VESTIBULE OF THE GREAT TEMPLE AT ELLORA.
"And then imagine that the solid rock is cut away so as to leave temples, pyramids, obelisks, and statues of various kinds, just as the wood is chipped away in the Swiss toys. If you can picture these in your mind you will have a vivid conception of the wonderful Caves of Ellora. They extend for more than a mile along the base of a hill such as I have described, and the labor of making them is almost incalculable. Here is the account of one of the excavations, written by a gentleman who visited the place:
"'The cave calledKhailas, or Paradise, is the largest and most elaborate of the series. It is a quarry-like excavation, 250 feet deep; its length is 401 feet, and its breadth 133 feet. There is a wall of solid rock separating the enclosure from the plain. The interior of the quarry is occupied in the centre by the temple. This is of the usual form, consisting of the shrine, with its pyramidal dome, and several pillared porticoes and halls. The sides of the quarry are steep, and hollowed out into successive stories of halls and galleries, into which light is admitted by open colonnades. All these buildings—the great temple, its porticoes and galleries, as well as the other apartments, and the massive wall which divides the whole from the valley—are carved and quarried out of the solid rock.
INTERIOR OF TEMPLE HEWN FROM THE ROCK.
"'The temple is about 85 feet high to the top of the pyramidal spire over the shrine. Its length, including the porticoes, which are connected with it by hanging galleries of stone, is not less than 150 feet, and the greatest breadth about 90 feet. The largest apartment is 66 feet by 55. Its ceiling, which is supported by heavy square columns, is not more than 12 feet high, and carved to represent rafters. The columns and walls of the apartment were most elaborately carved, as was also the whole exterior of the building; the designs represent the exploits of Ram in Lunka, or Ceylon, and the chambers and galleries in the sides of the quarry were similarly decorated. In the enclosure between the temple and gate-way are two obelisks, 75 or 80 feet high, supported on the backs of elephants. Like all the other buildings and accessories, they are carved from the solid rock.'"
One of the boys asked what was the probable age of the Caves of Ellora, and by whom they were made.
"They are thought to belong to different centuries," replied the Doctor, "as some of them are of Braminical character, while others were made by the Buddhists. It is believed that the most modern were made about 900 years ago, and possibly the oldest were excavated 1000 years earlier. Every Hindoo divinity has a shrine there, and it is strange that there is nothing certain about their history. The natives say they were the work of the gods, and are at least 9000 years old; another tradition says they were all made by one man, and that he would have excavated more caves if he had not cut his hand so severely one day that he was disabled from further work."
MURAL SCULPTURES AT ELLORA.
At six o'clock in the morning after the departure from Allahabad the train brought the three travellers to Jubbulpoor, 229 miles from the junction of the Ganges and Jumna rivers. Here the East Indian Railway terminates, and the rest of the journey was made over the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. The appearance of the country told very plainly that they were no longer in the valley of the Ganges; the broad plain disappeared, and in its place there were wooded hills and mountains which afforded many picturesque views. A few miles from Jubbulpoor the train entered the valley of the Nerbudda River, which was followed for a long distance; then it ascended a steep incline to cross a chain of mountains, and afterward descended to the valley of the Godavery. The Ghaut Mountains of Central India were seen in all their magnificence, and the boys frequently compared the views from the car windows to those that greet the traveller over the Alleghanies, on the great routes westward from the seaboard cities of the United States.
RAILWAY VIADUCT IN THE MOUNTAINS.
The mountain passes on this route are the Thull Ghaut and the Bhore Ghaut, which are respectively 1912 and 2027 feet above the level of the sea. The steepest inclines are one in thirty-seven, or about 143 feet to the mile, and there are many tunnels, viaducts, and bridges, as might be expected in a railway through the mountains. Doctor Bronson said the engineering work was excellent, and very creditable to the builders of the road, though it was not equal to what had been accomplished in America—perhaps for the reason that there were not so many difficulties to encounter and surmount.
The boys had devoted their spare moments to the preparation of their accounts of India, previously promised, and during some of the long rides in the railway train they read aloud the results of their work. Frank had taken the general history of India for his share of the work, while Fred had prepared a short account of the sepoy rebellion; consequently Frank's composition was the first to be read. We are permitted to examine that valuable document.
