Across India Part 33

"But what are those things over the other side of the park?"

"They are all tanks; and, of course, they are to hold water. Each of them has its name, generally Indian. Now we will walk across to the Chowringhee Road, where the finest private residences of the city are situated. On our left is the Government House, which we pa.s.sed when we came in. It is a fine building, and it has a large garden of its own."

"But what is it for?" asked the lady.

"It is the residence of the governor-general, generally called the viceroy; and he has his offices there. Now, if you look beyond Fort William, you will see the race-course."

"I don't care for that," replied Mrs. Belgrave, whose memories of the sport were anything but pleasant.

"Near it is the presidency jail, and there are two hospitals farther along."

The party walked along the road to view the residences of the nabobs, and returned to the hotel, where they seated themselves on the large veranda overlooking the street. The first thing Louis did was to look at a thermometer he discovered on a post.

"How hot is it, Louis?" asked his mother.

"It isn't hot at all; it is only 70."

"The gla.s.s varies here from 52 to 100; but we don't get the latter figure except in summer," added Sir Modava.

"But you have awful cyclones here, an English lady told me last night,"

said Mrs. Belgrave.

"We do; but we never have them at this season of the year; they come in May, September, and October, and sometimes in November the belated ones. In 1867 we had one in the latter month which destroyed thirty thousand native houses; but you know they are built of bamboos and such stuff, and it does not take much of a breeze to demolish them. Another in June, 1870, did nearly as much damage."

"I should think the bore would make mischief here," suggested Louis.

"The monsoons here begin in July, and during their time the bore is the most mischievous. The big wave comes up the river at the rate of twenty miles an hour. All boats run for the middle of the river, where the billow does not break against the sh.o.r.e. Ships often part their cables, and knock themselves to pieces against the walls. Sometimes the bore is twelve feet high, though not much more than half that generally."

"What are the prices at a hotel like this one, Lord Tremlyn?" asked Dr.

Hawkes.

"Here is the list of prices," replied his lordship, handing him a card taken from the wall.

"Coffee at six in the morning, breakfast _a la fourchette_ at nine, tiffin at one, and dinner at seven. Price, Rs. six per day," the doctor read. "I suppose Rs. means rupees; and that makes it about twelve English shillings, or three dollars a day, which is not high."

"There are no extras except for wines, liquors, and beer, which none of your people use," added the viscount. "But you have to pay for your own attendance; and your servant's pay is from eight to ten rupees a month, or about a pound."

"Cheap enough!" exclaimed the surgeon. "I have to pay my waiter at home six pounds a month."

"Now, what is there to be seen in Calcutta?" asked the commander after breakfast.

"If you wish to see mosques, temples, paG.o.das"--the viscount began.

"We do not," interposed the captain. "At first those were very interesting; but we have seen enough of them."

"I supposed so," added Lord Tremlyn. "I have ordered carriages, and to-day we will take a general view of the city."

This plan was agreeable to the party, and it was carried out. From the hotel they proceeded to the river. There was a crowd of shipping at anchor, and at the landing-stages and jetties. Among them Louis was the first to discover the Guardian-Mother. She was in the middle of the river, off Fort William. Half a mile below her they saw the Blanche. At the request of the commander, the carriages went down to the fort, where the pa.s.sengers all alighted, and gathered together on the sh.o.r.e. The gentlemen cheered, and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs.

"I see that Mr. Boulong has painted the ship, and she looks as taut and snug as a man-of-war," said the commander, who was evidently glad to see his vessel.

"They are lowering the boats," added Louis; and in a few minutes the barge and first cutter came up to the sh.o.r.e.

There was a general handshaking with the first officer, in command, and the boys extended this courtesy to all the crews of the boats, going on board of them for a few minutes. It was a happy meeting; but it could not be long continued, and the carriages drove off again.

As he was about to take his place in the landau, Mr. Boulong informed the commander that he had received a visit from Captain Mazagan. He wanted to see Captain Ringgold, but did not state his business. The first officer could not tell whether the visitor knew the Blanche was in the river, for he had not mentioned her. With the statement that the party would go on board in two or three days, they parted, and the boats returned to the ship. The commander had something to think of now; but he came to the conclusion that the reprobate was not aware of the presence of the Blanche or her owner.

The carriages followed the sh.o.r.e road till they came to the upper end of the city, and then turned into the first of the long streets with several names in different parts, which extends entirely through the town. Near the esplanade they found the finest shops, and the ladies went into some of them to see the goods. Then they struck the Circular Road, and drove entirely around the city.

