from minor clerkly employments, since they
can make a better appearance on less money. Among
their ranks may be found journalists, politicians, and
scribes of every description, advocates, attorneys, and
judges. Many have achieved distinction at the bar, in
politics, and in literature. The poetess Toru Dutt, whom
Edmund Gosse calls a "fragile, exotic blossom of song,"
was the daughter of the Baboo Govin Chunder Dutt, and
before the age of twenty she had attained such a mastery
of French that her romance Le Journal de Mile. d'Arvers
letter to his "sahib": "I have the honour to report that the little horse,
since your honour's departure, has assumed a devil-may-care attitude
and has become violently obstreperous. This morning at 6 a.m. the said
little horse eloped from my custody, but, with tlie favour of Heaven, he
may return."

SNAKE-CHARMER

362 SYMBOLS OF FAITH
received much commendation in Paris, and her ancient
ballads and legends of Hindostan are full of* passages
which few would wish to see changed, and which show a
wonderful mastery of English verse. Without falling into
the error of judging a race by rare exceptions and of
"booming the Baboo" prematurely, it is evident that he
is having a chance for the first time in history, and that
he is not backward in making the most of it.

Ill
One of the vital problems of government in India to
day is the maintenance of harmony between the two
principal religious factions. This is by no means a new
question, but one which has taken many different forms
since the days of the tolerant Akbar, who, although sur
rounded by fanatical priests and followers, showed him
self to be far freer from race prejudice than some mon
archs of the present day ; and the latest development of
this problem, reduced to its lowest terms by the press of
India, is the " Cow Question," or " cow vs. pig." These
two peaceable animals have been dragged into the con
troversies between the disciples of Mohammed and of
Brahma, where they have been made to play not merely
the part of animate symbols, but that of active partici
pants in the frequent local outbursts of religious frenzy.
¦Some years ago one of the first of many similar emeutes
was caused by the discovery of a live pig in the sacred
precincts of the great mosque at Delhi. To the stranger
forced to be content with general impressions, and lack
ing the time, or perhaps the disposition, to look beneath
the surface, the chief cause of contention between the
partisans of the two great creeds might appear a trivial
matter ; but the real question lies deeper, and is not to be

A FOOD QUESTION 363
treated in either a facetious or a zoological vein. Far
from seeing anything laughable in the aspect which
these dissensions have taken of late, the local press in
clines to treat the matter with great seriousness ; and
with good reason, since the immediate cause of the mu
tiny has again been admitted, after all, to have been the
greased cartridges smeared with animal fat, objectionable
alike to Hindoo and Moslem. While the cow is the more
serious cause of these lamentable differences of opinion,
and will always remain a casus belli, the pig is dragged
into the conflict, and most unwillingly, by the Hindoos,
to be used with never - failing success as a weapon of of
fence against their adversaries, and ofttimes as a missile.
The Mussulman sees no reason why he should be debarred
from eating beef by the prejudice of the Hindoo, but
wherever the Hindoo is numerically strong enough he
will prevent him. On the other hand, a Hindoo writer
in the Tohfa-i-Hind, in descanting on the evils of cow-
killing, says : " To kill such a highly useful animal to sup
ply one day's food (for a few men) is downright folly, and
those who destroy such an animal for the purpose of food
deserve to be regarded with abhorrence. Besides, cows'
flesh is most injurious to health. The writer has got a
large number of ancient books on medicine in his pos
session, written by Mohammedans, in which cows' flesh is
distinctly condemned as deleterious and productive of lep
rosy. Her blood, too, is described as a deadly poison in
its effect. Again, in the old books on cookery, of which,
too, the writer possesses a goodly lot, modes of preparing
food of the flesh of other animals are given, but nowhere
cows' flesh is mentioned. All this clearly shows that cows'
flesh cannot be used by man without doing great injury
to his body." This thorough - paced vegetarian is firmly
convinced that cow- killing was introduced into India un-

364

SACRED ANIMALS

der British rule, in proof
of which he points to the
spread of leprosy, and what
he calls "the increasing
spread of famines."* The
feeling among the Hindoos
against the wanton destruc
tion of these sacred animals
by their gluttonous adversa
ries and former tyrants has
reached such a height that
an "anti-cow-killing league"
has been formed and is rap
idly growing in strength. A
riot caused by this sentiment
occurred last year at Gazi-
BELOOCHEE pur, but serious consequences
were averted by the prompt action of the authorities. A
number of Hindoos convicted of having caused the disturb
ance appealed from the judgment of the chief magistrate
of Benares, sentencing them to a term of imprisonment,
and the main facts were again stated in court. One Wazir
Ali, the "zemindar," or headman of a village, and a Mussul
man, as his name implies, was about to give a feast to cele
brate the marriage of his daughter. But the local butcher
would not sell him any beef, on account of the feeling
among the Hindoos, who are in the majority in that prov
ince. Then Wazir Ali bethought himself of his own cow,
but not being discreet enough to keep his nefarious design to
himself, the Hindoos got wind of it and spread the news
throughout the neighborhood. Some of them ran to the
next village, shouting, "Cows are going to be killed in Mauf

Times of India, March 12, 1894.

f Mau, name of town.

FORBIDDEN FRUIT'

365

to-day at Wazir's house ! All go to the temple of Mahabir.
Whoever does not go, let him be held guilty of eating
cow !" When an armed crowd had collected, numbering
between two and three thousand Hindoos, Ram Gulam
Lai and a Brahman were deputed to go to Wazir Ali, and
tell him that if he killed his cow, " his house would be
looted and he himself probably killed."
Wazir Ah, at a loss for some way of feeding his guests,
proposed to kill a buffalo calf, if he could find one, and
appealed to the local authorities to protect him in this ex
ercise of his civil rights. But the mob had determined to
prevent him from killing either cow or buffalo, and threat
ened to loot the village ; some one was heard to say that
British rule would not last three years ; but upon the ar
rival of the representatives of the law and the display of
force the ringleaders were arrested, and the mob finally
broken up and dispersed.
Opinions differ as to the
extent to which the " cow-
protection " movement is
responsible for the late dis
turbance in Bombay. That
it was one of the causes
seems to be generally ad
mitted. In this instance
the agitation had been fer
menting for several weeks
previous to the outbreak,
and the police were ready.
In the list of resolutions
issued by the local govern
ment of Bombay a few
months after the riot some
of these causes are alluded

366 FANATICISM
to, and there are many curious facts which give an idea of
the prevailing character of these religious or semi-relig
ious disturbances and the course which they usually take.
There had been a growing ill-feeling between the two fac
tions which had manifested itself in various ways, and, as
the Commissioner of Police reports, the causes of the final
outbreak " were both predisposing and immediate." He
had with much difficulty prevented the leaders of the
"Cow Protection Society" from parading thousands of
these domestic animals through the streets on the occa
sion of their anniversary in April. A rival society was
formed for the purpose of preaching the same views with
greater energy ; and their agents obtained a large plot
of land, where they intended to sequestrate all the cattle
which they had intercepted and purchased on the road to
Bombay. " Pictures and pamphlets illustrating the sanc-
tity of the cow, and the sin of slaughtering it, were also
sold and distributed all over the Presidency, but chiefly
in Bombay." The secretary of one of these societies went
to the commissioner and urged him to prohibit the prac
tice of slaughtering cattle, which had existed for centuries
in Bombay, but he naturally refused to interfere. In spite
of all the precautions taken, and the vigilance of the au
thorities, hostilities broke out, as had been anticipated,
on a Friday,* and in the vicinity of the Jumma Mujid.
When the crowd of Mussulman worshippers — which was
unusually large, numbering over a thousand — began to
leave the mosque at one o'clock, after the noonday
prayers, it was evident that there was a concerted move
ment among them, which presently developed into a tu
multuous rush towards the Masuti temple. Notwith
standing the efforts of a large number of law-abiding
* August 11, 1893.

RIOT AND RUIN 367
Mussulmans, aided by the police, to quell the excite
ment, sticks were brandished, stones thrown, and with
loud shouts of "Din ! Din!" the mob attacked the Hindoo
shop-keepers, rushing down the neighboring streets, and
assailing the police and mounted " Sowars " with their
clubs and with volleys of stones and tiles. In the mean
time other riots had broken out in various quarters ; and
as the bands of infuriated Mussulmans were driven from
one street to another, or dispersed by the police and the-
troops which had now been called out to aid them, they
would again unite and attack the hated cow protectors
and all who stood in their way. Detachments from tbe
Bombay Volunteer Light Horse Artillery and Rifles, and
also from the Marine Battalion, as well as several other
strong bodies of native troops, now came to the rescue,
and guns were posted at the intersections of streets. For
several days the tumult raged — not, it would seem, in one
continuous battle, but in a series of riots, followed by in
tervals of quiet, and again breaking out afresh. Hindoo
temples and Mussulman mosques were desecrated, idols
were broken, stables where cattle were kept set on fire,
and even the poor buffaloes, which partake of the sanc
tity of the cow only in a remote degree, did not escape ;
shops were looted, and crowds of Mussulmans escorting
the biers containing their dead were assaulted in their turn
by the Hindoos. And so the struggle went on, until the
arrival of fresh troops from Poona finally put an end to
it. Among the most desperate combatants were bands
of " Seedy boys " and Pathans, and even Mahrattas were
dragged into the fray, but in no instance known was any
European attacked unless a member of the police force or
a soldier. Over fifteen hundred rioters were arrested, of
which number the Mohammedans were largely in excess,
and in some instances heavy sentences of imprisonment

368 THE PIG COMES TO THE FRONT
were imposed. In summing up the causes of this disturb
ance some months later, the Governor considered that one
of the main causes of the outbreak was the .infections
spread by the riots which had broken out in other parts
of India, and especially those at Prabas Pathan.*
Mussulmans are quite well aware that the tender senti
ments of the Hindoos in regard to cows are of old stand
ing, and also, on the other hand, that in all stations where
Englishmen reside the supply of beef is regularly forth
coming, although precautions are always taken to avoid
wounding the susceptibilities of the Hindoos. It appears
also from the reports that no amount of foresight could
have averted the uprising, but at the same time a stronger
display of military force at the outset might have pre
vented much violence. And here we touch upon a ten
der point, for it seems that in England there is a party
which is always ready to decry any resort to arms, or
any unnecessary manifestation of force in India.
Now we come to another class of disturbances, of a
more purely religious or rather sectarian character, in
which the cow is relegated to the background, and the
pig plays the part of the spark which explodes the maga
zine. Yeola, the scene of the latest riot, is a town where
the Hindoo part of the population far outnumbers the
Mohammedan section. According to the Hindoo version
* The beginnings of the disturbance were seen at Prabas Pathan, a
village in the Junagadh territory, in the vicinity of the famous slirine
of Somnath, where during the "taboot procession" an onslaught upon
the Hindoos was made by the Mussulmans, in which eleven were killed
and many injured. The incident naturally created much excitement in
Bombay among both Hindoos and Mohammedans, and meetings were
held by the respective communities, at which subscriptions were raised
for defraying the cost of prosecution and defence in the judicial pro
ceedings that were to follow the riots, and to relieve the feelings of the
victims. — Times of India, January 1, 1894.