"There is a good deal of uncertainty about the early history of India, as the Hindoo accounts are not to be believed in any way. They make the Hindoos the first people that ever lived here, and give their race an antiquity of millions of years; they talk about kings and dynasties that never existed, and mix their performances with those of their gods. Here is a fair sample of their stories:
"'A goddess in Ceylon had a headache, and it was said the only thing that could cure her was a plant on one of the Himalayas, a thousand miles to the north. One of the gods went to bring it, and was gone only a few hours. When he got to the mountain he was not sure which plant was wanted, and so he took the mountain on his shoulders and carried it to Ceylon, and he did it so quietly that none of the inhabitants or wild animals that lived on the mountain were disturbed in the least. Going over a plain of Central India he dropped a few stones from the mountain, and formed a range of hills that stand there to-day. If anybody doubts the truth of the story he can see the hills, and then he must be convinced.'
HINDOO GIRL OF HIGH CASTE.
"The Hindoos are thought to have come here, about 3200 years ago, from the north; they enslaved the wild tribes that lived in the country, and traces of these aborigines are still to be found in Central and SouthernIndia. The Persians under Darius conquered a part of the country; and then Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire, and of course took what belonged to it in India. The country was then divided into numerous small kingdoms, which were quite independent of each other; many of them were captured by the Mohammedan conquerors who began to come here eight or nine hundred years ago, and kept coming till within 200 years. The story of their wars, and of their empiresand kingdoms, would fill a large volume, but we will skip them all, as even the shortest account would be tedious.
"In 1599 a company was formed in London, called 'The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies,' which was afterward shortened to 'The East India Company.' Queen Elizabeth gave them a charter, and a monopoly of all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope, for fifteen years, and they had a capital of £30,000.
"The company did so well in the first fifteen years that it had its charter renewed, with more capital, and every fifteen or twenty years afterward, down to the year 1854, it was renewed in one form or another. The capital was increased with most of the renewals until it reached £6,000,000, or $30,000,000, in 1793; it remained at that figure, but the profits were so great that the shares were often held at five or six times their par value. From a very early period in its history the company had the power to govern the country, to make war upon all barbarous people, to administer laws not conflicting with those of England, and to make such laws of its own as were thought necessary.
"From 1833 the company ceased to be a trading association, but was continued in the Government of India, the country being thrown open to any British subject who chose to engage in business. All the property of the company was declared the property of the English Government, and held in trust for it by the company, which was to receive ten per cent. dividend on its stock, and the Government was privileged to buy the stock at any time at twice its par value. The last renewal of the charter was in 1854, but not for any definite period; in August, 1858, the company was virtually abolished by act of Parliament, and all its powers were transferred to the Queen, its army and navy were declared a part of the national forces, and all persons holding commissions under the company were transferred to the service of the Crown. Thus ended an association that had existed more than 250 years, and conquered a country containing nearly a fifth of the inhabitants of the globe.
"Since 1858 the power of the British Government has been extended and strengthened, while that of the old 'John Company,' as it was called by the Chinese, has disappeared. The Governor-general of India is appointed by the Queen, and he lives at Calcutta in the winter season, and at Simla in the summer. There is a Governor for each of the presidencies of Madras, Bombay, and Bengal, and under him are all the local and district commissioners, collectors, and other officials. Then there are lieutenant-governors, or commissioners, for the Punjaub, North-west Provinces, Oude, Central Provinces, and Scinde; while the provinces ofHyderabad, Mysore, and one or two others are controlled directly by the Governor-general. The villages manage their own affairs, subject to the approval of the officer in charge of the district where they are located, and the native magistrates are held responsible for the good conduct of their subjects. In some parts of the country the land is leased tozemindarsor large landholders, and sublet by them to the villages; in others the villages lease from the Government; and in others the individual cultivators take leases and pay their taxes without the intervention of anybody.
"The power of the Government is not the same all over India. In some parts of the country the title of the native princes has been quite extinguished, while in others they live almost as they did before the English went to India; they collect their taxes, maintain their armies, make their own laws, have their thrones, courts, and ceremonies, and do pretty much as they like. An English official, called a 'resident,' or political agent, lives near the prince, and when he thinks the latter is going too fast he gives a gentle hint to that effect. The prince is restricted as to the number of troops he shall keep under arms, and he pays a tax to the Government in return for being let alone. The resident has a force of English troops to support him in case of trouble, and the prince cannot make war upon any other prince without the resident's permission, which he is not likely to obtain. Before the Mutiny there were many native states of this kind; those whose rulers remained loyal to the English have been continued, but those who joined the rebels were absorbed into the British possessions, and the princes were dethroned. Altogether, there are now about seventy native states, but some of them are very small.
