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diff --git a/22749.txt b/22749.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8e9820 --- /dev/null +++ b/22749.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12517 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of From Edinburgh to India & Burmah, by +William G. Burn Murdoch + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: From Edinburgh to India & Burmah + +Author: William G. Burn Murdoch + +Release Date: September 24, 2007 [EBook #22749] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM EDINBURGH TO INDIA & BURMAH *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Leonard Johnson and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + FROM EDINBURGH + TO INDIA AND BURMAH + + +[Illustration: Ayah and Child] + + + FROM EDINBURGH TO + INDIA & BURMAH + + + + BY + W. G. BURN MURDOCH + + Author of + "From Edinburgh to the Antarctic," "A Procession of the + Kings of Scotland," etc. + + + + _WITH TWENTY-FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + FROM PAINTINGS BY THE AUTHOR_ + + LONDON + GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD. + NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. + + + _TO_ + ST. C. + C. + + + + + Contents + + + CHAP. I + + Introducing these Digressions. + Point of Departure. + Edinburgh Street Scenes. + Flying Impressions from the Train + to + LONDON. + + Street Scenes there -- The Park and Regent Street. + The People in the Streets. + Our Royalties gone, and Loyalty -- going. + Piccadilly Circus by Night, and Mount Street. pp. 1-8 + + CHAP. II + + London to Tilbury, and the Platform at Victoria Station. + The Embarkation on a P. & O. + A Bugle Call. + The luxury of being at sea. + The Bay, and + "Spun Yarns" on to 9-18 + + CHAP. III + + Orpheus and the Argo and the Sirens in heavy weather. + Down the Portugese Coast. + High Art in the Engine-Room. + Our People going East. + A Blustery Day, and the Straits of Gibraltar. + Gib and Spain, and "Poor Barbara." 19-26 + + CHAP. IV + + A Blue Day at Sea, and Castles in Spain. + A Fire Alarm, and A Dummy Dinner. + The Beautiful French Lady. + Marseilles and the Crowd on the Wharf. + _Bouillabaisses_, and Rejane, and Cyrano, etc., + and the head of a Serang for a tail-piece. 27-34 + + CHAP. V + + About the Crowd on Board, and the discomfort of a voyage + first class -- British types -- Reflections + on the Deck and on the Sea -- of + Sky, and People, and of things in general. + A P. & O. yarn, Old Junk, or Chestnut. + Respectability and Art. + It gets warm -- The Punkah Infliction. + Egypt in Sight, and the Nile Water. + + Port Said and its Inhabitants -- Jock Furgusson and Ors. + Corsica, Sardinia, Lipari Islands, Stromboli, Crete, + and The Acts of the Apostles. 35-45 + + CHAP. VI + + The saddest thing in Egypt -- Dancing in the Canal, and + the Search-light on the Desert -- The fizzling hot blue + Red Sea, and digressions about rose-red Italian wine, & + Ulysses, and Callum Bhouie, and Uisquebaugh. 46-53 + + CHAP. VII + + Is still about the Red Sea -- "The Barren Rocks of Aden," + and small talk about small events on board -- a fancy + dress dance, and sports, and so on to BOMBAY. 54-62 + + CHAP. VIII + + Is -- without apologies -- of first impressions of India; + and about the landing and entertainments of their Royal + Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales -- Great + people and little people, and their affairs; Royal + Receptions to snake-charmers -- Illuminations, + Gun-firing, and the Bands playing God save the King -- + Edward the --? 63-74 + + CHAP. IX + + This chapter continues to deal with splendid Royal Shows, + and there is the precis of a dream of a Prince and an + A.D.C., who correct the Abuses of the Privileges of the + Royal Academies. 75-84 + + CHAP. X + + And this is about the arrival of Lord Minto, and the + departure of Lord Curzon, and the Tomasha connected + therewith; Vice-regal Receptions, and Processions, and + more band playing, and gun-firing. 85-101 + + CHAP. XI + + Chronicles small beer -- things about books and little + Indian beasts and natives, and there is another + digression to the subject of "English _v._ British + Union, and the Imperial Idea," and a sail over the Bay + with a piratical (looking) crew, to the caves of + Elephanta. 102-111 + + CHAP. XII + + Is a somewhat lengthy drawn-out chapter about a train + journey from Bombay up the Western Ghats, and down south + on the Deccan (Dekkan) Tableland to Dharwar -- Rather a + "carpet-bag chapter," to quote Professor Masson. 112-122 + + CHAP. XIII + + Dharwar. + My Brother's Bungalow. + Life in a small Station. + The Club. + Duck-shooting 123-135 + + CHAP. XIV + + A letter on the subject of DUCK -- And a Cholera Goddess. + 136-144 + CHAP. XV + + Last evening at Dharwar, then notes in the train south to + Bangalore. 145-149 + + CHAP. XVI + + Is of notes and sketches about things you see in + Bangalore. 150-156 + + CHAP. XVII + + Is of a long journey for a small shoot -- Life on the + Railway Line, and a letter about SNIPE. + + Our day's shoot is cut in two by the Royal Procession, and + we go to the Embassy, then to jail, and make a picture + of the Bazaar by lamplight, and discourse on the subject + of music with the Maharajah of Mysore. 157-173 + + CHAP. XVIII + + Is about the Maharajah's Palace at Mysore -- To + Seringapatam in Trollies -- Remarks about the Siege, + mosquitoes, and landscape -- Back to Mysore, and Dinner + on the Track. 174-185 + + CHAP. XIX + + Channapatna Village, and a free tip to artists -- Our Camp + in a railway siding in "beechen green, and shadows + numberless" -- Thoughts of Madras and the Ocean again -- + How we rule India, and _ghosts_ on the railway track -- + A Bank in India, and about cooking, and the Indian + squirrel or Chip-monk -- The Maharajah -- Red + Chupprassies -- The Museum, and Ants, etc., etc. 186-196 + + CHAP. XX + + _En route_ for Madras -- A plague inspection in the grey + of the morning -- Madras and blue southern ocean, + through Tamarisks, and the silvery Cooum and fishermen + seine-netting on the strand -- The Race-course -- The + Old Fort of the Company -- Dinner at the Fort, and the + people we saw there; and of those we remembered who once + lived there -- A Digression from Crows to ancient Naval + Architecture, and the new Order of Precedence. 197-209 + + CHAP. XXI + + A delightful Fishing Day -- Surf Rafts. -- Making Calls -- + Boating on the Adyar River -- A Sunday in Madras + Churches, and on a Surf Raft -- End of the Year. 210-220 + + CHAP. XXII + + 1st JAN. 1906. -- Call at Government House -- The Fort + again -- More about Surf Rafts -- Lord Ampthill's + Government House Reception -- Nabobs and nobodies. -- + Fireworks and pretty dresses, and the band playing. 221-226 + + CHAP. XXIII + + Out of Madras, and on the blue sea again, bound West to + Burmah -- Packed with Natives -- An unsavoury Passage + Ruskin's English and Native Essayists. 227-231 + + CHAP. XXIV + + GOLDEN BURMAH, and the Golden Pagoda -- a gymkhana dance + -- Sketching at the Pagoda entrance -- Various races -- + Bachelor's quarters -- The Shan Camp -- Princesses and + Chieftains, and their followings -- Mr Bertram Carey, + C.I.E. -- The peace of the platform of The Shwey Dagon + Pagoda. 232-244 + + CHAP. XXV + + "The Blairin' trumpet sounded far," and the Prince comes + over the sea, and lands at Rangoon -- Receptions and + processions; pandols, shamianas; and Royal Tomasha -- + Illuminations at night on the Lake, and the Royal Barges + -- Song about Our King Emperor -- We start for Mandalay + by river-boat up the IRRAWADDY. 245-250 + + CHAP. XXVI + + The Flotilla Co. -- Bassein-Creek mosquitoes -- + Searchlight fantasies fairy-like scenes on the river by + night and day -- Up stream on a perfect yacht -- Past + perfectly lovely villages and scenes -- The Nile nowhere + -- Mr Fielding Hall -- Riverside delights -- Prome -- + Pagodas -- The Prince comes down the river. 251-263 + + CHAP. XXVII + + THAYET MYO, 20th Jany. -- It gets cooler -- Thoughts of + big game -- Watteau trees -- Sweet pea dresses -- + Country scenes -- Popa Mountain -- The Fanes of Pagan -- + A little about shooting and geese -- and the pleasures + of the river life to end of chapter. 264-275 + + CHAP. XXVIII + + The shore at Mandalay -- The Queen's (Supayalat) golden + Kioung or Monastery -- Street scenes -- THE ARRAKAN + PAGODA, and scenes for a Rubens or Rembrandt -- The + Mecca of this Eastern Asia -- Burmese women bathing -- A + Burmese harper -- The Phryne in hunting green kirtle -- + Mingun and the pagoda that was to have been the biggest + in the world, and the 90-ton bell -- Mr Graham's house + -- Life on S.S. "Mandalay" at the Mandalay shore -- King + Thebaw's Palace. 276-293 + + CHAP. XXIX + + Away to Bhamo! + + Off again -- In a cargo steamer up river to the end of the + Empire this way -- The markets on board and Burmese life + -- Changing views, flowers, sunlight and swirling river + -- Fishing -- Geese -- Painting -- Cascades of beautiful + people, Snipe-shooting, and more fishing. 294-302 + + CHAP. XXX + + Anchor up -- Mist on the river -- "Stop her" -- Pagodas + and cane villages -- Fishing with fly; A 35-lber -- The + Elephant Kedar Camp -- Animal life on the river banks -- + We go aground -- The crew strike work -- We get away + again -- Kalone to Katha. 303-313 + + CHAP. XXXI + + Sunshine and haar -- Children of Cleutha -- Moda -- Girls + and old ladies of Upper Burmah -- We meet a Punitive + Expedition, Sikhs and Ghurkas under a Gunner-Officer + returning from Chin hills to Bhamo -- Fog banks and the + second Defiles -- Jungle scenery -- Shans and Kachins at + Sinkan -- We go shopping on an elephant at BHAMO -- + China Street -- A Chinese gentleman's house -- The Joss + House -- Painting in a Chinese crowd -- Marooned. 314-327 + + CHAP. XXXII + + The D.-C. Bungalow -- Roses, orchids, and "The Mystery." 328-330 + + CHAP. XXXIII + + Many pages, lengthy, descriptive, of an expedition in + canoes, and on elephant back through pucca jungle to + shoot snipe, and of our entertainment in the evening at + the Military Police Fort, with Kachin dances in + moonlight -- A Review of Kachin native police. 331-342 + + CHAP. XXXIV + + Preparations for our pilgrimage into China -- Our + servants, ponies, and live stock -- On the Road -- From + Bhamo to the back parts of China -- The first + Rest-House. 343-347 + + CHAP. XXXV + + Kalychet -- A mid-day halt and Mahseer fishing -- Views in + the Kachin Highland Forests -- Rivers -- "Seven bens and + seven glens" -- Caravans on the track -- The Taiping + river -- A Spate -- Fishing 348-357 + + CHAP. XXXVI + + "On the Water" continued -- Nampoung -- The edge of the + Empire -- Six to seven thousand feet up, and cold at + night. 358-362 + + CHAP. XXXVII + + Nampoung river -- A fish in the bag, a cup, and a pipe, by + the river side -- We wade into China -- Meet the Chinese + army and wade back -- Another cast in the Taiping -- "G" + collects many orchids -- From Kalychet to Momouk -- + Riding in the sun in the morning and back to the plains + alas! A pleasant evening with the Military Police. A + study of a Kachin beauty, and of an average type of + Upper Burmese girl -- Good-bye Bhamo -- Paddling down + the Irrawaddy -- More river-side notes -- A.1. shooting, + to the writer's mind -- The Luxury of a Cargo Boat of + the Flotilla Company -- Deep Sea Chanties, and Mandalay + again. 363-379 + + CHAP. XXXVIII + + We drop from the comfort of the Cargo Steamer to the + comparative discomfort of the train at Rangoon -- + Another plaguey inspection -- Another joyous embarkation + on another B.I. Boat -- Calcutta -- Benares and its + Ghats; after the Golden Beauty of Burmah! -- Street + scenes and riverside horrors -- A muddle of indecencies + and religions -- A superior Fakir's portrait -- + 333,000,000 gods -- An artist's private deductions -- + _Les Indes sans le British_ -- Delhi and Agra. 380-391 + + CHAP. XXXIX + + India generally speaking, as a preamble to several pages + about Black Buck shooting. + + The Taj Mahal not described -- Sha Jehans portrait. 392-401 + + + + + LIST OF COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS + BY + AUTHOR AND "G." + + + _By Author_ + + Ayah and Child _Frontispiece_ + A Glimpse of the North Sea _to face page_ 4 + Piccadilly Circus, by Night 8 + A Spanish Woman 26 + A Cafe, Port Said 44 + Aden, and Fan-sellers 58 + Waiting for Carriages after Reception at 79 + Government House, Bombay + Lord Minto's Landing in India 92 + A Reception in Government House, Bombay. 98 + Sailing from Elephanta 111 + An Indian Tank 151 + A Street Corner, Bangalore 171 + Entrance to the Shwey Dagon Pagoda, Rangoon 237 + H.R.H. Prince and Princess of Wales 249 + landing at the Boat Club, Rangoon + A Burmese Harpist 284 + A Priests' Bathing Pool 302 + A Chinese Joss House 324 + A Kachin Girl 370 + A Girl of Upper Burmah 372 + A Fakir at Benares 387 + A Delhi Street Scene 390 + + _Illustrations by "G_." + + A Sacred Lake near Rangoon 244 + Sunset on the Irrawaddy 251 + Mid-day on the Irrawaddy, distant Ruby Mountains 298 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +[Illustration] + +Some time ago I wrote a book about a voyage in a whaler to the far +south, to a white, silent land where the sun shines all day and night +and it is quiet as the grave and beautiful as heaven--when it is not +blowing and black as--the other place! A number of people said they +liked it, and asked me to write again; therefore these notes and +sketches on a Journey to India and Burmah. They may not be so +interesting as notes about Antarctic adventure and jolly old Shell Backs +and South Spainers on a whaler; but one journal ought at least, to be a +contrast to the other. The first, a voyage on a tiny wooden ship with a +menu of salt beef, biscuit, and penguin, to unsailed seas and +uninhabited ice-bound lands; the other, in a floating hotel, with +complicated meals, and crowds of passengers, to a hot land with +innumerable inhabitants. + +I trust that the sketches I make on the way will help out my notes when +they are not quite King's-English, and that the notes will help to +explain the sketches if they are not sufficiently academical for the +general reader, and moreover, I fondly believe that any journal written +in the East in these years of grace 1905-6, must catch a little +reflected interest from the historic visit of their Royal Highnesses the +Prince and Princess of Wales to India and Burmah. + +Edinburgh is our point of departure; the date 13th Oct. and the hour 10 +P.M. All journeys seem to me to begin in Edinburgh, from the moment my +baggage is on the dickey and the word "Waverley" is given to the cabby. +On this occasion we have three cabs, and a pile of baggage, for six +months clothing for hot and cold places, and sketching, shooting, and +fishing things take space. I trundle down to the station in advance with +the luggage, and leave G. and her maid to follow, and thus miss the +tearful parting with domestics in our marble halls.... Good-bye Auld +Reekie, good-bye. Parting with you is not all sorrow; yet before we +cross the Old Town I begin to wonder why I leave you to paint abroad; +for I am positive your streets are just as picturesque and as dirty and +as paintable as any to be found in the world. Perhaps the very fact of +our going away intensifies last impressions.... There is a street corner +I passed often last year; two girls are gazing up at the glory of colour +of dresses and ribbons and laces in electric light, and a workman reads +his evening paper beside the window--it is a subject for a +Velasquez--all the same I will have a shot at it, and work it up on +board ship; it will make an initial letter for this first page of my +journal. + +Across the Old Town we meet the North Sea mist blowing up The Bridges, +fighting high up with the tall arc lights. What variety of colour there +is and movement; the lights of the shops flood the lower part of the +street and buildings with a warm orange, there are emerald, ruby, and +yellow lights in the apothecary's windows, primary colours and +complementary, direct and reflected from the wet pavements; the clothes +of passing people run from blue-black to brown and dull red against the +glow, and there's a girl's scarlet hat and an emerald green +signboard--choice of tints and no mistake--we will take the lot for a +first illustration, and in London perhaps, we will get another street +scene or two, and so on; as we go south and east we will pick up +pictures along the road--from Edinburgh to Mandalay with coloured +pictures all the way, notes of the outside of things only, no inner +meanings guaranteed--the reflections on the shop windows as it +were--anyone can see the things inside. + +[Illustration: A Glimpse of the North Sea] + +An old friend met us at the station; he had just heard of our exodus and +came to wish us good-bye as we used to do in school-days, when we +considered a journey to England was rather an event. He spoke of +"Tigers;" India and tigers are bracketed in his mind, and I am certain +he would get tiger-shooting somehow or other if he were to go East; he +looked a little surprised and sad when I affirmed that I went rather to +paint and see things than to shoot. Shooting and other sports we can +have at home, and after all, is not trying to see things and depict them +the most exciting form of sport? I am sure it is as interesting; and +that more skill and quickness of hand and eye is required to catch with +brush or pen point a flying impression from a cab window or the train +than in potting stripes in a jungle. + +Look you--this I call sport! To catch this nocturne in the train, the +exact tint of the blue-black night, framed in the window of our lamp-lit +carriage; or the soft night effect on field and cliff and sea as we +pass. No academical pot shot this, for we are swinging south down the +east coast past Cockburnspath (Coppath, the natives call it) at sixty +miles the hour, so we must be quick to get any part of the night firmly +impressed. There is faint moonlight through low clouds (the night for +flighting duck), the land blurred, and you can hardly see the farmer's +handiwork on the stubbles; there are trees and a homestead massed in +shadow, with a lamp-lit window, lemon yellow against the calm +lead-coloured sea, and a soft broad band of white shows straight down +the coast where the surf tumbles, each breaker catches a touch of +silvery moonlight. The foam looks soft as wool, but I know two nights +ago, an iron ship was torn to bits on the red rocks it covers.... I must +get this down in colour to-morrow in my attic under the tiles of the +Coburg. Who knows--some day it may be worth a tiger's skin (with the +frame included).... There is the light now on the Farnes, and Holy +Island we can dimly make out. + +To the right we look to see if the bison at Haggerston are showing their +great heads above the low mists on the fields.... The night is cold, +there is the first touch of winter in the air. It is time to knock out +my pipe and turn in, to dream of India's coral strand, as we roll away +south across the level fields of England. + +[Illustration: A Glimpse of the North Sea] + +In London town we arrive very early; an early Sunday morning in +autumn in the East of London is not the most delightful time to be +there. It is smelly and sordid, and the streets are almost empty of +people, but I notice two tall young men in rags, beating up either side +of a street, their hands deep in their pockets as if they were cold; +they are looking for cigarette ends, I expect, and scraps of food; and +we are driving along very comfortably to our hotel and breakfast. An +hour or two later we are in the park at church-parade; a little pale sun +comes through the smoky air, and a chilly breeze brings the yellow +leaves streaming to the ground. There are gorgeous hats on the lines of +sparrows nests, and manifold draperies and corduroys and ermines and +purple things, with presumably good-looking women inside. We men run to +purple ties this year, quite a plucky contrast to our regulation +toppers, black coats and sober tweed trousers. And one unto the other +says, "Hillo--you here again! Who'd have expected to see you, dear +fellow! What sort of bag did you get; good sport, eh?" "Oh, +good--good--awfully good! Such a good year all round, you know, and +partridges, they say, are splendid; hasn't been such a good season for +years; awfully sorry to miss 'em. And when do you go back?--On the +_Egypt_!--Oh, by Jove! won't there be a crowd! Horrid bore, you +know--'pon my word everyone is goin' East now; you can't get away from +people anywhere! It's the Prince's visit you know; what I mean is, it's +such a draw, don't you know." + +Monday morning in Regent Street.--Sauntering with St C., looking at the +crowd and incubators and buying things we could probably get just as +well in Bombay; but Indian ink and colours, and these really important +things we dare not leave behind. What a pleasant street it is to saunter +in once or twice in a year or so; what a variety of nationalities and +pretty faces there are to see. The air is fresh and autumnal, and +overhead a northerly breeze blows wisps of white cloud across a bright +blue sky, and just floats out the French Tricolours and the Union Jacks +with which the street is decorated. The houses on one side are in quite +hot sun; the other side of the street is in cold bluey shade, which +extends more than half across the road. A cart crawls up the shaded +side, leaving a track of yellow sand in its wake; someone is coming, and +the crowd waits patiently.... Now mounted police appear in the distant +haze and come trotting towards us, and the guards with glittering +breastplates are rattling past and away in a breath! Then outriders and +a carriage, and a brown face, moustached and bearded, and the Prince +goes by, and the crowd cheers--and I pray we may both get a tiger. Then +the King passes with Lord Minto, I think. We have come to London for +something! + +Possibly in the fulness of time we may see kings in our Northern Capital +oftener than we do now. We need ceremonies, a little sand on the street +occasionally, and a parade or two--ceremonies are the expression of +inward feelings; without occasion for the expression of the sentiment of +loyalty, the sense must go ... the loyalty of a second northern +people--going--going--for a little sand and bunting--and--NO OFFER? + +[Illustration] + +There is no chance of ennui in the week in London before a voyage; you +have packing, shopping, insuring, and buying tickets and general +bustling round--what charming occupations for the contemplative mind! +Then you throw in visits to friends, and acquaintances call on you, all +in the concentrated week; you breakfast late, lunch heavily, rush off to +a hurried dinner somewhere, then rush off to a play or some function or +other, supper somewhere else and then home, too late for half a pipe; +engagements about clothes, hats, dresses, guns, lunches, dinners, +theatres, you have all in your mind, awake and asleep, and as you run +about attending to essentials and superfluities, you jostle with the +collarless man in the street, and note the hungry look, and reflect how +thin is the ice that bears you and how easy it is to go through, just a +step, and you are over the neck--collar gone and the crease out of the +trousers. A friend of mine went through the other day and no one knew; +he lived on brown bread and water for ever so long, but stuck to his +evening clothes, and now he sits in the seats of the mighty. What "a +Variorem" it all is--tragedy and comedy written in the lines of faces +and the cut of clothes. But I confess; what interests me in London more +than types or individuals, are the street scenes and figures seen +collectively. What pictures there are at every turning, and yet how +seldom we see them painted. With the utmost modesty in the world I will +have a try in passing at Piccadilly Circus. Is there a street scene so +fascinating as that centre for colour and movement?--say on a May night, +with people going to the theatres, the sky steely blue and ruddy over +the house-tops, the Pavilion and Criterion lights orange and green +glinting on the polished road and flickering on the flying hansom +wheels--or The Circus in a wet night, a whirlpool of moving lights and +shadows and wavering reflections! What a contrast to the quiet effects +in some side street; for example this street seen half in moonlight, +beneath my window in the Coburg; the only sound the click clack of the +busy horse's feet on the wood pavement, as hansoms and carriages flit +round from Berkeley Square--there's a levee to night, and their yellow +lamps string up Mount Street and divide beneath me into Carlos Place. + +... My tailor has sent me such an excellent cardboard box to paint on, +so I will use it for this effect in Muzii colours; it will make a drop +scene or tail piece to this first chapter of these "Digressions." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: Piccadilly Circus, by Night.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +LONDON TO TILBURY.--If I am to write notes about a journey to the Far +East, I must not miss out the exciting part between Grosvenor Square and +Liverpool Street Station. The excitement comes in as you watch the +policeman's hand at the block in the city and wonder if it will stop +your journey; down it comes though, and we are in time, and have a +minute to spare to rejoice on the platform with our cousin and niece who +are going out with us, or rather with whom we home people are going out +to India. + +There were those on the platform not so happy as we were; an old lady I +saw held the hand of a young soldier in pathetic silence, and the smiles +on the faces of those left at home were not particularly cheerful, and +the grey set expression of men leaving wives and children is hard to +forget. A younger lady I saw on the platform smiling, and straight as a +soldier, threw herself into her sister's arms as the train moved off in +a perfect abandonment of grief, and the wrinkles in the old lady's face +as we passed were full of tears--two to one against her seeing the young +man, son, or grandson, on this side. But I suppose that is India all +over--many partings, a few tears shed, and enough kept back to float a +fleet. + +Our 'guid brither'[1] and his wife have come in the train with us to +Tilbury to see us on board, so we are all very jolly and the sun shines +bright on the river and white cumulous clouds, and the brown sails of +the barges are swelling with a brisk north-east breeze as they come up +on the top of the flood. The "Egypt" lies in mid-stream, and all the +passengers of our train go off to it in tenders, along with hundreds of +friends who have come to see them off--there is a crowd! Passengers only +bring hand baggage with them, the rest went on board yesterday; the +embarkation is beautifully managed and orderly, there is an astonishing +repression of excitement and show of out of place feeling. To compare +this embarkation with that on a foreign liner; I have seen the whole +business of taking passengers and luggage on board an Italian liner +stopped for minutes by one Egyptian with a tin of milk on the gangway, +holding forth on his grievances to the world at large, whilst handsome +officers on deck smiled futilely, their white-gloved hands behind their +backs. I suppose it is this military precision that gives the P. & O. +their name and their passengers a sense of security; but there are +people so hard to please that they ask for less pipeclay, less crowded +cabins, and better service and more deck space, and these carpers will +never be content, so long as they see other lines, such as the Japanese, +giving all they clamour for, comfortable bath-rooms, beds, and a laundry +at moderate rates. + +[1] Brother-in-law. + +A touch of militarism that I rather fancy on the P. & O. is the bugle +call going round the ship before meals; it is such a jolly cheery sound +to awaken to. It comes from far along the ship in the morning, at first +faintly in the distance, when you are half-awake trying to account for +the faint sound of machinery and the running reflections on your white +roof, dimly conscious of the ever delightful feeling that you are +sailing south across the widest and most level of all plains. Louder and +louder it comes along the alley-way, till outside your cabin door it +fairly makes you jump! A jolly, cheery sound it is, almost nothing in +the world so stirring excepting the pipes. There's a laughing brazen +defiance in it, and gentleness too, as it dies away--most masculine +music! What associations it must have for soldiers; even to the man of +peace it suggests plate armour, the listed field and battles long +ago.... Did you ever hear it in Edinburgh? up in the empty, windy castle +esplanade--empty of all but memories--You see no bugler, but the wide +grey walls and sky are filled with its golden notes. It echoes for a +moment, and then there is quietness, till the noise of the town comes up +again. And at night have you heard it? from the _Far Side_ of Princes +Street, the ethereal notes between you and the stars, long drawn notes +of the last post, from an invisible bugler in the loom of the rock and +the rolling clouds. + +G. murmurs, "It is abominable--but after all, going to sea is all a +matter of endurance." What a difference there is in the point of +view--G., I must say, had a hair mattress last night, and it was not +properly blanketted and entailed a certain amount of endurance; on the +other hand she is extremely fortunate in having such glorious pink roses +and beautiful hangings for nicknacks, touching parting gifts from +friends, so her cabin already looks fairly homely; and then, on the +walls, there is the most perfect round picture, framed in the bright +brass of the porthole--a sailing ship hull down on the horizon, her +sails shining like gold in the morning sun, on a sea of mother of +pearl.... There is just the faintest rise and fall, and the air is full +of the steady silky rushing sound; what is there like it, which you hear +in fine weather when the sea makes way to let you pass. + +Painted at a sketch to-day of people coming on board the "Egypt" from +the tender, no great thing in colour, less in a black and white +reproduction, for eye and hand were a little taken up with luggage--a +note of lascars in blue dungarees and red turbans--East meeting +West--the Indies in mauve and lilac hats and white veils; for shades of +purple are all the fashion this year. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +[Illustration] + +I have found a corner in the waist between first and second class, +where one can draw or paint without being very much overlooked; you can +get under the sky there, elsewhere you can't, and only see the horizon, +for our first class deck is under the officers' deck, and the second +class is covered with awnings, a very poor arrangement I think for you +only get light on your toes. A sailing ship's deck is ever so much +nicer, for you have a reasonable bulwark to keep wind and water off your +body instead of an open rail. You can look over a bulwark comfortably, +your eyes sheltered from the glare off the sea; on these steam-liners it +comes slanting up to your eyes under eyebrows and eyelashes--no wonder +people take to blue spectacles! In the sailing ship too you can look up +and watch the bends of white canvas and the spars-and cordage swinging +to and fro across the infinite blue, an endless delight! Here you have a +floor and blistered paint a few inches above you, on which you know the +officers promenade with the full sweep of the horizon round them and the +arc of the sky above. Still another advantage of the sailing ship is, +that you are not just one of a crowd, ticketed No. so and so, bedded, +fed, and checked off by a numeral; and you can generally count on a +barometer, and learn the names of lights and lands you pass; possibly +there may even be a thermometer, and certainly a compass. On this +"Egypt," barring a small scale Mercator's projection of the world on +which the ship's position is marked daily, there is no means of getting +the information that can make a sea voyage so infinitely interesting. I +would suggest large sized charts showing landmarks, ship's position, and +barometrical readings. What is more interesting at sea than the charts +of ocean depths, currents, winds, salinity, and temperature! If you go +too fast to touch on Plankton, Nekton, and Benthos, at least let the +poor first class passengers have a compass, if not a barograph and a +thermometer, to eke out conversations on the weather, the day's run, and +bridge. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +"THE BAY"--the Great Bay, calm as a mill pond--there's a jolly sense of +rest and peace on board; I suppose everyone knows that feeling who has +gone East. For weeks you have been doing things, shopping, packing, +keeping appointments, then you get out of the bustle of town, breathe +again clear air, and rest, on the level sea, that lovely water cushion, +the most soothing of all beds. + +Everyone is soporific and very restful. We begin to distinguish +individuals amongst the many passengers, but so far no one seems +particularly conspicuous. They are rather good-looking as a crowd, and +one or two children are like angels--at least we hope so. + +It is darker ahead now and to the east, the shadow of the World on +Nothing, I suppose! possibly an October breeze coming--low banks of +cirri-cumuli above the horizon--clear overhead with streaks of rusty red +cloud fine as hair--the evening is cold, here is an attempt at it with a +brush. And we had music in the place for music on deck; an Irish lady +played the fiddle and played so well with a piano accompaniment to an +audience of six--if the Bay keeps quite the audience ought to increase. +After the sunset, dinner--what a tedious business it is; the waiting is +perfectly planned, but the waiters themselves have to wait ages at the +two service hatches, where they get all jammed together, so the time +between the courses seems interminable; you almost forget you are at a +meal at all. To-night dinner and conversation both hang fire at our end +of the table, and I overhear from the other end where my cousin sits +interesting scraps about India, which is distinctly annoying; R. is +relating some of his experiences there that set his neighbours and my +niece and Mrs Deputy-Commissioner all chuckling. + +[Illustration] + +I gather that R. converted a certain Swiss. They lived near each other, +a lonely life on the "Black Cotton Soil," whatever that is. R. says it +blows about like snow. The Swiss lived in a little corrugated-iron house +with some hens, and no books, and he loved books, and hated his house +and hens, and the British Empire. R. had a nice bungalow and lots of +books, and he lent these to the Swiss, on condition that he would read +our newspapers! with the result that the Swiss ceased to believe in +British "methods of barbarism," said he admired the Empire, and got +quite to like his tin house and the black soil,--even his hens! + +It is so quiet in the smoking-room to-night--not even bridge going on +yet, which perhaps accounts for the discursiveness of these rambling +notes on a quiet Saturday night at sea. + +Now comes Sunday. "Come day go day, God send Sunday," as the +discontented sailor growls before the mast. The day of the month +unknown--I do not think it matters, in such notes as these, dates are +rather like ruled lines on sketching paper, only distracting.... We have +had such a pleasant time so far, that a Presbyterian lady was quite +surprised when at breakfast I told her the day of the week, as she had +not heard any clanging and clashing of bells, and as everybody seemed +quite cheerful and there were no black clothes, she could not realise it +was Sunday. But this afternoon it is not joyful for all! There is a +solemn grey sky sweeping over us from Spain, with a grandeur and breadth +that one only associates with Spanish skies, and there is a fresh +breeze, but warm from the land, and this big tub moves a little, enough +to make one realise the Sea is alive, her bosom heaves us along +slightly, a delightful motion for some of us, and intensely soothing, +but alas! there are empty places at our board. What a penance it is this +sea-sickness. In the words of Burns, + + "It is a dizziness, + That will not let a body gang + About his business" + +at all, at all.... I was a pale-faced student, a week out from Leith to +Antwerp, when I first felt this rudeness: we struck a fog-bank off St. +Abb's Head to begin with, and a sand-bank off Middlesborough, and +listened there to the cocks crowing on shore without seeing a foot ahead +for the thickness of the grey, wet mist. We cheered ourselves with +bagpipes, and the captain had a case of the very best brandy, the first +I think I ever tasted; and he could play some tunes on the practise +chanter. "Dinna think bonnie lassie, I'm goin' to leave you," I remember +was his best; it is a strathspey tune; I learned it from him. The +trouble came when it blew up hard off the Scheldt; but even when coming +over the bar, the "romance" of the sea qualified its pains a little. I +can feel the cold in my hands to-day of the barrels of the Winchesters +at the side of the couch, and to which I clung in my hour of trial, and +remembered they had been used in the steamer's very last trip against +_Real Pirates_ in the China Seas! And certainly there was the "romance" +of the sea in the change from the gale and black night outside the bar, +to the quiet morning on the wide river with the cathedral spire, violet +against the sunrise, dropping its silvery music "from heaven like dew;" +"Madame Angot," was the tune I think, with a note missing here and +there. + +We saw a number of sea birds to-day, and two at least were skuas, black +looking thieves among their white cousins. I saw one try to make a gull +disgorge, driving up at it from below, to the gull's loudly-expressed +disgust. It is a strange arrangement of nature, and I can't understand +why a few gulls don't combine to defend themselves. I am sure each of +them must hate to give up the little meal they have earned with so much +tiring flight. There were shore birds too; we shipped some as +passengers, they were going south like ourselves, but by instinct not by +the card. I suppose they were on the road all right, and just needed to +rest their wings a little; two large black birds were on the bridge last +night, possibly crows, and we have starlings to-day, and I saw some +finches of sorts. At least one of these fragile boarders was eaten by +the ship's cat--I found its delicate remains, a few tiny feathers and a +dainty wing and its poor head. + +The land is very faint on the horizon and the breeze is just going +down, such as it was; it's a momentary interest at the end of a somewhat +dull, grey day to most passengers. + +R. and his wife, since one A.M., have had rather a poor time; their +cabin is far forward, and so they feel any motion more than we do +amidships; what with a little sea-sickness and the anchor chain loose in +its pipe, banging against their bunks, they had a disturbed night. We +raked out the bo'sun from his afternoon nap, and he and a withered old +lascar jammed a hemp fender between the chain and woodwork, so their +slumbers ought to be more peaceful; now they are getting a temporary +change to a berth amidship, which is unoccupied as far as Marseilles; in +it they will hardly feel the motion. + +It was really considerate of the captain making a break in a dull, damp +Sunday afternoon--the horn went booming, and up we all jumped in the +smoking-room with some idea that someone had gone overboard, and up on +deck came the lascars grinning, a jolly string of colour, and away +forward they trotted and climbed into the forward life-boats from the +deck above us. It was very smartly done, but I would like to have seen +if their feet could reach the stretchers or their hands the oars; the +boats were not swung out, but everything seemed ready. I think my friend +the bo'sun must have had an inkling they were needed for he was working +about the davits and falls earlier in the afternoon. In the words of the +poet, Gilbert, + + "It is little I know, + Of the ways of men of the sea, + But I'll eat my hand if I (don't) understand" + +this part of their business; practice on a whaler tends to perfection at +getting away in the boats, and at getting on board again too, if you are +hungry--and faith if it isn't snowing it is fun! + +To night the air is damp and warm from the S.E., and we smell +Spain--true bill--several of us noticed the aromatic smell. Scents at +sea carry great distances. "I know a man" who smelt burning wood or +heather, 250 nautical miles from land, and said so and was laughed at; +but he laughed last, for two or three days after his vessel beat up to +some islands, from which towered a vast column of brown and white smoke +from burning peat, and this floated south on a frosty northerly breeze, +and the chart showed the smoke was dead to windward at the time he +spoke. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +MONDAY--a rolling tumbling sea, soft grey and white, and misty-wet decks +with shimmering reflections--a day when even a great liner such as this +feels a little shut off from the outside world, for the mist comes down +on the edge of the horizon and hedges us in. If I ever paint Orpheus or +the Sirens, I will use such a grey wet effect. I think of these old +navigators in their small vessels, getting the thick and the thin, just +as we do to-day in our own sailing craft; getting well dusted at times, +with the salt thick on their cheeks and decks. Taking it all round, the +sea is rather a minor chord; so that these Burlington House pictures of +the Argo and The Heroes, in orange and rose on a wine-red sea are not +convincing. When my patron comes home I will humbly suggest Orpheus +singing at the stem, a following wind, a great bellying sail behind, and +all around wet air and splashing grey sea, the stem ploughing it up +silver and white and green, and away aft under the bend of the sail +there would be Jason and the steersman, possibly Medea, with the curl +out of her hair, and perhaps just a touch of the golden fleece, just a +fleck of pale yellow to enliven the minor tints! Round the bows there +would be men listening to the song, watching the stem pound into the +green hollows--now, I remember! I have seen this--I'd forgotten. But the +Orpheus was in faded blue dungarees, and played a fiddle, and leaned +against a rusty, red capstan--saw it from the jib-boom of the +Mjolna[2]--fishing bonita--looked back, and there they all were, the +same to-day as they were in olden days, I expect, men and boys, salt +and sun-bitten sea-farers, lolling on the cat-heads and anchors. A joy +of the World, that is--from your perch out on the jib-boom to watch a +ship with its cloud of white sails surging after you. + +[2] Norse for Thors hammer. + +[Illustration] + +The Sirens too would paint in this weather; they look quite dry in +pictures, they would look better wet--I'd have them glittering wet and +joyous, and a fit carvel built boat and crew, and brown sloping sails, +three reefs down, making a fine passage clear on to them, just as the +steersman might wish with no bindings or wax in ears at all, but all at +the Sirens' service. + +St. Vincent light is now in sight--the swell from the south-west, and +our course, as far as a passenger may guess, will soon be south by east; +so we ought to have a fair roll on soon, and I feel glad our sea-sick +friends are mostly asleep. To-morrow we hope to be in early at +Gibraltar, then they will have a rest--it will be all smooth sailing. +"They say so--and they hope so," as the "Old Horse" Chantie puts it. Is +there not a wind, however, called the Mistral, in the Gulf of Lyons, +and a Euroclydon further east, mentioned by St Paul? + +We passed some rather interesting land scenery this afternoon, before we +came to the mouth of the Tagus; you could see houses, comfortably +nestled up the sides of the hills. At the foot of the red cliffs there +is a line of green water and white bursts of foam--made a pochade of a +bit of this coast--a castle perched on blue peaks, a rolling sky and +rugged mountains, and nearer, a rolling, leaden-coloured swell. + +[Illustration] + +From the well or waist where I paint, I noticed a rather black, +white-man stood and watched me out of the engine room. He looked +interested, and I spoke to him later. He said he "did a bit" himself in +unmistakeable West Country accent, and he took me to his cabin to show +me his art work. Though not very high up in the working part of this +show--boiler maker or artificer, I think, he had a very nice cabin. His +art work was decorative. He applied various cigar and tobacco labels +with gum to Eastern wine jars of unmistakeably Greek design, also +Masonic, and P. & O. symbols, with crosses, and rising suns in red and +gold; the interspaces of these geometric designs he filled up with blue +and gold enamel paint; and the general effect was very bright. It was +odd though to see a vase of historic shape done over with such brand new +labels. He had done this work for some years in spare time, so he had +acquired considerable proficiency. + +I would fain be able to describe some of the human interest, on such a +vessel as this; there is enough for many novelists to study for many a +day. Of each class at home we know individuals, soldiers and civilians, +and their women folk, and they are interesting as others or more so; but +when you see them like this on board their ship in their numbers, going +East to their various duties, the interest becomes quite a big thing. +There is the girl going to her future husband in a native regiment, not +to return for years, and there is a couple sitting beside us to-night in +the smoking-room--a white-haired Colonel and his young protege, a +budding soldier--they talk of mother at home, and cousins and aunts. +Then there's The-most-beautiful-girl-in-the-ship, but she is not +typical, and I think she goes farther East than India: she has chummed +already with the best set-up man on board, so that's as it should +be--and what an occasion it is for chumming! I'd like to know what is +the average number of engagements made and broken on these P. & O.'s per +voyage. R. tells me of one made in his last trip home; I forget on what +line. The passengers were eleven young men and one lady, and she +favoured one of them, so there were ten disappointed suitors. They found +He and She could sing a little, so one of the ten played accompaniments, +and the others encouraged the devoted pair to sing tender ditties, which +they did and for all they were worth. He sang, "I want you, my Honey," +and put his back into it, as R. says, very slangily I think, and the +suitors thought they had great subject for much mirth when they retired +to the smoking-room--I think it was almost profane.... But it is time +for one pipe on deck and a last look at the somewhat uncongenial sea, +then to a bed, three or four inches too narrow. + +[Illustration] + +These two ladies here depicted are the sole survivors of their sex this +morning at breakfast, for it blows hard outside; but it's an ill wind +that blows nobody good, so these two young things, fresh as roses, made +each other's acquaintance at the empty table. They have been an hour on +deck, and like the movement, and the breakfast; and possibly their +irrepressible joyous sense of superiority is flavoured with pity for +their sisters lying low and pale. You see, the fiddles are on the table, +and even with these you have to hang on to your cup occasionally. The +fiddle makes such a comfortable rest for my elbows, so I scribble this +on the back of the breakfast menu (no one wants it) without being seen. +I remember that neither the position nor the occupation were allowed in +the nursery, and I hear of people to-day in quite good society so dead +to art that they will not allow you to draw on the table cloth! I +sometimes think how many lovely ideas must have been lost by this! It +was the Correggio brothers, was it not? who used to draw during +meal-time; they were very enthusiastic, but they died--possibly of +indigestion! + +We are getting into the Straits of Gibraltar--a nice blustery day, the +black tramps coming out of the Mediterranean bury their noses deep in +foam, and roll up and show all the beauty of steamers' lines! To +starboard we get a glimpse of the serrated African mountains above +Tangiers and the Atlas Mountains beyond. They are green in spring, but +now they are brown. I used to think the African Coast was flat and +sandy; I wonder if school boys do so still. It is a pleasant surprise at +first sight to find it so like our own mountainous country. Both the +African hills and the Spanish hills are veiled at times with passing +rain columns that sweep in from the Atlantic. + +Here is a little finger-nail jotting of Gibraltar; you see the parts +where the masts are--that is the harbour. The Rock or Mountain, 1,200 +feet high, is to the south and right; all its side is bristling with +guns; to the left of the ships a long spit of land joins the rock to +Spain proper. If the cumulous clouds to the north and east, in the +direction of Granada, would lift a little we would see the white tops of +the Sierra Nevada. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +[Illustration] + +This has been a most splendid day! We have been on Spanish soil--I +suppose I may call it Spanish soil though it is held by Britain--have +seen fair Spanish women, had sun, wind, rain, wet decks, and dry decks, +and the bustle and interest of dropping anchor in Port, with all the +movement of tugs and boats and people going and coming to and from +shore--the roadstead blustery and fluttering with flags, and everything +afloat bobbing and moving, excepting the great grey men-of-war. + +We got away in the first shore boat. How it rained--G.'s hat ruined--but +anything to be in Spain once more. The launch rolls and umbrellas drip, +and we have hundreds of yards along splashing wet pier, G. balancing on +timbers and wire cables to keep a little out of the mud--one umbrella +for the two. Then a jog up the town in a funny little victoria with +yellow oiled canvas curtains, past little gardens with great red flowers +on one tree, and trumpet-shaped white flowers hanging on the next, past +soldiers in khaki, and turbaned Moors huddled in their draperies. The +Moors look so out of place in Europe; they seem to have aimed at being +picturesque and have failed, and know it and stick to it. The Spaniards +you pass are pure joy to the artist; the women have such nice ivory +colouring with the faintest tint of pink, and such eyes, brown and dark, +and kind, and such eye-lashes--it's easy colour to paint too in Henner's +way, Prussian blue, bitumen and ochre and a breath of rose! Look at the +bloom on their hair, blue as the light on raven's wing, and the flour on +their faces, hanging thick on their black eyebrows. I think they must +have a little of the Indian in them. There's a far-away kinship in the +expression of the Ayahs on board and the Spaniards on shore, a queer +penetrating look, and kindly. The mens' expressions are also pleasant +enough, I think--very quiet--but they have your eye and your measure +before you realise, with a glance quick as the glint that a pointer +gives you from the corner of his eye as he ranges past.... Here is a +jotting of one of the natives, perhaps a little heavy in expression, but +fairly typical Spanish face. She is my cousin's cook; he is an R. E. and +lives in quite a big house for Gibraltar; you can stand upright in any +room and stretch yourself in the drawing-room, which has a balcony; I +painted her as she stood in it. My cousin's wife had discharged her, but +there was no ill-feeling, so she came to pay a complimentary call, in +black lace mantilla and pink blouse. She was called Barbara, and loved a +baker over the way, and when she should have been regarding the soup, +she was throwing glances to the baker in his shop, so she had to go! +"Poor Barbara"--and lucky baker, to receive such cordite glances! + +A dainty lady of Saxon type, with face like china, hair fine gold, and +eyes of Neapolitan violet, looked over my shoulder whilst I sketched. +She is just out, and is enjoying Gibraltar hugely. But I should not have +said violet eyes, for one was black as a thunder-cloud; she hunted +yesterday and got dragged poor thing, and was bruised all over, but she +was going about and hunts again in two or three days. + +[Illustration: A Spanish Woman.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +[Illustration: Sunday parade of Lascars.] + +Our first day with a blue sky at sea--my word it is blue, impossibly +blue, and the sun is beaming! We have had a quiet night, so everyone is +very contented. On our left the Spanish coast is very mountainous, and +little cloudlets are throwing shadows over the mountain sides. G. and I +study our Spanish grammar; but perhaps "study" is hardly the word, dream +over it would be more exact, and wonder at the blueness of the sea and +the blue reflected lights on the hurricane deck above us. We have +managed to get our chairs into a patch of sun; we rather court its rays +just now, by the time we come home again I daresay we will take the +shady side of the street. So close are we to the coast that, looking +through the glasses, we can see into the glens and make out cottages +where we know the people are speaking Spanish; and we plan a voyage +through these hills some day; therefore our Spanish exercises. What a +country it is both for castles and voyages, and how many ways there are +to travel in it. In the train or on horseback, or with mules or a +donkey, or a coach and four, as did Theophile Gautier. But not on foot +for choice, that would be so undignified as to be barely safe in Spain. +We arrange to have mules--for there is such a distinguished and +aristocratic appearance about a train of mules, and an air of romance +about them and their gay caparisons. We will trek over these mountains, +and through the cork woods and brackens in the glens, live on figs and +Vino Riojo carried in black skins on our sumpter mules, and camp at +night on the dry ground under the brown trunks of the cork +trees--another book, _mes amis_, and pictures, I vow! It will be in the +South of Spain, this voyage of ours, amongst the elegant, fiery +Andalusians, and we might combine the treking with a little coasting to +Cadiz and Malaga, then inland by the Rhonda Valley, where travelling on +mules would be almost rapid compared with the train. There are such +lovely villages there, embowered in foliage and flowers at the bottom of +rocky glens, and such pleasant peasants, with quiet, gentle manners. +Just this last word before we lose sight of Spain. Why do women at home +not adopt Spanish dancing? I am quite sure it is the secret of the +Andalusian's poise and walk. + +[Illustration] + +There is a very distinct swell, and people say it will blow in the Gulf +of Lyons, and think they had better have gone overland to Marseilles. We +pass the Balearic Isles, and at the distance they much resemble other +islands. + +Before lunch we saw an extraordinary marine effect. Along the coast the +blue sea appeared to be covered with a veil or mist of grass green +colour, the green of a duck pond; beyond it the coast was distinct, +distant I should say about eighteen miles. We could see upper-top-sails +and the peaks of lateen sails beyond the flat bank of green, which +seemed to begin a few miles from the shore and spread over the sea's +surface several miles west and east. What made me think it was an effect +of colour above water, not in it, was that with glasses I could +distinctly see the blue backs of the swell coming through it. No one I +have met has ever seen the like, but one of the officers was asked what +it was, and he said "Water." + +In the afternoon we had two interesting shows on board. A bell rang, and +a waiter who was bringing us tea turned tail and fled--it was a fire +alarm! It was pretty the way every man in the ship's company jumped to +fire-stations; hose pipes were down and connected, and pumps manned very +quickly, and bar a little talk amongst the lascars, which was +immediately stopped, everything was done in silence--bravo, British +discipline! All the iron doors were shut and bolted, the inspection +followed, and that done, away went everyone, quickly and silently, to +boat-stations. All this rehearsal only took about half-an-hour or less, +then the tea came. + +Another entertainment followed--a dummy dinner. Fifty waiters, all young +men, about half white and half Indian, took their posts at the tables up +the side of the saloon and down the middle. A tap on a gong and away +they all streamed to the entrances to the saloon, to port and starboard +service tables at the kitchen, where they pretended to get courses of +dinner, and then went and stood at their tables whilst the two pursers +and head steward went round the whole of them, patiently asking each +separately his duties: "What have you to do?" and each man answered as +well as he could, and corrections were made. This inspection took fully +an hour, then they went through the coffee, cream, and sugar and tea +drill. All this dinner and fire drill is very thorough, I must admit, +and the management of a big crowd of people on a ship begins to impress +me--but the tea--is horrid! + +[Illustration] + +We are now going north-east towards Marseilles. The sun shines, and it +blows a gentle half gale. The sea is blue where it isn't white, and the +wind is strong enough to keep us lying steadily over to starboard decks +of course all wet, with rainbows at the bow, and bursting spray over all +occasionally--people rather subdued, only a small muster at breakfast. + +Place aux dames! I forgot to mention that a very beautiful French lady +came on board at Gibraltar; she looked like one of Van Beers' pictures +as she came down the quay steps in a most exquisite dress, dreamlike +petticoats, and open-work stockings on Diana's extremities, and she had +a little parasol, and held her skirts high--a Frenchwoman hates mud--and +the rain poured, in sheets! She gave a brave farewell to her friends and +fiance, and came on board with an air, notwithstanding the drenching +rain. She was beautiful--hair like night, eyes brown, and features most +perfectly Greek, and white as marble with a rose reflected on it! A +doctor beside me whispered "anaemic," the red-haired ass! She leaves us +at Marseilles, and will never travel by sea again. G. befriended her and +interpreted for her; she was so helpless and alone in a cabin meant for +three, with a pile of boxes miles bigger than the regulation size. With +feminine courage she fought sea-sickness, fainted in the barber's chair, +but appeared at dinner in another most exquisite toilet, and then--even +in the paroxysm of sickness, preserved perfect grace of movement of hand +and eye and draperies! What heroic courage! But enough of the tea rose +in our bean field; let us get to more material things, and to +Marseilles, and the coals rattling down the iron shoot beneath our heads +as we try to sleep in air thick with coal dust. + +[Illustration] + +This morning the racket is like nothing else in the world. It is a +combination of the babel of the East and West, of Europe and Africa. +There are four groups of musicians alongside, harpists, singers and +fiddlers, all within the ship's length on the quay, and others in boats +alongside. + +We have two gangways reaching to the wharf, where are hundreds of +porters, ship waiters and stewards bringing vegetables on board, and +ships officers and hundreds of newly arrived passengers, all talking +more or less over the music, and passing to and fro across the gangways +in the sun. The ship feels too full to move in now. The new arrivals +look a little pale and tired after their overland journey by Paris, but +we weather-worn people with The Bay behind us, enjoy the whole scene +with the calm of experienced mariners! Behind the sunlit groups of +passengers with their baggage, the dock labourers in the sheds pile +grain sacks on to waggons, and strings of stout horses stand resting +beside them. On the edge of the quay are flower girls in black, selling +big bunches of violets, and a Strong-man in pink tights and sky-blue +knickerbockers--a festive piece of colour taken with his two white +chairs and bright carpet. He plays with silver balls and does balancing +feats with his little girl, and puts his arms round her and strokes her +hair after each turn, in a delicate appeal to the sympathies of +passengers who lean over the rail and take it all in somewhat sleepily. + +... The post has brought me an Orient-Pacific guide-book which I wish I +had had coming down channel and along the Portuguese coast. I would +recommend it to anyone going this journey. It has a most interesting +collection of facts both about sea and land on the route. + +... We met the beautiful French lady again last night at the Hotel de +Louvre, where everyone meets everyone else up town. I think she is +Gascon, and the very opposite of the fair Saxon type we ought to admire +at home. You hardly expect a perfectly beautiful woman to talk well, but +this perfection could both talk and dress; her personality was not "sunk +in her hat." She knew Scottish history, all about the good Lord James, +and about Mary Stuart, and what pleased us greatly was that she told us +words and hummed the airs of children's songs reputed to have been +written by Queen Mary, and which she said are sung to-day by French +children. The Hotel de Louvre soon filled, so we got away from the crowd +in a victoria and drove along the town to a cafe for supper, and it was +cold and dark too! + +The cafe, Basso and Bregaillon, has a "vue splendide" (in the daytime), +so the bill says. What you see at night is a well lit quay with the cafe +lights shining out across the dark water in the dock on to some white +steam yachts. After getting rid of a uniformed interpreter, whose one +idea was to give us an "Engleesh dinner, very good, very sheep," we made +up our own order. Of course bouillabaisse et soupe de poissons was the +first item. I am not sure how to eat this, with a spoon or fork--two +dishes are set down at once, one with half an inch of saffron-coloured +soup, made of, I think, shell-fish, and with great slices of bread in +it--certainly a spoon is not very suitable; the other dish has a perfect +aquarium of little fish and bits of bigger fish beautifully arranged in +a pyramid with similar soup round it--there are bits of red mullet, +crab, green fish, and white fish, and all sorts of odds and ends. Why do +we not make dishes like this at home? I get just such oddities any time +I lift my trammel net, but they are thrown away as "trash." But the +French are artists in every line of life, in cooking, in dress, and I +believe they put art into the way they heave the coal on board. We feel +much inclined to stay here a little and see more of these Southern +French. I love their jolly abandon of manner, their kindness and +"honesty," and their gasconade. So here's to you Cyrano and Daudet, +D'Artagnan and Tartarin, not forgetting M. le President. + +Who do you think sat beside us within arm's length but Rejane! There +were only six or seven people in the cafe and none of them were aware of +the presence of their distinguished compatriot till we whispered her +name to the waiter, and he whispered it to them and their eyes opened! I +came to G.'s side of the table so that I might see the great actress in +mufti, and I would have liked to have made a sketch of her as she talked +to her companion, but it would have been too obvious--you know the way +she speaks, a little out of the corner of her eye and mouth, with hand +on hip. She is great! We saw her only a year ago with Coquelin in "La +Mantansier." + +This is the head of the Serang; I took it when he was not looking. He +runs the lascars on board; acts pretty much as bo'sun. This face is +brown and beard died rusty red, and he wears a lovely boatswains silver +whistle on a silver chain, and has an air of command and the appearance +of deepest intelligence. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +[Illustration] + +There is a frightful crush on board. It would take years to consider all +the faces. Numbers of ladies are going out to join their husbands after +having taken their children home in spring. By the afternoon all the new +comers look much refreshed; they have washed off the travel stains of +that dusty journey across France, have tidied up, eaten, and slept a +little, and have perhaps met friends of the road. You hear, +"Hillo--hillo--you here again! met in Simla last, didn't we--wasn't it +cold last night?" "By Jingo it was--rummy spell of cold--coming over all +western Europe so suddenly," and they talk of "Cold weathers," and +"Rains," and "Monsoons," and places you think you heard about in school +days and have forgotten; and you realise something of what there is +ahead to learn. + +Meantime I watch the lascars taking off the effect of the coaling last +night; how blue and sharp the reflections of the sky are on the wet deck +and their dark feet. It is my business to paint things, not to write, +about them, still, both occupations dissipate the time wonderfully. They +are scrubbing down the waist, washing the decks with brushes and +squeejees and lashins of blue Mediterranean; they wear dungaree tunics, +and trousers of dark blue and faded pale blues, with red cloth round +their straw skull-caps, and are all in shadow--that colourful, melting, +warm shade you have in the South in the afternoon. + +27th Evening.--To what shall I liken this evening on deck? You know a +railway carriage on Bank Holiday, and you have heard perhaps of a +Newfoundland sealing ship, the crew head and tail and three deep in the +bunks, and all about the deck and along the bulwarks for want of +room--well, it's worse here, at the price! In the smoking-room there is +not an inch to sit on; men lean against the pillars, others against the +side of the bar or against each other. A few have got seats for bridge, +others sit on sofas round the side, the rest have to stand. There were +more passengers when we left Tilbury than allowed any free movement on +deck; we made light of that. Now, people are jammed beside each other +all the way up the side of the deck that is sheltered from the sweep of +the wind, others sit on the rail; those who want to move have to pick a +devious and careful course between the lines of chairs. And this is to +be to-night, and to-morrow, till we get to India! And it will yet be +worse than it is just now, for many passengers from Marseilles are still +below, waiting for baths and arranging their crowded cabins. + +I have to write letters and sketch on a dining-saloon table amongst +waiters clearing dishes. There are four small tables on deck in what I +think is called the music room, and they are fully occupied with ladies +writing and bridge players, and round them every seat in the room is +occupied. It is a crowd of people of the most gentle manners and +breeding, or it would be horrible beyond words. + +[Illustration] + +28th.--I suppose there were not more than fifty men in the smoking-room +late last night when it became sufficiently empty to allow me to see +separate faces. There were civilians, judges, and one or two men of +business, but the majority were soldiers of middle age. I confess I am +much impressed by the general type and the expression of quiet strength +and capability of these men of the Indian Services. They have finely +modelled heads on powerful figures, better, I think, than any type of +the ancients. Their manners are cheery and kindly, but always in repose +the lines show strongly across the brow; faces and lines seem to me to +spell D-U-T-Y emphatically. For a _nouveau_ it is difficult to follow +their talk, it changes so quickly from the man to his horse, to his seat +and powers as cavalry leader or the like, perhaps to his family, his +marriage, or his death, and whenever the family interest comes in, there +is a note of genuine kindness as if brothers were telling or asking +about other brothers and their wives and belongings. They speak rather +quickly and cheerily, and then in repose the lines come again, not that +they look over-worn; on the contrary they look fit, tremendously and are +very abstemious. One speaks near me--"You knew so and so? Good +horseman--wasn't he? Curious seat--do you remember the way he rode with +his toes out?" "Yes, yes--ha, ha!--it was funny! He led a column with me +at Abu Lassin. Very sad his death, poor fellow--never got over the last +war--heart always suffered--nice wife." "Yes, yes--gave him pretty bad +time though--oughtn't to have married. Where is his boy--Sandhurst? No, +he's left--he's coming out next month in a troop ship, I hear." These +are the older soldiers, and there are also many young officers, and two +judges of the High Courts, one with nimble tongue and expression, the +other the reverse. And there are business men with concentrated and +perhaps rather narrower expressions than the others--Irish, Scots, and +English. As they are all in the same black and white kit in the evening +it is easier then to compare the various faces; in the daytime the +variety of costume, flannels, and coloured ties and tweeds prevent one +doing it so easily; I'd like to make a sketch of each, and superimpose +these, and get the average, the type of the thousands who follow this +road year after year. + +... As usual, these Bayards, in dressing gowns of various cuts and +colours, stood outside the bathrooms this morning and waited their turn, +and if the atmosphere was not murky with swear words, it was not to the +P. & O.'s credit. To most men tub time is the jolliest in the day; here +it is one of evil temper, for after you have waited say twenty minutes +in a passage for your chance, you get into a little wet steamy place +over the engines, with possibly no port and poorly ventilated, and have +your tub in a hurry for you know other fellows are waiting outside, and +instead of gaily carolling your morning song you feel angry and cuss +cusses, not loud, but profound as Tuscarora Deep. "Oh! Mummie, do come +and see all the men waiting for their baths," said a little angel this +morning, as she pointed at the solemn row of bare-footed men holding on +to their towels and sponge-bags and tempers--we actually grinned. Like +some others I give up the attempt to get a morning tub, and trust to +sneak one in during the day; better to have no bath than to start the +day cross--"better to smash your damned clubs than to lose your damned +temper," as the golfer in a bunker was overheard muttering as he broke +each club across his knee. The ladies, some hundreds, have I think five +baths between them, and they wait for these a great part of the day. If +you pass their waiting-room you get a glimpse of wonderful morning +toilettes of every tint, muslins, laces, a black boy with red turbash +bustling about to get the bath ready makes rather a good note of colour. + +... Notwithstanding all the above grievance we hadn't such a bad day +yesterday; it was calm and not too cold, with a soft pigeon grey sea and +sky.... Put in a long day's painting in the corner of the after-well, +and overhauling sketches done so far on the road--they are mounting up +now, and I feel fortunate in having my apology for existence in such a +handy shape as a paint box. + +But how dull this log-writing becomes! How on earth can I find an +incident to pad up this journal; what is there to write about in a route +so monotonously first class! Here is absolutely the most risque exciting +story I have heard for days; I must say the lady who told it has such an +infectious laugh, that at the time I really thought it was very amusing. + +You know the cabins on the P. & O. steamers are all exactly like each +other, except the number above each door. So once upon a time she +related, a certain lady tripped along to her cabin as she thought, to +hurry up her husband for dinner and found him pulling on a shirt; she +plumped into a seat, saying, "John, John, you are always too late for +dinner, and there's no use trying to struggle into your shirt with the +studs fastened?" Whereon the neck stud flew and revealed an astonished +face--and it was not "John's." After lunch I told this to my barrister +acquaintance; he smiled gently and said he had always thought it such an +amusing story. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +How I wish I was back at sea again on a whaler, with a swinging hammock, +a tow net, and microscope, and opportunities any day to study the fairy +beauties in drops of sea water, and with human interest too, so much +more varied than on this P. & O. Hotel; there, would be all kinds of +men, jolly, devil-may-care fellows, and even disreputable characters, +mixed with canny, pawky, canting Scotties, and talk of all the corners +of the world; ranting rollicking Balzacian yarns, rich in language, in +poetry, and tenderness; any minute in the day amongst such people you +might strike a yarn that would bear publication; the picturesque +interest of life does not seem to be on the high plains, or low levels, +but as it were between wind and water, where plain meets mountain, the +poor the rich, between happiness and sorrow, and light and shade; and +the fun of painting between one colour and the next. It is all very +respectably drab here, and we talk of intellectual and proper things. +For an hour to-day--no, two hours I am sure--I laboured at Indian +sociology and history and Vedas and things, with the barrister, and I +was tired! The barrister knows many books on these subjects, and +recommends me to read Sir W. W. Hunter's "History of India" in its +abridged form of only 700 pages; I suppose I must!--told my cousin I'd +been trying to talk Indian sociology and he shouted: said he knew a man +who had lived in India and studied the native life for twenty-eight +years, and confessed he knew as little about it at the end as at the +beginning; but R. admitted that whenever he had a knotty question of +native affairs to settle he always went to this man, and the decision +was invariably right. R. has qualified admiration for the Indians +honesty. Once, he said, he had to leave his house at a moment's notice, +to take home a sick relation, and left all standing, and on coming back +months after found every single stick of furniture just as he left it, +and not a single article stolen, except one door-mat; his night watchman +had taken it with him to another situation, leaving a humble message to +the effect that he had got so accustomed to it that he couldn't sleep +without it! Their honesty must run in grooves for R. gave a heavy +overcoat to one of his men in a cold station, and when he and his +servants went to a very hot station, he noticed this man still wearing +the thick coat and sweating like anything, so he asked him why he did +so, and the man replied that he dared not put it off for a minute or it +would be stolen. + +[Illustration] + +We had quite an audience for the fiddles this Saturday--there are two +lady violinists now, both very good players--but we had only a short +spell of music in the music room on account of a choir practise, for +to-morrow; the parson came and took our musicians down to the +dining-room to sing over hymns and psalms, verse by verse. I heard the +wheeze of the harmonium, and got back to my own chest-lid (sailor term +for my own business)--"Every man to his own chest-lid and the cook to +the foresheet," is it not a suggestive saying? To every man his +prerogative, his chest-lid, and his duties, and the same for the cook +and the least bit more! It is now getting passably mild, and we can sit +out on deck at night. It was supposed to be hot enough for the punkahs +in the saloon; one is hung over the length of each of the five tables, +to port and starboard, and there are others the whole length of the +table that runs up the middle of the saloon. I have long wished to see a +punkah, now I wish I may never see another! On this ship they are narrow +velvet rugs hung on edge from horizontal bars, this is swung by two +ropes from the roof, and they are all guyed together with cords, so that +one pull, from a lascar outside the cabin, sets them all into violent +commotion. They hit your face when you stand, and sitting, their lowest +edge stirs up your hair. These velvet rugs have white cotton covers on +them now that they are being used, so the general effect at dinner-time +is of a huge laundry in a gale, with beautiful laundresses in low +dresses sitting at table under a world of wildly flapping linen; with +the lamps lit, and our black coats for a foil, the colours are really +extremely pretty, though the discomfort is great. Men and women are all +getting a little brown with the sea air, and the ladies have a little of +the blush of spring now, instead of the pallor of winter with which they +came on board. + +[Illustration] + +Egypt in sight, and this morning we tubbed in the water of the river +that floated Moses, and that has been bathed in and drunk since by such +a number of people we know, or have read about. Sea and Nile are +meeting in blue, and green, and brownish stripes, blending to a general +absinthe colour as we get closer to the flat delta; little level rows of +cloud throw purple shadows across the crisp small waves, and over the +horizon there's a flight of white lateen sails. + +What a bustle there is on board to-day; people running up and down +stairs with letters hurriedly finished, addressed and stamped to the +children at home. No use writing to the man who waits out there, for we +carry the mail. It is touching, the wife looking forward and back at the +same time--the bull must pass--and the young girl too, leaving the old +life for the new married life in a new country; it must take courage. + +My notes at Port Said seem to have disappeared, possibly I did not write +any. I remember that there was so much to see in the morning; and the +change of colour in the water, the absinthe colour of the Nile with pale +blue reflections winding in currents in distinct streams into the sea, +would, with the blue ocean, need very subtile painting. I remember the +fearful jabber, which I suppose has gone on and always will, since Port +Said was invented. I got a glimpse of Lesseps's statue at lunch through +the port-hole; he points with right hand twice life size up the harbour +with a heroic expression, and seems to say to the steamers that come in +from the sea, "Higher up there S.V.P.--try a little higher up." We +watched the often described black men coaling in black dust, singing and +working, the sun's rays making shafts of light stream through the clouds +of black coal dust; and the same pandemonium at night in the flare of +lights, when the scene is generally admitted to be like the nether +regions. + +I know we went ashore somehow or other, and that we could hardly see for +the shouting and yelling! We felt fortunate in having a Mrs +Deputy-Commissioner for a companion, for she was bubbling over with +humour and anecdote. She and G. promptly began shopping, and certainly +succeeded in getting two rather becoming topees, flatter and prettier +than any I have yet seen--you might call them Romney topees; one may +appear in sketches further on. I sketched of course--always keep +"screeb, screeb, screebling all day long," as an irate German lady once +put it to me, "screebled" a cafe scene; on the left you see a native, +who calls himself Jock Furgusson, trying to pass off a "Genuine Egyptian +Scarab" to a tourist. Jock Furgusson is infinitely more wonderful and +artistic to me than the pyramids, for he can imitate accents so as to +make you gasp; he spots anyone's nationality instantaneously--before you +have opened your lips he knows your county! I believe he can distinguish +between the English of a Lowland Scot and a Highlander, which is more +than '_Punch_' does after all these years of practice. "Ah'm, Jock +Furgusson frae Auchtermurrchty and Achterlony, longest maun in the forty +twa," he begins--but somebody help me--I've forgotten how he goes on, a +long rigmarole in broadest Doric; the words and intonation so perfect, +you can so little believe your eyes that you are landed with a scarab or +a string of beads before you have recovered, and he is off to another +passenger, clippin' 'is g's and r's and puttin' in h's to some +Englishmen. + +The inhabitants of Port Said, we are told, represent the scourings of +the Levant; too bad for Cairo, and black-balled for Hell. All the same +G. and I went ashore by ourselves after dinner, rather proud of our +courage, for several passengers said it wasn't safe. It used not to be +safe, I know, but I asked the Chief-Engineer what he thought, and he +took his right hand in his left, all but the very tip of the little +finger which he measured off with his left thumb nail, and said, "a +black maun's heart's no as big as that." So we went ashore and had no +adventures at all, but sat in a balcony and listened to pretty good +music, and noted the few drowsy figures in the side streets, the glow of +lamp or brazier on their heavy draperies, contrasting with the starlight +and the deep velvety shadows--moth-like colouring, and intense +repose, after the glittering, howling day. + +[Illustration: A Cafe, Port Said] + +Looking back over these notes, and the Orient and Pacific Guide Book, +and the Acts of the Apostles, I observe that I have made no note about +Corsica and Sardinia, Lipari Islands, and Stromboli, or of the Straits +of Messina and Etna--have barely mentioned Crete! In the Lipari Islands +we saw lights ashore, and down the Straits of Messina; and Stromboli we +discovered easily enough by the glow of hot red up in the sky, and a +sloping line of red that went glittering downwards. It was too dark to +distinguish anything more. + +We saw Crete, enough to swear by, the white top of Mount Ida, and +realized where Fair Haven and Phenice and Clauda must lie, and that we +were actually in the seas where the Apostle Paul was caught in the +Euroclydon. By the way what is a Euroclydon; is it a Levanter? + +Was there ever a voyage so vividly described, in more concentrated and +pithy words? In eight verses you have a complete dramatic account of a +tragedy at sea, from a passenger's point of view. It would be curious +and interesting to learn what the owner thought, and said, when the +prisoner suggested that he, and his sailing master, and the Centurion, +were all wrong in a question of navigation; and how it came about that +shortly after this difference of opinion the prisoner was master of the +commissariat, and how, after heavy weather and fasting fourteen days on +a rocky coast, 276 souls were saved on bits of wreckage without the loss +of one life! The Board of Trade and Life Saving Societies might enquire +into this, and report. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +[Illustration] + +The Canal.