POMP AND CEREMONY

369

of this affair, the misunderstanding first began on Sep
tember 15, 1893, when, as has been the custom from
time immemorial, the Hindoos are wont to take their
idol in procession accompanied by bands of musicians

PUBLIC LETTER-WRITER, LAHORE

playing the deafening music which is thought to ap
pease his wrath, but which is peculiarly irritating to
Mussulman ears, and after promenading him through the
town with much pomp and ceremony, sitting in state in
a towering car, gorgeous with red and gold, they conduct
him to the temple. Unfortunately for the idol and his
faithful followers, the procession was made to pass the
Patel's mosque, where a strong body of fierce descend
ants of the Prophet was lying in ambush, eager to swoop
down on the noisy infidels.* The Hindoos say that the
* In these religious processions each sect delights to parade through
the enemy's part of the town, and it is only by the exercise of much
diplomacy on the part of the local authorities that collisions are pre
vented. 24

370 TROUBLE BREWING
principal magistrate, who happened to be a Mohammedan,
the only other magistrate in authority having left the
village, then showed himself, and obliged the procession
to take another route, which allayed the excitement for
the moment, but gave great cause of offence to the Hin
doos. As succeeding events proved, the outbreak was
only postponed, and the measures taken at the time were
injudicious and satisfactory to neither party. The Dus-
sera festival was to take place shortly, and as more
trouble was apprehended by the local authorities, a num
ber of orders and proclamations were issued, some of
which appear to have conflicted with each other, and did
not produce the anticipated effect. The procession was
ordered not to pass any mosque between the 10th and
the 17th of October, but was allowed to pass certain
specified mosques at given dates and hours. Further
more, no musical instrument except a gong should be
played within fifteen paces on each side of a mosque.
The Mohammedans, on the other hand, were not to as
semble in their mosques "for any unlawful purpose" at
these times, or their mosques would be locked up. This
measure, as might have been expected, gave umbrage to
the Mohammedans.
These various attempts on the part of the local powers
to smooth matters over seem also to have grievously an
noyed the Hindoos as well; for their most important
ceremony on the day of Dussera, which fell this year on
October 15th, did not take place at all. On this occa
sion they assemble in Balajee's temple, and take the idol
out for an airing in the suburbs of the town. Although
the temple was protected by a detachment of soldiers, the
managers of the procession complained that their god
Balajee had been insulted and deeply injured by the de
risive yells and cries of the Mussulman roughs and irrev-

AN OUTBREAK 371
erent small boys, that the ceremony was useless without
the customary music of horns and tom-toms, and, further
more, that if they could not start when they were ready,
they would not go at all. Their state of mind was fur
ther aggravated when it was found that the stone bull
had been removed from his accustomed place of honor in
the Temple of Shree Trimbakeshwar, and, to crown all,
the Mohammedans had forcibly entered by night the
most sacred shrine and place of pilgrimage in Yeola, the
tomb of the founder of the city, removed the god, and
thrown him in the ditch. It was not until some months
after these incidents that the actual uprising occurred.
Without attempting to further unravel the conflicting
statements of either side, or trying to make them cor
respond, which is the business of the local chronicler, this,
briefly, is what happened. While the excitement was
spreading, and the agitators on both sides were diligent
ly laboring, the accursed pig was discovered in the Patel's
mosque, and under peculiarly aggravating circumstances.
The pig had been cut in two, in order to defile the mosque
in the most thorough manner, and, wild with excitement,
the Mussulmans were rushing about and crying out for
vengeance, when it was found that the mosque was on
fire ! Now their frenzy became uncontrollable, and they
hurried in a body to the Mulhidar temple, where they
massacred a cow within the holy enclosure, and in a man
ner exasperating to Hindoo feelings. While this was
going on, the fire in the mosque, which had been kindled
with cans of kerosene, was gaining ground, and the men
who were working to extinguish it were pelted with vol
leys of stones from natives posted on the opposite house
tops. They were ordered to refrain by those in author
ity, but upon their refusing to do so they were fired on
by the police with blank-cartridges, and then dosed with

372

SEVERE MEASURES

buckshot. Other mosques and houses of Mohammedans
were now on fire, the local magistrates began to arrive,
and then fresh bodies of police and the volunteers. The
tumult was finally quelled, but after it had lasted for
seven hours, during which time much destruction of prop
erty had taken place, and considerable loss of life. The
pig story is now discredited by some of the Hindoo jour
nalists who are anxious to prove that their enemies were
the aggressors in every instance.
The " Gaurakshina Sabha," as the cow-protection so-

FAKIH, TWILIGHT

SOPHISTRY 373
ciety calls itself,* was established ostensibly for the pro
tection and improvement of cattle, and so long as it
occupies itself with its orjginal object it cannot fail to
be of great utility in a country where animals are often
overworked and ill-used, in spite of the belief that human
souls may be incarnate in their bodies. But while men
of position on both sides and social leaders are alike
interested in the maintenance of peace and order, there
is evidence which strengthens the belief that professional
agitators have been travelling from place to place using
the name of this or of other societies to further their
designs, and devising new schemes by which they expect
to profit at the expense of their dupes.
A Bengal rajah who was recently interviewed, and
invited to address a meeting on the subject of the cow-
protection movement, declined to do so, but stated in the
course of conversation his belief that "the cow question
was the political question of the day ;" and also that "cow
protection and the protection of all our temples and re
ligious institutions, religious rites and interests, depend
on the peace of the country, and those who foolishly try
to play with the foundation-stone in the shape of the
peace of our society are self-destroyers, and in my opin
ion worse than persons who commit suicide." Another
opinion on this subject, delivered by a Parsee while on a
recent visit to America is worth recording.f He says
that " the riots in India were not directed against British
domination at all — all the leading business men, the edu
cated classes, and even the great middle classes of Indians
are warm adherents of British rule and policies of gov
ernment. It is difficult to make people understand the
true cause and exact scope of those riots who know little
* In Behar. t Baltimore American.

374 THE ARM OF THE LAW
of the intricate lines of religious and secular thought and
life in that country. The question which agitates India
to-day is not some great problem of internal government,
but the cow question."
Above all this tumult of misguided and over-zealous
religionists, and calmly superior, the government of India
sits, majestically enthroned, and armed like Jove with an
ample supply of thunderbolts with which to strike the
erring of either creed. In the address of the late Viceroy
at Agra, he affirms the strict neutrality of the govern
ment, " a neutrality not based on indifference," but upon
an equal respect for both the great historic religions of
India and he also declares that " the government of India
is under a twofold obligation. We owe it to the whole
community, British and Indian, to secure the public safe
ty, and to protect the persons and property of the Queen's
subjects from injury and interference ; we are also bound
to secure to both the great religious denominations free
dom from molestation or persecution in the exercise of
their religious observances. The law secures to the Mo
hammedans the right of following the ritual which has
been customary for them and for their forefathers, while
it secures to the Hindoos protection from outrage and
insult, and for this reason forbids the slaughter of cattle
with unnecessary publicity, or in guch a manner as will
occasion wanton or malicious annoyances to their feel
ings. Let both sides understand clearly that no lawless
or aggressive conduct on their part will induce us to de
part by an inch from this just and honorable policy: Do
not let it be supposed that the slaughter of kine for the
purpose of sacrifice, or for food, will ever be put a stop
to : we shall protect the religions of both sides alike, and
we shall punish according to the law any act which wan
tonly outrages the religious feelings of any section of the

A FAKIR, BENARES

376 THE FAKIR AS A FACTOR
community. Let it also be clearly understood that we
shall not permit any disturbance of the peace, and that
wherever violence is exhibited we shall not be afraid to
put it down by force."
The accounts of affairs in India, published by the Con
tinental journals, and particularly those in which secta
rian riots or other local disturbances are referred to,* are
seldom trustworthy, since the prevailing jealousy of Eng
land, and the fact that she has so far succeeded in main
taining a stable government for the heterogeneous mill
ions of India, which in itself is a grievance, leads them
at times to misrepresent facts, and often to exaggerate
local disturbances of comparatively little importance.
When the enormous aggregate of the population is con
sidered, it is easy to understand that far greater causes
would be necessary in order to pervade all classes with
discontent, to interfere with the regular working of the
judicial machinery, and to imperil the peace of the whole
empire. IV
A figure which adds much fo the joyous aspect of life
in India, and, like the hump-backed cow, the crow, and
the vulture, is part of its strictly local color, is the itiner
ant fakir. The fact that he seems to take himself very
seriously does not prevent him at times from being inde
scribably grotesque. Of all the children of Aryan stock
he is the most conservative, unchanged and unchanging ;
and even in India, where in these days one is seldom out
of hearing of the locomotive whistle, he is an anachro-
* It is shrewdly imagined by government that the anti-cow-killing
society is only a cloak for a lot of disaffected Hindoos to work under.
— Note by a member of the jury during the trial of the rioters.

EQUALITY 377
nism. Buddha, after the great renunciation, was the first
to wear the yellow of whom we have any authentic tra
dition, and whenever the fakir appears in history, no mat
ter at what date, he is always exactly the same figure
that we meet to-day, plodding along the road on his way
to a shrine. The fakir who conversed with the Emperor
Jehanghir,* treating him as an equal, to the great scan
dal of the English ambassador, wore a crown of pea
cock's feathers, like one who used to hang about the
palace of the Seths in Ajmere. The famous interview
between the Emperor and the fakir is depicted in an
cient Hindoo miniature, where they are both seated fac
ing each other, on the roof of a little pavilion rising from
the water ; a boat is fastened at the door below.
* " I found him sitting on his throne, and a Beggar at his feet, a poore
silly old man, all asht, ragd, and patcht, with a young roague attending
on him. With these kind of professed poore holy men, the countrey
abounds, and are held in great reverence,' but for workes of chastisement
of their bodies and voluntary sufferings, they exceed the brags of all here-
tiques or Idolaters. This miserable wretch, cloathed in rags, crowned
with feathers, covered with ashes, his Majestie talked with about an
hour, with such familiaritie, and shew of kindnesse, that it must needs
argue an humilitie not found easily among kings. The Beggar sate,
which his sonne dares not doe; he gave the King a Present, a Cake,
asht, burnt on the Coales, made by himselfe of coarse graine, which the
King accepted most willingly, and brake one bit and eate it, which a
daintie mouth could scarce have done. After he tooke the clout, and
wrapt it up, and put in the poore mans bosome, and sent for one hun
dred Rupias, and with his owne hands powred them into the poore mans
lap, and what fell besides gathered up for him : when his collation of
banqueeting and drinke came, whatsoever he tooke to eate, he brake and
gave the Begger halfe, and after many strange humiliations, and char-
itirising, the old Wretch not being nimble, he tooke him up in his armes,
which no cleanly body durst have touched, imbracing him, and three
times laying his hand on his heart calling him father, he left him, and all
us and me in admiration of such a vertue in a heathen Prince." —
Sir Thomas Roe.