A NATIVE PRINCE OF INDIA, WITH HIS SONS.
"The largest of the native states is Gwalior, and its prince, Scindia, holds a very high rank. When he goes to Calcutta he receives marked attention from the Governor-general, and his privileges are greater than those of any other prince. Indore and Baroda have a form of Government similar to that of Gwalior, the resident having a force of troops to protect the British interests and maintain the authority of the prince. Rajpootana consists of eighteen native states, under as many rajahs, or princes; each of them has an English official near him, and the whole are under the orders of the British political agent, who resides at Ajmere. There is rarely any trouble between the native rulers and the political agents, as the former know very well that a revolt would be certain to cost them their power, and possibly their heads.
RECEPTION OF TRAVELLERS.
"These princes are fond of ceremony, and whenever a foreigner ofdistinction pays them a visit he has a special 'durbar,' or reception, in his honor. Frequently he is met at the frontier by a deputation of officials to escort him to the capital, and soon after his arrival the ceremony ofattar and panis performed. The guests are received by the prince; and as soon as the formalities of presentation are completed each guest receives a handkerchief of the finest muslin covered with delicate embroidery. This is placed on the palm of the recipient's open hand, and then the prince rises and pours attar of roses on the handkerchief, and at the same time throws a garland of jasmine flowers alternated with small pearls around the neck of the visitor. The ceremony is an ancient one, and was introduced by the Mogul conquerors of India centuries ago.
"The English understand this native love for display, and encourage it on many occasions. For example, when the Queen of England was proclaimed Empress of India there was a grand durbar at Delhi, which lasted twenty-one days, and cost an enormous amount of money. A great many native princes were invited to the festival, and so were all the foreign consuls in Calcutta and other cities of India; nearly half of the troops in India were gathered there, and not a day passed without a ceremonial of some kind or other."
Here ended Frank's history of India; the youth explained that he might have made it much longer, and had been puzzled to know when to stop. He only wanted to give a short account of the country which would not be tedious; and if any boy or girl wished to know more—and he hoped he had roused their curiosity to do so—there were plenty of books to be had on the subject.
Fred's account of the Sepoy Mutiny was now in order. He prefaced his story with an intimation that it would be very brief, as they had already listened to stories of the Mutiny during their visits to Lucknow, Cawnpore, and other places, and his time had been so much occupied that he had only sketched out the causes of the revolt, and the changes in the army since it occurred. Here is the story he prepared:
"The word sepoy is of Persian origin, and means a soldier; and its practical application to-day is to the native soldiers of India, who were first employed by the French about the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1748 the East India Company organized a battalion of sepoys at Madras, and ten years later this small body had grown to a strength of 14,000. Bengal and Bombay followed the example of Madras, and the native army grew steadily till it numbered 240,000 men of all arms in 1857. Each regiment was nominally 1000 strong, and had twenty-fourEnglish officers, besides a full complement of native officers for each company; the natives were not allowed to rise above the rank of captain, through fear that they might turn their knowledge against their masters. The failure of the Mutiny is partly due to this precaution, as the rebels could find no man with sufficient military knowledge to lead them properly.
"The regiments were differently composed in the three presidencies. Those of Bengal were mostly high-caste Hindoos; those of the North were Moslems; and those of Bombay and Madras included several classes. The prejudices of caste led to the assemblage of men of one caste only in each regiment, and in this way the revolt was made easy. It was entirely confined to Bengal. Only one regiment in Madras made any trouble; there was none in Bombay, and the troops in the north all remained faithful to England, and aided in suppressing the Mutiny.
"The Bramins had long predicted that the English would be overthrown in 1857, the hundredth anniversary of the battle of Plassey; they organized a conspiracy that extended all over Bengal, and told the soldiers that the cartridges they used, and were required to bite when loading their muskets, contained grease from the cow, an animal they hold to be sacred, the object being to deprive them of caste and convert them into Englishmen. Worse yet, the cow's grease was said to be mixed with that of the pig, the latter animal being detested and abhorred as much as the cow is revered. Other stories were told to excite them against their masters; the revolt was so well planned that there was hardly a suspicion of it till the moment of the outbreak; and so secretly was it arranged that even to this day the English have not been able to learn all the facts connected with it.
