Seven Legs Across the Seas Part 24

We now take final leave of Africa, the land of fever and fascination, and start for India. The boat from which I disembarked at Mombasa weeks before had sailed to Bombay, returned to Africa, and was now again on her voyage to the Pearl of the Orient. Only two Europeans were traveling second-cla.s.s--the only white pa.s.sengers aboard--the others being black. We had been at sea but a few hours when the captain invited us to quarters in the first-cla.s.s section without additional charge. Seldom are pa.s.sengers favored with such kindness.

The ship headed for the Island of Mahe, the largest of the Seych.e.l.les group.

Before leaving Mombasa pa.s.sengers had to be vaccinated, as smallpox had broken out in that place. The port doctor snagged my arm with an inoculation needle in three different places, giving as a reason for doing so that he was sure none of them would "take." Later, it became painfully evident his opinion could not be depended upon in a matter of that nature, as three flaming-like eyes appeared on my arm--all three vaccinations had "taken."

A ship may enter the port of Bombay, India, though bubonic plague and smallpox is ravaging the pa.s.sengers, but if what is known as a jigger is found on the feet or hands of a pa.s.senger a vessel would be quarantined for eight days. The jigger is a small insect that crawls under the toenail, deposits eggs if allowed to remain, and then dies; its eggs, however, cause a sore, which spreads over feet and legs, and the hands and body eventually become scaly, somewhat like eczema.

African natives are very clever at digging out the jigger. The ship's doctor examines every toe and hand of pa.s.sengers booked for India. He places a box on deck, when, one at a time, each pa.s.senger puts first one foot on the box, when the doctor inspects each toe, and then the other, for jigger indications. Several days are devoted to this examination.

"A complete quarantine" was the order of the port doctor when we reached Port Victoria, on the island of Mahe, Seych.e.l.les group, the Mombasa clearance papers announcing smallpox prevalent in the African town.

The coco-de-mer--a double cocoanut--is perhaps one of the strangest products in the world; only in the Seych.e.l.les group will the nut grow, and there on but two islands. After the shuck has been removed the double nut is found, black as ebony. A striking feature of the coco-de-mer is its resemblance to the torso of a black person. The tree on which it grows is like the cocoanut palm, and the nut is used for decorating homes and clubs. The palm grows in s.e.xes, male and female, only the female tree bearing.

This group is composed of 29 islands, with an area of 153 square miles, and is located in the Western Indian Ocean about a thousand miles east of Zanzibar. The French settled these in 1742, which remained their territory for 50 years, when England added them to her possessions. The 30,000 inhabitants of the islands speak the French tongue. Unlike most sections of Africa, the climate here is healthful, the group being often referred to as the Garden of Eden. Cocoa oil and vanilla are the princ.i.p.al exports; tea, coffee, banana, cocoanut and other tropical growths also flourish. The natives are yellow in color, but not negroid. American five-gallon oil tins are in evidence in that isolated "oasis" of the world.

We traveled northwest from Seych.e.l.les, when we recrossed the equator, leaving behind the towering palms of Rio; the circling albatross and pretty Cape pigeons, the whales, flambeau trees, Zulu ricksha pullers, gold and diamond mines, Victoria Falls, and shapely mountains of South Africa; Australia, New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands; the interesting East Coast of Africa and Zanzibar; leafless trees, game preserves, green-island dotted Victoria Nyanza, nimble monkeys disporting in treetops, ant-eating natives, pretty birds, Ripon Falls, the tsetse fly--mindful only of the interesting and fascinating--and, lastly, the Southern Cross, as we say a final good-by to the attractive Southland and the kind people living in that division of the world.

"The anchor rattles down on stranger sh.o.r.es." We had stopped at Morumgoa, Portuguese-India, where most of the black pa.s.sengers left the ship. Goa is the name of this Portuguese colony, which embraces an area of 1,500 square miles, and has been ruled by Portugal since the fifteenth century. Half a million Portuguese subjects live in Goa, and from that place comes the Goanese. They consider themselves Europeans, dress like Europeans, but are as black as an Indian. Stewards on pa.s.senger steamships in the East are generally Goanese, as they make better servants than Indians. The pa.s.sengers were returning from Africa, where they had earned from $20 to $30 a month, very good wages for them. They had saved enough in Africa to live in ease at home for a long time, and would send friends across the Indian Ocean to take their places.

Another day's travel within sight of the Indian sh.o.r.e, and we sailed into the east bay of Bombay harbor, when a splendid panorama--the city on our left, the bay in front, and green hills and islands to the right--spread out before us. We had reached Asia--Leg Six.