378

HIRSUTE APPENDAGES

YOUNG NAUTCH GIRL

His usual and unique gar-
_^f/jg^^^ ment is a long strip of flimsy
jM cotton of a faded orange hue,
which is wound about him,
leaving his legs and arms
bare, and they, as well as his
face, are gray with dust
and ashes. Long strings of
beads and rosaries, amulets,
charms, feathers, brass chains
and gewgaws give him the
appearance of an ambulating
junk-shop. Stripes of white
paint diversify his solemn
countenance, and he is often burdened with a heavy vol
ume of Holy Writ, which is sometimes in very good con
dition with a new and " puckah " binding. A thick and
shaggy shock of hair is part of the fakir's stock in trade,
and when he has not enough to start business with, he
ingeniously pieces it out with some brown substance hav
ing the nature or appearance of a "jute switch." It is
usually gathered up on the nape of the neck after the
present mode among European ladies, and it is then
twisted into a series of knots on the top. of the head.
Lengthened out artificially, it is frequently wound about
the fakir's head like a turban, tinted with henna, and its
bulk is further augmented with strings of wooden beads,
cowries, brass chains, or whatever he happens to have on
hand. A few wear their hair closely cropped, and when
it descends to the shoulders only it is anointed with oil or
grease, and then powdered with dust, in order to give it
that peculiar matted appearance so highly prized. There
are others of exalted pretensions who cover their heads
with a tall - pointed cap or helmet of some sort, hung

A MERE SKETCH 379
around with bells and other metallic articles which jin
gle, and now and then we meet one wearing, like Jehan-
gir's friend, a tall nodding crown of peacock feathers,
which is remarkably effective in frightening horses.
But the fakir, sitting alone by the roadside, in the sol
emn twilight, ceases to be merely grotesque ; hardly dis
tinguishable from the dust but for the faded color of his
drapery, motionless, and seeming to gaze fixedly at some
thing invisible to profane eyes, he is a startling and un
earthly figure, and any right-minded horse would refuse
to pass him in the dusk. The fakir is always a seductive
object to paint, for what could be more discreetly decora
tive than his scheme of color, the quiet opposition of his
blue-gray skin like an elephant's hide, and the washed-out
orange of his garment ; but however lovingly he may be
studied he will always look like an unfinished sketch,.
slightly " out " in its values, or, to be more precise, like a
sculptor's " maquette " of clay, and will never be likely to
find much favor as a subject in the world of commercial
art. It is not an easy matter to show on canvas that the-
reason why his face has no modelling, scarce! jr any re
flected lights, is because of the opaque coating of clay,.
to which cause is also due the remarkable texture of his
dyed hair, and that the reason why he appears, at first
sight, to wear tan-colored kid gloves, is because the gray
dust has been washed off in some sacred tank.
Fakirs almost invariably pose well, and are singularly
docile and accommodating as models, the inexhaustible-
stock of patience required in their vocation making it
easy for them to keep the same position. Every one-
knows the oft-told tale of the saint who sat for sixteen
years with one arm upraised until it stiffened in that po
sition like the dead limb of a tree, and the nails grew into
the palm of his hand ; and of the other who placed a pinch

380 A ROADSIDE ORNAMENT
of earth on the end of his outstretched tongue, planted a
seed therein, and sat until the seed sprouted and the
leaves appeared. In spite of the fact that their vows for
bid them to touch the coin of the realm, they are not
averse to receiving it in the gourds or little buckets
which they usually carry. One who belonged to a sect
distinguished above all others for saintliness was draped
and turbaned with yellow and carried a slender wand
which he never laid down. Having consented to pose, he
took up a position in the sunlight, and was carefully in
structed not to move. While he sat, his lips moved in
cessantly, and he never ceased to repeat prayers or
charms ; but one of his hands, having got out of position
at the critical moment, I rose to replace it. At my ap
proach be shrank backward with an expression of horror,
but fortunately before I had touched him it was ex
plained to me that the contact of an unsanctified hand
would put ages of penance between him and the happy
goal which was now so near.
An ascetic, with whom we had the honor of a personal
interview, had invented an original method of attaining
that elevation of spirit, through maceration of the flesh,
which all must compass before they may hope for end
less rest. We saw him on the road from Ajmere to the
Sacred Lake of Poscha, dwelling alone in the wilderness.
The fine road by which we descended a steep declivity
among the hills made an abrupt turn at the bottom of
the slope, and the driver had to rein in his horses, which
were rearing and plunging at the sudden apparition of a
small white tent and a silent figure squatting at the en
trance. With three broad white stripes chalked across
his forehead, and hair toned to the deep and streaky
bronze hue so prevalent at the Concours Hippique, he
was like a Japanese monster carved from a knot of wTood.

FAKIRS AT BENARES

382 DOING PENANCE
Just inside the tent stood an elaborate iron bedstead, and
there was neither mattress nor sheet to conceal the frame
work of the structure, with transverse bars thickly plant
ed with long iron spikes, on which, for eight hours of the
twenty-four, the fakir was accustomed to stretch his ema
ciated body. At that moment he was taking a rest, and
his eyes, the only signs of life in his wooden countenance,
were fixed on us. The bedstead had been constructed in
Ajmere at the expense of one of his disciples, a wealthy
Hindoo merchant. This valley was the playground of
divers striped and spotted brutes of the cat family — to
such an extent that iron -barred refuges for goats and
goatherds had been built at intervals along the road — and
we have often since thought, with a certain uneasiness, of
the lonely fakir whose only defence was his sanctity, and
wondered whether he had been rewarded with the mar
tyr's crown.
When the hot wind of April was at its height in Be
nares, a few weeks later, and the mercury daily stood at
100° or 110° Fahr. with an upward tendency, while it
marked 159° in the sun (according to the. Pioneer}, we
could not but admire the fortitude of another devotee
whom we daily saw at the boat-landing on the Ganges.
His idea of self-abasement was imaginative and Dan-
tesque. From a sort of gallows on the bank of the river,
in a spot at once exposed to the full power of the sun,
the reflected heat from the calcined bank, and the burn
ing wind which swept the dust and parched leaves into
whirling eddies, he hung suspended by his heels, with his
face covered by a figured prayer-cloth. With each oscil
lation of the dangling figure, as it slowly swayed to and
fro, its head passed within a foot of a hot fire, made of
the pungent flap-jacks with which the Hindoo cooks his
rice. Another, whose aspect denoted the highest degree

SAINTLY MEDITATION 383
of self-immolation, galloped down the road mounted on a
frightened cow, past the verandas of Clark's Hotel. A
shred of yellow cloth concealed but little of his dusty
anatomy, wasted by vigils and long fasting, and he waved
a tattered umbrella as he tore past, yelling at the top of
his voice. For the daring simplicity and originality of
his "make-up" he deserved the academic palms of his
order. Benares is the principal gathering-place of this motley
tribe of zealots and ascetics, and here they troop during
the spring festivals from all quarters of India. Many
are the strange varieties and idiosyncrasies of costume or
manner which prove that charlatanism, whether religious,
social, or aesthetic, is not monopolized by Western races
alone. Along the roads leading to the Holy City they
march in groups, singly, or in couples, incrusted with
¦clay and dust, and many of them carry a primitive sort
of umbrella, made of fan-palm leaves, which seems to cause
them much embarrassment when not actually in use, since
they cannot shut it up, and it is always in the way.
When one drifts down the Ganges in the morning,
along the crowded stone steps of the " ghauts," rising in
graded terraces like the seats of the Coliseum to the great
palaces and temples above, the boat passes close to the
little platforms of plank built out from the steps over the
swirling current ; and here, on these platforms, sheltered
under huge tent -like umbrellas of straw matting, sit
rows of " holy men " and saintly Brahmans in rapt med
itation and silent ecstasy, occasionally unbending for a
little friendly gossip. Here they glory in the happy end
ing of their pilgrimage, and enjoy what must be the
nearest approach to perfect beatitude vouchsafed to man,
for they have arrived at their goal, and they have no bag
gage to distract their thoughts from pious meditation, no

FEAST OF GANESHA, BENARES

KISMET 385
huge overland trunks nor bundles of wraps to worry
them, no hotel bills to pay, no care for the morrow, for
what they shall eat or where they shall sleep, and the
more ragged and unkempt they are, the more shall they
find admiring disciples and worshippers among the fair,
who shall pay a worthy tribute of "pice" for their wis
dom. The brave apostles of other creeds may well feel
disheartened at the utter hopelessness of making prose
lytes among them, for what greater bliss could they offer
in exchange for this? If it be so ordained that they are
to die on these steps, among hurrying feet, in the full
glare of the sun and exposed to the burning wind, they
shall pass away in perfect content, sure that their souls
will attain the long-coveted rest without first undergoing
probation in any inferior form of animal life. " Die at
Benares, or die on hereditary land," is a saying held in
repute among orthodox Hindoos, for this is their Mecca.

Festivals religious and profane, some of which might
be qualified by both adjectives, fairs, pilgrimages, and re
ligious gatherings follow each other in endless succession.
Always rich in pictorial interest and incident, they are
nowhere seen to better advantage than at Benares, and
in the spring-time, when the religious exaltation of Holy
Week and the seductions of the Carnival are happily
blended, when the pious Rajah comes to spend a week or
two in his palace looking down on the sacred stream,
when he is carried in a gilded palanquin to the sound of
music, and placed in a peacock-hued barge under awnings
of gold brocade — for this period of purification is often
followed by a pilgrimage in alien and Philistine garb to
Vichy or other distant shrines held in repute among

386 A FETE DAY
Hindoo princes. This season of spring-time at Benares has
nothing in common with that of other climes, and it
might rather be likened to the end of the year, for the
last green leaf is scorched and shrivelled by a wind like
the breath of a blast-furnace. On the occasion of the
" Holi," when white - robed crowds sprinkle each other
and everything else — their doorways, their sacred cattle,.
and the very ground — with magenta-colored powder, and
when, in the red after-glow, torches and lanterns are
just lighted, all reflected in the broad reaches of the
Ganges, and with the high palace walls and temple spires
rising above, the scene becomes the wildest, most crimson-
tinted saturnalia imaginable, phantasmagoric and unreal.
At this season also the festival of Ganesha takes place,
lasting for several days, when it is almost impossible for
love or money to hire a boat, for everything that floats
is engaged to take part in the procession of boats, and
each one, newly swept and garnished, the hurricane deck
provided with an awning, carpeted, furnished with chairs,.
tables, and even the household god in an illuminated
shrine, is engaged for the duration of the fete by some
wealthy Hindoo and filled with his friends. Even our
own boatman, whom we had hired by the week, stipulated
to be let off at this season, as there was always a chance
of making a fabulous sum out of. some native capitalist
arriving at the last moment. It was our good-fortune to
see a Nautch dance under the most favorable conditions,
given by the Maharajah of Benares for the benefit of
some friends, who had stayed on, in spite of the heat, for
this occasion. We were driven down to the landing-
place in the cool of the evening, for the mercury had
fallen gradually with the cessation of the wind to some
where in the nineties. Here on the steps the secretary
of the prince was waiting, accompanied by his two sleepy

NAUTCH DANCER

388 A RIVER PAGEANT
little boys, some men with torches, and a bearer with a
silver staff, who made way for us through the closely
packed throng ; the boat resembled a small river steamer,
with an upper deck sufiiciently furnished, lighted by
lanterns, and propelled by two paddle-wheels, which from
motives of economy were turned by coolies with hand
spikes instead of by steam-power. Up the stream the
whole length of the city front we moved slowly among
the swarm of illuminated boats, an integral part of the
long defile, and yet not of it. By the light which shone
from the tiers of palace windows, from the doors of tem
ples and shrines, from the flashing of fireworks and the
gleam of hurrying torches along the steps, it was evident
that all Benares, with the exception of the favored few in
the boats, had poured out upon the ghauts. From the
nearest boats floated strange music and the voices of the
Nautch girls; most of these boats are constructed some
thing after the fashion of a Nile boat, but without
masts and sails : the greater part of the hull is taken up
by the cabin, with a row of windows on each side, provid
ed with wooden blinds, and the roof of this cabin serves
as a promenade deck, shaded by an awning. These up
per decks were brilliantly hung with lanterns, crowded
with revellers, musicians, and dancers. From a passing
boat with closely shuttered windows, through which the
light streamed out, came the concert of sound which usu
ally accompanies the last stages of revelry ; the boat was
manned by a party of the Rajah's retainers, and in re
sponse to a hail from the secretary some bottles of cham
pagne, cakes, and ices were passed out from the closed
cabin. The curiosity of the ladies as to what was going
on inside of the cabin elicited only a polite but evasive
response from the secretary.
The heated, lifeless air of the night, and the strange

AN ORIENTAL BALLET 389
odors wafted from the steaming water, the monotonous
throbbing of the paddles, and the flickering of myriad
lights on the crowded shore, all tended to produce a
hypnotic, semi-somnolent condition of mind and body,
and we should have been well content to drift on thus
forever — but a turn of the river brought in sight the
gleaming pavilion of canvas built out on floating barges,
where the spectacle was to take place. The tent was
already densely packed with Hindoo spectators, a line of
statuesque torch-bearers stood around a long carpet, and
at the end of the carpet lay a pile of cushions under a
canopy, all of gold-worked crimson velvet. This was the
Rajah's place ; but as he had sent word that he could not
be present, the music struck up when our party had
seated themselves in a row of chairs on a raised platform
at the right. Then the dancing began — dances by sev
eral bayaderes, and single dances accompanied with song
or recitative, ending with a performance by the court ac
tors. After a preliminary ballet, in which two or three
took part, a dainty little personage came forward ; grace
ful, gazelle-eyed, enveloped in a filmy cloud of black-and-
gold gauze, which floated airily about her, she was the
living incarnation of the Nautch as interpreted by the
sculptors of Chitor; from the air of laughing assurance
with which she surveyed her assembled subjects, it was
evident that she was accustomed to homage and sure of
conquest. She held her audience absorbed and expect
ant by the monotonous and plaintive cadence of her song,
by long glances full of intense meaning from half-closed
eyes, and by swift changes of expression and mood, as
well as by the spell of " woven paces and of waving arms."
This paragon of Nautch girls, like most of her sisterhood,
wore nose jewels, but to our eyes they did not detract from
her beauty, nor did they appear more unchristian than the

390 A NAUTCH AND ITS ACCESSORIES
bulky pendants which women in other countries suspend
from the cartilages of their ears ; the diminutive cluster
of pearls or brilliants seemed rather to play the part of
the black patch on the powdered face. As we were after
wards to learn, one may see many a Nautch without re
taining such a vivid impression; much of its force was
owing, no doubt, to the fitness of the place and the charm
of strange accessories, the uncertain glare of the smoking
torches, the mingling of musky odors with the overpower
ing scent of attar of roses, and of wilting jasmine flowers ;
these perfumes were intensified in the close air of the
tent by the heat of the night — the prelude to the fiercer
heat which comes with the morning and the rising of the
hot wind.