--If I had not seen Mr Talbot Kelly's book on Egypt I could +hardly have believed it possible that the delicate schemes of colour we +see in the desert as we pass through the canal could be painted and +reproduced in colour in a book. He has got the very bloom of the desert, +and the beauty of Egypt without its ugliness; the heat and sparkle and +brightness in his pictures are so vivid one can almost breathe the +exhilarating desert air--and smell the Bazaars! But Egypt is ugly a +pin's prick beneath its beauty. It is so old and covered with bones and +decayed ideas. The Nile is associated with Moses, and it is long it is +true, but it is also very narrow and shallow, and its banks are +monotonous to a degree; a mile or so of green crop on either side, then +stones, sand, bits of crockery, human bones and rags, then desert +sand--a cross between a cemetery and a kitchen garden. The ruins are +_awfully_ ugly! "Think of their age!" people say, and you look at the +exquisite spirals of shells in the lime stones with which these heaps +are made! But the saddest thing in Egypt is the fine art debased in the +temples, in these ponderous monuments of their officialism; for here and +there in them you see exquisite bits of low relief carving, that a Greek +would have been proud of, hidden away in interminable hieroglyphic +histories spread indiscriminately over grotesque pillars and vast walls, +as regardlessly of decorative effect as advertisements in a newspaper's +columns. The open desert is the best of Egypt, and this thread of blue +canal strung with lakes through its sand is very pretty and interesting +all the way. We come to a swing bridge. It is open and our modern hotel +and modern people slowly steam right through the middle of a Biblical +caravan of Arabs on camels; some have crossed into the Egyptian side, +the remainder are waiting on the Arabian side, their camels are feeding +on the grey-green bushes. The passengers just give them a glance and go +on with their books. Have we not seen it all long ago in nursery books +on Sundays. But, in the nursery in our Sunday books we did not see or +feel the glitter and heat of the day, some of which, children to-day can +get in Mr Kelly's book. + +I dared not sketch the desert scenes; it was in too high a key for me, +but I made so bold as to do this sketch of a scene on deck at night: an +effect I have not heard described, though it must be familiar to those +who go this road. I am sorry it is not reproduced here in colour. + +[Illustration] + +The searchlight on the bow plays on the sandbanks and desert beyond, and +makes the land like a snow-field, and the slow movement of the white +light intensifies the darkness and silence of the desert. In contrast to +the cold blue light and snow-white sand, is the group of figures on +deck in bright dresses, dancing. It made quite an _evident_ subject. The +figure leaning on the rail is not ill. It is only a little Japanese maid +thinking of home perhaps. + +Suez was a few lights in the darkness over the glow of our pipes, then +bed, and in the morning we were sailing down the top, west branch, of +the Red Sea, otherwise the Gulf of Suez, with a fresh north wind behind +us. + +It is extremely charming and refreshing, as I've already remarked, to +look out of a port in the morning and see the glittering, tumbling, blue +sea alongside. On this occasion the blue is capped with many soft white +horses chasing south, and the serrated barren hills of Egypt are +slipping away north. They are coloured various tints of pale, faded +leather, light buff, and light red, and the sun glares brilliantly over +all, "drying up the blue Red Sea at the rate of twenty three feet per +year," this from the Orient-Pacific Guide; you can yourself almost fancy +you hear the sea fizzling with the heat. The Arabian shore is almost the +same as the Egyptian, with a larger margin of swelling stretches of sand +between the sea and the foot of the hills. + + "Gaunt and dreary run the mountains, + With black gorges up the land + Up to where the lonely desert + Spreads her burning, dreary sand." + +There are occasions when circumstances make it really a pleasure to be +an artist, to-day for example; the air is so full of colour, the sea +deepest turquoise, with emerald showing when the crests burst white and +mix with the blue, and there is a glint of reddish colour reflected from +the Arabian sand, and the shadows in the clefts in the sand-hills to the +north are as blue as the sea. I was trying to put this down when my +friend from the West Country, who helps the engines, told me he had got +me one of these exquisite classic earthenware vases from Port Said, +which he decorates with cigar labels and blue and gold enamel. I had a +chat with him in his rather nice cabin--made a study of the flagon, +_i.e._ drew its cork. It was full of deep purple Italian wine, like +Lacrima Christie or Episcopio Rosso; the wine was good enough, but its +deep rose colour with the bright blue reflected on it through the port +was splendid. He didn't like it himself, said "it drew his mouth," and +he gave me both the bottle and the wine as a present because of our love +for Dalriada, and I have to give him a "wee bit sketch" for his cabin. + +I will smuggle the jar under our table--G. and I both like Italian +wine--and we will use it as a water bottle afterwards, for we have only +one decanter at our table amongst eleven thirsty people. + +It was just such dark red wine as this, I suppose, that Ulysses and his +friends in these seas took in skinfuls to wash down venison, an +excellent menu I must say, but it would have been more seamanlike if +they had slept off the effects on board, instead of lying out all night +on the beach; then, when Morning the rosy-fingered turned up, they'd +have been quicker getting under way, and would have got home sooner in +the end. How much superior were the Fingalian heroes; they would sail +and fight all day and pass round the uisquebaugh in the evening at the +feast of shells, and never get fuddled and never feared anything under +water or above land, and were beholden to neither Gods nor men. + +But I did once know a descendant of theirs, in their own country who was +overcome by red wine. "It was perfectly excusable," he said, for he had +never tasted it before--or since! He was a fine, tall man called Callum +Bhouie, from his yellow hair when he was a youth; he was old when I knew +him--six feet two and thin as a rake and strong, with the face of +Wellington and an eye like a hawk. He and his friend were going home to +his croft from their occupations one morning early, round the little +Carsaig Bay opposite Jura, where he had a still up a little burn there, +and they fell in with a cask on the sand and there was red wine in it, +port or Burgundy, I do not know. Callum said he knew all about it and it +was but weak stuff, so they took bowls and saucers and drank the weak +stuff more and more. I think it must have been port; and they lay where +they were on the sand and slept till the morning after. When dawn, the +rosy-fingered, found them she must have thought them quite Hellenic; and +the minister followed later, and I would not think it right to repeat +what he thought it right to say. The sands and the bay and the burn are +there to-day, and, as they say in the old tales, if Callum were not dead +he would be alive to prove the truth of the story. The still I've never +seen, but Callum I knew, and his croft; alas the roof of it fell in a +few years ago; and it was the last inhabited house of a Carsaig clachan. +You see the land is "improved" now, for sheep, and it's all in one big +farm instead of small crofts, and little greasy, black-faced sheep climb +the loose stone walls and nibble the green grass short as a carpet where +Callum and his wife lived so long. + +May I go on to the end of Callum's story; though it is rather a far cry +from this hot Red Sea to the cool Sound of Jura? + +He and his wife were to be taken to the poor house in winter, and on the +long drive across Kintyre they were told that they would be separated, +and there was then and there such a crying and fighting on the road that +they were both driven back to the croft--and I was not surprised, for +where Callum Bhouie was fighting there would not be a stronger man of +his age. So they lived on in the but-and-ben, with the lonely, tall ash +standing over it, and the view of Jura, the sweetest I know, in front, +and he died very old indeed, and his wife followed him in two or three +days, so they were not separated even by death for long. + +... Now to my log rolling. It has already been explained by travellers +of repute that the Red Sea does not take its name from its colour; this +statement, I believe, is now generally accepted as being something more +than the mere "traveller's tale." It is not, however, so generally known +that this Sea is peculiarly blue, so blue, in fact, that were you to dip +a white dress into it it would come out blue, or at least it looks as if +it would. It reminds me of a splendid blue silk with filmy white lace +spread over it. Against this the figures on the shady side of the ship +look very pretty; ladies and children and menkind all in such various +bright, summery colours, lying in long chairs or grouped round green +card tables. "The Ladies' Gulf," it should be called now. That used to +be the name for the sea off the N. W. of Africa where you pick up the +North East trades as you sail south. Times have changed and sea routes, +so the name should be passed east to this Gulf of Suez, where ladies and +parasols look at their best and the appearance of a man in oilskins +would be positively alarming. + +The Indian judge with the Italian name and myself, are, as far as I can +see, the only passengers who are not engaged doing something. Perhaps +the judge's Italian name and my Vino Tinto respectively account for our +contemplative attitudes. He has pulled his chair well forward to be out +of the crowd, and makes a perfect picture of happy repose; he wears a +dark blue yachting suit, and his hands are deep in his pockets. His face +is ruddy, and his eyes are blue and seem to sparkle with the pleasure of +watching the tumbling blue seas, and the bursting white and green +crests. Just now a rope grummet, thrown by an elderly youth at a tub, +rolled under his legs, and the judge handed it back most politely, and +resumed contemplation. In two minutes another quoit clattered under his +chair, this he likewise returned very politely; at the third, however, +he sighed and gave up his study of the blue and sauntered aft to the +smoking-room--such is life on a P. & O. + +The above picture is intended to represent ladies in afternoon dress, +the colours of the intermediate tints of the rainbow--expressions +celestial. It is the witching hour before changing from one costume to +the other, after afternoon tea and just before dressing for dinner. To +the right you may observe an Ayah spoiling some young Britons.[3] You +see in the background a golden sunset on a wine red sea, and our lady +artist, a pupil from Juliens; she is gazing out at the departing +glory.... After sundown the decks are empty, for the people are below +dressing and at dinner; towards nightfall they become alive again with +ladies in evening dresses with delicate scarves and laces, promenading +to and fro--a difficult thing to do in such a crowd. One moment they are +dark shadowy forms against the southern night sky, then they are all +aglow in the lights from the music-room windows and the ports of the +deck cabins. + +[3] Make it Anglo Saxons, if you like! + +[Illustration] + +"The-most-beautiful-lady-in-the-ship," in dark muslin, and the +stalwart-man stand near us to-night; they are in half-light, leaning +against the rail, looking out into the darkness. I wished Whistler +might have seen them; he alone could have caught the soft night +colours--the black so velvety and colourful, blurred into the dark blue +of the night sky, with never the suggestion of an outline, and just one +touch of subdued warm colour on the bend of her neck. Sometimes her +scarf floats lightly across his sleeve and rests, and floats away again. +I suppose they talk of--the weather, and repeat themselves in the dear +old set terms. That is why nature is more interesting than man, it never +repeats itself or displays an effect for more than a minute. Five men +out of any six on board, I believe, would make a fair copy of the +conversation of these two, but only one man who has lived in our times +could have made a fist at that effect of faint lamp-light and fainter +moonlight on the black of the coat against the deep blue-black of the +star spangled southern sky. Only the "Master" could have got the +delicacy and movement of the faintly sea-green veil that sometimes lifts +on the warm breeze and floats an instant across the sky and the +broadcloth; he would have got the innermost delicacy of colour form +purely and simply, without an inch, of conventional paint or catch-penny +sentiment. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +I believe this is the 5th. These 'chits' help one to remember dates; +they are little cards presented you when you order soda water or wine, +or are solicited for subscriptions to sports or sweepstakes. They have +the date marked on them, and you add your name, and number of berth, and +away goes your steward to the bar or wine man, and you get what you +ordered; it may be ages afterwards, when you have almost forgotten what +it was you ordered, but punctually at the end of the week, you get them +in a bundle and pay up. "I find," to quote Carlyle again, "I have a +considerable feeling of astonishment at the unexpected size of the +bundles. It's a most excellent system, and if there wasn't such a crowd +it would work out all right here." + +It is uncomfortably warm now and damp. Last night we on the main deck +had to sleep with ports closed, so we had to live with very little air; +I do not know what the temperature was, not having a thermometer with +us, as we are almost amidship and near the engine, it must have been +considerable. + +... The Red Sea does not grow in my affections; as we go south there is +too much of the sensation of being slowly stewed. At Babel Mandeb I +believe the temperature of the sea rises to 100 deg. F. + +The islands we pass on the shore to the east, distant about fifteen +miles as I write, are interesting enough. I suppose the inhabitants are +somewhat irresponsible, and were we to land there in the boats unarmed, +might find us full occupation for the rest of our lives as slaves in +the interior. There was a ship wrecked on this coast some years ago, +and her boat's crew landed, and were either killed or are up country +slaving. R. tells me the wife of one of them lives beside his people in +Fife, which makes us feel almost in touch with the sandy shore. What an +anomaly--a modern steamship packed with western civilisation reeling off +twenty knots an hour--past a desert land of lawless nomadic Arab tribes. + +[Illustration] + +As we get south nearer Aden the sand spits tail out south and slope off +inland like wide glaciers, through which appear dark coloured rocky +islets. + +... We had rather bad luck yesterday and to-day; the iron wind catcher +put out at our port to make a draught caught a sea, and threw it all +over our cabin. G.'s maid had just opened my overland trunk to give the +contents an airing, and now my collars are pulp and rose pink from the +lining of the collar box, so I must call on the barber who runs a shop +on board. We had the carpet taken up and our clothes hung up to dry, but +they won't, for the air is so hot and damp--with the least exertion you +steam! Imagine the joy of having to dress for dinner in such cramped +space and heat--you drop a stud and a year of your life in finding it! I +think most people realise that their feelings under these circumstances +cannot be exactly described in decorous language, so they set their +teeth in grim silence; and after all there is something laughable about +all the trouble--we needn't go in for white shirts and black coats and +trousers in the tropics unless we like. Everyone feels them horribly +uncomfortable and unsuitable, but no one dares to be so utterly radical +as come to dinner in anything else. If a flannel shirt and shorts were +the fashion, if only for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, how many valued +lives would be prolonged. The penance in India is not so bad; there your +_Boy_ hunts your stud whilst you sit and cool. + +A number of passengers sleep on deck now; I suppose three and four in a +cabin is intolerable. They have their mattresses brought up on deck by +their cabin steward, and he chalks their number on the deck at their +feet; you can thus sleep in a strong wet draught under the officers' +deck. There is a great deal of pleasure in sleeping in the open, but you +should have nothing but stars overhead and a shelter to windward, if it +is only a swelling in the ground or a sod or two. The ladies have a part +of the deck reserved, and the floor of the music room round the well +that opens into the dining-saloon below. Their part of the deck is +defended at night by a zereba of deck chairs, piled three or four feet +high; it suggests privacy! + +We had our port open last night again--my fault--and just as G. came to +my end of the cabin to tell me the waves were getting near the port, in +one came! So we spent the small hot hours rearranging things, shut the +port and slept the sleep of the weary, and awakened more dead than alive +from too little air and too much water. + +Yesterday the ship went on fire. It started on the woodwork of the +companion way, where there was a place for stationery; there was a +mighty mess of water and smell of smoke and a panel or two burned, and +no great damage done, as far as I can hear. I am surprised we don't go +on fire every day with so many smokers chucking cigarette ends +overboard. The wind-catchers sticking out of the ports of course catch +these, and they blow into the berths. Yesterday, however, to prevent +this, two or three buckets with sand in them were put down on deck in +which cigarette ends are to be buried and pipes knocked out, so there's +a chance for us all yet! + +This morning I made a water-colour for my engineer friend, as a return +for the wine vase he gave me. I thought he'd like a sketch of a Highland +burn in spate--thought it would be cooling. How it came about I cannot +explain, but I did him a recollection of a burn within five to seven +miles, by sea, of his birthplace in Jura! I'd put him down as coming +from the Clyde. + +The biggest event for me in this day's reckoning was the discovery that +the distinguished judge I observed contemplating the blue waves for some +minutes, was an artist before he took to Law! You might have knocked me +down with a feather--five years in Lauren's studio in Paris, and three +pictures on the line the year he was called to the bar and two of them +sold! We had a great talk about art and all the rest of it. He and +Jacomb Hood and others were fellow students, and he and Jacomb Hood and +this writer, and various artists and newspaper men are to meet at his +board in Calcutta and have a right good Bohemian evening as in days of +yore. + +Is it not curiously sanguine this belief, to which I've seen quite old +men clinging--that you can repeat a good time. It is possible we will +have a good evening, and talk lots of shop, for we all know far more +about it now, than we did then; but it was what we did not know, that +gave the charm to student days. + +We talk art and technique pretty hard, but I can't quite get over the +shock--an artist--become a judge--A Quartier Latin Art Student--a Judge +of the High Court--with a fixed income, and on his way to Calcutta, +perhaps to hang folk! + +We had sports to-day and a sing-song in the evening. The sports were +very amusing; the bolster fight on a spar doesn't sound interesting, but +it was; it got quite exciting towards the end as the wiry cavalry +colonel, hero of many a stricken field, knocked out all comers, young or +old. Egg and spoon races and threading needles were a little stupid, but +what tableaux the groups of fair women made, with the bright dresses +and complexions, and the jolly brown young men, all in the soft light +that was filtering through the awning and blazing up from under its edge +from the sea. + +[Illustration] + +Sunday--at Aden--loafed all morning--vowed I'd not paint--bustle and +movement too great--painted hard in afternoon--horribly difficult--too +many people--ladies skirt in palette--man's hoof in water tin--chucked +it. + +[Illustration: Aden, and Fan-sellers] + +This is verbatim from my log and expresses a very little of one's +feelings; everyone is so jolly and polite too, you just have to stop, or +go on and show temper. Two or three of the passengers tried to paint +effects, each formed a centre of a group of people, who looked over +their shoulders, the onlookers one after another remarking with +ingratiating smiles, "You don't mind my looking, do you?" Why on earth +do people look over the shoulders of persons painting, when they would +never dream of looking over the shoulder of any one writing? +Notwithstanding the crowd and polite requests to be "allowed to look," +and the untenable effort required to give soft answers, I did manage to +make a sketch or two at Aden--one of stony hills and government houses +in the background, and in the front green water and the vendors of fans +and beads, and curious brown, naked, active fellows in sharp stemmed +light coloured boats, which they could row! Some of them had turbans, +pink or lemon yellow, or white skull caps, and there were also +Egyptian officials and soldiers in white uniform and red turbash, in +white launches that raced about through the green water, cutting a great +dash of white with their bows; there was colour enough, and movement and +sun galore. + +[Illustration] + +I suppose these "ragged rocks and flinty spires" are the rocks that +inspired the Pipe-Major with the cheery farewell to "The Barren Rocks of +Aden"--here they are the rocks you see from Aden--everyone knows the +tune. + +7th October.--The lady artist and I compared sketches. We both worship +Whistler, and various writers we agree about, but I fear we are only in +sympathy so far. I gathered from her to-night that I ought to study +native character in India, for our countrymen in India had no +picturesqueness, no art about them, and to associate with them one had +better be at home. I felt saddened and went on deck and saw the people +she called "Anglo-Indians" (more than two-thirds Scots, Irish, Cornish, +and Welsh, with a negligible fraction of possible Angles) all lying +like dead men in rows, with no side or show about them as they lay; some +in contorted positions, with here and there a powerful limb or well +rounded northern head showing in the half dark. Rulers of the Indian +Empire, by Odin! or Jove! damp and hot, and in the dark, in a strong +draught, without a pick of gold lace, prostrate, sweating uncomfortably, +sleeping; and travelling as their innumerable predecessors have ever +travelled, from the North to rule the South. + +[Illustration] + +They may be inartistic, but they look mighty touching, pathetic, and +wonderful, not only the individual whose legs you step over but that +almighty race combine--whatever you call it[4]--which he represents.... +Ladies were stealing to their lairs in the zereba on deck, and in the +music room; they look quite Eastern, all muffled up in tea gowns and +gauzy draperies. The music room has only recently been reserved for them +at night; a mere man who had camped there with wife and child did not +know of the change; and Mrs Deputy-Commissioner told us they were all +lying out there in the dark when the man entered in pyjamas and had +stepped over a dozen prostrate forms when Mrs D.-C. said incisively, "We +are all ladies here," and he murmured "Good Lord," and his retreat was +rapid--what a scare he had! + +[4] British or English. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +[Illustration] + +Only one more day's dull reckoning and we will be ashore. I expect +everyone is getting rather sick of the crowded life. A fancy dress ball +pulled through last night. Most ingenious dresses were made up, and +prizes were given to the best. All those in fancy dress formed up and +walked past the judges in single file. There were pretty much the usual +stock costumes, and nothing original amongst the ladies. The very +black-eyed belle with red cheeks wore a mantilla of course, and gripped +a fan and had a camellia in her hair, and was called Andalusian, +but her walk and expression were "made in England"--a Spanish +girl's expression and walk can't be got up in a day or two. +The-most-beautiful-lady-in-the-ship was--upon my word, I don't know what +her dress was called, something of the "Incroyable" period; whatever it +was called, she carried it well and could walk, the rest merely toddled. +She is Australian, still, I'd have given her First Prize. The lady who +did get it, was really very pretty, and dressed as a white Watteau or +Dresden shepherdess. Amongst the men "The British Tourist" was +perfection--answered all requirements, and suggested the tourist of old +and the tourist of to-day; he had check trousers, chop whiskers, a sun +hat, umbrella, blue spectacles, and the dash of red Baedeker for colour. +Then an Assistant-Commissioner, an Irishman, was splendidly got up. I'd +noticed he had been out of sight a good deal lately--he had been sewing +his own clothes, and they were really well made! "An Eastern Potentate" +he called himself, or a Khedive, and ran to riot in a jumble of orders +and jewellery and gold chains. Trousers and jacket were pale cinnamon +with scarlet facings and a red turbash, and how well the clothes fitted! +clever Mr B.; he knows so much about many subjects, and can sew! He and +my Judge acquaintance were arguing last night. The Judge is a +Cornishman. When you get a highly educated Cornishman and an Irishman +together, however long they have been in England, and they begin to +talk, it's worth while sitting out. B. explained in soft and winning +words to the Judge that his life was a giddy round of society, long +leave, and high pay, whilst he in the far North led a lonely life of +continuous hard work and no pay to speak of; and the Judge, with equal +if not greater fluency, described B.'s up-country life as perpetual +leave on full pay, a long delightful picnic, and so on and so forth. My +sympathy went with the Judge; I think his life is the least pleasant, +but one had to allow for his greater rapidity of speech and practice in +courts before juries, besides his art studies in Paris. Later R. joined; +he is an advocate in Calcutta and hails from the Hebrides. Then came a +Welsh Major, a gunner. That made a party of an Irishman, two Scots (one +of them anglicised), a Welsh, and a Cornishman, and they discussed +everything under the sun except the Celtic Renaissance: for they spend +their days on the confines of the Empire, and the brain takes time to +make the tail wag. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +[Illustration: B] + +Bombay.--I've travelled these three weeks with people who have lived in +India, and I have been brought up on Indian books and Indian home +letters, and in one way and another have picked up an idea of what the +people and the features of nature are like, but I have received only a +very faint idea of its real light and colour. I thought Egypt had given +me a fair idea of what India might be, but nothing in Egypt can touch +what I've seen in these two half days. + +Our first view of Bombay from where we lay at anchor a mile off shore +was very disappointing. All there is to see is a low shore and a +monotonous line of trees and houses; the air was warm and damp and hazy, +and the smoke from two or three tall chimneys hung in thin wreaths over +land and water. In our immediate neighbourhood steamers were coaling, +and their dust did not add any beauty to the picture, and the actual +landing is not very interesting; you get off the ship to the wharf in a +big launch, a slow process but quietly and well-managed, and on shore +have a little trouble about your luggage, even though it may be in the +hands of an agent. I'd two or three cab voyages, "gharry," I should have +said, before I got the best part of ours to the Taj Hotel. There a +friend had booked us our rooms before we sailed, and on the morning of +our arrival had very thoughtfully secured them with lock and key, so +that no unscrupulous Occidental could play on Oriental weakness and bag +them before our arrival. + +The journeys in the gharry were not entirely successful, and I didn't +get all our baggage till next day, but they presented me with one +astounding series of beautiful pictures, so that my head fairly reeled +with the continuous effort to grasp the way of things and their forms +and colours, things in the street, themselves perhaps of no great +interest but for the intense colourful light.--There is a water carrier; +the sun shines blue on the back of his brown bare legs and back, and +blazes like electric sparks on the pairs of brass water pots he carries +slung across his shoulders. He is jogging along fast, his "shoulder knot +a-creaking," and the water that splashes on to the hot dust intensifies +the feeling of heat and light. Then you catch the flash of silver rings +in the dust on a woman's toes as she strides along, and have the +unfamiliar pleasure of seeing the human form, God's image in brown, and +note the rounded limbs and bust, and the movement of hip and swinging +arm through white draperies, which the sun makes a golden transparency. +What thousands of figures, and all in different costumes or bare skin. + +[Illustration] + +Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales arrived the day +before we did, so the air vibrates with the salutes from guns, and is +full of heat and curdling smoke, and colour. "The Prince" is distinctly +in the air, and we feel glad in consequence that we have arrived in +time to have seen the town at its brightest: from morning to night there +is one scene after another of continually shifting figures and colours, +perfectly fascinating to us new comers. + +... Guns again from the war ships, aimed right at our windows! +Everything jingles, the air is quivering with the sound and light. The +ships in the bay are ablaze with flags, and the sides of the Apollo +Bundar (the landing place of the Prince) are a mass of decorations and +flags. Below our windows in the shadow of our hotel on the embankment, +the crowd of natives in their best behaviour and best clothes move to +and fro making holiday, watching the ships and any ceremony that may +come off in their neighbourhood, for like our own natives they love a +tamasha. They wear flimsy clothes of varied colours, lemon-yellow and +pale rose, white and pale green, and the Southern light softens all +these by making each reflect a little on to the other. + +... There they go again! banging away--good thing there's no glass in +our hotel windows! You can hardly see the shipping now, the smoke hangs +low on the turquoise blue of the bay, and you can just see the yellow +gleam of the flash and feel the concussion and the roar that follows. + +Interjectory this journal must be, even my sketches are running into +meaningless strokes with so many subjects following one on the top of +the other. In the pauses that follow the passing of troops and +gun-firing, the crowds in the streets below our hotel watch snake +charmers, jugglers, and monkey trainers who play up to us at our +balconies. + +What a delight!--there they are, all the figures we knew as dusty +coloured models as children, now all alive and moving and real. The +snake charmer, a north countryman, I think, sits on his heels on the +road and grins up at us and chatters softly and continuously, holding up +his hands full of emerald green slow moving snakes; a crowd of holiday +townspeople stand round him at a little distance and watch closely. He +stows the green snakes away into a basket, and his hands are as lithe as +his snakes but quicker, then pipes to nasty cobras, the colour of the +dusty road; they raise their heads and blow out their hoods and sway to +and fro as he plays. Then the mongoose man shows how his beast eats a +snake's head--no trick about this! And always between the turns of the +performances the performers look up and show their white teeth and talk +softly to us, but we can't hear what they say the windows are so high +up. Then bang go the guns again, and we shut our blinds and try to read +of the show of the day, the opening of Princes Street, when the Prince +drove through "millions of happy and prettily dressed subjects." As we +read there comes a knock and a message with an invitation card to see +the Prince open a museum, and we read on; another knock comes just as +I'd begun to draw the Prince as we saw him last night in a swirl of +dust, outriders, and cavalry, blurred in night and dust and heat--it is +another card! To meet their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of +Wales to-night at Government House! Surely this is the veritable land of +the tales of the Arabian Nights! It comes as a shock to live all your +life in your own country and never to see the shadow of Royalty, then +suddenly to be asked twice in one day to view them as they pass--I am +quite overcome--It will be a novel experience, and won't it be warm! It +means top hat, frock coat and an extra high collar for the afternoon, +and in the evening a hard, hot, stiff shirt and black hot clothes, and a +crush and the thermometer at pucca hot-weather temperature, and damp at +that, but who cares, if we actually see Royalty--twice in one day! + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +I am determined not to go out to-day, not on any account. I will sit in +this tower room of this palace and write and draw, and will shut these +jalousies that open west and south and north-east, and offer +distracting views, and I will contemplate the distempered walls in the +shade till I have recalled all I saw yesterday. If I go to the window, +or outside, there will be too many new things to see. I maintain that +for one day of new sights, a day is needed to arrange them in the +tablets of memory.... But is it possible I saw all these things in one +day! From a tiny wedding in the Kirk in the morning to the Royal +Reception at Government House at night; from dawn till late night one +splendid line of pictures of Oriental and Occidental pageantry, of which +I have heard and read of so much and realised so little compared with +reality. + +[Illustration] + +We started the day with a wedding of a lady we knew on board, to a young +Scottish officer, the day after her arrival. We directed our "boy" to +tell our driver to go to the Free Church. But apparently neither of +these benighted heathens could distinguish between the "Free" and the +"Wee Free," or the "U. P." or the "Established" and took us to the +English Church. We had such a hunt for the particular branch of the +Church of Scotland. It was quite a small kirk, and our numbers were in +proportion. We arrived a little hot and angry at being so misled, but +the best man, a brother officer of the bridegroom, had not turned up, so +we waited a little and chatted and joked a little, and felt in our +hearts we would wish to see the bride and bridegroom's friends and +relations about them. The best man came soon, and the bridegroom's +colonel, and made an audience of four, not counting the minister; and +the somewhat lonely pair stood before him, with the punkah above them, +and the sun streamed through latticed windows and a modest bit of +stained glass, and they were joined for better and no worse I am sure. +Then the minister opened a little paste board box someone had sent from +home, and out came a little rice, and we four got a little each and +threw it very carefully, two or three grains at a time so as not to +miss. The bride had a dainty sprig of white heather in a brooch of a +lion's collar bone, and was dressed in white and had a very becoming +rose from home, and the sea, on her cheeks. As we prayed I made a sketch +of them for her sister at home. Then they and the witnesses signed their +names, and where their hands and wrists touched the vestry table there +was a tiny puddle, and yet this is what they call "cold weather" here! + +We met the bride and bridegroom later at lunch, and we drank to each +other's health in pegs of lemon squash after the latest fashion East of +Suez. + + "It was a wee, wee waddin' + In a far, far toon," + +and it's far awayness from friends and relatives and their own country +was rather pathetic, even though the pair looked so handsome and happy. + +We drove back more leisurely and marvelled at the innumerable lovely +groups in streets and by-ways, the flicker of light through banyan trees +on white-robed figures, the little carts with big wooden wheels and +small oxen and sharp big shadows, and we stopped to watch a splendid +group of men washing clothes, a dozen or more naked brown statues +against a white low wall, water splashing over them and round them, +flecks of sun and shadows coming through the leaves--I suppose these +were natives from the north as they had good legs. I must try and put +that down this afternoon if I can, and bring in the hedge of convolvulus +with lilac blooms behind and the hoody crows dancing round; then past +lines of pretty horses and tents and officers and ladies at lunch. At +our lunch at the Taj we bade good-bye to five friends, R. and D. for +Bangalore, Mrs D. C. for the north, and our newly-married pair for +Baroda. So G. and I and Mr and Mrs H. remain out of our table on board +ship; the H.'s stay for a time at the Taj and tell us so much about +Bombay, its people, and their ways, that a guide book would feel very +dry reading. + +By the afternoon we have received I think five invitations on yellow +cards to various royal functions! Now indeed we are in the marvellous +East, in the land to which Scot and Irish should travel to see their +prince or king. So you, my dear friends, artists and professional men, +who have chosen to live as I have done, in or near the capital of your +native land, and whose most thrilling pageant in the whole year is the +line of our worthy bailies and the provost in hired coaches going up the +High Street to open a meeting of ministers, if you would experience the +feeling that stirred the blood of your ancestors so hotly, the feeling +of personal loyalty to prince or king, the sense that is becoming as +dormant as the muscles behind our ears, all you have to do is to leave +your native shores and your professional duties, and home ties, and +travel to some outlying part of the Empire; say to Bombay--there and +back will cost you about _L_200 by P. & O., but you will realise then +that the old nerves may still vibrate. You, my friends, who can't +afford this luxury, you must just stay at home and be as loyal as you +can under the circumstances, and try not to think of our departed +glories, and Home Rule, or Separation--and you can read, about these +yellow tickets to royal shows and such far off things, in traveller's +tales. + +The first of these functions was the laying of the foundation of a +museum of science and art; it sounds prosaic, but it was a pageant of +pageantry and pucca tomasha too; the greater part, I daresay, just the +ordinary gorgeousness of this country, fevered with stirring loyalty. +The ceremony was in the centre of an open space of grass, surrounded by +town buildings of half Oriental and half Western design, and blocks of +private flats, each flat with a deep verandah and all bedecked with +flags, and gay figures on the roofs and in the verandahs. In the centre +of the grass were shears with a stone hanging from them on block and +tackle. To our left was a raised dais with red and yellow striped tent +roof supported on pillars topped with spears and flags and the three +golden feathers of the Prince of Wales. In front of the circle of chairs +opposite this and to our right sat the Indian princes; they had rather +handsome brown faces and fat figures, and wore coats of delicate silks +and satins, patent leather shoes and loose socks, big silver bangles and +anklets; their turbans and swords sparkled with jewels, and the air in +their neighbourhood was laden with the scents of Araby. + +Behind us sat the Parsees and their women-folk, soberly clad in European +dress; they are intelligent looking people with pleasant cheery manners, +I would like to see more of them. Their fire-worship interests me, for +it was till lately our own religion, and I even to-day know of an old +lady in an out-of-the-way corner of our West Highlands who, till quite +recently, went through various genuflexions every morning--old forms of +fire-worship--as the sun rose; and in the Outer Isles we have still +many remains of our fore-fathers' worship woven into the untruthful +jingling rhymes of the monks.[5] + +[5] See "Carmina Gadelica, the Treasure House, Hymns and Incantations of +Highlands and Islands," collected by Alexander Carmichael, 1900, and +there also the pre-Christian game and fishing laws of Alba. + +Through the pillars of the Shamiana we could see lines of white helmets +of troops, and beyond them the crowds of natives in bright dresses, +banked against the houses and in groups in the trees, a kaleidoscope of +colour. Past this came a whirl of Indian cavalry with glittering sabres, +and the Prince and Princess came on to the dais--more brightly dressed +than they were in Oxford Street three weeks ago, the Prince in a white +naval uniform with a little gold and a white helmet, an uncommonly +becoming dress though so simple; the Princess in the palest pink with a +suggestion of darker pink showing through, and a deep rose between hat +and hair. A tubby native in frock coat and brown face and little pink +turban held a mushroom golden umbrella near the Prince and Princess, not +over them, it really was not needed for there were clouds, and the light +was just pleasant. The Prince then "laid" the stone--that is, some +natives slackened the tackle, and it came down all square--and he and +the Princess talked to the Personages in attendance and various City +Dignitaries. First, I should have said, the Prince read a speech which +seemed to me to cover the ground admirably. I forget what he said now, +but you could hear every word. He had notes, but I think he spoke by +heart. I made a careful picture of it all; red decorations, green grass, +Prince and Princess, and the golden umbrella, but it is gone, lost--gone +where pins go, I suppose. + +You should have heard the people cheering, and seen the running to and +fro of crowds to catch a glimpse of the great Raj as he drove away! In a +minute the great place was all on the move, Rajahs getting into their +carriages and dashing off with their guards riding before and behind, +and smaller Rajahs with seedier carriages and only bare-footed footmen +jumping up behind. + +Everyone was happy and interested, and what a bustle and movement there +was! The banging of the guns on the men-of-war began again as the +motley, fascinatingly interesting crowd, cavalry outriders, Sikhs, +Parsees, Gourkas, Hindoos, and Mussulmen, sped away down to the Apollo +Bundar to see the Prince go off to the flagship. H. and I went with the +tide, a jolly cheery medley of coloured races, waddling, trotting, +running, the whole crowd cut in two by the Royal Scots marching through +them, their pipers playing the "Glendaruil Highlanders." Sandies and +Donalds and natives of India, but all subjects of the great Raj: and all +got down together to the Bundar to see the Royal embarkation. Next we +met G. and Mrs H. driving as fast as possible through the crowd to still +another function, at the Town Hall, where the British Princess met the +women of all India in their splendour, and woman's world met woman's +world for the world's good. I'd fain have seen the tall, fair, Saxon +surrounded by devoted Eastern subjects! All I did see was some of the +preparations--red cloth being laid in acres up to a stately +Parthenon--but from various accounts I have heard from ladies who were +present, this must have been one of the most extraordinary and gorgeous +functions the world has ever seen. + +The Princess, in robes and creations that chilled words, walked +ankle-deep in white flower petals and golden clippings, pearls rained, +and on all sides were grouped the most beautiful Eastern ladies in most +exquisite silks of every tint of the rainbow, with diamonds, pearls, and +emeralds and trailing draperies, skirts, and soft veils, and silken +trousers; sweet scents and sounds there were too, in this Oriental dream +of heaven, and everything showed to the utmost advantage in the mellow +trembling light that fell from two thousand five hundred candles, and +one hundred and ninety-nine glittering and bejewelled candelabra. And in +the middle, there was a golden throne of bejewelled peacocks, and +punkahs and umbrellas of gold and rose--a dream of beauty--and not one +man in the whole show! + +The Apollo Bundar, as everyone who has been in India knows, is a +projecting part of the esplanade below the Taj Hotel. Here Royalties are +in the habit of landing and embarking. On the centre has been built +something in the nature of a triumphal arch with eastern arches and +minarets at its four corners with golden domes. It is all white, and +between it and the pavilion at the landing stairs a great awning, or +Shamiana is stretched, of broad red and white striped cloth. Everywhere +are waving flags from golden spears, and little palms and shrubs in +green tubs are arranged on either side of the Shamiana; and the effect +is quite pretty; but considering the historic importance of the occasion +and the natural suitability of the surroundings for a Royal landing, the +conception and arrangement of spectacular effect was astoundingly +poor--and it must be admitted it is a mistake to hide the principal +actors at the most telling point of a momentous event with bunting and +shrubs in pots, or both! The actual landing, the stepping on shore, +should have been pictorial and visible to the thousands of spectators. +Instead of this, the Royal personages, the moment they stepped ashore, +were conducted into this tent, to listen to written speeches! What an +occasion for a great spectacular effect lost for ever! + +When we got down to the Bundar the Sikh cavalry had dismounted and stood +at their horses' heads; their dark blue and dark rose uniforms and +turbans made a foil to the brilliant dresses of the crowd. + +After witnessing the departure of the Prince, we sat a breathing space +on the lawn at the Yacht Club and watched the day fading, "Evening +falling, shadows rising," and the ladies dresses growing faint in +colour, as the background of the Bay and the white men-of-war became +less distinct; the golden evening light crept up the lateen sails in +front of us and left them all grey, and the moon rose beyond the Bay, +and the club lamps were lit, and the guns began to play--vivid flashes +of flame; and a roar round the fleet, straight in our faces, and again +far over to Elephanta, yellow flashes in the violet twilight, and the +Prince came ashore. + +The cavalry and their lances at once follow his carriage; they are +silhouetted against the last of gold in the west, flicker across the +lamps of the Bundar, and rattle away into the shadows of the streets. +There is the noise of many horses feet and harness, and the last of the +guns from the fleet. Then the night is quiet again and hot as ever, and +there's nothing left of the glare and noise of the day, only the glowing +lamps on some of the buildings, and the subdued hum of the talk of the +moving thousands, and the whispering sound of their bare feet in the +dust. The Eastern crowd is distinctly impressed and very much +compressed; they will now spend the rest of the evening gazing at the +Bombay public buildings that are being lit all over with little oil +lamps. + +And this was but a small part of the day for us, the best was to come in +the damp, hot night. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +[Illustration: (With apologies to the Indian Surveys.)] + +Dined at our hostlerie; in every direction vistas of uniforms, ladies' +dresses, maharajahs, rajahs, turbans, and jewels, the marble pillars and +the arches of blue night over the bay for background. + +Then we got away in a bustle of hundreds of other carriages and +gharries, all bound for Government House. We started a little late; you +may have observed that with ladies you are apt to be late for social +functions, but rarely miss a train! H. and I drove ahead with soothing +cigars, and the ladies came close behind. + +On our left we passed the R.H. Artillery Camp, rows of tents frosted +with moonlight against the southern sea, some had lamps glowing inside; +and further on we passed their lines of picketted horses, with silent +native syces squatted on the sand at their feet. + +... The dust hangs heavily from the gharries in front of us as we drive +north round the Back Bay, which we are told is very beautiful, and like +the Bay of Naples in the daytime; what we see on this warm night is a +smooth, dark sea, which gives an infrequent soft surge on the shore, a +few boats lie up on the moonlit sand and figures lie asleep in their +shadows, and others sit round little fires. Dark palm stems and banyan +trees are between us and the sea, and to our right are fern-clad rocks +and trees in night green shade, rising steeply to where we can +distinguish white walls and lights of villas of the wealthy Bombay +natives. + +We pass the Parsis' Towers of Silence, where vultures entomb the dead, +and inhale for a long part of the road the smoke of burning wood and +Hindoos--an outrageous experience. The road rises gradually and gets +narrower as we leave the shore, and the procession of carriages goes +slower. On either side are low white walls and villas and heavy foliage. +Coloured lamps are hung in every direction, and their mellow lights +blend pleasantly with the moonlight and shadows, and shine through the +flags that hang without movement, and light up ropes of flowers and +ribands with gold inscriptions of welcome, that stretch from tree to +tree across the road. You read on them in golden letters, "Tell papa how +happy we are under British Rule," and on the walls, sitting or lying at +length, and in the trees are bronze-coloured natives in white clothes, +or in the buff, silently watching the procession of carriages, and they +do look as contented as can be; and so would we be too, if we had to get +into their evening undress instead of hard shirts and broad cloth on +such a damp, hot night. It is November and ought to be cool, but this +year everyone says it is just October as regards temperature and +moisture, and October, they say, is the beastliest month in the twelve. +The drive of four or five miles takes over an hour, and looking south we +see the lights shining across the bay from where we started. We climb +slowly up Malabar Hill in the dusky shade of the heavy foliage and come +to a stop amongst crowds of other carriages opposite Government House. + +I'd like to stop and paint this scene, it would suit the stage--the +marquee on the right, pale moonlight on its ridge, and warm light and +colour showing through its entrance as ladies go in to put off their +cloaks; its guy ropes are fast to branches and air roots of a banyan +tree; and to the left there is another graceful tree, with wandering +branches, hung with many red and yellow paper lamps, the branches like +copper in the light and in shadow black against the dark blue sky. In +front is part of Government House, dim white with trellis work and +creepers round a classic verandah, and lamplight coming through the open +jalousies. Leading up to the verandah are wide steps in shadow; and on +these, a light catching now and then on a jewel or scabbard, are groups +of Indian Princes. Beside us on the lawn are people in all kinds of +dresses, soldiers in uniform and the gold dull in the shadows, ladies in +fairy-coloured ball dresses, and Parsi men in frock-coats and shiny +black hats, their women in most delicate veils over European dresses. +The figures move quietly and speak softly, and the air is full of the +rattle of crickets or cicadas and a pleasant scent of night flowers, and +cheroot smoke, with a whiff of old ocean. + +We wait and chat outside with acquaintances, and some ladies practise +curtseys whilst the natives are being received--the coloured man first, +the white man and his womenfolk when they may! Then we all go up the +steps and into the brilliant interior, which is Georgian in style, and +light and prettily coloured. It is distinctly a sensation, to come from +semi-darkness into full light and such an extraordinary variety of +people and colour and costumes. The figures in the half light outside +were interesting, in the full blaze of hundreds of candles from many +chandeliers the effect is just as brilliant as anything one could +imagine. The strong colours of the natives' turbans, silk coats, sashes, +and jewels enrich the scene, and their copper colour helps to set off +the splendid beauty of our women with their dazzling skins and +delicately coloured dresses. Positively these princes were inches deep +in emeralds, diamonds, and pearls. + +[Illustration] + +Then comes the tableau of the evening, the Prince and Princess walking +with aides-de-camp through their Eastern and Western subjects, with an +introduction made here and there. The Prince walks in front and the +Princess a few steps behind. She seems very pleased and interested, and +still, I think, looks under her eye lest she should fail to recognise +some one she would wish to notice, and the Prince's expression is so +pleasant, quiet, and possessed in repose, and with a very ingratiating +smile. He stops and speaks to right and left, to one of our officers, or +a native prince. One, a tall grizzled old fellow with gorgeous turban +and the eye and air of a hunter, bends very low over the offered +hand, and talks a moment, possibly tells how he shot with the King when +he was Prince, and how there are tigers and devoted subjects waiting in +the north in his state all at the service of the son of the Great White +Raj, and as the Prince goes past, the old man follows him with a very +kindly expression. I must say that these people's jewels interest me +more than their expressions; but this one man's face was exceptional, +and he was lean! You see the thing above these people, that is the +punkah; when it waggles about it makes a cold draught and you get hot +with annoyance. + +[Illustration: Waiting for Carriages after Reception at Government House, + Bombay] + +Immediately the Prince passed, the crowd pressed towards a side room for +champagne and iced drinks, the native Princes gallantly leading the +charge. At the start we were all pretty level, but we Britons made a bad +finish, and the native waiters and champagne were somewhat exhausted +when we came in, but for what we did receive we are truly thankful, for +it was sorely needed. + +How we got home again now seems like a dream. I have just a vague +recollection of hours and hours in the warm dusk, and crowds of people +in evening dress waiting till their carriages came up. Perhaps the +arrangements could not have been better? Some of us dozed, some smoked +Government House cheroots, which were good, and the time passed. All +conversation gradually stopped, and you only heard the number of the +gharry or carriage shouted out with a rich brogue and sometimes a little +stifled joke and a "Chelo!" which seems to stand for "All right," "Go +ahead," "Look sharp," or "Go on and be damned to you," according to +intonation and person addressed. I do not quite understand how it took +such hours to get everyone away, and I do not understand how we ever +managed to get up that vast square staircase up the enormous central +tower of the Taj Hotel, for G. was deadly tired, so of course the lift +wasn't working--it looked so big and grey, and silent in the cold light +of morning. + +Then to sleep, and tired dreams of the whole day and evening; I dreamt I +was in a Government House and the guests had gone and I met a dream +Prince and a dream of an A.D.C. in exquisite uniform who said, "quai +hai," and in an instant there were dream drinks, and cheroots such as +one used to be able to get long ago, and we planned ways to remedy +abuses, and the greatest was the abuse of the Royal Academical +privileges; and at such length we went into this, that this morning I +wrote out the whole indictment and it covered six of these pages, and so +it is too long to insert here. And our remedy as it was in a dream was +at once effective--sculpture and painting became as free and as strong +an influence in our national life in Britain as literature is at this +moment--then came a frightful explosion! and I awoke, and the sun was +blazing out of a blue sky through the open windows--then it came again, +a terrific bang! and the jalousies rattled and the whole of the Taj +Hotel shook for the war ships were saluting The Prince of Wales, and he +and his aides-de-camp and all the officials in his train had been up for +hours, "doing their best to serve their country and their King," whilst +we private people slumbered. + +But whither have I strayed in this discourse? Am I not rather wandering +from the point, as the cook remarked to the eel, telling dreams instead +of making notes on a cold weather tour as I proposed; so I will stop +here, and tell what, by travel and conference, I have observed about +Royal functions. + +The day has passed to the accompaniment of "God bless the Prince of +Wales," and gun firing, and "God save the King," on brass bands, and +more gun firing. Somehow or other "God save the King" in India, where +you are surrounded by millions of black people, sounds a good deal more +impressive than it does at home--perhaps there's more of the feeling of +God save us all out here. + +I find it impossible to remember nearly all I have seen and heard in +one of these bustling days; I should think that even a resident, long +familiar with all these everyday common sights that are so new and +interesting to us, could barely remember the ceremonies of one day in +connection with the Royal Visit. + +[Illustration] + +I remember a dock was opened to-day, and we were favoured with tickets +which gave us an admirable view. Again there were shears, at the bottom +of a place like a Greek theatre, very large shears this time, and a +stone suspended from them. The Prince and Princess came down a wide +flight of steps to a platform with two thrones on it. Behind them at the +top of the steps were splendid Ionic pillars and a pediment swagged with +great wreaths of green. The Prince was followed by officers and ladies +and leading Bombay citizens mixed with only a few Indian princes. Sir +Walter Hughes of the Harbour Trust presented a magnificent piece of +silver in the shape of a barque of the time of Charles II., with high +stem and forecastle and billowy sails, guns, ports, standing rigging, +and running gear complete, including waves and mermaids, and all made in +the School of Art here to Mr Burns' instructions. We sat opposite, in +half circles of white uniforms and gay parasols and dresses and dreams +of hats. Behind us and all around and outside the enclosure were +thousands of natives in thousands of colours. There were speeches, of +course, and the Prince touched a button and the stone descended into the +bowels of the earth and made the beginning of the new dock. + +Then everyone got their carriages, gharries, bicycles, pony carts, dog +carts or whatever they came in, as best they could, and we all went +trotting, cantering, jambing, galloping, go-as-you-please down the +central thoroughfare between high houses of semi-European design, with +verandahs and balconies full of natives. The crowds on the pavement +stood four or five deep all the way, and hung in bunches on the trees, +some in gay dresses, others naked, brown and glistening against the +dusty fig trees, stems, and branches. You saw all types and colours, one +or two seedy Europeans amongst them, and Eurasians of all degrees of +colour, one, a beautiful girl of about twelve I saw for a second as we +passed; she had curling yellow hair and white skin, might have sat for +one of Millais pictures, and she looked out from the black people with +very wide blue eyes, at the passing life of her fathers. Most of us made +for the Yacht Club for tea on the lawn; for the Prince, it had been +said, was to visit it informally, so all the seats and tables on the +lawn were booked days before! + +It was rather pretty there; I should not wonder that Watteau never +actually saw anything so beautiful. There were, such elegant ladies and +costumes, and such an exquisite background, the low wall and the soft +colour of the water beyond; the colour calm water takes when you look to +the East and the sun is setting behind you, the colour of a fish's +silver. And the lawn itself was fresh green; trees stood over the far +end of the Club House, and under these the band played. When the lights +began to glow along the sea wall and in the Club, and under the trees +to light the music, the Prince and the Princess, with Lady Ampthill and +Lord Lamington, came and walked up and down and spoke to people, and all +the ladies stood up from their tea tables as they passed, and I tell you +it was good; such soft glowing evening colours and gracious figures, +such groups there were to paint--my apologies for the hasty attempt +herewith. The Prince you may discover in grey frock-coat speaking to the +Bandmaster of the 10th Hussars, the Princess and Lady Ampthill near. + +[Illustration] + +I've worked at Saturday's pictures and Sunday's and written my journal, +and seen Royal sights all day till now, and _opus terrat_ and it is late +and hot, and the mosquitos tune up--the beast that is least eating the +beast that is biggest; the beast that is biggest to sleep if it may. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +... Went this morning with Krishnaswami of Madras--Krishna is my "Boy," +and is aged about forty--to Army and Navy Stores for clothes. The +thinnest I could get at home feel very thick and hot here in this hot +November. I'd also to get photograph films, and guitar strings, and +blankets for the Boy against the cold weather--just now the mere thought +of a blanket grills one's mind--also to book shops to get books about +India, which I am pretty sure never to have time to read. In my +innocence tried to get my return tickets on P. & O. changed to another +line, and signally failed to do so. Then drew a little and loafed a good +deal on the Bundar watching the lateen-rigged boats. These boats take +passengers to Elephanta or go off to the ships in the Bay with cargoes +of brightly coloured fruits. The scene always reminds me of that +beautiful painting by Tiepolo of the landing of Queen Elizabeth in our +National Gallery--I daresay one or two Edinburgh people may know it. The +boats are about twenty feet long with narrow beam. Figures in rich +colours sit under the little awnings spread over the stern; the sailors +are naked and brown, and pole the boats to their moorings with long, +glistening bamboos, which they drive into the bottom and make fast at +stem and stern. It is pleasant to watch the play of muscle, and +attitudes, and the flicker of the reflected blue sky on their brown +perspiring backs as they swarm up the sloping yards and cotton sails to +brail up. No need for anatomy here, or at home for that matter; if an +artist can't remember the reflected blue on warm damp flesh, he does not +better matters by telling us what he has learned of the machinery +inside--that is, of course, where Michael Angelo did not quite pull it +off. + +As I sat on the parapet a beautiful emerald fish some four feet long +came sailing beneath my feet in the yellowish water; a little boy +shouted with glee, and a brown naked boatman tried to gaff it, then a +brilliant butterfly, velvet black and blue, fluttered through the little +fleet; and with the colours of the draperies, of peaceful but piratical +looking men, the lateen sails, and sunlight and heat, it all felt "truly +Oriental." To bring in a touch of the West, one of the "Renown's" white +and green launches with brass funnels rushed up and emptied a perfect +cargo of young Eastern princes in white muslins, and pink, orange, and +green turbans with floating tails to them. They clambered up the stone +slip with their bear leader and got into carriages with uniformed +drivers, six or more into each carriage quite easily; the basket trick +seems nothing to me now--they were such slips of lads--but what colour! + +At lunch we talked with Miss M. She gave us the latest ship news about +our late fellow passengers--the mutual interest has not quite evaporated +yet--gave us news of the ladies who had come out to be married. She had +asked one of these as they came off the ship into the tender what it was +she carried so carefully, and the reply was, "My wedding cake," and of a +poor man, she told us, who came on at Marseilles bringing out his +fiancee's trousseau, and who found on his arrival here, he had utterly +lost it! What would the latter end of that man be; would she forgive? +Could she forget? It was said that another lady, finding the natives +were in the habit of going about without clothes, booked a return +passage by the next ship. + +Here is a jotting at this same landing place of the Prince and Princess +going off to the Guard Ship, but I am so sorry it is not reproduced in +colour. They were to have gone to the Caves of Elephanta across the bay, +but had not time. They apparently go on and on, without any "eight +hour" pause, through the procession of engagements--it must be +dreadfully fatiguing. + +You see three Eurasians in foreground of the sketch, one of them with +almost white hair and white skin, and freckles and blue eyes, he might +be Irish or York shire. The two younger boys are, I think, his +brothers--they have taken more after their mother. All three are nervous +and excited watching for the Prince. They are neatly dressed in thin +clothes, through which their slightly angular figures show, and have +nervous movements of hand to mouth, and quick gentle voices, slightly +staccato, what is called "chee chee," I believe. + +[Illustration] + +Beyond the boys you see a Parsi woman looking round. They are +conspicuous people in Bombay by their look of intense harmlessness. The +men are very tidy and wear what they probably would describe as European +clothes, trousers and long cutaway coats and white turndown collars. +Some have grey pot hats, with a round moulding instead of a brim, but +their ordinary hat is something like a mitre in black lacquer, and it +does suggest heat! They all have very brainy-looking heads from the +youth upwards, and wear glasses over eyes that have no quickness--as if +they could count but couldn't see--and they constantly move their long, +weakly hands in somewhat purposeless angular fashion; the women with +similar movements frequently pat their front hair which is plastered +down off their foreheads, and shade their eyes with their hands at a +right angle to their wrists. + +I suppose they and the Bengalis are the backbone of Indian mercantile +business. Yet in "India," by Sir Thomas Holdich, I read that out of the +population of 287,000,000 the Parsis do not number even one-tenth of a +million. It seems to me that we have the Parsi woman's type at home in +some of our old families, as we have remains of their Zoroastrian +fire-worship. I've seen one or two really beautiful and highly cultured, +but the average is just a little high-shouldered and floppy, and their +noses answer too closely to Gainsborough's description of Mrs Siddons'. +Mrs Siddons is just the Parsi type glorified. + +We went to the ladies gymkana to-day more for the sake of the drive, I +think, than for anything else--with the utmost deference to ladies, they +can be seen at home--a few people played Badminton by lamplight; it was +dusky, damp, and warm, and heavy matting hung round the courts. Outside +an orange sunset shone through palm stems, and flying foxes as big as +fox terriers passed moth-like within arms length. From the height we +were on we looked down over the Back Bay, and far below in the twilight +we could make out the lights from a few boats on the sand, and +fishermen's lamps flickered across the mud flats, and from far out in +the west a light kept flashing from an island that was the haunt of +pirates the other day. Two more lights we saw were glowing to the +south-east in Bombay itself--one, the light of the native fair, and a +slight glow from the remains of the Bombay and Baroda Railway Offices, a +great domed building that burned up last night after the illuminations. +It was madness to cover public buildings with open oil lamps and leave +them to be looked after by natives--this huge Taj hotel, dry as tinder +outside, a complexity of dry wooden jalousies and balconies, was covered +with these lights and floating flags--how it didn't go off like a squib +was a miracle. I saw one flag gently float into a lamp, burn up and fall +in flaming shreds and no one was the wiser or the worse. The faintest +breath of air one way or the other and the other flags would have caught +fire, and in a second it would have run everywhere. + +... After the Ladies Club, pegs and billiards inside the Yacht Club, the +Bombay ladies outside on the green lawn at tea, gossip, hats, local +affairs, and Imperialism, and beyond them the ships of the fleet picked +out with electric lights along the lines of their hulls and up masts and +funnels like children's slate drawings. + +It was interesting to come from the street and the crowds of Parsis and +natives all so slenderly built and watch the British youth in shirt +sleeves and thin tweeds playing billiards--they were not above the +average physique of their class, mostly young fellows who had already +been through campaigns--and you noted the muscles showing through their +thin clothes and compared them with native figures, and it did not seem +surprising that one of them could keep in order quite a number of such +wisps as the billiard markers for example. But up north they say the +natives are stronger and bigger than here. + +Every now and then a boy passed round bags of chalk on hot water +enamelled plates to dry the players' hands and cues, which gives one an +idea of the damp heat of Bombay. + +... Now my friend says he's off to dress, and we go into the +dressing-room--that is a sight for a nouveau! Dozens of dark men in +white linen clothes and turbans are waiting on these little chaps from +home, as they drop in. They are tubbed and towelled, shirts studded and +put on, and are fitted without hardly lifting a hand themselves till +they put the finishing touch to hair and moustache at the glasses and +dressing-tables that are fixed round the pillars--sounds like +effeminacy, but it is not, for it is far more tiring for a man to be +dressed here by two skilful servants than it is to dash into his clothes +at home by himself. If you were to dress here without help you might as +well have dropped into your bath all standing, you would be so wet and +uncomfortable; but all the same I think it is stupid the way we people +cling to a particular style of evening dress regardless of +circumstances. + +Then home to the Taj in the dusk through a crowd of natives jammed tight +on the Bundar, all looking one way breathlessly at the fleet's fireworks +and search-lights. You touch them on the shoulder and say, "With your +leave," and they make way most politely, and you wonder if it is because +you are British or because they have bare toes. + +I went to the theatre in the evening, a native Theatre Royal. None of my +relations or friends seemed interested, so I availed myself of the kind +offer of guidance given me by a fellow artist, an amateur painter, but a +professional cutter of clothes. I expected something rather picturesque, +possibly rather squalid, but found it intensely interesting and +characteristic and very clean, a cross-between a little French theatre, +say in Monte Parnasse, and one of the lesser London theatres. The acting +was French in style and expressive, and full of humour and frankness, +and there was a quaint decorative style in all the tableaux and in the +actors' movements that made me think rather of Persian figures in +decorations than of India. There was a parterre and a wide gallery, in +which we got back seats; the audience were all men and well-dressed, and +laughed heartily at the points. These I was fortunate enough to have +most patiently described to me by a Syrian who sat beside me, +apple-faced and beaming, pleased with the play and himself as +interpreter. Besides his valued assistance, I had from the doorkeeper a +resume of the plot printed in English; my acquaintance was less +fortunate, for, owing to the house being full, we had to separate to +get seats, and I fear he lost a good deal of the interest. The Syrian +gave me the strong points of the different actors, and told me that he +himself was an importer of gold leaf and thread; he had, I think, one of +the jolliest faces I have ever seen. The most simple and telling effect +was when the Prime Minister found his young master sickened of love for +a beautiful lady, and sent to the bazaar for musicians and dancers; they +came and arranged themselves facing the audience in the front of the +stage in a perfectly decorative arrangement, struck in a moment. Every +turn of hand and poise of body and arrangement of colour suggested the +smiling figures you see on Persian illuminations. I forgot the effect on +the Prince--I wonder he didn't die before we left; he had been acting +hours before we came, and we only saw a portion of the play--left at +twelve, and must have been there three hours! As we drove home the +bazaars were still busy. One street struck me as peculiarly quiet. There +were Japs at balconies of low two-storied doll-houses, silhouetted +against lamplight which shone through their red fans and pink kimonos, +and other shabby houses with spindle-shanked darker natives, in white +draperies, also some larger people dimly seen, on long chairs, who my +friend said, were probably French--European at least. One or two groups +of rather orderly sailors, and a soldier or two, were all the people on +the street, and the only sound was "Come eer', come eer'" from the +balconies in various accents. The Edinburgh cafe I noticed, loomed large +and dark and very respectable looking in the middle of the street. I +suppose you could get drinks there on week days; my companion, the +cutter, did not take any drinks, so I think he must be thinking of +marriage. He was very interested in Art--what a bond that is, wider than +freemasonry, what good fellows artists are to each other the world +over--till they become Associates. This tailor was turned out of London +by the aliens; he spoke gently and pathetically of the way the +unscrupulous and insinuating foreigner works out the home-bred honest +man from London. "If all was known," he said, "aliens would be +restricted;" and Blessed are the meek, I thought, for they shall inherit +the earth--if they only live long enough. + +[Illustration: Lord Minto's Landing in India.] + + + + +CHAPTER XA + + +17th.--Everyone on the Apollo Bundar and in Bombay waited for the guns +to announce the arrival of the new Viceroy, and for The Mail; to mothers +and fathers just out, letters from little ones by the mail was perhaps +the more important event. Maharajahs, aide-de-camps, generals, and hosts +of officials were all trying to keep cool, to speed the parting Viceroy, +and welcome his successor with all proper ceremony. To understand and +describe how this was done is beyond my powers, therefore I must content +myself with a note here and there. It struck me as improper that the +cheers which welcomed the new Viceroy had practically to do duty for the +departure of Lord Curzon. They say, "Le roi est mort, vive le Roi," but +in this case, "Le Roi" wasn't dead, but on the contrary must have been +painfully alive to the sounds of cannons booming and cheers ringing to +welcome his successor. I'd have had three or four days decent calm for +the Empire to note the departure of so great an actor in its history. +Then, after silence and fasting; fresh paint and flags for the new +arrival! + +Monday afternoon.--Guns fire, and the new Viceroy on the P. & O. steamer +arrives in the bay. As she steams through the fleet, the hot air +resounds with thunder of guns, and smoke accumulates. Now she is passing +the _Renown_ and _Terrible_, and the smoke hangs so thick that the hills +and ships are almost hidden, and you can only see the yellow flashes +through the banks of grey smoke. + +As Lord Minto landed at the Bundar, the sun was setting and the lamps +were lit, and a soft breeze offshore floated out the flags against the +glow of the sunset. + +18th.--Made a jotting of the departure of Lord Curzon from the Apollo +Bundar. It was a very brilliant affair; any number of white uniforms +sparkling with gold, and ladies in exquisite dresses, and with cameras +with which they shot the departing couple from the stone buttresses. +Lady Curzon was in soft silk and muslin crepe-de-chine, I think, a +colour between pale green and violet, possibly a little of both. It was +a very pretty dress and with a parasol to match. They went down the +steps and the red carpet to the cheers of people on the pier. This +effective carpet with the white edge has figured a good deal lately in +various ceremonies; the Prince and Princess went up and down it, and +Viceroys and Vicereines, and many Generals and Maharajahs. It ought to +be preserved by the municipality. + +I thought I'd condescend just for once to try a photo on this occasion, +as Lord Curzon went down the steps to the tender, and I believe I lost +in consequence, by the fraction of a second, a mental picture that I'd +have treasured for the rest of my days and have possibly reduced to +paint. Just as the whole scene was coming to a point when the least +movement on the part of the principal figures one way or the other would +take away from the effect; when Lord Curzon turned on the landing in the +middle of the steps to say farewell, I had to look down at my pesky +little camera to pull the trigger! So my mind is left blank just where I +know there should be a telling arrangement, just such a moment as that +painted in "The Spears," the Breda picture, where the principal actors +and the others are caught in the very nick of time--the camera will now +rest on the shelf beside a rhyming dictionary and the Encyclopaedia +Britannica. + +Lord Curzon said a few words to the people near him before going down +the last steps into the launch, and it in the meantime gently and +perseveringly smoked the ticket-holders on the buttress of the pier +opposite us; and we ticket-holders and G. P. on our buttress smiled at +their pained expressions--our time was to come. It stopped smoking, held +its breath as it were, and came slowly under us, and Lady Curzon looked +up from under the awning in the stern with a charming smile, and all our +topees came off or white gloved hands went up in salute to beautiful +white helmets--and our turn came!--the launch gave a snort, and we felt +a pleasant, cool rain from condensed steam, and thought it refreshing as +it fell on our faces. Then we grinned as we looked at our neighbours; +and then realized that we too were black as sweeps, topees, white +helmets, and uniforms all covered with a fine black oily rain. I've a +new topee to charge against one or other of the Viceroys or +Government--General Pretyman hardly looked his name--and during the rest +of the function of the return from the Bundar of Lord Minto and his +retainers, you could tell by his grey speckled side what position in the +preceding function a spectator had occupied. A Parsi, in neat black +frock-coat and Brunswick black hat, and dark face, remarked to me with a +smile, "You see the advantage of a little colour,"--bit of a wag I +thought! + +Altogether it was a very A.1. sight the colour Veronesque; the troops, +rajahs, beautiful ladies in exquisite latest dresses, and the variety of +type, European and native, made a splendid subject for a historical +picture. + +Then the new Viceroy left the Shamiana on the Bundar after making a +speech, which I was sorry I did not hear, for I was so engaged looking +at things, and longing to have some method of putting down colours +without looking at one's hand, as you can touch notes on a musical +instrument. Can no inventor make something to do this--something to lie +in the palm and bring all colours and divisions of colour ready made to +the finger tips so that you might put them down in a revelry of colour +as unconsciously and freely as the improvisator can use the notes on the +piano to express his feeling. + +There is more cheering and more gun firing and carriages dash up to the +front of the Shamiana and its white Eastern arches that have done so +much service this week, and Lord Minto drives off. It is most +interesting seeing the Borderer who is to be Warden of the Indian +Peninsula for the next five years. Lady Minto follows, with her +daughters behind her. They stand in the full light, white pillars on +either side and red light filtering through hangings behind. White +uniformed brown-faced officers follow in attendance with glitter of gold +and waving white and red feathers. Lady Minto wears a very big wide hat, +blue and white ostrich feathers under the brim--her daughters are in +bright summery colours; the three drive off in an open carriage with an +honoured soldier. + +Then soldier after soldier in gay uniforms with floating white and +scarlet cock feathers drove off in carriages, dog carts, and motors, +followed by city officials, Port trustees, doctors, lawyers, and smaller +wigs till vanishing point might have been marked, I suppose, by the +official artist did the Empire run to such an extravagance. Then more +carriages glittering in gold came up, and old, and fat, young, and thin, +genial, and haughty Indian princes, covered with gold and jewellery, got +in or were helped in, and footmen in gorgeous clothes and bare feet +jumped up in front and behind, and off they went, the big princes +leading with horsemen and drawn swords behind them. Smaller carriages +followed till you come down to victorias with perhaps just one syce. +Then the Poona Horse, beautifully mounted, in dark blue, red, and gold, +with drawn swords rode past at a very quick trot, now and then breaking +into a canter with a fine jingle and dust that made almost the best part +of the show. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +I can't say I enjoy this damp warm weather here. It feels all right in +the sun out of doors, but indoors after dark and in draughts from +punkahs it is horrid. I'd now give a considerable sum for one whole day +of twenty-four hours clear Arctic or Antarctic sunny air and snow; one +would feel dry then, and lose the cold and fever that sticks to one +here. The Turkish bath is the only place you can get really dry in; at +one hundred and fifty in the hot room you feel more comfortable than +outside at eighty-two. The Turkish bath in the hotel is very nicely +fitted up, but the native masseur wasn't a pleasing experience, his weak +chocolate-coloured hands gave me the sensation of the touch of a +middling strong eel; his lean, lithe figure and the charms round his +neck, and grey hair died brick-red I expect to see again in dreams--a +crease in his teeth and venom in his evil eye. + +It is curious that though you do not see any sign of this dampness in +the air either by day or night, whenever the search lights from the war +ships are turned on; you see what appear to be clouds of vapour drifting +across the path of light. + +At night we drove to Malabar Hill to the new Viceroy's reception, and it +was all pretty much the same as going to the reception given by their +Royal Highnesses. The air damp, hot, and dusty, and for a long way heavy +with the smell of roasting bodies, and this time inscriptions across the +lamplit road were changed to "God bless our new Viceroy;" but we had the +same waiting outside Government House, met the same people and heard +much the same talk about Lord Curzon's Byculla speech and about this one +and the other. "So and so is looking well isn't he?" "Yes, yes--ha, +ha--laying it on a bit, isn't he! Must be a stone heavier since his +leave--takes his fences though they say like a man. Oh! excellent +speech. They must be tired--poor people--hear they were very pleased +with our decorations. Well, you know they weren't bad, were they?" Of +course the "excellent speech" was Lord Curzon's farewell, and "They" +stands for their Royal Highnesses. + +I noticed some Parsi ladies rather better looking than I had already +seen. One was really beautiful, allowing a decimal point off her nose. +This beauty moved briskly and firmly and had eyes to see and be seen. +Many of them have slightly hen-like expressions and wear glasses and +carry their shoulders too high. As they are the only native women who +appear in public they naturally draw your attention. The Hindoos and +Mohammedans shut their women up at home and glower on yours; but the +Parsi goes about with his wife and daughters with him in public, and +therefore enlists your sympathy. These Parsis were driven from Persia in +pre-Mohammedan times by religious persecution. I suppose their belief +was akin to our old religion which the masterful Columba rang out of +Iona. I don't think I have seen any men on apparently such friendly +relations with their women and children. You see them everywhere in +Bombay, often in family groups, their expressions beyond being clever, +perhaps shrewd, are essentially those of gentlemen and gentlewomen.