The Parsi (a Persian) is the financial power in Bombay, coming to India a long time ago, when his empire was destroyed by the Mohammedans. Persecuted by Indians for centuries, his progress is entirely due to the protection he has received under England's strong arm. Bombay has been an English possession for 300 years.

The Parsi is lighter in color than the Indian, dresses differently, thinks he is better than the native, will not eat food prepared by others, and does not marry outside his own race. A majority of Parsis wear spectacles--possibly one of the results of tribal intermarriage.

One is surprised, on visiting this Parsi stronghold, at the splendid buildings, rising bulky and high, about the city. The streets in the business section are good and the walks in fair condition. A good system of stone and cement docks impresses the visitor. Ships are so numerous at this port that some of the vessels have to remain in harbor for days, and even weeks, before docking room is available. A large dry dock was under course of construction at this time, and other important improvements were in evidence all along the water front.

Trucking is done by oxen; horses are never seen drawing heavy loads.

The Bombay truck is a two-wheeled cart, thousands of these, loaded with cotton bales and various merchandise, slowly moving about the city all the while. When drivers wish to speed their oxen they twist their tails. From this method of forcing the animals, the p.r.o.nounced corrugated nature of their tails suggests that the joints had been wrenched apart numerous times.

Bombay cotton mills number about a hundred and furnish employment for over 200,000. Indian cotton is not so good as that grown in the United States, and for this reason hundreds of thousands of bales are imported from America each year to mix with the native product. Cotton is worn mainly by the natives, and, as the Indian woman has a weakness for colors, groups of these make a picturesque showing.

Indian women work side by side with men and receive the same wages.

The work engaged in may be carrying earth from an excavation, loading dirt into carts, shoveling coal, or lifting bales of cotton. These are known as coolies, and no distinction is made between male and female, English rule has given some workers in India a short day, but others work 10 and 12 hours. The wages paid coolies in Bombay are from six to eight cents a day. A woman may be carrying material to masons working on a wall of a building and her babe be sleeping behind a pile of bricks. When the child requires its mother's attention the hod-carrier walks over to the infant, remains a short while, then leaves, loads her basket with brick, lifts it to her head, and starts up the ladder with the material.

Thousands of people in Bombay sleep on the sidewalk at night. They completely cover their head and face, placing a piece of old cloth under them--if so fortunate as to have something of that sort--lie down, and sleep until morning. One wonders they do not die of suffocation.

Usually the temperature is cooler at night than by day, but such is not the case in Bombay, the weather being hotter at night during the summer season than in the daytime, when a breeze generally blows, and ceases at sundown. Then perspiration seems just to boil out of one's body. Bombay being built on an island, with water on all sides, one would naturally think air would be noticeably stirring at night, but instead the bays at this time of year are usually as calm as a mill pond. We reached this country the end of September, and for three weeks following the weather would not permit of even a sheet covering at night. The weather is indeed hot in India.

The monsoons, or rains, begin the latter end of May, and continue until the first of September. The rain comes in showers, the sun shining between, when steam continually rises from the ground. White women go to the mountains before the monsoons, on account of the trying nature of the weather, and also after the monsoons have ceased.

The weather in India is very depressing to white women.

Were one to walk about with bare arms on a cloudy day they would become blistered. If one walked ten feet without head covering, he would be apt to fall from sunstroke as quickly as if felled by a blow.

Bombay, the fourth city of the British Empire, has a population of a million, 15,000 of whom are said to be Europeans, but it is doubtful if there be that number of full-blooded whites in the city. Of this population, it would be interesting to know what percentage wear shoes. Some Parsis do so, others wear sandals; but no Hindus or Mohammedans wear shoes, and but a small minority are seen with sandals. These are worn only while walking, for it is the custom to leave their sandals outside the entrance of a building or home and enter in bare feet. No matter where they may be, the sandals are discarded at all times when they are not actually walking, and when sitting down their feet are partly concealed under them.

Hindus and Mohammedans do not eat pork, as they consider the meat unclean; neither is beef eaten by Hindus. This is the reason why beef sells for five cents a pound. A cow is considered a sacred animal by the Hindu, and therefore not to be eaten. A shoemaker or saddler, or any one working with leather, is of very low caste, according to Hindu social rating.