RECENT IMPRESSIONS OF ANGLO-INDIAN LIFE

Bearing in mind the time-honored predilection in favor
of first impressions, and knowing by experience how
rarely it happens that subsequent visits to a spot which
one has left with regret do not dispel some illusions, it
was not without doubt and misgiving that the writer ap
proached Bombay for the third time, on this occasion by
rail. After mentally fortifying one's self against possi
ble disappointment, it is always an added, often a half-
unexpected pleasure, to find that the charm still remains.
In this instance, if the charm should be analyzed, it might
be found to lie partly in the strange and exotic character
of the surroundings. Having determined then before
hand to take every precaution that the first impression
might be renewed as far as possible, and knowing that
one's environment at the hotel has much to do with it,
we did not take the advice of well-meaning friends who
pointed out the superior advantages in the way of com
forts of the hotels in the " Fort," but went straight to a
more suburban quarter in the vicinity of Malabar Hill.
The chosen hostelry was the type of the old-time colonial
hotel, a three-storied barrack, surrounded by tiers of trel-
lised wooden galleries. One entrance was through a tri
angular garden -patch, overarched by rustling banana
leaves, and by a pathway littered with their brown, filmy
iskins. The lower floor of the hotel was a vast apart-

THE FORT, BOMBAY, FROM MALABAR HILL

ment, with
pillars sup
porting the
story above.
*A large part of this
space was occupied
by the dining-tables,
one or two private dining-rooms, and a species of hotel
parlor at one end, furnished with the dusty black-wood
furniture peculiar to Bombay and a few bound volumes
of Illustrated London News. These little rooms, occurring
at intervals, were fenced in by board partitions reaching
half-way up to tho ceiling. Our quarters on the third
floor opened, like all the others, on the wooden gallery
surrounding the building, where the lodgers were acccus-
tomed to keep their lounging-chairs, designed for the en
couragement of laziness and the convenient consumption
of " pegs " and cheroots. Some of these chairs were of the
familiar bamboo kind, and others, which are seldom seen
out of India, being too heavy to do duty as deck-chairs,
had massive wooden frames, and a long rail on each side,
across which the patient may hang his inert legs. There
was a view from this elevation of a back-yard, and of

UNWELCOME GUESTS 393
more or less dilapidated out-buildings, where a great deal
of slipshod half-caste house-keeping was going on, in the
shadow of the unfamiliar trees of the country ; beyond
this, the distant church spires and buildings of the city,
tall factory chimneys, -innumerable waving cocoanut tops,
a hill capped with straight-stemmed fan-palms, all dim
of outline and undecided in the smoke and yellow haze ;
at whatever time of day one looked forth in this hot
October weather it was always an afternoon sky that
one saw. In the freshness of the early morning, before
sunrise, when it was our custom to enjoy the chota hazri,
or " little breakfast," which was placed on a table out
side the door, there was still the same vaporous horizon
with just a faint flush of rose ; but one might know that
it was morning from the clamorous activity of the crows,
kites, and broad- winged buzzards which wheeled past,
keeping watchful eyes on our breakfast-table. The writer
cannot but regret the time squandered in fishing for
crows, with indifferent success, by means of something
edible attached to the end of a hanging string ; but the
temptation was sometimes irresistible, for while we sat
at the table one or more of them, perched on the rickety
shutters, or swinging on a neighboring tree-top, watched
us with glittering eyes and heads pertly cocked, and if we
stepped into the room for a moment, there was a sudden
swoop, a rustle of sable wings, and the swift flight of the
glossy pirate with a dripping egg or banana, closely pur
sued by his less daring brethren. It is not of much use
to play tricks on the Indian crows, and the earlier one
accepts (temporarily at least) the prevalent belief that
they contain the souls of those who were up to sharp
practice during their human incarnation, the easier it
becomes to understand their ways. Witness the case of
the young torpedo engineer who, being plagued by them

394

A LIMITED MENU

beyond endurance, carefully concocted a torpedo in a
flower-pot seductively baited, to which he attached the
wires of an electric battery. Needless to say that he
was hoist with his own petard, while the "sandhedrin
of gray-headed crows " gravely chuckled from the neigh
boring tree-tops. The writer once offered a liberal reward
to the house-servants at the hotel to induce them to catch
one alive for artistic purposes, but no crow was forth
coming.

CHOTA HAZRI

This early breakfast in the open air had a savor which
the more elaborate functions at the table d'hote did not
possess. It is true that the menu was limited and un
varying, confined to tea, toast, and eggs, with whatever
fruit happened to be in season; that the salt was of
doubtful whiteness, and the pepper-box an ex-receptacle
for Keating's insect powder; but none of these things had
power to detract from the enjoyment of the situation.

TROPICAL FRUIT 395
This rickety balcony overlooking the swaying, lustrous
cocoanut fronds had attractions unequalled by the most
inviting of the damask -lined retreats sacred to good
cheer which look down on the tumult of the boulevards;
and the mere fact that one was obliged to be always on
guard against the sudden raids of the feathered bucca
neers added an additional zest to the " little breakfast."
When mangoes were ripe, and were served to us delect-
ably iced and wrapped in a napkin, one could only look
forward to the sailing of the steamer with sincere regret.
A brief gastronomic flirtation with another fruit did not
leave as pleasant an after-taste as the brief acquaintance
with the sumptuous mango, for this much lauded and
abused delicacy, commended as much by its admirers as
it is execrated by its foes, is of gigantic size, and endowed
with a correspondingly aggressive odor, so that one can
not indulge in it surreptitiously, but must take the whole
neighborhood into his confidence. In the early afternoon
before the landward breeze began to stir among the tree-
tops one desired nothing better than to lie at full length
in the long chair, with an iced peg and a cigarette,
watching for the first streak of wind-ruffled blue sea to
appear on the horizon; and if for a moment one went
inside, to dive into a trunk and lift out trays, the at
mosphere felt like the sudorium of a Roman bath, and
an entire change of raiment became expedient, and yet
the soft breeze, as it gained in strength, lifted one's papers
off the table and scattered them over the room. This
apartment, arranged to open on a veranda at each end,
so that the wind might draw through the open work of
the partition which divided the sitting-room from the
bedroom, and with blinds at each end, which could be so
slanted as to leave full play to the lightest breeze, had
its drawbacks, for the bath-room was somewhat dark and

396 BEAUTIFUL ENVIRONS
gruesome, and it took time to become accustomed to the
formidable size of the cockroaches, two of which had
their lair under the washbowl in a recess of the wood,
whence their exaggerated antennae protruded, while the
owners clung, back downwards, to the rim.
In these early October days one was only cool while
fanned by the punkah at dinner-time, or under its
rhythmic sway at night, or while driving in the breeze
along the Back Bay, far more decorative in its southern
fashion than the Rotten Row or the Bois, and which adds
so much to the attractions of Bombay. At the table
d'hote, notwithstanding the punkahs, one was always
conscious of a beaded brow while slowly absorbing iced
fluids ; as in other hotels of the same period, the crockery
had evidently been in use since the days of Warren
Hastings, and must have done faithful service for many
different social castes, for some pieces might have graced
the table of a former governor -general, while the ma
jority, notched, chipped, and discolored, represented more
democratic levels ; and the knives were, one and all, thin
and pointed with long usage and daily scouring in the
sand by native servants. The manager was an anasmic
Irishman, whose daily routine included the absorption
of an unlimited number of pegs, varied by an occasion
al drive to the "Fort" in an antiquated two -wheeled
buggy, by the way of exercise. On the morning after
our arrival I came down at 6.30 with a color -box, in
tending to begin a sketch among the carved and painted
houses of the quarter, and found him sitting outside at
a little table, on which stood a tall glass of whiskey and
potash water. His face was red and plentifully perfo
rated with open pores, suffused with moisture, but he
looked comparatively cool, clad in white drills. Glanc
ing at my painting-traps, and realizing with amazement,

PUNKAHS AND PEGS

397

in which I detected a shade of compassion, that I actually
intended to walk, he assured me that such excessive ex
ertion was usually followed in this climate by sudden
death. In turn I assured him of my entire resignation,
founded on a hopeful belief in the perfect beatitude of
nirvana, etc., and he allowed me to proceed, having
washed his hands, as it were, of all responsibility. When
we started on an indefinite cruise through the Mofussil
regions he gave us much kindly advice, but said that
travelling by railway at night exposed one to fevers, and
was extremely dangerous, in which he was partly right.
I think he never expected to see
us again, but when we returned
some six months later, in the
stewing month of April, we
found him in bed, emaciated by
a malady brought on by exces
sive consumption of pegs and
want of other exercise, but he
recovered sufficiently to be
shipped northward on an An
chor liner. At this hotel we
had our first experience of the
bedroom punkah, and it was not
altogether satisfactory. In or
der that the punkah frill might
sweep within a few inches of
our faces the mosquito nettings
were removed, as we vainly be
lieved, what we had been told,
that mosquitoes were unable to
perform their alimentary func
tions in a strong current of air.
At first the soft fanning, the reg-

THE CHUPRASSI

398 GREEN AND GOLD
ular dip, and the long wave of cool air which passed over
us were delightfully soporific, but we had not calculated on
the punkah-wallah habit of dropping off to sleep ; and al
though the cries and objurgations addressed to these drow
sy menials from neighboring rooms failed to arouse us, we
were soon awakened by the sensation of heat, and by the
feeling that we were helplessly in the power of the sing
ing miscreants. Our landlord had expressed astonish
ment at my demand for a punkah, since the anticipation
of coming " cool weather " had lowered his anasmic tem
perature, and he had slept under a blanket for the two
previous nights. A notable feature of the hotel were
the long corridors like dark tunnels, the blaze of blind
ing yellow light at each end, with green leaves fram
ing vignettes of golden haze and smoke and stiff fan-
palms, or a distant blue line of water dotted with white
lateen-sails, and the pair of punkah coolies at each open
door, one asleep, with his mahogany shins stretched half
way across the passage, and the other languidly pulling
at the cord which hangs from the fanlight over the door.
Glimpses of the interiors were not easily had, although
the doors were all ajar, as tall screens of carved black
wood, panelled with turkey red, stood just beyond the
thresholds. The company at this hotel was cosmopoli
tan to a degree, made up of people representing the
different Anglo -Indian castes, and travellers who were
arriving or departing by the weekly liners. A veteran
colonel, just back from a campaign in Beloochistan, con
soled us, when we complained of the heat, unjustly, per
haps, for the mercury never rose to the height which
people take as a matter of course during the progress of
a New York summer. He said that in Beloochistan they
were accustomed to emerge from their tents, when an
interval between dust-storms permitted, at 1 a.m., and sit