[6] +The only other native women I have seen have their mouths so horribly +red with betel nut and red saliva that you dare not look at them twice, +so perhaps it is as well that their absence is so conspicuous. + +[6] The strength of intellectual capacity added to the material wealth +which is possessed by this community have given it abnormal prominence, +the measure of which may be estimated by the fact that out of a total of +287,000,000 inhabitants of India, the Parsis do not number even +one-tenth of a million. _See_ Sir Thomas Holdich's "India." + +I need hardly say that Mrs H. and G. were the most beautifully dressed +ladies in the crowd, and made the most perfect curtseys, and H. and I +the most elegant bows to the Viceroy and Vicereine. They stood on a +dais, and as we passed in file we were introduced, and the Viceroy +bobbed and Lady Minto looked and smiled a little, just as if she knew +your name and about you and saw more than men as trees walking, and we +bowed and went on, thinking it nice to see people in so great and +responsible a position attending to the little details so well, not +forgetting that many littles make a mickle, and that those two servants +of the Empire have been standing doing this for half an hour, and will +still have to go on for an hour at least in this very tiring Bombay heat +and crowd, and after a P. & O. voyage and landing! Their total effort +for all the ceremonies of the day before, and years to come, rather +appalled me to think of. Bravo! Public Servants, who work for honour and +the Empire; how will the Socialist fill your places when he is on top. +As before, gorgeously apparelled scarlet turbaned waiters gave us +champagne, and native princes hemmed the tables for it, and chocolates. +Here is a little picture of what I remember--you may suppose some of the +figures represent our party after getting over the bow and into the +straight for the cup. We then wandered about, and admired the uniforms +of the governor's body guard, tall native soldiers standing round about +the passages with huge turbans and beards, blue tunics, white breeches, +and tall black boots, all straight and stiff as their lances, and +barring their roving black eyes, as motionless. From a verandah opposite +the Viceroy, we watched the new comers making their bows; ladies, +soldiers, sailors, civilians, single or married passed, and never were +two bows or curtseys absolutely alike, nor were two walks, but the +Viceroy's bow and Lady Minto's pleasant smile and half look of +recognition were equally cordial to all. + +[Illustration: A Reception in Government House, Bombay.] + +Our departure--hours to wait again for our carriage. H. stood-by in +front, waiting for our number to be shouted; fortune drove me wandering +up the drive with a Government House cheroot, too fagged to speak to +people, and lo and behold! our carriage driver and syce, asleep in a +by-way. So I brought it along and sung out 658! 658! and away we all got +hours sooner than might have been. + +The road is full of carriages, gharries, and dog carts. +Occupants--officers, sailors, and soldiers in batches, alone or with +ladies; white shirts and skirts gleam green in the moonlight--the +road--dusty, stuffy, and the pace go-as-you-please; past a lamplit +bungalow in the shadows of trees and out into the open again and +moonlight and dust--past a motor by the roadside, its owner, in court +dress, sweating at its works--dust, moonlight, and black silk--a +Whistler by Jove! Now we pass a slow going gharry, and now two young +hatless soldiers in a high dog cart pass us under the trees, downhill at +a canter, an inch between us, and half an inch between their off wheel +and the edge of the road, and the sea ten feet beneath. Then along the +lines of tents, with their curtains open and occupants going to bed.... +We too must experience that tent life, but not in town if we can help +it. + +By all that's lucky the lift works still! That grand stairway is a +climb, in the sma' hours--a pipe and a chat and this line in this +journal, and under the mosquito curtains to sleep--I hope till past time +for church; all the common prey of the grey mosquito, viceroy, public +servant, private gentleman alike. + +Yesterday being Sunday we had a day of rest and did no manner of +work--only painted and wrote up my journal, and in the late afternoon G. +and I drove down to Colaba, the point south of Bombay. This took us +through the cantonments and past officers' houses on the low ground, +amongst barracks, and soldiers in khaki and rolled up shirt sleeves, +smoking their pipes under palms and tropic trees; with the lap of Indian +Ocean on the shore to the west, and Bombay on the left and east. This is +not the healthiest or most fashionable quarter. Our officers cannot +afford to take the best bungalows and situations which are towards +Malabar Hill, for the Hindoos and Parsis, who owe their wealth to our +military protection, can buy them out easily. I'd put that right "If I +were king!" So our officials and officers have to live where their pay +will let them, in low lying bungalows and expensive flats, or in +hotels. Though not fashionable, it was a pleasant enough drive for us. A +glimpse of the open ocean with the setting sun makes you feel that it is +possible to up anchor and go, sooner or later--somewhere. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Here beginneth another week of observations. To begin with, I purchased +E. H. A.'s "Tribes on my Frontier," feeling that a groundwork of study +in this writer's popular books was necessary before leaving Bombay's +coral strand and adventuring to the interior of this interesting +peninsula. My library increases, you observe. I purchased Holdich's +"India," and I now admit I own a red Baedeker-looking book published by +Murray. With these three I consider I have enough reading matter to make +me pretty "tired" in the next three or four months. At home I have only +read bits of "The Tribes on my Frontier," out here everyone has read it; +it is all about bugs and beasts and nature studies, the common beasts +you see here, that no one notices after a time. To-day I timidly +approached one of the ferocious looking animals he writes about. It was +spread out on a window pane in the back premises of the Yacht Club. No +one was looking or I would not have dared to exhibit an interest in such +a common object. It was like this, a dream-like beast, with a golden eye +and still as could be, except that its throat moved (the window and +lizard, are reduced to about one-fifth of life size), and its eye +meditated evil. I ventured to put the end of my stick near it, and it +went off with such alarming speed that I hastily withdrew my stick. It +had vanished into a crack, I'd never have dreamed a small crevice in a +window sash could hold such an extraordinary creature! I must look him +up in "E. H. A." + +[Illustration] + +Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich's "India," in my humble opinion, is an +absolutely perfect book of reference, of concentrated information on +populations, their origin and characteristics; geology, meterology, +distribution plants with excellent maps printed by Bartholomew; it might +be called scientific, but for the charm of the touches of colour the +whole way through. + +The Murrays' book is very useful, but so dry that you hardly care to +open it except in emergency. It has many references to the times of the +Conquest of India and the Mutiny, and the editor, an Englishman or +Anglicised Scot, frequently gives the names of individuals, soldiers and +private people, who distinguished themselves in these times. For +example, at the Siege of Seringapatam, where he mentions such well-known +names as Baillie, Baird, Campbell, and M'Donald, two-thirds the names of +my countrymen, and he calls them "English!" which makes me think of Neil +Munro's skipper of "The Vital Spark" and his remark about his Mate, "He +wass a perfect shentleman, he would neffer hurt your feelings unless he +was trying." Writers in the days of the Mutiny wrote of the feats of the +"British troops," their gallantry, and all the rest of it; look up _The +Illustrated London News_ of that time, and you will see this is true. +Why--confound them all--do they talk of "English" to-day, when they +refer to Scots, Irish, and Englishmen, and the people of our Colonies; +is it merely casual, or a deliberate breaking of the terms of Union of +1707? Eitherway the effect tends to dis-union, it is ante-Imperial and +for Home Rule for "A Little England." Ahem--may that pass as a +"digression?"--Now for more nature studies. I saw in the Crawford market +this afternoon fresh fish, and dried and unfresh, and the vendors +thereof. There were many kinds of so-called fresh fish, but the most +were dried, to mere skin and bone, sharks and sprats, piled in baskets +or hanging in bundles. Diminutive wrinkled women sat on little bits of +wet mat in rows, and chopped the "fresh" fish into little morsels with +little choppers by the light of little cruisie oil lamps, that flickered +and smoked beside them, and lit up their puckered little chocolate +faces, glinted on their teeth and gums scarlet with betel, and threw +warm lights on the customers faces, who leant forward to close range and +haggled, and, I daresay, said the fish wasn't fresh--and if they had +asked me, I'd have entirely agreed with them. Respectable looking Parsi +men in tight broad cloth coats and shiny black pointed pot hats did this +marketing--not their wives--peered through their spectacles very +carefully, down their long noses at each little chunk. I hoped they +could smell no better than they could see; and the grotesque little +women slipped the minute coppers they secured under the damp mat on the +wet stones between their feet. That was all very poor and small and +sordid, but the grain sellers were pleasant to look at. They sat in nice +clean booths, with around them an endless variety of neat sacks and +bowls displaying all kinds of rice and corn and lentils and baskets of +bright chillies and many other dried fruits for curries. + +To chronicle some more small beer, I may put down here that we dined +last night at the Yacht Club. The Yacht Club has little to do with +yachting. There are models of one or two native-built boats in the +passages and rooms; these have deep stems and shallow sterns, evidently +meant to wear, rather than to go about. We did not hear of any yachting +going on, why I do not quite know, as I'd have thought The Bay a perfect +place for racing, and with its inlets a rather pleasant cruising ground, +but perhaps the sun makes sailing uncomfortable. There are both lady and +men members. You can live, dress, bath, and entertain your friends, or +be entertained by them, hear music, read papers, write, talk, and walk +about in pretty grounds, all pleasantly, decently, and in order, for it +is all very open and above board. I do wish we could have such clubs at +home, I mean in Edinburgh, instead of our huge dismal men's clubs where +never a lady enters, and food, drink, and politics are the only +recognised interests. + +Here you have talk on everything, and music (of a kind), and see pretty +dresses and faces, and when you wish to be lonely, you may be so from +choice, not from necessity. To a good club, two rooms I think are +essential, a gymnasium and a music room; and where out of France can you +find them! The talk, I must say, is principally about one's neighbour, +which is quite right; it is a most enviable trait, that of being +interested in your neighbour and his affairs. Here, too, when you are +tired of people, you can study beasts, they cannot bore you. I think E. +H. A. is of this opinion. I have been reading more of his researches +into animal life, and find that he says he has fathomed the intellect of +a toad; but verily, I cannot believe that! Several of E. H. A.'s +acquaintances have come round me as I scribble here in the verandah. A +brute, a grey crow perched this moment on the jalousies, and let out +that bitter raucous caw, that would waken the Seven Sleepers or any +respectable gamekeeper within a mile; abominable, thieving, cruel brutes +they are, with rooks they should be exterminated by law. Once they were, +in the reign of James the Fourth, I think, for he needed timber for his +fleet. The law was then that if a crow built for three successive years +in a tree, the tree became the property of the Crown. This has not been +rescinded, so _Field_ please note and agitate in your country and save +your beloved partridges and the eggs of our grouse. Now two green +parroquets have gone shrieking joyfully past. I suppose I must believe +they are wild, but it takes faith to believe they have not just escaped +from a cage; they are uncommonly pretty colour, at any rate, against the +blue and white sky; they have taken the same flight at the same time +these last three days, and a dove is cooing near, a deliciously +soothing sound. Persians say it cannot remember the last part of its +lost lover's name, so that is why it always stops in the middle of the +co-coo, co-- + +As it grew to twilight I went over to the Bundar and studied reflections +in the calm, lapping water at the steps where so many dignitaries have +arrived and departed, and made notes of the colours of the dark stone +work and pier lamps against the evening glow and the reflections of +boats' lights waggling in the smooth water. + +... A launch bustles in from the _Renown_ and brings up quickly--a white +light between her two brass funnels and green and red side lights. The +red light glows on the bare arm of the jack tar at the bow with the +boat-hook, and just touches the white draperies of the native passenger +as he gets out awkwardly and goes up the steps--a person of importance +with attendants, I see, as they come up into the full acetylene light on +the quay head, someone very princely to judge by his turban and +waist--but a native's waist measurement sometimes only indicates his +financial position. + +There is considerable variety of type and nationality amongst the few +people who sit taking the air on the stone parapet of the Bundar. On my +right are two soldiers--one an _Argyll and Sutherland_, with red and +white diced hose and tasselled sporran, a native of Fife to judge by his +accent; next him there is a _Yorkshire Light Infantry_ man. They chat in +subdued voices, people all do here, I suppose it's something in the sea +warm air--have you ever noticed how softly they talk in the Scilly Isles +at night? It is the same cause I expect--the soft warm atmosphere. They +smoke Occidental (American) cigarettes after the manner of all the wise +men of the East of to-day. A yard or so along is a bearded turbaned +native; he is from up North I think. He sits on the parapet with knees +under his chin, and a fierceness of expression that is quite refreshing +after the monotonous negatively gentle expression of the Bombay +natives; then beyond him are two Eurasian girls in straw hats and white +frocks, and they do look so proper. Further over the Parsi men in almost +European kit with their women folk sit in lines of victorias and +broughams, and they are silhouetted against the glow of lamps on the +lawn of the Yacht Club, under which the white women from the far +North-West listen to music and have tea and iced drinks through straws. +And the local Parsis _seem_ quite content eating the air in the +dusk--one or two of their menkind pay visits on foot from carriage to +carriage--they have at least a share in the pom pom of the brass +band--and welcome. + +By the way, my piper friends who may read this, you will be amused to +hear some natives of Sassun objected to having the pipes on the lawn in +the afternoon at the Yacht Club--said they "couldn't hear any music in +them"--so Queen Victoria's favourite, "The Green Hills of Tyroll" was +turned on, in parts, and they were quite happy! + +Now dinner, for there goes the Hotel brass band down below--_a cada +necio agrada su porrada_--to me the pipes, the brass band to the +Southerner, but for us all dinner--"both meat and music," as the fox +said when it ate the bagpipes.[7] + +[7] To each fool agreeable is his folly; and, the bag of the pipes is +made of sheep-skin you see. + +[Illustration] + +We have home letters to-night; "The Mail" they speak of over the Indian +Peninsula has arrived. G.'s maid has a letter from St Abbs from her +mother, who is anxious about her, for she says, "There's an awfu' heavy +sea running at the Head." Even at this distance of time and sea miles, +we find home news takes a new importance, and are already grateful for +home letters with details of what is going on there from day to day; +trifles there, are interesting to read about here, there's the +enchantment of distance about them, and they become important by their +isolation. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Nov. 22nd.--We conclude, that considering packing, calling on Cook, and +a complete absence of any Royal function or Tomasha of any sort, that we +have put in a most excellent day, in fact the best day we have had since +we landed--and it was spent at sea!--at least the best of it was. I +visited the Sailors' Home in the morning, which is a palace here where a +sailor man who has the money, and doesn't mind the loneliness and ennui, +can live like a prince for a rupee a day, and as comfortably or more so +than we can in the Taj for heaps of rupees. Perhaps it was the +suggestion of being at anchor in that refuge that made G. and me go off +to sea this afternoon, and we are glad we did so. We looked at a steam +launch opposite the Hotel which was full of white passengers seated +shoulder to shoulder round the stern like soldiers; they were bound for +Elephanta and the caves there, and we decided to go too; but they seemed +so awfully hot even in shadow of an awning, and so packed and formal +that we elected to take time and sail, in a boat of our own, with our +own particular piratical crew, and lateen sails, and white awning. We +were warned we might have to stay out till late at night! As it is said +to be seven miles, I thought with a crew of four men, Krishna, and +myself, we might by an effort even row home in time for dinner though it +did fall calm! + +So we chartered the craft for seven rupees there and back--which was two +rupees above proper rate--left our packing undone, and sailed for +Elephanta. It was altogether delightful being on the water again the +first time for many months--of course being on board a P. & O. steamer +doesn't count, as that hardly conveys even the feeling of being afloat. +The breeze was light and southerly, so at first we rowed, and the cheery +dark faces of the crew beamed and sweated. These coast men are nicer to +look at than the natives on shore. They did buck in with their funny +bamboo oars, long things like bakers' bread shovels, with square or +round blades tied with string to the end of a bamboo, which worked in a +hemp grummet on a single wooden thole pin. + +What a study they make! Bow, Two and Three, have skull-caps of lemon +yellow and dull gold thread, and blue dungaree jackets faded and +threadbare. They are young lusty fellows, and Stroke, who is a +tough-looking, middle-aged man, with a wiry beard, has a skull-cap +between rose and brown, and round it a salmon-coloured wisp of a +turban--over them there is the arch of the frogged foot of the lateen +sail. All but Bow are in full sunlight, sweating at their oars, he is in +the shadow the sail casts on our bow. We recline, to quote our +upholsterer, in "cairless elegance" on the floor of the stern, on Turkey +red cushions under the shadow of the awning, and I feel sorry we have +spent so much time on shore. + +We pass under the high stern of a lumbering native craft; its grey +sun-bitten woodwork is loosely put together: on a collection of dried +palm leaves and coir ropes on the stern, sit the naked, brown crew +feeding off a bunch of green bananas. One has a pink skull-cap, and at a +porthole below the counter the red glass of a side-light catches the sun +and glows a fine ruby red; a pleasant contrast to the grey, sun-dried +woodwork. Just as we clear our eyes off her, from seaward behind us +comes an Arab dhow, a ship from the past, surging along finely! An +out-and-out pirate, you can tell at a glance, even though she does fly a +square red flag astern with a white edge. Her bows are viking or +saucer-shaped, prettier than the usual fiddle-bow we see here, and her +high bulwarks on her long sloping quarter deck you feel must conceal +brass guns. From beyond her the afternoon sun sends the shadows of her +mast and stays in fine curves down the bend of her sail, the jib-boom is +inboard and the jib flat against the lee of the main sail. She brings +up the breeze with her, and our bamboo oars are pulled in and we go +slipping across the water in silence, only the bows talking to the small +waves. Now, how sorry we feel for those other globe trotters on the +launch, birring along behind a hot, bubbling, puffing, steam kettle--and +so crowded, and in this heat too, whilst we extend at our ease in a +white and sky-blue boat, with pink cushions, and dreamily listen to the +silky frou frou of the southern sea. The crew rest; and one brings out +the hubble-bubble from the peak, with a burning coal on the bowl; it is +passed round and each of them takes three or four long inhalations +through his hands over the mouth-piece, to avoid touching it with his +lips, and the smell of the tobacco is not unpleasant, diluted as it is +with the tropical sea air. Now it is brought aft to the oldest of our +crew, the master I suppose, a grizzled old fellow, who sits on his heels +on a scrap of plank out at our stern and steers. He takes four deep +inhalations and the mutual pipe is put away forward again. Our elderly +"Boy" is a Madrassee, tidy and clerk-like, and a contrast to the +pirates; and he does not understand them very well, but he pats the pipe +condescendingly as it is passed forward, and puts questions about it +with a condescending little smile. + +[Illustration] + +Elephanta comes closer and we see the undergrowth on the hills, and it +does not seem very unfamiliar; it is considerate the way in which Nature +leads you from one scene to another without any change sudden enough to +shock you; in the most out-of-the-way corners of the world I believe, +you may find features that remind you of places you have known. Here the +few palms on the sky-line of the low hills, almost accidental +features you might say, are all there is to distinguish the general +aspect from some loch side at home. Our Stroke points ashore and grins, +and says, "Elephanta," and we say, "Are you sure, is it not an island on +Loch Katrine?" and he grins again and bobs and says, "Yes, yes +Elephanta!" + +[Illustration: Sailing from Elephanta.] + +I thought I'd written a remarkably expressive description of the +carvings in the caves; if I did I can't find it, so the reader is +spared. But I must say, before jogging on, that they are well worth +taking far greater trouble to see than the little trouble that is +required. I had heard them often spoken of lightly, but in my opinion +they are great works of a debased art. The sculptured groups would be +received any day _hors concours_ in the Salons for their technique only. +There are figures in grand repose, as solemn and dignified as the best +in early Egyptian sculpture, others show astonishing vigour, and +fantastic freedom of movement and of light and shade. They are cut in +the rock _in situ_, hard, blackish serpentine, which is a soft grey +colour on the exposed surfaces. In some parts the carving is as modern +in style and free in movement and composition as some _tourtmente_ +modern French sculpture. But here, as in Europe and Egypt, marvellous +talent has been used in the name of religion to express imaginings of +the supernatural and inhuman, instead of being humbly devoted to the +study of the beauty presented in nature. + +Going home we sailed into the sunset, and it certainly was pretty late +when we got back to dinner; in fact half of our little voyage was in the +dark, in heavy dew and with red and green lights passing across our +course rather swiftly; we had one white light, and the glow in the men's +big pipe. We were pleased with our crew and they were pleased with us +for an extra rupee, and altogether we felt very superior having gone in +so much better style than other poor people, so down on the bedrock for +time that they cannot spare a half-hour here and there. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +I don't know very well how we did all our packing and got away from the +Taj Hotel to the train, but we did it somehow; and possibly may become +inured to the effort after six or seven more months travelling. Now we +are reaping the reward of our exertions. Within less than half an hour +from Bombay we are right into jungle! I thought of and looked for +tigers, and saw in a glade of palms and thorns where there should have +been tigers, hoardings with "The Western Indian Army-Equipment Factory" +and the like in big letters; so I had just to imagine the tigers, and +make studies from life of the Parsis as they wandered up and down the +corridor; I can see some point in their women wearing Saris, these +graceful veils hanging from the back of their hair, but why do they and +Mohammedan men wear their shirt tails outside their petticoats and +trousers?--I must look up "Murray." + +To right and left we come on open country divided like an irregular +draught-board into little fields of less than an acre each, with dykes a +few inches high round them; paddy fields, I suppose--the place for snipe +and rice. Round those that have water on them are grey birds like small +herons, with white showing in their wings when they fly--paddy birds; +have I not heard and read of them from my youth up, and of the griffins' +bag of them. I have also read and heard of the Western Ghats[8], these +mountain slopes we have to climb up east of Bombay, that run right south +and which we are now approaching, but I had no idea they were so +fantastically like Norman ramparts and buttresses on mountain tops, +neither had I an idea that the trees and fields at their feet and up +their sides were so green. We rattle along at say fifty miles an hour, +not very comfortably, for there is heat and dust; but all along the line +are interesting groups of figures to look at. Here is a string of women +in red shawls against golden sunlit grass above a strip of blue water, +and there again, a man just stopped work sitting at the door of a dusty +hut of palm leaves and dry clay. He shades his eyes with his hand as he +watches the train pass; how his deep copper-coloured skin gleaming with +moisture, contrasts with the grey parched earth; then a group of +children bathing and paddling, at this distance they are perfectly +lovely. The young people are far more fairly formed than I expected them +to be--famine photographs probably account for this; they are black but +comely, though possibly closer inspection would dissolve the charm--here +are people, men and women, stacking corn or hay round a homestead, a +scene I have not heard described or read of in home letters or books +about India; how the pictures unfold themselves all hot and new to me, +and coloured, and at fifty to sixty miles an hour! Won't mental +indigestion wait on good appetite! + +[8] Sanskrit "Gati" a way or path--Scottish "gate" is a way or path too. + +We are going south-east now; Bombay away to our right over the bay, and +the Ghat we saw to the south in extended battlements and towers, now +shows in profile as one tower, on high and steep escarpments. We are +still in the low country. May I liken it to the Carse of Forth extended, +with the Kippens on either side, with the features and heat considerably +increased. I am told I should not compare homely places I know with +places unfamiliar, as it limits the reader's imagination; the Romans did +so--said, "Lo! The Tiber!" when they saw the Tay; I must try not to do +the same. + +And as at home, the people at the stations become lustier and have +clearer eyes and are more powerfully built, as we get further from +town; that is not saying much here, for the strongest look as if a +breeze would blow them over; however, they may have their own particular +kind of strength. I know my boy surprised me last night when he started +to pack my various belongings; the way he sat down on his heels beside +each box and went through the work showed if not strength, its +equivalent in agility, and a method entirely his own. He told me, "Yes, +Sa, I do same whole camp one night, saddles, horses, bridles, whole lot +camp outfit while you sleep." He has been butler to two distinguished +generals, so I feel it must be rather a drop for him to valet a mere +cold-weather tourist, but he does not show it, which is a point in his +favour. It was a little awkward though the other day when he began to +beat up to find my profession; I forget what he said exactly. It was +something like, "Sahib General?" and I said, "No, no," as if Generals +were rather small fry in my estimation, and racked my brains how to +index myself. I've read you must "buck" in the East--isn't that the +expression?--so a happy inspiration came, and I said with solemnity, "I +am a J.P.,--a Justice of the Peace, you understand?" and I could see he +was greatly relieved, for unless you have some official position in +India you are no one. He went on packing perfectly satisfied, murmuring, +"Yes Sahib, I know, Sahib Lord Chief Justice, I know." Ought I to have +corrected him? Ought I to have told him seriously that I am an +artist!--a professional painter from choice, and necessity? He would +have left my ignoble service on the spot; why, even in Britain, Art is +reckoned after the Church, and in Belgium, though respectable, it is +still only a trade--Peter Paul notwithstanding. + +After two or three hours in the train through this sunlit country, we +conclude it is worth coming to see; for the last hours have unfolded the +most interesting show that I have ever seen from a train in the time. +Outside all is new, and inside the train much is familiar; some English +people near us sit with their backs to the window and take no notice of +the outside world. What high head notes they speak with, and what +familiar ground they go over. "Oh! you know Bown, do you--such a good +fellah--good thot, I mean--went mad about golf--such a good gaime, you +know--what I mean is--you know it's," etc. Quite "good people" too, +probably keen on ridin' and shootin' though they may never have shot a +foxth or a goo'th, or have even seen a golden eagle. But they seem +almost happy, in a jog trot sort of a way, along the old trail--the +Midlands to Indiar, and Indiar to the Midlands, with bwidge between. + +We swing round a curve south-westerly and into a tunnel and out again +and up from the plain--up and up--high rocky hills on either side with +bushes and trees growing amongst rocks; another Pass of Lennie, I'd like +to call it, on a larger scale. Out of the tunnel, we look down a long +valley to our right with little dried up fields all over the bottom of +it, fading into distant haze. Then another black tunnel opening into +grey rock, and on coming slowly out--we are climbing all the time one +foot in forty-two--we again look down a valley miles away to our left, +and we can see the station Karjat, from which we began this climb up the +Bore Ghat. + +The aspect of this country makes me think of sport; the rocky hills, dry +grass, pools, and cover suggest stalking or waiting for game, but +perhaps there is still too much evidence of people--however, I must get +the glasses out and see what they will show up. + +Kandala station--a white spot, the guard points out to us far above +us--then into a tunnel, and out, and we are there. To our right are +ridge beyond ridge of hill tops, stretching away into the sunset. + +Reader, please draw a breath before this next paragraph. + + "The length of the ascent is nearly 16 miles over which there are + 26 tunnels with a length of 2,500 yards, eight viaducts, many + smaller bridges. The actual height accomplished by the ascent is + 1,850 feet, and the cost of constructing the line was nearly + _L_600,000." + +Fairly concentrated mental food, is it not? and only eight lines from +one page of "Murray," and there are one hundred and six lines in a page, +and six hundred and thirty nine pages in the book!! + +The sun sets on our right beyond a plain of stubble fields and young +crops and distant hills, and in the sky a rich band of gold, veined with +vermillion, lies above a belt of violet, and higher still a star or two +begin to glitter in the cold blue. To us newcomers, this first sunset we +have seen in India in the open over the high plains filled us with new +and almost solemn interest. But why the feeling was new or strange would +be hard to say; sunsets the world over are alike in many ways, but the +feelings stirred are as different as the lands and the people over which +they set. + +A little later we (I should say I, in this case) had quite an adventure +at a dusky siding in this tableland of the Dekkan. As I hastened to our +carriage a beautiful lady bowed to me, a stranger in a far land! And I +bowed too, and said, "How do you do, we met on the _Egypt_ of course!" +and she said, "You are not Mr Browning!" When I agreed it was only +"me"--she expressed some surprise, for she is shortly to visit my +brother down the line at Dharwar, and her chaperone had just been +staying there. One of us possibly remarked the world is small. Later we +all foregathered in an excellent little dining-car on the S. M. R.[9] +line, and discussed family histories, and the incident made us feel +quite at home. Everyone seems to know everyone else out here, and if +they don't they very soon do, and all seem sworn to make the best of +each other, and make things "go." It is so admirable; even though you +may feel as a newcomer, a little uncomfortable crawling out of the shell +of reserve you have brought all the way from home. + +[9] Southern Maharatta Railway. + +The air is much lighter up here than down in Bombay; even after a +bustling day getting into train, travelling, and seeing a hundred miles +of utterly new sights, we feel far less tired than after doing nothing +in particular all day on the coast. We stop at a station, Kirkee, three +and a half miles from Poona. Here, there is a glove left on the line by +the editor of "Murray's Guide," to be picked up by some Scot or +Irishman; I have not time just now. He says that Kirkee is interesting +as being the scene of a splendid victory over Baji Rao II; his account +is concentrated and interesting. The names of the officers mentioned in +the paragraph referring to the victory are Scottish and Irish, and he +calls it English, instead of British--a little more sand in the +machinery of the great Imperial idea.[10] + +[10] First condition Treaty of Union 1707:-- + +"I. That the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland shall, upon the first +of May next ensuing the date hereof and for ever after, be united into +one Kingdom by the name of Great Britain...." + +_Mais en voiture!_--This narrow gauge on which we now are, is not half +bad. We have a fore and aft carriage, the seats on either side we can +turn into beds, and there is a third folding up berth above one of +these. After the custom of the country, we have brought razais or thin +mattresses, and blankets--an excellent custom, for it is much nicer +turning into your own bedclothes at night in a train or hotel than into +unfamiliar properties. + +... How pleasant it is in this morning light after the night journey to +look out on the rolling country. There are low trees, twelve to twenty +feet high, with scrub between, and the varied foliage shows an autumnal +touch of the dry season. Now we pass an open space with a small +whitewashed temple in the middle of a green patch of corn; a goatherd +walks on the sand between us and it with his black and white flock; he +is well wrapped up, head and all in cotton draperies, as if there was a +chill in the morning air, but it looks and feels very comfortable to us +in our carriage: the sky is dove coloured, streaked with pale blue. Now +some women show in the crops, the corn stands high over them, and from +this distance they are things of beauty. Their draperies are purple or +deep blue, and their skins rich brown, set off by white teeth and the +glint of silver bangles and brass pots. They have pretty naked children +beside them. Every hundred yards or so there is something fascinatingly +beautiful, so the early morning hours go past quickly. + +Just before Belgaum Station, our delight in watching these new scenes is +brought to a fine point by the arrival of a boy with tea and toast, all +hot! Positively it is difficult to take it, for here comes a fort we +must look at--miles of sloping coppery-coloured crenellated stone wall +of moresque design. Graceful trees grow inside, and over its walls you +see an occasional turbaned native's head, one is vivid yellow another +rose; we pass so close we almost cross the moat, and the women stop +washing clothes and look up. More park scenes follow, then market +gardens and native cottages of dried mud, and we can see right into +their simple domestic arrangements. + +At Belgaum our friends of last night get off with their camp equipment, +and I make a dive into a brand new suit in haste to bid them good-bye +and _au revoir_, and as I make finishing touches, we steam away and the +farewell is unsaid! These three lone ladies have gone to see jungle +life; the eldest only recently lost her husband in the jungle--killed +and eaten, by a tiger. + +The soil in the railway cuttings gets gradually a deeper bronze colour +as we go south, about Bombay it was grey or light yellow. Now it is from +yellow ochre to red ochre, with a coppery sheen where it is +weather-worn. The trees become higher and the glades more like Watteau +or Corot scenes, but neither Watteau nor Corot ever saw more naturally +beautiful tinted figures; their many coloured draperies are so faded and +blended in the strong sun that it is difficult to tell where one +coloured cloth begins and another ends. + +At Londa we stop half-an-hour or so, and our Boy rolls up our blankets, +and rugs, and we endeavour to concentrate attention on a dainty +breakfast in a neat little restaurant car of which we are sole +occupants. The car is made for two tables, each for four people, and a +man and a boy, both very neatly dressed, cook and serve, so you see the +line is not yet overrun, and it is still cheap, and comfortable. If I +might be so bold as to criticise what you, my Elder Brother, may be +responsible for, I'd suggest that the place to sleep on might be made a +shade softer.--Yes, we are becoming effeminate, I know--we were becoming +so alas, as far back as "the 45," when The M'Lean found his son with a +snowball for a pillow; still, we must go with the times, and even if the +berths must be hard, at least let them be level. Please note, all +soldier men who run railways in India, and receive my blessing in +advance. + +Our little waiter is a delightful study with his big turban and red band +across it with the Southern Maharatta Railway initials in gold, white +tunic, and trousers, and red sash and bare feet; and can't he wait +neatly and quickly! We have figures to draw everywhere.--Here, within +arm's length, at a station, are women porteresses, each a fascinating +study of pose and drapery, and from a third class carriage just pulled +up, out gushes a whole family, the kids naked from the waist up, and the +men almost the same from the waist down. The women are in waspish yellow +and deep reds, and they group and chatter in the sun, then heave their +baggage, great soft baskets, on their heads--the women do this, the men +have turbans, so they can't, and away they all go smiling. But better +still, in the shade, there's a group of men and women seated, putting in +time eating from heaps of emerald green bananas and sanguine +pomegranates--how I wish I could stay for hours to paint! + +Out of Londa the trees get finer and taller, and you see real live +bamboos in great masses of soft grey-green, their foliage a little like +willows at a distance. One cannot but think of big game; surely this is +the place for sambhur if not for tiger: and there are trees like Spanish +chestnuts with larger leaves and elms, and between the tall trunks are +breaks of under cover, over which we get a glimpse now and then of +rolling distant jungle and indigo blue hills against a soft grey sky. + +Nacargali--Tavargatti--little stations one after the other all the way, +a station about every six miles--still through bamboo forest--I think +the bamboos must be 70 to 90 feet high. Now and then we pass glades with +water. At one pool little naked boys and girls are herding cattle, white +and cream coloured cows, and black hairless buffaloes, whose skins +reflect the blue sky. The mud banks are brown and the water yellow, and +there's bright green grass between the red mud and the soft green of the +bamboos. Put in the little brown-skinned herds, one with a pink rag on +his black hair, and that is as near as I can get it with the A.B.C., and +there is not time nor sufficient stillness for paint. + +[Illustration] + +With pencil in my journal I have little hasty scribbles--one half done +and the other begun. There is a group of women, with waistcloths only, +standing on a half-submerged tree trunk in greenish water washing +clothes, one stands the others squat, and beyond are cattle and bamboos. +Along the side of the track there are wild flowers, creepers, and thorns +with little violet flowers, and others of orange vermilion, and every +here and there are ant hills, three or four feet high, of reddish soil +shaped like rugged Gothic spires or Norman towers. On the telegraph wire +are butcher birds, hoopoos, kingfishers, and a vivid blue bird a little +like a jay, the roller bird I believe. The king crow I am sure of--I saw +and read about him in Bombay; he is the most independent and plucky +little bird in India, fears nothing with wings! He is black, between the +size of a swift and a blackbird, with a long drooping tail turned out +like a black cock's at the end. I don't think he troubles anyone unless +they trouble him and his wife, then he goes for them head first, and the +wife isn't very far behind and gets a dig in too. There are doves and +pigeons galore, and just before we came to Dharwar across a clear space +there cantered a whole family circle of large monkeys! What a lovely +action they have, between a thoroughbred's and a man's. They wore +yellowish beards and black faces and black ends to their tails, which +they carry high with a droop at the end. + +[Illustration] + +Alnaver.--We pass iron trucks with native occupants--not bad +looking--paler in colour I think than the natives at Bombay. Acres of +cut dry timber, long bits and short bits, are here for the engine's +fuel. The smoke of it makes a pleasant scent in the hot dry air. The +country becomes a little more open and not quite so interesting perhaps. +Kambarganvi--flatter and less picturesque--nullahs, open ground and +cattle, thin jungle on rolling ground extending to a distant edge of +table land. We pass a pool full of buffalo, only their heads are visible +above the muddy green water; on the shores and on their backs are little +brown nude girls with yellow flowers round their necks; then Dharwar and +the Elder Brother on the platform, and we heave a sigh of relief at the +end of the first chapter of our Pilgrimage in India. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +DHARWAR + + +Dharwar Station is not so unlike one we know within two and a half miles +of the centre of Scotland. It is almost the same size but there is no +village. Though not imposing, I understand it is the nerve centre of +some 1,500 miles of The Southern Maharatta Railway. + +As we pull up my brother, Colonel and Agent on the platform, remarks, +"Well, here you are, you're looking well--have you any luggage?" and in +a twinkling we are driving away, leaving the "little pick" of luggage to +the boy to bring up leisurely. G.'s maid drives off in a princely padded +ox cart or dumbie, and we get into a new modern victoria. I am not sure +which is the most distinguished, perhaps the dumbie; it is at any rate +more Oriental, and its bright red and blue linings, white hood, and two +thoroughbred white oxen make a very gay turn-out. + +The Agent's bungalow is wide-spreading, flat-roofed, with deep verandah +supported on white-washed classic pillars, and surrounded by a park. +There are borders of blooming chrysanthemums and China asters, and trees +with quaint foliage, and flowering creepers about the house. The flower +borders seem to tail away into dry grass and bushes and trees of the +park, and that changes imperceptibly into dry rolling country with +scattered trees and bushes. + +Lunch is served by waiters in white clothes and bare feet, "velvet +footed waiters" to be conventional, and there is a blessed peace and +quietness about our new surroundings. For weeks past we have ever heard +our fellows' voices all the day long; what a contrast is this quiet and +elbow room to the crowd on the P. & O. and the gun firing and babel of +Bombay. + +... It is overcast and still; away to the east over the rolling bushy +country are heavy showers, but at this spot trees and crops faint for +water. We doze in the verandah and wake and doze again, and wonder how +this silence--can be real, even the birds seem subdued. We notice +E.H.A.'s friends are here in numbers, Mina birds, the Seven Sisters, +King Crows, and one of his (E.H.A.'s) enemies comes in as I write, a +yellow-eyed frog; he hops in on the matting and looks and looks--I like +the unfathomable philosophy in its golden eye. And my brother stops +reading Indian politics and calls me outside to see a Horn Bill--all +beak, and little head or body to speak of, he sways on a leafless tree +and scraiks anxiously for his friends; they are generally in companies +of three or four. A little later, as I write beside a reading lamp in +G.'s room, a lizard takes a position on the window, and out of the outer +darkness comes a moth and lights on to the outside of the pane, and the +lizard pecks at it--neither the moth nor the lizard understand +glass--peck, peck, every now and then--trying to get through to the +moth--how delightfully human--the perpetual endeavour to get Beyond, +without the will or power to see the infinite reflections of the Inside. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +As we speculate to-night as to where some of our neighbours on the +"Egypt" may have got to by this time, the post comes in with letters +from this one and the other. One is from Mrs Deputy-Commissioner. A few +days ago we were altogether in Bombay, melting in the heat, and now we +are towards the south of this Peninsula, and she writes from its +farthest north: we are in a hot parched country, whilst she and the +D.-C. are in camp, sitting over a huge fire of logs in a pine forest. +She writes, "To-morrow we enter a valley where five bears have recently +been seen and pheasants abound," and the day after "we shall be at the +top of the pass, 9,000 feet. Rosy snows and golden mists far below us +melt into purple depths."... So this day's journal closes with pleasant +thoughts of relatives and pleasant friends in many distant parts of this +wide land. + +... Sunday.--We arrived here on Friday--the silence is almost +oppressive. Great grey clouds roll up from the east all day till +evening, when they form solid bluish ranks; each cloud threatens rain +which never falls. The stillness in the bungalow is only broken by the +occasional cheep, cheep, cheep of the house lizard, a tiny little fellow +that lives behind picture frames and in unused jugs and corners. His +body is only about an inch and a half long, but his clear voice fills +the large rooms and emphasies the silence. Outside it is as quiet; there +is the chink--chink of the copper-smith bird, like a drop of water at +regular intervals into a metal bowl. + +The Colonel and G. rode at 8 A.M., and I biked. It is not such +interesting country here as what we came through in the train--rolling, +stoney, with friable red soil, and hard to ride on. Many dusty roads +meet at all angles; along these you meet herds of buffalo and cows +driven leisurely by boys or men. Some cows, of errant natures, have logs +dangling by a rope from their necks amongst their feet; they can't go +off very fast or far with the encumbrance. They stir up the dust as they +go along, and it falls and lies on the children till their dark skins +have a bloom like sloe-berries. There are all sorts of birds to look +at--kites, crows, vultures, hawks, eagles; with these you can't expect +to see game birds, though it looks an ideal country, though perhaps a +little waterless, for pheasants and partridges. When I stop I see the +side of the road swarms with insect life, ants of various, kinds, black +and red, small and big, pegging along the level, and up and down trees, +as if the world depended on each individual's particular bustling. There +are white ant hills like ragged heaps of raw chocolate--very hard and +strong. I don't know what they are built for--I must consider the matter +like the sluggard some day, if I have time, or read about them if that +is not a bigger order. What strikes you at first about the white ant is +that you never see it unless you lay its works open. His hard-sun-baked +protections run up the tree stems or wherever he goes and conceals and +protects his soft, white, fleshy body, and if you prise this casing open +you may see him getting away as fast as his little legs will take him; +really he is a termite you know, like a "wood louse or worm," and not an +ant. A wonder of the world is how he gets the liquid secretion to fasten +the grains of sand together to make his earthen tunnels. If he goes to +the top of a house to remove furniture or the like, he builds his tunnel +all the way up; and in a thirsty land the top storey of a sun-bitten +house does not seem the place to get water: but I must leave this +subject to the disquisitions of men of more leisure and greater +abilities, and proceed to make some observations on, and jottings of, +the figures on the road. Here are women bringing up great round +earthenware vases on their heads and little round brass bowls in their +hands, going and coming from a muddy pool in the centre of a waste of +dried mud. They go slowly, the walking is rough for bare feet, for the +clay is hard and baked and pitted with cows' feet marks. They drink and +wash their bowls in the dregs in the pond, the water already so dirty +that a self-respecting duck would not swim in it, and wade about +stirring up the mud, then fill their bowls and march away with it for +domestic uses--this sounds bad, but it looks a great deal worse. The +figures though are charming, with balanced bowl on head, and draperies +blown into such folds as a Greek would have loved to model.... But their +faces!--Phew! when you see them closely, are frightful! + +It is difficult to catch their movement; they are so restless. All +people who wear loose draperies seem to be so; witness Spanish women, +and the Spanish type of women in our Highlands and Ireland, how they +keep constantly shifting their shawls. + +[Illustration] + +... The Club in evening--a tiny club, quite nice after a quiet day in +the bungalow. I was introduced to the five men there, who put me through +my paces very gently; I just passed I think, and no more. "Play +bridge?--No. Billiards?--Not much." I began to feel anxious and feared +they'd try cricket. "Tennis?--Yes, dote on tennis!" That smoothed +things, and then we got on to shooting, and all went off at a canter. +One of my inquisitors, Mr Huddleston, had been in Lumsden's Horse (the +Indian contingent in S. Africa), and said he had helped a young brother +of mine out of action at Thaban' Chu.[11] Lumsden's Horse got left there +and lost heavily. I knew this brother had been ridden off the stricken +field on Captain P. Chamney's back under heavy fire, one of these V.C. +doings that were discounted in S. Africa, and knew that two other +fellows rode on either side to steady the sanguinary burden. So here was +one of the two, and I asked who the other was, and he said, "Trooper +Ducat, but Powell mended your brother's head; didn't you meet him in the +Taj Hotel in Bombay?" And I laughed, for I remembered the doctor of the +Taj, a rather retiring man, who generally sat alone at a table in the +middle of the great dining-room; and that whenever he had friends dining +with him, and I looked up, I was safe to find either he or his friends +looking across in my direction, why I couldn't make out. Now it was +explained! He remembered mending a man's forehead that had been broken +by a piece of shell, and concluded from the surname in the Hotel Book, +and possibly family likeness, that I was the man, and naturally he would +say to his friends, "Look you at that man over there--wouldn't think he +had lost half his head with a pom-pom shell would you? but he did, and I +mended it!--It's pretty well done, isn't it? You can hardly see a mark." + +[11] At Battle of Houtneck. + +... Then evening service in a tiny church, a quiet, monotonous, gently +murmured lesson, and a few verses from the Old Testament about +sanguinary battles long ago and exemplary Hebrew warriors--how soothing! +Doors and windows are wide open, and moths fly in and round the lamps +from the blue night outside. The air is full of the rattle of the +cicada, which is like the sound of a loud cricket, or the 'r--r' of a +corncraik's note going on for ever and ever; and the house lizard in the +church goes cheep--cheep--cheep every now and then. No one pays any +attention to its loud sweet note. Rather pretty Eurasian girls play the +organ and sing, and look through their fingers as they pray. + +Then we are dismissed, and find ourselves out in the dark, and the +longed for rain falling very lightly. The white dressed native servants +are there with lamps and bring up the bullock carts, and ladies go off +in them with the harness bells aringing. We have "The Victoria" of the +station--and faith, barring the exercise, I'd as soon not walk! Did not +Mr H. kill a great Russell viper at the club steps last night, and was +not bitten, and so is alive to tell the tale to-day and to-morrow, and +to show the skin, three feet long with a chain pattern down the back; +the beast!--it won't get out of your path; lies to be trodden on, then +turns and bites you, and you're dead in three minutes by the clock. + +... To-day, Tuesday--could read a little--temperature down. Found it an +entertainment listening to the voices of various callers in the centre +hall of the bungalow, of which one half forms the drawing-room, the +other half the dining-room. The bedroom doors open into this, and these +doors are a foot off the ground, and fail to meet the top of the arches +above them by about other two feet. The advantage of this I fail to see, +further than that a convalescent or any other person who can't be +bothered talking, can if he pleases, listen to others conversing; if, +however, he prefers to sleep, he can't! + +I got a glimpse of the gaily dressed callers through the transparent +purdahs that separate my room on the outside from the verandah. They +drove in white dumbies with white bullocks; the carts and harness +glistened with vermilion, sky blue, and gold details; the driver, black +of course, in livery, with a boy carrying a white yak's tail in +black-buck's horn to brush away flies. I was sorry to miss seeing these +kind people, but hope to get over the effect of sun, plus cold baths, +and return their calls, and so increase my stock of first impressions of +Indian life. "Erroneous, hazy, distorted first impressions," Mr Aberich +Mackay calls them in his "Twenty-one days in India," that most amusing +Indian classic. "What is it these travelling people put on paper?" he +adds. "Let me put it in the form of a conundrum. Q. What is it that the +travelling M.P. treasures up and what the Anglo-Indian hastens to throw +away? A. Erroneous, hazy, distorted first impressions. Before the eyes +of the griffin, India steams in poetical mists, illusive, fantastic, and +subjective." Crushing to the new comer, is it not. And he adds that his +victim, the M.P., "is an object at once pitiable and ludicrous, and this +ludicrous old Shrovetide cock, whose ignorance and information leave two +broad streaks of laughter in his wake, is turned loose upon the reading +public." This is as funny as Crosland at his best, say his round arm hit +at Burns, the "incontinent and libidinous ploughman with a turn for +verse"--a sublime bladder whack! But listen also to the poor victim, Mr +Wilfred Blunt, M.P., and what he has to say in the "Contemporary +Review." + +"I became acquainted in a few weeks with what the majority of our +civilian officers spend their lives in only half suspecting. My +experience has been that of a tourist, but I have returned satisfied +that it is quite possible to see, hear, and understand all that vitally +concerns our rule in India in six months' time." + +After all, who may write about India? Major Jones said to me the other +day, "Why on earth is Smith writing about India--what does he know? he +is just out; why! I've been here over ten years and have just learned I +know nothing." + +Then I said, "What about General Sir A. B. Blank's writings?" Blank is +going home after about forty years in India. "Oh! good gracious," he +said, "Blank's ideas are hopeless--utterly antiquated!" Therefore no one +may write about India; Smith is too inexperienced, Jones has only +learned he knows nothing, and General Blank is too antiquated. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +This day we spent calling round the station. The owners of the two +first bungalows were out; at the third the hostess carried wreaths of +flowers, which she was on her way to place on her native butler's grave; +he had died of plague. The next house was full of madonnas and maids +worshipping the latest arrival in the station, a chubby boy of six +months. The father had retired to a quiet corner, but seeing another +mere man, he came out with certain alacrity and suggested a peg and +cheroot. The next house was the doctor's, and the Mrs Doctor and I were +just getting warm over Ireland, and had got to Athlone, Galway, and +Connemara, when the ten minutes, that seem law here, were up, and G. +rose to go, and I'd to leave recollections of potheen, and wet, and peat +reek, and "green beyond green"--such refreshing things even to think of +in this Eastern land, especially for us who are on the wander and know +we will be home soon. But it must be a different feeling for those +people at their posts, tied down by duty, year after year, with the +considerable chance of staying in the little bit of a cemetery with +others who failed to get home. But we must not touch on this aspect of +our peoples life out here, it is too deeply pathetic. At the next house +I did actually get a peg, and it was a pleasing change after buffalo +milk and quinine for days: and mine host, who had been on the "West +Coast," told me his experience of pegs in Africa. "The men," he said, +"who didn't take pegs there at all, all died for certain, and men who +took nips and pegs in excess died too; a few, however, who took them in +moderation survived." + +Then we drove towards the sunset and rolling hills, and were overwhelmed +with the volume of colour. Bosky trees lined the road, and the orange +light came through the fretwork of their leaves and branches, and made +the dust rising from the cattle and the people on the red roads and the +deep shadows all aglow with warm, sombre colour; I would I could +remember it exactly. One figure I can still see--there is an open space, +green grass, and Corot like trees on either side reflected in water, +and a girl carrying a black water-pot on her head, crosses the grass in +the rays of the setting sun--a splash of transparent rosy draperies +round a slight brown figure. + +Friday.--Rode in morning with the Brother, painted and drove with G. in +the afternoon, tennis and badminton at club, and people to dinner; that +is not such a bad programme, is it? Not exciting, but healthy, bar the +excessive number of meals between events,[12] and tiresome in regard to +the inevitable number of changes of clothes. The ride we start after an +early cup of tea. It begins pleasantly cool, but in an hour you feel the +sun hot, and are glad to get in and change to dry clothes, and have +breakfast proper about 9 A.M. The Brother then goes to office, which is +a building like an extensive hydropathic, on an eminence to which on +various roads, at certain hours of the day, streams of tidy native +clerks may be seen going and coming. Of what they do when they get +there, or where they go when they leave I have no idea; the country all +round seems just red, rolling, gritty soil, with thorny bushes and +scattered trees! But there is a native town; possibly these men go +there, though their costumes are too trim to suggest native quarters. + +There is such silence up here on the tableland at mid-day--only a light +soughing of the soft, hot wind, otherwise not even the cheep of a +lizard. A little later in the afternoon begins the note of a bird, like +a regular drop of water into a metal pot, very soft and liquid, and when +the gardener waters the flowers, more birds come round to drink. The +house too is absolutely still; the servants drowse in their quarters in +the compound; G. and her maid in a back room are quiet as mice; they got +a sewing machine, which was a very clever thing to do, but it was a +tartar, it wouldn't work--that was "Indian" I expect--so they have had a +most happy morning pulling it to bits, and putting it together again--I +wonder if they will make it go. + +[12] Specially laid on for our benefit. + +The most social part of the day here is the meeting at the club after +the business day is done. I have not heard Indian club life described, +but this club, though small, is, I think, fairly typical. Half the +station turns up at it every evening before dinner; I should think there +are generally about twenty ladies and men. You bike down, or drive, and +play tennis on hard clay courts, a very fast game; then play badminton +inside when it gets dark, and the lamps are lit.--I'd never played it +before. What a good game it is; but how difficult it is to see the +shuttle-cock in the half light as it crosses the lamp's rays--A.1. +practice for grouse driving, and a good middle-aged man's game; for +reach and quick eye and hand come in, and the player doesn't require to +be so nimble on his pins as at tennis. To-night the little station band +of little native men played outside the club under the trees, with two +or three hurricane lamps lighting their music and serious dark faces, +and the flying foxes hawked above them. Inside there was the feeling of +a jolly family circle--rather a big family of "grown-ups"--or a country +house party. + +Dancing was beginning as we came away; men had changed from flannels to +evening dress, and ladies had dumbied home and back, and a bridge +tournament was being arranged. Think of the variety of costume this +means, and grouping and lights. The brother and G. had come in from +riding, G. in grey riding-skirt and white jacket, and the brother in +riding-breeches and leggings, and two men and a lady came in with clubs +from golf. Other men were in flannels, and some had already got into +evening kit, and it was the same with ladies--what a queer mixture. +Everyone seems perfectly independent of everyone else, except one or two +matrons who have the interests of the youths at heart, and bustle their +"dear boys" out of draughts, where "they will sit, after getting hot at +Badminton, and won't get ready for dancing or bridge." One cannot but +admire the brotherly and sisterly relationship that seems to exist +between these kindly exiles, the way they make the best of things and +stand by each other, such a little group of white people, possibly +thirty all told, in the midst of a countless world of blacks. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Let us now discourse on duck-shooting for a change, and because it is a +safe subject, and like fishing, "has no sting in the tail of it." One of +the "dear boys" at the club asked if I'd care to go duck-shooting on +Sunday. This "youth" is country-bred, and for length and breadth and +colour and accent, you'd think he had just come out from the Isle of +Skye, the land of his people, where you know they run pretty big and +fit. + +It was very kind of these fellows I think, asking me to join them. A +doubtful bag doesn't matter--it's a new country and I feel as keen as a +cockney on his first 12th--so I unpack my American automatic five +shooter, beside which all last year's single-trigger double-barrel +hammer-less ejectors are as flintlocks! "Murderous weapon, and +bloodthirsty shooter"--some old-fashioned gunners of to-day will say, +just as our grandfathers spoke when breechloaders came in, and that +delightful pastime with ramrod and wads, powder flask and shot belt went +out. So it ever has been! Since the day some horrid fellow used a bronze +sword instead of a stone on a stick, and since Richard of the Lion Heart +took to that "infernal instrument," the cross bow, because of its +"dreadful power," and so earned from Providence and Pope Innocent II. +"heavenly retribution," and was shot by one of its bolts. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +As I write these somewhat discursive notes, there is a very old-world +figure passing our verandah every now and then; he is our night +watchman, called a Chowkidar or Ramoosee. He is heavily draped with dark +cloak of many vague folds, and carries a staff and lantern; he belongs +to a caste of robbers, and did he not receive his pittance, he and his +friends would loot the place--and possibly get shot trying to do so. He +flashes his lantern through your blinds as you try to sleep. Then if he +wakens you by his snoring, you steal out and pour water gently down his +neck. + +A hyaena or jackal has started laughing outside--phew!--what an eerie +laugh--mad as can be--what horrid humour! I have mentioned a lady's +husband was taken away from her and eaten by a tiger lately, somewhere +about this country, so we begin to feel quite _in medias res_, though +far from the madding town. + +To-morrow we drive to our shoot--start at six! To drive in dumbies, +about eight miles. But what does distance matter; it's our first day's +shooting in India--duck to-day, black-buck to-morrow, then sambhur, +perhaps, and who knows, the royal procession may not account for all the +tigers! and I begin to have a feeling that if one came within a fair +distance, and did not look very fierce, I'd be inclined to lowse off my +great heavy double-barrelled 450 cordite express and see if anything +happened. + +[Illustration: The above painted by Allan Betty Iris and Uncle Gordon.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +_Copy letter on subject of "Duck."_ + + +[Illustration] + +Dear B,--There are still a few minutes before old Sol gets his face +under cover, so I am going to let you know of my first great day's +Indian Shikar! It was A.1. from start to finish, though an old resident +here might laugh at its being given such a fine term. I know that it +would have been as interesting to you as it was to me; it was so +different from anything we have at home. + +I met a man at the club who said, "Won't you come with us to-morrow +(Sunday) and have a try for duck?" and I jumped--haven't had anything in +way of exercise, bar a little mild riding and tennis for weeks. These +fellows are so busy all the week they put in the Sunday out of doors +shooting. Don't you wish we could too? You know everyone shoots here, it +is free--one of the reasons so many of our best young fellows come +out--men who haven't got ancestral or rented acres to shoot over. + +Quarter past six, _mon ami_, was the hour fixed--I shudderd! By the +way, most of these men were dancing yesterday afternoon till 7-45--at +tennis previously, and at bridge till the small hours. Isn't that a rum +way of doing things--the ladies dancing till after 7 o'clock, then +dashing home to dress, and here at this bungalow to dinner at little +after eight. + +Turned out at a quarter to six--fifteen minutes later than I +intended--fault of my "Boy"--tumbled into sort of shooting kit, and +partly dressed as I scooted along the avenue through the park--compound +I believe it should be called--the night watchman legging it along with +my bag and gun. I believe a jackal slunk past; it was getting +light--first jackal I've seen outside a menagerie--an event for persons +like us? When I got to the avenue gate where these other heroes were to +meet me, the deuce a shadow of one was there--only a native with +something on his head. So I did more dressing and cussing because I was +ten minutes behind time and thought they must have gone on. + +Gradually the light increased. Dawn spread her rosy fingers over the +pepal fig trees that lined the road; the fruit-eating flying-foxes +sought their fragrant nests or roosts, and noiselessly folded their +membraneous wings till next time. And the native turned out to have a +luncheon basket on his head so my heart rose, and by and bye a big +fellow in khaki stravaiged out of the shades--a jovial, burly Britisher +called "Boots,"--told me he was hunting up the other fellows, and that +they had got home late last night--this about half an hour after time +fixed--so much for Indian punctuality hereaway! After some time another +shooter arrived behind two white oxen, taking both sides of the road in +a sort of big governess cart. Then Boots, who had hunted out a man +Monteith, came up in a third dumbie, as their ox carts are called here. +These go like anything if you can keep them in the straight, but the +oxen are dead set on bolting right or left up any road or compound +avenue. Boots told me: going to dine one night, he had been taken up to +three bungalows willy nilly before he got to the right one. The reins go +through bullocks' noses, so by Scripture that _should_ guide them. We +went off at a canter, and hadn't got a mile when Boots and Monteith's +dumbie dashed at right angles across a bridge to the cemetery; we +followed, missing the edge of the bridge by an inch,--pulled round and +went off on the straight again--seven miles in the cool of the morning, +grey sky, soft light, new birds, new trees, new country, no mistake it +was pleasant. Here is a sketch (much reduced) the dumbie following us. +As we went at a canter it was not very easy to do! + +[Illustration] + +At the tank or loch we disembarked amongst a motley crowd of +natives--got men to carry cartridge bags, and then we surrounded the +tank, a place about three-quarters of a mile long by a quarter broad. + +M. got into a portable, square, flat-bottomed canvas boat he had sent +the day before, and his heathen boatman, who swore he could row, cut +branches to hide both of them from the duck. This arrangement looked +like a fair sized table decoration, a conspicuous man in a topee with a +gun at one end, and a black white-turbaned native at the other. Away +they went, left oar, right oar! I watched these simple manoeuvres from +the far side, where, like the other guns, I was posted at the water's +edge, in full view of the duck which were swimming about in mid water, +chuckling at us I am sure. The native's rowing was a sight! first one +oar high in the air, then the other. I saw Monteith had to change and +did both rowing and shooting, probably the native had never seen a boat +in his life! When M. began firing at the duck at long range, they got up +the usual way, straight up, and then flew round and round, high up. I +didn't know whether to watch the duck or enjoy looking at the village +scene opposite, for it was at once delightfully new and delightfully +familiar. There were mud-built cottages among feathery-foliaged trees +with wide roofs of thatch of a silver grey colour, and above them were +two or three palms against the sky. Biblical looking ladies went to and +fro between lake and village, and each carried on her head a large, +black, earthenware bowl steadied by one hand, and a smaller brass pot +swinging in the other. Blue-black buffaloes and white and yellow cows +sauntered on the sloping banks, watched by men in white clothes and +turbans--it was all very sweet and peaceful in the soft morning light. + +[Illustration] + +The ducks flew high of course, just out of range, but we banged away +merrily at anything inside ninety yards! M. in the boat got within range +of some confiding pochard, and we on shore got a few by flukes. They +kept circling round for a long time as the other tanks in neighbourhood +were almost dried up. Then it got very hot and I for one was glad to get +my back against an aloe for a little shade and concealment, and +sketched, and fired occasionally to be sociable, as a duck came within +say eighty yards. See sketch and the futility of concealment. I thought +it very delightful--the shooting was not too engrossing, the landscape +was charming, and the village life interesting, and the simplicity of +the whole proceeding distinctly amusing. F., one of our party, on the +other side from me kept potting away regularly. He was surrounded with +natives; his ideas as to what was "in shot" were great! Still, he told +me the natives always swore he hit. The duck out here don't seem to mind +small shot at a hundred or two hundred yards more than they do at home! +Pretty white herons sailed round occasionally without fear, and +sometimes I could positively hardly see for grey-green dragon flies +hovering in front; there was one tern, or sea swallow--my favourite +bird; but how came it do you think, so far from the sea? + +[Illustration] + +Most of the duck had cleared off to other tanks by ten o'clock, so the +fusilade stopped and we returned to the shade of a many-stemmed and +rooted banyan tree where the desert met the sown, and had lunch and +felt quite the old Indian, eating fearfully hot curry pasties and spiced +sandwiches, as per sketch. + +My five shooter is quite a novelty here, so I had to take it to bits and +show how it worked, or rather, I began to show how it worked, did +something wrong, and had to take it all to bits on this inauspicious +occasion. + +[Illustration] + +We shot on languidly till about one, that is, sat in the heat and +occasionally let off a shot at a very wide duck, and another member of +our party took his turn in the boat with a professed oarsmen from the +village who was worse than the first, so we gave up, one by one and +dawdled up to the village, picking up some dead duck on the way. Here is +a jotting of our retriever--a native who slung a bundle of dry pithy +sticks under one arm, waded out, and swam along somehow, with an +overhand stroke, not elegant but fairly effective.--I also made jottings +of buffaloes in the water, all but submerged, water lilies, little white +herons, and women in bright colours washing clothes in reflections! What +subjects for pictures--rather shoppy this for you? The buffaloes walked +sometimes entirely under water for some two or three yards--and then +they came up and blew like seals!--by all the saints, isn't this just +the Kelpie we have heard of from Sandy and Donald and Padruigh--and how +"It" comes up from the dark water and the lilies in the dusk, like a +great black cow, with staring eyes and dripping weeds hanging from its +mouth and shoulders! + +[Illustration] + +I found the party under the shade of pepal trees beside the inverted +boat, and the lunch basket, surrounded by the villagers of all ages. In +front on the dust, in sunlight, a brown woman danced and whipped her +bare flesh with a cord like a serpent, and another woman in soft, +hanging, Madonna-like draperies, with a kid astride her hip and asleep +on her breast, beat a tom-tom vigorously. The dancing woman's steps were +the first of our sword dance--you see them round the world; she had +ragged black hair, dusty brown skin, with various bits of coloured +clothes twisted round her hips. Of the violent light and shade, and hot +reflected light from the sandy red ground, and restless movements, I +could only make this ghost of a sketch. Behind the women was a box, open +on the side next us, fitted up as a shrine; in it sat an Indian goddess +in vermilion and gold, with minor deities round her, all very fearsome. +I was told it was a cholera goddess, and the dancing was to propitiate +her and drive cholera out of the village. I'd fain remember the light +and shade and colour, but it is difficult to do these unfamiliar scenes +from memory; of scenes at home one can grasp more in the time, for many +forms are familiar and others one can reason from these--that they must +be so--this last a risky business--and query: is it Art or +Fake?--forgive shop again, awfully sorry. + +[Illustration] + +The drive home in mid-day sun with no shade was pretty considerably hot, +through miles of unsheltered, hot, dusty road, but with regular tiger +jungle on either side! Some of us slept--for me there was too much heat +and too much to see for that. + +[Illustration] + +I think we got fourteen duck. There were pochard and pintail and one +like a mallard. The pochard are good to eat here. + +To-morrow we go South--both sorry and glad to go--sorry to leave the +little social circle and glad to be on the road again. Again we have had +a glimpse of how quickly friends are made here. I suppose the extreme +isolation makes one white man realise his dependence on the next white +man, so that they naturally make the best of each other and become +friends quickly. + +Krishna bustles round packing things--bustles is hardly the word though, +for his barefooted, silent effectiveness. And snoring hardly the word +for the noise that son of a thief, the watchman, makes outside. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +[Illustration] + +Good-bye to Dharwar, we are on the move again, the comparatively +cold-weather tourists take the road south to Bangalore. We jog along at +a respectable rate, not too fast and not too slow, say forty-five miles +an hour top speed, and twenty-five mean, which allows us to see things +to-day and remember what we saw yesterday. + +Before leaving, biked down to the Native Town of Dharwar, a place full +of interest, picturesque scenes, and somewhat sinister looking +people--tried to make a picture of women and men at a well-head, a +magnificent subject, but too difficult to do in a few minutes. There +were men pulling up kerosene tins over a wheel, hand over hand, from the +cool looking depths of the wide red sandstone well and filling goats' +skins to sling on cows' backs, and women in sombre reds and blue +wrappings, old and young, and rather monkeyish in appearance; still, +some were not altogether bad looking. One old woman had almost +Savonarola features, and the strip of blue from the sky on her brown +back was telling as she and a young woman leant and pulled hand over +hand at the rope. The water splashed on to the pavement round the well, +reflected the rich colours of cloth and limb and patches of cobalt from +the sky. The women seem to consider this is not a bad part of their +day's work; to come to the well-head and chat with their neighbours and +show off their jewellery, and probably wouldn't thank you for a modern +engine to pump up the water in half the time. They are dirty little +pigs; can you make out a little beast to the right, comparatively a +superior, extra well-dressed beauty, with very polished black hair and a +flower in it? No, I am afraid not; the reduction, or reproduction, +obscures her charm completely. She looks round about her and rubs a +family water pot with a little mud and water off the road, yet by her +religion it would be defiled if my shadow fell on it. + +[Illustration] + +I came away almost sick with the feeling of inability to remember all +the movements of draperies and colours; this country needs a Philip and +a Velasquez in one, to do it justice. + +On the way home I pass a tank with two wide nights of steps down to it, +banyan trees hang over it, and monkeys gambol on the ground, and about +the dusty trunks. Up and down the steps women are passing with stately +steps and slow, they loiter at the water's edge and gossip, then fill +their dark earthenware bowls, lift them on to their heads with the help +of a neighbour, and come slowly up the steps. The little brass bowls +they carry on hip or at arm's length glitter with lights that hit the +eye like electric sparks. One figure alone would make an artist's study +for days. The colour from the red soil reflects under their raised arms +and under their cheeks and into the classic folds of their draperies, +strong blue, and deep red, in their shadows and throw up rich +reflections to the undersides of the wet earthenware bowls; the water +laps over their brims, and the sky reflects like sapphire on their upper +surfaces.... Who will say, that colour is not the most beautiful thing +in the world--the very flower of love and light and fire; the sign of +preponderant katabolism or anabolism as the naturalist might possibly +put it, to be perfectly explicit! + +[Illustration] + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +People dined with us, and inside we had music of the masters by a +mistress of music; and outside, some of us discussed names of stars; and +dogs and jackals were stirred to the depths of their feelings by the +moon: one especially at the end of the compound howled as if it was in a +steel trap. At the side of the bungalow the guests' white cattle slept +unyoked in the deep shadows of the trees, beside their white covered +dumbies, all soft and blurred in silvery haze except where the light +fell on a splash-board and shone like a jewel. And in front of us +Eucharist lilies and China asters drooped their heads and slept. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Though this is an express train we stop at lots of stations, which, of +course, is just what we want, for there are fascinating groups to study +all the way, and the slight changes in the character of the country are +interesting. We go through first, what I take to be the black cotton +soil, and later red soil again. + +At one little station a Government official gets out of the train, a +Deputy-Commissioner possibly, a dapper, fair man and a lady, a nurse, a +fair child, and a fox terrier; in the shadow of some trees I see an +escort of lancers and some foot soldiers waiting. We wonder who they can +be, getting out in such a measureless, monotonous tract of level +country. They seem so fair and isolated in this vast country of dark +people. + +... The afternoon passes, and as the sun goes down the shadows of our +carriages spread wider over the plain. The sky becomes faint rose in the +zenith, over the cerulean above the horizon, and the white clothes of +the shepherds become golden, and the reds, yellows, and blues of the +women's draperies become very vivid. We pass herds of cattle as finely +bred as antelopes, all blurred into the glow of the late afternoon and +the red soil. Then comes almost desert, flat as water, red gravel with +bushes with few green leaves, and here and there a tree with its white +stem gleaming against a long-drawn shadow. Over the horizon two hill +tops show purple and red, then for ten minutes all flushes ruddy, +burning gold, and vermilion, and the light goes out; and there follows a +cold blackish violet that almost chills us, till the moon comes in full +strength and glorifies the desert with its frosted silvery illumination. +Little fires begin to burn alongside the railway, and we see groups of +shepherds warming themselves and cooking. The third class passengers at +the stations are tucking their chins between their knees and pulling +their draperies, most of them scarlet, over their heads, and with the +lamplight from above and the smoke of the hubble-bubble that floats over +them they make very warm, soft masses of colour. + +We stiffer people spread ourselves out over a space ten natives could +sit in, and get under our blankets and feel uncommonly comfortable, take +one more look at the blurr of moonlight on the silent waste, and address +ourselves to sleep, fondly hoping we will remember a little of the +beauty of the night 'gainst the "dark days made for our searching." + +... The night passes, hour after hour--jogging south; at times we hear a +voice calling in the wilderness the name of a station, which we do not +know, and do not care to know; and there's a whiff perhaps of burning, a +little like peat, from the fuel they burn here, which at home the +farmers spread on their fields to make them "bring forth unnatural +fruit."[13] + +[13] Josephus. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BANGALORE + + +There was a knocking and a calling "What ho--within there!" and I got up +in the grey dawn and found my cousins outside our carriage, looking +rather chilled. A native stationmaster had promised to wire to them for +me, to tell them we would finish our eight hours sleep at the Bangalore +siding. But here they were and had received no wire! Therefore, put not +your faith in native stationmasters. + +Our hosts have a lovely bungalow, I use the adjective advisedly and in +its fullest sense as applied to the beauties of domestic architecture +and surroundings. The white Doric pillars that support the semi-circular +verandah are tall and well-proportioned, and support a pleasantly +pitched tile roof. The tiles are of many weather-worn tints; above these +are high trees with white stems and exquisitely delicate foliage, +through which you see patches of blue sky. Down some of the pillars hang +creepers, one is heavy with dark green leaves and deep orange flowers, +another is covered with trumpet-shaped flowers of fleshy white; and a +tall tree close to the verandah is covered with creeper that forms a +perfect cascade of dark green leaves and mauve flowers. + +The appearance of the bungalow, the lightness of the sunny air, and our +kind welcome made us feel anything but way-worn travellers. Still; the +above circumstances seemed uncommonly conducive to sleep on our first +day at Bangalore. + +[Illustration: An Indian Tank.] + +What splendid rooms we have. Our bedrooms and dressing-rooms would make +a chapel. And the style of construction is in charming taste--great +simple spaces of distempered wall and matted floor and timbered ceiling, +the structural features showing wherever they may be sightly, with +breadth of spaces such as you see in Spanish houses; the furnishings +simple, everything necessary, and little besides, a pleasant sense of +room for growth. + +Bangalore as a city is not at all compactly built together. The +compounds round bungalows are really parks, and the roads are so wide +and long that it takes hours to call on the nearest neighbour. R. had +been stationed here some time, but his wife is a new arrival, so we +found her engaged in making a round of first calls--the newcomer calls +on the residents in India--seventeen in one day was her record I +believe--possibly a Bangalore record--it would have killed any man. + +We drove round the tanks and pretty avenues and parks after lunch, and +through the native town. It positively takes one's breath away with its +crowds of picturesque scenes--pictures every yard in the mile! +Fortunately for us our host and hostess are as fond as we are of looking +at things and trying to remember them, and delight in showing us places +they have remarked for their picturesque interest. Of one of these +characteristic tanks I have made a jotting in colour. Soft foliaged +trees along a road on the top of a green enbankment were reflected in +the calm water; at its edge, on stone steps and amongst the reeds, +little copper-coloured women in rich colours stooped and washed brightly +coloured clothes. The surface of the water was speckled with wild duck, +which splashed and swam about making silvery ripples break into the warm +reflection, and a faint smoke from the village softened the whole +effect. White draped figures passed to and fro on the bund under the +trees, sometimes aglow with rays that shot between the tree trunks, or +again silhouetted violet against golden light--for "white is never +white," as the drawing-master has it. + +We were a very happy party of four at dinner, with many pleasant +subjects to discuss--the journey out, and our friends on the _Egypt_, +and the various people "we knew to speak to;" then we had to retail the +most recent gossip from Dharwar, in which place R. was quartered for +some years, and he told us old amusing stories about that station and +its doings. Then there were questions of dress to be discussed by the +Memsahibs, and we men had problems from home to solve--as to rearing of +fish and game, and what we had done, and what we would like to do! and +besides, what was serious, we had plans for future movements to make. +There are so many sights to see here, and in front of us, and so many, +it appears, we ought to have stopped to see between Bombay and here; +however we realise that unless American born we can only assimilate what +an American would consider to be a very little in a very long time, so +we are going along slowly. We should properly go to see the Cauvery +Falls,[14] the water of which drives the dynamos there for the Kolar +gold fields, sending the current that equals 11,000 horse power +ninety-three miles by wire to Kolar, and fifty-seven to this place, to +light the streets. Four hundred feet the water falls, in pipes, and +drives the turbines; so in this, the dry season, there is little water +to be seen. I can almost fancy I see this, and I may read about the +engineering at home! + +[14] See graphic description Cauvery Falls Power Station, Kolar Gold +Fields, in "Vision of India:" by Sidney Low (Smith, Elder & Co.). + +The Falls of Gairsoppa, it is decided in our evening confab, we must +see, and we smoke various cheroots over them. So far we go in train, I +understand, towards the coast and the wild west, then we get into tongas +and creep down and under jungle day after day, an immensity of trees +towering above till the wholesome light of the sky is shut out and you +breathe in the damp depths of the primeval jungle, and see huge +mosquitoes and diminutive aboriginal men with bows and arrows hiding +from you like the beasts in the field that perish. So you travel day in +day out, spending nights in Dak bungalows with nothing to eat but tins. +I said, "It seems a damned long, dark, boggy, dangerous road," and D. +was shocked, till I reminded her I was only quoting Tony Lumpkin. The +explanation being doubtfully accepted, D. expatiated on the delight of +coming out of the gloom to find all the stir and movement and light in +the great opening where there was 829 feet of water tumbling into a +cauldron full twenty fathoms deep, blue sky overhead, foam everywhere, +rainbows, and more falls below, and glittering wet rocks and waving +foliage all round. A hard place to fish, I thought. And believe I will +just fancy I see this place too; it sounds rather a "circumbendibus" for +us this journey. + +And why leave Bangalore at all? Why fatigue ourselves seeing more places +and sights than these we have near us? We feel inclined to pitch our +tents here for a prolonged stay, the light is so brilliant and air sunny +and refreshing, and there are subjects for pictures on all sides of all +kinds; of village life, people, beasts and foliage--such exquisite Corot +foliage--and reflections in reedy pools. + +As I write, within a stone throw of my dressing-room, there appears a +queenly figure, draped in crimson edged with gold, from the shadows of +the trees. She stands in full sun, beside grey boulders under green +foliage; cattle finely bred, like deer, feed on either side of her, and +the sapling stems draw shadows on their fawn and white hides, and across +the withered, short, dry grass. She belongs to R.'s establishment, I +suppose--wife of a Sweeper perhaps, but at this distance she might be a +Grecian goddess for she is too far off to distinguish features. The +golden brown of her face and the blue-black of the hair under the +crimson and gold in full afternoon sun are splendid against the depths +of green shadow. Her contemplative attitude suggests at once repose and +calm expectancy. + +[Illustration] + +This afternoon I made another jotting of a woman herding a cow in a dell +at the side of the road shaded from the rays of the afternoon sun. Her +dress was metallic-blue, in folds as severely classical as those of a +Muse of Herculaneum, and it was edged with lines of pale gold. On her +brown arms were silver bangles, and a band of dull rose round the short +sleeves of the bodice. She led a white cow and its calf, and they +browsed on the leaves of oleander; the pink geranium coloured flowers +and grey-green leaves harmonised with the white skins of her beasts. +The black touch in the picture was her smooth black hair and painted +eyebrows. + +Here follows a pen scribble in my journal of what happens in this +household once a week I understand. Before dinner mine host and hostess +give some signal and the servants line up on the verandah and their +wages are paid. Such a lot of ground is covered and so very quickly. R. +knows apparently all about each servant, how many children this man has, +and whether they are married or single, and what he owes the +money-lender, what part of the country he comes from, etc., etc. Mrs B. +checks off everything paid out. So from bridge making and railway +contracts in the early morning to annas and pice for servants in the +evening has been R.'s day's work; half-an-hour at this minor business +and we are free for dinner, host and hostess, at any rate, conscious of +a day's work done. + +[Illustration] + +We were enjoying our cheroots to-night in the warm dusk in the verandah, +when there was a shout that there was a thief in the house--we jumped! +R. into one entrance, I into another, and we scurried round the big, +dark drawing-room trying to catch him; someone passed me and I "held him +low"--it was R. and I felt small! The thief had got out between us, and +had jumped a pretty high balcony, and we followed with a View Haloo or +something to that effect in Tamil from R. I never saw the thief, but R. +said he disappeared under a road bridge which led to a donga and jungle +and native huts. He dodged a neighbour's butler who was brought out by +the shouts, and got away. He had only just got into the house, for there +were only some small silver things taken. It was like a scene from a +comic opera when we got back, as our host and hostess with old fashioned +lamps went along their line of white-robed servants. These were all +dying to speak at once, but had each to wait his turn and give his +account of how the thief had come in, how he was seen, and what he was +doing when the alarm was given. + +With this veracious account of an inglorious adventure I will draw +another day's journal to its close, and if the reader is not asleep, we +will now proceed to consider the subject of snipe shooting. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +[Illustration] + +December ...--We left "Locksley Hall" at 7.30, and D. came to station to +see us off and to give last instructions to the servants about catering +for us. We have to train all night till two in the morning, then shoot +duck and snipe at an out of the way tank, get back to train at twelve, +and then home after another day and night in train. A long journey for a +small shoot, but for R. the shoot is only a minor consideration. All +along the road he stops at stations and gets reports front contractors +and workers on the line, and generally sees that the line is in working +order. His assistant engineer comes with his own carriage. R., as +senior, can take the tail of train with our carriage so that he can +watch the track as we jog along. It's a nice slow train, and you think +you could walk beside it up the hills, but in reality you have to go at +a gentle trot. + +Bangalore Station was a sight for a tenderfoot--brim full of colour and +types. Half in shadow half in light, as if several theatrical companies +were on tour in their costumes--a company, say of The Merchant of +Venice, another of The Cingalee, and a Variety Show or two. There were +sellers of green bananas and soda water and native sweet cakes in all +the colours you can think of, and British soldiers in khaki and pith +helmets, and everyone running about with properties and luggage on their +heads and in their hands. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +This is, to my mind, a luxurious way of travelling. Both carriages have +berths, bathroom, and kitchen, all very diminutive except the berths. +Our kitchen would hardly hold one European, but holds at least three +natives. At five and a half miles an hour you can do all sorts of +things, paint or snooze, or, as I prefer to do on this day, sit in a +comfortable arm-chair with feet in the sun on the after platform and +watch the line running away behind into the vanishing point. + +R.'s assistant, H., is in our carriage, and these two pull out all sorts +of documents and papers flooded with figures and go into their work, and +talk of cement, sleepers, measurements, curve stresses and strains +generally, and of the particular bits of business on hand; but +occasionally they have a minute or two off and we find ourselves talking +of duck and snipe and overhauling decoys, R. and H. discussing the +chances of the season at this tank or the other. Then they get to +business again, about a native contractor perhaps--is he all right, or +is he not?--and every now and then we disembark and have a brief chat +with a stationmaster, and look at points or trees and buildings; these +matters are gone through pretty quickly, and we get on to the tail of +our train again as it slowly moves off. + +We are going now through a gravelly red soil, the sun blazing hot. We go +so comfortably slowly that we can lean out and see our little narrow +gauge train crawling along like a silver grey caterpillar, for the +passenger cars and goods cars are round topped like Saratoga trunks, and +their French grey colour harmonises with the hedge of grey-green cactus +leaves on the side of the line. Beyond the train we see the lines like +curves of blue riband on the yellow and white quartz ballast of the +track. Our little engine puffs up little rags of white against the blue +sky. Add a touch of bright colour, a flutter of pink drapery, and a +brown shoulder, a finely modelled arm and bangle at a carriage window, +catching the cool draught, and you have, I think, quite a pleasant +colour scheme. The track is so tidy that there are white quartz stones +arranged along each side of the yellow quartz ballast, and where there +is sand ballast it is patted down as neatly as a pie crust. R. says it +is difficult to prevent the native navvy making geometric designs with +the coloured quartz. + +[Illustration] + +By the afternoon we are in a wide-spreading country, only broken with +clumps of palms at great distances. The soil is dull red, almost magenta +at the edge of cuttings, and above on the plains it is yellow ochre with +scrub bushes and many lemon-yellow blossoms. As the sun sets we pass +flocks of sheep and goats collecting for protection within tall zerebas +of thorn and palm leaves. The dust they raise catches the sun and hangs +over them in a golden mist. Far out on the horizon there is one streak +of warm violet where some low hills appear--a simple enough landscape, +with not many features, but with the charm that belongs to scenes at sea +or in the desert, where there are but two elements to hold the thoughts. + +Now we draw up near a village, and women and children watch our train. +I wish they'd keep some one portion of their limbs and draperies still +an instant to let me see and draw, but they won't. Two women lean +against the wire fence near us, one a tall, small-headed and long-limbed +matron in dullish green sari with gold or yellow round its edges in thin +and broad lines, and a bodice of orange and crimson. Her neighbour leans +and talks, incessantly moving; she is wrapped in vivid crimson, edged +with a broad band of poppy blue. Behind them the village is hazy in half +tone against the light; across the space between, there flits a fairy in +lemon-yellow or orange drapery slightly blown out so that the sun makes +it a transparent blaze of yellow--a dainty Tanagra Figurine come to life +and colour again! + +... ARSIKERE.--We have our carriage gently shunted at a siding here, and +stop under a banyan tree, and have our meal in the moonlight--such +moonlight and such a meal! I've heard so much of Indian cooking, of the +everlasting chicken and curries, but out of our two tiny kitchens we get +a dinner worthy of a moderately good French cafe, fish and beef, and +game, and variety of vegetables.--Indian beef is not half bad in my +humble opinion, and the Vino Tinto is straight from Lisbon, by Goa, the +Portuguese port on this west coast, what better could a man desire? + +A hitch in our arrangements occurred here. Our plans were to tie on to a +north-going train at two in the morning, and cut off again at a tank +some miles up the line where the duck-shooting is sublime. But my host +got a wire from the head engineer of the whole line about matters +connected with the royal visit to Mysore, and he must now go down south, +to stamp on the bridges and see that the line is all firm and safe, so +the wanderer from home again realises that there is a Prince in the +land! And we feel loyally resigned, especially as there happens to be +good snipe ground where we are, and we can't return before midday +to-morrow, and so can have a long half-day's shooting before we hitch +on to the south mail train. + +[Illustration] + +As we sit at table on the side of the track, the village dogs steal into +the moonlight and come gradually nearer us; masterless dogs of any +colour betwixt the collie and fox-terrier. No one feeds them or owns +them, so there's plenty of appetite and unclaimed affection going. One +old lady takes her position beside us for the night, and its poor bony +sides are filled for once, and its brown eyes in the morning look +grateful and eager for more. R. says he thinks the most miserable are +those with fox-terrier blood; and they do not outlive their second +litters. It lay on the sand a little way off the greater part of the +night, the shyer dogs still farther off, scarcely seen in the darkness. +Perhaps these half-breds have inherited thoughts of former better days, +which brings me back to that freckled, sandy-haired Eurasian boy at the +Bundar, with his black eyelashes, and the blue-eyed, curly-haired girl +in the native throng. + +[Illustration] + +Now we are coming to the snipe, "little by little," our nurse used to +say, "as the lawyers get to Heaven," and I put in notes about them here +from a letter written to my friend W. B., but not yet posted. + + "MY DEAR W. B.,--You ask me about sport, and if I've got near a + tiger? So far as I am aware I have not been in the immediate + proximity of a tiger, though I have been in what is, at times, a + tiger country--about Dharwar, and where I'd very probably have got + one if I'd taken many men and months and much money to secure it. + But to-day I've had funnier shooting than I've ever had--fancy + snipe, my dear man, amongst palm trees! tall cocoa-nut palms, betel + nuts, and toddy palms, and banana trees--big snipe, and decently + tame. Fancy them dodging like woodcock at home, from a blaze of sun + into the deep shadows of subtropical palm groves! + + [Illustration] + + "We trollied to our shooting ground, R. and I and four trolley + men--such a nice way of getting along--with palms on either side of + the track, some of them covered with creepers from their very tops + to the ground in cascades--Niagaras, I mean, of green leaves and + lilac blossoms; and through this jungle the sun streamed across the + yellow quartz track and glittered on the lines. Two men at a time + ran barefooted behind, one on each rail, and shoved the trolley and + jumped on going down hill. We went at just a nice rate, which gave + us time to note the birds and flowers along the side of the line. + + [Illustration] + + "About two miles down the line we struck off to the east on foot, + and crossed rice stubbles with clear rills of water running through + them, the first clear water we have seen here so far--any we have + seen has been red or yellow with mud. Then we came to woods of all + sorts of palms, mostly low growing on white sand, and here and + there pools and marshes over which the palms stood and were + reflected and threw sharp shadows across the blue reflection from + the sky. Fancy shooting common snipe in such a botanical garden! + The last I shot were with S. in Ayrshire in cold, and wind and wet + and a grey light on high moorland, about the 1st of last October. + + [Illustration] + + "We spread out, R. and I and his merry men, and waded; his butler + and cook apparently as keen about shikar as cooking, and promptly + three snipe got up, jolly slow flyers, in front of me, and I let + off and hit one of the palm tree trunks and the snipe disappeared + in the gloom of their shade. I saw R. on my right out in the full + blaze of the sun get one of the three, then wisp after wisp got up + and we began to bag them and to fear our cartridges would run out. + But imagine the difficulty of hitting even those slow waterfowl + with an eagle or vulture or a group of them, huge fellows, looking + at you from fifteen to twenty yards off from the top of a low palm, + or a kingfisher of vivid cerulean quivering in front of your nose, + so fixed in its poise and so dazzling in colour that you saw a pink + spot for minutes after, and so got in to your waist. And there were + many kinds of doves and pigeons, which almost fanned our faces as + they swooped past, and hanging weaver birds' nests, that I tried + not to look at, and a roller bird I'd defy anyone not to look + at--the size of a jay, irridescent pale blue and green all over, + with just a touch of brown to set off the blues. I'd fain have shot + one but for the bother of skinning and curing. You can imagine how + distracting at first was this free run in a natural aviary and + botanical garden combined, and how difficult to concentrate on the + 'commoner' garden snipe. + + [Illustration] + + "Very soon each of the men had a bundle of snipe and we had to + return; but we had not many cartridges left, which consoled us. We + went back pretty wet all over, for it was piping hot and airless + under the palms, but on the fields outside the air was delicious + and dry. We crossed the line to a beautiful lake with level grassy + banks and found it alive with thousands of duck. They were very + wary though, and kept far out of range and wouldn't rise. We had + not time for rafting or boating, so got on to the trolly again, and + back to our home on the siding; and some snipe were plucked before + I'd found my pencil. You should see how neat these servants are + with their fingers. Here is a jotting of the operation--I think + I've got the movement of their rather weak-looking hands. They are + sitting on the track beside the kitchen part of the carriage. + + "I wish very much both R. and I could spare a little more time for + this pastime, "but one canna dae a' thing," as they say at St. + Abbs, and R. has to attend to Royal preparations south--thus has + the honour and glory of serving his country and his King--I am + trying to see where my Ego scores, but don't--I miss a half-day's + shooting. But the little we had, was astonishingly interesting + though it wasn't very long. Now we have a day and a night home + again--a hundred miles to a snipe shoot, my longest journey in + proportion to the size of the shoot; but no distance at all + compared with its novelty and interest. + + ... Drew most of the way home, cows, aloes, trees, women's figures, + men's ditto, dogs, goats, palms, etc., etc. It passes the time and + does no harm that I wot of. + + All pleasures but the Artist's bring + "I' th' tail repentance like a sting." + + "Home to Bangalore and the rehearsal of our adventures to our + better halves, and talk--well into the night, which means here + about 11.30! Then to bed at once, for R. has to start early with + his Chief in the morning, he is coming from the Central Office at + Dharwar; to test bridges and things in Mysore, to see they are + strong enough, for they say there are twenty English valets coming + in the Royal train!" + +It rained heavily all night, and this morning the sky was overcast, and +already we, who have been in India only a few weeks, feel almost vexed +that it is not sunny. In the morning we went to the Residency to call--a +strange hour to call at, one of the things in India nobody can +understand--as reasonable as top hats and frock coats in Calcutta. It is +a very fine Embassy indeed--palace, perhaps, you might almost call it, +with a nice air of official dignity that comes from the Lion and the +Unicorn in the front of the house above the entrance, and the little +khaki clad native soldiers, mounted orderlies, and Red Chuprassis in +groups about the grounds. + +Mrs Fraser, wife of the Resident, was at home, and wore a very pretty +dress of soft grey and black muslin(?) with touches of dull rose +bows--but how can you describe a dress of the present period, they are +such subtle things; a Romney or a Reynolds dress would be easy +enough--something white hitched up here or there would be near enough, +but nowadays the colours of various materials tell through each other so +delicately and the shapes suggest faintly so many periods that I +question if it is in the power of words to describe a modern frock. + +Our hostess, I gathered, is deeply engrossed in making the bundabast[15] +for the entertainment of the Prince and his retainers--If twenty valets +require so many napkins, for so many days, how many cups and saucers +will be needed for a Royal Procession for a week, and so on? + +[15] I think the context explains the meaning of Bundabast--an +invaluable word. I take it, it is used correctly as above. You can make +"bundabast" for a campaign, I believe, or for a picnic; _i.e._, order +the carriages, food, and things, and the right people, and generally +take all responsibilities therefor. + +15th. Dec.--This ought to be a date to remember in our lives. My neice +and I went to jail to-day, both for the first time, and I am not anxious +to go again. It is immediately across the road from Locksley Hall. We +passed through a double archway, guarded inside by native soldiers. +Facing us as we entered, the walls were decorated with trophies of +chains and fetters, which the man in the street might see as he passed. + +The Governor very kindly went round with us, and we saw a distinctly +stronger type of man than those outside; here and there a trifle too +much cheek bone and queer eyes, mostly murderers, many with faces one +would pick for choice as manly men. Famine times account for some of the +murders, and overstocking I should say; it's done everywhere, in trout +ponds, deer forests, and sheep runs. India, I expect, is over preserved; +a bad season comes, and famine, and one starving fellow chips in with +another, and knocks a third party on the head because he has a meal on +him, and the first parties' children are crying for food--and by the +prophets, we'd each try to do the same under similar circumstances, and +the result would be the survival of the fittest. Government now catches +the would-be "fittest" and sets him hanging to a piece of rope, or makes +him wear beautiful bright chains and weave beautiful carpets, as they do +here, in all the colours of Joseph's coat, in silk or cotton; with +everything he wants except liberty and the sun on the road outside--and +the children and wife. The carpets are exquisitely made in hand-looms. +The men sit in a sort of rifle pit and weave on an upright hand-loom, +and the patterns on great carpets or the finest of silk rugs grow out of +their wicked brains only; there's no pattern in front of them to copy +from; they do it by heart. You know a "Lifer" from a "Timer" by the +colour of their skull caps; one is white, the other brown--I think the +brown is the "Lifer." All is beautifully kept, and the men look at you +when ordered to do so, also when they are not ordered and your back is +turned. They give their names too when ordered, and crimes, and terms of +imprisonment, so gently. Oh! how I'd love to kick the blessed wall all +down and let the lot out! then I'd have to sit up all night, I suppose, +with a gun, looking after our silver-plated spoons. + +The principal individual who caused most trouble in the prison was a +"Lifer," I think, a most remarkably long, thin man, actually eel-like. +He had escaped three times. The last hole he escaped by he made with a +nail, and it had just been bricked up and plastered over. He was not +allowed to work, merely stood bolt upright, a head and shoulder higher +than his two, armed jailers, who were chained to him. He was motionless +as a statue, but I never saw such unrest as there was in his eyes; there +was the look of the eye of a bird in the hand, one simple concentrated +expression of watchfulness for a chance to escape. He is a bit of a wag, +I am told. Once when he escaped he borrowed a carriage and livery and +engaged himself to the services of a lady in Bangalore, and actually +drove the lady to prison to call on the Governor. But when he gathered +the Governor was coming to return the call, he thought it time to go; I +don't know how he was captured again, and I wonder very much if he will +escape once more. His four companions who stood beside him in the blaze +of joyous sun were just going to be released in half an hour from all +their joys and troubles. Two of them looked very murderous specimens, +two looked good, I don't know why, but one felt curiously shy about +looking at them. One or two of the murderers' faces wore a quiet +half-smiling expression, barely human, and that seemed to me to spell +"killing" quite distinctly and without any evil intent, like the +expression on a Greek head I have only once seen, a youthful +combatant--a cheery unintrospective look, a tough round neck, raised +chin, oblique eyes, and the least smile on lips just parted. One young +woman had that kind of face too; the rest were just as good in +expression as outsiders. They were employed grinding millets in hand +quirns, hard work, I'd think; the top stone they turn round, weighs two +stone and they put it round fairly quickly. I'd so much have liked to +have drawn this particular woman's face. I think it is the only +handsomely shaped face I've seen in India so far, and yet that queer +inhuman look ought to have prevented a child closing its eyes near her. +She had killed a child for its bangle and dropped it into a well, and in +prison nearly killed another for another bangle. She was fourteen and +had a look of complete ignorance of good or evil. This good-looking girl +they tell me is to go into a nunnery--by my Hostie! I'd like to hear the +end of the story. + +We came back from the jail and found a tableau arranged on our verandah. +It was well done, whether by accident or design. The two principal +actors sat in the middle of the verandah with neat bundles arranged +round them, and behind them sat their two slaves or henchmen in garments +of complimentary tints. The Memsahibs came and were salaamed, and sat in +front of the traders. Then the bundles were opened and blossomed into +colours and fabrics. Within ten minutes the verandah was covered with +silks of every hue, gorgeous colours and the delicate colours of +moonlight, so that the matting was completely covered with a veritable +riot of colours and textures--a much more wonderful effect than any +tricks with baskets or mangoes grown under sheets. I tried to put this +down in colour, and here is a pen and ink jotting of the subject. + +[Illustration] + +Sunday.--Walked round the outside of the prison grounds amongst little +patches of highly-cultivated market gardens and clumps of palms, and +these long pumps like the ancient catapult with bronze men sweating at +them pulling down the long arm of the balanced yard to let the bucket +down the well, then tipping the water out into gutters of mud to +irrigate. They do it pretty much the same way up the Nile. The cottages +have low mud walls, and are thatched with dried palm leaves and scraps +of corrugated iron, and the naked children, with their coal-black mops +of hair, play about in the dust with the hens, and seem to have a good +time. They are chubby and jolly, and don't quarrel so much, or speak so +harshly as school board children in our Bonnie Lowlands. Here and there +are quaint little temples, stone built, under the palms between the +patches of cultivated ground. There are prickly pears, and hedges of +different thorny creepers with flowers of pink, cinnamon, deep orange, +and violet. I pass a group of goats feeding on one of these hedges, +black, white, and brown--a pleasant motley of moving colour. The piece +of hedge near me has pink flowers, and behind it you see a little +lapis-lazuli sky. The black goat's coat is almost blue with reflected +sky. Near me a boy stands in the shadow of a tree herding a cow. The +leaves throw deep shadows on the rusty red path and a tracery of leaf +shadows, on the cow's back and sides--deeper in colour than the velvety +black of the hide itself. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: A Street Corner, Bangalore] + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +In the evening my hostess drives me to another part of the bazaar, and +we scribble, and try hard to remember a street corner and prevent other +scenes obliterating our impressions and come straight home to get it +down. + +The lamplight conflict with daylight is to me as interesting here as at +home. The best minutes in the day, I think, for colour, are when the +shadows from figures passing the lamps just become visible, when they +still hold the blue of day in them, and so contrast pleasantly with the +yellow lights of oil and electric lamps. + +Outside many of the booths chandeliers of cut crystal are hung, and +give, what I consider, a charming effect. + +In the evening there was a dinner party at the Residency, to which Mrs +Fraser very kindly invited us, and there was pleasant talk about Burmah +and princely pageants, elephant kedar camps, and the right royal +entertainments to be held at Mysore; and of how the twenty valets and +the hundreds of guests are to be provided for; to quote the Tales of +the Highlands, "there will be music in the place of hearing, meat in the +place of eating, smooth drinks and rough drinks, and drinks for the +laying down of slumber, mirth raised and lament laid down, and a right +joyful hearty plying of the feast and Royal Company"--but how it is all +to be done is past my comprehension! Noah, the Raven said, did them +really well in the Ark; but a Royal Retinue must be much more difficult +to provide for, must need a bigger "bunda-bust"--I believe I've used +this word rightly again! + +[Illustration] + +The Maharajah of Mysore came after dinner. He was dressed in a pale +turquoise silk coat, with dark blue and white and gold turban with +diamond aigrette, and white trousers, patent leather shoes, and a long +necklace of very large diamonds. He is twenty-one and good-looking, with +pleasant expression and a quiet possessed manner. I am almost glad I did +not know that he is building such a wonderful palace, or I would have +felt oppressed. This palace at Mysore is to be the finest in the world, +so people here say, but of it anon. We spoke of music; he plays a great +number of instruments (I think thirteen). I asked which music he liked +best, Eastern or Western, and he replied, "When I hear Western music, I +think surely nothing could be better. Then when I hear our own Eastern +music, again I think nothing could be better." He understands the +various kinds of our Highland music, and argued that if you understand +the folk music of one race you can understand that of others. To me it +seems a loss to music that these early forms of various races are not +more often studied by modern musicians. Writers and painters set an +example in this way; painters and sculptors especially, for they study +the art of all times and peoples, ancient Greek, Egyptian, Japanese, +etc., but what does the ordinary musician know of these ancient Greek, +Egyptian, or Celtic tunes that are fast being forgotten, or of Japanese, +Indian, or Burmese intricacies? Sir Arthur Sullivan did study Burmese +music, but was not that quite exceptional? Writers too, generally have a +smattering of some dead languages, and even advocate the study to-day, +of Sanskrit, and Gaelic. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +[Illustration] + + Before the phantom of false morning died, + Our boy outside the carriage cried, + When all the breakfast is prepared without, + Why nods the drowsy Sahib still inside? + + and + + Wake for the sun has scattered into flight + The stars before it from the field of night; + Drives night along with it, and strikes + The Rajah's palace with a shaft of light-- + +as above, but possibly it is just a Government building, a post office, +perhaps! Our two carriages are in a siding at this Mysore station, and +the servants are outside with breakfast. The robes of the natives coming +towards the station in the twilight under said shaft of light are +greenish in contrast; they are wrapped up in their white mantles to keep +off what they appear to think dangerous morning air. Only a few of them +are astir, and the dew runs steadily from the roof of our carriage and +makes a hole in the sandy track, and an early crow is round for anything +that may be going. The cook comes past with a comforting glow from +charcoal in a frying pan, so we know our _chota hazri_ will be before +us in no time, after which we intend to trolly back on the line to +Seringapatam. + +We came here yesterday afternoon from Bangalore, R. and D. with their +carriage, and self and G. in one the Railway Co. let us have--for a +consideration! A very good plan this--you pay for three fares and have +your carriage overnight, so at places where there are no hotels you are +more comfortable than if there were! + +Coming here from Bangalore to Mysore, the line is interesting all the +way, the scenes change constantly--I have very distinct recollections of +at first "garden scenery," then jungle and bushy woods running into +rocky gorges, barren sand wastes and rich rolling corn lands alternating +in the few hours run, yet in my journal I have not a line of pen or +scrape of pencil of these scenes; I daresay the reader has noticed this, +that scenes taken unconsciously on the tablets of memory--unconscious +impressions--are more lasting than those taken down consciously and +deliberately. + +Mysore town is a place of wide roads and trees, fields intended to be +parks some day, and light and air. Many houses of European origin, +somewhat suggestive of Italian or Spanish villas, are shuttered and +closed in, so as to give a sense of their being deserted. You drive past +these silent houses and their gardens and come to the native town, which +is anything but silent or deserted, and then to the new palace; the +modern sight of southern India. It is brimming with life; it looks like +a Gothic cathedral in course of construction. Two towers, each at a +guess, 150 feet high, with a wing between them, bristle with bamboo +scaffolding so warped and twisted out of the perpendicular that the +uprights are like old fishing rods. The extraordinary intricacy is quite +fascinating, but at present it partially prevents one seeing the general +proportions and effect of the building. As we see it, in the afternoon, +the great mass of building is grey against the western light; thousands +of men, women, boys, and children are scattered over its face on these +fragile perches, and though not in sunlight, their many-coloured +draperies reflect on the variously coloured stones at which they are +carving. Around us, on the ground, are other thousands doing similar +work, hewing, sawing, and carving marbles and granite--such intricate +carving--in reddish and grey-green granite. As to the general +architectural effect it would be unwise to venture an opinion at +present; but the details are simply marvellous. I believe it is intended +to be the finest palace in the world, and if a great many exquisite +fancies put together, will form one great conception, then certainly +this expression in architecture must be a magnificent work of art. The +people to-day and the generations to come must owe this Prince great +gratitude for the encouragement of so many skilled craftsmen, and for +the preservation of Indian arts and crafts. There were four hundred +fine-wood carvers, and four hundred fine-stone carvers, carving filigree +ornaments, chains, and foliage of the most astonishing realism in these +materials. Fancy, actual chains in granite, pendants from elephants' +heads! Most of the skilled masons and joiners of India, I am told, have +been collected here. The masons must be in thousands; they are +wonderfully skilled in work at granite, their very lightness of hand +seems to let them feel just the weight of iron needed to flake off the +right amount from the granite blocks. A very much extended description +of the Temple of Solomon might give to one who had time to read an idea +of the richness of the materials employed, and the variety of the +subjects of the decorations. There is marble--work and wood--work, +silver doors, ivory doors, and rooms, halls, and passages of these +materials, all carved with Indian minuteness and delicacy, with telling +scenes from the stories of Hindoo deities; and in the middle of these +Eastern marvels are alas! cast-iron pillars from Glasgow. They form a +central group from base to top of the great tower; between them at each +flat they are encircled with cast-iron perforated balconies. They are +made to imitate Hindoo pillars with all their taperings and swellings, +and are painted vermilion and curry-colour. Opening on to these +cast-iron balconies are the silver and ivory rooms and floors of +exquisite marble inlay. + +We saw inside on many floors, modellers with their clay, modelling +groups for the stone-carvers, in high or low relief, with utmost +rapidity, freedom, finish, and appreciation of light and shade. The +different methods of craftsmen in different countries is always +interesting. Here the modeller works on the floor seated on his heels; +he runs up acanthus leaves, geometric designs, or groups of figures and +animals with a rapidity that would give our niggling Academy teachers at +home considerable food for thought--and yet the work is fine, and the +figures are full of expression. The area of a workman's studio you might +cover with a napkin, or say, a small table-cloth. The carver takes the +model and whacks it out in _granite_ without any pointing or other help +than his hand and eye and a pointed iron chisel and hammer, and he loses +very little indeed of the character of the model, in fact, as little as +some well paid Italian workers. + +The wood-carving, as far as technical skill in cutting goes, was out and +away beyond anything we could almost dream of at home, and all at 1s. +4d. a day, which is good pay here. One man cut with consummate skill +geometrical ornaments on lintels to be supported by architraves covered +with woodland scenes, with elephants foreshortened and ivory tusks +looking out from amongst tree-trunks, and most naturalistic monkeys, +peacocks, fruit, and foliage. All this we saw rapidly dug out in the +hard brown teak with delightful vigour, spontaneity, and finish. One +might fear that a geometrically carved lintel would not be quite in +keeping with a florid jamb, but why carp, we should look at the best +side of things. I think these same craftsmen working to the design of +one artist, or artist and architect in one, might make a record. The +ability to carry out the design is here, and at such a price! But where +is the thought, the conception for a Parthenon--a nation must first +worship beauty before it can produce it. + +I think the native town and streets here as good as can be for painting +pictures; a man would have to come young and get up early to do the +subjects you see in an hour or two. Here there is more style, wider +surfaces, and character in the native houses than in Bombay. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +We went to Seringapatam yesterday on trollies, nine miles back on the +line by which we came from Bangalore to Mysore city. We had two +trollies, R. and G. in front with workmen examining the line as we went, +an extremely pleasant mode of procedure, with a certain dignity about it +that is absent in a railway carriage. We sit in front on comfortable +seats, a red flag on a bamboo overhead, a fat stationmaster and two +natives behind, and two on the rails to shove, the shadow of the whole +show running along beside us outlined on the ballast and sunny cactus +hedge. + +[Illustration] + +The first miles were over somewhat sandy, gravelly ground, then through +groves of palms, and mostly down hill. At this comfortable rate we had +time to look at the field workers in the rice crops, the palms with +their skirts of creepers, and flowering thornbrakes, and the "bits" of +the yellow corn and hedges and flat fields, that one might have seen on +any summer's day in England. The reapers were in groups and lines in the +greenish corn, the men bronze and bare to the waistcloths, the women in +many-coloured draperies, Ruths and reapers and Boazes by the dozen, with +the women's bangles gleaming, and the men's sickles glittering in the +cheerful sunlight. + +Seringapatam is on an island three miles long, in the Cauvery River; +outside it we were met by a victoria and drove about the island. It is a +pleasant place to spend a day; the marks of our forefathers' gunnery on +the walls gives quite a homely feeling. You see where they camped and +the river they looked at--a gentle-running, sapphire stream with +yellow-grey stones showing across it, not much more than a hundred yards +across when we saw it--and the big double masonry wall beyond it which +they battered and scaled. Barring the trees and bushes that have grown +on the walls, the battering looks as if it had only been done yesterday. +We spent the morning going over the walls, without a guide or +guide-book, trying to pick up the hang of the situation from what we had +heard and read of the siege. There is pleasant park-land inside the +walls, with beautiful tall trees, but the view that fascinates is from +the walls across the river towards the points where the British guns +were fired from, and from which the assault was made. Later in the day +the stationmaster, Bubbaraya Moodeliar, gave us a copy of a guide he has +written, such an excellent, concise description of the place and its +history. It was pleasant to find so many of our countrymen's names on +the first pages, and at the risk of being tedious, my friends, they are +here; the names as they occur in this "Short History of the Siege and +Assault," by an Indian native--Wellesley, Kelly, Sir David Baird, +Captain Prescott, Lt. C. Dunlop, Baillie, Bell, Lt.-Colonel Gardiner, +Dalrymple, General Stuart, Wallace, Sherbrooke, Douse, Hart, Lalor--all +well-known Scottish and Irish names, except two or perhaps three that +may be English, but the Native puts them all, down as "English!" So does +the editor of Murray's "Guide to India"--describes those who fought +under Duff, Grant, and Ford as an "English Force." So foolish writers +are filching our good name by ignoring the Terms of Union, and +deliberately or unconsciously are working up another scrap on the banks +of the Bannock--well, so be it, the times are a little dull; and we need +a little national stiffening north of Tweed. + +The Water-gate, where Tippoo Sultan got his _coup de grace_ in the +general flight of his people, is just the quiet and peaceful place in +which to doze and dream for a summer day on the green sward under the +park-like trees. The Gate is an arched passage through thick walls +leading to a walled-in space with trees hanging over it; through a +tumbled down bit of this wall you come on to the river. It was +delightful there, no one about, excepting two or three women washing +clothes on the stones in the clear running water, with the sunshine and +flickering shadows from the trees falling over them. But it must have +been bustling enough on the 4th of May, 1799, when Tippoo tried to pass, +with Baird's troops behind! What would one not give to have seen that +last tableau: the British soldier in the crowd of natives going for the +wounded Sultan's jewelled sword belt, the jam and press, and the heat +and danger! The Sultan objected and wounded the soldier, so the soldier +put a bullet through the Sultan's head--and what became of our northern +robber, and the belt? What heaps of jewels Tippoo had collected; he used +to spend days in his treasure-house inventorying his stores of diamonds +and pearls, and to-day you may see some of the strings of pearls if you +dine out in Edinburgh. After the assault, during the night, a soldier +found his way into the treasury, and by morning a handful of diamonds +was the price offered and asked for a bottle of Arrack. These +international looting scenes seem to me peculiarly fascinating; I think +a little prize-money won that way must feel worth fortunes earned in +business. How our soldier of to-day swears at being deprived of such +perquisites, and how he wishes he had been "in the civil" at Mandalay or +Pekin. + +We drove through the native town and bazaar. It seemed half empty; a +native villa there might be had for one line of an old song. The Plague +had been knocking at many doors a little while ago, and now they swing +loosely on the hinges and the roofs are fallen in, or have been pulled +down rather, by the sahibs, to let the sun in and the evil plague spirit +out. + +We came to the high mosque, Allah Musjid one of the most beautiful +buildings I have ever seen; its proportions are so big and simple. It +was the favourite place of worship of Hyder Ali Khan and his son, +Tippoo. You go up to it through porticoes, and up a rough white stair, +with innumerable swallows in nests of feathers protruding from a level +line of holes in, the hot, sun-lit wall just above your head on the +right hand; and past little rest rooms for worshippers on the left, of +plain whitewashed stone, and earth floors, all in shadow. Up the steps +you come on a paved court with a balcony of white stone, and in front +there is the moorish arcade of the mosque, and at either end a very high +minaret, built possibly of stone white-washed, but much like weathered +marble. The design is big and simple, finer in conception than anything +we have seen so far. You have to lean your head very far back to follow +up the minarets with your eyes to the top; each is octagonal and tapers +slightly to two balconies. Pigeon-holes follow the slightly sloping +sides in a spiral direction, and under each hole there is a little +carved ledge, and on these and hovering near are many pigeons. There is +colour--marble-white, weathered to yellow, dazzling in the sun and cool +violet in shade, blue rock pigeons everywhere, and at the very top of +each spire a golden ball burns against the unfathomable blue. + +The hot air is slightly scented with incense and sandalwood, and there +is a musical droning from a few worshippers who repeat verses from the +Koran in the cool white interior mingled with the cooing of innumerable +pigeons, and the faint "kiree, kiree" of a kite a mile above, in the +blue zenith. + +We may not enter the mosque with boots on, and will not enter with them +off, so we admire from the outside the half Indian, half Saracenic +plaster-work in the interior of the arcade--the stalactite domes, +diapers, groins, modellings _in situ_, and wish the authority on plaster +work, Mr William Millar, was here to enjoy the skill and beauty of the +work. + +Next show--the summer palace of Tippoo Sultan. If you have been at +Granada you can picture this as rather a thin Hindoo edition of +Generalife Villa. It is moresque in style, but small in structural +forms, smaller still in geometrical ornament, and without breadth or +much harmony of colour schemes. Some small rooms were passable in gold +and silver and primary colours, but the principal halls and galleries +were extremely crude. To be seen properly there should be people in +proportion, little Hindoo beauties sitting primly at the balconies that +open on to the inner court, and playing beside the long formal tanks +that extend far amongst shrubs and trees of the surrounding gardens. +There are mural paintings on the verandah walls, which are spoken of as +attractions and things to be seen; they are slightly funny. They +represent the defeat of our troops by Hyder Ali and the French, but they +are of no great count, except as records of costume. But enough about +this place: our interest lay in the battered walls and the cells behind +them where our Highland and Lowland soldiers were imprisoned so long. + +We passed the Water-gate on our way back, then under a grove of +cocoa-nut palms, with many cocoa-nuts and monkeys in their tops; and we +threw stones up, but never a cocoa-nut did the monkeys throw back at us! +So we bought some at a price, a very small price indeed, and I for one +enjoyed seeing them in their green fresh state; when we got home to our +railway carriages, that had come on for us from Mysore to Seringapatam, +we had their tops slashed off with an axe: then put a long tumbler, +mouth down over the hole and upset the two, and so got the tumbler +filled with the water from the inside and drank it. We'd have drunk +anything we were so thirsty: so I will not offer an opinion as to its +quality, more than that it was distinctly refreshing. The shells and +husks were then split open, and we scraped the creamy white off the +inside of the soft shell with a piece of the rough green husk and ate it +and made believe it was delicious! + +[Illustration] + +As the sun is setting we cross the Cauvery River again, leaving +Seringapatam because it is said to be so malarial that it is unwise to +spend the night there.... The river is golden, the rocks violet, and the +sky above purple and vermilion; herons' scraik and duck are on the move, +almost invisible against the dark palms and bushes and shadowy banks--I +am not superstitious, but I think there were ghosts about, sturdy +fellows in old-fashioned uniforms; I should like to have held converse +with them. + + +MYSORE.--We got back to Mysore after dark. + +Our two homes are gently shoved into a siding, and before you can say +knife, our servants are spreading the table beside the carriage on the +sand by lamplight; there are flowers on the table, silver, linen, and +brass fingerbowls for four--the dinner prepared between Seringapatam and +here _en route_! R. having made final arrangements with his people for a +long hot day's work to-morrow, we fall to; needless to say we do not get +into regulation evening kit, but the regulation warm bath before dinner +was there all in order, even in such limited space! + +We left all windows open on the road here, so to-night hope we have got +rid of all the malarial infecting mosquitoes of Seringapatam--those here +are bad enough. + +[Illustration] + +... Work done, one sketch as above--catalogue misleader, "Dinner on the +Line;" or would a "Meal on the Track" be less descriptive?--Mind +stuffed with those "erroneous, hazy, distorted first impressions," +which, according to, and with the approval of Mr Aberich Mackay, the +"Anglo-Indian" hastens to throw away; and which I, not being in the +least Anglo-anything, wish most sincerely I could keep! + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TO ARTISTS + + +[Illustration] + +Channapatna.--This is the third station south of Bangalore. It is just +the place for an artist to come to to paint, and a mere step from +Bombay. There's a Dak bungalow where he could put up, a charming place +in a compound, with a servant in attendance. He'd just have to pack his +sticks, take a second or third-class ticket on say the Massagerie--for +an artist to be honest must be frugal--pick up a _Boy_ in Bombay at +twenty to thirty rupees a month, and once out here there's little to +spend money on but the bare cost of living. + +Almost no one comes this way to stop, so he could probably have the +bungalow almost as long as he liked, personally I'd have a tent so as +to be absolutely independent. Then for subjects, there's a wealth within +arm's reach; village bazaar pictures every ten yards, and round about +cattle and ruins, temples, moresque and Hindoo, palms and jungle trees, +graceful figures of women and men. Not particularly nice people, I +should say, but certainly picturesque and polite, with some lovely +children. The little ones are nude, prettily shaped and brown and dusty +as the bloom on fruit, and with such black eyes and wavy hair, the +blackest black, with a polish, and very long eyelashes over dark eyes. +Their faces seem refined and well shaped till they laugh or shout, when +the lizard throat and regular monkey teeth show a little. + +From daybreak, after _chota hazri_, the brother-of-the-brush would paint +till eleven, then have breakfast proper, a read and loaf--possibly a +little closing of the eyes to sleep would be more profitable--and paint +again in the afternoon and evening. And if he didn't use all his stock +of paints, water-colour, and oils before he left I'd be surprised. A +great attraction would be the absence of distractions such as you'd have +in larger centres, and very important, is the pleasant air here. + +Arsikerry, a little further north the line, is better in this last +respect, but I was not through the bazaar there, merely saw the place +was fairly good for snipe, as previously remarked in these notes. + +We put in here--Channapatna--yesterday afternoon. The sun was glowing on +the rain-trees that shelter the station, and we selected a spot shaded +by their foliage on a siding midst "beechen green and shadows +numberless." In a minute the servants were out on the sand track blowing +up the fire for tea, which R. had well-earned, as he'd been trollying +since daybreak looking at bridges, viaducts, station-buildings, and the +line, generally and practically, down to the stationmasters' gardens. +Tiring work both for eyes and mind, for whilst trollying you are quite +unsheltered, so the heat in the cuttings, and the glare from the quartz +and lines, has to be felt and seen to be believed, and of course the +track is the thing that has to be constantly regarded, so blue +spectacles are absolutely necessary, but only a partial protection to +the eyesight. No wonder R. takes such care to plant trees round +stations and to encourage the stationmasters to grow flowers! Apropos, +there were once prizes given to stationmasters with the best gardens. +Water being a consideration, the prize was allotted to the best garden +in _inverse ratio_ to its distance from a water supply. The +stationmaster who got first prize was five miles from a supply, and his +exhibit was one, almost dead flower, in a pot of dried earth; so that +"system" was shelved. + +We walked round the village after tea and came to the above conclusions, +that may possibly be useful to some brother artist. About the passage +out, just one word more; I met a colonel here who had tried third-class +home on a Massagerie boat, and said it wasn't half bad! He was fortunate +in finding an uncrowded cabin. + +Outside the little town were charming country scenes, and the village +streets, busy on either side with all sorts of trades, were positively +fascinating. In Bombay you have all the trades of one kind together, the +brass-workers in one street, and another trade occupies the whole of the +next street, and the houses are tall. Here are all sorts of trades side +by side, and two-storied and one-storied houses, with the palms leaning +over them. We bought for a penny or two an armful of curious grey-black +pottery with a silver sheen on its coarse surface. The designs were +classic and familiar; the cruisie, for instance, I saw in use the other +day in Kintyre, shining on a string of fresh herring, and you see it in +museums amongst Greek and Assyrian remains. At one booth were people +engaged making garlands of flowers, petals of roses, and marigolds sewn +together, and heavy with added perfume; at the next were a hundred and +one kinds of grain in tiny bowls, and at a third vegetables, beans, and +fruit. + +As we come back to our carriages we pass a rest house or temple, I don't +know which, perhaps both; steps lead up to it, and it is made of square +hewn-stone, all dull-white against an orange sky. It forms as it were a +triptych. As we pass we look into its shadowy porch; in the middle +panel are two oxen, one black the other white, lying down, and a man +standing beyond them, just distinguishable by a little fire-light that +comes from the left panel. In it, there is a man sitting with his arms +over his knees fanning a little fire. In the right panel another native +sits on his heels cooking a meal; a bamboo slopes across the cell behind +him, and supports a poor ragged cloth, a purda, I suppose, and behind, +are just discernible his wife and child. These wayfarers make me at once +think of a new and original treatment for a holy family, but hold! These +passages of light and colour, form fading into nothingness, are they not +worth understanding alone, are they not more pure art without being +nailed to some tale from the past? + +[Illustration] + +Our table looked very pretty in the evening, with our lamp lighting up +my companions' faces, and the branches of the trees above us, with warm +brown against the night blue sky. + +... Now we are off again to Bangalore, loath to leave our leafy siding +and the gentle faces at Channapatna, but R. has to be about business in +the south again, so we go back planning our next move, and we think we +will decide on Madras! We have been a long way and a long time from the +sea, and would like to get a glimpse of it again; the thought of it is +refreshing, even though it is but a tepid eastern sea which we will have +to cross if we decide on going to Burmah or the Straits. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +BANGALORE, 20th December.--Back to "Locksley Hall" and big rooms, +chairs, verandahs, everything feeling spacious and ample after our +quarters in the train. The three days on the line feels like weeks, so +much and so constantly have we been looking at interesting figures and +scenes. + +To-night, when cheroots were going, we talked of railway matters, big +things and little things. A little thing was a dispute amongst natives +on the line, settled satisfactorily the other day. Persons involved; +gatekeepers, police, native carters and witnesses galore. The +gatekeeper, long resident in a hut of railway sleepers roofed with red +soil, surrounded by aloes, heated by the sun, and watered by nothing. +Behold his portrait in day dress; at night he envelopes his noble form +in ample, even voluminous draperies. + +[Illustration] + +One night, he said, two carters lifted his level-crossing gates and took +them away. Mysore State police investigate.--Report to R.; no witnesses +could be got to bear out gatekeeper's statement, and suggest gatekeeper +had been demanding toll, _i.e._ blackmail, to put into his own pocket! + +_R_. asks _G.-K._!--"Why didn't you stop them taking the gates?" _G.-K._ +replies, "We did!" + +_R._--"Who was 'we'?" + +_G.-K._--"Me and my friends and my cousins and my aunts; certainly we +stopped them--and we drubbed them too, and took them to the police +station!" + +British justice makes further inquiry--finds possibly sixty rupees were +expended somewhere, to produce the "No witnesses." Action +taken--gatekeeper removed to more important trust--honesty established. + +From strength of girders, cement _v_. lime, foundations of piers and +curves of lines, we come to ghosts at night! These too, the engineer has +to consider in his day's work. Only yesterday a ghost was reported on +the line! And R. told me he came down the line in a trolley in the grey +of morning lately, he vouched for this, and found on the line a +patroller's lamp and no one holding it, then a turban, then top cloth, +then a waist cloth, and finally the owner at station, collapsed, +palpitating. R. asked him what he had seen. "It was a ghost" came after +him. "What was it like," said R.; "had it arms?" "No;" "Legs?" "No." +"How did it get along?" He couldn't tell. It was _a shape_ came after +him. So these ghosts are positive facts here to be dealt with by +superintendents and workman between them. + +_R._--Spoke as follows:-- + +"Now, my man, what I have to tell you about ghosts is this--you must +remember, it is very important. These ghosts you see here that frighten +you and your friends, as they have frightened you this morning, cannot +so much as touch you, or even be seen by you at all _if you walk between +the railway lines_! The _iron_ on each side of you prevents their having +the least influence over you; I will not say this about tigers or bears, +but ghosts--on the word of the Sahib, they cannot touch you between the +rails!" So they go away and believe in the Sahib's magic, just as they +believe his magic turns out the cholera devil when he pulls their tiles +down and disinfects their houses. Also they stick between the lines and +consequently to their patrol work, and don't go smoking pipes by little +cosy fires beside the aloes. I think R.'s prescription was fairly +shrewd. Many men would merely have laughed at the men's fears, and would +neither have shaken their beliefs nor given them something new to think +of. That was the way the great Columba scored off the Druids and Picts. +"I don't know about your astronomy or your fine music, or tales of +ancestors and heroes, but I'm telling you, old Baal himself, with all +his thunder and lightning, will not be so much as touching the least +hair on your head if you were just to hold up this trifle of two sticks +of wood. And if you do not believe me you will be burning for ever, and +for evermore!" + +Saturday, 23rd.--Wrote to a friend in Madras to engage rooms and walked +to the European Stores; they are excellent, you can get pretty nearly +everything--I even found sketch books to my taste. The roads are the +things to be remembered, their breadth and splendid trees are +delightful, but their length is terrible. Not again will I take a long +walk in cantonments! "The 'ard 'igh road" in the west is bad enough, but +when it's glaring sun on this red, hard soil, however bright and light +the air, you soon get fatigued on foot. + +Met D. and G. at shops, they were shopping on their own account and I on +mine, for I've never found men's shopping and ladies' go well together, +though for two ladies together shopping seems to be pure joy. We went to +the bank to change a cheque into something suitable for travel. You have +choice in India of silver rupees, value 1s. 4d., a few of which weigh +about a ton, or notes. The notes are like those we get in Scotland, if +you can believe me! I held out for gold, so there was a call for the +Bank Manager, and a procession to the safe; of self, Manager and keys, a +clerk, and three or four "velvet-footed" white-robed natives. I wish +some home bankers I know could have seen the classic bungalow Bank, with +its Pompeian pillars, and the waiting customers seated in the verandah, +and trailing, flowery, heavy-leaved creepers with blooms of orange and +white dangling from the capitals of the pillars. One of the customers +waiting in the verandah was a bearded priest, with black bombazine frock +and white topee; a Celt for certain by his hand and eye; and by his +polite manners and intelligent expression a Jesuit, I would guess; and +there were two ladies--spinsters and country bred I'd say, and poor, to +judge by pale, lined faces and the look of wear about their pith hats +and sun-faded dresses. Inside were white-robed figures just +distinguishable at desks, their faces invisible in the deep shadow. And +there was heat! and a continual "chink, chink" of counted rupees, and +outside in the sun, two impatient ladies waiting in a victoria. At last +we got the coin, and were faint with heat and hunger by the time we got +home to lunch,--this to show the climate of Bangalore; but perhaps my +readings of the temperature make it out to be hotter than it is. + +... I do not write much about cooking, and the table, in these notes, do +I? so just one word here, allow me.... Do not waste pity on dear friends +and relatives out here on the score of food. Truly the climatic +conditions are not such as so give great appetite but the food itself is +excellent, beef, _par example_; I'd never seen better beef than the hump +you get here, and the fish would be considered quite good in London, and +there are various vegetables and fruits; even strawberries you can get +occasionally from the hills, and then the curries are just as good as +they are said to be. The best way to make them is--but space forbids!... +I think the reason they are cracked up so much is because they are +almost half vegetable so they suit the climate; being suitable, they +have been so long practised that their making is an art that only an +amateur might imitate at home. + +[Illustration] + +... That squirrel--to change the subject--on a branch outside the +verandah, is cheeping so that one can barely think, or even write! It is +as like a rat as a squirrel, with two yellowish stripes down the length +of each side; its tail is carried in the same way as our squirrel's at +home, but it is not half so bushy, and thank Heaven our squirrel has not +a brain-piercing note like this little beast. It runs about every +bungalow's verandah and the compound trees, and its note is like a +creaking wheel-barrow going along slowly, then it gets faster till it is +like the blackbird's scream when frightened out of the gooseberries. It +makes many people grow quite bald--this, another piece of information, I +have gathered from my cousin Robert! He also tells me they take wool out +of his drawing-room cushions to line their nest. For further information +of this kind the reader may care to refer to the writings of Mark Twain; +he writes a great deal about this squirrel--says it is the same as the +"chip munk" in his "erroneous, hazy, first impressions of India." + +We have just been asked to a Christmas Tree over the way at twelve +o'clock mid-day, but we think it will be rather too hot for us to go +then. My often quoted informant tells me that seeing there are no fir +trees here they use instead a tamarisk branch, and its feathery, +pine-like needles look almost as well as our fir trees at home, and go +on fire in much the same way. We do not have a Christmas Tree or a dance +for the Servants' Hall, but R. and D. have sent them a notice and they +appear tidied up till their black hair shines again. R. has some +difficulty in remembering the names of the second and third generations, +but makes a good attempt. I am certain I couldn't remember, or care for, +even the senior male servants' names. They each get a small sum of +money, which is received with beaming smiles. One little mite comes +guilelessly round for a second payment and is told she must not. It is +in vain you try to sketch them as they stand naturally; they see the +corner of your eye with their's even though you are pretending to read +the "Pioneer," and once they know you look they pull themselves +together, if they are sitting they rise, and if they are standing they +run, or go on salaaming. + +To-day I'd such a sell in this respect--went to the Maharajah's Palace, +a miniature Abbotsford, to leave cards, and just as were passing a +neighbouring compound, there appeared under the trees a glorious covey +of red chupprassies seated in a circle on the ground, their scarlet and +gold and white uniforms glaring in the sunbeams that shot through the +foliage--such purple shadows--such a suggestion of colour, and gossip, +or tales of the East! We pulled up a hundred and fifty yards off, I am +sure, with a hedge between us, and only looked sideways at them to make +notes, but in two seconds they were all up and at attention, and two +came running forward for Sahib's orders and cards, so I drove away +lamenting. The Red Chupprassies, by the way, or "corrupt lictors," are +official messengers wearing red Imperial livery, who are attached to all +civil officers in India. _See_ Mr Aberich-Mackay on the subject in +"Twenty-one Days in India." + +... Packing to go to Madras, and very sorry to leave Bangalore and its +wide compounds and parks and bazaars, and our very kind hosts. I have +not mentioned the military element in Bangalore, nor the Gymkhana, nor +the Club, for, to my sorrow, I've seen nothing of them! The museum I did +see--went to it twice; I believe few people stationed here have seen it +once! There is a collection of stuffed Indian birds which interested and +finally appalled me by its numbers; and models of Indian fish, also very +interesting. + +My packing brought me more natural history interest--my packing and R.'s +unpacking. R., in his office on one side of the house, opened some +bundles of papers and so dispersed a colony of small black ants; they +apparently thought my dressing-room would be restful, and trekked +across the matting of three rooms and settled in my pile of +correspondence--thought they'd be undisturbed poor things,--they had had +to climb to the top of a desk to settle in these papers. When I moved +these one or two thousand ants, and white cocoons, were scattered on the +matting, where they quickly collected themselves again under some +sketches and a folio on the floor. Then I took up another paper, and in +vexation shook ants and cocoons into a bowl of painting water which was +on the floor, and the poor little devils who were able to swim, after +their first surprise, began pulling the cocoons together in the centre +of the bowl and piled one on the top of the other in a heap till the +lowest became submerged. So I said, "here is honest endeavour, and help +those who help themselves"--and dropped them a raft in shape of an inch +of paper, and on to it the survivors went, and hauled in one whitey-blue +chrysalis after another. Then an ant went up to the side of the bowl by +the handle of the painting brush and shouted or signalled for help to +another fellow below on the matting, and it went and got hundreds of +willing helpers. Now they are saving the remainder, and wiring to their +friends, I've no doubt. + +I leant over the bowl like a minor clumsy Providence and watched the +V.C. sort of action for quite a long time,--and suppressed cheers,--but +Burmah called, and the Boy waited, so I had to leave them to Pucca +Providence for a little. In half an hour by the clock all were +rescued--(five hundred ants and almost as many cocoons!) Even the ants +that had got under water, which I thought were drowned, were pulled out, +and revived. Then they formed a new colony under my water colour, "The +Landing of Lord Minto at the Appolo Bundar." + +I have had an entertaining half-hour with them, but they will be glad we +are gone. Here comes Krishna, the deft handed, to pack sketches and all; +I must supervise him, and see that he does not pack my cousin's soap, +matches, and pieces of string along with his increasing collection of +these articles in a corner of my kit bag. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +BANGALORE TO MADRAS + + +This is the broad gauge Madras line. The cars run as smoothly as oil on +water--I can write perfectly well, or as well us usual to be exact,--and +there is gas, electric light, fairly soft cushions to sleep on, and nice +wide berths. The fares are moderate and the arrangements for food, etc., +are good; how can I say more, than that they are as well done as on the +line we have just left--the Southern Maharatta Railway.[16] + +[16] The mileage in 1901 of Indian Railways was 25,373. This mileage is +somewhat larger than that of France and of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, +and two and a half times that of Italy, and the development is +phenomenal.--MURRAY. + +Our views on the road were a breadth of night-blue sky and stars, and a +sweep of obscure plain, and the glimmer of the carriage lights on the +hedge of aloes alongside, and crowds at stations with dark faces against +white lamp-lit walls, the natives running about heaped with sheets to +keep them warm--the temperature at 70 deg.. + +I must make a note here _en route_ to Madras that before we left Krishna +brought his wife and her sister and their children to pay their respects +to us before we left Bangalore; he has placed them there while he takes +the world for his pillow and follows our fortunes. They were mighty +superior looking Hindoos, elegantly draped in yellow striped with red, +with light yellow flowers in their smooth black hair and their faces +were quite comely, but you couldn't look at them as they spoke for the +pink in their mouths from chewing betel. The raw pink is such an ugly +contrast to their rather pretty brown complexions. If I'd had the +designing of these people I'd have made their nails and the soles of +their feet dark too, also the inside of their mouths, like well bred +terriers. They gave G. and myself each a lime and a very tidy bouquet of +roses and ferns. You think nothing of being garlanded in this country +with wreaths of flowers. My host and hostess had collars of flowers to +the eyes the other day for some reason or other. I suppose that because +the white man won't take "presents" he must take flowers and limes. On +our part we gave each of these good people a small token in silver, with +which return compliment they seemed highly pleased, and Krishna +addressed us: standing straight he puckered his little face, so dark +against his white turban, and wept, saying, "Father and Mother and all +that I have I leave to follow Massa" or "my sahib"--I can never make out +which he says, and in reply I murmured something about "absence making +the heart grow fonder"--and felt quite touched; but R. tells me that +this weeping can be turned on by natives at any time, so when he +transacts business with weepy people, he says very gently, "Will you +please wait a little and weep later," and they stop at once and smile +and begin again just at the polite moment. I am convinced this is the +case, though it seems to us almost a physical impossibility, that a man +grown-up can turn on tears without heroics in a book or a novel or play +to start them; "the gentle Hindoo" seems even a more fitting term than +I'd have thought it was!... The people grew more noisy as we got south, +the racket they make along this line at night at stations qualifies the +comfortable berths and well-hung carriages. + +A good deal, if not all, of the charm of travel went, about midnight. I +awoke in the dark and just distinguished a native stealing into our +carriage, whereon I showed a leg, and half rose, with intent to kill, or +throw out. He advanced stealthily and held out his hand in a way I +knew, and whispered, "plague inspection," and I meekly gave him my wrist +to feel; he touched my arm somewhere for an indivisible point of time +and withdrew into the night! Then a dark lady in dark dress and straw +hat, became faintly visibly for a second, and felt G.'s wrist. By that +time we were both half awake to the fact that it was a plague +inspection; in a minute or two a third person came in, but I was too +sleepy to notice what he said--but I am quite certain I did not pray for +any of them. + +In the grey of the morning, in a most comfortable, restful sleep, we +were awakened again, and were asked for plague passports--and hadn't +any. I believe the third intruder may have called to give me one; at any +rate, I had to hunt about on a platform crowded with natives and other +poor Britishers in pyjamas, in the same plight as myself and looking +mighty cross, and finally got two pieces of paper, each with all sorts +of horrible instructions and threats thereon, and un-understandable +orders to show ourselves somewhere for examination for the next ten +days. Each pass was prepared in triplicate, "original to be retained for +record, the duplicate to be delivered to the traveller and the +triplicate sent _without delay_ to the officer who has to examine him +for ten days," etc., etc., and the traveller is warned any breach of +terms will entail prosecution with imprisonment for a term up to six +months, or fine up to Rs. 1000, "or both!" And the passport officer, +amongst a hundred and one other things, has to ascertain whether there +is any sickness or death in your _house_, or if you exhibit any symptoms +of plague or deadly sickness--this for us, the poor cold-weather +tourists, with never a house or home but our portmanteaux! Your father's +name and your caste and your occupation are also demanded, and your +district, _tulluq_, village, and street. An income-tax paper is plain +sailing to this complicated nightmare of the early morning--you vow and +swear you will never come to Madras again. + +It is wonderful how breakfast clears the air, and the drive from the +station through the town helped to cheer us up. Madras smells rather, +and though there are open ditches and swampy places that make one think +of fever; they say it's healthy. I suppose the sea, and the surf in the +air, are disinfectants. The people in the street are not a patch on +Bangalore people in looks or dress. I had to drive from our hotel soon +after our arrival some three miles to the docks, and of the thousands of +people I passed, there was not one woman with draperies arranged in the +classic folds we saw in Bangalore; their worn bundles of dirty white +drapery seemed just to be thrown on anyhow, and their type of face was +much more elementary than that of the natives, even so little to the +north as Mysore--Apologies for such rude sketches. + +[Illustration: Madras Bangalore] + +I'd just begun to vote Madras a sell when a line of thin-stemmed trees +came in sight--tamarisks, I think--with feathery grey-green pine-like +foliage and deep shadows, and figures under them on white sand, and +through the trunks a great sweep of blue ocean, real southern blue--and +I thought of turtles and the early traders, and John Company, and forgot +about the ugly figures and the smells in the town. A little farther on, +I came on the harbour with a few ocean-going crafts, and the _Renown_, +waiting for the Prince, conspicuous in brilliant white and green on her +water-line. + +We had by this time decided to go to Burmah, so I'd come to the docks to +Binney & Co. to see about berths. An article I read by an engineer--my +thanks for it--called, "Fourteen days leave from India," in _T. P.'s +Weekly_, and Mr Fielding Hall's "Soul of the People," helped to decide +our going farther east. The article described vividly the change to the +better in regard to the colouring and people in coming from India to +Burmah. If India then seemed to me picturesque, it was surely worth the +effort to cross the little bit of sea to Rangoon. It was difficult to +leave the harbour and the Masulah boats; they are thoroughly ugly yet +perfectly well-fitted for their work! They are almost like the shape of +children's paper boats, high out of the water, over four feet freeboard +and seven feet beam, and I'd say about twenty-five to thirty feet over +all, with practically flat bottoms. Six or seven rowers perch on bamboo +thwarts, level with top of the gunwale, and row with bamboos with flat +round blades tied to their ends. They come stem on through the low surf +on the harbour strand, then just as they are touching the shore, are +swung broadside on, the natives spring out into the shoal water, and out +comes the lading, piece by piece, on their shoulders sacks, bales, +boxes, etc., and all the time the boat is bumping up the sloping sand +sideways and unharmed apparently by the seas bursting on its outside. +Ugly is no word for them, but fit they were, though Ruskin's "Beauty of +Fitness" did not appear. They have but few timbers, but these are heavy, +and they have only three planks on either side and two on the bottom, +heavy teak planks sewn together! This coarse sewing with cocoa-nut fibre +cord laces a straw rope against the inside of the seam, and this +apparently swells when wet and gives elasticity and play, and keeps out +a considerable amount of water. But I see there's a good deal of baling +done, and the baggage, with the water in bilge and spray over all, must +get wet outside at least--Fixed up about cabins for Rangoon, lunched at +our hotel, the Connemara, then hired a gharry or victoria--I'm not sure +which the conveyance we hired by the week should be called--and drove +to the racecourse, an A.1. course, and met several friends there. I was +particularly impressed by the general appearance of beauty and +refinement of our country-women in Madras, and by the fashionableness of +their attire. I thought there was a sensation--I will only whisper +this--of a slightly rarified official atmosphere at this meeting, I saw +no one caper. But it must be borne in mind that most of the people there +were officials and wives of officials, serving a great empire, so +perhaps it might be unbecoming for such to laugh and play; and I take it +there is even a limit to the degree of a smile when you are on the +official ladder, that it is then seemly, even expedient, to walk with a +certain dignity of pace--so you show the sweep of the modern skirt to +great advantage. As a foil were one or two blooming girls, "just out," +and bound to have a "good time." Their exuberant buoyancy will be toned +down, I am told, after two seasons here (I'd have thought one would have +been enough), and up north people are more gay, the atmosphere here is +considerd to be very damping. + +The native life spread round three sides of the course, six deep. The +horses were mostly small, uncommonly nice-looking beasts, with a good +deal of Arab blood. Of course G. and I selected winners and had nothing +on; but I have known of others who have met with similar misfortune at +meetings nearer home. + +Back to the Connemara, through a moving population of native men +returning from the races. They mostly wore Delhi caps (like "smoking +caps"), long hair in a knot and long light tweed coats, round their thin +bare legs, floppy linen shaded from white to rose-red, at the lower edge +a bad red and a dirty white; there was red dust in the air, and a hot +sunset in front--rather sickening colour. The whole population seems to +have had a holiday to see the Sahibs run some fifteen to twenty horses. +They seem rather an unmanly looking crowd. The pink that predominates +is what you see in an unfortunate hybrid white and red poppy, an analine +colour, as unpleasant as that of red ink--Give me back--give me back +Bangalore and its colour, our life on the line, a quiet siding beneath +the bough, the table laid on the track, and the moon looking down +through the branches. + +28th December.