"The first outbreak was at Berhampoor, near Calcutta, on the 25th of February, 1857, where the 19th Regiment refused to use the cartridges or obey any orders. The regiment was disbanded a month later, and meantime there had been trouble in other regiments in various parts of Bengal; by the 1st of May the spirit of revolt had spread through the entire presidency, and within a fortnight from that date the horrible massacres of Allahabad, Delhi, Dumdum, and a dozen other points had taken place. The whole country was lighted up with the fires of rebellion, and the ground was red with the blood of the victims, which included every person of European or Eurasian origin on whom the rebels could lay their hands.
TRIAL OF A MUTINEER.
"Then came the revenge, as soon as the English could assemble the necessary troops. One stronghold after another fell, and before the endof the year the revolt was in a state of suppression; several battles occurred in the spring of 1858, and in some localities the rebels held out till autumn of that year. Anybody who wishes a full account of the scenes of that terrible time is referred to the many books that have been written concerning it, and particularly to 'The Sepoy War in India,' by J. W. Kaye.
ENGLISH OFFICERS IN INDIA.
"Since the rebellion and its suppression there has been a radical change in the organization of the army. The native forces in all India are about 130,000, and the English 75,000. Compare this arrangement with that which existed at the time of the Mutiny, when the native strength was 240,000 and the English less than 40,000, and you will see a vast difference. Each cavalry and infantry regiment has only eight European officers, including the surgeon, and none of them are attached to the companies, which are all led by their native captains. The native captains are drawn from the higher castes, and appointed to their places, as in England, while in the old formation they were promoted from the ranks, and were often of low caste, so that they were despised by many of the soldiers they commanded.
"In the rank and file the system that made the Mutiny possible has been entirely abandoned; instead of forming a regiment of a single caste,religion, or nativity, great care is taken to mix them up as much as possible, and thus prevent the formation of a plot. Sometimes the companies are from one tribe or district, but no two companies in a regiment are of the same kind. As there can be no affinity under such circumstances, there can be no plot, since there would be no common cause for one. According to the report of Sir Garnet Wolseley, during the last year of his service in India the native army of Bengal contained 6000 or 7000 Hindostanee Moslems, 8000 or 9000 Rajpoots, 2000 Jats, 6000 low-caste Hindostanees, 6000 Punjabee Moslems, 1000 Hindoos, 12,000 Sikhs, 1200 Mwybee Sikhs, 5000 Afghans and Pathans, 5000 or 6000 Ghoorkhas, 4000 Dogras and other hill tribes, besides other classifications of greater or less importance. None of the regiments are kept for a long time in any one place, and whenever a review or other circumstance causes a large number of native troops to be assembled, there is a large British force conveniently at hand and taking part in the manœuvres."
"This may possibly be dry reading to somebody at home," Fred remarked as he folded the paper. "If the young folks don't like it, they can skip a few pages; but I am sure the older heads in the family will wish to know something about the Mutiny and the present condition of the army in India, and therefore I shall make a nice copy of what I have written and send it home by the next mail."
A week passed pleasantly and quickly at Bombay, where there was much to be seen of a novel character. Bombay is unlike any other city of India, as will be discovered from the account of Frank and Fred, which we are permitted to use in our closing chapter:
BOMBAY AND ITS ENVIRONS.
"The name of this city is supposed to be derived fromBonne Baie(Good Bay, or Harbor), which it was called by the Portuguese more than 300 years ago. The harbor is the finest in all India, as it is twelve or fourteen miles long, by five or six in width; the city stands on an island about the length and shape of the one where New York is built, and in other respects it reminds you of the commercial metropolis of the United States. Bombay has its business section at the lower end, and its residences elsewhere, very much as we find things in New York; it has its Stock Exchange and other places of speculation, and when we went to the Apollo Bunder, or general landing-place, we were reminded of Whitehall and Castle Garden. The creek that separates it from the main-land, or rather from the larger island of Salsette, has been bridged over, like the Harlem River, and the railway comes into Bombay, very much as it does into New York. We could make other comparisons, but the above are sufficient to show that we feel at home in this great city of India.