In the Five Towers of Silence, located on Malabar Hill, the Parsi dead are disposed of, the method employed being one of the strangest customs practiced. A long, stone stairway leads to where the bodies are placed on an iron grating, which takes four men to carry it. Here are five cylinders, of three compartments each, 276 feet around and 25 feet high, resembling a circular gridiron, with a depression toward the center. Under the depressed portion of the cylinder is a well.

Bodies are laid on the grating naked--adult males on the outside compartment, women on the center, and children near the well.

Bald-headed vultures being numerous in the trees growing about the Towers, half an hour after a corpse has been placed on the gridiron every particle of flesh will be stripped from the bones by these vultures. The skeleton remains on the grating, exposed to sun and wind, until it has become dry; then the body-carriers, with tongs, remove the bones into the well. This method of disposing of bodies, instead of by cremation, is due to the Parsis regarding fire as too sacred to be polluted by burning the dead, and water and earth are equally revered. The bones and dust going into the same well is in keeping with one of the tenets of their religion--namely, that rich and poor must meet in death. The Parsis are followers of Zoroaster, who is said to have brought sacred fire from heaven, which is still kept burning in consecrated spots, while some of the temples are built over subterranean furnaces.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BHISTI (Water-Carrier).

INDIA.

See page 293.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PARSI.

BOMBAY, INDIA.

See page 271.]

The Parsi has a marked weakness for seeing his name engraved on bra.s.s plates or shields or cut in polished granite. In order that this whim be gratified, he donates large sums of money to worthy benefactions.

Their wealth and power may be inferred when it is stated that the control of the city of Bombay is in the hands of 80,000 out of a population of a million. The poor are well looked after, and a high standard of morality is their boast. The adoption of European customs becomes more noticeable from year to year. The children of that race attend the public schools.

One style of hat or cap worn by the Parsi is of pasteboard, covered with dotted white and red silk cloth, in the shape of a horse's hoof.

In the center of the cap a conical piece of the frame points upward, but not so high as the top of the "hoof." That feature of the cap suggests the frog in the horse's foot. No rim, string or ta.s.sel goes with this odd headgear. Occasionally a small feather may be seen at one side. Another hat having a high crown, is made of cloth, without a rim, save for what might be called a cuff around the bottom. His "coat" is a long, loose garment reaching to the knees. The Parsi horse-hoof hat, with adornment, will yet be well known beyond the borders of India and Persia, for milliners will induce their customers to adopt that style of headdress.

The city is well provided with parks. On the west side is a large strip of land, on which English sports, including polo games, are common; this park is used also for other forms of recreation. Music is provided in this part of the city every evening. In another section is located Victoria Gardens, a very pretty place, containing a good museum and a creditable zoo. Music is furnished in these grounds several times a week.

An interesting type of the varied nationalities of Bombay is the fisherwomen, who carry their catch in a basket on their heads. They are a different race to the Hindu or Parsi, dress differently, wear no head covering, and a sort of skirt they wear stops at the knees, the center being caught up by a piece of cloth brought between and fastened in front, giving the skirt a baggy, trouser-like appearance; from their knees down their legs are bare, including the feet. While their occupation would suggest untidiness, yet no people in the world are superior, in neatness of step and admirable carriage, to the Bombay fisherwomen.

It may be of interest to note that Bombay "duck," appearing on menus in the Far East, is really fish caught in the Arabian Sea, which, after being dried, is shipped to many parts of the world.

Bombay curry and rice is another food seen on menus in cities a long distance from the place whose name it bears. A gherkin is always eaten with this, the chief food of India. Curry and rice is seen on menus all over the country, and it is well for one to acquire a taste for it while in India, as it is said to be good, and there is always plenty of it.

"Lac" is used in India to denote large amounts, as a "thousand" is used in our country. There is a much larger difference in the amount, however, as a lac is 100,000. Five lacs of rupees, or three lacs of cotton bales, is the way the term is used.

A garrywaller is a cabdriver, but "garry" is the general term used when speaking of that cla.s.s. The term "waller" is used in the place of the word "smith" in the United States. It would be tinwaller for a tinsmith, woodwaller for a cabinetmaker, saddlewaller for a saddler, and so on.

Cab fare is cheap in Bombay. The charge for the first hour is 25 to 30 cents, and 16 to 20 cents an hour after the first. Short trips cost from 10 to 16 cents. One engaging a "garry" should know the exact fare before starting, for a driver may demand double the regular fare when the journey is finished. The cab horses are a hungry-looking lot--like those of Paris, France.