"This reminds me of Moscow, in some parts, where palaces and shanties are side by side in the same street," said Captain Ringgold. "There does not seem to be any aristocratic section, unless that by the esplanade is such."

They saw plenty of mosques, temples, and churches, some of the latter very fine. They believed they had taken in the whole city. After dinner Lord Tremlyn invited them to an excursion on board of a steam-yacht the next day, the use of which was tendered to him by a high official.

CHAPTER x.x.xV

A SUCCESSFUL HUNT IN THE SUNDERBUNDS

A breakfast at six o'clock was provided the following morning for the tourists, and they came down from their chambers prepared for the aquatic excursion, which was to include something more than sight-seeing, for the gentlemen and the boys were directed to take their rifles along. Mr.

Boulong had called upon the commander the evening before, and he had been invited to join the party; but he had excused himself, and suggested that Mr. Gaskette would enjoy it more than he should, and he was asked to go.

By half-past six the party were on The Strand, as the road in the esplanade bordering the river is called. The second officer of the ship was there; and he was not only a sailor and an artist, but he had the reputation of being a dead shot. The company embarked on the steam-yacht, which was large enough to make voyages to Madras and Ceylon. The excursion was not intended as a mere shooting-party, Lord Tremlyn explained, but to enable the company to obtain a better view of Calcutta than they could get in any other manner.

From the river a full view was obtained of the mult.i.tude of columns, belfries, and cupolas, as well as of the Government House, the Town Hall, and the line of magnificent houses beyond the esplanade. Along the sh.o.r.e The Strand, as it is called the whole length of the city, the jetties, and the landing-stages were crowded with men; for, where labor is so cheap, work is not done by small forces of men. There are several lines of steamers running between London, Southampton, and Liverpool to this port; and they were constantly arriving and departing.

"You don't see such a variety of races here as you did in Bombay," said Lord Tremlyn as he was pointing out the sights to be seen. "You observe some Chinamen and Burmese; but most of the laborers are of the low cla.s.s of natives, Bengalese, and they are very sorry specimens of the Hindus."

"But what are the merchants and shopkeepers?" asked Captain Ringgold.

"They are Baboos, which is a name given to the Bengalese. The better cla.s.s of them, in contact with the English, realize that education is a power; and they have labored for years to improve their countrymen. They have established schools and colleges, and when young natives applied for government situations the authorities felt obliged to admit them. To-day you will find many natives acting as clerks in the post-office, railway, and telegraph-offices, as well as in the courts in minor capacities.

"In fact, there has been a social revolution in progress here for half a century or more, and its effects may be seen now. The government has modified the lot of woman to some extent, as you have learned. The Hindu law weighed terribly upon her. When a woman lost her husband, custom required that she should be sent back to her own family. Her relatives shaved off her hair, dressed her in the coa.r.s.est clothing, and compelled her to do the severest drudgery of the household. She is forbidden to marry again, and is treated as though she was responsible for becoming a widow.

The reforming of this evil is in progress; but the people are baked into their prejudices and superst.i.tions of forty centuries, and it is worse than pulling their teeth to interfere with them.

"One of the favorite divinities of the natives here is Kali, the wife of Siva, the G.o.ddess of murder. Her worship is odious and disgusting; for her altars were formerly sprinkled with human blood, and the idols were surrounded with dead bodies and skulls. Their great festival is the Churuk-Pooja, which is still celebrated, though the government has forbidden all its brutal features. You have all seen a 'merry-go-round'

machine in which children ride in a circle on wooden horses.

"An apparatus like this, but without the wooden steeds, was used by these fanatics. At the end of the four arms hung ropes with sharp hooks at the end, on which were hung up the devotees, as the butcher does his meats in his shop; and the machine was revolved rapidly till the hooks pulled out, and the victim dropped upon the ground, fainting or dead. At the present time the festival is attended by Baboos of the best cla.s.s; but it amounts simply to an athletic exhibition with music. The government and the reformers have brought about this change of performance."

"Do the English attend such shows?" asked Dr. Hawkes.

"Sometimes, from curiosity. But they are here just about what they are in London, and their habits are much the same," replied the viscount. "The river here is about a mile wide. Formerly we could not have come as far as we have without seeing hundreds of corpses floating on the surface. Natives who were too poor to pay the bill for the funeral pyre threw the bodies of their friends into the river. Of course this was a menace to the health of the city; and the practice was forbidden by the government, which built an immense tower, wherein is kept a fire constantly burning, in which the bodies of the poor are consumed without expense."

"See that big bird on the sh.o.r.e!" exclaimed Mrs. Belgrave. "I saw several of them yesterday, and I meant to ask what it was."