"The lower part of Bombay is called the Fort, and it had a good right to have that name down to within the past twenty years. Bombay was the first settlement of the English in India; it was bought by the Portuguese from the Moslems, who conquered it near the end of the fourteenth century, and held by them till 1562, when it was given as a part of the dowry of a Portuguese princess on her marriage with King Charles II. of England. When the East India Company began operations it rented the island of Bombay from the king for ten pounds a year, and continued to pay that rental till 1858, when the Company went out of existence. A fort was built on the lower end of the island, just as one was builtabout the same time at New Amsterdam (afterward New York), and it stood there till the invention of modern artillery made it useless as a place of defence. Many fine buildings have been erected on the site of the fort and on its esplanade, and as you wander about the streets you are constantly impressed with the business activity that prevails.
A PARSEE MERCHANT.
"In the Fort there are many fine public buildings that must have cost a great deal of money; there are some nice bungalows, or private residences, at Byculla, which may be called the Fifth Avenue of Bombay, and also on Malabar Hill, which corresponds to the upper part of Manhattan Island, in the vicinity of the Boulevard. They tell us that during the American Civil War there was the wildest kind of speculation in Bombay, and enormous fortunes were made and lost; when the crash came everybody suffered; and even to-day the city has not wholly recovered. The high price of cotton caused everybody to speculate in it, and for a while Bombay appeared to be the most prosperous city in the world.
"We will try to tell what we have seen since we came here, but there is so much of it that we shall be sure to forget something.
"To begin at the beginning, the first thing that attracted our attention was the great number of Parsees; we had seen them before in Calcutta,Hong-Kong, and other cities, but when we got to Bombay we found the streets full of them. Doctor Bronson says there are about 700,000 inhabitants in Bombay, and the Parsees are thought to be not far from 70,000; then there are 450,000 Hindoos, 120,000 Moslems, and25,000 Europeans, while the balance is made up of various Eastern races and nationalities. So you see the Parsees are a tenth of the population, and we are told that at least half the wealth of Bombay is in their hands. Bombay is often called the City of the Parsees, and not by any means without good reason.
"The Parsees came originally from Persia, where they had been persecuted for their religious belief; they settled at Surat, and from there a good many of them came to Bombay and to other places along the coast, and it is thought that at least half of all the Parsees in India are in this city. They are sometimes called fire-worshippers, on account of their reverence for fire, and the worship they give to the sun, as the emblem of life. They regard fire as sacred, and will do nothing to degrade it; no good Parsee will venture to smoke, and it is an act of rudeness or ignorance to offer him a cigar or cigarette, or to light a cigar while talking with him. The Parsees are the shrewdest merchants of the East, and a large part of the business of Bombay is in their hands; the leading Parsee houses have branches in London and other European cities, as well as in China and the Far East generally. In every way they are the most influential of all the native inhabitants of Bombay, and are steadily gaining in intelligence and prominence. When they fled to India they brought the sacred fire with them, and it has been kept burning in their temples ever since.
PARSEE SCHOOL CHILDREN.
"Doctor Bronson found an old friend from New York,[9]who had been for ten years a resident of Bombay; through his assistance and in his company we were taken to the cemetery of the Parsees, on Malabar Hill, where we saw their strange way of disposing of the dead. He also took us to a Parsee school, where we saw lots of bright-eyed children, and heard them recite their lessons, which they did very prettily, although the language was one we did not understand. The little girls and boys 'spoke their pieces' just as girls and boys do at a school examination in Massachusetts or New York, and were quite as proud of the medals and prizes that were given to them. The afternoon we spent in visiting the Parsee school was one of the most interesting of our stay in Bombay.
"Very naturally, we were most interested in the girls; they were from eight to twelve years old, and had keen, intelligent faces. Nearly all were pretty as pinks—brown-hued pinks, we may say, as the most ofthe complexions had a brunette tinge. Each head was covered with a gold-embroidered cap, and the rest of the costume was quite Oriental, as it consisted of loose trousers, with a white or embroidered frock. The recitations and songs were given in a manner highly creditable to the tiny ladies, and with almost perfect coolness and self-possession. As each little miss—we don't know the Parsee word for miss—came forward to receive her prize she bowed gracefully, and marched off to her seat with all the dignity of a princess. And we call these people ignorant heathen!
"On leaving the school, we were invited to visit the 'Towers of Silence' on Malabar Hill, where the Parsees dispose of their dead: it was arranged that we should be at the gate of the cemetery at seven o'clockon the following morning, when one of the prominent Parsees to whom we had been introduced would meet us. We were there at the appointed time, and so was the gentleman who was to accompany us through the place.