--There is a thing I cannot understand how the farther we +wander from home the more people we meet whom we know or know about, or +who know us or our kith and kin. And how do we so often run up against +people we met on the ship coming out? You'd have thought India big +enough to swallow up a shipload of passengers for ever and aye, without +their ever meeting again, but even since yesterday we have met quite a +number of the passengers of the _Egypt_--three regular "pied poudre" +wanderers, as the French called the Scots long ago, and a lady just out, +full of interest in everything. She actually wants to see native bazaars +and museums! to the horror of her hosts, who have been out here for long +and whose thoughts are only of the tented field, and pay, and going +home. + +... A long trail to shipping people again--former visit resulted only in +a protracted interview with a polite native clerk, so the toil had to be +done twice! Then to the post office at the docks; borrowed a rusty pen +there from another native clerk and did a home letter. What a fine +building it is, and what a motley slack lot of people you see there! +Near me a group of half-naked natives were concocting and scratching off +a wire between them, others squatted on the floor and beat up their +friends black hair for small game. One man made netting attached to the +rail round the ticket office, seated of course, another knitted, and +everyone chewed betel nut. The walls of this very handsome building were +encrusted with dried red expectoration, and scored with splashes of lime +from fingers--the lime is chewed with the betel nut. These nasty sort of +natives might be improved or got rid of, and say, Burmese introduced. +What is the good of having a country or a forest if you don't breed a +good stock, be it either deer or people? + +Changed to airier rooms on our second evening here; got everything +shifted in pretty short time. We thus lost a pretty view and, the smell +of the river, "the Silvery Cooum." + +It was warm and damp last night, and many mosquitoes were inside our +curtains--didn't feel up to painting much, but took out a sketch book +and our hired victoria; the horse jibbed and tied itself and the traces +and the victoria into a knot and kicked up a racket generally in the +hotel porch, and we got it extracted in time, then it insisted on taking +the victoria along the pavement till I was glad G. was not with me--a +fool would have stayed in it--I found I needed a shave, and left as it +pranced past a barber's shop. The barber, an Italian, spoke six +languages; I should think he felt Madras deadly dull. + +After the breakdown of my prancing steed--rickshawed from the barber's +to the Marina. The Marina is only an empty sweep of sand, and beyond +that a strip of blue sea and a pale blue sky and a few fleecy clouds, +simple enough material for a picture; but by my faith! could I only have +put down the colour of that mid-day glow from the sand, and the feeling +of space, and the two blues, of the sea and sky, and the flick of colour +from a scrap or two of drapery on sunny brown figures tailing on to the +long ropes of a Seine net! Out beyond the surf mere dots in the blue +swell, were more figures swimming about the ends of the net splashing to +keep in the fish, and in the edge of the white surf the fishermen's +children were sporting--in with a header through the glassy curve of a +wave, and out again on their feet on the sand and away with a scamper. +Some matrons sat near me, and the smallest naked kids played round me as +I sketched, and two, really pretty girls, the first I've seen in India, +with short skirts and their black hair still wringing wet, came up from +the sea and looked on. Barring these fisher-people, the miles of beach +were empty as could be. What light and heat there was, a crow passing +cast a darker shadow on the sand than its own sunlit back, and a pale +pink convolvulus that grew here and there on the inner sand cast a +shadow of deepest purple. The brown naked men, sweating at every pore, +pulled the drag rope of the net very slowly up the soft dry sand step by +step, their damp, brown muscles sparkling with vivid blue lights. I +think this was the best bit of India I had seen so far, and after a +stuffy night in town to get into the blaze of light and watch these +fellows fishing on the wide blue ocean from such a southern strand was +worth a month on Loch Leven or an hour with a fifty pounder. I think the +nets must be over a hundred fathoms; they were being pulled in for two +hours after I came, and must have been hauled for hours before that, +seven men to each rope! As the ends came near shore, the boys plunged in +and joined their seniors, and all looked like a herd of seals +gambolling. I saw a father drubbing his boy beyond the surf; the boy had +evidently gone out too soon, and got exhausted coming back. It must have +relieved the father's feelings, each thump sent the lad under water. As +the bag of the net came towards the hard sand the silver fish showed; +very few I thought for all the trouble and hands employed; not more than +twenty lbs. weight I'd think, all silvery and sky blue and emerald +green; bream and sand-launces and silver fish like whitebait and +herring, all fresh and shining from the beautiful sea mint--the colour +beyond words--green breakers, white surf, blue swell beyond, and brown +figures with red and variously coloured turbans; young and old, all with +such deep shadows on the sand, a scene Sarolea, the Spaniard, might make +a show of painting. A few outsiders, men with clothes, two policemen and +a satellite appeared as the bag came ashore. Scenting plunder they +sailed down and nailed four of the biggest and best fish--horrid shame, +I thought it, these miserable imps in uniform of our Government, to +steal from my naked fisher friends. I hope someone in authority will +read this and have them tied heel and neck. + +... In the afternoon G. and I went again to the Marina; I don't think +anything more unfashionable could have been dreamed of. It was again +exquisite--all changed to evening colours, and the wide drive along the +shore had a few promenaders, and a few carriages were drawn up at the +side with ladies and children eating the air. They appeared to be +unofficial people, white traders, I'd fancy, the rest Eurasians and a +few Europeanised natives. There are pretty drives to the Marina, through +park-like roads beautifully bordered with flowering trees, such a +pleasing place that I wonder the official class does not drive there. + +Through the outskirts home; the light fading and forms becoming blurred +in the warm evening twilight, past lines of neat little houses, mostly +open towards the street, belonging to Eurasians. In one a children's +party--pretty children in white, girls with great tails of dark +hair--they were pulling crackers and all wore coloured paper hats--next +door in a room with chintz covered European furniture and photographs, a +pretty girl--just a little dark, played a concertina to an immaculately +dressed youth, who twirled the latest thing in straw hats. + +Then to dinner at The Fort to dine with Major B. C.--a tiresome long +drive in the dark with a slow horse; at the end of it we crossed a +drawbridge over a moat--full of water we could see, from the faint +reflection of a white angle of a bastion on the dark surface--rumbled +through subterranean arches, white-washed and lamplit, and felt as we +came into the square that we had left modern India outside in the +darkness and had got back to the old India of the Company days. A pale +crescent moon lit up part of a building here and there, old formal +Georgian buildings and old-fashioned gun-embrasures and a church like +St. Martin in the Fields. One half expected to meet someone in knee +breeches and wig, perhaps a Governor, Elihu Yale, or M'Crae, the seaman, +Clive, or Hastings coming round some dusky corner or across the moonlit +square. There were a few soldiers here and there, taking their rest with +grey shirt-sleeves rolled up. We had to mark time a little, as we had +started half-an-hour too soon, so I went on to the parapet and looked +from the flagstaff east into the night, and heard the Bay of Bengal surf +pounding on the sands. I spoke for a little to two soldiers lounging +there on the parapet edge; they told me they were Suffolks and felt it +warm. What interesting talks one could have had with these men, as a +stranger, and with no impending dinner and no white waistcoat. I am not +surprised Kipling made some of his best tales about privates; they are +of the interesting mean in life, between the rulers and the ruled. These +private soldiers, or fishermen and sailors can tell you stories better +than any other class of men, but you must not show the least sign of +gold braid if you would draw them out. I remember one night, I went +round the dockyard bars at a northern seaport with a retired naval +officer to get first hand information about a trip we planned to Davis +Straits for musk oxen--with the artist's modest manner and the +suggestion of a drink thrown in, I'd have got any number of yarns from +them till "Eleven o'clock, Gentlemen, and the Police outside!" But my +friend in mufti was spotted at once; for he marched up to the middle of +the bar, looked right and left and snapped out his order; but before he +opened his mouth the whaling men were shouldering into little +tongue-tied groups--the quarter deck air came in like a draught and took +them all slightly aback, and we got never a bit of information. + +There was a Canon at dinner, and two engineers and ladies. We talked of +India and home, and these kind people's children over seas, and we +talked art too. One engineer and his wife were both excellent artists; +and we talked of the Burmese and the religion of Buddah, not very loud, +of course, considering the company, and, of course, of the "Soul of the +People," a book at least three of the party had read and I had just +dipped into; and we arranged to go and see the church and the records +and plate therein, dating from the Company days, and amongst other +interesting things the record of Clive's marriage, with Wellesley's +signature as witness appended. The house we dined in is supposed to be +that in which Clive twice attempted his own life, and twice his pistol +misfired. Then we tore ourselves away, with belated sympathy for our +host and his next day's work. + +I have mentioned preparations for the Prince in Bangalore; here, too our +host had many arrangements to make, to forward the Imperial train north +to Mysore after their return from Burmah. + +As we leave the house the lamplight from the windows shines on purple +blooms of creepers on the fort wall a few yards from the front door, and +over it comes the low boom of the surf and the scent of the sea and +flowers--Through the sleeping soldier town, the Syce running in front +gives some pass-word to the sentry as we rattle over the cobbles under +the archway and rumble over the drawbridge; and we are out into the +dusty darkness again. And so home, to bed and mosquito curtains in the +Connemara. + +Sleep we would fain have till later than the time of rising for the +crows, and sparrows, and hotel servants, but to sleep after sunrise is +almost impossible; these abominable hoody crows and sparrows sit on the +jalousies and verandah and caw and chirp most harshly. "If I were +viceroy," I'd put forth a word to have the whole lot exterminated. It +could be done in two seasons, then the harmless, and game birds, would +have a chance. It was once done in our country in the reign of James the +IV. The tree in which a crow built for three successive years was +forfeited to the Crown, and went of course to our Fleet, _Eh Mihi_; We +had a proper fleet in those days before the great Union, and proper +Commanders--read Pitscottie's description of the ships, _e.g._ _The +Yellow Carvel_, _The Lion_, and _The Great Michael_, the envy of Europe, +for which the forests of Fife were depleted, which carried "thirty-five +guns and three hundred smaller artillery, culverins, batter-falcons, +myands, double-dogs, hagbuts, and three hundred sailors, a hundred and +twenty gunners, and one thousand soldiers besides officers"--and of the +sea fights with the Portuguese and English. Our coasts were defended +then! James IV. could _put 120,000 mounted troops in the field in nine +days_, and every able-bodied man learned the use of arms; this was +before The Union with our so often successfully invaded neighbour--now, +we have left to defend ourselves, one regiment of cavalry! + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +_P.S._--As this goes to print the Scots Greys follow our kings to +England; and we are left with _one mounted soldier_ in our capital, in +bronze, in Princes Street: and to add to our glorious portion in this +Union, it has lately been tactfully decreed that in future English +nobility will take precedence of Scottish nobility IN SCOTLAND! It will +be curious to observe what the populace will say to this when they come +to hear of it. I wonder if our nobility will take it lying down--and if +I may be forgiven, this extra wide digression? + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +I have had a delightful fishing day; at an early hour found myself again +at the shore, nominally to paint, but in truth because it was hot and +stuffy in town, and the thought of the surf and clear air made the beach +irresistible. A rickshaw man used his legs to take me to the sands edge; +and they were empty as yesterday of all but the few fishermen and their +families. The colour effect, however, was not so brilliant, but was +pleasant enough--the sky soft grey and the water grey too, but +colourful--the heat enough to cook one! + +[Illustration] + +I watched the young idea learning surf rafting--a study fascinating +enough for a whole day--a tiny imp with a great pointed log, and the +white breakers for playthings. He sat on its stern, his knees and toes +on the sand, and held its stem seawards till the inrush of shallow +white-laced water was deep enough to float it and take his little +anatomy a voyage of a few yards on the sloping outrush, then he jumped +off and waited till the surf brought his black ship back. With what +quickness he noted the exact moment to run in and catch its stem, and +slew it round so that it would broach ashore on its side, and how neatly +he avoided being caught between it and the sand. The fishermen's boats, +or catamarans as they are called here, though they have no resemblance +to the Colombo catamaran, are made of four of these pointed logs tied +side by side. I suppose this little chap was playing at his future work. +He had made a little collection on the dry sand of two or three +shell-fish and beasts that burrow in the sand, and whenever he went to +sea, three crows stalked up to these, when he would leave the log and +scamper after them, then run back all over dry sand and tumble into the +surf again, to come up laughing and wet and shining like copper--I +should say it was nicer than being at school. + +[Illustration] + +Two of his clothless seniors came in, as I sketched, from the deep swell +outside the surf, through the breakers slanting-wise. It was a treat to +see them paddling their four logs, almost side on to the breaking surf, +where our boats could not safely venture; one knelt behind on the thick +ends of the two prolonged middle logs, the other amidship--their heads +only showed above a breaker, the next moment they were on its crest, the +surf foaming over their knees--down again into another hollow, then up, +and with a surge the lumber drove its nose on the sand, the stern threw +up, and the two nipped into the water at either end; another surge swung +the stern round, and shoved the raft broadside on far up the sand, and +they were landing their nets--all done as easily as you could pull up a +dog-cart and step out! Of course they are not inconvenienced with +clothes, and the water and sands are both comfortably warm; the little +difficulty must be to jump at the right time and place, so as to avoid +being thrown off, and getting rolled under the logs. Bow seemed to hop +off in front and to the outside a little, just before she touched, and +Stroke a half a second later, but the manoeuvre was too quick for me +to follow more than one of the men's actions exactly. + +Whilst I watched this extremely rapid landing, my acquaintances of +yesterday were pulling at the long ropes from either end of the Seine +net, which was extended very far out at sea. When the ends were within +fifty yards of the shore the knowing old seniors went tumbling through +the surf, and kept swimming and splashing to frighten the fish from the +mouth of the V shape into the bag in the middle; the women folk and +children tailed on to the ropes along with the men, joking and laughing, +for their men out in the water told them there were lots of fish! You +did not need to know Tamil or Telugu to learn this, the delight was so +evident--It was evidently to be the catch of the season! The excitement +and movement grew splendid as the bag, still a few yards from shore, was +throttled in some way under water. First a small outer bag was pulled +ashore, then a bigger one holding the day's catch, a Scotch cartload of +fish--a bumper bag. They were all so pleased and jolly, and were puffing +and panting and wet with the last struggle to get the fine-meshed bag +through the surf. When it was opened like a great brown purse, there lay +the wealth of the Bay of Bengal! in silver and blue and rose and +yellow. About half the fish were pure silver, the rest violet, emerald +green, pure blue, and some red like mullet, with lemon yellow fins, and +the colour of the brown men and the women's faded draperies round the +glittering haul was delicious. The wrangling, not Billingsgate at +all--milder even than Parliamentary--was loud enough, and continuous. I +left them taking away the fish in baskets, and freshly minted money +never looked so beautiful. How they divided I couldn't tell; it seemed +as if each helped himself or herself as each thought fit. + +I must note the afternoon of this delightful day, though noting these +"first impressions" of India seems rather a big order; for each day +seems so full of delightfully new experience, and fascinating sights, +that I am sure you see in one day here--at least a _nouveau_ does--more +interesting things than one could in a week in Europe. + +... Our civil servant friend, who paints like Sam Bough, asked us to see +his bungalow on the Adyar River, also to look at sketches. We drove +three miles on a broad road under banyan trees and palms with patches of +corn and native huts, and an occasional bright dress and brass bowl of a +woman showing between the dark stems, and pulled up at half-a-dozen +bungalows by mistake, and left cards at others, to the owners of which +we had introductions, and after a considerable hunt turned up at the +bungalow we aimed at. Here were open views, in front the Adyar River and +the many-arched Elphinston Bridge, and palm groves, and down the river +to the left, the sand bar across its mouth, and to the right views of +the river's many windings in palm groves. Such a place, with the feeling +of the sea being within reach, would make me, I think, tolerate living +in Madras for a little. We had a great causerie over pictures of home +scenes, and of many places in India. Then we got into a double-scull +Thames boat and slipped away down towards the bar with wind and +current--extremely delightful, I thought it, getting into such a +well-appointed boat on such a pretty piece of river. As we sailed fish +played round us; some, like bream or silvery perch, skipped out of the +water in a series of leaps like miniature penguins! The wind fell and we +rowed, down to the sand spit and heard the surf on the other side and +got out and felt that we were at last actually on "India's Coral +Strand." There were pretty delicately coloured shells, and here and +there a pale pink convolvulus growing low, with grey-green leaves. The +river just managed to cut its way through the sand-bar into the surf; +beyond it, three or four miles to the north, we could see the two spires +in Madras above the palms, St Thome's and St Mary's in the Fort; to the +south-west, the sand and palms and the line of surf stretched in +perspective till they faded together on the horizon. + +[Illustration] + +As the sun got low the sky became gorgeous red--what tropical colour +there was--the hard sand flushed and paled, yellow to brown in a long +waving ribband at the edge of the receeding wave, then turned lavender +laced with dull foam, as the first of the following breakers came +running up, wetting the sand again to renew the golden glow. The outer +sea and the horizon were purple and the white of the surf seemed almost +green against the orange and red of the sky. Our friends told me they +often came to this beach; and as they are artists, that is not to be +wondered at: and I suppose some Madras people occasionally come down the +river from the boat club a mile or two above, to picnic. I saw two men +in flannels and two ladies--very fair ladies they were too--in the +flattering twilight; when a white dress turns the colour of a violet +shell, and muslins die like a dream into the soft colours of the sand, +and pale faces flush with the golden glow of the setting sun. We lost no +pity on those exiles and their wandering on this foreign strand. A +native or two passed; nice and easy it is for them getting along the +coast to Madras! They just walked up the river a few yards and walked +in, swam across and down stream, waded out on the far side, and never as +much as shook themselves. + +We shoved off again when the sky was positively burning with colour, +hoisted our sail, and with a light sea breeze went up river towards the +darkening groves of palms, guiding ourselves by the afterglow and the +glint of a new moon, and lights from the few bungalows on shore. + +As we sail we plan to return some day and do up one of these old Arabian +Night bungalows. They look almost palatial with their terraces and +flight of steps from the river and white pillars showing in the pale +moonlight with dark palms and trees over them. They at the same time +suggest something of Venice, and of the Far East. They would need +repair, but rents are low. + +It gets darker and we have difficulty in picking up marks--first the +rock on our right from which we go dead across stream, to the high palm +just visible against the night sky; then up stream a bit, and across to +avoid shoals. We row, for the wind has fallen away. Every now and then +our blades touch gravel, and twice we go right aground and have to +shove off. Fish jump round us; two come in forward, pretty little +silvery fellows with a potent smell of herring, one big fellow surges +nearly ashore. As the boat-house and club lights appear we go hard and +fast on to a bank, and a native wayfarer fording the river in the dark, +whom we mistake for a Club servant expecting us, is ordered to shove us +off, which he does and goes on his way without a word--"the gentle +Hindoo" again. + +The Club boat-house is a perfect treat! By the lamplight I am sure I saw +a score of double sculls, sixes, and possibly eights, and skiffs and +punts--all sorts of river boats, and as far as I could see, all in +order; the men who have both such a Club and boat-house are to be +envied. The Club-house was a dream of white Georgian architecture, +veiled in moonlight amongst great trees and palms. There were high +silvery white pillars (Madras is famous for its marble white stucco) and +terraces and wide steps and yellow light coming from tall open jalousies +under verandahs. Winding paths led up to it, and along one of these we +followed a native, who swung a lamp near the ground in case of snakes. +In the Club were rooms for dining, reading, and dancing, all in the same +perfect Georgian style. + +I would have liked to stay, to see the dance that was going to begin, +but it was late, and we were in flannels, and were three miles from +home. The ball-room was entirely to my taste, an oval, with white +pillars round it reflected in a light-coloured polished floor, overhead +a domed roof with chrystal chandeliers, and smaller crystal lights round +the sides. + +On the road home we met motors, dog-carts, and men and ladies going to +the dance; the motor dust here is twenty times thicker than at home; for +half-a-mile after you pass a motor you see nothing--can't open your eyes +in fact--then came a series of Rembrandts, in wayside lamplit stalls, +and home to mosquitoes and late dinner. + +31st December, Sunday.--Spent forenoon writing letters and working up +sketches, and to make all smooth went to two churches and two temples in +the afternoon; a fairly good ending to the year. The first temple, a +pile of architecture of debased wedding-cake style, thick with +innumerable elastic-legged, goggled-eyed, beastly, indecent Hindoo +divinities. Thence to a Roman Catholic church in St Thome, the old +Portuguese quarter--very pretty and simple in appearance. The half near +the altar full of veiled European nuns in white and buff dresses. Nearer +the door, where we sat, were native women and children, mostly in red, a +few of them with antique European black bonnets and clothes; and in +their withered old faces you could imagine a strain of the early +Portuguese settlers. The altar was, as usual, in colours to suit the +simple mind; the Madonna in blue and white and gold with a sweet +expression of youth and maternity, her cheeks were like china, and she +dandled the sweetest little red-haired baby in a nest of gold rays, all +against a rocky background. How telling the fair Viking type of baby +must be to these little black-eyed, wondering worshippers, far more +fascinating and wonderful, I am sure, than their miraculous six-armed +gods. There were real roses too, such numbers of them, and altogether a +good deal of somewhat gim-crack effect, but the whole appealed to me, +for at least the idea of material beauty was recognised, and for a +minute I forgot all the ugliness (= Evil) that our churches have caused, +and the good (= Beauty) they have destroyed, and bowed and crossed +myself like my neighbours. Then we drove to another church near the sea, +St Thomes. The bones of St Thomas of the New Testament are said to be +buried here. We only looked into it; it was finely built, and inside at +the moment was almost as empty as a Protestant church on a week-day. +There was but one devotee, a black woman, confessing to a half-black +man. We shuddered and escaped, and drove a few yards and saw "The seas +that mourn, in flowing purple of their Lord forlorn,"--the wide long +stretch north and south of white sand, and the log surf rafts, and the +dark fishermen going up and down on the blue swell--and didn't we draw a +breath of relief of God's pure air. + +There was a log craft at the surf edge, with a kid playing beside it, +his reflection perfect in the long backwash. His father talked in a +strange tongue to me, and I looked at the swell and considered, and saw +black men out beyond the surf, and none of them apparently drowned, or +in fear of sharks, so I left shoes and socks with G. and our coachman to +look after her, and the syce to look after the carriage, and tucked up +trousers and away we went together, my heart in my mouth! What joy--bang +into and over the first breaker. I'd nearly to stand upright to keep my +waist dry, and down and up again--the movement quick and exhilarating; +over two other breakers and we were away on the open rollers, and able +to look round to the distant shore, where G. sat with my sketch-book and +a gallery of brown figures. We paddled along to another craft out at sea +that had pulled up its net. Two men were in it, and we made fast to it +till they cleared the fish out of the net, and we took them in a matting +bag on to our raft, where the water washed over them, and we took them +ashore. It was curious to see how neatly and ably these men could haul a +net and clear it of fish on four submerged logs--they could move about, +stand and walk from one end of the logs to the other with freedom. With +the net on board the logs were almost entirely submerged. Running ashore +is the most sporting part of the procedure; we paddled along slanting +towards the beach, waiting for the ninth wave to pass, then went +straight for the sand for all we were worth, and got in in great style; +I must say I nearly lost my balance landing, there were so many natives +wading out to bear a hand that my eye wandered--but what a craft for +the purpose! I vow no boat I ever saw of the size could come on to hard +sand with such a surf behind and not break and throw you out. It is +really a sport with a capital S, though, as far as I can hear, white +people don't go in for it, perhaps because it is said--on what authority +I do not know--that the sharks prefer white people to the natives! The +natives who swim in the surf apparently are not touched by them, yet you +see no Europeans bathing on what I should think would be a delightful +shore for bathing once you had got accustomed to diving through the +surf. If I go surf-logging again I will take a change of trousers--Got +on shoes, the natives standing three deep to see the Sahib get sand off +his feet, extremely curious but quite polite. The rupee I gave my man +pleased him very much, and the others all wanted to take me out again, +or at least to have a rupee too. They were a nicer, bolder-looking lot +of men than those in the town by a very long chalk. + +We then went to another temple that was also worth seeing. There is a +tank near it that would be beautiful, but for a monumentally ugly iron +railing that has recently been put round it. It is distinctly +British--who on earth did it? We were fortunate, for just before coming +to the tank and temple, a christening party of Hindoos in their best +clothes, with yellow flowers in black hair, and priests with long +chanters and tom-toms playing, came out of some houses as we were +passing. In a loosely formed procession they proceeded very slowly to +the temple, the principals in a closed brougham in the middle. It was +just like one of Tadema's pictures on the move--barring the brougham! +The players led the way in white, with the dark wood chanters mounted +with silver bells and mouthpieces, and made music with a little of the +twang of our pipe chanter, but without the continuity and lift or crisp +grace-notes. Young girls, with their faces tinted yellow with saffron, +followed in dull red dresses. Behind the procession were +classical-looking houses, and over these appeared palms and banyan +trees; but in the middle was the prosaic old Waler, and the hired +brougham, which was very distressing, for otherwise the subject was +evidently "artistic," and combined just the proportions of sentiment and +positive colour, which would have insured for its faithful depiction, a +warm reception at any of our Royal Academical Exhibitions--the man in +the street could see that! + +[Illustration] + +Then home by the wide Marina, and the promenading Eurasians, and +well-to-do traders in carriages. The official people _must_ all be at +the Club and Gymkhana, or at Church. For choice I like the beach in the +morning, the wide sweep of ocean, the full sun on the endless sandy +shores, and the solitude. + +This is a jotting, reduced by reproduction, of a native fishing in the +surf--all that I have "creeled" to-day. + +... By Jove--it's ten minutes to the New Year--time to think of our +friends and relations, who will be sitting down to lunch and thinking of +us; and toasting us for a certainty. So, in the words of the song, of +which these are all I know-- + + "Here's another kind love, + Here's another kind love, + Here's a health to everybody." + +But first we must toast "Relations and Friends," and then "The Memory of +the Dead and the Health of the Living," which being done, properly and +in order, we may go to the window to hear the bells of St Giles and the +cheering at the Cross.... Ah! but it is too far. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +1ST JANUARY 1906 + + +[Illustration] + +We have "seen the New Year in," in a way, perhaps not quite so jollily +as at home, but well enough however. And as we went to sleep, we did +hear a little cheering, some jovial north country soldiers, I suppose; +and the dogs were howling, and the moon shining, and the mosquitoes +singing. They got their fill last night--came through a hole in the +mosquito curtains, and our raid on them in the morning ended eight of +their lives; but we were desperately wounded! G. got eight bites on one +hand, which is serious, and means poulticing. + +[Illustration] + +Various natives hung about this morning, and gave us each a lime and +many salaams, and we are supposed to return the compliment in coin. It +is rather an ingenious plan, and it is a dainty little yellow present, +and costs them nothing, and flatters you; at least it does if you are a +newcomer, and a very small tip pleases them. + +Called at Government House on this first day of A.D. 1906, and signed +Lord and Lady Ampthill's great new visitors' volumes. Then we prowled +round the Fort, and the Canon of St Mary's kindly left his work and +showed us records and plate of the Company days, dated 1698, and some of +which was given to the Church by the Governor Yale, afterwards the +benefactor of Yale College of the United States of America. We saw +Clive's marriage in the church records, with Wellesley's signature, and +on the walls of St Mary's church saw the names of many Scots and English +and Irish whose bones lie here and there in Indian soil, all lauded for +"courage, devotion, and care of their men." Truly, "warlike, manly +courage and devotion to duty" seem the flowers that flourish hereaway. +We saw the old colours of the Madras Fusiliers, now the Royal Dublin +Fusiliers, the first British regiment of the East Indian Company, and in +which Sir John Malcolm, Sir Harry Close, and Lord Clive served. + +[Illustration] + +In afternoon went a long rickshaw ride through Blacktown to the North +Beach. There saw a number of well dressed Eurasians, boys and girls, +paddling so timidly, they let the water come over their toes and no +more; also saw a net lifted outside the surf, full of fish like spent +herring. What a scramble there was for them on the beach by all +classes--what fun and laughter, each one robbing the other. The fish +were out of condition and not of market value. I saw one blow struck but +it was not returned, the man hit merely looked dreadfully offended, and +the jabbering and laughing went on in a second. What a pity it is the +railway spoils the north shore--it is the same in Bombay, Dundee, +Edinburgh, and Madras, the best parts of our towns sacrificed. I believe +if we owned Naples we would put a railway round the Bay. + +I had the satisfaction of seeing the surf log-rafts at work again, and +also saw one put together. When not in use the logs lie apart, to dry I +suppose, and acquire buoyancy. It took not more than eight minutes to +pull the four legs into position and string them together. The roping +was done with a thin one-inch coir rope quickly and neatly, not so tight +as to make all quite rigid. The actual roping took about two minutes. +Here is a jotting of the way they are made. The logs at longest are +about seventeen feet. It is as well to take note of these sort of +things; you never know when your turn at the desert island may come, and +young relations have desert islands at home. Or again, such a craft +might come in handily in some out-of-the-way Highland or Norwegian loch, +with one boat on it, and the trout rising in the middle. + +[Illustration] + +1st January--_continued_.--This is a terribly long yarn for one day and +it is not done yet! We went to the Government House reception in the +evening in our best war paint. It is a yearly reception, I believe, +given to all and sundry to keep them loyal, the very thing to do it too! +and I know another country, north and west, where such shows might have +this effect--if it is not too late--Drove there in our hired victoria in +the hot dusk, and dust, in a rout of carriages, gharries, rickshaws, +dog-carts, and every sort of wheeled craft imaginable; nabobs and +nobodies, spry young soldiers in uniform, minus hats, driving ladies in +chiffons and laces, natives, civilians, eurasians, now one ahead then +the other, till we met in a grand block at the great gates, and then +strung out orderly-wise and went on at a walk. + +As we drove up the park we saw through great trees with dark foliage, +the white banqueting hall with its very wide flights of steps and tall +Ionic pillars bathed in moonlight, and closer, found there were two +lines of native lancers, in dull red and blue, lined up the centre of +the steps. The carriages pulled up three at a time, and the guests went +flocking up the steps in the greenish silvery light to the top, where +the warm yellow light met them from the interior, also an aide-de-camp +as friend and guide to strangers, such as ourselves. Inside all was +highly entertaining and splendid, and Western with a good deal of the +Orient thrown in--I don't suppose any other country in the world could +give a show a patch on this--not even Egypt; the banqueting hall is +splendidly large and well proportioned;[17] with white pillars down the +sides supporting galleries. At the far end there is a raised dais with +red satin and gold couches and chairs, and mirrors and palms; above +these, white walls, and the King's portrait in red and blue and framed +in gold: and round the sides, under the pillars, are more full-length +portraits of Governors and their wives, Lord Elphinstone, Lady Munro, +The Marchioness of Tweedale, Wellesley, Napier, and Ettrick, Grant Duff, +Connemara, and others. Excepting the King's they all looked rather dark +against so much marble-white wall space. Overhead, I am told, there was +once a line of crystal chandeliers, which must have given a perfect +finish to the room; but these have been improved away for rather +insignificant modern lights, and all over the roof are these hideous +whirling electric fans which spoil the whole effect of the classic +Georgian style--the swinging punkah can at least be good to look at, +and even tolerable, if it is far enough off. + +[17] 80 feet long, 60 feet broad. Built to commemorate the fall of +Seringapatan. + +But here is a sketch of what I remember; the guests divided up the room, +blacks on one side, whites on the other, whether by accident or by +design I know not, I should think and hope by intention. (So sorry this +is not reproduced in colour.) + +[Illustration] + +Lord and Lady Ampthill then came in, and preceeded by aides-de-camp in +various uniforms, four abreast and at arm's length, marched up the +length of the room to the dais, with measured steps, not too short and +not too slow--a very effectively carried out piece of ceremony, for the +principals suited their parts well. Lord Ampthill is exceptionally tall, +he wore a blue Court coat, well set-off by the white knee-breeches and +stockings; and Lady Ampthill is taller than other ladies and is very +gracious. Perhaps you can make out in my sketch Lord Ampthill on the +dais talking to some of the house party, and the tall lady on the right, +talking to some of our party may stand for Lady Ampthill, escorted by +Major Campbell. + +The fireworks after the reception were, in my humble opinion, very fine +indeed, but I confess my experience of these displays is extremely +limited. The effect was enhanced by the soft colourfulness of the +Eastern night, framed by great white arches round the verandah, and the +groups beneath these, of ladies, fair, and dark, in soft raiment. + +As we came away the wide steps were covered with groups of ladies, +officers, and natives, standing and sitting, with arms and jewels, white +gloves, silks and laces glittering in moonlight or lost in shadow; above +on the terrace the glow of lamps from the hall shone on the last +departing guests, and the tall moonlit pillars led the eye up to the +blue night sky. I daresay five men out of six would have found the whole +show a bore, possibly even more tiresome than this account of it, but +our friend and his wife enjoyed it all, for they paint, and see things, +which makes all the difference. + +2nd January.--Drove to Binney's for last time, and secured tickets to +Rangoon. The berths are not allocated till you get on board, a cheerful +arrangement: and they _are_ dear! Loafed about harbour watching many +cargoes and many people; tried in Blacktown to get women's draperies +such as I'd seen in Bangalore and Dharwar, but all we saw were more +crude in colour and overdone with patterns--couldn't get the simple +blues or reds with yellow or blue margins. Not an eventful day, but in +the afternoon we drove again to the sands at the mouth of the Adyar to +collect shells and we saw more than we could carry away in memory, +watched the crabs scuttling over the sands like mice, and into regular +burrows in the sand, collected seeds from various trailing plants, and +saw a glorious sunset--someone told me Indian sunsets were poor things! +and made a jotting or two, too hasty to be of use to the world in +general. + +3rd.--Painted, and wrote these notes in spite of mosquitoes and these +three times cursed crows. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +4th.--Half-an-hour's drive across the town brought us to the harbour, +and then we had a hot walk to the end of the wharf. Such a struggle +there was at the slip down to the small boats; four or five boats were +trying to land natives, and at the same time as many were trying to take +passengers and natives off. It would have been impossible for a single +lady. The native police in neighbourhood were of no use. I'd have +thought British port authorities would have done something better. We +rowed out to the steamer in the middle of harbour, our four rowers +bucking in for a place, and scrambled on to the ship's gangway, without +any attention from anyone on board. Other boats with native passengers +trying to scramble over us required a shove and a heave or two on my +part to keep them off. I'd made a great effort to secure berths clearly +and distinctly at the British India S. S. Agency, made various +expeditions to the agents to see that all was right, but when we got to +our cabin some young men were also allotted berths in it. They were most +polite, but all the same it was uncomfortable for them and for us to +have all their belongings moved. + +... Four was the hour to sail. Now it is six and no sign of up anchor. +But why hurry? There is life enough to study for weeks, the main deck a +solid mass of natives, all sitting close as penguins or guillemots, each +family party on a tiny portion of deck, with their mats and tins and +brass pots beside them, and what a babble! and pungent smell of South +Indian humanity. + +The sun goes down and Madras resolves itself into a low coast line, +purple against streaks of orange and vermilion: some palms and a few +chimney stalks break the level of houses and lower trees. The _Renown_ +lies near us waiting to go for the Prince to convoy him to Rangoon; its +white hull looks green against the orange sunset. + +[Illustration] + +There was nothing but necessity made the old settlers drop anchor here; +a bend of the Silvery Cooum[18] gave them slight protection inland, but +there was nothing in the way of roads or shelter. The sandy coast is +dead straight. They did not know the qualities of the surf at first. Two +experienced men were sent ashore from the "Globe" in 1611, and were +promptly swamped and one nearly drowned; that was further up this +Coromandel coast, when the Company was only beginning to try to find +footing here. It was not till 1639 that they bought the land where +Madras stands to-day, for the Company. These old fellows coming back +to-day from the sea would not see any great change in the appearance of +the land; the trail of smoke going levelly south-west from a tall smoke +stalk would be the most conspicuous change. + +[18] The Cooum is silvery to look at, but it is by its smell that people +remember it. + +Two steamers lie near us, just heaving perceptibly, as if breathing +before taking the high road. Outside it blows a very little, a warm, +damp wind; there will be a roll in the Bay of Bengal and we will head +into it, and the natives' jollity will change to moans. I should think +the ship's boats in emergency could hold a sixth of them. I hear there +are some 2500, the three decks are choked with them fore and aft. Our +tiny saloon and cabins are right astern and to port and starboard, and +forward of it, are these natives; we are only separated from them by a +board or two with a port-holes in it, and, the difference of fare! We +pay ninety rupees each to Rangoon and they pay one each; if we open our +port we might as well be all together, except that they get the first of +the air. Unless we keep the blind pulled, night and day, we are +subjected to "their incorrigible stare," which the Portuguese pioneers +found so remarkable; their odour and noise is intolerable. For my _Boy_ +I've paid twelve rupees, and he has the same deck space as the other +natives, that is, barely sufficient room to lie down in. The only deck +space we first class passengers have, is above the saloon, where the +second class deck is, on the P. & O., a nice enough place if it wasn't +overlooked by the natives amidship, and over-smelt by the whole 2500 +coolies. Fortunately to-day, the 6th, there's a lovely north-east breeze +which takes away some of the monkey-house smell and noise. We count that +there are forty natives in each of the two alleyways on either side of +our cabins, so eighty rupees (a rupee is 1s. 4d.), less profit to the +Company, and we could all have been decently comfortable. But even +without moving them, one A.B. told off to keep them quiet would have +allowed us to sleep at night. + +Sunday morning.--All night, all day, whiffs of pure north-east air, and +solid native; alternating, and all the time rising and falling, +shouting, singing, arguing, quarrelling. + +Heaven be thanked we have a pleasant enough company among ourselves, and +the natives don't intrude more than parts of their bodies into the +saloon doors and ports when the squeeze at the outside gets very strong, +but they gaze stolidly on us at meals through the ports and doors! + +It is pleasant enough on deck this Sunday afternoon under the awning. We +have a piano in the middle of the deck, and a Captain in the East Yorks +is playing--he was one of the men who so politely, in fact anxiously, +vacated the cabin he found occupied by a married couple; four men play +bridge near us, and as we are not a large company we have all got to +know each other--the common infliction of the native crowd makes a bond +of sympathy. + +A young Englishman beside me is overhauling Madras B. A. Exam, papers, +and works hard, so that he may have a clear holiday in Burmah. He hands +me some of the papers to read, essays on Edwin Harrison's "Life of +Ruskin." They are both funny and pathetic; we laughed at the absurd +jumble of ideas in some, and felt sorry that natives should have to +study the thoughts and sayings of a man, who, after all, did not himself +understand the very simple beauties of a Whistler. Then I dropped on an +essay, eight pages foolscap, in scholarly handwriting, with perfect +grasp of subject, and concentrated, pithy expression. I could with +difficulty accept the assurance that it was written by a Madrassee and +not by some famous essayist! So, perhaps, if one Eastern can grasp +Ruskin's best thoughts it may be worth the effort of trying to teach +thousands who can't? Is it not folly, this anglicising of the Indians, +Irish, and Scots by the English schoolmaster, who knows as little of +Sanscrit as of Erse Scottis or gaelic; calls England an island! and +wishes to teach everyone "The ode to a Skylark," "Silas Marner,"[19] and +"Tom Browne's Schooldays." (My own dear countrymen you will not be taken +in by this chaff for ever, will you?) Why not study Campbells tales in +gaelic, or Sir David Lindsay, or the Psalms by Waddell or Barbeurs +Bruce. + +[19] Prescribed by Indian university curriculum. + +Just to make the groups on deck complete we ought to have children +playing, but there are none with us, their route lies always westwards; +they would be a pretty foil to the serious restfulness of the deck +scene. Now a lady sings "Douglas tender and true," and sings it so well, +we could weep were we not so near port; a group in the stern beside the +wheel watches a glorious sunset, which fills the space we sit in under +the awning with a dull red and across the light a missionary paces, +aloof and alone; a melancholy stooping silhouette against the glorious +afterglow--to and fro--to and fro--a lanky, long-haired youth, his hands +behind his back, looking into his particular future, a life devoted to +convert the gracious, charitable followers of Gautauma Buddha to--his +reading of Christ's simple teaching. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +RANGOON GYMKHANA + + +[Illustration] + +January 7th.--We danced--I danced with ladies in Gainsborough hats, +their feathers tickling my eye, in pork pie hats, and Watteaus, and +picture hats like sparrows' nests; and there were little dumpy ladies +and tall, stately, Junos, _i.e._, compared with Eastern women. And it +was so funny to see men in suits of blue serge, tweeds, or tussore silk, +whirling round with ladies in muslins of every lovely colour. If the men +had only worn bowlers and smoked cigars, how it would have taken me back +to student days in Antwerp at Carnival time, not so jolly of course, but +very different from anything at home. And how stately are the +club-rooms--really they are well off these relations of ours "Out +East"--don't believe their groans altogether! it is hot now, they say, +but look at the fun they have, especially ladies. There are ladies' +billiard-rooms, card-rooms, music-rooms, reading-rooms inside, and +outside, lawns and flowers and attendants to fetch and carry, and swains +to admire them, and they have latest dresses, dances, balls, riding, +tennis all the time, and Royalties and Viceroys at intervals. Compare +this to the humdrum life of our women in Scotland with their brothers +and cousins, "A wede awa" to the uttermost ends of the Empire, and never +a Viceroy or Royalty of any description to show above their level +horizon--that is intolerable. + +Then home to dinner, very full of interest and wonder at the sights of +the day, and scribbled the above dance scene, and dressed and walked +over the way in the soft dust in the soft moonlight and dined with +friends and relations, and talked in the dark teak-wood bungalow of +other friends and relations and home things, and looked at curios and +sketches; and little lizards looked out at us from the walls, and a huge +piebald fellow up in the shadows of the wooden roof, a foot and a half +long if an inch, a _Chuck-Tu_, didn't frighten our hosts in the least! +Then across the strip of moonlit, to sleep my lone, under the hospitable +teak roof-trees of "a Binning!" + +Here there seems to be a hiatus in these notes of mine--it is rather a +jump from the British India steamer to a Gymkhana dance? But such a +break gives relief to the mind, and has sometimes even a dramatic +effect. I have twice observed such breaks in journals; the first in +Edinburgh, in the journal of the City Clerk. The break occurs when the +Provost and Clerk lay cold on Floddon Field, and the entries are taken +up in a new hand with a minute which begins--"Owing to a rumour of a +disaster in the south." The second break, I saw the other day in the +Madras records. It occured when the French called at Fort George in +1746. The break in my journal is simply the result of yesterday being so +full of interest that I did not write up till this forenoon, after a +pause for rest and refreshment. + +So to hark back. The landing at Rangoon and coming up the river was the +best part of the journey from Madras. For descriptions of coming up the +Rangoon river see other writers. G. and I had been kept awake for +several nights by the natives[20] and finally had to shut our port and +snatched an hour or two of sleep without air so as to be without +noise,--this after various expeditions to try and quiet the beasts +outside, but nothing but drowning would have stopped their horrid +exuberance. + +[20] Native in Burmah stands for native of India, not a Burman. + +The peace that you feel in Iona seemed to lie over the country as we +came up the Rangoon river. + +The Golden Pagoda stands up very simply and beautifully above the flat +country, and beneath it palms and ship's masts look very lowly things +indeed. It seems a perfect conductor of thought from earth to sky; the +gentle concave curves of its sides are more natural lines of repose than +those of our challenging spires. I had been prepared for +little--pictures and photographs have dwarfed the thing--they do not +give the firmness and delicacy in form and the sentiment that it +inspires. It is like the Burmans religion; there's a sense of happiness +in the way its wide gold base amongst nestling green palms and foliage +of trees gradually contracts till the point rises quietly against the +blue and fleecy clouds, where the glint of gold and flash from jewels +seems to unite heaven and earth. + +The spire is 372 feet, two feet higher than St Paul's, but the terrace +from which it rises is 166 feet from the level of the ground, and as +lower Burmah is very flat, it is visible twenty-two miles from Rangoon. + +It was unmitigatedly hot when we got from the tender to the wharf. +Relatives who met us said it was their hottest weather, so we hugged the +shade. But this was unseasonable, it ought to be fairly cool at the time +of year. We drove in gharries a mile or two to the bungalow, through +crowds of _natives_ of India--how ugly they look compared with the +Burmese! Though why one should compare them at all is beyond reason, for +the Burman is to an Indian as a Frenchman to a Hottentot. + +After dividing ourselves and baggage between two bungalows on either +side of Tank Road, we drove with Mrs E. to see the lake and her +favourite views of the Pagoda; and--I was about to contradict myself! +Have I not said India was the most perfectly fascinating country for +picturesque scenes of people and streets, and trees and parks and +colour! Now, I withdraw; for Burmah puts India quite in the shade! + +So you, my artist friends, who have no Academical leanings (you are +few), come here, right away, though you have to work your passage on a +B.I., or have even to travel first on that line as we did! You can come +direct by the Henderson line for L36, sailing from Glasgow or +Liverpool--L36 for a month on the blue sea, on a comfortable ship with +lots of deck-room. This line gives specially reduced fares for +_bona-fide_ missionaries, so artists _should_ be taken free--over page +is one of their liners. + +In Madras I saw Mr Talbot Kellie's book on Burmah and thought Burmah had +been "done," and it was futile for other artists to try to paint +anything new there. But thanks be, we are each given our own way of +seeing things, though perhaps not the same patience to put them down; so +when I saw the wide stairs and the arcades up to the Pagoda, and the +terrace or platform from which it rises, it was new as could be to me, +and as if it had never been painted or described before. + +Here follow notes I see about painting--much talk and little done, owing +to the novelty and variety of sights, and the relaxing damp warmth of +the climate. The mean temperature yesterday was 90 deg. with damp air and a +stuffy, thunderous feeling and the dust hanging in the air under bilious +looking clouds, which made people talk of earthquakes--we perspire, we +melt--we run away in rivers, and our own particular temperature is 100 deg.. +How annoying to feel unfit to paint when there is so much to do at +hand.... Started fairly early this morning for the Pagoda, and sat +outside it in a gharry pulled up opposite the entrance porch and steps. +It takes courage to attempt to sketch such a scene of shifting beauty! +These architectural details, carvings in gold and colour, ought to be +ground at till the whole is got by heart--then brush and colour let go, +with a prayer to the saints. + +[Illustration] + +The "gharry" makes an excellent perambulating studio--it is a small, +high, wooden cab, with little lattice shutters instead of glass which +pull up all round so that you can let down those you need for view, aft +or forward, or at either side, and pull up the others and thus have +privacy and light and air, and you need no stove or hot pipes, for you +could roast a partridge inside! + +A "native" policeman ("a native," be it clearly understood, in Burmah +stands for a native of India) hovered round as if he thought my stopping +in mid-street opposite the Pagoda porch might be his affair, but my Boy +explained on this occasion that I was a "Collector," why, I do not know; +however it had the desired effect, but it seemed to me rather a drop +from his usual title of Chief Justice to a mere Collector. + +[Illustration: Entrance to the Shwey Dagon Pagoda, Rangoon.] + +It grew so hot! and then hotter, and the picturesque flower sellers on +the eleven white steps outside put their white torch cheroots into their +mouths--you could see neither red ash nor smoke in such light--folded +their parasols and took their roses and baskets and went up the steps +and sat themselves down in the porch in the shade and were as pretty as +ever--Tadema's best pictures on the move! + +Through the Arabesque wood carvings of the arcade roof, away up the +flight of steps, shafts of light came through brown fretted teak-wood +and fell on gold or lacquered vermilion pillars and touched the +stall-holders and their bright wares in the shadows on either side of +the steps, and lit up groups of figures that went slowly up and down the +irregular steep stairs, their sandals in one hand and cheroot in the +other. Some carried flowers and dainty tokens in coloured papers, others +little bundles of gold leaf, or small bundles of red and yellow twisted +candles to burn. Their clothes were of silks and white linen, the +colours of sweet peas in sun and in shadow, and the air was scented with +incense and roses and the very mild tobacco in the white cheroots. + +It was hot in the gharry! + +To my surprise an English Buddhist lady I know, pulled up in front of me +and got out of her carriage with a large paint box, took off her very +neat brown shoes at the foot of the steps and went up in brown open-work +stocking soles, and began to paint higher up the flights of steps, and a +little crowd of polite Burman children gathered behind her. And a +Britisher, a Scot, I think, came down, a little dazed-looking and +delighted, and melting, and spoke to me, a stranger, out of sheer wonder +and _per fervidum_ at the charm of colour, and of course we agreed that +it all "beggared description." I must have seen people of many races and +religions going up the steps, Chinese, Shans, Kachins, Mohammedans, +Hindoos, Americans, French, and British. I think in the space of two or +three hours one of almost every nation must go up; not that there is any +crowd at all, but the people are wonderfully varied, the greater number +being, of course, exquisitely clothed Burmese. + +To lunch at 10 o'clock, which is considered late here, in my bachelor +friends' quarters--poor bachelors so far from home and home comforts! +_Figurez-vous_, a princely hall, princely bedrooms, splendid teak floors +and walls hung with many trophies, heads of tiger, of buffalo, sambhur, +gaur, tsine boar, etc., etc., and in the long dining-room a sideboard +gleaming with silver, white damask, white roses, and red lilies, perfect +waiters and a perfect chef behind the scene--upstairs, verandahs spread +with lounges and long chairs, tables with latest papers and latest +books, and if this is not enough, they have every sort of social +function within arm's length.--They are not to be only pitied, for all +their punkahs, and the damp heat. + +Rangoon, 8th January.--The Shan Camp. + +To this we were invited by Mr B. S. Carey, C.I.E. He dined with us at +the E.'s bungalow and told us much of interest of the people he had +brought from these states that lie between Burmah and China. As +Acting-Superintendent in place of Sir George Scott,[21] he has brought +these people's representatives to meet their Royal Highnesses The Prince +and Princess of Wales. Mr Carey's brother, and Mr Fielding Hall were +also at dinner, and my bachelor host A. Binning, so between these people +and G.'s host and hostess, Mr and Mrs E., information about Burmah and +its dependencies, its social, commercial, or political prospects was +available at first hand and to any extent. + +[21] Author of "The Burman, his Life and Notions--a delightful +description of Burmah, Shway Yoe." + +But to the Shan Camp, in our best array, the ladies in toilets most +pleasing to Western ladies, if not to Shan Princesses--we drove a mile +or so into the country, turned off the high road by a new cutting into +the jungle, and came on a clearing of perhaps two acres surrounded by +bamboos and trees, and in the twinkling of an eye we were transported +from European Rangoon to tribal life in jungle land. A village of pretty +cane houses had been built, and there were Princes and Princesses, and +Chieftains with their followings; I think there were thirteen different +tribes represented, and there were twenty times thirteen different +costumes. We were presented first to the Chiefs; they were in the most +magnificent, shimmering brown silk robes of state, all over gold and +precious stones, and had pointed seven-roofed pagoda crowns of gold. +There were three Princesses, willowy figures, one in an emerald-green +tight-fitting jacket of silk and clinging skirt, and a spray of jewels +and flowers in her black hair; she was pretty, by Jove she was, and at +anyrate uncommonly capable and shrewd looking. She had come about six +hundred miles to see their Royal Highnessess, had ridden three hundred +miles to Mr Carey's rendezvous up north-east, missed the party there, +rode on here post haste, other two hundred miles, and looked as if +another thousand wouldn't turn a hair--said hair was black and glossy +and dressed in a top knot, set off with a spray of diamonds and rubies! +I think she was considered the great lady of the day, as the country her +husband rules is in Chinese territory. The other ladies of the Shan +States were also beautifully dressed. Never in my life have I seen such +delicate blending of silks and faces and jewellery and flowers. I did +not know which was the more interesting, the gorgeousness and fantastic +form of the Princes' garments, or the exquisite harmonies and simplicity +of shape of the Princesses. The willowy emerald-green Princess, who +came from Fairyland, I am sure, shook hands with us and gave us tea and +sugar and cream and a buttonhole, heavily scented, likewise a cigar, and +if I hadn't had fever and could have spoken her language I'd have been +enchanted. But first I should have described the wonderful umbrellas +that ornamented the camp. When we got out of our carriage our ladies and +ourselves were escorted to the clearing, each by one of these potentates +with a liveried servant holding up one of these orange or white and +crimson umbrellas over us. The Princesses walked with the ladies and I +walked with an elderly Prince, with a jolly and kindly wrinkled face--it +felt so very odd to be walking in Western modern garments beside this +very old-world costume; his wings touched my shoulder, and the vane of +his pagoda-spired crown or hat waggled above my head. + +Round the centre of the dealing, in a circle round us, were arranged +many retainers in tribal costumes; some of them held golden umbrellas, +others silver-mounted swords, spears, crossbows, and flags. The +arrangements and effect was so picturesque that it is to be hoped the +Prince and Princess will see these people in the same situation. + +The various tribes danced each their characteristic dance; there were +too many to remember each distinctly. A bamboo instrument[22] with the +softest bell-like notes pleased me, and gentle but abrupt gong notes +were frequently struck. In some dances the dancers stood close together +in rows, hand in hand, and moved their feet and bowed their heads in +time to very sad music, which I was told was to represent marriage! +Another was full of movement and suggested a war dance, the dancers +whirled swords and postured; all the movements were silent and the music +low, with only occasional loud notes on gong and hollow bamboo, and so +were much in harmony with forest stillness and the shades of jungle +round the camp. + +[22] Yang lam. + +The most extraordinary dress was worn by the Padaung women, a kilt and +putties of dark cloth, with round the hips and upper part of kilt, many +rings of thin black lacquered cane; round the neck were so many brass +curtain-rings of graduated circumference, narrowing from the chest to +the ear, and so many of them that the neck had become so elongated that +the head either actually was dwarfed or seemed to be so small as to be +quite out of proportion to the body. Of course the proud wearer could +not move her head in the very least, and wore an expression like that of +a hen drinking. + +Ten chiefs were present; I wrote down their names, but it is difficult +to decipher them now. There was the Sawbwa of Keng-tung, forty days' +journey from his capital east and south of Mandalay, and north of Siam; +the Sawbwa of Yawnghwe; the Sawbwa of Lawksak; and the Myosa of this +state, and the Myosa of that, and their wives. The Princess with the +green jacket was Sao Nang Wen Tip, wife of the ruler of the Chinese +state Keng-hung, and half-sister of the Sawbwa of Keng-tung; her journey +to Rangoon took fifty days; and she is well-known in western China and +our Shan States as a states-woman and woman of business. Her neat, +small, well-set on head, with pretty face and slightly oblique eyes, one +could not forget quickly--it was feline and feminine, and through and +through as a _poignarde ecossaise_. Her sister, Sao Nang Tip Htila, was +the only lady who rode on an elephant at the Delhi Durbar Procession. +She is also known as a clever business woman; at present she rules the +state of Keng Kham during the minority of her son. She lost her jewels +in the Hoogley on the road to Delhi Durbar, and thought that as nothing +to put against the satisfaction of having "shaken hands with the +King-Emperor's brother," the Duke of Connaught, the memory of whose +graciousness is treasured by the Shans to-day. + +... G. and I went to the Pagoda and admired. It is the richest colour +I've seen in the world, and, please heaven, let me come back. Otherwise +Rangoon is not so very interesting; there are wide macadamised roads in +the European parts, with large, two-storied villas in dark-brown teak +wood on either side, with handsome trees in their compounds, thousands +of nasty raucous crows, and Indian servants everywhere, and a very few +Burmans. But the Pagoda is almost purely Burmese; a group of +sinister-looking southern Indian natives sometimes passes up or down the +steps in their dirty white draperies, and seem to bring an evil +atmosphere with them, and a band of our clean, sturdy red-necked +soldiers in khaki may go up, flesh and fire-eating sons of Odin, with +fixed glittering bayonets and iron heels clinking on the stone +steps--Gautama forgive us!--but they don't break the picture nearly so +much as the "natives," their frank expression is more akin to the +Burman's, they have not got the keen hungry look of the Indian; or the +challenging expression of some of our own upper classes. + +Who can describe the soft beauty of the Pagoda platform--the sun-lit +square at top of the long covered stairway--with its central golden +spire supporting the blue vault of sky, surrounded at its base with +serene golden Buddhas in little temples of intricate carving, in gilded +teak and red lacquer, and coloured glass mosaic, with candles smoking +before them and flowers dying. The square is paved, and round the +outside against graceful trees and palms are more shrines and more +golden-marble Buddhas facing into the square, and some big bells hang on +carved beams, and children strike them occasionally with deers' horns, +half in play, half as a notice to the good spirits that they and their +seniors have been there to worship. They have a very soft, sweet tone, +and the crown of the sambhur's horn seems suited to bring it out. On the +pavement are some favoured chickens and some children and a dog or two, +and here and there devout people in silks, kneeling on the flags with +folded hands repeating the precepts of the Perfect Law of Gautama +Buddha. To overcome hatred with love, to subdue anger, to control the +mind, and to be kind to all living things, and to be calm. That this is +the greatest happiness, to subdue the selfish thought of I. That it is +better to laugh than to weep, better to share than to possess, better to +have nothing and be free of care than to have wealth and bend under its +burdens. + +Such teachings we have at home; but the Buddhist believes too, what the +West forgets, what the old druid Murdoch, before he died, taught to +Columba on Iona: That all life in nature is divine, and that there is no +death, only change from one form to another. So they reverence trees and +flowers and birds and beasts, and each other, and believe that, + + "He prayeth best who loveth best + All things both great and small." + +therefore their happiness and calm and the look of peace on the faces of +the very old people, and their great kindness to each other and to +animals, and the little offerings you see to the spirits of trees. + +It is very peaceful, for the repetitions of the worshippers in the open +air are not disturbing; and from far overhead comes a little tinkling +from the light AEolian bells moved by the breeze high up on the Hte. If +you look up you see the Hte against the blue. It is an elaborate piece +of metal work on the tip top of the pagoda; you cannot make out its +details but you can see it is made of diminishing hoops with little +pendant bells hung from these, that the wind rings sometimes; and you +are told that one little bell may be so bejewelled that it may be worth +L70, and the whole Hte that looks so light and delicate is really of +heavy golden hoops encrusted with jewels; for which a king of Upper +Burmah gave L27,000, and the Burmese people L20,000 more in voluntary +subscriptions and labour. This was since our occupation of Lower Burmah. + +The priests in their yellow robes, draped like Roman Togas, come and go +just like other people; they are greatly reverenced, they teach all the +boys of the nation their faith, reading, writing and simple arithmetic, +but they do not proselytise or assume spiritual powers, nor do they act +in civil affairs, and they "judge not;" they live, or try to live a good +life, and to work out each his own salvation, and you may follow their +example if you please, but they won't burn you if you do differently or +think differently.... If any one wants to have the wrinkles rolled out +of his soul--let him _go_ and rest in the quiet, and sun, and simple +beauty of the Shwey Dagon Pagoda, with its tapering golden spire and the +blue sky above. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: A Sacred Lake near Rangoon.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + "The blairin' trumpet sounded far, + And horsemen rode weel graith'd for war." + +_The Battle of Preston_. + + +The horsemen were mostly civilians such as two of our friends in these +bachelor quarters, and very smart they looked in their neat white +uniforms and white helmets with a glitter of gold lace. Another +attraction this for the young man from home; he may be only in commerce, +say in Rice, and yet may be of some official service on high days and +holidays, and prance on a charger with a sword like any belted knight. +The reason of the stir was, of course, the Prince's arrival. + +Rangoon is all bedecked--_pandals_ at every turning--these are triumphal +arches with seats inside erected by the Burmese, Chinese, Indians, +Parsees, and children of Rangoon. They are all very brilliant and almost +as beautiful as boxes of crackers, and through these and the decorated +streets for days, have been driven rehearsals of the Prince and +Princess's procession. Only those behind the scenes can compute the work +that making these arrangements gave to the already overworked officials +in this trying climate. Yesterday they had the last rehearsal, when a +young member of the Lieutenant Governor's staff filled the part of the +Prince in the great reception tent or Shamiana. Various city dignitaries +were presented to him and made their bows, and to each of them in turn +he addressed gracious and suitable words, such as the following to Mr +Smith, known in Rangoon for his thriftiness: "Very pleased indeed to +meet you, Mr Smith. Allow me on behalf of my Royal Father, to thank +you, for the very excellent decorations you have made on your house and +compound in honour of our visit." And Mr Smith got quite red, for he had +not made any at all! + +... The Prince and Princess came up the river early and landed at a +wharf and were led through a narrow canvas tunnel into a wide low +tent--so all danger of hats being spoiled by a shower or a squall was +avoided, also all spectacular effect. Perhaps it is idiocyncrasy, but I +can't help feeling that the crucial point of the Prince's tour was his +landing on his foreign possessions, say at Bombay or Rangoon; that the +landing should have been made magnificent and historic. Here was an +opportunity just such as there was at Bombay; all the material at hand +for a splendid spectacle, light, water, sky, ships, masts, boats, +wharfs, the most beautifully dressed crowds and people of every +nationality for background. A fraction of fancy was all that was +necessary to have set up the most magnificient composition,--something +to go down in the history of the country. But the Prince and Princess +were ushered through the canvas alley-way into a dim tent, full of damp +exhausted air, hired American chairs, and people in stiff Western +clothes, and sat on two high-backed chairs with their backs to the +little light and listened to speeches. It was a Royal pageant arranged +as we do these things at home by men of T square and double entry, +energy and goodwill. What is needed for such shows, in the first place, +is a knowledge of historical precedents, and imagination, then +organisation and reckless regard for weather, with say an artist, a +historian, a general, and a cashier, for working Committee. + +There was a beautiful thing in the reception Shamiana, but you had to +have your eye lifting to note it. As you entered this tent from the town +side, there were on either side three tiers of Burmese ladies sitting +one above the other, their faces becomingly powdered with yellowish +powder, and their eyebrows strongly pencilled, and they each had a +yellow orchid in their black hair, and their dresses were of silks of +infinite variety of tint--primrose, rose, and delicate white--"soft as +puff, and puff, of grated orris root" and they glittered with diamonds +and emeralds, and each held a silver bowl marvellously embossed, filled +with petals of flowers and gold leaf. Their attitudes were studied to +their finger tips, and as the Prince and Princess went out they stood +and dropped a shower of petals before them. + +The arrangements for the procession through the streets were perfect, +and the crowds in the streets were great! and best of all were the +groups of Burmese country people coming in to town in their bullock +carts, the rough dry wood of the wheels and arched sun-bitten covers in +such contrast to the family parties tucked up inside, in their short +white jackets and skirts and kilts of brightly coloured silks. How happy +they are, old and young--you begin to wish you had been born a Burman +when you hear their laughter and jollity. But I fear we will soon change +all that with our Progress and Law of orderly grab and necessary +ugliness. Everyone is on the move but the priests, for they do not take +part in worldly affairs. + +There was a garden party at Government House in the afternoon. G. and +her hosts went. I was told I positively must not go without a frock-coat +and top hat, so I stayed at home. It is pretty far East here, so +frock-coats and toppers are necessary, at Bombay they are still worn +occasionally; there you might have seen Royalty at a garden party +actually chatting to men in pith helmets and tussore silks--gone at the +knee at that! + +In the evening the park and lake were beautifully lit up, and a local +shower of rain came, just in time to put out half the lamps on the +trees, so there was not too much light, as I am sure there would have +been had some not been extinguished; but everyone moaned--said it was +"so sad" and "you should have seen it last time." There must have been +a vast concourse of people. We were in the Boat Club grounds, and it was +damp and hot. We waited about the lawn at the water's edge, and people +chatted and smoked away the evening. Everyone seemed very jolly, and to +know everybody else, and we were given the names of many people and the +letters after their names; they all had them, but one would need to live +in official circles for a long time to learn their meanings. + +I thought of Whistler's "Cremorne Gardens" and his "Valparaiso," for +this was such a night effect as he could have painted, and so I thought +of The M'Nab's saying, "The night is the night if the men were the +men."--someone, a Neish perhaps, may see the connection of ideas here, I +admit it is slight. + +[Illustration] + +The Prince and Princess were floated across the calm water of the lake +in a fairy galley all over lamps. I made a jotting from recollection, so +I will put it in here. It had three spires and each spire had seven +roofs tapering to a Hte, and two great heads of paper geese were at the +bow, and hundreds of glowing lamps lit the Royal suite on board. Besides +the great state barge there were many boats fancifully decorated with +glowing arrangements of lamps and flowers. The prettiest, I thought, +a great water lily with a dainty little Burmese girl in green ("The +jewel in the lotus") in its petals, posturing and singing. The heavy +white petals in lamplight and rosy lights in the reddish buds and leaves +against the dark water were charming, and the Burman in charge, with the +usual red strip of cloth round his black hair, brown face, and white +jacket, caught a little of the warm light and so blended into the +picture. Burmese crews in dug-out war canoes, towed the Royal barge +across the lake, and as each canoe crossed the paths of light reflected +from the illuminated boats, the figures paddling stood out clearly and +were then lost in darkness. They sang in full chorus with a reed piping +between each line, liquid quiet music; who was it said--like the sound +of grass growing? For a moment the charm was broken by the brass band +behind us beginning, but mercifully some one stopped it, and the Royal +passengers landed to gentle native music. + +[Illustration: H.R.H. Prince and Princess of Wales landing at the + Boat Club, Rangoon] + +Here is, as nearly as possible, in colour, what I remembered of the +Prince and Princess landing on the lawn, and neither more nor less, I +hope--but one is so apt to put in more from careless habits of +accuracy--to count the spokes of the moving wheel. + +The words the crews sang were of "Our King Emperor, who is of the +lineage of World Emperors (Mandat), and who on the lustrous throne of +Britain was crowned." They compare our King to the resplendent Indian +sun; "Our King Emperor" begins each stanza with the catch of the stroke, +or rather, the dig of the paddle. "Our King Emperor, who enjoys his +Imperial pleasures in the golden palace[23] in London, and with +especially distinguished intellectual powers rules over a kingdom whose +inhabitants are like the Nimmanarati Gods delighting in self created +pleasures.... The illustrious Royal couple come from the palace of +flowers over distant seas in the _Renown_ surrounded on all sides by the +blue expanse of wave after wave, through the Indian Empire escorted by +Guards of honour, and amidst echoes of the Royal salute from the +Artillery.... For long life extending over a hundred years for our +sovereign's heir-apparent and for his Royal consort, the Princess of +Wales, who is like a wreath of the much prized Tazin (orchid) flowers on +a bed of roses...." It is pretty in bits, I think, the blue expanse, +wave after wave, and the wreath of Tazin on a bed of roses quite take my +fancy. + +[23] All the Burmese royal residencies were and are still covered with +gilding. Shwey or gold, is also a Burmese term for royalty. + +The illuminations, like the reedy music, went out slowly, and the brass +band had its turn and pom-pomed away finely, as the Prince and Princess +stood a little, on a knoll under the Club trees, in a glow of hundreds +of lamps. Their coming down the winding path from the knoll was +picturesque. I've a thumb-nail jotting of it, our people's faces on +either side were so enthusiastic, and the Prince looked so pleased and +the Princess looked so handsome and queenly, and the cheering--each man +seemed to think depended on himself alone. It was really very pretty, +the ladies' dresses, and uniforms and many black coats and the lamps on +the trees made a gay piece of colour. We do shine on occasions, we +people of the Occident, but the Burmese shine all the time. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +17th.--Now we are moving on, up the river, by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Co. +paddle boat, instead of going to Mandalay by train and down by boat as +is more customary, this for the reason that all the comfortable bogie +carriages are away north with the Prince's following, and night in an +old carriage is not to our tastes. + +We go south down this Rangoon River a little way, then about sixty miles +from the sea, cut across the Delta west by the Bassein Creek, and get +into the navigable Irrawaddy, spending a night on the way tied up in the +creek at a place where, I am told, we will probably be attacked by a +very powerful tribe of mosquitoes, then next day higher up we will, +according to Messrs Cook, see mountains again! + +[Illustration: Sunset on the Irrawaddy] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +17th January.