PUNKAH WALLAH

400 MORNING LIGHT
outside to drink in the freshness of the morning, when the
mercury fell to 104c Fahr. My vis-a-vis at the table was
an energetic young American, absorbed in the pursuit and
capture of wild animals for a transatlantic menagerie. We
were taken by our plausible friend to see a couple of
unhappy tiger cubs, and were nearly induced to purchase
one of them, but, remembering in time the restricted ac
commodations of our apartment on the Avenue Wagram,
and the unsympathetic character of the concierge, we
wisely backed out at the last moment. But of the sev
eral hotels in Bombay which we occupied at intervals,
the one which I remember with keenest satisfaction
stood at the end of an alley of slender -stemmed and
stately fan-palms, and on our right, as we approached it, a
sunburnt hill-side, from which red rocks protruded, rose
into a high ridge crowned with still taller fan-palms.
Curving across and above the gate-posts was the quaintly
alliterative name of the Parsee landlord, Rustomjee Rut-
tonjee ; but as this hotel differed but slightly from the
others in service and cuisine, its chiefest attraction was
the entire loveliness of the view from the windows.
When one reluctantly awakens at 5 a.m. and looks down
on the dull gray twilight of a European city street,
usually saddened at that hour by a leaden sky, it is not
always with a feeling of joy that he thinks of the com
ing day ; but here, in the stillness of the early morning,
when the waning moon hung in the mellow western sky
over the purple sea, dotted with white sails, which showed
here and there beyond the solid floor of matted tree-
tops, so thickly interlaced that the dark ground was only
visible in places, stretching away from under the win
dows, and hiding the Mahaluxmee Battery and the sea-
road, it seemed a waste of time and of life to lie abed.
In the near foreground below a round green pool,

SUNSET EFFECTS

401

fringed about with drooping banana leaves, reflected the
light of the sky, and on the topmost branches of a tree
which almost touched the windows sleek emerald-green
parrots sat and plumed themselves. At sundown, a
strong sea breeze blew the cocoanut tops about, and they
waved and tossed like sable plumes, sharply cut against
the vapory red horizon. There is a delightful spot near
the shore, and close to the Mahaluxmee Battery, con
ducive to meditation and vague speculation as to what is

SUNSET FROM MV WINDOW

going on iu the far-off west beyond the sunset — and here
the Parsees, especially those of the wealthier class, are
accustomed to station themselves when the red sun sinks
behind the purple rim of the sea, shot through with iri
descent crimson and violet tones. This brief halt does
not have the appearance of a religious function, although
most of them gaze fixedly at the great luminary as it dis
appears, but all seem to be enjoying the coolness of the
air, and relaxing at the same time into a little friendly

402 ORIENTAL TOUTS
gossip with their neighbors. Their horses and coachmen
look sleek and well-fed, and, like their masters, have a
comfortable and prosperous air. But few of the men,
and those usually of the older generation, stick to their
hereditary costume, although many still wear the shiny
mitre-like hat, and most of them are adorned by English
tailors ; some of the young men still keep up the narrow
turban closely built around a skull - cap. Nearly all the
ladies wear the pale, delicately tinted shawls which har
monize so well with their melancholy black eyes and clear
complexions. Of the more correct and orthodox hotels of the " Fort "
the writer has nothing whatever to say in disparagement,
and the American or English tourist who chooses to so
journ there may, with but a slight stretch of fancy,
imagine that he is still at Charing Cross or the Grand
Midland, and enjoying the superior comforts of those
famous hostelries. To the hotels in more remote Mofus-
sil capitals the transition from those referred to is by no
means abrupt, and in spite of the changes which are
being rapidly effected, most of them still retain features
which, to say the least, are unmistakably local, and which
cause the experienced traveller to prefer the dak bunga
low where it still exists. In one of these northern centres
it was only with great difficulty and by the display of
persistent energy that we succeeded in reaching the dak
bungalow at all, in consequence of the aggressive enter
prise of the hotel "touts" at the railway station, and
their influence over both servants and drivers. The hotel
which was most difficult to escape from, and which had
a rather undesirable reputation, was the Lord Donney-
brook. Its rules and regulations, printed with the old-
fashioned, worn-out type which has probably done unre
mitting service since the days of Clive, were surrounded

A GENEROUS LARDER 403
by an ornamental border such as one still finds on bottles
of " Bengal chutney " ; among other items we read that
"A single person occupying a double beaded room, will
have to vocate it for a single beaded one, if required for a
married couple or 2 persons." Also that " Visitors will
be good enough not to strike the Hotel servants, any
complaints made against them will be attended to." Not
withstanding our directions to the driver, we were taken
to this hotel, but fearing that we might fail in complying
with its somewhat lengthy schedule of rules, we persisted
in our original design of going to the bungalow, and
probably missed one of the choicest experiences of a life
time. We had no reason to regret having chosen the
bungalow. It was a long, narrow, one-storied structure,
with a veranda extending the whole length of its front ;
the apartments were all exactly alike, consisting of a liv
ing-room or parlor, bedroom and bath-room, each with a
door on the other side giving access to a little private
piazza. As we arrived just before Christmas, which is the
great season for Mofussil travel, the place was crowded,
but the khansamah and his twin brother, grave and
portly Mussulmans, became unusually sympathetic and at
tentive when they realized that we appreciated their
efforts. Never in India did we find such cookery at a
hotel, for there was no table d'hote, and each guest was
served in the privacy of his apartment. Every dish was
brought in hot, chops and steaks were placed on the table,
still sizzling on the grill, according to the local fashion ;
there were juicy teal and partridges, and the curry was gen
erously spiced. For all this we were only required to pay
the sum of five rupees a day (for two persons occupying
the same quarters) in addition to one rupee each for
room rent. The expectations of the khansamah and his
brother did not end here, and they were not disappointed ;

404 INCONVENIENT RULES
but one day they reluctantly called our attention to an
item in the printed list of rules allowing each -person
twenty-four hours occupancy only in case the room was
wanted by a new-comer, and at the same time showed us
a written complaint in the bungalow book, where we had
been obliged to inscribe the date of our arrival, and alas !
we were now the oldest inhabitants, having sadly over
stayed our time. The khansamah insinuated that we
should make a little trip which we had projected to a
neighboring point of interest, and after two or three days'
absence he would send a carriage for us and reserve our
rooms. " Chota hazri " was usually laid on the table in
the outer room at an early hour, and we were invariably
awakened by the chirping and twittering of the sparrows,
which, far from waiting for any invitation to help them
selves to butter and jam, resented our appearance on the
scene with indignation and vehement scolding. The di
minished pat of butter which remained for us was usually
pitted with the marks of their beaks. It was quite im
possible to keep out these impudent marauders, but it was
amusing to watch the manner of their entrance and exit.
The door opening on the veranda was closed by a trans
parent mat of cane or grass, which touched the floor, and
they had an ingenious manner of crawling under it in
spite of its weight.
The only incongruous note in the bungalow * was the
punkah, whitewashed like the high, bare Avails of the
sleeping-room, and tied up against the ceiling. It was
then the height of the short winter, following the nine
months of furnace heat, and the sight of this unseason
able implement sent a chill through one's marrow.
* This famous bungalow has been suppressed, the hotel - keepers of
the city having represented to the local powers that it ruined their busi
ness and was quite unnecessary,

HARD PUSHED

405

It is only of late
years that travellers
have begun to invade
India in any considera
ble numbers, and con
sequently hotel accom
modations are often
insufficient, except in
the show places and in
the most populous busi
ness centres, so that in
many cities of over
100,000 inhabitants the
public bungalow is the
only accommodation to
be found. This is now
often supplemented by
the " waiting-rooms "
at the railway station,
provided with restau
rant and two or three bedrooms. But during the " cold
weather," the popular travelling season in this country,
both bungalow and waiting-rooms are often full, and the
traveller has difficulty in finding a place to lay his head.
We were once obliged to throw ourselves on the mercy
of the station-master, who finally made us comfortable in
an unoccupied saloon-carriage belonging to the executive
engineer of the district.
For any one who has work to do, the privacy and se
clusion of the dak bungalow offers material advantages.
As each meal is cooked separately and served in the trav
eller's apartment, he escapes the stiff and fussy table
d'hote at the hotel, an institution which never seems to
be quite at home in India.

THE KHANSAMAH

406 NO PRIVACY
But the cookery is usually rather heavy, as the khan-
samah's favorite utensil is the frying-pan, and one need
not expect to find superfluous luxury in the way of furni
ture. The rooms being unprovided with windows for the
most part, and as the little light which there is enters
through the curtained half-glass doors, they are dark and
chilly in the winter-time, and have a ghostly and uncanny
feeling about them, even by daylight, so that the occupant
often prefers to take his meals on the sunny veranda
during the daytime. There are seldom any fastenings to
the doors, and it is sometimes impossible even to close
them. When the khansamah brings in a smoky kerosene
lamp at nightfall he pulls down the transparent curtains or
" dhurries " of split cane over the glass part of the doors,
thus enabling any one outside who wishes to study the
habits of the occupant to look in, while remaining invisi^
bie himself. But when the crackling fire of brushwood is
lighted in the chimney, the room loses something of its
gloom and loneliness. Fireplaces are found wherever the.
winter is felt, but seldom south of the tropic, and during
the long periods when the rooms are locked up and de
serted they serve as refuges for bats, lizards, and the
ubiquitous mongoose. It is not customary at these cara
vansaries to make out a bill for the departing guest, as
the khansamah is usually more skilled in mental arith
metic than in writing, but we found that such documents,
when we could get them, had a certain literary value.
The presiding genius of the Ahmedabad bungalow, known
as Shaikh Boodhoo, was a hairy, shaggy-browed Mussul
man, somewhat advanced in years, as the major part of
bristling blue-black beard was quite white at the roots —
and, by-the-way, it is not always easy to determine the
age of a Mussulman, since he cultivates baldness from
infancy, when conscientious enough to follow the dictates

ENGLISH AS SHE IS WROTE 407
of the Prophet, and he usually begins to dye his beard
at an early period. A constantly recurring item in his
weekly account was " Lamp oil burn," and he sometimes
began his bill with the lines " For feeding 1 gentleman
and a Lady. Rs. annas." At another place of entertain
ment the khansamah, who did not even pretend to speak
English, much less to write it, when the bill was called
for summoned his little boy from school to perform this
literary task. The result was a very creditable piece
of penmanship on pink paper, with fourteen repetitions
of the line " Food for 2 men Little Big Breakfast Din
ner Rs 6-8 — "; and the document ended with, "For
Writing of this Bill 8 annas." He got it, for the laborer
was worthy of his hire. A feature of the Ahmedabad
"rest-house," and a rather depressing one should the
visitor have an ill turn, was a small band of frowsy, ill-
kempt white vultures, which were accustomed to strut
and amble about the compound, and to look in at the
. door in the early morning to see if perchance there was
any streak of luck for them. But if the stranger ap
peared in his normal state of health they would rise
clumsily from the ground, and flop heavily and sadly
away to some more promising neighborhood.