"The Parsees do not bury their dead, but expose the bodies to be eaten by birds. The gentleman explained why they did this, and we cannot do better than use his own words, as nearly as we remember them.
"'This mode of sepulture,' said he, 'was adopted because it was thought the most appropriate and satisfactory. Hindoos burn their dead, but we consider fire sacred, and would not use it for any ignoble office. The earth is the mother of mankind, the producer of the fruits and vegetables on which we live, and the burial of the dead in it is a defilement and an injury. Cemeteries are acknowledged everywhere to be unhealthy, and I believe you have much discussion concerning them in Europe and America. When a body is exposed here it is quickly devoured, and there are none of the gases that arise from cremation or decomposition, nor is the earth defiled in any way. So we regard this as the best way of disposing of our dead.'
"This explanation was made while we were standing in a building near the entrance of the grounds, where the sacred fire is kept burning on an altar; a part of the building forms a temple, to which funeral parties come to say their prayers, and there are several rooms where the priests and attendants bathe and change their apparel. From the windows there is a fine view of the bay and the country surrounding the city, and a neat garden shows that the attendants of the place are not idlers.
A PARSEE TOWER OF SILENCE, NEAR TEHERAN.
"The other structures in the enclosure are the famous Towers, nine in number, about twelve feet in height and thirty in diameter. In the side of each tower is a double door of iron, where the bearers enter with the bodies of the dead; through these doors no person, not even a Parsee, with the exception of the attendants, is permitted to look; and if any one passes within twenty yards of a tower he is required to bathe and change his clothing before leaving the grounds. This is not a superstitious notion, but is intended to prevent the spread of contagious diseases; and so great is the precaution, that the bearers and priests are required to go through the ceremony of purification after each funeral.
"On the tops of two or three towers, those most in use, a lot of vultures were sitting and waiting the arrival of the funeral processions: they are so eager to perform their work that they sometimes attack the bearers, and the latter always carry stout sticks for defending themselves.Our conductor told us that within an hour after the closing of the doors on a body nothing remains but the bones, and these are swept into a well in the centre of the tower, where they gradually decay.
"We took a walk among the towers, being careful not to go inside the prohibited limit, and then returned to the entrance. Before we left the grounds our guide showed us a model of one of the towers, and as he did so he told us that the system was not invented by the Parsees of Bombay, but was brought from Persia by their ancestors. The towers in Persia are entered over the top by means of ladders placed against the sides, and not through doors, as in the present instance. The funerals take place at sunrise or sunset—never in the night, and rarely in the middle of the day.
"The subject is not a pleasant one; but so much has been said about the Parsees and their mode of sepulture, that we feel justified for what we have written. From all we have been able to observe, the Parsees are not fanatical on any religious subject, but they carefully preserve their dress and original customs, and are evidently very earnest in their respect for themselves and their ancestry. There are no more intelligentmen in Asia than the Parsees. At least, that is what those who know them best are ready to say.
A BUNDER-BOAT.
"From the 'Towers of Silence' we went to see the hospital for animals, which is a Parsee institution for sheltering all domestic animals that are in need of help. The theory of the charity is an excellent one, but the practice did not strike us favorably. There were many animals closely penned together, and the places where they were kept were not at all clean. There were dozens and dozens of dogs, the most of them ill-conditioned curs, in all stages of canine diseases. They receive no animal food, which would be contrary to Parsee principles, and evidently they do not relish boiled rice. Sheds and stalls were crowded with horses, cows, oxen, sheep, and other domestic animals, some of them sufferingfrom incurable disease or injury. There were twice as many occupants of the place as could be comfortably accommodated. The hospital was founded on principles of humanity and kindness, but its practical working leaves much to be desired.
"Every visitor to Bombay hears of the benevolence of one of its Parsee merchants, who accumulated an immense fortune in the China trade, and used a large part of it for the benefit of the public. He built and endowed two large hospitals; constructed at his own expense the stone bridge that connects Bombay with the island of Salsette; contributed very liberally to the fund for the relief of the sick and wounded soldiers during the Crimean war, and was famous for many other charities. So great was his liberality and public spirit, that the Queen recognized his merits by conferring on him the honors of knighthood, and afterward raising him to the rank of a baronet. His name, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, is rather difficult for American lips to pronounce; but it is familiar as a household word in the mouth of every old resident of Bombay. There is a statue to his memory in one of the public places of Bombay, but his greatest monument is in the hospitals he endowed and the public works he created.