--On the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's S.S. "Java"--after +our British India S.S. experience it is delightful, the quiet utterly +soothing. It is hot it is true--hot as in the hot weather they say, but +the air is clean on the river. + +We are now on the Bassein Creek, twenty-five miles long, going across +the Delta west from Rangoon River to the Irrawaddy to steam up it for +five days, tying up at night. It is better even than we were told! + +This steamer is long, low, and wide decked, with a nice saloon forward +on the upper deck, eight cosy cabins on either side, and a promenade in +front of them, on the fo'csle head as it were. Aft, divided from us by +the pantry and a wire partition, there is a long stretch of deck going +right to the stern, all covered by a roof; on this deck sit and lie +Burmans, singly or in family groups, in pretty silks, on neat mats and +mattresses and pillows with tidy little bundles of luggage beside them. + +We do not stop steaming to-night, for we have barely enough of the flood +to take us over the shallow midway part of the creek, where the east and +west tides meet, so as the sun went below the flat shore and reeds, and +it grew dark, the search-light on the lower deck was turned on. + +Now we have wonderful theatrical pictures continually +changing--bluey-green round pictures framed by the night, first on one +bank then on the other, as the light sweeps from side to side, and +always down its rays a continuous shower of golden insects seems to come +rushing towards us. In the dark behind the lantern, the deck below is +crawling with them. The trees we light up on the banks have the green of +lime-lit trees on the stage, and the same cut out appearance. Fantastic +boats suddenly appear out of the velvet darkness. They have high sterns +elaborately carved, and the red teak wood and the brown bodies of the +rowers pushing long oars glow in the halo of soft light; other figures +resting on their decks are wrapped up in rose and white and green +draperies, and each soft colour is reflected quivering in the ripple +from the oars. + +By the way, as we slept the Bassein mosquitoes did come on board, and +answered their description--they do raise lumps! Horses have to be kept +in meat safes on shore, and they say you can tell a man who has lived in +the district years afterwards, by the way he slips into a room sideways, +and closes the door after him. Two or three bites make a whole limb +swell; therefore travellers, bring mosquito curtains if you travel here +for pleasure. + +18th.--Fresh--cool--sun--and this is a wide river in Fairyland, for the +colours of foliage, water, and sky are too delicate and bright for any +real country I have ever seen. Where, in reality, do you see at one +glance, delicate spires in gold and white rising from green foliage, and +dainty bamboo cottages of matting and teak; and women in colours as gay +as butterflies, coming from them into the morning sun; and fishermen in +hollowed logs with classic stems and sterns, their clothing of the +colour of China asters, their faces coppery gold, and their hair black +as a raven's wing, drawing nets of rusty red, of the tint of birch twigs +in winter, out of muddy water enamelled with cerulean. + +Every now and then you meet with an extra big bit of fairyland coming +down stream in the shape of a native ship with high crescent stern and a +mat house near its low bow; all in various tints of a warm brown teak. +The crew stand and row long oars and sing as they swing, and you think +of Vikings, Pirates, and Argosies.... But down in the lower deck beside +Denny's engines it feels quite homely, as if you were going "doon the +water" in sunny June--the engines running as smoothly and quietly as if +they were muscles and bones instead of hard steel and 900 +H.-P.--engineers, engines, and hull all frae Glasgie, all from banks of +old Cleutha. + +... Now the river widens to nearly a mile, and the tops of ranges of +hills appear over the plains. What variety you have in the course of two +half days--yesterday amongst crowds and houses and ocean going craft, +to-day the calm of the open country with fresh, balmy air, and only +river boats.... Here comes difficult navigation though the river is so +wide; and we ship a pilot who comes off from a spit of sand in a dug-out +canoe.... We surge round hard aport then astarboard, following the +channel, through overfalls and eddies like the Dorris More or Corrie +Bhriechan in good humour, and there are a few sea swallows to keep us in +mind of the sea. It is pleasant to hear the rush, and the calm, of tide +race, alternating. + +[Illustration] + +We stop at a village on the river side, and there's a pageant of little +boats, a little like Norwegian prams, perhaps sampans is the nearest +name for them; they are brightly coloured. The only passenger besides +ourselves, Mr Fielding Hall,[24] leaves our steamer here, which we +greatly regret; he has told us a little about Burmah, and something of a +book he has now in the press, "A Nation at School," and we would very +willingly hear more. I gather that its purport is that the Burmans under +our rule are really going forward, and that our organisations, +hospitals, and factories in Rangoon are proofs of this, though they +appear, at the first glance, to be the opposite and that "_toute est +pour le mieux_...." I am painting now in the cabin he vacated, and ought +to be inspired! This Java makes a perfect yacht--granted a cabin +apiece--but even with two in a cabin it is very A.1. + +[24] The author of "The Soul of a People," an exquisite description of +Burmese life. + +The colouring and sandbanks this first day are undoubtedly suggestive of +the Nile, but the Irrawaddy is wider; the sand edge falls in the same +kind of chunks; the Nile is silvery and blue, with colourless shadows, +here everywhere rainbow tints spread out most delicately, and here +instead of Egyptians in floppy robes you have refined people exquisitely +dressed. As the river is low, we do not see much beyond the edge of the +banks. They are topped with high grass and reeds and low palm ferns, and +over these appear cane matting roofs of cottages and fine trees. + +Paints feel poor things, and a camera can't get these wide effects, at +least mine won't--a cinematograph would be the thing. Every five minutes +a new river scene unrolls itself. At present, as I look from my large +cabin-window, I see a belt of feathery grass, and then the blue sky. A +flight of white herons rise, and the sand throws yellow reflected light +under their wings; a long, dug-out canoe passes down with a load of +colour, red earthenware pots forward, a copper-faced man amidship, in +white jacket and indian-red kilt. He is paddling, behind him are green +bananas, and in the stern a lady sits in pink petticoat and white +jacket. The clothes of men and women are somewhat similar; the man's +coloured "putsoe," or kilt, often of tartan, is tied in a knot in front +of his waist, and comes down to the middle of his calf. The woman tucks +her longer skirt or "tamaine," above her bosom, as you might hitch a +bath-towel, and it falls rather tightly to her ankles, and both men and +women wear a loose white cotton jacket, which just comes to their waist, +with wide sleeves that come below the waist. The men wear their hair +long, tied up with a bright silk scarf, and the women wear theirs coiled +on the top of their heads with a white crescent comb in it, and often a +bunch of yellow orchids. I've heard Europeans say there is little to +distinguish the men from the women in figure or dress: but, to me, their +figures and faces seem very prettily distinguished. + +[Illustration] + +We stop the night at Henzada, and dine on deck, shut off from the night +by a glass partition. The captain tells us how in 1863 the Company was +formed to take over from the Government four river steamers previously +used for carrying troops and stores; and how the fleet has steadily +grown with the development of the province until it now consists of 360 +vessels, of all sorts and sizes. + +Captain Terndrup also tells us of the occupation of Upper Burmah. He +brought down the last of the Europeans before we attacked Upper Burmah, +and took up the Staff of our army. Government hired these Flotilla ships +for the purpose. He also had to do with the beginning of these gold +dredgings in Northern tributaries of the Irrawaddy, which are to make +mountains of gold! + +A new passenger joins here, a Woods and Forest man. He is full of +interesting information about both Lower and Upper Burmah, the Mergui +Archipelago and natural history. + +We are lying one hundred yards off the shore. From the jungle comes the +sound of Burmese music. A Pwe is being held--a theatrical entertainment +given by someone to someone in particular, and to anyone else who likes +to attend; generally, in the open air, they go on a whole moonlight +night. + +20th February.--Almost afraid to get up--the last two days so full of +beautiful scenes--positively fear a surfeit--sounds nonsense but it is +true to the letter. + +Cool and sunny in the morning, the river violet, and the sun faint +yellow through wisps of rising mist. We are coming to a village on the +bank, palms and trees behind it, and a white pagoda spire rising from +them, and one in gold above the village. The cottage roofs are of +shingle, buff-coloured and grey, with a silvery sheen. People are coming +down the dried mud-bank and across the sand to meet us, red lacquered +trays of fruit and vegetables on their heads, and some with their +baggage on their heads--their clothes of most joyous colours-- + + "The world is so full of such beautiful things, + I am sure we should all be as happy as kings." + +to quote Robert Louis Stevenson, and so these cheery villagers, with +their flowers and pretty garments, seem to think. Here is one nation in +the world that has attained peace if not happiness: that has preserved +the happy belief of the Druids and all primitive peoples, of the +relationship of the inorganic to the organic, which scientists now +accept and divines begin to consider. Mr Fielding Hall[25] said the +other evening "their ideal is untenable in a world of strenuous +endeavour and capitalism"--they, of course, do not believe in strenuous +endeavour or capitalism, and laugh at "work for work's sake." But we +have brought the great "law of necessity" to them, and they must come +out of their untenable happiness and fall in line with the advance of +civilisation, and give up flowers and silks and simple beauty and +cultivate smoke stacks. Our occupation of Burmah really does these +people good; witness the hospitals in Rangoon, and the veil of soot from +its factories! + +[25] But see this author's latest book "The Inward Light"--a most +exquisite description of what the Burman believes is the teaching of +Buddha. + +Within a hundred years I can see a few odd Burmans going about with hair +long and some little suggestion of the old times, a red silk tie +perhaps, and a low collar. Foolish fellows, with quaint ideas about +simplicity of life, fraternity, and jollity, and old world ideals of +beauty. They will be called artists, or Bohemians, men without any firm +belief in the doctrine of necessity, or of the beauty of work for work's +sake; men who, when they get to heaven, will say, "First rate, for any +sake don't spoil it--don't make it strenuous at any price!" + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +We go ashore, the Captain and I, and Mr Buchanan, the Woods and Forest +man. The air is brisk and the sun hot--such a change from Rangoon. We +climb the clay steps and walk along the tiny village to the native +(Indian) store, to buy a famous headache medicine for G. It is the +principal thing they sell. The owner of the store got the recipe from a +British Medico, and sells it now all over Burmah, to the tune of 1,300 +rupees profit per month--if I may believe my informant! Burmese suffer +a great deal from headaches; the sun is strong, and they don't wear +hats. There were six native clerks occupied with the sale of this +nostrum. I deposited my half rupee for six doses--I'd have taken a ton +with hope some years ago. + +Then Mr B. showed us his teak logs tethered alongside the banks, waiting +for high water to take them on their road south. Some logs are said to +take nine years to come down from the upper reaches to Rangoon. Then he +rode away on a pretty white pony, first asking me to come and stay in +the jungle with him, and don't I wish I could. You feel inclined to stop +at Henzada for ever, it is so picturesque and fresh, and the walks by +the river under the high trees are very pretty, and there's no dustiness +or towniness. + +I am sorry Mr Buchanan went; there's much to ask, about what he knew; of +trees and beasts and people, or of the geology of these mountains that +are beginning to appear to our left and right: to the west, the southern +spine of the Arrakan Mountains, and to the east, the ranges of the Shan +Highlands, which divide the Irrawaddy valley from the valley of the +Salwin river.[26] + +[26] For short concentrated descriptions of Burmah and Shan States, +_see_ Holdich's "India." + +I ought to be painting these boats that pass--but there's +breakfast-bell--boats my friends, with the colours of Loch Fyne skiffs, +as to their sails and woodwork, a little deeper in colour, perhaps, and +set off with brighter figures, with here and there a rose pink turban or +white jacket. The hulls have a quaint dignity about them, and the +carvings on their sterns are as rich as the woodwork in a Belgian +cathedral. + +Prome.--The sandbanks withdraw, and the wooded ranges of blue hills show +more firmly in the background. It is as if we were at the beginning of a +very wide Norwegian valley. Fishermen's mat shelters break the monotony +of some long sandbanks--isolated signs of life, each on its sharply-cast +purple shadow; a naked boy and his sister run along the freshly broken +edge of a sandbank, and wave to us. + +Round, bend after bend, each a splendid delight to the eye--till two +o'clock we look, and look, loath to leave the deck, though our eyes are +sore and appetites keen--then lunch, watching the passing scenes--and +Prome. + +[Illustration] + +Looking out of our windows, to our left across the river, the scenery +reminds me of loch Suinnart or loch Swene in Argyll: there are knolly +hills, with woodcock scrub, and terns, or sea-swallows, dipping in the +current. To the right the shore is flat, then rises steeply to the road +on the bundar, above which we see the tops of brown teak bungalows, set +amongst rich green trees like planes, and beyond these again, stand grey +stemmed teak trees, and over all, the deep blue sky, and the Shwe Sandaw +Pagoda spire glittering with gold, with lower spires of marble +whiteness. + +Pagoda spires are all along the river side every mile or two, but they +do not bespeak a population; most of them are in ruins, they are simply +built with sun-dried bricks, some are white-washed, others gilt, only +the famous pagodas are ever repaired, for a Burman obtains more evident +merit by building a new one. To judge by their number, one might think +there must be so many people that game could not abound, but this is not +the case at all. + +We go ashore by the gangways (two broad planks) past Indian coolies and +Burmese laden with bales and boxes slung from either end of bamboos +balanced across their shoulders, through ramparts of bales and sacks +piled on the sand and gravel shore. On either side of the path there are +women sitting with snacks of Burmese food to sell to travellers, +sugar-cane, sweet cakes, cheroots, soda-water, and ngapi; this is a +great Burmese delicacy and has a peculiar smell! It is composed of +pounded putrid fish--as unpleasant to us as a lively old Stilton-cheese +would be to a Burman. + +Up the bank some forty feet we find we are again in the track of the +Royal Procession! There are tiny decorations going up amongst the trees. +A triumphal arch, quite twenty feet high, is being covered with coloured +paper and tinsel, and a line of flags and freshly cut palm leaves leads +to the little siding on the line that goes to Rangoon. The place is so +pretty that you feel it is a pity that its natural features should be +disturbed by ornament however well intentioned. + +We go to the pagoda and climb slowly up the steps, for they are high and +steep, and at every flight there are exquisite views out over the jungle +of trees, palms, and bamboo, and knolly "Argyll hills," and looking up +or down the stairs are more pictures; on both sides are double rows of +red and gold pillars, supporting an elaborately panelled teak roof, with +carvings in teak picked out with gold and colour. Groups of people with +sweet expressions, priests, men, women, and children pass up and down. +On the platform there is heat and a feeling of great peace, the subdued +chant of one or two people praying, the cluck of a hen, the fragrance of +incense, and now and then the deep soft throb of one of the great bells, +touched by a passing worshipper with the crown of a stag's horn. There +are spaces of intense light, and cool shadows and shrines of glass +mosaic, inside them Buddhas in marble or bronze--the bronzes are +beautiful pieces of _cire perdu_ castings--flowers droop before them, +and candles are melting, their flame almost invisible in the sunlight, +and two little children play with the guttering wax. + +[Illustration] + +As we come down the stairs we meet khaki-clad Indian soldiers, with high +khaki turbans, and indecently thin shanks in blue putties. They do not +fit their uniforms or boots, or the surroundings, and only the sergeants +seem to feel their rifles less than a burden. They are told off to posts +in the jungle at each stage of the ascent, and we feel our retreat is +menaced, but it is only a rehearsal for the Royal Visit to-morrow. +Little Prome is all agog! for the Prince comes down the river and is to +land here and train to Rangoon. + +Before we go aboard we walk through the marketplace by the side of the +river; it is lit with a yellow sunset from over the river, the umbrellas +stand out brown against the sky, and the burning tobacco of the girls +white cheroots begins to show red, and the oranges have a very deep +colour, the blue smoke hangs in level wisps in the warm dusty air--and +you could lean up against the smell of the ngapi. It is in heaps, and of +finest quality they say. Here is a jotting from a sketch in colour; I +made also one in line to immortalise the Prome triumphal arch. + +[Illustration] + +There are more than a dozen flags on it now, and you see two natives +putting up two lamps; and the governor, you can imagine--he is training +his pair of carriage ponies to stand this unusual display. They go up +and down the mile of high road on the bundar in such a lather, one +nearly out of its skin with excitement. What would be better than an +arch, and would please every one, would be to collect all the Burmese +residents in the district in their best dresses, and allow them to group +themselves as their artistic minds would suggest; their grouping and +posing would be something to remember. Burmese woman study movement +from childhood, and nothing more beautiful could be conceived than their +colour schemes; I've seen arrangement of colours to-day in dresses, +delicate as harmonies in Polar ice, and others rich and strong as the +colours of a tropical sunset. + +But one line more about the town.--Before the Christian era, Prome was +within six miles east of being one of Burmah's many ancient capitals; it +marked the ancient boundary between Ava and Pegu, otherwise Upper and +Lower Burmah. It is seventy five miles above Rangoon, and has 27,000 +inhabitants, and has streets here, and a law court there, and an +Anglican church, so it is moving--one way or the other. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +Thayet Myo, January 20th.--After leaving Prome we have a good long wait +here; we have the Prince's mails on board. Their Royal Highnesses are +coming down river from Mandalay, so we wait their steamer. As we lunch +on deck we watch the villagers collecting, coming in bullock carts and +canoes. + +The Flotilla Company have painted their steamer for the Prince all +white--given her a buff funnel, and she flies the Royal Standard with +the quarterings wrong, as usual, and looks mighty big and fine as she +surges south over the silky, mirror-like surface of the river. There is +a blaze of sun, and three dug-out canoes, with men in pink and white, +flying bannerets, go out to meet her. With their gay colours, the white +steamer, and the gleam of brass-work, you have a subject for a picture +after the style of Van Beers--if there was only time! I just make a +modest grab at it with an inky pen. + +[Illustration] + +Burmans come streaming along the yellow sandy shore in rainbow tints, +and two of our soldiers in khaki, almost invisible but for the boots and +red necks, sweat along the loose sand with them. Up the bank are seated +groups of girls and women, quietly filling their souls with the joy of +gazing at the white ship that contains the Imperial Ti. + +... Put in the night at Minhla.--After dropping anchor, our new +passengers, Mrs Jacobs and daughter, and their guests and ourselves sit +round the deck-table and talk of the celebrations in Rangoon, and we all +turn in at ten, for we grudge an hour taken off these days of light. +They got off at Yenangyat further up the river, a place where there are +oil springs and works. + +21st.--We get up early these days, because the country is so beautiful, +and because it is a little chilly out of the sun, and morning tub begins +to have attractions again; it is so cold and exhilarating, and you feel +fifty times more energetic up here than in Rangoon; you feel you must +not miss any of the river's features, so tumble out betimes. Possibly +the anchor coming up at daybreak awakened you, and if that did not, a +dear little Burmese boy's cock and hen must have done so; the cock sends +out such clarion challenges to all the cocks ashore before daybreak. The +boy in green silk kilt with touch of pink, holding his two white pets +with their red combs, makes a most fetching piece of colour. + +We begin to think thicker clothing would not be amiss--but a quick walk +on shore makes one's blood go merrily. We decided to come here again +with some sort of a house on a keel of our own, and stop and shoot here +and there, and paint; perhaps drift down river from Bhamo through the +defiles, with sport wherever one wanted it--four kinds of deer, +elephant, jungle fowl, francolin, snipe, geese, duck, possibly leopard +or tiger, and a few miles inland there are rhino and gaur--there's a +choice!--and I'd have a net too--four weeks out, by "Henderson" or +"Bibby," four here, and four back--I wonder if my presence could be +spared at home. + +MIMBU.--Here are splendid trees, like those in Watteau's pictures, on +the top of the banks, their foliage drooping over cottages. These are +very neatly built on teak-wood legs. You can see into some of them +through the bamboo walls and floors, and see touches of rich colour in +their brown interiors--ladies in emerald silk and powdered faces, jet +black hair and white torch cheroot, and, perhaps, the goodman coming in, +in green cloth jacket, pink round his hair, and say, a crushed +strawberry _putsoe_ down to the middle of his sturdy brown calves. + +A number of Burmese get off here. Up the sandy bank are collected about +fifty carts. The bullocks in them are finely bred, and are coloured like +fallow deer, and look fat and well-cared for. The carts are +sand-coloured and sun-bleached, with great thick wheels, and the +contrast of the dainty passengers--women and children with neat +packages--getting into these is very pleasant. The men busy themselves +yoking the oxen; they are dressed in bright silks and cottons, several +have M'Pherson tartan _putsoes_. A mother lifts her butterfly-coloured +children into the clean straw and gets in herself, and the eldest +daughter, with white jacket and prettily-dressed hair, steps in +demurely, tucks up her knees in her exquisite plum-coloured silk skirt, +and away they go in dust and sun and jollity--verily, I do believe, that +Solomon in his very Sunday best was not a patch to one of these daintly +dressed figures.... + +I walk along the country road and have a glimpse of the white and gold +of a pagoda, and a glimpse of the river through tree trunks in shadow, +and wish the steamer's horn for recall would not sound for many days. + +21st January.--Past Mimbu--sands wide and whitey-grey. There are white +cirri on blue--sky and sand repeated on the river's surface. At the ends +of the sand-spits are waders--oyster catchers I vow--one might be at +Arisaig in a splendid June instead of the Irrawaddy in January.... Long +rafts of teak logs pass us occasionally, drifting slowly down with the +current. The three or four oarsmen, when they see us, run about over the +round logs and give a pull here and a pull there at long oars, and try +to get the unwieldy length up and down stream; they wear only a waist +cloth, and look so sun-bitten; there is but one tiny patch of shadow in +the middle of their island under a lean-to cottage of matting, with a +burgee on a tall bamboo flying over it. Our wash sends their dug-out +canoe bobbling alongside their raft, and splashes over and between the +logs, and the raftsmen have to bustle to keep their herd together, and +we pass, and they go and dream, of--well I don't know what; that's the +worst of being only a visitor in a country--without the language, you +can only guess what the people think by their expressions. + +We drop anchor off Yenangyaung. There are sandy cliffs here, riddled +with holes made by blue rock-pigeons (?)--more shooting going a-begging! +And there is a bungalow on a sandy bluff, and picturesque native craft +lie along the sandy shore, altogether rather a sandy place. The oil +works don't show from the river very much[27]. The Jacobs' party get off +here. Mr Jacobs manages this particular source of Burmah's wealth. They +go ashore in a smart white launch. + +[27] Crude oil production of Burmah in 1904--116 million gallons, of +which 73 million came from Yenangyaung. In 1902 the Burmese oil fields +yielded nearly 55 million gallons, valued at the rate of 250 gallons for +a sovereign--Del Mar's "Romantic East." + +There is the wreck of a river steamer on a sandbank off Yenangyaung, its +black ribs lie about like the bones of disintegrated whale; it is not +pleasant to look at. She went on fire, and about 200 Burmans were +drowned, and no one would save them, though there were many canoes and +people within three hundred yards. A Scotsman could only get one boat's +crew to go off, and they saved the captain and others, the rest jumped +overboard and were drowned. Burmese are said to be good swimmers, but I +have not so far seen a Burman swim more than two or three strokes, +though I see hundreds bathing every day. The Chittagong Indians who form +our crew swim ashore with a line every time we tie up, and they are +about the worst swimmers I have ever seen; they jump in on all fours and +swim like dogs or cattle. In this case of the drowning people, the +lookers on would say it was not their affair, just as they would, with +the utmost politeness, if you chose to worship in a way different from +them; a _reductio ad absurdum_, from the point of view of those in the +water, of a very charming trait. The Burman is naturally brave, but his +philosophy is that of the Christian Socialist, it is not his creed to be +heroic, or to take life, or thought for the morrow; and if a man smites +him on the cheek, though he may not actually turn the other, he doesn't +counter quick enough in our opinion--doesn't know our working +creed--"Twice blest is he whose cause is just, but three times blest +whose blow's in first;" so we took his country--and make it pay by the +sweat of our brows--poor devils. + +We are steaming now north by east, a very winding course, for the water +is shallow though the river is wide. At high water season I'd think +there must be too much water for appearance sake--it must feel too wide +for a river and too narrow for the sea. + +We stop at another village. Popa mountain detaches itself from +surroundings, thirty or forty miles to the east; it is faint violet and +rises from a slightly undulating wooded plain. It is a great place for +game and nats. Most powerful nats or spirits live there, and if you go +shooting you get nothing, unless you offer some of your breakfast as a +peace-offering to these spirits in the morning. This has been found to +be true over and over again by those who have shot there. + +The day closes, the Arrakan Mountains far away in the west are violet. +The river here is wide as a fine lake and so smooth it reflects the most +delicate tints of cloud-land. In front of us a low promontory stretches +out from the east bank; we have to spend the night there. It is heavily +clad with trees, delicate pagoda spires, white and gold, rise from the +dark foliage and gleam with warm sunset light against the cool grey sky +in the north. Trees and spires, sands, cliffs, cottages, and the canoes +with bright-coloured paddlers, are all reflected in the smooth water. + +As we get within ten yards of the shore six of our Chittagong crew +plunge into the glittering water with a light rope, and are ashore in a +minute and are hauling in our wire hawser; the setting sun striking +their wet bodies, makes them almost like ruddy gold, and their black +trousers cling to their legs. It seems an elementary way of taking a +line ashore; I think that with a little practise two men in a dinghy +would be quicker and would look more seamanlike--but probably it was the +way in the Ark, so the custom remains. + +The Burmese villagers gather in groups and sit on the top of the bank in +the growing dusk. We can just see a suggestion of their gay colours and +the gleam of their cheroots. G. and I go ashore and stumble along a +deep, sandy road; on either side are little and big trees with open +cottages behind them, made of neatly woven bamboo matting, lit with oil +crusies. We come to a pagoda, and tall white griffins at its entrance +staring up into the sky, strange, grotesque beasts--the white-wash they +are covered with looks violet in the fading light. + +At dinner, yarns on the fore-deck, big beetles humming out of the night +against our lamp, and the Captain telling us deep-sea yarns--how he +signed articles as a cabin boy, and of the times before the annexation +of Upper Burmah, when the white man skipper was of necessity something +of a diplomatist and a soldier. Some sailors can't spin yarns, but those +who can--how well they do it! + +As we were at coffee there was a gurgling and groaning came from the +people aft, so we took our cigars, and went to see the row, and order +restored. There was a little crowd struggling and rolling in a ball, and +it turned out there was a long Sikh in the middle of it in grips with a +diminutive Chinaman, who might have been a wizened little old woman from +his appearance. It was the big Sikh who had done the horrible gurgling; +the silly ass had joined in with several Chinese, professional gamblers, +and of course lost, and unlike a Burman or a Chinaman, the native of +India can't lose stolidly. He vowed he'd been set on from behind, and +had been robbed of fifty-four rupees. The Captain assessed probable loss +at two rupees, and the first officer took him down the companion to the +lower deck, the Sikh standing two feet higher than the little Scot. +Later, the long black man went hunting the shrimp of a Chinaman round +the native part of the ship, and caught him again and asked the Captain +for justice, and looked at me as he spoke, which made me uncomfortable, +for I could not understand, but guessed he expected the Sahib to stick +up for a Sikh against any damn Chinee. I would have liked to photograph +the two--they were such a contrast as they sat on their heels beside +each other, the wizened little expressionless, beady-eyed Chinaman with +his thread of a pigtail, and his arm in the grasp of the long Sikh, with +black beard and long hair wound untidily round his head. + +[Illustration] + +22nd January.--Another very distinctive charm about this river is that +the two sides are generally quite different in character. On one side +this morning, the sun is rising over a wilderness of level sandbank, +buff-coloured against the sun, over this there is a low range of +distant mountains, with Popa by itself, lonely and pink; and looking out +on the other side from our cabin window we find we are steaming close +under steep, sunny banks, overhung with luxuriant foliage. + +Where there is a break in the bank we look up sandy corries that come +down from hills, clad with park-like trees and scrub--the very place for +deer! There are no inhabitants on the river side, though we pass every +mile or two a ruined pagoda spire. + +Passing Pagan we see the tops of some of its nine hundred and +ninety-nine pagodas. Many of them are different in shape from the +bell-shaped type we have seen so far. At breakfast we watch them as we +pass. The Flotilla Company does not give an opportunity of landing to +see these "Fanes of Pagan," which is very disappointing. So this ancient +city, one of the world's, wonders, is seldom seen by Europeans. There +are nine miles of the ruined city; "as numerous as the Pagodas of Pagan" +is, in Burmah, a term for a number that cannot be counted. Mrs Ernest +Hart, in "Picturesque Burmah," describes them in a most interesting +chapter. The authorities on Indian architecture, Fergusson, Colonel +Yule, and Marco Polo, all agree that they are of the wonders of the +world. Mrs Hart compares them in their historical interest to the +Pyramids, and in their architecture to the cathedrals of the Middle +Ages. She says of Gaudapalin Temple, which is the first temple seen on +approaching Pagan, that the central spire, which is 180 feet, recalls +Milan Cathedral. It was built about the year 1160 A.D. Colonel Yule says +that in these temples "there is an actual sublimity of architectural +effect which excites wonder, almost awe, and takes hold of the +imagination." Mr Fergusson is inclined to think this form of fane was +derived from Babylonia, and probably reached Burmah, via Thibet, by some +route now unknown. They have pointed arches to roof passages and halls, +and to span doorways and porticoes; and as no Buddhist arch is known in +India, except in the reign of Akbar, and hardly an arch in any Hindoo +temple, this disposes of the idea that the Burmese of the eleventh and +twelfth centuries derived their architecture from India. There are +besides temples and fanes, many solid bell-shaped pagodas of the Shwey +Dagon type. The Ananda Temple is the oldest. It is built in the form of +a Greek cross, the outer corridors are a hundred feet. The interior, +from descriptions I've read, must be splendidly effective and +impressive. + +We stop at oil works, Yenangyat. The people come on and off in boat +loads of bright colours, and women come and sit on the sand beside the +ship. Each woman has an assortment of lacquered ware, orange and red, +delicately patterned cylindrical boxes, with neatly fitting trays and +lids, and bowls, trays, and priests' luncheon baskets--large bowls with +trays and smaller bowls inside each other, rising to a point with a cup +over the top. This ware is made of finely woven cane, and some of woven +horse-hair, alternately coated with a tree varnish, ash, and clay, +polished in laths and covered with faintly raised designs and colours +between, and brought to a polished surface. The best is so elastic that +one side of a tumbler or box can be pressed to meet the other without +cracking the colour inlay. They seem to cost a good deal, but when you +examine them, the intricacies of the designs of figures and foliage +account for the price. The groups of sellers on the shore were +interesting, but there was altogether loo much orange vermilion for my +particular taste--a little of that colour goes far, in nature or art. +The women wore rose red tamiens or skirts, and these, plus the red +lacquer work and reddish sand, made an effect as hot as if you had +swallowed a chili! + +After Pagan, the traveller may snatch a rest for wearied eyes. The +sandbanks and distance are so level that the views are less interesting +than they were below, but, after all, appearances depend so much on the +weather effect. To-day, sky, water, and sand are so alike in colour, +that the effect is almost monotonous. + +At the next village every one seemed jolly and busy, men and women +humping parcels, sacks, and boxes ashore, up the soft, hot sands into +bullock-carts. Now, after our lunch and their day's work, the men are +coming down the banks to bathe--social, cheery fellows, they all go in +together, wading with nothing on but their kilts tucked round their +hips, showing the tattooed designs, that all grown Burmans have over +their thighs. They give a plunge or two, and soap down, and gleam like +copper. Then they put on the dry kilt they have taken out with them, +slipping it on as they came out, modestly and neatly. The women pass +close by and exchange the day's news, and walk in with their skirts on +too, and also change into their dry garments as they come out with equal +propriety. No towelling is needed, for the air is so hot and still--but +the water is pretty cold--I know! + +Another entertainment we have at lunch; on a sandbank a little to our +right, a long net; some 200 fathoms, is being drawn ashore, and people +in canoes are splashing the water outside and at the ends to keep in the +fish. There must be twenty men, boys, and women, working at it; beyond +them, there is a rolling distance of woodland, and with solitary Popa in +the distance--this mountain begins to grow on one, it is so constantly +the view from so many places. + +Two new passengers, a Captain in R. A., I think, and his wife, came on +board here--came riding out of the greenery and along the shore on two +pretty arabs, through the bustling crowd of Burmans and natives. + +He tells me he got with another gun, 60 couple of snipe yesterday, which +is a little unsettling for me. However, my gun is in Rangoon, and I will +leave it there, and hang on to my pencil! I find our fellow passenger, +who is somewhat deaf, is an artist, studied in Paris, and draws little +character figures in most excellent style; so he and G. and I draw all +day! one encourages the other. + +[Illustration] + +At Myingyan we tie up for the night, and we all go ashore together, that +is, Captain Terndrup, G., and I and the artist and his friend and walk +on the flat on the top of the sandy banks, and here is the view down the +river from where we landed, a yellow and violet sunset. Bullock carts go +slowly creaking past us; the dust they raise hangs in yellow clouds in +the sunset light. There are crops here, a little like potatoes, which +suggest partridges. I am told there are quail; some day I must come back +to see for myself.[28] There are deer about, for two heads came on +board, like our red deer, but with only a brow antler, and a well-curved +single switch above that--some fellow sending them to be set up for +home? I begin to feel awfully sorry I did not bring up gun and rifles +and fishing tackle, especially as there's any amount of space on board +for stowing luggage. + +[28] Since return have seen Messrs Colonel Pollock and Thorn's book on +Sport in Burmah, Upper and Lower, and wish I had read it before going +out. + +28th January.--The air gets more and more exhilarating as we get +North,--there's a Strathspey in the air now in the morning when you +waken; but what poor rags we felt only a few days ago down at Rangoon! +It is said that men in the Woods and Forests with fever come from the +jungle to the river, get on board a Flotilla steamer, and recover +immediately. + +This is our last day's journey on this boat, but we are to stay on board +her to-night at Mandalay, and perhaps to-morrow night, till we get on +board the upper river cargo boat, which is slightly smaller than this +mail boat. The cargo boats go slower than the mails, for they stop +oftener, and tow _two_ flats or barges, one on each side. After +Mandalay, Bhamo will be our objective; it is the most northerly British +cantonment in Burmah, and is near the Chinese frontier. All the way +there trade is carried on at the stopping places between the traders' +booths on the flats and the riverside villagers. We expect to find this +trade mightily interesting, as we shall see men and women of the wild +mountain tribes. I hope to see the Shan sword-makers particularly; they +make splendid blades by the light of the moon, for secrecy, I am told, +like Ferrara, and also because they can then see the fluctuating colour +of the tempering better than in daylight--and perhaps because it is +cooler at night! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +Seven hundred and eight miles we have come to-day from the sea, a +regular Argo trip, yet we are far from wearied, and, allowed a day to +stop here and there, would willingly proceed in the same manner to the +Arctic circle. The farther we go, the more are we impressed with the +apparent wealth of this country; the soil is fertile to a degree, the +climate is better than Egypt; there's coal, oil, minerals, precious +stones, gold, marble, alabaster, and such a magnificent waterway. Had I +a hundred years to live I'd scrape capital together to put into this +recently "acquired" land; as it is perhaps it would be cheaper and +better to stay here now, and learn Burmese philosophy, and make capital +out of the flowers that blow. + +... That settles the matter--I get my gun sent up from Rangoon, or go +down for it myself--over 200 splendid geese along a sandbank! Within 200 +yards! I could count their feathers with my glass. The Captain tells me +you just need to drift down in a native canoe and make a bag with ease. +Rather a shame, you say; for the Burmans are not supposed to take life, +so the geese are not afraid of a dug-out canoe. But a Burman is +delighted to eat what others kill, and besides, I have been so often +outwitted by geese at home, that I'd just like to have one chance, to +retrieve past misfortunes. Between Mandalay and Bhamo, the Captain says, +they are even more numerous than here. Beyond Bhamo, he describes the +river water as so clear you can count the pebbles thirty feet below its +surface, and describes the whacking big Mahseer, the gold dredging, and +the game alongside--peacocks--leopards--buffaloes! + +As we were talking, the Rock pilot came alongside in a launch and handed +aboard a bunch of geese, the same as those we had seen;[29] he is out of +shot and powder, and I believe we have no cartridges on board. The geese +weighed five and a half pounds each, but they put on some three pounds +before the end of the season, before they go north, possibly to some +lake in the Himilayas or Western China, to breed. + +[29] Barhead and grey lag geese are the two kinds commonly seen. + +At Saigang we fairly draw a breath with astonishment at the beauty of +the panorama that opens before us. The river widens to two miles, and +comes to us in a grand curve from the north and east. Mandalay is at the +bend, some nine miles up. It is like a beautiful lake edged with a +thread of sand--a lake that Turner might have dreamed of. Above Saigang +on our left are green woods, capped with white and gold minarets, with +white stairs and terraces leading up to them. To the north one or two +canoes, with bright sails, and distant mountains with purple corries, +and fleecy clouds, are mirrored on the tranquil river: these distant +hills are of very delicate warm violet tints, on their shoulders we can +just make out the forms of forests, and heavy white cumuli hang above +them in a hazy blue. The white Saigang pagodas on our left in the +distance look like Scottish-baronial or French chateaux, embowered in +foliage. Across the swelling river ("swelling" is the right word, I am +sure, for the river's surface _seems_ to be convex) and to our right the +country is flat, and in the green woods are the overgrown ruins of the +once splendid city of Ava. Certainly, of my most pleasant recollections, +this wide landscape, and all its light tints of mother-of-pearl, will +remain one of the most delightful. + +Mandalay is at the upper end of this lake-like part of the Irrawaddy; it +lies back and behind the river bank or _bunda_, so it is not visible +from the river. + +Our steamer pulls up against a flat that lies against the sandy shore, +exposed, at this time of year, by the lowness of the river. There are no +wharfs as I had expected, only two or three floating sheds, and two or +three steamers like our own. The sandy shore slopes up some thirty feet +to the bundar, and over that we see palms and trees. + +Up and along the sandy shore we drove in a gharry, a man on either side +to prevent it upsetting in the ruts, and if it had not been for the +honour of the thing I would as soon have walked! On the top of the +bundar we struck a macadamised road and rattled gaily along to see the +town. It is almost pure Burmah here, and the native of India is +beautifully scarce; but Chinese abound, and are uncommonly nice-looking +people. We drive a mile or so with rather dingy teak and matting houses +on trestle legs on either side of the road, overhung with palms and +trees, and see the domestic arrangements through open verandahs--women +and children winding yellow silk in skeins and cooking, the vivid +colours of the silks in sudden contrast to the sombre dusty red and +brown wood of the houses. + +We stop at a wooden building with gilded pillars in a clear space of dry +foot-trodden mud, surrounded with tall palms and some teak trees with +grey-green leaves big as plates. The short lower wooden pillars support +a gallery, and this again has other gilded pillars supporting one roof +above another in most fantastic complication; green glass balustrades +and seven-roofed spires wrought with marvellous intricacies of gilded +teak-wood carving. Indian red underlies the gilding, and the weather has +left some parts gold and some half gold and red, and other bits +weather-worn silvery teak. The pillars and doors from the gallery into +the interior shrines were all gold of varying colours of weather stain. +Shaven priests, with cotton robes of many shades of orange, draped like +Roman senators, moved about quietly; they had just stopped teaching a +class of boys to read from long papyrus leaves--the boys were still +there, and seemed to have half possession of the place. Overhead green +paroquets screamed, flying to and fro between carved teak foliage and +the green palm tops. The interior of the building was all gilded wood--a +marvel of carpentry; there were lofty golden teak tree pillars and +gilded door panels with gilded figures in relief, and yellow buff cane +mats on the floor. Light only came in through doorways and chinks in the +woodwork in long shafts, but such light! golden afternoon sun into a +temple of gold, you can imagine the effect when it struck gilding--how +it flamed, burned, and lit up remote corners of the shadowy interior +with subdued yellows! As we looked in, a kneeling priest near us waved +to us to enter, and went on with his devotions, his old wrinkled, +kindly, brown face and neck and close cropped head, and deep orange +drapery all in half tone against a placque of vivid lemon yellow gold in +sunlight. These priests, or phungyis, in their old gold cotton robes +form one of the most distinctive features of Burmese life in town and +country. They are greatly respected by the people for their simplicity +of life. They teach all the boys in the country reading, writing, and +simple arithmetic, and how to try to follow the example of the life of +their great Gautama. Theoretically they do this for love alone, or to +"earn merit." What alms they receive is not in payment--gifts are +accepted but not asked for. The people do not pay taxes for their +clergy, nor do these literally free kirk ministers perambulate the +country, and ask children for their Saturday pennies for a Sustentation +Fund. One of the most interesting sights here is to see their young +novitiate priests in the morning going round the bazaars and the boats +and the stalls on the strand in their yellow robes, bowl in hand, +silently waiting for a dole of boiled rice or fruit, and passing on if +it is not quite ready, to come another day. + +All Burmese men are priests for a certain time, even though it be but +for a few months; for that time they must wear the simple yellow dress +and renounce all worldly desires[30]. So it was in the earliest Scottish +Church; the Culdee clergy were teachers as well as preachers, and +taught arts and crafts as well as their faith. + +[30] For exhaustive and interesting accounts of life and education in +the Monastery, _see_ "Picturesque Burmah," by Mrs Ernest Hart. + +The observances of the phungyis are almost austere, but the teaching +that Gautama Buddha passed to the laity was less so. The Burman says, +"Life is a vale of tears, so be happy as possible and make others happy +and you will be good"--the religion of the actor and the artist--the +rose and to-morrow fade, and "loves sweet manuscript must close," but do +what you may, as beautifully as you can--be it a pastel or a matinee. + +This monastery is called the Queen's golden Kyoung; it was erected by +Thebaw's queen, Supayalat, in the early eighties--and now king Thebaw +and his queen are in durance near Bombay. + +Though it was getting late we drove on to another place, the Arrakan +Pagoda. We had heard of it pretty much as a Burman coming to Europe +might hear of a place called St Peter's. + +It was a long, fatiguing, jolting drive in the rattling gharry, +fatiguing physically and mentally, for along both sides of the road were +such interesting things, Chinese cafes lighting up, huge paper lanterns +outside, and stalls of every kind, makers of golden umbrellas and +Burmese harness-makers, almost every stall showing some pretty colour +and Rembrandtesque lamplight effect. + +The entrance was like that of other pagodas, two white griffins looking +up at the sky, with busy modern life at their feet. There was a long +approach of shallow steps between double rows of red pillars with much +wood-carving overhead, and panels of poor fresco; but it was rather dark +to see details, and the stall-holders from either side were departing, +and we could see little but the flare of these ladies cheroots. As we +got up towards the centre of the temple, a light or two appeared, and +worshippers came in from the shadowy outside. As the candle light +increased it showed that we were under gilded Italian renaissance +arches, and in the centre, where the four arcades met, were lofty +elaborate ornate iron gates round a centre of great light. + +Before the gates were curious umbrellas of pink and white silk, and +pendant chrystals and ornate vases of china and lacquer with peacocks +feathers in them; and a golden chest and huge silver bowl (full of +flower-petals) were in shadow to one side. + +More and more candles and hanging glass lamps from green-coloured beams +were lit, and gradually worshippers collected and knelt before the great +gates facing the strong light with the blue evening shadows behind them. +They brought with them strange tokens in shapes like marriage cakes but +in brilliant colours, gold, emerald, pink, and vermilion; these they +placed on the pavement in front of them. There were dark-robed people, +men and women from somewhere towards China, some of them old and +tottering, and Chinese, Burmese, Shans, Kachins, Karens, and people of +Asia that I could not place, all kneeling, sitting, and bowing in the +warm glow of light that comes from the great golden Buddha behind the +gates. Amongst them were golden and red lacquered boxes and bowls and a +melee of effects and things, that suggested a curiosity shop, yet withal +a _bigness_ in the golden arches and a simplicity of worship that was +simply grand. Ghost of Rembrandt!--could you have but seen this and +depicted it in your most reverend and inspired moment! Or Rubens--he +would have caught the grandeur of effect, but would he also have caught +the meekness and the piety of the old women's and men's faces. + +There was a dog and a Chinese boy beside the peacock feathers, in a blue +silk shirt and trousers edged with black; a Burmese woman sweeping; two +little brown half naked children--a boy and girl playing on the stone +pavement with the guttering wax of candles at the side of the arches; +and the kneeling youths and seniors bowing and repeating their sonorous +prayers, all within a few yards of each other, without one disturbing or +apparently distracting the other. Only I felt out of place, a long +standing Western figure from the Western world in topee and flannels +with a sketch book, scribbling: but a boy kindly held half of some +worshipper's candle to light my sketch book; priests in yellow robes +stood behind looking on, and made no remark. + +[Illustration] + +I fear an Occidental must look uncouth in such an Oriental setting; you +feel you ought at least not to stand up in a place like that; I mean for +aesthetic reasons--you overbalance the composition. + +How great and unexpected was the change from the morning on the river in +the sun and clear air to the evening and the glow of lamps and colour +and the chanted, prayers in this centre of Buddhism, the Mecca of this +far East! + +We came out and caught a tram-car home, _i.e._ to the "Java"--an +electric car made in London--Ye gods--the short circuit of ideas! + +24th January.--This morning I have to try to paint the groups in the +Arrakan Pagoda, but in the bright daylight it is difficult to take one's +attention from these Phrynes, who come down to bathe beside our +steamer--Phrynes, as to figure I mean. One of the two nearest has a +little white jacket and a tight hunting green cloth skirt and black +velvet sandals; her movements are deliberate, almost languid, and she is +fairly tall, very well proportioned, and when her white jacket comes +off, the colour of her shoulders is very pretty in contrast to the jet +black hair and undergarment of blue. This garment, with its white band +tight across her bust, remains on when the green kirtle drops to her +feet. Her friend is dressed in the same way in different colours. They +walk in and swim a few strokes--if you may call it swimming--with other +women already in the water. Then they wash themselves very carefully +with soap, and when the first comes out in her blue tight garment, she +slips the green kirtle over her head and the blue dress drops off +underneath it. There is no drying--the sun does that, and they are +hardy. A yard or two on this side of them, two men tuck their waist +clothes round their hips and go in with their oxen; both the +yellowy-brown men and the oxen seem to enjoy it, and come out with the +sun in high lights on their tautened muscles. + +Immediately at hand a native (Indian) woman, a Madrassee, with her brass +chatty, wades into the water all standing--dirty white canopies and +all--and futilely washes, without soap, and rubs her teeth with a +finger, spits and makes ugly noises and faces, looking now and then +critically at the Burmese women farther up the bank, as if she would +fain copy their more graceful ways and movements. Then she polishes her +brass chatty religiously with mud, and fills it with water where she has +been dabbling, and goes ashore and up the sand, a bedraggled-looking +creature, and conceited at that! Next comes a Burmese mother and her two +young daughters, their bathing dress a smile and a Christmas orchid in +the hair. The eldest is a thing of beauty, with lines to delight a +Phidias. Alas! why must we hide all beauty of form except that of +animals--hide fearfully God's image? Men, women, and children here all +seem fit and fairly well shaped; you rarely see a deformity, except at +show places such as the big temples. It would be the same with us were +we to pay more attention to form, and proportion, than to dress. + +I intended to paint at the Arrakan Pagoda to-day, but a pleasant looking +man came on board with a chitsaya harp; I had to try and make a jotting +of him. G. and Captain Turndrup brought him. He sat and played tunes for +hours--epic tunes, which I'd have given anything to remember. His +boat-shaped harp of thirteen strings was tuned in minor thirds, so you +could readily pick out Celtic tunes on it. I am told Sir Arthur Sullivan +came here and listened to his music and made many notes. The harp +belonged to Prince Dabai, Thebaw's step-brother, and I confess I bought +it; but I will restore it if it is required for any National Burmese +Museum or Palace. + +Whilst I painted him, the phungyi boys in yellow robes came along the +shore to collect food from the people on the river boats alongside the +sand, and from one or two stalls on the shore. They stood silently with +the big black lacquer bowls in their arms against their waists, +looking humbly down, and a stall holder placed large handfuls of the +rice she was cooking into a bowl. Then the close-cropped bare-headed lad +came to the fifty foot dug-out canoe beside us, but the food there was +only being cooked so he moved on without a word. + +[Illustration: A Burmese Harpist] + +Half an hour's gharry to the pagoda, an hour there sketching and trying +to remember things, and half an hour's rattle back in the dark, wound up +my day's study. + +[Illustration] + +The Mandalay gharry, a "dog kennel on wheels," is a frightfully +ramshackle thing; doesn't the very name suggest a rickety, rattling sort +of a machine? They are of hard wood, loosely built, with wooden seats, +iron tyres, loose wooden blinds, and springs of iron--I doubt if there +are any! and it is hauled by a tiny Burmese pony, licked by a native of +India. + +... 25th.--A faint mist lifting off the shore. The sun is hardly risen, +but already the bullock carts with heavy wooden wheels are squeaking +and groaning along the sand. There is just enough mercantile life to be +comprehensible and picturesque; some four or five Irrawaddy Flotilla +steamers are fast to the bank, and between them are some sixty native +canoes with round mat houses on them. The cargoes of the steamers are +piled on the sand in bales, so you see the whole process of its being +discharged and loaded on the carts and taken away. As the sun rises the +dust does the same, and so do the voices of the people, old and young, +and the geese and the children join in, but the babel is not unpleasant, +it is not too loud; there are pleasant low notes and laughter all the +time. The general tone of the voices is not unlike that of a French +crowd in good humour. + +We have received a kind invitation to go and stay with people on shore, +but we resisted the temptation for the meantime. For here on the "Java," +we see such interesting scenes; and our up-river boat ought to be here +immediately, and to shift our belongings along the shore some thirty +yards on to her, will be much less trouble than flitting to our friends' +bungalow; so we go on drawing here. + +The Phryne in hunting green is down again, languorously dropping her +green kirtle. It has an orange vermilion band round the top that clips +the green above her breast. She isn't a swell swimmer; all the women do +in that way is with their hands and they raise their heels out of the +water, and smack down their shins and toes together and just get along, +this possibly on account of the tightness of the lungye or tamien. The +men have various strokes, mostly sort of dog strokes, and get along but +slowly. I have not seen either a man or woman dive. + +We have gone up the bank now a few yards to the cargo boat and installed +ourselves in it with our luggage--a very easy "flitting"--and we find +the cargo steamer just as perfectly comfortable as the mail boat we +have left--cabins, mess table, promenade on the upper deck in the bows. +There are curtains round the bows to drop if there is too much draught, +and thick handsome carpets on deck. To compare price, comfort, and +beauty of scenery with a Nile trip would be hard luck on Old Nile and +its steamers. I should say this is a third cheaper and six times more +comfortable, and many times more interesting. With regard to mosquitoes +there are more at this present moment of writing than I have had the +misfortune of meeting elsewhere, but it isn't so all the road. I still +think, however, that those mosquitoes of the Bassein Creek are +incomparable. + +We (that is merely "I" this time) went to-day with a very European party +of Mandalay residents up and across the river to Mingun in a sort of +large picnic on a Government launch. We went to see the second biggest +bell in the world and a pagoda that would have been one of the biggest +buildings, if it had ever been finished! Both are great _draws_, and +neither is of any account. The view of the winding river from the top of +the ruins of the pagoda is certainly exquisite, and for ever to be +remembered. But it's a pretty stiff climb to get there, and you should +let your enemy go behind, for the loose bricks sometimes go down through +the shrubs like bolting rabbits. + +The trees too are splendid, and the distant ruby mountains are very +exquisite, but as for dancing on a Government boat's deck, and tea and +small talk--such things may be had at home, and brass bands too--_mo +thruaigh_! + +The big bell weighs about ninety tons; it is hung on modern girders, far +enough off the ground to let you crawl inside, and it has a poor tone. +The diameter of the lip is sixteen feet. The masonry, otherwise the base +for the proposed pagoda, contains 8,000,000 cubic feet, is 165 feet high +and 230 feet square, and is cracked through the middle and tumbling to +pieces owing, some say, to an earthquake and thunderbolts--I think from +bad building and the natural inclination of loose bricks to find their +angle of repose. + +To-night we gharried to the Grahams to dinner, over the ups and downs +and deep sand and ruts of the shore, over cables and round timber heads +and teak logs till we got to the hard, a man on each side holding up the +conveyance, and two men with lanterns. + +[Illustration] + +There were splendid roses on the dinner-table and strawberries down from +the Shan Highlands, as fine as any I have seen. Then after dinner we saw +collections of the most recherche Burmese and Chinese art, in which Mr +Graham evidently has a very critical taste. There was exquisite silver +work and brass, gold, and amber carvings, dahs or swords in silver and +velvet sheaths with ivory handles, long shaped books of papyrus with the +heavy black print on lacquered gilded leaves, and Buddhas in gold and +marble, and a little Chinese box carved in root amber, which I +coveted--it suggested a picture by Monticelli--besides wonders of +Burmese carvings in wood and ivory: then music, and good voices, and +the piano sounding so well in the large teak drawing-room--and home +again, rattling in the gharry over the hard macadam and the soft ups and +downs and ruts along the sand, as here depicted in black and white, to +our new quarters on the shores of Mandalay where the big mosquitoes play +and sing us to sleep--"only a temporary plague," they say here, and we +hope so! G. invented a plan of slaying them. When you are under the net, +you can't bang them against the swaying muslin--this plan obviated that +difficulty, and is effective, only it needs a candle and matches inside +the net, and might, at any moment, set the ship and Mandalay in a blaze: +I mentioned this dire possibility, and G. said she would not do it if I +were not near! + +[Illustration] + +26th, Friday.--Still aboard the S.S. "Mandalay," turned out bright and +early--a delicious morning, dew lying on the short grass above the +shore. Went to the bazaar with my native boy--wish I had a Burmese +servant, as neither of us can speak a word of Burmese. I'd advise any +tourist to try and get a Burmese servant for guide and councillor. It is +horrid being tongue-tied amongst such kindly-looking people. There does +not seem to be much love lost between the Burmans and the natives of +India, and I think the foolish Indian natives actually fancy themselves +superior! + +I have never seen, no, not in India, so much paintable "stuff" in so +small a space. The stalls were sheltered by tall umbrellas made of +sun-bleached sacks, over them the blue sky, and under them masses of +colour in light and shade, heaps of oranges, green bananas, red +chillies, and the girls and women sitting selling them, puffing blue +smoke from white cheroots big as Roman candles, or moving about from +shade to light like the brightest of flowers, no hurry, no bustle; a +chatter of happy voices, nothing raucous in sound or colour, and all the +faces good and kind to look at, except when a foxy Indian came across +the scene. There is also near this open-air bazaar an immense market +under cover. The light is not so picturesque in it, but the women are of +a better class. There's much colour at the stalls where they sell silks, +and talk to the passer-by, and brush their black hair, and powder their +faces between times. If you could talk to them it would be fun, for they +are as jolly and witty as can be. I understand Burmese girls of almost +all families keep stalls at the bazaars when they "come out," which +accounts for the Burmese women's great intelligence in business affairs. + +Then to the Arrakan Pagoda, and felt inclined to stay all day listening +to the sonorous recitations of the kneeling people. + +Back in a tram-car, an excellent place to sketch faces, your topee over +your eyes, and sketch book behind a newspaper--no one knows you are +drawing. The following tram-car notes are of Burmese faces, except the +face behind, with a look of cankered care on it; he is some kind of an +Indian. + +After lunch to the palace--a longish drive inland from the river. Thebaw +not at home, and Supayalat out too, so we called on the Britishers, +resting on long deck chairs in the golden rooms now used as a club. What +a rude contrast Western chairs and tables and newspapers were to the +surroundings! I believe Lord Curzon has arranged that this aesthetic +immorality shall be put right, and a proper place appointed for the +Club, and Divine service. + +[Illustration] + +I'd like to have been here at the looting of this particular palace, you +hear such fascinating descriptions of Thebaw's barrels of +jewels--emeralds and rubies to be had by the handful. How angry the +soldier man is when you speak of it. He will explain to you, with the +deepest feeling, that military men were put on their parole not to bag +anything, and they did not; but the men in the Civils came on ponies, +and went away with carts. + +The palace grounds are surrounded by four crenellated walls, each a mile +long; each wall has three seven-roofed gates in it, and each gate has a +bridge across the wide moat. The palace rooms are nearly splendid; they +are supported on many teak pillars, low at the sides of the rooms, and +up to sixty feet in the middle. These are all gilt, and show +"architectural refinements," for the teak trees they are made of are not +absolutely straight, and they have an entasis that is quite natural +where they taper away into the golden gloom of the sloping timber roofs. +The rooms are lofty, and all on one floor, because the Burmese do not +like to live in rooms with people above. There are infinite intricacies +of gilded teak carving, and some rooms glitter like herring shoals with +silvery glass mosaics and mirrors and crystals. How delightful it must +have been to see these courts, and gardens, and palaces, and +throne-rooms in their full brilliancy before our "occupation," but I +suppose one would have had to crawl on all fours or lose one's head at +the nod of Supayalat. She and Thebaw and their parents were very much +in-bred, and, though she was otherwise particularly charming, she had a +strongly-developed homicidal mania. However, the people wept when they +saw their king and queen being so unexpectedly hurried away in a gharry +to go "Doon the Water" in Denny's steamer, in November 1885. They had +far more fun, they say, before we came; a rupee went farther, and so on; +and I quite believe it--we did not grab the country to amuse them! + +27th.--Painted till 2 from 8 in half-hearted way. To the Grahams, then +to the Arrakan Pagoda again, too tired and mosquito-bitten to do much +after getting there--a nostalgia of colour these last few days--but saw +the golden Buddha. The florid iron gates were open, and an immense light +shone on the seated and kneeling worshippers in front. It is the most +effective scene in the world for the amount of staging. A glare of +golden light from unseen lamps--electric, I believe--gleams all over the +calm golden figure. It is raised so that the arch in front just allows +you to see up to the top of the statue; it is over twelve feet high, and +the base is about six feet off the ground. + +I must come back; on this journey I have already seen so much on the way +here--some day I will come out direct and paint this one scene, and +perhaps one or two in the Shwey Dagon Pagoda--"if I'm spaired," as they +say in the lowlands, instead of knocking under the table. + +... On board to-night; Burmans and natives are making up their booths +and stalls on the flats alongside, and on the after-decks of this boat, +so there is a good deal of hammering during dinner-time. Afterwards we +sit round the table on the fore-deck and tolerate the mosquitoes, and +tell yarns, and I turn in with a picture in my mind, from a story of the +captain's, of an East African coast, and a tramp steamer on a bar, the +surf coming over her stern, and the shore lined with drunk niggers, and +green boxes of square-faced Dutch gin--at four shillings and sixpence +the dozen, box included. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + "Away to Bhamo, + Then fare ye well + You Mandalay girl + We're away---- + To the Bhamo Strand." + +_New verse to old Chantie_. + + +[Illustration] + +Sunday, 28th.--The steamer blows a second time, and the friends and +relations of our traders, sisters, cousins, and aunts get ashore across +the flat or barge alongside, and the crowd of gharries, ox-carts, and +fruit and food sellers begins to disperse up the sandbank. I see the +tall beauty in green kirtle get a friend to raise her flat basket of +oranges on plaintain leaves on to her head, a slow elegant movement she +may have learned in dancing. Here, when the women dance, there is +little movement of the feet, but the angular movements of the body, +arms, and hands and fingers are very subtle and studied, and are done +very slowly; they have time!--in fact, they have to look forward to so +many re-incarnations before they even become men, that they must feel +entirely superior to Time! + +We had a quieter night, leastwise quieter than we expected. A child +cried, and a Burman built his booth a little aft of our cabin, with box +lids and French nails, and the hammering went on till about two. Then +all was quiet, and traders and passengers and their families were +asleep, stretched round the deck aft of our portion--Burmans, Phunghis, +Shans, Karens, Chinese, Sikhs, wrapped in various coloured sheets, in +lines fore and aft and from side to side, dimly lit from above by +lamps--the same in the two decks of the flat which we are to take up the +river with us alongside. + +These cargo steamers usually take up two flats,[31] one on each side, +and the amount of trade done on these each voyage up and down, I am +told, is considerable, and must annually give great profit to the +countries whose goods we carry; two-thirds of these goods are +Continental--German, Swiss, Austrian, Italian, and some are Japanese. +The deduction to be drawn from this will be equally clear to +Protectionist or Free Trader. + +[31] I am told this steamer is 250 feet, beam 48, flats 96, beam 24, and +the mail steamer was 325, beam 62. + +We made a false start; the mail steamer from the south we had been +waiting for appeared just as we had cleared off the shore. She had been +delayed by fog, so we anchored for an hour or so to tranship the mails +and Burmese passengers. Meantime I took a spell of painting, then +Krishna and I hunted up a bamboo, got out snake-rings, fishing book, and +reel, and had a rod fixed up in no time. What with gun, cartridges,[32] +and painting things, my cabin looks quite interesting--to my mind. We +have but one other passenger, so we may utilise two cabins, one as +sleeping-room, the other as sitting-room, gun-room, and studio combined. +As such it might be even bigger with advantage, but for situation it +would be impossible to beat--for changing views from the window or +swirling tide and passing boats with people in them, like bunches of +flowers flaring in the sun, and then all soft and delicate as they float +past in our shadow. The priests in these boats, with their yellow robes +and round palm leaf fans have a decorative effect of repetition, and we +are told these fans keep their thoughts from wandering from +righteousness to pretty girls. Palm leaves, robes, and their bare right +shoulders and arms are all in harmonious browns and yellows; the water +is bluish mother-of-pearl. The men row their boats as all Southerners +do, Italians, and the rest, standing and backing them like gondolas; +only the Burman uses two oars. + +[32] Telegraphed to Cook, Rangoon, who sent them to Mandalay by train. + +But to the fishing rod and line; we started with bait and did underhand +casting from lower deck up and down the ship's side. The rod was +excellent, a split new cane, if not exactly the "Hardy split," and it +did not lie wholly between two points--it meandered a little, but I've +got salmon on worse. We got nothing, and yet I saw a Burman in a dug-out +log, with a no whit better rod, pull up a beauty like a sea trout of two +pounds, as he drifted past; so next stopping place I hope you will hear +of fish "grassed" or "creeled," as they say in the papers. + +We pass Mingun, half-an-hour up the river from Mandalay. I've mentioned +this place before and its bell. The bell is big, so the traveller is +expected to make every effort to see it. To me, the size of a bell is +not very interesting, and one heap of stone (pyramids included) seems as +interesting as another. It's the design that counts. + +The Flotilla steamer does not always stop at Mingun; we went steaming +past it on our left. The reflections of the trees and ruin in the +smoothly running stream were crossed by rippling bands of lavender, +where a breeze touched the water: and sea swallows poised and dipped, +screaming and flashing after each other. On the far side of the river +were level white sands, green sward, and distant blue mountains. + +[Illustration] + +There's a pleasant sense of swelling fullness about the river; it may be +an optical delusion, but I am inclined to believe it is a fact that the +surface is slightly convex, like an old-fashioned mirror, perhaps an +inch or two higher in the middle than at the sides. There is not much +depth to spare, already we have touched bottom. It was a curious and +almost incredible statement made to me that we draw four and a half +feet, and can go over sand bars only covered four feet. It is true, +however; the steamer after touching is backed astern a yard or two, and +when her own following swell comes up to her, she goes ahead over the +bar, on the swell. + +At lunch we pass a great number of geese on the edge of a sandbank--our +table is right in the bows, and we have a clear view of the banks on +either side as we go along, even at meal times we have the field-glasses +handy to pry into the scenes of animal life on river side--the captain, +who generally has his gun handy, said, "Yes, certainly we must have a +shot at them," and for a moment I hoped he would drop anchor, and that +we would go off in a boat and stalk them, but I gathered sadly the +"shot" was to be underway at 150 yards--and I'd rather not--another lost +opportunity! + +Now we pass a regular regiment of birds I do not know--cranes, I +think--some four feet high, the colour of oyster catchers, long red +bills and legs, and black and white plumage. + +The Irrawaddy valley is here a little like the valley of the Forth. +There is a centre hill for a Wallace monument, and the distant hills are +like those in Perthshire, but both the valley and the river are wider; +and the delicious summery sun and air are too ideal--we only had such +summer weather when we were children. + +Painted all afternoon, passing scenes. G. did a broad daylight effect of +blue sky and distance, and the blue Ruby mountains and flecks of white +cumuli and calm water, an effect in much too high a key for me to +attempt; and I did a Punghis' bathing pool, in lower tones, a more +getatable effect for my brush.... + +We have to drop anchor at sunset in mid-stream, somewhere below +Kyonkmyoung, to wait for the mail, and because we have no searchlight we +cannot go on at night. The mountains are closer now, and towards evening +they are reflected in voilet and rose in the wide river. + +... The lights go on, and I assure you our open air saloon, with its +table set for dinner with silver, white waxy champak flowers, and white +roses in silver bowls are delightful against the blue night outside. The +scent of the champak would be too heavy, but for a pleasant air from +up-stream, which we hope will help to clear out the piratical longshore +crew of Mandalay mosquitoes which we brought with us. We are only a few +miles short of our proper destination for the night, but no matter, _we_ +are not in a hurry; the Burmans up-stream, waiting for their market, +are not either, they will just have to camp out for the night. + +[Illustration: Mid-day on the Irrawaddy, distant Ruby Mountains] + +Before bedtime, G. and I and Miss Blunt, the only other passenger, go +round the booths and make small purchases, and try to make ourselves +understood by the jolly Burmese shopkeepers: the Indian shopkeepers +speak English. A little later the family groups go to sleep in their +stalls, their merchandise round them. A father and mother and child I +saw, in pretty colours under a lamp, curled up in the space a European +could barely sit on. And near our cabins there is a couple asleep on the +deck, a dainty Burmese woman, her figure so neat, with narrow waist and +rounded hip, and her hand and cheek on a dainty pillow, her husband lies +opposite, and between them, also asleep, on the deck their mite of a +child. Almost touching them is a priest still sitting up, his thoughts +his company--possibly they are of Paternity. They all keep pretty quiet, +they are not like those beasts on the B.I. boat; I daresay the quiet +here is also due to better management. Now as I write the electric light +goes out, and we light our candles--the ship is quiet fore and aft, the +only sound the rippling of the Irrawaddy against our anchor chain and +plates. + +29th.--Second day from Mandalay. We have stopped three times at the +river-side to-day. At each place a cascade of elegant people in heavenly +colours came smiling down to our gangway planks, and when these were +fixed, trooped on board; to buy purple velvet sandals, strips of silk, +seeds, German hardware, American cigarettes, and goodness knows what +else. I suppose I shall forget all these groups--and, colours, and +expressions, in time--that is the gall and the wormwood of seeing +beauty; I'd fain remember them longer and more vividly than I do. + +At the first place we stopped two hours, so I went on shore, got a +Burman as guide, and in a half-hour's run, got seven snipe and twelve +pigeon. Pigeons, I was told, would help the larder; they were very +tame, otherwise I'd hardly have cared to have let off at them. + +[Illustration] + +Sabendigo for the night. In afternoon, stopped painting with reluctance, +and if I'd stopped sooner might have beaten my small records at snipe. + +The ladies elected to walk with me on shore, so, to give a sense of +security, I took my gun! and as we went across the gangway, picked up a +Burman, who I was told knew where there was game of some description, +and the captain sent one of the Chittangong crew, and other two Burmans +joined unofficially, so we made quite a party. The ladies shortly began +to collect flowers, and not being so keen about sauntering as the second +Charles, I set off at a mighty quick walk, the Burmans following at a +dog-trot, whither, I'd no idea; but it was nice going, through lanes at +first, past an occasional transparent house of cane and matting, past +cow-byres and cattle feeding, then into a sandy track through jungle of +tall trees and thick undergrowth. Then the bamboo clumps got thicker and +met overhead, and the afternoon sun came through in golden threads and +patches on the whitey-grey sand of the path. We hoped to see jungle-fowl +in some of the more open places, and for an hour we dog-trotted, till we +got a trifle warm--but never a sign of any really open snipe ground, and +I almost turned back; but my Burmans pointed on and we soon turned to +the left, crawled under thick bamboos and came on a clearing with water +and paddy fields, and hope revived. But we walked round the edges of two +or three fields without seeing anything, then just as the sun went down, +the first snipe got up and flew straight at a Burman behind me, so it +got away, and in five minutes--no, one minute--we were in ground +absolutely alive with snipe, thick as midges and about as visible. I saw +faintly a wisp get up, fired at one and it dropped somewhere, and heard +the old familiar scraik, scraik on all sides as snipe got up at the +shot, but it was hopelessly dark. It was a horrid sell, barring the +satisfaction there always is in finding your game--I am not sure that +killing it adds much--then we dog-trotted home to the river, along the +soft sand track; it was very dark under the bamboos, but a new moon +helped in the more open land. It was pretty going, all afternoon, with +scenes like pictures by Rousseau and Daubigny, and twice, in the shadows +of bamboo groves I saw veritable Monticelli's, when we met people and ox +carts labouring through the sand; when forms and colours were all soft +and blended, and the glow of day changed to night--Art is consoling when +the bag is empty, even the purse sometimes! + +Had a cast before we left with fly in the morning; fish were rising, had +one on for a moment--saw a fish taken from a balance net on shore, +seemed about seven to ten pounds, bright and silvery as a salmon, with a +rather forked tail, should think said fish might be taken on a blue +phantom or Devon. I have both here, and, granted a stay of any time, +will try harling. + +The shores of the river now are closer together, wooded and steep, +showing here and there boulders through the sand rather like the lower +reaches of Namsen in Norway, which perhaps only describes the appearance +to rather a restricted number of fortunates. + +We saw two elephants grazing by the river-side; I believe they were +wild. + +[Illustration: A Priests' Bathing Pool] + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + +30th January 1906.--Fog--6 o'clock A.M.--half daylight, and the anchor +chain comes clanking on board--a cheery sound, the steady clink clank of +the pall-pin in the winch--a comforting sound, and bit of machinery to +anyone who has hauled in anchor overhand--what say you Baldy--or +Mclntyre, do you remember Rue Breichnich or Lowlandman's Bay, before we +got a winch, and the last three fathoms out of green mud?--and the kink +in the back before breakfast, and the feeling you'd never stand straight +again in your life? + +We barely have the anchor up and fast and have steamed less than ten +minutes when we run into a fog bank set cunningly across the stream by +some river Nat. The bell rings, "Stop her"--and plunge goes the anchor +with the chain rattling out behind it, and we lie still again in the +silence of the fog. Sea swallows come out of the mist and give their +gentle call and flit out of sight, they give a regular flavour of the +sea; the mist hangs on our clothes and drips from the corrugated iron +roof of the flat, and our iron lower decks are shining wet. + +9 o'clock.