II
Travellers who visit India for no other purpose than
the indulgence of globe-trotting proclivities, and those as
well who have a special object of study, will often find
their circles of interest gradually widening ; few can es
cape being attracted by the strange and piquant contrasts
of modern Anglo-Indian life, thrown into such strong re
lief by the mediaeval background of unchanging native
custom. While the Ameer of Afghanistan has recently

408 A GARDEN-PARTY
concluded the alliance with England, has strengthened his
defences, and according to a French journalist has sent
to a London firm an order for a million uniforms and
a tailor to fit them on his men, the account of the pa
geants and ceremonies at Cabul on the occasion of his
son's betrothal reads like a chapter from Froissart's Chron
icles. At official functions, such as durbars, or at fetes given
by native princes, and at semi-official gatherings, char
acterized by an intermingling, if not a momentary blend'
ing, of races, one has the best opportunities of observing
these curious oppositions, to borrow a term from the paint
er's vocabulary. One of the most interesting affairs of
this kind at which the writer had the good-fortune to be
present was a garden-party given by the lieutenant-gov
ernor of one of the northern presidencies, and the ostensi
ble reason for this function was the reception of certain
native dignitaries and the delegates of neighboring chief
tains. The park -like grounds surrounding Government
House, with long vistas of greensward, winding among
tall trees, shrubbery, and parterres, gorgeous with the
winter flora of India, were decorated with tents and
marquees where refreshments were served, chairs and
benches were scattered about, and there were tennis-
courts of seductive smoothness. It was late in Decem
ber, clear and calm, but the chill in the air as the sun
went down seemed hardly in accord with all this sum
mer luxuriance and the costumes and parasols of the
ladies, although some of them compromised by wearing
fur capes. At similar entertainments in Europe, the
smart gowns and hats of the ladies give the keynote of
color, but here they were quite outshone by the groups
of native grandees, all attired with more or less splendor,
and presenting much the effect, wherever a few of them

410 COLOR MASSES
were gathered together, of bouquets of multi-colored or
chids. In the suffused red light of sunset, all these mar
vellous combinations of changeable silks, scarlet cashmere,
and embroidered velvet, with gold lace galore, glowed with
additional lustre.
Against the sober green of the foliage all the strangely
shaped turbans of silk and satin, pale lavender, and white
and gold, or with changing tints of palest blue or cream
color, seemed to compete in brilliancy with the masses of
flowers around them. There is often a subtle something,
either in the bearing or in the fashion of dress of these
worthies, particularly those of portly presence and pres
tige, which reminds one of old portraits of Henry VIII. or
Francois I. in all their purple and fine linen. The more
barbaric red-and-gold liveries of the " bearers " and other
servants added a more positive if less delicate note of
color. Strolling about among the groups of Europeans
were two brothers, one the type of the ideal Sikh, with
handsome aquiline features, pale brown skin, and black
beard, set off by a loosely wound turban of pale lemon
color, and a long, tightly-fitting kaftan of black velvet.
For the most part these native personages showed a ten
dency to group themselves together, and to sit silently
apart from the Europeans, not, it would seem, from any
consciousness of being out of place, for they performed
their social duties with much seriousness and dignity, but
perhaps they dreaded the effort and difficulty of carrying
on, in an unfamiliar tongue, conversation suitable to the
occasion. It may be that some of this aloofness is the re
sult of hereditary habit, not unpardonable in a race where
one family, at least, has always lived up to its standard as
an example for the others. Where they show a disposi
tion to cultivate the society of Europeans, they are not
always the gainers to any large extent. Naturally they

ATHLETIC SPORTS 41 1
are at once sized up by their shrewd, if not always un
friendly, critics, and measured according to Western stand
ards, and even a Serene Highness is at once set clown as a
good fellow, a dunce, or a cad. The fact that but few of
the reigning dynasties have been long established, or date
back to the early days of English rule (a fact which has
nothing to do with their "claims of long descent," in
many cases of undoubted authenticity), and that all of
them owe their present position and continuance of power
to the supreme government, has doubtless something to
do with the rather patronizing tone often taken by Euro
peans when speaking of native potentates. At a polo-
match, which took place near the cantonment in the same
district, the great mass of the spectators were Indian, al
though few of the higher castes were represented among
the invited guests. The Rajah of a neighboring state, who
was himself a polo-player of renown, had sent his team
which had already made a record of many victories. A
line of regimental mess -tents afforded the best positions
for viewing the contest. These tents, or rather marquees,
were in most cases lined with the decorative cotton prints
now so well known in Europe, carpeted with rugs, and fur
nished with lounging-chairs ; the silver of each regiment,
often including monumental trophies won by their teams
on other fields, was displayed on the refreshment-tables.
There was a fair showing of ladies, and among the younger
men, mainly of the military caste, but never by any chance
in uniform, were many faces recalling the ruddy, sunburnt
types so familiar at Zermatt in the season. There is usually
a striking uniformity among modern Britons of this type,
whether one meets them tranquilly lunching on the apex
of the Matterhorn, or tearing about on polo ponies at
Benares in the season of the hot winds and in the heat
of the day, when the prudent coolie, with more respect

412 CREATURE COMFORTS
for his complexion, has gone to bed under his sheltering
eaves. On this occasion I was the guest for the day of Sigis-
mond Justh, the Hungarian novelist, who was studying
life from the officers' quarters of a native regiment, and as
we both became interested in reminiscences of Paris, and
in the adventures of a young officer of engineers, who had
just crossed the Pamir from Siberia by a new route, we
failed to see the end of the match which was fought out
in a distant part of the field. The mess dinner which fol
lowed appeared to verify my friend's conviction that these
gentlemen had mastered the art of being comfortable, and
of living together in harmony, quite after the manner of
a large family. There was an air of homely comfort with
a spice of luxury at the mess bungalow, as well as at the
private quarters of each officer ; screens were placed wher
ever an insidious draught could penetrate, and there were
wood fires in every room.
My Hungarian friend had visited, during the previous
winter, a military station in Algeria, where the officers,
with all the amiable characteristics of their race and all
the bon volonte possible, had somehow failed to surround
themselves with that atmosphere of home comfort which
the Briton in exile knows so well how to create. During
the interval before dinner we made the round of the camp
and visited the hospital barracks with the captain, most
genial of hosts, as it was his day for inspection. We met
on the road a group of regimental musicians, practising
on strange instruments, one of which resembled a bag
pipe, and their leader, a young Afghan of formidable phy
sique, who had rather the air of a brigand than a refined
musician and an improvisateur, in obedience to a word
from the captain promised to bring his men to the bun
galow after dinner. When we returned we found them

A MUSICALE 413
installed in the drawing-room and tuning up their instru
ments. The captain, provided with a ponderous volume
of Afghan songs and ballads, was assisted by the tower
ing young brigand, who led the orchestra, in drawing up
the programme, while the other musicians, nearly all
members of a tribe of gypsies from the hills of the bor
der-land, and having the appearance of Pathens as well,
swarthy and long-haired, seated themselves along the
base of the white wall, holding their peculiarly shaped
instruments. Never have I seen a stranger and more
picturesque contrast of races than was presented by this
group of half-savage minstrels on their good behavior,
and the young officers in braided mess-jackets of scarlet
or drab, and the two guests stretched out in bamboo
chairs, wearing the conventional black and white which
is always de rigeur on festal occasions. There was a
quality in this weird Afghan music which suggested the
prolonged and plaintive cadences of the Spanish gypsies,
and it appealed the more forcibly to the poetic nature of
my fellow-guest from its affinity with that of his own
country. At this cantonment we found the usual little club or
neutral ground for informal social meetings, which, as in
other small stations, had a domestic, homelike air, rather
than that of a public rendezvous; ladies came in, and
played on the piano or sang duets with men in tennis
costume, who dropped it from time to time, and there ap
peared to be a conspicuous absence of that formality usu
ally to be found in the larger clubs. Residents or visitors
all seemed to be on the same terms of good-fellowship,
and, as at the mess-table, quite as if they all made part
of the same large family. This enforced intimacy, where
people are thrown together of necessity, may have its
disagreeable side, but the writer is free to admit that he

414 CLUB LIFE
was not made aware of it, or it may be presumed that
those clubs at which he was presented were exceptionally
fortunate as regards the personal and social qualities of
their members. In the principal Mofussil capitals, where
the European element is larger, these clubs naturally have
a more metropolitan character. As at the smaller ones,
there are always well-kept, cemented tennis-courts, a bill
iard - room, library, and reading-room, where the leading
journals of every country, Harper's and other American
magazines, are almost invariably found, as they are every
where, except in some of the best-known Parisian cercles,
where the Police Gazette is often the only representative
of American illustrated literature. But in the great cities
these institutions are planned on a more generous scale.
At the " Byculla Club " the stranger cannot but be im
pressed with the faultless service and the air of luxury
pervading the living quarters of resident members, and
which might well have the effect of deterring many a
bachelor from launching into the untried, from giving up
the certainty of an easy existence for the perils and un
certainties of house-keeping in a country bungalow, or,
worse still, of married life in an Indian hotel, Economy
of space, always an important consideration in Western
capitals, does not appear to have fettered the gradual
growth and extension of the club premises in every direc
tion. Ample stabling accommodation is provided for the
horses and carriages of resident members, and in a climate
like that of Bombay, where plenty of air and space are of
primary importance, the height and spaciousness of most
of the rooms are very satisfactory after the comparatively
cramped quarters of most hotels in the Fort. The " Yacht
Club," which is in a way the Jockey Club of Bombay,
stands close to the sea and near the Apollo Bunder, the
popular gathering -place when the band plays there at

UNDER THE PUNKAH AT THE YACHT CLUB

416 A BRILLIANT SCKJNlfl
sundown, as well as a landing-place for passengers by sea,
presents at first sight the appearance of a summer casino,
with its framework of varnished wood, innumerable awn
ings and flags, and strengthens the illusion which the
traveller sometimes has, on landing at the "Bunder,"
that he has reached an Oriental watering-place rather
than a bustling commercial seaport; for there is an ab
sence, in this quarter at least, of the unsightly surround
ings which generally mar the approach to other great
capitals. At the dinner hour, seldom earlier than half-
past eight, the lofty dining - room, with a multitude of
small tables, at which parties of four, six, or eight are
seated, ladies in evening dress, and men who are usually
types of the civil or military orders, gives one an impres
sion in which much that is agreeably familiar is flavored
with something more novel and exotic. There are no
long punkahs suspended overhead, but the servants at
each table, in blue liveries adorned with silver lace, wield
great palm-leaf fans brilliantly draped and frilled, and the
sight of all these slowly - moving masses of color, shot,
through with the sparkle of gold or silver threads, the
twinkling lights, and the intermittent fanning of the sul
try sea-breeze which draws in through the open spaces
over the wide tracts of polished floor, all stamp the scene
with the unmistakable character of the South — not that
which we know at Monte Carlo or on farther Mediter
ranean shores, but the true South which lies beyond the
tropic.