"A study of Bombay would be incomplete without a visit to the famous Caves of Elephanta. Formerly it was necessary to go to them in a bunder-boat, as they are situated on an island seven miles from the bund or landing-place; and as the wind could not be depended on, the excursion was of uncertain length. At present you can hire a steam-launch for about seven dollars, and it will easily accommodate four persons, with their guide, and this is what we did. Steam seems to be driving sails out of use everywhere, even in unprogressive India, and the bunder-boat gives way to the launch, just as the clipper-ship does to the ocean steamer.
THE CAVES OF ELEPHANTA.
"We had a pleasant run across the harbor, and in due time reached the end of the stone causeway that leads up to the caves. The island takes its name from the statue of an elephant that formerly stood nearly half-way from the landing to the caves; it is about five miles in circumference, and is occupied by a hundred inhabitants or so, who raise sheep and poultry to sell in Bombay. The caves are about 250 yards from the water, and consist of a series of temples hewn from the solid rock, or rather of one large temple, with smaller ones at each side. From the entrance to the rear of the cavern it is 123 feet, and the width of the whole is said to be 130 feet. We do not know by whom they were made, but the general belief is that they were excavated about a thousand years ago.
"Stone pillars support the roof, and the interior is so dark that torches are needed for exploring it. The walls are covered with sculptures in bold relief, and both sculptures and pillars have been greatly injured; it is said that the Portuguese placed cannon at the entrance of the cave, and fired solid shot into the temple for several hours, in order to destroy the work of the idolaters. At present the cave is carefully protected, and guards are constantly on the lookout to prevent injury by visitors.
"The sculptures show that the temple, or at any rate a part of it, was devoted to the worship of Siva, one of the Hindoo divinities, as his figure appears in several places, and there are numerous emblems such as we find in his temples elsewhere. There is a three-headed bust to represent the Hindoo trinity—Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva—and in one place there is a figure of Buddha, which is thought to be more modern than the rest. Some persons think this temple is older than the Caves of Ellora, while others believe that Ellora is the more ancient. Nobody can tell, and perhaps it is not of much consequence after all, as either of the works is venerable enough for modern visitors.
COTTON MARKET AT BOMBAY.
"The hotel where we stop is the resort of snake-charmers, jugglers, and others, who hope to pick up a little money by amusing the visitors;of course they are not allowed to enter the building, but they gather in front of it, especially after breakfast and during the afternoon, so that we can have a performance at any time at very little cost. We had heard a great deal about the wonderful skill of the East Indian jugglers, and have missed no opportunity of seeing them when there was a prospect of something marvellous, but, from all we have observed, we unhesitatingly declare that they do not equal Hermann, Blitz, and other sleight-of-hand exhibitors in the United States.
"Travellers have written about the basket trick, in which a boy enters a basket just large enough to hold him; the performer then begins a conversation with the boy, which becomes more and more violent as it proceeds, and finally a sword is thrust into the basket and apparently pierces the occupant. He screams, and calls out that he is killed. The sword is thrust in again and again; the boy's screams become fainter and fainter, and finally cease, and it is supposed that he has been killed. The basket is soon after lifted, and found to be empty, and the boy appears in the crowd of by-standers. We have seen this trick two or three times, and in each instance there was plenty of opportunity for the boy to escape before the conversation began, and, of course, the screams could be made to come from the basket by means of ventriloquism. In another basket trick the boy remains in the basket, and the sword is handled in such a manner as to avoid touching him.
"A trick more difficult to explain is that of making a tree grow in a short time. The juggler takes a common pot filled with earth, and plants a mango-seed in the centre; then he squats in front of it, and begins playing on a musical instrument, or perhaps he sits perfectly still and looks at the ground. In a minute or so the earth in the centre of the pot swells, and then bursts, so as to show the plant springing from the seed; the shoot appears and rises slowly, and it grows and grows, till at length the leaves come out, the blossoms form, the fruit shapes itself, ripens, and is plucked off and handed to the spectators. The whole process of growth, from the planting of the seed to the ripening and plucking of the fruit, occupies about half an hour, and the performer does not touch the pot or bring his hand near the tree until the fruit is to be plucked.
SERPENTS DANCING TO MUSIC.