--The mist very gently rises off the river and wanders away in +the tree-tops and climbs the distant mountains slowly, and the warm sun +comes out to dry everything. The anchor is up again and its "paddle and +go,"--the leadsman is at his chant again. All the way up from Rangoon to +Mandalay and from Mandalay here, two of the crew, one on either side of +the bows, takes sounding with a bamboo, alternately singing out the feet +in a sing-song melancholy cadence that briskens and changes a little +when the water suddenly shoals. + +[Illustration] + +We draw four feet, and yesterday went over a bar covered by three feet +nine inches only,--went towards it, backed, and went over it on our own +following wave! + +Kyankyet--We take on more wood faggots here to fill our bunkers. The +wood smoke gives rather a pleasant scent in the air--pretty much like +last halting place, same sunny dusty banks, plus a few rocks, and +similar village of dainty cottages and of weather-bleached cane and teak +showing out of green jungle. Above the place we stop at, a spit of sand +runs into the river with a hillock and on it, there is a little golden +pagoda amongst a few trees and palms: a flight of narrow white steps +leads up to it, and below in the swirl of the stream are wavering +reflections of gold, and white, and green foliage. And as usual there +are figures coming to the ship along the shore, each a harmony of +colours, each with a sharp shadow on the sand. + +Whilst the wood goes on board we wander through the village and look at +people weaving fringes of grass for thatch, much as grooms weave straw +for the edges of stalls; then to the pagoda on the hillock, and up the +narrow flight of steps. It is not in very first-class repair, the river +is eating away its base. To obtain merit the Burman prefers to build +anew rather than to restore, and this one has done its turn. We saw +several bronze and marble Buddhas under a carved teak shed; some fading +orchids lay before them. Two men were making wood carvings very freely +and easily in teak. Miss B. and G. coveted a little piece of furniture +in brown teak, covered with lozenges of greeny-blue stone. It looked +like a half-grown bedstead, the colour very pretty. If we had had an +interpreter, we might have saved it from the ruin. What I carried away +was a memory of the blue above, the gliding river below, hot sun and +stillness, and the hum of a large, irridescent black beetle that went +blundering through scarlet poinsettia leaves into the white, scented +blossoms of a leafless, grey-stemmed champak tree. + +I am told there are barking deer and jungle fowl within an hour of the +ship, elephant, rhinoceros, sambhur, and much big game within thirty +miles, but we are on the move again, and my heart bleeds.--I cannot try +for these for I have neither battery, guides, nor camp equipment. + +At Tagaung, stopping-place for the ruby mines, we tie up for the +night--a charmingly wooded country. + +In "Wild Sports of Burmah and Assam," by Col. Pollock and W. S. Thom, +published in 1900, you read that "some of the best big game shooting in +the world, with the least possible trouble and expenditure, can be had +in Upper Burmah," and this is the place to set out for it--from +Mandalay, some seventy-seven miles. Mercifully, I did not read this till +after we had left Burmah, or I'd have felt frightfully unhappy passing +it all. Even now, as I read their descriptions, I feel vexed, to a +degree, that I did not know more about the possibilities of sport in +Upper Burmah before starting North. The above book must be invaluable to +any keen sportsman who goes to Burmah; but keen he must be, and prepared +to _hunt_ for his quarry; game is not driven up to him, the jungle is +too dense. + +I will now proceed to write about fish. As the sun set they were rising +beside us, making rings in the golden flood, and the reflected woods of +the far side of the river, so I put on a Loch Leven fly cast, and got a +beauty right away, of about one pound; a shimmering, silvery fish, +between a sea-trout and a whiting as to colour, and I missed other +rises. A Woods and Forests' man on board told me he had recently caught +a similar fish on a small fly rod; it weighed five pounds and leapt like +a sea-trout, but no one apparently knows much about the possibilities of +fishing here with rod and modern tackle. We then got a hand-line and a +cod-hook from the engineer, and baited with squeezed bread, the size of +a pigeon's egg, and fished on the bottom, and almost at once had on a +heavy fish. It pulled tremendously and got a lot of line out, and +wandered up and down the middle of the river; on a salmon rod it would +have played long and heavily. We got it hand over hand alongside, aft +the paddle-box, and a Burman in a canoe hitched a noose over its tail, +and we hoisted it on board. I couldn't see the beast very clearly, as it +was growing dusk, and all hands crowded round us to give advice. It +looked rather like a cod, and weighed thirty-five lbs. I'd have guessed +it to be eighteen lbs., but its weight was quite out of proportion to +its measurements. Shortly after we got another--twenty lbs. They have +red firm flesh, and to eat are like sturgeon, they say. The sporting +silvery fish was called Mein and Butter fish, and they are said to be +very good to eat, but they have a beard, which doesn't answer to my +standard of a game fish. I got about a dozen of these smaller fellows of +about one lb. each, not a bad way of putting in an hour or so, when the +time does not allow of gunning ashore. + +31st--Tegine.--This morning we passed on our right the elephant Kedar +Camp, where natives are preparing to rope in wild elephants as they do +in Mysore. The bank was steep, about level with the top of our funnel. +The low jungle had been cleared, and we saw screens and houses of green +thatch and palm leaves. A very brown Britisher came out of his tent as +we passed, his face half white with soap lather, and his shirt sleeves +rolled up; he did unintelligible semaphore signalling with both arms, a +razor in one hand, paper in the other. He likewise spoke to us in words +that were barely audible for the sound of the rush of the water. When we +pieced together what each had heard, it came to "what the blankety blank +has come over your--tut tut-down-stream cargo boat? She was to bring me +tea and sugar! And I've no whiskey, and--" but there was a stiff turning +just at this part of the river, and the skipper and pilot and everyone +on board gave it all their attention, or we'd have been ashore. Soon +after we met the dilatory down-river cargo boat, and waited where the +channel was wide and she passed, its master shouting to us that the +channel somewhere further up was "only four feet six, and very +difficult." She had stranded somewhere for twenty-four hours or so. +There were apparently only two passengers on board! I don't think these +good days for passengers can last, the crowd is bound to come. + +[Illustration] + +Next small item in to-day's entertainment. An otter, rather larger than +any I've seen at home, performed to us on a sandbank, danced, and rolled +over its own shadow, or possibly a fish, in apparent exuberance of +spirit. It was a very pretty sight through the glass, and I think I +could have got him with a rifle, but it was rather far to risk a shot +and wounding with my Browning's colt pistol--the Woods and Forest man, +by the way, had a Browning colt, and rather fancied himself as a shot. +He told me his terrier puts up otters pretty often in the streams in the +jungle, in family parties, greatly to the amusement of the otters. So +there's another heading for a game book here; that might begin with +elephant and finish up with mouse-deer and button-quail. What a list of +water-fowl there would be, and where would turtle go?--under Game or +Fish? They lay their eggs on the sandbanks in numbers, and these fetch +quite a big price, four annas each. I'd willingly sacrifice a night's +sleep to see one come out of the water up the sand, and to "turn it" +would make me feel at the Ultima Thule of the world abroad. + +[Illustration] + +All the way along the edge of the river, where there are not trees, +there is Kaing or elephant grass--grass that waves some eighteen feet +high and runs far inland, and here and there are bits of tree jungle. +Every now and then we see some bird or beast which we have not seen +before outside of a Zoo; a grand eagle is in sight just now, no vulture +this fellow; he looks twice the size of our golden eagle, and sits +motionless on a piece of driftwood in the middle of a sandbank. I can +only just make out his or her mate soaring against the woods on the +hills behind. On a bank to our right there's a whole crowd of large +birds--as we get closer I can count their feathers with my glasses; they +are not beauties--vultures of some kind, and gorged at that, to judge +from their lazy movements; their plumage is a grey, chocolate colour; +their lean bare neck and heads are black or deep plum colour. On the +very edge of the sandbank there's a string of white sea-swallows, +sitting each on its own reflection. There are several kinds, and they +rise as we pass, and I see, for the first time, the Roseate Tern, a +sea-swallow with deep lavender and black feathers, rather telling with +its scarlet bill. To complete this menagerie's inventory we pass four +elephants bathing; two on the bank are dry, and blow sand over +themselves from their trunks, and are the same dry khaki colour as the +banks; the other two lie in the water, their great tubby sides, big as a +whale's back, are black as sloes. Through the glass we see them rise +slowly and stalk up the bank, getting their little feet all sandy again. + +We went aground about five or six P.M., and are aground, and will +probably take root here. The Chittagong crew are _talking_ and working +like niggers to kedge her off, and she won't budge. I'm sorry for the +Captain; it seems running things rather fine to expect him to take his +ship drawing four feet, over a bar only covered three feet. + +In the pause, with the glasses I spy geese on a distant point, so with +the steward as interpreter, engage a dug-out that came alongside to +trade to take me in pursuit, but as I get out the gun, a Burman's boat +comes down and passes within a few yards of them and they shift. The +boatman tells me there are deer about--points to woods and jungle within +a mile on the river's right bank, but time will not allow us to go after +them. So we make a shooting engagement for the "morn's morn" if we are +still on the sandbank. + +The crew struck work and singing at ten and left things to Providence; +the captain didn't believe in this; he remarked "All things come to +those who wait, but I know a plan much slicker; for he who bustles for +what he wants, gets things a d----d sight quicker!"--and called on them +in their quarters--he had a whole stick when he went in--and they got to +work again. He believes that if the river was buoyed by a white man +instead of a native we wouldn't be fast now. I should think it is just +the sort of work that would need a European, but I rather think after +watching the soundings we made, that there was no deeper channel over +the sand anywhere--at any rate none could be found from our small boat. +They kept at this kedging till midnight, and later, dropping the anchor +ahead from the small boat, then hauling the ship up to it by the chain +and steam windlass--with the variations splendid exercise for all hands. + +At first the flat, as it drew less than we did, was left behind a +little, and our ship did this fighting with sand and water alone. They +started again to the work early in the morning and by breakfast time, by +constant steaming ahead and backing, had burrowed a channel in the sand; +then went back and clawed on to the flat and steamed away for Chittagong +distant a mile or two. As we went the anchor chains were unshackled and +overhauled to get the twists out of them; and both anchors and chains +were bright as silver from their rude polishing in the sand. + +It is perishingly cold at Chittagong, _i.e._, in shade in the early +morning, but it is bracing, A.1. weather for doing things. Last night I +had three blankets and two sleeping suits and felt cold at that. The +sides and windows of our cabin being made of open lattice woodwork we +fix up some newspapers and a mat or two we have over these, which makes +all the difference. + +We had only half-an-hour for the bazaar at Chittagong. By the way I +can't vouch for the spelling of this or any other names of places en +route, but this is the way our First Mate spells it. We have no good map +on board to give the names, but there are a number of books, and a +piano, and many other comforts that one would hardly expect on a cargo +steamer, so I think the Company, having done so well for their +passengers, might run to a framed map of Upper and Lower Burmah. + +At Kalone the people stood in splendid groups at the jungle edge +waiting for the arrival of the market. It was absolutely a Fete +Champetre, but more brilliant and classic than Watteau ever can have +seen. There were no houses visible, just the steep sandy bank with roots +dangling out of it, and splendid trees above like sycamores and ash, +some with creepers pouring from their highest branches. Against the +green depths were these groups of happy people in delightful colours, +some sitting and others standing, some in the full sunlight, others +further in the jungle amongst the shadowy trunks and fern palms. + +[Illustration] + +My Conscience pricked me and said "draw," but I said, "I'm bothered if I +do, let's get into the jungle, if it's only for an hour, and see more +new things, close," so we did, got a guide, and arranged to return at +first blast of the steamer's horn, and away we went _ventre a terre_ to +a jheel said to be near, and had not more than enjoyed a glance at this +pretty watery opening in the woods when up got a snipe with its old +sweet song, and along with the snipe were any number of other +waders--what a place for a naturalist! The first wisp went straight +towards some paddy workers so I only got one flanker, and just as I was +in the middle of them, beginning a record bag the horn sounded--the +vexation of it! We turned and hoofed it back; under shadows of grand +trees, over brown fallen leaves, past sunbeam lit girls in velvet +sandals, coming from the ship, with bundles of purchases poised on their +heads, and on board by the last plank of the gangway, muddy and hot and +desperately annoyed at having to cut short a good morning's shooting. +Some of the snipe were larger and deeper in colour than those I am +familiar with--Painted snipe I believe. + +A delightful country this would be for a holiday in a native river boat. +What a pity it is so far from home; with a party and a boat I believe +one could have a splendid time drifting down, there would be fishing, +walks, rowing, sailing, shooting, sketching, and all in a delicious +climate, and all the sport bar elephants free, and amongst courteous +people with all the supplies of "the saut market" at arm's length from +the Flotilla Company's steamers. Why not charter a big native dug-out up +the river at Bhamo--sink it for a day or two--for reasons--then drift +and row down. You could get up to Bhamo in a week or less, or in two or +three days shortly, when there's a railway, and take, say three weeks +down to Mandalay. + +Kalone to Katha is interesting all the way. At Katha the mountains on +the west come closer to the river. There is a short railway branch from +this place to the line to Mandalay. I hardly like to mention a railway +up here, it sounds so prosaic and so unassociated with any of the wild +surroundings; but there--it's a solid fact, you can come up here from +Rangoon in next to no time and see nothing on the way, by train. We walk +past the little station, the first piece of blackened ground we have +seen for many a day--a ballast truck, ashes, and coals--impossible! From +the wire fence round the station-house and from its wooden eaves hang +numbers of orchids, nameless and priceless--impossible again! + +It is a pleasant country round Katha, once you get away from the line. +There is low ground cleared for crops then knolly wooded hills within +easy reach, and higher hills beyond. The air was still and wisps of +wood-smoke from distant village fires hung in level bands above the +plain. Miss B. and G. went to see the pagoda, I did the same, and also +took my gun in case of a wet place and snipe. They saw a procession to a +priest's funeral--one of the regular shows of Burmah, I only saw jungle, +and brakes of white roses with rather larger blossoms than our sweet +briar, growing to about twenty feet high. These grew many feet below the +level of the river in the wet season, so I gather they spend several +months in the rains under water: I also saw vultures, eagles, hawks, and +a big kind of lapwing and snipe; but the snipe here were cunning, and +got up wild and flew far, so I only got a small bag. But putting the +afternoon's stravaig and the morning's ramble together made quite a +decent day's exercise; and I believe the two or three hours in the +jungle with its strange sights and sounds, flowers, birds, and beasts, +were as interesting as a Phoungies' funerals. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + + +2nd February.--There was a river mist this morning, the sun shining +through, and we "slept in" for there was no engine to awaken us. When we +did awaken, it was to the tune of reed instruments like our pipe +chanters. These headed a single and double file procession to the pagoda +along the top of the river bank. The arrangement might have been taken +from the procession of the Parthenon. Most of the people were women, +some carried offerings in lacquer bowls on their heads, others carried +between them pagodas and pyramids in wicker-work hung with new pots and +pans and, odd bits of pretty colours and flowers. Others carried round +palm leaf fans, the whole effect through the sunny morning mist was +exquisite in colour and perfectly decorative. I think it was part of the +Phoungie funeral of last night. We got fairly cold looking at it from +the deck in dressing-gowns. + +... It gets cold truly--morning tub makes one gasp, but the Burmans are +bathing and soaping themselves this morning alongside, apparently +enjoying the cold water as much as they do down south. + +The fog lifts and we swing out and into the current at eight o'clock; +the mail boat that came up last night just ahead of us, and we go +surging up in her wake, two mighty fine children of the great Cleutha; +Glasgow owned, Clyde built and engineered--900 horse-power has this +Mandalay, and she has twenty years behind her, and the engines run as +smoothly as if she were new: and the whole ship fore and aft is so well +kept, she might have come from the makers yesterday! I don't say that +the mail boat in front exactly adds to the beauty of the scenery but it +gives a big sense of successful enterprise. How gratifying it must be to +Germans and other foreigners to have the use of such a fine line of +steamers for their goods. + +The cottages on your left after Katha are rather pretty. They are on +piles of course, on account of the floods in the monsoon, not "because +of ye tygers which here be very plentifull," as the old travellers had +it. Their silvery weather-worn teak or cane showing here and there, is a +pleasant contrast to the rich green foliage. We pass so close to the +bank that we can see the bright colours of the women's tamaines inside +them and through the trees we get glimpses of the blue hills to the +west-- d---- we are aground again--and my snipe shooting at Moda won't +come off--horrid sell! No--I believe she's over. No, she's stuck! + +... But we got off--and have arrived at Moda; and I think the show of +native beauty crowding down the white sand here is even more effective +and exquisite than any village crowds we have seen so far on either of +the two sides of the river. + +The girls are pictures; one has a yellow orchid between her golden +coloured cheek and jet black hair, another a Marechal Niel rose above +her forehead. There are old and young; Shans, Burmans, Chinese, +Kachins--the young Burmese beauties vastly set off by the various +northern tribes. Up the sand I see, for example, a group of three, an +old lady and two young things sitting under a pink parasol, each with +knees tucked up in a red purple and lemon yellow silk tamaine or tight +skirt. Imagine the soft rose light from the parasol over the white +jackets and silk and the sharp shadows on the sand. How graceful the +owner of the parasol was when she stood up! I think it was her duenna +who toppled off the edge of the gangway with one of the Chittagong crew +in the push to come aboard. The old lady's face puckered as she went +over, but she was out in a second, and came aboard with the jolly +crowd, smiling like the rest. The pretty girls drop their red and blue +velvet sandals with a clatter on to our iron deck when they come up the +gangway, shuffle their toes into them and waddle off to the stalls with +an air. No--waddle is not the word, its a little body twist rather like +that of our French cousins, and their frank look is Spanish, but with +less langour and a little more lift in it for fun! Leaving all this +grace and colour behind, we marched away with a gun and two men, a +native and a Burman, which surely proves the vandalism of our +upbringing. + +But I may have scored by not staying and painting, granted I may never +forget the charm of the mid-day stillness behind the village, and the +walk through half jungle, half cultivated country with everything asleep +in the quiet and warmth, and never a chance of game unless I trod on it. +Through the village palms and trees I came on a lakelet with short grass +and tall white briar rose bushes round its edge. It was almost covered +with a water plant with leaves like a strawberry, which made a dull rose +tracery across the reflected blue sky. There were three white ibis, +distant dark blue hills and trees, and jungle grass and their +reflections; a cormorant and sea swallow were fishing, and a little +pagoda, with gleaming golden Hti hung its reflection in the mirror. It +was so still and the air so sweet that I felt perfectly happy with never +a thing to fire at but an occasional dove, or curiously coloured +lapwing. The only thing I actually did fire at was a swagger bluebird +whose plumage I did covet. It let me have five shots, at from seventy to +eighty yards but never closer, and went off flaunting its green and blue +plumage derisively, and I hurried home at top speed long after the +second whistle, rather glad I'd done no damage to anything. + +At Shewgee in the afternoon we pulled out of the sunlight on the river +into the shadow of a steep bank with some sixty black-tarred wooden +steps up it. Creepers and foliage hung in masses over the edge and on +the top were the usual groups of brightly dressed people and palms and +trees in half tone, against a warm sky; and a pagoda too, of course, in +white and gold, with a banner staff in white glass mosaic. The dainty +figures came trooping down the long black steps and surged on board, +first of all politely making way to let us go ashore. + +We wandered through, I think, the neatest village we have seen, each +dainty mat house had a tiny compound with palms, trees, and roses and +other flowers round it. We heard "The Potter thumping his wet clay" and +stopped and watched. He, or she, sat on the ground with feet out in +front and modelled bowls round the left hand, thumping and patting the +stiff clay with a little wooden spade, and without any further appliance +made complicated forms perfectly symmetrical. I'd no idea such symmetry +could be attained without the use of the wheel. + +As we came back the darkness was falling and there were fires in most of +the houses on trays of earth and the light shone through the bamboo +walls, and we could see figures sitting beside them, either for warmth +or possibly to get away from mosquitoes. + +We met a gold prospector here, a lean, brown, blue-eyed man in khaki +shirt and well-cut, and well-worn tweed continuations. I think all +prospectors must be somewhat alike. The last I saw was a similar +type--drinking beer in "The First and Last,"--Port Stanley--he was just +back from "the Coast," and his rig, and particularly, his expression +were much the same, but the man from Terra del had found gold, "like +melon seeds--G--D--two inches deep!"--this one hadn't. + +Dinner talk suddenly interesting--the new passenger, Captain Kirke, R. +A., commandant of the military police is just in from the hills on the +west, where he has been on a punitive expedition. His three hundred +Sikhs and Ghurkas and ponies are on a small government steamer which we +have passed and repassed lately, so we have the latest news of our +neighbours to the west, the "partially subdued" Chins. The expedition +was, I understand, to settle some family grievances of these people. One +chief had taken some of a neighbouring chief's people when he wasn't at +home, and had them tied to trees and little arrows fired into them, one +by one, so that in the end they died. The cruel chief's wives were said +to be the instigators of this "most bloody business" and the leading +lady's photograph warranted the assertion. Her face was tattooed and was +curiously like a Red Indian's. I have read in a book that the Chins +tattoo their wives' faces to prevent them being stolen for their beauty! +I gather this punitive expedition that we have come across unexpectedly, +was carried out without a shot being fired, so it won't be in the +papers. The wicked chief and his wives awoke one morning to find their +village being looked at severely by two mountain guns, and a camera, and +encircled with rifles, so they came along quietly-some ten chiefs all +told. I think Captain Kirke was naturally a little pleased at the +persuasive effect of his pet guns, and gratified that he had managed to +bring them over the difficult country, and civil objections--but if I +had run that show I'd have felt much inclined to have fired just one +shot, for the sake of a medal and newspaper laurels. + +We really begin to feel at the Empire's frontier now, when we have +pointed out to us to the northward, the mountain tops where the military +police, _i.e._, native troops and lonely British officers keep watch and +ward over our furthest marches--heliographing between times to Bhamo for +"news from Town." + +3rd February.--We got away early this morning, and were stopped by a fog +bank, so I saw the Defiles. The Defiles are considered the thing to see; +and they are interesting enough; we passed the Third Defile down the +river somewhere. At this the Second the river narrows and the mountains +rise pretty steeply on either side, and are clothed with grand trees +and jungle. It is less distinctive scenery than that of the wider +valleys of the Irrawaddy; you might see similar features in many other +rivers. At full flood the force of water down this narrow gorge must be +rather tremendous, it is said to be forty fathoms deep then, and the +captain told me, that when steaming up at fourteen knots, they could +sometimes barely make way! Coming down must be kittle steering, I'd +think. It is a good country for elephants. I am told. + +After the Defiles we stop at Sinkan on the left bank, where the river +spreads out again into the more usual style of Irrawaddy scenery, the +valley very wide, the sandy river's edge capped with a jungle of waving +kaing, or elephant grass, eighteen feet high, and over and beyond +bluey-green tree-clad mountains, not very high, but high enough to be +interesting and to raise hope. + +[Illustration] + +I made a sketch of cottages at Sinkan. The blue and black of the Shans, +and light blue colours of the Chinese dresses, begins to tell more +distinctly among the tulip colours of the Burmans. The men here are +armed with swords. The Shan's blade is slightly curved and pointed, +with no guard, the hilt sometimes of ivory and the scabbard richly +ornamented with silver, and the shoulder belt is of red or green velvet +rope; the Kachins' swords that I have seen are more simply made as +regards their scabbards and are square across the end of the blade. + +Only you who fish can understand what great restraint I was obliged to +exercise here; as I painted on the fore-deck a grand fish rose in the +stream that comes in beside us, within casting distance of our bow, and +with the surge of a thirty pound salmon! And yet I went on painting! I +confess I very nearly did not. + +At Bhamo the river broadens into a lake again, something like what it is +between Saigang and Mandalay--beautiful enough to travel a long way to +see. + +There is a little desert of sand between the water's edge and Bhamo, +across it were trekking in single file Burmans, Shans, and Chinese, to +and from our steamer with lines of ponies, with bales of merchandise on +their pack saddles. + +We look at the distant mountains beyond Bhamo that bound the +horizon--they tempt us and we wonder if we should not venture further +north; and take the caravan route into China--rather a big affair for +peaceful tourists. Captain Kirke came in strongly here, said, "Go, of +course--I will show you how to do it, give you ponies, and find you +guide and servants." So we have taken our courage in both hands and +decided to go. One of his men in the meantime, had gone and brought an +elephant, an enormous beast, over the sand; I am sure it was twice the +height of any I've seen in Zoos. It went down on its knees and elbows, +bales of cotton were piled alongside, and Miss B. and G. climbed up +these on to the pad, and I got up by its tail and the crupper. Then up +it heaved, and on we held, to ropes, and went off for half a mile over +the hot, soft sand; Captain Kirke riding a pretty Arab pony. I'd never +been on an elephant before, to my knowledge, nor had I ever experienced +the sensation of the black hair pricking through thin trousers, or the +besom of a tail whacking my boots--I consider we entered Bhamo with a +good deal of eclat. + +[Illustration] + +4th February.--We all went shopping on the elephant, Captain Kirke +kindly showing us round. He and his pony might have passed under our +steed's girth. It made a pretty fair block in the traffic of China +Street, but the style of shopping seemed to take the popular taste; and +from our point of view we could study at ease the various types of +people. The old ladies in tall blue serge turbans and tunics and putties +of the same colour rather struck me--they are Shans from the East--with +little shrewd twinkling black eyes, short noses and a gentle expression, +and that break in the eyebrow, which I think characteristic of a certain +dark Celtic type. + +The above sketch represents a corner of the market; in the centre a +Kachin fairly characteristic but too tall, beside him his sturdy kilted +wife, with the usual basket on her back; other figures, a Burmese girl, +a Chinese woman, Sikhs, and distant Shan woman. + +China Street, the principal street in Bhamo, is only about two hundred +yards long, but it is fairly wide and crammed full of interest to the +newcomer; it is so purely Chinese, you only see a Burman, a Burmese +woman rather, here and there, the wife of some Chinese trader. Burmese +women they say, incline to marry either Indians or Chinese, for though +these men are not exactly beautiful they are great workers, whilst the +Burman is a pleasure-loving gentleman of the golden age. The Burmese and +Indian cross is a sad sight. + +We stopped at a leading citizen's house with whom Captain K. conversed +in Chinese, and why or how I don't know, but we found ourselves sitting +in his saloon, beyond his outer court, and it was just as if I'd dropped +into an old Holbein interior, it was all so subdued and harmonious and +perfect in finish. There was lacquer work-and ivory-coloured panels on +the walls, brown beams above, and orange vermilion paper labels with +black lettering hanging from them in rows, each purporting the titles of +our host; he wore a loose black silk waistcoat with buff sleeves, buff +shorts, black silk skull-cap, and a weedy black moustache which he +touched every now and then with little pocket comb; the colouring of his +dress, and complexion, and background, all in perfect harmony. He had +gentle clever overhung eyes and was quite the great gentleman, +entertaining us intruders with calm smiling affability. In a court +which he showed us, he had a raised octagonal fish pond, and in his +porch his people were unlading ponies of bales of merchandise. Both the +persons and the surroundings of his establishment seemed to date away +back to the happy and cruel Middle Ages. + +At a shop over the way our elephant stood in the sun, the Burman on its +head with his white jacket and light red scarf round his hair, calmly +smoking a cheroot, a welcome contrast to the busy keen Chinese life; +above him hung large orange-red paper lanterns with large Chinese +inscriptions. At the young merchant's shop over the way, we bought +finely cut Chinese tobacco, and a number of Chinese silk satchels, note +books, and other things at trifling prices. The young owner I'd like to +be able to describe; I don't think I have ever seen such perfection of +finish of dress, and even form; his complexion was palest coffee-colour, +teeth perfectly white and symmetrical, cap and jacket of the most +delicate finish, silk shoes and white socks, and baggy trousers, all as +if split new and of perfection of workmanship, and he totted up his +accounts and did all the business with a polished self-possessed manner! +I must say my first impression of the heathen Chinee at Bhamo was +tremendously in his favour; in many ways even the coolies, or Chinese +porters, struck me favourably, by their simple kit, blue tunic and +shorts, and their sturdy limbs and absence of any roughness of manner. + +A few yards along the road brought us to the Joss House. It would take +many drawings, to describe the many arrangements of courts and steps and +quaintly curved roofs, and the foliage and flickering shadows. In the +interior were Chinese and some Burmese, and all the pastime of their +lives seemed to go on there, prayers, feeding, gambling and theatricals, +at the same or at different times without hurry. We patronised the +gambling corner--gave the principal high priest who did the honours of +the place to us five rupees to gamble with for us--he was a fine big +man with a potent expression--he lost and won a good deal, then lost the +lot and two or three more rupees, and went on playing with his own +money. It was delightful to see the hearty way these gamblers laughed +when they lost, and chuckled when they won: I got a respect for gambling +that I'd never previously had. I've generally seen people get a little +white when they lose--and--well--I do not care for their subdued +expressions when they win--but there was a boyish hilarity and hardihood +about this gambling that made it almost attractive. + +Here is one view of the Joss House. The Chinamen were intensely +interested, as I painted, and crowded round. They were perfectly polite +and well-intentioned as also are the Burmese, but I think the Chinaman's +interest in the technique is so great that he cannot keep at any +distance, so it was an enormous effort to concentrate on the subject and +not just to draw the nearest heads. Here is one, however, a boy with fur +cap, his complexion was like fine China and showed great finish of form. +I noticed they were all very clean indeed, their clothes spotless, and +the scent of their tobacco quite good. + +[Illustration] + +I had sent my Boy round to find a place where we might stay, and on our +return to the steamer he told me the Dak bungalow was occupied, likewise +the circuit house, so we were stranded and homeless on the banks of the +Irrawaddy. We then went up to the club, and there found to our relief +our Boy was ... mistaken, and that the Dak bungalow was available. A +member of the club kindly introduced himself and entertained us whilst +we waited for our host, we noticed his hands were both in bandages, but +of this more anon. From the club we went back in the starlight to our +home on the ship for one more night, our minds at rest and bodies +refreshed. The ladies drove in a bullock cart, the writer walked +behind--the sand and track were too rough for The Bhamo gharry, and +truly we considered our cart was more picturesque and comfortable. The +grey wood of the cart and the ladies' white hats and dresses, and the +natives' white robes and the grey white sand and white oxen, all blended +into a very pretty moth-like harmony; and overhead the sky was mat blue +with many solemn stars twinkling. As we crossed the little desert of +sand we passed the camp and fires of the Northern peoples, beside their +scores of ponies, and bales of cotton, and pack saddles; everything +uncovered and open on the dry sand, no need here at this season for +shelter excepting from the sun at mid-day. + +[Illustration: A Chinese Joss House] + +Miss B. leaves us here, going south by what is called the Ferry Boat, a +most excellent little steamer, with roomy, comfortable cabins. It goes +down to Katha, thence she goes by train to Mandalay, and straight on to +Rangoon, and her R.E. brother in India. We decide to stick to steamers +in Burmah as long as we can, the extra time spent on steamers is well +balanced by their comfort as against the dust and racket of a train. + +[Illustration] + +The morning fog gave us a little respite--let us have an extra +half-hour on board before landing our goods and chattels--but the horn +was let off pretty often before we got our luggage up the loose sand on +to the level. Chinese coolies in blue dungaree tunics, wide straw hats +and ditto shorts carried it in baskets slung from either end of bamboo +poles balanced over their shoulders. They are sturdy, cheery fellows, +with well-shaped calves and muscular short feet. When the steamer +cleared off we were fairly marooned on the sandbank. + +[Illustration] + +No bullock-carts had come, so G. and I sat on her saddle-box and +sketched a departing caravan of mules and ponies, each laden with two +bales of cotton,--a Chinaman to every four ponies. There were +eighty-four ponies, and they filed away, jingling into the morning mist +that hung low on the sand flat. It was a little cold, but we got warmer +as the sun rose over the Bhamo trees, and pagoda, and Joss House. At +first the coolies stood round us, and our baggage, and took stock of us, +but gradually the interest flagged, and they sat down, and we drew them, +and G. made this sketch of Bhamo, and the sunrise over China. + +... A Burmese woman came to the sand's edge with her baby, and built a +shelter with a few bamboos, and some matting for roof, and the baby +played in the patch of shadow. As it got hotter we grew wearied of +waiting. At last our _Boy_ got the two errant bullock-carts, and we went +off in procession, a big bullock-cart with our luggage in front, a +Burman youth on top with long black hair escaping from a wisp of pink +silk, a Macpherson tartan putsoe round his legs, a placid expression, +and a cheroot, of course. G. and her maid came behind with recent +fragile purchases; pottery, in another bullock-cart, with an older +Burman whose face was a delight--so wrinkled, and wreathed with smiles. +I tailed behind and sketched as per margin, as we went through the +sand--shockingly unacademical wasn't it, to draw walking? + +[Illustration] + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Our first Dak bungalow experience was short. We had just settled down +when word came we were to occupy the Deputy-Commissioner's bungalow +which is apparently empty, so we only had tiffin in the Dak bungalow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + + +The D. C. Bungalow is certainly very nice, bar _The Mystery_. The roses +are splendid, in masses; and orchids hang everywhere. I suppose the +interest in them at home accounts for their being hung here on every +cottage. We had almost a deck load of them on board this morning; roots +that may cost a great price in Britain may be bought here for a few +pence. They say the road over to China is festooned with orchids, and +jungle-fowl sit amongst them and crow. G. intends to get some, and take +them home, which means more glass, of course: and I hope to pot the +jungle-fowl, so we both feel we have an object in life, and an apology +for our itinerance. + +But first, a word about THE MYSTERY. It was very delightful being asked +to put up in such a charming bungalow--the invitation came by heliograph +from a little fort up in the woods on the mountains, many miles away to +the north-west, where the Deputy-Commisioner, Mr Levison, was going his +rounds. + +There was a silence and a stillness about the house that was almost +eerie; the impress on a cushion, the cigarette ash, and torn letters on +the verandah looked as if the house was in use; but a second glance +showed that fine dust lay over all, and made the house feel deserted. +The old Burmese man-servant disappeared when we arrived, so G. and I +went through the house alone, to fix on our room. We had done this, and +I had gone downstairs when G. called me. She had turned over a mattress, +and on it was a great space of _congealed blood_ just where a man's +throat might have been! I only gathered afterwards how much alarmed she +was, and she only gathered afterwards how much alarmed I was. When G. +went downstairs I made an exhaustive inspection; the blood was barely a +day old! and on the floor I found spots, then gouts, and then marks of +naked, gory feet leading to, and from the little bathroom--it looked +horribly like "withered murder!" Had the silent bare-footed Burman...? +And what had been done with the.... Yes! there was a streak along the +foot of the door--it had been dragged out!--Or was it floor varnish? +Should I question the servant--would he, or could he, explain? No--I +decided it was too late to do anything. So we both pretended we thought +little of the matter, turned over the mattress, put our own on top, +bolted the doors, put two Colt-Browning repeaters under our pillows, and +went asleep, and in the morning were so pleased to find our throats were +not slit. + +When Captain Kirke and Lieutenant Carter came round later, I had to +thank them for their Bundabust, and casually inquired if the last +resident in the bungalow was known to be still alive; for the bedroom +was so bloody! "Why--Baines!" they said, "of course; he was here two +nights! you saw him yesterday at the Club--the man with his hands +bandaged; that's Baines; he's always getting into pickles--he nearly +bled to death! We had a farewell evening at the Club, and in the night +he got up for soda water, the bottle burst and cut his hands, then he +cut his feet on the broken glass going to the bathroom to bandage his +hands, got into bed, and the bandages came off in the night, and in the +morning he was found in a faint--therefore the blood on the mattress." +_The mystery_ was explained--And there had nearly been a tragedy. + +These deputy hosts of the Deputy-Commissioner, after so kindly relieving +our minds, drove us to the polo grounds in their brake, behind unbroken +ponies, along a half-made road, which was highly exhilarating--but we +feared nothing after our late escape--were we not each a neck to the +good? + +The Maidan was pretty--a pleasant plain of green grass, beautifully +framed with distant jungle and mountains. G. and I made the audience at +first, with two or three dozen Burmans and Sikhs. Then General Macleod +and Mrs Macleod came, and his aide-de-camp (the General is on an +inspection round, of the military police stations), and Mr and Mrs Algy +of the Civil Police, a man whose name I can't remember, and that was all +the gallery, so there was little to take away from the interest of the +game, which was fast, and the turf perfection. + +In the evening a delightful dinner-party, the above two deputies +entertaining the aforesaid company in the Fort. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + + +7th February.--To-day a young soldier and an artist conclude that they +both had their fill of exercise yesterday. + +We started at break of day and didn't get home till after sunset and +then had to dine at the old Fort and witness a Kachin Pwe in the +moonlight till the small hours. + +I confess I was tired after the day's shoot, but so was Carter and he +was in the pink of condition, which consoled me. It was a memorable day +amongst my sporting days, because of the novelty of surroundings, not on +account of the bag of snipe. + +We turned out before daybreak, which was neither novel nor pleasant; it +was cold and very uncomfortable getting from warm blankets into the +chilly morning in the draughty bungalow, and reminded me of the way we +are turned out in winter starts for Black Game, and woodcock in +Morven--being routed out half awake in the dark by a certain energetic +sportsman, hurricane lamp in hand. + +I had to meet Carter at the Fort where we were to take canoes, and an +elephant, across the Irrawaddy to a jheel, five miles through jungle. + +The sun came up splendidly, hot and yellow over China, and warmed me +comfortably as I drove to the Fort, and the mist off the plain rose and +became sunlit cumuli to lie for the rest of the day on the shoulders of +the Kachin Highlands. + +Carter, I found in the midst of impedimenta; servants, Burmese, Kachins +and natives, lunch boxes, cartridges, guns and a Mauser rifle; for +though we were going for snipe the country we were to go through holds +all sorts of big game, though the chance of our seeing any was remote +as the jungle is dense and covers great areas. + +[Illustration] + +A quarter of a mile across the exposed sand of the river bed brought us +to the canoes in which we were to cross. Our elephant swam, or waded, +across higher up. We divided our party into two, and we crossed in the +dugouts. These are graceful long canoes, cut from a teak tree trunk, +with a fine smooth surface and with a suggestion about them of being +easy to roll over; bamboos lashed alongside steadied them, and allowed +our Kachin and Burman to walk along the side when poling. We made use of +a slack water on our side, and another behind a sandy reed-covered +island half-way across to make up our leeway. Silvery fish were jumping, +pursued by some larger fish, and C. and I laid plans to try harling for +them after the Shannon or Namsen fashion. On the far side we got all our +baggage made fast to the sides of the pad--a sort of mattress on the +elephant's back--as it knelt on the shore, and on the top of the pad we +stretched ourselves and held on to the ropes as the elephant heaved up. +Quite a string of men tailed out behind us over the sands with cartridge +bags, and gun cases on their shoulders. On the bank we found a Burman +guide at a little village beside a small white pagoda. There were +yellow-robed priests walking in the groves of trees and palms, and they +noticed us I daresay, but made no sign that to their way of thinking we +were doing harm to ourselves by going to kill snipe--the Phoungyi does +not judge. + +We then entered the kaing grass of which we had seen so much from the +steamer and realised the difficulty of getting at game in this country. +For miles we rode along a narrow path and these reeds were high over our +heads, and as we sat we were about ten or eleven feet from the +ground![33] Tiger, gaur, deer, elephant and many other kinds of big game +were all in this jungly country which extends for miles, so getting a +shot at any of them is a good deal a matter of luck, or time. I expect +it was lucky that we did not see anything but the tracks of these +beasts, for I think my companion would have tried his small bore at +anything. We had a certain anxiety about Gaur, miscalled Bison, for our +steed had been badly gored by one--its hind quarters showed the +scars--and it was warranted to bolt when it winded them, in which event +we would probably have got left, as the reeds and branches would have +cleared us off the pad. For five miles we followed the lane in the +grass, and passed two Burmans, midway, carrying fruit; they dodged into +the reed stems and let us pass and laughingly admitted they were afraid. +Here and there we came to a place where we could see over the top of the +savannah for a mile or two and expected to spot deer or elephant in the +park-like scenery, till we remembered the depth of the grass. + +[33] Col. Pollock says the grass of these savannahs runs from ten to +thirty feet high--"Wild Sports of Burmah and Assam." + +The slow action of our steed made me think we were getting only slowly +over the ground, but I noticed the men behind had pretty hard walking to +keep up with us. After an hour or so, we turned off the path and trod +down a road for ourselves through the reeds, and came to jungle of trees +and undergrowth, with heavy foliaged creepers growing up the trees and +from branch to branch, and air roots hanging from aloft, straight as +bell ropes--up and down--into creeks, below undergrowth and out into the +open again; the elephant being judge of where the ground would bear us, +gingerly putting out its great tender feet, sinking deep into mud, +making us cling on to the back stays of the pad, then dragging its feet +out of the soft mud with a loud sucking sound, leaving great holes +slowly filling up with black water. When a tree stump came in our path +he would very deliberately crush it down with a rending sound, or if a +big branch barred our way, up came the great trunk and slowly folded +round it, and down it came with a crash, and was bent under foot. +Sometimes a branch was too thick and strong: then the mahout drew his +dah, gave three or four chops within the width of an inch--the elephant +waiting meantime--when up would come the trunk again, and down went the +timber. These Kachin dahs must be well tempered[34] and have a fine +edge, for our mahout cut filmy creepers hanging lightly as a hair, as +easily as thick branches. + +[34] I noticed later they were not ground to an edge, but shaved with +steel spoke-shave. + +About ten we got to the jheel; a swamp in an open space of about sixty +acres, of water and grass; of a fresh green, surrounded by low woods. +Fresh tracks of sambhur and other deer were round it and signs of tiger; +so much big game had passed that there were deeply worn paths. I've no +doubt that by waiting there, one could have had a shot at big game +before long. It made me wish, with all my heart, for time and my 450 +cordite express, and I half decided to send for it to Rangoon. Snipe was +our hope in the meantime, so we got off some clothes and plunged into +the marsh and up got snipe at our first step, and we brought down three, +and thought we were in for a great bag. But there was rather too much +water; as we went on it came well over our knees, and every now and then +up the tops of our thighs so there was too little holding ground for us +or snipe. We walked in line, laboriously, halting every now and then to +wait for one or the other to flounder out of a deep place; and when the +sun got up the glare from the water made me think of sunstroke; however, +we persevered and managed to get fourteen couple before lunch time, and +I found my American five-shooter the very thing for the work. + +How I wish I had known of there being such good snipe shooting at +Mandalay, I would certainly have had a go at it there: I think 120 +couple was a recent bag to one gun in twenty-four hours. + +It was very odd having the elephant walking after us, it seemed so much +at home; with his length and number of legs, it could walk slowly but +comfortably where we bipeds had to struggle. As it went it twisted its +trunk round bunches of the water grass, tore them out of the water and +swished the mud off the roots by beating it to and fro across its +forelegs till it was clean, and then she stowed it down her mouth, bunch +after bunch--what an enormous quantity of food they must swallow! The +mahout on its back was in a good place to mark down dead birds; if it +had been taught to point and retrieve, it would have been even more +useful. + +[Illustration] + +The walking was very tiring, one leg on firm ground and the other up to +the top of the thigh in mud and water for one second, and vice versa the +next; and the trees kept any breeze there was off the jheel, so we +streamed from the tops of our heads. I don't think I ever in my life +felt so hot when shooting--or a bottle of lager at lunch so +delicious!--even the rough native cheroot came in as a pure joy! + +The elephant stood beside us as we lunched, under the trees, flapping +its ears in the shade, and occasionally adding a branch of a tree to its +morning meal. The sunlight and patches of shadow on its grey skin made +its great bulk blend into the background of stems and deep shadows, so +that I understood what hunters say about the difficulty of seeing them +in heavy jungle: it was as hard to see as an elk in pines. I wondered +why it did not join its wild companions in the neighbourhood; for it was +once wild, and there was nothing to prevent it going off if it pleased. + +After lunch we decided to try for duck; that turned out a failure, but +not for anything would I have missed the experience of wandering through +jungle, where, without an elephant, we could not have moved. I am glad I +am not yet very keen about orchids, or how my teeth would have watered! +for they clothed the branches above us; they seemed generally to grow on +branches about twenty or thirty feet from the ground, towards the light +and air; some trees were literally covered with them at that height. + +Our men we had to leave behind, as there was no track, and the Burman +guide climbed up the crupper beside us, and we wandered away to some +pools he knew, where there might be duck. I think we dozed a little--it +was so hot and silent in the forest. There was a feeling of being lost, +for there were no landmarks in the interminable beauty of tall trees and +undergrowth. It was a puzzle for the mahout and elephant to find +openings wide enough to take us and the side boxes on the pad through +the tangle. Often a wrong direction was taken, and a circuit had to be +made to get round a tree, a mass of creepers, or a deep pool. Both the +Burman and the elephant seemed to calculate, to a hair's breadth, the +height and width of all it carried. I think the corner of one box only +once touched a branch, and when we lay low no branches touched our +heads; either the Burman's dah or the elephant's trunk cleared them off +us. + +The first pool was lit by a golden shaft of light through the greenery, +rising fish were breaking its smooth weedy surface, but duck there were +none; so we plunged on in the silence in another direction, came out +into the kaing grass again, left the comparatively open forest behind +us, and entered a trackless sea of reeds, which closed round us thickly +on all sides. + +[Illustration] + +The elephant surged through this steadily, waving its trunk in front, +then pressing the reeds to right and left, or raising it high, and +pulling down masses that threatened to sweep us off the pad. The dust +and the heat of the sun overhead, and the monotony of the surging sound +was a little oppressive.--It reminded me of moments long ago, in smaller +reeds, and a small boy hunting duck round a loch in Perthshire; the +stuffy, closed-in feeling, the crashing of the reeds, and the silence +when you stopped to listen. Here we paused too, now and again, and the +Burman stood up on the pad and tried to get our bearings. We got pretty +well lost, I believe. Then on we went, the huge beast crushing through +the endless savannahs, as at home in its reeds as a liner surging +through pathless seas. The motion and sound kept going all night in my +dreams, the slow rolling of vast bones and muscles under the pad, and +the crash of the reeds giving way, and the swish as they closed behind +us. Here, as in the jungle, pretty blue convolvuli twisted up dead reeds +nearly to our level, and peeped up at the sun. When we finally struck +the long-sought for pools there were no duck, leastwise, but two, and +some snake-birds, as they call a cormorant here that has a neck like an +S. Round the edges the grass had been regularly grazed, so I'd bet on a +shot there for one who could wait, but, apart from the shot, what would +one not give for the pleasure of watching some of Burmah's beasts in +their natural state. We were both a little tired by the time we got back +in the afternoon to the path to the river, and an hour or two after, +when we crossed the sands, and slid off our elephant's back at the +river's edge, we had to take kinks out of our lower extremities, and +even our elephant seemed very exhausted as it stood in the shallows, and +slowly lifted water in its trunk and squirted it into its mouth. She and +her mahout lodged the night on the far side. + +As we crossed the river in our canoes, the sun was setting, and Carter +said, "Isn't this like the West Highlands?" I had been thinking the +same, almost admitting to myself that this country is perhaps as +beautiful--certainly to the sportsman who neither rents nor owns lands +at home, it must be out and away better. The view from his window in the +Fort to the west was splendid. The Military Police Bungalow is on the +top of the river bank, and beneath us stretched the sands, and the river +reflecting violet and gold from the after-glow; then the rolling woods +and the distant Chin hills, in purple and red, against the sunset, with +one tall rain-column, very slowly passing across the yellow sky. Swing a +branch of a heavy-leaved tree across the top of the wide window in +Japanesque arrangement, put two men, two pipes, and two pegs in the +foreground, the rising bubbles sparkling yellow in the level sunset +rays, and the pipe's incense ascending in blue perpendiculars, and you +have a suggestion of the perfect peace and entire absence of bustle +which we associate with a certain Valley of Pong. + +[Illustration] + +It made "trop de chose," to quote the great Carolus, to go out to dinner +after such a full day, but the occasion was somewhat important; General +Macleod and Mrs Macleod and his staff were to be entertained at the +Military Police Mess. + +The dinner was beautifully done, flowers and menu could not have +possibly been better, though the party was not large, only our two hosts +of the Military Police, the General and his wife, and his aide-de-camp, +and G. and myself. I learned afterwards the A.D.C. had charmed G. with +tales of the dangers of crossing into China without escort and permits. + +We had a great entertainment or Pwe after. We took out cigars and chairs +outside, and sat in a half circle in moonlight and shadow. In front of +us was a space of silvery grey sand, the stage we will call it; at the +back of the scene was a sentinel's box on the stage right, to the left +the lower part of a tree, and, between these, a low breastwork of earth, +all in shadow against a moonlit distance of mist, and woods and +mountains. Enter left (spectators right), the supers from shade of +trees, carrying lamps, they are Indian soldiers, Sikhs possibly, in +mufti, you cannot distinguish them easily, they sit in shadow, two deep +round the back of the stage on the ground and low breastwork, the lamps +at intervals on the ground throw up a little warm light on their faces: +the hubble-bubble is lit, and goes round from hand to hand, and the +smoke of the tobacco hangs a little. + +Enter left, dancers and musicians slowly, with shuffling steps. The +quiet is broken by a note on a gong, struck softly, and there is an +almost inaudible flute melody on reeds, and liquid notes struck on empty +bamboos. These dusky figures are Kachin men, with red turbans, and +short, white, very loose kilts and bolero jackets. Some of the reflected +light from the sand shows their curious, serious, boyish faces. They are +short, but well-knit; they dance in a slow figure in a line, hand in +hand, the bare feet shuffling with a little sound in the dust. The music +is very faint, but you long to be able to remember the uncommon air that +seems to have caught the quiet of the hills, and the depths of the +bamboo woods. + +These Kachin players are natives of the mountains here, and to the +north. They are being brought into order, and indeed, a number are +enlisting in the Military Police. Till recently, they were free, wild +mountaineers, doing a little farming and raiding and vendetta business. + +They went off, and came back from the deep shadows of the trees with +glittering swords and more strident music, and louder beating on gongs, +and harsher notes on chanters, and a loud booming sound on a narrow, +six-foot-six drum with bell-shaped mouth; and the figures danced +quickly, going backwards, in circles, and breaking into groups, the +swords whirling and flickering beautifully in the moonlight, and the +audience clapped hands gently in time, and there was an occasional +heugh! as used to be the way in our Highland Reel, before the invention +of the--lowlander, the screaming "eightsome." + +I wish I remembered more of the Pwe--how I wish I could see it over and +over again, till I could remember part of one of these quiet reedy +tunes, so that I could recall this scene and the charm of Burmah +whenever I pleased--for me, not even a scent, or colour, or form, can +recall past scenes so vividly as a few notes of an air, the rhythm of +some folk-song--a few minor notes, an Alla--Allah, and you breathe the +hot air of desert, and feel the monotony of black men, and sand, and +sun--Thrum--thrum--thrum, and you are in the soft, busy night, in Spain, +and again a few minor notes, strung together, perhaps, by Greig, in the +Saeter, and you feel the scent of the pines in the valley rising to the +snow--a concertina takes me back to warm golden sunsets in the dog +watches in the Doldrums!--guess, I am fortunate receiving sweet +suggestions from a concertina! + +8th February.--Up in the morning very early, and went with the Algys to +witness the Review of Captain Kirke's Kachin and Native Military Police +before the General. Mrs Algy looked on from the Fort, and General +Macleod and Captain Kirke stood at the saluting base, Mrs Macleod on a +white pony behind, and Mr Algy of the Civil Police, and myself +represented the B.P. The newly-recruited Kachins' marching and drill was +perfection. Their rifles and bayonets they handled with precision, and +as if they loved them. They are small men, but well shaped, not quite so +bombe, but even more lithe-looking than Ghurkas, Captain K. says they +are as good for hill-work; in fact, if it is possible, they are better! +They stormed a village after the march past, which was a charming sight +to see. The people in the village used black powder, so you could tell +from what parts of the brown, sun-dried cane houses the shots came from. +They took cover wonderfully, considering it was only sham fight, ran in +in sections, generally aimed at something, and fired without flinching, +though they wore boots, which must have been a new and painful +experience. I felt quite martial myself, and felt how excellent it must +be to go fighting with some hundreds or thousands of lives to stake on +an issue, and, so reflecting, my admiration increased for those private +gentlemen at home, and in the Colonies, who went with only their own +lives to Africa, for somebody else to stake. + +In the evening the Officers came to the D.-C. Bungalow, and we had +music, and drank to the health of our unknown host who is still in the +hills, and Captain Kirke pencilled a route map for our ride into China. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + + +Yesterday afternoon we did a little preparation for our trek into China. +Mr Kohn, the storekeeper in Bhamo, imports to the East, the essentials +of western civilization (in my opinion claret and cut Virginian) and the +etceteras; Cross and Blackwell things. And the West, he supplies with +Shan swords and orchids, Kachin bags, ornaments in jade, gold and +silver, and all sorts of curios. So we got bread from him for seven +days, and tinned butter, milk, coffee, and a supply of the dried leaves +of a certain aromatic shrub, for an infusion called Tea, also his +Uisquebagh, and live ducks and hens in baskets, and six Chinese ponies, +and three Chinamen--quite an extensive piece of shopping which took two +hours at least. + +... It is really very pleasant to feel we are actually going with our +own mule train into the wilds, where even Cook's tickets and Empires +peter out; there is almost the same exciting feeling as of sailing into +uncharted seas, and seeing new lands. + +Our mule train cannot exactly be called interminable; but we have four +riding ponies to add to the live stock already mentioned, making a +caravan of ten beasts. Besides the three Chinese men, there is our +Madrassee boy, an Indian cook, in black top-coat and black Delhi cap; he +has a plain but honest face, and a stutter and a few words of English, +and there is a youthful Burman to help him, and three Indian soldiers, +Sowars, to ride behind our illustrious selves! Quite an interesting +crowd when you come to think of it, for its size and babel of tongues! +but, my certie! I'd nearly left out the cook's charming and stately +Burmese wife! She is the most decorative part of the show; with a yellow +orchid in her black hair, coppery-brown lungy, green-jacket and pink +scarf floating from her shoulders; she carries a black gingham umbrella +in one hand, and in the other, of course, a big white cheroot, and +behind her toddles her dog, liver and white, half terrier, half +daschhound. + +We got our packages fast on the pack saddles, and the procession on the +road only three hours after the time we had aimed at, which we thought +not bad for beginners, and G. and I followed, in a pony trap, with the +four ponies and two Sowars, her maid being left in the care of the +American missionary's wife. + +Out of Bhamo for some miles, the road is macadamised, broad level and +straight, with grand columnar trees on either side, and leaves on its +surface. Every mile or so you meet or pass groups of Kachins, Chinese or +Shans, or people you can't quite place. They walk in Indian file as they +are accustomed to in narrow hill and jungle paths. The Chinese men are +without women and carry burdens, the Kachins carry their swords slung +under the left arm, and their women carry their burdens. Some tribesmen +have bows and arrows as well as swords. The Kachin woman's costume is of +a pretty colour, a little dark velvet jacket with short sleeves, a kilt +to the knee, and dark putties, both of woven colours like tartan, in +diced and in herringbone and running patterns. She carries the load in a +narrow, finely-woven basket on her back, and her black hair is dressed +after the fashion in Whitechapel. She is short with very strong calves. +Her jaunty husband comes behind, with his red bonnet or turban cocked on +one side, the sword and red tasselled bag hung from his left shoulder. +The square Kachin bag or satchel is a pure joy of bright threads and +patches and wonderful needlework, and is a little suggestive of a +magnificent sporran. His expression is said to be sly, but I don't think +so. His head is held straight on a longish neck for his size, his dark, +slightly oblique eyes are wide open and mildly startled looking--ditto +his mouth, he is neater in figure than the Chinese, and does not look so +heavy and potent. The top of his head is wide, his nose short and jaw +and chin square but not deep. + +As we drove through the fallen leaves and the shade on this fine road, +the sun setting behind us lit up the tallest trees and branches in front +of us in gold and green against the violet hills in the East. I +scribbled figures in sketch-book and G. drove, and the syce sat behind +with my gun handy. I also kept a corner of an eye lifting for jungle +fowl, and by Jove! we were not two miles out when a hen ran across the +road a hundred yards ahead and the sketches flew, and out came the gun; +but instead of driving on and getting down when past as I ought--we +stopped, and I went on, and when I came up to the place saw a cock +scurrying along, and fired just as it got behind a bamboo clump, and I +said--"tut, tut," and was very disappointed; as have been many men +before me, by the same trifling miscarriage. It seemed a handsome little +bird, a glowing bit of orange red colour. It's as fascinating as novel, +the sensation of driving through country where you may see game at any +time, and which all belongs to you and is gamekeepered by Government for +you--it makes you feel a share of the county actually belongs to you. + +I have read that you should get your terrier into the trap about this +part of the road; the leopards have demonstrated this by collaring those +that have followed the few white men's carriages that have driven along +it. You may, see big game from it--I only saw pigs; they crossed the +road, grey and bristly fellows, I'd swear they were wild, but I met +Shans driving others in leash so like that now I am not quite sure. + +It gets cold and dark as we get to the end of our drive, and we are glad +to get down and into a rest-house of bamboo, built on trestles; it is +like a pretty little shooting-box in the midst of shooting of +measureless extent. The moon shines on its thatch, and the lamp lit +inside tells us our caravan has arrived before us. The country is flat +here, with fields and little jungle. We see the woods rising to the +hills which we will reach to-morrow, and wisps of pungent smoke from a +village near hang low across the fields. A few minutes walk brings us to +where a smith works under a tall solitary tree; the smith, as usual, is +brawny, and sparks fly up and bellows blow, and children blink at the +glow just as they do elsewhere. The apprentice works the bellows, and at +a nod from the smith pulls out the glowing metal, and the two thump away +at it cheerily, and shove it back and heap up the charcoal, the bellows +go again, and the smith has three whiffs at his pipe; it is a dah, or +sword, they are making, welding one bit of iron after another into one +piece. + +[Illustration] + +We dine by candle light, and the moonlight comes through the hanging +screen window and through the spaces between the planks of the floor, +and our music is the distant ringing of the anvil, and the intermittent +liquid notes of a Burmese reed instrument in the village. + +After dinner, the mail, which we had not time to read yesterday, and our +home news from the cold North-West. Two letters are from "The Grey +City," both from authors, one with a word picture of that most dreary +sight, our empty High Street on a Sunday morning, the poor people in +their dens and the better class in St Giles; the other tells us that the +"Boyhood of R. L. S." does well, as of course we knew it would; so we +pass the evening pleasantly enough with thoughts of East and West, and +friends here and there--even though that jungle fowl did get clean +away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + + +Kalychet, 10th February.--It seems quite a long time since we were last +night in the plains, in mist and haze and moonlight. It rained, and was +very damp indeed during the night. Our slumbers were disturbed by a +groaning, creaking, wooden-wheeled lowland train of carts, that seemed +to suffer agony for ages--it went so slowly past and out of hearing; +perhaps it was the squeaking of the wheels that set all the cocks +a-crowing. The more the wheels creak the better, for the Burman believes +this creaking and whistling keeps away the "Nats" or spirits of things. +The night seemed long and unrefreshing, and in the grey of the morning +we found our blankets were wet with fog. But that was down below, now we +are up on higher ground, and the air is drier and pleasant. + +In early morning we drove in the pony cart half the way from Momouk to +this Kalychet, the sowars riding behind with the four ponies. The road +lay through green aisles of bamboo that met overhead, and it was cold +and wet under them for some hours. + +At mid-day we stopped and the syce went back with the pony cart, and I +unpacked some fishing tackle to have a try for Mahseer on a river some +distance beyond our halting place. I selected a rod from the million of +bamboos round us, one of decent growth, not the longest, they ran to +ninty feet at a guess, and fastened snake rings on with adhesive plaster +from our medical stores, the stuff you get in rolls, an adaptation of a +valuable tip from _The Field_;[35] the tip was for mending rods, but it +does as well, or better, for putting on temporary rings. + +[35] An improvement on the splendid tip is to use the gummy tape used +for insulating electric wire. + +It was a grand river, what I'd call a small salmon river, tumbling into +pools over great water-worn boulders, with a tangle of reeds and bamboos +above flood mark. It was piping hot fishing, and the water seemed rather +clear for the phantom I tried. I had two on for a second, and had a +number of touches from small Mahseer that I saw following the minnow, +but failed to land anything, so alas!--I can't swear I've caught a +Mahseer yet or killed a jungle fowl--my two small ambitions just now. G. +collected seeds and roots of wild plants to send home, so she had a +better bag than I had. We rode back to our halting place to lunch--or +tiffen, or whatever it's called in these parts--a sort of solid +breakfast at one o'clock,--on the side of the pony track; the Chinese +pack-ponies wandered round eating bamboo leaves and tough looking reeds. +Along the road we passed many groups of Kachins, all with swords and +mild wondering eyes. This halt was rather a business I thought,--all the +packages unladened, pots and pans and fires, and a complicated lunch. I +incline to our home fashion when living out of doors, of a crust and a +drink at mid-day and a square meal after the day's outing. + +As we were getting our cavalcade started, along came Captain Kirke and +Carter in shirt-sleeves, riding back hard to Headquarters. They are hard +as nails but looked just the least thing tired, having ridden a great +distance since yesterday on an inspecting tour from some hill village. +They hoped to get to Bhamo by night _if_ their steeds held out. + +For the rest of the day we rode, at first with our whole crew, latterly +by ourselves and the two Sepoys:--cantered a hundred yards or so and +jog-trotted, ambled, walked, cantered again and climbed slowly up +hillside paths; through damp hollows, between brakes of high reeds with +beautiful fluffy seeds, under tall trees festooned with creepers with +lilac flowers, and over hard sunny bits of the path with butterflies +floating up against us, and overhead, orchids and pendant air roots and +wild fruits. I suppose it was the beautiful surroundings that made the +ride so enjoyable, and the change from the plain to the hill air. + +[Illustration] + +Towards evening we rode up a saddle ridge that crossed the valley along +which we had been riding, and came out of trees and bamboos into the +open. Here we found another pretty public-work's dak bungalow of dark +teak uprights and cross beams, with white-washed cane matting between +and neat grass thatch laid over bamboos, with wide views up and down the +valley of rolling woods and distant hills. To the north-east a distant +range of blue hills cut across the valley, touches of sunlight showed +they were covered with forest; below us the path led zigzagging into the +yellow and green bamboos. Looking back to the south down the valley we +had come up, the Chin hills bounded the horizon, but between us and them +lay miles and miles of rolling woods, and a haze at the foot of the +hills over the plain of the Irrawaddy. The air was delicious, the views +enthralling, the lodging comfortable, the country we might call our own, +with no one about, except the native Durwan, or caretaker, and his +Kachin women folk, only in the distance on a hillside were two Kachins +clearing a patch of jungle--otherwise solitude and peace. Our ponies and +baggage arrived all right but some time after us; it ought to have been +looted if what recent writers say about the Kachins is right--that "they +do no honest labour, but live by lifting cattle, looting caravans, and +stealing anything upon which they can lay their hands." Krishna and all +the others set at once to unpack and get ready our meal, which felt +rather late--I should have timed them to arrive before us. It grew +chilly in the evening, and our red blankets soon seemed uncommonly +attractive. + +Sunday forenoon.--You might, if of a contemplative mind, and not +harassed by desire for sport, or movement, or travel, stay for many +hours, even days, with great content at this Kalychet bungalow, looking +out over forest and glen, inhaling the pure air, and even run to poetry +were you of the age. + + "Watching shadows, shadows chasing," + +--over the forest-clad mountains which have only cleared patches here +and there, where Kachins have cut the bamboos, taken a crop or two and +then moved on, leaving the ground to lie fallow and grow over weeds +again. On the hillside there are two of these clearings across the track +above us, some two acres or so in extent, with the bamboos cut and +stumps of trees projecting, and in the middle of one of these there is a +native hut, like a fragile boat-house, projecting from the slope of the +hill. Narrow footpaths through the bamboos lead from our cleared space +up to them. Two little Kachin women are climbing up these paths, their +cattle in front of them; each has a basket on her back, and she spins as +she goes--now they are followed by a sprightly boy and his sister, the +boy straight as a dart, with a sword slung across his back, and his gay +red-tasselled satchel on his left side; both have bare feet, and neither +of them seem to heed the thorns. The girl has a loose bundle of thin +hoops of brass and black cane round her hips, under her short black +jacket, and two great silver torques round her neck and breast; her +clothes are dark blue, black, and red. + +[Illustration] + +... There is the quiet of the mountains; only slightly broken at +intervals of an hour or so when a caravan passes, but sometimes these +pass perfectly silently without stopping; barefooted carriers with their +merchandise slung across the shoulder on bamboos, and sometimes with +ponies, and bells jingling cheerily. Just now, one has come from the +China frontier, some ten carriers wearing pointed straw hats several +feet wide. They unlimber and drink a little water from a spring that +spouts out of the side of a hill through a bamboo; they are quiet +people--their voices and the gurgling of the spring just reach us. Then +from Burmah side come women carriers, Shans, I think, old and young, in +dark blue clothes, short petticoats and tall turbans; they come sturdily +up the hill and joke with the Chinese coolies as they pass without +stopping down the zigzag path into the bamboos, by the path our ponies +and people have already followed. But here is movement! and a cheery +jingling!--a whole string of Chinese pack ponies, eighty at least, +coming up from Bhamo, each laden with bales, a Chinaman to every three +ponies. At the end stalks a lean Indian. I suppose he owns the show--his +wife follows, a very black thing, a Madrassee, to judge by her not very +white and inelegant hangings. They drink and spit at the spring, and he +sees us and salaams, and looks in to see the durwan, who is one of his +countrymen. + +[Illustration] + +But now we must be jogging too, though it is pleasant here. We leave one +sowar behind, in pain he says, but I doubt if he's very ill. So we get +on to our rather big polo ponies, one black, the other white, and go +down the valley on the path to China--said bridle path quite dry now +excepting under bamboo clumps, though it rained hard in the night. + +7 P.M.--Kulong Cha--"There's no place like home" they say, and I thought +so; now I think there is, perhaps even better. Our own highlands must +have been like this before General Wade and Sir Walter Scott opened them +to the tourist; the Pass of Leny or where Bran meets Tay, when there was +more forest, and only bridle tracks, and men going armed, must have been +like this, even to the free fishing and shooting. + +We are in a cup-shaped wooden glen, our rest-house eighty feet up the +hillside above the track, and a brawling burn that meets the Taiping a +few hundred yards beyond our halting place. The burn suggests good +fishing, and the Taiping looks like a magnificent salmon river. It is 7 +P.M. and Krishna busy setting dinner, and your servant writing these +notes to the sound of many waters and by a candle dimly burning, for the +sun has gone below the wooded hills and left us in a soft gloom. Several +camp fires begin to twinkle along the road where the caravans we +overtook, and others from the east, are preparing for the night. Our +Chinese coolies too have their fires going near us, the smoke helping to +soften the already blurred evening effect. We have had, for us, a long +afternoon's ride--a little tiring and hot in the bottom of the valley +when the path came down to the Taiping river,--a winding and twisting +path, round little glens to cross foaming burns, level enough for a +hundred yards canter, then down, and up, hill sides in zigzags, here and +there wet and muddy with uncertain footing, through groves of bamboos +and under splendid forest trees, some creepers hanging a hundred feet +straight as plumb lines, others twisted like wrecked ships' cables, and +flowering trees, with delicious scent every hundred yards or so. We felt +inclined to stop and look, and sketch vistas of sunlit foliage through +shadowy aisles of feathery bamboos, or splendid open forest views with +mighty trees, and the river and its great salmon pools. There were +splendid butterflies, some large and black as velvet, with a patch of +vivid ultramarine, others yellow with cerulean, and another deep fig +green with a blazing spot of primrose, and pigeons, and of course jungle +fowl, because I had not my gun! + +[Illustration] + +Our caravan arriving here was picturesque. They came round the corner +over the burn bridge, walking briskly, the sick sowar riding in the +rear, the cook and his Burmese wife leading--she so neat, with a pink +scarf, green jacket, and plum-coloured silk skirt, her belongings in a +handkerchief slung over her shoulder from a black cotton parasol, and in +her left hand, carried straight as a saint's lilies, a branch of white +flowers for G.; then came the Burman youth, also with some bright +colour, a red scarf round his black hair and tartan kilt; he carried my +gun, and the Chinamen in weather-worn blue dungarees, loose tunics and +shorts, and wide yellow umbrella hats slung on their backs, with their +shaggy brown and white ponies. We arrived at five, the mules and baggage +at six, and already dinner is almost cooked, our belongings in place, +beds made, mosquito curtains up,--and this day's journal done! + +... Wish somebody would write this day's log for me--I must fish! The +burn in front is in grand spate, so is the Taiping river, roaring down +discoloured. If I know aught of Highland spates, they will both be down +in the hour and fishable. The glen is full of sun from behind us, and +the mist is rising in lumps. It rained in the night; when we turned in, +the mist had come down in ridges on us, and it felt stuffy and warm +under blankets, and the sound of the waters was muffled by the mist. I +awoke with a world of vivid white light in my eyes, the glen was +quivering with lightning, and the gods played awful bowls overhead! +Green trees up the hillsides and contorted mist wreaths showed as in +daylight, and then were buried in blackness and thunder. Then the rain +came! to put it intil Scottis--a snell showir' dirlin' on the thatch. +There was the bleezin cairn, and the craig that lowped and dinnled i' +the dead-mirk dail, the burn in spate and the rowin flood o' the Taiping +dinging their looves thegither at their tryst i' the glen--ane gran' an' +awesome melee. But I don't like these effects, so I buried myself in red +blankets, and as the rain thundered down, thought of our coolies; I +expect they got from under their hats and went below the floor of our +bungalow. The atmosphere, after an hour, grew suddenly pleasant and +cool--a breeze rose--there was light in the left, and the glint of many +stars--and I pulled on another blanket and slept at last refreshingly. +What a night the Chinese up the road must have had. No jungle however +thick could have kept out that rain, and it is thin where they are, for +many campers have cut down the branches and bamboos for fodder and +firewood. They sleep with only a piece of matting over their bodies, the +wide straw hat over their head and shoulders; and their fires, of +course, were extinguished. The sort of thing our Volunteers enjoyed in +S.A., and for which they got rheumatism and experience, and a medal, and +no opportunity to wear it. + +One of the sepoys has cut me a bamboo, so it's time to be off to put on +snake-rings, and get out tackle and try somehow to hang on to one of +these Mahseer that I have heard of so much and of which I know so +little. Local information there is none, but I have spoons and phantoms, +and so--who knows! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +[Illustration] + +The above notes and remarks, full of hope, were written with a little +impatience to be "on the water." Now, after two hours scrambling through +jungle to and from the river, I've less hope and an empty basket. It was +hot and still down in the glen, like the vale wherein sat grey-haired +Saturn, and-- + + "Forest on forest hung about his head + Like cloud on cloud. No stir of air was there, + Not so much life as on a summer's day + Robs not one light seed from the feathered grass, + But where the dead leaf fell, there did it rest." + +and fruit and flowers too lay sodden under foot. It was tough work +getting through the few hundred yards of jungle of creeper thorns and +boulders to the river's edge. I fished two or three sheltered runs, and +came back soaking from within and without from the heat and wet foliage, +scratched by thorns, with ears drumming from the noise of many waters, +and no basket, and the river not down two inches and muddy as could be! + +We must be off again now--or at least let the pack ponies and servants +go. + +12th, Monday.--Nampoung, after two hours on our little gees, two hours +that seemed days! Hot and stuffy down in the glens in the din and roar +of the Taiping in spate, climbing up for a thousand feet, a hundred +yards on the level, twisting round corries--such fascinating corries, +stuffed with every sort of tropic growth, like the pictures one saw in +stories of Jules Verne, but in such rich varied colouring! I vow I saw +creepers of two hundred feet, wild plantains with fruit, and great +ferns, heavy-leaved dark foliage and feathery bamboos, the leaves yellow +and dropping and covering our path with a crisp brown carpet. + +[Illustration] + +We rode generally in single file, our right sides against rocks or +cuttings in the yellow earth bank, and every here and there were views +through the foliage, sometimes almost straight down below us a thousand +feet, where we could catch a glimpse of foaming river and hear its roar +coming up to us. + +[Illustration] + +The sowars cut branches for us to hold over our shoulders to keep the +heat of the afternoon sun off neck and back--Birnam woods _a deux_, and +Nampoung fort instead of Macbeth's castle. + +Nampoung--the edge of the Empire!--We are now well into the Kachin +Highlands, 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea, and the air is delicious. +The last part of our ride here was very steep. G. and her pony were only +just able to scrape up together. I and the sepoys had to walk. Almost in +the steepest part some sixty Chinese mules and ponies came down, and we +pulled aside at a bit of the path where two could barely pass. It was a +cheery sight, the long line of ponies and the blue coats and mushroom +hats, jogging, slipping, and jangling down the zigzag path, with an +occasional cheery shout to the beasts as they disappeared round +corners, appeared again, and finally showed a mile below, when only the +sound of their bells came up to us faintly from the tropic woods in the +bottom of the Nampoung Valley. + +I am not sure that having reached a point within pistol-shot of the back +of China fills one with any enormous sense of accomplished endeavour. +What strikes me mildly is the feeling of being at the present extremity +of British possessions, and we speculate where the March may be in years +to come--East or West? The tiny little frontier fort we have arrived at +is on a saddle-back hill, and overlooks the angle of China between two +valleys, that of the Taiping and its tributary, the Nampoung. As we +passed through the wire entanglements on the summit, after our climb up, +the Indian sentinel facing China across the glen struck me as being +rather a suggestive figure, so here he is. + +[Illustration] + +"Capin Kurruk" was our effective password. Kirke I suppose, had +heliographed our arrival, and the Subadar and the native doctor met us. +The Subadar, a Sikh, I think, had almost the only Indian face I have +seen so far that I liked--big, potent, and with the appearance of a +sportsman and gentleman. The doctor was of rather an opposite type, +though clever-looking, and spoke a little English. + +The dark bungalow was a few hundred yards down the hill from the fort +looking down the valley we had come up into the sunset. On these higher +hills I see more Kachin clearings, and with the glass make out their +sturdy little figures in the tracks leading from one clearing to the +other, interminable bamboo jungle above and below them. They certainly +have a splendid country to hold. They are said to have come into Burmah +with the great Mogul invasion; and when the Northerners retreated, the +Kachins stayed and took up their quarters in the hill tops, and have +raided the low countries since. + +The cut of their women's dress resembles the reindeer skin dress of the +Laps in north of Norway, and the geometric ornaments are similar, and +the torque or heavy penanular necklet of silver has ends like the +druidical serpents head. + +12th February.--Down at Kulong Cha the night was warm and stuffy! last +night up here at Nampoung it was precious cold. We could hardly sleep, +though we had on our whole wardrobe. The weak point was our having only +two thin quilts underneath on the charpoys. As these bungalows are all +made after one design on the principle of a meat-safe, to keep you cool +in the low hot levels, they are only too effective up here. So we turned +out very early to find a spot where the sun shone hot on the Empire's +wall. In an hour or two we will be down to the Nampoung River, and it +will be hot there as an oven. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + +Lives there a man who has sat by the riverside at mid-day in the glen, +with a pipe and a cup, and a fish in the bag, the air hot and full of +the sound of running waters, and the sun laughing in the spirals of the +mountain dew, who has not felt that beautiful life could offer nothing +better than another fish? (I'd have brought a "man or woman" into this +already involved interrogatory sentence, but for the pipe!) So we feel, +as we rest by the side of Nampoung River, between China and Upper +Burmah, after a morning's ride and an hour's fishing. There is a +delicious blend of wood, and hill, and running water, and we have a good +Mahseer in the bag--or pot rather--a perfect beauty, though not quite up +to the record weights we read of; but it played handsomely, and it comes +in handily for lunch. I got it at the tail of a lovely clear running +pool,[36] just above the ford where the caravans cross from China. The +river must be much netted by the coolies who camp for the night here; as +I wound up before lunch one of these, a Chinaman, with a boy came and +cast a circular net with great skill over half the pool in which I'd +landed the Mahseer, but they didn't get anything, as I expect I'd driven +the Mahseer into the rough water at the top of the pool. Down the river +where it meets the Taiping I am told there is splendid fishing, but I +must content myself with the hope that "a time will come." It is +pleasant in the meantime; there are sweet scents in the air, and +pleasant colours. Our little camp kitchen, one hundred yards down the +river, wreaths the trees with wisps of blue smoke. The Burmese girl and +her brother wear bright red and white, and near us there are wild +capsicums and lemon trees dangling all over with yellow fruit and +sweet-scented blossoms. The fruit has rather a coarse skin, but the +juice is pleasant enough under the circumstances. + +[36] Fresh food a treat, as larder is becoming "tinny." + +How good the Mahseer was fried, with a touch of lemon! I daresay if it +had been big enough to feed all hands it would not have had such a +delicate flavour; it was rather like fresh herring. If our servants +hadn't much fish, I at least, helped their larder to a crow from a +swaying bough above us some forty odd yards--brought it down with a +four-inch barrelled Browning's colt. It and its comrades made a racket +above us, and disturbed a nap G. and I were having on the bank up the +river from our camp, so I drew as I lay and fired, and was fairly well +pleased with the shot; but the smiles and astonishment of some Chinese +and Kachins, who had gathered from I don't know where, and were very +unexpectedly showing their heads round us, were truly delightful, and +the feathers were off in a twinkling. I liked these aborigines' +expressions after the shot a good deal better than before. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Then we got up and went on to China, G. on her white pony, the writer on +foot, and when we came to the ford the pony wouldn't face the stream for +love or a stick, so I'd to carry G. pick-a-back, and it took me to the +thick of the thigh and G. well over her ankles. We walked three steps on +Chinese ground and stopped, and looked at the Chinese riffraff soldiery +that turned out from a cane house, and they likewise looked at us. As +they offered no signs of welcome, we began our homeward journey, took a +breath, said a prayer, and "hold tight," and waded back. These guards, I +am told, lose their heads if they allow anyone to pass without a permit; +we did not have one, so I can quite well understand their expressions. +G. knew this before we crossed, but I did not, so I reflect. I do not +suppose we could have forded sooner as the river was falling; a few +hours later, it could have been crossed with less difficulty. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +So we got back to our ponies again, and followed our baggage jogging +back down from China, in and out, and up and down the valleys; and it +was just as nice as jogging up: we were glad to see the scenes of wood +and valley and foaming rivers over again from new points of view. + +At Kulong Cha, we stopped the night in the Glen of the Sound of Many +Waters. A leopard called on us in the night--came into the back verandah +with a velvety thud, and so we each turned out with our Browning +revolvers, and when we met with candles dimly burning, each said we +"heard a rat!" It probably was in search of the terrier of the Burmese +wife of our native cook; but it did not succeed in the quest. Terriers' +lives here are short and full of sport, and leopards love them. What an +adventuresome day--Bag one crow--one Mahseer. + +The desperate play of the Mahseer and our adventure into China had tired +us, so that we left Kulong Cha late, after a "European breakfast"; which +is to say, a breakfast at or about nine, and rode with much pleasure +till lunch time. Then fell in with our servants, camped in flickering +shadows under bamboos beside the yellow surging Taiping, the fire going +and the air redolent with an appetising smell of roast duck; our last +dear duck, whose fellow ducks and hens had accompanied us in the baskets +at either end of a pole across a coolie's back from Bhamo. + +In less than fifteen minutes by the watch, we had a rod cut, salmon reel +attached and rings put on with the invaluable plaster, and all ready for +underhand casting. I fished the most magnificent-looking salmon pool; +there were fresh leopard tracks on a bank of sand beside it, and G. and +the Burmese woman made a great collection of orchids and bulbs, and ants +and stinging beasts as they climbed the trees. But alas, I got only one +fish, and it was no beauty! I rather think the Taiping water is too +discoloured and sandy for Mahseer. + +If the ride in the morning was pleasant, that in the afternoon and +evening was even more so. As we came down the glens to Kalychet,--the +gold of the evening faded in front of us, and left us in soft +sweetly-scented darkness. The fire-flies lit up, and their little golden +lamps flickering alongside through the intricacies of the dark bamboo +stems helped to show us the track. + +[Illustration] + +... How tired we were when we at last reached the rest-house: tired of +the delight of the day and the difficulty of riding in the dark. It blew +a little during the night and grew cold, but we thought of the heat of +the day and made belief that we were very snug, though the wind did play +freely through the open floor and cane walls. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +From Kalychet to Momouk in the sun in the morning was perhaps our most +enjoyable ride, such heat, and light, and exhilarating air, the air of +Norway with southern colour. Butterflies, huge black fellows with +dazzling blue patches, fluttered off the sandy bits of road, their +shadows blacker than themselves, the ponies' feet crackled the great +hard teak leaves. Out of forest and creepers into bamboo thickets; then +into glades with flowering kaing grass and wild fruit, redder than +tomatoes, hanging from creeping plants; across slender wooden bridges, +over roaring streams, always getting lower till the path came out on the +plains again on the wide macadamised road. + +... It was rather sad getting on to the plain again. We left our hearts +in the Kachin Highlands, and thought, with a little melancholy, how long +it would be before we breathed clean hill air again. + +Our train got a little disorganised getting into Momouk, the +pack-ponies' backs were the worse of wear, and our Boy had fallen out +with sore feet--the poor fellow had been working up to his collar. He +crept in hours after the others and collapsed, his bare soles cracked +and legs in pain. Silly fellow won't wear shoes for some caste or +religious superstition; he is more fitted for his clerks work than for +tramping. I held his pulse and tried to look as if I knew what to do +with a sick Hindoo, tucked him up in his blanket under the bungalow and +left him in charge of the native Durwan, and arranged to send out a +conveyance for him on the morrow from Bhamo. + +Then we took the hard high road again in the pony cart, and it felt very +hum-drum trundling along on wheels on the straight level road across the +plain. Groups of Kachins passed us going homewards to the high ground we +had left, and we envied them; for hills are elevating and plains +depressing, whatever Shopenhaur or the Fleet Street philosopher may have +said to the contrary. + +As the evening came on, we passed the Mission House, and the cemetery, +and the Dak bungalow and the Club, pretty nearly all there is of +European interest in Bhamo, excepting the Fort, and pulled up at the +Deputy-Commissioner's Bungalow. The D.C., Mr Leveson, was at home this +time, and gave us a very hospitable welcome. + +... The military police officers to dinner. The conversation mostly on +sport; what constitutes a "good snipe shot," what may be called a "good +bag of snipe," and the many ramifications of these subjects. Then +music, our host singing, "When Sparrows Build," and Kirke sang and +played his own "Farewell to Burmah," of which both music and words +expressed the very essence of the charm of this country, and a little of +the sweet sadness there is in glens and rivers, and of the peace of +evening when the kaing grass is still and the white ibis and crows +flight home across the broad river into the sunset. You who know the +song of Dierdre of Naoise, fairest of the sons of Uisneach, and the +charms of each glen she sings of in Alba--you will know the quality I +mean.... + + "Beloved, the water o'er pure sand, + Oh, that I might not part from the East, + But that I go with my Beloved." + +[Illustration] + +I think Percy Smith was strongest at coon songs, and Trail sang all +sorts, and G. and Kirke played accompaniments, whilst the writer picked +out his own to a chantie respecting the procedure to be taken with an +inebriated mariner--such a merry evening!--the best of which, to me, +was the jolly rattle of witty talk of these youthful administrators, the +oldest, if you please, well under thirty, talking of the other soldier +men as boys. We finished our concert at one, and the young soldiers had +to get home, and start up the river before daybreak for warlike +manoeuvres--(or polo?) at Myitkyna, 140 miles north-west of Bhamo; +there will be a jolly reunion I gather, of men who have been for long +months keeping watch and ward from their lonely mountain eyries o'er the +furthest marches of the British Empire! + +[Illustration] + +17th February.--I vow that there is this morning, at the same time, a +suggestion in the air of both spring and autumn. There is a touch of +autumn grey, and the plants in the garden droop a little as they do at +home before or after frost. A level line of cloud rests half-way up the +steel blue hills, it has hung there motionless for hours since the sun +rose, and the air is very pure, with a sweet scent of stephanotis and +wood-smoke and roses. Possibly it is the stephanotis and the wood-smoke +combined that makes me think of spring--spring in Paris; but more +probably Paris is brought to my mind this morning by the interview we +had yesterday with M. Ava about our berths on the cargo boat down to +Mandalay; he is the Bhamo Agent for the Flotilla Company. M. Ava left +Paris at the time of the birth of the Prince Imperial, and came to +Burmah with his own yacht, and has stayed here ever since. I wish he +would write a book on the changes of life he has seen; about the court +life of the Empire, and his semi-official yachting tour, and of his long +residence with Thebaw and his queens, of the intrigue and ceremonies in +their golden palaces, the thrilling episodes of which he was witness, +and of the many changes of fortune he has himself experienced. + +... Someone said last night, "How interesting it would be if an artist +were to paint the various types of the tribes here," and my conscience +smote me for not seizing the occasion. So to-day I got my Boy to ask the +native cook, to ask his Burmese wife, to ask her Kachin female assistant +to pose for me, and here she is. Isn't she sweet?--and seventeen, she +says, and she is so shy!--and has a queer, queer look in the back of her +narrow eyes that I'd fain be able to translate; perhaps there's a little +pride of race, and perhaps a little of the timidity of a wild thing from +the jungle--perhaps all the histories of old Mongol invasions and +retreats if we could but read! Her dress is rather rich, jacket black +velvet, edged with red, tall turban of blue frieze cloth, and kilt and +putties of the colours of low-toned tartan made of hand-woven cloth, in +diced and herring-boned patterns. She has a silver torque round her neck +of the druidical shape, the ends of the circle almost meeting, and bent +back with two shapes like flat serpents' heads. In her ears are silver +ornaments the size and shape of Manilla cheroots, enamelled and +tasselled with red silk. As I drew her, the rest of Mr Leveson's +domestics, Burmese and native, sat round on the lawn and helped by +looking on, and were greatly delighted in seeing the buxom beauty +reproduced in colour on paper. + +[Illustration: A Kachin Girl] + +A Burmese matron then came along with her daughter to sell two silver +swords with ivory handles, and I got the swords, and a sitting of a few +minutes from the daughter, and here she is: a fairly average Burmese +girl, but not nearly one of the prettiest. The green broadcloth jacket +you see up here frequently, but further south the girls all wore thin +white jackets. As I painted, G. and the servants packed orchids, box +after box--I must be at my packing too; leopards' skins, and Kachin and +silver-mounted Shan dahs are my most interesting trophies. + +Dined with the Algys of the Civil Police force--Captain Massey there, a +pleasant bungalow, a wealth of roses on the table, heavy red curtains +against white and pale blue plastered walls; a wood fire and lots of +open air and music, and talk of sport and big game. I am asked to a +great drive of geese, sambhur, and syn, but cannot accept for want of +time--was there ever anything more annoying! + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +19th February.--Good-bye, sweet Bhamo. You weep, and we weep; but we go +with a hope we may return. + +How it pours! The Chinese ponies on the sandbank huddle together. A +Burmese lady goes up the bank to loosen the painter of her canoe; she +wears a pink silk skirt and white jacket, and carries a yellow paper +umbrella and apparently thinks little of the downpour. I've noticed +heaps of these pretty oiled paper umbrellas in the bazaars, I suppose +being prepared for this kind of weather. Even in pouring wet, Bhamo is +beautiful. Good-bye again; we will tell our friends at home that there +is such a desirable quiet country on this side of Heaven, where the +mansions truly are few, but the hosts are very kind. + +Now we let go our wire rope from the red and black timber head in the +sand, slip away quietly into the current and leave the sandbank to the +Chinese ponies and a few bales of cotton, all in the dripping rain. + +The kaing grass is drooping with the downpour, but it will be dry as +tinder in an hour or two, dry on the top at least. + +Now, great Irrawaddy--take us safely down your length, and preserve us +from sandbanks and let us spend some more hours on your lovely banks; +and we will go down with your rafts of bamboos, and teak, and pottery, +and canoes, and we will avoid all trains till you fraternise with old +ocean again in Rangoon river. Then we will bid you good-bye, it may be +for years, but we hope not for ever. + +... At Katha again. The wet pigeon-grey sky lifting, the river the +colour of the Seine. The decorative fig and cotton trees have leaves +just budding, and through the grey stems of the leafless Champaks with +wax white flowers we see groups of figures in dainty colours in the +quiet light, and of course there is the glint of white and gold of a +pagoda. + +... In the morning we woke early and drank in the beauty of the clouds +lifting off the river and floating up the corries in the distant hills. +We did not awake early intentionally; the wet mist in the night tautened +the cord of the fog horn, and when the steam pressure rose, off it went +loud and long enough to waken seventy sleepers. + +... We pass villages quickly on our way down. We have a flat on either +side, but there is only a half-hearted bazaar in one, and the other is +empty, so we can use it as our promenade. + +By lunch time the sky had all cleared into a froth of sunshine and blue +and white clouds. The sand and distant forest and hills became well nigh +invisible in the bright light, and the river seemed a shield of some +fine metal, that took all the sky and smoothed it and reflected it with +concentrated glitter. For our foreground we have the white table on deck +in shade, with a heap of roses and white orchids in a silver bowl; +the fallen petals blend into the half-tone of the table cloth, and +there's peace and quiet and sleep, to the pulsation of the paddles and +the hissing of the foaming water passing astern. + +[Illustration: A Girl of Upper Burmah] + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +At Tayoung in the evening we swing round, head up stream, and lie along +the shore--too late to go shooting, so we put on a cast of flies and +cast over rising fish, and get a dozen very pretty fish in half-an-hour. +I confess I put a tiny piece of meat on each fly, but hardly enough to +call it bait fishing. These were all silvery, "butter fish," excepting +one, which was rather like a herring. Meantime we had the heavy sunk +line baited with dough, and by and bye it began to go out into the +stream, and we paid out line rapidly, and then suddenly hauled taut and +were fast to a "big un." It was pull devil, pull baker for about five to +ten minutes, when the big fish came alongside, and we got a noose round +its tail and hauled it on board. It weighed twenty-eight lbs! + +... The 22nd.--I think, but who can tell?--for each glorious hot day is +as monotonously beautiful as the day before; all bright and shining, the +blue and white sky reflected in the endless silky riband of the river +down which we steadily paddle, between silver strands and bowery woods, +stopping only for the night, and possibly for an hour or two in the day, +when we go ashore to sketch, or sometimes to shoot. + +I have been trying to make up my mind which of two perfect days' +shooting was the best. This afternoon's shoot and tramp through the +jungle--Bag, my first brace francolin, to my own gun, or a day last year +in stubble and turnips, and twenty-five brace partridges to my own gun +and black pointer. I think the jungle day has it, though the bag was so +small, by virtue of its beauty, as against the trim fields of the +Lothians. + +We started together, G. and her maid to collect seeds and roots and +orchids, and I wandered on to shoot with a Burmese guide. + +Some of the tall trees have shed their leaves, and are now a mass of +blossom. One high tree had dropped a mat of purple flowers, as large as +tulips, across the dried grass and brown leaves at its foot. Another +tree with silvery bark had every leafless branch ablaze with orange +vermilion flowers. "Fire of the Forest," or "Flame of Forest," I heard +it called in India,--its colour so dazzling, you see everything grey for +seconds after looking at it. Then there were brakes of flowering shrubs +like tobacco plants with star like white flowers, and the scent of +orange blossom; and others with velvety petals of heliotrope tint, and +masses of creepers with flowers like myrtle, and a fresh scent of +violets and daisies--the air so pure and pleasant that each scent came +to one separately; and, as the most of the foliage is dry and thin just +now, these flowers and green bushes were the more effective. Certainly +the surroundings were more beautiful than those we have in low ground +shooting at home, and the smallness of the bag was balanced by this, and +the delightfully unfamiliar sensation of both shooting and right-of-way, +being free to you or your neighbour. + +With a shade of luck, I'd have had quite a decent bag; but you know how +some days things just miss the bag--you can't exactly tell why--so it +was this afternoon; there should have been two hares, and two quail, and +two birds that seemed very like pheasants. One fell in impenetrable +thorns, and we could not get nearer than about ten yards, and I missed +another sitting. To restore my reputation with the Burmese boy, I had to +claw down some high pigeons from untold heights on their way home to +roost. After this, as I was loading, a partridge got up from some +stubbly grass in a clearing, with an astonishingly familiar whirr, and +went clear away, and I'd barely loaded when a Button quail whipped over +some bushes, and it dropped, but in impenetrable thorns! I'd not heard +of Burmese partridges, but the flight and whirr were unmistakeable, +though the bird was larger than those at home. So we went on, longing +for the company of my silky, black-coated pointer Flo, and a couple of +hardy mongrel spaniels--together we would soon have filled the bag!... +It is such fun going through new country, without a ghost of an idea +which direction to take or what method to pursue, or what game to +expect. + +At the next cleared space we came to, two birds, mightily like +pheasants, were feeding on some ground that had once been tilled, so, by +signs to the Burmese boy (he cleans the knives on board) I easily made +him understand he was to drive them over me, and we each made a circuit, +he round the open, the gun behind a brake of dog roses and plantains, +and the birds came over with rather too uncertain flight for pheasants. +I got one, and the other fell far into thorns, but they were, after all, +only a large kind of magpie, but with regular gamey-brown wings, +blue-black heads, and long tails that gave them on the ground a passing +resemblance to pheasants. The next open space seemed absolutely suited +for partridges, and, as we walked into the middle, up got two and came +down to quite a conventional right and left, and our glee was unbounded +when we found them in the dried grass. The colours of their plumage was +handsome, not quite so sober as that of our partridge at home, and their +size and shape was almost between that of a grouse and a partridge; +Francolin,[37] I've since heard they were. Two hares I just got a +glimpse of, greyish in colour, and very thin-looking beasts. Then the +sun got low, and we heard deer barking in knolly ground, and would fain +have sat the evening out quietly, and waited, and watched the night life +of the jungle. + +[37] There is not a specimen quite like them in S. Kensington. + +It was dark when we made for the river and the soft, dusty track through +the green grass at its edge. Big beetles passed us humming, and we met +some children with lamps swinging, and they sang as they went, to keep +away the Nats or spirits of things. + +Our steamer looked pleasantly homelike, lying a yard from the shore. The +purdahs were up and showed the lamp-lit table on deck, set for dinner, +and flowers, books and chairs, a cosy picture. The light was reflected +in the grey river, and waved slightly in the ripple of the current from +the anchor chain. A cargo steamer, forsooth! a private yacht is the +feeling it gave. + +There are only two passengers besides ourselves, a Mr and Mrs S. With +the master and mate we make six at dinner, and the concert after, in +which the first mate plays piano accompaniments to all the chanties we +can scrape together--"Stormy Long,"--"Run, let the Bulgine Run,"--"Away +Rio:" cheerful chanties like "The Anchor's Weighed," with its "Fare ye +well, Polly, and farewell Sue," and sad, sad songs of ocean's distress, +like "Leave her, Johnnie; Its time to leave her." Neither the master nor +mate have seen salt water for many a day, but I know their hearts yearn +for the wide ocean and tall ships a-sailing; for all the beauties of all +the rivers in the world pale beside the tower of white canvas above you, +and the surge and send of a ship across the wide sea. + +... 23rd February.--Kyonkmyoung--not pronounced as spelt, and spelling +not guaranteed. We spent the night at above village. Now we are passing +a wooded shore, and two remarkable pagodas side by side, like two +Italian villas, with flat roofs and windows of western design, each has +a white terrace in front with a small pagoda spire, and in the trees +there are many white terraces and steps up to them from the river's +edge. + +... The up-river mail has passed us, it had been delayed on a sandbank; +we ship an American family party from it. Having lost some hours on the +sandbank, they cannot now proceed up the river to Bhamo, as they had +intended, so they returned with us to Mandalay. The first gangway plank +was hardly down when they were ashore and away like a bullet, with a +ricochet and a twang behind; a Silver king, they say, and a future +president!--How rapidly Americans travel, and assimilate facts, and +what extraordinary conclusions some of them make. + +[Illustration] + +We slow-going Scots hang on at Mandalay for a little. We have not half +seen the place, and wish to spend hours and hours at the pagoda, +watching the worshippers there, and trying, if possible, to remember +enough expressions and forms and colours to use at home. Our fellow +passengers, Mr and Mrs S., elect to stay on board. They have some days +to spare, waiting for a down-river steamboat, wisely preferring that, to +the bustle through to Rangoon in the train. + +... Mr S. is playing the piano, G. and I are painting, Mrs S. sewing, +and all the morning, from the lower deck, there comes the continual +chink of silver rupees, where Captain Robinson and his mate are settling +the trade accounts of the trip, blessing the Burmese clerk for having +half a rupee too much; funny work for men brought up to "handle reef and +steer." + +Three steamers, similar to our own, with flats, lie alongside the +sandbank, all in black and white, with black and red funnels and +corrugated iron roofs, and "Glasgow" painted astern. Bullock-carts bump +along the shore in clouds of dust, and the bales come and go, and trade +here is still really picturesque; there are no ugly warehouses or +stores, and everything is open and above board--just, I suppose, as +trade went on in the days of Adam or Solomon. + +Went to the railway station, we were obliged to do so. We must leave the +river to get down to Rangoon and Western India, to catch our return P. & +O. from Bombay. We have decided to return by the north of India, and not +by Ceylon, though we are drawn both ways. Ceylon route by steamer all +the way, seems so much easier for tired travellers, than going overland +in trains; but what would friends at home say if we missed Benares, +Agra, and Delhi. + +[Illustration] + +... A native stationmaster, in a perfunctory manner, points out the kind +of 1st class carriage we have to travel in. It is not inviting, and we +get back to the river, and make a jotting of our steamer and the shore +against the evening sky, and the bullock-carts slowly stirring the dust +into a golden haze.... Then we go to live on shore with friends for a +day or two. + +I despair of making anything, in the meantime, of the Arrakan Pagoda, +and the great golden Buddha with the wonderful light on it, and the +kneeling tribesmen and women from over Asia. It is one of the finest, if +not _the_ finest, subject for painting I have ever seen, and yet I can't +see one telling composition. Looking at the people kneeling, from the +side, you can't see the Buddha, and, looking at the Buddha, you only see +the peoples' backs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + + +From the train to Rangoon, you see very little of the country: we felt +rather unhappy in it after the comfort of the steamer. A native +stationmaster lost half our luggage for us--vowed he'd put it on board. +I knew that he knew that he had not done so, but I could do nothing. It +was glaringly hot at the station; several Europeans wore black +spectacles, and I had to do the same, for needle like pains ran through +my eyes since the day on the snipe jheel at Bhamo. + +The first part of the journey was smooth enough, but bless me! they +brought up the Royal train from Rangoon at ten miles an hour faster than +we travel down! How uneasily must have lain a head that is to wear a +crown. + +We couldn't sleep at night for the carriage seemed to be going in every +direction at once--waggled about like a basket, and we shook so much we +laughed at a mosquito that aimed at a particular feature. But in the +early morning we did actually sleep for a little, and about 4 or 5 A.M. +were awakened, for tea, and plague inspection at 6 A.M., about two hours +before getting into Rangoon!--a plague on tea and inspectors at that +hour of the morning! + +It wasn't pure joy that journey. Ah! and it was sad too, getting to the +cultivated plains round Rangoon--eternal rice fields and toiling +Indians--uglier and uglier as we neared civilisation. The saddest sight +of all, the half-bred Burman and Indian woman or man--the woman the +worst; with, perhaps, a face of Burmese cast, over-shadowed with the +hungry expression of the Indian, and a black thin shank and flat foot +showing under the lungy, where should be rounded calf and clean cut +foot. We may be great colonists we Britons, but I fear our stocking +Burmah with scourings from India is only great as an evil. + +Now I will pass Rangoon in my journal. We stayed a day or two at a +lodging in a detached teak villa in a compound which contained native +servants, and crows _ad nauseum_--it was dull, stupid and dear, and we +were sorry we had not gone to the hotel, and our greatest pleasure was +visiting the Shwey Pagoda again, and the greatest unpleasantness was +getting on board the British India boat the "Lunka" for Calcutta. We +were literally bundled pell mell on board, some twenty passengers and +baggage, and some five hundred native troops all in a heap in the waist +on top of us--what a miserable muddle. The French passengers smiled +derisively at the inefficacy or rather total absence of any system of +embarkation of passengers, and the Americans opened their eyes! Always +they repeat on board--"Why, you first class passengers don't pay us." On +the Irrawaddy river boats they say this too, but they make you jolly +comfortable for all that. + +It was six hours of struggle, mostly in the sun, before I got our things +into our cabin, and half our luggage lay on deck for the night with +natives camping on it! The officers on board were very pleasant and +agreeable, as they were on board the last British India boat we were on, +but the want of method in getting passengers and their baggage off the +wharf and into boats and on board was almost incredible....[38] There +was a vein of amusement, I remember, when I can get my mind off the +annoying parts of our "Embarkation." I got a chanter from a Chinese +pedlar in the street in the morning--heard the unmistakeable reedy notes +coming along the street as I did business in the the cool office of +Messrs Cook & Co., and leaving papers and monies went and met the +smiling Chinese pedlar of sweetmeats who sold me his chanter. The +position of the notes is the same as on our chanter, and the fingering +is the same; afterwards on board when I played a few notes on it the +beady black eyes of the Ghurkas in the waist sparkled, and they pulled +out their practice chanters from their kit at once--and there we +were!--and the long-legged, almond-eyed Sikhs on their baggage looked on +in languid wonder. + +[38] Getting off at Calcutta was indescribable--if possible worse than +the embarkation--_a sauve qui peut_. + +Would you like a description of Calcutta? I wish I could give it. It was +a little different from what I expected, smaller, and yet with ever so +much more life and bustle on the river than I'd expected. Commerce +doesn't go slow on account of heat, and here, as in Burmah, I was +surprised to see so much picturesque lading and unlading of cargoes +going on by the river banks, and the green grass and trees running from +the banks into the town. But we will jump Calcutta, I think, it is too +big an order; but before going on may I say that the architecture is, to +my mind, better than it is said to be. In Holdich's "India" it is +unfavourably compared with that in Bombay, but do you know, I almost +prefer the classic style of Calcutta to the scientific rococco Bombay +architecture, but I offer this opinion with the greatest diffidence, for +I know the author of "India" is an artist--still--"I know what I like," +as the burglar said when he took the spoons. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +BENARES.--One evening we took train from Calcutta to Benares. Flat +fields of white poppies were on either side, and English park-like +scenes, without the mansions, and we thanked our stars we had not to +live in what the Norse call "Eng" or meadow land. + +The things of interest in Benares are in order--first the Ghats, then a +river called the Ganges, and the monkey temple; of course there are a +great many natives, but from a cursory impression of the faces in the +crowds, I think they rank after the monkeys. + +We arrived on a feast day with the golden beauty of Burmah and its +people fresh in our minds, and found these natives were painting the +town red. They slopped a liquid the colour of red ink over their +neighbours' more or less white clothes, and threw handfuls of vermilion +powder over each other--an abominable shade of vermilion--so roads and +people and sides of houses were all stained with these ugly colours; in +fact, at the Ghats or terraces at the river side, where many thousands +were congregated, the air was thick with the vermilion dust. From the +water's edge up the steps to the palaces and temples and houses at the +top, the terraces swarmed with thousands of people, and the talk and +mirthless laughter rose and fell like the continuous clamour from a +guillemot rookery. + +The scenes we met in the streets were only to be described in language +of the Elizabethan period. If to-day at home we pass obscurantism for +morality, the Indian does the reverse; he tears the last shreds from our +ideas of what Phallic worship might once have been. + +I think the Ghats are the most nauseating place in the world; there, is +Idolatry, in capital letters--the most terrible vision that a mind +diseased could picture in horrible nightmare! for you see thousands of +inferior specimens of men and women dabbling in the water's edge, _doing +all and every particular of the toilet in the same place almost touching +each other_, and right amongst them are dead people in pink or white +winding sheets being burned, and the ashes and half-burned limbs being +shoved into the water--and I forgot--there's a main sewer comes into the +middle of this. + +We got on to a boat with a cabin on it, and sat on its roof on decrepit +cane chairs, and the rowers below with makeshift oars gradually pulled +us up and down the face of the Ghats--what oars, and what a ramshackle +tub of a boat--too old and tumble-down for a fisherman's hen run at +home. + +Holy Gunga! What a crowd of men and women line the edge of these steps +knee deep in the water, and babble and jabber and pray, day after day, +and pretend to wash themselves, without soap! Only one man of the +thousands I saw was proportionably shaped; and one woman was white, an +Albino, I wish I could forget her bluey whiteness! and I saw boys doing +Sandow exercises, evidently trying to bring up their biceps--poor little +devils--how can they? They haven't time--they will be married and +reproducing other little fragilities like themselves, before they are +out of their teens! + +The monkey temple is full of monkeys, and they have less apish +expressions than the priests. The Prince of Wales saw it the patron told +me, and added, "Princess give handsome presents--also Maharajahs--from +100 rupees to 50." So I gave one, very willingly, to get out, and +thought it cheap at the price. Besides the nastiness of the monkeys, +there was much blood of sacrifices drying on the ground and altars, and +this was covered with flies; there are some abominable rites in this +temple, but they are now _not supposed_ to sacrifice children. + +Perhaps it was because I was tired with sight-seeing, perhaps because +the Ghats are really so terrible that I felt their picturesqueness was +lost on me, so I told my guide to direct my rowers' little energy +towards the far side of the river where there are no houses, and there +is quiet and clean river sand. + +[Illustration] + +On the sands we found a fakir had established his camp--quite a low +church fellow, I suppose, to the Brahmin mind. He sat over against this +sacred Benares, and told those freethinkers, who came across at times, +that his was the only one and true religion, and that the Phallic +saturnalia on the opposite shore was damned, and the Ganges water was of +no use whatever in the way of religion. + +His camp covered an acre of sand and was fenced with cane, and he had +camels and cows and many followers, and though they had only one yellow +waist-cloth between them all, which he wore, he must have been well +enough off to provide the loaves and fishes for so many. He sat all the +time with his legs crossed, and read Sanskrit in a low, very well +modulated voice, whilst people from far and near came and bowed, and +sometimes, if they were worthy, touched his feet, and he would give them +a little look from his quiet intense eyes, and the least inclination of +his head, a movement and look a king might have envied, it was at the +same time so reserved and yet graciously beneficent. His hair and beard +were long and slightly curling and tawny at the ends, and his face was +dusted with grey ash which emphasised his rather potent eyes. His +features in profile were pure Greek, and on his low forehead there was a +touch of gold. His particular followers or disciples had the silly +expression of a mesmerist's subjects; they sat in the dust stark naked +and unashamed, and looked happy and exceedingly foolish. + +The way this fakir made money I was told, is simplicity itself; he +merely gives a pass with his hand above his head, and lo there is a +sovereign in his palm, or he makes a pass at his toe and there is +another! + +My Mohammedan guide, who told me about this fakir, was rather a fine +specimen and had read much; and though he did not belong to the same +church as the fakir, he held him in great respect, and he told me very +seriously--that he could raise the dead--he knew a man who knew another +man who had actually seen it done! + +The fakir sat on a little dais in front of a hut with an awning over +him. He passed word to a satellite in a cloak that he would be pleased +were I to land, and I told my guide to tell him I would be pleased to +alight from my ramshackle tub and make his portrait, and he gently +inclined his head, so I descended from my barge roof, and stood opposite +him on the sand and drew, and after half-an-hour or so he saw that I was +tired standing and sent for a seat, but I of course could not change my +point of view, and no doubt his followers wondered why I bothered +standing in the sun when I might have easily sat in the shade and done +nothing. Next day I went on the river and stopped in passing his place +and showed him the coloured portrait, of which he gently expressed his +approval and signified that he would be pleased to accept a copy. So I +made one, and it is now glazed and framed and worshipped by his +disciples. He gave me his blessing in exchange--he did not make any +passes for sovereigns--but he gave me a seed or two to eat for a +particular purpose, and there is no result so far--and though he did not +convert me I left him with a certain respect for his great dignity of +manner, and for his evident desire and ability to obtain power over +men's minds. Perhaps with all his study and knowledge he still wonders +why a man should stand some hours in the heat playing with pencil and +paper and water colours. I am told he believes in only one god, +unfortunately I forget which; but there are 333,000,000 gods in India, +so perhaps it's a matter of no great consequence to them, or the Deity, +or us. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +One is conscious at Benares just now of a pervading effort to +proselytise. There is this fakir on one side of the river with his +troop, covering their nakedness with a little dust and ashes, and +priests of all kinds and the populace painting themselves red on the +other side; then there is Mrs Besant running some new sort of Hindooism +or "damned charlatanism," as Lafcadio Hearn would have put it. And there +are various Scottish and English Church Missions making special efforts +to secure converts, but they pay far more than my fakir does per +head--soul I mean. The fakir has secured two hundred recognised converts +and disciples in his own camp; he, however, has the advantage over other +missionaries in his method, which I have described, of obtaining +supplies. Each disciple costs him only one rupee per day, so my guide +tells me, and he says he is absolutely reliable; so they must do +themselves well. If I stayed a few days longer I'd start some new +philosophy myself, or revive an old one. And now I think of it, I +believe mine once floated would knock all the others endways--to begin +with I'd have my Benares or Mecca in some art bohemia, and I'd raise a +blue banner inscribed with the word BEAUTY in gold, and that would be +the watchword.... No one to enroll who could not make, say a decent +rendering of the Milo in sculpture or drawing--or write or play.... + +[Illustration: A Fakir at Benares] + +Our places of study would be the churches that are empty during the +week--we surely could not be refused the use of them for the five or six +days they are not used! the last half of the sixth day would give us +time to remove all our beautiful things, so they would be the same as +usual on Sundays--nothing like detail in going in for a scheme of this +kind. And he or she who could produce something beautiful in either +sculpture, colour, music, or being, or even making a hat, would be high +in the priesthood, and might receive offerings of food and raiment in +return for instruction given (like the Burmese Phoungies from the +general public), so the general public would obtain merit, and men like +Sargent (if they could drop their academical degrees), La Touche, +Anglada Camarassa, Sarolea, Sidannier would be very high in the +priesthood; and we'd have Velasquez and Whistler, Montecelli and the +like for saints and--I see I have left no place for scientists and +musicians. But we'd have heaps of room for them, of course. + +This isn't all nonsense you know!--in fact it is possibly all sense. I'd +like to see the philosophy carried out experimentally say for three +years in a bad district, such as between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood. +I believe the people would look handsomer and happier than they are at +present after the second year. Given Beauty for our standard and first +goal, Goodness, Mercy, Courage, Manliness, and Womanliness, and good +looks, would surely follow, and the Creator might be trusted for the +rest. + +I am positively anxious, in the present condition of things, about what +will happen when some of us come to the gates of Heaven.--I very much +doubt if a knowledge of the ten Commandments will pass us in--and even +if we do get in, and secure a mansion, and it is really as beautiful as +described, how uncomfortable many of us will feel who have not been made +familiar with the subject of beauty below! I fear there may be awkward +questions put about what we have learned besides the ten Commandments; +we may be asked what we have observed of God's works. For example, "What +is the colour of wood smoke across a blue sky," or "the colour of white +marble against a yellow sunset." Perhaps you may be passed in with even +a solfeggio, but just think!--suppose you are asked to "describe the +most expressive movement in the action of a man throwing a stone," or +"how many heads there are in the Milo!"... + +Such philosophising is quite the thing here at Benares--everyone does. + +But to go back to the people and the Ghats I must--for my own +protection--for some one who reads these notes may have also waded +through the exquisite writing of Pierre Loti on the subject, and may +conclude I am untruthful. He says, he saw on the steps bathing, people +"a la fois sveltes et athletiques," and lovely women, dead and alive, +with clinging draperies that resemble the "Victoire aptere,"--well, I +vow!--I've studied the human form for about twenty-five years and I +repeat that what I say is true, that of the hundreds of men I saw +distinctly of the thousands bathing, I only saw one man passably well +made. I saw very finely built Sikhs from northern India in Burmah, and +others at Madras, but all the people on the banks of the Ganges had +very poor muscular development. And these lovely women whom Pierre Loti +sees in such numbers--they have no calves--whoever saw beauty without +the rudiments of a calf! But perhaps Pierre Loti does; if he can write +about India, sans les Anglais--(he means British[39]) he may fancy +Hamlet without the Prince, or Venus with an Indian shank. But we forgive +him; for that picture, off Iceland, "the stuffy brown lamplit cabin in +the fishing lugger, the tobacco smoke and the Madonna in the corner, and +outside on deck the silvery daylight and the pure air of the Arctic +midnight." + +[39] "L'Inde sans les Anglais." + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +I think military life in Benares must be slow, the soldier seems to have +so much routine work in India when there is no frontier campaign going +on. It must be irksome for anyone fond of fighting. My cousin here (a +Captain) is Cantonment Magistrate, which means he has to turn his sword +into a foot rule and do Government's factory work--lets you a plot of +land for your house and sees your neighbour hangs out his washing in +proper order--then will hang a man for murder or fine another for +selling you goat instead of mutton, and so on and so forth. Multifarious +little things on to many of which might hang a history--for instance +taking a stray bull across the river with the respect due to such a +sacred encumbrance and without hurting the religious feelings of the +Emperor's Hindoo subjects. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Another soldier host we had in India in Delhi--a Fettesian by the way; +in his palace we studied the Red Chuprassie and received an inkling of +how States are governed, and how the hot-bed of Mohammedan and Hindoo +revolution is kept in order. Five to five were his office hours, you +advocates of eight hour bills! In the rest of the twenty-four hours he +was on the alert for sudden duty calls, yet he painted with me after +five, with more keenness than professional artists I know at home. + +So within a few months out here I have met more men of arms, art, and +manners than I meet in as many years at home. It is a very sad part this +of our extended Empire--the good men taken from home to the frontiers, +and I don't know that we can afford it. Personally I'd rather have our +little country as it was in the time of James IV.--well defended--with +our good men at home, a chivalrous Court, and the best fleet of the +time, than to be as at present without a name or Court--a milch cow to +the Empire. + +I had the pleasure of seeing this host engaged in a congenial duty--that +of raising the statue to Nicholson. We were taken to the spot where he +fell, and saw where Roberts stood, and heard tales of many other great +"Englishmen"--be--dad! + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +We lived almost on the Ridge and its russet-coloured boulders, and +looked slightly down to Delhi (I'd always pictured the besiegers looking +up at the walls). How astonishingly fresh it all is; the living deadly +interest. Gracious--the stones on the wall haven't yet rolled into the +ditch from the bombarding--you can almost smell the powder smoke in the +air--and it is still hot! + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +It was very hot going to Agra. I've a recollection of the journey which +seems funny now; "When pleasure is, what past pain was." We had been +saving a thirst all morning, and at a junction went absolutely parched +with heat and fatigue for ice and soda, and perhaps a little +mountain-dew, for we were very faint. And there was no soda water!--and +there was no ice!--but there was whisky--and warm lemonade! I'd to +sprint along the metals to our carriage in the white heat, and there got +two bottles of hot soda. So we finally had a little tepid toddy, and sat +and grimly studied our countrymen's expressions as they came into the +restaurant hot and tired, from different trains, and asked for the drink +of our country. You'd have thought they would have sworn, but they did +not, which gives you an idea of the climate; they mostly looked too +tired; at mid-day on an Indian railway one has barely sufficient energy +left to say tut-tut! + +[Illustration: A Delhi Street Scene] + +Getting near Agra from the plains was very pleasant!--the ground rises a +little and becomes sandier and less cultivated, so the air is clean and +refreshing. + +We saw the Taj at first in distance over this almost white sandy soil +and grey ferash bushes--saw it slightly blurred by the quivering heat +off the ground, and against a pale, hot, blue sky, and through thin hot +brown smoke from our engine, and its general outline in the distance was +that of a cruet stand--and as we came within a mile it seemed to be made +of brick, white-washed! + +Then we whirled into the station and came out amongst solid Mogul +architecture of dull, red, sandstone--splendidly massive and +simple--what a surprise! Then we visited the Taj Mahal, and ever hence, +I hope the vision of white marble and greenery will be ours! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + + +AGRA.--I find India generally speaking is a little vexatious, and think +that perhaps the youth who stays at home may after all score over the +youth who is sent to roam. There is a little feeling all the time which +you felt as a child on seeing all sorts of delights arranged for dinner +guests, and you had toast and eggs in the nursery. Here we have just +time to see what sport there is; jolly social functions, pig-sticking, +picnics, shooting of all kinds, riding, splendid things to paint, and +subjects to study, pleasant people to meet--and have to cut up our time +between trains and guides and sights. + +I think if I were to come to India again, I'd spend the cold weather in +one place, get to know the white people and the surrounding districts, +and merely listen to tales of fair Cashmere. + +This preamble leads to notes of a somewhat qualified day at Black Buck: +two day's dip into sport against time. I got one buck the first day, and +could have taken more, they were literally in hundreds: this is how the +story unrolls itself. + +Got away at 6.30 A.M., before dawn, in a two-horse open carriage, a +shikari on the box, a syce behind, and interpreter on the front seat, +and beside me a regular Indian luncheon basket big enough for an army, +and a great double 450 cordite express that would have done for the +Burmese Gaur. + +The roads and mud huts were all the one warm clay-colour, and the light +was becoming violet, with a faint pink in the sky. In the country the +roads and fields were almost milk-colour, and trees with yellow flowers +were on either side. We met white donkeys with their burdens, and white +oxen drawing heavy wooden-wheeled carts all dust coloured, and the only +black in the soft colouring was that of the early crows. + +... On the plains to either side there are patches of green crop, and +away to our right the minarets of the burial place of Akbar. Doves, +pigeons, starlings, kites, green parrots sit or flutter overhead as we +pass, all as tame as hens. Gradually the trees throw long shadows, and +old Sol comes up behind us, and grins at our overcoats. + +From the eighth milestone I see a doe, and the shikari spots it at the +same instant; and two adjutant cranes, silvery grey with dark heads like +ostriches--about six feet high, and a pair of horn-bills pass +overhead--lots to interest one every mile of the drive. At ten miles out +I spotted three does, and we got out to see if there wasn't a buck +somewhere, and a few minutes after I found him (first, being some inches +taller than the shikari). There was only a chance of getting within +range by a barefaced walk-round and then a crawl behind a knoll of old +clay wall--this we did, and I let off at about fifty yards and went over +the buck's shoulder and couldn't get in a second. Truth to tell I wasn't +quite sure whether I wasn't dreaming, the whole proceeding was so +unexpected and unfamiliar--ten miles out from a town, at eight in the +morning and to have a shot at a deer with no one to say you nay, I could +hardly believe it. And besides, to add to the unfamiliarity of this kind +of deer shooting, there were native cultivators all round, within every +half mile or so, in groups of two or three. + +I was very sad. The shikari said nothing, but counted it out at seventy +yards. Looking over the top of the dyke I'd thought it a hundred and +probably took too full a foresight; anyway it was an abominably easy +shot to miss. I wished very much I'd taken a few practice shots with the +cumbersome weapon. + +... We wander many a mile and it begins to get warm. We rest in the +shade of a group of mangrove trees on the hard, dry earth, and beside us +waves a patch of green corn. I am very sad indeed--I have missed two +beautiful black buck, or worse, the last I fired at, a lying down shot +(on thorns), after a run and a stalk to about 140 yards, was a trifle +too end-on, and I hit the poor beggar in the jaw I believe, and we +followed it for miles. Then my heart rejoiced, for a native said it had +fallen behind some bushes, but another said he'd seen it going on, very +slowly, and on we went after it; meantime we saw many other buck and +does, but we did our best and failed to pick up the one fired at. + +So at ten we rest and I sit like Gautama Buddha under a tree and think +life is all a misery, and my followers bring food and drink and I refuse +almost all, but smoke a little and swear a lot. Overhead a pigeon tries +to coo to the end of its sentence and loses the word at the end every +time, and a green parrot fights with a crow and finally drives it into +another tree, and flies eat my lunch, or breakfast rather, and ants eat +me, and I gnaw my pipe with vexation. + +I go over all excuses--new rifle--far too heavy--accustomed to single +barrel--unaccustomed to blaze of light,--Really, at the first shot, the +rising sun on backsight and foresight made them sparkle like diamonds, +and the buck in shadow was a ghost--and being out of condition with +travel--and so on and so on--and say fool at the end.--We get up after +half-an-hour, but my belief in my luck is shaken; we walk into the heat +again and dazzling light and white hard sandy soil and come to bushes +and patches of corn here and there, and natives lifting water for them +from wells. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +I've had a grand day's exercise, and feel much more human and fit again. +I've sent a soul into the invisible so my man tells me--shot a buck at +full split--shot it aft a bit. As its gore dyed the hard hot earth and +its exquisite side, I asked my tall Mohammedan guide, when it was dead, +where its soul had gone. "To God," he said shortly--"And where will mine +go?" "To Hell," he replied quite politely but firmly, but he added to +qualify the statement, something about some Mohammedans believing in +reincarnation. I suppose I am damned in his opinion because I am not a +follower of the prophet, not because I have taken life, but damned or +not it wasn't a bad shot; it was the fourth time too, I spotted deer +before my shikari, and pulled him back in time, and so in a way I felt +comforted for bad shooting. + +Five does and no buck were visible, but we trusted the buck was hidden +by some of the soft feathery green ferash bushes they were feeding in. +We made a circuit and came close to a group of natives and oxen drawing +water, and for some reason or another, possibly the guide I'd left +behind alarmed the deer, they came galloping past and a buck with a very +good head in the middle; a doe beyond, passing to the front made me hit +him a little far back in lumbar region, instead of behind the shoulder. +It restored my faith in hand and eye a little, and yet the killing +qualified the day's enjoyment. I suppose we will never quite understand +whether we should or should not kill. I suppose killing this buck will +save a little of the natives' corn, and they will have some meat and I +shall have a head to show. + +To see these exquisitely graceful deer galloping across the plains is a +sight never to be forgotten: it is the nearest thing to flying. The +bucks with their twisted black horns and blackish brown coats and white +underneath, the does cream-coloured and white, almost invisible against +the soil in the glare of light. All spring into the air with their feet +tucked up at the same spot, with a spurt of dust as if a bullet had +struck the soil beneath their feet. You see poor sheep trying to do the +same thing. + +Some natives carry the dead buck. We have about five miles to tramp, +partly over waste ground, partly, along almost unshaded road. After +three miles the deer carriers sit down and "light up" under a tree, so +we follow their example, and send a message on for the carriage. + +The men are joined by various native wayfarers who stop and pass the +time of day: they light a little smouldering fire of leaves and twigs to +keep the sociable pipe going. It is a little earthen cup without a stem; +they hold this in the points of their fingers and suck the smoke between +their thumbs so the pipe touches no one's lips, and they have a drink +from a well, poured from a bowl into the palms of their hands. My Hindoo +shikari I find will take a nip with pleasure from my flask in his little +brass bowl, but he would loose caste if he took soda water in the same +way, so he tramps to the well and at great trouble draws a cup. The tall +snub-nosed Mohammedan looks on with scorn at the inconsistency and +touches neither water nor spirit. + +We have a longish wait, but there's lots to look at, still new to me. +The girls and boys at the well, and weeding the barley, a vulture and +its ugly mate on household affairs bent, in a tree, and green parrots +and squirrels all busy. It seems to me the squirrels are rooting out the +white ants from their earthy works up the tree trunks above me. Possibly +they are just doing it to put dust in my eyes. + +Then we drive homewards, the buck on the splashboard, and pass a +splendid group of peacocks and peahens under two small trees, nearly a +dozen of them within seventy yards, and I handle my big rifle, then my +Browning Colt, and nearly fire, for I'd fain add a peacock to my +pistol-bag, but they look so tremendously domestic that I haven't the +heart, and besides, they are sacred I am told, and possibly it would be +unlucky to shoot them. My men say "shoot," but not encouragingly, and +its my unlucky day; I'd possibly miss, and hit a native beyond. How you +manage to fire a bullet in this country without killing a black buck or +a native is a wonder. Coming near Agra, I passed a group of young +officers in khaki riding out; they and their mounts looked as hard as +nails; they were going pig-sticking, they were to be envied. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +9th March.--The choice lay between an early rise to see the Taj by +moonlight, and an early rise to drive fifteen miles to a place where +black buck do abound. My primeval instinct prevails against the perhaps +better suggestion of my better half. At 5 A.M. the carriage has not yet +come so I have twenty minutes to make a lamplit study and reflections +generally--Have rifle ready, some soda water, tobacco, and a new stock +of hope and faith in my aim. + +... Here come my men at last, with stealthy steps so as not to disturb +the sleeping travellers in our caravansary. The shikari has covered his +everyday dress of old Harris tweeds with a white sheet, and might be +anyone, and my long Mohammedan guide and interpreter is also in white +this day. We get all on board very quietly, and rumble away along the +dark dusty road. + +We go along at a good rate, with two good horses, and two further on +waiting to change; our landau runs smoothly, though it must date to +before the Mutiny. Its springs are good, and the road we follow, which +Akbar made, is smooth of surface. There is pale moonlight, and the air +is fragrant. The hours before dawn dreamily pass, and we nod, and look +up now and then to see clay walls and trees dusky against the night sky, +and our thoughts go back to the grand old buildings we leave behind us +to the north in Agra. The red stone Fort, and Palace, and Taj, and the +marble courts seem to become again alive, and full of people and colour +and movement, a gallant array, and the fountains bubble, and Akbar plays +living chess with his lovely wives, in colour and jewels, on his marble +courts. + +... And we dream on; and we are on the dusty road in the moonlight, +riding along, dusky figures at our side, knee to knee; the dust hangs +on their mail, and dulls the moon's sparkle on the basinets. We are +jogging south on Akbar's road with Akbar's men on a foray, or is it a +great invasion? Then there comes a shout, from in front, and an order +and we awake--and it is only some bullock-carts in the way, all dusty: +and on we go again. And Akbar's soldiers go back to the pale land of +memory, and the light comes up, and I see my Mohammedan guide's strong +face, and the driver, and the little Hindoo shikari in his wrappings on +the box, and the light gets brighter, and, what was vague and +mysterious, dust and moonlight becomes prosaic flat barley-fields, with +white-clad figures picking weeds, and people at the roadside cottages +going about with lights, looking after domestic matters, and men sit +huddled round tiny fires and pass the morning pipe around--they, +apparently feel it chilly. + +The very hot morning we spent wandering after elusive herds of black +buck, one of which I missed. A grand black fellow, with horns I could +see through the glass, beat all record, missed at 200 yards, both +barrels, couldn't get nearer, and anyone may have this double 450 +cordite express and all its patents for price of old iron. I could have +smitten a bunnie both times at home at the distance--I'm sure this thing +throws inches high. + +However, the weariness and the fret of the hot morning ends in a +delicious grove of trees that might be limes, plane and ash, and in the +middle of this bosky knoll there is a pool and a little temple, +picturesque to a degree at fifty yards, hideous close. The light filters +through the branches and falls on the dried mud and leaves. + +As my man lays down my bag and useless weapon at the foot of the central +tree, there's a crash in the leaves above, and down and away goes a +glorious peacock. I try to calculate at which end of it I would fire had +I a gun. It's tail is so gorgeous you couldn't fire at it, and its neck +is also too beautifully blue to touch with shot; a minute after another +sails down, and goes off like a running pheasant. Doves come and +flutter and coo above us, and a pariah dog prowls round timidly. It +looks as if it had never wagged its tail in all its sad life, and it +swallows a chunk of my chicken at a gulp, and its tail never moves, poor +beast. The hot winds sough through the branches, and my men murmer away +to each other under a neighbouring tree, possibly about the Sahib, who +is such a poor shot, and, as our language is limited, I can't brag about +swagger shots in other days. One needs a friend to shoot with, alone you +lose half the charm. If you get hipped with a miss you can then growl +out loud to a sympathetic ear, and blow smoke over the day together. +There's only the pariah dog to talk to here, so I eat lunch and smoke +"my lone,"--"here, old Bicky, you can wolf the rest of the lunch,"--you +haven't much appetite the time the bag is empty. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +An hour or two over burning sand, and I spot a doe and a fawn amongst +the grey-green thorn bushes, and away they go, skipping and jumping as +if anyone thought of interfering with their gentle lives!... Two or +three more hours tramp without a shot, and we come to the by-road again, +distinguished from the rest of the dry land by wheel-ruts, and the pad +of bare feet. We have six miles to walk to our carriage--my kingdom for +a pony! but we must trudge along--the guide, shikari, and syce trailing +away behind. They are rather tired, and the writer rather despondent. + +A lift of the eye to the left, and a thousand yards off, I see faint +forms of does, then I spot a buck!--question, can we spare the time? +four miles to walk, fifteen to drive, and the night train to catch at +seven. We risk the time, and Fortune smiles, for we have not gone 500 +yards off the path, when another lot grows out of the ground to my left, +and again a beautiful buck with splendid horns in their midst--a quick +standing shot got him through the heart, and no pain or death struggle. + +Then more trudging--it is hot, and the sand deep, and the thirst the +worst I've had--so dry we were, that we could hardly speak--but no +matter, we have succeeded, and there is a bottle of soda water four +miles ahead; it will be warm though. The dust rises along the horizon +and moves along in gentle whirlwinds, and the few trees there are, are +close cropped of both branches and foliage, to feed the natives' goats +and sheep. It is a famished, parched land, with far too many people. +Driving to Agra, we came across another herd of deer, and got the best +buck almost within a hundred yards of the trunk road. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +7.30 we are in the train again--Pullman car restaurant train--electric +light and cool air, and a sweep of blue moonlit plain and sky passing +the windows, a change from the heat and the baked white plain of the +day. It is the smoothest going carriage we have been in, in India, and +there are waiters in white to bring iced drinks, and an excellent dinner +... And we think of lunch again, in the grove by the Temple, and the +peacocks bustling their grandeur out of the verdure. + +If I could invent stories, I'd come and live at Agra, and write about +the Moguls, as Irving wrote the tales of the Alhambra, poor little +Alhambra, it has its own charm, and it is rather a shame to drag it in +beside the buildings of Northern India; how little it seems, its +architecture, and ornament, and its stories, compared with these Mogul +palaces, forts, and gardens, and the love and war associated with them. +I see I have page after page in my journal of attempts to describe the +Taj Mahal and its gardens, and now I find them very difficult to +understand; so I think it would not be wise to try to put them down +here, at the end of rather a rag-tag journal--to try to describe perhaps +the most perfectly beautiful thing in the world. No--it is too +beautiful, to be treated of in the last pages of a journal. + +... If I were asked what three scenes in the world pleased me most, +they would all be white.--A ring, miles wide, of square-topped icebergs +in the Antarctic, rose pink in the midnight sun, refracted and reflected +in a calm, lavender sea--the white marble court and white domes of the +Pearl Mosque of Agra, and the blue overhead in stillness of hot mid-day, +and the Taj Mahal in late afternoon, with its marble growing grey, and +the flowers in the gardens closing to sleep. + +[Illustration: SHA JEHAN, + +Builder of the Taj Mahal.] + + + + +Glossary + + ACADEMICAL PRIVILEGES, 80 + Academy teachers, 177 + Aden, 58 + Aden, Barren Rocks of, 59 + Adyar River, 213 + AEolian bells, 243 + African coast, 24 + Agra, 392 + Akbar, 397 + Alhambra, 400 + Ampthill, Lady, 84 + Apollo Bundar, 65 + Ananda Temple, 272 + Antarctic, 97 + Ants, 195 + Arctic, 97 + Argo, 19 + Ariakan Mountains, 268 + Arsikere, 160, 187 + Art, 46 + Atlas Mountains, 24 + Auld Reekie, 2 + + BADMINTON, 133 + Balearic Isles, 29 + Bangalore, 150, 166 + Bank manager, 192 + Barbara, 26 + Bassein, 251 + Belgaum, 118 + Benares, 382 + Bhamo, 320 + Black Buck, 392 + Bombay, 63 + Bonita, 19 + Bugle call, 10 + + CAFE BASSO, 33 + Callum Bhouie, 49 + Cargo steamers, 295 + Carlos Place, 8 + Carmichael, Alex, 71 + Carmina Gadelica, 71 + Catamaran, 211 + Cauvery River, 179 + Cavalry, 209 + Caves of Elephanta, 86 + Channapatna, 186 + China, 361 + China Street, 322 + Chins, 318 + Chittagong, 310 + Club, 133 + Club boat-house, 216 + Coburg, 4, 8 + Cocoa-nuts, 182 + Cockburnspath, 4 + Colaba, 100 + Columba, 192 + Coquelin, 34 + Corregio, 23 + Crete, 45 + Criterion, 7 + Crawford market, 103 + Crow, 105 + Curzon, Lord, 93 + Cyrano, 33 + + DAGON PAGODA, 244 + Dak bungalow, 186, 350 + Dancing, 133 + D'Artagnan, 33 + Daudet, 33 + Defiles, 318 + Delhi, 389 + Dharwar, 116, 123, 145 + Dogs, 161 + Druids, 192 + "Duck," 136 + Duck-shooting, 134 + Dumbie, 173 + + EDINBURGH, 2 + Egypt, 42, 46 + E. H. A., 105, 108 + Elephants, 319 + England, 61 + Eurasians, 82, 87, 222 + Euroclydon, 21, 45 + + FANES OF PAGAN, 271 + Fergusson, 271 + Fire-worship, 70 + First impressions, 185 + Fishing, 220, 301, 306, 373 + Fishing rod, 296 + Flotilla Company, 256 + Francolin, 373, 375 + Fraser, 166 + Frenchwoman, 31 + Furgusson, Jock, 44 + + GAELIC, 173 + Gairsoppa, 152 + Ghat, 113 + Granada, 24 + Ghosts, 191 + Government House, 221 + "Green Hills of Tyrol," 107 + Gautier, 28 + Gulf of Lyons, 21, 29 + + HALL, FIELDING, 257 + Hart, Ernest, 271 + Henner, 25 + Henzada, 258 + History of India, 40 + Holdich, 102, 382 + Hunter, Sir, W. W., 40 + + JAMES IV., 209 + Jungle fowl, 345 + Jura, 49 + + KALONE, 310 + Kandala, 115 + Kalychet, 348, 351 + Katha, 313, 372 + Kedar Camp, 306 + Kelly, Talbot, 46 + Kintyre, 50 + Kirkee, 117 + Kulong Cha, 354, 365 + Kyankyet, 304 + Kyonkmyoung, 298, 376 + + LACQUER, 272 + Lamington, Lord, 84 + Levanter, 45 + Lipari Islands, 45 + "Little England," 103 + Log-rafts, 223 + London, 4 + + MACKAY, ABERICH, 129 + Madras, 197 + Mahseer, 348, 349, 365 + Malabar Hill, 77, 97 + Marco Polo, 271 + Marina, 204 + Marseilles, 30 + Mediterranean, 24 + Mimbu, 266 + Minto, Lord, 93 + Mistral, 21 + Moda, 315 + Modellers, 177 + Moguls, 400 + Momouk, 348, 367 + Monkeys, 121 + Monticelli, 301 + Moors, 25 + Mount Street, 8 + Mutiny, 103 + Muzii colours, 8 + Myitkyna, 369 + Mysore, 172, 175 + + NAMPOUNG, 358 + Ngapi, 262 + Nile, 43, 46 + North Sea, 2 + + ORCHIDS, 336 + Orient-Pacific guide-book, 32 + Orpheus, 19 + Otter, 307 + Outer Isles, 70 + + PADAUNG, 241 + Pagan, 271 + Painted snipe, 312 + Parsees, 70, 97 + Parsi, 88 + Partridge, 374 + Pavilion, 7 + Piccadilly Circus, 7 + Plague inspection, 199 + Poona, 117 + Popa Mountain, 268, 271 + Port Said, 43 + Precedence, 209 + Prome, 258 + Punitive expedition, 318 + Punkah, 42, 79 + + QUEEN MARY, 33 + + RECEPTION, 97, 223 + Reception at Government House, 67 + Red Chupprassies, 195 + Red Sea, 48 + Regent Street, 5 + Rejane, 33 + _Renown_, 228 + Roseate Tern, 309 + Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 222 + Russell viper, 129 + + SABENDIGO, 300 + Sailing ship, 12 + St Abb's Head, 15 + St Thome, 217 + St Vincent, 20 + Sanskrit, 173 + Scents at sea, 17 + Scottish nobility, 209 + Sea-swallows, 309 + Seine net, 204 + Serang, 34 + Seringapatam, 178 + Shan States, 239 + Shewgee, 316 + Siddons, Mrs, 88 + Sinkan, 319 + Sirens, 19 + Skuas, 16 + Snake charmer, 65 + Snake-rings, 295 + Snipe, 162, 299, 301, 312, 335 + Southern Maharatta Railway, 119, 197 + Spanish women, 24 + Spaniards, 25 + Spanish coast, 27 + Spanish dancing, 29 + Squirrel, 193 + Straits of Gibraltar, 24 + Stromboli, 45 + Suez, 48 + Surf rafting, 210. + Surf rafts, 218 + Swords, 320 + + TAGAUNG, 305 + Tagus, 21 + Taiping River, 356 + Taj Hotel, 63 + Taj Mahal, 400 + Tangiers, 24 + Tartarin, 33 + Tayoung, 373 + Teak, 257 + Teak logs, 266 + Terms of Union, 180 + Theatre, 90 + "The Bay," 13 + The Canal. 46 + The Heroes, 19 + "The Mail," 107 + Thayet Myo, 264 + "The Prince," 64 + The Princess, 72 + The Rock, 24 + The Taj, 391 + "The Union," 209 + Tilbury, 9 + Tip Htila, 241 + Tippoo Sultan, 180 + Trollies, 178 + + ULYSSES, 49 + + VAN BEERS, 30, 264 + Viceroy, 93 + Vino Riojo, 28 + + WATER-GATE, 182 + Wen Tip, 241 + Whaler, 17 + Whistler, 53, 100 + "Wild Sports of Burmah," 305 + Wood-carving, 177 + + YACHT CLUB, 73, 82, 104 + Yale, Elihu, 209 + Yenangyat, 265, 272 + Yenangyaung, 267 + Yule, 271 + + + + PRINTED AT THE MERCAT PRESS, EDINBURGH + + + A PROCESSION + OF THE + KINGS OF SCOTLAND + + FROM + Duncan and Macbeth + + TO + George II. and Prince Charles Stewart + + WITH THE PRINCIPAL HISTORICAL CHARACTERS IN + THEIR PROPER + + ARMS AND COSTUMES + FROM SEALS, COINS, AND CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITS + + BY + W. G. BURN MURDOCH, F.S.A. SCOT., F.R.S.G.S. + +[Illustration] + +The above Illustration is a reproduction on a reduced scale of a part of +the Procession, the actual size of which is 140 inches long by 8 inches +deep (exclusive of roller). The design is primed in black and white on +tough Japanese paper, with Names and Dates of the Kings and People +printed in gold underneath. With the roll there is a book (43 pages) +which describes the figures, and forms a brief History of Scotland, and +of the changes of Arms and Costumes. The Scroll rolls up on a gold +crowned roller, and may be had either in soft brown leather binding, or +in Royal Stewart tartan binding. + +This design is being utilised in American Schools, so it may be found to +be useful in Scottish Schools and Homes, when our children begin to be +taught the history of their own country. + +The sole agents are-- + +Messrs. DOUGLAS & FOULIS, Castle Street, EDINBURGH. + + + _Price 21s._ + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + +Some words are apparently spelled to reflect the Scottish dialect. + +Page vi: +[Bands p aying God save the King--Edward the--? 63-74] +Typo: p aying changed to playing. + +Page 14: +[there that set his neighbours and my neice and] +Typo: neice changed to niece. + +Page 66: +[card! To meet their Royal Hignesses, the Prince and] +Typo: Hignesses changed to Highnesses. + +Page 115: +[old trail--the Midlands to Indiar, and Indiar to the Midlands, +with bwidge between.] +Possible typo: 'bwidge'. I believe it was intentional. Unchanged. + +Page 121: +[have, between a thoroughbred's and a man's. They were +yellowish beards and black faces and black ends to their] +Typo: Changed were to wore. + +Page 145: +[and rather monkeyish in apperance; still, some were not] +Typo: Changed apperance to appearance. + +Page 158: +[lean out and see our little narrow guage train crawling] +Typo: Changed guage to gauge. + +Page 171: +[pageants, elephant kedar camps, and the right royal enterments] +Typo: Changed enterments to entertainments. + +Page 173: +[that these early forms of various races are not mor often] +Typo: Changed mor to more. + +Page 199: +[<i>house</i>, or if you exhibit any symptons of plauge or deadly] +Typo: plauge changed to plague. +Typo: symptons changed to symptoms. + +Page 201: +[about twenty-five to thirty feet over all, with pratically flat] +Typo: Changed pratically to practically. + +Page 202: +[here is considerd to be very damping.] +Possible typo: 'considerd'. Unchanged as the author uses this form +reasonably often. + +Page 213: +[bar across its mouth, and to to the right views of the] +Double word: 'to to' changed to single 'to'. + +Page 214: +[edge of the receeding wave, then turned lavender laced] +Possible typo: 'receeding'. Unchanged. + +Page 216: +[floor, overhead a domed roof with chrystal chandeliers, +and smaller crystal lights round the sides.] +Typo: Chrystal left unchanged as it is used elsewhere. + +Page 219: +[three deep to see the Sahib get sand of his feet, extremely] +Typo: Changed of to off. + +Page 223: +[some out-of-the-way Highland or Norwegian loch, with on +boat on it, and the trout rising in the middle.] +Typo: Changed on to one. + +Page 256: +[jungle comes the sound of Burmese music. A Pwe is] +Changed Pwe to Pwe for consistency. + +Page 268: +[them; a _reductio ad absuurdum_, from the point of view of] +Typo: Changed absuurdum to absurdum. + +Page 273: +[it on as they came out, modesly and neatly. The women] +Typo: Changed modesly to modestly. + +Page 277: +[As we were talking, the Rock pilot came alonside in a] +Typo: Changed alonside to alongside. + +Page 279: +[wordly desires[1]. So it was in the earliest Scottish Church;] +Typo: Changed wordly to worldly. + +Page 307: +[with elephant and finish up with mouse-deer and button-quail.] +Typo: Changed qauil to quail. + +Page 314: +[along the top of the river bank. The arrangemant might] +Typo: Changed arrangemant to arrangement. + +Page 327: +[another bullock-cart, with an older Burman whose face +was a delight--so wrinked, and wreathed with smiles. I] +Typo: Changed wrinked to wrinkled. + +Page 328: +[on it was a great space of _eongealed blood_ just where] +Typo: Changed eongealed to congealed. + +Page 341: +[vividly as a few notes of an air, the rythm of some folk-song--a] +Typo: Changed rythm to rhythm. + +Page 348: +[to ninty feet at a guess, and fastened snake rings on with] +Possible typo: Ninty may have been an old spelling for ninety. +Unchanged. + +Page 358: +[But where the dead leaf fell, their did it rest."] +Incorrect use of their. Changed to there. + +Various: +Some a.m. are small capped, others are not. +Changed all to A.M. to be consistent. + +Hyphenation--words occur both ways in the original. Unchanged. +afterglow/after-glow +barefooted/bare-footed +bathrooms/bath-rooms +dreamlike/dream-like +eyelashes/eye-lashes +forefathers/fore-fathers +humdrum/hum-drum +lamplight/lamp-light +lamplit/lamp-lit +midday/mid-day +password/pass-word +pothole/pot-hole +riverside/river-side +sandbank/sand-bank +searchlight/search-light +splashboard/splash-board +sunlit/sun-lit +waterfowl/water-fowl +womenfolk/women-folk + +Words spelled 2 ways. +crusies/cruisies +crystal/chrystal +pandal/pandol +paroquet/parroquet +Phoungie/Phunghi/Phoungyi + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of From Edinburgh to India & Burmah, by +William G. Burn Murdoch + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM EDINBURGH TO INDIA & BURMAH *** + +***** This file should be named 22749.txt or 22749.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/7/4/22749/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Leonard Johnson and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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