THE FINANCIAL SITUATION 417

III
..." And Yama said, For this question it was inquired of old even
by the gods ; for it is not easy to understand it ; subtle is its nature.
Choose another boon, oh, Nachiketas ! Do not compel me to this !"
It was intimated to the writer a year ago, more or less,
that some comments on the present financial situation in
India, what is properly known as the Rupee Question,
would be timely and acceptable. Since that time each
successive mail has brought in reviews and solutions of
the state of affairs, suggestions, statements and reports,
complaints, amendments, and explanations, each offering
the only practical solution of this financial equation. Hin
doos, Parsees, and Mussulmans have all rushed into print,
bankers, Japanese ministers, and retired army officers
have all written letters expressing their conflicting opin
ions with more or less lucidity where technical experts,
fearing to commit themselves, have shown a wise reti
cence, or have only added to the general perplexity.
To attempt the unravelling of this tangled skein is a
task which few skilled financiers would care to under
take, but it is still possible to present a few of the causes
which are thought to have led to the present depreci
ation of the currency, and some of the devices by which
the home government had hoped to help India out of
the difficulty, but which have so far proved inadequate.
When the East India Loan Bill (£10,000,000) was brought
up from the Commons and read for the first time in the
House of Lords (December 19, 1893), Lord Kimberley
then moved the second reading of the bill and explained
at some length the circumstances which rendered neces
sary an application to Parliament for further power to
27

418 THE MINT QUESTION
raise a loan in England for the service of India. He then
said in his speech in regard to the closing of the mints in
that country, an experiment which it was imagined by
the government might check the downward tendency of
the rupee — " If it should so happen that this policy of
closing the mints should entirely fail, we shall be thrown
back into our original situation, which is a very grave one,
because at the present price of silver the exchange, if meas
ured as it is usually measured, stands at no more than one
shilling and one-eighth ; and speaking in round numbers, at
that rate of exchange the government of India would be
landed in a deficit of no less than 6,000,000 rupees. That
would be a deficit of a most serious and alarming charac
ter." Turning to another point the Secretary of State re
marked : " With regard to the trade in silver, of course
before we closed the mints silver went to a large extent
to India for the purpose of being coined into rupees. Any
one might present silver at the mints, and that silver was
coined and he received the rupees. Naturally at all times
there was a good deal of silver that did not find its way
to the mints, but now all the silver sent must be for oth
er purposes. The question naturally arises : What are
these other purposes— what is the reason for this very
large, continuous demand? . . . Quite recently I have
been able to ask the opinion of Sir David Barbour, who
was financial member of the Council of the government
of India, and who has just returned to this country. He
tells me his opinion is that there exists in India always a
very large demand for silver, and that demand has been
stimulated in the ordinary way in which a demand is
stimulated for a commodity by the large fall in the price
of silver. The natives generally consider that this is a
most favorable opportunity to purchase silver for the pur
pose of ornaments; and Sir David Barbour thinks that

THE SOURCE OF TROUBLE 419
probably accounts for the larger part of the demand.
When we remember that the population of India numbers
287,000,000, we see that any increased demand from so
vast a population may easily produce a very considerable
result. The other cause may be connected with specula
tion. At all events, there is the fact that this very large
amount of silver is now going into India."
In the course of the same debate the Marquis of Salis
bury expressed his opinion that there was no possible way
of making the rupee rarer by artificial means, and de
plored the measures which had been taken ; also that the
attempt to create a " rupee vacuum " by processes analo
gous to those of physical science would surely fail, for in
spite of the most skilful manipulation rupees were still
creeping in by channels both obvious and obscure. He
also believed that the " private mints " of India were un
usually active.
Ever since the close of the civil war in America there
has been a disposition on the part of India to attribute its
financial embarrassment to the United States, and the sil
ver policy of our government has had beyond a doubt
much to do with its recent misfortunes. Among other
remedies proposed, the introduction of a gold standard
has been taken into consideration, and an import duty on
silver has been imposed, which it is expected will enable
the government to derive a larger profit from its monop
oly of coining rupees from cheap silver, and thus avoid
the complications which would certainly arise from fur
ther taxation. A Hindoo banker who has written a mem
orandum on this matter (March, 1894) gives an addition
al reason for the step that the price of silver has been so
much lowered in England and America, that 100 tolas * of
* A tola is worth approximately 180 grains troy.

420 A LOSS OF CONFIDENCE
silver, which cost 106 rupees before, can now be pur
chased in Bombay for from 85 to 86 rupees. It is the
opinion of many that if bimetallism had been adopted
long ago, the country would have been saved from the
evils of its present monetary policy, but at present this
could only be done by concert with the leading nations
of the world.
Among the many criticisms called forth by the action
of the government in closing the mints, that of the Japan
ese Minister of Finance is one of the most intelligent, and
sums up the situation in a few words : " The stoppage of
free silver coinage in India," he said, " has only increased
the amount of current silver coin, and materially injured
the popular confidence in that metal. The primary ob
ject of the stoppage was to limit the increase of silver
coin and to prevent its depreciation; but that the con
trary result was obtained can be attributed to nothing
but the ignorance of the British authorities on Indian
affairs. The reason of the unexpected result appears to
be as follows : Indians have little confidence in each
other, and only those are respected as men of wealth
who possess most gold and silver money, and adorn their
persons with most ornaments of the same metal. They
bury their rupees in the earth, and do their best not to
spend them. But with the stoppage of silver coinage
silver coins no longer increased, and the Indians began to
unearth their buried coins, which were brought into the
money market. Thus, though silver was no longer coined,
its circulation suddenly increased. This was a most un
expected result, and the English did not foresee it when
they gave the injurious order." Forced by the cries and
lamentations of the sufferers to continue its series of
financial experiments, the " British Raj " has imagined an
" automatic method " of keeping the rupee's head above

A DEPRECIATED CURRENCY 421
water for a while longer, and has provided means to pay
in gold 'for all the rupees offered at the fixed rate of Is.
4d. each. Thus the rupee would be automatically kept
from rising beyond that figure should it ever reach it.
In the meantime the leading journals of the country
continue to denounce the tardy and fruitless measures of
the home government, to assert that it has lost the confi
dence of the people of India, and to lament over the
miseries of a great empire sorely oppressed by such a
grievous burden. In spite of all the measures proposed
and carried out, the rupee has continued to dwindle until
no one dares to prophesy what will finally be left of it ;
but at the same time the average revenues of the empire
have been unchanged, there has been no occasion for ex
traordinary expenditures, such as war or famine, and, ac
cording to a reliable authority, there is surplus money to
the value of 9,000,000 rupees locked up in the treasury —
as useless an experiment, this observer thinks, as locking
up silver dollars in the American Treasury. Among those
who have suffered the most, and who, it would seem, have
often just cause for complaint, are the officials, officers,
and public servants, whose salaries are paid in rupees at
rates fixed by the government when the rupee was worth
its nominal value of two shillings. In many cases these sal
aries have not been increased, and while usually sufficient
for current expenses in India, fall wofully short when
officials thus paid have families in England, and are obliged
to send home drafts payable in pounds sterling. To meet
the necessities of this class the fixed rate of exchange
was devised, and a " compensation allowance " granted.
Although it is doubtless a disreputable source of gain
to profit by the misfortunes of our neighbors, it must
be admitted that it is not always an ill wind which blows
the traveller to the "coral strand" at this critical mo-

422 A CRISIS IN TRADE
ment. However conscientious he may be, he can hardly
help profiting by the situation if he carries a letter
of credit, circular notes, and, moreover, a few " five-pun "
notes in his pocket, which will bring him in, if I am not
mistaken, an additional premium. While he will find the
cost of living at hotels nearly or quite the same as it
was ten years ago, he will also find that the prices of im
ported goods and native commodities of all sorts have
remained nearly stationary, for competition has increased,
and dealers have been afraid to raise their prices for fear
of losing custom. Some keen observer has been looking
about to find those who have profited by the fall of the
rupee, but he has as yet discovered no one — not among
the poor Ryots, who were supposed at one time to be
making their fortunes and burying them in the ground,
nor among " middle men ;" and certainly not among the
English merchants and importers, who buy in sovereigns
and sell in rupees, and whose business, to use his own
words, " is rapidly going to pot and to rot, and disappear
ing just as fast as the rupee has disappeared."

IV
It is quite possible to dislike reforms and to .entertain
a rooted aversion for the improvements proposed by phi
lanthropists, which, when carried out, do so much towards
destroying the local charm of a country like India. At
the same time, one cannot but admit that there are dark
and filthy corners in the social fabric which are sadly in
need of wholesome purification, although the new ele
ments introduced during this process are apt to be, fike
the restored patches on the Doge's palace, somewhat in
congruous and out of harmony with the rest. In view of
the extent to which this country has been made a field

424 PHYSICAL CULTURE
for all manner of experiments — financial, moral, and edu
cational — it would be an interesting theme for any student
of social problems to make a thorough study of these va
rious schemes for the amelioration of alien races from
their very start, and to note how far they have proved
successful. That many of them have been productive of
good results thus far is sufficiently evident, and partic
ularly those bearing on the physical well-being of the
Indian. The Hindoo, the Mussulman, the Parsee has each
his own " gymkana," or open-air club, for the encourage
ment of out-of-door exercise and athletic sports ; each
race now has its experts and semi - professionals in the
cricket-field as well as in polo and tennis. Much interest
was recently awakened by the address of a distinguished
Hindoo scholar, the vice-chancellor of one of the principal
universities, in which he deplored at length the prema
ture decline of the Hindoo graduate, his feebleness and
want of physical stamina, much of which he attributed to
the prevalent custom of early marriage, as well as to the
lack of regular physical training. He contrasted this la
mentable state of the intellectual Hindoo with the great
er vigor of the Parsee and Mussulman youth, and their
longer tenure of life. Some of the learned gentleman's
conclusions have been disputed, and the abnormal pov
erty of the Hindoo students, particularly the Mahrattas,
is believed by many to be an important reason. The
cause of physical culture, however, received an impetus,
and within a few years there has been a large increase
of bicycling, tennis, and cricket. Merely to enumerate
these laudable efforts, many of which originated in the
governing country, would necessitate an article by itself.
The Hindoo peasant and laborer sees his oldest and most
cherished institutions attacked and slowly undermined in
the interests of progress, and one of them is the village

BAD IMITATIONS 425
well,* that most picturesque place of rendezvous in all
primitive communities.
The mild Hindoo has not yet become reconciled to
compulsory purification, and it may take time to induce
him to abandon customs which his ancestors have followed
for ages. But a very sensible innovation has been recently
introduced, and one to which all classes have taken kindly,

* A writer in the Pioneer has given us a very forcible description of
the old state of matters, while he finds the somewhat complicated reme
dies proposed not altogether satisfactory: "Take, for instance, a village
on the banks of a river. Now this, one would think, has the advantage
of pure water, and so it should ; but then there is the trifling objection
of a half-burnt corpse polluting the stream, and the nameless other
causes which make the banks of a river to be avoided as a place for
enjoying fresh air. But the real horrors of village life come into view
when the village is away from the stream. To the outward eye most
of the houses are very clean. It is part of the religion of the people to
keep them so. The same people, however, who religiously wash the out
side walls of their homes and keep the floor scrupulously clean pursue
a different line of conduct with respect to themselves. They are scrupu
lous in washing, but their bodies, like their houses, are whited sepul
chres, if one can use the adjective to the Bengali. They wash their
bodies, their clothes, and even their cattle, but then they fill their water-
vessels, with the water in which these various washings have taken place,
and take it home to cook their food, and also for drinking purposes. Then
next to the carefully washed home one can see a heap of rotting, fester
ing vegetable matter, just at the season when such matter attracts disease,
when the hot-weather sun extracts every noxious gas that can be gener
ated, and diffuses it throughout the village. In the rains the same rot
ting mass is washed about, and spreads malaria as it dries. The houses
themselves are built in the midst of paddy-fields. A hole is scooped in
the earth, out of which enough muck is scraped to make the flooring of
the hut, and then is carefully left unfilled, in order that it may serve as
an emporium for all kinds of filth and rubbish."
One of the remedies proposed was to build an iron dome over the
well, and provide au iron pump and the necessary machinery (at the
expense ofthe villages), while another suggested building up the well
and laying a pipe down to the spring at the bottom.