Jewelry and copper wallers form a considerable proportion of skilled workers. Copper cups and vases are much used in connection with religious customs, and Indian women will starve themselves to save money to buy silver ornaments. As many as six or eight ankle, wrist, and arm bangles are worn by these women, besides heavy pieces of jewelry depending from the ears, and flat ornaments covering the mouth. These last are attached to a pin that has been pierced through the nose. Mothers even have bangles on the arms and ankles of their babies.

An Indian woman's dress is often composed of but one piece of cloth--cotton or silk, as the case may be. On the amount of money a woman has at her disposal depends the bulk of the dress she wears. The strips of material are sometimes 20 feet in length; they are caught up by deft hands and made into a full fold, a half fold, or a V-shaped hook design, until a covering of what seems an inch of cloth is around the figure, worked out in shapes and designs to suit her fancy. None of the women wear shoes or hats, the head covering being made of the bolt of cloth composing her dress. The brighter the color of the material the better she is pleased.

Several English daily newspapers are published in Bombay; the leading one sells at six cents a copy. Employed in that particular office are 1,100 persons, and out of that large force were only nine Europeans working in the mechanical departments, these directing the work of the several divisions. Here were linotype machines and other modern appliances that mark the advancement which has taken place in the printing industry during the past 25 years. The "aristocratic" workers of that office were the linotype operators, their wages varying from $14 to $18 a month--big salaries for India. A typist or linotype operator would not hold a job long in America were he to b.u.mp down and up the keys of these machines with but one hand; yet that is the way the Indian linotype operator manipulates a keyboard. Unlike coolies'

hours, the working day in a publishing house is but eight hours. The wages of other Indian skilled mechanics in that office ran from $3 to $8 a month.

Modern machinery in any branch of industry in India, however, is often run at a loss. In a large publishing house a modern paper-folding machine had been installed at considerable expense. After the machine had been in operation for several weeks it occurred to the management there was little, if any, financial gain noticed by the results. When the original cost, wear and tear and ultimate replacement had been figured out, the figures proved that the work could be done 600 per cent. cheaper by hand. The folding machine was immediately abandoned and the work again done by boys receiving from 4 to 6 cents a day.

The Bombay policeman's hat is yellow in color and resembles a thick pancake, with a firm rim. He carries a club, and a small stick is another symbol of authority. He wears sandals, and is not officious.

If he be on a day a.s.signment, his time on duty is eight hours. The night policeman has much shorter hours--two hours on and two hours off. This unusual practice is maintained owing to an officer being very apt to go to sleep while on duty. Mention has been made of the weather being hotter at night than in the daytime, which may explain the night policeman's tendency to become sleepy. These protectors of the law receive $3.25 a month.

Electric street railways run to every part of the city, but few Europeans ride in them. Not long since a white person seen riding on a street car would be thought little of, but social restrictions in this respect have relaxed to a noticeable degree. Formerly Europeans were expected to maintain their position by riding in a carriage. Street railway fare is cheaper in Bombay than in Sydney, Australia--from 2 to 3 cents for a long ride. The city is lighted by gas, but it does not reflect much credit on the lighting department.

Every European living in India must be identified with the local militia. It matters not whether one be a Britisher, a German, a Frenchman, or an American--all white male residents must be instructed in the use of arms. It is the fear of native uprisings that demand the training of each European, to be able to give the best account of his ability if confronted by hordes of blacks intent on the most cruel forms of ma.s.sacre. A large garrison of British soldiers is stationed in Bombay, and even a larger number at Poona, 100 miles east.

The food is nearly the same variety as one gets in other parts of the world. One would expect to come across different vegetables, but, with a few exceptions, potatoes, beans, peas, tomatoes, onions and pumpkins rule the day. One does not fare so well with eggs, however, as these are one-third less in size than European or American eggs. The Indian breed of chickens have long legs and a wide breast, so there is more white meat than dark to the Indian fowl.

Elephanta Caves, located seven miles from Bombay, on the opposite sh.o.r.e of the eastern bay, is one of the attractions of that city.

Caves of this character are numerous in Southern India, and most of them are worth a visit. The caves are underground temples, and the sculpture, as seen in the G.o.ds carved out of solid rock; pulpits, shrines, and images symbolic of their faith, speak well for the people's skill in that art. The roofs of these caves are supported by large stone columns. Nothing has been overlooked to make these large underground places of worship emblematic of their religion, no work or expense having been too great to bring about that end. Elephanta and other wonderful subterranean temples bespeak the Buddhist faith. They were chiseled out in the eighth century. Thousands of Buddhists visit and worship in the caves to-day. The Caves of Ellora, however, are the greatest and most notable.