"Snake-charmers are numerous, and we have looked at them till we are tired of their performances. They carry small baskets about the size and shape of a Cheshire cheese, and with loose covers over the top, as we have previously described. The basket is placed on the ground and the cover removed, while the performer squats by its side and begins playing on a sort of flute. In a few moments the cloths in the basket begin tomove, and the head of a cobra rises slowly from among them; the music continues, and in a little while the snake has come quite out of the basket, and is standing as erect as a snake can stand before its master. He makes a sort of dancing motion, and is evidently fond of the flute, as he lowers his head and goes back to the basket when the man ceases playing.
"While the snake is dancing the man suddenly drops the flute, and, at the same instant, grasps the snake around the neck. The snake becomes enraged, and at the first opportunity bites its master on the hand; the latter appears greatly excited, and rubs the wound with a stone, which is said to be an antidote against snake-bites, and he offers to sell it to you for a high price. The fact is, the snake is perfectly harmless, as his fangs have been removed, and he might bite the performer a hundred times over without the least injury. The snake-charmers wind the strange pets around their necks and bodies, and play with them in many ways; and when all their tricks are concluded the serpents are returned to the baskets, and a collection is taken for the benefit of the showman.
"These cobras, like their kindred in Ceylon, have a great fondness for houses, and it makes little difference to them whether the places they inhabit belong to Europeans or natives. It makes you feel uncomfortable to think a deadly cobra may be under your feet as you walk on the grass, or may enter your room while you are sleeping. The other day we were breakfasting with a gentleman whose bungalow is on Malabar Hill, and after breakfast the conversation turned on snakes; he told us of the habit of the cobra, and while we were talking on the subject a snake-charmer came along and wished to give a performance. The gentleman told him we had already witnessed the tricks of the business, but if he could find a snake about his premises he would pay him. We went to the veranda at the rear of the bungalow, and the charmer squatted on the ground and began playing on his flute; in a few minutes the head of a cobra appeared from beneath the bungalow, and as the music went on he crawled slowly out and stood erect in front of the charmer. Quick as a flash the man dropped his flute, and grasped the snake firmly by the neck; it was all the work of an instant, and before we knew what he was about the snake was his prisoner. Holding him firmly by the neck, he brought him near us, and forced his mouth open, so as to exhibit the terrible fangs, with the bags of poison at their base. Our host accepted this as a proof that the snake was not, as is frequently the case, the property of the performer, and had been secretly let loose in order that he might be caught.
"As soon as he had shown us the fangs, the man took a pair of pincers from the folds of his dress and removed the poisonous teeth; then he placed the prize in his basket, as our host had no use for it, and with a couple of rupees as a reward for his services, departed.
"If the snake had succeeded in biting the man his life would have been in great danger, as the poison is much more violent than that of the rattlesnake, and is generally fatal. Prompt application of antidotes will sometimes counteract its effects, but is by no means sure to do so; the snake-charmers have a few antidotes known only to themselves, while the English physicians make use of arsenic, in pills of one grain each, or apply Fowler's solution, and they also give large doses of alcoholic and other stimulants, in the same way that rattlesnake bites are treated in America. Our host said that from fifteen to twenty thousand lives are lost in India every year by the bites of venomous serpents. It is very rarely the case that Europeans are bitten, for the reason that they walk about very little, and besides, they are always clothed, and have their feet covered with shoes, while the natives are barefooted.
"It is getting late, and we must stop writing. We could tell more about snakes if we had time and space; more about Bombay, and a great deal more about India. It is a vast country; and though we have seen many things since we entered it, we feel there is much more that we have not seen. How could it be otherwise, when the population of India includes not far from a fifth of the whole human race, and comprises so many kinds and tribes of men that we are lost in the attempt to enumerate and describe them? We have told all we could in the short time at our disposal for observation and writing out the result, and if you want more knowledge about this wonderful land we must refer you elsewhere.
"To-morrow we leave Bombay by steamer. Doctor Bronson says we go under 'sealed orders,' as ships of war sometimes do when it is desired to conceal their destination, and our orders will be opened when we are out of sight of land. We cannot say what are his reasons for thus concealing our future movements, but we know they are entirely proper, and therefore we are satisfied. Of course you will hear from us again; you have indicated your satisfaction at what we have sent home heretofore, and consequently we shall be encouraged to continue our descriptions of the countries it may be our fortune to visit.
"And so we say good-bye to India, and good-bye, for the present, to friends at home."