426 THE OPIUM QUESTION
in the shape of postal packets of quinine, sold at reduced
rates by the local postal authorities. Nothing seems to
have escaped the strong search -lights which have been
thrown on the sore spots of India by medical, moral, and
sanitary commissions ; and even opium eating, that main
stay and sole dissipation of innumerable classes from Raj
poot to Ryot, has narrowly escaped being a matter for
legislation. The " Opium Commission," which has recent
ly been stirring up all India to its very depths, was insti
tuted for the purpose of attacking the abuse of opium, and
restricting its sale and consequent consumption. The Ind
ian daily papers during the past winter have been near
ly monopolized by reports of its proceedings, by the evi
dence on both sides, and by the letters and protestations,
written by people of every race and caste ; and it may be
said without reservation that the results of these investi
gations have been an undoubted triumph for the opium
eater, and that far from lessening the consumption of the
drug they are likely to increase it beyond all precedent.
Even the disinterested motives of those who originated
the commission have been questioned by the uneducated
classes in the Punjaub, who believe that it was sent out
by English merchants with the object of stopping the
opium trade in order to introduce their own whiskey as
a substitute. In short, so different has been the effect of
this investigation from that which was anticipated, that
few can read the reports without feeling inclined to try
the drug and see how it works on their own systems.
The mass of accumulated evidence and statistics would
fill several " Blue Books," but the report of each day's
proceedings is more or less an abstract of the whole, each
nearly complete in itself, and each strengthening the cause
of the opium consumer. Wherever a medical officer re
ported on the condition of his men just returned from

MODERN FIRE WORSHIPPERS

428 SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY
active service in Burmah or elsewhere, it appeared that
the best soldiers, morally and physically, those who were
always exempt from such maladies as dysentery, fever,
cholera, and rheumatism, were the opium eaters ; they
were able to go longer without food or stimulants, and
to do more work. The testimony of physicians both
European and native was almost invariably in favor of
the drug when used moderately in the simple form known
to native consumers. Surgeon-General Sir William Moore
said " he had often smoked opium, and really did not see
where the wickedness and immorality came in. As a mat
ter of fact, one might see more immorabty in a London
gin-shop in half an hour even on a Sunday night than in
an opium-shop during a whole year." It has been found
that opium is cheaper than wine or spirits, less detri
mental to the system, and just the right agent to stim
ulate the indolent Oriental nature, as well as to counter
act the weakening effects of a vegetable diet and scarcity
of food. Many a poor " Ryot " who can hardly pull him
self together for want of proper nourishment is enabled
by its aid to do a good day's work, while at the same
time it serves him as a specific against the maladies re
sulting from unhealthy surroundings. The prospect of
opium being unobtainable except as a medicine was
viewed with alarm by all classes ; witnesses from every
part of the empire anticipated dire results and an appall
ing death-rate. (Report, Ajmere, January 30th.)
Great and wide -spread was the consternation when
people were at last reluctantly compelled to believe that
the commission had actually begun its work. Many a
veteran Sikh who had fought with the best in the dark
days of mutiny, and could look back on a long record of
honest labor during the Roman peace which followed, all
accomplished by the aid of his little " dabbi," or box of

SOCIAL QUESTIONS 429
opium, must have been sorely shaken in his loyalty, or
have believed that the British Raj had lost its head.
While scientists, philosophers, and empirics in Europe
have been experimenting for ages to find the Elixir of
Life, these simple Orientals have contented themselves
with producing by homoeopathic doses of opium effects
analogous to those hoped for from the discovery of Dr.
Brown-Sequard ; and if they have not succeeded in renew
ing their youth, have certainly managed to make it last
longer. Many who understand the nature of the people
fear that if they were unable to procure their daily dose
of opium they would resort to cheap alcoholic stimulants
far more disastrous in their effects. There are others who
say that the "political barometer is unsteady," and that
it is a bad time for officious or meddlesome interference
with native customs.
The subject of "child widowhood" and the generally
inferior condition of women in India has been attracting
much attention of late, and now we are beginning to hear
the other side of the question. We are told that all are
not so badly off as some of these eager reformers would
have us believe.
Intelligent and progressive Hindoos have begun to com
pare their own marriage customs with those which obtain
in Christian countries ; and while deploring the evil which
often results from the system so long in use, according to
which the bridegroom marries in the dark, as it were, and
is seldom enlightened as to the qualities, intellectual and
physical, of his bride until it is too late to retract, are be
ginning to make comparisons and to ask questions difficult
to answer. While they are generally disposed to accept
the superiority of things European on trust, like articles
purchased in a " European shop," they find it hard to un
derstand why divorce and legal separation, which are not

430 EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
sanctioned by Hindoo custom, are so prevalent in Europe.
But if the existing abuses are to be remedied by the edu
cation of women rather than by legislative interference
with long-established custom, there is abundant reason to
suppose that every advantage enjoyed by their sex else
where will eventually be given them. On every hand
new schools and colleges for girls are being opened,
which often have classes for young married women ; and
thev have long since begun to avail themselves of the op
portunities offered for higher education, and are compet
ing successfully with their brothers even for the degree
of M.A. ; but at present Eurasians and Parsees head the
list of university honors. An English reviewer who does
not altogether believe in " the disabilities of Indian wom
en, and the hide-bound system which allows them no op
portunities of shining," has lately written in the Calcutta
Review some reminiscences of the Begum Sumroo, a lady
who came to the front in the early part of this century,
governed a native state, led armies, and altogether tri
umphantly established the ability of her sex in that
country.

V
One cannot remain twenty-four hours in India without
becoming aware that caste distinctions flourish among
the English as well as among the disciples of Brahma ;
and if one has not given any previous thought to the mat
ter, the conviction that such is the case may give him the
degree of satisfaction which usually results from the dis
covery of the new and unexpected. The impression may
have taken form and substance from the outward-bound
P. & O. steamer, that microsm of Anglo-Indian society.
Although the code is as yet unwritten, it is none the less

MARKETING, SAHARANPORE

432 THE POWER OF OFFICE
potent, and the sagacious Hindoo contemplates its work
ings with inward amusement, for he has often been ser
monized on the evils of his caste system. It is perhaps
merely an accentuation, a slight exaggeration, of the
leading divisions recognized in the mother-country, which,
after all, have some raison d'etre, for they resemble in
no small measure those adopted by the parent race in the
primitive days of India. But there is only a little friction
here and there, a shadow of discontent among those who
fancjr that they have not been assigned the highest places
at the table. Here, as elsewhere, it is among those whose
claims to precedence rest upon visible foundations that
one finds the most broadly democratic spirit, together
with an easy-going disposition to ignore the whole busi
ness. The cultivated Eurasian of either sex, nevertheless,
often finds it rather uphill wrork to reach the higher social
levels, for the same race prejudice exists here as in Amer
ica, and with less reason.
Strange as it may seem, one cannot get away from the
impression that money is not the corner-stone of the social
edifice in this military hierarchy, and that the possession
of even a shred of power confers more distinction than the
possession of unlimited bonds. Titles, being as familiar
as the current coin of the realm, have not that prestige
which attaches to them elsewhere, and a rising M.P., or
a political "organ" of any sort, usually receives as much
attention as the owner of an hereditary name. This state
of matters is readily explained when one bears in mind
that the men who govern India to-day are the civilized
successors of the Vikings who wrested the empire from
the misrule of the Moguls and Mahrattas, and founded a
military despotism, which has gradually been replaced by
a milder sway, with as much republican latitude as is
consistent with that common-sense which seems to be the

UNDERPAID OFFICIALS 433
ruling principle of the Indian government. Those who
hold the reins of power are not, as a rule, overburdened
with money; and one may enjoy the strange spectacle of
a vast empire, numbering over 287,000,000, having among
them many who possess extraordinary wealth, not to
speak of princes holding treasure and territory by inher
ited right, governed by men in many cases " actually liv
ing in straitened circumstances" in order that they may
properly perform their duties. ( Vide speech of the late
Viceroy.) Obliged by the exigencies of their position to
keep up a certain show of state and to entertain exten
sively on salaries which, with the ever - decreasing value
of the rupee, are often barely adequate for necessary ex
penses, and would hardly give them the position of social
units elsewhere, it is, after all, not to be wondered at that
these men who hold sway over millions should make the
most of this reversal of the usual state of things. When
they return to the mother - country, after long years of
honorable service, and are lost in the roar of London, too
often with little to show for it in the way of gain, they
may sometimes regret the importance and influence at
tached to their late position in India, if not its compara
tive pomp and luxury, as well as its harassing cares and
responsibilities. Like the nations of Europe, India has its
decorations, which are usually awarded for distinguished
services, military or civic, or for exceptional merit, to
judge from their brief and brilliant lists, and these dis
tinctions are not to be had for the asking, or to be gained
by what the French call tripotage. The " Star of India"
is usually conferred upon those who have achieved great
ness, and there is another order reserved for those who
are born great or have greatness thrust upon them, as the
rajahs and chiefs of state, or other members of reigning
families. 2S

434 THE RULING CLASS
It seems a fitting place to venture the observation that
between the attitude of the government towards the na
tive population of whatever race or caste, and the attitude
of the individual Briton when he comes in contact with
the humble Hindoo, there is a wide difference, which,
however, is being gradually lessened. It has often been
remarked by Anglo-Indians that wherever a difference
occurs between an Englishman and a native, to be settled
by law, the chances are that the latter will get the best
of it ; and while the government seems anxious that no
shadow of suspicion should tarnish the reputation for fair
ness and equity which its officers are expected to main
tain in their dealings with the native, and while it is ever
too ready to make concessions, the manner of the Euro
pean in his relations with the humbler classes often seems
arrogant and overbearing. This attitude is sometimes,
however, a mere affectation of brusqueness arising partly
from the habit of command, and it is, moreover, invited
by the servility and obsequious demeanor of the laboring
classes and domestics. But these subordinate castes can
hardly be held responsible for what might be termed an
inherited manner, the result of long ages of oppression
and serfdom, and even now, when they are gradually
becoming accustomed to privileges which their predeces
sors never enjoyed, they still maintain their traditional
attitude of conquered vassals. But, on the other hand,
among the educated classes, and those who have reaped
the most benefit from the established order of things,
may be noted an ever - increasing and even aggressive
consciousness of equality, often expressed by that studied
insolence of manner which is the aim of a certain class
of republicans, while among the European element there
is certainly less of that bullying spirit which was for
merly considered the correct thing ; and it is a fact worthy

THE TEMPTERS

436 NATIVE POVERTY
of note, also, that from this class, which has profited most
by English rule, little or no assistance could be hoped for
by the government in time of peril. Notwithstanding
the financial difficulties in which the government of In
dia is involved at this present moment, the discontent
expressed by the native journalists, and the general pov
erty of the country,* which is by no means an evil of
recent date, one cannot but carry away the impression
that India is a well-governed country, and that much of
the credit is due to the men chosen to fill the higher
offices, and to the superior equipment of those whose po
sitions are gained . through competition. The mills that
grind are not too much en evidence; and whenever
one comes in contact with officials in their official capac
ity he feels that he is dealing not with automatons, but
with men who do not find it necessary to assume that
aggressive and autocratic demeanor which most repub
licans have learned to accept so meekly. There are few
of the monopolies f existing in Europe, such as the ex
clusive right of government to manufacture incombusti
ble matches and rank tobacco, as well as to exclude rival
articles of better quality. It should not be imagined,
however, that the condition of the people, particularly
among the agricultural laborers, or Ryots, leaves nothing
to be desired, and the " poverty of India" in general may
be considered as a problem for which no permanent solu
tion has yet been found. As a consequence of the in
creasing financial embarrassments the germs of the strife
between labor and capital have at last reached India,
and have given birth to strikes conducted with truly
* "It has been calculated that the average income per head of popu
lation in India is not more than twenty-seven rupees a year." — Lord
Cromer, in 1883.
f The salt monopoly is a notable exception.

THE OUTLOOK 43?
Western pertinacity. We hear of strikes among railway
and freight -house employes, among factory hands, and,
lastly, a rebellion among the punkah wallahs, who re
fused to continue their refreshing ministrations during
the late heated term at the old rates. Many are the
schemes which have been set on foot for the improve
ment of the lower castes, of the Ryots ; and even the
wretched Pariah, the outcast and scapegoat of his race,
has not been forgotten, since it has been proposed as an
experiment to found a colony of Pariahs somewhere near
Madras, and then make them self-supporting agricultu
rists instead of a burden to the community. Some of
the most sensible of these humanitarian projects relate
to improved sanitation, as has been mentioned elsewhere,
but they do not always meet with the enthusiastic re
ception which they merit either from the English press
or from the people whom they were intended to benefit.
What is to become of India even in the near future,
what social and political conditions of things will be
finally evolved from the various elements now in fusion,
are questions of absorbing interest, and of which it is dif
ficult to foretell the final issue.

THE END